Month: July 2021

References:        Senators Markey, Warren and Congressman Al Green Introduce the Reconciliation in Place Names Act (senate.gov); Democrats Introduce Bill to Rename Places Named With Racist Slurs (businessinsider.com); Democrats introduced a bill to rename more than 1,000 forests, lakes, and mountain peaks named with racist slurs or offensive language (msn.com)

                Yes, your woke friends in the Democratic Party (the usual Warrens and Markeys, etc.) have recently been spending their time ferreting out all the allegedly objectionable racist and bigoted names from all the public place names in the country.  They do this on your nickel, by the way.  All the real issues that our elected represenatives should be dealing with are being sidelined because of the energy and money being funneled into ridiculous endeavors like finding every unwoke public place name in the country and then developing legislation to turn the unwoke into the woke.

                “The Reconciliation in Place Names Act would specifically:

• Create an advisory board composed of individuals with backgrounds in civil rights and race relations, tribal citizens, and organizations to bring a depth of knowledge and experience to the process.
• Solicit proposals from tribal nations, state and local governments, and members of the public, and would provide an opportunity for the public to comment on name change proposals.
• Require the advisory board to make recommendations to the Board on Geographic Names on geographic features to be renamed and to Congress on renaming Federal land units with offensive names.”

                For example:  “In 2015, 1,441 federally recognized places were identified as having questionable names. These places range from national forests, streams, and wilderness areas to features within the built environment such as bridges and monuments. . . . More than 600 places have the word ‘n – – – -,” a slur for Black people, in their name, according to a database from the US Geological Survey. In Oklahoma there is Dead N – – – – Spring, so-named because a deceased Black person was found there, according to the USGS.  In New Mexico, there is a reservoir called W – – – – – – – Tank, named with a slur for Mexican people living in the US. N early 800 results are returned by the USGS database when searching for the term ‘s – – – -,’ an offensive word for Native American women.”

                It’s fascinating how no one wants to actually use these words in articles that specifically are about them, so in some cases we are all left guessing at what the alleged “slur” actually is.  In the above quote, “n – – – – ” is supposed to be a slur for black.  The usual “slur” for black is “nigger,” or “n – – – – -,” which has one more dash than in this article, so it likely isn’t nigger.  We can only assume this stands for “negro,” which isn’t a “slur” towards blacks by any stretch of the imagination.  We assume that most blacks would be a lot more upset at being called a nigger than being called a negro.  The New Mexico reservoir named “W – – – – – – – Tank” we’re inferring is likely wetback.  And the “slur” for an American Indian woman probably is squaw. 

                But the point is that the government shouldn’t be wasting our money on this woke nonsense; these people are elected to govern, not be our conscience or to codify their own moral standards and imposing them on the rest of us.  Aren’t there hungry children that need feeding?  Isn’t there some sort of pandemic killing hundreds of thousands of Americans?  Aren’t there roads and bridges falling down all around us?  Aren’t the entire east and west coasts going to be underwater in 10 years?  And isn’t the entire west on fire?  These and dozens of other issues are way more important than the congenital virtue-signaling of the woke crowd, and none of us are going to be any better off if they keep up with this crap.  We should tell these clowns to get back to work or get another job.

References:        ‘Mindless.’ ‘Tragic.’ ‘Draconian.’ ‘Unfair’ — Cannabis experts slam suspension of Sha’Carri Richardson – The Boston Globe; AOC Urges Anti-Doping Agency to End Sha’Carri Richardson Suspension, Says Decision Rooted in ‘Racism’ (msn.com)

                Whether it is right or wrong that cannabis is illegal under United States federal law and a banned substance under international competition rules, that is not the point when someone is barred from competition for breaking such rules.  The most recent case in point is American track star Sha’Carri Richardson, who it seems is a pretty fabulous sprinter.  She recently qualified for the U. S. Olympics team in the 100-yard dash.  However, a short time later she was disqualified because THC showed up in her post-race drug testing.  She is black, which should tell you how this story went; had she been white, this would not have been a story.

