July 23, 2012
— DrewM Karol, of Alarming News fame, was born in Russia but thanks to her family and our good luck, she came to America as a child and still celebrates her arrival.
I don't want to steal too much of it because you need to read it all but this is too perfect.
In 1977, the year I was born and the year my father, his mother, his aunt and many other Jews left the Soviet Union (my mother and I left in 197, the Soviet propaganda machine began circulating a rumor. It went, roughly: life in America is so terrible that the old people eat cat food.
This wasÂ…perplexing.
People didnÂ’t quite get it: they have food specifically made for cats in America? What a country!
A lot of things about America remained beyond their comprehension.
Never ever forget that there were and still are people who believed passionately that America is fatally flawed and authoritarian command systems like the Soviet Union are to be preferred.
Pardon my "American-centric belief" but no matter what financial status you were born into, if you were lucky enough to be born an American, you've already won the lottery.
Posted by: DrewM at
12:33 PM
| Comments (197)
Post contains 202 words, total size 1 kb.
Posted by: dick cheese at July 23, 2012 12:35 PM (QupBk)
Posted by: joncelli, heartless Con and all around unpleasant guy at July 23, 2012 12:36 PM (RD7QR)
Posted by: Jones in CO at July 23, 2012 12:36 PM (8sCoq)
Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 23, 2012 12:37 PM (MwQ5M)
Posted by: Dyslexic O'Donnell Wakoff at July 23, 2012 12:38 PM (r2PLg)
Compare numbers between those leaving, and those arriving- should tell the story
I know on the international stage, a lot of our former allies don't trust us to keep our work any more, tho
Posted by: Jones in CO at July 23, 2012 12:38 PM (8sCoq)
We are flawed. There are many things about America that could be better.
It's just that it's the best place in the world, and we do it better than everyone else.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at July 23, 2012 12:39 PM (nEUpB)
Posted by: Margaret Sanger at July 23, 2012 12:39 PM (NpR/e)
Posted by: nickless at July 23, 2012 12:39 PM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Dyslexic O'Donnell Wakoff at July 23, 2012 12:39 PM (r2PLg)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 23, 2012 12:40 PM (QxSug)
And you'll go broke buying it, and the cats will prefer your dinner. Fuzzy bastards.
Posted by: HeatherRadish™ at July 23, 2012 12:40 PM (ZKzrr)
Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 23, 2012 12:40 PM (MwQ5M)
Posted by: dick cheese at July 23, 2012 12:40 PM (QupBk)
Posted by: USS Diversity at July 23, 2012 12:41 PM (2d71t)
Posted by: t-bird at July 23, 2012 12:41 PM (FcR7P)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 23, 2012 12:41 PM (QxSug)
Socialism...and it's mutant babysitter, Communism....is the most anti-consumer system of government, to ever be invented.
Posted by: wheatie at July 23, 2012 12:41 PM (MbB0O)
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 23, 2012 12:41 PM (cQpP1)
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at July 23, 2012 12:42 PM (ItElo)
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 12:42 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: Tim the Enchanter at July 23, 2012 12:42 PM (izA2D)
Posted by: pep at July 23, 2012 12:42 PM (hPNaa)
This post almost made me start getting excited about the Olympics, until I remembered that our athletes will be wearing berets.
Its not the same as it once was, but I still like watching us beat them.
Posted by: SH at July 23, 2012 12:43 PM (gmeXX)
Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 23, 2012 12:43 PM (MwQ5M)
Posted by: Slobovian in a breadline at July 23, 2012 12:44 PM (MMC8r)
Never ever forget that there were and still are people who believed passionately that America is fatally flawed and authoritarian command systems like the Soviet Union are to be preferred.
These people should be encouraged to relocate.
I remember growing up and hearing the phrase, "America, love it or leave it." That was used against patriots then, and probably still is today. I was surprised to find out that what the leftards deride us for has a very sound philosophical beginning, with Socrates.http://tinyurl.com/d3uxypp
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at July 23, 2012 12:44 PM (d0Tfm)
You can get corn-based dry food pretty cheap (until the drought catches up), but yeah, it's not really any cheaper than beans and rice.
