Internet Rants

[LeaAW]

OMG! i just had a full on Internet rant... i think it might be my first ever.... it was brought on by a comment made on Documantaryheaven.com by a woman who has " a tendency to distrust people with no faith.it doesent matter to me which faith they follow and what they believe in,as long as they believe in something thats better than themselves.not believing in anything,to me anyway,means that those people may have no conception of right or wrong in a way.there is nothing to limit their ego’s so to speak.and that usualy leads to bad things.either for themselves or for others around them.and believing in “science” does not qualify as a belief in my view cause science is manmade and has alot of flaws,just like the people behind it." so i couldn't help but retort!!
My reply is as follows:
">1stly. I’m going to quote another post because i agree whole heartedly in what is said here:
“I’ve never understood religious people who look down on or mistrust people of no faith. You’re a good person because you think someone is keeping score and is going to reward you for your good behavior in an afterlife. I’m a good person because my parents raised me to care for others. I don’t do good because I think I’m earning heaven points, I do it because it hurts my heart to see another human suffer, and since I think Earth is our only life, the best thing you could do with yours is help others to improve theirs. I am a good, honest, decent person who does what is right expecting NOTHING in return and I’M the one who isn’t trust worthy?”
>2ndly. As it happens I’m not religious at all but i’ve been called spiritual. I don’t believe in a god at all and personally its because i grew out of imaginary friends around the time i was 10. I’m also a big fan of Science. Although i don’t worship science as a religion, i do believe it will tell us more about our ancient heritage than some book that was supposedly written hundreds of years after the events of which its written about.
>And 3rdly. I am going to quote YOU and explain why i think your comment was wrong.. (Which might seem obvious. But the fact you believe in imaginary people at your age tells me that explanations ARE in fact necessary)
“not believing in anything,to me anyway,means that those people may have no conception of right or wrong in a way.there is nothing to limit their ego’s so to speak.and that usualy leads to bad things.either for themselves or for others around them.”

Most wars and terrorist acts are done in the name of religion, Honestly i think it just might be safer to believe in nothing. I’ll admit my ego has no limit, But i assure you my friends and many strangers have found me to be very trust worthy. I would also like to point out that ALL humans make mistakes in their life, not just those of us who chose not to believe in a god of some sort. Now dont take this post as an attack on people who believe, as i dont judge. But i cant help replying to a post that says I’m an untrustworthy individual purely because i’m not a believer. I’ll make you a deal. If all religious people stop killing in the name of religion then i’ll stop calling you all religious fanatics “delusional”. Hows that, fair?
Also i think your grammar is shocking!"


I admit, i lost it. Seeing uneducated assumptions like that piss me off. It was fun tho getting my view articulately down. Have you ever had a rant and if so what was it about and what made you angry?

[bookmanz]

Gorgeous, sexy, and a lover of science. Lea, that's refreshing to read.

Nope, never had a Internet rant. Never. Not me.

[bookmanz]

Bicycle Helmets

Here is a rant worthy item, that I feel sure may be able to get people ranting, but stay away from religion and politics (for the most part). In the USA, it is state law in most areas, that bicycle helmets must be worn if you operate your bicycle on public streets.

Why should the states mandate the wearing of helmets. In virtually the rest of the world helmets are optional and most riders do not wear them for recreation and transportation bicycle use.

The other ridiculous item is that most cyclists wear these racing style helmets, with all the the air vents. What if you are riding for recreation, or your daily transportation, or mountain biking, racer helmets like that look silly to me.

[wolfgangbuster29]

Whilst I respect your choice of beliefs, Lea, something I believe that may help ease your mind and offer insight. There is (to me, anyway,) an huge difference between Religion and Spirituality. Religion has to do with living a certain way, yet Spirituality is your one-on-one relationship with our Makir.

I too do not believe in 'Heaven points?' so you're on the right track in maintaining to be a good-hearted, honest and kind, loving person that you are.

Jesus never had a church. I myself don't adhere to any particular religions because it seems too many of them are about fear, control and money. But for example, what did Jesus do when he discovered the church that had auctioneers and wagerers set up for business at the front of that church? He overturned all of their tables and told everyone who were engaged in those activities there to go get lost! 'Not in my father's house!' he exclaimed as he ordered everyone at that scene to leave. This was living proof to Christ himself that some churches of the World were destined for corruption if mismanaged and not kept true to the Living Word.

