Be Kind To Your Enemy
Did Jesus say to “Love your enemy”? Some believe this, and do it. Some claim to believe this, and practice the opposite. There are others who claim to love their enemies, but you have to understand what they mean by it. It can be very confusing. This is a repost.
PG went to a source for documentation. Oh, the blessed conjunction of copy paste with public domain. When PG entered enemy (singular) in the search engine, 100 verses came up. When the request was made plural (enemies), 237 entries popped up. The last mention of enemies is Revelation 11:12 “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Loving your enemies does not include bringing them to heaven with you. There is also the star of the show.
Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
There is scholarly debate about what Jesus did, or did not, say. The words available to modern man have been copied by hand, edited, translated, and interpreted. PG does not know Aramaic from Alabama. Like anyone else, PG can only read and listen, and think for himself.
In a sense it does not matter what Jesus “really” said. The cult of Jesus Worship is going to believe what it wants. More important, it is going to practice what it wants. As far as the difference between what Jesus “really” said, and what his believers say and do…they can explain.
What follows is a humble suggestion. Maybe the translators and scribes got it wrong. Maybe Jesus did not say to love your enemy. Maybe what Jesus said was to show kindness to everyone. This is a practice thing, rather than a belief thing.
It is not as much fun to be nice to someone, as it is to scream about life after death. Kindness does not need to be justified by a quote from a magic book. You just need to do it.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
#WhyIWrite
#WhyIWrite is trending on twitter today, the #NationalDayOfWriting. A lot of the tweets are the sanctimonious, pseudo-inspirational crap that you might expect. A few others are posting inspirational thoughts by famous authors, usually with a picture in the background. Posting memes about writing is not the same as writing. Especially when the famous author never said it.
@girlsreallyrule “In honor of this National Day on Writing, I submit this quote from Dorothy Parker, who sums it up perfectly. #WhyIWrite” This tweet gets the party started. The *quote* was a bit of photoshop nonsense that PG has written about before. There is no source for the quote, “I hate writing. I love having written.” (If someone knows a source, please leave a comment.) PG left a comment. @chamblee54 “Dotty never said that. An old school manual typewriter only produces one size of text. I have learned when someone says _____ _____ perfectly, then the object in question is full of errors.” When writing this report, PG clicked on the link to the original tweet. “You are blocked from following @girlsreallyrule and viewing @girlsreallyrule’s Tweets.”
The next meme is blamed on Ben Franklin. “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Quote Investigator has a report on this Benjaminism. It turns out that the real quote is better than the meme. “If you wou’d not be forgotten, As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”
@Gaming_agent99 “You can make empires rise from ashes. You can make heroes fall and villains rise. You can bring all your thoughts and ideas to life, what’s more fun than that. #WhyIWrite” This thought was illustrated by a C.S. Lewis meme. “You can make anything by writing.” Once again, the manual typewriter produces perfectly centered text, in two sizes. @chamblee54 I searched the C.S. Lewis wikiquotes. I used make, anything, and writing as search words. This quote did not appear. @chamblee54 #WhyIWrite I found this in my search “The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.” The Magician’s Nephew (1955), Ch. 10: The First Joke and Other Matters.
@simpsonlibrary posted a tasteful graphic featuring this quote: “I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it.” William Carlos Williams. PG had never heard of Dr. Williams, and thought the quote was real. Usually, the less famous the name, the greater the chance that the quote is legitimate. A bit of research turned up page 498 of The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams: 1939-1962. Dr. Williams had translated Fragment 31 of Poems in Folio, by Sappho. “I’m 73 years old. I’ve gone on living as I could as a doctor, and writing poetry on the side. I practised to get money to live as I please, and what pleases me is to write poetry.”
“I don’t speak English, but the American Idiom. I don’t know how to write anything else, and I refuse to learn. … All my life I’ve never stopped thinking. I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Pre-K Anti-Racism
This is a repost from 2020. The facebook meme interrupted the cheerful October apathy. The meme was about an article, My 2-Year-Old Doesn’t Seem to Care About Being Anti-Racist. The colorful graphic did not have a link to the story, so PG googled the title. Soon, there were lots of options for Pre-K social justice education. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The headline story was on Slate. The format is the anxious letter to an advice columnist. The subtitle was “Have we screwed up somehow?”
