Why the Twilight series fucking sucks!

I'm sure you've heard of the Twilight craze, a series of vampire books written by Stephanie Meyer. Frankly, these books are just terrible, and there should only be two kinds of people reading them: 12-year-old girls, and people seeking to read something humorous. And I say humorous because it IS - the writing is so bad, it's comical. These books are seeking to destroy any glimmering hope that today's youth will emerge as a literate, intelligent generation. And, being a part of that generation myself, that's just not cool with me at all.

I want people to understand how horrible these books are. Truly and honestly just plain bad. Stephanie Meyer just does not write well, and I guess her editors are eight year olds. Or giraffes. I don't know how these books could land on the shelves, but they have, and they are filled with a copious amount of glaring and awful mistakes.

Word Usage
Reason #1 as to why Twilight is the worst series ever... oops, I mean the consistently most unfavourable consecution...

Stephanie Meyer makes her writing way more complicated than it should be. I guess this was in an attempt to make her sound intelligent or something, but the end result is just pathetic. It's as though she used a thesaurus to replace every. single. word. "Small town" becomes "diminutive municipality", and it just sounds ridiculous. And don't think for a second that this sort of thing is just here-and-there - it's on nearly every single page.

The thing is you shouldn't use these words just for the sake of having a book full of big, pretty words. Big words don't make a book good - especially if the words are used in the wrong context all over the place. This practice is made especially horrible when you have a plot for a book aimed at teenagers, and you're using words that only a college graduate would be able to understand.

Every English teacher I've ever had always told me that good writing is written simply; using as little words as possible to say what needs to be said. Clearly, this is not a concept that Meyer has ever heard of.

Character Development
These characters are NOT like onions - they have one-layer personalities!

First of all, there is far too much character development, and not enough character to develop, if that makes sense. I mean to say that the characters are flat and predictable and there is zero mystery remaining past the initial paragraph of their introduction.

All of the characters can be summed up in whole in one or two words. Bella is clumsy. Edward is sparkly. Bella's dad is quiet. So on and so forth. The end. No more development of character. Don't think there's some hidden traits to these characters that you'll discover in later books... there's not.

In good books, the reader learns what makes the character who they are throughout the entire book. This is especially true if the book is part of the series! In a series, the reader should not know everything there is to know about the main character in the first two pages. Unfortunately, this is what happens in Twilight.

Boring Plot
Really, eye-gougingly, fall-asleep-reading-it boring.
When it comes to the plot of the book, THERE IS NONE!

One sentence summary of the entire series: A girl falls in love with a vampire, who she winds up with together forever despite a few minor discrepancies. That's it, really. The rest is fluffy, boring filler. The "climax" takes place in the last two chapters of the books and has nothing to do with the preceding 400 pages. The "conflict" is resolved far too easily.

I want to take this opportunity to present Stephanie Meyer with a gift. It's a simple plot graph, similar to many that I received in Junior/Elementary school.











See, Stephanie, there needs to be a balance of rising action and falling action, sandwiching a big, juicy peak in the plot. I learned this in first grade, and have written quite a few (albeit simple) stories since then, using this as my guide. If you use this as a tool for your future books, I'm sure you will not have hundreds of websites dedicated to the hate of your story.

Bella Swan: The World's Worst Role Model
Submission and insecurity does NOT make for a character that we should encourage young girls to look up to.

Bella Swan is the main character of the series. Somehow, despite being horribly plain and clumsy (and not to mention a new student at her high school in a really mid-west American small town), she manages to have several guys fawning all over her without any effort at all.

So, okay, she's a completely unrealistic character. How does that make her a poor role model, you ask?

Well, throughout the series, Bella becomes completely dependent on the "love of her life," a vampire. She is insecure and thrives on his attention.
When she finds out that he had been watching her sleep, she is delighted, rather than being understandably freaked out. By the end of book one, she is more than ready to give up any ambition to go to college or pursue a normal life, and strongly wishes to be a vampire so she can become immortal and spend the rest of her life with a boy she basically just met. And how does Stephanie Meyer continue this sickening teenage codependent affair? By making Bella continually more and more submissive to "her man" throughout the series. By the time she's eighteen, she's a pregnant vampire.

Great, awesome. Thanks for trying to inspire our youth, Stephanie Meyer.

An open letter to Twilight fans
"But hey! That's not nice! I like Twilight!"