I am more about a one-on-one relationship with the Father whose only begotten son died on the Cross so that all of us will have the advantage of repentance and all of us who follow the Word as you seem to be doing will not parish when this Mortal life comes to an end and the promised, new world is before us.

Further, each of our bodies harbour more that one spirit at any given time; we each may harbour a few or at other times an entire legion but we can effectively squelch and rebuke the Enemy spirit by harboring and maintaining good and wholesome spirit. You as a good-spirit have the power to rebuke the name of the Enemy Spirit and the Enemy simply cannot stand to linger because the Wholesome spirit always overpowers and always has the Victory!

So please keep up the good work, Lea. And no matter what you go through in life, never give up and become weary in spirit because your labour is not in vain. The Word you have chosen to hear IS to be a kind, honest, caring and loving person so you seem to be spot-on with that.

So I am with you, Lea, too many churches and religions of this World are impure, and I agree with you that tyranny and terrorism are based on Religious beliefs just as arethe more peaceful religions, but a pure heart is one that receives and follows the desires to be a loving, kind and caring that you seem to be and maintains that one-on-one relationship with our Makir.

[kylie_h]

The topic of religion is always a touchy one, and I think that the really sad thing is that this woman from the other forum automatically distrusts people who do not follow a faith. Personally, I think finding your own system of belief is a long, arduous and deeply personal process. Many people are happy to share their beliefs with others, which is wonderful and some people are just so happy about it they want to enlighten other people - which, while it can be a tad invasive to some, is admirable in it's own way.

I will put myself out there and say that we can't lay the blame for all tyranny and terrorism at the feet of religion. In every single case, we can point the finger at other human beings. It is possible to follow almost any religion on earth without hurting one another, it's people who distort religions to control others and cause harm that are the real issue. You can be a good person or you can hurt other people for your own gain, and I think the more we place blame on this church or that religion, the less responsibility we give to the people who are causing harm. Saying that someone is "just a religious fanatic" is almost like excusing their behaviour.

[LeaAW]

Great replys guys and dolls,
Although I never meant for the thread to become one of a religious debate, it was more just to see what makes you tick?
I know religion is a touchy topic for some and it wasn't my intention to bring it up as the topic to discuss.
Like i said in the post i don't have an issue with people who have faith.
What really bugged me in this case was the fact that i as an "non-believier" am untrustworthy and am likely to end up bad because of my non- beliefs.
That is what made me angry when clearly in the post the other person was putting a very warped view across and i felt the need to challenge them.

[LeaAW]

Here is a rant worthy item, that I feel sure may be able to get people ranting, but stay away from religion and politics (for the most part). In the USA, it is state law in most areas, that bicycle helmets must be worn if you operate your bicycle on public streets.

Why should the states mandate the wearing of helmets. In virtually the rest of the world helmets are optional and most riders do not wear them for recreation and transportation bicycle use.

The other ridiculous item is that most cyclists wear these racing style helmets, with all the the air vents. What if you are riding for recreation, or your daily transportation, or mountain biking, racer helmets like that look silly to me.

I do think helmets should be worn when riding in the street. But i know i would ride my bike rather than walk to the shops if i knew i didn't have to wear my helmet to go 500 metres out my gate.
Although argument might be given for the optional helmet law. Most smart people would probably wear one thinning out the gene pool of stupid people

[wolfgangbuster29]

I can get on a rant about motorcycle helmets because a motorcycle helmet saved my live in an accident I was involved in back in 1985 when another driver darted out of an intersection in front of me as I was approaching the intersection.

What makes me tick is that there are 'rightists' out there who felt it was 'their right' to run the risk of getting their heads busted wide open like a watermelon against the concrete pavement just so that they could enjoy a few moments of 'freedom' from having to wear a helmet when they ride. Enough that in some states the law was changed so as to make motorcycle helmet wearing when you ride a motorcycle an option, not a law which had originally protected riders from impact in the untimely event of an accident.

I used to ride alot when I was a young(er) man. I always wore a good helmet then and I still would today if I'm riding.

It's my rant but I say reinstate the Helmet law so all riders will again have that protection.

