The Mecanoo project photo that Donna posted is absolutely rad. I want a high-res pic of that image to blowup and wallpaper for a focal wall.
I just purchased a small studio condo- 503 square feet all to me. People seem to think 500 sf is tiny but it works so well for me. I am a tried-and-true minimalist and really have moved 'stuff' from my life. The few things that are exposed are my design books (because their pretty) and my Tivoli radio (because it's pretty). Everything else is neurotically stored away. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do when I have that army of kids I want.
harmon said it in person yesterday in louisville, nam. it was about the beautiful work he got on a house in the bahamas. you'll just have to cite donna!
The House of Representatives voted to fund the government WITHOUT Obamacare. I saw the picture on MSN and you've got this corporate looking Hispanic named Ted Cruz (R-Texas) up there at the podium. (When they look corporate and of European stock, they can go GOP and screw their own. Ditto with Marco Rubio). This is 10 friggin days before the health exchanges are to open. With the other chamber being primarily Democrat, let's see what happens. It may not be perfect, but so many middle-class Americans, including those who have worn out the COBRA time period, will be helped by this. And if it isn't a perfect law, it can always be fine tuned later.
Boehner (pronounce Bey-nehr, as you all know), shown up there, should actually be pronounced Boner. And boners are, by default, pr!cks, no? And s-d-d jokingly called me part Rush Limbaugh once. I may not be the poster child for political correctness, but Republicans are one species I do NOT like.
I am somewhat less discriminating than you, ob. I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us. Our chocolate president bears no distinction from his vanilla predecessor.
It will be interesting to see if the health care law can be carried out, and what the consequences will be if it is. The essence of the legislation is that government insures profits for private insurers in exchange for taking on people they don't want.
I am somewhat less discriminating than you, ob. I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us.
It will be interesting to see if the health care law can be carried out, and what the consequences will be if it is.The essence of the legislation is that government insures profits for private insurers in exchange for taking on people they don't want.
No, I also dislike all politicians. As far as parties go, the Dems are the lesser of two evils. I hated Clinton and that includes his wife because they are two peas in a pod. No more dynasties in the White House.
As for the bold, that is exactly what it is. It subsidizes a profit level for that segment that is not insurable. And how fair is that? I think it's fair. These folks are not the lion's share. There are still a lot of people between 40 and 65 who see the doctor 3x a year, get routine blood work, and use 2 or 3 generic meds a month. With premiums averaging $500+/mo, and a copay for both the doctor visit and the drugs, the companies are inherently profitable on this segment of the population. People's places of employment will be dispersed - from huge school districts to professional services firms having 5 to 15 people to self-employment. Something needs to be done.
So, yes, that's what it does: it subsidizes a profit margin for that segment of the population. That 13% that is being picked up by this law might not even be full of "frequent flyers," with some people going in 2 to 3 times a year and staying reasonably healthy. It's not free, as in for everybody, like America's reactionary idiots think ... you know, Americans who are too stupid and probably shouldn't vote, because their votes are determined by over the back yard fence chatter or what their pastor blared at them from the pulpit. Conceptually, it's the right thing to do because not every American has a gold watch employer, as if those even exist, but death and taxes do.
Let it go. A blonde chick in undergrad was pretty sweet on this very smart and clean-cut black guy she referred to as "a cute chocolate drop" who has since gone on to be a preeminent attorney. Political correctness needs to go away. When I was a kid, we had Mexicans. Now we have Hispanics. Where did they hide the Mexicans?
Miles, thanks for that John Green link. I had seen it if course because I try to watch every Vlog Brothers episode, but I do think more people should see that one.
Last night I had dinner with Marlon Blackwell and Frank Harmon and three equally talented but not well-known friends (Steven is one of them). We drank bourbon, did sketches, and told dirty jokes. I live a charmed life.
When I was a kid, we had Mexicans. Now we have Hispanics. Where did they hide the Mexicans?
in Mexico. Mexicans are from Mexico. Hispanics are people with ethnic origins in Spain, Latinos are people from Latin America. What's so hard to figure out?
Calling all Latinos "Mexican" would be like us calling everyone from Europe "German" or something. It makes you sound like an idiot - that's why no one says it anymore.
I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us.
no - they do work for us - but if you want their ear, you have to work your way up through the local scene.... having a lot of money helps grease the wheel, but it's not impossible if you work to build up your sphere of influence. A couple rules: show up at things and don't be a dick.
in Mexico. Mexicans are from Mexico. Hispanics are people with ethnic origins in Spain, Latinos are people from Latin America. What's so hard to figure out?
It makes you sound like an idiot - that's why no one says it anymore.
That makes for a lot of smart and successful idiots I knew growing up. Southern California's history is deeply entrenched in Mexico's and, until recently, most of the Spanish-speaking population was of Mexican stock. Los Angeles's original name is a mile long and refers to a Mexican pueblo, and Los Angeles is the last 2 words of that mile long name. Mexican-American kids identified as Mexican many times, as did their parents (immigrants, or even first-gens). The point is that, if the person you refer to is from Spain, Cuba, or Argentina, then you could say my Spanish, Cuban, or Argentinian friend, even if they were first-gen, as long as they were full-blooded. One has to ask why Mexican has fallen out of favor yet the others have not. With Mexican, one runs the "risk" of lumping someone in with folks who are illegally here, poor and/or of indigenous stock. On the other hand, a Spaniard indicates a European who probably speaks high grade Castilian, a Cuban indicates being suave and their success stories in one generation are disparate to those of other Spanish speaking immigrants, and an Argentinian probably means someone who comes from "the Paris of South America" and is fanatical about their looks and psyche, given the prevalence of plastic surgeons and psychologists in that metro area of 11 million.
People in the States habitually describe those of European first-gen lineage by their ancestral country. So, someone like that will identify as Greek, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese, and leave off "hyphen-American." Why? They're European ... and that's not a dirty word. And, since I believe you're in Boston, all 4 of those groups are well-represented there and full-blooded kids of those nationalities label themselves by those nationalities, and they're damn proud of those self-imposed labels.
With everyone else, we walk on eggshells. If my friends have two Mexican parents, they've always been Mexican to me.
The reality is that political correctness is making us homogenized, censored, and has utterly failed to bring people closer together. It is very much a NIMBY and lip service kind of thing. I went to lunch at a restaurant today where the server staff was Egyptian, even though it was American food. They identified as Egyptian, though born here. They couldn't believe how many stupid things in Arabic I could say. Enjoy the harmless labels. Enjoy the differences, too. If we put everyone into the God damn melting pot, the differences go away.
Everybody likes tasty chocolate, except when it's the frosting on stale white cake.
Politicians work for those who pay them. And they work harder for those who pay them the most. If you want their ears, you had better be prepared to pay up big time. And if you want their devoted attention, you had better be paying more than everyone else.
My nephew is half black/half white. He came home from school one day (3rd grade) with a forlorn look on his face and when his mother asked him what was going on he blurted out that he was upset because he just realized he was... Mexican.
Well, t.i.n.t., I was referring to adults who know someone's ethnic or racial background. Kids will never be politically correct. They can be nasty, and always will be, not to mention not having developed a filter As for mistaking people for other demographic groups, there are Middle Easterners who look like Hispanics and vice-versa. Think Saddam Hussein, not that we really want to. The reason is because the upper rim of North Africa, which has narrow points where it adjoins the Middle East at Suez and Europe at Gibraltar, allowed mobility of people to cross those bodies of water where they could see the other side. That there's Moorish blood in Iberian Europeans is well-documented and obvious.
After starting the cricket club, and being surrounded by Indians and Pakis, I've given up assuming someone's ethnic background -they're all just tan, and often just ask. I've got Mexicans, Peruvians, northern Indians, southern Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Laotian, Japanese, Koreans, kids from other Asian countries that I don't know the names of, and these are just the tan kids. We also have Ethiopians, and other African countries. We're pretty diverse now that I think about it.
And to think, my own high school was white, with maybe 2% black, and I don't think any Mexican or Hispanic kids.
Sarah, I like that story. We can just refer to people as white ... or permanently tanned. Then there will be a fight to enumerate the gradations of someone's tan status.
My high school was about 85% white and Hispanic/Latino ... with about 60% white and 25% Hispanic/Latino, of which the vast majority were probably Mexican. Of the remaining 15%, about 12% were black and 3% were Asian. The Cubans, Peruvians, and Argentinians made damn sure to tell you they were Cuban, Peruvian, and Argentinian. Therefore, by default, one knew who was Mexican. To that, add the fact that they hung out by the fence in group(s).
The HR department at my institution of employment just released a staff update that notes that someone has been promoted and assigned the new title of "Chief Software Architect". I'm trying to decide how much of a dick I want to be about it.
Sometimes the stupid here is mind blowing. Our collective white privilege is this cloud that manages to obscure just about everything that occurs in the world.
Donna, unfortunately it's a waste of time, unless of course you ask this individual who designed Ronchamp and they have an answer.
Donna, As Chief Soft Ware Architect you are underpaid....ask for a big raise. That will get their attention in a Hurry. All you have to do is post comparable wages.
Best of Luck....obtw....if you get a raise will you give me a finders fee?
Observant, so are you saying that political correctness needs to go away, or that we should refer to people by their ethnic and/or geopolitical backgrounds (Mexican, Cuban, Irish, etc.), or that everyone is either white or permanently tanned (just at different levels)?
Sarah can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe her point was that she no longer assumes someone's background based on skin tone and just asks, not that there are tan people and white people. "I've given up assuming someone's ethnic background -they're all just tan, and often just ask."
Also, to clarify, the reason that an Argentine gets offended that you call them Mexican or Hispanic is because they are not Mexican or Hispanic ... they are Argentine. It still wouldn't necessarily be correct to call them latino because they could easily be of European descent and associate with that more than the fact that they live in Latin America.
It might also be useful to know that around people from Latin America you might make some upset by referring to people from the United States as americanos; for that matter so is the Argentine, the Mexican, the Peruvian, the Canadian, and so on. That's why in Spanish you have the word for "United States-ian," estadounidense.
For someone as well travelled as you claim to be on these forums, I would think that it wouldn't be a simple matter of political correctness. It goes beyond that and gets to the nature of a person's being ... who they are in their own point of view. Unfortunately, for people that like to sit on internet forums and tout their world observations, it seems that the easiest way to figure this out is to ask someone to self-identify rather than slapping your own label on them ... and that takes effort.
Race is a convenient way to divide and manipulate people.
The only color that really matters is green. Has been for millennia and will no doubt be for as long a people occupy this planet. We are doomed until we embrace our humanity.
Obama is a perfect example. Portrayed as the last hope of the poor and racially marginalized, simultaneously vilified as a foreign-born Muslim terrorist. Both are absolute bullshit. BO is simply the latest carefully selected, fully-vetted, pre-approved and fully-funded bootlicker for the corporate-financial complex.
When Qatar has a pipeline through Syria to Turkey you can remember that I told you so. And if they don't get one it won't be because we didn't try. The CIA is busy arming Al Qaeda (again), probably with more chemical weapons.
It turns out the Indiana regulation was recently updated and pretty much says simply that someone can't present themselves as being registered to practice architecture if they can't, therefore the modifier "software" in front of the term "architect" is perfectly legal. So whatever, I'll just snicker to myself whenever I see this person and his/her business card.
