Category Archives: Logic

Logic: trying to make the world make sense, and make it valid

Logic, Social

Buy Yourself a Personality: Gucci

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Buy Yourself a Personality: Gucci

Another installment in the series of ‘Buying Yourself a Personality’, which is a quick way for one to absorb a personality via the purchase of certain items; in this series, we focus on the popular high-end luxury brand Gucci.  Essentially, Gucci is a ridiculously priced luxury fashion line that makes everything from handbags, purses, suits, pants, and other items.  Its distinctive pattern is world renowned and easy to recognize – which has been problematic for Gucci as now it has to deal with bootlegging and the black market of its products.  It is estimated that the bootlegging of Gucci nets close to $500 million dollars annually.  Gucci has a crack team of lawyers to pursue the bootleggers, but they are far outnumbered.

Anyhow, it is important to note that Gucci is only found in high-end retail stores – so if you are buying a Gucci shirt at the local swap meet or flea market, and you are paying close to a $100 for it, you are being ripped off.  Or, you are buying it to fill a need to be seen as ‘wealthy’ and/or one with a high SES.  You are doing it to seem ‘cool’, to fill some void.  But, you got to realize that this is not the answer – spend your money wisely, please.  Especially to my black people who go to some crazy and extraodinary lengths to don Gucci attire.  Some even are so crazy with it that they outfit their whole vehicle with Gucci lining and upholstery.  I guess when you have some money, no financial planner, you can really do some stupid things – primarily the things that do nothing to raise the value in your assets.  With that said, here are some ridiculous Gucci designs.

Some people will pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars for just the Gucci fabric – which people, is just a flipping pattern! But, maybe I shouldn’t get all ‘bent out of shape’, as they are buying more than just a cheap fabric made in China, lol.

Logic

Common Tautologies

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Rhetoric Redundancy

The common usage of tautologies in everyday language

In rhetoric, a tautology is an unnecessary or unessential (and sometimes unintentional) repetition of meaning, using different and dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing twice (often originally from different languages). It is often regarded or thought of as a fault of style and was defined by Fowler as “saying the same thing twice.” It is not apparently necessary or essential for the entire meaning of a phrase to be repeated. If a part of the meaning is repeated in such a way that it appears as unintentional, clumsy, or lacking in dexterity, then it may be described as tautology. On the other hand, a repetition of meaning which improves the style of a piece of speech or writing is not necessarily described as tautology.

“Unsolved Mystery”

– “mystery” is something that is unexplained, unknown or unsolved.

“Short Summary”

– a “summary” is a “shortened” version of a text

“Free Gift”

– “gift” is, by definition, something given without charge.

“New Innovation”

– “innovation” is defined as something new.

“digital download”

– given that downloading is the transfer of binary or digital data from a higher level system to a lower one, all downloading is inherently digital.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The name of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats is tautological, since tigers are cats

Common Acronymns that are Tautologies:

UPC code (Universal Price Code)
VIN number (Vehicle Identification Number)
ISBN number (International Standard Book Number)

Some Tautological quotes:

In a 1988 campaign speech in Ohio, George H. W. Bush said, “It’s no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another

After reading up on Tautologies, I asked myself if I did this, and I believe I am a repeat offender of this. But why do we commit to these rhetorical statements? Its either due to ignorance – not knowing the true literal meaning of certain words and/or phrases; or it could be due to a desire to sound ‘witty’ and intelligent – the more words used implies a greater depth of vocabulary and knowledge. Whatever the reason is, if you are a tautological offender, stop and think about what and why you are doing it, because you may be being redundant for no apparent reason.

Sources:
Wikipedia

Hip-Hop, Logic

Masta Ace True Hip-Hop Stories: The Symphony

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Rappers and their Ego

How an inflated ego opened the door for a new jack MC in ’88 called Masta Ace

Rappers must have the biggest ego problem of all entertainers, yes many of your favorite actors/actresses are known to be major pricks and bitches, but I would think that rappers take the cake in the a-hole department. With the self-boasting, self-accolade, heavy bravado lyrics, rappers really believe that they are that ‘sh*t’; and treat others like they are their minions and peasants.

Anyhow, this story just goes to show how one’s ego can have a heavy cost.

MC Shan

Masta Ace

Though, MC Shan fell off in the 90’s, and Masta Ace remained relevant in the underground scene, both MC’s remain respectable rappers in hip-hop.

.:: LiBM ::.

Logic, Social

Social Sheriff – Action & Consequence

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Action & Social Consequence

The Social Sheriff is still relevant, crucifying those that act out of line

Every action has a reaction, this guy thought he could kick a little kid – with no consequence; well, he got a ‘face-full’ of consequence … I mean, at least try to block the hit.

