HOLY $#!+, AM I BACK? The answer is maybe but most likely: NO. I was going through some of my old accounts—deleting obsolete accounts or updating compromising passwords—and I stumbled upon this account and this site. To be honest, I’m not on some sort of nostalgia trip, I haven’t re-read any of the my old posts (which is probably for the best) but I felt like writing something and here it is.
I have always enjoyed writing but I’m the worst at putting pen to paper or in this case, finger to keyboard but tonight I felt the itch and this is how I’m scratching (also, Trae Young bowed out early in the 3-Point Shootout so I’ve lost interest in this year’s NBA All Star Saturday Night festivities). Anyways, I may from time-to-time drop in and write something if I’m in the mood but I realize that I’m not going to ever be capable of writing consistently. I may write in bursts but I can’t keep it up continuously over an extended period of time.
So, you may see a few more posts from me in the couple hours or days or weeks, or you might not see another post for another three-plus years. Regardless, I’ve decided that I’m not abandoning this site but I’m also not going to try to keep it an active thing. That’s where I’m at the moment and I’m fine with it.
I will admit that I have discussed this topic to the point of annoyance but it is a topic that will fade away for a brief time and then resurface whenever Manchester United suffer a poor spell of play (which, unfortunately, occurs with more frequency than any Manchester United supporter would care to admit). Well, this morning, the rumor reared its head once more thanks to an article from a Spanish newspaper that stated that Mourinho and Manchester United had come to terms in regards to a "pre-contract". WHAT?! What the hell is a "pre-contract"? If two parties enter into a signed agreement, then would that make the agreement between the two parties a contract? Apparently, no! According to the Spanish newspaper (of reputable standing), Manchester United reached an agreement with Mourinho that states that if the club did not act to formally sign Mourinho to an "actual" contract by a particular date, then Manchester United would be responsible for paying 5-million British pounds to Mourinho and it gets better: if the club failed to come to terms with Mourinho by a second deadline, then the club would have to pay Mourinho an addition 10-million British pounds. Are you serious? Who would honestly believe that any rational person or organization would agree to terms with another individual or organization in which one party (Manchester United) would agree to pay a possible 15-million pounds to another party (Mourinho) for doing nothing? And by the way, why is it a Spanish newspaper that has access to this sort of information? Because the last time I checked, Manchester United is an English football club and Jose Mourinho is an unemployed Portuguese football manager.
Look, I understand the English media is enduring a raging erection at the possibility of covering a Manchester Derby featuring two of the biggest managerial rivals on the planet, but English (and any other football-covering) media outlets need to take a cold shower and relax. I have said this many times before and it is clear that I need to say it again: Jose Mourinho is an accomplished football manager and most clubs around the globe would be elated to have him in their dugout but he is not the manager that Manchester United need to resurrect their dominance over the Premier League.
This is not a new topic for me. In fact, the topics of unemployment and employment searches have featured heavily on this site. And despite the many times have I ranted about these topics, I am never satisfied. This past week has been just another week of frustrations as I struggle to reestablish myself in the workforce. On 29 February, I interviewed for a position so suited for me one would have honestly believed that things were turning the corner for me: WRONG! As you know, the interview did not satisfy my meticulous standards for success (in fact, I wrote about the interview across the duration of two posts last week): I stumbled on words, I went off on tangents, and I may have been too blunt for the tastes of my interviewers. But I still felt confident in the fact that my strong resume and professional experience in related fields would carry me forward into the position; I was wrong again.
All my life, I have been told that employers would hire the "most qualified" person for the position and that our nation's workforce was built on a foundation of success based on merit. And yet, I remain unemployed (and in many cases, I do not even garner an interview) while woefully underqualified individuals sit in positions that pay nearly twice as much as I have ever been paid. Look, I am not looking for handouts and I am not looking for pity, but if you are one to feed a line of bullshit about merit and qualifications; then I am going to call you out for being full of shit and spreading lies to impressionable youths. I am sick and tired of the endless games, faceless screeners, and bold-faced liars I have encountered during this employment search. I am desperate to work in a position I love, but the doors keep being closed on me before I even have an opportunity to prove my worth.
So, seriously? WTF? How am I and millions of others in my situation supposed to believe in the "American dream"? Simple, we are not. The American dream is dead and even before it saw its own demise many decades ago, the "dream" was only accessible to a handful of people that met certain "qualifications". Instead, rather than reach for a dream that was never within our grasp, we must strive to carry on and raise a middle-finger to the corporate shills and the purveyor of false hopes and lies. The search for work continues, but the belief is diminished.
Before I begin, I want to state that the opinions expressed in this post are mine and mine alone. I would also like to state that nothing you read in this post will be groundbreaking or new. In fact, you could say that the opinions expressed on the matter will be a rehashing of many of the same arguments that have already been used to attempt to discredit and delegitimize the candidacy of Donald J. Trump. Regardless, he is the flavor of this Presidential election cycle and the presumptive Presidential nominee of the Republican Party and I want to express my opinions on this matter and then move on.
First, the man is the Presidential nominee equivalent of a circus sideshow. Similar to the "Bearded Lady" or "Lizard Man of Bangladesh", Trump is a freak that piques our interests for a moment because there is a man shouting through a bullhorn: "Come one, come all and see the freak of 2016 GOP Presidential nomination cycle!" Only Trump is the freak and the man on the bullhorn that continuously shouts and yells at passersby to look and pay attention to him. And if merely shouting through a bullhorn were not enough to garner your attention, then he will scream random lines of utter nonsense that, for one reason or another, intrigues someone ignorant to believe he makes sense.
Do you have a fear the illegal immigrants are out to steal your job? Then Trump will say that he is going to build a wall (paid for by the Mexican government) along the southern border of the country.
Do you have a fear that Muslim jihadist will attempt to terrorize your favorite gentlemen's club? Then Trump will tell you that he plans to ban all Muslims from entering the country while forcing Muslims already in our country to prove their loyalty to our country by registering their presence with the federal government.
Do you have a fear that your small hands will be seen by others to mean that you have a small penis? Well, Trump will ensure you and millions of other Americans watching the most recent GOP Presidential Debate that his small hands (and thus, your small hands) do not mean he (you) has a small penis. In fact, he will prove this point by clearly stating that he does possess a large penis.
So, seriously, WTF? How has political decorum been denigrated to the level of immature teenagers? Because we have allowed this occur through (1) the media's obsession with his crass, built-for-reality-television persona, (2) the public's shift in regards to the value of intellectual discourse, and (3) the GOP's ineptitude in smothering the issue long ago.
Of course, I would be doing an injustice if I did not include this clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:
