Lack of social interaction fostered this post

[vicarz]

I don't care about anyone's birthday. I keep wanting to post how annoying birthday posts are, but every day seems to be someone's birthday and I don't want to offend anyone specific. If it happens to be someone's birthday today - this is not a passive-aggressive post to you.

I saw the headline Bush calls Georgia 'beacon of liberty' and looked because I wanted to see what right-wing ass-backwards policy he was pushing today. The country...not the state. Oops. Oh yeah, the rest of the world. Color me reactionary.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20050510/ts_nm/georgia_bush_dc

I see the headline American nabbed with 500 photos of naked Thai boys and the first thing in my mind is "Is that illegal? If so, why? Don't Thai boys run around naked anyway? Thought crime? Isn't the internet filled with gratuitous shots of boobies from nude beaches? If he has a problem, is it helping through catharsis or hurting through encouraging his behavior? Is the possession illegal in and of itself, like a strict liability crime? If so, is it illegal in Thailand where you can probably see naked boys at the beach? Why - because it would be illegal to possess them in Chicago? Does that making going to the beach in Thailand illegal, or is it just illegal if you're a boy-loving pedophile?" This law crap is annoying - turns out the guy is a molester, but my questions amuse me and show my poor comprehension of mens/actus rea.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=7&u=/nm/20050510/ts_nm/crime_thailand_dc

I have always had the impression that talking about "cake" was a subtle way of making fun of the fact that fat people to go midnight. Is this assumption incorrect? I don't mean for you, or for some people, it seems to me that most people (a generality here) use the term as a closet way of fat-bashing. I'm thinking if this is the case, I'm going to invent a new term for insulting people while not admitting you're insulting classes of people: "You really put the R in cake," soon to be followed by "Having your cake and eating it too," both referring to insulting people while pretending that you're not (or switching bases depending on the audience).

Last night I finally got fed up with WETA, who always seems to be talking when I want relaxing classical music. I started figuring out how to change stations on the radio to switch over to WGMS, which I haven't done in months or years. I got a blast of latino music from a pre-programmed hfs, funny that. Then I bumped into 955 and 939...with kys playing go-go. I fucking love go-go. No, I'm not down, I'm not going to go to a go-go show, I'm not going to blast it out of my Escalade, nor do I think that liking black music makes me cool. I just like go-go. Unfortunately, trying to compare common-law to the modal penal code for various states of culpability and circumstance (cross-referencing phantoms like justice) wasn't working to that music. Percussion rules.

The R in nigga. I love...love the word nigga. It gives me a hard-on. That's how you can tell I'm white - I really want to say nigga. Or nigger. I can do this with select friends, but I want to be able to say it more - I want a license. I want a license to use racial slurs. Not a license to ill, a license to "N."
"Hey, wuzzup niggas!" What did that white boy say?
"It's ok! I have a license." (whips out license to say nig)
1. It's a forbidden word. It's not appropriate for me to say. I can say fag, but it's not as fun because I'm allowed to say fag. It's easy to say fag - you wanna be allowed to use the word, you suck a little dick or munch a little rug and BAM you can use gay slurs. So?
2. Nobody gives a shit about the word honkey, it's not charged. It doesn't have a history and present of discrimination and violence. The N word is far more charged, far more select. You can't do anything - you're either born able to use the word or not.
Oh, that shiny...candy-like little racial slur. Oh the things I could do with you! If I got my "license to say N," I'd have it laminated and hang it around my neck. I'd wear it everywhere, to work, to the clubs, down the street in the daytime! I'd jump on others for trying to use the word. I'd be offended and make a scene. That would be awesome! Of course, if I was allowed to say it then the urge would go away and I'd want something else forbidden, but no need to think about that now.

Today is my con 2 exam. My neck and back are sore as hell from the long tour in front of the cpu. I haven't been to the gym since Sat. Today I'll go running for a short time, study more but at a relaxed pace. I may shop or act domestic. I may complain that the internet fails to entertain me, but I am avoiding doing anything fun because I want my mind relatively devoid of thought outside of legal issues. This way, when I do poorly again I will be so upset that I tried so hard and still couldn't win, I'll be miserable and write a bunch of really interesting or disturbing ranty stuff to further isolate me from my friends. That'll be so cool.

Comments

[reverend-heresy.livejournal.com]

no...the word nigga is never cool. ever.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

You have the right to say that, I don't. I just giggle at Chappell and my friends, but then my friends are often accused of being more Benetton than black. It's a tough subject area - which of course makes it absolutely magnetic.

[entropicalia.livejournal.com]

I honestly believe that if people would step back and look at what a ludicrous notion all racism is in the first place and make a joke out of it instead of being so sensitive, the racists would lose their power.

Shit, I throw racial slurs around like I'm in the KKK and the Black Panthers for that very reason. I mean, granted, I'm a mutt and when playing Guess-The-Race no one ever gets it right so I have a little simpler time getting away with it, but I think the real reason no one gets angry is because they can see my true stance on the issue shining brightly through the flippancy.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

The point being you're not black. The point might be missed on you entirely.

Who are these racists you're talking about? You think the word gives power? I think you're way off the mark and not thinking anything through, or just hopelessly naive.

[entropicalia.livejournal.com]

I'm Creole - that's black and French, and I embrace both sides of my heritage. The word has never offended me in the least.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Creole isn't black. I'm not saying there isn't some mixed in, I'm not saying when I call myself white that I don't have some black mixed in - but how much? I don't look black. You could have all white relaties, but if you look black you are treated black. Unless you experience the state of appearing black in this country I don't find that your opinion is quite valid. To equate your appearance with black, and to take your feelings and interpretations as how things should be (not what you say, but the message I interpret) doesn't seem right. You're not being pulled over, you don't get eyed by clerks or followed by security, you don't have to question anyone's motives at a job interview. You don't look like the suspect from SE-DC or PG County on the news today to every white person watchign the news.

It's just different, I think.

I agree with you about throwing racial slurs around, and I love them for friendly joke fodder as I point out in this post (in my own convoluted way). I just reserve them for limited in-house use. Similarly, I don't throw the word fag around in public for fear of actually insulting someone gay, but with my friends it's a very common frinedly term - usually synonymous with "one of us" or "family."

[entropicalia.livejournal.com]

Actually, let me expound on that--I'm offended not by words but by intent. Someone could call me a word they made up, and if I can tell the intent is malicious, that there's hate behind that word, I'll be offended.

Throwing around racial slurs as a joke, so long as it's obvious that you're not using the words to hurt or hate, has never bothered me. That's not naive. In fact, I think it's rather mature.

[blimpcaptain.livejournal.com]

Bingo. Intent is the key. Every -ism that isn't preceded by the word "class" is just a clever distraction from the greatest social schism goin'. Those who think otherwise are way off the mark and not thinking anything through, or just hopelessly naive. ;-)