Should white people be able to be Chief Diversity Officers?

Today, I received an alumni e-mail from my alma mater, the great University of Missouri,  blemished in recent years by racial prejudice fomented by professor(s) and students, not aiding to any sort of good, but rather running quite contrary to good order and discipline. Only in America, a country which focuses on division rather than unity, could we now be hallmarked by prominent collegiate posts such as "Chief Diversity Officer."

In this very touchy post-modern age, quick to anger, and quick to label, tag and bag, this all throws a wrench commonly overlooked in the discourse of diversity.  That wrench is:  Should a white person be excluded from holding this kind of post?

If so, how does diversity truly contribute to this all-important keystone now securely upholding the tenets of university scholarship?

And what about diversity of thought?  Philosophically speaking, hould that not be the highest form of diversity?

https://news.missouri.edu/2016/doing-diversity/

http://www.insightintodiversity.com/should-white-people-serve-as-chief-diversity-officers/

Instant search results reveal inner thoughts

Irony. I went to get on FB, and my fingers were on the wrong keys, one position to the right. So I accidentally typed "GS" where the letters "FA" would normally be. And Google has this auto-complete for search results that automatically fills in its common searches related to a given term. General Schedule, a.k.a. "Government Servant" is commonly abbreviated GS. What instantly appeared: GS Pay Calculator. So it's kind of telling that what might be foremost on the minds of the GS population is their paycheck, and maybe not so much thinking about how they've dedicated themselves to the sustainment of the great United States of America.

How to prepare for your cable-free life

I've written about this before:  Americans are afraid they won't know what to do in the absence of their feeding tubes.  http://makalakapisei.blogspot.com/2011/02/cut-your-umbilical.html

I was just reading this... http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/1652828 and thinking that there are all sorts of people waking up, realizing they are in the midst of a cultural dark age (well, yes and no - the "enlightened" might blame everyone else's degeneracy on Republicans and ask for more funding - Google CS 106 or the collapse of Detroit) and unplugging.

Here's how to do it:


1. Mentally prepare yourself and your family.  The lack of cable will be a big adjustment, especially if you have children that might feel that they have a "reduction in status" due to no cable - oh, the ignominy of telling one's friends, "Sorry, we don't have cable to watch," and might have to go walking instead.


2. Find out what services you really need.  I would say internet is probably all you might want, do you actually NEED cable t.v. (listen to games on radio, go out to watch them, or do a websearch, a lot of European sites stream them).

3. When Verizon retention specialists call begging you to remain at their teat, tell them you are unplugging from the Matrix (but be prepared for them to try to negotiate).

4. Get a library card and ask the librarian for a quick "refresher tour".  My s.o. loved this when we went through.



5. Start bookmarking websites that help make you feel connected with news, features, current events, discussion fora, links to or good substitutes for the things you feel you might miss.

6. Enjoy your new unplugged life!  I wish you all the best.

My zero T.V. household

Great article yesterday on  NPR - the cable t.v. hawkers are afraid, very afraid: (LINK). It's been a year and about four months since I cut the umbilical.  To reflect, I'd say it's been satisfying getting my time back.  I simply lost interest, with the majority of shows catering to dullards, specializing in the profane, debasing our sensibilities, and peddling "infotainment" to mostly the lowest common denominator. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of pop culture, I keep up with what's going on (especially '80s).  Full disclosure: I watch two shows. One is "The Walking Dead", but on the other side of the spectrum is PBS News Hour or Nova when I can catch it.  I also like Craig Ferguson if I'm ever up that late.  I refuse to keep a t.v. in the bedroom.  I'd rather reach for a magazine, short story, or Imprimis in the morning, something light and imaginative at night, or just good old talk radio. 

I remember a telemarketer calling, more than one, trying to test the waters, looking  for vulnerabilities and the means to bring me back. I've done battle with a grizzled vet who could care less and a more idealistic college graduate who wouldn't quickly succumb to my arguments against plugging back in. I have a few handy references to back myself up - the time when Dateline NBC falsified their data, newscasting dirtbags, or shows like the Kardashians and Maury.  The barrage of media in all forms contributes a great deal to the malsocialized, spoon-fed, attention-deficient public; I asked the kid coming over today looking for a quarter what he'd do with it.  He said he'd "buy an iPad with it."  I said, "That scooter you have there looks a lot more fun than an iPad." 

