Is this “gotcha journalism” or two monkeys running for office?

Or is it just an excuse made by two monkeys when they know they’ve been caught lying? You decide.

It’s no wonder Kathleen Parker, a conservative commenter, thinks Palin should step down. And McSame? Well, he REALLY IS the same.

The Gun Toting Liberal says it much better than I could ever articulate. Go read his blog post on this topic!

Another good example of Palin being “manipulated by the evil liberal media” is classic in this video!

And last but not least, watch Palin skirt the issue yet AGAIN in a lame attempt to cover up her blatant ignorance regarding Roe VS Wade:

The below video is what our neo-cons look like when Palin makes the poll numbers go down:

SARAH PALIN’S SEX TAPES REVEALED!

KATIE EATS SARAH FOR LUNCH

Hockey Mom takin’ lots-o-bites but chewin’ on nothin’.

This is a video where we see Palin just a wee bit nervous. As they say in Texas, she’s all hat and no cattle. Just like W.

Where is that “STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS”, hockey mom lipstick on pigs, moose, cows, wolves, pitbulls and all that “confidence” that should be emanating from Mizz Pro-Life fist-swinging, power-house, bravado tell-it-like-it-is Palin? Perhaps she needs another session with her witch doctor, witch hunter, witch healer or whatever you call him? Sarah Palin’s obvious restlessness during her last 3 interviews kinda reminds me of the way GWB furrows his brow and extends it 5 inches away from his face when he talks. Except, he doesn’t wear lipstick.

Watch the SNL skit here.

Meanwhile, McMaverick’s out fixin’ the economy.

Granted making a fool out of yourself in public is bipartisan. But watching dirty-dealing Republicans getting caught red-handed and screaming mercy is much more entertaining.

How Bush Got Elected Twice (The Electoral College for Dummies!)

If I have heard, “….but you voted for Bush twice!!!!!!1111″ once, I’ve heard it at least 989920033697 times. In fact, this is the most predictable Americanophobic cliché and misunderstanding of Americans, their political system, their history, and government as all the other rumors that I have challenged in my blog.

It was one of the country’s greatest political myths: Americans went to the polls every four years to directly elect the country’s president. Then, courtesy of the 2000 election — with its hanging chads, star turn by the Florida Secretary of State and intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court — we received a crash course in the intricacies of living in a constitutional republic.

It turned out that all those years when many thought we were directly selecting a presidential ticket, Americans’ votes were in fact being filtered by the Electoral College, the body of 538 electors that actually chooses the country’s president and vice president. Once the popular vote has been tallied, these electors — often culled from the ranks of state elected officials, party leaders and politically active private citizens — cast their ballots for the candidate who received the most votes in the popular election. The system is winner-take-all in most states, meaning that whichever ticket receives a simple majority of the popular vote wins all of that state’s electoral votes; the minority candidate, by contrast, receives no votes at all. And it is this electoral vote, not the popular vote, that ultimately determines an election’s outcome.

Read the rest of the explanation here.

It wouldn’t be so frustrating if Americans weren’t called “dumb”, “stupid”, and “ignorant” on a routine basis. But the “ignorant Americans” are beginning to realize that the pots are only calling the kettles black. The Americanophobes are hypocrites because their “what they call truth” are merely rumors, knee-jerk reactions, fabrications, hyperbole, propaganda, and pure ignorance. But how surprised can I get as it is becoming common knowledge that Americanophobia  IS based on Ignorance.

As I have mentioned at least 84 times on my blog, George Dumya Bush was *NOT* – I repeat *NOT* elected twice (aka 2 times). In election 2000, Al Gore WON by the people – for the people – yes, that would be the popular vote.

Feast your eyes on this:

	George W. Bush		Albert A. Gore, Jr.		Ralph Nader		Electoral votes
	Popular vote	%	Popular vote	%	Popular vote	%	R	D	G
Alabama	941,173	56%	692,611	42%	18,323	1%	9
Alaska	167,398	59	79,004	28	28,747	10	3
Arizona	781,652	51	685,341	45	45,645	3	8
Arkansas	472,940	51	422,768	46	13,421	1	6
California	4,567,429	42	5,861,203	53	418,707	4		54
Colorado	883,748	51	738,227	42	91,434	5	8
Connecticut	561,094	38	816,015	56	64,452	4		8
Delaware	137,288	42	180,068	55	8,307	3		3
DC	18,073	9	171,923	85	10,576	5		21
Florida	2,912,790	49	2,912,253	49	97,488	2	25
Georgia	1,419,720	55	1,116,230	43	13,4322	1	13
Hawaii	137,845	37	205,286	56	21,623	6		4
Idaho	336,937	67	138,637	28	12,2922	2	4
Illinois	2,019,421	43	2,589,026	55	103,759	2		22
Indiana	1,245,836	57	901,980	41	18,5312	1	12
Iowa	634,373	48	638,517	49	29,374	2		7
Kansas	622,332	58	399,276	37	36,086	3	6
Kentucky	872,492	57	638,898	41	23,192	2	8
Louisiana	927,871	53	792,344	45	20,473	1	9
Maine	286,616	44	319,951	49	37,127	6		4
Maryland	813,797	40	1,145,782	56	53,768	3		10
Massachusetts	878,502	33	1,616,487	60	173,564	6		12
Michigan	1,953,139	46	2,170,418	51	84,165	2		18
Minnesota	1,109,659	46	1,168,266	48	126,696	5		10
Mississippi	572,844	58	404,614	41	8,122	1	7
Missouri	1,189,924	50	1,111,138	47	38,515	2	11
Montana	240,178	58	137,126	33	24,437	6	3
Nebraska	433,862	62	231,780	33	24,540	4	5
Nevada	301,575	50	279,978	46	15,008	2	4
New Hampshire	273,559	48	266,348	47	22,198	4	4
New Jersey	1,284,173	40	1,788,850	56	94,554	3		15
New Mexico	286,417	48	286,783	48	21,251	4		5
New York	2,403,374	35	4,107,697	60	244,030	4		33
North Carolina	1,631,163	56	1,257,692	43	—	—	14
North Dakota	174,852	61	95,284	33	9,486	3	3
Ohio	2,351,209	50	2,186,190	46	117,857	3	21
Oklahoma	744,337	60	474,276	38	—	—	8
Oregon	713,577	47	720,342	47	77,357	5		7
Pennsylvania	2,281,127	46	2,485,967	51	103,392	2		23
Rhode Island	130,555	32	249,508	61	25,052	6		4
South Carolina	785,937	57	565,561	41	20,200	1	8
South Dakota	190,700	60	118,804	38	—	—	3
Tennessee	1,061,949	51	981,720	47	19,781	1	11
Texas	3,799,639	59	2,433,746	38	137,994	2	32
Utah	515,096	67	203,053	26	35,850	5	5
Vermont	119,775	41	149,022	51	20,374	7		3
Virginia	1,437,490	52	1,217,290	44	59,398	2	13
Washington	1,108,864	45	1,247,652	50	103,002	4		11
West Virginia	336,475	52	295,497	46	10,680	2	5
Wisconsin	1,237,279	48	1,242,987	48	94,070	4		11
Wyoming	147,947	68	60,481	28	4,6252	2	3
Total	50,456,002	47.87%	50,999,897	48.38%	2,882,955	2.74%	271	266

I know. It’s hard to look at – especially when you’ve been told differently by the BBC, the CBC, Faux News, and your favorite tabloid that talks AmeriKKKan dirt like no other.

What was all the ruckus over for a whole month after the 2000 election that made Michael Moore write a whole book about it? Well, see (and Micheal Moore being not all too often right on the money about anything, he was right about this) BUSH DIDN’T EVEN WIN THE ELECTORAL VOTE!

How does the Electoral College work?

It may surprise you to know that Russia has a more direct presidential election process than the United States. In the United States, a system called the Electoral College periodically allows a candidate who receives fewer popular votes to win an election. In fact, there have been several presidential candidates who won the popular vote, but lost the election because they received fewer electoral votes. In Russia, where no such system exists, the candidate who r­eceives a majority of popular votes wins the election.

For more information on how the Electoral College works, please continue reading here.

LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN. AL GORE WON THE 2000 ELECTION. RECALIBRATE YOUR MIND AND RE-WIRE YOUR BRAIN. INPUT CORRECT INFORMATION. ERASE THE PROPAGANDA. PUT DOWN YOUR BRITISH TABLOIDS.

Please click below to get informed. Because when you’re talking to Americans, you want to give a good impression that you are aware of American politics to avoid any embarrassment. (Or at least when in doubt, ask questions instead of quoting “The Daily Star”.)

The 2000 Election Chronology

• Tuesday, Nov. 7—Election Day. Pundits have predicted a tight race between Texas governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore, but few expect one of the closest elections in U.S. history. By early evening, it’s clear the election hinges on Florida.
• Wednesday, Nov. 8—Gore calls Bush at approximately 3 A.M. to concede, but retracts the concession shortly after, because Bush’s razor-slim lead prompts an automatic recount. He leads Gore by about 1,210 votes out of nearly 6 million cast in Florida. Meanwhile Gore leads in both the national popular count and the electoral college.
• An unusual amount of votes for third-party candidates in Palm Beach County leads to disputes over the county’s “butterfly ballots.” A number of ballots in other counties are disqualified because the chad > the small piece of paper punched out of punch-card ballots—did not fully detach from the ballot.
• Thursday, Nov. 9—Gore’s camp requests a hand recount of the approximately 1.8 million ballots cast in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Volusia counties, Democratic strongholds.
• Friday, Nov. 10—Florida’s automatic recount is completed. The Associated Press reports that Bush has retained his lead but only by 327 votes.
• Saturday, Nov. 11—The Bush team, led by former secretary of state James Baker, files suit in federal court to block Gore’s request for a hand recount.
• Monday, Nov. 13—Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris announces she will not extend the Nov. 14 deadline for the submission of all state results, excluding absentee ballots from overseas.
• A federal judge in Miami rejects Bush’s efforts to halt manual recounts. Bush appeals the decision.
• Tuesday, Nov. 14—Harris postpones certification of the state’s votes until Nov. 15, so Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties have time to prepare an explanation of why they should hand count their ballots.
• Wednesday, Nov. 15—Harris decides that no county offered adequate evidence to justify further hand recounts.
• Florida Supreme Court denies a request from Harris to stop the hand recounts. Certification is again postponed.
• Thursday, Nov. 16—Bush’s lawyers present written arguments to the U.S. federal appeals court in Atlanta to end the manual recounts. Gore’s team files a counter motion.
• Friday, Nov. 17—The Florida Supreme Court blocks Harris from certifying election until it rules on the Democrats’ motion to include hand recounts.
• The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the Republicans’ motion to stop manual recounts on constitutional grounds.
• Saturday, Nov. 18—With a tally of absentee ballots, uncertified count has Bush ahead of Gore by 930 votes.
• Tuesday, Nov. 21—Florida Supreme Court rules that results of hand counts of ballots in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties must be included in the vote tally if the counts are completed by Nov. 26.
• Sunday, Nov. 26—Harris certifies Bush as the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes, with a 537-vote lead over Gore. Gore pledges to challenge certification in court. The tally does not include results from Palm Beach County, which finished its hand recount hours after the deadline.
• Monday, Nov. 27—Gore contests the Florida results in a circuit court in Tallahassee.
• Wednesday, Nov. 29—Leon County Circuit Court judge N. Sanders Sauls orders that all ballots from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties be sent to Tallahassee for a hearing on whether the hand count, which was incomplete at the time of the court-ordered Nov. 26 deadline, should be included in the final vote tally.
• Thursday, Nov. 30—Florida lawmakers, voting along party lines, recommend holding a special session to name the state’s 25 electors if the election dispute is not resolved by Dec. 12, six days before the electoral college meets.
• Friday, Dec. 1—The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the Florida Supreme Court acted properly when it forced the Florida secretary of state to accept manual recounts submitted after the legal deadline.
• The Florida Supreme Court denies Gore’s appeal to immediately begin recounting ballots and rejects motion filed by some Palm Beach County citizens who questioned the integrity of the “butterfly ballot.”
• Gore requests a count of approximately 14,000 “undervotes” from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
• Monday, Dec. 4—Judge Sauls rejects Gore’s contest of the election results, saying the vice president failed to prove that hand recounts would have altered the results. Gore appeals to the Florida Supreme Court.
• U.S. Supreme Court asks Florida Supreme Court to explain why it ordered Harris to accept results submitted after the Nov. 14 deadline mandated by state law, thus returning the case to Tallahassee.
• Thursday, Dec. 7—Gore’s legal team appeals Sauls’s ruling. Bush’s lawyers argue that the decision should stand.
• Friday, Dec. 8—The Florida Supreme Court, ruling on Gore’s appeal, orders manual recounts in counties with large numbers of undervotes. Bush appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and seeks injunction to stop recounts.
• In two separate lawsuits, Leon County Circuit Court judges refuse to throw out absentee ballots from Seminole and Martin counties that had been disputed by Gore.
• Saturday, Dec. 9—The U.S. Supreme Court votes 5–4 to halt the hand recounts and sets a hearing for Dec. 11.
• Florida Supreme Court hears appeal on whether absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole counties should be counted.
• Tuesday, Dec. 12—The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bush v. Gore 7–2 to reverse the Florida Supreme Court, which had ordered manual recounts in certain counties. The Court contends that the recount was not treating all ballots equally, and was thus a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection and due process guarantees. The Supreme Court of Florida would be required to set up new voting standards and carry them out in a recount. The justices, however, split 5–4 along partisan lines about implementing a remedy. Five justices maintain that this process and the recount must adhere to the official deadline for certifying electoral college votes: midnight, Dec. 12; other justices question the importance of this date. Since the Court makes its ruling just hours before the deadline, it in effect ensures that it is too late for a recount. The decision generates enormous controversy. Those objecting to the ruling assert that the Supreme Court, and not the electorate, has effectively determined the outcome of the presidential election. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg writes in a scathing dissent, “the Court’s conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court’s own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States.”
• Wednesday, Dec. 13—In another decision, Florida Supreme Court decides not to hear an appeal from Gore asking that absentee ballots from Martin and Seminole counties be thrown out.
• In televised speeches, Gore concedes, and Bush accepts the presidency.
• Monday, Dec. 18—Electoral college representatives meet in state capitals and cast votes to select president.
• Wednesday, Jan. 5—Congress meets to tally electoral college results.
• Saturday, Jan. 20—George W. Bush sworn in as 43rd president of the United States.

