Gabrielle Gifford assasination attempt - Why I Hate the World Ep 26

People Who Piss Me off: Conservatives

People That Piss Me Off part 1: Conservatives

Longtime readers of this blog may have figured out by now that I'm about as liberal as one can get, so it makes sense that the conservatives would piss me off a bit, being my arch enemies and all. The thing is they don't piss me off because of anything they say they believe or stand for. What pisses me off is that conservatives tend to be hypocritical purposely uninformed dipshits who do not hold their own leaders accountable and blame everything on Liberals.

Conservatives love to talk about the issues - fiscal responsibility, family values, a strong military, low taxes, small government, and so on. The problem is they only people they insist uphold these issues are Liberals. They use these issues as a club to yell at the opposing side, but when the people they themselves vote for get into power and do the exact fucking opposite of what the conservative stance is they lie to themselves and pretend it's not happening. When Bush was elected we had a 500 billion dollar surplus. One gigantic tax cut and two unfunded wars later the deficit is now 1.3 trillion dollars and rising. The national debt went from 5.6 trillion to 9.9 trillion dollars during his tenure. Yet while all this was going on the conservatives didn't say a goddamned thing. But when a Democrat gets into office suddenly the conservatives remember they're supposed to be "fiscally responsible." Now they won't pass anything that adds to the deficit. Like Dick Cheney says, "Deficits do not matter" - unless you're not a conservative.

Yet when we're talking about deficits, the conservatives in congress refuse to extend the tax cuts for 98% of us without also extending it for the rich 2% of Americans, even though this will add 700 billion dollars to the debt. They are not doing this because it's good for the country, they are doing it because they want Obama to fail. Do you think the conservative voters out there give a shit that their party is screwing the middle class and doing the exact fucking opposite of what it stands for? Hell no. Why? Because they are fucking hypocrites.

What about this health care bullshit over this past summer? You conservative assholes were out screaming and yelling because it'll "cost too much?" Where were you hypocritical fucks with your dumbshit signs when Bush's trillion dollar medicare rip-off was passed at three in the morning?

Conservatives talk a lot of crap about "values," but in real life these idiotic flailing buckets of rodent assholes do not give a shit about upholding said values and routinely turn a blind eye when their leaders go against such values. When was the last time Fox news or Rush Limbaugh called for the impeachment of a conservative Republican? Do they ever even say anything negative about any of them whatsoever? Speaking of Limbaugh, conservatives are always bitching and moaning about drug use and voting down legalization or imposing draconian prison sentences, yet when that fat piece of shit got busted with oxycontin none of the conservatives said a damn thing. Why? Because he is one of them, that's why, and they do not hold themselves to the same dumbfuck standard they impose on everyone else.

You might hear them give the occasional slight to someone like Ron Paul - because the man actually has integrity. But anyone else? They'll support anyone as long as they fit the tax-cuts-for-the-rich agenda, no matter who they are or how idiotic batshit crazy insane they are. These motherfuckers voted for Sarah Palin - not because she was smarter, not because she was more qualified, or stood for family values, all of which it's been demonstrated again and again she didn't. They voted for her because they'd rather put a clueless idiot in charge of the most powerful and important nation on Earth rather than someone with a "D" in front of their name. What about Christine O'Donnell? How many of you conservative dumbasses out there voted for that train wreak, even though she was clearly the inferior choice? Michelle Bachman? How many batshit insane things does this woman have to say before people stop voting for her? Tea-party candidate Rick Scott got busted in 1997 for defrauding Medicare - guilty, fined, the whole deal - but the fiscal conservatives REWARDED him by electing him Governor of Florida. Those ASSHOLES ELECTED A FUCKING CRIMINAL! Why? Because he's ONE OF THEM! And conservatives give other conservatives a free fucking pass on criminal records, because they are brainwashed hypocritical dumbasses that do not hold each other accountable and never, ever, ever, ever, ever take responsibility for anything.

That's what it's all about with these fucking yahoos - not what's best for the country, not what needs to be done, but "US" vs. "THEM." And "US" to these people is anyone who has an "R" in front of their name no matter how crazy, idiotic, backward, racist, ignorant, or downright criminal that person is. Conservatives have shown over and over and over that they do not think for themselves. They are incapable of forming their own opinions about anything and they repeatedly vote against their own interests over and over and over again. The rest of us cannot afford to let these children ruin the country any longer.

