Ballroom Dancing's Shortage of Alpha Males

I have been teaching dance class for what will soon be 14 years. It is hard to recollect every aspect of when I first started teaching, but I could swear I noticed a trend occurring from way back in 1998 to today. Since I wasn't sure and wanted to confirm it, I asked Natasha (who took my class 7 years ago) a simple question;

"Have you noticed how men are just not leading anymore?"

And she said,

"Yes. There's a definite trend."

"So in your short 7 years of dancing, you have noticed it?"

"Yes."

So now that I know I'm not imagining it, permit me to speak of it.

Understand how ballroom or any partner dancing works is that one person MUST lead the other person MUST follow. The dynamics of this is not a "superior" leading an "inferior" person around, it is more akin to electricity. In order to have a current, you need a positive and a negative. Following is just as important as leading otherwise the dance just plain doesn't work. It may be more analogous to driving. Only ONE person can drive the car at any given time. If you have two people driving, the car will invariably crash and if you have no one driving it will crash a lot quicker. This relationship between the lead and follow and thus the man and the woman MUST be instilled before any kind of turns, throws, dips etc, can be taught.

Now traditionally it has been the women who have difficulty in playing their role of the follower and try to lead. And this has nothing to do with feminism or women wanting to take on more of a role in society. It boils down to women simply wanting to "help," but failing to realize that "helping" is antithetical to following. And by "helping" you are by default leading. And once I explain this to the women, they usually get it and start following real well.

It is the men I'm seeing deteriorating in their role of leading.

Be it the fact they plain don't want to be there, they're tired or even their wife won't let them lead, the trend I'm noticing goes beyond that. There is a noticeable decline in men's ability to take command on the dance floor and lead. And I cannot help but wonder if it isn't the sociological and economic environment that has led to it.

I see more and more men, who just plain have that defeated, domesticated look on their faces. I provide all the instruction, explain step by step what has to happen, and above all else explain to them they MUST pull their wife this way, send her out that way, they MUST LEAD. But when the time comes and the music plays, instead of a Steve McQueen like fashion, they look sheepishly at their wife or girlfriend and barely produce a slight tug on the girl's hand, all the while looking at her for constant confirmation and approval they're doing it correctly.

I can break it down, again and again. Repeat and cheer them on to be like John Wayne, and instead of leading, the men "suggest" the women turn a certain way, or ask their permission to turn them a certain way.

The women of course get frustrated (not only because viscerally women like strong men), but because the dance is structurally failing. They don't know where to turn. The lead is so limp and the man so unsure, the women is forced to take over and turn herself.

And then the whole system collapses. Instead of listening to me or the beat of the music, the rookie dancers try to figure it out themselves. The women (who had NOT been trained in leading) start lecturing the men (erroneously most of the time) as to what they're doing wrong. The men, obviously predisposed to listen to their wife or girlfriend over me (who technically is a complete stranger) miss out on my vital commands and instruction as to what is wrong and how to fix it. And when we try again, it doesn't work because it is now a joint effort when the men and women both amorphously lead and follow, mixing their roles. It's not until we have three or four lessons under our belt do the men get comfortable enough with the idea of leading (or the binary nature of the lead/follow and how the two do not intertwine), is there progress. But it didn't take 3-4 lessons in the past.

Further convincing me of my theory or observation is real, is that every once in a while I will have a guy show up with a confident little smirk. The age doesn't matter. I've seen that face in 18 year old kids and 65 year old retirees. One eye brow is always higher than the other. He has a Captain Jack Sparrow like sinful smirk on his face, his girlfriend/wife is always smiling ear to ear and without fail I will catch him pinching his significant other's derriere.

He is the alpha male and I have no problems ever getting them to understand the concept of leading.

Even if they're not on beat, they don't care.

THEY PULL.

THEY PUSH.

THEY LEAD.

There's the right way, the wrong way, and if they can't do either, they'll do the Max Power's way.

It may be a bit forceful, it may be a bit too fast, it may not be on beat, but there is no ambiguity to the ladies as to what these men want them to do. Additionally, all the women smile when they're dancing with these men. Why?

Not only because it is clear what the guy wants his partner to do during the dance, the dirty little secret is that women like strong men.

Of course, their numbers are dwindling. And in 14 years no less.

Now I could go on about the sissification of America and could postulate theories about economics and how the economy may be depressing men and lord knows whatever other sociological/psychological theories, but has anybody else out there in the ballroom community noticed this? I'm being serious, I'd like to be able to figure out the problem so I can solve it.

"Her Father Could Not Be Reached for Comment"

We don't need no stinking fathers!

"Why Can't We Just Print Off More Money?"

When I am king, I will make it a requirement that in order to vote you must explain why the government cannot just print off more money. And I'm willing to bet you at least 75% of current politicians in congress couldn't explain this either.

In any case, finally got off my butt and put together this little chart comparing the monetary base against GDP. In other words, how much money is floating around as a percent of the stuff it can buy.



For those of you watching American Idol, or "Glee" or glued to the TV for "March Madness," this is why you are paying $4 a gallon in gas. This is why food prices are going up. This is why gold is so high. And this is why shorting the dollar isn't the worst move you could make.

But to quote Michael Savage,

"No, you don't want to hear that. You want to hear about some guy who hits a ball over a fence."

Rumpleminze as a Disinfectant

Just a short one and then I have to go.

There is an "unnamed girl" in my house.

My house is in part heated by a wood burning stove because I'm eclectic.

Instead of breaking out the chain saw to cut the larger pieces of wood into sizes that will fit into the stove, I use a hand axe to cut some of the pieces I have on hand if I just need a piece or two.

I get myself a blister because of the repetitive motion of the axe on the palm of my hand.

Like all men I bite the dead skin of the blister to pop it (I do apologize for the crassness of that statement).

Like all bachelors, I don't have luxuries such as "neosporin" or "rubbing alcohol" and so I reach for the open bottle of Rumpleminze.

I apply some Rumpleminze to my opened blister and it stings like there's no tomorrow.

Not only do I have to suffer the insane stinging pain, I then get to suffer the lecturing tone of "unnamed girl" who berates me for applying Rumpleminze to my wound.

I then have to worry about the sugar in the Rumpleminze creating a syrupy ooze on my hand which prevents the application of a bandaid (which is also a luxury in Bachelor World, but thankfully Unnamed Girl has one).

Of course, I can't get the bandaid for free.

No, I have to suffer a sermon about the evils of using Rumpleminze as a disinfectant.

So I wash the sugar that is now crystallizing on my hand.

The water dries.

And the bandaid is applied.

And yet,

Just yet,

SOMEHOW the world has not ceased to exist.

The world has continued to rotate.

And I'm pretty sure the sun will rise tomorrow.

Despite me thumbing my nose at the gods with my use of Rumpleminze as a Disinfectant.

You Will Conform and Obey

by reading these links!

Pole Dancing for Jesus. I am speechless. But I am now triply reconfirmed that I did the right thing as an 11 year old PK by leaving religion forever.

No jobs at a job fair. It reiterates my point that you will waste the equivalent of a masters degree worth of time looking for a job and you might as well just play video games. Also long the lines of the Great Maja Rushie who said, "You can't really make any money until you're 40 because no one will let you." Hat tip.

You know how kids spend more time and energy whining and complaining about doing their chores or homework or what have you than it would take to actually do it? The Greenazis spend more time and energy conforming to going green than finding out whether it's actually "good" for the environment. But then again it never was about the environment now was it?

We don't need no stinking fathers! I actually don't know if there is a father in the equation or not...but...ummm.... yeah, I know there isn't a father in the equation.

How Japan manages 200% debt to GDP.(which I always found to be an amazing feat).

and finally;

Again, whether it is the mother you are interested in dating, or the daughter, when they say;

"My mother/daughter is my BFF!"

run.

