My latest comment on the KDWB radio Hmong parody controversy.

http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2011/04/14/27490/blue_cross_minnesota_suspends_kdwb_ads_over_hmong_song#comment_68574

This lame and yes offensive music parody attempt basically "died on the vine" before some "activist" discovered it. (Hint! If you want to do a Hmong parody song start with Rod Steward's "Forever Young", not the Eric Clapton song.)

The protests and publicity might get the "activists" some "news time" but judging from "bar talk" conversations I have people, at least over here in Minneapolis hadn't thought about the Hmong lately before this brewhaha. 

The huge numbers of refugee immigrants in the Twin Cities area tends to go "under the radar" but most people sense that this is costing Minnesota a lot of money. This is backed up by a Census report that states that Minnesota has the highest percentage welfare costs in the US. http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/112933714.html

Most people tend to think of this in terms of the "Gary,Indiana" welfare magnet idea but our own "lying eyes" also show the refugee immigrant" part of it. These protests of the lame KDWB parody refocused the public perception of the "burden" on the Hmong. (and also other refugee immigrant groups overrepresented here like the Somalis.)

I grew up near the Hmong concentration on the Eastside of St. Paul I still own my late parents house over there. I have observed the Hmong evolution since the beginning.

First the positive. A lot of young Hmong have nice cars. The "welfare Caddilac is a myth, if for no other reason than vehicle titles are check and poor neighbors tend to report the "relatives" nice wheels if you are on public assistance. 

The young Hmong have the nice "wheels" because they have good jobs. Good for them!
They generally came from small families and grew up in the US. They have the new immigrant drive to succeed. We should embrace and help them.

On the other hand if you drive by the subsidized housing project just East of Phalen Lake there are plenty of very large family "broods" there. An advanced degree social scientist might not be able to discern that this is a recipe for long-term welfare dependency but the average Minnesotan sure can.

So far the the two ad withdraws from KDWB are Health Partners and Blue Cross. This was basically "public image" advertising. The withdrawal of the ads might be construed as political advocacy, which is prohibited under the tax code with non-profits, which Minnesota health insurance agencies have. 

The lame KDWB parody was first off "lame" but it never said it applied to "ALL HMONG". Conceivably these withdraws could be construed by the IRS as "political advocacy". If it got to court it would come out that a disproportional but not all Hmong "fit the parody".

I recall back in the day all the lefties I know celebrated the Larry Flint vs Jerry Falwell satire that was affirmed the US Supreme Court. That satire was not based on factual information of Jerry Falwell's birth. 

Porn parody of TSA body search techniques.

Evan Stone Premiers in His First Directorial Feature TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands is Coming to DVD April 19th!

(Canoga Park, CA)—Four time AVN Male Performer of the Year award winner, Evan Stone, is about to be devirginized for the first time in a very long time. On April 19th, 2011, Evan Stone gets double billing in the latest Hustler Video flick, TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands. Stone is not only one of the lead male characters, but this film marks his directorial debut – behind the camera for the very first time!

“In my several years of adult I have seen the transformation of the airline security first hand,” said director of the film, Evan Stone. “Being chosen at random is a regular event for me. I find it funny that the government is allowed to do things that everyone else is not permitted to do—like pat people down by groping their genitals and feeling them up—lucky bastards!  This is a story I had to tell and Hustler said they loved the idea and that I should direct it firsthand adding comedy to the film and of course my own personal Evan flair.  TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands is my first director role, and acting roll, and funny roll, and friendly pat down roll.”

Filmed as both a comedy and as a spoof on the Transportation Security Administration, TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands, takes place at the airport and shows a behind-the-scenes look at how the TSA might really operate if Evan Stone and Hustler Video were in charge. From full frontal strip searches to enforcing passenger safety in the most intimate of ways, TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands, highlights all of the perks associated with the responsibility of screening the general public and protecting the country.

While TSA Agent Evan Stone has a pre-flight rendezvous with airline stewardess Diamond Kitty, hot and nasty girl-girl action ensues between TSA Agent Loni Evans and potential passenger threat, Briana Banks. Meanwhile, TSA Agent (and porn legend) Randy Spears finds it necessary to strip search airline traveler Tegan Summers, and Samantha Saint unsuccessfully passes an x-ray screening to the pleasure of TSA Agent Bill Bailey, who gets to perform a full cavity search on her. And for those porn viewers who are keen on long, sloppy BJs and a woman who knows what she wants and dictates orders like it’s her job, TSA Agent Amia Miley and unsuspecting passenger Jack Lawrence heat things up for the viewing pleasure of everyone else around, including the security cameras.

