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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Czar chasm

50-70000 people showed up in Washington DC Saturday to protest...something. Everything! A few snippets:




The remarkable thing here, is that there is very little of this which has been taken out of context. It's easy to make people look stupid via editing, but the interviewer was really only asking them why they were so upset about the things that their signs claimed that they were upset about. Again, I'm not really wild about the debt and deficit being where they are, but when the economy is where it is, this is the only recourse. You don't have to be happy about it, but it'd be nice if you could veer close enough to reality for a moment to at least acknowledge a couple of things:

Barack Obama isn't responsible for cratering the economy.

Things would be a damn sight worse if the stimulus bill had not passed.

Thus, here we are in a very strange moment, where we have the chance to make some real improvements in the way this country operates, and there are people, even those who would benefit, who are opposed to it because televised multi-millionaires have told them they ought to be. I will not go so far as to refer to them as "oligarhs."


Oligarchs, maybe. Plutocrats? Definitely.

I try very hard to see issues and events from all sides, because I have no use for political parties, and no ideology has a lock on good answers or common sense. So, I watch these events, and I wait for the moment where someone says something that makes me think, "Okay, I can agree with you in principle on some of that." But there's just so much WHARRGARBL, that it's nearly impossible to latch on to something that doesn't make you feel lobotomized.

Honestly, I'm to the point anymore where I'm halfway in your corner if you can just say what's bugging you without screaming or starting to cry. The right has turned into the left, all emotion and no brains, just angry, scared, and making everything about everything all the time, which is a classic liberal mistake.

For example, the anti-war protests. You're against the war? Great, march make signs, show the colors. But when the left turns out, PETA shows up, NORML is there, Greenpeace blows in, looking to roll severely obese marchers back into the nearest body of water.

But the right has guzzled down that particular gallon of left-wing stupid. These people who showed up in DC Saturday were angry about health care, that Obama is African, that we have officials called Czars, higher taxes, that Obama is a Muslim, ACORN, the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, to support Joe Wilson, a civilian corps of volunteers to do work in the US, the new combo philosophy of Communist Fascism, that Jesus isn't president, Barney Frank, to take the country back, mandatory abortions for all females over 11, that the country has been mostly destroyed, that "Barack Obama" means "anti-christ" in Hebrew, and just dozens of other really sensible, well-thought out reasons to be upset without needing to admit that the president is colored and that ain't America.

I know that this isn't all about racism, there are legitimate political and philosophical reasons to dislike what the president is doing. But most of this is about racism.

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posted at 3:25 PM

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Thursday, April 16, 2009
I Know What You Are

I don't think in my entire life, I've used or heard the word "teabagging" as much as I have in the past week. It's nice to be given the excuse to be excruciatingly vulgar, and no one is allowed to reprimand you by doing anything more serious than rolling their eyes.

I refer to the nationwide "grass roots" tax revolt that weird conservative groups orchestrated this week. All over the country, well-planned and spontaneous outrage broke out all over the land, as people, mostly over 55, judging by the video, complained that they are being taxed to death.

Oddly enough, 95% of Americans received a tax cut on their pay starting at the beginning of the month. 95% of us! Basically, anyone earning less than 250k a year now has more cash than they did a few weeks ago. Anyone believe that the majority of these huckleberries waving signs this week are making that kind of cake? Me either.

So, what the hell is going on? Is it just politics? The beloved W is gone, and now we have some lib'rul, excuse me, Socialist/Marxist in charge? Is that it? I think it's kind of pathetic to muster up outrage over crass party politics, especially while the object of your ire is making your life incrementally better. But that's your right.

I have, over the past several years, tried to understand why people who have no assets rail against the Estate Tax, which only impacts assets north of 10 million dollars. They believe the lie of trickle-down economics, that if we only make the super-rich super richer, they will suddenly get all lovey-dovey toward the rest of us, who were too stupid to be born into money, or who have failed to make ten million on our own.

You're an economic Uncle Tom, defending your masters, while they own your ass, lock, stock and barrel. How can you be house slave even after you've lost your house? But that's still not what this is about.

As much as I hate to say it, because it's been said so often for so long, that it's nearly become meaningless, this is about racism.

When did deficits become bad? When did America start careening down the wrong path? This is about a relatively small percentage of people who are outraged that the land that Jesus himself reserved for them started being run by one of the mud people.

"We're losing everything, man!" come the cries from former tough guys, now reduced to tears by the notion of a person not born rich or white has managed to become President. They gave Clinton the same crap for being highly-aspiring white trash, but at least the trash he was had the proper shading to it.

There are currently more than half-a-dozen state legislatures in this country currently mulling over bills declaring "sovereignty." Texas governor Rick Perry crawled right up to the edge of calling for Texas to secede from the US over the budget and stimulus packages that have been passed. He's still taking the money, of course. He sort of has to, he's a fucking hypocrite.

So now it's treason for you poor sons-of-bitches, you're ready to quit the country because the president's dad was black. I'd say good riddance, but I like that we have 50 states; it's a nice round number and easy to remember. Y'all need to stop being such emotional drama queens, take two steps back, and think for one minute who is actually responsible for this sorry state of affairs.

