Winter is a cruel season. I don't like the cold and snow and sleet and mess, as anyone who reads these posts will know. But, that is not all the bad news winter packs into its months.
Yesterday, we dealt with humid, rising air, fueling instability and being developed by an advancing pressure gradient. We got towering super cells. These storms rose up to 12 miles into the atmosphere, hurling all the energy and vapor stored in that vertical column down to earth with savage glee.
The storm giants attacked yesterday. And their advance stretched from the coast of Louisiana to the remnants of the North Woods in Maine. In February, over 1800 miles of America pretended it was August, and watched tornadoes and straight line winds thrown by the storm giants topple the small toys of man. As in any attack, there were casualties. Though, I cannot report that we slew any of the storm giants.
This is rather melodramatic way to say that there is not rhyme or reason to the various pitfalls of life. There are clear connections to choices and actions, you reap what you sow. But, this is a remorseless world and life. Regardless of choices and actions, this life can be over in an instant. That is a terrible and sobering reality.
Many take the approach that given the random suddenness by which "this" can all be over, we should wring every ounce of "this" out of "this" that we can. I am not sure what that means, or how that circular logic works. The people that argue with me about God, sight our mighty science as proof of their theories. Being somewhat well versed in the science, I always ask the simple question, in the understanding of science, is energy eternal? Do you at least accept that there is something eternal in the Universe?
Many of us will remember from our foggy time in some laboratory/classroom in school, the 3 laws of thermodynamics (probably not, but assuming you all do makes me feel less like a nerd). For those that do not: 1. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. 2. The entropy of a closed system always increases. 3. The entropy of a system approaches a constant number as the temperature of a system approaches absolute zero.
In reverse order, #3 entropy (the chaos or waste product energy or messiness of your house) stops changing as the temperature (available difference in energy between the system and outside or the difference in cleanliness levels of your living room and garage) approaches absolute zero (as low as you can go). That is a practical truth we all know, if the living room is not clean, the crap will end up in the garage. If the living room and garage are both clean at the same time, they tend to stay clean.
#2 entropy (messiness) increases in a closed system (your house). I don't think I need to discuss this one, as I do not know anyone that does not need to routinely clean their house, whether they do it or not, the need (entropy) always increases.
#1 energy (stuff) can neither be created nor destroyed. There is a finite amount of stuff. It can be in the living room or the garage, or it can go away from the house and increase the amount of stuff outside the house. But, stuff never, ever goes away. It just changes location. Like those relatives that you don't like to have visiting when company comes over. That is stuff, energy.
So, if it can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change location, (and intrinsic value, that lamp I set on the curb because it is ugly, ends up in someone else's stuff as a prized treasure) doesn't that mean it is eternal? If you are not into God, that statement is that just before the Big Bang micro instant, at absolute zero, the temperature (difference in messiness between the proverbial infinitely small dot and the indescribably large nothing) was zero, but there was a huge amount of energy (stuff) in the closed system. Because stuff cannot be destroyed, when the messiness in the infinitely small dot reached infinity (all that there is) entropy happened in the indescribably large nothing. Big Bang.
I just gave you a very concise primer for Newtonian physics all based on how much I dislike cleaning my house. (Thank you Katrina, BTW, for everything.) I don't subscribe to this theory of the universe as an explanation, though I concede that the designer of the universe did input these parameters for us. They do not bind Him, He is ultimately in and is the Matrix. Lord, I am nerding out this morning, please get me back on track.
But, energy, us, our soul, our life force, our us"ness" is eternal. Newtonian Law, as amplified and better applied by Einstein, says so. It can't be created or destroyed. It exists forever and has forever. That statement is important. I have, often in my life, been referred to as an old soul. Less often now that my body is reaching old, but back in the day, it happened alot. I think we all are old souls. I have science on my side to prove it.
The problem with thunderstorms, tornados, straight line winds, lightning, are not that they exist, it is that they can convert your life energy from you, like you are right now, to the you that you are in the presence of God. Big Bang. You do not cease, you change state. I do and I don't want to go through that process. I am not seeking help because I want to end my life, but I take Paul seriously in the Bible, and concur, I really want to be in the presence of God, praising and glorifying Him, just like I was designed to do. The thought of being in that state does not scare me. However, I don't think I want to ride lightning to get there. If that makes sense, if any of this makes sense.
I do not fear storms, really never have. I respect their strength and fury. I find the storm giants interesting and entertaining to watch. I truly enjoy being witness to the power of the world around me. I am a science geek and always have been. It entrances me to watch what simple evaporated sea water in the warm waters of the Carribean and Gulf, can do and produce in North Carolina. Something that has almost zero substance, weight, almost indescribably small, water vapor, becomes a force that overcomes even the best engineering of man, thousands of miles from where it originates.
I had science teachers that were romantics and story tellers. I include my grandfather in that. I don't know where, or when, he discovered the weather engine description, but he did, and he told it to me as I sat on the porch, in that metal swing with him, watching lightning dance and wind blow. It was incredible to see and experience.
Yesterday was tragic for many. I don't take any glory or delight in the destruction that was caused. I just don't worry about those folks that are tragically lost. They are where they were created to be, and science says so. You don't even have to believe in the Bible. I suppose you could refuse to believe in the Bible, and refuse to believe in the empirically derived laws of science. You could deny them both and live as a lawless and meaningless dot that is bound by and to nothing. That is a sad, sad life and I choose not to contemplate that.
I am happy I did not get called home. I will be happy to be there, but going like that kind of scares me. It has to hurt like crazy. I am happy that no one I know, at least as far as I know, got called home by the storm. I was a sailor for a long time. You appreciate, respect and always pay attention to the weather. It is a force that you are not equipped to defeat, only to ride out and avoid as much as you can. On land, that is harder. You are kind of where you are.
It was windy here. We lost some branches. But, we did not see the violent weather that others experienced. Our entropy did not increase significantly. For that I am thankful to the Big Guy, who ordered and set in motion the Big Bang, and controls everyone's final Big Bang. If for no other reason, that is sufficient to find joy in the rainbow. It is no longer windy here, but it will not stay calm.
The world is a gigantic house that always needs cleaning, and we dirty it up crazy fast. Too much stuff in one place, and it has to go somewhere. It is science, as organized and set in motion by God. For that, I am also thankful. We made the mess, caused the need for these Newtonian Laws. We get smarter about the nit noids, and dumber about the big picture. That part is sad, regardless of the rainbow.
I think about that every time it gets windy, and I try to clean up my mess. I hope and pray that you will too.
GLYASDI
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Entitlement
I am currently in the midst of a disagreement with a very good man, a friend who I respect deeply, over the whole Beyonce turmoil. In particular, that the police would refuse to provide services for her shows in their municipalities.
In essence, to me, the question is what is Beyonce entitled to? It has been asserted that she is entitled to the same protections as we would give the Klan. Also, asserted, and I agreed with, she is entitled to express her opinion openly and without reservation.
