Janeane Garofalo and Flapping Rectum Syndrome...

Caught this from JammieWearingFool.

Far be it from me to disagree with the worthy personages over at JWF, but in this case, I must.

The main argument against Garofalo in the post is that she's dangerous because there is a segment of the population that might treat something she says seriously. I say let her whine all she wants, for two reasons.

Firstly, what makes you suppose that anyone who counts (Hollywood folk and mentally-constipated left wingers don't count) actually cares about what she has to say? In fact, I'd wager that anyone with a room-temperature IQ who heard that load of nonsense that she unloaded on Bill Maher's show were not nodding in agreement, but either seething with anger or more than likely laughing at her. Yeah, I know the rabid left wing votes and stuff, but mostly, they simply whine. Incessantly. Mostly, they whine about how someone else should do something about whatever their pet peeve happens to be today. Left to their own devices they might make a lot of noise over a subject, but it's far easier to make noise than it is to muster an effort. One thing you can always count on with regards to the Garofalo type is their inability to make any honest, meaningful effort. These are people who live by words and empty, symbolic gestures. It's why they want the government to do everything -- so that they don't have to.

I refer to this sort of person as a 'flapping rectum', in that they're sort of like a really long and ululating fart: lots of noise, perhaps a lingering stench, but in the end, little more than a mess of hot air.

Secondly, African-Americans don't need Janeane Garofalo to provide an excuse for a lack of success. They have the democratic party for that, and when the dimwits fail them in this regard, they have their own legion of apologists, racial hustlers and bomb-throwers to pick up the slack. I'm certain that if you asked a black person, the chances are pretty good that they might actually resent a white girl making a racial argument for anything on their behalf. They have a battalion of inarticulate "reverends" for that, and a Congressional Caucus, after all.

If you're going to make an argument about why your race seems to be failing, it's better that it comes from someone of that race, it appears. Unless you're Ward Connerly, Thomas Sowell or Bill Cosby and present what can be construed as a conservative (i.e. common sense) solution to the problems of the African-American community.

Let Janeane Garofalo say whatever she wants, then. It's a pretty safe bet that 95% of the people who can read without their lips moving don't agree with her, or will just ignore her.

And if you're one of those people who absolutely wallow in racial grievances, then you don't really need her help and advice on how to do it better, do you?

Why Chicago?

Re: The President going overseas to basically beg the International Olympic Committee to bestow the dubious honor of host city to the Olympics upon Sodom-on-Lake-Michigan.

Why?

I mean, it's not as if the Olympics actually matter anymore. They used to, back in the days when nuclear war between Capitalism and Socialism hung over us all. It had a sense of "Us versus Them" in those days, and it was an event that most Americans could sink their teeth into. Not so much anymore. For me, at least, the thrill is gone. There are no more 'Miracles on Ice', and no more athletes who were as engaging or amazing as Carl Lewis, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Bob Seagram, Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton, Peggy Fleming, Cathy Rigby, Rafer Johnson, Bruce Jenner or Wilma Rudolph. We'll probably never see the likes of Jesse Owens or Jim Thorpe again. Don't get me started on George S. Patton, either (people forget, if they ever knew, that he was a Silver Medalist in 1912). Say what you will about Micheal Phelps, but I'm sorry...your dog can swim, too, if he really had to.

You may not have given a though to many of the individual sports back in those days, but damn, some of them were fun to watch with that whole 'beat the Commies' mentality. Now, it seems, we elect Commies and root against ourselves.

