Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Typical White American... whatever that means.
I accidentally happened upon an article entitled "Dylann Roof Is The Typical White American". The general message in the article by africanglobe.net was that we are a fundamentally racist society and that nobody should be terribly shocked by the behavior of the psychopath asshole that walked into a church a couple weeks ago and killed a bunch of innocent people. How in the serious fuck is this convoluted garbage even close to being acceptable in a society that is supposed to be trying to end racism? Change one word in this headline and Al Sharpton's fucking head would explode. The best attorneys at the ACLU would foam at the mouth for a piece of the outlet with the audacity to publish a headline reading "The Typical Black American."
Racism is ugly and it's ignorant. Period. I'm not "offended" by this headline; I'm pissed off at the double standard. Hack publications like this one and hack media outlets like Jon Stewart (I can't for the life of me figure out why so many people think the sun rises and sets on his ass) keep saying we're perpetuating racism by ignoring our history doing nothing about it. I don't see anyone denying the atrocities committed by whites against blacks in the history of our nation and many others. I've never heard anyone say slavery was a myth. I've heard of holocaust deniers; not slavery deniers.
I'm completely aware of the history of slavery and bigotry in the United States. What would you have me do differently? I generally don't like people no matter what color they are but I always treat people with respect and courtesy unless their actions and attitude, not their appearance, dictate that I treat them otherwise. Isn't that doing everything I can do to end racism? Would it be better if I preached ad nauseam about every injustice I see or hear about committed against someone who isn't white while ignoring the injustices committed against white people? Wouldn't that in itself be the very definition of racism? I'd be treating an entire demographic differently based strictly on the color of their skin.
I suppose it's racist of me to point out what we're all aware of but afraid to admit: racism is ok as long as the selected demographic is being given concessions or opportunities that others aren't. We all know the examples: NAACP, United Negro College Fund, BET, ...
On 60 Minutes, Mike Wallace asked Morgan Freeman what we should do about racism. Freeman responded "stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man. I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man." Simple. Brilliant. Jon Stewart condemns us as a society, smugly and cynically saying he's confident we'll continue to do nothing. He wants us to do something, and he makes faces and noises and people laugh, but he fails to deliver on the rest of his message - what exactly would he have us do? Maybe we should try it the Morgan Freeman way...
DS
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Jesse "The Mouth" VS. The American Sniper
It's not in my character to preface anything I say with a (genuine and sincere) disclaimer, but what's on my mind today may offend or agitate some of the Americans I hold in the highest regard - current and former members of the United States Armed Services - so to those people specifically, please understand that I am only trying to clarify and bring to light factual information that I think is being largely ignored or misconstrued. It is not my intention to discredit or defame former Navy SEAL and sniper Chris Kyle.
It seems the Associated Press poked a bear most of us (myself included) were hoping had gone into hibernation. Jesse Ventura was recently asked if he would be viewing American Sniper in the theater. Why was he asked? Because the media loves a sound byte and they knew ol' Jesse would give them one. Jesse loves hearing Jesse talk. Most of the English speaking world loves it when Jesse doesn't talk, especially people like me who used to respect his honesty and candor and feel he won some important victories against "politics as usual" when he served the people of Brooklyn Park and then the State of Minnesota. Any lucid person will likely agree that Ventura's train jumped the tracks at some point. I feel it happened sometime between when he left office and when he publicly accused the federal government of masterminding the 9/11 attacks, but some people believe it was much earlier than that, which is fine. That's just, like, your opinion, man...
Anyway, Jesse didn't fail to live down to his expectations in this round of "show the world what a jackass media whore I've become" as he thrust himself back into controversy with his comments about Chris Kyle not being a hero. I'm not going to post a link to the article, because I'm not trying to promote Ventura and what an idiot he is. The man is an American citizen, a veteran, and a former public servant and he deserves his opinion just like you and I do but I believe his opinions have been largely wrong for over a decade and it's not my intention to give him any more distinction. However, having read some of the misinformation that continues to surround the civil case Ventura brought against Kyle, I feel the need to offer a few clarifications and interpretations. It seems some of the most eager to weigh in on the situation have not done their homework, have misinterpreted facts, or are letting emotion get in the way of reality.
Here are a few of the more common fallacies regarding the defamation suit Jesse Ventura VS. Chris Kyle:
1. "Jesse Ventura sued a widow" - This is exactly the kind of headline designed to play on our emotions. What kind of monster would sue the grieving widow of an American hero?
The facts: Ventura filed suit in January 2012, more than a year before Kyle was murdered on 2/2/2013. Moreover, the lawsuit wasn't a kneejerk reaction nor was it motivated by greed. Prior to the lawsuit, Ventura asked simply for a public apology and retraction. Long after his request was ignored, he followed through with the defamation suit. In fact, one could argue that Kyle divulging the identity of "Scruff Face" as Ventura only after he began to tour promoting his book may have been the clearer example of seeking financial gain through this story.
