Is it just me (#5) …

… or does is seem that the chief casualties of parenthood are your golf game and sex life?!?

How many race cards are in that deck?

WARNING:  THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND/OR ADULT THEMES

When it comes to racism, I have very little tolerance for intolerance.  Whether it is the classic racial variety, reverse, institutional, or any of the various genres, I find it distasteful and abhorrent.  But, what gets me the most incensed is the use of the so-called “race card” when it has no business being bantered about.  Nothing dilutes the validity or support of public refutation of prejudiced behavior more than to invoke its use unnecessarily, or even falsely.

My ire was raised today (ie. I got fucking pissed) when I found that some of the parents of students from a local Middle School were accusing a local supermarket of racism for banning backpacks from being brought into the store.  Apparently, the market, located directly across the street from the school, has been the victim of numerous thefts and shoplifts lately at the hands of the students who descend upon the store like a huge rugby scrum as soon as the school bell rings.  Most come in and pay for their purchases, but some prefer the five-finger discount.  My wife and I have even witnessed several incidents where an item was stuffed into a backpack and the perp would go running from the store.

The majority of the school’s population is made up of minorities of the general population and, for some reason, the parents of many of these students have decided to play the proverbial race card on this issue.  Yet, the ban on backpacks by the store has been extended to all unaccompanied minors of any race, creed or religion.  In other words, “racism” should be as much a part of the discussion as Lindsay Lohan in a Rhodes Scholarship nomination meeting.

So, instead of dealing with the issue of criminal behavior and personal responsibility, these parents have decided to pass the buck and put it the feet of the victims in this saga.  Instead of nipping in the bud what will undoubtedly become recurring and growing incidents of illegal conduct, these parents are willing to let a local business suffer great economic losses in a very difficult fiscal time … threatening it’s very existence.  Perhaps worst of all, these parents are willing to deal another card from the “race deck” when the supply is already dwindling from overuse.

When I was a kid, I was often told the bedtime story about the “Boy Who Cried Wolf”.  It is a simple lesson that appears to be missed by our disposable society members who utilize this cry of “foul” like a bonus-size box of condoms.  The reasons behind my repetitious recitations of the moral embodied fable were certainly much more benign than what is being displayed by these morons.  Perhaps they could benefit from a nightly recantation of the famous story.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it would help much … they’d probably be too busy yelling “racist” at the top of their lungs because the sheep-stealing wolf portrays an unfair representation of their food-stealing children.  Uh huh …

Decisions, Decisions!

The current economic crises has put many of us on the financial brink.  As a result, we have had to make very hard decisions on where and how we spend the money we do have.   For many, it has been a choice of whether or not to continue insuring their car, their house, or even themselves.

I have several friends that have been debating, or already chosen, whether they should keep their health insurance vs. their home insurance.  Granted, health insurance has become a much larger portion of everyone’s economic expense pie than has insurance for their abode.  However, the choice has still been health or home – along with some other discretionary expenditures to make up the difference.

For me, the choice would be easy.  I have always been a firm believer that if you have your health (and the love of your family) you have it all.  Others have said that you have to ensure the roof over your family’s head will not be threatened.  While I agree with that, by not having health insurance for your entire family, you are putting your home and your family’s security at great risk.  Should a major health crises arise, you could be on the hook for thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.  If you are being forced into making a decision on whether or not to insure, you certainly don’t have the cash position to cover that kind of expense.  The result will most likely be bankruptcy, and the loss of your house anyway.  For others, though, the choice has been for the material rather than the ethereal.

I’m interested to see how others feel on this tough decision.  Please, log your choice on the poll above.

Watch out! This thing may be loaded!!

WARNING:  THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND ADULT THEMES! (Sorry, no porn)

I’ve been told I need an outlet.  Not that I have anger issues, mind you.  But, I see so much inane, insane and mundane things going on in the world around me that I can’t help myself.

So, this blog will be an ongoing rant about anything and everything – shooting, if you will, for the Soft White Underbelly.  Politics, Economics, Entertainment, Sports, Sex, Relationships, Religion, Family, Friends, and anything else that hits a nerve.  Though, anonymity will be well served here, no thing and no one is safe … not even me!