Maher stole this rant from H. L. Mencken:

“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Get your free Pocket BARACK-itizer here.

No, Americans are not smart enough. Americans are numbed into drone-like responsiveness by product advertising (including when the product is a political candidate). And the talking points that the Clinton and (especially) Obama supporters are hyping in the previous C&L threads (and on similar threads on HuffPost, etc) confirm that progressives are as gullible as the kool-aid drinkers on the right to the marketing spin that political campaigns dish out.

Of course they are not. So many Americans were willing to believe that a third rate country like Iraq somehow posed a threat to the biggest military power on the planet. It was a contest to see who were the bigger fools, the average flag waving patriotic American or the compliant media, who, with the exceptions of people like Phil Donahue and Amy Goodman in television land, gladly went along with the propaganda that the government was feeding them.

BoilThemInTheirOil @ 3:

No, Americans are not smart enough. Americans are numbed into drone-like responsiveness by product advertising (including when the product is a political candidate). And the talking points that the Clinton and (especially) Obama supporters are hyping in the previous C&L threads (and on similar threads on HuffPost, etc) confirm that progressives are as gullible as the kool-aid drinkers on the right to the marketing spin that political campaigns dish out.

Very well said. During every American election, the average American will once again fall prey to the claim that a certain politician is America's [alleged] agent of hope and change, without bothering to look past the smooth talk and fancy rhetoric put forth by people such as Obama and Clinton and actually take the trouble to analyze what he or she is saying. Pull back the curtain and the Democrats are exposed for the charlatans that they actually are. Yet Americans believe that Obama will somehow take them to the promised land.

Americans are idiots. See the Fedex commercial where the guy is supposed to put the pin into China on the map? Yeah. I have kids who come into the library, don't want books, but use the Internet for research and will use anything they find in their reports. There's no fact checking, no second thoughts on whether the information is factual. People don't take the time to check anything.

My problem as both an employee and employer has been that I am stuck hiring gen y kids, when the phrase out to be gen "WHY". Because I am constantly having to explain why they have to do this or that, or why I chose them to do xyz. It's a major problem in this country now. None of the kids coming into the workforce understand the concept of doing the job because its your job.

In Mike Judge's movie "Idiocracy", the president of the US 500 years from now is a WWF superstar with no experience or common sense. The movie is very prophetic, but it feels like it's going on now, not 500 years from now.

Bush himself is too stupid to be involved with 9/11 but that doesn't mean the people who back him aren't. Also, Maher is wrong about the "planning" bit if you consider that if the plan was to never leave Iraq, then everything worked perfectly didn't it?

Oh, I was wondering if Bush was behind 9-11. That clears that up.

Quiet Burp @ 12:

Bill Maher is a typical American moron!

And your A-typical of the morons that call Bill Maher a moron.

Maher might want to take some of his own advice, the guy who founded the weather channel states Gore should be sued for hyping Global Warming, just because they said it on some liberal blogs does not make it true Bill, do alittle research..

[Deleted. Old rule. Knock it off with the 9/11 stuff-Sitemonitor]

Erroll @ 7:

Pull back the curtain and the Democrats are exposed for the charlatans that they actually are. Yet Americans believe that Obama will somehow take them to the promised land.

Maybe Obama and the other Democrats can't lead us to the promised land, but it is CERTAIN that Bush, McCain, and the rest of the Republicans are leading us into hell. I'll take my chances with the possibility that a Democratic president could slow our descent, because a Republican president--McCain, that is--will simply accelerate our damnation and drag the world down with us.

If you need evidence of this, look at the state of America and the world before the 2000 election and compare it to the start of 2008. Don't feed me the "9/11 changed everything" line, because that's bull. It didn't change our Constitution, yet for 7 years now the Republicans have been actively seeking to eradicate key protections from that document. Sadly, the Democrats have been willing partners every step of the way, but at least a few of them have tried to limit the damage.

Yes, let's look at what the candidates are actually saying. McCain says more of what Bush has done, 100 years in Iraq, etc. Hillary says more of what the Clinton era did for America, get us OUT of Iraq (with some forces likely remaining for some period), and NO MORE of Bush-style "America." Obama says time for change, time for hope, time to get America back to something Americans can be proud of, time to get OUT of Iraq, and more of what America was like under Kennedy and/or Clinton.

