And Now, A Few Words About Reparations

Recently, the Arizona Republic published an editorial cartoon that showed Adam and Eve asking for Reparations for being forced from the Garden of Eden. I suppose a certain segment of the Republic's readers found this to be clever.

Except...Adam and Eve and their Garden are a fairy tale and slavery actually happened. Human beings sold like cattle. Women raped and impregnated by their "owners". Men and women brutalized and murdered, or worked until death. Children taken from their parents and sold to the highest bidder. You know, the part of American history that certain people tend to gloss over, or ignore completely.

 

Since I'm a reasonable person, if someone can convince me that all the atrocities against African Americans stopped with the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments, and that we live now in a "color blind", just society, with equal opportunity for all, good schools and fair housing for everyone, then I'll agree that the idea of reparations is absurd. 

 

Until then, do us all a favor and keep the fairy tales for Sunday school.

You Might Be A Racist If...

You've ever started a sentence with, "I'm not a racist, but..."

You think that slavery wasn't that bad.

You're fond of telling other American citizens to "go back to where they came from."

You have a Confederate flag.

You're a Republican who remains silently complicit.

You support Donald J. Trump.

You are related to Donald J. Trump.

You are Donald J. Trump.

See, it's really not that hard to spot a racist. I don't know what the confusion is. Or the hesitation to call things what they truly are.

Because when someone shows you what they are, over and over again, only a fool wouldn't believe them.

The Important Thing Is That The Market Is Up!

There are children in cages, drinking water from toilets--but the market is up!

The President is a traitorous imbecile--but the market is up!

Our election was hacked, our infrastructure is old and decrepit, the rich keep getting tax breaks that they do not need, white supremacists wander the halls of the White House, cops keep shooting people of color on an almost daily basis, Mitch McConnell is a cancer on democracy--but the market is up!

Things can and will fall apart.

But the important thing is that the market is up!

You probably don't own any stock, or, if you do own stock, not very much of it...most of us don't. Sure, pension funds are heavily invested in the market, but who do you know with a pension these days? And, if you do have a pension, there's a very good chance that either A) it's underfunded to the point of insolvency; or B) somewhere a Republican is plotting to take it away from you.

But, whether or not you own any stock, the important thing is that the market is up!

Signor Baseball's Midseason Update

Repeat after me, "the balls are not juiced, the balls are not juiced, the balls are not juiced."

Feel better?

Apparently the powers that be have decided that what the fans really want is a season long episode of Home Run Derby.

So, anyway, as we race past the halfway mark of the MLB season, let us pause to ask the eternal questions: where the hell are we and what the hell is going on?

In the AL, several surprises surprise us. Minnesota is much better than anyone expected, and if the Indians don't get their asses in gear, their reign in the Central will be over. The Yankees are also out performing expectations, especially considering that they've been without their best starter and their two top power hitters practically all year. I still expect Boston to make a race out of it, but like  Cleveland, they better do it soon. Tampa is also a surprise, and has a good shot at a Wild Card berth.

In the West, Seattle has been the biggest disappointment and Texas the biggest surprise. But Houston is still the class of this division, and the best the Rangers and maybe the A's can hope for is one of the Wild Cards. The Angels have the best player in baseball in Mike Trout, a future Hall-of-Famer in Albert Pujols, and that Japanese cat, Ohtani, who is very, very good. This makes them wonderfully entertaining for a dozen or so at bats every game, but isn't quite enough to make them contenders.

Over in the National League East, the Phillies aren't nearly as good as expected, but the Braves don't look strong enough to run away from them, so expect that race to go down to the last week of the season. The Nationals starting pitching is still very strong, but they seem stuck right around .500, which won't win them anything.

In the Central, the Cubs haven't been able to separate themselves from Milwaukee. In fact the entire division is bunched together, as they all take turns beating each other. This should give some measure of hope to fans of the Reds and Pirates and especially the Cardinals, who've spent the first half of the season muddling along. On paper, Chicago is still the class of this division, but until they start playing like it...

Out West it's all Dodgers. Colorado, San Diego and, quelle surprise, Arizona, have taken turns being second. But it is a very distant second...I guess the question to ask is whether L.A. is that good, or is everybody else that mediocre? I'm leaning toward the latter.

By the way, while I was writing this 10 guys you've never heard of hit 450 foot homers.