Like People are Actually Offended...

The other day at work my manager and another employee were discussing the 3 hour free coffee promotion at Biggby's. During the discussion my manager noted that he thinks the name change from Beaner's to Biggby's is kind of dumb and he doubts anyone was really offended. I, so badly, wanted to ask the Mexican cleaning guy Miguel, who was standing in the same room as us if he agreed, but I figured that wouldn't be very wise. I've heard other people express these same ideas, but, apparently, according to the news story I linked to people did take notice. In fact, a couple friends who moved to Michigan a year ago were shocked that the name of a popular coffee chain was a derogatory term for Hispanic Americans.

My question is why do we caucasians have such crappy attitudes when other people feel offended by something? Shouldn't we respect other culture's feelings on such matters? Who are we to judge what other people are offended at? I understand that some groups take things too far, but I really don't believe this is one of those instances. Don't get me wrong I liked the name "Beaner's" very much, and I'll probably continue to call it that. The name Biggby-- don't ask me why, it's probably something from my childhood-- make's me think of a large, dumb cartoon dog Maybe they should have compromised and changed their logo to a large coffee bean to drive the meaning home.

But, in the end, shouldn't we consider this progress? Not that long ago in the 50's the government actually had a deportation program called, "Operation Wetback." We thought nothing about throwing around racially disparaging remarks. I'm not saying we should be politically correct, but historically we (caucasians) have done a lot of evil to other people in this country, and the least we can do is respect a racially oppressed people's right to be offended.

Poverty in Michigan

In keeping with the topic of poverty, Michigan Radio political correspondent Jack Lessenberry did an essay on poverty in Michigan.

When discussing whether the poor can actually be helped Lessenberry writes: "I think some of that came from experiences people had during the War on Poverty. Some of the starry-eyed were disillusioned when many of the poor turned out not to have good work habits. They also tended to be lacking in social skills. Helping them proved to be harder than just finding them a job interview.
Well, guess what. Most really important things aren’t easy to do. If they were, someone would have done them already. "

More importantly, he writes about children born into poverty saying: "But there are more than half a million children in this state who are poor through no fault of their own. If we don’t do what it takes to help them, we aren’t even a good, let alone great, society."

Thoughts?

Poverty Actually Causes Neurological Damage??!

It appears that people aren't poor just because they're lazy. Who'd a thunk it?

Thanks Ryan.

Just Set your Prejudices Aside for 15 Minutes and Watch

I eat meat. I eat chicken, veal, lamb, pork, cow and fish. I have no intention of becoming a vegetarian any time soon. That said, what do I do after watching a video like this? Yup, it's narrated by Alec Baldwin the big, scary, LIBERAL actor who should just act rather than try to force his political views on us good ol' God-fearing Midwestern folk. It also mentions the evil, ultra-liberal group PETA who is, in fact, so incredibly liberal they are incapable of speaking one truth. So with that, I would urge all of my fellow carnivores who consider themselves compassionate, and even more importantly claim to follow Jesus, who drop by my blog to watch this video. What you do with it is your business; I'm not sure how I'll respond, but I think it's important to be informed.

Stop Hurting America!

In '04 Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and kicked Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala in the balls-- well not really-- but what he did was even better then that. If you missed his appearance you should check it out because I think the disdain he exhibits is manifesting itself in the huge youth turnout for Obama and in the imminent nomination of McCain.

Rush Limbaugh and company have been coming unglued over McCain, and I admit that part of me enjoys listening to these meltdowns. The reason Rush hates McCain is because he sees McCain as a trojan horse who will, "let the enemy in" because what Limbaugh, and people like Tom DeLay, want is a Republican-controlled country; not a democracy. I think that the country is sick of the us-versus-them politics that has enveloped the last eight years. I think that, especially, college-educated young people and independents are looking for leaders who will work with those in the other party and champion what's best for the country and the rest of the world, and not Republican or Democratic dogma. The Stewart-Crossfire appearance struck me because for far too long we've had shows like Crossfire and Hannity and Colmes perpetuating divisiveness and this either-or, liberal versus conservative garbage.

A McCain-Obama contest would be good for America, and elevate the political discourse. And a McCain or Obama presidency would, hopefully, bring together some of the good things from both parties.