Displaying 721 To 750 Of 762 Comments D-Day: My Dad and His LSM Bombarding Omaha Beach Great interview and story, Murph. My dad came to the war from a different route. He enlisted from a Japanese Internment Camp in Utah where he was imprisoned along with his family and thousands of Japanese Americans who were swept up along America’s West Coast. The only way he and his brothers were allowed out of the camp was by enlisting into the US Military. My professorial father became a Drill Sergeant in order to leave the camp and eventually ended up in the almost completely Japanese American 442nd in Europe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_%28United_States%29 Miles “Yeah, I Still Got Issues” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 3:31 pm The Weekend Music Thread-Ticklin the Ivories A little something from the past: » Posted By Miles Long On June 8, 2014 @ 2:44 pm Alas, he was a musical friend of mine: » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 5:55 pm One of my all-time favorites. I so love that they filmed this great classic! More cow bell! » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 10:21 am And now for something completely different: » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 10:14 am Sorry, couldn’t resist: » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 10:09 am And one for me: » Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 10:07 am A little something for the Left Coasters:
» Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 10:01 am A little Chicago South Side flavor:
» Posted By Miles Long On June 7, 2014 @ 9:59 am The Once and Future Impeachment of Barack Obama I like the idea, I write novels and screenplays for supplemental income. It’s worth talking about. Miles “Let’s Chat” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 5, 2014 @ 8:35 pm The election and re-election of President Obama gave lie to the notion of White Exceptionalism in this country and scared far too many whites into believing that white privilege was on the wane. To that end, those whites are doing what everyone does regardless of race, national origin, etc, they are projecting what will happen to them when they finally become a minority in this country. Given the unquestionable evil non-whites have suffered in this country, bigoted, racist whites are convinced that the same deprivations are going to be visited on them once they become a minority. The resurgence of public hatred, the legislation passed on Stand Your Ground Laws which essentially allows cowardly whites to kill non-whites, mostly Blacks, with impunity, and the denaturing of the Voting Rights Act and Affirmative Action are all examples of the “Blacklash” of President Obama’s election. And it’s not just race that has been effected. The attack on equality under the law for women has taken a beating as well. In addition to attacking a woman’s right to choose what’s best for her own health, white, Conservative men have been doing their best to decriminalize rape. What’s up with that? There isn’t a single policy that wealthy Conservatives advocate that is of benefit to the majority of those who live in this country. But they organize, they plan, they draw district boundaries, they get out and vote in off-presidential elections, and they write tax code to enrich themselves, protect themselves and maintain their power over us all. And their foot soldiers are the Cliven Bundys, the George Zimmermans, etc. They keep America scared fearful against doing the moral and ethical things necessary to bring us back to sanity in their unreasoned fear of those who merely have a different skin color. Murph is right in part, but an Impeachment is nothing but window dressing and the merest tip of an iceberg that has marched us closer and closer to a country that has nothing to offer except to the 3,000,000 wealthiest families who live here. Sorry for the mini-rant, but the ease of which the Wealthy Right pulled off the Dumbing Down of America, especially on the working and poor, often sets me off. Miles “Wondering If My Wealth Will Insulate Me” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 5, 2014 @ 11:13 am As it stands now there probably won’t be a Republican in the White House for a good many terms, an attempt at impeaching President Obama would only increase that time span. Normally, Republicans would be more circumspect in their long-term planning, but with the election of so many TeaBaggers the aggregate IQ of the party has decreased precipitously. Far too often we have seen the more rabid members of the Republican Party commit political acts that only hurt their cause, the most recent government shut down being the latest, best example. The fact that racist factions of the Conservative Right, those still pissed that the South lost the war, will do anything they perceive as opposition to this president hasn’t been lost on Democrats. What’s patently unfortunate is that the philosophy of the Left has never been an attitude of “take no prisoners” as has completely permeated the Right. Democrats can’t even utter the word “lie” to the most egregious shouted protestations from Republican crazies. Personally I can’t wait for the House to initiate Impeachment proceedings. Perhaps that will serve to stiffen the spine of Democrats and maybe, just maybe, galvanize those in office and Democratic voters to stand and fight for what this country is supposed to stand for… Miles “Not Holding My Breath” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 