I got this via Ann Althouse.
Personal opinion: America's racial divides, the one's that Barack Hussein Obutthead said he could heal and overcome, simply do not go away. No matter how much progress is made in the advancement of civil rights, equality under the law, and economic freedom, there is a subset of the minority communities (basically all of them) that simply cannot wrap their heads around the concept that whatever the country's past sins, they have been paid for, and the lot in life of the descendants of the victims of those sins is infinitely more just, secure, and enriching than it was way back.
But the scab is never allowed to form. The wound is never allowed to heal. Because there's far too many people who stand to make a living from picking at them. Newspaper columnists, Sociologists, 'Community Organizers', Rap Artists. They all, at some point or another, feed upon the irrational guilt of White Liberals, who on the one hand claim to genuinely care about the 'plight' of the formerly-oppressed, and on the other, manipulate them like marionettes whenever it suits their purposes.
Quite frankly, if I were an African-American, or an American Indian, I would thank whatever I hold holy that my slower, dumber, less-advanced forebears were so easy to conquer and overcome, so that 400 years later I could be born in a country where I am valued as an individual, I have rights guaranteed by law, and I am free to do whatever I goddamned please, so long as I do not infringe upon the rights of others.
It beats the hell out of the alternative; a life where my continued existence might be dependant upon my ability to kill a wildebeest with a stick, my luck in dodging malaria, and a continuous stream of charity obtained from irrationally-guilty white liberals, delivered by a hodgepodge of international organizations who don't really give a shit about me; they just manage to earn their living off the irrational white guilt, too.
You want to complain about something? Try this:
I'm Sicilian. My people come from the most-conquered and oppressed island in the history of the world.
The Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Lombards, Knights of Malta, Turks, Mamelukes, Arabs, Spanish, French, Vikings, and Germans, all of them came and conquered or occupied Sicily...and the island was liberated by Americans, naturally, but according to people like Mr. Milloy, America only has the power to enslave and denigrate, not liberate and uplift. But I digress...
I'm almost certain that several of my ancestors in the last 4,000 years were probably enslaved against their will ... and probably more than once. No one ever named a Football Team after us. No one has ever tried to evoke the fighting spirit and noble savagery of the Sicilians...except maybe Mario Puzo and Martin Scorcese. There is no homage to Sicily that doesn't involve even a subtle reference to organized crime.
I wonder, where are MY reparations? Why has the world not seen fit to apologize to my people, and give them special protection under the law, and unfettered access to taxpayer-funded largess which can be largely wasted to no good purpose? Where is my sovereign nation with a casino and an oil well on it? Why doesn't anyone seem to give a shit about my self-esteem and the damage done to my culture by such wicked oppression?
African-Americans and American Indians have no idea how fortunate they truly are: the White Man's Burden is still with us -- only now instead of bringing civilization and God to you, the task has been to infantilize you, to move you onto the reservation/plantation of the mind and the government cheese line. All so that you may be further exploited under the guise of benevolence, and in the name of 'diversity', while we Sicilians have to actually work for a living.
You're being treated like prized pets, not conquered people, and if you actually thought long and hard about your current plight (without resorting to politics and with a sense of honesty about just where your bread is buttered...and by whom), you'd see just how badly you've been used and abused.
And then you'd do something about it, like, I don't know...behave like rational people and go forth and toil in the name of self-betterment, or something...
It would beat the hell out of sitting around picking at scabs which aren't even yours. After all, I can promise you Mr. Milloy was never taken from his homeland, transported across an ocean and dropped into an alien culture. I'm pretty sure his ancestral lands were not taken by force, or simply occupied when the inhabitants died from diseases they had no natural defense for.
I'm positive he was never forced to toil for the benefit of others, who would then deny him basic human rights, and even deny that he was a human being.
Sort of like how white taxpayers have been treated and made to feel for the last 40 years or so.
Mr. Milloy, and many others like him, should get the hell off the 'you owe us' wagon and smell the coffee; you, personally, are not victims of anything. You were not deprived and robbed. You were born into, and grew up in, an America which has largely corrected it's flaws, often at great expense and pain. No one owes you anything.
Grow the fuck up and join the rest of us in the 21st Century.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Cheap, Overpriced Crap you Don't Need...Now in HD!
Something that truly troubles me; this morning, the local Cable TV monopoly ran an advertisement from the Home Shopping Network, in which a perky little nymphette with a presumably-empty head, and an annoying, Irish-setter-like enthusiasm, simply gushed with manufactured excitement over the fact that viewers can now get the Home Shopping Network in fabulous hi-definition!
Because, you know, Diamonique looks so much more authentic in HD. But I digress...
High-Definition Shopping. The mind recoils at the very thought. I'm also wondering what marketing genius got a great big raise for stepping forward in a meeting and saying "You know, we should really push this Hi-Def thing, and let people know we're the most innovative, hi-tech and modern purveyor of cheap crap no one needs at ridiculously high prices."
And worse, someone actually though that was a good idea, and ordered that it be made so.
Even more ridiculous, someone at the Cable Company decided that they should run advertisements trumpeting the fact that you can buy knick-knacks on TV in Hi-Definition, and spinning it as yet another reason why Cable TV is just so gosh darn superior to those satellite folks.
You know that the apocalypse is upon us when someone decides that the general public is really stupid enough to fall for something as obviously retarded as Home Shopping Network, and then dumber still to swallow it in HD.
Sport in HD? Yes. Porn in HD? Hell yeah! But the Snuggie....?
Because, you know, Diamonique looks so much more authentic in HD. But I digress...
High-Definition Shopping. The mind recoils at the very thought. I'm also wondering what marketing genius got a great big raise for stepping forward in a meeting and saying "You know, we should really push this Hi-Def thing, and let people know we're the most innovative, hi-tech and modern purveyor of cheap crap no one needs at ridiculously high prices."
And worse, someone actually though that was a good idea, and ordered that it be made so.
