Posts Tagged ‘racism’

A favorite blogger of mine, Mustang Bobby posted a quite distressing little tidbit today. Seems a radio station in California took a very non-scientific poll asking if folks thought it would be a good idea to force all Muslims to register in a national data base.

Seems 63% of the respondents (and 100% of the dimwits) thought that was a very good idea. Mustang Bobby commented with acrid sarcasm that perhaps they should wear little crescents on the street, because hey, that worked last time, right? Since the crescent is associated with Islam as the Star of David is associated with Judaism, it sent me back down memory lane.

In ninth grade, as I began reading about the Holocaust, and Jews forced to wear the yellow star badge, I also read about the Nazi efforts to enforce this in some Scandinavian countries. They had a bit of trouble, because the Danish police did not cooperate. I thought that was very admirable. I thought if I had ever had to live through such stupid, hateful times I, too would wear the badge of “shame” as a badge of honor and solidarity. I never thought I would live to see such a thing suggested in America as registration of a religious group nationwide.

So just in case my government or any part thereof takes a nosedive off the utterly stupid high board into the pool of genocidal fascism, I have MY little green crescent ready to wear. Because if anyone seriously suggests “registering” Muslims in a data base—-EVERYONE should register. Or no one.

Thank you, Bobby, for the inspiration—I am doing an arts/crafts project daily for 100 days. This is my snark-art effort of the evening!

I cannot find a version of the movie, either British (On Dangerous Ground) or the American release (Choke Canyon) that this song came from—so I have no idea as to what the storyline was about; the lyrics caught my ear yesterday.

It was done by “Mike and the Mechanics”…a spin off group from “Genesis” and the peculiar “hide, take cover” tone of the song rather locked up my mind. I think the reason my mind locked on this old ’80’s song was the idea of fighting in the streets threatening all—with the hate-mongers at full cry like so many rabid dogs (where IS Atticus Finch when we need him?) I fear there are not enough “cellars” to shelter us all.

Michael Bloomberg is doing his level best to talk down the maniacs and racists. Pray he succeeds, or all America’s dreams will become as obscure as this song and the old movie that was its origin!

A Medal of Honor hero died this week. He was a fighter in one of America’s segregated units during World War II. I often think America forgets that the “Greatest Generation” included men and women of all colors. Modern Americans too often like to gloss the racism of the past and pretend it not only doesn’t exist, but never “really” did affect American life.

But of course, it did. Although Vernon Baker was a WWII hero, it was not until Clinton was President that he was recognized fully with the medal. Nice gesture, but is late really better than never? Because I wonder what a difference it might have made in the lives of all African-Americans in post-war America to have a black man wearing the Medal of Honor walking the streets? Only seven black soldiers were granted this highest honor, and Mr. Baker was the only one alive to receive it.

America likes being a bit late at the gate, it seems. There is a lot of banter about how America is a sleeping giant, but, boy-oh-boy, once we wake up; look out! Right. If that was ever true, America is tossing back Ambiens at present.
The news mentions the passing of Mr. Vernon Baker and everyone says “Oh, what a brave man.”

The news still barely mentions heroes of the current wars, or the soldiers that die every day. I just wonder if it wouldn’t be better for our troops and veterans if someone thought a bit more about them before they are 75 years old, just for a change.

And since awards of the beautiful starry blue ribboned medal in the current wars have been so very stingy, one wonders if politics play a part? Do they hold back the awards to minimize the demands and costs of the war? After all, putting a hero up in clear view means this is some serious WAR, man! Do we still really want to play this one off as if we can do it with one hand tied behind our backs? Because we are losing men, bleeding money, and Humpty Dumpty is in pieces. All the CIA tricks and bigger bombs aren’t putting it back together again.

I just think Vernon Baker, and other Medal of Honor holders like him, would probably appreciate America noticing their brother and sister troops while they are still alive and struggling with the war and its effects.

And in line with the military and the nation being stuck on the “too little, too late” wagon, tomorrow will be “Suicide Saturday” a week earlier than usual.