2. "Ventura is just embarrassed he got his ass kicked" - Multiple credible witnesses said it didn't happen the way it was written. Kyle himself recanted part of the story when he admitted tables didn't go flying as he had written in his book. By his own testimony, some of the story was embellished. Moreover, the only hard evidence either way seems to be the fact that Ventura was on blood thinners and would be more susceptible to bruising, and was photographed the following day with no visible damage. Kyle also recanted this as he had originally stated that "Scruff Face" had a shiner, and then later in his sworn deposition he admitted it was hearsay.
3. "Ventura was never a Navy SEAL" - Technically, no he wasn't. He was, however a UDT which was the predecessor to the SEALs. In 1983 when the UDT program was discontinued, remaining members were re-trained and designated SEALs. For the sake of practical reasoning and simplicity, Ventura was basically a SEAL.
4. "Chris Kyle was a hero, Ventura had no business suing him" - Reverse the roles... do you still feel that way? Justice is blind. The law doesn't give a damn that Chris Kyle was a revered hero and Jesse Ventura is a washed up nutjob. If Ventura had written a book and told lies about Chris Kyle that cost him public favor and potential career advancement, would you think Kyle should have left well enough alone? A jury was charged with looking at evidence and making an unbiased decision in this matter. They weren't given the luxury of seeing it as hero vs. villain although reasonably they probably did to a small degree, which likely shows just how compelling the case was in favor of Ventura that he'd win this uphill battle.
5. "Ventura should have dropped the case after Kyle was killed" - Because Kyle being murdered changed the evidence against him or the alleged injustice to Ventura? It's common practice for a civil suit to shift to the estate in the event that the defendant dies prior to or during a trial. The fact that Kyle was murdered didn't change what he had said about Ventura, and it certainly didn't hurt sales of the book or the movie rights.
It is my opinion that Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle was a hero, as is every other man and woman who has ever put on the uniform and fought to preserve our way of life. That doesn't make him perfect, and it doesn't make him immune to the law of the land. If you fabricate, or even embellish a story for profit that defames another human being, they have a right to defend themselves no matter what kind of person they are and they may have a legal claim to some of that profit. Such was the case here. Jesse Ventura was a crazy asshole before he met Chris Kyle (if, in fact he ever did) and he's a crazy asshole today. I hope to never see his name in the news again, although I know that prospect is too good to be true. I hope the estate of Chris Kyle makes enough money from his book and from Clint Eastwood's movie so that Kyle's wife, kids, and grandkids never have to work. I hope that someday people will stop believing that someone's social status, service record, or resume makes them somehow impervious to the justice system.
THEN AGAIN, YOU CAN HOPE IN ONE HAND AND SHIT IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH ONE FILLS UP FIRST...
-DS
It seems the Associated Press poked a bear most of us (myself included) were hoping had gone into hibernation. Jesse Ventura was recently asked if he would be viewing American Sniper in the theater. Why was he asked? Because the media loves a sound byte and they knew ol' Jesse would give them one. Jesse loves hearing Jesse talk. Most of the English speaking world loves it when Jesse doesn't talk, especially people like me who used to respect his honesty and candor and feel he won some important victories against "politics as usual" when he served the people of Brooklyn Park and then the State of Minnesota. Any lucid person will likely agree that Ventura's train jumped the tracks at some point. I feel it happened sometime between when he left office and when he publicly accused the federal government of masterminding the 9/11 attacks, but some people believe it was much earlier than that, which is fine. That's just, like, your opinion, man...
Anyway, Jesse didn't fail to live down to his expectations in this round of "show the world what a jackass media whore I've become" as he thrust himself back into controversy with his comments about Chris Kyle not being a hero. I'm not going to post a link to the article, because I'm not trying to promote Ventura and what an idiot he is. The man is an American citizen, a veteran, and a former public servant and he deserves his opinion just like you and I do but I believe his opinions have been largely wrong for over a decade and it's not my intention to give him any more distinction. However, having read some of the misinformation that continues to surround the civil case Ventura brought against Kyle, I feel the need to offer a few clarifications and interpretations. It seems some of the most eager to weigh in on the situation have not done their homework, have misinterpreted facts, or are letting emotion get in the way of reality.
Here are a few of the more common fallacies regarding the defamation suit Jesse Ventura VS. Chris Kyle:
1. "Jesse Ventura sued a widow" - This is exactly the kind of headline designed to play on our emotions. What kind of monster would sue the grieving widow of an American hero?
The facts: Ventura filed suit in January 2012, more than a year before Kyle was murdered on 2/2/2013. Moreover, the lawsuit wasn't a kneejerk reaction nor was it motivated by greed. Prior to the lawsuit, Ventura asked simply for a public apology and retraction. Long after his request was ignored, he followed through with the defamation suit. In fact, one could argue that Kyle divulging the identity of "Scruff Face" as Ventura only after he began to tour promoting his book may have been the clearer example of seeking financial gain through this story.
2. "Ventura is just embarrassed he got his ass kicked" - Multiple credible witnesses said it didn't happen the way it was written. Kyle himself recanted part of the story when he admitted tables didn't go flying as he had written in his book. By his own testimony, some of the story was embellished. Moreover, the only hard evidence either way seems to be the fact that Ventura was on blood thinners and would be more susceptible to bruising, and was photographed the following day with no visible damage. Kyle also recanted this as he had originally stated that "Scruff Face" had a shiner, and then later in his sworn deposition he admitted it was hearsay.