It was in the '90s that I began to become turned off by cable, and my friends were probably somewhat taken aback. I don't pretend to be a saint, but back then, MTV had long since turned into 24/7 pulp trash (and zero music) with forerunners of the "reality" model like The Real World, Road Rules and Jackass, themselves harbingers of the Idiocracy to follow. So when I would leave the room when my roommates watched, they'd get confused, "What's the matter with him?" I was never above locker room talk in the frat house but the relentless drumbeat of s_x and scatology was overbearing as networks raced to the bottom in who could outdo whom in terms of shock value. I used to defend shows like Howard Stern for standing up for creative freedom and maybe - Anti-Puritanism? But I held onto something that I think is valuable, and that's a bit of modesty. Attention to modesty, well, elevates us from behaving like animals in the long run. It's...civility. Civility is good, civility promotes harmony, allows us to better resist pressures that make us want to clobber the clod in Wal-Mart with their pants hanging down off their asses or mumbling in line, cutting us off on the highway, not defending women, taking advantage of the elderly.

So, I'm happy with my decision. Maybe I spend more time on the internet, as seems to be the case with other emerging "zero-t.v. households". But there is just very little satisfying or worthwhile on t.v.

DIY: How to reinstall the pad for the Swiffer Sweeper Wet Jet mop

These things are great for bachelor-Americans: plastic and shiny out of the box, disposable and of limited use after gathering dust and forgetting the directions.  It's good they have some visible warnings - like "don't insert finger" in the robotic solution bottle impaler.  Reminds me of a blood-letting device from the Middle Ages, but still very tempting.

It looked easy enough to bring back out of retirement.  Purchased new bottle of cleaning juice, and found some pads in the garage from Mom's last visit (or possibly the ex's - but on second thought, what would she be doing around any cleaning supplies?) and Googled the instructional .pdf for precision lock and load.  Unfortunately, the fruitless search for any existing manual or planned obsolescence hampered my efforts and the sanitary napkin round would not lock into place, so I combined manly know-how with '80s sensibility and produced an easy 3-step guide, yours for free unlimited consumer distribution.

LT Poopers says:

News: Six year old beats up fmr college football player

Let's kick off this Monday with a quote:

"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold:
its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life.
If we can undermine these three areas,
America will collapse from within."
- Stalin   Then some news:

Queens teacher suing city claiming he was beaten up by a first-grader
By KIERAN CROWLEY
Last Updated: 8:37 AM, October 1, 2012
Posted: 12:39 AM, October 1, 2012
A hulking Queens gym teacher and former college football player claims a pupil fractured his ankle, injured his knee and forced him to go to a shrink for stress — even though the kid was only 50 pounds and in first grade.

Reading through the article, a gym teacher was kicked in the ankle and knee, for which he went on disability leave, directed by doctors (enter the medical establishment).

Enter the police:

NYPD responded but took no action. The boy’s parents refused to allow him to be taken to a hospital for observation.

And the lawyers:

Webster’s lawyer, Andrew Siben of Bay Shore, LI, said school officials were repeatedly warned about Rodrigo but did not protect his client.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/he_kicked_his_teacher_ass_oRcHY0BTqaqDVI148eOm4N#ixzz283o26Mb1

And the commenters:

Where did this little angel come from?


In the Sixties LBJ and the sociopathic Democrat Congress created the Welfare Society (they called it "The Great Society") in which the crowning achievement was to encourage unwed mothers and deadbeat dads to spit out illegitimate children (aka bastards) by the busload...all paid for the Stupid and Ignorant Taxpayers..
The Democrat goal was to create future Democrat voters (aka welfare cases and criminals). They have achieved their goal with tremendous results. This has been going on, and increasing, for FIVE GENERATIONS and now we are in the nightmare land of MILLIONS of Bastards creating more bastards, criminals, mental defectives, and more welfare thugs and slugs. And people wonder why the Third World poor and lowlifes come here illegally with their hands out. They know stupid people (Liberals and their Slaves) live here who will see that their every need and desire is met.
Oh, I forgot. LBJ and his Gang raided the Social Security Trust Funds to help pay for this Fraud but they still were short so they issued US Bonds to cover the deficit. At that time the US only owed $200 Billion. After this and Jimmy Carter and his Democrat Unindicted Co-Conspirators put people on Social Security who never put a dime into SS, and a host of other FREE GOODIES, the Debt has grown to $16 TRILLIONS...not billions....TRILLIONs.Any questions why Social Security and Medicare are broke and we are staring at rampant inflation and financial collapse? I didn't think so. Stocking guns, ammo, food, and water kinda make sense don't they?  -Les Redmon · Top Commenter

And there you have it!  Six year-old boy beats up man; another average day in the debilitated post-modern United States.

