The American Consumer - Part IV - Menagerie!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/11/156625861/wake-up-call-to-grocery-stores-young-people-shop-around

Hey America!  Sorry 'bout the short break, I had to really reach to get some ideas this week, but I think I might have come up with a doozie or two.

Sooooooo......it was my decision that I would include one good post per night over the weekend, in emulation of a political runway, then shift into 5th gear come Monday. I'm gonna drive this one right on out there, then hammer out the next during the day tomorrow, then another for Sunday, daytime as well.  Our story today is one that I had intended to start a whole blog on...the American Consumer (and his/her little issues on and in today's world).  Once ADS kicked in and started collecting 10's of follows a day, however, then snowballed; time didn't quite allow me to add to it, so I abandoned it and wrapped it into this one.

We're gonna try something a bit different with this one though.  This one's gonna be a mini-collection of a bunch o' different beefs, probably one for just about every industry.  Like a collection of short stories in a novel.  Should be interesting at the very least!  So what're we waitin' fer?  Let's get it ON!!

NOTE:  As I finish each one, there will be an update to include the next...until all my little "mini-post-its" are finished.

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Electronics

This section does NOT cover computers or their products...those deserve their own section.  This one will be large enough, all by itself, believe that.

I don't know if you remember when TV's were only available in two types...too big and bulky, or too tiny to view from any further back than 5 feet...when the VCR was all the rage, or when clock radios and Walkmans were $40 or better.  It didn't matter what the price, the electronics department of ANY store had always held a big interest for me.  I would boldly and purposefully stride directly to it, no matter what store I intended to inhabit.  I did not tread into any store, sans that department, unless I had no choice in the matter (i.e., if I needed food, or had to get clothes; those were about the only exceptions).  My best friends were Best Buy, Office Depot, Sears, Target, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart and Wally World.

Oh, nothing's changed...or at least the fact that this is still my favorite department anyway.  No, what DID change were the products lining the shelves of these once great stores.

I'm not sure just how long it was that the tube TV was the only option you had, but it seemed like decades, easily.  They first came available in the 50's, and didn't disappear until 2000 and beyond...50 years.  The VCR lasted what, 30?  Stereos with record players (non-78's) enjoyed a very prosperous length of time in our history.  Then BAM.  All of a sudden, things that had made it a minimum of 30 years or more, were replaced with things that didn't last more than a single decade or so.  And keeping up?  Fahgetaboutit.  Not possible, by any standard.

The VCR was replaced with the DVD player.  I remember when that came out, they were a MINIMUM $200+.  CD's replaced cassettes and vinyl records.  Oh, I adapted, when I could no longer stand it, and believe me, I held out as long as I could.  Then, about the time my collections were above and beyond what I'd boasted with records and VCR tapes...it changed again.

Sure, the change had been a while in coming.  We still enjoy CD's.  They don't really put out the players like they did, but we can still play them.  In our DVD-Dual Layer Writers (If you have one in your computer that is) in the better portion of our cars, and if you're really sentimental, you've still got a boom-box with a CD player still lying around in your basement.  They're not Frisbees yet.  The one that made me mad was Blue Ray.  Not even a decade, and our DVD movie collection was worthless.  I can't sell the damn things for more than a dollar anymore.  Just as I was finishing up my desired DVD collection, out it came.  What gets me is, DVD's, if the choice is available, are still just as expensive as they were when Blue Ray's came out.  And Blue Rays, unless they're a crummy title that isn't selling, are still just as expensive as they were when THEY came out.  Most of all, the way technology is moving, in full-throttle, Blue Ray doesn't look good for longevity either.  I quit.  I no longer buy movies, or music either.  I watch the videos on Vimeo and YouTube for music, or wait for it to hit Netflix or Redbox to watch the movie.  If it's Epic, I MAY shell out the 20 bucks it costs to put a date and myself into a movie theatre seat, but it had best be something I'm dying to see, RIGHT NOW.  What's the point?  I get the collection going, and they're gonna change it right in the middle of my collectibles anyway!

But the biggest sponge of my wrath would have to be Flat Panel TV's.  This one irritates me like no other. In company with these, computers and cell phones are competing for 2nd place on my hate list.  Just as I'm re-adjusting the wiring to make it look good, and just find the perfect place in my living room for it, my TV is obsolete.  First, it was Plasma.  Then by the time I could afford that, it was LCD.  Then it was LED.  Then it moved to Smart LED.  HD LED's. Smart HDTV's.  3D LED's.  Smart 3D LED's.  Smart HD 3D LED TV's.  Some had Active 3D, some had Passive 3D.  Now, there's ULTRA HDTV's, with Smart and without Smart.  Cruising around, I found some with sticker prices that exceeded $10,000.  That's almost a CAR FOR CHRISSAKES!!  The description on that baby?  LG 84" (there was one bigger, a 90"...who has room in their living room for a 90" TV?  For real?), Cinema 3D 4K Ultra HD 240 hz. LED/LCD (huh?) HDTV w/Smart TV & 6 pairs of 3D glasses.  Wow.  $11,997.99.  Down from $14,000.