Dear Twilight Fans,

Okay, okay. You like Twilight. I get it. Now please stop plaguing the internet with a million MS Paint "signs" dedicated to your love of it. Stop shoving Twilight down my throat on every website I visit. Just stop already. If I see another Facebook Bumper Sticker about Twilight, I will scream.

And please, please, please stop talking about "Edward". You want to meet a guy like Edward? Really? He's not even real, people. It's a character in a book. I promise you, no matter how much you whine, you will never, ever, ever find a perfect and sparkly 107-year-old vampire who will fall in love with the scent of your blood, and frankly, I think you're really odd for even wanting that in the first place. Seriously, though, cut it out. Edward is not real and you're annoying the rest of us.

Also, could you please stop comparing Twilight to the Harry Potter series? Really, I mean it. As much as I hate to admit this, Harry Potter is far better than Twilight on so many levels, and that's not even just personal opinion. Nobody could deny the fact that the plot of the Harry Potter series is just so much more developed, and it's just an enjoyable read for all ages. Harry Potter has lasting impressions on everybody that reads it.. for YEARS! Twilight will be forgotten in the next two years, tops.

And finally, don't try and tell me that I don't "get it" or that I'm just jealous because I'm not talented enough to write something as "brilliant" as Twilight.
I've read it, I hated it, I thought it was pure juvenile trash that is obviously based on Meyers own sexual fantasies with Bella intersected in her place. And I am that talented, I just don't have the time so I leave the creative writing to my brilliant friend, who whilst amateur and (as of yet) unpublished can create inviting, hyper-realistic fantasy settings with strong characters that grow and evolve over the course of the books span, characters you grow to love and root for.
This is interspersed with simplistic, yet thought evoking writing that greatly brings the world to life and dialogue that mirrors actual conversation. Not the trash Meyer cooked up.

Kind regards,
Serra

BLAH!

Hate it when people turn up late for appointments! Fucking assholes, wasting my precious time!

The demented ravings of a broken mind.

As a musician/singer/lyricist, I've always had a talent for conveying my feelings into music, poetry is something similar, yet something I can't quite grasp.
When my mother passed away last year, I fell into a place I didn't want to be... My mind is not a nice thing. I wrote many a song to try and get the guilt and anger and sadness out of my head by writing music that would never, ever be heard.
Upon looking at it all, perhaps I do have a poetic mind after all. And out of the dozens of songs I wrote through that difficult time, these are my favourite 5.


Broken

I'm already broken
So why is my heart breaking?
I try to shut out the pain
So why is my heart aching?

I tell myself I'm beautiful
Then tell myself I'm lying
I tell myself that I'm just fine
When I know I am dying

Don't tell me that you understand
Because I know you don't
You ask why I won't talk to you
I don't know why I won't

I don't understand myself
So how on Earth could you?
And so I hide inside myself
Afraid to let the real me shine through


Goodbye, mother

You weren't wrong
When you said it wouldn't be long
Now you're gone
And my heart is breaking
I miss you, mum
More than words could ever say
I hope now you'll find the peace you sought
And I hope you'll be okay
Maybe someday we'll meet again
But until then I'll keep thinking of you
Through the many wonderful years I knew you
I always loved you
And I thank you for giving me life
It's the one gift I cherish most
Please, mama, rest in peace
Don't worry about me


This Little Girl

This little girl has a hole in her heart
This little girl is broken
This little girl has a hole in her heart
This little girl's not jokin'

She used to love the whole wide world
Now all she see's is hell
She used to play with all the boys n' girls
Now she's got a secret she can't tell

This little girl has a hole in her heart
This little girl see's grey
This little girl has a hole in her heart
This little girl's soul is frayed

She used to smile all the time
Now a frown's the only thing on her face
She used to light up the world with her laugh
Now all she feels is disgrace

This little girl has a hole in her heart
Because a bad person pushed through it
This little girl has a hole in her heart
Because a bad man made her hurt and bleed

This little girl is a sister, an aunt, a cousin
This little girl can be anybody
She could sit beside you and you couldn't tell

This little girl has a hole in her heart
This little girl struggles to see the light
This little girl has a hole in her heart

This little girl is me


Impulse

I cut a little deeper and let the blood flow
I cut a little deeper and let it all go

I'm drowning in unspoken words
I cried for help and no one heard
I open up a vein before you change your mind
This is what you get; I'm leaving you behind

I relinquish all control
My final impulse takes its toll

Falling deep into the darkness
How the light has failed me here
I make one last sweet sacrifice
Escaping all my pain, my fear!