Aladdin's Castle: Acropolises of 1980s U.S.A.



URL: http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/71938-flynns-arcade-opens-in-london

Like a good '80s child, a bike ride to the arcade was a huge formative experience.  Navigating our BMXs through trails, backyards and cut-throughs to go play Double Dragon, buy 10 cent soda and stay out from underfoot of bigger kids.  Inthe00s.com has a great history of reporting on this kind of nostalgia, where I've contributed some.  I recently unearthed a few AWESOME Aladdin's Castle token pouches , real relics, and having seen Tron:Legacy (2010) with the ghost town like images of Flynn's, I wondered if the preeminent arcade of the time was still in operation.
The corporate response:

Yes, we did acquire the Aladdin's Castle, along with several other arcade chains, many years ago. Unfortunately, most Mall Arcades have gone the same path as the dinosaur. As mall owners have doubled or tripled our lease payment, it has forced most arcade to become unprofitable, and therefore we have closed them up.

Currently, there are 3 Aladdin's Castle arcade left.

QUINCY MALL 3423 QUINCY MALL
QUINCY IL 62301
MAPLEWOOD MALL 3001 WHITE BEAR AVE. NORTH
MAPLEWOOD MN 55109
ST. LAWRENCE CENTER 100 ST. LAWRENCE CENTER
MASSENA NY 13662

Not sure I'll be lucky enough to swing by one of these... all kind of out of the way.  Back in Michigan, we had Pinball Pete's. 10 cent sodas.  I SAID TEN CENT SODAS.  Andy Capp hot fries for maybe 50 cents.  Double Dragon Arcade, Elevator Action.  High school "burnouts" on one side of the arcade that would beat your third grade body to a pulp if you looked at them.  Checkerboard pads on my bike, racing through vacant lots and dirt paths on construction sites (maybe a new Tarshzay going up?) to sneak in.  Now the place is a Sprint store :(



Update:  Found all this awesomeness on eBay:

Aladdin's Castle manager blazer

Token pouch - get medieval on that ___

The Czech Republic kickin' knowledge

“The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama Presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their President. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their President."

- UNK

Beware of people bowing to "liability"

I just heard that a marathon runner at the Cowtown Marathon in Texas was disqualified from winning a race he competed in because of wearing his partner's tag, as his partner dropped out of the race before it started. He didn't put up a fuss about being disqualified, but I will. One reader said, "It's a liability issue - can you imagine if he got sick?" Liabilty - please! Haven't you had it up to your ears with everything in life being a "liability issue"? Kids can't go sledding in public parks: it's a liability issue. Restaurants can't give food to the homeless: it's a liability issue. Liability this, liability that: life isn't getting to be much fun anymore, and people hesitate to make important decisions because of - liability. Overregulating everything has become the hallmark of American society, so much so, that if some kind of regulation doesn't exist on "What should I do in this situation?", people simply don't act, and it's absurd!

Public Service Announcement

To the people line-dancing at Hardee's: You are obstructing my path to the ketchup dispenser.

VJ Day, Honolulu Hawaii, August 14, 1945

VJ Day, Honolulu Hawaii, August 14, 1945 from Richard Sullivan on Vimeo.

What is this shiate?!

Great moments in lexographical orthodoxy:

  The '90s: "Deez nuts," is introduced to common slang. "D. Snutts" becomes one of my pseudonyms.

The '00s: "I know, right!", an expression of agreement, invades the country from rap salons.

Today: "Really?!  Reeeeeally?!" becomes the latest noxious trend in urban drawl.  Formerly known as "Seeriously?! Seeriously?!  Are you m* f'n seerious?!" with a high inflection that the speaker uses, in order to sound knowledgable and authoritative, and to offend the senses. 

  If you weren't aware of any of these, they'll hit you like nails on a chalkboard when you hear them now!

  Bonus annoying trend:

  What is with people putting memorials with names, slogans, tombstones and birth/death dates on their rear windshields?  "R.I.P. such and such."  Weren't you depressed enough before?  If you want to show us that you're grieving, I truly sympathize, but why is the automobile suddenly the place to put that stuff?  I don't get it, seems conspicuously gaudy to me.

