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295 Responses

on Tue 18 Oct 2016 at 11:59:29 abagond

A new Open Thread!

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on Tue 18 Oct 2016 at 14:09:59 gro jo

Afrofem, when we started this debate I asked you to state the white privileges Whites have. Your comments clearly show that you resent whites for said privileges but you are a little vague in stating what these privileges are. You provided a list of advantages whites enjoy and call them privileges.
Let’s define privilege and take them one by one:
1) priv·i·lege
ˈpriv(ə)lij/
noun
noun: privilege; plural noun: privileges

1.
a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.
“education is a right, not a privilege”
synonyms: advantage, benefit; prerogative, entitlement, right;
concession, freedom, liberty
“senior students have certain privileges”. I would agree with you that Whites have more freedom than others because they are white. Privilege, restricted to that definition, is incontrovertible in my opinion, but wrong if you claim Whites have special rights that nobody else enjoys.
2) “The net worth of the average White family is nine times the net worth of the average Black family.” How is that a special right that only Whites
enjoy? Some Asians do better than Whites and some Blacks do better than the average Black family.
3) “The White privilege of those unemployed White workers also means that they don’t have to worry about constant police harassment in their neighborhoods or the spector of long term imprisonment for “broken windows” offenses.” All you’ve shown here is that Blacks have not attained full equality under the law, nothing else. Whites enjoy full citizenship. That’s a right not a privilege in the sense that they are getting something they have no legitimate right to. Blacks have, correctly, always fought for the same right.
4) ” Your hypothetical “redneck GI” is more privileged than Colin Powell on several fronts. It is a false argument to conflate the White enlisted man’s privilege bestowed on him by virtue of his skin color to the privilege of rank earned by Colin Powell. Ditto for any White working woman and Oprah (a favorite strawman) of White privilege deniers.” Interesting, you believe in the privilege of rank as long as it’s earned? I’m certain that you can find a number of whites who satisfy your criterion. Can you deny that Bill Gates earned his privilege? John Henry Thompson, the inventor of the Lingo software language is virtually unknown probably because he’s black. Is this a case of unearned white privilege? Could be, US society isn’t wired to celebrate black creativity on equal terms with white creativity. Maybe, it might be because one made an indecent amount of money while the other didn’t. Getting back to my hypothetical “redneck GI”, please tell me how his privilege allows him to disregard an order from Powell that could cost him his life?

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on Wed 19 Oct 2016 at 03:05:35 Afrofem

@gro jo

I wouldn’t exactly call this a debate; more like a discussion.

“…Your comments clearly show that you resent whites for said privileges”

You are joking, right?

I think any system that confers unearned privileges on the basis of skin color, gender or any other criteria is due for an overhaul. I’m not resentful of individuals. The system is the problem——and the solution.

I will add more thoughts tomorrow. It has been a long day….

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on Wed 19 Oct 2016 at 13:26:48 villagewriter

@Taotesan
I found an interesting article about decolonization in SA.
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2016-10-16-in-the-fall-decolonisation-and-the-rejuvenation-of-the-academic-project-in-south-africa/#.WAdyHskWCWj

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 05:01:04 Afrofem

@gro jo

…wrong if you claim Whites have special rights that nobody else enjoys.

I do see European descent Americans as having a full tranche of privileges that other Americans do not enjoy. Every single White child knows that he/she is part of a dominant group and that that makes them “normal” and everyone else less than normal or desirable.

Conversely, every Black American child realizes around the age of four that everything about them is considered less than “normal” or desirable. It is a crushing realization that some Black children internalize, personalize and never recover from.

Peggy McIntosh, author of White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, describes White privilege this way:

“As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege…I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.[…]

The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.[…]

My skin color was an asset for any move I was educated to want to make.

[…]obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already.”

http://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack

McIntosh goes on to list 26 everyday ways in which she can count on White privilege to smooth her interactions with other people and how she think s of herself.

One privilege on the list really hit home for me:
“10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.”

I’ve had retail workers demand picture identification on a regular basis when I use credit or debit cards. The workers who are most insistent about ID are Latino and Asian immigrants, plus some Black people. In some cases, I would be the only person in a checkout line who was expected to produce ID.

So yes, gro jo, White privilege is not a chimera to me. It is all too real.

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 11:44:15 gro jo

“One privilege on the list really hit home for me:
“10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.”

I’ve had retail workers demand picture identification on a regular basis when I use credit or debit cards. The workers who are most insistent about ID are Latino and Asian immigrants, plus some Black people. In some cases, I would be the only person in a checkout line who was expected to produce ID.

So yes, gro jo, White privilege is not a chimera to me. It is all too real.”

If that’s what you call a privilege, we are already in agreement. You failed to note the following passage I wrote above: “I would agree with you that Whites have more freedom than others because they are white. Privilege, restricted to that definition, is incontrovertible in my opinion, but wrong if you claim Whites have special rights that nobody else enjoys.”
As I’ve indicated on the previous thread, the only privilege whites enjoy that nobody else does is to receive lenient treatment after killing a nonwhite person. I’ve used credit cards, routinely, without having to show ID. In my experience, the demand for ID has occurred mostly at establishments run by Hispanics, not Whites! Our experience match!
Are you sure you quoted this accurately? It makes no sense: “10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.” What does “… I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.” mean? Why would it be a good thing to have one’s skin color not work against the appearance of financial stability?
Let’s sum up. The stuff you present are rights that Whites have and Blacks don’t due to the history of the USA. Blacks should strive for parity, not some nonsense about Whites giving up the rights they enjoy as full citizens. The whole white privilege thing, except, in white on black or any other person of color homicide, is nonsense.

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 13:45:10 Herneith

Racist Machines:

https://www.propublica.org/article/breaking-the-black-box-how-machines-learn-to-be-racist?word=Trump

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 14:00:11 Herneith

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/19/white-privilege-wages-jihad-the-kansas-plotters-are-militia-members-not-terrorists-because-theyre-crusaders-not-jihadists/

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 23:05:05 Afrofem

@gro jo

We will have to agree to disagree.

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 23:18:37 gro jo

Fair enough.

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on Thu 20 Oct 2016 at 23:27:43 gro jo

“10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.”
Oh, I get it now, she was saying that her white skin did not undermine the appearance of financial stability.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 03:09:09 Afrofem

@gro jo

One question: What event or series of events led you to your conclusion that White privilege is “nonsense”?

We all come to this forum with widely disparate experiences and outlooks. What shaped your opinion on White privilege?

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 03:20:55 Afrofem

@ Herneith

Thanks for the link. Chauncey DeVega is one of my favorite writers. His podcasts are also a blast.

P. S. Is there a Black History month in Canada?

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 10:48:26 Herneith

P. S. Is there a Black History month in Canada?

Yes, such as it is.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 12:23:47 Afrofem

@Herneith

Which month?

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 12:31:06 Herneith

February.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 13:24:09 gro jo

“What shaped your opinion on White privilege?”
As a kid, I spent two years rubbing shoulders with whites in French boarding schools and as a guest during the weekends at the homes of white families. I came away from this experience with a more realistic view of whites. Most of the White privilege claims are at odds with my personal experience. The waitstaff at these institutions, regardless of their personal opinions, waited on me the way they waited on all the other boarders. Every Thursday, we would stroll along the town’s canal where boats called péniches were docked. I never had a doubt that I was better off than the kids I saw on these boats. Enough with the biographical detail, on to the shakiness of the whole White Privilege concept.
Your hero, Chauncey DeVega wrote: “White privilege is a concept which describes the unearned social, political, economic, and other advantages that white people receive because of their skin color…An acknowledgement of privilege often requires that a person reorient themselves in the world and reconsider their relationships with other people.”
So, White individuals, no matter what their personal circumstance, have the power to upend a system that’s “…an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious.” by reorienting themselves in the world and reconsider their relationships with other people!? That,to me, sounds like a variant of Dorothy clicking her heels and saying “There’s no place like home”. My view is that most of what’s called “white privilege” is white people enjoying their rights as citizens of a republic. Blacks and others should aspire to do the same, not demand that Whites give up what they earned through revolutions and reforms.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 14:49:44 villagewriter

@Abagond

Will you be writing about the ongoing prison strike? I have been reading about prison slavery and I am disgusted.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 15:10:01 Lord of Mirkwood

@Abagond

Yes, a post on the prison strike would be great.

The people striking are incredibly brave and deserve to have their story told. To me, this episode brings to mind the Irish freedom’ fighters hunger strike in the Maze Prison. Then and now, it takes staggering courage to stand up to the powers that be when you are completely in their grasp.

I call God’s blessing upon all the strikers.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 15:16:22 abagond

@ villagewriter

Yes I will.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 15:30:09 Afrofem

@gro jo

I saw this article and thought of you:

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/heres-what-economists-dont-understand-about-race

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Why should Black people “aspire to” enjoy the rights of citizens of a republic when they contribute to the economy & culture, pay taxes, fight wars and have even deeper roots in said republic than the White citizens (most Black families have been in the US for 300 years versus an average 150 years for White families).

Why are the rights of Black Americans conditional on the goodwill of others and the rights of White Americans guaranteed in theory and practice?

From my perspective, your statement, “White individuals, no matter what their personal circumstance, have the power to upend a system…” ignores the fact that European-Americans don’t have to “upend” anything. They are free to access the riches of this society to the extent that they know what is available. Many low income White Americans are simply ignorant of all that is available to them. Why should they care? Many White Americans with less than a high school education earn more than Black Americans with college degrees.

That to me, is the very epitome of White privilege.

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 16:24:21 Herneith

Interesting take from Elaine Brown:

http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/black-lives-matter-has-a-plantation-mentality-elaine-brown-black-panthers/18888#.WAjVqxL3af1

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 18:04:28 gro jo

“@gro jo

I saw this article and thought of you:

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/heres-what-economists-dont-understand-about-race” In what way did the article make you think of me?
“Why should Black people “aspire to” enjoy the rights of citizens of a republic when they contribute to the economy & culture, pay taxes, fight wars and have even deeper roots in said republic than the White citizens (most Black families have been in the US for 300 years versus an average 150 years for White families).” Because they don’t have a choice in the matter. Whites will not give up any of their hard won rights to please Blacks or anybody else. Blacks will have to continue to challenge the social system as they have since they landed in the Americas.
I don’t see why you would object to the term “aspire to” unless you are claiming that Blacks have already achieved the goal or the goal is no longer worth persuing.
William Darity, Jr. is correct when he wrote the following: ” “There’s actually something convenient about those arguments in the sense that if you took them seriously, it would mean that blacks were fully capable of engaging in the self-correction to improve their situation, so there would not necessarily be any need to rely upon social policy that would require the political support of whites,”…“Obviously there are always going to be individuals who are outliers, who accomplish great things with minimal resources. But if we’re thinking about patterns at the average, then I think one of the most dramatic statistics that we’ve discovered in the work that we’ve been doing is that blacks with a college education, that is, blacks who have a college degree, have two-thirds of the net worth of whites who never finished high school. That’s a stark sense in which somebody has taken personal responsibility, has been motivated, has achieved, but there’s not the same payoff.”… “If you buy the black dysfunction story, then the key is for young black men to pull up their pants or the equivalent,”… “But that’s a very different policy from saying, well, we should assure all Americans a human right to work. Or even if we don’t talk about an employment guarantee, then at least the basic income guarantee.”…“If we’re concerned about black-white disparities specifically and we want to have a race-specific policy, then I think we have to start talking about a program of reparations [for slavery].”… “If we are not willing to pursue race-specific policies,” Darity argues, “then we need universal programs that are race-conscious in the sense that they will disproportionately benefit the most disadvantaged groups even though they are programs that everyone is eligible for.” One such program would be a Federal job guarantee. ”
The candidacy of that old faker “Bernie” Sanders tells me that a number of Whites would go for something like a Federal job guarantee. Thanks for introducing Darity to me. He stands head and shoulders above DeVega.
“From my perspective, your statement, “White individuals, no matter what their personal circumstance, have the power to upend a system…” ignores the fact that European-Americans don’t have to “upend” anything.”
Shame on you Afrofem for misquoting me. Here’s the quotation in full: “So, White individuals, no matter what their personal circumstance, have the power to upend a system that’s “…an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious.” by reorienting themselves in the world and reconsider their relationships with other people!? As it shows, I’m questioning the claim that European-Americans can change a system they are oblivious to after DeVega tells them about it. They would simply disbelieve him and dismiss his argument as nonsense. So, harping on about “White Privilege” is a waste of time in my opinion.
“They are free to access the riches of this society to the extent that they know what is available. Many low income White Americans are simply ignorant of all that is available to them. Why should they care? Many White Americans with less than a high school education earn more than Black Americans with college degrees.

