The Internet is Often a Funny Place

Amy Alkon very kindly posted a photo of mine on her blog. It then generated a string of comments. I don't disagree with the first one but think the last one is absolutely brilliant!

---

Yes, a stunning natural setting. However, under years of socialist governments Vancouver has become a drug-infested, crime-ridden, over-taxed and expensive city with a huge gang problem and lots of murders. A nice place to visit, if you are lucky enough not to get caught in the cross-file and don't mind the panhandlers and general filth, but not a place to live or raise a family, and a horrible place to try to run a business.

Posted by: DB in AB at April 15, 2009 8:42 AM

Sorry, should have read "cross-fire". Next time I'll preview.

Posted by: DB in AB at April 15, 2009 8:43 AM

"Cross-file" When bureacrats die in a hail of file folders

Posted by: lujlp at April 15, 2009 8:46 AM

JFK Revisited

I had some time to catch up on reading this morning. I mostly focused on two of my favourites, Mark Steyn and Amy Alkon.

This posting by Alkon particularly caught my attention. Here's the comment I left:

As I told an elderly friend from Chicago yesterday ... Canada tried a similar socialist experiment in the 1970's under Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It was an abysmal failure and we are still paying back for the enormous borrowing he did.

Americans have failed to heed the wisdom that could be learned from every other country that has borrowed way more than it can afford. So now you all are embarking on your own socialist experiment. In the process, the Incentive of those who want to work hard, who need to work hard will be diminished, if not destroyed. You'll have fewer & fewer people working hard and more & more people looking for a hand out.

An historian with a sense of humor could provide this twist on JFK's famous line:

JFK: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

Obama: "And so, my American comrades: ask not what you can do for your country - demand what your country can do for you!"

A Few Thoughts on Newspapers

A favourite writer of mine, Amy Alkon, posted this piece on her blog. Here's the comment I left her:

If a food manufacturer were consistently putting out a product that made people sick, would they be allowed to continue "as is"?

If a courier company consistently delivered packages late and damaged, would people continue to give them their business?

If an engineering firm consistently erected bridges that collapsed, would they be allowed to continue their work "as is"?

My PROBLEM with the MSM is that their "News" is no longer N-E-W-S. Most every story I read has a significant bias to it, which makes me immediately distrust the writer and the story.

Editorials can be slanted any which way the writer(s) want but not news.

The day that journalists once again decide to follow professional ethics then I will support newspapers again. Right now they're neither professional nor ethical.

9-Year Old Relationship Expert

I think Amy Alkon better watch her back, because young Alec Greven may soon be biting at her heels!

7 Tips Here. I'm already taking notes and will bring them on every date!

And You Thought Your Dating Life/Past Was Strange?

This sounds like something out of Jerry Springer:

I'm a 21-year-old student who's been dating a 45-year-old man for three and a half years. He's been technically married throughout our relationship (two years ago, I discovered he lied about being divorced). I've given him an ultimatum: He has to be divorced by July, when I graduate. He agrees, but supports his 26-year-old daughter and unmarried 46-year-old sister (even paying to remodel her bathroom), and pays his wife's mortgage and bills. He manages to take me to dinner and helps with my rent, but he's pulled in so many directions. I'm told I'm very mature for my age, but I don't know how to handle this. I do love him very much, and we plan to get married and have children. Please don't focus on the age difference. A 27-year-old could have the same issues with a guy.

Obama's Big Vote Buy

Amy Alkon just published a biting article, asking why so many Americans are so eager to give Barack Obama much more of their money.

Here's the comment I left:

Much like a parent doesn't want their child to learn about touching a stove by actually getting burned, those of us outside the U.S. who have not had our minds numbed by the Socialist Kool-Aid, are hoping against hope that Americans don't embark on Obama's Great Socialist Experiment. But this suggests that you are.

And Michael Medved has a detailed article on why the changes made in an Obamanation will be permanent and devastating.

I have never felt that McCain is the optimal choice but it truly is shocking to me how so many Americans have been brain washed by the socialist rhetoric espoused by Obama and his many protective pals in the MSM.

Let's talk 2 years from now and see if many still feel Obama is the transformative Messiah figure that so many currently espouse him to be.

Permanent Victim Syndrome

Amy Alkon had an interesting column about how she got in an argument with a fellow about personal responsibility. Here's a little snippet:

Yesterday, I debated a guy I started talking to in Starbucks about the big problem in the black community. He said it was poverty and unequal schools. I said it was daddylessness. I also think there's a huge problem with victimhood. Read the rest here . . .

---

Here's the comment I left:

Picking up on something "Toubrouk" said, look at the similarities between the Mainstream Black (MSB) views and the Mainstream Feminist (MSF) views.

