Vitriolic Diatribes
This may be a case of journalists making something of nothing, but check out the NY Times article called March of the Conservatives, published today.
Apparently, the movie March of the Penguins isn’t about penguins, as the common, non-sophisticated, illiterate viewer may have thought. Instead, it is about such overarching topics as Monogamy, Intelligent Design, and Pro-lifeism.
I’m at a loss. It’s penguins, people!
If you reference my blog entry from yesterday titled Inexcusable Behavior, you might note that I advocated contacting your Senators to explain how the treatment of evacuees in New Orleans was deplorable at times.
Well, I did that. I send an e-letter to Senators Isakson and Chambliss, both of Georgia. The letter was composed at the Senate Website on a submission form, so unfortunately I do not have the exact text, but to summarize: The story referenced my blog entry mentioned criminal behavior on the part of authority figures and I felt that the Senators should take that into consideration when they do whatever it is they do in the Magical DC Land.
Senator Chambliss’ form had a check box for “do not send response” which I checked. Senator Isakson’s did not have a similar check box, and here is the reply I received (all of the random HTML garbage has been removed, including the pretty header with his headshot in it).
From: senator@isakson.senate.gov
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 11:42 AM
To: bill .junk@jbwr.net
Subject: A Response From Johnny IsaksonDear Mr. Ruhsam:
Thank you for contacting my office regarding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I appreciate your thoughts and the opportunity to respond to you.
In the last week of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Coast region of the United States . In its wake, the people of Louisiana , Mississippi and Alabama have been faced with the loss of their homes, businesses and lives. My thoughts and prayers are with all those individuals and families affected by this tragedy.
Congress has passed emergency supplemental appropriations to assist those agencies involved in the rescue efforts and will continue to provide the resources necessary to the affected areas. Congress has established a bipartisan committee to review the immediate preparation and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. I am pleased that these issues are being addressed, but stand fast that we must remain focused on completing the immediate response rather than placing blame without facts. Those impacted by this crisis will need the support and assistance of all Americans throughout this process.
Please feel free to visit my website at http://isakson.senate.gov to get more information on relief assistance programs. Thank you again for contacting me, and I hope you will not hesitate to call on me in the future if I can be of assistance to you.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States SenatorFor future correspondence with my office, please visit my web site at
http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm
First off, no one uses indents anymore in electronic communication! Get with the times. Second off, the code attached with his message was the worst amount of javascript crap I’ve seen in a while. I love how in the second paragraph he/they explains to me that a hurricane apparently came ashore somewhere on the gulf coast. Hmmmm… I’m glad they’ve got Senators to tell me things like this.
But most importantly, this crappy response treated me like I’m an infant. I object to that. Here is my re-response (or my regift, if you will).
To: senator@isakson.senate.gov
From: bill .junk@jbwr.net
Re: re: A Response From Johnny IsaksonDear Staff of Senator Isakson,
This canned response to my missive beggars my intelligence. Sending me an obviously pre-written message does not endear me to you. Please, in the future, try not to so hideously embarrass yourselves by simply not sending a response. A simple, “Your message has been received and will be given its due consideration” is enough for those of us who do not want the bullshit political psychobabble.
Good luck with this senate term,
Bill Ruhsam
Thanks, Senator, for all of the fish.
A friend, Mike Steele, posted this in his LiveJournal Blog. It is a story of two EMS people in New Orleans from the get-go and how they evacuated.
This story, if all true and accurate as portrayed, is aboslutely sickening. I can understand, if not condone, indifference and deliberate ignorance from on-the-spot authorities, but what is described here passes beyond into outright abuse. There is no excuse for this sort of criminal behavior.
The only recourse I can see for myself, at the moment, is to forward this link to my U.S. Senators and demand some accountability.
Inexcusable.
Long, long ago, in my relative youth, I decided to pick up Dianetics by L.R. Hubbard and see what the heck it was all about. Entirely out of curiosity, I might add, rather than a desire to improve my teenage life.
Congratulations to Mr. Hubbard because he was the first author who received my chuck-it-out-the-window treatment! What a load of crap, and I only read the introduction! If a teenager of my inexperience could recognize the total load of bullshit that was contained there, then why is Scientology such a big player in popular culture? God only knows, but she’s not telling. My bet is because of their practice of recruiting actors and musicians like Tom Cruise , John Travolta and Beck. (for info on Cruise’s weird Matt Lauer interview recently, try the Friday, June 24, 2005 edition of http://youcantmakeitup.blogspot.com/ )
Note: People find solace and comfort in all sorts of places, and it is not my place to insist on where they should go for it. Scientology is no weirder than some other non-harmful ways of life, but the Church of Scientology is really beyond weird.
Don’t believe me though. Check it out for yourself.
A comprehensive guide to Scientology and the CoS
The official Church of Scientology website
Wikipedia entry on Xenu – I love Wikipedia!
I would add more, but the sites already mentioned can give you plenty of links further.
I love internet hoaxes. Especially the ones that hang on for so long because there’s no real credible science to hang your skeptical hat on. For example, one of the most procreated hoaxes, both inside the internet and out, is the myth of the cell-phone-cause gas station explosion. This has become so much a part of popular culture that the industry has put warning labels on fuel pumps warning of this non-existent threat.
If you don’t believe me, try snopes.com at http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp or you can give the Australian Transport Safety Bureau a try, with regards to the Transportation Research Board. http://gulliver.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=5173
Ahhhh, our democratically-elected Congresscritters have once again voted in an attempt to amend our Constitution to outlaw the “physical descecration of the flag of the United States.” Actually to be more accurate, the amendment would only provide congress with “the power to prohibit” physical desecration, etc.
Soon, the Senate will take it up and we’ll see if a Republican majority can force it through with the required 2/3 votes. I don’t really see it happening, but stranger things occur every day!
Flag Laws:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/flagburning/topic.aspx?topic=flag_statelaws
Texas Special Exemption to Flag Code:
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/texasflag.asp