Freedom of Speech is Dead

Guaranteed by law under the first ammendment, the Freedom of Speech is one of the most cherished values of the United States.
However, although it is protected legally, it is not honored individually.


Bullshit: Americans enjoy the freedom of speech more so than anyone else.
The truth: Actually, Americans don't enjoy the freedom of speech very much at all.

Before you think I'm nuts, think about the last meeting with friends you had (not in college). What did you talk about? The counter top? The wine? The food? The dog? The cat? The car? Anything but the world, news, politics etc. Anything but things that matter to us. So in many ways it's like you met them, said some stuff, but one thing stays the same: you leave without having learned anything.
But when with friends from other parts of the world, we'd talk about just about anything. We make fun of our own countries, talk about world events, about personal experiences and what they mean... so why is it that whenever I sit down with other Americans, this just simply halts and we're back to engaging in conversation that simply serves as a distractor?
Sometimes I'll start a topic like the ones I mentioned with a group of Americans to see what their reaction is and they immediately start getting very uncomfortable. They avoid it and try to switch the topic to something else. I'm sure if I pressed it further they'd try to avoid me altogether eventually.
So you see my friends, freedom of speech in America is actually also an illusion. Where millions of people sit at the lunch table or grab a smoke and talk about the world, disagree and still greet each other the next day with genuine smiles it seems to be an impossibility in the United States.

Why?

I guess there are many reasons.
One, I think at some point Americans have become too small inside and have developed very thin skin. Never at any point have they thought that if they can't explain their belief very well, that there is a possibility that they may be wrong.
Ultimately, I think the biggest culprit is the cable "news" services.


Selling Hate

They have rubbed our heads together like roosters in a... er... cock fight and we've gotten to the point where we are so angry at each other (since they make money off inciting hate) that we can't for a minute try to sit back and understand each other's views or even have the patience to see how the other party even see the world.
Free speech. Dead. Thanks to free speech of inciting hate and intolerance.

A whole list of what's Bullshit

It's been a while since I wrote anything and here's why. It's been a very, very long few months.


Oh, say can you see? They fucking crushed my pizza!


1) I actually moved. I called the moving company the night before to make sure they would be at my address. They said they'd be there, definitely. So the next morning I waited, waited and waited. Nothing. I called, no one answered. It was like the whole company got drunk and plastered on Friday night and no one gave a fuck about their Saturday schedule. I called another company which showed up (late, but shit at least they showed up) and managed to move. I did mention that this happened in the USA right? And not just the middle of nowhere either. This is the nation's capital. Oh and the guys who showed up did a fine job and both were foreigners.
Bullshit: Hard working Americans.

2) I called to have my internet connected and had to wait 9 days for the guy to show up. 9 days. Acceptable if you live in the middle of nowhere. In Washington, DC, unacceptable.
Bullshit: Efficient American businesses.

3) Around June 25th - now there was a dead deer on the south side of the Key Bridge (the one in DC) just ten, maybe twenty feet away from a sidewalk where thousands of pedestrians pass by each day. It's still kind of there. No one cleaned it up and I know at least one person called it in. You'd think that even a dead deer by a frequented trail in a national park would be cleaned up but apparently not even one in the middle of a city is worth cleaning up. The smell was just incredible and no doubt a health hazard. Wow... just wow. Knowing how Americans don't ignore these things, I'm sure that more than one person called it in. What probably happened was the various police and other agencies pushed the responsibility around so although the actual deer didn't move, the paperwork regarding it ran laps around Arlington County.
Bullshit: American sense of duty.

4) Ordered a pizza to commemorate the opening of my new place. Pizza arrived late, crushed to one side. Last time this happened to me, it was in Malaysia about fifteen years ago. I have ordered many pizzas in many different countries. Never had it arrived in such piss poor shape.
Bullshit: Tips. Fuck you, asshole.

Fucking sounds like I'm writing about a 3rd world country.
Korea took a smacking while I was there but America does prove that it will try really hard at being number 1! AT PISSING ME OFF.

Stereotypes

"No It's Not True" - a good sign that it may be.

A few days ago my Chinese teacher was telling our class about what life in China is like. Her descriptions of walking outside at night, where the streets are brightly lit with signs and streetlights reminded me of Korea. She also went on to say that the Chinese are among the most friendly and warm hearted people she has ever known. I said to the class that it reminded me of Korea, except that in Korea the people are nastier.
People got pissed and not one was Korean.
So here's the thing... are stereotypes wrong?

