Badda-boom, boom, boom. Another one bites the dust!

Well, it hasn’t been pretty - but it has worked. How it does hurt when you twist the nipple rings, doesn’t it?

Who is next, I wonder now?

Oh, Todd Goldman - Can you hear us now? Now that you have removed your toll-free number 1-877-63-DAVID (32843)?

If ya’ll will excuse me, I have an appointment now with Bad Elmer’s Porter.

I don’t know if I’m annoyed or amused when I hear (again) the often repeated interjection “It’s a free country!”

Is it? Let’s take a look.

Let us say I come into some undeveloped property that I own.

First off - whoa? Do I own it? I see by Indiana’s laws I am a “tenant” of that property. Hmm.

What are the basic requirements for life? Food? Water? Warmth? Shelter?

Can I build on that property? Not without a “Mother May I” from da gubbmint.

How about clear it? Nope, again, I have to ask permission - I don’t have a right to do so (For the uninformed, a “right” requires no permission to exercise. Kind of like your right to peacably assemble with the proper permit.)

Drill a well? Again, not without my “Mother May I” from da gubbmint.

Plant enough food and/or raise enough livestock to feed myself? Not unless I’m zoned and have a permit.

Make my own clothes? Welll, yes - so long as my production doesn’t exceed a certain volume. Then I’m engaging in industrial activity. Need zoning and permits then. (Note that this volume is lower than the average family needs.)

Heat my domicile as I see fit? Well, I can’t install certain furnaces in certain conditions, have to buy fuel from a registered dealer …. Hmmmm.

Huh. So, unless I get the official okey dokey, and pay my fees, I’m really not allowed to provide the basic necessities of life for myself, to be self-sufficient, am I?

Free country? How’s that again?

I’m in an ongoing email correspondence with a man I’ll just call Joe. Since I’m changing the names to protect the innocent, and Joe doesn’t want to be made a public figure, why be too inventive, eh? Despite some disagreement, Joe’s got some good intentions.

Unlike feminists, I’ll be the first to admit that there are some men who are scum. Some need their testicles revoked, some are shiftless and lazy, some are abusive, some are perverts or deviants, and still others are downright criminal. Such men, as the bottom of the barrel of humanity, shouldn’t be around their children, or have squat to do with them. Thankfully, such men are a very small minority.

Most men, however, are hardworking, and love their children. These are then men who get screwed in the divorce court, saddled with child support bills that are almost impossible to pay, and then are diddled with by their ex-wives when it comes to visitation and remaining a part of their children’s lives.

So what’s this got to do with Joe? Well, Joe’s a stepfather, and he took issue with a statement I made a little over a month ago about how stepfather’s needed to step back and not cross a line, where they interfere with the relationship between a man and his children. And Joe – I have to repeat it. Despite whatever you say, one fact remains. They are not your children.

Being a stepfather is a hard and thankless job. I know that, I’ve been a stepfather, and one of the reasons I think I’m not anymore is that I wouldn’t be a party to erasing that boy’s father from his life. There is a balance you have to keep constantly of being there for the emergencies, and for the wife, while not replacing that father that is no longer there. And one of the things about a thankless job is that one has no right to grouse and feel resentful when there are no thanks forthcoming. You knew that job was dangerous when you took it.

Joe, if I had one bit of advice, I would say this, namely, avoid women with children like the plague. You will never be first place in their life. You don’t have a common bond of your children together, and you will always be living in the shadow of “Dad.” And that, I think, is where your chief problem lies. Your children love their father. You wife hates their father. Your wife wants to replace him with you. (And if you think those children aren’t aware of that, you are living in a dream world.) You’re stuck in the middle, with those children rejecting you, and wife resenting you for not driving out the “Evil Ex.” And it’s killing you. You’re not alone, Joe. In fact, you are a part of a large and growing number.

