aka Contrarian

Well,Prof. In the real world, sometimes you have to settle for small victories. I gather that you, as an individual, are doin well fir yourself, and as a spectator, can afford to sit back and watch the big farce play out. Life ain't never promised nobody nothin. But, sometimes you catch a break and since you can't save the world, you just go with the flow and when it comes to your peeps, ya just dos da best ya can... a chorus of negro voices humming an old spiritual in the background...

Looks like the National Guard is on its way to Chicago. Unfotunately the holiday weekend has been a pretty violent one. Shootings and killings of the kind that a military presence can't prevent. Just fools offing each other spontaneously or over vendettas. Whatever.

@ProfDHey, Guy, you haven't posted lately. Hope you haven't run afoul of the Trump storm troopers occupying DC. Seriously, I miss your updates on current events. Check in!

@Pioneer1Puleeze. What I do and who I agree with is none if your goddamned business. In truth, I never rejected Troy's one race argument, and on many occasions I have referred to myself as belonging to the "hybrid slave descendant" tribe! As usual, you and your sulking self don't know what the hell you're talking about. So take your lying, obnoxious, wanna-be, over-the-hill, attention-seeking ass, along with your made-up scenarios and crawl back under your rock. You apparently can't handle the fact that all you represent to me is a good case study to be observed and poked at. It's amusing to watch you in action as you skitter around, grasping at straws, resorting to every trick of the trade in an attempt to prevail. However, like everyone else here, I'm hip to your ego-driven, pathetic, devious, ploys. Your transparency is blatant. Bottom line:I simply don't like you. Deal with that, and move on. TaTa.

Nobody has ever claimed that vaccines are perfect and don't have side effects. What if the Government had proclaimed that the vaccine would only be available to upperclass white people? The rest of the population would've been clamouring for "the jab", crying "discrimination", maybe even rioting in the streets to get it. Black folks, in particular, would be goin crazy! Or, what if the scientific authorities had just stood around, wringing their hands, lamenting that there was nothing they could do about the pandemic? They would've been criticized and condemned by the very people who are now anti-vaxxers. Reactions are influenced by circumstances, obviously. People will always find something to bitch and moan about. Especially the ones who think they are too. smart. to. be. fooled. zzzzzzzz

The person who believes there is an organized "conspiracy" afoot because they trust the YouTube videos by nutjobs who say so.

@Troy I may be off the mark about the cause of my worry - but not the effect which I fear will benefit Trump.

Who does what?? I dont have a problem with the one race concept - and the "tribes" contained therein.

@Pioneer1 In your ongoing attempt to aggrandize black men, contrary to your implications, black men do not have a monopoly on "strong dominate masculinity and sexual power".These traits are common among men of all ethnicities. You are biased; the black counterpart of a white supremacist. Not surprising since you reject the idea that there is only one race.

I'm getting a little worried. 'Glad I probably won't be around to be subjected to the final results, but it seems like the rank and file of silent Americans might be coming around to Trump's vision of America. We can thank the Progressives who are rubbing our noses in the whims of the LBGQT community, and the persistentency of racism, and things like body shaming, not to mention rampant crime. Being bombarded with interracial couples, and obese people in TV commercials are turn-offs to the general population which is actually made up of bigots who support "law and order". America, the beautiful

There was a school of thought back in my day which had to do with using integration as a gateway to "infilterating" predominately white schools. This provided the opportunity to observe and learn to function in the white corporate world. Both the highschool and college I attended were at that time 95% white so it was possible to get a good, well-rounded education by osmosis. This came in handy later on when "code switching" became a weapon in the arsenal of upwardly mobile Blacks manueuvering their way through the white collar world of America. This manipulation of your "slave masters" dates back to slavery days. LOL

As much as some persist in boasting, black men are probably no different from any other species, and run the gamut from impotent nerds to virile studs. Many have embraced the mythical image originally perpetuated by whites who portray them all as animalistic oversexed brutes, and this has become their claim to fame.

@Troy& @Delanoyou guys are 2 of my favorite people. Over the years, you have contributed so much to making my cyber world interesting and enlightened.

@richardmurrayWell, as I confessed to Troy and ProfD, I made the mistake of offering simple soltions to complicated problems. I don't really think there will be any official separation of red and blue states, or that racism will completely go away in my lifetime. Time is the only hope. It brings change but as we know, it is gradual. Thanks for your insightful analysis of the situation.

