Pit Bulls

Whenever I write about religion (Lancaster Farming is still getting replies to my critical letter about the religious column they print, and that was over a month ago) or cats (it is amazing how many people still maintain the Egyptian religious views on the sacredness of cats), the number of enemies I have grows exponentially.  Thank goodness I’m not on Facebook.  I wouldn’t have any “friends” at all.

I’ve  decided to increase the number of people who don’t like me.  I’m posting about pit bulls.

Today the New York Times ran an article about a man who has been charged with cruelty to animals because he strangled a pit bull that was attacking another dog.  Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding that he be severely punished.  

Earlier this week the Lehighton Times News ran a front page article about a man whose pet pit bull severely bit a family member.  

When is the last time you saw an article about a dachshund attacking someone?  About a border collie mauling a kid?  A chihuahua killing a baby?  If you saw a guy on the street with a beagle on a leash and another with a pit bull, which dog would you pet?

At this point pit bull owners will jump up and down and shout how their dogs are gentle, loving, wonderful, and how the mean ones are the fault of their owners.  How do I tell the difference?  I am perfectly willing to believe there are nice pit bulls.  I also believe that if you own one, that says a lot more about you and the image you are trying to project than it does about the poor dog.

Military spending and the Taliban

One would think that a country that spends more on defense than the next eight largest spenders combined–China, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Russia, Britain, Germany, and Japan–could whip the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Our strategy must be bad, or our objectives, or our leadership, or maybe we are spending on the wrong stuff.  

Since we can’t seem to defeat the Taliban, the new strategy seemed to be to invite them to negotiate, in the meantime selling out the Afghans who are trying to govern their country in a more reasonable manner. 

When Trump was planning his photo-op meeting with the Taliban at Camp David, the Afghan government was not even invited.  That is an eerie echo of the 1938 Munich conference that divided Czechoslovakia and didn’t consult the Czechs.  

Now that the negotiations have been put on hold (Trump must be so disappointed to lose the opportunity to sign the agreement with his Sharpie in front of the cameras), there is nothing to replace that failed policy except talk about decreasing American forces in Afghanistan.  That should work.

If this Administration can do something–anything–right, I’d sure like to know what it is.

Banning flavored vaping

Last year the U.S. saw 11,484 gun-related deaths.

In recent months there have been six deaths linked to vaping.

Guess on which one the Trump administration took action.

Wedge issue?

Today Linda and I were interviewed by a reporter from a Washington D.C. newspaper (no, not the Post).  He was in Pennsylvania researching a story about a possible “wedge issue” to be used if Biden is the nominee. 

If Biden opposes pipelines, he will irritate the labor unions which support pipeline building.  If he favors pipelines, he will irritate environmentalists who oppose them.  The Trump campaign would use this issue to divide people.

The reporter had learned that Linda was head of the anti-pipeline group “Save Carbon County,” and he wanted to have her take on the issue.  He quickly learned that Linda was one of the founders of the Carbon County Labor Chapter and worked for a union.  Most union members are environmentalists; most environmentalists support a unionized workforce.

It is typical of Trump to run a campaign based on fear and hatred.  It is like him and his campaign managers to think that they can divide labor and environmentalists.  It won’t work.  Neither of those two groups is about to support him.  We aren’t that dumb.

Open carry in Walmart

Before you go all warm and fuzzy on Walmart, remember that the Corporation “requested” that people not carry guns in its stores.  Fanatics are still carrying them around, and Walmart personnel are asked not to confront them.

Walmart stores are private property.  The management can ban open carry any time it desires.

The best way for you as an individual to solve this problem is ridicule.  When people who bring guns into stores and restaurants are laughed at, they will quit.

Here are three things you can say.  Chose one.

1.  Hey!  Squirrels running around in Aisle Seven.  If you get over there, you can probably bag a few.

2.  I love the NRA’s new slogan.  (The guy will ask you, “What new slogan?”)  You know, the one that says  The only way you’ll take my gun is over your cold dead kids.

3.  I’ve always been curious.  Does your gun really make you feel better about your small pee-pee?

U.S. Senators vs. British M.P.s

Boris Johnson warned his Conservative members of Parliament that if they ignored his wishes and voted against his program to leave the European Union with no deal, their political careers would be dead.

Twenty-one Conservatives put their country ahead of their political interests and voted against him.

Just think of that.  Putting your country ahead of your party.  What a concept.

Let's start the week on a positive note

Derek Black’s father is Don Black, the organizer of “Stormfront,” a white nationalist collection of blogs, chat rooms, and streaming radio that is considered a leading hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks these things.  Stormfront rants against Muslims, globalists, Jews, blacks, and immigrants–all the usual suspects.

Derek himself appeared with his father on the Don and Derek Black Show.  He was a smart kid who changed the emphasis of Stormfront.  He said the members were not against anyone, but were just trying to protect the interests of white heritage and culture.

Derek attended a local community college where he got straight A’s.  In 2020 he transferred to New College of Florida, the honors college of the state university system.  He was a guy who easily made friends, including an immigrant from Peru, and...a Jewish girlfriend.  Conflicted, as you can imagine, he told his dad his studies made it difficult for him to appear on the radio show.  

At his girlfriend Allison’s urging, he eventually decided to write a statement about his evolution.  “I am sorry for the damage done by my actions.  I realize not all will instantly believe me, or may perceive this as a seemingly abrupt change when it has been instead a gradual awakening process.  I understand that my words won’t suddenly heal all wounds.”

He then sent it to the Southern Poverty Law Center.  

Info for this post is from Adam Hochschild’s review of Rising Out of Hatred:  The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli Saslow (Doubleday).  The review can be found in The New York Review of Books, Sept. 26, 2019, pp. 72-73.