The above is not news for most Americans. We expect this. We live this. However, we have fought this. Even in the 21st century, we are still fighting this until they fix this corrupt system owned by very rich and powerful bankers. The Republican party is all for the rich people. It does not represent the people. It does not represent the average man on the street. Admittedly, there are many poor Americans that vote Republican (the party for the rich) sacrificing some of their own interests for the party that stands for God and Guns. Don’t ask. The Neo-Conservatives don’t like hearing that Al Gore won the 2000 election. They cringe at it as do the Americanophobes that think for some godforsaken reason that Americans all have the same DNA. Hoo hummm….

A Canadian Intellectual even comments on our Electoral Process.

“…I figured it’s time to let everybody in on a secret, not that well kept mind you… it’s all a giant waste of time, come November 4th, the results of the election will be determined by 3 voters.

[Snip!]

In case you missed it, the president of the US is determined by what’s known as the electoral college. In this arcane system, the winner is determined by whoever manages to receive the most electoral votes. Each state is allocated a number of votes more or less based on its population, California the most with 55 and little states like the Dakotas, 3 each. If you receive the majority of votes in, say, Oregon, you get all 7 of Oregon’s votes, making the votes of all those who voted for another candidate completely irrelevant in the final count (*see below). This is done on a state-by-state basis, and the winner is determined by who gets the most electoral votes.

As has happened in the past it is quite possible for the winner of the election to actually receive less votes than the loser (in fact it’s happened 4 times: 1824, 1876 and 1888 and of course 2000). Now, the fact is a majority of voters in the US are either Republicans or Democrats and it wouldn’t matter if Krusty the Clown was their party’s candidate, that’s who they will vote for. Additionally, most states tend to be either Republican or Democrat states, for example California will be Democrat and Oklahoma will vote Republican. Of course these preferences change over time, slowly, but why are we wasting so much energy on this when we already know most of the results?…”

There are also some states that have lighter shades of red or blue or just about 50-50, but what he said in his blog entry was accurate. Feel free to read the rest of his post here.

A site dedicated to impeaching Bush declared the following:

Is Mr. Bush Really the President?!

In 2000, a clear majority of Americans voted for Al Gore. But the winner is determined by the Electoral College, so the winner in each state must be considered. The vote in Florida was so close that it took a month to declare a winner. Before Florida was declared, Gore led in the Electoral College with 266 votes to Bush’s 246 votes. When Bush was declared the winner of Florida by 537 votes, he picked up 25 Electoral College votes which gave him the Presidency.

So, with that said, Bush didn’t even win the ELECTORAL VOTE! Feel free to read the rest of the story here.

The Americanophobes and staunch Republicans will deny all of this until the pigs with lipstick come home, but the jury is *NOT* out on any of this. It is fact. But it is a hard one to swallow. To suggest that the “Greatest Nation on God’s Green Earth” is anything less than a Democracy is foreign to the ignorant or those that refuse to accept a harsh truth – especially one that places a threat on a life-saving mission for those with inferiority complexes.

It is true, however, that Bush DID get considerable support back in 2004. One commenter on my blog theorizes,

The Bush stuff never fails to amuse me, “OMG!!! THEY ELECTED BUSH”. I’d like to quote The late-great George Carlin on that one, “I still call him Governor Bush because that’s the last office he was legally elected to”. George Bush was appointed by the U.S. Supreme court (by daddy’s appointees) in 2000. Had he not been, he wouldn’t have even been an option in 2004.

Why was he re-elected in 2004? The war. Was it necessarily support for the war on moral grounds? Not really. Bush got a ton of red state support in 2004. Why? This is just a hunch of mine, but not one without careful and considerable observation. It comes down to one thing: Vietnam.

It’s a very personal, walking-on-eggshells sort of issue. The U.S. military has always recruited heaviest in the south and midwest. A lot of men in “fly-over” states either enlisted, or were drafted into Vietnam in the 60’s. They thought they were doing the right thing. They saw all these hippies burning their draft cards and running off to Canada. They went off to war and when they came home, were treated very badly by the country they thought they were serving.

Something like that you never forget. Their kids and grandchildren hear tales of how all these hippies and “intellectual sissies who think they’re so damned smart” spat on their loved ones way back then, calling them “babykillers”, god knows what else, and it breeds quite a bit of contempt. As a result, as long as there are people protesting the war, they will be there to support it, even if only out of spite. I don’t agree with it, but I understand where it comes from. That’s just how it is.

It is human nature that leftist Americanophobic intimidation causes people to veer toward the right of center. I’m not saying that it is right, but that IS how things are. And there are many who have converted to Right Wing politics for the reasons mentioned above. Many. And that is also the cause of the birth of Neo-Conservatism.

Lina Maria, a Colombian living in America writes a piece called, “Average Americans”, (along with a Spanish translation) and I agree with what she states here:

Those who chose Bush did not do it because they do not care what happens to the rest of the planet. Bush managed to convince many Americans that his intentions were to liberate the Iraqi people and to eradicate terrorism of the face of the Earth; an idealistic notion to believe in, but never a selfish one. This is why I think that the “Average American isn’t selfish in regards to the world”. On the contrary, they care too much. This has been an altruism that has cost them dearly and continues to go unappreciated.

I wrote this piece not from the point of view of a foreigner living in America, but from the perspective of an immigrant who has fully integrated into this society. After I posted this in Spanish, people continued to say mean things about Americans. They still believe that Americans are blind and selfish; something they feel was confirmed by the reelection of President Bush. Never mind that nearly half of us voted for Kerry. But even those I know who voted for Bush, did not do it because they want to destroy the world. Many of those who voted for him did it because they truly believed he would rid the world of tyranny and terrorism. How can someone call that selfishness? Naive maybe, but not stupid or selfish.

To all Americans, Bush voters or not, feel proud of what your country stands for and keep your heads high. Have faith in yourselves and your values… Truth will always prevail…

To non-Americans: Throw the first stone if your country is free of wrongdoing.

Feel free to read the rest of her essay here.

Why am I posting all of this?

I encourage you all to criticize all-things-American-corruption. Tell me what’s on your mind. Get it all off of your chests. Tell me you hate Bush, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi War, Neo-Capitalism, American Globalization and Dominant Monopolies that threaten competition. I will agree with you. We can have a nice conversation while bickering about the Bush administration over delicious Tequila Shots. I bet you are not as passionate a critic of the US as I am. I don’t object to any decries about those who run the American government … AT ALL. But when you start with the inane stereotyping, the sweeping generalizations about me, my family, my friends and those whom you have never met before, I lose respect for you and stop listening. There is no excuse for pubic bigotry, in my book. I would like to think that those who label themselves as “informed”, “enlightened”, “worldly”, and “educated” to be more “in the know” of the topics they discuss.

Criticism of ANY kind should be fair, balanced, informed, constructive, and thought provoking.

I now hope that you are all aware of how the Electoral Process works during American presidential elections. Not that this will put rampant and mindless Americanophobia (that has been alive and well since the 19th Century) to rest or anything. I don’t expect Americanophobia to end. It actually HAS to exist because how else would the Americanophobes in Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America survive their own shortcomings without the crutch of the American scapegoat?

And let me just leave with you a sample of Election 2008’s Electoral Vote before the major election coming in November:

So, as you can see, the votes in Idaho do not count on the electoral level. And yes, that means that if I lived in Idaho and I voted for Obama, it wouldn’t count. (I vote regardless just to have my vote on paper as I think that is important especially to further expose the flaws of the electoral college.) Naturally, the above map is subject to change on November 4th, but is merely just an example of how it works. And before you Anti’s start crying about that, YES, we Americans are trying to CHANGE this system.

Read, listen, and learn with an open mind before you criticize (if your herd leader allows you to do so).

UPDATE!!

If that wasn’t enough to show how undemocratic our voting system here is, THIS is equally worse – if not more so:

More on our Democracy being hacked mercilessly:

Americans Got the President They Deserved

Woo Hoo!

This has got to be the most ridiculous, tired, somewhat amusing, and jacked-up phrase chanted frequently by the Foreign Americanophobes.

I really don’t understand what it means or what it is supposed to do, but, let’s explore.

This argument is grossly flawed a few reasons:

Forty-eight percent voted for Kerry in 2004 and 51% voted for Bush while 30% didn’t vote at all. Now, ask yourself the following questions:

• Did those who voted for Bush deserve Bush?
• Did those who voted for Kerry deserve Bush?
• Did those who didn’t vote at all deserve Bush?
• Did those who voted for Nader deserve Bush?

Or better yet…

• Did all 300+ million Americans deserve to be told that bad things should happen to them from other countries that tout “peacefulness”, “intellectual refinement”, and “moral superiority”?

(1) Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that the 30% who didn’t vote at all DESERVED Bush (even though some of them are the elderly that could really care less). No excuse, though. No excuse for anybody! I know. I know. They deserved Bush. And I hope Bush made them really, really, really mad and their lives miserable beyond belief. So, let us all consider the apathetic already punished by Bush’s wrath. Good. Done. Next….

(2) What about those who voted for Kerry, campaigned for him, demonstrated for him, and even sought to get Bush impeached after Bush won office? Did these people deserve Bush? Well, according to some Americanophobic extremist groups, yes. Some think that any administration can be toppled. However, what they don’t realize is that Americans have no more power over their leader as do other Democratic nations (as we can see with Britain, Canada, Australia etc in our war efforts). In the end, you just have to remind yourself that there really is nothing any American can do to please the Americanophobes and to just move on continuing to be the Ugly American that you are.

(3) What about those who voted for Bush? Yes!!!!11111 like O. M. G…. they like sooooooooooooo DESERVEDDDDD him. Like OMFG and stuff!!!1111!!!!!!

A little clue for the Americanophobes: Psst… (don’t tell anyone I told you this, but…. those who voted for Bush, actually sorta kinda wanted him as president and most of them are happy with their choice. Saying that they deserved Bush is synonymous to saying that the bonus you hoped for at work came true, you received it, and that you deserved it. Aside from the comedic nature of your statement in an attempt to punish all those so unfortunate as to have been born in the USA, there is no substance inside and makes YOU folk look very silly.

(4) What about those who voted for Nadar? I say kill them all. What say you?

And last but not least, the Americanophobes in saying that we “got what we deserved” is ironic when all we hear from you is “pity me” and stories of woe as to how the Bush administration has “ruined your lives” and how Amerikkkans only think of themselves…. [insert continued whiny rhetoric]… So, can we yanks say that YOU got what YOU deserved since ultimately you got “worse” punishment than we did?

If you think you know what Punishment IS, wait until Palin takes over with her pack-o-wolves (or what’s left of them) administration. My advice to the whiny spoiled brats: Try to use different scare tactics against the Americans, come 2009, because the ones you’ve been using for the last two centuries…. well,…. haven’t worked.

*****DISCLAIMER (for those that don’t understand AmeriKKKan politics):***** BUSH WAS *NOT* I REPEAT *NOT* VOTED IN TWICE. IN ELECTION 2000, IT WAS AL GORE THAT WON. WE HAVE AN ELECTORAL VOTING SYSTEM HERE AND HE WON VIA THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE. WE ARE NOT A 100% DEMOCRACY. FOR MORE INFORMATION READ THIS, THIS, THIS AND THIS.

According to “How Stuff Works”,

It may surprise you to know that Russia has a more direct presidential election process than the United States. In the United States, a system called the Electoral College periodically allows a candidate who receives fewer popular votes to win an election. In fact, there have been several presidential candidates who won the popular vote, but lost the election because they received fewer electoral votes. In Russia, where no such system exists, the candidate who r­eceives a majority of popular votes wins the election.

Read more here.

Thank you.

Related Posts:

America, the Stupid

America’s Self-Critical Nature in the Media Goes Unnoticed All Too Often

How Bush Got Elected Twice (The Electoral College for Dummies)

My Anti-Anti-American Quote of the Week

“There is a big difference between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficient interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…” — Jean-Francois Revel

I don’t think even Americans can be as fair and balanced as Jean-Francois Revel claims. You can read about how I feel about Anti-American Americans here. Other than that, I stand by his quote. I wish more people out there understood what Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia) really is.  Andrei Markovits, from Romania, says it just as well.

Just Do as I Say; Don’t Do as I Do (Fucking American Tourists ;-) )

Yah gotta love the double standards that our NATO friends put on the table for us Americans. Apparently, we should abide by these rules when traveling abroad. We are expected to walk on eggshells in other countries that call themselves

• multicultural
• tolerant
• curious about other cultures and people
• and intelligent.

Americans are demanded to behave a certain way to avoid offending the thinnest of skins and to cater to the inferiority complexes of the masses. However, ironically, when the same people visit the US, we have no rules in place for them (written or unwritten). And let me just say that there are as many ugly, arrogant, stupid, and ignorant foreigners that travel to the US — if not more.

Wait. I thought that Americans didn’t travel… or at least enough to made such an ado over! What is wrong with this picture?

Anyway, here are some inane examples from the above article, “Are You the Ugly American?”:

2. Greet people properly. Whether it’s shaking hands or kissing, ask a local what the customs are–and then follow the customs.

Hmm… do we require YOU to adjust yourselves to our culture when you visit? You don’t know how to properly “greet” Americans either. It depends on which state you are visiting, anyway. And generally I never hear of Americans making a huge stink over greetings.

3. Avoid careless judgements. Travelers love to talk about how places are different from home. Unfortunately innocent observations can come across as superior and judgemental, as in: “Your cars are so small here!”

“Your cars are so small here” … How pathetic. Yes, they ARE innocent observations. And it’s not America’s fault if others are paranoid or insecure about themselves. Especially when other groups of people say they are experts on American culture, you’d think they’d know an innocuous comment when they hear one, no?

5. Speak the language. Even if you can only stammer out a few phrases.

Whoa… wha—– Americans learn here in the US that everyone else in the world can speak 4-7 languages. You’d think English would be one of them? I am not saying that I or my fellow countrymen don’t try. I am just pointing out the double standards and the hypocrisy here, is all. Either you people speak all the world languages or you don’t. Which is it?

7. Dress respectfully. Especially in restaurants and houses of worship. Conservative colors–grays, blues, blacks–are generally safe bets. If you’re going to a warm climate, avoid the temptation to pack only shorts and sandals.

WOWOWOW! THIS IS AMAZING STUFF. WE HAVE THE SAME RULES OVER HERE FOR OUR OWN CITIZENS. Golly. Who wouda thunked it? Actually, in the US, it really depends on which restaurant you go to. Perhaps in some parts of the world, they are more posh? If you are going to a restaurant for rich people, then you dress “respectfully”. We have casual family restaurants in the US as well. They do in Japan and in Korea too.

It is just so ironic to hear from people that cry poor mouth often to be complaining about tourists who dress like the poor. Is dining out (outside Asia) only for the elite classes ? I’m very confused.

This is nothing new, however. Having poor taste in clothes is a stereotype pinned to the Americans. It is close to impossible to satisfy the rich elitists without selling your first-born in order to buy a whole new wardrobe that pleases the refined tastes of the sophisticates across the pond.

