"In America, You have the Right to be Stupid"; said JF Kerry

Out of all the good things to say about America, our top diplomat found it most relevant to comment on our right to be stupid before an audience of German students. This is all the more inappropriate on his part that in German the word stupid means dumm, and the later came to the US with the early German immigrants and influenced the meaning of the English word dumb. So in todays America, dumb and stupid are one and the same.

Maybe Kerry did not have much to brag about vis-a-vis the Germans: life expectancy (Germany ranks 13th, USA ranks 17th among wealthy nations); Poverty (Germany’s rate is 13.5%; USA is 27.5%); Infant mortality (Germany ranks 12th, USA ranks 34th), and so on and so forth.

Most importantly, even if Germany and USA have the same ranking of 26th for 99% literacy (ability to read and write after age 15), the true illiteracy rate in the US hovers around 21% as per a U.S. government study that was released in April 2002 and reapplied in 2003. It involved interviewing over 90,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. This study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information." Higher immigrant populations have the lowest English literacy rates, which are probably even worse amongst illegal immigrants. The study shows correlation between illiteracy and poverty.

Dumband Dumber is a 1994 American buddy comedy film starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels 

“Americans have the right to be stupid” could be stretched to mean “Americans have the right to be uneducated”, so why are we spending all this money on education? Why the high property taxes? Not that any of that money seems to make a difference, but how is shouting our “right to be stupid” over the German roof tops or anywhere else for that matter, fit in this problematic equation.

Some would argue that if we have the right to be stupid, education must be optional and not mandated by the constitution. Furthermore we then should have the right to be unhealthy and here goes the premise of Obamacare: a citizen’s individual health impacts costs and bottom line for all of us. The same premise exists for stupidity and lack of education. It does impact all of us. It makes us less productive, less competitive, thus less GDP. Being stupid and uneducated makes us do irresponsible and irrational things that do impact all of us, such as ignorant voting, increased dependency on society, low work ethics,  coveting the role of victim, gullible to commit a crime.

Maybe John Forbes Kerry could not help himself because the government has been taking us for fools or stupids lately, lying about everything they say: sequestration, rate of attacks in Afghanistan, true unemployment, Benghazi, the fiscal cliff, immigration, you name it.

Masses can be lead like sheep. History has shown repeatedly the stupider they are, the easier to control and the more gullible. Are we developing a taste for the “right to remain stupid” kind of like the “right to remain silent” (Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution) ? Are John Kerry and his pals and MOST IMPORTANTLY THE MEDIA (by selective coverage, ad lib editing, and distorted reporting) surreptitiously encouraging this?

The Dumbing of America maybe Outpacing the Gaying and even the Greying

Despite the rhetoric our leaders seem to be happy with just that. They would love nothing better than a nation of little dumber boys and girls (The Little Drummer Boy) drumming a long in acquiescence to every one of their moves:

Ra Ta Dumb Dumb….Ra Ta Dumb Dumb…

Tinseltown moves to Lincoln Old Digs

After 5+ hours of Oscar agony on TV last Sunday, where everybody and his brother received thanks from the nominees, who were careful not to forget the family dog and the hamster pet, none else but First Lady Michelle Obama appeared in a cameo to give the ultimate award for best film. This was definitely a premiere but also a genius PR coup for the Obamas watched by 1 billion viewers worldwide. After all isn’t Hollywood movies the best ambassadors of America overseas (especially the more violent and spectacular ones)?

I think Mrs. Obama was prepared to give the Oscar to ZeroDark Thirty, which illustrates her husband’s biggest victory, the killing of Obama. It would have been poetic justice. Instead it was Argo, good movie designed by liberal Ben Affleck to wipe out the large blemish left on Carter’s record by the Iran hostages. That had to do for a message.

Of course it could have been any number of movies, most of which have something in common: violence and guns (not good for the current efforts of the administration). Amour or Life of Pi would have been OK in this respect but they did not win.

Beasts of the Southern Wild depicting rising sea levels caused by global warming in Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish, most notably the rapidly eroding Isle de Jean Charles, would have been a great voice for global warming, a prominent item on the agenda.

Django Unchained certainly promotes class and minority struggles. After watching this very gory movie even the rich would have decided to tax themselves making the President very happy.

By bringing back the French Revolution, LesMiserables, also quite gory, also promotes class warfare.

