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November 26, 2007
Nanny State: zero tolerance, word inflation and 30 is the new 17
It is interesting to note the seeming contradiction when schools find it necessary to teach all the best ways to have "safe" sex to minors who cannot legally consent to have sex in the first place and yet also find it necessary to suspend students for legal handholding or hugging. The same contradiction is observed in schools allowing profane t-shirts as "freedom of expression" but suspending a student who used the word "noose" as a racial slur.
However, it really is part of the Nannystate mindset, the continued infantilization of American society, lead in no small part by the contemporary American Left which, above all else, defines their own brand of "freedom" and demands it be divorced from obligation and responsibility.
Please take at least 10 minutes to listen to the first part of this 34 minute segment of Dennis Prager's show with Dr. Stephan Marmer, UCLA clinical psychiatrist about the making of happy adults. The biggest obstacle to happiness is the refusal of adults to actually grow up. He states that the majority of the patients he sees, people already into their 30's, have refused to let go of their child-like expectations. The expectation of being taken care of, of having all needs met, of unconditional love and acceptance and never being required to do anything in return. This is the proper expectation of infants, but we wean infants from the breast long before they start school.
As Dr. Marmer further explains, part of this is a generational problem. Those that grew up during the Depression wanted to spare their children the pressure of not having money. So the baby boomers were raised with all their material needs met but were expected to achieve and that achievement was under the pressure of time. The Boomer parents wanted to spare their children of the pressures of money and time, so we have increasing numbers of 30, even 40 year old adults living with their parents. Current parents are now trying to spare their children even the pressure of achieving. From "no score" sports, to "no grading" report cards, to "no valedictorians", to "everyone gets a trophy" the movement to cocoon children and adults from the merest disappointment in life is endemic. Ban dodge ball or tag because someone's feelings might be hurt. Ban monkey bars and swings, even recess itself least a scraped elbow or bruised shin cause undue pain ... and you are raising people unequipped to deal with the vagaries of adulthood.
Look at the sheer volume of unhappiness and vindictiveness manifested on leftist blogs. There are demands that medical care is an unfettered right, along with homes and jobs (that pay a "living wage") and education. All to be provided by Big Mommy Government (i.e. someone else). Observe the shrill demands for the revival of the [un]Fairness Doctrine that are decorated with claims of controlling "hate" and "offensive" speech -- translated: a childish demand that means "Spare me the pain of having to listen to a point of view I do not agree with."
And few words are more "offensive" to the childish Left than responsibility. Like a child that throws a tantrum, screaming at the parent "you're nothing but a big meany!" after being told no TV because s/he hasn't picked up his/her toys, the Left demands license to engage in any behavior without risk. Point out the risks, point out the relevant factors outside of the chorus of "me me me" and one will have attributed to them all manner of dark and nefarious motives.
Pandagonian St. Amanda declares a price increase of contraceptives on college campuses a conspiracy to control females' sex life. Quest-poster Cara on Feministe has made up her mind that it is wrong to have laws that consider a fetus a separate entity worthy of a count of murder when the fetus is killed during the assault or murder of the mother because that "takes away" from a woman's "autonomy". Indeed, in that threads comments, zuzu declares fetal murder laws are the "thin wedge" to deprive women of their rights.
We expect silliness of babies and small children. It's disturbing when seen in ostensible adults and it is alarming when it is promulgated as public policy.
Posted by Darleen at 12:28 PM | Comments (7)
November 24, 2007
Some Cali news
Malibu is on fire again.
A couple Inland Empire illegal alien advocates have gone to Mexico to meetup in a "parliament" to demand the US relinquish its right to have or enforce immigration laws.
In San Francisco, a 75 year old man fights off two attackers with his cane. Police ask for help but there is something significant missing from the SFGate story.
Even a few people in the area influenced by San Francisco are balking at the next Nannystate proposal.
Los Angeles' Mayor Antonio Villar[aigosa], So Cal's hispanic Billy Jeff-lite, has ended his affair with television news reporter, and celebrated round heels, Mirthala Salinas.