Oh, but I'm not done.  Noooooo...on that very same web page, there was one more...at (get this) $39,000.  Down from $44,000, this TV was dirt thin and on a swing of some sort...and the only differences I noted were micro-dimming (?) and Smart TV...with voice control.  The Rolls Royce of flat panels.  Who knew?  I bought a 39" LED, used, but still in the box, made by the least respected maker, and said SCREW ALL THAT!!...for $150, off of Craigslist.  I'm happy as a clam, tankyooberrymutts.  Enough of that...on to:

Furniture

Here's one that makes me want to fill the space between my ears with hot pudding.  Homemakers.  Nebraska Furniture Mart.  Lebeda Matress.  All of these places charge you millions of dollars above any value the furniture they sell, could possibly have.  These are prices I wouldn't charge for antiques!!

We had the extra money once, and bought a solid maple 4-poster bed, with almost the best mattress they had, thinking we would have it for an eternity.  We paid $2600 for the bed and the bedding for it.  A year and a half later, my home was STOLEN FROM ME...(Oh, I'll tell you that sad tale someday, rest assured)...and we had to sell the bed to survive.  I put it on Craigslist at $1600.  After a scam, (you know the one..."Ill buy it, but I'm out of state, I'll send you a check for $1000 more...deposit it in your bank immediately, then send me whatever money you don't use after you ship it"...and you get a Fed-Ex envelope, legal size, with nothing but a check in it, written to you from the account of some person in a different state...as if) then absolutely ZERO calls, I lowered the price down to $1300, $1200, $1000...then finally $800.  I sold it at $800.  $1800 less than what I paid.  Nice, eh?  Someone needs to tie a noose around the CEO's of all furniture companies.  If you made the quality of furniture you did when it was made by hand, and, maybe, after it lasts for 30 years?  I might buy another set at YOUR prices...sheesh.  Might just as well buy it at Wally World.  It lasts just about as long and is 55-75% cheaper.  Might be plain jane, but hey.  And you can't trust anything used anymore, what with the resurgence of bedbugs.  YUCKY!!  And what we have here?  OH NO IT'S...IT'S...

Cars & Trucks

EASILY my FAVORITE of all American Consumer categories, we have the massive collection of vehicular splendor that lines our streets, are parked illegally everywhere, pump more pollutants into the air than just about anything else we've created (that isn't a factory), and threaten to use up every drop of our planet's stored resources, in one fashion AND another.

It used to be that we were concerned about our environment.  I'm not sure when that ceased to BE a concern, but with the economy the way it is, everything that isn't a commodity or concerns people making more cash than they've ever dreamed of has been moved to the bottom of every list.  So, let's not worry about car-pooling or maybe taking public transportation to save our atmosphere and the very air we breath, let's just make sure to sell every person, in every household, who has a driver's license - a vehicle.  And not just a collection of steel and rubber (or plastic, computers and rubber, nowadays), no, we now have vehicles that could well carry a sticker price that rival the prices of some houses I've considered purchasing.

The price of brand new cars when I was 16 and thinking about getting my first one?  About $5,500.  The average price today, some 50 years later?  $31,500.  But with what they use to make cars these days?  I'd MUCH rather have the 50 yr. old muscle car that still runs on regular gas, and that only gets about 12 miles to the gallon, on which I can fix anything for $50 or less in about 5 minutes, with a 3/8 wrench and a flat head screwdriver.  These also had the added bonus of getting into serious wrecks and walking away with their engines laughing it off, like they'd just bumped a curb.  Oh, but wait.  The price for the same car I looked at with a $5,500 sticker price on it, back in 1976?  They want $50,000 for that car today.  SERIOUSLY??

And, if it ended there, I would be only miserable and broke.  No, even worse yet, when you crack the hoods of these vehicles, small intestines begin to look easier to navigate.  There are even car makers now that say if you do anything to your car besides pump it full of fluids or air up your tires, your warranty is null and void. This includes helping that poor 80 yr. old guy out, on the side of the road, by attempting to jump his car.

One thing I've always loved is the depreciation of today's products.  Cars?  The number one example of American gullibility.  Let's say you get that "average sticker price" on a new car, $30,000.  That new car loses 11% of its value the minute you leave the dealer's lot - over one tenth  of it's value.  Americans consider this "a fact of life".  It is NOT a fact of life!!  It's a fact of American Life, maybe!!  Then, it loses $5,500 more - in the FIRST YEAR!!  After 5 years of driving today's car, your car is now worth 63% less than the sticker price you paid in the beginning.  Absofreekin'lutelyunbelievable.  If this doesn't prove the existence of 306 million Sheeple in our country, NOTHING does!!  I want you to look me in the eye, and tell me today's Ford Focus is still going to be in the showcase window 50 years from now, selling at $50,000.  I DARE  you.

Then there's the cost of fixing them.  Even new, you pay a deductible.  If you lose your warranty (usually after 5 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first), and your transmission goes out?  You're looking at $12,000.  That's 3 1/2 brand new Dodge Chargers in 1973.  For a transmission.  Oh, but you can fix it yourself, right?  Riiiiiiiiiiight.  Let me know how that works out.  I'll call you in a month, when you finally figure out where everything is that you need to fix.

