a vacation said the bum

the bum is going on vacation...not a real vacation though. real vacations are reserved for those who are not bums (or at least they should be). the bum is taking a vacation from this place until next thursday. the bum has to do some studying for some exams in hopes that he one day he won't be a bum. that day isn't coming anytime soon but the bum hopes it is coming sometime in his future.

so the bitchfest will be on hiatus for a week. return if you want. the bum really doesn't care either way.*



*the bum will care if and only if you give the bum a million dollars no strings attached. the bum can always find time to care when the bum is given guilt-free money.

who cares what kofi annan did asked the bum

certainly someone cares but as americans, especially those who voted for bush, we cannot ask for kofi annan to step down over his indiscretion about the oil for food program. the bum is replying to a post done by some joker who is filling in for mr. speckles today.

is kofi annan wrong for what he did? yes. was there nepotism in play here? yes. should he be fired? yes but the u.s. certainly isn't in any position to say so. annan let some things slide when it came to his son's dealings w/ the organization that [kofi] annan works for but what is the difference between that and george w. bush letting his cabinet members slide for atrocities that happened under his watch? have we forgotten the about prisoner abuse scandal in iraq and in cuba? rumsfield said he offered his resignation but bush refused to accept it. so why should bush or his people be asking for and/or accepting annan's resignation? what about halliburton, a company currently under investigation by the sec, getting contracts in iraq seemingly before anyone else? no one seems to see any problem with that even though vice president dick cheney continues to have ties to the company. nope no one does, but now everyone has found their morality and wants annan to step down.

hypocrites.

what annan did was wrong and the bum think he should step down but the bum is in no position to ask for his resignation simply because the bum is a citizen of a nation that forgave its leader, george w. bush, for his mistakes and the mistakes of the people below him by [re]electing him in 2004. what annan did was wrong but no different from what has been committed in this country by our 'leaders.' all the bum is saying is, equal crimes, indiscretions, or whatever you want to call this situation, deserve equal treatment.

politics are a joke said the bum

the bum was reading a particular mr. speckles's blog entry for today and couldn't help chuckling to himself and wonder where did this country go wrong when it came to politics. today it seems like national level politics is not that much different from middle school politics. its all about being popular and people bickering over the littlest things.

in this particular blog entry, mr. speckles discusses how republicans would be happy to see a rino leave its ranks and the bum wonders why this is even an issue to the republicans, democrats, or anyone. the issues shouldn't be if there is a democrat or republican majority or how many seats each party will have but rather if senator chafee decides not to run again, who would be a likely opponent or replacement, why each candidate would be a good or poor choice. mr. speckles rumors that patrick kennedy is considering to running for this possibly vacated seat and the bum had to shake his head and wonder what the fuck? mr. speckles said in not so many words, that patrick is a kennedy and it should carry some weight in helping him getting elected. the bum acknowledges that but is disappointed that mr. speckles brought this up before other more relevant reasons why he should/could get elected. the bum doesn't fault mr. speckles for his asinine argument because he hears the same rhetoric everyday from the common idiot to the modern day "intellectual." name power certainly does mean something but when considering who to vote for or why a person might win, the bum feels its a character flaw to bring up the fact that the individual is famous first instead of bringing up the candidate's stances on particular issues or his (political) history first.

the most recent example of this idiocy that the bum can think of is the california election a year or so ago. there is no way arnold schwarzenegger should have been elected to the governor's seat in california. the bum must admit, that he thought california was a joke before this fiasco but after this how could anyone disagree with him? schwarzenegger had never really been involved with politics and didn't make his views known until only months before the election. yes, he was involved w/ bush 40 and bush 42 but that was along the lines of physical fitness but is that really being political or letting your views be known? the fact of the matter is, he was elected mainly because of his name power, not his views, not his history, but that he was an overrated actor that people enjoyed watching. the bum finds this sad. the bum is not necessarily saying that he wasn't the best candidate but he wasn't voted into office for the right reasons.

