tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post3161439196600602887..comments2024-03-28T16:26:28.642-05:00Comments on driftglass: Back To Schooldriftglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09379167083253389153noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-91161414979921634842011-07-01T12:59:01.085-05:002011-07-01T12:59:01.085-05:00Oh yeah, and as for hurting my feelings, I operate...Oh yeah, and as for hurting my feelings, I operate under the assumption that my feelings, such as they remain, are going to be hurt. After all, if you'll pardon my recycling of a rather banal meme from popular culture ("Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"), we live on "Mars" not "Venus". For that matter, we live in Deeply Corrupt And Insane Mars in this country!<br /><br /><br />But to cite my favorite example, imprisoned Wiki-leaker Pvt. Bradley Manning, had his deep-isolation treatment continued unabated, would have had more than his feelings hurt. <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande" rel="nofollow">His personality would have been erased until there was nothing left of him but a mere shell.</a> Don't worry, I'll vote for BO and the Democrats because I sent an e-mail to White House saying I would do so if they would end the torture of Pvt. Manning. But if you're wondering why I harp on Pvt. Manning the way I do, it is because the way he was almost destroyed by his ordeal is a potent symbol of how far Barack Obama is from what he projected himself to be on the campaign trail.<br /><br />If you want another example, one of the Obama campaign's major themes was the need for transparency in government and principled whistleblowers. But the Obama Administration has become an even more zealous prosecutor and persecutor of whistleblowers than even the Bush Administration.<br /><br />For all I know, Barack Obama might have been taken into a room right after he was sworn in and told he was going to do things "their" way "or else". As crazy as that sounds, that would certainly explain the discrepancy between the Obama of the campaign trail and the Obama in the White House. But to say that this discrepancy is all perception on the part of liberals who habitually expect too much is just willful cognitive dissonance of the most jaw-dropping sort.Mister Robotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08724938709642010624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-24044904546991800572011-07-01T08:32:18.529-05:002011-07-01T08:32:18.529-05:00[OWDT]Let us also not forget the overarching facto...[OWDT]Let us also not forget the overarching factor that has made the job-market so precarious for college-graduates, namely that our society has been hemorraging jobs for the past thirty years, especially so the past fifteen. And this is hapenning because it is becoming increasingly difficult to have infinite growth on finite planet. (The specific operative factor is that ever since 1971, we have had to import an increasing percentage of the petroleum we consume. Before that, <b>the United States of America,</b> believe it or not, was the world's swing producer.)<br /><br />And I fail to see what any of this has to do with the efficacy or lack thereof of voting for Democrats, but it's your blog, so whatever floats yer boat, I guess.[/OWDT]Mister Robotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08724938709642010624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-69933821253765296472011-06-30T18:54:32.290-05:002011-06-30T18:54:32.290-05:00When I came back from Vietnam, I had disposed of m...When I came back from Vietnam, I had disposed of most of the baggage known as ethics or morals.<br /><br />Because mental conditions caused long periods of unemployment, any resume would have been sure garbage.<br /><br />If I were sane enough to work, I had absolutely no compunction about bribing the decision maker to give me a job.<br /><br />It works from kicking back part of your wage working construction in Kansas to the foreman of the job, to paying a recruiter to get me a job as a medical consultant to CPA organizations on how to work the law. I had none of the necessary published qualifications, but a 10 percent kickback got me higher pay than the actual partners in the firm.<br /><br />Charm, political sense and cash will advance anyone to higher authority a lot faster than some BS from colleges (yes, I have over 20 years of formal education and am short a couple of courses of having about 5 to 7 formal degrees.)<br /><br />I'm not sure of what the stats are now but when I was researching how to get rich the fastest, I stumbled across some PhD Thesis that casually mentioned that more of the new millionaires had gotten rich on property speculations and selling cars than any other way.<br /><br />You don't really need a college education to do either of those things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-3473805807704391172011-06-30T16:14:48.961-05:002011-06-30T16:14:48.961-05:00Brilliant post, holmes! Just when I start lazily t...Brilliant post, holmes! Just when I start lazily thinking of you almost solely as master of the metaphor, you deliver an absolutely magnificent narrative arc, like in this post.Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-72842759965173326532011-06-30T14:34:37.115-05:002011-06-30T14:34:37.115-05:00Reading Suzannah Breslin's piece, I think her ...Reading Suzannah Breslin's piece, I think her first point goes right to the heart of how bigotry damages a person professionally. Ever since the right wing started spewing their venom it has gotten harder and harder to find an employer who likes an obvious liberal better than the competition. Entire job categories become unthinkable, insofar as they involve lots of social contact.someofpartsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-26983797947529965362011-06-30T13:47:12.172-05:002011-06-30T13:47:12.172-05:00I thought the productivity measure was exposed as ...I thought the productivity measure was exposed as a fraud long ago.<br /><br />But maybe I wasn't being as productive as I should have been being the day I read that.<br /><br />Ha!<br /><br />Great essay, Dg.<br /><br />I still think Duncan is a NeoCon and just one more of Obie's slick boys.Cirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-52877591612462413452011-06-29T21:37:40.823-05:002011-06-29T21:37:40.823-05:00Productivity...
