Stupid Men in culture

overthinkingit.com

The denigration of men: Ridiculed, abused, exploited - the triumph of feminism has made today's men second class citizens, argues a deliciously provocative new book.  . . . "If ever we do manage to do something well we’re told it’s because our achievements were handed to us on a plate — probably at the expense of women — and not because we’re skilled and work hard. And, naturally, the problems of the world are all our fault.

"In 2013 the Labour MP Diane Abbott made a damning speech about Britain’s men and boys, smugly announcing that masculinity was ‘in crisis’.

"The then shadow Public Health Minister declared that male culture is a ‘celebration of heartlessness; a lack of respect for women’s autonomy and the normalisation of homophobia’." . . .

MESSAGE to large corporations, small businesses and the advertising agencies they employ:   

The Facebook page of the same.

In this Subway commercial you can't miss the childishness of the men and the total disrespect for them in the woman's face. You may recognize the woman's expression from many, many other commercials and programs.

This is a safe space for politicians as well, especially rejected ones:
Hillary Clinton mixes it up with Bernie Sanders, blaming him for her loss
"Blaming sexism didn't work, blaming the Russians didn't work, and blaming Trump "the creep" didn't work.  So now Hillary Clinton is blaming Bernie Sanders for her miserable election rout last November." . . .

What do you mean “we,” lefty

Paul Mirengoff  "Leaders of the National Lawyers Guild in San Francisco have written an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle titled “We are all Antifa.” The truth of the statement depends on the meaning of “we.”

"If the authors mean the National Lawyers Guild, their statement is accurate. This outfit is, and always has been, a far left organization. As Jesse Rigsby wrote in FrontPage Magazine back in 2003:

The National Lawyers Guild embraces every anti-America, anti-capitalist, anti-war, anti-Israel, and “anti-imperialist” cause in vogue among the far left and declares itself “dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system.” If this strikes the reader as a slight hint that the Guild’s underlying ideology is not exactly laissez-faire capitalism, that is because it is not. While the Guild is not officially communist or Marxist, its membership, leadership, past internal struggles, and adopted stances consistently point to an organization whose underlying convictions could best be described as such.

"Antifa is just the latest in a long line of anti-America, anti-capitalist causes the National Lawyers Guild has embraced. It hardly needed to say “we are all Antifa.”

"But if by “we” the Guild means the American public, from which it has always been alienated, then the statement is false. This is clear from recent surveys of likely voters by McLaughlin and Associates, a conservative-leaning organization that polled for the Trump campaign." . . .

Guess Who Didn’t Make It Onto Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed List

Musta been those spike heels that ruined her.

Tony Branco

Daily Caller   "Vanity Fair’s 2017 International Best-Dressed List honors celebrities and politicians who stand out as fashion icons of the year, but one usually well-dressed figure is notably absent.

"Melania Trump, a former model and current first lady of the U.S., did not make the cut, but former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made the list for the third time.

“ 'Heads of state are particularly well represented this year,” a press release for the list said, “with former president and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama (Couples) honored for the third time.”

"Other political leaders include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was honored for the second consecutive year, and French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

"Vanity Fair Magazine has criticized Melania Trump this summer as the first lady has stepped into a more public role at the White House. The magazine dinged the first lady for wearing high heels on the plane to visit Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey August 29." . . .    Hat tip to Moretti Underground

CNN throws in the towel on fake Russian news

Shoah

Monica Showalter  "CNN has dismantled its vaunted Trump-colluded-with-the-Russians investigative unit in a wretched concession to reality.  The only thing the unit found was an empty well for stories, surrounded by a crust of fake news.  The whole caper damaged the network's credibility, and the public just wasn't buying it anymore.  So the whole unit had to go.

"What a shabby end to what the network had put so much stock in in the heady days of trying to oust President Trump just as he had taken office.

"The New York Times attributes the unit's sorry end to confusion in the fact-checking process – which is baloney for anyone who has ever worked in a newsroom – claiming that on one bad story, a lawyer's concerns were ignored.  That's not the way it works in most newsrooms – normally, the lawyer has the loudest voice about what goes to press, given the potential for lawsuits, much to the resentment of the reporters.  Well, the CNN editors ignored it and paid for it with their jobs when it came back to bite them." . . .

Make North Korea a Chinese Protectorate

Bruce Walker  "During the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact nations were Soviet protectorates.  What that means is that nations like East Germany have a degree of nominal independence, but their foreign policy and national security positions had to strictly conform to the interests of the Soviet Union.  Rather than annex the nations of Eastern Europe after the Second World War, the Soviets made these nations protectorates.

"The Soviet Union took responsibility for the actions of these nations.  So despite the fact that there were many theater nuclear weapons with effective delivery systems in these nations, these could never be used without the consent of the Politburo.  NATO never had to worry that a rogue leader of one of these nations would threaten Western Europe because every leader of a Warsaw Pact nation was ultimately under the control of Moscow.