“Dear Care and Feeding, My husband and I (we’re white) have a 2-year-old daughter and are doing our very best to be anti-racist parents. We’re making sure she has lots of multiracial dolls, only consumes books and TV shows with diverse characters, has no problematic Halloween costumes, and so on. But when we try to discuss issues like structural racism, intersectionality, or White fragility, she doesn’t seem at all interested. She often walks away, asks for a cookie, or even falls asleep! Have we screwed up somehow? Has society’s disdain for the perspectives of marginalized people already infected her? How do we get her to appreciate the urgency of the conversation around deconstructing white supremacy? — Anti-Racist Mom.”
This is where the free story ends. “The rest of this article is only for Slate Plus members. Sign up to get more Care and Feeding every week. For just $35 for your first year, you’ll also get…”
Some of the results are boring. Anti-Racism for Kids … Is most notable for this observation: “ ‘I don’t know that I’d sit down with a 3-year-old and say, ‘Let’s talk about racism,’ says Dr. Schonfeld.”
6 easy ways … hits on a persistent theme in woke literature. “As humans, we are hard-wired to identify with members of our own community, which is why we will never live in a post-racial society. So-called color-blindness as a parenting strategy amounts to complicity in the problem.” Somehow, being color blind is seen as a bad thing. Whatever.
The dependably woke Washington Post populates their paywall with What white parents get wrong about raising antiracist kids … “One of the biggest misconceptions white parents have is that their children don’t notice race unless it is pointed out to them. The underlying assumption is that children only become racist if they are taught to be. In fact, research clearly shows the opposite: Kids develop racial prejudice unless their parents or teachers directly engage with them about it.”
In her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race,” “Spelman College psychologist Beverly Tatum writes that “cultural racism — the cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people of color — is like a smog in the air. Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day in and day out, we are breathing it in.”
“So kids breathe this racially charged air — and if their parents and teachers don’t help to explain to them what race means (and what it doesn’t), kids start to create their own narratives. They often infer that racial hierarchies exist because of innate differences between people of different races and so start to believe that whites are privileged because they are inherently better and smarter.”
Some of this material is by “experts.” There are probably people who disagree with these observations, and a lot of exceptions to the rules. PG knows next to nothing about raising children, and is a bad person to have opinions here. Still, PG shakes his head at this: “Looking for a way to talk about race with your preschooler? Try baking. Crack open a white egg and then a brown egg, and show your kid how they’re the same inside. Or you can present your child with two gifts—one wrapped in ribbons and glitter, another in crinkled newspaper. Fill the sparkly one with dirt and the other with a shiny bracelet. Then get the conversation going: ‘Can you really judge what’s inside by the outside?'”
Or this. “White- centeredness is not the reality of [the white child’s] world, but he is under the illusion that it is. It is thus impossible for him to deal accurately or adequately with the universe of human and social relationships.” If you were to substitute black for white here, someone would call you racist. And they would be correct. Sweeping generalization, based on skin color, usually are.
The last result on page one is an NPR interview with children’s author Renee Watson, and Ibram X. Kendi. “I want to go back to “Hair Love.” I think it’s important to bring in books that allow readers to see black people living their everyday lives. We don’t want to teach children that black pain and struggle is the only part of black life. But I also think it’s important to just let young people see that black people live lives. And they do their hair. And they play outside. And they have fun and that that is an important part of the conversation, too.”
An Old Farmer’s Advice
Many of you have heard “An Old Farmer’s Advice”. This is a repost. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
“Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong. Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor. Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled. Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight. Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge. You cannot unsay a cruel word. Every path has a few puddles. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. The best sermons are lived, not preached. Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway. Don’t judge folks by their relatives. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time. Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’. The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’. Always drink upstream from the herd. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment. Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in. If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to G-d!”
