Don't give me no plastic saddle.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

That Smokey Joe's a crazy fool.

 Before I get to rolling, here's what I did for the News this week.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 I freely admit that of the three, Friday's is the one most worth reading. In fact, once I get started on the regular Gibberish, it'll tie in neatly with it. Monday and Wednesday aren't bad, per se. I've just had a good bit of Actual Paying Work demanding my attention and my sleep schedule's shot all to hell.

 It's all kind of connected, though, as it's a look at this Thing we find ourselves smack dab in the middle. There's a better than average chance my home state and current residence Mississippi will jettison their state flag in favor of a new one before the days out. Hell, maybe before I finish writing this.

 (UPDATE: They did. I be damned. Check tomorrow's News for more info)

 The NCAA, the SEC and C-USA have all applied the screws to what hurts the most: money from collegiate sports. Granted, I think the casinos in Tunica and off the coast bring in more of the stuff, but the impression I get from them is that we, as a state, can go screw so long as we keep providing a cheap labor force and keep our mouths shut.

 And that's what a lot of this boils down to. It has now become unprofitable to ignore racism, and that's just a fact. Quaker Oats and Aunt Jemima, the flag, white cartoon voice actors saying they won't voice character of color, shows with blackface being pulled from streaming service. It's all part of the Thing. You may not like it, and cry of "cancel culture" or "woke mobs" or that old chestnut "political correctness," but guess what. 

 Catering to you at the expense of others is no longer profitable. So you better learn to love it, because that's just how it is. If your vision of Western Society falls apart because American chattel slavery is shown an unequivocally bad thing, than tough titty, you're money's not as good as that panty-waist SJW you mock. The loss of your cash is considered an acceptable risk by the Forces Of Capitalism, so either adapt or get bent. Ain't that a kick in the head?

  Speak of kicks to the head, after watching this country, the "leaders" and Our Fellow Americans, flounder around with the cold, hard fact that not only has COVID-19 not gone anywhere and maybe we shouldn't have reopened just year, but that it's in fact getting worse than we can handle and we really shouldn't open yet. More and more, we're hearing stories of kids - teenagers, pre-teens, toddlers, babies - dying from the virus in increasing numbers. Young people, middle aged people, they're all in the sights of this weird disease that if it doesn't kill you stone dead within a week, it'll take you months to get over and your body will be permanently damaged.

 And the President's trying to get the Supreme Court to strike down ACA when he's not sulking that a blowout isn't in the cards for November. It's like he's already packed it in and is just trying to get done what he promised the GOP bigwigs he'd do. Oh, Mr. and Mrs. MAGA, you thought he had your best interests at heart, whether it was making you richer or successfully owning the libs? You sweet, stupid child. This is the real world. Grow up and get a helmet.

 But you'll still die for him, yes you will. You'll show your ass in public about how wearing a mask and that's the least you can do is the height of authoritarian tyranny. That's why George Washington crossed the Delaware, so Karen and Jeff can have a night out at Dave & Buster's. Lunatics at city council meetings screaming like stuck pigs because they're asked to be decent human beings, just for a little while.

 Here's Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton fed up with your shit:

 That pretty much says it. I don't know if it'll do any good anymore. The Dumb have taken over. The Black Iron Prison the re-election of Nixon started 45 tears ago found its ne plus ultra during the Bush Jr. administration. Don't kid yourself. Trump was just topping the cake. Republicans and conservatives in general have been heading in this direction at least my entire lifetime.

 I don't know if we'll survive this and what sort of shape we're in if we do. Trump has permanently fouled the waters of what a president can get away with, and it'll be decades, maybe generations before things "recover". He's placed over 200 unqualified frat boys in federal judge seats, so Republicans will have loyal soldiers making it almost impossible for your grandkids' kids to halt the poisoning of the planet, much less stop the never-ending pounding the Corporate Overlords inflict on their workers.

 Seriously. Why the fuck do you think Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden? He didn't sell you out. He knows that if Trump wins another term, call the game, son. It will be over. It's going to be damn hard to undo the damage he's already done, especially after this mess is all over. Your purity and clean conscience won't save you when that day comes around.

 Over 9,000 new cases in Florida alone. That's on you as much as it's on Trump. You could've stopped this, you could've demanded better. You didn't. Now we have to pick up the pieces and do what we can, with Joe Biden, no less.

 

Plant that bell and let it ring.

It's been a cool six months since I've smoked any weed. This isn't by choice. I currently live in rural Mississippi, and my only options are buying it from young people that I would otherwise have absolutely no contact with or from a guy my cousin's mother-in-law buys her pills from. He's called "the Tater Man". I ain't buying nothing from "the Tater Man".

 Plus, I'm living with my mother and she's got rules that we will respect. Put simply, my dad passed away a couple of years ago and she turns 71 this year and ain't getting any healthier. Plus, she's taken care of someone - either Daddy or my uncle or my grandmother - for the past 20 years and was apparently at extremely loose ends. I've lost count of the number of people - people I've known all my life or people who've moved into the Valley since I moved out and don't know from Adam's housecat - who've said to me, "Thanks for coming back. We were worried." So far, it's worked for all of us, but back to the topic at hand.

 This is the first time in let's say 15 years that I haven't stayed constantly stoned except when I was on the clock. Good weed, too. I got to a point where I wouldn't mess with any ditchweed, or what they called in New Orleans, reggie. Getting stoned works for me. You know how people will say getting high has a bad effect on them or makes them uncomfortable? Well, I'm the exact opposite. It sharpens the world and brings it all into clarity. What I enjoy straight, I enjoy even more and at a deeper level when I'm high.Same goes for LSD or mushrooms. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip. I've tripped in bad situations, but the trip wasn't the problem.

