Bad Crazy

223 thoughts on “Bad Crazy”

1. I agree wholeheartedly! Bad crazy. Bad, bad crazy. No treats for you!

   1. Bad, bad crazy?

      I’ll tell you what really crazy is.

      It’s annoying a female Dragon.

      Wallabies like you may be unkillable but all that means is that the Very Annoyed Female Dragon can keep hurting you and you won’t die. 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈

      1. Unkillable? Not at all. Irrepressible, that’s what we are. We cannot be repressed. We can be killed, even though it doesn’t last (where do you think they got that idea in Groundhog’s Day?)

         
         We’re like Ambush Bug but adorable.

         1. …where do you think they got that idea in Groundhog’s Day?

            From a phonograph reco-
            From a phonograph reco-
            From a phonograph reco-
            From a phonograph reco-
            *thump*
            ord.

            1. ord
               skrrtch
               ord
               skrrrtch
               ord

               (ox bumped too hard)

         2. What you’re saying is that Sarah will be able to kill you multiple times. 👿

            1. “Killing RES softly with her song,
               killing RES softly with her song,
               telling his whole life with her words,
               killing RES softly with her song”

               With apologies to Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel.

               1. The singing I suspect is the least dangerous aspect of our hostess in her draconian persona. Teeth, Claws, fiery breath that can melt Mithril, THOSE you need to watch out for…

         3. Nik Nak!

         4. Oh, Ambush Bug is a comic book character? So that’s where that IRC pest (years and years ago) got his nick from.

2. “I grew up in a place where earning your daily living still took a marked amount of time, and required you to have some (at least contact with reality.)”

   This would suggest an underlying reason that Bad Crazy grows like mold in the ivy-covered halls of academe and in the boardrooms of corporations enjoying monopoly status.

   The Left are right about one thing (insert snark about stopped clocks): unearned wealth is terribly destructive.

   1. Some people use inherited wealth to do great works of philanthropy. But it doesn’t often work that way.

      1. My late Mother used to quote the saying “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”, and there’s a good deal of truth to it. Absent some mechanism (usually governmental) one generation creates wealth, the next generation (which saw the effort) husbands it, and the third dissipates it. Oh, a few families figure out how to raise a Crowned Prince who isn’t a spendthrift prick, but not enough to matter in the long run.

         Where you get long lasting dynasties, you usually have government meddling. Government assured monopolies. Government protection of large estates. Government stifling of competition.

         And often that meddling is sold as controls on the Rich, when it actually protects them by preventing other people from GETTING rich.

         1. Unless the value of work and flexibility are beaten into the silver spoon mouths there isn’t the connection to how money is made. It’s just something there, until it isn’t.

            1. The Brits have probably handled this about as well as anyone. Even with the current generation, the scions of British nobles and (especially) royals are expected to actually serve the country.

               We had that here, too, up until recently (the elder Kennedys, Bushes, and their peers used to serve in combat units, right along with the peons) but we seem to have lost it somewhere along the way.

               1. Actually, JFK had a safe job in DC with the Navy until he got caught boning a suspected Nazi spy and got shipped off to the South Pacific where he got his PT boat run down by a 300 ft long ship he didn’t see coming. Elder brother Joe got himself and his crew killed when he tried to grossly overload his plane with bombs for a mission and crashed on takeoff in an act if manufactured heroism.

                  1. As much as I despise the entire Kennedy clan, that’s not how Joe Kennedy went out. He was part of the takeoff crew for a makeshift flying bomb, and the explosives went off two minutes before he and his copilot were supposed to parachute out.

               2. From grunts who worked with them, apparently the British princes have respect for being very down to earth and ‘one of us’. I remember there being a news article about how one of them had to be taken away from the unit he was in because a reporter had taken his photo and released it – effectively revealing a high profile target was in that base. So, for the safety of the other men, the prince had to be recalled to England, and he was pretty furious about it, even while understanding why it had to be done.

                  1. And QE2 worked as a mechanic during WW2, and trained her own hunting dogs. Not afraid of getting their hands dirty.

                     1. Apparently she also knew how to butcher and prepare small livestock like chickens and ducks.

         2. There is a whole big concern troll “movement” (of sorts) concerned with the “concentration of wealth” and “avoidance of taxes” by wealthy, propertied individuals and families using trusts and similar legal arrangements. The same sort of arrangements that are open to everyone else, and would be of benefit to every one else when it comes to preservation of familial wealth and intergenerational transfer.

            But because ultra wealthy people are doing so, it is of course “problematic” and “hoarding” and other such things.

            Which doesn’t actually have anything to do with teaching the value of money to subsequent generations, of course. For that, putting kids to work in the family business, and making them actually earn money to do things, is helpful.

            1. The ultra-wealth have a whole ‘nother set of rules they play by… If you want to tally the untaxed assets that they are hiding offshore, you are talking about 20 to 40 trillion dollars.

               1. And this is a problem, why? Think of the additional damage the government could do with that money.

                  1. Also they’re never going to get that money.
                     Also rich people are STILL NOT Uncle Scrooge. The money is out there and working and making more money. Which means everyone is benefiting from the larger economy.
                     I mean I’d expropriate George Soros. But that’s petty and personal. Not part of my principles. So I wouldn’t do it if I had the money. I’d track down his malfeasance and expose him, instead.

               2. If AOC gets her way and slaps a 70% tax on annual income* over ten million, there will be few paying it. Bill Whittle, living in the belly of Hollywood Liberalism, has explained this many times.

                  An actor, say, Mark Ruffalo, is not paid $10M for his participation in the next Avengers movie. Instead his production company, M-RuffCo, is engaged and paid $10M to provide the services of their employee, Mark Ruffalo, in the picture. Mr. Ruffalo is paid a modest salary by M-RuffCo, perhaps $1,000,000 a year. M-RuffCo provides accounting, management, training & conditioning coaches, dietitian services (and food costs), dialogue coaches, wardrobe management, hair styling, transportation, housing and all other items required for Mark Ruffalo to perform his role in the new Avengers film. It also provides health insurance and a generous pension plan in anticipation of that time when the demand for Mark Ruffalo’s acting services has diminished. All of these services are, of course, legitimate business expenses, chargeable as deductions against receipts come tax day. Majority ownership of M-RuffCo is closely held, probably by Mark Ruffalo, his agent and close family members. Should Mark Ruffalo die or otherwise cause the dissolution of M-RuffCo the assets would first be used to pay off any secured claims (e.g., mortgages, liens), administrative expenses and priority claims. general unsecured claims, subordinated claims, and equity interests (holders of M-RuffCo stock.) Equity recipients would probably be taxed at capital gains rates.

                  M-RuffCo essentially converts all of Mark Ruffalo’s living expenses into business expenses. He has a corporate credit card to help the accountants track all expenditures and very few out-of-pocket expenses. He lives in company owned apartments & houses, travels in company owned/leased vehicles (from cars to jets), wears company provided clothing, goes on company sponsored promotional tours instead of vacations, eats what the company employed chef/dietitian serves in the company dining room, and wipes his company owned bum with company procured and provided toilet paper. His dog is a company provided therapy animal, with all expenses, from kibble to pooper-scooping, paid by the company.

                  *We need not address at this time the multiple different possible definitions of “income.”

            2. Meanwhile the ones lusting after that money are sitting in tax free foundations where the majority of income goes to lifestyle support with just enough philanthropy to gild the turd. Never mind the foundations that are almost purely political.