My favorite part though is the used car business.  Most states carry a lemon law...but it only applies to new cars.  Sure, a shady used car lot will eventually garner bad press and have to close its doors...but let's say I have 20 cars that I bought at auction for around $500 ea., that I now have $2500 sticker prices on.  Most of these have major mechanical issues, but with a $10 bottle of Engine Knock Cure or Radiator Leak Miracle Tonic, I can fix that, no problem.  So let's say I sell 10 of these at $2,500 ea., and they shut me down for selling damaged or unsafe cars.  I spent $10,000 and made $25,000, around $15,000 in profit, after building rental, utilities, etc.  Then, after I'm shut down, I can call the tow company and get an additional $200 per vehicle (if I don't further my deception and sell a few of them for slightly less on Craigslist), bringing my total profit to $17,000 dollars.  I don't have to refund any money (just make sure all of your stickers state "As Is" under the warranty section), I don't have to worry about court servers (I don't have a business anymore...remember?), and you have little or no recourse anyway, sans civil lawsuit, which could take as long as YEARS, then there's no guarantee that shady dealer will pay up.  While he's waiting for his court date, he can go start another lot somewhere else and screw more people out of their hard-earned money. NEXT PLEASE!!

The Pet World

Thank God!!  At least THIS category can be ridiculous and cute, all at the same time!!

So what's the average life of your average pet, usually a dog or cat?  Around 13 yrs.  Almost as long as one of your kids.  And, amazingly, almost as expensive as raising your own kids, as well!!

Let's compare the two.  Kids - you have a birthing cost.  OK, so that one is a freebie for dogs and cats. However, you could feasibly spend from $130 to $2000 depending on the breed.  Let's move on.  Kids - Diapers, shots, baby food, teething rings and toys, a crib, a highchair, a stroller, and baby powders, lotions and wipes.  Puppies and kittens - Training pads, shots, puppy chow, teething chews and ropes, balls, bells, fake mice, cat/dog beds, scratching posts, doggie and kitty food and water bowls, a leash, a collar, another collar for fleas, a harness, a coat, a rain-coat, and warm cover for cold weather, kitty litter, litter box, squeak toys and doggie poop bags.  Prices are pretty competitive between the two industries as well.

This is if you do NOT opt for these things as well:  A kitty scratching post/apartment complex, doggie kennels, Professional dog and cat kennelers, cat carriers, dog and cat groomers, shampoos, Frontline, vet visits and surgeries, pet funerals, licensing fees, dog park fees, leash law violations, doggie poop violations...and the list can go on...and on...and on.

And that's just dogs and cats....*whew*  Shall we? Move on, I mean?  Suuuuuuuuure.

Computers

I love computers.  I don't believe I've ever been all that upset with 'em.  I was good friends with the computer long before most people knew how to even turn them on.  Once upon a time, Office Depot started to kick around the idea of a salesman in the business machines department (the electronics department, in my language). I was one of those salesmen.  By the time I had finished there, I was so adept at computers, I started my own teaching business.

The computer business had started out with a lot of computers being Proprietary, meaning in order to make your current computer better, you would be forced to buy those parts from the company who had manufactured it.  Upon massive complaints from the consumer, however, computer manufacturers everywhere re-invented the PC, making it more generic and user friendly.  Now, you could buy parts cheaply and put them in yourself.

The Laptop started out pretty much the same as the PC, in that it was very proprietary.  It too took a hit and made things easier on the consumer.  Then, somewhere along they way, they managed to swing back the other way again.   Now, unless you have one built special, with a more generic user OS (like Linux), and because of the severity of viruses and ad ware, manufacturers are once again making their machines proprietary, and unable to be tampered with.  Gone now are the days when you could make your computer as bad as you wanted it to be.  You pay the money for the best, or you save money on a decidedly inferior product.  As for what you have in it, you're stuck with most all of it, with the notable exception being the amount of RAM you have inside.  Now, if your hard drive crashes, you have to either buy another identical hard drive, with the software the laptop came with on it for double the price stores charge for blank ones, or option 2, buy another laptop.  This, of course, is what the industry trusts that you'll choose.  Their bank accounts are counting on it.

So, not unlike the flat-panel TV beef, computers, alongside of cell phones (which are essentially computers themselves now, only pocket-sized) are bettering themselves very nearly weekly.  You may THINK you got it, but you don't, because they're shipping the bigger and badder model as you're ringin' yours up.  Don't try to keep up, you'll kill yourself off trying.

I suppose, what I'm trying to say America, is (like you had no idea), it's all about the mighty dollar.  No one believes in the word quality, or even knows what it means any more.  Cars, computers, cell phones, electronics in general, as well as just about EVERYTHING is expected to fall to pieces in short order anymore.  Why?  Because you don't speak up.  Like sheep, you open our wallets wider and incur larger credit card bills to have the latest and greatest thing, which, of late, really isn't all that great...it's only that the Jones, the Smith's and the Jackson's have one, so now you have to have one too.  And as you fall prey to yet another round of the latest and greatest, big business is meeting up in their boardrooms thinking of how they can make the next thing better, and have it shipped out before six months goes by.  Next thing you know, thanks to the usual rigorous ad campaign they launch, you hear about the new Samsung Galaxy IX making it's way over, and you're already reserving a spot on Craigslist for the old one, at around a fifth of what you paid for it.  It's only money...right?  Sheesh.

Employment Discrimination and Former CIA operatives

Hey America, guess who?  Yeah, it's me.  Back for round...fifty...something er other...wow.  I can't believe I'm actually to the point where I've lost track!!  And I have the lot o' you to thank for it.  Oh, yeah.   Thanks!  To the lot of you.  You know who you are, surely.

