However, I had to post this. Everything is kind of poopy now (see no curse words). So I take humor were I can.
NincompooperyToo
(From On Tyranny) 2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about -- a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union -- and take its side.
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Black History Month - Homer Plessy
Homer Plessy is both an unsung hero and a name of anger. Homer Plessy in 1896 boarded a train in Louisiana and sat in the Whites Only section. He knew he would get arrested and his case was taken to the Supreme Court.
At the Supreme Court, Plessy was found guilty. This was the decision that allowed “Separate But Equal” doctrine. But “equal” didn’t mean equal quality, just an accommodation. So separate schools, libraries, retail establishments, everything was segregated and allowed by the Supreme Court.
It was the law of the country until the 1950s. Mr. Plessy was a symbol of all that was wrong with segregation.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Black History Month - 10 - Jordan Peale
Jordan Peale is probably not what one expects looking at the History part of Black History Month. He gained fame as a comic writer and performer.
But he has since morphed into one of the best directors working now. He has made 3 movies so far: Get Out, Us, and Nope. For Get Out he was nominated for 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. He won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, becoming the first Black Writer to win this award.
I think he will be long remembered because these movies make points about being Black in America, but always in an analogy form. He does not beat you over the head with it. They are also Horror / Comedies, but in the Alfred Hitchcock mode, psychological, not bloody and graphic. Although there is plenty of gore in Get Out and some in Us.
The endings of these movies mark the end of the movie but rarely the end of thinking about what you just saw. I left Nope, wondering what the hell just happened and had to ponder a bit. This is definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
Anyway, I think that, years from now, his movies will be studied for their meaning and content.
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Black History Month - 9 - George Poage, first Black Olympian
The Olympic games were one of the few places that Black Americans were allowed to shine. Not to be flippant, but the American desire for winners outweighed American's racism against Blacks.
The 1904 Olympics in Saint Louis was considered an adjunct to the St. Louis World's Fair (remember "Meet Me In St. Louis"). Here is a quick overview from Wikipedia.
George Coleman Poage(November 6, 1880 – April 11, 1962) was an American track and field athlete. He was the first black and the first African-American athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games in St. Louis.
He was a University of Wisconsin graduate. After winning the medals, well .. let's visit Wikipedia again:
Later years
[edit]Poage remained in St. Louis after the Olympics, working as a school principal for a year before becoming a teacher at segregated Charles Sumner High School. At Sumner, he was the head of the English department, teaching English composition, literature, and Latin, helped coach the school’s sports teams, and supervised various extracurricular activities such as debate and theater.[2][4]
In 1920, Poage moved to Chicago. He worked in a restaurant for four years. In 1924, Poage was hired by the United States Postal Service and worked as a postal clerk for nearly thirty years. After his retirement in the 1950s he remained in Chicago until his death in 1962.
Personal life
[edit]Decades after his death in 1962, George C. Poage was revealed to have been a part of the LGBTQ+ Community. As featured in a 2023 PBS documentary entitled Wisconsin Pride.
In those times, winning at the Olympics was not the ticket to the financial success that many of our Olympians find today. In fact, even Jesse Owens, the famed Hitler beater of the 1936 Olympics ended up working low paying jobs. Owens struggled to find work and took on menial jobs as a gas station attendant, playground janitor, and manager of a dry cleaning firm. Sometimes he resorted to racing against motorbikes, cars, trucks and horses for a cash prize. He said you can't eat gold medals.
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Black History Month - 8 - Hiram Revels, the first Black Senator
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Hiram Revels - First Black Senator |
I find the story of Hiram Revels fascinating. I mean, Senator Revels was interesting as a person, but the story of Hiram Revels is more indicative of some things. First things first;
So, he was an impressive man.
But that isn't what we learned in school history.
When I was in school, 100 years AFTER the Civil War, we didn't hear about equality in the South after the war. We did not learn that ex-slaves voted in real change.
We were taught that "carpet baggers" from the northern states went to the south to exploit the population. We were told these carpet baggers rounded up illiterate ex-slaves to vote and to put uneducated Black men in office. Then, they exploited the men and the South for any wealth they had.
It only ended when reasonable white men ran these carpet baggers out of the South.
This was in California!
I have since learned that the "reasonable white men" were Klu Klux Klan killers who struck laws that disenfranchised the ex-slaves and free black voters. They kicked out elected leaders and lynched hundreds of black men to strike terror into those left. This racism brought on Reconstruction. And we were taught Reconstruction was good - not the flagrantly racist system it was
When I was in school—and when most of you were—there hadn't been a Southern Black Senator since Reconstruction. The first Black Senator from the South was Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina in 2013, 150 years after the Civil War. (Remember, this was the war in which the South started to protect slavery and lost.)
So, I hope that future generations learn about the evils of Reconstruction, not from revisionists but from people who honor Hiram Revels. The First Black Senator who was a war hero and a minister - and history has treated badly.
