Black Lives Matter -- Part The Gazillionth

 

Clara B. Williams

Clara Belle Drisdale, the first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University, was born to sharecroppers Isaac and Carrie Melinda Moppins Drisdale in LaGrange, Texas on October 29, 1885. She was first educated in a one room country school house near LaGrange but in 1901 she entered Prairie View Normal and Independent College (now Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University), in Prairie View, Texas. Drisdale graduated from the institution with a certificate in domestic arts, as its valedictorian in 1905. 

After graduation, she was the head of the institution’s sewing department before moving to El Paso, Texas. In 1917, Drisdale married Jasper Williams, a pharmacist in El Paso. Together they ran a drug store and became parents of three sons, Jasper, James, and Charles. 

 In 1924, the Williams family left Texas and moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico where they homesteaded 640 acres of land. Williams continued her education by taking extension and correspondence courses from the University of Chicago, but in 1928 she enrolled at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University). 

While Williams was a student she was segregated from other students because of her race and often had to listen to lectures outside of classrooms and take notes while standing. 

 In 1937, at age 51, Williams became the first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University. She received a bachelor of arts in English but was not allowed to participate in her class’s graduation. Despite her humiliation, Williams continued her education at the university by taking twelve hours of graduate work. Her three sons also graduated from the university and all later became physicians.

SEE ALSO EPHRAIM STURRUP

Men in Grief

 

Last month, on March 26, our family suffered a terrible loss. My nephew's wife, whom we all loved and cherished, died from breast cancer. She was only 57 years old. 

Xenia was a brilliant, beautiful woman of many talents with a generous and loving heart.

Our family will never be the same without her.

Her husband, my nephew, composed this brief anthem years ago for an independent film maker. Kevin uploaded it to YouTube in a beautiful tribute to his beloved wife of 38 years.

Xenia on her wedding day.

kevin callahan music  

"In the summer of 1995, my wife and I were running along the edge of the Puget Sound and noticed the most beautifully designed and constructed fence. We contacted the carpenter, Paul Holt, and contracted him to do some work on our front porch. As he was hammering away, I was playing Piazzolla on the stereo. Paul heard the music, said he was a documentary filmmaker and was making a film about “Men in Grief”. He asked if I could write a short theme “something like that, but much simpler”. So I went to my basement studio, composed and recorded this piece, and gave it to him a couple of hours later. 

When my wife passed away in March, 2021, my brother Tom reminded me of the recording. I never notated “Men in Grief” until now, April 2021, some 26 years later. The PDF score can be found here: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/YeslerWayMusic

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Dance Me to the End of Love

Leonard Cohen:

President Biden's Address to Congress

My fb friend, Lee Arnold's take on last night:

 

President Biden made clear tonight the era of big government is back, and he wants the wealthiest Americans to pay for it. 

Why it matters: As he moves beyond his first 100 days, the president has to find a way to sell a more aggressive part of his agenda. He talked about expanded health care, education and tax credits, but he promised the middle class wouldn't have to pay the bill. He said the rich would pick up the tab, because the middle class is "already paying enough.” 

"Twenty million Americans lost their jobs in the pandemic — working- and middle-class Americans," Biden said. "At the same time, roughly 650 billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $1 trillion." "My fellow Americans, trickle-down economics has never worked. It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out." 

Between the lines: Biden was surrounded by historic firsts. He opened by noting he was backed by Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President," he said, "no president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words, and it's about time.” 

He added whole sections to his prepared text, a deviation from his stick-to-the-script approach to the first 100 days. 

In one noteworthy moment, he thanked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for leading the effort to name a cancer bill after the president's late son, Beau Biden. 

In another, he warned China is "deadly earnest on becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world." 

The bottom line: Biden pitched most of his non-COVID proposals with a common refrain: jobs, jobs, jobs.

***************************

Biden has now assumed the mantle of The Great Communicator. Boy, does he know how to deliver a speech -- not with great oratorical flourishes, but in a (mostly) quiet, avuncular tone that helps communicate his message brilliantly to all Americans. 