Now after you are done laughing, I have to say that this quite refreshing as Social Justice as reared its vengeful head on this supposedly ‘mature adult’ with the glasses. Yes, the boxer who boxed out the lame, in the eyes of the law, will probably be charged with some sort of assault. However socially speaking, the man that had the nerve and audacity to kick a little child should be charged with some sort of offense for even thinking of the thought that he could do such a thing and get away with it. Now, we don’t have audio in this clip, so we don’t know if there was any provocation or what verbal events lead up to the man doing such a thing – not that anything would explain his actions, but it would give insight into why he ‘did what he did’. And ‘what he did’, got him a swift box.

Many other people should take on the ‘Social Sheriff’ role and ‘check’ people that get out of line, like:

Kanye West

Somebody should have gone up on stage, or just as Kanye was leaving the stage, and give him a swift box

Paparazzi

They invade celebrities privacy, cause disturbances, and remind me of cockroaches when the lights go on – some celebrity needs to get out the ‘RAID’.

Those that watched

This era of ‘Instant Social Media Popularity’ has desensitizied the youth; as many youth in Chicago watched, laughed, and even filmed a brethren, a human being, get killed. Then such individual(s) thought it would be cool to share it on YouTube. In this instance, I’m pretty sure you can figure out what the Social Justice would be ….

Wrapping it up and going back to the beginning of this rant, let’s be thankful that guys like the overhand throwing man in the animated gif at the top still exist to protect those that can’t protect themselves, and who stand for something.

.:: LiBM ::.

Logic, Social

tan(013) – We need a Transportation Social Sheriff

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Designed by Tooaya

tan(013) – Transportation Social Sheriff

lost drivers, stand right & walk left, staying in one’s blindspot

Preamble: What a way to start off October with a rant, but there is no better way as many of you lame drivers and subway riders have been singing, dancing, in your own little world with no regard for others, listen up!

Lost Drivers

Tourism is good for all cities, it boosts the local economy, trade, etc. But if your from out of town, and you may not be familiar with the city, don’t drive like you are the only one on the road – at your slow turtle pace. There are certain areas of a city that are shown to have a bunch of slow drivers, and higher accident rates: specifically any landmarks or the downtown city centre, and around the airport. I understand that you are looking for some street, but going considerably below the speed limit does not only put yourself at risk, but also other drivers


Designed by Acid Pro Studio

Stand Right, Walk Left

I’m sure all my subway riders will relate to this one. The odd time I am compelled to use public transportation over driving my own car as to save commute time or to avoid expensive parking rates. On the escalator’s in the subway stations, they have a general rule for the passengers; ‘Stand right, or walk left’, which is pretty much saying ‘be courteous of others who are in a rush’. Unfortunately, this moral decency and respect for your fellow man usually does not translate to all members of society as during rush hour, you will have people standing in the left side of the escalator as they are either completely oblivious, talking with a friend, or minding their own business. When an event like this happens, most people will bite their tongue – choosing to express their disdain with their facial expressions. I on the otherhand will walk toward the insensitive lame with a polite excuse me, positioning my arm to connect with their back …


Designed by Fallakka

Staying in One’s Blindspot

For my drivers out there, don’t you dislike when another driver in the lane beside you refuses to pass you or slow down considerably enough so that they get out of your blindspot. We all know how dangerous it can be if one doesn’t know that a car is in their blindspot; it can cause serious accidents. So, please, don’t remain in someone’s blindspot, either speed up and pass them, or slow down and cruise so that the car can see you. Its common courtesy people, let’s follow it.

.:: LiBM ::.

Interrogative, Logic

Oxymoronic

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Oxymoronic

Conflicting spatial memory

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. Sometimes it is done inadvertently or deliberately to be condescending, funny, and/or satiricial. Either way, there are countless examples of oxymorons that will be sure to elicit a reaction out of you. Enjoy:

Good grief

– Grief is never good, always a thorn in your a–

Act naturally

– by definition ‘acting’ is not a ‘natural’ behavior.

Small crowd


– by definition, a crowd can not be ‘small’

Peace force

– How can war ever bring ‘peace’? Using force to bring about peace is just a contrast of ideals.

Pretty ugly

– How can one be visually stunning yet horrific at the same time?

Tight slacks

– I swear that many of the hip-hop hipsters are on this tip now …

Synthetic natural gas

– anything synthetic is not natural

Passive aggression

– something we do all the time; to coincide with societal norms

.:: LiBM::.