That to me, is the very epitome of White privilege.”
You’ve already clearly stated your antipathy to them in your original comment. “@villagewriter

Thanks for the link.

I found John Ibbitson’s argument full of false equivalents and maudlin sympathy for working class White people. Sympathy I don’t share.”

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 18:23:50 gro jo

Afrofem, I don’t know if you realize it but your claims about poor whites sounds like the stuff White conservatives say about poor blacks. You could make a fortune making all those ignorant whites aware of the ‘limitless’ opportunities available to them!

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on Fri 21 Oct 2016 at 20:22:51 Solitaire

For anyone who is interested:

Nightmare online magazine (horror and dark fantasy) (http://www.nightmare-magazine.com) is running a special issue in October called “People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror!” in the same vein as the Lightspeed magazine special issue I posted about here:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/01/01/star-wars-the-force-awakens/#comment-317534

Nightmare also published an interesting essay by Tananarive Due in July about anti-black violence, police brutality, and horror literature:

http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/h-word-writing-horror/

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 01:00:51 Afrofem

@gro jo

I am absolutely shame-less! LOL!!!

I find it hilarious that you would defend people who skate on their unearned skin privilege every day of their lives. People who become angry and defensive if you so much as speak standard English to them.

I grew up with the people you are defending. They are not strangers to me. I understand them like a mongoose understands a cobra. I know they would harm and abuse cosmopolitan, European prep school you just as readily as they harm and abuse a poor, Black tin-roof shack dweller from Alabama.

So no, I have no sympathy for the “people from Peoria”. I recognize their humanity and would give them basic respect——–which is way, way more than you or I would receive in return from them.

They chose over the past forty years to sway to rightwing snake charmers and now they have to pay the piper. They had the power to collaborate with Black people and others to build a country where everyone thrives. They chose otherwise.

We will all have to suffer through a long period of instability, because they chose their vaunted White privilege over the good of the nation.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 01:06:52 Afrofem

@ Herneith

Thanks for the link. I will have to read it later tonight.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 02:02:46 Mary Burrell

@Abagond: Are you going to do a post on Deborah Danner the black woman who suffered from schizophrenia and was shot dead by cops.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 02:04:56 Mary Burrell

@ Solitaire: Tananarive Due is one of my favorite writers of the genre of horror.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 02:06:34 Mary Burrell

@Solitaire: Thanks for that link it looks wonderful.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 02:14:30 Mary Burrell

@Solitaire: I have the Nightmare magazine podcast don’t know how I missed the website. Thanks again this is my kind of thing.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 03:02:46 gro jo

“@gro jo

I am absolutely shame-less! LOL!!!

I find it hilarious that you would defend people who skate on their unearned skin privilege every day of their lives. People who become angry and defensive if you so much as speak standard English to them.”
Oh, come on now, where have I defended anybody? If they are skating on their unearned skin privilege, how can they also be ignorant of “all that is available to them.”?
Where have I denied that they enjoy more breaks than non-whites? I’ve only argued that what DeVega and you claim to be absolute advantages are relative ones.
I’ve held off on the sarcasm in this discussion with you because I admire and respect your intellect. It pains me to see you resort to silly accusations like the one above or twisting my skeptical question regarding DeVega’s program to deprogram Whites, to make it appear as if I’m trying to excuse White racism.
If this discussion pains you, I’m perfectly willing to drop it, since we’ve both already expressed our views on the subject. I have no wish to see it degenerate into a litany of unfounded accusations

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 03:26:33 gro jo

“They chose over the past forty years to sway to rightwing snake charmers and now they have to pay the piper. They had the power to collaborate with Black people and others to build a country where everyone thrives. They chose otherwise.”
Really? What was going on in 1976 to lead you to such conclusion?

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 03:27:38 Afrofem

@gro jo

This discussion didn’t “pain me” in the least. Whether you meant it or not, I saw it as a devil’s advocate argument. You made me think of the weaknesses of my arguments. That is a good thing.

My basic position is unchanged.

I don’t worship DeVega. I’ve read and listened to him enough to recognize my own disagreements with both his style and substance.

Finally, I think the only people who can “deprogram Whites” are other European Americans. They won’t listen to anyone else.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 03:30:54 Afrofem

@gro jo

This is what was going on:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery/public/media/2016/03/11/050603busing.jpg?itok=CqMYKjjq

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 03:32:21 Afrofem

https://legallegacy.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/4428686002_f632b5be11_b-jpeg.jpg?w=468&h=379

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 04:14:00 gro jo

I already know about the Boston school busing pogroms. I was curious about the collaboration with Blacks part of your comment, when was that on the agenda and who put it there?

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 04:21:25 Afrofem

@ Herneith

I finally had a chance to read that article that included comments from Elaine Brown.

I found the author, Tim Slater’s style to be filled with typical British sarcasm and sensationalism. In the author’s rush to label BLM as ineffective, the author leans heavily into hyperbole such as:

“Politics is about seeing the world as it is and how it might be. But BLM’s pessimistic, conspiratorial views on ‘white supremacy’ render it incapable of seeing either. And its chronic lack of vision has brought it into conflict not just with former Panthers, but with the old civil-rights establishment.

As the US-based journalist Jenny Jarvie notes, civil-rights veteran and former mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young recently said BLMers were ‘unlovable little brats’ who lacked ‘a clear message’. Atlanta activists responded in an unfortunately bratty fashion: ‘It is dismissive and disrespectful to ask black people why they are taking to the streets, affirming their lives and healing.’”

Quoting Andrew “Sell-Out” Young in the same article with Elaine Brown is an insult to Brown. While I understand Brown’s frustration with BLM, I am reminded of two things:

1. The Black Panther Party (BPP) was far from perfect. They were a group of twenty-somethings trying to challenge a vicious system with very little help or guidance. I don’t think they ever truly understood the strengths or weaknesses of their adversaries. I deeply respect their effort and their sacrifice (many members are still being held as political prisoners to this day.)

2. BLM/The Movement For Black Lives is far from perfect. They are a group of twenty-somethings trying to challenge a vicious system with very little help or guidance. I don’t think they truly understand the strengths or weaknesses of their adversaries (some of whom they are accepting funding from—–big mistake). I deeply respect their effort and their sacrifice.

In other words, I see BLM’s struggle as a continuation of BPP’s struggle. At least they have the guts to make a stand.

I hope they don’t suffer the same fate. Only time will tell….

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 04:28:54 Solitaire

@ Mary Burrell

You’re very welcome! I’m just happy someone found it of interest!

I really like Tananarive Due’s science fiction and fantasy work. I have difficulties with the horror genre, but many stories are more like dark fantasy which doesn’t bother me. I make sure never to read Nightmare late at night because some of the stories are too creepy for me and I can rarely tell which ones by the title alone.

If you look back in the archives, they also did special issues called Women Destroy Horror! and Queers Destroy Horror!

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 05:17:08 Afrofem

@gro jo

“I was curious about the collaboration with Blacks part of your comment, when was that on the agenda and who put it there?”

1. Before his assassination in 1969, Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party was able to build a coalition in Chicago that included the BPP, the Puerto Rican Young Lords and a working class White group called the Young Patriots. According to Jakobi Williams, associate professor of African American and African diaspora studies and history at Indiana University. in an interview with Aaron Leonard:

“The Black Panther Party on a national level worked diligently to form coalitions that transcended race under a rubric of class struggle against the US capitalist system. What makes the Illinois chapter of the Panthers so profound is that they were able to reach and exceed the goals set forth by the Party’s founder in a city with much racial strife. There were at least six major racial explosions in the city of Chicago in the 1960s alone.

Due to the genius of Bob Lee and Fred Hampton, they were able to build an alliance with the Young Patriots, poor southern white migrants located on the north side in Uptown and many of its members used the confederate flag as its symbol. Bob Lee was able to demonstrate the commonalities of their struggles and the ILBPP [Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party] had community service programs to solve all the issues that the poor white migrants faced such as: the Free Breakfast Program, the Free Health Clinic, and several others. The Panthers trained the Young Patriots and other poor southern white migrants how to set up and maintain community service programs that benefited their community and thus a coalition between the groups was established setting the stage for the creation of the original Rainbow Coalition.”

http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/157874

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2. Just prior to his assassination in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was putting the final touches on planning a multi-ethnic Poor People’s campaign (march and encampment) in Washington, DC.

In March of 1968, Dr. King met with “The first gathering of over fifty multiracial organizations that came together with SCLC to join the Poor People’s Campaign, took place in Atlanta, Georgia in March 1968. Key leaders and organizations at this session included: Tom Hayden of the Newark Community Union, Reis Tijerina of the Federal Alliance of New Mexico, John Lewis of the Southern Regional Council, Myles Horton of the Highlander Center, Appalachian volunteers from Kentucky, welfare rights activists, California farm workers, and organized tenants.”

According to the site of the current Poor People’s campaign,

“King emphasized the need for poor whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans to unite. He asserted that the Poor People’s Campaign would only be successful if the poor could come together across all the obstacles and barriers set up to divide us…”

http://poorpeoplescampaign.org/poor-peoples-campaign-1968/

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 05:38:50 Afrofem

@Solitaire

I can’t take horror films. My husband loves the genre. When I asked him how he could look at it, he told me that nothing in those films was a bad as real life.

He’s right, real life can be pretty horrific.

Thanks for the link.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 06:14:46 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

Right there with you on the movies. Your husband is absolutely correct about movies vs real life. But the thing about horror movies is they’re designed to scare us, artificially setting off all our autonomic responses to fear. Some people enjoy this as a cathartic release in a safe environment. I think with me, it overloads my system and I carry the fear response for too long after the movie’s over.

The weird thing is, the times I’ve been in the most danger in real life, I’ve never been afraid until after the threat has passed. I have no idea why I react so badly to scary movies and so calmly in life-or-death situations.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 14:57:28 gro jo

Thanks for the history Afrofem. I was aware of all these initiatives by MLK and FH. I would even say that’s probably the reason they were murdered. What’s not clear to me is the role played by poor Whites in the destruction of these initiatives. FH was murdered by a black police spy who infiltrated the BPP. MLK’s assassin appeared to be part of organized white supremacist groups. The BPP lost several members killed by people connected to Ron Karenga, the Black Nationalist who gave us Kwanzaa. The feud between BPP and US(Karenga’s group) was manipulated by the FBI as part of COINTELPRO. I would appreciate it if you’d go into more detail on the role played by “people from Peoria”, “cobras”, in this story.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 15:37:28 Afrofem

@ gro jo

You’re right. That reply is something out of “opposites day”. I should have turned off my computer and turned in for the night instead of continuing to write.

My error. I will provide a coherent answer later.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 15:56:58 Afrofem

@ Solitaire

I have similar reactions to emergency situations. My mind becomes clearer and sharper. I don’t succumb to panic at those points.

My husband has a keen appreciation for well done psychological horror. Yet he sits through more gruesome physical horror with equal relish.

When I see depictions of physical violence, I think of the consequences of that violence: shattered eardrums, long term back pain, migraines, loss of limbs, painful recuperations and stressed relationships.

If a torture scene comes up, I will walk out of the room. I have read so many accounts of people trying to put their lives back together after torture, that all I think about are the long term effects of that depiction of torture.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 19:07:24 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

“My mind becomes clearer and sharper.”

Yes! And everything slows down, like time itself is being distorted.

About the depictions of physical violence, torture, etc, do you have the same reaction for any movie or does it depend on the genre? The reason I ask is, although such scenes are always disturbing, I find that I can handle them better in serious films where the implications of such violence are explored.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 19:42:39 Herneith

@Afrofem:

Your husband should watch that television series ‘The Exorcist’, not the movie! Most of the people find it frightening, I found it to be akin to a sopa opera about demons!