 One of the many reasons I put off moving home and initially intended to move on as soon as possible was I was worried how the lack of the good smoke would affect me. It really wasn't all that bad, though. I've always been easy-going with occasional storms of gloom and grump, high or not, and that really didn't change too much. I'm not going to lie, though. I would completely whip someone's great aunt for a joint right about now.

 That was last night. This is this morning. I initially started that for the Tumblr site before I realized I was passing on some grade-A Gibberish. So there's that there then. I stayed up most of the night playing Civilization VI. It's really not my sort of game but once I got into it, it was pretty engrossing. I was able to turn Spain into a combination Jewish-Muslim state before I gave in.

 It's 8:30 a.m. and I can feel myself crashing. Luckily, I'm done with the Actual Paying Work for the month, barring requests for rewrites from the Chief. I figure after this month's pay I'll be two-thirds of the way towards the new laptop.

 I wrote this on Twitter but I'll write it here because I think it's a good stroke. In short: if you don't want to "debate" with someone, don't. You don't owe anyone your time, especially if they're not paying for it. Particularly on social media, very few people are arguing from a place of honesty. Most of the time it's just to get you upset so they can mark a "win".

 But here's the thing. Debates, arguments, what have you aren't really meant to win. They're for sharpening your thoughts and clarifying your ideas. It's not a contest, there are no prizes or accolades. You don't owe anyone your emotions and you don't owe anyone the benefit of the doubt. And as for cries of "echo chamber," let's just clear the decks on that right now. First off, anyone who uses that phrase seriously is not worth paying attention to and doesn't deserve your time. Furthermore, if they have Twitter they also have the entire internet at their disposal, just like you do. Because you don't want to waste your time and emotion on some limp-dick jackass who's not going to listen anyway doesn't mean you're in a bubble. Just means you're not going to give your time to a limp-dick jackass.

  You know, I think we'll tie this off here. If something clever comes back around, well... we'll see. We're supposed to have a rainy afternoon and I foresee a lazy day.

With the best behind us now, there's no way in and no way out.

 So, this "write it in the morning" stroke has kind of hit a snag the last couple days. I've got no good excuse, really. I haven't been feeling right and haven't been sleeping right the last couple of days. Plus, I've had some Actual Paying Work to get done and that always saps me. Matter of fact, I've got this month's last order to get done tonight.

 

 It's funny. Just Friday I talked to the Therapist on a matter completely unrelated to my head issues but, since we were talking, I told her about how basically pretty good the last couple of months have been to me, what with the actual paying gig and the boost that brings. And like clockwork, I've been gloomy, sullen and withdrawn. Which, of course, I am generally anyway, but more so than usual. She said to think of three things to be thankful for, and at least two are usually "I don't have to punch a clock today" and "I got money coming in from writing". That third one is usually a booger, but generally revolves around being well fed.

 Ah, me. It's been about 45 minutes since I wrote the above paragraph. There's a light but steady rain outside keeping me and my buddy Otis, the Jack Russell, from taking our evening constitutional. I think it's starting to sink into his thick little skull that it's not happening tonight. I really should make myself walk in the morning, too. Really should start going back to the gym while I'm at it.

 So, I don't know what else. As I've noted, I've been pretty shut down the last couple of days, just re-reading Hunter Thompson's Hell's Angels, Jeff Sharlet's The Family and Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman. There's no telling how many books I'd get through if I didn't spend so much time rereading stuff I've already read. Sometimes, like the HST book, I just like the way it flows. Sometimes, like Shallet's book, it's because it's pertinent to today's events. And sometimes, like the O'Brien book, I'm going back through to see what I missed the first time, 'cause I missed a lot. Plus, it's a fun read.

 It's been a good two hours since I last wrote. The rain cleared out, so me and Otis took our constitutional, a good two-mile round trip walk. Then I helped Momma load up her pickup truck. She's got it in her head to clear out the basement of near forty years of school notebooks, broken toys, broken canning jars, Christmas ornaments, worn-out shoes, and the other flotsam and jetsam of life that's accumulated down there. It's quite a bit and it's an odd feeling to go through your childhood to come out the other end with, "Yeah, go ahead and toss it." But that's how life goes.

 I'm just going to spin wheels until I hit 500, sorry. I had a bit in mind about why it's a good thing I never married - has to do with '80s country music and my own disinclination to bend when challenged - but I'm tired and I still have that APW to get done. Luckily, it's not on a really heavy topic that'll require a lot of work. Speaking of country music, I also had something about why since '80s country is my favorite, I don't have much use for the "save country music" hipsters. In any event, listen to Earl Thomas Conley and Keith Whitley. They're awesome.

Look how far I had to come to get back where I started from.

 Feeling lazy and disconnected again. We'll just get something down and maybe come back later. In any event, first off, here's what made for the News this week.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 Actual Paying Work bit into things this week, so it was all sort of rushed. Still, Monday and Wednesday were solid. Monday was about some significant Supreme Court decisions, another bunch of murdering cops, and black men being found hanging outside where nobody believes it's suicide. Wednesday was a little closer look at the tussle going on in Mississippi about changing the flag, highlighting some dickbag in Columbus who's going to find his ass in the street. Friday I was lazy, so it's mostly a wrap-up with some more stuff about the flag. Specifically, the SEC telling the state to straighten up or lose out. If nothing else, that might get Mississippi to jump.

 I talked to the Therapist yesterday. Someone's hacked her email. She already knew but was glad I told her. The hack asked me to buy her "niece with cancer" $200 worth of Amazon Gift Cards because I have an Amazon account. I got to thinking, though. One, you don't have to have an Amazon Account to buy Amazon Gift Cards. Two, this lady and her husband got them a little bread and she certainly knows more people than me if she needs a favor that bad. And finally, I really can't see her being that wildly unprofessional. Turns out she doesn't even have a niece. Some people.

