Chris James

Do you think we are being unfair to blondes? I suppose a quick answer would be to look at Fox News.

I have no doubt that the Republican members of Congress will do everything in their power to prevent President Obama from appointing the next member of the Supreme Court. The consequences of that action will leave the court in a 4-4 split for much of the agenda that they have in the calendar for this year...and maybe next. I cannot feature a President Cruz of a President Trump making such a choice. Trump knows nothing about the US system of justice unless it is a bankruptcy or divorce court​, and then he paid lawyers for that. Scalia allowed his Catholic religion to influence his decisions and mentioned his faith on many occasions as the deciding factor. Cruz might choose some right wing evangelical Christian as his Supreme pick which would set back the court a century or two. I didn't like the Scalia who thought gays were the sum of the earth, but better the enemy you know than the one you don't. The next few months are either going to be very interesting or very trying. The Scalia mindset in the court was that the Constitution should be read and interpreted as written, that made him an "originalist." That train of thought is also true of those Bible believers who don't see anything wrong with a 2000 year old religious text that has fewer applications in the modern world as time marches on. Scalia did not think the Constitution was a "living document" that should be allowed to change. So much for all the amendments added since the original was decided. No society or group of leaders has all the answers, perhaps just those that apply at the moment. Scalia was against change at a time when so many rules need to be changed. Let's hope his successor is a bit more flexible.

I don't believe we will ever understand the nature and causes of teen suicide. It seems to happen for so many reasons and to an adult the reasons seem irrational. What happened the other day at an Arizona high school seems fairly detailed in the following article: http://www.advocate.com/crime/2016/2/12/two-teen-girls-reportedly-couple-die-arizona-murder-suicide ​ The teenage mind seems to have two settings, on or off the charts​. Is there no understanding that this is the only life we get and that suicide prevents any alterations or corrections? What went on between these two girls, or didn't as the case may be, is not a reason to end life, there is no good reason for that course of action. The incident begs the question who owned the gun and perhaps in time that will be solved and reported. But now we have two dead teenagers and a whole school is traumatized by their actions, or at least the actions of one of them. "If you don't love me then I will kill us both" is hardly a Valentine's Day message anyone wants to hear. But since there are lesbian overtones in all of this you can expect some in the media to make a big mess of what should be private family grief. ​I await further revelations.

After all the years of horrible abuse by the clergy, the cover ups and denial...and this is all they have to offer? http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/catholic-church-tells-bishops-they-are-not-obliged-to-disclose-child-sex-abuse-report/ar-BBpnzm4?li=BBnbfcL This demented approach to violating the laws of so many nations will only cost the Church more in legal fees and hasten their demise. Makes me wonder if ​a church can get deported. ​

A delicious bit of misdirection with a great ending...gotta love the author of this short piece.

A hint to authors who wish to get published in print format: most publishers follow the Chicago Manual of Style. Having edited several books for my father in the past decade I found the requirements of his publisher were not too onerous, although I admit some of the details took me out of my comfort zone. ​ Damn the torpedoes indeed. The readers deserve a clear understanding of what we are saying, and that's good enough for me.​

Some parents are ill prepared to deal with adolescent or teenage children. Abdicating the responsibility of rearing a child to any religious institution is very wrong. Brainwashing a child in the name of Jesus, or any other religious figure will not solve problems. There is such hypocrisy in the way religion is administered these days that these zombified religious parents must think their children are ignorant ​of the truth. This is the kind of parent kids walk away from if they can, and who can blame them? If conversion therapy was such a miracle cure then I wonder when such treatment will be available for the religious zealots? I cannot see any major difference between the fanatics of the Islamic world and the fundamentalist Christians here in America. They are all reading the wrong books.

Oh yes, this is the man we need in the White House....NOT! http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-on-using-waterboarding-ill-do-much-worse-than-that/ar-BBpcUMK?ocid=spartandhp ​

The President proposes and Congress rejects, this is how it has been for the last seven years. Having two of the major teabaggers from Congress running for the presidency should be an indication of how wrong things might just get.

Fisherman's Friend is a what? My best guess is a mackerel flavored lozenge...am I right?

