Friends Don't Care - thanks toTD for bringing this to my attention.

Friends Don't Care

by Michael Z. Williamson
daggers@indy.net
July 4, 2001

I can be your best friend.

Not because I care, but because I don't.

I don't care what church, if any, you go to. I don't care if you are Church of God, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, Church of Christ reformed, Church of Christ Scientist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Byzantine Catholic, Roman Catholic, Jewish Congregationalist, Hindu, Shinto, Islamic, Buddhist, Greek Orthodox, Native American, Irish Druidic, Scandinavian Druidhe, Pagan, Wiccan…Hell, I don't care if you worship the Great Pumpkin. Or no deity at all. How you spend your Sundays, Saturdays, Fridays, Tuesday evenings, full Moons, or eclipses is up to you.

I don't care if you have sex with men, women, both, or neither. If it's in private, and they are freely consenting adults, it's your business. I may not like it myself, but I don't care about you.

I don't care what brand of beer you drink or not, if you drink wine or not, liquor or not. I don't care if you brew your own, grow your own or roll your own. I don't care if you smoke dope, rope, or nightshade. It's your body, poison it any way you wish. Just keep the residue in your own home, okay?

Vegetarian? Okay. Vegan? Great. Rare steak only, or raw rattlesnake? Cool. Squid with the tentacles still wiggling? Suits me just fine.

Are you skinny? Fat? Ugly? Overdressed? Underdressed? Naked? Hey, it's your life, do what you wish. If I don't like it, I won't watch.

I am a politician's worst nightmare. I can't be made to hate, I can't be panicked by the strange, and I'll react ungraciously to attempts to inspire me so. I vote on issues, not on smokescreens, and no Orwellian pigs in suits need apply.

I'm not part of a vast conspiracy to put Candidate X into office--Candidate X is an idiot, and so is Candidate Y. I voted for the Manchurian Candidate myself, because I don't care. I don't belong to the Hate Group of the Month Club on the Evening news, because I don't care. How can you possibly think I have anything in common with them?

Oh, right. I own guns. So do they. I'll bet a bunch of them read Doctor Seuss growing up, too, as did I. I don't see how that's relevant, either.

So that's it. Power scares you. And by not being a pawn, by being able to think, and by daring to think differently from you, I scare you. Well, relax, because I don't care.

Read the papers of the country, or for that matter, the world. You'll find me right there defending the unpopular in letters to the editor, in marches, in protests and sit-ins. I don't care so damned much that I'll go far out of my way to prove it. When your oppressors refuse to believe I don't care, I'm willing to reinforce the point…WITH force.

The only actions of yours I care about are those that actually affect me. Try to rape my wife, and you die. Try to assault me, and you die. Touch my children…Well, then you'll die slowly, as a lesson to others.

Try to take my guns away, or send someone else to do so…well, then I care. Keep in mind--they protect you, too. The people who DO care about silly details of your life DO have guns, whether you call them extremists, fanatics, cults, militias, or Federal Agents. It's easy to hate a name, isn't it? I'd hate the names, too, if it would make any difference, but it doesn't. Hateful people hide everywhere, and I don't care. Only when they ACT on that hate do I become aroused. By acting on hate, they interfere with my ability not to care. And that just ruins my whole day. Sometimes it takes the threat of force to prove I don't care. That's why I have the guns.

Why would you want to take my guns away, knowing I don't care? I'm no threat. I'm your best friend. I don't even care if THEY have guns. I don't even care if YOU have a gun. I care even less if you don't like ME having a gun.

So do me a favor and don't come to my door asking me to turn over my tools of reason.

Because I don't care who interferes with my right to not care.

And neither do my guns.

Copyright 2001 by Michael Z. Williamson. Permission is granted to copy in whole for non-profit purposes, provided due credit is given. Please inform the author directly at daggers@indy.net or through http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com when you do. Mr. Williamson's online archive is found here: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/Williamson.


A-FREAKIN-MEN.

I've posted the article in its entirety here, but if you'd like to save the link for yourself for reference, it's http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2181

Added to the list.

Thanks to Say Uncle! for the info...