Dear conservatives: It is time to put your idiotic, misguided hatred aside for five fucking seconds and DO WHAT IS BEST FOR THE COUNTRY.

Christians, don't like Abortion? Stop Getting them! Why I Hate the World EP 25

It doesn't get better.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of those "It gets better" videos that people are making in an effort to stop gay kids from killing themselves because they're being bullied at school and everything. Well kids, I'm sorry to break this to you, but it doesn't get better simply because you grow up and become an adult. When you're a kid everyone has to deal with bullies. We all have something that other people will make fun of us for, whether you're too fat, too skinny, your nose is too big, you have funny hair, you dress weird, whatever. It happens to everyone. But these people telling you it gets better automatically because you graduate high school, that's a load of shit.

The truth is kids you will have to put up with bullies your entire life. What you're going to find is the same briandead douche bags who are fucking with you in the halls now become cops, nightclub bouncers, the guy who tried to steal your car stereo, the asshole neighbor, lazy-ass manipulative co-workers, and your boss. True you won't get people picking on you on a daily basis like in high school, but bullies are not simply those who are bigger and stronger than you. A bully is anyone who attempts to unfairly take advantage of their position to force you into doing things you don't want.

You have two choices when dealing with such people - you can either fight, or run. The natural instinct is to run, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some stupid piece of shit starts fucking with you, he's bigger than you and you don't think you can take him? Then run. Fuck it, who cares. Ain't no shame in not getting your ass beat.

But running only gets you so far. Whenever you run it's a green light for the bully to just come back and fuck with you all over again. Sooner or later, if you want people to stop messing with you then you're going to have to confront them, you will have to fight. If you choose to fight then you need to remember a few things:

1) Fighting is always a choice. Might be a shitty choice, but it's still a choice. If you choose to fight be ready to take the consequences.

1) In real life there is no such thing as a fair fight. This applies whether you have a physical confrontation, an argument with a co-worker, conflicts between nations, whatever.

2) Only fight battles to your advantage. If you choose to confront, then only do it at a place and time of your choosing, and only when you know you will win. Never let some fool goad you into fighting on his terms. This doesn't matter if it's some jock dipshit dunking you upside down into a toilet or some asshole threatening you for a lawsuit if you don't pay him off, choose your battles and only confront when the odds are stacked in your favor.

In the first Gulf War While the Iraqis were retreating from Kuwait, the United States air force flew ahead and dropped a shitload of cluster bombs on the 2-lane highway that leads from Kuwait to Baghdad. The Iraqi army tried to go around and got bogged down in the sand. Pretty soon there was a five mile traffic jam of Iraqi tanks, trucks, and jeeps all stuck in the sand, which were all promptly annihilated to fuck by American bombers. Was that a fair fight? Hell no it wasn't fair - but which side lost 26,000 troops, and which side lost 145? The same principle holds true in every single conflict. Do wolves attack the alpha male 500 lb elk? Or do they go after the old and sick animals in the herd? Does the bully go up and start fucking with the 250 lb football player? Or does he pick on kids smaller than him?

What does this mean to you? It means if and when you fight back, do so only when you choose to, when conditions are overwhelmingly in your favor, and when you know you're going to win, with any and every advantage you can get. So is some shit eating dickhead threatening to beat you up? Don't challenge him to meet you after school at the flagpole where you'll get your ass kicked. Get five of your friends, catch him walking home when none of his buddies can help him, gang up and beat his ass down. Is that fair? Hell no. But there ain't no such thing as a fair fight.

These principles don't just apply to physical altercations. You're going to find that many of the people causing you grief later in life don't threaten you physically but do so in other ways. Let me give you a real life example of a conflict that happened to me not that long ago.

There was a girl we hired a few years ago which turned out to be a bad decision. I currently work in the applications development department of a fortune 500 company (which shall remain nameless.) The work we do is boring but not difficult. This girl started out rather well but after she realized how trusting the work environment is at this place her work habits quickly deteriorated.

She would be out for two or three days a week, usually on Mondays and Fridays. One month she had eight "sick" days. When she was in the office she'd spend the whole day on Facebook or fucking around on the Internet instead of working. Half the time she wouldn't do things correctly as she wouldn't bother reading emails. When I would try give instructions she'd respond with very snarky remarks and major attitude. The developers started requesting to not have her on their projects, one guy even said she was "wasting my time." Eventually it hit the point where she wouldn't even bother to respond to emails, would ignore instant messages, and would even flat out refuse to do things when asked and act very rudely when pressed. The result of this is that other people in my group had to work harder to cover for the dead weight we were dragging. Many days I personally stayed late to complete shit she didn't do right as she left early or didn't come in at all. I butted heads with this girl on more than one occasion, because I like the people under me to like, actually do work once in a while. During one of these arguments she made a not-so subtle hint that if I didn't back off she was going to accuse me of sexual harassment. That's right folks, it was a threat - "Let me do whatever I want or I'll get you fired." She was using her position to unfairly get concessions. She was a bully.

The problem is even the accusation of such a thing has the potential to ruin someone's career. For a man in today's climate there is really no defense against such accusations. I'd be fired right away and not have much recourse beyond hiring a lawyer I can't afford, and even then I'd have this bogus charge on my record following me around to every other job I'd try to get in the future. It doesn't matter if the charge was a complete fabrication (which it was,) it would come down to my word against hers, and in any giant megaconglomerate that's more afraid of bad PR then firing the wrong person (such as what I work for) her word would win automatically. That's not a negative judgement against politically correct sexual harassment policies, it's just how it is. So I did what anyone afraid of losing their job would do - I put up with it - I ran away from the conflict.

But like I said before, running only gets you so far. The girl continued her lazy work habits, crappy attitude, and chronic absenteeism, with me having to cover for her and constantly getting fucked over from her shitty work output on a daily basis. One day I was required to ask her to do some work. As I knew even simply asking her to do it was going to degenerate into an argument (which it always did at this point,) I made sure to get the conversation in an instant message log. Sure enough she started throwing a fit, responding rudely, outright telling me to "Quit bothering her," and so on. (Please keep in mind I'm supposed to be this girl's supervisor.) I made sure to respond as professionally and politely as I could during the conversation, saved it, and showed it to my boss. This got her kicked off my unit so I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. And wouldn't you know it, without someone she could manipulate to cover for her bad work habits (and no one to threaten with phony sexual harassment charges, my boss being a woman and all) she couldn't maintain the illusion of productivity and within six months got herself fired. I had no input or influence in that decision. All I did was to remove myself from having to deal with her bullshit, the rest was her fault. I fought back, but I did it the right way.

I'll give another example. When I was in grade school there was a kid named Harley. Harley was smaller than me physically but that didn't stop him from fucking with me - making fun of me, throwing spitballs, crap like that. Like any self respecting male I threatened to kick Harley's ass if he didn't knock it off, as I was clearly capable of doing so. What did Harley do? He waited until parent-teacher night and called me out in right in front of my parents, stood there and dared me to do something. I wanted to attack him so bad but my fear of my mom and dad held me back. Harley successfully used an advantage and won the conflict. I learned a valuable lesson that day, never fight unless you choose the time and place.

I've also been hearing people talking a lot about what exactly causes such behavior, and why it's such a prevalent thing nowadays. Give me a break people - it's not like the concept of "Bullies" is a new fucking thing. It's only part of normal human behavior that's been around since the beginning of time. And honestly, who really gives a shit why a bully acts the way he does? Is he insecure? Have a bad family life? Is he bullied himself? Who really out there fucking cares? That's shit for psychologists to figure out, in real life it really doesn't matter why people act the way they do, only how they act and how you deal with it. The motivation as to why some asshole is fucking with you is irrelevant, the only thing that is relevant is what you're gonna do about it.

That's the way of the world folks - those with the ability tend to always take advantage of those who don't, it's the same if we're talking about arguments, economics, war, politics, commerce, or kids getting hassled in the lunch room. Learn how to deal with it. Do not have dealings with people who act in such a manner, and if for one reason or another you can't do that, then FIGHT BACK. But fight back smart.

Because seriously, fuck these people.