Posted by: HeatherRadish™ at July 23, 2012 12:44 PM (ZKzrr)
And the Democrat/MFM propaganda machine says that Republicans will force granny to eat cat food. It's almost as if the Democrats/MFM and the Soviets are cut from the same cloth
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 23, 2012 12:44 PM (1Jaio)
Posted by: SuperGuy, Man of Steal at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (/inUg)
I'm currently in France, and half the time, they don't even have seats for the damn toilets.
Posted by: pep at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (hPNaa)
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (ItElo)
Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (MwQ5M)
Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (UOM48)
A Soviet fighter pilot who defected and brought his MIG to the US thought the Americans were tricking him when they took him to a supermarket. He thought it was staged. The Americans thought the MIG was staged. We were well into the transistor age and the MIG had a lot of vacuum tubes in the electronics.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:45 PM (r4wIV)
http://tinyurl.com/yg8rt8b
They wanted to show how bad it was in America. It back fired. The Russian could not believe that even poor people had cars, while they were still riding around in horse carts.
The 95% of the world would trade places with the poorest SOB in this country.
Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual at July 23, 2012 12:46 PM (3ZjAP)
Posted by: Cicero Kid at July 23, 2012 12:46 PM (ytIXh)
Posted by: BlackOrchidPinesForDagny at July 23, 2012 12:46 PM (J6kXj)
They ate cat food?
Luxury.
In 1977, my brother and I had to hunt cats throughout the Carterville shanty town we grew up in for sustenance. "Roof rabbits" my mama would call them.
AND WE WERE GRATEFUL.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 23, 2012 12:46 PM (Mmz34)
America.
Fuck yeah.
Posted by: EC at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (R15UB)
Yeah but they can get the GOODStolichnaya.
Meh, they just get the domestic stuff. We get the imported stuff!
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (d0Tfm)
They constantly lament how the Obama Administration and its unilateral action remind them of the Soviet Union. It actually scares them.
That's not hyperbole or a joke.
Posted by: Exile at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (pmzmP)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (QxSug)
I bet he forgot his safe word again.
Ace, it's 'yub-yub!'
Posted by: Slobovian in a breadline at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Dyslexic O'Donnell Wakoff at July 23, 2012 12:47 PM (r2PLg)
Cisco cutting 1,300 jobs in drive to reduce costs
Well, to be fair, Cisco didn't build those jobs...
Posted by: weft cut-loop [/i] [/b] at July 23, 2012 12:48 PM (mIoJ0)
Satelite TV is what delivered the death blow to communism in the USSR.
In the 80's....people would gather around tvs, watching a satelite feed from a bootlegged dish.
They would see our....commercials.
No translation needed.
The people were amazed at the visions of gleaming grocery stores...full of isles of fully stocked goodies....products that they had never seen before.
No lines.
Just people, calmly pushing their carts through the grocery stores.
This was devastating to the whole propaganda line that the party leaders were dishing out.
Posted by: wheatie at July 23, 2012 12:48 PM (MbB0O)
========
You're welcome.
You didn't do it alone.
And you need to pay me back.
Posted by: the Goverment at July 23, 2012 12:48 PM (kSaUf)
Posted by: Drew in MO at July 23, 2012 12:48 PM (nEo/i)
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 12:48 PM (sO2LD)
Posted by: WalrusRex at July 23, 2012 12:49 PM (Hx5uv)
First thing the Soviets did was strip nekkid and jump in the pool....in front of a foursome of startled golfers.
The second thing they did was go to the nearest drug store to buy deodorant (at their hostess's urging).
Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 23, 2012 12:49 PM (UOM48)
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 23, 2012 12:49 PM (cQpP1)
Posted by: joeindc44 says choom on fuckers at July 23, 2012 12:49 PM (QxSug)
And the canned stuff costs more than TUNA per can. Why would anyone deliberately pay more for lousier food? Its ridiculous.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:50 PM (r4wIV)
He gave a great talk, but the one line that he imparted that never left me was the description of going out to buy some meat.
"You go to the butcher shop. You're there but the meat isn't."
