Tag Archives: culture

Twin Commentary on the Hyper-Sensitive Culture

17 Thursday May 2018

Posted by in Other Columns

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

PC “Right think” is a low-quality cover for no think. Joe Bob Briggs writes, today, for Taki’s Mag (a “wrong think,” thus, not politically correct, thus, actually correct publication) on the failure to grasp humor by the outraged, unintellectual masses.

He takes offense with the offended youth of today:

Satire is a machine gun on a swivel. You aim at a target, fire, move one foot to the right, fire, move again, aim and fire—you hit all the targets, without exception, and about one in ten targets will scream. When that happens, you hit that target twenty more times.

That’s how you identify the sacred cow, then exterminate the sacred cow.

The difference, in 2018, is that it’s not one in ten targets, it’s one in two. Everybody screams, like, all the time. Nobody ever says, “Oh, wow, you caught me, yeah, that’s pretty stupid.” And everybody assumes you have some kind of second agenda, usually political.

…

I stopped reading the Comments sections entirely, not because I couldn’t take the heat but because I often couldn’t even understand the context of the argument.

Unreasoned assumptions are bad enough; making an “ass out of u and me.” It’s much, much worse in an era and an area of rapidly declining intelligence. For instance, assuming (wow) that most could even read the above-selected Briggs’s quote, some might assume (again) that he’s promoting gun violence and nothing else.

He’s not communicating at the highest level but at one a good deal higher than the passing average. By strange coincidence, today’s Pearls Before Swine strip tackles the same subject from a slightly different, easier to comprehend angle:

Rat Swarmed by SJWs: (Click):

nimbus-image-1526571559726

Stephan Pastis, Pearls, 5/17/18.

Again, even here, a basic literacy is required, else the viewer merely sees three generic people and a rat holding a beer. But Pastis is saying the same thing as Briggs: mind your own business, brighten up, and lighten up!

The other day we lost the mighty Tom Wolfe. He made a mark offending the pretension, as Monica Showalter observes.

What a treasure he was. He wrote about the world as it is, telling our American story because he loved our American story. How sad that we don’t have him to write about the ongoing story of America. He wrote about the world as an outsider, and he examined the establishment as it needed to be examined, and naturally, that added up to making the left look stupid. There was no other way for a writer this honest, and we are the richer for it.

It’s true that I would love to step into Wolfe’s role, merely lacking the talent and those white suits…

I do hope all this offended someone.

Advertisements

Cultural Chaos: Depression, Agoraphobia, and Robots Stealing Jobs

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in News and Notes, Other Columns

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

This is one of those posts that could easily run on for 3,000 words. So, in the dual interests of brevity and laziness, I’m going to keep it as short as possible.

Note: I have an initial feeling that all the following matters are interrelated, especially the issues related to the linked final story.

The robots are coming for your jobs. With issues like this lingering, growing, it’s no wonder people are fearful and depressed. This is a real developing trend.

One third of able-bodied American men between 25 and 54 could be out of job by 2050, contends the author of “The Future of Work: Robots, AI and Automation.”

“We’re already at 12% of prime-aged men without jobs,” said Darrell West, vice president of the Brookings Institution think tank, at a forum in Washington, D.C. on Monday. That number has grown steadily over the past 60 years, but it could triple in the next 30 years because of new technology such as artificial intelligence and automation.

It could be even worse for some parts of the population, West argued. The rate for unemployment of young male African Americans, for instance, is likely to reach 50% by 2050.

“That, my friends, is a catastrophe,” West said.

That’s the “C” word we’re looking for, yes. It’s as big a disaster as:

One-quarter of Americans never going outside.

A quarter of Americans spend almost an entire 24 hours without going outside and downplay the negative health effects of only breathing indoor air, according to a new survey claiming a new “indoor generation.”

“We are increasingly turning into a generation of indoor people where the only time we get daylight and fresh air mid-week is on the commute to work or school,” Peter Foldbjerg, the head of daylight energy and indoor climate at VELUX, a window manufacturing company, said in a statement.

