I have, for the most part, stayed out of the affairs of The Stillwater Infidel. Drew Emmer and Pheisty have done a far better job of addressing the issue than I could have, so I simply thought it best to leave the topic in their capable hands. I have simply watched from a distance and made occasional comments regarding the abuse of free speech.

However, given the recent events and publicity, I can’t help but to wonder if we made a big mistake with this guy. Did we inadvertently give this guy exactly what he wanted? Did our constant attention and relentless pursuit propel this guy to legendary status while all the while we were actually trying to knock him down a peg or three?

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Ok, so this is a new thing for me, but in light of an impending weekend full of cool weather and thunderstorms, I thought I would make a movie suggestion for the enlightened masses (i.e. most of my fine readers and friends).

Anyway, I present here the best movie you have never heard of: Idiocracy. I heard about it because I am a rabid Mike Judge fan, but Fox tried to bury the movie due to the controversial content and bad pre-screenings. Yes, despite the fact that it has a pretty big cast with Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard and cameos by people like Thomas Hayden Church and Stephen Root (Jimmy James!), the movie was released into general obscurity with no marketing - not even posters - in only six markets. Bummer.

While the movie is certainly not destined to be a classic, it is most certainly destined to be a cult favorite; especially with people who appreciate the message that the movie tries to get across - namely that the world is currently in a state of being dumbed down and that natural selection does not reward intelligence. The movie is ripe with director and writer Mike Judge’s unique and often bizarre sense of humor (and intricate views into the world of trailer trash and rednecks), but that really just adds to the charm.

If nothing else, the movie is worth it for the opening scene alone, which features a study of human reproduction from the perspective of a semi-intelligent couple and a white trash couple and how their family trees grow. While it’s entertaining, the truth behind Mike Judge’s humor is something of a scary wake up call. After all, who wants to admit that humanity is degrading in the ways that Judge suggests?

Anyway, watch this movie with a grain of a salt. It may be a bit rough, and if you’re not used to Mike Judge’s humor you may be taken back a bit by the over the top style of social commentary… But behind the crude and unusual humor lies a dark look into the state of mankind and a stern warning of things to come.

So enjoy! And if you do enjoy, let me know what you think…

Well, I guess I can add Volkswagen to my list of companies to scorn. Not that this is a big surprise by any means, but they’ve gone and made it official by emailing me about their Carbon Neutral Project and encouraging me to go to carbonfund.org and offset my own vehicle. Oh boo.

The blurb about them says:

“Carbonfund.org and Volkswagen are glad you’ve taken an interest in the Carbon Neutral Project. It’s an initiative that’s making it easy for Volkswagen owners and friends to take action toward offsetting their carbon emissions right away.”

Oh gag me. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a thinly veiled attempt to guilt people into philanthropy, which is sort of contrary to the very nature of the thing if you ask me. That is, after all, what carbon offsetting really is. It isn’t some magic thing that suddenly makes you neutral. It is a dollar value that is placed on your carbon emissions that somehow if you pay that dollar value you become “carbon neutral.” Where does this money go? It goes into projects that help the environment, which is something of a head scratcher, as it forced me to wonder how it is that you can basically give to charity and then call yourself carbon neutral. In all actuality you haven’t really done anything to your “carbon footprint.” You’ve just given money to somebody.

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So, much to my surprise, my recent post on the realities of economic globalization was a recent topic over at “Conservative Compendium.” You can check out their post here.

While I am thrilled to be getting attention from other conservative sources, I am less than thrilled to be picked apart. But since I am nothing if not fair, I respect anybody who wants to pick apart what I say and tell me that I am wrong, and as such, I will return the favor.

The author, Brian Garst, makes some strong and very legitimate points, but I fear that his points are based much more on numbers and theories than actual experience. After all, you can look at the numbers all you want, but until you are actually in the trenches, the numbers don’t mean anything. Those of us who are involved in the manufacturing industry outside of the major metropolitan areas have a much different story to tell.

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Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

Not just a catch phrase any more, one of my favorite lines is becoming a sad reality for the folks of Minnesota very shortly. In fact, you’ve only got until Monday to enjoy a smoke at your favorite bar or club. After that it’s out in the cold with you.

