You may have noticed that it is Retard Day in the comments, which can only mean one thing: another incoming link from (apparent regular reader) Neal Boortz!
online pharmacy clomiphene best drugstore for you
As the Marines' situation at Wake Island grew increasingly desperate during the Pacific War, Commander Winfield Cunningham reportedly radioed his superiors with the defiant message: "SEND MORE JAPS." It is in the same spirit, regardless of the fact that the story is probably apocryphal, that I virtually beg Mr. Boortz: send more retards. Send wave upon wave of people who repeat, in a cruel mockery of English, what you tell them to think.
online pharmacy albuterol best drugstore for you
buy lasix generic rxbuywithoutprescriptionrxonline.com over the counter
They will crash these mighty shores like waves but break upon the rocks of critical thinking skills and proper sentence structure.
displaced Capitalist says:
It's a pity. That thread has gotten too long for me to participate now. I fear many of the anonymous posters are one-hit-wonders and will never read our intelligent responses.
(After all, isn't that what the teabagger movement is all about? Yell as loud as you can so you don't have to listen (except to Glenn Beck.))
Aslan Maskhadov says:
We fired our guns and the tards kept a comin' there weren't as many as there were a minute ago. Fired again and they began to runnin' down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
comrade x says:
Prescribing free market solutions to the current economic collapse is like putting out a house fire by dousing it with gasoline.
Seriously, how out of touch with working people are these assclowns?
Hobbes says:
But you don't understand, comrade! They worked *hard* to get where they are! They *earned* their pensions and social security and vacations abroad, just like we uppity, entitled kids should.
comrade x says:
I think the myth of just about every American being in the middle – class is finally falling apart. Most of these whiny libertarians belong to the upper middle class and are investors, managers, and businesspeople. For a long time they convinced the rest of us that what was good for them was good for all of us- deregulation, union busting, and outsourcing were somehow going to allow us to maintain the standard of living our parents enjoyed even as they dismanteled the system that sustained it. The boon time after WW2 certainly helped but also strong unions and a government that actually worked for the majority of the citizens made sure that the wealth generated by the regulated economy was somewhat fairly distributed. Not all of the blame can be put on the wolves, either. The workers of the Boomer and X generations who forgot the long and bloody labor struggles of their forefathers grewv complacent and let our unions wither away because we were too lazy to attend meetings or too cheap to shell out dues. The wolves got into the pen because the sheep left it open.
As far as that crap about how you get to keep everything you can get your hands on… yeah, asshole, I'm sure some of you put in long hours. But if to accumulate a huge amount of wealth means you have to step on the rest of us, take the bread from our mouths, well fucking exscuse me if I tell you " No fucking way." You vultures had your time, but now people are waking up. By all means, leave our country if the election results displease you. Quite frankly, I don't know where you will go. America is the last bastion of this free market crap. Every other country is " socialized" to a greater extent than ours. Maybe we will allow you to settle in the desert somewhere in Nevada. We can call the settlement " Teabaggerstan" and allow you " morans" to practice your do- eat- dog worldview on each other.
ladiesbane says:
Of all topics, why are people so up in arms about this one? Is this a record number of comments? Has someone been feeding them red meat?
Robert says:
One of the things I learned about the USA's boom in post-WWII prosperity: between 1938 and 1945, almost every other industrialized country in the world had their infrastructure bombed to crap.
We didn't.
Britain celebrated winning the war by lifting food rationing – in 1952, just in time for Elizabeth's ascension. Germany observed losing by re-enacting the total devastation last seen in the aftermath of the Thirty Years War.
In short – we were lucky. No, DAMN lucky. We had enough of our young men and women come home, to a nation wealthy and secure enough to pass the GI Bill. Two generations of Americans went to college and owned their own homes – guaranteed by the gubmint – because first, we could, and second, we chose to. We coasted on that properity clear until the 1970s.
Hazy Davy says:
I considered posting in devil's advocate fashion.
And then I saw the parade of lunacy.
I'm dumb and slow, but I can't top what's already there.
Also, commie whine responsible libertarian fuckwhizzle until cliche nonsense burp.
jeneria says:
Robert,
I teach an American Culture class centered on the World's Fairs and when we get to the post WWII era, this is the argument I put forth. The US advanced to a world power because no one attacked us, other than Pearl Harbor, and by virtue of not being bombed to shit, we were able to rise to a world power. It makes my students incredibly uncomfortable to think of this. I'm not anti-American, but I think it's only fair to acknowledge all the forces that enabled the US to become a world power. Hard work and gumption only get you so far. Sometimes luck plays a role, too.
