THE REPUBLICANS ARE CIRCLING THE WAGONS, like terrorists trapped in a bombed out basement. This of course was predictable. Sieg Heil Trump, all hail the great cult leader of the most notorious gang of terrorist criminals in recorded human history, the Republican National Party. Trump, who just lately has advocated an American "Reich" as he termed it, under his Hitlerian style dictatorial leadership. Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up. All you can do is gawk in amazement at the complete descent of the American Christian conservative community into utter decadence, as they follow like lemmings into the sea their now thirty four time felon cult icon into the depths of cultural, political, and social Gehenna. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson asserts that the criminal justice system is rigged against Donald Trump. Other Republican members of Congress, most other members, are saying the same; that Biden and the Democrats have contrived a vast left wing conspiracy against God's representative on Earth, the anointed one sent by Christ, aloft in Trump tower, perched atop Mt. Sinai. Down came Almighty Trump this very morning to spew forth more of his inane, insane garbage, whining about the justice system's finding him guilty on all counts. We learned that, according to Herr Trump, he and his legal team were not allowed to call witnesses. That, as they say, is new to me. They managed to call one, a shady Whitey Bulger type mafia gangster figure, who spewed the Trump line; that everybody seeking justice is out to get tRump, and that any body who questions any remark made by his exalted madness is lying through their teeth. It took the jury no longer to discern and disarm the lame pathetic defense mustered by Trump than it takes to hear a blatant lie each and every time Don the Con opens his puckered mouth and speaks. The right wing extremist media is pitching a conniption, in a state of total meltdown. The FOX (faux) propaganda network is screeching that the obvious war against Trump by the communist Democratic party is tantamount to Stalin and the Russian hordes, marching into Moscow, seizing the reins of power. Stalin never did any such thing, Hitler was elected, Trump was elected, by the electoral college, and, in a county so intellectually and morally disabled as to even consider allowing a criminally insane reprobate to ever come to power in the first place, all things are possible. Welcome to the great American fun house, where everything is distorted, and nothing is as it seems. It is even possible that Donald J. Trump may regain the presidency, and this time, govern from prison, with his horde of cult followers resentful, yet happy. The last recourse of the American democracy shall be the ballot box, not the courtroom. It never should have come to this, but it has, and we've now no alternative but two make the best of a horrendous situation, by merely voting, our only tool, democracy's weapon of last resort.
Friday, May 31, 2024
Trump's Travails, Becoming Interesting
NOW IT BECOMES INTERESTING. A convicted felon hits the campaign trail, running for president of the United States, and, more shocking still, at the moment, either ahead in the polls, or if not, not far behind. One can, or cannot scarcely imagine what vituperation the freshly convicted felonious Don the Con might uncork. Screeching whines of an imaginary rigged system of injustice, sung to the out of key background tune of sycophantic cheers and angry applause. Veiled threats, against the complicit President Biden, the judiciary, and heaven only can predict whom and what else. Then too there is the hobbled vehicle, Untruth Unsocial", Trump's flagging social media platform, launched recklessly some time ago in response to being kicked of Twitter Tweet Ex - for ranting falsehoods out of control, surprisingly, or unsurprisingly. Now the felon can , already has, and shalll undoubtedly continue to rant false accusations at the keyboard, Covfefe,or no Covfefe. And, lettuce make no mistake, through all this, through all the campaign trail screeds and all the hideous insults spewed out upon the internet either; a certain magistrate in New York state lower Manhattan district will be turned in , paying rapt attention, on the look out for any and all possible threats against himself, threat which are, to be perfectly clear, illegal. Sentencing is slated for July 11. That is more than enough time and opportunity for a certain felonious former president to talk himself onto a hot seat, like a frog jumping into boiling water, and not even knowing or caring about it. Said magistrate has a wide range of options in sentencing the Don. He can go light, send him on his merry law scoffing way, glad to finally be rid of him, and sanitize his mildly stenching courtroom. (Wherever he the convict sets his orange artificially hirsute self down, there malingers a not altogether pleasant aroma.) The judge can sentence him to probation, with restrictions and conditions. Home confinement, far off the campaign trail, is a distinct possibility. He the judge could also place a gag order on Trumpian social media screeds, just to have a little fun, generate a little excitement and anticipation, and buy a little quiet time for us the American people. The next step would be to wait, and to dare and double dare the cult leader to break the ban, an act not unlikely for you know who, which would provide more than adequate incentive and just cause to up the stake to jail time. Speaking of jail time, that remains on the table, legally, and according to legal experts. A maximum of four years per offense. Doing the math, four times thirty four, and you get, if my calculator is charged up, a not so insignificant one hundred and thirty six years behind bars, sufficient to not only last through another term in the penitentiary Pseudo White House, but a few more lifetimes to boot. The presiding, relevant judge, being after all a human being, might just possibly be influenced in his sentencing options by the behavior of Don, prison number 0045, in deciding the convict's actual fate. Even this normally oblivious former prevaricator-in-chief is surely at least vaguely aware of that, and had better watch his step, and his loquacious mouth.The best advice, the only advice, is to upgrade your popcorn popper, sit back, have blood pressure meds on hand, and stay tuned, for it is going to be a helluva a good show.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Celebrating Justice, Not Criminality
I HAD PREDICTED A NOT GUILTY VERDICT, or, most likely a hung jury, and an interminable continuation of a seemingly endless saga, the saga of an obvious criminal who tragically enjoys the continuing support of a shockingly large portion of the American electorate. I was of course quite pleased with the verdict. I have despised Trump since he graced the front page of "The National Enquirer" repeatedly decades ago, his smiling smirking visage proudly proclaiming his unearned, ill gotten wealth, his narcissistic self absorption, his made up trophy wives. His political career, a seemingly unending litany of self aggrandizement, lies, horrible policy positions and corruption while president, disgusted me, as it did and has tens of millions of other reasonably intelligent, morally discerning Americans. Pleased with the verdict, but not celebrating it. All across Facebook, all across the internet, all across America's fruited plain Trump haters like myself are "celebrating the verdict", champagne corks popping. Not so much for me. Why should I celebrate when a criminal's criminality is formally recognized in a duly constituted court of law? I already knew he is a criminal, and I deplore it, rather than celebrate it. The thing for me to celebrate is the administration of justice. I had rather the criminal himself had never chosen a life of crime, and that our prisons be emptied, and all citizens reformed, and newly committed to personal redemption and renewed productivity. But Donald Trump, like all Too many others, chose a life of crime, and his criminality has been too readily apparent for far too long, and his inevitable justice delayed far too long. Little, for all practical purpose, will change. The prevaricating criminal will continue to proclaim his innocence, and to hurl absurd, insane accusations about the system being stacked against him,"rigged'. The 20020 outlandish presidential election lie, redux. Donald Trump's cult will regroup, harden its already hardened hearts, become more self deluded than ever, and "double down", as we like to say, on their inane, delusional rhetoric about Trump's imaginary greatness, and the alleged, fabricated criminality of Biden, who, in fact, has led a life of abiding the law. The constant attack against truth, reason, and facts will be redoubled, and Trump will have to be defeated at the ballot box, as always, and again little if anything will change. Only now, when the arguments resume, which is immediately, those who detest Trump will, if nothing else, be able to refer to a New York judge and jury to support their claim that the former and perhaps future president of the United States is indeed a confirmed criminal. confirmed by our system of justice. As the late great Casey Stengal would say: "You could look it up".