Both are steeped in a never-ending mentality of victimhood. Look what Phyllis Schlafly said about the MSF movement here:

Feminists never boast about [so-called conservative feminists like Sarah Palin] because feminism's basic doctrine is victimology. Feminism preaches that women can never succeed because they are the sorry victims of an oppressive patriarchy. No matter how smart or accomplished a woman may be, she's told that success and happiness are beyond her grasp because institutional sexism and discrimination hold her down.

Doesn't that sound strikingly familiar to what we continuously hear from the leaders of the MSB movement?

Whenever the topic of racism in America comes up, I often tell my American friends to come up to Canada to see how the same "Permanent Victim Syndrome" canards are preached to the electorate by at least 2 of the political parties here and echoed by hundreds of like-minded organizations, almost all of whom are funded by taxpayer dollars. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how they ensure that gov't $ keep on flowing in.

But up here, there is no particular racial component so it washes away the illusions perpetrated by the MSB talking heads.

Teach a man or a woman how to fish and they will never be hungry. Give them a fish and they will be back tomorrow. Keep on giving them fish and they will depend upon you for a lifetime. Get the government to fund your fishing program and you will be employed for a lifetime. Follow the money, folks, follow the money.

"Progressives" : New Age Fascists Like No Other

If you'd like to see what kind of people will be voting for Barack Obama this fall then click here. Indeed, not all voting for him are like these thugs but way too many are. And read through the hundreds of comments and you will see few to no liberals chastising their comrades for their reprehensible actions.

Such actions are further support of Jonah Goldberg's book, Liberal Fascism. And further proof of how real free speech and real discussions are squashed by liberals who disagree with it. Absolutely pathetic!

It would be most interesting to find out if any of these thugs are also working on Obama's campaign. Far fetched? Something tells me not!

Fighting Back Against Telemarketers

This is beyond brilliant! Amy Alkon describes in vivid detail how she gave the exec of a telemarketing company a taste of his own medicine. Bravo Amy, bravo!

Nutty Mommy

Some time back a female friend of mind got me reading Amy Alkon. In case you haven't heard of her, she's like a cool, hip version of Dear Abby. This week she shares an incredible series of e-mails shared between her and a welfare mom. Make sure you're sitting down, with no sharp objects around, and read this.

Cel-Phone Manners Rant

Amy Alkon has a brilliant rant that will inspire anyone who has been annoyed by cel phone maniacs. Here's one part of it:

A woman at the Rose Café shouted her eyeglass order into her cell -- going into detail about her family’s medical plan (they have flexible spending, they’ll pay after the first of the year). After I blogged her conversation, including her phone number, she got calls from around the world: “Eva, your glasses are ready!” I’m guessing she has newfound respect for others’ profound disinterest in her life.

One Relationship For Life or One Life Full of Relationships?

Writer Amy Alkon has just written an excellent article about being single and happy. This is something I think a lot about at times, though not so much recently. Do give it a read!

VIC + PVS = Pathetic Disaster!

Someone recently directed me to this blog posting. It's a piece by writer, Amy Alkon. She shares her criticism of Radical Feminism and touches upon the proponents of this movement that perpetuate what she calls the "Victim Industrial Complex" (VIC). I had never heard this term before, but like it.

The all encompassing idea of VIC is that a huge swath of society are victims. Let's briefly explore the definition of this word:

vic·tim

noun
1.	an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
2.	a person who is tricked or swindled

Those who buy into the VIC view of the world adamantly maintain that ALL women and ALL children are victims. No harm actually ever has to come to one of these people. They're still regarded as a victim, whether they view themselves that way or not.

For every victim, there has to be an aggressor/perpetrator. If women & children are the victims then guess who the bad guys are? Excuse the obvious pun! But seriously, this does explain a lot about how such a mentality develops. I've met some women who live and breathe this stuff. The chips on their shoulders are so big that they must have severe back problems! About a decade ago I had experienced an unfortunate experience with one such woman and was talking with a psychologist friend of mine about her. He gave me the perfect line to use but I must admit I've not yet used it: "Just because you're a feminist doesn't prevent you from being an asshole!"

Long ago I invented a corollary to VIC called "PVS", which stands for "Permanent Victim Syndrome". I did so when I noticed that certain people I met were constantly feeling sorry for themselves, seemingly unable and/or unwilling to resolve the issues that were burdening them. They found it easier to always blame others or just "life" in general for all their woes. Only after I read The Celestine Prophecy did I learn that victims were on the other side of the same coin as aggressors in that both were using different techniques to the same effect: to manipulate others. This realization was a real wake-up call for me.