Constructive Discussion

a kiss of forever

2010-12-13T21:28:23Z


The moment I saw her enter the classroom I felt a wave of freshness pass
through me as she walked and sat infront of me. I was so lost in my thoughts
about her that I didn't realize the teacher calling me.

I came back to reality when I heard a bang on my desk. There I saw her
looking at me, the most beautiful hazel color eyes that were so mesmerizing
that I didn't hear a word the teacher was telling me. The words were just
flying over as I stared into her eyes. I was no more in control of reality I
felt so light headed and full of emotions.

I said, "Ouch!" the teacher had slightly hit me on my arm. That's when I
realized that I was acting stupid. My first impression spoilt.

The last bell of the day rang and everyone started to leave. However, the
teacher held me back for misbehaving in class as she put it. I was so stuck
in detention, but this time it felt good coz I was so lost in my thoughts
again about her, that I didn't find the detention time wasting or boring.

After an hour of daydreaming, I left the college premises heading to my car.
There I saw her waiting for someone. I got in my car and drove near her
asking her if she needed a lift home. She agreed on it. She got in and I
headed to the address she mentioned.

While driving we introduced ourselves and got to know her a bit. I dropped
her at her place. She invited me inside, but I refused as I told her, "Its'
getting late and I need to get home." We said our friendly goodbye, thanks,
as we shook each other's hand and drove off.

At night, I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about her. Her eyes, personality,
face, style, hand shake, cuteness etc. She is so beautiful I thought only if
she was one of my teddy bear I could cuddle her in my arms while going to
sleep. I don't know when I fell asleep, coz I woke up late in the morning
for college.

I hurried up, got dressed gather all my stuff and headed for my car. "Damn!"
I said. My car tires had flattened out. Therefore, the only choice that I
had was to walk to college and be late. As the saying goes, "It's better to
be late then to remain absent."

I reached college half an hour late. It was my luck, the teacher hadn't
arrived yet so I was safe. I saw Kiara (the same beautiful girl) calling me.
I took a seat next to her and we got busy chatting.

We got to know each other a lot better as days passed by. We became good to
best friends. We talked about everything (personal, public, social etc) and
did everything together. We never got tired of each other, as there was
always something to do when we were together.

As we were getting to know each other, my feelings for her were getting
stronger. By now, I already knew she was the only one for me. I didn't know
how to tell coz I was scared what if I loose her forever, as she was
straight, but she still didn't know that I was a lesbian (one secret that I
kept from her).

Read the rest of the story at kategrace the free lesbian dating romance website

sexy

2010-11-17T21:51:07Z

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The Sarah Jane Adventures, series 4: The Empty Earth

2010-11-04T20:02:52Z

Return to story

After last week's appalling display of auctorial onanism, writer Gareth Roberts brought The Sarah Jane Adventures back down to (an empty) earth with a welcome return to story as priority one.

"The Empty Planet" won't go down in history as a great Sarah Jane serial, but it should stand out as a good one, with a nice balance between adventure and character development and not too bad a let-down between the cliff-hanging end of Part One and the anti-climactic drop to the ground in Part Two.

This week's episode's set-up is given away by the title, "The Empty Earth". After Mr. Smith notes a mysterious alien energy signal the previous night, Clyde and Rani awake (alone, you 'shippers! Roberts plays with the sexual tension that's developing between Clyde and Rani, but this is still a children's adventure program (thank god!) and not a children's soap opera) to find themselves inhabiting an empty city, apparently the only people left in the entire world (well, in the Bannerman Road neighbourhood, anyway; but in context of the Whoniverse, their deduction isn't too presumptuous).

The last humans on earth ... read the full review at Edifice Rex Online.

Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" reviewed

2010-07-12T15:09:15Z

No frabjous days, no frabjous nights:

Alice In Wonderland is no wonder at all

Detail of image by The Unknown Photographer, © 2010.
Click to view the original.

Tim Burton's movies just keep getting dumber.

Having now watched this bland and witless travesty of a take on Lewis Carroll's immortal diptych, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, I can only imagine that Burton's next project will be a "re-visioning" of Winnie the Pooh, one in which the bear of very little brain — no doubt played by a pumped-up Johnny Depp — will be on a mission of vengeance: not to trap the heffalump, but to slay it.

Worst of all, Winnie-ther-Pooh, Heffalump-Slayer, will succeed in gory 3-D, only after we have been forced to sit through a back-story that includes Kanga's prescient investments in the Australian coal-mining industry and Piglet's unhappy marriage to Eyore's cheating cousin, Beyoncéyore.

Excuse me. I digress ...

Once upon a time, there was a young movie director called Tim Burton, who burst upon my consciousness with three arguably slight, but nevertheless well-written, witty and wonderfully visualized fantasies, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. (I suppose I should confess that I haven't seen any of these films in many years; it is quite possible my impressions are tinted infra-red. But I think I retain pretty clear memories of all three. Onwards.)

Burton showed a subtle comedic touch along with the ability to limn character with a few strokes of the cinematic brush, along with a love for the macabre and a strange and genuinely original visual imagination.

Yet signs of his onrushing senescence manifested almost simultaneous with those of his blossoming talent.

Enter the Batman ...

Though a box-office and a popular hit, Batman epitomized Hollywood block-busters at their worst.

The movie probably sounded like a fabulous concept when it was being pitched and the end-product looked great — Burton's Gotham is a decaying hulk of a once-great city; organic and sterile, futuristic and yet built upon the cast-iron fantasies of the early twentieth century; the aesthetic anticipated (or was at least an early example of) steam-punk, with atmosphere and imagery that suggested another Terry Gilliam in the making.

But unlike even Gilliam's worst failures, Burton's Batman had no brain. And, if anything, his Alice is even worse.

Read more at Edifice Rex Online, but beware of spoilers.

'Academic' means never having to speak the obvious

2010-06-30T21:37:37Z

I see the one-time enfant terrible of the American Academy, Camille Paglia hasn't entirely disappeared since she decided not to complete the second volume of Sexual Personae some time during the 1990s.

Writing in the 25 June edition of the New York Times in response to an article about the FDA's rejection of a drug to "treat" "female sexual desire disorder", Paglia goes on at some length to discuss "the sexual malaise that appears to have sunk over the country" despite "a media environment drenched in sex."

Paglia rhetorically wonders, "...to what extent do these complaints about sexual apathy reflect a medical reality, and how much do they actually emanate from the anxious, overachieving, white upper middle class?" but the answer is never much in doubt.

"The real culprit, originating in the 19th century, is bourgeois propriety." "Victorian prudery" gets a ritual (ahem) spanking, Shakespeare a scholarly nod and the "priggish 1950s" usher in a return to the (repressed and repressive) norm with a weak rear-guard fight for sexual liberation engaged by "the diffuse New Age movement".

But concrete power resides in America’s careerist technocracy, for which the elite schools, with their ideological view of gender as a social construct, are feeder cells.</p>
In the discreet white-collar realm, men and women are interchangeable, doing the same, mind-based work. Physicality is suppressed; voices are lowered and gestures curtailed in sanitized office space. Men must neuter themselves, while ambitious women postpone procreation. Androgyny is bewitching in art, but in real life it can lead to stagnation and boredom, which no pill can cure.

Meanwhile, family life has put middle-class men in a bind; they are simply cogs in a domestic machine commanded by women. Contemporary moms have become virtuoso super-managers of a complex operation focused on the care and transport of children. But it’s not so easy to snap over from Apollonian control to Dionysian delirium.

Reading through the dense and mannered academese, it seems men have been emasculated by a brave, new androgynous world in which men "are simply cogs" in a world machine run by women. At roughly the mid-way point of the essay, just what this has to do with the alleged outbreak of female frigidity is unclear, but the next paragraph explains it all.

Men are boyishly frumpy — "visually, American men remain perpetual boys, as shown by the bulky T-shirts, loose shorts and sneakers they wear from preschool through midlife" and the sexes "are suffering from over-familiarity, a curse of the mundane. There’s no mystery left."

Paglia goes on to blame Hollywood, which has forgotten about foreplay in favour of nudity, sexual depictions, unreal objectifications of contradictory female ideals (skinny, muscular, busty, depending on the paragraph), to praise black and latino ideals of feminine beauty, country music and to disparage current trends in rock and roll (etcetera), before declaring that "[p]harmaceutical companies will never find the holy grail of a female Viagra" because "inhibitions are stubbornly internal. And lust is too fiery to be left to the pharmacist."

And maybe that's so, what do I know?

But one thing never seems to have occurred to Paglia. Americans, men and women both, when they are not un- or under-employed, are working longer hours than they have in generations and, either way, are suffering from a great deal of economic anxiety.

Isn't it possible, if there is truth to the claim that American women are in need of a boost for their collective libido (and I suspect the same is true for most of the men who are using Viagra and its lesser-known cousins for an erotic boost and as a performance crutch), that old-fashioned stress is at the heart of the problem?

