- Are You the Lifestyle Police?
To give everyone some idea of what the new StM forum is like, and to maybe nudge some of you who are teetering on the edge of signing up, I thought I’d open up one of our current discussions to the general public. Although I doubt very much that the “general public” reads this site, but you know what I mean. The topic, started by our moderator Jason, is about the phrase “lifestyle police” and how it relates to vegans, health advocates and so on. Or in his words,
I see it get lobbed at lifestyle change advocates who do try and use politics for change as well as those who only ask for personal responsibility. So it has become a quick term of dismissal in general.
We very quickly turned the discussion to smoking, but the beauty of a community forum is that the discussion goes wherever each participant takes it. So, if you have any thoughts on this issue, please read the current entries and then add your two cents. Your response doesn’t have to be long, or even coherent.
How? Hit the “reply” button on the top right of the board. It will ask you for a name. Use any name or random combination of words you like. It will ask you for an email. This will be visible, so if you don’t wish to use your real email, then just make one up (smitty@tofucats.biz or something like that). Then opine away. Please be aware that we have some strict rules about formatting (plain black text, no pictures or movies, etc.) to keep things nice and clean, so your post may be edited for appearance by myself or Jason if necessary.
If you enjoy the process, and the discussion, then join the forum for real and have interesting discussions like this one on a regular basis.
And thanks to those of you who have already registered and have been participating. Although some of you who have registered have yet to write anything, and so I hope you will post an introduction of yourself and jump in soon! I promise it will be painless.
- Why is it News When Celebrities Have Babies?
Why is it news when celebrities have babies?
In fact, is it news when celebrities have babies? Answer: It’s not news when celebrities have babies. And yet it is treated as news when celebrities have babies. I guess the rest of the world, when they hear that a celebrity is having a baby, thinks that it’s news. But why do so many seem to think that it’s news when celebrities have babies? Is the news of a celebrity having a baby really all that interesting to people? Because when I hear the news that a celebrity is having a baby, I just sort of shrug my shoulders and move on. But when other people hear the news that a celebrity is having a baby, I guess they think that’s really interesting or relevant or newsworthy or something.
Why is it news when celebrities have babies?
- Vegan = PETA = Terrorist
I have complained about PETA before, and will most likely do so again, so I’m sorry to repeat myself.
But it goes without saying that the general public thinks that PETA is a vegan organization and that all vegans are members of PETA. But the general public also thinks that Barack Obama would make a better BBQ guest than John McCain, and so I have no idea what to make of what is on the minds of the general public.
But what is important is that vegans get a lot of bad press, sometimes justifiably, but most of the time not so. For instance, this celebrity (someone I have never heard of, but then I don’t really get out much) writes about a recent bad experience with a makeup artist who “proceeded to walk up to me and ream me about eating meat the entire time I ate!”
Now, first of all, I would be really curious as to what, exactly, constitutes a ‘reaming.’ In political coverage, for instance, newspapers and blogs love to use headlines like this one: “Obama slams McCain, Bush on economy.” Whenever a wrestling term is invoked, I am always immediately suspicious of the person using it. Two people disagreeing about a political subject, and having a discussion about it, is not equivalent to ’slamming’ someone down on the ground. So, was the celebrity omnivore really the victim of a full-on ‘reaming?’ Perhaps so, perhaps not. I’d be really curious to have a tape or transcript of that conversation to see what was really said and how it was said.
But here’s the crux of the matter:
Call me crazy, but you would think that if a person wanted you to understand their cause, they would be KIND to you..informative, etc. Nope, I have never got that from a vegan. I always get the nut jobs. It almost reminds me of terrorists! This is one of the many reasons I cannot support PETA.
On the one hand, I tend to believe that this is yet another example of how anyone who is different is dismissed as ‘angry’ or a ‘nut job.’ On the other hand, there are a few angry vegans out there (sometimes I am one), and there are also some angry atheists out there, too (again, sometimes me).
But irrespective of any of that, why is it that PETA is thought of as THE vegan organization, and why is it that anytime anyone has a problem with any vegan, PETA is immediately invoked?
It seems to be the case, for a lot of people, that if they have one bad run-in with a member of a group, they are likely to judge all members of the group based upon the actions of that one person. For instance, a while ago I was at my local barber shop and one of the people waiting to get his hair cut was ranting about a run-in he had had with a person on a bike (as he was driving his pickup truck). The person on the bike apparently rode out in front of him or disobeyed some traffic law or did some stupid thing, and the story ended with the truck driver saying something like ‘I wish those stupid people on bikes would just stop being idiots!’ Now, being an ex-car-owner myself, I had the immediate urge to add ‘yeah, and how about those stupid people in their trucks and SUVs? I wish they’d get their act together, too!’ But I didn’t, mainly because I didn’t want to get ‘reamed’ or ’slammed.’
