Archive for the ‘Corrupted Culture’ Category
Latest Pajama’s Media Article: Pointy-Toed Shoes
Monday, December 22nd, 2008Hey guys, you got the story first, but a more expanded version of the Men In Pointy-Toed Shoes article is here (with an indictment of Santa’s femininity, too!). It went up two days ago, but I’ve been out of the flow.
The Sky Isn’t Falling Quite Yet
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008So I put up a link that makes it seem like the United States is bankrupt–like bankrupt now. Turns out that the data The DC Examiner reported on is manipulated and essentially crap:
The United States of America is bankrupt. Don’t believe it? Consider this: Federal obligations now exceed the collective net worth of all Americans, according to the New York-based Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Washington politicians and bureaucrats have essentially mortgaged everything We the People own so they can keep spending our tax dollars like there’s no tomorrow.
The foundation’s grim calculations are based on Sept. 30 consolidated federal statements, which showed that Americans’ total household net worth, diminished by falling stock prices and home equity, is $56.5 trillion. But rising costs for unfunded social programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security increased to $56.4 trillion – and that was before the more recent stock market crash, $700 billion bank bailout, and monster federal deficits chalked up in October and November.
“Given more recent developments, it’s clear that America now owes more than its citizens are worth,” said Foundation president David M. Walker, the former Comptroller-General of the United States who has been trying to warn Americans of the coming financial tsunami for years, to no avail. So, after Uncle Sam bails out bankers, Wall Street gamblers, carmakers and over-their-head homeowners, who’ll bail out Uncle Sam?
They palmed a card, actually two cards: the first one is they’re using household net worth … but that leaves out corporate net worth, so they’re ignoring, eg, Exxon. The second is that they’re comparing future obligations to pay with current assets, so it’s like saying you’re “bankrupt” because the total of your expected future living expenses exceeds your net worth.
I wrote about the same comparison in PJM early in the year — can’t link it usefully, PJM has hosed something — making the correct comparison of total US assets per person versus total US obligations per person, and it was about $300K assets vs $160K obligations, or over the whole population, about $90 trillion versus $48 trillion. Most of that wealth is real stuff — land, houses, factories, etc — and hasn’t gone away in the last year.
You know, things are bad enough right now. Much of the economic stall these days is because companies are just sitting and holding. That is, they aren’t taking risks to grow, expand and innovate because they don’t want their cash tied up if the whole shebang is going to implode. Well, it starts to become a self fulfilling prophecy.
There is no question that people have lived beyond their means and some have gone so far that they can’t get it back. It is going to take some time to correct this cultural problem. People are going to have to cut back and pay off debt.
There is no question that the banking industry and the people on Wall Street played with funny money and in some cases outright defrauded people. It is important to remember that stocks and funds are only as good as the businesses they back and the people who are in those businesses. The pressure to perform and profit at all costs creates an environment ripe for fraud.
Even with these problems, it does not help the economy or the American psyche to find problems where there aren’t any. This behavior causes more problems and its irresponsible.
Cross-posted at Right Wing News
Defending Evil
Saturday, December 13th, 2008In a post-modern world where no one is right and no one is wrong, it doesn’t surprise me that the Smarty Pants Set defend evil doers (via Dr. Helen) over those the evil doers harm. To condemn evil action would be to discriminate against something, and for a leftist it’s the discriminating that’s the crime. Crime happens theoretically, externally and as a result of another injustice that is no fault of the evil doer. S/he the victim too. We’re all victims!
Tigerhawk says this:
While this is no doubt true to a certain extent, it is far from the entire story. There has been an intellectual class for thousands of years. Sympathy with criminals has been one of its touchstone issues only for a couple of generations (which is why the song “Gee, Officer Krupke” was so funny). Why the change? I think it is because it has recently (as in the last 60 years) become popular among intellectuals to identify social rather than individual causes for pathology. If poor people, unwed mothers, and drug abusers are the victims of social conditions rather than of their own poor individual choices, then it must also be true that muggers, rapists, and stick-up men are victims, too. Either way, this thinking goes, it is society that causes the problem. Well, if that is true then calling for more individual “responsibility” will not do a damned thing. Social problems call for social — meaning statist — solutions. It is all very convenient for people who want government even more involved in the lives of Americans.
It’s a win-win. Evil is good. Societal solutions are key. Government grows. It’s a socialists paradise and excuse for the intellectuals to control you, the average victim.
Men In Pointy Toed Shoes
Monday, December 8th, 2008Being in the fashion center of the universe (well outside of Paris), I observed a couple things: New York women wore scant make-up and hauteur in equal measure. And they wonder why they are single? Ladies, if you’re over 30, you need a little help. Black continues to be THE color in New York. Anyone wearing a pastel is viewed with suspicion. Finally, some, not all, men are wearing pointy shoes.
Like wide ties, curly perms, and powder blue tuxedos, pointy shoes are going to fall into the category of what-the-hell-were-we-thinking? Watching a grown man trip down the sidewalk in court-jester shoes made me giggle. And these style mavens were soooo serious, dahling. Just to clarify, I’m not talking shoes like this, these dress shoes are part of the sartorial arsenal of boring professional men everywhere. No, I’m talking about this and ew, these.
