Category: Guest Contributors

Guest Contributor – TomD – 25MAR2023 – Scientific American Goes Woke

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Did a quick google (Laura Helmuth) and found she’s chief editor of Scientific American. That would be hard to believe if SA hadn’t been totally co-opted 20 or so years ago. I hate it too, I subscribed to SA for decades and absolutely devoured every issue. I remember the issue with the article on the Supernova of 1987 in the Great Crab Nebula. Whoever wrote it did a great job, it was exciting, mesmerizing, illuminating. Back then, the basis of the magazine was purely science

I watched politics and what is now called wokeism creep in. There was an editor change, don’t remember the names now, but that opened the gates. SA hired a new columnist (again don’t remember the name), who on his 2nd column, stated flatly that the verdict of history was now in and the political organizing system of the future was clear and that was socialism.

Oh, yeah? That was it for SA for me. Now you don’t know if any particular article is true or an outright lie intended to mislead you to believe in some woke bulls***t.

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 24MAR2023 – Ugly Americans

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The trope of the ‘Ugly American’ can be a sad reality at times. What is an Ugly American you ask? From Wikipedia;

“Ugly American” is a stereotype depicting American citizens as exhibiting loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, and ethnocentric behavior mainly abroad, but also at home.

It is important to recognize that applying this pejorative to every scenario that involves a cultural faux pas is incorrect. For example, when dining overseas it is not rude or inconsiderate to ask for clarification on what a menu item is, or what ingredients it contains. For those with food allergies this can mean the difference between life and death. This article on the signs of an Ugly American points to the practice of asking the exchange rate in US dollars for items. This I disagree with as not everyone can always have currency exchange information on their smart phones. Many merchants and businesses helpfully keep currency conversion handy just for this reason. There are however, a few clear-cut examples I recall from traveling overseas that are worth mentioning. These I classify as Ugly American Situational Syndrome, or UASS for short.

I have written before about Guam, but here is another story on island life…

A lifetime ago in the late 90s I was stationed on the pacific island of Guam at the start of my naval career. After purchasing a ‘Boonie’ car whose better days were seen around the Reagan administration I began to explore the island in my time off. Being a naïve 19-year-old sailor, I went pretty much all over the island without regard to islander dynamics in mind.

One weekend, I went to a pool hall by myself and began to play with a group of Chamorros (local Guamanians). I had noticed the bar in passing a few times and decided to finally check it out. After meeting the owner and playing a few games with him, I noticed that I was the only American in this local bar. I asked Richard (the bar owner) if it was ok to be in the pool hall, and he replied, “You are welcome here anytime. You are respectful.”

Back at work that Monday, several fellow sailors asked where I was that weekend. (pre-cell phone era) I explained that I had gone to the pool hall downtown. They expressed shock and dismay that I went there, explaining that they had tried to go a few weeks ago and had been summarily thrown out after being told it was for locals only.

“Were you drunk and being dumb?” I asked. “Yeah,” they admitted.

This attitude of barging into places and acting as if there was a sacrosanct right to be in a space was a common theme overseas. Going into a local bar and trying to take over is textbook UASS behavior.

Spending time exploring the country of Singapore is quite the experience. Located at the southern tip of Malaysia, this small island nation has many attractions. From the world famous Singapore Zoo, to the famed Gardens by the Bay, a $1 billion botanical garden inspired by the three distinct ethnic cultures of Chinese, Malay, and Indian. On this visit, our group of Sailors found ourselves on the famed Orchard road, a retail and dining district. Lining the street were plenty of restaurants to choose from, and we quickly decided on a pleasant outside café with a patio. A large sandwich style billboard on the sidewalk displayed the drinks available for order. Besides Coca-Cola and various teas, the café had three types of beer; Heineken, Stella Artois, and Tiger beer (the local favorite, usually consumed as a last resort).

A polite waitress came to the table and we began to place our drink orders. Everything was moving along smoothly until she came to our traveling companion that I’ll call ‘Don.’ Without too much backstory let’s say that Don was, well, unworldly is the nice way to describe it. On this deployment, he was one who would look for the nearest McDonald’s, or ask nonsensical questions on local culture. Not one to disappoint, he requested a Budweiser. Then a Coors Light. When informed that the café did not carry those he topped it off with, “You mean to tell me you don’t have any American beers?” Maintaining my composure through gritted teeth I helpfully directed Don’s attention to the before mentioned sign on the sidewalk that had the available refreshments. He continued to show his dismay that a restaurant 8800 miles from the USA would not carry his favorite swill.

It is not that difficult to avoid the UASS label while traveling and living overseas. Understanding different customs and cultures will help one avoid becoming a living embodiment of UASS.

Links:

Ugly American Definition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American_(pejorative)

7 Signs You’re An Ugly American

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/seven-signs-youre-an-ugly-american_b_1952474

Singapore Travel

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/singapore

Singapore’s Orchard Road

https://www.visitsingapore.com/see-do-singapore/places-to-see/orchard/

 

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 23MAR2023 – NeoCon Redux

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The same people have apparently gotten lazy in the justifications for NeoCon adventures. The new(old) reasoning for escalating involvement in the Ukraine-Russia conflict is so we can ‘fight’ them over there instead of in the USA. Sound familiar? This convoluted logic was used for Iraq after the WMD business ended up being nothing but smoke. They actually think we should believe that the Russian flag will be planted in Paris if we do not accede to their warmonger whims.

This Red Dawn mindset continues to convince people that these political factions actually care about them. Meanwhile, as we fund pensions and salaries in Ukraine so Zelensky can buy another exotic car and send his wife on Paris shopping trips, the CBO has recommended means-testing for VA disability. To help balance the federal budget of course.

These folks are evil to the core.

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 21MAR2023 – Joey Got His Veto

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As everyone knew he would, Slow Joe vetoed H.R. 30, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would nullify his new ESG rule.

Up until Biden, retirement investment fund managers were guided by fiduciary responsibility – the managers were legally bound to invest for the maximum safe return for their investors. They could not put their clients money into funds that would enrich themselves nor could they invest in companies to advance their political views. Return on investment was the only guide with massive fines and potential jail for the violators.

The Biden rule enables fund managers to weigh climate change and prioritize ESG initiatives when selecting retirement investments and exercising shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.

Like I said – this was no surprise, of course we was going to veto a bill that tried to curb his power.

But the way he spun it is really galling. From his Twitter:

I just vetoed my first bill. This bill would risk your retirement savings by making it illegal to consider risk factors MAGA House Republicans don’t like.

 

Got that? Its those evil Republicans who want to put your money at risk by maximizing your return not the virtuous democrats who want to use your money to advance their social programs.

I would suggest reaching out to your fund managers and ask if they intend to “weigh climate change and prioritize ESG initiatives when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights”.

If the answer is yes – close your account. Move your money elsewhere.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 19MAR2023 – Human Diversity

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Having been around the world a few times, courtesy of Uncle Sugar, I can say all humans are UNequal. Therein lies one of our greatest strengths. I would stand no chance against LeBron on the court, but he would be little more than a bullet magnet on the battlefield. I’m not going to trade punches with Mike Tysoj, but give us each a rifle and let us enter a forest at opposite ends and I’ll hang his scalp on my wigwam. I am not a military hero like Chesty Puller but i am a sneaky, conniving bastard who can knife you in the back to prevent you attacking my nation.

Our inequalities have allowed us as a species to thrive. The Pygmies can exploit their environment in the ways the Tutsi cannot, while the Tutsi’s altitude advantage allows them to see lions a long way off and protect their livestock. The native tribes of the Amazon would quickly expire in the Himalayas while Himalayans would melt and choke in the dense, super humid air of the Amazonian basin. We are the one adaptable species that can either find a way or make one. So thank God he did not create us all equal.

ArthurinCali Has a Post on NeoCon Madness

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Arthur has a post on what the endless NeoCon wars meant to him on the receiving side:

“If a young enlisted kid could recognize the futility of trying to establish the concept of liberal democracy amongst the former nomadic Bedouin tribes that now, playact as “nations”, surely the men and women at the highest positions of US political power and advisement knew this as well. To believe otherwise is a sure indication of their lack of sanity.”

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 01MAR2023 – Further Comments on the Oscars

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I came to answer your question “What is wrong with the Oscars”?
(Although I agree with the rant about crappy movies.)
1) Too long. If you can’t get it done in 2 hours – don’t do it. People have lives, they need to get up in the morning.
2) Too woke. Stop awarding movies no one is ever going to watch just because they are woke.
3) Too much self preening. Take your award. Thank you mama, high school drama coach and your spouse – then get off the stage. We don’t want to hear about your current pet project. (Unless you are funny. Humor is welcome. Brevity or levity.)
4) Get rid of the damn politics. The country is just about evenly divided. No matter what you say, you will piss off half the country. Stop it!

This shouldn’t be news to anyone. And the fact that the Oscars (and every other award show) keeps on doing these things is just a giant middle finger to the audience.
We get it. You don’t care about us. Understood. Message received. Loud and clear.
So stop asking why we don’t watch your silly little award show. You know why.

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 28FEB2023 – Musk Earns the Two Minute Hate

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Hopefully more people are noticing how quickly the apparatus composed of media, academia, and government figures turns on those highly public figures who speak heretically such Elon Musk. Disagreeing with the DEI ideology is unforgivable in their eyes. Once he was identified as an enemy of the Hive, the attacks became merciless. A quick search online currently brings up accusations of him being practically a Neo-Nazi from South Africa, a fraud in his educational path, or a P.T. Barnum figure for Tesla or SpaceX.

However, the Internet is forever, and it doesn’t take too long to pull up glowing articles from a few years past on Mr. Musk’s achievements in business and furthering technological advancement.

Whatever one’s opinion on Donald Trump, this technique of demonization was swiftly employed against him once he became a potential candidate for president, and continued throughout his term as president. For those of us of a certain age, Mr. Trump was a constant public figure in the news, entertainment, and media.

From the 80s onward into the 2000s his presence and relevance was seen. While not always receiving positive news coverage, the accusations of racial, sexual, and overall caricatured evilness did not begin until he ran for president.

The astounding thing is how arrogant mainstream media was towards the American people in that they expected us to fully accept the new narrative on Trump. The same NY real estate developer that these industries used to sell newspapers, advertising dollars for ‘The Apprentice” show, hell, even Domino’s Pizza commercials he starred in at one point. The man they helped build up with all the exposure became the Anti-Christ incarnate.

How insulting it was, it least to me, that they all but demanded we believe this new presentation of the man. To now see the same strategy and playbook used on Elon Musk is pathetic, yet predicable.

Guest Contributor – Nostradumbass – 25FEB2023 – Rant on a Rant

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A Rant for February Twenty Fifth

I so wanted this post to be true, but the main ingredient for the actions you state require the “parent” to actually be a parent…

just a start on commenting about this post:

If you have children, teach them what you want them to believe.

There are a good amount of teenage and welfare mothers that are teaching their children exactly what they believe, that being it is someone else’s responsibility to provide a home, food, clothing and health care, and it should not involve any costs or labor on their part. I think this lesson is being taught effectively.

Show them how to achieve the things they want.

The lack of principle, the ease of acquiring the largess of American good will is how the children of these mothers is shown.

The problem is now that the people that raised this version of parents were never actually parents to begin with. I’m not saying that this is true for all the current crop of parents, or even that they are the majority of the current generation, but there are enough that are, that they become “models” for the next generation.

The question becomes “Why should I work and bring home less than what the government will give me for doing nothing?”. That seems to be the current model.