Even more ridiculous, someone at the Cable Company decided that they should run advertisements trumpeting the fact that you can buy knick-knacks on TV in Hi-Definition, and spinning it as yet another reason why Cable TV is just so gosh darn superior to those satellite folks.
You know that the apocalypse is upon us when someone decides that the general public is really stupid enough to fall for something as obviously retarded as Home Shopping Network, and then dumber still to swallow it in HD.
Sport in HD? Yes. Porn in HD? Hell yeah! But the Snuggie....?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Your Tax Dollars at Work...Sorta...
Imagine my surprise last week when I'd discovered that the U.S. Postal Service designated my house as a "Managed Service Point", as denoted by the nice white, bar-coded label they so thoughtfully pasted on the mail slot on my front door without asking first. I mean, I'm so difficult for the Post Office to find, so I can see why they didn't ask. Not like they come to my house every day or something...
So, I finally got around to calling the Post Office this morning, and was assured that the sticker is no harbinger of doom, a signal to all Fed'ral Stormtroopers bent on depriving me of my life and liberty to begin the counter-revolution here. What it is, is part of a 'program' the U.S Postal Service has implemented to to keep track of it's mail carriers, and to ensure they are actually living up to that 'swift completion of their appointed rounds' stuff. The mailman is expected to run some sort of bar code reader over these stickers, which then will report his position and the time of day, which somehow will be used by his superiors to take note of how efficient he is in completing his rounds.
Except that ever since they put the damned thing on the mailbox, the mail arrives later and later every day, but maybe I just don't understand the whole concept of government efficiency.
Anyways, I asked the nice gentleman on the phone just why it was that the Post Office was allowed to post a label on my front door without my permission? He responded that such a placement was probably just convenient, but that if it really bothered me, he would see that it was removed. Actually, it doesn't bother me all that much, except that there's a principle or two at stake here.
Firstly, why does the Postal Service believe they have the right to plaster labels on people's front doors? In another circumstance, wouldn't this be called vandalism and be punishable by prosecution?
Secondly, considering the Obama Administration has already set themselves up with an Enemies List, a network of Internet snitches, censors, agent-provocateurs and what-not, why should I actually want an agent of the Federal Government coming to my door every day, doing God-knows-what, besides delivering my mail? I mean, where does it stop? If the Post Office finds my location to be convenient for it's internal business, why shouldn't the EPA, IRS, Census Bureau, ATF, Department of the Interior, and the Pentagon? Just imagine what that would do to the lawn!
Thirdly, since the government has seen fit to use my front door for it's own purposes, no matter how noble, why shouldn't it pay me some sort of user fee for the privilege? Some sort of rent, perhaps? The person on the phone couldn't answer this question, but as soon as he heard it, he sounded determined to get that label off my mailbox...like yesterday.
Just an aside from this conversation: you'll be stunned to know that the U.S. Postal Service is not a department of the Federal Government. It is a separate entity which receives no Federal funding whatsoever. So sayeth the gentlemen on the phone when I made my "I don't want Obama's stooges on my front porch" argument. Is this true? I find it difficult to believe, considering there is a Postmaster General of the United States who is appointed by the President. If I'm wrong about this, someone please tell me, but that would seem to be a stunning revelation from the mouth of someone who, presumably, had to take a Federal Civil Service Exam, and who receives a paycheck from the Federal Treasury.
So, I finally got around to calling the Post Office this morning, and was assured that the sticker is no harbinger of doom, a signal to all Fed'ral Stormtroopers bent on depriving me of my life and liberty to begin the counter-revolution here. What it is, is part of a 'program' the U.S Postal Service has implemented to to keep track of it's mail carriers, and to ensure they are actually living up to that 'swift completion of their appointed rounds' stuff. The mailman is expected to run some sort of bar code reader over these stickers, which then will report his position and the time of day, which somehow will be used by his superiors to take note of how efficient he is in completing his rounds.
Except that ever since they put the damned thing on the mailbox, the mail arrives later and later every day, but maybe I just don't understand the whole concept of government efficiency.
Anyways, I asked the nice gentleman on the phone just why it was that the Post Office was allowed to post a label on my front door without my permission? He responded that such a placement was probably just convenient, but that if it really bothered me, he would see that it was removed. Actually, it doesn't bother me all that much, except that there's a principle or two at stake here.
Firstly, why does the Postal Service believe they have the right to plaster labels on people's front doors? In another circumstance, wouldn't this be called vandalism and be punishable by prosecution?
Secondly, considering the Obama Administration has already set themselves up with an Enemies List, a network of Internet snitches, censors, agent-provocateurs and what-not, why should I actually want an agent of the Federal Government coming to my door every day, doing God-knows-what, besides delivering my mail? I mean, where does it stop? If the Post Office finds my location to be convenient for it's internal business, why shouldn't the EPA, IRS, Census Bureau, ATF, Department of the Interior, and the Pentagon? Just imagine what that would do to the lawn!
Thirdly, since the government has seen fit to use my front door for it's own purposes, no matter how noble, why shouldn't it pay me some sort of user fee for the privilege? Some sort of rent, perhaps? The person on the phone couldn't answer this question, but as soon as he heard it, he sounded determined to get that label off my mailbox...like yesterday.
Just an aside from this conversation: you'll be stunned to know that the U.S. Postal Service is not a department of the Federal Government. It is a separate entity which receives no Federal funding whatsoever. So sayeth the gentlemen on the phone when I made my "I don't want Obama's stooges on my front porch" argument. Is this true? I find it difficult to believe, considering there is a Postmaster General of the United States who is appointed by the President. If I'm wrong about this, someone please tell me, but that would seem to be a stunning revelation from the mouth of someone who, presumably, had to take a Federal Civil Service Exam, and who receives a paycheck from the Federal Treasury.
Balloon Boy...