Silver Lining Playbook, a not as violent movie suggests a “silver lining” to the economical cloud we are under. Great pick for a demagogue.

Finally if Lincoln was to win. It would have been real sweet for the Obamas and I think the President himself would have delivered the award from Lincoln’s very old digs, in front of his portrait, and all the related theatricals. The President mentioned Abraham Lincoln as his role model many times and this would have been a perfect opportunity to “appropriate” that very eminent Republican President as his own model, once and for all. 

That night it was indeed the final coming out of the Obamas and Hollywood. Their tryst is now in the open, if it ever was a secret. Think of all they have in common: showmanship, great acting skills, masters of the make-believe, contempt and disregard for reality, selling dreams, and so on and so forth.

At the age of 9, Quvenzhané Wallis  of Beasts of the Southern Wild is the youngest ever nominee of the Academy Award for Best Actress. How on earth can an 85 year old seasoned ACADEMY do that? Isn’t it an insult to all hard working more senior, more experienced struggling actors who have to work all kinds of odd jobs to pay for their acting lessons? What message are they projecting? Is it another not so veiled indictment of the old adage “work hard to succeed”? What lesson for our young? What inspiration for deranged future school mass murderers in the audience?

More than ever we MUST remind the honorable members of the Academy of Motion Pictures, because with their huge impact on worldwide audiences comes responsibility, that:

Success only Preceeds Work in the Dictionary

Blade Runner There Blade Cutter Here

First in this post-Oscars day, let us introduce the cast of characters; then we will describe the plots:

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius born in 1986, is a South African sprint runner. He was born with fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula) in both legs. When he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated below the knee. He credits his late mother, who died at the age of 43 when Pistorius was 15 years old, as a major influence in his life. He is a White South African with Italian ancestry from his mother's grandfather, an Italian emigrant to Kenya. Since the age of 11, he participated in every sport imaginable on land or in water. He never saw himself as handicapped and to prove it, he was always quite eager to compete with full-bodied athletes even in the Olympics. His brother Carl Pistorius is currently facing charges himself for a vehicular manslaughter in 2009.

Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp  born in 1983 was a South African model. On 14 February 2013, she was found shot dead at the home of Paralympic and Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius whom she had been dating since November 2012. She had previously dated Springbok rugby player Francois Hougaard. Steenkamp began modeling at the age of 14. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2005, Steenkamp was a keen horse rider until she broke her back in a fall in her early twenties and had to learn to walk again. On the South African celebrity circuit, she became a regular A-list guest at red carpet events and a noted socialite on the Johannesburg party scene.

Travis Victor Alexander (born in 1977 in Riverside, California) was known to his friends as "T-Dog". Alexander had three brothers and four sisters. His parents, Gary David Alexander (1948–1997), and his third wife Pamela Elizabeth Morgan (1953–2005), were drug addicts. Alexander and his siblings were taken in by their paternal grandmother, Norma Jean Preston Alexander Sarvey (1932–2012), who eventually introduced them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “T-Dog” became quite involved with the Church until the day he died. He was a salesman for the network marketing company Prepaid Legal Services (PLS);  and also worked as a motivational speaker.

Jodi Ann Arias was born on July 9, 1980, in Salinas, California. She is of Mexican descent from her father and German and English from her mother. Arias has an older half-sister, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. Both of her parents began physically abusing her after the age of 7 with a wooden spoon and belt.  She did not graduate Yreka Union High School. Arias and Alexander met in September 2006 at a PLS conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 26, 2006, Arias was baptized into the Latter-day Saint faith by Alexander. As of February 2, 2007, Alexander and Arias were a couple. She then relocated to Mesa, Arizona. Arias states that the two broke up on June 29, 2007 due to trust issues, but that they continued to maintain a physical relationship (showing her infatuation)  after she moved back to Yreka, California in April 2008. Arias is a photographer.

Now the plots:

Oscar Pistorius was recently indicted in Johannesbourg for fatally shooting the beautiful model Steekamp at his home on Valentine's night, after allegedly mistaking her for a burglar. He did shoot three shots through the bathroom. If he was intending to kill her, all he needed was one targeted shot but was he enraged and more importantly did he have his blades on or not? (height of the shooter v. trajectory of the bullets). The story is quite fuzzy at best but Oscar may have incredible luck: the chief investigator of his case, Detective Hilton Botha was facing reinstated accusations of attempted murder for allegedly shooting dead passengers in a minibus taxi in 2009. This turn of events certainly helped Oscar get his release on a meager $100,000 bail. Pistorious is asking authorities when he can go back to training!

