Month: February 2023

Closing Thought–28Feb23

Is DeSantis coming after Disney World?

The governor of Florida has taking control over the state’s institutions….he has come after individual rights,  books, education, even dogs and now he is after Disney…..”the happiest place on earth”…. but for how long?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday savored his victory over the Walt Disney Co., selecting new members of a governing board under legislation he sought after the company objected to a parental rights bill he favored last year. “Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” the Republican said at a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista, CNN reports. “There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day.” The governor announced his replacements for the board, who require state Senate approval. They include DeSantis supporters such as conservative activists, a major Republican donor, and the spouse of the new chairman of the state GOP. DeSantis said the board is scheduled to meet next week, “so buckle up.”

Under the bill DeSantis signed on Monday, the board members will oversee infrastructure, services, and taxing authority for the special district that reigns over Disney’s theme parks in central Florida—clout that had belonged to the company. DeSantis hinted at exerting control over Disney’s content as well, per Deadline. “I think that all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate,” he said. Members of both parties have been critical of DeSantis’ move. “Disney stepped into the fray. They lost,” former Vice President Mike Pence said last week. “But the idea of going after their taxing authority, that was beyond the scope of what I as a conservative limited government Republican would be prepared to do.”

DeSantis has become the very embodiment of the word authoritarian.

What other targets are in his demonic sights?

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

China And Ukraine–Part 2

China has been in the news lately but little has been about their involvement in the Ukraine/Russia conflict.

The news has come out that China was considering arming Russia….and the world lost its collective minds…..but maybe it was premature….

China’s representative to the UN on Thursday said that sending weapons to be used in the Ukraine war will not bring peace as the US is claiming Beijing is considering providing Moscow with military aid for the conflict.

“One year into the Ukraine crisis, brutal facts have offered ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace, adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions, and prolonging and expanding the conflict will only make ordinary people pay an even heftier price,” China’s UN Deputy Ambassador Dai Bing told the UN General Assembly.

Dai stressed that China’s position is that the warring sides should begin peace talks as soon as possible. “We reiterate our appeal that diplomacy and negotiation cannot be abandoned, and efforts towards ceasefire and talks must go on,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed that the US has information that China is “considering” arming Russia, but Beijing has denied the accusation. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the US was considering releasing intelligence that shows Beijing is weighing whether to supply Russia with weapons, but it’s not clear what information the US actually has.

In the early days of the war, US officials claimed Russia asked China for military assistance. But it was later revealed by a report from NBC News that the US didn’t have “hard evidence” to back up the claim.

China and Russia have drawn closer together since Russia invaded Ukraine one year ago as they face similar pressure from the West, but there’s still no sign that Beijing has decided to send weapons. Chinese officials maintain it’s their policy not to arm either side.

(antiwar.com)

Was the news we got just to rattle our chains about China?

China has done something the US and NATO has not done….offered a possible peace plan…..

Although Ukraine didn’t rule it out, NATO and EU leaders were dismissive of a 12-point peace proposal issued Friday by China, saying its increasing ties to Russia disqualify the Beijing government from playing mediator. “China doesn’t have much credibility,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, “because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine.” China’s highest-ranking diplomat promised to strengthen its relationship with Russia on a trip to Moscow this week, the Guardian reports, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China appears to be considering supplying weapons to Russia.

The proposal is addressed more to other nations, without calling for specific steps by Ukraine or Russia. It uses stern wording in opposing the use of nuclear weapons or the threat of it, as well as the development of chemical and biological weapons. “Nuclear proliferation must be prevented and nuclear crisis avoided,” the document says, while urging other nations to facilitate peace negotiations in which China would play a role. Other admonitions appear aimed at the US and the West, as when it warns against “expanding military blocs”—as in NATO.

That’s a Russian argument rejected by Ukraine and the West, that the war was started to keep Ukraine out of NATO, and it appears five lines into the paper. Many in the West saw the flaws in the proposal, which calls the fighting “the Ukraine crisis” and not a war, as fundamental. “The position paper doesn’t take into account who is the aggressor and who is the victim of an illegal and unjustified war of aggression,” an EU spokeswoman said, per Politico. China’s Foreign Ministry released the proposal on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, which was marked by protests around the world.