   2. and most of the leftoids in control come from unearned wealth, so they display its destruction by example

3. “I have a friend who has been trying to defend the Gillette add as in “But they’re giving to causes that help raise boys who are fatherless” etc”

   This sort of excuse is generally deployed for those with whom we agree, rarely is it used to defend the evil of those whom we deplore.

   “Aside from his infidelity with multiple mistresses, he was a good husband and father. He never beat his wife without good cause and kept her in good style.”

   “Sure, Mao upended the Chinese culture but he meant well and besides, he liked dogs.”

   1. “Sure, Mao upended the Chinese culture but he meant well and besides, he liked dogs”

      Broiled, usually, but fried was good, too.

      1. Mao’s tomb includes actual Chinese god worship of him.

         Of course, that could be the “keep him dead” kind of propitiation.

   2. Leave everything about their ad the same but replace the word Masculinity with the word Blackness . . .

      1. Folks on the alt-right side of things have noticed that it’s the black men who are correcting the white men in the commercial. There have been words like ‘projection’ and ‘reversal’ and ‘inversion’ tossed around.

         1. Great. Now we add that layer into what was already a dumpster fire.

            1. As long as they’re lunatics, they will probably be as lunatic as they can be.

               1. Well, when given ammo from a lunatic like the radical feminist responsible for the ad, the other lunatics are going to be certain to use it in the ways they are wont.

         2. Could be worse. Could be trans, handicap, islamic, black, non-gender specific pseudo-men.

4. Be nice to that author. Dreams of my father did fine.

   1. Heheehehehe

   2. Millions bought it!

      Mind you, they didn’t *read* it, it just needed to be seen ‘accidentally’ left on the coffee / end/ bedside table with a bookmark in it. The people iot was there to be noticed by hardly ever would notice that the bookmark either never moved, or moved forward and backward as it was randomly stuck into the book….

5. c4c

   1. Odd, I could have sworn I hit the clicky box

   2. c4c

6. I appreciate your “build around, build over” optimism. Still that is like a carpenter whose house is infested with termites building around and over the house to prop up the parts that the termites have not destroyed yet. The more he builds the more food the termites have available. Eventually he has to get out the pesticide and deal with the real problem. I don’t like it and wish it wasn’t so, but short of the miracle of the youngest generation rejecting the crazy that your son appears to be seeing, I don’t see an acceptable alternative.

   1. Not if you build with something different.

      1. But is there anything different? As long as you create value, they will find a way to take it, take over the value making machine (or what parts of it they can see) then run it into the ground. Unless they are stopped.

         1. yes. there’s refusing to let them in the door. The worm is turning there. Requiring real skill, instead of allowing yourself to be maumaued into being “inclusive” of the opinions of those who want to destroy you.

            1. A very brief conversation I had with the 12 year old boyo has me comforted by the fact that he will not buy into socialism.

               Me: “Do you think people being richer than you is unfair?”
               Him: “No.”
               Me: “Why?”
               Him: “Because they probably worked really hard to earn the money?”
               Me: “Do you think you should have some of his or her money because they have more of it?”
               Him: *looks at me with a ‘wtf are you asking I don’t get it’ face* *I explain* “Uh, no. That’s stupid and makes no sense.”

   2. 19 out of 20 of the kids I work with are rejecting the crazy, at least for now. That’s a good start, IMHO.

   3. Yeah, America’s never been this divided.

      Except in the 1960s and ’70s.

      And in the 1930s.

      And in the 1890s.

      And in the 1860s.

      And in 1812.

      And in 1776.

      But other than those eras and one or two I’ve overlooked, we’ve always been one big happy country.

      1. I think we’re running at about early-to-mid 1860 level right now.

         I’m old enough to remember the 1960s. It wasn’t a picnic, but neither was the country anywhere near as divided as it is now.

         1. No, it’s not that bad. We’re at the early 1850s at worst, because we haven’t had Bleeding Kansas or physical violence in Congress yet.

            1. We have had congressmen shot.

               1. That’s not the same as senators and congressmen knifing each other, or beating each other on the floor of congress.

                  1. No, now they just use social media and media lapdogs to encourage harassment and violence, including outright assassination attempts against anyone who is not sufficiently leftist.

                  2. I’d pay money to see that show.

                  3. No, they just have crowds of thugs follow the opposition to restaurants, home, etc. If you aren’t hearing Kipling’s “Cleared” being recited, you’ve got your fingers in your ears and humming real loud.

                     https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/cleared.html

                     “Hold up those hands of innocence — go, scare your sheep together,
                     The blundering, tripping tups that bleat behind the old bell-wether;
                     And if they snuff the taint and break to find another pen,
                     Tell them it’s tar that glistens so, and daub them yours again!

                     “The charge is old”? — As old as Cain — as fresh as yesterday;
                     Old as the Ten Commandments — have ye talked those laws away?
                     If words are words, or death is death, or powder sends the ball,
                     You spoke the words that sped the shot — the curse be on you all!

                     “Our friends believe”? — Of course they do — as sheltered women may;
                     But have they seen the shrieking soul ripped from the quivering clay?
                     They! — If their own front door is shut,
                     they’ll swear the whole world’s warm;
                     What do they know of dread of death or hanging fear of harm?

                     ********************************************************

                     My soul! I’d sooner lie in jail for murder plain and straight,
                     Pure crime I’d done with my own hand for money, lust, or hate,
                     Than take a seat in Parliament by fellow-felons cheered,
                     While one of those “not provens” proved me cleared as you are cleared.

                     Cleared — you that “lost” the League accounts — go, guard our honour still,
                     Go, help to make our country’s laws that broke God’s law at will —
                     One hand stuck out behind the back, to signal “strike again”;
                     The other on your dress-shirt-front to show your heart is clane.”

               2. Senators assaulted, Congressional candidates stabbed and run off the road, citizens assaulted when identified as supporters of a party, etc. Note that represents the obvious ones.

      2. Going from generational dynamics (IMHO, a useful but oversimplified theory), division, like in the 1960s was moderated by the survivors of the previous Crisis era, in our case WW-2. Those moderating people are gone.

         If I have the theory right, 1776 through Formation, Civil War and WW-2 were the main crisis periods in the USA. External threats are different than internal conflicts (usually the latter take a hell of a lot longer time to resolve, and frequently don’t). I’d put the 17xx era as mixed internal/external.

         OTOH, there’s a hell of a lot more going on than the generational stuff, but it’s worth noting that the Chinese are also in a Crisis era. Whee.

         1. Which might be the reason why the US will make it through this era as top dog, if not to the same degree as before.
            Sure, yeah, we got problems, and bad ones. Everyone else’s problems are worse. Much worse.

   4. Amusingly enough, last weekend’s home prep show was 90% dealing with termites.

      Bit take away:

      Use treatments, don’t remodel. Killing the infection works better, if you destroy and rebuild they will come back because it’s an area thing, not a house thing.

      And jumping back, the “area” is “humans.”

7. “were trying to marry her off. Don’t know if they did….”

   Umm, how isolated is this village? How good looking was your classmate?

   1. How rich was her family?

      1. Pretty rich.

   2. No, it’s more that it’s a “big Farmers marriage” i.e. they marry each other, so there was a short pool.
      The village was not isolated at all, being just about 20m from Porto by train (which trip my grandmother made maybe a dozen times in 88 years. Which tells you there are barriers other than transport.)

