Say Anything Blog

If you don’t know, my home site is www.ski-blog.com.  I have taken a principled stand against Global Warming Hypocrisy as well as the infringement of Native American Rights upon property owners with the following posts:

• Native Americans using the Religious Freedom Reformation Act to take control of Federal Lands
  
• And several posts including this one related to Global Warming
  

Today I rec’d the following hate mail:

Without taking up too much of your time, I just wanted to express my sincere regret for your lack of education, and the poor-upbringing your children must be getting from their male role-model if those pictures on the website are in fact them. 

As I write this message and look at a picture of a family in front of a trail map sign, I want to specifically state that I do not feel everyone in the US must finish grade school, high school, or go to college to be “educated”. The problem lies when one speaks strongly and they do not have any education about the subject they are speaking to, but ascertain claims as if they were experts. 

However, from your telling of the recent Casino situation, global warming, to your details about the Arizona Snowbowl case, its very clear you have never studied anything related to ecological functionality, culture, the history of the US, and specifically Native American History.

Sir, your racism is reminiscent of the civil rights movement in the 60’s. You are one of the micro-reasons racism still exists as your white supremaced attitude leaks through almost every article I’ve read on your blog in the last couple of hours.

I’ll see what my SOAN 630/680 class thinks of this blog in the coming week or two as we may focus a case study on your particular blog as a real world example of neo-colonialism, as well as bounce this off the others at the environmental justice center in Washington that I work with specifically to address such issues as you raise in these articles. 

Perhaps we’ll be in contact in the future. Until then I hope your readers distinguish the horrendous hateful tone you express in this blog through the beauty that is skiing, and readers recognize that this perspective is no more than ultra right wing conservative GW Bush type propaganda, hidden under a veil of skiing, creating a neo-colonial platform for white folks to continue to hate Indians so YOU CAN GO SKIING (!?).

Wow.  Please read my hate filled racist blog about skiing.

Ironic, but Neiman and others recently cited my "left wing, athiest propoganda" here. I am a left wing, athiest, hate filled, racist, neocolonialist, uneducated, ultra right wing conservative GW Bush type. Please pick the appropriate adjective. =)

Been debating who Libs are supposed to hate the most and in what order to put the following:

• Walmart
  
• Oil Companies
  
• Haliburton
  
• Chimpy McHitler
  
• Karl Rove
  
• Dick Cheney
  
• Rush
  
• Fox News
  
• God, Jesus, and anything Christian
  

Surely, you can’t hate them all equally.  We need to hear priorities.

UPDATE:

Despite the massive housing slowdown, the jobs picture has not taken a hit.  From money.cnn.com:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com)—Job growth jumped and unemployment dipped unexpectedly in March, the government reported Friday, signs the labor market is holding up better than economists had thought.

Employers added 180,000 jobs to payrolls last month, the Labor Department reported, up from 113,000 in February, which was also revised higher. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 135,000 while Reuters’ survey showed a consensus for 120,000.

The unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent - the lowest since October - from 4.5 percent in February. Economists had bet the rate would creep back up to 4.6 percent. October and March are the only two months since May 2001 that unemployment has been this low. The unemployment rate for college graduates is down to 1.8 percent.

“I think this is really encouraging. It shows that employers were in a hiring mode,” said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research. “We’re not going to have blistering job growth. But the nation is (essentially) at full employment.”

But perhaps the most interesting part is that all of the new jobs growth was obviously by Walmart and evil corporations that pay below the new Democrat desired minimum wage, so one would expect that wages continue to decline and the decline is even worse when inflation is factored in:

Average hourly wages rose 0.3 percent to $17.22, in line with forecasts and down from the 0.4 percent increase posted in February.

That left wages up 4.0 percent over the last 12 months, meaning typical hourly workers are seeing their paychecks grow faster than prices. A separate Labor Department reading shows a 2.4 percent increase in prices in the 12 months ending in February.

Ooops. 

The problem that the MSM and the Democrats have is that the objective numbers tell a starkly different story that contradicts their class warfare agenda.  Unemployment is at 4.4%.  Wage growth is at 4% while inflation is at 2.4%.  And the economic and jobs numbers are constantly being revised upwards after the initial assessments underestimate every measure.  Tax revenues are up on lower marginal tax rates.

This completely vindicates every single Bush economic policy and the tax cuts.  The economy is performing superbly, so instead of using objective numbers like Kerry tried to do in 2004 to tell the story of a miserable economy, they turn to subjective stories about annecdotal evidence of individuals who have financial problems.  And they love to mix in people that have health problems at the same time so that they can A. discredit the tax cuts that they opposed B. push for minimum wages to rise (which will stop these gains, drop employment levels, and based on the numbers show is completely unnecessary) C. push for nationalized healthcare and D. avoid the real economic crisis that keeps worsening--social security.