Fergie says:
Love reading this site but can't we find another derogatory term to use besides "tards."
Matthew says:
That second paragraph is one of the best things you've ever written, Ed.
Prudence says:
I remember thinking Boortz was beneath contempt when he blamed those poor Virginia Tech kids for being massacred by Cho the Deranged Homicidal Korean, because they didn't fight back hard enough or something equally insane. Boortz needs thorazine in bicycle-pump sized syringes, not national attention and fat paychecks.
John says:
@Robert and jeneria,
I had never heard the that theory of American economic dominance until I read it on this very website:
http://www.ginandtacos.com/2009/03/26/a-condensed-history-of-the-world/
It was this piece which cemented GinandTacos as a check-multiple-times-a-day-site.
beau says:
This is so much fucking fun.
Still with Fergie on the 'tards' thing though. Just sayin'…
Twisted_Colour says:
I had never heard the that theory of American economic dominance until I read it on this very website:
That's pretty sad. Any first year Eco or Pol Sci student in Australia is required to know this stuff.
Crystal says:
We know Ed isn't trying to insult the mentally challenged by comparing them to teabagging umbrage junkies with poor grammar. However, it IS a little unkind to the innocent mentally challenged people.
The way things are looking, I see myself as part of the generation before the one that really has a chance to change and rebuild. My generation either doesn't have the tools–socially and intellectually as well as financially–to come to grips with this situation. It's an easy thing for people who grew up in communities to sneer at, but speaking for myself, I don't really think I've got a community. I have an extended family, most of which lives hundreds of miles away. I have former schoolmates, whose Facebook updates I read. If it came to the point where I saw a problem in my local community which could only be solved by group political action, it'd be tough to know where to start.
Then again, since I took my five digits of debt and my English Lit degree over to Safeway, at least I'm now in an honest-to-dog union. Maybe I should start going to meetings if I ever get "promoted" off the night shift.
The biggest hurdle my generation has to overcome is that we were raised to expect a life and society with a high level of idleness, and we're getting one in which idleness must be comparatively very low. It takes extensive mental and emotional gymnastics to go from
"I'm going to think my way through college, get through grad school on mental sweat alone, find the research topics I feel I was born to study, and spend my life teaching and tacking on a new doctorate every time I come across a really fascinating problem."
to
"I'm going to live in a single room I rent from a guy I found on craigslist, take a 2-hour bus trip to work my ass off every day slinging potato salad for people who would treat me like shit if I weren't so pleasantly witty, and come home and eat ramen and hotdogs cause it's what I can afford."
Low idleness tends to have the effect of making one's world narrower. Sure, America has lots and lots of problems, and if I really wanted to prove my worth as a good citizen I would be out doing something about those problems. Instead, though, I'm going to spend my few hours of leisure each day reading things that interest me, playing silly games, and talking via phone or IM to the few people I care about, whom I rarely get to see in person because I can't afford train tickets and they can't afford gas. At this point I'm grateful I've got a phone and an internet connection.
Fint says:
Crystal
Just curious. If you really were interested in finacial success, why would you get a degree in English Lit and invest 5 digits of debt into it? What were your expectations regarding employment?
Crystal says:
On the one hand, it's the sort of stupid decision that a kid in college makes who has no real grasp of what real money is, the fact that there is such a thing as a job market, or that anything at all exists beyond the next few days.
On the other hand, I was expecting to be able to financial-aid my way into further schooling with an eye to eventually becoming a college English professor. This would combine two of my great passions, the study and production of the written word, and speaking to captive audiences. However, my transcript now can't be released due to an unpaid institutional loan, so till I get my income up to the point where I can make inroads on that, that plan isn't one I can pursue.
Fint says:
I guess I just find that hard to understand as I had worked many years before college and paid for it myself. Most of my generation worked from about 12 yrs old and saved every penny so that they could pay their way to college. College was a means to earn more income other than the minimal skills jobs that were available at the time. There were really no college loans…or credit for anyone without a long work history. Like many others, I worked all night to go to school…and all summer. If I ran out of money…I had to stop school and work until I could save enough to resume. Eventually, I attended graduate school as well…but later when it was more of an enhancement to my career.
If your passion is the written word, it would seem that you could still write as a hobby. Obviously you can read/study for free. That is as close as the public library or your computer. Although I have never been employed to do so full time, I have written quite a few articles and several books as a hobby…and still enjoyed an alternative unrelated career. Can you live with family or otherwise reduce expenses to accelerate your savings until you have enough to pursue your dreams? You can make it happen if you make the right decisions. Failure to plan is a big part of the problem for many young men and women.