It would be hard enough if Dad was dead, but it’s a lot more doable. A ghost isn’t threatening. A ghost isn’t something the kids are going to run to. But with Dad still there, and still a part of his kid’s life is something peace has to be made with, and Joe, it’s up to you to make peace with him on his terms. And if his terms are to step back and keep your opinions to yourself, that’s what you have to do. Sure, you’re entitled to respect, and peace. You’re entitled to not have a drugs brought into your house, to not have loud music played till all hours of the night, kids coming and going all the time, and rooms remodeled. Laying down things like that, though, isn’t being Dad. It’s being the landlord. If little Lisa isn’t paying the phone bill for the phone in her room that has your name on it, you are perfectly entitled to shut it off, and tell her to have her father put up with it on his nickel.

But if Lisa wants eyebrow piercings, and her Mom doesn’t have the nerve to say something, it’s none of your business. If Billy fails his biology exam, it’s not up to you to ground him. If Mary stays out late and comes home drunk, it’s up to mom to punish her, not you. And if your wife is laying that discipline on you, and forcing you to be the bad guy so she doesn’t have to be, you need to step back and take a second look at this picture.

I’ve been on the other side of that fence as well, my friend, so I know both sides of that issue. I remember one time I had planned a father-son camping trip. The day I showed up, as my son was getting his stuff into the car, I was informed by my ex-wife that he had been bad, and was grounded, and that she had cancelled the camping trip, and I was jolly well expected to take him and punish him all weekend with no TV and no Computer either. So I told her to piss up a rope. I told her that if she expected my backing, she damn well was going to involve me in it, or it was her problem to deal with. I was not going to be the heavy and bad guy for her so she could wash her hands of it. She had no business setting conditions on my visitation, and in the future, if she ever pulled that “You’ll get it from your father” crap on me, I’d promptly take the boy for a celebratory dinner and ice-cream.

I’m willing to bet that is exactly what is happening when you say that “Disneyland Dad” refuses to discipline the kids, is that he’s refusing the be the hired gun to let Mom off the hook. It’s part of that whole “custody” thing. One of the downsides is that you have to be the heavy most of the time. And, in addition, you have to involve that other parent.

So, Joe, I’m not unsympathetic to you. But – when all is said and done – they’re not your kids. They have a father. Stop trying to replace him, and you might find your blood pressure going down.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Subject:
To: NOibcpete-at-yahoo.comSPAM

Hey - I already have my email available. I’ll be dipped if I want Spam-Bots to get it.

From: Katie.Michaels@claires.com
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:30:27 -0600

They can, however, have Katie’s all they want.

Hello!

Thank-you for your e-mail inquiry. Please forward your mailing address (and full name) so that we can appropriately respond to you.

Yeah, right. And I’d want you to have this why? GLENN! We need a PO Box for this crap.

Thank-you,
Katie Michaels
Director of Consumer Affairs
Claire’s Stores, Inc.

—————————————————————————
The information in this e-mail may be confidential or privileged. It is intended only for the addressee and access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient of the information in this e-mail, then you are prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing or using the contents of this message. All personal messages express views solely of the sender, which are not to be attributed to Claire’s Stores, Inc., or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, and may not be copied or distributed without this disclaimer. If you received this message in error, please notify us immediately at Customerservice@claires.com or (847) 765-1100.===========================================================================

No, once you send it to me, it becomes MINE. I never agreed before you sent it, so you are cordially invited to plant one on my butt-cheeks.

Well, It looks like Claire’s really doesn’t care about it. Guys, I say it’s time to print out some things, some letters, and start picketing and leafleting stores.

Oh, and if you call that toll-free number for customer service, it costs Claire’s.

Aw, poor South Euclid, Ohio is all in a snit because they can’t steal 1.4 million dollars from the winner of the Powerball Lottery. Seems they failed to update their charter to count lottery winnings as “income.”

Pardon me while I laugh my ass off. Apparently these schmucks were already planning on how they were going to spend the money, when reality slapped them in the face. And the town fathers are all depressed because they can’t access money that wasn’t theirs to begin with. “We’re a million and a half poorer…” No you aren’t, dick with ears - you never had that money to begin with. IT ISN’T YOUR MONEY!