[mrpinkeyes]

I do think helmets should be worn when riding in the street. But i know i would ride my bike rather than walk to the shops if i knew i didn't have to wear my helmet to go 500 metres out my gate.
Although argument might be given for the optional helmet law. Most smart people would probably wear one thinning out the gene pool of stupid people

It seems... (and I learnt this from the educational and informative web site abbywinters.com that Bicycle helmits are not required in The Neitherlands (or Amsterdam at least), and I think it was mentioned that very few people actually do wear them. (bad Masie... Kylie...) Seems strange to me coming from NZ where we are told of all the head injuries and lives they save. (Seems.. that other countries have just as many studies saying they don't???)
Also Bookmanz. correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the airflow racing helmets also a weight thing... as it makes them lighter and more comfortable, plus stops ones head getting hot.
Now if we are talking about recreational cyclists that think they need to be wearing lycra cycle pants for there sunday rides... ummmm WHY???

[freestyle550]

For what its worth I think the idea of religion is a pretty good one however its often the people who preach it that are the problem.
Back in Ireland when my mother was a young catholic schoolgirl the nuns would tell her she would go to hell if she touched herself,on the bus home from school the priest would sit next to my mum with his hand up her skirt...true story sadly.

[bookmanz]

I will put myself out there and say that we can't lay the blame for all tyranny and terrorism at the feet of religion. In every single case, we can point the finger at other human beings. It is possible to follow almost any religion on earth without hurting one another, it's people who distort religions to control others and cause harm that are the real issue.

So true, most religious people are good people, charitable and of good nature toward others. The problem is when people are allowed to use religion as justification for doing evil. Things like slavery, racism, war, exploitation of indigneous peoples for natural resource extraction, and denial of human rights for GLBT people. Check out the powerful view by American physicist Steven Weinberg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Weinberg#Personal

What really bugged me in this case was the fact that i as an "non-believier" am untrustworthy and am likely to end up bad because of my non- beliefs.

Seems to me that a person who is a skeptic and holds to a naturalistic worldview should be the most trustworthy of persons. After all, how can a religious person who has picked one of several popular religions on our little earth, know for sure that they have hit the jackpot and picked the winner.

Also Bookmanz. correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the airflow racing helmets also a weight thing... as it makes them lighter and more comfortable, plus stops ones head getting hot.
Now if we are talking about recreational cyclists that think they need to be wearing lycra cycle pants for there sunday rides... ummmm WHY???

Mrpinkeyes, I'll never forget, this one time, I saw this plump and portly man, fully decked out in lycra, astride an $8000 bicycle.

[Dekoda]

LeaAW, I have an occasional rant from time to time. As for the religion thing, well, I am a diehard atheist....always have been, always will be. There are lots of reasons why I'm an atheist, but one of the best arguments against those who try to preach their religion to me is simply two words...."Prove it." Since nothing about religion has ever been proven, it's nothing more than a fairy tale to me, and I don't believe in fairy tales.

Anyway, this isn't a thread about religion, it's about rants, and I think I'll just go on a rant right now because of a letter I received today from my health insurance company about my prescription drug coverage. This insurance company has been giving me a hard time this year for some reason and I'm getting tired of it.

First, when I went to refill my blood pressure medicine, they refused to fill it because they said they only allow a refill of 90 pills. Since they force me to use a mail-order pharmacy, I am forced to get a 90 day prescription so that I receive 90 days worth of medicine. I take two pills a day, so that comes to 180 pills every 90 days, but they will only allow me enough pills for 45 days, since I need two pills a day. They won't allow me to get 45 days worth of pills, the least number of days I can get pills for is 48 days. I had to file an appeal with them in order for them to give me my 180 pills.(keep in mind that I have been getting 180 pills each time for the past 10 years, so what changed to require this appeal?)

Okay, next they said that they will not give me my cholesterol medicine that I have been taking for years because there are other alternatives to this medicine. So the insurance company wants to dictate what medicines I can take and how much of each medicine they will allow me to take. I can still get my cholesterol medicine if I go through their "step therapy" meaning that I have to try every other drug on the market first before they will allow me to take my existing cholesterol medicine.

Okay, so I just ordered and received one of my two insulin prescriptions and since I use the insulin pens, they decided that the ten boxes of pens that I ordered was too much so they cut the order in half. When I called and asked about this, they told me that they were only allowing me to get 48 days worth on insulin instead of 90 days worth because ten boxes was too much. Now I have to order my insulin every 48 days and each time I order it, I have to pay a co-pay, whereas before, I ordered it every 90 days with just one co-pay. My insulin will now cost me twice as much as before, not to mention that they have increased my co-pay amounts plus they have increased my yearly deductible.