Have men become a nation of effeminate elves? The shoes curl up at the point. It’s embarrassing for women to wear those sorts of shoes. On men, it takes all of the fore-brain evolution to suppress the primal urge to laugh and point.
Ir you’re a stylish guy, fine. Still, you risk derision if you become a slave to fashion that is patently ridiculous (pardon the pun). And another thing, most men have wide, serviceable feet. (They also have legs, which, according to Ann Althouse, should be covered. Me? I like a nice turn of the calf, but at a certain age, the legs need to be covered, always.) Wide feet and pointy shoes don’t mix. Why even try?
Even if you look like James Dean, pointy toed shoes on a man scream sissy. Stop the madness men. And don’t get me started on eye-liner-wearing men. Help us all! We’ve become a nation of vacuous, pubescent girls.
Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com
China’s One Child Policy
Monday, December 1st, 2008China’s One Child Policy
This will harm them in the end.
UPDATED:
I’m transferring this over to an actual post because it’s important. Here is what Strategy Page says:
The unprecedented transfer of wealth roughly from West to East now under way will continue for the foreseeable future. But beyond 2025, Russia and China face some serious demographic problems. China’s “one child” policy (to halt population growth), and the unanticipated appearance of cheap sonograms (enabling parents to determine the gender of their child while there was still time for an abortion) has caused an imbalance in the gender ratio.
There are now 115 boys for every 100 girls. Young men are having a problem finding wives. Wealthier urban males attract more women from the rural areas (where 70 percent of Chinese still live), leaving a lot of lonely, poor and angry young men in the countryside. The smaller generations means that the proportion of elderly (made wealthier and healthier by the booming economy) is skyrocketing, while the workforce is shrinking.
Both these trends are bad, and will have negative social and economic impacts. India has the same gender imbalance problem, but a growing population that contains a higher proportion of poor people than in China. Not good.
I have blogged about this before here and here and here and here. And I will repeat: Where are the feminists? Girls are the ones being aborted. Abortion is being used to kill the less desired gender. The feminists’ silence is deafening.
Vermont Loves The Little Sex Offenders–UPDATED
Monday, December 1st, 2008Remember those freaks who killed their step-daughter and niece and who ran a sex ring in Vermont because of their fuzzy rehabilitation programs? Yeah, well, the state policy still sticks in my craw. And here’s why:
A sex offender whose lenient sentence for molesting a child led to a crackdown on punishment for sexual predators in Vermont will likely be released from prison next month, state corrections officials say.
Mark Hulett is due for release Jan. 2, but will remain under the state Corrections Department’s supervision for life and could return to prison if he commits another offense or violates conditions of his release.
Judge Edward Cashman was criticized by lawmakers and Gov. Jim Douglas when he sentenced Hulett, then 34, to 60 days for sexually assaulting the daughter of a family friend numerous times during a four-year period beginning when she was 6.
Protect the weak and defenseless. I don’t want this guy “rehabilitated”. I want him in prison for life. Does that seem excessive? Well, the girl he molested will have to live with this forever. He should, too.
UPDATED:
And in the other corner, we have normal kids having sex, tried and then labeled as sex offenders. This is ridiculous and makes me hate the legislators who come up with this garbage.
NO WISDOM AT ALL.
eHarmony Forced To Couple Gays
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Michelle Malkin reports:
So, this is “progress?” eHarmony, a Christian-targeted dating website, gets sued by a gay man demanding that the business match him up with a same-sex partner. The New Jersey Attorney General intervenes on behalf of the gay plaintiff and forces eHarmony to change its entire business model. To be clear: The company never refused to do business with anyone. Their great “sin” was not providing a specialized service that litigious gay people demanded they provide. This case is akin to a meat-eater suing a vegetarian restaurant for not offering him a ribeye or a female patient suing a vasectomy doctor for not providing her hysterectomy services. Sadly, eHarmony has settled . I wish they hadn’t, but I understand the decision given the chilling antics of the anti-Prop. 8 mob. The company agreed not only to offer same-sex dating services on a new site, but also to offer six-month subscriptions for free to 10,000 gay users.
The solution to these lawsuits is simple: Start going after every “Rainbow” (aka monochromatic) coalition and force diversity. Gay resort? Sue ‘em. Gay only hotel? Sue ‘em. Gay porn website? Sue ‘em. If they don’t have services, you know soft-focused Christian interludes, spas, hotels, etc., they’re not being diverse.
GayPatriot says:
Will the attempt of the gay activists to impose equality through the courts never cease?
Not content with the numerous websites offering to match him with a male partner, a gay New Jersey man sued eHarmony, a dating service catering to Christians, because it would not match him with a male partner.
I guess maybe I should sue to make sure they provide services for Jews. And while I’m at it, maybe we’ll have a Christian sue Jdate, “The Leading Jewish Singles Network.”