that brings the bum back to his original argument. the bum is tired of hearing people debating about the minute issues when it comes to politics. the bum understands that senate seats and congressional seats have an impact, and that name recognition means something, but its not what should be the primary focus of a political debate. what happened to the issues of the day being the most important aspect of government?

the bum by no means thinks he is smarter than anyone else but sometimes he wonders if he should rethink if he is.

again nothing said the bum

there doesn't seem to be any current events that tickles the bum's interest at the moment and the bum hasn't read any recent blog postings that are interseting enough to rip off, so the bum is going to revisit a topic he loves to bitch and moan about: his life.

the bum has decided to get a second job. no, not a new job to replace his current job but an additional job. hopefully it will be full time and last the duration of the summer. the bum's summer schedule would look something like this if he gets the night job that he wants:

Monday - Friday:
11pm - 7am: work
8am - 12pm: sleep
1pm - 9pm: work
9:30pm - 10:30pm: workout

Saturday:
8:30am - 2pm - class

Sunday:
study ass off

the bum is going to have a horrible summer but sees two positives. the first is it will remind the bum of the bad life decisions that he made and that he should never repeat them again. and the second, the bum will be plenty bitchy so he should have plenty postings.


bah!

there is more to be said on legacies said the bum

keeping with his new idea, the bum has decided to comment on mr. speckles recent posts on legacies here instead of at his site. before delving into the topic, the bum would like to commend mr. speckles and his genius friend david for their thoughtful and eloquent responses. the bum would also like to inform you that in classic bum fashion his response won't be as eloquent and is questionable if its even thoughtful...but the bum doesn't care so you shouldn't either.

genius david believes that socioeconomic background should be ignored when reviewing a college applicant's application. while the bum would like to agree with him he cannot because he lives in the real world. socioeconomic factors have a great effect on the current situation of the applicant and shoudl be considered when a review board reviews the applicant's application. the individual who comes from a low income neighborhood isn't afforded the same opportunities academically that someone who comes from a high income neighborhood. this could have an effect on the applicant's standardized scores and even grades in school (remember teachers, regardless of where they are teaching, are teaching the same curriculum if they are located in the same state). as a result the applicant from a low income neighborhood might not perform as well as the applicant from the high income neighborhood. does that mean students from a lower income bracket should be given more "breaks" than the student who is from the high income neighborhood? no. all it means is that this situation needs to be taken into consideration.

could the student have performed as well as the high income student if he wasn't of low income? this is a hypothetical but so is the question all admission officers ask about each applicant - will that applicant perform well at their institution? if we can pose that question why can't be pose one more? does this punish students from a higher income bracket? absolutely not, it just gives more consideration to those of a lower one.

random comment: the bum would also like to look at something beyond test scores - courses offered in schools, specifically college level courses. college level and advanced courses are more readily available in higher income bracket school districts than those of lower income bracket school districts. the bum would like to pose the question - is it fair to deny the students of lower income schools who performed well but didn't take any college level courses, simply because they were not available, entrance into a top notch university? here is the answer - no. yet another reason why socioeconomic background should be considered when reviewing an applicant's application.

legacy preferences and affirmative action are different said the bum

mr. speckles wrote about affirmative action and legacies and basically explained why each one exists.* personally, the bum isn't fine with either but does see the necessity for affirmative action but not for legacies.

first the bum would like to inform people about who 'benefits' from affirmative action. sadly, most people (probably more white people than any other racial group) do not know its not just minorities who benefit but so do white women. in fact, white women are the biggest beneficiaries. sorry to disappoint you white folks, but your people benefit too so stop saying affirmative action is racist because its not. a few civil right statutes aren't going to change centuries of oppression and/or break down a well established caste system.