You know, back in the day, the Boy Scouts would do things like paint park benches and do upkeep - but, yeah, that’s right. We don’t want the BSA anymore, they are double-plus-un-PC.

Well, if you had the Churches help the poor … oops. Clumsy me. Have a church help people? Why, if they do that, secularists won’t be able to bitch about how the churches aren’t doing anything.. Fifty lashes, Gonzer, old bean.

I’m just bloody amazed how these damn governments can’t seem to operate within their means. It’s not that hard - don’t spend money you don’t have. I’m a financial moron, and I can get that straight. Curing deficit spending is easy - just don’t spend more money than you have. Too easy, though, for the knuckleheads we elect to office.

Bah. Round in the chamber! BOOM!!!!

Operation Claire’s commences!

My Letter:

To the Management of Claire’s;

Peter S. Jensen

Where’s Your Letter?

Operation Claire’s commences!

My Letter:

To the Management of Claire’s;

Peter S. Jensen

Where’s Your Letter?

Want to get cheesed off? (Unless of course, you’re pinko scum) Click Here.

Apparently “Zero Tolerance” for threats doesn’t apply if you’re on the political right; in that case your solution is to shut up and stay home. Or at least so says Rancho Cotate Principal Mitchell Carter, and the rest of the gang up there who are closing ranks and defending their right to allow Tim to be harassed, threatened, and are doing everything in their power to shut him up and shut him down.

You can reach the district superintendant, Michael Watenpaugh, here. (email Mike) or if your emailer doesn’t come up there, use this address: mike_watenpaugh@crpusd.sonoma.edu. Also, Mitchell Carter, the Principal, Here. Or with this address: mitchell_carter@crpusd.sonoma.edu.

Ask them why the heck they are allowing this to go on.

Well the forces of censorship and political correctness are at it again. Ever since Katelyn Kristine Faber was fingered as the accuser of Kobe Bryant, the thought police have been all over themselves with histronics talking about how “horrible” it is.

I’ll tell you, I have a real problem with this whole case. It stinks. It stinks the way her mental problems and history of accusing ex-boyfriends of “abuse” are irrelevant. I have a problem with the fact that she had sex with at least 2 other guys between the alleged rape and reporting it. The whole list of things that don’t add up gets staggering after a while, little things that just one or two alone wouldn’t be a big deal, but just add up into a big question mark.

But the biggest problem I have is the whole drumhead aspect of modern sexual politics. Anonymous accusations are tools not of modern courts of law, but instead of witch-hunts and inquisitions. And attempts to curtail the freedom of the press, or the right of the accused to confront their accuser makes my skin crawl. Don’t think so? Well, maybe you’ll sing a different tune if it is you, your brother, or your son who is the next target.

Author Olivia Goldsmith, best known for writing the feminist book “The First Wive’s Club” which was made into a movie in 1996, has died from complications resulting from her plastic surgery. Obviously done, of course, because the Patriarchy made her do it.

Wonder if we can take up a collection for Andrea Dworkin to make her the next on the table?

Michelle Wie, 14 year old prodigy, is for some reason getting people all aflutter at the PGA.

Now, I don’t play golf. I tried a few times, and soon figured out I could just as easily drink beer without having to pay a green fee or rent golf clubs. Don’t really have a thrill for the game, and so I doubt I could shoot the score she is shooting. Can’t draw as well as my 12 year old nephew either. Thus, in anticipation of the usual and perennially illogical questions, “So?”

From what I have seen she has to beat her last round by 6 strokes to make the “cut.” While it’s amazing to have a 14 year old play nearly as well as adults, the operative word is still “nearly.” Annika was “nearly.” See a pattern yet?

I mention this because one of my favorite feministas was gloating about Miss Wie’s performance, being one breath away from being cut, last night. I wish I had a photo of her face when I mildly suggested that now that women have come of age, perhaps we should eliminate separate men’s and women’s leagues. Sure solve the Title IX problem, now, wouldn’t it?

