Monthly Archives: February 2021

Fears Of a Return to the Bad Days

22 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Autism, Politics, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Once again, my lack of wokeness has caused me to fall foul of the woke brigade. Last week on Facebook, I was watching a video from a programme called “Full Frontal” hosted by Samantha Bee. Her presentation was on college fraternities and their dark origins based on sexism and racism. In reality, the college frats weren’t always what you see in films like “Animal House.” Of course, with my Asperger’s/DAMP mind, this got me to reflect back to my college days after I got out of the marines. Not really in line with Samantha’s point but it was enough to get me thinking.

Samantha Bee

To bring you up to speed, when I left the marines, I made the ‘tragic’ mistake of thinking that four years of having, (no choice), to wear a crew cut in the service of my country was grounds to grow my hair long. Not a cool thing to do in intolerant 80s Reagan America. Naturally, I got a lot of crap off people for doing so. My explanations of serving my country fell on deaf ears or just ignored. I had long hair, therefore, I was weird or something was wrong with me. One attempted counter to me being in the service was that I had volunteered, I wasn’t drafted. No matter, I willingly gave up four years of my life. As a result, I thought that there should be a draft because everyone would experience what I did and wouldn’t have been so quick to judge me.

Getting back to Samantha’s video. I wrote on the thread that it might be a radical idea to bring back the draft as military service did a lot of good for me and maybe 18 year olds aren’t ready for college. Needless to say, I got some rather angry responses, although credit where due, except for one person calling me a ‘fascist,’ no one hurled insults at me. I did try to address every response personally and then made a general statement in regard to the responses. I even admitted to the gentleman who accused me of not seeing past my nose that he was right because I was speaking from my own experiences. He along with most people didn’t respond to my responses, so I guess they either agreed with my point or just didn’t want to engage further.

While the responses weren’t insulting, many of them did give me concern for the future of America. While no country in the world honours its wartime military better than the USA, America does tend to go 180 degrees in the other direction in regards to its peacetime forces. The peacetime military gets treated with indifference and even disdain. I was hoping that after the support America gave its military personnel after two questionable wars, that it would still continue to honour its servicepersons in peacetime. Some of the responses I got gave me worry that America is not going to do that.

One popular response was talking that giving an 18 year old a gun was worse than sending him/her to college. What they don’t realize is that the military teaches a person to respect and care for their weapon and when and how to use it. Some responded that sending an 18 year old off to war isn’t the answer. Wasn’t that what America has been doing for nearly two decades? In general, I sensed a disdain for the US military in general and was wondering that if many of these respondents simply hated the US military. That’s exactly what I faced when I served in the years following the Vietnam War. No one thanked me for my service until nearly 30 years after I served and only two respondents did on this thread. So, I ask, is America going to start hating its armed forces again?

In between those responses there were some good ones. A couple of people had a very good idea which I am definitely on board with. National Service doesn’t have to mean military service. The idea of a civilian service for people leaving high school is an excellent one. Doing national, state and local projects which they would be paid for would do a lot for 18 year olds. It would give them the chance to experience life before entering higher education and give them a mature head for doing so in the process. With the rising costs of higher education, they would be able to save for it. Plus, they would get the opportunity of serving their country and community without having to join the military. I think it’s a win-win all around.

I hope the woke brigade are taking notice.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1614021836&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

I’m Not Woke!

15 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Autism, Politics, television, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

I found this out last week when I received a comment on my other blog, 80smetalman, stating that I was a misogynist because I made a comment on singer Olivia Newton-John’s weight. Back in 2012, I wrote a post on ONJ’s 1979 album, “Totally Hot.” In my closing comments, I reflected back on my seventeen year old self in 1979 and commented on how I thought that Olivia looked better after putting on a little weight. My Asperger’s Syndrome allows me to reflect back in time quite easily. Anyway, this person calling himself John wrote a comment on that ancient post telling me how wrong it was to comment on someone’s weight and how inappropriate it was to do so on a music blog. He further stated that if I comment on one person’s weight, then I should comment on the weight of everyone I post about.

Olivia Newton-John in 1978

In my response, I apologized for my crystal ball not working in 2012 and if I had known that someone would have taken offense in 2021, then I would have not posted it. Furthermore, if I had known my observation on Olivia Newton-John back in 1979 was going to cause offense, I would have kept those observations to myself. So far, I have not had a response back.

Here lies a problem with the woke brigade. They are going back in history as far as the 1970s and beyond and looking for sexist and racist content in books, films and television shows. Then they are demanding these shows are taken off the air as they “no longer fit in today’s climate.” I can see merit in that last part. Some shows, films and books could be considered ‘dated’ and not politically correct in our modern world. But banning them is going a step too far. Just because I might enjoy a certain show from my teen years, which might be considered sexist or racist these days doesn’t mean I am either of those things. If there is something that bothers my political, social or moral compass, then I won’t watch it, simple as that. What I won’t do is to preach to others that they shouldn’t watch just because of what I think. I like a recent response from a former script writer from the 1970s who apologizes for the fact that he didn’t know the story lines he wrote for certain sitcoms would cause offense to people fifty years later. I can’t remember all that he said but if I can find it, I will post it here because it was pretty funny.

I loved these boots and wore them most of the time

Now let’s get to the related subject I was originally going to write about, cultural appropriation. Back in the 1980s, I wore boots like the ones pictured above. Back then, it was the intolerant times of 80s Reagan America and therefore, I got a lot of stick from people over them. I was called things like “Chief Jay Strongbow” (a Native American wrestler in the WWE) and basically labelled weird for being out of fashion and dressing like I was in the 1960s. My reasons for doing so, wanting to be an individual after giving up my individuality for four years in the service of my country didn’t justify it in the eyes of the intolerant.

