Groups/regions that are acceptable to "shit" on:

In no particular order.

1. Whites
2. Christianity, most particularly traditional Catholicism
3. The Midwest
4. The South
5.  The United States

Taylor Marshall's analysis of Hozier's "Take Me to Church"

I've commented on Hozier's "Take Me to Church" here. I also found another site that had an analysis of the song - it's pretty decent.

As always, I skimmed through the combox quickly - it seems when Taylor Marshall makes posts about pop culture it's quite the hit with the fans of the given subject matter - and found this 'gem' of a conversation:

What cards were pulled? The "judgmental" card. The "you say are a Christian yet you're mean" card." The "your aren't perfect so don't judge" card. And the insecurities of poster "martinmus" -- "YOU AREN'T ANY BETTER THAN THE GAY MAN OR THE ARTIST! HOW DARE YOU!" HOW DARE YOU!"

Let's move to poster "Gen." Oh boy. Strawman after strawman. How on earth do you respond to such a comment? You don't.

Men who don't support "equal rights" for women ...

I promise, I'm not watching the Oscars, just spending some time on IMDb in its Movie Awards section. People there are giving updates on the wins. 

Patricia Arquette's Oscar speech for Best Supporting Actress is where she called for "equal rights" for women, in pay and in, well, everything I presume.

“To my heroes, volunteers and experts who have helped me bring ecological sanitation to the developing world with Givelove.org. To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody’s equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

Now, I do like the idea of givelove.org -- it's a sanitation and compost project for clean water. The issue I have: Right at the southeast border of Wyoming there's a "green" rest area. Instead of concrete paths, it's rubber paths. Instead of flushing toilets, there are composting toilets. Oh, and I remember the stench coming from the dark abyss; the toilet seat was too wide for my butt so I had to dump my fecal matter mid squat. If I somehow I slipped, lost my balance, I would've either fallen into the abyss or gotten stuck with my legs sticking upwards and my upper body squashed against my knees. There was also no paper towels to wipe ones hands. 

According to one IMDb poster (not the OP of the thread) -

What's next, "men are afraid of 'strong,' 'independent,' and 'confident' women"?

Gotta leave it to movie fans to be low-info, sheep-like pathetic fools.

Gotta leave it to movie industry people to use the Oscar platform to always blurt out some modern day social issue like they're courageous and insightful. And as the crowd yelps and claps in agreement ...

On another thread on the speech -

According to "midwestmoviemaven" empathy is a qualification to make movies about the non-millionaires of the world. Did I say IMDb tends to attract people who tend to say very stupid things? No? IMDb tends to  attract people who tend to say very stupid things.

Then there's "RealDuality." This poster  just knows that source that debunk the unequal pay between men & women came from Fox News, either directly or indirectly. He's that good. This one's my favorite -

So it's Fox New's fault no matter what ... Then it's all the mainstream media trolls' fault ... "Well the world is just against women and their unequal pay!" It's just a fact. RealDuality just knows that women are unequally paid. Even if left-leaning news networks like ABC and CNN say that it's a myth, it's still a fact according to him, so "phooey" to them.  I would guess that the poster is reading some study that wasn't mentioned.

EDIT:  It turns out the winners for Best Song, rapper Common and singer/songwriter John Legend, for Selma took some political shots as well when they were given the mic. Talked about race.

Traditional Catholics who don't want to "impose" on secularism

This is to all the Christians and secularists/humanists that want traditional Christianity to "stay in the closet." The Christians who, for some messed up reason, support government sponsored same-sex "marriage." You are all fucking idiots and I would not want you in my foxhole if this country ever experiences a Red Dawn type of scenario, let alone on a debate team.

We got butt hurt homosexuals/bisexuals/the-confused wanting to force bakers to make a "wedding" cake with two men or women on top of it. (1) The figurines will just make me give a stink eye and laugh and (2) I wouldn't want any of that cake to begin with. I mean, how bizarre is that? That's like throwing a party for a kid who ended up in fourth place out of four. It's like saying "good for you" towards a homosexual/bisexual friend for finding a "lover." It's sickening.