What she is not entitled to, is that the rest of the world have no opinion or reaction to her statements. At the heart of the disturbance in Ferguson, Baltimore, all the other recent damage, is the reaction of the local citizens to events and statements and actions/inaction on the part of others. There was a continued drumbeat that we should understand the motivations and frustrations and underlying concerns that drove those reactions. The message was we were not entitled, as the non-rioting, non-destructive, majority in the nation, to condemn this violence and riot. We were not supposedly entitled to an opinion because we were not black, latino, poor, drug addicted, gang related, insert special interest here.
I assert that we are entitled to our opinion. Everyone, regardless of melatonin, economic status, sexual orientation, profession of faith, regardless, we are entitled to our opinion. Simply because we do not understand or experience the motivators of others does not mean that we cannot judge and applaud or condemn them. It is wrong to burn down half of your city, whatever your believed injustice may be. Whatever your color, whatever your religion, it is wrong to riot in behalf of your beliefs. This is the same principle that allows us to jail psychopaths and sociopaths that commit crimes. You could argue that they can't help it, that they were created by events and chemistry. However, they have responsibility for their actions, and I have responsibility to see it and call it wrong.
That is what is getting lost in our nation at the moment. I do not have a burning platform about gay marriage. I do not find marriage defined in the Bible in such a way that allows us to call a Hindu marriage between a man and a woman okay, but the union of a man and a man wrong. In the eyes of God, the Bible says that neither meet the definition of marriage as laid out by God in Genesis. However, this is a secular nation of laws premised on Judeo-Christian ethics. That does not mean, Mr. Cruz, that our laws come from the Bible, nor that we assume what was written in 1789 is forever correct. (This is why there are provision for how, and why 26 times, we have amended the Constitution.) We make laws that allow a collection of faiths, beliefs and cultures, in the hopes to coexist in harmony and enjoy the fruits of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
However, it is becoming fashionable to attach the premise of Nazism and intolerance to those that believe the Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman. We are beginning to assume that you are not entitled to that belief, if you are an enlightened person. I think this is the genesis of the myth that there is a war on Christianity. There is a war on common sense and a war on understanding of the basic underpinnings of our society and government institutions. It comes from those that are Christian and those that are not Christian. No one is entitled to agreement to their opinion. You just are entitled to state it.
You are also entitled to continue to live your life, even though you have a divergent opinion. I detest everything the skinheads and the Klan stand for. But, they are entitled to continue to live their lives, state their opinions, as long as they do not violate the laws of the land to bring those opinions to life.
Kind of wandering here, but there is a thread. You don't get to express your opinion, and then call into question the basic worth and humanity of those who disagree with you. That is not what you are entitled to in the Constitution. Of all the things the Founders would find offensive about Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, that demonizing strain that they are all infected with would frustrate them most. They had it as well, and they acted on it. Look up Alexander Hamilton, he got shot over what amounts to a political disagreement with a man that served as Vice President of these here United States.
We feel entitled to justification of our opinion. Especially if we listen to the uninformed and inciting voices in the media that thrive on unrest. We feel like others have to honor and understand and congratulate us for our opinions. That is just not what the Constitution provides. It provides that you may say it, believe it, relate it, and hold it dear. What is unsaid, is God help you if you do profess craziness publicly. The Founders relied on healthy and hearty public debate to rein in the worst excesses of lunacy. They saw it everyday and accepted it as the only way to ensure healthy democracy. You are expected to actively and principally disagree, as part of the price of your citizenship.
We are not entitled to be told our opinion is okay, because we are black. We are not expected to not have an opinion about a statement a white person makes, because we are black. That is generally accepted and what is generating Sharpton and Jackson's income. What is less generally accepted and protected today, is that you can have an opinion about a black person's statement if you are white. The message is that, that is just racist. You, white person, could not possibly understand, that is why I get to use the word nigger and you don't. Because.
It is immaterial if there is understanding. Opinion is opinion. Everyone has one, just like something else everyone has. What is being lost is the understanding that there are consequences and outcomes of our statements and opinions. This is the system the Founders relied upon to prevent the Donald's and the Hillary's of the nation from gaining unlimited power. It works, or at least used to work. Now, there is this false narrative that you can say almost anything if you are black or another minority, and any push back from someone that is white can be dismissed as racist. It makes many people afraid to say anything.
That laziness of conviction has allowed our minority communities in crisis, and our white impoverished communities to become politically naive and uninformed. The HipHop lifestyle that celebrates thug life, get it how you get it, reinforces that if you hustle, it should come to you. It is a lie, and a shrewd one that I cannot tell the origin. I don't know if it is from the racial dissent leaders that use it to drive a wedge between races, "they owe you because," or from the establishment majority "we will give it to you." Either way, that they continue to accept it is crippling our national discourse and reinforcing a spiral into violence and chaos most inflamed in our urban populations. Flint is on the shoulders of the citizens of Flint, they let their community become so bad that the state was justified in assuming control. The poisioning crime is on the governor, but the causation is on the citizens and their lack of responsibility.
What happened to Michael Brown, the criminal that was killed in Ferguson, was wrong. HE should not have attacked that cop and tried to take his gun. It was wrong, but if you say that, and you are white, you are just racist. Could the cop have done something different, or should he? We will never know, because we threw away discourse and discussion with the first brick through a window.
What happened to Tamir Rice, the kid in Cleveland shot for having a very real looking toy gun, was wrong. The cops should have tazed him, or at least attempted something other than shooting him less than 10 seconds into the conversation. However, the video shows him going for his waistband, and the cop wants to go home to his family. There is room for discussion here. But, if you point that out, you are racist. If you believe he was murdered, you hate cops. If you believe the cops were justified, you hate black people, black children in particular. You can't just be unsure, because it is murky and there is tons of wrong on both sides, including the parents. That is not how the game works anymore.
The guy that got shot in the back 10 times in South Carolina, he was murdered. However, if you say that, and you are black, it is considered by many to be racist. I think that is criminal. If that video surfaced of a confrontation that did not include a badge on one of the participants, or was two white people or two black people, it would be slam dunk evidence for a death penalty conviction. Cold blooded, purposeful murder. But, this is where we are, that it is not able to be discussed with evidence and logic. It is not new, but it is sad it is this entrenched, 226 years into the Constitution.
You are entitled to the fruits of your opinion. If you want to show the crack of your ass while wearing lingerie designed to pretend to honor the Black Panthers, you are going to get comment. It is not racist, even if the person making the claim is white, to point out that it is hypocritical to arrive in a police escort, reminiscent of a Presidential motorcade, have half a batallion of state troopers doing personal body security, and then rely on the same motorcade to get away from the unwashed masses, to do a show that you proclaim decries the excesses of police violence. It is not racist, even if you are white, to dishonor the choice to celebrate the Black Panthers. Because you are black does not give you the right to publicly proclaim the virtues of a violent racial extremist group responsible for more murder and mayhem in the black community than the white, and not get called out for it.