The proposal also condemns a “Cold War mentality,” a term that often refers to the United States and the U.S.-European military alliance NATO. “The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs,” the proposal says. Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded a promise that Ukraine will not join the bloc before the invasion.

Other points call for a cease-fire, peace talks, protection for prisoners of war and stopping attacks on civilians, without elaborating, as well as keeping nuclear power plants safe and facilitating grain exports.

The 12 points are:

  1. Respecting the sovereignty of all countries
  2. Abandoning the Cold War mentality
  3. Ceasing hostilities
  4. Resuming peace talks
  5. Resolving the humanitarian crisis
  6. Protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs)
  7. Keeping nuclear power plants safe
  8. Reducing strategic risks
  9. Facilitating grain exports
  10. Stopping unilateral sanctions
  11. Keeping industrial and supply chains stable
  12. Promoting post-conflict reconstruction

The initial reaction from Kyiv was dismissive, with a senior adviser to President Zelensky saying any plan to end the war must involve the withdrawal of Russian troops to borders in place when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

However, Zelensky himself struck a more receptive tone in a news conference to mark the first anniversary of the conflict.

Not to worry the US will continue to dump money into Ukraine….so everyone is happy.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

So Much We Do Not Know

That is my thought on the Ukraine/Russia mash-up…..why?  That is an easy answer and it comes from the MSM…..

For instance….Take a look at the newest ‘aid’ package from the US….

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that the US will send about $10 billion in additional economic assistance to Ukraine in the coming months.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the US has given Kyiv at least $13 billion in budgetary aid, economic assistance that goes directly to the Ukrainian government to fund government services, pensions, and healthcare.

“Our economic assistance is making Ukraine’s resistance possible by supporting the home front: funding critical public services and helping keep the government running,” Yellen said in India ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers.

“In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine,” she said.

So far, the US has approved $113 billion in spending on the war, which includes military aid, training, funds for the Pentagon to replenish stockpiles and pay for troop deployments, and economic a

(antiwar.com)

Great deal….we cannot afford to fund our country but we have cash for some other nation.  Why is that?

According to the mainstream Western narrative, Vladimir Putin is an insatiable, Hitler-like expansionist who invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked land grab.

That is a convenient answer that will keep most of the public in the dark about why.

As I have asked many times before….why are there no answers to so many question?

The first question is the same one I have asked many many times….what does the US expect to be the return on our massive investment in the country?

This one never gets a good answer….usually it is some emotional response about the desire of Putin or his mental grasp on reality.

My next question is …..if the Ukrainian military is receiving advanced training from NATO and being rewarded with all this advanced weaponry like artillery, tanks, etc and if the Russian military is in disarray and badly trained….why is the conflict still raging? I mean the MSM gives us the glowing reports on the accomplishments of the Ukrainians….why is there not more progress beyond a basic stalemate?

Here is the situation…..

INTERACTIVE - WHO CONTROLS WHAT IN UKRAINE 219

All aid that Ukraine has received and yet they cannot re-take a small mining town of Bakhmut…..even Zelensky has said they may leave it for the Russians…..

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine would continue to defend the eastern Donetsk city of Bakmut but “not at any price,” signaling that Ukrainian forces might be considering a withdrawal.

“Yes, it is not a particularly big town. In fact, like many others in Donbas, (it’s been) devastated by the Russians. It is important for us to defend it, but not at any price and not for everyone to die,” Zelensky said in an interview published Sunday, according to Reuters.

Bakhmut’s pre-war population was about 70,000, but now Ukrainian officials estimate only about 5,000 people live in the city. Russian and Ukrainian forces have been locked in fighting over Bakhmut for months, and Ukraine has taken heavy casualties defending the area.

Ukrainian officials still maintain that they want to recapture all the territory Russia controls, including Crimea. Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said over the weekend that the war won’t be over until “our tanks will be parked on Moscow’s Red Square.”

(antiwar.com)

Not much change in the situation on the ground….why is that?

Any answers for my questions?

I am amazed just how deep the indifference of the American public actually goes.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Canine News For A Sunday

Most know that I am a canine person….my best friend is MoMo and I am always looking for news that might effect her life…..

The first bit of news is there could be a shortage of vets to treat our friends…..