So you're an idiot?

Wait, that's being judgmental on my part.

Echo chamber.
Echo chamber.
Echo chamber, Mal.

The Oscars: The 87th Academy Awards

The Oscars are tomorrow. I usually don't pay attention to the award ceremony; I may tune in for a few minutes for the red carpet fashion. I tend to check the winners and the the fashion the next morning, but since I've seen many of the nominated movies and performances I'll do a prediction list for a handful of categories.

Best Picture
What will win: Boyhood
What should win: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (winner)
Potential dark horse: The Grand Budapest Hotel, American Sniper

Best Director
Who will win: Richard Linklater
Who should win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (winner)
Potential dark horse: Wes Anderson

Best Actor
Who will win: Eddie Redmayne (winner)
Who should win: Michael Keaton
Potential dark horse: Bradley Cooper

Best Actress
Who will win: Julianne Moore (winner)
Who should win: Rosamund Pike
Potential dark horse: Marion Cotillard

Best Supporting Actor
Who will win: J.K. Simmons (winner)
Who should win: J.K. Simmons
Potential dark horse: Edward Norton

Animated Featured Film
What will win: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
What should win: Song of the Sea
Potential dark horse: Big Hero 6 (winner)

Best Original Screenplay
What will win: Boyhood
What should win: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (winner)
Potential dark horse: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Original Score
What will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel (winner)
What should win: Interstellar
Potential dark horse: Interstellar

EDIT: Winners are noted.

Let's Move the Goal Posts for Psychology

It's a science, apparently.

This is completely new to me.

Another poster notes -

Where does that leave studies done in the fields of sociology and anthropology? Is this pushing what is a called a "science"? Is this pushing the "science" in social sciences?

Youtube Weigtlifters

For those that are familiar with the popularity of weightlifting youtube channels, there seems to be a at least one "do what you wanna do" video by the lifter. I talked about this self-involvement in a past post.

Elliot Hulse has one and probably more, but I don't want to peruse his channel in fear that I may puke; Brandon Carter's has one; Maxx Chewning has one as well.

The saving grace for Chewning's channel is that he, at least, doesn't have this pseudo-intellectual front going on like Hulse. I'll admit it: I think Hulse is a hack. Most of his "philosophical" ramblings are just coming out of his ass probably because he reads way too many new-agey spirituality books without much guidance.

Keep lifting weights Hulse. Stop lifting airy new-agey books - they're making your mind turn to shit.

"Deathmatch": Fifty Shades of Grey vs. Lola Jones

Lola Jones, professional hurdler turned bobsledder, took to social media and voiced her thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey. It wasn't whether or not she liked the movie, if the movie was true to the source material, but whether or not the sexual acts depicted on screen were moral or not.

Fifty Shades of Grey, for the most part, is about a young girl who meets a handsome, smart, albeit sexually kinky, man. It turns out he's into BDSM and a reason for this is because he was sexually abused as a child. *BDSM is rather f_cked up, no matter how seductive, passionate and titillating one frames it. It's a symptom of a hedonistic and morally confused & lost world. The virgin (Jones is a virgin) has it right. Surprising? No, not really, once you think about it. As rare, and weird - to the modern world, being a virgin past 21 is there is a type of "clear thinking" that seems to permeate Jones' thoughts in her tweets. Yes, she's sexually inexperience but she isn't a fool when it comes to such matters.

She's a professional athlete who pushed herself physically and mentally to earn the title of D1 college athlete and Olympian - the kind of pushing that even practitioners of BDSM probably will never experience. The sweat and physical abuse that could've been done in the bedroom was transferred to a rubbery, lopsided oval field. The friction, hypothetically speaking, was her vs her. She was rewarded for it: amazing body and an elite athlete. Her chastity also has done her good: She isn't a moral relativist when it comes to sexual matters and doesn't fall for modern sexual norms.

