http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1992
As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.
* The Rodney King Riots and the Reason for Good People to be Armed -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* xxx -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben
* We Want No Accents Here! -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* Notable Births -- See below.
* This Year in Film -- See below.
* This Year in Music -- See below.
* In Other News -- See below.
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The Rodney King Riots and the Reason for Good People to be Armed
Contributed by Alex ShruggedLast year, after a high speed chase, Rodney King stopped his car and seemed to be resisting arrest. (Actually, he was drunk and using poor judgement.) He was brutally beaten with night sticks by LAPD officers while attempting to take him into custody. This was all caught on tape, and four officers were charged with assault. (I've reviewed the tape, and I can only guess what the officers were thinking. Some guesses would exonerate the officers and others would not.) Apparently the jury believed that the officers acted correctly, so they walk free. The black community is outraged. Thus begins 6 days of rioting in the Los Angeles area. Reginald Denny is pulled out of his truck and beaten to within an inch of his life, but he isn't the only one. The police cannot stop them. Society has totally broken down in one of the largest cites in the world. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
I was many miles away during the riot, but I grew up in the LA area and I had worked in South Central LA. (Actually, I was the only one my company could send there and not get beaten up.) I watched the tension build over the years. The Rodney King beating simply set it off. In the media, black people were portrayed as the underdog always taken advantage of. Koreans were portrayed as greedy, distrustful people who ran grocery stores only to take advantage of the poor. Frankly, the complaints sounded a lot like the ones made against Jews. (Alex Shrugged is Jewish.) Koreans knew they were a target, so when the riots began, they were armed and ready to protect their own as they should. As I said, I was miles away, but my daughter was threatened with a gun that day. I realized that if my home was attacked that the only protection I could offer was to block the door with my dead body. I was willing to do that, but it would have been better to be armed. I am a good man who needs a weapon to protect his family when the police cannot help. When is that? When things are worst. Not when things are best. [5] [6] [7]
I was many miles away during the riot, but I grew up in the LA area and I had worked in South Central LA. (Actually, I was the only one my company could send there and not get beaten up.) I watched the tension build over the years. The Rodney King beating simply set it off. In the media, black people were portrayed as the underdog always taken advantage of. Koreans were portrayed as greedy, distrustful people who ran grocery stores only to take advantage of the poor. Frankly, the complaints sounded a lot like the ones made against Jews. (Alex Shrugged is Jewish.) Koreans knew they were a target, so when the riots began, they were armed and ready to protect their own as they should. As I said, I was miles away, but my daughter was threatened with a gun that day. I realized that if my home was attacked that the only protection I could offer was to block the door with my dead body. I was willing to do that, but it would have been better to be armed. I am a good man who needs a weapon to protect his family when the police cannot help. When is that? When things are worst. Not when things are best. [5] [6] [7]
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Contributed by Southpaw BenText
My Take by Southpaw Ben
We Want No Accents Here!
People's Bank wants good language skills in employees who interface with the public which is why Phanna Xieng has been denied a promotion to a job slot he wants. The job calls for good English skills. It also calls for telling irate customers why the People's Bank isn't going to lend them any more money. Keeping a customer while telling them "NO" requires a full command of the English language. Phanna is so traumatized by this rejection that the court awards him $389,000. He's feeling better already. In another case, parents want to fire an English teacher because he cannot speak English without an accent. In fact, the parents can barely understand him. The state education commissioner accuses the parents of bigotry. Money is sent to the school district to educate the parents on the wonders of bilingual education... not for a more comprehensible English teacher. [8] [9] [10] [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Have you ever called up tech support and got a fellow with such a strong accent that you can barely get through the call? When I call tech support it is because I am at the end of my rope. I don't want to struggle through a heavy accent as well. This is not bigotry. Many of my relatives have accents. I love them. I do not want them to take my tech support calls. One company tried a solution to this problem of accents by professionally prerecording several canned responses to questions they get a hundred times a day. They added some connective comments and laughter to make the responses sound spontaneous. The support tech listens to the question, hits the button and instant communication is had. But when a caller goes off script, the response is not quite right, and the caller gets a creepy feeling.