Yesterday?  Quite the exciting day for me.  An editor for CNN followed me.  I was gushing with pride.  However, it's been said that good attention can also garner you attention you don't want as well.  Enter first thing this morning.

I gotta say, the day began just a bit creepy for me today.  First thing, right out of the gate, I got followed by a guy named Dan Gabriel.  The title wording on his profile says "Fmr. Central Intelligence Agency Officer"...this is quickly followed up by the phrase "Insurgencies:  Foreign and Domestic."  In case you hadn't guessed, "Fmr." would, to me anyway, indicate that this man is a FORMER CIA Officer.  This, though, is very little consolation to me, and doesn't do one little thing to make me feel better about him being "former" at all.  I mean, just because a boxer retires, and is then known as a "former boxer", he might very well not be in fights anymore, but it doesn't mean the guy can't still kick your butt, am I right?

One of my very smart sons said to me "I'm sure you'll be fine, really.  I mean, if the CIA was really trying to spy on you, they wouldn't follow you openly in Twitter."...and I agreed, quickly.  Then, after some thought, I said...(and he agreed that this made a sordid amount of sense), wait though, what genius!  Send out an officer, label him as a FORMER CIA officer, then have him follow me openly.  I'd never suspect that!  I'd laugh it off, thinking what my son said at first.  There's subterfuge at it's finest.  The best place to hide is right in front of your nose, where you wouldn't think they'd be, right?

If you'd like, you can look him up under my followers.  I put his picture at the top of this post.  Wave at him too will ya?  Make him feel right at home.  I'd like him to know that I'm not the only one over here.  See, when strange people attach themselves to you out of the blue, for no real logical reason that you can think of, it's always best to a.) call them out in a public place (I immediately tweeted this guy publicly and said "Excuse me!  Should I worried that you're following me?"), then b.) I posted that he was following me, in the main feed on Twitter, then c.) I posted that he was following me, as well, on my page in Facebook.  And finally, d.) I told both my sons about him, and talked to several other friends as well, making sure, of course, that everyone knows...you know, just in case of strange disappearances and the like.  Best of all, thank God, I'm annoying, loud, and overbearing.  I make a lot of noise, and I do it often.  If I were ever to be silenced, it wouldn't matter if all my material were erased in a cover-up, I would most certainly be immediately missed.  A rather wide gaping hole would become disturbingly apparent.  Yup, people would say I was finally nabbed.  Not just by followers either.  Friends, family, they'd know within 24 hours that something was rotton in Iowa.  It'd take millions in hush money to quiet that roar...so I'm not concerned on that note.

Now you may think I'm being a bit paranoid...but let's be honest here, the times, they are a changin', and stranger unexplained things have happened to less notable citizens than me and who I am, that were accused of spouting off things that were even more tame than the things I say even.  Let it be known that I will never be a statistic.  I am, however, OK with being a martyr, so if I really am being followed for dire purposes, and will be taken out with even the slightest of over-doing it in my posts, remember I said all this, America, and tell my story.  With every mouth silenced, two or more shall take my place.

I am going to immediately publish this, then write the real article for the day.  Instead of it being posted separately, however, I will simply update it.  So if you read all of this, then wonder where our real post is, it's coming.  Check back.  It wont be long after I post this, I promise.

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OK, now that we're finished with all that coo-coo voo-doo, let's get it ON, let's hash out each subject like it was my last (as it might just be!!).  Today's killer sin?  Employment Discrimination!!

Now this one is beginning to be felt by me in more than one way, and is covered as well in two other articles I wrote for this blog; and they are titled:  "Your Credit...as a condition of your employment?" and "Going to Work...if you're lucky."  These two, although pretty thorough on their respective subjects, just didn't really cover the entire scope of what I want to say about the matter.

So let's just say that this is a continuation, and place all of those other posts in the loving arms of this one as it's finale.  On we go then.

Another bullet point in the realm of employment discrimination, is age.  Then there's color.  Race.  Creed.  Sex.  Origin.  Religion...the possibilities are, of course, endless.  Granted, local, state and Federal regulations have done much to cut down on these and other ways a company (or individual, of course) could feasibly discriminate; either in the hiring of you, the working of you, and, of course, concerning the end of your career as well.  I do have to ask though, ultimately, what's the sense in any of what the law says is discrimination, and what can or can't be done to deter it?

Let's say you go for an interview, and, let's face it, you smell BAD.  I don't care if you have 20 years experience in what this company wants, if they don't like you because you smell bad, you won't get hired.  Is this discrimination, due to your orafactal offensiveness?  Well, yes.  Now, let's say there's a law that was just passed, and it clearly states, in no uncertain terms, that you cannot be discriminated against because of the odor you put off.  Let's go through that interview again.  Do you think this new law is going to make a single difference in the outcome of your interview, now that you can be fined or worse for it?  Hell no.  It doesn't mean a damn thing that there's a law against it.  The hiring process happens in your HR employees head, and only there.  Oh, you can SAY there was discrimination there...you may have proof that you smelled bad...you may even sue, using this very solid offense.  But when the person who was in charge of hiring you takes the stand?  That man/woman can say just about anything else about you was the reason you weren't hired.  The position you decided to assume in your chair when interviewed, your body language didn't agree with what you were putting out there.  Your socks didn't match.   You were wearing dressy casual shoes with a dress outfit.  You had your tonsils taken out.  The tooth that should be in postion Upper 22 is missing.  You used to steal paperclips from one of your bosses...hell, they can practically sell just about any story they can dream up.

