Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Juneteenth (Saw This Late)

A post about the Military Context for Juneteenth. I think it's worth the time to read.

14 comments:

B said...

Maybe.

But don't you think it is odd how the George Floyd debacle was brought forth and sensationalized and then (just by coincidence) the whole Juneteenth thing happened to come up as the enthusiasm peaked and then the whole Black National Anthem idiocy just happened to come up as things began to die down?

If you can't see that there is a campaign in the media for these things, then you are deliberately closing your eyes.

Comrade Misfit said...

I think you're wrong. I think that people have finally realized that we have a problem with the cops routinely killing people of color on the flimsiest of excuses. It's only taken documenting a bunch of them for white people to realize this has been going on for a long time.

CenterPuke88 said...

B., you see a campaign because it isn’t the usual. Instead of the same old stories in the news, we see belated recognition that a lot of the complaints and allegations that we dismissed as illfounded, false or overblown were, in fact, true. Bruner and Postman conducted a classic experiment in the mid-40’s using a deck of cards that included a few ringers.

For instance, the six of spades would be red, of the two of diamonds would be black. The testees would generally immediately identify the card correctly without commenting (or noticing) the color until the exposure time was increased somewhat. Then something was observed as wrong by most participants, but they had difficulty identifying what it was. Once they figured what was “wrong”, it was spotted almost instantly afterwards. Most of America has just had their bells rung by the video of the police killing someone, and now they are mulling over everything else they have seen and ignored before. It s a very uncomfortable time for lots of people.

B said...

CP: You could,perhaps, be correct.

Having said that, it is interesting how all of this came to a head at precisely the same time. I find coincidences like that to be...unusual. Generally, public opinion on such diverse things doesn't come together like that without a carefully shaped campaign.

And it is odd how quiescent the Mob is until an election year.

Dark Avenger said...

If you suspect a conspiracy, how did and does it work, B?

Did they stage the death of George Floyd, or prepare for the inevitable POC dying unarmed at the hands of the police for a minor offense?

And yes, election years tend to bring out the passionate in the electorate. Funny how that works out.

Say what you will about Qanon, at least it’s more coherent compared to what you’re insinuating here.

CenterPuke88 said...

B., perhaps you are forgetting that public opinion is, on the whole, public and not always shaped. There is often a reflexive response on both sides to say “Fox News is pushing...” or “CNN is saying...”, and then simply allowing that to imply that our minds have been made up for us. Let’s look at Civil Rights.

Civil Rights came about because enough people get involved to make the it a “thing” that had to be addressed in some manner, and that led to protests, lawsuits and pictures/film that showed unhinged racists berating kids and setting dogs and water cannons loose on peaceful protestors. You can posit that those pictures and films were “used” to play the populace and cause them to act, but I don’t think that the timeline bears that out. It was more a result of seeing this kind of spiteful and (it is America, after all) ungodly behavior time and time again on all the news, which at that time was genuinely neutral, people’s eyes started to open to the fact that “those people” were actually humans too.

Sometimes all it takes is listening, as in the case if the comments by Gail Welch, Jones County Mississippi Election Commissioner, "I'm concerned about voter registration in Mississippi...The blacks are having lots (of) events for voter registration. People in Mississippi have to get involved, too."

The unpalatable reality for most of white America is that we have been quietly complicit in the racism because we are somewhat smug about the fact that WE aren’t racist. We say that as a talismanic chant because we’ve heard (and mostly believe) that racists are bad people, and since we can’t see ourselves as being bad, we can’t be racist ourselves and thus can’t bear any responsibility. The automatic responses of “heritage not hate” and “I haven’t owned any slaves” ignores the simple facts about how the white population has inherent advantages in generational wealth and connections, the white privileged that everyone says they never received. Admitting to that isn’t admitting that you are a bad person, but it’s very difficult because we believe the false narrative of anyone can make it in America. Most people that make it have advantages, some don’t...but you can’t overcome generations of disadvantage with a few success stories, you need a focused program that helps people get a leg up on the ladder, and that’s still a step too far for most American’s. And so, we stumble from problem to problem, solving the issue of the minute while ignoring the overhanging issues that we fear and deny...and this applies to African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, etc.

B said...

Ah, so I see in your last paragraphs that you have finally read the book you wanted me to read..."White Privilege" An interesting bit of twaddle, meant to bolster her seminars. It ignores a LOT of issues with the Black culture and blames whites for most of the issues with Black American culture like the failure to gain wealth to pass on to future generations (It is the white man's fault that Black people don't play the game the same as whites do so something must be done Ignoring race is racist!)... It's obvious that she doesn't know many black people very well.

But at least you read it.

