Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Creative Aptitude

Do you like to write, knit, crochet? Are you into photography, tattooing, piercing? Are you overall a creative person with a variety of creative interests? Then join my forum, Creative Aptitude! I just started it so there are only a few members, however, don't let that get in the way! Start your own topics or reply to the ones currently there. If you have any suggestions, be sure to post them up! Have a creative interest you're not seeing on the forum? Let me know and I'll add it to the forum. I'd really like for this forum to be successful and I can't do it alone. Please, check it out!

Thanx,
Demonica



http://z3.invisionfree.com/Creative_Aptitude/index.php?

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

I Bet Chester Cheetah Smokes

I was thinking the other day about advertising; how advertising effects people and why certain characters are portrayed in certain ads.

I think most people would agree certain characters in advertising are meant to be symbolic of a company's product and the way these symbols are portrayed are done so intentionally to give a particular product a certain characteristic.

Many people feel some characters used in advertising are negatively effecting kids, such as Joe Camel. 'Cause you know, a smoking camel is fucking awesome!

Joe Camel "targeted" kids. Apparently because he wore a leather jacket and sunglasses and smoked. Personally, when I was a kid I never considered Joe Camel to be an influence in my decision to smoke. Fuck, I never even thought about it; it was just a character used for advertising.

Anyway, on with the rant...

Well, now Joe Camel is gone and there is no longer any cigarette advertising, blah, blah, blah. However, are we not facing another problem? Say, child obesity? It's all over the place; America is getting fatter and kids are becoming obese more now than ever.

Let's get back to advertising. Remember how fucking bad ass Joe Camel was? Now, think of Chester Cheetah. You have a cheetah (who actually quite resembles Joe Camel) who goes around invading kids homes and parties sometimes dressed in a black leather jacket (well, being a cheetah, for the sake of his furry brethren, it could be a faux leather jacket), wearing sunglasses, bringing Cheeto-y goodness to the world. Chester Cheetah is the epitome of fucking bad ass! Move over Joe Camel, these kids ain't gonna smoke, they're gonna eat Cheetos til their arteries clog up!

Now, don't get me wrong, Cheetos are one yummy snack, but, if people are going to go around finding fault with advertising, shouldn't we at least be consistent? I mean if Joe Camel is such a bad influence to kids in regards to smoking, well, isn't Chester Cheetah the equivalent in regards to junk food?

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Not Worried About Global Warming?


Interesting Argument About Global Warming - Watch more free videos

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Want To Lower Gas Prices?

Then do something. Many people participated in the "gas out" on May 15th, but, don't you think it's time to take it further?

"As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation.1 Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall—breaking profit records on an almost quarterly basis.

In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial crunches, with a full third saying it was having a "serious" impact on their families.

That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits." ~MoveOn.org


"The jump in U.S. gasoline prices this year has so far drained consumers of an extra $20 billion, or about $146 for each passenger car in the country, the
Government Accountability Office told Congress on Tuesday." ~Reuters


Come on, we know one day of "boycotting" gas hasn't made a difference, now is the time to REALLY make a difference! We can't afford to let oil companies continue to gouge us at the pump! We need to take ACTION! It's time to put an end to our carelessness, stand up, UNITED against these companies who continue to rake in record profits at our expense!

What can you do?

Do you live close enough to work where you can walk or ride a bike? Do you live near co-workers? If so, why not consider carpooling? Have some vacation time at work? Request a week off and drive as minimally as possible to avoid having to fill up! Planning a vacation? Why not visit someplace near you to avoid having to pay for gas for trips that take hours? Need to go grocery shopping? Go with friends, carpool to the store and do your shopping together! Need to take your kids to school? Arrange days with your neighbors who have kids who go to the same school to take turns driving the kids to school! Live close enough to walk your child to school? Call your boss and tell her/him you're going to be a little late because you have to take your child to school! The possibilities are almost endless!

There are ways around this! You just HAVE to be willing to make a few sacrifices! Nothing comes without sacrifice so why not make it a sacrifice that counts? Why not make a sacrifice that will ease your financial burden? Why not make a sacrifice that will go down in history???

Thursday, February 15, 2007

"If I Can't Be My Own I'd Feel Better Dead."

