#georgia's not so critical analysis

[dungeons-are-too-cold]

listen, I- I cant help but think every time i see will and eddie interact in fics, that will would not have liked eddie like

at all

Eddie? is a dick.

and like maybe this is me just being insane, but i think will's love of Dnd comes from an actual love and appreciation for character and story and a love of his friends and his community he found playing dnd. It gave him an outlet, it let him express himself, it let him be brave and when you see him trying so hard to come back to that in season 3, you see he uses it as a way to express what he's going through. But most importantly, Will plays dnd because he loves his friends.

eddie is so rigid with his dnd obsession. He uses it as a way to control things, to (honesty) control people. He uses it to build himself a throne. A LITERAL THRONE SITS AT THE HEAD OF THE HELLFIRE TABLE. The party always played at a square table, they all looked at each other, all equal, all on the same playing field. But eddie, he's different. Even at lunch you see him sit at the head of the table. He gets up and walks across them, he shouts, he draws attention to them, invites the tormenting almost, and i don't think will would have liked the way Eddie was constantly bringing attention to himself and, in turn, hellfire as a whole. Eddie uses dnd to antagonize, to start shit, as a marker of his "fuck it" attitude

Will would not have felt safe in hellfire. Eddie's "forced conformity is killing the kids" monologue is such bullshit. Hellfire would have suffocated will. Not because i think will couldn't stand up for himself or hold his own against Eddie, but Dustin and Mike are so enamored with Eddie, they fall in line and worship the guy, so much so that they are willing to ditch Lucas and his game! Will never would have stood for that. Will would have been at Lucas's game. No DnD party is worth it to him if its not with his party

"But, what if you wanna join another party?"

"Not possible"

Are we all just, collectively forgetting this? Like are we just blacking out here? Now yes, this is very byler, but its not just about Mike. Its about Lucas and Dustin too. Its about El, and now Max. Its about his people.

Eddie actively tore apart the party under the guise of being "dedicated to dnd" but the only thing eddie is dedicated to is himself and serving his best interest. At least he was in hellfire.

and yeah, idk, i feel like this is an unpopular opinion, but these are just my thoughts. feel free to share yours.

[dungeons-are-too-cold]

i feel like its maybe an unconcious (or concious who knows) acknowledgement that the women do not 'own' their last names because surnames are passed down paternally its the name that belongs to their fathers until its the name that belonged to their husbands.

also there's also the idea that referring to someone by their last name is a sign of formality and respect, especially for someone in a position of power, and society does not respect women or their power.

also also its most likely linked to the familiarity and comfort people have with women in the public eye, demanding more from them, acting as if they are their friend, their mom, etc. where men are generally seen less so to that extent and are seen as professionals in the public eye instead of influencers/taste-makers/friendly faces/ etc.

just a spitballing here feel free to add/correct

Here's a fun one

It hasn't been "Joe" versus "Donald"

But in 2016 it was "Hillary" versus "Trump"

Now in 2024 why are we letting people call her "Kamala" instead of "Harris"?

Are women not addressed by their last names in formal settings? If so why is that?

[matan4il]

Thank you for your daily updates.

I've been seeing people discussing why/not the ICJ case is valid, but nothing on how the judges are likely to rule, a discussion that happens often when there is a big SCOTUS case.

What of their temperaments? Sure there's a Lebanese judge, that doesn't inherently make him antisemitic. Do you know if the judges are more "left" or "right?" My hopes are not high, considering they refuse to see evidence of the actual Oct 7 massacres (shame, since Hamas really wanted that broadcasted).

Hi Nonnie,

I usually try to reply to asks at the same order I got them, but I'll make an exception, because of how relevant this is to the current proceedings at the ICJ right now.

I don't think that being Muslim makes anyone inherently biased, nor do I think being Jewish means a person is free of the antisemitism of their environment, so I generally believe it's impossible for judges to be completely disconnected from what their country's position is. I believe the ICJ recognizes this as well, and that's why, a country that is suing or sued at the ICJ without having a representation among the permanent judges, has the right to appoint one. Specifically when it comes to Lebanon, I have to admit that IDK how possible it is for the Lebanese judge to ignore the fact that his country has for decades implemented an actual apartheid, a legally imposed policy of discrimination against Palestinians who live there.

Well, for this trial, we have an Israeli judge, a SA judge, and the 15 permanent judges. Here's one analysis about the 15 that I read:

American judge: had worked as a legal advisor to the administrations of Clinton and Obama, believes the scope of international law is limited (so she's less likely to grant SA a provisional measure that's a legal precedent).

Russian judge: advises Russia on two legal matters (regarding Georgia, and Kosovo), believes the scope of international law should be wider, has voted against demanding of Russia to stop the military operation in Ukraine, and has published independently his opinion that the ICJ has no right to judge the Russia-Ukraine conflict, because Russia didn't recognize its authority on this. Has visited Israel in 2015 for an international space conference, and together with 2 other ICJ judges, has conducted a "trial" regarding space law.

Slovak judge: sees the scope of international law as narrower, in the past he indicated that he thinks the crime of committing a genocide can't be decided in this court (that it should be in a criminal one), he has also said that quotes uttered in "the heat of battle" (the kind at the basis of SA's lawsuit) are not indicative of policy intent, they're just war propaganda. Has visited Israel in 2015 for an international space conference, and together with 2 other ICJ judges, has conducted a "trial" regarding space law.

French judge: Jewish, considered critical of Israel. In the past, while arguing against Israel, he has also said that the conflict here is political by nature and that the involvement of the ICJ in it is unhelpful to dialogue between the parties.

Moroccan judge: in the past, his decisions included non-legal considerations (for example, he said he's not sure Ukraine's move against Russia fits the convention on the prevention of genocide, but he still was in favor of granting Ukraine the provisional measures it was asking for). He was also a minority vote in the matter of whether the Serbs committed a genocide against the Bosnian Muslims, where the majority determined that the conditions to define it as such were not met.

Somali judge: there are no past indications of how he might rule from an international law perspective. He's Muslim, but in the past he has joined an Iftar dinner at the home of the Israeli ambassador at the Hague, and has also once opened a Holocaust Day lecture for the ICJ.

Chinese judge: has worked for her government in the past. She has voted against the provisional measures Ukraine has asked for against Russia, saying that it seems like an attempt to use the convention in order to get the ICJ to decide in broader political matters than the convention allows for. She has also argued against provisional measures that only demand one side would stop the fighting.

Ugandan judge: has worked for her government in the past. There are no past indications of how she might rule from an international law perspective.

Indian judge: tends towards an expanded view of what is discrimination. Has visited Israel in 2015 for an international space conference, and together with 2 other ICJ judges, has conducted a "trial" regarding space law.