I’d report what she said, but I did the tune-out maneuver when she started droning on and on about “opportunity” and similar crap buzzwords. I only came back to earth when she mentioned that the WNBA was doing fine…

Huh?

Whazzat?

“Jen,” I said, “the only reason the WNBA isn’t in receivership is because it is being artificially propped up. The only people you ever see at WNBA games are families. Them and the feminists and lesbians – but I repeat myself.” She started to butt in, but I continued, “Just hold on a second – attendance is crap. They don’t hardly show the games on TV, and when they do, ratings suck. Face it – except for the Women’s Soccer team of a few years back, nobody gives a fuck about women’s sports.”

The response was predictable. ”Which just goes to show sexism is alive and well.” she sniffed.

Here I just dropped my bomb, “No, Jen, it’s because they play like girls.”

The ranting and raving that followed aside, those are essentially the facts. Women don’t excel at sports because most of those sports have been designed by men, to test men’s athleticism. Thus, when they play them, they … duh … play like girls. And they suck.

Why do you think it is that there are no women in the NBA, the NFL, the major leagues? Why do you think that instinctively women have their own leagues?

Jumping Jimmy Christmas. I’ll be impressed when women start competing with men as a matter of course and stop shooting from the red tees. Not when one prodigy does it.

I’ve read where the Supreme Court has legalized the use of roadblocks by police to go fishing for “criminals.”

That’s right. In the interest of public safety, they police may now lay down roadblocks in the name of a dragnet, and stop you, detain you, demand your papers, and then decide to arrest you, ostensibly on warrants or on criminal activity. (Like the famous “Contempt of Cop” charge, maybe?)

Or let’s just break it down to brass tacks - you may now be stopped at any time, any place, for a manufactured excuse, and grilled then arrested if it is determined you pose a danger to society. Now all we have to do is figure out exactly what a “Danger to Society” means.

Thomas Jefferson must be spinning in his grave.

I actually thought I might have to post a retraction. I thought I might have to apologize. Hah! My only error was in thinking I had made a mistake.

Channel 13, WTHR, out of Indianapolis just reported that the caseworker who managed the death of a four year old boy will indeed face charges. Three - count ‘em, three - counts of Official Misconduct. A misdemeanor. Oh, yes. Let us not forget she’s been suspended without pay. Gee, Carl Brizze. Think you’re being awfully rough on the poor lady?

Jesus Heironymious Christ. Insert here about eight paragraphs of swearing without repeating myself once, and I am off to bed.

Can you say, “Slap on the wrist?” Trust the prosecutor to cover CPS’s ass.

By Major Craig Wonson
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 9, 2004

During the invasion phase of the Iraq War, Captain Zan Hornbuckle, a 29-year-old Army officer from Georgia, found himself and his 80 men surrounded by 300 Iraqi and Syrian fighters. Unable to obtain air or artillery support, Captain Hornbuckle and his unit, who were never before in combat, fought for eight hours. When the smoke cleared, 200 of the enemy were dead. Thanks to brilliant combat tactics and personal heroism throughout the unit, not a single American was killed.

But who is the most well-known soldier of the Iraq war? Private Jessica Lynch, whose claim to fame is having been captured and rescued, stirring the hearts, as they say, of the whole country.

Why aren’t the exploits of Captain Zan and his men better known? Reporters were embedded with his unit, witnessed the victory, and wrote about it. And yet, the popular culture has ignored him and many, many like him whose feats matched the heroics of earlier wars in favor of a slip of a young lady who evokes sympathy rather than admiration.

Nothing against Private Jessica, who has suffered for her country. The fact is, the reaction of Americans to the men and women stationed in Iraq is overwhelmingly one of sympathy, of weepy commiseration for their plight, for the danger they are in, for having to be away from their families, and for having to have lived through such horrible experiences. While they deserve our concern for these sacrifices, what happened to our appreciation for the martial virtues, courage, toughness, victory, that the members of our military have been displaying every day?

This is the point of an article by Jonathan Eig in The Wall Street Journal. “Since the Vietnam War,” he writes, “much of the country has tended to venerate survivors more than aggressors, the injured more than those who inflict injuries.”

In World War I, Mr. Eig points out, Americans were stirred by the exploits of warriors like Corporal Alvin York, who single-handedly killed 25 Germans and captured 132 more. In World War II, the whole country feted Lieutenant Audie Murphy for killing 240 of the enemy But today, we seldom honor soldiers for killing, for being warriors.

Even our war movies tend to be antiwar. “When Hollywood makes a war movie,” observes Mr. Eig, “it often focuses on saving American lives, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Behind Enemy Lines, not killing others.”

“We want to fight wars but we don’t want any of our people to die and we don’t really want to hurt anybody else,” says military historian John A. Lynn. “So Private Lynch, who suffers, is a hero even if she doesn’t do much. She suffered for us.”

Treating the members of our military as victims, rather than as warriors, allows politicians to say that they “support our troops,” meaning that they want to bring them home.

Is this because of the feminization of the culture, that while we can still produce macho fighters like Captain Hornbuckle, the culture as a whole only wants to nurture them? Has our culture become pacifist at heart, feeling so guilty at the violence of war that we cannot celebrate actions that violate our ethic of niceness?

Our culture may have channeled all of its warlike values into sports. Here, at least, we still value toughness, strength, and aggression. In sports we still allow ourselves the thrill of victory. But sports are nothing more than play time. In reality, we draw back.

Perhaps our sensitivities are the sign of a refined and peace-loving civilization. But we had better make no mistake about it: Our enemies do not share our sensitivity. Those who want to kill us despise our niceness, and they see our squeamishness about casualties, both our own and those of our enemies, as a weakness.

This in fact motivates terrorists, the conviction that if a few Americans are killed, or even if too many of our enemies are killed, we will feel a national tidal wave of compassion, guilt, and regret. Then we will call our soldiers home, where they will be safe, enjoying our self-righteousness as the terrorists enforce their will on those whom we have abandoned.

This trust in American sentimentality, reinforced every time the terrorists read our editorial writers or listen to a Democratic presidential candidate, encourages them to set bombs and take potshots at our troops. In this case, the warriors really are turned into victims.

I have no idea what the hell I could dare to add to this - Gonz

Okay, George Bush has asked for one and a half Billion (Yes, Billion) to save marriage.

You know, it physically hurt to write that, because the illogic is staggering. Any idiot who takes the time to connect the dots can see that the decline of marriage began when the government decided to tinker with it, to make it more fair, and to fix it to begin with. Now, if we just have some money and fiddle with it some more, it will become all better?

Ye Gods and little fishies. Has someone spiked my coffee with decaf or something? Am I the only one who sees this? George, lad, have you become a Democrat? Throw some cash at it and watch it go away? I mean, come ON. We’d get more use out of that money by taping it together and rolling it up on the toilet paper holder.

I am utterly speechless. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

I just finished re-reading Wendy McElroy’s column on MND, “Children Victimized by System Secrecy.” The only thing I have to say is that Wendy let them off way too easy.

I lived about half of my life in Indianapolis, and still live in Indiana, and I’ll first just state for the record that the Indiana Republican Party is one of the top ten, if not the top, reasons why I left the Republicans for the Libertarians years ago. Wendy, don’t count on any time Carl Brizze (The prosecutor) doing anything more than thumping his chest for the benefit of the press. He’s a political hack, his predecessor Scott Newman was a hack, and Stephen Goldsmith before him was a hack. Any push against the state agencies there will be met with a bitter outcry in political circles, and the puppetmasters will make peace to preserve the status quo, and marching orders will be given to their little poppet Carl. Carl, of course, who has spaghetti for a backbone and wouldn’t know integrity and duty if it bit him on the leg, will do just as he is told. Back off. Don’t rock the boat. And don’t criticize the Indiana Imperial State.

I watched the WTHR (Channel 13) report on this and I have to wonder just how the hell Sue Roberson ever made it to being a director of any kind. Frankly, she has that inbred look, and I’ve seen brighter and more intellegent expressions on the pimply faced geeks who ask me if I’d like to supersize that order. You should get hold of the tape, and see if you don’t come to the same conclusion I did, namely that she holds her post by being too dull witted to think originally and is a good little soldier who will always follow orders, no matter how morally reprehensible they are.

