“Uncle Sam’s Plantation” review
by V.E. on September 28th, 2010
filed under recap/review
Uncle Sam’s Plantation:
How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor
and What We Can Do About It (Revised and Updated)
by Star Parker
Thomas Nelson Publishers
17 August 2010
I would give Uncle Sam’s Plantation negative stars (out of a possible 5) if I could. I could barely finish it, and I certainly wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been required to. Star Parker is a nice person, I’m sure, but she bases her entire opinion of the welfare system in the United States on her own experience (without any statistics or other hard evidence) while at the same time ignoring glaring facts that don’t fit into her worldview.
Parker begins by describing the three types of poor people: “the economically challenged” for whom just a little bit more money would make a huge difference; “the lazy poor” who are unwilling to put in a day’s work for pay and want someone else to take care of them; and “the poor in spirit” who, if they only got over it and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, could have a better life. Using real life examples of these categories, she explains why the government has kept the poor down. (“Poor people”, by the way, is her way of saying “African-Americans” since, of course, all white people are rich, immigrants are willing to work hard to get what they want, and other minorities in the United States don’t exist.)
She attacks GLBT people and feminists for “undermining family” and the public education system for teaching relative truth and allowing students to make decisions for themselves (gasp!).
She attacks abortion (which is, essentially, attacking women, since only women ever receive abortions) and says, “…during [a developing fetus's] third trimester, a stage when, in our country, they can still be aborted” without discussing how often late-term abortions even happen (that is, very rarely). Do you know how many states allow late-term abortions? Like, thirteen or less, and they all have serious restrictions. (See also here, just for starters.) Needless to say, the whole thing is more complicated than Parker makes it seem.
Plus, though she references other people and writing, there is no Works Cited or Bibliography section, so there’s no way for me to read those articles or books and decide for myself what to think about them. For all I know, she could be quoting out of context.
I literally yelled in frustration when, at one point, it says, “A centralized government makes decisions about [poor workers'] childcare, healthcare, and retirement. It controls their reproduction through abortion and wants to control their deaths through euthanasia” (italics mine). Those two things are bodily rights that everyone should have. Our government allows women to choose for themselves whether or not to have an abortion; it doesn’t force anyone to have one against her will. (In fact, many people—or, at least, some people—would say that The Public actually discourages women from getting abortions, even when they need them.)
Uncle Sam’s Plantation leaves out important parts of the discussion because they don’t fit into Star Parker’s argument. I could go on and on refuting most of her bullet points, but that could be a book into itself. Let me just say this: there is no way I can recommend this book to anyone; it’s tripe of the worst kind. I’d toss it right in the trash if I wasn’t so adamantly against disrespecting literature, even if this book is actually just Conservative propaganda.
DISCLAIMER: I received Uncle Sam’s Plantation free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in return for a review of the book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Annotation Checklist
by V.E. on September 27th, 2010
filed under lost/found
My dad found this Thursday, September 16, on his way home from work in front of La Canada Imports. I looks like an oversized bookmark for a student in an English class. It’s printed on yellow paper; both sides are in bold-face type. There’s a crease about halfway down the paper all the way through, as if someone had folded it in half before putting it in a book. The front uses circular bullet points, while the back uses quad diamond bullet points; I’m using “—” here for simplicity’s sake. (Click the images for larger versions.)
The front reads:
Annotation Checklist
—text-to-self, text-to-
world, text-to-text
connections—NEW VOCABULARY
—Sense Imagery
—NEW CHARACTERS-
characterization—diction-word choice &
how it affects tone—Symbolism
—Irony-dramatic,
situational, verbal
—Allusion
—Appeals –
logos/ethos/pathos—Hyperbole
—Understatement—syntax-sentence
structure—asyndeton(I came, I
saw, I conquered)
polysyndeton(he ran
and jumped and
laughed for joy)—Repetition
—anaphora-repeating a
sequence of words—Figurative language
simile, metaphor
—Personification
—Paradox-contradiction
—Oxymoron-sharply dull—Sound devices
alliteration-peter
piper,
assonance-do you like
blue, consonance-
mammals named Sam
are clammy
—onomatopoeia-whoosh
The back says:
— Ask – Why?
—Talk back-Comment
—Write summaries
—Leave a trail to follow
—Bracket, highlight
—Create an index—Note the author’s style
—Reflect
I’m posting this here (even though I wasn’t the one to find it) because I learned something from it. I hadn’t known what asyndeton and polysyndeton were before Thursday evening; and, actually, I still had to look them up—one bookmark worth of information wasn’t really enough. It’s clear that this was meant as a “cliff’s notes” version of some lecture(s) to help someone study more thorough notes. My father was surprised I didn’t know those terms; apparently, having a graduate degree in English means I Know Everything There Is To Know About The English Language. (Yeah, right.)