"America ought to take the position that North Korea is a protectorate of China, recognizing China's right to represent North Korea's interests in global affairs and also to recognize that China can take whatever action it deems necessary to restrain North Korea.  That places both responsibility and authority to Beijing.

"What that would mean is that if China occupies all or part of North Korea, or, indeed, if China annexes North Korea, we would accept that decision without negative comment or action.  It would also mean that if North Korea launched any nuclear attack against Seoul or Tokyo, then we would consider that an act by China against South Korea or Japan." . . .

Sounds great, but the way the Soviets did it was by overrunning it's protectorate militarily in 1945. Would the Chinese risk nuclear with North Korea to do that?

North Korea Just Showed the World Its True Colors   . . . "Other nations, particularly those in the region, must be told of our intentions and efforts. Events recently, and over the years since the emergence of North Korea’s nuclear capability, show that no other nations can or will help. Therefore, we are acting unilaterally. This is just business, nothing personal. Interestingly enough, China may mind a lot less than we think. Kim’s latest is an affront to Xi Jinping, as well, as he heads into the nineteenth party congress."

Bill de Blasio goes full Communist, argues against private property, says state should determine who lives where

Joe Newby   "In an interview published Monday at NY Mag, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio went full Communist, arguing against private property rights while saying the state should decide who gets to live in what buildings.

“ 'In 2013, you ran on reducing income inequality. Where has it been hardest to make progress? Wages, housing, schools?” Chris Smith asked.

“ 'What’s been hardest is the way our legal system is structured to favor private property,” de Blasio said. “I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be.”

"Wait a second — de Blasio thinks residents of New York want the city to decide who gets to live in what buildings?  No wonder we like to refer to him as “Comrade” de Blasio.  But there’s more.

“ 'I think there’s a socialistic impulse, which I hear every day, in every kind of community, that they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs,” he added, apparently drawing from the Communist maxim of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

"He then admitted his desire for central planning: “And I would, too. Unfortunately, what stands in the way of that is hundreds of years of history that have elevated property rights and wealth to the point that that’s the reality that calls the tune on a lot of development.' ” . . .

Male Bashing on TV since 2003 and way beyond

Pop Matters  "Warning for our male readers: The following article contains big words and complex sentences. It might be a good idea to have a woman nearby to explain it to you.

"It’s been a hard day. Your assistant at work is out with the flu and there is another deadline fast approaching. Your wife is at a business conference, so you have to pick up your son at daycare, make dinner, clean the kitchen, do a load of laundry, and get Junior to bed before you can settle down on the sofa with those reports you still need to go over.

"Perhaps a little comedy will make the work more bearable, you think, so you turn on CBS’s Monday night comedies: King of Queens, Yes, Dear, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Still Standing. Over the next two hours, you see four male lead characters who are nothing like you. These men are selfish and lazy, inconsiderate husbands and poor parents.

"And the commercials in between aren’t any better. Among them: A feminine hygiene ad: Two women are traveling down a lovely country road, laughing and having a great time. But wait. One of them needs to check the freshness of her mini-pad and, apparently, the next rest area is six states away. A woman’s voice-over interjects, “It’s obvious that the interstate system was designed by men.”

"A digital camera ad: A young husband walks through a grocery store, trying to match photos in his hand with items on the shelves. Cut to his wife in the kitchen, snapping digital pictures of all the items in the pantry so that hubby won’t screw up the shopping." . . .

Why are men on TV always such fools?

Last night while watching a show that my wife and I enjoy, "Garage Sale Mysteries" on Hallmark, I had to endure the older sister treating her brother and father with condescension as they made plans for their man cave. Shelves the men could not assemble, she put together in minutes; they called it a man-cave, but she turned it into a woman-cave with feminine touches, all to show us that men must never be seen as having true masculinity. I still enjoy the wholesomeness of the series and coming from such a source it seems even harder to take. The Tunnel Dweller.

rid·i·cule:  the subjection of someone or something to contemptuous and dismissive     From Oxford dictionaries

UK Telegraph

Bumbling, childlike and the butt of endless jokes, why are men constantly portrayed as idiots on television, asks Dominic Utton

. . . "Sometimes the men are sweet, well-meaning idiots (think Homer Simpson, Jack Duckworth, Tim from The Office); sometimes they’re pig-headed, blundering idiots (the Mitchell brothers, Frank in Shameless, Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm); sometimes they’re sex-mad idiots (Charlie in Two and a Half Men, Joey in Friends) and sometimes they’re just idiots (the guy from Outnumbered). Either way, idiots is what they are." . . .

. . . "Now imagine these adverts with roles reversed – where a mother is being ridiculed by her husband and ignored by her children. Where a nation is being encouraged to laugh at the ridiculous, pathetic woman. You can’t, can you? Of course not – because such an ad would never be made. It would be outrageously sexist." . . .

Lifestyles of the rich and tyrannical in Pyongyang

Circle every overweight person in this photo.