I will open with a quote (from the Seattle paper) from a man defending the Seattle Police from protesters who dislike the kicking and stomping of an innocent man:

“Gary, a man at the protest who did not want to give his last name, says it’s acceptable for police to go to extremes.

“The police need to be able to sometimes … if people are uncooperative – force them to cooperate. And sometimes for that, it requires force,” he said. ”

Really, Gary? Did you watch the video? The guy followed EVERY command, he assumed the flat on the ground position and was not talking back. The cops still kicked and stomped him and insulted him to boot. And this is a guy who did nothing, an innocent.

I bet you are white, right, Gary? You aren’t worried about being put on the ground and kicked, or stopped at random every time a crime is committed and the cops are out a-hunting. Must be nice to be you, Gary.

The Seattle Police have not been the same since the WTO affair, when they beat down even white, female SHOPPERS and tear gassed random car occupants. And so, the city and the residents got a bit flinchy and less “Oh, Hi, Officer Friendly” to them. I stopped shopping in Seattle, but for two or three trips a year at that point.

And now? Well, I won’t go to the city at all until someone leashes the dogs.

The video:

Seriously, how different things could look. If you IMAGINE !

Happy thankful hattip to PJVJ!

And Ted Nugent? I was never that much of a fan, but NOW? Now, you can suck on your OWN machine gun, so far as I am concerned. You seditious bastard, you.

Sometimes I feel like a complete cynic. Today is a holiday and either last week or this week, school children will be deluged with the most superficial bits of Martin Luther King’s lifetime. I saw what my children were offered and it struck me as politically correct and unsubstantial, a human life rendered into something less than accurate history and less affecting than myth. The way to manage a man who would not BE managed apparently is to enshrine him in a holiday where people can sleep in and ignore the reason for the day.

And Gods forfend if the problems his movement attempted to address should be acknowledged to still exist, but with window dressing and euphemisms to soften the effect! I was a teen when MLK died, and I wept in front of the television that year—-twice, when King died and when Robert Kennedy’s life ran out on a restaurant kitchen floor. Racial tensions and economic hardship tied to race were acknowledged problems in 1968; now the perception is those are behind us, dealt with and over with for America. And that is BULLSHIT.

The only time America twitches and admits, tentatively, that it is not a “done deal” is when disaster strikes. Racism was obvious when Katrina hit a largely black city; Pat Robertson said God was punishing sinners. Yeah, Pat, black sinners is what you clearly meant; and if we had any doubt, your recent comments about it being the fault of those terrible Voo-doo praticing Haitians that an earthquake tumbled down what poor pathetic infrastructure they had, doubt was erased. If an island so near our coast was full of nice shiny white Christians, I am sure the level of suffering and misery that is the daily fare in Haiti would not be tolerated.

After all, America couldn’t watch the white folks of disintegrating Yugoslavia go on killing each other; but nobody blinked too hard about tribal genocide in Africa. Of course, most folks are not so blatant as the moronic Pat Robertson or the driveling sack of crap that is Rush Limbaugh; but an awful lot of folks just sit quietly or murmur something like “Well, you know THOSE people just don’t focus on cleaning up their own mess.” Right. Bit hard to do that when venal leaders grab theirs and go, when the world ignores you, when nobody really gives a damn what walls of impossible height block your progress. When a country’s first attempts at independence are beggared by bigger neighbors worrying about their own slave rebellion and make you pay off your former owners, it is a bit difficult to get off to a good start.

So, on Martin Luther King Day, what would Martin, Robert and John say, if they looked down on Haiti? And across the waters to an America that is still busy trying to grab all the oil, all the economic prerequisites for the top one percent of her population? I have this peculiar compulsion, probably because my spiritual life demands eschewing hypocrisy: I think a holiday (holy day) should retain something of the reason for its being. America should be looking at the suffering of black Haiti on the day we celebrate a black martyr who died for our sins.

Some could accuse me of posting a verbal self-portrait with that title! But I was actually thinking of the recent train of thought about my entire country. But I will begin with a confession of sorts. I AM self-absorbed at times; I get wrapped around the axle of self-examination to see if I am doing things “right”. When I say the majority of my countrymen and women are self-absorbed, I cannot, of course, know if they use that phrase the same way. I suspect not.

By insular, I mean that most Americans care little for what goes on beyond our borders; by self-absorbed I mean that most cannot be bothered to know the least thing about what goes on in the world outside their families and pets—as if ignoring it makes it incapable of reaching into their lives to monkey wrench things. And because I do believe most of my fellow Americans ARE people of good will and generous at heart, I believe in some deep recess of the mind, they KNOW this is what existentialists call “bad faith” and it depresses them.

I am sure most folks stopped reading right there, going “Oh God, another America hater.” I don’t hate America or Americans. I love my country and fellow citizens as I love my children or husband. But just as I can get pissed off when my grown children or husband do something remarkably stupid or self-damaging, I can get pissed off at my nation!

And I wonder how America got ISD’d to begin with? How does that happen?
When did reading the news about the celebrity de jour become more important than real news (like the ability to now create fake DNA at crime scenes, for one thing? How did America suddenly throw in the towel of involvement and retreat to pablum on the evening news? How did a nation like this become more involved in “comfort” that caring what is “right” in the world? When did our ideas OF what is right get skewed to mean “young, bouncy, thin, and sexy” instead of “honest, hard-working, determined, and fair”?

News pundits pounded President Carter over his “malaise” speech. But you know what? He had a very good point. We have lost something—and we are losing more constantly. I have to fight the tendency myself, I find myself in danger of retreating into some mystic and solitary condition instead of putting up my fists to take on the world. Sometimes I don’t want to read the news either; but if I don’t? I have no right, next time shit hits an American fan, to cry “Oh, why US?” Because if you are not paying attention and working to counter the downhill slide, you have no right to bitch. Yes, all us nasty mean people who grew up saying things like “If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem!” had a point.

What problem are YOU solving? I know one friend fights against the bullshit stigmatization of fat Americans. I know a lady who takes on her local government when they do stupid land-grabby things. The “think globally, act locally” crowd is onto something. We live in a smaller and more crowded world than we ever imagined. Step out into it and CHANGE it; it will change YOU and suddenly the world will be your front yard, you will forget to worry if your crows feet are worse, and the depression will lift!

This post is public notice that our family wishes to announce that we are permanently disaffiliated with the Heathen spirituality group entitled the “Falcon Kindred.”  This is not because any of us disavow belief in or devotion to certain of the Nordic deities; far from it.

It is more a statement that we found certain racist and sexist behaviors unforgivable and that the apparent habit of considering drunken revelry and weapons in close consort at every “religious” gathering  necessary gave us considerable pause.  We found it dangerous and in some cases in possible violation of state laws.  I found their utter disregard of the reservations of members (aside from ourselves) disheartening.  The overall impression was one of arrogant presumption to ignore the members for the pleasure of the unelected and appointed for life leaders.

Behaviors observed by my son, who attended several gathers only led to more dismay.  And when rather harsh things were said about my personal intention “to destroy the Kindred” I took it as a sign of a certain paranoia, if not outright delusion.  I also, at one point in my life, left the Catholic Church—but I felt no need to destroy them, nor to make others cease in their devotions to such institution.  My need to disassociate myself from what I viewed as dangerous and addiction driven behaviors is not commentary on Heathen or Asatruar beliefs, but upon the leadership of this particular group.

We owe this group nothing, we offered them our hospitality and they responded with an arrogant attitude with regard to future hospitality and entitlements.  My views on weapons or the length of their stay, or the alcohol abuse were disregarded and my invitation permanently withdrawn.  They would quote me the Havamal with regard to how to be a good host; I would recommend they read the sections on the proper behaviors of guests.  They consider my eclecticism in religion not suitably “pure” for them; so they are spiritual racists in a sense as well as the unfortunately usual way attributed to white supremist groups.  Apparently, because I am devoted to Greek deities as well as Freyja, I am guilty of spiritual miscegenation of some sort.  I wonder if they are guilty of the same for worship of at least one god not of Nordic descent at all?  A worship my son was invited and declined to join.

Furthermore, since my son had created a website and kindly agreed to host it upon his own domain at his own personal expense, this group interpreted this as an obligation not a gift.   Below is his own letter of disaffiliation:

It is has come to my attention that certain members of the Falcon Kindred still seem to hold a personal interest in my person and in members of my family. The intent of this document is to provide the following:

1. That I did in fact leave the Falcon Kindred on my own terms and in good faith.

2. That any ‘intellectual’ properties of the Falcon Kindred were no longer in my sole possession and that the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors, in particular, the President of the Falcon Kindred, could have at any time dealt with the online face of the Falcon Kindred without my help.

3. That I no longer am obligated in any way, shape, or form to provide ANY assistance what-so-ever to any member of the Kindred. And that should I provide assistance, it is out of the kindness of my heart and not through any legal obligation.

I departed the Falcon Kindred and the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors for a variety of reasons. Chief among them were immoral and unethical behaviors which were allowed to prosper in the Kindred without rebuke from the Board of Directors or other persons in positions of leadership. These reasons are few in number, but they are of large consequence and unforgivable import—things which I have never tolerated in my life and will not tolerate now, under any guise, especially that of a religious guise.

With my departure came my full and irrevocable resignation from the IT position on the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors. Materials made for the Falcon Kindred (electronic documents, web site material, etc) were never ‘given’ to the Falcon Kindred. The copyright for these works (with a few notable exceptions) resides with the creator of said works. In other words: I created the works with the Falcon Kindred in mind, but they are STILL MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. My work for the Kindred was my GIFT to them, not any obligation, nor recompensed in any way whatsoever.

The domain name, www.falconkindred.com, was never mine, and still is not mine. In fact, the domain name was never even under the control of my hosting company. Even though my hosting company provided the domain name a temporary home, neither me, nor any member of my family, nor my hosting company ever claimed ownership of the domain name. The domain name has always been registered to Troy Wisehart, through godaddy.com and it was always under his control at that internet location. If the owner of the domain name cannot figure out how to move his website to another hosting company that isn’t my problem.

Finally, when I departed the Board of Directors, I made it very clear that they would need to find another person to fill the role of Information Technology. I provided a recommendation (to which they did not listen) and told them that once I had a point of contact to work with that I would in fact give them the information they needed. However, due to some personal issues (also a point in my leaving the Kindred to begin with), I was delayed in providing information. As such my inbox filled with request after request to give them information. I was hesitant; to say the least, to allow access to my webserver to a person I barely knew. It is unexceptional to refuse access to such personal and sensitive online materials. And when I decided that I was not going to renew my server this year, I informed them that they would need to find their own hosting company. Until said company was found and an account was created there was nothing further that I could do. Again, I must reiterate, I am in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM REQUIRED TO ASSIST THE MEMBERS OF THE FALCON KINDRED IN SETTING UP THE ONLINE FACE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION.

The above should make clear to one and all that I and any and all members of my family are not only disaffiliated from the above mentioned organization, but also permanently disaffected.

We have had our first frost.  I put the feather comforter on the bed.  Winter is coming, and I don’t think on tippy-toes this year.  The weather may be average, but nothing else about this winter will be ordinary.

We have a Presidential election in a few weeks and partizans for the Republicans openly post images of their opponent, Obama, with a noose alongside the photo.  They lie and call him a Muslim.  They say he hangs out with terrorists.  Gee, you know if anyone who knew a college radical in the 60’s “hangs out with terrorists”, it sure could go a long way to explaining the ever-longer no-fly list, couldn’t it?   I knew that if I looked hard enough, long enough and without my brain or glasses, that it would all make a twisty sort of sense!

We have two wars that are ruinously ongoing.  And in Afghanistan, people will be starving this winter while we get NATO troops to further make war on the opium farmers who are merely trying to stay alive and feed their families with the only cash crop they can find.  We are distrusted and hated around the world.

