The Good, The Bad, And The Fluffy

All things considered, it hasn't been a bad year for me.  It definitely hasn't been a good year, but looking at all the people who died from COVID-19, or lost loved ones to the disease, or lost their jobs during the quarantine, and so on... I feel like I got off easy.  Not scot free, mind you, as we did suffer tragedies of our own, but things could have been so much worse.

While some people had trouble making rent, we actually did better financially this year than we had in a while.  The stimulus checks certainly helped, but I think most of our success was just because we rarely left the house.  We managed to pay off a few credit cards, and now we have more money left over at the end of the month.  

But of course, life can't just let you get off that easy.  We recently found out that one of our cats has a dental condition called stomatitis, and she may need to have all her teeth removed.  The good news is that cats who have this done can live perfectly normal lives afterwards, and can often still eat solid food.  

The bad news is the price.  Apparently this procedure can cost up to $5000.  We might be able to get it done for $3500 if we drive to Knoxville for the procedure.  We are currently weighing our options, and seeing if there are cheaper dentists.  I've seen people online say they had it done for $1500, but they might live in cheaper states.

Someone in the family has suggested putting her down, but I'm not going to do that for an otherwise healthy, four year old cat.  So it's either come up with the money, or... well, I don't know.  But so much for paying off those credit cards.

"The Party of Christianity"

The US has a two party system.  We'd like to think that isn't true, that anyone has a chance of winning the election, but the truth is that most people are afraid to vote third party.  Until we change the way voting works, most elections will come down to Democrat or Republican.

The primary goal of Democrats is to change the world for the better.  They're not always right.  Their ideas won't always work.  But the point is, they try.  You miss every shot you don't take, and at least the Democrats are taking shots.   

Republicans want to keep things as stagnant as possible, as long as that means they stay in power.  Moving forward is scary, moving backward feels safe.  They think that helping others means there will be fewer resources for themselves.  Which is logical, except that they want to hoard more resources than they could ever use themselves, rather than give any to someone they don't feel earned it.

None of this is surprising.  The world pretty much always comes down to altruism vs. greed, and politics are no exception.  The part that makes me angry is that Republicans like to call themselves the party of Christianity, despite having ideals that are diametrically opposed to what Jesus believed.

Democrats want everyone to have access to food, healthcare, and a place to sleep.  Republicans liken these needs to trophies, as in "Democrats think everybody should gets a participation trophy."  I don't know how to explain to you the difference between being allowed to survive, and a cheap reward that sits on your mantel.  If you're really that fucking stupid, I can't help you, but you have to at least recognize that Jesus would think you're an asshole.

Democrats want fewer mass shootings.  Shootings scare Republicans, but only because they know it will spark more talk of gun control.  A Democrat's first reaction to a school shooting is, "Oh no, those poor children."  A Republican's first reaction is, "Oh no, my poor guns."  Fucking monsters.  What would Jesus do?  Not this.

Democrats believe in science.  Republicans refuse to believe in a pandemic even when their own grandparents die from it.  I have trouble believing that Jesus would be okay with the Republican attitude of, "It's okay, the virus only kills old people."

Democrats want to offer citizenship to people fleeing life-threatening situations in their home countries.  Republicans claim there isn't room, when what they really mean is that there isn't room for brown-skinned people.  This might be a good time to remind you that Jesus wasn't Caucasian.

Democrats want cops to stop shooting innocent people.  Republicans would happily give cops "judge, jury, and executioner" status as long as it only applied to black people.  "If they would follow the law, this wouldn't happen," they say (while breaking the law themselves by ignoring the mask mandate), completely ignoring how many of these executions were a response to no crime whatsoever.  I wonder how Jesus - a man who was literally crucified for telling people they should be nice to each other - would react to these executions.

Jesus believed in loving everyone, even if they're different from you.  A Republican's love is conditional.  Love thy neighbor, unless they're gay, transgender, foreign, or worship a different god.  

Yes, I'm angry.  Yes, I'm insulting Republicans again.  And Christians.  I know you can't insult people into agreeing with you.  But the people angering me aren't going to change their minds no matter what I say, so I might as well blow off some steam.

I'm absolutely sick of Republicans doing anything and everything to persecute those who are already downtrodden, and then calling it Christianity.  I turn on the news this month, and all the Republicans are doing lately is attacking transgender people, defending racist cops, and trying to keep minorities from voting.  You seriously call this Christianity?

Before you tell me "most Christians aren't like that" - Great!  Prove me wrong!  But don't whine to me, whine at all those fake Christians!  They're the ones making you look bad, don't you want them to stop?  By doing nothing, you're complicit in the damage they're doing to your religion's reputation.  Get off your ass and correct them.  

When you see a Republican candidate doing something obviously anti-Christian, call them out on it.  Write letters to your senator.  Protest.  At the very least, don't vote for them.  This "I know he's a monster, but at least he's not a Democrat" attitude has to stop.  Research the other side (Fox News doesn't count as research) and stop electing monsters.

If you don't at least try to talk some sense into your compatriots, then I'm going to assume you believe the same things they do.  Voting for bigots means you're a bigot.  I don't care if you voted for him because you liked his tax plan or whatever, you still voted for the guy who ran on a platform of bigotry.

You can be a Republican or a Christian, but you can't be both.  The very concept of a "Christian Republican" is laughable.