Taking In Kittens Part IV
WITH "ONLY" THREE INDOOR KITTENS (I call all cats"kittens"), and Cassandra having passed, I had openings. Out side openings. Don't stop, adopt. Hell, don't even adopt, just sit around and wait, wait for the next stray kitten to come down the pike. And thus did Amy and Pseudo enter my life and heart. Two tiny bright white kittens were running free and clear in the back yard of my neighbors. Neighbor didn't seemed inclined to do anything about it other than complain, so I resolved that, were the opportunity to present itself, I would. Soon said opportunity presented itself. The twins, who I at first had mistaken for a single kitten, getting no help across the street, came to my side of the block, where help, in abundance, awaited them. Soon, they were living wild in my yard. I knew they were home, and would not wander looking again. I named one "Amy", after a friend of mine, and the other "Pseudo", because during the interminable four month period during which my indoor Siamese baby "Shylow was on the hoof, I mistook the white kittens , who was already beginning to show signs of Siamese-ness, for Shylow. That was initially disappointing, but only for a time; it worked itself out fine, after a fashion. Amy and pseudo settled in. They ingratiated themselves to me. Then, no sooner had they done that, then they each brought a litter of four to me, to show off, I reckon, Tiny little things clinging to their mothers, precious. It was like dating a women three dates, then her announcing: "Oh, by the way, I have four kids." Like having it happen not once, but twice. (fool me once, shame on you). But, as they say, I was stuck, i dug in too deep to extricate myself. I had, as they say, been had. Suddenly, faster than you can swing a dead cat and hit anything, I had ten cats. My future was written in stone. They grew up, and the crew dwindled. Attrition, probably two be expected with such a large brood. One of the tiny kittens, one of Pseudo's if I recall, simply vanished. Another I found in my garage, dead, its head bloody, as if being attacked by its own father. Whoever did it will never be welcomed to return, even for a visit. Yet another got hit by a car, on my very quiet side street. People are vicious animals. Of those that survived to adulthood, one, a yellow tabby remindful of indoor Jake, (see previous articles), up an left home, probably weary of living with a gang of spayed females. He, Riley by name, stayed with me two years, and I am convinced that he found a better home. Otherwise he would have returned, where he know he had good food, even if he had to share it with overbearing females. Another, "Lucky", a beautiful silver long hair with bright green eyes, got hit by another vicious American driver at the tender age of about two. Yet another, "Destiny", a beautiful multicolored long haired female who never liked me because her spaying had been difficult, left home when I began feeding two more stray grown males,who I fed because they needed to eat, and because they made, and still make, no trouble for my cat family. They still come around. Here's the upshot: as of now, I have three outdoor cats. Pseudo and Amy, the sisters-mothers, both now about six and a half years old, and Destiny, a precious black striped tabby female, a daughter of Amy. Also, "Diamond:, a precious long haired female, who has in the past month been moved inside to my master bedroom, in which she lives alone, recuperating from a serious illness, the bedroom a sort of hospital, where I feed her steroids while she gets better. The vet made me choose whether to try to save her or to let her go; there are no wrong choices, he said. I knew my responsibilities, as always. I chose wisely, I think: her swollen heart and kidneys might be receding, they have a thirty percent chance said the vet, and, on the steroids, she eats like a vulture, and is regaining weight, fast. One indoor cat, Mandi, one sequestered indoor rehabbing cat, Diamond, and Pseudo, Amy, and Remmi, outside in the garage, plus the two male strays coming and going. I haven't named them yet, but probably soon will. Nor have I taken a look at my bank account recently, being afraid to. I doubt that I'll be going to Europe or anywhere else in the near or cat-life future, but then, I really don't want to anyway, and anyway, I have much more love than money or travel can ever buy.
Taking In Kittens Part III
MANDI, JAKE, AND SHYLOW lived harmoniously in my home, in my lap, in my heart and soul, and in my bed for six years. They snuggled together in winters in one of their several baby kitten beds. One female, two males, all spayed and neutered, well fed, the bills mounting. Cat caregivers all across America's fruited plain perhaps wonder whether corporate cat food will simultaneously become pleasant for cats to eat, reasonably inexpensive,and nutritious. The answer is probably no. Corporate monopolies have us by the short hairs. Jake and Shylow wanted out, Mandi did not. Most of the time both males were quite content to be inside my house;their urge to roam around was not constant, but only intermittent. The males, though neutered, expressing their innate urge to roam. At one point Shylow escaped and was gone for four months, even though he knew exactly where he lived. For me, four long months of hell, driving around, wondering, searching. He returned one December night, and we were happily reunited. On another occasion he snuck out,too quick for me to catch, and was gone one month. he came home hungry,but not underweight, screaming at me from my backyard. He kept screaming at me after Iured him into m laundry room with food.He crouched the washer and dryer while I sat down, did nothing, and waited for him to figure things out. He did,and sat in my lap,purring. A month or so afterward he got sick, and died from liver failure. I still wonder whether he might have drunk somebody's anti-freeze. He about six years old. Jake lived to be about eleven and a a half, got sick, and died from what the vet said was multiple organ failure,and perhaps some cancer. I wept hysterically in the veterinarian's lobby, but I got about twenty hugs. No, he said, there was nothing I could have done. The ashes of both Jake and Shylow will remain above my fireplace, in their place of honor. We humans do strange things to console ourselves. Mandi must now be twelve an a half.I know I won't have her much longer. She remains very energetic, demanding, bossy, with especially high culinary standards. Over her life , she has not been outside since she came to me as a green blazing eyed stray kitten. I have always wondered whether the three were from the same litter, and whether as feral cats they had acquired viruses and bacteria which limited their health. Outside, there was no less excitement.A lovely little stray grey an black tabby female with all white feet (Cassandra) who lived in my garage and in my lap for two years, then died of kidney failure after a long struggle with machinery and medication. She is buried in my yard, perhaps illegally. Soon after sweet Cassandra's death I noticed a pair of pretty white kittens running around the neighborhood.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Taking In Kittens Part II
HONESTLY, the idea of taking stray cats into my lovely new home and never occurred to me.The last cat I had had, Tiber, a beautiful big multi-striped male, had died in 1985 at the tragically young age of about two, form feline Leukemia, which back then was a relatively new feline disease for which there was no treatment. Tiber, my love, withered away gradually and painfully, refusing to eat, while a friend of mine, also now dead, and I did everything we could to get him to eat,including giving him the tastiest, meatiest snacks from our dinner tables. Tiber refused everything. /the vet said he would try, but that there was little hope; there were too many unknowns. Tiber died in my bed, wanting, as always, to be near me. I was distraught, My roommate mercifully buried him for me, and I look forward to seeing my baby again., in heaven. for the next twenty seven years I had no cats. I adopted a beautiful German Shepherd, Wolfgang, a black and silver, who made Rin Tin Tin look like a runt. he lived for ten and a half years, until hip dysplasia ended his mobility, his joy, an his life.We were inseparable. We still are, and always will be. Wolfie lived from 1992 to 2002, a much much too brief life.If not quantity, we had quality. from 2002 to 2012 I was pet free, amazingly. It is not good to be without animals friends. I had built and moved into a new home in 2005, and, madly in love with it, determined to keep it clean as a hospital. The thought of renewing my relationship with either cats or dogs did not occur to me. They had other ideas. In late September, 2012, five years into mortgage payments, I came home from work one day and notice a tiny grey kitten with blazing green eyes sitting in my front year, near my front porch, staring at me with fear and anger blazing out of these eyes like fire. I did nothing. Didn't miss a step, walked on past her, into the house. The next day, there she was again, only a feet closer.This wet on for a week, during which she insinuated herself into my heart and soul without my being aware of it, After a week of this game, I lost patience.I made myself a big, sloppy, juicy , tunas sandwich, and took it t other front porch, and and sat down in a lawn hair. She screamed, and within a split second was on my lap. I gave her a bit of tuna. She seemed satisfied, and jumped down. I liked that. I was hooked. Mandi still lives with me today, is perhaps we've years old, and we have a love-love relationship, made verdant by her insistence on controlling me, and my feeble resistance. About two weeks after Mandi gained entrance into my lovely pristine home, a tiny yellow tabby male, who had evidently been paying attention and saw an opening, started making himself visible. I was once again a bit hard to get: I wanted Mandi to have a chance to settle in before taking on any more kittens. But Jake had other ideals. Seeing Mandi coming and going from m house like she owned the place (by now she did), Jake(named after a John Grisham character) knew I would soon be his. He was even more aggressive than Mandi. He actually dug a hole in the window screen of my bedroom window, which cause him to limp for a few days. I was soon his. I now had two kittens. Then came Shylow, a beautiful stereotypical Siamese male. He and Jake had been snuggling together in the cold October nights, in my yard. the night he stood n y driveway and screamed relentlessly, he became mine. Thus I cane to be the happy if unplanned daddy of three gorgeous kittens, who were growing fast, snuggling with me in bed, replacing the children I never had.... (to be continued).
