Thankless Thursday

Where to begin?

• At a 'big box' store today, I saw a woman wearing a Richland Rebels t-shirt, prominently featuring a starred bar.  We are, of course, given to understand - in the modern era - that any depiction relating to the Confederacy, or 'Rebel', is ipso facto racist.
• Did I mention that the woman was African-American?  And quite possibly old enough to have been born when there were still separate drinking fountains?
• Circumstances were not such that I could inquire what the Rebel images meant to her, but I saw nothing in her demeanor that suggested her shirt was anything other than an ordinary article of clothing to wear shopping.
• Blogger Denney Crane today referenced an article about author and political commentator Dinesh D'Souza.  In 2010 and 2012, D'Souza likely offended the current socialist/progressive regime with a book - and later film - critical of the present administration, and last year, he was convicted, sentenced to a halfway house and fined for illegal campaign contributions in 2012.  Even noted liberal lawyer Alan Dershowitz said of D'Souza's prosecution that "...it smacks of selective prosecution."
• This week, upon release from the halfway house portion of his sentence, the Judge in his case ordered him for continuing psychological 'counseling', because he apparently hasn't fallen into line with respect to his commentary on the current body politic.
• Those of you who came of age before MTV may remember that it was a favorite tactic of the former USSR to host its dissidents in the loony house in an attempt to dispel the dissidency from them.  Names like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Natalya Gorbanevskaya may come to mind - the latter of which was the subject of a song co-written and performed by Joan Baez on her 1975 From Every Stage live album.
• I never thought we would see 're-education camps' in the U.S.A., but then, there are a good many things today that were unimaginable back when I was still in knickers.
• Wonder if Joan Baez will write a song for Mr. D'Souza?  Won't hold my breath...
• Kevin Sorbo speaks to the media regarding faith-based content and lack of moral value in much of today's entertainment.  He will be figuratively pilloried for his comments.
• I sometimes use the local library's computer lab.  A few days ago, I glanced over at another patron's screen, noticing she was putting together a PowerPoint presentation, and was using a text of  "Human Sexuality" as a source.
• I have no idea the context, but at one point I saw this image - don't know if it was going onto the presentation or if she was just looking for something else.
• Also, no idea what the presentation was about - not my business - though I saw the letters GSD on what I assume may have been the title page/screen.  As I am a frequent reader of Lagniappe's Lair, my curiosity was piqued, wondering  (fearing?) what German Shepherds have to do with human sexuality.
• Later, I researched the term, finding that it stands for Gender/Sexual Diversity.  Apparently, as various letters of the sexual universe were added, the LBTQIA acronym train stretched farther than New York to San Francisco, so the up-and-coming term is now GSD.  (Just something else I could not have imagined knowing 40 years ago...[sigh]).
• We learned today of a deranged murderer in Chattanooga who killed four Marines, and injured several others, before he was himself killed by police.  May God comfort those Marines' families.
• Not to put too fine a point on it, but somehow, mere hours after the deadly attack, the CIC stated that "We know that what appears to be a lone gunman carried out these attacks."  No inkling of what might have prompted the rampage from the CIC.
• In contrast, the CIC was quite omniscient about the motives of another deranged murderer, in Charleston, SC, back in June, when he opined "We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney and eight others knew all of this history. But he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random, but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress. (Applause.) An act that he imagined would incite fear and recrimination; violence and suspicion. An act that he presumed would deepen divisions that trace back to our nation’s original sin."
• I guess some dots are easier for the CIC to connect than others.  Bias much?
• But lest anyone lose heart, as of last evening we have a new Profile in Courage: Caitlyn Jenner.
• Heaven help us!