"Racist Chia President" pulled from shelves

Wallgreens - one on America's hugely sucessful meglo-marts has decided to pull the hot selling special edition Barak Obama Chi product from it's shelves following the protests of a select few individuals. Once again, as predicted in my earlier posts, some Americans' hyper-sensitivity to this president borders on ridiculous. So thin skinned are these people, the actual shade of pigmentation matters less than the lack of big picture thinking displayed in the omnipresent outcries of racism where none exists.

Sure, as in all matters, the eye of the beholder is the sticking point. As a white - 2nd generation Canadian I have been subjected to repeated, insulting advertising produced by agencies and broadcast by networks fearful of offending anyone but the one gender and race deemed worthy of abuse. Lacking any organization, lobby or cultural permission to voice outrage over such issues, it has become impossible to find more than a handful of spots that treat all people the same - or at least spread out the role of dupe, dunce and slob around a little.

So either it's time to do something - make the whiners prove their point or justify a hypocritic foundation to their stance. It's been going on for years - it's getting worse - and the many homes with children growing up without the presence of a positive male role model get instead this racist, sexist garbage used to sell tooth whitener and Lincoln Navigators to insecure female viewers.

The great writers are all in cartoons

The writers who have turned South Park into the hottest 18-34 year old demographic hit have been overlooked far too long - it is they who have carried the torch of the great sci-fi writers of the 50's and 60's. Overlooked and under the radar - the team of young, savy mostly white, male scribes are all sent to work over the issues that divide and infuriate America on a weekly basis. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a yearly Las Vegas reterat where they frame up the seasons episodes - with more than a few holes to be nicely filled by the writers who push racism, sexism, consumerism, politics, and every form of family life in a white bread, redneck town in Colorado. Once again, the people who pertain to protect the masses from people like these have missed the subversive, brutally accurate portrayal of the hypocracy and brutality of our present society.  Free to roam right under the noses of those who are clueless, the  team of writers have a weekly poke at what is really going on in American (and to a lesser extent-Canadian) society.   

During the U.S. Presedential election, this demographic was reffered to as "South Park Republicans" and were summarily dismissed as slackers by the lib-left media - voters 18-35 who don't "rely on traditional sources of news information"  

I think it would be wise for politicians of all stripes to pay heed to the two generations who were raised on cynicism, sarcasm and disrespect. Having more or less frozen at age 8 of 9, the success of the series will preclude the boys ever becoming adults like their ripe parents - but one never knows.

Brutal times for the man

I have spent the weekend with my daughters - a bi-monthly delight of thousands of Canadian - and frankly - global daddies. My bad luck that the stomach flu had hit by the time I picked the 17 month old up on Friday. Two days of the delights of high fevers, vomiting and kelly green diarreha was my lot, but the fever broke Sat night, and I was as happy as any sleepless parent could be. Parenting is hard. It was hard when there was two of us doing it, and it is surely twice as difficult with half the workforce.

Having negotiated the government and court systems over the past month, I was gobsmacked by the absolute non-existance of men in any of these offices. If I did see one, it was surely someone who fit the racial guidelines outlined on page one of every government HR web page. As someone who has lived on the fringes of this society, I feel it might be time for a worker to be available who has some degree of empathy or personal insight as to my mindset during these trying times, let alone have a hope to be hired by the one sector left that keeps spending money, guarantees pensions ans wages, as well as the fattest wallet in the land (other people's money of course). There has been a dramatic shift in the hiring paradigm - for a generation now; Universities still spit out thousands of eager young women with their gender specific degrees - ready to help yet another sister step on the rights of someone who has done absolutely nothing wrong except to be born with a penis - especially a pink one.  Shut up - do not voice your displeasure let alone point out the very real facts that define racism and sexism.

The truth hurts - some of us more than others. It is not popular to stand up for one's rights when the rest of the world has been allowed to view you as somehow undeserving of anything gained in a world described as brutally sexist, racist and unjust. In the immortal words of Mr. Rodney King "Can't we all just get along"?

