About Me

Name:Annathema
Biography
Loading...

Create Your Own Blog Find Other Townhall Blogs

Comments

Archives

Blog Search

Search

Blog Roll

 
Uncategorized

What Would Jesus-Teddy Do?

Posted by Annathema on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 5:19:36 PM
The real question HERE would be do the kids voting on the bear's name in class also get 40 lashings?

Synopsis: British teacher charged by Sudanese government, arrested, and fired from her position because she gave the popular male name "Muhammed" to a teddy bear to be used in a classroom project for elementary school students. It's a rather common project: a stuffed toy is taken home each weekend by a child, and they write about their weekend and what activities they did with the toy. Ex: "Today, Teddy and I went to the park. We saw ducks." etc. Then these kids essays are compiled into a book... in this case, the book would be titled "My Name is Muhammed".

The kids themselves were the ones who proposed three different names for the teddy bear, and the kids themselves voted. Muhammed was the name that won the vote. Some kids' parents complained, claiming that this was a deliberate Western attack on Islam.

Now, what I want to know is this: if it's such a touchy subject, why make the name Muhammed allowable for people? More than likely, the kids suggested Muhammed as a reasonable name for a Teddy bear because they have as many  Muhammeds in their families as  there are Johns, Wills, and Matts in America. So naming a toy Mohammed was not thought of as an attack on their religion.

I'd think of more on this, but work is eating me now... Grawr...
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Why I'm Misanthropic...

Posted by Annathema on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:54:32 AM
If you have a strong stomach, read THIS.

It's an article about the two-year old little girl whose mother confessed to torturing and murdering her. It's a bit descriptive, so that's the disclaimer.

In addition to being an unspeakable and atrocious story, this hits me hard for a few reasons. One being that my gaming buddies, a sickeningly sweet married couple, have two little girls aged one and two respectively. I can't even imagine anyone who could hurt a little girl that age. I'd probably attempt to beat the living (expletive deleted) out of anyone who even tried to hurt my friends' kids. I have younger sisters, and even though they're both much older than two, I would die fighting before I let someone hurt either of them.

This child was tortured by HER OWN MOTHER. If you read the article, then you can understand why I'm physically ill typing this. I'm seeing what that mother did to her little girl... God...

Moving on to my next problem with this, though the above is more than enough...

The mother is 19, and her boyfriend (the accomplice) is 24. The first article I read said that they met online.  This article specifies that they met  while playing World of Warcraft. I've mentioned that I am a gamer. My boyfriend is a gamer. The friends with the little girls are gamers. I have several other gamer friends. A majority of us play World of Warcraft. Similar to the "Dungeons and Dragons promotes satan-worship" hype of the past, World of Warcraft is quickly becoming the new "gamers are evil" tool.

I am not denying that there have been instances of addiction to the game. People have let WoW take over their lives, and lost jobs, damaged relationships with loved ones, and probably worse. But rather than blame the game, the rest of the picture should be looked at.

The mother in question is 19. She gave birth at age 17. In all likelihood, she had not planned the pregnancy, and was apparently not married to the father. She might have harbored resentment towards the child for forcing a responsibility that she wasn't ready for. She was willing to move away from home to live with a total stranger whom she met on the internet, endangering not only herself, but her young daughter. The fact that the two met on World of Warcraft is irrelevant, yet the media made it a point to mention that.

Arturick recently told me that there are a lot of gamers and former gamers here on Townhall. I doubt there's a satan-worshiper or child-torturer among them.

The couple in question are a pair of sick and disturbed individuals who had no business raising a child. Games can't persuade you to violently end the life of your own child.

I think I'll research what it takes to run an alpaca farm in some remote area away from the majority of human wierdos.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (1) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Tis the Season...

Posted by Annathema on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 9:49:06 AM
Work will eat my life starting Friday. Hooray retail.

See you when I get a few minutes.


Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (7) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Life, Death, and Taxes...

Posted by Annathema on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:53:45 AM
Life: I still live...

Death: I feel like it...

Taxes: I LOATHE tax prep class with a burning, red-hot passion.

No time for snarkfests just yet... Nothing new meerkat wise either...

But there is wildlife in my bedroom... in the form of A THREE-INCH HAIRY CENTIPEDE-BUG OF DEATH!!!!!!! I think it's hunting me... It might eat mice... or squirrels... It made itself known this morning, and it didn't run. IT DIDN'T RUN. It freaking SAUNTERED past me. THE LIGHT WAS ON AND EVERYTHING!

There is a fearless bug in my bedroom that is bigger than I am.

If it votes on the right, I might try to befriend it.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (5) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Mullets, Meerkats, and the Wand O' Fidelity...

Posted by Annathema on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 5:45:52 AM
First things first... If anyone knows how to add images onto this, I would beyond appreciate it if you could help me out with it, as I've just broken the third to last brain cell I had trying to figure it out. Two left, and they're fighting each other. EDIT! Bless you, Matt Lewis! Thou rocketh most mightily!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Fear not, Arturick is safe. I don't own a baseball bat... Ms. Anthropy is my collection of doodles, to clarify things, and yes, Arturick really is that cute...

Snarkfest will be short, and more of a joke, as the subjects are hilarious. The fleeting bits I watched of the Democrats "debate" left me with one blaring image burned into my skull. The Hildabeest is rocking a mullet. The woman (term used lightly) is wearing her hair like her husband ran the White House: business in the front, party in the back. (Also said lightly... I was but a youngin when the slimeball was in office, so I blissfully don't remember much of it.)  Add that to Kucinich saying that the only way our enemies will get rid of their nuclear weapons is if we get rid of ours first... Arty got it right comparing Kucinich to that little gremlin-thing that hangs around Jabba the Hutt... (::cough:: Bill Richardson::cough::)  OK, I'm being a bit mean, but all I actually heard from these people during the "debate" was Bush-bashing and  answers to any questions except the ones being asked. Par for the course.