It’s true that there are a lot of vegans out there not helping the cause, as it were, through their personal behavior. But it is also true that one vegan, and even one organization, does not represent or speak for all vegans or the animal rights issue itself. Just like one man does not speak for all men, or one woman for all women, or one left-handed Pakistani for all left-handed Pakistanis.
And it is also true that what we eat and how we live are such personal and fundamental issues that, no matter how well the average vegan or non-believer or anarchist or whatever behaves, just being in one or more of those groups will tend to color other people’s perception of anything you say or do simply because of the ingrained cultural norms that your mere presence threatens.
So, on the one hand, I’d love to say that we should all be very careful and avoid stepping on other people’s toes with our crazy beliefs. But on the other hand, I’d also say that we can’t possibly please everyone we meet (something about not being able to please all of the people all of the time springs to mind), and that no matter how much we bend over backwards to be nice, our principles will always bother some people. Like many things in life, it’s important to take things on a case-by-case basis, and I’d simply say to use common sense and be appropriate for whatever situation you happen to find yourself in.
For instance, if you find yourself at a photo shoot with a meat eater, perhaps while they’re eating is not the best time to try and do some vegan outreach. At the same time, if you find yourself confronted by an angry vegan, it might behoove you to remember that she only speaks for herself.
- Reason No. 1,567 Why I Love Oregon
The hard-working ethic of the regional Mexican cocaine gangs; who, in the waning moments of the local fake meth crisis, have, in the great tradition of American entrepreneurism, “stepped up to the plate, bringing cocaine back” to Oregon.
Way to go, boys. Thank goodness there are still people out there who are willing to ’step up to the plate’ and take action when America needs it most.
- Weekend Plans
I know some of you are jetting off to your summer homes in Monte Carlo this weekend. Me, I’ll be here on the StM campus refilling the vegan vending machines. It’s really difficult to get hummus in a vending machine, let me tell you.
But whatever your plans are for this weekend, it’d be a great time to join the StM forum and find out what your fellow StM listeners/readers have to say about the world in which we live. So far, it’s been a truly rewarding experience for me, and I don’t say such things lightly. The level of discussion has been very high, and it’s not really like any other forum out there. At least, I hope that is the case.
So, if you’re looking for other like-minded people to have a serious and funny and enlightening conversation with, and you’re willing to be an active participant, then sign up, won’t you?
- Random, Mild Annoyances
1. Saying “www” when giving your website address.
For the love of Zeus, please save some precious seconds of my life and yours by not saying “double-you, double-you, double-you” to me when you don’t need to.
2. Using the phrase “turn of the century” to incorrectly refer to the year 1900.
The turn of the 20th century happened over 100 years ago, and the phrase “turn of the century” now refers to the event that happened eight years ago, namely the beginning of the 21st century. Do you remember where you were at the turn of the century? I do, because it was less than a decade ago. Is it too much to ask to at least try and keep up with the passing of time?
3. Venerating dead celebrities.
Where do celebrities go when they die? They are seared into our memories forever with the corporate news version of “enhanced interrogation,” a never-ending series of clips, soundbites, interviews, homages, video montages and televised emotional breakdowns designed to shatter our wills and force us to accept the cult of celebrity as our Truth. This juggernaut of mourning is cynically calculated to squeeze one final ounce of ratings and profits from the recently departed, who, we are made to believe, were the kindest, most decent, most important people who have ever lived. And it seems to work, too.
Tim Russert and George Carlin, we hardly knew ye; but now we really, really know ye, far more than we wanted to even when ye were alive.
- Our Peaceful Hindu Friends
The people of India have been scaring me more and more lately. I think it started with that Richard Gere public kissing incident last year. And the fact that Indian honor killings have been on the rise. And, just like in other parts of Asia and the Middle East, being born an Indian girl is now a serious health risk. And finally, what we really need is more “Hindu Terrorism.”
Of course, this is not really new at all, just the coverage and acknowledgment of it is. I think the world generally considers India to be a mostly enlightened nation (whether rightly or wrongly), since they have a rich history but also embrace technology and the existence of the wider world. And yet, even in the world of Hinduism, a religion generally considered by most to be peaceful, you see some rather disturbing aspects of a misogynist, caste-driven society.
