Call Out
This is a repost from 2019. The discourse is not any better today. … @gaywonk “The worst part of Pride month is realizing how many of your new gay friends would’ve criticized the Stonewall riots for not being “strategic.” ~ There’s no use arguing with Andrew Sullivan gays you just have to drag them kicking and screaming into a better future. ~ Don’t let your queer rage be shaken by white gays lecturing about “tactics” or “respectability.” They were wrong yesterday, they’re wrong today, they’ll be wrong tomorrow. And eventually, they’ll be toasting you at a fancy HRC gala, swearing they were behind you the whole time.”
A facebook friend posted a screenshot of this mini-rant the other day. Otherwise, I would have missed it. @gaywonk is in the middle of his fifteen minute glory hole. A few weeks ago, this status made him/her/they a star. @gaywonk, aka Carlos Maza, works queer identity for all it is worth. At some point in this procedure, a *comedian,* StevenCrowder, made some unfortunate remarks. @gaywonk went full scale tattletale, and got the Mr. Crowder in trouble.
@gaywonk “Wow. @YouTube now profiting off of ads for Steven Crowder, which include a reference to the “Socialism Is For Fags” shirt he sells to his audience. This platform is unbelievable.” The punishment Mr. Crowder received was not sufficient. The latest salvo has a group of googlers sending out An Open Petition to the San Francisco Pride Board of Directors. “We, the undersigned, employees of Google … urge you to revoke Google’s sponsorship of Pride 2019, and exclude Google from representation in the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 30th, 2019. … We have spent countless hours advocating for our company to improve policies and practices regarding … harassment and hate speech directed at LGBTQ+ persons. …” ICYMI, YouTube is owned by Google.
@chamblee54 “enjoy your fifteen minutes while it lasts” @chamblee54 “but when someone calls @gaywonk out, he/she/they goes screaming to mommy/google, demanding that those mean youtubers be punished.”
When writing that second tweet, I could have used a lot of phrases to describe Mr. Crowder’s tacky remarks. The phrase “calls @gaywonk out” fell into place, without much thought. Then I thought about it. Maybe what Mr. Crowder said was calling out @gaywonk.
Call out culture is a big thing now. Sometimes, it is appropriate. If someone does something wrong, or offensive, criticism is called for. Unfortunately, many times calling out is closer to playground insults, than constructive criticism. Some people think calling someone racist, and making a KKK joke, makes a difference in fighting racism. The truth is, they are just fifth graders, calling someone a poopyhead. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Bad Gays
This is a repost from 2022. Bad Gays still produces new episodes. … Bad Gays “A podcast about evil and complicated queers in history, hosted by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller.” The first episode I listened to was Jeffrey Dahmer. I soon learned that BG is uber-woke. Think Robin DiAngelo on steroids, with better hair. I find this sort of talk to be rather dreary.
As it turned out, I had downloaded a show about Truman Capote. While racism did exist in Monroeville Alabama, and was deplorable, Truman is a hoot. We learn that Miss Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Which brings us to thursday morning. “I am sitting on the front porch. I am listening to a podcast about Gertrude Stein It is not kind to the lady. I thought of my friend, who lives in Mexico. He gave me a copy of The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book. I sent him a link to the podcast on facebook. Life is good.” There was a lovely reply: “She and Gertrude Stein are buried in Paris in Père Lachaise cemetery. Their names are on each side of the tombstone. So sweet.”
I don’t know much about Gertrude Stein. It seems like she had a brother named Leo, that she was close to. Leo and Gertrude lived together in Paris. Leo then said rude things about Alice B., and Gertrude kicked him out of her life. While writing this piece, I tried to find more information about Leo/Gertrude/Alice. Google is not always the answer.
Gertrude apparently was fond of the Germans, and the Vichy regime in occupied France. This is curious for a Jew. Somehow, Gertrude and Alice managed to stay in France throughout the war.
Carl Van Vechten was the next episode in the que. CVV was the literary executor for Gertrude Stein, and an all around piece of work. All I knew about CVV was a collection of photographs in the Library of Congress. Some of these portraits are displayed with this post.
