Pronouns - 7/17/2023

Just a quick hitter on pronouns this morning. I was scrolling on Twitter, and a mother was complaining that she took her child to a doctor's office, and the receptionist had the audacity to refer the the child as "she" and "her" rather than "they" or "them". She said she corrected the receptionist, but the receptionist kept using she and her. What audacity that receptionist has!

All at once "they" and "them" as preferred pronouns bugged me. Why? Well, as I thought about it I realized I thought they and them are plurals. Was the mother saying the child has multiple personalities? Does the child have multiple identities? Does the child identify as a group rather than a singular person. Scratching my increasingly bald head, I decided I need to look it up.

Lo and behold, the definitions have been updated. No longer are these words defined as plural to refer to either unspecified persons or a group of persons. The definitions have been modified to include use as pronouns for non-binary persons who don't feel "he" or him", nor "she" or "her" are an accurate reflection of who they perceive themselves to be. Non-binary meaning there have been traditionally only two choices, and neither of them fits a person's self awareness.

The most fun part of it is the mother making the receptionist out to be some kind of a bad person. When the kid gets into the room with the doctor is the doctor not supposed to know which anatomical features he or she will be examining. "I see 'they' have no penis, would 'they' like me to check 'their' PSA and give 'them' a prostate exam anyway?" "Would 'they' like a mammogram, or shall I pretend those aren't breasts?" These are the same fucking people who tell us to 'trust the science'.

While I'm on this rant... I went into the Whole Foods across the street Saturday to do an Amazon return. On the way in I saw a nearly androgynous looking person, presumably a woman, with green and blue hair, multiple face piercings, ear gauges, and an unusual and striking combination of colors and patterns in her clothing. I didn't have an issue with any of that. But it did strike me that this person, dare I say 'she', worked really hard to not look like her natural self, and also dressed so that people like me would notice and say, "What?"

Why in the fuck are so many people trying so hard to be something other than what they are? Instead of "being their best 'me'," what I see is people trying to be something they're not and then get mad at us if we think of them as what our eyes see.

I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to deal with this bullshit in an employment situation. I really am. If I was starting a company now, I would be open to hiring all races. All religions. Gay and lesbian people. Transgenders, too. Seriously. But you know who I wouldn't hire? People with pronouns in their bio. People with pronouns in their bio aren't looking for fair and equal treatment. They're looking for a fight, a slight, an argument, or a transgression to call out for the evil they see it as. I'm going to be facing an EEOC complaint from an employee because some other employee with big tits and a beard came in for a job and I didn't know how to address them? Nah. If you've got pronouns in your bio, I will treat everyone with dignity and respect, fairness and honesty, and when I slip up, suddenly you will turn someone's poor performance in the workplace around to me as the problem. Nope. Pronouns are a red flag, a signal that there's trouble ahead, trouble that I would avoid.

And 'they' and 'them' are plural. Always were. Still are.

The Frustrating, Self-Destructive GOP - 7/15/2023

The GOP is a disaster right now. Liberals, Progressives, and Democrats ought to be quite happy with the situation. I divide the GOP into 4 groups. There is some overlap between some of the four, but the nature of them is such that there is also some areas of total separation.

First, you've got the Trump, only Trump, nobody but Trump, "We're staying home if it ain't Trump." These people would rather lose with Trump than look at the election from any other lens. To them, all other GOP candidates are the same as President Joe Biden.

Then you've got the "It don't matter anyway. The whole system is rigged and our votes are meaningless." These folks cannot believe Joe Biden got 81,000,000 votes, no way, no how. It is kinda hard to believe, ain't it. Most of these folks are also Trump supporters. There is a large overlap with the first group.

The third group likes Trump and will vote for him if he's nominated, but would prefer someone else, someone new. I am in this group. We are more interested in winning and defeating Biden than we are loyal to Trump. I don't owe Trump loyalty. I appreciate what he did for us, what he sacrificed for us, and I recognize how badly the deep state and establishment treated him. But this ain't a religion and I didn't swear an oath.

Then finally, you've got a fourth group, the never-Trump, traditional GOP globalist, establishment people. They'd rather see a Democrat win than Trump. Some, like the Lincoln Project people, are vocal and outspoken about it.

News flash: Unless these factions come together at least somewhat, Joe Biden will be re-elected, Not only will it require GOP unity to defeat him, it will also require some Democrats and a winning margin of independents. The first two of the four groups I discussed don't care at all about Democrat or Independents, or anyone who isn't totally loyal to Trump. The last (fourth) group doesn't care at all about Trump voters.

I've said it before, I'll say it again.  We're screwed.

SCOTUS and the Imbeciles - 7/1/2023

"The Supreme Court is racist against Black Americans!" Uh, no. The Supreme Court said that everyone has to be treated equally, that racial preferences, by their nature, are discriminatory against someone on the other side of the preference equation. Our country was founded on the words, "All men are created equal". Granted, it has taken us a long, long time to get here, but here we are. As they should, the court says, "Treat everyone equally."

"The Supreme Court discriminates against gay people". No they don't. They protected the right of people who prefer not to participate in publishing a website about or advocating for something against their wishes that conflicts with their religious beliefs. Of all the bakers who might decorate a cake, printers who might print your invitations, of all the web designers who can publish your website, don't go to one you know has religious objections to your content. Some religions have beliefs and practices with which some, perhaps nearly all of us, disagree. Practitioners of those religions have freedom of religion, freedom of speech. Frankly, it is clear to me that these businesses are being targeted because of their beliefs. Standards of tolerance and acceptance are being replaced with participate, advocate, and celebrate or face the consequences. Of 100 web designers, one objects to your content. As long as the other 99 are willing and able, you're not oppressed. You still want the one who objects to do it? You're not oppressed, you're an activist asshole.

"The Supreme Court made abortions illegal again." No they didn't. The Supreme Court said that abortion is not protected or addressed in the US Constitution, therefore it is a matter to be decided by the states. The ruling was NOT for or against abortion. It was simply, and correctly, asserting that the Federal government wasn't the appropriate place to render that determination.

 "The Supreme Court screwed all the people with college loan debts by deciding the program was illegal." You believe that? Really? Seemingly, the college money you borrowed was wasted. You should have gone to a school that taught about the US Constitution and the separation of powers of the US Government. You know, that whole pesky Executive, Legislative, and Judicial thing. The court could give a rat's ass if we forgive the loans or not. The court simply and correctly asserted that the power to do so is NOT vested in the Executive Branch of government, but in the Legislature. The fact that our Senate and House of Representatives are nearly useless, and that our President thinks he's a king, not the Chief Executive, isn't a SCOTUS problem.

I'm exhausted by the number of uneducated and educated imbeciles who get totally righteous and indignant over all these awful SCOTUS decisions. Illiterate about the Constitution, uneducated about the branches of our government and the functions of each, absolutely certain the Supreme Court is the problem, and unwilling to even try to understand basic US civics, including the responsibilities and authorities of Federal and State government, these people unwittingly boast about their own ignorance and stupidity time and time again. There ARE ways to codify all of the above issues into law, some or all of: Amend the US Constitution, have Congress pass a constitutional law, and or passage of laws at the State level. You want it? Feel you should get it the right way via some shortcut. The easy way out often doesn't hold up to educated scrutiny. You're pissed anyway?

Imbecile.