Jamaican judge: has worked for his government in the past. Has voted against Russia when it came to the provisional measures demanding it stops its fighting against Ukraine.

Lebanese judge: has expressed anti-Israel views in the past, and has also repeatedly shown that he takes his country's position into account in his decisions. Has argued in the past that in situations of military occupation, the burden of proof is very low, or that the burden of proof should be on the occupier.

German judge: in the past, he has published his opposition to an Israeli law professor's article, arguing that a wider view is required when it comes to the right to self defense.

Japanese judge: in the past, he has published an article that sees the right of third party countries to appear before the ICJ (as is SA in this case) as limited.

Australian judge: very active in the field of women and gender rights. In the past, she has criticized ICJ rulings that allowed the coalition forces a lot of freedom in Iraq.

Brazilian judge: in the past, he has referred to the PLO as a terrorist organization (at the time about which he was writing), but he did the same regarding the Jewish underground movement, the Hagana (which worked to protect Jews, and to smuggle them "illegally" into the Land of Israel to save them from the Nazis during WWII).

According to one legal correspondent that I listened to, SA has asked for so many provisional measures, that the ICJ is unlikely to turn them all down. This reporter believes that the ICJ will likely not grant the provisional measure calling on Israel to stop the fighting, but it will probably grant at least two other provisional measures. She had a bet which two, the provisional measure calling on more humanitarian aid to be brought into Gaza (if true, this would be so redundant. One of the points made at the ICJ proceedings, was that Israel has agreed to allow in as much humanitarian aid as could be taken in on the Gazan side, and was willing to expand its operations on the Israeli side for this to happen. In other words, what's currently limiting the amount of aid going in is the capacity to handle it on the Gazan, not Israeli, side), and to collect evidence regarding the fighting in Gaza (which Israel is already doing).

I hope this helped! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[kemetic-dreams]

Political motivations

Two years after the Civil War ended, Congress overrode a veto from President Andrew Johnson to pass the Reconstruction Act of 1867. The law required former Confederate states to provide universal voting rights for all men. African men in the South voted for the first time, and African politicians soon held large shares of legislative seats in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.

The Ku Klux Klan responded with systematic, violent intimidation of African Americans, including lynchings specifically meant to deter voting, Williams finds. The klan killed more than 2,000 African people in 1868 in Louisiana alone, according to the paper.

“It’s hard to get rid of that trauma, and it does span generation to generation,” Williams says.

Few, if any, of the thousands of lynchings carried out from 1882 to 1930 were criminally prosecuted, and past research has demonstrated lynchings suppressed African voter turnout in the months leading to an election.

“We think of racial domination as social practices, like segregation and racial violence, being about intimidation in the social sphere,” says Ohio State University economics professor Trevon Logan, who was not involved in Williams’ analysis but provided feedback as she developed her research. “But there always has been a very pertinent political end to the story of racialized violence.”

Some states are restricting voting, others are expanding it

Williams’ paper reveals how violence from decades past affects current voting patterns at the same time states have passed or are considering laws to restrict voting.

In March, the Georgia legislature attracted news coverage when it passed a law making it harder to vote absentee. Georgia counties can now limit early voting on Sundays ahead of an election — a move critics contend targets “souls to the polls” get-out-the-vote efforts at African churches. The law does require that counties hold two Saturday advance voting sessions for general elections.

Republican lawmakers in Ohio have proposed legislation that would restrict mail ballots for most voters there and ban drop box voting. At least 18 states have passed laws restricting voting this year, while 25 states have expanded voting access through mail ballots and other measures, according to a tally by the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

At the federal level, the House of Representatives last week passed voting rights legislation that would restore provisions the Supreme Court stripped in recent years from the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most notably, the court in 2013 ruled that states could change their voting laws without federal approval. At the time of the ruling, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and select counties in other states were subject to federal oversight because of historical evidence of racial discrimination in voting access.

The lingering effects of violence from decades ago are “a huge factor, and why African people in particular are not voting,” Williams says. “So now, when we add legislation to make it more difficult to vote, to me that is why it’s really important. Do we want to have a healthy electorate or not? When we have a healthy electorate, we have policies that represent everyone.”

Historical events ripple through time: A growing body of research

To conduct her analysis, Williams used data from the Historical American Lynching Data Collection Project from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, which covers 1882 to 1930. She also used voter registration rolls from 2000 to 2012, and other academic and government data.

Williams focused on the historical lynching rate per 10,000 African Americans during that roughly half century across 267 counties in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. She analyzed those states because they ask voters to identify their race when registering.

“In a place like Lafayette County, Florida, there were eight lynchings during those years,” Williams explains in a 2020 video for the Economic Policy Institute, where she was an economist before joining RAND. “This means for every 1,000 African people, one of them was lynched. Today, the African voter registration rate is about 15% in that county. If those people hadn’t been killed, you would expect to see a African voter registration rate of 55%.”

The relationship between historical lynchings and voter registration today that holds for African voters doesn’t show for white voters.

“Further analyses suggest that this result is unlikely to be driven by education, earnings, incarceration rates of Africans, institutions that remained after slavery, geographic sorting, or contemporary barriers to voting,” Williams writes. Her forthcoming paper adds to a growing body of research investigating how violence and legislation from decades ago reverberates today.

Michigan State University economics and international relations professor Lisa Cook has found that violence in the decades after Reconstruction suppressed the patent output of African inventors, writing that a “lynching signaled that personal security — and with it the freedom to work and innovate — was not guaranteed.”

Princeton University economics professor Ellora Derenoncourt, along with University of California, Berkeley economics professor Claire Montialoux, have shown how a minimum wage expansion in 1966 narrowed the earnings gap between African and European workers throughout the 1970s.

Logan, the Ohio State professor, has linked higher taxes during Reconstruction — when the American South was decimated and needed funding to rebuild — with more violence against African officeholders. Referring to Williams’ current work, Logan says: “This is not something I think a traditional economic historian would address. It speaks to the need to have diverse voices in the profession.”

[reogan]

Clean Slate

(Jenny Timeline Project Song-by-Song Analysis #1) (The Jenny Timeline Project is my attempt to figure out more about this album by doing casual literary criticism at it. It started with a post about the viewpoints of songs. The tag to follow or block if you care is Jenny Timeline. I welcome feedback if you see any of the holes in my interpretation.) This is a LONG post, fair warning.

The People: Obviously to those who know the earlier album, this song very directly overlaps with Color In Your Cheeks (All Hail West Texas). In that song, we specifically get a Woman from Taipei, a Man from Mexicali, and (less detailed) Folks from Zimbabwe, Soviet Georgia, East St. Louis, Paris, and Across the Street.