Let the complete lack of fun begin

Well, here we go.  In the past, the slew of old white men voted into the American Presidency were skewered by cartoonists, comedians, writers, social commentators, media personalities and political opponents alike.  This time, things are different.  As the run up to the election proved, Barack Obama is NOT like any other president - and like Hillary Clinton, any use of mockery, sarcasm, black humor (excuse the reference) or negative imagery will be met with a broadside (again - apologies) of outrage - the original message or legitimate criticism buried under a pile of indignation.

If the world is truly working toward an altruistic model of brotherhood - sisterhood - kinship....ah hell whatever - then we must move past the pettiness and toward an ability to give it and take it with aplomb. Nixon was a sweaty crook - Ford was a bumbler - Carter was a rube peanut farmer - Reagan was a vacant actor - Clinton was a skirt chasing liar - Bush was a criminal and an idiot.  What will the legacy of America's first multi-racial rich lawyer be?  I can hardly wait to see, but I won't be holding my breath.

Waiting for MY time.

It's funny how the combonation of demographics and timing have conspired the screw an entire generation of Canadians out of the NFB style dream we were promised for thirty years. Born in 1965, I am of the generation known as X. X has morphed into a Generation X Y then Gen Y and now the echo boomers (get it...the kids of the yuppies fortunate enough to be born 1945-1960) and the poor squabs like me have no numerical weight to affect much of anything. Now, this is all proven, and has been discussed to some extent - but the silent gas in the room is the drastic swing society has taken to wrest away the mantle of control held firmly by the Male-Anglo...the Manglo we shall call ouselves.

As someone who considers himself smart and motivated - my community college artsy diploma has allowed me to partake in a long string of McJobs over the years - as my "sisters" have enjoyed unprecidented advances from 1988-to 2008. The Canadian government has seen that these women are no longer willing to stay home and raise a brood of kids - tomorrows taxpayers. Instead, immigration has spent untold billions to woo a new generation of "Canadians" while women have been made into the uber consumers that industry desired so much. Ask yourself - when is the last time you saw any advertising aimed at anyone other than a female 18-35? and then ask yourself - who spends to feel better?... you know-therapy?

Not me - I can't afford formula and diapers. For my girls.

It's the Economy Stupid

Those famous words were uttered by U.S. democratic backroom guru James Caravel during one of the Clinton White house runs in the 90's. Whenever someone on the election team would start to divert from the message, the campaign whip would quickly remind them that people care only so much about anything past their own wallet. When it comes to humanity, we are a pathetic bunch of self serving. short sighted idiots. I wish that were not the case, but time and time again when all levels of society are faced with a decision to make, we continually choose the easiest, we choose the quickest, we want the most profit and the least responsibility. If for some reason you choose to try to be a little better, a little kinder, give a little more you are rejected, abused, and made to be the scapegoat. Long after the profit takers and Captains of Industry have left the building, you and yours are left with broken backs, broken dreams and the loss of the one commodity that should never be taken away - hope.



I am no communist - but sometimes I wonder.

Garbage in - garbage out

Having worked in Market Research for a number of years, one thing has become painfully clear - it's all bullshit.

Until all citizens are forced to participate - and everyone is dosed with sodium pentathol (truth syrum) all market research must be taken with a silo of salt.

An incredible amount of goods and services, government policies...EVERYTHING we get shoved down our throats comes from what can only be called a "best guess" The difference between a guess and a "best guess" is about $27k spent asking people their opinions. Problem is, people lie. All the time. Women are far more willing to answwer surveys and hence - most advertising is directed towards them. Recently, advances in personal people meters (the devices used by market researchers to determine viewing and listening habits) have been extended to all sorts of consumer goods. The end result is that men aged 18-34 are being counted for the first time in ...well forever. Men are lazy, and the passive nature of these new devices goes a long way to take their preferences in account. Good old rock radio has returned to the New York and Philadelphia markets because the conventional thinking that everyone wanted more salsa. latin urban and dance music was proved false - just the type of people (women) who like this music answer surveys at a higher rate. Surveys suck - but you need to be heard.