You'll just never know euphoria
You'll just never know the emptiness
The fucking carousel is my own private hell
You'll just never know insanity

I cut alone and in pure bliss
Who knew death would feel like this?
A scream rings out, a hand holds mine
Just let me die and I'll be fine

I'm stitched up like
A bloody rag doll
You made me stay
It's all your fault
Maybe you did care
After all
I'll find strength to stand
Before I fall


In Your Memory

I saw you alone in your room,
eyes sad as you stared out the window.
As long as you're gone,
I want you to know that I'll never let,
Never let go of your smile.

Lift up your head and I'll follow you home.
I want to face world beside you.
Keep on walking and never let go.
As long as you're here,
I'll always follow you home.

Even at night, the skies shine
in your memory.
The colours glow in the parting sun.
The seasons do change, and I see you there,
walking the night's silver streets.

Just lift up your head and I'll follow you home,
I'll bravely face the world for you.
As long as I'm walking, I'll never let go.
You'll always be here,
And I'm on my way home.

Top 10 sewing tips.

I love sewing, always have. I love making my own clothes out of nothing, I also love buying new clothes just to tear apart and merge with something else just to turn into something unique. Those of you who have seen my photo's on facebook etc may recall seeing a picture of me in a black knee length dress... I made that. It's easy, and now, I'm going to relay my top tips to you!
I may also do knitting tips later... Knittings seriously good fun!

1. Use good thread. Cheap thread is just frustrating and why waste time in frustration when you can be creating something pretty?
Cheap thread 'gums' up the machine and breaks easily - avoid those cheap spools like the 'plague'. They are the ruination of so many beginning sewers! Let's just say they are enough to make the preacher's wife swear... If she knew the words!

2. ALWAYS pre-wash washable fabrics. Always. As in, without fail!
Honestly, you don't want to be working with unwashed fabrics.Think crazy shrinkage, nasty chemicals, running dyes, bugs, and the sanitation limitations of people who toil in textile mills all over the world.
Wash and dry the fabric as you would the finished item. Be sure to iron it well before you cut it out.
Don't skip this step. If it's 'dry clean only' and you plan to dry clean the finished garment get the fabric dry cleaned before you cut it out. That includes lining fabrics as well. Please don't ask me how I know that pre-dry cleaned wool coating (Melton Cloth) and non-dry cleaned Bemberg lining are a sad sad sad combination.

3. Use simple patterns and quality natural fibre fabrics to begin with.
There is nothing wrong with simple patterns with good lines. You can tackle a designer Vogue dress with 67 pattern pieces later - simple is best to start.
Classic designers do it all the time - simple patterns with luxurious fabrics and one or two eye-drawing details. Perfect!

4. If you are making clothing, make a 'muslin' or trial run garment with cheap fabric first. Try it on. Adjust the pattern. Adjust your 'muslin' until it fits.
Use your 'good fabric' and cut it according to your changes - it should fit nicely the first time, and if you can't get the 'muslin' to flatter your figure get another pattern and try again - don't waste your time and nice 'expensive' fabric on a pattern that doesn't fit right.
Once you have a pattern that fits and flatters make it again in different fabrics and add or remove details for a different look. Don't re-invent the wheel.

5. You iron is your BEST sewing friend. It's true!
It is the difference between 'handmade' and 'homemade' - well pressed garments look well, so take the time to stop and press frequently and carefully. Use a press cloth for most fabrics - it prevents shine and scorching. Mine is just an old linen napkin - nothing fancy, but it works.

6. Take a class, read a good sewing book, watch some sewing DVD or buddy up with an experienced seamstress. Than just set aside uninterrupted time and SEW!
Push yourself to gain a new skill with each project you tackle. For example, when I was 10 years old I made every project in the 'Bishop Method of Clothing Construction' sewing book that I inherited from my Grandma.
It took me a year but by the end I had made a lined tailored jacket and skirt for myself With bound buttonholes and bias trim.
My Mum did not sew, so I was mostly on my own (until I met Dusty), but it was so fun. I made mistakes. The seam ripper is a tool meant to be used.

7. Learn to finish your seams professionally.
If you have a serger, great - it's a huge time saver. If not, learn to French seam, flat fell seam or at the least employ those pinking shears!
Not only does it look better inside the garment, it will extend the life of the garment as well. Take a look at how your favourite clothing is constructed and learn from their seam finishing techniques.