Bullshit: Stereotypes are wrong.
The Truth: Sometimes they are remarkably accurate.

I recall this one time years ago when me and some Asian guys were in a room reading a list of "Asian stereotypes" that were apparently funny. Everyone had a good laugh and I'd say about seventy percent of the time, a stereotype was accurate, that is, when one was read, it applied to almost everyone in the room... Granted, six people is not a huge sample size, but if a pattern emerges, it's hard to ignore. And the word came out, "Man, these things are pretty accurate." Everyone had a laugh and nodded.
But.
Suddenly if the stereotype is not so "funny" it's wrong?
Where is the logic in that?
The stereotype was perfectly valid and reasonably accurate when it was funny, but when replaced with one that is somewhat offensive (if you're sensitive) suddenly it's all wrong and inaccurate and incorrect? What kind of logical brain fart of a bullshit is that?
Utter bullshit, that's what.


Yes, Asian people from China, Korea and Japan kind of look like this (above). Am I allowed to say that or do I have to say that there is no way to tell because there is the absolute miniscule and utterly improbable (but I suppose not impossible) chance that one may pop out looking like this?

Right. You can see how this is bullshit already. Clear as fucking day.
Oh, but how they kind of look isn't a stereotype you say? Well what about when someone makes a mention about the shape of the eyes of most Chinese people? Now it's a stereotype and it's not acceptable anymore. Now here's my question, what's wrong with the shape of the eyes of a typical Chinese person? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You'd be a fucking asshole to make fun of it, but you'd be a fucking moron to deny it as well.

Which is why it is important that we question the things we are NOT ALLOWED to question. Because when we are NOT ALLOWED to question something, that something is probably caked in bullshit and wouldn't last five minutes in a real debate.

It is wrong to judge an individual by the stereotype of their group right off the bat, but to dismiss a stereotype as being totally inaccurate when it does in fact have truth to it is wrong. If we are to go down that path, we might as well not even go to school. We might as well forfeit the right to think.

Race is Not a Factor

I was talking to a friend generally about this and that and an interesting subtopic came up while we during our little debate. He claimed race is not a real factor. Being a successful guy and a Chinese-American, one could say that he has a point, but it was fairly easy to prove that it was bullshit.

Bullshit: Race is never really a factor.
The Truth: It is.

Working for the US government as a minority in a white collar job, he is probably the most protected human being ON THE PLANET. Just because race no longer affects him doesn't mean that it is the reality that the rest of the world lives with.

Case 1:
You are an average Indonesian in Indonesia. You try hard and you find work. About 90% of the time, if it is a business that has any real power and wealth (that is, it is not some corner music store that sells hand made guitars) your boss is Chinese-Indonesian. Chinese-Indonesians basically never promote regular Indonesians to upper management. So you work your ass off for years and years at the company only for the upper management to hardly realize that you have been there for almost twenty years. For twenty years you have basically been doing the same damned thing and in terms of the rank structure, you are the same as some punk ass kid who just walked in last week.
Try telling this guy that race is not a factor in life.


Candidate for Promotion? Sorry, wrong color.

Case 2:
You are an African American male who wants to see the world but don't have the money. Being a strict pacifist, you decide that you do not want to join the military. You hear about English teaching opportunities in East Asia and get excited. You have a bachelor's degree in English and you immediately contact head hunters and Hagwons about openings. They want your resume and a photo attached. They see you are black and they reject you. This goes on for a whole year or so. Meanwhile some other guys you met with the same goals are getting hired, even without a bachelor's degree. They're getting hired because they're White.
You feel so disgusted that you just decide that the rest of the world can go fuck itself.
Tell this guy that race is not a real factor in life.


A guy like him would have trouble landing a job in Korea because of his race. It is WRONG and it is REALITY.

Just because it is not your problem does not mean it is not a real problem.

"Security" Questions

Every time I visit the US I get stopped by security (either Customs and Border Protection or the Transport Security Authority) and get asked a series of questions.  They are stupid questions but few people have any idea of just how silly they are.  Questions like "did you pack the bags yourself" seem very sensible compared to the questions I'm asked.  But if I just told you the questions they ask me, you may not be able to realize how stupid they are, so I'll just flip it around so it all makes sense.