While the delta and lambda variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to challenge us, we also see hints of post-pandemic normalcy with the return of some in-person meetings, reopened retail establishments, and get-togethers with extended family and friends. Despite these positive signs of recovery, many of us in the veterinary profession are still reeling, professionally and personally, from the pandemic’s effects on our practices, patients, and clients. Stress continues to run high, and our teams are feeling overworked and overwhelmed.

Our practices aren’t running in quite the same way as before the pandemic. New workflows, operating procedures, and safety protocols have been implemented. Many hospitals are operating with fewer team members and dealing with higher turnover. Emergency clinics appear to be having an especially difficult time remaining fully staffed as they are inundated with a continuous stream of patients—both urgent and nonurgent cases. Pet owners, too, are feeling the crunch. They’re having to wait longer to get appointments and to be seen for emergencies.

To determine where we go from here, it’s crucial to let the data inform us. Where is this busyness coming from? Is it an aftereffect of the pet adoption boom suggested to have occurred during the pandemic? Are our teams truly seeing more patients than ever before? Or are other things happening that make it feel this way?

https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2021-09-15/are-we-veterinary-workforce-crisis

We all know that dogs, most dogs, enjoy riding in the car with the heads out the window, right?

Florida could curtail that little bit of canine enjoyment…..

When dogs go for car rides, many of them use the time to “drive and chill,” sticking their heads out the window to catch the cool breeze as their human cruises along the thoroughfare. In Florida, however, that kind of carefree canine behavior may soon be coming to an end, as a new bill has been filed in the state Senate to prohibit that and other activity in the name of animal welfare, reports WESH. SB 932 not only puts the kibosh on dogs extending their head “or any other body part” out the window when the car is in motion—it also prohibits dogs from sitting on the driver’s lap while they’re driving or take a joyride in a car that’s being towed.

The legislation would also bar transporting dogs “on the running board, fender, hood, or roof of a motor vehicle,” or in the trunk or other enclosed space meant for cargo. Plus, no more sitting free of restraints: The bill calls for dogs to be kept in a crate, held by someone other than the driver, or secured with a harness or seatbelt. “Although most dogs love to stick their heads out open windows, the wind can seriously irritate mucous membranes and blow pieces of grit or other debris into their eyes,” the Humane Society notes, per Fox News. “Pets could also be seriously injured by objects as you drive down the road.”

Those who breach the bill could see moving violation tickets. Other animals are also mentioned in the bill, but not in terms of car rides. The legislation makes it illegal to declaw cats, unless the procedure is cleared for medical reasons, as well as against the law to sell rabbits in the months of March and April (Easter season). If the bill passes both chambers of the state Legislature, it moves on to the governor’s desk and could take effect on Oct. 1.

Looks like canine residents must suffer at the hands of this mini dictator as well as the two leg residents.

I would think there are more important issues to work on instead of curtailing Fido’s car ride….maybe not….after all it is Florida.

Have a Great Sunday….be well….be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Saturday News

Today begins the last weekend of February and as usual I present some of the news that did not make the evening news.

Let’s begin our day with some food trivia….

Gooseberries….

If you live in the U.S. and have heard of, or better yet, had the opportunity to eat a gooseberry, you are a rare bird. Gooseberries don’t exactly line the shelves of your local grocery. In fact, it is a very real possibility that before you saw the image above, you didn’t even know what a gooseberry looked like, despite the fact that there are several varieties native to the U.S.

There are European gooseberries and American gooseberries, both of which belong to the Grossulariaceae plant family. They can appear in a rainbow of various colors including yellow, green, red, purple, and black, and their translucent skin gives them a resemblance to table grapes. In Europe, they are often turned into jellies, tarts, pies, and wine and can even be grown in the extremely cold temperatures of the Arctic Circle.

And though they’re not exactly healthy if they’re drenched in refined sugars, you’ll still benefit from their many nutrients. Gooseberries contain lots of vitamins C, B5, and B6, as well as copper, manganese, and fiber all of which are wonderful for heart health. But if gooseberries are so good for us, and can be sourced stateside, why don’t we see them everywhere and have old American cookbooks filled with gooseberry recipes?

Read More: https://www.tastingtable.com/1198562/the-reason-gooseberries-were-banned-in-the-us/

What is the most popular food?

It’s the weekend, which means you might consider getting a little more adventurous with your meal choices than workweek PB&Js. With dishes and recipes from all over the globe readily available at local restaurants and on the internet, you likely already have a top choice in mind. Adventure travel firm Bucket List Company wanted to see which world cuisine got the most people’s taste buds tingling, so it looked at online searches and engagement levels for various cuisines on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, including positive interactions and hashtags, per Time Out. The winner: Korean food, which boasted a 95% “love” reaction stat. Here, the other cuisines that made the top 10:

  1. Korean
  2. Italian
  3. Mexican
  4. Japanese
  5. Indian
  6. Chinese
  7. Thai
  8. Vietnamese
  9. Filipino
  10. Turkish

Check out each cuisine’s online stats here.

Of the ones listed I will go with Thai and Mexican…..how about you?

Warning:  You might want to skip this part of the post if you are easily offended….

Do you enjoy kettle chips?

Remember the days when Lay’s had all the different flavors for their chips?

If so then Lithuania has a chip for you.

Chazz, an unconventional baked chips company based in Lithuania, wants people to talk, date, and bone over practicing abstinence. Quoting research that says “millennials are having 3 times less sex than their parents at the same age,” they offer a solution: figure out what spices vulva tastes like and make pussy-flavored kettle chips to draw attention to this “disastrous trend.” What are in these things? “56% potatoes, rapeseed oil, maltodextrin, salt, onions, garlic, sugar, cream powder, yeast extract, natural flavouring, acidity regulator (sodium acetate), lemon powder (lemon juice powder, natural flavouring), parsley, black pepper, natural sour cream flavouring, antioxidant (citric acid), bay leaves.” Wow, bold claim. That’s what they think it tastes like?

Pussy flavored chips are:

a) Chips with unique taste FOR BRAVE and FREE people. After tasting it, you will remember your wildest love adventures, your first real love, and maybe even lose your oral virginity…

b) A great GIFT for the one you love, cause to initiate a romantic evening, or just simple delight for your taste buds and fun chat about sex;

c) Perfect WAY to test you friends’ courage, openness, and sense of humour. 

P.S. For girls and women: if this or previous year you were pleased by someone, it is very likely that you have directly contributed to the creation of this taste. 

Yes, they offer dick-flavored chips too.

(boingboing.net)

+++++You may resume reading if you avoided the above section+++++

For now a little history….

A 5,000 year old tavern has been uncovered….

Ruins of an ancient tavern dating back to about 5,000 years have been unearthed by archaeologists at the site of one of the earliest cities of the Sumerian civilisation.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) uncovered ruins of a primitive refrigeration system, benches for diners, a large oven as well as an ancient beer recipe in southern Iraq.

They found about 150 serving bowls, with some containing fish and animal bones, suggesting it was likely a place for common people from the ancient city to come to eat.

A synopsis of the excavation on the UPenn website described what archaeologists believed could be a temple and a tavern in the ancient city.

“We call it a tavern because beer is by far the most common drink, even more than water, for the Sumerians,” archaeologist and project director Holly Pittman told AFP.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/sumerian-tavern-oven-beer-recipe-iraq-b2283354.html?amp

I have always thought the Maya were an advanced civilization (just not the way those Ancient Alien freaks think)

The Mayans were incredibly advanced — that’s nothing new. But gauging the extent of their civilization has always proved tricky, since so much of it lies hidden by the impenetrably dense rainforests of Guatemala. But now, using light detection and ranging (LiDAR), scientists have revealed a network of nearly 800 Maya settlements and a sprawling web of interconnected “superhighways.”

These ancient thoroughfares comprise causeways of raised stone, and according to a new study published on the discovery in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica, they — along with the over 400 cities, towns, and villages they link — imply a level of advanced organization for Preclassic Mayan civilization.

“They’re the world’s first superhighway system that we have,” study lead author Richard Hansen, a professor of anthropology at Idaho State University, told CNN.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/mayan-civilization-more-advanced-than-thought

That is the news that will make no difference….just a little FYI for you to consider.

Enjoy your Saturday…..Be well….Be Safe….