8. Change your sewing machine needle with each and every project and learn to use the right needle for the fabric you are working with.
Have at least 2 'spares' of every size and type of needle on hand at all times.
They tend to break in threes - I don't know why. Remember that the larger the number, the more heavy duty the needle is.
Most woven fabrics do well with a 'sharps' or 'universal' size 10 or 12 but for fine or slippery fabrics a size 8 works better, and for something heavy like canvas or duck you'd need 14 or 16. Denim has it's own needles which are very heavy duty and durable, and knits require special needles as well.
Make sure that the needle you buy are for your machine, and if you are not sure, compare the top or shank with the needle you have.
Double needles are fantastic for top stitching nice details. Easy as pie - just fill an extra bobbin with your thread and draw both threads through the tension together until you get to the the needles, then thread them separately.

9. Keep trying on as you go - it will prevent a lot of ripping out! Even if you muslin was 'perfect', your 'good' fabric may have a different amount of stretch or ease, and may drape differently on your body.
Make your adjustments before you do the finishing, like hemming or tip stitching - it will make your life easier.
Always hang a skirt or dress on a hanger overnight before you hem it - especially skirts that are cut on the bias.
They may sag or drape more in one direction or another and make for a crazy uneven hem - which is never attractive when it is unintended!

10. Vacuum out the dust and fluff and oil your machine regularly.
It's working hard for you - so a little lube and tidy up is the very least you can do in return! Your owners manual will give you simple instructions for the regular maintenance, and you local sewing machine repair person should be able to give you some idea of how often professional cleaning is required.

I hope you enjoy your sewing projects more - I know how frustrating it can be to try something new and not have it go smoothly - hopefully this will help you avoid some common pitfalls!

Why are people so damn boring?

Talking to people is a waste of time. I tried a new chat program the other day (out of sheer mind-numbing boredom), and I was bombarded with messages from strangers wanting to chat.
Okay, great. So I decided to give it a try. No matter what I'd say, they'd always answer in one or two words and/or syllables (even to open ended questions--go figure).
This particular chat program allowed each user to have a profile in which they could list hobbies or interests, and some stupid quotes that govern their lives.

Of the people I talked to, 90% of them listed "I like to have fun" as one of their "interests." Who the hell doesn't like to have fun?
What a stupid thing to say. "Hi, my name is dumbass. I like to have fun in my spare time. I'm too shallow to have any real hobbies or interests, so I'm going to play it safe and rattle off an array of universal traits that everyone can relate to, just in case someone suspects me of having a personality or opinion of my own."
Most of the people I talked to WROTE EVERYTHING IN CAPS. What right do they have to be this stupid?

I can just see them now. Those morons, sitting at a login prompt, typing their password incorrectly, over and over, because their caps lock key is on. "Why won't it work?" They might ask. "I'm typing my password correct; I could have sworn it was abcdefg. Why isn't it working?" How can they be so inept?

Okay, new rule. First of all, if you make your password abcdefg, you will be shot.
Second rule, if you don't type your password correctly in six tries, you will be shot (or shot again, if you broke the first rule).
Maybe that will keep these personality deprived idiots off of computers. Any hackers out there? We need a new virus or worm to wipe out the internet. I'm tired of it.

Also, there are too many personal home/facebook/myspace pages etc.
Too many people making web pages for their pets, too many dancing hamsters, and too many love web sites.
There's just too much crap out there. We need a new policy. Advertisers need to stop making it so attractive for companies to give out free web pages, and people need to carefully consider the consequences of putting up another personal home page listing some stupid hobbies and interests that nobody cares about, so just in case somebody goes to the page by accident, they don't waste their time reading another boring and pointless bio about a stupid kid in high school that likes to listen to Smashing Pumpkins or Aqua.
Nobody wants to read this stuff, yet people feel compelled to put their thoughts down on the internet for everyone to read.

I suppose I'm guilty of this. Or maybe I have a hidden agenda. Maybe I know that reading my blog page is a waste of time, and it somehow feels satisfying that I can waste my time to write this page once, and thousands of others will waste their time reading it, thousands of times. I'm wasting more of your time than I am mine. I'm making a profit.

Ways today's youth sounds like completely uneducated apes (oh and please stop)

Grammar. Punctuation. Spelling. Verb usage. Common Sense.

