Please Consider the Following:

I would like to start by saying that I am fairly liberal (tending to vote Democrat) and that this entry will not be without bias try as I might to be objective on the matter.

I've been compiling some information (and opinions) on Sarah Palin and why she makes McCain-Palin a horrible vote to cast come November.

- When Palin was mayor of Wasilla, AK, she instated an official who cut funding out of the budget to pay for rape kits for victims of rape and victims were subsequently billed for their own rape kits. Granted, it was not Palin who actually made the budget cut or instated this practice, however, this shows the types of people who she would be instating into offices that are currently appointed rather than voted. If you read the above article, you will see that the person who she appointed to the position not only made the budget cut and instated those practices of billing the victims, but also fought it when the state legislature made it illegal for towns and municipalities to do so.

- Palin supports drilling in ANWR. First of all, I think it's imperative that we find alternative energy sources. Drilling for more oil will only delay the probelms for a little while and considering the amount of oil predicted to actually be obtainable from ANWR, it is a pointless endeavor to drill there, in my humble opinion. See here for an interesting article about ANWR.

- Along with supporting drilling in ANWR, her state also sued the federal government for placing polar bears on the endangered species list citing that it could inhibit energy development, i.e. drilling for oil. Global warming is pretty much undeniable. One can argue causes, perhaps, but you can't argue that it's happening. This being the case, polar bear habitats are decreasing as it is and drilling for oil will only decrease their habitat more. What more right do humans have to occupy this planet more than any other animal or organism? The possible human-driven extinction of another animal for a short-term solution to a long-term problem is disgusting and I can hardly believe that anyone would consider it. Well, actually, I can believe that people would consider it and I would even venture to say that I know what their motives are, but I certainly don't agree with them. We need a renewable energy source, (and to be more environmentally conservative while we're at it) end of story.

- Palin asked the librarian in Wasilla if she would be ok with banning books should the need arise. No books were actually banned, but the underlying motives seem fairly obvious to my (admittedly probably biased) eyes. Being that she is an ultra conservative Penecostal, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she probably had a religious agenda in wanting to ban books. She apparently also sent letters to the librarian and other appointed officials asking them to resign as a "loyalty test". What type of a boss does that? I certainly wouldn't want to work for someone who was constantly dangling my employment (and therfore welfare) in front of my face.

- Palin's religious views play too large of a role in how she has and will govern. There are indications that she is a young earth creationist which would be extremely dangerous for our education system and is also suggestive that her education is lacking. Intelligent design and creationism are not science and should never be allowed to be taught in a science classroom and this could become more of a real possibility should she and McCain be elected. Not only is her view on science pervaded by her religion (despite the fact that her father was a public school science teacher), but her views on abortion as well. She is quoted as saying that her daughter made the right decision in choosing to have the baby, but she wants to take that right to make that decision away from women in the first place. I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that if someone doesn't want to have a child, they shouldn't be forced to have it. Chances are that if you have a child that you don't want, you're not going to be a good parent and we have enough children living in horrible situations as it is without forcing women to bear children they definitely don't want. Not only that, but women would still attempt to have abortions illegally even if it were to be made illegal which would only cause more unneccessary deaths to women who are actively perhaps contributing to society and to the country and it's economy. I could probably go on and on and on about why banning abortion is just ridiculous so I'll stop here. What's next, banning all forms of birth control? I wouldn't be surprised knowing that she is a supporter of abstinence-only sex education (which obviously worked so well with her daughter).

- Not only is her biology a little lacking, but apparently her history is also. When asked if she was offended by the phrase "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, her response indicated her lack of knowledge of U.S. history (which would seem pertinent when vying for the spot of Vice President of that same country). As a note, the link in the article that I linked to supplying the interview doesn't work, but a transcript of the interview can be found elsewhere if googled. On a lighter note, if you read the comments at the bottom of the article, the one by solarbear is fun for a good laugh. For more about Palin's religious views as interpreted by a rival of hers, see here.

