Category: politics
10/13/08 02:56 - 71ºF - ID#46094
Response to Joshua
So: conservatives never shout down liberals? You've never seen protestors yelling at a gay pride parade? You've never seen conservative marches on Washington that vilify and call for the destruction of the left? You can't dismiss them as not being conservative, because the religious right and the hawks are a core constituency of conservative power.
What you're doing would be like me condemning all conservatives just because the conservatives who go to the effort to show up at a Palin rally call Obama a terrorist. Just because conservatives attack me in the street.
If I were to judge conservatives by the most outspoken among them, I would be forced to conclude that they are incapable of making an argument that wasn't based on emotions, hated anyone who wasn't just like themselves, and that all conservatives think you're unpatriotic and a terrorist sympathizer or faggot if you disagree with them.
Luckily, I don't judge conservatives by the worse among them.
The right is getting angrier and angrier, now that they're out of power. McCain-Palin rallies demonstrate this. Who do you think is going to be protesting in the streets these next 8 years? It's going to swing as the pendulum of power swings. You're just used to seeing the left out of power, not in it.
I do accuse you of cherry picking and painting with too broad a brush. You can't see any incident without taking it as confirmation about what you already believe and are predisposed to think about groups of people. It drives me crazy.
UPDATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE OF CONSERVATIVES PROTESTING ME
I HAVE THUS SUCCESSFULLY PROVED THAT ALL CONSERVATIVES ARE MEAN SPIRITED LOL
Permalink: Response_to_Joshua.html
Words: 319
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: culture
10/11/08 08:54 - 60ºF - ID#46067
The Wrongest Thing Ever
This sucks so much. They must have had actual requests from schools that caused them to set up an official program. Yuck.
Permalink: The_Wrongest_Thing_Ever.html
Words: 41
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: buffalo
10/11/08 08:29 - 45ºF - ID#46056
HAPPY OCTOBER STORMIVERSARY!
Hard to believe, hard to forget! Here's my yearly look back in photos, to October 12-13, 2006:
Permalink: HAPPY_OCTOBER_STORMIVERSARY_.html
Words: 94
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: trekkies
10/10/08 12:10 - 59ºF - ID#46042
CAPTAIN PICARD
This video is made of awesome.
Permalink: CAPTAIN_PICARD.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: dreams
10/10/08 09:45 - 50ºF - ID#46037
Strange Dream
Then, it started getting even weirder. They kept finding other kids hidden in their house that I'd took pity on and invited over. Like, we'd be in the living room and all of a sudden we'd notice some kid hidding under the couch. Or in closets, just everywhere.
Drew and Janelle were very sympathetic and didn't want to force these kids to go back out on the streets, but by the end of the dream there were like 30 of us kids in their house and they were starting to panic about how to take care of us. They were very aggravated with me for putting them in the position of having to take in all these kids, but were too nice to say anything.
Then I woke up.
Permalink: Strange_Dream.html
Words: 155
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: humor
10/09/08 08:41 - 56ºF - ID#46011
Obama Debate Prep
Permalink: Obama_Debate_Prep.html
Words: 8
Location: Buffalo, NY
10/07/08 09:01 - 38ºF - ID#45973
E:Strip Holiday Dinner
This post is just a heads up, I'll make another post in a month to nail down availability and the best times for everyone.
JJ's and India Gate have both worked out OK in the past. If the group is big enough I'll reserve a banquet room somewhere to make sure we have enough space. Any ideas along these lines, please comment!
Cheers,
Jim
Permalink: E_Strip_Holiday_Dinner.html
Words: 81
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: culture
10/02/08 08:30 - 51ºF - ID#45903
Yak Shaving
You start out deciding to tidy your room and you realize that in order to do that you'll need some more trash bags, so you need to go to the shops, which will involve you getting out the car, but the car needs gas, so you'll need to go to the gas station first, which means you should probably find your gas discount card, which involves finding your keys, which are in the room somewhere... ( )
And ultimately, in order to tidy your room, you somehow end up shaving a yak.
You know it's happened to you too!
Permalink: Yak_Shaving.html
Words: 134
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: work
10/02/08 07:43 - 45ºF - ID#45886
First!
That's all :)
Permalink: First_.html
Words: 19
Location: Buffalo, NY
Category: economics
09/30/08 09:38 - 55ºF - ID#45858
ZOMG DOOOOMED
Japan in the 90's went through a crisis very similar to ours, a huge asset bubble and then a giant markdown.
I get what the crisis is about - liquidity - but there's more then one way to solve it. If we prop up existing institutions no questions asked, we'll end up like Japan in the 90's, where zombie banks were technically fine but actually not able to loan much money anyways, thus dragging the crisis out into stagnation for a decade.
The current failed plan was to buy the bad assets at their original inflated values, sell them back to the market at a reduced rate, and use the funds from selling them to buy additional bad assets and repeat the process until all the money was totally gone. That is, if you believe the conference call that was held between the government representatives and Wall Street insiders ( mp3 torrent ), instead of what was said publicly.
Banks operate on the velocity of money. They take money in, send it out again. Don't think of them as repositories, but instead as intermediaries between those who need to hold cash and those who need to spend cash. The banking system is not set up for stasis.
