Tag Archives: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

complaints

No, I’m not hiring.

When you write a blog, it’s only a matter of time before your site gets noticed by spammers. Sometimes the pitches are infuriating. Sometimes, they’re laughably ridiculous. All the time, they indicate pathetic desperation and a lack of situational awareness.

A few days ago, I got an insulting comment from a guy who purports to be a business communications specialist. This guy, “Richard M. Miles” has a Web site and appears to be hoping people will hire him to help them write content. Mr. Miles is on Linked In, too, and is apparently American, which makes him somewhat of an oddity in the spamming world. He includes his CV on his Web site, along with the invitation to contact him.

In fairness to Miles, he was commenting on a post I wrote last month about how layouts aren’t my forte. I was asking regular blog readers if they thought I should change my template again, along with suggestions for what would work best. I suppose he could make the case that I “asked” for advice. However, I was asking for layout design tips, not writing tips. His comment was that my post was “faaaar too long and wordy”.

Really? This is how you aim to drum up business?

Based on this one patronizing comment from Mr. Miles, I can ascertain that he didn’t read more than that one post, which actually wasn’t that wordy compared to most of my stuff. If he had read more than that one post, he would know that this is a personal blog. That means the posts come from ME, and are in MY voice. My blog is not meant to be “professionally” written, and certainly not edited by someone who leaves comments like the one he left for me. He doesn’t have a clue about me, or the people who regularly read this blog; nor does he know my purpose for writing it.

Brevity is a great thing if you’re writing for business. Time is money. But this blog is not about making money. If I was writing a blog for a business and was short on time, maybe I’d be more interested in what he’s selling. But this blog doesn’t get that much traffic, and even if it did, it’s not a money generator.

I blog because I enjoy it, so I’m not looking for any help with my writing. Maybe my posts are too wordy, TMI, and long for some tastes, but I still have people who visit regularly and some who even seem to enjoy my stuff. Those who don’t enjoy my writing can simply move on to their next station on the Web.

I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could serve as my role model better than Richard M. Miles can.

I was going to forget about my run in with Mr. Miles, but then I got a laughable pitch from someone named Lylah. Lylah claims to be from El Salvador, but according to Statcounter, she’s really from China. She wants to help me write my travel blog, but take a look at her comment and notice how poorly written it is. Even if I wanted to pay someone for content or even just have them write a “guest post” for free, I would never post what she’s offering. Besides, she appears to be selling spamming services more than anything else.

Sorry Lylah, but your writing, at least in English, sucks. I have never written anything entitled “Sursee”. Also, I am not a “Sir”, as clearly indicated by the title of my blog.

I know it’s silly to complain about these posts. Spammers are gonna spam, and there must be some level of success in their efforts, since they keep doing it. However, Mr. Miles’ post wasn’t in the spam section. He apparently has a WordPress handle, which I have now blocked. I had a good laugh at his comment and wondered what his motivation was for leaving it. Did he think it was helpful? Did he think it was welcome? I might have been more inclined to consider his advice if we’d previously connected somehow. If he’d read a few posts before leaving his comment, I might have been more impressed with his “tip”. I might have even taken it to heart instead of just scratching my head.

What Miles did was akin to the guy who leaves Chinese take out menus in your mailbox when you have a “no advertising” sign on it. Or someone who butts into a conversation about politics with an unrelated topic, say, about oral hygiene. Or someone who tries to sell pork and shellfish to Jewish people. I really am puzzled, and wonder if this is the way he successfully generates business. His resume makes it look like he’s been hired a few times, but this method of introducing himself and getting his CV out to the masses is strange to me. He did get me to look at his CV, but not for the “right” reasons.

Anyway… I guess it’s a good thing I don’t do this blogging shit for money.

Arran woke us up at about 3:00am, so I am unusually sleepy this morning. He had a touch of indigestion and threw up foam all over a blanket. I’m now washing all the sheets, which I had planned to do anyway. Laundry takes forever over here, though. My machine has a short cycle, but I don’t use it for the sheets, despite being “filthy” and a terrible housewife. I am tired, though, and it’s kind of cloudy outside. I’ll probably end up taking a nap as I wade through yet another book about Trump’s horrendous character.

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Military

Knuckle draggers…

Ever heard the term “knuckle dragger”? I never had until I met my husband, Bill. Apparently, it gets used a lot in the military, and for good reason.

A few days ago, I read about Florida state Representative Ted Yoho’s misogynistic comments toward New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Last week, Yoho, a Republican male, allegedly called Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat female, a “fucking bitch”. I didn’t get this news from CNN. I got it from a liberal friend of mine who used to live in Florida and is now an English professor at a small college. My friend has horses, and for years, Yoho was her veterinarian. He took care of her horses. She hadn’t seen this side of him when she knew him in his professional role as a veterinarian.