Besides, it's not as if we're seeing 'true' Olympians anymore, and by that I mean true amateur athletes engaged in honest competition on a level playing field (yeah, I know all about those East German swimmers, and Soviet 'professionals in everything but name' stuff). I don't know about you, but I despise the notion of "Dream Teams" made up of highly-paid professionals competing against the rest of the world's amateurs (although this has changed much; there are so many Europeans and Asians playing in North American pro leagues to ensure that even the worst teams of most nations can sport a pro or two), based upon the laughable premise that they're playing 'for their country'. You might as well hold another All-Star game. I can't speak to the patriotism of many NBA players, for example, but I'm certain that if you asked them to speak frankly, that is without any cameras recording them, they would talk all about medals and burnishing their bio's and reputations, and less about country (this is now an important factor in getting into the Hall of Fame, it seems. The new breed of American athlete is all about 'legacy'...and money) than they do about international competition, and quaint notions of nationalism.

And why Chicago? Of all US cities, you could probably pick better ones. New York leaps immediately to mind, as well as Los Angeles. These are cities that could more easily support the influx of athletes and tourists, are pretty good at maintaining security, have the venues already built, and have the experience with large throngs to host a summer Olympics. Oh, but neither of those is Barack Obama's 'hood, are they?

I really do hate to make the following analogy, but I sort of have to. I'm wincing as I do so, but this whole thing smells of the Berlin games in 1936.

Is The One pushing Chicago in the hopes of staging a Potemkin display dedicated to himself and his 'vision', and as yet another moment to bask in his own personal glory? The way the American media worships the guy, it would be almost excusable if his head were actually that large, and the American crowds in Chicago are more than likely to be pro-Obama in a way that borders on rabid ('native' son, and all that). Okay, I can give the guy the benefit of the doubt on this one. No one could be that batshit narcissistic, could they?

Is the push intended to generate some jobs? An Olympiad certainly means those, even if they are almost wholly temporary. Let's face it, after promising to 'create or save 6,000,000 jobs' and miserably failing to either achieve that number, or even to ever explain what that truly means, you can't blame the guy for trying to beef that number up -- especially with a one-time boondoggle like this.

But in that case, why not lobby for a city that could truly use that sort of short-term economic boost? Say, Detroit?

Then again, we already know something about the President's ties to real estate developers (like Tony Rezko), and rumors about about other Obama aides and confidants (like Valerie Jarret) licking their chops in anticipation of the personal fortunes they might amass with a Olympic games on their home turf abound. I can't speak to the veracity of those rumors; they simply are being reported in various quarters on the 'Net, so I could be spreading baseless rumor.

I also wonder if any American city (actually, make that any city on the planet) that has hosted an Olympic games has actually made any money on the deal, given the huge expense of constructing venues, providing security, and so forth? I've done a quick search on the web of that very question, and surprise!, I get no clear answer (perhaps my Google and Bing skills just suck that badly?).

Anyways, I fail to see the use in an Olympic Games which is less about actual competition, and increasingly, more about money (I mean, who really wants to see anorexic 12 yr. old girls jump over a pommel horse besides pedophiles, and the thirty people who truly care about gymnastics?). I could be absolutely wrong on all counts, but I'd like to know what everyone else thinks. Feel free to fire away.

Discuss.

Voting With Your TV Set...

Newsweek actually posted something worth reading this week. That is shocking enough in itself, since Newsweek long ago ceased to be about disseminating useful information and insightful opinion and became a propaganda shop for the political left, but what's even more stunning is that it was written by Fineman. He must have forgotten his meds.

You can't argue with the central point in Fineman's piece, though, which is that Barack Obama still believes that he can just 'show up' and that this is sufficient enough to have whatever piece of nonsense he wants enacted this week magically appear. When, surprise!, this strategy doesn't work, he simply shows up again...and again...and again. I thought George W. Bush was supposed to be the inflexible one who was incapable of learning from his mistakes? Perhaps Barack Obama needs a little lesson in Ben Franklin conventional wisdom: the very definition of insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting a different result.

Just because you've spent 30 hours on television this week beating a dead horse (several of them, actually), Mr. President, it doesn't necessarily follow that another 30 hours will get you any better results. This is one of those times when twice as much effort just means a much deeper hole.

