The Not so Evil Duck

Lock and Load – Political Correctness Revisited

2009-12-26T06:48:54Z

Some of you may have seen the verbal smackdown that took place a few days ago on Foxipher’s journal entry entitled “Political Correctness is Politeness”. Both RR and I had an issue with the basic premise portrayed in post that was referenced, but not Foxipher’s reason for posting it, namely that the person’s article made her want to stop and think before she spoke. This is something that I can fully support. I don’t believe thinking before one speaks is ever really a bad idea; it’s just not always possible.

I want to take some time to clear things up as I was not even close to my best when dealing with the subject. For those who did not read the exchange, I pretty much let my ire at a somewhat disrespectful comment aimed at my husband get the better of me. The comment wasn’t overly rude, but the way it was phrased made me see blood and the following exchange between this person and my husband enticed me to jump into the fray. I posted a comment regarding the intent of ones words being of more importance then the words themselves. Looking back, the snark behind the comment was pretty obvious, but I hadn’t really intended to be insulting, I was just a bit pissed and I let that show in my own special way. My bad. I own that. I am, however, snarky and most people who know me expect this and are generally not offended. This person, however, did NOT know me and responded thus.

“It's obvious you're not arguing in good faith, else you would not be using such insulting language.”

It appears that he objected to my using the terms “PC Police” and “Fuzzy Wuzzy” in reference to a politically correct term. It’s not something that I would have objected to, but to each his or her own. However, at the time I was actually a bit taken aback at this and became even more pissed. As the hubs said, the chum was in the water and I was aimed for the kill.

Now, to make clear my thoughts on the subject.

The short version:

I support a person’s right to be a complete ass. I also support people’s rights to verbally eviscerate the person being a complete ass, even if it's me. This is freedom of speech.

The long version:

I believe that when a person is being an ass and says something hurtful, that people have a right to point it out. It’s perfectly all right in my book to tell someone to shut the F*ck up”. It may have its intended effect and it may not. But I support that right. What I do not support is any attempt at global censorship. I do not want to be told that I cannot say something to someone if I so choose. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask people to think about what they are saying and to refrain from being disrespectful. It is, however, not all right to tell people in general that they CANNOT say certain things.

There are so many things out there that I find offensive and wrong minded. I may wish that the person speaking would pull their head out of their bum and shut the hell up. But I tell you this, while I may be the first in line to tell them off, I would also be the first in line to fight for their rights to say what they wanted to say.

I feel the same way about the freedom of religion and one's right to love and marry whom they want.

If we start to limit people’s freedom of speech, where do we draw the line? What rights are you willing to give up so that you or people you love won’t be offended?

So… be kind, be considerate, be polite, and appreciate your right to be a complete bastard if you wish. Just make sure you wear a helmet and a cup, because the whoopass is on its way. And this, I think, is how it should be.

Entitlement disorder much?

2009-10-28T02:08:04Z

Dear Kindle Kvetchers,

Question. If you get something for free and it's not exactly what you expected, do you really think you have a right to b*tch about it? I understand that the wording was misleading, possibly intentionally, possibly not. But you didn't pay a damned thing for it! The fact that you have gotten many kindle books for free doesn't seem to pacify you. In fact, you seem to think that you are OWED free books. You are not. Frankly, your whining and sniveling makes me want to b*tch slap each and every one of you! What makes you think you are ENTITLED to such freebies? Why can you not be grateful for the good things you do get?

Seriously, what is happening to us as a society?

Cargotecture

2009-09-28T03:32:58Z

Ever since I can remember, I've always been intrigued by fully enclosed, open air courtyards that can sometimes be found in Roman and Spanish architecture. I never thought it would be possible to have a house with this feature, but now that I've heard of cargotecture I think it's entirely possible. In a nutshell (and totally taken from HyBrid's Architecture's site) cargotecture describes any building system built entirely or partially from ISO shipping containers. To find out more about cargotecture, see the HyBrid Architecture's page. It makes sense. After all, a shipping container is pretty much just a big metal box built to exacting specifications and manufactured to take the beating of the open seas. They're STRONG. So strong that you can actually build an atrium on the roof (which is what we would do).

Mr P. and I have been daydreaming of what we would build if we ever decided to go this route. Today, as I've been bedridden with a very strange case of vertigo and nausea (it's like being drunk and hungover without having the enjoyment of the drink) I decided to create a model of my dream house complete with enclosed courtyard. The pictures can be found after the cut.