Corporate Profits Surge!

Yep, they've "surged" back to normal levels.

It was like when I got food poisoning and my weight "surged" back to 142 from 137.

Or if you were really weak after surgery and your bench press "surged" from 80 pounds to 100.

Or you got stuck behind my mom on the interstate as she holds up traffic and you pass and manage to "surge" back to 35 MPH.

Mediocrity is the new excellence!

Eliminating Worthless Degree Programs

If you'll permit the ole Captain a little bragging rights as he asks the question;

"Was anybody else on top of this worthless degree thing before me?"

I feel for the guy. Reminds me of trying to teach Economics to some of the country's most degenerate children.

Must Hit the Ground Running

As you know, the Captain is fond of motorcycles. He owns one, drives one and it impresses the chicks (no, really, it does. I'm not joking, just buy one and save yourself the time and money going to night clubs, not to mention gas money).



And since I live in Minnesota, Sturgis, South Dakota is only a day's drive away. I've visited the Sturgis Rally twice now. Not on account I wanted to go to Sturgis, but because I love the Black Hill's area of South Dakota and Sturgis just happens to be there. But for whatever the reason I was there, there was something I noticed both times when I was;

there ain't no young people.

Oh sure, there's the occasional 35 year old there. And the 20 something couple there. But the VAST majority of people under 30 at Sturgis are simply there as wait staff and bartenders. They are not participants.

I found this odd on my little venture into Sturgis, my little Cappy Cap brain trying to find a reason for the lack of youth. And the answer quickly came to me as I headed out to Vanocker Canyon. For it was there, in its curvy valley, I was stuck behind Baby Boomer motorcyclist after Baby Boomer motorcyclist making their way through the canyon at 15 miles per hour.

Now keep in mind, your Captain has a dinky Ninja 250. The primary purpose for the purchase was fuel efficiency. So it should NEVER by the laws of physics be able to pass a 950 v-twin Harley. Of course it did because it was some 59 year old banker scared to shift into 3rd gear and actually accelerate above 45 MPH, but that isn't the point. The point is 90% of the people who own Harley's shouldn't be driving them, but they are the only ones that can afford them. And being the only ones that can afford them, they make up the majority of the participants of Sturgis.

It is because of this, Sturgis I predict will pass away with the passing of the Baby Boomer generation. They are the only ones in their prime earning years and are therefore the only ones who can afford Harleys. Or in other words;

Harley Davidson has failed to prepare for the next generation. Good luck finding a Harley that is affordable to the average 27 year old kid.

However, Harley Davidson is not the only company failing to account for a generation that will invariably pass.

Bosch, a division in which I am somewhat familiar with, has a plant where the "old timers" there are about the only ones in the nation who are trained to use the very unique and specific machinery. They have mentioned, on several occasions, how when they retire there will be no replacements available to do their jobs and that Bosch might want to consider hiring apprentices. Of course that went unheeded, and now the old timers know just to keep their mouths shut as it really isn't their problem.

Dayton, Ohio as well faces this problem where recently they had to lower the passing scores for their police entrance exam. The primary reason for this lowering of standards was NOT as the media may report to allow for more minorities to pass. The original impetus was a disproportionate amount of cops retiring. Again, nobody is grooming replacements.

Now I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Companies and institutions are failing to preparing for the passing of the current generation of managers, specialized employees and so on, and are merely waiting till judgement day to find replacements (kind of like social security - not until the 11th hour are we concerned about very real and immediate problems).

Which results in a phenomenon my younger Gen X and Gen Y economists no doubt are running into - the experience paradox.

In other words all jobs require X years of experience, even entry level ones, behooving the question of age old, "Well if nobody is going to give me experience, how do I get any?"

The answer is simple, you won't. But there is of course a consequence for our beloved Corporate America - they have irrational demands that will never be met.

Notice in the olden days they had these things called "training programs" where you could come out of high school, go into this "training program" and the company would "train you" to do the job.

You didn't have to go to college.

You didn't have to have a degree.

You just had to show up, have a good record and boom, off to work you went.

But now, you need to have years of experience, and not just years of experience, you must be able to train yourself. Thus inane requirements in job postings such as;

"Must be able to hit the ground running."

or

"Steep learning curve."

or

"Self-learner."

Your Captain routinely sees jobs requiring SAS experience. When he calls the employer and asks if they would be willing to train him in it (which would take a whole week), he is immediately dismissed as they need somebody NOW. Sure enough 4 weeks later the job is still open, when the Captain (or any applicant) could have been providing them 3 weeks of full service by that time. But again, I don't have an MBA, so what do I know.

Regardless, all of this translates into;

"We're too cheap to train you and frankly have become so cheap that we're now willing to sacrifice quality and profitability. Besides which, our managers don't like being bothered with petty BS questions you may have. Here's a training manual, figure it out yourself and don't bother us."

Of course the real world results are that of Sturgis, the Bosch plant, or the Ohio Police Department. A mad scramble that will come when they realize they haven't groomed or prepared any successors. Worse still, with progressively less and less effort and time dedicated towards training employees, as well as the general deterioration of loyalty Gen X and Gen Y have to employers, how precisely are you going to find those "loyal junior executives" to groom?

Oh, I know, they're out there, they're out there. But not in the number, nor may I say quality of previous generations. Not in part due to anything inherent with Gen X or Y (though I could see somebody making the argument for my generation being lacking in other areas), but because of an utter lack of resources spent on training and preparing them. It will be like the father who ignored his children for years, perhaps was an alcoholic, and not until he sobers up and his children are in their 20's or 30's, does he approach them and say,

"Hey, do you want to go camping?"

"Sorry, dad. I'm busy with work, and uh, who are you again?"

Translate that into the corporate rush to find new blood for managerial ranks in say the next 10-20 years;

"Hey, do you want to get promoted?"

"Sorry, I don't want to pay the taxes nor do I want the responsibility. I've learned to live on unreliable income and keep my expenses down. I have no children, no mortgage and no car payment, and therefore no responsibilities and have become accustomed to this non-rat-race life.

Besides, I don't know SAS."

Clown Day

I have several teachers as friends and I am always amazed with the sheer number of "Clown Days" schools have.

"Clown Days" meaning days where instead of learning, the little kinder are marched off to the gym where they are entertained by clowns. Or during St. Patrick's Day where they have potato rolling contests. Or "Dunk the Teacher Day" where students raise funds by paying to have a chance to throw a ball and dunk a teacher in a dunking tank.

My friends estimate about 3 days a month are dedicated to "clown days." Multiply that by 9 months (which most students can't because they're too busy with "Pizza Days") and you are losing about a full month of education.

Of course management of the schools claims this helps the "morale" of the students and the teachers (as if they were in war or something). And that it betters the student-teacher relationship making teachers more friendly. And of course that's the problem.

Having a "friendly student-teacher relationship" is not what is in the best interest of the children.

Ever notice how you would never want to date/hang out with/marry a parent (or the child) who says "My mom is my best friend." Or "Oh, me and my daughter are BFF's."

It's the same principle. If you really want to be a good parent or teacher, the relationship is simply this;

The adult (be it a parent or teacher) is the authority, the child is the moronic youth that doesn't know anybody and should obey and respect the adult.

This shouldn't end either with the kid turning the age of 18.

Elders, in general, but especially those who are in positions of power over you, should be given some basic respect and courtesy. THis is of course unless they are corrupt (which happens frequently), but in general, if you are the 19 year old college student, you should not be throwing pies in your professor's face.

Of course, real professors and real men and women would never succumb to such a spineless act, but, eh, who needs leaders and ranks? We should just all be friends.

Your Weekend Homework

It's about 10 minutes. Just hit play;

Housing Starts TUMBLE! No Wait! SURGE! No Wait!

If you had listened to the mainstream media here

and

here.

You'd have no clue what's going on.

