Category: Uncategorized

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People are scratching their heads wondering why more Blacks, one of the most, if not the most dependable Democratic voters, are saying they are going to vote for Trump. It is so frustrating to see the bewilderment, shrugged shoulders and the inability to explain what is going on here.

What is more disturbing is that people in the Democratic Party don’t seem to believe that there is anything wrong. The experts just remark how none of this makes sense for Blacks to voting against their own self interest and that Biden will retain the Black vote in November. Well, maybe, but it would be nice to see a more energetic effort to determine if this is true and, if it is true, what they are going to do about it.

Polls may be wrong. They also may be right and this is the canary in the coal mine. The question is Is anyone listening?

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I saw the above advertisement in the Cheap Undies site the keeps sending me emails totally against my will — just so you know that I would never solicit this kind of material on my own. It just comes to me. Twice a day. Against my will. Really. Believe me.

Any way, I have asked before and I will ask again. Is grabbing one’s junk a good pose for selling men’s underwear? I think I know why in this case. The company wanted to show the see through capacity of the underwear without showing the male appendage. But it just drew my eyes to the appendage and I am straining my eyes to see if I can determine if those are fingers or the male appendage.

I am seeing this grabbing the junk pose with increasing frequency and every time I see it I think the same thing. This is crossing a line. I don’t know what line it is crossing but it just feels like a little too much even for a liberal gay guy like myself.

Is this crossing a line? Or am I showing my age? Any thoughts?

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I was more sympathetic to Palestinian arguments regarding Israel before October 7. They got a raw deal in 1948. Jewish, Muslim and Christians all lived in the same area. To carve out a country which was wholly one religion would be impossible. Divvying up this land was going to leave some Muslims in the new Jewish state. This should have put a pause on the creation of Israel and, by pause I mean, come up with a better solution than the one proposed.

That did not happen. Some people will argue that it was a fair settlement. Others will say it was unfair. It doesn’t really matter because the result has been 76 years of war with intermittent periods of an uneasy peace. The Palestinians have been on the losing side of all of these wars. Despite these humiliating losses and the attendant carnage these wars cause, the Palestinians cling to a violent strategy that has brought them absolutely nothing but misery.

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. A questionable move given that Israel has the best and most successful military in the region. Hamas had a day of victorious celebrations and then the hammer went down.

Why Hamas attacked is unclear. They wanted hostages to exchange for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails. They managed to get some but they also angered the Israelis into a counter attack which, to my mind, was the real reason for the attack. To make the Israelis look bad. If I am correct, Hamas has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Here in lies the problem for me and why I have lost sympathy for the Palestinian position. When an army is getting the shit kicked out of them and there is no hope of winning, the losing side usually surrenders to the stronger power. Most losing armies do this because they want to protect their civilian population from further bloodshed. Hamas is apparently happy to sacrifice their civilian population to a losing cause. So the bloodshed continues.

But this is collective punishment. The children in Palestine have nothing to do with Hamas. Why should they be paying the price for Hamas. Hamas has chosen to hide in Gaza among children. It is a terrible situation. But no more terrible than the October 7 attack. They attacked a rock concert. They raped women. Children died in their incursion into Israel. Hamas has no trouble hurting civilian populations when they are the aggressor. It may not have been their intention to do this but it did happen. How can they complain about the Israelis doing the same?

Well, then the Israeli counter attack is disproportionately excessive to the Hamas attack. Again, yes, it is. But why shouldn’t it be if a country wants to protect itself against future aggression/ Why wouldn’t the Israelis put their focus on destroying Hamas and making sure that Hamas is unable to attack Israel again? Hamas is more interested in attacking Israel again than protecting its own civilian population. Hamas wants Israel to stop the war, a war Hamas is losing, without actually surrendering their troops. What winning army would accept that?

I do not know how to right the wrongs of the 1948 settlement but the present Hamas strategy has done little to help the Palestinian people. Israel keeps winning, and as is the wont of winners in war, taking more and more Palestinian land. I think it is time for Hamas and all the leaders in Palestine to take a realistic look at what they can get. Ask for the moon, by all means, but settle for what you can get. Tomorrow is another day and you can continue to work, hopefully peacefully, to get a better deal.

Blaming the Israelis for the present spat of violence is disingenuous. Hamas knew what they were doing, knew how the Israelis would respond and attacked any way. They did this all without worrying about the horrors their actions would unleash on the people in Gaza. They can end the war today simply by surrendering like any other losing army.


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More polls are coming out on the 2024 presidential election and pundits everywhere are trying to explain what they mean. This might be a useful exercise if the polls weren’t so damn depressing. But they are depressing. No matter what polls come out, it points to a close election with Biden behind in all the states that need to be won for a Biden victory. It doesn’t really matter why at this point. What matters is can Biden change this in time to win the election. I see no evidence of this.

