We’re All Winners!!
By Rob | April 21, 2008
I read somewhere recently that a principal at some midwestern school has outlawed the game of tag. I believe she described it as a “game of intense aggression,” and is therefore unsuitable for the children of her school.
Along with this, dodgeball has been outlawed in many schools. Apparently it’s too violent as well.
In many parts of the country, little leagues have stopped keeping score.
I’m getting sick and tired of hearing this “every kid’s a winner” bullshit. Every kid is not a winner. Every kid should not be treated as a winner. If you want your kid to be a winner, teach him how to win.
You can’t expect children to grow up to be functioning adults if you coddle them until they’re 18. Can you imagine what a skewed sense of the world they’ll have? As soon as they leave their parents home, the world is going to crush them because they haven’t been properly taught how to succeed in it.
We’re being way too easy on children. We walk on eggshells with them because we’re afraid their feeling will get hurt and they’ll grow up with problems. It’s our generation of 30-somethings that’s doing this, too. For some reason we don’t want our children to have the same difficulties in school that we did. We want everything to be easy for them, everything handed to them on a silver platter.
I’m sorry, but the world doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to fail. You’ve got to lose. You’ve got to embarass yourself once in awhile in order to really know how to win. That’s life. You have to expose children to the harsh realities that await them someday so that they can actually handle it.
Let your kid lose once in awhile. It’s good for him.
Topics: Rob, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Our Troops Get Shafted. Again.
By Chuck | April 12, 2008
Part 1: Tour of Duty Changes
Bush made a big fucking deal about changing the tour of duty from 15 months to 12 months. While it was recommended to be 12 months deployed and 24 months home to keep troop moral and mental health high they decided that 12 on and 12 off was good enough. Well, at least it is a step in the right direction, right?
As with everything else with this administration there is small print: This offer only valid to troops starting their tours after August 1st. Now I bet we will see the rapid redefining of the term “tour of duty”.
Part 2: Voting Rights
VA secretary James Peake, in response to a letter from Senators Kerry and Feinstein, say they will not reverse their ban on either allowing injured veterans to register to vote or even helping an injured vet get somewhere where they could register to vote. The reasoning?
They consider registering to vote a “partisan political activity”. So if you are injured fighting for this administration and are laid up in a VA hospital somewhere your right to vote gets essentially revoked.
This administration makes the charge that people who are against the war are not supporting the troops. Here they are, yet again proving that they are truly the ones that are against the troops.
It is easy to get the masses worked into a frenzy powered by fear. Fear of terrorism. Fear of extremists. Fear of people who are different. Fear of who and what they want you to fear. Fear is what got us here and fear is what is keeping us here. I, for one, say fuck you. I will not fear what and when it is convenient for this administration. I will not have a Pavlovian-like fear on command response to the words “Muslim” or “terrorist”. I will not ignore your misdeeds in the name of your redefinition for freedom out of fear.
I will not fear you.
I don’t understand how you could continue to put our soldiers in harms way without the proper armor. Without the proper gear. Without the proper care. How you could continue this and still pretend to have the best interests of the troops in mind. You, Mr. Bush, you and all those working with you are traitors to this country and should be dealt with as such.
Topics: Chuck, Ethics, War | No Comments »
So You Wanna Be a Rock Star?
By Phil | April 4, 2008
Consider, for a moment, Kristin Hersh and the band she formed in the eighties, Throwing Muses.
Two things happened recently that made me think of Kristin and her aforementioned band. One was the release of the Breeders latest album, and the other was a conversation I had with a co-worker regarding Throwing Muses, my borderline obsession with their music, and a band from the mid 90’s, Belly.
While I haven’t heard the Breeders latest album in its entirety, I was lucky enough to see them on their latest tour, pimping said album. Sounded good to me. The Breeders first album was released in 1990. The band was formed by Kim Deal of the Pixies, and Tanya Donnelly, formerly of… Throwing Muses. While Tanya left after one album and one EP, the Breeders went on to have one of the biggest alternative hits of the ’90’s in “Cannonball”– even people who weren’t into that scene back then know that one. Try it, just hum the bass line to your Average Joe (”dum dummdummdummdumm dum dummdummdummdumm“) and they will instantly recognize it. Kim Deal, through her affiliation with the Pixies will forever have her place cemented amongst the pantheon of rock gods.
Belly had a huge hit in the 90’s called “Feed the Tree“– you know that one, too. And so did my co-worker.
So, who is this Throwing Muses you are always on about?
