Month: October 2017

 
From Lori Lakin Hutcherson at Good Black News:

…I realized many of my friends – especially the white ones – have no idea what I’ve experienced/dealt with unless they were present (and aware) when it happened. There are two reasons for this : 1) because not only as a human being do I suppress the painful and uncomfortable in an effort to make it go away, I was also taught within my community (I was raised in the ‘70s & ‘80s – it’s shifted somewhat now) and by society at large NOT to make a fuss, speak out, or rock the boat. To just “deal with it,” lest more trouble follow (which sadly, it often does). 2) Fear of being questioned or dismissed with “Are you sure that’s what you heard?” or “Are you sure that’s what they meant?” and being angered and upset all over again by well-meaning-but-hurtful and essentially unsupportive responses.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.

 
From Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit:

Yep. Say anything critical of Trump and you get a tweet-storm of insults.

Puerto Rico’s electrical grid and telephone networks were demolished. Which means that people can’t use the internet or make calls. But if they need to apply for help from FEMA, guess how that has to be done.

Puerto Rico was hit by two Cat 4/5 hurricanes in short order. Even a place with the best infrastructure would be demolished by such a double-tap.

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From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:

And again we are confronted with another slaughter:

A lone gunman released a rapid-fire barrage of bullets on an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas Sunday night, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 400 others, police said, in the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

[Editor’s note: As of 08:42 a.m., Pacific, 58 people are dead and 515 wounded.]

There’s so much to be said about this, the uniquely American aspect of our sociopaths going hunting on their fellow citizens, and they way that everyone tsk-tsks and says that now is not the time to talk about gun control. Now is never the time to talk about anything.

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Trump decided not to help Puerto Rico after he learned it's full of Puerto Ricans.

— John Leguizamo (@JohnLeguizamo) September 25, 2017

 
A Black Physician Pulled a 26-hour Shift Helping People and Saving Lives.
But On His Way To His Car This Happened.
 
From Stories of the Moment:

I’m a black man. I’m about 6’2″, average build. Nothing too fancy. I think I look normal, not intimidating in the slightest. I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. My parents were blue collar workers, but provided for me and my sister. We were taught manners, said our pleasantries. I got detention once in fifth grade because I was late to class because I spilled paint in my Art class and had to clean it up. But that’s it, that’s the worst trouble I’ve ever been in in my life.

I am a surgical resident at a hospital you’ve probably heard of. I was educated in a Top 10 university and went to medical school at a pseudo-Ivy League institution. I have had a great life. I’ve made sure of it. So have my parents.

Of course, I have noticed racism throughout my life. I have been pulled over and the officer has never given me a clear answer. Sometimes, they will straight up lie and tell me that I was speeding when I know I wasn’t. Once, I was stopped and frisked. The officer apologized and told me that I matched the description of a criminal-on-the-run in the area. The only description was “black man, average build.” I never reported this, but I always remember it.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends are less than impressed.

 
From Dr. Arif Ahmad at The Moderate Voice:

TAKE A KNEE

Rapturous applause following, “Fire that SOB.”
This for taking a knee.
Seriously?

Since when is kneeling considered disrespectful. I would have understood if it was something obnoxious or obscene, but kneeling?

I would argue that to take a knee to the Anthem and the Flag and to allow that to happen is one of the most American things to do. Here is why.

REST OF THE WORLD
At many places on this planet protest and dissent are not acceptable. People are punished, jailed and killed for doing the same. We as Americans fight such practices ideologically by setting and emphasizing our example of allowing and tolerating peaceful protest. Our Military fights them wars to try and protect our way of life so we can do just that. To be able to take a knee is holding on to everything which our Flag stands for and our Military defends.

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From Max’s Dad:

Just when you think the Son of a Bitch In Chief cannot sink any lower, well ya know it happens.

His disgraceful tweets about the people of Puerto Rico wanting “everything done for them” and his battle with the Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, calling her “nasty’ (wow what is it about women willing to stand up to his bullshit) and playing golf while a 21st century epidemic of cholera threatens American citizens has sent the bar to be POTUS so low, whats next, a rabid raccoon being nominated by the Republican base?

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From North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz:

This is how terrorists work. They rely on unpredictability, on continually creating chaos, on altering routine, on robbing their targets of safety, stability, and mental rest until they relent. It’s impossible to sustain a level of urgency required to combat all the sewage we are immersed in without losing our minds—and so we need to step out of it for sanity’s sake.

This is why, as we fight these repetitive atrocities, as we rally against legislative nightmares and civil rights violations, as we pushback against the relentless flood of horrible—we need to fight for ourselves. We need to guard our bodies, our minds, and our souls, because that is the one war we cannot afford to lose. When we’re no longer fully available to the people who love us, when we’re too tired to create or laugh or feel joy, when we become hopeless and bitter—the terrorists have won.

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