“The authors failed to find that racial tolerance arises from humanitarian values, consistent with the idea that religious humanitarianism is largely expressed to in-group members. Only religious agnostics were racially tolerant.”

Here is a link to the PDF of the Study.  Sadly you have to be a subscriber to see the whole thing.

I find this relevant because I consider myself a religious agnostic.  I’m not quite to the point of Atheism, but science has not yet explained zero to me (the point of origin).  Religion just can’t do it because the facts don’t support the theory and I’m not willing to just imagine something as factually wrong as Genesis.  As a general rule, I don’t have an issue with the idea of a God or Gods.  What I have an issue with are humans who believe THEY are God which stems out of ALL organized religion.  I also consider myself to be pretty racially tolerant.  I attribute much of that to my upbringing, which, even though it was not hugely diverse, I was able to take away an understanding of different cultures and races.  As a child I was exposed to people all over the country as I toured with the American Boychoir and I met and stayed with everyone from Black deep south Evangelicals, to Upper New York State Jews with the stereotypical accents.  I’ve sung music from every corner of the globe and not only did I sing it but it was expected that we actually understand where it came from and the language it was to be sung in and the culture it was created in.   I spent 10 years of my life with a second generation Armenian American whose father was deeply rooted in the culture of his upbringing.  I was able to experience a culture that I had not previously been exposed to and I benefited from that exposure.  I think the difference with me is that I’ve not ever limited myself to association with only one type of person or one color of person because beyond that I believe we are all human and all of the same species with the same goals and aspirations.  You are not of a different species because you have dark skin and I don’t.  You are not a different species because you have blond hair and blue eyes and my hair happens to be brown.  You are not a different species because your speak broken English or because you wear a Turban.  I think that Christians tend to forget the commonality of humanity.  They get so wrapped up in shouting their messages that they forget the common  and core message of their faith.  That is precisely what bothers me about organized religion and it is precisely why I refuse to attend a church.  I’m not going to limit my life and my experiences to a congregation of similar thinking and looking individuals just for the sake of a common belief in God.  And I’m certainly not going to associate with individuals who can not accept the idea that skin color is irrelevant to being a human.  The year is 2010 and it is inexcusable for any individual of any race, of any creed, of any origin to antagonize people not like themselves simply because of that fact.

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Here: The closet door cannot be fixed once it’s kicked off of hinges. Virginia’s AG has just told the homophobes to get out the torches and pitchforks!

And Here: “Virginia is For Haters”

The idea here is certainly not to offend the better taste of my extended family living in Virginia but certainly they don’t live in a bubble.

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Click THIS link to go to the Bill Moyers Journal web site to view the video.

Below is a YouTube preview of the broadcast.

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The Sandpit from Sam O’Hare on Vimeo.

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“I have described myself as being ‘gently eccentric’ and slightly different as a person just because I’ve had a very different set of influences growing up than anybody else in my peer group did. I think it’s important for somebody from a big, commercial movie series like Harry Potter and particularly because I am not gay or bisexual or transgendered. The fact that I am straight makes not a difference, but it shows that straight people are incredibly interested and care a lot about this as well.” - Daniel Radcliffe, speaking from the NYC headquarters of the LGBT teen suicide prevention hot-line The Trevor Project, for whom he has just made a promotional film.

15 years ago when I was in high school, there were no major Hollywood celebrities willing to step up to the plate and go to bat for me.  Those who did were on the fringes.  For me personally, I’m not sure it would had much of an influence in my life, I was never a big celebrity follower but here we have Harry Potter, entirely straight with a HUGE following, and willing to put his money where his mouth is.  The Trevor Project was founded not long after I got out of high school and there is a link to it on my sidebar here on this blog.  It’s one of the few charities that I’d consider making a donation to.  Perhaps you might as well.

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After that, I decided to get my hair cut.  Always a trip to go into Supercuts.  One thing I don’t do is high end salons.  If I ever have to pay more than $20 with tip for a hair cut, that will be the day I start cutting my own hair.  I don’t need it styled, I just need it cut.  Anyhow, got that done and then it was home to play with the dog and maybe clean the house.

I played with the dog but the house is still a shit hole.  I decided that I was going to visit Meijer to get a few new pictures printed for my dining room wall.  I’ve got 3 nice framed pictures that I’ve taken up on the wall and it’s time for a change of scenery so I spent a few hours going through my recent pictures looking for replacements.  I settled on 3 new pictures and loaded up the SD card and headed off to Meijer land to have them developed.  You all know I hate Meijer.  Once again, it’s the only grocery store of any quality in this little town so EVERYONE goes there.  It’s always crowded, the parking lot is a disaster, and I can never get out of there without having to wait at least 30 minutes in line and spending $100!  I went to the kiosk to pick out my pictures and options and submitted them for processing.  It was going to take about 30 minutes so I decided to grocery shop.  I went back to pick them up after 30 minutes and was accosted by the Meijer Photo Lab people.  They wanted me to prove that I was the photographer, that my pictures looked too professional and that they would only release them to me if I signed an affidavit claiming that I was in fact the photographer.  Normally I get my photography printed through my hosting web site and I’ve never had this issue before.  I didn’t know whether I should be flattered that they thought my work was that good, or offended that they thought I was a thief.  I decided to sign their release (which absolved them from legal issues if someone were to challenge my copyright), they put it in a little file along with maybe a dozen others then informed me that it might be a good idea for me to make sure my copyright is obvious, like a logo or something on my pictures.  So off I went.  Somewhat flustered that I had to prove something that was mine, was actually mine!

Tonight I’ve been sitting on my computer investigating copyright laws and how they apply to digital photography.  I’ve always been pretty careful with my photography.  I don’t sell it but I have left open too many loop holes that might allow someone else to try and sell it and claim it as their own.  Tonight I decided to turn off the print option for my web site.  This won’t eliminate the problem but it will prevent people from trying to order prints of my work without my permission.  I’m also going to work up a small copyright notice that I can attach to my photos that will enforce the digital data already stored in the picture file.  It seems that the more people see my work, the more people tell me I ought to be doing something with it.  I’m not sure I’m there yet.  Maybe soon.

Anyhow, here is one of the pictures that drew the attention of the Meijer Photo Lab.

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