As a white man, if I were to show up somewhere in a white sheet and hood and perform a show to show honor to the virtues of the Klan, I would be foolish to expect that people would excuse it because I am white. It is ridiculous to expect that. But, the public mood today is that this logic does not go both ways, black folks are entitled to a different standard of public discourse, a different standard of opportunity, a different expectation, a different level of available resource. I think that is the root of the problem. And it goes both ways. Black, latinos, asians, not entitled to anything because of their color or culture. Gays are not to be excluded from institutions because of their orientation.
It is the same argument, and the same issue. The reason we can't get past it as a nation is that we are unwilling to give up our own entitlement fantasies. We are entitled to keep people of the same sex from getting married, because of what we believe. We are entitled to money from the government because 150 years ago, folks we probably were not related to, were slaves. But, those other folks, they should not be entitled. Debate is good, and the Founders relied upon it. But, circular debate for 50 years is bad, and we can no longer accept it.
It is not that complex, but it is oh so hard. You have to be willing to stand up and make a claim. You have to accept that others won't agree with it. You have to be able to hear that, and weigh it to see if perhaps those other voices are right. I think that Beyonce is entitled to do what she did. Nothing wrong in expressing your opinion. What is wrong is the expectation that it does not have consequences, and that push back and dissent cannot be right. Regardless of color, stupid is as stupid does.
And, that is all I have to say about that.
GLYASDI
In essence, to me, the question is what is Beyonce entitled to? It has been asserted that she is entitled to the same protections as we would give the Klan. Also, asserted, and I agreed with, she is entitled to express her opinion openly and without reservation.
What she is not entitled to, is that the rest of the world have no opinion or reaction to her statements. At the heart of the disturbance in Ferguson, Baltimore, all the other recent damage, is the reaction of the local citizens to events and statements and actions/inaction on the part of others. There was a continued drumbeat that we should understand the motivations and frustrations and underlying concerns that drove those reactions. The message was we were not entitled, as the non-rioting, non-destructive, majority in the nation, to condemn this violence and riot. We were not supposedly entitled to an opinion because we were not black, latino, poor, drug addicted, gang related, insert special interest here.
I assert that we are entitled to our opinion. Everyone, regardless of melatonin, economic status, sexual orientation, profession of faith, regardless, we are entitled to our opinion. Simply because we do not understand or experience the motivators of others does not mean that we cannot judge and applaud or condemn them. It is wrong to burn down half of your city, whatever your believed injustice may be. Whatever your color, whatever your religion, it is wrong to riot in behalf of your beliefs. This is the same principle that allows us to jail psychopaths and sociopaths that commit crimes. You could argue that they can't help it, that they were created by events and chemistry. However, they have responsibility for their actions, and I have responsibility to see it and call it wrong.
That is what is getting lost in our nation at the moment. I do not have a burning platform about gay marriage. I do not find marriage defined in the Bible in such a way that allows us to call a Hindu marriage between a man and a woman okay, but the union of a man and a man wrong. In the eyes of God, the Bible says that neither meet the definition of marriage as laid out by God in Genesis. However, this is a secular nation of laws premised on Judeo-Christian ethics. That does not mean, Mr. Cruz, that our laws come from the Bible, nor that we assume what was written in 1789 is forever correct. (This is why there are provision for how, and why 26 times, we have amended the Constitution.) We make laws that allow a collection of faiths, beliefs and cultures, in the hopes to coexist in harmony and enjoy the fruits of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
However, it is becoming fashionable to attach the premise of Nazism and intolerance to those that believe the Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman. We are beginning to assume that you are not entitled to that belief, if you are an enlightened person. I think this is the genesis of the myth that there is a war on Christianity. There is a war on common sense and a war on understanding of the basic underpinnings of our society and government institutions. It comes from those that are Christian and those that are not Christian. No one is entitled to agreement to their opinion. You just are entitled to state it.
You are also entitled to continue to live your life, even though you have a divergent opinion. I detest everything the skinheads and the Klan stand for. But, they are entitled to continue to live their lives, state their opinions, as long as they do not violate the laws of the land to bring those opinions to life.
Kind of wandering here, but there is a thread. You don't get to express your opinion, and then call into question the basic worth and humanity of those who disagree with you. That is not what you are entitled to in the Constitution. Of all the things the Founders would find offensive about Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, that demonizing strain that they are all infected with would frustrate them most. They had it as well, and they acted on it. Look up Alexander Hamilton, he got shot over what amounts to a political disagreement with a man that served as Vice President of these here United States.
We feel entitled to justification of our opinion. Especially if we listen to the uninformed and inciting voices in the media that thrive on unrest. We feel like others have to honor and understand and congratulate us for our opinions. That is just not what the Constitution provides. It provides that you may say it, believe it, relate it, and hold it dear. What is unsaid, is God help you if you do profess craziness publicly. The Founders relied on healthy and hearty public debate to rein in the worst excesses of lunacy. They saw it everyday and accepted it as the only way to ensure healthy democracy. You are expected to actively and principally disagree, as part of the price of your citizenship.
We are not entitled to be told our opinion is okay, because we are black. We are not expected to not have an opinion about a statement a white person makes, because we are black. That is generally accepted and what is generating Sharpton and Jackson's income. What is less generally accepted and protected today, is that you can have an opinion about a black person's statement if you are white. The message is that, that is just racist. You, white person, could not possibly understand, that is why I get to use the word nigger and you don't. Because.
It is immaterial if there is understanding. Opinion is opinion. Everyone has one, just like something else everyone has. What is being lost is the understanding that there are consequences and outcomes of our statements and opinions. This is the system the Founders relied upon to prevent the Donald's and the Hillary's of the nation from gaining unlimited power. It works, or at least used to work. Now, there is this false narrative that you can say almost anything if you are black or another minority, and any push back from someone that is white can be dismissed as racist. It makes many people afraid to say anything.
That laziness of conviction has allowed our minority communities in crisis, and our white impoverished communities to become politically naive and uninformed. The HipHop lifestyle that celebrates thug life, get it how you get it, reinforces that if you hustle, it should come to you. It is a lie, and a shrewd one that I cannot tell the origin. I don't know if it is from the racial dissent leaders that use it to drive a wedge between races, "they owe you because," or from the establishment majority "we will give it to you." Either way, that they continue to accept it is crippling our national discourse and reinforcing a spiral into violence and chaos most inflamed in our urban populations. Flint is on the shoulders of the citizens of Flint, they let their community become so bad that the state was justified in assuming control. The poisioning crime is on the governor, but the causation is on the citizens and their lack of responsibility.
What happened to Michael Brown, the criminal that was killed in Ferguson, was wrong. HE should not have attacked that cop and tried to take his gun. It was wrong, but if you say that, and you are white, you are just racist. Could the cop have done something different, or should he? We will never know, because we threw away discourse and discussion with the first brick through a window.
