2) With all of the mass shootings since the year began (over 100, from what I've seen), I want to point out that the shooters are of various races, political affiliations (or lack there-of), religions (or lack there-of), etc. Actually, from every statistic I've seen, the only common thread connecting all of the shooters is gender (male).
Mass shootings are something we all have to come together and face as a nation. There's no one group to point the finger at. This is a cultural problem, with the culture being American culture. Does mental illness play a part? Absolutely. But many countries have people with mental illnesses, and yet we (the USA) seem to have the a substantially larger-than-average problem with mass shootings. We need to fix the culture that allows this kind of thing to happen over and over, each year, at such a high rate. RIP to all of the victims of these shootings.
Also: if you fancy yourself a responsible gun-owner (and there are many...in fact I'd say the majority of gun-owners in the USA are responsible gun-owners).... DO MORE TO HELP STOP THIS KIND OF THING! Groups like the NRA should be at the forefront of the movement to stop gun violence. The NRA needs to take a minute away from "owning the libs" to confront this problem of mass shootings, and of gun violence in general.
3) I'm loving what Troy Weaver is doing with the Detroit Pistons (my favourite NBA team). We've got a lot of talented young players. They aren't winning a lot of games, but they're always competing. I don't get to see the vast majority of the games, but the ones I have watched have been tons of fun, win or lose. I wish Jerami Grant had been on the All-Star team, because he definitely deserved it. Anyway, I think with a little development, this group is going to shock some people.
4) Sad to see the Beavers women's basketball team got knocked out of the NCAA tournament. It would have been cool to have both the men's and women's teams in the Sweet 16 for their respective tournaments. Anyway, good job (as always!) to the women's team, and good luck to the men's team on Saturday!
(Update 27 March: Wow...excited for these youngsters out there going to work and getting it done. I'm guessing this is probably the best Spring Break anyone on the men's team has ever had! Congrats to the team on getting to the next round! Good luck, gentlemen!)
(Update 29 March: Ah well. They may not have gotten to the final 4, but it was a heck of a run by the Beavers. Good job, gentlemen! You defied all expectations, and you had an amazing season! Be proud of yourselves, and come back stronger next season!)
5) RIP Khanice Jackson. Ms. Jackson was a Jamaican woman who was found murdered (after being raped) earlier today (26 March, 2021). It's not enough to say "This kind of thing has to stop!". We have to start doing more to protect people from this kind of violence. It's not enough to pray to your deity or light candles or have a moment of silence and reflection. If those things help you feel better personally, by all means do them. But those things won't change what's going on. Only real, tangible action and policy will. This kind of thing happens all over the world all of the time, and it has to stop. We put more effort into stopping people with small amounts of drugs than we do into protecting people from being raped and murdered. To me, this is doubly heart-breaking because it happened at the end of a month devoted to showing our appreciation for all of the things women have contributed to humanity. It just shows how far we still have to go.
6) I condemn the actions of the young man who killed a police officer (and injured another, from what I understand) with his car earlier today (2 April, 2021) in Washington, D.C. There was no reason for that. It's not ok for white nationalists or black nationalists to kill police. I'm really upset by this incident. It doesn't help anything, except for furthering the divide between people. And that's NOT a good thing.
7) I have been following the Chauvin trial as much as I can. I thought the testimony by use-of-force experts and police officers today (7 April) was especially damning. I really don't want to comment on the trial until it's over, but I feel like the testimony of these experts and peers (actually, superiours) should be pretty influential in what seems to be a pretty "guilty on all counts" case.
8) I've really been vibing off the "Self Trust" riddim by Good Good Productions. Every song on the riddim is hot. But I can't lie... Mavado's tune "Never Give Up" (link) is probably my favourite. Big energy with that one. It's been on repeat in my apartment. Jahmiel's "Karma" is still my 2021 anthem, but "Never Give Up" and "Firm & Strong" (by Popcaan) round out my top 3 anthems for the year.