3. "Ventura was never a Navy SEAL" - Technically, no he wasn't. He was, however a UDT which was the predecessor to the SEALs. In 1983 when the UDT program was discontinued, remaining members were re-trained and designated SEALs. For the sake of practical reasoning and simplicity, Ventura was basically a SEAL.
4. "Chris Kyle was a hero, Ventura had no business suing him" - Reverse the roles... do you still feel that way? Justice is blind. The law doesn't give a damn that Chris Kyle was a revered hero and Jesse Ventura is a washed up nutjob. If Ventura had written a book and told lies about Chris Kyle that cost him public favor and potential career advancement, would you think Kyle should have left well enough alone? A jury was charged with looking at evidence and making an unbiased decision in this matter. They weren't given the luxury of seeing it as hero vs. villain although reasonably they probably did to a small degree, which likely shows just how compelling the case was in favor of Ventura that he'd win this uphill battle.
5. "Ventura should have dropped the case after Kyle was killed" - Because Kyle being murdered changed the evidence against him or the alleged injustice to Ventura? It's common practice for a civil suit to shift to the estate in the event that the defendant dies prior to or during a trial. The fact that Kyle was murdered didn't change what he had said about Ventura, and it certainly didn't hurt sales of the book or the movie rights.
It is my opinion that Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle was a hero, as is every other man and woman who has ever put on the uniform and fought to preserve our way of life. That doesn't make him perfect, and it doesn't make him immune to the law of the land. If you fabricate, or even embellish a story for profit that defames another human being, they have a right to defend themselves no matter what kind of person they are and they may have a legal claim to some of that profit. Such was the case here. Jesse Ventura was a crazy asshole before he met Chris Kyle (if, in fact he ever did) and he's a crazy asshole today. I hope to never see his name in the news again, although I know that prospect is too good to be true. I hope the estate of Chris Kyle makes enough money from his book and from Clint Eastwood's movie so that Kyle's wife, kids, and grandkids never have to work. I hope that someday people will stop believing that someone's social status, service record, or resume makes them somehow impervious to the justice system.
THEN AGAIN, YOU CAN HOPE IN ONE HAND AND SHIT IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH ONE FILLS UP FIRST...
-DS
Friday, October 17, 2014
The Sky Is Falling...again
"The person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it."
It's been years since the first time I heard Tommy Lee Jones utter that line to Will Smith in the cheesy sci-fi movie Men In Black, but it's something that really resonated with me from the first time I ever heard it. Every now and then, the human race has a way of reminding me how true that quote really was.
In recent weeks, our great nation has been shaken to its core with an epidemic that's sure to rewrite history and change even the most basic aspects of our way of life...or so you'd believe, if you're one of the tens millions of idiots who hang on every word spoken by their chosen media outlet or printed in the thousands of articles littering our Facebook walls about - wait for it - EBOLA (cue dramatic music.) If the internet is a wealth of information, it is a fortune of mis-information. A catchy title that plays to someone's belief system is far too likely to be "shared" with no research or fact check, or even so much as a browse of the actual story in many cases.
In the current political atmosphere, there's a simple formula for writers to have their article read and shared: Blame the president. It's really that simple. If I wrote an article titled "Obama admits downplaying Ebola threat" and took a few quotes out of context, it would be complete bullshit...and it would spread like wildfire. There are certain phrases that elicit a visceral response from certain types of people - President Obama, President Bush, Fox News, Tea Party, liberal, Muslim, Palin, Clinton, etc. Every journalist knows it. They know all they need to do is use certain words or phrases that are hot right now (Obama, Ebola) and people will click on it.
Here's the thing: Ebola is, at the very least, mildly concerning. At the very most, it's a major threat to our lives and our way of life. I know very little about it, other than some articles and a brief examination of this website. It's probably safe to assume 90% of you know about the same as I do. The problem is a few idiots who know no more about it than you and I are spreading most of the information, most of which is probably misleading or completely false, and that is where the panic is coming from. Even intelligent "persons" are susceptible to falling into a herd of stupid "people."
What we know to be fact as of this writing, is that one man in Texas is dead from Ebola. He was from Liberia, which has been hit hard by the outbreak in West Africa. He had been in direct physical contact with someone in the late stages of the disease, and that person died shortly thereafter. He then chose to fly to the United States, lying to officials at the airport and denying any contact with the disease. He has since died, and the family he stayed with in Dallas, as well as hospital workers he came in contact with have been isolated and monitored. To date, two cases of Ebola have been confirmed - both nurses who treated patient zero. Both patients are being treated, and are currently in stable condition. At present, the good reverend Jesse Jackson is actively stirring the pot that patient zero was not properly treated, because he was black. ...because that's what Jesse Jackson does.