What happened to Tamir Rice, the kid in Cleveland shot for having a very real looking toy gun, was wrong. The cops should have tazed him, or at least attempted something other than shooting him less than 10 seconds into the conversation. However, the video shows him going for his waistband, and the cop wants to go home to his family. There is room for discussion here. But, if you point that out, you are racist. If you believe he was murdered, you hate cops. If you believe the cops were justified, you hate black people, black children in particular. You can't just be unsure, because it is murky and there is tons of wrong on both sides, including the parents. That is not how the game works anymore.
The guy that got shot in the back 10 times in South Carolina, he was murdered. However, if you say that, and you are black, it is considered by many to be racist. I think that is criminal. If that video surfaced of a confrontation that did not include a badge on one of the participants, or was two white people or two black people, it would be slam dunk evidence for a death penalty conviction. Cold blooded, purposeful murder. But, this is where we are, that it is not able to be discussed with evidence and logic. It is not new, but it is sad it is this entrenched, 226 years into the Constitution.
You are entitled to the fruits of your opinion. If you want to show the crack of your ass while wearing lingerie designed to pretend to honor the Black Panthers, you are going to get comment. It is not racist, even if the person making the claim is white, to point out that it is hypocritical to arrive in a police escort, reminiscent of a Presidential motorcade, have half a batallion of state troopers doing personal body security, and then rely on the same motorcade to get away from the unwashed masses, to do a show that you proclaim decries the excesses of police violence. It is not racist, even if you are white, to dishonor the choice to celebrate the Black Panthers. Because you are black does not give you the right to publicly proclaim the virtues of a violent racial extremist group responsible for more murder and mayhem in the black community than the white, and not get called out for it.
As a white man, if I were to show up somewhere in a white sheet and hood and perform a show to show honor to the virtues of the Klan, I would be foolish to expect that people would excuse it because I am white. It is ridiculous to expect that. But, the public mood today is that this logic does not go both ways, black folks are entitled to a different standard of public discourse, a different standard of opportunity, a different expectation, a different level of available resource. I think that is the root of the problem. And it goes both ways. Black, latinos, asians, not entitled to anything because of their color or culture. Gays are not to be excluded from institutions because of their orientation.
It is the same argument, and the same issue. The reason we can't get past it as a nation is that we are unwilling to give up our own entitlement fantasies. We are entitled to keep people of the same sex from getting married, because of what we believe. We are entitled to money from the government because 150 years ago, folks we probably were not related to, were slaves. But, those other folks, they should not be entitled. Debate is good, and the Founders relied upon it. But, circular debate for 50 years is bad, and we can no longer accept it.
It is not that complex, but it is oh so hard. You have to be willing to stand up and make a claim. You have to accept that others won't agree with it. You have to be able to hear that, and weigh it to see if perhaps those other voices are right. I think that Beyonce is entitled to do what she did. Nothing wrong in expressing your opinion. What is wrong is the expectation that it does not have consequences, and that push back and dissent cannot be right. Regardless of color, stupid is as stupid does.
And, that is all I have to say about that.
GLYASDI
Friday, February 19, 2016
Apple
I am a decorated veteran that served in every war zone and conflict this nation participated in from 1985 until 2007. I despise, with all of my being, what the radicalized elements of Islam have wreaked upon the world. I have absolutely, positively no issue with bombing, shooting, chasing, cornering and eliminating them.
I worry about it, being so willing to work the death and destruction of fellow human beings. But, worried or not, I got no issue with doing the damn deed. Us or them, and I am way more interested in it being them.
To do that, I think that all of the important and valuable things that America stands for are the basis for what makes us successful. Our rights and freedoms, our liberties and our security are tied up in the prerogatives of being an American.
I don't often come to the defense of giant corporate interests, but I am going to come to Apple's defense. They are being pressured, and sued, by the government to create a backdoor to unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist. Apple claims that to do that, they have to create a tool that will unlock any and every iPhone, and they refuse to prevent the loss of security to everyone holding an iPhone.
I don't know about all of that, but the government should not be allowed to require a company to compromise its product and intellectual property. If the brilliant, beautiful mind kind of spooky people the government employs for this stuff cannot get in that phone, then they don't get into it. I believe Apple is right to refuse, and should fight to the Supreme Court to prevent what the government wants.
The terrorist who had the phone was the guy in California that went to a work function and shot a whole bunch of his coworkers. The government has his phone, but can't break the security code. So, they want Apple to do their dirty work for them. The guy travelled overseas and brought back a foreign born wife/accomplice. The government wants to know who he talked to, because they lost him, lost track of him and let a terrorist into a country in the company of a radicalized citizen.
That is still no reason to compromise the intellectual property of one of our most innovative and forward leaning companies. That is still no reason to compromise the security of tens of millions of phones in American hands today. That is still not enough to make me think the government deserves a golden ticket.
I mistrust the government, and it's use of intelligence gathering tools and information. We have no reason to trust them. I think the Patriot Act was a horrible infringement of basic American rights and principles. I don't believe we found evidence of any of the things the government claimed were in Iraq, so I don't believe we should trust the statement that they used the information they gathered to keep us safer.
I would not trust my children to the keeping of Dick Cheney or George Bush Jr. I don't think they are trustworthy. They have earned that skepticism. It might not be true for all of you reading this, but I truly did know people that died in Iraq, because Bush, Cheney and Powell lied to get us into the war. I don't agree with much of anything from Trump's gaping maw, but in that, he is exactly right. It is disgraceful to blame Clinton for 9/11, but not put blame on Bush for the loss of lives for no reason in Iraq. I don't find Clinton responsible for 9/11. He should have killed OBL, but then, Bush had the exact same opportunities and did not take them either.
So, there were plenty of chances to do the right things in the right ways, prior to a decade where we basically did the wrong things, in the wrong ways. And, unless you have one or two of those ribbons I wore on my chest that say you served in theatre, don't start thinking I am just some disillusioned Democrat looking for a way to blame Bush for everything. I am a guy that was part of the picture for a decade before 2003. You can make all the claims you want for invading Afghanistan, and I might agree. But, Iraq had zero capacity to harm us on American soil. Now, Iraq is just a hotbed of radical terrorism with no central control to prevent exporting it.
Bush gave us ISIS, not Obama. But, Obama had the opportunity to decapitate ISIS up front and did not do it. Too much concern about what the rest of the region thinks and wants, when that has been a recipe for disaster for 50 years. But, no amount of increased intelligence gathering or access to information has resulted in improvement in the war outcome.