Hmm…. And “houses of worship”? I thought they only existed in Amerikkka!?

How about this as a rule? Just be nice, polite, and use common sense no matter where you are going whether you are in your own country or outside? This should be a given when traveling ANYWHERE.

And you know what is weird about this long list of “rules”? The very fact that it is made for Americans. Yes, you heard that right. They are special rules for us. Well, it’s probably because Americans ARE special. But here is what the Americanophobes will say:

But you guys act like idiots in other countries.

—>Oh, really?<—

In addition to my linked article, many of us wear backpacks with the Canadian maple leaf on it, have maple syrup dripping from our eyelashes, reek of poutine, and tell everyone that we’re Canadian to avoid rampant and reflexive Americanophobic pablum.

Americans also get better service when they pretend they are from Canada.

…they do have a less than stellar reputation internationally, either in general or as travellers. That imperfect reputation has resulted in people from other countries, mistaken as Americans, getting bad service. Many in that situation have found that just by making it known they’re not from the USA, the quality of service in restaurants, hotels and elsewhere increases greatly.

See? If there’s any hint that you are either American or Jewish (which is the same thing anyway in other parts of the west), these kinds of things will happen to you. Only in Europe. In America, stuff like this wouldn’t fly.

Furthermore, you allow other cultures to be themselves on your turf even it if IS annoying for you. But see, if you were to publicly point out your frustrations with non-American cultures, you would be considered, a “racist” and a pariah among your people. And you cannot handle that. However, since it is hip and cool to heckle Americans, you provide rules exclusively for them. And last but not least, we make no rules for YOU over here on OUR turf. We let you play ball how you like, and for the most part, we Americans keep our prejudicial views to ourselves. Unlike others. And others. Meh. There’s always more. And more.

As some people responded,

I think it is time for an article for tourists about how to act in my country, the United States. People seem to think it is alright to visit here and act obnoxious. People love to denigrate Americans even while being given our hospitality. I am as proud of my country as they claim to be of theirs. –Jan Taylor, Greenville, Miss.

————————–

It’s really so easy to blame American Tourists for acting rude.

But it takes 2 to tango. LOCALS can also be VERY RUDE, UNFRIENDLY and downright hostile to American or other tourists.

I have been all over the world and I have experienced rude local people, even if I have been gracious and courteous by using all the articles “tips”.

For Example, I was just in Eleuthera, Bahamas, and the people there are very unfriendly, rude, and hostile. I would say hello or good morning, ask a question, etc, and many would just look at you with hostility, like you were the cause of all their problems.

I think a lot of local people in other countries are jealous and envious of Americans, and don’t like depending on tourist money for their livelihoods, and so when they encounter them, they don’t feel they have to be nice and can act rudely.

Posted By Mike F. on June 25, 2007, 6:52 AM

How true! How about a host being nice to a guest? What a concept!?

And what’s up with Americans always being called, “loud”?

I hear Britons theorizing that we’re loud when we travel abroad because we want everyone to know we’re American and we’re the best in the world. Some say that we’re looking for special “waivers and favors”. This is the most preposterous statement I’ve ever heard. Well, I hate to break the news to you Americanophobes, but hello? We’re LOUD on our turf too. I don’t know why. We just are. Call it a cultural difference. And while we’re on the topic of how loud and obnoxious we fucking yanks are, here’s a little hint that there are other cultures out there that are even LOUDER than Americans. Oh snap!

Q: i live in san antonio and have been accustomed to seeing wealthy mexican families shopping it up over here at the exclusive stores. one thing that i have noticed is that they frequently will yell (or at least speak loudly) across the room. i have also noticed it when vacationing in florida, so i know that it’s not just a “mexican” thing, but one that many latin american cultures tend to share. why do they talk so loudly?

———————————————–

A: My mother always says: “because we are too tired to walk across the room and ask quietly”.

In all seriousness though, my observation of our latin culture is that we like to “involve” other people in our lives. Where as most white or asian people tend to speak privately almost as to hide something from being intercepted. Latinos tend to speak openly in a manner to gain interest and start conversation.

We also tend to be around lots of family members, which makes us comfortable to be louder. Sort of like if you were to visit family for the Holidays your family might be a little loud…

Well everyday is a family holiday for Latinos!

And since the Americanophobes don’t consider black folk born in America to be American, here’s another hint. I’ve heard people say that the Arabs, the French, and the Brits were loud. There are MANY LOUD CULTURES OF PEOPLE OUT THERE. You’d think that the Americanophobes who preach expertise on worldly issues would know (out of 194 countries and sub-cultures in between), the loudest cultures on a scale of at least 1-10.

My best friend who is Lebanese …. well, nobody can talk louder than her and her family.

Like I always say on my blog, the Americanophobes only “study” America. They are obsessed with us. So, we can’t be really THAT bad.

More commentary:

Yes, there are rude Americans. And I am probably among the guilty ones regarding loudness, although my volume is not motivated by rudeness, but by passion and enthusiasm. I do try to restrain myself when overseas, but perhaps my efforts are not enough.

Like others, I have encountered many in other countries who are rude to American tourists. A couple of examples:

1. Canadians at a Nova Scotia B&B bashing the U.S. president in front of me at the breakfast table

2. A saleslady at Galleries Lafayette, a Paris department store, who rudely and brusquely said “CLOSED” repeatedly a full 15 minutes before closing time as I nicely and respectfully tried to purchase a travel iron

Posted By Laura M on June 5, 2008, 1:07 PM

When I am loud, personally, it is for the very same reason (although I do have a slight hearing problem – I wonder how that would fly in GREAT BRITAIN.) I happily cheer, and it doesn’t take much to make me laugh out loud and feel good loudly. We Americans do excite easily, don’t we? We also like to enjoy life and have a positive attitude for the most part. I think that this may be a point of envy when others see us roaming freely and cheerfully and enjoying every minute of our vacation. You ARE aware how little vacation we get in the states, right? So, when we party, just like the Japanese, we party HARD!

This Anti-UNITEDSTATESIAN below hates that freedom and wants to restrict US tourists:

For me the most disgusting habit that you have is to wear sandals everywear, doesn´t matter the country or the place when you are on vacations. Why sandals everywhere!!?? — From a Costa Rican

In my opinion, this is what makes America, Japan, and other countries that welcome foreigners unconditionally, great. See, here in the US, we don’t care what you wear in casual environments. Heck, I’d like to bet that most of us aren’t obsessed with watching people’s feet and taking names all day, either.

And the other habit that I don´t like of you, mostly young people (I´m 25) is that you don´t appreciate the culture, all you do is look and that´s it, don´t try to understand the culture or be open to explore.

Yeah. We’re so closed to your crap culture, and that is the very reason we spend a lot of money and time to travel to your shithole. It’s because we hate it and are not interested “enough to explore”.

I wonder how this elitist snot finds out all these people guilty of wearing “the wrong” footwear and guilty of “just looking” are, in fact, Americans. The more I read this crap, the prouder I am to live in America. We really are free, aren’t we?

And we don’t expect foreigners who travel to the US to adhere to elitist “codes of behavior”. And because we have so many ethnic groups living in the US, it is hard to determine who are “the tourists” unless they are taking pictures everywhere. We basically allow for people to be who they are whether they are tourists or actually living here. And I think the reason we Americans are as tolerant as we are is because we are the most diverse country in the world – aside from the fact that our nation was built on immigrants. Not just diverse, but we allow other cultures to be themselves even if it means that we have to watch them burn the US flag on our streets. (Yes, on Mexican Independence Day in the US, that is how hundreds of Mexicans celebrate it on the streets.) We might not like it, but we accept it.

Burning the Mexican Flag = “Hate Speech” But Burning the American Flag = “Protected Speech”. Actually, it is also the case if we burn any flags of Muslim countries. We get punished for that too. But those who burn American flags, don’t get punished. Now, how’s that for the good old US of A?

“In spite of the constant accusations of “arrogance,” Americans are really very self-deprecating in many ways and often place the French, and other Western Europeans, on a pedestal of cultural superiority; this probably goes further back into world history than virulent anti-Americanism does.” –Jennifer

Once again, all of these erroneous “rules” that Americans must adhere to when visiting other countries is sickening and reeks of bigotry and xenophobia nasty enough to peel paint off of a wall.

Avoid careless judgments. Doesn’t that mean attempting to group all people from a certain country as being this or that? Now that is truly ignorant. Anywhere you go…half the people are nice and half aren’t…same as for travelers…some are some aren’t …any broad generalization is just worthless!

Posted By Susie from Denver on June 5, 2008, 1:26 PM

Finally, a voice of reason.

Anyway… “Aby the self-proclaimed foreign relations expert” and her minions reveal their hypocrisy and ignorance yet again. Little do they know….

…:::NEWSFLASH:::…

“British ‘world’s worst tourists’”. Yes, the British are the worst tourists! Americans come in 2nd place for being THE BEST TOURISTS.

Research by online travel service Expedia suggests Brits abroad are the least well-regarded by foreigners.

They are the rudest, meanest, worst-behaved, most linguistically incompetent and least adventurous holidaymakers, the study published on Friday claims.

Categories included behaviour, politeness, willingness to learn the language, trying local delicacies and spending on the local economy.

And overall, the British finished bottom of the league table of 24 nations, which was topped by the Germans, Americans and Japanese.

[Snip!]

And (drumroll) interestingly enough, ………..

Americans were judged the most courteous and the British the rudest, alongside the Russians and Canadians.

The Brits also seemed to make least effort in speaking the local language, a quality excelled by the Germans, French and Americans.

Feel free to read the rest of the article here.

Another source says that the French are the most obnoxious tourists.

In any event, it is no wonder more Americans are choosing Asia over other parts of the west when they travel. Japan, who doesn’t get on her high horse and boast about being “multicultural”, “tolerant”, “curious about other cultures and people”, and how they are “the smartest people in the world”, is ironically the most accepting and welcoming to those that travel to their fair land. And even more ironically, they are homogeneous and have zero discrimination laws. And ever since some Japanese shop owners complained of loud Brits, Russians and other Europeans, Japan has stopped allowing foreigners into certain public places in Japan. The irony is amazing, isn’t it?

The Americanophobic Britons and Canucks are always going on and on ad nauseam about how they are the humblest. <— Isn’t bragging about “being humble” defeating its purpose??? Just askin’.

Anyway, they aren’t. People only brag about what they wish to be. It is the Japanese. The Japanese don’t have to go out of their way to label themselves in their favor or on a higher and morally superior plane than Americans. They just are. They don’t HAVE to say it. If you have to go out of your way while ripping your shirt off saying how wonderful you are, guess what? You’re probably not, and just have a severe case of short man syndrome in need of therapy.

Speaking of mental illnesses…

Why are all the american tourists so fat & loud & have no fashion?

Not only must we dress “respectfully”, but we also must mind our fashion? How much does it really cost to travel to Europe? And wait. Who are truly the materialistic ones? The ones who are fashion-conscious or the ones who dress for comfort? I think when the Brits call us materialistic, they are simply projecting.

Speaking of “fat”, what do you think of the Australian tourists?

If you are seriously looking to visit Europe in the near future, I highly recommend this read: “Keep Your Hopes Up, Overseas Americans, Help Is Available!”. It’s a little 12-step program to teach you how to hate yourself for being an American help you survive the childish scolding and interrogative behavior that sometimes (sadly) happens in Europe. (No 12-step programs are available for tourists in Canada as of yet. But as soon as one comes out, I’ll post it. All I know is that you won’t be needing one of these T-Shirts.)

Lastly, here is some more commentary coming from those who have traveled to Europe.

In the beginning of my trip, I was slightly excited to be thought of as a ‘cool’ or ‘good’ American. People said I was ‘different’ because I was traveling and seeing the world and not just holed up in my country Snowy Eve watching one of 300+ channels on my TV or driving my big, gas-guzzling SUV on some big highway somewhere (these are obviously more stereotypes). By the way, I sold the only car I’d ever owned, a 1989 Honda Prelude, before my trip began.

Well, ya kinda have to sell a lot of things just to be able to afford to adhere to their pretentious dress code for restaurants.

I only drove about once a month and hope to not buy another one since I normally use public transport anyway. I was happy to also defend and explain to people that all Americans are not created equal and we are all different just like the rest of the world. But, I have to admit, as time went on I began to get sick and tired of trying to make sense of it all and either defending or renouncing other Americans. I grew weary of debunking the negative stereotypes that I really can’t do much about.

[Snip!]

A few times I did encounter the stereotypical “ugly Americans” (as well as other English-speaking Flag from dad’s house nationalities that shall remain nameless) during my travels giving us all a bad name, but I still tried to give them the benefit of the doubt because of the fact that they still made the decision to travel and see other parts of the world in the first place. But I also met and know wonderfully kind and open Americans. Just remember also that the Americans who are traveling abroad are there to open up to new experiences and engrossing themselves in new cultures, but by Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…making comments about these very visitors to your countries, that open-mindedness can quickly turn to defensiveness.

Notice how she didn’t mention the other English speaking tourists that had a bad attitude? If this were the experience of a non-American, wanna bet they wouldn’t hesitate to scream the offending nationality off of the rooftops?

Back to the lil’ old book of “rules” for traveling abroad…. Remember, it’s America’s job to police the world and give orders to everyone. Not you. You think Bush was bad? Wait ’till Mizz Sarah Palin takes office!

UPDATE:

Yet, another pompous pseudo-intellectual creates a list of “rules” for Americans to abide by when they travel overseas.

There are probably more out there. But why? I thought that yanks didn’t travel.

My Anti-American Anecdote of the Day

Hi. I am an Expat Texan living in Canada. You can find my blog over here.

It always amazes (but no longer surprises) me when a random Canadian feels the need to disparage the country of my birth.  This is even more baffling to me when the snide comments are made by someone who has come to me for help.

A few weeks ago,  I was doing a physical examination on a patient who had come to me for a consultation.  Everything seemed to go well, up until the auscultation part of the exam.  For that, I use a stethoscope that has an American flag painted on the acoustic bell head (like the one shown here).  This was apparently too provocative for the patient, who wasted little time in sharing their opinions with me:

Patient:  Why do you have a stethoscope with an American Flag painted on it?

Me:  Because I’m an American

Patient:  Well, I would think that’s a fact you would rather keep to yourself.

Me:  Why on Earth would you say that?

Patient:  Well, you must know that everyone hates Bush – it just seems better if you would keep from making political statements in your place of employment.  I find it offensive.

Me:  I’m not sure how me wearing a symbol of the place I’m from is making a political statement.

Patient:  Well, it just seems like you wouldn’t want to advertise the fact that you’re an American, is all.

