And Now a Word from the Author …

Dear Readers,

It appears I cannot crack the mystery behind the internet troll who attacked this blog last year, but it appears to have been a year since it happened. The trolls won’t come forward and speak out, so I’ll do it for them. These guys are dangerous, dangerous as it is awful. Trolls don’t belong on this blog, so please, please, please if you’re coming in to comment, use a legitimate Twitter or Facebook account or legitimate subscriber email and DO NOT attack minorities and women here. THis is not the place for that, however, I am about to cover a topic that so many of us are familiar with: the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance.

First of all, I do not pledge allegiance to white supremacy. Why? Because my in-laws and husband to be are black, and I might be mixed. Why? You may be wondering if I should have a DNA test. I’m considering it being that my hair is quite curly even when cut short, and I didn’t want to look anything like Justin Timberlake in his N. Sync days. But still, imagine the horror, the clogged drains, the weirdness of Justin’s and other curly haired people’s kids! Okay, a little off the subject, but you get the idea. My hair is the same, but curly hair being a supressed dominant trait has been mysteriously haunting me forever.

There is a chance I could be half black, so my mom wants to deny this. If I’m biracial, I’m good with that. If I’m not, I’m good with that still. But let’s go back to the national anthem and the pledge and what it means.

To force someone to stand for the pledge or sing a national anthem written by a slaveholder means that whites think they can dominate. You cannot arrest someone for not standing up for the pledge of allegiance, not the same way you do in countries like North Korea and Turkey, where bowing down to a regime is required. Erdewan, Turkey’s president, fired so many government people to consolidate his own power, and just wait, he might become a Godhead in the eyes of his so called subjects. The United States, however, changes leaders every four years, and Donald Trump may sound like a patriot, but he’s not getting it. At sports games, most of the players, basketball and football alike, are African American/black or whatever term you want to use for the darker complexion, sometimes kinky hair, and sometimes you see cornrows and other things like weaves in the females’ hair. As far as I know, Trump is not black, and neither is his wife Milania.

Here’s what Trump doesn’t get: I don’t let either myself or Trenton out at night, especially during the hours of midnight on, especially in the Five Points area of Denver due to shooting danger. We’re stuck in an urban sprawl because we’re totally blind and dependent on others for transport. We have to live on a bus route, and some of those areas are rough, particularly Five Points, where shootings have been known to occur. Trenton is not the only one with concerns. Mrs. Peck, Robert’s mom, probably was when the man who killed her son showed up and did it. It’s not a white on black crime though, it’s also abilitycide, killing based on disability. This happens so frequently in other countries, especially North Korea, that I wonder why the figure skating team qualified at all for the Olympics. Mr. Kim is happy, but he should be thinking about stopping any attempts to make those athletes give him their love, loyalty, and sovereignty. Guys like him should never be allowed to lead a country, neither should Hitler have been allowed to run for election, but no, he got it and killed six million men, women, and children! It was a Jewish genocide of sorts, the Hullocaust was. Read Elie Wiezel’s stories, and you’ll see why I think Trump doesn’t get it. He wants SOB’s, sons of bitches, football players who kneel for the anthem and pledge to be fired. First of all, don’t call those men’s mothers bitches. Nobody should do that. Yes, I have people in my life who might say this is cruel to think, but these mothers gave up their sons’ livelihoods, let them play football, so let them play football without controversy.

Trump wants forced patriotism, and wants to cleanse this country of black people. Sadly, that may include anyone who resembles an African, even if it’s a homegrown black person. The way he wants things done, gay people will be fired from work for being so. I’m sorry, but that’s a good reason to kneel and not stand at attention for a national anthem and pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America should mean “I pledge allegiance to freedom and justice and all the service members who fought and died so I could be free. I pledge my loyalty to a country who struggled to free its people from civil oppression.” But the way Trump is approaching it, the pledge means, “I worship Trump.” Ugh.

I don’t worship any but God and Jesus, and the way our President wants to run this country is below that of any president I’ve seen in my life. You can’t make anybody love you, right? So why can’t the Donald take a lesson from his … how many ex wives? … and realize that they don’t like him, and neither do black guys who end up in the custody of cops. Trenton could be unfairly arrested and told to leave a building because he’s black, arrested or killed for being so, and if we even venture out together, I swear we’ll probably end up dead, my parents having to cremate my body and I’ll mingle the ashes with Trenton’s if he so wishes, but I don’t want to think about it now. What I want to do is prevent white on black crime against a disabled black man, a man who doesn’t want to be a political symbol. If anyone wants to shoot at either of us, they will pay dearly, including me leaving the country because I can’t stay in a country where I’m not safe to walk around the streets of Denver. I want to live in a place where we’re both safe, alive, and cared for. Cared for in a proper way, of course, in which guardianship is not involved. Trenton and I are blind, do not commit crimes, and are law abiding citizens of this country, and do not deserve a cop to get off on murder charges related hereto. That is why so many black men don’t respect our country’s flag.

