Aaaargh! Another happy-go-lucky liberal wishing us all a happy turkey day self-indulgent feast. [Via Right Wing News
"One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.
...Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits -- which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States.That the world's great powers achieved "greatness" through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable.
...Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers."
That is, if his ancestors survived the poverty, squallor, disease, persecution, wars, etc... that there would have been no escape from (and no one to rescue them from) because our beloved country WOULDN'T HAVE EXISTED.
Happy THANKSGIVING to the rest of you sane people! Enjoy your turkey, trimmings, desserts piled high with artery-clogging ice-cream or whipped cream and football with the gusto they so richly deserve!
And guess what, they aren't red, white and blue!
Case in point #1: Lee's site has been taken down by a MASSIVE denial of service attack so well-orchestrated and planned, it's clearly not the work of some random angry troll with some time on his (or her) hands. In all probability, since Right Wing News is also down, it's a concerted effort to take down conservative blogs.
This is tolerance? This is "liberal" behavior?
NO. This is CENSORSHIP. You know, that thing we righties are being accused of on an almost hourly basis?
Case in point #2: I was at the Post Office yesterday, and I had my first real run-in with a liberal fucktard-out-of-water. The postal worker was offering customers the option of purchasing phone cards for servicemen and women serving in Iraq, a nice gesture to support them during the holidays, to make it possible for them to call home. There was certainly no mention of supporting the war itself, just the soldiers.
Well I'd say 3 out of 4 customers DID step up and buy phone cards, and most of those who didn't gave standard reasons like "I've already bought one" or "Thanks, but not today I'm in a hurry."
Then there was this guy. What an ASSHOLE. He steps up and when asked says--loudly enough that it's obvious he wants to broadcast his views to the entire city if possible--"Tough call, I'm against the war."
Not exactly an answer is it? The woman didn't ask him if he supported "the war," she asked if he wanted to SUPPORT THE TROOPS.
So she repeated her question, just in case the guy was the moron he seemed to be, and he repeated his lame answer--louder this time.
She was taken aback, and when she tried to suggest that perhaps he consider the fact that the soldiers have no choice but to be there, whether or not the war was a good idea or not, the guy said:
"We have no business being there in the first place, and I'm not going to do ANYTHING to support that effort!"
Nice.
He then follows up with (on his way out the door and somewhat out of his breath this time):
"The only people who care about them anyway are TV and the movies."
I'm not sure what he meant by that--that the TV News propaganda machine is doing a fine job of trashing the effort, or that the Hollywood movie machine is working overtime to tell lies about our military--but whatever it was, it wasn't "supportive" of the troops the way I would define it.
So next time you run into someone who calls himself (or herself) a "liberal" who is "tolerant" and who "supports the troops," remember these stories.
These people are FULL OF SHIT. They are an angry bunch of WIMPS who have repressed their natural aggressive instincts to such a huge degree it now leaks out all over the rest of us masquerading as "moral high ground" or "liberal progressive thought."
I hope Lee catches the assholes who did this, and in addition to prosecuting them to the full extent of the law, I hope he goes PUBLIC (I'm talking Fox News/WSJ OJ public) with the story of the "tolerant" liberals who were so "tolerant" of his views (which by anyone's estimation are far from the knee-jerk water-carrying-for-Bush views most liberals hate) they saw the need to shut him down!
I'm starting to pine for the good ol' days of your garden-variety commie pinko subversive. At least most Americans had the good sense to be afraid of them.
I am slightly more tolerant than Darth Vader...
Since everyone keeps telling me the political compass test is broken (which it may be, I have no idea--I only know I can't find my FTP info. since the move, so I can't take off the link), I decided to take an updated test elsewhere.
Big shock of shocks, it says the following:
| You are a Social Conservative (36% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (61% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test |
I used to think I knew the answer to this.
I used to think it had to do with the ability to read, or write, or maintain a system of laws, wear clothing, eat cooked food, that sort of stuff.
But living in a place like Boston--a place where people do or have all of the above and still seem barbaric somehow--made me question this point of view, made me wonder what really separates us from creatures just slightly more evolved than chimps.
