Hodge Podge

Got an assortment of things I wanted to talk about today.

First, summer in the Central Valley sucks. Today was the eighth straight day we've had triple digit temperatures. And for the past two days, it hasn't even cooled down at night until about 4 in the morning. To top it all off, the power went off today for about an hour. That's bullshit. If we (and I'm using the societal we, here) want to run our AC 24/7, we should be able to. If the power company can't produce enough power with their existing plants, they should build more. And don't give me that shit about how hydro, wind, and solar energy sources are tapped out. I'm not saying there should be more coal power plants, either. We've been living in the "nuclear age" for more than 60 years. It's about time we actually used it.

Second, I saw Clerks 2 on Friday. It was, hands down, the funniest movie I've seen this year. I highly recommend you get some friends together and go see it. Prior knowledge of the first film is not required, but I do recommend seeing Clerks at some point. So get off your ass and go see it, you little porch-monkey. It's cool, I'm taking it back.

Speaking of racism, I was talking with Justin the other day about high school (ah, the good old days...not!), and he mentioned how much I'd changed since then, specifically, my views on race. I asked him how so, since I really couldn't remember. He then proceeded to shock me.

Apparently, back in high school, we had seen some commercial about a missing girl (who just happened to be of Asian descent), and I had commented, "Oh, don't talk to me about your missing gook." He went on, and stated there was a time we were talking about mixed marriages, and I had said, quite seriously, how when two white people get together, they make a slightly above average child, but when a white person and a black person get together, they make a slightly below average child. Therefore, mixed marriages could only result in the downfall of humanity.

I was stunned, and actually speechless. I've said a lot of stupid things before (hell, I still do), but that amount of stupidity was astounding. I didn't remember saying it because I've blocked that kind of thinking out of my head. I did a lot of soul searching in college, a lot of examination of myself and my views of the world, and realized a lot of it was shit. I threw all that racist bullshit away, among other things. I'm glad I did, but I'm also glad Justin reminded me of where I started. It makes how far I've come all that more important.

Finally, Dubya vetoed a bill that would have increased funding for stem cell research performed on embryos from fertility clinics. Something of that nature, anyway, I can't be arsed to find the article, but it's out there somewhere. He based his decision on the fact that he believes taking a human life to save others is morally wrong. That's the kind of bullshit religious thinking that I threw out in college. Dubya doesn't understand that an embryo is not a human life, it's just a mass of cells. Even if we disagree on that point, the embryos from fertility clinics (the leftover ones, those that are typically frozen for storage) are usually discarded after a period of time. That's right, all those little lives, just thrown away like so much trash. Instead of using them for a noble and just cause like saving the lives of fully grown human beings who contribute to society, Dubya would rather see them flushed down the toilet, and extends his middle finger to all those people seeking a cure for Parkinson's or Alzheimer's or cancer.