VELUX commissioned the “Indoor Generation Report,” published Tuesday, that found 77 percent of Americans don’t believe that breathing air inside is any worse than pollution outside.

It’s unclear how dangerous indoor air is in the modern era — reports by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluating indoor air quality are from 1987 and 1989, which found that it is two to five times more polluted than outside.

Humidity, mold growth, inadequate temperature and being in close quarters with other people are all cited risks associated with poor air quality indoors.

It’s a big, beautiful world out there. I’m typing this outside as I add some of Nicaragua’s finest vaporized tobacco leaves to the air quality.

Something tells me that the younger people are driving up this statistic. Maybe that’s one reason why:

The Millennials are more stressed compared to older generations.

Twenty-seven percent of millennials said that stress often bothered them at work, compared to the 12% of baby boomers that said the same. Millennials were the group most likely to have stress interfere with their work. About a third of millennials (34%) said that they felt stress made them less productive, while only 19% of their older colleagues felt the same.

Why do millennials feel so stressed out? Increasingly insecure job prospects and overwhelming workloads, MHF believes.

“Millennials are more likely to have insecure contracts, low rates of pay and high entry-level workloads. The pressures they face in today’s employment market are very different to past generations,” MHF’s Richard Grange said.

Americans and other denizens of the West have been in a unique historical bubble since the industrial revolution. That bubble is bursting. The insecure economy is only part of the overall problem. And there is a problem:

Major Depression Diagnoses up 33% in 5 years. That’s a sobering report. Read it, especially if you’re under 35.

Major depression has a diagnosis rate of 4.4 percent in the United States, affecting more than 9 million commercially insured Americans.

Diagnoses of major depression have risen dramatically by 33 percent since 2013. This rate is rising even faster among millennials (up 47 percent) and adolescents (up 47 percent for boys and 65 percent for girls).

Women are diagnosed with major depression at higher rates than men (6 percent and nearly 3 percent, respectively).

People diagnosed with major depression are nearly 30 percent less healthy on average than those not diagnosed with major depression. This decrease in overall health translates to nearly 10 years of healthy life lost for both men and women.4

A key reason for the lower overall health of those diagnosed with major depression is that they are likely to also suffer from other health conditions. Eighty-five percent of people who are diagnosed with major depression also have one or more additional serious chronic health conditions and nearly 30 percent have four or more other conditions.5

People diagnosed with major depression use healthcare services more than other commercially insured Americans. This results in more than two times higher overall healthcare spending ($10,673 compared to $4,283).

hoa-depression-05a

We’ve got the numbers, they’ve got the rate of growth. Blue Cross.

This report, while eye-opening, is the product of the insurance industry. I smell money. Look at the information and graphs about pills. It’s interesting. These people and their pharma friends make big money pushing dope – for depression and everything else under the sun. That’s costly though it’s clear they’d like to avoid larger costs via payouts for associated auxiliary treatments. It makes sense for their bottom line. It makes little sense for the people.

As I stated at the beginning, all of this stuff is related. There’s a hard link between the mental issues and the heart/obesity/etc. physical epidemic. And with those and the fears, the indooring, the stress, and a thousand other factors.

Plainly put: American society is fractured, faltering, and increasingly trivial, idiotic, and insane. Plainer: it looks like decline. Already approaching 1,000 words, I’ll end here. More on this subject, I think, sooner than later – especially regarding the younger generations. I’m already planning a related piece for next week’s TPC column. For now, draw your own conclusions. Maybe step outside for a bit. Exercise. Kick a bot.

Voxiversity 6: The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by in Other Columns

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Vox reads his forward to Moira Greyland’s book:

Vox Day.

I’ve read much of the book and it’s about the most disturbing subject matter imaginable. I really can’t recommend it unless the reader is deeply into the truth about cultural depravity. Having nerves of steel won’t hurt. Even if so, it’s a lot. The most amazing thing, as Vox notes, is that Moira was not only able to forgive her tormentors but to actually portray them as still somewhat human.

The book makes sense even to those not in the know/care about sci-fi and associated fandom.

