What Does Miley Cyrus Say About Us?

I can't say that I have followed the career of Miley Cyrus all that much.
I mean, of course I know of her. As Hannah Montana of the Disney Channel.
But something happened to that seemingly nice, sweet teen and now that she is an "adult".
Here is a photo of Miss Cyrus from 2012

Now in this photo, Miss Cyrus looks very attractive. Nothing wrong with her here. OK, maybe the dress, but I am just talking about her basic appearance.
This is a photo from her recent "performance" at the Video Music Awards

Beautiful! Just beautiful!
May I ask the obvious question here?
What the hell happened from that top photo to the bottom photo?
Well, here is something I will suggest.
The one-time Disney sweetheart is so untalented that she figures to keep the gravy train going for her and the Cyrus clan, she is reducing herself to twerking and slapping people's butts and calling it an entertaining performance.
That is a theory.
I mean, on the Hannah Montana show she portrayed a kind of split personality gal. Schoolkid by day, pop singer at night. I can think of worse things I guess. But for a show aimed at kids, it was probably cute and funny. I do not remember ever watching it.
The whole thing seems to be a sad descent no matter what. After all Miss Cyrus is only 20 years old. Yet something has happened along the way.
Can I blame both parents here and not just her famous daddy, Billy Ray Cyrus? I mean, it appears that all are dumping on him, but hey, isn't there a mom involved? Why yes there is and her name is Tish Cyrus. But judging from all of this, there appears to be not a stable family structure in the first place. I am kind of having trouble keeping up with who's who there. So I am going to suggest that both of these parents are very much dysfunctional people very wrapped up in the wrong things about life. Just sayin'.
Understand that the "performance" Miss Cyrus gave was a lot of things.
Misogynist is one.
Sexist another.
Maybe even racist as one of my friends on Facebook pointed out.
But who can even remember what Miss Cyrus sang?
Well, one thing is that both mommy and daddy seemed to be just oh so proud of their harlot-looking daughter.
Here is Tish Cyrus:

"I'm so proud of her, and just honestly, I'm in awe of who she's become as a performer."

Yes Tish, I can see she has done you proud. Would you be just as proud if she was "performing" that naked and the guy, was really doing something beyond the "Twerking"?
Hey Tish, wanna see some real performances, why don't you watch Dancing With The Stars? OK, maybe sometime they will get real stars, but some of the dance routines are what I would call sensual without being sexual. Yes there really is a big difference.
Oh, so how about daddy, Billy Ray? Well, he too is just so proud of Miss Cyrus:

"Thanking God for so many blessings tonight. Continue to pray for world peace. More love ...less hate."

That was a tweet of the proud papa.
As an aside, Mr. Cyrus was referring to the situation in Syria in regard to wanting world peace, more love and less hate. This dude should replace John Kerry as our secretary of state. No, seriously.
Well Mr. Cyrus seriously does have this to say about his daughter:

"She's still my little girl and I'm still her dad regardless how this circus we call show business plays out. I love her unconditionally and that will never change."

One of the tragedies of today's culture is the loving your children unconditionally.
Seriously, if you knew that your child killed someone for no reason, would you maintain that love to the point of delusion? Mrs. RVFTLC and I have told our son that our limit is just that. If we knew he did something so horrific, it would be a rush to see who could call the authorities first.
There is not one thing wrong if Mr. Cyrus were to be a little parental rather than a pal to Miss Cyrus. In other words he kind of sort of knew what she was doing. He could have suggested that maybe it would be better to tone it down yet make it entertaining. No indication that he did. And mom, well neither did she try to suggest to tone it down.
See fame is more important than being a parent to these two parents.
They seem to think that Miss Cyrus being perceived as nothing more than a tramp is A-OK for at least people will know who Miss Cyrus is.
Oh, as one aside, Mr. Cyrus is on the advisory board of the Parents Television Council.
Is that not rich?
What does it say about us that with all going around in the world we are still talking about this, days after the event?
It says we are very conflicted on such things as freedom, sexuality and how we as a society treat women worse today as sexual objects than before the so-called women's lib movement.
First, I don't think most women's libbers really fought for women to be objectified sexual objects. I don't think that they fought to see women sell themselves out as gals like Miss Cyrus are doing. I think that they fought for women to be free from such bad things.
Second, Miss Cyrus sends a bad message about sex in general. That it is so cool and that there are and should not be consequences about having casual and meaningless sex. Sure, it has always been with us but only since technology has so advanced do we a society seem to think that there is nothing wrong with it.
Third, true freedom is not doing just what you want as an individual. True freedom is realizing your role in other people's lives.
To me, this whole family could use a little guidance and that not everything is OK. That somethings can be cool and yet left to the imagination.
And we need to stop saying that anything goes. For I know that is not true. We are better than that.

