Society is falling apart

Be polite

I don't call my boss by his first name. I call him by his title as a sign of respect for what he has accomplished. I call cops "officer," and judges "your honor." I call my elders Mister or Ma'am. I show respect to my subordinates and my peers and colleagues. I also expect people like police officers, judges, and strangers to use such honorifics as "sir" and "mister" when they are talking to me. My proper name is reserved for friends, family, and those others that are socially permitted to (my boss and colleagues for example).

I was pulled over. I obeyed the signal and pulled to the side of the road safely. I removed the key from the ignition and kept my hands on the wheel as the officer approached. I understand that they have rough job sometimes. I wanted to respect that. After checking my license and whatever else they do back in their car he returned and handed me my license. He called me by my first name and notified me that I needed to change my license over. I said "okay" but I corrected him on his excessive familiarity. We are not friends or he would not have pulled me over. No ticket by the way. He is a public employee and I respect that. That is why I called him "officer." I expect the same in return.

To all the sad little hippy people out there that think that showing respect to others is an elitist trap, go to hell. To all the women out there that get offended when I give up my seat on the bus or hold a door open for them, go to hell. I will keep doing it because it is right. Manners is the oil that keeps the social machine going.

On that note: Men and women are different. No law will ever change that. That does not mean that a women who is qualified cannot hold any job that a similarly qualified man can hold. No modified standards though. If you want to be in the military you should have to climb the same wall in the same manner as the men. The same kind of pushups and no special standards for females at all. They should however take all the market will handle. When a man opens a door for you just say "thank you." It isn't a statement on your capability, you may however secretly think that you can't compete unless you complain about the fact that men and women are different.

Dress for the occasion/Uniform of the day: Show respect by dressing for where you will be. Flip flops are rarely acceptable. I know some remarkable ladies that are involved in the sport Roller Derby. On the track they dress in the team uniform. At work they dress as their job requires. I know a nurse, a soldier, a librarian (which is hot by itself), and a dental hygienist. They dress for their jobs. I have also seen them at social functions. They dress as the beautiful ladies that they are enjoying a night out. In no outfit, uniform, or clothing are they less the strong, powerful women that they are.

I work with some rather remarkable women. They dress the occasion and the purpose. I have also seen them off duty and they dress appropriately for where they are. No change of clothes changes the powerful intellects that they have. My wife can go from t-shirt, jeans, and these hiking boots that I hate to a suit without changing who she is or the fact that she is a capable and intelligent woman. What do all of these have in common? The clothes don't make the person but they show respect and practicality for the situation in which they are.

Men, don't think that you are off the hook. A jacket and tie, learn to tie it right. Tuxedos are sometimes appropriate, do them right. Try to shave on a semi-regular basis at least and if you are beard guy try not to look like Ted Kacynski.

Don't over do it, just do it. Be polite and be sincere about it. Dress for the occasion. No, nobody is trying to hold you down.

Society, all of us dealing with each other, requires manners. Use them or lose the society. Drum circles won't solve that either.

. . . and why do art shows stink?

Bullies

Read the whole thing before running off and crying

To all the kids that are being bullied:

First, stand up for yourself. Get into a boxing club or something. Fight back. They have no right to put hands on you. Get tough, get a good sturdy pair of boots and kick the bully in the piss pump. After you have done that don't expect and after school special where the bully then becomes your best friend. Expect him instead to come back for revenge. The bully is a scumbag who delights in causing pain and fear. Make it not worth his while.

To all the parents:

It is your fault. It is the fault of the parents of the bully because they taught him that it was okay to do what he does. It is the fault of the parents of the kid who is being bullied because you raised a kid who looks like a good victim. It isn't your "little baby." It is a small person who will one day be an adult. Make him strong.

To the schools:

It is your fault. When parents place their child with you for the duration of the school day (bully and bullied) you take on certain responsibilities. Those responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the health and welfare of those children. We all know that the school knows what is going on. The teachers know because they see it. The rest of the school staff and adminstration know. They just don't do anything. They fail in their job as responsible adults. When a child who may be small, weak, and afraid comes to believe that he will be tortured and humiliated everyday at school that child will eventually strike back. He may strike back violently and with a certain degree of overkill. If a student is injured or worse when the bullied strikes back it is the fault of the school. They failed. The parents failed.

Internet bullies? What the hell are those kids even doing with a cell phone? Are they all Doogie Houser and need to be in surgery right away? Close their facebook page or require that you get to monitor it directly. Control their internet use. Be an absolute dictator if you have to. Kids won't learn what they need to if you don't teach them.

http://momshomeroom.msn.com/videos/7/262/?WT.mc_id=msn&from=en-us_msnhp

This link leads to a load of crap. The whole bully situation won't go away until McFly slugs the bully or adults actually do their job. I put my money of the bullied slugging the bully because the adults that run our schools and the political stooges who are their bosses are too scared to do their job.

Children are not naturally good. They are savage little animals that need committed adults to instill in their savage minds a moral sense.