I have a personal reason not to stand at attention for the flag. Not only because to me, it represents the danger my husband to be and I could face, but it also represents my parents’ right to own their daughter with a disability, censure her writing, and tell her what is proper and what is not. This blog is not for their eyes at all. I personally do not feel that the national anthem is appropriate because for one, it was written by a plantation slave owner, and for two, it was written about a battle at Fort McHenry, and how many songs are written about a battle? LEt’s change the anthem to reflect what we want as a country, what we are as a country, and how far we’ve come. Let’s use inclusive language, something my choir director taught us, and keep patriarchal language out. Let’s have a lowly person write this anthem, hold it up high, and people will never need to disrespect a flag again. But remember, this flag should stand for equality for all persons black or white, blind or sighted, disabled or nondisabled, and should oppose genocide of any kind, disabled or black or whatever. The anthem written by Francis Scott Key may depict victory at Fort McHenry but it doesn’t capture what we’re about as a country, and other songs might take its place. Perhaps America the Beautiful should, and the Confederate stars and bars must remain in museums forever. My children to be should grow up in a world where they are welcomed and cared for, not where they lose their father or mother and are scrutinized because both parents are blind. This flag should stand for all freedoms, including my own, and when I wed Trenton, my American flag will fly, but we will not sing any slaveholder’s songs. Not ever.

Beth

Elesium

Dear Readers,

Imagine a world where robots do the work of medics, police, and parole officers even. Imagine there was a place where everybody wanted to go, a place where it was clean and pristine, no grimy buildings and no dust everywhere. But imagine you were stuck in Los Angeles, the city of dust instead of angels, the city where in this future, the sun sets and rises but there’s so much pollution. Now picture the robots. You’ve got it. This is a world where you are not allowed to be in the heavenly place, known as Elesium, all because you’re too poor. In this particular film, Matt Damian stars as Max Da Costa, an orphan, parolee, totally not the person you’d want to save the world. But Max makes his living as a robot maker. When he’s suddenly thrown into a kiln, however, he’s given five days only to live and then, inevitable death.

This isn’t Matt’s best movie ever, but there are some notable characters in it. Max, for one, gives his life–spoiler alert–to save the ones in need of medical care on Earth. Elesium is reserved for th rich until Max Da Costa changes everything. What would you do to save the earth from polluters? What would you do so that all of us are treated equally? What then would you do if someone tried to prevent you from getting the medical care you needed because you weren’t rich? I know I’d be upset, but Elesium asks these questions in a weird way. This film is rated R for violence and suggestive language. Please watch with discretion.

Beth

Banning Autonomous Weaponry Is Imperative

Los Angeles, California, 2029 A.D.

The cityscape appears to be ruined, and a machine is rolling around what used to be Sunset Boulevard, crushing a pile of skeletons and humanoid skulls underfoot. The machine fires a pistol at everything, vaporizing all living things in its path.

What do you think caused things like this? Think the Terminator, now think about the real world of weaponry. We must ban autonomous weapons or this cityscape might appear as in Terminator. Trump wants to terminate people in the U.S. Who aren’t white, Anglo, American. And he could jump at the opportunity to take power and build autonomous weaponry, but in a recent letter signed by none other than Elaun Musk, the guy who owns several companies including Tesla Motors, it was recommended that all countries, including the U.S., ban autonomous weapons. We certainly should ban the creation of cyborgs for the purpose of weaponry as well so as to prevent terminators like those portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger from being reality. This also includes female and male robotic weapons with which people can kill who they want to kill, including persons they dislike. Governments can brutally terminate people for which they despise, and using these autonomous weapons, could irresponsibly allow machines to control them and who lives or dies. Thus, we must ban the sale, manufacture, and distribution of autonomous weapons, including male or female humanoid soldier-like weapons with which public and private entities can kill who they want to kill. Now, let’s take the ruined Los Angeles, and write a different story.

In the year 2029, let’s imagine the ban on weaponry with independence in effect. The Sunset Boulevard in the first scenario was ruined, but let’s make those human skulls actual Angelinos hanging out at a mall where two security guards stand watch. One guy walks into the mall and gets a bag searched. Let’s imagine this is Mr. Good Guy. However, when a second man walks in, let’s say it’s an Anglo guy with a huge arsenal of machine pistols, the LAPD will apprehend him on the spot. This guy will end up in jail for terrorizing the community. The big difference is that you have live people, the city or cities aren’t ruined, and people, not machines, determine who gets arrested, lives, and dies.

I hope you find this informative, though I do not recommend watching the Terminator series if you don’t want to look at the dark scenario I outlined before.

Beth