A more immediate problem is that for the second weekend in a row my FB feed is full of pictures of a bunch of people I consider my friends at a party to which I was not invited. It's a good thing I spent the last 48 hours with my architect friends, with whom I have much deeper bonds, so I don't feel like a total loser. I may have to abandon Facebook for awhile, it's making me too envious.
Donna, I totally read that as vajayjay. Ha! And if you're ever in my neck of the woods, I'll throw a party in your honor, and we WON'T invite THEM. Screw those party-poopers.
And yes, I absolutely meant that I don't assume ethnic background any more.
b3ta, a black Bill Gates might get talked about behind his back but everyone is going to kiss his ass. Just like the white one.
"The only color that really matters is green" is the OJ Simpson rule. He proved that if you have enough money (the murder case cost $15m) your color doesn't really matter.
Observant, so are you saying that political correctness needs to go away, or that we should refer to people by their ethnic and/or geopolitical backgrounds (Mexican, Cuban, Irish, etc.), or that everyone is either white or permanently tanned (just at different levels)?
Sure, why not? If you have to fill out a form, you will be asked what your demographics are. Caucasian sounds kind of bland, no? An ethnicity gives it some kick. As for white or permanently tanned, I was piggybacking on Sarah's comment. I don't identify as American, even though I was born here (the U.S.). The only place I identify as American is when I fork over a passport at the Canadian border, at an airport entry point, or at a hotel. I am not "melted" enough to identify as an American. I identify by my parents' ancestry, and add that I was born here. I see you are in OK, and the mantra of "Mom, baseball, and apple pie," together with tailgate parties, is a thing that is more appropriate for Americans who have lost their roots and need to create one ... and not those raised in urban centers and who still have strong ties to their ancestral cultures.
Unfortunately, for people that like to sit on internet forums and tout their world observations, it seems that the easiest way to figure this out is to ask someone to self-identify rather than slapping your own label on them ... and that takes effort.
I get out and travel, and I go to places where I can mesh with the locals because I made it a point to learn their languages first. As for the "labels," it works for me. It works for my friends - educated ones from huge urban areas. Could be generational. Could be geographic. They don't mind the labels and, if they were to inform me that they do, I'll change ... with respect to that one person. Sounds like I'm getting a scolding. Hey, when we were kids, Asians were referred to as Orientals, and they didn't care, using it themselves, or using a specific nationality, such as Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Filipino, for fellow American born kids of their own ethnicity. I'll tell you what, if you're an atheist or are festooned in tattoos and piercings, anything you say goes in one ear and out the other. (Think Lena Dunham in the tasteless "my first time" commercial for Obama, which, along with a tattoo covering her shoulder, sickened me, even though Obama still got my vote). Also, I haven't been an "everyday type" for almost 15 years.
I think what's sickening is that the very people who are flouting and tearing away at spiritual, moral, and interpersonal conventions, where human interaction through voice has been replaced by texting, are the ones screaming political correctness. That's inconsistent. I'm calling your bullshit.
^ that's the biggest load of bullshit I've read in awhile. I get out and travel? Hardee harhar. You think because you travel, experienced some "indigenous" culture, you're in? Orientals didn't care? It used to be that whites called blacks nigger, and they didn't care either, why do you think that was? Because they liked it? Or, do you think it more likely that whites, being the dominate race/class that it was more likely that it was fear that kept blacks from beating the ever loving shit out of honky? And your castigating people who are atheist, or who wear tattoos - wtf does tattoos have to do with anything - as not being capable of hearing anything is further proof that you are a fucking moron. I'm Christian, but I still appreciate atheists. I love it when the stupid make some claim as to being down with a group, just because they have some black friends, Asian friends, or Latino friends; I'm sure you're hit at the parties, and no one ever laughs at you when you leave. Jesus Christ on half shell.
VJAA rocks - a few other great firms in Minnie. Sometimes I miss that state, then I remember waiting for the school bus in -75 degree windchills...
Frank Harmon is awesome, such a nice guy. Got to meet him when he was on a jury in grad school.
I'd like to bring Oriental back (being one of the Easterners), just sounds more exotic than Asian. Seems better than being described as being from this or that continent...
^ that's the biggest load of bullshit I've read in awhile.
I don't go to experience indigenous culture. I go to experience my own culture, meaning it and others similar to it, be it in Europe or South America. I have not been to Asia, Africa, or Oceania. They're not high on my bucket list. So, compared to other travelers, I'd be provincial, but light years ahead of some knuckle draggers in America.
As for the term Orientals, it meant people who hailed from the Orient. The Orient is a real place. Before Northwest merged with Delta, Northwest was once called Northwest Orient, with 747s flying from LAX and MSP to Tokyo daily. I think this fuss broke lose somewhere between '85 and '90, because more people from Asia were visible on the American landscape and weren't from the three countries we were used to seeing (Japan, China, and Korea). You still see ethnic food stores saying "Oriental Foods Market."
Today's kids are PC because it's cool. They're the "token friend" collectors. They can be just as nasty as kids have always been, but they put on some eyewash to unsuccessfully fool you. That's why we have kids committing suicide after some of the messages they get on social media.
It's hardly bullshit. Gone into a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's lately? The alternative crowd in those places acts so liberal and like they love everybody. Not. If you were to preview their friends, they are other like-minded, similar-looking individuals. In that collection, there might be a Tracy Chapman-alike or a dude who likes Tibet the way Richard Gere did, but their alternative nature overrides their skin color in this case. So, since they don't have foreign or other friends who aren't cut from their cloth, I don't take advice from "those people" or anybody who thinks like them. Oh, and as for my atheist friends, they are typically centrists and usually burn-outs from the parochial school system. They don't make statements via grooming, apparel, or political dogma.
