We’ve got a few posts here on When Falls that deal with the TSA, full body scanners, and enhanced pat downs. But I think we’re missing the real story when we discuss this issue. We’re focused on the loss of liberty, spending all of our time debating “Give me liberty, or give me a grope”, as Mark Steyn says, and not enough time focused on what is really important.
People are really, really, really desperate for work and this story proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
All of this insanity, all of it in response to prior insanity, and for what? Why are passengers being groped and fondled in ways that’d get you beaten up and thrown out of any strip club in the US if you tried to grab a dancer like that? Why are government agencies intent on treating innocent citizens as though they’re cons entering a supermax prison, or like they’re already confirmed as bomb toting terrorists? What gives?
There was an interesting op/ed by Michael C. Moynihan over at Reason.com in their Hit and Run Blogs with the title “The Most Unkindest Cut of All”. The blog post pointed us to a story in the Washington Examiner about a proposed ballot initiative in San Francisco. The initiative would:
“…amend The City’s police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18.”
The way in which a product is marketed is vitally important to its success. We know that manufacturers spend a lot of time and money to ensure that their product, however hurtful it might be, seems appealing to consumers. The reason for this is obvious: most people are helpless in the face of great marketing, and great marketing starts with the packaging in which a product is sold.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration offered up some ideas for new cigarette warning labels, complete with gruesome illustrations that plainly display the effects of smoking. Merely telling people “smoking causes cancer” is not enough – clearly, people need to see the revolting results of their disgusting habit that I hate. That we all hate. That is costing us so much money.
What do the 2010 election results mean for comedy? In the months before Bush left the White House, people asked comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert if their jobs would be more difficult without such a gaffe-prone president. They usually said that it wouldn’t be much harder because there are always jokes to be made about issues. (In any case, the lack of material probably wouldn’t have been near the challenge for them that it would be for their writers.)
But their shows make elaborate jokes about issues. My show, FAILocracy (and YouTube in general,) is more about pointing and laughing at presidents who accidentally say “sex” during speeches. So, in the name of comedy, FAILocracy endorsed the following 15 candidates who we hoped would continue to provide us with hilarious gaffes after the election. Beneath the video is a run-down of the results.
The “Gun Mechanics Competency” award was given to Democratic Congressman Lincoln Davis. Election outcome: WINNER
I had the following question (Paraphrased, the person asking this question took a hatchet to the English language when they asked it) posed to me today.
“How can the TEA Party supporters, most of whom claim to be Christian, be so full of hatred and uncharitable towards others? What happened to “Love thy neighbor”?
This led to the inevitable discussion of whether or not Jesus would have supported the welfare state. I won’t bore you with a long dissertation here, I will ask but a simple question.
Do not let me hear
Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly,
Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession,
Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God.
So wrote T.S. Eliot in “East Coker,” the second of his Four Quartets. I was reminded of these lines while thinking about a conversation I had recently with a friend and former colleague. It was a couple of weeks before the recent election and had to do with Christine O’Donnell, the Republican senatorial candidate in Delaware.
I think it would be beneficial to get this out of the way in the first sentence, and let me just say: Wow.
You know what? I’ll make that it’s own paragraph. I think it deserves it.
That one too. I digress.
This year’s big election night in the United States of America was different than all that had come before it. No more business as usual and no more easy answers to the hardest questions. [Read more →]
When Brock Lesnar became the UFC heavyweight champ — for non-fans, that’s where the fighters get to keep the fight going when one guy hits the ground — he seemingly had the potential to be unbeatable. Crushing opponents, he dominated press coverage for the sport and set himself up a private training complex near his Minnesota home, based on the theory people could go to him instead of him going to them. Recently he took on a challenger named Cain Velasquez and was beaten like a gong. Now it’s possible Lesnar is quitting mixed martial arts and returning to pro wrestling and its bigger paydays. The weirdest thing about this? He’s only had seven fights. [Read more →]
After last night’s election, it’s time to begin thinking about where we should make the first cuts to the Federal budget. Obviously the spending we most need to address is entitlement spending like SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, etc, but we’re all realistic enough to know that even the TEA Party endorsed Congresscritters won’t touch that with a ten foot pole yet. So what discretionary spending should be targeted first?
This coming election day, with the proposition on the ballot to legalize the small-scale growth, distribution, and possession of marijuana, we in the golden state have the chance to repeal an outdated law that has done too much harm for too long. Unfortunately, the current debate surrounding the prospect of legalization obscures the simple heart of the issue at stake.
I recently had a family member pass and that night, when I was on edge but exhausted, I started flipping channels. I soon realized I couldn’t concentrate at all (even usual insomnia standby Sportscenter seemed confusing), so I was grateful to stumble upon a channel with naked women, as this was a concept my mind could wrap itself around. As it happened, it was a program called The Suicide Girls: Guide to Living. Having seen it, the world makes a bit more sense. [Read more →]
I recently saw the documentary Inside Job and it taught me a valuable lesson: films dealing with Wall Street should not include Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s song “Taking Care of Business.” It’s not clever and ironic; it’s lazy and annoying. Activist filmmakers everywhere: you can do better. The film also offers some non-musical insights:
1. The compensation a CEO receives is determined by a corporation’s board of directors. CEOs usually exert significant control over who sits on a board of directors, meaning in some cases a CEO essentially hires the people who determine how much he’s paid. The result? Stanley O’Neal “leading” Merril Lynch to a $2.3 billion quarterly loss (plus $8.4 million in fines from the government), then leaving with $161 million for his troubles. [Read more →]
The circus came to New York last night, and I do not mean Barnum and Bailey. Last night was the first and likely only gubernatorial debate and it was, if I may be blunt, a shit show. I knew the debate would be a bit crazy when I heard that all seven candidates would be allowed to debate (if I may quote Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music: “SEVEN???!!!”), but no one could anticipate just how glorious this figurative rape of our political system would be. The debate was more entertaining than the season finale of “Mad Men.” The front runners of the race, Andrew “Nepotism” Cuomo and Carl “Get off my lawn!” Paladino, offered nothing substantive or entertaining, but that left plenty of room for the remaining five candidates to get their freak on. And what will become of these candidates, now that their fifteen minutes are up? I have a few helpful suggestions… [Read more →]
Another year is fast becoming history — pun intended! — and we have been busier than ever. Before it slips away, let us take a moment to congratulate ourselves on recent successes and take a sneak peek at the exciting new historical events just around the corner.
This past March, we kicked off our season with the fifth annual shelling of Sarajevo. [Read more →]
They’re proud; they’re loud; they are selfish in the extreme, and simple in their thinking. And none of those traits is inherently bad or stupid. Within the extremely generous confines of American political discourse, at least when it comes to the rightward end of the spectrum, the Tea Party Movement is just another outbreak of self-righteous me-first I-want-my-country-back ideology. It’s the thinking of people who believe a mild and flawed health care reform law imperils their very way of life. [Read more →]
This article will be depressing. It takes a bunch of grim facts you probably already knew and connects them. Also, it’s long, excessively so (which is why I divided it into two pieces). It’s just a miserable, miserable experience. That said, there’s good news at the end. Not the end of this half — which concludes in a manner both bleak and abrupt — but of the part that appears next week. If you stick it out, you will be rewarded. Is the reward worth all the stick leading up to the carrot? Probably not. Let’s dive in, gang! [Read more →]
