David Keck’s summary:
“Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther is just finishing his address on policing policy change (June 24). He said a lot of things that, on the surface, are true. He also neglected to say a lot of things that are also true that are key, and said some things that sound good, but do not stand any kind of below surface, or even surface scrutiny.
In distancing himself from the FOP, HE chose to use the word "many" (not most) in describing how many current police are in it for the right reason. Does he not believe that MOST policemen are responsible and dedicated servants? Because he deliberately did not say so. Do you not think he carefully chose every word? He said what he meant.
What does he mean when he says "You are with us or you are against us?" Is that a not-so-veiled threat? Does this leave any room for disagreement on the merits, or are you just going to publicly threaten?
Mayor Ginther, you, yes you, just now pitted your own police department against your city deliberately and clearly for your own political benefit.
Mayor Ginther, you falsely state that the citizens of Columbus are on board with your proposals. This is not at all established. Were they on board when you let them tear down public statuary? Is that why you were not proactive in preventing what was obviously predictable? Is it the citizenry of Columbus who is on board, or the protestors? Do protestors represent the whole city?
In your discussion of what you are going to guarantee those in African-American neighborhoods, what does "equity" mean to you? Equality of what? Opportunity or results? By being vague about that deliberately are you left-handedly promising results, and thereby setting up more frustration? Or will you say what our Declaration of Independence says and Constitution guarantees legally - which is pursuing happiness, not having it?
When you say that minority children should be guaranteed life past the first year, did you mean the unborn? Because, as you know, the number of African-American children aborted is also much out of proportion to the rest of the population.
In throwing money that presumably either comes from higher taxes, driving those who can afford to pay, further into the suburbs, or from other places where it is needed also, did you make any mention at all of stable neighborhoods, and, toward that, stable families? Addressing families with no fathers? You know those statistics.
You made not one mention of those things. Mayor Ginther, you were not honest, and what you propose, if you get all of it, will not do what you hold out as a promise. You are no leader.”
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
BLM and ANTIFA attack Democrat controlled cities
It's a no brainer why the anarchists (BLM and ANTIFA) began their rages in Democrat controlled cities. They attacked the very people most likely to support their movement. Why? They knew they'd get the least resistance, the weakest mayors, and the highest crime rates where the people have the greatest encounters with police. With a victim rate 6x that of whites, the blacks in Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, and other major cities it would be easy to encourage disaffected, recently unemployed youth to loot and riot, while virtue signaling white liberals would just stand around and wave signs.
The mayor of Columbus asked for (June 1) photos or videos of Columbus police over reacting to the rioters when they attacked the police. Has he asked for videos of the rioters and looters destroying businesses and vandalizing public property so they can be arrested? Has he thought of a plan to protect residents and business owners when he doesn't have support of the police? He ran unopposed for his 2nd term on "justice, change and reform," so why so late to the gate?
Google employees are demanding that Google drop police as clients of its technology. Now, what percentage of Google employees do you suppose is minority? Two, maybe three? Well, the trick is with H1B1 visas, a lot of corporations and universities get to "count" internationals as minorities (for some odd reason we're taught to look at skin color), therefore skipping right over any responsibility to bring up American born minorities in house. Nice trick. Then turn on American police with minority citizens on staff who are the protectors of black and brown neighborhoods? Seems like a strange demand from "employees," doesn't it?
BLM is lavishly well funded by white, left wing extremists, and they are infiltrating iconic American corporations--who by the way, also have global interests. Capitalists and Marxists cooperating. Big Tech has been using its profits to "promote" racial justice, except in hiring American blacks.
The mayor of Columbus asked for (June 1) photos or videos of Columbus police over reacting to the rioters when they attacked the police. Has he asked for videos of the rioters and looters destroying businesses and vandalizing public property so they can be arrested? Has he thought of a plan to protect residents and business owners when he doesn't have support of the police? He ran unopposed for his 2nd term on "justice, change and reform," so why so late to the gate?
Google employees are demanding that Google drop police as clients of its technology. Now, what percentage of Google employees do you suppose is minority? Two, maybe three? Well, the trick is with H1B1 visas, a lot of corporations and universities get to "count" internationals as minorities (for some odd reason we're taught to look at skin color), therefore skipping right over any responsibility to bring up American born minorities in house. Nice trick. Then turn on American police with minority citizens on staff who are the protectors of black and brown neighborhoods? Seems like a strange demand from "employees," doesn't it?
