Gotta say I love this. This industry giant has taken a stand against government overreach. Brilliant!
Everything I needed to know about Marketing, I learned from Penguins.
How much do you know about penguins? Not the hockey-playing kind. The ones in Antartica. I know this sounds weird, but you can learn a lot about marketing from penguins. Here’s what I mean…
[Read more…] about Everything I needed to know about Marketing, I learned from Penguins.Woka-Cola.
When I was a kid, there was nothing better than an ice-cold bottle of Coke. My sister and I used to get a dollar from my grandmother, and walk about four blocks with my little sister, down to the Pak-a-Sak, and buy two Coca-Colas, two candy bars, and two comic books. I was six. She was four. We were barefoot and unaccompanied. It would have been around 1963. I can still taste that ice cold drink, feel the thick, green glass bottle in my six-year-old hand, condensation dripping onto my bare feet. I didn’t know it then, but this was what Heaven will be like.
[Read more…] about Woka-Cola.The Black Lives Matter Show!
Lies, Damned Lies, and The Media.
I’ve always loved newspapers. When I was a kid, I had a paper route. I always had a couple of extra newspapers in the bundle, just to make sure that I had enough, if one got messed up, and every afternoon, I’d take one of the spares, and read it, pretty much cover to cover. Back then, reading a paper was a great way to learn about the world, the nation, and your own area. Newspapers used to have a couple of really important rules: 1) Don’t allow advertisers to influence your news coverage, and 2) Maintain a wall between hard news and opinion. Section A of the paper was always hard news – stories that provided the facts of the subject, in what we in Journalism class called the “Inverted Pyramid.” The idea was to provide all the salient details up-front, with more and more details further in. In a way, this is the opposite of how you’d write a story – in fiction, you want to create a hook at the beginning, to grab the reader and draw them deeper into the story. Well into the tale, you deliver the details and critical information to the story.
[Read more…] about Lies, Damned Lies, and The Media.A Plan for Guns That Works.
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 18, 2021 – The White House has announced a new initiative regarding guns, answering critics on the right who point out that criminals do not obey gun laws, no matter how “common sense” they are, or how well-intentioned. White House Spokesperson Jenn Psaki stated, “President* Biden has noted the resistance to his common sense gun bans…er…um…gun reforms from the Right, with the pundits pointing out that laws only affect law-abiding citizens. So we’ve come up with a plan that will address these concerns. We call it, ‘Midnight Range Time.'”
[Read more…] about A Plan for Guns That Works.What’s in a Name?
What’s in a name? I’m the first to admit my last name can be something of a challenge for some. “Kozak” is a Czech name, from the original Czech word for “cossack” – a fierce, warrior, often referring to a calvary soldier, complete with a rifle, brace of pistols, and a saber. (Ah, for the good old days.) When my great-grandfather came over from Prague at the turn of the century, he (or the guy working the intake desk at Ellis Island anglicized it to “Kozak.” In Czech, it’s actually pronounced “KO-yahk,” from what I understand. I’d have to go by my first name over there, for there is no translation for “Bradford.” But I digress.
[Read more…] about What’s in a Name?Are Color Palettes Racist?
This whole “color thing” is getting confusing. We’re being segregated into “white,” “black,” “brown,” and “yellow,” as if that should matter. And “white” is supposed to be racist, because in the past, white people referred to people of color “black,” “brown” and “yellow.” In fact, you’re apparently a racist just for being white. But the Left claims you can’t be a racist if you’re black, brown or yellow which, ironically, sounds pretty racist to me.
So what’s the deal about color? I’m a graphic artist. I mean, if a graphic artist can’t get a handle on this, how will anybody else be able to understand color theory. Let me try to explain…
[Read more…] about Are Color Palettes Racist?My Apologies. (Not.)
I grew up with parents that taught me that being polite was essential to being a gentleman. I was told to say “Please,” and “Thank you,” as well as calling adults “Mister,” “Missus,” or “Miss” before their last names, and to say “Yes sir” or “No Ma’am” as was appropriate. I was also taught that when I made a mistake, to own it, make amends for it, and apologize to those I hurt or offended.
Times, sadly, have changed.
With the advent of the Woke Supremacy, the rules of engagement have changed, and not for the better. In my youth, a heartfelt apology was seen as a mark of proper breeding. Today, it’s a sign of weakness, a mistake meant to be exploited to destroy one’s enemies. Don’t believe me? Read on, MacDuff, and damned be he who first cries “I’m sorry.”