But if you had listened to the Captain, you would not be suffering the headache you have now.

Charts people. Charts.



You can replace the entire news staff of CNN, NBC, CBS, NPR and ABC with charts because they're unbiased and are just raw data. They don't tell you what to think. They just are.

Damn Technocrati Claim Token

HHR4HM7ZPMV3

Technocrati Claim Token

HHR4HM7ZPMV3

Why Gru Trumps "Mars Needs Moms"

Gru, the villain/hero from "Despicable Me" does not like children. In the movie he adopts three young girls only to use them to help him carry out his diabolical plot to "steal the moon." Invariably and accidentally, he ends up caring about and loving the children and finds out he gained something more important than stealing the moon.




"Mars Needs Moms." Good god, do I even have to bother explaining why this bombed?



Dalrock (or rather, should I say, Dalrock's wife) predicted this would happen (though I should warn you Mr. Dalrock himself makes some ...um....additional "vulgar" observations). Meanwhile Disney's executives are "scratching their heads" about why Mars Needs Moms has bombed.

Hmmm....what does the public want?

Politically correct stories, the theme/morals of which have been beaten into our heads by the media, government and schools that we're all sick of hearing about day in and day out?

OR

Heroic funny stories where

(GASP)

a

(NO, DON'T SAY IT!!!!)

FATHER FIGURE

(OH, NO! YOU SAID IT!)

will come in and save the day?

(NO DAMN YOU! HE MUST BE A SENSITIVE, ABSENT, NON-ENTITY. AND IF PRESENT AT ALL MUST BE AN OAFISH, MORON WHOSE CHILDREN MOCK HIM AND DON'T RESPECT HIM!)

Anybody remember Hartigan from Sin City and how he protects the poor little girl?

Or John Creasy?

Or are these just too obscure of references and I'm just dreaming about what kind of role men should play in society?

Honest to Pete. And they wonder why men just sit at home and Netflix/Gamefly instead of flock to movies.

Enjoy the decline folks. Enjoy the decline.

Your "No Freakin Duh" Economic Epiphany of the Day

You mean to tell me that US and Western countries cannot get by where the entire populace majors in philosophy and theater? That inevitably we need to produce something of economic value in order for our stocks to go up? Are you saying that we CAN'T just run trillion dollar deficits year after year duping the Chinese into buying our debt?

I mean, I thought we could all major in "communications," land cushy government jobs, listen to NPR, bitch about how evil corporations are, promise ourselves free food, shelter and health care and somehow stocks would just magically increase by 12.8% a year in perpetuity so we'd all have big fat 401k values to retire on.

Honest to god. I had somebody in my class ask me, "So economics, that sounds really tough."

I said, "No, it's actually quite easy. It's dealing with the politics that is difficult. The economics profession has made it "seem" difficult by requiring you have all this calculus and advanced statistics before you can even apply for grad school. Math you'll never use, and if you did, you'll use it in a finite model that will fail to predict black swan events like housing bubbles, or, ooohhhhh, I don't know, collapsing western economies."

With a blank stare he said, "So...I um should continue in computer networking?"

"Yes, you should continue in computer networking."

Enjoy the decline people.

Pour Yourself a Martini and Fire Up a Cigar

From the Hawaiian Libertarian;

"Not a courageous moral warrior walking alone the path of righteousness in a world of sin, but rather a butthurt scoundrel trying to grab onto every piece of power he can find while disguising it as being morally superior in order to feel better about himself."

What the Hawaiian Libertarian is highlighting here is what I have called "Crusaderism." I didn't come up with the term or the concept to seem like a faux intellectual. I came up with it because it exists. And not only does it exist, it is the single largest factor causing the general decline of the US and western civilization.

IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND POLITICS AND THE WORLD TODAY (and dare I say) even more clearly than what Rush Limbaugh can convey, watch the series below (THERE ARE TEN PARTS, THE BEST ONES ARE THE LATER ONES, DO NOT LISTEN TO JUST THE FIRST ONE AND STOP AND THEN WONDER WHY YOU HAVEN'T ACHIEVED SUPER AWESOME ECONOMIC GENIUS). But of course first pour yourself a martini and light up a cigar. You don't have to "watch it" you just need to hear it, so turn up the computer speakers and do some spring cleaning or something. You will thank me for it;

Never Send a Liberal to Do a Conservative's Job

Cripes.

Though I am VERY happy the nice little socialist students in California get to pay higher tuition because of this.

Not to mention all those good socialist voters in California get to pay higher taxes because of this.

Because Divorce is Good for the Chlidren

Dalrock puts together a spot on piece about how to market divorce.


However, it reminds me of the divorce episode in South Park which couldn't have been more succinct;

San Fran, Madison and the Snarkolepsy Shuffle

Snarks attended a rally in SF and took some photos of the "solidarity" protest they had for their brothers in arms in Madison.

The pictures pretty much tell you all you need to know.

A Happy Ending for Antioch College

A short but happy piece.

But what is even better is the first three comments so do click and read below. It will give you your daily laugh.

It's Called Capital Flight

Friend of mine said 3M was thinking of leaving Minnesot and the US.

I didn't want to post it on account it was heresay.

Guess it wasn't.

Do Something .Org

Because;

1. Studying
2. Playing sports
3. Working a part time job
4. Going to college
5. Supporting yourself
6. Spending time with friends
7. Playing video games
8. Or just plain being a normal high school kid

Isn't enough.

You need to "Do Something!"

Found this at a local high school. It's nothing more than leftist brainwashing. But what is so despicable is how the left purposely targets the young as they are too stupid to know any better.

What scares me is how many companies obviously just donated money to them despite, in the long run, participants in "Do Something" will simply vote for higher corporate taxes.

Enjoying Watching California Suffer

How's all that green energy treating you fellas out there?

Chimney Sweeper > Communications Major

Chimney maker makes $240 an hour.

Starbucks "Barrrrrrrrristas" make considerably less.

This concludes your lesson in basic economics.

Breaking the Social Contract, Gone Fishin', Teacher Union Math and More

Linkfest!

A rather succinct summary of enjoying the decline. (though the Captain does NOT endorse the Bon Jovi lameness at the end)

Haley goes to a hell that makes Normandy on a rainy June day in 1944 look good.

Progression of Egyptian graduates from 1959 to Present (Just four photos to look at and a very quick post).

How teachers unions do math.

We're still not at 5 months supply, so expect housing prices to continue down.

Can we just "turn down the rhetoric?" Thank god Althouse is on the ground.

And Grerp! You're supposed to ENJOY the decline, not fear it! Embrace the decline. The decline is your friend.

Retro Captain!

Aren't You Glad You "Stuck it to the Man?"

Hope protesting in the 60's was worth it.

Because in the end what drives your 401k's is corporate profits.

Not going green.

Not overburdensome regulations.

Not higher corporate tax rates.

Filed under, "Jim Morrison died on a toilet bowl"

Glad I Had a Vasectomy

If for any other reason my would-be-child does not have to suffer the mental-carpet-bag this poor kid is going to become when he gets older. Read the whole article and you will see why I'm happy I'm out of the genetic propagation race.

hat tip.

Liars, Cheats and Teacher's Unions

I shall be short and sweet with this because it is that simple.

In the many articles you can find about the Madison protests, of all that is insulting and angers me the most is when I hear the various unions, protesters and teachers say, "We're fighting for democracy."

No you aren't.

Democracy is where the majority rules.

You are by default tyrants and oppressors.

The majority of the population in Wisconsin has voted in Republicans and, among other things, they are going to reel back what is frankly huge overpayment to a corrupt union. Fighting against it, to the point cowards flee from their responsibility to "hide" is the DEFINITION of TYRANNY. Of course these corrupt officials and the idiot protesters who support them, frankly do not have the maturity or intellectual honesty to adhere to democracy.

