Washington Redskins: Most Offensive Name Ever? I doubt it...

I was introduced to quote that i found entertaining while reading an article about how offensive the Washington Redksins name was/is:

"Native people still have to endure the humiliating halftime spectacle of University of Illinois Chief Illiniwek, the tomahawk chop and chant in Atlanta and the use of the term Redskin in the NFL. "

Why are they offended? How is it humiliating? It's what they did, it's part of their culture and heritage. I've always had respect for Native American culture, growing up that's why i liked the Skins. I own several pieces of Native American artifacts and weaponry, if i was truly racist why would i support their culture with my capital? I suggest this: if someone made a team, for example: Arkansas Whiteskins, i for one would support it. It would be fine with me. Now, why don't we take it a step further and get rid of Affirmative Action so we're all on a level playing field? People complain about being treated differently, but when it comes to getting a leg up in life, you complain your not getting special treatment (ie-getting treated differently). Make up your mind. Do you want "equality" or a crutch so that there can be a perceived equality. So, it's only equal if the minorities get a boost? How so? I for one wouldn't want a free pass, it diminishes my accomplishments to know that the only reason i got there in the first place was because someone made an exception for me. I'm of Viking decent, i see no problem with the Vikings, even though romanticism has made it synonymous with raping, pillaging, and overall horror, not to mention barbarianism and a heathen lifestyle rejecting the Christian "God". Do i find it offensive? Not in one bit. It's what my ancestors did. It's how they lived, how they supported and fended for their land and family. Times truly were simpler back then. Everyone saw everything for what it was at face value. No one whined. And if you had a problem with it you did something about it. Now, in present times, everyone wants to complain about everything and subsequently get handouts. Racism truly disappears when both sides get it right. When the racists see past the flesh AND when the offended stop wanting preferential treatment because of the same flesh they say they get offended about.

Take into account too: black people use the word n__er more now, than most white people in the same urban areas. Why? Why do they insist on calling each other something that they deem so offensive? If they truly wanted it to go away and the handouts to go away, they wouldn't be making the word more prevalent within their own society themselves! It has to work both ways. Stop picking stupid things to fight over, imagine if everyone who complained about this tried to fight world hunger
instead?!

I suppose you want us all to look the same? Well have fun in your future of robots who all look like Sean Connery. I for one like the differences. Sure we're all human and all bleed red. But differences and heritage are some of the things that give us individuality. I guarantee the same people who complain about diversity are the same ones who make it a required course at the collegiate level so everyone gains "perspective". Please. How about we stop whining about the small stuff, and look at the bigger picture. Like, will the Skins win come Sunday?

Prediction:
Skins-20,Giants-17.
Surprise star of the game: Malcolm Kelly.

Welfare Debate: is it a racial issue?

While researching some welfare statistics with which to bitch about (thanks Dustin for the inspiration) I stumbled upon this: a good article that touches on some different aspects of the current welfare debate in America that got me thinking, is welfare just a racial debate?

http://www.topix.com/forum/afam/TS6CBT754MKNC4E90

While it does touch on some basic stats, it's important to note that it doesnt have all the stats so to speak. I don't think welfare is a racial issue to start with. It has become such due to finger pointing. Finding out wich race uses it the most is useless. Welfare is a social issue. An important issue brought up is how much money is spent on other agendas, like aid to illegal immigrants and faith-based loans.

It's easy to get caught up in the racial issue, since it is still an issue. Race will always be an issue in the US. The reason being quite simple: we are a country whose racial majority used slave labor that was largely based on another race. People in Europe seem to have a different debate actually based on racism. Not to say that the racism in Europe is any less important, but it is an issue that seems to have its own identity seperate from the one here in America. Not to say there isn't racism in America. Many European cultures used slave labor. Whites enslaved whites for centuries. In antiquity blonde-haired fair skinned whites where prized, probably more for the aesthetics than for anything, especially if they had blue eyes (commonly called the Nazi's "master race"). A prime example, viking raiders often used their slaves for labor and sold them in the markets in Kiev for example. It wasn't a racial issue, it was a labor issue. With forced labor comes production of goods, production of goods yeilds monetary gain, monetary gain = power for the simplest argument. And it always has been. It's a different set of circumstances here in America for example where a different race was imported and primarily if not exclusively used. Is it still an issue?

Technically speaking, slavery ended in 1865 when the 13th Amendment was passed to abolish slavery in the states. Since then it has continued to be an issue. Why? Because you can't end racism. It's part of being human, belongning to groups, generalizing, etc. I don't think it will ever end either. I don't want to get sidetracked into a discussion on racism too much, but you have to wonder, is welfare a racial issue or a social one? Isn't it the duty of the government to take care of it's people? Isn't that part of the social contract we employ? I don't think race should have anything to do with it. Support should be based on a genuine need. But how much do people need it? One year? Five years? Is welfare a bad thing because it gets people caught in the "welfare trap"?

For example:
"An example of how the welfare trap works is as follows: A person on welfare finds a part time job that will pay him/her a minimum wage of five dollars per hour, eight hours per week. The forty dollars he/she earns per week will be deducted from their welfare payments leaving him/her with no net gain. Frequently, in fact, they will recover a net loss as the government will also levy a tax on their forty dollars. There may also be extra child-care and commuting costs, now that he/she is no longer able to remain at home all day. Therefore, despite performing eight hours of work productive to society (and, theoretically, themselves) they are now worse off than before they acquired employment.

The principles underlying the welfare trap ultimately stem from the way people make decisions in light of personal valuation of their time and effort. Consider this next example: a man is receiving welfare from the government to the tune of 15,000 dollars per year. He does, essentially, nothing to earn that money and spends his days doing whatever he pleases (within the limits of what he can afford, given the money he is receiving).

Eventually, he is offered a job paying 25,000 dollars per year. Should he take the job?

At first, the answer might seem to be a simple "yes", due to the obvious material gains: an extra 10,000 dollars, which represents an increase of 66% in his revenue. However, he would have to pay taxes from his new salary, which might reduce his new income from 25,000 dollars to, say, 22,000, and therefore reduce his net gain accordingly from 10,000 to 7,000 dollars. This is still an improvement in his material situation, but it comes at the expense of a lot more work: the man would likely have to work 40 hours per week at his new job, at an effective wage increase of $3.50 per hour, which is below minimum wage. Also, he will incur additional ancillary costs such as time and money spent commuting, and increased stress. As such, he will weigh the benefits of the extra money against the "cost" he incurs from working. If he decides, as he likely will given the above circumstances, that the extra money is not worth the effort, he has been "caught" in the welfare trap.

A more extreme example arises if he is offered a job paying 15,000 dollars a year. If this causes him to no longer qualify for welfare, then after taxes, he will almost certainly have less take-home income than before. He will have a strong economic incentive to refuse the job. This is certainly a welfare trap.

In short, the welfare trap demonstrates the way that social welfare systems can create a perverse incentive. Although such systems are intended to provide a buffer for unemployed citizens and thereby raise the standard of living, they may create a situation whereby the welfare recipient has an incentive to avoid raising his own productivity because his net income gain after benefits and taxes is not enough to compensate for the effort he must expend at work" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_trap).

I think that's the problem. People see how much easier it is to do nothing as opposed to working just to scrape by. But at the same time, shouldn't part of welfare be to create more jobs? But there exists a natural war between welfare and workfare. Workfare is the idea that getting people into jobs and contributing back into society should be the main social concern. But does the current welfare model we employ do that? Or do people keep getting stuck in the "trap"? If that is indeed how it works, that getting people into a job essentially does nothing, except to create more capital and more tax revenue. But is that a bad thing? Afterall, working and barely getting by isn't just a welfare issue, its an issue for the working/middle class as well. But, the working class is shrinking, from 40% to 18% in the last quarter century (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AotEzAg_sDbVKd5C3OdJDOkjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20080603164633AA45Hbz).

Where is it all going? Could this also be responsible for the recession? No working class to keep the economy going? Are they all getting laid off and becoming the unemployed? The numbers don't add up. But what is becoming appearent is it's even more important to get a niche-job or specialized career, no matter how small. Education is becoming more and more essential as jobs are becoming more and more automated, not to mention out-sourced. Maybe the lines are become such that there are only two classes, simply the rich and poor, the haves and have-nots. Maybe race and welfare arent as important as keeping people employed. Why? To contribute back to society because it's fair. But why contribute back to a society that is becoming increasingly unable to adequately take care of you?

Too many questions in my head i suppose. But then again, maybe i have it right after all? Maybe my initial thoughts are correct? Maybe...everyone needs to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on others?

Don't worry about how society is going to take care of you, worry about taking care of yourself, and don't expect or wait for everyone else to do it for you. Take a "strike-first" approach, and go out there and do what you have to do to get that money. Quality of life is more important, but unfortunately it seems to have that quality it takes money, so i've learned to live with that assumption. Personally, i'd never take a liking to living off of others except for infancy. It doesn't mesh well with a solid work ethic.I don't think welfare is a racial issue as much as it is a social one, but i think what's more important right now, is how to get more jobs to the idle population, and how to create more jobs in an ever increasingly robotic and out-sourced world. Or is everyone doomed to civil service jobs?

Where drug addicts ever taught "resposibility for your actions" ??

Goddamn I fuckin hate drug addicts. I grew up with quite a few in my family, and i've sure as hell seen all i need out of them the 2 years i had working in retail pharmacy. Pitiful little pieces of shit. Leeches by trade. "Have some pity on them and their addiction! It's not like they wanted this! They're a victim!"- GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE! No one force fed you the pills, no one held you down, tied up your arm and shot you up. You've done this shit to yourself and now you expect everyone else to play the sympathy game for you everytime you fuck up from now on? Please, learn a new trick dog. I hate how people with addictions act like they're the only one in the world, or that it's some horrible thing everyone would succumb to if they tried it. Newsflash: people do illicit/illegal drugs all the goddamn time. It's called having a weak will. Your lack of a decent will power and your habitual kneegrinding-sobbstory is what's done you in.

God forbid you grow and sack and take some resposibility for your own actions.How the fuck is everyone else in sight responsible for your fuck-up?

I'll be frank here: I've done illegal drugs before. Am i proud of it? Not necessarily. I don't brag about it, it's nothing to brag about, but it is a part of life and i'm not gonna pretend it didn't happen or exist in some fantasy world either. Do i regret it? Not at all. It's called life. You live, you learn. Can't live locked up in your mother's basement forever. I regret nothing in life. If i did, i would hate myself. Regreat is illogical. Everyone fucks up from time to time. But, unlike you douchbags, i don't hold everyone else BUT MYSELF responsible. RESPONSIBILITY. It's a rare breed these days. I've been addicted before. I still am. I'm addicted to women. Plain and simple. I love women, i love their beauty, their passion, i love living in the moment. But, i'd also like you to consider this: I've been with my girlfriend for almost 8 years now. I've never strayed, never cheated (thought about it of course), never. I may be a dog, but i'm a fuckin loyal dog. It's called being a man, having some balls and fortitude to stand up for what you know and believe is right. It would be whole hell of a lot easier to cheat. A whole lot easier to give in to my temptations, become that which i despise, but i refuse.

I refuse to play this game of sympathy for these fucks. Scourge of the world. Scum of the earth. They'll do the three things i hate most: lie, cheat, and steal. All for a fuckin pill or some cash to get more of whatever their fix entails. Fuckin dirtbags. They'll bring their kid with them to drop off a fake script and scream and yell like they care all of sudden when they get arrested and the cops/dcf/whoever the fuck takes their kids away when they get throw in the back of a police car. What the fuck did you think would happen? Seriously?! Now you care? Why didn't you care before? Why didn't you care enough to stop? Why didn't you care enough to think about the kids wellbeing and if you knew you weren't gonna get straight why not let someone else do your job for you and raise the kid out of a living hell? You dirtbags take no resposibility for yourself and do even worse by letting your kids start off on the same path as you? Real fuckin cool, dirtbag. Way to grow up and think about someone other than yourself for once.

I don't think it would be so bad, and it probably wouldnt irritate me so much if they didnt expect me to sympathize. In all seriously, why should I? That's like assuming i'm going to trust you with my stack of drugs. Of course i'm gonna keep and eye on you. You're a drug addict. That "disease" (if you can call it that) entails a lack of trust and accountability. Do you trust a drug addict? Especially if you worked around drugs? Probably not, and if you would then your an idiot. I love how when i look over my shoulder to make sure they don't see the code for the med room or keep an eye out when i have my cart of meds they give me a shit-eating look saying "what you don't trust me? you don't trust me because i'm in detox?"...um...NO. YOU'RE IN DETOX, ie-drug addict. No trust will be involved in our exchange. No sympathy either. Not from me. Yeah, let me sympathize with you as you spend thousands of dollars to "get clean, man" for oh...maybe a few months tops. And then they expect free access to the facilities, catering basically, and you expect free access to the med room because there are drinks and sodas in there? You seriously have to be joking. You're not on vacation, it's not partytime for the addicts while you're in detox. You're in detox. You're here because you fucked up and you're in need of supervision, so we should treat you like that. When you choose to act like a normal contributing member on society, we'll treat you like one, until then you're an untrustworthy, irresposible child. And that's how i'll treat you. Like a child. And it's not since i decided to pursue Pharmacy as a career that I've been around them. I'm seen my fair share of drug addicts not only in my family itself, but at other jobs i've held. I also worked in the infamous "restaurant industry" for 7 years. I've seen them come and go, believe me. I've seen idiots dig pills out of trash cans, get busted selling cocaine behind job sites, seen people come to work coked up and unable to function. I've also seen people function perfectly fine. I've seen people who point-blank suck ass at their job if their not high. Pretty sad i guess, but hey, they're holding down a job, doing well at it, and not causing accidents or becoming an issue.I think it's sad that they have to be that way, but it's also a simple fact that things like anxiety and depression are rampant and realistically unavoidable "side-effects" of "the human experience".

And just so we're clear here, i'm not talking about EVERYONE who uses drugs. Not by far. Like i mentioned earlier, there's a difference between trying, using drugs once in a while, and so on. I'm talking people who would steal from the top drawer of your dresser while you where at work. I'm talking the dirtbags who would go so far as to try to hold you up in an alley or in a laundromat after dark. I'm talkin real honest scum here. You'll meet some. Sometimes you might know it either. Not all are these monsters that it may seem like i'm portraying them as. But, when it's time for a fix, they succumb to the need. They bow to their inner demons, fold under the pressure of saying "no" for once. And yes, some of the blame is on the drug itself to the extent that the power it can hold over people is at times the envy of General because of it's ability to enslave, lead on, and drive. It's a motivational tool all on its own. However, not a good and genuine one. More of a scourge.

I really do honestly feel for these people to the extent that their will is so torn and fragile. So weak and almost non-existant. But, it's their lack of will that helped them dig the ditch in the first place. Will-power: an amazing gift or a trecherous curse? Whatever you may think of the human will it self, make no mistake, it is YOUR will. Even if you believe in God and other such things of a spiritual nature, or even if you just try to have good honest values in the absence of faith, the will is a double-edged sword. Call it a gift in its ability to erect the greatest of monuments when coupled with skill or talent (or God given ability I guess). Call it a curse because of its fragility, because sometimes its hard to discern between what you want and what you need. The heart is a cold tool, as is the human will, it's easy to become enslaved by our emotions and think we know what we want.

The will can become clouded and disoriented. We make mistakes. All of us. I've had way too many. But,that's how we learn. And that's the point. Some people seem unable to learn from their mistakes, and in an absence, shift blame to other objects or people, or even fake beings. Learn to take resposibility for your mistakes and then maybe i'll consider you on par with the rest of mankind, until then it's insects like you that make man even more of a despised creature then we already are. You have to learn from your mistakes. Otherwise you truly are doomed to repeat them. I wish i could fix these people, or offer then some treatment that's guarantee. Maybe instill some self-respect and responsibility into them. I would, but i can't. People have to learn for themselves. I just hope they wake up and look in the mirror and see what they really look like and aim for change before they get to the level that i despise. But, at the same time, the strong will survive. The strong of heart, the strong of conviction, the strong of will. It's that simple. If you don't want to die a pitiful shit, do something about it. "Oh, i cant, the drugs..." blah blah. Just fuckin do or shut up and die already then. It's bad enough i think as a species we should just go away, we've done more harm than we could ever do good, but fuckrags like you seal the deal man. In the mean time, i'll keep trying to live an honest hard-working living, you keep fuckin shit up and mooching off my progress. And oh yeah, i almost forgot...you're welcome. Fuckers.

Tales of the "New American Dream" Part One

It seems as though more and more we as americans are either fearful or way too dependent on our government. Why are sitting back and waiting to see if they bestow good health upon us? Why isnt this something we've been fighting for for years? Because Americans are lazy. It's that simple.

Long gone are he days of people coming to this country to try and earn a living. Why do that when you can be handed one? Section 8 anyone? Step right up! People used to come to this country to work hard and achieve their happiness through innovation, passion, and grit. Now we're overrun by a rot from the inside. People come here to sit back and relax and let the rest of us hook them up with the easy life. It's sad. People in the past would've be outraged. Now, people are envious. The system exists to give people help when it is needed.

For example, Joe has worked at a computer company for 10 years, now he's laid off. Joe get's unemployment to help him out while he looks for a new job.

Nice example right? Except that in the present day far too many people would skip the last part about looking for a new job. Too many people are content to live of the government tit for too long. Passion and determination are gone in our society. America has become a cesspool of lazy bastards. Some people still do strive to have the "American Dream". The original one that is- the one that entails work, struggle, hardship, and perseverence. Those words seem lost to the new age of rot. If ever there was a nation that seemed more set up to become one of these futuristic governments where the people are content to wither, be supressed, and become devoid of emotion and purpose so that the government can rule with an iron fist clad in technological advancements and genetically superior intellect and might - America is it.

People have lost touch with the roots of Americana. The roots dug in by long hard days at work, rediculous hours, bloody hands, and eyes set in an ideal lost to the sands of time. Sweat is an odd sight these days, unless the climate you live in dictates it. Instead the "New American Dream" is upon us. A new dream forged in the heat of...doing nothing. A new dream born and bred in days spent smoking 4 joints and wasting away on your couch while watching Voltron reruns and laughing, not at their pitiful existence, but at a cartoon acutally not originally intent on being funny to my knowledge. These days, the "New American Dream" is conjured up by the "walking dead".

The zombies, the drug addicts, the lazy welfare incubi and succubi who laugh at your every attempt to get through dark times with the old fashioned remedy of hard work. Try telling one of them about your 12 hour day at work, struggling to pay your rent, living check to check. Check? What's that? Work? 12 Hours??? RENT? They don't always have rent you see. Some get the "burden" of living in a $100-200 / month apartment sanctioned to them by our oh-so-helpful government. Maybe, this is what the government wants? Does it want it's people to become mindless useless dirtbags, content with their rule, as long as they get their sustenence? Possible. But, either way, the zombies are among us.

The walking dead are everywhere. In your local Liquor Shop, making your food at Applebee's, even in your drive-thru at Walgreens. You know them well. They're the ones in lane two in an Escalade with 20-inch blades, refusing to pick up their kids Bactrim and would rather get their Xanax first because the Bactrim is $5 and the Xanax is $2. They're multiplying at an exponential rate. With no end in sight. They're at your local restaurant (they're #1 spot for the few who do work, and also #1 spots for illegal drugs) with blood-red eyes, slight drool, and a family of 4. The same family the can't afford and bitch and whine about all day. The same family they see so important they would rather become promiscious whores instead of head home to see the kids before they go to sleep. The same sons-a-bitches that ask you for money at a gas-station. Or the REAL desperate ones who ask you for money at a bank or Amscot (yeah, good way to get stabbed, by me you dipshit!). If i had extra money am i gonna give it to you, only to watch you stagger into the store to buy a 6-pack of Mickey's or run over the side of the building to the creepy guy in the trenchcoat to buy some pills? Fuck no. I hate when people ask me for money. Why? 99.9% of the time it's for non-necessities. Everyone has seemed to blur the line between what you want and what you need. Well, what this country needs is a remedy for the new epidemic. A pill to end all pills. A bullet to penetrate a failed soul. And, i fear, old fashioned hard work isn't going to cut it this time. You would figure in times like these the nation would rise up and be outraged at out present decline and all-encompassing downward spiral. But, not today. Not in a nation rasied on laziness, not in a nation with values of greed and hedonism. And it pains me to say this, but not in OUR America.

There is a new plague...of dirtbags!

Vasectomy?
Tube Ligation?

Well, it's always a viable option.

Too bad all these dirtbags that have 6 kids that can't afford them dont get their shit cut.
It should be a law, if you're on welfare you cant have more than x amount of kids and if you do, snip snip...by law. I guarantee it would force them to think twice and not necessarily make them make better decisions, but force them to keep it under control

If you can afford 8 kids, go for itbut if you can't than your forcing the rest of us as a society to hold the brunt of the load and resposibility, so as a society that is responsible, we need to take control. If we're going to be held accountable for the survival of the fuck-ups, then we need to set the rules.

I think we need to make people who are on welfare or govt support take a piss test everyone month before they get their checkhell..we have to take one to get and maintain a job that we have to keep to support themIt's fuckin sad how we have become, so weak to stand up to the rot from within. I'm all for helping people.

But there's a difference between help/aid, and dependence.Fucking dirtbags....How long until the next great plague so we can get rid of some of these pieces of shit?

The Answer To An Age Old Question:

This is how i feel, and i as put it in a paper for class one day:"This is why I'm a dick:""We are at times intuitive and simple creatures, and other times we can harness the mind that makes us different from other species and can achieve amazing things. Other times, we can succumb to less than perfect things, and this is also what makes us human, the constant tension between doing what we have the ability to perceive as right via feelings and reasoning, and doing what we want and exerting our force and abilities as the kings we are...The things I could improve upon as a person are my compassion and ability to empathize. I seem to lack passion in dealing with others' problems. This comes from my upbringing and my lack of respect for people who have problems and can't get a hold of themselves. I see them as the lower echelon of humanity, and a severe problem responsible for a lot of the crap that goes on in today's world and societies. They serve no purpose and bring everything else down with their leech-like behavior. I guess I could lighten up a little and give more people the benefit of the doubt, or maybe I could motivate people to wake-up. Either way, it's tough to change a perception based on respect and justice. These would be my weaknesses, my cold-hearted, unsympathetic approach to humanity. To improve my ability to better communicate with the feelers of the world, I could try to sympathize or even empathize better. I suppose if I were in their situation, I would react differently. But, at the same time, it's hard not to point out that if I were in their situation I would have the strength of will to see myself as I am, and set out to fix it and grow up and stop being so weak and dependent on everyone else. There's a fine line between being dependent and being a leech. I guess from a personality perspective, I need to have a heart once and while and feel sorry for people. Something, for me, that's hard to do. I guess I look more for solutions than reasons. I look more for an end to the bad situation, rather than for an excuse to keep doing it. Quit whining and do what you know is right, not necessarily what's easiest."-PDJ

A picture is worth 1000 words...

You have to admit, even if you're a very religious person, this is pretty damn accurate: