Sunday Updates! (I remembered this time!)

So the past few weeks have been pretty crazy... I need to be quick about this, because I have like a million tabs open & I don't have time to mess with a Firefox crash tonight & it's already past my bedtime.

• Obligatory Sunday Anti-Tea-Party comments: 
•  UK group allies with tea party (I'm pretty sure I mentioned this months ago, if not last year. Old news or new group?? I think it's a new group...)
• Environmental News: Today was 10/10/10, day of work for climate change. I failed, as far as I'm concerned, but will be making it up as I go by doing a little extra something each day... I don't really know much of what happened today other than what Greenpeace said on Twitter, but I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later.
• What's Happening in Washington?
• It would seem that the federal government doesn't plan to stop foreclosures just because some of them might be legit & accurate. Um, duh-- Temporarily delaying all foreclosures gives you a chance to figure out which ones were just irresponsible people who knowingly got themselves into a bad financial situation, & which ones were the result of the practices of the unscrupulous banks that tricked many people into contracts they couldn't handle, and rushed into the foreclosure process without properly examining the documents and files, just to make a buck. If you're just going to keep doing what you're doing without taking the time to make sure you're doing it right, why bother pointing out the problem at all? I mean, really, if you're just going to ignore it, why even waste our time explaining why there's a problem and you won't fix it? We're all too busy trying to keep our houses from being stolen because the bank "forgot to read the papers" that said we've already paid off the mortgages. Nope, go ahead and keep rushing through it, I'm sure that'll help just oh so much.
  
• Caribou Barbie: Does anyone care? I still don't.
• Can't we All Just Get Along? Peace & Unity In the US- Or not.:
• I'm too pissed off by this story to go into details, but firefighters stood and watched as a family's house burned down to the ground, because they forgot pay a $75 subscription fee for fire protection service. (This article is wonderfully biased. I wasn't going to share, but really, read it anyway.) When the firefighters arrived, the owner offered to pay any amount to get them to do something, and they refused. Thankfully, there are a bunch of wonderful, kindhearted people out there who have raised over $15,000 for this family. I don't have anything nice to say about the unethical behavior of the fire department, so I'm not going to say anything except - you fucking suck, & this is what annoys me most about Ayn Rand & capitalism & strict libertarianism. This world, this society is NOT about "every man for himself," but about a species working together for the common good and for survival. How the hell can anyone put money & greed over someone's life?!?! It's not like he didn't try to get the money to you anyway! What the hell is wrong with you!? (Is what I want to say. But I won't. I'll just quietly seethe over here until I can figure out how Karma is going to right this injustice...) What if someone were trapped inside? Would they have just let them die trying to find a way out? That shouldn't even be a question, but after reading this story, I really have to ask. (UPDATE: 3 dogs and a cat were trapped inside...) It would've been far more ethical if they had done something and then just billed the family later, but no, they had to stand there like a bunch of useless bastards who didn't care that a family lost their home and everything in it. Why bother sticking around to watch if you're not going to do anything about it?!?! It would have been better if they didn't show up at all- I would still be pissed off, but I could understand it more than what they did. When you can't see what's happening, it's easy to distance yourself from a situation. But when it's right there in front of you, and you know you have the power to do something, but you just stand there and watch horrible things happen right before your eyes and you feel NOTHING, I don't understand that. How do you sleep at night? "Just following orders" doesn't cut it for me. Even if my boss said not to do anything, I feel I have a moral responsibility as an ethical human being to help someone in need when I can. As a firefighter, well I know they're supposed to make that promise too. That's your fucking job. If anyone needs any more evidence as to why privatization of public services is the worst thing one could ever do in regards to ensuring the needs of society are met, look no further than this. We pay taxes so that things like this don't happen. If you have a problem with that, get over it. Lives are more important.
• According to this poll, more republicans support a strip club over a "mosque"?! [facepalm] Ok, this is why I hate polls. Either they're horribly inaccurate and misrepresented, or they show that an irritating proportion of the American population is incredibly stupid and hypocritical. And sometimes, it's both. So let me break down what this actually says - 21% of republicans polled said they'd be ok with a strip club at the old Burlington Coat Factory building where Park51/Cordoba House is supposed to be built. Only 4% of republicans polled said they're ok with a mosque being built there. (33%  of polled Democrats say strip club is fine, & 49% say they're ok with a mosque. Independents are 28% strip club & 34% mosque. Yes, we Indies are made of 35% mosque, and a quarter sweaty g-strings & wadded dollar bills...)
• Immigration Reform: Seems like it's all on hold until after the elections...
• Stewart/Colbert: Huge rally on 10/30 in DC!!! And guess what??? I'm going to be there!!! w00t!! Maybe I'll even attempt to live blog/tweet from my iphone. If I remember.
• Coffee Party USA: I gots nothin'. I think there's a meeting this week in NYC about something to do with the implications of the Citizens United decision, but I can't recall when.
• LGBT rights: Tomorrow is National Coming Out Day. Please, please, please sign a petition, post a message on FB/Twitter, or write a letter to your local schools/school board about addressing bullying in schools. Let LGBT people know that there are people out there who will stand up for them, that it's ok be who you are and that we will NOT stand for unfair treatment! Providing a safe and accepting environment for students is crucial to their learning, development, and well-being. No one should ever have to deal with bullying-- or worse:
• The Gay Pride parade in Belgrade, Serbia was disrupted when thousands of anti-gay rioters (est. 6000) attacked the crowd with Molotov Cocktails and stun grenades.
• On the one hand, stories like this almost make me feel like we're lucky that in the US, LGBT pride isn't as big of a deal... Sure, you have the religious nuts & super-conservatives trying desperately to roll back gay rights, and horrifying stories of bullying and the Westboro Baptist Church, but we've still made considerable progress. So I think for tomorrow, whether you're LGBT or not, let's all be be thankful and proud that any American is even able to celebrate NCOD, as we continue to support each other and fight for the rights that we all deserve, no matter what country or orientation. I refuse to marry anyone until we have equal marriage rights for all citizens. (Especially if I were to end up with a woman... I wouldn't really have much of a choice then, would I...)
• Completely Random & Unimportant: Midge & Skipper have last names?! & Husbands??? Husbands with last names! Wikipedia must be lying, right? I feel so cheated! My Barbies never came with last names, I had to make them myself!!! (XD & I would've loved to have the African-American Oreo Barbie. As offensive as that is, I'd finally have a Barbie I can relate to! I still get called that... [sigh] Seems like it's only about $50 on ebay... Might have to check that out, lol...)
• Also related to Barbie - cute Nissan commercial. & of course, Mattel sued.