In my opinion, three infected patients and one casualty does not qualify as an epidemic, or even an outbreak. Three people infected, one dead. Statistically, more people will die from Influenza while you read this blog post than have ever died in the US from Ebola. That doesn't mean I don't think we should do anything - restrict air travel to and from the plagued region until the threat has been neutralized, isolate and monitor those who have come in contact with infected persons, encourage people not to travel abroad unless absolutely necessary until the outbreak in Africa has been somewhat contained, aggressively continue to try solving the mystery of Ebola and working to eradicate it - but mass hysteria will generate nothing positive. Blaming the president will generate nothing positive. Closing off and essentially putting the entire nation under quarantine will generate nothing positive.
Unfortunately, most of the hysteria and finger pointing is politically motivated. The Obama Administration, and by extension the DNC is doing their best to appear as though the situation is under control and they've provided effective leadership to navigate us all through this crisis. The RNC and most conservative pundits are doing their level best to assure us that the White House has dropped the ball and that this situation was entirely preventable and that in short, this predicament is President Obama's fault. It doesn't create results, it creates yet another line by which to divide us as a society. Thankfully, (sarcasm) the White House has decided to grace us with yet another "Czar." The Ebola Czar is here now, and he's a medical professional with a wealth of knowledge and experience in science and disease prevention - wait a minute. Check that. He's a lawyer with exactly ZERO experience in medicine or science? Par for the course, I guess. After all, the appointment comes after heavy lobbying by congressional Republicans to assign an such a post. You know, the same Republicans who protested like crazy over the appointment of czars earlier in the Obama Administration's reign.
I guess I'll close on that. I'm late for an appointment with the breakfast czar. I think someone ate my Strawberry yogurt. After that, I'm told the paperwork czar wants me to clean off my desk. Maybe I'll do that while I'm on the phone with Jesse Jackson discussing the racial implications of black coffee.
-DS
It's been years since the first time I heard Tommy Lee Jones utter that line to Will Smith in the cheesy sci-fi movie Men In Black, but it's something that really resonated with me from the first time I ever heard it. Every now and then, the human race has a way of reminding me how true that quote really was.
In recent weeks, our great nation has been shaken to its core with an epidemic that's sure to rewrite history and change even the most basic aspects of our way of life...or so you'd believe, if you're one of the tens millions of idiots who hang on every word spoken by their chosen media outlet or printed in the thousands of articles littering our Facebook walls about - wait for it - EBOLA (cue dramatic music.) If the internet is a wealth of information, it is a fortune of mis-information. A catchy title that plays to someone's belief system is far too likely to be "shared" with no research or fact check, or even so much as a browse of the actual story in many cases.
In the current political atmosphere, there's a simple formula for writers to have their article read and shared: Blame the president. It's really that simple. If I wrote an article titled "Obama admits downplaying Ebola threat" and took a few quotes out of context, it would be complete bullshit...and it would spread like wildfire. There are certain phrases that elicit a visceral response from certain types of people - President Obama, President Bush, Fox News, Tea Party, liberal, Muslim, Palin, Clinton, etc. Every journalist knows it. They know all they need to do is use certain words or phrases that are hot right now (Obama, Ebola) and people will click on it.
Here's the thing: Ebola is, at the very least, mildly concerning. At the very most, it's a major threat to our lives and our way of life. I know very little about it, other than some articles and a brief examination of this website. It's probably safe to assume 90% of you know about the same as I do. The problem is a few idiots who know no more about it than you and I are spreading most of the information, most of which is probably misleading or completely false, and that is where the panic is coming from. Even intelligent "persons" are susceptible to falling into a herd of stupid "people."
What we know to be fact as of this writing, is that one man in Texas is dead from Ebola. He was from Liberia, which has been hit hard by the outbreak in West Africa. He had been in direct physical contact with someone in the late stages of the disease, and that person died shortly thereafter. He then chose to fly to the United States, lying to officials at the airport and denying any contact with the disease. He has since died, and the family he stayed with in Dallas, as well as hospital workers he came in contact with have been isolated and monitored. To date, two cases of Ebola have been confirmed - both nurses who treated patient zero. Both patients are being treated, and are currently in stable condition. At present, the good reverend Jesse Jackson is actively stirring the pot that patient zero was not properly treated, because he was black. ...because that's what Jesse Jackson does.
In my opinion, three infected patients and one casualty does not qualify as an epidemic, or even an outbreak. Three people infected, one dead. Statistically, more people will die from Influenza while you read this blog post than have ever died in the US from Ebola. That doesn't mean I don't think we should do anything - restrict air travel to and from the plagued region until the threat has been neutralized, isolate and monitor those who have come in contact with infected persons, encourage people not to travel abroad unless absolutely necessary until the outbreak in Africa has been somewhat contained, aggressively continue to try solving the mystery of Ebola and working to eradicate it - but mass hysteria will generate nothing positive. Blaming the president will generate nothing positive. Closing off and essentially putting the entire nation under quarantine will generate nothing positive.
