Looks like the AFA isn't done with Gap quite yet.
It seems that Bill Chandler, vice president of Gap corporate communications, told AFA that Gap will be running a new television commercial which has a "very strong Christmas theme."
This communication was apparently received in response to an online poll that showed 90% of AFA drones supported a continued boycott of the company as a result of Gap's first holiday ad that "mingled Christmas with the pagan 'Winter Solstice' holiday." You know, the holiday celebrated by witches. You know, those people the bible says you should kill. Totally uncool. The mingling, not the killing.
The AFA Alert goes on to state that "Gap says the new ad will include the popular Supermodelquins proudly cheering “Merry Christmas", and features Christmas trees, lights and ornaments as well."
Since the new ad cheers on Christmas without mentioning any other holiday, and displays traditional Christmas symbols, AFA has stated that they will suspend their boycott of the company until everyone has had a chance to view the ad. Presumably to make sure Gap hasn't snuck in any subliminal pagan bits... you know... except for the Christmas trees, lights, and ornaments.
I suppose it's possible the AFA has somehow remained blissfully ignorant to the fact that Christmas trees, lights, and ornaments originated with the Winter Solstice holiday. Or perhaps they view those Christmas traditions as having been stolen from the witches to be re-branded and used to honor Jesus. Kind of like melting all your gold down to make a golden calf just like those nasty pagans, but then using it to celebrate YAHWEH:
"And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow [is] a feast to YAHWEH." (Exodus 32:4-5)
Oh... wait... YAHWEH didn't seem to like that very much:
"And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, [and] go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men." (Exodus 32:27-28)
Three thousand dead for the golden calf, regardless of YAHWEH feasts. Oh wait... that wasn't harsh enough:
"And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made." (Exodus 32:35)
I'm sure, however, that Christmas trees, lights, and ornaments are totally different than golden calves, right? I mean, it's not like those things were symbolic of "pagan" gods or anything. Well, okay... Saturn, Ops, Sol Invicta, Consus, Juventas, Janus, Bacchus, Osiris, Isis, Horus, and maybe a few others... but I hear YAWEH has calmed down a bit since he had a kid, so I'm sure it's okay.
The Alert closes with this gem: "As a result of your dedicated actions, we believe Gap is beginning to realize that Christmas is not just another 'holiday' and will begin to advertise in a way that is respectful to Christians and Christmas shoppers."
Got that Gap? Mentioning Christmas along with other holidays celebrated at the same time of year - offensive and disrespectful. Celebrating Christmas with a melange of pagan traditions and then pitching a fit when the slightest nod is given to any holiday other than yours - justified and righteous.
What maroons.
*UPDATE of the... um... update...*
The AFA announced this morning that the Gap boycott has officially ended. My only hope is that Gap had the damn commercial planned before the AFA started their whining and only retroactively used it to pacify them. New commercial is below, but it's not nearly as amusing to me as the other one.
Monday, November 30, 2009
BetaPwned/Daisies and Shit
Just a quick note to let everyone know that the BetaPwned archives, minus the Dear Diary comics, are up on DaisiesAndShit.com.
Head over and take a quick look. If you hate the overall site design, now's a good time to tell me. Bitch about it three months from now and you'll get nothing but a long distance raspberry. Before you submit your critique, however, keep in mind the following aspects are still missing:
Comic Title Header
About Page
Cast Page
Extras Page
Store Link
Contact/Social Media Links
Because the contact link isn't up on the site yet you can add your comment to the Daisies and Shit home page, this blog post, or email me at creator@betapwned.com
Head over and take a quick look. If you hate the overall site design, now's a good time to tell me. Bitch about it three months from now and you'll get nothing but a long distance raspberry. Before you submit your critique, however, keep in mind the following aspects are still missing:
Comic Title Header
About Page
Cast Page
Extras Page
Store Link
Contact/Social Media Links
Because the contact link isn't up on the site yet you can add your comment to the Daisies and Shit home page, this blog post, or email me at creator@betapwned.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
AFA CounterAction Alert - The Gap
It's that time of year again - the leaves are being homicidally pushed from the trees, there's a chill in the air, and Fundamentalist Christian groups are beginning to falsely equate inclusion with bigotry.
Yes, it's time for the annual "War on Christmas" and the AFA is starting the season by targeting Gap Incorporated. It seems Gap has shunned the "Merry Christmas" message, even going so far as to release the following statement:
"Gap recognizes that many traditions are celebrated throughout this season and we feel it is important to display holiday signage that is inclusive to everyone."