Additionally, I will post two charts that should be in every state capitol and in the hands of every state legislator and every governor, so please feel free to send them. They are for Minnesota, but I'm quite sure the statistics would hold for any state;





Do not tell me you need more money or that it's horrible you have to pay for your own damn pensions.

Mandating Charts by Law in All Reuters Articles

Reuters reports "Housing Starts SURGE in January!"

Does this look like a $#$ing surge to you people at Reuters?


You shameless political shills.

I swear, when I am king there will be a law passed that forces all media reporting on the economy to provide the corresponding chart or link to a chart that shows the data.

File under "The Cancer is Spreading Less Slowly"

The End of Political Correctness

I believe as the economy continues to collapse and people's futures continue to look bleak, people will have no economic incentive any longer to be politically correct and will instead just start speaking the truth.

For example.

Hat tip.

The Death of an Entrepreneur

Let me tell you about Bill and then I have to bolt.

Bill is my buddy and my realtor. I've known him a long time as I've been in real estate a long time. And ever since I've known him he's been an entrepreneur. He's been in real estate, works hard and has always been on the look out for what we call "Cunning Plans" as a reference to the Black Adder Comedy Troupe.

His "cunning plans" included grandiose things like boosting some of the poorer communities by bulldozing the worst neighborhoods and putting a golf course right in the middle while building around the periphery of the course condos to house those displaced.

Another was to analyze and identify key houses in the richest of neighborhoods, purchasing them and housing ex-cons and loud youth in them to drive prices in the neighborhood down, only to repurchase the land, kick the criminals out and resell the properties at a markup.

Whatever the case, he was always thinking, planning and scheming coming up with new ideas.

No longer.

Now he's gone into complete defense mode. His purchases and "investments" are not really investments at all, but food supplies, survival gear and potentially finding a safe house. Admittedly he's gone a little further down the "society collapsing" route than I have, but be it him, me or any other young entrepreneur, there is a HUGE ramification that just dawned on me.

The entrepreneurs are no longer entrepreneuring. They've stopped.

Now, if you study economics enough, you will realize that what REALLY advances economies and societies is NOT working harder and more efficient. It is revolutionary ideas, largely led by entrepreneurs and youth, that revolutionize society and produce massive amounts of wealth (ergo why I support STEM degrees and advocate the elimination of liberal arts and other such worthless degree and programs).

Regardless, the juxtaposition of talking to Bill the other day and what the clueless leaders in Washington say is hilarious, though sad. Obama wants a "sputnik moment." He also wants to "win the future" and his rosy budget forecasts rely on 5% RGDP growth in the future. Our governor, Mark Dayton in his speech hailed a "generation of greatness."

Not without the likes of Bill.

For idiots such as Mark Dayton and Barack Obama who never work a real job in their lives and have never produced an ounce of genuine economic production (both trust fund babies), think they can simply "order" "greatness" and "sputnik moments." They don't realize they need to get out of the way, shut up, lower taxes and make the country hospitable to future entrepreneurs. They also don't realize that the single biggest fear driving away investment and future entrepreneurs is that damn deficit and the forever increasing likelihood of economic collapse.

And until that happens, you can expect Bill to store nuts for a horrible economic winter instead of start up another company and employing people.

Enjoy the decline!

I Support the Teachers

A teacher who has the courage to speak her mind about public education and then is lambasted by the school administration?

Damn right I'll link to her.

Filed under, "Institutions trying to violate your freedom of speech if they don't agree with it and threaten to fire you for having an opinion."

Good Journalism

In preparation for a speech I will be holding at the U of Minnesota, I spent a fair amount of time looking up University salaries as a means to gauge education inflation.

I came across this piece put together by the Minnesota Daily (the student newspaper) that was heartening in that it was;

1. Well written
2. Relevant
3. An actual example of good journalism

Sadly there are no comments on the site which leads me to believe such work largely falls on deaf ears in the university world.

Why You Should Be Against "Male Studies"

I didn't think it would exist because of inherent male psychology, but it does. Found it on one of the manosphere blogs and I can't remember which, but it's come to this;

Male Studies.

So let me explain this as short and succinctly as I can.

Male studies should not exist.

Not because men aren't important.

Not because aspects of society aren't assailing and assaulting men.

And because not that we shouldn't be calling attention to the plight men have.

Male studies should not exist because the concept of having a "male studies" degree or program is antithetical to being male.

Men solve problems. Men are direct and to the point. Men are practical.

Ergo, the idea of having a "male studies" program in college is inane. It doesn't solve the problem, but instead is simply a side-show that distracts from the main issues. It's a means to profit off of the naive feelings and emotions of kids who lack the intellectual rigor to study a real discipline in college, but enough of their parents money they can afford not to (just like women's studies, or any hyphenated American studies). It does nothing to help its participants.

To champion "male causes" or fight against "the war on boys" the tools already exist in the form of the public forum. The internet, the media, your legislators, the judicial system and (above all) your personal decisions are all one needs to help the cause of men.

The idea of making it a "science" or a "discipline," where no doubt taxpayer money would be used, is frankly insulting and beneath all real men and their standards everywhere. Besides, in creating a "male studies" program, how are we now any different than those who participate in a "womens studies" program?

It's Tough to Pay Taxes Without a Job

Which is why I refuse to make more than $30,000 per year and instead take 2 month vacations out West on my motorcycle because, well, even if I wanted to work more;

1. Nobody's hiring and
2. Why would I do such a thing when i'd only get to keep half the extra money.

More Courting Advice from the Captain

Recessions are great things in that they force reality upon people.

Oh sure, little Suzie, you can major in communications with a minor in Ethiopian-Czech-American-History. But if a recession comes, you'll be living with mommy and daddy once again (whilst no doubt spouting how independent you are).

But for men (and those women of a certain mechanical nature) recessions do two things that do actually provide an upshot;

1. They cut your income
2. They increase the amount of free time

These two factors forces you to consider a long lost art from the Manly Men of Yore;

Fixing and repairing things.

With less income, you can't afford to fix your motorcycle.

With more time, you CAN learn how to fix it yourself.

And if you combine all these factors, you may actually come out financially ahead on account you are at a lower income tax bracket, but still have the same disposable income because you're fixing things on your own.

For example the Captain is rapidly become an excellent motorcycle mechanic. Advantages?

1. Saving tons of money.
2. Learning a new skill.
3. Increased sexual attraction from the ladies (and no, I'm not making that up, you just see what happens when you walk back inside the house all mucked up in grease and sweat and see what happens)

Or another example, I installed my own wood burning stove. Advantages?

1. Saving money on heat bills (TONS of money on account I live in Minnesota).
2. Learning new carpentry skills.
3. Increased sexual attraction from the ladies (not just because you are being manly constructing new things, but the ladies do seem to like nice warm fires on cold, blustery winter nights)

It is here men, that regardless of your occupation or profession, you must learn some blue collar skills. Not just to save money or prepare for an inevitable decline of the country where a Mad Max world would be upon us. And not just for the psychological benefit that comes with actually producing something (of which Barry O knows nothing about). But because it is a huge advantage in the dating world.

Go to any university and there's little Suzie (once again majoring in 13th Century Feminist Interpretive Dance). She's a cutie and her car breaks down. Oh no! Who will save Cutsie Suzie?

Will it be Tanner Jones-Feelingsman, a fellow 13th Century Feminist Interpretive Dance major, and sensitive 90's man extraordinaire?

Will it be Gaylan McHippie-Goatee, a poetry major whose parents couldn't teach him the difference between a phillips or a flat head screw driver, but he uses a reusable bag when he goes to Whole Foods?

Or will it be Mike Jones, regular ole American guy whose dad, instead of giving him a free ride through college, bought him a Stanely Tool set and taught him how to fix cars?

You young men figure that one out.

Link Fest!

He's tired, he should enjoy the decline!

