ADignorantium

stfuconservatives:

portersbats:

punk-rant:

Here are some interesting facts about him, though:
He basically saved public television. In 1969 the government wanted to cut public television funds. Mister Rogers then went to Washington where he gave an amazing merely six minute speech. By the end of the speech not only did he charm the hostile Senators, he got them to double the budget they would have initially cut down. The whole thing can be found on youtube, a video called “Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate.”
“Certain fundamentalist preachers hated him because, apparently not getting the “kindest man who ever lived” memo, they would ask him to denounce homosexuals. Mr. Rogers’s response? He’d pat the target on the shoulder and say, “God loves you just as you are.” Rogers even belonged to a “More Light” congregation in Pittsburgh, a part of the Presbyterian Church dedicated to welcoming LGBT persons to full participation in the church.”
According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”
Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life—the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

I really didnt need more reasons to love Mr Rodgers but now I have them.

BA Mr. Rogers

These are all amazing facts about an amazing person, but mostly I’m reblogging it for the gif of him doing the dual bird flip.

The world desperately needs another Fred Rogers.

portersbats:

punk-rant:

Here are some interesting facts about him, though:

He basically saved public television. In 1969 the government wanted to cut public television funds. Mister Rogers then went to Washington where he gave an amazing merely six minute speech. By the end of the speech not only did he charm the hostile Senators, he got them to double the budget they would have initially cut down. The whole thing can be found on youtube, a video called “Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate.”

“Certain fundamentalist preachers hated him because, apparently not getting the “kindest man who ever lived” memo, they would ask him to denounce homosexuals. Mr. Rogers’s response? He’d pat the target on the shoulder and say, “God loves you just as you are.” Rogers even belonged to a “More Light” congregation in Pittsburgh, a part of the Presbyterian Church dedicated to welcoming LGBT persons to full participation in the church.”

According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life—the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

I really didnt need more reasons to love Mr Rodgers but now I have them.

BA Mr. Rogers

These are all amazing facts about an amazing person, but mostly I’m reblogging it for the gif of him doing the dual bird flip.

The world desperately needs another Fred Rogers.

(Source: junglelauren)

↵ Originally from junglelauren

↵ Reblogged from kipperny

Yep….

(Source: furrywalll)

meetingboy:

And on the ninth day,

God looked down on his planned paradise and said,

“I need a middleman.”

So God made a manager.

God said, “I need somebody

willing to come in at 9:30,

hold meetings to hear himself talk,

work in PowerPoint all day,

hold another meeting,

spout buzzwords like ‘synergy’ and ‘think outside the box’,

then go out to dinner on the company dime with a college friend and expense it as a ‘new business meeting’.”

So God made a manager.

God said, “I need somebody

willing to make others work all night on a project and then leave at 5:30,

then throw out the whole thing the next morning, and when they complain say, ‘Get back to work!’

I need somebody who can take all the credit,

avoid all the blame,

and sabotage a project just so another manager doesn’t get the credit.

Somebody who can make 85 PowerPoint slides out of one lame idea,

and still leave out important facts.

Someone who will give vague feedback like ‘It needs more WOW factor’ and ‘How about a bluer blue?’

Someone who, during the busy season will finish his 40-hour week by Friday noon and then, tell his employees to put in another 16 hours while he meets a client for golf.”

So God made a manager.

God said, “I need somebody

who thinks they’re smart when they’re lucky,

unlucky when they make blunders,

and who won’t listen to advice from anyone below him on the org chart.

It had to be somebody who was shallow, petty, jealous and mean,

who will put people in their place,

and make a bunch of pointless changes just to remind everyone he’s in charge.

Somebody who will not listen when a subordinate describes a problem

and then tell them to ‘just give 110%’,

Someone who will promote yes-men and play favorites,

who will give performance reviews 5 months late,

say there’s no money for raises

and then give himself one.”

So God made a manager.

[Narrator: James Conlan, www.provomaster.com
Audio-book narrations available on Audible.com]

↵ Originally from meetingboy

↵ Reblogged from kipperny

News Vs. Entertainment

File this under #DiggyRant

I thought it was really nice that the whole world paused for a few days while we learned about Pope Francis. Seriously, it was the only coverage on the Nightly News!

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that selecting a new Pope is important because of how the church influences the world. But that was all we saw on the news! For two days there was very little reporting on North Korea, as if Kim Jung-Un suddenly decided, “Hey, the Catholics have just selected a new Pope. Let’s hold off on trying to kill everyone in the Western World.”

This isn’t the first time I was disappointed by network news. It’s happens more and more. Half of the local news is sports. The last ten minutes of both the local and the national news is a report on what’s coming up on tonight’s prime time TV schedule.

Can someone please tell me why the ever changing list of contestants on Dancing With The Stars is considered news worthy?

The worst is when the news anchors ask for your opinion. I Don’t Want To Know What The Average Person Has To Say About The First Lady’s Hair Cut!!! Why is the First Lady’s hair cut even news???

Hey news anchors! Don’t ask me to follow or friend you. Just give me the damn news!

…we now return you to our regularly scheduled insanity.

Benedict Too Pooped To Pope.

No matter your opinion of organized religion, you must give Pope Benedict XVI credit for putting his church ahead of himself.