Posted by: Neo at July 23, 2012 12:50 PM (e8kgV)
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at July 23, 2012 12:50 PM (ItElo)
Posted by: Tim the Enchanter at July 23, 2012 12:50 PM (izA2D)
Cisco cutting 1,300 jobs in drive to reduce costs
Holy fuck, they are putting jobs in their hard drives?
Know wonder Seagate is kicking their ass.
Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual at July 23, 2012 12:51 PM (3ZjAP)
---
British East India Company, sort of.
Posted by: RioBravo at July 23, 2012 12:51 PM (eEfYn)
For now.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:51 PM (r4wIV)
if you were lucky enough to be born an American, you've already won the lottery
**
Kind of like me, not only was I born in America...I was born in Hawaii!! I hit the bonus numbers!!
Posted by: Barnak the Original at July 23, 2012 12:52 PM (eavT+)
You should read the book, The Foresaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia. Find out what happened to the people who left the US and went to Stalin's "workers' utopia." Turned out to be hell. Real fast. Fascinating read.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 12:52 PM (Ky1+e)
The 'company' took over Russia. You probably don't mean Organized Crime though.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (r4wIV)
Can we swap all of our fucking brain dead leftards for Russkies like Karol?
That would be like winning the lottery twice!
Posted by: maddogg at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (OlN4e)
You see in Russia, you went to the store and if you were lucky, they had toilet paper. In the US, the supermarket had 26 different varieties .. what is a Russian, untrained in such a decision, to do ?
Posted by: Neo at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (e8kgV)
We were lucky enough to have a Fig Tree in our yard back in '77.<<<
Me too! But the money maker was the pecan tree. We'd get about 10 full paper grocery bags full each fall.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (Mmz34)
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (cQpP1)
Based on stories I've heard maybe 'bear and twink' porn.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:53 PM (r4wIV)
We have, and that's the problem. They see hollywood's idea of proper virtues, morals, what the US is like, etc., and decide they hate us. They look at us through the lens of our local morally degenerate communist minority.
Posted by: Thing from Snowy Mountain at July 23, 2012 12:54 PM (BIJKO)
AND WE WERE GRATEFUL.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 23, 2012 04:46 PM (Mmz34)
-------------------------------------------------
I don't care who ya' are, that's some funny shit right there.
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 12:54 PM (sO2LD)
This was devastating to the whole propaganda line that the party leaders were dishing out.
Kinda like today's Intarwebz, eh?
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at July 23, 2012 12:55 PM (d0Tfm)
The Russians were sure it was a fake.
Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual at July 23, 2012 12:55 PM (3ZjAP)
Posted by: Mooschelle at July 23, 2012 12:55 PM (UOM48)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 12:55 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: dick cheese at July 23, 2012 12:56 PM (QupBk)
btw, anyone hear the caller today that Glenn hung up on?
the man said he was a vet from Afghanistan, maybe he was, but anyway he said let's just let America die with Obama and then we can rebuild it.
Glenn was not having any of it.
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 04:55 PM (9Q7Nu
I heard it. Guy said he'd done three tours in A-Stan. Then he made the incredibly stupid comment that everyone needs to stay home and let Barky win re-election so he can finish destroying the country.....as a lesson to us all.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 23, 2012 12:57 PM (UOM48)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 23, 2012 04:46 PM (Mmz34)
We were lucky to have great neighbors, and when we were hungry we'd go over there and eat.
Unfortunately, people stopped moving into that house after a while as stories about the previous occupants began to circulate.
Posted by: Clutch Cargo at July 23, 2012 12:58 PM (Qxdfp)
You should read the book, The Foresaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia. Find out what happened to the people who left the US and went to Stalin's "workers' utopia." Turned out to be hell. Real fast. Fascinating read.
Thanks, Dang. I'll keep an eye out for it.
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at July 23, 2012 12:58 PM (d0Tfm)
Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 23, 2012 04:57 PM (UOM4
<<<<<<
You know, I see his point of view.
Posted by: maddogg at July 23, 2012 12:59 PM (OlN4e)
I'm pretty sure the nation is done being destroyed anyway, its just a matter of realizing it.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 12:59 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: Brother Cavil presents at July 23, 2012 12:59 PM (GBXon)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 12:59 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual
My dad went to Soviet Russia in the late '80s and was asked if he had a car. He told the Russian he had two. (I think he actually had four at the time.) The Russian asked if his children had cars. He told the Russian both his sons had two cars each. The poor Russian was eating so many carrots to survive his skin was orange.