Every now and then a public figure just uses God given common sense. Sometimes that public figure broadcasts them. Sometimes that public figure has a good point.

Now cue all the anti-slut shaming/proud-to-be-a-'good'-slut/'my-partner-and-I-practice-BDSM-and-our-relationship-is-stronger-than-ever'/libertine crowd that will finds its way to L. Jones' twitter account.

*Note the "helping you find yourself" subtitle. As expected.

Don't Eat Bread, Don't Eat Rice

If you're watching what you eat and want a healthier, leaner body, this is the usual food advice given by "experts" or those who weight lift call "bro-science." It's not "don't eat fatty and unhealthy foods" and "eat in moderation," no, it's paleoshit diet and "I didn't know I couldn't eat gluten!" to "ghee butter is in harmony with the earth!"

Fuck the "experts" and fuck the "bro-science" (to a degree). 

Most particularly white pasta and bread are the main evils, so they say, when it comes to grains and pasta. Instead of white pasts turn to wheat. I say bullshit. I don't need "science" to back me up. All I need are observations of different cultures that aren't the Wannabe Lance Armstrongs & Organic Cult of U.S. of A.

Ten years from now "experts" will say "Pasta in general is bad, even wheat! Eat bark instead!" Then it will catch on like wildfire in places like San Francisco & the Bay Area, L.A., San Diego, Portland, Seattle and N.Y.C. Then places like Boston and Austin will later jump on the bandwagon. Commence the "progressive" food wave of the future.

I'll turn to countries that fucking love bread, meat and pasta: Germany, Italy and France. Germany loves their meat. Italy loves their pasta and France loves their pastries (flour). I'll turn to Asian countries like China and the Philippines for their rice. White rice, that is. All of these countries aren't known to be fat, or at least have the weight stigma that covers America.

I'll make my own (white) *pasta, if not I'll buy it. I'll eat white rice, not wheat.

*Homemade pasta is rather simple to make: flour and a couple of eggs, all combined.

The LGBT Sexualocracy and the Degredation of Normality

Remember when all the non-theists said that they'd move out of the country if a religious politician were to become president, or uttering some sort of oppressive plea, because of the possibility of a theocracy? (Like when Rick Santorum was candidate for the GOP during the 2012 POTUS campaign?) I do.

Now, switch a politician's religion with his sexuality. You get Kate Brown and the LGBT community paving way for LGBT "rights."

Thanks to to search engine, bing, the "1st bisexual governor" caught my eye on the dashboard as I opened my web browser. Like almost everything to the left when it comes to their pillars (sex, gender, race) this is a monumental achievement. Let us dance is the street (/sarc)! People shit their pants when Barack Obama become the first black  (half-black, actually) POTUS. Then, as present day tells us, he's probably once of the worst presidents - ever.

"We’re not banning gay marriage."

As said by one internet poster.

What do I say? "Yes, we're not. But we should."

Caiden Cowger (and Jonathan Krohn)

I'm not sure if he is as loathed as he was three years ago, but apparently in 2012 his youtube channel was making the rounds with youtube progressive and they were a bit pissed off.

What I gather is that Cowger accuses HuffPo, among other left-leaning media/news sites, in trying to take down his youtube channel. I'm not sure if this is anywhere near accurate - maybe the young man jumped to conclusions, but I wouldn't be surprised if HuffPo, or someone from the online media site, did take action again him.

Videos like this, this, this and this were posted in response to Cowger's infamous upload that shared his views on homosexuality. (The video, so far, has received 4, 000 comments, 9, 000+ down votes vs. 400 up votes.) Even The Young Turks, a progressive media/news channel via youtube, jumped on the "Can you believe this kid?" bandwagon. When TYT makes a segment about you you know you've "made it" in the non-left world, at least when it comes to circulated media. In their eyes you're either a crazed wacko religious wingnut akin to an extreme Islamist yelling "Allahu Akbar!" with a bomb strapped to your chest, or you're not progressive enough. Heck, Cowger's video became to popular among the progressive side that he was even mentioned on the Bill Maher Show. Talk about getting the left pissed off.