In Clean Slate, we see a Man from East St. Louis; a Breakaway Republic Dude; someone from Copiah, Mississippi; "You" from "home" with a plane change in Taipei. There may also be an additional person encapsulated in "This will be the last time that I do this, I'm pretty sure."

Overlap is clear in East St. Louis. The Woman from Taipei is likely "You" who changes planes in Taipei, though this fascinatingly opens up her/your origin point to be elsewhere ("skin the color of a walnut shell" (Color, AHWT) can narrow it down a little, but that's so hugely wide still that I wouldn't begin to try). Interestingly, the Breakaway Republic Dude is marked on the map in the official lyric video somewhere in Latvia or Lithuania (hard to tell with the size of the dot and the spinning globe), which broke away from the USSR in 91/90, but not Georgia, as referenced in Color.

The Place: In Color, "She" comes in on the red eye to Dallas-Ft. Worth (which is in East Texas, not West Texas as the album title would suggest). How far between that airport and "here" is completely untouched. "He" drives in from Mexicali, which means he first reaches Texas in the west.

In Clean Slate, the lyrics allow the house to be anywhere, but the bandcamp description does say it's Jenny's house in West Texas*. It's worth noting that a later song is Going to Dallas, which suggests that the singer does not begin in Dallas, despite the Woman from Taipei flying into that airport.

Color doesn't mention what "here" is. Personally, I used to hear it as a tavern-inn-heck-even-cafe place. Clean Slate is somehow more opaque. But liner notes and bandcamp make clear that it's Jenny's southwestern ranch style house.

The Time: Describing a Baltic state as a "breakaway republic" suggests that the USSR is still relevant, if failing or gone. This would be a Weird description in 2020. It would be Weird in 1960. Later evidence will place things somewhere after '85, and I like that. Give it a decade's wiggle room here, 1985-1995 where "breakaway republic" would still be apt. It helps that, though Georgia was next, Baltic states were the first to declare independence from the Soviet Union, making them stand out as breakaways.

Since Color mentions Soviet Georgia, that'll place it pre '91. The Song(s): Unusually, I think this analysis needs to include a second song beyond Clean Slate (Color, of course) given it's mighty parallels. We have no proof they're telling different facets of the same story, but I think it's not egregious if I suppose they are.

More than Color does, Clean Slate very explicitly makes it clear that these people are leaving behind everything. There's the leaving under the cover of night ("It's never light outside yet when they climb into the van"), the itinerant, brief stay ("rest until you're rested / climb back onto the caravan).

I would like to raise a reading to which I don't subscribe and which doesn't mesh perfectly with comments John has made, but which I find interesting. I think there's room to suspect that the Woman from Taipei is the Lodger. The use of the second-person pronoun in Clean Slate ("The house was almost full that day / We made a space for you"), which is the final person introduced before "this will be the last time that I do this I'm pretty sure" could suggest that the Lodger is this woman. This will also be a fun toy for the Lesbian Jenny squad. I don't buy it, chiefmost of all because John refers to the Lodger as "he" multiple times, though Death of The Author etc. etc.

In various interviews and in this album, we learn this place is a place for people to rest, hide, and catch their breath. The little epigraphs on the vinyl call it a "safehouse" which is such a beautiful thing. That adds a dimension of mutual don't-ask-don't-tell to the line "We let the silence that's our trademark / make its presence felt" (Color). A nice 'hey man, we don't know what you've been through, we don't know what you're going to do, but while you're here, you're cool.'

Later on, in From the Nebraska Plant, the narrator (Lodger?) says that "it wasn't in [Jenny's(?)] nature / taking in the strays" which I think is entirely wrong. He's very much mythologized her because that is her role. But in this song, I think it's Jenny's conviction which says "This world is sad and broken / gotta fix a crack or two." She is compelled to give aid. Given the references in this work to Seven Against Thebes, I'm interested in seeing whether we can apply the concept of hamartia to Jenny, and this compulsion is already a candidate for her tragic flaw. Let us name it Justice and deify Jenny as Nemesis in our further analyses.

The final refrain of Clean Slate says "Every endpoint fixed forever on the day its arc began." This is in line with oracular proclamation in Greek tragedy. We know what will happen. Oedipus was fated to marry his mother and kill his father, and we can be sure of that result. When Tiresias tells Creon his actions will doom his son, we can already plan Haemon's funeral. We are now entering the Tragic Zone, and it's going to be as the Oracle proclaims. *In the interest of being transparent to those who choose not to click the link, technically, it says it's Jenny's house and that a West Texas town is uncomfortable in it, but I don't consider it a grave liberty to then assume that her house is in that West Texas town rather than, say, Bergen County, New Jersey or something.

[lapsed-bookworm]

Country music is at a crossroads. Two of its most viral songs show why

Analysis by AJ Willingham, CNN

Sat, July 29, 2023 at 2:27 PM EDT·7 min read

People — non-country lovers specifically — like to joke that modern country music is a repetitive incantation of beer, trucks, girls and American flags, with the occasional sprinkling of Copenhagen or MultiCam thrown in. (And, for the women, there’s an extra dash of marital homicide.)

That’s all part of it, for certain. But a longer pause on the radio dial, or a deeper dive into the genre’s roots, reveals far more variation — different traditions and cultures calling to each other, answering and reinventing themselves as they go.

The struggle for the soul of country music is on full display now as two very different songs have been making headlines. Jason Aldean, one of country music’s biggest stars, has been embroiled in controversy over his single “Try That in a Small Town.” The song contains what critics say are racially charged lyrics, and scenes from the music video were shot in front of a courthouse that was the site of an infamous lynching in the 1920s. The backlash was so complete, CMT removed Aldean’s video from its rotation and the original YouTube version was edited to remove several seconds of protest footage.

Meanwhile, fellow country star Luke Combs has been going viral on social media with his platinum cover of “Fast Car” by famed singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. Some of the attention has been positive, praising his rendition of the famous ballad and discussing the impact of his homage to Chapman who, as a Black woman and queer icon, is a triple whammy of underrepresentation in country music.

In an interview with Billboard, Combs called “Fast Car” the “perfect song” and Chapman a “supernatural songwriter.”

“The success of my cover is unreal and I think it’s so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!”

Chapman herself, who is notoriously private with both her personal life and her music rights, also commented to Billboard about the song’s success.

“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”

The crossover also made history, cementing Chapman as the first Black woman to have a sole writing credit on a No. 1 country radio song.

Dividing the divisions

Both “Try That in a Small Town” and “Fast Car” have topped country charts in recent weeks. While they represent something of a divide among the genre, they’ve also led to an exploration of finer fissures within. Aldean has millions of supporters who see his ode to small town solidarity as a continuation of what made country music so resonant in the first place: The telling of stories forgotten by the mainstream.