We have the best military in the history of the world. We have not failed to take, destroy, isolate, obliterate, or any other -ate we have been ordered to execute since Vietnam. There is not a mission that the military cannot complete. But, crappy leadership, that does not have military experience, personal integrity or basic honesty, keep us from exploiting legitimate military gains. It keeps us from maintaining adequate coalitions and alliances. It keeps us from finishing. Finishing does not produce continued need for military spending and give always to Arab extortionists that are going bankrupt due to wold wide energy efficiency and improvement. That does not play well with the foreign lobbyists that give so much money.
If you ask me, Apple is the heroic figure in this debate. You cannot trust the illegitimate arm and illegal tactics of the government when it comes to information gathering. If you think Obama is a traitor and a Muslim, but don't have the same suspicion of Bush and Cheney, you need to consider the evidence. I am no fan of either. But, Obama has killed more key terrorist on their own soil, than Bush did, even invading. Obama has eliminated the massive terrorist recruiting tool that was the military presence on the ground. Bush took us there, under fabricated pretense. Bush left us there, for years after any clear military objective was identified. Bush gave untold billions to the emirs, sheiks, khans and every other bearded extortionist that are now funding ISIS to levels never even considered by Al Qaeda.
There is plenty of blame to go around. But, a lot of it will fall to us, if we stand by and let the most untrustworthy elements of the government get a golden ticket that unlock everything in hundreds of millions of Apple products all across the country. Once Apple develops it, it is inevitable that the Russians, Indians and Chinese steal it. Want some really cool virus issues with your Mac, your iPad, your iPod, your Apple Watch? Just stand by and let this happen.
It is scary to give anything to a government that cannot even figure out which VA executives to put in jail for veterans dying waiting for care. But, we will trust them to not inappropriately use our personal information? It doesn't make sense, and it is not going to turn out any better than the Weapons of Mass Destruction claims did. Just saying.
GLYASDI
I worry about it, being so willing to work the death and destruction of fellow human beings. But, worried or not, I got no issue with doing the damn deed. Us or them, and I am way more interested in it being them.
To do that, I think that all of the important and valuable things that America stands for are the basis for what makes us successful. Our rights and freedoms, our liberties and our security are tied up in the prerogatives of being an American.
I don't often come to the defense of giant corporate interests, but I am going to come to Apple's defense. They are being pressured, and sued, by the government to create a backdoor to unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist. Apple claims that to do that, they have to create a tool that will unlock any and every iPhone, and they refuse to prevent the loss of security to everyone holding an iPhone.
I don't know about all of that, but the government should not be allowed to require a company to compromise its product and intellectual property. If the brilliant, beautiful mind kind of spooky people the government employs for this stuff cannot get in that phone, then they don't get into it. I believe Apple is right to refuse, and should fight to the Supreme Court to prevent what the government wants.
The terrorist who had the phone was the guy in California that went to a work function and shot a whole bunch of his coworkers. The government has his phone, but can't break the security code. So, they want Apple to do their dirty work for them. The guy travelled overseas and brought back a foreign born wife/accomplice. The government wants to know who he talked to, because they lost him, lost track of him and let a terrorist into a country in the company of a radicalized citizen.
That is still no reason to compromise the intellectual property of one of our most innovative and forward leaning companies. That is still no reason to compromise the security of tens of millions of phones in American hands today. That is still not enough to make me think the government deserves a golden ticket.
I mistrust the government, and it's use of intelligence gathering tools and information. We have no reason to trust them. I think the Patriot Act was a horrible infringement of basic American rights and principles. I don't believe we found evidence of any of the things the government claimed were in Iraq, so I don't believe we should trust the statement that they used the information they gathered to keep us safer.
I would not trust my children to the keeping of Dick Cheney or George Bush Jr. I don't think they are trustworthy. They have earned that skepticism. It might not be true for all of you reading this, but I truly did know people that died in Iraq, because Bush, Cheney and Powell lied to get us into the war. I don't agree with much of anything from Trump's gaping maw, but in that, he is exactly right. It is disgraceful to blame Clinton for 9/11, but not put blame on Bush for the loss of lives for no reason in Iraq. I don't find Clinton responsible for 9/11. He should have killed OBL, but then, Bush had the exact same opportunities and did not take them either.
So, there were plenty of chances to do the right things in the right ways, prior to a decade where we basically did the wrong things, in the wrong ways. And, unless you have one or two of those ribbons I wore on my chest that say you served in theatre, don't start thinking I am just some disillusioned Democrat looking for a way to blame Bush for everything. I am a guy that was part of the picture for a decade before 2003. You can make all the claims you want for invading Afghanistan, and I might agree. But, Iraq had zero capacity to harm us on American soil. Now, Iraq is just a hotbed of radical terrorism with no central control to prevent exporting it.
Bush gave us ISIS, not Obama. But, Obama had the opportunity to decapitate ISIS up front and did not do it. Too much concern about what the rest of the region thinks and wants, when that has been a recipe for disaster for 50 years. But, no amount of increased intelligence gathering or access to information has resulted in improvement in the war outcome.
We have the best military in the history of the world. We have not failed to take, destroy, isolate, obliterate, or any other -ate we have been ordered to execute since Vietnam. There is not a mission that the military cannot complete. But, crappy leadership, that does not have military experience, personal integrity or basic honesty, keep us from exploiting legitimate military gains. It keeps us from maintaining adequate coalitions and alliances. It keeps us from finishing. Finishing does not produce continued need for military spending and give always to Arab extortionists that are going bankrupt due to wold wide energy efficiency and improvement. That does not play well with the foreign lobbyists that give so much money.
If you ask me, Apple is the heroic figure in this debate. You cannot trust the illegitimate arm and illegal tactics of the government when it comes to information gathering. If you think Obama is a traitor and a Muslim, but don't have the same suspicion of Bush and Cheney, you need to consider the evidence. I am no fan of either. But, Obama has killed more key terrorist on their own soil, than Bush did, even invading. Obama has eliminated the massive terrorist recruiting tool that was the military presence on the ground. Bush took us there, under fabricated pretense. Bush left us there, for years after any clear military objective was identified. Bush gave untold billions to the emirs, sheiks, khans and every other bearded extortionist that are now funding ISIS to levels never even considered by Al Qaeda.
There is plenty of blame to go around. But, a lot of it will fall to us, if we stand by and let the most untrustworthy elements of the government get a golden ticket that unlock everything in hundreds of millions of Apple products all across the country. Once Apple develops it, it is inevitable that the Russians, Indians and Chinese steal it. Want some really cool virus issues with your Mac, your iPad, your iPod, your Apple Watch? Just stand by and let this happen.
It is scary to give anything to a government that cannot even figure out which VA executives to put in jail for veterans dying waiting for care. But, we will trust them to not inappropriately use our personal information? It doesn't make sense, and it is not going to turn out any better than the Weapons of Mass Destruction claims did. Just saying.
GLYASDI
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Super Bowl was just wrong
I have been out of circulation on the blog front for a few weeks. I confess that I let real life intrude. I usually spend my early mornings doing this, getting my thoughts and feelings straight. But, I have been working on end of year and start of year tasks for work, and getting myself better organized and sorted out for the year.