"Honey, I have a headache" may often be an excuse, but "Honey, I'm tired can very often be an all-too real reason for losing that lovin' feeling.

This entry was originally posted at http://ed-rex.dreamwidth.org/7488.html. Comment there using OpenID, or here as per normal.

"Pop Life" at the National Gallery of Canada reviewed

2010-06-17T03:07:56Z

'Art' of Onanism:
Pop Life mocks the National Gallery of Canada

"It's not pandering. We have certainly not lowered our standards or principles in order to have line-ups at the door." — National Gallery of director Marc Mayer, quoted in the National Post.

Well. Thank God that's settled! But the denial does beg the question, "Just what kind of standards did the National Gallery have before Thursday's opening of the "blockbuster" travelling show, "Pop Life"?

Lonesome Cowboy, by Takashi Murakami: theft as art, in the worst tradition of Warhol (Wikipedia.)

Jeff Koons tells it like it is in the November 1988 edition of ArtForum. (Image: Sex Sells.

It's not just that we expect our politicians and priests to lie to us, and our journalists to transmit those lies with straight faces; it is also that we have somehow come to habitually lie to ourselves, unwilling (or unable) to acknowledge that which is spelled out before us, unless some Authority does so first.

So concerned are we with our status in the eyes of those we accept as authorities or experts, we will happily gorge on shit and, chins dripping with the muck, we will grin excitedly as the last chunk slips past our teeth and beg for yet another serving.

* * *

The opening of the National Gallery of Canada's summer blockbuster, Pop Life on June 10 (on until September 19), was crowded with hipsters and art-students and those members of the bourgeoisie who feel it imperative to put in an appearance at such events.

The crowd milled about with all the electric excitement of a herd of cattle on anti-depressants.

The men and women gazed with bovine approval at a second-rate sculpture of a naked man's huge and hugely erect penis, eternally spurting semen into the air; at pages torn from third-rate 1970s-era pornographic magazines; and at poorly-lit, still photos of an "artist" having sex with a man who has paid her $20,000 for the privilege.

Not to mention at a "dead horse", symbolizing ... well, I forget just what it symbolized; there was a little card with several explanatory paragraphs typed onto it, but the words seemed to have very little to do with what we were looking at.

But most of the audience seemed to nod knowingly at one another, and they exchanged stock phrases such as "transgressing boundaries" and "challenging patriarchy" and (to quote from the exhibit's PDF accompaniment, Sex Sells) "...tread[ing] too closely within or against the lines of common decency", as if imparting to one another the wisdom of the ages.

Read more ...

Hit-Girl kicks ass, Chloey sucks it

2010-05-24T05:50:24Z

A dance of slicey death
(with apologies to Eddie Campbell)

Hit-Girl takes a licking.

Chloe cuts with a knife.

  Old books can be indecent books
  Though recent books are bolder,
  For filth (I'm glad to say)
  Is in the mind of the beholder.
  When correctly viewed,
  Everything is lewd.
  I could tell you things about Peter Pan —
  And the Wizard of Oz, there's a dirty old man!
       — Tom Lehrer, "Smut"

There is a possibly apocryphal story that at a certain point in his career, Picasso (or maybe it was Dali) grew so cynical about his own fame that he took to selling blank canvasses alongside his paintings. The story resonates, because I remember seeing a Picasso at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Admittedly I was a callow youth and might have missed some brilliant subtlety in that enormous canvas, but what it looked like to me was nothing more nor less than a joke at the expense of whoever would be willing to pay money for such a sloppy monstrosity. It looked to me like Picasso had slapped the canvas with a house-painting brush until it was mostly filled by artless black lines and white spaces.

As I said, it might be that I missed some deeper layer of meaning but I suspect not. I've seen that Picasso damned well could paint when he was of a mind to, and I didn't see any evidence that that painting was one of those times.

That canvas is why I am so ready to believe the story about the blank canvasses. The fine art world is such a confidence racket (see Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word if you haven't noticed it for yourself) why wouldn't a succesful and cynical artist test it to see just how gullible it could be?

I've seen a couple of movies recently which brought to mind the above anecdote, as well as the fable of the emporer's new clothes.

One is an art-house film, directed by one of Canada's regulars at Cannes, at director whose movies win prizes but sell few tickets. The other is a crass and violent film that made Roger Ebert "sad" and which has also appalled all sorts of people who haven't seen it.

One film boasts leaden dialogue, the other reparté that, if not quite Shakespearean, still sparkles by comparison; one boasts an utterly forgettable score of sacharine strings that bear no apparent connection to what is occuring on-screen, the other a soundtract carefully chosen not just to accompany but to augment each scene; one film opens with a narrative voice-over which is almost immediately forgotten, the other begins with the voice-over and — succesfully — maintains it.

One is (or pretends to be) a study of sexual obsession and a portrait of a family threatened by the estrangement of man and wife and by a sexually powerful interloper (which also gives the director the chance to get his actresses naked and to make out with each other though — since this is Art — neither of them appears to have any fun doing so.

The other is an unabashed fantasy of violence and vengeance, a portrait of a nerdy teenage boy who dons a costume to fight crime (and who mostly gets brutally beaten for his troubles) and of an 11 year-old girl who lives out her father's fantasies and really does succeed in slicing, stabbing, gutting, shooting and otherwise slaughtering a veritable legion of bad-guys, all while cursing up a blue storm (yes, folks, even the dreaded C-word).

No prizes for guessing which film I think is worth your time.

~~Warning:~~ Come-on: Swearing and gratuitous nudity behind the fake cut to my website.

rantrave @ 2008-08-07T19:27:00

2008-08-07T23:19:26Z

add_a_radical Is a new and fun community for meeting other bloggers with not-so-common political views. Radicals from the left and right and any other direction you can think of! Anyone is welcome to join and look for friends to add, but we must remind you to please READ the rules before you post.

Corpate Corwards, Corporate Collaborators

2008-08-07T05:32:40Z

Random House has either cancelled or postponed a $100,000 deal with the writer Sherry Jones. Her novel, told from the point of view of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, was deemed, "a declaration of war...explosive stuff...a national security issue," by one advance reader and the publisher folded. (Cross-posted from my my own journal.

One Professor, No Book

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Though I suspect the belief is rare among you, Gentle Readers, the idea that large corporations are, in practice if not in theory, entities or "corporate citizens" which will automatically support such "western" goods as freedom of speech or any other form of individual liberty is actually a fairly well-entrenched idea among many of us in the "West".

The truth is, corporations — particularly large ones, run by managers and not by actual entrepreneurs — are not citizens of any country, nor do they have any systemic ethic beyond that of the bottom line.

Earlier this evening, thanks to _ocelott_, in a post in the genrereviews community, "that Random House recently announced they have cancelled — or "suspended" — publication of Sherry Jones's historical novel, The Jewel of Medina, a book based on the life of one of the wives of the prophet Muhammed. "The book was a go right up until May, with a $100K advance and a two-book deal. So what went wrong? Well, apparently you can't write fiction about Muslims."

The original information comes courtesy of an item by one Asra Q. Nomani, writing in today's Wall Street Journal.

_ocelott_ expressed "horror and disbelief," but I'm afraid I shake my head only in (unsurprised) horror. It takes a lot more than craven corporate cowardice to shock me — rather, it is corporate courage that surprises me.

The original information comes courtesy of an item by the writer Asra Q. Nomani, writing in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.

Ms Nomani quotes Random House Publishing Group deputy publisher Thomas Perry as saying, "it disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now," and that the company received advice, "from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." He added that publication would be postponed, "for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel."

The author herself says she "can't talk about the publisher's decision not to publish — not until Random House/Ballantine says so, for reasons I can't disclose ;-(," but does confirm she is aware of only one advance reviewer who thought the book incendiary, Denise Spellberg, PhD, an associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas.

According the Journal, Professor Spellberg not only told Random House Ms Jones' novel was beyond the pale, but that,

In an interview, Ms. Spellberg told me the novel is a "very ugly, stupid piece of work." The novel, for example, includes a scene on the night when Muhammad consummated his marriage with Aisha: "the pain of consummation soon melted away. Muhammad was so gentle. I hardly felt the scorpion's sting. To be in his arms, skin to skin, was the bliss I had longed for all my life." Says Ms. Spellberg: "I walked through a metal detector to see 'Last Temptation of Christ,'" the controversial 1980s film adaptation of a novel that depicted a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. "I don't have a problem with historical fiction. I do have a problem with the deliberate misinterpretation of history. You can't play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography."

Well of course, as her own example — The Last Temptation of Christ — goes to show, the film was released nearly 20 years ago and her nation has not fallen. Although I'm still unclear as to whether she believes Scorsese's film too should have been banned (or at least, not financed). She may be saying she'd prefer to keep dictatorial lunatics happy if it means she won't need to walk through metal detectors any more.

I should probably note that the above lines quoted from the book are all I have read ot it. I'm tempted to suggest it might be a candidate for a Bad Sex Award, but that would be pretty churlish based on only four sentences. Further, I'm not a Muslim and have no idea whether that scene, or the entire novel, would in fact offend one, 37, 561 or 12 million Muslims. But as we shall see, that's not the point. Though there are those who would insist otherwise in most of the West there is no inherent right to be protection from being offended. If offence is to be the criteria for censorship, I'd have quite a list for the Index Librorum Prohibitorummyself.

But at this point, the quality — or "offensiveness" — of the novel is not — or shouldn't be — the point.

I haven't been able to track down any Muslim groups threatening fatwas on Ms Jones or her book, but if I had, that would not not be the point, either (though it might complicate it a little, certainly for the author).

The point is: in what kind of a society do we wish to live? One in which we proclaim a right to free speech but knuckle under to the first academic who tells us that a novel is, "a declaration of war...explosive stuff...a national security issue," if the book sees publication, or one in which we proclaim a right to free speech and live as if that right actually matters?

Presuming, just for the sake of argument, Sherry Jones' novel really is every bit as dangerous as Professor Spellberg claims it, so what? Liberty, exercised only when it's safe is no liberty at all, but merely the safety of slavish and fear. I'll be safe so long as I don't look them in the eye or — heaven forfend! — intefere!

I would like to think the corporate courtiers responsible for this capitulation to a theoretical threat would be at least secretly ashamed of themselves, but Random House is not a publisher in the sense it was when founded by Bennet Cerf. No, it is but one of many income-earning branches of a multinational corporate conglemerate for which books and literature are no more and no less important than this month's fashion style of tube socks. (I note with some — cynical — amusement that during the Second World War, Bertelsmann was the single largest producer of Nazi propaganda, a fact which — though at some risk of calling Godwin's Law down upon myself — serves to illustrate my point. We not only ought not look to Capital to defend our human rights and interests, we dare not.

There is one further point to be made about Random House's cowardice and cupidity. The Journal notes that the book was not cancelled ("suspended") until it was informed by email that Professor Spellberg not only didn't approve of Jewel of Medina, but that she would sue Random House were she to be in any way "associated" with the novel.

...back in New York City, Jane Garrett, an editor at Random House's Knopf imprint, dispatched an email on May 1 to Knopf executives, telling them she got a phone call the evening before from Ms. Spellberg (who happens to be under contract with Knopf to write "Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an.")

"She thinks there is a very real possibility of major danger for the building and staff and widespread violence," Ms. Garrett wrote. "Denise...[t]hinks it will be far more controversial than the satanic verses and the Danish cartoons. Does not know if the author and Ballantine folks are clueless or calculating, but thinks the book should be withdrawn ASAP."...That day, the email spread like wildfire through Random House, which also received a letter from Ms. Spellberg and her attorney, saying she would sue the publisher if her name was associated with the novel. On May 2, a Ballantine editor told Ms. Jones's agent the company decided to possibly postpone publication of the book.

On a May 21 conference call, Random House executive Elizabeth McGuire told the author and her agent that the publishing house had decided to indefinitely postpone publication of the novel for "fear of a possible terrorist threat from extremist Muslims" and concern for "the safety and security of the Random House building and employees."

Meanwhile, extremist Muslims have apparently taken this issue between their rotten teeth, having learned that pre-emptive threats sometimes reap remarkable proganda returns. More from the Journal.

After he got the call from Ms. Spellberg, Mr. Amanullah dashed off an email to a listserv of Middle East and Islamic studies graduate students, acknowledging he didn't "know anything about it [the book]," but telling them, "Just got a frantic call from a professor who got an advance copy of the forthcoming novel, 'Jewel of Medina' — she said she found it incredibly offensive." He added a write-up about the book from the Publishers Marketplace, an industry publication.

The next day, a blogger known as Shahid Pradhan posted Mr. Amanullah's email on a Web site for Shiite Muslims — "Hussaini Youth" — under a headline, "upcoming book, 'Jewel of Medina': A new attempt to slander the Prophet of Islam." Two hours and 28 minutes after that, another person by the name of Ali Hemani proposed a seven-point strategy to ensure "the writer withdraws this book from the stores and apologise all the muslims across the world."

I haven't been able to confirm any of the above — my research turned up altmuslim.com, of which Mr. Amanullah is listed as an editor, but on which I could find nothing about Jones' novel.

I have been able to confirm that that the story has brought the wing-nuts and racists on "our" side out of their dank holes. One quote from a knuckle-dragger at stoptheaclu.com (there are extremists everywhere, folks!) ought to be enough . It was number two when I googled Professor Spellberg; you'll have no trouble finding more if (for some reason) you want 'em.

So what isn’t offensive to the Muslim community? Oh, that’s right….sex with nine year old girls, beheading people, subjugating those who aren’t Muslim, oppressing women, need I go on?"

No doubt the screaming will go on for days or weeks and the myths about what actually happened will evolve like virulent cancers for months or years while the rest of try not to get caught in the twin cross-fire of governmental terror on the one hand and free-lance terror on the other.

So thank you, Professor Spellberg and, especially, thank you "citizen" Random House/Bertelsmann.

Between you, you've managed to inflame white racists and Muslim fundamentalists alike, without even publishing a book! One more nail in the coffin being made ready for the "home of the free and the land of the brave."

What can I say but, "Bravo!" if in fact you wish to live in a world where it takes only fear to ensure that nothing is said but what is safe?

* * *
Somehow it seems at least tangentially relevant that August 6th was the 63rd anniversary of the atom-bombing of Hiroshima. Lest we forget indeed.

* * *
Note: Thanks to a reply from Sherry Jones, I have edited this to correct an error in the initial version of this essay. It was not, as I originally wrote, Ms Jones who threatened to bring on the lawyers, but Professor Spellberg. My thanks to Ms Jones and my apologies for the error.

rantrave @ 2008-06-26T16:53:00

2008-06-26T20:53:51Z

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Michael Ignatieff: Political Naif or Lying Sack of Shit?

2007-08-24T22:09:51Z

Lies, Damned Lies and The Apprenticeship of Michael Ignatieff:

His Mistake, Our Fault

Image copied from the MP's website.

Nobody likes to be held in contempt; nobody wants to be lied to. When an ambitious sitting politician does both, especially in the guise of self-criticism and self-reflection, the contempt is wondrous to behold and must be noted, even by those who are not members of Canada's "natural ruling party".

In the August 5th, 2007, issue of The New York Times Magazine, Micheal Ignatieff has revealed what I have suspected since his odious final campaign speech at last December's Liberal Party leadership convention: that he holds the general public in contempt and that he is a liar, if only by omission.

Writer, historian, broadcaster and "professor of human rights", Ignatieff had a long-standing reputation as a liberal thinker among the American (and Canadian) chattering classes. That reputation was damaged, if not destroyed in 2003, when he loudly supported the American (and British, et al), invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

His brief article, "Getting Iraq Wrong: What the War Has Taught Me About Political Judgment", does nothing to restore that reputation. Quite the contrary. Promising much, Ignatieff delivers almost nothing at all, except between the proverbial lines.

Still, Ignatieff starts off strong.

The unfolding catastrophe in Iraq has condemned the political judgment of a president. But it has also condemned the judgment of many others, myself included, who as commentators supported the invasion. Many of us believed, as an Iraqi exile friend told me the night the war started, that it was the only chance the members of his generation would have to live in freedom in their own country. How distant a dream that now seems.

Note that the second pair of sentences already hints at the duplicity and irrelevance to come. "Most of us believed ...", like the un-named "Iraqi exile friend", the war was "the only chance" for freedom for an un-specified generation.

Reading closer, note the use of the passive tense in the very first clause: "The unfolding catastrophe in Iraq has condemned ..." Already delivering less than the title promises, Ignatieff characterizes the disastrous (and, arguably, criminal) invasion the way most of us talk about the weather, as one of those things that "just happen", that "unfold". Those with a religious bent might refer to "acts of God" - in any case, Ignatieff implies the war in Iraq was something that "just happened", not something that was done.

Nevertheless, the generous reader will note that Ignatieff has admitted that, himself included, this catastrophe has condemned "the political judgment of a president" and "many others." The generous reader - or even a cynical reader such as myself - can still hope for some kind of accountability and perhaps even the hard-won wisdom promised in the sub-title.

In the second paragraph, Ignatieff tells us he keeps "revisiting the Iraq debacle" (note again the passive image, suggesting a natural disaster) and is "trying to understand" how "the judgments [he] now has to make in the political arena need to improve on the ones he used to offer from the sidelines. I've learned that acquiring good judgment in politics starts with knowing when to admit your mistakes." [The italics are mine.]

Well, what are the mistakes to which Ignatieff admits? The article is slippery and they are hard to discern; forgive me if I seem to go over it in too much detail.

He begins by paraphrasing the philosopher Isaiah Berlin and uses four paragraphs to explain his remarkable discovery that theory and practice do not always coincide. "Politicians [...] can't afford the luxury of entertaining ideas that are merely interesting." Then, he condescends to the proletariat: "Bus drivers can display a shrewder grasp of what’s what than Nobel Prize winners."

