Smart shoppers: Don't forget to bring your truncheons!

Two-dimensional thinking is the ONLY way to go.
Or two ways, I should say.

No room for nuance at all. What is context, but a fancy word that makes people's heads hurt?

What is a sense of measure? By whose measure? Everything is relative, so nothing can truly be
measured; therefore, the distinctions between poor and wealthy are just a temporary illusion.

There's nothing to see here. Just Adam Smith's Huge Radioactive Invisible Hand, which will
magically rebalance the world markets again, very soon... as soon as it's finished masturbating,
that is.

Everyone is totally equal anyway, once we're all dead.

The Law must be simple, for simple folks. The Law, and the Uudgement of those who Oversee it.
This is how they keep the peace on Monkey Island.

k&R!

Well, see here!--I happen to have a very good friend named Richard, and he is really quite nice, he's always polite and well-groomed and--YAAARGHH!

Sorry. That was silly, and we simply won't have that sort of thing here!



Right! Carry on!

 
Bullies were mostly about intimidation and the THREAT of violence... and even when it did come,
it was MILD comparatively speaking, not this sort of apeshit violence.

Maybe I'm missing something here; it's been a LONG time since I was in school, but when I
returned to this thread to see what others had said, I was surprised that no one else objected
to the term as used, as if bullying is now just one tot shy of first degree murder.

Not to mention disappointed to see so little interest in this thread overall. The fact that the
other kids didn't do anything is not that surprising, since they're kids for chrissakes... but
here on DU, no one seems to want to defend the kid either!

I know it's been a busy last few days, but still...

Pretty sad on several levels.

• How often do you have a bowel movement?

Nearly EVERY TIME an asshole that is not my own asks me this question... other than that, never.

• Do you use recreational drugs?

Why, you got any?

• I practice safe sex with only one partner: (rarely, occasionally, always)

Me too! (kinda) I practice safe sex with only one partner at a time, only I always do it rarely, occasionally... sorta. Does that answer your question?

• What types of oils do you use most often in your diet?

Sweet black crude, mostly... not my fault, though, it's in the goddamn tap water.

• Is your primary residence located near any of the following: a major highway or street; an airport; heavy industry; a landfill or incinerator; an orchard or farm; high-tension wires or radio/telephone/radar antennas?

Yes, it is uncomfortably close to nearly all these things... but I'm just not ready to kill myself yet, despite this. Does that make me a BAD person?

Why should I have to answer these questions to anyone but a doctor?

Because dictators know best!

Oh, btw, I ALWAYS LIE on questionnaires (sometimes)... does that make me a BAD person?

___________________________________________________________________________________________


A serious answer is much harder. No matter how you answer this kinda crap, you're damned if you do or damned if you don't. So good luck; if you really need the job, you might try pretending you "no speak-a-dee-englaze", or just admit from the git-go that you're a BAD person, and beg for leniency.

K&R!

After all, when you've faithfully served your country in extreme conditions such as war, your right to peacefully protest SHOULD be BEYOND REPROACH.

And let me quickly qualify that last statement: YES, EVERYONE in America's right to peacefully protest SHOULD be beyond reproach... but you know the names we're called, simply because we show the courage to stand up on our hind legs and say "FUCK THIS SHIT! I DIDN'T SIGN ON FOR THIS! I WANT MY FUCKING MONEY BACK!!"

Even Limbaugh wouldn't DARE call Scott Olsen a dirty hippy... or WOULD he? (Yes, I'm DARING you, you FAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!)

The point is, if he DID, there's a distinctly different resonance there...

I TOTALLY agree with you; We ARE all equal, under the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (or certainly we're SUPPOSED to be)... but when stuff like this happens to a VET, one who has put his ass ON THE LINE for two tours of duty in what is arguably HELL ON EARTH for his country, CERTAINLY this unfortunate and EVIL incident has a MUCH greater chance of causing A LOT of more regular, blithely disengaged people to recognize the hideous injustices we are ALL living under...

So how can you really argue against that, in this particular context?