The outrage! Why, it's almost as if Gap executives looked at one of those good old American calendars and noticed that Chanukkah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, and Kwanzaa were all celebrated within the same two-week span and then callously decided that they should wish ALL of their customers happiness instead of righteously focusing on the ones that worship Jesus!
While such reasoning sounds completely ridiculous when I word it, I'm sure the AFA's wording sounds much more logical:
"Christmas is special because of Jesus. It's not just a 'winter holiday.' For millions of Americans the giving and receiving of gifts is in honor of the One who gave Himself. For the Gap to pretend that isn't the foundation of the Christmas season is political correctness at best and religious bigotry at worst."
Hrm... actually, that doesn't sound much more logical at all. I don't think Gap is pretending that the giving and receiving of gifts in honor of Jesus (aka - "the One who gave Himself") isn't the foundation of the Christmas season. It does seem, however, that the AFA is pretending that Christmas is the foundation of the holiday season. I simply don't know how they manage to get any work done over there while covering their eyes, pluging their ears, and belting out holy renditions of Silent Night in order to ward off any nasty facts that might challenge their world view. You know, like the fact that Chunakkah pre-dates Christmas by... oh... a couple thousand years. Or that the "Christmas" tradition of giving and receiving gifts began with the Pagan celebration of Solstice, just like the tradition of decorating an evergreen tree, or burning a yule log, or keeping a candle lit through the night, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Regardless, AFA is asking people to call up Gap and "in a firm but polite manner" ask them to reconsider its policy of "censoring Christmas in promotional material" and to boycott stores owned by the company until the word Christmas is seen in their advertising. I, of course, am asking that you give them a call to let them know that you appreciate their efforts to spread holiday cheer to all people, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.
The toll-free number is: 1-800-427-7895. The company number is: 650-952-4400.
Yes, it's time for the annual "War on Christmas" and the AFA is starting the season by targeting Gap Incorporated. It seems Gap has shunned the "Merry Christmas" message, even going so far as to release the following statement:
"Gap recognizes that many traditions are celebrated throughout this season and we feel it is important to display holiday signage that is inclusive to everyone."
The outrage! Why, it's almost as if Gap executives looked at one of those good old American calendars and noticed that Chanukkah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, and Kwanzaa were all celebrated within the same two-week span and then callously decided that they should wish ALL of their customers happiness instead of righteously focusing on the ones that worship Jesus!
While such reasoning sounds completely ridiculous when I word it, I'm sure the AFA's wording sounds much more logical:
"Christmas is special because of Jesus. It's not just a 'winter holiday.' For millions of Americans the giving and receiving of gifts is in honor of the One who gave Himself. For the Gap to pretend that isn't the foundation of the Christmas season is political correctness at best and religious bigotry at worst."
Hrm... actually, that doesn't sound much more logical at all. I don't think Gap is pretending that the giving and receiving of gifts in honor of Jesus (aka - "the One who gave Himself") isn't the foundation of the Christmas season. It does seem, however, that the AFA is pretending that Christmas is the foundation of the holiday season. I simply don't know how they manage to get any work done over there while covering their eyes, pluging their ears, and belting out holy renditions of Silent Night in order to ward off any nasty facts that might challenge their world view. You know, like the fact that Chunakkah pre-dates Christmas by... oh... a couple thousand years. Or that the "Christmas" tradition of giving and receiving gifts began with the Pagan celebration of Solstice, just like the tradition of decorating an evergreen tree, or burning a yule log, or keeping a candle lit through the night, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Regardless, AFA is asking people to call up Gap and "in a firm but polite manner" ask them to reconsider its policy of "censoring Christmas in promotional material" and to boycott stores owned by the company until the word Christmas is seen in their advertising. I, of course, am asking that you give them a call to let them know that you appreciate their efforts to spread holiday cheer to all people, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.
The toll-free number is: 1-800-427-7895. The company number is: 650-952-4400.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Dilute This
Ordinarily I would hesitate to post a video that oozes such a profoundly dizzying misunderstanding of basic physics, but it seems that "Dr." Werner (or possibly an unknown woo-lover) doesn't want her baffling butchery of simplistic scientific concepts displayed to anyone with enough brain to understand just how bat-shit-nutters she really is. XanSimpson, who originally posted the video on YouTube, received the following letter:
Now, XanSimpson is understandably a bit nervous about this. Luckily, PZ Myers knows exactly what to do under these circumstances:
I wholeheartedly agree. So, in the interest of Woo extermination by way of exposure, I present to you
I do warn you, however, that I was reduced to a stuttering mass of endless repetition for several minutes after viewing. "But... but... equations don't work like that! But... but... those particles have MASS! But... but... energy isn't fucking emotional! But... but..." This stuttering was followed by a good two hours of impassioned ranting.
