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"Coexist" Bumpersticker

The intertubes are rather boring today, so I went looking for an essay to read, and I found one of Bill Whittle's old ones. I saw one of those Coexist bumper stickers about a month ago, and it pissed me off. Here is what Bill has to say:

You’ve probably seen this word spelled out with various religious symbols.


Who can argue with this? Not me, certainly.
What I CAN argue with is the idea that if only enough stupid, warlike Americans would just get on the Coexist train, then the world would be a happy and peaceful garden. Who else are the people with these bumper stickers preaching to, if not their ill-informed, knuckle-dragging neocon fellow commuters?
Unfortunately, here’s where reality inserts its ugly head. There is no more multi-cultural society on earth than the United States. The United States owns the patent on Coexisting religions and ethnicities. Drive half a mile though any major US urban area and you will see more ancient ethnic enemies living cheek by jowl in harmony than any other spot on the planet. Thursday morning water cooler conversations about Dancing with the Stars wallpaper over more ancient ethnic and religious murders than history has been able to record, and this despite Hollywood and the news media’s deepest efforts to remind you on a daily basis that the black or Hispanic or Asian or white friend in the next cube is secretly seething with racial hatred just beneath that placid veneer.
Americans are able to coexist because they have subjugated, if not abandoned, those ancient religious and ethnic hatreds to join a larger family, that larger family being America. And this is why, if you truly value the idea of coexistence, you should be dead set against multi-cultural grievance and identity politics, which do nothing but pit one ethnic group against the others and reinforce, rather than dilute, ancient resentments and grievances.
Now as it turns out, there is one member of the human family that seems to be having a little difficulty with the whole coexist thing. Muslims are at war with Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are fighting Animists in Africa, Hindus in Kashmir, Buddhists in Southeast Asia…they are blowing up nightclubs and schools and police stations and trains and buses and skyscrapers and are under daily orders to kill Jews on sight anywhere in the world.
I don’t mind preaching so much as preaching to the choir. When I see Coexist bumper stickers in Islamabad and Cairo and especially Riyadh to the degree I see them in Venice, California, I will be a happy man. They will make a very welcome sight covering over the Death to the Infidel! stickers that seem to be somewhat outselling Coexist messages in that part of the world. Until then I think we should coexist and carry a big stick.

Christmas

DSC00757
Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

I'm not much of a Portrait Studio kind of gal. With the quality candid shot I am able to get, really, who needs 'em?

Deja Vu

This is kinda like what happened when I gave someone a mushroom log last year.

Except I don't remember there was the bit where they pretended to like it.

So, let's round it up. Favorite gift you received this year? Least favorite? Favorite gift you gave?

Oh, good Lord

Here are the lyrics to Akon's "Smack That", which is #8 on iTunes' top songs list:

> Shady
Convict
Up front
Akon
Slim Shady
I see the one
cuz she be that lady

I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.
Look back and watch me
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh.
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore,
smack that, oooh.

Up front style. Ready to attack now.
Pull in the parking lot slow with the lack down.
Convicts got the whole thing packed down.
Step in the club. The wardrobe intact now.
I feel it. Go on and crack now.
Ooh, I see it. Don't let back now.
Im'a call her. Then I put the mack down.
Money? No problem. Pocket full of that now.

I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.
Look back and watch me
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh.
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore,
smack that, oooh.

Ooh! Looks like another club banger.
They better hang on.
When I throw this thang on.
Get a little drink on. They goin' flip.
For this Akon shit. You can bank on it.
Pedicure, manicure, kitty cat claws.
The way she climbs up and down them poles.
Lookin' like one of them Pretty Cat Dolls.
Tryna hold my woody back through my drawers.
Steps off stage, didn't think I saw her.
Creeps up behind me and she's like, you're -
I'm like, yeah I know, let's cut to the chase.
No time to waste. Back to my place.
Plus from the club to the crib's like a mile away.
Or more like a palace, shall I say.
And plus I got a pal. Every gal is game.
In fact he's the one singing the song that's playing!
(Akon!)

I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.
Look back and watch me
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh.
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore,
smack that, oooh

Eminem's rollin', D an' them rollin'.
Boo an' Oh Marvelous an' them rollin'.
Women just hoin'.
Big booty rollin'.
Soon I be all in them an' throwin D.
Hittin' no less than 3.
Block will style like wee, wee.
Girl, I can tell you want me, 'cause lately.

I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.
Look back and watch me
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh.
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore,
smack that, oooh.

This is from his album "Konvicted." Lovery.

A first?

But, I have to give this post at Scribal Terror the NSFW tag

Craptastic Display

I saw a truly craptastic display last night on my walk. While I would love to bring you images of the plastic nativity scene I was assaulted with last night, my husband says I'm a big mean meanie, and that I should leave the tastefully-challenged alone.

Now, really, I don't think this is a matter of my having some sort of Martha Steward Living holiday-decorating ideal. Truth be told, I can't stand the woman, and given the opportunity might tell her exactly where she could stick those home-made, hand-rolled, beeswax candles.

Craptastic, to me, refers to either pathetic displays (mine is dangerously close to fitting into this category), or ones that (however tasteful) signal someone has devoted way too much money and time to a holiday display: when not just every tree is decorated, but the roof-line, the garage, the cars, the backyard, and the concrete duck standing beside the front door. The category can be fun to look at, even beautiful, but (honestly) I have to wonder if whoever put the stuff up doesn't have a touch of OCD going.

Yesterday's story

DSC00202
Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

I thought about it, and decided yesterday's tree falling over story was not complete without a picture. Unfortunately, I didn't actually take a picture of the event. So, using my mad photoshopping skills, I've recreated the event for you here.

My Tree Has Fallen

No link, my freakin tree has fallen over, and I can't get it back up.

