Blame My Parents

In the seventeen and a half years that I lived at home before I joined the Navy, I never heard either of my parents use an ethnic slur.  You know those words that refer derogatorily to a person of Italian heritage or one of Polish background or a person whose ancestors came from the continent of Africa.

So, when I left home for Navy Boot Camp I was rather naive.  Fifty five years later I have heard every slur/cuss word imaginable.  But, without trying to sound like a goody-two-shoes, my children and grandchildren have never heard those words from either Mrs. Chief or me.

Comments From A Mail List

I took last evenings post and put it on a mailing list, saying I had found it on-line and asked for comments.  I never said I was the author.  The mail list is mostly retired Navy enlisted men.

Here are three comments that I received back.

I did not like his minister of 20 years.  I do not like his political views.  I do not like the way he is governing.  I did  not vote for him.  His skin color was  not an issue.

I don’t think the problem with him is his color but his actions. he and his flunkies in my opinion are causing this country to lose itself and bringing us down

What a crock of shit, a persons race doesn’t mean diddly squat but the race baiters like to smear everyone that disagrees with President Obama that they must be racists. President Obama has dropped the veil of ingorance and the american people can see that he has almost reached the apex of incompetence, I know his shenanigans are not good for this country. My conclusion is that about 50% of the voters are pretty stupid and probably couldn’t pass a citizenship test.

We seem to be more polarized now than at any time in my life, including the anti-Vietnam War period of the 1960s.  There is no “middle.”  One side says that because of the 2nd Amendment, there can be no regulation of gun sales.  One side says absolutely no abortion, close all the women’s health clinics that screen for breast cancer and cervical cancer.

As a nation we have lost the ability to have a quiet, reasonable conversation.

This Is A Difficult Post To Tittle

You can call it whatever sounds good to you.

My last three and a half years of high school were in a small town south of Boston in the 1950s.  I spent a lot of time in Boston Garden watching basketball.  Of course, to this day I love the Celtics, a love that began with the Cooz and Russ.

I am reading for the second or third time Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA in the Words of the Men Who Played, Coached, and Built Pro Basketball  by Terry Pluto published 1992.

On page 337 of the soft cover version is a comment by Tom Heinsohn about Bill Russell.  I will quote all of Heinsohn’s comment:

Russell has never acknowledged the racial incidents that happened to him in Boston – he doesn’t want those bigots to know they hurt him.  The one I remember was when Bill bought a new home in Reading, Massachusetts.  The town even had a night for him.  It touched Bill deeply that he’d be accepted in a white town  like Reading and he broke down and cried.  He said, “I’m going to spend the rest of my life here.”

As the years passed, Bill started shopping for another house in a different neighborhood in Reading – a nicer neighborhood because he could afford it.  And then, some of those people who had honored him began circulating a petition against him.  People broke into his home and put shit all over everything and wrote obscenities on the walls.  He began to wonder, who can I trust?  But for him to tell the world what happened – he felt that would just egg the people on to do it again.  But you better believe that colored his outlook on Boston.

That was in the 1950s and 1960s.  Some folks would like to think we’ve come a long way since then.  Heck it’s been fifty plus years.  We’ve elected a black man as President – twice.

As far as I’m concerned, the Republicans in Congress make it seem like the 1960s all over again.  21 Jan 2009, the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he was going to work to make Obama a one term president.

Well, that’s about the only thing the TeaPartiers haven’t accomplished since they took over the House in 2010.

None of the Talking Heads on Fox, CNN or MSNBC will come out and say the reason there is gridlock in DC is because of the President’s skin color.  But, as far as I am concerned there are far too many white folks who absolutely hate anyone of color.  In public they keep their mouth shut, but in the polling booth, they vote for the white candidate.

 

Happy Birthday, Molly

Molly or Molly Magee, named after Fibber Magee’s wife Molly from the old WWII radio show “Fibber Magee and Molly” is nine years old today.

Backstory: When we lived in the house before the last one, around twenty years ago, a skinny, emaciated, multi-colored herding type dog wandered in. So I fed her. She looked to be gaining weight. I said to Mrs. Chief, “Look, she’s gaining weight.” Mrs. Chief replied, referring to my lack of observational powers, “She’s pregnant, dummy.”

Anyway we called her “Digger” because she dug a hole in a cool spot under the mock orange bush.

In due time Digger gave birth to five health pups.

Years passed, we moved to the lake and then in 2004 I noticed something wrong with her. She was a little unstable on her feet. Her long coat hid the cancerous masses that had developed.   I forget what type of cancer the Vet called it but is was similar to a human cancer.

Digger died 1 July 2004. Mrs. Chief and I were beyond devastated.

Time passed. The grieving over Digger continued. Finally, the second time our family physician suggested we visit his brother who was a veterinarian in town, we did. It was 4 Jan 05. An attendant brought out one dog. That was all it took. They spayed her for free that day and we took her home the next.