This kind of attitude is fairly pervasive – to the point that a complete stranger felt the need to lecture me on the evils of my country.  Let’s play a little substitution game, and see how it flies:

Patient:  Why are you wearing that scarf on your head?

Me:  Because I’m a Muslim

Patient:  Well, I would think that’s a fact you would rather keep to yourself……..

Do I really need to go on?  Do you think that kind of attitude would be tolerated for even a second?  But of course, hatred of Americans is justified – while other groups can never be condemned, regardless of circumstance.  As I said above – I’m no longer surprised by the anti-Americanism that is just a part of life in Canada.   I would say my experiences closely mimic those described by this Washington Post author:

Although I enjoy my work and have made good friends here, I’ve found life as an American expatriate in Canada difficult, frustrating and even painful in ways that have surprised me. As attractive as living here may be in theory, the reality’s something else. For me, it’s been one of almost daily confrontation with a powerful anti-Americanism that pervades many aspects of life. When I’ve mentioned this phenomenon to Canadian friends, they’ve furrowed their brows sympathetically and said, “Yes, Canadian anti-Americanism can be very subtle.” My response is, there’s nothing subtle about it.

…

In “officially multicultural Canada,” hostility toward Americans is the last socially acceptable expression of bigotry and xenophobia. It would be impossible to say the things about any other nationality that Canadians routinely say — both publicly and privately — about Americans. On a human level, it can be rude and hurtful. (As it was on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, when an acquaintance angrily told me that she would now have to curtail her travel plans because she was afraid she might be mistaken for an American.) And there’s no way to argue against it. An American who attempts to correct a misconception or express even the mildest approval for the policies of U.S. institutions is likely to be dismissed as thin-skinned or offensive, and as demonstrating those scary nationalistic tendencies that threaten the world.

Actually, I could have just cut and pasted the entire article as a mirror of my own experiences, impressions, and observations.  But that wouldn’t be very “fair use” friendly of me, now would it?  Stealing other people’s content – exactly what one might expect from an American.  At least if that expectation comes from a Canadian.

WOMEN, LISTEN UP!: Palin/McCain Against VAWA

Allow ME to get on my own “COUNTRY FIRST/STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS” here.

If you get raped, you broke your vow of abstinence under God. So, here is your punishment, women:

As the women of Wasilla know, however, the Palin doctrine rejects government hand-outs such as rape kits. During Palin’s mayoralty, women were stuck with the tab for their forensic exams, which range from $300 to $1,200. Palin refuses to perpetuate the endless cycle of rape-victim welfare. By paying for rape kits, the government would be rewarding people who break their abstinence-only pledges, which, as we all know, are sacred to the entire Palin family, especially Bristol.

Yes, already on baby #2…

But by charging rape victims, the government encourages women to keep their purity pledges to their fathers. Plus the expense, makes women think twice about crying wolf, thus helping to reduce Alaska’s per capita rape rate, which stands among the highest in our great nation.

Mrs. Palin (oops, I mean Mizz Palin because you are a die hard feminist) didn’t you say that you were, in your own words, “Putting Government Back on the Side of the People?”

Really?

Just don’t plan on getting battered or raped when these two become president because the “pro-women:” “pro-people” and “feminist” couple will most likely make you pay for your own rape kit (which can be between $300-$1,500) . If you are the victim of a violent crime, will you be okay under the new lower standards setting women back decades?

Now, WHO’S the sexist?

It only took the Palin/McCain ticket for me to realize that Bush wasn’t as bad as I had thought.

Oh and P.S. After you get raped come January, you will not only be forced to dish out a lot of money for your rape kit that is to aid in the criminalization of the rapist (god forbid), you will have to keep the baby too.

Amy Newman from the Huffington Post says,

These are the questions to which I want answers. These are the central issues of a campaign, of an election to which Americans must pay attention. If rape victims have been charged for rape kits in municipalities, towns, cities and states around this country, we deserve to know why. But let’s not sell ourselves short. We deserve to know a lot more than that. The system is broken. Revealing a hole here and a scratch there unearths some superficial problems. If women are going to decide this election, we should do so based on the policies that impact women most, and which candidates will actually help women outside of politics. We can do this by asking the important questions:

Which set of candidates understands best how to remedy the culture of violence perpetuated against women in this nation and globally? Which set of candidates pro-actively creates policies that address the root causes of rape and sexual assault? Which set of candidates do we trust to raise the status of women in this country and work internationally to do the same? Which set of candidates’ legislative and leadership records reveal genuine attempts at fixing the problems their various constituents face when it comes to rape, sexual assault and other forms of violence against women?

Why would Palin refuse to fund rape kits?

“…rape kits also contain…emergency contraception…”

And this is against God’s rule. Dear women, don’t make God cry. Don’t get raped. It’s all within YOUR control.

This is why the National Organization for Women are now supporting Obama. Ironic, isn’t it? Voting against a FEMALE president for women’s issues???

On pay equity. Sen. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation to end wage discrimination against women.

On reproductive rights. Sen. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act, to strengthen access to contraception and reproductive health care, and prevent unwanted pregnancies. He strongly supports Roe v. Wade and will oppose any efforts to overturn it.

On violence against women. Sen. Obama supports the continued reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act — of which Sen. Joe Biden is the chief sponsor — as well as the Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) Act, which is legislation to provide legal, medical and financial support to victims of domestic violence.

On the Supreme Court. Sen. Obama opposed the nominations of George Bush’s extreme right-wing nominees to the Supreme Court, who have consistently ruled against women’s rights, …

Good luck women of 2009! You’re gonna need it.

USA

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Republicans Rigging the Election Again

Now, getting very desperate, the Republicans are trying to keep those that have lost their homes from voting.

This reminds me of Election 2000 where many Floridian blacks were kept from voting to ensure the victory of the GOP.

While the Dems can be very corrupt, there is no corruption like the corruption that comes from the Republican Desperados. They really cannot handle losing, can they? And the neo-cons say that the Libs are running the show in Washington? Really?

More information on Election Fraud can be found here.

If there are any updates or corrections that need to be made to the above story, I will update it ASAP.

Americans are all Spoiled and Rich, You Say?

This is news to me. I used to think that this was a joke until I had heard it so many times. I have come to find these people are actually serious.

Wow!

What I find most interesting is the fact that those living in Europe, Canada, and other Western countries clearly live better than Americans. This is a fact.

But we’re “spoiled”? And “rich”? How?

Surely if you compare our materialism with those living in developing countries, I can understand. But when you compare “our stuff” with what people have in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and in Europe? Are you kidding me?

For those that are just as clueless as I, this is an actual stereotype pinned to the Americans. I have found no evidence to support how Americans are “spoiled and rich”. But I HAVE found evidence to support that our government is RICH but also trillions of dollars (if not more) IN DEBT. Yep. You guys are supposed to know this stuff. I think you Americanophobes conveniently like to “confuse” the average man on the street with the $$$$ BIG $$$$ FAT $$$$ CAT $$$$ CORPORATIONS $$$$ that run the country.

Anyway, I have only found evidence to support the opposite of the claim that all Americans have 589001456 SUVs, have 4 story homes with 9 garages on 6000 acres of land. Ironically enough, the same Americanophobic propagandists who who call us “spoiled and rich”  are also the same people who say American lives suck.

Americanophobes are a walking contradiction, to say the least.

Let us explore how the rest of the West live in comparison to those evil yanks.

The French Health Care System

More on the French Health Care System (Rated the best in the world)

French Family Values VS American Family Values

In the U.S. politicians are defined as pro-family values if they:

• Oppose abortion.
• Oppose stem cell research.
• Oppose gay marriage.
• Give lip service to the sanctity of traditional marriage and the importance of the traditional family
• Attend church regularly.

——————————————

As far as the French are concerned, these issues have little if anything to do with family values.

For them “pro-family” means supporting policies that play a major role in helping families — parents and children — in their daily lives. Politicians are considered pro-family values if they vote for continued government support for:

• Universal, accessible medical care.
• Family allowances paid to parents of young children to help them with the costs of raising children.
• Minimum of four day stays in hospital for mothers giving birth.
• Social workers available cost-free to help parents of newborns with child-rearing, finances, and other issues.
• State-run day care for children from the age of 4 months, with payment based on parents’ income, and free preschool programs for all children starting at age 3, all with teachers who have completed a two year program in pedagogy.
• Free education, elementary school through university, including graduate school, medical, law, and other professional schools.
• A work year of approximately 1440 hours and one month paid vacation which makes for more “quality time” for parents and children. (Americans work approximately 1800 hours per year according to World Policy Institute researchers. The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays, according to economist John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.)

How Canada Stole the American Dream

Believe it or not, we now have more wealth than Americans, even though we work shorter hours. We drink more often, but we live longer and have fewer diseases. We have more sex, more sex partners and we’re more adventurous in bed, but we have fewer teen pregnancies and fewer sexually transmitted diseases. We spend more time with family and friends, and more time exploring the world.

[Snip!]

The data shows that it’s the Canadians who are living it up, while Americans toil away, working longer hours to pay their mounting bills.

The Obesity Epidemic in the US (although Australia has beat us at our own game)

How is it that this is an area of envy? I will wait a lifetime for this answer.

As the Canadians said, Americans work longer hours and have less vacation time to spend with loved ones and family.

Am I supposed to feel spoiled? NO! I’M ENVIOUS!!!!

How about the Nanny States that most of you live in? My friend who lives in Finland told me that her husband GOT PAID for going to college! You have Nanny who takes care of any problems you may have. You people as self-sufficient as Americans are, generally speaking. Americans must fend for themselves. Granted, Americans DO have access to social programs and the like such as welfare, social security, Medicaid, SSI, SSD, scholarships for college, financial aid for college, public school, and free emergency care if you don’t have insurance. But compared to Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, you are afforded more luxury living conditions that don’t pressure you to work hard. And you receive more handouts from Nanny that the Americans envy.

My fiance, from England, can’t believe we (in America) only get two weeks holiday a year to start. They get five. To him it’s INSANE that companies don’t take better care of their workers. When he was here in December, I couldn’t take off from work, because I hadn’t accrued any vacation time at that point. Also insane. And now I have to ration my time off for when he moves here and we get married.

He also says that in England, they cannot schedule your shift less than 12 hours apart (8 for sleep, 2 hours for commuting both ways, 2 hours for breakfast and dinner). During the Christmas season in the US, it was common for me to close the store at 11pm, and be back in to open at 6am. That made him angry to hear.

And, in England, if your employer wants you to work the overnight shift (for example, filling in for a co-worker for a day or two), they have to give you the day prior off and the day after off, and pay you for both, to let your body adjust to the schedule change. In other words, two free paid days off, in addition to your regular days off! If only they’d schedule him for one overnight per week!

But sometimes Nanny can get evil and start preaching to you how you must live your lives, but you guys don’t seem to mind that. (Well, at least the braggart Americanophobes don’t)

Here’s one American’s take on “how spoiled we are”.

We’re NOT SPOILED

I’m sick of being told we need to cut back and that America is spoiled. I guess it’s better if we’re more like the “world?” It’s my fault that I need to get to work, need gas in the car, food on the table, and want to see a movie once in a while? Oh yeah, baby I’m living way past my means.

Someone’s starving, somewhere so I need to give up my car to drive to the store and ride a bike. Of course! What was I thinking!

What in the “world” are they talking about? Because some other country doesn’t live like we do doesn’t make us automatically spoiled.

Why does America have food, fuel, housing, roads? We “have” because people here worked for “it.” We became what we are because we PRODUCED! Production doesn’t make you spoiled; it shows you’re smart.

Collectively, we have more because we produce more.

Stop telling me I’m spoiled and I should just cut back so the TRULY spoiled – BIG OIL COMPANIES – can keep THEIR riches, enjoy their yachts, big tax breaks, government subsidies, AND spoiled style of living.

Feel free to read the rest of her justified rant here.

Should we appreciate what we have? Yes. But I’d never go as far as saying that we’re spoiled or that we have more than other 1st world countries or that we want material goods that others don’t crave. That’s a crock of poop.

What about rich American Celebrities?

American movies make more money (because they are shown all over the world), so the celebrities get paid more here compared to the celebrities abroad. However, celebrities on the whole, are RICH all over the world. Every country’s celebrity makes more than their doctors and lawyers. And naturally, these people along with the government, shoudn’t be “confused” with the average Joe American.

Salaries

Before we talk about salaries that the average men on the street make, and before we discuss who makes more money, let’s look at the LIVING EXPENSES in each country. I’ll leave you to do that research yourself. In any event, it is insignificant because the average Joe American is *NOT* rich. Not even close.

In the US, only a small few are considered “rich”. The rest of the population are part of the upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, working class, and then the indigent.

Even if Americans were mostly or all rich upper middle people?

…So?

What does rich mean – other than rich? How does money equate to being “spoiled”? Or content? Especially when we can see that there are other countries out there that are happier than America. Some significant differences follow.

What about “Quality of Life”?

Norway, anybody? What about this?

Feeling sad? Researchers at Britain’s University of Leicester reckon you might just be in the wrong country. According to Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist at Leicester who developed the first “World Map of Happiness,” Denmark is the happiest nation in the world.

White’s research used a battery of statistical data, plus the subjective responses of 80,000 people worldwide, to map out well-being across 178 countries. Denmark and five other European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, and Iceland, came out in the top 10…

Hat Tip: In Case You Missed It

And that’s not even the half of it. If it is true that everything about America sucks, then how do you think the people must feel?

Actually, if anybody is spoiled, that would be any country that is not forced to take care of themselves knowing that the government will always be there for you.

Before you call Americans “spoiled”, please check our quality of life compared to other developed countries, and then get back to me with your revised verdict.

Some Brits find the US to Be More Peaceful and Less Violent than Britain

I have been calling out the US on her violence for ages, but having read this article published by the BBC, it gave even someone like me some perspective.

A British man I met in Colorado recently told me he used to live in Kent but he moved to the American state of New Jersey and will not go home because it is, as he put it, “a gentler environment for bringing the kids up.”

Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

“It seems so nice here,” they quaver.

[Snip!]

They will occasionally kill each other in anger or by mistake, but you never feel as unsafe as you can feel in south London.

It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.

Feel free to read the rest of that article here.

The British authors of “America in the World” published something noteworthy on this topic:

Gun crime, inequalities in general and access to healthcare, in particular, are also used by America’s critics as ammunition.  Michael Moore’s films – Bowling for Columbine and Sicko – portray a particularly negative view of America.  American citizens have their own personal experiences which they can set against the films of Moore – and of the wider Hollywood – but for overseas observers they are often unchallenged propaganda. There are occasional attempts by opinion-formers to put contentious subjects into context – as the BBC’s Justin Webb recently did in his defence of America’s record on gun crime[13] – but these are exceptional.

