—>When an American defends her country, it’s “blind nationalism”. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s defending.
—>When an American does something nice, it’s fake or done “with strings attached”. When nationals from elsewhere do something nice, it is coming from the wholesome goodness of their hearts.
—>When an American commits a crime, it’s due to their inherent nature. When another national from elsewhere commits a crime, it’s their culture or they just made a little mistake.
—>When an American buys a car (not an SUV – just a regular car), it’s materialism. When another national from elsewhere buys a car, it’s needed.
—>When an American compliments or sympathizes with nationals of another country, it’s agenda-ridden. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s because they really like and sympathize with them.
—>When an American disagrees with the government of another country, it’s an evil attack on their culture, hypocritical, and racist! When another national from elsewhere does the same, they are just trying to help spread awareness per the “peace movement”.
—>When an American bashes another country (England, for example), it’s racism. When another national from elsewhere bashes Americans (i.e intolerant, stupid, uncultured), it’s “constructive criticism”.
—>When an American doesn’t understand a joke, it’s because “Americans can’t understand satire due to the illiteracy rate in America”. When a national from another country doesn’t get a joke, it’s because of the “cultural difference”.
—>When an American drives an SUV, it’s because they have an evil conspiracy to emit carbons to purposefully destroy the world and all of its inhabitants. When a Canadian drives an SUV, it’s because they have a big family or something.
—>When an American speaks loudly in Europe, he’s a “typical American”. When a Brazilian speaks loudly in Europe, it’s just “their culture”.
—>When America bombs another country, it’s murdering innocents for purposes of profiteering and for having a perverted obsession with gore and death. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s defending (i.e. 9-11).
—>When America elects a black president, it’s Affirmative Action. If another country should do it too, it’s showing tolerance and acceptance toward minorities and progressing past the stone ages.
—>When an American has both conservative and liberal ideals, it’s considered disingenuous and agenda-ridden. When another national from elsewhere commits the same “horrible act”, he is considered a person with both conservative and liberal ideals.
—>When an American owns a gun, it’s because they’re a natural born killer in love with blood and gore. If an Australian has a gun, it’s because he’s a hobbyist.
—>When an American claims to have been treated well in another country, it’s fraudulent. When another national from elsewhere makes a similar claim, they are being genuine because after all, who couldn’t love a non-American?
—>When an American has sex, it’s due to their uncontrollable obsession. When a national from another country has sex, it’s because they’re human, natural, and unrepressed – “unlike the Americans”.
—>When an American claims to have traveled and/or lived in another country, it’s an outright lie(I guess the tales of the infamous nationalist American tourist becomes conveniently forgotten, then?). When another national from elsewhere makes the same claims, it’s a sign that they are “cultured”.
—>When an American misspells a word, he’s a “typical American”. When another national from elsewhere does the same thing, it’s a “typo” – he’s only human.
—>When an American eats a Big Mac, they are being a “typical American”. When another national eats a Big Mac, it’s a sign that they have fallen victim to American oppression by way of American Globalization, and one should have sympathy for the poor soul.
—>When an American receives their paycheck from work, it’s called “stealing from the poor man”. When someone from another country keeps their paycheck, they’re entitled to it as they earned it.
—>When an American has been waiting for their coffee in Europe for 3 hours and begins to get impatient, they’re just being a “typical entitlement-oriented American”. When another national gets impatient over the same thing, it’s due to bad service at the cafe.
—>When an American gets angry, he’s being a “typical American”. When another national from elsewhere commits the same act, it’s justified.
—>When an American bashes his own country’s politics, they’re just doing it to be “cool” or “hip”. When another national from elsewhere complains about their government, it’s about someone complaining about their government.
—>If the American government commits an atrocity, the American citizens conspired to do it. If another government commits an atrocity, the Americans must somehow be connected to it.
—>If a white man commits a crime in the US, he’s a “typical American”. If an African AMERICAN commits a crime in the US, it’s a White Anglo Saxon Protestant conspiracy.
—>If an American resorts to French-bashing, it’s racism. If an Englishman resorts to French-bashing, well, there’s gotta be a good reason for it.
—>If an American believes in God, it’s a part of the dumbing down of America. If a national from elsewhere believes in say, “Allah”, well, it’s just “their culture”.
—>If an American is fat, it’s due to the “all-American-diet”. If a national from elsewhere is fat, it’s a sign that they have fallen victim to American oppression by way of American Globalization, and one should have sympathy for the poor soul.
—>If an American watches TV, they’re being a “typical American”. If a national from elsewhere watches TV, the blind folds are down, the curtains are shut tight —- it’s a HUGE secret. HUGE! Oh scandalous!! Shhhh…..
—>If an American rebuts an argument, it’s due to “blind nationalism”. If a national from elsewhere rebuts an argument, they are just rebutting an argument.
—>The American involvement in WWII was considered late, sloppy, and self-serving. The British involvement in WWII was considered, however, a humanitarian effort that was dealt with right away.
—>The start of Vietnam and the Iraqi war were typical American self-serving pieces of “genocide”. The start of WWI and WWII however were wars begun out of necessity!
—>If an American complains about an aspect of a foreign country, they hate EVERYTHING about that country and its people. If a national from elsewhere complains about an aspect of a foreign country, they are just complaining about that ONE aspect of that foreign country.
—>If an American creates a website critical of the American government and Americanophobia, he’s an “America-hating-blind-nationalist”. If a national from elsewhere commits a similar crime, he’s “a blogger”.
Bigotry, at least the way I see it, is a sweeping and mindless attack made to intentionally hurt a group of people because of how or where they were born and/or an unwilling victim of circumstances entirely out of their control. It has everything to do with whether or not one can actively CHANGE their circumstances.
Can someone control where they were born?
Can someone control homosexuality?
Can someone control the color of their skin?
Come someone control their weight? (Some people don’t make a choice to be fat as there are glandular diseases among others that can spin a thin person out of control).
I’m sure that there are more examples.
Can these people make changes to their biological make-up?
However, if you choose(choose being the operative word here) to…
believe in God
join an organized religion
be anti-Bush
be anti-Obama
be pro-Bush
be pro-Obama
be pro-neutral
anti-this or anti-that / pro-this or pro-that / neutral-this or neutral-that
be a moderate
be an atheist
get tattoos
dye your hair
or just CHOOSE to believe in something or DO something, you are basically setting yourself up for criticism by the people at large and fairly enough – so. You have control over your choices. So, in my opinion, others should be able to voice whatever opinion they have about YOUR choices that YOU consciously made!
I am anti-Bush and unapologetically so.
If you don’t agree, that is your problem, but I’m not going to stop you from disagreeing with me! Being anti-Bush doesn’t mean I hate the core of his being and doesn’t mean I disagree with him on every issue either. I basically disagree with MOST of his policies! Get over it and yourselves! You are not a bigot because of where you choose to be on the political compass. You are not a bigot because you disagree with my disagreeing with Bush. I am not a bigot because I disagree with your neutral stance on Bush. Nor are you a bigot because you disagree with the way a certain government runs a country.
There’s a HUGE difference between a true victim and one who is a perpetual cry baby trying to garner attention, sympathy, and make pity parties for themselves. Quite predictably it is the cry babies that refuse to see the difference.
Country vs Continent? I’ve been indirectly “paged” so to speak on my hypocrisy of having found it odd that a European compares the diversity of Europe vs the United States. Yes, it is entirely unfair for anybody to draw conclusions about a nation based on how they pale in comparison with a CONTINENT of 49 countries. And I firmly believe that everyone agrees with me there. The intent of the “bloggers” that wrote this piece is crystal clear – yet they deny any bias or motives.
With that said, I have been accused of hypocrisy due to writing about Euronationalist Americanophobia.
Here’s a little hint:If you call yourselves Europeans, will we note you as such and return the favor. In case you missed it, Americans call themselves “Americans” - not “North Americans”. We, unlike some Europeans, recognize ourselves as a country and *not* a continent. The map on this page may be of some assistance.
FREE SPEECH: One more thing I’d like to clear up before I go. Dissent is perfectly acceptable on this blog. If you are familiar with my blog, you will see tons of debates throughout between people all over the world. But you must ask yourselves the following questions before commenting:
Are you genuinely interested in a healthy debate?
Are you here to fight?
Is your plan to attack the author or the argument?
Are you planning to resort to sweeping generalizations about a nation, race, ethnicity (we call this bigotry in the US)?
Are you planning to read the entirety of the post you comment on, stay on topic – or do you plan on going off on an un-related rant?
Are you trying to evade my spam filters?
Coming to one’s blog to comment is synonymous to being a guest in one’s home. You are not protected under the United States Amendment of Free Speech granted by the government. For the record, every developed country has rights to free speech. But this has nothing to do with blogging. Apples and oranges. Just ask yourself – if you go to a person’s house to vandalize and act like a total ass, and they kick you out, are you going to cry like a baby that they don’t allow free speech or dissent?
This reminds me of a quote that rings true here:
“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
Another thing that people with a short fuse tend to forget is that there is a HUGE difference between DISSENT and SILENCING SPEECH. It’s funny how only those banned for not adhering to my comment policy seem to continue to cry about how I’m a speech-silencer of some sort. Everyone is aware when they comment here how this blog works and don’t have any excuse to act surprised.
This has nothing to do with being American as much as having high standards for stimulating and thought-provoking debate. Here is a perfect example for those that are a little slow.
It’s most amusing that the same people that moan and groan about censorship are those same people that have me banned from their blog. Hmm….. Learn the meaning of censorship. Censorship would be if I banned speech from someone else’s blog. But coming from Aby and co., I am not the least bit surprised at the perpetual ignorance.
Hee hee. Oops. Deleting innocuous dissent that may give away his little game secrets? This is f’n hilarious! And for the record, this post was just deleted!
Another complaint about deleting dissent:
In case you’re confused, Aby’s “partner in crime” AKA (“the protector of mankind) goes under the following names:
- Captain Sasha
- Sasha
- Captain V
- Juan McDaniel
- Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski
- Karmen
- Amy
- Bridgette
and god knows what else.
It is now confirmed that I’m dealing with hormonal teenagers!
One particular thing that annoys me about Neo-Conservativism is this so called “family values” being forced down one’s throat. Why do I need the government or my fellow “conservatives” to tell me what a “family value” is? Do YOU believe that a government should dictate what a “family value” is or should it be up to the individual?
Having as many kids as I can pop out, my husband and I working 16 hours a day while the kids are at day care and bible school, never spending quality time with the husband and kids — while the kids go absolutely nuts without having parents around unless they are with a paddle with spikes on it, and then the kids becoming mentally ill and start committing crimes and/or becoming just as depressed, bitter and as neurotic at their parents just to rinse and repeat into future generations? All under the guise of being a “good Christian” and going to church two times a week? Apparently, this is why the so called “conservatives” like to keep the Mexicans here illegally (work hard – have family values)? Misery loves company? Naw. That’s not for me, folks. And that’s not “pre-Gingrich” Conservatism either. That’s living miserably and expecting everyone to fall into the dirty puddle with you – making the same stupid mistakes in life.
The Radical Conservatives have hijacked Conservatism. What a family value is, should always be protected under the first amendment.
What I find particularly weird is that some people who call themselves “family-oriented” have the most jacked-up and dysfunctional family. The thing is that they are clever enough to hide it well. They attend all these superficial “family functions” just to be there – just to say they were there – just to say that they “value the family”. However, being physically there at a family gathering and being emotionally there in peace and in love are two totally different things.
Call me a liberal. But I don’t owe homage to anybody or anything. Respect is earned, in my book. And if you are in a toxic relationship and don’t distance yourself from it, you’re just as stupid as the abuser. Of course, “what is toxic” is up to individual interpretation.
I’d like to think that we spend our precious time with those who truly (not love), but like us and make us feel good and special in our own skins. Those people you can truly be yourselves around. Those are the people that I like to pal around with.
The first point I want to make I feel is the most important point. Americans don’t have any more of an arrogant self-entitlement syndrome than your average European nationalist or child abuse victim from any country.
In case you missed it, America is a Neo-Capitalist nation. (Not by my choice – not by my liking) In the USA, we are on our own. We must fend for ourselves. We grow up learning that we must WORKfirst to get what we want. And we work damned hard to get what we want. Yes, even harder than Japan. In other parts of the western world, the pressure to work is unmatchable compared to Americans. People of Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia all have the envied luxury of being taken care of by their Nanny government. You can work if you want to or find any excuse in the book NOT to work.
Some Americans like myself started working since they were fifteen. Aside from Christmases and birthdays, as I was approaching my mid-teens, there was nothing that I was “entitled” to unless I worked for it even if that meant doing household chores. I got my first real salary from a company at age 15 washing people’s hair in a beauty shop, working in a rectory, babysitting, and doing other odd jobs here and there. I learned to appreciate the value of a dollar at a very young age. This is the life I have gotten used to – the norm. I wasn’t alone. Most families here in the states work very alike – not because we want to as much as because we HAVE to. Because we cannot fall into the erect nipple of Nanny Government anywhere nearly as easy it is to do in say, Europe.
A Euronationalist extremist group who seemingly has spent time looking for watching “American” tourists has come to the conclusion that Americans have a “sense of entitlement” problem. To quote this person who calls himself by multiple names – one being “Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski”…
If you don’t like the criticisms, close down that American sense of entitlement and arrogance.
First of all, INDIVIDUALS should be criticised – not groups based on one’s origin unless you’re into Neo-Nazi-collectivism.
So… What is an “American sense of entitlement?” – I asked myself. And then I remembered something. I worked for a major airline for several years. My customers were from all over the planet. I must say that some Americans got under my skin for being overly demanding in situations that didn’t warrant it. This made my job VERY hard. Being the “uncouth boor and wild savage” that I am, it took a lot of tongue biting to get through the inanity of it all. However, being that I worked with international customers as well, I had also learned that there were certain other nations equally guilty of the “me me me” mentality. Those groups of people I will not mention. I will say, however, that the majority of these people came from third world countries.
And those from developing countries are ANYTHING but spoiled.
You see, the Americanophobes believe in some sort of a misconception that Americans are all spoiled and rich and that must explain how arrogant they act overseas.
I would like to take this time to challenge my Americanophobic and even non-Americanophobic audience on this particular stereotype.
Most people make the same mistake as they think of America as being one of the richest and most powerful nations. After reading my link up above, you’ll see that we are far from spoiled, and in all actuality, quite the opposite. Americans as well, also mistakenly think that we are the most spoiled, but that’s only because those same Americans don’t know what life is like in other 1st world countries.
I sometimes jokingly call the US “the most developed third world nation”, but if you think about it, we have been mirroring some similar qualities you’d find in a developing nation.
Which brings me to my point.
Those people who possess the “me me me” mentality are only that way due to not having been brought up in a loving, warm, and well-disciplined family structure. Some form of child abuse calls for this type of annoying behavior because truly happy and stable people aren’t self-aggrandizing and do not expect or demand waivers or favors in a situation where it’s not justified. This has nothing to do with being “spoiled”. This is neither a phenomenon of the “rich” or those that hail from the United States. This is a trait of a LARGE percentage of HUMAN BEINGS out in the world.
Having an abnormal sense of entitlement comes in all shapes, sizes, flavors, colors, and textures. Some Euroelitists may not see the ill of their own due to “blind nationalism” – hence they put the blame on another nation. The one they love to hate:
America. At least when you’re in doubt…
This is one example of how reflexive Americanophobia results in confusing Australians with Americans.
Yes, the British are the worst tourists! Americans come in 2nd place for being THE BEST TOURISTS.
Who wuda thunk it?
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.
The funny thing to look at here is the fact that it is only Americans and Jews that are expected to act like the locals abroad. AND! It is only Americans that are expected to act like the locals abroad even on their own turf! However, Australians, hypothetically speaking, no matter how loud, rude or obnoxious they are will get a FREE PASS.
That’s very telling. Don’t you think?
Even more interesting, in Europe, having a travel guide is one of the many reasons Americans are considered, “stupid”. This is part of the cultural differences between Europeans and Americans. Americans aren’t ashamed at all to admit or show that they don’t know something – whereas Europeans are too embarrassed to look like “they don’t know” and hide it. This isn’t about stupidity at all. It’s about being humble and honest. And in this regard, people who ask for help or learn tips from books, are the ones that I’d like to call intelligent due to their curiosity and ability to ask questions which, in turn, causes one to LEARN. Read the blog entry and the comments in this post to see where I’m coming from. Here’s a sneak preview:
So, let me get this straight (addressing this entire blog post), if tour guides, tour groups, travel guides, and maps define what an American is, then why are there so many tour buses and tour guides in the United States? Why are travel books and guides sold in other countries and in the US to cater to YOU PEOPLE coming from your neck of the woods to America? Why do I continue to find Asians running around everywhere with cameras and travel books?
And wait a minute! I thought that Americans didn’t travel. It’s odd for me to see in every Americanophobic blog the following:
Americans don’t have passports
Stupid American tourists
You know, we’re damned no matter what we do! And this is what Americanophobia is all about. In my opinion, it’s very similar to the Nazi propaganda during and before WWII. If you are old enough to know anything about Nazi propaganda and are familiarized with Americanophobia, you will notice some significant similarities.
I would only expect that self-proclaimed internationalists would understand that a different country’s people would mean a different culture. We’re not all going to like, get used to, or be able to understand everyone’s unique culture and/or sub-cultures within. There are some things about Japanese customs that I don’t like. So what? I’m not going to create an entire blog devoted to how much I hate Japanese culture. I’m not going to obsess about how I think that Japanese are this or that all day and go out of my way to find them in the streets so that I can taunt them and write more about them in my blog so that I can feel better about my esteem-deficient being.
It’s human nature to fall victim to culture shock. We are all unique despite the fact that we all cry the same tears and bleed the same blood. People who are unable to appreciate the differences, more than likely, don’t even like themselves.
For more information as to how I feel about tourism and how to expect to be treated in certain areas abroad, you may want to read this before you pack your suitcases.
Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost–And How It Can Find Its Way Back by Mickey Edwards
From Publishers Weekly
This book is a cri de coeur by former Republican congressman Edwards, a veteran conservative founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation who once ranked as the national chairman of the American Conservative Union. Edwards believes that conservatism has abandoned the ideas of limited government that once inspired it. This has been, he argues, the paradoxical price of conservative electoral success, and the process of winning and retaining this power has brought its own temptations. Taking Washington required coalition forming with neoconservatives, the religious right and former supporters of George Wallace who all owed little to the Goldwater-style conservatism in which the thing being ‘conserved’ was the liberal revolution embodied in the Constitution. According to Edwards, these other views have intensified as the Bush administration presides over an evolving security state, and the movement Edwards once held sacrosanct is now unrecognizable.
Right-wing radicals don’t have the balls to stand up and admit that Bush turned this country over on to its belly as they have forgotten what Conservatism is. Traditional conservatives have been railing against Bush for the longest time. I listen to Republican talk radio. I know.
Ever wonder how Bush got to the lowest recorded approval rating (23%) in history?
You can listen to Mickey Edwards speak more about his book here in audio format.
Some notable comments about Bush’s presidency by traditional conservatives here.
I can’t help thinking this is an exact replay of what John Winston Howard did to the conservative party in Australia. He dragged it so far away from the middle that the normal run of the mill voter just got disgusted and voted with their feet. Thank you GW for smashing the Republican Party to pieces. I only hope what rises in its place can serve the people of the U.S. the way decent republican leaders have done all the while until you loped onto the political scene.
Why Os- Obama REALLY got elected is that much of America learned that when you put some guy in the white house who blows smoke up the entire countries backside about how he’s a conservative and stands for conservative values – blah blah blah – who THEN hands us the most dangerous liberal policies we’ve seen in YEARS; he’s nearly ruined us economically, he’s started a war with a dangerous part of the world and allowed the most idiotic war policies – the list gets too long…
… Americans are thinking that the most liberal nitwit in govt. who probably isn’t even QUALIFIED to BE the president may ACTUALLY give us 4 to 8 years of real CONSERVATIVE AND COMMON SENSE policy !!!
Our system of govt. is so incredibly effed up and corrupt right now what other choice do we HAVE ?
“We the people” have been scoffed at and insulted by our corrupt judicial branch which will continue to be allowed to do the job of the legislative branch. Because “we the sheeple” and the other two branches of govt. allow it.
So this is where we’re at. We expect our elected politicians to do the exact opposite of what they tell us. They’ve become misbehaved teenagers. When their mouth is moving they’re lying.
There is opportunity here Robert, the truth is Republicans stopped acting like conservatives and we were punished for it last night. If the Republican minority can get back to conservative basics, we can retake congress in 2010 and be on our way to victory in 2012. This is a time for rebuilding and action, not pessimism. Liberals allow pessimism into their movement, it has no place in Reagan conservatism.
It has been interesting to watch the conservatives, though, because I really, really DID think it was the Left that was the party of whining and pessimism. Now, I see that the Republicans are just as human – in other words – cry babies when things don’t go their way.
For the past eight years Republicans in Washington have disappointed those of us in the grassroots, they have expanded government and increased spending by irresponsible amounts, and now are paying the price for it. Last nights defeat was retribution, with power comes responsibility and those in Washington did not exercise their power well. So the American people took a gamble on something new and tossed out many in our party.
You know, people… there is A REASON why the Democrats took over congress back in 2006. Have you ever evaluated your own party and wondered why?
I never ever thought I would agree with a conservative republican, but after reading this book, I am in full agreement with Mickey Edwards. Sean Hannity and the other trash on talk radio have perverted the word ‘patriot’ but Edwards has brought its true meaning back to us. I see little chance in the near future of correcting the damage wrought on this USA by the W administration, Newt Gingrich, and the neocons; but, if we follow Mickey’s advice, we will eventually get the country we and the world needs.
John, another reviewer, reminds us that Republicans are supposed to be the party responsible for protecting our freedoms but seem to nowadays be the party that is stripping them away.
From JMK as a response to the far Right blaming Obama’s win on “libtards”:
Here’s the thing, it really WASN’T the far-Left “libtards” who voted Obama in!
In fact, our electorate remains about 33% self-proclaimed Conservatives, about 17% self-proclaimed Liberal and appx 50% “Moderate,” or unaffliated.
That merely shows that a large majority of Americans have little interest in or affinity for the political system.
That’s why our very Liberal MSM is such a help to Democrats!
But this time around, it wasn’t even THAT.
Bottomline, Bush has NOT governed as a Conservative his second term. In fact, he’s cooperated about as well with the Pelosi-Reid Congress as Bill Clinton had with the Gingrich Congress.
Unfortunately, (1) Clinton’s cooperation and capitulation to Gingrich resulted in the best economic period since the 1950s, most of it based on the FIRST federal budget cuts since prior to WW II….while (2) Bush’s cooperation with Pelosi-Reid coincided with one of the greatest economic disasters of our time, a disaster born of Democratic over-regulation (the turbo-charged CRA forcing banks to deliver tons of high-risk, subprime loans) and banking industry greed – tons of short-term cash was made off all the fees from those subprime (government-backed) mortgages!
Regardless, the President in office (BUSH) took credit, or in this case BLAME for that implosion.
THAT helped Obama a LOT.
McCain also helped Obama a LOT by running an incompetent campaign.
McCain was, to be kind, an embarrassment, from his huckster, “Well, my friends….” vaudevillian delivery, to his phoney appeal to Conservatives over the bailout – he didn’t even stand up for the Congressional Conservatives who merely wanted those monies earmarked for lending ALONE!
McCain’s ill-conceived bailout photo-op shit the bed and basically signalled that his campaign was not really serious about governance, let alone winning the election.
In short, blame Bush’s cooperating with Pelosi-Reid, blame McCain’s ineptitude, blame Moderate Republicans for consistently selling out Conservatism, BUT don’t blame the Liberals!
First off, there aren’t near enough of them to win anything and secondly, I can’t balme the vast majority of Moderates for voting Obama over McCain.
McCain’s campaign was a sad, pathetic joke….and a disgrace to Conservatives everywhere.
And lastly Ann Shaftel, another reviewer of Reclaiming Conservatism says,
America was founded on principles then considered liberal/revolutionary–governments bound by duty to the people, not the other way around, limited by the phrase “Congress shall make no law..,” a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government shall gain too much power over the others, strict separation of church and state, no interference in our private lives, the over-riding obligation of Due Process in all criminal proceedings. The Conservative movement of the 1960s was meant to “conserve” these Constitutional principles. I am a proud “liberal,” a member of the “loyal opposition” from the perspective of Conservatives like Mickey Edwards. RECLAIMING CONSERVATISM helped me to understand the true meaning and value of pre-Gingrich Conservatism. We stand for many of the same principles. This is not a book about governmental programs, what the government ought or ought not to do for its citizens. It is about protecting and returning to those principles on which our government was founded. Bravo!