What has happened to these five terms? The more and more I browse the Internet, the more and more I regret doing so. I have always known the general public of this country to be less than scholarly, but the younger generation (even younger than me) makes me fearful of the future. This may be harsh (and possibly exaggerated for effect), however it needs to be said because it holds grains of truth - for more than one reason.

It wasn't too long ago that I sat in my high school English class. (9 years have only passed) I remember the dull grammar lectures and the spelling tests that made me want to fall asleep half the time. But, as much as I didn't realise it then, I'm thankful I paid attention 85% of the time.

As I now enter my second foundation year within the hospital in which I train (this time next year I'll be fully qualified, bitches! Technically I already am fully qualified, this years training just opens up more avenues for me. But enough of that) I look back on some of the things I wrote "way back when" and compare it to some of the things that are being written NOW by the high school generation. Quite honestly I'm not impressed and am convinced that the majority of youth is brain washed by pop culture OR they just lack functioning brain cells all together.

What am I referring to, right? The website today that has become the biggest festering place of recurring stupidity is YouTube. I'll admit, I visit YouTube a lot for watching music videos or other random videos my friends tell me about BUT you'll never find me sounding like a completely uneducated ape. How does one sound like a completely uneducated ape? You'd be surprised at the number of ways, most of which I'm sure you've come across. Here is a list of just a few of the things that annoy me most:

1. Made up words that now pass for slang - It is not cool to use stupid words that Mr. Webster didn't create as ways to express you point. No one can take you seriously when you say fo'shizzle.

2. I blame you Mr. Rapper! - I cannot entirely blame today's youth.
It all boils down to role models in the present day and age. More and more I find teens idolising their favourite pop culture star and no where can one see these shining beacons of stupidity than Music TV. Please take a moment and follow me to YouTube for a V.I.C. education (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG4xnTnFnJw)
That was a single of his from 2008 "Get Silly," (I searched for a while for a prime candidate in which to base my point, this arse pretty much proves what I'm getting at)
This bullshit is the typical rapper/hip hop artist video today.
However, it's when he steps away from his ridiculously dressed entourage and electronically produced "beats" that he makes me want to ban any kid from listening to or watching him and his ilk. For example I did a little research and in an interview I saw with this clown, all he said was "Like, like, like, you know what I'm sayin', like, like, like, you know what I'm sayin'." How many of today's youth sounds like this? (A lot, trust me)
Bet you'll need more than fingers and toes to count. That's the scary part! Record yourself, play it back and realise THIS SHIT IS NOT COOL. Which brings me to my next point...

3. "Valley girl language" - "LIKE, OMG! NO WAY! TOTALLY! FOR REAL!? Ummmm.... Like seriously." DUMB. DUMB. DUMB. We all fall victim to this language, out of excitement, nerves, etc.
However, it is when this language dominates your day to day speech that you need to learn how to use a thesaurus or deliberately try NOT to say these words.
It is especially bad when someone uses these filler words (most notably "like") in writing!
You have time to edit and proofread your work... DO IT! And if you don't have time, DON'T WRITE OR COMMENT ON THE INTERNET!... Please?

4. Just plain inexcusable "stupid speak" - let's turn back to our friend V.I.C. and focus now on the comments left by YouTube members (The links up there if you want to see my point). Dis. Dat. Luv. Thiz. And, to quote user JrPenguin320: "Thiz shit suck on my cook man wat up wit this shit man wtf they cant make anything good man!. (Yeah, I dug deep)

Before some get all up and arms about any or all of the aforementioned statements let me just say this:

I realise that a certain extent of this language is due to a severe lack of maturity. When I was in high school I'm sure those older than me thought similar things about my generation.
However, I feel as though this disregard for grammar, spelling and word choice is taking over the Internet more and more.
Put simply (and nicely)... It depresses, annoys and baffles me. And while I don't expect those that fall victim to these four obviously pointed out faults to care... You at least can read (I hope) and if you're thinking about what has been presented here - mission accomplished (somewhat).

