Month: July 2010

Reactions to a Wedding

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Chelsea Clinton got married today.

I’ve been following this story for a bit. My interest has been less the fact of the wedding itself (although I wish her all happiness with her nice Jewish boy :-)), but the reactions to it. Mind you, the entire expense of this wedding (modulo the security costs the government normally provides to the Secretary of State and an Ex-President) has been borne personally by the Clinton family. Still, you get the people who want to use the commenting mechanism to push some personal agenda.

The following response is typical to what I’ve seen (and what I received personally in a discussion over on astroprisoner’s journal):

VERY STRANGE INDEED THAT “GUMPY” CLINTON WOULD MARRY IN A RIGHT-WING REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD…IT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE SELF-OBSESSION OF THE “SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS” CLINTON’S THAT THEY WOULD AGREE TO WASTE OVER TWO MILLION DOLLARS TO MARRY OFF THEIR AGEING DAUGHTER, EVEN AS THE WORLD DROWNS IN MALNUTRITION AND POVERTY…THIS KIND OF STUFF JUST DOESN’T CUT IT THESE DAYS EXCEPT FOR THE RETARDED AND REACTIONARY ELITES THAT, UNFORTUNATELY, STILL CALL THE SHOTS HERE…

Basically, the notion seems to be that if you have compassion for the poor and downtrodden elements of society, you must yourself be poor and downtrodden. It is wrong for Democrats to be wealthy, and they (as opposed to all the other rich people out there) should altruistically just give all their money to the poor. Never mind the fact that these folks give generously to charities—both with time and money&mdash or the fact that (according to reports) this wedding was decidedly low-key and not over the top. Never mind the fact that this money was spent at local merchants and paid the wages of numerous individuals, from security staff to waiters to parking lot attendants. Never mind the fact that it provided significant sales and lodging taxes in the state of New York that were paid by the Clintons, not the guests.

One gets the feeling that the hatred for particular political families is so strong we can’t wish them a happy day for a family member. Although I didn’t politically agree with President Bush, I can wish him happiness at his children’s wedding. I’d wish the same for President Clinton, and any of the children of a President. But we have people who can’t see beyond the political attacks to see our leaders as being human just like them, fathers and mothers that care about their children. What does it say about our society when we dehumanize our leaders, and see them only in stereotypes and charactures?

Then there are the responses that take an event and turn it into a platform for their own agenda. Again, quoting from the LA Times comments:

This is the reason why same sex couples are fighting for their rights to marry…… Marriage is a time of joy when you marry someone that you love and want to be with; the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Calling up family and telling them you are getting a Civil Union, Civil Partnership, or Domestic Partnership isn’t as exciting same as Marriage. Do people against same sex marriage think by banning our rights you are going to make us “straight”? That just means we will continue to fight even harder to achieve OUR RIGHT to marry……

Now, I agree that the state should not be in the business of saying what form of human couple (modulo age restrictions) should be able to get married—I’m all for having domestic partnerships for all, and letting churches handle the religious and moral aspects for those that choose to subscribe to them. But is a comment on Chelsea’s wedding the place to take this position? Shouldn’t we be wishing her all the best and leaving it at that?

Then there are the comments that serve to insult:

Looks like Carol Burnette finally married Tim Conway. Yay!

LADY GAGA LOOKS LIKE A REAL QUEEN COMPARED TO CHELSEA CLINTON. KEEP IN MIND, LADY GAGA KNOWS SHE IS UGLY AND THAT IS WHY SHE WEARS ALL THAT WEIRD GEAR INCLUDING MAKE UP. ON THE OTHER HAND, CHELSEA HAS MORE SURGICAL REPAIRS THAN BILL CLINTON CIGARS. CHELSEA HAS NO TALENT UNLESS SHE ENJOY CUBAN CIGARS!!! LOL

There is a saying, “Every bride is beautiful on her wedding day”. Why is there the need to insult and belittle.

This is just an example. The Internet has brought us many wonderful things. However, with what I see with the comments regularly posted in newspapers, it has also brought out some of the worst in this country. The idiotic drivel that used to be filtered out by the editors before printing far too easily makes the commentary page, and it truly makes me sad to read it.