When Ford moved their old plant to Russia when Stalin was in charge they couldn't find a many Russians who had operated or even seen a screwdriver. You can guess how that worked out.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 01:00 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at July 23, 2012 01:00 PM (ItElo)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:00 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:01 PM (9Q7Nu)
Back in the 80's, there were endless stories of Russian immigrants going to supermarkets in New Jersey and nearly having a nervous breakdown.
**
***
To this day my warehouse manager remembers the first time he visited a NJ supermarket after just arriving from Poland in early 90's. He was floored, didn't know what to do with himself.
Posted by: dananjcon at July 23, 2012 01:01 PM (eavT+)
Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 23, 2012 01:01 PM (MwQ5M)
Yea. They got there (corporation ruling a state), but more fell into it through a series of historical flukes rather than a concerted effort to do so.
And they were still subject to the Crown.
Posted by: beancounter at July 23, 2012 01:01 PM (p18em)
Posted by: WalrusRex at July 23, 2012 01:02 PM (Hx5uv)
Posted by: rickl at July 23, 2012 01:02 PM (zoehZ)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:03 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: toby928© at July 23, 2012 01:03 PM (QupBk)
Posted by: Guy Mohawk at July 23, 2012 01:04 PM (/inUg)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:04 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:05 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:05 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:05 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 05:04 PM (r4wIV) <<<<<<
Thats why the Beck caller says let it go. He thinks we are too far gone to fix. He wants to burn it down and start over. He might be right.
Posted by: maddogg at July 23, 2012 01:06 PM (OlN4e)
Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 23, 2012 01:06 PM (cQpP1)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:06 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:07 PM (9Q7Nu)
If he (and what I fear) is right, it won't matter if we fight or roll over. Its like shaking your fist a volcano or sitting down and waiting for the pyroclastic flow. Neither makes a damn bit of difference.
The only thing you can do is work where you live and ignore the nation as a whole. Focus locally.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:07 PM (r4wIV)
"Apparently, several loyal Soviets were in tears when they saw the abundance and variety on the shelves."
I read the book "MiG Pilot" many years ago about the Soviet pilot who flew a MiG-25 Foxbat from the Russian far east to Japan to defect. The CIA gradually acclimatized him to America through a dedicated CIA "buddy" and also though extended stays with American families specially chosen to help such defectors. Early on he was convinced that the supermarkets his buddy was taking him to were special "potemkin" markets designed to show of to foreigners, so one day he managed to lose his friend, and drove off in search of a "normal" American supermarket.
As he visited his 3rd or 4th randomly chosen supermarket, the awful truth sank in. IIRC he said it was the end of his skepticism, as he was confronted not only with fabulous wealth and comfort taken utterly for granted, but with the understanding that his whole previous life had been based upon an elaborate fabric of lies.
Lots to think about there, especially that there are many among us who are ashamed of success and happiness, and would love for us all to share that shame, and live that lie
Posted by: sherlock at July 23, 2012 01:07 PM (BKPeM)
Propaganda. Believe what you see with your own eyes.
Posted by: hannitys_hybrid at July 23, 2012 01:07 PM (zpqa2)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 23, 2012 01:08 PM (Mmz34)
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at July 23, 2012 01:08 PM (d0Tfm)
----
"Voluntary?" (Shudder) Never did like that word.
Posted by: Barack Obama at July 23, 2012 01:08 PM (Hx5uv)
Posted by: Fritz at July 23, 2012 01:08 PM (0ZJ5N)
Look, I own my properties. No loans, no mortgages, just a tax bill is all the rent I pay. I have a certain amount of sympathy for the restayaz who are sharecropping for a bank, but it only goes so far.
I would live in the country I envision America to be, dirt poor and broke, until it killed me, rather than be on the dole anyplace else. And I can say this because several generations of my family, both sides, did just that. "We" were better off where we came from, but we were in thrall. We didn't like that, so we came here where nobody could tell us what to do. It wasn't always a paying proposition. We've just about broken even on the deal. On the one side, it's 345 years so far.