Political Tea Leaves in the Culture War

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in Legal/Political Columns

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama claims a horde of GOP House members are quitting over assassination fears. He may only make an excuse for the swinging of the old pendulum. Or he may be on to something.

He also said the “socialist Bernie Sanders wing of society” was pushing for a revolution that would lead to Maoist level of violence.

“There are a growing number of leftists who believe the way to resolve this is not at the ballot box but through threats and sometimes through violence and assassinations,” he said.

If true, this is the result of a turning point Pat Buchanan says happened 50 years ago.

They’re certainly interesting times, these.

Amazing Amerikan Woman Tries to Change World, Fails Horribly

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Horribly. Miserably. This story is beyond sad; simply horrifying:

How this Midwestern mom ended up married to an ISIS sniper

Yahoo! ran a representative picture right up front (but don’t be fooled):

dc12fd5285e6d58aec4f634a0cc09952

A pretty good, almost Madison Avenue worthy start, but … read on:

Samantha Sally spoke to CNN about how her “romantic” second marriage to Moroccan-born husband Moussa Elhassani resulted in an unexpected move to Syria in 2014. Once there, Elhassani became violent and joined ISIS as a sniper.

“Before he would spoil me,” the 32-year-old American said. “We were very much in love. The romance never left. As soon as we came here, it changed. I was a dog. I didn’t have any choice. He was extremely violent. And there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing.”

…

The family ended up settling in Raqqa, Syria, where Sally gave birth to two more children. In addition to Elhassani’s violent behavior, she was subjected to abuse from ISIS leaders, including a three-month stretch in jail while she was pregnant. Sally says that she was tortured, sexually abused, and put in solitary confinement while being accused of espionage on behalf of the U.S.

Their home life eventually included the purchase of three Yazidi slaves — two teenage females and one young boy — captured by ISIS. Both girls were raped by Elhassani, though Sally defends having them stay in her home.

“No one will ever know what it is like to watch their husband rape a 14-year-old girl,” she said. “Ever. And then she comes to you — me — after crying and I hold her and tell her it’s going to be OK. Everything is going to be fine, just be patient.

“I would never apologize for bringing those girls to my house,” she added. “They had me and I had them. And we knew that if we were just patient, we would stick together. You understand? In any other situation, they would be locked in a bedroom and fed tea every day. And the situation I was in with them, we cooked together, we cleaned together. Drank coffee together. Slept in the same room together. I was like their mother.”

Her eldest son, Matthew, was also taken advantage of and was made to appear in videos on behalf of the terrorist group. Sally’s objection to his participation resulted in a beating and two broken ribs.

Things changed when Elhassani was killed in a drone strike in 2017. Sally and her family eventually left Raqqa and were detained soon after. They remain in custody and wait for U.S. officials determine whether her affiliation with ISIS merits jail time.

Sally, meanwhile, is hopeful that she and her four children are able to return to the U.S.

“I will do anything to get my kids back where they belong,” she said. “If I have to spend 15 years in prison, it’s better than anything here.

“Me and my kids, we talk about wanting to eat McDonald’s,” she continued. “We want to live a normal life again.”

So. Did you catch it? This was one of the most vile, racist reads I’ve seen since I don’t know when. It’s like David Duke, Robert E. Lee, and Richard Spencer conspired to write an evil, dystopian fictional plot. But, sadly, this one is all too real.

I’ll never, for the life of me, understand women like this. Living with the slanderous allegations of being a “terrorist” and of “treason” do not justify her. The insult and shame of being expected to apologize for her savage “husband’s” illicit amorous affairs is not an excuse. Nor was seeing her cockroach “husband” squashed like what he was. No excuses. None.

After experiencing the very best of diversity, an immersion class if you will – the tribal war, idiotic violence, slavery, abuse, child rapes, broken ribs, traitorous behavior, etc. – this bigot had the audacity to contrast the great good of the barbarous stone-age world with “normal life” back in America. Normal. Life. In America…

How can she shun the very cultural enrichment which will surely save Western Civilization by destroying it? It boggles the mind.

