Angry Rant #30: Will + Kate + News = Ugh.

If I was to ever marry Beyonce, I would personally make sure that the names of our children will be so utterly different from Will and Kate that it's scary.

Yeah, even Kang or Kudos would suffice.

Of course, I'm talking about the "royal wedding" bullshit that has latched itself onto commercial television much like the proverbial plague - or perhaps it's the other way around - perhaps typical mainstream commercial news stations, as awful as they are, have latched onto this wedding because of the sheer "glamour". I'm here asking "why"?

...and why Mars Bars now have caramel in them.

Like many things throughout history, if you give something enough time, it can essentially morph from something overly negtive into something overtly positive - take for example this wedding. A royal wedding.

Now take out ALL of the "glamour" and think about what it stands for. None of those people who are so called "royal" got into power because they were good people and wanted to change society - no! They were born into it. They were born with a silverspoon in their mouth. The powers during the time of King/Queen rule heavily taxed the people under their reign because they had more money, more power and had "God" behind them. So, somewhere along the line someone in this "royal" family was a big fucking bully who used scare tactics and capital punishment to get their way. It was also a system heavily based around "God" and how he supposedly chose them to rule. So not only does this prove that religion is a farce, but proves that it was used as a tool by the powerful to oppress the weak. You speak out of turn or look the wrong way - you were very publicly taken away and killed. If you were a peasant, you hated the monarchy.

Fast-forward to today and look at what we get? Swarms of media coverage, people lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the couple as they drive past in William's inherited '58 Bentley. People wave their flags as if they're proud that these people are better off than they are! This literally makes my fucking head spin.

...Like this guy's spinny-top thing

One thing that has changed, however, is who we hate. We still hate the power, but just a democratic version which is something I find very ironic. Now with all it's flaws, a democratic government is one I would prefer to live under compared to a god-fearing hierarchical system of control. Just think about all the things that I've talked about here and imagine what would have happened if I was this outspoken during the middle ages?

I would have been a head of the competition.

So. When you flick the TV on tonight and you see this royal wedding and awful shows like Today and Sunrise are plugging the living fuck out of it, just think to yourself "these people don't deserve this so why do they get to live in old castle with a price tag beyond any real number when according to Bono a child dies in Africa from starvation every time he snaps his fingers?"

Then stop fucking clicking!!

Might just avoid commercial television until all this crap is over...or until we hear about the next earthquake that supposedly has occurred because a bunch of Mayans a few thousand years ago said so... but mostly because they thought that drawing up a calendar for 6000 years was heaps of time to do stuff until they had to draw up the next one.  

Don't believe the lies and spin.

JM

Angry Rant #29: It's Eggs-traordinary

It's Easter! Better open your wallets kids!

No...seriously...open your damn wallet up and purchase an obscene amount of chocolate to point where you won't eat it until the same time next year because that's what big business wants you to do. But somehow this all ties into that Jesus fairytale that somehow always seems to appear in the news this time of the year.

Now from the perspective of a person who doesn't use or need religion I find this "Happy Easter" saying that I've been hearing over the past few days somewhat strange - Strange as in about 60% of the Australian population in the 2006 census, described themselves as Christian and for them being happy on a day when their messiah was brutally tortured seems strange. Of course I'm not taking into account how he supposedly "rose from the dead" because well... Christians still believe he was brutally tortured and somehow symbolically drinking his blood and eating him is their way of making it all better.

So why do Christians wish me a "Happy Easter" and why do people who aren't religious wish me a "Happy Easter" too? What the hell?

But here's a couple of questions for you - what does a symbolically cannibalistic group of people who munch on their saviour every Sunday with a Pope who was part of the Hitler Youth have to do with fluffy little bunnies?

Pictured: A fluffy and adorable little bunny

What do fluffy little bunnies have to do with dairy products?

And why am I being spoon fed this garbage about purchasing copious amounts of food that's saturated in sugar in a country deemed the fatest in the world with the leading cause of death being heart disease?

It's pretty obvious that the big players like Woolworths and Coles have just tapped into a thought stream here - that being when it's Easter, people HAVE to buy chocolate, pork, steak, potatoes, alcohol, petrol, bread, ham platters, fruit platters, milk, soy milk, tea, coffee, biscuits, nicely cut cubes of cheese, overly-expensive gluten-free foods, hot cross buns, disposible plates, and even cake that looks like Thomas the Tank Engine if you're into that sort of thing.

I hope Ethan was grateful. 

Hopefully, you've noticed where I'm coming from.