This is true. If you look at traditional conservatism and traditional liberalism, there’s not too big of a difference.
Traditional conservatism is at least something that I can tolerate – not love – not believe in 100% – but tolerate. The last eight years of Bush wasn’t conservative or liberal. It was nonsense. It wasn’t America. And it is those whom are unconditionally faithful and blindly patriotic to Bush that I call the neocons, the radicals, the far right-wingnuts. These adjectives, however, do not describe those followers of TRUE Conservatism who have the best interests of our country at heart!
I think most of those who call themselves “conservatives” are really from the FAR Right. One particular thing that annoys me about Neo-Conservativism is this so called “family values” being forced down one’s throat.
Why do I need the government to tell me what a “family value is”?
Anyway, For those whom are true to Conservatism, you might want to take a look at this site. There is a reason why it exists.
I mean, there IS also a very good reason why McPalin used “CHANGE” as their campaign slogan too, right?
It’s because both conservatives AND liberals are sick and tired of the government telling us what to do, what to believe in, who to be, and how to live our lives. We all got tired of Uncle Sam spending money like a drunken sailor. And the neocons in office are no better than the Democrats who strip us from our freedoms as well. Just to make that clear.
Note:For those who don’t want to read this whole diatribe, please scroll all the way to the bottom of this post and address my comments and questions regarding the apparent “jealously” of Gov. Sarah Palin. Thanks.
—> This just in. One of 58878500025568 blogs that swear all American liberals are jealous of Sarah Palin are a bit confused.
Radical Conservatives Confuse Dissent with Jealousy
Let’s see, she did a two-day interview with Matt Lauer, a two-day interview with Wolf Blitzer, a three-day interview with Greta Van Susteran, and is having her door blown down by Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, and Larry King as well.
In fact; even profound writers like Claire Guehenno cannot seem to shut up about Gov. Palin. Gee, I wonder why.
The oppressed, modern-day liberal women are terrified that a conservative woman can be accomplished.
How exactly am I “oppressed”? The last time that I checked I was living in the United States of America where one is FREE to LIVE and DO as they PLEASE and make choices that fulfils them. I am looking at my passport right now, and I swear it doesn’t say “Saudi Arabia”. It says, “USA” on it.
Just about every conservative blog I run across, there are a few posts that are showing how the only reason a Republican wasn’t elected this time around was because the 66,882,230 Americans that voted for Obama were just doing so because they are jealous of Sarah Palin’s success. Because Sarah Palin “has got it all”.
Define “having it all?” (And please leave out personal choices because anybody can make a choice!).
Why do so many liberal men and women hate Bush (you have been around for the last 8 years, right?), why do so many liberals hate Cheney, McCain?
Wake up you brain-dead Neocons! Where the hell were you when thousands of books have been written to criticize Bush, when many movies were made to embarrass him, when many people protested in the streets about the war, when just about all the networks ridiculed him (even Republican talk-radio if you can imagine that), bashed him unashamedly, comedians picked him apart mercilessly, when all we heard for 8 years were complaints made by Americans and the rest of the world. Eight long years of Bush to the point where he now has a 23% APPROVAL RATING! Did you hear that? Yes, a 23% APPROVAL RATING. THAT IS A ***HISTORICAL LOW***.
What did you honestly think would happen this election? Seriously.
Why do so many conservatives hate Obama? You don’t think he’s an accomplished man? If you knew where he came from and his struggle to get where he is today, YOU’D BE JEALOUS! Not us. YOU. He has achieved much more depth in his lifetime than Palin can ever dream of. Even Hillary Clinton has achieved way much more than Palin. But of course, you filter out anything that could ever possibly put Obama and Hillary in a positive light recognizing them for what good they have done instead of obsessing about the “bad” which are mostly conspiracy theories and fabricated stories revolved around hyperbole and paranoia.
Can’t you guys get your head out of your collective asses for just one moment and accept that fact that people’s views about candidates have more to do with their BELIEFS and the ECONOMY than a candidate’s personal achievements, personal choices or personal life? Were you really expecting liberals like me to be a traitor to our own values and convert to Team Palin just because she has nice legs and was a pro-life governor?
We know for a fact that neocons hate Hollywood TV and movie stars, we also know that you people HATE the 78% of American Jews (the richest and most successful people in America) who voted for Obama. That, my friends, can easily be attributed to j-e-a-l-o-u-s-y. But you guys say it’s because Hollywood is Liberal and they are freaks that make arses out of themselves. Well, we don’t like Palin because she’s a Radical Right-wingnut that made her own party (even during the campaign) criticize her.
Do you wingnuts not realize how vulnerable you make yourselves in saying that Obama fans are jealous of Palin? For the record, we make fun of her and criticize her because she makes a grand international fool out of herself on a daily basis. The entire world is laughing at her. You’re too busy calling Obama an Arab terrorist Hilter-apologizing NeoNationalSocialist baby-killer to even have the time to find out what an embarrassment Palin is to the US in the SAME WAY that Bush was!
And men feel the same way American women feel about Palin.
This jealousy card has been over-used. You have hit rock bottom. You people make it like the Messiah, Sarah Palin is the first woman to have ever been accomplished? Once you find liberal woman jealous of the billions and billions of women who have made something out of themselves, then you’ll have a case. Right now, you guys are just looking desperate. And keep in mind, it was the PROGRESSIVES that have taken women where they are today. Since when are Republicans all of the sudden worried about “feminism”?
Maybe you guys cannot handle the fact that a black man can be an accomplished man in the United States?
Seriously people, you’re scraping a bottomless barrel here….
What I would Looooooooooooooooooooove to see is a Liberal woman one day go up against a conservative male candidate in a future election that is a knock-out (looks are the only thing that Palin has over Hillary). You betcha. Oooooh, we libs would have so much fun with you guys. We’ll keep you busy at what you do best: graspin’ for straws and scrapin’ barrels.
Losers.
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FROM CURIOUS AMERICAN FEMALE LIBERALS
1) How is it humanly possible for someone to hate another for the choices that they make? Most of these successes you speak of are simply choices that ANYONE can make.
And based on what the neocons have written, that makes me quite a success myself if you think that I have practised my choices and am living life the way I want to. I am maybe not the happiest person in the whole world, but I am content with my life. And I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
2) You mention that liberal women are oppressed. How is that?
3) What have you got to say to all the men who criticized Palin?
4) Why did liberal men and woman hate Bush if simply dissent is equated to jealousy?
5) With Bush’s approval rating being at a historical low of 23%, what did you think was going to happen this election?
6) If you are as old as I am, you’ll know that in harsh economic times, people are more compelled to vote Democrat.
7) Other than what negativity you have heard surrounding Obama, if you know his past – seeing where he came from and where he is now is more of a jump compared to Palin by a long shot. He is a successful man.
Do you think it’s just that conservatism hates to think that a black man can be accomplished?
8 ) The majority of liberals are Jews. 78% of Jews voted for Obama over Palin. If you know anything about American Jews, they are the richest, best looking, most successful, law abiding and decent people in America. Do you think that you’re just projecting and just jealous of American Jews and accomplished blacks?
9) It is the progressives that have fought for equal rights for women. Why are you criticizing them now?
10) Since when are Republicans concerned (all of the sudden, mind you) about Feminism and Sexism?
11) In record history, there has never been more hype and fanaticism over a VP candidate. Palin is your, “The One” – she is your “The Messiah”.
12) Here’s the true acid test. I’d love to see in a future election a Republican male against a HOT Liberal female. Then, we shall see who the true feminists are.
13) Quite obviously, Sarah is not the first ever accomplished woman in the history of the world. Can you think of any other woman that is equally – if not more accomplished than Palin that liberals have also attacked?
14) Aren’t you guys acting like the “liberal media” by making false accusations about Americans that you’ve never met – twisting, fabricating, exaggerating and all that jazz? You sound just like the Americanophobes that I rail against in my blog.
15) Let’s see. You’re sticking up for 1 female and bashing an estimated 40 million American female Obama voters. It appears to me that you hate women considering the Math. Could you perhaps be a misogynist?
So, exactly how are me and my female liberal compatriots “jealous”?
SACRAMENTO — The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.
State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.
“I am not a Republican,” insisted Karen Ashcraft, 47, a pet clinic manager from Ventura who said she was duped by a signature gatherer into joining the GOP. “I certainly . . . won’t sign anything in front of a grocery store ever again.”
YPM, a group hired by the GOP, allegedly deceived Californians who thought they were signing a petition. YPM denies any wrongdoing. Similar accusations have been leveled against the company elsewhere.
Voters using touch-screen voting machines for early voting in two West Virginia counties have complained that when they tried to vote for Democratic candidates, the machine registered their vote for other Republican candidates instead.
At least three voters in Jackson County, West Virginia, complained that when they tried to cast a vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the machine recorded a check in the box for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
One of the voters reported the same problem in the governor and state senate races. In each case, the voter tried to cast a vote for a Democratic candidate, but the machine marked his vote for the Republican challenger instead. Another voter who tried to cast votes for two state Supreme Court candidates said the machine cancelled one of her choices twice before it finally accepted her selection.
Hmmm….. “Isolated cases”…”human error”…, eh?
More Republican Voter Fraud (just when you think it couldn’t get any worse!)
John McCain’s campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.
According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of “registering voters.” The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket.
CINCINNATI (Reuters) – The Web site of the Ohio state agency that handles voter registration and other election information was shut down briefly after it was hacked, an official said on Tuesday, vowing to guard against fraud in the key battleground state in the November 4 presidential contest.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said the agency temporarily took the Secretary of State Web site at www.sos.state.oh.us down on Monday after “one or more” security breaches were detected.
About 56% of the U.S. population uses optical-scan machines, which are less error prone than older types like lever machines. Newer electronic touchscreens, giving many states their green color, are the least prone to voter mistakes.
The voting machine you’ll encounter on Nov. 4 takes the most important right in a democracy — your right to vote — and makes it real. And just like the people who make and use them, machines aren’t perfect. DVICE has researched all of the nation’s voting machines to tell you what technology you’ll be using on Election Day and what potential problems and vulnerabilities it might have. Click here for a detailed explanation of how we rated every state’s machines.
And don’t think for one moment that just because a fraudulent action was discovered at the voting booths in the US that it will change the results. Remember Election 2000? It was proven that Al Gore won both the popular vote and the electoral vote. Nothing changed. They let Bush stay. Who is “they”. They are the richest and the most powerful. They are the GOP.
First off, the US has never been a Democracy (close, but no cigar), but for all that it’s worth (if you thought that our Electoral Voting System was corrupt, this is equally worse or even more so).
A survey of 10 swing states suggests Florida, Georgia and Virginia may have the most problems on Election Day.
As election officials brace for record-breaking voter turnout on Election Day, a close examination of voting preparedness in 10 swing states shows that significant problems in the basic functions of the American election administration system persist, and in a few cases have worsened over the last few years, a new report by Common Cause and The Century Foundation shows.
[Snip]
“While some states have taken steps to improve their election procedures, several still have a number of structural and statutory weaknesses that put voting rights at risk once again this year,” said Tova Wang, Common Cause’s vice president, a Century Foundation fellow and the report’s author. “In an election that we hope and expect will see unprecedented turnout, we are hopeful that steps can still be taken to make the election process a fair one for all Americans.”
[Snip]
As hundreds of thousands of new voters have been added to the registration rolls just in the last few months, one troubling finding is that problems with voter registration issues in many instances have gone unaddressed, or even worsened in the surveyed states. Many states have flawed procedures for matching the information voters give them when they register with other state databases, and some have no established protocols for doing so at all. Uniquely, Florida will continue to require that prospective voters prove eligibility by providing the exact information that appears on existing state databases. This policy often results in rejections of valid registered voters if the voter provides a variant of his or her name instead of a full name, a clerical error is made on the election administration side, or a voter makes another minor mistake.
[Snip]
Another problem in 2006 was state laws made it too easy to challenge a voter on a slim basis. The most famous example of this was the challenge to 35,000 voters’ eligibility to vote in Ohio prior to Election Day. There are already indications that with all the new voters registering, challenges to eligibility will be a major issue again this year. None of the seven states reviewed in this report have changed their laws since 2006 to lessen the chances of this occurring, and of the three new states included, Colorado and New Mexico have acceptable, though not ideal provisions to handle challenges to voters, while Virginia’s is fairly troubling.
The neocons have no problem listening to phone sex of private citizens in the name of “The Patriot Act”. So, Big Brother is OK there. But god forbid we universalize our election system. That would be too Communist and too “Big Government” for our leaders to take charge. With that said, the neocons need to quit whining about ACORN and “voter fraud” since they don’t support a federalization of one of our most basic, fundamental and important processes!
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sometimes, it pays to be pokey. Going slow has paid the state of New York about $27 million and counting. New Hampshire and Oklahoma, too, are sitting on a pile of federal money.
How did it happen? After the contested 2000 presidential recount, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, giving about $3 billion to states to replace old punch-card and lever voting machines. A lot of states, including California, Ohio and Florida, plunked down vast sums of money to buy shiny new machines, many of which were quickly deemed unreliable and mothballed.
America is beginning to look more and more like a third world country in my eyes:
No democracy regarding the voting process
Becoming a third rate economy and depending on other nations to clean up after our messes
Our Health Scare
Our products and food are losing quality day by day
The diminishing of the middle class
No separation of church and state (can’t become a president here unless you are a Christian)
Freedoms being stripped away from the Left and Right Wing
If you examine the above, those are qualities of living in 3rd world countries.
Soon, we’ll be jumping the fence to find solace in Mexico, Cuba (by way of Mexico), and parts of South America. Sounds funny now, but just give it another few decades, and you’ll see.
Call it a whine or a perceived whine or whatever. This is CLASSIC right wing whining!
And how un-woman-like of Winkmaster Sarah Palin, the Female Sancho Panza (the same person who railed against Hillary’s “whining”). Scarah Palin is so wrong on so many levels here:
She cannot tell the difference between supporters and protesters.
She clearly cannot take criticism.
She’s trying to stifle the “perceived protesters” in the name of Jesus“our men fought for your right to protest” bla bla bla.
By Powerhouse Palin’s own words…
I would hope at least that those protesters have the courage and the honor of thanking our veterans for giving them the right to protest.
Um Palin? Psst…
What does protesting have anything to do with not appreciating who gave us that right?
If they fought for us to have this freedom, why, then, can’t we use it?
Is it not interesting that on Youtube, (a website monitored by American-big-brother) bigoted hate speech (not criticism of US policies) against Americans is perfectly acceptable? Think about it. However, dare you say anything badly about Islam, your video will be banned or close to it. This is not, actually, the first time this has happened either. (Cartoons also making fun of Mohammed are also not very nice….)
But, wait a minute! Aren’t the Bush-loving-warmongering-red-white-and-blue-McD-Walmart-Americans in charge of monitoring and taking names on Youtube supposed to be banning hate speech against Americans along with Islamic hate speech?
Just some food for thought.
Feel free to see the video on Pat Condell’s homepage.
Pat, hold on a second, I thought the biggest problem facing Britain right now was McDonalds and denim jeans. Are you actually trying to say you find that Sharia Law and Muslim Extremism could actually be worse than walking past a Coca-Cola sign? Please tell me it isn’t so……
I don’t actually think anything will be done about Sharia Law in Britain. The Americanophobic Radical Left are too busy trying to persuade Americans that Bush is bad. (Psst… we’re still waiting for you to tell us something we don’t know…) But by the hair of their chins with any residual fight left in them at all, the Americanophobic zealots are trying to hold up Sharia law because anything other than that would be “racist”. I love the irony! Never mind that all these British “activists” are defending Muslim extremism at the expense of women’s rights(the very movement that they have historically stood behind, to make things even more ironic…) It is always fascinating how so many Americanophobes defend, protect, and even condone Islamic Fundamentalism, but should a flight attendant wear a cross, it is considered highly offensive. <—(Psst… that’s cuz God waz invented in AmeriKKKa, so……)
Nadia Eweida, who worked for British Airways, came to work wearing a necklace with a little cross on it.
Nadia Eweida (55), a Coptic Christian whose father is Egyptian and mother English, working for seven years at British Airways as a luggage inspector, was suspended from work for two weeks without pay because of wearing a cross.
The airline’s uniform code states that staff must not wear visible jewellery or other ‘adornments’ while on duty without permission from management. It makes exceptions for Muslim and Sikh minorities by allowing them to wear hijabs and turbans.
Congratulations to the Elitist Left. You have hit a home run.
UPDATE:
It turns out that Pat Condell’s video, “Saudi Britain” was taken down as Pat said that the country was mentally ill. There are over 1000 videos of that similarity to the US and its citizens. They are never taken down by Youtube. Americans are overseeing the site and agree with the Americanophobic attitudes. Like I mention often in my blog, nobody hates America more than Americans, themselves. If you’re interested in this topic, feel free to read how Americans are the most self-critical people in the world and condone all forms of Anti-Americanism. Yep. That is something you’ll never hear on the BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera, and all of your other favorite tabloids.
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?
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:
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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
Read the above quote. It’s so true. Is it not?
The audacity to respond… to anything.
Just about all of my commenters here on the topic of Americanophobia are in shock and are surprised that I have something to say about it, that I have an opinion about it, that I’m responding and have a reaction toward the Americanophobes. Shame on me! But too bad too sad!
I wrote about a topic like this more than three years ago. It still rings true for me. We Americans are “supposed” to be the bullies riding Bush’s back yelling giddy up. But the Americanophobes are proving that they are no different – just an unarmed version of an American. Naturally, if you gave the Americanophobes REAL weapons, they’d be blazing away and taking hold of power like no other. They’ll deny it, of course, but only fools believe them. Only the reasonable can read beyond their veil of puritanism.
Look at this thread carefully. Did I do or say anything offensive? If you are confused about my definition of Anti-Americanism, you can read my reasoning here. Leave it up to the Americanophobes to have no clue what their cause is about.
A couple of Americanophobes out and about in the world have told me that because America is so BIG, POWERFUL, STRONG, MIGHTY and “America is a country that can look after itself bla bla bla….” that Americans shouldn’t dispel myths and stereotypes and Americans also shouldn’t complain about it.
If we take a look at all the groups in the world that are hated (both past and present), and ask the bigot himself, he’ll think that he has a good reason to be prejudiced toward said group. Keeping that in mind, “the hated should not attempt to defend themselves”.
Also consider the fact that any time that a person tries to silence someone trying to defend themselves, that is a classic sign of bullying (putting prejudice aside). If you know anything about bullying at all, you’ll know that bullies = cowards. People with true courage will not attempt to silence their opponent and will be open to retaliation. You are aware of the expression, “They can dish it out, but they can’t take it”, right? Those are true cowards/bullies. And interestingly enough, that is what the Americanophobes also call the Americans.
It is justified to hate all Americans considering the aforementioned philosophy. Why? Because they’re big. They should be able to take it.
What’s wrong with this argument? It is unreasonable to confuse the big, powerful, almighty government with the general average man in the street in America (the general population). It’s our GOVERNMENT that is BIG, POWERFUL AND STRONG. The American people, however, are no different from the people living in any other different nation aside from cultural and language differences. The American people have no more / less control/power than the average citizen living in ANY country with an established democracy. With that said, people are people. People are human beings everywhere; they have feelings no matter their whereabouts and their country of origin. A government catering to the $$$$ Fat $$$$ Cats $$$$ and Oil $$$$ for Halliburton $$$$ with Gunz-a-Blazin’ $$$$ doesn’t make me (as a person) a stoic – nor change the fact that I feel compelled to react to the world around me (including strong words toward my own government).
People need a reason for their xenophobia and will scrape and scratch at anything.
In conclusion, prejudice and sweeping generalizations of ANY group is irrational and UNJUSTIFIABLE.
Another thing that I find quite the interesting is that there’s a French blogger out there. He is quite famous too. That would be SuperFrenchie. His entire blog is devoted to dispelling Anti-French myths and defending his people and country. The French are stereotyped throughout Europe and America (far worse in the US). Well, in case you didn’t know, the French do not appreciate being called a the ever so infamous “cheese eating surrender monkies”. SuperFrenchie describes his feelings:
Surrender jokes are offensive, period. This episode of our history is still painful. We have not yet come to terms with many aspects of our defeat to Germany and the ensuing collaboration. And even if we had, jokes about them would still be demeaning and offensive.
[snip!]
In conclusion, no, French bashing is not racism. Maybe a mix of xenophobia (fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people), inferiority complex, superiority complex, salt, pepper and conflicting universalisms. It should nevertheless be kept in check, as such stereotypes are the seeds of more elaborate racist feelings that could ultimately lead to violence.
A guest blogger (Flocon) on his site had been linking French-bashing to Nazi Propaganda in this entry. Here are some snippets:
I had long ago made the comparison, which some contested, with Radio Berlin talking about the Jews in 1943. I must stand by it.
The fact that an association between the anti-French discourse and Nazi rhetoric may be unacceptable to the American conscience is understandable. Nevertheless it happens to be the same mental process, which consists of lowering a certain category of humans to the point of suggesting that said category is unworthy of being part of humanity. Are we not speaking of animals, after all? And then you add the fact that the French are hairy (like animals), that they stink (like animals), etc…
The author gives some examples about hatred toward other groups:
Let’s imagine that, in France, we should systematically associate blackness with “So, you likes dem fried chickens?”Oh, but it’s just a stereotype, a trope, …
Or let’s say constantly talking to a black man this way: “Yessum, you’s a good nigga, you ain’t no happy here in France?”Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope…“You’s not happy? You’s susceptible. You’s hafta learn real men know how to laugh at jokes. You not real man yet.”
To a Jew, who would be regularly asked,“Why does it always smell like Zyklon B when you enter a room?”haha, giggle, just a trope, just a stereotype. It’s a satirical show with no intention of doing harm.“Are you still lacking a little bit somewhere?”Laugh, laugh…
To an Arab:“Are you gonna behead me? Have you had your jihad juice? Where’s your camel?”Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope…
Now try to imagine a black, a Jew, or an Arab who, for several years, would have beensys-te-ma-ti-ca-llyassociated with this kind of stereotypes; yeah, they’d enjoy it, no doubt.
[snip!]
We are indeed in the realms of the unspeakable, but they want to make us believe, probably in good faith, that it’s just meaningless jokes. Yeah, right…
People use all sorts of excuses and reasons to prevent their enemies from responding:
It’s just a joke
You’re big; you can take care of yourself
You brought it on yourself
You deserve it
Turn the tables around. Let the Canadians and Brits be on the tail end of universal hate and irrational stereotypes and see how they feel. They write defensively all the time on my blog right here – which is proof that they have feelings and just as much pride as the next guy. At the end of the day, nobody likes to be accused of something they didn’t do. We know the French stereotypes. Here is the American stereotype as we know it:
And the million dollar question: How can we assert that every single American (all 300+ million) or even most Americans fall under the above stereotype?
This pretty much turns the American people into less than human (like the French stereotype), doesn’t it? But the French can stand up and defend themselves without much ridicule. The Americans, on the other hand, are told to shut up.
This is what Canadian Patriotism is for the every day Americanophobic Canadian (found here).
Well, I ran across this article on the same page that discussed the myths of patriotism in both Canada and America. What some of us believe patriotism to be not only differs from country to country, but what we believe it to be (contrary to popular belief) is not really “patriotism”, but rather what we want patriotism to be. Simply, most people use the word “patriotic” and “unpatriotic” as a convenient means to threaten, intimidate, succeed with an agenda or to bully others. Not surprisingly, my own definition of patriotism is not all too different from what can be found in the aforementioned article.
My definition of patriotism can be found in my glossary.
Q: What is Patriotism?
A: Most Americanophobes will tell you that Patriotism is defined as unconditionally accepting its leader and every crooked thing that a government may do. But I beg to differ. Patriotism for me is being able to say that you’re proud of where you were born and have the willingness to defend your country from verbal slander or violent attacks. True Patriotism also believes in free speech in that if we disagree with what our government is doing, we will question it. Patriots don’t always approve blindly of every decision made by our administration. Patriotism also believes that you can be a progressive-minded liberal and still be a patriot. Patriotism is ALWAYS optimistic, believes in change, and sees room for improvement when needed. If Patriotism doesn’t speak up and tries to make changes, then our ancestors that died for this freedom, died for nothing.
