July, 2017 archive
Palate Cleanser 0
When my family got our first stereo, a huge floor-standing console, South Pacific was one of the first albums we purchased. If you know the story, you know that one of its undercurrents is a protest against racism. The story points out that, to be a racist, you have to the carefully taught.
Tales of the Trumpling–Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Still rising again after all these years . . . .
Since filing a lawsuit against the school district a few weeks ago, Jasmine and her family have been the target of a torrent of racist and hateful messages. Messages that are too sickening and hateful to be shared here.
Back in the 1960s, my Southern school district finally realized after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that segregation was done and began a show process of integration. There was one black student in the white high school, a senior, the first year; eleven black students joined it the next year as juniors; and so on–full merging of the black and white schools did not occur until I was in college.
I am certain that those students were carefully picked and all of them acquitted themselves well. There were no overt tensions at the school (of course, this wasn’t in Mississippi, either). By the time my brother graduated a few years after me, the valedictorian was a black girl. The students accepted it, because she had clearly earned it.
More to the point, the parents, the administration, and the community accepted it, though a small percentage of the white student body fled to two “seg academies” and were roundly resented by the students who remained in the public high school. I have long been grateful that the administration had the wisdom to admit defeat.
Trumpling the Rule of Law 0
Dick Polman reminds us that it can happen here and that, if it does, it’s our own damn fault for not paying attention, as a polity, to the politics. A snippet:
In a way I don’t even blame Trump, because he doesn’t know any better. A poseur with Louis XIV pretensions (“L’etat c’est moi,” said the French king – “I am the state”), Trump has no concept of checks and balances, no respect for America’s enduring democratic institutions, and he’s been dodging accountability his whole life. His one mode is attack; long-dead Roy Cohn, his thug mentor, appears to be dispensing advice via his tooth fillings.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Florida man phones in politeness:
The workers told the man they would move the trucks after the work was completed. The man then went inside his home and came back out with a gun and started shooting at the tires.
German Cops Cast Net over Botnetter 0
A British hacker is on trial in Germany for attacking Deutsche Telekom to establish a botnet.
The Briton told the court he was paid $10,000 (about €8,500) by a Liberian telecom company which wanted to use the botnet to damage a rival company.
Six Months In 0
Really. Donald Trump’s been President for only six months?
Dick Polman looks back:
(snip)
All this, from a guy with a 36 percent approval rating, by far the worst of any elected president at the six-month mark — but what we’ve learned by now is that he “governs” for that 36 percent, the people who think he’s kickass because he stokes their grievances and hates the same institutions they hate.
Follow the link for the complete article.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet more familial politeness . . . .
The bullet grazed a nine-year-old in the chest and then hit the boy’s arm.
The Name Game 0
Thom speaks with guest Greg Palast (Investigative Reporter, Filmmaker – The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Contributor – Rolling Stone, BBC, and more) about the Trump administration’s “voter fraud” witch hunt lead by Mike Pence and Kris Kobach, which is officially underway.