The thing is, I'm not going to yell at the person on the phone because they just work there and they aren't the ones making these changes to my prescription plan. I know that I am lucky to have this insurance and I'm still getting a great deal, but when you figure that years ago I was getting a 90 day prescription for just $15 and now it costs $70......I had no deductible back then and now it's $360 a year, and back then the insurance was free, now it's not, although it's inexpensive, I hate to think what will happen in years to come.....like will it cost me my whole pension check just to get my meds?

[LeaAW]

LeaAW, I have an occasional rant from time to time. As for the religion thing, well, I am a diehard atheist....always have been, always will be. There are lots of reasons why I'm an atheist, but one of the best arguments against those who try to preach their religion to me is simply two words...."Prove it." Since nothing about religion has ever been proven, it's nothing more than a fairy tale to me, and I don't believe in fairy tales.

Anyway, this isn't a thread about religion, it's about rants, and I think I'll just go on a rant right now because of a letter I received today from my health insurance company about my prescription drug coverage. This insurance company has been giving me a hard time this year for some reason and I'm getting tired of it.

First, when I went to refill my blood pressure medicine, they refused to fill it because they said they only allow a refill of 90 pills. Since they force me to use a mail-order pharmacy, I am forced to get a 90 day prescription so that I receive 90 days worth of medicine. I take two pills a day, so that comes to 180 pills every 90 days, but they will only allow me enough pills for 45 days, since I need two pills a day. They won't allow me to get 45 days worth of pills, the least number of days I can get pills for is 48 days. I had to file an appeal with them in order for them to give me my 180 pills.(keep in mind that I have been getting 180 pills each time for the past 10 years, so what changed to require this appeal?)

Okay, next they said that they will not give me my cholesterol medicine that I have been taking for years because there are other alternatives to this medicine. So the insurance company wants to dictate what medicines I can take and how much of each medicine they will allow me to take. I can still get my cholesterol medicine if I go through their "step therapy" meaning that I have to try every other drug on the market first before they will allow me to take my existing cholesterol medicine.

Okay, so I just ordered and received one of my two insulin prescriptions and since I use the insulin pens, they decided that the ten boxes of pens that I ordered was too much so they cut the order in half. When I called and asked about this, they told me that they were only allowing me to get 48 days worth on insulin instead of 90 days worth because ten boxes was too much. Now I have to order my insulin every 48 days and each time I order it, I have to pay a co-pay, whereas before, I ordered it every 90 days with just one co-pay. My insulin will now cost me twice as much as before, not to mention that they have increased my co-pay amounts plus they have increased my yearly deductible.

The thing is, I'm not going to yell at the person on the phone because they just work there and they aren't the ones making these changes to my prescription plan. I know that I am lucky to have this insurance and I'm still getting a great deal, but when you figure that years ago I was getting a 90 prescription for just $15 and now it costs $70......I had no deductible back then and now it's $360 a year, and back then the insurance was free, now it's not, although it's inexpensive, I hate to think what will happen in years to come.....like will it cost me my whole pension check just to get my meds?

1stly: i love the fairy tales antidote. i feel much the same way.
2ndly: WOW, your Sooo nice about your rant Dekoda, I think what health insurance companies are doing to people who need lifesaving medication is out and out Robbery of the most evil kind! Especially when i read what has happened with you. Its Obvious that they are trying to Up their Profit by making you buy more often. But what REALLY Gets my blood boiling is the totally lack of care to the Clients health, saying " No, we want to try you on all these other "approved" medications " is obviously bad for anyone to try a bunch of different meds its dangerous to your body Especially the liver. But my guess is that if you got a letter from your doctor saying that "this is the medication my patient needs" My money would be on you receiving a letter from the insurance company saying that "you need to see one of our Approved Doctors for that diagnosis!"
I'm not sure where your from but it sounds fairly similar to a friends predicament and she lived in the US. I think the whole health system over there is run by criminals. I really hope something changes. People shouldn't be charged for improving their quality of life. To do so i think is just Evil. Everybody has a right to live, and everybody should have the right to get access to the medication for free. We think of people who profit of war and terrorism as Criminals, So why don't we think the same of people who profit off the sick and dying?

[bookmanz]

Dekoda's story is happening to people all over. In the fascist USA, we let corporations run roughshod over our lives. We have allowed corporations, like the big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare services, to have the same legal rights as human beings, and to do campaign contributions to politicians, secretly. We are SO screwed.

We think of people who profit of war and terrorism as Criminals, So why don't we think the same of people who profit off the sick and dying?

Great question, Lea. But I wonder if Americans think that way? Many, perhaps most don't think at all. They watch their reality shows, play the lotto, and bow down to their corporate gods.