As for the substance of the message itself, it is everything I had hoped to hear from a Democratic president. Biden touched on every issue our country desperately needs to address at this juncture (the pandemic, climate change, voting rights, creating jobs, fighting racial injustice, gun safety, immigration reform, and so much more) and talked about each of these issues in a way everyone can understand. 

And (what a relief) Biden's speech wasn't about him. Not one bit. It was about us, our needs, our abilities, our aspirations. The question is, how much misinformation and hate-filled lies can the Republicans and their 24/7 enablers at Fox and other TV and radio outlets spew to their constituents to drown out Biden's honest, candid, reasonable, and can-do message? 

 If I understand correctly, fully implementing Biden’s agenda would do nothing more than bring America up to speed with the rest of the developed world. 

The twenty-first century will belong to China because the Republicans (and some Democrats) refuse to leave the nineteenth.

What are the gobshites saying this week?

If you check out certain blogs and news sites, what you'll see is a video of a Canadian doctor, Roger Hodkinson, calling COVID-19 the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on civilization; "the most grave injustice our society has ever experienced;" and other such sweeping claims about the pandemic. 

The news sites and blogs that are posting this video are engaging in what is known as "confirmation bias." 

Confirmation bias: The tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one's existing beliefs. Existing beliefs can include one's expectations in a given situation and predictions about a particular outcome.

What we know about Dr. Roger Hodkinson:

What's True :  A man who identified himself as Dr. Roger Hodkinson, the CEO of a biotech company selling COVID-19 tests, said (erroneously) that COVID-19 was no worse than the flu during a public comment period of a city council meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

 What's False:  Dr. Hodkinson is not the Chairman of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and his public comments do not align with the consensus of the medical community.

Pathologist falsely claims COVID-19 is a hoax, no worse than the flu

Hodkinson's claims have faced significant pushback from health authorities and medical experts: 

The Alberta Health Ministry "respects Dr Hodkinson's credentials as a physician but disagrees with his assessment of COVID-19 and is not taking advice from him in regard to the government's response to the pandemic," Steve Buick, a spokesman for the Minister of Health, told AFP in an email. He added that the Minister and government "continue to rely on the advice of Dr Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health." Alberta Health Services, the provincial health care system, tweeted that Hodkinson "has no formal affiliation" with the health authorities and urged people to follow provincial guidelines instead. 

The Alberta Medical Association tweeted that "the Alberta Section of Laboratory Physicians does not share any of the views of the individual in question," who is a pathologist. The group added that it "endorses the use of masks, hand washing and physical distancing along with all other public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19." 

The Royal College, where Hodkinson was certified, also distanced itself from the statements of Hodkinson. "The Royal College strongly supports all public health advice given by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, including recommendations to practice physical distancing and to wear masks to help prevent Covid-19 transmission," it said in a statement.

 MORE HERE

The overwhelming majority of physicians, infectious disease and other medical experts, and medical researchers all agree that COVID-19 is highly infectious, that it is NOT just another flu, and that the use of masks and social distancing are effective ways of keeping infections down.

Now come the COVID-19 deniers and anti-maskers who promote the opinion of a pathologist, NOT AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, and confirm their biases about the way their governments have handled the pandemic.

It's interesting to note that these same American COVID-19 deniers, anti-maskers and social distancing naysayers, all have something in common: Their support of Donald J. Trump, who told Americans that the COVID-19 would be gone by the spring of 2020, and when it wasn't gone, he also suggested people inject disinfectant to fight the virus! 

500,000+ Americans died under Trump's watch. Many of those deaths are attributable to Trump's incompetence and mishandling of the virus AND TRUMP'S ANTI-MASK, AND ANTI-SOCIAL DISTANCING STANCE!

It's no surprise then that the blogs and news sites promoting Dr. Hodkinson's shocking statements are so eager to believe him and confirm their biases.

HERE'S A SITE THAT REFUTES WHAT DR. HODKINSON SAID:

The John Snow Memorandum

Black Lives Matter -- Part the Gazillion.

 Found on facebook:

"Ephraim Sturrup, the first black man admitted to the University of Oklahoma in 1948, was forced to sit in a corner far from his white classmates. But his name remains on the honor roll as one of the three best students of the university. 

These are his words: 'Some colleagues would look at me like I was an animal, no one would give me a word, the teachers seemed like they were not even there for me, nor did they always take my questions when I asked. But I devoted myself so much that afterwards, they began to look for me to give them explanations and to clear their questions.' 

Lesson: Forcing yourself to be accepted by people is a waste of time. Just focus and add value to yourself and people shall come seeking your help."

WRONG! 

It is NOT a good idea to accept second class status because of other people's racism. 

It may have worked for this good man then, but it should not happen now or ever again!

Here's an example of how racists describe our African-American citizens NOW -- they refer to them as "monkeys," "primates," and "vermin." 

Mustang Says:
April 21, 2021 at 12:35 pm
0 0 Rate This
Ed, please … for your own sake, for your own health and peace of mind, try to avoid using logic when discussing any issue involving those poor oppressed black folk. Although I do have one thought: if blacks (understandably) do not like being compared to monkeys, why do inner-city blacks act like monkeys?

Liked by 1 person

bocopro says:


Taking their cue from the magistrates, who have sanctified themselves into MAKING laws instead of interpreting those written by legislators, the Chauvin jury appointed themselves modern Solomons by offering a cop in sacrifice to the chimps and baboons as prophylaxis against the total razing of Minneapolis and other cities.

peter3nj says:
April 21, 2021 at 5:45 am
Poetic justice will be had when all whites are shipped off to Liberia leaving only the democrats to run a country with 100,000,000 Negroes, Gang Bangers and Illegals. The show will be worth the price of admission.

kidme37 says:
April 21, 2021 at 6:49 am
Waters should be put in stocks outside her vermin district somewhere with several paddles hung on the uprights to be used for teachable moments for mad max. But in truth I came to this conclusion many years ago.

Mustang says:
April 21, 2021 at 9:43 am


Now watch with Waters inciting blacks … black on white assaults are going to increase, and they are going to be bloody. Bloody as in Mogadishu with primates running around with machetes. It’s already started in Ohio. It will only get worse.

Sunday Science Blogging

 Ever hear the saying, "slippery as an eel?"  Well, are eels really slippery? 

What Would Jesus Eat?

Leonardo DaVinci's "The Last Supper" is one of the most studied paintings of all time. Recently, an art historian named John Varriano examined a cleaned-up version of the painting and identified the main course of this famous dinner party -- grilled eel and orange slices. Why eel? Varianno believes that DaVinci himself was a big fan [source: Varriano].­

"...the eel is just a regular fish -- that doesn't look like one. It has a serpentlike head and a snakelike body. And it also has a scary-looking face. If you've ever spotted one while snorkeling, you pro­bably did an about-face after you got a glimpse of its snapping jaw and sharp teeth. That frightening mouth opening and closing, though, is just the eel "breathing" -- not a sign of aggression. 

 You'll find eels in nearly every ocean and sea. The green moray eel is the most common and well-known eel, but there are more than 600 species of eels around the world... Eels are fish of the order Anguilliformes. Anguilliformes propel themselves underwater by a means known as anguilliform swimming. Unlike other fish, an eel's body is elongated and flexible from end to end. When it swims, it moves in a series of waves. These waves cause each segment of the eel's body to oscillate. This movement causes the eel to propel forward in the water. Anguilliform swimming differentiates the eel from other fish .

 

The Eel's Slime Layer 

This movement causes the eel to propel forward in the water. Anguilliform swimming differentiates the eel from other fish -- the eel swims All fish have slime covering their body, which makes them very difficult to catch by hand. Produced from glands beneath the scales, this mucous gives the fish protection from a variety of dangers. It serves three main purposes: Osmoregulation: 

Just like us, fish are mostly made of water. Fish constantly pump water in and out of their gills in order to keep an optimum biochemical balance in their bodies. We call this process osmoregulation. The slime level on the fish's body affects how much water the fish can take in and out -- a thinner slime layer allows more water in and out, and a thicker slime layer allows less. 