Posted by Darleen at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2007
The bitter dregs of Thanksgiving
Least you think there is at least one innocent holiday, a holiday with one foot in history, nominally tied to a singular event and another in the present having been brought down through the years into a time of celebrating family gatherings, then think again
SEATTLE – A letter from the Seattle School District is raising some eyebrows about Thanksgiving and how it should be handled in the classroom.So when your child brings home a paper turkey made out of a paper plate and construction paper feathers, slap that puppy right out of his/her hands and get about instilling some progressive, racialist guilt about living on stolen land.The letter tells school district staff that the holiday is seen by many Native Americans as a "time of mourning." [...]
For the past three years, the Seattle School District has sent a letter to teachers and staff, telling them "Thanksgiving can be a difficult time for many native students." [...]
This year's letter references a Native American historical website that outlines what it calls myths about Thanksgiving.
Myth number 11 – Thanksgiving is a happy time.
Posted by Darleen at 12:34 PM | Comments (4)
November 16, 2007
Dear Johnny Sutton ...
...what did you know and when did you know it?
Technorati: Johnny Sutton, Jose Compean , Ignacio Ramos, Border Patrol
Posted by Darleen at 06:34 AM | Comments (2)
November 15, 2007
Speak English? You teh racist!!1@!
Isn't it time for some kind of variation of Godwin's Law vis a vis the use rhetorical cudgel of racism? No better an illustration of what ridiculous lengths people will go to refuse to deal with criticism by charging their critics with "racism" is the asshattery coming from the Los Angeles Unifed School District Parent Council
For months, parents on a Los Angeles Unified School District advisory council have disagreed over whether their meetings should be conducted in Spanish or English. Such arguments became so abusive that district officials canceled meetings for two months and brought in dispute-resolution specialists and mental-health counselors. [...]Heaven forfend that a public school council, where the majority of students and parents don't speak Spanish conduct official business in English!By one vote, parents censured their own chairman for alleged bad behavior, leading to a walkout of most Spanish-speakers. The rebuked chairman, Roberto Fonseca, followed them out of the room. [...]
Friday's chaos had been building since February, when Fonseca, who is bilingual, started to give his chairman's report in Spanish. Some in the audience objected;
Police have been present ever since, and on Friday, they escorted several parents outside for what one administrator termed a "timeout." [...]The article doesn't explain what law the lawyer was citing.The current bylaws stipulate that parent meetings across the district must be held in English. A school-district lawyer, however, concluded that this rule is illegal and impractical.
Those who walked out included Guadalupe Aguiar, one of the parents who felt that Fonseca was treated unfairly, especially because Friday was the last meeting before new elections. She added that she considers it racist when parents are told that, in America, they have to speak English.While violent Hispanic gangs engage in "ethnic cleansing" of Los Angeles neighborhoods, specifically targeting blacks, now we witness a similar kind of cleansing by being hostile to parents who speak the language of the United States with the added irony of black parents being told they are racist for objecting to meetings conducted in a foreign language. Hispanic gangs don't want to share their turf, Hispanic parents don't want to share Federal dollars.
A diverse society is more a tossed salad then a melting pot, but a salad without a unifying dressing is nothing more than a bowl of disparate parts.
English only for official business. Period.
Posted by Darleen at 06:41 AM | Comments (7)
November 09, 2007
In the den of the totalitarian [il]liberal Left
Dan Collins @ Protein Wisdom points to a new "liberal" site. Some choice excerpts
Against equality of opportunityWarning: the above is not parody.One thing I have in mind here is a form of Dworkinian insurance. There should be redistributive taxes that replicate the insurance payments people would agree to behind what Rawls called a veil of ignorance. If people didn’t know what family they would be born into, they would probably agree to insurance contracts, in which those born to rich families - or with high skills - would pay out to those born to poor families.
In other words, the left should focus more upon (partial) equality of outcome, and less upon pursuing the illusion of equality of opportunity.
And one should disabuse themselves of actually asking for any serious debate of these people
I’m a little bit tired. I’m a little bit tired of arguing about why equality is important. Why human rights matter. Why poverty is not ok.Lovely.I’m a little bit tired of spending so much of my time defending the most basic principles of what I stand for. It serves to distract. What I need is a safer space where I don’t lose so much energy justifying why social and environmental justice are worth spending a lot of society’s money on.
Posted by Darleen at 06:45 AM | Comments (11)
November 07, 2007
Los Angeles DCFS caught, again ...