(Small town pride is also a favorite theme of Aldean’s, whose hits include 2010’s “Flyover States” and “Dirt Road Anthem,” and the early hit “Amarillo Sky,” which details the noble struggles of a proud farmer.)

Aside from the controversy of lyrics slamming gun control and threatening people who disrespect police, Aldean’s song set off interesting conversations as people discussed what being from a small town really means, and indeed, what a small town even is. (Aldean himself is from Macon, Georgia, which may seem like the sticks to some people but is, in fact, a mid-sized city that also helped form rock greats like Little Richard and Otis Redding.)

“Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences,” Aldean wrote in a statement defending the song.

As for Combs, the same reasons that attracted praise for “Fast Car” have also attracted criticism. The song, like Chapman herself, has been a lighthouse for people on the margins since its release in 1988, dealing as it does with poverty and loneliness and the universal appeal of getting the heck out of town with your baby by your side. (And, in the process, became a lesbian anthem.) While it’s a very country message, some fans were uncomfortable that a straight, White male singer would add his voice to Chapman’s genius.

“On one hand, Luke Combs is an amazing artist, and it’s great to see that someone in country music is influenced by a Black queer woman — that’s really exciting,” Holly G, founder of the Black Opry, told The Washington Post. “But at the same time, it’s hard to really lean into that excitement knowing that Tracy Chapman would not be celebrated in the industry without that kind of middleman being a White man.”

Defining the soul of country

These two songs, so differently received yet recorded under the same big country umbrella, are an embodiment of the crossroads where country music currently stands. Like all musical traditions that fuse, evolve and splinter, country music and its legions of fans are engaged in a negotiation for the genre’s main identity.

Do they embrace the class-conscious, anti-capitalist forefathers and foremothers who played in prisons and supported laborers and held staunchly leftist views by today’s standards? (They still live today: Willie Nelson is a proud Texas Democrat and Dolly Parton an LGBTQ ally.) Do they turn up the party-happy “Bro Country” of the early 2000s, or champion the red-white-and-blue anthems that still represent, for so many, a platonic ideal of patriotism?

Do they welcome the fresh influx of non-White country artists, or ignore the inheritance secured by the voices of Black and Latin American artists who helped build the genre? Do they sing with these voices, or sing over them?

Moreover, what can be accepted? Queer country acts are on the rise, but will they ever join country’s highest ranks of outcasts, rebels and beaten-down lovers? Or will songs with even a hint of pro-LGBTQ themes, like Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow” or Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” continue to be met with friction?

What can be forgiven? When the Dixie Chicks spoke out against the Iraq War in the early 2000s, their popularity in country music circles never fully recovered.. When current superstar Morgan Wallen was caught saying racist slurs, his supporters kept his album “Dangerous: The Double Album” at the top of the charts for weeks after the backlash. In the year that followed, he launched a new tour and an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. Combs has sought forgiveness, too: In 2021, he apologized for past performances that featured the Confederate flag.

“I know that I’m a very highly visible member of the country-music community right now,” Combs said. “And I want to use that position for good, and to say that people can change and people do want to change, and I’m one of those people trying.”

These decisions beg a larger question: Can the myriad interpretations of country music exist side by side? If something must change, what of the genre’s essential character would disappear along with it?

As the reactions to Combs and Aldean’s songs prove, it’s not an easy negotiation. Small towns, fast cars and American values are as essential to country music as three chords and the truth. Who gets to define American values, and whose truths get told; that’s where the crossroads lie.

How fortunate, then, that crossroads are as country a symbol as you can get.

[dans-den]

The Machine Movie Review

Hey what's going on everyone?! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing The Machine Movie, The movie based on the incredible story...notice how it doesn't say true story.

Now I've been a fan of Bert Kreischer these last few years. I remember first seeing him on the travel channel on his trip show, then I saw his machine story on YouTube, watched most of his Netflix specials and his Cabin show, and even saw him in person during the Super Bowl here in AZ with Guy Fieri. I honestly had no idea he was making an actual film this summer until over a month ago when I was watching an analysis video about Bert and how he's starting to become out of touch and egotistical, I'll leave a link to that video from Ghost Gum you guys should check it out.

(Ghost Gum video on Bert)

Now I've been watching several videos on YouTube about Bert and a lot of the issues are coming from his let's just say "exaggerated" stories and the authenticity of them as well as him being in denial about having an alcohol problem and overall health issues. His status has made him delusional about being better or above everyone else which is another factor of him losing respect from his fans. I feel this movie perfectly reflects all of these traits as well as justifying his behaviors and trying to poke fun at the criticism he sees. I was going into this movie thinking it would be so bad it's funny and I was partially right. Half the movie is so bad its funny while the other half is...just bad, it's boring and made to make Bert look cool or like he's the center of the world. I'll break down why I feel this way and what this movie could potentially do to Bert's reputation/fanbase.

Now let's start with a positive first, Mark Hamill. I love Mark Hamill not just as Luke Skywalker or the Joker, I love his work and I feel he was truly carrying this movie. I was weirded out that they chose Mark to portray Bert's dad in this film. I've seen what Bert's dad looks like and Mark looks nothing like him (at least not currently) so I wonder if it's for a cool factor or Bert is a huge fan of Mark Hamill or both. Either way Mark as Bert's dad carried the movie to where it was enjoyable at times and genuinely funny. He was the best character in this movie, yes, better than Bert, better than the Russian Mafia characters, he was just the best one because he actually made me laugh the most. When he laughs you can hear that Joker laugh slip through and I loved it.

Now with that positive out of the way, let's get to the negatives. The plot barely makes any sense, Bert's past with the Mafia comes back to haunt him and he has to go to Russia and find an Heirloom he stole from a crime family or else his eldest daughter (I think it's suppose to be Georgia) will be killed. Without getting into major spoilers, this plotline is so inconsistent in terms of characters, flow, and accuracy. So the Machine story setting was from Berts time at Florida State when he was 22. So Bert was born in 1972 and i'm guessing this was before his 23rd birthday, so that means the setting of the story should take place in 1995. Now the movie did not establish what year it currently was, but I have to assume it was 2023 or sometime in the 2020's. He said it was 23 years ago meaning the story happened in either the late 90's or the year 2000 since young Bert (played by Jimmy Tatro) is making Austin Powers and Beavis and Butthead references. That basically goes against the actually setting of the story which I understand movies aren't 100% accurate but normally the time period correlates with one another so this is either Bert forgetting or trying to appeal to the younger crowd like people my age or younger. The plot is this wild goose chase meant to make Bert look cool or go through this hero's journey which honestly just falls flat.