      1. Ah; my dad used to joke that he married my mother because her family was rich; his father was a sharecropper (and part-time carpenter). Not true; my father’s family marries black, haired, good-looking women. Having the God-given ability to talk opossums out of trees, it’s not difficult. (My cousin, T. O., could talk ‘possums out of persimmon trees, after the frost. My sister says it’s because when he’s talking to you, you’re the only one he’s paying attention to.)

      2. My wife and I both drive further than that to work every day.

         Of course, we’re of the society that has left our tire tracks on the Moon and Mars, and fling used cars off toward the asteroid belt…

      3. I grew up among people who traveled to the (small) “big city”, 30 miles away, once a year to buy school clothes and the like. It would not surprise me to learn that some of them had never been there.

         > So, women entered the workforce and most of them became… average. Which of course they would.

         Right. They see the success of a genius like Admiral Grace Hopper (who came along in an era when there really was terrible discrimination against women in the workforce) and fully expect that if they teach girls to code, every one of them will become just like Admiral Grace — which they won’t, any more than most boys in computer science will will turn out to be another Don Knuth or Alan Turing. The difference is that when the girl turns out to be (at best) capable of wiring together some pre-written libraries to create yet another CRUD app, it’s assumed that this is because THE PATRIARCHY IS STILL HOLDING HER DOWN.

         No, it’s just that she’s average. Like most people.

         1. Ah, a variation of “People who own houses are successful and contribute positively to society, so if we give everyone houses, we’ll have a Great Society!” When it’s really that (somewhat) successful people have the ability to purchase houses.

         2. Admiral Grace Hopper

            Example of how awesome said lady was, she met my husband’s grandma shortly after a post-divorce (him) marriage, and the next time the met (I think my father in law went from grade school to college) inquired after ALL of them by name, and congratulated her on the half-sister daughter.

            And at least ten years later, did it again. That time, without being reminded of that grandmother’s name.

            That lady was freaky insanely awesome, because she merged the Geek Lady and the Society Lady. NOT a fair comparison for anybody.

            1. Someone to aspire to be like, but not be compared to.

            2. Wow. I have trouble enough with recalling names of the people I work with.

               1. Sometimes I have trouble with my own name. ~:D

               2. I have trouble enough with recalling names of the people I live with.

8. As far as the ad is concerned, men are merely defective girls. The ad speaks as if the average man is the uncivilized violent, savage rapist. The ones that aren’t are outliers.

   But the average man is the one out there not doing any of those things. The fact that a percentage would probably overlook isn’t as much from the boys club type attitude as from fear of retaliation from the social cliques and being chastised for impulsive action like the ad wants.

   As far as a lot of the little things they note, a lot aren’t even honest. Iirc some of the major cyberbullying suicides early on were orchestrated by the mean girls club and an adult woman. Want to actually help boys? Teach them how to work and safely express emotions vs like defective girls. All that does is break them further.

   1. Oh, safely express emotions? Ain’t going to happen. Even those expressions of emotion are considered rude micro-aggressions requiring massive retaliation before forced re-education.

      Gee. And the senior leaders here wonder why people don’t think it’s safe to talk to them about these things. It’s because they’ve already been replaced by the pod people!

      1. I’m lucky. Most of my group understands my…humor and the running jokes (yes, if I truly blow my temper there could be blood. No there isn’ta field full of bodies in my yard,). Only been called to hr and security 2x.

         And there are too many people who either cannot or will not accept dark or insult humor. Had a whole dogpile on someone for quipping “mad lad” in reference to a suicide call on the boo boo bus to partner in private. If that is evil and so are people that do that, never call 911.

         1. I’m living in an apartment complex, so digging in the back yard is not gonna happen. But we have plans (big and EVIL plans) to move to a very rural area…

         2. I have a temper. I know it. I work really hard at keeping it under control. Because when I don’t have it in control things get broken, and then baaaad things happen.

            Wait, you’re on the boo boo bus and someone got upset about a quip like that? As someone with 20+ years in dispatching, all I can say is whoever got bent out of shape about that needs to find a different job. Because remarks like that are how we all stay sane enough to continue doing the job. (Well, that and copious amounts of caffeine during the shift followed by copious amounts of alcohol afterwards)

            1. wasn’t me, just saw the aftermath. This was a case of it was posted online and all the whining started. Then he started the groveling and self flagellation.

               Sorry, but that is something that I could easily see myself saying to some patients. Just remarkable reaction and reads like crybullying.

      2. That’s what gets me about all statistics concerning teenagers; so many of them seem to depend on surveys. And for the last several decades one of the primary things schools have been teaching is Don’t Tell Authority Anything, or at least anything Authority doesn’t want to hear. By high school, any kid with the brains to dress him (or her) self knows that ‘answers will be held in confidence’ is a lie. Because the promise has been broken right in fron of their eyes too many times. They KNOW that it they admit they have considered suicide they school is going to break confidence and they’ll wnd up drggedmto the gills; they saw it happen to a,classmate. They KNOW that if they admit that they smoke, the imperative to make all smokers miserable will kick in.

         Yet people do these surveys, and treat the results as if they were reliable data.

         1. Same as with the military – when I was in, there was a survey directed from on-high, which if those tagged to participate answered honestly … answered honestly, and if confidentiality were not honored … would get them in serious, Article 15 trouble. And no one believed the claims of strict confidentiality by those conducting the survey. No one.

            It was and still is one of those cynical jokes: The Air Force will take care of you … so don’t turn your back on it for a moment!

            1. Just another version of the Thought Police. 1984 is alive and well, if you can call it that.

               1. No, 1984 is not alive and well. 1984 is wounded and staggering, but still dangerous. And the people who depend on it for their positions are close to panic, which is why they are acting like frightened baboons.

            2. My uncle left the USAF and SAC around 1963. He realized that he was the only surviving navigator in his class (KC135 duty for him) and asked for a desk job. TPTB said no, and gave him two alternatives; quit or get court-martialed. He did the former. (I gather they were coming down on enlisted people for being overweight, with threats of courts martial. Not a good time.)

               1. Looks like 1962, for what it’s worth.

         2. My conversations with highschoolers indicates they all know that the teachers and school admin are not to be trusted. Anything regarding mental health, bullying, money or sexual activity is -never- shared with school officials. They settle it themselves, out of sight.
            Everybody can see Officialdom saying one thing and then doing another, usually the exact opposite of what they said.

            1. Is this partly the fruit of of “zero tolerance”?

               Heck, my sister is a teacher. Hubby worked with someone whose wife was a principle at a small HS. Both have/had explicit policies for their kids, & now grandchildren. If called in to be questioned by school authorities, the first & last thing out of your mouth is “call my parents; now.” Does not matter what it is.

               1. Zero tolerance is certainly part of it. If a kid wants a holiday they just show the teacher their pocket knife, and they’re suspended for however many days it is. Every boy in school and half the girls have a pocket knife. Farm country, right?

                  The other thing is, it is all about the process. There’s a process which will be followed for any situation. The resolution is not important, the process is. For anything more dangerous than missed homework, the process is “call the cops.” Then the cops come, and do their process.

                  I know of a case of cyber-bullying where the mother was told by the school authority: “Don’t show me the tweets. If you show me the tweets I have to call the police. People will be charged, big money will be involved, kids will get arrested and could end up taken away from their parents and stuck in the System. You don’t want that.”

                  Having the parents in for a quiet word about Johnny was not an option, apparently.