I'm pretty sure that America is doomed within the next generation or so anyway, so we have nothing to lose by trying a Democratic president, and everything to lose by continuing the utterly failed policies of Bush and the Republicans. At least Obama and Hillary seem to imagine the same kind of America that I grew up in, while McCain and his ilk clearly think America needs to be more like the early-1980s Soviet Union.

I'll go with the hope-laced sales pitches over the fear-filled sales pitch any day.

grs @ 22:

ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

My problem as both an employee and employer has been that I am stuck hiring gen y kids, when the phrase out to be gen "WHY". Because I am constantly having to explain why they have to do this or that, or why I chose them to do xyz. It's a major problem in this country now. None of the kids coming into the workforce understand the concept of doing the job because its your job.

Most under 40's, can't even wipe their own noses now. They live at home, in mom's basement, for free. Go to work when they feel like it. Know everything, but never did anything. And you can't get a days work out of them if you were legally able to flog them. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Ah, the gripe of the baby boomers. They claimed to fight the establishment that held them down and now they claim kids these days don't do squat. At what point will the boomers realize they're the ones who followed along and let the current mess erupt? On all fronts. Thanks boomers. I mean, who's been voting and putting people in office the past 40 years? The "under 40's" will handle it from here on out.

Handle What? You have to have to have a purpose before you can handle anything.

That's a keeper!

grs @ 22:

ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

My problem as both an employee and employer has been that I am stuck hiring gen y kids, when the phrase out to be gen "WHY". Because I am constantly having to explain why they have to do this or that, or why I chose them to do xyz. It's a major problem in this country now. None of the kids coming into the workforce understand the concept of doing the job because its your job.

Most under 40's, can't even wipe their own noses now. They live at home, in mom's basement, for free. Go to work when they feel like it. Know everything, but never did anything. And you can't get a days work out of them if you were legally able to flog them. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Ah, the gripe of the baby boomers. They claimed to fight the establishment that held them down and now they claim kids these days don't do squat. At what point will the boomers realize they're the ones who followed along and let the current mess erupt? On all fronts. Thanks boomers. I mean, who's been voting and putting people in office the past 40 years? The "under 40's" will handle it from here on out.

Not all boomers vote Republican. If you find the need to lay blame lay it on a dumbed down electorate that eats up the shit the Republican Party puts on the table as if it's manna from Heaven. Don't forget to include the gen x'ers that are too busy with their own self indulgence to be bothered with being active participants in the nations democracy. Your shallow myopic analysis of why things are so f'd up does not bode well for your smug and dimwitted prediction of the under 40's crowd solving today's problems. Now run off and play another video game.

So Erroll, where will McBush take America? How about Iran.

chris @ 21:

Maher might want to take some of his own advice, the guy who founded the weather channel states Gore should be sued for hyping Global Warming, just because they said it on some liberal blogs does not make it true Bill, do alittle research..

That comes straight off Republican Senator James (craziest motherf#@ker in Congress) Inhofe's web site doesn't it?

chris @ 21:

Maher might want to take some of his own advice, the guy who founded the weather channel states Gore should be sued for hyping Global Warming, just because they said it on some liberal blogs does not make it true Bill, do alittle research..

Climate and Weather are two different things you ass hat! I bet you say: "oooh its cold today, I guess that proves there is no global warming" Its one thing to not know anything and another to go out and try to prove it everyday.

[To borrow from another site monitor at the top of the thread: Deleted. Old rule. Knock it off with the 9/11 stuff. Site Monitor]

Maher isn't smarter than that, for sure, either -- judging from his most recent proud fratboy sexist rantings.

Sitemonitor bellowed -
" [Deleted. Old rule. Knock it off with the 9/11 stuff-Sitemonitor] "

[Deleted. No, we are not kidding. We consider the conspiracy topic off limits and we have from the beginning. If you'd like clarification, please consult the commenting policy and/or contact the site team. Links to both are located at the upper left of the page. Thank you. Site Monitor]

Gotugye @ 31:

grs @ 22:

ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

Most under 40's, can't even wipe their own noses now. They live at home, in mom's basement, for free. Go to work when they feel like it. Know everything, but never did anything. And you can't get a days work out of them if you were legally able to flog them. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Ah, the gripe of the baby boomers. They claimed to fight the establishment that held them down and now they claim kids these days don't do squat. At what point will the boomers realize they're the ones who followed along and let the current mess erupt? On all fronts. Thanks boomers. I mean, who's been voting and putting people in office the past 40 years? The "under 40's" will handle it from here on out.