Health, Logic, politics

tan(012) – Death Squads look for Happy People Whispering

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tan(012) – Death Squads, Happy People, Work Whispers

Preamble: Been kind of light on the tangents, not that sh*t isn’t pissing me off, I guess I am just controlling what does and does not piss me off. Its a slow curve to equilibrium, but I’m gettin gthere.

Quiet Whispers

It always humors me when I am at work, and their will be two people talking regularly, then suddenly they creep away from you and their voices become softer and then non-coherent. This is done for one or two reasons; first reason would be that the conversation has suddenly changed to the topic of ‘you’ or someone that is close to ‘you’. The second reason would be is that they are talking about something that is ‘socially inappropriate’ at work. Either or, my whole thing is that I could really not be interested in what they have to say – I really don’t give a f**k. Even if you are talking about me or not, you are so irrelevant from my world that the best thing that I can say, well, what I WISH I could say, is by the great lyricist Styles P in a bar, “I don’t give a f–k who you are, so F–K who you are!”. Yup, that sums it up definitively.

Death Squads

The healthcare debate in the U.S. is very tense; as many people (as they should be) have passionate opinions on the current state of healthcare and where it should go. Obama’s plan is getting not so favorable reviews from both Democrats & Republicans alike, and at the Town Hall meetings, tempers are high – with many people shouting, pushing, and even fighting each other. The Republicans, along with their media outlet (Fox News) are pushing an interesting rhetoric, such as “Death Squads”, and “let’s take back our country”, and proclaiming that Obama and his goonies are socialists. Glenn Beck, the actor/news reporter (that was an intentional ‘/’ used to describe him) is even making arguments to compare the Obama administration to Nazi Germany. Below, are some funny and telling clips of how media, if not followed closely, can easily mislead and persuade a masses – it also shows double speak. Double speak is the fine art of:
“language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., “downsizing” for layoffs) or deliberate ambiguity.”

Happy People
When I say ‘happy people’, I am referring to those that always have a smile on their face; they are always grinning from ear to ear. In the morning, afternoon, the night, during the cold winters, and the scorching heat – always smiling. What is up with that? Maybe I am just grumpy, but I feel some sort of hateration when I see these individuals; as I am secretly wishing to bask in what they are projecting. However, I take solace in the fact that what they are projecting is probably a mask to cover up something else, so I justify my hate, and I am content with that.

Life is tooo short! Be Happy! …. but don’t over indulge!

.:: LiBM ::.

Logic, Social, Work

tan(011) – My Intuition parks bad on the streets, sickly

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tan(011) – Against your Intuition, Street Parking, Sick from Work

NOT to go off on a Tangent, but …

Preamble: Without the venting of frustrations, one is destined to be a very hot pressure cooker, so let the steam go!

Against Intuition
This is a rant against myself. Against my fault for having too much faith in other people and their abilities to fulfill an order. The ordeal happened when I was renting some audio equipment for a friend’s going away party, and to make a long story short, I rented speakers and speaker cables from a local audio rental store that will go unnamed; but the customer service rep gave me incorrect speaker cables – rendering the speakers useless. Now when placing the order, I suspected that the customer service guy was a bit new and somewhat inexperienced; and at this store, it is a requirement that you know your stuff, very well. Preamble, I have rented from this store numerous of times in the past though; with no bad experiences, they have always given me the right pieces of equipment and necessary cords (I never had to check before I left the store). However this time, because of the inexperienced and uncertainty vibe that I was picking from the CSR, I wanted to do a physical check of the equipment, but I was reluctant to do so. I think my rationale for NOT checking was that if I persisted to check, that action may have been insulting to the CSR; so I was kind of being sensitive to his feelings. But, after having to drive across town and back to pick up PROPER speaker cable from my house, I will be LESS sensitive in the future

Street Parking
Pretty simple concept: if you are going to park on the street, and clearly there is enough room for two cars to park, park APPROPRIATELY. That means, consider other cars that may want to park; so that means, don’t park in the middle of the space so that only your car can fit – instead move up a bit and park so that another car can park behind you. Simple concept, yet some people have no consideration for others and will park selfishly so that no others can use the parking space. Let’s be aware people, you mofo’s aren’t the only ones out there; let’s have some thought for others. And not to digress, but this is also a gross act of laziness – especially when your girlfriend is to friggin lazy to move the car up a bit so that you can park behind her. Instead, you have to go park across the street in a private lot that is subject to parking tickets and towing … and she has the nerve to call me ‘selfish’, hopefully she isn’t living in a glass house, lol.