The Past Week via Twitter: 2010-09-26
by V.E. on September 26th, 2010
filed under twitter
- blast from the past. my iTunes on shuffle decided to play "All My Life" by K Ci & JoJo. seriously. 1997 represent lol. #
- Omg last episode of Kuroshitsuji II holy shit. I feel like I rewatch the whole thing to understand wtf just happened. #anime #
- just bought a bunch of stuff about/by Aleister Crowley b/c I don't know much (read: anything) about him and… #
- …tonight was the 3rd time he's come up in conversation w/ my supervisor at work. 1st: mentioned by name. 2nd: OTO. 3rd: unicursal hexagram #
- (OTO = Ordo Templi Orientis, which I *also* had to look up… sheesh) #
- therefore, my (official) reading list just got twice as long. T_T *reads furiously* #
- anyone else interested in watching "My Generation" on #ABC this Thursday? #
- my @Dredgly is going back to New York this morning. T___________T love you, lovely. #
- aaaaaagggggghhhhh must do something uuuuuuuseful. #
- yeah, so I have a bunch of reviews I need to write and a bunch of books I need to read and what do I do with my time? #
- … watch videos of cats jumping into cardboard boxes on #YouTube of course. uuuuuugh #procrastination #
- fuck me. I think I missed a meeting by putting it on the wrong date in my calendar when I made the appointment. #
- worst part? I went to the meeting today, which I had on my calendar, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's actually *tomorrow*… #
- I was able to get this morning off from work, but I tomorrow I work 5:45 to 12:30… so I've missed the meeting *before it's even happened*. #
- FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU #
- need a ride to (and home from) El Monte on Sunday. anyone want to spend the day w/ me? I'll pay for gas and parking! puh-lllleeeeeaz?? #
- 2:15 to close last night; 5:45 am to 12:30 pm today… walked home after some errands… lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. #
- thank the Lady and Lord for today's equinox. a little over a month until the new year! #pagan #
- uh, yeah… so. I have never *never* even considered getting my septum pierced. ugh no. #
- so, I am not opposed to the #NewTwitter layout. it feels sort of lopsided to me, but over all it's not bad. #
- also, I went to class and then–while still in class–was called into work starting right after and then did some volunteering. tiiiiiired. #
- uuuuugh. feel stiff and achy… just like yesterday. I better not be coming down with something. >_> #
- work 5:45 to close today. tomorrow off (yay!)… #
- if no one can/will take me to #Pagan Pride Day, I'll have to scoff & say, "well, I couldn't afford to go, anyway" which is true, but sad
#
Banned Books Week 2010
by V.E. on September 25th, 2010
Banned Books Week is 25 September to 2 October 2010. I hope you do something dangerous this week and read a banned book! There’s a list of the most challenged books of the past year (below), or you can go for something more classic, like: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Slaughterhouse-Five, Of Mice and Men, The Giver, or Beloved. I’ve included links to Amazon.com for buying ease, or (even better!) patronize your local library and tell the librarians there what a great job they’re doing. ^_^
Of the titles below, I’m proud to say I’ve read a few of them (And Tango Makes Three, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Twilight series *shudder*) and actually own others (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Catcher in the Rye, and My Sister’s Keeper), though I haven’t gotten around to reading them (yet!).
The 10 most challenged titles in 2009 were:
ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, drugs, and unsuited to age groupAnd Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexualityThe Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age groupTo Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age groupTwilight (series), by Stephanie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age groupCatcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age groupMy Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide, violenceThe Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age groupThe Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age groupThe Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
PS: Graphic novels are often banned, too.
Irregular Roundup #12
by V.E. on September 20th, 2010
filed under anime/manga, beauty, entertainment, favorite, writing
Why Beauty and the Beast is a million times better than Cinderella has a good point—and some good rebuttal commentary. I also love the story and even collect Disney “Beauty & the Beast” stuff.
Just Happiness, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. Gaiman says, “And it is so beautiful… I want to make everyone watch it.”
An interesting blog entry about color by Randall Munroe, the guy who writes/draws xkcd. Also, this and this.
heartsupport has a new website. I’m not sure how I feel about it, honestly, but I approve of what they’re trying to do (at least as far as I can tell).
Neat little games by Silver Stitch. They should probably be played in order to understand the story but don’t strictly have to be. Colour My Heart | Colour My World | Colour My Dreams | Colour My Fate | Colour My Life
Editing Your Novel? A Round-Up of Some Good Advice Also, 5 Ways to Make Your Novel Unforgettable.
Official Power Morphicon: celebrating “the hit TV series Power Rangers with industry guests, live events, and more. Join us as we convene for the show’s 17th anniversary of its premiere!” August 27-29, 2010, in Pasadena, California. WANT(ed) TO GO.
Anime related, for your information and mine: AboutGundamWing.com, an essay about Cosplay in Japan, and how most conventions lie about their attendance.
OMG best thing ever: Golden Girls nesting dolls. (Thank you for being a friend!)
If historical events had Facebook statuses; I admit, I loled. Also, part 2.
Queerness in Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land; a good read about the main problem I had with my favorite book.