The same applies to firing you.  If they can't cut your hours, or make you mad enough that you'll quit on your own?  They can make up just about any reason for it anymore.  More messed up are the sentences I call "A manager's best friend":  The vague reason.  Now, managers, etc, are now not ALLOWED to give out detailed reasons concerning your firing.  This is classic!  Sure, it protects you when others call in about you...these pre-drawn up phrases are there to protect your new employer from hearing say, that you smelled bad, and keep your former employer, who may be massively upset with you for some silly reason in whicch he could go on for days about...at which point, the new guy goes "Oh wow...OK, thank yo....THANK YOU!!...and any chance you had at getting the job?  OUT THE WINDOW.  So thank God for that legislation, right?

Hmm, I wonder.  See, that works real well for all that stuff up there.  But now, let's say, the new guy calls into Mr. Old Job, and he says this exact phrase...one of my favorites, by the way, "Well, he just wasn't a good fit."  This, under our new legislation concerning after job conversations, is all right to say.  Oh but wait, so really...now, instead of the new guy making up his own mind, regarding what the Old Job guys said, now we have 20 or so legal things we can say ONLY...so what then is to stop employers from putting out there, in whatever way they might, a cheat sheet, saying "Well, he wasn't a good fit = Whatever they might want it to mean???  What I'm trying to say here, America, is now we've given them what I'd like to refer to as "Code Sentences."  Since it can't be said that you're an asshole, who's been known to constantly comment on the absurd outfits your female customers wear, in accordance with what shoes, we have this little hiring booklet referal sheet, and something said by Mr. Old Job,  Hmm, lemme look that up...ohhh...yeah, that's #3, "Well, we didn't feel this employee was a good fit".  That means don't hire this guy, we was probably an asshole.  Yeah, we decided that at the last HR convention in New York last year."  Get what I'm saying here??

By passing that legislation...which by the way, I'm sure they had good reason to do, what with our sue-happy nature as Americans...they've made HR's job TONS easier!  They can decide to not hire you within seconds of calling of your first previous job listing's HR department, and save themselves the trouble of having to decide based on professional references, qualifications, or the GPA you had during the course of obtaining your BA.  Nice.  All with 20 little common phrases they have to say if Mr. Old Job is called by possible Mr. New Job.

So you see America, what I'm trying to say is, all this stuff that's supposedly protected against, in case you're interviewing for a job, working IN a job, or getting fired from one?  It's not protected, and you and I both know it to be fact.  If you've been working at Microsoft 18 years, and in 2 more you're going to get a benefits package drawn up by Bill himself that's going to set you for life?  Bill can drop an order to your manager and have you fired within seconds just about anytime he deems it necessary to save the company money, trust me.  "Say Joe, could you come to my office?"...and Joe goes in, just to hear "Claudia, the accounting supervisor in section 12-D says she came by your desk the other day and heard you telling Jerry, your neighbor, a sexual joke...and I'm afraid that's against our Harrassment policy.  I'm afraid we're gonna have to let you go"...and Presto Chango, we let Joe go, we don't have to pay him that god-awful high wage anymore, we don't have to give him retirement in a couple years, and we can hire Dan, that naive 20 yr. old we interviewed the other day at half the cost to us.  YIPPEE!!  See how it all comes down in the capitalist world America?  Until Manana mi Amigos

Desensitizing Our Youth and Our Country

Hey kids, guess what??  Our little corner of the 'verse over this away?  Just got the attention of someone at CNN...oh, it's ON NOW!!  Let's knock a few out that'll slice our way to the top of Capitol Hill, shall we?

Well, today's subject is gonna be on the desensitizing of our young people, and of our nation as a whole.

Now, make no mistake, this has been going on for decades.  Remember looking at those war pictures of Vietnam, way back when?  That was fun wasn't it?  I still get little pangs in my gut when I see that crap...

Yeah, the 70's...that's about when I started noticing a big shift on what I was seeing in the world, of the world, and because of the world.  And it wasn't pretty.  Any of it.  Horror movies started out as laughable rehashments of the same four characters, over and over...Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Werewolf.  The effects were a joke, and pretty soon it got so bad they had to throw in stars to keep them alive, like Frankenstein Meets Abbott and Costello...that sort of thing.  Crazy.  Then, about the time ol' Alfred Hitchcock came to town, and the Vietnam era came and went, well...things got a little weirder...and fast.

Psycho brought us up to speed a little.  Then came Rosemary's Baby...the Exorcist, A Clockwork Orange...those sort of movies started in on the delicate subjects of Devil worship, possession, murder, street gang violence, and they sure as heck weren't pulling any punches.  These made those old horror flicks funny at best.

