Hitchens on Poverty

Photo Credit: Fri Tanke, Wikipedia

According to the late Christopher Hitchens ... 

"The only thing that is known to cure poverty" 

is giving women "control over their own rate of reproduction" ... 

"No matter where in the world this occurs, a decrease in poverty rates are inevitable."

                                                                                       Christopher Hitchens

Word of the Day: Blighter

We'll start by defining Blight.

1. n. something that causes harm or damage (like a disease)

2.  v. to damage (a thing or place)

3. v.  to destroy; ruin; frustrate


Now, on to Blighter.

1. n. a disliked or contemptible person

2. n. a despicable or irritating person or thing

3. n. a person or thing that mars or prevents growth, improvement, or prosperity


Blighters are all around us, and no one is immune to their toxicity. They are sneaky, but, if we pay attention, we catch on to their ploy. They penetrate our lives ... at work, at school, at the store, at the movies, they are ever-present. My theory is that their own fears and insecurities force them to target people who they view as stronger than themselves.

This is what blighters look like on the inside:

Fuck the Blighters

Thank you: Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com 

I Support Spicer Greene Jewelers

I've never visited or bought anything from Spicer Greene Jewelers in North Carolina and probably never will, but, I am butting my nose into their plight because the ridiculousness of humans who exert energy on non-issues when they could be focusing on real issues just ruffles my feathers sometimes.

Domestic abuse and violence is a real issue. Did everyone hear that? It is a real issue ... one of many in the world, in fact, and when you go out of your way to make issues out of non-issues, it takes away from the actual issues.
 

Let's all enjoy this photograph together:

Photo credit: William Craig

See the little clumps of dirt all over the field ... they are called molehills, and the big bumps off in the distance ... yup, those are mountains. So, if you see a molehill and try to make it into a mountain ... that makes you an annoying asshole. And it takes the focus off of real issues in the world.

Ok, so here's the billboard that has some objectors (mostly women from what I've seen) up in arms:

Photo Credit: WLOS 13/Twitter from nymag.com

Bellyachers claim that this billboard encourages and normalizes domestic violence. 

"Really," you ask? 

Yup, it's true. Whoever protested this billboard didn't seem to think it through, didn't seem to understand that the falling diamonds are the rocks, that the word 'sometimes' actually acknowledges that it is not okay to throw rocks at girls, that this is just a cutesy marketing campaign to sell jewelry.

Everyone needs to stop nit-picking and creating issues where none exist. Aren't there enough real issues around us to cope with? Do we really need to take every advertisement, every stand up comic's routine, every little thing everyone says and make, oh, I don't know, a mountain out a molehill? (I do love that expression). 

The owners of Spicer Greene Jewelers issued an apology, made a donation to a domestic abuse charity, and have replaced their billboard with something less "controversial." 

I think they should have let the original message stand. 

I think, sometimes, it is ok to throw rocks at girls.