                  Consequently, nobody tells the teachers shit. Mom’s a drunk and Dad beats you up? Don’t say nuffin’. Steroids on the football team? Don’t say nuffin’. Boys grab your ass in the halls? Don’t say nuffin’.

                  1. Well, in lots of states, the statement “If you show me the tweets I have to call the police.” is absolutely true and if the principal doesn’t then he can be arrested / personally sued under the state’s “mandatory reporter” statute when something happens. Of course, under most of those laws he’s required to call the cops whether he sees the tweets or not.

                     1. Yes, the mandatory report/zero tolerance thing has hit hard here in Dumbtario. The “if you show me I have to do something” thing is plausible deniability in a verbal conversation with the principal. If you want the lazy desk pilot to -do- something you have to send a formal letter to the principal, and CC the school board superintendent, with the proof attached. Having it on your lawyer’s letterhead doesn’t hurt.

                        But then, all that happens is the cops come. And do nothing. But only after making everyone involved as miserable as possible, particularly the victim. The situation is best resolved privately, away from the prying eyes of officialdom. What they don’t know can’t hurt you.

                        This is why I say home schooling is the way of the future.

            2. You mean like how miraculously, after YEARS of all the stats going down (for example, a 3% drop in teens using tobacco products was “negligible”–and that’s not in those smoking, it’s percent of all teens) while folks insist that vaping is going to cause a huge surge in teen smoking Any Day Now, they suddenly got a survey with a ginormous jump. (in high school seniors only, and suspiciously the “one in five” is about the same as the prior high school student tobacco use)

   2. As far as a lot of the little things they note, a lot aren’t even honest. Iirc some of the major cyberbullying suicides early on were orchestrated by the mean girls club and an adult woman

      Most.

      AS in, I can’t think of any that weren’t “sharing nudes she sent me” that weren’t.

      1. Wasn’t completely certain if had equalized a bit in recent years. But emotionally bullying is not a typical Male tactic

         1. Excepting humiliation, true.

            1. Even then, the humiliation is of a physical nature. The purpose is expression of physical dominance. The emotional harm is byproduct, not goal.

               1. Intimidation, too.

   3. Speaking of ‘mean girls’

      http://www.fighting4fair.com/uncategorized/on-the-recent-increase-in-violent-crime-carried-out-by-women-and-girls/

      1. Some of that is that feminists have accidentally caused people to take female violence seriously.

9. And I think I’m going to send this to my kids.

   1. Now I gotta watch the ad so I know what we’re actually talking about.

      1. Be sure to have your airsickness bag deployed.

10. > idn’t see that the actual problem is that no one involved in the damn ad understood it had NOTHING to do with SELLING the product.
    —
    The ad had nothing to do with selling razors or grooming products. It was made to signal that the company has now been fully converged by the Left and nobody could prevent the ad from running.

    1. Not right away, however with luck the spontaneous boycott will prevent the company from running any ads in a few years because they will be bankrupt.

       1. Unfortunately they’re a subsidiary of Procter and Gamble, so there’s a lot of ruin to be had there before it crashes down.

          If you want to boycott them, make sure to boycott all P&G products.

          1. We’ve found one non-boycottable product (according to $SPOUSE). Dawn ain’t getting rejected. OTOH, Old Spice and Head and Shoulders are expendable.

             On the gripping hand, Gillette might go under as a division. (Points to GM’s Saturn, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Hummer as examples.)

             1. After finding out about the ad, the men in my household will no longer buy Gillette.

          2. It kind of gives credence to all of those “Proctor & Gamble Satan Worshiping” rumours, don’t it?

             1. Not really, The Father of Lies is far more effective than their advertising team seems to be.

    2. The Budweiser Clydesdale ads aren’t about selling the product either, but they work.

       1. That’s a quite interesting point. That ad made me feel quite warm and generous toward Budweiser even though their beer is slug bait.

          That makes the Gilette ad e en more depressing.

          1. You sell more product with happy stories and cute critters than with tickets for a guilt trip.

             1. Indeed – that was such a cute and tear-jerking commercial. Yes, Budweiser is slug-bait, but they’re doing appeal to core customers right.
                Gillette … sigh. I think the brand is sunk. They picked the wrong time to go social-justice-warrior.

             2. Since it’s Original Sin by being born male, there’s no end to that trip…

             3. Yep. Also, Clydesdale horses are awesome. (yeah I’m teeny but I love the darn things they’re so sweet looking.)

                1. Fellow I knew some years ago had Belgian drafts he used for trolley rides and such in the area. Short fellow. “Ever wonder why it’s always us short folks working with the biggest horses?”

          2. Shh, if you give Budweiser to slugs, PETA’ll come calling complaining about animal cruelty!

          3. Heck. I don’t even like beer of any kind. Yet, love the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials.

          4. Slug bait? *puzzled*

             1. When I lived in slug country, setting a dish of beer was supposed to attract and kill slugs. There’s no truth to the rumor that you should put gravel in the beer so that they’d kill each other by throwing rocks. 🙂

                Around here, Budweiser is the good stuff. The locally consumed swill might be rejected by the slugs. (Note; $LOCAL == walking distance to the store. K-falls actually has good beer, I’m told. I miss the stuff.) [Snif]

                1. Oh. Huh. Never would’ve thought of that.

                   Heh, as I don’t really drink beer, I’m not the one to ask or know the difference on what’s good beer.

                   I rather like the taste of Asahi Super Dry though.

                2. Ouch. The last time I had a Bud was in celebration of the Kavanaugh confirmation. Switched back to the good stuff right fast after that.

                   I once got curious and bought a gas station Coors light (and MN is a 3.2 state, unless it’s a liquor store sale or for on-site consumption) and also added rectified spirits to plain seltzer. The spiked plain seltzer had more and better flavor.

                   1. I’m weird (I know, Captain Obvious alert). I like the beers at the ends of the scale, either the ones that are considered, “high end” or the bottom of the barrel. Bud Light Lime goes down well for me, but my personal favorite in the considerably more expensive Kentucky Bourbon Barrel.

                      1. PBR and Kirin(Japanese brand, ANY of them), here. Although some of the small breweries dark German type brews make me drool at the very memory…..

                         1. Back when I still drank beer I was partial to a Theakstone ale — so thick you could ingest it with a spoon — called Old Peculiar.

                            1. My apologies – I perceive I committed spelling error:

                               
                               Theakston Brewery
                               Masham, North Yorkshire

                               Old Ale · 5.7% ABV

                               Its initial sweetness is, apparently, “of roasted and vinous notes with a subtle bitter aftertaste”. Strong fruitiness, often with “banana notes” standing out, is derived from Old Peculier’s fermentation process.

                               Courtesy of beermenus[dot]com

                            2. When I was consulting in 2001-2, I had a few trips to Bavaria. After that, the American brew (that I could afford) was frickin’ next to water.

                               Medically, it’s now a Really Bad Idea, so I think fondly of Weissbier and drink water.

          5. My favorite is the “I won’t tell if you won’t” ad:

             1. I found it with this link

                They really are gorgeous horses aren’t they?

                1. That & World Trade Tower salute …

                   I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials; Budweiser’s in particular. Really disappoints if they don’t have the horses.

                   On Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 4:48 PM According To Hoyt wrote:

                   > overgrownhobbit commented: “I found it with this link > https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_L2DnsR4g They really are gorgeous horses > aren’t they?” >

                2. That & World Trade Tower salute …

                   I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials; Budweiser’s in particular. Really disappoints if they don’t have the horses.

