tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350115752024-03-14T00:20:01.109-07:00Ricki's rants and rambles"Come for the rants; stay for the grammar!"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1752125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-35323658194330832332015-08-23T06:50:00.000-07:002015-08-23T06:50:08.118-07:00That sorority videoSo, a video made by a U of Alabama sorority has been criticized - and I guess, taken down - because it is "too white, too blonde, and the women are dressed to alike" as some commentator said.
Uh. That describes 85% of the sororities in the nation, so I would say the video is actually an accurate depiction of life.
I saw some of the video. It's not offensive. It's pretty young girls having fun, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-11206484120613273782015-08-22T05:43:00.002-07:002015-08-22T07:11:37.814-07:00the new normal?So, the news this morning: three American marines, traveling in France, wound up taking down a would-be shooter on a train. From what little news I've seen, one of the Marines was wounded (I hope it is a minor wound and he recovered fully) and the terrorist was taken down, tied up, and is now in custody, from which I hope he is not released.
Apparently the train crew went and hid. (I will Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-35399363632289429272015-08-16T15:28:00.003-07:002015-08-16T15:28:33.937-07:00Fresh hellsYou know how there's a lot of discussion about regulations strangling small businesses?
Well, to a lesser extent, it's happening on college campuses. We have had to do three separate different "trainings" on separate issues (dealing with violent/angry students, not sexually harassing people, and sexual assault avoidance - well, that last is still pending. We were supposed to have done it, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-4062596405543313592015-08-11T10:06:00.000-07:002015-08-11T10:06:00.543-07:00score oneMaybe this is "score one for common sense," I don't know.
So I was discussing with a colleague about syllabi. And he remarked: Given all that's going on in the country, I'm gonna put a statement in the syllabus asking students not to wear clothing with the Confederate battle flag to class, or symbols of white supremacy.
Now: the only time I ever saw anything on campus that was a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-51856589370524942722015-07-27T06:03:00.001-07:002015-07-27T06:03:29.990-07:00This is news?I guess nothing else is going on in the world because the news channels right now are running extended stories on Caitlyn Jenner's new reality show.
I dunno. I wish Caitlyn well in her new life but I suspect she's going to have it far, far easier than most transgender people because she's famous.
There was someone on one of the channels talking about 'acceptance' and how the big thing Caitlyn Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-1534793470854544552015-07-17T12:21:00.002-07:002015-07-17T12:21:14.626-07:00spotted on tvAn ad, featuring Geraldo Rivera, where he is saying something like, "Are they looking hard enough to find El Chapo?"
And my immediate thought was, "Have you checked Al Capone's Vault?"
(link is for those who may be too young to remember it. I was a sufficiently-gullible teenager that I actually WATCHED the damn thing; secretly I was hoping they'd find remains of some of the guys he killed, or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-19277145152226361302015-07-17T05:09:00.000-07:002015-07-17T05:09:00.666-07:00I don't know, but....Maybe allowing MILITARY PEOPLE to carry even in "Gun Free Zones" is a good idea, mmmmm?
I mean, if there's anyone I trust to carry responsibly it's a guy (or woman) who's had military training.
I hate to say it but I suspect, because of policies our country has been following, we're gonna see more of these kinds of "lone wolf" attacks. There are a couple shopping centers near me that have Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-77766639487956540642015-07-16T03:50:00.001-07:002015-07-16T03:50:27.436-07:00A culture's last words"I'm offfffeeeennnnnnded."
I really think that's gonna be it. It's not going to be outside forces that kills us off; we're going to collapse from the inside under the weight of all the offenses we believe to have suffered.
The good news is that there is probably enough of a remnant out there who will roll their eyes at that sentiment, roll up their sleeves, and try to rebuild the rubble of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-8453007152710533382015-07-13T05:30:00.000-07:002015-07-13T05:30:08.676-07:00Dealing with peopleSo, someone I do volunteer work with - let's call her Gina, not her real name - called last night. As she was calling obnoxiously late (IMHO; I get up crazy early and teach an 8 am class so I go to bed very early. Most of the people who actually care about me know this and don't call after 9 pm), I let voice mail take it.
I thought it was going to be letting me know details of the funeral of a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-29761167993698449402015-07-03T11:03:00.000-07:002015-07-03T11:03:07.541-07:00inconveniencesThere's been some discussion of county clerks and the granting of marriage licenses, and concern that clerks may be required to do something that is objectionable to their personal beliefs.
Again, I can kinda see both arguments on this: when you sign up for a job, you sign up for all the requirements of the job. If the job changes to include duties you regard as immoral, perhaps it's time to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-64739096278091073222015-07-01T10:58:00.005-07:002015-07-01T10:58:52.533-07:00a quick observation on the electionIf the 2016 presidential race becomes a Clinton vs. Trump race, I WILL be voting third-party.
Or staying home.
(He is such a buffoon. I have a friend who says, "He could be good if he listens to well-chosen advisors" but I think that is highly, highly unlikely; it seems more likely to me the first time someone gave him advice that didn't fit his concept of the world he would fire that person. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-11946087941776299382015-06-27T06:51:00.004-07:002015-06-27T08:36:27.015-07:00A couple random thoughts
Maybe disrespectful, I don't know:
What's going to happen if a same-sex couple goes to a baker and wants a wedding cake with the Confederate battle flag on it?
And all the Hollywood (and other) hetero couples who said, "We're not getting married until EVERYONE can get married" - time to step up to the plate, no more excuses. (And I suspect in some cases it WAS an excuse).