BLM is lavishly well funded by white, left wing extremists, and they are infiltrating iconic American corporations--who by the way, also have global interests. Capitalists and Marxists cooperating. Big Tech has been using its profits to "promote" racial justice, except in hiring American blacks.
County with .6% black citizens
This may be the strangest virus regulation I've ever seen. Whites must wear masks, but not blacks, to prevent racial profiling? Doesn't this mean you can spot the blacks easier and thus profile? https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/oregon-county-issues-face-mask-order-exempting-non-white-people/
Like millions of other people, I then googled Lincoln County, Oregon, and see it has a population under 50,000 and is about .6% black. Well, some counties need more publicity than others, and other than being a laughing stock, I suppose this did it. So then I looked at crime rates in Oregon and discovered some very small towns had violent crime rates higher than the national average. Perhaps this is an backassward method of crime control?
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
How’s your county/state on speeding?
There’s a new report by CoPilot looking at the states and counties with the worst speeding problem in the U.S. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and NHTSA, analysts at CoPilot ranked locations according to the percentage of total traffic fatalities that involve speeding.
Included with the report are some interesting graphics, including a table with data on more than 500 counties and all 50 states: https://www.copilotsearch.com/posts/states-and-counties-with-worst-speeding-problem/
“While NHTSA data shows that both the share of traffic fatalities related to speeding and the speeding-related fatality rate have been declining in recent years, these rates vary at the state level. Nationwide, the average annual speeding-related fatality rate for the five year period from 2014-2018 was 2.97 per 100,000 people. However, at the state level, there is a statistically significant relationship between speeding-related fatalities per capita and the maximum posted speed limit in the state. States with higher posted speed limits often experience more speed-related fatalities.
Monday, June 22, 2020
Censorship is coming from Big Tech, not government
“Conservatives have long complained about bias at Big Tech companies like Amazon and Google. The Heritage Foundation experienced this firsthand when YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, censored our video featuring a former transgender individual. YouTube claimed that six words spoken at a three-hour Heritage event violated its “hate speech” policy. Heritage issued a strong rebuke and posted a new video contesting YouTube’s censorship. It’s not just Heritage facing these challenges. Amazon is doubling down on its policy that prohibits customers from donating proceeds from their purchases to well-established conservative nonprofits like the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom. Heritage President Kay C. James called out Amazon for allowing customers to donate to Planned Parenthood but excluding conservative organizations. “A piece of free advice for Amazon’s board of directors: I’ve served on several corporate boards during my career, and it’s just bad business to alienate upwards of half of your customers,” “
Don’t let the BLM scam you
Black Lives Matter website https://blacklivesmatter.com describes its goals and mission to destroy our country and culture. The family structure is part of that, as is destroying the church. So I suppose if a researcher points out the lack of fathers could account for high crime rates, or the high single parent homes create poverty, he will be considered racist since the 2 parent family is part of a racist society model invented by white supremacists.
Don’t take it from me—read their own words. They are very transparent. They aren’t keeping it a secret, just renaming a few things like “justice.” This isn’t about “systemic racism” no matter what they call it, anymore than the Russian Revolution was about the Romanovs. That’s the hook to drag you in to participating. Don’t bother with the signs in the yard, especially if you live in a suburb 99% white.
If you believe we live in a racist society, then describe what you’ve personally done that is racist in your own words, not theirs. Don’t fall for that, “implicit bias.” Be specific. And then change. Our Democrat Mayor here in Columbus has been a real push over, bowing and showing support, telling police to stand down and allowing rioters to tear up downtown and now BLM is demanding he step down.
Democrats just don’t know their history or world history.
Faith. Family. Freedoms. Free enterprise. There is no color to it. Just truth.
My greatest desire is for more Americans to remember their conservative roots. Five years ago, I feared conservatives. I thought they were “the bad guys” and that “they” didn’t care about Black people.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/06/22/19-black-americans-explain-why-theyre-conservative/
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Memorial Service for Philip Vincent Bruce June 20
Dear Norma and Bob,
Today’s service remembering Phil was extraordinary! Although I never met him, I feel as if Phil could have been one of my best friends. I’ve never heard so many people speak so lovingly at a funeral service. What a handsome, lovable, loving, and caring person he was! Phil did the Lord’s work here on Earth as he was called to do.