She even thinks 15 years in American prison is “better than anything [in the land of greatest pride, strength, and human dignity].”

Leave her in jail where she is. That’s where she belongs. The kids can come back. Maybe they can share with the deplorables all the good lessons they learned living among our betters. Maybe.

The Modern Sirens of Finland

16 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in Other Columns

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Somebody call Martha Burke! There’s another egregious case of sex discrimination.

Okay, no one cares as this case involves excluding the evil bearers of male privilege:

We’ve all had those moments, whether you’re drowning in work in a cramped cubicle or just tired of the daily grind. In those moments, a thought might cross your mind, like “I wish I could escape to a private island.”

Well, entrepreneur Kristina Roth actually made that happen. She’s not just escaping to an island, she owns it. And she’s opening it up to women worldwide. But men? They’re not allowed.

…

“I’m a computer scientist, and I worked only with men. Ergo, how many times did I have to listen to ‘Hey blondie, what are you doing here?’ At least that was during my studies,” says Roth. “And I think judging a book by its cover — again that’s a cliché — that happens a lot in the tech world.”

…

Roth wanted to create something better. SuperShe society was born. It began as a networking group and expanded to include a lifestyle blog, events and women-only retreats in luxurious locations such as Hawaii, Necker Island and Turks & Caicos. It was meant to create a fun way for women to network — a way that men have been networking for years, Roth says, whether it’s at the golf course or the cigar club.

The golf course and the cigar club. Now what does that remind me of? Oh yeah, the harpies screamed until the National admitted women. Now the women, the kids, and who knows whom else want to ban the smokes on the course. But that’s okay. You’ve come a long way, baby.

Imagine if Blondie was a he and he started a computer company that forbade female employees. Ms. Burke?

nimbus-image-1523899255750

And that’s a-okay, really. CNBC.

Jeffery Epstein has an island for a type of men, mostly men. Excuse me, he HAD an island like that. Fire gets rid of evidence, no? Let’s assume this new venture is something different entirely. Some of you with the right plumbing might find out.

What can She do, She’s a nervous wreck?
There’s men everywhere, She better go and check (out). CHECK OUT!
She can’t tell a computer from a cigar in the ground.
They all got her golf ball spinning round and round.
Island of women, oh yeah.
The island of women, oh yeah.
It drove her insane.

Deep apologies to Billy Gibbons and the boys…

You Go, Gurl!

Hating On Our Girls

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

They still call this country-shaped place “America” though the shenanigans sometimes cause doubt.

Take the NFL (please!). The F is supposed to stand for “football.” Once upon a time that was a manly American sport. The post-American NFL seems to shun all things: manly, American, decent, normal, noncriminal, and free. Oh, they also shun Christian virgins too.

A former Miami Dolphins cheerleader claims that she was discriminated against by the team and the NFL for talking about her Christian faith — and mocked after she admitted that she was a virgin.

Kristan Ann Ware, who cheered on the Dolphins for three years, charged in a complaint filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations that the workplace turned hostile after she told some of her fellow cheerleaders that she was waiting until she was married to have sex.

It got even worse, Ware charged, when she posted an image of her baptism along with a Bible verse on social media.

“Let’s talk about your virginity,” cheerleader director Dorie Grogan allegedly said when Ware arrived for an interview for returning dancers in April 2016, according to the complaint. “As far as we are concerned you have taken something that was once upon a time pure and beautiful and you’ve made it dirty.”

Ware, who is no longer with the Dolphins, is now seeking arbitration from the Florida commission and a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. She said female cheerleaders should be allowed to express their faith publicly the way the male players do.

180412-kristan-ann-ware-individual-ew-423p_933ce42c099a71b82f7902973a85d7e5.fit-560w

Even if she misses the job she must look much better without those gaudy anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Western rags. Getty/CBS.