I find myself wistful for Gainesville today for some reason. I lived there for about five years to go to the University of Florida to study journalism, and basically all I learned is that I never, ever wanted to get a straight gig or live a normal life. I lived in a trailer for $100 a month, drank too much, did all sorts of drugs, delved into life's left-handed path, went to see all sorts of bands, played in a couple, played video games for three days straight, broke a couple hearts, had mine broken once or twice, and as likely as not didn't bother learning her last name the next morning. And write. God-a-mighty, did I write.

 Somewhere between Gainesville and Athens a tomato box full of composition notebooks fell out of the truck I was using to move that had five years worth of short stories, essays, aborted books, poems, songs, biographical sketches and just general nonsense that I had scribbled down while in Florida. Losing that broke something in me, because I've never done that since. This is as close as I've come,

 Ye gods, it's only 9:50 a.m. Anyhow, as weird as it may sound, I'm in that same head space right now. Apart from the sex, drugs and rock & roll, of course, but I'm having a good time. I'm writing, playing games, learning new things, not stressing bills, blowing on the harp and picking guitar, and just basically enjoying life as it comes. Weird how that works. I wonder if I should have stayed in Gainesville. I haven't been back in over 20 years and haven't talked to anyone I knew there in almost 10. I don't know if I was happy or content there, but I did have me a real good time.

 Hey, while I got you here, I have a Patreon page now. I don't know if throwing me a few bucks would do anything besides encourage my behavior, but why not. No one's actually pledged yet, so be the first kid on your block to do so. I've also got my first two paychecks from my APW, a nice, fat $500. I was kicking around the idea of buying a PlayStation or some other console - mainly because I sort of want to play the new Spider-Man game - but I think I'll save for a new laptop. One I can write and game on.

 Anyhow, that should be enough. Maybe I'll come back after my nap or before the night's alien killing begins. We'll see. Either way, have a pleasant weekend.

I might live a thousand years before I know what that means.

 Running late today, my apologies. I stayed up fairly late last night doing my Actual Paying Work and, of course, defending humanity from alien invasions. Overslept this morning, and by the time I was done editing and brushing up the APW to send it to the Chief, it was past 3 p.m. I wasn't feeling my sharpest, so I decided to take a nap and here we are.

 Anyhow. I've been keeping an interested eye on these "autonomous zones" that have popped up around the country in the wake of the nation-wide protests against police brutality. Of course, there's the first well-organized one in Seattle, and because there was a mass walkout of police in Atlanta to protest that one guy getting fired and charged with murder for shooting Rayshard Brooks in the back as he was running away. I'm not sure if that counts, though. One was started on the northwest side of Portland yesterday evening but apparently the cops shut it down fairly quickly. It was set up outside the mayor's house, apparently, so it makes sense the law would be Johnny-On-The-Spot there. One's trying to kick up at the Capitol Square in Nashville - which the protesters have renamed "Ida B. Wells Square" - but the Tennessee governor's giving dire forecasts should it become a permanent thing.

 It should be noted a lot of this revolves around how the cops are reacting to the protesters. In Portland, for example, they cut that to the quick, while the thing in Seattle is flourishing basically because the local precinct emptied out the first day. No cops, no worries. In Atlanta, it's more a case of the "blue flu" by petulant po-pop even though Garrett Rolfe has turned himself in. They're not protesting or walking out on the job so much as a bunch of them all turned up sick this morning, amazingly enough. Given one of the issues the protesters have is the out-of-control militarization of the police that's both dangerous to the people and police while being more or less useless for dealing with crime, if Seattle or anyone really wanted to wipe folks out, they could.

 And that's part of the problem, really. Full disclosure, I've never had any real problem with the police. When I was 18, I was detained for four hours because a cop thought I was a guy selling drugs at a popular teen hangout area in Tupelo. Once in New Orleans I was pulled over because I was on the Westbank after midnight giving a black co-worker a ride home, and apparently that's suspicious behavior there. I was shocked, my co-worker and boss (who I had to call for the cop to believe us) were not. More naive me.

 The handful of times I called the police for assistance, I got the distinct impression they resented me cutting into their donut time. Granted, nothing I called for was all that interesting. A broken window or a stolen tag, little stuff like that, and the only reason I called was to have the official paperwork to deal with insurance. Nevertheless, every episode ended with me feeling like they thought me expecting them to do their job was a bit presumptuous. Beyond that, I've got a cousin who used to be a cop and I've had pleasant evenings hanging out and drinking with cops. I wouldn't call any of them "friends," but there you go.

So, I'm fairly ambivalent about cops and having them in general. I understand why some sort of order-keeping force might be useful in a large, varied society. I've generally gotten along with them when I've had to be around them for extended periods of time, but I generally get along with everyone. I've seen with my own two eyes cops abuse power and actively harass the black people they're supposed to be "protecting and serving". And I've spent enough time in the journalism trenches to hear all sorts of horror stories, some told by the cops themselves.

 I understand what the push to "defund the police" means and I don't know if it's an example of bad branding. That small-town police departments the size of Tupelo have twice the riot gear they have as cops as well as armored personnel carriers is ridiculous. This has been an issue since the '90s, as police budgets are often tied to how much they spend. If they don't spend all their allotted one year, they get less the next.

 And there is something in the whole "warrior" mentality we're seeing in police that desperately needs to be nipped in the bud. That they're using the Punisher's logo, despite Gerry Conway's objections, is worrisome. That they see the people they're supposed to be "protecting and serving" as "the enemy" is, well... we've seen how that works out. For me, I don't trust people are packing heat and that includes the fuzz. In my perfect world, most police work would consist of traffic control and keeping the flow of public moving smoothly, & dealing with crimes after the fact. That cops are sent on wellness checks or to deal with potentially suicidal individuals with no more training than they get - usually six weeks at most - is just not working.