How many of your thoughts are your own? Your sense of beauty, is it your own? Your aspirations, your desires, your needs, your wants; are they your own? Have you ever just sat there and thought about why you feel the way you do, why you think the way you do, why you act the way you do, why you want what you want or why you feel you need certain things? For how long now has society and the media brainwashed us? For how long have our minds been warped? We're made to believe if we aren't thin or cosmetically beautiful; flawless, or have a nice house or don't hold a certain position or have the best things, or want the things we don't really need or don't think mainstream, we're nothing. How many women have had their self esteem crushed because they don't have the perfect body or the perfect lips? How many men have felt they don't deserve a certain woman because she's "too beautiful" or haven't had the courage to approach certain women because the stereotypes have made them believe "those women" would laugh in their faces? How many people have been made to feel worthless because they don't make enough money or have health insurance or have a beautiful house? How many kids and teenagers suffer from depression because their peers don't find them acceptable because of what they have been brainwashed to believe is and is not "acceptable?"

We need to wake up; release ourselves from the destructive clutches of society, media, and stereotying and think for ourselves. Or is it too late? I mean really, how many people find an overweight woman truly beautiful? And, if they do, are they not labeled, "chubby chasers?" How many women find a "dorky" guy "hot," or desire or even fantasize about a guy who isn't physically and cosmetically attractive? I'm not implying there are no people like that, however, the people who do think that way are not in the majority.

Even I have beaten myself up many, MANY times because I have never been thin. I have been made to feel hideous at times, especially when guys I have dated have gotten off on porn movies or mags that feature women who have no stretch marks, not an inch of fat, and non-sagging boobs. I have looked at myself and thought, "how the fuck could anyone be attracted to my fat ass?" I have been on and off of diets my entire life trying to achieve a "desirable" body, and why? Because I've been made to believe thin is beautiful and fat is fucking disgusting; that no one likes fat people.

Take even Tyra Banks! Jesus, she's absolutely beautiful and because she's apparently not as thin as she was when she modeled, she's been harassed relentlessly because she's "let herself go."

And what about people who have to receive financial assistance from the government, the people who TRULY need it? They have been made to feel like lazy bums who don't want to work because of the stereotyping of people who receive financial assistance. People who work hard; work their asses off to bring home just barely enough money to feed their family are made to feel like unemployed trash because they need help to pay for groceries so the very little money they do make can pay for their mortgage loans and utility bills.

And what about people who can't afford a nice car or a decent house or even new clothes because they don't make enough money? These are the people who keep big businesses rich while they scrape by and are reduced to tears when trying to decide which bill is the most important, which bill needs to be paid first so they can afford groceries to feed their kids? Which happen to be the same people denied government assistance because they "make too much money."

It's sickening; fucking disgusting.

Monday, January 29, 2007

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow....

when global warming is a problem today?

It seems there aren't many people really concerned with global warming. I suppose they figure, eh, well, it doesn't affect me now or I can't do anything, or they just really don't care. Sad, really. I for one do care. Why do I care? Because what we are doing (or not doing, rather) will effect MY CHILDREN, my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Something has to be done and has to be done now. So many parents would do anything for their children yet it seems so many don't consider the fact that their children will be suffering due to our actions and inactions, today!

Did you know "The average American generates about 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year from personal transportation, home energy use and from the energy used to produce all of the products and services we consume." http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/

This truly is a very serious issue.

Something else quite nerve-wracking is the Doomsday Clock...If you aren't familiar with it, check it out HERE.

It was last updated on January 17th, I believe, it was advanced by 2 minutes.

My suggestion is to become as knowledgable as possible on this subject and find ways you can help reduce global warming. There are MANY simple things you can do, if you just do it.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

When Ya Get To Thinking....

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I think most everyone knows I am a fan of true crime books...Especially books on serial killers...If ya didn't, well, now ya do.

Through all the studies that have been done on serial killers, all the interviews, the most prevalent reason why people become serial killers is because of their background. Of course it must also be noted, it is quite common that serial killers have sustained moderate to severe head injuries at some point in their lives and there are most likely also genetic factors that contribute to the serial killer.

For the purpose of this entry, however, I am focusing on the background of serial killers; their upbringing.

Ask anyone who has studied serial killers in length and they will tell you that these people have suffered horrible upbringings. Whether it was physical abuse from parents, such as their mothers being prostitutes who would make their child/children watch her in bed with her tricks and beat them with hammers or logs or whatever else was handy at the moment until they were unconscious, or fathers who were also abusive, alcoholics and pedophiles and sexually abused their sons and/or daughters, or even abuse from grandparents or adoptive parents. There are also the serial killers who have been raised in STRICT religious households (such as Ed Gein). And, when I say strict, I don't mean like pray every night before dinner or bed and go to church regularly, I mean guardians who took every word of the bible so literally it was stifling and crippling to the child/ren. Then, there are also the killers who have been bullied all their lives by neighborhood kids and schoolmates.