                   1. That one always makes it really dusty in here.

                   2. Budweiser has to have the horses, else people wouldn’t know the source of the beer.

                3. SeaWorld lost a lot when they didn’t have them on site anymore.

       2. Damn. That made me cry.

11. C4C

12. Your hierarchy of crazy is a stunningly close fit to the different levels of Delusion in GURPS, from a -1 point quirk to a -15 point seriously bad Delusion. At the basline -5 point level, for example, they have “I am the rightful Duke of Fnordia, kidnapped in infancy by Gypsies.”

    1. My kids were into GURPS back in their school days, so I checked out one of the game books and was appalled to discover that being the “honest knight” got you penalized in power points.
       Then I thought it over, and realized the system was totally correct.

13. “But it’s such a just-so story it spreads and hides. It hides so well that people don’t realize they’re infected. But its distorting effects twist society’s processes to the point that something vital stops working.”

    This, yes, all of this.

    And I’d further like to nominate for the rank of bad-crazy the currently very infectious idea / principle that “Confederate Monuments are all racist.” (It seems to fit all the parameters, though it used to be only a half-truth bucking for promotion to bad-crazy, and quite recenty too.)

    Monuments to the Confederacy as such, maybe. To individuals, like Robert E. Lee, maybe or maybe not. (Actual research and knowledge required here.)

    But to — current-events reference here — Confederate-state veterans? All at once or in small groups? Even just statistically, it’s hard to imagine groups of (say) a hundred or more *not* having both racists and non-racists. (Especially given the fact that, in South and North both but sooner and worse in the CSA, a major common reason for serving was “so they don’t hang me instead!”)

    Somehow — or rather, *exactly* as the original post describes — the fact that these *are* veterans’ memorials *at all* has become simply invisible. (Like so many veterans *themselves* have been, here and there, now and then. See, as mentioned yesterday, that Kipling poem “Tommy” once again, especially as quoted in “Rediners” by David Drake, though it’s highly futuristic itself.)

    Yet in A Well-Known University In The South, a Chancellor has just been given a faster kick out the door, given that she’d just resigned AND called in the now famous “midnight cranes” to remove the undamaged half of a memorial to about 1800 alumni veterans — after maintaining for half a year that state law forbade her to do this on her own (as it did and still does).

    And what are the newspapers full of ? (No catcalls, please.)

    Condemnation… of the state university system board, for sending her out the door at the end of the month instead of at school year’s end. One “notable” after another, lining up to castigate them for removing a loose cannon before she did anything further, ah, “surprising” on her own, ah, initiative.

    Becuase, ah, brave fighter against racism mumble mumble shout.

    Whatever happened to “we adrmire and respect your service, even if we don’t agree with how it’s used?” This.
    *This* is where that long-sought and hard-won principle, long honored mostly in the breach and now (allegedly) with wide common currency, is going, to die.
    Right now, right in front of our eyes.

    (At least *these* veterans were all dead before being labeled, in the full exact sense used by analysts of propaganda, “Racists!” Not so with our veterans of our 1960s war, those “Babykillers!” as they were sometimes called to their faces.)

    Sounds like bad-crazy to me, to demonstrate that the *accurate* (if maybe not *right*) response to “We honor you, etc., even if, etc.” is really now more like that Elizabethan guy’s “Go tell it to the marines. The sailors won’t believe it” than “Thank you for your support” (because I know it’s real and I can count on it).

    1. By law, all Confederate soldiers became US soldiers after the war, and many of them collected veterans’ benefits, such as they were back then.

       There’s no difference between defacing a Confederate memorial in the South and doing the same thing to a Union memorial up in Yankeeland.

       Crazies are getting away with it because, so far, those memorials have been on private or municipal land. I don’t know if they’ve done a state-owned one yet, and certainly not a Federal one. I suspect their instigators and handlers are well aware of the difference between vandalizing private or municipal property and doing it to Federal property.

       1. There is no difference in law. There is a difference in application thereof.

       2. Hate to have to say it, but this one WAS / IS state (NC) property.

          Up for over a century, after being given to the University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill) by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916(-ish). Thus the applicability of the recent state “objects of remembrance” law (and the reason the “escape clause” for cases of “public hazard” or whatever was cited, the *second* time the *rest* of the monument was hauled off to “storage”). This is one of the two “statuecides” in central NC led by the Workers World Party and one (+) of its organizers (see workers dot org) — a “revolutionary Marxist-Leninist” outfit that wants to disband the military and disarm the police, says so right there on the Web.

          But on this one, back in August, all they could do themselves was unbolt the statue proper (behind a screen, and those are 2″ or so stud-bolts) and drag-and-drop it onto the ground.
          The second time, this week, all they *did* was complain.

          All the hauling-off was by the University itself. And this second time, the Chancellor simply announced she was going to haul off the rest, then did it, no “protest” required and never mind that pesky state Monuments Commission (that actually holds public hearings and *listens* and then makes a real decision).

          Your Tax Dollars At Work, I guess…

          Search “Silent Sam” (the right name is the Soldiers’ Monument, but hardly anyone knows that). And keep nausea remedy handy.

          Especially if you watch the videos.

14. The higher levels of craziness related to the concept of the Closed System, as described by Arthur Koestler (himself a former Communist):
    **
    A closed sysem has three peculiarities. Firstly, it claims to represent a truth of universal validity, capable of explaining all phenomena, and to have a cure for all that ails man. In the second place, it is a system which cannot be refuted by evidence, because all potentially damaging data are automatically processed and reinterpreted to make them fit the expected pattern. The processing is done by sophisticated methods of causistry, centered on axioms of great emotive power, and indifferent to the rules of common logic; it is a kind of Wonderland croquet, played with mobile hoops. In the third place, it is a system which invalidates criticism by shifting the argument to the subjective motivation of the critic, and deducing his motivation from the axioms of the system itself. The orthodox Freudian school in its early stages approximated a closed system; if you argued that for such and such reasons you doubted the existence of the so-called castration complex, the Freudian’s prompt answer was that your argument betrayed an unconscious resistance indicating that you ourself have a castration complex; you were caught in a vicious circle. Similarly, if you argued with a Stalinist that to make a pact with Hitler was not a nice thing to do he would explain that your bourgeois class-consciousness made you unable to understand the dialectics of history…In short, the closed system excludes the possibility of objective argument by two related proceedings: (a) facts are deprived of their value as evidence by scholastic processing; (b) objections are invalidated by shifting the argument to the personal motive behind the objection. This procedure is legitimate according to the closed system’s rules of the game which, however absurd they seem to the outsider, have a great coherence and inner consistency.

    The atmosphere inside the closed system is highly charged; it is an emoional hothouse…The trained, “closed-minded” theologian, psychoanalyst, or Marxist can at any time make mincemeat of his “open-minded” adversary and thus prove the superiority of his system to the world and to himself.

    1. That sounds a lot like Islam, as currently practiced in far too many areas of the world. “Islam is the answer” is the slogan of a large number of political parties in the world. And you’re absolutely correct that no outside entity, even one composed of co-religionists, can pierce that veil of certainty.

       1. Islam, as cureently constituted, is only the answer to “What belief system, after Statism, could be eradicated to the most general benefit of Mankind?”