                Cue the woke mob.  “On Friday, a chorus of physicians, athletes, and policy advocates who specialize in marijuana denounced USA Track and Field’s one-month suspension of American track star Sha’Carri Richardson, who tested positive for THC metabolites after smoking pot to cope with the recent death of her biological mother.” 

            And of course the one-note Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, urged the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to end the suspension of Ms. Richardson.  According to her, any prohibition on the use of pot is racist.  Of course it is.  How do we know?  AOC said so: 

“We worked with @RepRaskin and the Subcommittee on Civil Rights & Civil Liberties to formally ask @USAntiDoping to end Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, sharing screenshots of the letter. “Their decision lacks any scientific basis. It’s rooted solely in the systemic racism that’s long driven anti-marijuana laws.”  She also noted, as though it made any sense, that “[n]ot to mention, marijuana is legal in Oregon where Ms. Richardson was when she used it.” 

            Well, we have a hard time believing that the bodies who regulate national and international sports give a hoot what is or is not legal in one of America’s 50 states.  To Ms. Richardson’s credit, she didn’t whine about it or claim racism, but accepted responsibility and the modest suspension imposed, even though it meant no Olympics for her.  Notably, and sadly for all of us, not once in the articles cited above did anyone even suggest that Ms. Richardson bore even some personal responsibility for smoking pot against the rules and getting caught. (Actually, absent the race part, this is the same issue as the airlines now face with mask mandates and kicking off uncooperative passengers who had already agreed to wear a mask when they bought their tickets).

            While everyone can appreciate the angst of a parent’s recent demise, the fact is she knew exactly what she was doing, knew pot was banned under the rules that she understood perfectly well, and used it anyway, and she hasn’t tried to run from her own personal responsibility, even though all the loudmouths squawking in her support attempt mightily to dismiss her own responsibility by simply omitting any reference to it.  To them, as the eminent Congresswoman maintains, personal responsibility does not matter when it involves something “rooted solely in the systemic racism that’s long driven anti-marijuana laws.”

            Put another way, anyone subject to “systemic racism” is simply not responsible for his or her own actions or situations and in such cases, even though he or she knowingly violated the rules, he or she should get a mulligan, or two, or three, just because she’s black.  We respectfully suggest that the Congresswoman should take her cue not from her woke buddies, but from Ms. Richardson herself and how she has handled herself through this.  It sounds to us like the eminent Congresswoman has had a few too many tokes herself over the years and she should start to think about cutting back.  She also should find some new friends.

Reference:          Give people safe access to public waters – The Boston Globe

                This headline to a Boston Globe editorial perfectly illustrates what’s wrong with the world – people, especially the left media like the Globe, expecting the government to be all things to all people, and if something is perceived to be wrong, the government has to fix it.  Personal responsibility is out the window:

“Give people safe access to public waters – The state needs to do far more to ensure that all residents are able to swim and that they take due precaution.”

                A handful of people out of about seven million in the state happen to drown in a short period of time, and suddenly it’s some racial disparity crisis that the state has to intervene in and fix (which really means screwing it up worse, usually after spending far more than it was worth).

Get out the mandated bubble-wrap suits!

                Wait, this just in from the State House!  Governor Charlie Baker has just announced plans to provide, and mandate the wearing of, bubble-wrap suits for every individual in the Commonwealth, effective September 1, 2021.  The cost, supposedly, will be borne by a special fee on insurers, since they will largely benefit from far fewer claims, or so the idea goes.  “And they’ll help the drowning situation, for one thing,” he said in his remarks, “they’re very buoyant so people will float.  People will have to make a real effort to drown now.” 

