My Cupcake cost $1.75

On some level I've always known that there must be at least a few Republicans at UC Berkeley, the Holy Grail of liberal academia (no judgment, merely a statement of fact).  I assumed perhaps a few legacies...maybe a handful of students trying to gather intel on the enemy...sleepers, if you will.  But enough...and out at that...for a CLUB?  Never, in a million years, would I have guessed!!!  As it happens, however, a club there is...and active, too!  When the Berkeley College Republicans caught wind that students were setting up a phone bank on campus to flood Governor Brown with calls to sign the, already passed, SB 185, they knew they needed to hold a counter-"demonstration," in so much as Republicans are capable of holding a "demonstration," rally, protest, etc...

California SB 185 is essentially an end-run around Prop 209 which prohibits "affirmative action."
It would “authorize the University of California and the California State University to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin, along with other relevant factors, in undergraduate and graduate admissions."  What it doesn't do, is provide for any guidelines as to how this information is to be used or require the student's socioeconomic background, or any other factors, be considered as well.  CA SB185 eliminates accountability in the school's admissions process and offers preferential treatment based solely on race, gender, or anything else the school or, frankly, an individual with an agenda on the admission committee, chooses creating an incredible potential for abuse! 


Realizing this, though how the California Legislature missed it I'll never know, the Berkeley College Republicans organized an "Increase Diversity Bake Sale."  Anything that in any way gives one race treatment different than that of another, is, by definition, racist.  The BCR decided to illustrate blatant racism in CA SB 185 with CUPCAKES!  Ok, they had cookies and other baked goods as well, but...I'm all about the cupcake.  The baked goods were sold to "white men for $2, Asian men for $1.50, Latino men for $1, black men for 75 cents and Native American men for 25 cents. All women received 25 cents off those prices."  Wow, SB185 supporters, when you look at it that way, it does appear a little racist, doesn't it though?  For the record, as self-reported by UC Berkeley, White students:  31.7%  Asian:  45.7%  Latino:  11.5%  Black:  3.4%  Native American:  .08%  By the way, I thought they were "Indigenous Persons to North America" now...no?  I can't keep up.

How is this supposed to work?  I wish I could be friends with you, Skip, but you'll have to wait.  It would appear I need to add an Asian guy and a Latina first.


So here they are, middle of Berkeley, phone bank encouraging racism being "protested" by cupcakes.  Not to be outdone, the SB185 supporters stage a counter-counter-"demonstration."  Naturally, as it was in their wheelhouse, they started out far more traditionally...marching and signs and the like...lots of Birkenstocks and patchouli.  Clearly the geniuses failed to take into account the fact that all of their marching and shouting and protesting would make it a bit difficult to hear over yonder at the bank.  Soon enough the phone bank got a reprieve from the noise.  Gone are the days of our parents having to step over the unwashed masses staging a sit-in...at noon, whether as part of their protest or as a sign of the times...and laziness...they held nap time!!!  Are you joking?!?  A group, all dressed in black, comprised, statistically of more than 75% white and Asian students, lying down in the middle of campus, during classes, as a form of social protest?  Right.  Nothing about that seems in any way inappropriate or lazy.  Really, really lazy.  Make a little effort.  Though I suppose asking the tie-dye set to make a little effort is shooting for the moon considering their relationship with personal hygiene.


What the SB185 supporters never saw coming?  Let's not make a list...I'm referring strictly to the loud background noise making phone calls difficult thing.  Ok, and the lying down and taking a midday nap being a ludicrous form of "protest" too.  But there was someone who wasn't quite done yet.  The one man, THE MAN, who, above all others, needed to weigh in on the issue, stepped right up to buy his $.75 cupcake!  The UC Board member, the man behind Prop 209...that which prohibits "affirmative action," the founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute...Ward Connerly himself.  (LOVE him!  He's no Oliver North or Colin Powell, and he's certainly not the Duke, the Holy Father JPII, or Ronnie, but...LOVE!)  Take the hint, SB185 supporters, the very successful and influential, and in case no one noticed Black, Ward Connerly is buying a $.75 cupcake because SB185 is racist...just sayin'... 


I still can't quite decide my favourite part.  The cupcakes?  The counter-demonstration?  The counter-counter-demonstration?  The fact that Ward Connerly showed up and the dear, misguided, Berkeley types are still missing the fact that they're supporting racism?  Or...no...I think this is it...the fact that a good number of the students supporting SB185 are from any state but California, therefore, Mummy and Daddy get no tuition breaks as they write each check to what they consider to be a cringe-worthy and laughable educational institution...which sonny-boy is only going because he felt the need to "rebel," against his oppressive, dreadful, and otherwise horrific, Jake Ryan-esque, life...so he opted for UC Berkeley...from where, upon graduation, he hit the real world.  Sonny boy lasts about 5 minutes before running home and makes VP of Nepotism at Daddy Warbucks, Inc. by 27 with a mid-6 figure income and a maid that is...kind of, sort of..."undocumented," shall we say, whose son he wants her to home-school so that he won't be eligible for a free education, via the Dream Act, at Sonny boy's Alma Mater. 


And in true Disney fashion, I leave you with this,
"It's the circle of life..."


XOXO
~CAT

What's the Plural of Jesus?

In case you haven't been paying attention...well...WHY NOT?!?

