Keep it up!

From 2007:Markus Guenther.

Another example of lying anti-Ami journalism from Germany and also from your archives is Markus Guenther. From 2007.

Breaking news from La-La land: How the L.A. Arsonist Was Caught. If the likes of Der Spiegel claim that the Hollywood Arsonist is an example of a crime-ridden and psychotic US compared to a sane and well-behaved Germany, hold your breath. The suspect is Harry Burkhart a German grifter. He apparently set off all the fires in a protest to his grifter mother being caught and jailed.

Any student of Iraq politics would be hard-pressed at David's undocumented fantasies that suggest that Iraq's infrastructure has improved under the American occupation. I can understand why you decried David’s lack of documentation regarding infrastructure improvements, yet did not bother with any documentation yourself: the documented record does not support your stance. Take a look at the November 30,2011 report of the long-respected Brookings Institution Iraq Index. While Iraq still has a ways to go- “As of 2011, the available supply of electricity averaged about 56% of demand”- there has been a substantial increase in electricity generation capacity. Pre-war electricity generation averaged 95,000 megawatt hours by pre-war estimates. By July 2011, electicity generation was up to 167,800 megawatt hours, nearly double pre-war electricity generation. (page 23) On page 25 of the most recent Iraq Index report, we find that the percentage of population with access to potable water increased from 22% in February 2008 to 70% in early 2011. Similarly, the percentage of the population with access to sewage facilities increased from 8% in February 2008 to 26% in early 2011. Again, while improvements still need to be made, substantial progress has been made. But let’s ignore the facts, and chant your mantra: NO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS NO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS NO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS NO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS NO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS Does it make you feel better?

I enjoyed the Baroque series. The thoughts, conflicts, and preoccupations of the age were presented in fictional form. I read the Baroque series about the time it came out. I haven't read anything else of Stephenson.

What about Daytona Beach?

This reminds me of the story about why basketball great Bill Russell’s father decided to take his family from Monroe, Louisiana to Oakland, California. If living in Louisiana meant you had to put up with crap like that, there was very strong motivation to leave the state.

I believe the adult non-Hispanic white population of the U.S. is more like 64%, not 75%. The Gallup Poll figure of 75% is in line with demographic figures from the 2008 election: 76.3% of the voters were white; 73.4% of the elegible voters were white. I still stand by my claim. If you wish to maintain your beliefs unchanged, that is your choice. The facts above speak for themselves. Ciao.

Cobb, if you are not already aware of these controversies, you might be interested to read about Uncle Barack’s Cabin (Onkel Baracks Hütte) , which was the headline in the German newspaper Taz after Obama’s nomination in 2008. The once very active blog Medienkritik had some interesting responses to German journalist Markus Gunther’s article on hypocritical Americans.

I still stand by my claim. Like I said, tell it to Allen West, Tim Scott, et al.

Correction: Non-Hispanic Whites constituted 79% of Tea Party supporters, versus 79% of all adults. Correct to: "Non-Hispanic Whites constituted 79% of Tea Party supporters, versus 75% of all adults." A further point about the "NW Euro-Americans" grouping of Najajmaima_Kikka: There has been a lot of intermarriage of the "NW Euro-Americans" with others. From classmates in my hometown (27 in my 8th grade class) and from family friends from my hometown, there were the following marriages among my parents' generation: German-Italian, Italian-Irish, WASP-Italian, Greek-WASP, Yugoslav(Slovenian)-WASP,Swedish-Italian,Jewish-WASP,Hungarian-French,WASP-Chinese. Anyone who talks about "all NW European" as some monolithic group doesn't know this country very well.

Like it or not, the Tea Party thus far is an all NW Euro-American show, and reflects uniquely NW Euro-American anxieties. Tell that to the following US Representatives or Governors elected last year with Tea Party support. Tim Scott, SC-1. He handily beat Strom's son in the primary. Yes, THAT Strom. Allen West, Fl-22. Bill Flores, TX-17 Quico Canseco, TX-23 Raul Labrador, ID-1. Nikki Haley, Gov-SC Susana Martinez, Gov-NM. There has been some conflict after the election between some Tea Party people and some of the above elected officials. Notwithstanding, the above all won election with Tea Party Support. According to the Gallup Poll, Tea Partiers Are Fairly Mainstream in Their Demographics. Non-Hispanic Whites constituted 79% of Tea Party supporters, versus 79% of all adults. Non-Hispanic Blacks constituted 6% of Tea Party supporters, versus 11% of all adults. As Non-Hispanic Blacks constituted only 1% of the vote for McCain, it speaks well for the Tea Party that Non-Hispanic Blacks constitute 6% of its supporters. (Gallup Poll uses the term “Non-Hispanic…”)