Tax cuts, regulation reductions, and having a government that has encouraged business as opposed to “defended worker rights” has led to better wages, lower unemployment, and far more jobs than the French model that Democrats keep pushing for. 

Amazing that a few scandals and the Iraq War would lead the American people to ignore economic policies that work simply to send a message that they are not happy with foreign policy of scandal.  If the current tax cuts expire, expect that this situation will turn around dramatically and that tax revenues will decline.

New Orleans and the rest of the state have some real problems that go beyond Hurricane Katrina:

NEW ORLEANS - Five fifth-grade students face criminal charges after authorities said four of them had sex in front of other students in an unsupervised classroom and kept a classmate posted as a lookout for teachers.

The students were arrested Thursday at the Spearsville school in rural north Louisiana, authorities said. Two 11-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year old boy were charged with obscenity, a felony. An 11-year-old boy, the alleged guard, was charged with being an accessory.

“After 44 years of doing this work, nothing shocks me anymore,” said Union Parish Sheriff Bob Buckley. “But this comes pretty close.”

And we wonder why Louisianna has a problem with poverty and why folks didn’t get out of the way of a Hurricane and died in floods.  New Orleans has a huge crime and drug problem that existed far before Katrina.  They have huge problems with education and literacy.  The plight of New Orleans and their drug, crime, poverty and other problems only became a big deal after we saw what happens to uneducated poor people that suck at the tit of government and depend on others for their existence.

Perhaps these two should be in New Orleans engaging in the process of repopulating the Chocolate City.

UPDATE: More local updates on the school in question:

SPEARSVILLE - Two Union Parish fifth-graders had sex on a classroom floor while two others fondled each other in the classroom, according to a teacher at Spearsville High School...

Students at the kindergarten through 12th grade school are unruly, disrespectful and rarely disciplined, Walker said...

''They cuss at the teachers and throw things at them, and nothing is done,'' Walker said. ''There was even one student who grabbed a teacher in the butt and nothing was done. The students run the school.''

Walker said teachers learned Wednesday about the incident, which allegedly occurred during an assembly Tuesday to talk about a 15-year-old student accused of stabbing another student to death over the weekend.

The assembly was for sixth- through 12th-grade students. Fifth-grade students were not told about it, he said. But one class of about 15 fifth-grade students that routinely moves from a portable building to a main building classroom during the second hour of the school day was unattended on Tuesday.

Even better. This parish is in far northern LA, quite a ways from New Orleans, so I stand corrected. Actually it is closer to Arkansas, so it is possible (though not stated in the article) that the students in question were first cousins.

Freedom of Speech does not mean that we are free of the consequences of our speech.  Just as Freedom of the Press does not mean that the press is not held accountable for their views and publications.

Now imagine that in asserting my right to freedom of speech, I get on local TV while at a protest rally holding a sign that says “F*ing Godbags Keep Your Hands of my Uterus”.  (Note, I don’t have a Uterus, but you get the point) Or I am speaking at a public venue and start dropping n-bombs (ala Michael Richards).  Maybe I am drunk and start ranting about Jews.  I am certainly free to do all of the above and the government won’t come and arrest me for being a bigot.  That is the First Amendment.  What we don’t talk about is what my boss does when he sees me engaging in an activity that harms our business. 

In 2002, Phoenix DJ Beau Duran called the widow of pitcher Darryl Kyle prior to a playoff game when the St. Louis Cardinals were to play the Arizona Diamondbacks:

The disc jockey who made an on-air prank call to the widow of St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher Darryl Kile was fired, a radio station announced Monday.

KUPD-FM morning radio personality Beau Duran called Flynn Kile at her hotel room and asked if she had a date to Thursday’s playoff game. It didn’t stop there as Duran told Mrs. Kile she was “hot.”

The prank raised intense anger among the Cardinals and the City of St. Louis.

KUPD suspended Duran last week, but advertisers pulled their spots from the station and citizens continued to speak out against the stunt.

In a written statement Monday, general manager Chuck Artigue said Duran was fired.

What about Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press?  It is probably those damned Godbags that want to control his Uterus.  Blogging is no different than working at a newspaper, on the TV News, or at a radio station. 

Words have consequences.  We are free to say anything we want and free to offend whoever we want.  But expect that if your boss reads you writing an op-ed piece for the Anti-Semetic Quarterly or sees you at a Klan Rally with your hood off, you might be looking for a new job.  Expect that your friends and neighbors might be embarrassed to be seen with you. 

Marcotte posts on her site a reference to Jesus saying “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”.  As if losing a job is akin to being stoned to death.  As if saying hateful, hurtful things should be allowed in her case, but not in the case of Beau Duran, Michael Richards, or Mel Gibson.  As if politicians that say “macaca” shouldn’t represent the people of Virginia, but those that are members of the Klan should be allowed to represent West Virginia.