Mr. Van Vechten was connected to something called the Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of music, art, and literature in upper Manhattan. As you might imagine, BG had a lot to say about the lives of Black people in the rural south. It is not tough to imagine a person of color, in 1921 Georgia, thinking they would be better off in New York City. BG played this for all it is worth.
I got curious about CVV, and googled him. In addition to the birth/death information (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964), there was one delicious item. In 1926, CVV published a book, N____ Heaven. At 14 minute into the podcast, BG discussed this book. I wish I could have seen their faces.
FWIW, the titular phrase was uttered by a character in the novel. It seems as though “Some churches had separate balconies that black and white alike called “n____ heaven”” The book was a sensation, with both admirers and detractors. “This reissue is based on the seventh printing, which included poetry composed by Langston Hughes especially for the book. Kathleen Pfeiffer’s introduction investigates the controversy surrounding the shocking title and shows how the novel functioned in its time as a site to contest racial violence.”
“The one violent protest which has come to my ears was that of a certain Negro whose conversation is heavily sprinkled with the words “darky” and “n___.” When I suggested to him that he eliminate from his own conversation words which he objected to from he lips of others, a deathly silence came over him and our conversation abruptly died. Soon afterward he remembered that he was already late for an important engagement downtown.”
After acknowledging the existence of NH, BG had a pearl-clutching meltdown. One wonders if they actually read the book they were denouncing so fervently. If one is so inclined, NH is available for download here. The end of the book features a “Glossary of Negro Words and Phrases.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
We Can Forgive The Arabs
The facebook meme showed a quote about American deaths in a mid-east war, and how Israel is willing to make the *scarifice.* PG remembered a quote from long ago. Something about how the thing Israel hates most is being forced to kill Arab children. Who said it, and when? Veteran readers of this blog should know where this is going. This is a repost.
Golda Meir is a matriarch of the State of Israel. Her wikiquote page has this: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” The attribution says this: “as quoted in A Land of Our Own : An Oral Autobiography (1973) edited by Marie Syrkin, p. 242.” There is a remarkable second attribution. “Harvey Rachlin was unable to find a primary source for this quote and the one below. The Mystery Of Golda’s Golden Gems”
” The one below” is wiki-listed as a “variant” of the first quote. “We can forgive [them] for killing our children. We cannot forgive them from forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with [them] when they love their children more than they hate us.” “As attributed in an Anti-Defamation League advertisement Ad that ran in the Hollywood Reporter.” The source: “Golda Meir (1957.)
The ADL Ad was reported on August 19, 2014. This was during an Israeli visit to Gaza. It was preceded by Bob Schieffer, on a CBS broadcast in July 2014. “Last week, I found a quote of many years ago by Golda Meir, one of Israel’s early leaders, which might have been said yesterday. “We can forgive the Arabs …” Mr. Schieffer did not give a source for the quote.
When dealing with a quote, you should ask questions. Did they really say it? When and where did they say it? What was the context? What was the original language, and can we trust the translation? Many, many famous quotes fail these simple tests. Brainy Quote is not a valid source.
The Mystery Of Golda’s Golden Gems takes a critical look. It turns out that the Schieffer/ADL team was using a combination of two quotes. These were the quotes investigated by Harvey Rachlin. “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”
“… many of these cite as their source A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography. … The quote appears, along with several others, on the last page of the book’s text (before the index) under the heading “On Peace.” Its source is given as: National Press Club, Washington, 1957. I wrote to the National Press Club in an effort to obtain a copy of Meir’s 1957 speech. The response I received was that Meir, who at the time was Israel’s foreign minister, did not speak there in 1957….”
“…Curiously, most of the books I looked at, as well as Meir’s own autobiography, My Life, contained no mention of these two most famous Meir quotes. Nor was either of them included in The New York Times’s 4,883-word December 9, 1978 obituary of Meir – although Times reporter Israel Shenker found room for more than three dozen other quotes from Meir.”