No one knows who the old farmer is, or what he grew. Some say he really worked in an office writing ads for Massey Ferguson. Some say he had a bull farm, and believed in the product. In this age of industrial strength commodity wisdom, the first reaction of some is to look to google. In this case, you can go to a forum at Snopes. No one claims to be the grandson of the old farmer.
“My father in law is an old farmer. He’s given me some advice. It was more like: Don’t try to fix a broken porchlight in a rainstorm. corollary: Disconnect power to the sprinkler system before fiddling with the wiring. If you wear longer socks, the chiggers won’t bite you. Cool Whip makes everything taste better. Do whatever your mother in law says.”
quote: “A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.” ~ “Yeah, but you try getting a bumble bee to plow your fields. With the tiny little plows attached to their wings, it could take days.”
quote: “Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly…” ~ “And above all else, verb adverbly … There’s my problem, I’ve been living deeply, loving simply and speaking generously.”
quote: “Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.” ~ “I’m not sure of the lesson here…you should leave a bunch of tree stumps in your farm fields? But then you lose valuable real estate, the crops have to compete with the tree roots, and combine harvesting is significantly more dangerous. Maybe, if you take just a little time to remove the stump properly, it pays dividends and saves you time and energy in the long run. … But life is a lot cooler, and more productive if you go down to the general store, buy a few blasting caps, and blow that mother to kingdom come.”
“The sentiments aren’t too bad, but they missed “Now get orf moy laaand!” from the end…”
quote: “Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.” ~ “Oh, so I shouldn’t worry about not being able outrun a bumble bee on my John Deere tractor? Thanks.”
quote: Always drink upstream from the herd. ~ “But, unless your at the absolute source of the river, there’s always another herd further upstream.”
quote: The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’. ~ “I knew it. I knew that SOB had a camera in there. I’m going to the police.”
Subtle Ways To Deal With R*****
This is a repost from 2020. Facebook has a feature called “watch.” It is a symbol at the top of the page, which is sometimes advertised with a red marker. If you click on the symbol, you are encouraged to watch videos. This is not always a good move.
The Subtle Way to F**k with Racists – James Davis, with the uncensored f word, was the top video saturday. PG considers the r word to be hate speech, and complained about the video. The evil empire soon replied that the video did not qualify as unsuitable.
The Subtle Way … is a comedy routine. It starts off with some commentary on riots. It is not until 2:26 that we get to the “Subtle Way.” Since copyright protection is real, this will be paraphrased.
After the rioters are finished looting, the comedian goes to the vehicles of “racist people.” He peels the sticker off the license plate. He is not going to (expletive) property, he is going to (expletive) you. You are going to go to the DMV, because Black Lives Matter. After you get back from the DMV, your vehicle gets keyed. The audience laughs repeatedly. They are not worried about their vehicles.
Having “your shit” keyed is not subtle. This is probably someone the performer has never met. The comedian does not say how he knows they are racist. Even if this is a “racist people,” that does not justify malicious damage to property. This is what Facebook is encouraging.
The next “Subtle Way” involves breaking and entering. The comedian is going to break into the house of the policeman. They will break in, take “they best wine,” and put it in the freezer. When the officers wife goes to get the wine, there will be an unpleasant surprise. Meanwhile, the comedian is going to hide in the bushes outside, and yell “N***a.” Facebook, and Comedy Central Stand-Up, think this is a good idea. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
#1619Gate
This is a repost from 2020. The 1619 Project was published by the New York Times in August, 2019. It was a grand historic project, marking the 400th anniversary of the first African slaves to arrive in Virginia. Claims were made. “The 1619 project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding …”
Many of the claims were controversial. A few days ago, without any explanation, the Times deleted many of the “true founding” comments. Not surprisingly, many people noticed the difference. Cached copies have a way of contradicting convenient revisionism.