But after we've finished being 'good little consumers' this week, we jump straight into ANZAC Day where we honour our fallen soldiers by drinking ourselves blind and gambling - and don't forget all those other times throughout the year when the most cynical of us see things like Christmas and even something like Mother's Day used as another opportunity to empty our wallets because it has become a social norm and to challenge this wouldn't be expected or taken on lightly by mainstream society - The Daily Telegraph practically lives off that shit. 

But it end, it just comes down to you, reader. The social norm is something that is never challenged because if you do, you end up being ridiculed by people you know - and if you're known by the media - then the same thing happens on a much larger scale. People just sit back and watch the world around them buzz by without stopping for a second and asking themselves "what's that about?" (DD) and running scared when something changes.

Oh your God... he's going up the down escalator! 

If you want to waste money on a corporate holiday or celebrate old tales of misogyny, then buy all means, have yourself a great Easter. But if you looking to stand back for once and just look at situation from a different perspective, you might just find a much better alternative.

I started reading some real philosophical history by Epicurus and looked everywhere for this picture so I hope you enjoy it! 

Don't believe the lies and spin.

Angry Rant #28: ...And the Burqa gets the cut.

So, if you've been living under a rock for the last few days, you would have missed the news that the Burqa has been officially banned in the land of revolution, France.

So this thing:

Now for someone who is anti-religion, I support this ban. For those that think that it's just a "cultural thing", I implore you to find a women who wears this and ISN'T Muslim.

That being said, I do support people who exercise freedom of expression, but I am stumped when it comes to the burqa. How is it "women's liberation" or "freedom of expression" if we don't actually know who's expressing themselves? If someone has to hide their face when they voice their opinion, why even bother voicing it? Where's the freedom?

Oh wait. 

It's because it's a religious based argument - and when it's a religious argument, anything that's logical flies out the window faster than that stupid Budgie we all had growing up.  

Go on. Fly away. Who will put up with your crap now?

Already, there have been two arrests in France from women who oppose the ban. I'm just very surprised that pro-women groups haven't come out to openly support this ban though. It's just another case of religious empowerment over women by men in an overly dominant religious culture. It's pretty much that simple. 

However, on the other side of the fence, we have a country which is predominately Christian with the largest population of Muslims in Europe, and with Christian leaders, so it's obvious that the laws that have come into place are based on their own moral system and what they've picked up from their own religion - and also because they are fearful of that all powerful "muslim threat" that seems to be sweeping the globe at the moment....much like the "threat" of communism did in the 60s and 70s.

"It's like Red Dawn was real!" - average American.

Give it another 20 years and the Christian and Muslim cultures will be best friends. We'll probably be flying into space together and solving real issues like poverty and finding a cure for cancer, or even cheering on out-spoken Russian spies who have used their fame to become gorgeous models...

Oh wait. That last one actually happened.

Don't believe the lies and spin.

Angry Rant #27: Again with Klingons...

This government just doesn't get it.

They don't know how to separate church from state.

Last week, there was some serious progress made towards having an R18+ category for Video Games, but alas, that bastard Australian Christian Lobby group has stuck it's nose in again. Our last major blockage for having that rating in Australian was the South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, who has since resigned from the position.

But after the elections in Victoria, their new premier Robert Clarke, seems to be siding with the ACL. This argument has become so mind-numbingly fucking stupid, that if I was to ever actually speak with someone at the ACL, it wouldn't be very pleasant. Since all of the States and the Federal Government need to agree on the change for it to happen, it's now become even more difficult for that legislation to pass through.

But not as difficult as trying to reach the top of this flag pole.

This is where it gets worse.

Since the elections in NSW, Fred Nile and his Army of nut-job Christians have gained more power in the senate, so if our newly elected Premier, our own Barry O'Farrell, would like to put new legislation through regarding any other issue, it will have to get a nod of approval from Fred Nile - but Fred Nile will only approve of such legislation if the Liberal Party backs some of their extremist views points - i.e. opposing an R18+ category because it would make it easier for kids to get a hold of violent video games.

Is that because there aren't violent video games on the market that kids can't play?

Child 1: "We have to kill this hooker!!"
Child 2: "Yeah, but before that, we have to blow a hole
in the mo' fo's skull for getting in on our drug deal."

So, it looks like all the adults in the country get the short end of the stick - yet again. If you want a copy of Mortal Kombat, you'll be importing that puppy from your estranged 13-year-old drunk cousin in Texas who shoots at cars as they drive by his house from his rocking chair.

You're typical Religion-hating Hillbilly.