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Bringing Back Memories

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

30 Old PC Ads That Will Blow Your Processor

Now this brings back memories, especially the IBM 5100 ad. We had an IBM 5100 at UCLA: switch selectable between APL and Basic, but who would use Basic? It was in the consulting room on the 3rd floor of Math Sciences (I want to say something like 3997C).

Then there was the Lisa. We had a Lisa at Quadratron, and I remember using it to generate the graphics for our documents. We were also porting Q-Office to it, for it also had a Xenix operating system available. We had the early Mac at SDC; again, I used it to generate graphics for some of our documents.

Boy, I’m glad a lot of that stuff is in the past.

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A Birthday Song for kaottic97

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

OK, Folks, you know the drill. Allright everyone, let’s gather in front of our large, 13″, Black and White TV set, and watch as a tall, lanky man in a khaki uniform, with a black patch over one eye and a parrot on his shoulder, strides out, introduces himself as Sheriff John, and pulls out his accordion, and says: “Aye, Me Harties. Let’s join togetherrrrrrr in the following shanty for kaottic97, sung to the pirate classic “Blow the Man Down”, with lyrics by Heather Alexander.”

You say it’s your birthday, well, tell me who cares.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.
We’ll tie up your feet, make you walk down the stairs.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

A cake with the candles all over the place.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.
When you make a wish, they blow up in your face.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

Yo-ho, Yo-ho, Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

       You’ll get lots of presents, tied up in a sack.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.
And when you unwrap them, we’ll take them all back.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

But we love you; so don’t get us wrong.
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.
Just wanted to tease you with this nasty song
Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

Yo-ho, Yo-ho, Yo-ho, so it’s your birthday.

[Did you know you can pick which song the Sheriff sings for you on your birthday? It’s easy. Just visit the 6th Annual Birthday Poll on Livejournal or the parallel note on Facebook. Note that if you want the birdie to be able to inform the Sheriff about your birthday, you need to make sure your birth month and day is in your LJ or FB profile, and it is visible to your friends. Note that the Sheriff only sings a song if I know you personally or you’re a regular commenter. So don’t lurk!]

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Things That Were

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Today’s installment of News Chum takes a look back, nostalgically, at things that were:

  • The Transbay Terminal. Now, I’m not a Bay Area person; I’m native SoCal. But this article on the history and the closing of the Transbay Terminal fascinated me. Reading about the blocked off diner, the waiting areas, the dark and dingy facilities made me think of two historical places in Los Angeles: Los Angeles Union Station, which has had a ghost restaurant for years (although I think it is used occasionally), and which still echoes with the ghosts of the major passenger trains it once had, and the Pacific Electric Subway Terminal, which is no longer in use and hides its ghosts.
  • The Blue Cube. Going a little further south, we have the CSTC, better known as the Blue Cube. The Blue Cube—in fact, all of Onizuka AFS—is shutting down, and the Mercury News has a nice article on it. For the last 25 years I have been involved with companies involved with the Blue Cube and the satellite business. My current employer is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, and we have been involved with the cube since it is earliest days. I do remember driving by it regularly when I was up there; its interesting to see it go.
  • Politics For The People. Another thing that we’ve lost—and perhaps the most tragic—is politics for the people, as opposed to politics for the special interests or politics for the party. A number of things bring this to mind—perhaps the most galling are the comments you can read on almost any political news post that seem to blame ever single problem in the world today on President Obama. Even the LA Times has an article on how Obama is the Velcro president: problems just seem to stick to him, and his significant legislative accomplishments seem to be lost. We forget the successes; we don’t see how things might have been worse. We seem to have lost the ability to think critically. How many people today remember that it wasn’t the Democrats that have passed the most sweeping legislation to impact industry and raise costs for both industry and government—it was the Republicans (the legislation that created the EPA and the need for Environmental Protection Reports was passed by the Nixon administration)? Even when the Government tries to solve problems (as with the legislation to address the loopholes that led to the Gulf Oil spill), it gets bogged down by party line voting. As long as we define ourselves by what we are against, instead of having a positive statement of what we are for, the ability of our politicians to actually solve problems is just a thing of the past.
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A Birthday Song for graemeperrow

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

OK, Folks, you know the drill. Allright everyone, let’s gather in front of our large, 13″, Black and White TV set, and watch as a tall, lanky man in a khaki uniform strides out, introduces himself as Sheriff John, and pulls out his accordion, and then starts singing the Birthday Cake Polka for graemeperrow:

Put another candle on my birthday cake
We’re gonna bake a birthday cake
Put another candle on my birthday cake
I’m another year old today

I’m gonna have a party with my birthday cake
Come on and take some birthday cake
Put another candle on my birthday cake
I’m another year old today

     We’ll have some pie and sandwiches
And chocolate ice cream too
We’ll sing and play the day away
And one more thing I’m gonna do

I’ll blow out the candles on my birthday cake
And when I do, a wish I’ll make
Put another candle on my birthday cake
I’m another year old today

Happy Birthday to You
You’re another year old today.