Some scientists believe this coating also allows the eel to move from ocean to freshwater -- and vice versa -- without trauma. Physical protection: The slime layer physically protects the fish by making it slippery. The slimy surface helps to suffocate pathogens or parasites trying to enter through the fish's scales. The mucous also protects any open wounds from further external damage and lets the fish slip through barriers like coral or your hands with relative ease. Aerodynamics: 

The slick layer of slime allows a fish to propel itself faster through the water. It fills up the tiny spaces between the scales to make the fish more streamlined -- much like the way competitive swimmers shave their bodies in order to reduce drag. The slime on an eel can contain alga­e. This is why the common moray eel appears green, even though its skin is actually dark blue. Also, the scales of an eel are quite small compared to other fish. 

In addition to its long snake like shape, scale size might be a reason why eels are so much more slippery to the touch than other fish. Removing the slime layer will kill the eel. Many commercial fishermen sprinkle salt on their caught eels in order to more quickly remove the slime and kill the fish. Also, eel blood is quite toxic. Although eel is a delicacy in many cultures, you should always cook it first in order to remove the toxic protein [source: Animal Planet].

************************

I remember when I was a girl my southern Italian family included eel as part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. I was about 6 or 7 years old when my family coaxed me into eating a piece of eel that had been fried and served as part of the dinner.

I didn't want any of it and the thought of eating it made me gag, but my family insisted. I took a bite, chewed it, then promptly threw up on the table, spoiling everyone's dinner!  

I've eaten eel as an adult in Japanese cuisine and Italian as well. It's delicious.  Tastes like chicken! 

Eel recipes

Italian Grilled or Fried Eel Recipe (Capitone grigliato o fritto)

Fried Eel

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

This is stunning.

 Lil Buck and Yo Yo Ma

Friday Night Funnies

 

This is an oldie, but it still makes me laugh:

Talking animals with Scottish accents:

 

 Another oldie, but I still laugh every time I watch it:

 

This is the original Minneapolis police report of George Floyd's death.

 

If it wasn't for Darnella Frazier, who was 17 at the time and videoed the crime, this pack of lies would have allowed convicted murderer, Derek Chauvin, to walk.

This is why the George Floyd Justice in Policing act must become law.

GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

Chauvin Found Guilty 

of Murdering George Floyd

Guilty of involuntary manslaughter

Guilty of second degree murder

Guilty of third degree murder

 

JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD

This is what Trump and FAUX NOOZ lies and disinformation brought us:

 

Sedition against the United States of America!

(This is disgusting White Privilege. Imagine if POC had done this!)

60 Minutes:  "The FBI calls the Oath Keepers an anti-government militia with current and former law enforcement and military members among its members. 

60 Minutes profiles the group, which has become a central focus in the ongoing investigation of the January 6 attack on the Capitol."

 

What the Hell is Wrong with This Country's LEOs?

 

Loveland police officer on leave after arrest video of 73-year-old woman with dementia 

 According to the lawsuit, Walmart employees asked Garner to return to the store when they saw her leave without paying and took the items back — a soda, a candy bar, a T-shirt, and wipe refills — denying her request to pay for the items.

(NOTE: The woman returned the items, offered to pay for them, and the store refused. The store then called the police, and THAT escalated an incident that was harmless and nothing more than a dementia-related health problem. --S.K.) 

Someone from Walmart then called police to report Garner and the direction she walking but said the store had not suffered a loss, the lawsuit said. 

The charges against Garner were dismissed after prosecutors wrote in a motion that she “appears to be incapable of understanding her surroundings or her actions.” 

**********************

This is a 80 pound woman suffering from dementia who was slammed to the ground and had her shoulder dislocated by the Loveland police who, IMO, demonstrated a total lack of self-restraint on an unarmed, feeble woman. They acted like thugs, and I hope the woman and her family sue the crap out of these officers who apparently haven't got an ounce of common sense or compassion in them. 