Chief Jay Strongbow

These days, it would be the Left who would be giving me stick for wearing these boots. Because these boots are considered to be Native American, the left would be accusing me of cultural misappropriation. That I, as a white man, should not be allowed to wear such footwear. All I know is that I thought those boots were cool, even if most of 80s Reagan America didn’t. I never wore them because I wanted to be Native American and I definitely would not disrespect theirs or any other culture. If I still had the boots, I would be tempted to go out and wear them just to see if anyone does accuse me of cultural misappropriation. Oh by the way, wouldn’t the right calling me “Chief Jay Strongbow” for wearing the boots also be racist?

Because I am so misogynistic and unwoke, I have decided to end the post by being both sexist and racist and post pictures of two women, both of whom I consider very sexy ladies and are both the hottest women in the TV series they appear or have appeared in. However, one I consider the sexist woman of Afro-Caribbean origin of all time and the other I consider the same but of Hispanic origin. I await your slings and arrows in response.

Michelle Nichols: played Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek series.
Marissa Ramirez: currently plays Detective Baez in the TV series Blue Bloods.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1613411408&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Even a Girl is Better Than You

08 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Bullying, Sports, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Women’s Ice Hockey

Chateau Cherrie has a lot to answer for! Just joking, really I should thank her for the inspiration. Her posts on trans-genders competing as females in sports has now given me material for three posts. Thank you Cherrie. However, the subject takes on a darker element for me as it was a contributing factor in the bullying I suffered for three years.

I wholeheartedly admit that when I was younger, I sucked at sports. The ‘M’ in DAMP, which I am convinced I have, stands for motor skills and even to this day, my fine motor skills aren’t good. Part of that could be down to the fact that I am far sighted in one eye and near sighted in the other. My Asperger’s Syndrome, which DAMP is incorporated in, played a big role in my lack of sporting ability. This led to me being bullied by those who were considered sports stars. Jock bullying is something that has been around for a long long time and I could write posts on that. Anyway, I digress but here’s the thing. Some of the girls who were good at sports were better than me and that was the catalyst for the bullying I received back then. In the sexist culture that prevailed and still does, a girl being better than a boy at sports was used as a tool to bully the boy.

While things have dramatically improved since those horrible days, it hasn’t totally gone away. Female athletes get more respect these days and I applaud schools and sports organizations who use these athletes to encourage girls to take up sport. On the other hand, there is still a ways to go before male and female athletes are viewed the same. Yes, I know all about body differences between men and women but in my view, this is another reason to cheer females in sport. The fact that they sometimes have to push their bodies even harder to achieve their goals. It’s even more reason why it shouldn’t be used as a weapon to bully men or boys who aren’t as capable at sports.

Here’s my weird mind at work again but it’s another important point. Even if I hadn’t been bad at sports as a child, I think I still would have had a lot of admiration for women in sports. For years, I have been wary of declaring my admiration on account of the world seeing me as some sort of sicko or worse, as some further slur on my masculinity. There is nothing wrong with it and thanks to the internet, I now know I am not alone in this thought. While, I don’t partake, there are websites where men can compete against women, true, some for sexist reasons, but mainly because these men respect the athleticism of these women. Everyone, make or female who excels at sports should be. What I hope now is that women being good at sports should never be used as a means to bully.

Shameless book link: The topic does come up in “He Was Weird,” where Mark is bullied and harassed because a girl pitcher strikes him out in baseball.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1612797441&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Trump Cards

01 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Politics, Religion, Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking more about trump cards in card games in relation to all the things I mentioned in my last post. That post and this one was inspired from a post from fellow blogger Chateau Cherrie. I covered the first part of her post last week, when she talked about how she thought that allowing trans-gender athletes to compete as women will set women’s sports back one hundred years. However, at the end of Cherrie’s post, she talks about how the Left supports countries who haven’t left the Middle Ages in regards to their treatment of women and that’s the subject of today’s post.

If you want to read Cherrie’s article, click the link: https://cheriewhite.blog/2021/01/23/how-the-left-killed-the-goals-and-dreams-of-female-athletes/

Both are fine on this beach, they’re fine with me

Let me get right to the point, I believe that feminists have allowed the ‘feminist card’ to be trumped by the ‘race’ and ‘Islamaphobic’ cards. I was hoping to feature a comic strip I saw on Facebook a few years back but unable to do so, I will explain it here:

First frame: A man is saying how all Homosexuals should be stoned and women should be subservient to men.

Second frame: A young woman says, “You’re views are disgusting, you must be a Republican.”

Third frame: The man replies, “I’m not a Republican, I’m a Muslim and those are my religious beliefs.”

Final frame: The woman apologizes, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be Islamaphobic.”

This is the contradiction of the Left, though some could call it hypocrisy. Because the Left is so against Western governments’ war on radical Islam and according to the Left, everything their governments do is wrong, (the Right can be the same way), they immediately side with those the government is at war with. Therefore, they make excuses and even support Islamic countries who force young girls into marriage, treat them like second and third class citizens and practice Female Genital Mutilation. However, if you call them out on this, the Left will immediately call you “racist” or “Islamaphobic.”

My question to feminists is: Why have you allowed the feminist card to be trumped by the race and Islamaphobic cards? I won’t even speculate a guess here but if any are reading this, please answer the question.

Living and working as a teacher in the UK, I have had the pleasure to work along side of Muslim women who also work in the profession. To me, they dispel the Right’s belief that all Muslim men don’t want their women educated or working in a professional capacity. These are the one who the feminists on the Left should be championing. Doing so will bring forth further understanding between the two camps and feminists could be very instrumental in doing this. It’s a lot better than simply branding people who speak out against Islamic or any oppression of women ‘racist.’ But what do I know, I’m a white male?

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1612175167&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1