I really didn't want to talk about this, but alas, I have to. I won't go through the trouble of summarizing what's happened, as you have to be living in a cave in New Guinea not to know. I will only say this:
That father has 'asshole' written all over his face. That mother looks as if she's been on a mushroom trip since 1985. Both of them are shining examples of just why the greater society needs to be protected against stupid people, specifically (see here).
Secondly, it's another example of how shallow and obsessed with fame our society has become. If the allegations about this family are true, they went through all this trouble for the sake of maybe getting themselves a reality TV show. Two things on 'Reality TV': it very often ain't reality, and what makes you think that people who KNOW they're on TV don't modify their behavior?
I have an idea for a reality TV show: let's put a camera in Richard Heene's cell. At least that will be real screaming and begging when his amorous cellmates try to have their way with him.
I feel badly for these children.
That father has 'asshole' written all over his face. That mother looks as if she's been on a mushroom trip since 1985. Both of them are shining examples of just why the greater society needs to be protected against stupid people, specifically (see here).
Secondly, it's another example of how shallow and obsessed with fame our society has become. If the allegations about this family are true, they went through all this trouble for the sake of maybe getting themselves a reality TV show. Two things on 'Reality TV': it very often ain't reality, and what makes you think that people who KNOW they're on TV don't modify their behavior?
I have an idea for a reality TV show: let's put a camera in Richard Heene's cell. At least that will be real screaming and begging when his amorous cellmates try to have their way with him.
I feel badly for these children.
Yet More Garbage About Garbage...
From the American Thinker, this article about San Francisco's new drive to force people to pick through their garbage with a fine-toothed comb, or face the wrath of the municipal juggernaut.
Hey, San Francisco! Get with the program! The Fuerher...errr...Mayor of New York, His Majesty Michael Bloomberg the First, was on us here in New York City for just this sort of nonsense years ago. I even blogged about it. Here's a small hint about what you're in for.
Hey, San Francisco! Get with the program! The Fuerher...errr...Mayor of New York, His Majesty Michael Bloomberg the First, was on us here in New York City for just this sort of nonsense years ago. I even blogged about it. Here's a small hint about what you're in for.
Fed Up With Being Sick and Tired...
My Lord, but things have taken a nosedive into the crapper lately, haven't they?
Rush Limbaugh denied the right to waste his money the way he sees fit, but Geroge Soros is deemed a respectable business partner. The Dow hits 10,000 again in a sucker's rally, and people point to it as a sign that 'the worst is over' without noting that unemployment continues to rise. Barack Obama wins a Nobel Prize for being black. Illegal Aliens have the gall to complain about a Halloween costume of some outer-space creature which reads "Illegal Alien." Sarah Palin can hint at writing a book and it hits #1 before it even prints. Al Gore leaves blizzards in his wake as he harangues the faithful with his Global Warming nonsense, and few take notice. Congress mulls legislation to give tax breaks to people who own budgies and goldfish.
I have advocated this before -- and I shall again -- because it is now even more necessary than it ever was:
We should line everyone on the planet up, pick every third person, and give them a high-pressure enema. Then beat the snot out of them.
It's now official; stupidity is epidemic. I think it always was, but at least in the Old Days, stupid people were conscious of their stupidity and so kept quiet. Nowadays, with this new-fangled Internet, cell phones, and whatnot, people are encouraged to give reign to their stupidity, which rapidly goes 'viral' across the electronic spectrum, encouraging even more stupid people to join the chorus of retardation which now infects our public discourse and is beginning to ooze into every nook and cranny of American life.
It's time to start culling the herd.
I don't mean killing people. I wouldn't advocate killing anything that wasn't Muslim, or useless, like cats. No, I mean it's time to start rebuilding the barriers in American life that kept stupidity at arms length, and left the serious business of life to serious people able to chew gum and walk simultaneously without a government program. Some drastic solutions that have entered my diseased braincase:
No more Affirmative Action. It has often resulted in the very worst of society being rewarded out of all proportion to their actual contribution. It was once a quaint idea, intended to reverse the damage done by centuries of discrimination, but now it's become a sacred cow that exists solely to be milked at Whitey's expense. Time for America, particularly the so-called 'liberal' bunch, to drop their phony paternalism of African-Americans (you know, the people they continuously scam for votes and cash while they imprison them on the new Plantation of the Mind?), and put their money where their mouths are; either African-Americans are capable of 'making it' on their own, or they aren't. Save the rest of us some taxpayer dough. You've gotten your black President, and so the old excuses no longer apply (by the way, he's only half black, and you keep forgetting it).
No more Birthright Citizenship for the children of Illegal Aliens. Another group that is manipulated for political ends. You know, I've recently noticed that many small businesses are no longer owned by the white Mom and Pop couple of old, and are in the hands of immigrant minorities. While I find this to be an amazing phenomena, proof that the American Dream still exists, I've also come to find out that many of these small businesses were sometimes started with seed money obtained from the US Taxpayer by people who originally came here illegally. The government handed them money specifically to start businesses. By the way, many of them 'qualified' for that cash because while they may have been 'illegal', they had the foresight to ensure that their children were born in American hospitals (I wonder how many paid their bills?), which means the entire family becomes eligible for welfare in all it's myriad forms.
No more College Loans. If someone really wants to go to college, let them work for it or obtain a scholarship. The Bachelor's Degree is the most overrated commodity in America today, and having one simply means you went to a building that had all the trappings of education (books, desks, uneducated educators, beer and football games), but none of the substance. It's my opinion that half the people in college now shouldn't be there, and 90% of the people who should be there will emerge (in six years) markedly dumber than when they went in. And then default on their loans, anyways.
Change the laws to allow us to beat the snot out of truly stupid people. Whenever there's a G-20 summit, and some brain-dead college kids show up to break windows, allow the cops to beat the snot out of them. Whenever Al Sharpton arrives to stir up racial animosities for personal profit, allow someone to beat the snot out of him. Whenever Nancy Pelosi speaks in public, allow someone to beat her into a deeper state of brain damage. Yeah, I know, I'm getting awfully close to provoking some stupid person into actually doing it just by writing about it here, but don't worry -- we'll beat the snot out that person after he's done, just to be fair and consistent. We police our own.
