Author: Becca

animals

California’s Proposition 2

Becca

In the heat of battle for the next president, there hasn’t been much attention on state proposition this year. Sure Prop 8 has gotten some attention (the banning of gay marriage one), but as I was looking through my voter education ballot yesterday, I stumbled on Prop 2, which I have heard nothing about.

I’m an animal lover, a non-beef eater, and a pet owner, so when I saw Prop 2 I had to write about it. If it passes, farmers won’t be allowed to confine pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal and egg-laying hens from moving.

First of all, I didn’t even KNOW that these animals COULD be confined from moving! They are already abused for their goods, and then they can’t even turn around? That’s crazy. Animals can’t speak for themselves–someone has to help them.

This is what a YES vote would mean:

“Beginning in 2015, state law would prohibit, with certain exceptions, the confinement on a farm of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.”

 

Groups supporting this prop are all animal-friendly, including the Sierra CLub, Humane Society and ASPCA.

Vote YES on Prop 2.

Please spend time getting informed about all the props on this year’s ballot. Some can really change lives.

Here’s  info.

news, politics

The VP debate

Becca

Well, we all held our breath that Gov. Palin would mess up, like usual. We hoped–or expected– all sorts of blunders on her part. Maybe she’d shoot a wolf, or speak in tongues, or talk about seeing Russia from her house. But, she did OK. Not great. But OK.

Sure, she didn’t answer half the questions, and instead went into a commercial-like speech about Sen. McCain.

But she didn’t fall flat on her face.

Joe Biden did his part. He was controlled, well-spoken and knowledgable. Good.

I am, however, tired of hearing Palin be called a feminist. I think I will link to this Op-Ed by GLoria Steinem (the feminist of feminists) about Palin. Here are some main points:

“Palin’s value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women’s wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves “abstinence-only” programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers’ millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn’t spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation….”

Please check it out.

entertainment

A Fair Affair

Becca

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I’ve often thought that I could easily live a happy life going from one festival to the next. And in Los Angeles, you could probably pull that off. But the fair of all fairs? The La County Fair.

On its very last day, we headed out to the LA County Fair. And what a fair it is. Sure, it’s is extremely expensive these days. And they have this fancy card you scan instead of little brightly colored tickets, which really just makes it harder to realize how much money you’re actually spending. But for such a fun-filled day of freedom… it’s worth it.

We spent the evening eating friend food (frog legs even!), visiting cows (not the best smelling beasts), riding the carnival rides, winning stuffed animals (well, some of us) and forcing people into awkward romantic poses for photos.

Taking photos is one of my favorite hobbies, so here we go….

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

news

It’s the end of the world as we know it?

Becca

I’m usually an optimistic person….

But.

It can be tough to stay that way when you are attempting to enter the job market at a time when the world may in fact be ending. Or so it seems.

Stocks are plummeting (not that I have money for stocks.) Banks are closing. Hundreds of people are being laid off in the business (and building) I want to work in. The county is a financial mess. And did I mention that whole chunks of the world hate us?

I have been subconsciously ignoring the major financial upheaval until today when I was sitting in the Times’ lunch room, I couldn’t help but hear the TV. I hate to say we’re screwed– but with nothing getting done in Congress, screwed seems like a pretty tame description.

I know we’ll recover. We have to.

entertainment, news

Banned Book Week

Becca

From The Los Angeles Times:

So Cal Rediscovers Lost Books
Rebecca Ford, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “1984,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Hamlet”–all books that were once banned by various libraries and governments within the United States. Children’s books, in fact, have been banned more than any other genre, and one of the most commonly banned authors in American letters is beloved children’s author Judy Blume…..

See the rest Here

entertainment

The Emmys- What happened?

Becca

The Emmys were bad. I wish I could put a nice red bow on that statement to make it a little gentle. But let’s face it– the hosts were boring, the show was rushed and the presenters ranged from pathetic to uninteresting.

For example, why was LC from ‘The Hills’ presenting? That show, while I DO watch it, belongs no where NEAR the Emmys.

And let’s not forget the technical glitches. The mics didn’t work, there were random shots of doorways, and of course one guy’s acceptance speech got cut off, poor guy. I can’t even remember who it was…

Sure there were moments of funny. Thank goodness for Ricky Gervais. That guy is funny. His bit with Steve Carell was maybe the high point of the evening (by the way, both of them were ROBBED in my opinion.)

The Emmy planners thought it would be really creative to have the five nominees for Best Reality Host host the show– but they must have forgotten that that would be awkward and uncomfortable. Because that’s all it was.

If anything, the Emmys only saving grace was reminding me of the great shows that will start up this week and next: the Office, Grey’s, etc etc…. Thank goodness for that.

Uncategorized

Dante Moore talks back– and in almost complete sentences!

Becca

I was *shocked* today when I got a blog comment from THE DANTE MOORE himself. The comment is attached to my other post, but I thought I’d just copy this little gem here:

“The Re-Educator has entered this blog and graced the female population with his presence. Well, well, well. Look what I happen to come across today on wordpress. Women who disagree with the book before reading it, what a surprise. I’m reading so much sexual frustration from you women. Maybe your complete lack of understanding about men is a major reason why you’re probably single and alone. You better wake up before its to late.”

First of all, I’ll go ahead and say that it is almost hard for me to believe that this is actually Dante Moore and that he actually talks/ writes like that. But let’s get to the issue at hand here.

One, he seems so shocked that women would hold their own opinions of the vile and pathetic message of his book.

Two, just because I have an opinion, does not mean I am sexually frustrated. Believe it or not, women can have opinions. I know many smart, independent women who have happy, healthy relationships built on equality and respect. I don’t know what kind of women the unmarried Dante hangs around, but I don’t know ANY who are so spineless and lost that they would listen to his insane rhetoric.

Clearly, there is NO doubt that Dante Moore is simply a sexist, egotistical man who has masked his narcissism into a book. A pathetic attempt to leech off of women’s insecurities.

Finally, while I don’t want to get into the personal here, I am neither single nor alone. My life is very full and I have real success in relationships mainly because I only date men who treat women with RESPECT, something Dante clearly knows nothing about.

I’m not going to write about this book pathetic work of fiction anymore because I don’t think it deserves that much attention. It would be for the best if we all just ignore the book pathetic work of fiction–and Dante– and hope they both fall off the face of the Earth.