Results of the final GOP debate in Iowa: Without the Donald stealing every scene we are allowed to see the truth behind such candidates as Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. Christie seems to have inadvertently compared county clerk Kim Davis to the Taliban. Might have been an error but it was very much on target. Ted Cruz is a brain damaged Christian, thanks to his father the Reverend Cruz being such an A hole. But does it matter, Trump says he is a Canadian. Rubio says there is no savior in the world except Jesus, bringing him closest to advocating a Christian theocracy in the US. To hell with the rights of other religions...how un-American. ​

I finally did the right thing...I got someone else to fix the mess. Being unable to fight my way out of Win8 I turned to my friendly technical support folks at Avast. They told me a few horror stories about Win10 but said I should have no real problems...an hour later it was installed and working just fine. The protocol for switching from Win8 to Win10 is not on the Microsoft website and that explains my problems. I don't know where he got it but after a few moments on Quick Connect we were off and running, or I should say loading. Took a while and now I have all this new shite to figure out...sigh. If this PC craps out I still have the laptop as a backup...and that is running Win7. ​

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/77421.Best_Gay_Holocaust_Survivor_Books Just a few listed on Google, not sure if a library will have them but they might be inexpensive on Amazon. On the subject of the Holocaust: I was always shocked that there is evidence that the US government knew about the death camps as the war progressed and yet said little to nothing about them. Then in the aftermath of the war as the guards and officers of the camps were captured and brought to trial I would have expected massive firing squads in retaliation. In my own reading I have heard that the Jews were not worth unsettling the peace terms of the war. German civilians were not thought to be aware of what happened in the camps...now that is total BS. I don't know how Germany survived the aftermath except that Russia held half the country and the west felt sorry for those people. Too many unanswered questions in my mind...except Genocide still exists in various conflicts around the world. The lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned.

Ahh, and now the game is afoot. YouTube tells me I need to update my Internet Explorer, so I tried that. Lo and behold I get the MSN message that Windows 8 will no longer be supported and I need to upgrade to 8.1 before Explorer will update. Of course there are all these free offers to upgrade my system to Windows 10...but only if I have Windows 8.1. So I stand to lose YouTube any day now they tell me, and all because when I bought this PC I had to accept Windows 8 which they no longer support. Bastards.

http://www.advocate.com/books/2016/1/26/when-rashod-ollison-learned-something-was-wrong-him The article excerpts words and ideas from a book by Mr. Ollison about growing up gay. There is just enough of my interest sparked by what I read to make me go find this book. I know little enough about growing up in a city environment, much less growing up black and gay. I would expect this book might be enlightening on both subjects.

As the theme of my Falling Down story I focused on juveniles that faced mandatory sentencing guidelines in state courts. For years both the legal and medical professions have contested the harsh sentences on children and teens based upon the evidence that some of these cases are just too harsh. Justice can only be served when each case is judged one at a time since every accused individual is different. The one size fits all dispensing of laws that force judges and juries to incarcerate without parole allows no examination of each crime. At least in my story we saw a positive outcome. Do a little research and you will discover this is not a normal course of events. Do juveniles need to be punished? Of course they do, but there must be a limit, and "feel good" laws that get politicians re-elected are not the answer. The SCOTUS has been pondering this issue for quite some time...and finally we have this positive decision: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/justices-extend-bar-on-automatic-life-terms-for-teenagers/ar-BBoFOqM?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=LENDHP

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-im-president-christianity-power-195834887.html The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...oh yeah, and The Donald. Christian power is a decidedly new move on Trump's part. He is right, there are a lot of Christians in the country. At question is just which Christians is he talking about? So far it looks like right wing nuts with guns who believe the end times are nigh. Giving power to religion means a theocracy and I doubt if his desires will pass the Constitutional test. As if we need further proof that Trump makes a lot of noise, makes promises he cannot keep, and in typical narcissistic fashion is setting himself up to be a demi-god. There is too much talk without reason and no one has cast a single vote. A vote for Trump just might bring on the end times, at least for the US of A.

In case you have any doubts about Donald Trump becoming our president just look at the people who give him advice and put the words in his mouth: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/01/donald-trump-admits-antigay-hate-group-leader-tony-perkins-helps-write-his-speeches/ There is no bigger scumbag on the Christian Right than Tony Perkins.

