winsor

I object to making a big deal about the race of the person subject to horrible injustice. Protesting injustice, fine, protesting injustice on a racial basis, not so much. Sitting around the barracks reading a book, I wound up conversing with someone else about favorite authors, their early vs. later work, the change in their perspective and so forth. A group of other soldiers came in and he changed modes immediately "Yo, yo, wattidiz!" and engaged in the 'DAP' until they drifted out. I asked what that was all about, and he said that the reality was that he would never be fully accepted by white society so it behooved him not to alienate black society. In school he had brought his books home in a gym bag so as not to be labeled an Oreo. He said he was not crazy about the situation, but that it was a reality with which he had to cope. One of the things I found offensive is that he was being victimized by his 'brothers' as much as anyone. Similarly the statistics regarding young black men being shot are wildly at odds with the narrative put forth by 'activists.' If a young black man is shot, there is something like a 95% chance that he was shot by another young black man. If a black man is shot by a cop, the likelihood is much greater if the cop is black than white. None of this is good, but the narrative that is peddled by the people seeking 'change' is patent nonsense. Victimization and low expectations do not address the problem, they exacerbate it. BSBD, Winsor

Yeah, pretty much. I have been spoiled by spending a lot of my life in an environment where race is not a factor. If someone is here because their PhD dissertation is key to our business, it doesn't really matter if they're from Osaka, Lagos or Minsk. It is also is not a factor what your idea of romance is. The opposite of love is not hate but indifference, and the same is true of 'racism' and 'fascism.' BLM is all about race, and Antifa has all too much in common with true fascism.

From an acute standpoint, BLM, Antifa and anything 'woke' come to mind. Chronic issues are manifold.

The law of unintended consequences applies to a variety of things, high on the list are such things as 'Critical Race Theory,' 'Social Justice" and sundry other dogmatic stances. Champions of anti-racism are given to saying the most racist things I have ever heard in all seriousness. Proponents of social equality are shameless in their active espousal of class distinction. People railing against selective reporting by the media are the most active censors one might imagine. This all goes with my observation that, if someone feels the need to tell you about their wonderful qualities, they tend to be singularly lacking in them. The person who tells you how honest they are is likely to be a liar and a thief. The country that labels itself "The Free, Happy People's Democratic Republic of ..." is likely quite totalitarian. A 'Religion of Peace; is likely peopled by followers of murderous psychopath. Someone who says how non-racist they are is likely to follow up with an entirely race-based argument for something or another. Dr. Martin Luther King's goals would get someone labeled an Oreo these days,. T'was ever thus. BSBD, Winsor

I picked up the phone, and my father said "turn on CNN. Were those the guys I was talking to last week?" "That's them." My father never jumped, but he enjoyed coming to the dropzone, talking to people while he took pictures, and he rode right seat in Papa Victor to take photos of groups exiting. Flying back from Perris he said that he understood the appeal of the sport, and that I had great friends. As an aside, a week later I was on the way to altitude on 9HW when Steve Woods made reference to seat belt use and Mike said "you'll never get skydivers to wear seat belts." "Turn around." Everyone was belted. After Tommy Piras bounced AADs became de rigueur, and after PV you didn't see jumpers without seat belts on takeoff. The tuition was dear, but the lessons seem to have been learned. BSBD, Winsor

I just stumbled across the video of Joe's memorial dive and I'm floored. I had not seen Joe for 20 some odd years, but spent a lot of time with him in the '90s, in various States and a couple of countries. https://www.lafayettefh.com/obituary/Joseph-TrinkoJoe This sucks.

Any beer that requires a lime to be palatable is unworthy of consideration.

