Free Market, my ass.

For the last two years I have attempted to land a spot as a community columnist for the Milwaukee Journal and have been rejected both times. At first I blamed my poor writing skills. Then I blamed my category as a white man when they were looking for a diverse group. Both of these seemed totally acceptable to me. Sure I wrote a great piece about the how stupid the death penalty and they picked a guy who stated that people who would/should receive the death penalty are routinely let out of prison.
I think though after years of reading the columnists I have figured out one must have to do, and I am going to call them out this year when I try again. The one column they print every single year is a column attacking atheists, around 5% of the population, as being unethical and having no morals. One guy actually argued that atheists should go around and murder because they have no book telling them it is wrong. If the topic isn't on the depravity of non-Christians then you must write a column filled with logical fallacies like the one a couple of days ago. The use of the logical fallacy, begging the question so pissed me off I had to respond. I decided I would share it with people and her response.

I was reading your column in Thursday's paper and I came upon an interesting statement. You say, "Salaries, in a free market, are set by supply and demand" which I find interesting. You are said to be the business and economics chair of a local university so surely you can't really call America a free market. I believe you are purposely lying to people to advance your ideology. How can the chair of economics call our economy a free market? Is it a free market when we bailed out Lockheed and Chrysler? My father lost his job because his boss at his saving and loans gave out shotty loans and we bailed out the SnLs but
not the workers. Some estimates put the figure at half a trillion dollars. How does this jive with your fake free market? How about the 14 billion dollar bailout of the airlines after 9/11? How does that fit into your psueso-free market. What about subsidies to the oil industries? How is that a free market? What about all the programs for returning GIs from WWII? Was that that free market at work? With just these few simple examples it is obvious, to even a non-chair of economics, that we do not live in a free market. At best we live in a coporate socialist state with free markets for the citizen. Give out bad loans and the tax payer will bail you out, take a bad loan and you lose your house. Socialism for the rich and free markets for the poor.
I have no problem with peole being ideological but they should not be deceptive. If they are deceptive then it makes one wonder how good their arguments are.
Don't lie to the people. A chair of economics should know better.
Justin Loper


Her response:
Hello:
While we do not agree, thanks for responding.
Barbara

Really that is it. I call her a liar and she says she disagrees. She cares that much to get her beliefs out there but can not defend them? Truly sad. Not what I would expect from a chair of economics unless she studied under Dershowitz at Harvard.

New Controversy

BEWARE SOME GRAPHIC FOOTAGE


I have no problem calling out religious texts for the bullshit inside, like when the Bible says gays should be murdered and fortune tellers too. Oh ya and unruly children and your wife if she tries to take you away from God. Though to paint the entire group in this way is offensive to me because it is unfair. What about the Christians who slaughtered doctors for performing a procedure which is legal?
I once met a guy who moved hear from Holland and I was shocked so I asked him why. He said that Holland is becoming a very racist country, which surprised me. I now understand what he was saying.
One point from Chomsky. Chomsky has asked how come when a Muslim leader does something crazy it is because they are Muslims while no one says that Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon slaughtered 3.2 million Vietnamese because they were Christian. Somehow one's religion only affects them if they are Muslim.

New Mental Illness

A new mental illness is upon us. This mental illness plagues users of cell phones and blackberrys. They say that people are mentally ill because they are texting people too much. My guess is, had a newer mental illness that I have discovered been around when the telephone was introduced, people would have been talking about the new mental illness of people who talk on the phone too long. They would have argued that it is totally a different phenomena then talking to someone in person. Much like how iPods are more dangerous then their predecessor the walkman. Sure they are both mobile music devices but iPods are new and scary. In other words old people don't understand them.
You may wonder what this other new mental illness is that I have discovered. Of course, it should be known I hold no degree in any psychological field or any field for that matter. Still I think, I make just as much sense as the ones with letters after their names. My new mental illness is a mental illness that attempts to show that mental illness explains all behavior that doesn't fit some "norm".
Though at what point do we realize that abnormal is normal since everyone will have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness which in turn will turn the non-mentally ill into the mentally ill and the mentally ill into the norm?

Music videos

Here is a version of one the most important songs of my life.


Then the Housemartins


and Stereolab

A LIBERAL DECALOGUE

By Bertrand Russell

Perhaps the essence of the Liberal outlook could be summed up in a new decalogue, not intended to replace the old one but only to supplement it. The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:

1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness."

McCain '08

A couple thoughts on the Democratic Nomination.
Let it be known that I am a Clinton-hater. I figure that information should be known so that everyone will understand my slant. I just have a few questions.
Hillary is pushing this narrative that she has the experience to come in, on day one, and begin fixing the problems. Okay that is fine, but what problems are there? Of these supposed problems, how many did Hillary vote for or the Democratic Party as a whole? Is one the problems the Iraq War? Didn’t she vote for the Iraq war? Is she going to take on the major financial businesses that are paying for her campaign? Is she going to demand they fix this housing mortgage mess or are the banks buying her off? Or could it be that they are paying her for all the work she did on the Finance Modernization Act when she was President, oops I mean First Lady?
What happens if Obama goes into the convention with a lead in delegates but the party chooses Hillary? Will a whole generation of voters be turned off? Will people revolt and flock to Nader? Would Obama even get behind her considering she is an immoral human or as Ms. Power called her “a monster?” Wouldn’t it be a coup d’etat?
Is it possible that Hillary is going to come out and explicitly claim that Barack is not qualified to be President with the hopes that McCain will beat him and she can run again in 2012? Is she that opportunistic and if so why are people supporting her?
Are older women just voting for Hillary out of their own selfish reasons of hoping to see a woman President before they die and if so, Why couldn’t Condee been the one?
Just a few thoughts.

Israeli Nazis

I truly believe that we are seeing an end to Israel as presently structured. I fear as Israel realizes it is losing it will go on a major offensive and kill many. It is just amazing how fearless some people are and how full of fear others are.
Fuck the Nazis. SOme people don't like making any analogy between the Nazis and the Israeli state but when your leaders say things like this it makes it much easier.


iPod/iPhone Link