                When asked does everyone have to wear the issued suit at all times, he said yes they did, even while sleeping.  He did note that he expected the private sector to get into the business of custommade bubble-wrap suits, so we’re likely to see them in different colors and patterns, as well as with comforts such as built-in air-conditioning and heating coils.  So you can have several for different types of occassions, dress suits, PJs, etc.  If you think this is extreme, just remember Mao suits – a little history lesson:

“The modern Chinese tunic suit is a style of male attire originally known in China as the Zhongshan suit . . . .  after the republican leader Sun Yat-sen . . . . . Sun Yat-sen introduced the style shortly after the founding of the Republic of China (1912–1949) as a form of national dress with distinct political overtones. The four pockets are said to represent the Four Virtues of propriety, justice, honesty, and shame; and the five buttons the branches of China’s government (Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, Control).  After the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949, such suits came to be worn widely by male citizens and government leaders as a symbol of proletarian unity and an Eastern counterpart to the Western business suit. The name “Mao suit” comes from Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong’s fondness for the style, so that the garment became closely associated with him and with Chinese Communism. Mao’s cut of the suit was influenced by the Stalin tunic then prevalent among Soviet officials.”  Mao suit – Wikipedia

                Better start choosing your style before the rush begins.

References:        ‘Thoreau Would Be Disgusted’: Walden Pond Swimming Restricted, Frustrating Open-Water Swimmers – CBS Boston (cbslocal.com); There were 18 drownings in Mass. in May alone. Here’s why such tragedies may be on the rise – The Boston Globe; Baker-Polito Administration Files Legislation to Improve Safety & Awareness, Discourage Swimming at Undesignated State Waterfronts | Mass.gov; As number of drownings grows, state’s response to limit swimming and increase fines draws criticism – The Boston Globe

                Last Thursday, in the wake of a somewhat unusual cluster of drownings in the state, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced plans to file legislation imposing fines of up to $500 for people caught swimming in undesignated state waters, even in Walden Pond. 

                (And of course this has to turn into some supposedly racist thing.  According to the Boston Globe (of course), “There are race and income divides among the tragedies.  Drowning death rates for Black people are 1.5 times higher than for whites, and are 3.6 times higher for Black children ages 10-14 than white children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And a 2017 study found that nearly 80 percent of children in families with household income less than $50,000 have no or low swimming ability.”)

                Consequently, anyone who knows how to swim and enjoys so-called “open water” swimming, can’t.  Again, everyone has to get dumbed down to the most common denominater because of a few knuckleheads.  Next will be a special license to be able to swim anywhere, with different classes like drivers’ licenses, Class A is ocean, Class B is freshwater ponds, Class C is pools, etc.  And don’t expect that license to be free.  And of course there will be a practical test too, like the driving test.  Every so often you’ll have to recertify yourself or no more swimming for you!  Don’t laugh – if the Bidens of the world get their way, you won’t ever have to work anymore and the state will provide your housing, food, education (though this would be pretty useless if you don’t have to work), spouse, financial support (especially if you have kids), and they’ll put a transit stop right in front of where you live, etc.  And give you a nanny. 

                That is, the state is making you wholly dependent on it.  Think about that.  Is that a good idea?  Well, it sure is for the state.  The more coddling, the bigger (more bloated, a cynic might say) the federal government gets, more people who work work for the feds, until pretty soon the feds will be the only employer.  Forget hard work or self-reliance – to the woke crowd these are quaint antiquated notions that have no place in the modern world’s new religion of diversity and inclusion. 

                What could go wrong?  Hmmm….  Remember, it was the Henry David Thoreau of Walden Pond who noted that:

“I heartily accept the motto, – “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe, – “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.”

Civil Disobedience (1849).

Reference:          U.S. to add third gender option to American passports (msn.com); U.S. passport applicants can now ‘self-select their gender’ without medical certification even if gender doesn’t match other documents (msn.com)

                Bad enough that our virtuous government insists that homosexuals and lesbians (and the rest of the silly alphabet soup of LBGTQetcetc world) have the right to marry and adopt despite their perversions and the rest of us have to stomach it.  And bad enough that these confused “nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming” people are coming out of the woodwork with woke support and demanding all sorts of special rules and provisions for them, despite being a teensy portion of the population, and all the rest of us have to stomach it. 