I don't have a connection to Betty Van Patter in any real sense. That is the nature of third or fourth degree connections. I didn't know her either, but knew several people who knew her. I still find it interesting that there was such a connection unearthed on this blog. When I mentioned Betty Van Patter on this blog some months back, I would never have predicted that someone else reading this blog would have had some connection, however tenuous, to Betty Van Patter.

My opinion on Neoconfedates is this. If they are so odious, why do black people still live in the same states 90'years after the Great Migration? Perhaps this could be rephrased. "My opinion on Neoconfedates is this. If they are so odious, why are black people migrating back to the South 90'years after the Great Migration?" From The Brookings Institution: William H. Frey, "The New Great Migration: Black Americans' Return to the South, 1965-2000", May 2004: The South scored net gains of black migrants from all three of the other regions of the U.S. during the late 1990s, reversing a 35-year trend. Of the 10 states that suffered the greatest net loss of blacks between 1965 and 1970, five ranked among the top 10 states for attracting blacks between 1995 and 2000. …. Among migrants from the Northeast, Midwest, and West regions, blacks were more likely than whites to select destinations in the South. This full-scale reversal of blacks’ “Great Migration” north during the early part of the 20th century reflects the South’s economic growth and modernization, its improved race relations, and the longstanding cultural and kinship ties it holds for black families.This new pattern has augmented a sizeable and growing black middle class in the South’s major metropolitan areas. brotherbrown was right. Times have changed. That doesn't mean they don't need to change some more. As an aside, from reading this blog, I have learned that brotherbrown and I have a third or fourth degree of connection via Betty Van Patter. I have also learned that Cobb and I have a third degree of connection.

Regarding your being ~50 and being comfortable with what one has accomplished, I am reminded of an in-law. While most of his siblings and their mates had college degrees, he did not. He was a successful restaurant owner who had begun his career without a penny to his name, so he had accomplished a great deal. At one Christmas, he exploded with resentment about how his degreed relatives looked down at him because he didn't have a college degree. This was entirely his own perception, as those who had college degrees looked with respect on an entrepreneur who made more money than they did- and did it all on his own. After that resentment bubble burst, he came to terms with himself. Some years later, I saw him at a wedding when he was in his early 50s. He was now very comfortable with himself and what he had accomplished. While the assumption is that what one accomplishes after age 50 is essentially a repeat of previous years,or a repeat of the best of previous years, that is not necessarily the case. My father's professional accomplishments in his late fifties were of an order of magnitude greater than what he had previously accomplished.

In discussing the above, this article presents legal alternatives for dealing with sleazy car dealers- at least in New Hampshire.

Following the YouTube link, I found A Virus Walks Into a Bar...' and Other Science Jokes - Brian Malow.

Not Binary Boogie?

