If we can be honest about what you're praying for, and who you're praying to. Nothing exists without Your God according to your mythology, so cancer exists because your God created it. And everything happens according to God's plan according to your mythology, so if someone has cancer, it is because God planned it that way.

So your all-loving God is giving people a horrible disease, and forcing them to suffer for some obviously sadistic, and cruel plan. But you think praying to that same God, and asking your God to change his/her mind, and destroy the cancer that he/she both created just to put inside of a person will be more effective than, say, scientifically developed, tested, and refined cancer treatments?

You haven't read enough about your God, and how God has treated the humans created in his image. I suggest actually picking up a bible, and not just listening to the cherry picked, and liberally interpreted parts of it that you get exposed to on Sunday.

Super Bowl Review

So, what can we say? As usual, the halftime show was far too liberal, outside of white-christian-conservative culture, and female empowered for the snowflake minority of reichwing conservatives in America. Fortunately, almost every poll, and data source proves repeatedly that America is far more liberal, and progressive than those who act as though America's cultural growth stopped with the arrival of the Mayflower.

Yes, I'm going to talk more about the halftime show than the game, because honestly, unless you're a Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs fan, or a San Francisco 49ers fan, the real highlight of the Superbowl for you, most likely, was not having to root against the Patriots for once.

J Lo, Shakira, about a brazilion backup dancers, and 50,000 Latino children put on quite a show. Both J Lo, and Shakira, wearing costumed derivations of traditional dance leotards, lip-synced, and danced for 15 minutes.

The horror!

Their show was filled with cultural dances, and expressions relevant to their own cultures, and history. They spoke out against some rather inhumane recent American policies which target people of color, especially from Latinio nations. The imagery of children in cages, singing Born In The USA which, if you have the comprehension of a lump of coal, and still think the song is a patriotic anthem of pride in the United States, it's not. It's a protest song, speaking of the ills of growing up in his generation as a poor American, not that Bruce Springsteen did. It could certainly be reimagined for my generation, Millennials, and Gen-Z, but I digress.

Yet, the loudest public responses are from the tight-wad conservative Christians / middle-aged or older women currently online crying "SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" Yeah, think of the children. We have a school shooting every week, but watching an attractive woman in a leotard performing a cultural dance is going to be the worst thing your children ever experience, I'm sure.

"IT'S TOO SEXUAL AND DENIGRATES WOMEN!" - Listen, if you watch a performance like this; two pop culture icons, paying tribute to their ethnic roots, making a socio-political statement through their dance, their music, their art, in an elaborate, eye catching, tightly choreographed show, and what you took away from it was "it's too sexual" then I have some bad news for you.

YOU ARE THE ONE DENIGRATING WOMEN. Maybe stop thinking of women as nothing but sex objects, and start paying attention to what they're actually saying? If you can't handle that, then SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN. Your opinion no longer matters.

Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.

"HOW CAN I EXPECT MY KIDS TO RESPECT WOMEN IF THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE EXPOSED TO DURING THE SUPERBOWL?!?!?"

Here's a thought: grow a pair, and actually be a parent. You think this was bad? What do you think images of wars, mass shootings, police brutality, domestic abuse, kids in cages, and all the rest of the violence, and inhumanity they're exposed to do? Better yet, examine your own fucking behavior, and state honestly if YOU are setting the best example for them as a parent? When is the last time you sat down, and truly discussed the good, and bad going on in THEIR lives? Probably never for the majority of parents, right? How about the football game itself? Think they're learning solid life lessons while watching a safety targeting the head of a wide receiver over the middle, and being congratulated for a great hit while his opponent lies on the turf barely conscious? Let's throw all of this into perspective, and put a magnifying glass to everything you allow into their lives as you cast your judging eye on a female performer because she's dancing, and you can see her midsection.

And as I said to someone else, my kids are exposed to the fraudulent, deceitful, and abusive fantasy world of organized religions on a daily basis. Everything from the "pray for" memes, to people on TV, like Paula White yelling for satanic pregnancies to miscarry, and news coverage of preachers shouting about how every other person but themselves are going to go to hell, and of course the shouldn't be legislative debates but still somehow are because we STILL let christianity put their devious little stubby fingers into government. Debates such as abortion legislation, or women's healthcare rights, or religion in school, or somehow now, our taxes going to fund private, untaxed religion (but only christian) based schools?

Despite this, they're still atheists. WHOA! Whaddaya know, good parenting done right leads the way even if they're exposed to all that bullshit.

