Fred's New Fred
I found an article that I can recommend to anyone that is considering paying for a college education.
http://www.amconmag.com/2004_09_27/article1.html This Fred Reed was an unknown to me, but his name caught my eye because I grew up with a guy whose name was the same (This isn't him).
A whole lot of what he says rings a bell for me. Being more than a few years out of higher education, I was enlightened by how much seems to have changed. Evidently, this Fred Reed has written some books. The first one that I plan to read is "Nekkid in Austin".
28 November 2005
24 November 2005
Thanksgiving and other things
So gluttony reigns today. Let us hope we can also remember the things for which we can and should be thankful.
In CH (Switzerland), there is no holiday today. Not that the Swiss are not thankful, but it is a USA holiday. Since Advent and Christmas are near at hand, there are turkeys in the stores. It is snowing outside my window, and I am grateful for that (until the shovel has to come out).
Another classmate from kindergarden onward dropped yesterday. She was my age and died a miserable death. Guess that's REALLY something for which to be grateful.
I am amazed and thankful for what the internet has done for humor. In what used to take weeks and months, jokes now are spread in an instant. Frequently, as I sit here at this machine, I wonder what my parents and grandparents would think if they looked over my shoulder. Talk about a time warp!
In CH (Switzerland), there is no holiday today. Not that the Swiss are not thankful, but it is a USA holiday. Since Advent and Christmas are near at hand, there are turkeys in the stores. It is snowing outside my window, and I am grateful for that (until the shovel has to come out).
Another classmate from kindergarden onward dropped yesterday. She was my age and died a miserable death. Guess that's REALLY something for which to be grateful.
I am amazed and thankful for what the internet has done for humor. In what used to take weeks and months, jokes now are spread in an instant. Frequently, as I sit here at this machine, I wonder what my parents and grandparents would think if they looked over my shoulder. Talk about a time warp!
21 November 2005
Opening Salvo
Today, I join the rest of the cyberworld in blogmania. Why anyone would care about what I have to say is beyond me, but I can promise you only intellectual honesty, hopefully some weird humor, and God knows what else.
Since I am retired from sucking brains for a living, I am a lot more content with my life. I really have no basis upon which to bitch. That doesn't mean that I won't bitch though. Just consider it baseless for the most part.
My thoughts today are on "political correctness". I really have to wonder what sort of idiot came up with this concept. It seems that everything and everybody has an alternate name. Not to jump right on the race issue, but I first became aware of this when "people of color" became the substitute for blacks, Indians, Orientals, etc. Of course this spilled right into terms that are acceptable for women and men. They became non-gender "persons". Such as "chairperson", "spokesperson", etc. I am really surprised that we can still utter the word "child" rather than some ding-dong word as "progeny" or "gene pool mixture". This social habit grates on me so much that I have developed several even more derogatory terms, such as "Rice Burner", "one brick short of a load" (for "mentally challenged"), and many more.
I think most, if not all, of this stupidity comes from the fact that all people have the need to artificially inflate their egos. It is no longer appropriate for the garbage man to be called just that. No-no, he has to be a "professional" and be called a "sanitary engineer". Forget the fact that he never really wanted the job; he just had to have it to eat. Why? Likely because he was too misguided to educate himself when he had the chance. Eons ago, a "professional" was only a person who had the education, drive, and whatever to work for himself and be his own boss.
OK, if this sounds too harsh, so be it. The world and society needs all kinds, (horrors politically incorrect) a spade is a spade.
If you agree or disagree, let me know.
Since I am retired from sucking brains for a living, I am a lot more content with my life. I really have no basis upon which to bitch. That doesn't mean that I won't bitch though. Just consider it baseless for the most part.
My thoughts today are on "political correctness". I really have to wonder what sort of idiot came up with this concept. It seems that everything and everybody has an alternate name. Not to jump right on the race issue, but I first became aware of this when "people of color" became the substitute for blacks, Indians, Orientals, etc. Of course this spilled right into terms that are acceptable for women and men. They became non-gender "persons". Such as "chairperson", "spokesperson", etc. I am really surprised that we can still utter the word "child" rather than some ding-dong word as "progeny" or "gene pool mixture". This social habit grates on me so much that I have developed several even more derogatory terms, such as "Rice Burner", "one brick short of a load" (for "mentally challenged"), and many more.
I think most, if not all, of this stupidity comes from the fact that all people have the need to artificially inflate their egos. It is no longer appropriate for the garbage man to be called just that. No-no, he has to be a "professional" and be called a "sanitary engineer". Forget the fact that he never really wanted the job; he just had to have it to eat. Why? Likely because he was too misguided to educate himself when he had the chance. Eons ago, a "professional" was only a person who had the education, drive, and whatever to work for himself and be his own boss.
OK, if this sounds too harsh, so be it. The world and society needs all kinds, (horrors politically incorrect) a spade is a spade.
If you agree or disagree, let me know.
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