Posts Tagged → leftist
December 26th, 2014
A wonderful evening stroll down Fifth Avenue reveals that among the world’s top fashion professionals, natural fur has made a 100% comeback.
Clothing that even I recognize and admire as stunningly beautiful is covered, trimmed, made of, and surrounded by natural furs from many species of animals.
Recall that animal fur was denigrated as cruelly gotten, and bored activists would scream at people wearing fur, sometimes throwing red dye on them. The shallow activists never addressed how their leather shoes and belts and purses and car seats squared up with their public opposition to people wearing other sorts of animal skins.
If hypocrisy is a hallmark of screechy activists, fur was the best example.
Fur is, after all, natural, biodegradable, renewable, and under modern wildlife laws, sustainable. Those are all rare qualities in a world filled with cheap plastic junk manufactured in an enormous prison camp called China.
The luxurious furs I looked at represented incredible skill. From the trappers who artfully snared the critters without damaging the pelt, to the tanners who carefully turned them into soft leather capable of being worked, to the cutters and seamstresses who took the supple leather (with the hair on, like a cow hide) and turned them into gorgeous clothes, throws, and warm accoutrements, the entire process is a long chain of long-enduring skills and appreciation of natural beauty and utility.
If fur was long politically incorrect, but now it is acceptable among the PC elites who run the fashion industry, what does this say about the philosophical leanings of the individuals behind this surge? One cannot help but think that the many gay men in the fashion industry, once emancipated in general society, would eventually hew to a more pragmatic view of life and politics.
After all, once you own a home and work for people willing to spend thousands of dollars on a single garment, you really do have a stake in the capitalist enterprise.
Perhaps the fur on display at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, and other stores I looked at is a social statement by a bunch of quiet pragmatists, who have also had it with the faux anger and the overwrought hostility and the ubiquitous unhappiness that characterize Leftist politics.
Well done, chums.
And as a pretty bad but committed trapper myself, thank you.
December 24th, 2013
If the Internet and related social media are supposed to increase democracy and free speech, consider that YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter all repeatedly demonstrate a shared political agenda by censoring and obliterating political, social, and religious views contrary to those held by the owners of these media giants.
Twitter blocked tweets that include istandwithphil.com, an online support effort for the Duck Dynasty guy railroaded by anti-Christian bigots. Never mind that istandwithphil.com says only that a person stands with Phil, and supports his right to free speech without being punished. Nothing too volatile there. Unless you are opposed to what Phil stands for: Traditional Christianity, traditional Judaism, the Bible.
Facebook is notorious for instantly eradicating Facebook pages of conservative commentators, reporters, and politicians. Arab reporter Abu Toameh reports unseemly facts about the Palestinian Authority that the mainstream media does not want people to know. Violence and corruption as political tools, crushing of dissent, etc., all not of interest to Facebook’s owner, so – Bing – the pages disappear.
YouTube is once again blocking Palestinian Media Watch from airing the English translation of an official Palestinian Authority video in Arabic. YouTube claims that this video foments violence and prejudice. But YouTube is allowing the actual official PA video to stay up on its YouTube channel…as if promoting violence and racism is OK in Arabic, but it’s not OK when it is translated into English so Westerners can see for themselves how evil the PA is.
And don’t get started on the political assignations of Google, infamous for their constant manipulation of facts, data, and news, which Google’s owners purposefully skew in order to bury facts they do not like and to promote ideas they support.
Which is to say, first, do not trust social media sources to champion or protect your free speech rights. Social media sources like YouTube, Twitter, Google, and Facebook are largely owned and run by political Leftists who take every opportunity to crush dissent and hide information not supportive of their political views or their favored politicians (Obama). The sooner you recognize that, the more effective you will be.
Second, don’t just complain about this obvious favoritism and manipulation; do something about it. What can citizens with ideas different than the owners of social media firms do? Start their own channels, their own websites, their own information feeds. For that matter, citizens can start their own TV shows (support Glenn Beck’s TV show), start their own theatre companies, their own humor shows (wouldn’t it be fun to watch real actors parody SNL actors Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin?), or their own faux news shows (an alternative to Jon Stewart). Heck, you can hand out your own printed newsletter in your neighborhood, and take to task whatever propaganda has been lately emitted by your local news establishment.
The point is, citizens do not have to take this manipulation lying down. It is just one more facet in the war for America. Recognize the battlefield you are on, and fight to win.
August 15th, 2013
http://www.midtownscholar.com/home/billayersfeb5th.pdf
You don’t see that any group asked Midtown Scholar to host domestic terrorist Bill Ayers in this announcement.
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2010/01/why_i_invited_bill_ayers_to_co.html
Papenfuse says he invited domestic terrorist Bill Ayers because we cannot improve our school system until we encourage students to become poets, artists and naysayers rather than graduates qualified to work for business.
Anybody but this guy for mayor.