Now, here he is an elected official, tasked to work for the citizens who voted for him, as well as the ones who didn’t. And here he is, accosting another congressperson, calling her an extremely offensive, misogynistic name. Prior to calling her a fucking bitch, Yoho supposedly called her “disgusting”, “crazy”, and “dangerous”. The video below is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s commentary about the incident.

Like so many females, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been called these things before. Here she is, a congressperson, still being called a “fucking bitch” by a man.

I watched the above video and was very impressed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s very powerful speech. I think it’s a pity that we can’t vote for her for president in November. She is very articulate and brave. She said, “I do not need Representative Yoho to apologize to me. Clearly he does not want to. Clearly when given the opportunity he will not. And I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over calling women & using abusive language towards women.” Amen to that. Shame on Yoho for being an abusive yahoo. And shame on people who admire him for this behavior.

Anyway… as I was reflecting on Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, I ran across an article on the Military Times about one of the policies she is championing directed toward military recruitment. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Vice.com that “It’s incredibly irresponsible for the Army and the Navy to be recruiting impressionable young people and children via live streaming platforms…” In other words, she doesn’t think military recruiters should be allowed to find recruits via esports or platforms such as “Twitch”. I’ll admit, I don’t know anything about Twitch, nor do I have a personal interest in this particular fight. My comments are toward the people reading the Military Times piece, which was also shared on Army Times, who decided to air their thoughts on Facebook. Behold, a small sampling:

Not all of the opinions are unreasonable… I’m mostly focused on the ones in which she’s called names. One person wrote that she’s only good for giving blowjobs.

I’m always kind of dismayed when I read hateful, sexist, and ignorant comments from veterans. I’m even more dismayed when veterans pull out that tired old “when did you serve?” bullshit. By that logic, the veterans should only be allowed to have an opinion about military issues and nothing else they have not personally experienced. Besides, there’s more than one way to serve one’s country. For instance, someone who has served in the Peace Corps has not only served the United States, but also another country. Someone who is an elected official or works for the government is also “serving” one’s country, as are people employed in helping professions. So I don’t know why so many military folks have this idea that one has to wear a uniform to serve. That’s bullshit of the lowest quality.

I was kind of tempted to leave a comment on this article, which went on for many more threads beyond the sampling I’ve posted here. But then I realized that if I did that, I’d be piled on by some real knuckle draggers… guys like that one dude who said Ms. Ocasio-Cortez should go back to bartending and giving blowjobs. I would bet money, too, that that guy probably never gets any blowjobs himself and is very bitter. It’s my experience that the men who have such anti-woman sentiments are guys who can’t get laid and are mad at the world about it.

As AOC pointed out in her very articulate and beautifully delivered speech, this kind of language usage not new. Most women have heard this kind of talk. Believe me, I’ve been called things like “bitch” and “cunt”, generally by men who really shouldn’t be talking in such terms. It always surprises me when I hear guys talk like this– particularly since so many of them espouse the so-called “family values” party, the Republicans. Don’t these men have mothers, wives, sisters, or daughters? Would they like it if someone called their female loved ones names like “fucking bitch” or “cunt”? Would they appreciate hearing that their female loved ones are only good for giving blow jobs and slinging drinks in a bar? As she so eloquently pointed out, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is someone’s daughter, too.

I think it’s a shame that there are so many “knuckle draggers” in the military… and elsewhere, like in the hallowed halls where laws are made. I wonder where it is that these folks learn these attitudes. Were they born this way, or did they fail to get any adequate home training? I wonder why their parents didn’t teach them to have basic respect for other people rather than dehumanizing them with disgusting language.

Oh, I know… they were angry… or they were annoyed, or frustrated by the woman… and she “had it coming” somehow. I’m sure that was what one revolting government service employee said regarding a discussion he had with me. This man is married and has two daughters, yet he had on his public Facebook page memes that read “Fuck me like you hate me”, and other charming sentiments. And yes, he called me and other women “cunt”. I’m ashamed for his wife, who willingly made daughters with this vile representative of the male species. I can only imagine what kinds of reprehensible things he says to them when no one else is listening.

Count me as extremely grateful that my husband’s parents made sure he knew better and raised their son to respect all people, including women. I only wish we could have had a child together. I know he would have cherished and protected him or her and served as a fine example of how someone should behave. Representative Yoho should be deeply ashamed of himself for verbally abusing Representative Ocasio-Cortez, especially since he used misogynistic insults. I can only guess that his parents didn’t raise him properly, and that he’s served as an equally poor example to his daughters. And the people– mostly men– on Army Times who air their shockingly ignorant and offensive opinions about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other strong women like her, should also hang their heads in shame, as should their families, who failed to raise them properly. Unfortunately, I think they’re too ignorant to see the errors of their ways.

Oliver Reed had a very cultured accent, but he too was a misogynistic asshole… Johnny Carson was definitely a pro.
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