I used to think you were about 25 or 30, but you've got more miles. And if you've correctly identified "MN Nice" as a crock of shit, then you know the score of all the trips people are on. From friends who moved there and happily left, "MN Nice" is one of the worst brands of passive-aggressiveness seen in America, just like syrupy sweet Southerners who are "just as sweet as they can be, but will poison your iced tea," so to speak.
lol. you think you're not as much of a knuckle dragger as everyone else in america. easy to judge others, but it's pretty hard to really look at yourself through other people's eyes.
lol. you think you're not as much of a knuckle dragger as everyone else in america. easy to judge others, but it's pretty hard to really look at yourself through other people's eyes.
You know, curt, if I can roll, make friends, and make jokes with people from LA, NY, and Miami, where they don't pay lip service to diversity, because they REALLY are, it doesn't faze me that WASPs from the heartland may not like me. Ever see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" It's a chick flick, but I've seen it twice, largely for the cultural contrast foibles. The normal people in that movie where the Greeks, save the cultural judgment on the girl for not being married. The "poster children" for what an "ugly American" (affluent version) looks like were the boyfriend's parents. Ever notice that people like that, who are uptight, PC, and homogenous, need liquor down the hatch to give them any kick, as displayed in the movie, whereas the Greeks in the movie didn't need any but were on 24-7? I didn't have any WASP friends growing up, because where does one find a WASP in LA, except near their flower beds? My friends were all first-gens or foreign, and the common link was that they were colorful and humorous, not to mention smart. No need to add alcohol, the Greek system, and golf. A good time was had by all.
observant [əbˈzɜːvənt]
adj
1. paying close attention to detail; watchful or heedful
2. adhering strictly to rituals, ceremonies, laws, etc.
observantly adv
you're neither.
o•ri•en•tal (ˌɔr iˈɛn tl, ˌoʊr-)
adj.
1. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Orient, or East; Eastern.
2. eastern.
3. (cap.) belonging to a zoogeographical division comprising S Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java.
4.
a. (usu. cap.) designating a variety of corundum resembling the color of the specified gemstone, crystal, or mineral: Oriental amethyst.
b. of very fine quality: oriental garnet.
n.
5. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient.
o`ri•en′tal•ly, adv.
usage: See Asian.
here's what i know, and have become infinitely more observant, as a 45yr old white guy; i have black friends, asian friends, cuban friends, spanish friends, portugeuse friends, italian and irish, dutch.....blah blah blah, but the one thing i know is this; i haven't the foggiest notion of what it means - except for the dutch part - to be in their shoes, to know their struggles, to see their experiences, they are only known to them. and just because i went to school in newark, or have visited chicago, l.a., elizabeth, nj, baltimore, d.c., cherryhill, nj, and have seen the kind of poverty that many haven't, or the kind of racism that makes people cringe, does not make me, or give me any special insight/knowledge into their lives. i'm not pc, and im not down, what i am is this; keenly aware of my own privilege .
This from William Kunstler:
"We are blind to the depth of our own prejudice, and that as long as there is prejudice, there can be no such thing as a fair trial. And that is the terrible myth of organized society, that everything that's done through the established system is legal — and that word has a powerful psychological impact. It makes people believe that there is an order to life, and an order to a system, and that a person that goes through this order and is convicted, has gotten all that is due him. And therefore society can turn its conscience off, and look to other things and other times.
And that's the terrible thing about these past trials, is that they have this aura of legitimacy, this aura of legality. I suspect that better men than the world has known and more of them, have gone to their deaths through a legal system than through all the illegalities in the history of man.
Six million people in Europe during the Third Reich? Legal.
Sacco Vanzetti? Quite legal.
The Haymarket defendants? Legal.
The hundreds of rape trials throughout the South where black men were condemned to death? All legal.
Jesus? Legal.
Socrates? Legal.
And that is the kaleidoscopic nature of what we live through here and in other places. Because all tyrants learn that it is far better to do this thing through some semblance of legality than to do it without that pretense."
adj.
1. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Orient, or East; Eastern.
2. eastern.
5. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient.
o`ri•en′tal•ly, adv.
The operative word is sometimes. In my youth, it was never used as offensive. It was used because people couldn't finesse the appearance differences of Asian people coming from almost adjacent countries.
Keep on swinging, [sutures]. There are plenty of people who see it the way I do, and who are not liberal, not conservative, and not racist. Why is it that the pleasant young lady in a coffeehouse answers all your questions and almost uniformly serves you your coffee and dessert with a smile, while the bohemian or hipster in an in-town indie coffeehouse almost reliably slides it at you with the trademark scowl of indifference until one of his cronies shows up and he then lights up? If anybody's a fuck and a fucking idiot, that person is. And, in over 1,000+ visits to coffeehouses, I'd say my powers of observation and stats are pretty good. If you're 45 and you can't get a read on people from 5 minutes of interacting or watching them, or less, then something's not working on your behalf. Newark should have given you one helluva dose of street smarts.
if i were to guess where the line between offensive or not is, i would say the offensive use of "oriental" is when you use it with prejudice towards a group of people. used without prejudice to merely describe a person's ethnicity or a geographical region is not, in my opinion, offensive.
when i say 'it's easy to judge others, but hard to look at yourself through other people's eyes" and you proceed to post comments showing prejudice against white people, protestants, bohemians, and hipsters, that suggest to me that you use that word with prejudice.
it's not the word that's offensive, it's your prejudice. it's also not about being "PC," it's about being prejudice.
Thread Central
@Donna got a link for that quote?
The Mecanoo project photo that Donna posted is absolutely rad. I want a high-res pic of that image to blowup and wallpaper for a focal wall.
I just purchased a small studio condo- 503 square feet all to me. People seem to think 500 sf is tiny but it works so well for me. I am a tried-and-true minimalist and really have moved 'stuff' from my life. The few things that are exposed are my design books (because their pretty) and my Tivoli radio (because it's pretty). Everything else is neurotically stored away. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do when I have that army of kids I want.
hammer is so good you can lick it- miley cyrus.
once i realized you two were at the conference i sort of figured it must have been an in person quote...