My opinion of the church, and by default the Pope, has not always been a good one. At times, their rhetoric seems to be at odds with the teachings of Christ. But I need to put my personal opinions aside, and give Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI praise for recognizing his own very human limitations; something rare in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

Farewell sir.

“Why was I given a mind and then be politely told to sit in the corner and wonder?”

The following is excerpted from “The Gentle Indifference of the World,” as posted on Against The Grain: Non-Mainstream Observations by John T. Marohn

The Christian Soul and American Culture

In my Christian tradition, I was told that every human being has a soul. That soul, I was led to believe, is created by God and is comprised of a mind and a free will. And that soul, I was also taught by my church, would live on after I died. (I was not taught that, since I have a free will, I could choose the after-life habitat I wanted. That decision would be made for me based on my earthly track record and an omniscient God’s foreknowledge—a very tricky combination.)

Using that philosophical and theological model, Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer also had souls. According to that same paradigm, they also had minds and free wills and therefore were to be held accountable for their actions (Christian theologians, to my knowledge, do not accept paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, or bi-polar disorders as viable excuses for getting off the hook on the final day of judgment).

The American culture I grew up in led me to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be. That I could be my own person. That I could live out any success-story dream I fantasized about. If I just put my hand on the plow of my life, worked hard, and persevered, the world would be my oyster.

Except for the built-in fatalism of the omniscient-God paradigm, I had been well-schooled in Optimism 101. My culture told me I could succeed. My religion taught me that I was morally responsible for all of my actions. That everything was just up to me. That God, through no innate goodness on my part, would intervene, on my behalf, and zap me with favors and grace, if I lived up to His expectations by leading a good life.

But I had no excuses for moral, or even professional failure in life. After all, I was graced with being alive and had a mind and free will—a soul, remember?

motherjones:

(via)

Love This! =)

My religion defines who I am, and I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And has particularly informed my social doctrine. The Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can’t take care of themselves, people who need help. With regard to — with regard to abortion, I accept my church’s position on abortion as a — what we call a (inaudible) doctrine. Life begins at conception in the church’s judgment. I accept it in my personal life.

But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the — the congressman. I — I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that — women they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between them and their doctor.

Joe Biden

Go, Joe, go!

(via katbeee)

I cheered so loud when I heard Vice President Biden say these words. This is exactly what “Freedom of Religion” means. We get to worship in ANY way we choose. But we don’t have the right to force our beliefs on others.

Bravo Mr. Biden. Too bad the Religious Right doesn’t take their cues from you. - ADignorantium

Today is National Coming Out Day!

Life is stressful enough without secrets. It may seem scary now, but trust me, It Get’s Better.

If you are Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Trans-Gender, or just Questioning because you’re not really sure, stop and take a breath. Count to ten. Relax.

Consider for a moment that this is YOUR Life. YOU have the right to be Happy As You Are; the way God made you. No One has the Right to Force you into THEIR Idea of what is right.

If you are under 18 and feel threatened or unsafe, Please seek help. If you are reading this online, you know how to search “LGBT Youth Resources”. ~ Most browsers enable “Private Sessions” that don’t record Browsing History or Accept Cookies from web sites. Use it. Beware of sites that want to “Cure” you.

Coming Out is never easy. There are employment considerations, friendships, and family.

If someone Comes Out to you today, please remember that it’s not about you. It’s not a declaration of Love, either. When a person comes out to you, they are placing their trust and faith in you. Consider it a true sign of friendship. This person is revealing his/her deepest held secret. All you need to do is Listen.

If a person Comes Out to you, remember that they have been thinking about this for a long time. They didn’t just wake up one day and say, I’m Gay! It was a long, slow, soul searching process.

No one decides they are gay on a whim. It’s a discovery that often involves self doubt and a lot of pleading deals with God. Many LGBT youth experience self hatred. Some even attempt suicide. Keep this in mind when someone comes out to you. Take a moment before you respond. Consider what you have just read on this blog post. Remember, the person Coming Out to you hasn’t changed. He or She is the same person that was your friend yesterday.

Resources to help LGBTQ Youth who may be struggling with Coming Out.

The GLBT National Help Center http://www.glnh.org/talkline/index.html

Lambda Youth Outreach http://www.lambda.org/youth.htm

Lambda Legal Youth http://www.lambdalegal.org/issues/youth

Lambda Legal Youth Resources PDF http://data.lambdalegal.org/publications/downloads/gdtb_lgbtq-youth-resources.pdf

Resource for Straight Folks

How To React When Someone Comes Out: Dos and Don’ts for Straight Allies http://www.gaymanners.com/straight-talk/qhow-should-i-respond-if-a-friend-comes-out-to-meq

Resource For Everyone!

PFLAG: Parents, Friends & Family, of Lesbians and Gays http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2

secularhumanist2:

I don’t care who believes in creationism…

The Great Thing About Science, Is It Doesn’t Care If You Believe Or Not #NDT

ADignorantium asks, “Did I miss something?”

When did Creationism and Evolution become Mutually Exclusive?

I’m Agnostic. I’ve always been in awe of a supreme being that could Create a Big Bang that would set Evolution into motion.

I don’t understand Creationists who don’t believe God is Powerful enough or Clever enough to think of Evolution. Just because Creationists can’t wrap their minds around Evolution, doesn’t mean God didn’t.

↵ Originally from atheist-overdose

↵ Reblogged from secularhumanist2