I am frequently accused of being a Scrooge, a Grinch, choose your insult because I tend to celebrate Christmas in my own fashion instead of just blindly thinking that what everyone else thinks is cool is.
And yes, I do say "Happy Holidays", get over it. The fact is, despite Christian egocentrism, that some people do NOT celebrate Christmas. And, yes, my Christian friends, your Jewish/Athiest/Agnostic/Muslim/Buddhist/Hindu friends really DO mind you wishing them Merry Christmas. The only reason that you think that they don't is because they smile and thank you so as not to hurt your sensitive feelings. It is only your insensitivity that allows you to force Merry Christmas on people that you know damned WELL don't celebrate.
One thing that I don't understand about modern Christmas is why are polar bears and penguins suddenly symbols of Christmas? All right, okay, I BUY if not AGREE WITH polar bears because they are at the north pole, where Santa is, but penguins live on entirely the wrong side of the Earth.
On to "Christmas Carols". I love Christmas music, especially spiritual music. Away In A Manger, Silent Night… these are great songs.
But there are some songs that are NOT Christmas songs that we only hear at Christmas time, passed off as Christmas carols. Frosty The Snowman is NOT a Christmas carol, nor is My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. Sleigh Ride isn't a Christmas song, nor is Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow. Why not? Because they don't mention Christmas, Santa, the Nativity or Christ. To me, this renders them NOT Christmas songs. Good King Wencaslas is not a Christmas song. It says "Good King Wencaslas looked out on the FEAST OF STEPHEN." Saint Stephen's feast day is December 26th, not Christmas.
And one that's always kind of bugged me is a lyric from "Do You Hear What I Hear?" I can't help but think that this song was originally in another language, and got either mistranslated or intentionally re-translated to make it flow better. That's the line that says "A child, a child, shivers in the cold, let us bring him silver and gold." First off, NONE of the wise men brought silver to Jesus. They brought gold, incense and myrrh. Second off, if a child shivers in the cold, let us bring him a freaking blanket or a puppy or a teddy bear or something that will keep him warm and stop him shivering, right?
Peace.
Rev. Randal
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Identity Theft 101
Whenever I hear an entertainer like Bill Maher or Michael Moore refer to Americans as "stupid", I feel the need to defend us. I mean… I like both of these entertainers, but the implication is that the rest of America is somehow dumber than them. Or at least the people who disagree with them are dumber than them.
I think that it's not a matter of intelligence, but a matter of choice. "I don't know what I don't know, and you are BY GOD not going to make me know it!" I think that, instead of stupidity, it is a dangerous combination of ignorance and arrogance. (And no… please do not fall into the trap of equating ignorance with stupidity. An ignorant person can be educated if they choose… a stupid person cannot.)
What has specifically brought this to mind for me is the number of people that I have seen using someone else's credit card. We are FREAKING OUT about identity theft. Almost every bank and insurance company now has an "identity protection" arm, and there are also several private companies that do nothing BUT identity protection.
At the same time, we piss and moan if a clerk asks to see our ID for a credit card, or refuses to let us use someone else's card. By the way… if a clerk refuses to let you use daddy's credit card, don't get pissed at them, it's not the store policy. IT IS FEDERAL LAW. It is a federal CRIME to present someone else's card… it's called fraud, because you are presenting yourself as that person when you're not. And then, if you sign their name to the credit slip, you're also guilty of forgery.
And then let's not forget speed pass and speed pay and swipe machines and all of the other things that we insist on for "convenience" that make credit card fraud amazingly easy.
So, we insist that we have all of these "conveniences". Then we lose our card. We don't notice right away. Someone charges a couple hundred dollars worth of crap on it using speed pay, we see the charges, realize that our card is gone. Do we accept this as the price of the conveniences that we insist on? No. We demand that the credit card company or the bank eat the loss. They then turn around and report it to their insurance company and get reimbursed. And then we bitch about how much insurance costs…
So here are my ideas to resolve this…
1) We go back to the old days of credit card presentation. If you present your card… no matter how small the purchase is… we are required to show a photo ID and sign a slip of paper. PERIOD.
2) For online purchases, a pin or password is required for all credit card transactions. You establish the pin with your bank or credit card company, and then that would be used in place of the utterly useless "card security code", which is, insanely, printed on the card.
3) A tip for your own cards. The only time that I have ever lost a credit or debit card was when I lost my entire wallet. A girlfriend of mine would constantly "lose" (read as: forget) her credit and debit cards places. The solution? When you take out your credit or debit card, keep your wallet in your hand until it's returned.
4) Make the merchants responsible for DOUBLE any illegal credit card transactions. They would have to eat the cost of the transaction, and then pay a fine equal to the amount.
If we enacted these things, identity theft would almost become a thing of the past.
But we won't.
Is it because we're stupid? I think not. Lazy, maybe…
Peace.