“…we have to realize that really loving this country means working to improve it. Patriotism isn’t about painting your face red and white, or wearing a flag pin, or shouting “We’re number one” and telling the rest of the world to kiss off while silently hoping against hope that the Stanley Cup will make its way north of the border next year. Patriotism is about action, not show, and it happens at the community level every day…
[snip]
…patriotism is as much about criticism and at times anger as it is about pride and tradition; and it’s much more about humility and openness and learning than it is about anything else.”
My observations of American Radical Conservatives and Canadian Americanophobia on Patriotism:
—>In the US, too many right-wingers believe patriotism to be silently and blindly accepting authority: both the government and the bible.
—>For Americanophobic Canadians, patriotism is not being American or anything like them. In this article written by an American who lived in Canada, it would appear as if change in Canada = fear of becoming “American”. Ewwwww!
Nor should Canadian patriotism be simple anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism is so common in Canada that it tends to go unnoticed. Not that there’s anything wrong with being against American foreign policy or the current presidential administration, but dismissing an entire nation of individuals simply to differentiate ourselves from them is both uncouth and disingenuous. There’s so much more to being a Canadian, to the national identity we incorporate into our personal identities, than the popular Joe Canadian rant ever suggested.
Interestingly enough, Canadian Americanophobes and Radical Conservatives in the US are quite similar in that (for the most part), both groups don’t believe in change. They both hate liberals. Both groups hold on to traditional values with every cell of their bodies. The pariahs in society believe in the future through change in those matters that need improvement. The pariahs in Canada are called “American” whereas the pariahs in the US are called, “unAmerican”. These characterizations are ridiculously unreasonable and selfish.
Feel free to read more of what I’ve written about patriotism here.
First I want to have a look at Wikipedia’s definition of propaganda, to clarify the object I am going to deal with in this text and my following posts…
“Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion”
I rather dislike Wikipedia for some of it*s failures, but for now I will bow my head before them… this is a nice and short definition! If I should intend to accuse anybody of propaganda, I had to show, that he:
1) Changes information (means a direct lie) to encourage a certain reaction and opinion
2) Reduces information (means to focus information) to encourage a certain reaction and opinion
I will not try to deal with the big media stations of our time – I*ll leave it up to you, to decide yourself, if your media is fulfilling one or both of these two options.
Just a word of explanation, to clarify my own intention and opinion. Propaganda is not an action, that can only be used by dictatorships, or similar forms of government – this is the everyday option to lead the masses in the correct direction in every form of system and in every nation.
To add some more precise information: Every war is in need of an propagandist action, as war never is a popular step, you have to find ways, to MAKE it a popular action – you have to create an enemy. The easiest form of propaganda is to focus on all well known (by your people) negative information about the enemy – partially to recherche new negative information to add it and (as the most aggressive form of propaganda) to spread lies about the enemy and sell them as the one and only truth.
The standard way of dealing with information, that threatens the perspective you wish to create, is to censor them, to bring them down, to damage their reputation or to accuse them of being a collaborator of the enemy.
—>Information: I encourage you to do your own research and to compare the use of propaganda in the different forms of systems we know up to now – I would enjoy your opinion on this topic and would be pleased, if you could point out mistakes in my explanations.
Spoiler:You may for example compare the propaganda done by Nazi-Germany, communist Russia and the USA after, before and during WW2 – I found this piece of information to be very interesting.<—
Non-national Propaganda
What you read above is more or less my standard definition of propaganda, that never has been something special to me, as (I think) we all got – to a certain degree – used to it and knew, that this happens.
Especially during my experiences on the internet I found, that this definition is solely focusing on national propaganda and for this reason incomplete. If you simply watch big media sites like YouTube, you will find nearly all forms of propaganda, spread by nearly all forms of religious groups, all forms of political groups and sometimes – even by persons without any direct extraordinary orientation.
I found myself thinking, that the most common form of propaganda is non-national propaganda – used by common people.
You could say, that these persons are simple carriers of the information given to them and I encourage you too, that you point out that this is true – but I myself compared the official given information of the mainstream media (concerning this and that topic) with the thinking and actions of these individuals and found the following:
A lot of the information is indeed based on excerpts of the mainstream media – these excerpts/quotations/information are selected precisely to focus the message (for example of the video) on a clearly layed out conclusion… Every form of information, that does not lead to this conclusion (even if it is directly linked to the original message) will be ignored.
Many of the propagandists tend to use direct lies, where the truth is not leading to the wished target (compare for example the conspiracy theories on 9/11).
I also found the fact interesting, that individuals, that will add a comment to these videos, which is not providing the wished form of information, will be marked as spam – deleted or be accused of not knowing anything about the truth – being for example accused of supporting the true enemy.
You may agree, that this is more or less according to the definition above – but let me point out again, where this is propaganda:
1) Focus on “bad news” – bringing “bad news” which are not well known to attention.
The difficult thing to divide propagandist efforts from journalistic material, is the natural purpose of propaganda to look as if it was, well researched and entirely based on facts. But a clear sign for me is, that the information, that is given, is not just a journalistic effort, but leading to a certain conclusion, or trying to encourage strong emotions… The second and more obvious sign is, that the given information is not containing any contrary opinions – if a video is repeating the same information again and again and serving a certain purpose instead of providing knowledge, it*s time to examine it (for me).
To focus information on a certain target or opinion is the most common and basic operator of propaganda.
2) Direct lies – Spreading false information – taking original information out of context
is the most extreme, but even the most dangerous form of propaganda. One has to chose the lie carefully and has to think about the possibility, that people will try to examine the information, to show that it is not true.
The easiest way to deal with this is (already said this) to throw some dirt on them, but as this is also the most powerful tool to modify the thinking and feeling of other persons, one should be careful to not lie too obvious – there should not be any doubt, that he/she is speaking the truth…
You are used to that too, as all of us lied in our lifetime, but when acting as a propagandist you have to be even more careful.
3) Shocking audio and video content – modification of text, audio and video material – The use of media in another context – creating a threat through music and images
These is not new at all, but as the abilities of media have grown, the tools for this task have also. The basic target of propaganda is to invoke emotions… besides the intellectual information, you will find music, pictures and excerpts of speeches, which emotionally are creating a threat – this is serving a certain issue… it is to prepare you to believe the information. To make you believe, that you have to defend yourself through the new given knowledge and against the new enemy.
The message itself CAN be believed, but doesn*t have to be believed -
Whether you, for example, believe in the 9/11 conspiracy or not is not interesting – If you FEEL threatened after watching such a video – in fact threatened by the USA and believe them to be the enemy… the mission of the video is accomplished.
To be fair and to give an example for the American reader too… If you heard about the weapons of mass-destruction in Iraq… did you believe it? I say you don*t have to. The basic message is “Iraq is a threat!” if you believed that one – the task of the information is fulfilled.
And to calm down both groups… I don*t judge these, or you – one has to think about this him/herself – Whether you like it or not is your decision – what I want to say is, think about information very hard before you believe it.
My thoughts:
Some of the commentators will defend this information, as if they were defending their own life, they will get angry, thread or insult every opposition.
Indeed some of the videos I am referring to, even made it to encourage myself to feel in a certain way. I would recommend, that this is not underestimated, as some of these are true masterpieces of their art (if you can think the same way of these is up to you).
To give an interesting example (without providing too much material myself) – you may for example compare:
As this movie is taken down very often, I will add the name here, which you have to search for, to find it on Youtube.
[Zeitgeist - the movie]
A very good example, as it is using every operator I talked about. (You may have fun to watch it with this thought in mind – you may even have fun to examine my own text to find out if you can identify propagandist material – and I*m sure some of you will do that (if this text will get any comments anyway) )
My Personal Disclaimer:
These are MY thoughts on certain topics, but I don*t claim, neither that I am the first one to realise it, nor that I am speaking THE TRUTH – as this term is abused in so many ways…
I strongly encourage you, to distrust information, until you’ve examined it yourself. This is including MY information. I welcome you to point out my mistakes and to share your opinion. But I hope, that you will be fair on me and will not insult me for my perspectives.
However – there is no doubt for me, that there exist more intelligent persons on this planet than me, who know more about these topics – If you are one of these persons… I would feel honoured, if you could share your point of view with me.
I allow you to use excerpts of my texts for your own projects, if you wish to, but I don*t allow you to change my message (means to ABUSE my texts.)
The Future:
As I am very interested in these topics, I am planning to add posts where I will try to examine Anti-American (AA) propaganda and my understanding of the “Age of informational warfare” more closely.
Thanks for reading Cern4m (My blog can be found here.)
What happens when an American makes a mistake? They’re “acting American”.
What happens when any other group of people a mistake – according to the Americanophobes? They’re “human”. Or you’ll hear, “It’s a cultural thing.” However, in Canada, it has become a FAD to scold other Canadians for “acting American” if they do something “bad”.
That is why to err, really is to American.
You may become even friends – good friends even, with someone coming from a predominantly Americanophobic country. But what I’m finding these days is that if you don’t walk on egg shells around them trying so hard not to offend, not to make a spelling error, not to “sound arrogant” or whatnots…. you’re bound to look “too American” orbe accused of “Americanism” to be exact.
Will this stop me from wanting to make friends with others from predominantly Americanophobic countries? No. That would be stupid. I still have some faith in humanity – some inkling of hope that I won’t run into someone that is going to go out of their way to “look for American-behavior” (whatever that is?).
The other day, I ran into this post, “Culture Shock (a cultural guide for international students)” posted by a French blogger (oka Super Frenchie) who is an excellent writer and is presently living in America and has been since the 1980’s. My husband and I both watched the whole documentary and we both learned from it (even though we’re both Americans!) I highly recommend it if you’re planning to come to the US to study. The series of videos are also very humorous as well.
The only type of people that will definitely have a problem in the US will be those who are carting baggage from their own countries thinking that the US will “fix” their problems. We have a kind of saying in America that if you leave your country, you take ALL of your problems with you. Your problems will STILL be there no matter what country you decide to live in. If you are overly-cynical, have a closed mind, are a misanthrope, have severe mental problems, pessimistic, and the type that whines and moans about everything, you will be miserable here and probably not too well liked.
If you already have a pre-existing negative attitude about America and its people, don’t waste your time. America will be a living hell for you.
If you are coming to the states to just use this country for a single advantage that you cannot get in your own country, then you will be unhappy here.
And if you’re going out of your way to look for bad things, you will find them.
The “American Dream”? People more than often misunderstand the meaning of this term. The “American Dream” does not mean that you can just simply arrive here and become rich and live a life of happiness without lifting a finger. America IS a land of opportunities, but YOU have to make that happen. You have to be realistic. You cannot expect the American people and its government to make all your dreams come true. We will NOT spoon-feed you here – nor will we take you by the hand and make things “work” for you. Simply put, America has the dream and the opportunities, you must do the rest.
We are a country that believes in “personal responsibility”. If things aren’t happening as you want or expect them to, you must evaluate YOUR situation and make those changes on your own. This is not to say that unfortunate things won’t happen that are beyond your control. This is not to say that nice American people won’t sympathize with you or give you some help, either. Bad things WILL happen. Expect them to happen. But what’s important is that you must be able to distinguish between an occurrence that is within your control and one that is not. Your attitude can make all the difference in the world.
Know that you are not a hostage in the United States, and that you’re welcome to return to your home country at any time. We only tie-up, bind, and use whips and chains on our lovers, not our immigrants.
Learn a bit about the US before you arrive here. America has both good and bad. Get to know both to decrease the amount of “culture shock” before you arrive.
I lived in Japan for 6.5 years, and I made the decision to go there roughly three years before I graduated from college. Most of my friends were Japanese at the time. While they were happy that I chose Japan to be the place to live, some informed me of the ills to expect when I live there. And they did not sugar-coat it for me. I was armed with knowledge that even a text book or amazon.com couldn’t have offered me. My Japanese friends were realists. A couple of them were thinking that my plans of going to Japan were naive. By the time I had arrived in Japan, not only was I feeling “ready” but I was on my way to conversational fluency in the Japanese language.
When I got there, I stayed at my friend’s home for two months while I was shopping for a job and an apartment. At my friend’s home, only my friend could speak a tiny bit of English, but the rest of the family could not. They all spoke to me in Japanese ONLY for my benefit. I got a boatload of “tough-love”. I got a boot-camp degree in Japanese Culture. I’m not gonna lie. It was rough at times. When I moved off into my own apartment, I was able to be self-sufficient and didn’t really experience any dramatic cultural shocks. However, I did experience culture wonders! My initial plan was to stay there for two years. I loved it so much that I stayed over 6 years. Excuse my French, but Japan kicks ass! There will always be a part of me that regrets coming back to the US because of how well I was doing over there both in terms of having met the nicest people, fantastic friends, the best yoga teacher, an awesome job, good entertainment, and I had also been making a lot of money over there too (yeah… that’s an amerikkan thing… we likie money…). Interestingly enough, the Japanese people and American people have more in common than I could have ever imagined. The Japanese aren’t Americanophobic either.
Back to the topic: Do extensive research before you pack you bags to live in America. You may be judged because of the ethnic group that you come from, but then again, so will I when I go or move to another country. Being American in and of itself sets me up for attack across the board. This concept is not rocket science, people. As my British friend, Jeff, puts it —> “There are wankers everywhere”. Expect them.
You get back what you give. In SuperFrenchie’s blog, there was a posting about dispelling French myths. (There are just as many myths about French people as there are about Americans!) With that said, I was directed to this site (The Top Myths about Paris) which says something that should ring true for all countries including the United States.
MYTH #5: Parisians are unfriendly and rude.
Explanation: This myth couldn’t be farther from the truth, since the majority of Parisians are kind, helpful and friendly. Upon first meeting, Parisians can appear to be less casual and more reserved by North American standards, however, this does not translate to unfriendliness. Be aware that often what you put out is what you get back, so if Parisians are approached in the right way from the beginning, chances of a more pleasant interaction increase. An attempt to speak the language goes a long way with Parisians. Always begin a conversation with ‘bonjour’, especially when entering a store. Asking immediately, ‘do you speak English?’ riles many Parisians and will start you off on the wrong foot. Think about it, if foreigners are constantly asking if you speak their language in a country where English is the official language, then how would that make you feel? Use your best school French and have fun with it; Parisians love to correct and help people with their admittedly difficult language!
The same rings true for America. If you act like an asshole, you’ll be treated like one!
America: The Land of the Free? That is a naive concept. To think that we are 100% free? We have more freedom of speech than most countries, though. Michael Moore, NAMBLA, and The Westboro Baptist Church(they don’t just hate gays, FYI… They also hate America, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Ireland etc), are one of the most famous poster children for American Freedom of Speech. However, freedom of speech has its limitations and justifiably so. If you want to walk topless through the streets, you can go to Canada for that. Old freedoms that we were once used to, have unfortunately been stripped away from both the radical right and the radical left.
Yes, people will judge you on your beliefs. Yes, people will challenge your opinions. Yes, people may disagree with you harshly. A lot of people misconstrue the challenging of held beliefs to be a infringement on their “freedom of speech”. No! Freedom of speech goes BOTH ways. If you speak up, your audience has a right to speak back. Expect this.
You will see all walks of life here in the US and diversity in terms of ethnicity, thought, religion, upbringing, and values depending on where you live. I have explained this in more detail in the beginning of this post. Some states and cities are more diverse than others. There are plenty of Americans that are racist, but one thing that I find (based on my limited research, admittedly) unique about the US is that we’re a bit less openly vocal about our prejudices. While there are stigmas and stereotypes attached to ALL groups of people, you will find that it’s a bit easier to be fat, dumb, ugly, ignorant, have poor taste in clothes, unhygienic, to be driving around in a clunker, and in short, be as individual as you’d like to be. You will be less judged here as opposed to being an American carrying those “socially unacceptable” quirks into another country. Try being a conservative fat American wearing a cowboy hat with a Texas accent in another country (outside Eastern Asia)! You won’t make it. I’d place money on that. At least in America, you can join all the fat, greedy, neo-con-bible-thumping, capitalist, dumb, ignorant, lazy, loud, and obnoxious people here. You’re more than welcome.
Our first amendment also allows you to burn our flags and wave your own here. No problem!
You can be whomever you want to be in America. Expect that not everyone’s going to LIKE you. This is NOT a violation of “civil liberties”. This is opinion. And Americans, like any other country, have them. Stewart Lee in the UK said it well in this video toward the end:
“…some of the things that are great about America, namely “freedom of speech” and a certain kinda social equality in that everyone there is allowed to say whatever they want no matter how stupid and ill-informed it is, and I think there’s something noble about that, genuinely”. — Stewart Lee (director of Jerry Springer, The Opera)
With that said, we also accept (with welcome arms) the slender, the intelligent, the intellectuals, the nerdy scholars, the hard workers, the polite, the humorous, the athletes, the hotties, the homosexuals, the tolerant, the socialists, as well as the demure, quiet, and shy.
America is a perfect blending of ALL these groups. This is what makes America great. I’m not saying that it’s the best country in the world, but in terms of THIS type of freedom, I’d say this is a great thing.
Many Americans are prejudiced against Muslims. And by Muslims, I’m talking about even those moderate Muslims that are peaceful. BUT, you can still go to a 7-11 or many convenience stores and find a man wearing a turban. Most of us don’t really care!!
Here’s what is NOT free in America: You are NOT welcome to “freedom of speech” in private places or within privately owned organizations and the like. Just think about it this way: When you enter someone’s home, you go by THEIR “house rules”, right? Why? Because a home is someone’s PRIVATE property. You can be asked to leave if you act in a way that is unacceptable. (Obviously, this is not unique to America.) The same scenario applies to message boards, websites, blog commenting areas, companies, institutions, or private—anything. So, this also explains why your, “I hate fucking Americans – Death to America” group on Facebook got deleted.
Just remember, if you ever get confused about our 1st Amendment, the 1st Amendment addresses what the governmentcannot do:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
America tops the charts among all the developed countries in the world as being the most violent and criminal. No other first world country has the same amount of crime, child abuse and sexual abuse rates. Teens have been having babies for the longest time. How can one expect them to grow up “normal”? I have no problem admitting that we are, in fact, a violent society. And because of this, in my opinion, we also can be superficial and shallow. A big portion of us are neurotic and some of us have odd ways of coping with our past and present dirty laundry bags. Americans, like any other people, are what they are because of “where they’ve been”. And because it is more likely that Americans will grow up in a violent or troubled family, it is also more likely that we may appear less desirable to not only other Americans but to those non-American as well. Am I making an excuse for these people? Yes and no. Yes, in the way that we have limited control all depending on the LEVEL (I can’t stress this enough) of trauma/stress (both past and present). And no, I’m not making an excuse for them in such a way that I HATE being on the other end of someone else’s idiocy. All I’m trying to say is that because of all the social problems we have in the US, you have to expect the people to be a bit weird on some level.
In your country, you may have been taught that all Americans are rich. Be prepared for a HUGE surprise when you get here.
In your country, you may have been taught that the “all-American-diet” is Coca Cola and McDonald’s. (Psst… It’s really hot dogs and apple-pie. ) Be prepared for another shocker. There are so many kinds of American foods. There are also international restaurants all over the place (even in my little “backwood hick town” in Texas). And there’s this little invention called the “grocery store” where you get to pick and choose what you want to eat and make it yourself at home. If you get FAT, that’s not our problem! You decide what goes in your mouth. I will say, however, that generally speaking, America isn’t made for walking.
Are we going to MELT YOU? I’m getting increasingly exhausted hearing from Americanophobic Canadians (who have never ventured south of the border to hang out for longer than a few minutes to fill up their gas tanks) that the US is a melting-pot and forces its belief systems on innocent, peaceful and vulnerable immigrants. That is a myth, and one that confuses me terribly. We are, in fact, NOT a melting-pot. We are a salad bowl.
Minority groups continue to create and nurture their own culture and maintain its uniqueness while being surrounded by a majority of people. They are able to do that nowadays. The American society therefore is best described as a big bowl full of different ingredients. They all make up the salad by being there, and the more the ingredients, the more the salad becomes rich and tasty.
We are not about full-throttle multiculturalism either. We are a blend of the two. Here in America you are more than welcome to retain your cultural heritage, celebrate it, read newspapers in your own language, eat your own foods and live how you’d like to live. Many immigrants moving to the US aren’t yet fluent in English, so they tend to make friends and live in close proximity with those from the same country. We don’t even have an official language here! There are people from other countries that have been here for 10-20 years that still don’t have a hold on the English language and some cannot speak it at all. We may appreciate your customs, but we may not want to live by your customs or learn your language. With that said, you are also granted with the freedom to speak only your language while refusing to speak English. I had to assimilate into the Japanese culture and the Japanese work-ethic in Japan. People from other countries are expected to assimilate to some degree here in the US.
Celebrate the differences, people. Because at the end of the day, we are, in fact, all people. Come to America if you wish, but be realistic, do you homework beforehand, and have an open mind. I could go on, but there are plenty of resources on the web to further your knowledge points about America. Here on my blog, I have debunked a lot of myths that your media systems and your family have told you otherwise. I don’t pretend that America is perfect, but at the same time, it’s nowhere near as bad the way the media and rumors make it out to be.
I have asked some of my foreign-born friends living in the US to write about their feelings as a resident here. I am awaiting some responses, and as they come in, I’m adding them to my blog with their permission. Those who are more computer savvy will type directly into this blog as a “guest blogger” (contributor).
Why am I doing this? For many reasons.
It’s hard for Americans to realize what life is like in the shoes of a foreigner. Additionally, it’s hard for those living outside the United States whom have never been here to imagine what life can be like. We cannot go on one person’s experience alone, of course. In my opinion, nobody is qualified to sit in judgment of the states from afar unless they have substantial experience living here – although there are some that never leave the city or state that they’re in and can only judge based on their near surroundings.
The US is hard to digest as we are a landmass of 3,537,436 sq miles (9,161,923 sq km) if you can imagine that. There are 50 states with 30,000 incorporated cites therein. And even each city has it’s own towns, styles, and personalities. If you live in West Virginia, chances are that you’ll have a different experience from one who lives in Denver Colorado. It’s probably easier to look at the USA similar to the way Europe is set up. America acts like a continent because of it’s size and it’s uniqueness from city to city. (Actually, the same can be said about every country, right?) There are even cultural differences depending on the city you’re living in. I will give one example (even though a general one). When you get married in some cities/towns in the south, the “proper” gift to give the newlyweds is a an actual tangible gift. Money would be considered an improper gift. It may even be considered as “lazy” if one were to hand over a check as opposed to actually going out and buying something. However, in NY, giving money gifts is more of the norm and said to be a convenience among those “just married”.
Basically, all I’m trying to say is that behaviorism and customs vary from city to city – state to state.
Next, we have three different types of government here: There is federal government, state government, and finally, local government. In Massachusetts, gay marriages are legal. In Nevada, prostitution is legal. In Alabama, it’s forbidden to purchase a DILDO! Marijuana for medical purposes is legal in California – yet illegal federally (strange, huh?). The list is endless.
The scenery, cost of living, mannerisms, laws, crime rate, accents, dialect, ethnic diversity, food, income, industries, tourism, weather, job opportunities, public transportation, and etc differ depending on WHERE you live. There are some places in the US where people don’t lock their doors.
As you can see, this is why Americans can get so frustrated with over-simplified views of the US coming from other countries.
Anyway…….. Let’s begin!
From Halifax in the UK, my friend Lawrence has answered some of the questions I asked him. He is still living in America – more specifically in Los Angeles, California (where we became friends).
Was it like you expected?
Yes, it was like I expected at first. Coming from England, I expected LA to be bright and exciting, and it was. However, I encountered things I didn’t expect. I didn’t expect to ever become bored with the beach, having never lived by the sea before. I expected to be excited by the celibrities, but after a few years you come to think of them as any other average person thinks of the rich people in their town – not always positively.
What made you come here?
I came here to train to be a psychotherapist in what was being advertised as a new science. A few years later I came to think of the psychotherapy as a pseudoscience. I came to think that the kind of selling and biased advertising that drew me to it, is kind of accepted in America, and buyer beware. In England such outrageous claims would not be allowed, thus creating the illusion that all the best alternative science and alternative cures are in California. While there is some world class good science going on in places like Berkeley, Stanford and UCLA; there is also a thriving pseudoscience industry in California – so it’s good and bad.