Also, is there Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-48410386194917544222015-06-24T12:03:00.006-07:002015-06-24T12:03:55.175-07:00CrabbyI get that this is all very First World Problems (and oh, how I hate that, because what I hear is "you should feel very bad about complaining, shut up, because you're not really struggling), but I'm having a hard time:
- as much as I enjoy teaching summer, that's ALL I do. I go home and just collapse because I'm too tired for anything else. - It's very warm in several of the classrooms, and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-54513814439861963132015-06-20T10:19:00.003-07:002015-06-24T14:05:48.794-07:00People are stupidEspecially this jerk who shot up a black church, and killed nine people. Nine people who were pillars of their community, nine people who were parts of loving families, nine people who - I dare say - were working to make their community a better place.
I'm just....there's not so much useful I can add to the debate other than that I'm sad and I'm angry. I feel especially angry that this guy Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-32539407489056463172015-06-16T11:28:00.001-07:002015-06-16T11:28:27.067-07:00Right to dieOkay. I'm going to be up-front about this: I am pretty much against doctors killing patients because the patients ask to die. I don't have a problem with the "withhold heroic measures in cases where there would be no future quality of life" (which I think is also a wise advance directive to have, if you feel that way).
At the same time, I do understand some people not wanting to continue to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-12806300030663981922015-06-12T12:22:00.001-07:002015-06-12T12:22:19.281-07:00so much outrage latelySo many things that have gone on, that have fizzed up in the news (kind of like when you mix baking soda and vinegar), so many things people have gotten really shouty about.
I have just a couple of thoughts:
1. It's really a shame we can't generate electricity (or something similarly useful) from outrage. If so, we'd have 100% energy independence and probably be EXPORTING electricity to Canada Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-48027800649500648082015-06-05T08:48:00.000-07:002015-06-05T08:48:03.446-07:00the end of "microaggressions"?There does seem to be a bit of a sea-change in some of the reporting about colleges and the idea of students wanting to avoid the "challenge" of uncomfortable ideas, or being exposed to something with which they disagree. At first, the reporting seemed to be "Oh, OF COURSE we need to ban these things, you don't want people being unhappy all the time" but now it does seem to be slowly shifting to,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-69343649828614521932015-05-15T09:03:00.000-07:002015-05-15T09:03:01.463-07:00the Amtrak accidentThe Left says: "THIS IS PROOF WE NEED MORE MONEY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE!!!!"
The Right (at least some) say: "THIS IS PROOF WE NEED TO DEFUND IT NOW AND MAKE IT GO AWAY"
And I'm sitting here going, "Isn't it possible the engineer had a seizure or something and it was something really bad but fundamentally unavoidable?"
Disclaimer: I use Amtrak. I like Amtrak's long-distance service. I wish Amtrak Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-23991949599230446512015-05-12T06:41:00.002-07:002015-05-12T06:41:14.536-07:00An observation on graduation speechesSo it's now the silly season (one of many in our culture). People getting invited to give speeches, people getting DISINVITED (this seems to be a new thing) to give speeches, people being paid way too much to come give a speech, bla bla bla.
You know what? I wouldn't be all that troubled if they did away with the Obligatory Graduation Speech altogether. Or maybe just keep it for high schools, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-89457113220349946672015-05-08T07:05:00.004-07:002015-05-08T07:05:38.180-07:00This is why I kind of hate the internetSome of the people I follow various places live in the UK.
Some of them are also leftward of me politically.
So I'm seeing stuff like TORY VOTERS YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS.
Cripes. We've gone, in a couple decades, from "I disagree with you politically" to "you don't vote like me and that makes you akin to a mass murderer."
I'm kind of dreading election 2016 here for those very reasons. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-64679004129970725772015-05-07T07:43:00.004-07:002015-05-07T07:43:58.515-07:00I dunnoPast few weeks have been one of the "world's gone crazy" situations for me.
The latest thing is the (good) cop taking down the would-be terrorists in Garland. I live in the Dallas media market so I've heard a great deal about this. And there's a lot of commentary out there.
I dunno. I wouldn't choose to host an event like that. If my town did, I'd plan on being as far as I could be from the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-34521246177217011312015-04-29T08:44:00.003-07:002015-04-29T08:44:53.124-07:00We need more of theseSome bright spots, in the whole Baltimore mess:
- Allegedly, some ministers went out and formed a human barrier between protestors and the police - so on the one hand, the police wouldn't be so tempted to use their batons on people merely yelling stuff, and on the other, I hope, to dissuade the protestors from throwing stuff or otherwise becoming violent.
- A mom, seeing her son out in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-57169853069260824972015-04-27T18:53:00.000-07:002015-04-27T18:53:00.574-07:00DismayI don't know. I don't have anything much to say.
If this is how the human race is going to end, by fracturing into groups and each group burning the other's stuff down, then let the end come sooner rather than later, and let trees-of-heaven and cockroaches and rats and urban coyotes live in the rubble.
Sorry. I'm in one of my periodic "Humans really suck" moods. Well, some humans do. TheyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-10310056072050774112015-04-20T04:11:00.000-07:002015-04-20T04:11:17.938-07:004/20One thought on the whole Cannabis News Network thing (CNN apparently spent yesterday evening showing programming about "Weed Nation"): I hope this starts to make pot "uncool."
I think one of the big problems with the creeping legalization of pot is that people see it as a fun and cool thing to do, and they don't think of the consequences for their health or their jobs or other things - in a way,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-1532969747321601562015-04-15T06:47:00.000-07:002015-04-15T06:47:04.976-07:00thought of the dayThere are people in the world who would declare sugar "evil" but will say the actions of people I would clearly identify as terrorists are "misguided."
(I fully expect to see calls for banning sugar, or at least added sugar,* in my lifetime. This would make me angry and unhappy, as sweet things are one of the few sensual pleasures I have left....I don't want SLEEPING to be the only sensual Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0