This fact is very important. Only in America are Micheal Moore, Al Gore, Noam Chomsky et al challenged on some of their exaggerations, inaccurate fast facts, and generalized distortion of the truth. However, abroad, these people’s statements are digested without a burp!

Critics of America are very useful and have fundamentally good intentions, however, some of these multi-millionaires who critique this country get carried away beyond the facts to pure theatrical hyperbole.

If you are interested in this subject, you also may be interested in my posting about the flaws in Michaell Moore’s argument in his movie, “Bowling for Columbine”.

How Exactly Are the Dems Soft on Defense???

The extreme right wing keeps announcing that if Obama took office, that the US would be defenseless – that our soldiers can basically go home and wouldn’t be needed until another Republican took office. This is all despite Obama supporting our presence and military needs to take down Osama Bin Forgotten.

Woodrow Wilson (Democrat)—> had us go to WWI (for the last year and a half of it).

Franklin D Roosevelt (Democrat)—> WWII

Harry Truman (Democrat)—> The Korean War

John F Kennedy (Democrat)—> got the ball rolling for Vietnam War

Lyndon B Johnson (Democrat)—>another Democrat who continued the Vietnam War

I’m not going to give an opinion about these wars whether they were illegal or not – defense or offense. My point is to prove that, historically, we have gone to war MORE under Democratic presidents than Republicans!

Even the International Anti-American crowd doesn’t know this as they associate Republicans presidents with warmongering, and naively think that if Obama gets elected, that he won’t go after Osama bin Forgotten.

Idiots!

How is Being the Mother of Five a Selling Point?

Some keep going on and on about oooooh aaaaaaah Palin has five kids! And how amazing she is for this.

So…?

First of all, anybody can get laid. It’s really not that hard – especially when you’ve been taught abstinence at youth. Who doesn’t enjoy sex raw without a condom? It’s the best sex ever for both the man AND THE WOMAN!

Secondly, what is there to respect about a woman with children who has a full-time career? That is a matter of ENVY, if anything. As a matter of fact, it is easier to have someone else raise your kids for you while you are working. No job can be harder than raising kids raw.

Besides, this is what most moms have been doing for years in the US: working and leaving their kids here and there – most of the time with strangers or nannies. <— Are these people just as qualified as YOU? If parents don’t have money and accidentally had kids, I can understand the critical need to work, but some moms just don’t have that excuse.

Dear 21st Century, thank you once again, for belittling the jobs of real mothers whom are actually there for their children, hearing their first words, watching them grow, learn, experience and etc. After the kids have grown a bit, I can understand beginning or continuing a career, but while the kids are still infants?

Sorry, but there’s a HUGE difference between feminism and common sense.

Wasn’t it the Libtards that started the Feminist Movement, anyway?

I say a lot of stuff on my blog that is politically incorrect and harsh that the Neo-Cons claim to adore (which is another reason for voting for Palin). Maybe I’ll run for political office someday myself.

How Do YOU Define Anti-Americanism?

You’ve heard my version more than once, I’m sure, and the distinction I make between Foreign Anti-Americans and American Anti-Americans. For those unfamiliar with my blog, can find how I define it here.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear from YOU. Please answer this question in my comment section. Any ramblings not addressing this question will get deleted and not read in full.

Thank you.

NOTE: This post is now closed. I had this up for an entire month and the majority of the responses were irrelevancies. To those of you that had the courage to give me your own definition of Anti-Americanism, I thank you.

The Foreign Anti-Americans VS The American Anti-Americans

In this entry, I’d like to discuss how I see the difference between the foreign Anti-Americans versus the American Anti-Americans. Because there IS a difference the way I see it.

Most of you are familiar with how I define Anti-Americanism and American Anti-Americanism in my glossary section. I’d like to elaborate on that here.

Foreign Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia) has nothing to do with critiquing our government or even protesting against it for that matter. Those whom are thoughtful enough to distinguish our government from the average man on the street are *NOT* Anti-American. Those who are mindful enough to know that America is no more a Democracy, and that Americans have no more control over their government than any other developed country are *NOT* Anti-American. Simply put, another word for Foreign Anti-Americanism is B-I-G-O-T-R-Y.

What about the Americans, themselves? It’s a similar concept. Criticizing the government, again, is not Anti-American. However, it IS when Americans take it to another level.

• The Anti-American Americans are the same people who keyed the cars of innocent civilians in the streets of San Francisco during a massive and violent demonstration against the war.
• The Anti-American Americans spread false rumors and exaggerated truths about the Americans and America to foreigners.
• The Anti-American Americans are the same people who spat on our soldiers when they came back home from Vietnam.
• The Anti-American Americans are those that say 9-11 was an “inside job”.
• The Anti-American Americans hate this blog as they say that Foreign xenophobic attitudes toward Americans are justified.
• The Anti-American Americans cannot see anything good about America or anything good that America has done.
• The Anti-American Americans do not pay attention to any news or any historical facts that prove injustices happen under other regimes other than the United States and believe that the only “true victims” are only those victims at the hands of Americans.
• The Anti-American Americans are against all American military and against all wars that America has ever participated in.

Or like I mentioned here…

Q: What is an Anti-American American?

A: We have plenty of these – perhaps more over here in the US of A – more than you can imagine. These people do nothing but whine, whine, and whine while sitting on their collective rear-ends without lifting a finger to make a change. They play “woe-victim” and blame all of their shortcomings on America. Some of them are spoiled rotten and never had to work for anything, and don’t know the value of a dollar. They are terrorist sympathizers. They also fabricate and modify American news and then share it with the Anti-Americans living abroad as their cheerleader. They appreciate nothing and hate all-things-American while they enjoy their trip to Las Vegas and milk the goody out of what they can get from living in the US. Additionally, they condone international Anti-Americanism saying that “we deserve it” while not even knowing what Anti-Americanism is and while not even realizing that the FOREIGN Anti-Americans are stereotyping them too lol. Yes, the American Anti-Americans are lumped together with the rest of America and are EQUALLY LOATHED. With that said, Anti-American Americans are as mindless as the rest of them.

—>Anti-American Americans typically don’t know what the 1st Amendment means. They are constantly saying that our speech is silenced here when it is not.

—>Anti-American Americans appease the foreign Anti-Americans in any way that they can. For example, they call themselves “Unitedstatesians” and use the British spelling of words instead of what they learned in the US.

Unlike Conservatives, I can handle the Anti-American Americans BETTER than the Foreign Anti-Americans because at least I know that if I run into one of my own people in the street that they won’t automatically call me names until they find out about where I stand politically – unlike the Foreign Anti-Americans who just see an American and automatically SEE a nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumbing, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered Neanderthal American — from their place of birth ALONE!

See the difference?

Too many people confuse Anti-Americanism with being critical of the US government. And that frustrates me to no end!!

Jean-Francois Revel said it best:

“There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficent interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…”

The world’s verdict will be harsh if the US rejects OBAMA? No shit!?

I was just feeling fits of rage over the Republican radicals and Evangelicals as I read through newspapers on the internet. Then I happened upon this article written by Einstein. I don’t know who I am angrier at: The Americanophobes or the Neo-Conservative Evangelicals in the US. These two groups are both equally closed minded and selfish as all hell. There’s no balance in their speech, and as usual, facts are distorted.

So you can understand my pessimism. But it’s now combined with a rising frustration. I watch as the Democrats stumble, uncertain how to take on Sarah Palin. Fight too hard, and the Republican machine, echoed by the ditto-heads in the conservative commentariat on talk radio and cable TV, will brand Democrats sexist, elitist snobs, patronising a small-town woman. Do nothing, and Palin’s rise will continue unchecked, her novelty making even Obama look stale, her star power energising and motivating the Republican base.

To be fair (which is what I’d expect from REAL journalists), the criticism goes BOTH WAYS. There ARE radicals on BOTH ends of the political spectrum. And both teams have unfair players. It is biased to only mention the foul Radical Republican players. Here’s one sick example out of many. There are rumors going about the internet surrounding Palin and Obama that are just simply that: RUMORS (lies!). The radicals on both sides believe everything they hear without question or challenge. And they are seriously misbehaving!

We know one of Palin’s first acts as mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska was to ask the librarian the procedure for banning books. Oh, but that was a “rhetorical” question, says the McCain-Palin campaign. We know Palin is not telling the truth when she says she was against the notorious $400m “Bridge to Nowhere” project in Alaska – in fact, she campaigned for it – but she keeps repeating the claim anyway. She denounces the dipping of snouts in the Washington trough – but hired costly lobbyists to make sure Alaska got a bigger helping of federal dollars than any other state.

She claims to be a fiscal conservative, but left Wasilla saddled with debts it had never had before. She even seems to have claimed “per diem” allowances – taxpayers’ money meant for out-of-town travel – when she was staying in her own house.

Is the author implying here that Democrats are as clean as a whistle and never lie? Who does he think that he’s kidding?

Remember, this is a woman who once addressed a church congregation, saying of her work as governor – transport, policing and education – “really all of that stuff doesn’t do any good if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God”.

I am hardly impressed with this statement even though it’s true. Why? Because the Americanophobes are no different with their extremism and their “religion”. Because if you think about it, Americanophobia REALLY IS a religion. And let’s not pretend that we don’t know what Americanophobia is. So, how really are the staunch Anti-Americans different from Palin and Co.?

As said here…

Of all the pseudo-religions corrupting our thinking–Freudianism, Marxism, Darwinism, to name a few–anti-Americanism is the most bizarre and dangerous. The facts of American life and American history simply do not support the widespread view that the United States, in the lunatic words of playwright Harold Pinter, is a “fully-fledged, award-winning, gold-plated monster” that “knows only one language–bombs and death.” Such hatred usually is spawned by a diseased religious sensibility, an irrational passion for a narrative that bestows meaning on the world and one’s exalted place in it as a champion of the revealed truth and righteousness. Yet the cult of anti-Americanism is worse than any dysfunctional religion, for it masquerades as reasoned analysis based on historical fact.

And, most importantly, as said here…

Flynn: As I point out in “Why the Left Hates America,” anti-Americanism is the religion for people who hate religion. It comes complete with a devil (the United States); sacred texts (I, Rigoberta Menchu, The Communist Manifesto, etc.); saints (Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu-Jamal); zeal (in putting together my book I was attacked, subjected to a book burning, and ejected from a conference for dissent); and many of the other characteristics that we find in various faiths.

As the British author continues in his article…

If Sarah Palin defies the conventional wisdom that says elections are determined by the top of the ticket, and somehow wins this for McCain, what will be the reaction? Yes, blue-state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country.

Then why don’t you Americanophobes leave us alone already? May I remind you that you’re not mad at the Neo-Conservative Republican party who choose people like Palin and Bush as leaders, you’re mad at ALL OF US. You just like to kick people when they’re down, don’t you? Do you push quadriplegics out of their wheelchairs where you live? If your answer is “no”, then why are you so harsh on the American liberal-wing no matter how hard we fight for a better life? We’re not trying enough, you say? Give me a break! We have no more power than you as far as government is concerned, and we’ve busted our asses trying to get Bush impeached. BUSH DIDN’T CHOOSE YOUR PM TO BE HIS LAPDOG, YOUR PM DID. We’re not going to apologize, AGAIN, because your own country cannot make peaceful decisions by herself – even if your only flaw is selling arms to terrorists like the yanks did. At some point in time, you people are going to have to take some responsibilities for yourselves!

And for the record, liberals ARE already in a constant state of mourning, if you will, even if they don’t show it on their faces. I’d like to think that we liberals realize what is wrong with our country. And it is so.

A generation of young Americans – who back Obama in big numbers – will turn cynical, concluding that politics doesn’t work after all.

Why do you Americanophobes always think it is the “young” that are liberal. I find that most curious. That is incorrect. Not only that, but we Liberals have ALWAYS been cynical and knew that politics rarely worked. Thirty-six percent of eligible citizens didn’t vote in the 2004 election. Have you ever did any research as to why people chose not to vote? It’s because they’re sick of our corrupt system and find solace with apathy. That is as far Left as you can go, sunny. The rest of the disgruntled Left have moved to Canada and Europe.

McCain might talk a good game on climate change, but a repeated floor chant at the Republican convention was “Drill, baby, drill!”, as if the solution to global warming were not a radical rethink of the US’s entire energy system but more offshore oil rigs.

Count me in as part of the “Drill, baby, drill” movement. I loathe having to depend on Americanophobes for ANYTHING. And some of us Americans are also getting sick and tired of the Americanophobic Canadians telling us how America wouldn’t survive without them. Even thought I’m voting for Obama, I would really like to get out of NATO and the UN and be the isolationists we once were, and let the rest of the planet fend for themselves for a change. Yes, Americanophobia abroad has hardened me THAT much. Yes, that’s me – a cynical mourning liberal.

If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush-Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.

Due to Global Warming? Then, how come you haven’t yelled at Australia for not signing the Kyoto Treaty? Due to War? Then how come YOU keep choosing leaders that send you to war or fund it? How come your leaders sold arms to terrorist groups like the yanks did? Is it the economy? Where is your own personal responsibility involved? Fix your OWN economies so that you don’t have to be so dependent on the USA. Follow measures of best practices and watch Japan in action. What else is on your laundry list of woes that our barbarian leaders put you through? Are you afraid of us? Because if that’s true, you’re the last group of people we would hear this from because the term, “paranoid” is usually pinned to the Americans.  This gentleman from Romania thinks that you guys are just looking for something to whinge about.

Until now, anti-Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti-Bushism, opposition to this specific administration.

You guys love to kick your own country’s flaws under the carpet in the name of “the extreme few”, don’t you? If that is true, YOU (like the US) certainly harbor MANY (a little more than a few) hardcore people.

Next, how in the world will the last two elections differ from this one??? It’s the same thing, no? The 2000 election was honorably won by Al Gore. Thanks to our Electoral Process, Bush took the seat, however. In the 2004 election, Bush won by 51% with 48% having voted for Kerry.

I predict the same scenario for the 2008 election. Whether the electoral vote wins or loses, McCain will win narrowly. And once again, 48% OF AMERICANS WILL BE AS PISSED AS HELL! You Americanophobic Brits and Canucks have absoulutely no clue how most Americans feel. And that is why you Americanophobes deserve the middle finger you get from us. We will be idiots if we apologize again because we aren’t doing anything TO YOU on PURPOSE. Talk about paranoia!

But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves. For it will have been the American people, not the politicians, who will have passed up a once-in-a-generation chance for a fresh start – a fresh start the world is yearning for.

Are you kidding me? Did we not have a “fresh start” back in 2004 with Kerry? It was kinda tolerable to withstand the hardcore leftist xenophobes back in the years between 2000 and 2008, but it’s now 100% acceptable to lump all Americans under one convenient umbrella if Obama doesn’t win? Are we going by the Euro-Canadian Three Strikes and You’re Out Doctrine? Oh Daddy, why don’t you go ahead and ground us, already?