Now about one third of the way through the article, this reader still doesn't know just what mistake or mistakes Ignatieff believes he made by supporting the war.

Reading on, we do learn Ignatieff now believes practical political judgment is about people: "whom to trust, whom to believe and whom to avoid."

He further reveals the secret that "great politicians" "see possibilities others cannot and then seek to turn them into realities." Leaders lead, in other words. And followers follow. "People do want leadership, and even when a leader is nonplussed by events, he must still remember to give the people the reassurance they deserve. Part of good judgment consists of knowing when to keep up appearances."

In short, politicians must find good advisors and know when to lie to the public. Somehow, at the same time, they must also see possibilities that others cannot.

All of this strange alchemy of the obvious and the devious finally wends its way back to Iraq - sort of.

The decision facing the United States over Iraq is paradigmatic of political judgment at its most difficult. Staying and leaving each have huge costs. One thing is clear: The costs of staying will be borne by Americans, while the cost of leaving will be mostly borne by Iraqis. That in itself suggests how American leaders are likely to decide the questions. [Again, the italics are mine.]

Just think about the implications of that penultimate sentence. No one seems to have an accurate estimate of the number of Iraqi casualties of the Iraq war and occupation, but even a conservative estimate, such as that provided by Iraqbodycount.org puts the number of civilian casualties at 70,359. Moreover, most reports suggest more than 2,000,000 refugees.

That these deaths and "displaced persons" are a direct result of the attack on a sovereign nation does not seem to enter into Ignatieff's head - certainly, the causes of the "unfolding catastrophe" are nowhere to be found in Ignatieff's essay, unless they reside with the Iraqi people themselves..

After implicitly associating himself with Samuel Beckett, as well as both Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle as politicians who carried on when "smart opinion" was against them, Ignatieff refers to Machiavelli in order to explain that effective political judgment "must follow principles more ruthless than those acceptable in ordinary life," and quotes him as saying that, "'it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity." He then alludes to Churchill and then Roosevelt, claiming they "knew how to do wrong", without offering any specifics, so the reader is left to wonder why Ignatieff brings them into the argument (such as it it, now halfway done) in the first place.

Next, our wannabe philosopher-king ponders the nature of politics as theater [sic] and compares it to everyday life. Apparently, "the political realm is a world of lunatic literalism" and one in which "[p]oliticians with good judgment bend the policy to fit the human timber" - i.e., his short-sighted constituents.

And more, "[i]n my political-science classes, I used to teach that exercising good judgment meant making good public policy. In the real world, bad public policy can often turn out to be very popular indeed." [The emphasis is once again mine.]

And here at last we come to Ignatieff's subtle point, that bad public policy is not the fault of bad politicians, but of a bad public. Similarly, as we'll see, the "unfolding catastrophe" in Iraq is the fault - not of western imperialism; not of George Bush's stupidity or duplicity; and certainly not of former liberals turned neo-conservative cheer-leaders! Heavens, no! No, the "unfolding catastrophe" is the fault of the Iraqi people!

Before we get to that remarkable conclusion, Ignatieff does finally address the question of why we should listen to him now, if others did a better job than he at anticipating "how events turned out."

Apparently, most of those who "got Iraq right", did so not "by exercising judgment but by indulging in ideology. They opposed the invasion because they believed the president was only after the oil or because they believed America is always and in every situation wrong."

Leaving aside the presumption that such people (whoever they are)absolutely cannot be correct, Ignatieff once again indulges in generalizations when specifics are called for. In any event, the above does not address the judgment of those who "got Iraq right," for the right reasons.

According to Ignatieff, those people got it right because ... well, that's actually pretty unclear. Ignatieff tells us a great deal about what they didn't think, but little or nothing of what they did. Those who got Iraq right,

didn't suppose, as President Bush did, that because they believed in the integrity of their own motives everyone else in the region would believe in it, too [...] that a free state could arise on the foundations of 35 years of police terror [...] that America had the power to shape political outcomes in a faraway country of which most Americans knew little [...] that because America defended human rights and freedom in Bosnia and Kosovo it had to be doing so in Iraq.

Ignatieff admits he made "some" of those mistakes and - finally - explains what he has learned.

The lesson I draw for the future is to be less influenced by the passions of people I admire - Iraqi exiles, for example - and to be less swayed by my emotions. I went to northern Iraq in 1992. I saw what Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds. From that moment forward, I believed he had to go [...] I let emotion carry me past the hard questions, like: Can Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites hold together in peace what Saddam Hussein held together by terror?

In other words, what Ignatieff "got wrong" about Iraq was that he had too much confidence in the Iraqi people! Next time, he'll know better than to expect a long-suffering people to know what to do with freedom when it is handed to them at bayonette-point by the United States Marine Corps.

George W. Bush himself does not escape quite scott-free, though Ignatieff at no time even entertains the possibility that his invasion was anything but well-intended. The possibility that the war was "about oil" or anything other than freedom for the Iraqi people is not one Ignatieff addresses except to dismiss as the ravings of those who indulge "in ideology.</a>

And nowhere, despite his continuing faith in Bush's noble intentions, does he even mention - let alone address - the fact that the war was not "bad policy" stemming from an ignorant public, but was sold to that public on the basis of the false claim that that country, which had seen American and British warplanes bomb it at will for over a decade, possessed "weapons of mass destruction" and was preparing to use them against the west.

And so, what have I learned about Michael Ignatieff? That he is either too stupid or too dishonest to remember that an illegal war he supported was sold to the American and British publics as being a war of self-defence, not as one fought for the freedom of the Iraqi people (let alone as a war of conquest); that those same Iraqi people are not capable of living together in peace; and that western politicians must pander to the basest instincts of their publics in order to win elections.

In the world according to Michael Ignatieff, his errors all flow from the purity of his heart, only to be besmirched by the childish stupidity of the masses, be they Iraqi or Canadian.

Lousy Journalism, Lazy Journalism

2007-02-26T11:39:27Z

This story both delighted and irritated me.

In a nutshell, a Muslim girl was thrown out of a soccer tournament for wearing a hijab - apparently the headscarf is banned by the Quebec Soccer Association on grounds of safety, "...to protect children from being accidentally strangled."

I'll leave the question of the risk of being strangled by a hijab during a soccer game to the experts. But I want to talk about is the story itself - or rather, about how it was written.

Most of it was told as a human-interest piece - how the girl felt, how the coach felt, how the girl's team-mates felt. The girl's team withdrew from the tournament in protest, apparently with the full backing of the team itself.

To me, the real story here was alluded to in the second paragraph and then never mentioned again.

Calling the rule banning the headscarf worn by Muslim women racist, four other teams followed Asmahan Mansour's team, the Nepean Selects from Ottawa, after she was thrown out for running afoul of a Quebec Soccer Association rule.

That sports leagues have rules about proper attire is not news. That a team withdraws from a tournament because one of its players was ejected is minor news. That four other teams in the tournament also withdrew to support another team's player is interesting news.

Why no interviews with players from other teams?

The CBC's headline was, "Muslim girl ejected from tournament for wearing hijab". Shouldn't it have been, "Four other teams support Muslim girl's right to wear hijab"?

That's the story! Jesus, somebody get re-write on the phone ...

Crossposted to canadadebate, canadakicksass, canadian, canpolitik and to rantrave.

No Such Thing As Luck - A Biblical Perspective

2006-07-05T21:14:41Z

Luck’s True Identity

Luck is a much-used word in our modern-day vocabulary. We hear it used over and over again today. Good and bad luck are concepts we actually have known about from our youth. References to luck being the direct cause behind this-and-that event are as commonplace to us as the daily rising of the sun. What luck truly is and is not, however, are going to become fully evident shortly.
The following straightforward presentation of luck’s true meaning should be tremendously helpful to those who need honest answers about this wayward concept. First we will look at what luck is not:
Luck is not fate, fortune lot, destiny, or chance. All of these concepts are outgrowths of pagan idolatry. They describe the meaningless qualities and attributes of false, pagan gods. Consequently, they are bogus concepts that describe nothing existing in reality – they cannot rightfully define luck.

Luck is not an inexplicable force that cannot be understood, explained, or accounted for. The natural-minded, irrational man mistakenly imagined the existence of a force called luck, and then said, “It can not be explained.” The only forthright and truthful explanation for the ultimate forces behind good and evil, however, are clearly defined by God’s Word – our Bible. There are no other spiritual forces affecting our lives beyond those named by this greatest of all books, and upon this reality we can confidently rest.

Luck is not a source of prosperity, nor is it the cause of evil and destruction. Early in their existence, men denied God and His Word. They began to devise their own explanations and beliefs about the causes of prosperity and destruction. Eventually, in Roman times, men attributed prosperity to a goddess named Fortuna. Today, the goddess Fortuna is called luck and people continue to foolishly and mistakenly credit it with the power to bestow prosperity. The true and abiding source of prosperity, however, is God, the Creator of heaven and earth. The blessings we enjoy in life are from Him. The source of evil, destruction, and death is from the archenemy of God, called the devil or Satan.