 I don't have answers to fix the problem with out-of-control police brutality. I have told the aforementioned cousin that if the police want to repair relations with the community, especially the black part, stop treating black folks like criminals before the fact and especially stop shooting them whenever you feel the least bit threatened. You don't make yourself look better or trustworthy or worthy of respect when you amp up the behavior that got people protesting in the first place.

 But I'll tell you what most unnerves me about this whole deal. When reading about the Atlanta walkout or the autonomous zone in Seattle, I keep seeing conservatives gleeful at the idea of chaos raining down on the ungrateful city dwellers and actively hoping for a city in flames because it won't bend the knee to police violence. I don't believe either Seattle or Atlanta had a particular uptick in violence, but right-wingers are not only convinced  it's inevitable they're actively looking forward to it and encouraging it.

 The same people keep saying society is in danger of collapsing, but I got to say if this is the society they want, I'm fine with it collapsing. If you're cheering the idea of people being crushed under governmental heel because they don't agree that they should be subjugated and second class, you are the bad guy. Full stop.

Yeah, man.

 So, a little insight into how I handle the Actual Paying Work. Don't worry, this is relevant. The Bossman assigns me however many pieces for the month maybe the second week. Usually what I do is read the info he gives me, if any, and then do an hour or two of research on my own. Finally, writing then a quick once over read, followed by an edit then another the next morning.

 I used to be able to write stories for the newspaper for 10-12 hours in a row with rarely a break, but I can't do that anymore. Seriously, one 1,000-word piece does a number on me. It's part of the reason I've decided to do my fun writing in the morning. Anyhow, yesterday I had two pieces, and by the time I finished the first and took a break, the story about the possible poisoning of some NYPD officers at a Shake Shack was making the rounds. People - that is conservatives and other forms of authority worshipers - were calling for some poor working-class bastard's head on a pike. And usually, these are the "wait until all the info comes in before making a judgement" whenever a cop kills some black guy for shopping at Wal-Mart.

 By the time I got the second piece done, however - and it was barely midnight - it had come out that an "investigation" was done and, turns out, there was no malicious poisoning aforethought. Apparently, an improperly cleaned shake machine was the culprit. No charges were filed, no cops were poisoned, and no heads were cracked. I'm going to be very generous here and say this wasn't like the situation where the cop thought someone took a bite out of his burger but it turns out he just forgot he did. Nor am I comparing it to the cop who wrote "Pig" on his receipt and tried to blame it on the cashier. And I'm not going to compare it to the many times the police or law enforcement officials have been caught walking back claims or outright lying these last couple of weeks of protesting.

 Things are tense, especially in New York City and the fuzz there don't have the best record when dealing with the public or, for that matter, showing exceptional reasoning skills. It could have very well been an honest mistake and overzealous police, and we're all just lucky and thankful it didn't spiral out of control. Of course, the police could've been lying for whatever reason and trying to get back at Shake Shack for supporting Black Lives Matter. I'm not saying that's why, mind you. I'm just saying, hey... it's a possibility and one that makes more sense than a minimum-wage worker actively trying to poison a police officer in such a clumsy, easily traceable manner, particularly a cop from a police force known for indulging in a bit of the old extra violence from time to time. Let's face it, the burden of proof is always on New York's Finest and they have long since pissed away the benefit of the doubt.

 So the day was already Dumb before it got good and started. Apparently, the quality journalists at Fox News are still pushing the poisoning lie, though I doubt that comes as a surprise to anyone. I know I shouldn't be but I'm always a bit shocked at how blood-thirsty and prone to authority worship conservatives reveal themselves to be on Twitter. Sure, it's a lot of talk and as much hot air as not, but people do have a sense of freedom online to say stuff that'd get their jaws slapped in real life. More than a few are letting us into their head space, and it is not a pleasant place to be.

 I think I'm going to tie this off, finish up my APW, and call it a day. I've set up a Patreon if you feel inclined to toss me a few bucks. Hey, ya never know.

I feel a storm, all wet and warm, not ten miles away approaching my Mexican home.

 Getting a late start on this tonight. Or a normal one, depending on how you look at it. In any event, it's 9 p.m. and I need to get something in the can for today. Before we get on with the business, links to this week's News.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 I'm particularly pleased with Friday's effort. As a part of the general thing the country finds itself, in re: dealing with systematic racism, there's a serious movement in the Mississippi Legislature to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. I went into a little detail of why this is a big deal and why we're waiting until 2020 to make anything happen. A little history and a little background, that's what I'm here for.

 Wednesday was pretty good, too, as a look at the mess that was the Georgia primary vote and what it bodes for November. In short: nothing good as the GOP will use all at its means to decide the election. Monday was a fairly bog-standard wrap up of the weekend's events concerning the protests across the country in reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the growing discontent among some higher ranking Republicans with Trump's chances come November, and a little bit about Tropical Storm Cristobel, which thankfully turned out to be not much of nothing. A good piece for what it was, though.

 I've been keeping my eye on what's going on in Seattle, the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" or "CHAZ". In all things, I recommend eschewing the national press and paying attention to the folks who actually live in a place that's in the news. I've long been a fan of indie magazines, having written for several, and The Stranger is considered one of the very best. Plus, they're keeping a solid look on what's going on without the bias and ignorance of some of the national publications.

 It seems folks in Nashville are trying to kick up a similar "autonomous zone" type thing, as well, despite dire warnings from Gov. Bill Lee. I don't know what he thinks he's going to do. I do believe that apart from the hard-core authoritarian types, any sort of government heavy handedness, from state or federal forces, doesn't go down as well as they think. It's interesting that a lot of the voices that have been screaming about government tyranny or Second Amendment rights - from the Bundy-types to the NRA - have been pretty quiet when the rubber is hitting the road. Undoubtedly, since this is happening mostly to black folks and left-leaning types, they're all of the sudden down to the ground with an authoritarian government ignoring basic civil rights.