anyway, the bum sees no need for legacies. in mr. speckles piece he states the argument that the the children of alumni are likely to succeed in the environment that their parents succeeded in. the bum understands the argument. if the parent was successful and recognized that they were successful, they would probably instill in their children the same values that they were taught, better preparing their children to succeed in the same environment that they too succeeded in. still though, the bum does not sees a need for legacies.

if these children are given the skills to succeed in the environment that their parents succeed in why should they need the legacy? they should be able to get in on their own merits. also, the bum is not even sure if their parents success means they are likely to succeed too. the bum assumes colleges and universities have evolved over time so the environment might be different even though the location is the same. who is to say that the child or even the parent would succeed in this new environment? the fact of the matter is legacies are no guarantee of success, they are just a backdoor available to a select few.

affirmative action is quite different. as mr. speckles more or less said, affirmative action take into account the intangibles. a student who goes to an underfunded school district and gets a 1200 on his/her SATs is probably as good of a student (when only looking at SAT score) as a student who went to a top notch school and scored a 1350. imagine if the student from the underfunded school was in the same school district as the 1350 student, is it unreasonable to believe s/he could get that score or better? no need to think about it because the answer is yes. and you know what, that's pretty much what affirmative action does...it takes into account issues other than gpa and test scores and poses the question - if all things were equal could the underrepresented applicant do as well as the well represented applicant? despite what many people would like to believe, affirmative action isn't charity. just because you are black, latino, or a woman, it doesn't mean you are guaranteed entrance into your favorite school or get that job that you want. there is a lot of hard work that must be done and quite a bit of success to achieve first.


*the bum would like it to be known mr. speckles has not endorsed or condemned either legacies or affirmative action. the bum just ripped off his topic idea in typical bum fashion.

updates will be more consistent said the bum

the bum hasn't been complaining on a regular basis and its a bit of a concern. don't worry though, the bum has plenty of bitching left in him and has a great idea for the days when his creative juices are running low. he is just going to use his space to respond to other blogs. call it a lack of creativity, call it distasteful, but the bum calls it a friggin' sweet idea.

suck it.

politicians are so funny said the bum

the bum was listening to the car radio of the person who hired him to clean his winshield and heard quite a funny conversation. some congressman was on wfan 660 discussing the steroid hearings and chris 'mad dog' russo made a remarkable statement. mr. russo said something along the lines that regardless what is going on in baseball and other professional sports, its ultimately up to the parents responsibility to make sure their kids aren't taking steroids or any other drugs. that you can't solely blame an athlete if a kid starts taking steroids. the congressman then replied , sure you could and the bum was in amazement and so was chris russo who now became the mad dog. he was blown away by how the congressman could argue that somehow its the player's fault, and mostly the player's fault, that a kid takes steroids. since the kid worships the athlete the athlete must take responsibility.

lol.

what happened to some personal responsibility in this country? the bum takes responsibility for him being a bum yet others can't accept blame for when they are clearly at fault. on this personal issue - who is at fault, not the athlete, but the kid and his parents. his parents should take some responsibility for not getting through to the kid. i mean when your kid is responding more to a person he/she hasn't even met more than their own parent, there is a problem, and the problem is your parenting skill. stop passing the buck folks, and looking to society to blame your problems on. 99% of the time the cause of your problems is staring at directly at you in the mirror.

listening to all job offers said the bum

the bum would like to say he is open to any job offers. the bum's only requirement is that it pays minimum $35,000 and the hours don't overlap two shifts (i.e. 1pm - 10pm isn't going to work). the bum has no preferences except financial (so if you need a janitor - the bum is your man). if you are offering just leave a comment with where the bum can email you his resume or just email the bum directly. his information can be found in his profile.

help make this bum a less bitter bum.