It was also so good to be back inside a real church!!!! My heart was happy and sad at the same time. I hope your hearts are peaceful knowing how much Phil meant to so many! Being a parent is hard but you did your job well!!!
Love and hugs, Jane
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I watched Phil's memorial service online. It was the most beautiful sendoff. The pastor and the praise band were both wonderful. What touched me most was hearing the comments from Phil's friends. What a huge impact Phil had on everyone who knew him - he touched a lot of lives. Hearing from people who knew him well and were with him until the end of his life went straight to my heart. What a wonderful memorial.
I hope Phil's memorial helped your family say goodbye to Phil in the way you wanted.
God Bless, Josh
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What a wonderfully meaningful service, so glad it was available online. The personal tributes were so meaningful and heartfelt. Clearly Phil was a kind, caring person and a gift to so many.
Continued prayers for your comfort in the days ahead. Maureen
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We watched the beautiful service through FaceBook, and were touched by the words of remembrance. What a great testimony to Phil's life.
Our warm regards and prayers are with you and Bob.
Your friends, Eugene and Barbara
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Dear Bob and Norma,
The service was beautiful and touching to both of us. I am so glad we did not have to miss it. I was feeling exactly what Bob expressed when he felt compelled to take up the mike. What marvelous insight into how Phil’s friends were affected by the privilege of knowing Phil. What an extraordinarily compassionate, gentle, generous and loving man he was. I had tears in my eyes throughout the service.
We knew him only a little as an adult. We now both treasure the opportunities we had to get to know him personally as a caretaker for our dog. It gave us an opportunity to spend time with him in his own home and to talk a little about his life, his job, his church and band, and his love of animals. Knowing this much about him, his friends references to their experiences with him came alive. I was amazed at how deftly he used jamming together to get to know people and to share his love for Christ and for them. What a tragedy that his life was cut short. He was the kind of person the world needs more of. We realized something similar when we began to hear the stories told by Martha’s friends at and after her funeral. Now we have to grieve another good life cut short.
I want you to know how much we came to love Phil and how much we grieve with you over his departure. Praise God that he lived in Christ in what seems to be a wonderful Christian fellowship at GRCC.
Love,
David and Donna
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Norma,
It really was a beautiful service. I know why Phil loved the music there. Those musicians were amazing. Right before they sang, "Overwhelmed", I saw a vision of Phil and Jesus on the altar arm in arm. Phil was a very special man. Praise God!
Darlene
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Hi Norma,
I sure yesterday was very difficult for you and Bob and I hope the service offered some comfort and peace. I have to say that it was the most beautiful funeral I have ever attended. Phil was a very special guy. He was loved by many. His joyful spirit and love of Christ will live in all who knew him. We continue to keep the Bruce family in our prayers. Susan
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Friday, June 19, 2020
The Double Standard of the lockdown vs. the riots—Tucker Carlson
“Race is not the only dividing line,” he explained. “The coronavirus lockdowns had nothing to do with race or white and black, thank God. They are probably the only thing in America that doesn’t. Quarantines are instead scientific — they’re purely a matter of public health. That’s what they told us, and we believed them. We sat passively as they destroyed our country’s economy, as they indicted Americans for trying to make a living. And then the Black Lives Matter riots started, and we learned it was all fake. The very same officials who threatened us with arrest for going outside urged their own voters to flood the streets. And they did, and no one was punished. How could this happen?”
Carlson called that double standard “ritual humiliation” and urged Americans to stand against it.
“It was such a flagrant double standard — not even hidden, right in your face,” Carlson continued. “They didn’t try to explain it. They didn’t bother to justify it. Why? Anyone familiar with totalitarian regimes can tell you exactly why, and what’s going on. This is ritual humiliation. Forcing people to accept mistreatment is a time-tested way to subdue them. ‘Of course, we are not treating you fairly,’ they are telling us. ‘You don’t deserve fairness. You deserve what you get.’ That’s the message, and after a while, the population accepts this. Some believe it. They blame themselves. That’s the goal.”