So, I have not been diligent at writing things that have nagged at me. That does not indicate that things have not nagged at me. There is a lot of stuff in there percolating. This morning it is a bit of a small eruption, about things that do not matter at all, but drive a lot of conversation, so maybe they do matter and should not be ignored.
I, along with 113 million other Americans, if you believe statistics, watched the Super Bowl. Unlike 99.999% of the rest of the population, I watched it to the last miserable, underwhelming and piss poor football snap. It was the ugliest Super Bowl I can remember since the parade of whippings the NFC hung on the AFC in the 80's and early 90's. The NFL should be sad about the quality of the football on display, the quality of the officiating (for the whole season) and the quality of the league they have assembled. There is debate going on about whether Greg Hardy should be in the league, along with AP and Big Ben. There was a time that they would not, and instantaneously. It was a time of professionalism, adult accountability and good stewardship. The quality of the management is directly related to the quality of the product, in every aspect.
It is for the same reason I would strongly suggest you never buy a Volkswagon, and should refuse to purchase a car that has that Takawhatever air bag deployment system. Poor management and management accountability translate directly to quality of product. If you heard about the kind of stuff that went on with the GM ignition switch or the air bag fiasco, at a pharmaceutical company, would you take that medicine?
That, all is a truth in my mind, but not the point of this missive. I want to call out the racism involved in the half time show. Let us consider the response if Kid Rock had done a half time show, and come out in Confederate grey battle dress, with the grey kewpie hat, wrapped in the Confederate flag, or just a white sheet and hood, just to promote history and heritage (it is the 150th anniversary of the end of the recent unpleasantness). Or imagine the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out in thobes and ghutras and egals (those are the proper names for the long robe Muslim men wear, and the head dress). You know, as protest to the treatment of poor Muslims the world over by imperialistic forces.
Can you imagine just one tenth of the explosion that would occur from either of those jackass stunts? (And, I am not implying RCHP would do this, but Kid Rock damn sure would.) There would be the equivalent of a public lynching and probably riots in places that can least afford additional damage to their cities and infrastructure. I don't know that I would be upset at the outcry. It would be tasteless, ridiculous and deserving of ridicule and anger.
It is development of a false narrative, that these groups are not key constituents of documented violence and racial tension and discrimination. These are white and brown groups, that degenerated into war that America has waged, given blood to end and to abate. It is serious. If the above described incidents were to occur, there would likely be grounds for prosecution for inciting public unrest and riot. Like the proverbial "FIRE" in a crowded theatre.
How is the mess that Beyonce put on any different from what I described? It is not a myth that the Black Panthers are a group that were directly responsible for violence, death of civilians and police, contributed to civil unrest and continue to advocate violent overthrow of government institutions and public safety. These are documented facts proven in court. And, spare me the tripe about they were black so the court convicted them. That is a worthwhile argument for the 16 year old kid popped for selling crack on a street corner, but not corporate terrorists defended by the best attorneys stolen money can buy.
It was sickening and should be called out for what it is. It is race baiting. There is nothing celebratory in the life of Malcolm X or the organization known as the Black Panthers. To assert there is, is the equivalent of me asserting that we should celebrate Nathan Bedford Forrest, because of his impressive military exploits (which he had, legitimately). But, he was a crazy, scary race terrorist that contributed to the material crimes against innocent minorities. He is the American example of the hate crime, not a treasured ancestor.
NBF, JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, these are great military leaders, and it is appropriate to study their tactics and leadership. They had the wrong attitude and the wrong beliefs. They were imperfect, and should not be held up as a tonic to the world, or examples of what we should emulate. They just should not. I am not ashamed of my family's participation in the Confederate cause. Some died to defend it. But, they were wrong. I admit that. It is what separates me from them, and what indicates my education and modern awareness.
Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, these are men of the same ilk as Forrest, Stewart, Jackson, Lee. I don't know that they were even very good at insurgency or radicalization, which may explain why they are not well studied and understood. You can be wrong and be the inspiration for study and understanding. Many of our best minds tried to understand Manson and his mania and charisma. I am not comparing any of these people to Manson, only that even terribly wrong behavior of uncommon significance is studied and understood.
In my opinion, Sherman is responsible for more death and destruction than any other American. His brand of total warfare was studied and perfected by many armies and generals. It is still practiced today. (Being a variant of ancient warfare, I do not claim Sherman invented it, but he applied modern technology to the application.)
All this is by way of saying this is not a black and white, racial issue. I do not misunderstand Beyonce's point and purpose because of the level of melatonin in my skin. I understand her point and purpose because I know history, the breadth and width of flawed and unsavory people of all shades and all stripes. Before you partake of political statement and demonstration, you owe it to yourself to understand for yourself what you are espousing. Celebrating the anniversary of a home grown, internal terrorist organization that actively participated in crime against all races, is sketchy at best, and downright stupid at its core.
Listening to smooth voices that claim to have understanding, that lay one side of the equation open, is dangerous. I do not deny that the FBI and the government were against the Panthers, like they are against Al Qaeda. I lump them together for the same aims and the same tactics championed. There were excesses and over prosecution. But, there was also much more that was never prosecuted that indicates significant issue with the validity of the Panther organization. There was plenty of documented terrorism, extortion, rape, riot, murder and theft, all against the black community. Ignore the threat the government saw, this was an organization that was a cancer and an injury to the black community. Proven in local courts, local juries, rock solid evidence, charges not brought by the FBI or US Attorneys.
Ignorance is never an excuse for public displays. If you are given a stage that reaches 113 million people, maybe billions world wide, and you are going to engage in political expression, you are charged with the obligation to understand what is behind that expression. This was not a display of black pride or black power. It was a misinformed fool, dancing a jig for her handlers, railing against a system that she did not study well enough to understand her condemnation. She had full police escort, to and from the stadium, yet felt obliged to decry the police and celebrate the group most responsible for the combative attitude in the black community that is contributing to unnecessary deaths to this day.
It made me sick. Not because I disagree with her opinions, which I do. She is absolutely entitled to support the Black Panthers and believe what they stand for and espouse. Awesome. But, the double standard of not being able to call it out, because it is okay because she is black, that is unAmerican. And if you are involved in that, you ought to understand why it only contributes to the continued distancing of the African American community from the growth of the American community as a whole.
Regardless of what is said and who is saying it, or who is listening, actual output trumps rhetoric. There is a gap, a huge gap, between the communities of color and the larger white community in America. There are white people, like me, that see that gap, despair of that gap and desire to close that gap. Not because I want votes, nor feel altruistic, but because it is unAmerican to see that gap anywhere. It offends my patriotism. Yet, the African American community continues to do all that it can to alienate me and those like me. The uber liberal, fake black NAACP members that crawl through our society are immune. I am not. If you cannot help yourself, if you can not be societally aware enough to understand what you say, there is no help or hope for you. When the bulk of America believes that, your struggle is most definitely real and deserved. You are entitled to it at that point.