“My investigation took a turn when I found a 1970 collection of Meir quotes titled As Good As Golda: The Warmth and Wisdom of Israel’s Prime Minister. In this book there are two quotes that bear close resemblance to the pair in question: “Peace will come when Nasser loves his own children more than he hates the Israelis” and “What we hold against Nasser is not only the killing of our sons but forcing them for the sake of Israel’s survival to kill others.”
“Strangely, there are no citations for any of the quotes in the book, and while I found these two exact quotes in other books (all published in or after 1970) none of the citations were from original sources. Even more bizarre is that As Good As Golda was compiled and edited by Israel and Mary Shenker – yes, the same Israel Shenker who several years later would write the massive New York Times obituary that contained dozens of Meir quotes but, notably, not her two most famous ones. …”
“… In August 2014, in the wake of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza, the ADL placed an ad … The ad had both Meir quotes strung together with the singular attribution “Golda Meir (1957).” The ADL did not respond to repeated requests from The Jewish Press for a statement as to whether the organization possessed any verification of the quotes and why they ran together, as though they were part of the same statement.”
Harvey Rachlin comes to the conclusion that there is no way to verify these quotes from Golda Meir. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Death Of Pedro Ramirez
For 29 weeks, I ran a series about police killings of citizens. This is the final post, which gives a few statistics, and draws a few conclusions. There was one case that I stumbled onto which stands out . It had a video of a search, with a horror movie ending. I cannot say what a LEO’s job is like. That said, it is clear that something like this could happen every time an officer answers a call.
“On June 20, 2017, (Las Vegas Police) officers responded to a domestic disturbance call. The caller reported hearing screaming and crying coming from an apartment. When officers arrived, they made contact with the victim in her apartment, and she initially told them everything was fine. The officers insisted that she open the security screen so they could confirm she was unharmed. As the victim and her four-year-old son exited the apartment, she told officers there was nobody else in the apartment, and she gave them permission to enter the apartment to confirm this.”
“As the officers searched the apartment, they discovered Pedro Ramirez hiding in the walk-in closet in the master bedroom. He was holding a large butcher knife. Officers gave commands for Mr. Ramirez to drop the knife. He ignored the commands and advanced toward the officers. Two officers discharged their Tasers, but they had little effect on Mr. Ramirez. He then charged toward the officers with the knife still in his hand. One officer fired his handgun, striking Mr. Ramirez three times. He fell to the ground and the officer kicked away the knife and attempted to handcuff Mr. Ramirez.”
The video is tough to watch, knowing how this is going to turn out. The officers go into one room, then another, then another. The tension builds with every step. Finally, they go to the final stop, and a man jumps out with a large knife. If the officers had waited half a second to fire, one of them could have been cut. Is this what an officer knows could happen, every time they go into a building? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Taxonomizing Racism
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This quote is from the Miami Herald, Sunday December 21, 1930, page 27/
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dave smith/chris cuomo ~ tao lin ~ friend of dorothy ~ section 8 ~ longhorn
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carol burnett ~ bad meat ~ wild thing ~ Socinianism ~ larry levan
ethan hawke ~ momo ~ momocon ~ flannery o’connor ~ lindsey graham ~ peter moskos
ray christian ~ you’re home now ~ Albert Einstein ~ mica kindman ~ water
whitman ~ capote ~ chair search ~ minutes ~ rum sodomy lash
ticketmaster ~ watermelon man ~ michael cunningham ~ palahniuk ~ bee – palahnuik
lou reed ~ hollywood sex addicts ~ jim goad ~ Al-Aqsa Flood ~ michael tracey
neural surfer ~ hodge twins ~ grayson murray ~ watermelon man ~ michael cunningham