Taking In Kittens Part I
THE PHOTO, and if it was photo shopped it was extremely well done, and it really doesn't matter whether it was, was taken from the interior of a home, looking out through patio doors. Standing up against the glass, tiny paws pressing hard, body stretched out to full length, stood a tiny precious orange-yellow tabby kitten. Behind the little doll sat a full grown yellow tabby, the familiar pattern of Orangie yellow stripes, beautiful, that standard sweet face. She was looking plaintively in through the doors, plainly asking for help, for food, for a home. The caption said, "what would you do if you saw this"? Folks started typing in their responses. "Open the door", said one. "Let them in", said another. I jumped right in, with : "I'd have that door open quicker than a flock of maggots lands on a dung pile". (That's me, the literally creative one.) Unsatisfied with but a single response, I contributed a few more. "Who wouldn't? Everybody would!". And a few more. well,and then, about what percentage of the American or human population would indeed do that, would take in the precious creatures and feed, house, and care for them for the rest of their relatively short, by humans standards, lives? In Islamic countries, everybody would, Anybody who didn't would be in serious trouble, probably ostracized or worse. Muslims love cats, Islamic culture reveres cats, since long ago, in the seventh century the prophet Mohammed was saved from a snake bit by a cat, stroked the at making it beautiful as all cats have been ever since. When a cat was sleeping on the sleeve of his prayer garment, he cut off the sleeve,leaving the cat undisturbed. In Islamic countries, you feed stray cats on the street, you take them into your home, for cats are clean, cats are special angels. Here in America, the percentage of cat and kitten "rescuers" is doubtlessly somewhat lower. But I, even cynical about American culture I, have enough faith in my fellow Americans to believe, firmly, that a large majority of us the American people would indeed do the right thing, the loving, compassionate thing. I've done it a million times, and never regretted it yet. I have emptied half my retirement savings account taking in stray and feral cats,some of whom still live with with me. Other lived out their lives of various lengths, and are buried lovingly in my yard, or honored with their ashed upon my fireplace mantle. Half of my life retirement savings. Half. Proper cat vet care is expensive. Veterinarians, god bless them, live nice comfortable upper middle class American lifestyles. So be it. I have paid and paid and paid, for vaccinations, for liver failure emergency care, for kidney failure emergency urgent care, and yet, my beloved babies died. So be it. I can go to Europe during my next lifetime. Perhaps my cats will go with me. As for this life, I can enjoy my own back yard, and the beautiful precious beings who live there. My indoor cats will not accept new roommates. I would have it otherwise. I can live the high life next time around, As for now, I would take in the two yellow kittens at the patio door. I have done it many times, and will doubtless do it yet again.
Monday, May 27, 2024
Making It
MY SISTER AND I grew up in a musical family, on my father's side. He was a decent amateur keyboard man, my grandmother had a beautiful voice, so I hear. Sister and I both played in the high school band, she the flute, I the trumpet. she was three years older and much better than I. She pursued music as a career, playing in the army band after earning a degree in music. She still plays today, in retirement, with several local bands and orchestras.We both sing well, both in gospel groups. I gave up the trumpet after ninth grade, interested in other things;sports, girls,anything but school. Notwithstanding her ostensibly superior musical ability to mine, I firmly believe than my natural talent in music is as great as hers, but that I never fully developed it. The question of talent, who has it, who has it not, and why a select few artists of various sorts achieve tremendous success while others of equal ability do not is the subject of a fascinating new study by Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, in a monograph titled "How To Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came To Be" He focuses on the Beatles, What if they had never existed, but some bloke on the streets of London, busking for pennies, started performing the entire Beatles songbook as an anonymous nobody? Would he and the songs become famous as the Beatles? Maybe, not. Sunstein argues that natural ability is indeed a seminal factor in achieving widespread artistic success and fame, but that talent alone is simply not enough. Fame and success, in almost any area, business, the arts, athletics, derives form a perfect storm of coinciding circumstances. Of great importance are a champion of your cause, a benefactor, a promoter, and a network of supporting friends and helpers. A "cascade of enthusiasm", as he calls it, to get the ball rolling, to establish the necessary momentum for success. Taylor Swift is beautiful, talented, a gifted song writer, with a good singing voice. So are many other people, who never "made it" in terms of commercial success. A contemporary of Bob Dylan was a highly talented singer song writer named Connie Converse, whom, when rarely heard, obviously possessed he necessary talent to become a celebrated star, only she didn't. Persistence plays a part, perhaps the most important part. Dylan gigged himself half to death in Greenwich village in the early sixties, Connie Converse did not.Elvis was driving a truck in Tupelo until he got connected with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis. Sure, he was handsome, had a great voice, charm, all that. Even became a decent actor when cast in the right roles, aka fluff romance movies, (He always thought he was qualified for more serious work). He played acoustic passably well, but no better than your average local guitar player. Also, he never wrote a song in his life. Elvis Presley was far from a "self made man. For every Einstein there are undiscovered Einsteins, working in factories, Ditto Taylor Swift, Elvis, even the vaunted much celebrated immortal Beatles. Einstein once famously said: "I have no special talent. I am merely extremely curious". Perhaps we should take him at his word.