Have you ever called up tech support and got a fellow with such a strong accent that you can barely get through the call? When I call tech support it is because I am at the end of my rope. I don't want to struggle through a heavy accent as well. This is not bigotry. Many of my relatives have accents. I love them. I do not want them to take my tech support calls. One company tried a solution to this problem of accents by professionally prerecording several canned responses to questions they get a hundred times a day. They added some connective comments and laughter to make the responses sound spontaneous. The support tech listens to the question, hits the button and instant communication is had. But when a caller goes off script, the response is not quite right, and the caller gets a creepy feeling.
- "Are you a robot?"
- (laughter) "A what?"
- "Are you a robot?"
- "No."
- "OK. Then say... 'I am not a robot'."
- "I am a real person. Is this connection OK?"
- "The connection is great. Say... 'I am a robot', and I'll continue the call."
- click... buzzzzz. [12]
Notable Births
- Diwakar Vaish: Developer of the first mind-controlled wheelchair. It can be operated by people suffering from paralysis. [13]
- Taylor Lautner: Jacob Black (the werewolf) in Twilight. [16]
- Kaya Scodelario: Teresa in The Maze Runner. [17]
This Year in Film
- Disney's Aladdin: It will get complaints from the Arab community. (Hey, I thought The Prince of Egypt was all goofed up too, but it was a fun movie.--alexshrugged.) [30]
- A Few Good Men: Tom Cruise plays a Navy lawyer defending 2 Marines from the charge of murder. (Excellent film.--alexshrugged) [30]
- Sister Act: Whoopee Goldberg escapes gangsters by disguising herself as a nun. Hilarity and singing ensue. [30]
- And....: Wayne's World, My Cousin Vinny, and Freejack starring a credible Mick Jagger. [30]
This Year in TV
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Johnny Carson has retired. [31]
- The Rush Limbaugh TV Show: Rush says it takes too much time compared to radio. [31]
- Ross Perot buys TV time to explain his plan to fix America: He is running for President mostly to block President Bush (the Elder) from a second term. [31]
- Sinéad O'Connor rips up a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live.: (Fine, but I tune in to laugh, Sinéad. Shut up and sing.--alexshrugged) [31]
This Year in Music
- I Will Always Love You: Whitney Houston. (Very difficult vocals to achieve. Excellent work.--alexshrugged) [32]
- Smells Like Teen Spirit: Nirvana. "I feel contagious / Entertain us." (Oddly, I felt like banging my head against a wall, but I liked it.--alexshrugged)[32]
- End of the Road: Boyz II Men. "Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let go". (A beautiful wall of sound.--alexshrugged) [32]
- Tears in Heaven: Eric Clapton sings in memory of his son who died last year at 4-years old. (The boy fell out of a window, 53 stories to his death.) [32]
This Year in Video Games
- Kirby's Dream Land is released for the Nintendo Gameboy: . [33]
- Wolfenstein 3D popularizes the 1st person shooter game: . [33]
- Sega's Night Trap is pulled from the market for its mature content: (Why do they call it mature when it seems immature?--alexshrugged). [33]
In Other News
- Stella Liebeck sues McDonald's for selling her HOT COFFEE: They should have warned her. FYI, water is wet and the ground can be extremely hard at times. [37].
- Randy Weaver surrenders to federal authorities: After an 11 day standoff, his wife and son are dead. It was all caused by a typo in a letter informing him to appear in court. (The court date was incorrect, but how would he know that?) When he didn't show up for court, federal officials ASSUMED that he was resisting government authority. Bang. Bang. You're dead. [38].
- Ross Perot ends his presidential campaign: (As I recall, he blamed President Bush for interfering with his daughter's wedding.--alexshrugged)
- Ross Perot restarts his presidential campaign: (He may have added enough confusion to throw the election to Bill Clinton.--alexshrugged)
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