I am open to other ideas on this but all is see is failures.

To the parents and teachers that think I am too harsh. I used to be a corrections officer. I have seen where your little darlings could be going. It comes from a sense of entitlement because they were never taught social virtue. They were led to believe that life would give them what they want because they have never had to struggle.

I pity them the poverty of their wealth.

Time for the TRUTH

I hear Tea Party people (both the real deal and the version used by the GOP) complaining about how the gummint is not following the Constitution. I hear Occupy Wall Street complain because the sand is far too gritty in their vaginas. I hear several people complain about one of our troops gunning down some punk in Iraq. What I don't hear is anyone talking about the absolute failure of the American people. The absolute failure because "We The People" are far too comfortable to care about TBI, PTSD, and death. Absolute failure because "We The People" are too cowardly to hold our government accountable to legally constrain them.

We couldn't possibly require our government to follow the Constitution, it is only a piece of paper afterall, because then other people might be able to live in a manner that we don't approve of. We couldn't hold them responsible because all of us decent folk couldn't make sure that "dem dere queers don't get married" or some other equally stupid problem that distracts you from what you should be doing.

Fortunately, politics are boring and you shouldn't have to know anything about anything before you go to the poll and ram your political cock down the throats of the minority opinions. What happens in the next decade, you will complain about that too, is exactly what you have been begging for. Lub up and enjoy.

Where does innovation come from?

There has been a lot of useless chatter from the pundits and the various GOP candidates and the President of the United States about what makes America work. Too bad they never paid attention.

Innovation of any type is a threat to the status quo. This means that the very rich and their political buddies have a vested interest in making sure that there is no innovation. Innovation could threaten the biggest campaign donations. Innovation could hurt a union.

Innovation could hurt the poor because their un-skilled jobs can be eliminated. They have a vested interest in making sure that innovation does not happen.

It sounds like innovation is a terrible thing until we consider "germ theory" and the host of other matters that have made our lives better. Standard Oil stopped whaling because kerosene became cheaper than whale oil. That's right folks, Standard Oil, those evil capitalist saved the whales when no whimp hippy could and they did it by coming up with an alternative. Yup, innovation. A human mind made it happen without having to pass laws and buy politicians.

What should we learn from this? Quit begging your "enlightened leaders" no matter how "intellectual" they may seem to save you. Get to work. If you want solar power of whatever hippy crap you want, make it happen. That means you may have to learn math. Math is just one of those tools that the man uses to keep you down. Learn something punks. Make the difference and quit asking your government to do it for you. Nut up or shut up.

"Whaaaa! There are troops in Iraq." Make it clear that they have to come home. The sovereignty of government rests with The People (bless their black, flabby, greedy hearts). "Whaa, I have to pay my student loans." Tough shit. Life is hard. Get a job and pay them off. "Whaa, somebody hurt my feelings" because he said "nigger" or "spic" or "fag" or "kyke" or "camel jockey." You don't have a right to not be offended. Seriously, if you are not offended you are not paying attention.

I mention this because the people that make things happen step up and take care of business. They don't cry or take Solyndra loans. They make it happen. That is what I want to see out of my countrymen. Make change happen, convince me to come along. Don't appeal to my better nature. I don't really have one. Appeal to my gross self-interest. Appeal to my sense of integrity and honor. Convince me that your way is better.

. . . by the way, you won't get me to support amnesty for illegals by tugging on my heart strings. I lost my tear ducts in the war. I used to be a six foot tall black Marine. Now I am a skinny, dirty white boy with remarkable skills of oratory. Speak to my belief in a nation of laws instead of nation of bruised vaginas.

The Troops

I come from a military family meaning that many of my kith and kin have served in our nation's armed forces. Even my momma wore combat boots. Many of my friends have as well. Now President Obama has determined that the troops are coming home by the end of the year. That is good news. Thank you Mr. President. Too much of our troops' blood has been spent on someone else's war. I don't mourn the death of Saddam Hussein, I was glad to see him go. I am also glad to see Qaddafi go (I wish that we had got him back in the Reagan administration).

This is not a political question. It is a philosophical question. Is it proper to spend American lives for someone else's war? No and hell no. Whatever the politics and economics are "people are not potatos." Our troops are not pieces to be moved around a board and sacrificed without damn good reason. They are living, thinking human beings and American citizens that have "placed their fragile bodies between the desolation of war and the comforts of home." They should be respected and supported. The best way to support them is for We The People to require our government to issue a declaration of war so that the entire economy can be placed in the service of supporting our troops and they will not have to walk into that vile sandbox without the proper weapons and armor. We do go to war with the army that we have. Too bad we aren't at war. "War" is not a feeling or a soundbite. It is a legal action by the Congress of the United States of America. When this happens, and it hasn't happened in a long time, the country goes to work and takes care of business. We The People failed our troops by allowing our Congress and our Executive to prosecute a military action without the full backing of the United States government and economy. 10 years? Seriously people. We whipped the Empire of Japan and the Nazis in less time. This is the most powerful military machine on the planet that we are talking about. Do you really think that its total power would take more than a weekend to mop up Afghanistan and Iraq, and any of their neighbors that wanted to get in on it?