Simultaneously, in Arizona, Jodi Arias is accused of the heinous killing of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in June 2008, months after they broke up. Alexander was found stabbed 27 times, with his throat slit and with a bullet in his head at his home in Mesa, Arizona days after the savage attack. She has pleaded self-defense but admitted to having lied to the police during her interviews.

Both cases have been dominating the news despite them being continents apart. They are mesmerizing because of the similarities and parallels: Neither is about whodunit, like the OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony or Amanda Knox cases. Both Oscar and Jodi admitted to the killing...but with caveats. They both said it was self-defense, Oscar against a burglar and Jodi against her ex-lover. On this fatidic February 24 date, the aftermath of Hollywood's biggest event, I believe they both deserve an Oscar for  superb leading man and leading woman acting. They are trying to feed us a truck load of bull and they just might get away with it. Of course their performance would be even more historic than OJ, Casey and Amanda, because the latter three   left us stuck at the whodunit phase.

Both Oscar and Jodi were in love with successful popular star figures inside and out, while they were both diminished Oscar physically (and mentally maybe) and Jodi (mentally for sure,  judging by the violence level of her crime - how many women out there do cut throats like that? They may cut penis first Bobbit-style). She may have been obsessed in photographing her lover down to the last minute in the shower. She was at his place when it happened, months after the relationship ended. Both Oscar and Jodi appear to be very intense and possessive, intolerant of any lover's indiscretion.

The two victims have similarities too: Reeva is an avid socialite and partier. After she broke her back, she got a new lease on life and understandably wanted to take advantage of it. T-Dog Alexander's profile sounds similar to Reeva's, and he does not appear to be a woman beater. After all he did baptize Jodi; he was a  motivational speaker, and was brought up by grandma. Both of them lost their partners trust, probably by fooling around (which also would fit the profile) and both their respective relationships did not last ore than a few months. They were not the committing type, certainly not to the degree Oscar and Jodi demanded it.

Reminiscing on OJ's trial, the prosecution had him try on the bloody glove found at the murder scene to see if it would fit him. OJ's defense team had argued the glove wasn't his size. It was a stupid move by the prosecution. OJ was told by his defense team not to take his arthritis medication so his joints would swell. Also, because the glove was covered in blood, OJ had to put the glove on over a latex glove, hence it got even tighter. Bottom line: OJ could not get the glove on, leading Johnny Cochran to say famously during closing statements, "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." 

Loving becomes all about gloving at the end...to erase all evidence intrinsic or otherwise.

The media is literally eating it up, every moment of both crimes and every sordid detail, like it did for OJ, Casey and Amanda. Thus Oscar and Jodi will become folk heroes too and the jurors will be swayed. After all, Oscar is a South African double-amputee athletic legend; and Jodi is a latino-american woman in Arizona/USA. Need I say more?

Upon release Oscar and Jodi should find each other, probably in a psychiatrist's waiting room, sign their respective book deals, and:

Live Happily Ever After!

Transient MA Transgenders in Trance

Massachusetts does it again: The MA Department of Education has issued a new directive for schools in the handling of transgender students, including allowing them to use whichever restroom they choose, even if the other “normal” students are uncomfortable with that. MA is so far left these days it will fall soon in the ocean. This maybe the straw that brakes the camel’s back. We are painstakingly trying to forget that MA inspired the malevolent Obamacare and they won’t let us. Whatever happened to the State of Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party, the State that produced JFK, Harvard and MIT.? It seems to be mired in political correctness that bends over backward to supposedly protect the rights of the few (as long as they have some non-traditional feature) at the detriment of the majority, because the latter happens to be mundanely normal.

I could see a lot of Massachusetts students declaring they are transgendered just to fit in or to get some privileges not available to others. After all, they do not have to present any proof, i.e. anatomical or biological,  except saying it is so. Wanna sneak in the girls’ locker room (dream of every teen age boy)? Say you are a transgender. Easy! I wish it was available when I was a kid. Then again no chance with the Jesuits!