[LeaAW]

Dekoda's story is happening to people all over. In the fascist USA, we let corporations run roughshod over our lives. We have allowed corporations, like the big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare services, to have the same legal rights as human beings, and to do campaign contributions to politicians, secretly. We are SO screwed.


Great question, Lea. But I wonder if Americans think that way? Many, perhaps most don't think at all. They watch their reality shows, play the lotto, and bow down to their corporate gods.

Well I'm sure that they are not all like that. But yes, i agree they are right up the creek. The other thing i don't get is that if the company itself were actually (as they do have the legal rights) a real live person, that person would have ALL the traits of a psychopath. Its been looked into already. Why would Government allow companies the human legal rights to begin with. MONEY, kick backs would pay a big part i would imagine. A Psycho person is one thing. A Psychopathic (in "mindset") company is a very wealthy and well protected unit in which it is able to continue doing harm on a larger scale (this particular example being medical insurance companies) not only by doing damage to the clientele but by hurting those who work for them as well. As i'm sure it would be very difficult to work in an environment where your constantly denying people of proper medical care. I do believe that for the most part your average "joe" is not Evil and i would imagine working conditions like that would effect you mentally eventually whether you were aware of it straight away or not.
I'm not saying my country is any better (in my opinion its not as bad as the US) but medical care is not completely free here either, and i do believe strongly that health care should be universally free everywhere in the world. ( i am aware of how disney that sounds but its my little hope for humanity)

[tjsunray]

Aside from some of the more common everyday frustrations that we all deal with on a daily basis, such as:

traffic jams....automobile repair costs....telemarketers....gossip at the work place....loud inconsiderate tenants...radio & tv commercials every 3 min....and now extended adverts.on the home page videos, youtube etc. lasting up to 30sec....waiting time in the emergency unit at hospitals....web sites that intentionally manipulate and install unwanted tool bars....food items ( less costly and a better product ) that are being bought out and replaced by the brand name competitors of a far less superior quality........and my rant for today is :

Why is the small label/tag of T-shirts sown on the back-neck-brim ?..They are irritable and scratch !....the hem at the bottom of the T-shirt is the perfect place for it !



All people unite...a protest is in order !

[freestyle550]

Yep i'll join that one TJ,bought a new animal t-shirt at weekend and the label is scratchy as hell.

[LeaAW]

I have always been in the habit of cutting them off if they are itchy. But that runs the risk of ruining the top.
I cant believe you found a picture of people protesting this. This is fabulous!

[tjsunray]

I have always been in the habit of cutting them off if they are itchy. But that runs the risk of ruining the top.
I cant believe you found a picture of people protesting this. This is fabulous!

....Leah, i can't tell if your serious or not (we still need to familiarize ourselves with our sense of humor) but there is no such official protest...i made sign up myself

[LeaAW]

....Leah, i can't tell if your serious or not (we still need to familiarize ourselves with our sense of humor) but there is no such official protest...i made sign up myself

ok sorry TJ this is where i confess. < that was me being gullible. :P But yes i was being serious..... i really do cut them off.

[tjsunray]

ok sorry TJ this is where i confess. < that was me being gullible. :P But yes i was being serious..... i really do cut them off.

I cut them off as well Lea and that sometimes makes it even worse.. it leaves a sharp edge from the base of the label. If you cut that part off there is always the risk ( as you say ) of ending up with a tear in the fabric.

[Dekoda]

Why is the small label/tag of T-shirts sown on the back-neck-brim ?..They are irritable and scratch !....the hem at the bottom of the T-shirt is the perfect place for it !

[ATTACH]33778[/ATTACH]

All people unite...a protest is in order !

The T-Shirts that I get no longer have a tag at all, they just have the info printed right on the shirt where the tag used to be. After a few washes, the print disappears.