Seriously?

Let's see what's going on in the world today...

Tennessee is trying to ban books that even mention LGBT people from public schools.

The Catholic church opposed a suicide hotline because some of the people it helped were LGBT.

North Carolina bill encourages state workers to report children who act outside gender norms.

The world is more unhinged than ever.  I'm going back to bed.

Study: 400k Lives Might Have Been Saved

Article:

U.S. COVID Response Could Have Avoided Hundreds of Thousands of Deaths

In short, research indicates that nearly 400k deaths might have been avoided if someone sane had been in charge during the earlier days of the pandemic.  And for those too heartless to care about the lives, it also would have been less expensive for our country.

I get no pleasure from saying "I told you so."  Hell, I wish to god I'd been wrong about Trump.  I would wear a MAGA hat in my Facebook profile if it would bring back those 400k lives.

Again, if you voted for Trump in 2016, I blame you.  I'm not saying this to hurt you (though I do hope it hurts), I'm saying this so you won't do it again when the next obviously unhinged political candidate tries to run on a platform of xenophobia.  

Your decision to vote for that racist, misogynistic monster led to the deaths of 400 thousand human beings.  You helped bring this about.  You have killed.  You are a mass murderer.  

Don't say, "I couldn't have known," because we warned you at the time.  No, we didn't know about the upcoming pandemic, but we did warn you that Trump wasn't mature enough to handle any potential crisis that might come along.  We warned you, you ignored us, and now you're a murderer.

But no, some of you are going to read this, and shrug it off.  You're going to say the study is flawed, even though you haven't read it.  You're going to rationalize that Clinton would have somehow been worse.  Maybe you're actually that irrational, or maybe you've brainwashed yourself because it's the only way you can sleep at night.  

If you're that far gone, then there's nothing I could ever say that would convince you, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just stop reading my blog.  There is nothing for you here.  You will not learn, you will not grow.  Go stagnate somewhere else, you worthless piece of subhuman garbage.  You are no longer welcome here.

Twitter Laugh

It always gives me a cheap thrill when a celebrity (whether major or minor) likes, retweets, or comments on something I posted.  Legendary comic book author Gail Simone is especially good at interacting with her fans.  

Today James Gunn tweeted about Michael Rooker playing a character called "Savant" in the new Suicide Squad movie.  

Gail Simone replied with, "I created this guy!"

I replied, "You created Savant, or you created Michael Rooker?  Either way, good job!"

Gail replied to my tweet with, "I created Savant, I feel Michael Rooker was created when a case of bourbon fucked a motorcycle."

James Gunn replied with, "How did you know?"

I'm really proud to have been part of that exchange.

Link.

Dream: McDonald's Invaders

A quick and simple one.  Last night I dreamed that instead of those ordering screens in the lobby, McDonalds had video game machines that also let you order food.  You would play a level of a 3D Space Invaders style game, but with flying food instead of aliens.  You would attempt to only shoot the items you wanted to order.  If you successfully got through the level unscathed, you could submit the order and get 10% off the ticket.

This kept the line down at the counter, since most people wanted to play the game and get the discount.  Unfortunately, the line to the video game machines was pretty long, so people who were in a hurry still ordered at the counter.

Also, I slept in a barn, and discovered kittens under my bed.  Oh, and I went grocery shopping with Disney's animated Hercules.  But I don't remember much about that.

Dream: The Soulless

Some dreams are so good that I dream them more than once, with some variations.  Last night I went to see a Disney/Pixar movie that I had already seen in a previous dream.

It was basically a kid-safe zombie movie, though it was still very scary.  People were being turned into what they called "The Soulless" - bald, pale-skinned, mindless zombies who reminded me of the Darkseekers in 2007's "I Am Legend".  

The Soulless didn't eat people, they just grabbed them and turned them into more Soulless.  The Soulless were afraid of the light.  I don't think it actually damaged them, just caused them pain.  Or maybe light was just too bright, since they could see in the dark.  They would wander around aimlessly in the dark, until they detected a human, then they would converge on them.  

I say the movie was kid-friendly because it was animated, bloodless, and because nobody gets killed.  It ended with someone finding a cure, and everyone changing back to normal.  That said, it was still a very frightening movie due to how it was directed.  Plenty of suspense, lots of jump scares.  The animation reminded me of Onward or Frozen - CGI, and everyone has big, friendly eyes.  Even the Soulless were a little reminiscent of Casper, which dulled some of the scariness.

The theater I saw it in was interesting.  First off, it was absolutely freaking huge, like the kind of auditorium where you'd see a rock concert, with a monstrous IMAX-style screen.  Secondly, while the seating section closest to the screen was fairly standard, the back rows were on an incredibly steep incline, so that it was practically a vertical wall of seats.  No danger of anyone's head being in your way, ever.  

Oh, and the seats were extra wide, like loveseats.  Some people even brought blankets so they could stretch out and relax.  I'll tell you, I'd even be willing to watch Wayne's World 2 again if it was at a theater like this.

Anyway, dreams being what they are, sometimes I was in the movie, and other times I was just watching it.  Or a little of both - I was in the theater watching the movie, but the Soulless were attacking the theater itself.  I didn't get to see much of the movie itself this time, so I'm glad I'd already seen it in a previous dream.