This is nothing more than a nuisance lawsuit. He just felt hurt because a website offered dating services for heterosexuals, but not for him. His plea for equality has succeeded. With the help of the New Jersey Attorney General, he forced eHarmony to settle.* It will now offer a companion site for same-sex matches.
eHarmony has now lost its freedom to offer the kind of dating services its founder wished to provide. Commenting on a similar suit well over a year ago, I wrote:
The issue here is freedom. It’s a shame that in their zeal to root out all discrimination (or perceived discrimination), some gay activists seek to undermine the freedom of others. Their freedom to speak as they will, to associate with whom they choose and to seek romance with the types of people with whom they hope to find intimacy.
Just as eHarmony should be free to focus on heterosexual romance, so should gay.com be free to promote gay relationships.
These kind of suits make my blood boil. Ditto for women who want access to certain sorts of men’s clubs. People should be able to form groups based on any diverse characteristic they want. It’s called FREEDOM. It may not be politically correct. It may be a stupid group. But that’s what freedom is all about–you’re as free to be an idiot as you are to be smart. It’s up to you. Well, it should be.
Cross-posted at Right Wing News and The Houston Chronicle
Justice: Disabled Dude Barred From….Suing
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008Using the Americans with Disabilities Act to extort businesses, this guy is told he can no longer sue:
Whether Jarek Molski is a crusader for the disabled or an extortionist who abused the law for personal gain, the vexatious litigant has filed his last lawsuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Molski vs. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., owner of a Chinese restaurant in Solvang, Calif., in a legal Waterloo for the 38-year-old Woodland Hills man. Molski filed more than 400 suits under the Americans With Disabilities Act before a federal judge barred him from future litigation.
In a highly unusual action in 2004, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie, who has since died, branded Molski a “hit-and-run plaintiff,” accusing him of systematic extortion of businesses across California.
Molski, who has used a wheelchair since a motorcycle accident two decades ago, sued restaurants, bowling alleys, wineries and other retail outlets for insufficient handicapped parking, misplaced handrails and other violations of the disabilities act, demanding that business owners be fined $4,000 for every day their facilities failed to meet exacting federal standards.
Fear of adverse judgments compelled many to settle out of court, earning the Polish-born plaintiff hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than two years.
Jerk. He should have to give the money back, too.
Don’t Tell Me The Media Isn’t Biased. Just. Don’t.
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008How do Republicans have an ice-cubes chance in hades when the media creates voters like this via Moonbattery:
See this isn’t the voters fault. They’re just parroting what the press told them. It is the press’ unrelenting, vicious, intentional, biased pap that passes for journalism these days. In a sound-bite culture, the media creates the narrative and the narrative NEVER favors the conservative ideology. Ever.
John Ziegler of How Obama Got Elected says:
Because obviously interviewing a relative handful of Obama voters, while interesting, is hardly scientific proof of anything, we also commissioned a Zogby telephone poll which asked the very same questions (as well as a few others) with similarly amazing results.
Zogby Poll
512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points
97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates
Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions
57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
81.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).
And yet…..
Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!
Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we “gave” one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)
Comforting, isn’t it? The average voter is completely ignorant and the media is why.
UPDATED:
Zogby takes on the “push poll” rumors.
Another Case of Stupidness–Thankfully No One Is Responsible
Monday, November 17th, 2008A young man’s irresponsible bravado nearly cost a young girl her life Saturday afternoon.
The 16-year-old girl was mauled by a cougar and rushed to the hospital after she and 21-year-old Anthony Zitnick illegally entered a wildlife collector’s home about 1:30 p.m. Neighbors believe Zitnick was trying to impress the younger girl.
*****
Richard Miralles, a neighbor familiar with Rigerman’s large cats, heard the girl’s piercing scream from next door.‘I heard her scream, `I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,’ ” he said, hours after paramedics had left.
Miralles said he immediately dropped what he was doing, jumped his six-foot fence, and barged into Rigerman’s back room — only to find the girl pinned beneath Chaos, her head in his mouth and his large declawed paw on her face. Zitnick was standing nearby in shock, Miralles said.
At first, Miralles said, he tried to push Chaos off, but he wouldn’t budge. He then resorted to punching and kicking the cougar, who quickly balled up in a corner, he said.
Miralles then picked up the girl, who was bleeding profusely from her head and thigh, and ran outside to wait for an ambulance.
This guy was an idiot. The girl was dumb for following him. But you know who are complete morons? The commenters who are saying that people shouldn’t have animals like this at home.
How about a person should break into someone’s house? How about not breaking the law? The cat owner followed the rules. The 21 year old man broke and entered and it’s too bad HE wasn’t the one attacked. Instead he stood there while his girlfriend was mauled. Throw the book at him, I say.
It is called personal responsibility, people. See this? See why our culture is on a one-way high-speed trip to oblivion? People who buy too much house aren’t responsible. Banks who loan money to stupid people aren’t responsible. Money men trying to make a quick buck aren’t responsible. Union leaders who push for low productivity expectations coupled with huge benefits and wages aren’t responsible. Automobile executives who have horrible business practices aren’t responsible. Big business isn’t responsible. Parents who let their kids play next to the edges of mountains aren’t responsible.
No one is responsible anymore. And the few who are, are paying for the rest who aren’t. So why be responsible?
Cross-posted at Right Wing News and The Houston Chronicle
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