The financial markets of the world are tottering and bringing up mental images of the old train wreck posters produced in sepia tones with cheesy captions back when I was fresh out of high school.  Britain is so pissed that little Iceland went broke before Brit investors could get their payoff that they have invoked anti-terrorist legislation to seize assets!  So, now bigger nations will go strip whatever has worth in smaller debtor nations to make their “ends” look at each other?   Apparently, it really is impossible for nations to sit down and say “Well, we are ALL in the shit; how do we make the best of it and climb out of the crapper?”

And what are the average Americans doing?  The news around here finds it encouraging that they are going shopping for Halloween.  Are you kidding?  Yes, I went shopping for Halloween, too.  I spent $8 on colored hairspray.  I am paying off my bills as fast as I can, keeping even with repairs and maintenance and hoping we somehow make it through the shit that is coming down the pike.

Clue to America: You can’t SHOP your way out of this.  Pay off your damned debts, look up the word “stringent” in the dictionary and make it your watch word for financial matters  and general living for a while.  Keep your cabinets stocked, do your job, don’t act like a panicked racist prick, and pay some fucking ATTENTION to the world beyond your own petty damned needs for a change.

I love the fall, usually.  In spite of my apprehensions and fears of stupid people in large numbers, I WILL enjoy the season.  With simple pleasures…..a good home-cooked meal, a backyard bonfire, a glass of cheer from the long-ago stocked liquor cabinet.  It is time to keep on keeping on, but at a real level rather than on the fantastical level.  And yes, for all you whippersnappers, that is a reference to a black and white movie “The Night of the Iguana” ….because the American Stupid party is over.  It has needed to be over for good while.  Park your greed and ‘me me me” at the dumpster and join the rest of the planet.

If obscenity is the last resort of the inarticulate, as I am often lectured, is violence and mayhem the last stand of the present Republican Party candidates?

Not to put too fine a point on it, regarding my constant swearing, but it GETS attention QUICKLY.  It is a crude tool, but an effective one that focuses a lot of people without them needing to resort to a dictionary to get my meaning.

Likewise, Sarah Palin and John McCain attacking relentlessly with old lies, and with phrases that seem to encode the worst things about America—evil nasty, not-spoken-of-openly racist things, for instance, seems to get and hold the attention of a lot of people who may or may not actually be the type to go to a voting booths.  I have to wonder whether the vote is what they are actually seeking from this particular crowd.

If a speech makes the listener shout “Kill him!” about Obama, and the speaker accepts that with her folksy little smile or a wink?  What does that say?  Do you win all the same if the opposing candidate is simply dead?  How do we know this isn’t exactly what the GOP wants?  A dead Obama would certainly send a message to America, wouldn’t it?

I know a lot of liberals/progressives who were Hillary Clinton supporters because they said they didn’t believe Obama could LIVE to do the job.  I found that a horrifying concept: that you elect someone based strictly on whether anyone wants them dead by assassination.  You see, in that kind of thinking, you build in victory for the other side.  All they need do is show a readiness to off ANY person likely to win, and wow, everyone steps back from the plate and supports a weaker candidate who at least may not be shot?

I am voting for “That One” as McCain so dismissingly referred to Obama.  And the Republicans, if they are counting on the dregs of their base to step up with gun and scope and end the problem?  Why, then I would say, they better think again.  Because if they thought there were riots and madness in the wake of the Rodney King incident,  they better bring more than a single U.S. Army Brigade to the pic-nic if Obama is murdered.

I can’t be the only one wondering why that political Rubicon was crossed, can I?  As the election nears, and McCain falters in dotage and vindictive spleen, Bush brings home a combat unit and it is announced it will be for policing the streets of America in violation of posse comitatus custom?   Now of all times?  Why now?  Why does a truck-load of Colorado rednecks with said scope & rifle get dismissed as a “not-credible threat” while mere letter writers to Bush can find themselve in jail if they aren’t very careful?

I really try to avoid the conspiracy theory trap, but I smell a rat.  And it is wearing the smiling flag-wrapped face of the Republican Party.  What do they expect that is so dire that only a combat hardened Army Brigade would answer the need?  Why do they expect it, if they are not trying to set it in motion?