Living in Charlotte may just help me find the answer, or more accurately, answers plural. I have a feeling it will take me longer than one month to come up with a comprehensive list, but here are some preliminary findings:
How does this work differently in "civilization" you ask? Simple: Self-segregation. Sounds contradictory, doesn't it? Well, it may be in a literal sense, but in practical terms, it seems to be a lot easier for different people to be truly tolerant of each other when they are not either forcing themselves on those who disagree with them or are different, or forcing themselves away from them in protest. Massachusetts is like "Animal Farm" in the "some animals are created more equal than others" sense, but Charlotte is more like "all animals are created equal, especially in the eyes of their own kind."
I'm sure to the jaded bitter eyes of a New England Yankee, an area in which people don't agonize over racial desegregation, or "alternate lifestyle" education, or "gay rights" would seem backwards, but to me, it just seems sensible. If you don't force things, if instead you "integrate" at your own pace, or in certain areas of your life but not in others, and if no one else makes you feel bad or wrong or evil or stupid for being this way, you're more likely to have positive experiences when you step out of your comfort zone, less likely to resist doing so, and more likely to tolerate the differences you find there because you know you can go back without penalty or prejudice.
There's also no random trash just floating down the street, or massive piles of cigarette butts outside every entryway. They still allow smoking in the bars here--maybe that has something to do with it (i.e., ashtrays aren't illegal in public places) but honestly, I'm not sure which is worse--making the smokers hang around outside every doorway or in their cars--passive-aggressively flicking their butts onto the sidewalk or into the street--or allowing them to sit in bars smoking up a storm. Actually I do, I no longer hang out in bars smoking or no smoking. I drive everywhere and walk in and out of plenty of buildings!
I can only conclude that the "civilized" way people behave here has a lot to do with it, and yes, thankfully, it IS contagious (or, put another way, "northeasternitis" is a disease with a cure!
I am so thankful I no longer live in a place that would re-elect someone as stupid as Boston's Mayor Menino. And to think the people of Boston just did so by a landslide...It boggles the mind, it really does.
His latest act of idiocy? Read it and weep:
Pointing to the rising number of shootings in Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is calling for a "handgun summit" in New England and raised the possibility of random police searches of cars crossing into the state to intercept illegal weapons.The summit would be a meeting of the minds to try to figure out ways to stop more guns from flooding the region’s urban streets.
"Somebody’s got to take the lead. You can’t just say we have a problem," Menino said. "I will be looking to meet with public safety officials in the next several weeks to try and put a plan in place to bring a summit together to meet with public safety officials over the summer, whatever it takes."
Menino, speaking a day after his landslide re-election over Maura Hennigan, said guns are no longer just coming to Boston from the South. Weapons are filtering in from New Hampshire and other abutting states, he said.Yes folks, it's true, the "guns" have grown limbs and are walking and driving themselves over state lines. No human involvement here, just bad evil nasty killer GUNS.
He raised the potentially explosive issue of random searches as a remedy.Yeah, because the taxpayers would much rather see their money spent stopping soccer moms in mini-vans at the NH border than arresting and (here's the trick) JAILING a bunch of scum in Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown, etc...
“How are guns transported across state lines? We have to spot-check the cars that come across state lines. What’s the mechanism? I’m not a public safety official but I think we have to get these folks together,” Menino said.Oh, pardon me, I thought it was the GUNS bringing themselves into MA, now I realize what it really is: It's the CARS.
Who knew inanimate objects were so crafty!
Well I'm not the only person who's shocked not at all surprised at what this sorry sack of shit Mayor plans to do about violence in his city. Bruce was similarly disgusted. In summary, speaking to Mumbles's "plan" he says:
...had to re-read that to make sure I read it correctly. Yep, that's what it said. Be afraid. Be very afraid.Translation: I have no
planclue.
If you want a preview of what a society without the ability to defend itself against lawless miscreants looks like, take a peek at FRANCE.