What to do asked the bum

the summer is approaching quickly and the bum isn't exactly sure what to do. the bum has narrowed it down to dedicating his summer to one of two things. the first is to take summer classes. the bum enjoys school and is always excited about taking more courses (and of course it will put him one step closer to realizing his dream of attaining his GED). the second option is picking up a second job and looking for a new job. the bum has made no secret that he cannot stand his job and instead of bitching about it on a daily basis the bum thinks maybe he should look for a new job. it seems like a simple decision but really its not.

while going to school would bring joy to the bum it is quite expensive (at least for the bum). the bum doesn't like his job but appreaciates the perks of the job: a regular paycheck and benefits...full benefits. it might be a bad financial decision (much like the bum's plan of paying his taxes by winning a ncaa money pool - doh!). then again, after the bum gets his GED he did plan on quitting anyway but that is still at least two years away.

the bum has much thinking to do this week.

government oversteps its bounds sometimes said the bum

there are two issues the United States government has decided to intervene in that and the bum doesn't understand why. the first is steroids and the second is the euthenasia case of terri schiavo. the bum is dissapointed that the federal government has gotten involved with either case because the bum doesn't understand what role the government should have in either case.

the bum doesn't believe that the government has any connection to each situation, but that the government should one of be the main focus and as of today, they are. the steroids matter is a private matter. believe it or not, major league baseball is a privately owned enteprise, so it should be up to major league baseball to change the way they deal w/ steroids. the bum doesn't believe major league baseball is doing a good job of it but still its their situation, and as a private entity, they have the right to deal w/ it internally. now, if the government wants to intercede in the affairs of major league baseball, it should be over the matter of the monopoly exempt tag that baseball has. the bum believes to have such a tag, the corporation has been entrusted w/ the responsibility that they could manage their corporation responsibly and fairly without without the need for external monitoring. thats the only reason the federal government should be involved with major league baseball. these proceedings are grandstanding and the opportunity for these "officials" to drool all over sports stars.

in the terri schiavo case the federal government should not be involved once again. the bum wants to correct himself- the legislative branch of the federal government should not be involved in this matter at this point in time. the only parts of the government that could/should be involved are the judical branch (federal and/or local) and the local state government. this is a simple matter: to what degree should euthenasia be legalized and who has the right to make the decision about ending the life. the bum believes that this is an issue for the courts to decide and in fact, has made a decision on in the past. here is what you need to know about the decision - they didn't leave it up to the federal government to decide and that is exactly what they are doing right now. they are forcing the issue and it is a a total abuse of power. if the federal government is going to abuse their power, why not give me a million dollars instead of demanding me to pay taxes (the bum is still puzzled that he makes so little yet has to pay taxes)?

the bum is dissapointed in the federal government but is not suprised. the federal government has been screwing over the majority of this nation for a good two hundred years now. why should anything be any different now?

no creative juices here said the bum

the bum has been trying to update this space but the bum has been at work during the day all week. the bum has notice something. the bum's creativity is zapped while he is at work. he can build upon thoughts but can't create an original one.

the bum would like to take this time to say that he is interested in all job offers. the only stipulation is that he is offered a salary larger than the one he currently has.

maureen dowd is a whiny bitch said the bum

as the bum was getting cozy inside his cardboard box last night, he pulled out the sunday ny times he was going to use for covering for the night. as he was seperating the pages he noticed an editorial by maureen dowd. the bum likes the editorials by maureen dowd. she only writes about the opressed and the bum finds this entertaining because half of who she feels are opressed are elite white men, and the bum is mystified how she can argue that these people are truly opressed. anyhow, this sunday dowd continued her saga about opression but this time she wasn't talking about men, she was talking about women. apparently, she believes that when criticism is dealt out, that people, especially men, prefer it be done by a man versus a woman and when a woman does it, its really out of place. as a result the number of male pundints in the media vastly outnumber the amount of women pundits. the bum believes this is a bunch of horseshit.