Bullshit:  The "additional" questions that CBP and TSA ask at airports to foreigners are vital to national security.

The Truth:  The "additional" questions that CBP and TSA ask at airports to foreigners only makes an ass out of America.

The scenario: Mr. Alan Johnson is from New York state.  He is 27 years old, White, upper middle class and protestant.  He was born and raised in New York city but attended high school in Mexico because his parents started a successful business there.  He returned to the US to attend college and lives there.  He is a US citizen and so are his parents.  All his documentation reflects this.  One day he decides to visit a foreign country.  He thinks everything will be routine but upon arrival he's pulled assigned for additional questioning.

Immigration Officer: Mr. Alan Johnson?

AJ: Yes?

IO: Are you in any way affiliated with the KKK?

AJ: Excuse me?

IO: Are you a member of the KKK?

AJ: No.

IO: Are you a member of the Black Panthers?

AJ: NO.

IO: Are any of your family members or relatives members of the KKK or Black Panthers?

AJ: No.

IO: Are you associated with any Militia?

AJ: No.

IO: Are any of your relatives a member of any Militia?

AJ: (Slight hesitation) No.

IO: You hesitated.  Why?

AJ: Alright... I have this one distant relative.  We don't really talk...

IO: Hmmm... (takes notes).  Are you a citizen of Mexico?

AJ: No.

IO: Are your parents Mexican citizens?

AJ: No.

IO: So you are not Mexican?

AJ: No.

IO: Are you sure?

AJ: YES.

IO: What do your parents do in Mexico?

AJ: They own a business.

IO: What kind of business?

AJ: Logistics.

IO: Are they involved in illegal narcotics production or transport?

AJ: No.

IO: They are not Mexican?

AJ: No.

IO: Were you born in Mexico?

AJ: No, I was born in New York.

IO: Okay... wait a minute please.

(Comes back ten minutes later)

IO: Okay, I have signed a series of waivers.  Here, here, here, here and here.  Make sure you sign out with us when you leave the country.  The Pope is coming in two days.  You must be excited.

AJ: Uhhh yeah...

YES.  That's what it's like.  It's fucking ridiculous!

Hitler Isn't the Only Mega Asshole

This topic actually arose out of some debate about Communists and whatnot but this particular subtopic came to light when for some reason, Communists were being given some sort of "free pass" by folks engaged in the debate while Hitler was being crucified like it was going out of fashion. Now I'm not being a Nazi apologist or anything because it is true that Hitler was evil, the Nazis were also evil and they did some absolutely deplorable things. However...

Bullshit: The Nazis were historically unique in terms of evil because of the fact that they organized the mass murder of specific kinds of people in large numbers to execute mass murder in the most efficient way.
The Truth: Quite a few groups of people have murdered people in mass in the most efficient way they could find.

When the Nazis were faced with the task of having to murder Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and other folks (after they stopped killing the crippled and retarded), they faced the dillemma of having to kill off millions of people. The use of ammunition would be too expensive and ammunition was needed badly by their soldiers fighting the war. So what resulted was the construction of death camps where gassing to death was the order of the day.


Dachau Concentration Camp.

But was this so unique? I say no.
So the Germans felt that their most efficient way to kill millions of people was to use the gas chamber. Others had a different approaches...

The Mongols
The Mongols had a unique problem when they first started empire building in that their entire population did not number a million while their conquered lands had populations exceeding tens of millions in total. Their dire problem was the possibility of simply drowning in the massive population that they conquered. What if they rose up? The Mongols would never have enough men to police them all. So the solution was to kill as many people as they could.
Their first major massacre worthy of note was the massacre of the Tartars where every male that was taller than the axle of a wagon was put to death.
Cities in northern China which did not surrender quickly enough for Genghis Khan's liking were also flattened and every last soul put the the sword.
It is believed that the Mongols under Genghis Khan may have killed up to forty million (40,000,000!!!!!!) people and perhaps as much as a hundred million by the time his grandson, Kublai Khan, had died.
It was even claimed (though it is impossible) that Genghis Khan killed about 1.7 million people in one hour! An impossible feat, but the story refers to the massacre of Nishapur, a Persian city that the Mongols had conquered. In the process, one of his favorite son in laws was killed. His wife (therefore Genghis Khan's daughter) asked that every last woman and child in Nishapur be killed.
Genghis Khan did so and more, by even having every animal in the city killed. 1.7 million was the estimated population of Nishapur before the massacre.
The way the folks were killed were probably a lot worse than getting gassed.


