Tagged: opinion
The White Church Hedge, The Black Church Codetalk
The preacher at the Black church (as a reminder, I am a member there, not completing an assignment for my degree or a tourist or a journalist) only mentioned the assassination in codetalk, “We know that everyone who mentions Jesus ain’t talking about the Jesus of the Bible.” I confirmed with a friend there that this was in reference to Kirk. In the end, the Black church thinks Kirk maybe was saved, but that didn’t prevent him from being racist and homophobic.
I called my parents and sister to see how their two pastors handled it. They both respectively said their pastors talked about the Evergreen Shooting, the MN lawmakers or Charlotte Blonde, and then Kirk. In the end, I know, like you know, that there exists some group of Kirk ultra-supporters that regular people don’t want to be associated with and this hedging and including other tragedies is done simply to not go “full retard”.
And that’s the state of preaching on this Sunday, Sep 14, 2025.
“…Hold Short of Runway Three One Center”
Way back in Iraq, our squadron commander told us (as crews of a helicopter that would nightly fly America’s special operations forces to their nighttime raids), “If any of you were to crash, it’d headline international news.”
I took his meaning to be, “I know this seems routine, and that routine can seem insignificant, but it’s not. You’re doing good work for America.” In short, he was keeping the troops motivated.
Naturally, it was also a true claim. If 30+ special operations troops crashed and died, that would be international news. This is true to this day.
But today, even aviation events where no one has died are making the news cycle.
For you, the non-pilot, I want to offer two pieces of perspective. Firstly, how would you like it if every single mistake you made on the job went viral? That’s right. And that’s why you’re not a pilot. And you shouldn’t be one.
Secondly, this near-miss at Midway has the same feature as the mid-air in DC. The pilot said he would do the right thing but he did not. How should this be accounted for?
For me it is simple. I have to maintain a hyper-sensitive honesty.
In the case of the DC mid-air, after I (in role of BH pilot) had said, “Traffic in Sight” the first time, if I found myself queried a second time (which is what happened), I’d have to trust that my well-honed honesty would have pricked my snowflakely-sensitive conscience as usual and then I would have said to tower, “Ahh, actually I am not sure what traffic you’re referring to. Can you point him out?” (I mean to bring to bear that I would intentionally use those non-standard phrases to call to Tower’s attention that the situation is abnormal and needing renewed attention, even as the words also suggest as much.)
In this case, at Midway, given the extreme situation of the news hyping every single aviation procedural aberration they catch wind of, the minute my clearance had changed (to be sure, there was some totally normal, but not strictly necessary, back-and-forth clarification between the pilot and Ground Control), I would have made the decision to stop prior to every runway and double-check if I was cleared across. This would be totally unnecessary and actually annoying and that is the point. The Ground guy would, then, display his hatred of me as he cleared me individually like I was a child (but apparently capable of being a pilot), but it would have pricked his conscience that I thought something was needing extra attention—the something being either 1. a weak pilot, 2. a weak controller, or 3. some as of yet uncommunicated circumstance.
Generally, aviation communication requires extreme eloquence and purpose—which amounts to an exceedingly small and standard vocabulary. Because of this fact, simply using plain language is a tool the pilot and ATC can employ without blatantly calling each other names when the situation arises. I’m not kidding. Believe you, me, when life and death are at stake, the desire to jump to full throttle on some moron, who is sitting in an air conditioned room totally free from danger, at the slightest unnecessary increase of risk with, “Go eff yourself!”, or conversely, the desire to put a supposed demi-god who believes himself to be the spiritual offspring of Maverick in place with, “I used English and you speak English!” or similar, is very real. (And I would argue appropriate and inescapable given the stakes.) The point here is demi-gods who are, in fact, the spiritual offspring of Maverick know how to use subtle and nuanced methods to get the attention they most assuredly deserve. And as you groundlings highlight to the world every day, we deserve a lot of your attention.
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The last thing that you need to know is while parts of the media coverage emphasize the fact that the two planes were not on the same channel, this is fake news. Don’t be stupid people. Ground handles traffic on the ground, and Tower handles traffic in the air, and other channels handle other parts of the airspace system.
The problem of radio communication is it requires “one at a time”. To imply that everyone needs to be on one channel is completely without forethought.
Quite the Troll
So a comment in this morning’s paper on the “DEI Employees Placed on Leave” article said, “How does he plan to determine which employees are DEI hires?”
The rest of the commenters (glass half-empty) lambasted the poor soul for not having read the article. But I (glass half-full) found it hilarious, found it to be quite the troll.
Running with the theme, I want to add that it is rather funny to me to consider that in all likelihood there were many DEI hires (those unqualified but hired) who are also unqualified in words and so honestly feared they might be going on leave today. Ha. Think of it. Like nature’s biggest gag. Just considering the time and energy it took to get to the point that a punchline was possible makes me chuckle. So funny.
