Cracker. Hillbillie. Hick. Redneck. Light-bread. Mayonnaise. Honky. Peckerwood.
Nigger. Spear-chucker. Mud Duck. Burr-head. Spook. Porch Monkey. Kaffer.
Spic. Wetback. Beaner. Greaser. Berry-Picker. Wetican. Po' Wiki.
Heeb. Kike. Jap. Nip. Chink. Gook. Camel Jockey. Towel Head. Hadji. Dago. Mick. Geronimo. Injun. Redskin. Kraut. Tea Bag. Frog.
Fag. Dyke.
Instead of finding ways to separate ourselves through hate, let's bring ourselves closer together through love and tolerance.
Musings From A Cigarette Smoking Man: One person's view of the insanity we call our lives.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
If you don't want the truth then don't read this.
I am just returning from Atlanta where I took part in the SkillsUSA competition; my area of expertise was extemporaneous speaking. Quite a bit happened over these past three days, and I will do my best to present the chronology of these events in a clear, lucid manner. Of course I cannot name names, so please understand that even though I may be disgruntled to some degree, this in no way keeps me from showing tact and respect to those who, at times, may not have deserved such.
It was made abundantly clear that someone in a position of authority is--by their own actions and comments--a racist. I suppose I should be used to it by now, but it still stings every time someone reveals their true nature.
The hackneyed shenanigans of the SkillsUSA officers was undone only by the blatant buffoonery of the participants. We are supposed to be a group of professionals, yet our opening ceremony resembled nothing more than immature high school antics. I was very disappointed in the officers. I was asked to be a delegate in the voting for the next set of officers (2012-2013), a station I accepted with much pride and alacrity. Prior to the new candidates' speeches I spoke with most, and as I heard their formal speeches I made my decisions based on how effectively they communicated their beliefs/desires/etc. When the speeches were over I, along with the host of other delegates, made my way to the front of the room to cast my vote. I was stopped by an advisor who held a piece of paper toward me and said, "This is who they want you to vote for." I assured this advisor that I was more than capable of making that choice on my own--was this not why I was asked to be a delegate?--and would do so accordingly. I further stated that once I turned in my ballot, I would then look at the list and inform as to who did and did not make the cut. Well, only two of the four people who were on the list found their way onto my ballot, and for that I am not sorry. As an FYI, of the five people I cast my vote for, four were elected. The fifth, some jackass who apparently studied Buffoonery 101, was the only candidate whom I did not vote for. I was really pissed with this whole voting thing because it seemed that advisors did not want the best person for the job, but the person representing their school. I have nothing to apologize for; I did what I felt was best.
I made mistakes in my speech. Mistake #1 was apparently looking at the topic and being so prepoared that I was ready to give my speech immediately after reviewing the topic. I have always been better at delivering from the hip than taking time and planning an outline, and what tripped me uip was that even though I was ready, the judges were not; I was made to wait three and a half minutes while they wrote their critique of the previous speaker (we were to take five minutes preparing a speech, but I felt I did not need this time). So as I was standing in the middle of the room waiting, my mind began to wander on what I should talk about instead of just allowing it to naturally pour from me. Big mistake. It would end up being my deathknell. I should have elaborated on the three I's, and I should have closed with a summary--both of which I would have done if I did not begin formulating that speech in the three and a half minutes of downtime. But as the signals for "3 minutes, four minutes, and five minutes" were flashed I began to race toward my conclusion. Bottom line is that I know where I messed up, and realize it cost me the gold or silver medal. I won the bronze--third place--for which I am truly grateful, because I had already decided that if I had won the gold there was no way in hell I would go to the nationals, not after the few days I had already had.
I awoke this morning around 6 a.m., packed my bags, got dressed, went downstairs and smoked a cig, and returned to my room to find my roommate had exited in my absence. I also found my watch was missing. I looked under the bed, behind the dresser, then took everything from my bags and carefully looked through them, but to no avail. I informed my instructor of this, and she in turn informed the (Wiregrass) event organizer. I was told they "would get to the bottom of it." I went to have breakfast, but cut things short because I really did not feel right about accusing my roommate; I had allowed for that one percent chance that I had overlooked something. So I returned to my room and while I was searching my roommate came in and informed me that he and I had the same watch--he showed me "his" and sure enough it was an exact replica of mine. He told me the organizer had mine, so I immediately returned downstairs to have "my" watch returned to me. I put it on and knew right away it was not mine. I took it off and looked under it to see rust and grime, which confirmed it was not mine. I turned to tell the organizer but she was nowhere in sight. I entered the hotel lobby, found my roommate, and told him to take off the watch he had on. He handed it to me, I looked under it and noticed no rust or grime, then thrust his filthy watch toward him and said, "This one is yours!" He said nothing, slowly took the watch, at which point I walked away from him. It is my contention that he had planned this all along in a feeble attempt to swap his old, grungy watch for my newer, shinier watch. I kept my effects on the corner of the dresser across from my bed. He stated he thought the watch was his, but he never could explain how "his" watch got mixed in with my pen, lighter, cigarettes, room cardkey, change, comb...you get the point. What pissed me off even more was the fact that everyone was buying into his "innocent mistake" fable. The god-damned bastard tried to steal my watch and replace it with a piece of shit. Period. He is in another department at my school, but I will be thrice-damned if I ever acknowledge his existance again.