...In addition to Phoenix, Texas, and Virginia, now Pennsylvania has a list of suspected domestic terrorist acts.

These include defending the Constitution.


Well, shit. You might as well put me on that list, then. I refuse to be a victim, though. Consider that a warning. NOT a threat, mind you...just a heads-up.

Vitamin Water and Sheep.

I don't know if any of you have seen that commercial for Vitamin Water where that basketball player takes a sheep and heaves it around, ultimately tossing it yards away, where the sheep ends up bouncing on the grass and standing up wearily to stagger around, bleating.



That commercial makes me sick.

As I've seen on several blogs this week, think of the average IQ. Then remember that half of all peoples' IQs are lower than that.

Then watch that commercial again.

Can't you just see some kid drinking some vitamin water and then trying to launch the family dog across the yard? I can.

Especially in light of stories like this. 3 guys kicked a small dog. One of them drop-kicked it down the street. Shit like this DOES happen.

You take a person with no respect for life, add a small capacity for rational thought (which, to me, goes hand-in-hand with the lack of respect), and show them a commercial like that, do you think they're going to read the fine print that says, "dramatization"? Do you think they're going to give a shit? No, they're not.

If a 23-year-old is capable of drop-kicking a dog for no good reason, some kid is more than capable of throwing an animal around if he thinks some drink is going to make him stronger.

Call me dramatic, but this is the kind of shit that fucking pisses me off to no end. People don't THINK for themselves any more.


So I sent an email to the company. Told them as such. Included the link to the article and expressed my concerns that those less-intelligent members of society would be inclined to try this stunt at home, regardless of warnings.

This is the unedited version (with some omissions, of course) of the email I received back from them:

hello Bonnie,

thank for taking the time to contact us.

we appreciate your feedback and want to let you know that
absolutely no sheep were harmed or mistreated during the filming
of the commercial. to ensure sheep safety, a representative
from the american humane society was present throughout the
entire process. we also added the words “dramatization” or
“fictionalization” as well as “no sheep were harmed” to the
commercials to make viewers aware that this was in fact not an
actual sheep toss.

the television commercial is intended to convey the benefits
vitaminwater® provides in a lighthearted and humorous way.

we certainly appreciate your feedback and have forwarded your
concerns to our marketing team for consideration in future
advertising decisions.

sincerely,

jamie
consumer relations manager
glacéau
www.glaceau.com


Unedited, people. If you can't be bothered to hit the SHIFT key, how the hell am I supposed to believe that you give a shit? I think they're trying to be "lighthearted" and "down with the kids", but for FUCK'S SAKE, you're a CRM! TRY to look intelligent!

I'm also aware of the methods used for filming animal-related things is stringent, so I'm not concerned about the welfare of the sheep in the commercial. I'm just too aware of how stupid people can be - I live in Memphis, after all. You want to see stupid, just go to Wal-Mart and stand in any aisle for 3 minutes.

If I saw a story on the news soon of someone tossing an animal around, I would shake my head, get pissed off...and not be a bit surprised.


I appreciate her writing me back, but I don't appreciate the insinuation that I'm of less-than-average intelligence that comes from her typing and the content.


And I still fucking hate that commercial.

pr0n has come to SWSG.

"Help me, Jesus! Help me, Tom Cruise!"

YGTBKM

Since I usually say "You've GOT to be kidding me" at least once a day in reference to the current news, I've decided that my daily conglomerations would be named as such. But just the first letters. Because I want to be cool like WWTDD.com and IDLYITW.com. Har har.

With that settled (for now), on with the stupidity:

From Say Uncle:

Tennessee signs agreement with 8 bordering states to crack down on seatbelt "offenders".

There was a dealio a while back where they said they wouldn't stop you specifically for not wearing your seatbelt, but if you were stopped for some other reason and happened to not be strapped in, they'd give you a ticket. I remember this well, as my mom always rode around without her seatbelt (while insisting that we wore ours, which I think is an appropriate metaphor for most government functions), but would put it on if we were ever stopped, which happened...twice, I think, when I was riding with her. The cops somehow never noticed that she put her seatbelt on while they were walking toward her window. You'd think they've be more diligent since she had kids in the car, but whatever. I honestly don't care, because obviously we all survived.

