I celebrated the ability to type with both hands again by writing a guest post for the blog of my twitter friend, @stinginthetail. I talk about crystals, crazy celebrities, and vagazzling in You want me to stick rhinestones where?

(In case it’s not clear, @tweet_fail is one of my twitter accounts, that links to my other blog, Twitter-Fail.com.)

Once you read my post, stroll through the rest of her blog to discover why I like her so much.

I’m against discriminating against disabled people. I think everyone has the right to work, take care of themselves, and be a productive part of society. What I am against is the way some people turn every word, every phrase, and any imagined act into an act of discrimination.

A website called Disabled Feminists takes issue with the word lame. According to the Urban Dictionary, “lame” has a lot of definitions, only one of which means “a person who can’t walk.” The political correctness cops don’t care about that. They want to grip the original definition in a language vise, and force people to only use that word when referring to someone who can’t walk. Which confuses me, because we’re not supposed to use the word lame or disabled, either, so what is the fuzzy term we can use? I think a few years ago it was otherwise-abled, or handi-capable, but those are probably not in fashion anaymore.

From the thread:

“It’s a bit unclear when people started using the word in the context of events/situations/objects, although it appears to have started around the 18th century.”

So, is this the evolution of language, or 300 years of oppression? I’m saying the former.

Find me one instance within the past 10 years where the word has been used in common conversation to mean a person who can’t walk.

“This usage is highly divorced from its origin and needs to stop.”

Words evolve over time. In American English, many words have evolved from their original usage. To use words only as defined when they originated will remove the color and variety that make up the American English language.

“Weak” is ableist because weakness is part and parcel of some disabilities.”

Perhaps they mean weak, as in weak tea. (definition: deficient in the essential or usual properties or ingredients). Using that definition, there is no way that calling something else weak is ableist.

“Political Correctness” is the practice of censoring all the words that certain groups don’t want the rest of society to use in any way. More and more, people are concerned that anything and everything they say will bring down the wrath of the political correctness enforcers. Whether anyone was really insulted, or hurt by the words doesn’t matter. The language cops want us all to only think and speak in politically-approved ways.

There are certainly words that are meant to be perjorative, and were from first use. We should avoid those. But what about words that were never meant to harm, that some group has decided are harmful, because they want them to be ?

Should we all speak in Olde English. Should words only be used in their most literal definition, even if that word has multiple definitions? Should we shun every one who speaks differently from us, and embrace only those who speak exactly the way we do, and have the same values and prejudices? Yes, prejudices. Because choosing to be offended by the word usage of others, and expecting them to act as we wish, is a definite prejudice.

I have a disability. I don’t define myself by it. Being self-focused, and insulted every time someone uses a word that can be remotely related to my disability is a waste of time and energy. I have challenges I work with and through, and am more interested in associating with people I like who also like me. The more I call attention to our differences, the more negative attention I receive, and the more uncomfortable others become.

Lighten up. Relax. I choose to embrace the evolution of language, and stop looking for offense where none is truly given. If everyone chose to do the same, we’d no longer have to ask, “Can’t we all just get along?”

Office Genuine Advantage Notifications is part of Microsoft’s effort to reduce software piracy. Installing this software will help confirm that the copy of Office install on this computer is genuine and properly licensed. If the copy of Office installed on the computer is not genuine, the software will provide periodic reminders to help you take appropriate action and protect yourself from security threats posed by counterfeit software.

More information for this update can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/

That’s awesome, isn’t it? They just want to protect me from the security threats posed by counterfeit software. How big of them. It’s not like they put this on every computer running their software so they can find pirates and grab every cent that’s due them.

I’m not saying that Micro$haft doesn’t deserve to be paid. They provide an adequate product for the most part, and most people use it, like it or not. Making money means they get to make more minor improvements and release more versions of their product at inflated prices so they can make some more minor improvements and release more versions of their product at even further inflated prices.

I don’t use pirated software. I buy what I need from legitimate resellers. And I find it really insulting that, in order to use the software I’ve paid for, I have to let them install all this stuff that just really says, “We don’t trust you, and we’re doing everything in our power to watch your every move.”

Hey Micro$lop, stop telling me it’s for my own protection. Be honest and say you’re watching your own bottom line. You’re installing your little piece of spyware to make sure I don’t steal from you. The double-speak makes me trust  you even less than you trust me. Treat me like a criminal in my own home, and all those OpenSource (and free) tools keep looking better every day.

I am sick of stardom, talent and money giving people a free ride, no matter what they do. Debra Winger (who I used to like) seems to believe his guilty plea and flight from justice is a “technicality.” Whoopi Goldberg said it wasn’t “Rape rape.” The girl was 13, he was 40, he drugged her, she said no, he did it anyway. Brutally. Have you read the transcript? She was not a willing participant to the act, no matter how he and his huge group of powerful friends paint the picture. It was rape. It was rape rape. And even rape-a-di-do-dah-day. Rape.