Perhaps Americanophobia shouldn’t provoke me, yanno. Why? Well look at who’s throwing the punches? A bunch of imbeciles. We have an expression in the US: “Consider the source”. There are no intelligent people on the face of the earth that labels an entire nation by the outcome of 51%.

You guys have the audacity to call Americans “selfish”. If you people were as SELFLESS as you so smugly claim to be, then how come you don’t sympathize with the 48% who must bear the wrath of another 4+ years with Evangelical Neo-Conservative Extremists running the show and making more and more Americans suffer?

My Colombian friend challenged her Spanish speaking friends with some logic:

Those who chose Bush did not do it because they do not care what happens to the rest of the planet. Bush managed to convince many Americans that his intentions were to liberate the Iraqi people and to eradicate terrorism of the face of the Earth; an idealistic notion to believe in, but never a selfish one. This is why I think that the “Average American isn’t selfish in regards to the world”. On the contrary, they care too much. This has been an altruism that has cost them dearly and continues to go unappreciated.

I wrote this piece not from the point of view of a foreigner living in America, but from the perspective of an immigrant who has fully integrated into this society. After I posted this in Spanish, people continued to say mean things about Americans. They still believe that Americans are blind and selfish; something they feel was confirmed by the reelection of President Bush. Never mind that nearly half of us voted for Kerry. But even those I know who voted for Bush, did not do it because they want to destroy the world. Many of those who voted for him did it because they truly believed he would rid the world of tyranny and terrorism. How can someone call that selfishness? Naive maybe, but not stupid or selfish.

To all Americans, Bush voters or not, feel proud of what your country stands for and keep your heads high. Have faith in yourselves and your values… Truth will always prevail…

To non-Americans: Throw the first stone if your country is free of wrongdoing.

Feel free to read the rest of her essay here.

It is common knowledge that Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada lives much happier and is effortlessly afforded a better standard of living and quality of life than the US… by a long shot. The US is the only country in the world that is behind the times regarding social issues, foreign and domestic policy, and civil rights. Why in the world do you guys believe that this is the life that all of us (or even most) choose? You Americanophobes say that we’re all spoiled and rich. Where on earth do you get this from? Oops, confusing the Fat Cat Government with the average man on the street again?

What I find very curious is that when a barbarian president is elected in the US, you get pissed off and say one or both of two things that contradict one another:

• (Bush won): Fucking Americans only think about themselves; they don’t care how much we suffer from their voting choices
• (Bush won): Fucking Americans deserve Bush

What? Which is it? Either you’re a victim or you’re not. Either Americans are out to get you or they’re not. Either Americans want a typical, nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumping, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered Neanderthal American to rule them or they don’t and deserve it as punishment instead – even if they voted for Kerry or Obama. ???

Perhaps once you goons make up your minds, only then, will Americans start to take you more seriously. Right now, you’re making Bush look …. *gasps* …smart.

And the manner of that decision will matter, too. If it is deemed to have been about race – that Obama was rejected because of his colour – the world’s verdict will be harsh.

Aaaah, so nice to hear this from the proudest braggarts of all-things-multicultural and tolerant. Let’s look at the developed world, shall we? America is the FIRST country to have one of African decent RUNNING for the leadership of an entire nation in the western world. Look at where the man’s been and where he is now. There are NUMEROUS amounts of minorities (including women) serving in high rank positions all over our government. And are we not the first country to have one that wasn’t even born here as a governor? (Arnold S.) What about Affirmative Action where colleges, employers, and the like are REQUIRED to fill a quota over one’s merit/qualifications?

Please do *NOT* talk to me about racism while the rest of you talk in private or to yourselves about the minorities that you despise in your own neck of the woods. Furthermore, please don’t discuss racism with me while a large mass of your people indiscriminately hate 300+ million Americans that they’ve never met before. Please do not talk to me about tolerance when your own country is known for judging people based on their social classes. And finally, what was your excuse when Bush won over Kerry in 2004? Were we racist, then? We’ve had more Republican presidents than we’ve had Democrats. Now, enter Obama. He doesn’t win and ALL Americans become racist?

Most certainly there ARE plenty of racists in America. But we are no more racist than any of you on a per capita basis. In fact, if anything, we are a less racist country. Here are some good readings for you:

• Are Only American Whites Capable of Racism and Intolerance?
• America: The Homogeneous Land of the Racist and Intolerant
• What Actually is a Racist These Days?
• Definition of Racism
• Why is Anti-Americanism Racism Too?
• Brown vs Black and the Latino Vote

The above are just opinions and proof this is a more complex subject to tackle than the whiny Americanophobic Crusade is making it out to be. Once you guys are qualified to make an informed or more balanced decision on this topic, than maybe, we Americans will listen. And finally once you stop attacking Americans in the street solely based on their place of birth, than we will look up to you as role models for tolerance in the 21st century.

In that circumstance, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg wrote recently, international opinion would conclude that “the United States had its day, but in the end couldn’t put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race”.

Hmm… some Americans are trying to figure out why the people in other parts of the world couldn’t put their own self-interest ahead of their crazy irrationality over “place of birth”. Or is that your self interest? Once people in other nations clearly show that they really ARE ahead of America regarding “tolerance”, then you can have your say.

…For America to make a decision as grave as this one – while the planet boils…

Come again?

While that planet boils? And you’re calling from Britain, right? Here’s a newsflash for you: Your current “boiling state” is saving many-a-lives. Here’s more additional reading for you to prove that Global Warming is not as “simple” as you make it to be.

…and with the US fighting two wars – on the trivial basis that a hockey mom is likable and seems down to earth, would be to convey a lack of seriousness, a fleeing from reality, that does indeed suggest a nation in, to quote Weisberg, “historical decline”…

Wait. I thought it was because we were all “racist”. So, which is it?

Well, you HAVE TO find some reason to hate us, and I must say I do give you credit for your determination and endurance to sift through the straws… Let me just reiterate. Nobody hates America and Americans better than America and Americans themselves. But see, you wouldn’t know that. Your “expertise” on American Culture is limited to your own backyard and trashy tabloids.

Let’s not forget, McCain’s campaign manager boasts that this election is “not about the issues.

That is correct. OK, so this wasn’t from a tabloid. Forgive me, but hey, allow me once again to remind you that only in America do we critique ourselves better, more honestly, and more vigorously than YOU. That quote above is just a perfect example of that!

If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us – and, make no mistake, we shall hear it.

Wrong. You won’t “shall” hear it. You want to hear it. And even if Obama wins, you’ll still be scratching your asses looking for any excuse in the book to hate all Americans. And for the record, Americanophobia has been going on since the 19th century!

The real title of this article was, “The world’s verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for”. But if you read the article, it contradicts itself several times. If we are “yearning” for Obama, then why won’t he get elected?

You Americanophobes are just the perfect example of peace, harmony, love and tolerance that all Americans should live by, doncha think?

What is the American Dream? (Addressing the foreign myth)

I may be wrong, but I think only Americans understand what the “American Dream” really is.

Those from other countries have deluded perceptions in thinking that

• all Americans have it or are striving for it, and that
• it is served on a silver platter without having to lift a finger.

No!

The American Dream is something that one must work for and work hard for. It also involves Personal Responsibility which is the antithesis of the Nanny/Welfare states in other parts of the developed world. America is VERY unforgiving in this manner.

The American Dream is being who you want to be with America being the place to have the opportunity to do so. It’s *NOT* about having more shiny expensive gadgets than your neighbor. The American Dream is *NOT* about spending plastic money and then going into debt to buy that 1558800069877 inch plasma TV. It’s *NOT* about having a family of 6 with a dog and a big back yard with a barbecue made for cooking 4 inch hamburgers in liquid smoke and with green grass and daddy on the drivable lawn mover.

Immigrants from impoverished nations move here (both legally and illegally) not in every case for the “American Dream” but to make fast cash to send back home to their respective countries in a lot of cases. Other nations have this illusion that if a person from a 3rd world country comes to America, that all they have to do is sit back with their hands out and that the Americans will give them everything they wish for requiring no effort from the newcomer. And when the Americanophobe finds out that the immigrant has to work toward their goal, the “American Dream” then becomes a “myth” and we have to hear how “racist” and “cruel” we are to foreigners… for offering them work or requiring it to live. Suffice it to say that the ILLEGAL immigrants do much better than the poor folk that were actually BORN, bred, and pay taxes in America.

This article, “Special Canada Day Report: How Canada stole the American Dream“ while accurate on many accounts regarding the Canada vs America debate, is a perfect example of how other nations don’t get where the term “The American Dream” came from or why it is even used.

The article above is biased in that the author is comparing ALL Canadians with only the Evangelical Neo-Conservative population in the US rather than looking at ALL Canadians vs ALL Americans in its entirety. But Americanophobic Canadians  are insecure and their mentors feel a compelling need to teach even more patriotism with hopes that Canada will feel less self-loathing. You know, like the kind of “America – love it or leave it” type of patriotism that we’re taught here at home.

I will say that America is still known as “The Land of Opportunities” which is why many from other nations come here to make something of themselves or to expand even greater on their goals. The American Dream is to take advantage of that opportunity whether it be for work or a higher education at one of our renowned ivy league universities.

This is not to say that you cannot afford opportunities in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or in other places around the world. What makes us different (in context to this topic) is minor. But when people from other places around the globe make it big in the US, you cannot help but to wonder that there just may be a difference between the US and other developed countries, in this regard.

Canadians *AGAINST* Americanophobia

For any Canadian, American, or other interested party, there is a group on Facebook that stands firmly AGAINST Americanophobia. This group’s philosophy is as follows:

This group is for other Canadians who are tired of Canadians attacking America.

We left the junior high social life behind, began to think outside the mob mentality and can say, “America is okay.”

It is not that we come straight out and say that we hate America. We grow so tired when we sense hatred of the U.S. It is in the news. It lies beneath conversations. It lowers us. It is truly sad.

This group is for Canadians who do not have the “short-man complex.” We know we’re a great country. We know we are more than just “not American.” We don’t need to insult another to build ourselves up. Our identity is greater than the “chesterfield,” “eh,” “tuque,” or “poutine.” We can clear the gravy and cheese off our brain by setting aside our pride to see what is good in our neighbor, America.

Canada, we love you! And America, you’re not so bad either….

Maybe I’m just crazy, but I’d like to think that the TRUE peace-keepers are the ones against stereotyping, profiling, and hating people that they’ve never met – let alone all 300 million Americans that come from all over the planet. What do you think?

In my travels, I also ran across this blog post, “Carolyn Parrish is a big, fat idiot (on anti-Americanism in Canada)” written by a Canadian. He apologizes to Americans for the behavior of too many Canadians:

May I take this opportunity to apologize to American friends and readers?  I am guessing the typical reaction is, first, “What?”” and, then, “Whatever.””  And indeed Ms. Parrish deserves the dismissal we reserve all for kooks and cranks.  The trouble is that there are millions of like minded kooks and cranks in my fair country.

Anti-Americanism is rampant. Many Canadians now make free with the most derogatory comments about their southern neighbours.  They are pleased to call Americans stupid, aggressive, and vulgar.  They are quick to say that Bush is a moron.  (And here I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying, “well, he may not be Stephen Hawking but he is almost certainly smarter than you.””)  Want an easy laugh at a gathering of Canadians?  Say something anti-American.  No sooner have you spoken than the room is awash in self congratulation.  American bashing is now a Canadian pastime, as passionately pursued as road hockey and Tim Horton do-nuts.

[Snip!]

Canadians pride themselves on being open minded and cosmopolitan.  But here they are stupid, aggressive, and vulgar.

[Snip!]

Really, there is no comparison.  The US leads in scientific accomplishment (see Nobel lists and patents awards), athletics (see Olympic wins), education (see Ph.D.s produced), business innovation, technological innovation, and cultural innovation.  Oh, Canada.  Poor Canada.  Your neighbour outstrips you on every dimension.

But I have never heard a Canadian admit to admiration or even acknowledgement of this difference.  Instead, the strategy is to claim moral superiority.  Canadians are better, they suppose, because they have better social programs, pay more taxes, and do not go to war.  Why is that, I wonder?  The reason that Canada does not go to war is because it lives within the protection of the US. This is the reason it has an Armed Force that would be hard pressed, if transplanted to Eastern Europe, to defend itself from an attack by Estonia.

So true. I go by the following belief (in regards to what I bolded out in the last paragraph): “If people could, they would.” Feel free to read the rest of his post here.

There are just as many Canadians against bigotry who take a public stand on it. There are MANY Canadians against mindless Americanophobia out there. What is sad is that there has to be groups, topics, clubs and individuals crying out for fair and balanced criticism in the defining of Americans over the usual schoolyard bullying.

Additionally, you can also find many Canadians in this particular thread, “What Does it REALLY mean to be Canadian?” who recognize that there is a problem in Canada with patriotism being linked with Anti-Americanism. I’ve discussed this topic here. However, this thread focuses on it more deeply, and there, you will even find some proposals for change in Canada. Some examples follow:

It is sick that to be Canadian one must hate other people. I’ve been to US hundreds of times and England as well and they never equate their nationality with hatred of others. It seems we are a nation of people that are in serious need of therapy. Thank god I enjoy visiting other countries and felt no need to hate or denigrate others. When ever I go to United States or England I always leave the Canadian stuff at home and I get along just fine. I would recommend this for others.

————————————

[Snip!]

One of the main problems is with our identity. We choose to identify ourselves with things that can not be recognised by others as being Canadian. Compassion? Big deal. Scandinavians and the Dutch are just as progressive and compassionate as Canadians.

Peacekeeping? Give me a break. Ask the people of Haiti if they’re grateful for Canadian peacekeepers? Talk about betraying our supposed legacy. Socialist medicine? Thank God for socialist medicine! I’m sorry, but it’s true that European health care is miles ahead of the sacred cow that is Medicare here in Canada.

Foreign Aid? So what? Japan and America contribute just as much if not more per capita than Canadians do. Canada’s foreign aid is paltry when you consider that Belgium contributes more per capita than Canada does. And we are suppose to be a G8 nation? Give me a break!

Hockey? Well, it is a great sport. But compared to rugby, cricket, and football (the real kind of football that rest of the world plays) it’s not like people in other countries can join us in our admiration for hockey now can they? No wonder we’re so good at hockey. We only have to really play against six other countries!

Thousands of years from now when archaeologists and anthropoligsts come to what was once Canada, all they will find is a Golden Arch and what is left of a man still waiting in line for orthopaedic surgery. And they’ll come to the conclusion that these Canadians did not consider themselves to be Americans, even though everyone else did. Oh, and that they played hockey. Not much of a historic legacy?

