I was recently working near my old high school and decided to pay a visit. I had not seen the place since my graduation in 1985, and the place was no longer familiar to me; there had been quite a bit of new construction (an athletic center, a football stadium, the main building had a new facade and extensions).
I stood in the parking lot, trying to take it all in, and wondering about whether or not it was a good idea to actually go inside, or to just wander around the grounds. I made the decision to walk right in head straight for the office to see if, perhaps, someone was available to talk to an old alumni. Imagine my surprise when not only was someone available, but it was his job to deal with alumni. I didn't think we'd have one, but we do. And it's a good thing, too.
A little background:
I attended St. Peter's Boys High School in Staten Island New York, c. 1981-1985. It is a Christian Brother's Academy (the Christian Brothers of St. John Baptiste De La Salle are an order of Catholic brothers dedicated to Education), and there is a sister school (St. Peter's Girl's High School) which I know very little about except that my girlfriends, at the time, went there.
The curriculum was rather rigorous. Each incoming freshman was required to take a year of Latin. Most classes were geared to preparing the student for a Regent's Diploma (the NY State Regents Exams were once a gold standard of Academic achievement), as well as College Prep. Discipline was strict. The Brothers understood that 'boys will be boys' (they never came down on us for things like smoking on campus, goofing around in the hallways and such), but they also understood that if you let a teenage boy shirk his educational responsibilities, and his duties as a citizen, that he most certainly will. You'd better believe that they cared not only about your schoolwork, but on how you represented the school.
My freshman class was the largest in the history of Staten Island. Just over 900 boys in 1981. Four years later, only 186 had graduated. The Brothers and lay faculty had done their job of weeding out the students who couldn't hack it and the disciplinary problems. Those four years were tough academically, I can assure you.
There was quite a bit to like, as well. I was a soccer player at St. Peter's (my team had won the NYC Championship in 1982), and fooled around a bit in band (I was a drummer, but never really got into band, and so I floated around the periphery before giving it up). I had a great bunch of friends. Actually, two bunches of friends.
There were the soccer players. Mostly geeks, like myself. And then there was the Fun Bunch; these were the Wiseguys. The jokers, the smokers and the slackers. That was the bunch that turned the senior lounge into a casino; the Brothers were forever breaking up poker and blackjack games, confiscating dice, and so forth. Boys will be boys, indeed.
Anyways, I went into the office. I justified the incursion by reminding myself that my nephew will soon be a freshman, and we've been sort of hoping he would choose to go to St. Peters. Maybe I would see something to help him make a better decision, when the time comes.
I was amazed that not only has the place changed beyond all recognition (in my day, St. Peter's was three buildings in the middle of a muddy field, with a concrete track in front of it), it has become, in effect, a college campus. There's a football stadium (football was not available in my day because, as I heard the tale, a student had been killed back in the days when they wore leather helmets). An athletic center that includes a state-of-the-art weight training room. The interior had been completely redesigned and included a new chapel and new labs. The library had been expanded and rebuilt. So had the computer labs. It was unrecognizable. It wasn't the same place. And they did it all without raising tuition. They raised the money from local businesses and alumni. Everything had changed.
And then, once you got past the new exterior, you find that it hadn't really changed at all.
The Assistant Principle had been my Chemistry teacher in sophomore year. The Principal had been the Assistant Principle. My Algebra, History and Geometry teachers were still teaching there. Brother James (who had kicked my ass in freshman year, and remembered it!) was still there. One of my classmates had returned to teach math (I think AP calculus). All of a sudden, in a way, I was 18 again and standing in a place that felt like...home.
I can remember much about being a teenager, and most of that time was spent wishing I could leave places -- I wanted out of school, I wanted out of my mother's house, to be on my own and do as I pleased. How stupid I was! Standing there, on the front steps of the new-and-improved St. Peter's, I was suddenly wishing that I could come back and stay, to do it all again. In retrospect, what had once been thought of as a prison and yet one more torment of adolescence, was now The Greatest Place There Ever Was when seen again through the eyes of an old man.
I left feeling nostalgia, not just for this place, but for a better time; I was young, I was good-looking, and I was part of something much larger than myself, which actually stood for something. I was suddenly very proud. It was as if I had completed some great pilgrimage, to return to where it had all begun.