Christian Fascism, Ever Rearing Its Serpentine Head
MY PARENTS did me a great service by refraining from providing me any religious instruction or indoctrination. Their assumption, which was quite correct, was that I possessed the necessary intelligence to develop my own religious views and to choose my own influencers. I have always suspect that my fervently devout Christian grandmothers,women born in the nineteenth century, were held in obeyance only by the strict admonitions of my protective, intellectually astute parents. Arguably, religious instruction-indoctrination of children is child abuse. This is a view with which I strongly agree. And so it came to pass that by the time I was in third grade, I realized that I would never be a Christian, nor a votary of any religion other than one of my own invention. As Goethe said: "When I realized that everyone invents his own religion, I decided to invent mine". Any person who believes that all people should embrace the Christian religious faith, and that anyone does does not is not "saved", is, by definition, a "fascist"; a devout loyalist to an elite class, with the strong belief that all other no members are outsiders, and thus, the enemy. Hitler or else. Jesus or else. I recall in grade school reading the book of "Genesis",being fascinated by its creation story and story of the origins of life on Earth. I was at the same agrees absorbing every book on astronomy and science I could borrow from the local library, and comparing the two versions, creationism, and evolution by natural selection. Modern cosmology, with far flung galaxies light years apart, and a solar system of planets orbiting a blazing star a million miles in diameter easily won my acceptance,over a flat Earth with pin pricks in the dome of heaven through which the blazing light of heaven shines, or the stars as glass trinkets hanging from said dome, which will fall and smash on the ground at the end of days. Both explanations of stars occur in the Bible. They contradict each other, as much of the Bible contradicts itself. The graduate programs in theology at both the Harvard theology seminary an the Princeton school of religious studies both quite willingly and correctly point out the thousands of false statements in the Bible.Most students enter these doctoral programs of biblical studies as born again Christians; about half of them graduate as agnostics or atheists,and pursue lucrative careers from the pulpit nonetheless. My entire life, the more devout the Christian "friend", the less tolerant of m beliefs. Even my friends who seemingly accept my lack of Christian faith or traditional religiosity seem to be lurking in wait, awaiting a hoped for opportunity to "save" me. Evangelical Christian fascism in America is more strident, more dangerous, and more active than at any other time in American history. And, overwhelmingly, it supports and indeed idolizes Donald Trump. No better proof of its malignant fascism exists. Nothing could be more appropriate, however. What better way for religious fascists to express their fascism than by cherishing and supporting a political fascist?
Praising With Faint Damn
POLLS INDICATE the President Biden is losing support from the African-American community, and Donald Trump is benefiting from Biden's loss,gaming support. As we say: "go figure" Progressive Democrats, from Jesse Jackson on, have historically enjoyed and ninety to ten percent huge advantage over conservative Republicans, dating way back to the nineteen sixties.The back community has been in large measure responsible for democratic victories not only in national elections, but in key election districts in swing states. Biden, in his more than fifty year career in national politics, has been especially popular among blacks, serving as Barack Obama's vice-president for eight years. All it takes is a little inflation, for which Biden is entirely not responsible, and perhaps some diplomatic juggling in the complex middle east conflict, and does goes Biden's support, like Joe Frazier. Is it the economy? How an it be? The economy is booming and thriving, like maggots on a dung pile. Do African-Americans mistakenly perceive that Biden, in advanced age, has gone senile, and reversed his lifetime commitment to civil rights, racial equality, and the uplifting of the black community economically with better jobs and anti-discrimination legislation? ON National Public Radio, a young black gentleman, being interviewed, spoke thusly: "I know Trump's got a "wild side to him, but"...blah blah blah....I couldn't abide listening to the rest, to the forthcoming lame excuse mongering justification for even remotely considering the possibility of withdrawing support for a good and honorable man who has for decades promoted the African-America cause, has been a steadfast of the black community, and giving it to..a criminal, traitor, insurrectionist, racist. Trump, who unabashedly stated that he would prefer immigrants from Norway, rather then what he termed, and I quote, "shit hole countries in Africa. Trump, who according to everyone who has ever known him even remotely well, attests, in published books, that Don the Con is an inveterate racist, who unabashedly sling the "N word" like a short order cook slinging hash browns. No, dismissing Trump's criminal, racist, demented lifestyle with the soft sobriquet "wild side" is tantamount to calling Hitler's policies towards European Jews as "rude". Recently I stupidly stumbled upon a gang of Trump supporters on Facebook,who characterized their hero as "the greatest president in American history who made reasonable decisions under difficult circumstances." That's like saying that your cat judiciously ignored his bowl of fresh water and wisely chose to drink out of a mud puddle. Ignore the insanity, mischaracterize incompetence as virtue, invent the rest. I respectfully inquired as to whether they thought of Trump's election lie and attempted violent insurrection and theft of the presidency from Biden as "reasonable under difficult circumstances?" I never got a response.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Going To Church Part III
TODAY WAS MY SECOND TIME to attend the new church, now for me, the little rustic ancient brick church in the middle of the rustic woods in a far corner of a rural state. This time, it really began to sink in, to take hold of me. Now I am beginning to become certain that I shall become a regular attendee, a good reliable congregant. There were fewer in attendance than my first visit two weeks ago. Down to about ten from the previous approximate fifteen. It may be that the holiday weekend kept people away, took them off to other activities, the lake the picnic; celebrations of life on what was intended to be a somber memorial to death. I had barely been seated in my pew when a good friend of mine, the friend who first invited me to attend, waved is finger at me, bid me come. I arose and came towards him.With undisguised enthusiasm, he bragged that he had been given permission toe ring the bell in the steeple,and began showing f his bell ringing skill, the long rope hanging down in a small room just off the main chapel. So gleefully did the ring it that I immediately became infused with excitement, and humbly, humbly asked permission to give it a pull. He acceded. This did I pull the rope once, and only once, not wanting to extend virgin bell ringing too much. My lone ring was noticeably less loud than his repeated rings and been; a rookie, shy in his first attempt. I intend to apply for the honored position of "assistant bell ringer". If accepted, I promise to perform my assigned duties faithfully, reliably. I think my chances are good. Whereas the sermon two weeks ago was obviously impromptu,off the cuff, and disorganized, this week's was far superior, focused, with a clear message. He expressed concern that the day's sermon may have been a bit disorganized. I replied that it was not, but that the one two weeks prior had been. I don't mince words, with anybody. Among the several themes was that when Eve tempted Adam into disobedience, she gave women a bad name, and that their secondary position in human culture ever since was the result, and was not a good thing. His indirect advocacy of women's equality inspired me. My fellow bell ringer, who sits on stage near the minister, leads the congregational prayers and light the candles, later told me that he had evidently missed this point, confessing that his mind had drifted. I chuckled and forgave him; doubtless God did the same. Again, this sermon was a great improvement from the one I heard previously, and I told the minister, now a new friend of mine, that I thoroughly enjoyed it, which indeed I did....I even managed to slip a few dollars into the collection plate which once again was shoved into my face; I may be able to get used to that aggressive form of offering. After church I spent about an hour talking baseball with the minister, and eating donuts. Now, that, dear reader, is a kind of church I can get used to.