The house looks big, but the enclosed portion is only 1600 square feet. The courtyard itself is around 372 square feet. If I'm going to dream, I'm going to dream big, so I've included a hot tub, and sauna to the floor plan. The sauna can be accessed from both the master bedroom and the courtyard. Think about it. Time in the sauna followed by a cool (outside) shower and then a dip in the hot tub to round out the night. You know you wanna try that out. The stairs in the courtyard go up to what would be the roof top atrium which would cover all of roof surface. This would act as added insulation to keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. There are many, many windows, so the house will have a light airy feel. Also, almost all rooms have a sliding glass door which connects to the courtyard itself. And since they are all interior doors, we can have them open for airflow without too much worry about someone trying to break in. Um... Why aren't more houses built like this? In addition, Mr. P wants skylights, which he shall have (dreams are a wonderful thing).

Did I mention solar panels? I mean, why not. Hey, if you look closely in the dining room, I think some of you may find the rug to your liking. (You'll have to click one more time on the basic layout to get the largest image).

.

Wheeeeeeeeee........

2009-09-04T15:30:39Z

I am at work.

I am on hydrocodone.

I am at work on hydrocodone.

Any questions?

(X Posted from FB)

What a day!

2009-09-04T01:07:59Z

The day started off with massive amounts of drugs, then I was drilled for at least an hour, later a full six inches lay on the floor and red splatters ended up EVERYWHERE!

I took lots of Aspirin this morning to help with my tooth pain. Then, at noon I went to the dentist and found out I needed a root canal. That finished, I went over to my hair gal and had 6 inches cut off my hair and finished with a nice dark red coloring.

What did you think I meant?

Baaaa Baaa

2009-07-30T22:38:20Z

Your result for Test yourself: What alignment are you?...

True Neutral

You are The Druid; True Neutral.

You scored 51% Lawful and 59% Good, which makes you True Neutral.

Chaotic-Lawful is the ethical scale, on which you scored 51%, where 0% is utter chaos and 100% is total cosmos.

This Lawful scale doesn't necessarily judge how committed to the system you are, even though one could guess so from the name since the system usually holds the law, but instead it means how sorted internally you are, and how likely it is for you to choose cosmos over chaos.

You are neutral, and are as such an individual who either doesn't mind one over the other of chaos and stillness, or can go both ways depending on how you feel. You don't necessarily follow laws that blindly, and you don't act too randomly.

The Evil-Good scale is quite easily figured out, being the morale scale, and on this you scored 59%, where 0% is totally evil and 100% is completely good.

Now, evil here on this scale doesn't necessarily mean you're out to make people suffer. It means ego-centering and glorification of one's ego. You, as neutral, don’t make your actions based on a selfless vs selfish basis, but rather what you have judged to be the right thing to do for other reasons.

A farmer whose primary overriding concern is to feed his family is of this alignment. Most animals, lacking the capacity for moral judgement, are of this alignment. Some neutral characters, rather than feeling undecided, are committed to a balance between the alignments. They may see good, evil, law and chaos as simply prejudices and dangerous extremes.

Take Test yourself: What alignment are you? at HelloQuizzy

For Clayshaper

2009-07-20T20:15:27Z

Photo day

2009-07-19T00:24:30Z

Today clayshaper and I had all sorts of fun taking photos. We worked on Getting shallow and large depth of field (DoF), capturing motion, and spinning the camera to create interesting images. The below image is of Somebody's Baby (aka Baby) whom some of you may have heard of. Yup, this beautiful lady is the equine child of clayshaper and thatcaptjim.

More images can be found here.

It just keeps getting better and better

2009-07-15T13:45:37Z

Happy anniversary to my beloved Mr. P.

Re: Your Brains

2009-07-14T21:08:33Z

And you thought your co-workers were bad.

A new trend in crime?

2009-07-14T19:34:59Z

I don't know if it's just me, but there seems to be a bunch of naked criminals out there. In the last weak I've either heard of or read at least 5 news stories involving naked people perpetrating some sort of crime. WTF?

o_O

2009-07-13T18:51:22Z

And in other news, water is still wet. http://tinyurl.com/mqkcej

When the Goddess calls, don't send her to voicemail

2009-07-08T02:18:16Z

You know.. I think she's starting to get impatient.

As some of you are aware, I do not consider myself pagan. In fact, I don't affiliate with any one spiritual path. That being said, there is a particular Greek Goddess who has been trying to get my attention for a very long time. I think it's time to pay her a little more attention.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Bombs

2009-07-04T03:38:07Z

For the record...

Pouring Hershey's Dark Chocolate syrup into freshly pitted cherries IS as good as it sounds.

Nom nom Nom

2009-07-01T03:01:38Z

My assignment to RR..... COOK!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/global/moroccan/recipes

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/global/greek/recipes

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/global/middleeastern/recipes

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/global/mediterranean/recipes

Brief conversation with the hubs...