Now, there's been some amount of criticism from some that the media is focusing too much on Sarah Palin and not enough on those who are actually running for President and that it's just a distraction, but I couldn't disagree more. For one thing, John McCain is 72 and has a fairly significant risk of dying (strictly due to age) during his term should he be elected, so this woman would be the one who would be Commander-in-Cheif should he die. That is a scary thought, indeed.

I'm greatly amused by this quotation from Bill Maher, "I think this is pertinent because McCain has been running this campaign based on 'we're at war; it's a dangerous world out there. The Democrats don't get that. I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the blood-thirsty Al Qaedas and you. But if I die, this stewardess can handle it.'"

Ok, momentarily back to the serious stuff. Another thing to consider is that McCain is simply using Palin as a strategy. This is disturbing for several reasons. First of all, it suggests that McCain is disengenuous and only seeks to win the election by pulling stunts like making it the battle of the minorities rather than about the issues. It's disturbing, too, because Sarah Palin is allowing herself to be used (no matter what her motives are). So all of this being the case, how can anyone trust John McCain's decision-making abilities when these are the decisions he makes? And why would anyone want to trust him after he's revealed what a sleazy, run-of-the-mill politician he is?

One last thing to consider (and I think this may be one of the most important points) is that Sarah Palin, given her experience, would NEVER have been chosen were she a man (white or black). It is so gravely insulting that John McCain thinks the American public to be this incredibly blind, stupid, and ignorant. It's even more insulting to women (as if he hadn't done enough of that already).

John McCain and Sarah Palin are not the right choice for anyone, Democrat or Republican. I would urge you not to vote for them whether or not you are willing to vote for Obama. Vote for someone independent or write someone in, but don't vote for McCain-Palin. Our country would surely be in world of trouble (more than it already is).

Here's a letter to John McCain that I rather liked.

And here's some humour for those of you who need a bit of it after all of that (I know I do).

McCain's VP Pick...

Made me so angry I think my head nearly exploded when I read about it. Actually, I'm still so angry about it right now, that I'm not even sure where to start this blog post. I suppose I'll attempt to start at the beginning.

It all started when McCain started running ads saying something to the effect of "hot chicks dig Obama". Let's just think about the implications of a statement like that and where they take us. Obviously, Obama is McCain's opponent, so liking/supporting Obama is a bad decision/misguided/insert negative adjective here. So it would then follow (since "hot chicks" is not qualified with any sort of value adjective like "some", "all", etc.) that "hot chicks" make bad decisions/are misguided/or whichever negative adjective you chose in the above sentence. Not only that, but since he mentions only one gender, I can only take it to mean that not only am I not capable of making good decisions, etc, but I am also incapable of separating my hormonal responses to Mr. Obama's appearance from my viewpoints as a voting constituent of the US. Thank you, Mr. McCain. As a self-proclaimed "hot chick" I will not be voting for you since you think I make bad decisions/am misguided/or whichever negative adjective you like who is incapable of separating my sexual desires from my opinions on politics. I am just a weak woman after all. I mean, seriously, what is this? 1950?

So, after showing his true chauvistic colors (or at least endorsing the chauvinism of those running his campaign) he picks a bible-thumping, conservative, unheard of "hot chick" as his running mate. The scheming, conniving bastard. I must admit, it's a brilliant brilliant strategy. That's why I'm so angry. It might actually work, but that's an aside. The point is after his ad demonstrating how he feels about women what else could it be but a ploy to win more votes? Why does politics have to be about scheming and plotting rather than what the constituents actually want and need?

At any rate, I don't think I can stand another term of Bush-like politics and I'll be afraid for the country if McCain wins.

There are rumors, however, that Palin's teenage (unwed) daughter is pregnant. Wouldn't that be just scrumptious? The Bible-thumping, conservative, anti-abortion Christian's daughter is a clear demonstration that abstinence-only education doesn't work.

Bigfoot!!!

Ok, so I don't really have anything profoundly thought-provoking to say, but I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd post about the recent claim that a bigfoot body has been found in the mountains of northern Georgia (the U.S. state). I'm sure it's probably a hoax, but I can't help but love cryptozoology. It makes me giddy for some reason. Probably because I'm extremely nerdy. Wouldn't it be super cool if we found a large primate living in North America? Almost as cool as if Nessie were real. Ah well, the stuff they find that is real is sometimes cooler than the stuff that isn't.