[Dekoda]

Well I'm sure that they are not all like that. But yes, i agree they are right up the creek. The other thing i don't get is that if the company itself were actually (as they do have the legal rights) a real live person, that person would have ALL the traits of a psychopath. Its been looked into already. Why would Government allow companies the human legal rights to begin with. MONEY, kick backs would pay a big part i would imagine. A Psycho person is one thing. A Psychopathic (in "mindset") company is a very wealthy and well protected unit in which it is able to continue doing harm on a larger scale (this particular example being medical insurance companies) not only by doing damage to the clientele but by hurting those who work for them as well. As i'm sure it would be very difficult to work in an environment where your constantly denying people of proper medical care. I do believe that for the most part your average "joe" is not Evil and i would imagine working conditions like that would effect you mentally eventually whether you were aware of it straight away or not.
I'm not saying my country is any better (in my opinion its not as bad as the US) but medical care is not completely free here either, and i do believe strongly that health care should be universally free everywhere in the world. ( i am aware of how disney that sounds but its my little hope for humanity)

It's all about money. See, the pharmaceutical companies have shareholders and those shareholders expect big profits. If the CEO of the company doesn't deliver big profits, the shareholders will fire him, so he has to do whatever it takes to keep the shareholders happy. The shareholders don't care about the rest of us, they just care about their investments, so it's the money that is the cause of this.

To reap big profits, the companies have to charge huge prices for their drugs, so we end up getting stuck with the bill. Heck, here in the US, you might need to get heart medicine that costs you $200, but if you went to Canada and bought the exact same drug from the exact same pharmaceutical company, it might only cost you $10.

There was a documentary where they took a group of rescue workers who worked at the rescue scene of 9/11 and took them to Cuba to see how the health care was down there. These workers all suffered from respiratory ailments that forced them to leave work. One woman said that she had a hard time breathing and that she needed an inhaler that helped her a lot, but since the inhaler cost $125, she could only afford to buy one a month. When she in Cuba, they stopped into a local pharmacy and asked if she could get her inhaler prescription filled there. The pharmacist said that yes she could and how many did she want? She asked him how much they cost and he told her 5 cents. She thought that he made a mistake and he said that no, all medicines there cost 5 cents. She ended up buying up all he had to take back home.

[LeaAW]

There was a documentary where they took a group of rescue workers who worked at the rescue scene of 9/11 and took them to Cuba to see how the health care was down there. These workers all suffered from respiratory ailments that forced them to leave work. One woman said that she had a hard time breathing and that she needed an inhaler that helped her a lot, but since the inhaler cost $125, she could only afford to buy one a month. When she in Cuba, they stopped into a local pharmacy and asked if she could get her inhaler prescription filled there. The pharmacist said that yes she could and how many did she want? She asked him how much they cost and he told her 5 cents. She thought that he made a mistake and he said that no, all medicines there cost 5 cents. She ended up buying up all he had to take back home.

I saw that doco! i remember the lady crying and filling her suitcase with them..
Its such a shame that people are not paying attention to where they put their money. I couldn't ever invest in a company that does things like that. id prefer to hide my cash in a shoe box buried in the back paddock! It might not reproduce, but it wont hurt any one either

[alexspyforever]

Religion is always a touchy one indeed. I tend to clash with people who are very fanatically believing in something and don't have respect for the beliefs of those who believe in something else. Behavior like that tends to lead to hatred, hypocritical attitude and interpreting the "Bible" or whatever "holy book" they use as guide to their own advantage. As said before too many wars in the name of religion or a certain God while the essence of a good religion should be "be good for the other, help those who need it and share, don't do the other harm and definately don't kill".
I was raised catholic but while I don't go to chucrch and don't pray, I do think the christian values are important. I certainly don't need to earn heaven points that would be hypocritical. If there is an afterlife, which I believe there is, I would only want to go there to see my passed away beloved ones again.

Another favourite rant of mine is people who are fanatically spending time in hating anyone who is different or who they consider a threat, while in fact they are no threat at all. Homosexuality and gay marriage is one of these things that activists for a "healthy family situation" tend to hate. In some places it even leads to people coming on the streets to protest gay marriage. To those people I would say: "really don't you have anything more useful to do with your time." They make such a fuss about a small percentage of people who also want a normal, happy life and not being forced into living a lie. And those who say they are not homophobic until they find out one of their children is gay and suddenly they change their mind, now that makes my blood boil.
When there is still wars, oppression of women, child abuse, criminality, hunger and poverty because of power hungry people I really don't think people should make such a big deal about something they can't and should not try to change.

Parents who are concerned if their children would see 'nudity'. They don't worry about their kids watching violence at all but nudity that's oh no!!!! Fairy tales and romantic stories should of course be heterosexual because 2 women or 2 men in a loving relationship would send out the wrong message (and wouldn't lead to creating sons who eventually could become soldiers to discover and conquer new places). Yup I hate this behavior with passion.