This reminds me a movie that took place in an illustrious MA institution: Soul Man, a 1986 comedy film about a man who undergoes racial transformation with pills to qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School. Is Transgender the new Black?

I do not know about you. but I am getting lost in the definitions and terminology. Is a transgender a soon to be transsexual crossdressing transvestite? Go figure. What it seems is that you could conveniently say you are a transgender on a Monday if it fits your plans and see the light on Tuesday. What a mess; and the teachers will have to accommodate all that. What if one of them is a transgender too? Imagine the lawsuits! Can a girl be a transgender? Why not? I am sure MA would not dare discriminate…unless you are a Kennedy!

Basically when a boy or a girl need to go to the restroom, they usually “need to pee”; they are not yearning to urinate to show off their transgenderness! the new MA policy has such a very broad standard that is ripe for abuse, and the MA lawyers (who wrote it I am sure) are already counting their bounties.

The directive also requires that all transgender students be allowed to participate in gender-specific activities that he or she identifies with. Here goes college football, and all other college sports potentially.

Beware the name calling and related epithets, adjectives and pronouns, For example, if Alexander goes through a gender transition while attending an MA school, instructors and school officials will then have to adopt the name the student prefers, such as Alexandra. It is Identity Shift as compared to Identity Theft.

Although not from MA, Leon Panetta issued his own spicy directive affording benefits to unmarried significant others of soldiers ONLY IF THEY ARE HOMOSEXUAL! Let us see how that PANS out! If you have a girlfriend you better marry because the army will only honor your concubine if it is a boyfriend! We are dangerously treading the same waters that old Greece, Rome, Persia and the Ottoman Empire treaded...before they were no more. 

Paul Revere would be Paulette Rivera and his famous lantern message from Old North would be:

One it’s by Stand, Two it’s by Seat!

P-S. This reminds me a very gay Paris Zagatrated restaurant One if by Land Two if bySea, in the West Village at the ground floor of the building where I used to live in the early 80s. Any relation?

No Asparagus Spears in Britney's bag of groceries!

Imagine for a second what BS's grocery list did to the supply of tomatoes, ham, chicken, bread and 2% milk! Nationwide, housewives are cursing her because she singlehandedly increased the cost of these basic groceries by bumping up the demand and creating a supply shortage. Isn't capitalism wonderful? Even more wonderful is the power we have given the machines over our lives.

I am being facetious because this machine addiction is bad news. It breeds sleuth, contempt, distorted reality and poisoned values. Let us pause for a second and ponder the meaning of how and why a simple grocery list went viral on the Internet, got tweeted worldwide and youtubed. Doesn't it mean that way too many people, of school or work age, have NOTHING BETTER TO DO in this country? Doesn't this alarming fact trouble you beyond belief and makes you fearful about our future and our next generation? There should be as a major SPEARITED national debate on the topic,

They have so much idle time, at achool or work (i am convinced the seniors staid out of it), that a simple piece of paper listing ham, milk and tomatoes goes viral! If that is the case we definitely need a vaccine against this TWEETNET virus. It is gaining virulence everyday and developing more and more resistant strands. It is becoming as deadly as the eBOLA virus causing uncontrollable and unstoppable hemorrhages of brain, talent, time, and money.

A crumbled sheet of paper gets SPEARITED AWAY into YouTube and the world stands still, baffled by the high viral count streaming through the fiber optics. So many years have passed from The Tube to YouTube. The canons of newsworthiness are definitely NO canons of Navarone these days. Anything goes and public clamor is so trigger-sensitive that the Trumpet Shall Sound despite all common sense or cooth. The citizens are machine-bound and there is NO TRIVIA TOO SMALL for this juggernaut.

Another "Food" for thought is the sudden discovery that BS is not just that but also an actual living breathing human and a mom. She is not a parallel species but a grocery-going, bag-toting, list-writing, chicken-eating, baby-feeding housewife. Can we all live with this befuddling eye-opening revelationcooth What will this do to the star-starved HOI POLLOI? A myth is outed, a legend is trivialized.

My optimistic self did come up with a number of aphorisms and slogans to better coin this historical moment:

Assparrogant Spears Inspires the idle masses

Britney Spears cuts her B S and turns Tweetie Bird on SMS

A Star is fleeting...a Mom is born