baldilocks

Scarred Souls: More About Abortion

The Confession I posted on June 9, 2010 couldn't just stand as is was, mainly since it was an answer to a specific question, "Should Black Women Stop Getting Abortions."

Of course all women should stop having abortions.  But since the question singled out black women, and since that conversation is between two black American women, myself and Jessica Ann Mitchell, and since we find the state of the black American family in near death, I felt it necessary to tailor my further response to black Americans.

The first part of my response has already been publicized here, but I posted the following originally in a Facebook note. For that reason, I will only post here what I deem to be the second part of the answer.  There might be a little preaching.  That's an essential part of me.  He's a part of me.

A Birthday and Independence

Today has always been a special day for me. Yes, I celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the country in which I have survived and thrived. However, today is also the birthday of my great-aunt, Alma Jenkins Simpkins.

Today she is eighty-nine and she is the last surviving of and has experienced the most years of all of her siblings. She is the seventh of eight; she had four brothers and three sisters. Her lone younger sibling, my grandmother, went to live in the next world in 2008.

The four elder siblings were born in Mississippi and the rest were born in Oklahoma.

Her father and three of the four brothers died young--violent deaths, One, William, was executed for murder by the state of Arkansas. (William's race is listed as 'Native American' and they are, certifiably, one quarter Indian.)

Aunt Alma's eldest brother and three sisters died of diseases of the spirit--one cannot say that any of them were unpreventable: un-medicated high blood pressure and untreated cancers.

All of them were wild men and women, something I know both from reputation and from observation. Aunt Alma says that her father and all of her brothers carried a handgun on their persons wherever they went and weren't afraid to use them. She says that white people called her mother and her sisters "Mrs." and "Miss" in 1930s Oklahoma.

Last night, I made a green salad, and today I have cooked her an extensive breakfast, something not normally done because of her high blood pressure. Later, I'll prepare macaroni and cheese and broil slabs of boneless ribs. Aunt Alma will probably have a beer. And, of course, there is ice cream and cake.

Then, we're going to start a conversation--something which is now sometimes difficult due to her teeth. It will be a conversation about the men of our family who died before I was born--men who took their independence seriously and, sometimes, paid dearly.

Convert or Die

Boss sent me a Microsoft Publisher file.  I have Office 2007, but not Publisher. I tried using the Adobe Acrobat program that my wonderful readers bought me.  No go.

I wish I knew how to pimp market like Bill Gates.

Any suggestions, geeks?

UPDATE: Boss sent a .pdf version this morning. Now I can work!

Devastating Video on Obama's Response to Oil Spill

It needs no introduction.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

(Thanks to Ace of Spades HQ)

Senator Robert C. Byrd: RIP (King Shamus) (UPDATED by KS and baldilocks)

RIP.

Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator in American history, died Monday at the age of 92, a spokesman for the family said.

Byrd, a Democrat who served in the U.S. Senate since 1959, had been plagued by health problems in recent years and was confined to a wheelchair. He had skipped several votes in Congress in the past months. 

Jesse Jacobs, a family spokesman, said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. 

So ends the life of Robert C. Byrd.

As Ted Kennedy was a symbol of the moral rot within the modern Democratic Party, the career of Robert Byrd is a manifestation of a distinctly American type of political corrosion.  Much is made of the fact that Byrd was the longest serving member of the Senate in US history.  Why is that such a magnificent accomplishment?  It only means he was able to win a bunch of popularity contests over the years.  If Darth Vader gave away $3.3 billlion in other people's money to West Virginia, he'd be awfully popular with the voters as well.

You know who else polls really well, year after year, without fail?  Santa Claus.  Why?  Because he gives away free toys and all you have to do is behave yourself and you get a first class ticket on the Christmas gravy train.  Unlike jolly ol' Saint Nick, Robert Byrd's pork masquerading as generosity came directly from the US taxpayers.  It's quite easy to be Mister Awesomely Popular when there is never some federally subsidized boondoggle you'll say no to. 