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 21:49:46 Mary Burrell

@Herneith: For many years in the genre of horror films The Exorcist scared me the most. The demon’s voice done by the late Mercedes Mccambridge scared me and the makeup used on the girl. But I watch The Walking Dead today in 2016 in my dark living room and it doesn’t bother me. The zombies make the same gutteral sounds as the demon in film and the makeup is the same. I had to laugh at my silliness for being scared. They are about the same visually. The show on FOX is pretty good i like it.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 21:51:36 Mary Burrell

I am more afraid of the real monsters walking around in real life than I am of the ones on the small screen.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 23:10:39 Afrofem

@Solitaire

I walk out or cover my eyes on all torture scenes regardless of genre. It hurts to see other people in pain.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 23:13:02 Afrofem

@ Herneith

I will bring it up to him. He loves that scary stuff. He doesn’t even jump at the worst scenes.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 23:15:08 Afrofem

@Mary Burrell

“I am more afraid of the real monsters walking around in real life than I am of the ones on the small screen.”

Agreed! There are lots of real life monsters in this world.

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on Sat 22 Oct 2016 at 23:40:31 Herneith

I always wondered at these demonic stories. If I was a demon, I would come to earth and live in the lap of luxury, not roll around in my own bodily waste, projectile vomiting, spinning my head around with snot and pimples all over my face. The obscenities, maybe.

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on Sun 23 Oct 2016 at 18:17:08 munubantu

Interesting reflections of a White officer regarding the complex relationships between the police and Black communities in the USA, after a close encounter with a Black youngster driving while Black,

(http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/12/us/officer-traffic-stop-fb-post-trnd/index.html)

I only hope that his thoughts will make his colleagues think too.
It’s too soon to give up hope.

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on Sun 23 Oct 2016 at 19:26:41 Afrofem

@munubantu

Thanks for the link.

I am cynical and suspicious of those White “feel good” stories, especially ones involving the police. I consider them pro-police propaganda—–copaganda. A sub-genre of “White savior” propaganda that floods US media daily.

Red flags in the story for me included:

⚑smiling White cop in full uniform holding a baby (images of babies are used extensively in the US to sell everything from soap to automobiles).

⚑“I truly don’t even care who’s fault it is that young man was so scared to have a police officer at his window. Blame the media, blame bad cops, blame protestors, or Colin Kaepernick if you want. It doesn’t matter to me who’s to blame. I just wish somebody would fix it.”

Fascinating to me that this police officer is criticizing consequences (media coverage, anti-impunity protests and Colin Kaepernick (?) instead of causes ( a system of police impunity, extreme police violence and police militarization).

⚑“He wants to create a nonprofit whose goal is to establish change the way officers police”.

Hmmm. Do we really need another non-profit or do we need justice and sanity in public policy and enforcement?

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Copaganda is extremely pervasive in the US. The police have their own broadcast television channel. The majority of US television drama shows center around law enforcement agencies at the federal, state or local level. When a cop is injured or killed in America, the national media will refer to the police as “heroes” and call them “our police”. Just the other day a national news anchor lied on air and said that on-the-job death rate for cops has gone up fifty percent. The reality is just the opposite. According to Huffington Post:

“Data released by the FBI on Monday shows that 2015 was one of the safest years for U.S. law enforcement in recorded history, following a sustained trend of low numbers of on-duty deaths in recent decades. […]

The data contrasts with the claims from some conservative media outlets and police union bosses who have continued to peddle the narrative that officers are under siege. The past two years have seen a surge in police reform activism in the wake of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, and other high-profile instances of police killing civilians. But critics of this movement allege that groups like Black Lives Matter promote violence against officers, and have helped wage a “war on cops.”

That misinformation may have contributed to a skewed public perception of the issue. In a 2015 Rasmussen poll, 58 percent of voters said they believed there was a “war on police” in the United States.

But the FBI’s data has repeatedly contradicted these claims.”

So I tend to think of articles like the one you shared as attempts to shift the narrative away from a corrupt system to a decent individual. Naked propaganda or copaganda in this case.

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on Mon 24 Oct 2016 at 13:03:08 abagond

@ Mary Burrell

“Are you going to do a post on Deborah Danner the black woman who suffered from schizophrenia and was shot dead by cops.”

Yes.

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on Mon 24 Oct 2016 at 22:24:08 Afrofem

@gro jo

Still working on my comment to you….

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on Tue 25 Oct 2016 at 05:30:01 gro jo

Boy, oh boy, I feel bad for the “cobras” from Peoria. A ton of cogitation is about to drop on their heads.

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on Tue 25 Oct 2016 at 15:14:16 Herneith

Folks, I need your help! I need to purchase a new vacuum. Any suggestions? Preferably an upright.

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on Thu 27 Oct 2016 at 04:34:09 Afrofem

@gro jo

”I was curious about the collaboration with Blacks part of your comment, when was that on the agenda and who put it there?”

There have been many times over the course of this country’s history that White people could have collaborated with Black people in ways that would have been mutually beneficial. They chose not to because they thought White Privilege would shield them from some natural or human made scourge. Most of the time they just didn’t care about the lives of Black people.

There are at least four instances in the past thirty years that White people have chosen not to collaborate with Black people and the country as a whole has suffered as a result. They include:

The Drug War – White people account for 80 percent of drugs bought and sold in the US. Those numbers have stayed constant for decades. Yet, the corporate media has convinced many Americans that the nation’s drug problem has a Black face. From Reefer Madness in the 1930s to the Crack Epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, Black communities have borne the brunt of government attempts to regulate what people put in their own bodies.

The so-called Drug War has ushered in many anti-democratic changes to laws and enforcement practices: militarized police, harsh sentencing guidelines that abrogate the power and discretion of the judiciary branch and the growth of the Prison Industrial complex. At any point, White Americans could have shown compassion for Black addicts and their families, but instead cheered on the criminalization of entire communities.

Now, White America is in the grip of three simultaneous drug epidemics: Methamphetamines, Heroin and Opiates. Now they are wailing about “compassion for addicts and their families” and “treatment, not prison”. Result: Missed opportunities to add sanity to drug laws.

The 2000 Presidential Election – Bush was selected in the 2000 election through the use of various forms of organized chicanery. From rigged voting machines to altered voter rolls to physically blocking Black voters from accessing the polls, many of his methods ran roughshod over the rights of Black citizens.

When Black voters put up a hue and cry about voter abuse, the White owned media spent months pooh poohing those concerns. I remember months of editorial pages and letters to the editor dismissing the concerns of Black voters and their “imaginary” problems at the polls. They were labeled “sore losers”.

There were some White citizens who were also upset about the theft of the election, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to work with Black citizens to nip that problem in the bud. Result: Missed opportunities to reform the electoral system.

Bank Bailouts – The massive bank bailouts following the Financial Crash of 2008 infuriated the majority of ordinary Americans across racial and class lines. There were many national and local groups that tried to band together and pressure the government to end cash infusions to the banks, prosecute and imprison the highly placed thieves that crashed the system.

After the crash, the majority of White Americans simply hunkered down and looked the other way as numbers of Black people, Latinos, and low income White people slid off the edge of a financial cliff, into a chasm of joblessness and house evictions.

Now many Americans have joined the “precariat”———just one thin paycheck from homelessness. The bankers who crashed the system? They still wallow in million dollar bonuses. They also bribed Congress to make sure there wouldn’t be any nasty legal repercussions for their Wall Street casinos.

Result: Missed opportunities to reform the financial system.

Emergency Manager Laws in Michigan – After a generation of deindustrialization, the state government of Michigan ended revenue sharing with local municipalities, instead of raising taxes on the wealthiest Michiganders. This left many local towns and cities struggling to cover basic services.

Governor Rick Snyder and other Republicans decided that some “disaster capitalism” was just what Michigan needed. They passed an anti-democratic “Emergency Manager” law. To their credit, the people of Michigan pushed back with a statewide referendum overturning the law. However, lame duck Michigan legislators with nothing to lose overturned the will of the people by nullifying the results of the referendum.

Since 2011, it’s been dictatorship and hard(er) times for the blackest and poorest Michiganders since. Roughly 50 percent of all Black Michigan citizens are under “emergency management”. This is how Abagond describes the power of the emergency manager:

”An emergency manager is not elected. He answers only to the governor. He has the power to override the democratically elected city government, its laws and contracts (except with banks). He can do pretty much anything except miss a bond payment.”

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/flint-water-crisis/

Instead of continuing to fight against this affront to democracy, the White citizens of Michigan averted their eyes, leaving the Black citizens to struggle on their own. Collaboration would have made a tremendous difference in the lives of everyone in Michigan. Since it is overwhelmingly Black people affected (so far), White residents couldn’t care less.

Result: Missed opportunities to shore up democracy and prevent the ongoing Flint Water Crisis.

As far as I am concerned, all of these situations could have been avoided if the “people in Peoria” gave a care about other human beings————their fellow citizens, instead of being wrapped up in their White Privilege. They forget that we are all connected. Black people suffer today, White people suffer tomorrow. Working together could ameliorate a lot of that pain, both today and in the future.

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on Thu 27 Oct 2016 at 06:10:35 gro jo

Afrofem, it took you four days to come up with this list of grievances against an abstraction called White People with equally abstract White Privileges?
What your list shows is that Blacks and poor minority communities are the proverbial canaries in the US coalmine. The ills of the society are manifested first in their communities. Does it mean that Whites are immune as your talk of privilege would imply? No. Note that I’m not claiming that you’ve argued something so demonstrably false.
Speaking of coalmines, coal miners who are overwhelmingly white can hardly be called privileged since they are exposed to work related diseases when they are in demand and pushed aside when no longer needed. I’m disappointed by your comment because it doesn’t answer my question: “I was curious about the collaboration with Blacks part of your comment, when was that on the agenda and who put it there?” I expected you to write about Jesse Jackson’s run for president in 1988 and how the Peoria “cobras” sabotaged his campaign or some other political development like that. How about Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign and how Nixon’s law and order program broke the South from the Democratic party, as LBJ predicted that Civil Rights legislation would? You haven’t told me anything new.
“As far as I am concerned, all of these situations could have been avoided if the “people in Peoria” gave a care about other human beings————their fellow citizens, instead of being wrapped up in their White Privilege.”
My dear, this is embarrassingly preachy. White working class people can’t stop their employers from hiring cheaper Asian labor or exporting jobs to Asia in the pursuit of higher profits, yet you expect them to do things that would benefit minorities?
“Roughly 50 percent of all Black Michigan citizens are under “emergency management”…Instead of continuing to fight against this affront to democracy, the White citizens of Michigan averted their eyes, leaving the Black citizens to struggle on their own. Collaboration would have made a tremendous difference in the lives of everyone in Michigan. Since it is overwhelmingly Black people affected (so far), White residents couldn’t care less.”
What has the Black political class done to distinguish itself in this struggle? Have Blacks thrown the rascals out and elected new leaders ready to fight? How come Blacks were more defiant when they had less power in the 1950-60s?
You dump all the blame on Whites and let off the Blacks who have worked hand in glove with Snyder. Does the name Kevyn Duane Orr mean anything to you? Is he an honorary white? Should we be “proud” that a “brother” was put in charge of squeezing the last nickel out of the city? Narrow racial thinking leads nowhere.

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on Thu 27 Oct 2016 at 14:07:28 Afrofem

@gro jo

Thank you for sharing your opinion.

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on Thu 27 Oct 2016 at 14:37:36 gro jo

Afrofem
You are welcome. Anytime you want to discuss this subject further, I’ll gladly engage you.

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on Fri 28 Oct 2016 at 15:33:57 Herneith

https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-lets-advertisers-exclude-users-by-race

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on Fri 28 Oct 2016 at 15:49:31 Afrofem

@ Herneith

Thanks for the link. I’m not surprised. Facebook is primarily unethical.

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on Fri 28 Oct 2016 at 16:39:05 abagond

@Herneith

Wow.

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on Fri 28 Oct 2016 at 16:51:07 abagond

@ Herneith

The “diversity” question on Monster.com:

http://dailyoftheday.com/does-race-matter-when-youre-applying-for-a-job/

Monster never worked for me. Now I know why.

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on Sat 29 Oct 2016 at 17:54:42 Lord of Mirkwood

The North Dakota police have moved in and dislodged the peaceful protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. They used SWAT teams and police dogs, reminiscent of Alabama circa 1963, to do the foul deed.