 Anyhow, The Nashville Scene is a pretty good magazine, as well. Full disclosure, they paid me less than $50 for a story about someone, I think either Slobberbone or The Drive-By Truckers, nearly 20 years ago. As I said, I've always preferred those sort of magazines and have worked for a couple in the past. They never pay well or, indeed, enough to live on - this is indie journalism, after all - but it's always much more fun.

 Me and Momma had a fairly heavy conversation about all this and what it implies the other night. My mother is a very intelligent woman, but she is - by her own admittance - happily provincial and a bit naive about how the world outside Itawamba County actually is. She's also old fashioned and conservative. What I'm saying is she will listen but you have to take a hammer to her if you ever want to get anything through.

 Plus, while she understands what I mean when I tell her about being an atheist who leans towards far-left anarchism, she really doesn't like those stances. I think I got it through to her why this autonomous zone business wasn't the popular perception of anarchy but rather the political connotation of anarchism. That is, a rejection of unearned authoritarian groups as someone automatically obeyed. If your "leadership" fails to the extent that it did the folks in Capitol Hill, or so they consider, feel they're justified in telling them to piss off and taking it over on their own.

 If I get Sarah Thompson to understand that anarchism is a viable political ideology, I'll consider this a life well lived. Anyhow, that's plenty. I intend to keep the weekly stuff done in the morning (or as close to morning as I get) but anything goes for the weekend. In the meantime, keep safe, wash your hands, maintain social distancing, and don't let the bastards grind you down.

If looks could kill, it would be us instead of him.

 Ugh. I should've written this last night. I had fire and vinegar last night, when today's just a bunch of sludge. Unfortunately, I stayed up too late getting some Actual Paying Work and rescuing humanity from the boot heel of genocidal alien invaders, and here we are.

 And though I need my nap, we're going to try to squeeze this out, if truncated. I have some more APW to get done before tomorrow, and I'm still trying this morning thing. Even though it's almost three in the afternoon.

 Anyhow. There is definitely something in the air right now. As a Twitter mutual said, we appear to be in the middle of a thing. HBOMax pulled Gone With the Wind from its streaming service after a letter from 12 Years A Slave screenwriter John Ridley. NASCAR announced the Confederate Flag will no longer be allowed at its races and events. Country trio Lady Antebellum changed its name to "Lady A", admitting the connotations of the old name were, at the very least, in very poor taste.

 All of this seems to be fairly organic. Ridley's letter was less an "outcry" and more of "hey, notice this and think about it". Of course, conservatives are losing their minds over all of this, all of which seems to be decisions made by the corporations or individuals. They're less interested in "cultural sensitivity" and more interested in "not hurting our continuing profit" from what I can tell.

 I'm going to be honest, I really don't believe most if any of the clowns rending their garments over the GWTW business have given the movie that much thought before yesterday's announcement. Frankly, I doubt many of them have ever sat through the thing, and they're knowledge is all pop culture references and memes. I refuse to believe any of them read the original novel by Margaret Mitchell.

 This isn't the place to critique the quality or cultural importance of the movie or the book. Personally, I think it's overrated and benefited greatly from the circumstances in Hollywood at the time. Nor is it necessary to discuss whether it has racism in it. It does. It's a movie that glamorizes the "Lost Cause" and Antebellum South, of course it has racism in it. You dopes.

 But what is worth discussing is whether or not this counts as "censorship," and I really don't understand how it does. The individuals made this decision, motivated solely by profit. The government didn't force them to, nor was the pressure from outside forces really all that great. This is something HBOMax decided was best for their bottom line, and if you think entertainment entities care about anything but their bottom line, then there's nothing I can do for you.

 HBOMax, NASCAR, Lady A, and whoever else made these decisions because they know which way the wind's blowing. We're in our second week of protests sparked by George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police. The anger, frustration and desire for change in our culture has grown. The oppression of black people by the white status quo is still and should remain the key focal point. But we can't ignore what else there is, such as displeasure at the authoritarian nature of society and how we're supposed to be thankful that the cops are told to treat us like the enemy. You don't have to be black to see that's a problem.

 And why is there so much pushback from conservatives? Do they care that much about GWTW, art or even "free speech". I don't believe they do, not really. They don't care about the movie or even the Confederate Flag. They don't care about art. They don't even care about "free speech" or "freedom of expression." Not really. If anything's "performative," it's that.

 What they care about is that society is evolving past a point where their opinion was the only one that mattered. They're angry that corporations and businesses are recognizing it makes them more money to change than keep the status quo. They're furious that no one cares if they're angry because, frankly, it really does not matter how angry they are or even if they're angry.

 Americans don't like change. Americans don't really care for admitting that other views matter as much as theirs. But what Americans really, really hate is being told something that makes them consider even the slightest possibility that they might have been - might, just the chance of it existing - wrong.

 As my brother said, "'Am I right or am I right' is the most American thought ever." But the times, they are a-changin'. That's what times do, and no culture stands unmoving like a beetle in amber. If you can come along at least stop trying to make other people change.

The more I learn, the less I want to know.

 At some point during the night, someone planted the seed in Trump's empty noggin that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old man that cracked his skull on the concrete after a Buffalo cop pushed him over, not only faked the whole scenario but he's also an agent of AntiFa. By the time I got up this morning, not even 8 a.m., the hooting morons that make up not just the Base but the bulk of the Republican party is either considering it gospel truth, a reasonable possibility, or that since he was a liberal he deserved it anyway.

 No, really,  I've seen the pictures with circles drawn around what the nuts think is a hidden hose that pumped the fake blood that looked to spill out of his ear. Even dumber, he was apparently using some sort of James Bond doo-dad to drop an EMP on the cops' walkie talkies. No, really. And this is after the Buffalo DA has noted Gugino's serious head injuries and there have been pictures of him in intensive care.