Some hatespeech should be tolerated and other hatespeech should not.  And John Edwards shouldn’t have allowed those Godbags that attacked her to influence his campaign.  I don’t think Edwards wants his image tied to Marcotte’s “godbag” comments any more than George Allen wants his tied to his “macaca” slipup.  Freedom of Speech has consequences.

There are rarely more offensive statements than this one:

You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

In 1994, I left the pre-med (actually Biology and Chemistry) program at Montana State University to join the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman.  I graduated top 10 in my graduating class from high school and was an honors student, National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, and when I did finish my degree at ASU, graduated Summa Cum Laude at the top of my class with a 4.0 GPA.  And in my Corps School Class, I finished 7th out of 70 students.  I was not even the smartest or brightest person there. 

Lots of people do well AND CHOOSE to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Lots of people go to the Naval Academy or West Point and are valedictorians of their high school and all state or conference athletes.  Our military officers are among the best and brightest in the world.  And I am proud to say I am a Veteran of the United States Military.

So I am going to give a brief history lesson on how you get stuck in Iraq from Wiki:

“Iraq Resolution” and “Iraq War Resolution” are popular names for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public law 107-243, 116 Stat. 1497-1502) was a law passed by the United States Congress authorizing what was soon to become the Iraq War. The authorization was sought by President George W. Bush. Introduced as H.J.Res. 114, it passed the House on October 10 by a vote of 296-133, and by the Senate on October 11 by a vote of 77-23. It was signed into law by President Bush on October 16, 2002.

Your Congressmen and Senators send you there with their vote to allow the President to use force.  Posted on that same page is a list of folks in the Senate that voted against the resolution:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI) Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Robert Byrd (D-WV) Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Kent Conrad (D-ND) Mark Dayton (D-MN) Dick Durbin (D-IL) Russ Feingold (D-WI) Bob Graham (D-FL) Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Carl Levin (D-MI) Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Patty Murray (D-WA) Jack Reed (D-RI) Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Paul Wellstone (D-MN) Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Notice that John Kerry’s name is not there.  So folks, the way that you end up in Iraq is by voting into office folks like John Kerry that recklessly authorize the use of force to President Bush.  If there were questions of exit strategy, whether Saddam had WMDs or not, etc., why did Kerry vote to allow President Bush to get us into this mess?  And ultimately, I respect the folks of Connecticut in the Democratic Party who tossed Joe Lieberman over this very issue.  Senators should be held accountible for their votes by their constituents, just as John Kerry should be held accountible for his vote to authorize the use of force and he should be held accountible for his reckless statement about the men and women serving there now.  Because those men and women would not be there if not for the 73 Senators including John Kerry that authorized the use of force.

Here is the difference between John Kerry and Joe Lieberman--both voted for the use of force.  Kerry tries to nuance his way around his vote and pacify his critics.  He makes constant charges against the administration and against our troops.  Joe Lieberman calls for changes to our strategy, but stands by his original vote to go to war and stands by the troops.  Like the war or not, there is a public record of how we got there.

I believe that Joe Lieberman should be re-elected in Connecticut.  But I also believe that the Nutroots folks did the right thing by nominating Lamont.  They sent a message that folks would be held accountible for their votes on Iraq and their stand.  And now Kerry has pandered to them as has the entire Democratic Party out of fear of Soros and big money and Hollywood.  This election is about whether to support a party that “stays the course” and stands by their decisions or a party that tries to hide behind nuances and run away from their own votes that got us into Iraq and along the way blames the troops and backhandedly slaps them by saying it is their own incompetence as well as the President’s that we are losing this war. 

We are not losing this war.  Our troops are not idiots.  And you cannot run from your vote, no matter how hard you try.  And America needs to hear that message.

New Orleans has some real problems that go beyond Hurricane Katrina:

NEW ORLEANS - Five fifth-grade students face criminal charges after authorities said four of them had sex in front of other students in an unsupervised classroom and kept a classmate posted as a lookout for teachers.

The students were arrested Thursday at the Spearsville school in rural north Louisiana, authorities said. Two 11-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year old boy were charged with obscenity, a felony. An 11-year-old boy, the alleged guard, was charged with being an accessory.

“After 44 years of doing this work, nothing shocks me anymore,” said Union Parish Sheriff Bob Buckley. “But this comes pretty close.”

And we wonder why New Orleans has a problem with poverty and why folks didn’t get out of the way of a Hurricane and died in floods.  New Orleans has a huge crime and drug problem that existed far before Katrina.  They have huge problems with education and literacy. 

The plight of New Orleans and their drug, crime, poverty and other problems only became a big deal after we saw what happens to uneducated poor people that suck at the tit of government and depend on others for their existence.

At least these two are engaging in the process of repopulating the Chocolate City.