"like getting banned by a store you don’t visit"

Why the colonel (a real economist) should replace Paul Krugman (a fake one)

Drink before watching.

5th Grade Economics

I have maintained that economics is above all else, simple.

It's common sense.

It's easy.

And if you're just willing to spend the 3 minutes or so to check something out on the internet to see if something is true or not, it becomes very apparent how pretty much all of the world's problems can be solved.

And so, now an economics lesson your average 5th grader can understand.

The Republicans have proposed $74 billion in budget cuts from the Federal Budget. They will catch hell for this and be called racist and evil and so forth.

I ask you, is this anywhere near solving the problem?

I > Society

"Me and my beliefs are more important than adhering to any modicum of unspoken and generally accepted societal decorum because ultimately I am more important and better than the rest of society."

I shall file this under, "Girls who make it painfully obvious I don't want to date them."

Post Post

This is a comment (rarely do I post them) and I want you to view it as if we were studying something scientifically in a cage. The reason why is it exemplifies precisely the psychology I'm talking about and reiterates my point;

I see absolutely nothing wrong with breast feeding in public. What's the big friggin deal? Somebody's "sensibilities" might get offended? Because god forbid somebody get offended, we should have laws against that shit so nobody will ever have to feel bad again. Ever.

I shall point out just these few points and leave the rest to you guys;

1. The absurdity about making laws so that nobody feels bad anymore. I feel bad this person has the right to vote. I feel bad I can't drive 100 MPH on the interstate. I feel bad a democrat is president. I feel bad Green Bay won the super bowl. So let's outlaw these things? It's so childish and inane the point needn't be hounded.

2. Notice I've made no demands or requests to outlaw breast feeding in public. I merely am pointing out many people find it inappropriate and will continue to find it inappropriate, whether it's legal or not, and when confronted with the fact that this might deter potential suitors, the cage is severely rattled.

Enjoy the decline!

Recession Medicine

Priorities;

Working to Pay for Somebody Else to Take Care of Your Children

I shall summarize these lengthy economic studies quickly and succinctly so you needn't bother with reading them in their entirety.

When both parents work, there is nobody there to take care of the children.

Ergo, the feeding, raising, rearing and general "bringing up" of the child is foisted upon the government.

This necessitates a higher government spending as a percent of GDP which correlates with more labor force participation by women.

HOWEVER,

Because more and more women are working, this increases GDP per capita (which is a good thing)

HOWEVER,

Think about the two statements above.

Think about it....


THIIIIIINK ABOUT IT!!!!


KEEP THINKING!!!!


What do your economic spidey senses tell you!????!!!


And you will probably realize that in essence (and with an admittedly VERY broad stroke of a brush I am painting here) women have essentially given up being stay at home moms so they may work up the tax dollars to pay government paid strangers to bring up their own children.

READ THAT AGAIN

women have essentially given up being stay at home moms so they may work up the tax dollars to pay government paid strangers to bring up their own children.

Matter of fact, if you think about the plurality of jobs women pursue, it is simply to take care of other women's children (teachers, social workers, day care, nannies, etc.). But hey, at least they're not bothered bringing up their own icky yuck gross children. I mean, at least they don't have to spend time with them. I mean who wants to do THAT? They are too busy working up the money to pay taxes to pay some government worker to take care of their children. Thank god for outsourcing! I mean, otherwise you might have sit down dinners and conversation and a healthy nuclear family void of divorce.

Now imagine,

JUST IMAGINE (and I know this is going to be a revolutionary thought)

if ONE PARENT STAYED AT HOME TO BRING UP THEIR OWN CHILDREN

AND

ANOTHER PARENT WORKED TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY!

Then you wouldn't need to have two parents working because the government wouldn't need the taxes to bring up other people's children, because (drum roll please)....

YOU'D BE BLEEPING TAKING CARE OF YOUR OWN BLEEPING CHILDREN!!!!

I know! CRAZY STUFF! huh!? I mean, society should try that sometime! Oh, it would be experimental and we don't know what the results would be. But, pha, I don't have my "doctoroate in sociology" or "family psychology" so what do I know? I'm just an economist.

In the meantime I will continue to enjoy watching parents forced to slave away to pay other parents to take care of their children through forever increasing taxation so they can afford the outsourcing fee to pay governmental strangers to bring up those yucky icky gross children of theirs.

BIG Hat tip

It's Called "Capital Flight"

This one, with such a small mention in the Pioneer Press, almost slipped past the radar.

Of course, this is good that BP is shutting down it's refining capacity here (good luck finding a buyer). Because BP is an evil oil company and we don't want any of those jobs here in the US.

"Well My Husband is a Republican, So So Am I!"

This is a really big pet peeve of mine.

And let me explain why.

Politics, tainted as it may be as a "hobby," is one of the more noble ones in that it shows you actually care about the country. THis is why this blog is here and arguably why you are here. You care about the future of the country and so you opine, theorize, and if you're particularly intellectually honest, study and research the facts and then form an opinion.

But Bruni, all of the sudden, deciding she is "not so left wing anymore" is just another example of a another typical leftist-turned-conservative because "her husband is conservative." It's akin to the "Sean Hannity Trophy Wives" I spoke about before where a "typical" 20 something girl with the politically correct liberal arts degree, swallows the leftist BS whole and skips along in la la liberal land during her 20's with no serious or rigorous thought given to her supporting a leftist ideology and what the ramifications are for her country and future in voting so.

Then comes along the first REAL challenge and responsibility she ever has face - a husband and children.

This heavy dose of reality does two things.

1. She now has something more important than her politics (her husband). And since supporting liberal causes was not really an passionate ideology for her as much as it was a "hobby" or something "fashionable" to do, she abandons it to pursue a family.

2. When kids come into the equation, HOOO BOY! Now the woman has genuine skin in the game in the future. And instead of being worried about whether there will be a Sex and the City 3, she now has plenty o' time to think about what kind of future her child will grow up in (which is why I LOVE it when liberal Gen X'ers start having children and all of the sudden start to take an interest in the federal deficit).

Of course, while this is disproportionately a phenomenon you see with women, men are the same to blame too. THough I like listening to him very much, Michael Medved was a liberal. And if I recall correctly Dennis Prager was one too (in his youth??? Or am I thinking of another talk show host?) Took my old man 55 years of life to finally get past "stage 1 thinking" and realize "just throwing money at the poor" doesn't solve anything. Here, I'm even more harsh on men because I want to say, "WHAT THE HELL!? Where the hell have you been??? You're FINALLY GETTING THIS NOW?! Great, thanks for effing up everything up with your past 30 years of voting. Oh, and look, you get to die off and not see the destruction you've wrought upon this country!"

Of course the catalyst which brings about men's realization that youthful leftism is stupid and ultimately unsustainable is usually the real world. The working world. That when you're done with college and the smoking pot and partying, you realize "claiming to be a liberal to score with chicks" might have some long term and serious consequences if you don't grow up. It's not because, "Oh, all of my buddies are Republican, so I am too!"

But now that I think about it. Perhaps not. How else can you explain union members religiously voting left all the time when Detroit has been gutted and the Iron Range is at a mere fraction it's former employment.

Recession Medicine

How men view women on the internet - By Haley

Top 10 Worthless Degrees

Brilliant!

Should be forwarded to any youth contemplating going to college, just as this book should be mandatory reading for all kids considering college.

But what I particularly like is the comments section where the veritable morons with these degrees come to defend them. Oh, it's priceless!

Enjoy that decline!

Support, Indifference, Nag, Complain, or Tantrum

A short one and then I must go.

This one is for the ladies out there who I occasionally like to dispense courting/dating advice to. However, unlike advice you find in Cosmo or Oprah, my advice actually works.

When it comes to your man making a decision (of things that are NOT vital in nature or vital to your relationship) you have five options in how you're going to respond or react to his decision;

Support
Indifference
Nag
Complain
or
Tantrum

Of these five options, only two are acceptable, support and indifference.

Support is preferable in that your man has already made up his mind and is going to take action regardless of whether you agree with him or not. And I want you to understand that statement

- he has already made up his mind and is going to take action regardless

This is what real men do. And if you want a real man, and not some compliant beta type who always asks, "well what do you want dear????," then you have to understand that you are not going to always agree with him 100%, and therefore whether you agree with him or not, he's going to do it. Therefore, you may as well support him.

The man (or at least real men) will be thankful for your support and love you that much more knowing you condone his actions and will therefore brag to his friends, "My god, I have the most supportive wife/girlfriend. She BOUGHT ME ammo for our hunting trip!"

Indifference is also acceptable. This is where your man says, "I'm going to play poker with the guys and smoke cigars." And you, completely indifferent, if not thankful you'll get him out of the house for a couple hours dismiss him nonchalantly saying, "Yeah, yeah, go, have fun."

Then we get into the unacceptable responses.

Nagging - NOT ACCEPTABLE. Again, going back to the premise he is going to carry out his mission regardless, all nagging achieves is raising his blood pressure. It's not even that you are contesting or questioning his decision, as much as you are interrogating him about all the nuances and details that are irrelevant. Not to mention, the more you nag him about it, the more he is delayed from finishing his mission. This only agitates men and does not help you on account he will now entertain thoughts of greener, non-nagging pastures.

Complaining - Again, complaining is acceptable when you are talking about decisions of importance. For example do you want children? Where should you live? But for decisions of not-importance complaining not only has the annoying benefits of nagging, but you now have guilt added to it. The man now has to worry and wonder (while he's carrying out his mission because he was going to carrying it out regardless) as to whether "going fishing with the guys" is angering you and now damaging the relationship. And while he's working the extra hours at work to make ends meet, he now gets the unnecessary and unneeded stress of having to worry about his home/social life. Congratulations! You've now made him plan his next vacation to Greener Pastures!

Tantrum - Your beloved Captain hasn't ran into this one in about 4 or 5 years on account it really is more of a 20 something phenomenon, but he has ran into the occasional 30 something woman that still resorts to this unacceptable response. Tantrum is where you morph into a child and go psychotic. This happens. You Captain remembers starkly having an ex girlfriend throw a tantrum on I-35 in downtown Minneapolis so violent, he had to threaten her that he'd dump her out on the side of the rush hour interstate. Another ex threw one while in the Lowry tunnel on I-94 (what is it with women throwing tantrums on the interstate???). Why were they throwing tantrums? The first one because I had to cancel a date that night so I could work to put food on the table. The second one because I failed to purchase her a soda when we filled up for gas.

Obviously tantrum is not only not acceptable, but understand ladies, it is so vile that you have not upshot at all. The man now will be re-enforced to carry out his mission simply to annoy you. Also, in displaying this drama queen behavior, any real man will dump your psychotic ass and have purchased a condo in Greener Pastures.

Thankfully I've aged to the point this is no longer a semi-annual event, but I mention it for the benefit of the younger 20 somethings out there who through poor parental upbringing, reading too many Cosmo magazines or watching too many movies have been led to believe this is somehow acceptable behavior.

Now go and enjoy a much improved courting life!

Wall Street In La-La Land

Does anybody see the problem here and how it relates to 401k plans and IRA's?

Cripes.

Music Therapy is a Worthless Degree

Yes, son. Sorry to say, it is.

You see, the primary reason why, despite what your professors will tell you, is that the entire profession, the entire industry, you job can be replaced by a CD or an MP3 player.

If you don't believe me, ask how many of the music professors are music therapists? And what few are actually employed in that field, ask them where they make most of their money. That's right, off of suckers like you thinking you're going to get paid to play music!

It's the old saying,

"When there's a gold rush, don't pan for gold. Sell gold pans."

So kids, listen to your Old Uncle Cappy. He's trying to help you here and make sure you don't impoverish yourself. He isn't trying to be mean. DON'T MAJOR IN MUSIC THERAPY!

Read this here book and find out for yourself. Worth the $5 on Kindle to save you the $60,000 you'd drop on your worthless degree.

The Cowardice of Men

It's late January.

And in the Captain's world that means it's time to start the largest quarter of dance classes-Winter Quarter. A full month has passed. People have received their community ed brochures in the mail. Finally get around to signing up for a class. And BOOM! Off we go for a solid 6 months of teaching dance with the goal of taking a 2 month vacation out west with my motorcycle.

Of course something that continually catches me off-guard is the severe lack of men in the dance classes. The reason why I'm caught off guard is because during January I try to take a vacation, finish invoicing for the previous year, and finish my taxes. And before I know it, BOOM! Classes are starting and I'm starting to get attendance sheets which shows I need to scramble and find 18 extra men for the 18 surplus women I have in my class in 3 hours.

This sets into action a desperate bid on my part to find men. And how do you suppose men respond to me inquiring about their interest in being a pinch hitter in a dance class overflowing with women?

Do they say, "Wow, 18 extra women! COUNT ME IN!"

Do they say, "Dude! Yeah, I'm all over it if there's extra girls!"

or do they say, "Yeah, sure, I'm up for learning something new!"

Hell no.

It's more like,

"WHAT!???? A DANCE class? Are you CRAZY!? There's no way I'm dancing!!!!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!!??? THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M DANCING!!!"

Which has led me to a conclusion.

Men are cowards.

Oh, they'll climb the peak of Mount Everest.

And they'll walk to the South Pole.

They'll land on the moon.

And they'll charge the beaches of Normandy under murderous fire from the nazis.

But when it comes time to spend a FREAKING hour with a girl and move their feet according to a beat or pattern, oh no! That's asking TOO much! That's waaaaaay more daunting that walking through a mine field while getting shelled during Operation Torch.

I often sit here in this little world of mine and ask myself how I compare to my American male peers. And as much as I would like to think that I am just an average guy of average build and strength, I realize that I am not so much a "super man" as much as I am simply an old school man, which despite my physicality, makes me supremely more alpha than my modern day American beta male counterparts. I have this somehow "god like power" to have the courage to (GASP!) ASK A FREAKING GIRL TO DANCE which most men don't. And somehow that just doesn't sit right with me. I've never faced battle. I've on occasion have faced death. But on the grand scheme of things, dancing with girls (even when I was a rookie) just plain didn't seem that damn threatening.

Ergo, men of the Cappy Cap Capposphere-

Get off your ass.

Grab a girl.

Go sign up for a dance class.

And dance!

I honestly don't know why I have to write these things.

The Captain's Adventures in Mexico

This is the explanation for the lack of posts. Vacation in Mexico.

This is me smoking a cuban at 9 in the morning. It was after an early morning swim in the Gulf. Notice the sincere lack of contributing to GDP. Also notice the consumption of a non-US good whilst enjoying the services of a non-US country. I call this my "Enjoying the Decline" face.


This is in Chichen Itza, one of the largest Mayan archeological finds. I have always wanted to go there since I was a kid. The purpose for my pose is to blend in with the skulls carved into rock behind. They were all very smiling.

This is a building.

This is the main pyramid in Chichen Itza. I thought you could climb it, but apparently it is frowned upon by the local federales. No touchy.

As with all vacations your Captain takes, it was more adventure and exploration than lying around a beach doing nothing. However, if you do go to the Yucatan peninsula, I strongly advise NOT going to Chichen Itza on that sad account it takes;

1. 3 hours to get there because the Mexicans drive real slow.

2. When you get there they have unfortunately allowed the local vendors to sell all their trinkets and crap completely ruining the experience for you. And you might say, "wow, how can only a few vendors ruin such a grand experience." NO, trust me, there are literally hundreds of them harassing you the entire time. Imagine Glacier National Park or Yellowstone with hundreds of people constantly hounding you to buy a shirt no matter where you went or what mountain you'd climb.