According to the Dolphins, stating the fact of one’s virginity makes it dirty? Really? Was it that, or the Baptism, or both? I’m sure that had Ware identified as a gun controlling, Hindu, Hobbit, non-binary, sodomite, she would have received some sort of award. “Three cheers for our new captain!” Any arbitrator worth his salt will order Badell, Kraft, Peter King, the freaks, and the thugs on the first boat out. And why haven’t we heard from the DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the NOW gang, and the #metoo brigade? Odd.

Those Americans, over forty, proud, and sane, might also find it odd that assorted lowlifes willfully attack another beautiful young woman for expressing her faith and pride in the Second Amendment.

A University of Tennessee Chattanooga senior’s graduation photo has generated controversy on social media. In the photo, Brenna Spencer is seen wearing a bright pink “Women for Trump” T-shirt with white jeans. A black handgun is tucked into her waistband.

Spencer shared the photo on Twitter Saturday and captioned the post: “I don’t take normal college graduation photos.”

I, for one, haven’t the faintest idea what’s controversial about any of this, except that I also don’t see anything about the photo as abnormal. Oh, wait. We’re in post-America now… Some non-Americans chimed in. I bet that had the shirt been a “F*ck Trump!” model they might have been more accepting. Anyway, their drivel:

@DadForChange:
Using a gun to make a political point is irresponsible gun ownership.

@Jasminleroy1:
Hmm..heres a question, what point are you trying to make by sticking a gun in your pants, I would think you want to irritate others and enhance your political point.. Are you going to use the gun( because that’s why they were made). I’m sorry but I’m confused by your ignorance.

@Eldergothfather:
If you had chosen to brandish your most valuable asset we’d be looking at your brain, we’d be seeing you accomplish something for humanity. Instead you chose a an extension which you think makes you who you are. It does not.

@keithboykin:
I don’t know anything about Brenna Spencer and don’t care if she wears a “Women for Trump” t-shirt while strapped with a gun. What bothers me is the reflexive racism that allows people to see Spencer as a “patriot” but to see an armed black woman or man as a criminal threat.

I’m not sure if the lovely Ms. Spencer or her followers wasted time replying to these wastes of oxygen. I happen to have a few seconds to spare, so:

Dad: There’s a lot of exciting change in North Korea, Sudan, Iran, etc. Why not go be happy somewhere else?

Jasmine: You’re confused and irritated but something stinks, little flower, and I think it’s you.

Goth Boy: I’m sure her pistol has done more for humanity than all the black-clad, sad-face freaks in all of history. And certainly more than yours.

Keith (kudos for using what seems like a real name): It’s not 1850 anymore. No one cares. Maybe, as he heads to his own greener pasture, Dad could drop you off in Mugabe Land or somewhere.

All: Great! As the NFL hates Christians, so you hate free, armed, attractive young women. Got it. I note that, the First Amendment being a relic of the 18th Century, you have absolutely no right to express your opinions like this. Kindly cease and desist. Furthermore: Go to Hell!

nimbus-image-1523656962985

I find this normal and more than a little alluring. Watch out, Dana Loesch! Twitter.

If this “highly respected web log” hadn’t blown the budget on cigars and hydrazine, then I would heartily offer these young ladies employment here. As is, I offer them the most sincere respect for being who they are. I accept them. If you can’t, if you can’t abide beautiful women, American, Christian, and free, then you are worse than a bigot. Literally worse than Hitler. Knock it off.

He Kissed a Girl and He Didn’t Like It

14 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Other Columns

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

File this one away under “What the …?!”

The Style section of The New York Times informs us of a strange happening in an increasingly strange land during very strange times:

Teenage Boy Miffed By Kiss ….. ………. From KATY PERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No. At the outset I will say I do not think he’s a homosexual. Could be though I rather buy his “conservative family” line. I think that can mean puritanical. Not sure. Not sure about any of this…

With apologies to the Times, Carlos Slim, and Katherine Rosman (who writes a mean piece), I have to fair use the whole thing, here, now, for it’s massive value, and to easily insert my thoughts and reactions (BOLD):

When Benjamin Glaze, at the time a 19-year-old cashier from Enid, Okla., auditioned for “American Idol,” he had hoped his big moment would come as he belted out “Stadium,” a song he wrote himself. That or Nick Jonas’s 2015 single “Levels.”