Friday, February 7, 2025
Living Desert Conservation
The Living Desert (zoo) out here used to be a different kind of zoo / preserve. It had large grounds and cages for cats of all sizes. Well, it has changed significantly now. It now focuses on desert animals and ecosystems from around the world.
It is also now part of the conservation zoos that rehabilitate and breed desert animals. Here is their news from the magazine.
PS. Before we start, the Channel Island Fox has been recovered from near extinction.
Black History Month - 7 - Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Black History Month should not only look at the contributions of American Blacks. We should also study aspects that we must not forget. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is one such event.
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Some of the original participants |
The study also goes a long way toward explaining WHY Blacks were so hesitant to trust the government regarding COVID-19.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study started in 1932. In 1932, the United States began a study on a group of 400 Blacks in Georgia. They were diagnosed with Syphilis, and the US government reached out to them. They were all promised free medical care if they participated in the study. However, only 1/2 the men were treated, and the other half were given placebos. Even after it was found that penicillin would end Syphilis in 1947, they were not given it.
They were told the study would be for 6 months, it lasted 30 years until it was ended in 1972 when it was uncovered. During those 40 years:
- 28 patients died from syphilis
- 100 died from complications from syphilis
- 40 of the patients infected their wives
- 19 children were born with congenital syphilis at birth
It was an act perpetrated on Blacks with no thought about the impact on the men in the study. A lot of new information was uncovered, but they were never told the truth. Finally, the full story came out in 1997.
It is a part of Black History that is terrible, but must be remembered so it doesn't happen again.
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Black History Month - 6 - Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice
When we think of our merry band of imbeciles now running the government, I think back to the sound administration of George W Bush. Now, only President Trump can raise my impression of the Bush II administration.
However, thinking back, I don't think George Bush was a particularly smart man. He was a moral person (yeah, I don't believe in God, but I do believe in morality) and surrounded himself with great talent.
Today, during Black History Month, I remember the first two Black Secretaries of State, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.
Both excelled in pushing America's influence and interest in measured and intelligent ways. As opposed to today, when the following comments were made by the administration in the last two days:
- MAGA Podcaster Ridicules Mexican President, Claiming “She’s Fresh Off A Hysterical Menopausal Meltdown”
- Rubio Declares Himself Acting Director Of USAID
- By the way ALL USAID has now stopped. Not only did it provide some critical funds for poor nations for medical treatments and stopping starvation, but it built up a ton of American goodwill in those nations.
- GOP State Rep: Overthrow Mexico’s “Jew” President
- Vance: We’re Taking Greenland, Let Europe “Scream”
- Trump: Panama Better Hand Over The Canal Or Else “Something Very Powerful Is Going To Happen” [Video]
- Homocon AfD Leader Slams Holocaust “Guilt Cult”
- Trump: I’m Ending Future Funding To South Africa
- Canada is a failing nation.
I see both sides of this. I just don't like the repercussions.
President Trump signed an executive order - this time with teeth - that transgender students cannot compete with women in school sports. They are only worried about transgender women who might have testosterone. Here are my 2 cents - sure to be disliked by many.
The order does not bug me. TO ME:
- There are plenty of intelligent reasons to not worry here. One reason, which I disagree with, is that it only affects 10 people out of the 500,000 girls who play sports. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity, and calling out these 10 girls isn't fair.
- What I agree with is this: If a person identifies as another gender, I think, that should be protected. Those students should not be subject to ridicule and bullying.
- But if a person has decided that they are a different gender and start to transition, giving up school sports is a price you have to pay. It sucks, but being stuck in the wrong body sucks. If you aren't willing to give up your chosen sport, it doesn't seem - to me - that you are not willing to pay the price of a transition.
There is still the opportunity to play the sport for fun. After you graduate from high school, there are more opportunities - College intramural sports and off-campus sports. If you are out in the world, there are club sports that will embrace you in co-ed or female only leagues.
The horrible side effect:
The horrible side-effect, however, is the need to prove you are a girl to random strangers. This is already happening now in many kids' leagues. Parents or grandparents are accusing little girls of really being boys. And demand to see their genitals. That has destroyed some of the girls' confidence who are taunted for looking like a boy.
Pass the anti-trans bill, remove parents from the enforcement process, and let the coaches be the controlling officiants. Under this rule, parents would have to defer to the coach and could only sue the league, not the parents or the little girl.
I KNOW that this sucks for kids that want to need to transition. But if you allow this rule and demand a rule of respect for all other areas - I am amenable to that.
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Of course he was offensive and rude signing this, but he is offensive often. |
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Black History Month - 5 - Paul R Williams
Paul R Williams is a personal semi-hero of mine. He worked in Los Angeles designing some of my very favorite buildings. Okay, my very favorite the LA Airport Theme Building. It was the centerpiece of the airport. The airport is now cluttered the crap to make it more accessible, with the Theme Building hidden behind parking lots and people movers.
So here the poop about Paul R Williams and his stunning run in LA and Palm Springs.
AMAZING - right?
I’m in Steamboat Springs - most posting begins on Sunday
However, I had to post this. Everything is kind of poopy now (see no curse words). So I take humor were I can.

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