It's called RESEARCH, retard.

Please read the disclaimer below*

I am confronted daily with comments from folks (not here on THIS blog, of course) who are so painfully uninformed that I seriously wonder about their literacy and have a deep indentation in the middle of my forehead from slamming it against my laptop keyboard. Some people are not just stupid (intellectually and socially) but they are frickin lazy!

I cannot tolerate intellectual laziness. CANNOT. CANNOT. CANNOT.

First let me say:

Wikipedia is not a credible source. ANYONE can go there and edit the entries (that's why it's called a "wiki"). The webmasters cannot possibly keep up with the input of new information; it is not monitored by experts. Please, please, please, do not Wiki for your research.

Second:

Having an opinion about politics is NOT the same as having an INFORMED opinion about politics. "I think he's/she's great" is not an opinion-- it's a PREFERENCE. BIG difference. It's like saying you like sour cream on a baked potato. Not everyone does, but you PREFER to have it with than without. No argument there.

An informed opinion is where the speaker takes an ACTIVE role in gathering facts and information for THEMSELVES from various reliable sources and THEN presents a case for their position in a logical, tasteful, well-constructed manner (for those interested in true Rhetoric, [and no, it's not a four letter word as most would have you think] google the Five Canons or Aristotelian Rhetoric. One of my Ph.D. areas is in Rhetoric and I would consider myself better informed on argument than a few people I have read lately).

Third:

Research requires critical thinking skills. No, just because you read it somewhere does not make something a fact. Heck, the Bible's got lots of "facts". Serpents talk, some guy lived in the belly of a whale for three days, people turn into salt for looking at a city; you get my drift, right? Thinking is the key concept here; not believing. I know, for a fact, that there is a moon in space which orbits our planet. I have not had first hand experience being on it, touching, seeing it up close. But indeed, lots of educated people who study it for a living have published lots of stuff in well-respected places that convince me that that thing I see in the night sky is indeed a moon and without it, life on earth as we know it would likely not exist.

Fourth:

Some of the smartest people I know are also the kindest. Wonder why that is? Well, people who don't know much, who want a president or Vice-president they could "have a beer with" are intellectually retarded, yes, RETARDED. I don't want some monkey with the IQ of 75 running our country's affairs. I want an educated, well-read, well-thought person to be our president (gee, didn't we just elect one?).

Last:

I am sick to death of anti-intellectualism in our culture. As a smart kid, I was kind of ashamed that I did really well in school. Even today, I rarely talk to people outside academia about my dissertation project or the official title of my Ph.D. (the aforementioned is only part of it). I have dedicated the better part of 8 years to getting a Master's degree and completing my doctoral degree. I've earned the right to say (without hesitation: "YOU'RE WRONG, but here's why"). I don't get personal, I don't get nasty (usually) but I will not stand for retards who refuse to research their opinions.

Back 'em up; then we can debate.

*This post is not an attack on people with functional mental disability or otherwise. I am merely talking about functional, run-of-the-mill idiots, who have internet access and sh*t for brains.

Read more...

Warning: this post has words and a tale of caution

You know we live in a scary world when we need a sign telling us to be scared of a sign.

There is some very fine print at the bottom; as far as I can read it says: "Also, the bridge is out ahead".

I think it speaks a lot to human behavior; a lot of stupid human behavior. I imagine people driving to this area, parking a car in front of the sign, obeying the "no driving your car here" sign but stupidly disregarding the "no people" sign, a decision they soon regret.

One cloudy afternoon, not unlike the one in the picture, a couple approach the sign in a glossy, chromed-out Yellow Hummer. A man gets out from the driver's side, a woman from the passenger's. As she steps away from the ostentatious behemoth, a brisk gust lifts the plaid shawl she has draped loosely around her shoulders and she instinctively draws it closer. They stroll toward the water (but really it's a waste pond) there in the distance, as the man holds her left hand in his right. She lazily stokes the sign with her right hand and "OW!" gets a huge metal cut when the sign's edge digs deep into her palm. As she tries to staunch the flow of blood with her Burberry shawl she hears a yelp and looks around.

"Jeff?" she asks hesitantly.

"JEFF!" a little more insistently, panic in her voice.

The man has mysteriously vanished. Police are called, her wound bandaged and the search for Jeff is unable to proceed as the land behind the sign is pocked like swiss cheese with sink holes and quick sand from the toxic waste illegally dumped there.

Twenty years ago so many people got curious about the dilapidated bridge "they" posted a sign to prevent people from breaking limbs by walking on the rotten wood. When sink-holes developed and large patches of quicksand appeared, another sign was placed. Still, stupid people ignored the sign and many more came to an awful end. In desperation to help prevent the needless deaths of hundreds of morons each year, "they" again posted a sign warning about the sign, hoping this at last would be enough to keep ignoramuses at bay.