9) I was checking on the status of the Amhaud Arbury case (which still hasn't begun, ps) and it struck my how people just kind of forgot about this case. With so much goin on, it just got kind of lost in the news cycle shuffle. I will say it was nice to see that Georgia modified its citizens arrest laws.
10) RIP Earl Simmons aka DMX aka Darkman X. I don't really know what to say. I'll be honest, I was always more of a fan of the man than I was of the musician. I loved DMX's songs and his energy, but I mostly loved his sincerity both on records and in real life. I don't think I've ever come across any artiste who was just so sincere both in their media and in real life the way Earl Simmons was. If he was struggling, you new he was struggling. When he was trying to get things right with his life, you never doubted for a minute that he was putting forth the effort. I think my favourite song in all of hip hop is "Slippin":
People throw the phrase "It's so real" around a lot, but this was (and is) just the realest song I ever heard. There's no lies or exaggerations or anything like that...this was this man's real life and pain and struggle and redemption, word for word. He really lived, and lived through, every word in this tune. I don't know... by and large I'm not the type of person to get shook up about the death of a famous person I never met. But I felt this one. I'll always respect the fact that he was maybe the most honest person in a world of people who will do damn near anything just to avoid telling the truth. RIP Mr. Simmons. I hope you find in your rest the peace that you maybe never fully got in this life.
11) RIP Daunte Wright. I just can't believe this happened in the same...effing...city...where the George Floyd case is still ongoing. I know things happen in "the heat of the moment", but this is inexcusable. If you're a trained officer you should absolutely know the difference between your lethal and non-lethal weapons. Watching the officer's bodycam video... I just don't get how it came to...that. I want it to make sense, but I know it won't ever make sense to me. My only hope, at this moment, is that everyone keeps their heads about them... peaceful protests only. Besides that.....I honestly don't knwo what to say. I'm just at a loss for words...
12) I'm not a big fan of Chris Hayes (he's just a little too "AOC-liberal" for my tastes), but he was spot on with this editorial : www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpK2G7_aVkQ.
I agree 1000% with his analysis. I think he got a little too...hyperbolic...in some of his wording, but the meat of the editorial, I agree with.
13) Somewhat related: This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PW0rAjA0h8) randomly popped up in the sidebar of the previous video, and I thought it was worth sharing. Solid, respectful, non-violent police and citizen interaction like this is...omgican'tbelieveit...possible. Everyone in this video set an example for the rest of us. I don't personally like guns (and I'm not at all a fan of open-carry. I'm fine with concealed-carry, but open-carry just seems...un-necessary to me). Despite my personal dislike for guns (I have been shot at multiple times in my life), I respect the fact that they're jut sort of ingrained in American culture. For better or worse, guns are here and they're probably not going away any time soon. Given that, encounters like this should be the gold standard. This is how the police should have treated Philando Castile when he let the police know that he had a legal firearm in his possession. Shooting Mr. Castile dead was just racism coupled with an officer with inferior stress-management skills.
14) I have the utmost respect for Rep. Maxine Waters, and I don't disagree that protestors should be more confrontational (not to be mistaken for more violent) if Chauvin doesn't get convicted....BUT.... she should have kept her mouth shut until the actual verdict was handed down. While the comments were made AFTER the jury was sequestered (to the best of my knowledge), and thus won't affect the jury's decision...she didn't need to make the comment then. It was bad timing. I get the anger and frustration, because this trial (and the events that led to this trial) angers and frustrates me. But in a way, Rep. Waters passed judgement on the jury's decision before the jury made a decision. Like I said, I respect her, but I just wish she would have thought about the timing (and consequences) of her words before she spoke them. The emotional approach to justice and politics is great for mobilization and for getting votes, but it's a poor approach to actually dealing with, and fixing, problems.
15) RE: the verdict finding Chauvin guilty on all three counts.... all I can say is that I feel immeasurable amounts of relief. I thank the jury fo rmaking the right decisions on all three counts. I hope he's sentenced to the maximum allowable for each count. That's all I have to say for now.
