It was such a pleasant change to be able to attend church services here at Lakeside two weeks ago. Even in a park, even with social distancing, even with no hymns, even wearing a mask.
But not today. First, it's only about 50 degrees, and it will be much cooler near the lake (service is in the Steele Memorial gazebo). But second, it's a Methodist service, and if I know anything about Methodists, we'll have a lecture on race relations. Methodists, like Catholics, are always in the forefront of social issues, and they do an excellent job. Of all the Protestant denominations, Methodists are the closest to Catholic in obeying Christ's commands in Matthew 25. It's not just "me and Jesus," but it's the Holy Spirit changing the heart for service for God. And I get it. But I don't want to sit in the cold, after the churches, all churches have abdicated their leadership role during this time of unrest and pandemic. They simply closed their doors, closed down their ministries to those mentioned in Matthew 25--poor, sick, imprisoned, thirsty--and decided that skyping and zooming and preaching online was just fine and met their obligations. Even churches with huge parking lots paving over acres, could not seem to find a way to call their congregations together in worship and service. Like ours. UALC with two locations and two huge parking lots and loads of technology.
So I'm not going to sit in a park in a gated community that is 99.9999% white and be lectured about systemic racism and how we white folks need to do better. I don't want to listen to an academic preach it who hasn't studied the statistics about government transfer programs, who are the victims of crime, how many millions of contacts do we have with the police and how many end badly (virtually none) and what is the role of the media. I just won't listen to one more harangue when I know the 60 years of government and business policies that have made things worse, but more often better.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Why are people not obeying orders on the lockdown? WSJ opinion piece
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-second-wave-covid-scare-11591919250?mod=opinion_lead_pos1&mod=djemMER_h
Most WSJ articles are behind a pay wall, but videos of opinions sometimes can provide the main points.
Most WSJ articles are behind a pay wall, but videos of opinions sometimes can provide the main points.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Name calling and labeling
Why does every person of European ancestry who disagrees with Communists/leftists/progressives who for the moment vote Democrat have to be a white supremist? Why not just a white member of the teachers' union or the electricians' union; why not a white dentist; why not a white retail clerk; why not at white plumber or white farmer? Why are whites who want to save a statue of Thomas Jefferson called racists, but whites who admired Robert Byrd former KKK member and built statues and named highways for him called Democrats? Why are all people who voted for Trump lumped together in Hillary's deplorable basket the same way Democrats used to label all blacks and minorities as foot shuffling janitors and gardeners? Can Democrats discuss anything except sex and race without name calling?
Anonymous letter by a UC Berkeley Professor, part 2
Continued from Part 1
There also exists a large constituency of what can only be called 'race hustlers': hucksters of all colors who benefit from stoking the fires of racial conflict to secure administrative jobs, charity management positions, academic jobs and advancement, or personal political entrepreneurship.
Given the direction our history department appears to be taking far from any commitment to truth, we can regard ourselves as a formative training institution for this brand of snake-oil salespeople. Their activities are corrosive, demolishing any hope at harmonious racial coexistence in our nation and colonizing our political and institutional life. Many of their voices are unironically segregationist.
MLK would likely be called an Uncle Tom if he spoke on our campus today. We are training leaders who intend, explicitly, to destroy one of the only truly successful ethnically diverse societies in modern history. As the PRC, an ethnonationalist and aggressively racially chauvinist national polity with null immigration and no concept of jus solis increasingly presents itself as the global political alternative to the US, I ask you: Is this wise? Are we really doing the right thing?
As a final point, our university and department has made multiple statements celebrating and eulogizing George Floyd. Floyd was a multiple felon who once held a pregnant black woman at gunpoint. He broke into her home with a gang of men and pointed a gun at her pregnant stomach. He terrorized the women in his community. He sired and abandoned multiple children, playing no part in their support or upbringing, failing one of the most basic tests of decency for a human being. He was a drug-addict and sometime drug-dealer, a swindler who preyed upon his honest and hard-working neighbors.
And yet, the regents of UC and the historians of the UCB History department are celebrating this violent criminal, elevating his name to virtual sainthood. A man who hurt women. A man who hurt black women. With the full collaboration of the UCB history department, corporate America, most mainstream media outlets, and some of the wealthiest and most privileged opinion-shaping elites of the USA, he has become a culture hero, buried in a golden casket, his (recognized) family showered with gifts and praise. Americans are being socially pressured into kneeling for this violent, abusive misogynist. A generation of black men are being coerced into identifying with George Floyd, the absolute worst specimen of our race and species.
I'm ashamed of my department. I would say that I'm ashamed of both of you, but perhaps you agree with me, and are simply afraid, as I am, of the backlash of speaking the truth. It's hard to know what kneeling means, when you have to kneel to keep your job.
It shouldn't affect the strength of my argument above, but for the record, I write as a person of color. My family have been personally victimized by men like Floyd. We are aware of the condescending depredations of the Democrat party against our race. The humiliating assumption that we are too stupid to do STEM, that we need special help and lower requirements to get ahead in life, is richly familiar to us. I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be easier to deal with open fascists, who at least would be straightforward in calling me a subhuman, and who are unlikely to share my race.
The ever-present soft bigotry of low expectations and the permanent claim that the solutions to the plight of my people rest exclusively on the goodwill of whites rather than on our own hard work is psychologically devastating. No other group in America is systematically demoralized in this way by its alleged allies. A whole generation of black children are being taught that only by begging and weeping and screaming will they get handouts from guilt-ridden whites.
No message will more surely devastate their futures, especially if whites run out of guilt, or indeed if America runs out of whites. If this had been done to Japanese Americans, or Jewish Americans, or Chinese Americans, then Chinatown and Japantown would surely be no different to the roughest parts of Baltimore and East St. Louis today. The History department of UCB is now an integral institutional promulgator of a destructive and denigrating fallacy about the black race.
I hope you appreciate the frustration behind this message. I do not support BLM. I do not support the Democrat grievance agenda and the Party's uncontested capture of our department. I do not support the Party co-opting my race, as Biden recently did in his disturbing interview, claiming that voting Democrat and being black are isomorphic. I condemn the manner of George Floyd's death and join you in calling for greater police accountability and police reform. However, I will not pretend that George Floyd was anything other than a violent misogynist, a brutal man who met a predictably brutal end.
I also want to protect the practice of history. Cleo is no grovelling handmaiden to politicians and corporations. Like us, she is free.
/end
There also exists a large constituency of what can only be called 'race hustlers': hucksters of all colors who benefit from stoking the fires of racial conflict to secure administrative jobs, charity management positions, academic jobs and advancement, or personal political entrepreneurship.
Given the direction our history department appears to be taking far from any commitment to truth, we can regard ourselves as a formative training institution for this brand of snake-oil salespeople. Their activities are corrosive, demolishing any hope at harmonious racial coexistence in our nation and colonizing our political and institutional life. Many of their voices are unironically segregationist.
MLK would likely be called an Uncle Tom if he spoke on our campus today. We are training leaders who intend, explicitly, to destroy one of the only truly successful ethnically diverse societies in modern history. As the PRC, an ethnonationalist and aggressively racially chauvinist national polity with null immigration and no concept of jus solis increasingly presents itself as the global political alternative to the US, I ask you: Is this wise? Are we really doing the right thing?
As a final point, our university and department has made multiple statements celebrating and eulogizing George Floyd. Floyd was a multiple felon who once held a pregnant black woman at gunpoint. He broke into her home with a gang of men and pointed a gun at her pregnant stomach. He terrorized the women in his community. He sired and abandoned multiple children, playing no part in their support or upbringing, failing one of the most basic tests of decency for a human being. He was a drug-addict and sometime drug-dealer, a swindler who preyed upon his honest and hard-working neighbors.
And yet, the regents of UC and the historians of the UCB History department are celebrating this violent criminal, elevating his name to virtual sainthood. A man who hurt women. A man who hurt black women. With the full collaboration of the UCB history department, corporate America, most mainstream media outlets, and some of the wealthiest and most privileged opinion-shaping elites of the USA, he has become a culture hero, buried in a golden casket, his (recognized) family showered with gifts and praise. Americans are being socially pressured into kneeling for this violent, abusive misogynist. A generation of black men are being coerced into identifying with George Floyd, the absolute worst specimen of our race and species.
I'm ashamed of my department. I would say that I'm ashamed of both of you, but perhaps you agree with me, and are simply afraid, as I am, of the backlash of speaking the truth. It's hard to know what kneeling means, when you have to kneel to keep your job.
It shouldn't affect the strength of my argument above, but for the record, I write as a person of color. My family have been personally victimized by men like Floyd. We are aware of the condescending depredations of the Democrat party against our race. The humiliating assumption that we are too stupid to do STEM, that we need special help and lower requirements to get ahead in life, is richly familiar to us. I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be easier to deal with open fascists, who at least would be straightforward in calling me a subhuman, and who are unlikely to share my race.
The ever-present soft bigotry of low expectations and the permanent claim that the solutions to the plight of my people rest exclusively on the goodwill of whites rather than on our own hard work is psychologically devastating. No other group in America is systematically demoralized in this way by its alleged allies. A whole generation of black children are being taught that only by begging and weeping and screaming will they get handouts from guilt-ridden whites.
No message will more surely devastate their futures, especially if whites run out of guilt, or indeed if America runs out of whites. If this had been done to Japanese Americans, or Jewish Americans, or Chinese Americans, then Chinatown and Japantown would surely be no different to the roughest parts of Baltimore and East St. Louis today. The History department of UCB is now an integral institutional promulgator of a destructive and denigrating fallacy about the black race.
I hope you appreciate the frustration behind this message. I do not support BLM. I do not support the Democrat grievance agenda and the Party's uncontested capture of our department. I do not support the Party co-opting my race, as Biden recently did in his disturbing interview, claiming that voting Democrat and being black are isomorphic. I condemn the manner of George Floyd's death and join you in calling for greater police accountability and police reform. However, I will not pretend that George Floyd was anything other than a violent misogynist, a brutal man who met a predictably brutal end.
I also want to protect the practice of history. Cleo is no grovelling handmaiden to politicians and corporations. Like us, she is free.
/end
Anonymous letter by a UC Berkeley Professor, part 1
The Department of History at UC Berkeley has denied this is from one of their faculty, but hasn’t addressed the information provided. Any anonymous e-mail is always risky—could be from someone with a different point of view but not from Berkeley. Bolding is from the website that published, not the author's and not mine.
------------------------
Dear profs X, Y, Z
I am one of your colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley. I have met you both personally but do not know you closely, and am contacting you anonymously, with apologies. I am worried that writing this email publicly might lead to me losing my job, and likely all future jobs in my field.
In your recent departmental emails you mentioned our pledge to diversity, but I am increasingly alarmed by the absence of diversity of opinion on the topic of the recent protests and our community response to them.
In the extended links and resources you provided, I could not find a single instance of substantial counter-argument or alternative narrative to explain the under-representation of black individuals in academia or their over-representation in the criminal justice system. The explanation provided in your documentation, to the near exclusion of all others, is univariate: the problems of the black community are caused by whites, or, when whites are not physically present, by the infiltration of white supremacy and white systemic racism into American brains, souls, and institutions.
Many cogent objections to this thesis have been raised by sober voices, including from within the black community itself, such as Thomas Sowell and Wilfred Reilly. These people are not racists or 'Uncle Toms'. They are intelligent scholars who reject a narrative that strips black people of agency and systematically externalizes the problems of the black community onto outsiders. Their view is entirely absent from the departmental and UCB-wide communiques.
The claim that the difficulties that the black community faces are entirely causally explained by exogenous factors in the form of white systemic racism, white supremacy, and other forms of white discrimination remains a problematic hypothesis that should be vigorously challenged by historians. Instead, it is being treated as an axiomatic and actionable truth without serious consideration of its profound flaws, or its worrying implication of total black impotence. This hypothesis is transforming our institution and our culture, without any space for dissent outside of a tightly policed, narrow discourse.
A counternarrative exists. If you have time, please consider examining some of the documents I attach at the end of this email. Overwhelmingly, the reasoning provided by BLM and allies is either primarily anecdotal (as in the case with the bulk of Ta-Nehisi Coates' undeniably moving article) or it is transparently motivated. As an example of the latter problem, consider the proportion of black incarcerated Americans. This proportion is often used to characterize the criminal justice system as anti-black. However, if we use the precise same methodology, we would have to conclude that the criminal justice system is even more anti-male than it is anti-black.
Would we characterize criminal justice as a systemically misandrist conspiracy against innocent American men? I hope you see that this type of reasoning is flawed, and requires a significant suspension of our rational faculties. Black people are not incarcerated at higher rates than their involvement in violent crime would predict. This fact has been demonstrated multiple times across multiple jurisdictions in multiple countries.
And yet, I see my department uncritically reproducing a narrative that diminishes black agency in favor of a white-centric explanation that appeals to the department's apparent desire to shoulder the 'white man's burden' and to promote a narrative of white guilt.
If we claim that the criminal justice system is white-supremacist, why is it that Asian Americans, Indian Americans, and Nigerian Americans are incarcerated at vastly lower rates than white Americans? This is a funny sort of white supremacy. Even Jewish Americans are incarcerated less than gentile whites. I think it's fair to say that your average white supremacist disapproves of Jews. And yet, these alleged white supremacists incarcerate gentiles at vastly higher rates than Jews. None of this is addressed in your literature. None of this is explained, beyond hand-waving and ad hominems. "Those are racist dogwhistles". "The model minority myth is white supremacist". "Only fascists talk about black-on-black crime", ad nauseam.
These types of statements do not amount to counterarguments: they are simply arbitrary offensive classifications, intended to silence and oppress discourse. Any serious historian will recognize these for the silencing orthodoxy tactics they are, common to suppressive regimes, doctrines, and religions throughout time and space. They are intended to crush real diversity and permanently exile the culture of robust criticism from our department.
Increasingly, we are being called upon to comply and subscribe to BLM's problematic view of history, and the department is being presented as unified on the matter. In particular, ethnic minorities are being aggressively marshaled into a single position. Any apparent unity is surely a function of the fact that dissent could almost certainly lead to expulsion or cancellation for those of us in a precarious position, which is no small number.
I personally don't dare speak out against the BLM narrative, and with this barrage of alleged unity being mass-produced by the administration, tenured professoriat, the UC administration, corporate America, and the media, the punishment for dissent is a clear danger at a time of widespread economic vulnerability. I am certain that if my name were attached to this email, I would lose my job and all future jobs, even though I believe in and can justify every word I type.
The vast majority of violence visited on the black community is committed by black people. There are virtually no marches for these invisible victims, no public silences, no heartfelt letters from the UC regents, deans, and departmental heads. The message is clear: Black lives only matter when whites take them. Black violence is expected and insoluble, while white violence requires explanation and demands solution. Please look into your hearts and see how monstrously bigoted this formulation truly is.
No discussion is permitted for nonblack victims of black violence, who proportionally outnumber black victims of nonblack violence. This is especially bitter in the Bay Area, where Asian victimization by black assailants has reached epidemic proportions, to the point that the SF police chief has advised Asians to stop hanging good-luck charms on their doors, as this attracts the attention of (overwhelmingly black) home invaders. Home invaders like George Floyd. For this actual, lived, physically experienced reality of violence in the USA, there are no marches, no tearful emails from departmental heads, no support from McDonald's and Wal-Mart. For the History department, our silence is not a mere abrogation of our duty to shed light on the truth: it is a rejection of it.
The claim that black intraracial violence is the product of redlining, slavery, and other injustices is a largely historical claim. It is for historians, therefore, to explain why Japanese internment or the massacre of European Jewry hasn't led to equivalent rates of dysfunction and low SES performance among Japanese and Jewish Americans respectively. Arab Americans have been viciously demonized since 9/11, as have Chinese Americans more recently. However, both groups outperform white Americans on nearly all SES indices - as do Nigerian Americans, who incidentally have black skin. It is for historians to point out and discuss these anomalies. However, no real discussion is possible in the current climate at our department. The explanation is provided to us, disagreement with it is racist, and the job of historians is to further explore additional ways in which the explanation is additionally correct. This is a mockery of the historical profession.
Most troublingly, our department appears to have been entirely captured by the interests of the Democratic National Convention, and the Democratic Party more broadly. To explain what I mean, consider what happens if you choose to donate to Black Lives Matter, an organization UCB History has explicitly promoted in its recent mailers. All donations to the official BLM website are immediately redirected to ActBlue Charities, an organization primarily concerned with bankrolling election campaigns for Democrat candidates. Donating to BLM today is to indirectly donate to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. This is grotesque given the fact that the American cities with the worst rates of black-on-black violence and police-on-black violence are overwhelmingly Democrat-run. Minneapolis itself has been entirely in the hands of Democrats for over five decades; the 'systemic racism' there was built by successive Democrat administrations.
The patronizing and condescending attitudes of Democrat leaders towards the black community, exemplified by nearly every Biden statement on the black race, all but guarantee a perpetual state of misery, resentment, poverty, and the attendant grievance politics which are simultaneously annihilating American political discourse and black lives. And yet, donating to BLM is bankrolling the election campaigns of men like Mayor Frey, who saw their cities devolve into violence. This is a grotesque capture of a good-faith movement for necessary police reform, and of our department, by a political party. Even worse, there are virtually no avenues for dissent in academic circles. I refuse to serve the Party, and so should you.
The total alliance of major corporations involved in human exploitation with BLM should be a warning flag to us, and yet this damning evidence goes unnoticed, purposefully ignored, or perversely celebrated. We are the useful idiots of the wealthiest classes, carrying water for Jeff Bezos and other actual, real, modern-day slavers. Starbucks, an organisation using literal black slaves in its coffee plantation suppliers, is in favor of BLM. Sony, an organisation using cobalt mined by yet more literal black slaves, many of whom are children, is in favor of BLM. And so, apparently, are we. The absence of counter-narrative enables this obscenity. Fiat lux, indeed.
End pt. 1
------------------------
Dear profs X, Y, Z
I am one of your colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley. I have met you both personally but do not know you closely, and am contacting you anonymously, with apologies. I am worried that writing this email publicly might lead to me losing my job, and likely all future jobs in my field.
In your recent departmental emails you mentioned our pledge to diversity, but I am increasingly alarmed by the absence of diversity of opinion on the topic of the recent protests and our community response to them.
In the extended links and resources you provided, I could not find a single instance of substantial counter-argument or alternative narrative to explain the under-representation of black individuals in academia or their over-representation in the criminal justice system. The explanation provided in your documentation, to the near exclusion of all others, is univariate: the problems of the black community are caused by whites, or, when whites are not physically present, by the infiltration of white supremacy and white systemic racism into American brains, souls, and institutions.
Many cogent objections to this thesis have been raised by sober voices, including from within the black community itself, such as Thomas Sowell and Wilfred Reilly. These people are not racists or 'Uncle Toms'. They are intelligent scholars who reject a narrative that strips black people of agency and systematically externalizes the problems of the black community onto outsiders. Their view is entirely absent from the departmental and UCB-wide communiques.
