A fresh episode in the “Women Are Stupid” story that has been developing for as long as it became fashionable for women to attach themselves to a single worthless pair of pants and debase themselves for its sake:

Lottery winner spends $9m on bailing out fiancee accused of heroin trafficking.

Of course, for 9 million bucks this idiot could have bought herself a battalion of fresh, juicy drug dealers to cater to her every whim. But no, within consumer mentality, women only see themselves as goods, never as purchasers.

Author: Manuel Castells
Title: Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age
Year: 2012
Language: English
My rating: 1.5 out of 10

Castells is a respected scholar, and I thought this analysis of the 2011-12 protest movements would be of interest. However, in terms of insight, this is one of the most impotent books I have ever read. Castells gushes on and on about the huge importance of the protest movements, highlighting precisely the ones that failed most spectacularly: Spain ‘ s Indignados and Occupy Wall Street. In the absence of any proof that these movements achieved anything other than bringing the conservative party to power in Spain, Castells argues that they matter because they helped people feel togetherness. Yippee.

The only semi-interesting observation Castells makes is that Internet-mediated protest movements have been the most successful in the most ethnically and culturally homogenous countries (Tunisia and Iceland.) Since the book’s publication, this observation has been borne out by the spectacular success of the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity.

I can’t say I’m convinced by this argument, though. I believe that protests failed in the rich consumer societies where people had comfortable lives and protested out of boredom more than anything else. The desperation of Mohamed Boazizi who was so fed up with injustice that he set himself on fire differs greatly from the smugness of an overfed brat whose greatest contribution to social change is raising the inane “Greed is bad” poster.

Since 2011, it became clear that Obama’s hugely unpopular bailouts saved the US economy and Spain ‘ s vilified party of austerity has managed to produce a marked economy growth. Against this background, the protesters who couldn’t be bothered to make a list of actual demands and overcome their narcissism enough to choose a few spokespersons look particularly helpless.

As the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine demonstrated, popular protests can be extremely successful. But the only way to make them work is to make sure that they concentrate not on vague requests addressed to a benevolent, paternalistic deity but on specific tasks that every protester is ready to perform. That deity (i.e. the nation-state) has left the building. Pleading with it to come and take care of us is a waste of time. Now is not the time to beg. It is the time to fill the vacuum created by the nation-state’s retreat.

Can anybody explain to me why Black Lives Matter protesters keep hassling Bernie, of all people? The way they act around this not-very-young gentleman who’s doing his darndest to move the Democrats to the Left is nothing short of disgraceful.

Why aren’t they taking all this to Bush’s, Trump’s and Walker’s rallies instead?

Of all of the vicious, disgusting things to do, here’s a campaign by Coca-Cola that is so duplicitous that it defies belief:

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugary beverages, is backing a new “science-based” solution to the obesity crisis: To maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise and worry less about cutting calories. The beverage giant has teamed up with influential scientists who are advancing this message in medical journals, at conferences and through social media.

Of course, exercise has no impact on weight loss (as I know only too well after going from zero exercise to gym 3 times a week and walking 1,5 hours every goddamn day with no change in my weight whatsoever) but many people are duped by the ads for exercise equipment into believing there is.

Exercise is great, and my overall health has improved greatly after I started exercising over a year and a half ago. But any suggestion that one can eat as much as one might want without gaining weight is simply criminal.

Fuck you, Coca-Cola.

Heavily-armed members of a controversial patriot group added an extra dose of unease to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, early Tuesday. . . Protesters and police confirmed that a handful of Oath Keepers with assault rifles, bulletproof vest and camouflage gear were seen early Tuesday on the streets of Ferguson.

Yes, this traveling circus is precisely what we need around here. Jeez.

Neoliberal think tanks tout part-time employment as a great boon to humanity:

A thinktank, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), which has organised the event with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics, argues that if everyone worked fewer hours – say, 20 or so a week – there would be more jobs to go round, employees could spend more time with their families and energy-hungry excess consumption would be curbed. Anna Coote, of NEF, said: “There’s a great disequilibrium between people who have got too much paid work, and those who have got too little or none.”

Got it? The reason why so much people can’t get a full-time job and have to get by on a patchwork of temp jobs with zero benefits is because a benevolent neoliberal authority decided they will be better off this way. Of course, nobody at the think tank in question is likely to accept part-time employment any time soon. These valiant folks are sacrificing themselves, working full-time, getting great salaries, and consuming like crazy so that we don’t have to do it. Oh, the rich person’s burden, how heavy art thou!

Remember, people, whenever you hear anybody use the expression “job sharing”, run away as fast as you can. It’s part of the infamous “sharing economy” which translates as “a scam aimed at robbing you of medical care, pension, paid vacation, and any kind of worker rights whatsoever.”

ISIS has set prices on sex slaves starting with children between the ages of 1 and 9:

I don’t understand how anybody can oppose sending troops against these animals and blasting them all to hell.

A young poet from Spain tells me, “When I came to Canada in 2012, at the height of the crisis, I couldn’t believe my eyes. What is this? Heaven on Earth? There’s no unemployment, tons of great jobs that even have benefits, salaries are enormous. It was as if Canada had managed to exclude itself from the rest of the world.”

The poet is now going back to Spain. Even though she has a fantastic job in Montréal  (poets don’t make their living from poetry, obviously), she is leaving it because things are getting better in Spain and its economy is improving rapidly.

P. S. I realized that I was born to be interviewed, not to interview. Shutting up and listening just doesn’t feel right.

. . . when two people buy unexpected “just because” flowers for each other on the same day because their thoughts are so in-sync.

And if you are getting tired of the sappiest romance known to humanity, I’ve got to warn you: it shows,no signs of abating.

I can’t believe there is yet another round of boring as all hell bellyaching about young people having sex. I won’t even link to it because these overwrought pieces about the horribly dissolute younger generation crop up with scary regularity and they are all exactly the same. This year it’s Tinder, two years ago it was the “college hookup culture,” before that it was rainbow parties, etc.

It’s like the moment 50 – year-olds hit the inevitable hormonal change, they react with these weird erotic fantasies about the out-of-control youngsters having tons of crazy sex. It’s embarrassing to watch. My blogroll is crowded with articles by freaked out folks at the age of sexual decline who are trying to spur their flaccid libido with these silly Tinder fantasies. My only question is why they can’t do all this in private.