It's time for the American people, I mean the REAL American people, the ones who believe in individual rights tempered by public responsibilities, the entrepreneurs, the people willing to roll up their sleeves and work towards a better life for themselves, the ones who can think without the New York Times and (P)MSNBC telling them what to think or how to think it, the ones who find Charles Schumer to be an arrogant and obnoxious asshole, rose up. Rise up and start taking your nation back. Take it back from the people who believe YOU are the stupid ones, just because you happen to be silent.
Tea Parties are all well and fine, but to what end? If just to vent your frustration and 'send a message' then we're doomed. How about we take a page from the other side's book: think globally, act locally? Get rid of the stupid people near you at the ballot box, pressure them in public to keep their mouths shut when they haven't anything constructive or useful to say, bring back the useful social device of stigma. When the other side 'protests' (i.e. buses in paid stooges to pretend to stand for something), meet them with derision and superior intellect --then cross the street and beat the snot out of them.
This shit has gone on long enough. I'm sick and tired of listening to it, and I'm pissed off at having to be surrounded by it. I'm going to engage in a campaign of walking around my neighborhood and publicly outing other people's stupidity for everyone else to see. I think I'll post pictures, too, just as soon as I come up with a brilliant technique for getting it done without getting myself shot, since stupid people get rather touchy about having everyone else know how stupid they are.
I'm working on it.
Update: It didn't take long to get a response to at least ONE thing written here. A poster, who wishes to remain anonymous, complains that I have made a gross error when I imply that illegal immigrants get government money for the express purpose of starting businesses. She goes on, and on, about how people work hard, and save their money, and so forth, and attempts to give me a lesson in Economics. She's wrong in this regard: the government often does give money to groups of favored immigrants (usually at the behest of a Congressbeast who has responded to a small-but-vocal constituency) .
Granted, some people actually DO work for what they have. And my hat is off to them. However, perhaps this woman should talk to the Russian liquor store owner I spoke to three days ago who bragged about how he claimed refugee status in order to push himself to the front of the line for a visa to enter the US, and then was amazed that not only would the American government be more than happy to welcome an ex-Soviet citizen, but showered him with actual cash grants and stipends just as soon as he got off the airplane, which he parlayed into his first store.
Come visit these parts, and see how many Russian immigrants there are who pull up to the local supermarket in an Escalade, wearing enough gold to choke Cortez, who then produce food stamps to pay for several hundred dollars worth of groceries. Oh, and then some will come and knock on your door, unbidden, and offer you CASH in an attempt to buy your home, right on your front doorstep. Especially if you have beachfront or near-beachfront property.
Another thing: Last week, when I was in Tribeca, I had occasion to pass by my old place of business (Citigroup). There seems to have been an explosion in the number of Indians at the office. Naturally, most would say that many Indians in the same place merely indicates that Citi does a lot of business in India, but I wonder how many of them are here on H-1B's, working for 50% or less of what their American counterparts might make?
Update-Update: Heather MacDonald at National Review has more on the subject of illegal immigrants being given the right by the Obama administration to fight legal deportation.
Rush Limbaugh denied the right to waste his money the way he sees fit, but Geroge Soros is deemed a respectable business partner. The Dow hits 10,000 again in a sucker's rally, and people point to it as a sign that 'the worst is over' without noting that unemployment continues to rise. Barack Obama wins a Nobel Prize for being black. Illegal Aliens have the gall to complain about a Halloween costume of some outer-space creature which reads "Illegal Alien." Sarah Palin can hint at writing a book and it hits #1 before it even prints. Al Gore leaves blizzards in his wake as he harangues the faithful with his Global Warming nonsense, and few take notice. Congress mulls legislation to give tax breaks to people who own budgies and goldfish.
I have advocated this before -- and I shall again -- because it is now even more necessary than it ever was:
We should line everyone on the planet up, pick every third person, and give them a high-pressure enema. Then beat the snot out of them.
It's now official; stupidity is epidemic. I think it always was, but at least in the Old Days, stupid people were conscious of their stupidity and so kept quiet. Nowadays, with this new-fangled Internet, cell phones, and whatnot, people are encouraged to give reign to their stupidity, which rapidly goes 'viral' across the electronic spectrum, encouraging even more stupid people to join the chorus of retardation which now infects our public discourse and is beginning to ooze into every nook and cranny of American life.
It's time to start culling the herd.
I don't mean killing people. I wouldn't advocate killing anything that wasn't Muslim, or useless, like cats. No, I mean it's time to start rebuilding the barriers in American life that kept stupidity at arms length, and left the serious business of life to serious people able to chew gum and walk simultaneously without a government program. Some drastic solutions that have entered my diseased braincase:
No more Affirmative Action. It has often resulted in the very worst of society being rewarded out of all proportion to their actual contribution. It was once a quaint idea, intended to reverse the damage done by centuries of discrimination, but now it's become a sacred cow that exists solely to be milked at Whitey's expense. Time for America, particularly the so-called 'liberal' bunch, to drop their phony paternalism of African-Americans (you know, the people they continuously scam for votes and cash while they imprison them on the new Plantation of the Mind?), and put their money where their mouths are; either African-Americans are capable of 'making it' on their own, or they aren't. Save the rest of us some taxpayer dough. You've gotten your black President, and so the old excuses no longer apply (by the way, he's only half black, and you keep forgetting it).
No more Birthright Citizenship for the children of Illegal Aliens. Another group that is manipulated for political ends. You know, I've recently noticed that many small businesses are no longer owned by the white Mom and Pop couple of old, and are in the hands of immigrant minorities. While I find this to be an amazing phenomena, proof that the American Dream still exists, I've also come to find out that many of these small businesses were sometimes started with seed money obtained from the US Taxpayer by people who originally came here illegally. The government handed them money specifically to start businesses. By the way, many of them 'qualified' for that cash because while they may have been 'illegal', they had the foresight to ensure that their children were born in American hospitals (I wonder how many paid their bills?), which means the entire family becomes eligible for welfare in all it's myriad forms.