The "American Standard of Living" should not be what you pledge allegiance to. Now, somebody please make fun of me for that. I have some interesting names I've been saving up to call you.
Posted by: comatus at July 23, 2012 01:09 PM (ZOlM3)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 05:05 PM (9Q7Nu)
--------------------------------------------------
Botswainia?
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 01:09 PM (sO2LD)
Posted by: Social SCIENCE Graduate Student at July 23, 2012 01:09 PM (LIiTJ)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:10 PM (9Q7Nu)
You prefer sex with robots, that's your own business. Keep it your own business.
Posted by: HeatherRadish™ at July 23, 2012 01:11 PM (ZKzrr)
Well the supermarket is an analogy for the wealth and comfort that liberty and self reliance created, not the end all and be all of it. Being poor and free beats being comfortable and wealthy... but in bondage, which we are pretty much right now.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:11 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: jewells45 at July 23, 2012 01:11 PM (UljOc)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 01:11 PM (9Q7Nu)
They're already sending celphone boobie shots.
http ://denbeste.nu/ cd_log_entries/ 2002/03/fog0000000436.shtml
Even if you don't agree with SDB every word is worth reading. Just don't expect to discuss it with him. All he talks about now is anime, for health reasons.
Posted by: DaveA at July 23, 2012 01:11 PM (5sAd/)
Posted by: Liet-Kynes at July 23, 2012 01:12 PM (QupBk)
Because the problem isn't at the top. The government a nation has is a symptom of its worldview and culture. We have President Obama because we are filled as a nation with parasites and celebrity worshipers. Nobody imposed Obama on the United States. We did it to ourselves, because he reflected our nature as a nation.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:12 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: Guy Mohawk
I thought it would be a good schadenfreude read but I was wrong. There were a few instances of "well what did you expect?" but the stories of the children of the expats were just depressing.
What also stood out was how Tzar Nicholas II knew there was gold in Siberia but didn't think mining it was worth the cost of human life. But the champion of the workers, Stalin, sent millions to die in the gold mines of Siberian gulags. Oh, the fucking irony.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 01:12 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: Louie DiPalma at July 23, 2012 01:13 PM (9Q7Nu)
Posted by: soothsayer at July 23, 2012 05:11 PM (9Q7Nu)
--------------------------------------------
Okay okay. I'll be serious. Mongholia?
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 01:14 PM (sO2LD)
Posted by: Buy American Coal, Oil, Natural gas, and Nuclear Power at July 23, 2012 05:12 PM (cBYCG)
Barry: If it was good enough for them. It will be good enough for you. Now excuse me I've got a $35,000 a plate fund raiser to attend
Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 23, 2012 01:14 PM (1Jaio)
---
I'll bet he has a birth certificate that says he was born in Hawaii.
Posted by: WalrusRex at July 23, 2012 01:14 PM (Hx5uv)
As monarchs go, particulary Tzars, Nicholas was a pretty good guy. The Russian monarchy and nobility were like the French monarchy before the revolution on steroids. They practically didn't believe peasants were human. They'd use them for hunting practice.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 01:15 PM (r4wIV)
Posted by: president choom at July 23, 2012 01:16 PM (QupBk)
The issue isn't whether 'old people eating pet food' really happened. The meme was going around in 1978 and referenced plenty in sitcoms and other venues. The Soviet propagandist were just picking upon something a lot of Americans thought was happening and failed to consider what it really said about America to a Soviet subject.
Posted by: epobirs at July 23, 2012 01:18 PM (kcfmt)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 05:12 PM (r4wIV)
------------------------------------------------
This X 1000! This is going to be a bitch to rectify. Until it is, we might get a repreive every once in a while, but until this nation shakes itself of the hedonism, we'll be stuck with a Baraka every 4 to 8 years. We can't survive something like that.
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 01:19 PM (sO2LD)
I know two food entrepreneurs who are caught between Amazon and Kroger. One makes a meat marinade, the other a sassafras-tea concentrate. It costs about $50K to be on the shelf of a major national food chain. That's right, they don't pay you -- you pay them for access. If you try to go national through email-order, you walk into a welter of product definitions from food inspection agencies, mostly dedicated to making sure you don't bite Heinz and ADM in their soft underbelly.