It would've taken real leadership for Senator Byrd to tell his constituents that they can't have their cake (paid for by the other 49 states) and eat it too.  He probably wouldn't have every left-wing douche fighting to fellate him for the last 50 years.  He might've lost an election and go back into private life.  Perhaps he would not have been able to create a Senatorial fiefdom based on ring-kissing patronage and barely concealed graft.  Then again, he might instead be remembered as a responsible steward of taxpayer money.  It's not nearly as sexy as 'longest sitting Senator evah', but it would be a far more respectable legacy.

Let us not forget the overarching American concern over racism and Robert Byrd's role in the evolution of racial policies in the nation.  The Senator was a former member of the KKK, but continued to kiss their asses for years after he supposedly left the group.

The ex-Klansman allegedly ended his ties with the group in 1943. He may have stopped paying dues, but he continued to pay homage to the KKK. Republicans in West Virginia discovered a letter Sen. Byrd had written to the Imperial Wizard of the KKK three years after he says he abandoned the group. He wrote: "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the Union."

...The ex-Klansman vowed never to fight "with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."

Although he later denounced the Ku Klux Klan, his renunciation didn't stop him from fillibustering the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  He also had a habit of opposing black Supreme Court nominations; both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas got the thumbs down from Senator Byrd, which makes his opposition to them seem less about ideological differences and more about personal animus towards African-Americans.  Only in the soft-bigoted topsy-turvy bizarro world of the American progressive movement can a man with that kind of record of blatant racism rise to become the 'conscience of the Senate'.  The fact that such a rancorous bigot could soar to the heights of political grandeur is a testament the 'power for power's sake' mentality within the contemporary Left.

There will always be racists.  There will forever be pockets of bigotry in America.  People are born flawed and unfortunately racism is one of mankind's unwashable sins.  Hatemongers will be with us in one form or another till the end of time.  But we don't have to elevate racist dickbags like Senator Byrd to the pinnacle of American political life.

Having said all that, surely Byrd's family is mourning the loss of a towering figure in their lives.  It is said that the Senator was a devoted family man and a born again Christian.  These things do not erase his public legacy.  But they are yet another sign that people are complicated creatures, capable of magnanimity, generosity and love or cruelty, selfishness and hate. 

It should also be noted that the Senator was ailing for quite some time.  It is hoped that with his passing from this world, Mr. Byrd finds the comfort and grace of his Creator.

Rest In Peace.

AWESOME UPDATE:  If you are not charitably inclined towards Senator Byrd...and I cannot say I blame you...take a spin over to Feed Your ADHD.  Snarky Basterd's byline?  Hell.

Satan, [Ted] Kennedy’s rival for control of Hell, welcomed Byrd to his kingdom of filth.

“It is with great honor that I bestow the title of KKK Grand Dragon on Senator Byrd,” Satan said. “Only a true Democrat – and we’re all Democrats down here in Hell – could have uttered the great statements he has made over the years.”

Check that stuff out, yo.

ANOTHER AWESOME UPDATE:  Nick Gillespie has a nice cold showerfor the Byrd-o-philes.  Oooof.

But it's Byrd's status as the Babe Ruth of pork-barrel spending and taxpayer-funded narcissism that is his real legacy and the one we should never forget or forgive. Here lies a man who pushed his home state to build a statue of him in defiance of a rule that such honorees be dead for 50 years.

Back in 2006, Citizens Against Government Waste called Byrd the "Emperor Palpatine of Pork" and gave him their lifetime achievement award...

STILL ANOTHER AWESOME UPDATE:  Ed Driscoll has a sweet take down.

President Obama’s potential words of praise to a racial demagogue far worse than even Rev. Wright himself should be especially interesting to watch.

UPDATE (baldilocks): Byrd refused to serve in World War Two due to blacks being a part of the force, even in their lowly status before the desegregation of the US Armed Forces in 1948.  I cited that here using Wiki, but the reference has been cleaned up.

If, by some chance Byrd got to go to Heaven, I hope he gets to be Dorie Miller's butler.

White is Not Right

I've been having my hair cut/head shaved every two weeks for about twenty years now.  However, every so often I decide to let my hair grow just for grins.  Three weeks ago, I made that decision yet again and I have a very tiny TWA.  (Short-and-curly has a different connotation to me than it does to most other people.)  This time, however, something was different.

