He's got bodyguards, cutting-edge healthcare, the best PR machine in the world, people are just raining money on him and he doesn't have to fly commercial...
You know, I think Obama ran for President just so he could be sure nothing would happen to him.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Such Symmetry in Nature
I am a hobby sociologist. People crack me up. I was listening to a chatter show the other day, talking about social media. The conversation turned to how it's decided to change a facebook status from "single" to "dating." After the first date? After the first couple weeks? After a series of tense negotiations, mediated on both sides by retired Federal judges? A young lady of college age called in. Perfect. Someone of the appropriate age to care about this crap. She said women used to care if their men friends changed their status to "dating," but not so much anymore. It's a sign of being needy and manipulative to insist the fellow acknowledge the relationship. Besides, most guys didn't even know how to change that bit on their pages.
No, really, she said that out loud like it made sense or something. I cried laughing. Also, I cheered a little. A guy can figure out how to get on line, set up a page, download pictures, embed video and music, but can't noodle through how to do that personal status thingy.
Years of building the self-esteem of little girls has lead to this point. All that empowerment garbage has filtered through the feminine psyche and expressed itself as: Men are stupid. They are barely able to stand upright. They are no damn good at everything. We can't expect them to function like people, certainly not without supervision. This is the exact reverse of the attitude of about fifty years ago or so. The women back then whined and protested and set fire to their underwear (what was that about?) and generally made a nuisance of themselves until we've gotten to the point where we are now, where men expect us to change our own oil, put out forest fires and sweep for mines. When confronted with the same exact attitude, the men say, Yeah, whatever. We're idiots. Don't bother us with anything difficult.
This is why men are smarter.
No, really, she said that out loud like it made sense or something. I cried laughing. Also, I cheered a little. A guy can figure out how to get on line, set up a page, download pictures, embed video and music, but can't noodle through how to do that personal status thingy.
Years of building the self-esteem of little girls has lead to this point. All that empowerment garbage has filtered through the feminine psyche and expressed itself as: Men are stupid. They are barely able to stand upright. They are no damn good at everything. We can't expect them to function like people, certainly not without supervision. This is the exact reverse of the attitude of about fifty years ago or so. The women back then whined and protested and set fire to their underwear (what was that about?) and generally made a nuisance of themselves until we've gotten to the point where we are now, where men expect us to change our own oil, put out forest fires and sweep for mines. When confronted with the same exact attitude, the men say, Yeah, whatever. We're idiots. Don't bother us with anything difficult.
This is why men are smarter.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Who knew Canadians were so brave?
Diane Francis espouses a world one-child policy in the Canadian Financial Post, from the home in America she shares with her spouse and their two children. Her own parents didn't feel that way; Diane has a sister. What do you want to bet Diane's the older sister?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Oh, Really?
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/09/taking_liberties/entry5595506.shtml?tag=mncol;txt
Justice Dept. Asked For News Site's Visitor Lists
..."the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day..."
Here are some of the headlines for that day, just to refresh the memory: Link1 Link2 Link3
This administration's Justice Department issued a grand jury subpoena to Indymedia.us. The DOJ also said not to tell anyone about the subpoena without their permission. Not how it works. The DOJ can't subpoena a journalist without express permission of the Attorney General. At the time the subpoena was issued -- 1/23/09 -- there wasn't any Attorney General. They asked for every piece if information Indymedia had about every computer user who logged on to the site on 6/25/2008, from ISP number to SSN to shoe size. The DOJ is only allowed to ask for information that directly pertains to an investigation. The person who had the records was informed of the subpoena by Indymedia. She should have gotten served personally. That means a knock on her door like in the movies (or maybe your personal life, sorry) and a guy leaving a copy of the papers with her. This is something you learn the first minute of the first day of law school, and when Indymedia promptly squawked, the subpoena was withdrawn.
This isn't a case of bad lawyering. This isn't amateur transition-team behavior. This is how an oppressive government operates. We're going to stomp all over your civil rights and don't you tell anybody about it unless you want something worse to happen to you. We won't tell you what that is, but trust us, it will be worse.
Impotent bullies.
Justice Dept. Asked For News Site's Visitor Lists
..."the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day..."
Here are some of the headlines for that day, just to refresh the memory: Link1 Link2 Link3
This administration's Justice Department issued a grand jury subpoena to Indymedia.us. The DOJ also said not to tell anyone about the subpoena without their permission. Not how it works. The DOJ can't subpoena a journalist without express permission of the Attorney General. At the time the subpoena was issued -- 1/23/09 -- there wasn't any Attorney General. They asked for every piece if information Indymedia had about every computer user who logged on to the site on 6/25/2008, from ISP number to SSN to shoe size. The DOJ is only allowed to ask for information that directly pertains to an investigation. The person who had the records was informed of the subpoena by Indymedia. She should have gotten served personally. That means a knock on her door like in the movies (or maybe your personal life, sorry) and a guy leaving a copy of the papers with her. This is something you learn the first minute of the first day of law school, and when Indymedia promptly squawked, the subpoena was withdrawn.
This isn't a case of bad lawyering. This isn't amateur transition-team behavior. This is how an oppressive government operates. We're going to stomp all over your civil rights and don't you tell anybody about it unless you want something worse to happen to you. We won't tell you what that is, but trust us, it will be worse.
Impotent bullies.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Classy, Classy CBS
Imagine spending heaps and piles of your parents' money to get a degree in communications from some ivy-swathed institution Back East. Through family connections or dumb luck, or even through working at it really hard you land what you're told is a coveted intern position at CBS. The future looks bright. Then Dave happens.
If you are a female person, your phone, computer, facebook, etc. are clogged with strangers asking you if you're doing Dave. I'm sure it doesn't even matter whether or not you intern for his show; it's enough to work in the same building as his staff. If you're a male person speculation trends more toward the sinister. If the Tiffany Network is cool both with David Letterman and a news producer diddling the help, every male employee of the network must be considered a potential episode of "Mad Men."
I don't think the ladies involved will sue for sexual harassment. Dave's main main squeeze got her law school paid for. Picture phones are handy. What I want to know is, what's the redress for everyone whose resume is now a dirty joke because they work for CBS?
If you are a female person, your phone, computer, facebook, etc. are clogged with strangers asking you if you're doing Dave. I'm sure it doesn't even matter whether or not you intern for his show; it's enough to work in the same building as his staff. If you're a male person speculation trends more toward the sinister. If the Tiffany Network is cool both with David Letterman and a news producer diddling the help, every male employee of the network must be considered a potential episode of "Mad Men."
I don't think the ladies involved will sue for sexual harassment. Dave's main main squeeze got her law school paid for. Picture phones are handy. What I want to know is, what's the redress for everyone whose resume is now a dirty joke because they work for CBS?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