How long do they think people wil...Productivity...<br /><br />How long do they think people will continue to take that as a fucking compliment? "Productivity" is inversely proportional to workers' income. Being more productive just means you are entitled to a goddamn raise.M. Krebsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-52247706382242227682011-06-29T15:57:47.586-05:002011-06-29T15:57:47.586-05:00Agreed. Now I'm off to the salad bar at Appleb...Agreed. Now I'm off to the salad bar at Applebee's to hang with David Brooks and the real folk.Sad Ironnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-71909393180332013402011-06-29T14:54:21.010-05:002011-06-29T14:54:21.010-05:00Don't bother trying to explain an education le...Don't bother trying to explain an education lets you enjoy things more complicated than good looks or sports to someone who uses right-wing talking point words like "Elitest", you'll just waste your breath :-PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-53319399915839997452011-06-29T14:49:26.326-05:002011-06-29T14:49:26.326-05:00Anonymous--I didn't mean it that way; I meant ...Anonymous--I didn't mean it that way; I meant that list as representing the full sum of one's life experience (not something they may enjoy now and then), and I know many people like this, some who are close to me. I'm just saying that I am thankful for the personal results and satisfaction of my education, rather than what job it immediately placed me in. I watched my former Buffalo Bills lose 4 straight super bowls, and I watched my current Packers win this year's, so I know what it is to enjoy sports. Anyway, no offense meant.Sad Ironnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-66893041492678139892011-06-29T14:25:48.917-05:002011-06-29T14:25:48.917-05:00Sad Iron, just because you're educated doesn&#...Sad Iron, just because you're educated doesn't mean you can't enjoy some of the simpler aspects of life such as the beauty of woman or the spectacle of sports. Don't be an "elitest" either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-47394861215473817312011-06-29T09:58:15.076-05:002011-06-29T09:58:15.076-05:00Can I also say that going to College and being, ye...Can I also say that going to College and being, yes, an English and History major, allowed me to develop a head that I can stand living inside of--in some ways that's enough for me. I was lucky--worked hard in grad school, got tenure at a University (for under 40 grand, so no Feudal overlord there). Still, everyday I am thankful for my mental life (as you must be, because this blog is 100% awesome every day). Without college, here's what I would care about: Miller, Budweiser, ESPN, ESPN, and ESPN, porn, tits, ESPN, who's the greatest running back of all time, damn libruls, wow look at that ass, Miller, Budweiser, funny Miller and Budweiser commercials, The Hangover 6 is hilarious. Repeat. Basically, a life not worth living.Sad Ironnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-7284181089924650432011-06-29T08:05:19.576-05:002011-06-29T08:05:19.576-05:00This:
Also for the record, this is why I have zer...This:<br /><br /><i>Also for the record, this is why I have zero patience for whiners who counsel giving up and rolling over because Harry Reid is still a jellybag, and Barack Obama hurt their fee-fees.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com