[Did you know you can pick which song the Sheriff sings for you on your birthday? It’s easy. Just visit the 6th Annual Birthday Poll on Livejournal or the parallel note on Facebook. Note that if you want the birdie to be able to inform the Sheriff about your birthday, you need to make sure your birth month and day is in your LJ or FB profile, and it is visible to your friends. Note that the Sheriff only sings a song if I know you personally or you’re a regular commenter. So don’t lurk!]

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Phones and Politics

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

The Smothers Brothers used to have a routine where they discussed the relationship between clothes and politics. The everyday people without big salaries couldn’t afford to purchase a lot of clothes, and thus might be called the “less-on”s. I’ll leave it to you to come up with the name for the people with more money running the country…. (hmm, is this an example of what I talked about in my previous post?)

I mention this because of an interesting survey from Capitol Weekly: “A new study by Tulchin Research, a polling and strategic consulting firm, has recently shown that the majority of Californians carrying iPhones support Jerry Brown in the race for governor while those pecking away on Blackberries are more likely to support Meg Whitman.”

Hmmm, I’m using an LG non-smart phone. What does that say about me?

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Hating in America

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

I was going to write a lunchtime post about fat acceptance in America, but quickly realized that is just one form of acceptable hatred in America today. As much as we proclaim our love for liberty and equality, we sure love to hate the other guy in this country. Here are some examples.

Hating the Immigrant. Today the news is filled with reports on the protests on Arizona’s Immigration Law. Yet America seems to love to hate the immigrant. Take a look at this CNN poll. Much as there is a belief that the “melting pot” strengthened the country in the past, today’s immigrants are viewed much less charitably. Yet, were you to go back to the turn of the 20th century, you would probably be reading similar words about the Irish or the Chinese. As much as we say they should take the legal route and become citizens, we’ve made that much much harder than it was. We all seem to forget: almost everyone in this country was, at one time, an immigrant.

Hating the Wealthy. It seems to be perfectly acceptable to hate the wealthy in this country. Read the comments about the Clinton Wedding, and the fact they are spending $3 million (of their own money) on it. People seem to complain when the rich spend money—that they have earned—on all sorts of luxuries and staff, while forget that the spending pumps money back into the economy in terms both of jobs and taxes. So why is there this class warfare—why the hate?

Hating the Fat. Yesterday, I wrote about how large size bloggers are creating events to get more fashionable clothes. I ran into another article today in a similar vein: about how larger women want modern fashion, but Plus-Size stores tend not to stock it. This captures the general notion that is going around that large size individuals shouldn’t look good and fashionable; they should be penalized for their size. This is yet another form of hatred. You’ll even see the battle in the media: the LA Times is asking whether America is ready for a sitcom featuring plus-size leads, where their size isn’t the focus.

Hatred. No matter how we battle it, it is still around. Be it color, status, shape, size, orientation, ability: we need to see people as people and not labels.

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A Birthday Song for ailurodragon

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

OK, Folks, you know the drill. Allright everyone, let’s gather in front of our large, 13″, Black and White TV set, and watch as a tall, lanky man in a khaki uniform strides out, introduces himself as Sheriff John, strums his guitar, and says: “This is for ailurodragon“:

This is your birthday song, it isn’t very long

[Did you know you can pick which song the Sheriff sings for you on your birthday? It’s easy. Just visit the 6th Annual Birthday Poll on Livejournal or the parallel note on Facebook. Note that if you want the birdie to be able to inform the Sheriff about your birthday, you need to make sure your birth month and day is in your LJ or FB profile, and it is visible to your friends. Note that the Sheriff only sings a song if I know you personally or you’re a regular commenter. So don’t lurk!]

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