Cusano Cigars vs. Cuban Cohibas

Cuban cigars, as I'm sure you're well aware of are the "best" in the world.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and well, whoever else said they were.

But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and once again capitalism has beaten the living crap out of one of the few things to maintain its decency under communism.

Cigars

Your Captain is currently in Mexico right now and exercised his Mexican right to purchase Cuban cigars (because as an AMERICAN I CAN'T buy Cuban cigars in America, because I am afterall an American).

I had one about 4-5 years ago in Canada (you can look up the video here for an excerpt of my trip). Very good. One of the best. Admittedly, I'm not an aficionado, but I do know my cigars.

That is until I found the Cusano M-1.

$4.

Smooth.

Flavorful.

But better than all that what I really liked is the fact I have NEVER had to "work" at keeping an M-1 lit. You light it once, you puff on it at your leisure and you can actually ENJOY the damn thing, rather than feel like you're trying to siphon gas or give mouth to mouth. The drag is perfect and once lit, it burns AMAZINGLY even.

Meanwhile, I just spent the better part of an hour on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico working harder than I ever did before just to keep a damn Cuban Cohiba lit. The taste was good, don't get me wrong. But I don't want to have my moonlit night ruined huffing and puffing away at a cigar that just won't obey (and paid $13 for it!).

So do yourselves a favor. Instead of going with a has-been, just go here and order yourself some damn fine cigars. You want the-

Cusano
M-1
TORPEDO CUT

This is Not Your Father's Recession

I like using housing starts as a 6-18 month predictor of the economy.

Why?

Housing starts predict unemployment by 6-18 months quite well. Housing starts will tank, and sure enough 6-18 months later unemployment starts to tank. Housing market bottoms out and starts to recover, unemployment sure enough peaks 6-18 months later.

But what if housing starts stay stubbornly low?

Notice in the chart housing starts usually recover immediately, bottoming out and immediately recovering resulting in a very V shape recovery. However, (despite all the stimulus money and low interest rates and first time home buyer credits) housing starts remain stubbornly low this time around, matter of fact, staying quite low and flat for pushing three years;



So, my fine fellow economists, what do you suppose this means for unemployment?

I know the answer is simple, but keep in mind those brilliant economic geniuses at the Fed and Obama's economic team can't figure this out. Which makes you essentially all tippy top super official professional economists!

Cannot Go Unpublishished, Nor Unforwarded

I neither condone nor condemn any of the commentary here. But here is a simple excerpt from the post that cannot go unpublished, nor unforwarded;

"Listen to me. A good woman ages beautifully. When I look at my wife, I see the most gorgeous woman in the universe. Her wrinkled hands got that way by keeping up with my two boys and working hard for them while I was on the road. The lines under her eyes are from years of shedding tears for me when I was at war, and those wrinkles on her brow are from decades of worry for me and my two sons. It was her legs they held on to when they were learning to walk, her lap was where they learned to read, and her breasts were their first nourishment. The first kiss those boys ever received was from her lips, and God willing, my last kiss will be from her lips."

Those evil alpha males.

Frugality Will Replace the 401k

Because the 401k can be confiscated by the government, whereas living frugally cannot.

Just make sure you don't have kids or get married. The two biggest liabilities in the US.

Wow, Guess We Ain't Going to Sweden

I knew Sweden was known for being one of the more advanced countries when it came to getting women into positions of power, but I had no idea how far and invasive the concept of "gender neutrality" has permeated the psyche over there. And I'm not talking about something legitimate like a "pay gap." I'm talking about things where people are complaining about playgrounds being sexist and girls being denied the right to wear pretty clothes when they're in gymnastics class because that would define gender.

It's an insightful and scary piece, but I have a simple question;

Where the hell are all the men in Sweden?????

Credentialism Killed the Radio Star

"Unfortunately, our society is becoming more and more obsessed with standardized credentials, even as there has been a broad devaluation of the credentials themselves"

I would only add to this one aspect nobody has thought of in the credentialism world;

Inbreeding.

In hiring the "perfect" candidates all the time, you hire essentially the genetically same, obedient, automotons you always do. This creates a problem in that like any organic creature, too much of the same type leaves them susceptible to disease, threats, predators or any change in their environment.

While applicable in terms of biological evolution and survival of the fittest, in having psychologically homogeneous employees (of a meek, obedient type), the corporate entity as a whole is;

1. Unable to identify external threats (or opportunities).
2. UnWILLING to inform superiors about threats or opportunities (as rocking the boat ist VERBOTEN!)
3. Too established in their corporate culture to be nimble enough to adapt quickly enough to a changing environment in order to survive.

Consider it this way. In today's American economy do we need another conformist, mass produced, obedient MBA, or Captain Jack Sparrow?

Of course we need revolutionary leaders like Captain Jack, but could you imagine HR EVER letting in somebody like that to their pristine, sterile corporate worlds?

Well, enjoy the decline people. Enjoy the decline.

Bypassing HR

I did a little research to see what the rule of thumb was on bypassing HR in terms of finding jobs and found it rather interesting.

Camp One - The "Golem HR Nazi Camp"

"NO!!! YOU NEEDS US!!! MY PRECIOUS!!!! THE POWER WE NEED!!! WE ARE IMPORTANT WE TELL US SO!!!! YOU NEEEEEEEEDS US!!!!!!"

"If you bypass us we'll kick your ass (even though we admit we're pretty useless)"

Camp Two - The Real world

All the hiring is done through networking and bypassing HR.

"Avoid HR like the plague"

"I receive more unqualified applicants from HR than qualified"

"HR can only tell you no."

"I'm from HR and even I'M telling you to avoid HR."


Ah, HR. Crushing deficits, high corporate taxes, frivolous lawsuits and over-burdensome regulation cannot hold a candle to your ability to keep the US economy from growing and booming.

The Canadian Drive By Media

Understand if there is a archetype "Crusader" it is a journalist. Whereas ideally people who become journalists would have the truth be their ultimate goal, most are crusaders who sadly just make themselves shills for a political crusade.

Why is it then journalists and media types are so prone to become crusaders?

Because they are predisposed to it. The type of person who goes and majors in journalism commits the "First Sin of Crusaderism" by majoring in something that doesn't take a lot of effort, doesn't really produce anything of value, yet expects society still provide them a living has a dishonest personality. They don't care about anything as noble as reporting the truth and being the fourth branch of government. They care only of themselves and shills whatever one political group or another tells them to go.

Recession Medicine

Whilst society and the economy collapses, take yourself a respite from the decline and enjoy some Louie Armstrong

The Youth Will Turn on the Left

I know this sounds impossibly optimistic of me, but when I was hastily putting together the Worthless Degree seminar, I saw a TON of YouTube videos on younger folk who are VERY angry about their degrees and how they just got scammed out of thousands of dollars. And although young and completely ignorant enough to be taken in by the "Hope and Change and Unicorns" bit, what they are experiencing is that ultimate crushing collapse that "has to happen" before people wake up and realize the reality of the situation we're in.

Conservatives and capitalists are quite familiar with this "collapse-requirement" simply because when we've argued with liberals and leftists in the past, especially the younger ones, it's impossible to reason with them. Facts and data don't even phase them. And what you realize in a very short time is that NOTHING you say will convince them otherwise and only a crushing, collapse of their well-being and reality will get them to start to think they may be wrong.

I believe that collapse is here.

Not that the entire US economy is collapsing and we'll all be Mad Maxing it next week, but in terms of their lives and perspectives and ESPECIALLY their futures, the youth cannot view it as anything but a collapse. And the culprit?

The left's most powerful institution;

Education.