Unfortunately, most of the hysteria and finger pointing is politically motivated. The Obama Administration, and by extension the DNC is doing their best to appear as though the situation is under control and they've provided effective leadership to navigate us all through this crisis. The RNC and most conservative pundits are doing their level best to assure us that the White House has dropped the ball and that this situation was entirely preventable and that in short, this predicament is President Obama's fault. It doesn't create results, it creates yet another line by which to divide us as a society. Thankfully, (sarcasm) the White House has decided to grace us with yet another "Czar." The Ebola Czar is here now, and he's a medical professional with a wealth of knowledge and experience in science and disease prevention - wait a minute. Check that. He's a lawyer with exactly ZERO experience in medicine or science? Par for the course, I guess. After all, the appointment comes after heavy lobbying by congressional Republicans to assign an such a post. You know, the same Republicans who protested like crazy over the appointment of czars earlier in the Obama Administration's reign.
I guess I'll close on that. I'm late for an appointment with the breakfast czar. I think someone ate my Strawberry yogurt. After that, I'm told the paperwork czar wants me to clean off my desk. Maybe I'll do that while I'm on the phone with Jesse Jackson discussing the racial implications of black coffee.
-DS
Friday, August 15, 2014
...and the buzzards swoop in.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Have you seen Gladiator? Did you find yourself pondering about how barbaric those activities were and how bloodthirsty the masses must have been to enjoy something like that? I'll bet you were comforted by the fact that in modern times, people are much more civilized...or are they?
A couple nights ago, there was a shooting in my neighborhood. Not many details have been released at this time, but the investigation is being conducted, and bits and pieces have been released to the public. Allegedly, the girl who made the 911 call was locked up in a bedroom, abused and threatened for hours, and when an opportunity presented itself she grabbed the abuser's rifle and shot him with it. I just read an article posted by a friend with the latest details, and between the comments posted on that article and the vicious attacks on Tony Stewart in the last 6 days, I've definitely reaffirmed my belief that the blood lust of the Roman Gladiatorial games is still alive today.
Maybe the young man who was killed was an evil son of a bitch who locked up his girlfriend, threatening her and beating her until she broke down and shot him with his own gun; maybe what actually happened was nothing like that. Dead men tell no tales, and there's only one survivor. I don't know if he got what he deserved, and neither do you. Why are we so quick to judge? More importantly, who the fuck made you judge, jury, and executioner? You all have the right to an opinion, but rights come with responsibilities...like the responsibility not to act like an asshole on social media. Nobody knows if that woman killed her boyfriend in self defense or in cold blood. Nobody but her. Nobody knows if Tony Stewart intentionally hit Kevin Ward Jr. except for Tony Stewart. What we do know, is that people die every day. It's always unfortunate, at least for the victim and their loved ones. In too many cases it was entirely preventable and only ended in death due to a misunderstanding, mistake, or negligence on the part of someone.
You can have your opinions, and discuss them in a respectful and civil manor. Unfortunately, what happens all too often in situations like this is a race by the uneducated masses to throw someone under a bus and pat someone else on the back. We have to have a good guy and a bad guy, a winner and a loser. What happens next is often that we find out we judged too quickly and things weren't as they initially appeared. If you've been guilty of knee jerk comments in the past condemning someone after nothing but speculation, I urge you to think twice next time and reserve judgement. No matter who deserved it and who didn't, they still have friends and family members who might read your comment. Aren't they already going through enough between losing a loved one due to some senseless tragedy and the vultures in the media skewing and misrepresenting things? Do you really think you're helping anything by adding your $.02? You have the right to be a dick head, must you exercise it?
"From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step." - Denis Diderot
-DS
A couple nights ago, there was a shooting in my neighborhood. Not many details have been released at this time, but the investigation is being conducted, and bits and pieces have been released to the public. Allegedly, the girl who made the 911 call was locked up in a bedroom, abused and threatened for hours, and when an opportunity presented itself she grabbed the abuser's rifle and shot him with it. I just read an article posted by a friend with the latest details, and between the comments posted on that article and the vicious attacks on Tony Stewart in the last 6 days, I've definitely reaffirmed my belief that the blood lust of the Roman Gladiatorial games is still alive today.
Maybe the young man who was killed was an evil son of a bitch who locked up his girlfriend, threatening her and beating her until she broke down and shot him with his own gun; maybe what actually happened was nothing like that. Dead men tell no tales, and there's only one survivor. I don't know if he got what he deserved, and neither do you. Why are we so quick to judge? More importantly, who the fuck made you judge, jury, and executioner? You all have the right to an opinion, but rights come with responsibilities...like the responsibility not to act like an asshole on social media. Nobody knows if that woman killed her boyfriend in self defense or in cold blood. Nobody but her. Nobody knows if Tony Stewart intentionally hit Kevin Ward Jr. except for Tony Stewart. What we do know, is that people die every day. It's always unfortunate, at least for the victim and their loved ones. In too many cases it was entirely preventable and only ended in death due to a misunderstanding, mistake, or negligence on the part of someone.
You can have your opinions, and discuss them in a respectful and civil manor. Unfortunately, what happens all too often in situations like this is a race by the uneducated masses to throw someone under a bus and pat someone else on the back. We have to have a good guy and a bad guy, a winner and a loser. What happens next is often that we find out we judged too quickly and things weren't as they initially appeared. If you've been guilty of knee jerk comments in the past condemning someone after nothing but speculation, I urge you to think twice next time and reserve judgement. No matter who deserved it and who didn't, they still have friends and family members who might read your comment. Aren't they already going through enough between losing a loved one due to some senseless tragedy and the vultures in the media skewing and misrepresenting things? Do you really think you're helping anything by adding your $.02? You have the right to be a dick head, must you exercise it?
