Hodge Podge

The rapture didn't come on Saturday. Of course, Harold Camping, the lying sack of shit charlatan who made the incorrect Judgment Day prediction, is backtracking. He is now saying that his prediction was wrong (no shit), and that October 21 will be doomsday. This is now the second time he has incorrectly predicted the end of the world. How does this guy still have any followers? And does he plan to reimburse his followers (dumb as they may be) who spent their hard-earned money in reliance on Camping's prediction? My guess on the latter is a "no," although I'm sure he will ask them for donations to his ministry.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage died Friday. As a diehard WWF fan in the '80s and early '90s, this one hit home. Jessie and I bought a Slim Jim Sunday in his honor. Here is a link to a slideshow tribute (thanks to The Weez for the link). Rest in peace. Oh yeeeaaaahh.

Apparently there's a British guy with Tourette's and Asperger's that has a website where he sings karaoke (thanks to Jeremy for the link). This is one of those things where you're not sure if it's supposed to be funny, but you have to assume it is, so you don't have to feel bad or uncomfortable laughing at it, but maybe you should. I'm not sure yet. A warning: there is some foul language in some of the songs, so you may not want to view the videos at work, unless you work in a swear factory.

I read a disturbing article yesterday about a Canadian hippie couple who named their baby Storm. That's not a big deal, since the kid has a pretty decent shot at becoming an American Gladiator with that name. The issue is that Storm is now four months old, and its parents have not told anyone whether Storm is a boy or a girl. They apparently think it's a good idea to let their child determine whether it wants to live life as a boy or a girl. I don't see how that can backfire.

Here are some quotes from the mother.

"[I]n not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, 'Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s (he) wants to be?!."

No. He or she is a boy or a girl. That's biology, not something that one "discover[s] for him/herself." It turns out infants and toddlers don't understand the complexities of gender roles.

"Everyone keeps asking us, 'When will this end?' And we always turn the question back. Yeah, when will this end? When will we live in a world where people can make choices to be whoever they are?"

Never, dingbat. You can't choose whether you're born with a dick or a vagina. If Storm decides sometime down the road that he/she wants a sex change, so be it, but that's an adult decision. In the meantime, Storm is going to have a hell of a time socializing with any other children.

"Hi, I'm Suzie. What's your name?"

"Storm."

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

"DON'T BOX ME IN!"

This reminds me of that article I read a few years ago about the family who let their five-year-old boy live as a girl. There are real, deep psychological consequences to these kinds of "acts of freedom," or however the parents want to mistakenly label it. I'm pretty liberal, but I think there are other ways to make a statement about the supposed strictures of social identification than using your children as a vehicle for your statement and encouraging gender confusion in infants and toddlers.

Finally, here is The Gaslight Anthem's video for their song "Bring It On."