End snarkfest, begin meerkats.

There's going to be a movie about the former matriarch of the Whiskers (the main group of meerkats the series follows). Flower: Queen of the Meerkats. It's scheduled to come out in 2008. Info can be found HERE.
Yay meerkats! I will be seeing this movie, as I am a dork and I like the fuzzy little suckers.

That is all.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (4) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

The Competition

Posted by Annathema on Monday, October 29, 2007 2:42:38 AM
I am pretty secure about my relationship with my boyfriend. We've been dating for a little over a year with no major arguments. He's a good man, with strong religious and political beliefs. He's the one who exterminated whatever left leanings I had leftover from my art major college days, where there were plenty of Socialists but no heterosexual males. He's currently at the gym working his butt off trying to get into shape to enter law enforcement, and I'm so freaking proud of him. And for some reason unknown to anyone on the planet, he loves me. I am happy as the proverbial clam. Or rather, HE is the happy clam, and I am his pearl (read: his greatest treasure and source of constant irritation).

My only competition for his undying affections? Ann Coulter.

I can't compete with stuff like this: "College campuses across the nation are installing foot baths to accommodate Muslims' daily bathing ritual, while surgically removing the Ten Commandments from every public space in America. Maybe the Ten Commandments could be printed on towels and kept next to the foot baths." (Taken from anncoulter.com ).

Add the fact that I'm the only woman on the planet who can NOT rock the little black dress to save her life...
Heh...

Anyway, I chose that quote because lately it's been irritating me to no end how  "freedom of religion" really means "freedom of religions other than Christianity". The recent local irritation involved the suburb next to mine being pressured by the Muslim population regarding holidays. I'm not 100% sure of exact details, but the gist was "declare Ramadan an official holiday, or you have to stop saying "Christmas" and just call it "the Holidays". I think they had some issue with Halloween as well, but that's just a little extra snark thrown into the mix.

America: founded by Christians. Christmas: second most important Christian holiday, after Easter. Christmas is celebrated in America. Simple, no? If you don't like it, leave. My high school dedicated the third floor computer lab to Muslims during Ramadan so they wouldn't have to sit in the cafeteria where the food was, but they didn't stop serving meat on Fridays during Lent.  Heh... I should end the snarkfest before I dissolve into unintelligible rant-babble.

End snarkfest. Begin meerkats.

Meerkats live in matriarchal societies. The gangs are led by a dominant female, and she chooses her mate. Together, the two have exclusive mating rights in the group, with no other females allowed to breed.

I am like the female meerkat. I chose my mate, and will fight for him. Hehehe...
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (6) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Don't tell Mom I'm Getting Drugs from School...

Posted by Annathema on Saturday, October 27, 2007 5:51:53 AM
It's not new news, but I can't get over the whole birth control pills in school issue. What kind of epic failure in parenting is going on that the school board feels that the Pill should be available to 11 year-olds? Without parental notification? A child can't get a tetanus shot without a parent's signature, but they can get a birth control pill? What?

I am currently on the Pill, and have been in the past, for medical reasons I will not elaborate on. I was tested several times for my blood pressure rate to make sure that this pill would not adversely affect my health. If I had had high blood pressure, I would not be taking this drug. That's what it is ultimately, a drug. There are risks involved, which is why I believe that the decision to pass these pills out in schools is absurd. And the idea that the parents of these children are not informed that the schools are giving their kids drugs is positively outrageous.

Now, the school is supposed to have updated medical records, but an eighth-grader hasn't had a physical since before fifth grade. If that child developed a blood pressure condition, and had not been diagnosed yet, then the Pill would be the last thing you would want to give them. There could be any number of complications that would make a gynecologist refuse to prescribe birth control pills, and I find it difficult to believe that a school nurse could catch them all. Then again, I highly doubt that there'd be much of a medical exam.

I'm 22 years old. I have no children of my own, but I have a younger sister who is turning 13 next month. The school will call my mother if my sister draws a comic strip with the words "butter knife" in it, but there would be no phone call if my sister went in and asked for a drug? Does this make sense?
 
Here's a great situation...
"Don't tell my mom, she'll freak if she finds out I'm having sex!"

She'll freak more if you have an adverse reaction to a pill she didn't even know you were taking, kiddo.
And imagine how happy she'll be if you get an STD!

"How can she have syphilis, she's a virgin!" "Actually Mom, I have to tell you something..."
Great conversation, I'm sure...

Do not get me started on the violation of privacy issue. They are children, and they live with their parents. Privacy? Ha! In my house, "childrens' privacy" consists of closing the door while you use the bathroom... and locking that door is prohibited. Parents should know where their children are and what they are doing at all times. This includes knowing if their child is having sex (which shouldn't be happening anyway if the parent is doing their job), and being informed by the school if their child requests a birth control pill. Lack of parental responsibility is the root of the problem, and keeping parents out of the decision to give potentially harmful drugs to children at school is not a solution.

End snarkfest, begin meerkats.

I've become addicted to a show called Meerkat Manor over the past year. The new episodes air on Friday evenings on Animal Planet, and the third season is ending next week. This is a little soap opera of meerkats, and the editing of the footage collected by the university creates some interesting storylines. I'm not going to re-cap the whole three seasons, but I felt compelled to add meerkats in today. One of my favorites, Mozart, died this week's episode. There have been a lot of major deaths this past season.

I'm going to include meerkat facts at the end of every post. Snarkfests and Meerkats. Enjoy.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (3) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive
« Previous1Next »