For those who missed it, the Plague of Justinian that started in 541 CE had the effect of initiating the Dark Ages. Justinian had managed to turn the Mediterranean back into a Roman lake just before yersinia pestis cropped up. When the dust settled, the surviving population consisted of those who didn't get out much so there wasn't much left of the empire. After the virulent biological pathogen had done its thing, virulent communicable mental illnesses took over. The sickest cults held sway and vied for turf, with the Cult of the Magic Jewish Zombie duking it out with the Cult of the Illiterate Pervert Psychopath, and these particular mental illnesses are still endemic. The medical ramifications of the Wuhan Corona Virus, severe though they may be, are quite limited by comparison to the paradigm shift they herald. The problem is not the pin, it's the bubble. Every economy in the world is based on Fiat Currency, which is dependent upon turnover for survival. Shut down trade and economies implode. In the US of A, for example, the Government is in debt to the tune of some $220,000 for every taxpayer - with nothing to show for it (unless you can sell aircraft carriers on eBay). The rest of the world is pretty much as bad off; if any of the major powers tries to survive on its 'savings' it's screwed. FWIW, what's unfolding now will make the Plague of Justinian look like the 'good old days' that we remember fondly. Enjoy yourself - it's later than you think. In the words of Glenn Frey or Don Henley, "I could be wrong but I'm not." BSBD, Winsor

How could you tell?

To understand religion one should study epidemiology. Some mental malware is more virulent than others, and some is downright weaponized. The whole idea that existence as we appear to know it is the result of some entity that is orders of magnitude more massive and complex than what we perceive, yet is completely undetectable, is patent nonsense. That which is submitted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence. I find Islam is a prime example of religion as a form of psychosis. The Cult of the Illiterate Pervert Psychopath could hardly be a more transparent mechanism for the exercise of power. Christianity, the Cult of the Magic Jewish Zombie, is not much (if any) better - it is an example of Truth by Committee at its finest. A dispassionate review of its history reveals it to be as bad as it gets without imploding. Mormon and Scientology are definitive, verifiable bullshit, yet they have an amazing number of adherents. The fact that it is all tripe is irrelevant. That religion meets any general criteria for mental illness is hardly a theory. It is a demonstrable fact. BSBD, Winsor

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Religion is easily defined as a communicable form of mental illness. Some variants are more benign than others, though it is generally the more virulent that propagate most effectively. Weaponized viruses rule. As far as the difference between atheism and agnosticism, think smurfs. Agnostics are polite enough to say that maybe there really are smurfs somewhere, while atheists come out and say that you must be joking. The 'logic' by which people support Scientology or Islam or any other compendium of patent nonsense is rarely more than a study in applied fallacy. As far as the warm fuzzy feeling that religion gives, the Onion has it nailed: https://www.theonion.com/war-torn-middle-east-seeks-solace-in-religion-1819568630 Coming to the idea of 'morality,' the moral standards of religion have been behind much of the most truly evil behavior in human history. The religious texts I have on hand mandate genocide, slavery and a host of other things that I personally find deplorable. YMMV. If it is only the instructions of a mythical construct by which you would live you life in an honest and ethical manner, there is something wrong with you. BSBd, Winsor

In all fairness, since default is inevitable it is a wonderful thing that we have a chief executive that has made a career of going bankrupt and somehow still living high on the hog. Unfortunately, I suspect that the American People will be among those who get stiffed when the US of A files Chapter 11 (or 7, as did the USSR). It won't be boring.

It turns out that the deficit doesn't matter. http://theconversation.com/why-the-22-trillion-national-debt-doesnt-matter-heres-what-you-should-worry-about-instead-111805 I had been subject to the delusion that every single time this approach had been taken historically, the results had been the same - economic disaster. Silly me.

Climate change is a symptom, not the disease: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/population-control-critical-part-climate-150004993.html

Since my only exposure to his work is via Wikipedia, it's hard to say. That he does not appear to be on board with political correctness is OK with me. I have known rather a few people who lived as the other sex, which is fine. When people claim to BE the other sex,and insist that their choice be universally accepted, that's where I call bullshit. If I was to self identify as Chihuahua Apache or Mandingo, I would not expect much of a buy in. The whole lesbian trapped in a man's body is part of a comedy routine, and I reserve the right to treat it as a joke (even though I know people who have undergone the transition on that basis). Thus, I am sure that my standpoint would differ with Jordan's on many points, I applaud his resistance to the SJWs. BSBD, Winsor

I'm a big fan of conspiracy.

