Right Hand Privilege Is Wrong is now part of On Hand Comments

 The contents of Right Hand Privilege Is Wrong have been merged into On Hand Comments. I did this partly because it's easier to devote my efforts towards a single blog, and because there's not enough subject matter for a left handed blog.  That's not to say there isn't a lot to talk about, because you will definitely be reading it.

Going on the half hour is going off half-cocked

Another day, another descent into self-destruction.  In a country with rampant slavery in mass prisons, rampant cannibalism due to starvation and a lost generation of children so malnourished that teenagers are the size of eight year olds, it's no surprise that the murderous North Korean regime has deemed a change in time zones to be a top priority.

http://gizmodo.com/north-korea-made-its-own-time-zone-to-tell-japan-to-fuc-1722684800

"Juche" allegedly means "self-reliance"?  That from a country which can't even feed itself without food donated by the United Nations?  It's nothing more than a sad piece of propaganda, from a country that is already drowned in propaganda and brainwashing.

Even if politics weren't an issue, the practicality of this decision makes no sense.  Pyongyang is one hundred kilometres west of Seoul, as is the majority of North Korean land and the population.  South Korea is on GMT+8, an hour different than Japan.  If North Korea were really trying to differentiate itself, they would be going to GMT+7.5, not GMT+8.5.


It's only a matter of time before that government finally collapses.  The sooner the better for everyone's sake.

Let's try this again, shall we?

"Eighteen months between posts?  Where were you?  In jail, or something?"

No, I was on vacation for Chinese New Year 2014.  I got interrupted, I procrastinated, and then I got lazy.  It's only now that certain subjects have come up again - and new ones have appeared - that I decided to reopen the blog to try again.

Let's see if I can keep it up this time.

I will also merge posts from the other blog I tried to write, "Right Hand Privilege Is Wrong".  Left Handers' Day is coming up this week, August 13th.

"You're not entitled to a pain-free execution"

Apparently, Ohio's Assistant Attorney General Thomas Madden has no concern about whether his state's method of murdering its prisoners is tantamount to torture.  Madden is clearly no better than those he despises.

McGuire "made sounds"?  You're not supposed to make conscious sounds if you're allegedly unconscious.  McGuire was almost certainly awake and aware for all 25 minutes of torture he endured.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=262933145

This is no time to wait and See

Hard questions are being asked of catholic "leadership" in regard to the organized molestation of children around the world.  This is long overdue, though I doubt much will come of it.  As with many charges against religious "leaders", people are afraid to appear "anti-religious", especially when one has the status of a sovereign country...with no native citizens.

The catholic church is making the laughable claim that it is only responsible for the actions of its priests inside their "sovereign city", the one place where there are few children.  (I wonder how many of them have been molested and they have no legal recourse or means of obtaining help.)  It is claiming the actions of priests are not its responsibility, despite the well known fact that it actively and deliberately relocated priests who had molested children to protect them from criminal charges.


Like the Southern Poverty Law Centre's lawsuits against Ku Klux Klan in the US, the only real damage that will happen to the catholic church is damages paid out by claimants in lawsuits.  The morally vacant city will never be held criminally accountable despite being worse than a ring of child porn purveyors.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vatican-faces-un-grilling-over-child-sex-abuse-9061875.html

Vatican faces UN grilling over child sex abuse

The Vatican will be grilled by a UN panel over cases of child sex abuse, and will be forced to defend itself over allegations it failed to prevent the rape of thousands of children by protecting paedophile priests at the expense of victims.

[...]

The Holy See ratified the [UN Convention on the Rights of the Child] in 1990 and submitted a first implementation report in 1994. However, it did not provide progress reports for almost ten years, and only submitted one in 2012 after receiving a storm of criticism following the revelations in 2010 of child sex abuse cases in Europe and beyond, the Associated Press has reported.

[...]

In the reports they also include correspondence from a Vatican cardinal allegedly praising a French bishop's decision to protect his abusive priest, and another Vatican command to Irish bishops to strike any mandatory reporting of abusers to police from their policies. 

"For too many years, survivors were the only ones speaking out about this and bearing the brunt of a lot of criticism," said Pam Spees, a human rights lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which provided a key report to the committee.

But according to AP, in its written response to the committee submitted last month, the Vatican declined to provide such information and did not answer many of the committee's questions, arguing that it was not responsible for the actions of every Catholic, much less every priest or parish in the world.

Instead, it said it is really only responsible for implementing the UN treaty where it exercises territorial control: the 44 hectares (110 acres) of the Vatican City State in downtown Rome, where 31 children currently live. 

Noam Chomsky on Ariel Sharon's death

With his typically brilliant wit, Chomsky sums up Sharon's existence in one sentence.

“[T]here is a convention that you’re not supposed to speak ill of the recently dead, which unfortunately imposes a kind of vow of silence because there’s nothing else to say–there’s nothing good to say,” Chomsky said.

Chris Kluwe: "Coach made anti-gay remarks"

NFL punter Chris Kluwe reports that a coach his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, made openly gay-hating and confrontational remarks directed at Kluwe.  Kluwe is known for his advocacy of equal rights for LGBTQ people.

Zygi Wilf (owner of the Minnesota Vikings) may have publicly supported Kluwe, but he keeps hiring coaches who don't share that view.  Then again, despite threats in the media to get rid of players involved in the 2005 "love boat" scandal (players had sex with women in front of unwilling witnesses), Wilf did little to punish them.

http://deadspin.com/i-was-an-nfl-player-until-i-was-fired-by-two-cowards-an-1493208214

Incineration without incarceration

Just what exactly is wrong with India's society that rape is an everyday event by the dozens or even hundreds?  And now this one.