Humans Aren't As Superior As We Think, Here's Why

You know humans like to think we've progressed throughout history, but we haven't. We like to think we're smarter because we made the computer and can fly a plane and the sort. Sure our thinking may be broader, but we still rely heavily on technology to do our work for us.
How many times since the typewriter came along have people actually handwritten a paper? I know people who don't even fill out envelopes when mailing a letter, instead they pull out their handy address label and attach it to the envelope. When is the last time you calculated how much change you'd get back from a £13.27 purchase if you paid with a 20 in your head? (the answer is £6.73, and I suck in math, but when it comes to my money I'll become Albert Einstein)

I think our generation of human is a lot weaker than back in the day. There were no fast food places to get a meal, back then, the meals really were fast food. They had to hunt and kill their meals. No guns either, by the way, they had to use a club or a rock, or even their own hands.

There were no doctors or surgeons to help you when you get sick. If you got sick back then, you rested, ate some crushed leaves and berries, and a "healer" shook beads inside a coconut tied to a stick over your body and if you lived, good for you and if you died....you died. There were no immunizations, which are supposed to help you from getting sick, but all they do are help viruses come back stronger and more deadlier. good job guys! We've succeeded in creating superviruses, don't be surprised if before long your zits whoops your arse for trying to buy a tub of Noxzema (family guy reference, I don't watch it, but I have caught it a few times when there's been nothing else on).

Want to know how I know our immune systems suck? Dogs... Yes "man's best friend" are immune to the HIV Virus. Some best friend, huh? I guess being able to lick your own genitals keeps you from having sex with infected dogs.
I can picture Rover now looking at a female dog like "Damn she's fine...hold up is she shedding hair? Nah...I'ma hafta take care of myself this time." *lick lick*

Don't get me wrong, immunisations are great in their own way, they cure syphilis, strep throat, and allergic reactions.
My only problem is that the diseases are improving faster than the treatments/cures are. That's why there are about 85 strands of the flu out there.
There are all these diseases that we're worried about, Bird Flu, Mad Cow disease, Salmonella from chickens, West Nile from mosquitoes. You know what animal doesn't get sick? Dogs...

And you can tell that the diseases are improving faster than the cures because the scientists are always worried to death about a smallpox or flu epidemic. Why the hell are we worried about a smallpox epidemic?
We can stop that before it gets out of hand... Or at least that would be the "Smart" thing to do. Speaking of smart. Humans are being bested by single-celled organisms! bacteria don't even have computers or iPhones and they're already more advanced because they focus on keeping each other alive.
They survive and they help other bacteria survive! People on the other hand, have other interests like yoga and Starbucks that keep them from surviving.

People have clouded judgements like greed, selfishness, and betrayal. You think there's not a cure for AIDS? There probably is, but if there is then there's a group of greedy bastards getting rich off of pills that keep the disease tame so that there's no "need" for the cure.
Who cares if the poor get AIDS right? Survival of the fittest right? It should be survival of the society. If a bacteria ran for Prime minister, I'd vote for it, it wouldn't be like it'd be the first time we had a PM without a brain!

Maybe that's just my opinion... Oh well.

Religion is bullshit

Religion is bullshit!

There, I said it.
If you believe in an afterlife or an intelligent being who's actively interested in human affairs, you're not only (likely) remarkably wrong, but I simply don't think you've done enough thinking on the matter.
Religious people can respond to rational criticism in one of 3 ways: by asserting that their religion is true, by asserting that religion has utility outside of its truth (it's useful to society) or by asserting that being irreligious is associated with moral depravity and other undesirable outcomes.
This last claim is the most easily refuted by simply looking at the world. The most atheistic countries on Earth (such as Norway) rank higher than more religious ones in nearly every measure of human well-being, from literacy and employment rates to life expectancy and GDP per capita. Even among US states, the most religious tend to have higher rates of crime and lower literacy and education rates.
Correlation doesn't imply causation, but these facts make it clear that societies aren't crumbling because their citizens are becoming too rational.

Why Be Such A Bitch About It? What did religion ever do to you?

There are really only two things wrong with religion: it isn't true, and it's evil.
The fact that it isn't true doesn't offend me that much: people believe in dumb bullshit all of the time without a good reason.
Even still, it's disheartening to meet otherwise well-educated, respectable people who actually believe in 40-day worldwide floods, human resurrection, and talking snakes.

Now, people have the right to believe whatever the hell they want to believe. I'm not against that: it's a basic human right.
What I'm against is people's personal, bullshit metaphysics influencing the real world. See, I think that religiously oppressed homosexuals, victims of terrorism (including 9/11), millions in Africa dying of AIDS, millions more who will die from illnesses treatable with stem cells, and every brainwashed child deserves an apology.