@ZaidJilani made a comment about Joe Biden’s language choices. When I tried to send a comment, the original had been deleted. The comment: One of the more repulsive features of our racial dysfunction is the obsession with a six letter word. ~ I worked at the Lenox Square theater when “The Christine Jorgenson Story” played there in 1970. What a horrible, horrible movie. The actor’s voice was lower after the transition than it was before. There was one line from the autobiography that made it to the film. The Danish endocrinologist, Dr. Christian Hamburger, said something about different medical procedures that were acceptable. “But when you cut off a pair of testicles, then everybody explodes.” ~ @haaretzcom 🧵1/3 The IDF’s General Staff lost control over the units, especially reserve units, months ago. In Gaza, in the West Bank and in bases in Israel, soldiers record themselves destroying Palestinian property and civilian infrastructure. 🧵2/3 Blowing up homes without permission and spreading political messages identified with the far right. What is photographed and distributed is only the tip of the iceberg. 🧵3/3 The vast majority of offenses are committed beyond the range of cameras, and in the vast majority of these cases, the army responds weakly if at all. Some of the incidents are serving ICJ prosecutors as proof of the allegations against Israel. ICJ ruling won’t immediately change war in Gaza, but danger still looms for Israel ~ It is certain … that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have ~ “extracative” The word you’ve entered isn’t in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above. ~ but fact-checkers are quick to produce data on exceptionally good combatant-to-civilian kill ratios and to remind us that the IAF warns residents in Gaza neighborhoods before dropping bombs. … ~ THREAD: UCLA MOB ATTACK There has been a lot of press around the IDs of UCLA Zionist mob attackers. However, there are key parts of story not being told. 1. Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, Bill Ackman & others financially supported attackers 2. The ringleaders are not being implicated ~ This is a repost from 2017. Jon Ossoff was elected to the US Senate in 2020. … ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
Jon Ossoff Pep Rally
This is a repost from 2017. Jon Ossoff was elected to the US Senate in 2020. … Jon Ossoff held a campaign event Monday at Congregation Bet Haverim. Mr. Ossoff is running for Congress, from Georgia’s 6th district. I live in the 6th district. CBH is located south of the 6th district, at 2074 Lavista Road, Atlanta, GA 30329. The event was on facebook live, in three parts: part one, part two, and part three. Parts one and two had the camera set at a ninety degree angle, which made for uncomfortable viewing. Part one was some performers, accompanied by a front row of dancing democrats. Part two was the candidate’s remarks. By part three, the camera was set at a conventional angle. The candidate took questions from the crowd.
I learned during part two that the event was held at CBH. He wondered, is this facility in the 6th district? Mr. Google helped to find a website for CBH, and a map of the 6th district. I realize that other people are concerned about the outcome of this election. However, they do not get to vote. Outsiders can, and do, send money. Lots of money. The 6th district is the most expensive congressional race in history. FWIW, Mr. Ossoff does not live in the 6th district.
Most of the advertising financed by this outside money is obnoxious and misleading. Both Mr. Ossoff and his opponent, Karen Handel are guilty. It is poignant to hear Mr. Ossoff say in part two, at 3:51, that the election is not democrat versus republican, but sense versus nonsense. Both sides are spewing nonsense…like the campaign ads accusing Mrs. Handel of using taxpayer money to pay for a “luxury SUV.” The Secretary of State job had an auto allowance. Big deal.
After confirming that CBH is outside the district, I wanted to make a comment.
Luther Mckinnon – Is CBH in the sixth district? I looked at a district map, and CBH does not appear to be in the 6th district. Is it appropriate to have a campaign rally outside the district, for people who do not live in the district? Of course, we all know that Mr. Ossoff does not live in the district he wants to represent.
Cenate Pruitt · Luther: I have it on good authority that CBH has congregants who live in that district. Is there a problem with CBH hosting an event as a central location for those congregants to meet with the candidate?
LM – This is a touchy issue. There is a very serious problem with outside money flooding into this election. I, a resident of this district, am sick and tired of the outside attention this race is receiving. I guess if you support Mr. Ossoff you won’t mind, and if you are tired of his dishonest campaign you will mind. The optics of this are very bad.
CP – I don’t live in the Sixth myself. Am I not allowed to have an opinion on the matter?
LM – An opinion yes. A vote no. You might consider that 6th district people might not appreciate your telling them how to vote.
CP – I’ve told nobody how to do anything, nor has CBH as an organization. As far as “out of district money” I politely encourage you to both look up how much out-of-district money has been spent on Handel (those attack ads ain’t free) and take up your concerns with the Supreme Court re: campaign spending.