The claim that the difficulties that the black community faces are entirely causally explained by exogenous factors in the form of white systemic racism, white supremacy, and other forms of white discrimination remains a problematic hypothesis that should be vigorously challenged by historians. Instead, it is being treated as an axiomatic and actionable truth without serious consideration of its profound flaws, or its worrying implication of total black impotence. This hypothesis is transforming our institution and our culture, without any space for dissent outside of a tightly policed, narrow discourse.
A counternarrative exists. If you have time, please consider examining some of the documents I attach at the end of this email. Overwhelmingly, the reasoning provided by BLM and allies is either primarily anecdotal (as in the case with the bulk of Ta-Nehisi Coates' undeniably moving article) or it is transparently motivated. As an example of the latter problem, consider the proportion of black incarcerated Americans. This proportion is often used to characterize the criminal justice system as anti-black. However, if we use the precise same methodology, we would have to conclude that the criminal justice system is even more anti-male than it is anti-black.
Would we characterize criminal justice as a systemically misandrist conspiracy against innocent American men? I hope you see that this type of reasoning is flawed, and requires a significant suspension of our rational faculties. Black people are not incarcerated at higher rates than their involvement in violent crime would predict. This fact has been demonstrated multiple times across multiple jurisdictions in multiple countries.
And yet, I see my department uncritically reproducing a narrative that diminishes black agency in favor of a white-centric explanation that appeals to the department's apparent desire to shoulder the 'white man's burden' and to promote a narrative of white guilt.
If we claim that the criminal justice system is white-supremacist, why is it that Asian Americans, Indian Americans, and Nigerian Americans are incarcerated at vastly lower rates than white Americans? This is a funny sort of white supremacy. Even Jewish Americans are incarcerated less than gentile whites. I think it's fair to say that your average white supremacist disapproves of Jews. And yet, these alleged white supremacists incarcerate gentiles at vastly higher rates than Jews. None of this is addressed in your literature. None of this is explained, beyond hand-waving and ad hominems. "Those are racist dogwhistles". "The model minority myth is white supremacist". "Only fascists talk about black-on-black crime", ad nauseam.
These types of statements do not amount to counterarguments: they are simply arbitrary offensive classifications, intended to silence and oppress discourse. Any serious historian will recognize these for the silencing orthodoxy tactics they are, common to suppressive regimes, doctrines, and religions throughout time and space. They are intended to crush real diversity and permanently exile the culture of robust criticism from our department.
Increasingly, we are being called upon to comply and subscribe to BLM's problematic view of history, and the department is being presented as unified on the matter. In particular, ethnic minorities are being aggressively marshaled into a single position. Any apparent unity is surely a function of the fact that dissent could almost certainly lead to expulsion or cancellation for those of us in a precarious position, which is no small number.
I personally don't dare speak out against the BLM narrative, and with this barrage of alleged unity being mass-produced by the administration, tenured professoriat, the UC administration, corporate America, and the media, the punishment for dissent is a clear danger at a time of widespread economic vulnerability. I am certain that if my name were attached to this email, I would lose my job and all future jobs, even though I believe in and can justify every word I type.
The vast majority of violence visited on the black community is committed by black people. There are virtually no marches for these invisible victims, no public silences, no heartfelt letters from the UC regents, deans, and departmental heads. The message is clear: Black lives only matter when whites take them. Black violence is expected and insoluble, while white violence requires explanation and demands solution. Please look into your hearts and see how monstrously bigoted this formulation truly is.
No discussion is permitted for nonblack victims of black violence, who proportionally outnumber black victims of nonblack violence. This is especially bitter in the Bay Area, where Asian victimization by black assailants has reached epidemic proportions, to the point that the SF police chief has advised Asians to stop hanging good-luck charms on their doors, as this attracts the attention of (overwhelmingly black) home invaders. Home invaders like George Floyd. For this actual, lived, physically experienced reality of violence in the USA, there are no marches, no tearful emails from departmental heads, no support from McDonald's and Wal-Mart. For the History department, our silence is not a mere abrogation of our duty to shed light on the truth: it is a rejection of it.
The claim that black intraracial violence is the product of redlining, slavery, and other injustices is a largely historical claim. It is for historians, therefore, to explain why Japanese internment or the massacre of European Jewry hasn't led to equivalent rates of dysfunction and low SES performance among Japanese and Jewish Americans respectively. Arab Americans have been viciously demonized since 9/11, as have Chinese Americans more recently. However, both groups outperform white Americans on nearly all SES indices - as do Nigerian Americans, who incidentally have black skin. It is for historians to point out and discuss these anomalies. However, no real discussion is possible in the current climate at our department. The explanation is provided to us, disagreement with it is racist, and the job of historians is to further explore additional ways in which the explanation is additionally correct. This is a mockery of the historical profession.
Most troublingly, our department appears to have been entirely captured by the interests of the Democratic National Convention, and the Democratic Party more broadly. To explain what I mean, consider what happens if you choose to donate to Black Lives Matter, an organization UCB History has explicitly promoted in its recent mailers. All donations to the official BLM website are immediately redirected to ActBlue Charities, an organization primarily concerned with bankrolling election campaigns for Democrat candidates. Donating to BLM today is to indirectly donate to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. This is grotesque given the fact that the American cities with the worst rates of black-on-black violence and police-on-black violence are overwhelmingly Democrat-run. Minneapolis itself has been entirely in the hands of Democrats for over five decades; the 'systemic racism' there was built by successive Democrat administrations.
The patronizing and condescending attitudes of Democrat leaders towards the black community, exemplified by nearly every Biden statement on the black race, all but guarantee a perpetual state of misery, resentment, poverty, and the attendant grievance politics which are simultaneously annihilating American political discourse and black lives. And yet, donating to BLM is bankrolling the election campaigns of men like Mayor Frey, who saw their cities devolve into violence. This is a grotesque capture of a good-faith movement for necessary police reform, and of our department, by a political party. Even worse, there are virtually no avenues for dissent in academic circles. I refuse to serve the Party, and so should you.
The total alliance of major corporations involved in human exploitation with BLM should be a warning flag to us, and yet this damning evidence goes unnoticed, purposefully ignored, or perversely celebrated. We are the useful idiots of the wealthiest classes, carrying water for Jeff Bezos and other actual, real, modern-day slavers. Starbucks, an organisation using literal black slaves in its coffee plantation suppliers, is in favor of BLM. Sony, an organisation using cobalt mined by yet more literal black slaves, many of whom are children, is in favor of BLM. And so, apparently, are we. The absence of counter-narrative enables this obscenity. Fiat lux, indeed.
End pt. 1
The kitchen table
Yesterday our son's home went on the market (http://altrealtors.com/) and by evening we had 2 offers. It's a wonderful starter home, or for a retired couple who don't want stairs but a very convenient location. We remember when we bought it in 2004, and over the years the wonderful improvements he made, new deck, new doors, new windows, new blinds, cross and Bible interior doors, new floors, new kitchen cabinets and appliances, new roof after Hurricane Ike, and new bathroom fixtures.
Originally, most of the furniture (and a lot of books and art) came from our home, and over the years, they were mostly replaced as he put his bachelor touches on it. We'll take back the kitchen table, now over 50 years old. I have so many photos of him and that table, with lots of the nicks and scratches that he personally put there as a toddler. Photos of him and grandpa eating ice cream, of him and Phoebe doing art projects, of him and cousins coloring Easter eggs, of him and his bride Holly at the brunch we gave them a few weeks after their wedding, of my Corbett family as we gathered for breakfast before Phoebe's wedding.
I'm not sure where we'll put it, but I'll keep that "antique."
Originally, most of the furniture (and a lot of books and art) came from our home, and over the years, they were mostly replaced as he put his bachelor touches on it. We'll take back the kitchen table, now over 50 years old. I have so many photos of him and that table, with lots of the nicks and scratches that he personally put there as a toddler. Photos of him and grandpa eating ice cream, of him and Phoebe doing art projects, of him and cousins coloring Easter eggs, of him and his bride Holly at the brunch we gave them a few weeks after their wedding, of my Corbett family as we gathered for breakfast before Phoebe's wedding.
I'm not sure where we'll put it, but I'll keep that "antique."
Joe Biden compared Martin Luther King, Jr. to George Floyd, and Floyd is bigger!
I knew he was demented, I knew his followers were grasping and gasping, but I never in a million years could have believed a Democrat who lived through the glory days of the Civil Rights movement, who personally knew and approved of KKK members of Congress, who helped pass much of the legislation that has oppressed blacks for 4 decades could compare MLK with Floyd, who was high on drugs and committing a crime when he encountered a bad cop protected by a Democrat administration and his union.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Big storm June 10
Lots of excitement the evening of June 10. We must have had 50 golf carts stop by to look. Our street was the hardest hit and 2 beautiful trees were lost. Dorothy Crutchfield’s cottage. We lost power and the internet, but by noon on the 11th we were back in business. Yes, not one was hurt and no cars were crushed, but replacing 100 year old trees won’t be easy.
On statues and political parties
"A statue of the late Senator Robert Byrd (D - West Virginia) stands in the U.S. Capitol. Some 55 bridges, highways, dams, and other facilities in Byrd’s state carry his name. These honor Byrd’s 51 years in the Senate, including 12 as Democrat leader, as recently as 1989. Byrd told the late Fox News anchor Tony Snow this about race relations in March 2001: “There are white n*****s. I’ve seen a lot of white n*****s in my time; I’m going to use that word.” Byrd led the 83-day Democrat filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and spoke non-stop for its defeat for 14 hours on the Senate floor. Byrd also was an Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, for which he recruited some 150 fresh Klansmen in the 1940s. Why have Democrats not cleansed the Capitol of this former Klansman’s image, and urged West Virginians to do likewise?"