Public opinion doesn't just "jell" all at once in a few days. If you can't see that there is a concerted effort to fan the flames, then you are either totally blind or simply not admitting to what is obvious. Yes, I do believe that there was a plan for this, and yes, I do believe that they used George Floyd as the trigger. Yes, I think what happened to him is real (and terrible), but it could have been any number of other black men who died while resisting arrest while high on drugs (It happens to whites who resist while high on drugs too, BTW). This incident became "the one" because there was cell phone video.

But go ahead, believe what you want, ignore the evidence before you. The unrest isn't random, nor spontaneous. Valid, yes. Needed, perhaps. But the flames are being fanned.

CenterPuke88 said...

B., I read it a long time ago, FYI. As for the twaddle, what else do you call the following:

- “Freeing” people without any compensation for their slavery, no place to live, no place to work, no money to eat? It was simply designed to create a generation of tenant farmers with little of any way t9 get ahead.

- Using redlining and blacklining to control where people could and couldn’t live, preventing people from getting loans or keeping their loan rates artificially high.

- Burning black towns and businesses, and then confiscating the ruins for “unpaid taxes” or trumped up rioting charges.

- Legally being able to pay someone less foe the same work.

- Blocking access to education and licenses.

- Tailoring of laws and punishments to unduly impose harsher sentences upon those in certain groups.

- Lynching.


Please tell me how you can look at that list and say that it’s all the fault of the people those things were imposed on for not passing on wealth and opportunity? I’m not asking for handouts or money drops, but they’re has to be acknowledgement of the sins and the fact that we have all benefited from this disparity. It’s very easy to say “they should do better”...but once again, you are using that loaded word, “they”.

B said...




Really? It only came out about 2 years ago, and only became popular in the mainstream a few months ago....(oddly, about the time that this whole campaign started....)

And none of that list in the past generation. (Of course, that was all democrats...try reading about "Jim Crow" and where "redlining" started....and the confiscations as well....
Oddly, even when that WAS happening (try reading some history....) there was a great deal of generational wealth in the first part of the century in the black community. There still is in those with a family and a culture that makes them successful.

Try again. The issue is with (some of) the black people and their culture. Many folks are middle or upper class, smarter and better off than many whites. The rest are failures, just like the bottom segment of whites. Poverty is a lifestyle and a series of choices. If you can't not be a felon, yer not gonna get a good job. If you can't afford rent, but have a $300 pair of sneakers, yer gonna be poor, no matter what color your skin is. If you won't get an education or learn a trade, you aren't gonna earn a decent wage. If you can't plan farther ahead than the evening, yer gonna be poor. Lots of poor whites who suffer from the same issues of poverty choices.

Those who are successful, who live by society's rules, who raise their kids right, (generally with both a father and a mother) are at least moderately successful. Those that don't have felonies before they finish high school have a chance. Those that plan a bit forward and can get an education or learn a trade and can show up to work and pass a blood test can be moderately successful, be they white, black, brown or yellow. Those that don't do the above ....have a harder time in life. There are a higher number of poor whites than poor blacks, they just can't blame someone else for their failures, so they just go forward.

Again, I don't mean to hijack these comments, so I am out. If you wanna discuss this via email, I will gladly do so. You know how to contact me, (if not, leave me a contact in comments on my blog and I will mail you back...I know you can comment there) or not, as you wish.

B

Dark Avenger said...

https://youtu.be/5hfYJsQAhl0

CenterPuke88 said...

B., you are exposing your entitlement and privilege. I read it about 6 months ago, FYI, right after a gentleman I worked with suggested it as a little insight into some questions I had for him. “Some” (I have a black friend, eh.), “it was Democrat’s” (so that makes it not your problem?), “$300 sneakers” (used welfare queen recently too?)...I suggest a long look in the mirror, my friend, you are still willfully ignoring reality by looking for plots and plans...maybe QAnon could use you.

B said...

It always comes down to that when the argument is lost, doesn't it? Claim "Entitlement and privilege" when you have no cogent argument or rebuttal.

Fail.

And BTW, who buys those sneakers?



Dark Avenger said...

The Goggle can answer your question.

https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/g22690969/coolest-best-sneakers-2018/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabellord/2019/08/09/the-best-mens-sneakers-under-200/amp/

https://www.complex.com/sneakers/2018/12/best-sneakers-2018/air-jordan-xi-concord

Of course, some sneakers are sold in the name of a fellow who could buy or sell anyone of us, one M. Jordan. It must piss off some folks than an African-American is making bank off white kids trying to look cool.

CenterPuke88 said...

No, B., you always resort to that argument and, I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t true...just like all those SNAP users buying lobster stories. You are the one being deluded by your echo chamber and your entitled view of how you did things better so you are better off.