“This is a really sexy, silly movie,” said TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands director, Evan Stone. I think Randy and I are really funny together—we both understand physical comedy—and Amia is hilarious. She really got into her character and had fun with it. Plus, all the girls are just smokin’. You don’t get a cast of girls any hotter than this.”

TSA – Your Ass is in Our Hands will be available on DVD April 19th.

To view the trailer, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd53eoB1WxE

Follow us on Twitter! www.twitter.com/HustlerVideo

For everything Hustler, visit www.HustlerVideo.com and www.Hustler.com.

Posted in 2011, divorce by: LUKE IS BACK 
5 Comments

The 03-08-11 International Women's Day was a flop here.

Suppose lefties had an event and no one showed up?  That happened locally yesterday, Tuesday 03-08-11.  The Google banner for the day was customized and clicking on it linked to the 100th anniversary of "International Woman's Day.  They had what looked like a Java webpage that said that the location of local events.  One was a "hands across rivers" events.  Locally, it was the Twin Cities, MN  at the LakeStreet/Marshall Av "peace Bride" which have admittedly peaceful demonstrations that started the day of the local Kathleen Ann Soliah/Sara Jane Olson arrest in June 1999.

Read the Star Tribune story on the event and the comment I posted below.  (hint: If you are having an event, state the date, don't assume people know this.)

http://www.startribune.com/nation/117615308.html

My posted comment:

Google had a banner today on the event and a link to a page on the gathering here and elsewhere. Nowhere on this page did it say what date these events were supposed to happen. I had to Google a bit to determine that it was for March 08, 2011. ...... One site listed for a gathering on Tuesday afternoon was the Lake Street/Marshall "Peace Bridge". ...... At 4PM Tuesday two people with a homemade sign on the "event". After shopping and seeing the "snow mountain" by the State Capital I headed across the bridge at five minutes to five PM. Two more people with a professionally made banner. Four people is not enough to form a "human chain" across the river. ... (hint: It helps to list the date of an event on a webpage announce an event!)

My comment on an article "will pro-football fade away"

The boxing "Palooka" and ban on bare-knuckle boxing goes back a century.  I recently watched the entire 40 hours box set of the 1980's HBO series "1st and Ten" which frequently dealt with debilitating and crippling injuries in pro-football.

The concept of latent brain injuries like these was not discussed in the HBO series but the idea has rapidly caught on.  I've heard it discussed a number of times in commentary during NFL games this year.  The case of
local wrestler Verne Gagne has brought more awareness locally so we are ahead of the curve here.

That said, this seems low on the list of threats to pro football.  Topping the list is the threat of labor unrest and the US Supreme Court ruling against revenue sharing.  http://www.minnpost.com/derekwallbank/2010/05/24/18428/sports_armageddon_supreme_court_issues_landmark_ruling_favoring_vikings_and_individual_teams_over_nfl

I have tried to watch several soccer World Cups including last summers and am convinced that viewing that can cause someone raised on US TV brain damage .  I could write an essay on why soccer won't become mainstream entertainment in the US.  I watched for World Cup entertainment tie ins in the outer ring suburbs where our local "soccer row" started in the 1980's (and the original "soccer kids" are now adults) and couldn't find anything.  Even 1st and Ten" had an episode about pro-soccer and empty stands.  (For starters soccer plays something like 45 minutes without a break which does not allow for commercials or instant replays)

By contrast, during this NFL regular season eighteen of the twenty top rated network (and Fox) TV shows were NFL games.  The ESPN NFL games also did very well.  I heard a figure that the US pro football is an eight billion dollar industry.  That is around $25 per capita in the US.  More than two thirds is from broadcast rights.  Contrast that with gymnastics, which had relatively weak broadcast appeal outside of the Olympics. (the Beijing Olympics were said to be a financial and ratings disaster for NBC.)

Our pro football is also adaptable.  Pro football has already instituted rules and tends to be very adaptable.  Also, our best and brightest tend to be fans and offer suggestions.  People like me also do.  My suggestion for late/hard hits.  Besides the down and yardage penalty have an immediate game time penalty of five or ten minutes clock time for the hitter if refs make the call.  The NFL has a premium "all games" cable/dish option so a "judgement committee" can review the plays and vote on additional team penalties and potential removal of the player from the rest of the game if they deem the charge legitimate.  This can easily be done in five minutes of playtime.  If I can figure that out the NFL can.

The "legislation through litigation" strategy has never been popular in the polls.  The tobacco litigation, is something I consider mostly a "charade" (I quit smoking in the early 1970's)  This involves the withholding of
"informed consent" as a legal claim.  Heck, if an NFL player tapes or Tivos a game and watches it they will hear discussions on the head injury issues.  Union reps and agents should be aware of this and suggest reasonable adaption in the game.

