Could Someone Please Explain This To Me?

The only thing that comes to my mind is....

The Fucker Works In Mysterious Ways

I read about this yesterday, and it pissed me off to a point where I had to vent.  Sorry.

While vacationing at Crater of Diamonds State Park* in Arkansas, 14-year-old Tana Clymer found a yellow diamond, weighing 3.85 carats.  The diamond could be worth up to $60,000.

The State Park, a tourist attraction, allows visitors to keep any diamonds they find while on the grounds. Approximately 400 diamonds have been found in 2013 alone.  The largest diamond ever discovered within the United States, weighing a whopping 40.23 carats, was discovered at the site in 1924.

Naturally, Tana took time to think the individual that helped her find the diamond - God.

"I thought it was a piece of paper or foil from a candy wrapper," Tana said. "Then, when I touched it, I thought it was a marble. I think God pointed me to it. I was about to sprint to join my family, and God told me to slow down and look. Then, I found the diamond!"

She named the diamond "God's Jewel".  Earlier this year, a 12-year-old North Carolina boy named a 5.16 carat diamond he found there "God's Glory".  Being the good Christians this girl and her family are, they're donating the money they receive from the sale of "God's Jewel", and donating it to their local food bank.

Fuck no.

She's keeping that rock.

"She's either going to keep the diamond for a ring, or, if it's worth a lot, she'll want that for college."

You know, they say that God works in mysterious ways.  I don't get it.  God lets a 14-year-old murder his algebra teacher with a box cutter in Massachusetts.  Then, in the same week, he helps another 14-year-old find a diamond and pocket the money.

Look, I'm not upset that the kid found the diamond.  And, if she wants to keep it, good for her.

But, if you're going to credit someone for pointing it out to you, at least pretend to do something with the money that that person would have wanted.  There are so many horrible things happening in the world, I'm sure that helping a kid in the Ozarks find a diamond was not high on his To Do list.  And, if it was, I'm sure his reason for aiding in its discovery was not so that some teenage kid could put it in a ring.

Mysterious as fuck, if you ask me....

*Who in the hell vacations in Arkansas?  Could things get any more depressing?  The only time I "vacationed" in Arkansas, was to visit my grandmother while she was undergoing open heart surgery.  That's three weeks of my life I'll never get back.

Vine Vednesday

I know...horrible pun.

I'm sort of a late adopter when it comes to Vine.  But, I'm starting to realize that it's a fantastic medium to make something original and creative.  Writing a novel is difficult.  That's why I haven't written one, yet.  It's somewhat overwhelming to try to fill 250 pages.  The same could be said for creating a two hour long movie.  Comparatively, six seconds is easy.  And, it's amazing what can be said...what can be done...in six seconds.  I'm addicted.

What Is It?

Answer after the break....

Headline Of The Day

Yeah.  'The Onion' went there....

One hell of a way to make a point.

Graph Of The Day

Thanks to New Jersey.....

Courtesy of AFER.

Your Body Positive Daily Affirmation

You may not recognize the name Mary Lambert.

She's a Seattle area poet and singer/songwriter.  You may know her as the woman singing the chorus in Macklemore's 'Same Love'.



She is an amazing poet.  Her spoken word reminds me a lot of Ani Difranco.  This is a poem that she recorded last year.  It's called 'Body Love'.



Today is Love Your Body Day.  Don't be ashamed of who you are or what you look like. Stop trying to fit into molds that other people have for you.  Stop reading beauty magazines.  They will only make you feel ugly.

The lyrics to 'Body Love' can be found here.

Happy Genocide Day!!!

Someone pass around the rapings and smallpox blankets.....

Hope you got the day off to celebrate.

The Greatest Thing To Ever Happen To The Internet....(this afternoon)

Either you get it or you don't.....

25 Years Of National Coming Out Day

I came out publicly four years ago today.  It was one of the greatest weights to be lifted from my chest.

Never be afraid to be yourself.  Pretending to be someone else takes a lot of energy that could be spent enjoying your life.

JW Library App Surprisingly Unimpressive

With short notice (48 hours), the Watchtower organization debuted two new apps for iOS and Android.  JW Library, and JW Library Sign Language.

Currently, the app is the 113th most popular free app in the App Store.  At one point on Monday, it was the third most popular iOS app, and in the top 20 for Android.  In the last three days, the app has seen over 100,000 downloads on Apple devices alone.  There have been over 100,000 downloads on Android, as well.