Of course, I have to ask just one simple question. How is it that we allowed this to happen? How did we let the American Lung association and a bunch of little whining special interest groups boss our government around to the point of them infringing on private property rights? I mean, is this legal?

Of course, the writing is on the wall as far as what is happening here. First off, it is yet another move by the nanny state to take care of us “little people” who are too dumb to take care of ourselves apparently. Second off, this is a de facto way to try to get people to quit smoking. In other words, if you won’t quit on your own, we’ll force you to through questionable laws and legislation. Alongside that is the push by the anti-smoking citizens and organizations who think that it’s ok to use the government to push their agendas on everybody else. Don’t believe me? Check out this press release from Hazelden entitled “The Statewide Smoking Ban is Fast Approaching. Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?” The first line of the article is “he Minnesota statewide smoking ban will take effect on Oct. 1, causing many people across the state to consider a personal decision to stop smoking.” I mean, come on! Do you mean to tell me that the smoking ban isn’t being used to push people to quit smoking? After all, if you take away all the places that people can smoke, won’t they have to eventually quit? Bastards. Read the rest of this entry »

Altruism (n) Selflessness, an attitude or way of behaving marked by unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

I don’t often fancy myself as being a bad person. I don’t know if I would say that I am a good person, but for the most part I know that I am not bad. I mean, I don’t go out of my way to hurt people, and I would stop to help if somebody were hurt. On the other hand, I am very selfish, which apparently marks me as bad in the eyes of the altruistic liberals out there.

With the SCHIP program rearing its ugly, nasty head, I feel the need to address the sickening aspect of this and every other altruistic government program out there, and why it pisses me off so much. First off though, let’s look at SCHIP for the beast it is. SCHIP, or State Children’s Health Insurance Program, is a back door attempt to start the universal health care program rolling prior to the dem’s anticipated sweep in 2008 (for information on the program click the SCHIP Watch logo above). It is a bad program made worse by the fact that it is a fallacy in the sense that children are simply being used as leverage to push the program and make anybody who votes against it look like bad people. After all, who would possibly deny children health care, right?

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In light of the recent fiasco at Columbia over Iran’s swell president coming to speak to the academic elite as well as Pinkeye’s wonderful post on the “Taser This… FUCK BUSH” editorial, I thought I would take on the local academic brain trust and the most recent embarrassment that they have subjected the fine people of Wisconsin to.

Pinkeyes put it best when he asked, “Ah, doesn’t it make you proud that you are spending your hard earned money to send your children off to an institute of higher learning only to learn that they are being indoctrinated into a radical left wing way of thinking.” Yep, it sure does, and there isn’t a better example than the latest moron showdown at the University of Wisconsin Madison last Thursday. The target of this institutionalized idiocy? None other than the “evil” recruiters for the “nefarious” Halliburton Corporation.

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Ok, so I have never claimed to be the biggest Wal-Mart fan out there, however living where I do it’s either shop at Wal-Mart up the road or drive 30+ miles to the nearest Target. However, I have always taken at least some comfort in the thought that Wal-Mart seemed to be “all American” which is part of its popularity in Southern areas. They seem to like to pull out the red white and blue and put on a good show for the community.

BUT, today I had an agitating experience, and if I wasn’t stuck 30 miles out from the nearest Target, I would certainly stop shopping there in protest.

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This is part two of  a reoccurring multi-part series on why we fight. The series is called “Beyond Reason” because the events described defy any sense of logic and reason; in fact, these events defy humanity in every sense. Each of these events helps us to understand evil and helps lay the foundation of understanding as to why it is that we fight, and die, to help preserve the sanctity of human life.

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Yes folks, it’s time once again to take a look at first amendment rights, and the fallacies that come with this supposed right.

There are actually two incidents that spawn this primer on first amendment rights redux. Both of these incidents are examples of not only why the first amendment is inherently flawed, but also how it is that morons misinterpret the first amendment on a pretty regular basis… Proof in the bag that most Americans today actually have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Read the rest of this entry »