One T-Shirt for every abuse
Treehugger.com ran this article on Sunday:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/stephen_fowler.php
It has an interesting list with Fowler's T-Shirts and the kind of abuse he was shelling out while wearing it:
I agree with treehugger's conclusion: Yes. There are some jerks thrown into every mix. There are jerks everywhere. You can't escape them.
And the good people of earthfirst.com have no sympathy for him either:
http://earthfirst.com/smug-self-important-san-francisco-stereotype-springs-to-life/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/stephen_fowler.php
It has an interesting list with Fowler's T-Shirts and the kind of abuse he was shelling out while wearing it:
"Tree...Hugger," says his shirt as he brutally berates his temporary wife.
"Sustainability!" his shirt exclaims as he kicks Mrs. Long out of his house.
"Go Solar," his shirt cries as his swapped-out helpmate weeps.
I agree with treehugger's conclusion: Yes. There are some jerks thrown into every mix. There are jerks everywhere. You can't escape them.
And the good people of earthfirst.com have no sympathy for him either:
http://earthfirst.com/smug-self-important-san-francisco-stereotype-springs-to-life/
Treehuggers had the exact term I was looking for: "effete popinjay". Very English novel. In fact my partner and I were playing with this two-part idea yesterday. One, if Stephen Fowler were a character in an English novel, which novelist would it be? And two, would Stephen Fowler, for all his vaunted Cambridge education, be able to follow our conversation?
The environmentalists are right to want to cast this bozo from their midst, being associated with him benefits no one. In fact, one more game: If some company or cause actually did hire Stephen Fowler to be their spokesman, what do you think it might be?
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Fowler is a great source of "brown energy", just look at the momentum's he's gathered.
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I think he's not very educated. If he were, he wouldn't spend his time reading the San Francisco Chronicle, which is what he is doing at the end of the show. He should be reading the pink colored Financial Times of London, being an educated Londoner.
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If he were as smart as he seems to think he is, he wouldn't have been on a show like Wife Swap in the first place. Not to rag on the show or anything, but is that really the puruit of a man who's so well educated and so globally socially aware as he claims to be? I think not. He was trying to drum up business for his air-ehaded wife's life coach and weight loss business. The cameras got in his house and he exposed himself to be an abusive fraud.
What he did to Gayla Long was inexcusable, but what he's doing to his children is a crime.
"I play piano because my father forces me to."
Stephen says "I don't make them do anything I don't want to do."
The son says back "But I tell you I don't want to and you tell me I have to anyway."
Never mind the environment, and never mind what an ass he is. Let's not forget that this man is abusing his children verbally and emotionally, and he's stunting their social growth. He deprives them of sleep and forces them into extracirricular tasks they don't want to do, denying them normal social interaction with children their own ages. It's all about School. It's all about homework. It's all about fencing (and whatever other ridiculous hobbies they force their kids to do). I just hope that somebody in their area isn't just whistling Dixie for the fun of it, I hope they're contacting childrens protective services.
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There is nothing funny or snide I can say about Steven Fowler's behavior. As atrocious as he was to this poor, pleasant woman, it was horrible to watch how he treated his own children. His inability to realize that his children are individuals with needs, dreams and hopes of their own was horrible to watch. To watch him engage his children in abusive behaviors toward this poor woman was watching child abuse at its most insidious. His children could not have a party or friends, could not come into his office, the lists of things his children were not allowed to do was daunting and sad. I can understand why he wanted this woman out of his house. She was trying to bring children and happiness into it. His dislike of his children was evident in his treatment of them. As important, his wife's statements about her children as people she can't spend much time with, and so on, were incredibly sad to hear. Why hasn't Social Services interviewed these people to make sure they are actually loving and caring for these children and not just servicing them? These children need to see a legitimate child psychologist to evaluate the damage done by such regimented, extremist, verbally abusive parents.
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Has anyone called foul (or Fowler) on Ass-Hat's pseudo environmentalism. Yes, he's got some right-on T-shirts that I don't possess. But I own a Prius, walk or take Muni around the City. I spotted a BMW and an SUV in his garage. What's his carbon footprint again?
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I am glad the environmentalist are ditching him for making them look bad my association. I feel sorry for the trees too. His shirt should read "Tree Humper"
Did you notice that he asks his son, "Don't you understand plain English?" Sarcasm is devastating to a child. It confuses them and it betrays contempt which is damaging to any relationship.
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Another UK newspaper weighs in...
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/guy-adams-one-englishman-the-us-doesnt-like-1632283.html
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The Independent article is (as I posted to them) snarky and a back handed complement to the Fowler critics ending with a Shakespearian quite about 'the lady doeth protest too much'. I don't know if they'll actually post my response, but here's what I wrote - "Ah, what a lovely snarky commentary on Stephen Fowler with just a bit of Shakespeare tossed in to add legitimacy? Clearly, this reporter missed most of the show - Fowler was verbally abusive and behaved abominably in front of his children. The outrage was a COMBINATION of several issues well beyond Fowler's arrogance which included but was not limited to a disdain for the country where he's made a better income than Great Britain, controlling/borderline sociopatic behavior toward his children, hypocricy in his following of the green movement and a slew of other items which have nothing to do with his disdain for the parts of US he's never visited. He's been derided by liberals and conservatives of every education level, immigrants and native born citizens. Rather than suggesting that the audiences recoiled at Fowler touching on the nerve, it may benefit all who wish to pass a judgement on our sensibilities to watch the episode on youtube and judge for themselves. Somehow, I suspect he has an equal disdain for many in Great Britain as well. Do not show your ignorance by claiming that it was just the 'middle-American' critics - he was found to be offensive and deplorable by a diverse population. The author's small patriotic part seems rather displaced."
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