"Champain tastes" - *slang experimentation zone*

Couture

I remind you all of a little secret:  I'm a producer, I make things happen.  It's a lot of girls out there trying to equate couture with culture, but this isn't France.  What the hell, don't they even know how to spell?  We do it up American style. And I learn a lot of phraseology from New York YouTube videos. 

You know how we do it; salute when you see money. Looking like money, indulging in city life.  I was dabbling a bit in the murky underworld of online dating and I found a fellow hopeless romantical that professed a palpabul taste for the finer thingys in life.  Thus, her headline, "Champain tastes". There's nothing wrong with the 50 lb. bag of irony involving the modern spelling of the word; in fact, it's a lot of people that wonder how to even get things that romantical at all.  U R probably wondering if a relationship with someone use to exquisite things is attainable.  This fair lady has made no pretense of her desire for the finer things in life, and Stan would have to get hurt for trying to out-pimp the original pimp. (Credit: my long-time friend 'Blood Dragon') 

According to "dat grl", here's some things you can do to upgrade your swag and hopefully give a little taste of the old world style (pre-1980).  Doin' my gentsklman shiate, a lot of people don't have the savoire faire, but I take exception with people who don't like double-breasted suits.  Step up your savvy.

"Take her to a very nice hotel, then @ night take her to a nice romantic dinner(have crab), have the imployes at the hotel cover your room with candels and rose peddals white and red, a glass of champain, smooth music(lets get it on) chocolet covered strawbarrys, whipped cream, in the champain glasses make sure you have frozen blue barries in them cuz it makes the champain taste extra sweet. and make sure you have her outfit put out on the bud for her to put on langerie and make it red."

Always da hopeless romantic, I recently scoured the infotainment machine for some advice on a fondue.  I want to impress some seafood-eatin' biatches. This is what my peeps had to say:

Champain tastes

Crab (or surimi, its a heavy dip, doesnt matter too much), artichoke hearts, mayo, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper...

Some combination of those, oven safe dish, 15-20 minutes @ 350 until bubbly.

And to all the haters telling me to put "GHB" (I looked that up, that means date-rape drugs) in my crab dip or frontin' my style, well, bugger off!!

  

On Baltimore living

I wonder wny Baltimore escapes so much of the national focus (blight) that is heaped on Detroit. I used to live right outside of greater Baltimore, and I can't imagine having to raise kids there. "Daddy, why don't we ever go past the Patapsco Valley State Park?" "That's the DMZ, honey. That's where all the Obama voters live and kill each other in broad daylight. It's a very bad place."

Flotsam and Jetsam: Education Edition

- On thinking critically:
No, the real problem is that we don't teach our children how to think critically. We have a generation of young people who think they can find all of the answers to life's problems by grabbing the top Google hit but who have no idea how to critically evaluate the information they find. We have an entire culture based around the idea that expressing an opinion automatically makes that opinion valid but who have no idea how to defend their position. This is beneficial to the elite because it means that you can convince your average American that taking that $500K ARM with a $40K income makes perfect sense.
~ "Mentat"

- Science's role:
Consider the role science now plays in education. Scientific "facts" are taught at a very early age and in the very same manner in which religious "facts" were taught only a century ago. There is no attempt to waken the critical abilities of the pupil so that he may be able to see things in perspective. At the universities the situation is even worse, for indoctrination is here carried out in a much more systematic manner. Criticism is not entirely absent. Society, for example, and its institutions, are criticized most severely and often most unfairly and this already at the elementary school level. But science is excepted from the criticism. In society at large the judgment of the scientist is received with the same reverence as the judgment of bishops and cardinals was accepted not too long ago. The move towards "demythologization," for example, is largely motivated by the wish to avoid any clash between Christianity and scientific ideas. If such a clash occurs, then science is certainly right and Christianity wrong. Pursue this investigation further and you will see that science has now become as oppressive as the ideologies it had once to fight. Do not be misled by the fact that today hardly anyone gets killed for joining a scientific heresy. This has nothing to do with science. It has something to do with the general quality of our civilization. Heretics in science are still made to suffer from the most severe sanctions this relatively tolerant civilization has to offer.
~ Paul Feyerabend
- A conversation on teaching reading early:
The point being is that teachers teach what they think is important...not what is important. Hence you will have lots of people using old data, old methods, etc. There is nothing in the U.S. that demands,"THIS MUST BE TAUGHT."