“Well, remember Belly? They had that song ‘Feed the Tree’?”
“Oh, yeah!”
“Ok, well, the woman that formed that band, Tanya Donnelly, used to be in Throwing Muses”.
Which brings us to Kristin Hersh, her career, and the music industry in general. There isn’t a single song that Throwing Muses did that I can point to and say “those guys”. This is a band that can claim REM and the Pixies as peers. Think about that for a minute. The Pixies inspired, by Cobain’s admission, Nirvana. They remain one of the most influential bands of our time. As for REM– well, Jesus, do I have to spell it out for you?
Should Throwing Muses have had some monster hit? Maybe “Mexican Women” or “Counting Backwards”? I don’t know. Perhaps the poppy “Dizzy”, or “Not Too Soon”? Would that have altered their following albums? Would I be able to sit here, writing this nonsense about some (relatively) obscure band, stroking my chin and sneering down my nose at the uninitiated? Or is it maybe just the luck of the draw?
I’ve been saying for years that Kristin Hersh is one of The Most Underrated Musicians On The Planet. Given her work with the Muses (Eight albums, a few EPs), her albums as a solo artist (her first solo album, “Hips and Makers” included a duet with REM’s Michael Stipe), and what she has done recently with her new band, 50 Foot Wave (whose only claim to fame is choosing that name right before the 2004 Tsunami), Hersh remains one of the most prolific artists of the modern era. And yet she toils away, giving music away for free on the internet, bounced from her label (the venerable 4AD), playing shows in the US to sparse audiences (she’s bigger in the UK), blogging about her latest bus breakdown or shitbag motel her tour had to settle for this week.
And yet, this is her career. This is the only life her kids know, schlepped around from city to city while mom and dad hope, maybe, just maybe, someone notices. Yeah, that describes thousands of unknown artists who will never know what it’s like to be U2– but listen to Throwing Muses’ “The Real Ramona”, or Kristin’s solo album “Sunny Border Blue”, and tell me that there isn’t some fickle injustice at work here.
Topics: Music, Phil | 2 Comments »
New Presidential Poll.
By Chuck | April 4, 2008
I wanted to put up this poll again to see if things have changed in the past few months. I left Ron Paul in this one because he hasn’t officially given up yet even though it is impossible for him to be anything but a joke. Same with Gravel. I also added Nader to the mix. Have at it!
Last time it ended with:
Obama 43%
Clinton 29%
Undecided 21%
Gravel 7%
Topics: Chuck, Politics, Poll | 2 Comments »
Where Does McCain Go from Here?
By Chuck | April 3, 2008
While the answer to that question should honestly be the retirement home for old crazy coots what I want to know is who he is going to choose as his V.P. Or more accurately, who the GOP will let him choose.
Condoleezza Rice: This is the person I’m betting on if the GOP really wants McCain to win this one. Selecting her isn’t about her politics. It isn’t about her qualifications. It isn’t about her experience.
It is about her race. It is about her gender. It would be an attempt to one-up the Democrats. The Dems have, on one side, a black man and on the other a white woman running for the nomination. If the GOP tossed about a black woman for the VP it would be an attempt to prove they are as, if not more, progressive then their Democratic opponents and pick them up some independent votes.
Mitt Romney: I have heard his name tossed around a lot but I don’t think he would want it. He spent so much cash aiming at the presidency I think he will be aiming for it again next round. Plus I don’t think it would get McCain many new votes as there are better choices to stroke the religious right. Unless you count the Mormon areas.
Mike Huckabee: This is the reason that Huckabee stayed in the race when he knew he was dead. He would grab the attention and votes of the Jesus crew. He would effectively kill off the chance of any independent votes swinging to McCain and would virtually guarantee McCain a loss. If the republican party wants to keep the Jesus crew happy and doesn’t mind throwing McCain to the wolves you might see this one.
Jeb Bush: “The Other White Bush”. If McCain really wants to run as the third term of Bush this will be his choice. It would also set up Jeb for his shot at the presidency. Fuck that is scary.
Hillary Clinton: Also one of the names buzzing around. People think that her attacks on Obama and her quasi-praise for McCain point to this end. Bad idea. The Clinton family has a position of power within the democratic party and I don’t think they want to lose it. Imagine if she switched then lost the race. You think the republicans would accept her into a power role? Not a chance.
She like the power and that is while she is where she is.
There is also the choice of a retired high ranking military officer. Good choice for McCain if he wants to go all-in as “The War President V2.0″
Topics: Chuck, Politics | 1 Comment »
