|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| is that he can move even ME to post on my own blog.
Yes, I know you missed me.
Here's the text of today's attempt at biting socio-political satire:
"In an attempt to improve its oppobrious public image, "The Association of Trial Lawyers of America" has voted to change its name to "The American Association for Justice"...In other news, Hezbollah has reportedly changed its name to 'The Rotary Club'...the mako shark now prefers to be called "the cuddly sea-bunny" and gingivitis has changed its name to "bob".
It's Tinsley Humor Pattern 3: If A gets a new name, B gets a new name. Hah. Hah. Hah.
Funny thing, though.
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America ISN'T changing its name. At least their own website doesn't mention such a change. see atla.org for confirmation.
This is a typical Tinsley (and neo-con, for that matter) tactic: falselyclaim something is happening and then react to it. Test scores, gay teachers, illegal aliens. Tinsley does this and people who don't read the news except for the funnies (ironic, isn't it? calling Tinsley 'funny'?) see this and say, oh freakin lawyers.
ATLA's motto is "Balancing The Scales Of Justice".
Crap. No wonder Tinsley hates them.
anyways: go see my heroes at shrubville.com
| | |
| helped friends move to Utah, finished the intro to my MA Thesis, yadda etc.
Today's strip is a charming examination of the difference between
those who see the world as black and white
and
those who see the world as shades of gray.
What's ironic about this is that on the front page of the L.A. Times comics section is a Doonesbury strip. The strip takes place at one of W's press conferences. A reporter says, "Sir, I've noticed that whenever you frame a debate, it always contains false choices. After 9/11, it was 'are you with us or against us?'"
The neo-conservative does not do well, I have observed
(shit! I could stop the sentence right there!)
-with conditional/contextual thinking.
(ha, there it is.)
Yet, they are willing to create contexts and will defend them to the death (of someone else or someone else's kid). Case in point: I was just in Utah. Utah's courts just ruled that exotic dancers have to wear pasties and thongs when on stage. An editorial in one of the SLC papers said 'isn't it a shame that all of this kind of dancing could be banned'.
Uh-uh.
Freedom of the marketplace, jerk. If 'American Bush'
has customers willing to pay, how can a good neo-con say that's a bad thing? I tried to do research, btw, but the driver of the car was complete and utter wuss [his wife was in the car, 'nuff said].
or, as in today's 'Prickly City' strip, where Representative Nancy Pelosi was insulted for her appearance, with jokes about Botox use. Scott Stantis, the author, is obviously following Our Boy Tinsley by leaving out the comedy to save money. But can't they see that it's wrong to attack Nancy for the face she was born with and NOT talk about Katherine Harris and her two new safety cushions?
anyways, check at http://www.shrubville.com/. The author's my new hero! | | |
| It's after three a.m. Frankly, I've been up too long. I have learned that there can be a Bloody Mary that is too spicy for even me.
But I have a responsibility, dammit.
When Bruce says something stupid, I have to declare it from the rooftops.
The strip begins with "Our story continues".
The caveguy (the symbol for native-born American citizens...or Bruce) says to the illegal-alien symbol "But, people from other tribes wait for years to join ours! However, because you sneaked in and are already here, we should just automatically make you a member?"
The illegal alien symbol says "Exactly! Because I'm different from those other people."
Bruce-symbol sez "How?"
Illegal guy: 'Because I want to move here while keeping my old language, culture and primary allegiance to my old tribe."
sorry. I call bullshit. Let's examine that last sentence:
LANGUAGE
Bruce - let's say it's the Bruce from last time we played as cavemen- has, hypothetically, moved to a new country where he can triple his income. They speak a new language. Speaking the language above a certain level has no real effect on your earnings. How many hours does Bruce (hypothetical Bruce) spend studying Urdu? Remember, Bruce has worked long hours to make money to send home to his family. How many hours?
CULTURE
Won't argue with that. We are everywhere! You should hear a Filipino band rock out with a Zep tune!
PRIMARY ALLEGIANCE
These are the first two military deaths I saw in today's L A Times:
Marine Cpl. Michael Estrella, 20, Hemet; Sniper Victim Was 2,500th U.S. Military Death in Iraq
Army Cpl. Luis D. Santos, 20, Rialto; Killed by a Roadside Bomb
'estrella' means 'star' in Spanish.
'santos' means 'saints'.
Can anyone tell what 'Tinsley' means? Where is it from?
How did the Tinsleys get here? Did they fly here in a blimp? Swim here? Steerage class on some crap steamship (like my own Italian forebears)?
How many Tinsleys have died in wars?
What does 'Tinsley' mean? What does it stand for?
P.S. got so wrung-out on Bruce's heritage, I almost forgot the kicker. The illegal caveman asks for "some capital to start a gang".
Bruce Tinsley, gang authority. Indiana must be a hot-bed of crime.
Is there anything the man doesn't know? | | |
| last week's Sunday strip was a one-framer. A bloated American family is stocking up for the 4th of July holiday and the bloated Dad is asking his kids if they've forgotten anything at the store...and over-looking all of this is a picture of a Valley Forge Minuteman, smirking wearily at our new-fangled technology.
I dig.
I mean, how can ya argue with it? Folks should remember the past suffering of thise who gave all. Totally.
However...I just thought of this...what would you say about a husband who hates his boss, can't hit his boss- so he goes home and beats his wife?
Sh)tty, right? The lowest.
Now, see it this way:
Husband = Bush White House
Boss = Real Terrorist Forces
Wife = Iraq
and you say, aw, that's too facile, too superficial.
Give it some thought. | | |
| and I wanna apologize. Grades. Cleaning out my classroom. Teaching is NOT the way neo-cons say it is, where we just sit around and drink vodka and hate kids.
In last week's episode, a consumer was complaining about the high price of gas, and Tinsley somehow segued into...an indictment of baseball fans paying to see steroid-dependent galoots.
Seriously.
Once again, Bruce has left out the humor for extra savings. Is he trying to say that if we're not going to regulate steroids in sports, we shouldn't regulate gas prices? But we voluntarily pay for tickets to sporting events; if the price is too high, we can opt out. Gas prices are a stickier topic:
if you have a car, you're kinda stuck.
baseball ticket prices are not connected to politics or anti-Semitism in the Middle East.
I could go on and on. I suggest you do so.
This week's funny, FUNNY strip is about illegal immigration.
Bruce (that's really him!)is a caveman who comes home to find a stranger in his cave. Tommy Chong pays the intruder:
As I always say: tough questions don't worry me, it's the simplified answers that freak me out.
Yes, Illegal Immigration is a problem. People come across the border and use our services. However, they also come to work. An undocumented worker can make five to ten times what he or she could make at home.
Quick Question (QQ):
If Bruce were offered 10 times his present salary (and remember, this is a man with two kids and a lust for books), would he switch?
As long as the work is here, people will come here. IF you made hiring undocumented workers expensive for the companies that hire them, or if you did away with the gap in earnings, the problem would go away. No fence. No walls. That's a mature solution.
Building a wall, however, will make it tougher for some undoc'd workers to get here. The majority of undoc'd workers, however, don't walk across the desert; they come on visas and stay or they come for a visit and stay or they drive across. A shortage of 'informal' undoc'd workers will hurt smaller companies, companies like Tyson Poultry already have recruiters and routes to get their illegal workforce (read 'Fast Food Nation' if you doubt me).
Problem: enforcing laws costs money. Designing and switching-out tamper-proof work documents costs money. This administration; not so good with the money. For themselves? They do just fine; Custer Battles, Halliburton, etc.
| | |
|