Of course many people who have not become serial killers have endured these forms of torture as well...That's probably where genetics come in. However, I believe there could, and I stress could as in there may be a chance, that with proper support from parents/guardians and peers, some killers may have turned out differently. Who knows how many would be serial killers could have been in the works if proper support and love were not given to those people. I often wonder how I would have turned out had it not been for my parents being wonderful, loving, supportive parents during the most horrible time in my life. Thinking back on some of the things that used to go through my head, it worries me now to think about.

I have never understood why people have children if they plainly do not want them or are not fit to have them. I of course understand not every pregnancy was planned but here is the importance of birth control, adoption or foster care and yes, in some cases, abortion.

I have sympathy for the abused children serial killers were, but not for the atrocities they commit later in life. I am a firm believer in justice, but sometimes, the only true justice is just to turn out better than those who tormented you. Because, while they are wallowing away in their own misery, you have become so much more. And a wonderful feeling it is, knowing you have turned out to be a well adjusted overall happy person while the assholes who made your childhood hell are still just as miserable as they have always been, and always will be. However, I know this is just not possible in all cases.

If you are familiar with serial killers, think back on those like Albert Fish or Andrei Chikatilo (Citizen X) or Ed Kemper. Think of the children that were horribly abused, sometimes even sexually (before and or after death), think of the mothers, the sisters, the grandmas, the daughters, the fathers, the brothers, the grandpas, the sons, aunts and uncles, and best friends that have been brutalized by these types of people and become nothing more than just another serial killer statistic. There is NO rehabilitation for these people. Anyone who thinks rehabilitation is successful (at least for depraved people such as this) think again. Almost, if not all serial killers have been arrested prior to their killings. They have had jail time, time in mental institutions, time in rehab and, somehow, have always managed to slip through the cracks; a few even after begging to not be released because they KNEW they would kill again. I'm telling you, there is just no rehabilitation. If you still think there is, I highly recommend you brush up on your true crime. Rehabilitation (at least in these cases) is nothing more than a feeble attempt to make it seem like many doctors know how to properly do their jobs and, free up more jail space or space in overcrowding institutions.

Considering these facts I have offered, I'd be shocked if you didn't agree some people just don't deserve to live. I guess one could say situations like this are, in part, why I feel abortion should be legal. Do not think though I believe every aborted fetus would have been a serial killer or that serial killers wouldn't exist if abortions were legal everywhere. I'm not that naive or that stupid. However, if abortions had always been legal it is quite possible many mothers carrying unwanted children would have had an abortion instead of having that unwanted child and subjecting the child to relentless abuse (and possibly later in life the child would become a serial killer). A young child loves nothing more than his or her parents. Young children need security from their parents and truly, depend completely on their parents. If the child's parents do not offer unconditional love in return, and a sense of security, imagine how utterly devastating that is to the child. Just tonight one of my children broke out in tears over the thought of me dying someday.

I know it is not the child's fault his or her parents are severely fucked up, the fault lies completely on the parents. Yet, many parents just don't care enough for their children to even attempt to offer love and support; to make their child feel safe. I also know that adoption is an option over abortion, but, consider this: many serial killers WERE adopted and their adoptive parents are the ones responsible for neglect or abuse. So, there's no guarantee that just because a child was adopted the child will be going to a good, loving home.

One also has to consider that just because abortion is legal, not every woman who becomes pregnant is going to have one. And, if a woman DOES get an abortion, there is usually a very good reason, it's not just a form of birth control. I myself believe abortion should be legal for the women who need it, but, I would never get an abortion. Just because I wouldn't get one doesn't make it right for me to say no one else can. There are so many other points I could make on the issue, but, that would take me in a completely different direction. Basically what it boils down to is this: in some cases, some serial killers could have never existed. Think of the MANY innocent lives that may have been saved by ONE abortion. A serial killer is defined as a killer who commits 3 or more murders with a "cooling off" period in between. Think about that, 3 or more. Let's say 1 serial killer kills 3 people. That ONE abortion could have saved 3 innocent lives.

This world is not black and white, it is not one sided no matter how many people feel it is or should be. There's always a flip side to any coin. Yes, there could have been many innocent 'people' who have been aborted just as there could have been many violent criminals aborted. Again though, usually a woman has an abortion for a very good reason. And, sometimes that reason just may be she knows she can NOT be a kind, loving mother who will protect rather than harm her child.