My Atheist Response to Giles County Schools' 10 Commandments Brouhaha

KATELYN POLANTZ The Roanoke Times

Over the last couple of months, the public school system of Giles County, which neighbors mine, has been in the news for it's defiant, unconstitutional posting of the Christian "10 Commandments" on the walls inside all of it's school buildings. The latest development is that they've voted to remove them again at a meeting yesterday morning, a month after they voted to hang them back up during an evening meeting on January 20th that was mobbed by pissed off parents, preachers, and the rest of their "Christian community." That spectacle followed the decision in December to remove the 10 Commandments (which had been up for 10 years), following a parent complaint and the advice of the school district's attorney. 

Atheist Cat says Christmas is NOT the only "Reason for the Season"

Everyone knows I'm an atheist, but Christmas has become a national, secular holiday that is enjoyed with family and friends by many non-Christians, and as most of the trappings and customs are pagan anyway, I feel I "own" this celebration as much as any Christian. They don't have exclusive rights, even thought they tried to steal them hundreds of years ago and are still so insecure they have to shove their desperate "reason for the season" propaganda in everyone else's faces. They pitch a fit when people say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," because it reminds them that there are people who don't agree with them, even if the greeters are fellow Christians who are secure enough to acknowledge others and want to share cheerful sentiments while recognizing the diversity of our country. If Dec. 25th is your day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, that's fine with me. I have no problem with someone wishing me "Merry Christmas," and I usually say it myself out of habit, just like saying "dammit" when I'm pissed, even though I don't believe in anything that could carry out the damnation.

"Hispanicity" - Perceptions of Race in Immigration Politics (from comment thread for Politics Daily Facebook cartoon link)

Arizona-Mexico Border, 2020

I couldn't help myself, I clicked "view all comments." I should know better, but it's a compulsion whenever a link scrawls down my Facebook newsfeed that addresses what I know will be a very controversial and/or emotionally charged issue. (Note to readers who may be out there, I use "and/or" an awful lot. I also start off sentences with "And...") And this was on one of my most yakked about topics, that of Mexicans and immigration opponents.

Birth of a notion - My experiment to share my posts from other comment threads.

I have been neglecting this blog for awhile, as Facebook links and discussions have monopolized my time, as well as less frequent visits to the Twitterverse. I've found enough people to argue with and educate on FB and Huffington Post threads, that it's actually been quite time-consuming, but I have an idea. I've been posting rather long, detailed comments to Facebook threads, mostly on the topic of immigration, but also a couple others, and I'm going to try posting a few of these here, along with some replies and comments from people I'm directly responding to or referencing, to provide context. I had done something similar in the past, but as wall posts, especially to share some threads from Huff Po sites. But then they'd get lost down the wall after a few days and I hope this way, I can keep my wit and wisdom more accessible. At least to me. And maybe some of you all will even want to share it around, because so much of the info I discuss, specifically on immigration issue, needs more exposure to refute common myths and misinformation. So, I know some of the links are bound to be repeated, but it still seems like too many people aren't getting the message and are spreading the ignorance around. If anyone is out there, let me know what you think. And for anyone wondering about my husband (hospitalization discussed in older posts), he's doing pretty well and back to work at the farm. But it's an unpredictable condition, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

My Response Comment on HuffPo Article: "Securing Our Future Through Our Children's Health" by Sec. Tom Vilsack

Will Sec. Vilsack, the USDA, and the First Lady protest hard against the plan to eliminate free/reduced-priced school breakfast program for low-income students by our new VA Gov. Bob McDonnell? Oh, and he also plans to freeze enrollment for the FAMIS program, which gives limited coverage to kids and pregnant women in low-income families earning too much to qualify for Medicaid. That means WORKING parents GROSSING more than $2500 but less than $3675/month for a family of 4. But hey, we only rank a low "39th on taxes as a percentage of personal income" despite ranking "5th in average per capita income," so the well-off needn't worry about supporting pesky, undeserving freeloaders! (even if they are working their asses off full-time for peanuts.) So what if kids are too hungry or sickly to do well enough in school to raise above their station, always need an underclass of peasants desperate enough to do the hard and dirty work, right? When they drop dead from no healthcare as adults, just toss more meat into the grinder!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

*UPDATE* to Last Post Re: My Husband in the Hospital

I received calls this past Friday morning from both my US Representative's and Senator's offices. I now know I was feverish and quite possibly riding a wave of delirium when I composed my previous entry, with my high temperature peaking Thursday night after I posted it and went to bed. It still hovered around 100 degrees after waking up and I hope I sounded coherent on the phone. The fever lasted through Saturday, and with the big storm leaving me still snowed in, I haven't been able to see my husband in several days.

Husband in Hospital, my Mexican Mother-in-Law needs Visitor's Visa ASAP

The following is my reply in a series of Facebook direct messages between a local community leader and myself, regarding assistance in obtaining a US Visa for my husband's mother to visit him in the hospital, where he is seriously ill:

Hi, thanks for getting back to me on finding help for my Mexican mother-in-law to get permission to come visit my husband in the hospital. Here's my contact info and details of the situation. If you check my FB profile "Wall", I have regular updates beginning Sunday night (or Monday morning) about my husband's condition, "acute pancreatitis with extensive peripancreatic edema and inflammation."

Take 2 on "Illegal Alien" Halloween Costume

(This was posted to address respondents to my first comment on the USA Today article "'Illegal Alien' mask flap spooks retailers" http://content.usatoday.com/community/comments.aspx?id=36565726.story&p=7 )

I realized when I posted my first comment that it would have too many words and be over the heads of those folks that use any excuse to demonize people and hurl insults at Democrats, "libs," President Obama, or whomever else they fear are circling their homes in black helicopters. The scared and pathetic always need an enemy to direct their venomous delusions toward.

My take on the "Illegal Alien" Halloween Costume Controversy

(Note: This was originally posted as an admittedly long-winded comment on USA Today website article "'Illegal Alien' mask flap spooks retailers"  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-19-halloween-mask_N.htm )

When I first saw the "Illegal Alien" costume, I took it ironically, as it apparently was intended. It was meant to play on the idiocy of the xenophobes, whose dumbassery hasn't failed to disappoint when weighing-in on this issue.

Don't use me for YOUR propaganda, Caleb Howe!

This blog post is my response to Caleb Howe, another Twitterer who used one of my "tweets", or Twitter comments as a springboard for his rabid-rightwing blog fodder. What's most disturbing is that he isn't just some anonymous twat in a basement somewhere. No, he's a professional twat.