Cassie says:
Just want to say that I'm a late Gen X/ early Gen Yer that DID work from the time I was 12 (first babysitting, and then an honest-to-god paper route that I did on my bicycle or on a sled when it snowed). Supported myself through college by working part time while taking classes full time. I picked a career that I thought would allow me to do good in the world and that there were actually jobs for. Unfortunately, 90% of those jobs where through various governmental agencies. Agencies that have all had hiring freezes for at least a year now. Perhaps with "planning" I could have avoided this situation, but it's a pretty tall order to expect anyone to have foreseen this economic clusterfuck 10 years ago, let alone expect it from a 19 year old incoming freshman. The whole "work hard and plan ahead and you will do well in life" ethic that my parents raised me with was a load of bunk. Funny thing is that they realize it too now.
After being completely unable to find a job in my field for almost 6 months, I'm going back to school in a healthcare field. Because if there is one thing we can count on the boomers for, it's to keep on getting older and demanding more care.
Liz says:
Fint, thank God you're here to solve all of our problems with fatherly advice. Praytell, what jobs are available to recent high school graduates that will allow them to save enough money to go to college? What field should those of us who go to college study in order to find a financially stable job afterward? Additionally, what employer in those still-lucrative fields likes to see huge gaps in employment and education records combined with no unpaid internships in a resume?
Fint says:
What kind of fairy tale world do people live in now where they expect to get paid well to do something they love? In their parents generation, those were called hobbies…and once you had worked sufficiently hard enough for long enough…you paid someone else to let you do them. And…it is somehow a shock to those same folks that they have less financial security fivolously pusuing their "hobby" as someone that has slaved at a job that they may not have liked, but somone valued enough to pay well for. Even before the current economic cluster, folks with degrees in English Lit were simply not in big demand. What type of "good in the world" would a degree in English Lit allow one to do…and what sort of government agency job would that qualify one for? I used to flip burgers with folks with graduate degrees in similar area 40 years ago. The current economy has not really changed the demand. The fact that a 19 year old would not be expected to consider what they would use a degree that they invested years and much money into is beyond me. It would seem that one would ask those questions in middle school. The "work hard and plan ahead and you will do well in life" ethic that my parents raised me with was a load of bunk" line is classic. You borrowed money to attend a school where there are absolutely no jobs…and never have been…at least in this century. And now you blame everyone else…because there is not a cushy govt job waiting for you after looking for six whole months. What did you expect the Obama policies that destroy business would bring…more jobs? Do you expect that the national debt (that by the administration's own numbers is expected to increase twice as much during Obama's first term as it did for two terms under the previous President) and the interest to service it will be paid by someone else. As someone posted earlier..vote. And vote conservative to end this insanity and start the private sector job engine that made this country great started again.
You are right to address changing fields of study….but still for the wrong reasons. Boomers are getting older and willing to "purchase" a commodity….which is health care. Your generation is demanding it…through government. You will pay dearly for that as well…because nothing is free, especially when it is purchased through the govt. All the debts being piled up by the current administration will come due on your watch…and worst of all, after spending all that money for "free" healthcare, you will find that it is the same shoddy service that you get from the DMV.
Fint says:
Liz
You could flip burgers to save to go to college if you stayed at home with your parents. If you had started at 16…you would have likely saved enough for a couple of years of college before you even finished high school. The military still has the GI Bill where you can spend 4 years learning a skill and then have your college paid for. The fact that you have a gap in your resume between high school and college or during college to work to pay for school is certainly no detriment to your resume.
If you have the right skills, there are lots of jobs that are still hiring and pay well. Health care and engineering come to mind. I hire engineers every day that are right out of college. Not only would I not mind gaps in their education to earn money to attend school, I expect them.
Liz says:
My boomer parents wouldn't let me work in high school because I had to focus on school in order to get into a "good" college– which, by the way, requires participation in extracurricular activities these days, and not just good grades. I had friends in college who did exactly what you proposed and still have completely crushing amounts of debt on their hands.
The GI bill would allow me to spend 4 years learning a skill and, being a lady, getting raped.
That gap is absolutely a detriment to your resume in most fields. My brother-in-law is in the process of applying to medical school. He got rejected in round one and was told that if he returns to the work force in order to save money to pay for school it would look bad on his next application. Similarly, a college student in journalism or design is expected to spend her summers doing free labor for local magazines in order to improve her chances of getting a job.
Good for you for hiring green workers, but do you think that you represent the majority of employers? If there was a way to outsource your labor to India for half the cost, would you cash in? Most of your peers have done so already.