 This is coming off the NYPD police commissioner - who makes $99 grand a year - tried to claim that concrete samples were evidence of AntiFa mixing cement in the ice cream. It's also coming off the Minnesota fuzz admitting they'd been slashing protesters' tires and a cop's wife admitting she blamed a fake home invasion on Black Lives Matter. And all this is being taken seriously by the Powers That Be as well as the Corporate Press.

 Speaking of them, the whole "Defund The Police" has got them in a serious tizzy. Liberals and leftists are arguing back and forth that it's poor branding or some other goofy shit, all the while actually pretending the Republicans will act in good faith on this regardless of what's meant by "defunding the police" or that the CP won't run with an easy, juicy story instead of actually putting some journalism to work and possibly rocking the boat of the Status Quo.

 And it's already been denied by Joe Biden. There's absolutely no reason to be having this discussion in this manner, but here we are. And the real silly "leftists" are losing their absolute shit about Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats kneeling while wearing a Kente cloth. This is two-fold. It gives them the opportunity to pretend to be outraged and shocked that politicians are acting like politicians, but also gives them - generally middle-class white bourgeoisie folks who'll be fine regardless how November 2020 turns out - an excellent opportunity to ignore what is in all actually a fairly decent police reform bill.

 Is it perfect? No. Was that pandering? Yes. That's politics, baby, and the extreme naivete and ignorance from these clowns is driving me up the wall. It's way, way too much stupid for a poor boy with a bad case of XCOM head to wake up to. So, yeah, this is another day in our ongoing experiment on "writing today's nonsense before my nap". So far, so good, more or less.

 That being said, I think I'm either running out of irritation at the laziness and stupidity of humanity or my ratty sleeping schedule is catching up with me. I've made word count, so I think I'll tie this off. Perhaps I'll come back to it after my nap. But if I can leave you with anything, let it be this: listen, think and shut the hell up. Just because you have a megaphone doesn't mean you have to tell everyone you have nothing interesting to say.

If the wife and I are fussin', brother, that's our right. 'Cause me and that sweet woman bought a license to fight.

 I'm really not into this. Today's one of those days where everything shut down. I'm not sure why. I let Otis out for his morning ablutions and had to go lay back down. Next thing I knew it was two in the afternoon. I didn't even stay up late (for me) last night.

 I really don't understand it. While the rest of the world's going crazier, it's been a pretty chill week for me. Speaking of which, we might as well get the links to this week's News in place.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 Most of this revolves around the murder by Minneapolis police officers of George Floyd and the resulting protests that have spread to all 50 states in the nation, as well as several countries. Friday we look into Mississippi's own legal outrage, as the case against the cop that killed Columbus resident Ricky Ball under extremely suspicious circumstances - po-po, when you cut your body cameras off, it never looks good - was dropped by newly elected State Attorney General Lynn Fitch. The story's pretty bad, mainly in that Fitch dismissed the case with a two-sentence statement like it was barely worth her attention. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

 I finished the first three books of the Expanse series the Lee County library had to offer online readers. I liked them but I doubt I'll get back into it anytime soon. While the hard sci-fi aspect and non-military setting appealed, every story was some sort of solar system-wide big deal and that gets tedious for me after a while. It's sort of like the new Doctor Who where each season ended with some massive universe-spanning to-do that only the Doctor could fix or, actually, like the never ending "Secret Crisis War" that seems to be the go to for mainstream comic books these days.

 I'd still like to find some science fiction books that are sort of like Blake's 7, small outlaw groups just trying to get through the universe but not having to save it. Probably means I should be writing those stories, if you consider things that way. Like I've said, I still can't get my head in that space and really don't understand how to get there. I write and this is what I do. News and Gibberish, and I think I'm better than okay at it. Other people are good at ripping science fiction swashbuckling yarns, that's what I want.

 I have been reading Engraved On The Eye, a collection of short stories by Saladin Ahmed. Very enjoyable, and all told from what I gather is a Muslim or at least Middle Eastern perspective. Fighters of monsters using holy magic. Muslim cowboy wizards. Renegade female Dervishes fighting against small minds. Good stuff. In fact, I'm enjoying the tales so much that my only real complaint is they're all too short. His 2012 book Throne of the Crescent Moon won a Hugo and appears to be the same universe as the first short story (monster fighting Muslim doctor who uses holy magic and has a young Dervish as a partner), so I'll check that out eventually.

 He came across my radar because the nerds who get upset about such things were mad that a Muslim person of color was writing a Spider-Man book. That piqued my interest, in that anything that pisses those choads off has to have something going for it. So, good job, buttholes, you're racist gatekeeping wankery turned me on to an excellent writer I was henceforth unaware of and encouraged me, a middle-age middle-class white dude, to give him some money and, indeed, encourage others to do so as well as post multiple links to facilitate that. Well done, indeed, you miserable little fart stains.

 I don't know what else. My uncle's in the hospital getting a new stint put in his heart and his oldest grandson got married today. Because of him in the hospital and the whole COVID-19 business, they did it via Zoom. My uncle's doing well and the grandson is happier than he has been lately. He's had a string of bad breaks of late, bless his heart, and even a good kid like him will get frustrated. But his new bride is a jewel and, like I said, he's a good kid, so hopefully things will start to shine a bit for him.

 We could all use a break these days, I think. Just a little good news or a world-wide equivalent to winning 50 bucks in an office football pool. Something that doesn't involve killing someone.

The doghouse here is kind of small, but we got good sounds and they're wall-to-wall.

 Let's get everyone caught up to speed.

 Beady-eyed fascist Tom Cotton, using only one hand, wrote a column for The New York Times that advocated using the U.S. military to "restore order" by stopping protesters from protesting black people being repeatedly executed by police officers without trial across the country and, specifically, the obvious murder of George Floyd. Everyone who didn't get a blue-vein throbber at the idea of black people and uppity kids who don't worship authority being torn to shreds by high-powered weaponry threw a fit.