       2. “Progressivism”, as currently defined, has a lot of this closed-system flavor, although the Fundamental Axioms are a lot less clearly-defined than those of Islam or Marxism or even Naziism. Discussion here:

          https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/49353.html

    2. *wishes that she could like this comment*

15. I used to have a female co-worker of whom the staff used to say she had PMS (Permanent Menstrual Syndrome). I hated being around her.

    1. I think on my shift, in my area, 5 out of 9 at suffer, such.
       we only have 2 females

    2. Yikes. That’s not a pleasant description! And notably, does well in warning everyone off.

       1. You know what’s -really- fun? Office full of women and their cycles match. Suuuper fun.

          1. Yeah, no. I’m a woman and I haaaaaaaated it when that happened.

             1. No. Never wanted to go there. I’m a women. Never worked with enough other women to have to deal with that. Mine were bad enough thank you very much. For some reason, never ever got to use that as an excuse**, & at least my first 8 years of my career (counting college first round), I was working outside in the middle of nowhere, all weather, & sometimes on (small) fires. Rest of my career was at least inside & sitting down (not that it helped, but still).

                ** Ah, hell. Even 40 years later, I can imagine the derisive & scalding remarks if I’d tried using that as an excuse or even used sick leave because of it. No thank you.

                1. Wasn’t until … recently that I had the kind of pain and bleeding I hear sometimes described for periods. But I seem to have a comparatively high pain threshold so I’m not sure my pain level is a good measuring stick.

                   And yeah, period pain? We’d be expected to suck it up and stoic through it… by other women.

                   1. I can help on this a little!

                      My mom and her sister both have stupid high pain thresholds– like “walk around and smile making polite conversation when there is a nail through their foot” level pain tolerance, but my aunt’s cycles were bad enough that she basically “had the flu” at LEAST one day a month.

                      Strangely enough, it seems to be connected to a blood clot risk– I don’t even remember what the dang thing actually is, because mom only got half the gene, but my aunt and probably my sister ended up with a full dose. Only found out about it because my aunt’s breast cancer involved a big genetic test and they figured while they were checking for a genetic riskfactor for cancer they may as well find out if she was genetically prone to blood clots, too, and then my mom got tested after her blood clot. (Nope, that was just a medical screwup.)

                      1. Hmmm. That’s a very interesting bit of info there. Thanks.

                   2. Different topic. Migraines. Which are suffered by everyone.

                      I suffer from migraines, have forever. Never have been allowed to be “sick” because of them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it is a “valid reason” to take a day off sick. Yes, I am well aware how debilitating migraines can be. Granted, when the effect triggers other symptoms, then yes, valid reason to be sick, because then you are into “flu” territory. Or “visual migraines”, pain optional, are triggered; can’t see to drive, or do anything. But never called in with a “migraine” as the reason. (I swear, visual migraines are migraines way of saying “ignore me will you … take that!”)

                      I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been dealing with them so long, as a kid & teen, then as an adult, told to “shake it off, deal with it, that is not an excuse” I’ve developed coping mechanisms. You know the standard … “suck it up and stoic through it” …

                      For some reason I’m one of those people who unless physically ill (flu symptoms), a fever of 103+ will elicit a “okay, maybe I’m sick” response. No idea why … (sarcasm).

             2. Now imagine living in a thirty by forty foot steel room with fifty other females for six or seven months at a time. And it’s not even a “all at the same time” phenomenon. It’s a rolling start, so the actual overlap period is about two weeks long. Out of every month.

                1. AUGH. NO.

                2. Eh, the thing that bugged me about that is that some women apparently believed they had a bio-maid follow them and didn’t act like blood is a hazard.

                   Trying to be delicate, here.

                   (Never harmed me, my body shut down and didn’t start back up until roughly a year and a half later.)

                3. It isn’t the synchronization that’s so bad. It’s that it made my period so much heavier. (Fortunately I wasn’t working with other women, but physical closeness had its effect.)

                   1. Fortunately I wasn’t working with other women, but physical closeness had its effect.

                      Digressing, I’ve seen several “debunkings” of the idea that women synchronize their cycles– one even got kinda close to it with pointing out that with the Pill, your cycle is manipulated by the applied hormones. (Because that totally invalidates only the other argument rather than being a tainted sample.)

                      But most of them used a short-cut of “women in the same house.”

                      Dear Lord, there is a LOT of wiggle for women in the same ROOM, much less the same house. I’ve shared quarters (Navy) with women who only came inside of five feet of me maybe twice in six months, and I didn’t care for it then, and ladies that weren’t sharing the same rooms but DID share personal space for hours a day (productively!), and without prying I know which had evidence of similar cycles and which didn’t.

                      A heck of a lot of study on this stuff requires folks applying a cluebat…..

                      1. The weirdest thing? Women do synchronize, but heaven knows what the mechanism IS.
                         When Amanda, Kate and I all had periods, and talked to each other a lot every day, we synchronized. With each of us at one end of the country, pretty much.

                         1. I had an Internet friend I regularly conversed with and synched with. As in “Ooh, you got your period? That explains the OOC moments I had a few hours ago. I guess I’m close” level of synched (and getting Auntie Flo visiting a few hours to a day later.) We didn’t notice this until we realized we were both complaining of our periods at closer and closer times.

                            She was in Washington D.C. somewhere. I was in the Philippines. Go figure. If this had happened in the same household, I’d have theorized pheromones.

                            1. Yep.

                            2. I wonder if there is a verbal pattern or so…

                            3. A full explanation probably requires quantum mechanics.

                            4. We’re all holograms. Distance is irrelevant. Also explains how Dave Freer and I routinely catch each other’s cold across the world.

                            5. There could be patterns to language that might show up, which would explain Shadowdancer and her Internet friend, assuming they were not actually speaking to each other verbally.

16. Soap for a transatlantic bridge is just crazy. But I’ll tell you what WOULD work: ICEBERGS! Icebergs, I tell you! Heck, the Britiish have had the technology since HMS Habbakuk! Oh, sure, I know what you say, that ship could barely be moved! BUT BRIDGES DON’T MOVE, so that’s not a problem!

    And yes, icebergs melt, but so what? There are plenty more! Just set up a steady rotation of replacements to just float into place! And if nature doesn’t provide enough, just cut more! Heck, as a benevolent side effect, cut enough replacement bergs and you can create a permanent Northwest Passage!

    Just keep in mind you have to keep the bridge in the Northern Hemisphere, because down south the tropical islands heat the water up too much, and everything will be fine!

    At last! A use for Newfoundland and Greenland!

    1. Well, we do make ships out of steel that actually float. And we even made ships out of concrete back in WWII that not only floated, but delivered mega-tons of supplies to Europe.

       1. Water can’t float steel! #BattleshipTruthNow

       2. In the 1970s I did some photography at a marina in Alviso, near* San Jose. There were a few DIY concrete sailboat hulls under construction. Lots of steel in those hulls, too.

          (*) Actually annexed, but ignored/neglected by the city. Nothing unusual for SJ, I’m afraid.

          1. Ferrocement, it’s called. Concrete impressed on a wire mesh skeleton. Heavy, slower than concrete hulls, and pretty much impossible to repair under weigh.

    2. It’s simple:

       1.) Lower the Earth’s temperature
       2.) Form resulting icebergs into transoceanic bridges
       3.) World peace!

    3. Better idea; let’s make it out of the plastic straws that are supposed to be clogging the ocean currents. Win-win!

    4. Alright, but how do you get icebergs of soap, huh?

       1. Add sawdust to the icebergs and they last longer. They tried it in WW II. As far as I know the hull (in northern waters) still exists.