Rev. Randal
I think that it's not a matter of intelligence, but a matter of choice. "I don't know what I don't know, and you are BY GOD not going to make me know it!" I think that, instead of stupidity, it is a dangerous combination of ignorance and arrogance. (And no… please do not fall into the trap of equating ignorance with stupidity. An ignorant person can be educated if they choose… a stupid person cannot.)
What has specifically brought this to mind for me is the number of people that I have seen using someone else's credit card. We are FREAKING OUT about identity theft. Almost every bank and insurance company now has an "identity protection" arm, and there are also several private companies that do nothing BUT identity protection.
At the same time, we piss and moan if a clerk asks to see our ID for a credit card, or refuses to let us use someone else's card. By the way… if a clerk refuses to let you use daddy's credit card, don't get pissed at them, it's not the store policy. IT IS FEDERAL LAW. It is a federal CRIME to present someone else's card… it's called fraud, because you are presenting yourself as that person when you're not. And then, if you sign their name to the credit slip, you're also guilty of forgery.
And then let's not forget speed pass and speed pay and swipe machines and all of the other things that we insist on for "convenience" that make credit card fraud amazingly easy.
So, we insist that we have all of these "conveniences". Then we lose our card. We don't notice right away. Someone charges a couple hundred dollars worth of crap on it using speed pay, we see the charges, realize that our card is gone. Do we accept this as the price of the conveniences that we insist on? No. We demand that the credit card company or the bank eat the loss. They then turn around and report it to their insurance company and get reimbursed. And then we bitch about how much insurance costs…
So here are my ideas to resolve this…
1) We go back to the old days of credit card presentation. If you present your card… no matter how small the purchase is… we are required to show a photo ID and sign a slip of paper. PERIOD.
2) For online purchases, a pin or password is required for all credit card transactions. You establish the pin with your bank or credit card company, and then that would be used in place of the utterly useless "card security code", which is, insanely, printed on the card.
3) A tip for your own cards. The only time that I have ever lost a credit or debit card was when I lost my entire wallet. A girlfriend of mine would constantly "lose" (read as: forget) her credit and debit cards places. The solution? When you take out your credit or debit card, keep your wallet in your hand until it's returned.
4) Make the merchants responsible for DOUBLE any illegal credit card transactions. They would have to eat the cost of the transaction, and then pay a fine equal to the amount.
If we enacted these things, identity theft would almost become a thing of the past.
But we won't.
Is it because we're stupid? I think not. Lazy, maybe…
Peace.
Rev. Randal
Friday, December 4, 2009
Obama and Afghanistan
First off, I would like to say that any liberal Obama supporters out there who are pissing and moaning about the increased troop commitment in Afghanistan just need to shut the hell up. When he was campaigning for this job in 2008 and he SAID that he would increase the troop commitment in Afghanistan, were you not paying attention, or were you just so busy hoping for change that you didn't hear him?
You have to pay attention.
In his acceptance speech at the convention, he talked about how he argued for more troops in Afghanistan and said " I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan." In the first presidential debate, when asked if we needed more troops in Afghanistan, Obama clearly said "yes" while McCain rambled about not repeating the mistakes of the past. You know, like voting republican.
For the record, I oppose the mess in Afghanistan almost as strongly as I do the mess in Iraq. The big difference is that there WAS a time for us to go into Afghanistan militarily… and that was eight years ago when we had a snowball's chance in hell of catching Osama Bin Laden and bringing him to justice. I believe that chance is gone, and that we don’t belong in there.
All that I'm saying is "don't allow your own wishful thinking to change what the man said". He's not BREAKING a campaign promise, he's KEEPING one.
Also, can we please stop giving the right-wing mediacrocy crap about giving HIM crap for everything that he does? That's their job… that's how they keep their rifle-toting, Bible-thumping, shut-in viewers. The message was, is and shall remain "be afraid of the black guy". It's not going to change. And if you expect fairness from the likes of Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, then you're betting on a lame horse.
You have to pay attention.
In his acceptance speech at the convention, he talked about how he argued for more troops in Afghanistan and said " I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan." In the first presidential debate, when asked if we needed more troops in Afghanistan, Obama clearly said "yes" while McCain rambled about not repeating the mistakes of the past. You know, like voting republican.
For the record, I oppose the mess in Afghanistan almost as strongly as I do the mess in Iraq. The big difference is that there WAS a time for us to go into Afghanistan militarily… and that was eight years ago when we had a snowball's chance in hell of catching Osama Bin Laden and bringing him to justice. I believe that chance is gone, and that we don’t belong in there.
All that I'm saying is "don't allow your own wishful thinking to change what the man said". He's not BREAKING a campaign promise, he's KEEPING one.
Also, can we please stop giving the right-wing mediacrocy crap about giving HIM crap for everything that he does? That's their job… that's how they keep their rifle-toting, Bible-thumping, shut-in viewers. The message was, is and shall remain "be afraid of the black guy". It's not going to change. And if you expect fairness from the likes of Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, then you're betting on a lame horse.
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