Which is just what the world needs more of right now.
So, Hindus, please don’t get too angry about that stupid Mike Myers movie, okay? We don’t like it either.
- 024 - Life, the Universe and Everything
Life’s too short to worry about crap:
Balance in Life
Letterman on Clinton
Entertainment Tonight on Clay-GateBeethoven Adagio Cantabile from Sonata No. 8 (Pathetique)
Change will do you good:
- The StM Forum
I’m very excited to announce the opening up of the new StM discussion board (or forum, as you kids call it) to the general public.
This will be a place where we can discuss the usual StM subjects, such as atheism, veganism, introvertism (is that a word? no) and so on, but where we can also talk about anything that isn’t covered adequately elsewhere. And, at the same time, we can build a little community of people who perhaps feel somewhat alone in a sea of normalcy around them.
Now I know this might seem somewhat scary to the introverts out there, this potential socialization, but rest assured that this forum will be heavily biased in your favor, and it will be populated by people just like you.
So, if you are willing to be an active participant (no lurkers will be allowed), then sign up today.
The forum’s main moderator (along with, occasionally, me) will be long-time listener and commenter Jason. So you are free, in this forum, to disagree with the host of the StM podcast and the author of this blog freely (although I don’t know why you’d want to) without fear of some kind of reprisal. Not that I’d ever do anything like that. Really.
Getting this set up and somewhat active has been one of the things that has been keeping me from recording podcasts recently, although it is certainly not the only thing. So, it looks like I’m back now for real with regular content and I hope you continue to find good reasons to come back here on a regular basis.
- Gas
America’s local news channels have been going crazy lately over the price of gas. Most of them have a regular cheapest gas station in town segment or something like that on their website. And there are all kinds of stories out there about long lines at the gas pumps and other trifling inconveniences.
Once again, when something really significant is happening, our media is failing us.
There is an international fuel crisis happening right now. And it has to do with violence in the Middle East, the oil supply, price gouging and fixing, and many other things. Too bad none of that makes it into these stories about what’s happening at the local gas station. Too bad that, when the price of oil per barrel is reported, one is given the impression that the price is either a completely random number that no one understands, or that it is handed down from heaven by the Great Tycoon in the sky and there’s just nothing anyone can do about it. One gets the impression, reading the host of articles on this subject recently, that the international oil industry is a quorum of hapless rubes, just as much the victims of unforeseen circumstances as the rest of us.
And meanwhile the situation is affecting the price of everything from the food we eat to who the police chase after. It is obviously beginning to have a snowball effect that could spiral out of control. (Sorry to mix my metaphors there.)
But, as much as I’d love to be able to solely blame the media, or the oil companies, or Dick Cheney, or the Saudi royal family, these are really only bit players after the fact. Once again the blame for our troubles must be placed squarely at our own feet.
Remember the 1990s? I do. I went to and graduated from college, I drove across the country from Ohio to Oregon, I got the chicken pox at the age of 22. What a fun time. I also remember, though, the rise of the dreaded SUV. One could not turn around without running into an SUV. One could not turn on the TV without seeing commercials for SUVs over and over. Everyone wanted them, and everyone bought them. It’s as if no one remembered what happened in the 1970s, when everyone bought all those big American cars, and no one remembered the subsequent necessity of the smaller, more efficient cars from Japan and Germany in the 1980s. It’s as if a majority of people were just outright selfish, short-sighted and willfully ignorant.
Fast forward to now, when people are living longer, having just as many or more babies than ever, eating food that requires enormous death and devastation, living in mcmansions, buying SUVs, boats, RVs and trucks, producing enormous amounts of unnecessary plastic and tossing much of it right into the landfill, and driving their cars two blocks down the street instead of walking.
The energy crisis, and its impending offspring, the food crisis, is entirely of our making and our own lifestyle choices. It is entirely because of our reliance upon coal for electricity and cars for transportation while continuing to expand our population and our lifestyle. It is entirely because anyone who has tried to suggest that we ought to do otherwise has, for decades, been culturally branded as a hippie, or a liberal, or a do-gooder, or a tree-hugger, or a terrorist, or a party pooper, and has been mocked, ridiculed and marginalized by all of the good, decent ‘normal’ people among us.
Well, we can no longer afford such mindless, unwavering normalcy. I just wish people would think of that next time they’re at the gas station.