Then, somewhere along the line, I noticed something kinda strange.  I started to notice a shift...in music, in the movies, TV...I started to notice there were a lot of heroes and role models that were starting...NOT to be heroes and role models anymore.  Oh sure, we were mortified with this stuff to begin with.  But somewhere along the line we stopped cheering for the real heroes and started idolizing the bad boys after a while.  Freddy (Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason (Mr. Hockeypucks himself), Alice Cooper...moving further on to Alien, The Terminator, Marylyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, Predator, Insane Clown Posse..and during all this, there were conflicts, releases of war pictures, movies were getting more gruesome every year, with films like Hell-Raiser, The Ring, House of 1000 Corpses, and The Thing, just to mention a few.  Musical acts saw this, and started to emulate the horror being thrown at our youth, and pretty soon they were killing themselves on stage, and killing others (acting of course), biting heads off of bats, and dressing like the lead villian in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Nowadays?  You can't shock me anymore.  I've seen just about everything there is to see, thanks to shows on TV like Forensic Files, Jackass, 1000 Ways to Die, alongside of countless war shows and movies, reality TV shows like Fear Factor, commercials with pleas to help homeless sick and starving children around the world and to do something about those abused, beaten and bruised animals.  War, horror, death, abuse, murder, drug addiction...it's all over-done these days.  Worse yet, of course, is the fact that it's just as rampant, and based in reality as well, and if it isn't, we'll find a way to put it there, with reality TV show ideas!!  The news is so very full of it; every minute I hear about some sort of sexually related crime, animal cruelty, or murder.

Yep, you're going to have to come up with something darn gory to shock me anymore.  I've seen people's small intestines used to tie them up to a fire spit in full living color, and got to enjoy the vision of monkey brains being consumed by the Indian Elite.  It's going to take an awful lot to turn MY stomach.  I TRIPLE DOG-DARE you to show me something that'll avert MY vision.

Oh, but our youth have it better than that, even.  They've yet to know (and may never know) what the word "horrific" really means. They don't have a clue.  To them, this is the way things are, and always have been. There is no such thing as stomach-turning in a child's life these days.  You can't easily gross me out, but there's a slight chance you could, given the right stimuli.  You may just surprise me someday.  Not so with kids, I guarantee it.  No, they've actually been in battles already, and they haven't even seen their draft eligibility ages as yet.  They've killed zombies...hell, they've BEEN zombies.  I'll bet you good green money there's NO way to freak your kids out!

Is any of this going to be good for us, in any kind of way?  Well, I suppose it does have the benefit of making it easier to stomach all those war pictures Time Magazine likes to throw into our faces on occasion.  Other than this one benefit, I'm not following the logic of it.

Here's what I see as "nnnnot so good."

Meet Nikki Schizophrenia, hereafter referred to as Nikki.  This is NOT, of course, her real name.  And, as the Warning at the bottom states, Nikki can easily be found on FaceBook.  She's almost 16, and has already suffered a highly-rated trauma in her life.  Her parents are well aware of how she suffers just shy of her "sweet 16", and, to be honest?  I don't see that upcoming year as being all that sweet.  Oh, and in case you were wondering?  That picture at the top?  Yup, that's the one.  That's just one of many personas Nikki likes to exhibit.  And not just one shot of each.  No, Nikki insists on showing the world that there's an evil side to her, and is intent on letting the world experience her in a full-sized gallery of such images.

To her?  This is the norm.  What she is, what she feels.  I just happened to run into her as I was lightly skimming through the "People You Might Know" section of FaceBook.  I approached her about being in this post, and she was all for it, once I explained what I was writing about.  Since we aren't using her real name, and her profile is pretty vague, she initialed off gladly into a mini-interview I'd like to share most of with you, if you have no objection...OK, even if you DO have an objection.  It's time you realized what you've done to our children...and to our future world leaders.  Let it be known, before we begin, that it's in this writer's opinion that this is no un-intelligent girl I'm talking to.  Her answers were quick and efficient, and well-thought out and expressed accordingly.  Ready?  Let's get to it then:

NOTE:  By the way, while I wrote this, I was running it by Nikki, you know, just to make sure she was OK with my quotes...she gives YOU, America, permission to find her on Facebook and add her (Nikki Schizophrenia), if you'd like to speak to her personally about this!!

TMS:  What's the amount of TV that you watch?  What programs do you like?

NS:  I don't watch TV, I believe it's the Illuminati's way of getting into our heads.  I do love the show "Dexter", I love it because I have dreams of murder all the time...not me murdering, but of me being murdered.

TMS:  What about movies?

NS:  I love horror movies, they interest me because there are peope out there that actually do that kind of stuff and I think, in a way, it makes the mind realize that s*** like that does happen.  It happens every day, somewhere out there, and I love blood and gore.

TMS:  Tell me about the music you listen to and how it affects you.

NS:  I listen to Pink Floyd most of the time.  It's hard to explain how the music reaches out to me.  I also listen to Tech n9ne, Hopsin, Esham, ect.  I love heavy metal and horror core music. it tells a story for me.  I have been through a lot of stuff in my life and im not good at explaining my feelings, so I listen to the music that explains how I feel.

 TMS:  Tell me about the pictures where you wear face paint.  What's with all that?  Is that an emulation of Insane Clown Posse?  I noticed you have the word "Juggalo" in your Warning...

