Well, I really didn't want to write about the Jamie Lynn Spears news, but since I can't really escape from it at any of the websites I visit; I figure I might as well add my 2 cents to the millions of pennies out there.
Do I find it shocking that the mother-to-be is 16 years old, and that the father is 19? Not really. A very good friend of mine had a child when he was 17, I think the mother of the child was 16 at the time. Neither had the income potential that Ms. Spears does (apparently, Ms. Spears has signed a deal to allow a magazine to photograph her newborn child for $1 million). My friend did the best thing possible in that situation. The mother wasn't ready for marriage (in fact I doubt they were still seeing each other when they found out about the pregnancy) but she also didn't want to have an abortion. They did the best thing possible for their situation, they gave the baby up for adoption.
Now, I'm not going to be the one to harangue Ms. Spears for her choices. I remember what it was like to be young and stupid. While I haven't, to the best of my knowledge, helped to bring a new life into this world; I have done plenty of stupid things. I would mention some of the truly spectacularly stupid actions here, but I am unfamiliar with international law and I figure it is best to just leave that in the past.
However, one of my core beliefs is that of personal responsibility. When I do something stupid, I will not shirk from any consequences that might arise from that stupidity. And the fact is, the father of Ms. Spears' baby committed a crime. Do I think that the law is just? Not really. My parents have more than three years difference in their age, they just waited until their late 20s and early 30s before having children (a profoundly wise choice in my opinion).
So what consequences should Ms. Spears and the father face? Well, the punishment for the father is quite obvious. He should face the apparently misdemeanor charge(s) resulting from listening to the organ between his legs instead of between his ears. Maybe this situation will shed more light on the subject of child molestation laws and how they are applied to teenagers.
As for Ms. Spears? Well, unfortunately for her she is a celebrity. That means she is subjected to the fallout of making stupid decisions from the public. If that means her show is taken off air, so be it.
The thing I find the most deplorable is what this might do to the truly innocent, the child. I personally would not wish bestowing the status of "celebrity" on my worst of enemies. The child will likely grow up and discover the internet and then see all of the wonderful comments that his or her birth caused. I can't imagine what life under the microscope would be like. If the child is lucky, the media will find something else to obsess on shortly. Hopefully, Lynne Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears will allow the child some sort of anonymity until the child is old enough to at least grasp the consequences of being in the public spotlight.
One final thought. I do not follow celebrity gossip but I work in a psychologist’s office and I have to put up the new magazines. So even I am aware of all the multitudes of celebrity pregnancies. Please, for the love of all that is good, don't go out and have a baby just because it is the current fad of celebrities.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Feel good activism
Continuing the tradition of useless feel good activism, such as carbon offsets, we now see someone promoting "World Orgasm Day."
What better way to find a solution to a problem than by ignoring the problem and making yourself feel better about it? Feel bad about flying around in that private jet? No problem, just pay to offset your pollution and keep flying! Want to stop the various global conflicts, from Iraq to Burma to Darfur? Just screw your neighbor at this precise time. The "mental and spirtual energy" from that act will cause the levels of "violence, hatred and fear around the world" to reduce.
Magical thinking at its finest.
Oui! Si! Da! Ja! Yes!
Any way you scream it, one group hopes you'll be having an orgasm in the name of world peace this Friday at 6:08 GMT.
At the exact moment of the winter solstice, the world is urged to get busy at the second annual Global Orgasm for World Peace.
What better way to find a solution to a problem than by ignoring the problem and making yourself feel better about it? Feel bad about flying around in that private jet? No problem, just pay to offset your pollution and keep flying! Want to stop the various global conflicts, from Iraq to Burma to Darfur? Just screw your neighbor at this precise time. The "mental and spirtual energy" from that act will cause the levels of "violence, hatred and fear around the world" to reduce.
Magical thinking at its finest.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Ridiculous Number Crunching
I just crunched some numbers regarding leveling your faction in World of Warcraft. The result: There has to be a better way.
In World of Warcraft, there are various factions you can belong to. Initially you are neutral with them, but through a series of quests, some repeatable, and by killing certain oppositional aligned non-player characters; you can work your way up the faction ladder.
How this works: You will gain faction points by completing quests for the particular faction. Sometimes it is as low as 25 points, I've seen as much as 350 points awarded. When you hit a certain number of faction points, you go up to the next rank showing that you have earned their goodwill. The ranks are Neutral, Friendly, Honored, Revered and Exalted.
Why do you want to go up these ranks? Most often it is because they offer gear or other incentives (like recipes for a trade skill) that you can use. The faction will not allow you to buy certain items unless you meet a specific faction rank; the best items are unlocked with the highest rank.
Two days ago, my Hunter reached the "Honored" faction rank with a particular group. I looked and noticed that he now needs 12,000 faction points to reach the next rank. Here is where number crunching comes in handy.
There is a repeatable quest that he can do that gives him 250 faction points each time. The quest is simple, you just need to gather 10 beads from ogres you kill and turn them in for the faction. Thanks to a mod that I have, I have determined that a bead is looted from the ogres at about a one to three ratio, I have to kill three ogres to get one bead.
So, in order to get 1,000 faction points, I have to collect 40 beads. In order to get 40 beads, I have to kill three times that number of ogres, 120. In order to get 12,000 faction points, I have to kill 120 ogres twelve times. In other words, 1,440 ogres.
For future refrence, never number crunch faction points. Ignorance is bliss.
In World of Warcraft, there are various factions you can belong to. Initially you are neutral with them, but through a series of quests, some repeatable, and by killing certain oppositional aligned non-player characters; you can work your way up the faction ladder.
How this works: You will gain faction points by completing quests for the particular faction. Sometimes it is as low as 25 points, I've seen as much as 350 points awarded. When you hit a certain number of faction points, you go up to the next rank showing that you have earned their goodwill. The ranks are Neutral, Friendly, Honored, Revered and Exalted.
Why do you want to go up these ranks? Most often it is because they offer gear or other incentives (like recipes for a trade skill) that you can use. The faction will not allow you to buy certain items unless you meet a specific faction rank; the best items are unlocked with the highest rank.
Two days ago, my Hunter reached the "Honored" faction rank with a particular group. I looked and noticed that he now needs 12,000 faction points to reach the next rank. Here is where number crunching comes in handy.
There is a repeatable quest that he can do that gives him 250 faction points each time. The quest is simple, you just need to gather 10 beads from ogres you kill and turn them in for the faction. Thanks to a mod that I have, I have determined that a bead is looted from the ogres at about a one to three ratio, I have to kill three ogres to get one bead.
So, in order to get 1,000 faction points, I have to collect 40 beads. In order to get 40 beads, I have to kill three times that number of ogres, 120. In order to get 12,000 faction points, I have to kill 120 ogres twelve times. In other words, 1,440 ogres.
For future refrence, never number crunch faction points. Ignorance is bliss.
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