Full Disclosure: I have not read The 1619 Project. My reading bandwidth is limited. I cannot comment on the narrative presented in the project, and assume that much of it is true. What is fascinating about #1619Gate is the spectacle of the mighty New York Times humbling itself. There is also the bizarre behavior of @nhannahjones, the lady behind The 1619 Project
This tweet landed on my timeline earlier this week. @nhannahjones “There is a difference between being politically black and being racially black. I am not defending anyone, but we all know this and should stop pretending that we don’t”
@kelsey_midd “What does this mean?”
@nhannahjones “If you don’t know it ain’t for you.”
@kelsey_midd “I’m not the only person that asked. I’m also a black person.”
@nhannahjones “Yes, I am capable of seeing your avatar. And I will repeat: if you don’t understand the difference between being born/designated a certain race and taking up a particular set of racial politics, I am not going to educate you here.
@chamblee54 The lady does not suffer from false modesty @nhannahjones “Reporter @nytmag covering race from 1619-present//AKA The Beyoncé of Journalism//Co-founder ida b wells society //smart and thuggish//Aries//1619Project.” After a while, “The Beyoncé of Journalism” was looking more like the Kellyanne Conway of historic scholarship.
Before getting to the last segment of this show, we should mention what happened earlier sunday night. I am part of a poetry community, which is now meeting on zoom. This group is welcoming, and supportive of my work. Unfortunately, they welcome some less appealing players. Last night, one man had a poem about abolishing the police. There was a line. The only time colonizing white people like the police is when they need to have a (racial slur) exterminated. (That is not an exact quote.) I cut the sound off, and waited for the piece to be over.
The boundless folly of woke twitter awaited me. I soon came across the following exchange. I have a screen shot of the punch line, in case it is deleted. The tacky poet fell into context.
@sullydish “Basic rule in online journalism: if you change something after publication, acknowledge and explain it. On 1619 Project, NYT just broke this basic *ethical* rule. And to further the cover up @nhannahjones deleted all tweet history. Let that sink in.”
@nhannahjones “This is the last thing I will say about this. The wording in question never appeared in the 1619 Project text. It appears nowhere in the printed copy, something easily verifiable as pointed out to you. It didn’t appear in my essay nor any of the actual journalism we produced.”
@ira_mckey “It may be the last thing you say about it, but the Twitter screenshots and the history of what you said about it Still exist.” (Includes photo of NHJ tweet: @nhannahjones “I argue that 1619 is our true founding. Also, look at the banner pic in my profile.”)
@nhannahjones “This is my tweet. My tweets are not official 1619 copy.”
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. More episodes of the #1619Gate series are available. Two Three Four Five
Who Is Telling The Truth?
This is a repost from 2020. A grand jury presented its findings in the death of Breonna Taylor. Unlike many of the current shouters, I listened to the presentation by Attorney General Daniel Cameron. While his report is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate, it did make two important points.
The police did knock, and announce themselves. Breonna Taylor was not asleep in bed. Ms. Taylor was standing in the hall. If Ms. Taylor had indeed been in bed, she might not have been hit by gunfire. Again, this assumes that the authorities are telling the truth.
The Tatum Report is a youtube channel. Officer Tatum has a investigative report about the Taylor shooting. I have been skeptical about this report. It turns out the Louisville Courier-Journal published excerpts from the same report August 25. UPDATE: Here is the 39 page report.
I was looking at a facebook discussion. Someone said that a body was found in a vehicle rented by Breonna Taylor. This seemed a bit far fetched. I googled it. This came up. This story is from a CBS affiliated TV station, not a youtube channel.
“The documents also alleged that back in 2016, the body of Fernandez Bowman was found in a car rented by Breonna Taylor. When LMPD detectives arrived at Taylor’s home to question her, (Jamarcus) Glover was there. Taylor told the detectives she did not know Bowman, that she had been dating Glover for several months and that she had let him drive the rental car. She also gave detectives her phone number, which was a number that Glover was still using as recently as February of this year, according to the documents. That homicide victim was the brother of Damarius Bowman, one of Glover’s “associates” who has been arrested with Glover numerous times, the report stated.”
