aka Contrarian

@ProfDWhat specific legislation do you want passed besides the one for reparations? The hundreds of patronage jobs handed out are the payback for the black vote. And I was speaking of the Democratic Congressional House Speaker, Hakeem Jeffries, not a black caucus member. Black Liberal politicos who themselves benefit from the black vote do look out for their constiuents. That's why they get reelected. Yet, like a spokesman for the Republican Party, you parrot its line, in denial about grass root reality.

@ProfD You are fixated on using reparations as a yard stick and employing a selective criteria that lacks perspective while invoking what has become become the patented black narrative. You choose to diminish the fact that a black man served 2 terms as POTUS and Liberal Democtats helped elect him. The liberal Democratic administration currently has a black female VP even if she, like everyone who holds this office, wields little power. There are also black males holding the offices of Conressional minority leader and Secretary of Defense, black females holding the positions of Supreme Justice Court Justice and white house press secretary. Black democrat-appointed Judges and district attorneys and democrat mayors all over the country. And it's not as if Federal grants and funds are not pouring into urban areas. But it can never be enough for the critics who are reluctant to place blame where it belongs. Hispanics are the largest minority population and they are more monolithic than Blacks, not to mention the Latino nationalities of the migrants. In reply to nels' question, the answer is "NO".

Hi Chevdove! Glad you stopped by. Always good to hear from you! 🫶

@ProfD To state that black folks haven't gotten anything out of their loyalty to Liberals is to say that they haven't made any progress from the way things used to be, and that isn't true. Unless your idea of progress is a total take over of the country by its black.minority

"Nappy Dugout!" Is that the same as a "waxed hideaway"? Since I no longer have anything to lose by putting men down, I will confirm my suspicions that they are not really the stronger sex.

@nels go back to sleep, Tiger, Tiger, - or Leopard, Leopard. Nobody takes me seriously. I'm just hangin' around here, bidin' my time. Buenos Noches.

Yes. Always lingering in my thoughts when exposed to the intensity of Palestenian partisans excoriating those who don't support their cause, is that none of this would be happening if Palestinian terrorists hadn't disturbed that Israeli hornet's nest! In addition to all the many other things in this world that pet my peeve, are people who call themselves "woke". (And, keep all remarks about petting my peeve to yourself) 🤨

Seems to me that, dating back to the 1960s, Whites in general, and Conservatives, in particular, have relied on quotes by MLK and Malcolm X to shut Blacks down. All these "wolves in sheeps' clothing" needed to do when trying to placate or mute Blacks, was to tailor the words of Malcolm and MLK to bolster their arguments, and negroes would back off. In reality, neither of these 2 black sacro-sanct icons were infallible or right about everything, and time has taken the sheen off of some of the ideas they embraced. MLK was wrong about integration being the key to racial harmony, and Malcolm was duped by Elijah Muhammad and bamboozled by the Black Muslim version of Islam. Yet, to this day such manipulation continues and few Blacks opt to challenge any quotations attributed to Brother Malcolm or the Reverend Martin King and brought to their attention by those with ulterior motives. These 2 black leaders both lost their lives in the ongoing struggle that continues to this day. But their words live on and continue to haunt us. Seems to me.

He was a familiar figure on Chicago's local TV channels, a community activist, always there, first on the scene in the aftermath of the regular shootings that grab headlines in Chicagoland. On camera, comforting the grieving families, chiding the violent perpetrators, urging anyone with any information to come forward, bringing his lamenting to a close by announcing the amount of any award money to be offered. He was a community treasure, the go-to-guy for mike-holding reporters ready to move on from the "wha had happened" witnesses, and anxious to solicit his insinuations about his fellow blacks. And what has happened in regard to this "angel of death" who shall remain nameless is that he recently made his own headlines. 'Guess he figured he needed a little "street cred" so he showed some balls and has now been charged with sexually assaulting a female staff member of the mayor of one of Chi-town's suburbs. This glamorous mayor who also happens to be black is herself under fire, her resignation being called for by irate citizens accusing her of misapprpriating funds for her own personal use! (These angry townfolks have even hired Laurie Lightfoot, Chicago's recently defeated ex-mayor and prominent unemployed lesbian attorney, to investigate the case!) You can't make this stuff up, Folks! Maybe the suburban mayor will enlist Fani Willis to help her out.😜 Smh. Someone please tell me why men risk their reputations, their jobs, their marriages, their everything, all for a piece of p***y? Since Trump isn't available to answer the question, maybe somebody on this forum could supply an answer. Somebody, perhaps like, hummmm, that garrulous ol letcher who shall also remain nameless, and who never misses a chance to lace his posts with salacious sexual references. Hint: this poster never met an argument he didn't think he could win, secure in his delusion that he's the smartest guy in the room. Yeah, right, an empty room. 🤤

All this nebulous debating makes a good case for Atheism. And the ongoing obsession with white supremacy rather than disproving it, makes it a reality by virtue of the fact that it has never been supplanted and continues to prevail.