The Alumni Director (himself a graduate; he was one year behind me) has given me a list of my old classmates and their contact information, which he had laboriously collected over the years, since the Alumni Association takes great pains to keep in touch-- the recent newsletter contains information the recent comings and goings and achievements of alumni going all the way back to the school's founding! And they get together, all these men from every graduating class, often. This is something I had never worried about before, and now it seems like the greatest idea in the world to join their ranks, to talk of things past and take up the mantle of shepherding the next generation into manhood.
I hope my nephew (hell, all four of them!) makes the right decision and attends my old school. He will learn there. He will grow there. He will be cared for by dedicated individuals who see him as more than just a student -- he'd be part of a family. I'd be pleased as all hell to one day attend an alumni event with him, sharing our experiences of our school days and passing on the traditions that made St. Peter's such a special place.
And, here it is.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Redefining the Argument...
Conventional wisdom:
"When you're losing an argument, change the subject."
Everyone knows that, of course. But, sometimes, you can change the subject all you want, and the other person in the debate is sharp enough to recognize mere logical evasion, and insists (how rude!) on having the discussion return the to the original subject. Some people are weird like that: they insist on consistency and silly stuff like that.
When that happens, simply changing the subject is not enough to throw off the most tenacious opponent. Now you'll need to bring out the rhetorical big guns. Now you have to redefine the basic premises of the argument. This is a time-tested tactic of propagandists and the apologists for the worst criminals and dictators in the history of mankind.
So, if you oppose a certain President's policies on everything from the War on Terror, to the Economy, or the fake crisis of health care, you are not an independent thinker exercising your faculties, weighing pros and cons to arrive at a rational position. Nor are you a patriotic American taking advantage of your right to dissent and conscience -- like you were in the days when it was cool to protest Vietnam and the Iraq War (Apparently, those were 'bad wars' as opposed to the 'good ones'. Good Wars are defined by who happens to be in favor of them and how little fighting actually occurs). If you oppose corporate welfare for companies who's management obviously failed to read their textbooks in Economics 101, or worse, giving welfare to politically-powerful unions in the form of nationalization of formerly-profitable companies, you must not be very smart or compassionate.
Why, you're incapable of being a rational, thoughtful, politically-savvy person if you oppose those things.
No, opposition to those things now makes you a racist.
Now the terms of the argument have been fundamentally altered. Now, the argument is no longer about inconvenient things like verifiable facts, matters of record, direct quotations, and nonsense like that. It's all about your prejudices -- whether you have any or not (According to all leftists, anyone who disagrees with them automatically has prejudices and questionable thought processes). No muss, no fuss, and it keeps democratic party flapping rectums gainfully employed on (P)MSNBC.
The word racist has now been completely redefined. It had already been thrown about so carelessly for so long that it no longer had much of a meaning, anyway. But the present circumstances we live in have given it a new lease on life, as it were. Now, racism is not the reflexive and irrational hatred of 'the other' based on differences in race; now it's simply principled opposition to a particular individual. Imagine the consequences of that concept!
Since racism has now been redefined to apply only to The Savior, the great and Omniscient Obamatard, the next time I hear a reverend or a rapper throw that word out I shall take great pride in informing them that racism no longer exists; at least as far they understand and define the term. Barack Obama brought some of that Hopenchangey fairy dust of his and changed the meaning of the word 'racism', and by extension, 'racist'. I now reserve the right to call black folk nasty names, attribute to them or expect of them, stereotypical behavior, and offer them all the fried chicken and watermelon I can get my hands on, free from any burden of guilt or shame, and legally and morally protected from their righteous indignation -- if not from an outright ass-kicking.
Thanks to Barack Obama and the democratic party, I can use the N-word freely again!
Because now it's only racism if it means opposition to Obama.
Now, go pick me some cotton and then gimme some soft-shoe, Boy!
Update: Before the hate mail rolls in; I would never behave this way in real life. I'm simply trying to prove a point here, which is that words and ideas have consequences. Perhaps it's about time we stopped throwing the racism tag about so freely and stupidly; it's an issue much bigger than any President and his quest for beatification and elevation to sainthood.
"When you're losing an argument, change the subject."
Everyone knows that, of course. But, sometimes, you can change the subject all you want, and the other person in the debate is sharp enough to recognize mere logical evasion, and insists (how rude!) on having the discussion return the to the original subject. Some people are weird like that: they insist on consistency and silly stuff like that.
When that happens, simply changing the subject is not enough to throw off the most tenacious opponent. Now you'll need to bring out the rhetorical big guns. Now you have to redefine the basic premises of the argument. This is a time-tested tactic of propagandists and the apologists for the worst criminals and dictators in the history of mankind.