5, 2014 @ 8:34 am Huffington Post Finalizes Its Divorce From Its Bloggers Someone posted this on FB, I was wondering if anyone received this notification” “MurphtheSurf3, a long-time pundit and community member, and several other very involved members of our HP community have asked us to contact all of our active Pundits and other very involved members who might want to continue with a HuffPost-like conversations experience like those at the core of the Pundit conversations all these years, and we’re very pleased to be able to assist them in these efforts. They have identified several very interesting options and alternatives for continuing conversations outside of the Facebook platform. Their aim was to pool the wisdom of our top contributors, identify the best options, and then pass that information on to you. If you have any interest in getting information from him or in submitting your ideas about this, please contact Murph at this specially designated e-mailbox: murphthesurf350@gmail.com Murph is also working with us on potential Pundit/Community Member Blogs at HP that we are very excited about. Huffington Post continues to value your voice and we hope that you will reach out for more information about these options for continuing your conversations!” Miles “Throwing In The Towel?” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 9, 2014 @ 4:15 pm Stopped by to do a survey of the volume of comments left over at HP and it appears that it’s down between 60-80%. If there is a corresponding amount of Web traffic dropping off this represents a significant amount of advertising revenue over the long term. Miles “It’s Going To Be Interesting To Watch” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 6, 2014 @ 12:09 pm Hmmmmm……. I wonder if Music Nights will be resurrected here at PlanetPOV? {grin} Miles “Spinnin’ The Best Since The Bicentennial” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 4, 2014 @ 3:30 pm HP had one thing going for it as a news aggregator that is highly necessary for the same kind of community interaction that made it so special. It’s not so much that the same kind of environment cannot happen here, but one has to admit that with so many stories available at HP, and the sheer number of possible responders, that threshold isn’t going to be met as easily. This is in no way a criticism of PlanetPOV at all, it’s just a statement of fact from my perspective. I too hope that the same level of dialogue can be attained here, and look forward to it as are so many others. Miles “For The Record” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 4, 2014 @ 4:33 am With the Internet Coin of the Realm being traffic and advertising clicks, Huffington Post has been engaged in a downward spiral in revenue since the February 7, 2011 purchase announcement. It will survive, however for the most part the left end of the Bell-Shaped curve of IQ distribution will make up the bulk of its patrons. When HP required linking to Facebook accounts to authenticate users, it triggered the first diaspora. This new change has brought upon a second diaspora that is peaking this week. So many unique gatherings of engaged communities have dispersed, so many notables with wide followings left in disgust, and HP’s response is to tell such a hilariously egregious lie, “Moving the Conversation to Where You Want to Have It,” that I actually did Laugh Out Loud. The bottom line is that HP squandered an audience that most any other news-related Internet site would have killed for. And for what? Spite your face Economics. Behold the era of the corporate economy where the ONLY consideration is the bottom line. Huffington Post’s run was longer than most. As I said to many of my friends who mourned the passing of poet Dr. Maya Angelou, and lamented that we have suffered a great loss: instead of sitting around feeling sorry for one’s self, why not raise up a new Angelou to replace her? PlanetPOV isn’t going to be a replacement for the Huffington Post community of notables,wise crackers, progressive intellectuals, etc. But it appears it will be one of the more interesting places to hang out until the next great news and opinion site comes along… Miles “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 3, 2014 @ 5:47 pm Revelation Before Revolution: How The U.S. Oligarchy Can Be Taken Down Can we really discuss this issue and fail to mention the ubiquity of the dumbing down of America? Why do countless studies show that the breakdown of political party membership largely breaks along intellectual lines? That is of course when you subtract those who benefit from the previous generation’s legislation as mentioned in the article. This country’s dedication to an educated populace died under Nixon when he declared war on the intelligentsia because the anti-war movement was born on college and high school campuses. An analysis of the “No Child Left Behind” legislation, coupled with the lack of funding for the mandate, illustrates that it was designed to create the next generation of workers who could read and write just enough to make change at McDonalds. The countless examples of those on the Right who waved signs stating “Keep Government Out Of My Medicare” or worse points to a much more serious problem in this country: the ubiquity of the dumbing down of those on the Right. Take a look at college entrance exam test scores. Since 1972, the scoring indexes of the ACT and SAT have been revised downward nearly 20 times. Someone getting