You're right about one thing "Mister Mayor," you're NOT a "public safety official." You're the exact opposite: You're a PUBLIC ENDANGERER!
The school bonds FAILED TO PASS!
God bless the good and SENSIBLE people of Charlotte NC!
[Via Right-Thinking]
The French riots should be a wake-up call, but not for pouring billions of euros into the banlieues, as measures announced today by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin would do. A visionary leader would seize the chance to dismantle an economic system that is eating its young.An obvious place to start would be to overturn labor laws that strangle private enterprise. The minimum wage is so high that it often exceeds the potential productivity gains of hiring a new worker, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's 2005 Economic Survey of France. In other words, even if a prospective employee would increase your company's income by only, say, 1,000 euros a month, you would have to pay him more than that. (The minimum wage is 1,197 euros a month. Spread over four 35-hour weeks, that works out to 8.55 euros, or $10, an hour.)
Enterprise is hampered in other ways too. Companies that can't fire people are ultracautious about hiring. A complicated tax structure means that even the smallest firms must devote resources to tax accounting. Excessive licensing requirements in many professions keep out competition.
Red tape doesn't just hamstring economic growth. It also lends itself to racist implementation. The more bureaucratic gatekeepers job-seekers have to appease, the more likely it is that someone will sooner or later reject Mohammed in favor of Pierre. While French politicians lament the harshness of capitalism, the so-called Anglo-Saxon model is what allows American immigrant families to leap from corner grocery store to the Ivy League in a single generation.
Removing the government's stranglehold on the economy, though, would eventually threaten France's elaborate social welfare system, which is not so much a safety net as a downy mattress complete with breakfast in bed. The portion of the French electorate that benefits from guaranteed short hours, six-week summer holidays, and early retirement has shown time and again that it is willing to vote against mathematics. These people would choose to keep paying themselves benefits until the ambitious have all left for London and the rioters have reached the Arc de Triomphe.
It's times like this that strong leaders need to step in and do unpopular things. Among his new measures, de Villepin announced tax breaks for businesses that locate in a "ZUS"—a "sensitive urban zone." That sounds like a good idea, but without fundamental labor reform, I doubt it will go far enough.
And these are the people who have the nerve to accuse us of racism, elitism and corruption?
So I finally live in a state where my vote just might count, and what happens today--voting day--when I go to my polling place? I discover that the DMV didn't get my registration information to the election authorities by the deadline for registration (which for some odd reason is weeks before an election) and I CANNOT VOTE!
This is a very big deal because there are THREE huge bond issues on the ballot, all of which will dramatically impact my taxes if they pass.
Those of you who know me know that I planned to vote NO!
It's pretty simple really: I will NEVER vote to increase my own taxes, period. I will absolutely not empty my wallet so that the government can mismanage MY MONEY, period.
This is and always was my viewpoint, but after reading this site I am sitting here praying these school bonds FAIL TO PASS.
I'm lucky to be in an area with good schools that can only grow so much--there just isn't a lot of buildable land around us, unlike many other areas around Charlotte--and I don't see why I should pay when not only won't my schools get ANY of the money, the schools and areas that really do need it won't either. In fact, I fail to see who will get it and how and why! The district is still sitting on $200Mil they have yet to spend, so why do they think they need $500M more???
AND
I don't see why I should support something that seems to be supported only by the following groups:
What an irony it will be if this crapload of pork passes here in my so-called "red" home. Didn't I just leave this shit in MA?
Here's hoping red is really red today.
Well it's clear we should have been taking advice from the French during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. When they cried "Mon Dieu!" and clucked their tongues in disgust at the way our "underclass" was being treated (as if George Bush caused the Hurricane because he doesn't like black people), they obviously knew better.
Let me see... French Muslims (who by any standard are far from as poor or underprivileged as our New Orleans black population) riot and burn everything in their wake for a week, and the response of the concerned citizenry is what?
The spreading violence has shocked national leaders and community residents into action as the French prime minister held special meetings Saturday and concerned citizens participated in a silent march.As many as 3,000 people took part in a silent march Saturday morning, speaking out against the rioting and its root causes, state radio reported.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the government is unanimous in its determination to end the violence and address the problems.