The kid just isn't liked. Look here and here. It is obvious that Cowger has greatly irritated social "progressives" and the secular types.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone who saw the video, disagreed with him, and had a very  negative reaction to it, flagged it and reported it to youtube. Youtube, like all social media sites, is extraordinary liberal, so they too might have felt it violated sit rules and categorized it as "hate speech." I wouldn't be surprised if some LGBT activist pulled the alarm bell and yelled "FIRE!"

Whether or not Cowger will pull a Johnathan Krohn when he turns 18, or in later years, is anyone's guess. If he does I hope he finds his way to conservatism. 

Krohn was held up to a pedestal by a few people on the right when he was a preteen (I don't know why) for espousing conservative views. Later the young Krohn would switch political leanings as he reached his university years. The left began mocking the right for doing such a thing and rightfully so: It was a moronic. At the time Krohn wasn't even 13 when he caught the eyes and hearts of moronic conservatives and Republicans whom then later saw him as the future of conservatism. Why? The kid hadn't even gone through puberty.

When a few FOX News personalities (those that sit around a table and drink coffee while a huge tv is behind, not the anchors) heard that all grownup Krohn was now a liberal college student, they threw him under the bus in a very  non-professional manner. Excellent way to make the right look like idiots, FOX.

(On how he, Krohn, turned into a liberal.)
Krohn: "So I read philosophy and it showed me how wrong I was in my worldviews .... "

Dear Allah. Really, Krohn? You read philosophy and it made you liberal? And you're majoring in film at NYU? You cannot be anymore stereotypical if you weren't already.

Anyways, it seems Cowger is a smart kid;  I think he has balls, if not somewhat reckless on how he broadcasts his views. He's opinionated. He "doesn't" mind own business. I don't know any kid his age who is doing what he's doing: a talk show via youtube espousing (social) conservative views in that manner, all with an understanding of those views - not just blind allegiance (though referring to the Bible when won't help much since social progressive are immensely stubborn).

Like I said, I'm not sure if Cowger will continue on like this - holding the views he currently holds - but if he does, well into his life, then good for him. If he doesn't, I'll just say "You were much wiser when you were a kid." 

Note: I'll be dedicating one more post (or two) abut Cowger later this year. I think, besides the current vitriol he's receiving by the left, he deserves some good words (not the type Krohn got, Dear Allah no). I did a quick google search of him and most of the stuff were negative finds. I don't believe he's known in the conservative blogsphere, or even in general by conservatives, who more savvy with social media. He should be.

Accussations.

Which one is more accurate?

(A) The left hates the military.

or

(B) Christians hate those who are LGBT?

Both are sweeping generalizations, but I always thought that through generalizations there is - not always - a grain of truth.
 

"Deathmatch": Peter Sattler's Camp X-Ray vs Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas

Kind of.

Pete Sattler's debut feature, Camp X-Ray, deals with a newly enlisted soldier of the U.S. Army who is deployed at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) to babysit detainees. It's a film that is sympathetic to the treatment and the supposed unfair trial(s) that the quarantined men received. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas may just disagree a bit. Okay, maybe a lot.

This video was brought to my attention thanks to this post by Neo-NeoCon. I think it's good timing since after I watched the video memories of Camp X-Ray, which I saw last November, came immediately back. As I walked out of the theater I thought that it was fairly naive in its humanistic worldview. It also didn't help that the "caged tiger" analogy just made me roll my eyes - though it seemed I was the only one who was withholding laughter when that scene/monologue was finished. Add to the fact that lead actress Kristen Stewart, when it came to the film's promotion, went on to say some ignorant things about the military, those that join and the world of GTMO -

(bold: interviewer)

With Camp X-Ray, this is pretty heavy subject matter here in Gitmo. President Obama promised to close the place down in 2009, but hasn’t done so yet. Was part of the attraction to the project shining a light in this bizarre blight on America?