One Example of Wildly Provocative and Popular, Yet Ultimately Fully Hedged, Speechmaking
President Trump just announced, “As of today it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders—male and female.”
I cannot deny that I found that utterance by the sitting POTUS exhilarating. But I also cannot deny that the assertion is completely hedged and its opponents will not be deterred. A key feature (one that folks somehow forget) of the struggle of good and evil is evil doesn’t play by the rules. The “more than two genders” crowd doesn’t care about the US government’s current policy. They don’t abide by “rules”. They are agents of chaos—by definition.
I don’t say this to discourage or because I am cynical or a pessimist. I am an optimist and this policy is important.
I just want to call attention to the hedge that most listeners didn’t hear. Only the “Official Policy of the United States government” is acting sane at the moment—not all free peoples of the Earth. Trump’s speechwriters knew he doesn’t have power over everything. In this one instance, that is a shame.
The Change in Tenor
Has anyone else noticed the change in tenor?
I’m talking about, of course, the reporting about the NOLA and LV attacks.
It’s obvious to everyone but the Democrats that MAGA is replete with conspiracy theorists. Of all folks who know this, law enforcement tops the list—because they’re heavily represented in the conspiracy-theorists-who-support-MAGA group. But what I want to bring to the fore is how the actual positions of power, the ones being interviewed—the four star guy in LV—seem to be interested first and foremost in debunking all the rapidly spreading new or furtherances of the classic conspiracy theories. An unintended result of this approach, if you happen to see the same world that I do, however, may be the best result we could ask for—the truth has become the emphasis.
The truth is the emphasis. Is that crazy? Am I crazy for seeing this? And for thinking, “This is great!”?
On the Biden/Harris side of things, Kamala just attempted to hoodwink everyone into thinking she celebrated Kwanzaa—despite not being African-American or providing a single photo or evidence of any kind. Why? Because someone thought that lie would be a good idea and further some agenda.
On the Trump/Vance side of things, the police are already showing the evidence from the truck that it wasn’t a lithium battery issue—and, in fact, the truck is still essentially intact. Drive on, Tesla Nerds.
Naturally, the age old proverbs, “Don’t walk around NOLA after dark” and “Don’t be anywhere at 3am” still hold. (Don’t take that to mean I abide—just that I know that I deserve what is coming.) So no need to revamp Wisdom.
There is one other thing that I need to say, though. What exactly is the symbolism of the Tesla in front of Trump’s hotel? For my part, I don’t see it.
People, listen up. The Captain has turned on the seatbelt sign.
There are no terrorist masterminds. Our culture needs to drop that concept. Instead, I only see mushy brains particularly crafted by generations and generations of unreasoned and limitless breeding in illiterate, ignorant filth faucets whose resultant, and singular, thought is, “I must destroy other people’s shiny things.” And, reader, if you’re not with me yet, time to catch-up. My assessment is spot-on. But I need help with the solution—nothing comes to mind.
I don’t know about you, but at these moments, my anger towards all non-Western peoples seethes—to the point of splashing a few non-Western acting Americans and Europeans—namely the woke. Physically, this manifests as a head-shaking to the rhythm of, “You were supposed to thank and learn from the demi-gods who granted you access their Eden, ya morons.”
Three Pointed Feelings On Political Violence in the USA, 2028 POTUS and Nuclear Bombs
Still riding the high of having correctly *felt* Trump was the clear winner long before election night, I want to share three more *feelings*.
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First, I have already mentioned that the next bout of political violence will be at the public funeral of a certain folk savior. Nothing new to say; I am just collecting it in one post.
Second, in the exact same manner and for the exact same reason as America loved itself for electing Obama (both shameless fantasy), in 2028, America will once again engage in a shameless fantasy act of self-love as it elects a woman to the office of President of the United States. I have long chuckled that the most bluntly misogynistic man defeated the first two legitimate female candidates. But fate can only laugh for so long. The mood is changing and the next president will be a woman.
Third, you, me, our children—everyone—needs to be ready for the news cycle to breeze past the first use of nuclear weapons. The “breaking news” will move on to “developing story” and finally be replaced by celebrity gossip or palace intrigue in precisely the same manner with which it breezes past every story. To be clear, someone is going to use a nuke. The fact will be hyped beyond belief with a fever pitch rarely able to be achieved, but there will be no actual mutually assured destruction or end of nations or shift in power balance. And, again, the proof in the pudding of my *feeling* (the way you know you heard it hear first) will be when the news cycle drops the story within the same time period as Oct 7, or the invasion of Ukraine etc. Nuclear war is here to stay and the idea that it was a “one off” or “we learned from the first use” is childish.
Nothing Surprises
It’s all hype. There are no surprises.
I really want to say something about the content of Jack Smith’s “motion for immunity determinations”, but the truth is that the only thing that bothers me about it is that it is being hyped as “October Surprise!” I’m bothered because it isn’t a surprise! In fact, nothing surprises.