Nate Silver was looking at the polls and had some interesting thoughts about what to do. The Democrats seem committed to a strategy that insures a close election particularly in regards to the Electoral College. Silver sees the most likely scenario for a Biden win is Biden with 270 Electoral Votes(the minimum number needed to win) and Trump with 268. This result has numerous potential for election stealing complaints with all of the contingent problems those complaints would bring. The better question is there an option?

Obviously, a different candidate might help. But isn’t this a roll of the dice when Biden, at least, has a chance of winning? It is. This, however, misses the point. As Silver noted the Democrats are already rolling the dice with Biden. He isn’t a sure thing and numerous things could get worse with a Biden candidacy and very little can get better. If the Democrats are going to roll the dice, why not roll it on a different candidate that could shake things up for Trump because Biden, at least as of this date, isn’t.

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New polls are showing Trump still leading Biden in a close race. Democrats are saying not worry though because Biden leads with likely voters as opposed to registered voters. I guess I shouldn’t worry then, right? Because these experts are never wrong, right? Well, if you ignore President Al Gore and President Hillary Clinton. Somehow I don’t find this comforting because, and I am just speculating here, what if some of those registered voters turn into actual voters. It could happen. Registered voters could actually turn out and vote.

The lack of energy on the Democratic side is disheartening. It is like the election is all wrapped up. They are confident that Trump will do something that will ruin his chances and everything will be just fine. They mean, of course, something like a videotape of Trump talking about grabbing unwilling women by the pussy. Yes that should work, absolutely. Nobody could vote for him after saying something like that. Waiting for Trump to make a mistake or to get convicted of a felony is a terrible strategy. It puts Trump in the driver seat. He has been successfully milking his grievances to get his way for years. I don’t understand it and I don’t like it but it is nonetheless true.

Even more disheartening is Biden doesn’t seem up to the vigorous campaign required for someone is such a tight election. He has disappeared. I challenge you to go to any news web site and check the number of times the name Trump is mentioned with the name Biden. It isn’t even close. Trump is always in the public eye. Yes, a lot of it is bad press but it is press and a lot of people either don’t understand the arguments against Trump or don’t care. We are, after all, talking about low information voters. Either way, the name Trump is on everyone’s lips — friend or foe, Biden not so much.

Surprisingly for a man who needs to change people’s minds about his age, Biden is doing remarkably little to do it. Protecting Biden from public view is a terrible idea. Better that he is bumbling around in front of a camera than hidden away in the White House. Could he do any worse than falling asleep at a trial which hasn’t seemed to hurt Trump in the least. Trump is only a few years younger than Biden. They are both old men. Right now Trump appears to be the more energetic of the two. If there are people who care about this, and, by that, I mean low information voters, then Biden needs to meet the challenge. Isn’t it better to get him out there in order to test the old fellow to see how he does? If he is up to then I am fine with sticking with him. If he isn’t, I would rather discover this now than in August after the Democratic Convention when the die is cast.

But telling me not to worry and trust that the Democratic big wigs know what they are talking about and this is in the bag is madness. True bat shit craziness. Before I can trust you with your speculations, you need to show you can turn things around. Biden’s continuing stagnant poll numbers misses the mark by a mile.

I am worried.

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I am sure the cops will come up with an explanation that gets them off the hook but the death of Roger Fortson is a perfect case to show the problems of the police, Black men and the 2nd Amendment. Forston was an Air Force man in his home when the police came knocking but, according to witnesses, not identifying themselves as police. Forston, who did not know they were cops, greeted them with a gun which is his right. The cops shoot him dead.

First, cops should always identify themselves as cops — every single time. This may have stopped the tragedy from going any further. I don’t care what the situation is because the cops, as in this case, might be at the wrong house. Given the high percentage of gun owners in the USA, if the cops break down someone’s front door without identifying themselves, they really should expect to be greeted with a person holding a gun. Isn’t this what the whole 2nd Amendment argument is all about — home owners protecting their homes. Identifying themselves as cops is for the safety of the cops as well as any potential suspects.

Then there is the fact that the cops had the wrong address. Yes, the cops can make mistakes but how rotten is it for the cops to break down a person’s door, find a man with a gun waiting for them and, because he is pointing a gun at them, the cops then shoot the person dead. All taking place within seconds of the police breaking down the person’s door. How do you balance a person’s right to protect themselves with the cops justified fear that the person holding a gun might kill them? Right now, it seems that cops have a little trouble with the constitutional right for Black men to bear arms (see Tamir Rice, John Crawford and Philando Castile).

It is completely irrelevant to argue, like Heather MacDonald frequently does, that black criminals are much more dangerous to the black population than cops. I suspect that this is also true that white criminals are more dangerous to white people than the cops. This should go without saying, right? Criminals are criminals. There should be an expectation that they are more dangerous than cops. Cops, on the other hand, aren’t supposed to be killing innocent people. Criminals are under no such compunction.

The fact that the mortality of Blacks at the hands of cops is small compared to Black criminals is changing the argument about a real problem. MacDonald says the problem is crime and if only Blacks understood that the police, in order to deal with crime, will have to take on Black criminals. Up to a point, she is correct. Criminals need to be dealt with but if you are afraid that your call to the police might get you or a neighbor killed, you might think differently. She conveniently ignores the historical experience that Blacks have had with the cops. If she considered it, it might help her understand why Blacks focus on cops killing innocent Blacks. They shouldn’t have to worry about cops killing innocent people.

If Blacks are afraid to ask the cops for help, they may depend more upon their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms which conflicts with MacDonald’s assertion that innocent Black people will have to endure even more contact with the police in order to stop Black crime. The cops then will face even more Black men with guns which then will lead to even more innocent black men getting shot. MacDonald assumes a level of trust that Black people just don’t have with the cops. She can complain all she wants about Black criminals being more dangerous than cops but in order for her plan to work Blacks have to see cops as allies and not enemies. They don’t and it is up to the cops to change this perception.

Until then, Black men will have to exercise their 2nd Amendment right with extreme caution.

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Sen. Vance, Republican Ohio, made a speech about the difference between funding Israel’s wars and funding the Ukraine’s wars. The key take away here is he said ”  I do not think that it is in America’s interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine.” I think the never-ending war in Israel has been going on a bit longer than the never-ending war in the Ukraine. If you are going to talk about never-ending wars then it is best not to compare the shortest never-ending war to the longest never-ending war in the world.

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Mar-Jac Poultry has been caught again using child labor. Again. Last year, a 16 year old boy was killed at this company.

Clearly Mar-Jac Poultry is more afraid of losing money if they don’t have enough workers than they are of hiring child labor. The fines need to be a little more frightening in order to make Mar-Jac Poultry do the right thing. Criminals won’t behave until they are afraid of the punishment for their crime.

Law and Order, if you know what I mean.

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Harrison Butker recently kicked up a shit storm over the role of women in modern society. If he and his wife want to live that way, I am OK. I am also OK with him telling people that is what he believes. So I didn’t pay much attention to the whole falderal because it seemed like just another controversy de jour. People getting upset because someone wanted to upset people so he found a way to upset them.

But then I stumbled upon an article from conservative columnist Peachy Keenan where I discovered Butker liked the Latin (Traditional) Mass. Now that is interesting and amazing. I have given up on the Catholic Church long ago and I couldn’t imagine why anyone would prefer the old Latin Mass. I had a few years of Latin Mass in my pre-Vatican II childhood. I even had to train as an alter boy with the old Latin Mass. My opinion was it was a pain in the ass.

Apparently, I am wrong. It is a thing that has caught on with modern Catholics. I checked up on the mystery of the Latin Mass here and here. I could have gone on as Google directed to me to numerous links on the topic but, after reading the two above, I can say I still have no idea why anyone would like the old Latin Mass. It is a lot of gobbledygook about the mystery of the Eucharist, reverence and tradition.

Even after 12 years of Catholic education, Communion is a mystery to me. Why I have to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ is beyond me. It sounds cannibalistic and I avoided this sacrament as much as humanly possible. So, I missed the transcendent experience of Communion at a Latin Mass. So I will give the Latin Mass lovers this one because Communion stumps me in Latin or in English.

Then, how is the modern mass irreverent? Standing when receiving communion as opposed to kneeling when receiving communion is one explanation. God would rather us be on our knees than on our feet. People dress too casually for the modern mass which has nothing to do with the Latin Mass. The Latin Mass doesn’t have a dress code. It is their own personal prejudice of what reverence is because God has advised them about the importance of kneeling before him in a three-piece suit.

Finally, there is tradition which is the worst possible reason to use the Latin Mass. The lovers of the Latin Mass say that practicing the mass in this way connects them to the vast majority of saints who worshipped God in exactly the same way. So you can only connect to God by living the way the saints did? The Saints wouldn’t recognize the present mass. So I guess there should be no electricity or central heating in churches. People should skip baths, not brush their teeth, and wear the same clothes they worked the fields in in order to connect with saints of yesteryear. Why go half-assed in your connection with the saints when you can go in for the total traditional experience? Most of what we do is not traditional and for good reason, the past was horrible for most people. Tradition for tradition’s sake is bullshit.

Furthermore, modern people are not peasants. Almost everyone can read, write and a good portion can even think for themselves. The Church has to appeal to a much broader and more educated group of people than in the past. An appeal to tradition is all very nice but unlikely to capture the imagination of all the people searching for God. People usually abandon tradition when it no longer works, so Butker and his ilk can continue to go to the Latin Mass if they want. Vade in pace which is go in peace for you non-Latin speaking hell bound heathens.