Understand education is how the left survives. Shamelessly by targeting young, ignorant and uneducated children and brainwashing them into believing in socialism. But now with the recession continuing on into Obama's 3rd year and no turn around or promises coming true or being delivered upon, the youth I believe will turn against the left faster than most of us could hope.

Why?

The one thing the youth had that we didn't have as youth;

The Internet.

It's not like you can't look up tax rates. It's not like you can't look up budgets. It's not like you can't look up any factual data out there and (if you are intellectually driven to do so) find out the truth.

And it is these two things that is going to turn arguably the left's most reliable voting bloc against them.

Just watch some of the videos below and you'll see what I'm talking about;

Domino Sugar

More proof there's a sucker born every minute.

On a side note, if you're interested about telling Domino Sugar about how you like being proselytized and lectured to about going green, you can tell them here.

Because after all, you are all are a bunch of fascist anti-environmental nazis unless you buy "green" Domino sugar.

Adios "Red Headed Eskimo"

Sadly Richard Winters has passed away.

Hopefully Nix and Spiers can finally get him to drink.

Is My Degree Worthless?

That is an outstanding question. And hopefully if you've searched it on the internet, you landed here.

In short, most of you youth have been lied to about education. The lies are many and varied, but the key ones are;

1. Any education is good education (ie-it doesn't matter what you major in)
2. Follow your heart, the money will follow (or some variant thereof)
3. Employers just want to see that you can get a degree. What you do with it afterwards, is up to you.
4. Education is a great investment
5. You should go to grad school

Behind this is a genuine conspiracy to separate you from your tuition money as quickly as possible as generations of worthless-degreed people before you try to recoup the money they pissed away on worthless degrees via the educational system.

But all hope is not lost. YOu are probably 22 or 23 and think your life is over, but in reality since every school requires so many damn "pre-requisites" you've only wasted half your education.

However, before you return to college or trade school, I would strongly recommend dropping the money ($5 on Kindle, $12.95 for the paperback) on the book "Worthless."

This book was specifically written for young people like you in mind. Kids who either had no guidance in terms of choosing a major or kids who were misled into forfeiting $50,000 and 4 years of their youth on some worthless degree.

Buy it. Read it. Tell your friends about it.

It will be money much better spent on your "masters in sociology" or whatever.

Let Me Explain to You My Step Father

So I get an e-mail from my step father (which is a miracle unto itself because my step-dad LITERALLY just got a computer 3 years ago and a freaking answering machine 5 years ago, but has yet to buy himself a freaking CELL PHONE! but this is all an aside).

So he asks me

"I was stationed in Germany and one of my favorite songs was from Louie Armstrong. It was played back in 1959. I don't remember the lyrics and I can't remember the song, but can you find it for me?"

I do the typity type in the ole Bing and find a group of songs from an album Ole Sachtamo created in BELGIUM in 1959.

We find out the song is title "Ole Sachtmo's Lullaby"



So why am I writing this?

So you schmoes appreciate my step dad! The only REAL purpose of this post is to honor my ole stepfather AND for two things.

1. He WILLINGLY did 4 tours in Vietnam and retired as a senior master sergeant (which now explains to all of you why I am the way I am on account I had a reverend for a father and a drill sergeant for a step father). Regardless, Americans owe him a pound of thanks and gratitude.

2. At a very young age (8 I estimate) he instilled in me the seed of independent thought. He was pointing out some program at some college where they provided free child care for single moms whilst the moms went and pursued their degrees in whatever worthless pursuits they were pursuing. He said and I distinctly remember;

"Isn't that nice they pay for the child care of all those mothers?"

I said in a very 8 year old innocent way, "yes, it is!"

"I wonder who pays for that all." he said.

I said, "I don't know. Who!?"

He said, "Oh, you do kid. You do!"

And (I'm being serious here) that planted the seeds of independent thought in me to inevitably question the reality and logic of everything I heard ever since and made me who I am today (in terms of my political and ideological economic thought). In short he is responsible for bringing you the monster known as Cappy Cap.

For you see, the Ole Sergeant Major certainly did more than his fair share fighting commies and Charlie back in Vietnam. And the Ole Sergeant Major fought valiantly for the freedom of the Southern Vietnamese not to mention the rest of the world from the greatest evil to plague this planet. But I often wonder if he realizes the old adage;

"The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword"

I often wonder with the estimated 50,000 weekly readers I have here if he realizes he did more to advance the causes of liberty, freedom and independence than he might have realized he would back when he dispensed his fatherly wisdom in 1984. I do often wonder if he really truly genuinely realizes just how much he achieved by being man enough to instill independent thought upon a young child and what would happen with the technology of the internet.

Regardless, play the youtube video above and appreciate what the ole Sergeant Major did for all of us.

Going Green Fad Continues!

Six Sigma.

HOw far you have fallen.

Worthless Degree Seminar

I cannot emphasis enough how important this seminar is. Not so much for us readers of the Capposphere, but more importantly for the youth that are about to embark on a college path.

Ideally, this video will be watched, IN ITS ENTIRETY by kids from the ages of roughly 13-18 BEFORE they decide what they want to go to college for. The left are masters at indoctrinating the youth, this is simply a countermeasure to give the poor youth of this country a dose of reality and GENUINE hope of a future productive career and life. Not general pleasantries about them all being winners and somehow good thoughts and going green is going to get them jobs that will put food on the table.

Regardless, here's the first video and subsequent links below. Please force any children, nieces, nephews, etc., to watch this on account it really is about the best thing you can do for them;



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

This Was Not Made By a Sociology Major

But don't worry.

Again, our salvation is in education, ANY education and recycling and going green.

In the meantime I would love to see how many sociology majors there are in China.

Brilliant Romance Advice From the Captain

Flowers are a waste of time, however, if you insist on buying your girl flowers, do so on a day it is not to be.

For example, Tuesdays are great days to get your lovely some flowers.

She will say, "Why did I get flowers?"

And you will say, "Because it's Tuesday, babe."

And for a fraction of the cost it would cost you on Valentines Day, you've impressed her 100x's more than when you were "supposed" to buy her flowers.

This has been a public service announcement by the Captain

Why I Don't Contribute to Retirement Accounts Anymore

And won't until I have complete faith that it won't be confiscated to pay for failing socialist programs.

ht

Hogans Heroes vs. Housewives of OC

So twas the night before Christmas and whilst Natasha was away visiting her folks, your Captain had a much needed Cappy-Cap-Time which consisted of a bottle o' Rumpleminze, Borderlands for the 360 and a roaring fire to heat up his little man cave. Nobody was around. It was all 100% Cappy Time. Just me, some strong booze, an awesome video game, and my man cave and a nice long night of slumber.

The routine I've perfected over the years as a bachelor maximizes one's waking hours wherein I do the majority of the physical labor during the day and then lesser-physically demanding activities at night, scaling it down to activities that barely require any physical effort. So I usually work out in the morning (which for me is noon-1PM), take class, teach a class, go dance and then retire at home. The last two stages of this routine however is;

Stage T-1 - Play video games
Stage T - Watch TV
Liftoff - Sleepy bye

My favorite show is Hogans heroes and so what I do when I can no longer play video games effectively is I fire up the laptop, go to TV Land and watch old episodes of Hogan's Heroes and drift off to sleep.

However, this Christmas Eve I was shocked to find out that TV Land no longer broadcasts Hogan's Heroes in the internet anymore.

Which made it a cold and horrible Christmas.

Of course, I can watch the "Housewives of OC" or "Housewives of Atlanta" or the "Housewives of Arkon." Because, well, you know, THAT'S CULTURE. You know Hogan's Heroes, that just dumb stupid guy stuff. But Housewives of Duluth! Now we're talking.

Of course this is just more empirical proof that America is in decline when the free market prefers "Housewives of Milwaukee" over "Hogan's Heroes." Sadly, what irks me most about this, is it impairs my ability to enjoy the decline!