NS:  My facepaint honestly has nothing to do with ICP or anything, really.  Yes I do like their music, and I am a Juggalo, but no, my paint doesn't resemble them. I have a theory that we all have a daemon inside of us; a beast....and we should all let it show once in a while. My facepaint resembles how I feel as well.  For example, the ones I do with a smile, but there's tears too?  That's my way of saying I'm smiling but I'm crying at the same time. Another one, like my red and black facepaint with the teeth, that was more like me showing that, yes, I'm demented, I do have an evil side...I'm sweet but I'm cold blooded.  It's me letting my inner beast show. its an expression of my inner self perception.

TMS:  How about video games.  You play?

NS:  Yes I do play video games, I'm a gamer. I love all of the COD's. I play them because I have a lot of anger inside and I don't like to let people see it, I don't want to take it out on people either, so I kill people on Black Ops.  It's a much nicer way of letting it out.

TMS:  If it ever came down to brother against brother, violence in the streets, or a war that you might have to fight in, how would you feel about it?

NS:  If it came down to war or violence, I would honestly be ready to fight, but with the way America is going, who isn't? I don't like fighting, I would rather have world peace, but I will fight for what I want/love/need.

TMS:  What level of violence do you feel like you can handle, personally?

NS:  I can handle any kind of violence, and I'm not an emotional person.  I don't like violence, but if that's the way people push for s*** to get done, then that's how it'll be.

TMS:  Do you feel like what you listen to, musically, as well as what you see in the movies and video games these days, affect your view of all the violence, war and fighting we do these days?

NS:   I honestly think that what I do watch and listen to does affect all that. Some music, when I'm mad, makes me want to fight with anyone who pisses me off, but then some music takes me out of that state of mind too.

TMS:  Thinking and remembering back to when you were like 5-10 yrs. old, did violence bother you back then, when you saw it?

NS:  No, it didn't. It was pretty normal to me, thanks to (an un-revealed) trauma I experienced when I was 4.  Because of that, I have dreams about blood and gore everynight.

TMS:  Why Nikki Schizophrenia?  Why do you call yourself that?

NS:  Well my real name is *******,  but  I have always liked the name Nikki.  I'm f***ing psychotic; and no,  I'm not schitzophrenic...I just really like the word, and I know someone with schitzopherenia, and he's the s***, so that's why I call myself Nikki Schizophrenia.

TMS:  Thanks.  Finally, how much of this do your parents know about all this, and how do they feel?

NS:  My parents don't like it at all, but they accept me for who I am.  They don't like me calling myself a juggalo, but I don't wear my ICP stuff around them, or talk about it around them, out of respect, knowing they don't like it.

Do you feel it too, America?  It loomed and spread out over me, not unlike a humongous jet-black rain cloud as I spoke with, and as I wrapped up my interview with Nikki.  Then, there it was, stuck there like an un-swallowable lump in the back of my throat.  This is the end of us; and if it's not the end, it has to be the beginning of that end.  Long gone are the 50's, when all was bright and good and squeaky clean.  Gone too are the days of tightly knit families, and, along with it, any sense of morality.  Innocence and naivete in our children are out the window.  Gone.  Violence, sex and disrespect, once viewed as "Black Sheep" behavior, is now quite commonplace...and acceptable.  And those pictures of bodies stacked on top of bodies, waiting to be buried in an 8' deep trench after the war we were just in, ends?  Pffft...no biggie.  Just scrape it off.  Doesn't bother ME.  Hell no.

Really?  The Illuminati?  I hadn't even heard that word until well into my 30's, let alone did I have a clue what it meant.

'Til Next time.  Sleep tight.  Let the bedbugs bite.  :D

Animal Cruelty/Abuse

The Earth is fine...it's going to shake us off like a bad case of fleas...a surface nuisance. 

- George Carlin

I must be outta my mind, kids.  I want you to know that I could write for days, weeks and months on this subject, and I have good reason for doing so.  Because this subject connects to and conjunctions with and branches off to so many other things in life.  Not our life.  Life, defined, all by itself.  The biggest and most offended of these things, is Mother Nature.  The natural order.  The "Way of things".

What am I talking about?  Where am I going?  You know damn well where I'm going.  Think about it.

Now, for those of you that just insist on niavete, who thrive on ignorance, who love and embrace stubborness?  I suppose it could be said that I owe my life to the lot of you.  If it weren't for people like you, I wouldn't have an opinion.  My blogging days would end, and fast.  We'd be doing well, and the word "issue" wouldn't exist as a word in Merriam-Webster.  And we wouldn't be going to Hell in a handbasket.  Noting this particular sin, I'd say we booked our flights well in advance.

So the subject of the day, and all it entails, goes like this.

Imagine this.  You're sitting in your living room, playing Coin Dozer on your new Samsung Galaxy Tab, and all is just grand.  Simply Ducky.  Life couldn't possibly get any better than this.  All of a sudden, you turn to grab your Dr. Pepper, and you notice, in the background, that a popular song comes cooing over the airwaves...from the 90's...yeah, I know that one...hey, I LOVED this song...Sarah McLachlan...Angel, that's it.  Wow...I could just let that woman hum her song in my ear for the rest of my natural born days...and then you look up, and you can't grab for the remote fast enough...Now you just want to get that song as far away from you as you possibly can...but it's too late now.  It's on your mind.  Because, as you looked up to pay more attention to that song of the heavenly bound, you are instantaneously aware of scene after scene of abused, malnutritioned, badly beaten and mangy dogs, cats, horses...you name it, most abandoned by or freshly rescued from the worst possible homes or owners to ever desire to own an animal.  Some are victims of collection, others just want guard dogs, some just don't care or don't have a clue how to take care of themselves, let alone one (to as many as hundreds, believe it or not) of God's creatures.  And now Sarah MacLachlin's beautiful melody is now warped onto your hippo-campus as the song of the abused animal.  Gee thanks for that.  I never want to hear this song ever again now.

