If you are of my generation or older you remember the day President John F. Kennedy was shot, 22 November 1963. I was in 6th grade at an elementary school in Toms River, New Jersey. It was the first time in my educational career that I had had a male teacher. He was a very tall, skinny man who I remember mainly because he was male and his reaction to the Kennedy news. When they announced over the loudspeaker that the President had been assassinated, this man cried. However, when I raised my hand after Continue reading “Reconsidering JFK – A Wondrium Course”
Missouri religious leaders sue to overturn Missouri’s ban on abortion
One of the guiding principles of my life is live and let live. If I were being honest, I would have to admit to falling short of this goal far too often, but it is a light I steer towards. In that same vein I have a mantra I recite whenever I am speaking or thinking about religious beliefs or sexual orientation, “Life is tough, whatever gets you through the day, whatever gets you through the night.”
My issue with many Christians, especially Evangelicals and Catholics, and Continue reading “Missouri religious leaders sue to overturn Missouri’s ban on abortion”
What Do You Know About the Constitution?
I recently watched on Wondrium a very interesting and worthwhile pair of courses on the US Constitution taught by Eric Berger, a professor at the University of Nebraska Law School. The two courses were:
I am currently in the process of watching:
While the US Constitution is not that long and is not that hard to read, reading it and understanding it are two distinct things. Both of the first two courses are good, but the second was more interesting to me as Continue reading “What Do You Know About the Constitution?”
Drag Queens in Chesterfield
Looking at the local news online this morning, this story – of course, from the local FOX news outlet – was leading the pack : ‘A Drag Queen Christmas’ show sparks heated protest in Chesterfield.
I thought for a minute that a tornado must have grabbed the whole town I live in, Chesterfield, Missouri, and dumped it in Oklahoma while I slept. But no, we’re still here. I had to remind myself that I live in Missouri and in the particularly onerous 2nd district, the district which has given us such Republican notables as Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin and Ann “What Climate Change” Wagner.
Since the protesters stated that the drag queens were slapping God Continue reading “Drag Queens in Chesterfield”
State Violence
Another quote to meditate on from The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow. For some reason the last part of this sentence keeps echoing in my mind, that part of the definition of a sovereign state is that the state has sole proprietorship of legitimate violence within its boundaries. It is something I knew before, but I had never articulated in quite that manner.
“…is confident that an objective statistical analysis, shorn of sentiment, will show us to be living in an age of unprecedented peace and security. And this, he suggests, is the logical outcome of living in sovereign states, each with a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence within its borders…“
Well…not an earwig, but definitely a mental perseveration.
The Other Side of Qatar
Luisito Comunica is a Mexican YouTuber who is SUPER popular in in Latin America with almost 40,000,000 followers. He travels around the world making YouTube videos of the various countries he visits. Occasionally you will also see his girlfriend (may be ex now) in the videos. She is a very hot Venezuelan model. Talk about a couple of opposites. Go figure!
I watch his videos to have another channel of Spanish input into my old brain, plus he is VERY entertaining. Most of the time his videos are on the lighter side or pointing out cultural oddities. Occasionally he gets serious as he has done in this video.
In early 2017, Qatar’s total population was 2.6 million, with 313,000 of them Qatari citizens. Basically you have millions of imported workers supporting the Qatari few. I wonder what Mohamed would think about that situation in light of the squalid living conditions?
Since his audience is Latin America, English subtitles are not available, but I think a few minutes watching this video and you will get the idea… even if you do not understand him.
This is his third video in Qatar. The first two were of the side of Qatar the powers to be there would like you to see. I sincerely hope that he has left Qatar before posting this one.
Tlaxcala Boot Camp
I am still in the process of listening to the audio book of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow. This book is a reexamination of the current narrative of how our civilization, culture, social institutions, etc evolved in the light of new evidence and new interpretations. I came across another passage that really spoke to me.
“Those who aspired to a role on the council of Tlaxcala, far from being expected to demonstrate personal charisma or the ability to outdo rivals, did so in a spirit of self-deprecation – even shame. They were required to subordinate themselves to the people of the city. To ensure that this subordination was no mere show, each was subject to trials, starting with mandatory exposure to public abuse, regarded as the proper reward of ambition, and then – with one’s ego in tatters – a long period of seclusion, in which the aspiring politician suffered ordeals of fasting, sleep deprivation, bloodletting and a strict regime of moral instruction. The initiation ended with a ‘coming out’ of the newly constituted public servant, amid feasting and celebration. Clearly, taking up office in this indigenous democracy required personality traits very different to those we take for granted in modern electoral politics.”
On the off-chance that you are not up on your 16th century mesoamerican Continue reading “Tlaxcala Boot Camp”
Dear Elon Musk
I only infrequently post “memes”, but I really like this one! I don’t quite understand why THE MEDIA spends so much time on the utterances of billionaires such of Elon Musk. They generally do not add anything positive to our political or economic discussions. So many of them seem to think they are geniuses in all areas since they managed to make a boat load of money…one way or the other.
And so it goes…
Furries, Litterboxes, Schools
One of the issues I have as a “writer”… well a blogger is that occasionally I have the urge to write a posting that may offend or hurt another person. Most of the time I let the urge pass as my reasons for blogging do not include embarrassing or hurting folks around me. I am smart enough, after two marriages, to ask for a blessing from Señora on posts that involve her. The Wee Dog can just suck it up. Besides, it is rumored that she cannot read anyway, but I am not sure I believe it.
I could not resist the urge this time to share this anecdote as it brings home an important point in the current cultural wars that are dividing my beloved country.
The other night Señora and I were invited Continue reading “Furries, Litterboxes, Schools”
Inflation Happy Dance
“William Meaney, the CEO of Iron Mountain (a data storage and management company with a current market capitalization of $12 billion) told Wall Street analysts in late September, high levels of inflation helped the company increase its margins — and that for that reason he had long been “doing my inflation dance praying for inflation.” A few years before, Meaney explained “I pray for inflation every day I come to work because … our top line is really driven by inflation. … Every point of inflation expands our margins.”
While the rest of us stand in the supermarket aisle gasping for breath at the price of food… among other places and other things.