Bernie Sanders is still fighting the good fight. Yesterday, he wrote a letter to President Obama demanding that he stop the pipeline, citing the horrendous environmental impact it will have. Our planet is at stake. This is just another reason why I love Bernie Sanders – platonically, of course. Maybe “idolize” is a better word 😉

http://www.attn.com/stories/12357/bernie-sanders-sent-powerful-letter-president-obama

And this morning, Bill McKibben wrote an incredibly powerful op-ed in the New York Times, which I must have re-read at least thrice.

What’s happening along the Missouri is of historic consequence. That message should reverberate not just on the lonely high plains, but in our biggest cities, too. Native Americans have carried the fight, but they deserve backup from everyone with a conscience; other activists should join the protest at bank headquarters, Army Corps offices and other sites of entrenched power.

The Native Americans are the only people who have inhabited this continent in harmony with nature for centuries. Their traditional wisdom now chimes perfectly with the latest climate science. The only thing missing are the bodies of the rest of us joining in their protest. If we use them wisely, a fresh start is possible.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/opinion/why-dakota-is-the-new-keystone.html?_r=0

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on Sat 29 Oct 2016 at 23:36:07 Afrofem

I’m surprised that anyone thinks any politician cares about the environment. Both parties take money from Big Oil. The entire Washington Establishment, (funded by the people) think The People are an impediment to their highest priorities. Talk about a disconnect!

It’s time for those “latte” environmentalists to follow McKibben’s summons and protest at banks, Army Corps of Engineers offices and North Dakota (brrrr) to stand with the Native Americans on the front lines.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 31 Oct 2016 at 14:41:53 Open Minded Observer

@Afrofem
Regarding your assumption that Michiganders (of any colour) couldn’t care less about the Emergency Manager Laws and are looking the other way…

We actually cared enough to take the 1990 version to the ballot box and vote it down (which you stated, so thanks for noticing). Legislators then replaced it with something “different” but essentially the same in 2012 that’s more difficult to overturn. We have sued and lost… most recently in September where a FEDERAL appeals court upheld it. This will go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a NATIONAL issue now. Because if the rest of Americans continue to think of it as a Michigan problem, the Supreme Court will establish a precedent that allows even more consolidation of power at the State level. I’m not certain what the solution is when a City’s government fails it’s citizenry… but I haven’t seen where replacing inept and sometimes corrupt local officials with inept and often corrupt State officials is any improvement. So, OK, maybe this boils down to “Not all White people” whining… I don’t know… but I figured you may care that We The People are trying to work within the system. (yep, I know how lame that sounds).. we’re just getting beaten down at every turn. The story really is no different than what’s playing out all over the U.S. right now. Those in whom We The People have bestowed power have become too comfortable in their belief that we won’t take it back.

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on Mon 31 Oct 2016 at 17:48:36 Herneith

Anyone hear or read about this?

https://www.facebook.com/Danneywilliam/

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on Tue 1 Nov 2016 at 00:04:04 Afrofem

@Open Minded Observer

I was aware of the broad strokes of the Emergency Manager regime. Thanks for filling in the scary details. Especially the entry of the Supreme Court in this matter.

Your comment, “The story really is no different than what’s playing out all over the U.S. right now.” really hit home. Republicans in the Washington state senate recently gained a majority and they have been attempting to abrogate the power and autonomy of progressive counties and municipalities in the Western part of the state. They are wading in with heartless proposals against the homeless, workers pay and obstructing the democratic governor’s initiatives.

They seem to be pushing for a highly centralized Banana Republic style of government which makes it easier for the billionaires to control outcomes.

I really agree with your last sentence:

Those in whom We The People have bestowed power have become too comfortable in their belief that we won’t take it back.

Well said.

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on Wed 2 Nov 2016 at 01:27:34 Anne

@Henerieth,
That’s fake, fake, fake. They proved that years ago.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Wed 2 Nov 2016 at 13:30:03 Open Minded Observer

@Afrofem
“They seem to be pushing for a highly centralized Banana Republic style of government which makes it easier for the billionaires to control outcomes.”

I would agree.

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on Wed 2 Nov 2016 at 15:56:00 Herneith

That’s fake, fake, fake. They proved that years ago.

Fake perhaps, but comical nonetheless!

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on Wed 2 Nov 2016 at 22:17:13 Mary Burrell

@Herneith: I never believed this i believe this is a hoax

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 12:36:43 lifelearner

Abagond-what’s your thoughts on Hamilton the play and or the book that inspired the play? Thanks

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 13:07:47 Herneith

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/02/a-lynching-in-georgia-the-living-memorial-to-americas-history-of-racist-violence

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 14:28:14 Herneith

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#category/updates/1582894f7631e6b8

Love it! I don’t watch sports but this is Chicago where the shopping is great! Cleveland is a backwated in comparison!

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 16:21:14 Lord of Mirkwood

I hate Cleveland just for their mascot. For that reason alone, I wished great amounts of ill upon them! Them and Washington football, I despise them both with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength! Besides, Chicago is one of America’s big Irish cities! Go Cubs!!

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 23:06:42 Afrofem

@LoM

“Besides, Chicago is one of America’s big Irish cities!”

Irish, Black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Polish, Greek, Italian, Jewish and German, etc.

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on Thu 3 Nov 2016 at 23:09:51 Lord of Mirkwood

Yes, I was being a little intentionally over-the-top there. Kind of like Herneith is sometimes. 😉

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 00:26:21 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

They used to say that after Warsaw, the city with the next largest Polish population was Chicago. (Not sure if this was 100% accurate, though.)

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 03:09:54 abagond

@lifelearner

“Abagond-what’s your thoughts on Hamilton the play and or the book that inspired the play? Thanks”

I have not seen the play (way too expensive) nor read the book, so I do not have an informed opinion.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 03:53:41 Afrofem

@LoM

World Series exuberance?

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 04:01:41 Afrofem

@Solitaire

I could believe it. There are large Polish communities all through the upper Midwest.

During my time there, I ate my share of kielbasa and sauerkraut. I even attended a polka party once.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 11:47:09 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

As I said, I was really just rooting for the Cubs because of my views on Cleveland’s mascot. I normally don’t follow a lot of sports, I have to say.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 14:28:14 Herneith

They have fantastic hamburgers there if you discount McDonalds and burger king! Jimmy Jacks is absolutely delicious! Don’t mention the Mom and Pops Mexican food!

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 15:17:31 Solitaire

Chicago deep dish pizza is without compare!

Chicago-style hot dogs are good except I have to leave off the peppers, which makes them a little less authentic. Still yummy, though.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 15:24:03 Lord of Mirkwood

Oh no…not deep dish…my pharyngeal reflex is in full blast.

The best kind of pizza has a thin, burned-black crust, and preferably comes with clams on it. Give me one of those and I’m in Heaven!

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 15:30:15 Lord of Mirkwood

Edit: charred, not burned.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 15:50:48 Herneith

I prefer thin crust myself. I wasn’t impressed with the deep dish pizza, mind you, I only went to fifty joints.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 16:13:49 Herneith

I’m starving!

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 16:14:11 Herneith

Sardine sandwhiches are a no go!

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 16:15:05 Herneith

I think I spelt sandwich wrong, starvation muddles one’s mind!

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 17:08:54 Solitaire

I don’t understand you thin-crust pizza types. It’s all about the dough!

One of the local delicacies in St. Louis is cow brain sandwiches. The thought alone will cure your hunger pangs.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 20:49:08 Afrofem

Local delicacies in Seattle are Chicken Teriyaki, Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), Papusas (cornmeal cakes stuffed with savory fillings from El Salvador), Hot Links (hot, smoky beef sausages popular with Black people) and salmon roasted over an open fire (Native American style).

To me, deep dish pizza is overkill but, I don’t like too thin a crust. I like to make my own pizzas. I usually make a medium thick, slightly sweet crust with loads of hot Italian sausage and artichokes.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 20:50:52 Afrofem

@Herneith

Sardine sandwiches?

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 20:52:28 Afrofem

@Solitaire

Cow brain sandwiches?

Whatever floats your boat.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 20:54:40 Afrofem

@LoM

Pizza with clams? Are they in a red sauce or white sauce?

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 21:52:11 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

Oh no, not me — I was never brave enough to try a cow brain sandwich even before I went (mostly) vegetarian.

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on Fri 4 Nov 2016 at 21:57:36 Solitaire

Since it is Native American month, I have to give a shoutout to fry bread. As bad for you as the name sounds, but mmmmm good!

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 14:04:08 Herneith

Sardine sandwiches?

Yep, with mayonnaise, onions and black pepper. As vomit inducing as it sounds. It was a lunch staple when I was a kid along with bologna and spam. Needless to say, I threw them out and begged the teachers for lunch money! Head cheese? My grandmother used to make that!

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 14:57:02 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

White. Usually with a bit of garlic and maybe even a little olive oil. The style of crust and baking comes from the Naples area (indeed, pizza places in my area often call themselves “Neapolitan), but I don’t know about the clams – those might be a New England specialty.

Pho is delicious, but I can’t eat too much of it due to my long-running resolution to stay off mammal meat. Do you know of a seafood or vegetarian version?

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 15:00:15 Lord of Mirkwood

@Solitaire

I just looked up fry bread on Wikipedia. Sounds a lot like the fried dough they serve at fairs. I bet a real serving of it in a South Dakota Native nation would be far better.

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 15:56:25 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

I don’t know if they’re the same thing as papusas, but where I live there are several street vendors who sell arepas, also a cornmeal cake with bountiful toppings. I think they are from South America proper. I always get mine with shrimp.

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 18:24:52 Afrofem

@Herneith

I put up with bologna sandwiches as a kid, but luckily my grandmother and mother never thought of sardine sandwiches. They both hated spam, so I was spared that treat.

For many people who lived through the Great Depression, cheap sources of protein were highly prized, so I understand the logic behind sardine sandwiches.

Growing up in the South, we always had odd meat meals: oxtail stew, highly seasoned braised pork neckbones, turkey necks and rice, pork ribs and sauerkraut. Sometimes we had bone filled buffalo fish or muddy tasting catfish, dredged in seasoned cornmeal and fried to perfection.

They were always accompanied by greens (turnip, mustard or collards), beans (great northern, pinto, crowder or blackeyed peas) and cornbread. There were also a variety of other vegetables in season on the table to fill out the meal.

My Northern husband always jokes that I grew up eating “the back ends of animals”.

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 18:38:25 Afrofem

@LoM

Some restaurants here serve pho with chicken, shrimp or tofu (in a chicken broth). Beef is most authentic, but there are a lot of vegetarians and vegans here.

Papusas are actually stuffed (like ravioli) with cheese, beans or meat, etc. and topped with a tart slaw. Arepas sound more like a South American version of tostadas. Are your arepas like this:

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 18:57:37 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

They look like this at the street carts:

You can barely see the corn cake under all the heavy-laden tomatoes and guacamole. Here’s a clearer photo from a sit-down restaurant:

The corn cake is on top of the yellow rice.

What I can definitively say is that they don’t come in sandwich form!

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 20:25:51 Solitaire

@ Lord of Mirkwood

I have had pho that used seitan for the meat substitute.

The first fry bread I ever had was described as “Navajo fry bread” and I see from the Wiki page they have a strong claim to having invented it. However, it is similar to sopaipilla, so it may be a variation of that (plus it looks like the Spanish got the word and basic idea from the Arabs). Definitely a “fusion” food.

If you go to any powwow that is authentic and large enough to have food vendors, you should be able to find some. You can ask for Indian tacos without the meat, or you can just buy a piece of plain fry bread, which is good all by itself. Fry bread with honey and a light dusting of sugar is divine. Personally I think it is fluffier in texture than fairground fried dough, but that may depend entirely on individual recipes.

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 20:32:32 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

” turkey necks and rice”

My mother eats this. She’s also a big fan of gizzards, fried frog legs, and pickled pig’s feet.

Spam is a big deal in certain parts of the Asian American community, especially if they’re from Hawaii, but also immigrants from countries like Korea and the Philippines where spam was a major protein supplement during and/or after WWII.

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on Sat 5 Nov 2016 at 23:49:19 michaeljonbarker

Jill Stien and Gary Johnson discuss there differences on PBS. Part 3 airs tonight.

http://ivn.us/2016/11/05/johnson-stein-what-presidential-debate-should-look-like/

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 19:26:32 Afrofem

@Solitaire

Since I try to purchase free range or pasture fed meats, those cheap meals of my childhood are too expensive to buy now. They take a lot of preparation time and my husband won’t touch those dishes with a ten foot pole. So they are not worth the time and effort for one.