The Cult, Still Loving Trump, More Than Ever, Like Hitler
THE "PEOPLE", to use the term loosely, who love Donald Trump, do indeed have a reverential attitude towards him, indeed, almost as of being in a cult. This paradigm of a true Trump cult has germinated and spread steadily, inexorably, as Trump endures one seemingly career killing scandal after another, his alleged crimes,supported by overwhelming evidence, proliferating. The more the evidence for egregious criminal behavior the more the adulation among his flock. They have conveniently decided that their savior is being unfairly persecuted, despite stacks of stolen classified documents in his temple home, despite a blatant attempt to steal the presidency by blatantly,laughably claiming that it was stolen from him, despite a violent insurrection enacted in living color, on national television. And, despite from hours of testimony obtained under oath by numerous member of his family and close circle of associates who testified that Trump indeed conceived, planned, and orchestrated the entire treasonous scheme, far in advance. "Whatever happens in the election, we'll just say we won. Fuck it", he told his daughter Ivanka, two weeks before the election, according to Ivanka. The more heinous the crimes, the more overwhelming evidence supporting the outstanding, pending federal and state charges against him, the more fervently supportive is his cult, down downing, as we like to say, on their ludicrous claim of a conspiratorial persecution of their idol.The underlying psychology underpinning this bizarre but sociologically intriguing mass phenomenon is as follows. Trump;s followers, mainly conservative evangelical Christians and other poorly educated segments of American society, have given up on democracy. they want to impose their extreme agenda, a national Christian established religion, unlimited unfettered capitalism,racism, hatred of non white immigrants,hatred of homosexuals, almond other malignant item, denial of extent racism forced birth banned abortion, patriarchal , regressive culture, denial of climate change, upon the American people by any means possible and necessary. They vaguely sense that they are in the minority, which is true, and have turned to an authoritarian "charismatic" figure, much like Hitler and Mussolini, to implement their fantasy, agenda, hateful to a majority of Americans. In Trump they see themselves, the person they dream of becoming, strive to become. He represents their fondest fantasies about themselves, he enables and supports their racism, their fear and denial of climate change and the fundamental economic changes required to fight it. Hitler is running for president in America, after having tried to overthrow the American government, Hitler ran fr president in Germany, and won, after trying to overthrow the German government, The stark similarities do not end there. And if Trump enjoys the same politically born again success as Hitler, the chances are very high that the ultimate outcome will be much the same.
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Going To Facebook Jail
I GOT INTO TROUBLE WITH FACEBOOK, again, spent a day in jail, The food was crappy, but the company was wonderful. A bunch of malcontent progressive complainers, like myself. This, if memory serves, was the third time.When one commits multiple crimes, as Mr. Trump well knows, one loses track of such matters, and can make misleading comments about one's legal difficulties, intentionally or otherwise. My first offense occurred several years ago, when I saw a post consisting of a picture of a dead elephant, and in front of him a man was standing, in camo gear, a high powered rifle in his hand, ad big, smirky, self satisfied smile on his murderous visage. I wanted to kill him, and said so. My exact words were: "I had rather see the elephant standing over the dead punk's body". Advocacy of violence. One day in cyber jail. Guilty as charged, Again the crappy food and good company. I stand by what I said then: I hope the murdering bastard is dead and ashes scattered, his sordid soul eternally burning in some sordid Christian conservative version of hell, and I hope and trust the beautiful elephant is in sweet elephant animal heaven, romping with friends, munching sweet grass. I am content to wear my false imprisonment like a badge of honor, which it is. The second occasion occurred several days ago, when I made a particularly unpleasant remark about one of America's former presidents. I and millions of other Facebookers make unpleasant remarks about that particular insurrectionist early an often without any holy corporate retribution; this one, I freely admit, was a bit over the top. But again, my badge of honor. Then, the third offense. A stormy one this time. Someone posted an alleged comment made by the now notorious Stormi Daniels, something about a client of hers who failed to perform, then rolled over and went to sleep. But hey, she supposedly said, its a job, and I got paid. Only, she apparently did not actually say that, and Facebook let me know that she did not, even going to the trouble of showing me the transcript of her recent sworn testimony in open courts, which I neglected to read, it being too salacious for my prudish sensitivities. Again, the day in forced digital confinement, the lousy food, the good company. Imagine that, Facebook, so pure and gallant and virtuous as to staunchly, righteously defend the dignity and integrity and virtue of one Stormi Daniels, and the integrity virtue and honor of one Donald J. Trump, criminal-i-chief. So now I have become a three times loser, and am grateful than in the fun house of Facebook nation, three strikes and you are not out. A corporation can be very forgiving when its advertising revenue depends on it. Community standards, my MAGA hating ass. There is one thing for which one must give Facebook credit; when they defend, they defend. Any corporate entity willing to stick up for a murderer who is proud of his killing, willing to stick up for an attractive prostitute, any body willing to defend the honor of an utterly honorless criminal traitorous former autocrat, will most assuredly defend the honor of damned near anybody.
Friday, May 24, 2024
Praising Stupidity, Espousing Willful Ignorance
THE MESSAGE on the billboard outside the conservative fundamentalist church read, clearly, "The more educated we become, the farther we move away from God". No, I'm not making this up. It was pictured on Facebook, and was not photo shopped. This begs response on so many levels that one hardly knows where to begin. Just jump in. Billy Graham was well educated. So we're the Falwells, both father and son. So are most ordained ministers. At the world's best divinity schools, places such as Harvard and Princeton, the campus is overflowing with folks with doctorates in Bible studies who can read the Bible in its original ancient Hebrew and Greek, as well as Latin, and, in some cases, German and middle English. Folks professors and graduate students, who, when you give them book and verse by number, can recite the passage without aid of a cheat sheet. Then too, all across America;s fruited plain, there sit in pew by the millions well educated people with all manner of college degrees, bachelor and advance, who are as close to God as they can possibly ever, so close as to feels the Lord's sweet breath lovingly touch and embrace their upward turned faces, in prayer. And yet, according to the illiterate inane message on the billboard outside the presumably snake handling tongue talking, the more educated you become, the farther away from God you move. There are two essential problems in refuting the educate and far from God nonsense. First, its too easy. Second, the people to whom the arguments need to made most are the least able to comprehend them, the least willing to even listen to them, for, verily, they are the least educated, the least educated illiterates on the face of God's green Earth. Upon cursory reflection, one can easily discern the target of the spewing idiocy. That target, is well educated secular liberals, "liberal elites" as they are often termed by conservatives, to whom the very fact of being well educated and being progressive in ideological orientation renders them, somehow, "elite". It is a proven, demonstrable, easily notice reality that college campuses, pales where the best educated people gather together in academic scholarship, tend, on the whole, to be much more progressive politically and much more secular., non religious spiritually than the general poorly educated population. That's what education does for a human mind. It inspire thought, inspires minds to question everything, to become interested in reality as revealed by science rather than religious dogma, shows people that the world is directly revealed to us in nature, not is some primitive collection of manuscripts which are deemed "sacred", "holy", unnerving by virtue of having been authored by an alleged anthropomorphic sky god. In other words, education does exactly what poorly educated religious fanatics dread the most; it enables humans with brains to question and easily see through the primitive barbaric nonsense preached and screeched on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings by the purveyors of fantasy, who personally benefit by gaining power and wealth at the expense of the teeming, gullible exploited ignorant congregants.