This president is way too enamored of himself, the sound of his own voice, and his teleprompter, and it shows. You can't turn the TV set on without Barack Obama's face showing up everywhere. If he isn't making yet one more canned speech on health care, he's making another on an esoteric point of foreign policy which makes even less sense than the previous one. I've got news for you, Barry: you're not that handsome, and you're not quite as awesome as you think you are. It's bad enough half the evening news is devoted to you, and now I have to have my commercials invaded by you as well? I've just recently seen a commercial where people are still trying to flog crap (a set of collectible plates? Gimme a break!) with your visage on it six times in the same day. I see more of you than I do of myself.

I've had an idea. It has been rattling around inside my brain for several weeks now, and I gave voice to it over on someone else's blog (the incomparable JammieWearingFool).

Whenever Barack Obama shows up on TV, turn the set off. Don't watch. Talk to your wife, help your kids with their homework, take up needlepoint, finish that book you've been reading. Just don't watch Barack Obama. You'll be much happier, you'll reconnect with your family. Since he's on TV 11 hours a day, you'll save loads of money on electricity and help save Mother Earth while you're at it.

Very soon, them Nielsen people will begin to figure something out; TV sets all over America mysteriously turn off when President Hopenchanger shows up. They'll tell the networks who hate it when people turn off TV's (that means less ad money). If Nielsen tells them people tune out when The Obamatard shows up they will soon refuse to put the President on screen morning, noon and night. This means less of that annoying buzzing sound that comes from the TV set when Obama is talking. The lesson will begin to sink in for Obama, slowly because he's a democrat and kinda slow: less talk, less mug on TV, less hard-sell marketing, maybe more real, hands-on work (the first real work he's ever done in his life, perhaps?).

All I know is that if you wanted to give the nation a small morale boost without having to spend a single dime of taxpayer money, here's your opportunity.

Bad Economy? The 'Problem' of Immigration?

The three or four people who read this regularly will recall, fondly (I hope), the little blurb I recently posted about my new job: selling energy door-to-door.

Today, as I was making my appointed rounds, I found myself becoming slowly aware of two truly stunning concepts.

The first is that despite what some people say, the economy is actually chugging along quite nicely, thank you. How do I know? When people can sell electricity door-to-door -- and there's a market for it -- and customers love it (and they're buying it by the megawatt, incidentally), something good economically must be happening. Someone must be using all of this electricity for more than just running a laptop or recharging a cellphone, after all. And since I speak almost exclusively to small business owners, one might assume that small business is indeed thriving. It may not be roaring along at the level it was, say, five years ago, but it's surviving this economic downturn rather well. The 'For Lease' signs notwithstanding, the strong are, indeed, surviving and growing.

Not only that, but it's not unusual for me to find similar businesses located within short walking distance to one another engaged in friendly competition, both buying new energy plans and newly-generated, green energy (which is a bit more expensive). Both businessmen may be locked in the death struggle that is capitalism in tooth and claw, but both would seem to be doing rather well. I've seen it every day this week; on the same thoroughfare, it's not unusual to see five laundromats, four nail salons, three liquor stores, and a variety of other outlets selling everything from knit goods to produce all within a few blocks of one another.

I should think the 'bad economy' is a misnomer. Business, apparently is humming along...for everyone but Wall Street, of course. This economic 'crisis' is not one of actual commerce, to judge from the activity I've seen, but rather because some fool with a Harvard MBA can't balance his checkbook without a massive dose of low-interest credit. The Hungarian ex-pat with a small bar-and-grill is happy as a clam. Small business is alive and well, at least in the areas of Staten Island and Brooklyn I've been in recently.

The second thing I've noticed is the business owners, themselves. Every day I speak to Russians, Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Mexicans, Czechs, Poles, Nigerians and Salvadorans. And where am I speaking to them? In their offices. The ones tucked into little corners in the back of the bodega, small restaurant or coffee house. They own the businesses I'm supplying.

The Little Guy is suffering? Tell these people. They're working. Well. They may not be Donald Trump-wealthy, but they ain't collecting welfare, either.