The lack of (strong) female characters is something I regret. I love comics and movies. As much as I love the world that Tolkien created in Lord of the Rings or Rowling made with Harry Potter (even though I think HP is very shallow when it comes down to stuff outside the "wizard" world) I hate the fact it's much of a man's world (the stories in LOTR and HP are also the same thing over and over again good vs evil and I'm getting tired of that). I always tend to feel closest to the compassionate female character. I really love it when they can be strong too and not just the damsel in distress who need to be saved by the brave knight in shiny armour (who are often cocky and macho in real but that isn't shown of course). My movie and comics collection is therefore one which majorly consists of female lead roles. The stories I write consists of way more female characters than male.

There might be some other things I rant over but that's all I can think of now.

[Dekoda]

I saw that doco! i remember the lady crying and filling her suitcase with them..
Its such a shame that people are not paying attention to where they put their money. I couldn't ever invest in a company that does things like that. id prefer to hide my cash in a shoe box buried in the back paddock! It might not reproduce, but it wont hurt any one either

That's because you are still young and idealistic. I felt the exact same way you do when I was your age. Unfortunately, life teaches you what it's all about and why it's that way. As you age, you find that things you were against before, are now the only way to survive today.

For example, you put your money into a checking account so that you can send checks out to pay your bills. The money that you have in that bank is being invested by the bank to make money. Those investments might include the pharmaceutical company that the shareholders are controlling....not to mention that the shareholders might also have some control over your bank by having lots of their money deposited there.

Everything is interconnected in some way, and it's impossible to know about all of these interconnections, so we can only do the "things" that we need to survive, without knowing the consequences of those "things".

[LeaAW]

Religion is always a touchy one indeed. I tend to clash with people who are very fanatically believing in something and don't have respect for the beliefs of those who believe in something else. Behavior like that tends to lead to hatred, hypocritical attitude and interpreting the "Bible" or whatever "holy book" they use as guide to their own advantage. As said before too many wars in the name of religion or a certain God while the essence of a good religion should be "be good for the other, help those who need it and share, don't do the other harm and definately don't kill".
I was raised catholic but while I don't go to chucrch and don't pray, I do think the christian values are important. I certainly don't need to earn heaven points that would be hypocritical. If there is an afterlife, which I believe there is, I would only want to go there to see my passed away beloved ones again.

Another favourite rant of mine is people who are fanatically spending time in hating anyone who is different or who they consider a threat, while in fact they are no threat at all. Homosexuality and gay marriage is one of these things that activists for a "healthy family situation" tend to hate. In some places it even leads to people coming on the streets to protest gay marriage. To those people I would say: "really don't you have anything more useful to do with your time." They make such a fuss about a small percentage of people who also want a normal, happy life and not being forced into living a lie. And those who say they are not homophobic until they find out one of their children is gay and suddenly they change their mind, now that makes my blood boil.
When there is still wars, oppression of women, child abuse, criminality, hunger and poverty because of power hungry people I really don't think people should make such a big deal about something they can't and should not try to change.

Parents who are concerned if their children would see 'nudity'. They don't worry about their kids watching violence at all but nudity that's oh no!!!! Fairy tales and romantic stories should of course be heterosexual because 2 women or 2 men in a loving relationship would send out the wrong message (and wouldn't lead to creating sons who eventually could become soldiers to discover and conquer new places). Yup I hate this behavior with passion.

The lack of (strong) female characters is something I regret. I love comics and movies. As much as I love the world that Tolkien created in Lord of the Rings or Rowling made with Harry Potter (even though I think HP is very shallow when it comes down to stuff outside the "wizard" world) I hate the fact it's much of a man's world (the stories in LOTR and HP are also the same thing over and over again good vs evil and I'm getting tired of that). I always tend to feel closest to the compassionate female character. I really love it when they can be strong too and not just the damsel in distress who need to be saved by the brave knight in shiny armour (who are often cocky and macho in real but that isn't shown of course). My movie and comics collection is therefore one which majorly consists of female lead roles. The stories I write consists of way more female characters than male.

There might be some other things I rant over but that's all I can think of now.

To Homophobic people i say one thing

You only have yourselves to blame, You breeders keep having Gay Babies!!!

[LeaAW]

That's because you are still young and idealistic. I felt the exact same way you do when I was your age. Unfortunately, life teaches you what it's all about and why it's that way. As you age, you find that things you were against before, are now the only way to survive today.

For example, you put your money into a checking account so that you can send checks out to pay your bills. The money that you have in that bank is being invested by the bank to make money. Those investments might include the pharmaceutical company that the shareholders are controlling....not to mention that the shareholders might also have some control over your bank by having lots of their money deposited there.