If you want to watch American liberty (and Our Standard of Living!) die, that goddamn supermarket is a good place to start. The Fifties are over, jerk. The Russkies fly Sukhois now.
Posted by: comatus at July 23, 2012 01:19 PM (ZOlM3)
I enjoyed reading the Robert K. Massie biography of Peter the Great. Anyone who stages a reenactment of a nobles wedding with a full cast of midgets must have been a fun lovin' guy.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 01:20 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: Tim the Enchanter at July 23, 2012 01:20 PM (izA2D)
Posted by: Mrs. Slocombe at July 23, 2012 01:23 PM (LIiTJ)
Posted by: The Political Hat at July 23, 2012 01:24 PM (LIiTJ)
"The Soviet students could not comprehend of food being produced for dogs."
In Indonesia, dog is producing food for YOU.
Posted by: sherlock at July 23, 2012 01:24 PM (BKPeM)
Posted by: Social SCIENCE Graduate Student at July 23, 2012 01:25 PM (LIiTJ)
Posted by: Tim the Enchanter at July 23, 2012 05:20 PM (izA2D)
--------------------------------------------------
Then there's the book, "I'm Stupid, So I Became a Communist" by Joseph Biden.
Posted by: Soona at July 23, 2012 01:27 PM (sO2LD)
Posted by: Barakov Smear-nov at July 23, 2012 01:29 PM (XiVKO)
20 years ago - Snickers
Now - Snickers, Snickers Dark Chocolate, Snickers Crunchy, Snickers Ice Cream Bars, Snickers Peanut Butter, Snickers Almond Bar, Snickers Ice Cream Cones, Snickers Rocky Road Ice Cream
I'll take today. Variety is a sign of prosperity. Grocery stores are much larger than 20 years ago. There are more types of bread, chips, meat, drinks, everything. That big corporation giving me a lot of different brands? Tasty. Very fucking tasty.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 01:30 PM (Ky1+e)
Posted by: steevy at July 23, 2012 01:42 PM (6o4Fb)
"I'm currently in France, and half the time, they don't even have seats for the damn toilets. "
Those are bidets, man...
Posted by: reason at July 23, 2012 01:47 PM (XiVKO)
Instead, the students learned that an American author who criticizes American society and government did not end up in a gulag, but instead became famous and influential.
Posted by: sandy burger at July 23, 2012 01:48 PM (y15sM)
Now - Snickers, Snickers Dark Chocolate, Snickers Crunchy, Snickers Ice Cream Bars, Snickers Peanut Butter, Snickers Almond Bar, Snickers Ice Cream Cones, Snickers Rocky Road Ice Cream
I'll take today. Variety is a sign of prosperity. Grocery stores are much larger than 20 years ago. There are more types of bread, chips, meat, drinks, everything. That big corporation giving me a lot of different brands? Tasty. Very fucking tasty.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 05:30 PM (Ky1+e)
My grocery has about 4 different brands of 'house brands' in it, much less commercial brands.
Posted by: Oldcat at July 23, 2012 01:50 PM (z1N6a)
Posted by: Oldcat
Apparently you live in a food desert and I live in a food dessert.
I'm guessing you're out in the country? I aspire to live in a more rural area some day.
Posted by: Dang at July 23, 2012 01:55 PM (Ky1+e)
You know, I think there is one little thing you are missing, here.
You don't want liberty. You want a benevolent master. A Snickers master.
Posted by: comatus at July 23, 2012 02:16 PM (ZOlM3)
Not the fucking 8 kinds of Snickers. Jesus Christ Almighty.
WAKE UP AMERICA! It's all...Snickers11!1
Posted by: comatus at July 23, 2012 02:18 PM (ZOlM3)
I, too, have noticed the proliferation of multiple "off-brand" slash "budget brand" newcomers in my nearest Albertson's, as well.
Strange, because if you look at the distributor listed on the packaging, you still see the same parent companies of several name-brand conglomerates.