The American Dream is lost? Let me introduce you to the man who told me how he worked as a non-union carpenter and janitor for 12 years, and saved his pennies, so that he could open his own cleaning company...with 24 employees. How about I introduce you to the Korean woman, missing a finger on one hand, who somehow managed to parlay the veritable fortune she must have made cutting hair into her own beauty salon. You'd be shocked to learn that not only do many of these people own one going enterprise, but they often own multiple concerns. I spoke to a Polish man just yesterday who owns...wait for it...five tanning salons. And he started out by driving a cab and knowing very little English.

You'd be flabbergasted to learn that these people not only (usually) own their businesses free and clear --most don't believe in 'credit' -- but that they very often employ 10 or more people, and they spend an average of $60,000 year on energy bills. Let me repeat that: $60,000 a year on energy (electricity and natural gas) alone. That's before you factor in that they're renting in New York City -- one of the most expensive commercial real estate markets in the solar system, and paying the New York State minimum wage of $7.75 -- which is higher than the federal rate.

How did this happen? I thought all these immigrants were downtrodden victims of destructive capitalism, American racism, and a society that abuses them and takes advantage of them. Apparently no one told them. If someone did tell them, they didn't listen. They have grabbed capitalism by the horns. They seem to have emerged none the worse for wear for having been chambermaids, busboys, landscapers, pizza makers and street vendors.

I have a new-found respect for these people. They certainly have shamed me. I had thought I was industrious. They leave me in the dust.

I used to think that because I wore a tie to work and rubbed elbows with a higher-class (supposedly) of individual, that I was somehow better than these people. Not in the sense that I'm a superior human being, but that I was of a higher social class, and was destined to be much wealthier than they could imagine. My eyes have been opened; these people are better human beings than I am. I have never considered myself lazy, but these folks would work circles around me. They can think circles around me; one gentlemen divided 19,268 kilowatt hours (the amount of juice he used) by the total price he paid for it ($768.00), to four decimal points, in his head to arrive at the average cost of a kilowatt hour before I had finished tapping the numbers into my calculator.

These people are sharp. Very sharp. And for the record, no --- he was not Asian.

Anyone who says that immigration (we're talking legal, not illegal, immigration) is bad had better come meet some of these folks. Anyone who says the great box stores are pushing the 'Mom and Pop' out of business ought to see how these people operate.

They'd perhaps shut their pieholes about 'American' this-that-and-the-other, if they did. I know I will. I've just realized that in many ways, these immigrants are more quintessentially American than I am, the native son.

It's an experience I have enjoyed, and have learned from. I suggest that everyone take the opportunity, whenever they can, to avail themselves of the experience. It's both fascinating and humbling.

Youth is Wasted on the Stupid...

Re: The G20 riots in Pittsburgh. Here's a report from the Associated Press.

Look, we all know that people have the right to assemble and protest, and as long as no laws are broken, all the better. I don't have an issue with college idiots gathering to protest capitalism (it's their prerogative, even if they're seriously misguided) as much as I wonder about just what the hell these people are thinking. I mean, don't they teach them anything about irony in college?

Here you have a mass of people who are protesting the very system that allows them to protest. What's more, I wonder how many of them notice how stupid it is to protest the capitalist system while most, if not all of them, are carrying cell phones, taking photographs of each other, videotaping the event, texting their friends during the marches, Twittering, wearing Urban Guerrilla chic (the de rigeur black clothing, Che Guevara tees and balaclavas, produced in China by people making 4 cents an hour), attending a protest that was most certainly organized using the printing press, the Internet, cell phones, Blackberries, and i-phones. Oh, and the first establishment to have it's windows broken is the Starbucks or McDonald's where a great many of the protesters probably had their double-caramel mocchiata, or Egg McMuffin a few hours before they decided the store was an evil threat to World Peace.