Never under estimate the imperfection of the human race. But of course God loves us. (Unless we fail to please him. In which case we will be relegated to the river of fire in hell).

It's been thirty years since the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, and the divisive racial overtones inspired by OJ being found "not guilty" of their murders lingers to this day. The white reaction to the news of OJ's death has been one of "good riddance". Black people are reluctant to be anything other than non committal... All because this sensational case was really never about guilt or innocence. It was about payback. About Emmit Till and Rodney King and a racist criminal justice system - about a long history of unwarranted lynchings. About a jury of mostly black woman coming to the rescue of a trifling black man. And it was also about how rich celebrities are able to beat the rap. The lives of Nicole and Ron were sacrificed on the altar of tough luck. We say that time brings change. But not always.

@ProfDThat'll be the day when Blacks and whites decide to forgive and love each other. I have yet to encounter any black folks who don't harbor contempt and mistrust for white people. And most whites don't seem to care one way or another about nigras.

I think I've come down with a case of post traumatic eclipse syndrome. Ever sense the event, I've been feeling light headed and off kilter. Hummmm. Well, I had a good run. If I go to sleep and don't wake up, it's been real, Folks. Fun and interesting hangin out with ya. Check ya later. Maybe. 😀🫶

This is a touchy subject. I'm inclined not to make generalities about black cops or those in the military, members of 2 organizations which, in a violent society, are necessary evils that deter chaos. Not every arrest of a black man involves gun happy police brutality, or every calling out of the guard an over reaction. There are a lot of criminals and mentally ill black offenders out there harming innocent black bystanders who always seem to be diminished by the high profile "driving-while-black" cases. Here in Chicagoland hardly a day goes by without devastated loved ones crying on TV newscasts over their innocent children killed during random shootings. Chicago's Police force is heavily black and many of these law officers are women of color. It's complicated. Chicago's own Ida B. Wells was an early and tireless crusader against lynchings in the south. I think the last officially acknowledged hanging occurred in 1937 back when Jim Crowism was rampant in the South, and the KKK a visible presence. Glib black men nowadays talk about what Blacks could've and should've done to prevent lynchings. Easier said than done suggestions that ignore how hard times were back then. White supremacy was the law of the land in the South, and Blacks had little recourse against lynchings. Ideas about organizing to combat lynching got nowhere because of the risks involved and the fear of retaliation and the stronghold of white authority. What Blacks did do when they got in trouble back then was to flee the south, often leaving town in the middle of night, hitching rides on trains headed up North. I personally knew 2 different guys who parents had quickly spirited them up north after they'd gotten in trouble with white townsfolks down south. "America, the land of the free and the home of the brave"; the free white man - and the brave black nigga is what we used to say back when Billie Holiday sang about "strange fruit", hangin' from the trees. Lynching is still a term that occupies a special place in the black vocabulary. Uncle Clarence Thomas referred to the white-approved charges of sexual harassment brought against him by a black Anita Hill, as a "high tech lynching". And he was set free to go forth and inflict further damage on his race.. It's possible that latter day black people associate hanging with suicide, never connecting it to lynching because of how different the circumstances are that brought about the act. How black cops react to a body dangling from a rope would undoubtedly differ from one to another and laughter would hardly be a unanimous reaction. Whatever. I'm still divorced from the black "race", which doesn't need or miss me, so it doesn't really matter what I think.

