Al and Tipper Gore Splitsville: Setback For Confucianism?

Al and Tipper Gore: An unexpected, unsettling breakup - latimes.com


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As Usual, I'm Full Of Shit by David Brooks

Or Why The Government Will Screw It Up So Don't Fucking Bother

Essentially, this column is a thought-provoking analysis of political philosophy as it applies to our current day-to-day environment. By I mean, I'll say one or two reasonable things, and then basically come to the same conclusion as Fox News and the Republican Party line. The fact that I just ignore pertinent facts is because this is a philosophical discussion, and as Socrates observed, facts are overrated.

Okay, first the reasonable part: People in power indulge in a lot of mutual backscractching in order to share the spoils. I'll say this with scienc-ey sounding terms such as "social networking" or perhaps "in-group cognitive fermentation" to help sell this argument a bit, as people are much less offended by it--than by phrases such as 'chimpanzee circle jerk'. At the same time, it seems to give my opinions a veneer of respectability, underneath the termite-and-maggot-rot. But that's rather appropriate since today's subject is about polishing worthless crap and then selling it.

In this drama, in other words, the establishment was pleasant, respectable and stupid--much like my undying support of Shrubya and his administration, while the contrarians were smart but hard to love, and sometimes sleazy. I mean, whom has heard of a sleazy politician or salesman? Not me. I later found out that there were such people, and frankly I was shocked. I mean, I was so busy trying to figure out the hell I could explain to America what a great president Bush was that I really could not be bothered to much worry about it.

Anyhoo, the elected leaders of the clueless establishment (excluding George Bush, of course--did I mention he has character?) have given me this opportunity to note that I'm really not part of this establishment at all. I'm just a simple opinion writer trying to make his way in the universe. And now I can oppose everything the Democratic Party is for by simply saying that Washington is overloaded with hypocrisy and then pretending I wasn't a cheerleader for the very same "establishment" (tee-hee, I'm a bit of a hippie after all) for the many years it was led by the party that just happens to be dominated by white conservatives. You might think that would make me some sort of vile hypocrite or a smug, self-deluded fool, but you'd be very very wrong, I can assure you on this point. Because this column is really a philosophical discussion.

And besides, we're not doing something we should be doing, such as invading Iraq. No, we're trying to re-regulate what was de-regulated. And as well all know, rules, laws and regulations accomplish nothing. So I'll change the argument from a real issue, such as setting limits on capital requirements, and change it to the classic big government will fail ever time. So I don't really need to make any sense. All laws are imperfect--so why make more of them? The Romans had laws--and looked what happened to them!

And now let me insert a sports reference to prove, that even though I write for NY Times, I'm a real/regular American just like my husband...er, hero, Bush. "Some Democrats regard federal commissions with the same sort of awe and wonder that I feel while watching LeBron James and Alex Ovechkin." There, see, I'm not part of the establishment, I'm a regular guy who goes to the salad bar at Applebees.

Financial bubbles have happened throughout history; so never mind what some fancy-pants Nobel Prize-winning economist tells you (note: not a regular guy). So until the Democratic Party finds a way to change human nature, we should not do a damn thing. And now let me prove once more that I'm just a regular guy: "The folks in the big investment banks....The folks in Washington...." There--do you see? I'm just plain folks, going to church, milking the cows, stacking the hay, sitting in the barbershop and reading Corn Aficionado Weekly, and of course complaining about Washington. At least when it's run by Democrats. And just because I happen to support what the finance/bank industry and lobby wants, or what the Republican Party wants, is entirely aside the point of my philosophical analysis.


David Brooks

politics

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Things That Are A Total Crock Of Shit

Into the breach yet again, and we are up to our elbows in crap...

For example: This example from the New York Times Play Time Is Over.

Now that most children no longer participate in this free-form experience — play dates arranged by parents are no substitute — their peer socialization has suffered. One tangible result of this lack of socialization is the increase in bullying, teasing and discrimination that we see in all too many of our schools.

Indeed, go into any school and what do you see at recess? Do children interact with each other? Of course not. They simply sit and stare at the sky and wait for someone to switch on youtube or Spongebob or what have you, as there brains have been lobotomized by years of Internet usage and cable TV. How will they ever experience the joy of sitting quietly in church, listening to a boring guy drone about whatever he feels like talking about? And what of the thrill of singing hymns and repeating prayers one doesn't understand? How deprived children are today!

Bullying has always been with us, but it did not become prevalent enough to catch the attention of researchers until the 1970s, just as TV and then computers were moving childhood indoors. It is now recognized as a serious problem in all the advanced countries....One tangible result of this lack of socialization is the increase in bullying, teasing and discrimination that we see in all too many of our schools.

Okay, I was completely wrong. This is completely true. When we compare studies of bullying and thuggery from 1900 to 2010, we can see that rate of larger children abusing smaller children was at 0% in 1900! Versus 75% in 2010! And the same is true of rape, child abuse, homosexual relations, and in fact all sexual relations. Nobody had sex in 1900, and now everyone's doing it (except me). I don't think African-Americans or Latin-Americans existed before 1900 either, except as amusing caricatures.

For children in past eras, participating in the culture of childhood was a socializing process. They learned to settle their own quarrels, to make and break their own rules, and to respect the rights of others. They learned that friends could be mean as well as kind, and that life was not always fair.

Yes, you learned that no one gives a shit about other peoples' problems, especially school administrators, especially problems that involve one group of children punching out one child in an alley. (What exactly is their function? Other than to say, "That's not our problem." That probably is their only function.) Anyway, as a crisis counselor, my first response to a rape victim was, "Well, life ain't fair you know."
But let's not get carried away by nostalgia. The important thing to remember is that you should latch on to an idea, e.g. technology = bad for kids, and then just keep repeating that idea for as long as and as loud as you can. And maybe, just maybe, you'll get tenure and perhaps some people will be gullible enough to listen to you. And don't we really all want someone to listen to us--even it's someone as gullible, foolish and stupid as ourselves. I learned that on the playground because no one would fucking listen to me.
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HEALTH CARE: The End Is Nigh

Yes, heath care passed (again)...

Health care of some sort passed through some parliamentary orifice of some sort.  Expect at least a week of collective pants-crapping hystrionics until The Next Thing That Will Destroy Our Values occurs. (Criswell predicts an Obamagaffe when the president bows to someone where bowing is still a custom.  Doesn't he know? America bows to *no* man.  Shrubya would never hold hands with a *muslim*...except for all of those photos of him holding  hands with a muslim. Who just happens to control half of the oil supply in the fucking world.)

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The Internet, The CellPhone, And Our Kids: Are They In Mortal Danger?

Will people stop talking to each other because of the Internet, mobile phones, videogames, and porn-on-demand and this new thing known to some as "rock-n-roll"? Game over, call the mortician, and buy the coffin. Humanity is finished, and SMS texting was the last nail. Or was it rap? Or Twitter? Or Facebook?


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