The stupid... it really does burn. Though, by her logic, stupid this concentrated shouldn't burn as much as stupid that was shaken really hard and then diluted a million times...
Want your own copy? Fetch. *smiles*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0c5yClip4o
UPDATE:
Holy shite. In trying to hunt down the University that gave this quack a degree I found a couple other gems of ignorance that have erupted forth from this nutter:
(From the Austin Integrative Medicine site, captured by Google on November 1st, 2009: http://tinyurl.com/yezrlw3 Current page comes up 404 and her name has been removed from the header: http://tinyurl.com/yj88quo One wonders what kind of offense one has to commit to be removed from a site dedicated to quacks.)
For more video quacktastery, Dr. Werner explains how she "treats" disorders like ADHD and Dyslexia while providing another fascinating insight into Homeopathy - her shaken-not-stirred magic water apparently gives her access into "stubborn cells".
Continued searches for the origin of her degree have come up empty, though I was able to find information regarding her active status with the Texas Optometry board. Her license apparently expires in December of this year... that gives me hope.
I thought you would like to know that you will be contacted by Dr Werner's Attorney shortly regarding her video. The posting of this video is in violation of copyright laws. We are aware that you have had this video up since March of '08 however I suggest you delete it immediately.
Jayson Patrick
Now, XanSimpson is understandably a bit nervous about this. Luckily, PZ Myers knows exactly what to do under these circumstances:
"As is common practice in these cases, the answer is obvious: everyone who can should make a copy of the video. More people should link to it. Spread the word and share the information - let her threat of a takedown lead to greater dissemination of her words.
Welcome to the internet, Charlene."
I wholeheartedly agree. So, in the interest of Woo extermination by way of exposure, I present to you
I do warn you, however, that I was reduced to a stuttering mass of endless repetition for several minutes after viewing. "But... but... equations don't work like that! But... but... those particles have MASS! But... but... energy isn't fucking emotional! But... but..." This stuttering was followed by a good two hours of impassioned ranting.
The stupid... it really does burn. Though, by her logic, stupid this concentrated shouldn't burn as much as stupid that was shaken really hard and then diluted a million times...
Want your own copy? Fetch. *smiles*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0c5yClip4o
UPDATE:
Holy shite. In trying to hunt down the University that gave this quack a degree I found a couple other gems of ignorance that have erupted forth from this nutter:
"Our cornea acts like a double-ended prism and when light passes through it, the light divides into spectral light, and our photoreceptors (red, blue and green cones picking up that specific frequency of light, and the rods picking up all the rest) absorb the light energy, which is then transmitted to the brain. It is the red and blue cones that actually have a stimulating effect on the autonomic nervous system...
What can drive the autonomic nervous system are the red and blue cones. When you think of red, you think of fast and hot, or the sympathetic nervous system - that's the red cone system working. When you think of blue, you think of slow and cool, or the parasympathetic nervous system - that's the blue cone system working. So, light stimulation can change physiological function through photoreceptor transmission.
What diseases are you more likely to suffer with when the red cone system is overworking? That's right: fast diseases like high blood pressure, anxiety, hyperthyroidism, arteriosclerosis, and cancer (make more cells) - a speeding up of the processes. What diseases are you more likely to suffer with when the blue cone system is overworking? That's right: slow system disorders like low blood pressure, depression, and low thyroid function.
Almost every disease process can be explained this way. So, light therapy essentially stimulates and enhances the ability of our photoreceptors to pick up light in a different way toward changing function in the body. It can create balance in the system and with balance comes better function."
(From the Austin Integrative Medicine site, captured by Google on November 1st, 2009: http://tinyurl.com/yezrlw3 Current page comes up 404 and her name has been removed from the header: http://tinyurl.com/yj88quo One wonders what kind of offense one has to commit to be removed from a site dedicated to quacks.)
For more video quacktastery, Dr. Werner explains how she "treats" disorders like ADHD and Dyslexia while providing another fascinating insight into Homeopathy - her shaken-not-stirred magic water apparently gives her access into "stubborn cells".
Continued searches for the origin of her degree have come up empty, though I was able to find information regarding her active status with the Texas Optometry board. Her license apparently expires in December of this year... that gives me hope.