"From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step." - Denis Diderot
-DS
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Off The Reservation
Recently, President Obama visited the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Nation on his way to California for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. A nice little spoon feeding of PR by the administration, but I digress. That's nothing new to this or any other administration, so it's not what has my undies in a twist. What has been molesting my conscience since I read the article and the subsequent comments is this - How fucking long are we and future generations going to pay for the perceived(and in many cases, actual) wrongdoings of our forefathers?
Remove emotion and the following is fact: All though history, lands occupied by civilizations have been conquered by other civilizations. What happened to the conquered? In the most barbaric cases, they were exterminated. In other cases, they were given the option to assimilate to the new culture, or move on and find a new location to call their own. In the case of early American settlers, some natives were displaced through commerce(land prices were negotiated and agreed upon and legal transactions were made) and some by forceful overtaking. Many of the acts committed by settlers in effort to claim land were indeed inappropriate and sometimes horrific. There is no denying that. Many of the natives cooperated, assimilated, and became valued members of the new society. One thing that seems to be easily forgotten however, is that many of the more abhorrent acts committed were in response to the refusal of a small number of natives who violently resisted, asserting their rights of sovereignty. The Native American population have had unlimited opportunities to assimilate into modern American culture, and many have chosen not to and continue to live on reservations.
America's first experiment in socialism has failed miserably. American Indian reservations are a glaring example of what happens when a civilization is subsidized, free of state and federal taxes, given infrastructure, and has essentially no motivation to better itself. In many states, the reservations enjoy exclusive gambling rights. Aside from that, there is very little commerce. There is little initiative to develop, create, invent, or any of the other ideals that built the American culture and economy. To this day, you'll find very little industry on reservations. Crime, substance abuse, and failure to complete high school are among statistics on reservations that are staggeringly higher per capita than in other areas. I'm all about accepting personal responsibility, and I do believe some fault for this failure lies on the tribes themselves. However, I think there's another problem at work - special interest groups, activists, and federal government involvement including but not exclusive to the Bureau of Indian Affairs has stunted the growth and well being of these people, hurting them under the guise of "helping."
What needs to be done for the greater good of all involved parties, is to stop treating Native Americans like a population of people who need our help. What needs to be done is to simply start treating "Native Americans" as Americans. The Sovereign Nation status needs to be dropped, and the land the reservations occupies should be granted to the tribes to be divided among themselves as they see fit. The people should be treated as American citizens in every way effective immediately, subject to our rights and our laws. The land should be treated as private property subject to the same rights and regulations as any other private property within the confines of the United States. After a small grace period, the land they've been granted should be subject to all federal, state, and local taxes.
Native Americans are people. They're no different than you or me and they deserve to be treated as such; no better, no worse. It's not your fault or mine that European settlers forced them from their native land, and it's not your fault or mine that people died in the sometimes violent resistance to this land grabbing. It's an important chapter in American history; something that should be remembered, and something from which lessons should be learned. The only thing that will ever be accomplished by saddling generations of people with the burden of guilt from historical mistakes is to create dividing lines where they need not be, and perpetuate the resentment.
On top of 80 years of reparations(The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934), wouldn't a grant of nearly 2.5% of the total land mass of the United States(currently 55.7 million acres are reservation land) finally be enough of an apology on behalf of people who have been dead for decades?
-DS
Remove emotion and the following is fact: All though history, lands occupied by civilizations have been conquered by other civilizations. What happened to the conquered? In the most barbaric cases, they were exterminated. In other cases, they were given the option to assimilate to the new culture, or move on and find a new location to call their own. In the case of early American settlers, some natives were displaced through commerce(land prices were negotiated and agreed upon and legal transactions were made) and some by forceful overtaking. Many of the acts committed by settlers in effort to claim land were indeed inappropriate and sometimes horrific. There is no denying that. Many of the natives cooperated, assimilated, and became valued members of the new society. One thing that seems to be easily forgotten however, is that many of the more abhorrent acts committed were in response to the refusal of a small number of natives who violently resisted, asserting their rights of sovereignty. The Native American population have had unlimited opportunities to assimilate into modern American culture, and many have chosen not to and continue to live on reservations.
America's first experiment in socialism has failed miserably. American Indian reservations are a glaring example of what happens when a civilization is subsidized, free of state and federal taxes, given infrastructure, and has essentially no motivation to better itself. In many states, the reservations enjoy exclusive gambling rights. Aside from that, there is very little commerce. There is little initiative to develop, create, invent, or any of the other ideals that built the American culture and economy. To this day, you'll find very little industry on reservations. Crime, substance abuse, and failure to complete high school are among statistics on reservations that are staggeringly higher per capita than in other areas. I'm all about accepting personal responsibility, and I do believe some fault for this failure lies on the tribes themselves. However, I think there's another problem at work - special interest groups, activists, and federal government involvement including but not exclusive to the Bureau of Indian Affairs has stunted the growth and well being of these people, hurting them under the guise of "helping."
