no it’s not, fuck no. I do however, work with certain “colleagues” that would disagree with me.

my recruitment experience is strong, elbeit short in comparison to some “heavy hitters”. however, I see day after day the dismay that my coworkers endure when they have a candidate say ‘no’ to a job offer. why? seriously, why do you continue to treat your candidates with a level of distain you would perhaps extend a piece of raw meat?

we’re taught as recruiters to sell “ouselves” - this is the only way a client will “buy into us”, and that, I have to confirm, is 100% true. but surely, shouldn’t the same work ethic be implemented into our interaction with candidates too? some fuckers I know, do not share the same motivation. “candidates are scum”, “candidates are a means-to-an-end” - I’ve heard them all. it disgusts me.

sure, our clients pay us the multi-thousand dollar fees, and they are very important, without fail - I treat all of my clients like gold. but what I find remarkable, is that many that I work with, treat their applicants with such a behavior that can only be compared to meeting someone for the first time… with leprosy.

our business is built upon relationships - and it takes TWO to make the deal - the client, and candidate. my relationships with candidates is just as important as that of my clients’. if it weren’t for the applicants, we wouldn’t make the placements. simple math.

client + (unappreciated) candidated = bollocks to you… no!

so I adopt the british recruitment ethic, as thus:

client + (trusting and respected) candidate = yes… oh, and by the way, thank you!

it’s about reputation. period. imagine if you found a small, but perfectly rounded dog turd in your Big Mac. would you return the following day for a fillet-o-fish? hardly. would you refer your friends to a place that serve an actual, and blatant, bum log in their prized buns, to take their lunch? er, no.

respect our product - they’re 50% of the “deal” - but more importantly, they’re human bloody beings.

[echoes of jerry maguire above - I couldn't give a shit - show me the money, bitch!]

since moving into my new abode, here in the heart of brooklyn, I have come to the very recent conclusion that I live in a district of religious warmth, a community rife with compassion, forgiveness, and a profound love for humanity. I sit here as I type away, sporadically adding to the megabytes already stored by the thousands of servers at blogger.com HQs, and listen to the harmonious singing of people praising to a lord that protected those that lived through the terrible events of the gulf coast this week. indeed, they’re singing praise to god. I can’t quite make out all the words, but the commercial quality of the harmony, and the distinct sincerity in my neighbors’ voices, brings me to a place I seldom have the opportunity to visit.

I can’t quite pull myself away from the affecting emotion that these words tonight, hold special meaning to those lost, those that perished, and those that are without doubt, going through one of this world’s worst nightmares.

morose verbose

I would like to remark upon the reality of recent events, and indeed moreover, the current presidency and the running of the United States of America. now I’m no historian (I know cavemen hit their women over the head as part of the courting process - thwack! me… horny… you… taking…), but I know a thing or two about political movements in our recent history.

fascism was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. similar political movements spread across Europe between World War One and World War Two and took several forms such as nazism and clerical fascism. neofascism is generally used to describe post-WWII movements seen to have fascist attributes.

george bush, and indeed the majority of the american presidency, has undoubtedly led this great country with an intense republican administration - and to some, has been also referred to as the “christian right”. this idea was first brought up in the cautionary novel “it can’t happen here” by sinclair lewis. cases have been made both for and against this allegation on all sides of the political spectrum.

[food for thought to follow]

me ne frego, literally “I don’t care,” closer, in meaning, to “I don’t give a damn”: the Italian Fascist motto

so I come full circle (after my blatantly biased retort above) and ask you this… the citizens of louisiana lived in 4 days worth of feces before their “leader” came to their salvation. it makes me wonder if this president, upon being advised by his… er… advisors… that hurricane katrina (apparently now known as “the bitch”) had dealt a ‘two pairs against a royal flush’ hand of fate, and his people were in immediate danger, sat back in his leather bound desk chair, and thought to himself…

me ne frego

Steve Jobs has gone and done it again… giving me a longing feeling that I belong, a sense of warmth and acceptance. what am I referring to? the new “iPod nano”, the newest recruit in apple’s mp3 arsenal. I’m amazed that microsoft haven’t attempted to glean a corner of this market - they’re getting a right royal spanking.

official specs below:

• Holds up to 1,000 songs and full-color album art
• Only 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 inches and 1.5 ounces
• Bright 1.5-inch color LCD display
• Up to 14 hours of battery life(1)
• Apple Click Wheel
• Charges and syncs via USB
• Accessory-compatible Dock connector
• Completely skip-free playback
• Works with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP
• Plays music, podcasts and audiobooks
• Holds up to 25,000 photos(2)
• Syncs contacts, calendars and to-do lists

I already own an iPod mini, which I have to say, I’m not that impressed with. I have the first generation mini, 4GB, 1,000 songs, 8 hour battery life… not that impressive. shortly after the release of the 4GB model, they decide to release their second generation - 6GB, 18 hours battery life blah etcetera. so you can imagine I was pissed off. and apparently this new iPod nano is replacing the mini… come on Steve, stop fucking around.

anyway, enough of the rambling…

iPod nano. gorgeous. as thin as a #2 pencil, color screen - it is utterly splendid. and the cool thing, it comes in black also - good, something to match my PSP. you can take a look at apple’s official site to check out more pictures and information.