One of the problems we have is the tendency to talk past each other. As you are aware, there are various types of definition - lexical, stipulative, precising, technical, legal, medical and so forth - so two people can use a word and mean entirely different things. 'Diversity' as presented in every Government-approved course I have endured makes a big deal out of group membership. The Julliard audition does not. There are skill sets that are peculiar to those from a particular background, where they can do things blindfolded that I could not if my life depended on it. Thus, the Mongolian example I gave referred to a level of excellence that would pass a double-blind evaluation. The principle of 'E Plurbus Unum' or 'from many one' is fine by me. Celebrating how we come together? Great. Celebrating our differences? Not so good. There are only two kinds of people on this earth - us and them. Whether you are one of us or them is largely up to you. BSBD, Winsor

Not hardly. If I had a job description where Mongolian ladies were vastly superior to all other applicants, I'd hire the Mongolians without a second thought. 'Diversity' as most programs would have it, would voice anguish that somehow other ethnic groups were underrepresented. I am wildly indifferent to the ethnicity, sexual preferences or other parameters that get so much press, so long as it does not impact the work. I am with Dr. King in that the content of character is what matters, period. BSBD, Winsor

I have to call bullshit on this one. 'Affirmative Action' all too often addresses discrimination by being indiscriminate. The unintended consequence is that it reinforces the suspicion that someone only got hired because of their ethnicity or sex ('gender' is a grammatical construct, 'sex' is biological). I have worked in places where people were hired to fill one quota or another, and one was drawn to the conclusion that they got their degree because it was easier for the professor to pass them than to have to defend failing them, and that they got hired because nobody qualified was available to mollify the EEOC. I have then heard more than a few complaints from hard working and competent members of their 'oppressed' category that their years of hard work were rendered suspect by these folks. I am a fan of the Juilliard audition, where the panel can't see the performer and must evaluate on the basis of the performer itself. The P.E. exam similarly weeds out people who got the necessary grades but not the understanding. I am lucky to work in an environment where sex and ethnicity is largely immaterial. We don't have any employees from Antarctica or Australia, but that's about it. The one common factor is that the bulk of employees qualify for Mensa. If forced 'diversity' was inflicted on us as a 'goal,' it could well put us out of business. BSBD, Winsor

You are being intentionally obtuse. Perhaps you are projecting your world view on me under the assumption that I subscribe to any of it. I don't.

You make a big deal about race. QED on that point. I call bullshit on the rest.

It would be nice if one could be actively indifferent to the various lines of demarcation that exist in society and focus on the issues at hand. If someone is not on the menu, their sexual orientation should not be an issue. If someone is the best candidate for a position, their sex or ethnicity should not be a concern. Having said that, if someone chooses to make a big deal of their particular category, I can't see how they can bitch if someone else accepts their decision to be defined by said distinction - it either matters or it doesn't. There are different calendars for Hindus, Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims. If availability is critical on the Festival of Baal for a particular position, a candidate who cannot work on said dates should be pointed at a different role. The goal of 'diversity' as an end in and of itself is absurd. If you dispute that, I challenge you to wager on an NFL team with quotas for women, short skinny people and a dog's breakfast of ethnicities to win the Super Bowl. I'll gladly take that bet. The idea that 'everyone is the same' is demonstrable nonsense. By the same token that the genetic differences in canines are on a par with the genetic differences between people, only an idiot would consider a bloodhound to be interchangeable with a Chihuahua, or a Doberman or a Collie or St. Bernard or a basenji and so forth, and the differences are similarly significant between Kikuyu, Arapaho, Ainu and Magyar - or between men and women. None of this has to do with 'better' or 'worse,' but to challenge the fact that measurable differences exist is an exercise in denial. Equal rights and responsibilities, regardless of who you are or where you came from? I'm fine with that. One group or another getting to play by a different set of rules? Not so good. My observation is that the people who define themselves primarily by race are the most likely to call others racist, and those who are focused on their sex are the most likely to accuse others of sexism. From where I sit, both groups are assholes. BSBD, Winsor

Since they're way better, they should get paid way more.

The Lightning II is shaping up to be a exquisitely overpriced piece of junk. https://www.thedailybeast.com/america-is-stuck-with-a-dollar400-billion-stealth-fighter-that-cant-fight Who didn't see this coming? BSBD, Winsor