Additionally, luck is none of the following:
An innocent, harmless, crutch-word that can be used without any real impact or consequences.
A natural impulse operating through personal instinct.
A force that comes and goes in cycles.
An accident, happenstance or circumstance.

Now that we have established what luck is not, finally we can move ahead with certainty and accurately name what luck is, and what it has been, throughout its sordid history.

Luck is a religious devotion. Those who embrace its meaning, sing its praises. They pay it homage. They bow to it within the depths of their hearts and minds, seeking its blessing and summoning its protection from harm’s way. They believe in luck’s power and they attribute its works to many categories of life. Their outstanding confession, and the manner in which they embrace luck, certainly is a religious devotion. A Confession of luck is surely a religious acknowledgement of one’s belief in the power of a god.

Luck is a corruption of sound thought and will. It was after Adam lost his spiritual connection with God that the sound thinking of men and women started to corrupt. The foolish reasoning of natural-minded men sought to elevate their thinking above God’s Word. The evil conclusions of godless men attributed prosperity and safety to idolatrous gods- gods they had imagined and made with the works of their own hands. Their corrupted theology ascribed power to objects that had no power.

Luck is a misguided belief in the existence of a metaphysical god. The supposed god of luck is mysteriously hidden from view; nevertheless, many believe it is a generating force causing good, and working evil. Although there is no physical semblance to see or touch, active belief in this metaphysical god continues. Popular belief in luck is kept alive by the metaphysical teachings of mythology. This bewildering body of metaphysical theology has been elevated to a place almost like Scripture. These legendary, “scripture-like” records have captivated people’s believing. They depict the defining qualities of what luck is. It is to the unsound, idolatrous images of chance, fate, destiny, and fortune that they give homage. Luck has become the modern embodiment of these ancient pagan theologies, and it is to this metaphysical luck god that people knell with reverence in their thinking and believing.
The following is a three sentence, concise, “nutshell” summation for the meaning of luck:
Luck is a religious devotion, an idolatrous confession, a corruption
of sound thought and will. It is a misguided belief in the existence
of a metaphysical god; a denial of cause and effect. Luck is passive
submission to fatalistic thinking; a doctrine of devils that stands
diametrically opposed to the Word of God.
Not exactly the dictionary’s definition, but free from cloudiness. It paints a clear picture. It accurately points out truth and exposes error.
The next time a good intentioned friend or acquaintance wishes you “good luck”, be ready. Tell them you had rather have their heartfelt prayers. Tell them how you look to your Heavenly Father for His blessings upon the activities of your life. Let them know it is God who enriches and protects. Let them know that confessing luck is just a modern day form of idolatry. Teach them to count on God. God is always faithful to His Word.
As “luck would have it” is no longer available; it is no longer a viable option. Luck has had its day and that day has ended. It has been buried and laid to rest. All of us can now say, with tremendous authority, “There is no such thing as luck!”

Excerpts from the last chapter of Charlie P. Johnston’s book, No Such Thing As Luck – A Biblical Perspective, available at www.JohnstonPublications.com or Amazon.com.
Copyright © 2005 by Charlie P. Johnston Jr. All rights reserved.

rantrave @ 2004-12-20T20:06:00

2004-12-21T01:05:47Z

There is a difference between people who are your friends and people who use you for what you have. The people who are your friends will sit with you for extended periods of time doing absolutely nothing, but it is the best nothing that you could ever do. People who just use you will be nice only when they get something out of it. Some of the friends that I have seem to only be my friends when it suits them. They could be talking to me non stop and hugging me or something of that nature one minute, and the next minute they could not find time for a smile in my direction, sometimes they are just plain mean to me. Perhaps it is the fear of the public finding out that they are my friend! That is sometimes what It seems. Is it so embarrassing to have me as a friend? I really don’t say much! I find it very hard to believe people when they say that I am their friend when the next minute, I know they are talking shit about me.
I have one particular friend, let’s call him Eric, who will talk to me a lot unless there are other people around. When other people are around though, I am a complete bother to him and he would rather treat me like shit than treat me like that friend that I really am. When I confront this “friend” he denies it, saying that it is all in my head. It kind of sickens me that there are people like that, I give, give, give until there is nothing left and they take it all but as soon as I want something, a mere friend, they are not really there at all. I’d really like to know why this happens! It is not as if I smell or am obnoxious or anything like that! I am a nice guy; I am not saying that to be full of myself, I am honestly a good person who thinks of other before me. But when is too much? When should I put my foot down and tell people that they are not being good friends in return?
I am not saying that it is all of my friends… did I say that? NO! I have some great friends who I talk to all the time and we don’t even have to be doing anything for us to have the best time ever! Steph, and Lyndsay, and Alis! They are great people that I love. There are those people, though, that really get on my nerves! If you are going to be a friend, be one! Damnit!

rantrave @ 2004-12-19T21:16:00

2004-12-19T21:16:13Z

any one up for political discussions

a forum has been created for people who fall in into any political category that would like to discuss political matters and current events. The forum also contains an entertainment section for having a chat about the latest video games, music and films as well as a religion and news section. We’re all friendly and everyone is welcome

if your interested have a look and sign up, the more the merrier you might say…

http://freespeechuk.cjb.net

GREATEST RANT EVER ...

2004-04-05T21:10:39Z

***WARNING***
THE FOLLOWING LIVEJOURNAL ENTRY CONTAINS VULGAR, OBSENE, AND RACIST VIEWS AND OPINIONS, COMING STRAIGHT FROM MY BRAIN, DICK, AND HEART. I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN COPYING AND PASTING OTHER PEOPLE’S MATERIAL, SO STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MINE. SHOULD YOU BE OFFENDED, WELL, I COULD GIVE A FLYING FUCK AND SEVEN SHITS! I MIGHT COME OFF AS HARSH, ANGRY, BITTER, NEGATIVE, COCKY, AND ARROGANT, BUT, I STILL, DON’T-GIVE-A-FUCK!
***WARNING***

Well hello there bitch ass bitches. I am sure you have been checking my site constantly awaiting my “Things That Piss Me Off” list, volume 4. Not to get philosophical here or anything, but I think the world as a whole is going down, and it's going down in a hurry. I'm getting tired of seeing a lot of things on television, in the newspaper, and throughout entertainment as a whole. To me, it's just too much … Gay marriages, terrorism, 12 year olds giving oral sex, child molesting priests, crooked cops, our shady government; the list goes on and on … I think we all need to take a long look at ourselves. We need to try to make this a better place for all of us.

Before you continue on, I must give you the following scary image: I am an Arab/Italian about 6’, 220 lbs. I am typing this in my boxers. My hair is shaped like OJ Simpson’s in the Naked Gun 33 1/3. Blood is dripping down my face and hands from the pimples I have demolished. Sweat drips down my voluptuous back hair, and my body temperature is boiling inside. I am angry, depressed, insecure, worried, scared, stressed, hostile, antisocial, sexually frustrated, and sick and tired of being pissed on, shit on, lied to, and fucked with. I will clap back at any given time … Just give me the place and the motherfuckin reason.

I don’t mean to brag, but I have the most original concepts out there. People can always try to imitate, but you should remember this one very thing: I AM THE FUCKING GOD OF THE LIVEJOURNAL COMMUNITY. With that being said, let’s go straight to the list, and yes, I’m directing things at many people subliminally …

Okay, here goes; Things that piss me off (some people might not have a clue to what I’m talking about for certain issues, so just ignore them, as they are intended for specific people only) …

People who cut promos behind my back piss me off. Haha, don’t act like you didn’t know I would find out. I was watching the tape, and Paso said one of the greatest things ever … “You know you’re treading on hot water.” He’s damn right … I am pissed off for getting badmouthed for no apparent reason … Maybe if you had some decent logic, I wouldn’t be so pissed off, but I am the motherfucker who created ya’ll, gave ya’ll your spot, a friendship, and shaped the way ya’ll talk, walk, and act. This is how you repay me?? Okay,fine, just fine. When I see ya, and I will see ya, I won’t hesitate for one damn minute to break your nose in half and bite your damn eyebrows off; and don’t think I’m playing either. Your apologizes mean shit to me at this point, so stop IM’ing me motherfuckers! Please, oh please don’t show your face where I might see it. HEY, you know why I always find out shit like this? It’s because I have loyal people who will always show me a great deal of respect simply because I give them respect in return. That’s what it’s all about. When it all comes down to it, no one has respected you. That’s why you are where you are in your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made my mistakes, and been a prick at times too, but sheet, I offer a lot … I take care of my peoples … I speak the truth and that’s what people want to hear … Ya’ll just flap cuz ya can’t …

