16 Nov 2004
I Finally Got Called

Last night around 7pm the phone rang, and the caller identified herself as being with a public opinion polling organization. She asked if I was agreeable with taking a few minutes for her survey, so sure: my opinion was finally going to count!

The questions concerned the recent election, and were mostly of the sort "Did you see this ad, did you see that ad", and then "How truthful do you feel it was? Very truthful, somewhat turthful, somewhat untruthful or very untruthful." Not a whole lot of latitude in these - no nuance permitted!

After about ten minutes of this question and answer session, she needed some demographic info. I didn't expect her to have a category for "Heathen" or "Asatru" in her list of religions, but apparently there was a write in slot for this, so I spelled it very slowly. But what came next was shocking: she asked my occupation and I replied, "I'm a farmer." Silence. She had no entry under her "occupations" list for "farmer". And no write in space, either. "OK", I asked, "how about something else in the agricultural arena?" Nothing. She finally settled on "self-employed", which while true, is not exactly right.

Talk about feeling marginalized! I wonder if the pollsters ever eat, and if they do, where exactly they think their food comes from? Do chickens just spring into the freezers in the store? Does a cow graciously raise itself and then dissolve into steaks?

There's a serious disconnect in this country ... when a society becomes so "urban top heavy" that folks in the cities have no regard for where their daily bread comes from (besides the bakery!), the overbalance is bound to lead to a fall. It's just a question of when.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Cattle, the Research Catalyst

Ah, the fundie Hindu's are off on it again: this time claiming miracle cures from cow pies! Here's some news for these guys: cattle can be sacred without their dung being 'miraculous'... in fact, cattle can be quite sacred while being raised for the table! And they have been, in every Indo-European culture since their domestication. In fact, all cultures that raise cattle treat them with veneration to some degree, notably the Masai of Kenya.

I know I sure consider our herd cow, Wulfie, pictured above, sacred.

Modern Hindusim has lost sight of the simple fact that every farmer knows: in order for something to live, something else must die. Whether taking a cow to slaughter or ripping a sleeping carrot screaming from the warm embrace of Mother Earth, Life requires Death.

Cow urine may in fact have some healing properties: medieval Europeans boiled it down to make a wound dressing. But that fact has nothing to do with the special place cattle hold in society, nor should it.

Fundamentalist Hindu organizations are raising and spending big money to study the 'miraculous' properties of cows and their excreta. Manu Joseph reports from Mumbai, India.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Senate May Ram Copyright Bill

This is just a power play for a lame duck Congress: but a very dangerous one. Skipping commercials would be "illegal", but manufacturers would also be forced to provision equipment to allow skipping of violent, pronographic or otherwise objectionable scenes at viewer discretion!

It's stuff like this that moves us ever closer to a society where everything not prohibited is required.

As early as this week, the Senate may try to quickly pass a bill that would radically change copyright law in favor of Hollywood and the music industry. One provision: Skipping commercials would be illegal. Michael Grebb reports from Washington.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link