I’m swamped with work, which is good because The Man is away at a men’s retreat and I haven’t got time to miss him. But I have done a bit of slacking, reading the news online, which tends to rabbit-trail off into other things. Here are a few things I thought were interesting.
One more reason to hate the EU:
I checked out this Working Time Directive nonsense, and it’s one of many directives handed down from the EU overlords to member countries insisting they change old laws or write new ones. Like the Massachusetts Supremes, only bigger. For those folks who think that a North American Union couldn’t possibly happen without a Con-Con, I give you the EU. Gaze, and wonder… if we’re next.
And while I was browsing around the Sun website, I noticed these two discussions that will probably cause most Americans to do a double-take because we forget how weird the Brits really are sometimes: Should we arm our police force? and What about OUR rights? in which two murderers escaped from prison, but their photos haven’t been published for fear of violating their human rights.
Reading is Fundamental to gangstas, too:
Nice… very nice. One more area of life formerly free from the pervasive influence of gangsta rap is taken over. I’m sure these books will be literary masterpieces. Snark aside, given the way these cheerleaders for crime are honored, the books probably will win awards. I liked rap up until the early 90s, and when it started trending misogynistic and criminal, I tried hard to like Christian rap. I gave up on that, even though I still do love old-school rap. But rap is now foul and it’s poisoning society.
“This is an opportunity to try everything and see what you can do to get teenage boys reading,” he said. While some parents might scoff at the idea of Jackson as a benevolent literary force, given his rags-to-riches story of drugs and violence, Burke said Jackson’s message contained redeeming qualities. “I think what you’re seeing is a contemporary take on the American Dream,” she said, adding that she was happy to be connected with such a successful brand.
The problem with the typical rapper rags to riches story of drugs and violence is that the drugs and violence are never overcome or at least abandoned, but instead are glamorized. It’s not the first time society has glamorized criminal activity – Billy the Kid comes to mind – but where are the consequences? Even when a rapper is occasionally shot and killed, there never seems to be a connection with the (real or marketing image) bad lifestyle and the untimely death. Instead they are lionized and considered to be martyrs.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, we’re being inflicted with yet another “teacher inspires inner city kids” movie. Oh sure, it’s based on a true story, but it’s still a cliche. We all love these movies, because deep inside we know that almost all kids will rise to the occasion when they are challenged. The problem these days is that they are so seldom challenged; the adults are frantically dumbing everything down so that they don’t have to work as hard as we did. I’m cynical now because in spite of case after case where higher demands are proven to work, it never gets implemented on a larger scale. So we watch these movies, feel good for a few days, and continue letting a whole demographic of society remain barely literate.
Finally, a blast from the past.
I can’t find it in my heart to criticize this woman too much when I remember the drinking games we played when I was 18 and 19 years old. At least this game was slightly more educational than bizz buzz and quarterbounce. I’m grateful my daughter is not the idiot I was at her age.