So after all the back and forth nonsense of not actually getting anywhere, what is the only solution? It's pretty simple actually. All the people in power who oppose this idea, need to die out. Literally, they need to just let time do it's thing and BAM! We'll have our rating. Within the next five years, we'll have our first Prime Minister who'll be an X-gener, so until then, import or pirate if you're dying to get it.

Don't believe the lies and spin.

Angry Rant# 26: Religion VS Everything

Now, from the get go, I want to tell you, reader, that what you will be reading will be controversial and some of the images may disturb you - Some people maybe offended, but not in a channel 10 "this man broke his leg, change the channel or close your eyes and think about a basket full of baby orangutans and how much you'd like to cuddle them", kind of way - but if you do believe in some all mighty power, than I suggest you do close your eyes and think of a basket full of monkeys - and I'm not joking. Things are going to get serious.

Deadly serious.

If you do not wish to read a blog that essentially has a 110% disregard for religion and the atrocites that it has been associated with - past, present and future - or discussing the some of the hellish things that have been witnessed by people over the course of human history - then read something else. But if you're looking to have a meaningful discussion on what I've written, then please - read on.

In a news story this week, in regards to the NSW state elections, a story about Fred Nile and abortion came up.

This guy.

For those of you who don't know, Nile was suggesting than an ultrasound picture be taken and shown to the mother before the abortion. That's right - one of these -

Eating my breakfast didn't help in this situation, probably because I started choking on my toast when I heard it.

What can you say to that sort of thing? Do you take it on this chin and take him for the fundamentalist Christian that he is? Or do you show that people are smarter than what he thinks and don't believe in his archaic garbage that was written a couple of thousand years ago by a group of power-hungry mysoginists who were yearning for more control.

We see it time and time again - it dates back to ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt - religion is used as a conformity tool - a tool of oppression to keep people on someone's version of the "straight and narrow". It's used to keep the poor, poor and used to make the rich, well...richer. Now obviously the belief system 4000 years ago was much different than today, but what's the difference between a women being beaten for being in the same house with another man other than her husband and showing the picture of an unborn child to a women who obviously can not bring the child up in the proper environment?

Now of course, It all comes down to choice, but this choice is restricted by religion. It confines it like a rubber band around an ankle - but if you take it off, you go to hell.

Hell....?

Is this hell?

Or this?

How about this?

Looks like hell to me.

It seems to that we are already living in "Hell". Religion is just another factor making it worse. It segregates people, essentially alienating them from everyone else. You only have to watch some poorly written news story on Channel 9 to know how muslims are treated in Western society - not because of the person that they are, but because of the RELIGION that they follow.

If "God" was so devine, why are there so many religions? Why do those that follow a particular one disregard the other? In my eyes, Christianity and Islam are the same thing. They're a set of rules they you're meant to follow, otherwise you'll end up in a place like the pictures above - but even worse.

"Killing in the name of God" - Now that's my favourite one! 

Now, I could very easily point out and bad-mouth all the discrepancies and contradictions in The Bible, but not only would that just be a cheap shot, I don't think that would validate my argument. Like most things, the interpretation of the meaning implied, is what's most important. War, hatred and racism are all a result that can be directly related to Religion. So here's a question - What do YOU think would happen if we had an extremist Christian running our country? Religion itself is a personal thing to many people, but it has no right, at all, to be in the walls of a governmental building (That means both Abbott and Nile) If those that are in power need to refer to teachings of 2000 year old novel to be able to make the right decision, then we have the wrong people in power.

Although she's an Atheist, I still don't think she should be in power. 

We need people who know what is right - in terms of what is morally correct and what it's economically viable. Now of course, there are going to be times when the two can not merge together, but that does not mean that a religious point of view needs to be brought in for a decision to be made. It's utter laziness.

To me, those that follow a religion can't be accepting of others as in a "Love you Neighbour, but only if they love what you love" way. They have they're own narrow view of the world and will continue to look at the world from a keyhole. For them, saying that everything that's ever happened on this planet was because of God, instead of logically trying to find an explanation for why something has actually happened is they're only option. Take for example this picture:

Now because the napkin says that it is the "true religion", the people who follow that religion will naturally believe everything that it written within it that napkin will be true as well. If it says that everything on this planet came from "God" and that "God" is the only reason why you exist, then that is lazy. As people, aren't we supposed to be striving for greater intelligence and knowledge? Too seek out the answers, and not just take the easy route and sing 'Hallelujah' every Sunday?

Seriously.

Found this on YouTube - you should watch it. 

Tell me what you think.

Don't believe the lies and spin.