How are you treated by other Americans?
Very well, I like the way I am treated here, my accent goes over very well here, whereas at home, it was a give away to my working class roots.
How do you compare the US to your own country?
The US seems to allow dishonesty much more, probably connected to the freedom of speech ethic. There is more freedom to do what you want without judgement in the US, however that is good and bad. In England if you start a destructive cult, people interfere to protect themselves and their children; whereas in America they leave them alone to believe in whatever.
Your legal status?
Dual citizenship, US and UK.
What makes you stick around?
I can earn more money here, and I like the educational system here. I love the weather too.
Likes and dislikes?
I like the California weather, the UK-welcoming attitude, the freedom to live as you want, the non-jealous attitude to those doing okay for money (in England it can cause resentments if you save some money and then don’t share it, there is a strong socialist streak in some sections of society which is good and bad in a way) that sometimes can come to disadvantage the savers or investors, – you also can get heavily taxed). I also like the entertaining way they teach college here, and the exciting intellectual fervent in California.
I dislike the war in Iraq, the sickening demand-for-blood-patriotism and media war-drum-beat that came after 9-11, the disregard for the environment, and the lack of universal health care. I also dislike the longer work hours that people tend to get into here in the US.
Your occupation or area of study?
Student of psychology and science.
Your age? (you can just give an estimate or be as vague as you like)
30’s
How long have you lived here?
8 years
What is your advice to those wanting to live here or immigrate her permanently?
Get the education, qualifications and job skills necessary to get a professional job which will include a health care package.
AUSTRALIA has become the fattest nation in the world, with more than 9 million adults now rated as obese or overweight, according to an alarming new report.
The most definitive picture of the national obesity crisis to date has found that Australians now outweigh Americans and face a future “fat bomb” that could cause 123,000 premature deaths over the next two decades.
This is nothing to celebrate over. It just goes to show you how the Americanophobic stereotypes don’t hold much weight, do they? (no pun intended)
In yet another futile attempt to humble imperialistic America off of her self-absorbed, “high and mighty” throne, Canadians and Europeans (both equally guilty on this one) remind us about the obesity epidemic in America on a daily basis… as if we didn’t know. “You yanks suck cuz you’re all FAT!” – I hear over and over and over again. I am genuinely clueless as to how our problem with obesity is affecting these people so much as to become obsessed with Fat America? Where is the hurt and anger coming from? Or is it one’s insecurity needing to be built up to feel secure? Is it about control? Is it envy? American Obesity is useful ammunition for those taking digs at the US. What does this accomplish, though? Nothing. Will we still be fat? Yes. Will we humble up and realize that we’re aren’t …. all that? No. Why? Because FAT-O-PHOBIA exists in the US as well…. believe it or not. Quite naturally, the BBC with an Americanophobic agenda won’t tell you something like that. They want YOU to think we’re “obesity-loving”. They also fail to provide the correct facts. Let’s take a look at the REAL statistics. Sixty million Americans are obese. This is 20% of the population unlike the “over 50%” that you learned on the CBC or the BBC. Could it be that your media got us confused with the middle east where over 50% of the women are obese? Aaah… I’ll let that one slide. You ARE aware that over 300 million people live in the US, right? So, how would YOU explain for the 240 million that AREN’T obese? I’ll wait on that answer, but let’s continue…
The article postulates that fatness and obesity are directly related to poverty and ignorance; that rich, educated people are rarely fat. Also, it says, “Obese means not just podgy, but dangerously, disablingly, distastefully fat, as in American fat.”
Not just in this article, but whenever I travel outside this country, I find the topic comes up an inordinate number of times. “Oh, you live in America; isn’t everyone beastly and fat over there?” To which, after today’s article, I can now respond “No, only the poor, stupid ones, apparently.“
I’d like to take some time here and clear up some misconceptions that people all over the world have about American Obesity.
First off, we invented it. It’s ours. Stop copying us. Obesity is one of those precious freedoms our ancestors fought for. We get to keep it.
On a serious note, according to this article, Australia is tied with the US in the “fat wars“.(They ARE one competitive group, aren’t they?)
Australians are now equal with Americans as the most overweight people in the world, with a new study showing that the rate of obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years.
Professor Zimmet said an obesity summit held in NSW last year estimated it costs the nation up to $13 billion a year.
Nearly a million Australians now have type 2 diabetes. The figure has quadrupled in the past 20 years and led experts to coin the term “diabesity”.
This site addresses issues regarding the obesity crisis among adolescents in Australia.
Unfortunately, weight problems are common among adolescents in Australia. At least 1 in 4 young people in high school in Australia are overweight or obese.
OBESITY cost Australians $21 billion last year in direct spending, disability and premature death, according to a report to be released in Canberra today.
And it is likely to get worse, with the Access Economics report estimating that by 2025 as many as 7.2 million Australians or 28.9 per cent of the population could be obese — and that’s obese, not just overweight.
Australia is now one of the fattest nations in the developed world, according to a new international report which singles out the country’s sky-rocketing obesity rate.
But again, 1 in 4 Australians….
But it was one of the worst performers on obesity, thanks to new statistics showing almost one in every four Australians now has a body mass index (BMI) over 30.
Australians are gaining weight even faster than people in the US, a notoriously fat nation.
“Using consistent measures of obesity over time, the rate of obesity has more than doubled over the past 20 years in the United States, while it has almost tripled in Australia,” states the report, Health at a Glance 2007.
Here’s my biggest problem: Nobody ever thinks to mention other parts of the world who are having similar problems. It’s always “The Americans“. My guess is that Americans get far way too much television and generalized media exposure across the globe. What can I say? We’re so “hated” that the world is obsessed with us. At the end of the day, Bush and the Iraqi War have very little to do with the collective bigotry toward Americans.
Also in regards to being simply over-weight, here’s an interesting chart that lists 194 countries and the “fat rank” in each one. And with that said, Canada doesn’t have TOO much to brag about.
To debunk another myth about obesity in America, it is thought by people from other countries that we are apathetic toward this crisis or even insomuch to embrace it with pity, adoration, and admiration. In this topic on Facebook, “Why does America have a bad image?“, one member suggests the following:
(sic) It’s a perculiar social quirke that drug addiction is often perceived as so evil, along with self-harm, and yet obesity is overlooked. Even though as you have said over-eating is a form of self medication and a form of self-harm. So shouldn’t that be looked upon in the same way?
It is probably due to misconceptions that obesity is a sign of wealth, that being fat is not looked down upon as drug addiction is.
Any Americans reading this with a half a brain would know that the above couldn’t be farther from the truth. While it IS true that Americans are more tolerant (somehow the Anti’s conveniently confuse tolerance with adoration) toward obese folk, fat people are far from being overlooked, and we ARE looked down upon *significantly* MORE than drug addicts or anyone else with unhealthy addictions.
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Who’s going to get more pity: Fat people or druggies?
Druggies.
Who’s going to get more dates? Fat people or druggies?
Typically druggies are thin, so… druggies.
Who’s capable of giving a better first impression? Fat people or druggies?
Druggies. They aren’t stoned ALL the time. They are, again, mostly slender, and looks are EVERYTHING when it comes to 1st impressions.
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America is just as superficial as every other country in the world. The only reason America appears to be “fat-loving” is because there are so many of us and also because victims of any societal prejudice and mindless cliches tend to be quite loud — and RIGHTFULLY SO! Being against the target of stereotypes is not the same thing as being “Pro-Fat”. Still not convinced?Try seeing a doctor or land in an emergency room in the US about a problem unrelated to obesity and be FAT. I’d be curious to hear your results. In the US, only a minority of doctors don’t bully or condescend to fat people. Read this and the comments(it’s very long but if you’re not American and/or fat, I can assume you’re not lazy, right?) that follow the article.
In fact, in America the fat are looked down upon MORE than murderers/criminals. Criminals get all sorts of letters in prison from women and men all the time. The worse the crime, the more love letters they get. There is much lust in society even on a global level for serial killers. If you didn’t already know this, shame on you!
And for the love of all that’s ‘holy’, OBESITY IS *NOT* A SIGN OF WEATH. Rather, just the opposite is true. The media outlets in Europe and Canada (because they are the “peace-loving” elitists staunchly against the evil capitalists), want YOU to believe that Americans eat out of pure greed and are a part of the “I-want-it-ALL/Evil-Capitalist-hog-resource-leeching-syndrome”. Some of you Europeans and Canadians are conveniently confusing the general public with the Corporate Giants that rule the US. The rich make up the smaller percentage in the US.
At an upcoming conference at the University of Chicago, researchers will investigate why obesity is now a bigger threat to poor people than starvation in the United States, and is growing in danger across the world. As scientists declare a “global epidemic of fat,” the University’s Center for Gender Studies will host the Obesity and Poverty Conference on Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2, to address the sometimes surprising cultural and medical reasons why the poor in post-industrial nations are now more likely than the rich to be dangerously overweight. This interdisciplinary conference will bring together doctors, scientists and humanists to analyze a paradoxical new world situation.
We shop at Whole Foods (a healthy, largely organic food supermarket) and Publix (a major supermarket chain). It is patently obvious upon simply perusing the receipts that when we do a weekly shop at Whole Foods, we are paying around $100 more than when we do it at Publix.
Healthy, natural foods are more expensive than processed crap. I recently heard an old lady in the checkout line explaining, as though ashamed since no one had asked her, that she was buying a loaf of 20 cent supermarket-brand white bread because it was all she could afford.
Eating right, new research shows, is getting so expensive that millions of Americans can’t afford it.
In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Washington focused on the cost of eating foods that are rich in nutrients, and low in calories, like fresh vegetables, whole grains, fish and lean meats. That’s the stuff we’re told we have to eat if we are going to shed a few pounds and remain healthy.
But when the researchers checked prices at numerous stores around the Seattle area, they found that the good, healthy foods had soared in price over a two-year period, jumping by nearly 20 percent compared to a 5 percent increase in the overall food price inflation. And during that same period, high-calorie foods had remained about the same price, and in some cases had actually dropped.
Many of our stereotypes about fat people, besides being cruel, are myths. Recent medical research shows that being overweight may not be a sign of prosperity at all, but of past poverty and starvation. The body has natural defenses against starvation, and when it experiences enough of it, it slows down the body’s metabolism to make less food go further. Because poor people are more likely to go through periods of starvation than rich people, they are more likely to trigger these natural defense mechanisms.
One can exercise, right? After all, it’s free! Wrong. Eating nothing but crap makes you feel like crap, and the last thing that you want to do is exercise (especially if you suffer from depression). And before you call Americans, “lazy”, read this.
To also debunk the myth that most Americans just simply don’t care about their weight….
(sic) American society has a neurotic obsession about weight. It worships an ultra-thin “ideal” personified by gaunt models and waif-like celebrities. So intense is the social pressure to conform to this unnatural weight that 200,000 American women suffer anorexia nervosa each year from trying. (1)
The flip side of this neurosis is intolerance towards fat people. And when such people also claim to be poor, critics can — and often do — erupt in open hostility.
Like so many prejudices, this one is rooted in myth. Dr. Martin Seligman, an authority on obesity, writes: “Nineteen out of twenty studies show that obese people consume no more calories each day than non-obese people. In one remarkable experiment, a group of very obese people dieted down to only 60 percent overweight and stayed there. They needed one hundred fewer calories a day to stay at 60 percent overweight than normal people needed to stay at a normal weight.” (2)
What’s going on here? In 1995, Dr. Jules Hirsch of Rockefeller University published the results of a landmark study that proved that the body has a “thermostat” when it comes to maintaining its natural weight. His research team recruited 18 people who were obese and 23 who had never been overweight. They were required to live at a clinical center while their diet and activities were carefully controlled. In volunteers who gained weight, metabolism was speeded up by 10 percent to 15 percent. In those who lost weight, metabolism was 10 percent to 15 percent slower than normal. (3)
In other words, when people fall below their natural weight, their bodies slow down metabolism to try to regain it. When people gain weight, it speeds up metabolism to burn it off.
Other critics of fat people will accuse them of making up excuses and also think that fat people are happy.
My question is
Why would someone want to purposefully gain weight just for the sake of it?
How on earth could a fat person possibly be content in a world where they are globally harassed, mocked and ridiculed by the majority?
Fat people are unhealthy. When you’re unhealthy, you don’t feel well. When you don’t feel well, you’re not happy. Even on the rare occasion where an obese person is loved and accepted by friends and family members, NOBODY is happy being LARGE. It’s unsexy. It’s VERY inconvenient, and it’s harder to move, have sex, take a shower, climb stairs, and participate in the things in life that give us pleasure that slender people can do effortlessly. There’s no rhyme or reason why anybody would envy the obese.
Read this blog post written by a doctor and then read the comments for an eye-opener.
And if you’re still not convinced that fat-a-phobia doesn’t exist in the US, read this.
FEBRUARY 1–Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you’ll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state’s House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state’s Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with Mississippi’s Council on Obesity. It does not detail what penalties an eatery would face if its grub was served to someone with an excessive body mass index.
More examples of fat-o-phobia in America can be found, here, here, and here.
Here are some clues as to how people can get fat. (It is much more complex than than the overly simplistic black and white views that fat people get fat simply from eating too much of the wrong foods.)
There are some diseases and other physiological problems that actually cause obesity. Let’s take a look at them.
Obesity has become an all too common condition in many of the world’s industrialized societies today and is continuing to rise at an alarming rate. In the United States, which currently has the highest rate of obesity of any country in the world, some 60 million (out of 300 million) adults are classed as being obese and a staggering 9 million adults are considered to be severely or morbidly obese.
Although at first sight it might seem that this is simply the result of changes to our diet and a dramatic drop in the level of physical activity for many Americans in recent years, the reality is that scientific studies into the causes of obesity show that the condition results from a complex combination of factors. One such factor which has come under increasing examination over the past ten years or so is genetics and, in particular, the genes involved in the regulation of leptin within the body.
High-carbohydrate meal changes the odds in favor of tryptophan by increasing insulin, which pulls competing amino acids out of our blood and into our cells. Even though the actual amount of tryptophan in the blood hasn’t changed, more passes into the brain. This helps to explain why people often feel comforted after eating carbohydrate-rich foods (e.g., cake) and depressed people tend to binge on more carbohydrates.
For those that gain weight from over-eating fatty foods do so due to depression and post-traumatic stress disorders. This is fact. Fatty foods aid the brain to secrete a chemical called, “serotonin” which relieves depression temporarily. It is a trend that with those sexually abused as a child, grow to become very fat. This is a fact that cannot be disputed. Eating too much is not the result of ALL mood disorders, of course. However, those that over-eat are, in fact, not happy and are self-medicating. Everyone copes in their own way and over-eating is one of them. Canadians would be just as susceptible as Americans, right? But it could very well be that we’re a more depressed nation. Just ask yourself which is the most dangerous country to live in out of all the developed countries out there?
The reason it is so difficult to alter bad eating habits is that depleted, low levels of a chemical communicator in the brain called Serotonin, create overpowering cravings for junk-food carbohydrates (chips, bagels, sodas, sweets, white breads, pastries, chocolate, etc.) These ferocious cravings are referred to as hormone depleted cravings and they can be more savage than the cravings experienced by drug users for illicit street drugs.
In fact, the over-consumption of junk-food carbohydrate is the primary reason America has become the worlds fattest nation. The body instinctively knows that eating junk food will cause the brain to produce a burst of this feel good hormone, Serotonin.That is the reason it is often referred to as mood-food, comfort-food, or emotional eating. The problem is the price you pay for this short term fix is the overproduction of the fat storing hormone insulin.
You can read more on the link between depression, junk food, and serotonin here.
New research suggests that lack of sleep and environmental toxins are just as likely to cause obesity as eating fast food or failing to exercise. Dr. Sydney Spiesel, a Yale Medical School professor and a contributor to Slate, talks with Madeleine Brand about new research that lists other possible causes of obesity.
I think the obesogenic environment has a LOT to do with the obesity epidemic. It’s definitely not all genetics. If you look back 30 or 40 years, you see fewer processed convenience foods on the shelves, more people doing physical work, and more opportunities for exercise on a daily basis. That doesn’t mean that people are just doomed to be obese now; it just means that we have to be more conscious of our health decisions. I’m betting that a lot of obese people, if put in an environment from say 30 or 40 years ago, would lose weight almost without trying.
Read this article to find 10 factors that are the cause in the rise of obesity.
Next, I stumbled upon a blog entry written by a gentleman who had lived in Europe for several years. He cites an independent source and applies his own personal experience that is VERY eye-opening. Please take a look at it: “Why Americans are Fatter than Europeans”
Has anyone heard of addictions?
“America is a nation of addicts. We’re addicted not just to one thing, but often to several – like cigarettes, food, television, music, drugs, sex, even work. Each of these things is a kind of drug — because each temporarily gets your mind off of your pain.” –John Bradshaw (motivational speaker and family therapist)
Obviously America’s not the only offender here. But Interestingly enough, I found the above quote when reading an article on how to quit smoking. More importantly to consider, those people who whine, moan, and groan over fat people are addicted to something too.
You still think fat people are happy? I know one thing for sure. The fat-o-phobics out there can’t possibly be happy if they have to continuously taunt fat people to build themselves up. I cannot think of any other reason why others (including the fat-o-phobic Americans) would dislike a fat person other than the fact that his(it’s usually MEN that hate fat WOMEN) own mother was an angry, fat, slave-driving woman, and now as and adult, fat women will always remind him of his control-freak mother!
On Youtube in the comment section under the Cushings Disease video, someone posted the following that I totally agree with:
(sic) I am so sick of the campaign of hate that is going on in the name of health. You should never judge a fat people because you don’t know why they are fat. Why isn’t the medical community and more people standing up and reminding and educating people the fact that there are many reasons people are fat. They are reinforcing stereotypes to make people prejudice, as if this is going to help the problem. It’s wrong, and it’s not helpful.
Another common reason that slim people hate fat people: I often hear the following: “If they cannot take care of themselves, how are they going to take care of ME?” This is not only why slim people hate fat people, but it is why most people hate those with illnesses (especially those that are invisible like this one or this one). My answer is why are you looking for someone to take care of YOU??? Take care of yourself! If you have to depend on someone to take care of you and are over 18, you’re in pretty sad shape. Your mother should have already cut the apron strings and stopped the nipple by now!
And to those from other countries that accuse “yanks” for being “loud, rude and obnoxious“, your mocking obesity says that you’re not all too different from Americans after all. The hypocrisy in your criticism of us is overwhelming.
Last but not least, I’m getting tired of those from other western countries around the world whining that the reason their population is becoming so obese is “America’s fault” because of the “influence” we have on other countries. The last time I checked, the foods that you decide to eat are YOUR choice. The last time I checked, good parents watch after their children’s diet. No “evil Americans” have a gun to your head dictating you on how to live your life. Take responsibility for yourself! Additionally, if you get a disease that causes you to gain weight, that’s not “America’s fault” either. Quit playing the “blame game”. But I understand. It’s always easier to blame every little thing that goes wrong in your lives on “the Americans”. If anything, you should appreciate us more because if it weren’t for us, you’d have nothing to use as a crutch for your OWN shortcomings!
In conclusion, America has problems. BIG ones. We’re aware of it. Bullying us is only going to cause the arrogant to become more arrogant, and the nice people to become arrogant. Hatred serves no purpose for the common good. Give us something to look up to. If your country is truly superior to America, lead by example. The last thing you want to do is be hostile as that’s the same word you use to describe Americans. Consequently, we won’t listen.
Let me give her some credit. She’s got a good point when she states that some people use the death of a loved one as ammunition to either support their cause, get attention, or to accomplish their political or not so political agenda. And she’s right. You can’t fight back or say a word in the name of the following drivel:
You don’t know what it’s like to lose a [insert relation to loved one].
How dare you! I just buried my [insert relation to loved one].
Don’t you realize [insert name] is dead?
These people can say whatever they want, when they want or how. But you can’t respond back to them. If you do, you are being “insensitive” to their “disability”. This is just downright selfish and self-serving at best. An individual who is genuinely grieving the absence of a relative will not pull these attention-whoring stunts. Rather than mourning, they are using the deceased as a guided missile to those they want to change. They also manipulate their tragedy as a shield against themselves. What they don’t realize is that there are actually people out there that won’t buy into their bullshit. I don’t.
It begs the question… How much do you really love this person you lost? Oh, so you need to grieve? The last time I checked, grieving involves focusing in on that person you’ve lost. Yes, anger IS an integral part of the grieving process, but it is no longer “grieving” when you focus outwardly on things and people you have an ax to grind with. It is no longer “grieving” when you find any and every excuse to argue. It is no longer “grieving” when you treat your loved ones that ARE ALIVE like shit. It is no longer “grieving” when you talk out of your ass and expect an intelligent conversation. It is no longer “grieving” when you angrily spew pure venom and mutter incoherencies and expect the other person to just sit there and listen.
In the end, these pseudo-mourners are only making themselves more miserable. If you sincerely love the one you lost, you will seek help and learn to grieve the healthy way. A “healthy way” meaning one that is beneficial to you LONG TERM. A “healthy way” also meaning a way in which people will actually want to be around you to help you and love you as you go through this. You want people to realize that you’re going through a rough time, right? Don’t alienate those that love you and want to help. Keep your poison toward others at bay and admit that you have a problem instead of pretending to be “the tough one” and displacing your anger inappropriately. I see too many people get stuck in the grieving process. They say they are “over it”. They say they have “moved on” with their lives and have the colossal nerve to boast about it. They are the “holier-than-thou — I’m better than you because I did it” crowd. While denial is a symptom of grief, there is denying in a nice way and denying in a way that makes people want to run away from you. Don’t be one of those people that Ann Coulter speaks of. While you may get temporary relief in knowing that you’ve just hurt others because of your “misfortune”, there is no permanent relief – sorry to say.
I appreciate Ann Coulter for saying what some of us think but are too afraid to say out loud ourselves. She is honest. I admire her for that.
There are millions of bloggers out there, typing away on their keyboards, living for that glorious day of recognition when someone finally comments on their blogs.
True. Is it wrong to want to be read? Is it wrong to want feedback?
Mike rambles on…
You can blog, too. For the uninformed, a blog is any thought posted on a Web site that is not good enough to be printed in a newspaper.
Not good enough to be printed in a newspaper? You say this as if bloggers want to have their news printed in a newspaper. That is not true. I am not interested in becoming either a journalist, columnist, nor do I want anything to do with the media. And I’m sure most bloggers can attest to that regarding their own blogs as well. Us bloggers aren’t tryingto be anything.
It’s like if someone rode a bike everyday for exercise and one angry redneck comes along and says, “You’re just trying to be marathon cyclist”. “You think you’re hot stuff, don’t you?”
And…..?
I don’t get Mike’s point. He continues his little rant.
Here is an example: “President Bush has totally and utterly failed the American people. Almost every day we are presented with further proof why he should not be our president.”
This is from “Bulldog Manifesto.”
Note that you would never see the words “utterly” and “totally” in the same newspaper sentence because they are redundant terms
The usage of “totally and utterly” used in the same sentence are called intensifiers.
But we all know that when someone doesn’t like the content of what they’re reading, they will resort to arrogantly pointing out grammar mistakes (grasping at straws, in my opinion). But what is he really ranting about? If The Bulldog Manifesto were Pro-Bush, he wouldn’t have been the topic of discussion in the Orlando Sentinel on 9-11.
Just a quick word of thanks for your article about blogging. I now see the error of my ways, to
know that I’ve been wasting all my time these years by putting my thoughts, opinions and ideas into the ether for all to see. There was I believing that blogging was something useful – a combination of emotional outlet, method of communicating with one’s peers, a way of storing thoughts, photographs, etc, and above all, fun – and you’ve revealed the truth to me at last.
I should have known that blogging is boring. I should have stopped immediately for fear of posting something grammatically incorrect (for the record: I’ve an English Degree, and a Business Management Degree. I don’t give a damn whether I’m intransitive or not). We should obviously shut the heck up, ignore our right to freedom of speech, and listen only to the garbage pushed out by newspapers and politicians in future. I promise never to think a free thought again, least of all to blogpost about it.