In other cool science news, Harry Potter's invisibility cloak could be real!

Deviant Art

So I started a Deviant Art account so I could post my drawings in a more appropriate outlet! I also put the link on this post as well as permanently affixed on the right side of my page, so check it out! :)

Penguini!

So this is the latest vector drawing I've done. I did it in inkscape. I just got Corel Painter, though, so I am very excited to learn a new program. I think this would have turned out better had inkscape not gotten so slow after I kept adding layers and things to the point where I couldn't do anything with it really anymore. Anyway, there are definitely some finishing touches that needed to be added, but I just couldn't bear the slowness anymore. If anyone has any suggestions on how to speed inkscape up once you've gotten a fairly complex drawing, please share! :)

Abstinence-Only Sex Education

The other day I was having a discussion with a couple of people about abstinence-only sex education and I started thinking about it a bit. Those people who support this method of sex education expect preteens and teens not to engage in sexual acts before marriage and yet everyone demands sex in everything. Sex is used to sell everything from consumer goods, to tv shows, to movies. It's everywhere. It's basically like telling a fat person they can't eat bad or fattening food, but constantly waving twinkies around in their faces or telling a drug addict not to do drugs and then constantly surrounding them with said drug. Obviously, there is a laundry list of other issues with abstinence-only sex education that has been iterated elsewhere, but I just wanted to point out this one inconsistency. To give an example...there was an ad on the ABC family channel a week or so ago for a movie that was made for that channel that was to be coming on soon and the preview show a high school girl leaning over and the top of her underwear showing from the top of her pants...she's wearing and thong...and then another girl calls her thong "granny panties", takes a picture with her camera phone, and sends it out to the whole school. Then later the preview goes on to show one of the high school boys impregnating one girl and potentially another. Um...first of all...this is a "family" channel so the whole plot seems a little mature for middle-school/early high school kids to be watching (which seemed to be the target audience) and second of all...when did a thong become "granny panties"?!? So what? As a teenager what message is this sending? I have to wear a g-string or something...in high school, no less? And then you expect me not to have sex? WTF?

Why I'm an Elitist

Ok, so I don't really think of myself as an elitist, but I'm sure someone somewhere along the lines would beg to differ. At any rate, I keep wondering lately why there are so many people who are probably more intelligent than average and they are either embarrassed of it or just generally don't want to be perceived as a nerd. Where did this trend come from? Why are people ashamed about their intelligence and why is it not cool to be intelligent, educated, and into intellectual things? I don't understand this. Were I not someone to generally go against the grain, I might be one of these people who is intelligent and ashamed of it. I have a friend from high school and college who is incredibly intelligent. She once stumbled into a physics exam, still drunk from the night before, had to hurry to take the exam so she could go throw up, and still made a 99 or something close to it. Meanwhile, the rest of us were struggling to get B's with this particular professor. But she's never wanted to admit how intelligent she is and when we would go out and meet guys, she would always dumb herself down to talk to them. She avoids reading and pretends that all she cares about is jewelry, shopping, make-up, and what Paris Hilton is up to. I sometimes felt like I and our other friends were her guilty pleasure. Her nerd friends that she had to indulge her intellectual side while never fully wanting to admit that. What a waste! And the one of the main reasons she is like this is because she thinks people will perceive her negatively should she show her true colors. It makes me sad and angry just thinking about it. I remember always being angry and jealous at the girls in ballet who were insanely talented, but could care less about being a professional dancer. I had the heart, but they had the talent. It's sort of the same thing here. Not that I am not above average intelligence, I think I am (or an above average dancer), but it's ridiculous that the reason that so much good intelligence is wasted due to popularity contests is sickening. If they're not going to use their intellect, can't I have it?

But anyway, since I am someone who goes against the grain, I say if you're nerdy, that's a good thing and you should flaunt it and maybe if enough people do that, the trend can be reversed and all of the ignorant masses will suddenly be aware that they are the ignorant masses and be ashamed of themselves and try to get some education. I know there's probably little chance of this happening, but it's fun to dream sometimes, right?