I imagine THOSE two just slump down in the chairs and giggle during all the presentations.
The House of Representatives voted to fund the government WITHOUT Obamacare. I saw the picture on MSN and you've got this corporate looking Hispanic named Ted Cruz (R-Texas) up there at the podium. (When they look corporate and of European stock, they can go GOP and screw their own. Ditto with Marco Rubio). This is 10 friggin days before the health exchanges are to open. With the other chamber being primarily Democrat, let's see what happens. It may not be perfect, but so many middle-class Americans, including those who have worn out the COBRA time period, will be helped by this. And if it isn't a perfect law, it can always be fine tuned later.
http://news.msn.com/us/house-gop-vote-to-defund-obamacare-keep-govt-open
Boehner (pronounce Bey-nehr, as you all know), shown up there, should actually be pronounced Boner. And boners are, by default, pr!cks, no? And s-d-d jokingly called me part Rush Limbaugh once. I may not be the poster child for political correctness, but Republicans are one species I do NOT like.
I am somewhat less discriminating than you, ob. I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us. Our chocolate president bears no distinction from his vanilla predecessor.
It will be interesting to see if the health care law can be carried out, and what the consequences will be if it is. The essence of the legislation is that government insures profits for private insurers in exchange for taking on people they don't want.
A worthwhile rant on health care in the US by John Green.
I am somewhat less discriminating than you, ob. I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us.
It will be interesting to see if the health care law can be carried out, and what the consequences will be if it is. The essence of the legislation is that government insures profits for private insurers in exchange for taking on people they don't want.
No, I also dislike all politicians. As far as parties go, the Dems are the lesser of two evils. I hated Clinton and that includes his wife because they are two peas in a pod. No more dynasties in the White House.
As for the bold, that is exactly what it is. It subsidizes a profit level for that segment that is not insurable. And how fair is that? I think it's fair. These folks are not the lion's share. There are still a lot of people between 40 and 65 who see the doctor 3x a year, get routine blood work, and use 2 or 3 generic meds a month. With premiums averaging $500+/mo, and a copay for both the doctor visit and the drugs, the companies are inherently profitable on this segment of the population. People's places of employment will be dispersed - from huge school districts to professional services firms having 5 to 15 people to self-employment. Something needs to be done.
So, yes, that's what it does: it subsidizes a profit margin for that segment of the population. That 13% that is being picked up by this law might not even be full of "frequent flyers," with some people going in 2 to 3 times a year and staying reasonably healthy. It's not free, as in for everybody, like America's reactionary idiots think ... you know, Americans who are too stupid and probably shouldn't vote, because their votes are determined by over the back yard fence chatter or what their pastor blared at them from the pulpit. Conceptually, it's the right thing to do because not every American has a gold watch employer, as if those even exist, but death and taxes do.
"chocolate president"??
^
Let it go. A blonde chick in undergrad was pretty sweet on this very smart and clean-cut black guy she referred to as "a cute chocolate drop" who has since gone on to be a preeminent attorney. Political correctness needs to go away. When I was a kid, we had Mexicans. Now we have Hispanics. Where did they hide the Mexicans?
Last night I had dinner with Marlon Blackwell and Frank Harmon and three equally talented but not well-known friends (Steven is one of them). We drank bourbon, did sketches, and told dirty jokes. I live a charmed life.
When I was a kid, we had Mexicans. Now we have Hispanics. Where did they hide the Mexicans?
in Mexico. Mexicans are from Mexico. Hispanics are people with ethnic origins in Spain, Latinos are people from Latin America. What's so hard to figure out?
Calling all Latinos "Mexican" would be like us calling everyone from Europe "German" or something. It makes you sound like an idiot - that's why no one says it anymore.
i agree with b3ta
yeah - wtf, miles.
also this:
I don't like politicians of any flavor because in the end they are all the same: they don't work for us.
no - they do work for us - but if you want their ear, you have to work your way up through the local scene.... having a lot of money helps grease the wheel, but it's not impossible if you work to build up your sphere of influence. A couple rules: show up at things and don't be a dick.
in Mexico. Mexicans are from Mexico. Hispanics are people with ethnic origins in Spain, Latinos are people from Latin America. What's so hard to figure out?
It makes you sound like an idiot - that's why no one says it anymore.
That makes for a lot of smart and successful idiots I knew growing up. Southern California's history is deeply entrenched in Mexico's and, until recently, most of the Spanish-speaking population was of Mexican stock. Los Angeles's original name is a mile long and refers to a Mexican pueblo, and Los Angeles is the last 2 words of that mile long name. Mexican-American kids identified as Mexican many times, as did their parents (immigrants, or even first-gens). The point is that, if the person you refer to is from Spain, Cuba, or Argentina, then you could say my Spanish, Cuban, or Argentinian friend, even if they were first-gen, as long as they were full-blooded. One has to ask why Mexican has fallen out of favor yet the others have not. With Mexican, one runs the "risk" of lumping someone in with folks who are illegally here, poor and/or of indigenous stock. On the other hand, a Spaniard indicates a European who probably speaks high grade Castilian, a Cuban indicates being suave and their success stories in one generation are disparate to those of other Spanish speaking immigrants, and an Argentinian probably means someone who comes from "the Paris of South America" and is fanatical about their looks and psyche, given the prevalence of plastic surgeons and psychologists in that metro area of 11 million.
People in the States habitually describe those of European first-gen lineage by their ancestral country. So, someone like that will identify as Greek, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese, and leave off "hyphen-American." Why? They're European ... and that's not a dirty word. And, since I believe you're in Boston, all 4 of those groups are well-represented there and full-blooded kids of those nationalities label themselves by those nationalities, and they're damn proud of those self-imposed labels.