My introduction to the concept of conspiracy theories dates back to 1963 when the assassination of JFK spawned what would become a cult of passionate, fanatic people driven by the idea that the killing of this popular POTUS was not the random act of a disgruntled lone wolf. Especially since Lee Harvey Oswald was, himself, later murdered. Altho over the years I have been inundated with a multitude of theories, many of which were romanticized, I have never bought into the idea that Kennedy's death was the result of an organized conspiracy. And to this day there has never been any absolute proof to change my mind. What I observed over the years about conpiracy theorists was that they all harbor a certain mindset that imagines - a sinister cabal of men, the "They" who are plotting against the innocent good guys made up of the "Us" who will be the target of an evil organized PLOT. You know, - the way a James Bond movie unfolds... What all this has given rise to is an interesting response from Psychologists who typify conspiracy theorists as victims of the "Kruger-Dunning Syndrome", people who all have one thing in common; a trait which inflates their ego because they all believe that they are too. smart. to. be. fooled, something they've convinced elevates them above others who haven't "caught on" to what's really going on. This core belief gives these folks a false sense of superiority, inasmuch as many are only average in intellelligence and would undergo a cognitive dissonance type reaction if forced to confront their fallibilty. I find this psycho-babbo interesting. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Of course you are both right, ProfD and Troy. In desperation and disgust, I seek simple solutions to complicated problems. "Everybody hates a cop - until they need one." And racism is about more than red and blue states; it's the "nature" of the beast." You'd think after all this time I wouldn't have to be reminded of all this.

To me, Language is a tool which can often be inadequate. Abstract ideas often dwell in the spaces between the lines. ZEN exemplifies this.

A lead story in Chicago's news today reports that a black cop has brought a law suit against the Chicago Police Department, charging it with racism adter a group of his fellow white officers harassassed him with threats and racial epithets when he attempted to intervene while several of them were manhandling a pregnant perp who was a black sista. There have always been rumors about there being a KKK element witin Chicago's police department. There were also a recent story in the news about a black cop visiting down south filing a suit after being stopped and harassed by white police officers while driving. This country needs to stop trying to rescue and preserve Democracy and just let the red and blue states go their separate ways. The USA no longer exists.

You may prefer your men tall dark and handsome, (with bantam legs and high butts) but discrimnating females appreciate more diversified standards.

Just look at all that good white meat. And they're rich and powerful to boot. Leo lions!

@TroyActually, I was born in 1933. My true astral twin is Roman Polanski who was born the exact same year and day as me. August, 18, 1933. In addition to being a brilliant film director (Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown) and husband of Sharon Tate, the starlet who was among those murdered by Charles Manson followers, Polanski was later accused of seducing an underage nymphet and "exiled" from this country. He's still alive, however. The hunky Robert Redford now in his late 80s, was also born on August 18th as well as my boy Andy Samberg of SNL and other comic ventures. Sadly, the recently deceased Malcolm Jamal Warner was also born on August 18th... A group from my hometown is compiling a history of its early black settlers and my story is among the accounts which will appear in a book they plan to publish. I'm also among the 3 oldest living black alumni of the highschool I attended and I was honored at the annual all alumni cook out a couple of years back. My family is familar with all I care to share about my history which is unique in some ways but mundane in others.... In the AI world of the future, history will be devalued and dispensed with. Who cares?

Magik is mind boggling. Literally. I think I may have tinkered with it, not realizing what I was doing, many years ago and that this might have had something to do with the longevity which has become a burden to me. @umbrarchistHave you ever considered that sky scrapers could be latterday pyramids that aliens enabled the buildimg of and that this is why the twin towers did not conform with the earthly rules of physics?

Does information equal explanation? I don't belueve Putin can alter the reality of what has already happened. He can only prevent more of the same from continuing to happen. He can choose Life over Death. Why he has been entrusted with this power is a mystery - to me.

Cynic that I am, agreeing with your assessment poses no difficulty for me. It's all an exercise in futility.

Today, Illinois Democrats turned out in full, force - our Governor, Chicago's mayor, both of our U.S. Senators, and a slew of other prominent dignitaries, held an extended televised press conference, raking Trump over the coals and vowing to stand up and resist MAGA's attempt to take over the city. An impressive show of force and unity! So we'll see what comes next. Bernie Sanders also stopped here on his Anti-Oligarph tour and spoke at a well-attended, enthusiastic rally.