WKYT mentions these documents appearing in the Courier-Journal. Another source has a .pdf of another Courier-Journal article, which will be used as a source of quotes below. For some reason, the cached Courier-Journal story does not include the “body in the rented car” item.
Before going further, we should note a few things. This was a preliminary report, that was leaked to the press. It is not guaranteed to be accurate or true. There are some recordings of phone calls made from jail. While this may technically be legal, it strikes some people as improper. Last, there were some other allegations in the report. There is camera footage, and documentary evidence. Many allegations of criminal behavior are made about Breonna Taylor. If the police officers had gone to trial, these allegations would have been brought up in court.
The .pdf has another version of the “body in the rented car” story. “The 39-page report says Taylor began dating Glover, known as “Chop,” in 2016, and in December that year, she let him borrow a car she rented. The next day, the body of Fernandez “Rambo” Bowman, 27, was found inside the vehicle. When police came to interview Taylor about it, Glover was at her apartment and she said she let Glover use the car. She said she did not know the victim, who was Demarius Bowman’s brother.”
“The Courier Journal confirmed that account through evidence filed in the case of the man charged in Bowman’s slaying — Quenton Se’Ville Hall, 38. It shows that Taylor rented the vehicle on Dec. 1, 2016. Fernandez Bowman was shot, allegedly by Hall, while driving the car, which crashed into a telephone pole, a fence and a house. Neither Taylor nor Glover was charged in Bowman’s death.”
This document has selections from recorded jail phone calls. After reading the 39 page report, I realized that these quotes were heavily edited. The real conversations are not as sensational. If you want to see some of the jailhouse phone calls, read the 39 page report. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
These Are The 10 Most
PG saw a facebook post from his cousin. It was about the town he lives in: Wilton Named 83rd Drunkest Place to Live in Connecticut: Report It was based on a bit of creative clickbait, These Are The 10 Drunkest Places In Connecticut. This is a repost.
The distibutor of this information is RoadSnacks. “RoadSnacks is based in Durham, NC. We aim to deliver infotainment about where you live that your real estate agent won’t tell you. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country.” Other information opportunities include: “TAT10 Poorest Places In Kentucky”, “TAT10 Drunkest Places In Pennsylvania”, “TAT10 Dumbest Cities In Illinois”, “TAT10 Cities In New Jersey With The Most Ashley Madison Accounts”, “TAT10 Snobbiest Places In Louisiana.”
When PG saw the initial TAT10, he wondered about Georgia. A google search was made for “TAT10 drunkest places in Georgia.” Apparently, RoadSnacks is still crunching the numbers on that one. Three enlightening features were available: TAT10 Most Dangerous Places In Georgia, TAT10 Most Ghetto Cities In Georgia, TAT10 Most Redneck Cities In Georgia.
TAT10 lists are not scientific. The criteria varies from study to study. (For more information, be sure to check the actual post.) In dangerous places, “If any places tied, we used the violent crime rank as a tiebreaker.” In ghetto and redneck, it seems to come down to the number of retail outlets. Ghetto was ranked by convenience stores, drug stores, beauty supply stores, and discount stores. Redneck is determined by dive bars, mobile home parks, tobacco stores, guns and ammo stores, Walmarts, Bass Pro Shops, Dollar Generals and Piggly Wigglys.
In OTP Atlanta, many areas change names at the county line. When you leave Dekalb County for Gwinnett, you go from Doraville into Norcross. One road you can do this on is Buford Hiway, which is lined with Asian businesses like My Dung video. This area is home to one of the metro area international communities, and is well known for ultra authentic restaurants. Well known by everyone except RoadSnacks.
According to the TAT10 body of knowledge, Doraville is the 5th most redneck city in Georgia. When you cross the county line, Norcross is the most ghetto city in Georgia. People who are familiar with this area are probably laughing right now. Especially when they see that most ghetto Norcross is also 15th most redneck. Doraville did not make the 90 spot list for most ghetto.