dowd maybe right that some men don't want to hear criticism from women but at least for this male, when criticism is dealt out he reacts the same way, whether it be from a male or a female. when being criticized, which is pretty much on a daily basis, the bum doesn't say to himself, 'hey, this is a female criticizing me. thats not right.' no, the bum says, 'okay bitch, i heard you the first five fuckin times, now shut the fuck up.' before you say i proved dowd's point, the bum would like to point out he says the same thing to himself when being criticized by a male. criticism is criticism folks. doesn't matter if its coming from a male or female. if you are taking into account that its coming from a male or a female when you listen to it, you are obviously missing the point. the whole point of criticism is so the person who is being criticized improves themselves (at least according to the criticizer) and if you are thinking about what the sex of the person who is delivering the criticism you are really hindering that improvement. its like writing a paper on baseball and discussing castro in length; there is a slight relation between castro and baseball but not enough to spend a considerable amount of time talking about it.

so why aren't there more female pundints in the news? i don't know but i really don't care either. i know this though, when i hear male or a female talk or write nonsense (most criticism in the media is nonsense) in the media, i am going to react the same way and just tune out. no need to analyze if it came from a man or a woman because thats just a waste of time. ms. dowd should go back to discussing what millionaire is being opressed this week because her latest piece was just making a mountain out of a mole hill.

something is wrong with you said the bum

the latest argument the bum was in concerned whether fat people should date. the bum is not fat (the bum is technically superobese (oh yes, that's a medical term)) and the bum doesn't believe he should date. the bum's friend asked, 'why not?' the bum's friend then followed that up w/ a comment that some women find big people attractive or don't care about size. the bum promptly responded, 'the bum has no interest in dating the crazy and/or mentally ill.'

the bum believes you must be mentally ill if you find big people attactive. the bum isn't talking about people who are 10 ~30 pounds overweight (according to federal guidelines) because to the normal person, that really isn't noticeable but the bum is talking about huge people. roseanne huge; louis anderson huge; elephant huge. how could anyone find a heart attack victim waiting to happen attractive?

the bum isn't picking on just the obese because smokers aren't attractive, or alcoholics, and the bum believes obese people belong in the same category as those kind of addics. . i mean, how could you want someone who doesn't even respect themselves? because if you think about it, to allow yourself to be grossly obese you must not have respect for yourself so why should others either? 2/3 of the u.s. is obese but thats no excuse to find any one of these fatties attractive or dating material.

ewww says the bum. ewwwwww.

that was a close one said the bum

as the bum was driving to work today he almost got into a car accident. he was driving approximately 60mph, had the green light, when a crazy driver in a pickup truck ran a red light (driving at least 50mphs) and almost hit the bum in the middle of an intersection.

the bum's initial reaction was not what he expected. the bum was expecting some slight apprehension. after all, the bum and the crazy driver were within twelve inches of having a high speed collision (and rush hour was just starting up) but the bum didn't feel apprehension; the bum felt a slight bit of exhiliration.

woah! the bum was about to be in a major collision! awesome!

not awesome in a bum could have been seriously injured or worse kinda way but awesome in a what the bum hoots and hollers at on tv, he almost was in kind of way. the bum has to be honest. the bum kinda has been wondering what it would feel like to get into a serious crash much like the one he narrowlly avoided today. the bum doesn't want to get hurt, the bum is just curious. its kinda like when the bum was a kid. the bum wanted to taste bleach because it smelled good (you would be suprised how close taste and smell are related) not because he wanted to harm himself.

so the bum felt gitty. it was exciting and hopefully a once in a lifetime experience. the bum feels there was one thing everyone would agree was a positive of this entire experience: the brakes on the bum's suv responded well. the bum stopped on a dime and wasn't jettisonned from his seat.

hurray for the santa fe!

btw - the bum doesn't suggest tasting bleach, powder, detergent, or mother's perfume.

