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If you’re responsible enough to hold a job, you’re responsible enough to clean up after yourself if you bleed/pee/poop on the toilet seat.

Come to think of it, the same applies to men as well.

I thought that maybe I might enjoy the film, supposedly a ‘documentary’, possibly in the same vein as Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine ring a bell?), a few hours ago. Maybe I might have thought that this could be an ‘enlightening’ (for lack of a better word) experience.

Let me just preface the rest of the entry by saying that I identify Roman Catholic.

Having stated that, I’ll state that I found Religulous to be rather disappointing. It did paint most religious folk as largely unintelligent and uninformed sheep (save for the ‘Father of the Human Genome Project’). It (meaning Bill Maher) did focus largely on the irrational conclusions that most religion identifying people came to as a result of their unyielding desire to follow their God to the letter, without ever questioning why some things never made sense. Jonah and the Whale was brought up a few times, as well as the question if Jack and the Beanstalk were considered to be God’s Word, then did that mean that Jack and the Beanstalk were undeniable fact, despite the part where no solid evidence/proof of this beanstalk ever existed?

I don’t deny that a lot of Maher’s questions did point to the truth that most people who believe in some sort of God (I really feel that he (Maher and Larry Charles) placed too much focus on Christianity, and largely ignored other religions) do so blindly and never question what doesn’t make any logical sense. If it doesn’t make sense, they just chalk it up to God’s way. Which isn’t right.

Like that Senator. OMG. Total embarassment to our legislative branch: “You don’t need to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate.” Ugh.

I don’t think I expressed my issues well enough to my boyfriend (who went to see the movie with me) immediately after the film ended. Now that I’ve had several more minutes to gather my thoughts together:

I believe that Maher made the film for entertainment purposes only. If it were to be a true food for thought ‘documentary’ then it really should have delved deeper into its statement/hypothesis. Not just gathered together several clips from various interviews to ‘prove’ a statement that has already been presented to us as ‘truth’. Maher’s ‘truth’ is cobbled together from interviews he’s done with people who do nothing but prove his point, plus snark-laden subtitles, humorous clips, and clips from religious movies. Couldn’t he have also shown us examples of more intelligent people who have successfully balanced their religious beliefs with that of their command of religious thought? Just by answering that with ‘because people like that don’t exist’ is perpetuating the original ‘truth’ set forth in the film.

I suppose my line of thought is best expressed in this post (Docs in Progress) I came across while writing this:

And that may be the point. This film is like the point of a pencil which has run out of lead. My Docs In Progress colleague Adele Schmidt refers to documentaries as being a use of visual storytelling to explore a hypothesis; a documentary which enters production with the answer already in mind is not a documentary. It is an advocacy film. And this, in my mind, is what diminishes the potential of Religulous to either bring in new “believers” in disbelief or “preach to the converted” because we already know where the film will take us. There are no surprises.

The irony of Religulous is that, for a film seeking to critique the simplistic aspects of religious belief, it suffers from its own simplistic storytelling. And yet plods on for nearly two hours without really building the story beyond a one-trick pony of showcasing the extremes of religion. By not exploring faith in any thoughtful way but that which supports a pre-conceived notion, the film becomes a lost opportunity.

Attack, attack, attack, and not giving any opportunity for rebuttal. I think it’s totally possible to be a person who accepts religion and rational thought as equals. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive. (see here for earlier post) But the film didn’t bother attempting to find a person like that. And that’s where the film fails a bit.

I’m all for being passionate about your cause… but this is just ridiculous (and I refuse to link to the PETA website).

GoVeg.com meet Cutout Dissection.com

As a former bio/pre-med major, I’m fine with dissection in the labs (specifically for Anatomy/Physiology sections of the class). You don’t really have any good alternatives to learn about anatomy without dissection. If it goes against your religion, then don’t do it. But, it’s a ridiculous action otherwise.

It doesn’t make sense for future doctors and veterinarians to not have dissections during their class. Drawings aren’t enough. You have to have the hands-on experience.

And on top of that, our animals (for labs) were roadkill. How do I know? My cats had tire tread bruising on their embalmed bodies. Not the best way to die, but at least they still served a better cause after death.

I love when people say you’re wrong when they’re wrong. It’s like the light at the top of a deep hole.

Heard today at work:

Today starts Breast Awareness month.

you don’t ever really want to see an automobile accident happen in front of you. you don’t ever really want to have front row seats to these kinds of things. it’s much more horrifying to see it live than it is to see it on the silver screen.

I was one of the first people to call 911.

I still want to smack the people who took the other people out of their cars WITHOUT stabilizing their heads first. Seriously. What better way to invite more injury. Idiots.

Philippines Toll Could Reach 1,300 (NYTimes.com)

Plain and simple. That’s all there is to it. It’s not as if Filipinos don’t understand the severity of a typhoon. The rainy season started just recently, and as far as I know typhoons (hurricanes to us on the other hemisphere) always happen during the rainy season.

In my eyes, there is no good reason that the ferry (owned by Sulpicio Lines) should have been given the OK to sail. Ferries are sometimes the only efficient way to travel between islands in the Philippine archipelago, but knowing full well that typhoons cause turbulent waters… I don’t see why it set sail at all. Sure, the passengers may have needed to go somewhere, but there were already reported casualties on land. How could you, in good faith, attempt something that may and did cost so many more lives?

I completely agree with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo:

[She] said Wednesday that Sulpicio Lines should be held accountable.

• Pretzel-yum
  
• Stupid driver

I try really really hard not to laugh when recruiters keep contacting me to reply to them concerning this “AWESOME POSITION” that’s “FILLING UP QUICKLY” and “OTHER PEOPLE WOULD KILL [well, not exactly that particular terminology] FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.” How generically upbeat of you.

It’s not just that. It’s the fact that this one guy appears in the TO: section as one name, yet has an email signature with a completely different name. And on top of that, gives me a completely generic email to reply back to. Like recruiters@*******.com

Really now.

So, in defiance of this new dashboard… karma has been depositing all manner of vulgar and vile spam in my Akismet box. At least Akismet is smart enough to stop them where they are. But now I don’t know if I get any comments!

No, wait. I don’t have any comments. What silliness do I speak of?