As to some blogs seeming pointless or mundane, I’m sorry you don’t get it; life is like that. Life is often both mundane and boring. It take a brave man to record the mundanity rather than fictionalise the fantastic. I take it you’ve read neither Diary of a Nobody or anything by James Joyce. When people write about their “mundane” lives, they are recording real life for posterity. It’s important to them now, it’ll be important to generations in the future.
I’m sorry most of all that you just don’t get it.
Yours cordially,
In my humble opinion, The Bulldog Manifesto is a very intelligent, well-spoken gentleman. You would know this if you ever took the time to read his blog. I couldn’t even begin to be the good writer he is.
Book Description
This full-color illustrated book is a fun way for parents to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. Written in simple text, readers can follow along with Tommy and Lou as they open a lemonade stand to earn money for a swing set. But when liberals start demanding that Tommy and Lou pay half their money in taxes, take down their picture of Jesus, and serve broccoli with every glass of lemonade, the young brothers experience the downside to living in Liberaland.
From the Publisher
Would you let your child read blatantly liberal stories with titles such as “King & King,” “No, George, No,” or “It’s Just a Plant”? …
While I did find the description of this new book to be humorous, I also find it to be doing more harm than good to children because it’s not coaching them to think or reason; it’s coaching them to follow like wussies.
Is this not teaching hate and intolerance regarding the viewpoints and opinions of others? Is this not teaching stereotypes and gross exaggerations? Is this not teaching Liberal Extremism and not what a True Liberal is all about?
Is this what America’s supposed to be all about: Contributing more to the division of hate between the political parties? Is this what God wants?
I was right all along. A lot of the stubborn/extremist opinions that people have are based on this concept: “Mommy and Daddy told me so”. For more information on the “Mommy and Daddy told me so” syndrome, read the “Appeal to Authority” section of my entry, “Logical Fallacies”.
The words “Freedom isn’t Free” is used at the drop of a hat by the far Right when any Liberal dares to to imply that GWB is anything less than poifect.
Ok, I have a problem with this argument for a few reasons. I will get to that in just a bit.
I truly understand that if it weren’t for WWII, we’d probably all be speaking German under a dictatorship right now. WWII was a necessity, and I have always been behind it 100%. With that said, I truly thank and respect those soldiers who died for our freedom in that war. I have respect for any soldier that’s willing to give their life for our country. Period.
One could possibly argue that our being in IRAQ is helping us to win the war on terror which in turn would help us maintain the freedoms we have in the United States. I’m not too sure about this. I will not go into major detail, but my biggest problem with this war is that Bush has changed his reasoning for this war on a number of occasions. First it was for finding WMD, then it was for to make IRAQ a democracy, and now it is to “win the war on terror” as in nailing those responsible for 9-11.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m open to the possibility that there may be something here that I’m just not getting. Have you ever heard this famous quote before?
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” –Bertrand Russell
Well, let’s just say that I’m full of doubts. But in defense to any personal attacks I may get for my feelings about the war, all I can say is that I never did get a clear picture from Bush from the get go. The first words that come to mind are
wishy washy
vague
grasping for straws
Perhaps some day, me and all the others who have doubts will find out the truth – whether that be that the war was justified or that it was unnecessary.
In my opinion, this logic does not hold much water. Let me explain. You soldiers die and have died for our freedom, right? So, are you now telling us that what you died for — we cannot take advantage of?
You may as well stop enlisting. If for the American people to have their say on what is right or wrong (about our president or government) is dishonorable or improper, you’ve fought and are fighting for nothing.
In a Cornell University study, men who perceived their masculinity to be maligned displayed more homophobic attitudes, tended to support the Iraq war more and would be more willing to purchase an SUV over another type of vehicle. In other words, men overcompensate when they feel their masculinity is threatened.
“Masculine overcompensation is the idea that men who are insecure about their masculinity will behave in an extremely masculine way as compensation,” explained study leader Robb Willer in a news release announcing the study findings.
Bottom Line: If ya gotta prove it, ya ain’t got it.
My biggest most burning question is — Is there any proof that people on the internet are any more of a liar than those people that we meet face to face?
When we meet people face to face, can we really read into what kind of person they are? Really? Are you really sure?
Do Fox News,CNN, and other professional journalists always keep their story unbiased and straight?
What about our own spouses? When they respond to us saying that they’re “not cheating” (even though there’s evidence) can we trust that they’re telling the truth?
THE image of internet dating as a “fickle world” full of liars and chancers is far from the truth, according to research released today.
Instead, relations formed in cyberspace enjoy a 94% success rate, an academic study has shown.
Men who go online for love are more committed to the relationship and more emotionally dependent on their “e-partners” than women.
The study shows that where couples build up a “significant” online relationship by emailing or chatting and then meet face-to-face, 94% went on to see each other again.
Relationships lasted on average seven months, with 18% lasting over a year, according to the University of Bath research.
Dr Jeff Gavin, who carried out the survey, said: “Given that the most successful relationships lasted at least seven months, and in some cases over a year, it seems that these relationships have a similar level of success as ones formed in more conventional ways.”
He said because men went deliberately online looking for love they tended to be more committed, whereas women tended to be more cautious and safety aware.
“Men open themselves up more when chat is anonymous,” he said. “Rather than lying to each other, this means couples can form deep relationships by being more honest than they would be face-to-face.”
Sexual
Women tend to be more sexual online than they would normally as they cannot be judged when anonymous, he added.
And although there may be still a stigma attached to online dating for older generations, for younger people meeting people online is just the same as meeting in a bar, he said.
Some couples who have met online even spend their anniversaries chatting with their partners in cyberspace as the place they met “is special to them”, he added.
Some 229 people, aged between 18 and 65, were interviewed online for the study.
More on People and the Internet
As far as good old fashioned dating is concerned, let’s say that us ladies meet (face to face) a very nicely dressed man who has a very good job, a good education, a perfect IQ, talks very intelligently, is very good looking and tall, comes from a wholesome and religious family, he is rich, and has a good sense of humor to boot.
While there are whackjobs out in this world that are so obviously “criminal-looking” where we can spot them out in a heart beat, there are those who aren’t “criminal-looking” that fool even the most vigilant type of people.
You can do your part to a certain extent to be safe, but we only have so much control.
I’ve just recently heard a complaint made about “the majority of bloggers” that they “use links of others” rather than composing their own original work.
WTF?
Is there really a rule of thumb to follow regarding the content of your blog? Call me ignorant, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.
So, I wonder if this person’s saying that if you own a blog, it must be your own content? Is it considered “stealing” if you find a good, funny, or an interesting post and want to share it with your viewers? Do they know more about my small group of visitors than ‘I’ do?
What if you find a newsworthy topic on CNN and are interested in sharing the link with others along with your comments? Is that bad too? Or just plain boring?
What I’d really like to know is why this kind of “blogger behavior” disturbs people so. How is this “wrong”?
I suspect these Negative Nellies are coming from blog trafficing sites such as Blog Explosion and Blogazoo. They see one post that links to another site not knowing what YOUR blog is really about and running away so fast not realizing that you offer much more a variety than their false assumptions run wild about.
People like original content? While recommending my viewers to specific links can be “unoriginal”, I know my viewers. You don’t. While I may not be entertaining ALL my viewers, there were a couple of viewers I knew who would be interested in the adorable cat picture I found on Orge’s blog.
What are Trackbacks for? I’m guessing that those so readily and enthusiastically pointing the fingers at bad link-sharing blogs, don’t use the Trackback System. They’re completely useless to them because their content is “so original”.
I’m also aware that people constantly bitch about those bloggers that write about their personal daily lives including unedited rants and raves about the cute guy who sits next to them in their high school Biology class and what they ate for breakfast. Many people peek at these blogs, and if they’re lucky enough to still be awake to report these blogs so boring and horribly written, they willwithout hesitation report them. However, we must give those boring blogs credit. They’re original.
I say screw the Negative Nellies. These are the type of people that will bitch no matter what. I get approximately anywhere between 50-100 hits a day, but I’m as happy as a bee in a tree if I get at least 10. I will admit that I’m a crazed attention whore and believe “the more the merrier”, but I will not go to the ends of the earth to satisfy the grumpy miserable hit and run loser types who subject themselves to a painful 30 second time limit just so they can gain more traffic to their site.
Trust me. There are blogs that annoy the hell out of me too – especially those blogs that play music automatically and damn near knock me out of my seat when I click on their site. In fact, I was planning on making a post on my blog to tell these auto-music playing bloggers to turn their blogging radio to manual instead of auto. But the difference between Grandma-Bitchy and me is that I will gracefully give up the potential 1/3 of a point that I can earn from Blog Explosion and screw the 30-second time limit – moving on to the next blog as noted below.
Surfing too fast? You betcha. Negative Nellies? You see that? You DO have other options. Just thought I’d let you know.
Watching this video makes me happy, but sad at the same time when I think of all the children in the world who are forced to sit quietly all the time like Katharine Hepburn. This is not to say that I condone parents allowing their children to run wild throughout the grocery stores and restaurants. One has nothing to do with the other.
However, there are too many children forced into adulthood from the time they come out of mommy.
No crying
Don’t be loud
No singing
No dancing
No laughing out loud
Not allowing to express their happy feelings
Not allowed to explore and ask questions as they are new to the world. (Asking “why” seems to be the most criminal because that forces a parent to give an answer that they… well, don’t have.)
Those children deprived of a real childhood cope by either repeating the cycle with their own kids or by never growing up still seeking out ways to let the child in them come out. The most extreme example of this would be Michael Jackson.
Adults can just be plain weird. They complain when their kids are happy and innocent, and they complain when they carry weapons to school and shoot people.
So I ask you again… how many of you were actually allowed to be a child growing up?
Following the report that nine members of the East Waynesville Baptist Church in western North Carolina were excommunicated because they did not support President Bush in the election, Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way Foundation, had the following statement:
“What have we come to when the doors of a church are closed to longtime members because of their political beliefs? When a pastor equates political support for the ‘wrong’ candidate with a sin before God?
“I would say to Senator Frist and Karl Rove that this is what comes of attempts to manipulate religion for political gain. Americans simply will not accept the claim that ‘unless you accept my political beliefs, you cannot be a good Christian.’
“This nation was founded on respect for religious belief, and tolerance for religious diversity. Men and women of faith have every right to advocate for their political beliefs. While churches, of course, can set their own membership standards, no one should punish people of faith for their political beliefs.
“This is terribly sad. I urge the President to express his opposition to all attempts to manipulate faith for political gain.”
And yet, this is just another example of our self-proclaimed, “Christians” at their best.
If you don’t emulate my thoughts, opinions, way of life, you get the boot, Charlie Brown!
The sad part about this – is that the hypocritical, Neo-Nazi, extreme right-winged, God Fearing, intolerant haters will read this and not realize that they’re one of them.
For all you mental midgets out there: Do you all really think God approves of your evil ways? I think he’s planning to burn you guys extra slowly in Hell!
What’s my answer? No. No, No, and No. I can’t even understand why this is even an issue so big that it was broadcasted on the news.
From my point of view, I see some VERY clear differences between the two. Journalists go out and interview, quote words taken from the original sources live, and then they gather their information from press conferences, interviews, and whatnots and publish the information whether it be editorial or or not.
For the most part, bloggers rely on the sources that journalists work very hard to gather. We site the source in our blogs (hopefully) and go on either commenting on the issue or make it non-editorial leaving the opinions up to the individual reader or both.
I should have paid more attention to “who”, but one gentleman said on the news that bloggers post false information. Now, I’m sure there are bloggers who DO post false information. But I’ve read many-a-blogs in my day, and I’m sorry but I just don’t see that. Remember, most bloggers back up their factsusing links and blockquotes. If the links are bad ones…. well, that’s not our problem because you know as well as I do that bias exists and who’s to determine fact from fiction?
Next, we bloggers add our own opinion. Since when does an opinion become “false information” ? The last time I checked, an opinion is neither right nor wrong.
6 entries found for opinion.
o·pin·ion n.
A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion”
(Elizabeth Drew).
A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert: a medical opinion.
A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing: has a low opinion of braggarts.
The prevailing view: public opinion.
Law. A formal statement by a court or other adjudicative body of the legal reasons and principles for the conclusions of the court.
BLOGGERSrequire no journalistic experience. All they need is computer access and the desire to blog. There are other, even important differences between bloggers and mainstream journalists, perhaps the most significant being that bloggers pride themselves on being part of an unmediated medium, giving their readers unfiltered information. And therein lies the problem.
When I or virtually any other mainstream journalist writes something, it goes through several filters before the reader sees it. At least four experienced Times editors will have examined this column, for example. They will have checked it for accuracy, fairness, grammar, taste and libel, among other things.
If I’m careless — if I am guilty of what the courts call a “reckless disregard for the truth” — The Times could be sued for libel … and could lose a lot of money. With that thought — as well as our own personal and professional commitments to accuracy and fairness — very much in mind, I and my editors all try hard to be sure that what appears in the paper is just that, accurate and fair.
Do I sometimes make mistakes? Yes, I’m only human. Do my editors always catch my mistakes? Most of the time, they do. But not always. They’re human too. The “For the Record” corrections published on Page 2 of The Times every day make our human fallibility only too clear.
Shield laws (and the 1st Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press, the philosophical progenitor of these laws) were created to enable the media as an institution to inform the citizenry, without government interference.
And it’s the institutional safeguards of the traditional media that differentiate them from bloggers and the blogosphere, even if those safeguards sometimes fail. When they do, as they clearly did in the case of several recent media scandals, heads roll.
Many bloggers — not all, perhaps not even most — don’t seem to worry much about being accurate. Or fair. They just want to get their opinions — and their “scoops” — out there as fast as they pop into their brains. One of the great advantages of the Internet, many Web lovers have told me, is that it’s easy to correct an error there. You can do it instantly, as soon as the error is called to your attention, instead of having to wait until the next day’s paper.
But the knowledge that you can correct errors quickly, combined with the absence of editors or filters, encourages laziness, carelessness and inaccuracy, and I don’t think the reporter’s privilege to maintain confidential sources should be granted to such practitioners of what is
at best pseudo-journalism.
I’m not saying that all bloggers are lazy, careless or inaccurate. I’m sure many take as much pride in their work — their professionalism — as I do.
That’s right. Bloggers are not edited. This is both good and bad. It’s bad in the sense that those should not be presenting as facts, false information. It’s good in the sense that some of us bloggers could be presenting the REAL truth without the interruption of professional editors distorting reality and promoting political correctness. In other words, sometimes it can be that only the real truth can be found from a blog BECAUSE IT HASN’T BEEN EDITED.
Look at Liberal CNN and Conservative Fox News. Reporters, journalists, and anchor persons all have their spins on almost every societal concern out there. Do they not? Yet bloggers are being condemned for their spins and being told their not journalists (well, which is true).
2 entries found for journalism.
jour·nal·ism
n.
The collecting, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers and magazines and in radio and television broadcasts.
Material written for publication in a newspaper or magazine or for broadcast.
The style of writing characteristic of material in newspapers and magazines, consisting of direct presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation.
Newspapers and magazines.
An academic course training students in journalism.
Written material of current interest or wide popular appeal.
Nobody should have to think for you. Stupidity is a word that also should be given to those people who cannot wade through the bullshit they read or hear on the news. But there are a lot of stupid people out there that take what the upper ups in the media say as Gospel. However, more than anything else, selective “listening” is the problem. People believe and attach themselves to certain media outlets that suit their own agendas. They do this instead of listening to both CNN and FOX and then forming their own opinion. But this is too painful for many people as they have too much trouble putting their baggage aside to think rationally.
I’m sorry if I’ve ever posted false information on my blog that wasn’t me being sarcastic or me giving my opinion. I would certainly hope that my readers don’t use me as the only source for the news. I would also appreciate it if in the event I did post false information that my reader (instead of leaving a condescending remark) would take the time to give me a link to where the correct information can be found, and I’d gladly correct it. I’ve been found guilty before and corrected my mistake before. It happens to the best of us.
But don’t assume that I think of myself as a journalist. This is just my little picnic table where I find news events that strike a nerve where you get to hear me stand on the roof tops and scream like a helpless misfit.
I never did say I was normal.
UPDATE! The below was left in my comments section here by Jeremy Bol, a blogger/journalist. I stand corrected.
I think there may be something you’re missing here. Journalists frequently revamp or regurgitate other people’s work. By the standard for a true journalist you state, nearly the only paper in the world we could call “journalists” would be AP News. Most news agencies cite them on an hourly basis. Some bloggers can be classified as journalists, but not all.
The biggest difference between a journalist and a true blogger is that a journalist has the aid of an editor.
I consider myself a blogger AND a journalist. I have been published with my blog material in several publications throughout the internet, not just blogs. Jane Novak (http://www.armiesofliberation.com) got no less than 20 of her articles published in the Yemen Times, Arab News and several other middle eastern papers. Her continued diligence in journalism created awareness in the region and eventually led to the release of a Yemeni newspaper editor.
Bloggers in general are not journalists. Many are though.
It is a very common practice for parents to instil their beliefs on to their children. Sometimes we can assume that before the child reaches adulthood, he will carry the beliefs that his parents held.
After having been in school, having socialized with others, and having done independent research, one has seen both sides and then makes their own decisions. Sometimes this doesn’t happen, though. Some children feel that it’s “betrayal” if they allow themselves the freedom to have a unique thought from their parents. I guess this depends on how strongly the parents opinions are forced down their children’s throat.
That’s all good and well, though. We can expect these types of things to happen all the time.
A person who likes anything and everything that “everyone” likes (trends, etc.) for the sake of being cool. Once that trend ends and everyone stops liking it, they promptly start disliking it and it becomes the worst thing in the world. They also mock the people that continue to follow the “uncool” trends.
Billy: Wrestling’s so gay, why do you watch that? I can’t stand that crap.
Billy (3 years earlier): Stone Cold rules!
You know, I can understand why kids do this, but I’d like to think that when people have matured to a certain age that they start thinking on their own, and doing WHAT THEY LIKE and believing in what THEY TRULY believe in. But some folks never grow out of that. They can’t stand being in the minority of ANYTHING. I guess they believe that if the “moral majority” think one way, then it’s right.
.::NEWSFLASH::.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to OPINIONS!
These kind of people, I also call puppets and parakeets. OR… SHEEPLE!
People unable to think for themselves. Followers. Lemmings. Those with no cognitive abilities of their own.
All the teens were wearing bell-bottoms because they were sheeple.
Or…
A individual that forfeits their right to choose in favor of inclusion in groupthink and what is viewed as popular or elite group. Allowing the influences of different forms of media and group members to hold great sway in the formation of attitudes, behavior and opinion.
To accept the group mentality and opinion as fact without examination.
Not only to be told what to do, but accepting the paradigm of thought as absolute thereby removing the weight of personal responsibility in the making of decisions.
All of these puppets have a leader. Sheeple are seduced by power and authority. For example, the puppet will believe in something like breast feeding in public, but once they hear from somebody who symbolizes “strength” to them, they go with what that person thinks.
So, sheeple, puppets, and parakeets not only go out of their way to follow the “moral majority”, they also emulate the thoughts of those that mark strength in their behavior. They figure if the strong man says “breast feeding in public is offensive” , well…then it’s offensive. Their own opinions change as fast as lightning streaks the sky. It’s truly amazing to watch these kind of people in action in a social gathering. Simultaneously, it’s very sad.
It’s quite a cowardly behavior, don’t you think? In the American society, we women have progressed so much that individualism is currently looked upon as being mature, sexy, brave, unique, feminine, strong, and intelligent. Apersonality trait that the modern man looks for in a woman – a real woman.
It’s a pity to notice someone who sacrifices the euphoric feeling of being ones self to gain acceptance from others. They don’t care if the person being accepted is not their true selves. They are just THAT needy and desperate. And I thought that “neediness” only applied to children. I was wrong. Adults can be sheeple too.
The radical left and right wing “individuals” in today’s society are guilty of being “sheeple”. Xenophobia is a sheeple concept… and so is Americanophobia!
Mind you, these sheep are the same people that will chastise you if your opinion differs from theirs. Or God forbid, you’re not doing what the common man does. If you try to debate them or reasonably discuss their views, they have NO argument to offer other than insults. You can always expect personal attacks from those sheeple who cannot supply rhyme or reason as to why they feel they do because they’ve plagiarized their beliefs from another person. So, how can we expect them to have a logical argument? How can we take sheeple seriously?
There’s something I don’t quite understand. Whether it be in real life or on the Internet, if someone insults another person and that person retaliates, why are they called a pussy? Why are they told to get over it?
“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it” is my favorite saying. And that’s just because it’s so true.
People who are “serial bullies” cannot handle “back talk”. They are unable to drink the same poison they deliver. Now, who’s the weakling? Who’s the coward? Do we have a vote? If you can dish it out and you aren’t strong enough to accept the response, you are just plain weak and thin-skinned.
I always find it funny how the victims of bullies are called the “crybabies”. Don’t you think?
Let’s explore what a serial bully is. Some people when they’re young and in middle school, they bully a few times and they grow up and move on. Some of these people when they reach adulthood even feel bad about what they had done to their classmates when they were a child. I have personally known those to have felt remorse for having bullied in the past. These are temporary bullies.
But then there are those who continue bullying into their adulthood and will take that character with them to their graves. This is what is called a serial bully.
is a convincing,practiced liar and when called to account, will make
up anything spontaneously to fit their needs at that moment
has a Jekyll and Hyde nature – is vile, vicious and vindictive in
private, but innocent and charming in front of witnesses; no-one can (or wants to) believe
this individual has a vindictive nature – only the current target of the serial bully’s
aggression sees both sides; whilst the Jekyll side is described as “charming”
and convincing enough to deceive personnel, management and a tribunal, the Hyde side is
frequently described as “evil”; Hyde is the real person, Jekyll is an act
excels at deception and should never be underestimated in
their capacity to deceive
uses excessive charm and is always plausible and convincing when peers,
superiors or others are present (charm can be used to deceive as well as to
cover for lack of empathy)
is glib, shallow and superficial with plenty of fine
words and lots of form – but there’s no substance
is possessed of an exceptional verbal facility and will outmaneuver
most people in verbal interaction, especially at times of conflict
is often described as smooth, slippery, slimy, ingratiating,
fawning, toadying, obsequious, sycophantic
relies on mimicry, repetition and regurgitation to convince others
that he or she is both a “normal” human being and a tough dynamic manager, as in
extolling the virtues of the latest management fads and pouring forth the accompanying
jargon
is unusually skilled in being able to anticipate what people want to hear
and then saying it plausibly
is emotionally retarded with an arrested level of emotional development; whilst language
and intellect may appear to be that of an adult, the bully displays the emotional age
of a five-year-old
is emotionally immature
exhibits unusual and inappropriate attitudes to sexual matters, sexual behavior
and bodily functions; underneath the charming exterior there are often suspicions
or hints of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, perhaps also sexual dysfunction,
sexual inadequacy, sexual perversion, sexual violence or sexual abuse
in a relationship, is incapable of initiating or sustaining intimacy
holds deep prejudices (eg against the opposite gender, people of a
different sexual orientation, other cultures and religious beliefs, foreigners, etc -
prejudiced people are unvaryingly unimaginative) but goes to great lengths to keep this
prejudicial aspect of their personality secret
is self-opinionated and displays arrogance, audacity,
a superior sense of entitlement and sense of invulnerability and untouchability
has a deep-seated contempt of clients in contrast to his or her
professed compassion
is a control freak and has a compulsive need to control
everyone and everything you say, do, think and believe; for example, will launch an
immediate personal attack attempting to restrict what you are permitted to say if you
start talking knowledgeably about psychopathic personality or antisocial personality disorder
in their presence – but aggressively maintains the right to talk (usually unknowledgeably)
about anything they choose; serial bullies despise anyone who enables others to see
through their deception and their mask of sanity
displays a compulsive need to criticize whilst simultaneously refusing
to value, praise and acknowledge others, their achievements, or their existence
shows a lack of joined-up thinking with conversation
that doesn’t flow and arguments that don’t hold water
flits from topic to topic so that you come away feeling you’ve never
had a proper conversation
refuses to be specific and never gives a straight answer
is evasive and has a Houdini-like ability to escape accountability
undermines and destroys anyone who the
bully perceives to be an adversary, a potential threat, or who can see through the bully’s mask
is adept at creating conflict between those who would otherwise collate
incriminating information about them
is quick to discredit and neutralize anyone who can talk knowledgeably
about antisocial or sociopathic behaviors
may pursue a vindictive vendetta against anyone who dares to held
them accountable, perhaps using others’ resources and contemptuous of the
damage caused to other people and organizations in pursuance of the vendetta
is also quick to belittle, undermine, denigrate and discredit anyone
who calls, attempts to call, or might call the bully to account
gains gratification from denying people what they are entitled to
is highly manipulative, especially of people’s
perceptions and emotions (eg guilt)
poisons peoples’ minds by manipulating their perceptions
when called upon to share or address the needs and concerns of others, responds with impatience,
irritability and aggression
is arrogant, haughty, high-handed, and a know-all
often has an overwhelming, unhealthy and narcissisticattention-seeking
need to portray themselves as a wonderful, kind, caring and compassionate person,
in contrast to their behavior and treatment of others; the bully sees nothing wrong with
their behavior and chooses to remain oblivious to the discrepancy between how they like to be seen
and how they are seen by others
is spiritually dead although may loudly profess some religious
belief or affiliation
is mean-spirited, officious, and often unbelievably petty
is mean, stingy, and financially untrustworthy
is greedy, selfish, a parasite and an emotional vampire
is always a taker and never a giver
is convinced of their superiority and has an overbearing belief
in their qualities of leadership but cannot distinguish between leadership
(maturity, decisiveness, assertiveness, co-operation, trust, integrity) and bullying
(immaturity, impulsiveness, aggression, manipulation, distrust, deceitfulness)
often misses the semantic meaning of language, misinterprets what is
said, sometimes wrongly thinking that comments of a satirical, ironic or general negative
nature apply to him or herself
knows the words but not the song
is constantly imposing on others a false reality made up of distortion and fabrication
sometimes displays a seemingly limitless demonic energy especially when
engaged in attention-seeking activities or evasion of accountability and is often a committeeaholic or apparent workaholic
Do you know anybody like this? They are very similar to Narcissists.
