madmonq’s joint

Single? He’s available. And not picky.

It starts out like this

The discovery of the carcass of Jerry Falwell on the floor of an obscure office in Virginia has almost zero significance, except perhaps for two categories of the species labeled “credulous idiot.”

You don’t have to read the rest to get the idea. But go ahead and read it anyway. You can only say something like this is heartfelt. You’ve got Christopher Hitchens to thank for it.

Read this.

After taking a job as an instructor at Outward Bound, Ms. Rubin, along with some of her co-workers, settled into the top floor of the organization’s Long Island City headquarters. She camped out in a bunk bed; others converted nearby office cubicles into sleeping spaces, or pitched tents on the building’s roof. To create some privacy, they hung towels and sheets around their bunks.

While Outward Bound officials stress that they view these cubicles and tents as temporary housing solutions, Ms. Rubin, who has since moved to Vermont for a short while, was grateful for a free place.

While young people in New York have always sought roommates to make life more affordable, they are now crowding so tightly into doorman buildings in prime neighborhoods like the Upper East Side that they may violate city codes.

Given this groups background, education, and career choices it looks like they don’t have to live in cramped quarters. They don’t have to live in Manhattan to work there. It’s not that they can’t find affordable housing. It’s that they can’t find affordable housing in Manhattan that they want. That’s sort of thinking can only be attributed to a lifetime of privilege and little responsibility. The kind that makes you think you’re entitled to be a fire hazard.

With a little effort they could probably afford a place of their own, with roommates, maybe even in Manhattan. What they can’t do is live in a less-than-halfway decent apartment (read: neighborhood) without it shattering their little lives. Without earning it, they still think they deserve a nice apartment in a swanky neighborhood.

Do you think they looked in Harlem? Do you think the above company would allow the janitor to sleep on premises between homes or is he/she just shit out of luck?

Homelessness is usually reserved for the truly mentally, physically and finacially disabled. Otherwise, people who squat in commercial spaces, mooch off of their friends and/or cause a fire hazard aren’t usually praised for their ingenuity. They’re usually called bums. They’re not allowed a respectable title like hobos, but bums. When the bum eats out of dumpster, is it called innovative take-out? They can buy street art (read: graffiti) as long as they don’t have to live in the artist’s old neighborhood. Beside, they wouldn’t have anywhere to put it. I’m sure their scrappy ingenuity will allow them to come up with something that’ll impose upon their friends and the others’ safety.

It doesn’t seem the article’s author or the subjects of the article had any question of their ethics. Their behavior is acceptable because they’ve been accepted their entire life. Meanwhile the building’s janitor is living in a box. Circus carney have more integrity. Like a lot of people sometimes I think the homeless are just plain lazy. Surely with a little effort they can find a place to live. But until now I’ve never had reason to think they were shallow as well. Maybe this groups mental health issues just hadn’t caught up with them and somehow they’re planning ahead.

Acute narcissism is listed in the DSM as a mental health issue. That about covers it. As of now they’re just giving the homeless a bad name.

Sean Lennon in Athens, GA. More at and courteous of photosbymimi.

In the past few weeks there’s been a lot of coverage regarding Imus and the Virginia Tech shooting. The issues being free speech and the right to bear arms (or limit both in some cases). Some believe gun access should be limited in order to prevent these things from happening again. Or others should be censored and censured for their distasteful opinions.

The Virginia Tech shooter felt slighted for years. Mocked because of his Asian background and a stutter. Coupled with the schizophrenia and the perception of privilege regarding guns in this country, all of the elements were in place for a tragedy. Unfortunately Coo-Coo Von Coco Puffs figured it out first.

Imus was forced out a job by some stupid, misguided zealots and the marketplace. It’s rare when you can reason with either. Businesses will always guard their bottom line. The zealots can’t have their beliefs challenged. They are always more dangerous (See extreme Islam, Christian terrorists, som animal activists). They can’t have their weak ideology exposed. Harsh comments versus deep ignorance leads them to the gun. It kind of has a chicken vs egg quality to it. As an aside it’s funny everyone lashed out about the “nappy” part, you heard much less about the “ho”.

My take: Guns can be obviously be dangerous. Whether wielded by pathetic loner dumb ass or other untrained idiot. But which will get you shot first? What has started more wars over the centuries? Access to weapons or a big mouth? A smart mouth probably motivated someone to invent the gun.