the same scores today that I received in 1972 is a comparative moron next to my peers and me. And, trying to explain the actual deprivations the Right is foisting on this country to a working-class Republican who hates the fact that we have a half-Black POTUS is an exercise in pointless frustration. Yes, Democrats and Progressives have to frame their messages to resonate with a, shall we say, one-dimensional intellects more effectively. But let me give you an idea of what we’re dealing with. Studies show that many working class Republicans continue to believe and vote against their own interests, to laud that which continues to enrich the top 1% of earners in this country at their friend’s and family’s expense because they believe they are reserving their privilege for when they win the lottery. Miles “Talk About Having Our Work Cut Out For Us” Long » Posted By Miles Long On June 4, 2014 @ 2:44 pm The AOL Reverse Midas Touch continues, Huffington Post is now linking to NewsMax content. Going the same way as CompuServe and XDrive, just to name two, AOL’s Huffington Post is just the latest thriving business spiraling into the toilet. CompuServe ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServe ) was THE destination for top flight computer users, developers and other related businesses right up until H & R Block sold the service to content-light AOL. XDrive, the first commercially successful cloud-based storage company (I used XDrive to store my first novel’s files), once acquired by AOL ( http://www.cnet.com/news/cloud-storage-providers-bail-out-xdrive-users/ ) was almost immediately abandoned when AOL realized that it lacked the technical support to sustain the service. Now AOL is linking to schlock “news” provider NewsMax.com for content to feed it’s current crop of low-brow, low-information users. In late 2009, one of AOL’s EVPs consulted with a former EVP of US operations from Leo Burnett about increasing traffic. The conclusion reached from that meeting was that AOL needed to acquire a traffic-heavy site with highly sought after demographics to supplement declining subscription revenues with advertising revenue. The February 7, 2001 announcement of AOL’s acquisition of Huffington Post was the opening salvo in a takeover that would cost HP it’s most sought after members, the very people from whom AOL was going to rely on for additional revenue-based traffic. The next salvo was Huffington Post’s replacing of it’s own user authentication system with an authentication tie-in with Facebook, setting off the first major Exodus away from the site. The final straw for the committed members of the site was the adoption of Facebook’s commenting tie-in to replace the messaging subsystem that served the original HP Community so well, and fostered spirited dialogue over the issues of the day. So far there has not risen a replacement community commanding any similar number of members as the original Huffington Post, nor has any such captured the same spirit of discussion. And now, Huffington Post has crossed the Rubicon with the aggregation of content from Right Wing Schlock site NewsMax.com. To mourn the demise of Huffington Post would be akin to mourning someone about to perish of self-inflicted syphilis, as AOL’s history of destroying successful businesses continues unabated. Miles “Apologies For My Good Friend Talking AOL Into Buying HP” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 5:35 pm I will leave off on this topic as long as everyone else does, but doesn’t politeness demand I answer those who engage me? As for insulting others, I have carefully tried not to and for those who felt insulted, my humblest apologies. Allow me to mention something before I go: Every day in America people like me essentially have the dominate culture’s pathology shoved down our throats, and we have to take it if we want to participate in this society. In the beginning I presented a perspective that was different from most everyone’s here and it was dismissed out of hand. That’s what it’s like to be non-white in America. In the posts here, the only people who appreciated and agreed with the perspective I presented were also non-white, and from another country. Does that suggest anything to anyone else? And do I not have the right to my feelings like everyone else here? And finally, did anyone even try to understand the difference in perspective and what it means to the broader issue of race? Miles “Might Makes Right, Always” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 12:14 pm Fist of all I really don’t do “implication” otherwise there wouldn’t be so much heat from my wanting to know exactly why some white folks here have an all-consuming need to characterize non-whites as racists. That is the root issue that elicited white guilt and anger, which a careful read of all the posts shows is exactly what happened. Here’s the deal, in order for me to function in American society I have to be aware at every moment how white America works and exactly what white America’s expectations of me are. Whites, on the other hand are perfectly well off completely ignorant of how non-whites have to live in America, what non-white expectations are, and the harm that their ignorance fosters. Yep, white folks on PlanetPOV are pissed, but how many have examined why? How many are capable of the requisite honesty to admit where that anger really comes from? And as I asked and have yet to get any answer to, and it the most telling facet of the current issue