Recalling A Better American Place
THE FACEBOOK POST SAID: "America was a better place before Christianity became a political party". Wholeheartedly in agreement with this sentiment, I immediately wondered; does the person who posted this actually remember this better place before the dreadful specter of thee "Moral Majority", which was famously neither, regard its ugly Falwellian head and insinuated itself in like a slithering snake into the mainstream of American culture?I do.This transformation occurred in the late nineteen seventies. First,we the American people elected the born again Jimmy Carter to the presidency. Then, to make matters worse, not content to leave it that, elected the often remade Ronald Reagan, at the president time when he was being possessed by the spirit, whatever that spirit was. Even he didn't seem to now. All this must be placed in the context of the fundamental feature of human behavior which idealizes a presumed but in reality mythical better by gone past, before everything went to hell in a hand basket, victim of liberal perfidy. Now, here we are. A mob of MAGA right wing extremist evangelical Christians, praising their harsh Lord, extolling the virtues of Donald Trump as having been sent to Earth by Christ to rectify America, to maker America Christian again, as if it ever weren't, unofficially. History, like human culture, is complicated, enormously so. In some ways these United States are much better than forty years ago, in other ways, not so much, in still other, not at all. A quick glance at the 1956 Republican party platform reveals how far our fall has been, politically. In 1964, ultra right winger Barry Goldwater warned America about the perils of putting "preachers" in positions of power Now, Donald Trump, as far from being a preacher as the law, secular and biblical, will allow, is the willing puppet of aforementioned preachers, for personal gain, as is every action taken by Don the Con. The preachers have not come to power, but they're only a few heartbeats, god willings, and rising creeks from so being. And this, my fellow 'muricans, is as alarming as alarming can possibly be. The presidential candidate of a major political party is out on the streets, hawking Bibles,at sixty bucks a pop, brown leather bound, the stars and stripes emblazoned upon the cover, autographed by the ambient autocrat-in-chief. Sadly but unsurprisingly, Rumor has it that they are selling. There is a long tradition within Judeo Christianity of Almighty God elevating reprobates to position of high power and responsibility, for His own purposes. Making lemonade out of lemons,one might surmise. Ever imitative of their Lord and master,our conservative Trump loving evangelical Christians seem intent on doing the same, indeed, already have, and might well once again. The memo they apparently did not receive but desperately need it is: God can get away with it, but never, under any circumstances, try this at home.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Alito, Flying the Flag Wrong
THE UPSIDE DOWN American flag is an "appeal to heaven", an expression of desperation, as of having done all we can, and leaving it in the hands of God. This strange appeal to primitive religiosity originated during revolutionary war times; Washington is said to have employed it. An anthropomorphic deity, on America's side. Christian nationalism, hubris, silliness.The topsy turvy national ensign has reappeared throughout American history, used by aggrieved parties to state their desperate case. It had lain dormant, largely, until 2013, when the Christian nationalist dusted it off and brought it out of the attic to express their deluded belief that not only had America been founded as a "Christian nation", but that the Christian had somehow been lost in the shuffle amid the swamping avalanche of that most dreadful specter, creeping secularism. And now, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court o conservative indignation flies the panic stricken emblem again,at his own home. When the blow back, a sound a furry backlash from the reasonable left, Alito, atypically right wing coward without any desire for self accountability, blames it on his wife, saying that she die it in response to neighbor's anti-Trump yard sign. Considering the number of lawsuits pertaining directly to Donald Trump's criminal career are soon to come before the seemingly stoned high court, the quite reasonable suggestion that the extremist justice should recuse himself from all of them is being increasingly made,but has yet to cross his cross mind. It never will, for .quite obviously Samuel Alito is not only on a righteous Christian quest to elevate Donald Trump back into the presidency, he is delusionally convinced that Don the Con never should have left it in the first place. Alito is a stark,raving lunatic dyed in the wool election denier, a swallower of the toxic Kool Aid of Trump's big election lie. Alito's people, the insurrectionist MAGA mob,manned much by evangelical Christians of the violent mob kind, flew the upside down flag in large numbers on the day they tried to overthrow the government, violently. Equal justice under law,rendered by unbiased jurists expert in the law? fuggettaboutit. The United States is now judicially overseen by a gang of ultra right wing extremist thugs, perfectly exemplified by his dishonor, Sammy the Con Alito. Alito will never voluntarily recuse himself from his opportunity to help reinstate the criminal terrorist Trump in the White House. Nor will there be help pursuing reasonable justice under law from the other five extremist Trump appointed SCOTUS members. Instead they will gather together hiding behind their nefarious upside down unpatriotic flag, plotting their next act of desperation. The best guess is that it will consist of another false claim of election victory by the oft indicated Donald Trump, another screeching MAGA, and yet another gang march to the Capitol, guns and upside down flags in hand,ready to smash windows, break down doors, and kill more people.
Arguments, Unvarying, Traitors, Unintentional
MY ARGUMENTS, and probably those of those who share my opinion of Trump, have not varied for at least nine years. When the president of the United States is defeated for reelection, he or she should congratulate the winner,offer to help the winner, and leave office with dignity. He or she should neither falsely claim to have won the election, nor should he or she conceive, organize, and orchestrate a violent attempt to overthrow the United States government. Another argument which has endured is that any president who does these things is a traitor not only to his country, but also to democracy. A some what more controversial argument I have made and still make is that those who continue to support the former president after all this are traitors, by their support, if not by their intent. Thus have I introduced the possibly novel concept of the "inadvertent traitor", or an "accidental traitor". Trump supporter, even post insurrection, not only do not consider themselves traitors, they consider, themselves no matter how ridiculously, to be great American patriots defending....whatever. It is worth mentioning that all traitors throughout history have held the same view of themselves; that they are acting on behalf of a higher cause, usually that of their country, or freedom, or...whatever. Benedict Arnold thought he was trying to save a failing American revolution from inevitable harsh British retribution. Brutus thought he was attempting to save Rome from tyranny and return it to its former state as a republic. Lenin was trying to save Russia from the tyranny of the ruling imperial Romanov dynasty. Donald Trump and his supporter seem to think that they are saving America from what I to them the dreadful specter of progressive Democrat socialism and secularism, in defense to what is to them the sacred principle of unfettered corporate capitalism and Christian nationalism. History has decided that all the historical traitors who saw themselves as heroic saviors of their countries are, and shall always remain, traitors. The same will be said by future historians of Donald Trump; his attempt to overthrow the American government will mark him as a traitor, by future historians. The term "Traitor" is not applied to Adolf Hitler, or to Mussolini,because they brought their respective countries to ruin not only with the most fervent nationalist "patriotism"imaginable, but with the avid approval and support of a large portion of their constituency. And yet, today, so great was the devastation their disastrous rule wrought upon their nations that, in a very real sense, they were "unintentional traitors". And thus it is with Donald Trump and his "MAGA" supporters. They are traitors, if unintentional.