I was forced to really investigate. I knew that Obama wanted to close it down, and I knew that everyone else wanted to, too. Most people you talk to in America have kind of put it out of their minds. I didn’t jump on this movie to make a huge political statement, but it’s such an interesting story within an interesting context, and it’s more of a poke on the shoulder to remind you that this thing is here.

Your character’s relationship with Peyman’s detainee reminds us of the humanity of these people. We tend to view suspected terrorists as this nameless, faceless “other,” when they’re human beings, too.

As Americans, we should absolutely aspire to more than that. If you label something “bad,” people will justify the most terrible things. Just because you’re following a greater whole, suddenly you take the individual out of it and no one bears responsibility for anything.

The film doesn’t show any of the more controversial practices at Gitmo—like waterboarding, sleep deprivation, force-feeding, etc.

It alludes to it. But if we showed all that stuff, people would instantly demonize the film. You see something like that and it becomes so polarizing. Yes, it was cool to be in a Gitmo movie, it was cool to play a soldier, and it was cool remind people that this still exists, but I also thought it was cool to play a simple, American girl who wanted to find her line and aspire to something bigger than her—only to find that things aren’t so simple. Most people in every state think, “Well, of course it’s a great thing to sign up for the Army,” and there’s no question asked beyond that—ever.

She really gets swept up in all the post 9/11 patriotism and signs up for Gitmo duty, only to find that it isn’t what she thought at all.

She’s simple, not very smart, and really socially inadequate—but a good person. So, if you can sign up, put a uniform on, and erase yourself, you don’t have to consider yourself anymore. You can take the individual out of it and say, “Well, this dignifies me. I’m good because of this.” And when that doesn’t end up being true, you actually have to contend with who you are. All she wants is to think, “They did 9/11, they’re bad, fuck that, I’m going to do my job and I’m going to do it well.” But then she gets down there and just can’t accept it; she can’t conform to that.

Right. The mistake we make is not viewing these detainees down there as people, too. We’re all people. 

That is essentially so fucking evil, it’s crazy. It’s a ridiculous idea for you to think that you know anything for sure in life—other than to take care of your fellow people. Where the fuck do you get off thinking otherwise? These two people couldn’t be from more different worlds and perspectives, and probably disagree fundamentally on most things, but there’s a through-line for all of us—and that’s what people forget, and that’s what makes people capable of doing terrible things to each other. What makes you different from any other person that walks the earth?

Given Senator Tom Cotton's military experience (and not being a Jon Michael Turner type or AWOL type) it's a good thing Ms. Stewart wasn't interviewed by him. It would have ended very badly. She'd probably use the "through-line" bit like it was an ace.

P.S. The answers given were probably lightly "taped together," though not manipulated, by the interviewer himself. If anyone is familiar with Kristen Stewart's live interviews she is, sadly, incapable of stringing together that amount of words for an answer - let alone incapable of going an entire two minutes of straight talking - without succumbing to "ums," silent pauses, unfinished thoughts (maybe they are finished?), weird facial expressions that might be expressing gaseous pain (or maybe she's thinking really hard) and cussing.  

Site updates

Changed my header's font and aligning.
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What I like about non progressive/lefties/liberals?

The humor. It is one of the surprises that I have come to cherish - when it does happen, that is.

Academia

When I read pieces from HuffPo I tend to click on the person's bio to learn more about them and they're background. It helps me see why a certain viewpoint prevails in their mind. When I learn that some are professors, if they aren't - pursuing a doctorate, in LGBT studies, or queer theory or some other extraordinarily hot air type of niche I can't help be all like

This sort of makes me feel better about my interest in (urban) sociology and wanting to pursue a doctorate in it. (But then again sociology does have its fair share of doctorate students having interests and using funding towards the most "huh?" things -- no, not the science/math type of  "huh?" -- the "Why are you wasting money that could be spent towards a more worthy student with interests that have higher potential to impact society?" huh.)

Badge of Honor

What's with non-conservatives being "proud," like a "oh yea,  so what?" type of chip on the shoulder?