Thomas Lifson   "The U.K. Daily Mail claims to have exclusive access to "figures revealed exclusively to MailOnline" detailing North Korean expenditures on Kim Jong-un's lifestyle, funded by counterfeiting, hacking, and other criminal enterprises carried on covertly by the state.

While North Korea is meant to be shackled by crippling sanctions, its dictator still manages to fund a nuclear programme and his own lavish lifestyle. 

Kim Jong-un supposedly does this by hacking banks, selling endangered species, Viagra and crystal meth as well as through a number of other illicit methods.  

The illegal dealings could reportedly be bringing the isolated country's leader as much as a whopping billion dollars a year while the nation remains one of just 34 in the world relying on UN handouts to feed its people. 

Hundreds of millions are reportedly dragged into Pyongyang by deals involving selling weapons and counterfeit banknotes, according to CNN. ...

The illicit money-making scheme is reportedly run by a covert department called the Central Committee Bureau 39 of the Korean Workers' Party, which is more commonly known by its code name Room 39, according to the Express.  . . . 

Read also: Fat Kim threatens Trump (again)

. . . If wisdom escapes the Chinese communists, then as the icing on the cake, they will get a united Korea at their side.  Capitalistic.  And nuclear.

(photo added by TD) 

Teachers Behind Violent Marxist Antifa Groups Are Growing in Power

S. Noble

"Antifa Protester Yvette Felarca Says Violence Against The Far-Right Is ‘Not A Crime’ http://trib.al/WyMO2ka"

 

"On Sunday, we published an article about the Antifa chapters professors are forming and networking on college campuses throughout the nation. It’s not only college professors, but also the K-12 teachers who are behind the violent communist group BAMN in Berkeley and other groups. They are bringing their radical indoctrination into the classroom and they are running their radical communists and anarchists for positions in the National Education Association.

"BAMN is one group active within both the National Education Association — the nation’s largest teacher’s union — as well as with local and regional teacher’s unions in Michigan and California, The Daily Caller reported.

"Last year, 17 different BAMN members ran for elected positions on the Detroit Federation of Teachers, according to a newsletter sent out by the DFT. BAMN also ran five candidates for different national leadership positions with the NEA in 2017.

"The FBI and DHS told Barack Obama in April, 2016 that these groups are committing “domestic terrorist violence.” They are growing and no one is stopping them so far.

"BAMN or By Any Means Necessary, an Antifa franchise, was behind the Berkeley, Sacramento and other riots. Dozens of public school teachers are among its members, including its most prominent leaders." . . .

Putin on US diplomatic row: What do you expect from people who mix up Austria and Australia?

Well, it is obvious that if even I can see such silliness in American leadership, the people who vote them into office and the press who report on it all, that other nations, including our adversaries see the US in the same light. The Tunnel Dweller

Hot Air: Putin On US Diplomatic Row: What Do You Expect From People Who Mix Up Austria And Australia?

"Will Vladimir Putin escalate the diplomatic tit-for-tat between Russia and the US? Maybe, maybe not, the Russian president told reporters in China, but he’s angry enough to lash out at the governing class in the United States over it. Putin acknowledged the American right to demand parity in facilities as well as personnel after Putin ordered reductions in both for US missions in Russia. However, he complained that it was done in “a clearly boorish manner,” and then suggested that one can’t expect much more than that from ignorant American hicks:

“That the Americans reduced the number of our diplomatic facilities – this is their right,” Putin told a news conference in the Chinese city of Xiamen, where he was attending a summit of major emerging economies.

“The only thing is that it was done in such a clearly boorish manner. That does not reflect well on our American partners. But it’s difficult to conduct a dialogue with people who confuse Austria and Australia. Nothing can be done about it. Probably such is the level of political culture of a certain part of the U.S. establishment.”

. . .  "Despite his derision at America’s political class, the main reason Putin’s complaining rather than acting is because the US is answering his provocations now rather than ignoring them."

One case in point:

Trump Rescues Women and Minorities from Obama Era Racism

By Kevin Jackson atThe Blacksphere  (Emphases in the original)

"No matter what Obama did, the Left rejoiced."

"Obama extolled the virtues of an organization that called blacks human weeds and kills black babies at almost 300 percent the black population. Next, he eulogized a Klansman.

Can you imagine how Donald Trump would be perceived if he spoke on behalf of an organization that showed abject disdain for blacks, and whose stated purpose was to eradicate “human weeds”? Or what if Trump eulogized a Klansman? Would the world look away so readily as they have with Obama?

"And what of Obama’s policies? Forget that white America suffered, as they could absorb the pain. But what of blacks? Rampant unemployment, crime, and the worst schools in the country. If President Trump had Obama’s record, the Left would swear that he was intentionally hurting blacks.

"Does anybody think President Trump would be allowed to brag about 16 million more people being on welfare? Or would the Left allow him the luxury of an unemployment figure that depended on people who quit looking for jobs?

"The Left readily dismisses Obama’s record, saying “Don’t you know the man is BLACK!” . . .