So, if you oppose a certain President's policies on everything from the War on Terror, to the Economy, or the fake crisis of health care, you are not an independent thinker exercising your faculties, weighing pros and cons to arrive at a rational position. Nor are you a patriotic American taking advantage of your right to dissent and conscience -- like you were in the days when it was cool to protest Vietnam and the Iraq War (Apparently, those were 'bad wars' as opposed to the 'good ones'. Good Wars are defined by who happens to be in favor of them and how little fighting actually occurs). If you oppose corporate welfare for companies who's management obviously failed to read their textbooks in Economics 101, or worse, giving welfare to politically-powerful unions in the form of nationalization of formerly-profitable companies, you must not be very smart or compassionate.
Why, you're incapable of being a rational, thoughtful, politically-savvy person if you oppose those things.
No, opposition to those things now makes you a racist.
Now the terms of the argument have been fundamentally altered. Now, the argument is no longer about inconvenient things like verifiable facts, matters of record, direct quotations, and nonsense like that. It's all about your prejudices -- whether you have any or not (According to all leftists, anyone who disagrees with them automatically has prejudices and questionable thought processes). No muss, no fuss, and it keeps democratic party flapping rectums gainfully employed on (P)MSNBC.
The word racist has now been completely redefined. It had already been thrown about so carelessly for so long that it no longer had much of a meaning, anyway. But the present circumstances we live in have given it a new lease on life, as it were. Now, racism is not the reflexive and irrational hatred of 'the other' based on differences in race; now it's simply principled opposition to a particular individual. Imagine the consequences of that concept!
Since racism has now been redefined to apply only to The Savior, the great and Omniscient Obamatard, the next time I hear a reverend or a rapper throw that word out I shall take great pride in informing them that racism no longer exists; at least as far they understand and define the term. Barack Obama brought some of that Hopenchangey fairy dust of his and changed the meaning of the word 'racism', and by extension, 'racist'. I now reserve the right to call black folk nasty names, attribute to them or expect of them, stereotypical behavior, and offer them all the fried chicken and watermelon I can get my hands on, free from any burden of guilt or shame, and legally and morally protected from their righteous indignation -- if not from an outright ass-kicking.
Thanks to Barack Obama and the democratic party, I can use the N-word freely again!
Because now it's only racism if it means opposition to Obama.
Now, go pick me some cotton and then gimme some soft-shoe, Boy!
Update: Before the hate mail rolls in; I would never behave this way in real life. I'm simply trying to prove a point here, which is that words and ideas have consequences. Perhaps it's about time we stopped throwing the racism tag about so freely and stupidly; it's an issue much bigger than any President and his quest for beatification and elevation to sainthood.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is...
As if I needed any sort of confirmation....
Today, as I was making my appointed rounds, selling Green Energy, I made an executive decision and decided to change my hunting grounds. Things were rather slow this morning, and I've always believed that you do your best hunting where the herd is. I figured that if you really, really, REALLY want to sell Green Energy, you should go to a neighborhood where the residents are rather well known for their social consciousness and hippie lifestyle, someplace where that sort of thing might truly have mass appeal.
So, I fixed my bayonet and headed into Tribeca (for those of you who don't know it, it is a neighborhood on the lower west side of Manhattan. The moniker stands for "Triangle-Below-Canal Street"). Surely, if there were Green-loving, tree-hugging, save-Mother-Gaia types anywhere in New York City, they would most likely be found here. After all, the neighborhood is absolutely plastered with all sorts of fliers and posters and whatnot extolling the virtues of environmentalism (it apparently being lost upon those who post such things that trees have died so that they can post public notices and announcements on lampposts and every bare, vertical surface). There are literally hundreds of small businesses in the area who make a huge production about how Green they are. They're almost giddy when they run down their competitors who may be less green, wearing their Green 'lifestyle marketing' as a badge of courage and honor, denoting moral superiority. But guess what I found out?
I've discovered that while quite a number of people were perfectly pleased to see someone who represented a Green company, and even eager to discuss all aspects and benefits of Green Energy, that...no one was actually willing to buy any.
Now, having a day where you've drilled a number of dry holes is a rite of passage in the world of sales. I didn't expect everyone to sign on the dotted line, after all. It's unrealistic to think otherwise, but you'd think at least one upscale bistro serving hand-crafted coffees (that was a phrase one store actually had painted on their window), or a gluten-free bakery or two might actually do something about a subject they apparently care about and take great pains to inform their customers they care about.