I thought I'd take a little timeout and give you a few updates on people and situations we've met along the way...

Where to begin?  James Joyce?  Still dead.  Charlie Sheen?  Alive at the moment, as far as I know, but no one cares.  Bryan Stow remains hospitalized...there was an arrest...of the wrong man...and now they have the  two that beat him in custody.  The Dodgers are still broke.  Awesome donut shop?  Still a B rating...still DELICIOUS!!! Armageddon?  Not here yet.  Good, I still have time to pick out shoes!  

Crazy Creeper Lady has gone right over the edge...make of this what you will, but when I got back to PT from Daytona, she came walking into the gym with a truly frightening version of a pixie!!!  I couldn't believe she had actually done it!  She said she wanted to...but come on, really?  Suffice to say she did NOT go to A to have it cut!  Tres bizarre, no?  My sweet LAM is still as super fab.  IBS inspires me more than ever!  

The "plume" of chromium tainted water in Hinkley continues to grow...and for some reason I can not fathom, people continue to live there.  Even if there were no plume...living on that patch of dirt on purpose is beyond me!  There is no Hinkley...no town...and it's POISONED!!!  Seriously?  Eat many apples, Snow White???  Unincorporated Land?  I still think someone made that up to mess with me...sort of like pumping gas.  I don't know what it is with people from states other than NJ (that's right...proud of where I'm from...ring any in state tuition bells?) with your towns that aren't towns and pumping your own gas...not part of my reality.  Disney World doesn't have unincorporated land between England and Canada in Epcot Center, do they??  NO!  They do not.  Do you know why?  Because there is no such thing!!!  If it was REAL, clearly Disney would have it...would Disney make things up???  I think NOT!  I like my reality just the way it is, thank you.  What?  What's that you said?  Not realistic?  I beg to differ...I needed gas...DH is away...as some of you know, I took a poll on Facebook and Twitter, asking if, considering it's me and I have heard that rumor about me being entitled AND that may be something of a sociopath AND that I'm from NJ, where it is illegal to pump your own gas.  The votes were in and I texted this gentleman I call "Beige Bear" that Friday morning to have him come get me gas.  Yes, I absolutely know that he can not take his phone into the building in which he works and it would therefore be impossible for him to get said text until the end of his work day...but I wanted that timestamp.  By the time he got to his car and phone that Friday, he already had somewhere else he had to be.  Big shock that by that time he had plans and couldn't come do it that day...but I was able to point out that, strictly speaking, I had asked before he had other plans.  He was here the next morning with a Sugar Free Red Bull peace offering.  How fab is Beige Bear?  

Oh dear!  I just realized that I'd never introduced you to our Mayor(s)!  Can it be???  Ohhh...I'll have to give you fill in!  Not tonight tho...already rambling on and have a topic planned for tomorrow...I think.  I found airline bottles of Absolut still in my purse.  


I still adore Ronnie and my first "celeb" crush remains Oliver North.  Don't judge me...I have a handbag full of vodka and you don't!

Mr. Rogers?  Still dead.  Still sad...moment of silence for Fred...

And whilst we're on that moment of silence-y topic...if you're reading this at 11...you know what to do!  OMG!  I'm assuming that if you're reading this you must know...but perhaps this is one of those "teachable moments"...so from the list of men throughout history that I adore...I would like to introduce you all to Charlie Mopps:

Lyrics below are from the Clancy Brothers recording:

A long time ago, way back in history
When all there was to drink was nothing but cups of tea
Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops
And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops

(Chorus)

oh he ought to be an admiral, a sultan, or a king

And to his praises we shall always sing

Look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer

lord bless Charlie Mops, The man who invented beer

The Jury's Bar, the Clancy's Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well
One thing you can be sure of, it's Charlie's beer they sell
So come on all me lucky lads at eleven O'clock ye stop
For five short seconds, remember Charlie Mops
One, two, three, four, five

Chorus

A bushel of malt, A barrel of hops, you stir it around with a stick,
The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.
Forty pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.
It's only eight pence ha'penny and one and six in tax
One, two, three, four, five

Chorus

The lord bless Charlie Mops!

As updates go, I think I've covered everything I need to for the need...ohhhh...one last thing...
 
I still think it's REALLY funny to ask a priest what the plural of Jesus is...
"There is no plural of Jesus, God gave us His ONLY son..."
"Yes, Father, but what if you have more than one?  Then what's the plural?"
"You can't have more than one...He is the ONLY son of the Father..."
"Yes Father, but just say, hypothetically, if you DID have more than one..."
This or some iteration of this can go on for as long as you're having fun/not going to hell.  Then...it's time for the rope-a-dope...gets them every time!!!  
"OK, but really Father, 'cause here's the thing, I have more than one, you know, because I have several Nativity scenes and I always put the (air quote here)"Babies" in a drawer because they weren't born yet...so you see, I really need to know the plural form of Jesus."  
The key here is not to pause in between...it's all about the flow...
"Because personally, Father, I think it's Jesi...to be grammatically correct...and seriously?  Those grammar rules all come from Latin roots and all and Latin is a total Bible language, so really it only makes sense....but Husband/Sibling/Parent/Friend SWEARS it's Jesuses...which is not only wrong grammatically, but it sounds absurd, and I really don't think the Almighty would want that for His son..."

And on that note...

XOXO
~CAT