 Cotton - as well as the Times' op-ed honchos like James Bennet and Bari Weiss - caught all kinds of shit not only from Twitter but also the Times' own staff who felt the Senator's erotic fan fiction put them in danger. Considering we've seen an almost unprecedented amount of violence from police against journalists and we live in a country where the President repeatedly calls them "enemy of the people" on a quiet day, they're probably on to something.

 Now, I'm not going to lie. I have not read Cotton's no doubt sticky and slightly stained column and I'm not going to. Beyond everything else, fuck Tom Cotton, the right-wing shit head. He's sufficiently shat the bed to the point where I really don't feel he's owed anything but contempt, and anyone arguing that the might of the U.S. military should be turned against citizens needs to be battered, deep fried and served with coleslaw.

 Furthermore - and this is the nub of this drivel, we'll get to it in a moment - The New York Times doesn't deserve the respect or attention it gets. Jamelle Bouie is one of the sharpest commentators on race and politics in the business and no one can touch Paul Krugman when it comes to explaining why economics is a massive amount of bullshit. The rest of them? Garbage. David Brooks and Brent Stephenson, for example, I think are only employed to distract the public from realizing how dumb they each are.

 We might as well get into it. During the lead-up to the Iraq War back in 2003, the Times under the watchful eye of Judith Miller repeated every slap of half-baked bullshit the Bush Administration pooped out to justify their unnecessary, illegal and completely disastrous war against a group of people who not only had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11 but also who we've been bombing the shit out for over a decade at that point. Day after day, they'd print gibberish that would get shot down by the blogging world before clock-out time, and never once did they admit that their sheepish stenographic was leading us into a war that would bankrupt the country, destroy our standing in the world, kill untold numbers of people, and permanently fuck those who survived.

 I really can't find the words for how awful they were unless you were paying attention, and it seems a whole hell of a lot of you weren't. Every criticism you hear from the left about the "MSM" comes from those days. And it's not new. One of the reasons Woodward & Bernstein scooped the shit out of everyone with Watergate is the Times was vigorously ignoring that there was anything there. They threw softballs at Hitler and Mussolini almost right up until the Axis Powers declared war on the United States. Hell, during the Draft Riots of 1863, the publisher of the Times turned Gatling guns on the protesters who didn't feel particularly inclined to die in some Virginia hellhole because a rich dude payid his way out of service.

 It wasn't just the Times, though. CNN, The Washington Post, MSNBC, the television networks, and all the big-time journalistic outlets did little to nothing to push back against the litany of lies from the Bush Administration. Conservative commentators and Fox News will tell you they were just this side of the Daily Worker, but if you're still playing for that dance you've got no one to blame but yourself.

 And finally - yeah, I know - we come to the meat of the issue. The big-time, corporate media like those aforementioned newspapers and TV stations all have one thing in common: profit is more important than informing the public. Since moving back home, I've found myself reconnecting with a lot of the guys my dad used to hunt with. Eventually, they'll ask if I'm still writing and I'll say "yes," and before it's over, they'll ask me, "Matt, just what is the problem with the media?"

 Again, profit. That's the problem and source of any issue anyone has with the press. Well, apart from those dingbats who think the media's failure to keep Trump's ass sufficiently moistened is evidence of how much they hate America, apple pie, Mother, and cheating on your taxes. These are all businesses, which is sort of silly since all publications have to make money if only just to pay to keep the power turned on. But these are big time businesses. The Times is worth $5.6 billion dollars. Fox News is worth around $21 billion.

 So what can we derive from this? For one, the whole point of having that much money is everything you do (or don't do) is geared towards keeping that money and making oodles more. Secondly, if you're running in those circles, your primary inclination isn't to shake the boat too much to stop that filthy lucre coming in. I've heard from outsiders for my nearly 30 years in the journalism bidness that "the owners don't interfere with the news side" and that may be more naive than thinking all cops always tell the truth.

 What I'm getting to is this. It's perfectly in character that the New York Times would publish a pro-fascism op-ed from a sniveling Arkie pigfucker who probably wears the necklace of ears he got in Iraq around his wang. That is the Status Quo. Those in power really, really want the George Floyd protesters to stop making a big deal about cops killing black people just whatever and really, really, really don't want anything to happen that cuts into profit making. People ask - with genuine curiosity, I'm sure - why the scream, heavily armed yay-hoos demanding state governments reopen Pottery Barn and Sizzlers last month didn't result in violence.

 

 It's quite simple, really. That's what the Powers That Be want. They want you out working yourselves to death for barely livable wages so some board member can buy a golden yacht off the stock price increase. They want you out there buying useless shit and eating garbage food and spending, spending, spending. Good, loyal proles, that's what they do. The bad, disloyal ones forget the police aren't here to protect and serve them, but are here to protect profit and serve the rich.

 So, with all that in mind, let's tie it up and pinch it off. The Times, despite what your uncle on Facebook claims, has no problems with Trump, the GOP, cops in general, and the police state in particular. If you're shocked the smooth brains on the Opinion page see no issue with encouraging a violent crackdown of the bad plebes, then you have no one but yourself to blame. Grow up and get a helmet.

 That doesn't mean they're worthless, or any other source of big media, for that matter. A journalism professor of mind was fond of trotting out the old quote, usually attributed to erstwhile WaPo Publisher Phil Graham, "Journalism is the first rough draft of history". There's a certain truth to it, that the meat-and-bones of reporting is getting "just the facts". Years of op-ed writers, jumped up drive-time deejays behind anchor chairs on television, and college drop-outs with trust funds have caused most people to think journalism is all opinion. Well, that's part of it, sure. What I'm doing here is journalism of a sort.

 But when people get undone because the AP doesn't follow every headline about Trump with "and everything he said was a goddamn lie," they're missing the point. Reporters are supposed to report. They could do a much better job in presenting what they report, no doubt about that, but complaining that the press doesn't push back on every single lie that rolls out of the goofy bastards cake hole is indicative of one of our biggest culture problems: we're lazy.

