Meet Vincent, Our New Addition
A little over two weeks ago we took in the most adorable, lovable, rambunctious, hilarious kitten I have ever come into contact with. Simply, he is irresistible and so cute I can barely stand it.
We named him Vincent and he was eight weeks old when he first came to live with us, making him about ten weeks now. He came to us after his previous owner found him to be too needy and he needed to be in a place with people who were home a lot and who could give him the attention he craves so much. He’s needy in the sense that he is pretty adamant on being on you whenever possible and if you don’t pick him up as soon as he sits near your foot, he will cry and if you still don’t pick him up, he will walk around the house crying until you can’t take it anymore, give in, and suddenly spend the next half hour petting and playing with him. What better a match for him than someone who doesn’t leave the house very often and who works in front of a computer all day with ample space for him to crawl up on their lap and nap?
The first week was a pretty intense adjustment for all of us, since we have a cat, Devin, who is nearly four years old who was none too pleased with a new kitten attempting to take over. Devin had a whole lot of jealousy going on and was very territorial; for a few days she was downright pissed at me and my partner and every time we would even pet Vincent, she would give us this look that I could only decode as “How could you do this to me!?” but now she has taken Vincent under her wing so to speak, and they’re sleeping all curled up together every day and playing whenever they’re not sleeping or fighting over each other’s food bowls.
More pictures after the jump.
The Mosque (Sorta Kinda) Near Ground Zero and Muslim Panic
I had intended to write about this back in August, when practically every few minutes a new report or news story would be spreading like wildfire around Twitter and Facebook, claiming that the “Ground Zero mosque” would be the ultimate sign of disrespect to the people who lost their lives there, that it would be a training ground for terrorists, that it undermines everything America stands for, that the U.S. would inevitably be turned into an Islamic society where we would all be forced to operate under Shariah law, and the list goes on and on.
After sitting on this for a few days and seeing the news stories die down, I figured that I would be coming in a little late with this and decided to scrap the whole post and just move on. Then the news stories picked up again and to this day, you can’t spend a few minutes online or pick up a newspaper or magazine without seeing this whole insidious debate continue. After reading a whole lot of news stories about this, the only thing I have deduced from the dissenting viewpoints, the outrage and the political commentary is that what this “Ground Zero mosque” debate has really turned into is Muslim panic.
Just like with the Red Scare where the American people were hunting down Communists who were believed to be influencing society and the government from 1947 to 1957, the same is being done today; we have merely just replaced the word Communist with the word Terrorism. We are feeding off of the fear that has been instilled into the American people’s minds, just like it was in the ’40s and ’50s, in order to create Muslim panic. There is a very strong “us and them” vibe to the country right now where no one has yet realized that there are Muslim people and Muslim extremists and they are different.
Another thing that hasn’t received much media coverage, surprise surprise, is that there was a real “Ground Zero mosque” and it was on the 17th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower. Muslims had a place within the World Trade Center, so why should they not be allowed to even have something to do with a building in Manhattan blocks away from Ground Zero? Well, your guess is as good as mine.
Keith Olbermann aired a Special Comment in mid-August about the community center, not a mosque, that will be built blocks away from Ground Zero, not right on top of it and not right across the street. As always with Keith Olbermann Special Comments, he got it right.
Transcript after the jump. Read more
Sex-Positivity
I'm passionate about sex-positivity and believe every sexual being should have the freedom to explore their sexuality safely and without condemnation. I even lost my ad network after my refusal to censor myself after reviewing feminist porn.So if you're in the market for sex toys, porn, books, etc. take a look at the retailers below, all of which are feminist-friendly.
Out Campaign
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