I do not celebrate those that fought for slavery. I respect their skills and talents. I do not celebrate those that argue for discrimination or heritage and history. Masking ignorance with cries of personal rights is disgusting. I recognize the flaws in those around me, and hope that in spite of them, and the flaws in myself, we can develop a path forward that improves and impacts all of America. I just wish that was the real attitude of those that need the most help. If you cannot see the plank in your own eye, how can you help your neighbor with the splinter in theirs?
So, no, Beyonce is not excused. No, it is not illegal, but it is disingenuous and disgusting. Just because you are allowed to do something, does not mean that you should do something. And, if someone should make a poor decision as to how to utilize the massive audience that is assembled and paid for by an organization, that organization has an obligation to call it out. The NFL is okay with murderers, cheaters, wife beaters, child beaters, rapists, and I guess ideologically retarded performances. Not a peep. And not likely to change. Paying some big bucks to people that should not be associated with a federally protected brand. It is appalling.
Yes, my anger is not just at individuals. But, how do you change it? You just don't stand for it. And you don't let the uninformed that utilize the race card and the white privilege card and the ignorance excuse, stop you from calling it out. It is uncomfortable, because everyone knows you are right. Most just stay silent, because what is the use? I believe that in America, the obligation to speak is what drives us to improve and overcome.
50 years ago, my uncle said something incredibly prophetic. "Give it 50 years, and welfare will wipe out whole sections of DC, Detroit and LA. They won't survive it." That is not something I have ever been very proud of coming from my family, as I saw it as racist, and at its core it probably was. That did not change the evidence of the truth of the statement. The idea that entitlement comes from a color or a long dead history is incompatible with the American code of beliefs. You are not entitled, you are given opportunity. If that opportunity is stolen, then you are deserved of consideration for additional help. That is not entitlement. Entitlement is a cancer eating our community of poverty from the inside.
Those that have overcome it, are contributing to the cancer, by grandstanding and not understanding what their words and actions entail. The saddest part, 98% of the people watching the Super Bowl just considered it another weird costume by another oversexed, underdressed celebrity. They did not see a difference between Beyonce and Lady Gaga. I did not like Lady Gaga's hair or clothes, but they were just not my taste. I thought her version of the National Anthem was spot on, inspired and maybe one of the very best I have ever heard. The Hunger Games costume was just mildly distracting.
If you don't see a difference between Beyonce and Gaga, your high school civics teacher, your high school social studies teachers, your high school English teacher failed you. Your parents did not step up and fill the gap. Discernment and analysis are dying in this nation. We just like the way Beyonce shakes the bandoliers of magnums, we don't pay any attention to the statement. Then we don't understand why Ferguson happens, why Baltimore happens. We don't understand the steady drum beat of racism that pervades our communities of color, and we do not call it out. We just duck our heads and run when racism is thrown around, too uncomfortable. We reap what we sow when we do that. It has tired me out, and is not right
What Beyonce did was ignorant, unAmerican and wrong. I would love to understand how it is different from that. Even if your argument is that I am not black, I don't understand, fine. I think that is lazy arguing, but explain it to me. I, maybe alone in the world, am a white, middle class, middle aged man that desperately wants to understand. I don't want to give you a damn thing but my understanding and my help. I will go to the end of the argument with you, if you make me understand it. If you make me understand it, you can make anyone understand it. Imagine how awesome that world would be.
GLYASDI
So, I have not been diligent at writing things that have nagged at me. That does not indicate that things have not nagged at me. There is a lot of stuff in there percolating. This morning it is a bit of a small eruption, about things that do not matter at all, but drive a lot of conversation, so maybe they do matter and should not be ignored.
I, along with 113 million other Americans, if you believe statistics, watched the Super Bowl. Unlike 99.999% of the rest of the population, I watched it to the last miserable, underwhelming and piss poor football snap. It was the ugliest Super Bowl I can remember since the parade of whippings the NFC hung on the AFC in the 80's and early 90's. The NFL should be sad about the quality of the football on display, the quality of the officiating (for the whole season) and the quality of the league they have assembled. There is debate going on about whether Greg Hardy should be in the league, along with AP and Big Ben. There was a time that they would not, and instantaneously. It was a time of professionalism, adult accountability and good stewardship. The quality of the management is directly related to the quality of the product, in every aspect.
It is for the same reason I would strongly suggest you never buy a Volkswagon, and should refuse to purchase a car that has that Takawhatever air bag deployment system. Poor management and management accountability translate directly to quality of product. If you heard about the kind of stuff that went on with the GM ignition switch or the air bag fiasco, at a pharmaceutical company, would you take that medicine?
That, all is a truth in my mind, but not the point of this missive. I want to call out the racism involved in the half time show. Let us consider the response if Kid Rock had done a half time show, and come out in Confederate grey battle dress, with the grey kewpie hat, wrapped in the Confederate flag, or just a white sheet and hood, just to promote history and heritage (it is the 150th anniversary of the end of the recent unpleasantness). Or imagine the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out in thobes and ghutras and egals (those are the proper names for the long robe Muslim men wear, and the head dress). You know, as protest to the treatment of poor Muslims the world over by imperialistic forces.
Can you imagine just one tenth of the explosion that would occur from either of those jackass stunts? (And, I am not implying RCHP would do this, but Kid Rock damn sure would.) There would be the equivalent of a public lynching and probably riots in places that can least afford additional damage to their cities and infrastructure. I don't know that I would be upset at the outcry. It would be tasteless, ridiculous and deserving of ridicule and anger.
It is development of a false narrative, that these groups are not key constituents of documented violence and racial tension and discrimination. These are white and brown groups, that degenerated into war that America has waged, given blood to end and to abate. It is serious. If the above described incidents were to occur, there would likely be grounds for prosecution for inciting public unrest and riot. Like the proverbial "FIRE" in a crowded theatre.
How is the mess that Beyonce put on any different from what I described? It is not a myth that the Black Panthers are a group that were directly responsible for violence, death of civilians and police, contributed to civil unrest and continue to advocate violent overthrow of government institutions and public safety. These are documented facts proven in court. And, spare me the tripe about they were black so the court convicted them. That is a worthwhile argument for the 16 year old kid popped for selling crack on a street corner, but not corporate terrorists defended by the best attorneys stolen money can buy.
It was sickening and should be called out for what it is. It is race baiting. There is nothing celebratory in the life of Malcolm X or the organization known as the Black Panthers. To assert there is, is the equivalent of me asserting that we should celebrate Nathan Bedford Forrest, because of his impressive military exploits (which he had, legitimately). But, he was a crazy, scary race terrorist that contributed to the material crimes against innocent minorities. He is the American example of the hate crime, not a treasured ancestor.