Then came "Click-it or Ticket", the catchy new slogan that basically meant, "If we see you driving without your seatbelt, we'll invent another reason to pull you over and then ticket you for the fake infraction AND your lack of seat belt".

Now they're making it mandatory to wear a seat belt. I usually wear mine, because I feel less in control of my vehicle if I'm not strapped in (I'm a very active driver...you'd have to see me to understand...no seatbelt, and I'm liable to start dancing along with the radio and forget to shift), but I know people who take jaunts to the store without strapping in, and other than the lack of a seatbelt (in the eyes of the law, I mean), there's absolutely no reason for them to be viewed as criminal drivers. They stop correctly, yield correctly, watch out for other drivers and for pedestrians, and are conscientious about what they do. Sure, you can't account for other people on the road, and if the conscientious citizen got smacked by a stupid citizen and died because they weren't wearing a seatbelt, that would really suck, but it's THEIR decision not to wear that belt. All you can do is let them know the risks, but ultimately people are going to make their own decisions about how to live their lives, and if that means they might die, well...it's their choice. I know just as many cases where a seatbelt being worn caused the person to die in the wreck, mostly of internal injuries caused by the contriction of the lap belt during application of the brakes. You can never tell what's going to happen.


It's like banning smoking in bars. If people know that smoking is going to happen in a bar, they can CHOOSE not to go. OMG A CHOICE HOW DOES THAT WORK?!? Well, it's very simple. You THINK about something, and you figure out what's best for you vs. what you'd like to do. If you're willing to take the risk to do something that might not be best for you even though it's what you'd rather do, you've just made a decision. If you choose to do something that's better for you, even though it's not what you'd like to do, THAT'S a decision, too. See how EASY it is?

I sing opera. I sing for my school choir. I take voice lessons. My throat is really sensitive, and I have to be careful with my vocal chords. I also like to do karaoke, and in a karaoke bar, there's...you got it: smoke. So when I want to do karaoke and sing and be goofy, I have to think about whether or not I have anything to do in the next few days that would be affected negatively by my not being able to sing (or speak for long periods). If there's something I have to do, I'll decline going. If there's not, I'll go. It's that simple. And it's MY decision.

------------------------

Manager for juiced-up biker threatens OTHER biker with public embarrassment if OTHER biker shows up to court to testify against juiced-up biker.

So Landis does some steroids and wins the Tour de France. Okay. That was stupid and probably not very fair, but whatever. I'm not a fan of the sport, so I kind of don't care. LeMond, a fellow biker, decides to testify against Landis in court. Landis' manager said, "Dude, if you come to court, I'll tell everyone that you were diddled as a child."

I don't see what that has to do with anything. I understand that people have a sense of shame and responsibility when they've been abused, but I don't understand why that sort of thing has to be brought up in conjunction with a case. The fact that LeMond was abused has NOTHING to do with this situation.

This, to me, is another example of just how stupid desperate people will act to get their way. It's like picking up cat poop out of the sandbox and throwing it at someone else because they called you out on putting sand down Susie's shirt.

-------------------------

LAX evacuated due to sprinkler in luggage mistaken for pipe bomb.

I have nothing more to add.

-------------------------

P.E. required in Florida elementary schools by law.

Part of me is like, "eurgh..." at this, but a bigger part of me thinks back to when I had P.E. in school, and how much I looked forward to it, even though I'm not athletically inclined. I truly believe, also, that the required P.E. my freshman year of high school is what kept me from ballooning after marching band ended in the spring. Proof positive of that fact for me was that I ended up gaining 30 pounds in the spring of my sophomore year. True story.

So I dunno. While I think the health of a child is up to the parents, and their total responsibility, I can't fault the school system for implementing this. I think that more activity during the day will help all those kids who supposedly have ADD, as well.

-------------------------

School sued for allowing bibles to be distributed to students.

As someone who's had someone throw a Gideon bible through their car window on the way into their high school parking lot (they technically followed the rules by standing on the road, but I'm not the only one who got smacked with a bible, and you bet I complained to some higher-ups, and it never happened again), I can sympathize.