I kept up with the progress of the solar eclipse by watching a local TV channel which was originating its broadcast from Chicago's Adler Planetarium where a crowd of sky watchers had converged. This station was also keeping the viewers up to date on what was happening at locations all over the country where the eclipse was best visible, so I got to get a good view of it from the Carbondale site in downstate Illinois. The announcer there actually choked up during the "corona" moment when the sun was totally eclipsed and the huge crowd amassed there in temporary darkness broke out in cheers and applause. I, myself, felt moved as, where I was, got rather dim. A few minutes prior to that, I had gone outside and looked up at the sun through my special glasses but all I could discern in my area was a bright glare. Yet my dog seemed transfixed and unusually quiet. And I actually did feel at one with the Universe and conscious of my existence and how wondrous Life is. Now, I'm back to whatever it is I'm back to. Tomorrow is another day. Or is it? It seemed like only yesterday when I'd stood in my front yard watching the 2017 solar eclipse. When told the next one would be in 2024, I chuckled, thinking I wouldnt be around to witness it. HaHa the joke's on me! 😜 💫

@ProfDJonathan Majors starred in a HBO sc-fi series I watched a couple of years ago that was entitled "Lovecraft Country". It was a pretty good show but I couldn't get into Jonathan's interpretation of the character he played, I found his acting style to be very one- dimensional and aloof, unlike the the other actors in the cast of this all-black show. I say this to say, that when the news broke about the charges against Majors, and I later read his words, my reaction was: now I know why I wasn't a fan of his acting. The ego in general, and the male ego in particular often play a role in bolstering the "pride that goeth before a fall". Jonathan Major's success went to his head and his subsequent behavior cost him his role of playing a super hero. Of course black males will insist that it all has to do with racism and refer back to the lynching era, (which, in hind sight, they actually know very little about)... Considering that Majors' girlfriend was white, eye-rolling sistas might think: well, that's what he gets... lol This is the quote in question. "I'm a great man. A great man. I am doing great things, not just for me but for my culture and for the world." This was a part of the entire statement Jonathan Majors made in reference to his expecting his woman to be a "Coretta" to his Martin, and a "Michelle" to his Barack.

@richardmurray Thank you for posting that music video of "For All We Know." It was lovely! 😘 @ProfDmy knee is doing much better, thank you. But I don't think I'll trust myself to ever again walk any distance without a cane. Farewell to my independence. >sigh<. btw, the Chicago sports community has been in an extended uproar since BEARS gm Poles traded QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburg Steelers, and everyone is anxiously awaiting NFL draft day this month. Fandom is split between those heartbroken and disappointed over Fields being let go and consideration not given to how weak his defensive line was when rating him, and those who thought he just was not up to speed. Sports radio and online fan sites are blowin' up, off the chain, rabid Bear geeks almost coming to blows, divided right down the middle between Team Fields and Team (Caleb) Williams the #1 draft pick QB who da BEARS will probably select to replce Fields. The city has never seen such intensity and passion about a sports dilemma! I liked Fields (he's cute) but he did always seem to be running for his life, unable to read the defense and pass the ball. These sports jocks are really into the situation. I never realized how big a role sports play in the lives of certain men until I accidentally ended up on one of the FaceBook hang outs of Bear fans. Whew! And, alas, the Great White Hope aka as 3-pointer phenom Caitlin Clark was unable to lead her Iowa team to victory against South Carolina in the Woman's NCAA basketball finals. Time for Taylor Swift to step back up and represent for white gurls. @Everbody: well, tomorrow's the big event. The solar eclipse will occur and Judgment Day might accompany it if we are to believe certain conspiracy theorists. If Humanity survives, what we can next look forward to in my area will be the imminent awakening of the cicadas who've been sleeping underground for the past 17 years and are now ready to emerge and swarm around for a couple of weeks, buzzing and bugging people like the locusts in the Bible. Egads! Trump, Ukraine, Immigrants, Israel & Palestine, AI, and around Chicagoland, a daily toll of Blacks wantonly car-jacking, robbing, shooting and killing each other! Watta world. Anyway, Folks, it's been fun hangin out with ya! I'm just stretched out here on my recliner, and it's so easy to pull out my phone and start keying. Anyhoo, see ya Tuesday. 👋 If not, oh well...💥💫

@Mel&Del I've been thinking about the idea of thinking being overrated. What else can you do with your mind? I'm thinking about it... Listening to music is a good alternative. Music really is magic. It requires you to do nothing but listen, and if you enjoy what you hear, that's icing on the cake! Lately, for some reason I've been thinking how 73 years ago in1951, as a Freshman at the University of Illinois, one of the favorite songs of the little black colony of students on this large campus was a song named "For All We Know." At the end of every social event, those gathered would form a circle, grasp hands, and sing this song followed by a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne". Listening to that old favorite by Nat Cole, the years fall away and I'm swept back to the innocent carefree days of my youth. I imagine. And listen. And no thoughts are necessary. For all we know...