And by all means, keep on teabaggin'. I'm just glad the British never taxed the holes in corn.

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posted at 8:41 PM

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Lousy, privileged black men

Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Geraldine Ferraro made the following observation today:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Man, it just burns me up how easy black men have it in this country. What could be luckier than being a black male in America? I mean, just knowing you're going to earn less than your white counterparts has to make things easier. No capital gains headaches for these guys, no sir. And I'll bet waking up each day knowing that you have a one in three chance of being imprisoned is probably true piece of mind as increasing numbers of Americans lose their homes to predatory lenders and utter stupidity. Nothing like a cot in the state pen to fall back on in tough financial times. Ferraro went on:

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”

Hell, all a black man like Barack Obama has to do in order to be elected president these days is just hang around and wait.


Now, I know Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't send Geraldine Ferraro out to say this today, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to divorce themselves from her, or what she said. This is how it's going to be. It's an ugly brand of politics this season, and the Republicans haven't even weighed in yet.

It'll get far worse, and in ways you haven't even imagined.

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posted at 6:45 PM

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Sunday, November 11, 2007
DNA

A very interesting read in the Sunday New York Times, an article about the ethical concerns over the continuing decoding of the very stuff that makes us who we are.

It's probably been over a decade since I first recall hearing about the possible prejudicial misuse of a person's DNA, in this case, having to do with medical records and insurance. If a person had a genetic scan, and was determined to have a high likelihood of developing brain cancer, diabetes, or some other ailment, then what was to stop insurance companies from denying a person coverage based on the almost certain knowledge that the poor bastard would ask for care some day?

This would be an almost uniquely American problem, I have come to understand, knowing now that all other industrialized countries have removed the middleman/vultures from the equation.

But the focus of the Times article focused on an older, more deep-seated way that the better understood nature of genetics could be misused: To reinforce racial stereotypes.

We are, all of us, very nearly identical genetically. 99% is pretty damned similar, and yet, in the remainder, there are differences worth noting. They are visible under a microscope, and quite obviously, visible to the naked eye. Most of us aren't at all burdened by the superficial, cosmetic variations, but there are already some interesting things being noted.

For example, it has been observed that there is a genetic marker in those of Asian descent that causes those persons to sweat less that those of African or European lineage. It's kind of interesting, and I can only assume that there is a sensible climactic reason for why this should be. Some people of West African descent have been noted to be far more resistant to certain diseases than people whose ancestry lies elsewhere. I'm sure as time goes on and science progresses, we will find out about many more racial idiosyncrasies, some merely odd, and perhaps some that won't be too popular.

At this early stage of the science, there has already been some indicators of differences in the IQs of persons with different ancestry. Again, all of this is speculative, and dealing in averages. Further study may disprove this entirely. But what if it doesn't?

What if it turns out that the average IQ of a person of African descent is (let's say) five points lower than those of Asian and European ancestry? And I'm talking about proven beyond a reasonable doubt. What will we do with this information? Will scientists be pressured to bury the findings because we are taught to believe that we are all created equal, and no one wants proof of an actual tangible difference?

I'm sure your various racist and white supremacist groups would suddenly embrace science en masse just to get the maximum value from a finding like this. Of course, the fact that the Klan and Fred Phelps' church exist at all is a pretty fair argument against white superiority, but I'm sure they'd miss the point.

And if this IQ difference was proven true, in the real world, would it matter? Five points isn't much, really. But what if it was ten points, or twenty-five? I can't imagine that there would be any way to prevent a finding like that from having an enormous impact on society at large. I mean, no one wants to hear proof that they might be inferior.

But again, if the science is good, you can't simply pretend that it isn't. The article quotes a Neonatologist named Perry Clark as saying, “To say that such differences aren’t real is to stick your head in the sand and go blah blah blah blah blah until the band marches by. When was the last time a nonblack sprinter won the Olympic 100 meters?”

So, that last bit talks about a physical difference that may be true, and it may be merely anecdotal. I watch sports, so I've heard various theories about why certain groups seem to excel in certain sports or events. But OK, why in the past 30 years hasn't the fastest man in the world in the 100 meters been anything other than a man of African ancestry, no matter how many generations removed? If there is a genetic difference, and one that becomes more marked at the highest levels of athletics, is that a problem?

I don't sense that it is. I don't think people of European or Asian ancestry begrudge this "advantage" that descendants of Africans hold. I imagine I might find it annoying if everyone assumed I was good at basketball just because I was black, but I'm quite positive I wouldn't appreciate scientific proof that I was, on average, mentally inferior to whites and Asians.

Again, the jury is still a long way from being in where this science is concerned. I don't think you can squelch science just because you don't like the results, unless, of course, you're in the Bush White House. But for those of us that value the scientific method, and for truth to be proven out, where would this kind of knowledge leave our society, one that is already so utterly consumed by race?

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posted at 10:24 PM

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