With everyone else, we walk on eggshells. If my friends have two Mexican parents, they've always been Mexican to me.
The reality is that political correctness is making us homogenized, censored, and has utterly failed to bring people closer together. It is very much a NIMBY and lip service kind of thing. I went to lunch at a restaurant today where the server staff was Egyptian, even though it was American food. They identified as Egyptian, though born here. They couldn't believe how many stupid things in Arabic I could say. Enjoy the harmless labels. Enjoy the differences, too. If we put everyone into the God damn melting pot, the differences go away.
Everybody likes tasty chocolate, except when it's the frosting on stale white cake.
Politicians work for those who pay them. And they work harder for those who pay them the most. If you want their ears, you had better be prepared to pay up big time. And if you want their devoted attention, you had better be paying more than everyone else.
Senators who backed Syria resolution got 83 per cent more defense lobby money than those who voted against it, campaign finance numbers show
My nephew is half black/half white. He came home from school one day (3rd grade) with a forlorn look on his face and when his mother asked him what was going on he blurted out that he was upset because he just realized he was... Mexican.
^ I must congratulate my sister-in-law as she did not laugh at him when he said it. She is a rock.
Well, t.i.n.t., I was referring to adults who know someone's ethnic or racial background. Kids will never be politically correct. They can be nasty, and always will be, not to mention not having developed a filter As for mistaking people for other demographic groups, there are Middle Easterners who look like Hispanics and vice-versa. Think Saddam Hussein, not that we really want to. The reason is because the upper rim of North Africa, which has narrow points where it adjoins the Middle East at Suez and Europe at Gibraltar, allowed mobility of people to cross those bodies of water where they could see the other side. That there's Moorish blood in Iberian Europeans is well-documented and obvious.
And to think, my own high school was white, with maybe 2% black, and I don't think any Mexican or Hispanic kids.
Sarah, I like that story. We can just refer to people as white ... or permanently tanned. Then there will be a fight to enumerate the gradations of someone's tan status.
My high school was about 85% white and Hispanic/Latino ... with about 60% white and 25% Hispanic/Latino, of which the vast majority were probably Mexican. Of the remaining 15%, about 12% were black and 3% were Asian. The Cubans, Peruvians, and Argentinians made damn sure to tell you they were Cuban, Peruvian, and Argentinian. Therefore, by default, one knew who was Mexican. To that, add the fact that they hung out by the fence in group(s).
The HR department at my institution of employment just released a staff update that notes that someone has been promoted and assigned the new title of "Chief Software Architect". I'm trying to decide how much of a dick I want to be about it.
Sometimes the stupid here is mind blowing. Our collective white privilege is this cloud that manages to obscure just about everything that occurs in the world.
Donna, unfortunately it's a waste of time, unless of course you ask this individual who designed Ronchamp and they have an answer.
Donna, As Chief Soft Ware Architect you are underpaid....ask for a big raise. That will get their attention in a Hurry. All you have to do is post comparable wages.
Best of Luck....obtw....if you get a raise will you give me a finders fee?
Observant, so are you saying that political correctness needs to go away, or that we should refer to people by their ethnic and/or geopolitical backgrounds (Mexican, Cuban, Irish, etc.), or that everyone is either white or permanently tanned (just at different levels)?
Sarah can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe her point was that she no longer assumes someone's background based on skin tone and just asks, not that there are tan people and white people. "I've given up assuming someone's ethnic background -they're all just tan, and often just ask."
Also, to clarify, the reason that an Argentine gets offended that you call them Mexican or Hispanic is because they are not Mexican or Hispanic ... they are Argentine. It still wouldn't necessarily be correct to call them latino because they could easily be of European descent and associate with that more than the fact that they live in Latin America.
It might also be useful to know that around people from Latin America you might make some upset by referring to people from the United States as americanos; for that matter so is the Argentine, the Mexican, the Peruvian, the Canadian, and so on. That's why in Spanish you have the word for "United States-ian," estadounidense.
For someone as well travelled as you claim to be on these forums, I would think that it wouldn't be a simple matter of political correctness. It goes beyond that and gets to the nature of a person's being ... who they are in their own point of view. Unfortunately, for people that like to sit on internet forums and tout their world observations, it seems that the easiest way to figure this out is to ask someone to self-identify rather than slapping your own label on them ... and that takes effort.
Race is a convenient way to divide and manipulate people.
The only color that really matters is green. Has been for millennia and will no doubt be for as long a people occupy this planet. We are doomed until we embrace our humanity.
Obama is a perfect example. Portrayed as the last hope of the poor and racially marginalized, simultaneously vilified as a foreign-born Muslim terrorist. Both are absolute bullshit. BO is simply the latest carefully selected, fully-vetted, pre-approved and fully-funded bootlicker for the corporate-financial complex.
When Qatar has a pipeline through Syria to Turkey you can remember that I told you so. And if they don't get one it won't be because we didn't try. The CIA is busy arming Al Qaeda (again), probably with more chemical weapons.
it's an unfortunate failure of our language but, for better or worse, software architecture is a real thing.
^ parametricism.
It turns out the Indiana regulation was recently updated and pretty much says simply that someone can't present themselves as being registered to practice architecture if they can't, therefore the modifier "software" in front of the term "architect" is perfectly legal. So whatever, I'll just snicker to myself whenever I see this person and his/her business card.
A more immediate problem is that for the second weekend in a row my FB feed is full of pictures of a bunch of people I consider my friends at a party to which I was not invited. It's a good thing I spent the last 48 hours with my architect friends, with whom I have much deeper bonds, so I don't feel like a total loser. I may have to abandon Facebook for awhile, it's making me too envious.
come hang in minnesota, i've got no friends up here, plus we can laugh at all of the MN Nice.