Hobbes says:
Fint – I don't know what world you lived in, but I started working 15 hours/wk at 15 years old, getting paid $6/hr (more than minimum wage, which is more than most high schoolers could say). Between purchasing my own car once I was old enough to drive myself to school and work, gas and car insurance, I had about $2k saved up at the end of high school.
That's enough for half a semester of tuition only at a public college. That's with no food, no health care, living on someone else's couch.
comrade x says:
The more I read of these right- wing lectures, the more they sound suspiciously the same, i.e. they have worked since they grew pubes, they paid their own way through college, and now they are a success with no help from anyone. This is about the only way they can defend their fucked- up ideology, because face- it, conservatism doesn't have much of a positive message. It's all sbout having the right to fuck other people over because you, through luck, birth, and/ or a talent for squuezing money out of people, made it into the upper classes. Basically they tell the rest of us- truck drivers, construction workers, waitresses, and the rest of the proletariat that we should take on the tax burden they aren't willing to pay, that we shouldn't have any public services because they can afford private ones ( plus they can squeeze more money out of us if they privatize the commons), that we basically owe them a living because they are so goddamned smart when it comes to seperating people from their money.
Personally, I think guys like Fint are full of shit. The internet is a liar's paradise and too many right wingers fit that " pulled myself up by my own bootstraps" profile for it not to be yet another reactionary talking point.
Chris says:
Gee, I remember asking my college adviser, and financial aid officer, "Should I be signing all this stuff? I mean, I don't even have a job.". "Oh, don't worry about that." they said. Combine that with the study, study, no time for work, and yeah, I was in debt over my ears for 10 years. Paid that off, finished college, and got laid off.
But I saw in the news that my former employer has made a killing on the real estate market collapse. They built buildings, had them foreclosed if they couldn't sell them, and are now creating a company to buy 'distressed property'.
Work hard, save up, get ahead may have worked at one point. Sure doesn't now. I think will tell my kids "use someone else's money to make your fortune. If it doesn't work out, default and reincorporate." It seems to work well for many, many people out there.
And yes, gaps in your employment/education history are _bad_ these days. At least in my demographic.
Robert says:
I happend across an aphorism years ago, something like 'there is a special Providence that looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America.' I'm not sure if that's a refutation of American exceptionalism or the inspiration for it.
Fint, speaking solely for myself, I never expected to make a lot of money doing something I love. As it happened, I wound up making relatively little money but with job security – which WAS a positive for me, most of the time. I've told my sons that they will probably never meet anyone other than their Pop who worked his entire career at one job. I went to work for the VA Medical Center right out of dropping out of college. Worked there twenty four years, until my health got so bad I qualified for medical retirement.
Comrade X, you make good points. I wish more people had read "The Black Swan" – the correlation between effort and success (however you calculate either metric) is not as straight-line as some people would like to believe. The problem with all those hardworking Boomers who worked two jobs and slept standing up to get college degrees without any help from the Gubmint is that the ones who wind up failing do not post hortatory mini-essays online about their experiences. Confirmation error – it's not just for breakfast anymore.
Fint says:
Sure is easy to blame someone else for your sloth. Of course it in unimaginable for you to believe that anyone else has earned their own way…because that just exposes your lack of effort for what it really is. Just the fact that you are so insistent upon increasing federal income taxes on others to provide you with benefits that you have not worked for is indicative of the mentality of the "me" generation. Working your way through school was common in earlier generations when college was not seen as a social welfare program, but rather an earned privilege. There were no student loans or grants…you paid your own way or didn't go. Of course you want to increase taxes on others…when you pay none yourself.
Fint says:
Another post regarding gaps in education/work history. By definition, taking time from school to work or from work to attend school leaves no gap…and for the person that worked for years at $6 an hour and only saved $2k…at 40 hrs per week, you should have saved that much in half a year.
Ed says:
Fint's dozen posts since business hours began this morning indicate that he is quite the hard worker. Lectures accepted.
Fer-rizzle says:
The great thing about insulting the retarded, particularly in writing, is that they will never know to be offended.
It's a win-win if you ask me!
Hobbes says:
Fint – that's assuming that my employer would have given me 40-hour weeks. I was a part-time employee. He couldn't afford to have his employees working more than 15 hours per week.
And woo, after six months of working 40-hour weeks I can now afford a FULL semester of college! Only seven more to go if I'm lucky and make it out in four years!
johnnyboy says:
Fer-rizzle, you miss the point entirely but that's probably to be expected. It's not the mentally challenged (retarded isn't used anymore unless you magically woke up in 1975 or so…) that you are insulting, it's those of us who either work with them or have a relative or friend who is. Using the term "tard" pretty much shows the user to be an insensitive, zero-tact, acerbic slime-fucker with little or no imagination with which to coin a better term for idiot.