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy, as
indicated by at least five of:
1. a grandiose sense of self-importance
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal
love
3. believes that he or she is “special” and can only be understood by, or should
associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement, ie unreasonable expectations of especially favorable
treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6. is interpersonally exploitative, ie takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own
ends
7. lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of
others
8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
If you are a strong person, you will not eat the shit that the bully spoons out. If you are weak, you will dish it out and expect the other person to gracefully tolerate it.
I think to one degree or another, we’ve all suffered at some point and time in our lives. Everyone’s trauma means something different to them, and we all have our unique ways of coping. Some healthy and some not. The “Getting Over It” dilemma is a very controversial issue. Everyone has something different to say about it.
Can someone define what “Getting Over It” means? To help you out a bit, let me give you all some choices to choose from:
Keeping a stiff upper lip because the ones that say “I care for you” don’t give a shit and internalizing the hurt and anger inside you like a “pressure cooker” until you have had enough and either get physically sick , have a nervous break down, become a hermit, become a priest, become addicted to blogging or go on a killing rampage like this person or like these people?
suicide
So, which one is it?
Science speaks. And evidence speaks even louder.
The “pressure cooker” theory reminds me of earthquakes. Since I’ve been alive (and I’m 36) the hugest, most disastrous earthquakes typically happen in places where there are very, very few tremors or none at all. Folks, what does that say?
I lived on the outskirts of Tokyo for almost seven years and that place was shaking all the time, yet there were no BIG earthquakes. Remember the Big Kobe Earthquake in Japan in 1995? No, tremors, no shakes, no nothing…………… then BOOM!
Aren’t we humans like that? Don’t you think we need to shake and rattle a bit to avoid a BIG BOOM?
repress[Show phonetics] verb[T] 1to not allow something, especially feelings, to be expressed: He repressed a sudden desire to cry.
2to control what people do, especially by using force
repressed[Show phonetics] adjective repressed anger/sexuality English people are notoriously repressed and don’t talk about their feelings.
2the process and effect of keeping particular thoughts and desires out of your conscious mind in order to defend or protect it: an attitude of unhealthy sexual repression
repressive[Show phonetics] adjective a repressive (= cruel) military regime sexually repressive
When you do not like, or even fear, certain feelings and attitudes in yourself, you block awareness of them. This amounts to obstructing the stream of feelings that should flow freely. Use the analogy of the stream, though it is not new of course, as a fresh approach, so that you can visualize the damage done by repression. You need a new impetus in order to be inspired to remove the barricades. So, my friends, try to visualize each emotion, each attitude and response as a stream. If you barricade a stream, what happens? It is possible to dam up a river. The water will flow to the dam and will then be stopped. But the more water accumulates behind the dam, the greater the energy of the accumulating water will become until it bursts the dam, overflows, and destroys not only the dam itself, but all the natural and healthy vegetation and structures alongside.
Destroying the barricade in such a violent way is not necessary. The dam in your soul never needed to be erected, but since you chose to build it, it has to go. You can make gradually and systematically remove it by your own efforts: this is the conscious process of self-confrontation. Waiting until nature takes its course means that the barricade will be swept away by the force of the waters. When life handles you roughly, when the accumulated destructive attitudes whose origins lie behind the barricade finally break loose, you experience crises and breakdowns of different kinds and degrees.
By not damming up the river, you let the dirt and residue float freely to the surface to be eliminated. The ever-regenerating water in its purity and freshness will finally sweep the river free of the debris. Is this not a fact in nature? The same applies to your soul-currents. By fearing and not looking at the debris of your past hurts and their subsequent destructive tendencies, you accumulate them behind the barricade, and they are bound to swamp you one day when you cannot control what happens. But there is nothing to fear when you allow the debris to reach the surface.
When you begin to remove your blocks you will start to experience negative emotions unlike any you have felt before. The temptation is then to put the lid on again. Beware of this temptation. The warm, positive, generous, loving, unselfish feelings must follow eventually, and the negative feelings will no longer be detrimental to you. Not wanting to see the negative does not eliminate its existence. When you struggle against your insecurity, denying its existence, it rises up behind the dam, like swelling waters. As long as the dam holds, you will feel a vague discomfort. You will feel inhibited without understanding why, and you will sense that some of your best potentials are underutilized. You will not have a grasp of the situation, nor will you feel the full force of the insecurity that becomes stronger as it builds up behind the barricade.
One day certain outer events will swamp you with all the despair of helplessness and insecurity you had never dared to face. So by struggling to repress your insecurity, you actually increase it. By denying its existence, you make it bigger and stronger than it otherwise would be. The same holds true for any other emotion or attitude — fear, doubt, hostility, or whatever — the principle is the same. The natural laws apply to all created forces, whether they be actual rivers or the rivers and streams of feeling. Is it not much wiser to remove the barricade? Waiting until nature breaks it down will render you helpless. The feelings will swamp you and you will not understand their meaning because their accumulated momentum has become too strong. Do not wait until such times. All too often one waits for a crisis before one is willing to take stock of oneself.
Nice analogy. This also reminds me of another one of my favorite quotes.
“The number one killer in the world today is not cancer or heart disease, it is repression.” -Dr. Arthur Janov
Now, get over people who aren’t getting over it and move on!
A US state’s prohibition on the sale of sex toys was left standing by the US Supreme Court on Tuesday when the court refused to hear a constitutional challenge to the law.
The United States’ highest court declined to consider the complaint from users and vendors of paraphernalia for sexual stimulation, the sale of which is banned in the southeastern state of Alabama.
Adopted in 1998, the Alabama statute blocks the distribution of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human sexual organs”. Violators risk up to 10,000 dollars in fines and one year in prison.
In July an appeals court affirmed that Alabama had the right to proscribe commerce in sex toys, reasoning that it potentially opened the door to illegal activities such as prostitution. The court added that if Alabamians wanted to reverse the law, they had recourse through the state legislature.
So, masturbation leads to prostitution? This is too funny! I think it’s safe to assume that just about every man commits this “Anti-Christ” act of evil. So, tell me…. how many of you men out there are prostitutes?
In refusing to hear the case, and making no comment on it, the Supreme Court effectively accepted the lower court’s judgment.
The American Civil Liberties Union, a leading defender of private citizens’ rights which joined the plaintiffs in the case, argued that sex toys “have many recognized beneficial uses and are used by consenting adults in deeply private acts that are beyond the reach of governmental regulation”.
President Bush is proud to introduce an ambitious new phase in the fight to preserve all that is decent in America. Conceived and championed by the revered Republican think tank Americans for Purity, “Operation Infinite Purity” is dedicated to the complete eradication of masturbation from American soil by the year 2008.
According to this website masturbation is a “Democrat-Created Crisis” !!!! But the “un-American”, “un-patriotic”, “communist”, and “Anti-Christ” AmErIkAnz are trying to fight back!
Whoa! Wait a minute here! I thought that problem was solved?
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. intelligence officials warned Wednesday that the threat of al Qaeda or other terrorist groups attacking the United States was still likely — probably in the form of a car bomb or other low-tech weapon.
But they stressed that terror groups were trying to circumvent U.S. security measures and obtain weapons of mass destruction.
Let’s have a look-see at our progress since our soldiers have gone to Iraq:
Fired for Blogging?While it’s true some may have deserved to be fired, for the most part, these individuals made no mention of their company and still got fired.
I’m assuming that most of you who have your own blogs have experienced being a subscriber to a message board at one time or another. If not, that’s okay because what I’m about to show you, I’m sure some of you will relate to, somehow. Being a part of online communities, journals, blogs, and the like, we’ve probably all ran across these personality types. Or maybe one or two of them … could be you?
ALLCAPS attempts to compensate for his limited rhetorical weaponry through the extravagant use of capitalized words – something netizens refer to as SHOUTING. Sure, a sprinkling of capitalized words can add some zip to a thrust, but they should be used sparingly. Even worse from a tactical point of view, too much shouting alerts other Warriors to the opponent’s verbal WEAKNESS and emotional EXCITABILITY.
People who type in all caps never really bothered me that much. My only complaint about it is that their words are a lot harder to read.
Although sometimes a male, Crybaby is usually a female, and often a close ally of Innocence Abused. When teased or attacked Crybaby will pitch a loud public temper tantrum, holding her breath and kicking her feet. If that defense fails she will run to Nanny for comfort.
Errr…. this sounds somewhat like the way I used to be, and still sometimes am. Ug!
Cyber Sisters are an extremely fierce confederation of fighting females who act something like a shrill Greek chorus, echoing and amplifying one another’s voice until their foes retreat in disarray. They are generally leaderless, but anyone who challenges one Cyber Sister can expect to be savagely attacked by the others. Only the most powerful and battle-hardened of Warriors is strong enough to weather a Cyber Sisters attack.
Oh my… this is the most notorious and the most common behavior I’ve ever (unfortunately) experienced on the internet. I’ve never been apart of this mob-mentality in cyberspace. It’s everywhere. Before you dissent or begin any kind of “touchy” or controversial topic, you better make sure you’re bonded with the popular,“I’m a bitch and I’m proud”, catty, combative, and the evil force of overly female poison. If not, you will be pounced upon and smashed to the ground by a pack of sexually frustrated female clique of wolves. They don’t mess with the popular people because they can dish it out but can’t take it back in return by a group. They are cowards and only go after the newbies or ones not involved in a click. They know in advance that you don’t have a support group or have an entourage everywhere you go. They know if they strike at you, that they will receive support from their catty coalition. And you will be dead and will know better the next time to keep your opinions to yourself! So, in short, if you’re going to voice a strong opinion, do it after you’ve connected with the “girls club”. It’s at that time, you can say whatever you please. Even if they disagree with you, you won’t know about it because they’re ON YOUR SIDE!
Yes, (believe it or not) a lot of these women are in their mid twenties, thirties, and forties. You’d think you were back in elementary school again.
I’ve never seen this type of behavior among men. However, before I had gotten married, I joined a couple of (cough) … ALL FEMALE message boards consisting of engaged prima-donnas or married soccer moms, Stepford wives and trophy wives. After these experiences of being a member of an ALL-FEMALE message board, I never went back and never intend on joining a community like that again!
Men are more logical and so much easier to get along with. They argue with more reason, and if you point out to a man that he dissed you, (if you were really undeserving of an attack by a male and you know it), more than likely, they will apologize to you! No, seriously. Too many women are too strongly driven by their emotions, and don’t have time to stop and think about what they’re doing or saying. If you point out to them their wrong-doings, you will get stomped on again —- but this time EVEN HARDER!
For Ego, the discussion forum is all about him, and he regards discussions that stray from that topic as trivial dalliances. Although tolerant of an occasional shift in focus, Ego grows increasingly restive when the forum’s attention shifts away from his interests, and he will often provoke conflict to reestablish himself as the subject at hand. Ego is one the the fiercest of all the Warriors and will fight to the death when attacked.
“Can we please stay on topic here?!”, “You’re not only off topic, but……”, and along with all other hostile ways of informing a member that they’re off topic — is very commonplace. I had always thought these cries directing people to stay on topic were so petty that it was laughable. What makes it even more humorous is the fact that if you say something nice, nobody mentions a thing. I always found that funny because the measures to get some people “on topic” were only directed at either those of whom weren’t liked or those that said something disagreeable. But if you are a really good boy or girl, you will be sure to post an “O/T” before you speak.
The same applies to blogs in blogdom. I could care less if someone puts comments in my blog that are off topic. I don’t have a problem as long as someone isn’t selling Viagra, Penis Enlargement pills, or attacking the person instead of the subject. But as long as everyone’s conversing and having a good time, so be it. I feel that life is way too short to get all riled up about stupidity like that.
Enfant Provocateur likes to stir up trouble because…because, well…just because. This species of Flame Warrior is almost always young and male – it could be just a hormone thing.
I must admit… I really enjoy this type.
I will continue this topic either later tonight or tomorrow. Please stay tuned for Part II of Flame Warriors!
Under the pseudonym of Sarcastic Journalist, Rachel Mosteller wrote this entry on her personal Web log one day last April:
“I really hate my place of employment. Seriously. Okay, first off. They have these stupid little awards that are supposed to boost company morale. So you go and do something ’spectacular’ (most likely, you’re doing your JOB) and then someone says ‘Why golly, that was spectacular.’ then they sign your name on some paper, they bring you chocolate and some balloons.
“Okay two people in the newsroom just got it. FOR DOING THEIR JOB.”
YIKES! To think about a couple years back, I could have easily done the same thing without even thinking twice about it.
The day after that posting, she was fired.
Bill Stagg, managing editor of the Herald-Sun, said he could not comment on a personnel matter. But Mosteller, 25, said the blog was one of the reasons she was given for losing her job, and she is still in shock. “Considering I treated the blog as a smoke break, I didn’t think of it as a problem.”
There are 8 million personal Web logs — or blogs — in the United States, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. People write blogs to talk about their day, family outings, dates gone awry and, of course, work. But what might feel like a very personal entry about a dismal workday can mean something quite different to a boss who needs only a search engine to read it.
My guess is that her boss didn’t like her to begin with and was just trying to find a good excuse to fire her. If that isn’t the case, then it’s a very disturbing thought to think that your superiors at work go “googling” throughout the web TRYING TO FIND YOUR BLOG on their free time. Remember “Queen of Sky”? Well, at least for her blog, one can say that Delta had a good reason for firing her because she was in uniform when the questionable pictures were taken. Even though difficult, to an avid traveler, one can tell that’s a Delta uniform. Worrying about their business, Delta stepped into her personal blog and terminated her. But by reading Rachel Mosteller’s blog, one would never know where she works. The company she worked for was not in jeopardy of losing their business over her blog entries. Amazing. And scary.
I love my job, but even if I didn’t, after hearing that people are being fired everyday because of their blogs, the thought wouldn’t even cross my mind to complain about work. EGADS!
Are any of you worried about this? Do you think Funky Fresh Freddie is worried about this? Hate Crimes Towards Your Pee Pee is just one of the ’safer’ posts on his site to view or click on for that matter.
E-mail and Internet policies that have been developed were created to deal with improper employee usage during work hours. Very few companies have rules governing employee computer habits outside work.
Very few now, but just give it a couple months to a year, bloggers will only be limited to writing about how much they love President Bush, the weather, their teddy bears, Karen Carpenter songs, and a great Disney movie they just saw in the theater. Oh! And don’t forget, we won’t be able to smoke in the privacy of our own homes either!
Michael Hanscom started his blog, Eclecticism, before 2000, as a way to keep in touch with family and collect things he found on the Internet. A fan of Apple computers, he found himself working at a temporary job with Xerox on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash.
Hanscom said his family teased him that he would burst into flames when he walked onto the Microsoft campus. So one day, when he noticed a pallet of Macs — the same version he just bought for himself — ready to be delivered to Microsoft, he took a picture and posted it. “It struck my sense of humor,” he said.
A few days after Hanscom posted the picture, he said, his Xerox manager called him into an office. The manager had Hanscom’s blog up, and asked if the picture was his. Hanscom said it was, but said it was posted on his own time, on his own computer. According to Hanscom, the manager then said because it was posted on his own space and time, the company couldn’t ask him to take it down, but he could never come to the Microsoft campus again.
“It makes sense, really,” Hanscom said. “I’ve tried since then to look at it from their point of view. I never gave away any secrets, but I was in a position where I saw a lot.”
And yet, another blogger gets into trouble….
An Atlanta blogger who goes by Karsh says he was fired from a sales position in January after he blogged on company time. He was not so contrite. The writer of BGB, or Black Gay Blogger, said his boss wanted him to apologize for the things he had said about his fellow employees.
Since the other workers were not named, he did not think it was necessary, he said. “I feel like it’s been said and done.”
The blogger renamed his supervisor “Skeletor” and “Wednesday Addams” in an entry about the confrontation. When he was told he would be demoted and had to dismantle his site, he quit, he said.
It is possible to write a private blog, where only those with passwords can sign in to read the entries. But part of being a blogger is wanting to be heard!
The author of “The Papal Bull” attempts to find similarities among the “Fired for Blogging” community:
“When you look at all of these stories, what threads begin to become apparent? Here is what I see:
1) Some did not think anyone from work would ever know about the blog. – Matthew Brown said: “It was ignorant and rude,” Mr. Brown said of his comments. “But it was for nobody except my family and friends. I didn’t give the address to anyone at Starbucks. And I didn’t name the manager.”
- The Washington Post reported on Jessica Cutler: “The electronic bulletin board where Jessica began posting her online diary offered her the option of creating a password so no one could read it without her consent. But I thought that was, like, too much trouble for my friends to have to type in a password,” Jessica says. “I thought there are so many people with their own blogs, mine is not even going to come up on the radar.” After Jessica started to get Instant Messages telling her that Wonkette had outed her, she tried furiously to delete the blog and make it inactive. Alas, it was too late. You can still get to a recreated version of her pages here.
2) Some spent time posting to their blog while at “work.” – Iain Murray apparently falls into this category. “Mr Murray explained that he spent no more time working on the blog as other colleagues spent taking breaks from work to have a cigarette.”
- Daniel P. Finney was at least suspected of doing this, as well: “They say Finney’s hard drive was confiscated on Thursday, December 16, the day after the Unreal item was published.” Clyde Bentley, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, wrote concerning Finney: “Most companies developed policies, similar to their other “moonlighting” policies. Generally, if the material was collected and processed at work, it is supposed to stay at work. Many companies, however, co-opted the process by sponsoring the blogs of their employees and making the blog a part of their regular work.” – Jessica Cutler seems to be guilty of this, as well if one were to take the recreated time stamps at face value :”
I may be fired someday for blogging or I may not. All I can say is that I’m not going to give up something that I love doing on my free time. Of course, I will censor myself some, but so be it. I have to work! Bills need to get paid! I have to sacrifice a bit.
Blog Suicide……. Can there be such a thing? How many times have you sat down at the computer making an entry to your blog about something you are passionate about, your thoughts are flying, you’re reaching down deep, laying it on the line, just as you feel it. And then bam! You
stop suddenly in your tracks and you ask yourself, “Is this politically correct? Am I going to get a bad rating for this? Am I committing Blog Suicide here?
(Raising my hand) This happens to be more often than I wish it would. It’s pretty sad, but it’s inevitable. You know, people with tons of bottled up anger look for controversial reads and use that as an outlet. It’s so wrong. I wonder why people just cannot attack the subject matter rather than the person who presents it?
I try to be careful with those “touchy topics” especially those topics that ruffle the feathers of the Bush Supporters. Let’s face it. Many of us have very strong opinions about war. Well, that’s all good and well until you find some inane, insulting remarks in the comments section of your blog. A very good example of this can be found on the second blog comment in this entry from Unfair Witness.
“i say good job g.i. at least they didint cut off his head with a dull knife. you week minded goof”
The above mental midget who wrote that comment was responding to the tragic death of an Iraqi POW at the hands of our military police. Nice move.
I take risks, though. I take a break from walking on the egg shells. So far no one has posted any offensive comments in my blog, but I know it’s not a question of “if”, it’s more a question of “when”. It happens everywhere. It happens all the time. We have to be prepared for the wacko, crack-heads who read our blogs, and know that some of their comments will offend us — whether we like it or not. But all and all, I still believe it’s worth the risk. However, I’m not always that adventurous.
I think it’s fine to disagree or even be offended by the blog you’re viewing. Some people don’t like to hear
dissenting views, but it’s fair game. If you’re going to bring up a “touchy topic”, you better be prepared for a rebuttal. But there’s no excuse for insults or name-calling. (I’m guilty of this too, but only in response to other insults. Call me a hypocrite, but I personally feel it’s a fair game to fight back whether it’s the right or wrong thing to do.)
These two have GOT to be figures in a wax museum! Anybody have matches??
I got a match….My dogs ass and your face!
The first commenter didn’t offend the poster nor did he/she attack any other commenters. But the second commenter, with nothing intelligent to say, resorted to making an insulting attack rather than staying on topic and commenting on the entry written.
“Oh my God!” The thought of it all sends you clicking away at your backspace button or rapidly hitting the delete button. You lean back, think for a moment, then resume your entry, trying to sugar coat your thoughts in order to create a post that gets your feelings/point across
but stops short of an untimely death. How sad is that?
Very. Some people cannot handle opinions that differ from their own.
And then there’s that blogger or two or three that slams you! Gives you a damn 1 or 2? Hell, that’s almost not even showing up for class! How on earth can you get a rating like that other than spew hatred and vile thoughts? If I don’t like a blog I just keep on surfing. We all have varying opinions. We are individuals; that’s what makes surfing so much fun. Seeing different points of views other than my own, like them or not.
Well, there’s no rating system here, but those who disagree with us, like to punish us for our opinions. God forbid! If there’s no rating system, we get insulted, instead. Either way, it’s punishment. We are bad. Some punishments even take the form of being terminated from your job! because one of your clients got offended at your difference in views. I had to agree with the below commenter in response to the firing:
My condolences on the death of your country’s constitution. Where do we send the flowers?
You can send it to those who at least try to exercise their right to ‘free speech’. But as our men fight in Iraq, isn’t it ironic how we are losing our freedoms by the day?
There are always places and times when certain topics are taboo. You know those topics, politics, religion, sex. The topics that consume us on a
daily basis through media, at work at play, in our face all the time. So why not talk about them in our blogs without fear of blog suicide? If there was ever a time when our country was more divided by party lines, pro /anti war, morality issues, it’s now.
Yes, I reckon the terrorists and all the Anti-Americans in the Middle East love to hear about the division of the Americans. Yes, we hate each other. We don’t disagree with each other. We hate each other. Fifty-one percent VS forty-eight percent, right?
So I ask this, before you slam me or my fellow bloggers with a 1 or a 2 ask yourself this, “Did what they say inspire me? Invoke thoughts of my own? Make me feel passionate about my own beliefs?” If you can answer “yes” to any of those than maybe just maybe the post served it’s purpose and ignited new passions of your own.
In the ideal world, people will listen to other’s point of views and get inspired by them, rather than resorting to name-calling and getting too personal. They get personal because they are taking our comments personally. These are very touchy people and perhaps too thin-skinned to be participating in controversial subject matters with others.
The extreme Libs are just as guilty. Watch out for the extremists – Republicans or Democrats.
Nobody enjoys being insulted, hence for the “sugar-coating” of our words so as not to ‘offend’ those that don’t have the strength and maturity to accept the opinion of another.
Employers have recently tried every carrot they can think of — including cash incentives and iPods — to persuade employees to quit smoking. Now some are trying the stick.
Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit.
A sheriff’s office in Florida is asking job applicants who have a recent history of smoking to pass a polygraph test proving they no longer smoke outside of work.
Employees, workers’ rights groups and some unions are decrying the smoking bans as an invasion of individual rights. “What you do in your own home after work or on the weekend is none of your bosses’ business,” says Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J., a spin-off of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The last time I checked, tobacco is a legal product.”
Critics of the smoking bans say it’s not clear that smokers are more costly than other workers, such as people who are obese. Though some studies have shown that smokers have higher absentee and lower productivity rates than nonsmokers, economists say the research is limited. It’s possible, they say, that smokers don’t dramatically increase health costs with chronic and expensive conditions like emphysema, heart disease and cancer until they’re much older, when they may be employed elsewhere or retired.
“It sounds right for employers to say, ‘If we get rid of them, we’ll save money.’ But no one has the concrete data to prove that right now,” says Tom Morrison, senior vice president of Segal Co., an employee benefits consulting firm in New York.
Critics are concerned that if more companies follow suit, it will lead to other employer intrusions on workers’ lives. What is to stop companies from telling workers they can’t ride motorcycles? Or eat junk food?
Maltby, of the Workrights Institute, says employees are facing a variety of challenges to their freedoms outside of work. A worker in Texas was fired in 2003 for having an affair off the job. This fall, a woman in Alabama lost her job for refusing to remove a John Kerry bumper sticker from her car. (She was later hired by the Kerry campaign.)
Wow! Now, Big Brother’s watching our sexual activity and denying our right to have an opinion?
I understand the prohibition of smoking in the work place or in an area where non-smokers are located, but I find it very absurd that some employers are now not hiring or even firing employees that smoke even in the privacy of their own homes. Insurance costs? Really? Do these people not take in consideration that there are many who die from lung disease, lung cancer, and emphysema who have never even touched a cigarette? Do they not realize that there are several factors that can lead people to get ill or even terminally ill? I know people that spend several hundreds of dollars a month alone on psychiatric drugs. What about the food we eat? What about obesity and the very common heart conditions that come from it? If they start firing smokers, then they’re going to have to start firing obese people too! What about those that are anorexic or bulimic or those that just plain don’t eat right? Look at the health risks there!! They fail to think about heredity. What if an employee has a predisposition to certain illnesses, cancers, or diseases? Should they fire those people too based on thier family’s medical history?
If employers are so “worried about the cost of insurance”, they should follow through with the program and hire only healthy people. However, in order to carefully monitor each employee’s health, the privacy one has in their own home will no longer exist. Big brother will be watching you. Big brother will be making sure you work out at the gym everyday. He will be making sure you eat your veggies and stay on a proper and balanced diet.
I don’t see any consistency here. So, that’s what brings me to believe that these companies have an ulterior motive in their “no smoking laws”. I also believe this because I have personally known people that go absolutely berserk when they discover that someone they know is a smoker. What someone chooses to do that could potentially harm their body is their own business unless they’re bringing someone else down with them.
There is a strong hatred and prejudice against smokers in this society. My question is do they really care about YOU and YOUR health? If they did, then why do they get so angry and want to avoid you all together even if you don’t smoke around them. People just like to control others they hate for their own political and selfish reasons. It’s not the second hand smoke; it’s just that your smoking reminds them of some painful memory in their past that they have not recovered from. The smoking just merely symbolizes a person of their past that they hate. The hatred is then misplaced on an innocent smoker in their present life. What else could this be? The anti’s are carrying around years of baggage and are using smokers as a scapegoat so that they don’t have to deal with their own problems. People that really care about you won’t alienate you or get angry. If anti-smokers have any warm and fuzzy feelings in their heart than they will understand that people who wish to smoke do so for their own personal reasons and they will respect that because well, .. they just like you and want you to be happy. They will mind their own business because they know that “preaching” doesn’t work as there is nothing more incredibly annoying than unsolicited advice. These smoker-haters love to hide behind the “because I care” mantra. Well, that’s just one theory I have.
Of course, I understand “second-hand smoke”, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
Look at all the existing hatred toward the obese! They aren’t hurting anyone but themselves. Some people are very openly cruel to them. I wonder if they have a plan to monitor people’s drinking habits too?
This type of predjudice reminds me of the Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and the God Hates Fags group. Same thing. Different prejudice. And when these control-freaks are given a position of high authority, they take advantage of their power to make the lives of those people they don’t agree with, miserable.
It’s all very simple, folks.
While we ARE technically free here in America, little by little our government and justice system are protecting the elitists and easily-offended, consequently jeopardizing the privacy and the “freedom” of those people who just go about their own business. The control-freaks pretty much prevail and get what they want.
Just for the record, I do realize that third-world countries DO have it worse than we do. And no, I don’t wish to leave this country for another one. It’s just that when you are used to having certain freedoms, just to have them taken away, doesn’t sit very well with me. But if I have to pretend I’m “Pro-Bush” to get or keep a job, so be it. How else are the bills going to get paid?
One hundred and eleven bloggers have signed a petition already to protect themselves from getting the boot from both their companies and/or organizations they belong to. Wow!
Hear about what happened to a “former” Delta Air Lines flight attendant. If you read the feedback the woman got regarding her getting fired from Delta, some believe she had deserved to get fired while others sided with her and agreed that she should “fight it out”.
You can find more in depth information on “Queen of the Sky’s” story in her blog. There too, you will find the pictures that may have caused her to get fired.
~Hear the Feedback~
In a way, you kinda deserved it. Sorry. I am a very left-wing, liberal type but if I had a company and my employees were globally offending my operation for the sake of a few laughs and their own inferiority complex I’m afraid they’d be fired. Delta might not be the most employee-centric company around, but the idea of ‘team’ is tarnished when one uses her clought-lofted uniform to stage complaints and quarrels about her company.One thought is, if the company is/was so bad why bother working there then or trying to get your job back now? One would wonder if the ‘blog’ was about the job or about
yourself. After all, you do call yourself a ‘queen’. written by Nick Tomkin
Netta Johnson writes If you want it personal, keep it personal.
All in all she should take it with a grain of salt… but we do live in a cultural infrastructure that currently frowns on employees who cant keep private personal information out of the job…ie-employee silliness. Too bad she had to get fired to realize that. Blowing off steam, I could understand, complaints, I could understand, if taken to the source, but what company likes bad publicity, and even worse, self aggrandizement on their dime? Of course there is nothing out here to stop anyone from saying what ever they want to say about anyone else, but as always, you must expect consequences.
The issue isn’t blogging. Nobody is trying to stop anybody from blogging. The issue is you took pictures of yourself in your uniform (during work hours?) in your workplace in sexy poses and then posted them for the whole world to see.If you had taken pictures of yourself looking the slightest bit professional in your uniform, in the plane, smiling, doing your job, I doubt the company would’ve objected. To prance around the airplane, sprawl across the seats barefooted, take
pictures that say “see my tits and ass” in the workplace is so unprofessional as to be unbelievable.
Why do you think that this is acceptable behavior by anybody while at work? If you owned an airline, would you like it if your employees where clearly goofing off on your dime and then publishing it for the whole world to see?
I can’t believe all the people here rooting for this kind of unprofessional behavior in the workplace and missing the whole point by saying it’s some sort of oppression on your “right” to blog. Give me a break. written by Claire
However, some people feel she should fight back!
Why shouldn’t she fight back? Calling it “whining” is a red herring. It’s an elitist comment, and “bending over to take it” won’t solve a thing. People have a right to live their life. I am a business owner, and I feel privileged to work with great people. As
long as their personal business doesn’t affect mine, they can do whatever they feel like doing.In my experience, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In my experience, those who complain about others whining usually are the ones doing most of the whining.
Pathetic!
And J S writes Get the Facts before you judge her.
In reading her site, I see that the reason she is alleging sex discrimination is apparently because there are male pilots who have posted photos of themselves in uniform on web sites, but have not been fired for it.As for “at will” employment: Employment law is very complex and relates to individual state law. Some states are “at will” states, some are not.
My opinion is: she should fight Delta over this, but it would be better to do so privately rather than using the web as her podium.
Just wanted to rebut comments by “Claire.” I don’t think the pics by QofS are “unprofessional,” “unacceptable,” or even “sexy.” They may be considered “sexy” by viewers who deem it so (leg men, fetishists, the like). Those pictures were taken at the beginning of the workday, out of sight of passengers. It was not obvious that the uniform was Delta’s. What she did had no effect on the workday’s activities. And if
you think flight attendants should be humorless and serious all the time consider this. At Southwest Airlines, ground crew and flight attendants crack jokes, announce sport scores, make silly announcements (like “Welcome to Lost Wages” as they pull into McCarran), have singing contests and do other unorthodox, fun acts in front of passengers. As I have stated in previous posts, which airline is the only one making a
profit these days? written by Jimmy
Very interesting. And even more interesting for me because I used to work for Delta!!! Fortunately, I didn’t get fired nor did I leave the company on bad terms. I do not know what it’s like to work for Delta right now, but looking back, Delta was one of the most professional and employee-friendly companies in the US that I’ve ever worked for.
Before I even knew what had been going on in the Blogsphere regarding getting fired or “dooced” as they say, I had always thought to myself that I would keep the fact that I write in a blog a secret from everybody at work — regardless if they were a co-worker or good friend of mine. My real name is not exposed on my blog nor is any of my personal information that would lead anyone to find out “who I am” or “what I do”.
Secondly, I was raised to always “be careful what you put in writing”. This is so true. “Anything you say or do can be held against you….” Sounds familiar?
This is not to say that I don’t believe people should have “online diaries” that are focused primarily on themselves, their lives, their rants, and their deepest personal feelings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. And yes, “Free Speech” DOES come in to play and is there to “protect” us. However, as others had mentioned in the “Queen of the Sky” case, Free Speech comes with limitations and must be used with caution. Remember one of the last lines in the movie, “Spiderman 1″?“With great power comes great responsibility.” This is pretty much of the same thing. Be prepared for the consequences of Free Speech (if there are any). I guess it all depends on “what you’re saying”, “who” you’re talking about, and how well you keep your identity hidden. For example, never send anyone from your workplace an email with an electronic signature escorting them to your blog!!
I do feel for Ellen Simonetti. I cannot imagine the devastation that comes with getting fired - let alone the embarrassment of “getting caught with your pants down“ with all your little secrets on the internet! Ug! At least, that’s how I would take it.
So, in this case, Delta may have not been in the wrong for firing this woman.
Chris says
I think its amazing that the NBA would fine you for those comments. It is obvious to pretty much anyone that having the season start on election day wasn’t a great decision. By fining you for pointing that out, rather than putting out a statement of reasons for starting the season on election day (assuming they exist), the NBA just looks worse and is cutting off a potential resource. If you’re allowed to make comments and criticisms in public, especially on the blog, the league can get some feedback on their decisions. I guess I just don’t get it.To answer your specific questions, I suppose it makes the league appear weaker, but more importantly it probably makes the league weaker. It won’t affect the way I interact with the league, I’ll still watch on TV and make the hour and a half trip to catch a game every year. It is upsetting though.
Darren comments…
I’ll probably blog about this on my own site, but here’s a quick first impression. When I lived in Europe, I was extremely surprised to see the on-field officials giving interviews after English Premiership (that’s soccer, incidentally) games. The media asked them about incidents in the game, and the officials seemed to answer (more or
less) honestly about what they thought transpired.Why don’t we make league officials answerable? In fact, I’d imagine that referees (et al) would feel empowered by being able to speak their mind in the media.
Lance Anderson makes an excellent point!
What pisses me off is the affect this could have on your blog and perhaps on the blogging community as a whole.It’s becoming more and more popular for executives and business leaders to write blogs. Your name always tops the list of executives that write blogs. I love the idea of more business leaders writing blogs but I’ve checked out some of these other blogs and you can tell that many of them have been proofread by an editor. They’re missing personality and style.
One thing that makes your blog — and all blogs for that matter — popular is that it’s more like a conversation than an article. You get to the point and you say what’s on your mind. That’s what makes blogs great. And a fine like this has the potential to
affect the way you write your blog.
And finally hear what a Public Relations professional has to say on his own blog about it…Since this involves a public relations issue, I thought I would bite on his invitation and respond.
Every organization that has a significant profile – whether it’s in sports or in another industry – will always be subject to public criticism from within. It doesn’t matter if it comes from a blog, an open letter or a comment in the media.
In the end, the public will evaluate the criticism based on who else is validating it and their views of those parties. If an individual is regularly railing against a league because of some personal beef (often the case with players), then it will probably have little impact on the league’s image and will be viewed as one person’s bellyaching. However, if a chorus of criticism arises that is deemed valid by those who cover the league in the press – it carries a different weight.
In the end, it all probably has little impact on sales. Those who are hooked on NBA basketball will probably remain fans – unless the league owners/players disenfranchise them directly by taking their fun away, as every league at one time or
another has done through strikes/lockouts.
It’s happening all over.
And this is not even the tip of the iceberg! There are an enormous amount of cases just like the ones we read above! It’s never ending, it seems…
Blog Interrupted Read here about “When Jessica Cutler put her dirty secrets on the Web, she lost her job,signed a book deal, posed for Playboy — and raised a ton of questions about where America is headed…”
In light of all the hoopla with bloggers getting fired from their workplace right, left, and center, one can only hope there is a resolution to this problem. While some companies and organizations may be justified in terminating an employee for potentially putting their business at risk, I’m dumbfounded by how ridiculous some of these cases are.
I believe several questions are unanswered here.
How does a company find out whether or not you have a blog if you don’t reveal your true name or don’t add it in any signature lines of your email or resume? How are these employers finding out? I guess some
people are making stupid mistakes that get them revealed somehow.
I’d be very curious to hear the opinions from someone in the legal profession about this. What do you think? What are the boundaries? Can bloggers really be protected?
The Community Page has commented at length on socially-sanctioned exclusionary practices in Japan. However, it has rarely touched upon their quantifiable, longer-term effects. Exclusionism is bad for business. Why? Because non-Japanese residents are not the only ones affected by “no-foreigner” policies. So are visiting representatives of international corporations. This makes for unfavorable overseas impressions, not only of northern Japan (famous for its decade displaying “JAPANESE ONLY” signs), but also of the entire country.
The author of this article, Arudou Debito, explains further, that the extent of this over the past couple of years has reached 12 cities in Japan.
And this was just all over some Germans, Italians, and British men getting a little rowdy in the bars during the World Cup 2002 which had caused the police to appear on the scene. It is believed that the Japanese had wanted to keep foreigners out of shops, restaurants, bars, doctors offices, salons, and the like the whole time and that the World Cup 2002 just gave them the perfect excuse for them to pull this off.
“In Nagoya this year, I was invited to the Suzuka Formula One auto races as a guest of a Western company supporting this event for a long time,” Jackson recalled. “Walking down the street in Nagoya’s nightlife district with senior reps of this company, people on the street passing out flyers to their bars pulled their hands back when they saw us. We even got refused rides in taxis. That’s pretty stupid. What kind of an image is that supposed to create?”Jackson said this company is considering changing its support to the Shanghai Formula One because of this and other ill-feelings incurred.
“And Nagoya is going to be hosting the 2005 Aichi World’s Fair? You’re joking. Just more people to come to Japan and leave with a sour taste,” he said.
Amazing, isn’t it? A WORLD’S FAIR??? A Homogeneous World’s Fair? Oh no, wait a minute. Foreigners can come, but they can’t stay in a hotel, can’t use the public baths, can’t get into any of the shops or attractions, (God forbid they get sick) they can’t get in a hospital anywhere, and can’t use public transportation except for the trains.
Furthermore, it’s not only visitors or residents who feel the alienation. Japan spends millions annually bringing people over on Ministry of Education Scholarships, and through organizations like The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).Just how long does the Japanese government think it can get away with no redresses for discrimination, including a law against racial discrimination? Can it merely coast along on half-measures while prejudicial policies spread nationwide?
As lawsuits rack up involving refusals at a jewelry store, bathhouses, a real estate broker, a bar, and now an optician, the problem is getting worse.
Oh my. I had no idea the problem was getting this bad. I lived in Japan for 6.5 years, and I never once saw anything like this. I am appalled by the recent change, and stunned that this has reached all the way to Tokyo — of all places. Tokyo, the most metropolitan, modernized, and one of the largest cities in the world is beginning to follow suit in slamming the doors on the faces of foreigners. I am so glad I am not there to witness this. I don’t know what I would do. Racism and discrimination is so very sad, and “sad” is an understatement. It actually makes me sick to my stomach to hear what is going on over there.
Granted, I always knew they had no laws over there regarding discrimination. I had always known that, even in Tokyo, foreigners were denied housing in certain apartment complexes. That was a norm that all foreigners had gotten used to over there. If there’s a brawl between a drunken foreign guy and a drunken Japanese guy outside a bar and the police arrive, it’s normal for the police to side with the Japanese guy. We don’t raise our eyebrows over this stuff. It’s Japan. And naturally, we’re there because we want to be there. However, now (gaijin) or non-Japanese people are given the the x-sign with the arms if seen approaching a shop or any place of business in some areas. The hatred spreading is almost surreal.
Look at this:
HAIR SALON KITAMURA (barbershop)
(Wakkanai Minato 1 chome 1-19, Ph 0162-24-5045)
Roy had also been excluded from this place at the door and despite speaking Japanese. I decided to try my luck. The place was open and the proprietor was halfway through a head of hair. He left to come to the door, where he made an X-gesture with his hands. I spoke in Japanese, “Do you refuse foreigners?” (gaikokujin, okotowari desu ka). He paused, surprised that I spoke in Nihongo, and left his X-ed hands up. I repeated the question, and he said “That’s right.” (sou desu), indicating that he understood me. He went back to his head of hair and I stepped outside, thinking it best not to inquire further.
Says I:”What in heaven’s name would make him want to refuse foreigners? Onsens claim a hygiene problem. Regular stores claim a pilfering problem. But what here? People aren’t getting naked and sharing a bath, and the only thing to pilfer would be shampoo and scissors. What goes?” It goes further.” Reported by By ARUDOU DEBITO
And yet another lame excuse for discrimination….
“HIKOKUSAIKA”(“anti-internationalization”):NON-JAPANESE NOW OFFICIALLY SEEN AS PART OF JAPAN’S SOCIAL ILLS AND CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN THE EVENT OF A DISASTER
WIRE:04/09/2000 03:44:00 ET Japan Troops Told ‘Foreigners’ Likely to Loot, Riot
“TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese troops were told on Sunday to target foreigners to prevent looting and rioting in the event of a major earthquake, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said in an address to Ground Self-Defense Force troops that foreigners were likely to riot and commit crimes because of the breakdown in order.
“Atrocious crimes have been committed again and again by sangokujin and other foreigners”, he was quoted as saying.
“We can expect them to riot in the event of a disastrous earthquake.”
The Japanese slang term “sangokujin” means “people from Third World countries” and was used in post World War Two Japan as an insult for residents from the former Japanese colonies of Korea and Taiwan.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials could not be reached immediately for comment due to the weekend holiday.
A fervent nationalist, Ishihara has angered China by doubting its accounts of Japanese wartime atrocities and referring to it by the derogatory term “Shina.”
After the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, which killed about 100,000 people, unfounded rumors about riots among Tokyo’s Korean residents led to Japanese mobs attacking and killing several hundred Koreans, many of whom were brought to Japan as slave labor.
Thus Japan is starting to feel the tugs of a pluralist, multicultural society. Some degree of social hesitancy is natural. One of our jobs in this society will be helping make the transition smoother–by urging a more representative legal infrastructure and a more tolerant social policy approach. We do this in hopes that the future will herald a better place for everyone–citizen, immigrant, or visitor–to live. More to come.”
Dave Aldwinckle
Sapporo
Oh, okay. Now, I see where the racism is stemming from — the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake. How many years ago was this? The hate continues….
In another article in The Japan Times written again by Arudou Debito, an African American man accompanied by his wife and his African American friend were told by an eyeglass shop owner, “Move to the other side of the street! Don’t touch my store window!”
To read further regarding “information for people concerned with social issues who want to help make life better for everyone in Japan”, I highly recommend Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwincle’s ACTIVISTS’ PAGE
You will get a lot more information here. It’s very interesting. You will also see the improvements that Mr. Debito has made with his lawsuits as well. Mr. Debito, by the way, is American. You can find his autobiography here! His real name is David Christopher Aldwinckle.
There are still foreigners all over the place in Japan – especially in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Now, as racism isn’t happening everywhere in Japan, if it happens in a couple of public places, it’s already happened too much. For all those who love Japan, (including myself), let’s all hope that the hatred stops over there sometime soon, and that Mr. Debito progresses even more than he already has. I have a feeling that he will.
“Women in their late 30s who have gone for careers after the first flush of university and who are among the brightest of their generation are finding that men are just not interesting enough,” said psychologist and professor at Nottingham University Paul Brown in The Sunday Times.
Claire Rayner, writer and broadcaster, said in the article that intelligent men often preferred a less brainy partner.
“A chap with a high IQ is going to get a demanding job that is going to take up a lot of his energy and time. In many ways he wants a woman who is an old-fashioned wife and looks after the home, a copy of his mum in a way.”
Brainy, knowledgeable, someone you can sit down and have an intelligent conversation with, substantial, a thinker, someone who thinks outside the box, non-squeamish, and the woman who doesn’t fear to show the
little bit of testosterone in her, was and still is (to some extent) considered unfeminine to some men and outside observers. And for those poor women who are intelligent, are forced to hide it. They giggle softly a lot at nothing with their hands over their mouth, bat their eye lashes, and look as dumb as they can be. That turns a “real man” on.
After women fighting all these years to become an equal, there are still men out there that prefer the ignoramus, ditzy-blonde, robotic, phony, Stepford Wife type.
If you ask me, these men in the aforementioned article, while they may be intelligent (book smart), they must be insecure to be looking for women who don’t allow themselves to mature outside the bedroom and the kitchen.
Well, according to this article, women were not allowed outside the home without being escorted by a man. They were also not allowed to be educated. Look how they had themselves covered. God forbid they had an
identity of their own, an opinion, a thought, or wanted to do something independently. Now, I understand this is an extreme example, but weren’t we once treated this way? Have you ever heard people say, “Have you been living under a rock all your life?” Some women had been trained to live under the rock and sadly, very sadly, in the free US of A some women, by choice, live under that rock. But I guess these are the “feminine kind” that men lust after — the plastic, robotic, sex-on-demand, the always smiling and cheerful, Trophy Wife.
A slight tangent here, yet somewhat related….
Now, let’s talk about education. Too many people have misconceptions about it that I’d like to clear up once and for all. A college education does not make you smarter nor does it make you more intelligent. Why do so
many people think that? And where does it say that a college education promises that you will become a smart and flawless person incapable of making silly mistakes or even big ones after graduation? Where does
college promise that you will come out capable of doing every little nitpicken’ thing the “right way” up to and including perfect grammar usage, perfect spelling, perfect sentence structure, perfect usage of words, and the capability of pronouncing and knowing every word in the unabridged dictionary?
A long time ago, some people must have gone around boasting that those with college educations are brighter than those without them. I’d like to slap those people for all the trouble they have caused. What do you mean by “trouble”? Well, for one, it hurts the feelings of those without a college education who are bright bulbs and have found success and happiness without one. And secondly and most importantly, for those that have graduated from college, they have to continuously be criticized for every nitpicken’ mistake they make “because they should know better with a college education”. It’s digs like these that college graduates will hear until the cover of their coffin is finally closed.
Why are women going to college now? In my personal opinion, women aren’t going to college now to become “smart” or “perfect”. Women are going to college now to either get a very specific type of job in a field of their dreams or because it’s much easier to get a job that way. You can’t argue that. It’s not impossible to get a job without a college degree, but you cannot argue the fact that there are many more jobs available to you when you have a degree. It’s as simple as that folks. College does not teach you to look both ways when you cross the street.
This is not to say you can’t gain anything from being in college. By studying in a university, one can be known to learn analytical thinking, imaginative thinking, integrative thinking, and most importantly, critical thinking (that is, if you apply yourself). Students with an open mind will be encouraged to learn the following by professors:
Lectures: You may of course directly teach critical thinking principles to your students during lecture, but this is neither required nor advisable. Stay with your subject matter, but present this is such a way that students will be encouraged to think critically about it. This is accomplished during lecture by questioning the students in ways that require that they not only understand the material, but can analyze it and apply it to new situations.