It was not a completely awful experience. I did have perhaps the best prime rib I have ever eaten last night. Definitely well worth the $32 pricetag. Aside from that, Momocon was going on these past few days, and let me tell you that these kids put a lot into their costumes. I was able to get my picture taken with Lady Yuna and Auron, Link and Dark Link, Nightcrawler and Mystique, SS3 Goku and Broly, Harley Quinn, V (for Vendetta), Sora and Ansem, Cloud, and a ferw others I can't remember at the moment. These young adults were very polite, respectful, and accomodated everyone's request for pictures. Freaks and Geeks? Nah. They were more professional than most of my colleagues.
It was made abundantly clear that someone in a position of authority is--by their own actions and comments--a racist. I suppose I should be used to it by now, but it still stings every time someone reveals their true nature.
The hackneyed shenanigans of the SkillsUSA officers was undone only by the blatant buffoonery of the participants. We are supposed to be a group of professionals, yet our opening ceremony resembled nothing more than immature high school antics. I was very disappointed in the officers. I was asked to be a delegate in the voting for the next set of officers (2012-2013), a station I accepted with much pride and alacrity. Prior to the new candidates' speeches I spoke with most, and as I heard their formal speeches I made my decisions based on how effectively they communicated their beliefs/desires/etc. When the speeches were over I, along with the host of other delegates, made my way to the front of the room to cast my vote. I was stopped by an advisor who held a piece of paper toward me and said, "This is who they want you to vote for." I assured this advisor that I was more than capable of making that choice on my own--was this not why I was asked to be a delegate?--and would do so accordingly. I further stated that once I turned in my ballot, I would then look at the list and inform as to who did and did not make the cut. Well, only two of the four people who were on the list found their way onto my ballot, and for that I am not sorry. As an FYI, of the five people I cast my vote for, four were elected. The fifth, some jackass who apparently studied Buffoonery 101, was the only candidate whom I did not vote for. I was really pissed with this whole voting thing because it seemed that advisors did not want the best person for the job, but the person representing their school. I have nothing to apologize for; I did what I felt was best.
I made mistakes in my speech. Mistake #1 was apparently looking at the topic and being so prepoared that I was ready to give my speech immediately after reviewing the topic. I have always been better at delivering from the hip than taking time and planning an outline, and what tripped me uip was that even though I was ready, the judges were not; I was made to wait three and a half minutes while they wrote their critique of the previous speaker (we were to take five minutes preparing a speech, but I felt I did not need this time). So as I was standing in the middle of the room waiting, my mind began to wander on what I should talk about instead of just allowing it to naturally pour from me. Big mistake. It would end up being my deathknell. I should have elaborated on the three I's, and I should have closed with a summary--both of which I would have done if I did not begin formulating that speech in the three and a half minutes of downtime. But as the signals for "3 minutes, four minutes, and five minutes" were flashed I began to race toward my conclusion. Bottom line is that I know where I messed up, and realize it cost me the gold or silver medal. I won the bronze--third place--for which I am truly grateful, because I had already decided that if I had won the gold there was no way in hell I would go to the nationals, not after the few days I had already had.