I knew spam was big in Hawaii, but I didn’t know about the Korean Spam connection.

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 19:31:40 Afrofem

@LoM

Those two photos of arepas are interesting.

One with all of the ingredients tossed willynilly into a styrofoam container. The other carefully plated with a rice ring, fancy reduction sauces on the side and ribbon of sauce on top.

Which one tasted best to you?

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 20:07:48 villagewriter

I am getting concerned that there will be post-election violence in America

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 20:16:01 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

I’m not sure exactly which all Asian countries the spam phenomenon took place in, but definitely Korea and the PI. I’ve heard people go into raptures about “the perfect breakfast” of spam, kimchi, scrambled eggs, and leftover fried rice.

Then there was the time in California when some Filipino American students showed up at our door saying, “So-and-so’s mother sent him a balikbayan* box! We’ve got spam!!! Can we borrow your rice cooker?”

(*This term usually refers to a box of goodies sent from the U.S. to family members back in the PI, but they were using it more loosely to mean a care package from their California hometown.)

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 21:12:19 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

I have to say, the best arepa meals I’ve had have come from the carts. They’re delicious wherever you get them, but there’s a certain je ne sais quoi about getting it right off the grill on the street.

When you get them from the carts, too, they tend to have more of the fried texture and taste (as in butter and oil). Maybe not completely healthy, but certainly delectable.

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 22:12:22 Solitaire

Not sure if this is what Afrofem was getting at, but personally I’ve found, whatever the cuisine, the visually artsy and fancily plated stuff never ever is anywhere as good as the ones where the cook didn’t care how it looked, just how it tasted.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 22:29:31 Afrofem

@villagewriter

We are concerned, too. Especially with all of the military grade weaponry floating around this country.

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on Sun 6 Nov 2016 at 22:31:37 Afrofem

@LoM

I thought so.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 7 Nov 2016 at 00:20:57 Lord of Mirkwood

@villagewriter

Something very like this has happened before in America, where the losers of a political campaign refused to concede at any price. We call it the Civil War. The losers of the 1860 election were so mulish that they formed their own country and caused at least 620,000 military deaths, to say nothing of civilians.

And yet, it came with a platinum-golden lining when the aggressors were finally defeated – the abolition of slavery.

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on Tue 8 Nov 2016 at 18:33:42 Legion

A petition to “sign”, if you so choose. It’s for putting a halt to the Dakota Access Pipeline

.http://standwithstandingrock.net/take-action/

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on Tue 8 Nov 2016 at 19:05:28 munubantu

Donald Trump said that he wants to make America GREAT again.
Hillary Clinton said that America is already GREAT.

Fact is that many people worldwide admire and love America.
Maybe some Americans aren’t aware of this. They should think again.

Look how this African expresses his admiration of America.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/08/opinions/young-africans-us-elections/index.html

This is GREAT!
And food for thought too!

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on Tue 8 Nov 2016 at 23:05:52 Lord of Mirkwood

@Legion

I just went and signed the petition. Thank you very much for bringing it to my radar screen.

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on Wed 9 Nov 2016 at 12:20:10 Anne

So, what are the chances of a third political party in the US really succeeding?

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on Sat 12 Nov 2016 at 15:55:19 Herneith

Just finished partaking of melted extra-old cheddar cheese on bread (stone milled), slathered with vegan margarine(butter too cold)! If that doesn’t clog up the old arteries and colon, I don’t know what will. Discuss!

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on Sun 13 Nov 2016 at 04:25:15 Solitaire

I just saw this trailer for a movie currently in the theaters about Mildred and Richard Loving and their Supreme Court case. I don’t remember if it has been mentioned anywhere on the blog earlier so will link to it here.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33g-ZHBQdNU)

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on Sun 13 Nov 2016 at 12:57:24 Michelle

@Abagond,
Have you ever heard of a theory called memeisis? Would you be open having a guest post on it?

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on Mon 14 Nov 2016 at 15:37:48 jefe

I am in the PRC and can access wordpress at the moment.
First time in 4-5 years at least.

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on Mon 14 Nov 2016 at 19:39:49 Legion

@ LoM

My pleasure.

In light of Trump’s victory it appears the entire project will be going ahead, though. On a practical level opposition/protest against the pipeline will need to swell immensely, to seriously challenge the economic interests and climate change denial mentality at play.

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on Mon 14 Nov 2016 at 19:43:02 Legion

my comma placement leaves a little to be desired, however, I think you get my points. 🙂

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on Tue 15 Nov 2016 at 20:13:45 Glorp

Very similar to the prediction Abagond laid out. More hispanics are identifying as White.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/upshot/more-hispanics-declaring-themselves-white.html?_r=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F

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on Wed 16 Nov 2016 at 01:02:57 Mary Burrell

RIP Gwen Ifill

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on Wed 16 Nov 2016 at 05:27:27 Solitaire

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/postscript-gwen-ifill

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on Fri 18 Nov 2016 at 01:14:56 Michelle

Washington Post article about the fake news on Facebook.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/17/facebook-fake-news-writer-i-think-donald-trump-is-in-the-white-house-because-of-me/

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on Fri 18 Nov 2016 at 01:45:59 abagond

@ Michelle

I just did a post on fake news:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/fake-news/

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on Sat 19 Nov 2016 at 23:23:35 Mack Lyons (@DDSSBlog)

Did anyone catch this story:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/25/white-high-schoolers-in-mississippi-put-a-noose-around-a-black-students-neck-and-yanked-naacp-says/?tid=ss_fb-bottom

Granted this apparently happened before Trump won, but I can only see things getting worse from here on out.

LikeLiked by 2 people
on Tue 22 Nov 2016 at 00:07:23 Michelle

North Carolina Governor trying to steal election. North Carolina legislature trying to pack state Supreme Court with Republican judges.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/11/21/pat_mccrory_is_trying_to_steal_the_north_carolina_governorship.html

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on Tue 22 Nov 2016 at 00:30:34 Afrofem

@ Michelle

Thanks for sharing that link.

That is some serious skullduggery in NC. I guess the Repubs are anxious to fully participate in Trump’s America. Little things like the law or the will of the voters won’t get in their way.

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on Tue 22 Nov 2016 at 02:44:48 Michelle

Vice did a report on the recent conference of alt-right organization NPI that happened over the weekend. We really need to have a running post on Trump’s America.
http://www.vice.com/read/heil-trump-this-is-the-alternative-right
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/food/article/20844314/maggianos-little-italy-apologizes-after-hosting-white-nationalist-dinner

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on Wed 23 Nov 2016 at 20:09:50 Black Magician J

Things are only going to get worse

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-black-teen-james-means-killed-remorseless-white-man-article-1.2884929?utm_content=bufferfc5c4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw

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on Thu 24 Nov 2016 at 17:31:04 Lord of Mirkwood

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

We need a day to meditate, contemplate, and be thankful for what we have in this life.

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 02:54:02 Afrofem

Happy Thanksgiving, LoM.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 11:51:18 Herneith

Happy Thievery Day!

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 11:52:34 Herneith

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwo6f4zNvX04IzmJXGRsZkvi5Xh-u8pEu7PHAWP71cBwirhiKw1Q

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 11:54:22 Herneith

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 11:56:53 Herneith

LikeLiked by 3 people
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 12:00:12 Herneith

LikeLiked by 2 people
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 14:17:32 Lord of Mirkwood

Like this comment if you hate Black Friday and are going to stay out of chain stores today.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 18:29:14 Afrofem

@Herneith

Brilliant!

Thanks for sharing those images.

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 18:57:40 Lord of Mirkwood

@Herneith and Afrofem

Indeed, the irony is quite nice! I love nothing more than to see right-wing Nazis’ (il)logic flop and die. Meself wonders how Der Führer Drumpf would respond?

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 20:22:20 Michelle

More articles about Trump and his racist supporters. I really think we could do a separate tab about him.
Anyway, racism and the internet has existed for years. We are only now beginning to recognize it because Trump has legitimized it.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/trump-white-nationalists-hate-racism-power

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on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 21:32:30 Michelle

Has anyone noticed any fake Twitter accounts? http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/11/18/recently-banned-alt-right-twitter-accounts-plan-flood-social-media-fake-black-profiles/

LikeLiked by 2 people
on Fri 25 Nov 2016 at 21:38:26 Michelle

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/17/alt-right-twitter-fake-black-account-harassment/

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on Sat 26 Nov 2016 at 16:11:38 villagewriter

RIP Fidel Castro.

LikeLiked by 3 people
on Sun 27 Nov 2016 at 23:06:38 Mary Burrell

Need to do research to learn if Fidel Castro was a villain or hero even though he was a dictator.

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on Mon 28 Nov 2016 at 00:05:41 Afrofem

@ Mary Burrell

He was probably a bit of both. He managed to outlive five presidents who wanted him gone.

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on Mon 28 Nov 2016 at 00:13:43 abagond

@ Mary Burrell

It depends on who you ask. Capitalists, US imperialists and their hangers-on (like most of the US press) will have reason to demonize him.

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on Mon 28 Nov 2016 at 20:39:07 Kartoffel

A lot of people had reason to demonize Castro when he came into power. Then he did a lot of stuff that made him a villian in his own right. Though compared historically and globally, there are way worse. I don’t have particualry strong feelings towards him and his regime, but the Left’s infatuation with him is pretty disgusting.

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on Mon 28 Nov 2016 at 21:07:35 villagewriter

Fidel Castro supported anti-colonial movements in Africa. His intervention in Angola was one of the many reasons why apartheid eventually fell in South Africa. Viva Fidel: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iUe3NmMh8)

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on Mon 28 Nov 2016 at 21:59:15 Afrofem

@villagewriter

Agreed!

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on Tue 29 Nov 2016 at 02:19:50 Michelle

Slightly off topic but I think this is a good article on the true nature of many Silicon Valley folks.
http://thebaffler.com/blog/mouthbreathing-machiavellis

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on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 01:28:26 sharinalr

@villagewriter

I was shocked by Fidel’s death and many expressed a hate for him, while others a love. I don’t know much about the man but if you can share why the demonization when I hear good things. What made him great to you?

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on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 01:29:33 sharinalr

@Michelle

Thank you for posting that. Interesting enough we have touched on the black sock puppet on this blog quite a few times. Nice to see mainstream catching up on it.

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on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 02:24:39 Herneith

Good or bad, Fidel was loved by the ladies!

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 06:19:40 villagewriter

@Sharinalr

Fidel is mostly hated by the same capitalists that do business with the likes of Saudi Arabia. He has the communist “stain”. Anyway these articles lay out why I support Fidel Castro:

http://www.africanews.com/2016/11/26/fidel-castro-s-efforts-at-liberating-africa/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/africa-is-not-conflicted-about-fidel-castros-legacy_us_583c8161e4b03c83311d8d4a
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/03/fidel-castro-anti-colonialist-legacy-201433103015396232.html

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on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 13:06:58 sharinalr

@Villagewriter

This quote stood out to me:

We are now being advised about Cuba by people who have supported the apartheid regime these last 40 years,” he said on a visit to Havana in 1991. “No honorable man or woman could ever accept advice from people who never cared for us at the most difficult times.”

The truth in this speak volumes. We are always taught that those who fight the tyranny of western governments are evil or wrong. Yet we don’t questions the legitimacy of their statements. I often wondered this about Osama bin laden. Was he bad or was he trying to fight the united states back for what they were doing to his people.

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on Wed 30 Nov 2016 at 14:21:56 Lord of Mirkwood

@villagewriter

Those are good articles, and they document a part of history that is almost never discussed in America.

I would add his support of the Irish hunger strikers (Bobby Sands et al.):

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/fidel-castro-was-a-strong-supporter-of-irish-hunger-strikers-and-bobby-sands

The funny thing is that many of the Cuban exiles in the U.S. had been prosperous under the corrupt right-wing dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Batista was no better than Castro. So when those exiles and their descendants in Florida screamed about taking a hard line with Havana and undoing 1959, what were they really pining for?

Yet despite all of this, Castro was still a dictator. He murdered political opponents.