As for the whole situation, Wendy about covered all the important parts, and named the players. It’s just that not being from Indiana she’s probably not had the chance to see that this is the same old Hoosier “We’re investigating, and can’t discuss specifics” dog and pony show which is going on, and will be given as a pat answer until something else takes it out of the spotlight. That’s how Indiana works, folks. Keep “investigating” until people forget about it, then sweep it under the rug. Of course their definition of an investigation is the occasional memo, the dusty file on the bottom of a pile, and a brief mention in the monthly meeting. A vigorous investigation is one in which it gets mention in the weekly meeting.

Same old, same old. A kid is dead, and they punished the triggerman. And woman. Since the person who called out the hit is a state employee, don’t count on anything more.

You might wonder what “The Other Gonz” on the sidebar is. Long and short of it is that yes, there is another Blog over there. And I have been trying to figure what to do with it.

Well, I think I have come up with it.

While there will probably be no small amount of crossover, I think I’m going to keep both sites open. I’ll use the MND Bar and Grill for issues germaine more to Men’s Activism, and reserve that site for rejected articles that I still think are worth reading, plus things that I want to make clear (or I am not sure) are not endorsed in any way by Mike and MND. On top of that, there’s probably going to be a lot of off-topic stuff I’ll still want to rant about, which just wouldn’t make sense on this site.

Thanks for the soapbox, Mike!

Many thanks to Mike LaSalle for giving me the space here to post. I don’t know if I say it enough, but he’s been very kind in giving a loudmouthed and opinionated grouch a soapbox with which to vent and take the H&K with the rock salt loads to the hordes of jackasses which are the bane of Western Civilization. As I already believe that EVERYONE is entitled to my opinion, you can rest assured that I will be here taking on the minions of evil, and enemies of God and Man, with bare-handed combat if need be.

Though I do have this thing for Claymores. No, knucklehead, the swords.

It’s been, for a welcome change, a quiet day for the boneheads. Mike has posted my latest article and I’d like to just expand on my thesis a little more. That’s the trouble with writing. You write, and snip, and write some more, fold-spindle-and-mutilate it, and then when you send it off you always think of what you should have said, or wish you hadn’t taken out. I thought it really wasn’t smooth with the rest of my train of thought, but, I think it bears mention.

A couple weeks ago I wrote something which was a hard-core advice piece on what men should do when a divorce looms, namely, get her before she gets you, because the court isn’t your friend. Part of the new article deals with the fact that people thought it just awful that I would suggest putting the meat to women in a divorce case.

Little background. See, one lady observed to me that it proved men COULD win in divorce. Indeed they can, or at least stand a scrapping chance, but if and only if they are willing to do the things that are against their natures, and which are looked down upon by society. I remember standing in front of the judge duuring divorce #2, which I pretty much survived from, and being scolded because I refused to admit paternity, challenged it, and said I’d be happy to pay for the test as there was no way, unless a Star appeared in the East and I was God Allmighty, that I could be the father of her baby. Hell, I hadn’t even seen the woman for two years, and she had a 6 month old brat. You do the math. And here she is trying to stick me with the support because I was free and had a job, and her thang was doing a stretch in the Florida Crowbar Hotel for grand theft auto.

I think the game has been set up in such a way that a man can win - only if he is willing to be the sonouvabitch. And since most men get all stiff backed at the thought of being unchivalrous, and shamed into “Doing the Right Thing” that it’s a setup for failure.

A lot is made of women not being taught to say no. Well, there’s plenty of that to go around. And we’uns as men need to do quite a bit of learning to say no ourselves, and not tossing away ourselves and our lives because someone else has decided that pulling your girlfriend’s chestnuts out of a fire she set is the thing to do to “Be A Real Man”

First step of being a real man is being true to yourself. You can’t do that if you are living your life to please other people.