i have nothing said the bum

yes literally, but the bum meant figuratively. the bum usually has something to bitch or constructively articulate about (usually its the former more than the latter) but today he has nothing. the bum isn't sure why either. maybe its the fact the bum found out he will be working the first shift all next week. usually the bum doesn't care because the same contempt he would have working the late shift he would have working any shift but the bum actually planned to do something constructive w/ his spring break and visit museums before he had to go in for work. which is no easy task as the bum would be commuting two - two and a half hours each way just to visit a particular museum. and yes, in order for the bum to do that and get back in time for work he really only would be visiting the museum for a couple of hours at most. but still, the bum would have enjoyed those hours. but that isn't going to happen now.

the bum would like to reiterate something from previous blogs: the bum doesn't like his job. can't be said enough believes the bum.

looks like the bum found something to bitch about after all.

oh that bum, always finding new ways to impress me.

i wonder said the bum

the bum wonders about many things these days. the bum used to wonder where it all went wrong with his life but the bum pretty much has come to accept that he fucked up too many times along the way and will have to pay the consequences until he dies. no, the bum does not wonder about why he is a bum anymore.

these days the bum wonders about what the united states priorities are. the bum has wondered about this topic in the past but had not expressed his feelings in blog (aka crap) form. in today's newspapers, two of the leading stories are the michael jackson case and the us senate planning hearings about steroid use. why are these top stories? why is the media concerned w/ the petaphile michael jackson? why is the congress wasting time on steroids? aren't there people without healthcare, a growing unemployment rate among minorities, and an increasing divide between the economic classes? aren't these topics a bit more important than 'taking the juice?'

the bum usually wouldn't care and just chalk it up to american idoicy but the bum is also angry at himself. if these are the top stories why can't the bum figure out a way for someone to give him a million dollars wihout him having to do anything for it? if the most important concerns of americans are if jackson touches little boys and if millionaires are taking roids, coaxing one of these idiots to hand over a million bucks should be a piece of cake.

and if you don't know the bum, the bum likes cake. the bum likes cake very much.

a change in thinking said the bum

the bum travelled from school to work in a couple of inches of snow today.

the bum travelled 60 or so miles in an hour.

the bum travelled the final six miles (from his cardboard box to work) in two hours.

yet another reason for the bum to despise his job.

on a sad note, the bum doesn't appreciate snow as he once did.

you don't know jack said the bum

the bum finds it absurd that people of a particular race write about how people of a different race than their own would do, should do, or believe and actually believe the crap they write is legitimate. its already absurd to assume you know what people of your own race would do, let alone people of a different cultural background.

so stop.

its insulting.

to everyone.

and it pisses off the bum.

screw the rules said the bum.

the bum is considering whether to skip work next week when the bum has spring break from classes.

the bum thinks he might get away with it, if he just shows up a week later and states, 'the bum was on spring break.'

that explanation and the combined power of the union he is in, he believes he might have a shot to pull it off without being fired.

then again, the bum has ethics and bills to pay so he might not do it.

but the bum is still a bum so he might just do it.

there is such thing as too much said the bum.

at an american university how can there be more international students than american students?

i wouldn't expect more american students than international students at an international university.

the bum is not anti-immigrant just accepts society as it is.

and the american society is not very inclusive of the international world.

is this a sign of change?

yes.

is it good?

probably.

did it catch the bum off guard and now he can't or maybe doesn't want to cope with it?

maybe.

but the way things are right now it stands to reason this is a strange anonimily and begs the question how did it every come to this?

congratulations said the bum

found out recently that another one of my friends got accepted into grad school (for him law school). most of my friends are in grad school now but i am not. i can't say i don't have a hint of jealousy. why am i not in grad school and they are? but then i remember...

i am a bum

and now it all makes sense once again.

congrats dude.

5 minutes of solitude said the bum

today i didn't have to see any of my bosses or coworkers for almost 5 enitre minutes.

it was great.

then they came back.

don't like my job said the bum

My job sucks. I was going to say more but that pretty much sums it up.

Wait...

I am feeling words coming on.

Nope.

My job sucks.