Food For Thought

So President Obama has made a trip to Africa-a trip that has not been made since 2009. Africa is by far the most contentious, frustrating continent on the planet. Its sheer size dwarfs the sectarian conflicts and pauperism of the Middle East. Some of it is happening in the developed nations like Egypt and Libya. Yet, there is hope-Obama has increased federal aid to the embattled continent according to USAID. Now if you go and click that link, you will note that the comments section is full of nothing but right-wing assholes venting their spleens. Here's a few of the gems:

"Africa's population will grow exponentially if the world continues to feed them. They need to start taking some kind of responsibility for themselves. There is no excuse."

 "Starvation is population control.
Maybe Mother Nature knows best."

 "natural selection ..."

 "The ONLY thing feeding Africa will accomplish is producing more Africans. The more they are given, the more they will reproduce. Pretty soon, we will be providing twice as much because it will be expected."

 And much, much more in that vein. There is safety in numbers and it is obvious that they feel comfortable being sickos who would like nothing more than for the continent to perish. There is such a nasty string of Social Darwinists/Randroids on that thread, it ain't even funny. What they don't realize, is that their ugly bigotry is stupid. What is the number one export from the United States?

...?

Agriculture. We are bolstering farming and equipment makers when we send help to a place like Africa. That's right, we are helping our own economy by giving to Africa. 100% of it comes from the heartland of the good 'ol US of A. Sure, it's federal money, but it is a stimulus for American products.

So, my bigoted friends on the right-go shit in your hat. You don't know where your bread and butter comes from. It won't come out of your pockets, so shut your vile pieholes.

Learning To Power Down

Hi. I am a forty-ish, perpetual student. School is out, and I am a news junkie and an ex-conservative. I have taken to Facebook to repost the news that I think is funny or compelling. This leads to five to six posts, and some of them come back to back.

My wife sees this as a problem.

I get what she his saying; nothing says desperate than constantly posting on Facebook. However, I don't see anyone tuning me out or turning me off. No one has called me out yet, but perhaps the wife is just saying what everyone else is thinking. But my Facebook feed is tethered to some really nutty stories and I thought, hey, might as well share with my friends. I know for a fact some people enjoy reading my news posts; I have become a tiny news aggregator for many of my friends.

But, perhaps Facebook is the wrong platform to air all of my 'bullshit' out. Maybe people are just being polite and feel a little sorry for me because I am such an incessant poster with an oft-time indulgence in being an asshole. I am an atheist; I share funny pictures, you know, photos with sayings on them. I have found more than a few atheist sites who send me delightfully rebellious photos which I share on 'ol Facebook. This has irked my family(who is rabidly, bizarrely into Jesus, lucky me) and has irked a few of my friends. What's a poor proud atheist to do? Once again, Facebook may not be the best place to be out and proud.

So here I am. I used to blog like a crazy person back in the day; I have had blogs on Wordpress and Blog City. I guess it's now time to try fleshing out this blog, which has been empty for years. I will post news here and attempt expansive commentary. I will wear my badge of atheism proudly and share photos with you(as soon as I learn how, heh). I will quietly read Facebook and bring things that show up in the feed. Facebook has trumped the Huffington Post for grabbing headlines, which is part of why I enjoy it so much. But I will do some silent running at Facebook and bring my rants here.

So I'm back. I don't know how this is going to work out, but I will silence myself on Facebook. If you want my opinion, you will find it here. I will occasionally post stories on Facebook if I feel I have done a good job making it entertaining and informative. I am a right-wing refugee. An atheist. A news junkie.

Perfect fodder for a blog. Here goes nothing.