H.L. Mencken said, “We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.”
Religious people shouldn't get tax-exempt organisations, appallingly free reign to molest children, and disproportionate government representation.
Their ideas also shouldn't be beyond criticism. Nothing should. More on all of this some other time.
For now, let's just say that humanity is right to value truth and we're right to criticise bad ideas. If someone states that they think Elvis is still alive, they're laughed out of a room, but if that same person draws a cartoon depicting a 1400 year-old prophet, most first world countries find it acceptable that he receives a litany of death threats.
Are we really, as a society, OK with this? You wouldn't make it 10 seconds in politics (or anywhere but an asylum) saying that you believed in Thor and convened with him regularly, but if you don't say the same thing about a less-creatively named god, you are immediately precluded from standing any chance whatsoever of holding any political office in most of North America (which we all know is one of the most religious countries in the world).
Clearly, something has gotta give.

God Isn't Real

The arguments (and anger) presented above only really matter if gods don't exist. If there is indeed a supernatural being, then maybe these religious people have it right and I'm just the worlds most misguided arsehole. Wait though... which religious people?

As Bertrand Russel said, even if the sky opened up right now and a voice boomed simultaneously into every human mind saying “I am the one true deity!” followed by a bitching light-show, every theist should STILL expect to be wrong, simply on probability.
See, there are a lot of religions out there. And, as much as multicultural, tolerant society would have you believe, they're not mutually compatible.
See, either God is real or he isn't. Either Jesus was his son, or he wasn't. Either Mohammed was the true prophet or he wasn't.
There is simply no possible way for everyone to be right. Miracles and creation stories lose a lot of panache when you realise that they're ten to the dozen and are available from literally thousands of retailers.

Prove It!

Also, it isn't my duty to prove that God doesn't exist. Proving a negative is nearly impossible, and there is a world of difference between claiming that “there's a poorly-defined creator of the big bang” and claiming that “God exists, he made the Earth 6000 years ago, he wrote a book, he had a son, he doesn't like gays, he runs the afterlife, and he's coming back any day now to judge us all.”
Most of these other claims (and many many other ones that certain religious people will offer) CAN be disproved.
We know that the Earth is billions of years old through a huge battery of independently-verifiable testing methods.

We have no reason to believe in an afterlife because such a belief would force us to revise EVERYTHING we know about biology, chemistry, and physics.
We'd need to throw out the books on countless theories that have provided us with testable, repeatable, and useful models that describe the natural world to a startling degree of precision.

Think about it like this: name me any phenomenon in the whole fucking universe that has ever been fully understood. Guess what? It works without any supernatural hand-waving. And just because we don't have the answer to every question doesn't mean that god wins by default.
Right now, god is simply a receding sphere of scientific ignorance. Before people understood micro-organisms, they thought that illness was caused by spirits.
Before people understood the cosmos, they thought that the Earth was the flat centre of the universe. Right now, people don't understand the origin of the first self-replicating molecule, so they think that god did that.
See the problem? A real explanation is out there, and we're not going to get any closer by sitting back and saying “praise the lord.” God has NEVER been the answer to any rational question we've ever asked. Why do we think that the current crop of mysteries are any different?

Unfortunately, whenever you bring up science in a discussion with religious people, they say that “God works in mysterious ways” and that he can't be measured.

Let me get this straight: God exists, but he doesn't do anything that can be measured. Does he or does he not heal people? That can be measured. It seems that god's kind of an arsehole to amputees though, and only chooses to heal afflictions that can also undergo spontaneous remission without him.
He never seems to perform miracles that break the existing laws of physics or probability. If you believe in god, you need to answer this question: what's the difference between the universe we live in, and a hypothetical universe where there is no god? If there is a difference, then it must be measurable. If there isn't a difference, then why do you believe in god?

Reject Religion

Question your beliefs. To pick on Christianity (again), here is what you need to reject to think that it is bullshit.
You don't need to disprove the existence of souls. You don't need to be able to answer every corner-case question in quantum physics. You need to reject the literal truth of the Bible, a 2000 year-old text written in the pre-scientific Roman empire by non-contemporaneous authors, edited and interpolated over the centuries by countless flawed humans and filled with miracles either so unbelievable that they are humorous or so uninteresting and trite that they couldn't fill an hour on TLC.