Not all boomers vote Republican. If you find the need to lay blame lay it on a dumbed down electorate that eats up the shit the Republican Party puts on the table as if it's manna from Heaven. Don't forget to include the gen x'ers that are too busy with their own self indulgence to be bothered with being active participants in the nations democracy. Your shallow myopic analysis of why things are so f'd up does not bode well for your smug and dimwitted prediction of the under 40's crowd solving today's problems. Now run off and play another video game.

Never claimed boomers vote Republican. I'm saying our current politcal, social, economic, and "dumbing down of America" woes lay at the feet of the boomers. They are the largest voting block and have been for some time. Don't start blaming this all on the "youngsters", especially considering the boomers raised the "youngsters". And I love how us gen x'ers were once "good fer nothin' slackers that wouldn't amount to anything" and have now become "self indulgent comsumers too busy to be bothered". The Gen x'ers still see the horrid state of affairs and how the current system is out of whack and refuse to play the same old standard because it gets you squat. The saddest part is the the Gen Y's see how being a self righteous jerk and jumping on the GOP band wagon can get you ahead in the standard backwards system. Just own up to your product boomers and stop placing blame at everyone else's feet.

Very well said. During every American election, the average American will once again fall prey to the claim that a certain politician is America’s [alleged] agent of hope and change, without bothering to look past the smooth talk and fancy rhetoric put forth by people such as Obama and Clinton and actually take the trouble to analyze what he or she is saying. Pull back the curtain and the Democrats are exposed for the charlatans that they actually are. Yet Americans believe that Obama will somehow take them to the promised land.

So how did 51 percent of americans fall prey to the "Non-smooth" talking George Bush?

At least 29 percent , still believe "he's da man".

And further believed that Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson were "Studs"....

Heaven help us.

oh and to clydesalerno, i don't for a minute believe that 51% americans fell prey to GW. We all did when we failed to bring to attention the numerous voting irregularities that are still plaguing us.

fellow_voyager @ 49:

oh and to clydesalerno, i don't for a minute believe that 51% americans fell prey to GW. We all did when we failed to bring to attention the numerous voting irregularities that are still plaguing us.

more like 85%.
you can't blame people for being caught up in all that hysteria after 9/11.
It's the ones who still buy that BS that are the problem. Me, I never believed any of it.from day one.

Ah yes, no one does a better chinked up chink impression like Bill Maher.

We Amerikanz iz smarty! U say we dumb we bomb u! LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

And Joe Scarborough in the background trying not to laugh but thinking to himself how he can be that witty on his show.

grs: and while you're at it,try digging in environmental issues as well.

Booty K Jones @60
The only point I was trying to make is ,grs can't lump us all into the same bunch.
The Baby Boomer Generation has had some accomplishments.Along with their failures.But to blame an entire Generation is ludicrous.And the same can be said for ALL generations.All I wanted was for grs to do some research,before he/she goes off accusing a entire generation.

Nebby @ 17:

Oh, I was wondering if Bush was behind 9-11. That clears that up.

OLD RULE: (As it is not ironic that that jag-off Scarborough was one of Marr's guests--which garners new meaning to the term "wing man," Marr himself is quite a Circus Barker and Bear Baiter)... So it stands that any mention of this Reynold's wrapped cranium 9-1-1 stuff should henceforth elicit the following response: “Where’s the taser?” "Tase him bro!" For anyone with audacity to have lingering questions along these lines deserves to be “Led away in handcuffs and hopefully taken to one of those secret prisons in eastern Europe and never to be heard from again...?" http://rawstory.com/news/2008/MSNBC_hopes_secret_prison_for_911_0304.html

Is this hyperbole? Or just a nice sentiment for all you Übermenschen, transhumanist intellectuals types, huh? At twenty-times removed from vital contact with your fellow creature (thanks to all the "global village" crap we brought for with a second mortgage on our Constitution), its easy to follow the inbred instinct to wrap the foul conspiracy thing in paper or plastic and toss it down the memory hole, right? Especially when no one can grab you in hand because of the virtual ring of power that enshrouds us in our cars, on the internet, in our houses, and in our hearts. This loophole makes us no better than the Chickenhawks who gladly treat our citizens in uniform like Pez dispensers for their end times video game Bacchanalia.