17. being blind to what should be obvious is fairly widespread. I’ve heard the the rollout of the AV-8 Harrier by the US Marine Corps was a full on cluster-f*ck. As I understand it the absolute very best pilots were picked for the initial training. It went quite well. So training for everyone commenced and it was a disaster involving several incidents, including a few fatalities, before it was halted, investigated and re-initiated with better safeguards in place.

    1. I had a fellow Knight Of Columbus who was in the Corps at the time.

       He was fond of recalling a demo that his unit (infantry) received from the “Brand New Air Support Platform.”

       He said the AV-8 was amazing to watch; it flew, hovered, moved hither and yon, showed how it could come in close, and quick, and get away, and then proceeded to show how the Harrier could do a vertical landing.

       And the pilot forgot to lower the landing gear.

       I’m told he ran off into the nearby forest to avoid discussion of this error with his fellow jarheads.

18. Breitbart has the following which is a great example of how utterly “bad-crazy” the left is and how just like with the original Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the insanity is flowing from the college campuses into society at large.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/17/white-comedian-barred-comedy-nights-cultural-appropriation-dreadlocks/

    Call it Mao’s Cultural Revolution Redux.

    1. I recently saw an article that described a home invader (who got disarmed and killed with his own weapon by the homeowner) as ‘an unwanted house visitor’. Apparently they’re making inroads into the concept of private property and locking houses now.

       1. We call all play this game. Let’s rename the (“main”stream) media for what it is: Liars.

          1. BuzzFeed and the Cohen fiction went a long way towards convincing a lot of people of the mendacity of the media. I caught a glimpse of a meltdown on one of the NeverTrump social media sites. Wonderful. 🙂

          2. And thus the instant viral popularity of “Fake News” – because people know it when they see it.

       2. Vigilante murderers of illegals, junkies, and thieves are volunteer judges.

       3. https://phantomsoapbox.blogspot.com/2019/01/sjws-womens-self-defense-is-problematic.html

19. From a safety concern, this one is even worse in the bad-crazy category:

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/18/outrage-illegal-migrants-given-jobs-secure-swedish-airport-area/

20. Work to be done, oh yes, and work that can be done, each in our own gardens. That’s encouraging.

21. c4c

22. *blushes*

23. I’m beginning to think the reason the Stupidity Justifying Weirdoes are going after comedians so hard is that it’s a pre-emptive strike against future mockery.

    1. Possibly wrong mechanism.

       SJWs are basically chekists without conviction, valor and courage. (They aren’t brave enough to attempt murder if there is even a risk of breaking a nail or paper cuts. (Because they haven’t the love the Chekists could feel for something outside of themselves?))

       Comedians are heavily previously good little foot soldiers for the left.

       When the revolution succeeds, the dangerous soldiers who helped it win are liquidated.

       Another possibility is NKVD terrorization of line infantry.

24. It’s very informative post. My take away from the post is Toxic Masculinity or Femininity is bad. Thank you

    1. you don’t need to put in masculinity or femininity. Just “don’t be toxic.”

25. A wise rabbi once said “man doesn’t live of bread alone” and he was right, of course. But for most of human history the quest for bread was so difficult that it consumed much of human thoughts and resources

    Is a great reality check.

    A family that, last time I checked, was in the “quibble about allowed expenses” area of being able to apply for food stamps zone is able to go for a whole freaking month without income and not really fuss.

    After a child that rolled up thousands in hospital expenses.

    We (general and specific) are freaking BLESSED.

26. Any boy started out with a good 20% on me in any teacher’s head, because “boys are smarter” wasn’t disputed, or even questioned.

    Oh, booger.

    This isn’t…exactly wrong. It’s wrong on the “this specific person” area, not the “average of folks I will deal with” area.

    Because women are more central in distribution, so if you don’t use school as daycare, the average for guys will jump up….

    1. Sure. And honestly, I didn’t even resent it, because I KNEW I could knock the pre-conception off the teacher’s head.
       My favorite was the chess coach. I was the only girl so he used me as a gear for “does she get this? Then everyone got this.” Then he actually said it aloud (as in why he always asked me that) and one of the guys cracked up and explained “Uh, sir… no. When she gets it, half of us are wondering what you said, and she has to explain after the meeting.” 😀

       1. Then he actually said it aloud (as in why he always asked me that) and one of the guys cracked up and explained “Uh, sir… no. When she gets it, half of us are wondering what you said, and she has to explain after the meeting.”

          XD Ha!

       2. Oh, that must’ve broken his world for a moment at least.

27. “Female liberation was played against this. People looked at these women, knew what they’d achieved against what obstacles, and dreamed that “if only women were allowed to be on an even footing with men, they’d be the best at everything. Every woman would be a leader.”

    This is a form of insanity, because women are still human, and most humans are… average. That’s why they call it “average.”

    But you can see how what they saw would deceive them.

    Except that the obstacles were removed and women… were people. ”

    Extended excerpt because I recently saw a long post somewhere that made the same point about black people: they looked at those who excelled under real oppression, and jumped to the conclusion that every black person would function at that level without oppression…and it didn’t happen.
    Lake Woebegone is the only place where all the children are above average.
    (Full disclosure: I loved Prairie Home Companion until Keillor went bad-crazy.)

    1. I’m seeing a worrying trend among people I respect on the Non-Left to talk about the Black population as if what was wrongmwas genetic. IQ gets mentioned a lot, as does the descent into barbarism of places in Africa.

       Now, to my mind all this is attributable to the worldview imposed by the (White) Left. Breakdown of the Black Family? Incentives put in place by the Left. Failure of Black inner city schools? Progressive educational theories that have catastrophic consequences. Descent of countries like Zimbabwe? Policies of international ‘Diplomacy’ that reward radicalism, kleptocracies, and thugs with a nice line in Marxist bushwa.

       IQ? The differential, even if you believe in it, is about 15 points, as I recall. And really dumb White people can be useful member of society, if it’s clear society expects it of them. And a lot of work-shy bums are Mensa members.

       1. I’ve never taken an IQ test. The only ones I’ve seen are the online ones. They don’t impress me.

          They all seem rather biased for the culture they’re presented in. There may be a way to test IQ across cultures, but I’m skeptical. It seems very much like trying to compare crime stats across nations. There’s too many things going on in the background to get an honest comparison that’s meaningful.

          1. ‘nother issue, apparently IQ measurements sometimes correlate with amount of education completed. One of our fellows here has mentioned that West Africa’s schools are fairly wretched.

             As for the inner cities, bad schools, more damage from the Great Society, and drug use. When you think you aren’t going to be able to go anywhere, you only do the learning and growing you are inclined to do by habit and inertia. If you aren’t raised to study, the schools were uniformly wretched, and no possibly of hope involves studying, you probably don’t study. That is before differential rates of weed use, with the learning impairment, poor judgement, lack of ambition and probable emotional regulation issues that comes with that.

             I’ve heard tell that IQ measurements are only really valid a few times in someone’s life. Which means that even if you can correct for cultural factors, if we ever get the differential effects of experience nailed down, it will probably be a while.

             The person I associate with that perspective the most strongly is an extremely intelligent white, apparently very functional in society, who values intelligence and works in a very intelligence focused field. My recollections of that person’s family and personal medical history also heavily focuses on physical disabilities, and I do not recall mention severe mental illness disabilities.