Deroy Murdock, Aug. 27, 2017.
It’s not the police
It's not the police; it's not systemic racism; it's not "white flight"; it's the Democratic administrations of our major cities. The police forces are integrated, the state and local governments are filled and often run by blacks, the education accomplishments are awesome, blacks are making bigger strides in longevity and health advancements than any other group, there are over 120 wealth transfer programs from the federal government being doled out to raise living standards, and black performers, athletes and celebrities are just as unequally wealthy as any other elite and admired group.
There's just no one left.
It's the Democrats. No matter the color of their skin, the country from which their grandpa escaped, or the God they worship, or the gender they claim, they always push bigger government as a solution to all problems.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/06/10/the-true-plight-of-black-americans/?
Cases going up, or more testing?
Businesses started slowly opening weeks ago around the country and some states never completely shut down. Street protests and looting have been sudden with imported rioters; many anti-Trumpers and anti-police clutches didn't bat an eye because an opportunity presented itself. They jumped right in waving their #itwasnotme signs. But which is being blamed by which group for the sudden jump in cases of corona virus? It depends on how much you hate Trump.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Systemic racism
Clever term. Very common today.
All encompassing if it's a system. That means we're all a part, even liberals and leftists . . . whether black, Hispanic, Asian and white.
Even if your 19th Irish and German ancestors or your post WWII immigrant Baltic or Jewish grandparents had no part in slavery or Jim Crow;
even if your parents came here from Nigeria or Kenya or Somalia along with a few million other African immigrants in the last two decades;
even if you live below the poverty line.
That means any one of the 130 income transfer programs--TANF, Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, housing, utilities, CSFP, school breakfast, lunch and snacks--of the last 55 years of the so-called "War on Poverty" are racist in intent, design and outcome. Both parties. They were totally bi-partisan.
If racism is systemic, that's you. Right? You haven't been living off the grid in a cabin in the Rockies with no internet, running water or electricity, not if you're reading Facebook or Twitter or the Washington Post.
So if you've been marching smugly expressing your first amendment rights while denying me mine, or posting blather banners and yard signs about racism and how much you care, pointing fingers with 4 pointing back at you--
Ask what has
- your union,
- your academic department
- your "woke" corporation,
- your bank,
- the real estate firm you hired,
- the church you belong to,
- your profession,
- your pension plan,
- your state and local government,
- your candidates and PAC,
- your apartment management firm,
- your senator or representative,
- your gardener or house cleaner,
- your favorite restaurant,
- your investments manager,
- your whole/organic market,
- your elitist club that only the best people belong to. . .
done to contribute to the system.
Of course, to do that, you'd have to be self reflective. You'd have to toss out some of the Kool-Aid you've been swallowing from the very people who have used these programs to lie to you. There is no growing income inequality; there is no rampant racism from the police; black people are not being slaughtered by white people; and under Trump, minorities were making huge strides. You'd have to acknowledge that something or someone, call it the swamp dwellers if you wish or blame George Soros or the Communist underbelly of this country, it really doesn't matter. You've been poisoned, and it is like sepsis, and that poison is systemic, and you're doing it to yourselves if you're allowing these groups to make you grovel, wear African stoles, kneel, toss bricks and riot.
Yes, let's have that "conversation." Tell us what you have done that was racist and how you personally plan to change. I'll wait.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Good reading and research–Conservative
Our Favorite Conservative sources
-
- American Greatness
- American Mind
- American Story
- American Thinker
- Aspen beat
- Babylon Bee
- Belmont Club
- Churchill Project
- Claremont Institute
- Daily Torch
- Dartblog
- Federalist
- Gatestone Institute
- Hollywood in Toto
- Hoover Institution
- Hot Air
- Hugh Hewitt
- InstaPundit
- Jewish World Review
- Law and Liberty
- Legal Insurrection
- Liberty Daily
- Lileks
- Lucianne
- Manhattan Contrarian
- Michael Ramirez Cartoons
- Michelle Malkin
- RealClearPolitics
- Ricochet
- Steyn Online
- Tim Blair
- Urgent Agenda
-
Media
George Floyd memorials
I didn't watch the memorial service for George Floyd, but I've seen clips of the speakers and singers (depending on which cable channel you watch, some are edited to throttle hate and emotions, and some to give the message of redemption in Christ). I'd seen articles about him in the Christian media--he had from all appearances, made a commitment to Christ and had tried to help others like him who had prison records. He wasn't an anarchist
It's a bridge too far for me to pretend how black Christians feel when they see a man eulogized whose crimes were against blacks, and for which he served a number of prison terms. I won't pretend to know the terror of the black pregnant woman he threatened with a gun to her belly nor understand the haters consumed by a photo of our President with a Bible, but revel when celebrates grabbed photo ops at Floyd's memorial. He was high on drugs (autopsy) when he committed his last crime, but the trial for that certainly wouldn't have been death. Like Chauvin he deserved his day in court. Neither will get that. These are crazy times.
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Why they want to do away with the police
Before you decide if defunding police is a good idea, take a look at what the rioter, looters and thugs did to store owners, by-standers, reporters, police, truck drivers, homes, etc. And keep in mind that blacks are 6x more likely to be the victims of crime and need the police than whites. Apparently those black lives don’t matter. Do you want to live or own a business in these neighborhoods?
links to rioting/attacks before the thought police delete them.
Man stomped and stoned for trying to defend a bar from being looted
Destroying store and beating unarmed woman and her husband
Beating and stomping guy on the ground Santa Monica
Restaurant manager beaten and stomped for trying to defend his workplace
Stopping, beating and stomping a truck driver while protesters yell to kill him
Protesters attack a media member and then pummel him
Chasing guy and kicking him in the face for defending flag in Portland
Police officer beaten on the streets
Car runs over a cop
Protesters set homeless man’s belongings on fire
Throwing fireworks at the cops
Looting a FedEx truck then looter gets dragged when truck tries to escape
Chasing and beating guy with red had
Rioter sets himself on fire while trying to set a building on fire
Fireworks thrown into CNN hq / Police officers
Protester runs over the cops with an SUV
Destroying/looting/setting on fire Old Navy
Guardhouse in front of WH set on fire
Dozens of cars destroyed/torched near CNN hq – Atlanta
St Louis neighborhood on fire
Building on fire while self-proclaimed Mexicans say **** white people
Destroying police SUV
Near a torched car audio speakers propaganda that all crime is legal
Destroying/looting bank in Montreal
Pharmacy destroyed/looted in Dallas
The remains of whole neighborhood destroyed
Destroying stores – Dallas
Destroying police SUV – Austin
Police SUV torched LA
Looting target/beating disabled person in Minneapolis
Future apartment building destroyed with fire in Minneapolis
Looting pharmacy – Minneapolis
Destroying business in Minneapolis
More businesses on fire in Minneapolis
Ransacked Target Minneapolis
Building burning in neighborhood Minneapolis
Boy drove car into a store
Post office looted/destroyed
Minneapolis third police precinct set on fire
More buildings on fire Minneapolis
Autoparts Store getting destroyed/looted
Autozone on fire
Looting in Minneapolis
Adults loot with their children
Cars torched – Minneapolis
Looting an ATM in Minneapolis
Remains of destroyed/looted Cub Foods
Business and stores on fire in Minneapolis
Brenda Lenton’s home and belongings destroyed by a fire – Minneapolis
Aftermath of whole neighborhood being set on fire in Minneapolis
Nashville city hall set on fire while rioters cheer
Fox reporters chased out with projectiles thrown at them near White House
Attacking drivers Tulsa, Okla
Setting St. John’s Church on fire
Destroying/looting stores Montreal
Destroying/looting store in Downtown Oakland
Bar destroyed/Trying to loot a safe
Stolen Bulldozer in Oakland
Two police SUVs torched in Seattle
Multiple cars torched in Philadelphia
Ohio Statehouse being destroyed
Trying to breach Justice Center/central police precinct Portland
Destroying/Looting Justice Center Portland
Looting small business in Portland
Destroying/looting small business Portland
Looting Louis Vuitton store
Driving stolen cars into stores – Portland
Destroying Chase Bank – Portland
Setting Chase Bank on fire – Portland
Destroying/Looting Apple Store – Portland
Looting in St. Paul
Looting Shoe Store
Looting apple store
Looting North Face store – NYC
Nike Store being looted – NYC
Looting in Union Square – NYC
Looting T-mobile store
Shop owner saves store from looters with a firearm
Business owner defends his store from looters with a firearm
Monday, June 08, 2020
How will you promote racial unity?
Our pastor (on-line because UALC is still on lockdown) asked the congregation how God was leading them to promote racial unity. Here’s my response to my small group.
“I am trying to promote racial unity by publicizing that the statistics on blacks and police are false; that some form of this anti-white, or black lives matter version rolls around every 4 years, and it is now an election year. I won’t claim that God is leading me, but I will say years of being a librarian, an OSU faculty member and a liberal Democrat have certainly brought me to my views, and I hope God was in there someplace.
If you were going to look at the damage of lead paint in child brain development, you would most likely begin with a data base of children who possibly could have been exposed to lead. Then from that subset of children you would move on to demographics and health studies. But that’s not how the left treats crime statistics. Instead of using a subset of people (all races) who have police confrontations because of their criminal behavior, they use the statistics of police-involved deaths and measure that against the percentage of all black males in the population—6%. Probably 99% of black males over 50 have no involvement with police, but they are factored in. So if 25% of those shot by police are black, but 6% of the population is black, it’s called racist. However, about 40% of the confrontations with police are with black males, and about 50% are with white males, particularly young—say, 18-30. For as long as the DOJ has been keeping statistics, blacks have a higher rate not just of violent crime, but a much higher rate of being victims than whites do. So in terms of criminals being shot by police, white criminals have a higher rate of police deaths and higher number than blacks.