If this is offensive, it's because I'm offended.
If you are reading this post, it is literally impossible for you to have ever even met someone with as ignorant a world-view as the founding figures of major modern religions.
If we want to build a global culture free of needless violence, oppression, molestation, misogyny, homophobia, genocide, and suffering, then we need to start thinking rationally, we need to start criticising bad ideas,and we need to close the curtains on religion forever.
As Sam Harris notes, it can be done quickly and easily. Look at how fast attitudes have changed about racism, homosexuality, and women's rights in the past 50 years.
All we need to do is start asking questions and not letting faith scam a free ride on the logic train. I think that humanity is better than this. I know that we can overcome this embarrassingly persistent mental affliction.

The universe is much more marvellous when seen for what it really is. So open your eyes.

Americans are culturally inferior

\m/ (>.<) \m/

So, a while back I was having a "discussion" with some total fuckwit about how genomes are deteriorating over time, meaning our once "great" human race is actually de-evolving, mainly due to our reliance on machines. The conversation went on and I eventually got this reply

"Americans are genetically superior to all others

No other country has the same level of variety in its gene pool than America. Variety in the gene pool is important for increasing the odds of survival against genetic defect. Therefore, I assert that as a whole, Americans are genetically superior to all others."

At the time, I just called her a camel shagging transvestite, because I was immeasurably tired and couldn't be bothered. but that really annoyed me with its sheer arrogance, and rather than sinking myself lower and getting riled up about it, I've instead decided to contest that statement... Even though I know it will never get read, So I've done my research and pulled my shit together.

This is a very interesting statement, which clearly comes from a genetically inferior being. First of all, human beings are social beings, not merely biological. When you put them together in groups, a socius and a culture emerge which are separate and powerful entities that are more than just the sum of its parts.

As we all know, both this socius and culture play a far more important role than genes when we're thinking on the scale of entire human populations.

Well, if we take that into account, then America may soon face the same fate as all previous civilisations before it, because in reality it is not a genetically diverse population, but a genetically segregationist society (here, culture and ideology already limit genetic mixing).
And historically speaking, the Roman Empire had a far more diverse population than contemporary America--both in biological and in social terms.
The per capita number of mixed marriages and kids in the US. is not that much higher than in other hybrid populations (like those of Brazil, South Africa, and Europe). So I don't take the statement all too serious.

But I want to elaborate on another point.
It's obvious that in the end culture decides over the strength of a population. America's rise to power was mainly due to a 19th century ideology of Progress, Utilitarianism and Racism. Later on came Imperialism.
These values brought wealth and prosperity to a totally racist society, with whites and blacks absolutely segregated. When Asian immigrants were imported to do dirty work we saw the same. America's multicultural society is a very recent phenomenon, and I'm not really sure if it is an interesting kind of multiculturalism, because it is so superficial.
In fact, I consider the USA to be one of the most culturally homogeneous and least diverse societies on the planet. And this leads all kinds of weaknesses.
Elements of that homogeneous culture and that unitary ideology--which you have to take an oath on to call yourself "American"--directly lead to premature death (Americans rank rather low qua overall health compared to Europeans; their Stress Society produces all kinds of strange phenomena, like massive drug abuse, incredible obesity stats, etc...).
Now, premature death on a social scale is not really a great sign of genetic power. So we see that the cultural sphere directly influences the biological sphere of individuals, when we're thinking on the scale of entire populations.

But the social and cultural sphere of course also create effects within their own spheres (and in the end, these come back to the biological sphere): problems arising from the American ideology may in the long run lead to the total destruction of that "genetically diverse" population.
The reason being is when a "country maintains its 19th century ideology (of imperialism, superiority etc...) in the 21st century, cultural anachronisms grow, which can be lethal (that's a "lesson" we have learned from history).
Take global inequalities: the USA is by far the biggest and most arrogant consumer of all kinds of resources on this planet, per capita.
Since American kids in general are just ordinary kids (socially and culturally a bit less intelligent than other people on the planet, that has been well documented), "then why are they so well off?", many people ask. Well, this global feeling of injustice in turn may lead to anti-Americanism on a planetary scale which may lead to conflict, which may lead to an even bigger "Stress Society", leading to even more premature death ratios etc...

The question is: can America, being a wealthy society (but with enormous internal and external inequalities) technologically keep up with the growth of anti-Americanism? I don't think so. If America chooses to keep its paranoia (cultural weakness) as its basic societal metaphor, history may prove it to be an non-viable project.