God Hates Fags

I like documentaries. I watched one about the Westboro Baptist Church last night and, for some reason, it's still on my mind. Anyone seen these jackasses? For those who don't know, it's basically some ancient asshole whose daddy never hugged him, his kids and grand kids who can't find anyone else to stomach them and their vile ideals, who got together and made up their own church (which no one but the family, incidentally, attends). Their idea of a good time is to picket events like Gay Pride parades, colleges and fallen soldiers' funerals with signs that spew filth like "God hates fags", "God hates the USA", and "Thank God for dead soldiers" and regurgitate bible verses taken completely out of context to justify what they're doing.

My first reaction was something like "Who would even listen to this?" I thought it was kind of amusing in that bad-horror-film kind of way. There was just this shriveled up old man standing at the front of his family members, carrying on about fags destroying our civilization and God hating everyone blah blah blah while they sat there and just gorged themselves on this banquet of bullshit. There were one-on-one interviews with this guy with more of the same, only in a calmer tone of voice and wearing more casual clothing. Then it got really disturbing.

There was a young girl who was recounting the story of how she fell in love with and married her husband at a young age. He went off to Iraq and was killed in an attack. It was all very sad. So she's going to her husband's funeral when these knuckle-draggers show up with their Thank God for Dead Soldiers signs, yelling about how much God hated him and how much God wanted him dead. I was absolutely horrified!

The crowning jewel was the family interviews. The film maker went around to various family members asking them about their beliefs, etc. The grownups produced the expected parroted rhetoric they soaked up from Old Man Malice. The worst part was watching kids from about age 7-12 saying things like they want to kill the fags, but they can't because God wants to do it. It was so sad to watch the kids talk about how fun it was to hold up the signs to punish the fags. When asked, the kids all happily pointed out their favourite signs. When asked, the kids, by and large, didn't know why it was their favourite. When asked, most of the kids didn't understand what their slogans really meant. Most of them didn't even know what a 'fag' was. If you've ever wanted to know what a brainwashing looks like, watch this portion of the documentary.

Do people like this really exist? I guess i just can't understand how people can feel so much hatred toward someone they don't know. I don't understand how a person can, with so much malice and desire to inflict hurt, tell widows that their husbands deserved to die and that the world is a better place now that their faggy husbands have been blown to bits (how a woman's husband can be "faggy" is beyond me). How can people teach their children this kind of hatred, as though they were teaching them the alphabet or something equally casual? If they hate America and its fags so much, why are they still here? They walk all over the American flag (literally), the very symbol of the freedom that allows them to vomit up these pristinely ugly ideals. Then they turn around and cower behind it at the same time, demanding protection from those who would silence the verbal feces falling from their lips.

It's no secret that Christianity and i have an uneasy relationship, at best. I've known some really bad "Christians", whom i prefer to think of as Jesus Hypocrites. You know the type: Unleashes a steady stream of scripture-justification at you for their own misdeeds, and holds up the Christian lifestyle as superior to yours (hence, why they're a better person than you), but then doesn't actually *live* by that lifestyle while admonishing you for not doing it either; but it's okay for them because they're forgiven but you're evil sinning scum because you're not. The Kristi's of the world.

I've also known some really good people who're Christians. Kind, caring people who really want to help you be a better person, preferably their way but even still if their way isn't for you. The Judy's of the world. These are the people i genuinely feel bad for. People whose whole religion is besmirched by thes WBC beasts. I hate to think that good people could be cast under the same dark shade of the umbrella these hate-breeders uphold.

But most of all, i feel outrage for the targets of this sub-species of de-evolved human trash. No one should be subjected to persecution for simply being who they are, holding peaceful beliefs or serving their country. I truly hope people look on this cult with the loathing it deserves. Ultimately, i hope people see them and then dismiss them as unworthy of their notice. Let them rail against a society who refuses to hear their hate-filled messages. Let them scream themselves hoarse, and let their words die with their voices.

Not That Anyone Cares, But . . .

Say you have a favourite cereal at the only grocery store within 50 miles that sells it, and they run out. You go there, and find that they've not only run out, but won't be getting anymore for an undetermined amount of time due to a wheat shortage. What do you do? Do you call back daily to check the status of the wheat shortage? When you hear that the wheat shortage isn't over yet, do you start abusing the grocery store personnel because you're irritated? Or do you substitute a corn cereal in the mean time (which, while it isn't your preferred cereal, at least allows you to eat while the wheat shortage is happening)?

We're in the middle of a Mo-99 shortage, which means there are no generators being produced. This shortage has been ongoing for the last week and, though we hoped it'd be over by Wednesday, it doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon.

We've been doing our best to service as many of our full-time customers as we can by asking them to reschedule some of the heavier patients and cutting cardiac doses back to 10- and 25mCi and bone doses back to 20mCi. Not the optimal dosage, true, but still produces a perfectly diagnosable image in a patient that isn't too heavy. We also suggested substituting Tl-201 for the 10mCi resting doses. Again, not optimal, but images adequately, and it's a temporary measure.

At first, people were pretty understanding (with the exception of a couple of people who, naturally, think that they're our most important customers and should be treated accordingly). But as time wears on, tempers are growing shorter. Yesterday a few people behaved as though we were intentionally holding back on them. A few went so far as to accuse us of making the shortage seem worse than it actually is.

For what?! Why would we deny our customers doses?! We're a business, for chrissakes, how can we make money if we choose not to sell products?! It makes no sense. So apparently, the consensus is that if they're jerky to us, the shortage will end and they'll get what they want. I just don't get it.