And, understandably, it gives a LOT of folks out there a great deal of encouragement, knowing that our brave Marines--who REALLY ARE some of the BADDEST-ASS MOTHERFUCKERS on the face of the earth, BAR NONE, and CERTAINLY worth ANY 30-40 FAT FUCKING DONUT-CRAVING American POLICE--not to mention EASILY THE EQUAL of at LEAST 10 t0 20 PUSSY-ASS fucking Blackwater darlings, who also have lived in relative isolation from any REAL danger these last 10 years or so--knowing that these, our BRAVEST WARRIORS, have now seen, VERY GRAPHICALLY, the great EVIL that this small minority of power-addicted GREED-HEADS represent to our continued survival as a country, not to mention the ENTIRE race of mankind generally... well, that is rather encouraging to our movenent generally, don't you agree?

So the worth of this unfortunate and MONSTROUS incident to our very just and UNSTOPPABLE movement CANNOT be underestimated.

BTW, this response is meant as a SINCERE answer to the question posed, which I fully understand... and let me add a GRATEFUL K&R for a thoughtful post, from my own PASSIONATE and ANGRY viewpoint, as one who has admittedly NEVER served, but MUST appreciate the very REAL COURAGE and SACRIFICE of our armed services, especially these last 10 years or so, in these times of purely pointless ECONOMIC wars created for the benefit of those DISGUSTING 1-15%, who have long believed themselves to be The TRUE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, but are very soon in for a RUDE AWAKENING INDEED.

To everyone out there supporting this movement: PEACE IN OUR TIME!... but not until the DEVILS have been DRIVEN OUT!!!

And all my best hopes for a full recovery to this VERY brave and VERY PATRIOTIC young man, Scott Olsen, who had the AMAZING COURAGE to stand alone before that seemingly-unstoppable line of POLICE-CREATURES, as if they really were nothing more than the CORPORATE SCARECROWS they ACTUALLY ARE.

...they become gutless wonders; they won't help anyone around them, because they don't want money conflicts with friends and family.

That's what they say, at least... but in actuality, they just fall in love with that money, immediately and completely, and forget
all about family and friends. Why fear such conflict? Why wouldn't it be worth it to at least TRY to help those you supposedly care for?

Toads. There are a few who have proven throughout history that wealth CAN be used to alleviate the suffering of others, and empower
more than just the first recipient.

But they wouldn't know anything about that. They're not likely to read up on the subject of How To Be an Enlightened Capitalist, either...

Too busy cuddling their money.


God, I hate fuckin' stupid people.

Vile. Disgusting. Perverted. Ugly. Freaks. Monsters. Cannibals.

HUMAN SCUM. SHIT LIZARDS. CRETINS. MUTANTS.

Not all, but apparently quite a few.

All my best to Scott Olsen. He looked like such a cool dude, standing there right in front of that line of CREATURES.

A good kid. I hope his recovery is complete. I hope he lives to SUE the Oakland PD into OBLIVION.

EVERYONE wants to know what happens next... but the future is unknowable.

The Iraq vet being critically injured in the infuriating police state exercise in Oakland less than two days ago is spawning a HUGE INSURGENCE of angry Marines into OWS... and guess what? That's just the beginning... because all those OTHER dudes will be coming home from Iraq very soon, and finding their country is now quickly becoming another sort of war zone, as the thoughtless rich push back at the movement with all the ready cash they have on hand... but they are underestimating the size and scope of this movement, and everything they do to crush it will only increase its growth rate EXPONENTIALLY.

Just an observation. Can't tell you how it's all gonna end, though.

End Game my ass. We're only in the FIRST INNING.

Great talent tends to skip a generation; for every Julian Lennon or Charlie Sheen, there are dozens
of not-so-special progeny of the talented who never make much of a mark, or not much of a decent mark,
at any rate. If you doubt what I say, just look at Hank Williams, then look at Hank Williams Jr.

Genius is even rarer, and simply doesn't repeat in the same bloodline; it is too complex an equation,
the rare mix of positive AND negative characteristics that somehow balance out in a crazy, unexpected
harmony and result in someone with immense gifts to share with the world. Genius simply CANNOT be inherited.

However, a LOT of the money a person of great talent or even genius can accumulate through the free
exercise of such gifts in a society such as ours CAN be inherited. Unfortunately.



Old money is the bane of man's entire existence. It is the greatest source of mischief (and I mean
that in the darkest sense of the word, i.e. EVIL) that we have ever been prey to.

