Let me list the ways...

I received a complaint about the following blog -- the comment was that this descends into a rave, a ranting about something that is lacking in reason and not well thought out. Accordingly, if you hold Cambridge and Cantabrigians dear DO NOT READ ONWARDS. I WILL APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE IF THIS OFFENDS YOU. READ OTHER ENTRIES IN MY BLOG

Well. So what?

That I hate Cambridge -- Massachusetts, that is. This is by no means a complete listing, rather a mere smidgeon, a fleeting taste.

First: why is it that Cantabrigians feel the need to walk across the street without looking? They just step out from between parked cars onto a cross walk and proceed across. No self-preservation involved. Just walk. If you happen to have to brake hard to avoid smearing some of the sebaceous scum on you car, they make a point of casting a brief glare, then walking even more slowly. I wish that they'd travel to Paris, or Rome ... or even Detroit. But then they don't travel, secure in the knowledge that what they have been told about the rest of the world is true, and if not left-wing and PC, then what was said was a vicious lie spread by the vast right-wing conspiracy.

Second: they drive Volvos. Even the moderate inhabitants of the People's Republic drive Volvos -- nice, new, shiny Volvos ... but Volvos. Newer Volvos are actually pretty good cars, and decent to drive ... but given the vast numbers of cars that fit that requirement, why Volvo? They are not cheap. They are not vastly safer than the rest of the automotive universe -- and if the car in question is a Volvo XC90 SUV, probably a lot more dangerous than some. So why do it? One thing is that this way you can drive a nice car and avoid getting it keyed by some liberal thug punishing the oppressive, capitalist pigs. Because it is a Volvo (or any hybrid), you are safe ... unlike the masochist driving a BMW which is the same sort of self abuse as throwing bucket of acid over your own car. But what really gets me is that the uber-greens, the absolute pinnacle of liberal granola-dom drive OLD Volvos. 244's and rusty 740s. Duval Patrick sticker, rainbow decals, Kerry-Edwards still boldly displayed ... and coughing out huge clouds of blue smoke. The kind of smoke that makes you sick. There is just something wrong with the juxtaposition of hyper-environmentalism and a gas-guzzling pollution machine. I don't care if you claim that they only drive this because they are poor -- it is FAR more than that. It is a counter-culture badge of merit -- and a startling example of how political beliefs are primary over reason and practice in the Republic.

Third: nobody EVER lets anyone in through traffic in Cambridge. For such a socially conscious group of bleeding hearts -- well those hearts seem to turn to stone on the road. Hairy armpit Annie will cut you off and back up over you to ensure that she gets to the parking space in front of you or anyone else, particularly when you were already trying to back in before she U-turned across the road to try and snag the space. Or even simply be first at the light. It doesn't matter how slight the perceived advantage might be, the politically stickered car driver will "fight for his/her rights!!"

Fourth: why can't anyone in Cambridge be concerned with personal grooming? Does concern with hygene preclude liberal political beliefs? This has been a theme since the days of the hippie, but whereas most of the world has come to realize that you don't have to smell like a ferret to be taken seriously, Cantabrigians cultivate an evil-smelling funk. And some guys look good with beards -- properly trimmed and cared-for, they can look great. But when you effect the neo-Che look in terms of facial hair, you DO prove that you are not concerned with what others think of you ... and that in turn evidences a certain self-absorption which precludes actually listening to someone else and subjecting your own views to critical analysis in the light of the world at large. Ladies: if you are going grey ... do something about it. Get a haircut, dye it, trim it, something. Floppy clothes, frumpy hair, Birkenstocks, lack of make-up and a fat ass inside a muumuu do nothing to show that you care about yourself. Consider: if you and your type get into real power, they will attempt to negotiate with the Imams and Mullahs ... all the while more women are repressed into servitude and terror. The women so consigned will not have the option to dress neatly, or express themselves in appearance or dress or anything else. Perhaps you simply don't care about yourself and by extension, other women either. You are not successfully telling the world at large that you are not bothered by such shallow and trivial things as looking good, you are merely showing the world that you don't care at all.

Fifth: brainwashed children. Children should not be running around spouting Doo-vile's campaign rubbish as "truth." Not only has this cretin not actually told us anything concrete that he would do, he misstates and falsely characterizes everything that others have done and are tyring to do. And little Che clones run around proclaiming him to be the saviour of Massachusetts. For goodness sake, let them grow up to make their own conclusions and defend their own beliefs, not the DNC party line (if I were writing about some whacko-reglious right wing settlement ... say Salt Lake City, I'd say the same thing to them).

Sixth: I've written about this before, but ... bike riders. I rode a bike all over Europe. I've put serious miles on a frame driven by pedals and eaten some road pizza. But the number of bike riders in Cambridge who evidently don't want to see tomorrow is staggering. And I don't want to be the person that obliges them -- my insurance would not like it and nor would my car. I have hopes that the people who regularly risk their miserable butts will leave the area, move to South Carolina or some such and grow up. But I fear that a great many of them will continue to wallow in political ignorance in the great cocoon of liberal thought -- the People's Republic. Recently the cyclists that have really made me wonder are the professorial types: grey hair, tweed jacket (no, really!!), clipped trouser legs, and a helmet with silly little mirrors taped to either side of it. No problem if you obey traffic laws, stay to bike lanes and look out for cars ... but the get-up seems to instill a form of bravado that is totally out of place when threading a fragile machine, on which you have entrusted your life, through corridors of SUVs, pick-ups and crazy white vans. Old dude: lissen up, yo! You gonna get hurt!! Give it up!! And most of all, stay the heck away from me!!!!

Seventh: Whole Foods (and just about any other market or palce where people gather to compete in shopping). Those granolas are bent on getting the tenderest vittles ... before you do. Never have I been so often elbowed, shoved, stepped on etc., as in Cambridge. Sort of figures though: the only groups of people you will EVER see shout down others trying to make a speech are far-lefties in the USA and whacko-religious types elsewhere -- just think about it. A far lefty can give a speech full of hate and venom and receive applause and cheers. A conservative can make a speech reporting the statistical analysis of showing the correlation of unwanted pregancy to education and cultural background and receive death threats, not to mention hardly being able to make the speech in the first place. Harvard gets a holocaust denying ex-Iranian president, a man who calls for the extermination of Israel and who presided over executions for ideological grounds and that is OK by the loonyleft in Cambridge. Larry Summer states that there may be a statistical and biological basis for one sex having an advantage in sciences and he gets led to the figurative post without a blindfold. Or a trial, or a hearing of any sort. One only presumes that the crazies would have done the actual deed, given a chance.

I hate the place.