Here we are again. It seems like Wednesdays just keep coming.
Today's guest rant is written by the very funny, often witty, and only semi intellectual Richard Malm. So without further doo-doo....
"Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions, unless you disagree with me.
I believe that we should have honest and reasoned discussions about what should and should not be acceptable social norms. It really bothers me when one side of any debate equates being against their opinion to being a horrible something. Against the war in Iraq, you are not a patriot. Don’t believe in Gay marriage, you are a hatemonger. While you might be either or both of those things, you are not automatically them because of your opinion.
I have a rule; you can do whatever you want as long as it does not adversely affect my family or me. Screw a goat I don’t care. However, please don’t ask me to accept your lifestyle, or teach my children that is a valid alternative. I believe all goats deserve to go unmolested by humans. I will not be there to comfort you when you get some goat disease that rots your Twinkie off. Sit on your ever expanding ass, play playstation, and eat hot pockets all day, I don’t care. However, please don’t ask me to pay for your triple bypass, find you a woman that will accept your “special” lifestyle, or fund your SSI because you have posttraumatic stress disorder from playing the first Halo for a year and a half straight.
I do not have to accept your beliefs or pay your consequences, just as I know you have the God given right to not accept or pay for mine. Just because I don’t support your thoughts on a particular subject does not mean I am intolerant, ignorant, or Hitler. Just as I know you are not a leftist, socialist, nut job (some of you anyway). Make your choices; do not force them on me. I will love you for the person you are, but I may not love or support your decisions. Love me for the person I am, I will not ask you to love or support all of my decisions. You are entitled to your moronic opinions; please allow me the right to mine."
Cya in 7
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Facebook Faux Pas
Welcome to Wednesday! Today is actually my Monday, I have to start work for this week tonight. Yay for having a job!
Today's topic comes from our very own Queen of Facebook. So if any of you blog stalkers don't use Facebook, this rant may not be for you. Thank you for playing, have a safe trip home.
Facebook addictions are so prevalent that the developers of FB have so graciously created a myriad of features you can use to stay informed. The more common; emails and texts about comments and status updates. Now you no longer have to be on a computer to get your fix. I've never been one for the clutter of thousands of emails from Facebook each time a "friend" wants to complain about whatever day of the week it may be. However, I will admit that I have elected to receive texts when comments are made on my page only or when one of a few choice friends update their status.
You're probably asking yourself ".. and the point of this rant is....?". Well that is a great question. Let me answer that with another question. What's the most annoying thing people do on Facebook? Oh, you were so close! Thanks for playing, have a safe trip home. Actually, it's a trick question. There are many many many things people do on Facebook that I find annoying. But today we are going to focus on people that delete their comments.
If you wanted to say something bad enough that you took the time to type it out and click the submit button, then just leave it there and own the consequences. I understand making spelling or grammatical errors and wanting to delete and retype the comment with corrections. But to make a statement then change your mind is silly. Either think before you type, or grow a pair and own your thoughts.
The dual purpose of this rant is to serve as a Public Service Announcement. Just because you hit delete doesn't mean nobody saw what you wrote. Those lovely emails and texts get sent out the moment you hit submit, so you just look foolish to the people that get these notifications when you try to take back your words. You know the saying, " Better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to speak and remove all doubt."
A little side note, sub-topic, tangent I want to throw in. When you are having a "wall to wall" conversation that spans a couple days or more, don't delete the other persons comments! I don't know how many times I'm having a conversation with someone, they respond to something I said a few days prior, and to jog my memory of the conversation I click the lovely "wall to wall" link to get caught up. What do I find? My portion of the conversation has been deleted! Now I have no idea what the crap I was saying to this person ( I have to keep my lies written down or I get confused).
Anyways, that's my dos pesos. Thanks for all your ideas on future rants. I'll try to get to most of them eventually, except yours Becky. I seriously have no clue what I would say about men with hairy backs. ;)
Cya in 7
Today's topic comes from our very own Queen of Facebook. So if any of you blog stalkers don't use Facebook, this rant may not be for you. Thank you for playing, have a safe trip home.
Facebook addictions are so prevalent that the developers of FB have so graciously created a myriad of features you can use to stay informed. The more common; emails and texts about comments and status updates. Now you no longer have to be on a computer to get your fix. I've never been one for the clutter of thousands of emails from Facebook each time a "friend" wants to complain about whatever day of the week it may be. However, I will admit that I have elected to receive texts when comments are made on my page only or when one of a few choice friends update their status.
You're probably asking yourself ".. and the point of this rant is....?". Well that is a great question. Let me answer that with another question. What's the most annoying thing people do on Facebook? Oh, you were so close! Thanks for playing, have a safe trip home. Actually, it's a trick question. There are many many many things people do on Facebook that I find annoying. But today we are going to focus on people that delete their comments.
If you wanted to say something bad enough that you took the time to type it out and click the submit button, then just leave it there and own the consequences. I understand making spelling or grammatical errors and wanting to delete and retype the comment with corrections. But to make a statement then change your mind is silly. Either think before you type, or grow a pair and own your thoughts.