The characters were alright I guess. Like I said Mark Hamill as Berts dad is my favorite character, The Russian Mafia characters while a bit stereotypical were also funny at times, Bert had some moments I'll admit but those were few and far in between. I just didn't like the portrayal of him and his family or family friends they all seemed like they hated each others guts. Felt bad for the therapist character in all honesty, sad part is there are people like that in this world that try to act like nothings wrong and try to force their loved ones to see thigs their way even though that is certainly not the case. The family really didn't go through any major developments to warrant that ending, especially the daughter she just suddenly had a change of heart without really being in the story which is ironic considering the plot was also about Bert needing to know it's not always about him. That should tell you the mindset of Bert in real life. Once again, this was all meant to make Bert look cool, like he's life of the party, like everything he's doing is fine and how he is bigger than life.

Now let's get to the important part, the comedy. Wow...it is near nonexistent. The type of comedy in here is literally lowbrow, meant to look "Progressive", having Russian stereotypes, some physical humor, and overall just meh. Don't get me wrong I still laugh at these types of comedy but it depends how it's done. Some people do it tastefully and genuinely funny like a actual Comedian then there are others who do it without any set up or punchline like a middle schooler...can you guess which way The Machine movie does it? That's right, the humor is stuff I would have said or done when I was like 14 and I'm not gonna say I dislike immature humor, there are times where I still get a good laugh out of it and I laughed a couple times in this movie but again those moments are far and few in between. The issue I have with it is Bert's style of comedy doesn't work well, great storyteller, but horrible at setting up jokes or delivering punchlines. I'm just glad he didn't do that fake Hyena laugh too much in this movie.

Overall, this movie was meant to just inflate Bert's ego, I was genuinely hoping this movie would be hilarious but honestly I'm starting to see why people are slowly losing interest in Bert I mean he is a 50 year old man with a wife and two kids who actively gets drunk as a "career" because he can't do actual standup. It is a real fall from grace because the reason everyone liked him was because he was just being himself. But now he's become a complete try hard for laughs and clout and I don't find him as funny as he use to be. Bert if you by some chance see this, you need to get some actual help. Stop drinking and spend more time with your family because you're on a slippery slope to alcoholism and a short life span.

Rating this movie I'm giving it:

4/10

I do not recommend this movie, maybe I'll watch it again when it comes out on redbox and get drunk or high, maybe then I'll find it funnier but as it stands it's a bit underwhelming for a comedy film.

That's all I have to say.

See ya!

[firefox-enthusiast]

There is also this stigma of children's culture being so unworthy of critical analysis because "it's just for kids". I agree with the sanitized TV available to kids, I lack the words to describe it but it is almost always some very clear moral that is meant to be understood and learned from and not something that is a dilemma and the main character never does anything wrong lest the whole thing be about them showcasing how to make amends.

Whereas in so many books there are protagonist

With questionable motives, Roald Dahl and Fantastic mr fox (actually stealing is good sometimes).

Who deal with complex emotions, Astrid Lindgren I want a brother or a sister and The runaway sleigh ride (you want your sibling hurt and the inner turmoil that follows)

Who slay the dragon which is an adult because you are clever, Dave Pilkey and Captain Underpants, or because you are strong and resilient, Philip Pullman and His dark materials.

Who slay a monster, Neil Gaiman and Coraline.

Who are despicable and through their eyes you see the motive and could emphasize, Suzanne Collins and Ballad of songbirds and snakes.

Who have sex and go through a lot dealing with society, Andri Snær Magnason and LoveStar (the future is scary and quite possibly distopic).

Who's actions get someone they love killed, Friðrik Erlingsson and Benjamín dúfa (Benji the dove is a movie based on it but I haven't seen it, there is also movie of the same title in the original language).

Who turns into the kind of person they hated when becoming powerful, Georgia Byng and Molly Moon.

Who get into a cult without realizing they are becoming fascists, Todd Strasser and The wave.

Kids who abuse power, who hurt others, who deal with hate and anger and get revenge.

Power fantasies for kids.

Literature for children is not some lower form of artistry because it's 'just for kids'.

I’m not sure exactly how to articulate it but—there is this bizarre base assumption i see from people discoursing about children’s media, and that’s the assumption that children are somehow unfamiliar with negative emotions. Like, maybe you’ve managed to completely forget your entire life before you turned eighteen, but kids spend a lot of time being hurt, and scared, and angry. A lot of people had terrible fucking childhoods, and a lot of kids are having terrible fucking childhoods right now. When i was a child, and i read books where bad things happened to kids, that was in no way shocking to me, i already knew bad things happened to children. It made me feel more connected to those stories, not less, and it made it more impactful when those child characters overcame it all in the end. That’s important for children. A lot of them are in desperate need of a little hope, and they aren’t going to get it from nothing stories with no conflict. They put conflict in children’s media for a reason

Also i see some of you handwringing over child protagonists going through, like, the most basic hero’s journey. Please, for the love of god, realize that you as an adult are going to understand children’s media differently than the actual kids it’s intended for. Because you’re all grown up now, you aren’t going to be able to relate to a child protagonist. You’re going to see a child in danger. The children the story is meant for are going to see a kid like them who is able to face hardship and triumph

[sa7abnews]

'Base' candidates on left and right, is there room for the middle in this election?

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/12/base-candidates-on-left-and-right-is-there-room-for-the-middle-in-this-election/

'Base' candidates on left and right, is there room for the middle in this election?