Coincident to this, it seems the art of discourse has been replaced with doin' the dozens, sadomasochistic soul barbs, and just plain gleeful Machiavellian character assassination. That is when things don't jive with the haughty, middle class, cocksure zeitgeist that relives us of any confusion with a flush. And yeah, our minds are not like sales territory for the global elite or anything, so our judgment is sound... I think.

Yet as wisdom dictates, if God is talking to you, get a second opinion. The charming feature of such an autocratic "up or down vote" to anything that rubs us wrong, is that as soon as we discount anything that interrupts to flow of contiguous thoughts that fit within our predetermined, preprogrammed parameters, we drain whatever we consider of all organic relevance to things that exists outside of this mental diorama. As such errant thoughts become suspended in a kind informatic DMZ. The media equivalent to intellectual renditioning.

'Cause we can no longer entertain questions that linger past the limits of our test subject gaze. Our thinking is now date stamped by some looming authority, as we travel this barren cerebral landscape, a true wasteland filled with the moans of the clone of Mauberly, replete with a looped soundtrack of Tibetan Heart Sutras.

For fear--(of not getting what we want or loosing what we have), which destabilizes us into fight or flight like some third world economy beset by the IMF--is now a highly regulated enterprise (unlike the environment, food and drug safety and nuclear waste), and is manufactured under the strict supervision of those who know better than us how the story should unfold. They have the pedigree, while we mutts should take our desserts, justly or unjustly, and just heel.

For along with this kind of creeping consent, where we knee jerk vote against our own best interests, this form of self-censorship is the antithesis, in intent, of the first amendment. As such, the rights of ownership can now freely subvert reason to its own interests, which allows such power to make irrelevant all dissent by simply filing it in the koo-koo for Coco Puffs category.

And this is generally done with extreme prejudice, at will, often with some deceptive appeal to the emotions. As such, this cannot be assumed to be allied with any expression of independent thought, as it is little more than window dressing for any egalitarian impulse that it might portend to be a panoramic view, when if fact it is little more than a post card vetted of all offending content à la Stalin.

Vaclav Havel once wrote that, "When civility goes, democracy soon follows...." From this one could conclude, in the present sense, any extant trust that may have once framed such decorum, has been winnowed away from us by the afore mentioned electronic Nirvana. Which to the contrary, has created neither consensus nor community, but heighten the adversarial tensions, resulting in some cases with a paranoiac disjunct with reality. As such, our interactions with one another have become a bother.

Yet, as we have allowed the bit to be shoved into our mouths, and have been willing participants in allowing our senses to be blighted by a fine array of personal tech, we have been spun into a stupor by a deadly concoction of cheap imports, meds, and infotainment. So can we really wonder why so many people go postal, throw temper tantrums when thing don't hook-up with our self-assured bits of personal hegemony, or more to the point, find it hard to swallow the various versions of the 9/11 saga?

Now I'm not a "truther." And I personally think many of them are not driven so much by conviction or fact as they are by self-promotion. For I don't need a commission report or a YouTube video to lead me to suspect my government is more than capable of malfeasance. And history will bear me out on this in grueling, sad detail... For when we no longer care for community and the nation and its citizenry, we lose the glue that keeps this melting pot into a blood bath. (And I don't think this coincidental that things have turned so mean--it merits a mixed metaphor.)

On the other hand, I know that compassion is generally wrought of pain. So if you live in a bubble, constantly surveilled by a "trustworthy" in loco parentis, "We just want to keep you safe from yourself" con-blob-erate like the DHS, and you swallow all the tackle, it is almost assured that you'll never have to give a crap about anybody but yourself. You can salve your bleeding heart by giving a dollar to homeless animals at Pet Smart, while, as UNICEF claims, 25-30 thousand 0 to 5 five year olds disappear daily from preventable causes, and you won't have think nothing of it, at all....

In so many ways, as you can guess, I lament this "life," for its artificiality, its corporatized ledgermain, its hyperreality, all meant to quell individual thought by supplanting in importance the study of the scripted, self-referential, "inherit the wind" existence that stands in for what was once quaintly desired above all, and that was liberty. For if you remember your Jefferson, as it has been "...left to [us] to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government...," we have without hesitation chosen the former, time and again, ceding our duty to be "well informed." So that raises the question, do we still deserve the fruits of such thinking? For only if we do not quell debate, do we have some chance against the lying, corporatist press.

And I know, some of the twin towers freaks want to make you want to yak with their fractured fairy tales, but I believe it is important to let them babble. 'Cause as you, via Marr, well point out, we aren't "smarter than that..." I just think that meanness, intolerance and exclusion are the bugbears of fascism, that we, as progressives, cannot afford to fall prey to that kind divide-and-conquer BS. So that's what I think of your "old rule." I hope you reconsider...within reason.

mudshark @ 61:

Booty K Jones @60
The only point I was trying to make is ,grs can't lump us all into the same bunch.
The Baby Boomer Generation has had some accomplishments.Along with their failures.But to blame an entire Generation is ludicrous.And the same can be said for ALL generations.All I wanted was for grs to do some research,before he/she goes off accusing a entire generation.

I hear your point and it's valid. There were sweeping generalizations made about "people under 40" and it was ridiculous. But when I look back at the largest voting block in probably all of American history, boomers love to wear rose colored glasses. They all saw the Beatle's play their first gig, they all marched for civil rights, they all marched for equal rights, they all protested Vietnam, etc. But no one sold out along the way and started doing things on the slide? Come on. Current generations weren't there for the "good changes" but we've heard all about them. What we've witnessed first hand is the avalanche of things that have lead to the "dumbing of America" (which this thread is about) and seen them glorified on TV.

You think a 30 something runs NBC and greenlights all those reality shows? A 20 year old is setting school curriculums? I don't know what research you expect someone to do. I really don't see this facet as a partisan issue, but a generational issue. The boomers peers are running the show. There's plenty of bright, young people out there as well as boomers still fighting the good fight. On a whole, the current establishment, mass marketers, corporations, monopolizers, etc. have taken every bit of horrid knowledge gained in the past 50 years and are purposefully using it to dumb down all generations of the electorate. So it pains me when I hear boomers claim "kids these days" when they've had the most influence the longest and still have that voting influence, but bitch about the youth when they've directly influenced how youth responds. What exists now is what the boomers created or have let been created.

I would like to think all generations can actually unite and move this country forward for one common purpose. But I honestly feel that the boomers need to own their product. I think boomers are coming back around and realizing their vigilance slipped while they focused on their own persons and livelihoods. But in that wake, current generations have picked up the bad habits and need to shake them off like a dog with fleas or we're all in trouble. I hate the new buzzword "change" since what's needed is change but restructuring and reformation. "Change" makes it sound easy.

[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]

[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]

The elites are just as stupid, why? What is an elite in contemporary society, but a talentless anti-intellectual with connections!

Seriously, some of you need to lighten up.

"Bush wasn't either. Why? Because it actually worked and involved planning"

Hehehehe.

BoilThemInTheirOil @ 3:

No, Americans are not smart enough. Americans are numbed into drone-like responsiveness by product advertising (including when the product is a political candidate). And the talking points that the Clinton and (especially) Obama supporters are hyping in the previous C&L threads (and on similar threads on HuffPost, etc) confirm that progressives are as gullible as the kool-aid drinkers on the right to the marketing spin that political campaigns dish out.

Really? And what are you? A God fearing, moralistic p\Plutocrat who hates the Constitution and wants everyone to fall in line with your superior ideas? The Repugs are the most selfish, stupid people on the planet. Look up Plutocrat, Jerk.

Keep in mind, Maher is a comedian.

Case in point:

chris @ 21:

Maher might want to take some of his own advice, the guy who founded the weather channel states Gore should be sued for hyping Global Warming, just because they said it on some liberal blogs does not make it true Bill, do alittle research..

ROFL! What a maroon...

His sarcasm is getting a bit boring. And taking the piss out of Bush is just laziness, talk about an easy target. You want real satire watch the day today or Brasseye.

People on both the left and the right, fall for false propaganda. Both wings play the fear card. As for global warming, this winter has seen the greatest snow covering since 1966, across the northern hemisphere.

Jacka$$ Joe Scarborough's filibuster performance along with consistently talking over other guests was rude and uncalled for.

Otay- It is Moron.

Marooned is being left somewhere. On an Island, Perhaps? K

Bush being stupid was funny in 02. It's really not funny anymore. People are dying and our government face a crisis of legitimacy, all because American don't know what the hell is going on. Not because there stupid, bot beacuse the
Bush being stupid was funny in 02. It's really not funny anymore. People are dying and our government faces a crisis of legitimacy, all because Americans don't know what the hell is going on. Not because they’re stupid, or because they hold Baptist believes. Americans are ignorant because the mass media lies.
Bill Maher is offensive. He always makes unfunny racial remarks. He’s very anti-Christian and anti-Muslim if you pay attention to his show. He also attempts to marginalize the 9-11 activist community, but refuses to debate the topic. Being involved in 9-11 activism myself I will assure you that nobody actually thinks Bush was responsible.

I for one am very disappointed in the monitoring of this site. It shows fear, denial, and childishness.

I guess my "maroon" comment served as the bright shiny object.

Wow @ 93:

I for one am very disappointed in the monitoring of this site. It shows fear, denial, and childishness.

Me too. I've been coming to this website for years now. Heck, its my home page. I love this site. In fact, its been one of the few places that has not tried to censor non-offensive speech...until recently.

Why? Is it because we are nearing an election? Who knows.

If it is because an election is looming, then I gotta laugh. Why? Because we always criticize our "leaders" for taking the politically safe road, yet we (I'm speaking very generally here, of course) rarely choose to take those same risks that we want to see them take.

How do we expect to have a real dialogue on issues that really matter if we self-censor expressions, opinions, and most importantly, facts?

I realize that 9/11 is not a topic we can discuss out in the open lest we subject ourselves to ridicule. For me, after extensive research and lots of meditation on the subject, I can't shut up about it. Censor this if you must.

But like Martin Luther King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." No lie can live forever. You will reap what you sow.

The Bulldog Manifesto @ 97:

Wow @ 93:

I for one am very disappointed in the monitoring of this site. It shows fear, denial, and childishness.

Me too. I've been coming to this website for years now. Heck, its my home page. I love this site. In fact, its been one of the few places that has not tried to censor non-offensive speech...until recently.

Why? Is it because we are nearing an election? Who knows.

If it is because an election is looming, then I gotta laugh. Why? Because we always criticize our "leaders" for taking the politically safe road, yet we (I'm speaking very generally here, of course) rarely choose to take those same risks that we want to see them take.

How do we expect to have a real dialogue on issues that really matter if we self-censor expressions, opinions, and most importantly, facts?

I realize that 9/11 is not a topic we can discuss out in the open lest we subject ourselves to ridicule. For me, after extensive research and lots of meditation on the subject, I can't shut up about it. Censor this if you must.

But like Martin Luther King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." No lie can live forever. You will reap what you sow.

the problem with mahers on bushes being smart enough to plan 911 is!!!!!!!!!!! his masters were doing it for him!!!!!!!!

K @ 100:

otay-

Um, Certainly not the "bright and shiney comment" by any means.

And I have other things that I would rather do than "research Bugs Bunny, on the internet".

Please pardon my complete ignorance on The Bugs persona.

I doubt however, that I will correct this gross ignorance anytime soon. K

Good for you. Just keep searching out and pointing to those little bright and shiny objects you distract yourself into thinking are critically important.

I'll consider throwing a few more silly phrases your way to keep you busy.

K @ 102:

otay

Oh goody, goody!

I thought it was you that sent out the "bright and shiny" comments/ideas/objects. I don't remember orginating the "bright and shiny" at all.

Can't wait for more of your silliness. I have so little to keep me busy and amused these days.

Off to twiddle my thumbs for some critically important entertainment for the night.

Toodles, K

Yes, I originated it and you sure fell for it. Now twiddle your thumbs.

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

My problem as both an employee and employer has been that I am stuck hiring gen y kids, when the phrase out to be gen "WHY". Because I am constantly having to explain why they have to do this or that, or why I chose them to do xyz. It's a major problem in this country now. None of the kids coming into the workforce understand the concept of doing the job because its your job.

Oh man you don't know the half of it. I was in a Subway, placed my order,the kid was watching American Idiot, I kept having to repeat the order because she wasn't paying attention,ultimately getting the order wrong. Then wanted to toss it all to do it again correctly,I said,'No, why waste the food?' I complained,her feelings were hurt and said I should have been nicer about it all. "I asked if she was paid to watch T.V. or make sandwiches. Her friend had to ring up the sale because she was so overwhelmed and had to retreat to the rear. And of course I was the bad guy for saying anything,

ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 24:

grs @ 22:

ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 18:

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

Most under 40's, can't even wipe their own noses now. They live at home, in mom's basement, for free. Go to work when they feel like it. Know everything, but never did anything. And you can't get a days work out of them if you were legally able to flog them. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Ah, the gripe of the baby boomers. They claimed to fight the establishment that held them down and now they claim kids these days don't do squat. At what point will the boomers realize they're the ones who followed along and let the current mess erupt? On all fronts. Thanks boomers. I mean, who's been voting and putting people in office the past 40 years? The "under 40's" will handle it from here on out.

Current employee shortages in certain industries, and lower production outputs prove you wrong. You can't handle any situation living in your mom's house letting her wash your dirty underwear.

you know what, fuck you. Im under 40, got laid off froom my job 3 months ago. Ive been going out to look for jobs everyday since,( 9 in the morning to 6 at night). The only "why" i ask is why aren't these people hiring me. I would love to put in an honest days work from 9-5 but it just doesnt happen.
you my friend are a jackass.

[Deleted. Off topic and bandwidth is expensive. The comment space is reserved for comments that relate to the topic of the post. You may not reprint lengthy text from your own works or those of others, including news articles-Sitemonitor]

It amazes me that people and especially mass media haven't given more thought to Ron Paul. I'm through with trying to keep up with the daily political chat from hacks on MSNBC, Fox and CNN. When my friends question me on why I won't ever vote again then pummel me with the "then you don't deserve to complain" thing...I refer them to the George Carlin bit about I have every right to complain as I"M not the one who voted in President X...they are! Think about it. I have chosen to watch this game play out from the sidelines...not because the fight ain't worth it...it's because the referees have been paid off long before we ever even heard of Bush and Clinton...

Erroll @ 5:

Of course they are not. So many Americans were willing to believe that a third rate country like Iraq somehow posed a threat to the biggest military power on the planet. It was a contest to see who were the bigger fools, the average flag waving patriotic American or the compliant media, who, with the exceptions of people like Phil Donahue and Amy Goodman in television land, gladly went along with the propaganda that the government was feeding them.

and if we don't fight them on their soil, we will have to fight those evildoers on ours.

Great! but please stop to say "Americans" because I'm american an not from the US, or what do you think the Europeans will say when we say -the Europeans are stupids- talking about the French, or the Brits.

Please learn about Geography, or like Bill Maher said -"There are a little box where you can get information"-

Thanks

Unity & Truth .… for ALL.
You cannot have unity when you have power. Why? Because power is just another word for division. To gain power, all a person needs to do is divide others. To build upon the differences which exist. Like creed, race, nationality, stature, possessions, gender, and “body profiles” too. When we compare, meaning to judge others, we are doing it to gain power for power is meaningless is there is no-potential/nothing-to-compare-with. Like having 100kvolts overhead but not grounding it. Like only heat and not having something that is colder.

Unity is just another word for the absolute truth and you can only have absolute truth when you have both the potential and the kinetic. Having just the knowledge but not the power, like being “religious”, say, in that having never, ever, met with “god”, means that you cannot handle the truth/knowledge and vice versa, if you only have the power [the kinetic] but not the truth in that you do not know what the power is really for [because you are only seeing part of the complete picture], yu will not be able to handle the power.

Truth means Throughput whereas mere knowledge or mere power means Accumulation. If someone was to offer you a job that will age you considerably, gives you psycho-somatic illnessness like cardiovascular disease, sleepless nights [unless you are an irresponsible idiot or lunatic], makes you worry & judgemental all the time [i.e. a power mongrel], causes you be be constantly combative [oxygen combustive] and more, would you think that you’ve been chosen by “god”, “luck”, “fame”, “power”, “immortality”, etc? No? So how come every idiot or lunatic who gets to be president feels that they have been priviledged to become someone ”great”. Because none, other than some of the original founding fathers of the USA, sees the job as a necessity instead of gaining power which means more genetalia cleansing, more whores, drugs, excessess, etc.

When a person do not know what and why he is born for, regardless of beliefs, he strives for power. There is no such a thing as democracy, the call-sign of the “know-it-all” blankness, when there is no Morality and Morality means who you really, really are whereas “morality”, or finger-pointing, means “who the other idiot or lunatic should be”, the pet past-time of the topdogs, sadists et al. Democracy means abandonment, the freedom to be nonsensical, when you do not know what or why you are born for [and “communism” merely means the lack of freedom to be sensible]. Morality is that which is benelovent to ALL, without a single exception. Impossible? When you are an Imperialist, “Capitalist” or “Ccommunist”, of course. Ask youself this, “How do we see, breathe and manage our heartbeats regardless of how cruel or subtle we are” ? [Don’t ask quackery and its “handlers” about unconditional love for they are financially & morally numbed after counting into the millions but how quick they jump to the offensive when the round of finger-pointing starts, like “virus”, gene mis-sequencing, etc].

If we do not accept what or who we really, really are, we do not [know how to] love ourself and when we do not love ourself first, we won’t [know how to] love others. A hypocrite is he who had damaged himself first before emerging to damage others. When a human judges himself only, he benefits and becomes a reflection of absoluteness whereas a finger-pointer judges/preaches/compares to damage himself and others at the same time. One reason why The Absolute, not necessarily the religious [for they are mostly lunatics, regardless of the “religion”] seems so impenetrable for that which is absolute [ly truthful] is untarnishable.

Vote for the one who IS truthful, not the one who spouts about truth. Do not be one of the “know-it-all” blankness who has voted an idiot or a lunatic time and again. And these types can demand “democracy” and “truth” from others? Welcome to Uncle Sam.

E_I @ 9:

Americans are idiots. See the Fedex commercial where the guy is supposed to put the pin into China on the map? Yeah. I have kids who come into the library, don't want books, but use the Internet for research and will use anything they find in their reports. There's no fact checking, no second thoughts on whether the information is factual. People don't take the time to check anything.

Most kids like that prefer to plagiarise from the web instead of books because they are too lazy to write. They prefer copy and paste. If the books were on-line they would use them.

For example: a friend of mine had a problem with his employees using ridiculously easy usernames and passwords. I told him to pick everyone's username/password for them. But he also sucked at creating good passwords. I remembered he had "The Silmarillion" on his bookshelf and told him he'd find a ton of memorable yet unusual, non-dictionary words in there. He liked that idea and said he'd do it immediately. A month later he still hadn't changed anyone's passwords. So I found a .pdf of The Silmarillion and sent it to him. 2 days later, everyone had usernames and passwords that are almost impossible to guess.

Akufen @ 120:

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

My problem as both an employee and employer has been that I am stuck hiring gen y kids, when the phrase out to be gen "WHY". Because I am constantly having to explain why they have to do this or that, or why I chose them to do xyz. It's a major problem in this country now. None of the kids coming into the workforce understand the concept of doing the job because its your job.

That's not the concept of doing a job that's the concept of being a robot, or a slave...

Since when is doing what is expected of you-- that you agreed to do in exchange for money-- criteria for slavery?
Here's an example:
I'm sure the sitemonitors aren't all that happy about banning people for making idiotic statements--
OK, maybe they are--
--but still, it's a task that they agreed to undertake because it has a purpose.
If you decide to take a job, do it.
I'm 29. I'm part of that "lazy generation" that LA and the others were talking about. It's a generalization, to be sure, but it's certainly not a gross one.
I work in the IT field at a college adminstrative department. It's always shocked me how people in my age range prefer to be as intellectually lazy as possible in a place where people are footing the bill for them to fuck up. Since the 70's, it seems like most people will only put forth effort to achieve great things if they believe no one's gonna bail them out. I don't think that vibe was ever so strong as it is in this era.

Apathy and selective misanthropy isn't productive to HUMANITY, let alone society, but pop culture these days seems to be all about it. It's not so much that we're stupid-- is that we're self-absorbed. When you're busy looking at yourself in the mirror, you usually can't notice someone setting fire to your home.