I awoke this morning around 6 a.m., packed my bags, got dressed, went downstairs and smoked a cig, and returned to my room to find my roommate had exited in my absence. I also found my watch was missing. I looked under the bed, behind the dresser, then took everything from my bags and carefully looked through them, but to no avail. I informed my instructor of this, and she in turn informed the (Wiregrass) event organizer. I was told they "would get to the bottom of it." I went to have breakfast, but cut things short because I really did not feel right about accusing my roommate; I had allowed for that one percent chance that I had overlooked something. So I returned to my room and while I was searching my roommate came in and informed me that he and I had the same watch--he showed me "his" and sure enough it was an exact replica of mine. He told me the organizer had mine, so I immediately returned downstairs to have "my" watch returned to me. I put it on and knew right away it was not mine. I took it off and looked under it to see rust and grime, which confirmed it was not mine. I turned to tell the organizer but she was nowhere in sight. I entered the hotel lobby, found my roommate, and told him to take off the watch he had on. He handed it to me, I looked under it and noticed no rust or grime, then thrust his filthy watch toward him and said, "This one is yours!" He said nothing, slowly took the watch, at which point I walked away from him. It is my contention that he had planned this all along in a feeble attempt to swap his old, grungy watch for my newer, shinier watch. I kept my effects on the corner of the dresser across from my bed. He stated he thought the watch was his, but he never could explain how "his" watch got mixed in with my pen, lighter, cigarettes, room cardkey, change, comb...you get the point. What pissed me off even more was the fact that everyone was buying into his "innocent mistake" fable. The god-damned bastard tried to steal my watch and replace it with a piece of shit. Period. He is in another department at my school, but I will be thrice-damned if I ever acknowledge his existance again.
It was not a completely awful experience. I did have perhaps the best prime rib I have ever eaten last night. Definitely well worth the $32 pricetag. Aside from that, Momocon was going on these past few days, and let me tell you that these kids put a lot into their costumes. I was able to get my picture taken with Lady Yuna and Auron, Link and Dark Link, Nightcrawler and Mystique, SS3 Goku and Broly, Harley Quinn, V (for Vendetta), Sora and Ansem, Cloud, and a ferw others I can't remember at the moment. These young adults were very polite, respectful, and accomodated everyone's request for pictures. Freaks and Geeks? Nah. They were more professional than most of my colleagues.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Something to Think About
I ran across this little gem as I was cleaning off my computer desk this morning, and felt the need to share. Its author is unknown to me.
The paradox of our time in history is that we:
Have taller buildings, but shorter tempers
Wider roads, but more narrow viewpoints
Spend more, but have less
Buy more, but enjoy less
Have bigger houses, but smaller families
more conveniences, but less time
More degrees, but less sense
More medicine, but less wellness
Have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values
Talk too much, but listen too little
Love too seldom, but hate too often
Have added years to life, but not life to years
Have been to the moon, but cannot cross the street to meet a new neighbor
Have conquered outer space, but not inner peace
Have split the atom, but not prejudice
Have higher incomes, but lower morals
Have become obsessed with quantity, while dismissing quality.
These are the times of tall men, but short character
Steep profits, but shallow relationships
This is a time when there is much in the showroom, but nothing in the stockroom
A time when technology can bring you this letter, and a time when you can either choose to make a difference or allow that same technology to simply delete this message from your life.
The paradox of our time in history is that we:
Have taller buildings, but shorter tempers
Wider roads, but more narrow viewpoints
Spend more, but have less
Buy more, but enjoy less
Have bigger houses, but smaller families
more conveniences, but less time
More degrees, but less sense
More medicine, but less wellness
Have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values
Talk too much, but listen too little
Love too seldom, but hate too often
Have added years to life, but not life to years
Have been to the moon, but cannot cross the street to meet a new neighbor
Have conquered outer space, but not inner peace
Have split the atom, but not prejudice
Have higher incomes, but lower morals
Have become obsessed with quantity, while dismissing quality.
These are the times of tall men, but short character
Steep profits, but shallow relationships
This is a time when there is much in the showroom, but nothing in the stockroom
A time when technology can bring you this letter, and a time when you can either choose to make a difference or allow that same technology to simply delete this message from your life.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Political Science Discussion Board
As I sit here looking at the five choices we have for this week's discussion board I cannot help but feel they are not indicative of what truly transpires with our nation's press in the coverage of news events, at least, not in a modern context; therefore, I shall provide commentary that, hopefully, will address some--if not all--available discussion questions.
I recall watching a local news channel several years ago and as Dawn Hobby's image came into focus she greeted the audience and said, "This is the news we feel you should know at this time." After all these years this has remained engraved in my mind, and I suppose the reason is that--at least to me--it was the first time I felt I was truly encountering a form of censorship, being made to accept what was being offered instead of the myriad of other items that could have been presented; additionally, it was the emphasis she placed on "we feel". To a degree, this was covered on page 269 of our text (The American Democracy, 10th Edition) under the heading "Informing the Public, or Attracting an Audience?" sentences two, three, and four of the second paragraph. While I am sure that news stations make decisions every day on what they will or will not cover, to be told this was rather upsetting; as a result, I never again watched the news on that channel.