I think some of it is trying to meet consumer perceptions. People stop buying Keebler cookies, because there was a store-brand bag right next to it on the shelf for 75% of the cost. So, in response, Keebler's parent company launches a "new" value-brand label to compete against the store-brand.
I base this theory on actual stories of how ice-cream manufacturers tailor the names of their flavors to meet socio-economic conditions. When times are good, people are willing to splurge on "Reserve Select Aged Vanilla Bean" flavor. When times are tight, consumers think that stuff sounds too expensive, and while they still want some ice cream, they feel the need to scrimp a little, so they'll turn down that and go for the container simply marked "vanilla." Manufacturers know this, so when times get tough, they stop using the schmantzy packages, and go to the simpler, less indulgent names. Same product, mind you, just unhyped, in the hopes that you'll feel better about buying it, and then do so.
Posted by: reason at July 23, 2012 02:30 PM (RQDhf)
"... they have food specifically made for cats in America?"
Yes, but it's OK because the companies that make it were "not built" by the people who created them.
Posted by: Optimizer at July 23, 2012 03:03 PM (As94z)
Posted by: toby928© at July 23, 2012 03:04 PM (QupBk)
Yea, but this is Soviet propaganda we're talking about.
Posted by: KG at July 23, 2012 03:12 PM (IPz9m)
Go with a rustic look, make it seem old rather than dirty. People will associate old with thrifty as well. As long as you keep the place clean but use old fashioned signs, decorations, etc. that should work.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 03:56 PM (r4wIV)
Yes, the country elected one of those people president in 2008.
Posted by: davidinvirginia at July 23, 2012 04:34 PM (P2TjI)
Posted by: rickl at July 23, 2012 04:34 PM (sdi6R)
I always had that in my head as I lived a rather safe life, a rather priveledged life, received a rather good education, went to college (failed) and it was at my core my entire life, and why the most important thing I have ever done in my life was to serve the nation that allowed all those things.
I didn't become who I am because of government, I became who I am because of a nation that looked better than anything else for my great grandparents, causing them to come here, surrendering everything, and an ideology of liberty that left my parents alone as they raised me, and the freedom that let me get to know a lot of people very different from me.
For me, my service was just that. I believed I was good, I don't lie about that, I'm actually quite arrogant about it, but when the time came, It was my turn to stand so that others could be just as good as me, and likely better.
Congratulations to all my brother and sister Americans who had to go through a shitload more than I had to, to experience all the wonders that it is to be American, though for a time, like all of those priveledged by fortune, I took it for granted, and had to relearn it from those who had to earn it through effort.
Posted by: Douglas at July 23, 2012 04:39 PM (YKOnu)
Empire of Jeff. Krasnovia, huh? How about Alfa Co, 3/65? Those guys always won.
Some decades ago, when CBS decided that the Reagan Recovery was too big to ignore, they faked up a documentary called "People Like Us" about the homeless in America. Their poster child was some tall skinny guy in a baseball cap who was supposedly named "Bill". The object of the exercise was to export the flick to show other people things were really awful in the good old USA. After the USSR folded, it was found that the Russians who saw it and were supposed to be appalled decided their best goal in life was to move to the US and become poor.
The defected Mig driver was so convinced of his importance that he was convinced the US spent huge sums to fool him confessed he was convinced we were fooling him until he saw an aircraft carrier. He figured that couldn't have been run up in six months just to fool him. Some guys, it takes a lot to get through....
Posted by: Richard Aubrey at July 23, 2012 04:39 PM (z4bFV)
Posted by: Moonbeam at July 23, 2012 05:01 PM (1k4dd)
TANSTAAFL
Posted by: GeoSTI at July 23, 2012 05:46 PM (Pm5JB)
Remember folks like Lillian Hellman were getting trips over to Russia and being shown the grand tour of glorious Russia and believing every word they were told. They came back with the lies and spread them around like gospel, what would some stupid broad who was born there know?
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 23, 2012 09:26 PM (r4wIV)
What a country.
Posted by: PJ at July 24, 2012 06:49 AM (DQHjw)
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Posted by: Slobovian in a breadline at July 23, 2012 12:35 PM (MMC8r)