Journeys through life

There was a post, somewhere on the internet. Actually, if I remember correctly, it was a post by the New York Times. It went something like this: A study found that European soccer commentators were not only far more likely to praise white players for their intelligence, leadership qualities, and versatility but also more likely to criticize black players for what they regarded as the absence of those attributes. Someone's reply caught my attention, which I seized on, and soon, others joined in as proponents or opponents. Let's call the initiator Teresa. The ensuing conversation went something like this [grammatical editing is mine and no real names have been used.] Teresa: Sorry, but football clubs treat ALL their players as stupid. We had a couple open our new office and were basically told that they were to stand there and look pretty and were not to be asked questions! Let's not stoke division where there isn't any. Me: Here comes the deflection. Your views versus a...

Me : Anyone who thinks silence means defeated, please think again. Though I still say, violence begets violence. Let’s stop this nonsense of guns. We can all carry guns, but we will all lose in the end. UD : Violence isn't the best answer, but it is an effective one. Me :  I would not advocate violence, except as an absolute last resort UD :  I'm not advocating violence. But when all other options are exhausted, your hand is forced. Me :   We would have to qualify the "other options", and "last resort." Clearly, the direction that such bearing of arms will lead to is race-based violence. There are those who mistakenly think that they are well prepared for such a conflict. All I can say is that people who have nothing to lose become very formidable. And by default, their fight will be a just fight, driven by the need for self-defense. Yet, to me, it is amazing that these same people STILL want a peaceful resolution, after all their suffering. There may be, of...

There was,  once, a retired sea captain to whom time was everything. In his retirement, he would sail out to sea each daybreak to reminisce about his glory days.  Sail closer to the shore he  would, to better listen for the boom of a distant cannon that went off at noon, and thereat hoist his flag to mark this precious noon. Only at sunset would he lower it again.  Now, the cannon operator was a retired soldier, who kept the local time. Knowing the exacting sea captain, the horizon  he would spy through his telescope, for the captain's vessel and flag which appeared at precisely noon. Once manifested, "boom!" with a resounding resolution he would fire his cannon to announce noon to all of the town.  So, who had the correct time?  That's what is happening here with populism and leaders like Donald Trump. They have no clue about what is right or wrong but peg their actions on the populist and misguided crowd.