As for northwestern Euro-American sub-cultures, yes, the President DOES understand them (you). What he doesn't understand so well are the PIGS sub-cultures ("Poles, Italians, Greeks, Slavs"). You know, the (long-term unemployed--steel workers, factory workers, etc.) people he was referring to as "bitter clingers" in rural Pennsylvania. (you):Yes, me. I don’t think so. I am a better judge of that than you are, as it is about (you)/me. Explanations follow. BTW, steel workers tended to live in cities, not rural areas. I suggest your description of “long-term unemployed--steel workers” is not completely accurate, since unemployment in the Pittsburgh SMSA, which includes a lot of mainly rural counties, has been lower than US unemployment. Laid off steel workers didn’t remain unemployed for 30 years. They retired, got jobs in the area, or moved out of the area. First: Obama’s reference was not ethnic, but geographic: “small towns.” Second: while there may be plenty of PIGS in small town Pennsylvania, there are also plenty of people of NW European origin in small town Pennsylvania. For that matter, there are also plenty of people of both PIGS and NW European origin in small town Pennsylvania. You believe that Obama believes that only PIGS “cling to guns or religion?” You believe that Obama believes that only small town Pennsylvanians “cling to guns or religion”? I don’t think so. [ The affluent white liberals he was addressing in San Francisco shared his viewpoint.] His condescending remarks applied to “small towns,” to rural folk in general. There are untold millions of rural folk who are NOT in Pennsylvania and who are not PIGS who “cling to guns or religion.” Moreover, the economic experience of small town Pennsylvania in the last 20 years is fairly similar to those of small towns all over the US. See the link above. When he made the remark, I interpreted the remark as applying to “small town” people in general. I refer to “cling to guns or religion.” As someone of rural origin, I concluded that Obama didn’t have a clue about me and mine. I am also of NW European origin. Recall the “typical white woman” remark about his grandmother. This remark will fly in Hyde Park or in the Ivy League, because the whites there do not consider themselves to be “typical white people.” They consider themselves to be exceptional white people. However, like Obama, they have no difficulty applying the label of “typical white person” to others. I found it offensive that he applied that label so casually to his grandmother. I am sure that there were plenty of non-PIGS like myself who were offended at that remark. Obama relates well to those who share his ideological assumptions, regardless of race or ethnic origin. He gets along with the Clintons, not with Rush. He gets along well with Jesse Jackson, not with Herbert Cain.

The President's essential 100% Americanism is unassailable. The POTUS was born in the US and is a US citizen. In that sense he is 100% American. But his experience is definitely comprised of outliers. Such as: no education in US public schools[well, maybe in kindergarten?]. Elite private schools all the way. Even silver spoon Dubya spent time in public schools before trotting off to prep school. Hawaii is an outlier. The Ivy League is an outlier, both by selection and by ideology. Ditto Hyde Park. Where else but Hyde Park can you make friends with a neighbor who is a former terrorist who co-authored a book advocating dictatorship of the proletariat? But as for all you northwestern Euro-Americans, he understands your sub-cultures perfectly. After all, he is one of yours, I believe No, he doesn't understand them. While half of his gene pool may be NW European, which connects him with much of the country, he has little mainstream experience. If he "understood your sub-cultures perfectly," he wouldn't have made that "bitter clingers" remark about rural Pennsylvanians at the SF fundraiser three years ago. That was the remark of an anthropologist thinking out loud trying to figure out the natives. He doesn't even do Chicago well in trying to show he fits in. Recall his remark to Bob Costas several years ago about the Chicago White Sox. Obama says he is a White Sox fan. Maybe he is. But I doubt a bonafide White Sox fan would have said, "what used to be Comiskey Field." The Cubs play in Wrigley Field. The White Sox used to play in Comiskey Park. Can you imagine a Boston pol referring to "Fenway Field?" Flanders Field? I have never lived closer than 1000 miles from Chicago, and I would never make such a mistake. But he does do Chicago politics very well. That he learned.

You call me a lunatic etc., yet you don't know me from Adam. You prove my point.

Subrealism: {frankly I'm sick and tired of all this fruity ducking and dodging and would much prefer that the knuckledraggers and their partisan apologists just release themselves and flat out call the Hon.Bro.Preznit a nigger.} That says a lot more about your view of the opposition than it does about the opposition’s view of the POTUS. Instead of looking for the n-words under the woodpile, it would appear that you are looking for the racists under the woodpile. You will find them, whether they exist or not. Andate, pues.

Cobb: My perception is that 'white' is defined more by non-whites than by whites themselves and because of that they are defensive and often foolishly so Subrealism on whiteness: Never having to admit you're mistaken.Never having to say you're sorry.Unparalleled capacity to rationalize any and all collective pathology. CD on whiteness:Ultimately, whiteness is deeply pathological. The above comments from Subrealism and CD could be taken to be mirror images of what a Kluxer would say. Ciao.

As for the problem being limited to un-self-actuated peasants, it is one thing for some ordinary people who vote Republican to pass such cartoons around amongst themselves, and giggle. It is quite another thing when Party leaders do so. Which is also one of my points about the bigotry of Loretta Sanchez, Democratic Party member of Congress since 1997(CA-47). This is not a hypothetical case of bigotry, but an actual one.