And BTW, Ed, just because some of us may have a different viewpoint re: your earlier diatribe, it doesn't mean we're on different sides or are Neil Boortz fans. And we realize that was a snipe to get a few of us to leave for good, but I actually enjoy your witty writings when you aren't busy carping about water-under-the-bridge, so I'm still tuned in and still vote democrat.
Just sayin'. Carry on and feel the love,
– Devoted Fan
Ed says:
Yes, it is my goal, as is the goal of every blogger, to drive away readers.
I am not sure what gave you that impression.
Ecks says:
Flint, what did college cost to attend back when you went? I'm guessing a few hundred bucks a term at most, amIright? It's not available for that anymore. If you want to go to a good school, even in-state tuition is way more than that, and the type of private school that will leave you connected with movers in the economy would cost way way waaaay more than that. We're talking the type of money you just cannot make as a part time student.
It may have worked the way you say once upon a time, but times they have-a-changed on you.
neal says:
Ed: "send more Tards" doesn't exactly sound like "neal boortz readers are welcome!" you're really not sure what gave devoted fan/one-party voter jonnyboy that impression? further, it absolutely seems, from reading most of the comments, that they are almost exclusively one sided in favor of youngster style liberalism, and that dissenting viewpoints aren't very welcome.
separately, i wonder if we could for a minute compare the childhoods of various generations. for example, we might compare the children of boomers vs. the boomers' own childhoods. i'm 30, so i guess i'm smack between GenX and Millennial generation. either way, it seems to me that late gen Xers and older Gen Yers had it pretty good growing up. nearly everyone drove by age 16. most kids didn't work unless their parents forced them to (to instill work ethic; not to bring home money). we have the highest percentage of college matriculation of any generation. we spent our youths in malls. i wasn't around, but it seems clear that there's a stark difference between the childhood reality of Gen X or Gen Y and that of the Boomers.
the one thing i think we were perhaps fed too much of is the "you can be whatever you want to be" line. i'm among the masses of students who graduated a top tier college with a worthless degree in some social science. i'm not sure what i thought i was going to do with it. but i wasn't thinking too much about it. i heard platitudes like, "with your foreign language skills, you'll be a lock in the job market," and "international relations majors have among the highest job placement ratings by major." so i sort of went with the social sciences because i didn't give it much more thought than that. i guess i figured i could do whatever i wanted or work for whomever i wanted to. i was wrong. a 3.1 GPA (.4 higher than the university average, incidentally) doesn't get you dick. sure, i could go to a mid-level tier 1 law school and slave away reviewing documents, or i could enlist w/ the feds, but those jobs are miserable. so i'm a teacher.
upon much reflection, i've concluded that i should not have gone to college until i was ready. i would've arrived ready to work, and probably would've gravitated toward majors that required more work (which 18 and 19 yr olds are not prone to do). i'd probably have a math or engineering or chemistry degree (my strengths lie there, but the low fruit of social sciences was far too tempting).
i offer this as someone who's been gainfully employed since the age of 18, and paid my way through college, and who has never gone too long without a job, since i've been willing to take some less than desirable positions. i now own two houses, and am about to purchase a third. this on two teachers' salaries. (my wife also teaches.) while i do understand some of the entitlement that boomers seem to have, it seems that my contemporaries possess similar levels of it. no one owes you shit. either go out and get what you want, or don't. if you don't, then quit complaining. if you do, good on ya.
Fer-rizzle says:
To johnnyboy,
Yes, I was extremely insensitive in my use of tard or retard to describe the mentally challenged. I shall hereafter endeavor to use terms that are less current and, therefore, less offensive to this much maligned group.
These may include: Dolt, dullard, imbecile, idiot, GOP senator, Fox News Commentator and roughly 80% of those living south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Yours in Science,
Fer-Rizzle
Virginia S. Wood, Psy.D. says:
"They will crash these mighty shores like waves but break upon the rocks of critical thinking skills and proper sentence structure."
Come for the cruel mockery, stay for the prose.
comrade x says:
neal: who are you trying to convince? Us? Or yourself?
neal says:
comrade x: i make no attempt at convincing anyone here. i'm fairly certain where i stand, as you can see. i'm only trying to offer a different perspective from the vantage point of a whiniest generation misfit that will be inevitably shot down by self-proclaimed open-minded college know-it-alls.
next time you catch yourself telling yourself and those around you in your cocktail party circle that you appreciate social media and open debate in general for the honest dialogue it affords you with people of a wide variety of points of view, i'd ask you to kindly rethink your claim.
