Looking Back vs Looking Ahead

I caught this article in the Kansas City Star about the city's industrial past and uncertain future. A few things struck me:

- The Star doesn't include itself in the list of rapidly-dwindling employers. They've been through two rounds of layoffs, and are rumored to still be having trouble.

- The article references a Norman Rockwell painting called The Kansas City Spirit without actually showing it, and assumes the reader is familiar with it. Since the painting was made in the 50's, I suppose the author is writing mainly for readers in their 60's, which would explain the point above about the Star's troubles.

- it dwells on the past and only casually touches on some options for Kansas City's growth, such as Animal Science.

I think this article does a great job of capturing the Kansas City mentality of looking back nostalgically at the past with no clue on how to move forward. KC gets more and more backwater each year.

In case there was still any doubt...

... about what the Republicans think about America. Via Americablog, I see the latest racist excrement finding its way out of the belly of the GOP.

And just for bonus points, is the President eating fried chicken? It is a safe bet some of the people espousing views like this have their own black relatives. Why else would they be so upset?

I could go on and on about how stupid and shortsighted views like this represent, but what's the point? It should be evident to all but the most self-delusional among us that the core of the Republican Party is lost to the rest of the country.


And if this is what they are about, good riddance.

Blackface and Crackers

The picture above made me laugh because I think the guy actually believes he's disguised himself as a black person. This is different from traditional blackface which seeks to make fun of black people and grossly exaggerates their features.

The photo comes from this Der Spiegel story. A well-known German film maker "disguised" himself as a "black" German to see how differently people reacted to him. The story is well-worth a read, if only for the critical view of such behavior which I'd never expect to see in US-based publication. The article doesn't duck, dodge or deny racism.

And in case you're wondering, here is a useful guide to the difference between a White Person and a "Cracker".

Links

http://colinresponse.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/white-people-vs-crackers/

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,656569,00.html

Paging Troy McClure

I remember actor Troy McClure, voiced by the late great Phil Hartman, hosting a special episode of "The Simpsons" which featured some possible spinoffs of the show. They were quite silly, and consequently funny to look at. "Could they really be that dumb?", I thought.

Apparently, "they" could, if "The Cleveland Show" is any indication. I've touched on the before, but found a much better discussion of the issue from The New Republic's John McWhorter.

McWhorter's point is that the show is simply a retread of Family Guy with black characters in the main roles:

The Cleveland Show is reminiscent of all-black productions of musicals in the old days such as the Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey. The underlying notion was that because you couldn’t cast a black performer in a non-black role in a mainstream production, it made theatrical sense to concoct an occasion for there to be a black Dolly, a black Horace Vandergelder, a black Barnaby singing “It Only Takes a Moment.” What mattered was not the particulars of the performances – the names of the performers in these all-black mock-ups, other than the superstar leads, were quickly forgotten – but the fact that black people were doing them at all.

So, instead of a new comedy with a strong cast, McWhorter argues we're getting Family Guy in blackface, and I find it hard to disagree.

This is "Post-Racial" America?!

Another racist redneck thinks my family isn't legitimate: Interracial Couple denied marriage license.

Did it ever occur to this brain-dead fucking moron that marriage has never been a precondition for interracial couples in this country. I seem to recall a certain First Lady has interracial ancestors. Which makes her interracial, I guess.

Or does it not count to this fuck-tard because her great-great-grandfather owned her great-great-grandmother?

Are these people even capable of thinking rationally?

Attn Michael Steele: This is "What Up"

The "new" GOP.com website--which I'm NOT linking to--probably would have had a much better launch yesterday if they'd just had Megan McCain on it.

Too Little (Price) Discrimination can be a bad thing

I saw this article the other day in the LA Times reporting the the University of California is going to start charging a premium for some undergrad Engineering classes. They believe this makes sense because the affected majors have "higher than average" salaries. Since I'm a lapsed--or failed--Econ major, it piqued my curiosity.

Price Discrimination, for those of you who have a life, is the act of charging different prices for the same thing. This Wikipedia article gives a good introduction. I'm sure you can think of many examples, but airline fares are a common one. The same product--a seat on a plane--is sold by the airlines for vastly different prices. Producers can get away with this because they're able to segment the market into groups of consumers who are willing to pay the differing prices.

It seems to me if UC believes a little price discrimination is good, why shouldn't it apply this across majors? If Engineering degrees lead to a higher earning potential, shouldn't ones such as Education and Social Work be much cheaper, since graduates in them have lower than average earnings?

Links
LA Times - UC may hike tuition for some undergraduate majors
Washington Monthly - College for $99 a Month

Wikipedia - Price discrimination

http://thefilter.blogs.com/thefilter/2008/06/price-discrimin.html