THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Living In These Mad, Mad, Madoff Times: According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll “[t]he recession has forced a majority of Americans to alter their lifestyles, and many are upset about it”:
Overall, 56 percent of survey respondents said the recession has caused them to make significant changes in the way they are living. A quarter said they are "angry" or "upset" about having to do so .
The sentiment cut across gender, racial, income and political lines. Overall, majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents said the recession has had a deep impact on their lives, and many acknowledged being agitated. …
According to the survey, 66 percent have lost a job or have seen someone close to them get laid off or lose a job, and 71 percent have had their wages or hours cut or seen it happen to a close friend or relative.
† Your Bonus: $0. Continued Employment: Priceless.: The National Law Journal reports that law firm associates “are finding that the balance of power has shifted away from them and into the hands of law firm managers”:
Gone are the days - as recent as a year ago - when firms had to pile on the perks to keep associates from jumping ship.
With few ships for associates to jump to these days, young attorneys are increasingly reluctant to raise any issue that might put an unwanted target on their backs. …
Working from home, reducing hours, the type of assignments received, sabbaticals and technology allowances are among the issues associates are generally more reticent to raise since the downturn hit.
† Waterboarding: The Latest Fad To Sweep The U.S.: MediaBistro blog TV Newser reports that MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann is goading (video link) FOX News’ Sean Hannity to make good on his promise to allow Charles Grodin to waterboard him for charity: “I'll let you do it. I'll do it for the troops families.” Olbermann said he’ll kick in $1,000 for every second Hannity lasts. Hannity does have an edge though: He can ask his colleague Steve Harrigan for tips on how to get through the simulated drowning and walk away from it, as he was able to on live TV.
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, Hunting Hokies): The TX state Legislature is likely to pass a law that would not do away with “gun-free zones” at state college and university campuses by allowing gun owners with concealed carry permits to bring their firearms with them to class, reports the Chicago Tribune:
Determined not to allow a repeat of the Virginia Tech massacre in Texas, sponsors of the bill insist that allowing responsible students and professors to secretly carry their weapons might deter a potential gunman from attacking a campus - or stop one who decides to open fire. …
Proponents argue that the gun owners they are talking about are among the most responsible in the state: A license to carry a concealed weapon in Texas is granted only to firearms owners who are at least 21 who have passed a criminal background check and completed a special training course.
But critics of the proposal to allow guns on campuses vehemently disagree.
They fear that introducing firearms into college environments already saturated with youthful impulsiveness, social anxieties and alcohol is a recipe for trouble.
Private colleges in the state will still be permitted to declare themselves “gun-free zones,” but not the taxpayer-supported public schools.
† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Gays Do Not Tolerate Dissent: Part II): In an op-ed for The Washington Times, Andrew Breitbart, founder of the news site www.breitbart.com, is disturbed by the “small minority of left-wing agitators” who are dominating the gay-rights dialogue with “a binge of bad public behavior, and I'm not referring to the bare-buttocked-chaps look and inappropriately placed sparklers during ‘pride’ parades.” Breitbart contends that when the “the wildly popular Internet gossip and celebrity hit man” and “flamboyantly gay” Perez Hilton asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean about gay marriage he knew she was attending “San Diego Christian College - the kind of place activist gay leftists are at war with, where Christians preach what they practice” and that the whole thing was “a setup.”
Breitbart adds:
Since 9/11, the highly organized gay left has also been deafeningly silent on Islam's anti-modern approach to homosexuality - let alone same-sex unions. The mullahs in Iran somehow get a major pass while the director of the California Musical Theatre in Sacramento is targeted for ruin. This contradiction is not subtle. Indeed, it's obvious and pathetic.
In fact, in the beauty contest that was the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama - the left's hand-tailored candidate and an icon of "hope" in the gay community - like his vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., shares Miss California's stance on gay marriage. …
Why the pass, fellas?
Because the law of the jungle is that a bully is adept at sizing up who he can beat up on and who will kick his ass (or slit his throat).
Meanwhile the contretemps has been a boon for Prejean, reports The Washington Times:
Miss California may have lost a pageant, but she's not sorry. She has won a cause.
Carrie Prejean's politically incorrect response to a question about same-sex marriage may have cost her the Miss USA crown, but apparently it's going to take more than a few insults from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton to change her mind.
"It's unfortunate that this happened, but it's become such a blessing," Miss Prejean said in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Washington Times. "I'm glad I didn't win that pageant, because I now have a cause, I now have a purpose and I'm going to pursue it."
Not only is Miss Prejean refusing to apologize, explain her answer or even stay out of the spotlight, but she's unabashedly promoting traditional marriage in post-pageant appearances, including later this week in Washington and in Lynchburg, Va.
In doing so, she's become an inspiration to conservative Christians, especially those in California, who are reluctant to speak out on behalf of traditional marriage in the face of shifting cultural mores, said Miles McPherson, her pastor at the San Diego-based Rock Church.
In other words, you don’t run away from a bully.
Comments