In the early 1970's, before his foray sheltering the Symbionese Liberation Army during the "lost year" Jack Scott" was a very vocal authority on the alleged dangers of college and pro sports.  Most athletes he cited in articles and his book "The Athletic Revolution" were deemed "sour grapes" who didn't make the cut by the public.

The public support of the NFL might, in large term be a "backlash" response to the forces of "political correctness" and the Nanny state.  This won't go away.  Also there is "low hanging fruit" if someone wants to take this on.  One prime example is cable wresting.  Lot's of alleged brain damage there!

For what it's worth I didn't watch much pro-football until the Brett Farve era of the Vikings.  I want our sports gladiators to "live long and prosper".  We need creative adaption, not litigation in pro-football rules.

Powerlineblog.com: WHO'S CRAZY?

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/12/027991.php

This bizarre news story struck me forcefully because the events described took place just a few blocks from my house:

[Rhonda] Arkley's husband, Stuart Arkley, said he was resting in a lower-level bedroom when his wife entered and threw gasoline on him, hurled a lit oil lamp at him and hit him in the head with an exercise weight. ...

The two struggled at the front door as Stuart Arkley attempted to flee and his wife, holding a steak knife, yelled, "I only want to kill myself."

Rhonda Arkley then grabbed a 5-gallon can and spread gasoline around the house, saying, "I don't want anyone else to see this house." He tried to stop her, but she threw more gas on him and lit a piece of paper. He fled out a back window to a neighbor's home and called 911.

When police arrived, they found the home ablaze and Rhonda Arkley in a locked car in the driveway, stabbing her chest with a screwdriver.

Arkley drove off. Eagan police put down stop spikes on Pilot Knob Road near Cliff Road, disabling her vehicle. Officers approached and saw her again stabbing herself in the chest with a screwdriver, using a hammer to drive it in.

The events described are sad, if not tragic. Mrs. Arkley's son had recently died of a heroin overdose. One can only have sympathy for her and her family. It is noteworthy, however, that Mrs. Arkley is not a random Minnesotan--rather, she was the Democratic Party's candidate for the Minnesota Senate in 2002 in District 37, my district. In that race, she received an "A" rating from the National Organization of Women. She is a prominent member of Minnesota's atheist community. And she ison record as believing that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is "nutty."

That last, of course, is an article of faith among liberals. But the contrast is a striking one: Congresswoman Bachmann is, in fact, a woman of great serenity, substantial professional accomplishment, invariably sunny disposition, and almost unnatural energy; she is the mother of five and foster mother of 23 children. This sad anecdote from my neighborhood illustrates a commonplace of sociology: scratch a conservative and you will almost always find a happy person; scratch a liberal and you are likely to encounter a seething cauldron of disappointment and rage.

AOL JOBS: My Unemployed Life: The Forgotten Woman

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/17/my-unemployed-life-the-forgotten-woman/25#comments

MY COMMENT:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/17/my-unemployed-life-the-forgotten-woman/?ncid=webmail

I came at this from a different perspective. After a 33 year career, the last 30 years night shift I retired at the end of 2007. Good solid pension, good medical, paid off house and zero debt. I was am and set pretty well.

The first year after retirement I worked in the construction field and was very busy. A lot was my office and computer skills but I was also a "gopher" with a four cylinder "stick" mini-pickup when gas was $4 per gallon. The extra money was nice and but I also got the meet a lot of people who worked in construction.

After the late 2008 economic crash the construction business totally collapsed. I was involved the the non-union remodeling, garage building ect.

part but across the board new work decreased by 75% or more after that.

My work is down to very near zero. People who have worked a long time in the field need the work and the money and I have my pension. Yes, these people will do almost anything legal for money. I got some going in Craigslist repair and resale but even this is crowded.

Even there, the secret is to specialize, know the specific material and market and act very quickly when some lists something at a good price "just to get rid of it" or when it needs certain repairs. I have the time, money and truck so I can jump on these. Even these are becoming more scarce lately.

http://fifthestate.net

Al Gore: U.S. corn ethanol "was not a good policy"

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE6AL0YT20101122?sp=true

Redrant: I've read that Al Gore is now invested in cellulistic ethanol so this might be a "crazy as a sex poodle" ploy to pump that investment. Greg Lang

* U.S. ethanol consumes about 40 pct corn crop (?)

ATHENS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal. ......

He (Al Gore) explained his own support for the original programme on his presidential ambitions. (READ FULL ARTICLE AT LINK)