The most dangerous city in Georgia is College Park, with East Point in second place. Neither city was on the redneck list. On the ghetto list, College Park is 67, and East Point is 72.
The city of Brookhaven evidently has not been in existence long enough to be rated. The only list that included Chamblee was ghetto, at 55. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
I’m Not A Witch
In 2010, republicans in Delaware nominated Christine O’Donnell for the US Senate. The race was to replace Vice-President Joe Biden. It turns out that Mrs. O’Donnell has already made a name for herself. In 1996, she was the President of SALT … The Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth. She made an appearance on MTV to urge teenagers not to masturbate.
Public spirited citizens at MSNBC have found the video. It was introduced by Rachel Maddow, who had both hands on the desk. “you are going to be pleasing each other. If he already knows what pleases him, and he can please himself, then why am I in the picture.”
This feature is a repost from 2010. Mrs. O’Donnell lost her senate race by 16 points. One of her campaign ads proclaimed “I’m not a witch.” There was a misunderstanding with the FEC, over allegations that Mrs. O’Donnell used campaign funds for living expenses. Currently, @thechristineod is a podcast coach. The beat goes on. Pictures from The Library of Congress.
Another Internet Squabble
Emory Law Professor’s Use of the “n-word” Shows Something Deeper was posted on GeorgiaPol. It was prompted by an incident, Emory … professor uses “n-word”. The post was the sort of post racial polemic that emerges daily. The supply of this rhetoric far exceeds the demand.
GeorgiaPol has a facebook page. They post a note on facebook when a post is published on the blog. The post about the professor was announced on facebook. The facebook announcement was illustrated by a historic picture. There was a sign, including the magic word, in front of a building.
One of the quirks of the n-word debate is who gets to use it. The *rule* is that black people can say it, and white people cannot. No one knows what authority made this rule, which is vigorously enforced at all times. In this case, the author of the piece, @LaDawnLBJJones, is an African American. She has the *right* to use the magic word. The problem is, the facebook post was on the page belonging to GeorgiaPol. Does a non-poc website have the *right* to use this forbidden phrase? Especially when promoting a post which denounces the use of this word? The n-word tribunal should issue a ruling on this colorful conundrum.
There was this exchange on GeorgiaPol. chamblee54 ““In 2018 America, if you have ever yelled the word in anger at the guy who cut you off, or thought it while watching television about the black person accused of a heinous crime, or even sat tacitly by while a white counterpart casually used the word … then I feel compelled to make this clear to you … there is something deeper about yourself you must address” This applies to GaPol. They posted a picture with the magic word on facebook. If it is wrong for a professor to use this word in class, it is wrong for GaPol to post a picture of it on facebook. Everything that is happening to the Emory Professor should now happen to GaPol.” LaDawn LBJ Jones @chamblee54 “there are people who contribute to GeorgiaPol who cannot say THAT word. But I assure you the person who wrote this absolutely can. And if you want to discuss the difference between you, them, and me then you are avoiding the self reflection this piece is about.” chamblee54 “Did you post that picture on facebook? I really don’t care if you use the magic word. However, when a non-poc website advertises a post, denouncing the magic word, by posting a picture of a sign that contains this word… maybe that is not a problem to you, but it is at the very least ironic. As far as “the self reflection this piece is about”… who says I don’t? Race talk gets shoved in your face every day. One more post about who can, or cannot, say the magic word is not going to make any difference.”
The discussion also happened on twitter. @chamblee54 .@LaDawnLBJJones just posted 1600 fire breathing words about an Emory law professor who used the magic word in a lecture. When advertising this post on facebook, .@georgiapol_com posted a picture including the same word, whose use was hysterically denounced in the post. @LaDawnLBJJones Yes I edited the meme. Not because it wasn’t perfectly appropriate for the post but because in my head I imagined some racist who LOVES the n-word enjoying seeing it far too much. I didn’t want to give them the pleasure.
