What’s crackin’, dear reader?  I was working on some prime invective for you this evening, but then got a call from an old friend and ended up talking for hours.  Which was wonderful.  But you don’t get your invective tonight.  But tomorrow!  Yes, tomorrow I shall drain this pen of bitter ink.

N.P.: “My Sharona” – The Knack

The only people who believe that the United States is systemically racist or even just a racist country are those who have never even seen much less been forced to live under actually racist systems.  After a conversation today, I’m confident that they don’t actually know what the term means.  If some black people can succeed in The System (e.g., a two-term President or a middle-class state worker) then all black people can succeed in The System.  That they don’t cannot be blamed on The System.  Racism is binary: one either is racist or one isn’t.  So there cannot exist a racist system that is only racist in some of the cases.
Say there is a college class composed entirely of black males.  50 students.  And its a community college, so they are all from very similar upbringings.  Many of them graduated from the same high school.  This class and the instructor are notoriously difficult for everybody (yeah, I know…let’s pretend it’s some weird place where truly academically difficult courses are taught at community college).  Okay, so at the end of a very difficult semester, two students get As in the class.  Four get Bs, and four get Cs.  So 10 people passed the class.  Is the reason the other 40 people failed systemic racism?  If you think so, you’re going to need to account for (in a believable, realistic way) the apparent immunity to systemic racism enjoyed by 20% of black people in this example.  Racism cannot possibly be blamed.
But let’s say that the grades in the class were actually much better.  Let’s say instead of only 20%, a full 50% of the class passed.  Meaning that of the 50 original students in the class, 25 passed and the class and advanced to whatever’s next, while 25 failed and did not advance.  Why did these 25 fail?  We have no way of knowing, but we know for certain what didn’t cause them to fail: say it with me now: systemic racism.
The U.S. Census Bureau would have you believe that the majority of African American families are middle-class.  Which means that more than half of the students have passed the class.  Why didn’t the other half pass?  Again, we have no way of knowing, but we know for certain what it wasn’t.

N.P,: “Masquerade (Live)” – Berlin

Dearest reader, I don’t know how it’s going over there, but over here, every day is exactly the same.  This is causing Time to do heretofore impossible things, even accounting for its relativity.
Which is okay.  It really is.  Especially if it’s a good day that you keep having.  But it does mean that I don’t have a hell of a lot to report to you here.  A bit of invective has been building up, so I might spew that here this week.  Just to keep things spicy.  You know how I like to do.

N.P.: “DFCK” – Code:Manta

Moved a bunch of monitors and computers around, trying to get ready/make room for the new book-making monstrosity I’m building.  I’ve been busy as hell the last few days, but not writing nearly enough.  It’s been weird.  I’m going to get back to it and see if I can’t turn things around.

N.P.: “Diggin A Grave” – Micah P. Henson

“Attachment leads to jealousy.  The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side.  Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”  ~ Yoda

N.P.: “A Split Second” – Rigor Mortis

Did you see the date, dear reader?  Yep, the 21st.  We’re now two months away from that insipid summer solstice and the nights are getting noticeably longer.  And in one short month, it will be Fall!  Finally.
Did a lot of sitting in front of this monitor today, hands over the keyboard, ready to type, but I didn’t get all that much writing done.  That’s just how it is some days…slow going.  But still a good day.

N.P.: “DYSTOPIA” – Rein

Today was better than I expected it to be.  Except for the air quality…that was shit.  But the rest of it was better than I expected it to be.  Glad it’s over.

N.P.: “Life’s What You Make It – 1997 Remaster” – Talk Talk

Finally figured out why California’s been so hot this week…the whole place is on fucking fire.  Anyway, today was busy as hell.  Got a lot of words down…good stuff.

N.P.: “Graves” – Whiskey Shivers

Hotter than fuck again today, dear reader.  It was so hot today, a gang of snakes showed up at the back door, evidently demanding entrance.  I don’t speak snake, but what they seemed to be saying was, “Nope…this is too much, we’re done, let us into your climate-controlled paradise, please, goddammit.”  I patiently explained to them that while I am beyond sympathetic with their plight (imagine having to crawl across the hot-ass ground on your taint all day), they were collectively shit out of luck when it came to gaining entry into my air-conditioned Xanadu.  One of them tried to get a little pushy, so he got launched into a neighboring yard.  The other two seemed to get the hint and slithered away hurriedly on their scaly taints.

N.P.: “West Coast Poplock” – Ronnie Hudson

Bad news in Belarus, dear reader.  If Americans want to know what actual systemic problems look like, Belarus would be a fine example.  And China…brazenly rounding up Muslims, shaving their heads, and loading them on trains headed for concentration camps.  That is systemic.
Then there’s Hong Kong.  It’s difficult not to notice that the American press largely ignores these stories.  They seem to ignore much of what goes on internationally.  Israel and the UAE signed a peace treaty last week that is the most significant concrete step to Mid-East peace in the last 25 years…barely heard a word about it in the States.  It’s difficult not to notice that the American press largely ignores rather a lot of significant developments nationally.  If stories don’t fit The Narrative, they go largely unreported.  As reporters and legitimate journalists, the American press is almost completely useless.  As propagators of propaganda to an unquestioning public utterly bereft of any critical thinking ability, they remain quite effective.

N.P.: “Wut will nicht sterben – Radio Edit” – Puhdys