I believe the failure lies in the stand.

Update: Tree is back up. For now.

"Bridging the Racial Divide"

Last night our local PBS station broadcast a locally produced, hour-long show entitled "Bridging the Racial Divide." The show featured local journalists, businessmen, activists, and at least one graduate student. The premise was to discuss issues of race, under the paradigm that Detroit is one of the most racially divided cities in the country. First, the group was divided racially, to have segregated "honest", blunt, discussions of race. Afterward, they analyzed the differences between the two conversations to, I guess, further the discussion.

Let me sum up for you how it mostly went. The topics were, "white privilege", Black rage, family values, and black political power in Detroit.

White group: We're white suburbanites who really have no clue, so we're gonna try not to say anything offensive.

Black group The white devils are to blame for everything, and EVERYTHING, absolutely EVERYTHING is about race

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.

But, the best moment, was when a guy (from the NAACP) said that the reason why some young black men don't show proper responsibility toward their children was because they couldn't find proper transportation to and from work. If you can figure out how this figures into marrying the mother of your child, let me know.

To Get You In the Holiday Mood

Maggie has found the most wonderful version of "O Holy Night" EVAR!

There were tears in my eyes as I listened. And, promise me you listen to it all the way through, because just when you think it cannot get any better, it does.

Dear Kwame, Detroit City Council, and other Concerned Parties,

I am officially done with Detroit. DONE. I've lived here almost all of my life. I was raised downtown in Lafayette Park. I walked to the old Hudson's to do my Christmas shopping (before that was torn down.) I skated on Belle Isle (before that became a gangster hangout and the skating hut was abandoned.) I waited with anticipated for you to change these things; you could have made a nominal charge for admittance to the Island to help cut down the cruising (and drinking and drugs.) But you refused. Now, families are afraid to go there. You could have done lots of things, but you didn't.

But, I soldiered on. I bought memberships to the cultural offerings about the city; the Zoo, and Greenfield Village. I bought a house, I met my neighbors. I tended my garden. I knew I could never send my children to the school (because, come on, how many of YOU send your children to the neighborhood schools? wink wink- I'm looking at you John Conyers and you Kwame.) I became a defender.

But you local "leaders" have so fucked things up, I have now completely lost hope that the city will ever recover, and I've decided that I'm completely DONE being a sacrificial lamb. Why good people would continue to live in this city that does absolutely NOTHING for them is a mystery to me now. Government policy is driven by pandering to the Unions (whose members don't even live in the city), and to the poor. Soon the city will be composed of nothing but the criminal element and those dependent on the Government.

Last month, my mother's house was broken into. And Saturday night, while my dad stopped over for a short visit, his car was stolen RIGHT out of my fraking driveway. My daughter cried in fear, accusing her father of lying when he said that we were safe in our home.

I am done. I am done of living near people who don't give a shit how their children turn out. My neighbors are not such people; they are pretty much mostly black middle-class "normal" people. Married. Jobs. Children. They tend to their yards. They have barbecues.

But, I'm not far (enough) from the hood. They find their way into my neighborhood. And I refuse to exist on the same plane as these people. My only purpose, in the city, is to pay taxes. My vote is irrelevant (racial politics is at a fever pitch in this city, where only a black person could EVER get elected. Black city council members, black police chiefs, black school administrators. If they can't find a black person in the city to fill a slot, they'll seek out of state, just as long as they are black, they are right for the job. Oh, correction- black and liberal, because those black conservatives are just uncle Tom's who are beholden to the white devil.

I am done. I'm going to start packing boxes after Christmas.

Because I'm a Giver

It distresses me to no end that some of my beloved readers are having problems with their Ipods. Or is the plural Ipie?

Anyway, from apple help:

iPod Issues?
These five steps (known as the five Rs) will conquer most iPod issues.

1. Reset your iPod.
2. Retry with a different USB port.
3. Restart your computer.
4. Reinstall iPod and iTunes software.
5. Restore your iPod.

If this doesn't help, I've found the apple discussion boards really helpful in the past, which can be found here.

MIA

I'm having three wisdom teeth pulled in a bit over an hour. I have no clue how I'll be feeling. Might be back, might not.

Uppdate: drugs good. yelling kids, not so much.

Maggie's Entry

Deserves to have it's own post.

Craptastic

Craptastic
Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

George is a contender.

Christmas on my IPod

Here's what I got:

River, Joni Mitchell
Baby, It's Cold Outside, Gabe Dixon
I'll Be Home for Christmas, Tift Merritt
The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole
A bunch of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and more Nat
Entire Vince Guaraldi Christmas album
Assorted Trans-Siberian Orchestra (only acoustic tunes)
A couple of Mannheim Steamroller tunes
Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You"
Harry Connick, Jr's "When My Heart finds Christmas"
The Chieftains "The Bells of Dublin"
"A Winter's Night", Assorted Artists

OH- and Pogues and Kirsty MacColl doing "Fairytale of New York", one of my favorites.

Iranian Truthseeker

I haven't really heard how that Holocaust conference concluded, and a quick search just now didn't come up with anything. I had read that the hoped-for conclusion by Amajinadadinka would be consensus that the whole thing was just an exaggerated lie to garner sympathy for the JOOOOOOS. It was only about 500,000 Jews that died, not 4 to 7 million.

And, Baker and friends want us to "engage" these people.

My Children Are Driving Me Crazy.

Should I ship them all off to public school?

VOTE NOW!

And now for something completely different

Diana Damrau as Queen of the Night. Turn it up..The singing starts at about the two minute-mark. Really, you have to click this, it's amazing.


This was on HDNet over the weekend, and I've probably watched this part of the performance about 10 times already. The bad part is that I am now ruined; my copy of The Magic Flute on CD does not compare. Papageno is better in this other version too.

Poo.