These kids mostly go to these things to play at revolutionary. They are (mistakenly) attracted by the supposed romance of the disaffected, but deeply concerned figure, striking a blow for equality, fairness and The Masses. You just know the great majority of these idiots come from solidly middle-class families (Marx's bourgeoisie), many of whom pay exorbitant amounts of cash to send them to a so-called 'institution of higher learning'. There, they are constantly bombarded with nonsense disguised as scholarship and indoctrinated by aging hippies. Breaking a store window or chucking rocks at police cars is not legitimate protest; it's destruction of property and assault with a deadly weapon. But no worries; they're insured, right? Oh wait! Insurance is another product of wicked, insensitive, eco-deadly capitalism, isn't it?

Those aging hippies, incidentally, are the ones who once believed they could stop a war and bring social justice by dropping acid, blowing up government buildings, and adopting a hedonistic lifestyle. How well did that work out for them?

It seems to me that if you wish to 'change the world' you could find better role models than Professor Smith, who's only claim to fame was that he managed to become stoned enough to get lost on the way to Woodstock...somewhere in Iowa, But he'll still tell you that he sat front row-center for the event, anyway. Baby Boomer's can't help themselves; they all claim to have been there, and they feel as if they're some kind of outcast amongst their peers if they can't claim to have actually attended. It's one of the reasons I'd be happy to vote for any Health care plan that promises to euthanize anyone born between 1946 and 1960 -- and then harvest their organs.

Anyway, back to these kids...

If one of my retarded offspring showed up at one of these events, I would break a Starbuck's window myself -- by tossing him right through it. Then I'd disown the little bastard and tell him to make his own way in the world. Since he's so much smarter and caring than the rest of us, this should be no problem whatsoever. Let's see how big an issue he has with capitalism when he has to feed himself with his own resources. That revolutionary bullshit would fly right out of his head.

Civilized people don't behave this way (note: The Tea Party protesters don't entice the police with riot gear to fire tear gas at them, nor do they organize marches without getting the legal permission and permits to do so), and they also don't miss the blaring stupidity inherent in a 'movement' which couldn't possibly exist without the underpinnings and products of both capitalism and democracy -- the very things these drooling nose pickers are protesting.

It's hard to take you seriously, Children, when I'm laughing at you. Grow up.

Oh Yeah, That New Job Thingy...

Okay, I've told you I would tell you all about my new job. You're going to be a) surprised that people actually do this for a living, and b) laughing your ass off...until I tell you just how much money can be made on it (well, I won't exactly tell you, I'll just say this; a fucking shitload of money can be made doing this!)

I sell energy.

Door-to-door.

(Pause for laughter)

Laugh if you will, ye of little imagination and less ambition! You'd be positively shocked if you saw just exactly how this is done, and how relatively easy it is to do, and even more, how excited your potential customers are by the prospect.

It basically works like this:

The New York State legislature fucked up (that is, they actually did something right) a while back and did something useful; it de-regulated the energy market in the State. No more one-energy-company-towns. No more monopolies on energy production and vending. The public now has a choice between competing producers (alas, there are no competing distributors, but that is a different story).

I work for an energy company. This energy company produces energy, both electricity and natural gas. It produces these commodities in the traditional ways, and it also produces it in more environmentally-friendly ways. I, and people like me, are given instructions on how we generate energy, how it gets sold and distributed, and then we're taught how to make sales.

Now, I've never sold anything in my life. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that all the other people in the classroom with me had never sold anything either. Not a single professional salesperson in the room. This may sound ludicrous, but there is a keen and cunning logic behind it.

Salespeople, even the really good ones, pick up very bad habits in the course of their careers. These involve cutting corners, sometimes ethical lapses, and various attempts to 'game the system' for personal gain. The idea behind hiring people with absolutely no sales background whatsoever, is so that when you teach them how to present your product to the public, they have no preconceived notions and no bad habits. They can be taught the proper ethical regime pertaining to sales.