No, are troops were slaughtered and sacrificed for political expediency. Where were you? I hope that you were not part of the unwashed masses beating on a drum on the street in Santa Cruz, California. That accomplished nothing. I hope that you were pressuring your government to act in a legal manner. Doesn't seem like many of us were, now we want to complain.

We now have troops in Uganda and Gawd knows were else. Yet the silence is defeaning.

Typical Machete Fight

A short while back I TA'd for a philosophy course. During one of the garden path discussions (which was the custom in those days) we began to talk about violence (the sweet, sweet violence). One of the students was a young lady who was an immigrant from Cuba. She was under the impression that the United States was far more violent than Cuba. This is all about perception. She watched the news and heard the worst excesses of the several criminals and thugs that we have in this country. She had an idea of the United States as being a violent place because she had heard about shootings and other assorted madness.

She did say that in Cuba they would have their "typical machete fight" but nothing like what is going on in the United States. I have a couple of questions. First, what is an atypical machete fight? That would be worth seeing. Who would waste their valuable time with a typical machete fight? It is the atypical machete fight that I want to see. Second, who the hell has typical machete fights? That is just crazy.

Perception of events shapes our thinking on the environment. When you have a "typical machete fight" it does not have an effect on you. It is things outside of your norm that cause problems. Apply this to politics. Would we see an atypical politician as "crazy?" Too far outside the norm and we can't seem to deal with it or fit it into our cognitive frame. Maybe we should think more and evangelize less?

What the hell

So Jesse Jackson Jr. wants the President of the United States to "take extraordinary constitutional" actions because "the Congress is in rebellion" against the United States. The Congress of the United States voted against the so-called jobs bill proposed by President Obama. The President was upset by Jackson wants the President to take "extra-constitutional opportunities." As a Congressman, Jesse Jackson Jr. has taken an oath to defend the Constitution. So who is rebellion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICeGjDObsMw&feature=related

Occupy Wall Street. Okay, what is that they are protesting exactly? Other than wanting to kill people, they want investigations and prosecutions of those criminals on Wall Street that were, in part, responsible for the state of our economy. No word is mentioned about policies that encouraged and permitted those excesses.

They want, at least some of them do, laws that state that a corporation is not a "person." I can agree with that. People die, in about 75 years. They go to prison for breaking laws and being found guilty.

Taxes, just to make sure that the bad rich people and evil corporations pay their fair share. Isn't it about 50% of citizens that actually pay taxes? I do think everyone, and I do mean everyone, should pay their fair share. This includes the poor. "If you want to be a crook in my town you have to pay for the privilege."

More Demands:

"Living wage." Get rid of the near slave labor conditions of illegal aliens, get rid of government enhanced housing bubbles along with regulations that prohibit growth prices could come down and it would be reasonable then to pay an unskilled person what they are worth. Also, America is for Americans. Not the Chinese or Mexico or any other nation. We have to tend our own hearth before we continue giving money (foreign aid) to China who in turn loans it back to us.

"Universal health care." Show me how to do it without theft and I am all ears.

"Free college education." There are too many people going to college anyway. It should be harder to get in. Of course skilled trade jobs should pay well. Unskilled is just unskilled.

"Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment." So they are asking to be paid to not do anything. Of course those that are being paid to protest are getting paid, so what is the problem for them?

"Open borders migration, anyone can travel anywhere to work and live." All I can say to this is damn you folks are ignorant.

"Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all." Does that include rich people's debts? What of the people that made the loans, are they going to get bailed out when they lose their shirts?

I wish that I could make stuff like this up.

Now on taxes. There are too many taxes as is. It would be nice if we had a tax structure in which everyone paid. A certain percentage perhaps, maybe 5%. If the bloated federal government can't live on that they can start with reducing their own salaries and staff. They can fire a bunch of folks like the entire ATF and DEA. Legalize marijuana.

Marijuana should only be legal for industrial, medical, and entertainment purposes. Any other reason is just stupid. Legalize it, take a bunch of money out of the pockets of crooks and murderers. Legalize it, and add a very large sum of money to federal and state coffers. Legalize it and reduce the remarkable size and cost of our federal and state prison systems. Legalize it so that our police forces can concentrate on things that matter like murder, theft, arson, and a host of other violent crimes against persons and property that they would rather cover anyway.

Legalize it for the moral reason that no person or government has the right to tell a person what they can and cannot do to their own body. While we are at it. Legalize prostitution. Giving someone an orgasm is not a crime. Hell, if you turn the camera on then it isn't prostitution, it is pornography.

Can anyone really stand this tripe that is being fed to us? Your masters in D.C. seem to think that they are nowhere near the amount of tripe that you should be fed.