America, I can’t stress enough that, if you can’t take care of yourselves, do NOT get a puppy.  Do NOT adopt a kitten.  You’re setting yourself up for failure, and you’re dumber than you first appear.  If you find yourself on food stamps, or running every month to the food bank, then you shouldn’t probably have a dog.  Dogs are every bit as expensive as kids anymore.  If you make less than $10,000 a year DO NOT GET ANIMALS THAT WILL BE LIVING IN YOUR HOME WITH YOU.  Given a choice, poor people will starve their pets long before they let themselves starve.  Next thing you know, the police, along with Animal Control and the ASPCA will be swooping into your home to figure out why it is you can play a tune on each of your three dogs’ ribs.  If you have trouble feeding yourselves, you can’t afford to feed an animal either. Good rule of thumb.  Another one might be that, if you can’t afford to license or spay or neuter your pet, you shouldn’t have one either.

If you hate animals, either cats or dogs, but your little girl has been bugging you to death to get one, and you get one for her anyway, or don't get her one and don't tell her why, or make up some other kind of lie to tell her instead, I'm comin' after you, and it ain't gonna be pretty...because if you do get one, the likelihood that you might choke your new puppy to death for peeing on your new indoor palm tree, or kick your kitten into the next room because it wanted to show you how it killed that mouse you’ve had running through your walls of late is pretty high.  Also in this category of morons are those of you that have no clue or have no time to teach your kids how to love and take care of their new pets, any more than you, a parent have time to teach yourselves how to program a computer.  Give your animal to a more caring and happy home.  You’ll be happier, and your pet will survive the first few months of its life as well.

And, I suppose, it might be wise to teach you some common sense, 'cause lord knows you have none to little to offer.  If you have a cupboard for an apartment, don't get a great dane puppy.  If you have an apartment with no yard within walking distance, you won't want a greyhound.  If the nearest dog park is 20 miles away and you have no car, it goes without saying that you should opt against a dog.  And, if you have so much stuff, people consider you a hoarder?  If you can hear your cat meowing, but you have no clue where he is, it's likely he's lost or stuck, and, some months down the road, when you're looking for your shoes, you'll find it, dead as a doornail because it hasn't had food or water for a minimum of 2 weeks.

The final entry under common sense is this:  If it's in the zoo?  They have it there for a reason.  Which means, you shouldn't get a baby tiger cub as a guard-animal for your apartment.  It's more than likely a good idea NOT to get a boa constricter for your 5 yr. old son.  Then of course, there's the black widow spider you gave to your goth-ridden 15 yr. old girl, so that she could be cool for school.

And the dog.  Man's best friend.  Forced into slavery (hey, we had to do something, right? Abe Lincoln freed all our slaves man!!) as our personal guard dogs.  Chained into our back yards, usually right out of their mother's wombs, and who die wearing the same collar using the furthest open notch that should have last been used when they were 6 months old.  Or, because they couldn't get water or food, practicallly ripped the chain right through their necks, or chewed through the legs they were shackled with.  Looking at some of their exposed rib cages, it's a wonder they had the strength to do it at all.  And people wonder about the campaign against stupid people breeding.  No argument here.

Probably one of my favorites, where dogs, supposedly man's bestest bosom buddy is concerned, there's nothing that makes me more ill than to see policemen videos where they're abusing or beating their dogs.  With every whack of the baton, I'd love to pump the blood right out of that man's pumping heart in return.  Note to your local police force:  If the man has a propensity to violence, complaints of harrassment, etc, he probably shouldn't be handling an animal for the force.

And getting back to wild and untamed critters, let's just jump right on over to poaching animals for money.  I'd have to say the ones that shred my soul the most are taking down an entire elephant or rhino...just for it's horn or it's ivory tusk.  Wow.  Unbelievable.  Are we really selling that many pianos?  Ok, granted, nature will take these species naturally anyway someday....but I don't think she ever asked for our help.  It's ok though.  Our time here is most certain almost done, it's gotta be.  I'm next door to praying for it.  Mother nature's rearing her head, and we're rushing to our extinction with our eyes and arms open, and ripe for the taking.  Keep caging those wolves for ratings on Animal Planet.  Hey as long as the ratings are high, why not depict abusing animals using the magic of CG?  It's not like we're really hurting any, right?  Yeah, but doesn't this teach animal abuse ANYWAY???  Come on, America, come on world!!  Mother Earth's already upset.  Slow it up, before our extinction gets moved up a couple millenia.  Maybe we talk to the people who make the "See and Say" and let's get them to change the normal noises of the animals they teach you the sounds of, and get them to change it to those of squealing pigs on their way to slaughter and dogs that whine and whimper as they get their daily beatings.  Maybe then we'd truly learn what sound the cow normally makes, when we drunkenly and stupidly tip them over.