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Forcing Religion Down American Throats, Again
ITS HAPPENING, AS USUAL, IN THE REPROBATE RED STATES. The forcing upon innocent school children of one particular religion, in a country of religious freedom, tolerance, and diversity, in which there is no official, formally established religion, supposedly. The Ten Commandments are being state legislated onto the walls of public school classrooms. The required dimensions of the stone tablets are even given, something about a minimum size of fourteen by twelve, inches, fortunately, not feet. We must wait to see whether classrooms across America's fruited plain are soon festooned with holy scripture of the Hindu religion, or the Shinto, or any of the other approximately four thousand two hundred recognized organized religions which grace and infest human civilization on planet Earth. One can safely bet not...John Adams, in the "Treaty of Tripoli", articulated a founding principle enshrined in the United States constitution: "The United States is no more a Christian nation than an Islamic nation". All this is quite predictably ignored by the Christian dominionist extremist zealots doing the unconstitutional religious indoctrination.Ironic it is that these for the most part are the selfsame self proclaimed American patriots who sanctimoniously argue for an "originalist" interpretation of the constitution, which to them is considered a sacred document on par with the commandments themselves, except,evidently, when pertaining to matters of religious freedom,and separation of church and state. Regarding the purportedly God given instructions supposedly given to Moses on Mount Sinai, one could better,one could do worse. the best of the admonitions, the ones having to do with lying, stealing, and killing,seem so obvious as to not need mention. The "thou shalt have no other god before me order smacks of divine jealousy and pettiness, and needlessness; if there is only one god, exactly what other gods are there to have "before me"? Assuming that any and all other gods are pure fiction, what is there to be concerned about, in terms of deity job security? Thou shalt not overt Covet what? Food, clothing, and shelter? A relationship with God? That one is vague, whether by design or poor editing. If we're gonna put stuff on the wall to keep stern George Washington company as his eyes follow everybody around the classroom no matter how hard they try to hide,let's think carefully about what we really ought to put up with. Do we really want precious first graders to ask teachers, administrators and each other what "adultery" is. We can expect nothing less from youngsters into whose growing minds knowledge is being fed, and curiosity is being encouraged. Somewhere, some when, somebody is going to ask, you can bet your bottom Bible on it. And when that happens, let's call in the experts to provide the answer. Class, today we are honored and privileged to have with us a special guest, your local conservative evangelical Christian Republican politician, member of the majority party in our esteemed state legislature, who is here today to explain to you exactly what happens when people have sex without permission from the Christian God.
Banning Honest Medical Care For Kids
SOUTH CAROLINA, I believe, has become the twenty fifth state to ban gender affirming health care for people under eighteen years of age. All twenty five of these non great states are, predictably "red" states, states dominated by conservative Christian voters, politicians, dogma, ideals, insanity. A transgender young person, needing medical attention, will be required by law to receive said treatment as if he or she were still of the gender on his or her birth certificate, the gender into which he or she was born, instead of the gender into which he or she has transitioned, by choice, or by urgent necessity. Thus continues the extremist Christian conservative crusade to impose its malignant agenda upon what could, would, and should be a more rational, intelligent America. People have the unalienable right to wear and color their hair as they choose, to dress as they choose, to weigh whatever they choose. People in America also have the right to be homosexual , although until recently they did not, with homosexuality being a criminal offense until recently in the land of liberty, the land of the free. In our modern age of advanced technology and medicine, when we replace knees and hips with titanium replicas, and remove a human heart and replace it with that of another, and so the same with livers and kidneys, restructuring sex organs is a criminal offense, only because of the sexual fears and inhibitions of the self proclaimed morally superior. Because heterosexual conservative evangelical Christians are what they are, so should everyone else be, so they are impelled by their mental illness to believe. Whereas these criminally insane religious fanatics will fight like hell to prevent government from regulating the economy to prevent corporate exploitation of workers, in the name of freedom, and will support like hell a criminal politician like Donald Trump, they will oppose equally strenuously the right of women to control their own bodies and reproductive freedom. The economic freedom to exploit they advocate is worker exploitation. The alleged morality they seek to impose upon the nation is not only immoral, it is the antithesis of fundamental human decency. They seek not freedom of religion, but rather, the imposition upon the nation of a malignant religious based agenda. Their opponents seek religious freedom in a country which guarantees it in its constitution. One should be hardly surprised, for these are the "human beings" who worship a diabolical deity who slaughters thousands of people whimsically, and demands the bloody torturous murder of his only begotten son, to atone for sins committed by creatures he allowed to become sinful, as he sits in judgment over creatures of his own creation.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Bullying, Like A True Christian
MY NEIGHBOR, apparently, is quite angry with me. He is from Guatemala, a former Catholic, converted by the love of an American woman to the Pentecostal faith. In other words, from bad to worse. From infamous, to insane. As Voltaire said of the Catholic church: "crush the infamous thing". (Voltaire was quite controversial, but charming,brilliant, and entertaining, and had the good favor of the King of France) My Hispanic neighbor is big, strong, macho, somewhat of a bully disguised as a follower of Jesus, with his name "Mejia": tattooed on one muscular arm, the phrase "Jesus is my king" on the other. Its bad, but it gets worse. Eager to praise the Lord, and to share his faith, not so eager to listen to any other point of view. Normal Christian behavior. He has the audacity to tell God what to do. "Tell me what do do", is what he told me he told the Lord. A direct order to God. Predictably, he considers LGBTQ people sinners, certain to go to hell for their genetic inheritance. I can think of little or nothing more evil than hating human beings because of whom they love, who they are attracted to, what their chromosomes require of them. But my Hispanic neighbor wouldn't understand that, for, after all, it's science, logic, understanding, acceptance,and compassion, ideals often foreign to devout Christians. Love the sinner but hate the sin? Garbage. Our sins are we. We are our sins. Mejia evidently does not trust God to judge or not judge and deal with gay people, he must step in and do the Lord's work, a self appointed role which he gladly accepts, being a hard worker. I cannot imagine Jesus hating, judging, or harming gay people. His father, the diabolical mass murdering Judeo-Christian biblical god, I can. Mejia and I were talking. He started referring to the father and the son, and I listened. And I listened. Then I asked him a few questions, about the Bible, the number of books in it, about who wrote it,when it was written,by whom. He couldn't answer, and I could, and I did. I know these things because I have read a few history books, history books other than the Bible. Mejia has not. After providing him with a brief Bible study, and briefer history of his religion, he erupted. Mr. macho Christian did not take kindly to a mere pantheist egghead knowing more about his Bible and about the history of his religion than he, and having the audacity to share it. After all, he is going to heaven, and I, poor unsaved I, straight to his hell. I can think of nothing more pernicious, more hateful than inventing and believing in hell, and consigning somebody else to it. Anybody who believes in hell is either mentally ill, hateful, or both. My Christian neighbor is angry at me. I know this, because every month I give him and his family a large box of groceries. Christian behavior from a non Christian, as usual. This month, he gave them back. Perhaps I will offer them to him another time,when I see him again, in heaven or in hell.