Peace my friends.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–24Feb23

These days it seems that these GOPers are shooting off their mouths before their brains are loaded.

We have the infamous MTG, Boefert, Gaetz, etc….they continuously open mouths and insert foot.

But the best(for lack of a better word) was a comment that a GOPer for Alaska has made……

Republican Alaska state Rep. David Eastman this week stunned observers when he asked about the potential economic benefits of abused children dying.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Eastman spoke up during a House Judiciary Committee hearing that was centered on the deleterious long-term effects that being sexually abused has on children.

As ADN notes, part of the presentation included economic data showing that an abused child “could cost the family and broader society $1.5 million in terms of trauma and what the child could potentially have earned over their lifetime.”

It was based on this that Eastman started asking if society might save money if the child were to simply die instead of remaining alive to be a burden on society.

“It can be argued, periodically, that it’s actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment,” he said.

Trevor Storrs, president and CEO of the Alaska Children’s Trust, was immediately taken aback by Eastman’s remarks.

“Can you say that again?” he asked. “Did you say, ‘a benefit for society?’”

https://www.rawstory.com/amp/david-eastman-alaska-2659452088

Let me see if I have this…..he wants to force women to have babies and when an unfit mother abuses and kills her child it is a benefit to society?

Seriously?  Is there any logic in that?

Not to worry….this idiot has been censured….

Very few people would try to find some sort of silver lining in cases where a child died from abuse. Rep. David Eastman is apparently one of those people, however, and he’s now taking flak for his comments made earlier this week in that vein. Per the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Monday on the topic of how adverse experiences growing up—e.g., living in a home plagued by domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse, etc.—can affect children throughout their lives. One stat cited by Trevor Storrs, CEO of the Alaska Children’s Trust: a cost of $1.5 million to a child’s family and society overall when that child abuse is fatal.

In noting the economic repercussions of abuse, experts who spoke took into account lost future earnings and taxpayer-funded government assistance that victims and family members might tap into to help them deal with the resulting trauma, per the Washington Post. That latter fact is what Eastman latched onto as he questioned Storrs. “How would you respond to the argument that I have heard on occasion where … in the case where child abuse is fatal, obviously it’s not good for the child, but it’s actually a benefit to society because there aren’t needs for government services and whatnot over the whole course of that child’s life?” the Republican state lawmaker said.

Stunned reaction to Eastman’s comments was immediate. “Can you say that again? Did you say ‘a benefit for society?'” an incredulous Storrs replied, per the ADN. Colleagues called Eastman’s remarks “despicable” and “indefensible,” among other descriptors, and on Wednesday, the Alaska House of Representatives voted 35-1 to censure him (Eastman was the lone “no” vote).

Censured?

That is best the legislature can do?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How It All Began

Just a reminder of the events that brought about the conflict.

When it comes to international relations there is more to any situation than the reports of the MSM…..this applies to the war in Ukraine as it does to any conflict.

There is more than Putin is a ‘mad man’….Zelensky is a ‘hero’….but let’s look into the past …a short trip for those that have an ‘inquiring mind’ (not as many people as you would think)

Today is the one year anniversary, 24Feb22, of the start of the Russo-Ukraine war….a war that has created massive refugee crisis, many civilian and military deaths and of course the spending of billions of billions of US dollars on this proxy war.  (My views on this situation is well know and published)

It has been one year–yes Irene it has only been one year but I know it seems much linger than that–all the ink that this war has gotten and very few people show any knowledge of what started this whole thing and why.

Though they are being fought in the confusion of a single catastrophic conflict, there are four closely related, but distinct, wars being fought in Ukraine. The first is the war within Ukraine. The second is the war between Russia and Ukraine. The third is the proxy war between NATO and Russia. And the fourth is the direct war between the United States and Russia. Deconstructing this single conflict into its four real wars may be necessary to understand the issues that must be resolved if a negotiated settlement is to be possible.

The latent domestic problems that have been ripped open by this war are not new. They are the torn fabric of the Ukrainian nation. They go back long before the war, and the war will not be safely resolved before they too are finally resolved.

Ukraine has always been a nation divided: northwestern and central Ukraine, which had once been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have always faced west to Europe; the southeast, long part of the Russian Empire, has always faced east to Russia. Historically, western Ukraine has voted for presidential candidates with European-oriented policies, and eastern Ukraine has voted for presidents with Russian-oriented policies. It is a national tug-of-war that always risked ripping the country in two.