The dual purpose of this rant is to serve as a Public Service Announcement. Just because you hit delete doesn't mean nobody saw what you wrote. Those lovely emails and texts get sent out the moment you hit submit, so you just look foolish to the people that get these notifications when you try to take back your words. You know the saying, " Better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to speak and remove all doubt."
A little side note, sub-topic, tangent I want to throw in. When you are having a "wall to wall" conversation that spans a couple days or more, don't delete the other persons comments! I don't know how many times I'm having a conversation with someone, they respond to something I said a few days prior, and to jog my memory of the conversation I click the lovely "wall to wall" link to get caught up. What do I find? My portion of the conversation has been deleted! Now I have no idea what the crap I was saying to this person ( I have to keep my lies written down or I get confused).
Anyways, that's my dos pesos. Thanks for all your ideas on future rants. I'll try to get to most of them eventually, except yours Becky. I seriously have no clue what I would say about men with hairy backs. ;)
Cya in 7
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Talk Radio Killed My Faith In Humanity
Happy days. Hope you're all recovering nicely from the Halloween sugar coma.
Today's topic isn't really "current events", but it's irksome none the less. I was driving home from work yesterday morning and started flipping through the radio. I do not care for radio morning shows. I listen to the radio for music, not to hear blowhards yammering about this, that, or the other. But for some reason I stopped on one station where a discussion was going on about whether or not smoking in front of children should be considered child abuse. After wrapping up the call that was in a progress some gal calls in and starts to say that she is about to be a mother and she thinks smoking in front of kids should not be considered child abuse. One of the DJ's asks this pregnant gal, in jest, if she smokes now. She replied " Yeah! And my baby is growing big and healthy. They used to do it in the old days all the time!" I almost drove my car off the side of the road when I heard that. The DJ obviously had the same reaction because he stammered and then just hung up on her saying he couldn't talk to her.
I am fully aware of the ever growing population of stupid people in this world. But for some reason I had built up a false hope in my mind that at least all knowingly pregnant adult females would do their best to not smoke during their baby's gestation. So to hear someone proudly proclaim that they are smoking while pregnant threw me off. Not only that, but her iron clad argument that "They used to do it in the old days..." just made me want to find this moron and bitch slap her just like "They used to do in the old days".
I've made a list of things that "they used to do in the old days". Feel free to add any that I may have overlooked.
~ My favorite, having unprotected sex with a plethora of partners. You weren't cool unless you had a couple STD's.
~ Drunk driving. This is one of those old habits that apparently die hard, but at least now it's publicly frowned upon.
~ Driving without seat belts. I remember the days of crawling around the back of the station wagon while on long trips.
~ Drinking while pregnant. It was all fun and games until some "invented" Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
~ Leaving school to go work on the farm.
~ Marrying first cousins
~ Dieing by age 50
~ Believing the world is flat.
Ok, so some of those go a little further back than the 'good old days', but you get my point. Just because something was once a common practice doesn't make it right. There is a reason it is no longer a common practice.
Anyways, if any of you find this chick here in Boise that is smoking while pregnant give her a swift poke in the eye for me please.
Cya in 7
Today's topic isn't really "current events", but it's irksome none the less. I was driving home from work yesterday morning and started flipping through the radio. I do not care for radio morning shows. I listen to the radio for music, not to hear blowhards yammering about this, that, or the other. But for some reason I stopped on one station where a discussion was going on about whether or not smoking in front of children should be considered child abuse. After wrapping up the call that was in a progress some gal calls in and starts to say that she is about to be a mother and she thinks smoking in front of kids should not be considered child abuse. One of the DJ's asks this pregnant gal, in jest, if she smokes now. She replied " Yeah! And my baby is growing big and healthy. They used to do it in the old days all the time!" I almost drove my car off the side of the road when I heard that. The DJ obviously had the same reaction because he stammered and then just hung up on her saying he couldn't talk to her.
I am fully aware of the ever growing population of stupid people in this world. But for some reason I had built up a false hope in my mind that at least all knowingly pregnant adult females would do their best to not smoke during their baby's gestation. So to hear someone proudly proclaim that they are smoking while pregnant threw me off. Not only that, but her iron clad argument that "They used to do it in the old days..." just made me want to find this moron and bitch slap her just like "They used to do in the old days".
I've made a list of things that "they used to do in the old days". Feel free to add any that I may have overlooked.
~ My favorite, having unprotected sex with a plethora of partners. You weren't cool unless you had a couple STD's.
~ Drunk driving. This is one of those old habits that apparently die hard, but at least now it's publicly frowned upon.
~ Driving without seat belts. I remember the days of crawling around the back of the station wagon while on long trips.
~ Drinking while pregnant. It was all fun and games until some "invented" Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
~ Leaving school to go work on the farm.
~ Marrying first cousins
~ Dieing by age 50
~ Believing the world is flat.
Ok, so some of those go a little further back than the 'good old days', but you get my point. Just because something was once a common practice doesn't make it right. There is a reason it is no longer a common practice.
Anyways, if any of you find this chick here in Boise that is smoking while pregnant give her a swift poke in the eye for me please.