Instead, it came when the popstar Katy Perry, a judge on the show, surprised him by kissing him smack on the lips, moments before his audition. He had never been kissed before.

“I was a tad bit uncomfortable,” Mr. Glaze said by phone this week, after the incident aired on the season premiere. His first kiss was a rite of passage he had been putting off with consideration. “I wanted to save it for my first relationship,” he said. “I wanted it to be special.”

How much more special can you get than kissing KATY PERRY!? At her insistence!!

And, honestly, how long is he planning on waiting for that first relationship? 19 … going on 40?

“Would I have done it if she said, ‘Would you kiss me?’ No, I would have said no,” he said. “I know a lot of guys would be like, ‘Heck yeah!’ But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special.”

Again – it’s KATY PERRY! Had she asked me for a kiss last October, and then preemptively put the moves on me, I’d like to think I’d still be slobbering on her right now.

The scene with the kiss was part of the two-night season opener for the new “American Idol,” which is now airing on ABC after a 15-year run on Fox. It is being judged by a new panel of celebrities — Ms. Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan — and is hosted by Ryan Seacrest, who hosted the program on Fox, and is a creative consultant for the show as well.

In the segments that featured Mr. Glaze, he was shown waiting around in anticipation for his audition with other hopefuls.

After he entered the studio, guitar slung over his shoulder and looking a bit star struck, he said he enjoyed his work as a cashier because it let him meet “cute girls.”

Okay. Good thinking, kid!

“Have you kissed a girl and liked it?” asked Mr. Bryan, making a coy reference to Ms. Perry’s first hit single, “I Kissed A Girl.” Mr. Glaze said that he had not. “I have never been in a relationship and I can’t kiss a girl without being in a relationship.”

The lovely California Gurl immediately proved him wrong about that one.

At that, Ms. Perry stood up. “Come here,” she said to Mr. Glaze. “Come here right now.”

She told me to come but I was already there. (Brian Johnson’s voice).

Ms. Perry motioned for him to come over to the judges’ table and stuck her face toward him. “One on the cheek?” he said and she smiled. He quickly touched his face to her cheek. She asked for another kiss, complaining that he hadn’t even made the “smush sound.” As he moved toward her cheek again, Ms. Perry swung her face toward him and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Katy!” he yelled, as he stumbled backward. “You didn’t!” Ms. Perry raised her arms in victory.

I’d also like to think I’d later have her yelling my name… Victory!

Mr. Glaze then asked for a drink of water, delivered a lackluster audition and was kindly rejected by the judges.

Is it possible Perry blew his groove? Harshed his mellow? Whatever the kids say?

Even though it aired earlier this week, the audition itself took place last October and this has given Mr. Glaze, who is now 20, some time to consider the event with perspective.

20 and can say he kissed, hell, made out with, KATY PERRY!

The kiss did result in his getting more screen time, which has helped draw attention to his music. “So in that way,” he said, “I’m glad she did it because it’s a great opportunity to get my music out.”

Yeah. In that way…

When he returned home, Mr. Glaze worked through his feelings about the kiss by talking to his friends. “They agreed with me that it didn’t really count,” he said. “It was lip contact versus a romantic situation with someone you care about. That’s what a real first kiss is.”

Alright. I’ll go out on a limb and speculate the friends may be closeted.

He said he does not feel he was sexually harassed and is grateful to Ms. Perry for tweeting about him.

Ahem. I’d like to think! I’d say I didn’t feel Twitter harassed and am grateful for the kissing… I come from a different time and place; forgive me…

The show’s producers embraced the footage, using it in televised promos and on social media. On the American Idol website, Mr. Glaze’s performance is posted under the headline, “Benjamin Glaze’s First Kiss and Audition.” The show’s Twitter feed also posted a photograph of Mr. Glaze and wrote, “This journey has just begun, Benjamin. A kiss for good luck from @katyperry and you’re on your way.”