What needs to be done for the greater good of all involved parties, is to stop treating Native Americans like a population of people who need our help. What needs to be done is to simply start treating "Native Americans" as Americans. The Sovereign Nation status needs to be dropped, and the land the reservations occupies should be granted to the tribes to be divided among themselves as they see fit. The people should be treated as American citizens in every way effective immediately, subject to our rights and our laws. The land should be treated as private property subject to the same rights and regulations as any other private property within the confines of the United States. After a small grace period, the land they've been granted should be subject to all federal, state, and local taxes.
Native Americans are people. They're no different than you or me and they deserve to be treated as such; no better, no worse. It's not your fault or mine that European settlers forced them from their native land, and it's not your fault or mine that people died in the sometimes violent resistance to this land grabbing. It's an important chapter in American history; something that should be remembered, and something from which lessons should be learned. The only thing that will ever be accomplished by saddling generations of people with the burden of guilt from historical mistakes is to create dividing lines where they need not be, and perpetuate the resentment.
On top of 80 years of reparations(The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934), wouldn't a grant of nearly 2.5% of the total land mass of the United States(currently 55.7 million acres are reservation land) finally be enough of an apology on behalf of people who have been dead for decades?
-DS
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The Middle Class And Other Ancient Relics
The American dream. A little house on a city lot, a white picket fence, and the greenest lawn on the block. You can almost see your wife and kids waving from the front porch as you head off to the office every morning while Rex chases you down the driveway. A nice, cozy little life carved out in the middle of the middle class. It's all so "Leave It To Beaver."
WAKE UP STUPID, IT'S NOT 1960 ANYMORE.
Much ado has been made in the last several years about the tragic disappearing of the middle class. The right blames the left, the left blames the right, and everyone blames the wealthy. Pretty much everyone seems bent out of shape that the poverty line is creeping up and the middle class is shrinking and most of us can't afford the quality of life we desire. Maybe it's time to re-examine the definition of middle class? Everywhere we look, we see irrefutable evidence that we live in a much different world than what existed a generation ago. We have smart phones, cruise control, central air, and convenience stores. Nearly everyone over 16 drives, owns a computer, and has a Facebook account. Why then, are we so hung up on this antiquated ideal of a perfect little single income family in perfect little suburbia? Take a quick survey of the things you own and dish out dollars for that didn't exist or were very sporadic in use 30 years ago. There's the obvious inflation increase on things like utilities, houses, and cars but look closer...
Okay so our houses and cars cost more these days, but they also last longer, and hey we need a home and transportation. Let's look at some of the things most of us pay for that we don't need...
I've heard it said that the "American dream" is no longer attainable by most average people and how that's so terribly sad. It's like watching the series finale of our favorite TV show. We wax nostalgic about a time that's gone forever, but we should be surfing the channels for a new favorite show. It's time we of the entitlement society re-evaluate our wants and needs. It's time we stop blaming the economy or the government or the rich people for the fact that we're buying way more shit than we used to, and it's making us poor. Those of us closer to the bottom of the middle class than the top need to accept that there will be things that many of our neighbors have that we can't afford. You are not entitled to a smart phone with an unlimited data plan. You are not entitled to 250 channels of uninterrupted satellite television. You are absolutely not entitled to a job that pays more than your area's average income just so you can afford those luxuries. Those things are earned. If you don't like your take home pay, find a better job or get second(or third) one. As an American, you are guaranteed equal opportunity. Nobody ever said anything about equal outcome.
-DS
WAKE UP STUPID, IT'S NOT 1960 ANYMORE.
Much ado has been made in the last several years about the tragic disappearing of the middle class. The right blames the left, the left blames the right, and everyone blames the wealthy. Pretty much everyone seems bent out of shape that the poverty line is creeping up and the middle class is shrinking and most of us can't afford the quality of life we desire. Maybe it's time to re-examine the definition of middle class? Everywhere we look, we see irrefutable evidence that we live in a much different world than what existed a generation ago. We have smart phones, cruise control, central air, and convenience stores. Nearly everyone over 16 drives, owns a computer, and has a Facebook account. Why then, are we so hung up on this antiquated ideal of a perfect little single income family in perfect little suburbia? Take a quick survey of the things you own and dish out dollars for that didn't exist or were very sporadic in use 30 years ago. There's the obvious inflation increase on things like utilities, houses, and cars but look closer...
- Look at the car you drive. If you're like most people, you drive a car with power windows and locks, tilt wheel, cruise control, air conditioning, lumbar support, and fuel injection. Traction control, parking assist, and backup cameras are becoming commonplace. None of those things fell out of the sky and into your car. They all cost millions of dollars to develop and add thousands of dollars to the sticker price of a car. When was the last time you saw a new pickup with a manual transmission and manually engaged 4wd? For most of us, it's been awhile. Push button, automated, electronic costs more. We need all that shit right?