So it turns out that an aw shucks Midwesterner – who grew up in small town Nebraska and went on to be a governor, can team up with the vice president who had run a fairly abysmal campaign for president in 2020 – and generate enormous enthusiasm among a base Democratic crowd who had gotten bored – and was clearly not relishing the idea of supporting the 80-something president who had initially sought reelection, even if he was running against their collective nightmare – the restoration of the administration of Donald Trump. Was it enthusiasm – or relief – that we saw during Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’ maiden tour of the key battleground states of the country? For the base of the Democratic Party, probably a little of both.HARRIS TAKES 3-POINT LEAD OVER TRUMP AS SHE GAINS ON KEY ISSUES: POLLThe Democrats are going to need that relief-catalyzed-enthusiasm in order to overcome the electoral support that polls suggest former President Donald Trump continues to represent.In 2016, he (narrowly) carried the Electoral College and won the presidency, while getting 46.1% of the vote nationally. In 2020, he almost carried the Electoral College while getting 46.9% of the national vote. This year, the polling averages have consistently had him in the high forties. And three of the most respected national polls taken since Biden dropped out and Harris has emerged all show Trump retaining the support he had against Biden – an average of 48% of voters. In other words, he’s still in a solid position to win in November.FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: WITH VP PICKS, HARRIS AND TRUMP MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO BROADEN THEIR APPEALMoreover, while Trump has come under criticism for attacking Kamala Harris for supposedly claiming she had tried to hide her Black heritage  – and attacking fellow Republican, and governor of an essential swing state, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, there’s little evidence that the enthusiasm of his voters has subsided in any way.But if Trump is well positioned – in the high forties in national polls – that means that Harris needs to take some of his support if she is to feel confident about November.This year, there was some evidence that Trump could not count on a unified party heading into the general election. During the primaries, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that many Republicans who were voting for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said they would not vote for Trump even if he won the nomination. But since the primaries concluded – there’s been very little evidence in the polling that any of those voters – the Republicans and independent voters who do not consider themselves a part of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement – have moved away from Trump – and Trump remains at 48%.During the rapid campaign to pick her VP running mate, Harris had a choice of several moderate Democrats – who might have had clear appeal to the moderate voters who preferred Nikki Haley as a candidate. Both Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – with his support of fracking and school choice – and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelley – who has been leading the Democrats to take the border and immigration issue more seriously  would have clearly defined Harris as more of a moderate – and even to the right of Biden.Instead, Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. While he did represent a historically Republican district, as a six-year governor he has supported fairly progressive policies – on gun safety, legalized marijuana, drivers’ licenses for undocumented aliens, and even transgender care. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONNow, Walz does not call himself a progressive – as he says “”One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness,” and his quarter-century in the National Guard may make it harder to portray him as “Bernie Sanders” or an “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” – but he certainly has provided the GOP with ammunition to portray him as one.Which leaves the Democrats with two choices:1. Double down on Walz’s progressive record – and try to ensure base turnout in the swing states – and yes, even if Trump gets his current 48% nationally in November – it’s still a toss-up election.2. Figure out a way, by leveraging that small town persona the Minnesota governor is famous for, to try to cut into and attract some of the more moderate Republican and independent voters – who currently make up a [albeit small] part of Trump’s 48% — even if they show some signs of skepticism. Otherwise, the country is faced with yet another “base election” – where each party offers their strongest supporters their fiercest wishes – but which leaves a large chunk of the electorate – the middle – wondering if either party is interested in appealing to them.The Trump campaign is clearly – because of his record as president – focused on ensuring that their base gets out to vote. The Democrats may think that it’ll be sufficient to bring their base voters out – but I would caution them. The crescendo of rally cheers may be ringing in your ears and giving you hopes right now for a huge Democratic base turnout in November… …but, the Trump juggernaut – even after eight years – still seems fairly powerful.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ARNON MISHKIN

[doux-amer]

Still not over how nuts Georgia–Portugal and Czechia–Türkiye were. The first major tournament appearance for Georgia, and they not only make it to the round of 16 but also beat Portugal 2–0! And lmao the DRAMAAAA of Czechia–Türkiye. With so much at stake, it was already a situation bound to be high with tension, but uh, WHAT was that ref on? I wish I had been able to watch both matches with my full attention instead of watching them while attempting to work because that's probably the worst ref I've ever seen in my life and I've seen a lot of bad refs. The number of cards? Everyone was carded. Then a second red card after the match was over to a player belonging to a team that was knocked out which was so useless! The commentators, Mark Clattenburg, and analysis all uniting to criticize him and going so far as to say that the ref was seeing things that weren't there! The controversial penalty?! Just...wow. So many things going on lfsalkdfjsafaj. MESS!

Oh, forgot to say congrats to Romania and Slovakia. I don't remember the last time I've seen a "both teams win" situation, but it was cute to see both NTs and fans be super happy. An entire stadium of happy people celebrating. Good feelings all around especially as they're two teams that aren't big football nations!

[blogger360ncislarules]

Unforgotten, the critically acclaimed crime drama created and written by Chris Lang, has started filming on a sixth season. Sinéad Keenan and Sanjeev Bhaskar reprise their roles as DCI Jess James and DI Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan as their dynamic on-screen partnership returns to investigate emotionally charged cold cases from the past, unravelling secrets and unearthing buried truths along the way.

The new season will be directed by Andy Wilson (Ripper Street, Spooks, The Forsyte Saga) who has been the sole director responsible for directing each of the previous 30 episodes across five seasons of the successful drama.

“I am absolutely delighted to be stepping into the world of Unforgotten once more,” Keenan said. “To be involved with the incredible team…on yet another set of stellar scripts from Chris Lang, with the brilliant Andy Wilson at the helm is a real treat. And to get to work again with Sanjeev, Carolina, Jordan, Pippa, and Georgia is an absolute joy. To call it *work* is a total misnomer. I can’t wait to get started!”

“I’m humbled and excited to be back as Sunny Khan, bearing the backpack for series 6 of Unforgotten,” said  Bhaskar. “Chris’s scripts, as ever, are intriguing, detailed and empathetic.  Andy’s direction and the skill of Sinéad and the cast make this a warm and creative experience that is so much more than a job.  Once again I feel lucky to be a part of it.”

“I’m incredibly excited to be about to start filming the sixth series of Unforgotten, with a story that has been gestating for nearly eight years, since the 23rd June 2016, when our country seemed to fracture in two,” Lang said. “The UK, and indeed the world, has today never seemed more divided, and series six attempts to try and understand how we got to where we are now, and perhaps more importantly, where we can go from here.”

Joining Sinéad and Sanjeev for this series are Victoria Hamilton (Cobra, His Dark Materials), MyAnna Buring (The Responder, The Witcher, The Salisbury Poisonings), acting newcomers Max Fairley and Elham Elas, and legendary British actors Jan Francis and Damien Maloney with returning performances from Andrew Lancel (Bolan’s Shoes, Unforgotten, The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe) as Jess’s husband Steve and Kate Robbins (Unforgotten, The Couple Next Door, Death in Paradise) as her mother Kate.

Jess and Sunny’s loyal and hard-working police team are also back including Jordan Long as DS Murray Boulting, Carolina Main as DC Fran Lingley and Pippa Nixon as DC Kaz Willets. Georgia Mackenzie who plays pathologist Dr. Leanne Balcombe is also returning to the show.

In Season 6, when suspected human remains are discovered on Whitney Marsh, Jess and Sunny are called to the scene. With Dr Balcombe’s expert analysis of the human spine, it’s evident the remains are relatively recent and her guess is the body was put there already dismembered. With this knowledge Jess and Sunny begin to search the area believing other body parts may not be too far away.

In the meantime, we’re introduced to outspoken television commentator Melinda Ricci (MyAnna Buring) who is based in Ireland and renowned for her forthright views, Martin ‘Marty’ Baines (Max Fairley) an autistic man who lives with his mother, Dot, in Deal, Kent, Asif Syed (Elham Elas), an Afghan who speaks fluent English and is training for his UK citizenship test, and Juliet Cooper (Victoria Hamilton) who is a history lecturer and faculty head at a central London University.