Cya in 7
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Halloween Rant
Only 3 more days!!!!
Since I am on a staycation, and in honor of the best holiday ever, and because I am just generally lazy, I am going to randomly list some of my biggest Halloween pet peeves. Feel free to add to the list if I forget anything.
~I'm going to start with my all time biggest pet peeve about Halloween. This way if you get bored and stop reading you'll have at least read about this one. Trunk or Treats!!! It's not the actual Trunk or Treat event that bothers me, so much as the fact that people will have these events on Halloween night. Parents will take their kids to a Trunk or Treat INSTEAD of Trick or Treating around their neighborhoods. This is a largely Mormon custom, but has been adopted by other churches and even some family oriented companies. I know that Halloween is all about kids getting their candy, and many parents are just too lazy or self absorbed to actually take them door to door. But the closer I get to adulthood ( and no, that doesn't mean I'm actually growing up) I think a lot of the fun is to see neighborhood children come to the door to beg for candy. I love to see children dressed in costumes, to see their eyes light up as you give them some "good" candy instead of the nasty hard pieces of bubble gum, and to hear their laughs and screams as they look at all the Halloween decor. People that use Trunk or Treat's as an easy way out of their parental duties not only rob the children of some great memories, but they also ruin the experience for those of us "adults" that delight in decorating and distributing sugary snacks. And a side note to my LDS brothers and sisters, it is bad enough that we are criticized and ostracized from the community on so many other points but to not allow our children to participate in this night of neighborly bonding goes against all the things we are taught each Sunday about loving our neighbors and befriending those around us!! Repent you sinners!!! ;)
~Leaving your lights on, but not answering the door! Seriously, how hard is it to just turn your lights off. If you are such a cheap bastard that you can't hand out even the nastiest of candy, at least have the decency to turn off the lights. We can hear you in there watching the Lifetime channel, we know you're home. Stop wasting our time! And if you have an automatic porch light that doesn't turn off, and unscrewing the light bulb is too advanced a task for you, then at least get out your box of crayons and scribble a note that says " Child hating Grinch lives here".
~I know how old I am, don't ask me if I think I'm too old to be Trick or Treating. If I really thought I was too old to do it, do you think I would be knocking on your door?! Has anyone ever responded to your ignorant query by saying " You know what?! You're absolutely right! I didn't realize that I was too old to be asking for free candy. Thank you for showing me the light. Allah be praised!!"?
~I understand that we live in difficult times financially. I appreciate peoples willingness to participate in Halloween in anyway possible. But for the love of all that is holy, please do not hand out homemade popcorn balls to strangers! First of all, gross! Secondly I don't know you, I don't know where your hands have been, and I don't know what kind of disgusting creatures live in your home under the guise of "house pets". Thirdly, I grew up in Southern California. We had to go through our candy each year looking for holes in wrappers that could have been made by needles because there were people that thought it was hilarious to inject PCP or LSD into candy and give it to children. And anything homemade or any fruit was immediately discarded by the parents because of numerous reports of douche bags hiding razor blades in apples and popcorn balls. Luckily, here in the great state of Idaho, those types of "tricks" aren't as prevalent, but that doesn't mean I'm any less leery.
~Once every 7 years Halloween falls on Sunday. I understand and appreciate the whole "keeping the Sabbath day holy". But it needs to be publicly decided, and adhered to, if the holiday is going to be celebrated on Saturday or Sunday. Boise generally does celebrate on the Saturday before, but there is nothing more annoying than going Trick or Treating, knocking on the doors of the homes that have the lights on, and instead of yummy treats receiving a lecture about how Halloween isn't until tomorrow. If you're not going to participate on Saturday, or if it is decided to celebrate on Sunday and you choose not to participate, then follow standard protocol and turn off your lights! Don't think that your soap box speech to little children just wanting some candy is going to change society. If you want to bitch about it, write a blog. ;)
Have a safe and happy Halloween!
Cya in 7
Since I am on a staycation, and in honor of the best holiday ever, and because I am just generally lazy, I am going to randomly list some of my biggest Halloween pet peeves. Feel free to add to the list if I forget anything.
~I'm going to start with my all time biggest pet peeve about Halloween. This way if you get bored and stop reading you'll have at least read about this one. Trunk or Treats!!! It's not the actual Trunk or Treat event that bothers me, so much as the fact that people will have these events on Halloween night. Parents will take their kids to a Trunk or Treat INSTEAD of Trick or Treating around their neighborhoods. This is a largely Mormon custom, but has been adopted by other churches and even some family oriented companies. I know that Halloween is all about kids getting their candy, and many parents are just too lazy or self absorbed to actually take them door to door. But the closer I get to adulthood ( and no, that doesn't mean I'm actually growing up) I think a lot of the fun is to see neighborhood children come to the door to beg for candy. I love to see children dressed in costumes, to see their eyes light up as you give them some "good" candy instead of the nasty hard pieces of bubble gum, and to hear their laughs and screams as they look at all the Halloween decor. People that use Trunk or Treat's as an easy way out of their parental duties not only rob the children of some great memories, but they also ruin the experience for those of us "adults" that delight in decorating and distributing sugary snacks. And a side note to my LDS brothers and sisters, it is bad enough that we are criticized and ostracized from the community on so many other points but to not allow our children to participate in this night of neighborly bonding goes against all the things we are taught each Sunday about loving our neighbors and befriending those around us!! Repent you sinners!!! ;)
~Leaving your lights on, but not answering the door! Seriously, how hard is it to just turn your lights off. If you are such a cheap bastard that you can't hand out even the nastiest of candy, at least have the decency to turn off the lights. We can hear you in there watching the Lifetime channel, we know you're home. Stop wasting our time! And if you have an automatic porch light that doesn't turn off, and unscrewing the light bulb is too advanced a task for you, then at least get out your box of crayons and scribble a note that says " Child hating Grinch lives here".