People who steal something exactly from me, and don’t even bother to change it up just a bit, and give no credit where it’s rightfully deserved … Notes to self, others, and random sidenotes????????????? DIE! DIE! DIE! HEY BABY, TOUCH THE NATURE BOY’S COCK! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ugly mofo’s who are now cocky. These niggaz continue to fail in life and still have the nerve to be arrogant! They sit home all day finding which part of their ass feels the best when scratched at a multitude of 34 degrees. They smell like French onion soup, and constantly get into fights because they are so “tough.” However, they get herbed most of the time, are in denial about it, and have the motherfucking nerve to continue to start shit again! Don’t you know that once you get beat up, YOU LOSE, now accept it, and move on. The only time that they do win is against little black midgets with one arm. Damnit, why are fat chicks in mini skirts so cocky about having a boyfriend? … posting pictures of him all over their books, thinking they are both the shit. He probably only loves you because chubby bitches suck a mean cock, and their duffy fingers are suitable for handjobs. Then, you have these cocky wrestling fans, who are probably Star Trek and Lord of the Rings nerds, walking around shows with championship belts and corny ass signs. Damn, do I wanna smack these niggaz in the head. They get so angry if you do something deemed inappropriate at a wrestling event, if that’s even possible, and give you a nasty look. Here is my actual take on being cocky: If you were never held at gun point, never got into an actual fist fight, never stabbed an ear pimple with a knife, jumped off a roof, screeched like a little girl on purpose when being attacked, blasted “It’s Raining Men” on your car stereo while angry guys next to you looked on, pretended you were retarded and began talking to yourself and inanimate objects like mailboxes, been on probation for attacking a phone, and started one of the most successful backyard wrestling federations of all time with absolutely dick to start out with, then you can’t be cocky. Oh, shit! What do ya know??? I qualify for all these things!

Most DJ’s, VJ’S, and television hosts. Lots of them don’t do research when interviewing people, and completely ignore their guests’ responses because they have a hard time listening properly (Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno). Some even put on a corny act rather than being themselves, steal material from other shows, making them look like total idiots. From everyone on TRL to Z100 and KTU, cut out your fake Italian and Hispanic accents, you’re not funny, you’re usually fatter and uglier than you sound, and stop singing along and giving shout-outs during the fucking songs and videos.

I hate it when I find a rare song that begins to download but some douchebag will stop it at like 98%, or it isn’t even the real song, has bad sound quality, or that weird annoying skipping noise.

Chicks and duffy guys who sweat something so much to the point where you can’t enjoy it yourself because it’s so played out. Perfect example: D12’s “My Band.”

People who let their kids sleep with Michael Jackson.

White people playing basketball.

People who “fall out of love.” That shit only happens if you weren’t in love in the first place and if you’re a selfish kunt whose pussy smells like feta cheese after being spat and pissed on too much.

Morning breath.

People who stare at my eye boogers, dry skin, or pimples. If you’re not gonna pop em for me, stop looking nigga!

People who kiss the asses of and befriend niggaz who don’t like them. They only do this because they are scared in life … Scared of what they believe in; scared to stand up for themselves; scared to be a leader like myself. It’s funny too how so many people kiss as in livejournal comments. You’ll never find me doing that shit. I have my own mind, and know how to use it on my own. I love when people kiss ass and still get abused behind their back. Don’t front: everyone has a friend who constantly gets abused by the others when they aren’t around.

People who play out quotes like “You’re Fired!” and “I’m Rick James, Bitch.” I think it’s a disgrace that myself and Mr. Vince McMahon are not getting any credit for the system of firing, and puh-lease, 2Pac actually did a Rick James impersonation before Dave Chapelle ever did, and it was just as funny.

People who bash their own nationalities and religions because they are too damn ignorant to realize what they are.

People who would die for their country. Some may call it brave, but I call it stupid! The whole point of life is living as long as possible, so why defend 95% of total strangers who would probably ignore your ass if you fell into a pond while riding your bike in a park. If a draft went down, I would try to dodge that shit like your boy, George W., has done. Hey Georgie, have we found those weapons of mass destruction or Mr. Bin Laden yet?

That wack ass rap video from the mid 90’s featuring Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz talking about representing the Bronx while they film their video at Shea Stadium in Queens.

When I warn people of something and they don’t listen. For instance, the downfall of certain wrestling federations … Hahahaha, and I’m negative??? RIGHT!

Atheists who use terms with God in them like “OMG,” “GOD DAMN,” AND I SWEAR TO GOD.”

80’s heavy metal. Any guy in leather with too much hairspray is a fag: bottom line!

Hot white chicks all up on ugly black guys’ dicks in rapper videos.

People who hate on certain music, TV shows, and people, but then secretly enjoy them or their company when no one is around.

People who get a hard on when they think WWE is gonna do something like reform ECW! Stop chanting ECW you dumb herbs, shit died years ago.

How hot chicks wanted to fuck me and now they are duckin me.

Blacks who are still bitter over slavery. There were white slaves too, including the Jews. Shit, blacks even sold black slaves. Get over it yo!

People who try to recreate things that were better off the way they were.

People who try to better themselves just because they see me doing so … Actually, that doesn’t piss me off … I’m flattered I can help, but a thank you would be nice!

When I find myself being a hypocrite. (trust me, it’s a lot of the time)

Gangsta ass gooks and gahndis

Loud and obnoxious niggaz who probably forgot to bathe this morning.

NWA-TNA. Jarrett = HHH, and X-Division = ROH. Nuff said.

Bitches who advertise stuff on their ass. Someone should put “hoe” or “slut” on the back of pants so I don’t have to waste my time getting to know one.

Married men with porno.

Justin Timberlake’s cooked nose. Am I the only one who sees these things or are girls that dumb?

People who complain about their jobs yet continue to work there! No one is forcing you to do anything you don’t want to! Just quit the mofo! Money is not the complete root to happiness. For real, when I tell someone I would work as a pizza delivery man, they laugh, but shit looks like fun to me. You get paid to dress how you want and drive around your hometown. Shit, people should be so lucky! Plus, some bitch might be low on cash and offer to suck your cock as a tip. I honestly don’t think I’m consumed by money. Sure, I enjoy gambling, and wouldn’t mind winning, but to me, it’s entertaining. Everyone played board games when they were younger for fun, so now I’m playing an “adult” board game, only with money involved. As long as I’m not blowing my kid’s college funds away, then what’s the big deal? The whole casino atmosphere is fun … The glitz, the glamour, the suite, the food, the boardwalk, the shows … I love it … This is why I’d also love to work in a casino, amusement park, or hotel. It sounds like so much fun … and after all, that’s what it’s all about. I understand you need money to have fun sometimes, but there’s plenty to do without it. The last few years of my life, I have been able to hustle to gain a profit … selling CDs, DVDs, VHSs, driving hookers home, etc. If you’re that desperate, shit, cash in some cans, donate some blood and sperm, or become a pimp. There’s so much you can do to make quick money without selling drugs. As long as I can survive with the money I got, then I’m happy. I am always up for putting some money towards something new and exciting. You know something … this is why I admire Mexicans a lot. I feel bad for them. They work mad hours for shitty pay, and hardly complain. People always say they are stealing all the jobs and should go back to their country. First off, they are only stealing the lawn mowing and serving water at your local diner jobs, so what’s the big deal. I can’t recall the last time I saw a Mexican in a business suit. Secondly, who are you to sit there, complain, and judge when you’re lazy American ass winds down your hard day of “work” by beating your wife after getting drunk and stoned every night. People are always quick to judge and try to sound smart by standing up for certain social and political issues, yet they come from nice homes, families, and basically a normal life. It’s easy to look down on shit if you haven’t experienced it yourself. For instance, lots of people are good at selling drugs, and although I don’t agree with it, I do have to feel for people who have no choice. Maybe they were going through a lot of emotional drama at the time. I recently read a book about a crack dealer who actually quit his job because his boss would constantly put him down and he only could afford two pairs of pants, which made him feel embarrassed and unworthy. It’s ignorant people like this that force people to do bad things. Maybe their country was a hellhole, and they were in fear of possibly dying or living on the streets. No, I’m not supporting illegal immigrants, but lots of people are just bitter in life because they don’t have the work ethic of a Mexican … hard working and from what I’ve seen, very respectable and nice people. Hey, laugh all you want, but you know it’s true. I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, caring, sharing, lending a helping hand, praying for my enemies, listening to what people have to say, and measuring a man’s actions fully before I place a label on them. Ya’ll should do the same.

Celebrities who don’t deserve to be one. Maybe they have one or two hit songs, look real fine, or were on a reality TV show, but damnit, they can all fuck off, as well as the fans who support them. They are even worse.

Hot chicks who have slutty jobs like being a stripper, hooker, or porn star … What a waste of beautiful talent … Selling their cunts and mouths like it’s going out of style.