Oh, by the way, I've never been a fan of J Lo, or Shakira's music, but I can see, and appreciate what they brought to that show in the ways of traditional culture, blended with pop culture, and contemporary performance art, and of course, the messages behind their performance decisions. I'm sorry if  all you saw were bare legs, and female bodies. There was a lot more to appreciate about it than that. Maybe someday, your mind, and values will expand beyond "women = sex." I'll guarantee you, if your kids grow up to be disrespecting to women, it will be more YOUR attitudes that shape it than anything they saw on the halftime show.

The Weight

In the early morning hours for some reason the scale in the upstairs bathroom turned on, and began beeping like a subtle smoke-alarm. Why is this a feature? Is the battery level in a digital scale really an emergency thing that requires it to beep incessantly if they're low?

However, it did remind me to weigh myself this morning, and the number is a discouraging 221.4. Reminding me again that I need to get to the gym, which I tried to do last week. I set aside time to use the Catalyst Fitness gift certificate I was gifted for a full year premium membership, and five personal training sessions. I figured I'd get the membership, get in a workout, and then figure out the training thing another day.

Unfortunately the manager at Catalyst had no idea what to do with the certificate, and refused to honor it until she spoke with the owner. Isn't that awesome? Here's a gift certificate that we won't let you redeem without double-checking if we can actually provide to you what was specified on the certificate. So after spending all the time I set aside to start my workout waiting for them to tell me come back another day and maybe we'll have this sorted, I didn't end up getting in a workout. I will try again tonight, but I have got to start putting aside time to get there.

The Stupid Of The Union Address

Once again Trump stood in front of congress, and the nation to present a rally speech filled with lies, and misinformation, while essentially taking credit for things Obama did, or started.

Apparently though, the only part of the night that mattered to the conservative crowd was at the end of the address, when Nancy Pelosi tore up her copy of the address.

"Such disrespect!" they're saying.

That's disrespect, eh? But you feel respected having the guy you support lie to you constantly? You're ok with that level of respect? Tearing up his lies is such a horrible thing to you? Call me when Pelosi gets fined $2M for stealing from a charity, or has to pay $25M for a fraud settlement after stealing millions from college students, or when she pays out $130K in hush money to a porn star that she paid to have sex with. Let me know when she mocks the disabled, or sexually assaults teenage girls. Then you might have a case for disrespect. Until then, shut your hypocritical pie hole, and sit your ass down.

Yeah, more of the intolerant left. As if the right has ever been tolerant? Fuck you, and your hypocrisy. We're sick of having to deal with the moronic stupidity the conservative right brings to our nation daily, acting like your fascist ideologies are the heart of democracy, and freedom. Ya'll need a swift slap on the back of the head with a shovel.

Conservative Mentality

While conservative snowflakes cry about "respecting the president," Trump took time out last night to give a medal of freedom to none other than conservative think-stink conspiracy and hatred on the radio promoter, Rush Limbaugh. A guy that has so much respect for the president, he has in the past said of former president Obama while he was president, that Obama was, "The Affirmative Action Candidate," that Obama was "Barack the Magic Negro," that "Obama is more African in his roots than America," and really Obama was more Arab than African because Kenya is a Muslim nation.

Good to know this waste of oxygen knows the difference between Arabs and Muslims.

Among other highly racist, and hateful commentary, Rush has never been more than a radical right mouthpiece spewing Nazi level conspiracy theories, not unlike Alex Jones. But recently Rush has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and apparently the whole world is expected to boo-hoo over this, as if he's alone in such a terrible diagnosis. So despite the fact Limbaugh has offered nothing of value or substance to American society, because he has cancer, Trump gifted him a medal normally reserved for people who make significant, positive contributions to America.

Not people who have said, “I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”

Limbaugh is a prime example of conservative hypocrisy, and the theory that if you yell about something loud enough, no matter how untrue, or outlandish it might be, you'll get people to listen, and believe you. He's spent years on the radio screaming about the ills of the liberal mindset, and the perceived immorality of anyone who he would consider the opposition to his reichwing extremest agenda. He has mocked those with their own medical conditions, and battles. He has promoted anti-feminism, and anti-women's right agendas. He has denigrated veterans who spoke out against Bush's endless wars. He has been divorced thrice, a known opioid addict, and has been arrested or detained for suspected trafficking of prescription medications multiple times.

This isn't a medal of anything worthy person, and although he has my empathy for the battle he is about to endure, when it comes down to it, he'll never have my sympathy. He'll never have my respect. He's a terrible person, and a tragic medical diagnosis doesn't change that fact.