Laboratories: Students inevitably practice critical thinking during laboratories in science class, because they are learning the scientific method.
Homework: Both traditional reading homework and special written problem sets or questions can be used to enhance critical thinking. Homework presents many opportunities to encourage critical thinking.
Quantitative: Exercises Mathematical exercises and quantitative word problems teach problem solving skills that can be used in everyday life. This obviously enhances critical thinking.
Term Papers: The best way to teach critical thinking is to require that students write. Writing forces students to organize their thoughts, contemplate their topic, evaluate their data in a logical fashion, and present their conclusions in a persuasive manner. Good writing is the epitome of good critical thinking.
Exams: Exam questions can be devised which promote critical thinking rather than rote memorization. This is true for both essay question exams and multiple-choice exams.
Some may argue that we got all the critical thinking taught to us that we needed in elementary school. The author of the above website disagrees with this.
“The purpose of specifically teaching critical thinking in the sciences or any other discipline is to improve the thinking skills of students and thus better prepare them to succeed in the world. But, you may ask, don’t we automatically teach critical thinking when we teach our subjects, especially mathematics and science, the two disciplines which supposedly epitomize correct and logical thinking? The answer, sadly, is often no. Please consider these two quotations:”
“It is strange that we expect students to learn, yet seldom teach them anything about learning.” Donald Norman, 1980, “Cognitive engineering and education,” in Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research, edited by D.T. Tuna and F. Reif, Erlbaum Publishers.
“We should be teaching students how to think. Instead, we are teaching them what to think.” Clement and Lochhead, 1980, Cognitive Process Instruction.”
I thought that was quite interesting although not a surprise in the least. This can be corrected in college depending on you and your professor.
This Chinese proverb says it all:
“He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.”
However, you don’t have to be a college graduate to be a critical thinker. Children explore and ask a lot of questions by nature. The freedom of questioning things, expressing feelings, or having an individual thought — if encouraged — can lead to this child growing into a very bright adult.
Critical thinking is a learned behavior. Sadly enough though, there are still some chauvinist apologists that don’t find the “thinking type” to be the one they find men want to make love to. They just don’t pass the estrogen test. And some of these chauvinist apologists have the nerve to call these women lesbians. Really?
Male chauvinists are becoming more hard to find these days. Men looking for plastic dips on a stick are becoming few and far between.
“Critics hector Teresa Heinz for not gazing adoringly enough at her husband John Kerry. The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd complains, “Her attention rarely seems to light on her husband when she’s at a microphone with him.”
And, of course, there’s the much-written-about revival of “The Stepford Wives,” in which submissive, robot-like women cater to their husbands’ every whim.
But, in fact, do men want robotic, accommodating women? A number of studies published in the past few years have found that while “Stepford” may be good for a few chuckles in a movie, it’s far off the mark as far as most men and women are concerned.”
Sadly there are still some ladies that are brainwashed by the media and the girly fashion magazines. And it’s those women that think that everything that’s on the TV show “Friends” is Gospel and imitate every fashion trend and expression that Jennifer Aniston makes. So the vicious cycle continues for some, if you’re not married by 30, you’re a lezbo or an “Old Maid” that needs to change right away for that macho machismo man whose hormones are out of control, hot and bothered and waiting for a wife to serve him. Our elders and chauvinist supporters will be swearing until their graves at this revolution, but I along with other women out there applaud you ladies that are searching for a marriage of substance or for a partner that you can actually talk with “brain to brain”. If you wait it out patiently and don’t change yourself, you will find the right man. I did. And I’m not Jennifer Aniston.
Alarmed by glimpses of sweaty citizens in the buff, a Mexico city has adopted a law banning people from allowing themselves to be seen nude by the public, even while in their own homes, officials said today.
The regulation, which takes effect on January 1, 2005, calls for as much as 36 hours in jail or a fine of 1,356 pesos ($A160) for offenders in the Tabasco state capital of Villahermosa, 655 km east of Mexico City.
After those who have lost their lives to a murderer, a genocide, war, and natural disasters, isn’t it true that in many cases especially if it’s high profile, that we find a book written about it? I guess I’m just getting tired of all those criticizing Amber Frey for having written a book on her experience and her involvement in the Scott Peterson trial. I’m wondering why she is being singled out here.
Have we forgotten about Michael Fleeman, the author of five books based on True Crime stories – one of which is written about the murder of Laci Peterson?
What about the publishers of all these books? Shouldn’t they too be among the “guilty” of those financially gaining off of the death of others?
I bet you all forgot about Aphrodite Jones as well. She is a True Crime author.
“The first step to fighting crime is to try to understand it. In my books, I provide a psychological profile that will allow us to get inside the minds of the killers and analyze the victims upon which they prey. I ask my audience to read between the lines, to examine the statements of killers, cops, lawyers, and victims, so they might better recognize the warning signs that can lead to needless brutality.”
Remember Michael Peterson? He murdered his wife too, and Aphrodite Jones covered his trial and conviction in the book, “A Perfect Husband”. And as we speak, this woman is writing a book that covers the entire Scott Peterson trial. It should be out soon.
Now, here we have twenty-six pages of True Crime Story authors and their books! And you and I both know that there’s more out there that are not covered on this site!
Shall we say another one with blood on her hands to be the famous Ann Rule?
Ann Rule
“Ann Rule is regarded by many as the foremost true crime writer in America, and the author responsible for the genre as it exists today. She came to her career with a solid background in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Both her grandfather and her uncle were Michigan sheriffs, her cousin was a Prosecuting Attorney and another uncle was the Medical Examiner. Raised in that environment, she grew up wanting to work in law enforcement herself. She is a former Seattle Policewoman, former caseworker for the Washington State Department of Public Assistance, former student intern at the Oregon State Training School for Girls.
Ann has been a full-time true crime writer since 1969. Over the past 30 years, she has published 20 books and 1400 articles, mostly on criminal cases.
Ann’s books deal with three areas: the victims’ stories; the detectives and prosecutors and how they solve their cases with old fashioned police work and modern forensic science, and the killers lives. She tries to
go back to the killers’ early childhood, and even back into their family histories to find some of the genesis of their behavior. She spends many months researching her books, beginning with the trial and with many subsequent visits to the locale where the crimes occurred. Once she has finished her research, she returns to her office to write her books.
Ann is active in support groups for victims of violent crimes and their families, in the Y.W.C.A.’s program to help battered and abused women, and in Childhelp and Childhaven, support groups for children.
Ann’s hobbies often take a backseat to her writing, but she has many interests. She loves animals and has two dogs and five cats at last count. She loves to garden, and collects “way too many things,” including: antique bottles and pill boxes, miniature cars, cobalt blue glass, police
paraphernalia, wind chimes, and teddy bears. She is still working on her dollhouse, a rather unusual one–a house of ill repute. She tries to walk two or three miles every morning before she starts writing, and loves to beach comb and go to second-hand stores.”
The amount of books published just on Amazon.com alone under the category, TRUE CRIME is never ending – page after page! These books wouldn’t be out there if people didn’t like to read them. Should the readers be just as “guilty” for contributing and encouraging all these “greedy and insensitive” authors?
And this is not even the tip of the iceberg!
Remember the Holocaust? How many died? There’s a lot of debate regarding how
many Jewish people died during this tragedy. Everybody gives a different number all the way from 74,000 deaths to 8 million according to the author of this website.
We all know how much printed material and films came out of this genocide. And I don’t want to hear that books were published and movies were made for educational purposes. While that is true, why wouldn’t a book written about Laci Peterson be educational? If anything, couldn’t women get something out of it? Why belittle her death and write it off as a book for “fun”, but a book on the Holocaust — an educational read? What? That doesn’t make any sense!
Full Metal Jacket
More than 38 million people died in WWII. I would be here all day long just covering all the books and movies released following this war. Not just this war, but what about all the other wars in history. What about all the books and movies made as a result of them? I saw the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” and “Full Metal Jacket”. Does that make me a supporter of those who make “profit off dead people”? Am I just as bad as Amber Frey?
And last but not least, from watching CNN tonight, I discovered a book that just came out “intended to educate American people”on Al Qaida. More blood money?
And, surely enough, we can’t forget the infamous….
I wonder if you get my point now? Several people dead; several people made money. Everything is education whether it be attributed to the death of millions or just one person. That’s why we watch the news. Information is knowledge. While there are many sickos out there who “get off” on reading about the gruesome details and viewing graphic pictures of those who died in the hands of a murderer, I’d like to believe that most of us don’t.
Just wait until the books and movies start coming out about the recent Earthquake/Tsunami disaster in Asia….
With that being said, can we try to cut a little slack for Ms Frey?
Hello all, and welcome!
In my blog, I discuss Americanophobia, politics, political extremism (my rantings about the extreme right and the extreme left), anthropology, crime news, psychology, LOTS of humor, and try to debunk common rumors spread about the American people. The variety of topics I discuss are in 360 posts ... Continue reading »
“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
"The fundamental role of anti-Americanism in Europe in general, and particularly among those on the Left, is to absolve themselves of their own moral failings and intellectual errors by heaping them onto the monster scapegoat, the United States of America. The U.S. is charged with all the evils, real or imagined, that afflict humanity, from the falling price of beef in France to AIDS in Africa and global warming everywhere. The result is a widespread refusal to accept responsibility for one's own actions." — Jean-Francois Revel
"Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest, You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of "24" and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning." --the Berlin bureau chief of Der Spiegel
"Of course some Americans are stupid, but... "It all boils down to the fact that knowledge and intelligence are two different issues. Rote memorization of world capitals does not equate intelligence.
I do find it interesting that Canadians and Europeans have such strong opinions on this, considering that there are many more pressing issues to be concerned about. Perhaps the steady Canadian and European refrain of "Americans are stupid" is a reflection of their own deep-rooted insecurity. You know -- an inferiority complex." --Mohammed
"As an American, please allow me to begin by asserting that our nation has had its strengths and its weaknesses, its successes and its failures, and its justices and injustices throughout history and continuing into the present. Although I sense much patriotism for my homeland, I recognize our need for humility to understand that our country is not above questioning or reproach but is rather under the same standards as all other nations of the world. I would simply like to ask those who view our country from afar to maintain a balanced perspective and realize too that there exists good and bad in America, both in terms of its domestic society and politics as well as in its relations with other nations.
Whilst there may be growing anti-Americanism in the United Kingdom I do not believe such sentiment to be reciprocated on our side of the Atlantic. I viewed a recent survey that indicated most Americans view England positively, and never have I seen the flag of your country (or any other foreign land, for that matter) burned in the streets of our cities. Clearly we as American citizens have not meant to be your enemies." --Seth
"As someone who takes human rights seriously, I'm appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let's shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you're not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn't count." --Erik Svane
"Ambivalence, antipathy, and resentment toward and about the United States have comprised an important component of European culture since the American Revolution at the latest, thus way before America became the world's 'Mr. Big' -- the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorilla -- and a credible rival to Europe's main powers, particularly Britain and France . . . . While the politics, style, and discourse of the Bush administration -- and of George W. Bush as a person -- have undoubtedly exacerbated anti-American sentiment among Europeans and fostered a heretofore unmatched degree of unity between elite and mass opinion in Europe, they are not anti-Americanism's cause. Indeed, a change to a center-left administration in Washington, led by a Democratic president, would not bring about its abatement, let alone disappearance." --Andrei S. Markovits (author of Uncouth Nation - Why Europe Dislikes America)
"Is Euro Disney Land a threat to the French Culture? If French culture can be squashed by Mickey Mouse, or more exactly by simply moving Mickey geographically, it would have to be disturbingly fragile." Moreover, Revel argued, culture always circulates and, in the case of Euro Disneyland, California was merely repackaging for Europeans such European stories as Cinderella and Pinocchio. According to Revel, French culture was not being colonized and if any culture was in crisis, he contended, it was that of America with its fad for political correctness and other forms of "neoprovincialism." --Jean-François Revel
"Anti-Americanism is the only face of xenophobia still broadly accepted in Europe." --Mary Fitzgerald (New Statesman)
"Americans find themselves damned either way. If they remain within their own borders, they are isolationist hicks who are shirking their responsibilities. If they intervene, they are rapacious imperialists." --To hate America is to hate mankind
"The British find it very difficult to come to terms with the loss of their global dominance. We felt a deep sense of hurt and loss. We used to run the world, and we don’t anymore. So, in order to palliate that insecurity, we tend to run ourselves down too much. And we’re also snooty about the people who DO run the world." -- Boris Johnson (Member of Parliament)
"It is tragic that Anti-American ideas are so easily passed through rumour, while reconciliatory ideas and notions must be backed up with catalogues of evidence before they are even considered, purely because of the fact that it is so much easier to hate than to keep an objective open mind." --David Hatton
"Other common anti-American objections are ignorance and stupidity. In dealing with these two, I have no reason to suspect that the average American is any less intelligent than the average person from anywhere else. One trait I have noticed is that other cultures are generally much more ashamed of any deficit in the intellect of the individual, especially ours (the British), and as such will make a much greater attempt to hide it. If all cultures bar one are scared of looking stupid and take action to prevent that happening, then that one remaining culture is inevitably going to be lumbered with that image." --David Hatton
"We became not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." --Jimmy Carter
"Most of the anti-Americanism these days stems from plain old nationalistic jealousy by a lot of countries that are born of insecurity about their own place in the world and their painful self awareness of their own failings and shortcomings...like the kids in the next block who are jealous of the boy who has a better bicycle or a newer fancier skateboard....phuque 'em all." --Robbins Mitchell
"Europeans, like the rest of the world, hate America and Americans, but love our aid when in distress, and our soldiers to die for THEIR COUNTRIES. You need to work, live and pay taxes from this side of the Atlantic to understand our vision of Europe and the rest of the world." --Jerry
"Unjustified hatred of Americans:
There is much unjustified hatred in the world. There is unjustified hatred of the USA. Much of this arises from the victimisation complex that sweeps much of mankind. Whoever is in charge, whoever is powerful or successful will also be hated. This immature hatred often evaporates quickly with a little reason or thought. There are some some invalid, unjustified criticisms. The most widespread hate is the hate by people the world over who fall victim to their own shortcomings, and want a scapegoat." --Vexen Crabtree
"USA citizens are not given world news in the same way as most the other developed nations, and may well be genuinely unaware that much of the world is as poor as it is. European news is highly world-centric, whereas due to its size most USA news does not have enough time to cover news in all neighbouring states, let alone news from around the world. " --Vexen Crabtree
"Despite the USA's dominance of mass media, it is frequently only the pro-USA, self-congratulatory messages that seem to arrive in Europe, the USA citizens criticism and disbelief of their own government is not apparent, which gives the overall impression that Americans are either gullible, ignorant or honestly uncaring." --Vexen Crabtree
"If a person outside of American culture is a hateful person, they may actively hate and verbally attack America. If the person takes this to include a hatred of Americans themselves, they are inconsiderate and have become a fool. If a person like this is brought up by people with vested interests in attacking America (and there are many), a person can be driven to take his opinions to a violent level. Generic hatred is not solved or soothed by adding more layers of hatred.
There is a belief and hope that if enough nations oppose America, the American people will realize what their government has been doing and will overthrow them. This hope is misguided, as anti-American actions are causing the opposite"--Vexen Crabtree
"I think it is best, when faced with people from other nations, to treat them as individuals. Yes, you can "hate" the injustices that governments perpetuate on us all, and yes, you can despise ignorance in all its' forms. But any sort of blanket prejudice punishes yourself more than anyone else, because it thwarts the opportunity to learn from someone else. It stops you from making potential connections that could ultimately change your life. As an "american" living abroad, I pity my fellow countrymen who still have the wool over their eyes, but I don't hate them. The fact that when I meet them, they are indeed traveling at the time, says to me that they are in the process of opening their minds. Being in Europe, for many Americans, is the first step to realizing that other cultures do indeed exist and thrive, and that other forms of social structures are both possible and desireable.
-----------------
Many ask me why I left. Political reasons aside, when I mention that my family now enjoys free health-care and that my daughter will have the opportunity to go to university virtually for free (O.K. not free exactly, because we all pay taxes, but these services are included in what we as citizens receive for our tax dollars here in Europe,) they always respond with a sigh as they realize that this is the way all societies should be run. They know that something has gone terribly afoul in their beloved "homeland."
--------------
Americans, in essence, need to be re-taught what is possible in the world, they do not need to be shunned. Shunning them will only help to produce more negativity in the world. If we all, from without, can help them to change what is wrong with their country from within, by sharing our knowledge of alternatives, then the whole world will benefit." --Lily
"Sometimes the caliber of a nation is found not in why it is liked, but rather in why it is not." --Victor Davis Hanson
"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
"With a military that has become a laughing stock and her increasing irrelevance in the world around her, I believe that the Canada I know and loved is gone. The sad truth is, Canadians have only themselves to blame since they meekly chose to accept everything without question and without fighting back. Most of them even pat themselves on the back for being so “progressive” and “multicultural” and “diverse,” while failing to recognize that all of those things will bring about Canada’s demise. America may not be perfect, but at least there is a strong conservative movement and a population who will fight to keep their rights." --Jayne Gardener (Why I left Canada)
"Regarding Race Relations in the South:
I once read an observation that ONE (and there are many) of the differences between the Northern and Southern approach to race is that the North tends to reject the Individual while embracing the Race. The South conversely seems to have prejudice towards the other Race while embracing the Individuals. It's a generalization to be sure but one with more than a grain of truth.
Blacks and Whites have always lived closely in the South, most southerners have an aquantince of another race whom they like, while at the same time generalizing about the 'others'.
The North has always been more segregated and less mixed in ordinary commerce and interaction. They accept the race but interact with few individuals of another group. Leading to less real experience with the other group. Fewer Northerners subsequently have friends of a different race.
I think we a need to be cautious when making these generalizations but I believe they still offer food for comment.
I guess I'm just saying that one shouldn't assume the South has a less open society because of some who have lingering, isolated, racist attitudes towards 'Canadians'. It just seems that these notions, are more exposed, and carry more gravity due to their past. --JG (reply #70)
"My “two cents” to all you Americans out there: speaking as a Brit, it pains me to see some of the comments emanating from this page by alleged British sophisticates. Much of the real reason for anti-Americanism of this type — though it will be hotly denied — is nothing more than envy. Truth be told, many an Englishman yearns for the day when we were the number one dog in town, with the world sitting obediently at the feet of hordes of short-back-and sides public school boys lording it over primitive tribes of Africans and Asians, whilst men such as Joseph Chamberlain and Winston Churchill sincerely speculated on the chances of the USA being welcomed back into the imperial bosom.
Americans, don't lose heart; you are the great power of the age. It is your lot to be envied and feared. Do not fall for the soft hearted illusion that this translates into moral superiority of any variety." --James
"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." --Nov. 12th, 2005 5:08PM
"The only thing more annoying that a 'typical American' (and they do exist!) is a Canadian with a superiority complex! Americans do get the piss ripped out of them behind their backs but with the flag on your pack you probably will as well." --travoholic
"I grew up on army bases my whole life and nothing makes me prouder than watching Canadian soldiers do what they can, when they can, to help out more impoverished nations. I do, however, become angered at people who begin talking about who has the better, or bigger army and who can beat whom. Soldiers sacrifice their lives for the betterment of mankind, not to win pissing contests." --Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:12 pm
"I attribute European anti-Americanism to a state of prolonged “adolescence” from being protected by American treasure and military might throughout the post-WW2 era. I think about how teenagers rail against their parents actions and restrictions, all the while knowing, deep down, that they cannot provide for themselves.
On a somewhat lighter note, there was a program on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) a while back about why Europeans don’t like America. One interviewee attributed it to the Europeans knowing that America won’t hurt them." --Denis Eugene Sullivan
"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
"Yes, anti-Americanism is a sad reality all over the world. I feel its simply part of "hatred of the superpower". Britian for most of its empire's history was mocked harshly by English speaking colonies and much of mainland Europe. Nobody likes the "big kid on the block". I think the fact that American media plays a more dominant role in English speaking societies around the world further reminds us of our inferiority complexes.
In short, America's ok with me. I can only hope that reason and the shedding of jealous ignorance can let other people see that America isn't that bad." --Matt
"Conservatives love America the way a six year old loves his mother. Mommy is perfect, don’t be mean to mommy, etc… Liberals, according to me, have a grown-up love for America — the kind that recognizes faults and works to improve the nation out of love." --Al Franken
It’s odd for me to see in every Americanophobic blog the following:
It’s true, 
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?
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.
Australia has officially become the Fattest 
(trembling in fear)…. I made my opinions public on a website.
read the 
Americanophobia, Anti-Americanism, atl, blog banning, blog trolls, clearing the air, comment policy, country vs continent, dealing with trolls, europe vs america, european anti-americanism, hormonal teenagers, juan mcdanialisms, kids with keyboards, lol, teen hut, teen hut anti-americanism, the 1st amendment, the misconceptions of free speech, wtf
Continents vs Countries, Rebuttals, and Clearing the Air
In Americanophobia, Blame Europe, Censorship / Freedom of Speech, Troll Droppings and Responses on January 2, 2009 at 3:14 PMCountry vs Continent? I’ve been indirectly “paged” so to speak on my hypocrisy of having found it odd that a European compares the diversity of Europe vs the United States. Yes, it is entirely unfair for anybody to draw conclusions about a nation based on how they pale in comparison with a CONTINENT of 49 countries. And I firmly believe that everyone agrees with me there. The intent of the “bloggers” that wrote this piece is crystal clear – yet they deny any bias or motives.
With that said, I have been accused of hypocrisy due to writing about Euronationalist Americanophobia.
Here’s a little hint: If you call yourselves Europeans, will we note you as such and return the favor. In case you missed it, Americans call themselves “Americans” - not “North Americans”. We, unlike some Europeans, recognize ourselves as a country and *not* a continent. The map on this page may be of some assistance.
FREE SPEECH: One more thing I’d like to clear up before I go. Dissent is perfectly acceptable on this blog. If you are familiar with my blog, you will see tons of debates throughout between people all over the world. But you must ask yourselves the following questions before commenting:
Coming to one’s blog to comment is synonymous to being a guest in one’s home. You are not protected under the United States Amendment of Free Speech granted by the government. For the record, every developed country has rights to free speech. But this has nothing to do with blogging. Apples and oranges. Just ask yourself – if you go to a person’s house to vandalize and act like a total ass, and they kick you out, are you going to cry like a baby that they don’t allow free speech or dissent?
This reminds me of a quote that rings true here:
Another thing that people with a short fuse tend to forget is that there is a HUGE difference between DISSENT and SILENCING SPEECH. It’s funny how only those banned for not adhering to my comment policy seem to continue to cry about how I’m a speech-silencer of some sort. Everyone is aware when they comment here how this blog works and don’t have any excuse to act surprised.
This has nothing to do with being American as much as having high standards for stimulating and thought-provoking debate. Here is a perfect example for those that are a little slow.
It’s most amusing that the same people that moan and groan about censorship are those same people that have me banned from their blog.
Hmm….. Learn the meaning of censorship. Censorship would be if I banned speech from someone else’s blog. But coming from Aby and co., I am not the least bit surprised at the perpetual ignorance.
Now, for some fun stuff!
Aby “the liberal- the ‘Internationalist’” and her crew now have an entire forum on the internet devoted to me and all around American-bashing under the guise of “helping teens”. (The message board is OWNED by them.) It’s a riot! I’ve received ample hits from them, and now I feel like a celebrity!!
I’m not even going to bother rebutting the other arguments against me because they’re not being honest and not worth my time. How do you respond to lies?
To make matters more interesting, here are the rules that Aby and co. made for those who utilize their site:
Interesting. I have also noticed some of the members to be complaining about Juan McDaniel (Aby “the liberal”’s partner in crime) deleting some member’s posts… for possibly… dissent… perhaps? !!
Uh oh.
Hee hee. Oops. Deleting innocuous dissent that may give away his little game secrets? This is f’n hilarious! And for the record, this post was just deleted!
Another complaint about deleting dissent:
In case you’re confused, Aby’s “partner in crime” AKA (“the protector of mankind)
goes under the following names:
- Captain Sasha
- Sasha
- Captain V
- Juan McDaniel
- Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski
- Karmen
- Amy
- Bridgette
and god knows what else.
It is now confirmed that I’m dealing with hormonal teenagers!