If you shat your pants before you waved the white flag, you're already too late.

Rwanda
Hutu Power members killed about a million people in a period of five months in 1994. Timed perfectly with the assasination of Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda since 1973, the killing spree was well organized and vicious. It was rumored that machetes were actually imported in large quantities to ensure there was enough to go around. These may have been a part of the four major weapon caches known to the UN to be a part of a larger plan for a genocide. A key part of their strategy were the radio stations which constantly played Hutu Power propaganda, encouraging people to go out and kill the Tutsis. Radio Rwanda was one of the main broadcasters of such messages and the tactic was a resounding success for the Hutu Power movement.
Led by Gregoire Kayibanda, the Hutu Power movement was surely violent enough to be considered equivilent to Hitler's genocide as well. Consider that one million would have been 20% of the population during this time.
Between getting gassed to death and getting hacked to pieces by a machete, I elect getting gassed. Many of the Hutus who perished would have agreed. When it was clear that the Belgian Peacekeepers would have to abandon a large group of Hutu refugees who were being protected at Murambi Technical School, they asked the Belgians to shoot them so they would not have to face the machetes. The Belgians obviously declined. Outside the Hutus waited, drinking beer and singing hate songs. As the Belgians left, the Hutus entered.


I guess Kayibanda is less evil than Hitler since he only killed black people.

Cambodia
The Killing Fields really needs no introduction. Led by Pol Pot in his quest to create a true Communist Utopia, it quickly became the process of the creation of death camps where death could come for any reason. Past occupation, softness of your hands, eye glasses. The result was the death of perhaps two million people. Two hundred thousand were executed formally by the Khmer Rouge and the rest died from starvation, disease, undocumented execution and other ways one usually dies when working in a death labor camp. And this is a country that had seven million people at the time.
Facing the same problem as the Nazis of needing to use too many bullets to execute that many people, they resorted to using sharpened bamboo sticks (a very bad way to go), hammers, axe handles etc., often after being forced to dig their own graves.
Torture victims were recorded and documented in German precision.
Yet even this is not unique. The creation of death labor camps and mass executions is pretty consistent among many Communist countries. Why mass murder by Communist regimes aren't taken very seriously is beyond me.
Cambodia under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge... just as bad, if not worse than Nazi Germany in terms of mass murder.


Just as evil as Hitler but somehow manages to get off the hook. I guess you're not completely evil if you don't slaughter White people.

And of course by no means are these it. Actually you'll find a lot of Communist countries fit the bill as well and why Communism is allowed to go while Nazism is scrutinized to beyond death and beyond afterlife is a mystery.
One thing is for certain. Human history has had its share of world class assholes and Hitler was not alone at the top.

Buddhist at the Supermarket

I realize it's been forever since I wrote anything but trust me, I have been insanely busy.

Today I was at the supermarket minding my own business until I saw a devout Buddhist follower, a female, gray tunic and shaven head and all, getting her food at the local supermarket.

Bullshit: Buddhist shopping at the supermarket.
The way it's supposed to be done: Buddhist foraging for food in the mountains, in harmony with nature, asking permission if it is okay to take a piece of life for one's own sustenance.

It doesn't just stop there. The whole purpose of having your clothes gray, hair shaven and all is to renounce your attachment to any luxuries and to live a very frugal and humble life. Luxuries must be abandoned in search of the truth... and the last time I checked, supermarkets were a luxury.
Truth is, it doesn't just end with supermarkets. You see them with their gray tunics and shaven heads in the subway, taking the aeroplane and in buses as well.
I don't have a problem with folks who just mildly believe in Buddhism purchase luxury goods and all, after all, very few people of any faith follow their religion down to the word. But fanatics are the ones that get me. If you're going so far as to make your female ass ugly by shaving off all your hair and wearing some drab tunic, your ass better be going all the way.


No luxury my ass. Half these assholes took the subway to get here. A quarter took a bus and some schmuck had the insolence to ride a fucking cab.

Dear bald Buddhist lady, just grow out your hair, go to the supermarket and go about your daily life. Or shave your head and be all Buddhist and please do not come down to the town where the evil demon spirited people live.