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Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

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Religion & Morality

Everything That’s Old is New Again

Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Senator Joseph McCarthy, 1908–1957

I was born in the late ’50s, a little too late to experience the McCarthy Era firsthand. For those of you not familiar, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-IL) saw his political career rise, then fall, much like Daedalus, soaring high, then quickly crashing and burning. McCarthy was convinced that there were Communist sympathizers in both the Federal government and in the entertainment industry. Turns out, a couple of things were true: McCarthy was right, in that there were Communists and Communist sympathizers, in both the government and in Hollywood. He was also wrong in the way he pursued them, in what came to be called the “Red Scare” and the “Witch Hunts” of the 1950s.

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The People’s Republik of Technostan.

I’m a ‘tech’ guy. I got hooked on PCs back in college, and shortly thereafter shelled out $4k for one of the first IBM PCs. I built websites back when “Notepad” was the only thing you could use to build ’em. And if you really wanna go hardcore, I still remember how to use EDLIN. As such, I’m not a nerd-come-lately to the Wonderful World of Technology. I’m also a small business owner (who depends on technology for my livelihood), a Capitalist/Entrepreneur, and a Conservative (with Libertarian leanings, or what at one time was considered a “Classical Liberal”). I’m in the “less government is better/lower taxes/reduce debt/the fewer rules and laws the better” bunch. Which is why the recent trend towards censorship and bans scares the ever-lovin’ crap out of me.

[Read more…] about The People’s Republik of Technostan.

Caveat Venditor! (Seller beware!)

I monitor a lot of different sites, looking for more business for my design firm. Sadly, a lot of the sites that match those who need a designer with people like me are filled with scammers, looking to make a quick, illicit buck off of coders, scribes, and graphic artists. Here’s a prime example of a scammer’s job request:

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Job type: Web Design [Read more…] about Caveat Venditor! (Seller beware!)

Modern Fairy Tales: The Wolf Who Cried “Boy!”

The Wolf Who Cried "Boy!"

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a continuing series of updated fairy tales, for the new millennium. Think of them as “living tales,” where we adjust the story  – and the moral – to suit the times in which we live. 

Once upon a time, there was a young man, who lived in a village. The lad came from a very traditional household – family values, church, traditions, belief in self-reliance, and all that jazz. But he grew up in an era where the old ways were looked upon first as “old fashioned,” and now “outdated,” “outmoded,” and flat-out “wrong.” Day after day, he was chided, criticized, and even mocked for his beliefs. The peer pressure was almost unimaginable. He couldn’t walk the streets of the village, go into an inn, or attend school without hearing his values torn down. He felt ostracized and unwelcome everywhere but his home.  [Read more…] about Modern Fairy Tales: The Wolf Who Cried “Boy!”

Refusing Refugees.

At the base of the Statue of Liberty, a poem by Emma Lazarus reads:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Historically, the USA has been the “land of opportunity,” where we welcomed those that wanted to come here to live, work and prosper, with open arms and big hearts. Like virtually everybody in this Nation who doesn’t have ancestors or relatives living on an Indian Native American reservation, my forebears came from parts beyond the USA. So it might seem a little hypocritical for anybody in America to say “Stop right there, buddy…we don’t want your kind.” But what if it’s the kind that wants to kill us all?  [Read more…] about Refusing Refugees.

Terrorism with a Happy (Bureaucratic) Face

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Thank you, please be seated. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Abby Normale-Pharse, and I’m the Under-Under Secretary of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, and I am the bureaucrat in charge of the Bureau of Undocumented, Radicalized Islamic Affairs. I’m very pleased today to announce a new program, that we in the Obama Administration believe will have a dramatic effect on reducing terrorism in this formerly-great nation of ours. We call it, the Terrorist Reintegration and Immigration Program, or “TRIP” for short.  [Read more…] about Terrorism with a Happy (Bureaucratic) Face

Transitory State

Bruce-Jenner-Vanity-Fair-cover

When I was a kid, life was simple. There were boys. There were girls. Boys played “Army.” Girls played with dolls. Boys wore pants. Girls wore dresses. Life was good. I think I was 12 or so, before I heard the words “queer” and “gay” and learned that they meant “homosexual,” and was told what “homosexual” meant. I soon learned there was a whole panoply of people who had different ideas about sexuality. Boys who liked boys. Girls who liked girls. Boys who liked girls and boys, and vice-versa. Boys who liked to dress up like girls (and vice-versa). And then boys and girls who had their bodies altered to look like girls and boys, respectively. Confusing. I thought it was weird then. I’m not sure I think it’s any less weird now. Especially given that Bruce Jenner has “transitioned.”  [Read more…] about Transitory State

Scouting Today.

Hello, and we’d like to welcome you to this emergency meeting of the Kiowa Council of the Boy Scouts of America. As the Chairman of your Equality Compliance Committee, I’ve been charged with overseeing the transition of our organization into one that will be a model of politically-correct thought for the new millennium. As you might expect, there are a lot of changes in store for the Scouts. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors. We’ll I’m here to put all those rumors to rest. We have a crack team of experts on ethics, working ’round the clock to insure that we move to the cutting edge of correct thought. [Read more…] about Scouting Today.

Offensensitivity.

© Berkeley Breathed – All Rights Reserved. Bloom County, November 14, 1982.

NEWSFLASH: There is NO Constitutional right to ban something that might offend you.

I know this comes as a huge shock to Progressives, Atheists and Muslims everywhere. And I hate to be the one to break this tragic news to you (not really) but I looked it up. Nowhere in the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the other Amendments is there language that guarantees that you should be protected from any- and everything that causes you to be offended.  [Read more…] about Offensensitivity.