“But we should never accept it,” he added. “The promise of absolute equality under the law is all we have. Laws are designed to protect the weak, not the strong. At the moment, the people leading this revolution against our system are strong. That’s why they are trying to subvert our laws. If they succeed, there will be nothing to protect the rest of us in this country. We cannot let them do that. In the United States of America, all of us are equal under the law. Period. Say that as loud as you can.”
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
How to fix systemic racism
Here are my suggestions about systemic racism being the big problem today.
If you believe that, then do something about it, not by lecturing others or pointing fingers, but by making changes in YOUR OWN LIFE. You are part of many systems within the system. Like veins and arteries within the circulatory system.
Look at your profession. That's close enough for you to work on. You've got something to say about that. If you can't step up and lay your income on the line, then don't expect change.
What's going on in your union? Is it protecting the bad apples? Is it your boss? Union president?
Does your university have a bloated department called "Diversity and Inclusion" that is sucking up money that could be put to use doing something useful? Are you required to take time away from your classroom or research to attend reeducation classes. Say something--some of those students you're shortchanging are black.
Is your employer so "woke" that it doesn't give minorities real opportunities, only feel good spots on diversity committees and positions? Is the only dark face on the board of directors a female in HR? Can you risk your next promotion by objecting?
And where are you living? A suburb with 10% Asian and 2% black, 5% Hispanic and 83% white? Perhaps you need to consider moving. There are many lovely housing areas that are more open housing than that! And they probably have a community organization that isn't 100% white.
Are you supporting Planned Parenthood? Its statistics show genocidal levels for black babies. You don't have to change your opinion on "women's health,," but maybe that money you donate could go to research on why black mothers have a higher fatality rate than other pregnant women. Or you could donate to a non-profit that helps young, single black mothers raise healthy families.
Racism starts at home, in the heart, but if you believe it's the system, start there and work backwards to your heart.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Memorial Service June 20
Not all Republicans are conservatives
It's surprising how many think Republican is synonymous with conservative. It isn't. Many Republicans are pro-big government, pro-choice, and pro-control. The Bushes were Republicans but not conservatives. Trump is a former Democrat who in many respects is a conservative in what he has accomplished, but not accepted by in-power Republicans deep in swamp-dwelling.
Sometimes the only difference in the 2 parties is that Democrats are more likely to stick together and be controlled by their party leaders. It's in their DNA. Democrats, however, are more likely to be hypocrites--witness Pelosi and Pals kneeling for a photographer while culturally appropriating African sacred stoles that symbolize wealth.
"These scarves were traditionally worn by the wealthy land-owners and dignitaries of the Ashanti (or Asante) tribes of what is now known as Ghana. They were made of silk, making them not only rare but also symbolic of wealth. More importantly, they were adorned by those who were involved in the pervasive slave trade the wealthy of the Ashanti tribe embraced."
That's the equivalent of wearing black face in my opinion, but the liberal media will never call them on it because they never research symbols and they are the party mascots. This performance was done while gnashing teeth that the President carried a Bible to inspect a fire bombed, historical church of Presidents and was photographed.
Guns, Gold and Slaves: "The Ashanti’s long-time ally, the Akwamu, were among the first ones to profit from the slave trade with the Europeans. Their captives were almost always prisoners of war, but they were not above to selling Akwamu men who offended the chief. They also kidnapped able-bodied men from other tribes and sold them in the coastal slave markets.
The English (who had displaced the Dutch as the leader in the slave trade) paid three ounces of gold for each male slave. It was a good sum, and many Africans saw this as a profitable venture.
The Ashanti soon joined in the slave trade by kidnapping traveling men or even those who were just working on their farms. They also went to war with neighboring peoples (especially in the Black Volta and savanna regions) not only to expand their territory but also to acquire more slaves which they then sold to Dutch and English traders. This practice had become so profitable that by 1720 the Slave Coast of Ghana had eclipsed the Gold Coast.