The reply was curious to PG. The picture on facebook had not changed. As it turns out, there is a picture on GeorgiaPol that was edited. The picture at GeorgiaPol is easy to miss… PG did not see it until he started this post. The spectacle of a non-poc website posting a picture of the n-word, to advertise a post denouncing the use of the n-word, is just plain weird.
In a previous discussion on race, at GeorgiaPol, PG posted a link to a chamblee54 piece about the magic word. The link was ignored, while a side comment on Colin Kaepernick got responses. People are fascinated by hot dog distractions, and not interested in listening to other people. FWIW, PG has written about the n-word before. In another post, PG substitutes racist for the magic word, while quoting a bit of public television polemic. The results were surprising.
As for “the self reflection this piece is about” … if you read facebook, you are hit over the head with talk about racism every day. If you want to maintain your sanity, you have to filter most of it out. Try to treat people … no adjective required … with kindness and respect. If you can affect institutional oppression, then you should do so. Whatever you do, don’t get caught saying the n-word, unless you are *qualified*. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
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Jock Protest
This is a repost from 2016 … In 2014, the St. Louis Rams ran onto the field with their hands over their heads. For an official, it means touchdown. With the Rams, it meant “hands up don’t shoot.”
When Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson MO, witnesses said he had his hands up. Later investigations indicate that “Brown never surrendered with his hands up.” While controversy over Mr. Brown’s death continues, very few people maintain that he had his hands up when he died.
A little over a year later, the St. Louis Rams announced a move to Los Angeles. There are various reasons for the move. It basically comes down to money. The NFL wants a team in Los Angeles. The Rams want to make more money. The hands up gesture became a hands out.
Athletes have traditionally been role models. Their opinions are solicited on a wide range of subjects. Some people question whether the ability to play a game qualifies someone to render these judgements. While football players are entitled to have opinions, the question remains: why should we care? Social justice is not a product endorsement.
Recently Cam Newton gave an interview to GQ magazine. Mr. Newton modeled some clothes, with apparent enthusiasm. Mr. Newton said “I don’t want this to be about race, because it’s not. It’s not. Like, we’re beyond that. As a nation.” It was the social media sensation of the day.
As you may have guessed, this brings us to Colin Kaepernick. He is certainly entitled to his opinion. @Kaepernick7 is a second string quarterback, who has asked to be traded. With his nine figure salary, there is a chance he will be cut from the team. Why is Colin Kaepernick suddenly taken seriously as an authority on race relations?
Most reports on Mr. Kaepernick have a 59 word summary of the comments to NFL media. You have to do a bit of digging to see the full transcript. Google is not a perfect tool. Perhaps someone does not want people to see the complete interview.
Number seven makes a few interesting comments. There are few specific solutions offered. The problem of citizen on citizen killing is not mentioned. Mr. Kaepernick does not come across as a deep thinker. When he is asked how teammates feel about his protest, number seven replies “I hope they stand with me.” Is he sitting down, or standing up?
NFL Media “In your mind have you been pulled over unjustly or had bad experiences?” CK: “Yes, multiple times. I’ve had times where one of my roommates was moving out of the house in college and because we were the only black people in that neighborhood the cops got called and we had guns drawn on us. Came in the house, without knocking, guns drawn on my teammates and roommates. So I have experienced this. People close to me have experienced this. This isn’t something that’s a one-off case here or a one-off case there. This has become habitual. This has become a habit. So this is something that needs to be addressed.”…
NM: “Does the election year have anything to do with timing? CK: It wasn’t a timing thing, it wasn’t something that was planned. But I think the two presidential candidates that we currently have also represent the issues that we have in this country right now.
NM:Do you want to expand on that? CK: You have Hillary who has called black teens or black kids super predators, you have Donald Trump who’s openly racist. We have a presidential candidate who has deleted emails and done things illegally … That doesn’t make sense to me because if that was any other person you’d be in prison. So, what is this country really standing for?
NM: It is a country that has elected a black president twice CK: It has elected a black president but there are also a lot of things that haven’t changed. There are a lot of issues that still haven’t been addressed and that’s something over an eight-year term there’s a lot of those things are hard to change and there’s a lot of those things that he doesn’t necessarily have complete control over.