Sick for a Day
I hate it when you are sick for a day, and one of your fellow employees goes to your workstation to ‘see what work needs to be done’, and they completely reorganize your stuff. It’s a simple concept dumb mofo’s; leave things the way you found it. Don’t change the position of the phone, don’t move papers around to different locations, put it back the way you found it. You are not doing anyone a favor by moving stuff around dummy. Lame dummy.

Logic, Love

The Naïve Woman

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stk116055rke

Naïve or Manipulative?

Deflecting blame and responsibility

Naïve is a French loanword (adjective, form of naïf) indicating having or showing a lack of experience, understanding or sophistication. It can also be spelled naive. The noun form can be written naivety, naïvety, naïveté, naïvete, or naiveté.

Women can be one of two things; very naïve or very manipulative; I would go even further to suggest that sometimes they blur the line between manipulative behavior and naitivity; masking their manipulative states as being naïve. They do this so that when the sh*t hits the fan, they can deflect and redirect blame. Giving simplistic replies to their man like, “I didn’t know that he would do that”, “I am so shocked that he did that”, and “I had no idea that he was thinking like that” are sometimes humorous and disrespectful to our intellects. These examples are referring to those women whom always get into some sort of man trouble; either some guy gets aggressive with them, starts flirting with them, or starts stalking them – and then these women seem baffled as how this could have transpired. Of course you are going to have the odd creepy dirtbag, but I would suggest that a lot of the predicaments that women get into are a result of their direct chosen behavior.

So, if you are one of these lame’s, or know someone who is, here are some methods how you can change them:

Step 1: Confront their bullsh*t
– too often, we men are letting too much slide. Somewhere in the 70’s or 80’s or even 90’s, men were conditioned not to say what is on their minds, and to practice some sort of new age passive behavior where discussion about sensitive topics is taboo. Interesting correlation in the rise of feminism and the rise of pussification amongst men, lol. I’m digressing from the topic though, but you need to confront the issue when something doesn’t seem right, don’t let it go – cause it will probably happen again

Step 2: Common Sense is Common
– After the confrontation, they will try to retract, backtrack on statements, and will try to place the blame of the source of tension to situational factors – but never placing the blame on themselves. Screw that, no, screw that with a big Phillips Screwdriver. Women have a classic tendency in committing the Fundamental Attribution Error; attributing undesirable behavior/consequences to situational factors instead of dispositional factors (themselves). Part of the reason in doing this is simple; it is much easier to blame your problems on something else – and as a society, most of us may do it without much conscious awareness. But, that doesn’t make it right. Women need to own up to their behavior – that guy wouldn’t be making those sly innuendos if you hadn’t been flirting with him OR those guys wouldn’t be commenting on your appearance if you hadn’t been exposing so much cleavage. Get real ladies. Don’t come crying and complaining why certain things are happening to you when you know exactly why – stop playing the innocent game, ya guilty!

Step 3: Go at the stubbornness
– So if she still wants to play naïve, then there are some ways to get her to see the ‘light’ in her cloudy atmosphere. Essentially when one plays the naïve role, they are showing an undesirable trait; that trait is the lack of sophistication and critical judgment. So, point that out. Women always have a desire to be ‘sophisticated’ and an ‘expert authority’ on relationships and people – and by a certain age, at least near the end of high school, women have enough interactions to use as a reference point for the analysis and interpretation of future behavior … simply put, they have ‘experience’. That experience is learned by direct contact, and through TV., film, and the oral tradition (get ya mind out the gutter, wiki it). So when she acts shocked, surprised about why something has happened – and when you know the causal factors of why it happened, and she can’t accept that, then go at her intellect. She will hopefully see the error in her ways and stop her stubborn behavior.

Step 4: Acceptance
– Once you have said your peace, be at peace. Know that if they persist to act asinine and/or play foolish, undesirable results will materialize. Some women are completely naïve – and may have not learned from previous experiences; that is completely possible. However, I would suspect that most women know EXACTLY what they are doing and they use the naïve card as a ‘Get out of jail’ card. Sorry ladies, your card is expired, fellas stand up!

In summation ladies, you are very smart; much more than you lead on. You are very perceptive and aware of your environment and the people within it; simply take responsibility for your actions. And understand that most actions and behavior from others are intentional; and you as ladies have a good idea at the motivation behind it. Don’t play the fool, or you will end up the fool. Tired of y’all asking the obvious questions and standing there in bewilderment; kinda like standing with a mini-skirt, high heels, fishnet stockings, and low-cut tank top on the Las Vegas strip and asking why all these guys are asking if you are available for 30 minutes for a $100 … lol.

Peace!

.:: LiBM ::.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naive