No more College Loans. If someone really wants to go to college, let them work for it or obtain a scholarship. The Bachelor's Degree is the most overrated commodity in America today, and having one simply means you went to a building that had all the trappings of education (books, desks, uneducated educators, beer and football games), but none of the substance. It's my opinion that half the people in college now shouldn't be there, and 90% of the people who should be there will emerge (in six years) markedly dumber than when they went in. And then default on their loans, anyways.
Change the laws to allow us to beat the snot out of truly stupid people. Whenever there's a G-20 summit, and some brain-dead college kids show up to break windows, allow the cops to beat the snot out of them. Whenever Al Sharpton arrives to stir up racial animosities for personal profit, allow someone to beat the snot out of him. Whenever Nancy Pelosi speaks in public, allow someone to beat her into a deeper state of brain damage. Yeah, I know, I'm getting awfully close to provoking some stupid person into actually doing it just by writing about it here, but don't worry -- we'll beat the snot out that person after he's done, just to be fair and consistent. We police our own.
It's time for the American people, I mean the REAL American people, the ones who believe in individual rights tempered by public responsibilities, the entrepreneurs, the people willing to roll up their sleeves and work towards a better life for themselves, the ones who can think without the New York Times and (P)MSNBC telling them what to think or how to think it, the ones who find Charles Schumer to be an arrogant and obnoxious asshole, rose up. Rise up and start taking your nation back. Take it back from the people who believe YOU are the stupid ones, just because you happen to be silent.
Tea Parties are all well and fine, but to what end? If just to vent your frustration and 'send a message' then we're doomed. How about we take a page from the other side's book: think globally, act locally? Get rid of the stupid people near you at the ballot box, pressure them in public to keep their mouths shut when they haven't anything constructive or useful to say, bring back the useful social device of stigma. When the other side 'protests' (i.e. buses in paid stooges to pretend to stand for something), meet them with derision and superior intellect --then cross the street and beat the snot out of them.
This shit has gone on long enough. I'm sick and tired of listening to it, and I'm pissed off at having to be surrounded by it. I'm going to engage in a campaign of walking around my neighborhood and publicly outing other people's stupidity for everyone else to see. I think I'll post pictures, too, just as soon as I come up with a brilliant technique for getting it done without getting myself shot, since stupid people get rather touchy about having everyone else know how stupid they are.
I'm working on it.
Update: It didn't take long to get a response to at least ONE thing written here. A poster, who wishes to remain anonymous, complains that I have made a gross error when I imply that illegal immigrants get government money for the express purpose of starting businesses. She goes on, and on, about how people work hard, and save their money, and so forth, and attempts to give me a lesson in Economics. She's wrong in this regard: the government often does give money to groups of favored immigrants (usually at the behest of a Congressbeast who has responded to a small-but-vocal constituency) .
Granted, some people actually DO work for what they have. And my hat is off to them. However, perhaps this woman should talk to the Russian liquor store owner I spoke to three days ago who bragged about how he claimed refugee status in order to push himself to the front of the line for a visa to enter the US, and then was amazed that not only would the American government be more than happy to welcome an ex-Soviet citizen, but showered him with actual cash grants and stipends just as soon as he got off the airplane, which he parlayed into his first store.
Come visit these parts, and see how many Russian immigrants there are who pull up to the local supermarket in an Escalade, wearing enough gold to choke Cortez, who then produce food stamps to pay for several hundred dollars worth of groceries. Oh, and then some will come and knock on your door, unbidden, and offer you CASH in an attempt to buy your home, right on your front doorstep. Especially if you have beachfront or near-beachfront property.
Another thing: Last week, when I was in Tribeca, I had occasion to pass by my old place of business (Citigroup). There seems to have been an explosion in the number of Indians at the office. Naturally, most would say that many Indians in the same place merely indicates that Citi does a lot of business in India, but I wonder how many of them are here on H-1B's, working for 50% or less of what their American counterparts might make?
Update-Update: Heather MacDonald at National Review has more on the subject of illegal immigrants being given the right by the Obama administration to fight legal deportation.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Why I Hate Chris From Broadview Security...
And I don't even know the guy.
I'm referring to the commercials that have been popping up with greater frequency on the television these days. I don't have a beef with a private security company advertising their alarm systems and other services, I just have a problem in the way they sell them.
The commercial invariably begins like this:
Lone woman, or worse, with child, alone in the house. They're typically going about their routine, cleaning, working out, cooking, tending to their kids. Cut to scene of rough-looking hooligan, lurking outside the house, peering between the branches of the shrubbery, through the window, watching, watching, watching...
Then, the window or door is broken violently, and the Stalker has invaded the poor woman's personal space, ready to do all sorts of god-awful things to her...except that the alarm she set just before entering the shower has now been activated, warbling like a humpback with hemorrhoids, alerting everyone in the neighborhood to her plight. The woman is taken by surprise; she stands there is silent horror, or screaming, or trying to retreat in a panic.
And then...it happens. The phone rings.
It's Chris from Broadview Security, calling to see if our burglar-alarm version of Penelope Pitstop is being raped, or beaten unconscious, or perhaps flayed alive. Maybe all three at once.
Despite the fear, state of panic, adrenaline and the instant realization that someone dangerous has just gotten thisclose to possibly robbing and killing her, our heroine reaches for the phone. Exactly what I would be doing at exactly that particular moment, yes indeed! And it's Chris (or Roger, or Egbert or Vincenzo, the exact name doesn't matter) from Broadview Security. He wants to know if our heroine is alright, as in presumably un-raped, un-robbed, and un-flayed. And of course, she is. The alarm went off and chased the dude off, you dummy!
I wonder what happens when a burglar is undeterred by the alarm, and still decides to do whatever nastiness he has in heart. Does Chris still call, get no answer, and only then dispatch emergency services?
Anyways, here are the issues I have with the general thrust of these commercials;
1) The Stranger Lurking in the Bushes is always white. You don't see a black guy, a Puerto Rican. No Crips, no Bloods. He almost always follows a certain archetype, with minor differences from commercial to commercial; he's bald, dressed in military surplus, needs a shave, and is always over 6' tall and built like a linebacker, and you know the guy who portrays him was probably modeling underwear or managing a hedge fund before he got this gig. Because, you know, all home invaders actually look that way. Without the costume and the setting, he's not all that scary, truthfully. If you're going to get someone to play a criminal, get someone who looks like a goddamned criminal, at least.
2) The "Woman Home Alone" scenario is played out. And why is it that these women, who presumably know they live in a dangerous world (after all, they did have a burglar alarm installed, and activated it just before the scene was set) insist on bathing/working out in front of huge picture windows covered by just enough shrubbery to provide concealment to a stalker, but which still allows someone to peer in and invade their privacy so easily?
3) How come no one has a dog? A good dog would start barking long before the window or door got bashed in. Oh, right, forgot; some people are allergic. Those of you with pet allergies are especially in danger; Great Big-Unshaven-Bald-ex-Portfolio-Manager-in-Military-Surplus-Fake-Criminal-Man roams the neighborhood looking for people just like you!
4) The attempt to frighten people, especially women, into springing for an alarm system is transparent. I've also noticed that these commercials run in cycles; in good economic times, you see fewer of them, and the subject matter is not so much criminals as it is your grandmother falling and breaking her hip and needing assistance. When the economy tanks, we're suddenly all going to be fodder for violent criminals without the protection provided by a siren monitored by a guy who will at least call if it goes off. Hey ladies; unlike all the other men in your life, Chris will actually call you! I mean, that's his job, but still...
I know, I'm nitpicking. I'm bored.
I'm referring to the commercials that have been popping up with greater frequency on the television these days. I don't have a beef with a private security company advertising their alarm systems and other services, I just have a problem in the way they sell them.
The commercial invariably begins like this:
Lone woman, or worse, with child, alone in the house. They're typically going about their routine, cleaning, working out, cooking, tending to their kids. Cut to scene of rough-looking hooligan, lurking outside the house, peering between the branches of the shrubbery, through the window, watching, watching, watching...
Then, the window or door is broken violently, and the Stalker has invaded the poor woman's personal space, ready to do all sorts of god-awful things to her...except that the alarm she set just before entering the shower has now been activated, warbling like a humpback with hemorrhoids, alerting everyone in the neighborhood to her plight. The woman is taken by surprise; she stands there is silent horror, or screaming, or trying to retreat in a panic.
And then...it happens. The phone rings.
It's Chris from Broadview Security, calling to see if our burglar-alarm version of Penelope Pitstop is being raped, or beaten unconscious, or perhaps flayed alive. Maybe all three at once.
Despite the fear, state of panic, adrenaline and the instant realization that someone dangerous has just gotten thisclose to possibly robbing and killing her, our heroine reaches for the phone. Exactly what I would be doing at exactly that particular moment, yes indeed! And it's Chris (or Roger, or Egbert or Vincenzo, the exact name doesn't matter) from Broadview Security. He wants to know if our heroine is alright, as in presumably un-raped, un-robbed, and un-flayed. And of course, she is. The alarm went off and chased the dude off, you dummy!
I wonder what happens when a burglar is undeterred by the alarm, and still decides to do whatever nastiness he has in heart. Does Chris still call, get no answer, and only then dispatch emergency services?
Anyways, here are the issues I have with the general thrust of these commercials;
1) The Stranger Lurking in the Bushes is always white. You don't see a black guy, a Puerto Rican. No Crips, no Bloods. He almost always follows a certain archetype, with minor differences from commercial to commercial; he's bald, dressed in military surplus, needs a shave, and is always over 6' tall and built like a linebacker, and you know the guy who portrays him was probably modeling underwear or managing a hedge fund before he got this gig. Because, you know, all home invaders actually look that way. Without the costume and the setting, he's not all that scary, truthfully. If you're going to get someone to play a criminal, get someone who looks like a goddamned criminal, at least.
2) The "Woman Home Alone" scenario is played out. And why is it that these women, who presumably know they live in a dangerous world (after all, they did have a burglar alarm installed, and activated it just before the scene was set) insist on bathing/working out in front of huge picture windows covered by just enough shrubbery to provide concealment to a stalker, but which still allows someone to peer in and invade their privacy so easily?
3) How come no one has a dog? A good dog would start barking long before the window or door got bashed in. Oh, right, forgot; some people are allergic. Those of you with pet allergies are especially in danger; Great Big-Unshaven-Bald-ex-Portfolio-Manager-in-Military-Surplus-Fake-Criminal-Man roams the neighborhood looking for people just like you!
4) The attempt to frighten people, especially women, into springing for an alarm system is transparent. I've also noticed that these commercials run in cycles; in good economic times, you see fewer of them, and the subject matter is not so much criminals as it is your grandmother falling and breaking her hip and needing assistance. When the economy tanks, we're suddenly all going to be fodder for violent criminals without the protection provided by a siren monitored by a guy who will at least call if it goes off. Hey ladies; unlike all the other men in your life, Chris will actually call you! I mean, that's his job, but still...
I know, I'm nitpicking. I'm bored.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Rush Limbaugh Can Be a Civil Rights Hero...
Such sound of fury over a simple proposition: Rush Limbaugh wished to be part of a group that would buy the St. Louis Rams, an investment that seems from afar to be just as good as buying oceanfront property in Zimbabwe. Still, it's Rush's money, and he probably knows better than I how to spend and invest it, so I have no comments, really, on that account.