             An fairly intelligent white, very dysfunctional in society, who has been unsuccessful at converting that intelligence into a career in an intelligence focused field will have a different perspective on the matter.

             Right now we have a focus on ‘fixing’ professional education to address differential success outcomes between demographics. Often enough based on evidence of different outcomes that is not statistically valid. Very much like similar efforts in previous decades to ‘fix’ primary and secondary education to address the same things. But we’ve reached the point where the meddling is seriously dangerous, and is going to cost a lot of professional reputation.

             Genetics of intelligence of intelligence a) is a basis for arguing against the ‘fixes; b) is based on, rather than opposing, the mores of our modern culture c) only gets you called racist, which you would get called anyway. Arguing against the need for ‘fixes’ at the professional level because of what industrial engineering tells us about process change and about what the soft ‘sciences’ tell us about the difficulties of measuring human systems is a little less intuitive. When you’ve developed that background, it is obvious that we don’t know we’ve actually improved primary and secondary education. Arguing the weed angle gets the libertarians trying to lynch you. Racial genetic intelligence is an accessible argument that doesn’t get you punished so much by nominal ‘allies’ if you are very careful with it.

          2. Ironically, the more “culture neutral” they try to make them, the worse people from low-scoring cultures score. Go figure.

             1. I can think of a route for that– most of those being tested have some experience in learning how to read the normal tests, but the folks re-writing them are really, really bad at figuring out “neutral.”

          3. “They all seem rather biased for the culture they’re presented in …”

             I recall the tale of the kid in Harlem who got dinged for answering, “Across 126th St.” when asked in what direction the sun set.

             IQ tests are designed and calibrated as predictors of academic performance, and academic standards are, in turn, set to give the desired IQ results. As a measure of who will do well in college they are quite effective; as a measure of which mechanic will properly fix your timing belt or which carpenter will most expertly build your deck they are somewhat less useful.

             1. If you ask the question “what do rabbits and dogs have in common?” the correct answer is “being mammals.” Being quadrupeds, carbon-based lifeforms, obligate aerobes, domesticated animals that have become serious invasive pests as a consequence, or featuring in rabbit hunts are all wrong with various degrees of partial credit. . . .

                1. What!!! No extra credit? For shame!

    2. The Problem for Blacks is Black Culture.
       1. The You get good grades – You are acting White, you think you are better then us. POW

       2. You talk like Whites, you think you are better then us. POW

       I have seen this.
       And much else. If you try and get ahead you are a race traitor.

       Bill Cosby talked about this, years ago, he was vilified then.

       A taboo subject.
       if a White says anything about it they are RACIST.
       If a Black says anything about it he is an Uncle Tom or a Race traitor.

       And Africa is shown as what happens when Blacks are in Charge.
       Name ONE successful Black Country in Africa for middling values of successful.

       1. “Africa is shown as what happens when Blacks are in Charge.”

          I’m a gonna grant you benefits of the doubts, here, and interpret that as “when Black[ Culture is] in Charge” — I doubt many here wuld feel qualms about a US Federal government under the charge of Thomas Sowell, Walter J. Williams, Clarence Thomas or numerous other American Blacks.

          It’s the Marxism in the African Sauce which is toxic.

          1. But those guys are obviously white in the inside. 😛

          2. African American (granted in this case) is also totally different from AFRICAN culture.
             African culture is fucked up tribalism. Which is the same as white liberal culture here is increasingly becoming. And it turns the world into a cesspool.
             IT HAS ZERO TO DO WITH SKIN COLOR.

          3. One of the highly quotable and orthodox Bishops (and then Cardinals) is Sarah, currently the head of Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

             He became extremely popular as a random photograph for various meetings because when he was a bishop, his skin is amazingly close to the black uniform for bishops; as a cardinal, he’s especially striking.

             His big thing is being, well, traditionally Catholic. Work hard, do the right things, be moral in all your actions.

             Pointed out to support the idea that what is called “black culture” in the US, and tribal ethics in others, is the issue.

             Bleepin’ crab pot.

             1. Note:
                I get a kick out of his last name being “Wisdom.”

             2. “Pointed out to support the idea that what is called ‘black culture’ in the US, and tribal ethics in others, is the issue.”

                Just to remind everybody, Thomas Sowell has cogently argued that what we know as “black culture” was, in fact, appropriated from certain aboriginal tribes from England, known as “Rednecks.”

                1. I can see where he’s coming from with that, but modern “black culture” takes the tribal-ness way too far, and doesn’t have much of the responsibility that rednecks do.

                   1. Yeah, but they didn’t use to.

                      1. Yes, it’s been a long slide, but it started at least as far back as the 70s. And it’s been almost exclusively in the inner cities until recently. The few blacks I knew growing up were and are the best of people, and I’ve worked with decent, wonderful people since then, but the Left has fomented the spread of the, “blame whitey” mentality, as well as the programs that incentivize broken homes, and now more and more have taken to the notion that they shouldn’t have to do anything, because it’s all someone else’s fault that they are in the situation they are in, so why bother?

28. On the confluence of toxic feminism and comedy.

    https://local.theonion.com/woman-didn-t-know-progress-on-toxic-masculinity-would-t-1831869468

    https://babylonbee.com/news/least-masculine-society-in-human-history-decides-masculinity-is-a-growing-threat

29. And I could even see a way to sell razors – father/son bonding in the bathroom. Little boy sees father shaving, gets soap on face, gets finger shaves. Sees father politely greeting all kinds of folk, greets politely. Young teenage boy clearly shaving for first time, father coaching. Father helping elderly neighbor with chores, or son with homework, son helping younger siblings with homework, doing household chores for older neighbor. Father demonstrates love and respect for mother, young man shaves before first prom, demonstrates kindness to date, they both drop off classmate whose ride had too much to drink. Ends with man kissing wife over new baby. But it would never work in this world, because it makes the assumption that the best way to raise a good young man is with a father. It can be done without, but it’s exponentially harder, which is why the wise rabbi emphasized helping the widowed and orphaned, perhaps.

    But this associates razors and male bonding time over shaving with the transmission of positive culture.

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    1. Okay, since I can’t seem to register to comment on your site, because it never sends out whatever the heck it’s supposed to, I’m going to put here what I wanted to say: I’m not that old. You made the same mistake as the left when you assumed I “grew up under Salazar.” Though the left assumed I came here to escape the revolution, which is d*mn precocious for an 11 year old, particularly since I came here because I married an American.
       Salazar died when I was 6. And not that far into six. I read my mom’s school books written under his rule and I have to say he was much like FDR. (No, really.) Including really STUPID economics.
       The revolution against his successor happened when I was in fifth grade.
       The reason I’m anti-Marxist is because that’s what I grew under. It wasn’t particularly well reported in the US, and even school books here have it so wrong it was a relief when I talked to a friend who worked for the state dept at the time and he confirmed my memories: Portugal had a dizzying panoply of governments in my middle and high school years, with the “right wing” anchored by social democrats, and the left by… well… you don’t want to know. For six months we were under what I have determined in retrospect to be Maoists or at least something like. That was when socialists were forbidden and I had to demonstrate in support of the rat bastards.
       I hate Marxism because I was taught Marxism by force. It was the answer to everything. It was a desert topping and a floor wax, and no economy could get along without a dollop of Marxism.
       It’s like a vaccine. Study the damn stupidity enough, and you become inoculated.

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