If You Live Or Will Visit Phoenix, Don't Go To A Public Pool

Frightfully, it is coming to this in the great quest to seek affirmative action in every aspect of life in the United States.
Why am I frightened?
Because it appears that one American city, and a surprising one at that, is recruiting non-White lifeguards to protect swimmers in the city pools this summer.
Nothing wrong with that on the surface.
But when you read this piece over at National Public Radio, you will see why I am frightened.
It appears that an experienced swimmer need not apply for a lifeguard position if he or she is White.
Because the Asian, Black and Hispanic kids that swim in the pools really, they want someone that looks like them. And talks like them.
Read this line from one Kelly Martinez, who actually works for the city of Phoenix as she explains this effort at minority outreach and hiring:

"The kids in the pool are all either Hispanic or black or whatever, and every lifeguard is white and we don't like that. The kids don't relate; there's language issues."

Close you eyes at this point if easily offended because I am not holding back my disgust.
What the fuck?! What the hell is this nit wit talking about?!
We don't like that "every" lifeguard supposedly at the city of Phoenix public pools are White? Really?! So, let me ask you Miss Martinez, would you rather have this scenario. No lifeguard at said pools because the minorities you are trying to outreach and give employment can not meet the minimum requirement. Like basic swimming. And a person dies in a pool. Or many. Because the people did not like looking at the White kid that they do not relate to?
Well, Miss Martinez goes double-down on this theme. Miss Martinez proceeds to put this kid on the spot:

Martinez turns to a Latina student next to her. "Do you speak Spanish?" she asks. "We need more lifeguards who can speak Spanish."

I repeat my plea from above. WTF?!
So, if I understand Miss Martinez, it would be better to have a less qualified Hispanic lifeguard that spoke Spanish and could "relate" to the Hispanic kids than to have one that may not be realatable but able to potentially save a life, right? And I suppose in Miss Martinezland, we need Blacks for the Black swimmers and Asians for the Asian swimmers, right? Nevermind that once you go Asia, better make sure it is the right one. You know, a Chinese speaker. Oh, make sure fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin.
My head is spinning.
What a racist battle axe Miss Martinez is. And remember, she works for the city of Phoenix and is an aide to one Melissa Boyle, who seems to be in charge of this "outreach" according to the NPR article.
Now to be fair, it appears that there is some effort to identify and find minorities that have the potential and bring them to basic standards to potentially become a lifeguard.
That would be the obvious suggestion. Not for the reasons that Miss Martinez spouts off. Because as the article points out many of the Whites that do become lifeguards are not part of the neighborhood. Yes they come from the affluent parts of town. And what seems to be missing is the fact that these White kids are going into neighborhoods certainly not exactly receptive to them on the surface. What is missing is what the White kids are learning going out of their comfort zone and being of service in parts of town that need their kind of service.
Now the article does not mention it but is their anything that the lifeguards can do to help more of these kids gain swimming skills? Not to take their jobs but to be able to attain an important life skill? I know that there is the $15,000 grant, but what more can be done?
There is no doubt that swimming, rightly or wrongly, in many parts of the United States is still seen as something, well something White. Or to put it this way. If a minority person mocks a White swimmer with something life surfer boy, as I said, it is not a compliment.
But living here in So Cal, that barrier is in most places non-existent. When my stepson was in high school, he was the blond, surfer-looking kid on the swim team. However, there were Asians and Hispanics and a good representation without going out of the way of the school itself.
The reality of being a lifeguard is that he or she must be a great swimmer. And one that is very strong. Strong enough to be able to bring a drowning person from underwater. One that would be able to perform basic CPR on a potential drowning victim. I don't think for a moment that there is a race component to it. But access for minorities may be different in other parts of the United States. Lowering the basics could, no will, prove very costly in the long run if a person drowns because a less qualified lifeguard was trying to save that person.
That is what this is about.
Lowering standards.
Again, if you read what Miss Martinez says, she is not really concerned about the pool patron safety. She is worried about how a young Hispanic student who does not speak English feels about having a White lifeguard. But assumption, one that does not speak Spanish. Of course I am kind of sort of thinking, hey, why does this student not speak, wait for it. . .ENGLISH!
Now that this has come to light, the program needs to be really thought out how to gain qualified potential non-White lifeguard candidates without lowering standards.
Is it too much to ask the brain trust of Phoenix to figure out how to have more minority lifeguards without lowering the bar? Is this what we have come to in the United States that we have to risk safety to feel good?