Fint says:
Ed Says:
"Fint's dozen posts since business hours began this morning indicate that he is quite the hard worker."
Quite the comeback Ed. Sooo..you were under the inpression that everyone that posts on the internet lives in the same time zone…or works the same hours?
No wonder you are angry with your parents.
Fint says:
"Flint, what did college cost to attend back when you went? I'm guessing a few hundred bucks a term at most, amIright? It's not available for that anymore. If you want to go to a good school, even in-state tuition is way more than that, and the type of private school that will leave you connected with movers in the economy would cost way way waaaay more than that. We're talking the type of money you just cannot make as a part time student. "
Surely you understand that wages (and other things people buy) are affected by inflation just the same as the things you buy…like tuition. I am pretty familiar with the cost of higher education…and have a daughter attending now. She has no student loans and money in savings.
Obviously people who wish the luxury of attending the "type of private school that will leave you connected with movers in the economy" should consider the cost. Generally speaking, I would expect that most would prefer to just work a little bit harder after graduation and forgo the student debt required to vie for the elusive silver spoon and success based on who you know and not what you know…
Fint says:
Chris Says:
"Gee, I remember asking my college adviser, and financial aid officer, "Should I be signing all this stuff? I mean, I don't even have a job.". "Oh, don't worry about that…"
Gosh…I sure hope you don't ask the same advice of a car saleman or realtor when you buy a car or house.
beau says:
Fint – You do realize the people you "arguing" (using the term very loosely) with can actually back up what they are claiming with facts and stuff?
Can you supply any evidence or data to support your theories re: Rape in the military vs rape in tertiary institutions? How about inflation of tertiary education costs? Taxation? Your ass vs a hole in the ground? Anything at all?
johnnyboy says:
@ Fer-rizzle: it's easy, just slowly type the word Apologize in there somewhere.
Get an adult to do if for you if necessary.
neal says:
there does seem to be a heavy strain of "i hate my parents" running through both this and the "open letter" comment threads.
are you people really going to blame your crappy existences on your parents for the rest of your lives? grow the eff up already. the "my parents are assholes" argument doesn't fly. so were mine. so were everyone's. they did what they knew how to do, which wasn't much before the information age. get over it.
we have an entire generation of physically grown children out there walking around in the real world. the jocular talk of moving to canada as the government changes hands will always be around (thanks to 2000), but the joking will stop. as this generation moves into power, going ex-pat will be a necessary consideration.
comrade x says:
neal: O.K., you got a couple of misconceptions to get out of your head there, buddy.
First of all, since I drive a truck for a living i don't have a lot of time for cocktail parties. Or, if I did, I wouldn't want to go to one. Beer n' brats are more my speed.
Second, I never claimed to have wanted an open dialouge with conservatives. If you go back and read my posts since the first one I entered on this site I have never once declared any desire to reach a compromise with a conservative. There are no compromises in class warfare, as the working class in this country is finally starting to remember.
Chris says:
Ed,
You're (or should that be your?) on a roll! Good posts.
Fint,
yes, since then I have learned that people in authority, especially when money is involved, are almost always out for their own interests and bottom line. When I was 17 I had these goofy beliefs like 'respect and trust your elders', 'honesty and hard work will make you successful','study hard, the school is here to help you'. Stupid liberal stuff like that. I know better now!
Hey ComradeX, when I can afford beer again, drop by MN. Beer 'n Brats _is_ a cocktail party by me! I would prefer that you not agree with me on everything, that would be like talking to myself. But do not take all the mustard, then I would be mad.
neal says:
comrade x:
so you're a class warrior? keep fighting that battle buddy. keep pretending the middle class is dying. i can find ya a few latin american families every day that are adding their names to the list of the middle class.
draw me a picture of the utopia your revolution will create for us, if you don't mind.
beau says:
the drawing of pictures of utopia will always be around, but the drawing will stop.
neal says:
@beau: what?
comrade x says:
Chris, I am from MN. Why do you think I am jonesing for the walleye opener?
neal: yeah, i am a class warrior… and proud of it. My utopia would make it impossible for people like you to exist. You know, the useless parasites who constantly try to convince the rest of us how necessary and special you are.
beau says:
@neal – yeah, "what?" is exactly what I thought when I read this –
"the jocular talk of moving to canada as the government changes hands will always be around (thanks to 2000), but the joking will stop."