The tug-of-war became overt during the 2004 election between Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian-leaning eastern base and Vikto Yushchenko and his American and European-leaning western base. When Yushchenko was forced to appoint Yanukovych as his prime minister, the nation and its government was being dangerously pulled in opposing directions.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/who-really-started-the-ukraine-wars/

So many see this as a possible end game for civilization….

“To defend civilization, defeat Russia.” Writing in the unfailingly bellicose Atlantic, an American academic of my acquaintance recently issued that dramatic call to arms. And lest there be any confusion about the stakes involved, the image accompanying his essay depicted Russian President Vladimir Putin with a Hitler mustache and haircut.

Cast Putin as the latest manifestation of the Führer and the resurrection of Winston Churchill can’t be far behind. And, lo, more than a few observers have already begun depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the latest reincarnation of America’s favorite British prime minister.

These days, it may be Western-supplied missiles downing “kamikaze drones” rather than Spitfires tangling with Messerschmitts over southern England, but the basic scenario remains intact. In the skies above Ukraine and on the battlefields below, the “finest hour” of 1940 is being reenacted. Best of all, we know how this story ends — or at least how it’s supposed to end: with evil vanquished and freedom triumphant. Americans have long found comfort in such simplified narratives. Reducing history to a morality play washes away annoying complexities. Why bother to think when the answers are self-evident?

Tanks for Nothing: Is Civilization Really at Stake in Ukraine?

Many have written and said that this war could be the end of civilization as we know it….

The name of the game in Ukraine seems to be escalation, not just in the fighting (with a major Russian offensive expected soon), but in weaponry, too. Only recently, after initially refusing, President Biden agreed to send advanced American M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine (partly to push Germany to dispatch its own advanced Leopard 2 tanks and other European countries to do the same). And that, sadly enough, represents just another step up the ladder to… well, who knows quite what.

The Ukrainians are now demanding that the U.S. (and so, as with those tanks, other NATO allies) supply its air force with F-16 jet fighters. In an unsettling analog to the German tank accord, the Polish government seemed to agree to deliver some of its F-16s to the Ukrainians, with one proviso: that NATO (that is, the U.S.) agree to do the same. In Washington, those planes had been considered a “red line” not to be crossed and not so long ago President Biden offered a flat “no” to the very idea — as he had, once upon a time, with those tanks, too. In other words, in a phrase now in use at the Pentagon, he “M1-ed” the idea. As it happens, sentiment at the Pentagon already seems to be shifting, suggesting that the president’s F-16 position may soon prove to be so yesterday. Only recently, in fact, the U.S. agreed to send Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs that would double the range of that country’s rocket batteries, though like the tanks and possible planes actual delivery remains in an undefined future.

Is Civilization at Stake in Ukraine?

The end of civilization?

Damn good question that has no damn good answer at this time.

The best I can say is….it is not looking good for civilization….and Ukraine is the center of this concern.

But let’s say the two parties find common ground and come together and sign a ceasefire and ultimately a peace agreement….what then?

Not to worry China is waiting in the wings to replace Ukraine.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

An Unknown ‘Hero’ Or A ‘Mad Man”?

It is Black history month and I try to bring some black history that has been missed in your education.

Have you ever heard of David Fagen?

The year is 1899 and the place is the Philippines.

You won’t find this story anywhere else for Black History Month, but you should! By the mid-1900’s, a “Buffalo Soldier” named David Fagen was virtually a household name, particularly in the African American community. Fagen’s story makes myth of the false contention that African Americans offered little resistance to institutionalized racism from the Civil War until the end of WWII.

Was Fagen a hero or “a mad dog”?  The answer is rooted in whether you believe that fighting against U.S. colonialism/imperialism in 1899, in this case the U.S. war of Philippine conquest, is righteous and worthy of giving rise to a true hero, martyr and courageous Buffalo Soldier, who deserted the U.S. side and joined the Philippine Revolutionary Army. The PRA was fighting to establish their own independent republic after the Spanish were kicked out.