In the end, I can’t say I was affected by the news of his death. I was neither jubilant nor in mourning. In light of all the other stuff going on in my own national backyard right now, it was just kind of like, “Okay. An old man died of old age on a small island.”

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on Thu 1 Dec 2016 at 14:47:03 Kartoffel

@ sharinalr

I think we can find the answer only in what they fought for, not what they fought against. Especially if they came into power and the system they created was worse (for the average person) than the system before, we can judge them.

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on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 06:55:10 villagewriter

@Lord of Mirkwood

If you can celebrate the mass murderer Napoleon with impunity despite his misdeeds all over the world. Let me celebrate Fidel Castro who helped chase away murderous colonialists who raped the continent of Africa for centuries. The USA was flying around Cuba like the vulture it is waiting for the right moment to pounce but Fidel never gave up. They pushed him to the wall and their assassination attempts made him paranoid.
With the limited resources he had he helped educated our doctors and engineers while at the same time giving his people free education and good healthcare. VIVA FIDEL

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 13:52:10 sharinalr

@Taotesan

I saw your long post on programming #30. Wanted to reach out and ask you how you are doing? I am truly sorry such hateful things were said to you.

There were some things you said that rang so true for me that it was deafening. As I get older I too have become less sympathetic towards whites. It started as a indifferent feeling and to be honest it still it. Though the more I interact with them online (solitaire has been an exception) the more I realize that I don’t care for their lies. They are draining. Like dealing with a borderline personality disorder patient who abuses you over and over again yet wants you to love them always.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 13:57:53 sharinalr

@Kartoffel

“Especially if they came into power and the system they created was worse (for the average person) than the system before, we can judge them.”—True, but what constitutes worse? In many of the articles I have read, thanks to villagewriter and other sites, Batista had plans on only making Cuba good for white-skinned Cubans. Allowing them to oppress the dark skinned Cubans and Fidel stepped in to stop that. Plus if the western countries cut off trade, because of their hate of Fidel, then how are they to make Cuba better or more fruitful?

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on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 15:30:24 Afrofem

@villagewriter

“With the limited resources he had he helped educated our doctors and engineers while at the same time giving his people free education and good healthcare. VIVA FIDEL”

I so agree! Many Americans would kill for free education and excellent Cuban healthcare. The infant mortality rate for Cuba (4.50 per 1,000 births) is below that of Canada (4.60 per 1,000 births) and the USA (5.80 per 1,000 births).

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

The Cubans were even willing to send doctors to the US Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, but were rebuffed by Bush.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 20:01:02 Kartoffel

@ sharinalr

I judge the “better or worse” in regards to the general life chances of the average person living under the regime. That the situation worsened for the elite doesn’t count of course. By general life chances I mean how much one’s ability to better one’s situaion is impeded by economic, political and social hurdles. The more control an indiviual has over his won life, the better. Of course improvement in one area cannot forever counterweigh lack in others.

I know too little about Cuba to assess the situation specifically. But my gerneral perception is that for most Cubans’ life chances improved after the regime change. Of course after sixty years of rule the former regime can’t be the standard of comparison anymore. The embargo certainly hindered the regimes chances to impove the standard of living, but it doesn’t excuse the denial of political freedom. That wouldn’t cost anything.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 3 Dec 2016 at 20:16:02 villagewriter

@Afrofrem

“The Cubans were even willing to send doctors to the US Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, but were rebuffed by Bush.”

They probably knew he was going to embarrass the US government because the Cuban doctors would have been extremely efficient. Cuba sent doctors to Ebola stricken areas in West Africa while the WHO was still debating on how to intervene and America was panicking. Fidel was a real man; he was the man.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 4 Dec 2016 at 04:42:42 Solitaire

Just got home from the store, where I saw this article on the newsstand:

“A first-of-its-kind investigation by USA TODAY shows that black people across the nation – both innocent bystanders and those fleeing the police – have been killed in police chases at a rate nearly three times higher than everyone else.”

http://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/blacks-killed-police-chases-higher-rate/

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on Sun 4 Dec 2016 at 17:52:23 sharinalr

@Kartoffel

Most afro-cubans that have commented on threads seem to be okay with Fidel as a leader. They say good things not bad. Those that say bad are usually those “white passing” Cubans. So I am curious on what life is like in Cuba. Was it as bad or are we just told it was that bad.

Most Americans measure the good or bad based on the idea that many Cubans swam over here. However, that could be based on opportunity alone.

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on Mon 5 Dec 2016 at 01:45:42 leigh204

So I read actor, George Takei, tweeted there was an uproar of a Black Santa being hired in the Mall Of America. And in the internment camp, the Santa was Asian. Really? White people get bent out of shape over what colour Santa is? Psst. Just a sidenote. Santa isn’t real. 😉

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 5 Dec 2016 at 02:37:41 Lord of Mirkwood

The Army Corps of Engineers has halted the Dakota Access Pipeline!!!

The decision may not last past January 20. But in this bleak winter of politics, I need at least one thing to celebrate with jubilation. Thank God and Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka. This is one of the best things I’ve seen all year.

Thanks and praise!!!!!!

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on Mon 5 Dec 2016 at 03:47:50 Afrofem

@leigh204

“Santa isn’t real.😉”

LOL! Tell that to Fox News, they still gripe about his real skin color every year.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 5 Dec 2016 at 03:50:43 Afrofem

@LoM

This is just a way to clear the encampments and block future access to the construction area.

Sorry to be a downer, but I’ve seen this movie before and know how it ends.

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on Mon 5 Dec 2016 at 16:01:46 michaeljonbarker

Westworld blew my mind last night.

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on Tue 6 Dec 2016 at 12:52:25 villagewriter

Will future African American’s (2025-2050) be told to get-over the history of police brutality and all the negative things that will happen because of the election of trump? Will future black people in Netherlands be told to get over the history of black pete? Will they sing Kumbaya again?

A people that celebrate sociopathy and psychopathy will never see anything wrong with oppressing other people who don’t look like them. I think that racists could wipe out an entire population and still go back home and sleep like babies because their bible tells them they are gods, they are righteous and the others are Amalekites should be dispossessed and their wives raped and their children enslaved.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Tue 6 Dec 2016 at 17:43:09 Kartoffel

@ villagewriter

Will future African American’s (2025-2050) be told to get-over the history of police brutality and all the negative things that will happen because of the election of trump?

That question implies that things will get better first.

I think that racists could wipe out an entire population and still go back home and sleep like babie

If the early Federal Republic of Germany is any indication that is quite possible.Though during the crimes the murderers used a lot of alcohol.

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on Sat 10 Dec 2016 at 22:43:06 Lord of Mirkwood

I have finally gotten around to starting Season 4 of the BBC’s Luther, which came out on Netflix in the U.S. a little while ago. Anyone else watching it?

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on Sun 11 Dec 2016 at 01:10:43 Afrofem

@LoM

Saw it a while ago on dvd. Over the top good as usual. Idris Elba and the rest of the cast is superb.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 11 Dec 2016 at 01:40:52 Lord of Mirkwood

@Afrofem

Haha – Idris Elba and “superb” are superfluous! I loved his line to that gang master asking “Which police?” “The police.” I love his humor like that. Plus his no-nonsense, fearless demeanor. Brooks zero BS from anyone.

Of course, I have to tip my hat to Benny the Irish tech expert as well. He and Luther himself are my favorite characters (although I do like Martin Shank).

I’m going to watch the second episode momentarily, so no spoilers please! 😉

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on Sun 11 Dec 2016 at 03:29:43 Afrofem

@LoM

Luther faced a poisonous dilemma in that episode. What do you think of what he almost did?

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on Wed 14 Dec 2016 at 05:12:32 michaeljonbarker

Wikileaks dumps on John Bolton.

https://search.wikileaks.org/?query=%22john+bolton%22+-sweep&exact_phrase=&any_of=&exclude_words=&document_date_start=&document_date_end=&released_date_start=&released_date_end=&include_external_sources=True&new_search=True&order_by=most_relevant#results

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on Fri 16 Dec 2016 at 19:06:55 Michelle

@Abagond,
I don’t remember if you have a Dylan Roof post but here is something worth reading. I don’t remember people talking about who his main influences were but the CCC was a big one. Also pay attention to the link between the CCC and Steve Bannon. http://wonkette.com/609447/white-power-charleston-church-murderer-convicted-wonder-where-he-got-self-radicalized

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on Mon 19 Dec 2016 at 14:00:48 abagond

@ Michelle

Thanks. My main Dylann Roof post is here:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2015/06/18/dylann-root/

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on Wed 21 Dec 2016 at 01:59:18 Mack Lyons (@DDSSBlog)

Has anyone read Joseph Allen Hill’s “The Venus Effect”? It’s a gripping piece that interposes the pervasive omnipresence of police brutality with classic SFF scenarios. No matter what Apollo does (or doesn’t do), there’s no escaping the Grim Reaper who happens to wear a police uniform.

Unless he’s white, of course. That probably explains why 99.9 percent of SFF protagonists are white or assumed white. White guys and gals aren’t hunted by the police like prey.

@ villagewriter

Will future African American’s (2025-2050) be told to get-over the history of police brutality and all the negative things that will happen because of the election of trump? Will future black people in Netherlands be told to get over the history of black pete? Will they sing Kumbaya again?

I know this is a bit morose, but in light of the above, it makes you wonder why more black Americans haven’t taken the lessons showcased by Modesto Brocos to heart.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Wed 21 Dec 2016 at 10:31:57 Solitaire

Wow.

That was a very powerful story about anti-black police violence.

I also suspect it was a direct salvo in the ongoing war about the future of science fiction. One of the main arguments of the (mostly white male) Sad Puppies contingent is that modern science fiction has lost the sense of wonder, the fun, the adventure, the excitement of Golden Age SF as it has become more socially conscious and more inclusive. In this multi-layered work, it seemed to me that Joseph Allen Hill was demonstrating exactly why black SF authors don’t usually write those types of carefree adventure stories of pure escapism.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 12:53:59 Mary Burrell

Happy Holidays to everyone 🎅🏿🌲☃️

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 13:33:30 michaeljonbarker

Everyday is a blessing in life and every friend a reminder that humanity isn’t lost. Some good friends have passed these recent years but their memories remain etched in my mind and I visit them in their dreams. I have learned that the fragility of life can be held together firmly in the moment. And that every moment rooted in peace and love nurtures the earth beneath my feet and the humanity that walks upon it.

Have a Blessed holiday season and a prosperous new year.

LikeLiked by 2 people
on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 14:39:18 Herneith

Some Xmas cheer!

http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2016/12/23/mad-presents-trump-christmas-carols-oh-little-town-of-washington

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on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 14:51:57 Herneith

Have a Blessed holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Maybe I’ll win at Bingo tonight!

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 22:16:13 Afrofem

@michaeljonbarker

Beautifully expressed!

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 22:17:23 Afrofem

@Mary Burrell

Wishing you and yours a warm and loving Christmas.

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on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 22:18:35 Afrofem

@Herneith

I hope you get to yell Bingo first. Have a great holiday!

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on Sat 24 Dec 2016 at 22:48:07 Solitaire

Happy Holidays to everyone!

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on Sun 25 Dec 2016 at 18:49:18 Mary Burrell

@Afrofem: Have a great holiday.

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on Sun 25 Dec 2016 at 18:50:12 Mary Burrell

@michaeljonbarker: That was lovely.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 25 Dec 2016 at 18:53:46 Mary Burrell

@michaeljonbarker: Westworld was awesome.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 26 Dec 2016 at 21:12:06 Mary Burrell

Rest In Peace George Michael.

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on Tue 27 Dec 2016 at 09:49:46 munubantu

While we are still enjoying these holidays and the year’s end approaches quickly, let’s watch what other people in other parts of the world do in December…

Le Dîner en Blanc – Abidjan (2015)
It was one year ago but still rings… a small taste of Africa…

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N77dShfmRM)

Let me end by saying: Happy New Year of 2017 for every soul in and around this blog!

LikeLiked by 2 people
on Thu 29 Dec 2016 at 04:43:09 Afrofem

@munubantu

Happy New Year to you as well! Thank you.

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on Thu 29 Dec 2016 at 12:55:43 munubantu

@Afrofem

Thank you very much!