Juan Williams, Fox news, and censorship - Why I Hate the World Ep. 24

Libertarianism is a load of crap

Lately over the last year or so we've been hearing a lot about Libertarianism in the media, most notably from Ron and Rand Paul, who take a libertarian stance on many social issues. All this idiotic teabagger bullshit started when Ron Paul ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, and thus a lot of the Tea Party people identify themselves as "libertarian." In real life they are merely re-branded conservatives, but that's not what we're talking about here.

According to Wikipedia, the Libertarian party of the United states asserts this to be the core belief of Libertarianism:

"Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties."

Let's take a look exactly at what this all means. We always hear people on the right talking about "smaller government," but what exactly do they mean by this? Well to people like Rand Paul, "Smaller government" means cutting any and all entitlement, social assistance, or welfare programs. That means no Medicare or Medicaid, no food stamps, no unemployment, nothing. Even a program like Social Security, where people pay into a pool over dozens of years and don't take benefits until a certain age, even this is too much government involvement. If the libertarians get in charge you can kiss any kind of help from Uncle Sam goodbye.

The elimination of any and all types of social assistance is however consistent with libertarian philosophy, which is more than most political movements can claim. Libertarian philosophy asserts that people are only responsible for themselves and their immediate family, they completely reject any notion that the individual should contribute to a larger society or should take advantage of the benefits of such a society. This is why you see the followers of Rand Paul talk so much about "States Rights"and the 10th amendment. In fact recently there's been a growing movement of "Tenthers" splintering off from the Teabagger people who are attempting to use the 10th amendment to do things like reverse the health care bill. This is great provided you are a reasonably healthy individual capable of finding work and taking care of yourself - but In real life there are millions of people out there who are not, for one reason or another, often times though no fault of their own.

The problems that our nation faces seem more and more stem from the exact policies which the conservative forces in our government have enacted over the last 30 year - deregulating banking, removing environmental restrictions, cutting taxes on the wealthy, and so on. Stripping away the social safety net and removing worker protections is the exact opposite of what needs to be done in order to preserve our middle class and general American prosperity.

Libertarianism is also an inadequate and ineffectual philosophy when dealing with modern nation states. We live in an era where for good or ill nation states tend to cooperate economically and militarily, where capital is not restricted by international borders, where people born half a world a way have the ability to travel and settle long distances, Where the resource rich areas of the globe are also some of the most backward and war torn, usually as a result of extracting said resources for Western consumption, where small groups of determined individuals are capable of causing mass destruction unlike any other time in history. It is increasingly apparent that it is in our best interest to work towards stability in some of the more vital areas of the world. When people in South America have jobs, people in Africa are fed, when Pakistan has a stable government, or Nuclear weapons are restricted from North Korea we benefit as well. The Libertarian isolationist world view of an America with closed borders, no international aid, and zero involvement in world affairs except to drop bombs on people who directly threaten us is a recipe for disaster. America cannot economically, politically, socially, and militarily afford an isolationist policy. Globalization is here to stay, for good or ill, there is no going back.

The Libertarian tirade against "government control" ignores the inherent flaw with a profit-driven model. An entity which puts profits over the well being of people should not be allowed to control such vital sectors of society without stringent oversight. Over the past decade due to such policies we've seen companies such as Enron and Worldcom fold and take the retirements savings of their workers with them, we've seen banks and investment firms build up and pop bubble after bubble - Tech stocks, oil, wheat futures, - finally accumulating in the collapse of the housing market which nearly took our entire economy with it. All of this occurred because of a LACK of regulation, not TOO MUCH OF IT.

Those countries which are most successful in regards to keeping their people healthy, educated, safe, and employed use a mixture of socialized industries along with capital entrepreneurship. In general, those sectors of the economy which benefit the citizen directly tend to be socialized - health care, medicine, law enforcement, fire, military, Utilities such as water, electricity, etc. The exact mixture to get the maximum benefit yet retain the greatest amount of liberty I think has yet to be determined. Maybe we don't need 100% socialized medicine. Maybe it's good to let certain industries take risks without restrictions. But the fact remains we are all part of a larger society, and in order to keep that society working we are obligated to contribute. The Libertarian ideal of "I'm not sharing" may work great on a neighborhood level, but when taken into a national context is highly immature and practically unworkable.