I work with a gang of men. There are a total of two women at my office that I even speak to, and they work upstairs (I'm in the dungeon, er, basement) for a total interaction time of less than ten minutes a day. All of the technicians at the company are men, and the other two parts employees are too. Maybe that's why I hear the kind of offensive comments I do. If these men were restrained by mixed company, they would likely not use such terrible fucking language, not be offensive towards minority groups of all types, and generally be more couth. Many of my friends here make fun of me for originally hailing from Oklahoma. They cite the usual stereotypes of ignorance, racism, and redneckedness, yet I have heard more offensive comments here than ever in Oklahoma. I asked Pete, one of the technicians, what holiday fell one week from today (sure, I knew I'd get an inflammatory response. I remembered last year). "Nigger day," he responded, without missing a beat. How does one respond to that? Of course I tell him his views are offensive and stupid, but he knows that. He claims that some of his good friends are "niggers." It's tough to reason with someone who doesn't agree with some basic assumptions of modern civilization. Not only that, but in Oklahoma I never heard any anti-Semitic comments, probably because there aren't many Jews. Here, I hear many of the very traditional stereotypes in a derogatory fashion. And Minnesota is supposed to be tolerant.

Links Appealing to the Prurient Interest (LAPI): Over at the New York Post they got wind of Mamie Van Doren's web page, where she does the ol' kiss 'n' tell bit about the various stars she did the Humpty Hump with. Among her revelations: Jack Palance is a stud, Jack Webb raped her, and Tom Jones has a small johnson. While I'm on the subject, Jeff sent me to Ring Rats, which is (supposedly) a web page devoted to girls who like to sleep with pro wrestlers. Jeff is the last person I would expect to be into a sport as Neolithic as pro wrestling, seeing as he attends protests, writes freelance articles for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and as I have mentioned before, oozes indy and lefty cred. Jeff also sent me to Ugly People, which again, is not PC but is oh-so-funny. Another LAPI: Apparently, Fox's new show, Temptation Island, had its participants get tested for STDs before unleashing them on each other.

"This is not a show, as you will see, that is about sex,'' said Sandy Grushow, chairman of the Fox Television Entertainment Group. "This is a show that is exploring the dynamics of serious
relationships.''

Presumably Sandy kept a straight face while saying that. Just so I don't get a complex from posting all the LAPIs on this presumably sober, serious weblog, here's an interesting explanation why Frank Keating, the governor of Oklahoma, who spent the last year and a half campaigning for and sucking up to George W Bush, is not going to get a White House appointment. Boo hoo.