Michael Steele just took the top spot in the Republican Party by sliding into the RNC Chairman spot. Here are my thoughts on Michael Steele. Keep in mind my only insight into the mind of Michael Steele is from his ramblings in his appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher.
He's an asshole. Not only is he an asshole, but he's a party line asshole. If this is representative of how the Republican Party wants to be in 2012, then they didn't learn a damn thing from the recent election. The last thing the Republican Party needs to be is the same old obstinate party line group of people. His skin may be black, but he wears the same face as those Republicans that made us vomit in the 2008 campaign season.
You guys on the Right still didn't get the message.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Hotel Funk
You know what I'm talking about. Well, perhaps maybe you don't. Let me elaborate.
For those of us who travel across this country with any sort of frequency, hotel life is a very familiar experience. Room quality can vary as can the going rate for that room. The housekeeping staff rarely speaks any English. The remote control is probably the dirtiest thing in the room. The internet access can be hit or miss. Quite often, the shower heads are low-flow. The coffee pots don't always work either. You never really know what to expect.
One thing remains fairly consistent however. I'm talking about the cheap hotel soap. Unless you are accustomed to staying at an up scale ritzy hotel, you are familiar with this particular product.
Hotel branded lotion is usually nice. The shampoo can be good at times. The soap, on the other hand, is horrid. I call the smell the "hotel funk." It doesn't quite smell like body odor, but it's damn close. If you did not pack your own soap, this stuff is what you're left with. As a soap, it probably does affect the adherence of dirt particles and other nasties, so you can probably wash yourself clean with a certain level of confidence. The smell of the soap stays with you.
Take flight attendents for example. As they walk by you in the aisle on the plane, take a quick breath in and tell me if you smell "hotel funk." I have. Other passengers that have been forced to use hotel soap smell like it too. I have even smelled it walking through an airport terminal. On this most recent trip, even the hotel towels still reeked of "hotel funk." It apparently does not wash out when they do laundry. Maybe this particular hotel did not use detergent. Isn't that troubling? With the TSA liquid guidelines in place, I suspect more people are being forced to use cheap hotel soap instead of their own quality bar.
Like the bad B.O. in a Seinfeld episode, "hotel funk" is an entity.
For those of us who travel across this country with any sort of frequency, hotel life is a very familiar experience. Room quality can vary as can the going rate for that room. The housekeeping staff rarely speaks any English. The remote control is probably the dirtiest thing in the room. The internet access can be hit or miss. Quite often, the shower heads are low-flow. The coffee pots don't always work either. You never really know what to expect.
One thing remains fairly consistent however. I'm talking about the cheap hotel soap. Unless you are accustomed to staying at an up scale ritzy hotel, you are familiar with this particular product.
Hotel branded lotion is usually nice. The shampoo can be good at times. The soap, on the other hand, is horrid. I call the smell the "hotel funk." It doesn't quite smell like body odor, but it's damn close. If you did not pack your own soap, this stuff is what you're left with. As a soap, it probably does affect the adherence of dirt particles and other nasties, so you can probably wash yourself clean with a certain level of confidence. The smell of the soap stays with you.
Take flight attendents for example. As they walk by you in the aisle on the plane, take a quick breath in and tell me if you smell "hotel funk." I have. Other passengers that have been forced to use hotel soap smell like it too. I have even smelled it walking through an airport terminal. On this most recent trip, even the hotel towels still reeked of "hotel funk." It apparently does not wash out when they do laundry. Maybe this particular hotel did not use detergent. Isn't that troubling? With the TSA liquid guidelines in place, I suspect more people are being forced to use cheap hotel soap instead of their own quality bar.
Like the bad B.O. in a Seinfeld episode, "hotel funk" is an entity.
Shreveport Regional Airport & Social Programming
I recently went on a trip. I flew out of SHV, the Shreveport Regional Airport in Shreveport, Louisiana. When I returned, my flight landed just before noon. As I rode the escalator down to the baggage claim area, I heard something over the loudspeakers.
"Please stand for the National Anthem."
Two security guards walking toward me stopped. I continued to walk by them and set my bag down on a bench. A huge American flag was hanging from the ceiling above where the guards were standing. The anthem started playing.
Employees behind the baggage claim kept working. It looked like airline employees at the check-in counters continued to work. The few passengers lingering near the escalator stopped dead in their tracks while the song played. One girl placed her hand over her chest. The song ended and everyone who stopped went back to what they were doing.
SHV does this every single day at noon. If I'm not mistaken, I think they start off the day with the same ritual. That's exactly what this was. Playing the National Anthem every day at noon is nothing more than ritualistic. Not only that, but it is a form of social programming whereby nationalism, not patriotism, is crammed down our throats.
This is the only airport I know of that practices this ritual. I find it very troubling in light of all of the strong nationalism present in the local community, especially among Conservatives who think they are "true" Americans. This is nothing more than another example of nationalistic indoctrination. We should be terrified of this ritualistic practice. I mean, at an airport at noon every single day?
"Please stand for the National Anthem."
Two security guards walking toward me stopped. I continued to walk by them and set my bag down on a bench. A huge American flag was hanging from the ceiling above where the guards were standing. The anthem started playing.
Employees behind the baggage claim kept working. It looked like airline employees at the check-in counters continued to work. The few passengers lingering near the escalator stopped dead in their tracks while the song played. One girl placed her hand over her chest. The song ended and everyone who stopped went back to what they were doing.
SHV does this every single day at noon. If I'm not mistaken, I think they start off the day with the same ritual. That's exactly what this was. Playing the National Anthem every day at noon is nothing more than ritualistic. Not only that, but it is a form of social programming whereby nationalism, not patriotism, is crammed down our throats.
This is the only airport I know of that practices this ritual. I find it very troubling in light of all of the strong nationalism present in the local community, especially among Conservatives who think they are "true" Americans. This is nothing more than another example of nationalistic indoctrination. We should be terrified of this ritualistic practice. I mean, at an airport at noon every single day?
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