So, I figure the problem is one of three things:
a) I had a bad day at the office. These things happen. Shrug it off and go get 'em tomorrow.
b) Everyone is full of shit. Most people are. In fact, I believe half the problems in this world could be cured if three-quarters of the population were given a high-pressure enema.
c) "Green" as a term no longer has any meaning, and like a great many things in our present society, it has simply become part of a marketing plan.
Now, I've run down Greens in this blog quite a number of times. Usually for some of their dumber ideas or more insidious excesses. But, come on! You scream that capitalism is evil and never does anything that's good for anyone, and then when evil capitalism finally responds to your desires you completely ignore it? Or worse, you decline exactly what you've been crying for because it might actually cost you money. Confronted by a choice between consciousness and pocketbook, the pocketbook still always wins. And the people who shout the loudest about the 'rape of the planet' are usually the first people to avoid taking any meaningful action.
They're also the first to insist that while they can talk the talk, they don't necessarily have to walk the walk. "Caring" is simply enough. Making others "aware" is apparently a full-time effort. They don't truly mean it; it's simply an affectation.
The next time I see someone waving a "Save the Whales" placard, I'm going to punch them in the mouth.
Update: Heh. Check THIS out.
Today, as I was making my appointed rounds, selling Green Energy, I made an executive decision and decided to change my hunting grounds. Things were rather slow this morning, and I've always believed that you do your best hunting where the herd is. I figured that if you really, really, REALLY want to sell Green Energy, you should go to a neighborhood where the residents are rather well known for their social consciousness and hippie lifestyle, someplace where that sort of thing might truly have mass appeal.
So, I fixed my bayonet and headed into Tribeca (for those of you who don't know it, it is a neighborhood on the lower west side of Manhattan. The moniker stands for "Triangle-Below-Canal Street"). Surely, if there were Green-loving, tree-hugging, save-Mother-Gaia types anywhere in New York City, they would most likely be found here. After all, the neighborhood is absolutely plastered with all sorts of fliers and posters and whatnot extolling the virtues of environmentalism (it apparently being lost upon those who post such things that trees have died so that they can post public notices and announcements on lampposts and every bare, vertical surface). There are literally hundreds of small businesses in the area who make a huge production about how Green they are. They're almost giddy when they run down their competitors who may be less green, wearing their Green 'lifestyle marketing' as a badge of courage and honor, denoting moral superiority. But guess what I found out?
I've discovered that while quite a number of people were perfectly pleased to see someone who represented a Green company, and even eager to discuss all aspects and benefits of Green Energy, that...no one was actually willing to buy any.
Now, having a day where you've drilled a number of dry holes is a rite of passage in the world of sales. I didn't expect everyone to sign on the dotted line, after all. It's unrealistic to think otherwise, but you'd think at least one upscale bistro serving hand-crafted coffees (that was a phrase one store actually had painted on their window), or a gluten-free bakery or two might actually do something about a subject they apparently care about and take great pains to inform their customers they care about.
So, I figure the problem is one of three things:
a) I had a bad day at the office. These things happen. Shrug it off and go get 'em tomorrow.
b) Everyone is full of shit. Most people are. In fact, I believe half the problems in this world could be cured if three-quarters of the population were given a high-pressure enema.
c) "Green" as a term no longer has any meaning, and like a great many things in our present society, it has simply become part of a marketing plan.
Now, I've run down Greens in this blog quite a number of times. Usually for some of their dumber ideas or more insidious excesses. But, come on! You scream that capitalism is evil and never does anything that's good for anyone, and then when evil capitalism finally responds to your desires you completely ignore it? Or worse, you decline exactly what you've been crying for because it might actually cost you money. Confronted by a choice between consciousness and pocketbook, the pocketbook still always wins. And the people who shout the loudest about the 'rape of the planet' are usually the first people to avoid taking any meaningful action.
They're also the first to insist that while they can talk the talk, they don't necessarily have to walk the walk. "Caring" is simply enough. Making others "aware" is apparently a full-time effort. They don't truly mean it; it's simply an affectation.
The next time I see someone waving a "Save the Whales" placard, I'm going to punch them in the mouth.
Update: Heh. Check THIS out.
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?
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?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, September 28, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, September 25, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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 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.
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.
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