This is where the media come in. When was the last time you watched news reports 24/7 when a white man was shot by police in commission of a crime. And yet it is much more frequent than for blacks. The people who suffer the most from these every 4 years lies are black citizens. After Ferguson and Baltimore, both of which ended in race riots during the Obama years, crime soared in the black neighborhoods and those black business people and home owners left as quickly as possible pulling out their values, talent, education and investments and moving to the suburbs. Blacks are then told only more government programs and voting for Democrats can save them.
So that’s what I’m posting on my blog and on my Facebook page and on the two e-mail discussion groups (managed by men I went to high school with) I’m in. You’re welcome to disagree, but I’ve got the research. I’m not by any stretch saying there’s no racism, only that it’s being used for political gain, and you can hear the same outrageous claims that have always fueled racial hatred, like moral depravity, born bad, etc. I’d like to present as a small piece of evidence Candace Owen’s testimony in Congress on hate crimes. https://youtu.be/xlF7z0uHolE She’s black, conservative, pro-life and Christian.
The demands are increasing
The city council (Democrats) of Minneapolis is announcing to the world not to come there to invest, to do business, to be a tourist, to send your child to college or to have your conventions or meetings. They can't protect you from the gangs that have plagued the city or the assaults and rapes. It's just not worth it. Stay home. After many years under Democrat control the city is just a mess of racist government, racist police and racist leisure venues. It's racism with a smile, even though they've elected Somalis and blacks and women to the highest offices. It was all just a farce. The council which includes blacks, a transgender person, and females admits to systemic racism, and they, all of them, be part of the system.
Once they got police and mayors to kneel and show fealty, they upped the ante. Get rid of the police. Did liberals never read about the "show trials" (aka The Purge) of the USSR?
“The show trials were not held in secret but were, as their title suggests, in the open with foreign journalists invited and were there to prove to those in the USSR who were interested that ‘enemies of the state’ still existed despite the ‘Red Terror’ and that state leaders such as Stalin were at risk. There is little doubt that those who faced a show trial were going to be found guilty” https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/russia-1900-to-1939/the-show-trials-in-the-ussr/
Driving while black
There's talk about police stopping people "driving while black." Having raised some teens, let me tell you that happens to whites, Hispanics and Asians also. Usually there is a teen driver, male, a snappy, loud car (either modified or just a bad muffler) alcohol involved, other kids as passengers as a distraction and the police may have saved some lives. We've gotten those calls after midnight to come to the hospital.
I've been stopped 3 times--got my license when I was 16 and am now 80. First when I was a teen, second when I was middle aged, and third when I was old and stupid. I was at fault all 3 times. And it's possible those are the only 3 times I really shouldn't have been doing wrong things while driving because I'm pretty careful and don't drive much. That said, I have seen hundreds of accidents while on the road and am always thankful when I see the police have arrived to help, to get the ambulance on the scene and to move ahead the gawkers and people in a hurry around the scene of destruction and death.
I say a prayer and then forget until the next time.
Sunday, June 07, 2020
I’ll never be a movie critic
The last two nights I watched movies I’d never heard of—Sex and the City (2008) and Uptown Girls (2003). I’d planned to blog about the fashions, actually. But when I started researching them, I learned that Brittany Murphy who played the goofy nanny for Dakota Fanning’s character in Uptown Girls had died mysteriously in 2009. And also her father had mafia connections and that’s why she used her mother’s maiden name. So I decided being a movie/fashion critic is harder than it looked. And I gave up. It’s easier to try to figure out why anyone would vote for Joe Biden.
https://extratv.com/2019/12/20/brittany-murphy-a-look-back-at-her-mysterious-death-10-years-later/
Holy Trinity Sunday
Today is Sunday. June 7 is Holy Trinity Sunday. I’ve checked on line and even ELCA and Episcopal church which both support abortion are providing worship at home liturgies and scripture selections. The Catholics use a different selection, and I like theirs better. Although 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 "Greet one another with a holy kiss" will jump out--we may never even shake hands again! This selection was done at least 2 years ago, but is ironic today.
Normally, I would be dressed and ready for church, as we used to call it, and I’d be one of two or three women wearing a dress or skirt. Instead, at 8:30 I was dressed in my gym clothes and ready to go to Lifetime Fitness, which opened a week ago. My church UALC is still closed.
What the lockdown has taught me is I don’t need to go to church—I only have to turn on my computer, and if I don’t like the UALC selection (I never watched after the first try when I was asked to register before watching) I can find great music and dynamic speakers with a click of a mouse. In fact, their submission to the lockdown without a question has taught me I may never need to make the effort again.
After my workout, I went through the McDonald’s drive thru and got a sausage biscuit. At home I enjoyed it and sang a hymn by Horatius Bonar in my squeaky voice which used to be soprano but now is tenor:
“Glory be to God the Father,
glory be to God the Son,
glory be to God the Spirit,
God Almighty, Three in One!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory be to him alone.”
Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions.
--Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872
The Hymnary.org website use has gone up 40% since April 2019, and I think we know why. You can support this fine service by making a donation, a tax-deductible contribution by sending a check to Hymnary.org at 3201 Burton SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.
Defund the Columbus police?
I don’t know how many cities are going to take the demand to defund the police seriously. I just glanced at one TV channel’s report for June and found these stories. None of these stories deal with racism or race, and one story is an unsolved killing and all are at 10TV. https://www.10tv.com/article/police-17-year-old-shot-inside-vehicle-southeast-columbus-2020-jun
Do protestors and BLM activists really want no police in their neighborhood?
- Police are investigating after a man, 39-year-old Dale Kendig, was killed in a shooting that happened Sunday morning in southwest Columbus.
- Officers responded around 7:50 p.m. to the 5500 block of Chatterton Road on a reported shooting of a 17 year old boy.
- Reward money renewed: James Stennies was killed on April 17, 2017 at the Miracle Car Wash in Reynoldsburg. He was shot several times. Police believe it may have been an attempted robbery, although when Stennies’ body was found in the parking lot, his wallet and cell phone weren’t taken. His car was still in the wash bay with the keys inside.
- Three men are now facing felony charges after being accused of aiming laser pointers at Ohio State Highway Patrol aircraft. According to court records, 31-year-old Brynt Gunn aimed a laser into the cockpit of an OSHP helicopter while in his vehicle.
Because black lives matter
So the angry protesters/rioters have moved on from the myth of "systemic racism" to "defund the police." And liberal whites are helping endanger the black neighborhoods in misplaced guilt. Even those who stayed home in the comfort of their privileged man-caves, are cheering the rioters on. Oh so brave, those white liberals. The limp, weak blue boy-mayor of Minneapolis had to leave the protest in disgrace because he would NOT agree to defund the Minneapolis police, ONE of which killed a suspect who had become unreasonable (autopsy showed drugs) while trying to pass a counterfeit bill.
Let's see how that works:
- No police when a woman is assaulted or raped.
- No police when homes and apartments are broken into and granny's TV and cell phone are stolen in a sweep for a few dollars for drugs.
- No police to investigate the child pornography ring preying on the most vulnerable.
- No police to call when mom's purse is snatched while she's looking at the fruit display at the Korean market.
- No police to stop the speeders going 90 mph near your child's school.
- No police to rush into a bombed building to carry our survivors.
- No police to keep the neighborhood businesses and grocery stores safe and accessible.
- No police to call when your sister is patiently waiting in line at the bank and some goons rush in claiming her rights don't matter, only theirs.
- No police to direct traffic and walk the perimeter of the sports or music venue so the privileged masses can pay $160 to see their favorite black athlete or entertainer.
- No police to help rush that pregnant mom to the hospital, but who end up delivering the baby near the exit ramp.
- No police leagues to provide a healthy outlet for fatherless boys and girls through competitive sports.
Most violent crimes are committed by whites (by the numbers there are more of them) and in confrontations with police they are killed or put out of business at a higher rate (their crime rate is lower) than black criminals. But let's just unleash them and call it “black lives matter.”
Norma
Saturday, June 06, 2020
It’s a crazy world
This is not my essay—I copied it from a cousin on FB. It said copy and paste, which I almost never do, but it reflects most of what I’m thinking. We (or at least the Democrats) seem to have lost our minds.
We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!
• If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.
• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.
• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.
• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.
• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.
• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.
• Inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous, but harassing people in restaurants is virtuous.
• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.
• Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.
• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.
• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.
• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.
• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.
• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.
• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.
• Criminals are catch-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.
• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!
Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus.
We are living in an upside down world for sure.
Too many believe the lies
What's the point? The lies have been told so many times, who will believe the truth? No one ever said "Hands up, don't shoot," but it is the truth if you say, "All lives matter" you can get fired because that means you don't believe the systemic racism myth. And "Snitches get stitches" was also a slogan from Ferguson that showed up in the DoJ report.
Larry Elder says, "In order for the Democratic Party to maintain the 95 percent monolithic hold they have with black voters, they need to create scenarios of anger and fear against so-called “structural” or “institutional” or “systemic” racism. We know their motive."
"A recent Harvard study concluded that 1,332 police shootings over the 2000-2015 time frame reveal that blacks are actually 20 percent less likely to be shot at by police than whites despite the fact that blacks and whites are just as likely to be carrying a weapon." Also, a different study reveals, “Whites are 1.7 times more likely than blacks [to] die at the hands of police. Adjusted for the racial disparity at which police are feloniously killed, whites are 1.3 times more likely than blacks to die at the hands of police.”
Remember each victim group watches what happens with blacks, then they co-op their movement. So we will see first women marching and demanding more laws, then gays (and I've already seen a lot of rainbow flags in the marches), then transgendered—their group grows daily as teen-agers discover they have been misgendered. It's going to be a long rest of the story
https://www.larryelder.com/column/ignorance-facts-fuels-anti-cop-movement/
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/fryer_police_aer.pdf
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883?
Did the churches have options?
There have been many times in history when churches (the people) needed to go underground, and they grew. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," and so forth. But now all they've done is contribute to the steady loss of the "nones" who already believed they could worship at a concert or stay home and play with their computers. Like some of the businesses that were forced to close and scatter their employees, I think we'll see mass closings. Wealthy churches like UALC had options, and one would have been to graft in some backbone in Christians who have been losing ground for 30 years and caving to the culture.
Systemic racism or systemic forgetting
Systemic forgetting and blaming by Democrats, not systemic racism is the problem. Especially Joe Biden.
Forget the failures of their 20th century policies and blame the 17th century.
Failing schools.
Building more public housing.
Buying votes.
Raising taxes.
Colluding with media.
Creating diversity to divide.
Destroying families.
Aborting black babies.
Encouraging rioting.
Opening the borders.
Attacking nuns and bakers.
Restricting religious freedom.
Destroying the private health system.
Packing the prisons.
Detroit. Chicago. LA. Ferguson. Baltimore. Minneapolis.
Deflect, lie, steal and destroy.
The cure for racism offered by Democrats is always more government run by them. More control. It's a plan to fail by the very ones who caused the failure.
Friday, June 05, 2020
My June tithe
Yes, I do believe my church--including local congregation, synod, and the general concept of visible and invisible church--have failed those they are to lead, protect and send out. At least for June, I hope to send our tithe to groups who are supporting churches that are fighting the absurd laws and regulations or even suggestion that churches are not essential services when bars and Home Depot are.
Dr. Fontana—do your research and rewrite your blog
From the website, KevinMD.com: "Health care workers need to start talking about white people killing black people, and here’s why: every victim of racial violence will be seen by a health care professional at or near the time of the event."
Except, Dr. Elizabeth Fontana, MD, (the author), you've not given the facts. 93% of the injured or killed or assaulted black people you will see who called the squad or the police have had a black assailant, NOT white. Not police. Even so, fatal injuries caused by police officers is miniscule and you as a health professional/provider are more likely to treat a police officer hurt by a black youth or gang member than the other way around.
All criminal violence has been reduced drastically, about 50%, since the early 90s. Millions of black lives have been saved because the crime rates for blacks reduced more than whites after the Omnibus Crime Bill of 1993. By 2010, the rate of firearm homicide for blacks was 14.6 per 100,000, compared to 1.9 for whites, a decline of 51% for blacks and 48% for whites. Nationwide, there were over 1.5 million firearm non-fatalities in 1993 compared to about 478,000 in 2011. Because of the bias in research based on political and religious views, it’s difficult to tease out the details, but one thing is for certain, the media distort reports of violent crime and despite your excellent education, you've fallen for the big lie.
That said, millions of black babies die in the womb from chemical and surgical abortions. That's at genocidal levels. Rates for heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity are much higher for blacks than whites, and yes, that IS something you as a doctor can tackle, but with them, not me. I have my own health problems.
Violent crime is committed close to home; black on black, white on white, Hispanic on Hispanic, gay on gay. Except for women. And you Dr. Fontana, should be concerned about all young male victims (usually), not just those black men assaulted by whites or police. When George Floyd was killed, there were many other black men killed that same day in Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, and LA, but because a black man killed them, you didn't hear about it on the news. 24/7. But it's in the statistics. Their families grieve also. So too, if they died of a stroke or heart attack. Get to work, doctor. You have a job to do.
Police brutality, blacks and whites
Listening to people call the Mike Gallagher show to talk about what's open during this Covid19 crisis in their town. One from Virginia called to complain that during this time of protest and pandemic his governor (Mr. blackface) is addressing removing statues. Another from North Carolina (a Democrat) reports gathering for protests is encouraged and winked at, but the Republican convention which would have brought millions to the state coffers, is cancelled. Another (I think he was from California) complained that only 10 people are allowed at a private party and social distancing must be maintained, but 100 are allowed at a protest, and no social distancing. Now tell me folks, what part of this whole mess isn't political?
Grieving for a man who was killed in a terrible way during an arrest is understandable; allowing the nation to be destroyed based on a myth of police brutality is an evil, ugly plot to destroy the lives and living of millions. In 2019, 9 black men died at the hands of police during a confrontation. 19 white men died during a confrontation with police. Most were in the act of committing a crime. This information is from the Washington Post data base and is real, deep digging research investigating all the circumstances. So who blows it up? Our news media and social media.
39 black men had fatal confrontations with police in 2015 and 9 in 2019. We are a nation of 330, 000,000. Even for Obama's era, that's a tiny, tiny percentage of millions of confrontations with police. However the drop is significant under Trump.
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877 is the link to the research. Probably to save their P & T promotion, the authors of this article, which makes perfectly clear that more whites are at risk than blacks in confrontations with police are trying to walk it back. I guess too many people were quoting it to bust the myth that unarmed black men are at terrible risk.
Academe is so far left, it's amazing anything but the party line ever got in to print. The hurdle would be funding, probably figured it was an easy thing to prove--systemic racism and police brutality. Then the next hurdle, finding a publisher--all the journals are also liberal with gate keepers who can shut the door. Then to get a group of people to do a peer review--that must have been a challenge once the results of the study were known. Of course, purchasing it had already been done. PNAS is on subscription and librarians (also gate keepers) probably couldn't reject it. I fully expect that after their clarification and apology, and after they've been run out of town, tarred and feathered, their careers have been ruined and the offending volume will be removed from library shelves.
Grieving for a man who was killed in a terrible way during an arrest is understandable; allowing the nation to be destroyed based on a myth of police brutality is an evil, ugly plot to destroy the lives and living of millions. In 2019, 9 black men died at the hands of police during a confrontation. 19 white men died during a confrontation with police. Most were in the act of committing a crime. This information is from the Washington Post data base and is real, deep digging research investigating all the circumstances. So who blows it up? Our news media and social media.
39 black men had fatal confrontations with police in 2015 and 9 in 2019. We are a nation of 330, 000,000. Even for Obama's era, that's a tiny, tiny percentage of millions of confrontations with police. However the drop is significant under Trump.
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877 is the link to the research. Probably to save their P & T promotion, the authors of this article, which makes perfectly clear that more whites are at risk than blacks in confrontations with police are trying to walk it back. I guess too many people were quoting it to bust the myth that unarmed black men are at terrible risk.
Academe is so far left, it's amazing anything but the party line ever got in to print. The hurdle would be funding, probably figured it was an easy thing to prove--systemic racism and police brutality. Then the next hurdle, finding a publisher--all the journals are also liberal with gate keepers who can shut the door. Then to get a group of people to do a peer review--that must have been a challenge once the results of the study were known. Of course, purchasing it had already been done. PNAS is on subscription and librarians (also gate keepers) probably couldn't reject it. I fully expect that after their clarification and apology, and after they've been run out of town, tarred and feathered, their careers have been ruined and the offending volume will be removed from library shelves.
Yale, May 1970; the Floyd protests in context
Putting the Floyd protests in context--May Day, 1970 at Yale by Al Kresta. https://avemariaradio.net/audio-archive/kresta-in-the-afternoon-june-3-2020-hour-1/
Al Kresta was 18 during the turbulent years of campus protests, including the Kent State disaster. He says what is happening today happened then, but our media haven't learned or even researched. He also explains the 2019 study (using the Washington Post data base) on police vs. unarmed citizens, white and black. There is NO gross epidemic of police violence against blacks. Black citizens are more likely to be killed by black officers, not white. And what correlates is the race of the criminals. It's the best predictor of fatal shootings. In 2019 there were 9 fatal shootings of blacks and 19 of whites out of millions of encounters with the police. This flies in the face of every TV report, newspaper opinion or Facebook meme you see. Fatalities of whites rarely get any media attention. Our main stream media do not do their research. [njb: Our local news last night did a great disservice featuring a white mother of 2 young black sons and the inaccurate information and myths surrounding the police and blacks.]
Kresta was there in 1970, and he says it's the same today. There are three groups: the largest group are the peaceful protestors, next are the revolutionaries with an ideology--then as now, usually Communist, socialist, globalist, anti-government (Bobby Seal, etc.), and third is the criminal element, looters, rioters, long time criminals just stealing and creating mayhem.
It's very useful to put today's problems in the context of these 3 groups including Nixon (who was no more popular than Trump), Revolutionary white groups, Black Panthers (would work with any left wing group), the Yale students with their ideals and white privilege and their liberal president; 4,000 national guard troops. There was no serious violence and rioting in New Haven . Unfortunately, Kent State was to come.
This discussion continues on June 4.
Al Kresta was 18 during the turbulent years of campus protests, including the Kent State disaster. He says what is happening today happened then, but our media haven't learned or even researched. He also explains the 2019 study (using the Washington Post data base) on police vs. unarmed citizens, white and black. There is NO gross epidemic of police violence against blacks. Black citizens are more likely to be killed by black officers, not white. And what correlates is the race of the criminals. It's the best predictor of fatal shootings. In 2019 there were 9 fatal shootings of blacks and 19 of whites out of millions of encounters with the police. This flies in the face of every TV report, newspaper opinion or Facebook meme you see. Fatalities of whites rarely get any media attention. Our main stream media do not do their research. [njb: Our local news last night did a great disservice featuring a white mother of 2 young black sons and the inaccurate information and myths surrounding the police and blacks.]