Drunken firemen who think they are tough and get suspended for soliciting sex from a minor or getting into a drunken brawl. Cops are even worse. What’s with the state pigs waiting on the highway, prying on you like a hawk. Niggaz are hella angry all the time, and everytime I see one, I sing, “We’re not the blue Mounties!” Niggaz act as if we don’t pay their salaries with our taxes. I’m sick of my money going to them and our government. Fuck the corporate world biatch! I’m down with the street struggle for life. The NYPD and FNYD aren’t heroes yo. CM Punk is a hero. Let’s go to one of his entries right now:

Pig McBlueboy: Do you have anything in the car in the way of drugs or weapons?
Punk: Nope.
PM: Okay, i'm going to go run your license, just sit tight...
Punk: No worries.
::Idiot cop walks back to his car::
...in the meantime, another squad pulls up...
Punk: Figures they'd need two cars for something as stupid as this. I can't believe he's writing me a ticket for something this stupid.
Allison Danger (looking in the side mirror of my car): Um, Punker, I want you to keep calm.
Punk: Huh? I am calm, I just think it's stupid that (Punk sees that the second squad is a K-9 unit) WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?
Allison: Punk, just keep cool!
Punk: Fuck that, I don't....OH...OH! You've got to be kidding me!
::Officer #2 approachs my car with his DRUG DOG::
Punk rolls down passanger side window and yells at cop
Punk: ARE YOU RIBBING ME? GET THAT FUCKING DOG AWAY FROM MY CAR!
::officer does'nt respond::
Punk: Serisouly, are you fucking kidding me? Hey!
::officer starts to knock on Punks car with his hands::
Punk: Okay, Okay! Honestly, you fucking DICK, get the fuck away from my car, or i'll eat your dog.
::Officer #1 approachs Punks car once the dog and officer #2 are dog circling the car::
Officer Dickhead: Can I ask you to step out of the car?
Punk: Absolutely not.
Officer Asshole: Well, I need to explain this to you...
Punk: Do it with me in the car
Officer Bitchass: Well, can you step out of the car...
Punk: Ya know what, fine...
Now this is where it gets fairly hilarious people. I literally step out of the car, and once i'm fully stood up, i'm at least a foot taller than this cop. The look on his face was priceless. He takes a step back, and I shit you not, gulps. I'd imagine i'm horribly frighting looking by this point, because i'm legit furious that this little bullshit profile stop of my car results in a drug dog harassment. He backs up, never taking his eyes off me, and I nearly back him into traffic...
Officer Justshitinhispants: Um...this is your warning.
Punk: Great ::turns to walk away::
Officer Banana Brains: You need to take this, but before I give it to you, what do you want to tell me about what's in your car?
Punk (now turning green): What?
Officer pleasedontkillme: Is there anything in the car you want to tell me about, I'll give you the chance to tell me the truth, why were you in Nashville?
Punk::raising his fists right in the cops face:: What do my knuckles say?!
Cop: Why were you ::gets cut off by a very angry Punk::
Punk: WHAT. DO. MY. KNUCKLES. SAY?
a very sad looking police man: Drug free.
Punk: Exactly, so i'm a little offended about the dog right now.
Copper: Um...okay, well, here's your warning, have a nice day
Punk: Go fuck yourself.

People who post corny pictures and conversations in their livejournals, AIM profiles, and away messages.

People who ask to chill with my ex girlfriend behind my back.

People who have girlfriends that look like Dunn & Marcos, dodo dododo.

People who are all Christ like for seeing the Passion movie and have the nerve to wear a cross or wedding ring during a porno video.

Any type of “fake” entertainer … Britney Spears only looks hot with makeup on, and can’t sing for shit. Her sex life is something three year olds have mastered by the time they are ten, and she has cheated and lied to my boy, Fred Durst. Yes, I have the video footage to prove it. I mean, how can you idolize someone who actually lip sings. Are you that fucking fake yourself? Why is someone like Colin Farrell considered a bad boy? Are you kidding me? I’m a motherfuckin bad boy for life! And fuck Jim Carey and Jay Leno for kissing Howard Stern’s ass on his show yet pull shit behind his back. It’s sad when someone like Paris Hilton feels the need to become more famous than she already is so she puts out a sex tape. No, I’m not bitter no one would ever buy a sex tape with me in it … I’m bitter than our society judges everything on looks and to make it to the top, you have to sleep your way there. Oh yeah, I also heard Biggie & Ja Rule rapped about shit that was never true in their life for the almighty dollar.

Racists … They usually have little logic with much ignorance and are just bitter because they were abused by some black kids in the 8th grade. Skinheads and terrorists who kill in the name of God are in complete and utter denial … Stupid fools …

Killers … People who spend their life in jail for killing someone is stupid as fuck. I’m not gonna do some time at the expense of another nigga, especially if I hated him. That’s why I’d hire someone to take the fall. Seriously, I hate when innocent people are picked on, attacked, or killed for no reason. If you’re gonna rob a bank or something, don’t kill anyone unless they get totally out of line. Mean people suck. I believe anyone who is convicted should be locked in a basement for 23 hours a day, listening to a non-stop tape of me preaching this shit to them.

Getting turned down by girls. The least they can do is pretend to like you and be your internet friend … fuckin hoes …

Any movie by The Rock.

The Bush Administration and every mofo in denial about not knowing 9/11 would happen. Sure, Bush is against fag marriages, but I wonder if he knows if Cheney’s daughter is a dyke. Fuck all them old cowboys to hell damnit! We need someone young and hip in office like the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Hollur!

People who brag or complain just so that you feel sorry for them. Although I love when people feel sorry for me, I hate when people do it to try to get a girl back in their life or some old friend who can’t accept the fact that he got “fired.”

People who think they are smart for going to a technical school or community college.

People who get sick all the time because they don’t take care of themselves.

Bitches who have websites featuring pictures of them in provocative clothing, claiming they are neither slutty or easy.

People who try to intimidate you because they are either black, bigger, or packing heat. You wanna scare me? Stab yourself in the side of your head for trying to pop a pimple before approaching me.

People who are so scared to confront you that they have to resort to doing things to your family, friends, and belongings.

People who have to mention my name in shit that doesn’t involve me.

Chris Daniels’ upper neck/shoulder region. Don’t ask, it just looks weird.

Keg parties with no food, room, or decent bitches.

People who fuck ugly birds. Have you no self respect and discipline? If you want head, that’s all good, but if you gonna fuck a troll, you gonna turn into one!

People who think I don’t know wrestling isn’t fake. At least shit isn’t as corny as Harry Potter and Star Wars. This is why I love strong style wrestling. The hitting is real, the injuries are real, and Homicide rules your F’N world.

People who are afraid to “let go” of their kids. I’m not afraid to allow my younger brother to watch and hear things with profanity or violence. It’s not something I’m necessarily proud of, believe me, but for now, I say let the little johnnies of the world learn on their own. Whether it be gangsta rap music or the love scene from Titanic, niggaz need to stop being scared and just accept society the way it is. Sure, I may not agree with the way it is, but there will always be evil things out there. I think it’s important that we take the time out to explain to our kids what these things are about and how to avoid them. Communication is the key to a healthy relationship with a family member, friend, or lover. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not some piece of white trash who shares nudie books with my brother … No, no … I just make sure to explain to him the rights and wrongs of the world, and he knows if he gets out of line, I won’t hesitate to drop him on his neck with a vicious copkiller.

Parents who allow their little boys to play with Barbie dolls and do gymnastics. I honestly don’t care what your child does, but if you think he has some homosexual tendencies, then you best get help … No one wants a fag for a kid. Just accepting things the way isn’t always the way to go. Niggaz need to explain to them that big titties is a good thing. Then again, you don’t want your kid to grow up a hypersexual, fucking anything in sight. If any fag tendencies are identified, find a doctor to hypnotize their ass right away. This same rule applies for young girls playing with trucks too much as well.

Horny men, stop being pigs. I hate dicking with my think, I mean thinking with my dick, all the time. It’s so degrading and wrong. More self control is definitely needed.

Bradshaw.

Former sluts who try to act like they weren’t sluts in the first place. Come on now, you should know, once a hoe, always a hoe!

Bitches who need to a show a titty and make out with a girl to sell some CD’s. Not only is the FCC up Howard Stern’s ass for it, but it’s all your damn fault you stupid whore mongers. Here’s some ironic shit for ya: I was watching A League of Their Own the other night, and in it, Madonna says, “What if during a key moment in my game, my bosom pops out, won’t that draw a crowd?”

Abortion … OK, so if a chick got raped, I sort of understand, but damn, the only thing that should be abortioned in this world is a bitch who flaunts her pussy like the Sharon Stone interrogation scene in Basic Instinct.

The war on drugs … is a war on people. It’s a really sad state of affairs when a human being’s freedom is treated as nothing more than an asset or liability. Prisons are big business in this country. It’s a bullshit war damnit. It’s a war over money! Instead of worrying about pot busts, cops should be more concerned with the rapists and murderers in our neighborhood. It’s just like downloading music, it can never be stopped. I recently heard some guy did like 50 years for just selling weed. I don’t condone drug use, but damn, give a nigga a break. The U.S. only bans drugs because they wouldn’t make as much money off it as they do with big pharmaceutical companies. If people wanna do crack and coke all day, hey, I don’t mind. Let them wipe themselves off the face of the earth.