~I know how old I am, don't ask me if I think I'm too old to be Trick or Treating. If I really thought I was too old to do it, do you think I would be knocking on your door?! Has anyone ever responded to your ignorant query by saying " You know what?! You're absolutely right! I didn't realize that I was too old to be asking for free candy. Thank you for showing me the light. Allah be praised!!"?
~I understand that we live in difficult times financially. I appreciate peoples willingness to participate in Halloween in anyway possible. But for the love of all that is holy, please do not hand out homemade popcorn balls to strangers! First of all, gross! Secondly I don't know you, I don't know where your hands have been, and I don't know what kind of disgusting creatures live in your home under the guise of "house pets". Thirdly, I grew up in Southern California. We had to go through our candy each year looking for holes in wrappers that could have been made by needles because there were people that thought it was hilarious to inject PCP or LSD into candy and give it to children. And anything homemade or any fruit was immediately discarded by the parents because of numerous reports of douche bags hiding razor blades in apples and popcorn balls. Luckily, here in the great state of Idaho, those types of "tricks" aren't as prevalent, but that doesn't mean I'm any less leery.
~Once every 7 years Halloween falls on Sunday. I understand and appreciate the whole "keeping the Sabbath day holy". But it needs to be publicly decided, and adhered to, if the holiday is going to be celebrated on Saturday or Sunday. Boise generally does celebrate on the Saturday before, but there is nothing more annoying than going Trick or Treating, knocking on the doors of the homes that have the lights on, and instead of yummy treats receiving a lecture about how Halloween isn't until tomorrow. If you're not going to participate on Saturday, or if it is decided to celebrate on Sunday and you choose not to participate, then follow standard protocol and turn off your lights! Don't think that your soap box speech to little children just wanting some candy is going to change society. If you want to bitch about it, write a blog. ;)
Have a safe and happy Halloween!
Cya in 7
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Eat Me PETA, I'm Dolphin Safe.
Anyone else missing summer? I'm freezing!
For those of you that don't know me, I'm not what you would call an "animal lover". In fact my personal motto has always been 'Animals are to be eaten, not fed'. However, I'm not one that would drive around town running over every Spot and Snowball I can find. I can appreciate that there are people that enjoying their pets. My problem is with people that love animals more than they care for other humans.
Just last week I was driving on the freeway minding my own business when the lady next to me spontaneously swerves into my lane. I had to slam on my breaks to avoid colliding with her and her ginormous POS that she was driving. I'm not a big road rager so I just changed lanes and started to speed on by. I glanced over at her and realized the reason she couldn't see me was because she had her dog laying around her neck. And this wasn't some little Paris Hilton pocket pet type of dog. This thing had to have been 25 pounds and was a huge mass of furry. So while this lady is getting face licked and furry bathed by her stupid dog, she is obliviously driving people off the road.
Several years ago I worked with a lady that had a plethora of cats. One night one of her cats dies. She was so distraught over the death of this feline that she called out sick to work for the entire week! It's not like it was some award winning show cat, or some special breed that costs millions of dollars, or even some cherished childhood pet that she grew up with for 30 years. This was just some random free loading stinky stray.
I'm sure you can all think of a person or two that would save a stray dog on the side of the road rather than give a homeless person some food. You may even be one of those people. In fact I know at least one of you reading this is that type of person. Here's a story that involves a couple people that may be reading this blog right now, so I wont name names.
Many, many moons ago I was a high school student. My father had just purchased a new truck so I talked him into letting me take it for a drive. I called up my buddy and suggest we go out. He invites the girl he had been pining after all year and I call another gal pal. We decide to go get some food and play a little putt-putt. As we are heading towards our destination my dear sweet soft-hearted friend ;) sees a porcupine walking along the sidewalk near the busy road. He insists we stop so this little creature doesn't wander into the road and get squished. To make a long funny story into a short boring one, we ended up spending the entire evening driving this porcupine around the back of the truck in a trash can looking for the address of some crazy lady that rescues vermin. The point, you're probably asking yourself, is that this friend cared more about the safety of this spinney pest than making moves on the "love of his life" at that time. =)
Needless to say, I really don't see eye to eye with PETA. Sure, I think testing cosmetics on animals is silly and pointless. We have plenty of ugly people in this world that I'm sure would love to have a free make over to test this crap on. But if finding the cure to AIDS or even the common flu can be accomplished by killing a few hundred rats, I'm all for it. On the PETA website there is even an article written the beginning of this month where the author tries to dissuade people from supporting breast cancer research charities because they "fund cruel and irrelevant experiments on animals". Really?! What is more cruel, testing on a few hundred animals or letting tens of thousands of women suffer and die from such a vicious disease?