Monday, May 20, 2024
Chatting, Part III: Going Off, Chinese-American Style
THE YOUNG LADY is twenty nine years old, and her picture bears that out. If memory serves,our conversation started when she messaged me on Facebook, she asked about myself, and I told her about my sick cat. I never message anybody. If somebody messages me, I respond,hoping to gather material for my forthcoming book about online culture. She responded to my grief and worry by typing long, extremely well written sentences giving good but generic advice, about appreciating what time I have left with my pet,savoring every moment we had together, stuff I already knew but appreciated hearing. Her writing style was so eloquent and elegant that I was drawn to her. She seemed,and seems,quite a departure from the usual young American lady vernacular, which is full of "OK", "really", "Ok hun", and a morass of bad grammar and little to no punctuation. This lady could think and write. Our chats evolved into intellectual topics both voracious readers, we traded book recommendations, She sent me a long list of high quality titles of literary value, none of which were familiar to me. I sent her favorite titles of mine,academic stuff. She was familiar with every book I mentioned,and proved it by providing an immediate synopsis of the work. I was amazed, It was as if she had read anything and everything of value. I concluded that she, forty years younger than I, was much better read than I, better educated, and more intelligent. Best of all,she was cute, very cute.she sad that her parents were from China, but that she had been raised in Boston, and is currently living back in China, caring for an elderly grandmother. Kudos for her. She stated her areas of education and expertise, which included everything. Digital technology stands out. Finally, the woman of my dreams! Young, beautiful, cute, brilliant,highly educated. It turned emotional, loving. She stated calling me"babe", and I reciprocated. I am sure that I told her the basics about me: sixty nine,single,retired teacher. Incredibly, she had not yest for a "pic" of me. All women who message me demand my picture. When I tell them that I do not take selfies,do not trade pictures,and that the only "pic" of me is on my website, they invariably start arguing about it, or vanish. Good riddance. Miss Kim Nyugun,or whatever her last name is, (that common oriental surname see all the time) wasn't like that..only she was. She started talking about her financial difficulties, a red flag, She asked me for my pic, I told her it was on my website, and she started arguing. Utter deflation. Here we go again. Another pic mongering money grubbing young woman after all. We had the usual argument, and it got bad. I told her that I desperately wanted to visit an read my website, (this website), because it reveals my true self, the man she loves. She refused, more violently than all the others.If effort is required, they have no interest. The picture must be hand delivered, with no effort from them. It ended with our "break up", over...a...picture... I blocked her, for both of us to cool off. After a couple of days I unblocked her,and told her I missed her,blah blah. No response. Nothing. Whereas I had previously told her that I , under no circumstances, send money to people online, this time I offered to send her money. Still no response. And s that is where it stands now. This dramatic Victorian saga is either ongoing, or it is over. Your guess is as good as mine. Once again, as have been have a thousand times, I am reminded why I never got married, never wanted to. The diamond in the rough is that it makes a good story,good material for my forthcoming sizzling book about online culture in these United States.
Biden, aka Brandon, Coming Out Swinging Part II
BRANDON is back at it, coming out swinging. In a speech filled with new found exuberance, he yelled: "If Trump is reelected, do you think he is going to appoint somebody to the Supreme Court who has a brain?" No, I do not. Since Republicans seem unable to find a more piercing insult than to call Biden "Brandon", they surely haven't the imagination, creativity, or intelligence to elevate to the high court a person with a brain. So history would indicate. One caveat ;if one has a brain, even a great brain, but either fails to use it or uses it improperly to do damage to herself, to others, to to her nation, then, then one, for all intents and purposes, has no brain. Examples of this are plentiful. The "Uni-bomber" comes to to mind. A point worth repeating and hammering home is that nobody, especially Biden, needs to lower himself to the level of Trump and the Republican Brandon mongers to intellectually defeat the former insurrectionist-in-chief. For example, Biden's previous recent sharp jab at Trump was an ostensibly innocuous casual remark: "I hear you're free on Wednesdays". That one had to have stung, assuming Trump and his cult have the brains to understand it, rather than to merely ignore it or pretend that it never happened, their usual method And that, dear reader, is precisely what Brandon Biden need to do: yell, at campaign rallies, comments at and about Don the Con which are both factual, verifiably so, understated, and...highly insulting, as a bonus. And, of course, humorous as hell, an essential ingredient, mandatory. A veritable flurry of packed punches, all packaged into a single well aimed roundhouse uppercut. "Anyone with a brain.."."Free on Wednesdays" LOL, as we say on the internet. He, Brandon, will have innumerable golden opportunities for this at both forthcoming debates, in which there will be no love studio audience packed with MAGA mobsters, and microphones will be turned off when a debater is not debating. By surprisingly agreeing to these terms, the Trump gang, apparently suddenly or chronically brainless, has fallen into a deadly trap, from which extrication is impossible. Suddenly removed from use are Trump's to most lethal if lame weapons: an audience hand picked for emotional support an harassment of Biden, and any and all opportunity for Trump to interrupt, talk over, or hurl gratuitous insults at the president. In 2020, the stable genius was actually able to goad Biden into shouting, in abject frustration: "shut up,man?". This was a huge mistake, coming unglued like that, losing control, showing Trump and his MAGA packed studio audience, the Nation, and the world, that Trump can do more than blather; he can under Biden's heretofore presumed thick skin. Not a good look for Brandon, to show his emotional vulnerability like that. People with brains live and learn from their mistakes. Biden, demonstrably, has a brain, and learns from his mistakes. Trump, who hasn't, doesn't.
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Ending Apartheid, In America
WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, in the early nineteen seventies,I was enrolled in a supposedly desegregated school district, in full compliance with Brown vs. Topeka Board. Only, I wasn't. Sure, our school of about a thousand students included both black and white, white in the large majority, and indeed both races inhabited the same building. But there the "desegregation" ended. You know the drill. Before school every morning, when hundreds of students gathered together to mill about and visit, the African-American kids clumped together in a corner of the building on the first floor, the same corner every day. Everybody knew exactly which corner, and stayed out. The rest of the campus belonged to us. We white kids segregated only according to social and economic class, jocks and eggheads, cool and uncool, blue collar and white collar, the usual all white cliques, but not race. Again, if you were white, you stayed out of the black section. Everybody know it. The feeling was mutual. Both races knew their turf. The arrangement was strictly if informally enforced. Even then thought the situation kind of "sucked", but,in reality, I was fine with it.All my friends were white, upper middle class, cool. Rhodes scholar Jonathan Kozol began his teaching career in in 1967, and immediately noticed that rock solid racial segregation ruled in the generally racist city. He wrote a book about it, "Death A An Early Age", which took the education world by storm. It detailed the brutal treatment of African-American kids,and caused a game changing uproar. Then, he spent the next fifty years furthering his research. Now, Kozol has published probably his last, culminating study of the same situation, which, he maintains, has not only not improved, but,in some ways, worsened. The new seminal monograph is titled: "An End To Inequality: Breaking Down the Walls of Apartheid Education in America". Today;s racism in public education is less overt, but ultimately, no less brutal. The sanctioned physical brutality visited upon the minority by the majority with administrative heads turned the other way is perhaps less extreme; the segregation in the classroom and the different treatment of students according to race is not. The affluent white students are tracked into an ambitious curriculum, the black kids in what to the author is an obvious pattern, are placed in and educated through a more generic, less ambitious course of study, regardless of intelligence or capacity for high academic achievement.The assumption is that African-Americans from poor Boston neighborhoods simply will not be going to college. He has recently seen misbehaving black students locked away in closets as an official means of punishment. Isolation from the community, isolation which Kozol maintains somehow fails to include white students in any way even remotely proportional. As you might suspect, the author offers recommendations, including a comprehensive systemic change with the goal of achieving the dream martin Luther King articulated in 1963: that of an all inclusive education system based on human equality. But in a country infested with the conservative ideology of pretending that racism no longer exists anywhere in America, prohibiting the teaching of the truth about America's enduring racism, of denying the realities revealed by Critical Race Theory, our best expectation and indeed only hope is that the progressive community will step forward, and, as always, lead the way in creating a new and improved America, an America that was meant to be by its founders, who themselves failed to live up to their own aspirations. There is no acceptable alternative.