"The only color that really matters is green."
Bullshit. You can be a Black Bill Gates and still get an Omar stare. So quit selling that horsecrap.
Oooh, beta, one of the speakers at the conference was VJAA. Their work took my breath away, and it's mostly all up in the cold north with you….
they're doing a new library in minneapolis.
maybe i should drive down there.
And yes, I absolutely meant that I don't assume ethnic background any more.
b3ta, a black Bill Gates might get talked about behind his back but everyone is going to kiss his ass. Just like the white one.
"The only color that really matters is green" is the OJ Simpson rule. He proved that if you have enough money (the murder case cost $15m) your color doesn't really matter.
Observant, so are you saying that political correctness needs to go away, or that we should refer to people by their ethnic and/or geopolitical backgrounds (Mexican, Cuban, Irish, etc.), or that everyone is either white or permanently tanned (just at different levels)?
Sure, why not? If you have to fill out a form, you will be asked what your demographics are. Caucasian sounds kind of bland, no? An ethnicity gives it some kick. As for white or permanently tanned, I was piggybacking on Sarah's comment. I don't identify as American, even though I was born here (the U.S.). The only place I identify as American is when I fork over a passport at the Canadian border, at an airport entry point, or at a hotel. I am not "melted" enough to identify as an American. I identify by my parents' ancestry, and add that I was born here. I see you are in OK, and the mantra of "Mom, baseball, and apple pie," together with tailgate parties, is a thing that is more appropriate for Americans who have lost their roots and need to create one ... and not those raised in urban centers and who still have strong ties to their ancestral cultures.
Unfortunately, for people that like to sit on internet forums and tout their world observations, it seems that the easiest way to figure this out is to ask someone to self-identify rather than slapping your own label on them ... and that takes effort.
I get out and travel, and I go to places where I can mesh with the locals because I made it a point to learn their languages first. As for the "labels," it works for me. It works for my friends - educated ones from huge urban areas. Could be generational. Could be geographic. They don't mind the labels and, if they were to inform me that they do, I'll change ... with respect to that one person. Sounds like I'm getting a scolding. Hey, when we were kids, Asians were referred to as Orientals, and they didn't care, using it themselves, or using a specific nationality, such as Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Filipino, for fellow American born kids of their own ethnicity. I'll tell you what, if you're an atheist or are festooned in tattoos and piercings, anything you say goes in one ear and out the other. (Think Lena Dunham in the tasteless "my first time" commercial for Obama, which, along with a tattoo covering her shoulder, sickened me, even though Obama still got my vote). Also, I haven't been an "everyday type" for almost 15 years.
I think what's sickening is that the very people who are flouting and tearing away at spiritual, moral, and interpersonal conventions, where human interaction through voice has been replaced by texting, are the ones screaming political correctness. That's inconsistent. I'm calling your bullshit.
^ that's the biggest load of bullshit I've read in awhile. I get out and travel? Hardee harhar. You think because you travel, experienced some "indigenous" culture, you're in? Orientals didn't care? It used to be that whites called blacks nigger, and they didn't care either, why do you think that was? Because they liked it? Or, do you think it more likely that whites, being the dominate race/class that it was more likely that it was fear that kept blacks from beating the ever loving shit out of honky? And your castigating people who are atheist, or who wear tattoos - wtf does tattoos have to do with anything - as not being capable of hearing anything is further proof that you are a fucking moron. I'm Christian, but I still appreciate atheists. I love it when the stupid make some claim as to being down with a group, just because they have some black friends, Asian friends, or Latino friends; I'm sure you're hit at the parties, and no one ever laughs at you when you leave. Jesus Christ on half shell.
^ I've been reading David Sedaris' Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls and one of the bits is on race.
“My first boyfriend was black as well, but that doesn't prove I'm color-blind, just that I like big butts.”
And?
VJAA rocks - a few other great firms in Minnie. Sometimes I miss that state, then I remember waiting for the school bus in -75 degree windchills...
Frank Harmon is awesome, such a nice guy. Got to meet him when he was on a jury in grad school.
I'd like to bring Oriental back (being one of the Easterners), just sounds more exotic than Asian. Seems better than being described as being from this or that continent...
^ that's the biggest load of bullshit I've read in awhile.
I don't go to experience indigenous culture. I go to experience my own culture, meaning it and others similar to it, be it in Europe or South America. I have not been to Asia, Africa, or Oceania. They're not high on my bucket list. So, compared to other travelers, I'd be provincial, but light years ahead of some knuckle draggers in America.
As for the term Orientals, it meant people who hailed from the Orient. The Orient is a real place. Before Northwest merged with Delta, Northwest was once called Northwest Orient, with 747s flying from LAX and MSP to Tokyo daily. I think this fuss broke lose somewhere between '85 and '90, because more people from Asia were visible on the American landscape and weren't from the three countries we were used to seeing (Japan, China, and Korea). You still see ethnic food stores saying "Oriental Foods Market."
Today's kids are PC because it's cool. They're the "token friend" collectors. They can be just as nasty as kids have always been, but they put on some eyewash to unsuccessfully fool you. That's why we have kids committing suicide after some of the messages they get on social media.
It's hardly bullshit. Gone into a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's lately? The alternative crowd in those places acts so liberal and like they love everybody. Not. If you were to preview their friends, they are other like-minded, similar-looking individuals. In that collection, there might be a Tracy Chapman-alike or a dude who likes Tibet the way Richard Gere did, but their alternative nature overrides their skin color in this case. So, since they don't have foreign or other friends who aren't cut from their cloth, I don't take advice from "those people" or anybody who thinks like them. Oh, and as for my atheist friends, they are typically centrists and usually burn-outs from the parochial school system. They don't make statements via grooming, apparel, or political dogma.