Animals don't have the same rights as humans for a reason. If it were up to all the animals in this world I'm sure they would rather we all just go extinct and leave them in peace. But we're the top of the food chain so we get to decide how we want our animals, medium rare or well done.
Remember, if animals weren't meant to be eaten they wouldn't be made out of meat!
Cya in 7
For those of you that don't know me, I'm not what you would call an "animal lover". In fact my personal motto has always been 'Animals are to be eaten, not fed'. However, I'm not one that would drive around town running over every Spot and Snowball I can find. I can appreciate that there are people that enjoying their pets. My problem is with people that love animals more than they care for other humans.
Just last week I was driving on the freeway minding my own business when the lady next to me spontaneously swerves into my lane. I had to slam on my breaks to avoid colliding with her and her ginormous POS that she was driving. I'm not a big road rager so I just changed lanes and started to speed on by. I glanced over at her and realized the reason she couldn't see me was because she had her dog laying around her neck. And this wasn't some little Paris Hilton pocket pet type of dog. This thing had to have been 25 pounds and was a huge mass of furry. So while this lady is getting face licked and furry bathed by her stupid dog, she is obliviously driving people off the road.
Several years ago I worked with a lady that had a plethora of cats. One night one of her cats dies. She was so distraught over the death of this feline that she called out sick to work for the entire week! It's not like it was some award winning show cat, or some special breed that costs millions of dollars, or even some cherished childhood pet that she grew up with for 30 years. This was just some random free loading stinky stray.
I'm sure you can all think of a person or two that would save a stray dog on the side of the road rather than give a homeless person some food. You may even be one of those people. In fact I know at least one of you reading this is that type of person. Here's a story that involves a couple people that may be reading this blog right now, so I wont name names.
Many, many moons ago I was a high school student. My father had just purchased a new truck so I talked him into letting me take it for a drive. I called up my buddy and suggest we go out. He invites the girl he had been pining after all year and I call another gal pal. We decide to go get some food and play a little putt-putt. As we are heading towards our destination my dear sweet soft-hearted friend ;) sees a porcupine walking along the sidewalk near the busy road. He insists we stop so this little creature doesn't wander into the road and get squished. To make a long funny story into a short boring one, we ended up spending the entire evening driving this porcupine around the back of the truck in a trash can looking for the address of some crazy lady that rescues vermin. The point, you're probably asking yourself, is that this friend cared more about the safety of this spinney pest than making moves on the "love of his life" at that time. =)
Needless to say, I really don't see eye to eye with PETA. Sure, I think testing cosmetics on animals is silly and pointless. We have plenty of ugly people in this world that I'm sure would love to have a free make over to test this crap on. But if finding the cure to AIDS or even the common flu can be accomplished by killing a few hundred rats, I'm all for it. On the PETA website there is even an article written the beginning of this month where the author tries to dissuade people from supporting breast cancer research charities because they "fund cruel and irrelevant experiments on animals". Really?! What is more cruel, testing on a few hundred animals or letting tens of thousands of women suffer and die from such a vicious disease?
Animals don't have the same rights as humans for a reason. If it were up to all the animals in this world I'm sure they would rather we all just go extinct and leave them in peace. But we're the top of the food chain so we get to decide how we want our animals, medium rare or well done.
Remember, if animals weren't meant to be eaten they wouldn't be made out of meat!
Cya in 7
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Cyber Balls
Does anyone else get annoyed with the term "hump day" ? It's always so misleading. ;)
For anyone that is new to this show, I work in technical support. I spend all night helping people with internet issues. I have been doing this job for over 10 years and up until recently I spent my time on the phones. Now most of the time I do support via online chat, so I can help 4 people at a time. And no, I do not get paid 4 times my wages as I now do four times the work. But that is not what I am going to bitch about today.
One of the many observations I have made since transitioning to an online support system is the anonymity that comes from chatting seems to give people a set of brass cyber balls the size of Texas. I have experienced a new level of rude and abusive behavior never before experienced in a phone conversation. Now I understand the frustration that comes when a service is not working correctly, but I've never understood how someone can have a complete lack of human decency.
This "cyber balls" phenomenon is not limited to technical support. Over the years I have been known to play an online game or two ::cough:: Geek! ::cough:: And I have observed many a "fight" online. People will fight and argue about anything and everything. Knowing that most of these people are prepubescent teenage boys sitting in their stank rooms hiding from the real world it amazes me the gall they muster. These kids would cower in a face to face confrontation, so what magical powers does the internet provide that makes these people invincible? And does it really matter who is more of a "newb" than the other?
I'm undecided as to what makes less sense, the people that decide to fight online or the people that let these online abuses affect them. I'm sure you've all heard about that gal that committed suicide because she was being bullied on MySpace. I'm sure there were other influences and issues leading to this drastic end, but really how can a person get so worked up over comments made on the internet. What happened to "sticks and stones...."?
Some of you may have even participated in an online "fight". What was it that made you feel so omnipotent that you disregarded another human beings feelings? Or for you "victims", what was it that made these comments from some random stranger hurt you? Maybe it is my over abundance of self confidence, or maybe it is my total lack of value applied to the opinions of all the inferior creatures found in cyber space, but I really don't understand why people fight online. Of course I'm not talking about a logical debate where valuable ideas and insights are exchanged, I'm talking about the petty personal attacks. "you're ugly and stupid!" "No, you're the ugly one and your mom smells like cheese!"
I once had a customer that was so upset that his service was disconnected because he hadn't paid his bill for several months. After using every swear word ever invented he became so desperate for an insult that he called me a "melon headed whale shark!" and then quickly left the chat. I cried myself to sleep that night.....
This topic reminds me of one of my favorite unpolitcally correct motivational posters: "Fighting on the internet is like competing in the special Olympics. Even if you 'win' you're still retarded."
Cya in 7
For anyone that is new to this show, I work in technical support. I spend all night helping people with internet issues. I have been doing this job for over 10 years and up until recently I spent my time on the phones. Now most of the time I do support via online chat, so I can help 4 people at a time. And no, I do not get paid 4 times my wages as I now do four times the work. But that is not what I am going to bitch about today.
One of the many observations I have made since transitioning to an online support system is the anonymity that comes from chatting seems to give people a set of brass cyber balls the size of Texas. I have experienced a new level of rude and abusive behavior never before experienced in a phone conversation. Now I understand the frustration that comes when a service is not working correctly, but I've never understood how someone can have a complete lack of human decency.
This "cyber balls" phenomenon is not limited to technical support. Over the years I have been known to play an online game or two ::cough:: Geek! ::cough:: And I have observed many a "fight" online. People will fight and argue about anything and everything. Knowing that most of these people are prepubescent teenage boys sitting in their stank rooms hiding from the real world it amazes me the gall they muster. These kids would cower in a face to face confrontation, so what magical powers does the internet provide that makes these people invincible? And does it really matter who is more of a "newb" than the other?
I'm undecided as to what makes less sense, the people that decide to fight online or the people that let these online abuses affect them. I'm sure you've all heard about that gal that committed suicide because she was being bullied on MySpace. I'm sure there were other influences and issues leading to this drastic end, but really how can a person get so worked up over comments made on the internet. What happened to "sticks and stones...."?
Some of you may have even participated in an online "fight". What was it that made you feel so omnipotent that you disregarded another human beings feelings? Or for you "victims", what was it that made these comments from some random stranger hurt you? Maybe it is my over abundance of self confidence, or maybe it is my total lack of value applied to the opinions of all the inferior creatures found in cyber space, but I really don't understand why people fight online. Of course I'm not talking about a logical debate where valuable ideas and insights are exchanged, I'm talking about the petty personal attacks. "you're ugly and stupid!" "No, you're the ugly one and your mom smells like cheese!"
I once had a customer that was so upset that his service was disconnected because he hadn't paid his bill for several months. After using every swear word ever invented he became so desperate for an insult that he called me a "melon headed whale shark!" and then quickly left the chat. I cried myself to sleep that night.....
This topic reminds me of one of my favorite unpolitcally correct motivational posters: "Fighting on the internet is like competing in the special Olympics. Even if you 'win' you're still retarded."
Cya in 7
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Special Guest Rant Part II: Flawed Arguments and Stubborn Facts
Ok, I actually did have a rant written. But because of some of the thought provoking comments generated last week, Lori published a more detailed response. I felt it only fair to republish her blog again since several of the comments mentioned were from the small number of readers of this rant. Her blog can be seen here http://uncommoncommonsense88.blogspot.com/2009/09/flawed-arguments-and-stubborn-facts.html
So next week look forward to an original rant, Cyber Balls. =)
Cya in 7
'My last post addressed some of the things we can do to improve health care without government involvement. I got a few comments, but wanted to address a couple in particular. These comments brought up issues that are worthy of response.
As to how it became one sixth of the economy--it's because we provide health care for the world. Nearly every advance in medical technology, new drugs, new treatments comes out of the US. People from all over the world come here for medical training and treatment. And we as a people are accustomed to being able to go to the doctor any time we want to. It's one sixth because we're a prosperous nation and medical care is accessible."
So next week look forward to an original rant, Cyber Balls. =)
Cya in 7
'My last post addressed some of the things we can do to improve health care without government involvement. I got a few comments, but wanted to address a couple in particular. These comments brought up issues that are worthy of response.
One of the comments is as follows: "I would like to direct your attention to the writers first stated premise - there is no trust in the government with one sixth of our economy. My question is, how did it become one sixth of the economy? With every step of a 'free' enterprise system being everything but free, freedom is placed upon the back of those who are a dwindling base of contributors to support the greediness of astronomical proportions and the government is the recipient of easy target fingerpointing. If we insist on blaming government for a sick system, we are trying to fix the wrong problems."
My initial reply was the following: "There are many causes of the problems in medical care which I have also written about on my blog. Doctors are lousy business-men, insurance companies and employers cause problems of their own. Pharmaceutical companies and medical suppliers are making huge profits. But the single largest problem is the government sticking their big nose in everything. Ignoring that fact and involving them further will compound the problem exponentially. The government cannot fix our problems. We can. We need to stop shifting the blame and asking the government to fix the things we can fix on our own.
As to how it became one sixth of the economy--it's because we provide health care for the world. Nearly every advance in medical technology, new drugs, new treatments comes out of the US. People from all over the world come here for medical training and treatment. And we as a people are accustomed to being able to go to the doctor any time we want to. It's one sixth because we're a prosperous nation and medical care is accessible."
I didn't have enough space to adequately respond to the gentleman's comment above, but tried to briefly. First of all, based on his comment, I'm led to believe he did not read the post. The whole purpose of the post was about what we can do as individuals. And to discount everything I said simply because he felt I was "finger-pointing" at the government, is counter-productive.
John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." One example of such a fact is the requirement that all hospitals must treat everyone, with or without insurance. You may argue the usefulness, the need or the success of this law as one part of the issue. But the separate fact of the issue is that it has increased the cost of health care for everyone in the US. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, moral or immoral. The fact of increased cost cannot be ignored.
The fact that states require insurance companies to cover an increasing number of mandates has raised the cost of health care for every employer and participant in a health plan. Again, you can debate whether it is right or wrong, but the facts are indisputable. In order to have a productive and honest discussion about health care reform, we must address the facts. There will also be a need to discuss the emotion and morality of the issues involved in health care. But we will come up with a wholly faulty solution if we fail to address the facts too. Some of the facts we must address are: What will it cost? Who will pay for it? What will be the consequences of the legislation, intended and unintended? Is the government capable of managing health care in light of its track record with Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, the VA, etc.? How will the public option affect private insurance? Will rationing result? These are stubborn facts that must not be ignored.
A second issue that was raised came about at the end of my response above, "It's one sixth (of our economy) because we're a prosperous nation and medical care is accessible." One reader, responded: "Accessible yes. Affordable no." This argument, is quite simply, frustrating to me. First of all, I disagree. Secondly, "affordability" is a relative issue. Health care is a business and like any business in this country it is responsive to supply and demand. Because we have a greater supply of quality health care, the demand increases, therefore the supply is increased to meet the demand. The problem is, that health care is expensive, especially the kind we're accustomed to. We're not talking about apples here, we're talking about expensive procedures like MRI's, CT scans, x-rays, and ultrasounds. The equipment for these procedures is incredibly expensive and as those in the health care world try to meet the demand they have to add expensive pieces of equipment. Do you think they get it for free? Our demands are one of the reasons that health care is so expensive.
Furthermore, any American could go to South America or the heart of Africa and get the best health care money could buy...there--it would be very affordable. I don't suppose they get a lot of MRI's there, but it would be affordable. I would like to drive a Cadillac Escalade, but I can't justify the expense and therefore it's not affordable. Does that mean someone's trampling on my right to drive an Escalade? We as Americans kindof lose our minds when it comes to health care. We get caught up in the emotion (understandably) and forget the stubborn facts. Fact #1: Health care is expensive. Fact #2: It's your responsibility. Fact #3: Life is hard. We think we should be able to get Cadillac health care on a Volkswagen budget. It doesn't work that way. And if we start paying "Volkswagen rates" for our health care, then we will get "affordable" prices and care that would rival anything you can get in any given third world country. Those of us who are responsible adults, budget for a home, car, food, utilities, etc. Why don't we budget for health care? Life is full of surprises both pleasant and unpleasant. Stuff happens and then we have to pay to fix it. When my fridge breaks, I have to pay to get another one, whether it's in the budget or not, or go without. If I had no health insurance and a sick child, I would do whatever I had to do to get the Cadillac health care and I would figure out how to pay for it. If I had to spend the rest of my life paying $20 a month to pay off the bill, I would. But I would pay for it. That's called personal responsibility.
The final comment was thought-provoking but I felt flawed in many ways. "A few questions: First, questions on personal responsibility: How can those with mental illness or extreme pressures of physical illness be expected to have personal responsibility (ie. the majority of those receiving treatments)? What % of the people that are "lifers" really would be able to succeed in a "personal responsibility" system? How many would fall through the cracks? Who is responsible for the well-being of the citizens of the USA? MANY nations take themselves out of the well being of their citizens and leave it up to them, is this a good model to follow? Is the question really about whether or not health care is a "right" or is it a basic need? Should the needs of society be made free to all American citizens? If health care shouldn't be a government issue then why is education? Why is there public education? Would our country benefit from following the models of other countries that have healthy citizens? Is there such a model out there?"
The premise of her questions are that the only two choices are either personal responsibility or the government (forgive me if I have misunderstood you). Certainly they are not. Personal responsibility is the ideal and is where we should all be destined. Obviously there are those among our citizenry who are incapable of that level of responsibility. We already make provision for them through Medicare/Medicaid. But there are also charitable organizations all over the country that do great works, we as individuals help each other out, Churchs help their members, neighbors help neighbors, communities rally around the needy and hospitals and doctors donate millions of dollars each year in care to the indigent and needy. Is it a perfect system? Of course not. But we don't blow up our house and start over just because we have a leaky faucet. Tearing this health care system down, starting over and putting the government in charge, is the equivalent. That assumes the government can then re-create a new, improved and flawless house in its place. That's a big leap of faith--not based on any stubborn facts, like their history.
"How can those with mental illness or extreme pressures of physical illness be expected to have personal responsibility (ie. the majority of those receiving treatments)?" The majority of people have insurance and jobs and they pay for it like they pay for the rest of their bills. That's how I expect them to have personal responsibility. We don't have to blow up the system to take car of the exception. We finds ways to treat the exception and keep the rule.
"What % of the people that are 'lifers' really would be able to succeed in a 'personal responsibility' system?" How will we know if we never give them the chance? You don't teach a child responsibility by sheltering them from the consequences of life. You also remove all incentive to improve your life situation by giving endless handouts. "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for life." America is still the land of opportunity--if you don't like your life, then you can go to work and change it.
"Who is responsible for the well being of the citizens of the USA? MANY nations take themselves out of the well being of their citizens and leave it up to them, is this a good model to follow?" I am responsible for my own well-being. We are responsible for the well-being of our family. The government is responsible to get the heck out of the way. Is it a good model? Yes, we created it. It's called freedom. You are free to succeed or fail and the attending consequences. It's the only way to learn and progress.
"Is the question really about whether or not health care is a 'right' or is it a basic need? Should the needs of society be made free to all American citizens? If health care shouldn't be a government issue then why is education? Why is there public education?" First of all, if you're asking these questions then your public education has failed you miserably. Using public education is a very poor example. Many would argue that the government should not be in the business of education because they are botching it all over the country. We spend more per capita, with less to show for it than just about any country on earth. If that is an example of the government taking care of a right, it does nothing to generate my confidence in the their abilities. But I digress. No-one has a right to an education. We as a society have decided that it is of sufficient importance that we will provide it for all our citizenry (heck, we even provide it for non-citizens), that does not make it a right. Check the Bill of Rights: http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/BillOfRights.html. The last right reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." So, yes, you have the right to go and get your own health care. The Constitution was established to "promote the general welfare" (not provide it) and "and secure the blessings of liberty". Those are your rights, along with "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Declaration of Independence). You have the right to live, to be free and to chase happiness. There is no guarantee you will catch it, but you have the right to pursue it. Those are the rights, including those listed in the Bill of Rights that you are guaranteed in the founding documents of our nation.
To try and define health care as a right is simply...wrong. When we, as a nation, get in the business of becoming the nanny to all of our citizens we are destined for abject failure. All incentive to work hard, succeed and achieve will be destroyed and then who will pay for all the programs? There is not one single historical example of success where the government provides everything. Whether you label it socialism, communism, Naziism or the public option, it is all the same and history has shown it to fail in every case. The very wise Thomas Jefferson, author of the Constitution, said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." It matters not which party reigns, the more power we cede to the government, the less freedom we have. That is one of those stubborn facts that people choose to ignore all too often. You have the right to go and seek health care; you do not have the right to have the government pay for it. In fact, lets nix this talk of the the government ever paying for anything, because they don't generate a dime of income, they can only take it from one citizen and give it to another. You do not have the right to have your fellow-citizens and taxpayers (i.e. government) pay for your health care. Nor is it your right to have your fellow-citizens buy your food, house, car or anything else you think you have a right to. Go to work and get it. That's the American way. That's the responsible way.
"Would our country benefit from following the models of other countries that have healthy citizens? Is there such a model out there?" This implies that we have unhealthy citizens. I don't think that's accurate in the first place. Healthy compared to what and using what statistics? And when we aren't healthy, in many cases it's our own dumb fault. We overeat, we aren't active enough, we eat the wrong things. Are we to legislate that? In a movie called "The Island", Ewan McGregor's character got to have his urine tested every morning by a computer which determined what he was allowed to eat for breakfast. We must think beyond the "now" and look at the "next". You can't legislate "healthy" unless you're prepared to lose all your freedom. No thanks. Furthermore, I defy you to find one historical example of a continually increasing government leading to anything but the decreasing prosperity and freedom of any nation.
Let me conclude by saying this: The fabric of our nation is made stronger each time we serve and help each other. Americans are generous people, that is a big part of who we are. But by turning that charitable nature over to the anonymous government, we will be poorer for it. We will care less for our neighbors or for those in our community because of the assumption the government will take care it. You cannot legislate charity. On the flip-side, when you have a citizenry that is entitled, they become ungrateful and lazy. I have never appreciated anything as much, nor savored an achievement as deeply as when I have had to work hard to get it. Without the opportunity to work, to achieve, to serve and to be served when we need it, we as a nation will become completely selfish, isolated, unproductive and weak. To quote Ronald Reagan, "...government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." '
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