When I feel fine after getting up at like 5AM for an 8AM class, yet feel like shit if I go back to sleep for another hour or so. Naps usually more than an hour fuck me up big time.

People who are ashamed of themselves and get all types of enhancements and surgery. Don’t be ashamed the way God made you. If a bitch don’t like you because of a little body hair or a small beer gut, then chances are she won’t like anything except a cock and a wallet coming out of your pants. I love when good looking men like Brad Pitt and Johnny Deep have crazy beards and hairstyles.

People who glorify criminals like John Gotti and Charles Manson then get all bitchy when Osama kills a few thousand people.

People who get on Rob Feinstein’s back for attempting to get with a little boy when former NBA players, NFL stars, and wrestlers shoot people, sexually assault chicks, and kill their wives (With all their cash, you think these dumb niggaz would learn),

When it’s freezing outside but you’re sweating balls inside.

When you’re trimming or shaving your facial hair, you fuck up, have to shave everything off completely, and then have razor burn the next damn day.

Girls who do manly things like burp and fot in front of you, leave the toilet up, spit in public, out drink you, and fuck in cars.

People who try to run your life when they can’t control their own.

Gay people who flaunt themselves too much.

Being all nice and respectful only to be pissed on later on. For example, I hate getting to class early, doing all my homework, and then my teacher gets on my ass for it being all wrong. It’s like why even bother? I hate being stepped on. You know when you’re waiting on line not really paying attention, and some nigga cuts in front of you. I take it really personal and become offended quickly. Then, I become sad because I didn’t speak up. I guess I’m really shy and humble in real life, and a cocky prick who tells it like it is on the internet. I wish I could switch roles. My grandpa once told me that people fight for the impossible, but anything is possible if your case is beatable. He was once going to purchase two cars at the same time, but they put the company stickers on them, so he snapped and said that if he didn’t get his money back, he would go to the manager and report this to the D.A. Of course, he was bullshitting, and even though the salesman was afraid to go to his manager, my grandpa did, and got the job done. He made sure he didn’t lose his cool, but he always had an edge over thes people. I want to take this story and prosper in the real world myself. You could probably get mad free dinners and stuff doing this LOL. I will forever want to remain humble but if I feel like someone is trying to step on me, or anyone in general, I want to put a stop to it!

Sluts who want respect. I treat you the way you dumb hoes treat yourself.

Ah, and finally, to the fucker who keyed my car … I have a pretty good idea of who you are, but no actual proof … So, do me a favor … If you’re not someone who has to do with my ex, then you probably know where I live, and might, just might, read this entry. Come see me. Give me a call. Knock on my door. Send me an instant message. Be the man you’re parents tried to raise you to be. Don’t be a pussy. You don’t have to apologize, although that would be nice. Just give me a reason … one good reason why you did it … don’t be scared. I won’t break your neck just yet … No, no … I will respect you if you can admit it yourself. In fact, I will give you 100 bucks. That’s right, I will give you or anyone 100 bucks if you can confront me like the man that you claim you are and look me dead in the eyes, and say it was me damnit! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG! No bullshit … Five nice crisp twenty’s. I don’t play around. If we were friends, maybe we can put it behind us. Don’t post here anonymously or try to pull some more chicken shit just because you think I might have subliminally bashed you in my entry. Come on, dawg. Don’t disappoint me. You can bring your friends. You can bring some weapons. I will shake your hand if you came alone, though. Just don’t be the bitch I always knew you were. I’ll be waiting …

I’m sorry, but this has to be the longest and best Livejournal.com entry in its entire existence. Send all awards, money, and book deals to my email address listed in the “my info” section and have a pleasant day.

My rant on the 2004 election.

2004-01-20T22:16:08Z

What discourages me most is how much I can't trust the candidates. Me, being a democratic liberal, I'm finding it hard to pick someone who I would vote for. I'm watching Howard Dean right now and I am loving what he's saying, loving what he's preaching, but I don't know if I can trust his words. This IS a competition to win your votes, isn't it? There's bound to be manipulation and a bit of lies strung here and there. So what do I need to find the TRUTH about the candidates? How am I supposed to trust these people in running my country? In both Republicans and Democrats. Will the candidates' lies and deceiving be so hard to pick out from the truths?

I expect candidates who run for office to do what they say they'll do. I'm sick of bs from both sides. I'm waiting for someone who can lead my country to its fullest potential.

But what can I do? I can't even vote. I'm not even 16.

Where can I find unbiased news?

WLELTKJSET.

rantrave @ 2003-10-20T19:58:00

2003-10-19T16:54:43Z

g_s_a

The purpose of this community is to post articles, express idea's, ask questions, get each others thoughts and opinions on sexuality, homphobia, and so on.

Please respect each others views and opinons, no arguing unless its constuctive.

Stories are always welcome.

g_s_a

rantrave @ 2003-07-22T12:42:00

2003-07-22T09:42:35Z

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/02977459.htm

a must read if you are into hp at all (sorry for the X post)

rantrave @ 2003-05-07T21:31:00

2003-05-07T18:31:51Z

hey all you rantravers out there! It's one of your moderators here an dI am just giving some recognition to another community I think is worth checking out!

documentourlove

check it out. it is a good deal.

rantrave @ 2003-03-19T21:32:00

2003-03-19T18:32:44Z

I have a topical rant.

I consider myself somewhat of a devout American. I consider myself to be more American than a lot of people (if one can be MORE American than another). I think that my not takign what our "monkey man" president says at face value and seeign what he si actually saying is more American than going "he says it so he must be true" Skepticism is something that I was basically born with and has been reinforced over and over. People's words only outline the true meaning of what they say and do.

I take this to heart. when the "president" gets up and speaks, I never take in everything that he says. He angers me so. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much. I dont' understand his thoughts or his actions. Maybe I am not conservative xtian enough, but I just don't get him.

I don't understand the purpose for this "imminent" (sp?) threat to the USA posed by Iraq when North Korea has a nuclear weapon that could possible strike LA. I dont' understand why Iraq is an imminent threat if the Phillipenes (sp?) are engaged in an all-out civil guerilla war. Why Iraq? They have done no outward attacks against any nation in over a decade. I just dont' understand.

You can call me closeminded if you want, but a regime change in Iraq should not be first priority right now.

IF this war was for the elimination of terrorist threats, then why would an impending war raise the terrorist level to orange? think about it. It shouldn't.

rantrave @ 2002-12-01T20:30:00

2002-12-01T17:29:39Z

I would like to welcome:

jgegr
lady_rebel
thrashbott
crimsonsuicide

I would also like to ask who keeps on adding us to top_debater. and how they are doing it. I took us out once.... and now we are back.

I don't especially mind, it is just that, as a community and not an actual individual livejournal, I don't think we can post in that community, you know? I could be wrong about that. So, if any of YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE know, feel free to give a shout!

rantrave @ 2002-11-14T14:41:00

2002-11-14T11:41:32Z

some members of my Gay-Straight Alliance and I have made a petition to have "Gender Identity/Expression" added to the school handbook policy on harassment. What do you guys think about Transgender issues and the possible addition of those words to the handbook.

Extra note: The policy says "sexual orientation" and not "sexual identity"

rantrave @ 2002-11-08T09:28:00

2002-11-08T06:32:16Z

Hello everyone, I am new to this, but i decided im going to complain: about how ignorant and rude people in this world are. There is this one boy on my bus that i would personally love to send to jail for a day, or a severe boot camp, Just so he can learn that saying "fuck" as every other word is annoying. he also bitches about how his teachers "suck cock" and how he would hit them, but he isnt violent and such. I told him he was ignorant today and he's like "thats good, I dont care, I know I am an asshole" cuz I also pointed that small fact to him.

I dont know violence, hate, or discimination! PEACE, LOVE, AND HAPPINESS!

christian straight edge?

2002-07-27T21:48:48Z

Ok this is not an attack just want opinions.
If you are christian and straight edge well jesus drank wine at the last supper did he not? also "In John 2:1-12, Jesus provides the wine for a wedding. It is clear from the toastmaster's comment ("you've saved the best wine for last") that we are dealing with an alcoholic beverage. The normal procedure in a feast would be to provide the best and most potent wine first, and then the more watered down and less flavorful later as the palate became less discriminating." taken from a christian web site. Their are many places in the bible where they drink wine. So being straight edge you look down on drinking and alcohol and all drugs and look down on its use. So since jesus drank how can you look down on your God? I dont get it I dont understand how the 2 can coinside.
Also since the movement was built on punk rock and hardcore a fundamnetaly anti-religious movements. I mean you look at minor threat who have been given credit for starting the movement are anti-christian with lyrics like
"Your brain is clay
What's going on?
You picked up a bible
And now you're gone
You call it religion
You're full of shit "
I think anyone who chooses to claim straight edge and follow it thats great all I am trying to do here is get people to think more about the contradictions here.
kris