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on Fri 30 Dec 2016 at 17:18:06 Afrofem

@Abagond

I just scanned your reading list this AM. I’m familiar with the last three authors and read Parable of the Sower. I’m going to force myself to finish Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. I put that sequel down years ago because it was so intense; a nightmarish, dystopian view of America’s future. It seems that future is now possible and Butler’s work might help make sense of it all.

I hope some of your impressions gleaned from those five books end up as future posts.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 31 Dec 2016 at 01:56:37 satanforce

Let’s see if my new avatar wrks.

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on Sat 31 Dec 2016 at 02:03:31 satanforce

Ex-see-lent!!!!!!

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on Sat 31 Dec 2016 at 13:48:55 abagond

@ Afrofem

I will probably do a post on “Parable of the Sower”.

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on Sat 31 Dec 2016 at 17:45:36 Mary Burrell

Happy New Year to all.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊

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on Sat 31 Dec 2016 at 23:02:39 Afrofem

@Abagond

Just read two related articles about Octavia Butler and the issues of Black folk and women in SF:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/octavia-butler-kindred-update_us_585d4df4e4b0de3a08f50dd6?section=us_science

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-sci-fi-writers_us_573e3f6ee4b045cc9a708295

They add context.

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on Sun 1 Jan 2017 at 01:24:55 Zoe Jordan

Peace and Love for 2017 everyone xxx

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 1 Jan 2017 at 05:12:11 abagond

Happy New Years!!!

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on Sun 1 Jan 2017 at 12:08:59 Solitaire

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%e2%80%98this-is-sacred-land%e2%80%99-nuns-fight-their-own-order-to-save-historical-plantation-from-being-sold/ar-BBxLsL2

“This land and property embody extraordinary American history, African American history. It’s extremely important that we save it.”

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on Mon 2 Jan 2017 at 13:28:47 Anonymous Poster

Abagond, I’ve been reading your entries on writing, your style guide, differing forms of English, and the like over the past couple of weeks. They’ve made me reconsider my own way of writing and how I approach the crafting of my thoughts. But there is one specific subject that, unless I’ve missed something, you have yet to cover in one of these entries: contractions.

What, if anything, do you have to say on the usage (or avoidance) of contractions in writing?

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 00:16:07 mike4ty4

“One of the main arguments of the (mostly white male) Sad Puppies contingent is that modern science fiction has lost the sense of wonder, the fun, the adventure, the excitement of Golden Age SF as it has become more socially conscious and more inclusive. In this multi-layered work, it seemed to me that Joseph Allen Hill was demonstrating exactly why black SF authors don’t usually write those types of carefree adventure stories of pure escapism.”

What would happen if some “black author” did write such a story?

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 00:49:03 Afrofem

@mike4ty4

What would happen if some “black author” did write such a story?

Good question? Would it be accepted on its own literary merits? Would it be rejected by the Sad Puppies because of the ethnicity of its author?

Samuel R. Delany faced those questions forty years ago with his work including Trouble on Triton.

http://allreaders.com/book-review-summary/trouble-on-triton-37916

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 05:11:25 Mary Burrell

@Afrofem: I think i read on of his short stories in the Dark Matter anthology.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 05:46:16 Afrofem

@ Mary Burrell

I will have to give his works another reading. They were too deep for me when I was younger.

The Dark Matter anthology had some truly fascinating stories. Thanks for reminding me.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 07:34:30 Solitaire

@ mike4ty4

I suppose some individual Sad Puppies would be cool with that. But consider that another one of their main arguments is that they cannot identify with protagonists who are female, people of color, queer, and/or trans. Presumably many of them would only be cool with a POC author writing a Golden Age-esque fun adventure story if the protagonist was not also POC, because otherwise the Sad Puppies could not “relate” to the main character.

The Sad Puppies also complain bitterly that too many of SF’s top awards are going to POC, LGBT, and women, and they recently rigged the Hugo Awards to get demographic results they preferred. Considering that, I don’t think they’ll be appeased even if all the non-white non-straight non-male writers began publishing only fun adventure stories.

Incidentally, I believe that in The Venus Effect Joseph Allen Hill directly addressed the Sad Puppies’ argument about relating to the main character: “That Apollo was a big phony, totally unbelievable. Guys like that went out of style with Flash Gordon and bell-bottoms. It’s not just about liking the protagonist. You have to be able to relate to them, right? I think that’s how it works. That’s what everybody says, anyway. To be honest, I don’t really get the whole “relatability” thing. Isn’t the point of reading to subsume one’s own experience for the experience of another, to crawl out of one’s body and into a stranger’s thoughts? Why would you want to read about someone just like you? Stories are windows, not mirrors. Everybody’s human. Shouldn’t that make them relatable enough?”

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 09:00:24 Solitaire

@ Afrofem
@ Mary Burrell

Delany can be a highly challenging author to read, especially some of the longer works. I’ve found his short stories generally to be more accessible. Most of them are collected in the following anthology:

https://www.amazon.com/Aye-Gomorrah-Samuel-R-Delany/dp/0375706712

You may already know this, but besides the challenges he faced being African American and gay, Delany is also severely dyslexic. Although I think today his condition would be diagnosed as dysgraphia; if I remember correctly, he has no problems reading but with writing. He has trouble deciphering his own first drafts because not only is his spelling bad, but sometimes he writes an entirely different and unrelated word from the one he intends.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 13:53:15 abagond

@ Anonymous Poster

In writing I avoid them except in quoted speech and where it would sound awkward not to use it (like in “Would not you say that?”). I use cannot instead of can’t. The contractions most people use did not become common in printed English till the 1800s. In general, they are not necessary.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 17:10:22 Afrofem

@Solitaire

Thanks for the link and some contextual information about Sam Delany’s writing style. I will have to re-approach his novels in the future. Perhaps it is best to start with his short stories first.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 17:23:59 Afrofem

@Solitaire

Interesting link to the story of Catholic order and the historic boarding schools. It is an unfortunate, but common story throughout the country.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 18:28:10 Mary Burrell

@Afrofem & Solitaire: This guy has led a colorful life to say the least.

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on Tue 3 Jan 2017 at 20:27:01 Afrofem

Speaking of colorful lives…

I just read an article on No Longer Quivering called 7 Ways the Kardashian Family and the Duggar Family Are the Same.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/2017/01/7-ways-kardashian-family-duggar-family/

No Longer Quivering which bills itself as “a gathering place for women escaping and recovering from spiritual abuse”, is a blog critical of the Quiverfull Movement, an extreme patriarchal Christian group in the US.

We will be hearing more from groups like Quiverfull during the Trump/Pence years.

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on Wed 4 Jan 2017 at 01:44:38 Solitaire

@ Afrofem

Oops, I hope it didn’t sound like I was implying Delany is a challenging author due to his learning disability. It’s because he’s really f-ing smart and (for example) started integrating his interests in academic areas like linguistics into his novels. I do think the short stories are the best place to start, and his earliest novels are also easier reading than some of his denser work later. Those are all interesting, too, but he really makes the reader work to keep up with him.

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on Wed 4 Jan 2017 at 19:48:17 Afrofem

@ Solitaire

Agreed. You do have to work to keep up with Delany.

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on Fri 6 Jan 2017 at 03:57:10 michaeljonbarker

My friend Patrice Quinn singing with Kamasi Washington. Enjoy.

(https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=XDXNzucphEw)

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on Fri 6 Jan 2017 at 19:05:49 Herneith

Folks, I need your advice! I am a first-time driver(failed my first test on Tuesday) However if you fall off a bike you get back on. I intend to keep trying until I get my license! My request to you is this, any suggestions as to a car for a first-time buyer? I ran my car up on a snow bank trying to parallel park and had a hard time getting out. I wanted to desperately laugh but had to rein myself in. I was nervous and excited at the same time! Thanks in advance!

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on Fri 6 Jan 2017 at 20:37:42 Afrofem

@ Herneith

A Ford Fiesta or Honda Fit. Something small and easy to maneuver.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Fri 6 Jan 2017 at 22:35:30 Michelle

FYI, if you use Twitter or have a verified twitter account, WikiLeaks is planning to collect your personal data and use it for some type of surveillance.
http://wonkette.com/610191/wikileaks-really-mad-somebody-leaked-cia-report-before-russia-could

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on Fri 6 Jan 2017 at 23:33:12 Michelle

Here’s another article in the more reputable Washington Post about the WikiLeaks threat to dox people.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/01/06/wikileaks-proposes-tracking-verified-twitter-users-homes-families-and-finances/?utm_term=.44d6fcde7455

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on Sat 7 Jan 2017 at 00:29:22 michaeljonbarker

@ Henrieth

If snow and ice are in issue then look for an all wheel drive vehicle like a Subaru. It is less likely that you would get stuck as the car senses when you get stuck or slide. AWD cars have sensors that measure traction for each tire and has differnt differentials in the transmissin that kick in to split the traction between both the front and rear tires to help better control the car. It’s simular to four wheel drive except that you don’t have to manually put the vehicle into four wheel drive.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 7 Jan 2017 at 00:45:05 Solitaire

@ Herneith

I second Afrofem’s suggestion. Small cars are much easier to handle and maneuver when you’re a beginning driver. Parallel parking in particular is easier if the car is small.

I failed my first two tests, you’re not alone! If you can postpone your next test until better weather, please do so. You will make it easier on yourself if you take the test when the driving conditions are good (no snow or ice on the ground, not when it’s raining).

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sat 7 Jan 2017 at 14:27:38 Herneith

Thanks for your advice, Afrofem, Soltaire, and Baker. I test drove a Kia Soul at the dealership last evening. It drove like a dream! Had I had this vehicle at the test, I would have passed the test with flying colours! The difference between the Soul and that sh^t box Corolla was like night and day! I was trained on the Corolla. Anyhow, here’s to the next test!

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on Sat 7 Jan 2017 at 16:12:01 Afrofem

@ Herneith

Good Luck!

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on Sat 7 Jan 2017 at 17:54:29 Herneith

Thanks!

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on Mon 9 Jan 2017 at 08:48:48 michaeljonbarker

Assange given peace prize.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8505669/WikiLeaks-Julian-Assange-given-peace-prize.html

My friends observation made me laugh..

“Obama, the first peace prize winner to actively pursue with violent intent, another peace prize winner.”

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on Mon 9 Jan 2017 at 23:50:21 Afrofem

@michaeljonbarker

Good old peace loving Obama. LOL!

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on Sun 15 Jan 2017 at 05:28:57 Fan ...

http://www.naturalnews.com/043995_human_civilization_processed_food_stealth_war.html

Fake news, CT or Truth?

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on Sun 15 Jan 2017 at 05:41:32 Fan ...

@ Herneith

“I test drove a Kia Soul at the dealership last evening. It drove like a dream! Had I had this vehicle at the test, I would have passed the test with flying colours! The difference between the Soul and that sh^t box Corolla was like night and day! I was trained on the Corolla. Anyhow, here’s to the next test!”

Follow your instincts! You WILL get your driver’s license. Enjoy the process… later on driving won’t seem as much fun, or challenging. It’ll become mundane. Enjoy practicing and learning … the more you do it, the better driver you’ll become. 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 15 Jan 2017 at 14:48:02 An Scríbhneor Gael-Mheiriceánach

Who’s ready to watch the season finale of Sherlock tonight?

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 15 Jan 2017 at 17:15:23 michaeljonbarker

I had mentioned on another thread that I was re-doing my bathroom. It was just finished so last night we decided to enjoy our glorious new shower. The problem was there didn’t seem to be enough water pressure and the water wouldn’t get real hot. So I turned up the water heater and tried it again this morning. Still no hot water. Turns out that the plumbing and valves for the new shower are California energy compliment so the hardware has been designed not to allow scalding water and limits the water pressure. I now have to figure out a work around so I can get me fire hose water pressure and scalding water back. lol

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on Sun 15 Jan 2017 at 20:09:01 Fan ...

@ mjb

“Still no hot water. Turns out that the plumbing and valves for the new shower are California energy compliment so the hardware has been designed not to allow scalding water and limits the water pressure.”

Are there no (instant) Hot Water On Demand systems permitted in California? Or is that not energy compliant enough for your state??

Isn’t there a budding water shortage/crisis going on in Cali??

If I were considering relocating to some other locale in the states as much as I like warm weather and sunshine Cali would be the first location scratched off my list of possibilities.