Some examples:
1. LGBT "pride"
2. "Army officer. Iraq veteran. Liberal and proud."
3. Abortion "pride"
4. Slut Walk

Three out of four deal with sexuality. This isn't the least bit surprising. The one thing that is probably the most coveted on the left is sex. Not in "it's sacred" but "it's personal yet you can't be judgmental." That is - either support the action or be silent if the view is less than favorable.

Old men. Bad advice.

I'm 44 years old, bald, slightly overweight, and married. I have two kids, a dog, a mortgage, and work in a generic corporate environment. I hunt, shoot, drink, smoke cigars, and often piss people off with my opinions, when I don't do my normally good job of keeping those opinions to myself. I'm about as far from the stereotypical "hipster" as I can be. I learned a long time ago to not judge others' motives for anything unless it directly impacts me or the things or people important to me. Just like everyone else, hipsters support the economy and have their place. Just like the rest of us. If someone scraping by on minimum wage or slightly higher wants to save up for something nice, more power to them. If they want to go into debt with credit cards, etc. to do the same thing, have at it. It doesn't bother me. It's none of my business. If someone wants to spend more money on their clothes, outward appearance, or lifestyle than on their 500 sq foot roach infested apartment or live in a van down by the river, fantastic. I'm glad you're happy with your choice! Again, it doesn't impact me. Life is too short to worry about others' life choices, style choices, political choices, money choices, or personal choices unless they directly impact me or what's important to me.

Old men giving bad advice is like teachers going full retard with social justice. Both should know better.

This can all be said in a more succinct manner: Just don't give a shit.

Snow and its "power." Trendy stuff and its "power."

More like effect it has on me. It lifts up my soul, just a tad, when I'm feeling down or when I'm troubled. Time slows down for me.

Unlike rain.

Now onto a narcissistic, first-world "problem" of mine.

Back in December I was deciding to get new snow boots. Where I live when it snows it snows. It's not as bad, as say Minnesota, or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P. for short). I went onto L.L. Bean's site to weigh my options of their heralded  "8 winter boots. I was late to the party. The size I wanted was back ordered until May. I checked other widths to see if they too were back ordered. Sure enough, they were - till April or June. It even made the news, here and here.

This sort of back order I never experienced before. I mostly order online when I can because my sizes are hard to find in a normal brick & mortar store.

Since today it's snowing it reminded me of this "problem." I re-visited the site to relive that "da fuq" moment.

I knew they were immensely popular amongst those who A) have worn them all their lives in conditions that called for it - sort of like a trusted brand in families that might stick to a certain dishwasher or washing machine or car, or B) the more fashion conscious crowd. I don't necessarily fall into the latter because I actually need these types of boots where I live; I just want to "upgrade" my old boots so I did my research which led to the L.L. Bean boot.

This back order urges me to question: Of those that do purchase them for their intended wear (snow, rain), how many purchase them that do not live in places where such boots are necessary? (I saw pictures of people wearing these in a pile of leaves, and some - obviously made for a fashion site/blog - wearing them on a bridge with no snow, rain ... Or leaves, wearing blazers. In the picture it looked like a mild 55 degrees.) So when people like me, when met with days with several feet of snow, need them they're SOL.

According to boston.com -

 Why the increase in sales? Well, blame teens and millennials.

“Younger people are buying them. They’re all over college campuses and high schools,” Beem said. “Without changing anything, they’re back in style.”

You see that little white cloud hovering over states like Illinois, Indiana and Michigan? Those are the places that actually need winter boots like the L.L. Bean boot. How many hipsters live in said states? Besides the city of Chicago, not many I bet.  States like Main and Vermont need them. The New England region? Yes. People in San Francisco? No. Seattle or Portland? Not really, unless you live in small towns that are nearer the wilderness. L.A.? No. NYC? Okay, sure. College campuses where it doesn't snow heavily during winter? You don't need them.

It's a good thing people who wear fake eye glasses don't back order the style I want.