But keep repeating that superficial drivel that is put into your mouth by the media and the Liberals about us being compassionate, multicultural, peacekeepers. You’re just living in denial.

Another problem is hockey (there I said it!) We’re so bloody obsessed with what is essentially a violent sport, it’s our only means of expression. The notion that Canadians are a kind, polite, and compassionate people is a complete and utter myth. Canadians are humans just like the rest of the world. There are as many assholes here as there are elsewhere.

But instead of expressing ourselves by marching in a demonstration, becoming involved in a political movement or throwing our corrupt politicians out of office, what do we do? We don’t get mad, we play hockey. We get pissed off, so we play hockey. We don’t get our hands dirty, we just play hockey. It’s the only kind of expression we’re capable of!

We weren’t Americans, but we are becoming American. So much attention paid to protecting the sacred cow that is Quebec has seen what identity English Canadians had developing for itself after independence become sold off for a cheap plastic American imitation.

If you’re an American you have to ask yourself, how would I feel if Americans behaved in such away? You’d loathe it as much as Canadians do. If you’ve ever bought an album by Pulp, you’ll see something written in the inside booklet when you open the CD up…

“Please understand. We don’t want no trouble. We just want the right to be different. That’s all”

I think that’s all Canadians want. But poor leadership in our country is to blame, not evil Americans. We’re responsible for our own actions and instead of lookin south for excuses, let’s look in the mirror?

I’m not afraid to say Quebec should leave. Given the current status quo, I’d probably be happy to see them leave. I’m sick to death of the Quebec elite, they’ve been given far too much influence in this country while western politicians for example are ridiculed here in the east for being redneck bigots.

A big problem too is Ontario and Toronto. You have to realise, over four million Canadians live in the Toronto area, an aree littered with federal ridings. Ontarians are just out of touch with reality.

It’s the media centred in Toronto that’s to blame. It’s not that they are for the Liberals and against the Conservatives. They’re not for the NDP either (with the notable exception probably being CityTV). It’s that the media is so bloody Liberal in their allegiance.

For example, on Global News tonight they did a piece on how kind and compassionate Paul Martin was in making amends with the Italian community over internment during the Second World War. They then followed this story with, and I quote “the opposition leaders in Ottawa plotting their next move”. If you don’t think Ontarians are being saturated with propaganda think twice. Sometimes those little signals can be quite influential.

The way I look at it is that I’m a Canadian. I’m a North American, I’m English (more towards the English sense, then the American sense of the word), and I live in country that is not a democracy, but an out dated 19th century imitation banana republic. My country is massively insecure and divided, spoiled, and sadly self-righteous.

What we need is a new choice and new leadership. I doubt we’re going to get it. And should Canada break up, I’ll take solace in the fact that there’s always Australia…

To those Canadians who are also pro-peace, I salute you!

There are quite a few Canadian bloggers out there who are also *AGAINST* Americanophobia, and here is one of the many.

Multicultural fetishism. Anti-Americanism. Smug superiority. Faith in Internationalism. Mockery of morality. Tolerance of the intolerant. Self-hatred. Europhilism. Quebec: a political obsession. All this, and more, from the Great White North!

Unfortunately, some Canucks will argue that to be pro-peace (standing up against Anti-any-isms) that one must certainly be Anti-Canadian. What does this mean to me? It just reminds me of the neo-cons that call ME Anti-American for standing up against the Bush Administration and the stupid things my fellow Americans are capable of!!

PATRIOTISM SHOULD NOT BE BLIND! <— Isn’t blind patriotism an American invention?

It can take guts to be against Americanophobia in Canada. Or not?

In Canada, one cannot say anything derogatory about any other culture without being politically incorrect or racist. Save the natives and the Americans, who are fair game. This is so ingrained in the “Canadian” culture that Canadians cannot/ do not think for themselves. If I said “French men are rude”, then GASP – Jenny! You are so rude and judgemental and how on earth can you look yourself in the mirror stereotyping an entire country like that! Yet, someone from Ohio comes into town and all the Canadians are whispering “That fucking American. He probably doesn’t even know we have a different currency up here. He is so ignorant and rude.” There is a blatant double standard here and I get treated like a pariah when I point this out.

If any of you (it doesn’t matter where you come from) have a Facebook account, don’t hesitate to join the above group. It was started by Canadians who are now living in the US who are sick to death of the Americanophobic pablum. Now, that they’ve seen America, they’ve learned that what they were spoon-fed in Canada were lies and exaggerated rhetoric. You can read more opinions from Canadians here. It was quite refreshing after my having seen these groups.

How Much Power Does a President Have? (The “McChange” Campaign)

I fell upon this paragraph in the blogosphere today.

Mitt Romney said it best in his speech at the Republican National Convention. Washington is broke. The U.S. Government has been under the control of Obama-style liberal elitists continually since the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt 75 years ago. It’s not that Democrats have always controlled the Presidency or Congress, but liberals have always been the vast majority of bureaucrats. This liberal majority has led the U.S. downhill to the point where mothers can no longer afford to stay home and raise their children properly, as they could easily do 75 years ago.

We’ve had Reagan, Bush 1 Sr. and then Bush II Jr. Let’s just cover those three for now. That is 20 years of having a Republican President and Vice President in office. Never in my life had I ever seen people as enthusiastic and defensive over a President as George W Bush Jr. And even Bush’s support abroad, (and it does exist) is FIERCE and unapproachable.

Oh, the conservatives DID complain about Bush every once in a while but mostly due to the Illegal Immigration problem in the US. Other than that, I’ve rarely heard a peep out of the Republicans.

BUT… now,… Washington is “broke”?

Do we really have a liberal majority? These people may not agree.

Look at all the Republican Presidents and Vice Presidents in office in rewind-mode. What do you think that Palin is going to do that Republicans in History haven’t? How will she nuke those liberal bureaucrats? And why have all the“true Republican Conservatives” been sitting there watching our Washington “break” since you were born?

Oh.. and Bush said “change” was needed back in 2004. Oh, yes he did. And that is what is so ironic.

If you don’t have the time to watch the entire video above, please start watching at 4:20 to see the ridiculousness in all this.

And what about those lobbyists, anyway?

In any event, I am fully aware that the Dems lie. But what about the Republicans? Are they as clean as a whistle as they are thought to be by their supporters? And, once again, how much power does a president have?

You Know What Would Make the World a Better Place?

If there were no far right wingers and no far left wingers.

The Most Hilarious Comment I’ve Received to Date

…from the PC Police, mind you, regarding the most controversial post I have ever written in my 4 years of blogging (no kidding!). I got into big trouble today. From one who is in denial that Anti-Americanism even exists, told me today that I was stereotyping the Americanophobes or so to put it in his words,

You talk about nation-states as if they were singular entities with personalities and traits. ‘Japanese’ do this, ‘Americans’ are like this, all the ‘anti-Americans’ say this. You even talk about anti-Americanism as an object that does things

“But this is what Anti-Americanism is all about. It’s mindless bigotry. It doesn’t listen.”

Anti-Americanism is an it?

Perhaps you should think a bit more critically about your own black and white thinking before accusing others ‘out there’ of it.

This comment followed his initial comment to me which was this:

あんたアホちゃう？

In English this means, “Are you a dumbass”?

I laid out how I interpret Americanophobia over here. Admittedly, there is controversy and heavy mud slinging, hair-pulling, killing of first born children, and nail-biting debates over what the ambiguous term Anti-Americanism actually is. And depending on the person, Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia) is something different. The word is just as ambiguous and controversial as the term, “patriotism”. This is more the reason that I must go out of my way to define it (along with other often used terms in my blog including what is patriotism) how I experience it so as to avoid confusion. Nonetheless, despite all my efforts to LINK the “offensive” and “politically incorrect” word to my glossary at every mention of it, people are still confused. Either that or they’re too LAZY to click on my link to these words defined.

It is also interesting how this person finds the concept of Americanophobia to *not* be an noun or a mindset. I wonder if the terms bigotry, prejudice, xenophobia, or racism are also not an “it”. The last time I checked, the proper pronoun for a mindset is an “it” and for a person is a “him or her”. I sure hope that Mr. Nippon Blogger is not teaching English in Japan because this could be very dangerous. (I could understand typos, but pronoun usage???) Maybe he’s an American?

This knee-jerk commenter reminds me of how important I find the following quote that I highlighted in this post, “The Audacity to Respond”:

“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill

Because trust me, the Westboro Baptist Church gets all defensive when they are called out. So do white supremacists, anti-Semites, those who use the words nigger, spics, beaners, gooks, limeys, ginnies and the like. These people all go out of their way to silence dissent and create lame excuses for their crooked beliefs. Then there are some bigots who deny that bigotry even exits (especially if they’re guilty of it themselves). Then, some people are just pollyannas and like to think that hate doesn’t exist. Then some people defend hate and knock those who react to it. If you think about it, nobody likes their mission to be criticized.

Suffice it to say, this doorknob has a blog, and he defines as his…

Views and Commentary on Politics, Culture, and Environment in Japan

And in his carefully written and balanced blog, he stereotypes the Japanese. You can find one example here.

For those who don’t know samba, most of the outfits are quite skimpy and t-back bottoms are the norm. Also, for those who don’t know–Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan. Anyway, the whole thing was almost too much to take. Some of these lecherous folks had arrived at the wee hours of the morning to secure a good spot for their ass hunting. What surprised me most was that there were quite a few older women getting in on the action too (apparently they sell the photos to websites and magazines–yuck).

These perverts were totally unabashed in their quest for bum shots. Good god all mighty.

Hypocrisy at its finest, might I say? For those that don’t know the word, “chikan”, in Japanese, it is basically those men who grope and touch women where they shouldn’t be touching women. They are mostly found inside crowded trains in Japan. When I was living in Japan, I called them “touch men” as a joke. But for someone who calls me out as seeing the world with a “black and white” view, I found his post about Samba to be quite the ironic.

See, we Americans are already defined as being overly-simplistic in our views of the world, so I take much pleasure in pointing out where the Americanophobes are being overly-simplistic. It’s as simple as that.

But I did feel guilty because “Nippon Blogger” was correct on one of the points that he made. As I’ve mentioned in my disclaimer/comment policy and in my “about me” section, I claim to fight against stereotypes and bigotry expressed publicly, and here I am demeaning and harassing the Americanophobes as well as other groups. What a hypocrite I am!!

With that said, I owe an apology to several groups of people for my having offended the Americanophobic population and stereotyping them. Shame on me. I would also like to take this golden opportunity to also apologize to the Westboro Baptist Church, the KKK, the homophobics, the extreme right wingers, and Christian and Islamic fundamentalists whom I have also labels as “bad” in my blog. I’m really sorry. I’m sure you guys really do mean well.

For those unaware of the Westboro Baptist Church or Godhatesfags.com, here’s a brief introduction:

WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.

If it weren’t for the righteous and all-things-moral “Nippon Blogger”, I would have never realized the simple-minded racist I really am.

I am most grateful for him to have taken his time to give me a heads up on my current status of morality or lack of.

But wait a minute! Anti-Americanism hasn’t been officially defined, you say? Or has it? I perused the internet to see what some of the online dictionaries had to say about it (despite over hundreds of articles and thousands of books I have listed to show that Anti-Americanism is *NOT* about being critical of US policies). At least that is, once again, the way I (and most people) see it. Here’s what I have found so far that is actually defined in an online dictionary.

From free-dictionary.com

My blog is about the sheeple who blindly attack the American people. I don’t know what is so very hard to understand about this.

Most of you whom are familiar with my blog have seen my “politically incorrect” definition of the word, “Anti-Americanism”. There is a video underneath my definition that explains it much better. I will paste it here for those that skipped over it.

And finally, you can read my full response to the real dumbass here.

Once again, please accept my heartfelt apology for lumping the Americanophobes in with the Americanophobes.

Sarah Palin, an Adultress?

Really?

…But the Enquirer was recently vindicated after its long-running pursuit of John Edwards, a former Democratic presidential candidate, ended with him admitting he had conducted an extra-marital affair with a filmmaker he had met in a bar in New York and later employed on his campaign.

Yes, and the far right had a field day over this if I remember correctly.

The Enquirer responded: “The National Enquirer’s coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin’s extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor’s daughter revealed her pregnancy.

Pregnancy or pregnancies?

“Following our John Edwards exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign’s vetting process. Despite the McCain camp’s attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum.”

To change the subject a bit, I just recently happened upon a staunch Palin support site. And I found this sticker:

This sounds more like me, actually.

But what exactly is Palin saying that is “painful”? Examples, please….? Oh wait! You mean THIS kinda painful?

Daily Show: Sarah Palin Gender Card

It’s Republican Hypocrisy at its finest!

more about “Sarah Palin Gender Card | The Daily S…“, posted with vodpod

By the way, why do people continue to think that McCain CHOSE Sarah Palin as his running mate? That is not true. McCain first two choices were VETOED!

The Truth about Sarah Palin

A letter from someone who has known Sarah Palin since 1992

Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a “babe”.

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out
there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s
surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t
fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I’ve always operated in the belief that “Bad things happen
when good people stay silent”. Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don’t have a job she can bump me out
of. I don’t belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s
attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can’t recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall–they are
swamped. So I can’t verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my “about 5,000″, up to 9,000. The
day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

More recommended readings:

Mayor Palin: A Rough Record

Why Palin is a bad option for Vice President or even President

So, while Palin was sitting in a nice comfy leather chair for years raising taxes causing Alaska to be in deep debt, and trying to ban books like a Neo-Nazi, Obama was working with the people on the streets trying to get their lives back together – hands on. As mentioned here…

Community organizing isn’t easy work, it doesn’t pay well and often yields small results, meaning the person doing the work has to find motivation somewhere other than instant success and change. They have to find motivation in the people they are meeting and truly believe in the grassroots work they are doing. And even if you can’t usually pinpoint it’s success, community organizing is vital to understanding how communities work and what the needs of working people, and low-income people are. And this it seems to me would be an important thing to understand as the President of our country.

I’d like to quote my friend Zontar from what he wrote in the comment section of my other post on Palin:

Zontar at first observed her as a fine speaker. Zontar thought the speech was well crafted. Then half-way she turned into a liar and was giving a hatchet job upon Mr. Obama. Zontar thought that her making fun of Mr. Obama for “community organizing” while she was busy as mayor of Rectum, Alaska was most uncalled for. She uses her power to ban books from the local library she deems offensive, tries to fire her ex-brother-in-law for revenge and raise a slut who obviously didn’t listen to Palin’s lectures on abstinence as the only acceptable method for birth control.

Palin! Mr. Obama could have, upon graduating from Harvard Law gone into any number of lucrative professions. Instead he went into the slums of south Chicago to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the homeless and the starving to try to improve their lives. You call this not accomplishing anything! How dare you, you pious hypocrite.