Each of these characters live separate lives, yet they are intrinsically linked by their past and it’s for Jess, Sunny and their team to unravel these connections in search of the truth, and ultimately, who perpetrated the cold case murder.

[dungeons-are-too-cold]

imagine the whiplash of season 4 for the older teens

like, ive just been thinking about how the spent however long the events of season 4 are, a week maybe? with someone they barely knew, and when i say they barely knew eddie i mean it. They knew of him, they had ideas about him, they didn't know him though.

they went through the most traumatic, life altering shit with him, they traveled to the upside down, most of them for the first time, nancy for the second. They were running from the law, they were scared out of their, minds.

and then just as they are bonded to eddie for life in the most insane way possible, through this life or death situation, they lose him.

there must be such weird guilt.

There are people I have lost that I have known my whole life and i still feel like i have no right to grieve them because I didn't really know them. Family even that i never allow myself to grieve because we werent close.

Yeah, the teens probably couldn't name eddie's childhood pets, or know what his favorite color was, but that doesnt mean they werent close. And going through a life or death situation doesnt mean they were. Im sure steve is trying to shoulder the responsibility, it was his fault for splitting up the party. Im sure nancy blames herself for losing yet another person to the upside down, not being able to save barb. Robin couldn't figure any way out of this, she couldn't solve anything, there was no puzzle or trick or clue. His death probably weighs on them a lot like that, like as the veterans of this shit and as the oldest ones there, the grown ups, they feel like its their fault. .

But they arent dustin, or mike, or lucas. They didnt know him like that. They probably think that they have no right to mourn and grieve and even just miss eddie like the hellfire club does. They might have some sick twisted idea that it would be disrespectful to Wayne to grieve him openly when they weren't anything to him in school. It just... its crazy to think about what might be going through their heads.

[small-witch-big-hat]

16 April, 1963

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against “outsiders coming in.” I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham’s economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants—for example, to remove the stores’ humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained.

As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?” “Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?” We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham’s mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene “Bull” Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: “Why didn’t you give the new city administration time to act?” The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an “I it” relationship for an “I thou” relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn’t this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn’t this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.

I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.” Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of “somebodiness” that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible “devil.”

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the “do nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.

If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as “rabble rousers” and “outside agitators” those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies—a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: “Get rid of your discontent.” Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.

But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . .” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime—the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle—have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as “dirty nigger-lovers.” Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful “action” antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.

Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: “Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.” In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: “Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.”’ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent—and often even vocal—sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.

I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and “preventing violence.” I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather “nonviolently” in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: “My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest.” They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience’ sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

Martin Luther King, Jr.

[arpov-blog-blog]

I listened to an interview with Simon Rosen on the 'Meidas Touch Network' about a month before the 2022 midterm elections. Almost every issue he discussed was on point. He explained the data he was seeing that indicated no 'Red Wave'. He pinpointed where the votes would come from and where Democrats had their best chances, including Senate races in Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia. Let's put aside the current mainstream media's constant horse race reporting on polling numbers and look at what he has to say now.

...."There are three story lines I’m focused on as we close out the year:

The Strong Democratic Performance Since Dobbs - It’s The Most Important Electoral Data Out There Now

The Remarkably Robust American Economy Gives Biden A Strong Foundation For His Re-Election

Trump’s Historic Baggage Is Being Overly Discounted in Current Analysis About 2024

But Remember, Presidents are not selected by the popular vote alone. They are elected based on the Electoral College vote count. Turnout for Democrats in states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada are now the pivotal 'Swing States. Let’s begin with my basic take on where we are now:

Joe Biden is a good President. The country is better off and we will have a strong case for re-election. The Democratic Party is strong and winning elections across the county. And they have Trump.

Let’s drill down a bit more:

The Strong Democratic Performance Since Dobbs - It’s The Most Important Electoral Data Out There Now - We clearly have not learned the central lesson from the red wave failure of 2022, and continue to center our understanding of American politics around polling. If we centered our understanding around actual election results, rather than noisy and increasingly unreliable polling, here is what we would see:

We Keep Winning Elections - Democrats won in 2018 and 2020, outperformed all expectations in 2022, and did so again in 2023. As it did in 2022, very noisy polling is having a hard time capturing what is really happening in American politics. This recent wave of polling feels a bit red wavy to me as even though Biden was down a bit we had what was in essence a blue wave election on November 7th, which was proceeded by strong Dem electoral performances across the US throughout 2023. In 2022 Republicans could point to a few places they did well, despite our overall success. There was no place they could point to in 2023, anywhere in the country, on any day, in any election, where they did well. To me our continued strong performance in elections across the US the most important electoral data out there, and is the central reason I am optimistic about 2024. When people vote, we just keep outperforming expectations, and they keep struggling.

A Reminder of How Strong Our Post-Dobbs Performance Has Been - In 2022, a “red wave” year, post-Dobbs Democrats outperformed 2020 in 5 US House special elections in AK, MN, NE NY by an average of 7 points; we got to 59% in the Kansas statewide abortion referendum; we outperformed 2018 and 2020 in the 2022 early vote all across the country; we gained a US Senate seat, won 4 state legislative chamber, gained 2 governorships net and won enough seats in the House to deny Republicans ideological control. We gained ground over 2020 in AZ, CO, GA, MI, MN, NH and PA, and got to 59% in CO, 57% in PA, 55% in MI, 54% in NH. In 2023 we flipped the WI Supreme Court Seat, getting to 56% in this critical battleground. We flipped Colorado Springs and Jacksonville, two of the largest Republican held cities in America. We got to 57% in Ohio twice, and took away its six week abortion ban. We flipped the state house in Virginia, and proved that even the 15 week abortion ban, backed by a popular governor and lots of money, cannot provide a safe haven for Republicans on abortion. We gained state legislative seats in New Jersey, Gov Beshear grew his margin in KY, and we won cities and school board seats all across the country. According to the Daily Kos special election tracker, Democrats have outperformed 2020, an election we won by 4.5 points, by an average of 6 points in 37 special state house elections across the US. For the party in power to keep doing this well, in race after race, in elections of all kinds, in every region of the country, over two election years, augers very well for the Democrats in 2024.