Though dead less than two months before I was born, Edward R. Murrow was revered by his peers for his honesty and dedication to truth. http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=murrowedwar. The same was said of Walter Cronkite http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-07-17/news/17929428_1_anchor-seat-walter-cronkite-cbs-anchor, who earned the title "The most trusted man in America." What these men brought to the news industry in general and Americans as a whole was a belief that the news was not tainted by partisanship or unfounded opinion but was pure in its delivery by its messenger. Objective press may have superseded partisan press--and let it be known that I do not agree with censorship in any form--but I believe the unbiased reporting of legitimate, newsworthy items--insofar as the arena of politics is concerned--came to an end the day the FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine. In recent history the ONLY news program that has provided a completely unbiased view of politics was Hannity and Colmes, and this is because two opposing views could be presented and debated on and leave viewers with a sense of better understanding. Meet the Press? 60 Minutes? There seems to be a liberal agenda underlying their reporting on the issues of the day, and I can certainly do without that. I am a conservative; I have let this fact be known in previous posts. This does not mean that I wholly agree with any conservative newscast or newscaster, but I am inclined to place more faith in the FOX tagline "We report, you decide" as opposed to the blatantly obvious partisanship of MSNBC. The Associated Press helps to lessen partisanship to some degree, but overall is it still prevalent in our news agencies.
I believe modern media has but two roles, not four, and those would be misdirection and sensationalism. Many people thrive on gossip while not caring one way or the other how the political landscape is progressing, unless the gossip surrounds a politico. Our text made a perfect example of this in reference to Mark Sanford's tryst, and we have but to look less than a year into our past to remember Anthony Weiner http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-anthony-weiner-picture/story?id=13774605 and his inappropriate acts. Currently we have the Limbaugh Fiasco we can look at, but if he was not a man of celebrity would this situation have gotten so far out of hand? Rush likes to state that he is right "99.9% of the time," so do we relegate this faux pas as the .1% he is wrong? Should he have said what he did? Let us look at the big picture. Sandra Fluke, a law student, was complaining that she did not have FREE ACCESS to birth control http://cnsnews.com/news/article/pelosi-fluke-s-3000-contraception-testimony-factual-despite-9-month-birth-control-pills. First of all, what is with this sense of entitlement that she feels her birth control devices/medications should be paid for by the government? Second, she quoted a price of three thousand dollars for the entirety of her stay at Georgetown. Slut? Prostitute? Anyway one chooses to look at it, that's a hell of a lot of sex going on, and since she and a partner are having this consensual sex, why do they feel it is not their obligation to pay for contraception themselves? All in all, Rush may have pushed the envelope, but not to the degree where he should have apologized--and his apology was more for his sponsors than Ms. Fluke anyway. The thing is, the liberals jumped all over this, jeering and chiding Limbaugh even as the echoes of their laughter continue to resonate every time Bill Maher calls Sarah Palin "dumb twat" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGE3G5kfzps and "cunt" http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/29/report-bill-maher-doubles-down-calls-sarah-palin-c-word/. The bottom line is that the only uniformity we see much anymore is partisanship, and the belief that the double standard should exist in favor of the drive-by media.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Prostitution: Victimless or Victimizing?
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Sunday, March 4, 2012
Further Dismantling of the English Language
It has been scratching at the back of my mind for a while, this thing I know I should have already comment on, but for one reason or another I have had other responsibilities that have taken precedence over the want to comment--the need has always been there, I assure you. What I am talking about is the continued lackadaisical use--thus complete decimation--of the English language. However wrong it may be, the practice of using non-words seems to be growing at epidemic proportions. This far exceeds Jeff Foxworthy's offering of such Southernisms as "Djeet yet" and "Yawntoo." Our society seems geared toward making words such as "nother" acceptable. I cannot tell you how many times a day I hear someone use the phrase "a whole nother" when speaking; I brought this to one person's attention and she not only flatly denied the usage, but told me I should stop nit-picking the way others choose to speak (which, in and of itself, substantiated her use of the non-word). Another disservice to our language is the proliferation of the removal of the letter "s" from contractions; I abhor contractions to begin with even though they are an acceptable part of our language, but to further destroy the word with no realization that this is being done? Think about it: Listen to the way those around you speak. "Idn't he the one who got caught cheating?" or "Wadn't I supposed to remind you of sumpthin?" Yes, I forgot about "sumpthin," just as there are more that I have forgotten about. The sad thing is that there is no hope of changing this; it has become too ingrained into our culture.
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