On October 26, 2013, a sixteen girl was raped.  She went to the police to file a report.

On the way home, she was raped a second time.  Whether the attackers were the same or different is unknown.

Then on December 23, 2013, she was attacked again, burnt alive by two people connected to the rapists (either friends or family).

Adult annoyances: Pens, part 2

In the first part about pens, I talked about their placement in offices.  If that were the only problem, it would be tolerable, but there is a greater problem with ALL pens that affects all left handed people.

Do you have a suitcase with wheels on the bottom?  Take it out, extend the handle and walk with it.

No, not by pulling it.  Put the suitcase in front of you and push it.  Is it awkward to walk with it while pushing it?

Welcome to the world of left handedness and pens.

Are software makers becoming more considerate to left handed people?

No.  If they were, they would have included left handed options from the get-go.  Hey, who cares about 10-15% of the users anyway?

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/11/25/latest-swiftkey-4-3-1-update-brings-new-left-handed-options-and-bug-fixes/

http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/29/killzone-shadow-fall-ps4-patch-1-05-adds-left-handed-support-more/

They seem to be responding to user concerns, but only after complaints come in.

Here's one about a right handed person reporting his use of a mouse with the left hand.  He switched hands due to a repetitive motion injury.

http://techreport.com/blog/25590/adventures-in-left-handed-mousing

The hardest part of raising awareness is...

The hardest part of raising awareness about right hand privilege is not getting people's attention.

The hardest part of raising awareness is not sounding like a crank.  It would be easy to mistake this as a claim of "my pain is greater than yours," which others disingenuously try to do.

The issue here is not left handed adults.  We can take care of ourselves.

The issue is left handed children, people who can't take care of nor defend themselves.

The worst thing about censorship is **********

The UK government is trying to institute a "policy" of blocking internet content that would make the Chinese dictatorship proud.  As with "filtering software" of the 1990s, the UK government's censorship is not about blocking "obscenity", it is about blocking content that differs from the governing party's religious and political views.  Allowing sites that promote hate while censoring sites that promote human rights is not the act of a free and democratic state, it is the act of a group of thugs.

Adult annoyances: Doctors

Have you ever gone to a doctor's office and been told you need an injection?  Which side do they stand on?  Which arm do they reach for?  Without exception, they assume everyone is right handed and go for the patient's left arm.  Even left handed doctors end up doing it.

I've had times where I was told I needed a shot, then rolled up my right sleeve.

And then the idiot doctor says, "Roll up your sleeve," completely oblivious to the extended right arm.

Make only one resolution: Don't make resolutions

New Year's resolutions are pointless.  No, I'm not saying change is bad.

Rather I'm saying, If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right now.  

Child annoyances: Teachers

Left handed children in schools have many problems in getting an education, and being left handed is not one of them.  There are many objects in schools which make life difficult - pens, books, desks, rulers, scissors, etc.  But the single greatest source of frustration for children is the adult in the class, the educated person who is supposed to know better.

The teacher.

Promises, promises

The only thing I trust a theist to be is untrustworthy.  The only surprise in this story is that it was teenage girls who were raped, not pre-teen children.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/27/backslider-catholic-youth-leader-raped-victim-after-promising-not-to-do-it-again/

Backslider: Catholic youth leader raped victim after promising not to do it again

A Catholic youth leader who promised a teenager he had raped that he would never rape again if she didn’t report him to police was reported to police by his victim after he sexually assaulted her best friend.

Priorities, priorities

Indian politicians have been putting all their efforts into writing and enforcing blasphemy laws, to prevent criticism of religion.

Preventing the rape of women?  They think it's a minor issue.

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/woman-gang-raped-on-christmas-eve-in-india-reports-1.447318

Woman gang-raped on Christmas Eve in India: reports

The reports of the latest assault came two days before India was due to mark the first anniversary of the death of a student who was gangraped on a bus in an attack that shocked the nation.

The woman who was assaulted on Christmas Eve told police she was abducted by three men while sightseeing with friends in Karaikal, a port city in Puducherry, the Times of India newspaper and TV networks reported.

One of the men raped her at a secluded spot before freeing her, the Times said.

She called for help but then another group of seven men attacked her as she was being escorted to a safe place, the paper said.

Adult annoyances: Pens, part 1

Businesses and institutions like banks, government offices and the like will tie down their pens to prevent them from being stolen.  I don't object to that, it's as much a waste of time for them to replace the pens as it is the cost of replacing them.

What I don't like is the assumption that everyone is right handed.  Have you ever seen a pen on a cord that was tied on the left side of a counter?

Design flaws

This tag refers to problems with the design of objects which are designed for the right hand but work poorly or do not work at all for left handed people.  There are many objects which, by their design, either cannot be held with the left hand, or worse if held with the left, the user's vision is blocked.

A basic example of this is scissors, most are made for right handed people.  When held with the right, the top blade is behind what is being cut, the bottom blade underneath.  If a left handed person tries to use right handed scissors, the top blade blocks the view of what is being cut.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is (to borrow from the dictionary) "the branch of engineering science in which biological science is used to study the relation between workers and their environments".  Or in simpler terms, how easy things are to use.  Tags containing this label will discuss objects that may not be dangerous or difficult to use, but are designed for right handed people without consideration for left handed users.