With two children in a very good elementary school, my experience is that science and math are de-emphasized for reading at the early elementary grade levels. Study after study shows that kids who read better and earlier are far more successful in all fields as high schoolers, college students, and professionals. Which makes sense, as reading is a knowledge acquisition tool, where math and science are sheer knowledge. Math and science can be easily acquired (even self-taught) if one has language skills.

Math is certainly taught, to be sure, and kids do little science projects. It's just that while a lot of effort goes into getting my daughter into reading at higher and higher levels (she was already reading when she entered kindergarten), there is no pressure to get her to "level up" in math. And I don't know how one "levels up" in science at that age.
Is that a bad thing? I'm not 100% sure, but I'd certainly prefer that she be learning good language skills than doing rote math at her age. Does that mean she'll test worse on math than another 7 year old from Korea? Probably. Does that mean that she'll always test worse than that other kid? Definitely not.

~Fark.com







"No, Your Honor. My dog wouldn't do that [jump up on guests]. You see, my dog is a stoner dog."

- A plantiff on the Judge Joe Brown t.v. show

Why is the place where the first Thanksgiving was held - closed on Thanksgiving Day?

Why don't Native Americans and others ever host Thanksgivings here?   Seems ironic. Seems silly, in fact, incredible.

http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/visit_tours.html

Forum: "Don't fault us guys too much. We do the best we can."

Interesting insights from men in yet another Fark dating thread... in this case, how "the introduction" might be like Grand Central.

------
"Skullduggery": The attention I get over my appearance is much less wanted than the attention I get from something I'm saying or doing.
------
"rewind2846": I get that, but you have to understand that the guy who's approaching you is running countless conversations in his head in the few seconds he has to make his opening statement to you. He realizes he could really fark up any chance he has with you by saying the wrong thing, so he usually goes for the simplest choice available.

His mind is like Grand Central Station in New York city X100,000, with all the tracks full and all the platforms crowded and it's 9am on monday morning and every train is late. He doesn't know if the book you're carrying is yours, if you bought if for a friend, if you hated it and are taking it back, or what.

There is no time for lengthy analysis or introspection or insight, you must say something. Anything. NOW. Before she leaves. And it must not scare her off, and hopefully make her smile and want to keep talking to you.

Most women, especially those who have never tried to introduce themselves to a guy, are clueless about all this. It's part of being a man in this society, so we deal with it... but that doesn't make it any easier... so don't fault us guys too much. We do the best we can.

http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=5740056&cpp=1

QOTD

"What is CLASS?" by Ann Landers

Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head on and handle whatever comes along.

Jacob had it. Esau didn't. Symbolically, we can look to Jacob's wrestling match with the angel. Those who have class have wrestled with their own personal angel and won a victory that marks them thereafter.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.

Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small sacrifices.

Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. The most affluent blueblood can be totally without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.

Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.

Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself.

If you have class you don't need much of anything else. If you don't have it, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make much difference.

---------------------

Excerpts from "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of cheap stuff," by Gary Hamel

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the essential conflict is not betwen totalitarianism and democracy, nor is it between marauding corporations and helpless employees, it is between our consuming, acquisitive and materialistic selves and our family-rearing, coummunity-building spiritual selves.

There's a palpable yearning for something deeper and more enduring than big screen TVs, Caribbean cruises and gourmet cookware.

------------------------------

A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX :

1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK.

2.) YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.

3.) WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.

4.) IN LIFE, YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS,
WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.

5.) TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF
TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.

We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you.

"He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."
Job 8:21

Ain't That America

Ah but ain't that America for you and me

Ain't that America somethin' to see baby

Ain't that America home of the free, yeah

Little pink houses for you and me, Ooooh

Ooh yeah

Ain't that America for you and me

Ain't that America hey somethin' to see baby

Ain't that America oh home of the free

Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Little pink houses babe for you and me

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah

And now, a public service announcement

Crass, but true. I don't mean to hurt any feelings with this, but somehow our aesthetic is inclined toward "slim is beautiful."  This idea has been highly controversial; deleterious to health, and then not (e.g. anorexia/bulemia vs. a national obesity index); a struggle between old-world vs. new ("My mom used to feed us like lumberjacks," vs. parents starting their children on designer diets - Google it).  I know I have about 20 lbs. to lose, and that's just so running won't hurt my ankle and back anymore.  But it's also to increase my energy and develop self-control, character, and efficiency.