Everything is interconnected in some way, and it's impossible to know about all of these interconnections, so we can only do the "things" that we need to survive, without knowing the consequences of those "things".

I may be a bit strong willed but, I'm 29 now and i haven't had a bank account for quiet a few years for this reason. I get paid in cash, I pay bills in cash, It stops me from Internet spending. If i need something i'll pay either my mum or Kristin and they order it for me. I've been able to be Financially law abiding and Self sufficient, yet still have a clear conscience, so i cant really agree that my views are Idealistic. I've always been very careful to make sure i make my life fit around what makes me happy IE; Job, friends family and i believe that if i feel something is wrong then i need to at lest do what i can to make my life work without adhering to , well in this case a bank. "Working around the evil" i guess you could say.
Things might change, As you say "when i get older" but for now i'm quiet content.

[wolfgangbuster29]

I'll touch a bit on road ragers out there and I'll begin with the question, where on Earth does anyone get any false notion that once they're behind the wheel of a vehicle they somehow have jurisdiction over everyone else on the road they're sharing and that they have any right to govern all other drivers on the road on any given day or location?

Folks, road rage does nothing but create deadly traffic hazards. It serves no other practical purpose than to facilitate a selfish ego trip on the part of the driver who initiates road rage by commanding other drivers on the road. It's not legal and it can be deadly so folks please remember that NO ONE owns the road and the only drivers on the road who have any jurisdiction over drivers who share the road are Federal, State, County and Local authorities.

Now folks, just yesterday whilst I and my fiancee' were travelling along one of our Interstate highways, we were approached from behind by an angry driver who kept honking his horn profusely. I was driving and I was abiding by all right-of-way and traffic control laws. But then the angry driver sped around me and pulled up in front of me. There were distinctive markings on the vehicle including a local phone number which clearly denoted that the angry driver was recklessly operating a Company vehicle. I called the phone number on the vehicle, hoping to reach the office of the company the reckless driver of the vehicle was representing and report to the office the driver's behaviour but it turned out that the phone number on the vehicle was the the driver's own, private call number. Well, the driver answered the line with a company name that was different from what I saw on the vehicle and when I said that I wanted to report the driver of their company vehicle the driver became irate on the line with me, using many foul terms and expletives that are totally inappropriate to be using when representing ANY company, and then the driver suddenly slowed down in front of me as he began threatening me over the phone. This sudden slowdown nearly caused a severe multiple-vehicle accident and in addition to us who were already on the road a fire engine truck was trying to enter the highway and that fire engine truck had to maneuver quickly so as to not become part of a major pileup because all the weight of that truck.

Soon after that near-miss the road rager hung up and then whilst my fiancee' was taking some photos with her phone of the offending vehicle including a good shot of the road rager's license tag number, I was contacting the local authorities on my phone to make report of the offending vehicle and the behaviour of the driver, the driver's tag number and the direction the offending driver was heading. Meanwhile my fiancee' was trying to reach the driver at the number that was on his vehicle so she could inform the driver that he was being reported. Not long after that the offending driver made a quick left off of the highway and I was able to update the authorities as to the direction the offending driver was going. The authorities thanked me and told me that they were looking for that driver.

Needless to say this kind of situation is horrifying and it has no place in a situation like busy roads and highways. It's how lives get lost, and all at the whim of ONE disgruntled driver who feels he or she has jurisdiction to rule the road and govern other drivers.

Now of course I am not at a liberty to tell you who that reckless road raging driver was but after just a little bit of Online research I can tell you that the driver is the owner of several business venues in the area, including a women's clothing and apparel retailer, a disaster recovery service, a marine and boat customising company and this guy also owned or had owned a franchise for a nationally-known pizza restaurant chain.

I feel I must express that anybody misrepresenting their companies in such a reckless and dangerous fashion should at least have their license to conduct business suspended and if it is found to be an habitual thing, his license to conduct business revoked and serious consideration by the State Highway Patrol as to whether to even allow that driver to operate a motor vehicle on our roads for a very long time.

Unfortunately road rage is all-too common in just about any area and anyplace it happens becomes an invitation for disaster and none of this needs to be. We all pay our taxes to have limited access our PRIVILEGES to utilise our streets and roads for motor vehicle travel and we all SHARE those privileges as we travel.

[s404abby1]

How we treat each other .....is religion.
It's when we place a price on anything thats human is where corruption begins.
But I may be wrong IMO.
I'm just saying