We took Molly to our own Vet and during the exam, asked her how old she thought Molly was. She said about eight months.

So, I gave her a birthday of 5 May 2004.  Below is Molly at 11 months

Of all the canines we have shared our lives with, Molly is one of a kind.  She barks, she will not mind, can’t take her outside without a leash, but she is dedicated to Mrs. Chief and me.

Happy Birthday, old girl.

Hope

Last evening I watched The Shawshank Redemption.  I had watched it ten to twelve years ago but had forgotten all except the hole behind the large picture of Raquel Welch.

Unbeknownst to Red (Morgan Freeman), Andy (Tim Robbins) has been digging this escape path for many years, so Andy can appear to be happy, to have hope.  Andy has a positive outlook.

Last night was a good time for me to happen to watch The Shawshank Redemption.  As per my previous post about Marty, she had the same optimistic attitude.

I am happy that I got those similar messages back-to-back on the same day.

Hope can be a positive uplifter.

Marty

We spent a good part of today with Marty.

Background:  In 1973, while I was in the Navy, I got orders assigning me to the 73/74 Winter Over party as part of the Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze.

We needed a place for Mrs. Chief and our four young ‘uns to spend a year.  Mrs. Chief’s mom and her mom’s husband lived in Chattanooga, Ohio.  Chat, as it is locally called, is a slow-down on State Route 49 which runs north/south about a mile east of the OH/IN state line.  Chat is between Tama Rd and Strable Rd in Mercer County if you are looking on Google Earth.

We bought the southern most house on the west side of the road, two doors south of her mom.  Marty, a widow who had lost her husband to cancer 5 years prior lived between our house and her mom.

Marty took Mrs. Chief practice driving so Mrs. Chief could get her driver license.   And we’ve laughed often over Marty’s observation of our youngest, a three year old, running across the back yard from his house to granny’s in only a diaper, in the snow.

Marty lost her second husband in 1995.  He had been a businessman who had run up a lot of debt, of which Marty was unaware.

Marty has been fighting several different cancers for over ten years.

She is a joy to be around.  Mentally she has not lost one bit of her ability to express herself.  She does not feel sorry for herself.  She has forgiven her second husband.

She has a nephew who travels with one of the major musical groups in the country who tunes their guitars and drums and is a general set up person.  She told me today when he was just four years old, he could play, by ear, on her organ, the Star Spangled Banner.  Eventually, she had a list of 28 popular songs that he could play just from hearing them on the radio.

Marty is the type person that can make you forget about the minor problems in your life just by being around her.

Evolution

On the Galapagos Islands nearly half the birds and insects, a third of the plants and ninety percent of the reptiles there exist no place else on earth.

And these wackos at the Creation Truth Foundation, which is run by a Ph.D are saying the bible, a book written by a bunch of bearded, goat-hearders 5,000 years ago, explains how plate tectonics created both the Hawaiian Islands and the Galapagos Islands.

Because far too many people are gullible, these Ph.Ds that run these crank outfits make a comfortable living with out breaking a sweat.

Another Thought

On 7 Oct 58,  I took the Oath of Enlistment in the U.S. Navy. As part of that Oath, I swore to “uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

I did not just swear to uphold the Constitution that existed on 7 Oct, but to uphold and defend the Constitution no matter what form it may take in the future.

So, if the constitution changes, I still uphold and defend it.

‘Nuff said on how I feel about that subject.

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But what if we changed the Constitution to overturn or nullify the second amendment?

“Not possible,” you say.  And you are right, it is not possible with this congress.

If Mayor Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Guns and a few other anti-NRA groups get together and elect a Congress that is not beholden to special interests, well, you never can tell what might happen.

Just A Thought

I’ll toss this out to you.  Whaddya  Think ? ? ?

I think the “middle class” started going south (extinct) as the movement to eliminate unions moved inexorably forward.

My evidence that the US of A is well down that slippery slope is the exceedingly high number of young people who cannot even afford a car but have their arms and chest covered with tattoos.

Leading The Ignorant

As per Hardball With Chris Matthews on 11 Apr.

This was attributed to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on the Mark Levin radio program on 9 Apr.

A registry is, number one, inconsistent with the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.  But number two, historically, has been the predicate for taxation, regulation and ultimately confiscation.

Senator Cruz, a graduate of the hardest-to-get-into-law-school-in-the-country, Harvard Law, is far to smart a man to believe this poppy-cock.  He knows that is totally false.  He is leading the ignorant.  He is pandering to that part of the population that watches (and believes) Fox News.

First, what makes A registry is, number one, inconsistent with the second amendment having to register your gun(s) of choice inconsistent with the 2nd amendment.  Nothing, unless your are trying to stir up your base.

And the predicate part is just a cheap fear tactic.

Again Sen. Cruz is far too smart.  He knows exactly what he is doing.