The proposed plan would've increased the velocity of money. Something does need to be done, but jumping to the most drastic expensive plan doesn't sit right with me. I'm totally up for $500 billion worth of no interest loans, something along those lines.
But not recapitalization of the largest banks via burning down $700 billion. Plenty of smaller banks are doing fine. Those are the ones that should be getting help, to replace the large burdened banks. A new day on Wallstreet, slaughter of the behemoths is what sounds good to me.
If 10 years from now there are no familiar old names on Wallstreet, and a new crop of giants risen from the ashes of this meltdown, I'll be a happy camper.
Permalink: ZOMG_DOOOOMED.html
Words: 355
Location: Buffalo, NY
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(e:Joshua) - How do you describe the Republicans outside and inside the Florida election offices where the recounts were happening in 2000? I've mostly seen them described as a MOB trying to prevent the careful process of counting ballots. With just that one super-important example, your argument that Republicans are somehow better behaved than liberals goes out the window. And then there's the well documented polling place intimidation, the removal of qualified voters from voter lists...
I'm not at all saying that election and political ugliness is reserved for Republicans. Let's look at Jim Crow laws in the South, or the literacy tests used to prevent Blacks from voting, or... our history - up to today - is replete with examples.
I said something along these lines in my response to (e:joshua)'s post. One thing that people have to consider is location. Location is a big Factor. For example I go to a hockey game in Toronto and Have a Sabres Jersey a few fans might hackle me and make my life tough a little bit, But I where that to a Flyers game, I would be killed or most likely attacked or hit with something, it would be very dangerous (I assume that is still true). If I was a New Yorker out trying to enjoy my day and all of a sudden there is a politcal Rally and it is for some one I like I would chear and call my buddies and take pictures but people I don't like get in my way they get yelled at and get the finger, isn't that the New York way.
I think that this is a really good point Jim. We really need to consider WHY people are angry and that anger most often comes out of fear and vulnerability. People rarely (if ever) give up privileges and I don't think the conservatives will go down without a fight.
Also, as hinted in the sarcasm of your final statement, I think this whole "republicans" "democrats" nonsense is silly and ultimately unproductive. I hate to say it (especially during this crucial time) but democrats and republicans are pretty much the same.
oh and (e:joshua) I want to make it very clear that your "distinction" between sexual preference and political ideology is seriously lacking. I'm not ever sure what your point is. That you can't "see" someone's politics? What about when you can't "see" someone's sexuality? What about when someone says some homophobic shit to me cause I "look" straight? And I question your focus on the fanatics or "Jesus Freaks" as different that your average person walking down the street. Do these people really have that different of ideals that others who don't show up to these rallies? Would you be that surprised if random person X started spouting anti-gay nonsense if they thought you agreed?
This was intended to be a short comment :)
"If you want to vote for those dems, you should just leave the country since you hate it so much."
That is concrete, that is real. Said to my face, unprovoked, by a conservative. It happens all the time, not on Elmwood sure or in NYC, but in Salt Lake City, (to me, that time). In the south, in rural areas.
It might not be as organized, but it's just as angry and confrontational.
But it is not appropriate to yell the same things at a passing parade?
I am talking purely just walking down the street minding my own business.
Yes, Joshua, two of those times it was for mildly political t-shirts that I was wearing (ie, generically pro-democrat), while otherwise minding my business.
I know damn well you guys deal with a lot of BS from people at gay rallies, and I'm sure they have all kinds of colorful names for you. I've lambasted those people in the past - we all know they are evil people. You said I can't dismiss them as not being conservative - actually Jim I never did anything of the sort. I was interested in your comment about a stereotypical characterization of conservatives though. You're suggesting that the video I posted was cherry picking when it was ridiculously obvious that it wasn't... which is exactly why I posted it. You're building your argument of contrasts and comparisons on a case that can't be made credibly. This wasn't a rally, it wasn't a campaign stop, it wasn't a protest - it occurred on the streets of Manhattan's UWS. Find me a non-rally, non-campaign stop, non-protest example that can be paired with what I've posted and we'll talk. Otherwise I'm not comparing apples to oranges.
And the answer to your first question is no, for the reasons I've already explained in the comments section of my journal. It isn't a matter of being blind - it's a matter of understanding the political DNA of the people you are talking about. There is always an example of one asshole out of many, but as a rule the GOP don't behave like caged animals in the same way that liberals do, and it is a well-established method of expressing their views that liberals have clung to since the Vietnam War. The GOP is not the party of the loud-mouthed protester/activist nor will it ever be. Your argument is theoretical and mine is not. You are making the mistake of believing that liberals and conservatives behave in the same manner. It is not true, nor has it ever been true in America!
I still find it curious that no self-avowed liberals can acknowledge what they've seen in the video I've posted.
My photo is of a conservative protestor at a parade, yes, but the times that I reference being accosted on the street, I was just on the street and randomly harrassed by strangers. Randomly. On the street. By passers-by. Thank you very much.
So - who am I going to believe, you or my lying eyes? I've lived through what you dismiss, and I can tell you, you are wrong. I know this from what I've personally seen and had to deal with, not something off of youtube.