Annoying modern trends...

[ChrisB]

Added: By the way, I looked at the demographics of Cortland County, NY. Less that one percent of the population is Black. Perhaps the best thing to do is just to keep calm and carry on.

At what percentage is concern about racism justified?

 

[2jakes]

Haha! I guess you had it rougher than me!

Melissa, you have to picture that this was in the late '50s and the gals wore those puffed up,
highly teased hairdos.
My way of getting even at them was to slam on the brakes causing their hair to go everywhere
in spite of all the hair-spraying.

I cannot write on this forum, the words that were expressed to me by
these lovely "Sandra Dees".

 

[MisterCairo]

At what percentage is concern about racism justified?

This is the type looking for a fight. Just like with a stray dog, offer it your hand to sniff while backing away slowly, not looking at it directly in the eyes...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, my county is nearly as homogeneous as that of Dr. Sheeplady. Even so, we see a fair amount of public racism. Battle flags flown from the beds of trucks driven by boys whose ancestors fought in the MVM against the Secesh. Active Militia and KKK groups. That sort of thing. Of course this visible racism exists largely only among the meaner sort, folks with really very little power over their own lives let alone the lives of others. Those who possess considerable social capital (or political or economic power) can seldom be inveigled to say the things which "nice people simply don't say" or to do the things which "nice people don't do", at least in public.

Yep, I live in the whitest state in the Union and the Kluxers are active here -- they've been distributing literature in my own county within the past month. Racism doesn't need a reason, all it needs is insecure, impotent fools who buy what it has to sell.

I don't personally believe in suppressing racists. As far as I'm concerned, let them proclaim their stupidity from the highest rooftops in the land, and let them shout into the wind, because doing so emboldens those "nice people" who may share their beliefs to come forward and publicly reveal the corruption in their own souls. I think it's better to know exactly who your enemies are. But I also take heart in knowing such people are fighting the tide of human evolution, and that wave is eventually going to sweep them right back into the purulent muck from which they emerged.

 

[vitanola]

I usually use it on a bike forum when a member has to put down other brand bikes
except the ones he owns.
I have zero tolerance for that.

How annoying. We all know that the only bicycles which are worthwhile are built by Victor, just as the only decent saddles are made by Garford.


Well, Colson made a decent product or two, I suppose...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Do stickers exist of Calvin peeing on unpopular bicycle logos?

 

[kaiser]

Yep, I live in the whitest state in the Union and the Kluxers are active here -- they've been distributing literature in my own county within the past month. Racism doesn't need a reason, all it needs is insecure, impotent fools who buy what it has to sell.

I don't personally believe in suppressing racists. As far as I'm concerned, let them proclaim their stupidity from the highest rooftops in the land, and let them shout into the wind, because doing so emboldens those "nice people" who may share their beliefs to come forward and publicly reveal the corruption in their own souls. I think it's better to know exactly who your enemies are. But I also take heart in knowing such people are fighting the tide of human evolution, and that wave is eventually going to sweep them right back into the purulent muck from which they emerged.

I agree totally, there is a great deal of this going on in Germany right now. It is not the KKK, but the same approach is taken.

 

[2jakes]

Do stickers exist of Calvin peeing on unpopular bicycle logos?

yes, especially on Victor Bicycles.

 

[vitanola]

Go to it!

 

[ChrisB]

Not that I'm aware of Lizzie.

But, after reading vitanola's reply with regards to bicycles, I find it very tempting to go
search for one and add it to his post.

Having nothing better to do, I did search for it, it seems to be confined to motorized vehicles.

As to annoying modern trends: "Check Engine" lights. It can mean anything from a loose gas cap to an expensive repair.

 

[BobHufford]

If you haven't already.
Let's hope you don't come across a band called "tinnitus"

I'm listening to them now!

 

[2jakes]

Lizzie, here's a rare sample of one:

 

[2jakes]

"Tinnitus Band"
I'm listening to them now!

Me too Bob.

It's 24/7 and gets worse after spending too much time on the internet
casting pearls before swine.

 

[sheeplady]

Well, my county is nearly as homogeneous as that of Dr. Sheeplady. Even so, we see a fair amount of public racism. Battle flags flown from the beds of trucks driven by boys whose ancestors fought in the MVM against the Secesh. Active Militia and KKK groups. That sort of thing. Of course this visible racism exists largely only among the meaner sort, folks with really very little power over their own lives let alone the lives of others. Those who possess considerable social capital (or political or economic power) can seldom be inveigled to say the things which "nice people simply don't say" or to do the things which "nice people don't do", at least in public.

Even in all white towns there can be racism. I've seen some towns where Italians, Poles, and the Irish all get their fair share of slurs and hate shown at them; much of it echoing what met these people's ancestors coming into Ellis Island.

 

[vitanola]

Lizzie, here's a rare sample of one:

Who in heaven's name is that little pisher?

When "CALVIIN p***ing" wan mentioned I pictured President Coolidge. Perhaps while wearing a feathered head-dress.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well done, sir.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Even in all white towns there can be racism. I've seen some towns where Italians, Poles, and the Irish all get their fair share of slurs and hate shown at them; much of it echoing what met these people's ancestors coming into Ellis Island.

When the Klan was big here in the 1920s, they focused their attention on French-Catholic immigrants and Jews, both groups which had a growing presence in the state. Their current campaign focuses on "immigrants" in general, but our governor tends to preach the old-time religion -- with comments about "out of state drug dealers coming here and getting white girls pregnant," revealing for all the world to see that the real crime in his eyes isn't so much pedding dope as it is racially defiling the delicate pale white flowers of Maine femininity.

That isn't something out of some distant "we've come so far" past. That's the here and the now, in the Whitest State In The Union.

 

[ChrisB]

Even in all white towns there can be racism. I've seen some towns where Italians, Poles, and the Irish all get their fair share of slurs and hate shown at them; much of it echoing what met these people's ancestors coming into Ellis Island.

It is also all too easy to hate people you have never met. Their absence from the community makes them mere abstractions, making it easy to believe anything derogatory about them.

 

[vitanola]

Since the little pisher was mentioned above, here is a seasonal image from the dim mists of my distant past by the creator of the little fellow:

I was a year behind Watterson at school. He had a fully developed style even then.

Oh, in explanation, this was penned in Watterson's senior year, when he lived in the only high-rise dormitory on campus.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I love that he lived in an actual town called "Chagrin Falls." When I used to do comedy, my routine involved tales of my fictitious hometown "Abysmal Point," but I think "Chagrin Falls" is even funnier.