Kresta was there in 1970, and he says it's the same today. There are three groups: the largest group are the peaceful protestors, next are the revolutionaries with an ideology--then as now, usually Communist, socialist, globalist, anti-government (Bobby Seal, etc.), and third is the criminal element, looters, rioters, long time criminals just stealing and creating mayhem.
It's very useful to put today's problems in the context of these 3 groups including Nixon (who was no more popular than Trump), Revolutionary white groups, Black Panthers (would work with any left wing group), the Yale students with their ideals and white privilege and their liberal president; 4,000 national guard troops. There was no serious violence and rioting in New Haven . Unfortunately, Kent State was to come.
This discussion continues on June 4.
Thursday, June 04, 2020
It’s not fake, but it is false
There is so much propaganda using statistics about men who commit crimes--black and white. It's not exactly "fake," but it is meant to mislead. A man (or occasionally a woman) committing a crime is more likely to be shot or restrained by police than one who is out at a ball game not committing a crime. That's their job. Blacks commit crimes at a higher rate than whites or Hispanics or Asians, but for their numbers are less likely to be shot or restrained. It's something like 8x the rate of crime of whites, and blacks have a victim rate 6x that of whites. They are not being victimized by police--they call the police and report the crime. They want police protection. The police come, it's their job, and the assailant is black 93% of the time.
So how do the anti-police researchers figure this? By percentage of total population, not by percentage of criminal acts that put them in harm's way. The number of blacks killed by police has dropped dramatically since 2015 (although it was very small even then). Why? We may never know since the media won't investigate, but it is probably that the economy improved and they had hope with Trump as president instead of that slippery, feel-good guy who never lived in the 'hood, but preached hope and change because he had brown skin.
Here's the irony. When Obama was president that awful Dylan Roof shot a number of black people in a church, and the president blamed the Republicans for their deaths and demanded more gun control. When Chauvin killed Floyd in Minneapolis with an all Democrat controlled government top to bottom, governor to mayor to attorney general to senators (one a former prosecutor who should have put him away), the Republican president Donald Trump is blamed, and people rise up all over the nation demanding reform, when police killings are so much lower under Trump than Obama.
Republicans are so lame in defending themselves. Some even kneel and squeal. I used to be a Democrat and the spineless wimps in the GOP was quite a pill to swallow.
So how do the anti-police researchers figure this? By percentage of total population, not by percentage of criminal acts that put them in harm's way. The number of blacks killed by police has dropped dramatically since 2015 (although it was very small even then). Why? We may never know since the media won't investigate, but it is probably that the economy improved and they had hope with Trump as president instead of that slippery, feel-good guy who never lived in the 'hood, but preached hope and change because he had brown skin.
Here's the irony. When Obama was president that awful Dylan Roof shot a number of black people in a church, and the president blamed the Republicans for their deaths and demanded more gun control. When Chauvin killed Floyd in Minneapolis with an all Democrat controlled government top to bottom, governor to mayor to attorney general to senators (one a former prosecutor who should have put him away), the Republican president Donald Trump is blamed, and people rise up all over the nation demanding reform, when police killings are so much lower under Trump than Obama.
Republicans are so lame in defending themselves. Some even kneel and squeal. I used to be a Democrat and the spineless wimps in the GOP was quite a pill to swallow.
It's getting bizarre.
A sports announcer was fired because he tweeted "all lives matter," something President Obama said in 2015.
Young females were commanded to kneel to show they weren't racist for a YouTube cameraman, and they obliged him. That gesture was originally a Colin Kaepernick stunt to show disrespect for the American flag at sporting events, now it's become a BLM symbol and has evolved to an anti-Trump gesture.
On channel 10 (Columbus) tonight a fearful white mother with her two young black sons who had questions about the Floyd story was interviewed and she suggested more meetings, programs and "discussions" on systemic racism. Every statistic kept for the last 30 years shows she and the reporter are wrong and are needlessly scaring her children and the viewers. There were 10 blacks killed by police in commission of a crime in 2019, a reduction of about 20 from 2015 (when Obama was president). https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/white-cops-dont-commit-more-shootings/
General Mattis blamed Trump for the behavior of the Democratic administration in Minnesota and Minneapolis that didn't investigate thoroughly a rogue copy for previous crimes and couldn't control criminal gangs based on race. He used an anti-Trump publication, Atlantic, to criticize the man who fired him
Media criticize Trump for his brave and generous demonstration of unity with an historic church with presidential ties, because demonstrators were removed for his safety. They object to his using a Bible or quoting it when that's a staple for all politicians, especially Democrats like Pelosi. The Bishop of the church preaches the [Democrat] party line.
Drew Brees is forced to apologize for supporting and admiring the American flag and criticizing kneelers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/drew-brees-apologizes-criticizing-nfl-players-protesting-during-national-anthem-n1224786
Young females were commanded to kneel to show they weren't racist for a YouTube cameraman, and they obliged him. That gesture was originally a Colin Kaepernick stunt to show disrespect for the American flag at sporting events, now it's become a BLM symbol and has evolved to an anti-Trump gesture.
On channel 10 (Columbus) tonight a fearful white mother with her two young black sons who had questions about the Floyd story was interviewed and she suggested more meetings, programs and "discussions" on systemic racism. Every statistic kept for the last 30 years shows she and the reporter are wrong and are needlessly scaring her children and the viewers. There were 10 blacks killed by police in commission of a crime in 2019, a reduction of about 20 from 2015 (when Obama was president). https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/white-cops-dont-commit-more-shootings/
General Mattis blamed Trump for the behavior of the Democratic administration in Minnesota and Minneapolis that didn't investigate thoroughly a rogue copy for previous crimes and couldn't control criminal gangs based on race. He used an anti-Trump publication, Atlantic, to criticize the man who fired him
Media criticize Trump for his brave and generous demonstration of unity with an historic church with presidential ties, because demonstrators were removed for his safety. They object to his using a Bible or quoting it when that's a staple for all politicians, especially Democrats like Pelosi. The Bishop of the church preaches the [Democrat] party line.
Drew Brees is forced to apologize for supporting and admiring the American flag and criticizing kneelers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/drew-brees-apologizes-criticizing-nfl-players-protesting-during-national-anthem-n1224786
Wednesday, June 03, 2020
New study on police, race and shootings
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877?
“There is widespread concern about racial disparities in fatal officer-involved shootings and that these disparities reflect discrimination by White officers. Existing databases of fatal shootings lack information about officers, and past analytic approaches have made it difficult to assess the contributions of factors like crime. We create a comprehensive database of officers involved in fatal shootings during 2015 and predict victim race from civilian, officer, and county characteristics. We find no evidence of anti-Black or anti-Hispanic disparities across shootings, and White officers are not more likely to shoot minority civilians than non-White officers. Instead, race-specific crime strongly predicts civilian race. This suggests that increasing diversity among officers by itself is unlikely to reduce racial disparity in police shootings.”
“There is widespread concern about racial disparities in fatal officer-involved shootings and that these disparities reflect discrimination by White officers. Existing databases of fatal shootings lack information about officers, and past analytic approaches have made it difficult to assess the contributions of factors like crime. We create a comprehensive database of officers involved in fatal shootings during 2015 and predict victim race from civilian, officer, and county characteristics. We find no evidence of anti-Black or anti-Hispanic disparities across shootings, and White officers are not more likely to shoot minority civilians than non-White officers. Instead, race-specific crime strongly predicts civilian race. This suggests that increasing diversity among officers by itself is unlikely to reduce racial disparity in police shootings.”
Religious symbols—a church and a Bible
Imagine a president using a church as a symbol, or holding up a Bible. Shocking. I remember when Obama went to Notre Dame. Quite a stir. The most pro-abortion politician in the history of the country at a Catholic school named for Our Lady, the mother of Jesus. It was quite a mess--liberal and conservative Catholics squabbling and conservative pro-life Protestants butting in who were clueless that Catholics lead the way in the pro-life department.
Then there was President Obama at Georgetown, another Roman Catholic institution, and the religious symbols, not exactly being used, but being covered up so as not to detract from his royal presence. Yes, it sure is a shame that President Trump is the only president to ever have made use of religious symbolism. At least he wasn't thumbing his nose at the symbols.
The lies about the tear gas and the bunker are just ridiculous. No matter how many times it is denied, the left just keeps chattering about it.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm
Then there was President Obama at Georgetown, another Roman Catholic institution, and the religious symbols, not exactly being used, but being covered up so as not to detract from his royal presence. Yes, it sure is a shame that President Trump is the only president to ever have made use of religious symbolism. At least he wasn't thumbing his nose at the symbols.
The lies about the tear gas and the bunker are just ridiculous. No matter how many times it is denied, the left just keeps chattering about it.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm
David Meyers, guest blogger, on demonstrations and crimes
David Meyers writes at Facebook: “I have no issue with demonstrations. They are an important component in keeping our country from straying off course. But I am interested in what the demonstrators will do after they have called attention to “the problem.” Will any of them actually seek to become part of the solution?
For 30 years, I worked in corrections—both adult and juvenile. I know that the challenges we faced are similar to those faced by police departments. It’s a tough and dangerous job. And the pay is seldom commensurate to the risk. As a result, it is not always possible to hire the caliber of staff you want and need.
I personally spent thousands of hours trying to weed out the bad employees. All of them were represented by unions. I am not saying that unions are a bad thing. As I learned in graduate school, “Any organization that has a union deserves it.” And by that measure, corrections certainly does. However, that means that due process has to be followed in disciplining a bad employee—even those who have committed felonies on the job.