16)Related (maybe tangentially) to the above point: with the national focus back on the mistreatment and violence perpetrated against African-American citizens, we shouldn't forget about the wave of violence we just saw against Asian-American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) citizens. We have to ensure equality for EVERYONE. I know we're dealing with a lot as a country (and a global community in general), but no marginalized groups should fall to the way-side at the expense of another.. Equality is about...well...equality. That means equal concern as well as equal treatment.
17) Not a big fan of this ultra-"progressive" approach Biden seems to be advocating in the bits I saw of his "100 days" speech. I was hoping for a more middle of the road presidency from him. But I forget that society has gone full-on "instant gratification, future be damned". I just think he's trying to do too much. A lot of his proposals he was trying to sell in the speech sounded very influenced by New Deal politics and economics. Anyone who has read older posts in this blog can probably tell that I'm not a fan of the New Deal.. It was a good band-aid, but New Deal politics and economics aren't good long-term solutions. They rely on getting a large amount of people out of crises, and that's great. It stops the bleeding. But in the long term.... New Deal economics and politics aren't sustainable. Look at how many of the New Deal ideas and structures have become essentially debt-building machinery. Social security is unsustainable. We can barely keep up with even basic maintenance on the most basic public-works projects (e.g.; highways, public housing, public...anything). A programme made specifically to get people out of crises is only successful when people are in crises. It's the economic equivalent of having a war-time general running things in peace-time. I'm not a fan of a lot of what I've heard from Biden. I just feel he's being very short-sighted.
I was also sad to learn that AOC is trying to bring back her Green New Deal. I'm all for a solid plan to cut down on pollution (and get new jobs in the process), but the approach has to be realistic. AOC is not a realistic person. She's an idealistic person. She's a passionate person. But neither of those things are particularly conducive to coming up with realistic solutions to real problems.
This administration was, IMO, supposed to focus on a couple of things: fixing systemic (and systematic) racism, getting us out of this pandemic, fixing the effects (both in the human and economic sense) of the pandemic, getting mass shootings under control, and fixing international relations ruined by He-Who-IS-Better-Forgotten.
I just fear the Biden administration is going to try and bite off WAY more than it can chew, and in the end nothing will actually get accomplished.
18) Got my first dose of the COVID vaccine yesterday. For me, the side effects hit the same day. It was mostly just a really intense headache, and my shoulder where I got the injection feels tight. But other than that...pretty painless. Kind of related to the above, thanks to the current administration for opening the vaccine for everyone to get AND making sure it's free for everyone!
(UPDATE: got my second shot on 19 May, and I had zero side-effects, aside from some soreness where the injection was given. I'm glad it's done & over with. I'll probably still wear the mask for a while though. The whole point of the mask is to protect other people, and though the chances of me spreading it to someone else are really really slim at this point, I just like to be sure.)
19) Regarding the (continuing, seemingly eternal) conflict in Palestine/Israel... I personally think both sides are in the wrong. As an atheist, I'm not looking at this from a religious point of view. I'm strictly speaking in secular terms. I empathize to a certain extent with both sides, but at the end of the day.... I just don't support any side that takes part in this kind of violence. For decades. As time goes by, I'm becoming more and more an advocate of a world without borders. Maybe if people felt free to move wherever, land disputes like this wouldn't exist any more. Or maybe I'm just being willfully naïve of the fact that people are just generally selfish, hardheaded morons who can't compromise. Neither side seems to be willing to compromise. And I think any country or organization pouring metaphorical gasoline on the metaphorical fire should be ashamed of themselves. With all of the non-Israeli and non-Palestinian groups who have contributed to this endless conflict...this is everybody's problem. We should all be ashamed of ourselves. And we need to stop hiding behind the skirts of made-up mandates of imaginary floating sky-beings. .Grow the fuck up, take responsibility for the mess we've all made of the region, and start working towards a real solution.
20) Some stray thoughts by way of metaphor/analogy:
(a) Saying you're sorry to someone as you pull the trigger to murder them doesn't make you any less of a murderer.
(b) You're not the superiour runner if you break a better runners legs. You're just the best of what's left. That's not the same thing as being the best runner.
