Hasta la Vista Governator

Time for a new Governor...*sigh* On one hand, we won't get to say "the Governator"
any longer in our best Terminator impression, on the other hand, this may be a time of redemption for the State which has seriously been financially terminated.

Sadly, the Gubernatorial candidates are entirely out of touch and I'm not convinced that another term of "No new taxes" and multi-million dollar cuts to services for the underserved might not be preferable...Okay, I take that back, hopefully anything will be better than the apocalypse we currently face in California.

Here's the rundown:

Conservative Front Runners -

Steve Poizner: Current California Insurance Commissioner. I prefer to call him Steve "Poisoner", because he is a conservative right-winger running on a platform of bigotry and hatred. Unless you are a white male who thinks just like him, apparently you don't belong in his California.

Meg Whitman: Former CEO of eBay...Hello, can you say clueless Billionaire who has already spent over $70 million on reckless ad campaigning? Or how about, Meg "Whitless" because a)She failed to vote for 28 years b)Had to leave the Board of Goldman Sachs due to a scandal that she possibly had illegally acquired IPOs to the tune of $1.78 million and c)How can a multi-millionaire who intends to run the State like a business have any compassion for its poor and disenfranchised citizens?

Liberal Front Runner -

Jerry Brown: Attorney General and wait...former 2-term Governor of California? Well, he's failed 3 bids for the presidency...and he was once Linda Ronstadt's "Little Moonbeam"...and the Dead Kennedy's first single, California Über Alles was about their perspective of Jerry Brown's "hippie-fascist vision for America"...Alas! Amongst a field of other rich, white people, Brown's looking somewhat acceptable...

But, as I am all for freedom of expression, I leave you to choose your future...One thing for certain, Schwarzenegger will be back in film, but will not be back in the Governor's mansion.

Yo! Comrad [sic] U R not so bright...

I love reading ignorant people's political opinions. I love looking at the spelling errors, the generalized references to historical events, and the mixing of ideologies.

I saw a blog in late March, when the U.S. "Healthcare Reform" bill was passed. It continually referred to Comrad [sic] Obama (a reference to Communism), while claiming that "his" socialistic reform has singlehandedly brought down Democracy.

Sadly, this individual is part of the fundamentalist right-wing conservative movement largely associated with the Republican party. And as such, this individual and a large cadre of others just like him are allowed to vote and decide the futures of as many children as they are able to produce (missionary style only, of course).

This individual's blog post, and others like it, remind me of an article out of London which points to a correlation between IQ, party affiliation and religious beliefs.

According to the article, Conservatives tend toward fundamentalism in their (typically monotheistic) religion of choice (typically Christian). They also tend to have an IQ almost a full standard deviation below that of atheistic Liberals. The article goes on to describe a possible evolutionary reason why Liberal atheists have higher IQs, in that they tend to be more open-minded and are largely concerned about the welfare of all. On the other hand, Conservative fundamentalists with lower IQs tend to be more close-minded and concerned with the protection of their family unit and those just like them. (Kanazawa, S., March 2010, Social Psychology Quarterly)

Although many Christian religions speak to the world as "your mission field", many fundamentalist Christians prefer to protect themselves and their families from the influence of the secular world. This, however, minimizes their impact on others through association and modeling. It is a selfish viewpoint, that only you and others like you are "clean" enough in the eyes of God to interact with one another. I see this behavior as confirmation of Jesus' question in Luke 6:41 - Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? It is highly judgmental, but also protective of the belief systems.

My summary of the London article is jokingly this: As a liberal atheist, you may be smarter, more open-minded and more caring of society at large, but you will go to Hell. However, if you are a fundamentalist conservative, you will likely be protective of your own kind, ignorant and bigoted, but you will go to Heaven.

Introducing "the Brain"

In High School, I was noted as such a ginormous nerd, that I was assigned a new title "Brain". My younger sister was mortified to be seen in public with me and my classmates knew that if they needed help with schoolwork, I likely would have the answer. Oh, did I mention I also wore a backbrace for scoliosis?

Being known as the biggest nerd in school is not the best way to make friends, but it certainly impacts one's sense of self. Not surprisingly, some of my favorite movies are Revenge of the Nerds, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, and Napoleon Dynamite.

Thankfully, as one ages, the Nerd lifestyle becomes more accepted. Some even aspire to join the ranks. Although IRL I am somewhat successful (I have not invented anything as exciting as Post-It notes, although these are a passion of mine), I am still noted as a Nerd. And, I am of the firm mind that the Nerds do, indeed, rule the world!