Old money is vested in incompetent hands, again and again, through inheritance, down through the generations...
and the damage this does to world culture is simply incalculable.

To inherit vast wealth is to receive great power that one has done NOTHING of merit to deserve.

I don't really know much about the Koch Brothers' Daddy... perhaps he wasn't such a nice guy himself. Maybe
he inherited much of his own startup capital from HIS dad... I don't know, and it doesn't much matter in
this discussion.

What DOES matter, what is absolutely de rigeur here is a basic recognition of the basic and quite universal fact
that the guy who FIRST creates and accumulates great wealth through his own creativity or intelligence or
diligent effort is usually NOT a total dick; usually he's an entrepeneur of some sort, with a strong will to find a way
to share something of value with the world... but sadly, he has NO WAY to pass down the vision, insight, capacity for
hard work, hard-learned patience or hard-won mastery of some important discipline that made his own fortune possible
in the first place, to his beloved children.

No matter how he tries, he cannot pass on whatever combination of talents or virtues or specialized vision possessed,
along with fortunate winds and Swiss timing that somehow came together in him, in that indefinable frisson of Fate, of
kismet, and enabled that vast fortune to take seed and grow.

In the future, if there is a future, we really should think about setting the inheritance tax a LOT higher.
Like maybe 99.9% in the case of huge fortunes.

Evil trust fund babies are devouring our world. The Kochs are only two of the biggest and most obnoxious of these
creatures currently murdering all life on earth...

Hell, they probably don't even mean to. They're just ignorant. They know not what they do. They're tiny children
flying about in rocket cars, simply because Daddy left the keys in the ignition when he passed away.

It's obvious. Just look at it. Everything they touch turns to shit. Too much power, in the hands of people
who never had any necessity to develop talent or vision or true mastery of any difficult discipline. And why
would they? They are utterly insulated from life's necessities, from any real need to learn or grow through
pain and difficulty... and necessity is the mother of invention, as has so often been observed.

10 years ago I wrote an article for the Duluth Reader called The Worst Addiction,
which is now more timely than ever. You might want to check it out, if further elaboration is needed--and there's a
lotta good yoks and larfs interspersed within the overall cold-and-black-as-deep-space prophetic apocalyptic narrative.

Everything I wrote there seemed so obvious to me, even back then... yet still I hear the same old memes about how we have to
give the markets greater certainty by ending all taxation of the wealthy, now and forevermore. That the only way to fix everything
now is to spoil the super-spoiled even further, until they destroy all life on earth--and sure, THAT oughta fix it!

And still I hear regular folks say, "Why would you stand in the way of people leaving their loved ones their fortune?
If I could, I'd leave my kids TRILLIONS! You're MEAN! You fucker! NO ONE should have to suffer in this world!"... but if you
think about it even a LITTLE, actually, a little suffering is good for the soul, y'know? REALLY. It builds character,
it helps develop strong bodies and minds, it is absolutely necessary for the development of true empathy--cuz you can't feel
others' suffering if you've never known any of your own.

The middle class has gotten so soft and thoughtless in these last 40 years or so... not spoiled like the rich,
but spoiled enough to have lost sight of the most basic fundamentals of living... and now, since no one in America
wants to acknowledge the other end of the dynamic, no one sees the obvious staring them in the face, and it is this:

Anyone waiting for the super-rich to come to their senses, anyone asking "Why won't they realize the great
injustice of what they're doing? When will they wake up?", anyone with ANY HOPE remaining that these power-people
can EVER be reasoned with is in for a long, LONG, LONNNNNNNNG wait.

Because the wealthy know almost NOTHING about pain, or struggle, or the need for patience or understanding or real
cooperation between equals with shared goals in a difficult world. They have NO IDEA what we're talking about.

Power is the Worst Addiction, because you just can't do an effective intervention on a madman in a titanium robot suit, hopped
up on his own titanic ego and good fortune, one who has NEVER known hunger or cold or rejection or challenge or real want or real fear,
one who owns everything and knows NOTHING, one who has NEVER had to commiserate or compromise or lose badly or struggle
to understand another's viewpoint...

And, very likely nowadays, at least with SOME of these guys, one who has long ago hidden small nuclear weapons in key
spots all over their own country, just in case someone somewhere SOMEHOW actually DOES manage to get the drop on them at
any given instant.