2009-06-27T17:47:52Z

Me: I still think "Road Head" would be an excellent name for a band.
Him: *...*

Mr. P. and me.... Made for each other.

2009-05-20T01:28:07Z

Your result for The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?)...

The Rarity (QTAF)

Quirky Traditional Alpha Female

You have an unusual and unbelievably precious combination of traits, especially in a woman. Not only are alpha females extremely rare, but traditional ones with nerdy/geeky interests are even more scarce. Unlike the other types, I can't give you a description because I'm not sure if you actually exist.

PS: I know this is not a compatibility test, but there is a very good chance you are the girl of my dreams. Not to sound desperate or anything, but please, oh please message me! (Assuming, that is, that you are between 20 and 30 and live in New England).

--Bookwyrm85

You are more QUIRKY than NORMAL.

You are more TRADITIONAL than LIBERAL.

You are more DOMINANT than PASSIVE.

When picking a date, consider: Lord of the Misfits (QLAM), The Late Bloomer (QTAM), The Snowball's Chance in Hell (QTBM), or The Manga Geek (QLBM).

(Image from http://folk.uio.no/thomas/lists/amazon-connection.html)

Take The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?) at HelloQuizzy

mrs_photopagan @ 2009-05-12T18:00:00

2009-05-12T18:00:33Z

For Rimrunner

Kung Fu Kitty Wins Again

Posted using ShareThis

Things Read, Thought, Heard and Done.

2009-05-06T02:01:57Z

Micro-posts delivered once a day for your reading convenience.

The exhaust must smell Gooood! RT @Discovery_News: One of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories.
What surprises me is there IS such a thing as chocolate waste. I mean, who ever heard of wasted chocolate? tinyurl.com/clp5jt

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Happy shared Birthday Eman & R!

2009-05-05T01:07:17Z

Mine was pretty good. The Mr. and I bundled up the dog-children and went on a mini road trip. a good day to be turning 30-11. Now on to dinner.

Things Read, Thought, Heard and Done.

2009-05-04T02:01:40Z

Micro-posts delivered once a day for your reading convenience.

RT @weirdnews: hah.. best quote on H1N1 "We're seeing epidemic spread of a non-serious illness." Dr. Mitchell Katz - SF Pub. Health Director

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Ok, he said it first...

2009-05-03T20:59:37Z

But I'm writing it first!

Happy 17'th first date anniversary, Mr. P.!

Things Read, Thought, Heard and Done.

2009-05-01T02:02:33Z

Micro-posts delivered once a day for your reading convenience.

Bwahahahaha..... "Flu Zombies reported in Mexico City as residents brace for another night of horror!" tinyurl.com/cjmmwx
1/2 way through The Secret World Chronicle. Very, very good. tinyurl.com/ch62p9

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Things Read, Thought, Heard and Done.

2009-04-30T02:02:00Z

Micro-posts delivered once a day for your reading convenience.

Ahhhh... Chocolate chocolate chip cookie & a mocha... breakfast of champions!
The Gov't wants us to stop calling it the Swine Flu and instead call it the H1N1 Virus. Yeah... Good luck with that!
#coolstuff “Girls Write Now” Mentoring the Next Generation of Women Writers tinyurl.com/d5a6el
Currently listening to UCSD lecture on the Cognitve Consequence of Technology tinyurl.com/cldkeb
Was just notified that I have a vitamin D deficiency. REALLY? A vitamin D deficiency in Seattle? Shocking!
Ever read something and just want to hit the writer upside the head with a clue-by-four?

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Today on Twitter

2009-04-29T02:50:23Z

Fusion taco truck uses social-media to alert customers to location. Has large following. tinyurl.com/cg49p4
The force trainer: tinyurl.com/9ksglz cool in itself, even cooler if you think of the technology's possibilities.
It always cracks me up wheneve I hear 'MacGyver' used as a verb.
From ‘Blue Velvet’ to ‘Green Porno’, Isabella will give you an education. tinyurl.com/47n2wc
And what did I say about potential? tinyurl.com/ceyn8y
Internet mining vs deep viral mining to detect and track deadly viruses. Internet not so good, actually. tinyurl.com/cyhm2l
And another thing to keep one up at night. tinyurl.com/d2n8sv can you tell I've been listening to NPR podcasts today?
Esp. For Rimrunner: Google LitTrips. tinyurl.com/2ymn52
Having severe chocolate cravings. Baaaaaad!
McDonald's H.F. Sundae to the rescue.
Plan to cull photos tonight, start processing tomorrow.

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter