insignificant thoughts

And yes, the crowds at Beck’s rally and at Tea Party rallies have indeed been overwhelmingly white.  But the folks who turn out to environmental rallies and anti-war rallies and feminist rallies are “overwhelmingly white” too.  But for some reason the media feel no need to point that out.  They drag race into the discussion only when conservatives are involved — because they see something sinister at these rallies.  The ideas put forth are alien to liberal journalists.  They’re not mainstream ideas, not as far as liberal journalists are concerned.  So noting that the crowds are “overwhelmingly white” is a kind of warning label, not unlike the cancer warning on a pack of cigarettes.  This warning label says in essence:  BE ON YOUR GUARD.  THE PEOPLE AT THESE RALLIES ARE CONSERVATIVES.  AND OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE.  CONSIDER THESE FACTS WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THEIR RIGHT WING ARGUMENTS.

Oh yeah, it’s open season on hypocrites!

Dear Free-Range Kids:  You’re always talking about how its a real shame men are so often assumed to be predators, to the point that they hesitate to help a kid in need for fear they will be accused of having ill intent. A friend of mine told me something along those lines that is even more disturbing.

She was having a conversation with some male family members at a family gathering. There were kids in the pool and another male family member who didn’t have kids was in the pool, playing with them. The group of male family members who had children remarked that the other guy had no business out there playing with the kids because he didn’t have any. Since my friend also follows your blog, she began to ask them: Why? Why couldn’t this other male family member play with the kids? And why are men who either aren’t in uniform or don’t have children with them forever banned from interacting with children?

One day we’re going to look back at this era as the darkest in our history for our treatment of decent adults. Go read the rest; it’s equally alarming.

According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, only 16 percent of watermelons sold in grocery stores have seeds, down from 42 percent in 2003. In California and the mid-South, home to the country’s biggest watermelon farms, the latest figures are 8 and 13 percent, respectively. The numbers seem destined to tumble. Recently developed hybrids do not need seeded melons for pollination – more on that later – which liberates farmers from growing melons with spit-worthy seeds.

The iconic, black-studded watermelon wedge appears destined to become a slice of vanished Americana. If that sounds alarmist, try to remember the last time you had to spit out a grape seed.

Who knew?

Well, the Association for Psychological Science now says that learning styles are all a bunch of hooey.  They have reviewed all recognized studies that claim that a “visual learner” or an “auditory learner” exists, and have concluded that those studies “have not used the type of randomized research designs that would make their findings credible.”  That being said, it is still entirely possible that “learning styles” actually do exist, but basically what APS has declared is that nobody has ever sufficiently proven it.

Interesting. Yet another parenting theory we just accept as true without sufficient proof.

I also heard of a school in Florida where dismissal works like this: The cars line up, single file, outside the school where there are NO children outside. As a car reaches the front of the line, a school aide reads the name on the dashboard plaque issued by the school and barks into her walkie talkie, “Jeremy’s mom is here!”  At which point someone inside the school shouts, “Jeremy! Your mom is here!” And Jeremy is ESCORTED OUT to the waiting car — like an unpopular dictator being hustled into his limo.  Jeremy’s mom careens off and the process begins again, with the next car and kid. Dismissal takes half an hour.

PLEASE tell me she’s kidding. PLEASE tell me this isn’t really happening.

In advance of President Obama’s Tuesday night speech on Iraq, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, was set to remind thousands of veterans attending the national convention of the American Legion that Mr. Obama and other Democrats had opposed the military escalation credited with gains in Iraq.

“This day belongs to our troops, whose courage and sacrifices have made the transition to a new mission in Iraq possible,” Mr. Boehner said in excerpts of the speech he was to deliver Tuesday at the legion’s national convention in Milwaukee.

“Some leaders who opposed, criticized, and fought tooth-and-nail to stop the surge strategy now proudly claim credit for the results,” Mr. Boehner’s speech said.

Don’t like the guy much but I can’t say I disagree with him here.

The Muslim center planned near the site of the World Trade Center attack could qualify for tax-free financing, a spokesman for City Comptroller John Liu said on Friday, and Liu is willing to consider approving the public subsidy.

The Democratic comptroller’s spokesman, Scott Sieber, said Liu supported the project. The center has sparked an intense debate over U.S. religious freedoms and the sanctity of the Trade Center site, where nearly 3,000 perished in the September 11, 2001 attack.

“If it turns out to be financially feasible and if they can demonstrate an ability to pay off the bonds and comply with the laws concerning tax-exempt financing, we’d certainly consider it,” Sieber told Reuters.

Oh right; they’re too busy going after rehab centers run by churches and getting “God” removed from money.

Not a single designer who expresses Leftist political dissent is in danger of anything more than trumpeted support from his peers because of it. No designer who expresses Leftist political dissent is in any danger of being ostracized by the members or administration of any design organization, or by fellow students, or by design school professors. In fact most designers I know work to ensure that they live with, work with, go to school with, and interact with no one but other Leftists. Social fetish and safety in numbers are principles that designers seem to learn before anything else.

So tell me again: in what way is Leftist design dissent courageous? And how is it in any way speaking truth to power? It’s not. It’s simply the cliché repetition of mantra to the in-crowd. Courage plays no part in it.

I’ve said this before, mostly when talking about the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. Everyone patted them on the back for their bravery but in reality, they sacrificed nothing. Criticizing a Republican administration in the entertainment industry is about as bold as saying Hitler was a bad guy in the middle of Rosh Hashannah.

Read the whole thing; it’s an interesting look into what it’s like to be a conservative in a field dominated by leftists.

(via Phil Gomes)