I used to think you were about 25 or 30, but you've got more miles. And if you've correctly identified "MN Nice" as a crock of shit, then you know the score of all the trips people are on. From friends who moved there and happily left, "MN Nice" is one of the worst brands of passive-aggressiveness seen in America, just like syrupy sweet Southerners who are "just as sweet as they can be, but will poison your iced tea," so to speak.
lol. you think you're not as much of a knuckle dragger as everyone else in america. easy to judge others, but it's pretty hard to really look at yourself through other people's eyes.
lol. you think you're not as much of a knuckle dragger as everyone else in america. easy to judge others, but it's pretty hard to really look at yourself through other people's eyes.
You know, curt, if I can roll, make friends, and make jokes with people from LA, NY, and Miami, where they don't pay lip service to diversity, because they REALLY are, it doesn't faze me that WASPs from the heartland may not like me. Ever see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" It's a chick flick, but I've seen it twice, largely for the cultural contrast foibles. The normal people in that movie where the Greeks, save the cultural judgment on the girl for not being married. The "poster children" for what an "ugly American" (affluent version) looks like were the boyfriend's parents. Ever notice that people like that, who are uptight, PC, and homogenous, need liquor down the hatch to give them any kick, as displayed in the movie, whereas the Greeks in the movie didn't need any but were on 24-7? I didn't have any WASP friends growing up, because where does one find a WASP in LA, except near their flower beds? My friends were all first-gens or foreign, and the common link was that they were colorful and humorous, not to mention smart. No need to add alcohol, the Greek system, and golf. A good time was had by all.
observant [əbˈzɜːvənt]
adj
1. paying close attention to detail; watchful or heedful
2. adhering strictly to rituals, ceremonies, laws, etc.
observantly adv
you're neither.
o•ri•en•tal (ˌɔr iˈɛn tl, ˌoʊr-)
adj.
1. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Orient, or East; Eastern.
2. eastern.
3. (cap.) belonging to a zoogeographical division comprising S Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java.
4.
a. (usu. cap.) designating a variety of corundum resembling the color of the specified gemstone, crystal, or mineral: Oriental amethyst.
b. of very fine quality: oriental garnet.
n.
5. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient.
o`ri•en′tal•ly, adv.
usage: See Asian.
here's what i know, and have become infinitely more observant, as a 45yr old white guy; i have black friends, asian friends, cuban friends, spanish friends, portugeuse friends, italian and irish, dutch.....blah blah blah, but the one thing i know is this; i haven't the foggiest notion of what it means - except for the dutch part - to be in their shoes, to know their struggles, to see their experiences, they are only known to them. and just because i went to school in newark, or have visited chicago, l.a., elizabeth, nj, baltimore, d.c., cherryhill, nj, and have seen the kind of poverty that many haven't, or the kind of racism that makes people cringe, does not make me, or give me any special insight/knowledge into their lives. i'm not pc, and im not down, what i am is this; keenly aware of my own privilege .
This from William Kunstler:
"We are blind to the depth of our own prejudice, and that as long as there is prejudice, there can be no such thing as a fair trial. And that is the terrible myth of organized society, that everything that's done through the established system is legal — and that word has a powerful psychological impact. It makes people believe that there is an order to life, and an order to a system, and that a person that goes through this order and is convicted, has gotten all that is due him. And therefore society can turn its conscience off, and look to other things and other times.
And that's the terrible thing about these past trials, is that they have this aura of legitimacy, this aura of legality. I suspect that better men than the world has known and more of them, have gone to their deaths through a legal system than through all the illegalities in the history of man.
Six million people in Europe during the Third Reich? Legal.
Sacco Vanzetti? Quite legal.
The Haymarket defendants? Legal.
The hundreds of rape trials throughout the South where black men were condemned to death? All legal.
Jesus? Legal.
Socrates? Legal.
And that is the kaleidoscopic nature of what we live through here and in other places. Because all tyrants learn that it is far better to do this thing through some semblance of legality than to do it without that pretense."
o•ri•en•tal (ˌɔr iˈɛn tl, ˌoʊr-)
adj.
1. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Orient, or East; Eastern.
2. eastern.
5. (usu. cap.) Sometimes Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient.
o`ri•en′tal•ly, adv.
The operative word is sometimes. In my youth, it was never used as offensive. It was used because people couldn't finesse the appearance differences of Asian people coming from almost adjacent countries.
Keep on swinging, [sutures]. There are plenty of people who see it the way I do, and who are not liberal, not conservative, and not racist. Why is it that the pleasant young lady in a coffeehouse answers all your questions and almost uniformly serves you your coffee and dessert with a smile, while the bohemian or hipster in an in-town indie coffeehouse almost reliably slides it at you with the trademark scowl of indifference until one of his cronies shows up and he then lights up? If anybody's a fuck and a fucking idiot, that person is. And, in over 1,000+ visits to coffeehouses, I'd say my powers of observation and stats are pretty good. If you're 45 and you can't get a read on people from 5 minutes of interacting or watching them, or less, then something's not working on your behalf. Newark should have given you one helluva dose of street smarts.
good read!
if i were to guess where the line between offensive or not is, i would say the offensive use of "oriental" is when you use it with prejudice towards a group of people. used without prejudice to merely describe a person's ethnicity or a geographical region is not, in my opinion, offensive.
when i say 'it's easy to judge others, but hard to look at yourself through other people's eyes" and you proceed to post comments showing prejudice against white people, protestants, bohemians, and hipsters, that suggest to me that you use that word with prejudice.
it's not the word that's offensive, it's your prejudice. it's also not about being "PC," it's about being prejudice.
It's a chick flick, but I've seen it twice, largely for the cultural contrast foibles.
What decade are you posting from?
^ "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is 2002 vintage. I saw it again in 2010.
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