great, something else for the thugs to rob you of on the F train [rolls eyes]

it looks like Martha Stewart has her own “reality” show -
“The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.” are we sending the wrong message to company executives with this? hasn’t this woman just been released from prison for cheating the federal government? and now she’s going to be parading around in her own show, which reaks of shit, and the premise is appallingly unoriginal.

moreover, if my name was Don Trump, I would feel horrendously demeaned (to the extent of having my boys exposed to the world by way of an ex-girlfriend with a website, an attitude and 5 minutes to spare to upload my todger shots) in having my show copied by this rat bitch who is a convicted liar and a cheat. it is of course very apparent that her talent for copying is certainly of profound interest… what with the ImClone bullshit n’all [bdum bum... tishhhh!]

what next… “Sing-a-long with Saddam”?

with some spare time on my hands today [it's the day before labor day, a major american holiday, so it's relatively quiet], I decided to venture on a wee net surf. I checked out my usual haunts… fugly, fark, gametrailers blah. it was when I took another look at shakeskin.com that I had a revelation.

a good website is good due to its content. but a great website, adorns itself with originality. shakeskin.com is completely ridiculous, but is lavished by a level of originality that is seldom matched. the site’s “mojo” is simple, and two fold - shake your head vigorously from left to right, and have someone take a photo of you, mid-shake. or if you’re like me and you border on migraines with any severe head movement, then the “prrr” could be your weapon of choice. as explained in the site’s FAQ section, “to Prrr you hold your lips together and say ‘prrrr’, just like a horse on a sweet summer day.”

I’ll probably go for the ‘prrr’ this weekend and submit my own - and if I’m lucky enough to be posted on their site, there will indeed be appropriate linkage to my deformed mug.

I think we all, by now, are aware of the horrific circumstances surrounding recent events in and around the louisiana and mississippi areas. hurricane katrina came and went, leaving a trail of devastation that this country has not seen in its entire history.

why am I writing about this? I’m not here to do what most people are doing, expressing their deepest sympathies for those trapped or suffering, thirsty and starving, but more so about the abhorrent lack of fucking support these poor people are getting from their own government.

let’s look at the facts for a second:

• hurricane katrina hit the coast of the gulf of mexico on monday august 29
• an area of some 180,000 square miles of land was obliterated - an area larger than the united kingdom
• around one million people are very likely to become homeless
• currently five million people are without any power in the gulf coast region, and could take up to two months to restore
• on august 31st, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared martial law - however because no such term exists in Louisiana state law, it cannot officially be put into action - therefore a state of emergency has been declared instead

and more importantly:

• PEOPLE ARE DYING!

I am completely disgusted with the nation’s response to what has already been touted as america’s worst national disaster.

not so long ago, there was this pretty big wave that wiped out some islands in asia - yeah, you remember it - the tsunami. THE tsunami. such a terrible time for indeed the people directly affected, but for the world as a whole - we are a caring people, a caring race. we [the world] stepped up and raced to their rescue. within 12-24 hours of the disaster, the united nations, the united states and various other countries, including japan, were delivering food, water, clothing, transportation, medicine and anything else we thought would help. within 12-24 hours.

[pause a second, and read that again]

12-24 hours

it has been over 4 days (96 hours) since the gulf coast region got the kicking of its life. people dead. thirsty. hungry. killing. looting. starting fires. trapped for days with water up to their chins. walking through flooded streets, wading through floating corpses that are either direct hurricane victims, or the bodies of the dead from coffins that have been uprooted from local cemeteries.

to this day, no water, food, clothing, medical supplies or anything to help these hundreds of thousands of victims has been sent to this area - NOTHING!

michael brown, the head of FEMA, reported yesterday, and allow me to quote the prick, “those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates.” am I reading this right? he’s actually spouting words that criticize the actions of those that are now dying? can anything be done right now about their actions on monday of this week? the answer is very simple indeed - no, it cannot. so listen mike, we’ve had enough of your politically correct media statements, you do not have the balls to admit you dropped the ball, and you are, essentially, allowing people to die - fellow americans. how could you possibly have that position you hold as head of FEMA, when you don’t have the sack to make split second, life saving decisions - you make me nauseous.

george bush. for fuck’s sake, you’re about as useful as a billy goat’s tit. oh hang on, you did at least make a trip in your air farce one plane over the devestated areas earlier this week. but really, ask yourself, is that enough? fuck no. you are the president of the free world. the leader of a nation that is at the forefront of economic growth and the future of our earth. so tell me, how come you still have your thumb up your texan sphincter and not down there, wading through the human-feces-ridden streets as your “fellow” americans have been doing for the most of this week? I’m sure you feel that you have done your part thus far… the fly over, cancelling your summer vacation… calling the hurricane response “not acceptable”… then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! make some decisions, people have to listen to you, you’re the president. get the nation’s trucking companies to drop by poland spring for water donations, supermarkets to stock up on food, and get this relief aid to those that NEED it.

people are using the streets as toilets, people are dying by the dozen, their are no police down there, the area is stricken with death in the air.

isn’t it amazing how a president will choose popularity concerning international relations by swooping on the asian tsunami victims in delivering aid, over saving his own people - people that pay taxes to have their livelihoods taken care of, by the same man.

george, stand up, or move over - your people need you now more than ever - the clock is ticking.