Then you send them out to pound the pavement. Hit every business in your local area. Canvass the residential neighborhoods. Learn to network, how to develop leads, and how to make a professional presentation without having to resort to Powerpoint and 16-color pie charts.

And it works. Well. I've already met several people who have less than six months to a year on the job and have already roped in contracts that have brought them very hefty paychecks.

It's difficult work; you're on your feet all day, every day. If you're not willing to hustle (as in get up early, be diligent and work hard) you're not going to be very successful. Some days are very good (you get the contracts, you develop a lead, or better yet, you've learned something new), and some days are pretty bad (all have happened to me, thus far: you didn't drum up any business, you've been harangued by a Vietnamese man wielding a meat clever because the last energy company who came through screwed him over, you walk into a local restaurant and begin your sales routine while half a dozen guys from the old-monopoly energy company are standing in line behind you...waiting to order their lunch...and you just know they want to kick your ass).

I'm just getting started, and so I know I will have to walk before I run. But I can already say this about it: it has sitting behind a desk, collecting cubicle-slave's wages beat by a far god damned sight.

I Wanted to Puke...

Despite my best efforts to avoid it, I have been exposed to what President Numbnuts had to say t the Useless Nations....err...United Nations today.

I have never been sicker in my life.

I was only half-listening, admittedly, because the image of the abused wife crept into my head and would not go away.

There She is, with blackened eyes and broken teeth, a flattened nose and pouchy cheeks, still asking, nay begging Him to take her back. Protesting her love and devotion despite a bloody nose, apologizing for everything from having burnt the Rice-A-Roni to the sky being a certain shade of blue. If only she could truly make Him see how much She loves Him, She thinks, He will.

President Odickhead was just that pathetic today. I'm surprised that he didn't accept responsibility for American complicity in the existence of Typhoid, Bubonic plague, and Pop Tarts.

And even though Pop Tarts are pretty good, he'd still find a reason to apologize for them being full of icky sugar, mass-produced in smoke-belching factories staffed by little pink elves earning slave's wages.

That's when it wasn't all about Him, of course.

Yeah, he's closed Gitmo. He's ending the War in Iraq. He's fighting the 'good' fight on global warming. Only a matter of time before he claims credit for the Internet, too, just like another self-possessed moron we're all familiar with.

But at least Khaddafi showed up and provided some comic relief.

Remembering 'Diversity Training'...

Five Feet of Fury posts this article about complaints of racism in Canada's Department of Justice, and the predictable reaction to the complaint: mandatory diversity training.

Having been a victim of mandatory diversity training myself, a flood of unpleasant memories overcame me, and the anger that was present after 16-hours-over-two-days of that hell has returned.

That's right: anger. I remember thinking at the time that attending this class might, at least, be educational and make me a better manager. It did no such thing. Instead, it made me furious, it reinforced some negative stereotypes about certain minority groups, it made me wonder why some people view the world as they do, and then it made me physically ill.

The very idea of Diversity Training is predicated upon two contradictory premises that one is expected to believe are both absolutely true;

A. That white male culture is inherently racist, sexist and homophobic.

B. That selected classes of minorities are innocent victims. Always.

I shan't bore you with details, but after about two hours of this 'training' I was thoroughly convinced of the following;

1. Diversity training is a sham; it exists as a method by which large corporations (and now it seems, government offices) try to avoid or lessen the impact of, lawsuits,

2. Companies and contractors that provide this service are simply taking advantage of a niche market created by the irrational guilt of white liberals, the undirected rage of certain subsets of minorities, and the fear that boards of directors have of the courtroom,

3. Diversity training is deliberate psychological torture which is designed to put White Heterosexual Christian Man in his place by placing him in a room with a bunch of angry 'others' who are encouraged, nay emboldened, to revile him with the worst invective, dressed up in polite language and under the guise of a learning exercise. The giveaway is always the point in the exercise where the instructor/inquisitor rolls out some version of the "you are a racist, but don't mean to be, or even realize you are; it a reflexive, and unconscious behavior which is deeply-rooted in your culture" routine. There it is: you're a racist, even when you aren't one -- you just don't realize it, and you can't help yourself.