Take any case of someone who has run afoul of the Cancel Culture choir. Let’s say, sometime in a more innocent age, you dressed up in some ethnic costume for Halloween. Could have been a sombrero and sarape. Could have been a rainbow-colored afro wig. Maybe a native Arab costume. Pictures were taken. Fun was had. Nobody thought a thing about this. But then, a decade later, a photo surfaces, and you are accused of “cultural appropriation,” and “mocking a protected demographic group.” Ruh-rho, Rohge. You’re in big trouble now. For all of about fifteen minutes (the attention span of the Woke Mob. Unless…unless you apologize and show contrition for your insensitive actions. You didn’t know…it was okay back then…you’ll never do it again, promise! Except, it’s too late now. You’re dead. Oh, maybe not in the physical sense, but you’re career is cancelled, your friends are afraid to talk to you, and you suddenly have no life. Congratulations. You made the fatal mistake of being polite and apologizing.
Donald Trump understood this, instinctively. He never apologized. And for four years, the Left found it impossible to stop him. He did not play by the rules. Compare and contrast this with just about every politician on the Right, who apologized, tried to atone, and found themselves cancelled.
NOTE: There is one exception to all this. If you are on the Left, and either seriously intersectional or in a position of power, you can ride it out, as long as you don’t apologize. The trick is to allow others to apologize for you. You see, there’s a pecking order in the Woke Nation. The more “marginalized” demographics you belong to, the less you have to worry. So let’s say you use the dreaded “N” word, even in a way that is illustrating how you should never use the word, because of its offensive power. If you’re a Conservative, you’re dead. If you’re a Leftist and a white male, you’re still dead, but they’ll send flowers. If you are a Leftist white female, you’re right on the bubble. If you are Leftist, white, female and straight, say sayonara to your career. But…if you’re Leftist, white, female and Lesbian or claim to self-identify as a male, you will likely survive. Those that are Leftist, non-white, on the LGBTQ/EIEO+ scale, and worship Stalin or Satan, you can use the word with absolute impunity.
Am I the only one that sees how stupid this is?
This past week, I was pilloried for using the term “Christian name” instead of “first name” and writing “May God have mercy on us.”
The horror.
I interacted with an angry, white, butch-looking atheist. From her profile pic, I’m just guessing, but I’d be on pretty safe ground to add “Lesbian” to that list. Maybe even “transgendered.” I knew precisely what to do. I doubled-down, explained my reasoning using logic, and refused to apologize. Oh, and I blocked her, after repeated warnings to avoid making personal attacks. She didn’t refrain, so I took a page from Orwell and made her an un-person.
I find it hilarious to hear the righteous indignation coming out of those on the Left, when they discover they are not safe from the Cancel cougars and curmudgeons who demand their pound of flesh. You can just hear the gears turning in their tiny little brains, as they think, “But wait! I’m not a bad person! I’m not a (shudder) CONSERVATIVE! I’m on YOUR side! Why are you picking on me!” By then, of course, it’s too late, they’ve been eviscerated, career-wise, their only hope to find some Betty Ford program for Leftist foot-in-mouth syndrome.
So here’s my recommendation. Don’t apologize. Ever. Wear your verbal gaffes and photos from the past like a badge of courage. Stand up. Be counted. Because I’ve got news for you. There are more of us than there are of them, and if we simply STOP taking them seriously, the will go away. For good.
Is This the Beginning of the End, or End of the Beginning?
I’ve got an image to insert into your mind’s eye. I have a sister. She’s two months shy of two years younger than I am. We’ve never really gotten along, although I can say that when I was in my darkest hour, she was there for me. When we were very young, my parents tried disciplining us the same way. Didn’t work. When I was naughty, my dad would spank me, usually with his belt. He didn’t have to hit me more than once or twice, and he didn’t have to hit me hard to get the point across. One or two swats, and I was on the path to atonement and redemption. But with my sister, he coulda beat her lily white ass red as a beet, and she’d just stand there, and take it, looking all the while like she was ready to go all Carrie on everybody. Kinda scary really. Eventually, they found that sticking her nose in the corner and forcing her into a time out was a much better punishment. She’d crack like a farm-fresh, Grade-A egg, inside of a couple of minutes. (For me, the nose-in-the-corner trick was not too different from locking me in my room – an opportunity to daydream and do some serious fantasizing.)
But the interesting part of all this was what happened after the punishment was over.
[Read more…] about Is This the Beginning of the End, or End of the Beginning?