However, from the public outcry, you would have thought that Rush was planning to build a plantation.
Naturally, every black man with the ability to get his face on television (with the exception of Juan Williams, who has class) feigned outrage, amazed that anyone who could espouse the opinions that Rush Limbaugh does could ever be allowed to buy a professional sports franchise. Put aside the question of whether the words 'professional' ,'sports' and 'franchise' apply to the Rams for a second, and let's try a little thought experiment. I wonder what they would have said if the group who wanted to buy the team included Louis Farrakhan?
Next to complain were the NFL players, especially the black ones. They implied (when they didn't say it outright) that Rush Limbaugh is a racist. They could offer no proof of any racism, except a quote about Donovan McNabb which they construe to be racist. In today's world, any statement which questions the ability of a black man is considered racist on it's face, regardless of the validity of the question. For NFL players to cry racism when a great many of them have had their way into the NFL greased since they were teenagers, is appalling. This racist society allowed yo to play football. This racist society allowed you to go to a supposed institute of higher learning on scholarship, this racist society ensured that when you finished your four years of pretend education, you had the opportunity to enter a field that pays you millions of dollars to play a game for a living, and which then treats you as if you were some sort of superhero. They are a privileged caste in our supposedly racist society!
If I have to listen to one more interview of one more mediocre wide-receiver diva who uses "see what I'm sayin'", "you know" like punctuation, and pronouns like "we's" and "dey", I'm going to puke. That man can barely articulate, and had his freight paid by a greedy university; what makes you think I care what he has to say? I can promise you this; if Rush was his boss, all his objections would very quickly disappear if there were a few more zeros in his paycheck.
(Disclaimer: the above is not intended to imply that all black NFL players got scholarships they didn't deserve, or that all black NFL Players are little more than street punks with the ability to run and bigger paychecks. I do know there are some who actually had to work for what they have, and I can appreciate them and their sacrifices).
The word 'racist' no longer has any meaning, being that it has been flung around so carelessly in recent years.
Of course, the race hustlers rushed right in. Jesse and Al arrived just on cue, a battalion of lesser 'reverends' in tow, and began the usual song and dance;
"Racist, racist, racist, evil, mean Whitey...Write me a check, or I'll picket in front of your building..."
Yeah, Al and Jesse are orators on the same plane as Cicero and Cincinattus. Never a hint of racism in anything they've ever said. Never mind all that 'Hymietown' and 'White Interloper' stuff, right? It was all a big misunderstanding.
Sorry, but it's difficult to take you seriously anymore, Al and Jeese. We've been there, done that, and we all recognize the scam. If either of you had vowels at the end of your names, there would be a U.S. Attorney preparing the RICO case against you right now.
Naturally, the 'professional' journalists on sports and editorial pages all over the country, concerned by the spectre of a private citizen choosing to spend his money in a public manner, piled on. Particularly since it's Limbaugh, someone they despise. They continued the mantra of racism, and then went one further; they manufactured quotes which make Rush look like the worst racist since Hitler -- and then reported them as fact. That's when they weren't citing other people's poorly-based opinions lies as actual sources. I guess the word 'professional' doesn't apply to them, either? Last time in looked, that was slander with malice of forethought. At the very least, it's a laziness which is indicative of why most major newspapers in this country are circling the bowl.
I'm sure if it was Obama being lampooned in a TV skit, the fact-checkers would have been all over it...
The NFL, besieged by the manufactured bad publicity, and not really needing Limbaugh's money in the first place (the NFL is an $8 billion franchise, you know), feigned concern for it's players, it's fans and 'the best interests of the game', and decided Limbaugh wasn't welcome. Roger Goddell is a moral coward.
It seems to me that Rush is now in a unique position; He has been denied his right to engage in free enterprise. He has had his character questioned publicly. He has been slandered maliciously publicly. If he was black, this would be enough to make him President of the United States and worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize 11 days into his reign.
His civil rights have been violated. Publicly.
Sue them all Rush, sue them all, and put a stake through the heart of this phony racial spoils scam that punishes people on the one hand, and which poisons our public discourse on the other. Sue the NFL, sue the newspapers that lied, sue the Player's Union and the players who might deserve it. Sue Jesse and Al.
You'll be bigger than Rosa Parks ever was, Rush, if you just did it.
However, from the public outcry, you would have thought that Rush was planning to build a plantation.
Naturally, every black man with the ability to get his face on television (with the exception of Juan Williams, who has class) feigned outrage, amazed that anyone who could espouse the opinions that Rush Limbaugh does could ever be allowed to buy a professional sports franchise. Put aside the question of whether the words 'professional' ,'sports' and 'franchise' apply to the Rams for a second, and let's try a little thought experiment. I wonder what they would have said if the group who wanted to buy the team included Louis Farrakhan?
Next to complain were the NFL players, especially the black ones. They implied (when they didn't say it outright) that Rush Limbaugh is a racist. They could offer no proof of any racism, except a quote about Donovan McNabb which they construe to be racist. In today's world, any statement which questions the ability of a black man is considered racist on it's face, regardless of the validity of the question. For NFL players to cry racism when a great many of them have had their way into the NFL greased since they were teenagers, is appalling. This racist society allowed yo to play football. This racist society allowed you to go to a supposed institute of higher learning on scholarship, this racist society ensured that when you finished your four years of pretend education, you had the opportunity to enter a field that pays you millions of dollars to play a game for a living, and which then treats you as if you were some sort of superhero. They are a privileged caste in our supposedly racist society!
If I have to listen to one more interview of one more mediocre wide-receiver diva who uses "see what I'm sayin'", "you know" like punctuation, and pronouns like "we's" and "dey", I'm going to puke. That man can barely articulate, and had his freight paid by a greedy university; what makes you think I care what he has to say? I can promise you this; if Rush was his boss, all his objections would very quickly disappear if there were a few more zeros in his paycheck.