That's different than being told by a teacher to go pick up a bible, however. That's inexcusable. I don't give a crap (at work again) what your beliefs are...you keep them to yourself and do your job, which is to educate kids on things that are based in fact and history, not theology. They can do that kind of thing when they're in college, if they so choose.



This is longer than usual, and I've just gotten some work dumped on my desk (welcome, welcome), so that's all for now.

I missed the news today.

And I don't feel like going back to catch up.

Is that bad of me? Heh.

That temp job that was supposed to just be answering phones? Well, apparently the lady who answers the phones now wasn't comfortable with taking over her supervisor's position for the week, so the supervisor asked me if I would mind being the sales admin for a week. Then she asked me if I'd like a pay raise to go along with it.

Uh...I felt I was being overpaid for just answering the phones and filling out a few invoices. For just a bit more work, I feel I'm being paid fairly, so I politely declined a raise. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!? Oh, right. I'm honest. Dammit.


I've gotten a very generous offer from t3rrible to test out some guns, since we both live in the same area. I also have a group of people who want to go to the range with me, anyway (5 people, in fact...I wonder if they give group discounts?), and one of those people actually has a fair collection of guns, so between the two gun-lovin' guys, I should be able to get a fair idea of what's comfortable for me.

Again, I want to thank everyone who visited and commented. It makes me happy to know that if I have any sort of question on this sort of issue, all I have to do is type a few words, and I practically have a slew of answers and suggestions at my disposal.


Now I just have to figure out a time to visit the gun range. It might have to happen on a Sunday, because that seems to be the only day that I'd have enough time.


Legally Blonde is on. I've been getting distracted. Please don't judge me, but I love this movie.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Some general information for those who asked, and for those who might ask in the future:

I'm 5'8" and 180lbs. Stocky, heavy bone structure, huge hands (4" of palm from wrist to bottom of pointer, 3" of pointer). No dainty lass, I. So think of a gun that can be held by a German man who's about 6'...that's the kind of handle size I need.

However, a shoulder injury doesn't allow me to do any high stress activities with my dominant hand. My upper arm and back muscles can compensate for a few instances of recoil and whatnot, but after that my shoulder start complaining in a big way (I shot a couple of years ago with several gun, which is how I found this out...a .44 magnum was pretty much a no-go). So something I can practice with a lot (i.e. wouldn't hurt me too badly) would be good, in addition to being something that will be easy to carry (I do intend to get my CCW license). I intend to take whatever gun I purchase to the range to get really comfortable with it so that when it comes time to actually use it (god forbid), it won't be an issue.

I've heard a lot of talk about S&W, and several people have mentioned Glock. For someone who likes to wear jeans and tee shirts, and isn't a skirt-lover (if it has pockets and legs, I'll wear it), which guns should I be on the lookout for that would be easy to conceal in these types of outfits without having to get a holster? I'd prefer to carry in-pocket, if possible.

I'm trying to get ideas as to easily-concealed guns so that I can practice with these types to narrow my field of choice even further. I do NOT intend to purchase a gun without first practicing with it quite a bit to make sure that it's going to be comfortable for me, due to my shoulder.


I realize that, when it comes down to it, recoil isn't going to be a huge deal after a while, but if I can't even shoot a gun enough times to get used to the recoil because of my shoulder, then it's just not going to work.


I'm getting the idea that the Ruger SP101 is a great gun for in-home security, but is not easily concealed. Fair enough. So any other suggestions for easily-concealed guns (aside from the ones that have been suggested...I'm making a list to take to an actual gun shop, not a sporting goods store) would be more than welcome. Revolver or cartridge, doesn't much matter to me. I can load and shoot both, and I plan to take a class, anyway, so I will become accustomed to whatever comes my way.


Again, thanks to you all who've commented so far, and thanks to Tam and Say Uncle! for the referrals. I really appreciate any and all help I can get in this area, so that I'm prepared as possible (i.e. don't look like a total n00b) when I get going on this route.

I've been looking at Cornered Cat, as well, and have found valuable information on grip and whatnot.


Thanks again! :-)