"Once this crisis is overcome and calm is restored, each must also understand that there's also a certain feeling of injustice in some neighborhoods," Sarkozy said Saturday, according to a translation from Reuters News Agency. "I have thought this for a long time, and said it as well."
There have been calls by the Green Party and the Communist Party for Sarkozy to resign, after he called the rioters "scum" earlier in the week -- language that served only to inflame the vandalism.
No, when thugs and vandals rampage through your streets, silently march and blame everyone BUT them for the destruction. Makes perfect sense.
How glad am I that I live in a nation where (at least some of us) would grab our guns and head out there to stop the violence ourselves. Come to think of it, I have to wonder if the reason this kind of crap doesn't happen here is that the people who might do it are just a teensy bit afraid that would be exacly what would happen (by here I mean of course in the sane parts of the country that respect the Constitutional right to bear arms).
Silent marches? I think not.
OK, so this weekend I'm officially "viable" according to doctors. I'll be 32 weeks preggo and let me just say if ONE MORE PERSON reacts with someone-just-jumped-out-in-front-of-their-car-shock when I tell them I have 8 more weeks to go, I'm going to hurt them!
Yes, I am huge. I am at least as big as I was about a week before Emma appeared on the scene, and walking has turned to waddling--slowly. Sleep is as elusive as peace in the Middle-East, and if I eat more than a snack box of raisins, I feel like I'm going to explode--my stomach is that squished.
Speaking of squished, have I mentioned my LUNGS? Every time I talk to someone on the phone I get "Where are you rushing to? You're so out of breath?"
AAAARGH! Yeah, in my advanced stage of gestational bliss I'm running up stairs for kicks. NO, I just can't breathe! Try packing your lungs into a space no bigger than that little box of raisins I was talking about and see if you can catch your breath! Remember kids, on a GOOD day (i.e., a non-pregnant one), I'm barely 5'2" and 115 lbs. Haven't grown in height, but I'm now packing somewhere in the vacinity of 140! I have a whole new appreciation for the obese and what they go through every day. I won't get into specific gory details, but suffice it to say my feet aren't the only things I can't reach anymore without extreme difficulty. Don't worry, I make herculean efforts to find creative ways to overcome this little "issue" because (as you may know) pregnancy also has the lovely side-effect of making it possible to smell things (pleasant and unpleasant) as far away from here as Siberia.
Then there are the clothes. I've reached that point where even the full-panel stuff isn't cutting it. What they don't tell you is that every pregnancy is different, and every woman is different, and some of us carry LOOOOOW. That means that nothing much stays put on the belly itself, but rather slides down it as surely as if it were slathered with grease. And what THAT Means is that I'm in a constant struggle between plumber's butt and getting arrested for indecent exposure in front . Don't let those cute ads for maternity clothes and those images of pregnant Britney or Denise or Katie fool you--not every pregnant body can still get away with "cute" clothes. Someone needs to tell that to the people making maternity clothing these days too. All the pants are sized for the same stick-figure proportions as in the regular clothing stores, they just add a big elastic band on top and call it "maternity." Spare me! I couldn't squeeze one of my arms into most of the jeans I've tried on, and contrary to what they must think, pregnancy doesn't make you TALLER either. Who's going to bother hemming maternity pants??? How about some short lengths kids?
Just wear skirts you say? Oh sure, and when it's cold outside, what am I supposed to wear on my legs? Sure, they make pregnancy tights and hose, but try finding them anywhere but online or in fancy boutiques! And all of this is expensive. For the life of me, I can't figure out how all these welfare mothers dress themselves! I'm going broke and I seem to be wearing the same three outfits over and over again (and I bought them at Target!).
Babies--as challenging as they are--are much more fun on the OUTSIDE of your body. Those who bask in the "glow" of pregnancy or walk around talking about how much they luuuuuv the feeling of being a brood mare make me want to hurl. Either they are much younger than the pushing-forty I am(literally, I only have a few more months to go until that "joyous" event), or they are LY-ING.