                Now Biden’s State Department is again in on the act.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week revealed that:

“Today, I am pleased to announce that the department will be taking further steps toward ensuring the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender or sex, by beginning the process of updating our procedures for the issuance of U.S. Passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA),” he announced. . . .

By updating the department’s policies on gender, Blinken said that the administration is reaffirming “our enduring commitment to the LGBTQI+ community today and moving forward.”

Additionally, the State Department is also “moving towards adding a gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons” applying for the documents, according to Blinken.

                Yes, by all means lets twist ourselves into knots trying to appease a teensy but loud portion of the population and having our taxes spent on such nonsense.  And we’re willing to run the risk of being called “homophobic” or “transphobic.”  We are homophobic and transphobic, and proud of it.  Both turn our stomachs, and as a Massachusetts politician said recently, it sickens us that queer couples can adopt.  We do not believe in pandering to all this nonsense about LBGTetcetc for people who are just confused yet supported by so-called “advocates” who are only pushing a leftist political agenda rather than recognizing simple biology.  Those people are not sincere. There are two genders, male and female.  They were meant to work together and complement each other and they were physically made to work together and complement each other.  The same just cannot be said about the LBGTetcetc crowd.  This “gay pride” stuff is just nonsense – “I’m proud to take it up my butt.”  That’s something to be proud of?  We don’t think so.

Reference:     California’s Growing Cultural Blacklist – WSJ

            The woke and virtuous “leaders” of California have taken it upon themselves to bar the use of state funds for government travel to Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.  Why?  Because those states are insufficiently woke and have state laws with which California disagrees.  With Texas, for example, it is “because the state’s religious-freedom legislation allows religious foster-care providers to decline to place children with same-sex couples,” which apparently is anathema to the Left Coast politicos.  This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court just recently ruled unanimously that such laws are constitutional.  “Four of the five states added this week were targeted because of policies on transgender athletes in school sports.” It’s like the First Amendment’s protection for the free exercise of one’s religion doesn’t exist in California.

            According to the Wall Street Journal, “[t]he state-funded travel ban has disrupted academic exchange between universities and travel by legislators, though naturally it contains an exemption for California to conduct ‘revenue collection.’  As more states are targeted and impose their own restrictions on California (as Oklahoma already has), the economic and political harm will compound.” 

            While likely there are work-arounds for some of this, like using grant and other non-government money for such travel, where does it end?  Pretty soon California will be banning companies who do business in those states, banning packages originating in those states, banning sports teams from those states, etc.  Don’t laugh – remember that knee-jerk Major League Baseball reaction to Georgia voting laws.  They moved the game to Colorado.  MLB isn’t the government, of course, but the wokeness and virtue-signaling driving these decisions is identical.

            Frankly, this is childish and the petty tit-for-tat is not going to do anyone any good in the end.  For California, or any state, to be attempting to dictate social policy to other states is the classic double-edged sword precedent that wiser people would think twice about before endorsing.

            But despite California thinking it is the big fish in the big pond and can dictate to the rest of us, the fact is to the rest of us California effectively is a foreign country.  Not for nothing do some of us fervently wish that the state would just crack off from the rest of the states and subside deep into the Pacific.  It is apparently happening over time due to plate tectonics, but nowhere near quick enough to save the rest of us.  If California wants to be a sovereign republic, then we vote to let it secede, please!

            While the money at stake is pretty minimal, right now anyway, this situation threatens to devolve into woke war between the states.  We respectfully suggest that these types of attempted intrusions into other states’ affairs is not consistent with various parts of the U. S. Constitution, not the least of which is the Commerce Clause.