Yesterday, I was hand-washing dishes in my great-aunt's kitchen.  The house is old-school, almost eighty years in existence.  (We've even had to add electrical outlets because it was built when electricity was as new and rickety as iPhones are now.)  Anyway, over the sink are a medicine chest with a mirror and a light which shines down on the head of whomever is standing at the sink.  As I washed dishes, I happened to look at my new growth of hair and guess what!

There is a whole frickin' lot of salt in my used-to-be unadulterated pepper.

See you tomorrow, my beloved barber.

Scenario

The federal government--read President Obama--plans to sue the state of Arizona due to the state's new illegal immigration law.

Let's say that such a travesty does occur and let's say that Arizona loses in court.  They will be penalties, prescriptions and proscriptions laid out for the state.

If the lawsuit plays out in this manner, what would the federal government do if the state of Arizona refuses to accept the judgment of the court; what would the fed do if AZ refused to comply with the penalties and continued to enforce its law? 

What would President Obama do should Arizona defy such a judgment?

To Dad, With Love

The Best Teacher

There are good guys out there.  My mom found one of them.

Here's a post about him from years back.  He has only gotten to be a better man.

Another Repeat!

Congratulations to the 2010 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.  I know you hate them, but I can't.  Call them family. 

And, yes, it's a little loud out there!

British Clown Fears Fatwah (King Shamus)

I don't know who Rory Bremner is. I do know that he seems spooked.

Bremner was discussing the future of satire with David Frost on Frost on Satire, a BBC documentary. “The greatest danger now is that one of the toughest issues of our time is religion,” says Bremner, as quoted in the Daily Telegraph. He says that, when he’s writing a sketch about Islam, “I’m writing a line and I think, ‘If this goes down badly, I’m writing my own death warrant there.’ Because there are people who will say, ‘Not only do I not think that’s funny but I’m going to kill you’ – and that’s chilling.”

Bremner cites the case of a Danish cartoonist, who isn’t named in the Telegrapharticle, but is likely to be Kurt Westergaard, who drew a cartoon of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. His life changed after that and other cartoons appeared in Jyllands-Posten, and Muslims reacted with violence.

“If you’re a Danish cartoonist and you work in a Western tradition, people don’t take that too seriously,” Bremner tells Frost in the interview, to be aired Thursday.

“Suddenly you’re confronted by a group of people who are fundamentalist and extreme and they say, ‘We’re going to kill you because of what you have said or drawn.’ Where does satire go from there, because we like to be brave but not foolish.”

This may seem like a very small nit to pick with Islam. After all, we're talking about one yappy performer expressing nervousness over making fun of a religion. Aren't there larger issues-the Israel/Gaza situation, the threat of Iranian nukes, the ongoing Afghan War-that we could be dealing with? All these issues touch on the question of Islam and it's interactions with the West to one degree or another and they seem more pressing than some British jokester's jitters.

I agree that the foreign conundrums involving Islam are dire. In some cases, these are civilizational questions we face. What kind of world will it be when Iran gets the bomb? What lengths must Israel go to in order to ensure it's existence? What if America loses the war against the Taliban? Clearly, these are not mundane policy decisions here, but truly deep concerns.

But none of these issues-as deadly serious as they are-lap so directly upon our shores as the way Islam is practiced within Western nations. Rory Bremner may be one guy, but his reaction to the potential actions of Muslims is to avoid making fun of them. Why does he do this? Because he fears the very real possibility that he will be physically attacked by a Muslim who has taken offense to Bremner's act.

Wrap your mind around that sad state of affiars for a while.

For every cultural relativist out there who wallows in multi-culti feel goodisms, consider the absurdity of extremist Presbyterians kicking the crap out of a comedian who pokes fun at Christians. No matter how much one strains to find a case that fits that general description, one simply can't be found. It doesn't exist, except in the minds of lefty handwringers that kvetch about the oft-feared yet somehow never-occurring anti Islamic backlash coming from psychotic Christian racist teabaggers.  Meanwhile, as the Muslim-coddlers worry over non-existent Jesus Freak violence, out in the real world members of the Islamic faith continue to use gangster style threats to cow people into submission and fear. 

Remember when liberals complained that Bush's domestic surveillance programs were creating a chilling effect on free speech? It was bullshit of course, but now we have real actual-factual proof that freedom of expression is being severely curtailed in England.  Not by the government of course, but by followers of Islam.  Where are the leftists beating their chests and writing 10,000 word treatises on the chilling effect on free speech Muslims are creating in Great Britain?

Truth be told, the stifling of criticism of Islam is an existential threat to the West.  It might not be as dramatic as a shooting war or foreign policy brinkmanship.  However, it affects the general population-both liberals and conservatives-of the Western nations.  More importantly, it's probably going to take all facets of the political spectrum pulling together to turn the tide of this new-fangled form of dhimmitude.

Rory Bremner is yet another canary in the coal mine, warning us of the decay that is happening to our culture.  Will we mobilize ourselves in time to win?  

UPDATE (baldilocks): King Shamus has permission to call me PC.

Word from the Winner

To all who have sent their blessings, comfort and well-wishes to me in regard to my Confession, I extend a heart-felt Thank You.

In spite of the losses I've experienced--almost all due to my own choices--God has given me many, many gifts free of charge and at the pinnacle is His Greatest Gift: salvation and absolution from my sins.

For that reason, I'm always looking to win!

Love,

Juliette

Tale of the Tigers: High Praise

Here are six reviews at my novel's website, including one just posted at Amazon today.

Cheap, easy entertainment. And they keep telling me they can't put it down until they finish!

You'll like it, too.

A Confession (UPDATED times 2)

I posted the following at a site run by a rather liberal black lady who is a business associate, the business of writing.  I'd rather not link to the post--one about whether black women should abort their children--because it isn't necessary for my audience to comment there. [See UPDATE below.] However, I think it's something I need to post here.

I’m 48 and I’ve been pregnant twice but I have no children for two reasons: immorality and morality.

My first pregnancy occurred when I was 17 and not married. I had an abortion because it was convenient–I had no spiritual beliefs at the time. My second pregnancy occurred 13 years later when I was married. It was planned and conception happened after the nuptials were said, but I miscarried–it was an ectopic pregnancy and it happened because, before I married, I continued to fornicate and contracted chlamydia, a venereal disease which is easily cured but which scars the fallopian tubes and can prevent the fertilized egg from traveling to the uterus where it needs to implant and grow. In an ectopic pregnancy, the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube–a place too small for a growing human. If an ectopic pregnancy is allowed to advance past 1 month, it will kill the mother and, obviously, the baby.

I still mourn both of my children. Afterward, however, I decided to do things God’s way–the God of the Bible–even if it meant that I would never have children. (My ex asked me for a divorce right after I miscarried and I have never remarried.) There are always miracles.

My point is that if I had conducted my relationship and reproductive lives differently, I’d have children. However, I am content to carry on my life as is and to accept God’s grace.

Faith, forethought and behavior are the keys. Some of you [commenters] may not agree with my premises, but, perhaps a young lady or two reading this will take my words as a cautionary tale.

So now my readers know a little bit more about me...a little bit about why my life turned out the way it has, a little bit about how imperfect I am, and a little bit about why I think the way I do.

Suffice it to say, I haven't been perfect in this area of my life--or in any other area--since the horrid details listed came to pass. But my motive here, as I mentioned in the comment, is the hope that a young lady reading this will take it to heart and turn away from a faulty life.

BTW, aside from the interracial and racial discord aspects, Tale of the Tigers, my novel, is the story of a "bad" girl turned good by love and trust.

UPDATE:  The admirable Jessica Ann Mitchell encouraged me to link to the original place at which I posted the comment, so I will.  The op-ed's title: "Should Black Women Stop Getting Abortions?"

UPDATE: An already-finished follow-on to this post will be here tomorrow Monday, June 14th.

Tale of The Tigers: Review from Dustbury

Old blog friend Charles G. Hill posts a review at his place and at Amazon.

If you've read my novel, please post a review at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Living in CA (UPDATE: Day of Shaking)

Just felt this quake.

Yes, I'm still awake.

UPDATE(6:42 pm): There seems to be a whole lot of shaking going on around here today, but that's not an odd thing. The odd thing is that I haven't felt any of them except for the one mentioned above. Strange. However, Little Miss Attila and Cobb are feeling it plenty. Perhaps it's because they live closer to the ocean.

(From USGS.gov; Click on pic for larger view)