The first kiss of an aw-shucks teenager from Oklahoma, delivered by a superstar singer, might have made for a sweet pop-culture moment in a previous era. But as the nation re-examines sexual conduct and power dynamics in workplaces and in the media, the kiss didn’t land well with all viewers. “It was a forced sexual act,” one viewer posted in reply to American Idol’s tweet: “Imagine if this was from a male judge. Has @katyperry not taken anything from the #metoo movement?” In the same thread, another viewer wondered if Mr. Glaze’s religious convictions had been disrespected. And many other viewers mirrored the sentiment of one fan, who wrote, “Lucky son of a gun.”

Okay, in the interests of fighting plagiarism I left off the last sentence. Read Rosman’s work. Hell, subscribe to the Times. And I hope the mass quotation (for educational purposes as much as to highlight excellent journalism) indention carried over. Problems with the interface I’ve noticed… Anyway, more thoughts:

I kind of miss that previous era. What was it called again? Oh yeah. The Age of Sanity! An age when a kiss wasn’t a “forced sexual act.” It was just a kiss. Unless, of course, it was from KATY PERRY!!! Then, it would be considered legendary. Pop/Rock lyrics all over the place tonight:

It was long ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today.

Now, for the young and/or stupid: what you call a “hashtag,” this thing, #, was first known as the “pound sign.” So … #metoo? No, Katy, I’d pound you first. Erudite? No. But honest, if vulgar. It’s KATY PERRY!!! we’re talking about!

I get where the kid, the young man, rather, is coming from. It’s almost nice to see a reminder of naive innocence in these darkened times. I don’t follow his or his family’s thinking on the relationship / “real” first kiss association but I respect it. The friends’ perspective, not so much.

I’ve seen entire websites, with more traffic than this one, that pontificate about boys or men like this. They use words like “Gamma,” “Soy,” and “MGTOW.” Not me. But I get it. I think. I think I can almost wrap my (warped) mind around this incident.

Some of you know that I myself have a conservative side. Whichever side that is, it is not concerned with stopping a kiss from KATY PERRY!!! I’ll admit to being as jealous as flabbergasted.

So, in conclusion:

Young fellow: Learn from this experience. Reach for the stars.

Katy: Shame on you, you love bipolar, hot and cold, dirty gurl.

Busybodies: Get a life.

NY Times: Please don’t sue me. I really think I have a DMCA fair use thingy…

14idol-master768

L-R: Awkward Yokel approaches with guitar; some guy with a chain starts to puke??; Katy …. mmmm Katy – that hair may not do it but, Lordy, the rest of her; hick in green shirt yucks it up. ABC/NYT.

KATY PERRY!!!

The Office, Ink.

13 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

So, the lovely young ladies kindly dragged me off to the mall today. There, as I observed the wildlife from my blind in the food court, I saw a fella wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Lettered on the front, it read: “Tattooed AND Employed”. His partially rolled-up sleeves verified the first part of the imprinted statement.

Maybe there’s some truth to this story:

“Times have changed,” Cannon [someone with tattoo(s)] said, adding that perceptions that tattoos are just for rebels and rock stars are fading. “People are using tattoos to express themselves. You actually learn a lot about a people just through their ink.”

A 2016 poll found that about 3 in 10 Americans had at least one tattoo, up from about 2 in 10 just four years earlier, and the younger they were, the more likely they were to have a tattoo: 47% of millennials — people in their 20s and 30s — had a tattoo; followed by 36% of gen Xers and 13% of baby boomers.

Moreover, the poll showed, a majority of Americans said they’d be comfortable seeing a person with a tattoo in a range of jobs including teachers, coaches, pediatricians, judges — and even presidential candidates.

And while Americans are getting more comfortable with tattoos in the office, they also seem increasingly adverse to wearing ties, which, for years, were part of the professional man’s uniform.