we face here: Why is it so necessary to be able to characterize non-whites as “racist?” The answer goes right to the heart of the racial struggle in America for normally good-hearted people: Ignorance. Take a look at this statement: Not all whites in America are racist, but all racists in America are white. This statement is patently true according to sociological doctrine that has been published for over a century now. The anger here at PlanetPOV is typical because I was perceived as attacking the people here when I was merely attacking a fallacious notion about the word “racism.” The anger is so deeply seated that it prevented anyone to consider what is settled sociological, cultural, and economic doctrine. You’re right about one thing though, I am a new arrival here, but what I found was unexpected. I found that the disconnect between races is everywhere, even in normally enlightened communities; which is exactly what I have found at every college and university I have taught, by the way. It takes effort on the part of anyone to allow their inborn prejudices to abate enough to “walk a mile in another person’s shoes.” But if the knee-jerk reactions continue unabated, unanswered, then there will be NO progress, no matter what the issue. So, I ask again, why is it so important for some whites here to characterize non-whites as racist instead of bigoted and/or prejudiced, as you so aptly pointed out? This goes directly to the core issue that prevents any progress on race here on The Planet whether anyone is willing to admit it or not. Miles “Or Don’t Answer, That’s Answer Enough” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 10:32 am I too hope that we get to the point where “human culture” wins the day. However, from a non-white (for those who don’t know, I’m half-Black/half-Japanese) perspective, what happened here on The Planet was a microcosm of what happens every day in American culture… Those with the built-in privilege just want the discussion of the problem to go away. Miles “How’s That Progress?” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 8:54 am I would normally automatically agree with you to move on had not a very important, factual perspective been nearly universally marginalized and discounted by the very people who I would have believed should know better. Sure, I’ll move on, this experience has truly been a teaching moment for me. See how easy that was? Miles “Same As It Ever Was” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 6:57 am {chuckle} Thank you for your link… Miles “Another Arrow In The Quiver” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 6, 2014 @ 6:43 am Not the answer I was looking for. {wink} I actually know exactly why some whites here are fighting so hard to call non-whites racists, but the answer means nothing if it comes from me. However, your perspective from across the pond is interesting, hits very close to the mark, and is worthy of discussing at some later time. I wonder if anyone here is going to step up and tell the truth… Miles “Perspective” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 11:04 pm “AdLib says: Miles, the quote you provided doesn’t provide any backup for your claim about the term racism, it does accurately describe racism and racist politics in America. I haven’t seen anyone here that disputes that white racism has been and continues to be a terrible and oppressive force in this nation against minorities. Since objective sources that could confirm your definition of racism haven’t been provided and objective sources that define the word differently have been provided, one is left without any objective basis to concur. We’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.” Oh My F-ing God, Adlib, of course it does. Please, please, please reread the opening paragraphs of the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_America The entire preamble of the article discusses how whites ONLY wield the sword of racism in America. In no way does it even hint the same is true for minorities ever since the attempted genocide of the Native Peoples by arriving Europeans. Miles “I Disagree To Disagree Because The FACTS Are On My Side” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 10:29 pm Unfortunately the “belief” that there’s little difference between racism and prejudice seems to only occur in whites. Having said that I offer this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States “Racism and ethnic discrimination in the United States has been a major issue since the colonial era and the slave era. Legally sanctioned racism sanctioned privileges and rights for White Americans not granted to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans. European Americans (particularly Anglo Americans) were privileged by law in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure over periods of time extending from the 17th century to the 1960s. At the time, many non-Protestant groups immigrating from Europe – particularly Jews, Irish people, Poles and Italians – suffered xenophobic exclusion and other forms of ethnicity-based discrimination in the American society.” Furthermore: “Major racially and ethnically structured institutions included slavery, Indian Wars, Native American reservations, segregation, residential schools for Native Americans, and internment camps.