21) I hope that the Blazers win the NBA championship this year. It's a long shot, maybe. But I want Melo to get his ring. I had to watch AI leave the league without a championship. Don't let the same thing happen to Melo. I don't want to have two all-time favourite players retire without rings...
UPDATE: Since the Blazers are out, I guess I want to see either the Hawks or the Clippers win. I like how scrappy the Hawks are, and I'm a huge Kawhi Leonard fan.
22)If anyone who reads this is wondering why I haven't been talking about the Biden administration much, after 4 years of posts taking shots at He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Reinstated-After-A-Vote-Audit.... it's definitely NOT because I think Biden has been doing any kind of great job. I've given hints here & there about my dissatisfaction with the Biden administration so far. Anyway, I've mostly been too busy to keep up with the news. I was really disappointed in VP Harris' "Do Not Come To America" statement (although I don't know if the context was in regards to keeping COVID from spreading or some other context). Regardless of context, there's a better way to say something like that. I'm just not sure where this administration is going. It's been almost half-a-year, and I'm still kind of confused as to their over-all direction and plan. Are they doing better than He-Who-Is-Bankrupt? Absolutely. Are they doing a good job repairing international ties? It appears so. Are they doing what's best on the domestic front? I'm not 100% sure. I feel like a lot of people who were protesting things like racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. just kind of stopped once Biden got in office. Like I said in a previous post, it seems like a lot of the protesters were just anti-Trump, not necessarily anti-(rootword)ist or anti-(rootword)phobic. It seems like the media has kind of forgotten the last 4 years happened. I was watching CNN while cycling and...they talked about the queen of England for like 1/2 an hour. Which....ok? Racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, etc. all existed before He-Who-Golfs. All He-Who-Eats-Big-Macs really did was tear the scab off and take a knife to the re-opened wound(s). But to watch the media (and to a certain extent the current administration), you would think those things only existed from 2016 until 2020, and now that He-Who-Fake-Tans is gone...problem solved. This is why these protests keep happening year after year...because America, collectively and regardless of party-affiliation, seems to think sweeping things under the rug is the best way to deal with centuries-old problems that obviously aren't going away. I don't know. I'm just not satisfied with "We have Dems in office, so now we're all safe and can ignore all these social problems" as the end result of all the struggles and confrontations from the last decade or so (including when Obama was in office.... never forget that the injustices that begat the whole BLM movement happened during Obama's administration). I just wish people would realize that our social ills in America are not solely attributable to Republicans. I've said it a million times, but I'm politically unaffiliated. My opinion isn't biased towards any party, because I don't belong to any party. I've voted for Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, Independents, and various other parties since I turned 18. As someone with no party bias, I feel like I have a point of view that lends itself to being truly objective. And from my objective point of view, racism and sexism and homophobia and classism and elitism and (etc) are not exclusively Republican qualities. Confronting, and curing, these social ills is going to take a lot more than. replacing a Republican president with a Democrat president. If you think that's all it takes, you're being willfully ignorant.
23) I'm of two minds about making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
On one hand, it's important to make sure no one forgets the fact that slavery didn't end the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. It's important, in general, to acknowledge the history of the centuries-long enslavement by the West of Africans. Most Caribbean countries, for example, have official national holidays (usually called Emancipation Day) celebrating the end of slavery. It makes sense that America has one, too.
On the other hand, this feels like an empty, symbolic gesture. Like a lot of people, I worry most people will just use it for a vacation and not really consider the meaning of the holiday (much as they do with other holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans' Day, Independence Day, etc). The thought of the inevitable commercialization of the day bothers me, too. As others have pointed out, it especially feels like an empty gesture in the presence of things like voting access restrictions (which usually disproportionately affect minorities), the ongoing crisis with law enforcement/justice system, and all of the other practices that one could certainly qualify as racist against African-Americans.
24) I know it was like 5 years ago, but to this day I still get kind of pissed off by the fact that He-Who-Was-Twice-Impeached compared himself to Howard Roark (the main character of the novel The Fountainhead). As a fan of the Fountainhead, and as someone who's read the book at least 8 times, I would definitely be more inclined to consider He-Who-Obviously-Can't-Read as a composite of Gail Wynand and Peter Keating.
