copy and pasted. Our "ruling class"

This makes me sick.

Professional prominence or position will not secure a place in the class any more than mere money. In fact, it is possible to be an official of a major corporation or a member of the U.S. Supreme Court (just ask Justice Clarence Thomas), or even president (Ronald Reagan), and not be taken seriously by the ruling class. Like a fraternity, this class requires above all comity -- being in with the right people, giving the required signs that one is on the right side, and joining in despising the Outs. Once an official or professional shows that he shares the manners, the tastes, the interests of the class, gives lip service to its ideals and shibboleths, and is willing to accommodate the interests of its senior members, he can move profitably among our establishment's parts.

If, for example, you are Laurence Tribe in 1984, Harvard professor of law, leftist pillar of the establishment, you can "write" your magnum opus by using the products of your student assistant, Ron Klain. A decade later, after Klain admits to having written some parts of the book, and the other parts are found to be verbatim or paraphrases of a book published in 1974, you can claim (perhaps correctly) that your plagiarism was "inadvertent," and you can count on the Law School's dean, Elena Kagan, to appoint a committee including former and future Harvard president Derek Bok that issues a secret report that "closes" the incident. Incidentally, Kagan ends up a justice of the Supreme Court. Not one of these people did their jobs: the professor did not write the book himself, the assistant plagiarized instead of researching, the dean and the committee did not hold the professor accountable, and all ended up rewarded. By contrast, for example, learned papers and distinguished careers in climatology at MIT (Richard Lindzen) or UVA (S. Fred Singer) are not enough for their questions about "global warming" to be taken seriously. For our ruling class, identity always trumps.

Much less does membership in the ruling class depend on high academic achievement. To see something closer to an academic meritocracy consider France, where elected officials have little power, a vast bureaucracy explicitly controls details from how babies are raised to how to make cheese, and people get into and advance in that bureaucracy strictly by competitive exams. Hence for good or ill, France's ruling class are bright people -- certifiably. Not ours. But didn't ours go to Harvard and Princeton and Stanford? Didn't most of them get good grades? Yes. But while getting into the Ecole Nationale d'Administration or the Ecole Polytechnique or the dozens of other entry points to France's ruling class requires outperforming others in blindly graded exams, and graduating from such places requires passing exams that many fail, getting into America's "top schools" is less a matter of passing exams than of showing up with acceptable grades and an attractive social profile. American secondary schools are generous with their As. Since the 1970s, it has been virtually impossible to flunk out of American colleges. And it is an open secret that "the best" colleges require the least work and give out the highest grade point averages. No, our ruling class recruits and renews itself not through meritocracy but rather by taking into itself people whose most prominent feature is their commitment to fit in. The most successful neither write books and papers that stand up to criticism nor release their academic records. Thus does our ruling class stunt itself through negative selection. But the more it has dumbed itself down, the more it has defined itself by the presumption of intellectual superiority.

Too funny

Alright some back story. At work we occasionally have to run identity verifications. This means if you were the customer we'd have to ask a few questions pertaining to your file and history (credit.) Usually the questions involve either loans you have or BASIC questions like "what is the age range of the head of your household?" etc etc etc...I have to give Brian Carroll all of the credit--this is from his hands and his call. However I had to share.

Human Inept-ness


"What is the age of the oldest person in your household?"

"what?"

Repeat

"what?"

Pause. Repeat.

"I don't understand the questions."

"Who is the oldest person in your house?"

"My son."

"Your son…?"

"yes."

"Your son."

"yes!"

"Your son is the oldest person in your house."

"Yes."

"Your son is older than you."

"YES!"


Not done:



…."how is it possible for your SON to be OLDER than YOU?"

"Oh wait, I'm sorry. My daughter."

"Your daughter what?"

"My daughter is the oldest person in my house."

"Your daughter."

"*sigh* YES!!!"

"Your daughter is older than you"

"YES!!!! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?"

"…how old are YOU."

"……………………….fifffffffffffffffffty…uhhhh…….five…?"

"Next question. How many adults 18 or older live in your house?"

"None."

L:ADFKJSDFKLJSDKL:FJWEHIOWEIL:DHJDSDL:GJSDL:SDJFSDL:JFKL:SDFJKL:SDJFL:KSDJFL:SDJFKL:SD

Frustration

I could break everything in my sight at the moment. I want to type my thoughts out, but my emotions are like a cylone right now. I want to just run, scream, throw things...

Very strange feeling...

Few years outdated, but still funny.

Headline: European Heighten Threat Levels

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist
threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to
"Peeved". Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to
"Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit
Cross" since the blitz began in 1940 and tea supplies all but ran
out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody
Nuisance". The last time the British issued "A Bloody Nuisance"
warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised
its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher
levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was
precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag
factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French who are on a heightened level of
alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and
excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain:
"Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful
Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also
have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the
only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to
deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new
Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Letter to AJ

Hey buddy, I see you're heading down the same path you tend to before. What? No I don't care how different this one seems. Yes you probably are right, this one is very different, but that's not the point. You gotta keep your eye on the prize my friend. You have a very specific dream that wakes you in the morning and gives you joy throughout your day--one that has you here in this part of the country and one that you back up by talent.

My point is keep your damn eye on the prize. You've got a lot to accomplish in that secretive black binder of yours. You're getting progress, down the road, and up the alley. However progress can be easily stopped. You are smart enough to find the balance to keep your personal life going and still get this work done. It's what you were born to do--have both. Use current situations as material for work, use emotions as your muse like you always have and stop getting distracted.

Everything else your heart desire and longs for will come to you, when you start living your life and seizing it, and not necessarily just letting it slowly pass through your vision.

Eye on the prize AJ, trust me I know this is good for you.

No pienses tanto en ella, o en las cosas que to molestan. Apoco no lo conoces bien y todo esta bien porque es tu amiga.

Take it all in your hands, it's already in your fingertips.

Sincerely,
Your Dreams

I found this yesterday, dated only as 2005

Goodbye to what i know.
Down is the way to go.
Swideswipe your confidence,
and hide the pounding within my chest.
You know everything that i'd do,
Just once I'm gonna surprise you.

It's not my fault
I cant help how i feel
but im gonna fight it kicking and screaming.
You're my downfall
You're burned into my heart
but the pain is something I've been needing.

It's not my fault
I cant help how i feel
but im gonna fight it kicking and screaming.
You're my downfall
You're burned into my heart
but the pain is something I've been needing.

My thoughts are on a thread.
Whether to take the step ahead.
Dont read into my gleaming eye,
for there lies a fervent lie.
That the heart may bleed for you
but telling you is not what I'd do...

Just Say When

(something I'm working on for the record)


I carry you with me like a ghost
The one I had loved the most.
They say it's like that with the first
I tell you it's a curse
You know you should be mine again
When you feel it just say when.

Over years we both moved on
One might say we both evolve.
But like the morning dawn
everything's revolved.
You know in time it'll be again
when you feel it just say when.

I'm the one whos been by your side
while afar and through thick and thin.
Let me be there in the night,
tell me I can win.

I love what was and might have been
when you do just say when.