Bullshit! (No, really. It's bullshit, despite what you may have been told.)

I remember reading some LJ interpretations of The Matrix a while back. There was one comment in which someone likened Neo to Christ. He didn't just liken Neo to Christ; he implied that Neo actually was Christ (within the constraints of "Matrixland," of course). Then some genius responded to that comment, implicitly declaring that every intellectual had figured out long ago that Neo was Christ.

The funny thing is... it's total bullshit.

Neo was a superhero with supernatural powers, who battled evil oppressors. Christ was simply a right-on dude who led by example.

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Here's some more total bullshit: Second-hand smoke kills.

Now, if it takes 50 years of heavy smoking for smokers to die, how the fuck can you possibly believe that second-hand smoke kills people? Oh, you say second-hand smoke is actually worse than inhaled smoke, eh? Two problems with that explanation: 1) It's bullshit; 2) Smokers also breathe second-hand smoke--a lot more of it than do non-smokers.

Whether you heard it on the news, read it in the paper, or got it from truth.com, the reports that claim second-hand smoke kills people are lies made up by people with agendas. Yes, second-hand smoke is more harmful than fresh air, and tobacco companies are run by cheating, lying motherfuckers who value money over other people's lives (kind of like Republicans). But second-hand smoke kills no one. The only reason there is a "war" on second-hand smoke is non-smokers are annoyed by it.

What about automobile exhaust? What about pollution from factories? Those things actually do kill people and lots of other organisms. They also cause horrible mutations in some animal populations. So why isn't there a major movement to ban automobile exhaust and pollution from factories? I'll tell you why. Money!!! Money and convenience. It's OK to pollute the world with automobile exhaust because I like the convenience my car offers me. However, it's not OK for you to smoke in public places (in a free market) because your smoke inconveniences me.

You are allowed to think.