A vicious cycle soon emerged from this business. The Ashanti initially accepted gold as payment for slaves, but soon preferred flintlocks, muskets, and gunpowder as payment. With these weapons in hand, Ashanti warriors would then subdue another group of people and sell the captives of war to the European as slaves. By 1730, as much as 180,000 European-made firearms had been shipped to the Slave Coast and handed to the natives. " https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/ashanti-empire-trade-slaves-guns/
I am nothing else
“I am nothing else but what God thought of me; I would not be here if there was not a thought in God the Father’s mind about me. I do not just happen to be. God the Father thought of me and wanted me to be here. And God the Son redeemed me and stays in the Blessed Sacrament personally for me to be united with me day by day. And God the Holy Spirit took His abode in my soul by the call of my Baptism and considered my soul His dwelling. His holy place.”
Sister Ida Peterfy, The love of God our Greatest Treasure, https://sacredheartsisters.com/her-words-and-reflections/
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Phil's house is in contract
But I won't hold my breath.
Nothing has gone well for us in the last 9 months; why should it start now?
We actually didn't take the highest bid--and I say bid because it was $15,500 above our asking price. Many people wanted this house, and for similar reasons why Phil wanted it. One floor, easy to care for, in good condition, light and bright and airy, a city lot big enough for a garden, but not too big to take care of, 2 car garage with good storage and accessible for shopping and free-way. It included all the appliances, so that is a cost savings for the buyer. However, we went in contract for less. We accepted the offer of a man with limited vision, foreign born, who lives alone. It's perfect for him. Plus it was a cash offer. The highest bidder had to get financing. But it could still fall through so our realtor will be prepared with a 2nd offer. The buyer has some time to have it inspected and withdraw his offer, even though it was sold as is. We spent a lot (to me) just to have it clean and ready--spent about $2,000 for power wash, repainting trim, and having the inside cleaned and staged. Repainting the inside would have probably been over $5,000 (high ceilings). Since we had 2 offers the first day on the market, we probably wouldn't have needed to do even that or the minor repairs we'd done in May. It's expensive to sell a house--pay 2019 taxes and pro-rate 2020; pay realtor fees; pay the cleaning costs; pay the fees, pay the warranty charges, our lawyer's fees, and my goodness, if we added in our family's time, it's definitely not cheap.
I like thinking about someone as neat and tidy as Phil, who also had limited vision after his stroke, sitting on the deck, watching the geese in the pond, or growing tomatoes in the garden. I hope he'll have some parties for the neighbors like Phil did, or maybe have a dog he loves as much as Phil loved Rosa. Perhaps he'll attend GRCC, which has quite an international congregation. Maybe I'm a sucker for a good story, but I'd like to see a happy ending to this nightmare.
Nothing has gone well for us in the last 9 months; why should it start now?
We actually didn't take the highest bid--and I say bid because it was $15,500 above our asking price. Many people wanted this house, and for similar reasons why Phil wanted it. One floor, easy to care for, in good condition, light and bright and airy, a city lot big enough for a garden, but not too big to take care of, 2 car garage with good storage and accessible for shopping and free-way. It included all the appliances, so that is a cost savings for the buyer. However, we went in contract for less. We accepted the offer of a man with limited vision, foreign born, who lives alone. It's perfect for him. Plus it was a cash offer. The highest bidder had to get financing. But it could still fall through so our realtor will be prepared with a 2nd offer. The buyer has some time to have it inspected and withdraw his offer, even though it was sold as is. We spent a lot (to me) just to have it clean and ready--spent about $2,000 for power wash, repainting trim, and having the inside cleaned and staged. Repainting the inside would have probably been over $5,000 (high ceilings). Since we had 2 offers the first day on the market, we probably wouldn't have needed to do even that or the minor repairs we'd done in May. It's expensive to sell a house--pay 2019 taxes and pro-rate 2020; pay realtor fees; pay the cleaning costs; pay the fees, pay the warranty charges, our lawyer's fees, and my goodness, if we added in our family's time, it's definitely not cheap.
I like thinking about someone as neat and tidy as Phil, who also had limited vision after his stroke, sitting on the deck, watching the geese in the pond, or growing tomatoes in the garden. I hope he'll have some parties for the neighbors like Phil did, or maybe have a dog he loves as much as Phil loved Rosa. Perhaps he'll attend GRCC, which has quite an international congregation. Maybe I'm a sucker for a good story, but I'd like to see a happy ending to this nightmare.
Skipping church on purpose during pandemic panic
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.
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.
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.
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