The fugitive child rapist is now finally being brought back to justice. This is the people’s case. Not the victim’s, who understandably wants the entire matter closed. That the victim entered into a $500,000 settlement 25 years ago doesn’t matter, either. People are parading that around as if the money should buy his freedom – since the victim was compensated. He didn’t ever pay the settlement, so that point is moot, AND it has nothing to do with the debt he owes to society for his crime.

Does anyone really believe he only raped one child? I don’t. He’s a child predator, not someone who picked up a girl in a bar, thought she was old enough, and didn’t check her ID. Even if it was only one child, that’s one too many, but child rapists have a pattern of abusing lots of kids.

These A-listers think child raping is just a momentary lapse in judgment for which there should be no repercussions. I wouldn’t want any of these pro-child-rape reprobates babysitting my children, and I refuse to pad the pockets of anyone who has signed the “Free Polanski” petition, or speaks in his defense. This means there will be very few movies to watch. So be it.

Here’s some upcoming movies I won’t see, by child-rape supporter Harvey Weinstein movies:
Four Knights (2010)
Halloween III (2010) … aka Halloween III 3-D
Fraggle Rock: The Movie (2011)
Rambo V: The Savage Hunt (2011)
Scream IV (2010)
Piranha 3-D (2010)

…and some of his other upcoming projects
Knight Rider
The Prom
The Lives of Others
Panic
The Equalizer
Sin City 2
Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland
August: Osage County
The Seven Samurai
Come Drink with Me
An American Werewolf in Paris
The Silence of Six
Solomon Grundy
Faster, Pussycat Kill Kill
Rain in Spain
Crane: Iron Pentalogy
Kung Fu High School
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman
The Alchemist
Mulan

Pro-child-rape fan Martin Scorsese won’t get my money for any of these upcoming films:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (2011)
Sinatra (2011)
Silence (2011)
Shutter Island (2010)
Untitled George Harrison Documentary (2010)

…or any of these other projects of his:
Cache
I Heard You Paint Houses
The Elia Kazan Documentary
The Wolf of Wall Street
High and Low
Duel
The Long Play

That’s just 2 of the many, so yes, the list will get pretty long. You say it will be impossible to boycott everything created by a pro-child-rape artist? Not really. It just takes committment to the belief that every penny spent on their projects supports their inflated sense of self-importance. Their stance that the craft of movie making is one to be honored above all others, and any crime should be excused.

I’d rather spend my money with people who have honor. So, I will see the next Kevin Smith movie. I will applaud Chris Rock’s performances. I’ll happily support the celebrities on this list who speak against the fugitive child rapist and the perversion of their peers.

I’ll send my message to Hollywood with my pocketbook. They won’t miss my meager funds, but if enough of us send the message, perhaps someone will start listening. I don’t live in the fantasy land they create, however, so the real benefit to me is that I get to keep my own self-respect.

Enough reminiscing. I realized recently that I have been doing web development and online marketing for about 14 years. Someone recently said (or I imagined it, whatever) that each year on the internet is worth 27 people years, which means I”m nearly 400 years old. No wonder the bones creak every now and then.

I think I’ll stay on this ride for awhile longer. I like the speed, and the bright lights and pretty bells and whistles amuse me.

YouTube link

Okay, I take it back. He’s hilarious. But not for the reasons he’d like to think he is.

There was a perfectly good car show on KEZW. For some reason, the production director thought this one would be better. Better for whom? Not for the listeners who would rather hear Tom Collins, The Auto Answerman, a talented, real radio guy, running the show with the smooth precision that years of radio experience can afford. He fielded calls, gave car reviews, handed off questions to his guests and kept it interesting. And in all that time, I don’t think I heard him say, “Ya know,” once.

I doubt this car repair show will last long. No one can listen to that voice week after week and resist the impulse to stab themselves in the ear. So, they’ll tune out, the show will get no calls, and the advertisers will go somewhere else with their money.

I’ll be tuning around to find the new home of The Auto Answerman – a real radio show. I’ll let you know when I find it. Ya know?

Some links in Google no longer work. I’ve redirected everything I can from the old blog to the new one. If you reached the 404 page it’s Blogger’s fault. Blogger creates an html page with all the tags for each post as the page name. With spaces between, which are bad, because you should never have spaces in a page name.

You probably don’t care about any of that unless you’re thinking about creating your own blog. Blogger is good for people who don’t know how to set up a blog, and don’t have time to figure it out. If you’re creating a personal blog, that’s fine. But, if you’re planning on blogging for your business, you reallys should have a professional blog on something like WordPress. There’s some unsolicited advice for you. It’s worth more than the price you paid for it.

Anyway, I’m pleased with the way this looks. And now that it’s on a more user-friendly platform, you’ll probably be hearing a lot more from me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Evidently, shepherds have a lot of time on their hands. In this case it’s a wonderful thing.