Nothing surprised because the news cycle is not 24/7, the cycle is perpetual. In fact, there is no cycle anymore. Also, there are no journalists. Instead, there are varying levels of paid hype-snitches.
We are suckers when we insist that there is such a thing as news and journalists. There used to be news and journalists. But today there are only empty forms. There is no substance. Something new is occurring, some new kind of communication. And the way to keep the upper hand, the way to stay true to yourself, is to admit it. And then train yourself to be as discerning as possible.
Example:
“October surprise! October surprise!” says the news.
You think, “Next!”
Got it?
Power Vs. Acquiring Power
Trump is about to be the man who defeated the first female nominee and the first Black female nominee. I do not come across many, if any, comments on this fact of the election cycle.
It seems to me that there is a continuum of reasons why this is not discussed. On one end, there is the noble (and therefore extremely unlikely) notion that the formerly fun “men vs. woman” schtick is so abhorrent to us woke folks that it is unworthy of our time. On the other end, there is the sober fact that leadership in Republics has never been about sex.
Leadership, I propose, is about power. And while there are many different types of power, there is only one way to gain power: you must take it.
Hillary Clinton did not take the power. Kamala Harris’ entire political career seems to be defined by accepting power.
As for Trump? His career, his notoriety, and his very real power comes solely from his constant belief that there is a power vacuum and he is the man to fill it.
We’ve all seen the clip of 30-something Trump declare he just may have to run for president. And whatever he was thinking until 2008, by the time he saw Obama’s lack of power, Trump obviously convinced himself that there was more power for the taking—and he took it. Who can forget Obama’s smug, “At least I will go down as a president”? Would a powerful man say that?
So ladies, take note. In not having been president, it has never been about you being women. People care that you are weak, just like Obama was weak. And people want power in the presidency. That’s all it is about.
The Image of a Microscope which Accompanied the Science Article—That’s What Bothered Me Today
The Sunday paper had an interesting article about the current war with China. Interesting as it was, there was no call to action. Or at least not a memorable one. There certainly was nothing for citizens to do. I think what I’m suggesting about the op/ed was that the scale wasn’t appropriate.
On the other hand, there was an article suggesting two “Life Science” bills be voted down. One of the two stock “science-y” images the paper used was of a microscope. Of all the articles and opinions in today’s paper, this irked me the most. Why? Because unlike the other author’s claim that China is an existential threat to America (the sky is a-falling!), this image is one which an individual—likely an editor—can do something about.
“Science” is not merely tool use. If anything, science is to tool (science:tool) as man is to wheel (science:tool::man:wheel). Science invents tools; science is never the process of using tools.
And an editor should know this—could know this. And that editor would be doing a service to truth, and his bottom line, if they put a bit more reason into their product.
What image should the editor use to capture science?
There are many that would work. But an easy one would be of someone writing an excellently organized paper, with a title which sufficiently describes the paper’s purpose.
Black Women Need To Be Fired
Trump is going to win. The compelling reason after last week’s unbelievable DNC that I use to combat the media circle-jerk is the media does not lead with her “electoral college” path to victory. Instead, they run the headlines of her mere popularity.
This post and its content is not about “we need to follow the rules”. This post is about how there are rules and what the rules (which everybody does currently follow) show (Trump winning) is not being highlighted by the media. Instead, they are avoiding the topic. This, of course, is their prerogative. Who are any of us to insist someone to drop support of their free choice?
Trump wins. Done deal. Might as well write the history books now.
And yet, for as long as I can remember, there has passed a sort-of life-truth among Whites: Black women cannot be fired.
I do not remember the first time I heard of this notion, but it was early. It was probably in high school, ‘96-‘99.
I definitely remember that while in the Air Force I first heard about “Gee-Ess” employees and how they could never be fired. Worse, the rumor was held that the under or non-performer would actually get promoted.
Again, this was just rumor—zeitgeist.
It must have been around 2005, then, that I heard that beyond GS employees not being able to be fired, if it was a Black woman who worked as a GS, she was literally untouchable. In my mind, for over two decades, right or wrong, I have believed that the situation was such that if a black woman was fired from a federal job, it would prompt a Supreme Court Decision.
Do you hear me, people?
Trump has won. It is a done deal.
And yet I am not blind to the fact that the obstacle in his path is a federally employed Black woman.
Clash. Of. The. Titans.
(Or one more example of it.)
Here’s my thought, my underlying not-distasteful philosophy: I want Black women to live abundantly. I want Black women to achieve beyond their highest aspirations. I wouldn’t care one iota if some super-power nation promoting and securing peace and prosperity for all mankind came to be and was led by Black women.
But I do not believe any of those things will ever happen until Black women are fired.
So, I say again, Black women need to be fired.
Captain’s Log 