 It's true. We're lazy and want people to think for us. Fox News scored a big goal with the whole "We Report, You Decide" deal. Of course, they of all people didn't mean it, but that's sort of how it's supposed to work. And that's why, as craven as the Times editorial stance is, they can still be a useful source of information. You're looking for fact, not truth. The truth is rarely told during working hours, to paraphrase the Good Doctor, and everyone has a bias and agenda. 

 People think media is supposed to be unbiased, but that's friggin' stupid and naive. A medium's bias is always there, whether it's ideological or merely not pissing advertisers so as to keep the rent paid and the power on. The trick is recognizing that fact of existence and not letting it cloud your judgement.

 That's right, friends and neighbors. The media isn't going to change anytime soon no matter how much shame we dump on them. So it's up to you to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, even when the wheat sticks in your teeth. You're going to have to actually think and use that three pounds of meat between your ears for something apart from half-remembering Bee Gees lyrics.

 Don't be scared, though. It can be done. Just takes a little effort, is all.

I believe, I believe my time ain't long.

 I'm getting really bad about getting these out before 8 p.m. Part of it's the onset of summer. If me and my buddy Otis, the Jack Russell, are going to take our afternoon constitutionals, it makes sense to wait until around 6 p.m. so it cools off some. That means my nap gets pushed back and supper gets pushed back, so it's past 8 p.m. by the time I get good and sat down.

 I've been kicking around the idea of putting something out in the morning, sort of a "things to know today" type of deal. I'm a night owl by inclination and really don't keep a set schedule. It makes as much sense as doing a daily wrap up, I suppose. It'll all have to wait until I get a little more energy to do anything but read and sleep and occasionally play XCOM, of course.

 I've been curiously detached the last couple of days, at least since the middle of last week. A lot of it is, no doubt, the fallout from the George Floyd protests. I shouldn't be as let down as I am by so many of Our Fellow Americans chomping at the bit to unleash full-metal jacket hell at the untermensch because they've never pretended to be anything other than what they are. Nevertheless, it always depresses me a bit the amount of joy people seem to take out of hate.

 They were fairly quiet in the beginning. I guess the cop's murder of Floyd was so blatant they couldn't pretend it was business as usual like the could with most of the rest. Now, they're screaming for blood and believing every half-ass fake tweet from some limp white nationalist pretending to be AntiFa gearing up to storm the suburbs. They claim they're protecting themselves from rioters, but they're lying. White supremacy is so built into the American consciousness that these people equate being against it as being against America.

 And who knows? Maybe they're right. This is a country built of slavery and Native genocide, on Chinese exclusion acts and Irish need not apply. Hell, we call marijuana "marijuana" because it elicits visions of scary Chicanos in zoot suits and low riders. Even our myth of the cowboy goes out of its way to ignore anyone who wasn't a white guy being a cowboy. As soon as we could make rock & roll white and white only, we did.

 I really don't know what to do. Besides this, I mean, and this seems so... nothing. People have asked me for the past two decades, "Matt, you grew up in one of the most redneck counties in the most redneck region of the most redneck state in the country, a place almost synonymous with 'racial violence'. How did you become such a bleeding heart, left wing type instead of a full-on Republican?"

 The answer is I really honestly don't know. I mean, I'm not perfect and had to learn a helluva lot once I left Mississippi, but even before I wasn't quite as far gone as most of my peers. I remember multiple classmates talking about the Sins of Ham and I always thought that was off. I never did get why I was supposed to hate Jews or homosexuals when I'd never interacted with any. Of course, years later, some folks came out as gay or lesbian, but that's neither here nor there.

 If it's anything, it's one of two things. One, actually believing the stuff my elders told me instead of treating it as pretty words. "How would you think Mrs. Ferguson would feel if she heard you saying that word?" "Treat people with respect no matter what." That sort of thing. The other thing was probably because Momma coached basketball, had black players, and back when Daddy drank too much to be left alone with, I spent a whole lot of time around those girls. People are people, and I've thought that from the beginning.

 It doesn't mean I haven't said things or acted in ways that were racist. I'm a white man in a racist society. Furthermore, I'm a Southerner and this whole "Lost Cause" business is mainly we're pissed off at having to treat black people like humans and/or getting all the grief when the rest of the country is full of ghettos and barrios and sundown towns that White America seems as normal and just.

 Soldiers are being sent to deal with protesters with fixed bayonets. I don't know why that's shaking me so much after everything else that's happened in the past week, but damn, that is unsettling. The DEA has been authorized to conduct secret surveillance on protesters. That ain't right. The military is telling us we're the enemy. That ain't right.

 If people think the military won't fire on them, they are living in dreamland. There's been stories of National Guardsmen having trouble "policing" the protesters because they generally work close to their home. When the actual by-God Army gets sent in to quell the "looters" it will get bloody quick and they won't hesitate. And Middle America will cheer like when Osama bin Laden was killed.

 Trump's base won't be shaken loose by anything he does.They love the idea of protesters, especially black ones, being shot dead in the street by American Might. If he gets re-elected, well... this experiment in government will be shown to be a failure.

 I don't know. It's hard to gauge things way out here in the boonies. The people I trust who are out there in it, I believe them way before I'd believe some knuckle-dragging Trump supporter or even a garden variety conservative, much less the corporate press. Hopefully - hopefully - something positive can come out of all this, if just to put the people that put Trump in the White House on notice that the bullshit is up. It's been a long time coming, but is a change going to come soon?

 Let's hope so. It doesn't have to be this way. There's enough for everyone to live a good life, have a good time, and be nice to each other with plenty left over. We just don't want to. We want there to be a clear delineation between who's worth life and who isn't.

Four decades of asking why and I still don't have anything close to an answer.