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Keb’ Mo’ and Rosanne Cash, two of my favorites, singing Put a Woman in Charge.
I say we try it. How wonderful it could be if we brought some feminine sensibilities to governing the world…
Although I have know some Southern, gun-toting, Republican women who would make JD Vance seem like a liberal choir boy.
Vote today as if the future of our country depends on it… because it does.
Jimmy Kimmel: A Special Monologue for the Republican in Your Life
If you are still thinking about voting for the Republican candidate for President, please watch this.
The following article appeared in the local alternative newspaper RiverFront Times: Missouri Bill Makes Teachers Sex Offenders If They Accept Trans Kids’ Pronouns
1st Objection
Personally, I am not a big fan of this whole pronoun phenomenon, BUT as it says in the Book of David 1:1
“Within the bounds of the Golden Rule, people being who they are, and loving who they love are not immoral acts.”
I once worked with a fellow named Walter. He was very insistent on being called Walter and not the diminutive of Walt. I understand as I prefer the formal David to any of the diminutives of that name, but most of the time I just let it slide. I am just generally glad someone has acknowledged my existence by calling me by name.
I see selecting a personal pronoun, more of less, in this same category. And yeah, I realize there is a serious qualitative difference, but isn’t it the GOP that spouts all these libertarian ideals… like getting rid of helmet laws and allowing folks to carry firearms wherever they want.
The kicker for me is from the article:
“We showed that the more contexts or settings where they were able to use their preferred name, the stronger their mental health was,” the author of the study, Stephen T. Russell, University of Texas at Austin professor and chair of human development and family science, said.
Transgender youth already face a heightened risk of suicidal ideation. Another recent study, this one by the Trevor Project, showed that in 2022 nearly half (45 percent) of LGBTQ youth surveyed seriously contemplated suicide. One in five attempted it.
Sadly the article went on to say:
Missouri remains at the forefront of anti-trans legislation efforts and is one of the most prolific in the nation for bills targeting trans youth.
2nd Objection
My wife, Señora, was a special education teacher, retiring after more than 30 years in the profession. It had changed from a job she dearly loved to one she had a very hard time with. The last three or four years she taught, at the beginning of the school year she cried for a couple weeks from having to go back. It is, without a doubt, a very hard profession, one that does not pay particularly well when you consider the level of education and expertise required. I could write several blog articles on why the profession has become so difficult, but the burnout rate speaks for itself. If you are interested here is an article on the subject: K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S.
And now the Missouri GOP wants to criminalize teachers for doing their jobs and supporting students that who in all likelihood are already having a very hard time adjusting. I just cannot get my head around the fact that there are individuals out there that want to force teachers to register as sex offenders for saying he or she when this person’s rigid beliefs insists it should have been she or he.
Some things are more than a little wrong.
A Little Lagniappe
Interestingly enough the British newspaper, The Guardian, picked up this story: Missouri: home to child marriage, corporal punishment and sick ‘child welfare’ ideas
Sometimes I do not know if I am more embarrassed by living in Missouri or being from Oklahoma.
I truly have never been more discouraged about this country than I have been in the last few years… this Supreme Court definitely plays into that discouragement.
I would hate to see John Oliver give this awful Supreme Court Justice $1,000,000 a year for life, but he certainly does not need to be on the Supreme Court bench. Of course Clarence Thomas is 75 years old, statistically he will likely be out of here within 8 or 10 years. However, at the end of the day, John Oliver has made a bet with himself that Clarence Thomas will not accept his offer.
We should have listened to Anita Hill.
I came across this cartoon this morning.
Which reminded me of a story I had read about Rabbi Hillel…
The Talmud is the second most important book of the Jewish faith. As described at the website Sefaria.org:
“The Talmud is the textual record of generations of rabbinic debate about law, philosophy, and biblical interpretation, compiled between the 3rd and 8th centuries and structured as commentary on the Mishnah with stories interwoven. The Talmud exists in two versions: the more commonly studied Babylonian Talmud was compiled in present-day Iraq, while the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Israel.”
There is a story attributed to two second century rabbinic scholars of this book , Hillel and Shammai. As recounted at the website Forward:
“[They were]…contemporaries paired together by Jewish tradition as archetypical opposites: Hillel the tolerant and liberal ‘loose constructionist’ of the Law, Shammai the exacting and inflexible ‘strict constructionist.’
In one story about them, a gentile comes to both and asks, with the obvious intention of provoking them, to be taught the whole Torah while standing on one leg. Shammai is indeed provoked and gives the man an angry whack with a measuring rod. Hillel replies, ‘That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary — [and now] go study.’“
How hard can this be people? Apparently too damn hard.
To see the Golden Rule as expressed by many other religions follow this link: The Universality of the Golden Rule in the World Religions
My mother had a unique and characteristic method of passing on values, morals, correct behavior – I am not quite sure how to categorize what she was attempting to do. She had a library of canned routines that were triggered by the conduct of, first of us boys, and then later by grandchildren. I theorize that she was utilizing the marketing method of repeated hearings to drive home a point. She was not above turning these chastisements into little ditties. I do not have fond memories of her educative method, quite the contrary. I did not see then Continue reading “CFOP – Consideration for Other People”
I have written about my Uncle Paul, my mother’s brother, several times on this blog. He is considered a war hero from WW II, and for 30 years or so there was a Navy missile frigate floating around the oceans with his name on the bow.
Below you will find two links to letters written to the family from the Navy. The first is to my grandmother, who everyone knew as Mama Carr, from the Commander of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The second letter is from the Executive Officer to Paul’s wife Goldia.
I had always heard that the Captain of the ship had nominated Paul H. Carr for the Navy Cross, but this the first time I have seen it in print. I believe the Navy’s reason for not awarding it was that there needed to have been more witnesses…
Just click the links to open the PDFs.
PHCMF NAVY LETTER to PHC’s Mother
PHCMF NAVY Letter to PHC’s wife
And since we are on the subject here are some more links on Paul H. Carr.
Paul H. Carr inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
USS Samuel B. Roberts shipwreck found
And so it went…
Columbus Day is still a Federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the Monday closest to the 12th of October. However, many states are renaming it, terming it Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and rightly so. If you have read the history of Christopher Columbus he was not a moral person. His treatment of indigenous people and people of color in general was abhorrent. Normally, I try to understand historical figures in Continue reading “Día de la Diversidad Cultural “
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”