(NOTE: Walmart did NOT suffer a loss! The items were returned, Walmart REFUSED to take payment for them when the woman offered. AND THEN THEY CALLED THE POLICE ON HER! None of this would have happened but for Walmart's idiocy in calling the police.)

 

Mr. Shaw Kenawe suffered from a severe form of dementia (Lewy Body Dementia), and sometimes when I took him with me shopping, without my knowing, he would grab some item and hold it in his hand or put it in his pocket. At the check-out, if I didn't notice the item in his hand or pocket, the employees would just tell me what they saw, and I'd take the item and return it to the store. 

The employees never called the police, and Mr. Shaw Kenawe was never slammed to the ground for his unintentional taking of an item he didn't pay for. This is how a civilized people deal with those who are weak and ill and certainly suffering from an age-related mental disease. 

Somehow certain police forces in this country are too stupid and too eager for violence to understand how to deal with non-violent, non-criminal, confused elderly citizens suffering from this awful disease.

Mr. Shaw Kenawe and I were fortunate that we lived in a place where people had more compassion and awareness about dementia patients, and no police would have ever assaulted and harmed an ill and helpless citizen.

Loveland needs to severely discipline or fire the LEOs involved in this shameful incident. And we need to ask ourselves what kind of a country would tolerate this sort of assault on a citizen.

 

SUNDAY WITH ELGAR'S LUX AETERNA (Nimrod)

 

“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony.” - Benjamin Britten

 

Saturday Night Dancing

 

Don't Bring Me Down:

For Your Consideration

 

From David Gray: 

"I have to drive my two-year-old to daycare tomorrow morning. 

To ensure we arrive alive, we won't take public transit (Oscar Grant). 

I removed all air fresheners from the vehicle and double-checked my registration status (Daunte Wright), and ensured my license plates were visible (Lt. Caron Nazario). 

I will be careful to follow all traffic rules (Philando Castille), signal every turn (Sandra Bland), keep the radio volume low (Jordan Davis), and won't stop at a fast food chain for a meal (Rayshard Brooks). 

I'm too afraid to pray (Rev. Clementa C. Pickney) so I just hope the car won't break down (Corey Jones). When my wife picks him up at the end of the day, I'll remind her not to dance (Elijah McClain), stop to play in a park (Tamir Rice), patronize the local convenience store for snacks (Trayvon Martin), or walk around the neighborhood (Mike Brown.) 

Once they are home, we won't stand in our backyard (Stephon Clark), eat ice cream on the couch (Botham Jean), or play any video games (Atatiana Jefferson). 

 After my wife and I tuck him into bed around 7:30pm, neither of us will leave the house to go to Walmart (John Crawford) or to the gym (Tshyrand Oates) or on a jog (Ahmaud Arbery). We won't even walk to see the birds (Christian Cooper). We'll just sit and try not to breathe (George Floyd) and not to sleep (Breonna Taylor)." 

 These are things white people simply do not have to think about."

Artist unknown

What are the gobshites* talking about?

 

*gobshite (plural gobshites) (Ireland, slang, moderately offensive) One who engages in nonsensical chatter or unwanted conversation. What's that gobshite talking about now? (Ireland, slang, moderately offensive) A person of very poor judgment and unpleasant character.

Here's what they're talking about:

Yes, the folks who admire and support the guy who cried "I Love You! You're special." to the mobs that incited an insurrection against his own government; who incited armed mobs to "HANG PENCE!" his own vice president; who incited armed mobs to harm the Speaker of the House; and who sought to interfere with the certification of the electoral college votes and overturn a free and fair election -- THOSE FOLKS -- are promoting the false and conspiratorial idea that Democrats are Marxist?!

Now why do you suppose that they post absurd ideas like that instead of facing what they are and who they support?

Shame? Ignorance? Confusion? Self-loathing? Ignorance? 