In the Google Play Store, the app currently has 19,809 reviews.  19,638 are five star reviews.  On iOS, it has a total of 14,059 reviews, 13,878 of which are five star.  That's 99.1% and 98.7% respectively.  Reading some of these reviews, it appears that most people believe that God himself programmed the code.

"All glory, honor, and praise to the only true and living God Jehovah who has provided."

"I love this app.  So simple.  So easy.  Jehovah always gives the greatest gifts."

"Yes and now there is an app for that - for our newly clarified nwt bible and references to the extreme.  Bible highlights here I come!  Thank you Jehovah.  You truly are so good..."

So, late last night, I downloaded the app on my phone.  And, I have to admit, I'm not really impressed.

First of all, the "library" has a total of 6 Bible translations - The New World Translation (2013 Revision), a "Reference Bible", the Kingdom Interlinear, the Byington translation, the American Standard Version, and the King James.

That's it.  With the dozens of books and brochures that Jehovah's Witnesses have published, and the hundreds of editions of The Watchtower and Awake! that have been produced, the only JW-published publication on the app is the Bible.

I would hardly consider this a "library".  If the only books I had on my shelf were the 'Twilight' series, I would be hard pressed to legitimately say that I had a "library".  I was shocked to discover that the app didn't even have an option to view the daily text, the weekly Bible reading, access the Witnesses website, or to contact them to schedule a bible study.

In all fairness, JW Library is quite pleasant to look at.  The user interface is simple and easy to use, with an appeasing array of grays and purples.  

That being said, the app is pretty much useless.  As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, when are you going to read the Bible without any "study aids"?  When do Jehovah's Witnesses EVER encourage people to read their Bible, without the help from any Watchtower published books or magazines? Sure, the Revised New World Translation may "read like a novel" (which is depressing in and of itself), but you don't see JWs going door to door, trying to put Bibles in people's hands.

There are a two appendixes included in the application, which have a number of charts and maps, diagrams of King Solomon's temple and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and assorted weights and measures.  They're interesting to look at, but provide nothing than trivial information.  They remind me of the maps that used to be in the binding of the old green Bibles.  It's something to look at when you're bored by the Sunday talk.

Like I said...interesting.  But, there's nothing here that will be useful in your day to day life.  Coincidentally, the biblical measurement for a span is the same method you use to accurately measure one's penis.

Even as someone that was no longer in the faith, I was looking forward to using the app to keep up with the rhetoric and "new light" coming from the bigwigs in New York.  Sadly, I was underwhelmed.  I've seen much better "JW" apps that were made by individuals trying to make a quick buck.

Photo Of The Day

HA!!!!

She licked her makeup off, from sticking her tongue out so much.  This is the greatest thing I've seen today.

Oh....one more.....

Headline Of The Day

Five reasons Americans already love ObamaCare — plus one reason why they’re gonna love it even more, soon

via Fox News

Yeah.  You heard me.  Fox. Fucking. News. (Which would explain the numerous mistakes in the byline.)

So, let me get this straight.  Fox spends most of this year spinning the Affordable Care Act, to make it look like President Obama is the Devil himself, delivering Hell on Earth.  Republicans in the House end up shutting down the federal government, because they were unable to repeal the law after 44 attempts.  Fox News commentators have spent the last two days, either cheering the shutdown, or insisting on calling it a "slimdown".  And now, there's this column on their website.

Fuck you, Fox News.

Hundreds of thousands of children weren't able to go to Head Start today. Most of those kids get their only two meals of the day while there.  If the federal shutdown isn't resolved within the next couple of days, WIC offices across the country will be forced to close, until funds become available again.  $45 in bread, milk, and cereal may not seem like much.  It is.  It's the difference between being able to live paycheck to paycheck, and not knowing how you're going to feed your daughter in the morning.  We have been in situations where the thought of actually living paycheck to paycheck was akin to winning the lottery.  When you're 23 days away from your next check, your checking account is overdrawn, and the only money you have is a handful of pennies and nickels.

And you have the nerve to make jokes about potted meat and Tang, and then sit there and pretend as if the most horrific consequence of this pissing contest you're championing is that veterans can't get into the World War Two Memorial.

Fuck.  You.

Your Daily Affirmation