He-Who-Disgraced-The-Nation is the very definition of a second-hander, as described in the Fountainhead. His children are second-handers, too. Basically, He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Vindicated-By-A-Recount is the type of person Howard Roark would have absolutely hated.
I hate the way people just totally misinterpret the Fountainhead and its message.
25) I've been reading some interesting articles about the environmental racism against the Klamath Tribes that's (finally) getting some coverage b/c of the intense droughts. It's so insane to me that people can really think "F*#& these people who were here before us! My trees need water!". Just a complete lack of even the most basic humanity and empathy. But shout out to the Klamath for taking/continuing to take a stand and (finally) getting some traction for their cause.
26) I just watched Biden's presentation of his new Executive Order (which is supposed to level the competitive field in businesses). I'm still unsure how raising wages is NOT going to negatively affect those who own small businesses and are just barely scraping by...but what do I know, I guess. Apparently you can substantially raise wages, and this will not affect any other aspect of business. The mom and pop grocery stores, for example, will apparently be able to pay every employee $15/hr and will be able to keep/reduce prices at/to Wal-Mart level cheapness. Because that makes sense. If your business is struggling, you can definitely start increasing salaries while maintaining (or reducing) prices on the goods you sell, and you will definitely not go out of business. Also, magical flying rainbow dolphins will deliver all of your goods at no charge. Because Executive Orders. Maybe I misunderstood some nuance of the EO. But it just doesn't seem realistic..
27) I heard yesterday (13 July, 2021) that Jamaica is making a formal request to be paid reparations by Britain (see article, via Reuters: www.reuters.com/world/africa/jamaica-plans-seek-reparations-britain-over-slavery-2021-07-12//). Personally, i think they have a solid argument. At the most fundamental level, the argument is "If you paid the perpetrators of the crime, you should pay the victims of the crime the same amount". I think that's beyond reasonable. If you're compensating criminals, why would you not compensate the victims of their crimes? In what world does that not make sense?
I'm going to watch how this plays out before I comment much more on it. The formal demand hasn't even been made yet, from my understanding. I'll probably update on the subject in the post with my reparations essay and not here. It seems more.....relevant...there.
Anyway, I hope this works out for Jamaica. They definitely deserve it, and it could turn out to be a really important first step in the road to reparations for all victims of slavery everywhere.
28) You know...for all of the crap people give Jeff Bezos and Amazon...let's be real. Amazon is one of the few companies who have a self-set minimum wage of $15/hr. for every employee. Does Mr. Bezos have a ridiculous amount of money? Yes. He made a company that is very successful, He reaped the benefits of his efforts. I have no problem with him being rich. He might not be the most charitable person in the world, but he's not eff'ing people over, either. I see a lot of talk about drivers pee'ing in bottles, but...thats like every delivery company that offers time-sensitive service. I worked as a furniture delivery guy (for a local company in MI, not Amazon), & I promise you...Amazon drivers are NOT the only drivers pee'ing in bottles while driving. We didn't make $15/hr either. And the owners definitely weren't broke by any stretch of the imagination. My point? Bezos may not be the best or most charitable person alive, but he and his company are far from the most inhumane company in the world (or in the country). But most Americans have never worked in time-sensitive, long-distance delivery (and dont know people who do work in that industry), so they latch on to the couple of stories they hear from Amazon employees and don't realize most of those problems are not exclusive to Amazon, and that most delivery people make MUCHMUCH less than Amazon delivery drivers (or any other Amazon employees for that matter). I'm not saying we should give Mr. Bezos a Nobel Prize or anything, but he's far from the monster he's painted as. I'm also saying...maybe capitalism actually works.
End of the day, I feel like this:
Maybe we should focus on people who use child labour and/or pay below minimum wage before we attack the guy/company that actually pays all (as in...every single one, no exceptions, regardless of job/position) of his/their employees at least $15/hr starting wage.