Why?
Fires, Earthquakes, Government, Earthquakes, Fires, quirky laws like the new one that actually decriminalizes child prostitution …, broke treasury, unbalanced budget, high cost of living, whacky politicians, Hollyweird, San Andreas Fault Line, Fires, etc…

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 16 Jan 2017 at 01:23:43 An Scríbhneor Gael-Mheiriceánach

Man, making a $50 donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Jeff Sessions’s name sure does feel good.

I sent him an email letting him know I had done this, and telling him that I’d be watching him. Of course, I got an auto-reply telling me that his office was too busy to process emails from states other than Alabama. Oh well!

Off to watch Sherlock pretty soon! So tense and nervous…

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on Mon 16 Jan 2017 at 01:40:00 Herneith

@Fan:

Thanks darl!

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on Tue 17 Jan 2017 at 21:20:31 abagond

Chelsea Manning will be freed!!! President Obama just commuted her sentence.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 00:00:45 An Scríbhneor Gael-Mheiriceánach

Yay!!!!!!!!!!

My wildest dreams wish that the government would drop charges against Snowden during the next three days, too.

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 00:26:37 An Scríbhneor Gael-Mheiriceánach

Oscar Lopez Rivera, too. He is a Puerto Rican independence activist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/17/after-pressure-from-bernie-sanders-puerto-rican-independence-activist-wins-pardon/?utm_term=.35575e30f059

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 02:13:16 Mary Burrell

My wildest dream is that the election of Trump was just a bad dream and i wake up and racism and police brutality is no more.

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 03:24:46 Afrofem

Obama burnishing his legacy with just a couple of days to go.

I wonder if he has the guts to commute the sentences of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal?

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 03:26:14 Afrofem

@ Mary Burrell

Yes!

Dorothy’s ruby slippers would come in handy right about now.

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 03:58:14 abagond

@ Afrofem

Yes, I am watching to see if he pardons them too.

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 16:56:15 abagond

@ Afrofem

Actually, Obama can pardon Peltier but not Mumia, who is in state prison. Mumia himself just tweeted:

Mumia can only be pardoned by the Gov of Penn.

Thank you all a million times over for your support and messages.#FreeMumia

— Mumia Abu-Jamal (@MumiaAbuJamal) January 18, 2017

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 17:20:17 abagond

Mumia only follows 173 people on Twitter, so I am going to follow everyone he follows. But before I do that, just for the record, here are the 37 people he follows that I already follow:

jesse Williams @iJesseWilliams
Amanda Seales @amandaseales
Stanley Nelson @StanleyNelson1
The Source Magazine @TheSource
MONIFAH @THEMONIFAH
EBONY MAGAZINE @EBONYMag
JamilahIsoke Lemieux @JamilahLemieux
Ben Jealous @BenJealous
Ms. Lauryn Hill @MsLaurynHill
Amsterdam News @NYAmNews
Wyclef Jean @wyclef
Okayplayer @okayplayer
Kevin Powell @kevin_powell
Lance Is A Genius @fuzethemc
Jill Scott @missjillscott
StopMassIncarceratio @StopMassIncNet
Talib Kweli Greene @TalibKweli
dream hampton @dreamhampton
asha bandele @ashabandele
Democracy Now! @democracynow
Davey D @mrdaveyd
ErykahBadoula @fatbellybella
COMMON @common
DROGAS Light 2/10/17 @LupeFiasco
Jasiri X @jasiri_x
Occupy Wall Street @OccupyWallSt
Michael Eric Dyson @MichaelEDyson
Tavis Smiley @tavissmiley
Che Butter Jones @OccupyTheHood
Marc Lamont Hill @marclamonthill
Danny Glover @mrdannyglover
Spike Lee @SpikeLee
Chuck D @MrChuckD
NAACP @NAACP
Lumumba Bandele @Lumumbabandele
KANYE WEST @kanyewest
Cornel West @CornelWest

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on Wed 18 Jan 2017 at 18:23:25 Afrofem

@Abagond

Thanks for the in-depth information!

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on Sun 22 Jan 2017 at 09:11:00 apportune

“I had mentioned on another thread that I was re-doing my bathroom. It was just finished so last night we decided to enjoy our glorious new shower. The problem was there didn’t seem to be enough water pressure and the water wouldn’t get real hot. So I turned up the water heater and tried it again this morning. Still no hot water. Turns out that the plumbing and valves for the new shower are California energy compliment so the hardware has been designed not to allow scalding water and limits the water pressure. I now have to figure out a work around so I can get me fire hose water pressure and scalding water back. lol”

that is not california, tht is a worldwide standard. largely due to the fact that the EU requires it, so manufacturers have made them all compliant to the EU standard to facilitate production. it is for electric showers. electric showers are not heated by the boiler system, but by the actual unit underneath the shower which plugs in to a regular plug. that has advantages as it means that it is not possible to “run out” of hot water. e.g. running a hot tap in the kitchen no longer causes hot water in the shower to run out.

the disadvantage is tht it becomes very easy for the water to reach boiling point. at which point, it could severely scald individuals. such as children. boiling water can cause serious burns. when the electric shower detects too-high a temperature, it automatically switches off. it could be that the unit inside the actual shower is faulty.

but most likely, you have the wrong fuse in your plug. you need a 5A fuse (not a 13A fuse, which are far more common in everyday appliances).

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on Sun 22 Jan 2017 at 18:04:27 Herneith

@apportune:

Did you christen your new toilet by taking a dump to see if it flushed properly?

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Tue 24 Jan 2017 at 17:58:33 apportune

sharina is so petty, look at her running around giving likes. and she’s the only one as well. sharina wants to make friends!

you’re all so disconnected from reality, you’ve resorted to having ‘cyber friends’

awwwww. i’m piling up the tissue boxes here people!

it’s like a little incestuous gated community.

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on Tue 24 Jan 2017 at 22:27:37 sharinalr

@Herneith

I think apportune is Jealous of you. Maybe you should introduce him to beelzebub.

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on Tue 24 Jan 2017 at 23:28:19 apportune

@sharina

to suggest jealousy would be to suggest that i have affection for you… ?

are we developing affection for one another already sharina?

how pleasant that would be! a little glow to warm up my blackened and cold heart.

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on Wed 25 Jan 2017 at 01:12:34 sharinalr

@apportune

No, you can be jealous of someone and not have an affection at all. Poor thing.

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on Wed 25 Jan 2017 at 01:53:39 apportune

@sharina

Logic! use it!

you suggested i was jealous of the attention herneith was getting from you, why would i be jealous if i did not want that attention myself?

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on Wed 25 Jan 2017 at 01:57:10 sharinalr

@apportune

It should be a crime to be as daft as you. Wanting attention doesn’t equate to having an affection for me.

A person can be jealous of a complete stranger and they did not even know the person enough to have an affection.

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on Fri 27 Jan 2017 at 08:51:17 satanforce

Abagond. Markdown is now available on WordPress Blogs comments sections

Now is the time Abagond. My body is ready.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun 29 Jan 2017 at 17:15:58 Rex

Isn’t it weird that a white woman can lie on a boy, get him killed, have the murderers get off, and everybody can just go about their business for 60 years? “Hey, I lied and got a kid killed, sorry ’bout that, now I’m going to go back to my life that I’ve been living.” Doesn’t this show a really strange and disturbing side of white folks that stuff like this can happen? Or am I simply insane? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/emmett-tills-accuser-admits…&

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on Sun 29 Jan 2017 at 17:16:57 Rex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/emmett-tills-accuser-admits-she-lied-about-claims-that-led-to-his-murder_us_588ba65ee4b0b065cbbbd4f0?section=us_black-voices

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on Sun 29 Jan 2017 at 19:21:28 Afrofem

@Rex

It is not weird at all. None of it.

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on Sun 29 Jan 2017 at 19:30:18 abagond

@ Rex

Business as usual. White people have been showing that side of themselves for hundreds of years. They and their hangers-on are pretty much the only people who do not see it.

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on Sun 29 Jan 2017 at 19:38:28 Rex

I knew the answer to this question as I typed the comment. It is business as usual, but I can’t help but be mad at it. I feel like punching someone.

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on Tue 31 Jan 2017 at 03:19:08 Mira

I like the new top image. It’s even more impressive in full.

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on Tue 31 Jan 2017 at 03:42:40 abagond

You can see the top image in full here:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/mark-bryan-the-nightmare/

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on Tue 31 Jan 2017 at 04:38:02 Mira

Abagond,

Yes, thank you. It’s really chilling.

I do hope you all in the US stay safe. I am relatively near, in Canada.

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on Wed 1 Feb 2017 at 13:07:10 An Scríbhneoir Gael-Mheiriceánach

I’m a few days late, but please, everybody send your prayers/best wishes to Québec, which is currently in recuperation mode after the terrorist attack on Sunday night. I would give my message in French, but it would be deleted, so here we are.

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on Wed 1 Feb 2017 at 15:59:00 Herneith

Some much-needed hilarity:

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on Sun 5 Feb 2017 at 21:40:40 An Scríbhneoir Gael-Mheiriceánach

Does anybody else here simply not care about the Super Bowl?

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on Sun 5 Feb 2017 at 21:43:07 Afrofem

@Scribh

Super Bowl? What is a Super Bowl? (LOL!)

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 01:31:49 Herneith

Here’s a Super Bowl:

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 01:55:57 An Scríbhneoir Gael-Mheiriceánach

Oh God, Lady Gaga is the WORST PERSON EVER. I don’t know why I just subjected myself to ten minutes of her. Apparently I am into masochism.

I am going to have to detox on a heavy diet of Parsonsfield, the Decemberists, and La Bottine Souriante. How about bringing Bruce Springsteen back to the halftime shows???

At least I watched only exactly one minute of football itself before I decided, “Yeah, not for me.” Sorry, TV networks. Wasn’t born in Alabama.

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 03:07:09 abagond

A tied game with a minute to go.

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 03:52:34 Afrofem

@Herneith

So right you are! LOL!

(It would really be super if it were filled with lobster bisque with a hint of sherry.)

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 06:22:28 Solitaire

That does look like the type of bowl that would be used for lobster bisque, but may I please have my Super Bowl filled with chocolate fudge ice cream topped with fresh strawberries and raspberries?

(How is it we always end up talking about food on the Open Thread??)

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 07:09:37 Mary Burrell

I didn’t care about the Super Bowl and took a nap.

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 16:22:49 Afrofem

@Solitaire

Because food is fun!

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 16:23:47 Afrofem

@Mary Burrell

That sounds like a good plan.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 16:36:12 An Scríbhneoir Gael-Mheiriceánach

Speaking of food, I’ve recently come across a particularly exceptional Mexican place where I live. The fish tacos are out of this world!

On a different note, I suppose that many people would consider it pitiable that I, as a red-blooded ‘Murican, had no idea who won the Super Bowl until I read the New York Times this morning. Or that I have no idea how the basic rules and scoring of football work, in any case.

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 17:19:32 abagond

@ Scribh

You missed an amazing game. Way better than Lady Gaga’s half-time show.

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on Mon 6 Feb 2017 at 17:31:05 Herneith

If you didn’t finish watching it, why bother ask?

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on Tue 7 Feb 2017 at 00:23:01 Solitaire

@ ASG-M

“Sorry, TV networks. Wasn’t born in Alabama.”

American football originated in the Ivy League schools of the Northeast. And please note the name of the team who won yesterday. Aren’t they located in your home state?

Everything you dislike about the USA you push onto the South. Nope, no football fanatics in New England or California, nary a one.

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on Tue 7 Feb 2017 at 01:11:59 An Scríbhneoir Gael-Mheiriceánach

^^^
And, there goes the tongue-in-cheek…straight over her head…

I didn’t want the Patriots to win because Trump was rooting for them. But, you know, regionalist that I am, I didn’t want Atlanta to win either. Most importantly, though, I’ve just never cared for football. Cross country for me!!

Also, when have I ever said anything about a home state? scratches temple

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on Tue 7 Feb 2017 at 02:17:43 Paige

@ Scribh

You could have done what thousands of progressive New Englanders were doing: rooting for the Pats but donating to a charity or political cause every time they scored or whatever. It’s easy to do with all those ActBlue sites (headquartered in MA!)

http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/02/05/anti-trump-patriots-fans-just-went-viral-trolling-trump-beautifully/

Of course, if you’re just too sophisticated for football (and pop music), then that’s another matter entirely.

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