4. Some people are just incessant whiners with no sense of objectivity, or any ability to be truthful with themselves about themselves. Everything must be someone else's fault. The worst offenders cannot explain the reason why they whine, they just do, or rather, believe they should. Even when given the opportunity to explain their concerns in a supposedly-open forum where no one will retaliate (theoretically) against them, many seem unable to elaborate on their grievances, or the basis for those grievances and accusations. Everything eventually boils down to 'feelings'. Even the most successful minorities in the room seem to harbor these feelings which can't be explained.

5. I heard more overt racism and hatred in a Diversity Training class than I ever heard in the office. In fact, I heard more of it inside that classroom than I did as a child growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970's. Even more than in the schoolyard or the Subway! And none of it was spouted by a straight, White Guy.

Do racism, sexism, bigotry of all sorts, exist? Sure they do. Despite the best efforts of mankind, they will never disappear. Do white men walk into the office everyday thinking "Which nigger/queer/Jew/woman/cripple can I fuck with today?" Hell, no. Do white men walk into the office thinking "My culture is superior to all others, and I will make sure those nasty subhumans know it!" Try again.

People who think that way, incidentally, hardly ever gain a position within a company from whence they can act upon that kind of thinking for the very reason that business is a co-operative effort and, as a manager, you need to keep your worker bees relatively happy in order to maintain your corner office. Those who can't look past their prejudices and who hold such notions very quickly fail or get tagged as 'not a team player'.

What does happen, in my experience (nearly two decades on Wall Street) is that it is the White Males who happen to be the ones who work the hardest. It's White Males who have the desire to succeed in the world of ruthless competition, and who are usually willing to go the extra mile and take on extra work, work overtime, or who actually spend their own time trying to figure out solutions to the problems of their jobs.

It's also been my experience that in recent years, it has been White Females who have been moving into the ranks of middle and upper management in astounding numbers. I've worked for female bosses before, and the overwhelming majority were just as tough, smart and competent as their male predecessors, and sometime, even tougher (I believe in the adage that to succeed in a 'man's world', a woman probably has to behave twice as manly). In any case, it reveals an interesting dilemma that was amply illustrated in the last election; on the list of 'most worthy victims' who comes first -- the black guy or the white woman?

Hell, I've worked for more openly-homosexual managers (of both sexes, or is it three nowadays?) than I care to count or to remember!

Perhaps the whining pansies who have made Diversity Training a standard feature on the list of bullshit-every-white guy-must-endure-to-continue-to-collect-a-paycheck might want to re-think this Blame-the-White-Guy routine? But then again, thinking was never the strong suit of those who accuse others of racism and hide behind their own while they do it.

In the meantime, Diversity Training is a nothing more than a safety valve; it allows minorities to believe their concerns are being taken seriously, it keeps the CEO out of the courtroom, saves the shareholder money, it gives the appearance that Straight White Men are being chastised.

The Lunatic Has a New Job...

Finally!

After having doors slammed in my face, after hearing "you're over qualified" for the last two years, after all the turmoil of chasing contract work that is more work and less contract, I've finally landed a decent job. And the best part? It's private sector! I was scared sh*tless about perhaps having to bow to necessity and take a government make-work job, but that has been avoided.

I'll tell you all about it when I've gotten somewhat established.

I just knew something was going to work for me today when I walked into that interview and saw about 30 well-endowed and good-to-look at females roaming the place in business-casual!

Maureen Dowd Calls Everyone a Racist...

Par for the course. Here's her Sunday offering, another tour de force of liberal (small 'l' intentional) crapspeak.

More and more I am convinced that Maureen Dowd is not a journalist, but rather a very bitter life support system for a vagina that no one wants anymore.