Los Angeles County's child welfare workers spent thousands of dollars in gift cards and entertainment tickets earmarked for foster children to buy themselves meals and attend musical events, according to an audit released Tuesday.Wow, never heard that one before. Just think, a government monopoly to provide essential services diverting monies to itself and the true recepients left in the cold.Among the most serious problems cited by auditors, county workers bought 160 tickets in July to see the hit musical "Wicked." County officials said the purchase was part of a gala event for foster children and their mentors, yet only 53 children and roughly the same number of mentors were given tickets.
The remaining seats went to employees of the Department of Children and Family Services and their relatives and guests, along with unidentified potential mentors and a number of not-for-profit organization employees, auditors wrote. The event cost $14,000.
The audit of the department also faulted employees for using gift cards -- bought with county money to supply food and clothing to foster children -- to pay for staff luncheons.
Oh, please DO nationalize medicine! It'll be the exception, right? Just like our lovely public schools?
Posted by Darleen at 06:52 AM | Comments (2)
November 05, 2007
Silly Season -- No fat Santas need apply
The jolly old elf is being given the boot:
Santa is being told to shift the pounds before Christmas - because the obese saint is failing to set a "good example" for children.Why yes, because all the kiddies who hang out their stockings on Christmas eve want nothing else but to grow up and be just like him.The traditional children's hero, best known for feasting on mince pies left out on Christmas eve, has always sported a bulging midriff.
But shopping centre bosses are giving the well-wisher his marching orders - to the nearest gym - to tackle the increasing problem of obesity.
Posted by Darleen at 03:47 PM | Comments (2)
November 03, 2007
In the 'rational' Left world ...
... President Bush's consensus pick of Michael Mukasey for AG has come to mean that Chuck Schumer (who recommended Mukasey) and Dianne Feinstein are really GOP, Neocon, Nazi stooges in disguise.
Oh...that's on the alternate days from when they are really just part of the JOOOOOO cabal running this country.
Alguien: Chuck: YOU SOLD OUT! No more contributions for YOU! Tell AIPAC to write you a nice fat check in exchange for betraying your country!oldtree: We can't expect more from either of these two senators. They are probably the victims of the wiretapping and their illegal campaign dollars are known to cheney. they are repulsive, and I am thankful that I don't live in a state that would elect such human garbage.
iVoted4Nader: AIPAC wins.
bobh: F'ing traitor. chuck schumer is a goddamn idiot and a traitor.
litmus: why doesn't dianne feinstein just quit her charade and change parties? she's fucking useless as a "democrat." she's on the wrong side of every single issue that requires a courageous moral stand.
AlphaLiberal: Oh for Pete's sake. All the fortitude of the Weimar Republic.
improper: Interesting. Let's see, what doe Feinstein, Schumer and Mukasey all have in common?
65yoh: and yet again israeli machinations trump american interests. and, like pelosi, shumer and feinstein choose 'gang loyalty' over accountability. impeach!
mark: I've given hundreds of dollars to the DSCC in the past. As long as Schumer is running the show, they can forget about any more from me. I'll pick specific candidates to support & fund them, thanks very much, rather than make the mistake of trusting Vichy Dems like Schumer.
Alguien: T oo bad the wildfires in California have been contained... It would have been so nice to see Diane's 16.5 million house burn to ashes...! Can somebody from the San Fracisco area go play with matches near her house...? She deserves it after today!
michael valentine: Why is Feinstien enabling the fascist government of Bush?
Donald: Elton John and Bernie Taupin had it right. Burn Down the Mission.
Doug: Fuck you, Schumer, and the scumbags you consorted with before you got down on your knees and started performing. You are a traitor to our country.
TJ: Lieberstein!
Matthew: Their allegiance does not belong to our Country or its Constitution, it belongs to AIPAC.
eric: BTW, it also helps explain why Lieberman, who used to be reasonably liberal, has become so insane with this war on terra stuff. It isn't about being a democrat, and it isn't about doing the right thing....its about Israel.
Ah, the love and understanding when one of their "own" pet minorities steps from the Revealed Truth.
(h/t WLS at Patterico)
Technorati: Schumer, Feinstein, Mukasey, Democrats
Posted by Darleen at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2007
Jeff Harrell ...
... has finally published his short stories. The book includes a never-before-published one.
As much as I love my 'puter, nothing compares to curling up on a couch with a book. I'm buying one --
You?
Posted by Darleen at 06:38 AM | Comments (1)