Y'know. Like Cheney did.

Cheney doesn't have a heart anymore, not even a Jarvik. He's got a RED BUTTON implanted in his chest.

Cuz if he can't have EVERYTHING, then NO ONE can have ANYTHING. EVER AGAIN.

GAME OVER, MAN. GAME OVER.

Goddammit. I'm GLAD about OWS, I really am. A breath of fresh air, for the first time in years and years. And I do try to
be hopeful, I always try... but shit, I dunno anymore.

I sure wish we'd started fightin' these guys about three decades ago, when we still had the tiniest little sliver of
an actual chance in hell.

Fox News is this non-stop comedy-reality show that is CREATING a NEW REALITY through constant broadcast of bullshit
and absurdities; it's like these broadcasts have toxic effects to those who open themselves to them for too long...

So... the Zombie Apocalypse is ALREADY HERE! The zombies are the Fox News viewers, and they are LEGION!

Listen, you don't WANT to reach these people; you want to STAY THE HELL AWAY from these people! I think we can all
agree that they are TOTALLY INSANE, and THEY BITE, and lord knows what happens to you when you get bitten!!!

I'm not kidding. The Word is becoming Flesh, right before our eyes. You cannot stop it. You cannot stop these
hordes of sassy large-breasted perfectly-coiffed virginal news-anchors Fox keeps producing from some hidden news-anchor
breeding chamber, all of them bright-eyed, apple-cheeked, all between the ages of 16 and 22, all of them in terrible
need of a sound spanking, at the very least.

You cannot stop them, you cannot mute them from your tv set, you dare not spank them.

Even if you could, there are just too many to spank!

Fuck it. None can stand before the Fox News Videodrome. Nothing to do but give in.

Long live the new flesh.

Now let's see if Holmey goes after Moriarty, or gets stuck working with Scotland Yard for the next 15 months on the Case of the Duchess' Purloined Underpants.

K&R for the thin sliver of hope I still have remaining.

1. THIS MARADMIN ANNOUNCES THE COMMANDANT'S DECISION TO CHANGE THE MARINE CORPS COMBAT UTILITY UNIFORM (MCCUU) WEAR POLICY.
2. EFFECTIVE 24 OCTOBER 2011, THE MCCUU WILL BE WORN WITH THE SLEEVES DOWN, YEAR ROUND. THIS CHANGE DOES NOT AFFECT TIMING OF THE SEASONAL UNIFORM CHANGE, WHICH WILL BE ADDRESSED AND ANNOUNCED IN A FUTURE MARADMIN.

full notice here:

http://www.marines.mil/news/messages/Pages... /

I have a simple theory as to the reasoning for this change, and it goes like this:

Once the Marines 1. Roll up their sleeves...

they might then 2. Get down to business!

Businessmen across America are VERY afraid of this possibility, apparently.

Why? Well, as has become screamingly apparent in the last month, most American businessmen have decided to leave 99% of the American citizenry behind in their blind march toward the future.

Marines, on the other hand, are taught that they should NEVER leave even ONE man behind.

It's a big difference in respective cultures, when you think about it.

There is also that whole question of Honor and Integrity, qualities which Marines are trained
to hold in high regard, but which businessmen have long ignored as specious values at best.

The ONLY identifiable thing that Marines and businessmen have in common now is summarized in the Marines' slogan:

THE FEW. THE PROUD.

Perhaps businessmen are afraid the Marines may notice they are seeking to appropriate this slogan for their own.

And jeepers, I had NO idea!...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu...

I feel JUST TERRIBLE!

To ALL the fascist dictators and evil fucks and mental midgets and sinister dwarves who maintain
the status quo, all those brave hardworking shitbirds out there who I might've offended over the years--

--such as:



















...I just want to say to all those miserable douchebags and cretins and
creeping pestilences who call themselves human, but so rarely act that way...

(and this is from the very bottom of my heart):

Seriously, fellas, I am SO SORRY!

...and of course, a big sobbing SORRY! to all the
DUers I've offended with my latest ABOMINATION!!!

She seems to be saying in no uncertain terms, "Let them eat SHIT."

Good lord, what an unattractive, miserable creature. Where do they get
all these new right-wing commentators from, Klandathu?

Bug people... YUCK!