Alas, we all now know how this tale ends. The woman with the ruined Burberry shawl hires an attorney and files a law suit.

At the trial, the judge dismisses the case on the grounds of "stupidity" and adds: "I can't believe you tried to get 'them' to pay for the dry cleaning of your shawl. And WHY on earth are you still driving a Hummer?"

The dejected woman drives away from the court house. On her way the low fuel light comes on (for the fourth time that week) and lucky for her she notices a Mobile gas station ahead on Main Street where gas is only $6.50 a gallon. She's decides to do some shopping to ease her mind after the dismissal of her law suit and to cushion the blow of losing Jeff to a sink hole or quick sand-- she will never know.

She then sees a sign:

"That's a good deal on shit," she thinks, suddenly feeling better, making a right turn from the left lane without signaling or looking for cars beside her.

Over the honks and the shouts, a sense of calm is restored to the woman. She returns home later that day excitedly emptying her plastic bags. As she tries to decide where to put her purchases she looks at the expiration date below the "Made in China" sticker on her shit, only to discover that the shit has expired.

Yes, we live in a world fraught with peril. Death lurks at every corner and an unending supply of needless outsource-produced shit is at our finger-tips waiting for the hapless and intelligence-challenged. Natural selection and evolution do their parts. It's up to the morons to finish the job.

This ends today's tale with words and a warning this holiday season: Beware of signs that say don't touch them and always check that the shit you buy made in China hasn't already expired.

Happy Saturday to all.

Read more...

Elephants, rats, and the merits of gargling

For almost ten years the conservative voices on the "right" in the US have mostly been in harmony. The last several months have turned their harmonious chorus of "small government," "tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%," and "let's go to war" into a cacophony of "holy sh*t," and "I'm conservative, but not THAT kind of conservative (re: Palin)" and "what the H do we do now?" All one needs to do is look at the number of high-profile Republicans who abandoned the sinking Palin- McCain, um, I mean McCain-Palin ship. Chris Buckley resigned from his own FATHER'S publication the National Review over his endorsement of Barack Obama. Just yesterday, David Frum wrote about our president elect using his middle name (as if we should fear him because his middle name is "Hussein;" get over it). A few weeks ago he got his ass handed to him by my newest hero, Rachel Maddow; (see if you can count the number of times he blinks). He's also resigning from NR. What is wrong with these people?

As the Elephants scramble to pick up the peanuts, the left leaning side of our country is finally clearing its collective throat. It's just in the nick of time. I am convinced that the increase in blogging activity and message boards on the web has expanded the extent to which Americans will go in attempts at establishing a dialogue. There are some particularly stupid people who have access to the web and in flexing their 1st Amendment rights are spewing the most ignorant crap (see this moron; like Palin, go 'way now). However, I have been finding more and more blogs by people who are rallying the troops, educating themselves on the issues, and are finding a way to stay connected to others with like minds in this hectic, economically terrifying time.

I know we won't ever completely be rid of the lowest of the low in terms of uneducated racists and bigots, but we sure can try to raise our own voices, talk to people we know, meet and greet new people ("Hiya; welcome to post-Bush 43 America. Would you like a side of social consciousness and Democracy with that?"), and do our best to keep the morons penned (pun intended) in the circus tents where they belong.

Read more...

The idiots have landed

So, I wake up slowly like I do most Sunday mornings. I have a cup of coffee (maybe, not much of a coffee drinker) and spend the morning multi-tasking, flipping between Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Meet the Press (I miss Tim Russert) and Face the Nation while I read the New York Times online and Huffington Post (among others). One recent addition to this morning ritual is reading some blogs that I have come to enjoy thoroughly (see list above).

I'm not going to let the idiots who have hijacked one of my FAVORITE blogs spill onto mine. But, I am pissed (sorry Donna or Dad if you are reading this :).

Here's what I am repeating to myself (and will continue to do so all day today):

I believe in the power and justice of the first Amendment, regardless of how many f**kwits to which it gives voice.

I believe that our country is going to get back on track, regardless of the unrelenting forces, mostly from those whose choice for President didn't get elected who are acting like cornered, wounded, wild animals, that are trying to keep us divided.

I believe that I have seen a new America and it's beautiful again.

That's what I'll be saying to myself all day. Trying to bask in the glow that is post-Bust 43 America.

May we all come together in the spirit of peace, courage, and understanding, even though apparently, the Idiots have landed.

Read more...