I want to see this movie: Real Injun! When is it coming to Los Angeles????
People ask me why I don’t drink or do drugs, or even drink coffee, and I always have a hard time telling them in the time I’m allowed. (It’s a long story and most people don’t want to sit there and have me explain my life story to them, obviously. Who has time for that?) I struggled for a while with the idea of being straight edge—I’m not. That is, I’m not struggling with it anymore, but I’m also not straight edge. I’m just me.
400 Years Without a Comb: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6. Or, just watch the playlist on YouTube.
“The Other Guys” review
by V.E. on September 20th, 2010
filed under entertainment, recap/review
Honestly, I wouldn’t have seen The Other Guys (wiki) by myself or without some kind of suggestion. I went on Wednesday afternoon with Daylin (who’s visiting from New York for a couple of weeks!) and a friend of Katie W.’s. Since the friend works at the theater near me, he was able to get the three of us in for free, which was pretty sweet (and the main reason I didn’t object to a stupid movie). I vetoed Machete, which they both wanted to see, 
because I’m not good with excessive amounts of blood and gore. I relented after that because I didn’t want to seem like a bitch. I mean, he was doing us a favor, after all.
Well, it’s a dumb movie, but with my expectations so low, it actually wasn’t that bad. I don’t have a great history with Will Ferrell movies, but I was kind of impressed that he was a (semi-)serious character in this movie. Or, at least, it wasn’t all about him wearing a clown nose and deliberately acting like an idiot for two hours. I know nearly nothing about Marky Mark, though I have wanted to see Four Brothers and We Own the Night. (The film also features Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson as badass cop partners and Eva Mendes as Will Ferrell’s character’s wife.)
Set in New York City, The Other Guys focuses on two decidedly unbadass cops, Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlburg) who manage to step out from the shadow of the department’s star police (Diesel and Jackson) and create their own well-earned fame when they bring down a corporate conspiracy that threatens the New York Lottery. The primary subplot involves Gamble’s personal history and his relationship to his wife (Mendes). There’s another subplot about Hoitz’s anger management issues and his stalling in promotions after he shoots Derek Jeter while on duty at the World Series, but it didn’t strike me as important as the stuff about Gamble and his wife.
Overall, it’s a good watch for a lazy, “I don’t want to have to think” evening with friends. It’s a comedy, but it has a few well-placed serious moments. Still, don’t expect it to change your life or anything. I especially like the part when Hoitz literally kidnaps Gamble at gunpoint to get him to go out and do some non-paperwork research.
Gamble says something like, “You’re not going to shoot me with that gun.”
Hoitz responds, aggravated: “I shot Derek Jeter, didn’t I?”
“That was an accident,” Gamble points out.
“Was it?” Hoitz says, as if he’s asking: Do you really want to find out?
Classic.
The Past Week via Twitter: 2010-09-19
by V.E. on September 19th, 2010
filed under twitter
- tomorrow (Sun.) I have some real work to do. #
- I'm not going to play Pull Tabs, Scratch & Win, or Slots on #facebook anymore. total waaaaaaaste of my time. #
- I just spent a minute in a test tube with David Suzuki. If you've got a minute you should too. http://testtube.nfb.ca #
- home from work (I opened today for the first time! uuugh to early mornings). class this afternoon, then a different class tonight. #
- @sixpickledfish technically speaking, you're only gay if you like boys. you know, *that way*… in reply to sixpickledfish #
- yeah, so. today has not been a good day. #
- I'M GIVING AWAY A FREE SHIRT. seriously. clicky the linky: http://bit.ly/immanuelsveins please RT #
- who doesn't like free stuff? http://bit.ly/immanuelsveins I'm giving away a free t-shirt; click and comment for a chance to win! (please RT) #
- See 15″ MacBook Pro laptop w/matte screen selling in Bay Area in odd circumstances? Contact @maymaym. Was stolen: http://ur1.ca/1mqz0 Pls RT #
- home from Edison in downtown L.A. have to say, it was pretty neat all around, though very loud and expensive (but what uppity club isn't?) #
- I haven't knocked anything off my to do list in almost a week and it's only grown longer. uuuuugh. #
- I have to figure out a ride for #Pagan Pride Day this year (Sept. 26). I'm *pretty* sure I already have the day off work… >_> #PPD #
- Don't forget to the check the free shirt post: http://bit.ly/immanuelsveins I'm picking a winner on Sept. 22–next Wednesday. (please RT!) #
- @postsecret though I've never been sick like that & I'm not a nurse, thank you for sharing the #PostSecret about the Grand Canyon today. #
- YES! This: RT @yaoipress "'Why Women Like Yaoi' http://bit.ly/dbduCl my blog w/ theory referenced http://bit.ly/bqK8bt" #
- sadly, my Twidget dashboard app doesn't work anymore for some reason… thoughts? #
- would you volunteer for Hell? http://www.oldways.com/blog/2010/100827.html #