@Pioneer1I was not aware that what appears on this site becomes the exclusive domain of whomever posts it. Certainly not a protocol you observe with your imposing self. At least I adhered to the tone of the discussion while you, to whom straw man tactics are second nature, were all off-key. You could hardly wait to inject yourself into my remarks, stumbling in your feeble attempt at being on point. I assure you, the less attention I get from you the better I like it. Your attention is unwanted, Dummy. Like dog shit, you're all over the place so it's hard to avoid interacting with others without having to deal with you. in the future, ignore me and I'll do the same to you. 🤣 👉

@Pioneer1Are my comments so provocative that you just can't ignore them, or at least refrain from making your responses so silly and irrelevant?

@Pioneer1Why don't you just mind your own business and keep your stupid, unsolicited advice to yourself? Doing that seems to be a problem for YOU.

@Pioneer1what is it with you and all your silly attempts at humor? In another post you suggested I take LSD if I wanted to expand my mind. Now after smugly announcing that you are too intelligent to be affected by marajuana, you suggest, for no discernable reason, that I should start smoking weed. In another goofy post you proposed that you and Chevdov find me a man since I mentioned that I was bored, and in yet another thread you snidely implied that you were "sexually hararrassing" me. It would be different if such attempts at humor were clever but they are, instead, lame since, in regard to the last one, I am 90 years old, and you are too old and over the hill to be my boy toy. And I have no intention of complaining to Troy about your buffoonery. Nor have I nor any other female regular on this site ever done so. We handle you ourselves. Now, (I have to keep reminding myself to refer to Marijuana as "weed", not "pot" or "reefer" as it was called in my day when jazz musicians were who mostly "toked" it.) I just read somewhere that said if you can remember your dreams you are lucid not dreaming. As of late, every time I doze off, I enter into a vivid dream world where I'm always trying to overcome obstacles that are impeding my progress. The people in the dreams are mostly dead friends and family members and the scenarios are repetitive. I am inclined to attribute this to the BP meds and all the otc supplements I take. e.g. garlic caps, ginger root, ginko biloba, and magnesium. And the cocktail of fruit juice I drink each morning that contains blueberry and strawberry concentrates, pomegrant, mango, pineapple, lemon, and orange juice. I make a big container of this concoction and store it in the fridge. Half way through the week, it has fermented and is quite potent. I really get a buzz from my morning glass of it. So between my meds and my fruit cocktail, who needs weed? I am to the point where my entire existence consists of me just alternating equally between the wake world and the dream world. It's weird. The longer I live the more aware I become of another environment available to me by simply closing my eyes...

Gee, I missed some of this conversation. Parts of it are new to me and must've occurred when I was trying to get my bearings after my e-mail was hacked and my computer broke down, and I was reinstating my account here. @Mel HopkinsI had no idea what you were going through during that time! My dear brave girl, how impressed but not surprised I am by the way you rose to the occasion and displayed your true grit in coping with the crises that tested and gave meaning to why you are here! "Life is the question, love is the answer." 🫶 You go, Girl! 👍 I feel inadequate because my journey has not veered off into paths that called for me to be courageous as I trudge along, knowing that I know not. But being old does present challenges and - I.Am.Still.Here.

I've never smoked weed. It wasn't readily available when I was coming into my hey day. I did drink, finally settling on vodka as my drink of choice. I started smoking in college where every body smoked PallMalls - so we could bum our own brand, we joked. Everyome in my family smoked cigarettes or cigars so I was a pro and gave smoking lessons to my college dorm mates. Years later I would into run into people who complained that if it hadnt been for me, they'd never have taken up this bad habit! A very good friend of mine and a former student of my smoking classes moved to California. About 10 years later she came for a visit. After we sat down to chat and up date each other, we each pulled out our pack of cigarettes to light up and - wadda ya know, we both smoked MORE Menthols. Long thin brown 100s which had just come on the market. Her daughter told me that on her death bed a few years back, my friend asked for a cigarette and managed to just utter my name and chuckle... 🥲 I was ordinarily just a half-pack-a-day smoker but chain smoked when I played cards or was out partying. When I retired from my job in 1992, I quit smoking and drinking.It wasn't something I wanted to just lay around the house and do. (Instead I elected to write and self publish several books.) My husband had also given up smoking and went from a pack-a-day to not wanting to even be around cigarette smoke. Reformed smokers are the worst. Well, as you can see, I have a lot of time on my hands and since I'm now able to access this site on my phone, its very easy to go on line and come here to bore people with what has become a compulsion to share my thoughts.zzzz I wish Mel would come back, and Chevdov would show up more often. I feel out-numbered. And where is Troy??? Oh well, I'm done 🤪