[1] Formal racial discrimination was largely banned in the mid-20th century, and came to be perceived as socially unacceptable and/or morally repugnant as well.” And here’s the closer for my statements: “Racial politics remains a major phenomenon. Racism continues to be reflected in socioeconomic inequality,[2] and has taken on more modern, indirect forms of expression, most prevalently symbolic racism.[3] Racial stratification continues to occur in employment, housing, education, lending, and government.” By the way, I agree that not all whites are racist, however ONLY whites can be racist in America, the rest of us are merely prejudiced… Miles “Factually Speaking” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 3:16 pm Truly illuminating: I’ll always choose the facts, and stick to them… Miles “Bottom Line” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 1:21 pm “Miles, The Planet is a place for conversation and reason. I can appreciate that you may not relate to some of the views of others here but to try to disqualify all those who disagree with you as emotional and represent your views as the only unemotional, factual ones just doesn’t reflect a reasonable or objective reality.” Please read all my posts a little more carefully. The argument that I can be racist against whites is fallacious and incorrect as I do not belong to the dominate culture, white Americans and cannot control their destiny. That is fact, and has been acknowledged for far more years than we have between us. In fact, if it will allow people to be more objective about the issue, let’s take a close look at South Africa before Apartheid ended. South African Blacks were incapable of racism, though they were definitely prejudiced against their white rulers, because they had absolutely NO control of the state nor any other societal institutions there. But I digress. To argue that non-whites in this country are capable of racism is WRONG, it is INCORRECT, it has NO BASIS IN FACT. The argument is emotional fostered by anger in whites, and I defy you to prove otherwise. However, they are, in many cases, just a prejudiced against whites as many whites are prejudiced against them. That’s my point. Am I just supposed to let a Man Made Climate Change denier to state their position, refuted by 97% of the scientific community, and have their declaration unchallenged merely because that’s what they “believe?” You know, it’s very apparent to me that emotion rather than intellect is going to win the day here. I have seen no scholarly work EVER refuting that fact that racism is institutionalized in American culture and is a tool of the dominate culture and as such is not available to any non-white race. That’s my point. And to offer this up when it has NO bearing on the issue I addressed, well, I’m completely at a loss: “The truth is, that when it comes to sociological and/or philosophical issues, absolutes are rarely applicable or correct. There are always conflicting opinions, studies and views. There may be propositions that are mostly correct but for the most part, there are always exceptions.” It is not opinion that racism is institutional and prejudice is something completely different, and in all of us, even me. Miles “Thanks For Your Input” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 1:08 pm It is exceedingly difficult to discuss issues of great importance here on The Planet when people only engage on an emotional level instead of weighing information presented intellectually. In two instances I have engaged The Planet on issues of race, and in both instances when presenting information factually correct, I was engaged emotionally. This calls into question, at least for me, the mission of The Planet and just what level of discourse should I expect going forward. If we cannot lift the level of discourse here on the important issues of the day, with what is clearly a far more enlightened populace than the average online meeting place, what does that say about us? To those whites who were angered by the facts I presented, where should that anger really be directed; to the messenger? What’s next, blaming the victim? In my latest post on the definition of the term racism I fully anticipated that my post would elicit emotional responses to the presentation of FACT, and admonished people to do some research BEFORE they engaged. To deny the difference between racism, which is institutional, and prejudice, which is emotional is…well, what is the least emotionally charged characterization; how about “unfortunate?” I am fully prepared to engage anyone on an intellectual level, it’s what I do; it’s what I’ve done online since 1978; it’s what I taught at the university level from 1975 until 1980. When one refuses to believe fact, as we’ve seen all too many times with Conservatives, I refuse to engage because obviously no amount of substantiation is going to suffice and no dialogue is possible. So in advance, for as long as I participate here (and who knows how long that’s going to be, really) on The Planet, I apologize to those whites who I will anger with my scholarly presentation of history, of politics, of culture, of economics and of fact-based perception. But do NOT think for one second that I will back down from what is factually true. And in cases where one is determined to remain willfully ignorant of the facts presented I will continue to point out error and move along… Miles “No One’s Doormat” Long » Posted By Miles Long On August 5, 2014 @ 10:58 amComments Posted By Miles Long
It was one of the guilty pleasures in the good old days of HP.
08/05/2014 at 10:13 PM
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