It feels like Alien.
No, it feels like Alien and Predator.
And yes, this is my child I'm talking about--someone I love--so you can imagine how truly heinous it must be for me to talk this way about her.
But the absolute worst part of all this is the feeling you get when people insist on touching your stomach (and not letting go until they feel a "kick" which sometimes takes a while). Far from feeling like the Buddah, all smiley and serene, I have to restrain myself from breaking their arms. Bad enough that you feel invaded, now you have to feel like a vessel rather than a person. Like your body is no longer your own, but rather belonging to the world entire.
I know, I know, I'm making a pretty strong case for the "choice" people aren't I. It's pretty easy to see (even for me at times) how important it is that women are defended in terms of what's DONE to their bodies, but the difference is, as miserable and whiney as I feel, I DID THIS TO ME, or at least half of it anyway. I made my "choice" about 32 weeks ago, and as an ADULT (the only people who ought to be doing things that can land them in this condition in the first place), I take responsibility for that choice 100%. The people I feel for are people who don't have a choice (rape victims, incest victims, etc...) I can't justify forcing them to go through what I'm going through, no matter how precious I believe life is. The only thing I can say there is that I do support emergency birth control and strict confidentiality laws about handing it out (so people won't wait too long and be forced to more drastic measures later).
I'm sure to be flamed about all of this, but there it is. Pregnancy is a blessing, I'm aware of that. There are people out there who can't "enjoy" what I'm suffering and I feel for them, but that doesn't negate the reality that it's not as fun as the outcome, it just isn't, no matter what anyone says.
Rant over.
This is what happens when you make a firm commitment to coddling your native population--importing "cheap" foreign labor from hostile nations so your own can take three months off every summer and work 30 hour weeks the rest of the time (for unusually high wages and with free healthcare and subsidized childcare).
Iraq may end up looking civilized in comparison to the suburbs of Paris, but I can definitely see why the French think the biggest crisis they face is the widespread importation of McDonalds and genetically modified food.
...Twisted it patting myself on the back for leaving the shithole known to bright insightful folks like Bruce as mASSBACKWARDS.
First my Dad sends me surprising news an article about how shootings are up in Boston this year, then surprise surprise a quick perusal of Bruce's site turns up a much more funny and accurate rendition of the same.
As much as I wish this wasn't the case, this blog continues to write itself.From the Boston Globe:
Shootings in Hub rise dramatically
The number of shootings in Boston has increased significantly over the last three years, jumping by 77 percent through last week, compared to the same period in 2002, and by 28 percent over the same period a year ago.
What say you, Mayor Menino?Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he believes that the city can do a better job of reducing gun violence in neighborhoods, which has emerged as a major issue in Tuesday's city election.
"Guns don't belong on the streets of our city or any city," he said. "Boston is one of the safest cities in the country, but we can make it safer."
OK, everyone. Repeat after me.It's not the guns, asshole, it's the criminals!
Blaming gunsNovember 3, 2005
EVEN TAKING into consideration that Tim Casey is beside himself with grief over the murder of his student Kevin Garces, his Oct. 27 letter in which he blames Garces' death and those of ''millions of other children" on the NRA is inexcusable in its ignorance and fear-mongering.
In the fantasy land of gun-phobic liberals, there are no good people and there are no evil people. That's because there is no such thing as moral agency. There are only impressionable lumps of clay in human form who, at the appearance of the ''evil" object known as a firearm, are instantly turned into maniacally cackling, bullet-spraying John Dillingers or Dylan Klebolds.
In such a fantasy land, the argument that guns should be banned because ''they have no purpose except to kill" makes sense.
The only one who has Garces' blood on his (or perhaps her) hands is the person who shot him. The same goes for anyone else who was murdered with a firearm.
ROBIN B. SHORE
Everett
I am so lucky I don't have to live there anymore. What a cesspool, and what a bunch of morons to keep electing Mumbles "Denial is my middle name" Menino!
