Category: Livejournal

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Bush Administration Tries to Redefine Contraception as Abortion

It’s not a joke.

See, there’s this invalid argument technique called “the slippery slope.” You’ve heard of “give ’em an inch and they’ll take a mile?” That’s the slippery slope. It’s a bad way to make an argument. Most of the time.

Not this time…
The New York Times reports that the Bush Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services is drafting a rule that would place new restrictions on domestic family planning programs. While current law allows health care providers and professionals to refuse to provide abortions based on their religious beliefs, this provision would threaten the funding of organizations and health facilities if they do not hire people who would refuse to provide birth control and defines abortion so broadly that it would include many types of birth control, including oral contraception.

Yeah. It’s not a joke. For years, pro-choice advocates have been saying “give ’em an inch, they’ll take a mile.” This administration has redefined words to avoid admitting they’ve comitted crimes against this country’s people, against it’s ideas, against humanity.

And now this. And it’s not a joke.

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Demonstration in Misunderstanding

I received an e-mail recently from a very kind and enthusiastic fan of my work. As usual, e-mails of this kind are one of the only rewards a game designer has, so I was flattered.

But there, in the middle of paragraphs of shameless praise, was this:

I caught a piece of your live journal that piqued my interest. It was about the homosexual being against God. Well, facts are facts, and there is in fact more than one homosexual animal in public. Hell, we even have a set of penguins somewhere in the United States that are gay, refused mates and have reared their own penguin-childling.
 
I assume he’s talking about this post, but I don’t understand how he came to a “John is anti-gay” conclusion.

I just don’t understand…

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Catholic Church = Full of Win

In a clear response to dwindling membership and recent public relations fiascos, the Catholic Church has announced a new policy for funerals.

If you want to attend your mom’s funeral, you’d better sit down, shut up and let the priest do all the talking.

“… specially composed poems and favourite songs are in breach of the diocesan regulations.”

“… jazz musician Paddy Cole revealed yesterday that he was not allowed to play at his mother’s funeral Mass.”

That’s the way to win converts!

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Hancock & Hellboy 2

I do not understand the confusion surrounding Hancock. I did not see/sense/feel a change in tone at any point during the film. I did not feel the film “get darker” as it progressed. In fact, both

[info]mnight

 and I predicted a much darker ending. We didn’t get it, but we were both happy with the results. I didn’t feel the reveal was over-the-top or ill-fitting. It made perfect sense to me. I guess I’m a mutant. It’s a great and tragic love story worthy of the pages of a Marvel comic.  I was highly pleased and even choked up at the end. 

I liked Hellboy and predicted I would also like Hellboy 2. The film begins with a brilliant bed-time story about the end of the world. It charmed me right off the top. I can honestly say that those seven or so minutes bought off any sins the rest of the movie may have had. Fortunately, it had none. Demonstrating a key understanding of what makes faerie tales work, Del Toro and Mignola created a post-modern story that fits right in with a great tradition of faerie tales. I was giddy all the way through. 

Both Hancock and Hellboy 2 are worth your consideration.

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Homosexuality: The “Unnatural” Claim

I can’t believe this is still around, but I keep hearing the “homosexuality is against nature” argument. You know what I mean.

Well, here’s an article (from Scientific American) demonstrating that bisexual behavior not only occurs in nature, but it is actually an evolutionary survival trait. (That means species who have bisexual tendencies tend to survive more often than those who don’t.)

Now, if you like, you can continue to make the “sin argument” or the “it makes me sick” argument or even the “God hates fags” argument.* Go ahead and do that. (I can take those to the back of the woodshed, too.) But please, stop saying that homosexual sex doesn’t occur in nature. You just demonstrate a willing ignorance of facts.

(Not truth, but facts. If you want truth, the Philosophy department is right down the hall.)

___

* Funny thing. If bisexuality is a survival trait, you could almost argue that God favors bisexual species over non-bisexual species. With that evidence in play, how do we justify the homophobic passages of the Bible? Almost as if someone other than God wrote it. Hm…

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Not a good way to begin, lads…

I’m certain I can’t be the first to see this or point it out, but it did make me choke on my afternoon soup…

Player’s Handbook, pg 7: “Throughout the 1980s, the game experienced remarkable growth. Novels, a cartoon series, computer games, and the first campaign settings (Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance) were released…” 

I guess Gary Gygax’s GREYHAWK and Dave Arneson’s BLACKMOORE didn’t count.

… continues reading, tainted already, and I’m only on page 7.

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Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I got a big box in the mail yesterday. It was waiting at my door when I got home from work. Says “Amazon.com”.

Funny… I didn’t order anything recently.

Peel away the tape, open it carefully… and I find a 4E D&D Core Rulebook Collection inside.

I did not order this. I check the receipt. It isn’t billed to my credit card, but there’s a note on the receipt.

“I can’t wait to read what you think…”

*stunned silence*

Someone sent me a D&D 4E boxed set just to see what I’d say about it.

Now, I feel morally obligated to make some kind of comment. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to say or what I’m going to do, but rest assured, it will most certainly be me.

Stay tuned.