NM: What would be a success? CK: That’s a tough question because there’s a lot of things that need to change, a lot of different issues that need to be addressed. That’s something that it’s really hard to lock down one specific thing that needs to change currently.”
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow is a great concept. The hard hitting lesbian overcame a blonde childhood to become the MSNBC news lady. Unfortunately, the reality does not always live up to the image.
@maddow “Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances” “‘The scariest one I’ve heard of and seen is people coming in with vision loss,’ he said.” The tweet links to a story: “A rural Oklahoma doctor said patients who are taking the horse de-wormer medication, ivermectin, to fight COVID-19 are causing emergency room and ambulance back ups.“There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff,” said Dr. Jason McElyea.”
… Dr. Jason McElyea is not an employee of NHS Sequoyah … Dr. McElyea has not worked at our Sallisaw location in over 2 months. NHS Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose….” The story is a lie. Rolling Stone, who first broke the story, has issued corrections. @maddow has not.
A month before the 2016 election, a story began to spread: The KKK endorsed Donald Trump. When I began to research a blog post about this tall tale, an article at the Washington Post appeared to be the origin. An enthusiastic co-promoter was Rachel Maddow.
By this time, it was obvious that Ms. Maddow saw her job as helping Hillary Clinton get elected. Unfortunately, by November 2016, this meant piling on as much negativity as possible. It is possible that public revulsion at this overkill helped Mr. Trump win the Electoral College. This tendency towards overkill is on full display in her campaign against IVM.
August 27 saw Ms. Madcow Ms. Maddow goes full blue anon against IVM. It should be noted that, despite the fire breathing polemic by Ms. Maddow, the side effects of IVM are not serious. There is evidence of IVM being an effective treatment for covid. (one two)
“… several outlets are reporting what the America’s Frontline Doctors fiasco appears to have morphed into now is a scam to market horse paste, to market livestock deworming and anti-lice medicine to people who believe, that for some reason, they shouldn’t take the COVID vaccine. To people who believe there is a cure for COVID. There must be a cure for COVID but the man is trying to keep it secret but you can find it at a veterinary clinic. And, OK, maybe we said it was hydroxychloroquine before, that was the cure. But we’re not talking about that anyone now we say it’s ivermectin.”
“So, they moved on, from warning you about the reptile people and the threat of the demon spawn, careful who you have sex within your sleep, because you never know. They moved on from that, to promoting hydroxychloroquine as the secret cure to COVID. And when that petered out, they kept up the scam, telling people definitely do not take the vaccine, because the vaccine will kill you, and don’t wear a mask. And now they are telling people to pay them a considerable amount of money to take this potentially dangerous and also worthless drug.”
“It has been promoted inexplicably by the popular podcaster Joe Rogan, for some reason. Okay? It has also been promoted by the snake oil online sales folks who brought you the threat of demon sperm and alien DNA, with the endorsement of then President Donald Trump.”
“NBC reporter Ben Collins has plunged into that slimy underworld of how this stuff is being promoted and sold and weaponized against the ill. He joins us next. Stay with us.”
“One of the big groups pushing disinformation about this drug is a pro-Trump anti-vax group called America’s Frontline Doctors . Their founder was arrested after allegedly participating in an attack on the capital on January 6th. And while promoting ivermectin as a cure for COVID is something of a standard Fox News primetime segment these days, the misinformation and promotion of it turns out to be a lot bigger online, particularly in gigantic Facebook groups I had no idea existed. But they have created a whole ecosystem to push this stuff and to support people’s decision to use it, instead of, say, getting vaccinated.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
UPDATE: This is a repost. A former facebook friend posted a comment about Rachel Maddow. I replied with a link to this post. The FFF took offense at the inclusion of the “L-word” in the first paragraph of this feature. The conversation devolved into an argument about ivermectin. The last thing the FFF said: “I trust the FDA, and I don’t care how they do things in India and Africa.”
Chamblee54 
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