(Disclaimer: the above is not intended to imply that all black NFL players got scholarships they didn't deserve, or that all black NFL Players are little more than street punks with the ability to run and bigger paychecks. I do know there are some who actually had to work for what they have, and I can appreciate them and their sacrifices).
The word 'racist' no longer has any meaning, being that it has been flung around so carelessly in recent years.
Of course, the race hustlers rushed right in. Jesse and Al arrived just on cue, a battalion of lesser 'reverends' in tow, and began the usual song and dance;
"Racist, racist, racist, evil, mean Whitey...Write me a check, or I'll picket in front of your building..."
Yeah, Al and Jesse are orators on the same plane as Cicero and Cincinattus. Never a hint of racism in anything they've ever said. Never mind all that 'Hymietown' and 'White Interloper' stuff, right? It was all a big misunderstanding.
Sorry, but it's difficult to take you seriously anymore, Al and Jeese. We've been there, done that, and we all recognize the scam. If either of you had vowels at the end of your names, there would be a U.S. Attorney preparing the RICO case against you right now.
Naturally, the 'professional' journalists on sports and editorial pages all over the country, concerned by the spectre of a private citizen choosing to spend his money in a public manner, piled on. Particularly since it's Limbaugh, someone they despise. They continued the mantra of racism, and then went one further; they manufactured quotes which make Rush look like the worst racist since Hitler -- and then reported them as fact. That's when they weren't citing other people's poorly-based opinions lies as actual sources. I guess the word 'professional' doesn't apply to them, either? Last time in looked, that was slander with malice of forethought. At the very least, it's a laziness which is indicative of why most major newspapers in this country are circling the bowl.
I'm sure if it was Obama being lampooned in a TV skit, the fact-checkers would have been all over it...
The NFL, besieged by the manufactured bad publicity, and not really needing Limbaugh's money in the first place (the NFL is an $8 billion franchise, you know), feigned concern for it's players, it's fans and 'the best interests of the game', and decided Limbaugh wasn't welcome. Roger Goddell is a moral coward.
It seems to me that Rush is now in a unique position; He has been denied his right to engage in free enterprise. He has had his character questioned publicly. He has been slandered maliciously publicly. If he was black, this would be enough to make him President of the United States and worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize 11 days into his reign.
His civil rights have been violated. Publicly.
Sue them all Rush, sue them all, and put a stake through the heart of this phony racial spoils scam that punishes people on the one hand, and which poisons our public discourse on the other. Sue the NFL, sue the newspapers that lied, sue the Player's Union and the players who might deserve it. Sue Jesse and Al.
You'll be bigger than Rosa Parks ever was, Rush, if you just did it.
The Ugliest Building in The World?
From the BBC, via Ann Althouse, we learn of the hideous structure, a hotel rumored to be the 'worst building in the history of mankind', currently being built in North Korea. Ann Althouse asks "Will it ever be finished?"
Frankly, I could give a hoot in hell about an architectural nightmare right here in New York City.
Eight years after the attacks of September 11, there's still a great big crater at Ground Zero.
Yeah., there's some stuff in it; a new train station and subway lines, a memorial, a few other buildings and some new construction. But there's no building above it. There's no soaring monument to the spirit of America resting atop The Pit. The toxic ruin of the old Manufacturer's Hanover Building across the street still stands, too. Where is the much-vaunted "Freedom Tower"? What, if anything, has actually been accomplished at Ground Zero?
Thirteen thousand more Americans went to Afghanistan this week, part of a surge which may see Prezident Obambi (if he has any testicles) send another 40,000 in the coming months. There's lots of unfinished business when it comes to the World Trade Center, it seems: Bin Laden is still alive (we think), the Taliban and Al'Qaeda still exist, Afghanistan and Iraq are still inhabited by uncivilized, murderous, mentally-constipated excuses for people who cannot appreciate the benefits of liberty and so continue to engage in terrorism... and the World Trade Center is still gone.
Eight years on, we're still fighting, but we're not building. We're still searching, but there's very little recovery. To add a little more perspective to the whole thing, this coming week, the U.S.S. New York, a warship built with steel recovered from Ground Zero, will enter New York Harbor to great fanfare, open to the public. I intend to visit when she arrives.
But, excuse me if I don't find this tale of Korean construction comedy all that funny, or interesting, and can't help but wonder why Kim Jong-Il can build his Taj Mahal and we can't build a goddamned office building.
Frankly, I could give a hoot in hell about an architectural nightmare right here in New York City.
Eight years after the attacks of September 11, there's still a great big crater at Ground Zero.
Yeah., there's some stuff in it; a new train station and subway lines, a memorial, a few other buildings and some new construction. But there's no building above it. There's no soaring monument to the spirit of America resting atop The Pit. The toxic ruin of the old Manufacturer's Hanover Building across the street still stands, too. Where is the much-vaunted "Freedom Tower"? What, if anything, has actually been accomplished at Ground Zero?
Thirteen thousand more Americans went to Afghanistan this week, part of a surge which may see Prezident Obambi (if he has any testicles) send another 40,000 in the coming months. There's lots of unfinished business when it comes to the World Trade Center, it seems: Bin Laden is still alive (we think), the Taliban and Al'Qaeda still exist, Afghanistan and Iraq are still inhabited by uncivilized, murderous, mentally-constipated excuses for people who cannot appreciate the benefits of liberty and so continue to engage in terrorism... and the World Trade Center is still gone.
Eight years on, we're still fighting, but we're not building. We're still searching, but there's very little recovery. To add a little more perspective to the whole thing, this coming week, the U.S.S. New York, a warship built with steel recovered from Ground Zero, will enter New York Harbor to great fanfare, open to the public. I intend to visit when she arrives.
But, excuse me if I don't find this tale of Korean construction comedy all that funny, or interesting, and can't help but wonder why Kim Jong-Il can build his Taj Mahal and we can't build a goddamned office building.
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