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GET A FUCKING CLUE AMERICA!

This society is increasingly becoming what can only be characterized as nothing less than a Theocracy.

Our politicians are pandering to this small group of venomous, treasonous, despicable people, at the exclusion of more mainstream centrist positions.

Venomous due to the vitriol spewing from their mouths in a never ending stream.

Treasonous because they seek to create exceptions in the constitution and bill of rights that exclude specific groups.

Despicable because they seek to hide the true nature of freedom from many today, and all of our children and grand children tomorrow.

And while many of you sit thinking “I’m not a Woman, Single, or Gay, this doesn’t matter to me”

SingleBoot2 hiRez

This Theocracy isn’t just about oppressing one group of people. This group is about oppressing everyone with differing beliefs.

Take a very good hard look at the recent spate of proposed reproductive controls. Women were in the NOT TOO distant past considered chattel. If just a few of these reproductive controls gain ground due to religious fervor, then we could easily be on the slippery slope to “the good ‘ol days again“

What happens when for religious reasons your company refuses to allow your insurance company to pay for birth control?Your wife ends up pregnant at least once every 18 months.

How about refusing to rent to you because you’re not a member of their church in good standing? “Oh, you’re going to have to rent from the Lutheran down the road a piece”

Removing anti-discrimination protection only works if every single member of a community is treated equally AND enjoys equal protection under existing law.

We know that isn’t the norm. Differing ethnicities, genders, cultures and sexual orientations fought to put anti-discrimination law on the books BECAUSE they didn’t enjoy equal protection.

A womans right to choose. A womans right to vote. African Americans right to marry. A single womans right to rent or own property. A gay persons right to live un-molested. All these rights came about because someone fought to codify them in law. Technically these rights existed already but abuse and narrowing definitions of the Class that enjoyed these freedoms forced legal precedents that resulted in law that specifically and unequivocally said for example; “A Woman may VOTE.”

Right now a brutal, cruel Theocracy is trying to undermine the freedoms that we all are entitled to.

Kansas and Arizona are two states where this Theocracy is winning

Few people ever think about how discriminatory laws might be used to affect them until they find themselves out of a job because their boss saw a picture of their 3rd boyfriend or girlfriend in a month on Facebook.

How about being fired because your girlfriend tweets “God, he was such a gentle lover, despite his large size, I sooo want to sleep with him again.“

Guess what? You’ve both sinned in the eyes of the High Minded religious wonders.

You’ve committed Adultery! The Taliban in Afghanistan will stone a woman for that. That’s after all, the Old Testament punishment right? “The wages of sin is death“

The point I’m belaboring is this:

When you allow “Moral” judgements from Religion to dictate the law of the land. You’ve destroyed everything that the founding fathers sought to create.

It wasn’t freedom of religion… It was freedom FROM Religion if that is your choice.

Thanks to Michael in Norfolk for the priceless image of the boot with Uncle Sam.

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LA City Council Socialist Resolution

The LA City Council has recently demonstrated just how little they understand the freedoms insured by The Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This time they’ve decided not only what hate or sexist speech is but that somehow they can implement socialist controls on the local public airwaves. Unfortunately this dumbass resolution was voted on, and approved.

In One “Man on the street” interview a young lady said that this resolution is to “HELP” the radio station be “better”. I found her characterization interesting because of its similarity to dictators “Helping” people understand by placing them in re-education camps.

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This resolution is in reality targeted at a specific radio station in the Los Angeles region. KFI 640 AM.

Further, this resolution is aimed at Radio Hosts Jon and Ken. These guys are controversial and in the past month or two have drawn criticism for expressing their opinions about current events in particular about Whitney Houston. (Based on the coroner’s report saying that Ms. Houston had Cocaine in her system It appears they were actually right.)

Personally I think John & Ken are idiots. Some of the stuff they’ve said offended me on a number of subjects and as a result I don’t listen to their moronic show or their opinions. That being said, I have to defend their right to free speech and their rights to be idiots for entertainment purposes.

The LA City Councils response is a direct threat to the right to free speech.

Instead of seeking to squelch opinions that they disagree with, the LA City Council should be protecting the right to free speech.

The concerned council members should be appearing on radio shows to present the opposing view. After all they have the right to be heard too.

The Council members sponsoring this resolution are all African American. They are Bernard Parks, Jan Perry, and Herb Wesson Jr.

It could be argued that they are pushing their agenda because of an offensive comment that John and Ken made about Whitney Houston. (Yes I believe that the comment was offensive and disrespectful to the deceased and her family)

Bernardparks

Herbwesson

I think Rush Limbaugh got named as part of the resolution in a poorly veiled attempt to legitimize what would otherwise have been seen as simply African Americans in power leaping to “St. Whitneys” defense.

It was well known Whitney Houston had a very long history battling substance abuse.

Sadly this is often the price performers pay for their fame. This is an unfortunate reality and Ms. Houston had been addicted to crack, among other things for many years.

John & Ken characterized her as a crack “HO” on-air after her death. In my opinion the “HO” remark was uncalled for, unnecessary, and certainly unkind to Ms. Houstons family and friends.

However the other comments attributed to John & Ken aren’t necessarily out of line. They referred to Ms Houston as “cracked out for 20 years.” One of the pair then said, “Then you find out she’s dead and it’s like, really, it took this long?‘” Yes their comments are insensitive but not untrue.

I doubt seriously that anyone would be upset if something similar is said about Keith Richards when he dies.

It is interesting to note that John & Ken had characterized Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, & Paris Hilton in far more graphic terms and the good people in the LA City Council said nothing. Rush Limbaugh said seriously nasty things about Sandra Fluke and the LA City Council still said nothing.

It wasn’t until Whitney Houston was called a bad name, that the LA City Council became indignant.

New 2011 head shot

People vote with their wallets. This has been made abundantly clear by advertisers withdrawing their support from Rush Limbaugh.

Using legal mechanisms and maneuvering as the City Council has done is dangerous.

This misuse of legal force represents the continued erosion of the basic freedoms we are supposed to hold sacred.

 

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BPA, Triclosan and Limp Dicks

BPABottles Post thumb 615x300 68926

Ok not to sound like one of those Environmental Nutjobs that sets SUVs on fire.

There’s an article in the Los Angeles Times this morning that caught my attention. It turns out that the FDA has decided not to ban BPA.

BPA (bisphenol A) is a compound that permeates our environment. In particular it’s used in food packaging. This material is most often used in plastic bottles and often as a component of liners in cans, particularly soda cans. It’s literally everywhere and it’s some bad stuff.

Moobs

Numerous studies have shown links to a number of maladies in mice. These maladies include developmental issues, and precancerous changes in the prostate and breasts. The developmental issues are interesting because in another study BPA levels were tracked in pregnant women. Their children also had BPA in their systems and exhibited hyperactivity, lower emotional control, depression, and anxiety. Given the ever increasing numbers of autistic and ADHD children in this country it’s perhaps not a smoking gun but certainly worth looking at.

This stuff once ingested metabolizes into a compound that looks to the body like the hormone estrogen.

Relaxedpenis

BPA has been used for about 40 years. Estrogen is necessary for the good health of both males and females. However too much estrogen especially in men can cause some unpleasant side effects. Think Prostate problems, man boobs, low libido, impotency, weight gain, heart problems, and low testosterone.

Now think about the corresponding increase over the past 40 years of these problems in industrialized nations.

This is a somewhat unfair comparison because of access to birth control, but ask yourself why do the poorest countries in the world have in some cases triple the birth rates of industrialized nations?

At the same time, here in the industrialized nations of the world we have created whole industries around fertility and the treatment of Erectile Dysfunction?

Triclosan is a commonly used antibacterial agent. It’s used in toothpaste, and antibacterial soaps. It’s probably even in your carpets or underlayment as a fungal preventative. This material became common in the ’70s and now permeates our environment. Under common conditions in wastewater processing it breaks down into dioxins. It’s found in fish, and dolphins. The Canadians and the Swedes either have or are banning the use of Triclosan in consumer products. At least one study states that triclosan reduced the amount of serum testosterone in rats and reduced thyroid hormones too.

Obviously I’m not a scientist. I don’t have access to a lab or all the data. But I wonder about stuff like this.

Why if there is any question at all doesn’t the FDA simply ban these materials? They say further study is needed. Why not remove the materials and THEN do further study?

For gods sake we have to take our shoes off to get on a fucking plane because ONE IDIOT tried to light explosives in his shoe. We have to go through body scanners because ONE MORON tried to use his underwear as a bomb (I simply fly commando so there is no question when the TSA scans me). We can’t take more than an ounce of liquid on a plane because of the FEAR that the material could be a bomb.

If the shoe bomber and the underwear bomber had succeeded and blown up the planes they were on, They would have killed or injured maybe 1000 people altogether. That would have been tragic.

Yet we have enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that BPA & Triclosan are poisoning millions of men everyday and our government refuses to take action.

Thaxdad

Why? Because it would be too expensive for the makers of bottles, and cans to remove BPA from their product lines. It would be costly for consumer product divisions to remove Triclosan from their products.

And all the while, our testosterone levels fall, infertility rises, and we lament the health crisis caused by obesity.

Tell me again that industry doesn’t control our government…

There is another solution

Men, go through your homes. Toss everything that contains either of these two compounds. Do it for yourself and do it for your sons.

If we stop buying containers and household products that contain this stuff then they’ll stop putting it in everything. Don’t let your kids handle or touch receipts. Believe it or not BPA is in cash register receipts, there might also be traces of arsenic and cyanide in those receipts too so keep that stuff out of the reach of your kids.

Most of all, make sure that this stuff isn’t in your baby’s bottles.

After all you want to be a grand daddy don’t you?

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I am sick to death of the hate

Why the fuck is it so difficult for the average Joe to wrap their paramecium brain around the concept that Gay people are strong?

Lets think about this shall we?

Gay people, once they realize they are in fact Gay have to overcome fear, persecution, and outright hatred, just so they can live their lives honestly and honorably.

If they are married when they realize they’re gay. They face legal and financial ruin.

In some states they may be forbidden from seeing their children.

In other states they face discrimination in business and housing that is sanctioned by the state. See the recent rulings in Kansas.

Gay people become “HALF CITIZENS” simply by admitting they are gay and yet still have to pay the FULL measure of TAXES.

Gay people still have to face the ridicule that is sanctioned, and in some cases demanded by the rules of the society.

It’s OK to publicly joke about gay people.

Apology after apology notwithstanding, public figures still get away with joking about gay people. Public figures do this in ways that would never be countenanced by the society if the joke was about Black, Latin or any other group of people.

Would Carson Daly have even THOUGHT about saying something like “The Jet Blue Pilot is lucky the passengers of that plane weren’t Black, if they were he’d have been robbed and killed instead of just subdued.” NOPE! Why?

Because it is unacceptable! Well folks it’s just as unacceptable to say gay people are cowards.

Even after dealing with the shit listed above… You still have to find a comfortable place within the gay community.

The Gay community is a place where youth is worshipped and in many cases age is isolating. This community actively seeks to homogenize it’s members.

I’ve met gay men that won’t admit in public things like;

They like sports

They can fix a car

They don’t identify with pride parades.

They’re Republicans (There are Personals ads that commonly say no republicans)

They own or like shooting guns

They like hunting

They’re religious

It takes more than a bit of courage to be gay, admit you’re gay, and build a decent life in spite of the obstacles set before you.

So before you make a stupid comment about gay people being cowards. Stop for just a moment and consider, could you take the heat every fucking day of your life?

 

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I’ve been looking for a job.

I’m looking for a job.

This already stressful endeavor is made all that much harder in the Southern California region because of intense competition.

No, Not competition among job seekers. It’s from Competition among Job Placement agencies.

Yes, Job placement companies have muddied things so badly that in applying for a job in my field and then seeing another position and applying for it, can result in my being disqualified from both positions.

Why? Because what appeared as two distinct positions were in fact the same position.

The Placement agencies take on things is this; Since I applied through two different agencies I’m obviously trying to create a problem about who gets the placement fee.

This hasn’t happened just once, it’s happened a number of times.

It PISSES me off!

Let me be clear.

If I apply for a position through a damn headhunter I’m pretty sure that I am qualified for the position. I take the time to fill out the headhunters little survey, I answer all the questions, I play their little game. I’ll write a cover letter, and make sure that I submit my resume to the fucking headhunter in Word format so the lazy fuck doesn’t have to do anything except press the send button on their computer.

Then I’ll keep searching the want ads. If I see another position and that position is listed in a different city with a different job description, I’ll apply for the second position in the same way. Even if the position is listed by another agency.

I’m looking for a job. That means that I need to get my resume in front of as many hiring managers as I can.

I don’t need the added complication of having to pander to some fucked up placement agency who isn’t going to do SHIT to market me to ANYONE that I don’t point to and say, “I’m a match for this open requisition”.

After I’ve applied for several positions, a few days go by and then I get either a nasty phone call or I get a hostile email saying that I’m an evil fuckwad and my resume has been pulled from client consideration. When the screaming stops, I ask “why?”

It’s usually then that I discover that one or both of the fucking headhunters were inaccurate in listing the city that the job was in.

Often these MORONS will list the address of the job placement agency INSTEAD of the actual city that the hiring company is in. In Southern California this means that you might be looking at a commute that increases from 45 minutes to an HOUR and 45 minutes. Aside from the commuting issue this makes it impossible for someone looking for a job not to innocently apply for the same position. But the agency believes they’re doing you a favor and most choose to be assholes even in the face of facts.

Usually these so called “professionals” have changed the description the hiring company sent, into something almost, but not completely different. Often the description is re-worded through a filter of shitty 3rd world cesspool English which not only misrepresents the position but serves to obfuscate any similarity between two different headhunters ads.

BUT I’m the fucker! I’m the one that is trying to be dishonest and cause problems. Yeah well FUCK YOU!

I’ve decided not to apply to ANY position that is represented by a “Job Placement Agency” if I can  help it.

After all why the hell should these bastards get 15% for doing absolutely nothing? I prefer to have that 15% as a negotiation tool.

Below is  a funny example of the sloppiness and stupidity I’m experiencing. Here is an email solicitation from one of these jerks.

I’ve redacted most of the personally identifiable information just so I don’t find myself in legal hot water.

 

Do you have Mobile Devices OR Embedded devices experience

Obviously, my name isn’t “Pcl III”.

If he’d actually read the contents of my resume he would KNOW already that I have the mobile testing experience that he’s requesting and the embedded testing experience that he’s looking for.

He’d also know my visa status and that I’m willing to relocate.

He also had an email address I haven’t used for anything in almost 6 years.

I’m not picking on Rob or his company per se. But this is the third fucked up email that they’ve sent me and the SECOND email after I got them on the phone and sent them updated information.

So it begs the question, just how efficient or real are these agencies?

A resume contains some sensitive information. By putting that information in the hands of people who obviously aren’t thinking do I expose myself to identity theft?

There are a couple of things that I need to point out.

I’m a suspicious fuck. Some might even think that I’m paranoid, so when I receive unsolicited emails I do look at the header information. Alternatively, if the email is something of no interest I just delete the email without ever opening it.

In this case since the email was about a job, I did verify that the email originated from a domain that was associated with a real company.

Rob, sorta screwed himself because he identified the company and the city that this requisition is for. Which means that I can go to the company web site and apply for the position directly. “Thanks Rob”

Since he’s not using my correct email, and thinks my name is Pcl I could apply for this position and dear ‘ol Rob will never be the wiser.

In the last five sentences of the email he makes a couple of grammatical errors that make me think Rob isn’t who he says he is. He signs his email with a typically American First and Last name. However upon further examination of the return email address in the signature line, I find rakumar@XXX.com is the “REAL” person who that would be receiving my response.

How am I supposed to feel about this?

Robs company has approached me demonstrating that they are perhaps not all that reputable.

They haven’t corrected the incorrect information they have on file about me even though they’ve been given the corrections and assured me that they would update their database.

They obviously aren’t reading the emails that they’re sending out. Which leads me to wonder how they’re perceived by the companies they’re presenting me to.

They have been untruthful about WHO I’m actually going to be dealing with.

Since their first contact is dishonest, what basis do I have to begin to believe that Robs’ company will be above board? Answer is NONE! That being said, I’m not responding to Rob, and I’ve placed his company domain name in my SPAMMER folder.

There are those who might say I’m over-reacting and I might be. Before you judge me too harshly please consider the following;

In a 30 year career, Only ONE headhunter has actually placed me in a permanent position.

Most of the placement agencies seem to hire disreputable kinds of people. Used car salesmen types come to mind.

In every job search, and especially those during economic turmoil the headhunters and placement agencies have been more of a hinderance than a help.

I’ve been told to write a cover letter, edit my resume, and write a justification for why I should be PRESENTED for a particular position by a supposedly honorable agency. The placement agent in this case used what I wrote as a justification for ANOTHER candidate. I know because that other candidate was a friend of mine. He got the job!

There is one headhunter that commonly sent emails to me which said, “You’re not a fit for this position. But pass this job description around to your friends who are…” That’s another guy that goes directly to the SPAM folder. He’s interesting because in the late ’90s and early 2000s he had his name on a building in the heart of Irvine, after 2005 his name disappeared and he’s now working for another agency as a recruiter. Karma sometimes is a wonderful thing.

If i’m going to be doing all the work anyway, I don’t want to get into a position where I’m negotiating away 15% of my annual salary just because some headhunter got his or her finger into the pie.

If you want a really scary view of todays headhunters, cruise over to Cybercoders. When you get to their web site start browsing jobs and on the left hand side to the screen you’ll be treated to a picture or pictures of the representative working to fill the position. Some of these photos are of professionals. Sadly a larger portion of these photos depict the representative in less than professional situations. I’m looking for a job, not a facebook date, and that’s exactly how the Cybercoders web site comes across. They’re another one that I typically won’t deal with. The exception being if the job is just cherry and I’m in a mood to put up with Cybercoders B.S.

Perhaps I’m just out of date… But I’d rather control who, how, and when someone receives my information. I’d prefer to have my resume placed in front of a hiring manager instead of having to be written to get past someone whose English proficiency isn’t above the 7th grade.

I’m funny about that kind of thing.