“A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.” ~ John Ruskin

Sometimes the simplest gestures speak the loudest . . .

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

While perusing the blogroll on blogsurfer.us, I came across a blog that made the following statement: “Understand the Green Movement has always been, among other things, a front for the Eugenics Movement.” Wow. Really? I mean, are you serious?

The post concluded with the following completely inane statement: “Please turn on every light on in your home on March 2th – Earth Hour. Show them you are on to their lies and deceptions.”

I actually had to go back and read the short post from the beginning to make sure that it wasn’t written tongue-in-cheek. Sadly, the poster was serious. I certainly know that my efforts to recycle, conserve water, avoid styrofoam, and other earth-conscious efforts are all done because I believe in eugenics. You know, eugenics, that Hitler-esque concept in which the human population engages in selective breeding to improve the race? Yessiree, I am a whole-hearted proponent of the very policy that would have me cast aside as a mongrel because of my mixed blood. Self-preservation be damned. Let’s clean up the gene pool.

I girded my loins and perused a few other posts on this blog and came across blanket statements such as the following: ” . . . global warming’ is both real and a threat to the very survival of the human race. Global warming is neither real nor a threat . . . Environmentalism  (for their purposes) has nothing to do with the environment and the sooner people understand this the better.”

How could I have been so stupid all of these years, not to realize that the U.N. is a front for Eugenics? Not to understand that there is no such thing as global warming, which should have been obvious to me because we still have winters? Melting ice caps, pshaw. No such thing . . . How could I not know that the “Green Movement is after our children”? By god, I’m going to turn on every light in my house. That will show them, whoever them is. And that huge power bill that I’ll get will really show them . . .

Color me green with nausea over the rampant ignorance of the misinformed. I’m trying to be gentle here . . .

“When ignorance gets started, it knows no bounds” ~ Will Rogers

Along those same lines, I was reading a post that was mentioned by someone in my blogroll (Seeing Eye Chick), and I came across some images and videos that made my hair straighten (can’t curl as it already is). I thought that I’d share. There is this obviously racist one which deserves no explanation:

Or this lovely one promoting the use of gun violence:

Or this one which is not big on subtlety:

“The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.” ~ Albert Camus

And finally, let’s close with this wonderful video in which the woman featured is simply giddy over her message. . .

  

Lovely. Simply lovely. Free speech is a wonderful thing. Too bad the Constitution didn’t include an ignorance caveat.

“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.” ~ Elbert Hubbard  

Seriously, though, all of this might actually be funny, entertaining even, if it were not true, if the people yelling, carrying signs, and posting rants did not believe what they are saying.  Listen. I never claimed to have all of the answers, nor have I ever said that my way of thinking is the only way of thinking, and that’s what separates my flaming liberal, left-wing feminist sensibilities from the Tea Baggers, and birthers, and conspiracy theorists: They are so certain that theirs is the real truth, the only truth, and anyone who opposes them is damned for all eternity.

I mean consider: I did not like George Bush as POTUS. I think that he was inept and power-hungry. That being said, I would have stood up when he entered the room, and given the chance, I would have addressed him as Mr. President because that is the courtesy that is is due the President of the United States. It’s called respect for the office, common courtesy, manners. What we are seeing now is a social conflagration that is being fueled and perpetuated by hatred, unmasked hatred for President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Democrats . . . insert the name of anyone who opposes.

The New Deal was called socialism: Did anyone turn down the opportunities afforded by it? Medicare was called socialism: How many Tea Baggers (a large number of whom are over 65) turn down their right to Medicare? Healthcare reform is now being labeled as socialism: How many people will refuse coverage on principle?

I would weep and gnash my teeth if I had not already been rendered emotionally bereft of feeling over the current furor.

More later. Peace.

Red House Painters, “All Mixed Up”

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“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ~ Anais Nin

Anais Nin (1932)

“Who am I, you ask? I don’t know, my friend. I am all the languages I ever spoke, I am all the places I ever lived, I am all the people I ever met, I am all the women I ever loved, I am all the writers I ever read; I am all my ancestors—but at least they had the decency of never thinking of themselves as writers. Who am I, you ask? I don’t know, my friend; I don’t even know who is writing this page.” ~ Jorge Luis Borges

The migraine finally seems to be receding. I swear that it felt as if my skull were being ripped open from back to front. Too graphic? Perhaps, but the truth, nevertheless. At the moment, it is just a tight band above my eyes, though thankfully, not behind my eyes.

I spent some time today catching up on my blogroll. Spending too long looking at the monitor was just painful, so I hadn’t read any of my regulars in a few days. It’s always nice to read what everyone else is writing, not to mention, I often get inspired by things that I have seen or read on other people’s sites.

“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”  ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Still Life,” Baron Adolf de Meyer (1908)

Since it’s Friday, I thought that I might just muse a bit on nothing in particular . . .

• Why is the Palin family in Los Angeles, going to pre-Academy Awards events? Didn’t the Palinator criticize Levi Johnston for being “too hollywood”? Oh, that’s right. what Palin says about other people does not apply to her or her family. I keep forgetting. Sorry.
• Unbelievably, an Israeli Defense Forces soldier posted the details on a planned incursion into the West Bank on his Facebook page. He also posted his phone number. Let me get this straight: there are idiots running amok who don’t have sense enough not to leak military plans on a social network, but our own Congress is still debating over Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell?  Hello? I think that instead of DA/DT, there should be stupid-ometers, but then, what do I know . . .
• Former W. advisor Karl Rove declared that he “wasn’t George Bush’s brain.” Well I’m glad that’s been cleared up for posterity. Now all we need to do is figure out who was W.’s brain.
• Word is that the Smurf cartoon characters are going to be turned into a movie. Smurfs? Really? Why? Was anyone else bothered by the fact that only one female Smurf lived with an entire village of male Smurfs?
• Along those same lines, Gilligan’s Island is heading for the big screen. This version will be modernized. Wow. I wonder if they’ll have 3G service on the island. Will the professor’s bicycle-powered generator make an appearance? Will they ever explain how Mary Ann made coconut cream pies without an oven? Just wondering.
• Why oh why are members of the “Jersey Shore” continuing to garner appearances? I mean, I know that Leno is trying to pump up his “Tonight Show” return, but Snooki? Please. And pitting these poster children for overblown excess (redundant, I know) in a battle of the brains spoof is just painful. Mexico a state? Seriously? Catcher in the . . . closet? Stoopit, just plain stoopit.

Let’s just leave it at that. Shall we?

More later. Peace.

Missy Higgins, “Where I Stood”