After all the furore over the Confederate flag, I thought a few people from up north might like to be reminded of a splendid film in which some good ol' boys get their asses whupped. (Seems I'm becoming bi-lingual.) And I apologise for posting two videos in one night, but at least I chose the shorter version of this one... And the music is very much up my street.
If it won't play, this is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mu5V7mIHW0
And respect to the black woman who climbed the flagpole and took the law into her own hands. I hope she's been released without charge by now. If so, it must be party time in SC.
Interesting prospect and one to be followed. American jurisprudence seems to me to be excessively draconian at times, and it also appears to be the case that some judges - at least at county and state level - can be more partisan than they should be, especially in the south. Maybe I just have a jaundiced view based on the stuff the Klan used to get away with. Ill treatment of black people was ever a sore point with me.
In this case I'm wondering how much the apparent adverse public opinion towards the Confederate flag will influence matters, not to mention the likely local counter reaction if Ms Newsome is sent to jail. And I wonder whether the SC National Guard is straining at the leash, licking its lips at the prospect of a possible return to the good old days.
I'm sure - or at least I hope - that the judges are aware that treating Brittany Newsome harshly will only help her cause. In some ways we have come a long way from the early decades of the KKK; in other ways, not so much. The continued presence of the Confederate flag and the enshrinement of the "Lost Cause" are perfect examples of the way that the South really hasn't changed (and doesn't want to change); the continued marginalization and brutalization of black people is another. And I think you're right, the very entities that are supposed to keep the public safe are waiting for the slightest justification to unleash the most extreme force.
It surprises me that the concept of the Lost Cause could have become so entrenched and lasted such a long time. 150 years, is it? Being miffed at having lost the war is one thing, but to enshrine the bitterness into a seemingly permanent sense of elitist and separate identity seems odd.
I wonder whether it's the result of what I think of as 'the American Condition' - that hint of apparent insecurity which I see as inevitable given the mere 300 years during which America had to drag itself at lightning speed ('from barbarism to decadence' as somebody famously put it)into parity with older, well established countries. And they had to do so with a constantly changing population base of immigrants from many disparate sources, so the drive to achieve homogeneity must have been difficult. (And I sometimes sense that it continues to be difficult.) Add liberated slaves into the mix and maybe some folks just couldn't handle it.
Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, and maybe you will disagree vehemently, but it's a thought.
I've never had money because I've never been driven by money. I received little formal education beyond the age of sixteen, which isn't such a bad thing since you get a different angle on life that way. Learning what you want and need to learn often reveals things that the system's road keeps hidden.
Anyone interested in viewing the availablity of my novel Odyssey or novella The Gift Horse can do so here.
To Be Retained...
...until death do re-unite or the Priestess return to Avalon.
Khalil Gibran on Children.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
OMAR KAYYAM ON REGRET.
The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.
Herman Hess on Nobility
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self .
Free Fiction
I have another blog called A Handful of Stories on which I've posted some of my short fiction. Most of it has been published by a variety of independent small press publishers, so somebody other than me must have thought it worth reading.
All the permanent pictures and some of the posted ones on this blog are my copyright. Most of them, however, are placed with a picture library which holds the licensing rights. I don't, therefore, have the legal right to grant permission to use them.
An Inhabitant of the Hungry Ghost Realm
This character appears in one of my short stories, and also in the novel. He's sadder than he looks, poor thing.
4 comments:
Brittany Newsome has been released. Charges have not been dropped though. Hope she avoids jail time at least.
Interesting prospect and one to be followed. American jurisprudence seems to me to be excessively draconian at times, and it also appears to be the case that some judges - at least at county and state level - can be more partisan than they should be, especially in the south. Maybe I just have a jaundiced view based on the stuff the Klan used to get away with. Ill treatment of black people was ever a sore point with me.
In this case I'm wondering how much the apparent adverse public opinion towards the Confederate flag will influence matters, not to mention the likely local counter reaction if Ms Newsome is sent to jail. And I wonder whether the SC National Guard is straining at the leash, licking its lips at the prospect of a possible return to the good old days.
I'm sure - or at least I hope - that the judges are aware that treating Brittany Newsome harshly will only help her cause. In some ways we have come a long way from the early decades of the KKK; in other ways, not so much. The continued presence of the Confederate flag and the enshrinement of the "Lost Cause" are perfect examples of the way that the South really hasn't changed (and doesn't want to change); the continued marginalization and brutalization of black people is another. And I think you're right, the very entities that are supposed to keep the public safe are waiting for the slightest justification to unleash the most extreme force.
It surprises me that the concept of the Lost Cause could have become so entrenched and lasted such a long time. 150 years, is it? Being miffed at having lost the war is one thing, but to enshrine the bitterness into a seemingly permanent sense of elitist and separate identity seems odd.
I wonder whether it's the result of what I think of as 'the American Condition' - that hint of apparent insecurity which I see as inevitable given the mere 300 years during which America had to drag itself at lightning speed ('from barbarism to decadence' as somebody famously put it)into parity with older, well established countries. And they had to do so with a constantly changing population base of immigrants from many disparate sources, so the drive to achieve homogeneity must have been difficult. (And I sometimes sense that it continues to be difficult.) Add liberated slaves into the mix and maybe some folks just couldn't handle it.
Maybe I'm completely wrong about this, and maybe you will disagree vehemently, but it's a thought.
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