- What about your house? Nearly 30% more homes are air conditioned now than were 20 years ago. Add a bunch of other creature comforts we just can't seem to live without anymore, and you just padded your purchase price and your utility bills.
Okay so our houses and cars cost more these days, but they also last longer, and hey we need a home and transportation. Let's look at some of the things most of us pay for that we don't need...
- Over 90% of Americans now own a cellphone, and 65% of Americans own a smart phone. Most households have multiple phones, even little kids have them. That's hundreds of dollars in devices, multiple plans, and data for a family that used to have one phone line.
- Roughly 35% of Americans now own a tablet. That number has more than doubled in the past 2 years, and ten years ago, most people never dreamed such a device would ever exist. Guess what? Another data plan and a few hundred bucks for the device.
- Over 90% of homes have internet access. That obviously means those homes have a computer and all the necessary hardware and software, i.e. hundreds or thousands of dollars in more gadgets.
- Over 75% of homes today have either cable or satellite television, with an average of 189.1 channels per household and the average person watches 17.5 of those channels. Even if the equipment is free, statistically most of you are paying over $50.00/month for all those channels, over 170 of which you don't even watch.
When I was a kid looking for something to do, I went out into the neighborhood and found other kids to play with. As a little kid, we played a lot of cops and robbers type games with makeshift equipment, generally nothing store bought. As I got older, we played a lot of baseball, football, basketball, and rode our bikes and skateboards all over. The balls and equipment we played with were cheap, and lasted for years. A couple hundred bucks could have bought enough equipment for the whole neighborhood to enjoy simultaneously. Today, every kid seems to have a gaming console, controllers, headphones, and several games. They sit in their room or in the basement with hundreds of dollars worth of equipment that only lasts a few years before it breaks or it's obsolete and therefore "uncool."
All of these large purchases and monthly bills add thousands of dollars to the liability side of the typical American's balance sheet while doing little or nothing for the asset side. In layman's terms, we're pissing away a lot more money than our ancestors in the name of entertainment.
All of these large purchases and monthly bills add thousands of dollars to the liability side of the typical American's balance sheet while doing little or nothing for the asset side. In layman's terms, we're pissing away a lot more money than our ancestors in the name of entertainment.
I've heard it said that the "American dream" is no longer attainable by most average people and how that's so terribly sad. It's like watching the series finale of our favorite TV show. We wax nostalgic about a time that's gone forever, but we should be surfing the channels for a new favorite show. It's time we of the entitlement society re-evaluate our wants and needs. It's time we stop blaming the economy or the government or the rich people for the fact that we're buying way more shit than we used to, and it's making us poor. Those of us closer to the bottom of the middle class than the top need to accept that there will be things that many of our neighbors have that we can't afford. You are not entitled to a smart phone with an unlimited data plan. You are not entitled to 250 channels of uninterrupted satellite television. You are absolutely not entitled to a job that pays more than your area's average income just so you can afford those luxuries. Those things are earned. If you don't like your take home pay, find a better job or get second(or third) one. As an American, you are guaranteed equal opportunity. Nobody ever said anything about equal outcome.
-DS
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Not for the faint of heart
One of my favorite descriptions of my character by someone other than myself is "honest to a fault." I used to wonder what that actually meant, and why it sounded more like an insult than a compliment. I've come to accept the fact that we're a society of lip service. We all pretend to value honesty and integrity, but more and more it seems these virtues have gone the way of the steam engine and the labor union; ancient relics of a once great society which are no longer relevant or effective. What we seem to want from honesty today is a homogenized, bastardized version of the truth that's been sanded down and massaged so as not to hurt or offend. The truth, it seems, is simply too difficult to digest. Integrity? What a quaint idea. Entertainment is much more exciting. Take the nightly news for example. News used to be just that, news. It wasn't there for your entertainment or amusement, it was intended to inform and enlighten. Integrity was first, last, and always. Today, one thing matters in reporting news: ratings. It needs to be sexy, controversial, and if convenient, true...
NONE OF THAT SHIT FLIES HERE.
I consider myself a "end justifies the means" personality. What that means to me, is that it's important to find the answer, and inconsequential how we find that answer. Here's an example: Let's say for the next two years, every hijacking or bombing attempt on an airplane is carried out by red haired men in Oakland Raiders Starter jackets. If I'm airport security, I'm going to be taking a pretty hard look at every redhead I see in a Raiders jacket. It just makes fucking sense. Now according to Liberal America, that's profiling and discrimination and stereotyping and it's wrong and we can't do it. I say if the terrorism attempts stop and people are safer, who gives a shit? Offend a few to ensure the safety of millions? Fair enough.
If you can relate, and are interested in what might just be an entertaining journey through world as viewed by me, strap in and stay tuned for more. Chances are I will try to offend as many people as I can at some point or another for no other reason than a sinister boredom. If anyone finds this philosophy offensive, I'll pat myself on the back and consider it a success. If you're soft, faint-hearted, or thin-skinned, this is your exit. Bonne Chance, and it's been fun.
I'll leave you for now, with this thought: If you could save 100 newborn babies from certain death, but in order to do it you had to kill one baby, could you do it?
-DS
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