Read on to the part about employees and customers gleefully, willingly branded and paying homage to their corporate masters. Nisti servitus. Okay…

Rock stars. Rebels. Sailors. Inmates. Judges. And presidential candidates. Hey, why not? We already elect idiots, potheads, drunks, noncitizens, socialists, actors, and many other sorts of embarassingly unqualified goofs. A little “art” might brighten up the end Repubire (condensed Republic and Empire).

The bad news is that similar and not-too-unrelated polls, surveys, and studies find that America has become a mental basketcase. The good news, assuming we still have electricity and petrol in a decade or two, is that there may be a massive demand for tattoo removal. Kids of Gen Z, consider dermatology!

Also, as Carlin once remarked, “Americans LOVE the mall.” Shopping and eating! Light up sneakers. Things they don’t need. Short pants.

636561189473475613-tattoo-promo-2

Yeah! I wonder if a PL.me or FP.com tat would be appropriate. I’m no rock star. Rick Nease/Detroit Free Enough Press.

Chinese Communists on Campus: A Day Late?

08 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in News and Notes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

When I first saw the following story my initial thought was that the Chinese, as “well-intentioned” as they might be, are a little late in the coming. American and European Communists began infiltrating the academy in earnest in the 1940’s. Today they have virtual control over most US education, from grade school to graduate school.

But, that’s not exactly what the story is about. It seems the Chi-Coms want (and have) direct influence over their students studying abroad in America.

While many countries, including the United States, fund educational activities abroad, the Chinese government’s direct support for, and control over, student groups appears to be unique. Beijing’s influence over these groups is also beginning to raise questions and concerns among students on American campuses, who fear they will be accused of being agents of espionage. The growing ties are also concerning U.S. government officials, who are wary of China’s political and economic reach in the United States.

At a security hearing last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that American universities are naive about the intelligence risk of Chinese “nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting,” and claimed that China poses a “whole-of-society threat.”

Those comments have alarmed some Chinese students. Several Georgetown University student representatives wrote an open letter to the university president, asking the school to disavow Wray’s statements and calling the comments a “witch-hunt” and a “McCarthyist craze.” The article also cited FP’s recent report revealing that the Georgetown CSSA has received Chinese government funding.

If this is a witch-hunt, modern-day, 21st Century McCarthyism, then rest assured in around 40 years a Venona-ish report will surface, justifying the hunt 110%.

But my initial fears are likely misplaced or over thought. Yes, young American Tide Pod-eaters and their post-hippy professors, and SJW administrators would surely appreciate a little more official indoctrination. However, the Chinese variety – geared towards a xenophobic nationalism and eco-techo progression – probably isn’t for them. I suspect they are more in favor of old-school Soviet central planning, with all the speech and religion quashing, heavy-handed social and work assignments, and mass murdering.

There’s sure to be some small crossover. Maybe forced abortions and population limitations could replace the religion of Row and specious climate change, blame-it-on-man reactionism. But the main focus of the article and of Wray’s concerns is that of a fifth column of potentially nefarious foreigners embedded in, and drawing resources from, American culture or what remains of it.

There may be a place for the left’s new meddling here, on the side against the infiltrators – a sort of American nationalism for those who really hate America. Odd but possible. East Asians, minorities though they be, here, are rapidly becoming the new white men, especially in employment and double-especially in academia. High IQ, serious students, who naturally excel at math and science, don’t exactly help the numbers or the narrative. It’s something for someone to think about. Feel, maybe.

For the rest of us, all of this kind of fits with Vox Day’s second edition of Voxiversity, Sink the Ships. Watch on YouTube (before they SJW it away):

Voxiversity/YouTube.

It’s a quick work from a quick study. It builds on the inaugural episode. History shows time and time again that egalitarian kindness is often the worst source of the worst violence and pseudo-genocidal changes any culture or people can subject themselves too. Sinking the ships, figuratively or literally, an overt act of unpleasantness to be certain, may just be more humanitarian in the long run than the alternative.

Something else to think about. Maybe best without the feels.

Protestors And Supporters Gather During Hu Jintao's Visit To Chicago

It’s like the Fourth of July! Scott Olson/Getty/Foreign Policy.