Not only does management find this frustrating, but many good employees as well. As I wrote in my first book on Ohio’s prison system, “Some of the finest people I have known were working in some of the most thankless jobs imaginable.” I was glad we had them, but we always could have used more. A lot more.
It’s the same with police departments, too. In fact, I have never belonged to any large group of people that didn’t have some miscreants. But in most cases, they aren’t tasked with life and death decisions. They don’t have to deal with violence on a near daily basis. It takes a special type of person to do that. Unfortunately, not all people who are attracted to this type of work want to make things better.
Watching the demonstrations, the confrontations, and the wanton vandalism and looting play out on television, I am concerned that it will drive away exactly the type of people we need to be peace officers and attract those we don’t."
David Meyers is the author of many books that reflect his interest in music, Ohio history, crime, and black history.
For 30 years, I worked in corrections—both adult and juvenile. I know that the challenges we faced are similar to those faced by police departments. It’s a tough and dangerous job. And the pay is seldom commensurate to the risk. As a result, it is not always possible to hire the caliber of staff you want and need.
I personally spent thousands of hours trying to weed out the bad employees. All of them were represented by unions. I am not saying that unions are a bad thing. As I learned in graduate school, “Any organization that has a union deserves it.” And by that measure, corrections certainly does. However, that means that due process has to be followed in disciplining a bad employee—even those who have committed felonies on the job.
Not only does management find this frustrating, but many good employees as well. As I wrote in my first book on Ohio’s prison system, “Some of the finest people I have known were working in some of the most thankless jobs imaginable.” I was glad we had them, but we always could have used more. A lot more.
It’s the same with police departments, too. In fact, I have never belonged to any large group of people that didn’t have some miscreants. But in most cases, they aren’t tasked with life and death decisions. They don’t have to deal with violence on a near daily basis. It takes a special type of person to do that. Unfortunately, not all people who are attracted to this type of work want to make things better.
Watching the demonstrations, the confrontations, and the wanton vandalism and looting play out on television, I am concerned that it will drive away exactly the type of people we need to be peace officers and attract those we don’t."
David Meyers is the author of many books that reflect his interest in music, Ohio history, crime, and black history.
“We need to have a dialogue. . ." I'm so sick of that phrase
1. How about: no more senseless government programs that just increase bureaucracy.
2. Maybe we could: reduce or eliminate the rewriting of history and teaching victimhood to minorities and blame for whites from kindergarten to college.
3. Possibly: looking at skin color for positions of power, from president to police chief to hiring actors, isn't the best plan.
4. Think about: removing racialists, people who constantly beat the drum of hate, from writing, editing, selecting, and overseeing content in media, school text books, entertainment, staff positions for politicians, etc. and require that they develop a skill/talent not based on race or ethnicity or gender.
5. Think about: loving your neighbor as yourself after first putting God first. One of the most famous men in history commanded that based on thousands of years of Jewish traditions.
An interesting book review
Famous Stutterers: Twelve Inspiring People Who Achieved Great Things while Struggling with an Impediment by Gerald R. McDermott
Last night I listened to a fascinating book review and author interview of Gerald R. McDermott. I knew Moses was a stutterer, but I didn’t know about Marilyn Monroe, and that they had to do 47 takes to get one line right in “Some like it Hot.” Moses, Aristotle, Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain, King George VI, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, distinguished historian Peter Brown, TV journalist John Stossel, Senator's wife Annie Glenn, ABC correspondent Byron Pitts, novelist John Updike. I did know about Annie Glenn, who recently died, and had seen the movie about George VI, and John Stossel has talked about it. McDermott said that millions suffer from the embarrassment and challenging disability of stuttering, and that 98% of them are men. I believe he said he is also a stutterer, although there wasn’t anything in the interview to indicate it. Singing, for some reason, is no problem, and each stutterer finds ways to handle it, and takes training or lessons to calm it. I remember almost 60 years ago helping a Russian graduate student with his first draft (or more) of his PhD thesis. He had a terrible stutter, but only in Russian, not in English (which wasn’t very good).
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2017/02/20/12-famous-stories-determination-stutterers/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/northamptonseminar/2016/09/04/marilyn-monroe-stutterer/
The book review reminded me of the many, many people with disabilities who struggle everyday to challenge, improve, or maybe despair. Some are bullied, some are teased, some give up.
Tuesday, June 02, 2020
Did closing the churches contribute to the chaos?
Still thinking about two of the videos I saw on Tucker last night. One was a young white man who was standing alone beaten senseless by a group of young black men, and from the position of his body, I'd guess both arms and legs and maybe his neck were broken. Bystanders did nothing to protect him or stop his assailants. (Sound familiar?) They used ladders, pieces of lumber to bash him. It looked like he was just in the wrong place, perhaps separated from his friends, or maybe he lived in the area. There were many white people in these protest groups who had gone along to get along, thinking they'd show solidarity. All he had done was pull out his phone and supposedly was trying to call the police.
The other was an Asian woman, standing her ground, maybe Korean American, in front of her small grocery. I think she was trying to salvage some produce--her livelihood. Maybe it was paying the tuition for her son who was in medical school. The men beating her were twice her size and half her age. Her husband, or some other man, rushed out and they beat him too.
After the shock of seeing such inhumanity and lust for killing, I began to wonder if declaring churches, libraries, and museums as "non-essential services" had encouraged the greed, hate and thirst for revenge and blood. None of those young men knew George Floyd, and the main threat to their lives up to yesterday has been other black men, not the police, despite what grandma told them, unless they are part of a criminal element like a gang. If it weren't for the schools and TV reminding them daily they are victims of racism, they probably were leading fairly normal lives, until the last two months.
Was it smart for mayors and governors to close sports and entertainment venues? While maybe not essential for spiritual health, they do bind certain groups in society together. Competition and aggression are played out on teams, and aside from the occasional broken bone or brain injury, most just watch the aggression. Men could always talk about sports if they had nothing else in common.
I did see some young women bashing in car windows and harassing the helpless drivers, and maybe they were looting those high end stores in Santa Monica. But for the most part, the blood thirst was 16-30 year old men. Testosterone and youth, not race. Antifa, which is white, both genders and privileged had probably been a little more cagey--placed the bricks and lumber around. They arrived with a plan--anarchy.
And I know that's not an original thought, because I believe I first learned it in a "Sociology of Education" class when I was a sophomore in college. All societies have glue and shared interests, which schools need to encourage, we were told then in the 1950s, which educators promote in the form of athletics, clubs and special interest groups.
Perhaps our political leaders educated in the last 40 years never learned that there is more to creating a function society than race and gender. Unfortunately for us, our enemies knew.
Monday, June 01, 2020
The shifting stories
If the shift from Covid19 stories to riot stories wasn't your clue, the wealth gap stories had just made their appearance again as the economy was set to rebound. Forget all that "we're in this together" nonsense. The Columbus Business Journal has a lock on the article, but you can see the same stories, different characters that were appearing in 2005.
Here's my take. It takes marriage and family backing usually by parents or grandparents to live well. You only need to look as the highest income people in America, and that isn't "whites" as the demographers and dividers like to call people like me. Those would be "Asian," or more specifically Indians, Filipinos, and Japanese Americans. They have the highest marriage rates and strong support from the couples' parents.
I live in a very nice neighborhood with great amenities, good school system, many churches, and good shopping (although not as good as in the 80s since retail chases the money). It would be difficult for a mom with 3 children who does not have a handsome divorce settlement and alimony to live here. However, I would look low income compared to the areas northwest of my community. Wealth gap is relative. I'd look like a pauper compared to Colin Kaepernick and yet he whines about injustice because he didn't get picked for the NFL and wanted his own rules.
Let’s check with Minneapolis
In the wake of rioting and looting in Columbus the last 2 days during peaceful protests, Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin says we need to confront structural racism with police reforms in Columbus. (Columbus Business First)
Hmm. Has he looked at the black Attorney General, Black police chief, black officers in the incident, Jew hater Ilhan Omar, battling Somali gang warfare and far left mayor of Minneapolis for guidance in that reform? How about Amy Klobuchar who ignored the problem for years?
On Birthdays
Facebook makes a big deal about birthdays. And often I forget or overlook those notices, even though many people just love receiving congratulations from people they never see, or often haven’t met. It might be the only time anyone makes a fuss over her or him to make the day really special with images of birthday cakes and balloons.
Father Peter John Cameron, author, editor and playwright, reflected on the birth of John the Baptist (celebrated June 24). Just in case you don’t know that story from the Gospel of Luke, John was Jesus’ cousin. Their mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, were pregnant at the same time and John recognized Jesus in the womb and leaped for joy:
“The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is a sacred reminder of the fact that every day I need born in my life:
someone who leaps with joy before the presence of the Lord, who makes me want to live my own relationship with Jesus with greater ardor and fervor;
someone to prepare the way of the Lord and to give me knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of my sins;
someone who turns my attention away from my distractions and preconceptions so that I will behold the Lamb of God as the true desire of my heart;
someone who models for me that there is no greater joy in my life than for Jesus to increase and for me to decrease, especially as regards my self-reliance, my self-assertion, my self-absorption;
someone who is a burning and shining lamp whose radiance gives light to my path and courage to my heart, making me want to live for others;
someone so committed to the truth that he is willing to lay down his life for the Truth-become-flesh—witnessing to me that all true happiness comes through self-sacrifice;
someone whose sanctity proclaims that there is no man born of woman greater than he is, but that I can share his greatness if I love Jesus as he did.”
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