Will there be continual stoppages, or will these jokes be 'around', but stationary? I'm confused.
neal says:
comrade: 2 problems: i nowhere attempt to convince anyone how "necessary and special" i am.
i have to assume that you're in no way a serious individual since you so reflexively went back to what must be your wheelhouse: ad hominem attack.
beau: "joking around" is a colloquialism. to stop "joking around" would indicate a turn toward a more serious demeanor.
if all that you self-proclaimed class warriors are able to muster is some parsing of colloquialisms and name calling, your class struggle will continue to falter because of its problems with finding creativity among the movement's personnel. at least Ed adds a modicum of original thought, although even his most recent posted "Rating Scale" post seemed a bit Copy/Paste from a list of diff't kinds of douchebags to me. so check that. you're all a bunch of unoriginal fucks.
jc says:
neal, i think you're seriously overestimating the effort that others on this site feel is necessary to put into engaging with you. most of us justifiably see you as just a troll. admittedly more articulate than most trolls, but otherwise your type is a dime a dozen on the interwebs. your critical reviews of the site and its pov are uninteresting, as is your yawn-inducing sneering.
the only other thing i find noteworthy enough to bother remarking on is your bizarrely unrealistic expectation of the level of business savvy and financial education of your average high school grad in this country. if all the crap you claim about yourself is even true– which no one has any reason to believe whatsoever– you don't sound like you came from a remotely typical working-class family, and don't appear to understand what it means to grow up in one.
as i said, it's a remark, not a question. i am not interested in your answer. we've wasted more than enough time on you.
jc says:
hm. it occurred to me after posting this that i may have mixed neal's posts up with fint's. now i find that i did, in fact. my apologies for that, neil. most of the above post should be directed at fint, not you.
My name is Tim says:
Fuck you for criticizing people who disagree with you You'd be surprised how many stupid people there are in the world. I'm also sure you'd be equally surprised to learn they exists in the ranks of every possibly philosophical outlet… ever.
Including yours.
Your post is immature, bitch.
Am i speaking your fucking language? fag?
My name is Tim says:
Every.
Possibly.
beau says:
Some homework for you, neal.
1. Look up the meaning of the terms 'colloquialism'. That word, I do not think it means what you think it means.
2. Look up the meaning of the term 'parsing'. I think my pointing out that you've managed to contradict yourself within the space of one sentence hardly qualifies.
3. Tell me where the fuck I proclaimed myself 'class warrior'. And also where I called you names. Idiot.
Oh, and Tim? Fuck you for criticising people who disagree with you. Wow, that was easier than actual thought. Thanks!
User says:
According to the original poster…"Send wave upon wave of people who repeat, in a cruel mockery of English, what you tell them to think. They will crash these mighty shores like waves but break upon the rocks of critical thinking skills and proper sentence structure."…but talk is cheap. It only took you about 24 hrs to block Fint from posting. Likely the same has been true for countless others. So much for free speech and false bravado. Your ideas are bankrupt…and you run from real debate. The only ones you convince are those that are insulated from other ideas.
Ed says:
Fint, I blocked you because you're repetitive, stupid, and boring the living shit out of everyone. If it makes you feel better to think it is because I am afraid of the power of your ideas, go right ahead. You're actually only the 2nd person I've ever banned, and that says something about how utterly inane your 20 posts in 12 hours were.
neal says:
@Comrade X: what will you do in your truck w/o AirAmerica Radio?
@My name is Tim: whom are you directing your comments at?
@ beau: colloquial speech is informal speech. "joking around" would qualify. it's not something Ed would accept from one of his moron Atlanta Metro aread undergrads in their attempts at scholarly writing. to quote you, "Will there be continual stoppages, or will these jokes be 'around', but stationary?" this is parsing. re: name calling, go back and read the thread, smart guy. i lump you in w/ comrade X in my statement about self-proclaimed class warriors. you two make a nice pair. same goes for the name calling. "useless parasites" comes to mind.
@Ed: "You're actually only the 2nd person I've ever banned" — your reasons don't adequately justify your actions. don't most folks stick with banning the offensive posts? blocking fint speaks volumes. dollars to donuts the grades of your students' whose opinions differ from your own suffer. you'd never admit it though. kinda like being a hipster.
Robert says:
Neal, you are at least making the effort to be a moderately amusing troll.
Fint's shtik was old before the electrons finished moving.
I have seen the lightning rapidity with which contrarian posters get banhammered on RWNM sites for far less. You do not convince me.
The snide, sly way you accused Comrade X of being a cocktail-party 'class warrior' reminded me of Karl Rove describing Barack Obama as being like 'the guy at the country club holding a martini, making snide comments'.