LM – The optics of this are bad. As far as your “polite encouragement” I have done some research.
Joshua Lesser · Luther Mckinnon, thanks for your question. Let me share with you how and why this meet and greet happened. A. You’re correct CBH is not in the 6th district. B. Many of our members live in the 6th district. C. The campaign asked if we would hold a meet and greet open to the entire Jewish community. D. There was a significant effort to target invitations to people who live in the district. E. This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement. F. If Handel’s campaign had asked, I would have advocated that we extend her the same courtesy. I hope that puts some of your alarmed concern to rest.
LM – It was not “alarmed concern” as much as annoyance. This campaign is long and noisy. I am working on a blog post as we speak. I will link to it here.
JL – I understand the annoyance. When you use terms like bad optics, that sounds more like alarm to me. What I didnt say is that there has been vigorous debate in the Jewish press about whether Jon is a good choice. I felt like CBH was doing a community service to allow Jewish voters to hear directly from the candidate. I hope youre not too annoyed that a Jewish candidate might want at least one meet and greet with his community.
At the end of the q&a, a lady made an announcement. There was going to be a group of “Jews for Ossoff” canvassing for the candidate. There were going to be many opportunities for volunteer work. “On sunday, we’re all gonna go canvassing together. WHOOHOO!”
“This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement.” No, it was a pep rally. People were encouraged to be fired up for Jon Ossoff. If you want to split hairs, you can say this is not an endorsement. Are we supposed to believe that CBH would have staged an event like this for Karen Handel, if her “campaign had asked”?
The phrase “bad optics” has been used. To me, this is when something looks bad. The thing with “b.o.” may, or may not, have any real effect on the situation, but it looks bad to outsiders. The first time I heard this phrase serves as an illustration. It was during the debate on whether to build a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. The powers that be want to spend over a billion dollars for a football stadium. Schools don’t have enough money. Roads need repairs and expansion. The sewer system is a disaster. And yet, somehow we want a billion dollars to build a football stadium. Technically, the hotel-motel tax used had been dedicated to financing the Georgia Dome. On one level, it was proper to use this money to build the “Blank Bowl.” However, the schools still don’t have enough money. The overall priorities of our society are questioned. The optics are bad.
How does this apply to a Jon Ossoff pep rally, held outside the 6th district? People outside the district have a right to an opinion. And people inside the district have a right to be annoyed. Whose right is more important? Which group will have a vote in the election? Maybe, just maybe, the campaign by outsiders will annoy the voting population. The voting population might not understand that the enlightened, and wealthy, people outside the district have their best interests at heart. This perceived disrespect might not have the intended effect. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
UPDATE: Karen Handel defeated Jon Ossoff in the runoff election. In the 2018 election, Mrs. Handel was defeated by Lucy McBath.
In the 2020 elections, Jon Ossoff was elected to the US Senate. After the 2020 elections, the Congressional districts in Georgia were redistricted. The 6th District is now dramatically different.
After this post was published, this message appeared on facebook. “Wed 10:27pm I am really disappointed in you and your unfair portrayal. I feel you abused my goodwill and undetstanding. I dont mind disagreement, but you misrepresented me. Good luck and take care.” When I tried to reply, he learned that Joshua Lesser had unfriended and blocked him.
I sent Rabbi Lesser a letter. “My initial comment was to question whether this is appropriate. Cenate Pruitt replied to this, and I replied to Cenate Pruitt. There was one ridiculous comment:”As far as “out of district money” I politely encourage you to both look up how much out-of-district money has been spent on Handel (those attack ads ain’t free) and take up your concerns with the Supreme Court re: campaign spending.” This attitude does not speak well for Mr. Ossoff or CBH.
I don’t see how I misrepresented you, when I quoted you directly. You are entitled to have a pep rally for Jon Ossoff. You misrepresented yourself to say “This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement.” I should note that Mr. Ossoff, with all of his problems, is the better choice in this election. I would hope that you have not offended any other 6th district voter with your outside interference or haughty attitude.That is one of my concerns over this event. If something bothers me, it is probably bothering someone else. Luther Mckinnon”
Chamblee54 
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