In diaries and letters, Black soldiers posted in the Philippines. recounted how racism was endemic in the U.S. military, describing the racist abuses suffered by both African Americans and Filipinos.

Fagen was a native of Tampa, Florida, the youngest of 6 children of former slaves. He grew up where Jim Crow racial segregation laws prevailed. With the specter of lynching, race riots and the chain gang looming over Tampa’s Blacks, Fagen “lived in dread at all times.” Searching for any escape from Jim Crow, Fagen enlisted in 1898, being assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, a unit of so-called Buffalo Soldiers.

Expansionist USA, intent on developing a global commercial empire, dispatched 6000 African American soldiers, including 2100 of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, to the Philippines islands per President McKinley’s assessment that the racial inferiority of Filipinos justified denying them sovereignty and engaging in a bloody war of conquest. Fagen, now on the battlefield, detested his white commanding officer Lt. Moss, a West Point graduate. Moss and Fagen clashed repeatedly, with Moss eventually fining Fagen more than a month’s pay and sentencing him to 30 days of hard labor. Life was immutably altered when Fagen, after  a few months of battling Filipino rebels, turned his back on the U.S. army and joined Filipino revolutionaries who were actually fighting against American invaders.

Forgotten: an African American Soldier Turned Rebel Leader in the Philippines  

Regardless of what one thinks of his actions he is still a person from history and his life and actions should be studied.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is It Really A “Cultural War”?

Recently I read an article about the measures that the GOP has introduced at attacks the culture of education in the US….

The right-wing campaign to censor what is read and taught at public schools, colleges, universities, and libraries across the United States is only growing more intense, as state lawmakers introduced dozens of educational gag orders in the first six weeks of 2023.

From the start of the new year through February 13, Republican lawmakers proposed 84 educational censorship bills and their Democratic counterparts unveiled two, according to an analysis published Thursday by PEN America, which updates its “Index of Educational Gag Orders” on a weekly basis.

As the free speech organization previously documented, more than 190 bills aimed at limiting the ability of educators and students to discuss the production of and resistance to myriad inequalities throughout U.S. history—including several proposals to establish so-called “tip lines” that would enable parents to punish school districts or individual teachers—were introduced in dozens of states in 2021 and 2022, with all but one authored by Republicans. In the past two years, 19 laws restricting the teaching of racism, gender, and sexuality were enacted in more than a dozen GOP-controlled states, plus eight measures imposed without legislation.

“The early returns from the 2023 legislative sessions suggest that lawmakers’ fervor to censor and ban content from educational institutions has not abated. Far from it,” four PEN America experts wrote Thursday. “They have outdone one another in a race to the bottom, finding new, more extreme, and more conspiratorial ways to impose censorious government dictates on teaching and learning.”

The analysis highlights trends in educational gag orders across four major categories: efforts to prohibit teaching about race, racism, and U.S. history; expanding censorship of sexuality and gender; legislation targeting higher education institutions; and particularly extreme proposals motivated by the growing influence of conspiracy theories.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-educational-gag-orders-2023

The term ‘cultural war’ has been batted around as a political tactic….it came about when the GOP started attacking everything in the US culture.

A wave of Republican enthusiasm for banning concepts, authors and books is sweeping across the United States. Forty-four states have proposed bans on the teaching of “divisive concepts”, and 18 states have passed them.

Florida’s Stop Woke Act bans the teaching of eight categories of concepts, including concepts that suggest that “a person, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin, or sex”. Many of the laws also target Nikole Hannah-Jones’s influential 1619 Project.

These laws have already started to take effect. Administrators and teachers have been forced out of their positions on the suspicion of violating these laws, and what has started as a trickle may soon become a flood.

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/13/african-american-studies-republican-ban-florida

All these attacks on education smacks of something that happened in Germany all those years ago.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Happy Anniversary!

The Old Professor is pleased to announce some marvelous news.

Amazing news….years of opinionated stuff

15 Year Anniversary Achievement

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 15 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Actually I have been blogging for about 17 years….I started with another platform on December of 2006 and after awhile I switched to WP and have been happy with my choice.

I want thank the many readers that have made this a wonderful run and some wonderful comments.

Hopefully we will have another 15 years of enjoyment and exchanges.

Thanx everyone for your time and your thoughts.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”