And for your information Mr. Obama is, had you really listened to his acceptance speech, is very much committed to fighting terrorism, but only in places where are true enemies are, such as Afghanistan, not frittering precious lives in Iraq, a ridiculous war which, if it ended tomorrow would not have accomplished anything.

Nothing.

Mr. Obama did not say he was going to raise taxes. Just on the five percent of the population who have too long gotten a free ride at the expense of the average American.

As they say in Texas, Palin is all hat and no cattle. How come we heard no specifics from her?

What is so very wrong with the neo-cons who listened to both Obama’s and McCain’s speech? What is all this talk about McCain’s speaking “straight talk”? I don’t get it. Obama was, by far, the straightest shooter to date regarding all the speeches we’ve heard during the conventions. How was Obama indirect and McCain and Palin “more” direct? Put the fireworks, packed stadiums, strippers, and flashing lights aside and listen to Obama’s speech. Then critique it. I feel as if the neo-cons cannot see beyond the superficial distractions. And to clear the air on the recent disputes, Obama DID write his own speech.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we can.

VS

USA

USA

USA

I choose “Yes, we can”. It’s the change I trust, and it’s not an empty suit.

Canada’s “Secret” Contribution to the War in Iraq?

The breaking story today (March 27, 2003) was that a few Canadian troops
were fighting on the ground in Iraq. This, however, is only the tip of the
iceberg. The truth is that Canada stands as the third strongest contributor
to US forces in the Iraq war, after Britain and Australia.

Isn’t it amazing how Canada can contribute so much to this war without even
being involved?

On March 25, the US Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, told the Economic
Club in Toronto that he was “disappointed” that Canada failed to join in
the US-led war against Iraq. His was one of a huge chorus of voices
critiquing Canada for refusing to participate in the “Coalition of the
Willing.” (This was not the first time a US Ambassador to Canada meddled in
our affairs. See the note at the end of this email about the US-backed
regime change in Canada 40 years ago.)

The most significant statement in Ambassador Cellucci’s speech was his
observation that Canada is currently giving more military support to the US
for its war against Iraq than most of the nations that are officially
supporting the war!

Feel free to read the rest of this article here.

More on this topic below:

For Canadian, serving in Iraq is a source of pride

My question: Why was this a “secret”? 

I’ve known about this for quite some time, but took the opportunity to mention it now after having read this. Now, Canadian troops and I can’t be the only ones who know about this, right? 

Why I like Japan so Much

People ask me this from time to time as I had lived in Japan for 6.5 years. I wrote on a message board on Facebook explaining why, but I’m going to do so here as well.

Let me first just say that Japan, like any other country in the world, has its flaws. But I don’t want to discuss those here. While I was living over there, I noticed the flaws, but the good always made up for the bad. And this is why Japan is my all time favorite country in the world.

Here are the reasons I am in love with Japan (in no particular order):

—> Japanese people don’t bring politics (they are generally not political people) into the mix when meeting foreigners and welcome them with an open heart. So long as you’re good to them, they will embrace you. So feel free as a bird in Japan as an American as you’ll never be asked, “Why did you vote for Bush?” and the like. Also in Japan, there is no need to wear T-Shirts saying that you’re not American or even submit to wearing that damned maple leaf on your backpack. Japanese people are generally politically apathetic and too busy with their own lives to worry about all of America’s problems. They are also a nation of genuine pride. With that said, there is no “short man syndrome” to be found – if so, it is rare – at least from my personal experience there.

—> The Japanese are anything BUT Americanophobic. As a matter of fact, I received reverse discrimination in Japan. I am sure it helped a lot that I spoke their language. But even if you’re not 100% fluent, they treat Americans very well, generally. You’d think they’d be harsh considering the bad feelings that have regarding WWII, but that harshness is ironically only found in Western countries.

—> My Japanese friend told me this and it’s so very true: “A Japanese friend is a friend for LIFE.”

—> I love the scenery in Japan whether it be Tokyo or the country side. It’s absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and refreshing. The air feels thinner and nicer over there too!

—> I love Japanese food to death!

Some of my favorites are Ozoni, Eel over rice, Japanese style Curry Rice, Sushi and Sashimi dipped in soy sauce with Wasabi, Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Eggs), Oden, Japanese meat is superior to any other country because they treat their cows better (i.e. Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Matsuzaka Gyu, Kobe Gyu, Korean Barbeque, etc), Kaiseki Ryori (Japanese gourmet), all things Japanese New Year’s food, and last but not least, Japanese veggies are the tastiest in the world. Or how about, Japanese food in general is the tastiest? There are not many Japanese foods that I don’t like, actually.

—> I’m obsessed with the Japanese language and it’s characters (yes, I know Kanji was borrowed from China, but there also exists Hiragana and Katagana).

—> I love Japanese public baths and spas. When I was living in Japan, I was at the public bath house at least 3x a month, and I miss that immensely! It’s also ridiculously cheap to go to a spa over there!

—> Karaoke is AWESOME in Japan, (yes, I know it was invented by Koreans) and I MISS TO DEATH IZAKAYAS (a kinda restaurant-bar-like scene that is very unique where the main purpose is to party, drink, and hang out) and drinking hot sake and UMESYU (a plum sour) with all my friends. We used to always go out to an Izakaya first (getting some food and alcohol in us) and then head off to Karaoke, and sometimes we were out until 5am. On one occasion we were out until 9am. Oh, the good old days…. (The photo on the left is simply my welcome party as I had started my first job there in a language school).

—> The Japanese people are VERY helpful if you get lost and ask a stranger for directions.

—> “Okyakusama ha Kamisama” is an expression over there which means “The Customer is God”. I like this. We have close to *zero* customer service in the US. People attending to customers are RUDE, lazy and apathetic. But that’s because management sucks over here. Rude and lazy people aren’t fired – generally speaking. People who really care about taking their time and helping customers are becoming an endangered species in the US. In Japan, you will be axed if you act like an idiot to a customer! We tolerate poor customer service in the US because the customer wants off the phone as soon as possible and cares less about customer service as opposed to their time being wasted. In Japan, it’s the reverse: Good quality service, but you need to wait and be patient as not everything will be fixed or done that fast.

I find the Japanese to be a more patient people because their main concern is getting the job done right. In America, you are chastised for being a slow poke even though you rarely make errors and have an excellent rapport with the public. A good example of Japanese style slow but serious customer service would be the banks over there. However, slow service isn’t always the case. Sometimes you’ll get excellent and FAST customer service in Japan. But the Japanese are METICULOUS and would rather take their time instead of messing up. Japanese (fast food) Moss Burger comes to mind. If you don’t mind waiting 7-10 minutes for your meal, it is better than any other kind of fast food in Japan. The Japanese very rarely make mistakes and put forth an incredible amount of pride in their work. The same applies to the way Japanese treat their food. In the US, people like cheap and fast especially because of our crumbling family structure over here where mom and dad are overworked and too exhausted to think about real food. In Japan, the people prefer QUALITY and NATURAL INGREDIENTS as opposed to the triple processed crapola you can find in the states. Thank goodness for whole food stores and Japanese markets where I live.

American companies also save loads of money by getting the agent (customer service) off the phone as soon as possible thereby suppressing quality service. This makes overhead expenses decrease. It’s sad. It really is. That’s one of the reasons why people overseas and/or in third world countries are answering our calls. Americans really don’t care because they’re in a rush…….. I do care, but I believe I’m in the minority here. Companies are getting greedier and greedier, and it’s not like you can go to their competitor because they’re all the same with a very few exceptions i.e. Trader Joe’s!

—> Japan is a convenient country to live in. You can just walk right outside your house and buy a can of hot Royal Milk tea from the vending machine. Everything that you need is either walking or bike distance even if you’re living in the suburbs. I mean, where else can you buy batteries, stockings, or a can of beer from a vending machine?

—> I love Japanese TV, J-Pop, and dramas!!!!!!!!!!

—> Japanese Culture is alive, well, rich and strong. (This is why there is no “short man syndrome” over there.) I am moved to tears when I go to a Japanese festival. I love just about everything about their culture.

- I love Japanese trains. I didn’t even mind when I had to commute 2 hrs. each way to work everyday.

—> You can make pretty good money in Japan if you’re a foreigner – especially if you can teach English. I had two jobs and worked 6.5 days a week in my last year there, and I loved what I did too. My Japanese students were amazing people! Here is a collage that I made of my Japanese students and I at my first job there. You can enlarge it in Flickr.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s the basics for me. Feel free to check out the rest of my pictures from Japan here. I still have about 1,000 more to upload, but at least that is my work in progress. A shortened slide show view can be found here.

I think Japan sets a good example for the rest of the world to live by. While Japan doesn’t have any enforced discrimination laws at the time being, they (in my experience compared to other foreign countries) are the least discriminative and racist. Unfortunately, it’s not always the experience for other Asian groups such as Koreans and the Chinese, but still……..

Anyway, this is just MY personal experience. Yours may have been different, so please spare any knee-jerk incoherencies in my comment section.

A Re-run of Desperate Careerwives or an Innocent Woman Running for VP?

Disclaimer: This post is all about rumors bases on these outdated “conspiracy theories”, fabricated stories or whatever you want to call them. Here are my opinions, and a couple rhetorical questions.

Just to start with this quote:

As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.

Well…. we’ve got a potential VP here who is “pro-life and can shoot”. Anyone notice the irony?

Lies:

Who (Palin’s daughter) is off for 5 months for mono? A week or two max should be expected, but 5 months?

Who is 6 months pregnant at 44 years old and doesn’t show (unless they are fat)? May I see a picture of her looking prego? Not one with these in them, please.

Palin’s water breaks and she proceeds to give a 30 minute speech and then takes an eight hour flight back to Alaska to deliver “her baby”? Defying all laws of science, much? Who did she think she was kidding, anyway?

Is this daddy?

Who does Trig belong to? Can’t be Sarah Palin’s.

Somewhat off topic:

Who pops out babies and then throws them into someone else’s hands to raise (while they play career woman) and has the audacity to call it their baby? (this applies to all parents) This isn’t a sexist remark. There is one extreme (sexism) and then the other extreme (an irresponsible parent or overboard feminism or Chicks with Dicks). What ever happened to balance? So, to prove one is shaping the way for women and equal rights, you can just hump like rabbits having kid after kid and continue having someone else do the “raising part” because a woman (god forbid) should not be in the home? Must we fight one extreme with another? That is where America has been for years: in an extreme rebellious state. And if the US is going down the tubes, this is one of the most damaging reasons. The family structure has broken down.

And I’m sick of hearing about “her daughter” with “Down Syndrome”. “Her daughter” doesn’t have “Down Syndrome”. She’s just another Republican, is all.

And no! I do not sympathize or admire one for having 5 children. It’s easy to get laid. It’s hard to raise a child. Have children and be an active responsible parent and then you just may impress me. And why must we all get down on our knees just because one has a Down Syndrome child? What a painful journey for ANY parent, but for the love of all that is holy, that does not make one MORE capable to take the White House should McCain croak (the guy’s only had cancer four times and additional extreme conditions)!

Fast forward to the present:

In all “fairness”, “the truth” has come out. But what explains all the lies beforehand? If she was “so proud” as she claimed to be in the above article, then why oh why had she not announced it saying, “my daughter is prego lego and just wow… I’m funna be a granny”! She really IS proud, right? Since God says that birth control is bad, I can see why she’s so proud. I wonder who daughter Palin is going to appoint the position of raising her child? Someone will have to bear the brunt. But wait. She chose life, so everything else is minutiae, right? Hmm…

More Opinions:

I’m also glad that Palin’s a good aim when she’s out there hunting, though. Hooray! The Right is having a field day over this news. At least we know she won’t be drawing blood from any lawyers out there.

Oh, this is all just so petty, anyway, right? It is none of my business just like John Edwards’ affair, Slick Willy’s killing spree, Obama’s lies, and what have you? What politician doesn’t have blood on their hands, anyway?

Leave the children alone?

What children? A 17 year old decided to make an ADULT choice by having unprotected sex and deciding to become a “mother”. If you are mature enough to make adult choices, than you are mature enough to be a symbol of the neo-con version of “abstinence”. And naturally, they are going to keep the baby. Sarah is and has been a politician for years. They don’t have a choice as to what to do with the baby as other Americans do. I’m still not impressed. The media is telling me that I am to feel compassion for them. That is sickening and only encouraging more people out there to be irresponsible and careless. But you are right. This has nothing to do with whether or not Palin will make a good Vice President.

In any event, I am guessing Palin is a “woman” who feels an obsessive/compulsive need to prove herself. We all know that if you don’t hunt, it is hard to get on the Republican ticket, so Palin makes the case for that. But she takes it to a further extreme and shoots wolves, bears, and moose from the air. Call me a hypocrite, though. I DO eat meat, fish, and lots of things with faces. But to get joy out of shooting random animals and watching them bleed for the sake of feeling accomplished and “an equal to men” is not something that I particularly find respect-worthy or impressive especially coming from a god-fearing and self-proclaimed “caring Christian”. We expect more from these people than their dirty atheist counterparts, anyway.

And is this really a woman about “ethics”?

I don’t like Palin’s ideals (not writing about them all here), so count me in on the smear campaign. There is not one thing I like about this woman and her politics. These are my political beliefs, so you can probably see why. And Palin wants to teach creationism in PUBLIC schools??? Whatever happened to not teaching either creationism or evolution and letting kids decide for themselves if they want to be god-fearing or not? Where does critical thinking enter the picture? And this is public school we’re talking about – not a private Catholic school or a protestant school where there are 5 kids per class and one of the kid’s parents is the teacher.

Putting organized religion aside, why do any belief systems have to be shoved down anyone’s throat? Schools shouldn’t be religious or political. It should be revolved around EDUCATING and teaching people to THINK FOR THEMSELVES. It shouldn’t be about opinions. It should be about facts. Opinions should be properly noted as opinions. If any “ideals” are brought up, the teachers should take a  NEUTRAL position. Shell out the facts and let kids decide for themselves. This has nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism. It is not political. This is common sense.

There’s not anything I like about Bush either – except that he does have a sense of humor, a nice smile sometimes, and has done some things right. Bush and McCain <—(our former Democrat) are just happy little misguided retards whereas Palin is just downright intentional and mean.

I think Mitt Romney would have been the better choice.

If McCain/Palin win this upcoming election, we will be even further on our way to “Idiocracy”. Seriously, watch this movie. I ask you only this favor. The below is only a modified trailer.

Note to all the noisy feminists out there: If you have to go out of your way PROVE you’re an EQUAL to men, then you’ve already lost. You remind me of “men” who are still trying to prove that they are girls men.