In other words, clothheaded bafflegab.
Tim says:
The Author.
Tim says:
Fint wasn't a troll, and Comrade X made the claim of being a "class warrior". Being Contrarian doesn't make you a troll, but writing blogs that are really incendiary like that one "Open letter from Boomers" is a sort of troll move. It had a political point, yes, but it's medium was to mock and insult an entire generation. That letter, I lol'd at, was BOUND to start a shit storm.
Robert says:
If Fint _wasn't_ a troll, he was the internet equivalent of the loud, slightly truculent, boring drunk at the class reunion, who insists on telling the same long, dull story – the details of which he gets wrong – over and over again, because he either can't get anyone else to listen, or, more likely, he's forgotten he told it to you already.
In my view the heart and soul of trolldom is insincerity. I think Fint genuinely believed the tedious, shopworn madness he was spewing, just as Ed sincerely believes that the Boomers worked very hard and conscientiously to change the world their parents made.
neal says:
isn't there a middle ground here? can't we all agree that many of our boomer-aged parents are leeches? my father-in-law, for example, has a SHITTON of money saved up from his smalltown law practice, but he's still insistent on pulling out all of this social security. i understand that he contributed all his life something like 3/4 of a mill, but one would think that a CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION may be in order. remember those? (now i sound like ED! argh!)
at the same time (and even in this very case), plenty of the folks of the boomer gen actually busted their butts to improve their lot in life so that they could give their kids better futures. i just see Ed's whole rant as a cheap shot. it's not entirely without validity, but it definitely doesn't go very far in searching for true understanding. (which is why he wrote it, no doubt. he must get inanely tired of sitting on fences all day as an adjunct/assistant professor who's trying to write and be published. one can't make a strident statement, or it will end one's academic career.)
how about getting behind a politician that may actually attempt to reform our rapidly expanding entitlement state? i know the class warriors reading here won't get that, since they'd like the government to pay them professor wages for their trucking jobs, but moving in the direction they'd like to take us would be moving in reverse. (your dialectic is all jumbled up, ComradeX.)
there's this little thing called human nature that the class struggle mentality slams up against every time its tried. eventually, someone tries to sneak ahead of the state-dependent proles (oligarchy, anyone?), and then there's a revolt, and then democracy breaks out everywhere. hate to break it to you guys, but there will always be folks who are willing to work harder so they don't have to eat State Extruded Brats 'n Beer. I'm going for a Chimay as we speak.
@Robert: Fint sounded sincere to me. 100% objectively, the difference in Fint's tone and in Ed's could not be more different. you contradict yourself w/ the drunk reunion blowhard. don't those guys fully believe every word they drunkenly spit at you? Fint DNE troll. Ed's call for more "tards" seemed to bring out a horde of regular reader trolls to attack the "tards." if y'all aren't trolls, then Fint ain't either. your snitty tone and your inability to add anything new to the discussion (yes, that's what it was) easily qualify you for those ranks, however.
jc says:
ed, as much as i disagree w/the majority of neal's points, i think he's right about one thing: you loudly and specifically asked for more 'tards, and that's what you got. if you really didn't want them, you shouldn't ask for them.
neal says:
@JC: tards from both sides. let's at least try to maintain the appearance of objectivity here. isn't that what they teach you at Uni?
Nunya says:
Neal no longer has the last word. I'm sure this is killing him.
jc says:
one thing they didn't teach me at 'uni' was that objectivity='both sides do bad things'. in fact, they learned me that that thar's a logical fallacy.
not that i'm really interested in your opinion.
jc says:
And incidentally, I don't believe in the concept of objectivity. Any claims of such are nothing but pretense and self-delusion. I'm much more interested in sources that don't hide biases, so that I can hear actual debates between multiple sides.
And in case you were wondering: no, I don't think this thread really qualifies as that kind of debate. Unlike you, I recognize that there is just a bit of deliberately crude generalizing, exaggerating, humor, etc. that goes on in forums like this, simply because we don't think it's necessary to have sticks up our asses all the time.
neal says:
oh, so this is where you kick back, relax, and shit on everyone else's way of thinking. _that's_ unpretentious.
here's a little exercise for ya: compare your 2nd paragraph there to the 1st.
jc says:
neal, seriously. it's been like, what, a week now? find something else to do. i reply to you only out of boredom and procrastination. i honestly do not care about your sneering critiques. you just sound really bitter and lonely to me.
go out and enjoy the frickin day.
homepage says:
Fantastic website. Lots of helpful info here.
I am sending it to several friends ans also sharing in delicious.
And of course, thank you in your sweat!