Relaxed Focus

Friday, February 19, 2016

Religion, making everything worse since always.

Well, that's fucking terrifying.

Muslim Beliefs About Sharia | Pew Research Center: "Among those who want sharia to be the law of the land, in 10 of 20 countries where there are adequate samples for analysis at least half say they support penalties such as whippings or cutting off the hands of thieves and robbers...

"In 10 of 20 countries where there are adequate samples for analysis, at least half of Muslims who favor making sharia the law of the land also favor stoning unfaithful spouses.

...in six of the 20 countries where there are adequate samples for analysis, at least half of those who favor making Islamic law the official law also support executing apostates."

I continue to stand by my idea that people are good to the extent they ignore the doctrines of their "infallible" magic books and their gods self-appointed representatives on Earth.

"Everybody for President."

The Guns and Dope Party? 5 Great (Mostly) Farcical Political Parties | Alternet:

"1. The Guns and Dope Party.

Robert Anton Wilson was a patron saint of the countercultural underground and Jack-of-all-writerly-trades, serving as associate editor of Playboy from 1965-'71 and authoring some 35 books, including The Illuminatus! Trilogy, co-written with Robert Shea. Wilson gave us the concept of “model agnosticism,” which holds that nothing should be regarded with absolute belief or denial, and once said, “My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."

In the early 1980s, Wilson founded the anarcho-libertarian Guns and Dope Party, which advocates,

“(1) guns for those who want them, no guns forced on those who don't want them (pacifists, Quakers etc.);

(2) drugs for those who want them, no drugs forced on those who don't want them (Christian Scientists, etc.);

(3) an end to Tsarism and a return to constitutional democracy; and

(4) equal rights for ostriches.”

In direct contrast to the Birthday Party, which promotes Nobody for President, the Guns and Dope Party platform is Everybody for President, and encourages us all to write in our own names at every election. The party also suggests everyone become a “genuine and authorized” tsar, a feat achieved by printing out a free card. Plus, its motto is one anyone could get on board with: "Like what you like, enjoy what you enjoy, don't be afraid to make slurping sounds, and don't take crap from anybody.”"

"Bill lied and hid behind the skirts of his wife and female cabinet members, who had to go out before the cameras and vouch for his veracity, even when it was apparent he was lying."

Younger Women Not Voting for Hillary Because She Killed Feminism - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Why aren't women en masse—or at least in Democratic primaries and polls—flocking in support of the first female president in U.S. history? Is it that "intersectionality" (the idea that race, class, and gender are so intertwined that even self-identified feminists no longer care first and foremost about gender) now reigns supreme in terms of cultural and political identity? Is it that women have achieved enough equality that the lure of voting for the first female president isn't as big a deal as it would have been even 10 years ago? Is it ageism? Or lack of gratitude by younger women for the struggles their mothers and grandmothers went through?

Or is it, as Maureen Dowd argues in The New York Times, a result of the leading role that Hillary Clinton played in revealing "feminism" to be a cyncial cover for more-important Democratic Party interests?

Hillary and Bill killed the integrity of institutional feminism back in the ’90s — with the help of Albright and [NOW co-founder Gloria] Steinem. Instead of just admitting that he had had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and taking his lumps, Bill lied and hid behind the skirts of his wife and female cabinet members, who had to go out before the cameras and vouch for his veracity, even when it was apparent he was lying. Seeing Albright, the first female secretary of state, give cover to President Clinton was a low point in women’s rights. As was the New York Times op-ed by Steinem, arguing that Lewinsky’s will was not violated, so no feminist principles were violated. What about Clinton humiliating his wife and daughter and female cabinet members?"