NBF, JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, these are great military leaders, and it is appropriate to study their tactics and leadership. They had the wrong attitude and the wrong beliefs. They were imperfect, and should not be held up as a tonic to the world, or examples of what we should emulate. They just should not. I am not ashamed of my family's participation in the Confederate cause. Some died to defend it. But, they were wrong. I admit that. It is what separates me from them, and what indicates my education and modern awareness.
Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, these are men of the same ilk as Forrest, Stewart, Jackson, Lee. I don't know that they were even very good at insurgency or radicalization, which may explain why they are not well studied and understood. You can be wrong and be the inspiration for study and understanding. Many of our best minds tried to understand Manson and his mania and charisma. I am not comparing any of these people to Manson, only that even terribly wrong behavior of uncommon significance is studied and understood.
In my opinion, Sherman is responsible for more death and destruction than any other American. His brand of total warfare was studied and perfected by many armies and generals. It is still practiced today. (Being a variant of ancient warfare, I do not claim Sherman invented it, but he applied modern technology to the application.)
All this is by way of saying this is not a black and white, racial issue. I do not misunderstand Beyonce's point and purpose because of the level of melatonin in my skin. I understand her point and purpose because I know history, the breadth and width of flawed and unsavory people of all shades and all stripes. Before you partake of political statement and demonstration, you owe it to yourself to understand for yourself what you are espousing. Celebrating the anniversary of a home grown, internal terrorist organization that actively participated in crime against all races, is sketchy at best, and downright stupid at its core.
Listening to smooth voices that claim to have understanding, that lay one side of the equation open, is dangerous. I do not deny that the FBI and the government were against the Panthers, like they are against Al Qaeda. I lump them together for the same aims and the same tactics championed. There were excesses and over prosecution. But, there was also much more that was never prosecuted that indicates significant issue with the validity of the Panther organization. There was plenty of documented terrorism, extortion, rape, riot, murder and theft, all against the black community. Ignore the threat the government saw, this was an organization that was a cancer and an injury to the black community. Proven in local courts, local juries, rock solid evidence, charges not brought by the FBI or US Attorneys.
Ignorance is never an excuse for public displays. If you are given a stage that reaches 113 million people, maybe billions world wide, and you are going to engage in political expression, you are charged with the obligation to understand what is behind that expression. This was not a display of black pride or black power. It was a misinformed fool, dancing a jig for her handlers, railing against a system that she did not study well enough to understand her condemnation. She had full police escort, to and from the stadium, yet felt obliged to decry the police and celebrate the group most responsible for the combative attitude in the black community that is contributing to unnecessary deaths to this day.
It made me sick. Not because I disagree with her opinions, which I do. She is absolutely entitled to support the Black Panthers and believe what they stand for and espouse. Awesome. But, the double standard of not being able to call it out, because it is okay because she is black, that is unAmerican. And if you are involved in that, you ought to understand why it only contributes to the continued distancing of the African American community from the growth of the American community as a whole.
Regardless of what is said and who is saying it, or who is listening, actual output trumps rhetoric. There is a gap, a huge gap, between the communities of color and the larger white community in America. There are white people, like me, that see that gap, despair of that gap and desire to close that gap. Not because I want votes, nor feel altruistic, but because it is unAmerican to see that gap anywhere. It offends my patriotism. Yet, the African American community continues to do all that it can to alienate me and those like me. The uber liberal, fake black NAACP members that crawl through our society are immune. I am not. If you cannot help yourself, if you can not be societally aware enough to understand what you say, there is no help or hope for you. When the bulk of America believes that, your struggle is most definitely real and deserved. You are entitled to it at that point.
I do not celebrate those that fought for slavery. I respect their skills and talents. I do not celebrate those that argue for discrimination or heritage and history. Masking ignorance with cries of personal rights is disgusting. I recognize the flaws in those around me, and hope that in spite of them, and the flaws in myself, we can develop a path forward that improves and impacts all of America. I just wish that was the real attitude of those that need the most help. If you cannot see the plank in your own eye, how can you help your neighbor with the splinter in theirs?
So, no, Beyonce is not excused. No, it is not illegal, but it is disingenuous and disgusting. Just because you are allowed to do something, does not mean that you should do something. And, if someone should make a poor decision as to how to utilize the massive audience that is assembled and paid for by an organization, that organization has an obligation to call it out. The NFL is okay with murderers, cheaters, wife beaters, child beaters, rapists, and I guess ideologically retarded performances. Not a peep. And not likely to change. Paying some big bucks to people that should not be associated with a federally protected brand. It is appalling.
Yes, my anger is not just at individuals. But, how do you change it? You just don't stand for it. And you don't let the uninformed that utilize the race card and the white privilege card and the ignorance excuse, stop you from calling it out. It is uncomfortable, because everyone knows you are right. Most just stay silent, because what is the use? I believe that in America, the obligation to speak is what drives us to improve and overcome.
50 years ago, my uncle said something incredibly prophetic. "Give it 50 years, and welfare will wipe out whole sections of DC, Detroit and LA. They won't survive it." That is not something I have ever been very proud of coming from my family, as I saw it as racist, and at its core it probably was. That did not change the evidence of the truth of the statement. The idea that entitlement comes from a color or a long dead history is incompatible with the American code of beliefs. You are not entitled, you are given opportunity. If that opportunity is stolen, then you are deserved of consideration for additional help. That is not entitlement. Entitlement is a cancer eating our community of poverty from the inside.
Those that have overcome it, are contributing to the cancer, by grandstanding and not understanding what their words and actions entail. The saddest part, 98% of the people watching the Super Bowl just considered it another weird costume by another oversexed, underdressed celebrity. They did not see a difference between Beyonce and Lady Gaga. I did not like Lady Gaga's hair or clothes, but they were just not my taste. I thought her version of the National Anthem was spot on, inspired and maybe one of the very best I have ever heard. The Hunger Games costume was just mildly distracting.
If you don't see a difference between Beyonce and Gaga, your high school civics teacher, your high school social studies teachers, your high school English teacher failed you. Your parents did not step up and fill the gap. Discernment and analysis are dying in this nation. We just like the way Beyonce shakes the bandoliers of magnums, we don't pay any attention to the statement. Then we don't understand why Ferguson happens, why Baltimore happens. We don't understand the steady drum beat of racism that pervades our communities of color, and we do not call it out. We just duck our heads and run when racism is thrown around, too uncomfortable. We reap what we sow when we do that. It has tired me out, and is not right
What Beyonce did was ignorant, unAmerican and wrong. I would love to understand how it is different from that. Even if your argument is that I am not black, I don't understand, fine. I think that is lazy arguing, but explain it to me. I, maybe alone in the world, am a white, middle class, middle aged man that desperately wants to understand. I don't want to give you a damn thing but my understanding and my help. I will go to the end of the argument with you, if you make me understand it. If you make me understand it, you can make anyone understand it. Imagine how awesome that world would be.
GLYASDI
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