Democrats Are In A Remarkable Period of Popular Vote Dominance - A new theory out there is that even though Dems keep performing well in these special elections, off year elections, mid-term elections, school board elections, run-off elections, mayoral elections, ballot initiatives in red states, and every type of election one can imagine, somehow when the electorate gets bigger next year we will struggle. But what has actually happened as the electorate has gotten bigger in recent years? Dems are in a period of unprecedented dominance in the popular vote. We’ve won more votes in 7 of the past 8 general elections, something no other political party has done in American history. In the last 4 Presidential elections we’ve averaged 51% of the vote, the GOP 46% (51%-46%, +5). The last time we did that well was during FDR’s 4 elections all the way back in the 1930s and 1940s. For Trump to win the popular vote next year he will have to do something only a single Republican has done since 1992 and I just don’t believe this disgraced, despicable, insurrectionist is going to be the one to pull that off. We are a center-left country today, and the extremism of MAGA has made it even more so in recent years. The Democratic Party is very strong right now."

[georgiaturfspecialists]

Expert Guide to Residential Turf Installation and Management in Georgia

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Choosing the Right Turf:

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Installation Process and Techniques:

The installation of residential turf in Georgia is a process that requires precision and expertise. Preparation of the site is critical, involving clearing the area of weeds, rocks, and debris, followed by leveling and grading to ensure proper drainage. The next step involves laying the turf, which must be done carefully to avoid gaps or overlaps that can lead to uneven growth or disease. Professionals often use specialized equipment to ensure the turf is laid evenly and securely. Post-installation, the turf requires regular watering to establish roots, a critical phase for the turf's long-term health and appearance. This phase demands attention to detail and consistency to ensure the turf is well-established and ready for regular use.

Essential Care and Management Practices:

After the successful installation of residential turf in Georgia, ongoing management, often referred to as residential turf management georgia, is essential to maintain its health and appearance. Regular mowing is crucial, and it should be done at the height recommended for the specific type of turf installed. Over or under-watering can be detrimental, so understanding the watering needs of your turf type is essential. Fertilization plays a vital role in providing necessary nutrients, and it should be done at recommended intervals. Seasonal aeration and dethatching are also essential to maintain soil health and allow for better water and nutrient absorption. Homeowners should be aware of common pests and diseases that can affect turf in Georgia and take preventive measures or seek professional help when needed.

Conclusion:

Residential turf installation and management in Georgia require a careful approach tailored to the specific conditions of the region. Homeowners seeking these services should consider consulting professionals who have the expertise and knowledge of local conditions. Companies like GeorgiaTurfSpecialists.com offer comprehensive solutions, ensuring that your lawn not only looks beautiful but is also healthy and sustainable in the long term. With the proper professional guidance, your residential turf in Georgia can be a source of pride and joy for many years.

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[cksmart-world]

SMART BOMB

The Completely Unnecessary News Analysis

By Christopher Smart

August 1, 2023

ALIENS ON ICE — U.S. HIDING EXTRATERRESTRIALS

A “whistleblower” told a congressional subcommittee that the United States has recovered the dead bodies of little, green men believed to be aliens from outer space. Former DOD intelligence officer David Grusch testified before a House Oversight subcommittee that several crashed spacecraft and the bodies of aliens who piloted them are secreted away in a warehouse in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. They haven't been found because the U.S. Space Force engaged a “cloaking device” taken from one of the UFOs to make them invisible. When Republican Rep. Eric Burlison asked how the aliens could get here from faraway galaxies, Grush said the non-human spacecraft had inter-dimensional potential. “You can be projected, quasi-projected from higher dimensional space to lower dimensional,” he said. But he could not explain why the aliens crashed if their technology is so sophisticated, except that a nearby McDonald's was advertising the McRib Meal Deal. Committee Republicans steamed over what they called a cover-up. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said the government is trying “to gaslight Americans into thinking that this is not happening.” But as Mr. Spock said to Capt. Kirk: “In critical moments, men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see.” Beam me up, Scotty, it's too weird down here.

10 THINGS THE MOVIE “BARBIE” TEACHES US

1 – Men are worthless

2 – Well not totally worthless

3 – Women can be astronauts

4 – Women can be spacey

5 – Pink is everything

6 – Barbie is not a feminist

7 – Barbie is a feminist

8 – Women should be beautiful

9 – Women should not be too beautiful

10 – Barbie is subversive — that sneaky nefarious passive-aggressive little plastic doll!

“THE BIG LIE” JUST WON'T PAY OFF — LITERALLY

Well this is a fine how-do-you-do — the once and future president has lost again in court. This time a federal judge tossed Donald Trump's $475 million defamation suit against CNN, ruling that viewers would have to be crazy to believe the cable news channel was comparing him to Hitler when it labeled his big lie about the 2020 election as “The Big Lie.” Darn the luck. The Hitler allegation goes back to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, who reportedly said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually believe it.” Nonetheless, the court ruled that “CNN’s use of the phrase ‘The Big Lie’ does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people.” Trump loves to sue people and corporations, but he's also up to his eyeballs in defense attorney fees. Federal elections filings show that Trump paid $40 million from his Save America PAC in legal-related payments so far this year. And he's going to spend a lot more on federal criminal cases in New York and Florida. Two more are likely in Washington D.C. and Georgia. A passel of civil suits also await. His political donors don't seem to mind picking up the tab. As Goebbels also said: “A sucker is born every minute.” Or was that P.T. Barnum? Whatever.

Post script — That's a wrap for another week here at Smart Bomb were we keep track of climate change so you don't have to. Wilson, did you know it's so hot in Phoenix that Republicans there are wondering if there really isn't something to this global warming hoax, after all. It's so hot in Phoenix that you can roast a lamb on the dashboard of a 2007 Cadillac El Dorado. But Phoenicians are used to the heat and many wear asbestos gloves to avoid burning their hands on the steering wheel. In fact, it was so hot in Phoenix last week that it melted the steering wheel on a 1958 DKW F94. Don't tell Republicans this, but scientists say July was the hottest month in 120,000 years. For real. Here's a big surprise, President Joe Biden will visit Utah, Arizona and New Mexico from Aug. 7 – 10 and he's going to address the hot heat and his administration's response to climate change. That should go over big here in the Beehive State where we all know God is in charge. If you're wondering where Utah Rep. Burgess Owens has gone, wonder no more: He's out with a new email urging constituents to impeach Joe Biden. But when voters click on “demand an impeachment inquiry,” they are sent to his fundraising page where they can donate big bucks so Burgess can continue to do God's work — or not.

Well Wilson, we're in one big galaxy and there must be intelligent life somewhere. But as noted physicist Enrico Fermi said to Edward Tellar: “If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now. So where the hell are they?” OK Wilson, wake up the band and take us out with a little something for our star gazers and E.T. lovers:

Whenever life gets you down, Mrs.Brown And things seem hard or tough And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft And you feel that you've had quite enough Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned A sun that is the source of all our power The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see Are moving at a million miles a day In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way' Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars It's a hundred thousand light years side to side It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point We go 'round every two hundred million years And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe

So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure How amazingly unlikely is your birth And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth

(The Galaxy Song — Monty Python)