29) Related to mini-musing #25 above, this article (read here: www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/us-canada-indigenous-boarding-residential-schools.html?referringSource=articleShare) was an interesting read. I was familiar with the similar situation in Canada, but I've never seen much about an American equivalent. We usually hear about Trail of Tears and other atrocities against the indigenous groups of what's now America, but this was a really good "unveiling" of the tragedy of these boarding "homes" (using quotes because I really doubt the people forced to stay in these facilities considered them homes). It's so insane how recent (historically speaking) this took place. It reminds me of share-cropping in that way...being more historically recent than most people are willing/comfortable to admit. Anyway, it's worth a read if you're willing to be educated on the subject.
30) I thought this (link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxWs1fOMhQo&ab_channel=BloombergQuicktake%3AExplained) was pretty funny. This guy really paid all that money to create 3 miles of wall... that anyone can easily get around. I guess this is the private sector's version of that "bridge/road to nowhere" fiasco in Alaska.
31) RIP to a real one. Bob Moses, civil rights activist and math educator, passed away earlier today (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVuCgWXeT38&ab_channel=CBSEveningNews) .
Here's a video where he describes the background of his Algebra Project: www.youtube.com/watch?v=abmyKLxc57Y&ab_channel=visionaryproject
Here's another video of his Algebra Project in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEYIi1iYFsA&ab_channel=AdamsStateUniversity
Finally, a video of Mr. Moses speaking on access to education and civil rights: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YuiZI2vCE&ab_channel=CornellUniversity
32) I haven't written much lately, even though there's definitely plenty to "thought and mini-muse" about. Having roommates hafter 13 living completely alone (I didn't even have house guests the last 10 years) is...an adjustment. I was expecting a jolt in mathematics (in terms of rigour,, at the very least), but the lifestyle jolt has been waaaay more intense. I've actually been dealing with the math pretty well. I'm really enjoying it. But my routine is shot, and Long Island isn't exactly an introverts paradise the way Oregon is (and it's so flat!).
I did want to say this: I was really disappointed in the almost immediate deportation of thousands of Hattian immigrants. A lot of these people are essentially natural disaster refugees (from catastrophic natural disasters as long ago as 2021). These aren't people just looking for a job opportunity. These are people who may have quite literally lost not just their home, but the entire town they lived in. Unlike in America, recovery from natural disasters in less fortunate countries can take decades. The more catastrophic the disaster, the longer it takes.
I just think that it's really disappointing that the Democrats railed so hard on the immigration issue fo r4 years, and it took them less than a year to do...this. If putting people in cages is a crime against their humanity (and it is, IMO), then how is sending people to a devastated island where they're probably going to be homeless, without basic necessities like...drinking water....like, VERY basic necessities, exposure ot disease with extremely poor structure that;s already spread too thin, and without any semblance of government stability. It's a recipe for a large scale humanitarian crisis. Unless the Biden/Harris administration is sending a lot of aid and a lot of workers to help in reconstruction programmes..... one has to wonder how much more humane deportation is for the refugees compared to metal cages. I'm just really disappointed in the Dems. It seems attending fancy dress parties in expensive clothes with hollow catch phrase sewn ons that feel more like branding and less like an actual agenda with an actual plan is more important than..ummm....helping the less fortunate. Saying "don't whip them" is nice, but the real, long term problem isn't being addressed. I might go back to guilt-less rd party voting the next round of elections. I get that there's a lot going on domestically, but there was a lot going on domestically during He-Who-Is-Imbecilic's time in office, and the Dems were all gung-ho on taking in every immigrant in sight. It smacks of hypocrisy. (Also, it's not terribly surprising to me that the whole BLM thing kind of fizzled out as the Left didn't have The-Orange-Guy to rally against any more. It really played to my suspicions that. a lot of the "allies" of the BLM movement were more anti_Orange-Guy than they were anti-racism.)
33) Really disappointed with Texas after their abortion ban legislation. I don't even know what to say about it. It's just a really disgusting law. Hopefully it gets overturned. While I do respect states' rights, I think it can be taken too far. I think this is an example of states' rights gone too far.