This one I am proud of. A timely article written by the astute Steven Guess and published in The Guardian on the demise of the Reagan Revolution, which provides excellent analysis of the ugly side of Reaganomics and the current financial crisis along with the failure of the $700 billion bailout plan to pass. Congratulations to Steven!
Did McCain just say Horseshit?
September 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Or am I hearing it wrong? Listen carefully toward the end of the clip. Classy! I did not like how McCain conducted himself in yesterday’s debate. He would not even acknowledge Senator Obama’s presence the entire time. Who does he think he is? For someone who has contributed to some of the worst policies in this country, he sure is unashamed.
Logic-Proof
September 26, 2008 By 2 Comments
You know what I can see from my home right now? The moon…and the stars. This, you see, enhances my knowledge and expertise of astronomy. You know what else I can spot a mile away? Bullshit!
Conversation Killers
September 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Denying professors tenure because of political differences has become a disturbing trend in America. You can thank David Horowitz, Alan Dershowitz, Daniel Pipes, and their ilk for that. Make sure to send them a letter saying, “Thank you, for destroying the academic institution because of your irrational, intransigent defense of dumb, racist, and pernicious policies.” These irascible fundamentalists ought to be shipped to a dictatorship so they can enjoy the intellectual masturbation process in a hole somewhere underground much like they are doing to their enemies.
Hostile Work Environment
September 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Going “postal” is not exactly a culture-specific phenomenon, but something tells me our fallen CEOs would not fare well if they were in India right now. I remember when the CEO in my former job was laying workers off. He went stealth, left his nice car at home, and stopped parking in his spot. Do you blame him?
Can I Have My Old Job Back?
September 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Robert Willumstad, CEO of AIG, opted not to accept his $22 million severance package for all three months he was at AIG in light of the current economic crisis. That’s nice of him! Apparently, Willumstad was lured away from a “lucrative job in private equity” by AIG in June with this hefty severance package. A microscopic part of me feels bad for him, because by the time he joined AIG, the company was probably well on its way to the dumpster. But this part is quickly replaced by the remorse of the possibility that my tax dollars will be spent on this corporate recklessness, and not to mention the fact that $22 million is an obscene amount of money for three months worth of work.
A Ramadan Soap Opera
September 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Saudi men learning to live very contradictory and confusing lives
I stumbled upon this article in The Economist and thought of how emblematic it is of Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Saleh Luhaidan, chief injustice of the kingdom, found himself in some deep religious pigsty when he called for the death of media moguls whom he called the “apostles of depravity” probably for showing a strand of hair on a woman during the “holy” month of Ramadan (as opposed to the other 11 unholy months of the year). In fact, these media moguls also happen to own MBC and Rotana which display Lebanese singers’ obsession with plastic surgery and terrible songs on a daily basis. Sheikh Luhaidan, who himself wants to make love to the 7th century, found out the hard way that these wealthy moguls are in fact well-connected to the royal family (then again who isn’t in Saudi Arabia when a king has 53 sons and 56 daughters?) when he showed up to work one day, and they changed the locks on him. In other words, his show was suspended off the air.
Stories like these make me tingle inside confirming that Saudi Arabia is a conglomerate of everything wrong in this world: religious extremism, sexism, exploitation, corruption, and everything “unholy” that would make any god want to cry in a corner. Oops did I just blaspheme during the holy month?
My New Website
September 19, 2008 By Leave a Comment
As some of you have noticed, my blog has undergone some important changes since the old “WordPress.com” days. First, I now have my own space on a shared server so I can fully customize my content. This is completely “my website” and I don’t have to conform to any rigid rules or limitations imposed by WordPress.com.
Secondly, I have enabled my blog to be pre-formatted for iPhone and iPod readers so that it is more accessible to my mobile readers.
Third, I’ve added a “recent comments” section to promote the community feel of my blog and allow readers to jump in on important discussions (political or otherwise).
Please enjoy and feel free to post any feedback (positive or critical) on this post.
As always, thank you for reading!
Big Words Meet Small Towns
September 18, 2008 By 2 Comments
If there is one demographic that the media and campaigns cannot get enough of, it’s the “small town voters,” or as Jon Stewart once called them, “the swing bigot vote.” So was it not fitting that when Sarah Palin praised her small-town roots at the RNC, she quoted the detestable Westbrook Pegler whose career ended “under the auspices of a twitchy sect of neo-Nazis and professional racists from the White Citizens Council and the Rev. Billy James Hargis’ truly reptilian Christian Crusade?” (click on the link for more fun facts on Pegler, courtesy of Slate)
In her patronizing convention speech, Palin muttered Pegler’s words, “We grow good people in our small towns, with honest and sincerity and dignity.” Good thing she did not quote him saying, “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies.” Of course, he was talking about RFK in 1965, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reminds us in a Huffington Post piece. Someone like Pegler is perhaps best forgotten, but bigots cannot help but become inspired by his words. Does this say something about Palin or the appeal among small town voters? Or both?
The Palin-Drum
September 15, 2008 By 2 Comments
When asked what she thinks of the Bush Doctrine, Sarah Palin replied by talking about Bush’s worldview—clearly demonstrating she does not even know what the Bush Doctrine means. Charlie Gibson, an idiot in his own right, had to explain it to her.
When asked about women’s right to choose, Palin opposed it even in the case of rape or incest.
When asked about evolution, Palin advocated teaching creationism in school.
When asked about the war in Iraq, Palin touted it as God’s plan.
When asked about her foreign policy experience, she explained how close Alaska is to Russia. Never mind the Pacific Ocean.
When asked about the Bridge to Nowhere, she proudly exclaimed, “I said, ‘thanks, but no thanks,’” when she really said, “Thanks.” Then, “Seriously, thanks. Now I will keep the money in earmarks.”
When asked about nepotism and power abuse, she fell silent.
When asked about placing polar bears on the endangered animals list, she refused, and then went on to kill a moose (or a deer?) from a plane and skin it.
Palin walks to the beat of her own drum, alright. And this drum is one dissonant and deafening broken record of incompetence, corruption, and unrelenting ignorance and intolerance. Oh yes, I forgot to mention: George W. Bush owned the same drum.