We all saw with our eyes what happened on January 6th, yet the MAGAts pretend it was just a "A Tiny Bit of Rowdiness" that caused the deaths of seven people, including a Capitol policeman, and was the first attack on the United States Capitol since the War of 1812.

But Democrats are "Marxists?"

Jennifer Rubin:  "Americans should be deeply alarmed that the Republican Party still remains faithful to the instigator of that violence (who sent his “love” to the rioters during the attack). A political party that cannot repudiate the person who inspired insurrections and still brags about it (and to boot, spreads the lie that the insurrectionists were left-wing extremists) must be held accountable for their part in the normalization of these groups."

[skip]

"Republicans have tried to absolve themselves of blame for the rise in right-wing violence by noting that they have denounced violence. But they cannot escape responsibility for helping to spread the ideology underlying white supremacy or giving the ideology of extremist groups the patina of respectability. When they constantly propagate the notion that the United States is facing an existential threat from immigrants or that their followers’ way of life hangs in the balance, Republicans and their right-wing media mouthpieces cannot be surprised when some Americans take them seriously and spring into action" 

The bloggers who promote the idea that Democrats are Marxists are no better than the thugs who wrongly attacked the United States. Why? Because they perpetuate Trump's Big Lie, promote conspiracies and anti-democracy narratives, and refuse to accept Joe Biden's overwhelming victory over Trump.

But more than that are Republican and right wing media lies: That the election was stolen, that honest journalism is fake news, and that Obama is a Muslim. -- the list goes on. 

And the biggest lie, the true “Big Lie” that has been going on the longest, is that Democrats are evil; that they are socialists, godless, baby killers,  who want to make your kids gay and turn America into Venezuela. 

Their mantra has always been that Democrats hate America, Democrats are Marxists; and if “you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”These lies, all underpinned by the ubiquitous “Democrats are evil”, have had the inevitable affect. **

If you believe the lies then “Democrats” ARE evil, and those fighting Democrats, including those who violently stormed the capital, are the true patriots. This is why we must clearly see Republican lies for the threat they are, and clearly assign responsibility for the damage they cause. 

 A good start is to recognize their and Trump's statements that the election was stolen for what they are:  Acts of criminal sedition intended to overthrow our government.

America, the country where it’s more dangerous to be a black motorist than it is to be a white insurrectionist.

By now most people have read of or heard about the Windsor, Virginia, police stopping Black/Latino Army Lieutenant, Caron Nazario, and pepper spraying and threatening execution after pulling him over for a supposed motor vehicle violation. He was driving his new SUV with temporary plates in view on the back of his new vehicle.

From NPR:

Lt Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was in uniform and driving with a temporary paper license plate on his back window on 5 December, when he was told to pull over in the town of Windsor. 

He then stopped at a petrol station and kept his hands outside the window, while asking the policemen why he was being stopped. 

"To unbuckle his seatbelt, to do anything, any misstep - he was afraid that they were going to kill him," Mr Arthur told CBS. 

The suit filed by Lt Nazario says that Mr Gutierrez acknowledged why the army officer had waited to pull over in a lighted area. "I get it, the media spewing race relations between law enforcement and minorities. I get it," the policeman said, according to the suit.

The complaint alleges that the officers' behavior is "consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous, and sometimes deadly abuses of authority." "What's going on?" Nazario, dressed in uniform, repeatedly asked. 

Windsor Police Department officer Joe Gutierrez responded: "What's going on is you're fixing to ride the lightning, son." 

 "Fixing to ride the lightning," is a murder threat, the complaint that was filed against the Windsor, VA, police, claims.

It is a colloquial expression for execution that refers to death by electric chair. 

 

Metallica Ride the Lightning (1984) 

Metallica used the phrase for the name of their 1984 album, Ride the Lightning. 

Ride is the second studio album from the heavy metal band, released 1984. 

 The eponymous track includes the following lyrics: “Death in the air / Strapped in the electric chair / This can’t be happening to me”.

GOP Jesus

 

Saturday Night Dancing

 

One of the greatest dance scenes in moviedom!

America! From West Side Story.