I suppose I think the boy with the biggest equipment would lead the horde to rape. A 14 year old would have the sexual urges the younger ones would not. We know nothing about the ethnic backgrounds of the rapists so it is hard to tell if they are involved in this cultural aberration. No matter, the law will treat the 14 year old as an adult, and if found guilty he will go to prison where he will become intimately familiar with the concept of forcible rape.

I can fully understand Cole's horror and disgust over this incident. Just why the boys involved thought it was acceptable to assault this young girl, any girl, says a lot about their parents and the mindset in their families. Of course the 14 year old was the ringleader, and in a just world he would take the blame. Try something like this under Sharia law and he would be castrated. But shunning the victim for bringing shame on the family is an absurd cultural aberration that has no place in these United States. The father should be stripped of all his children and deported if he can't understand the shame he has brought to his family. Young girls need to be defended, protected, and he did neither of those. His child will suffer for the rest of her life and she would be better off with other parents.

Yes, Pat...I'll take an F please. Can you imagine the game show that could be produced with that lineup of men?

You have to wonder...if one of our closest allies thinks The Donald is crazy then why in the world would we allow him to become president? http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/politics/uk-parliament-trump-debate/ In his own words, Trump says many in the world have disrespect for America and he would fix that. I cannot imagine this country with that blowhard in charge. We are fortunate in that our system of government does not allow all the power to reside in one individual. He may be popular but is he electable? Let's hope not. Just noticed: the Southern Baptist Convention has now decided that Trump is less than Christian because he is a "serial adulterer." Oops...Jesus don't love him.

So many loses in the music world during this decade, and now another. Glenn Frey of Eagles fame died at age 67. His contributions to their greatest hits, the voice, the musical ability will be missed. But the music will live on. http://www.tmz.com/2016/01/18/glenn-frey-the-eagles-dead/ The beauty of his vocals: https://youtu.be/WeNBspJGVko

Today is Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday across the land, although that took some time to be accepted. Just the very idea that we should celebrate the life and times of a black man was repulsive to many, and yet look how far we have come. MLK was many things. A vibrant speaker, a loving father, a less than caring husband. Yes, his life is surrounded with rumors and innuendo about affairs with women...but so what, it only makes him human, and who are we to judge? I remember that "I Have a Dream" speech, I heard it on the radio...at least most of it. The image of MLK standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a hot August day in 1963 was not easy to see. The photos show the reflecting pool stretching out in the distance away from the monument, but what they do not show is this 14 year old white boy standing towards the end of the pool on the left hand side with a group of his friends. I was there that day with Jessie and Gloria, two of the black kids from my school. This was before African-American became the PC term, but they were both proud to be black. Andy and Dave and I, the white boys, were there at their invitation to see a "major event" and it was all of that. Over a quarter of a million people make quite an impression on a young mind but the sound from the podium was terrible and I was thankful for the black man standing beside us with his radio. MLK's dream seemed like a good idea as he explained it. I was all caught up in the peace movement against the growing Vietnam War and knew that a disproportionate number of black men were drafted and sent across the ocean. His words were surrounded with religious ideals and symbolism I could not embrace, but his call for unity between the races made great sense to me. His tragic assassination at the hands of a white racist thug showed how strongly the black community felt about one of their own being killed. The riots, lootings, and burnings that flashed across the nation would not have met with his approval but they were inevitable. I think my 14 year old self would have enjoyed a quiet conversation with MLK, just as I often though about having a dialogue with Gandhi. I was always fascinated with the meanings behind the words these men used to inspire others to support their cause. I still am. However you view the man, he caused a turning point in our American society. I am just afraid that in all the anger I see and feel these days that his message of peace has been lost to the newer generations.

...fanatics around the world. In the religion of "peace" is this what stands as family values? http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pakistani-boy-cuts-off-own-hand-after-blasphemy-mistake-police/ar-BBogKdB?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=LENDHP And now this child is a less than productive member of his society, although he is loved by his village who may have to support him as he grows older...if he doesn't die from his actions. There is something very wrong with a religion that puts any kind of value on acts like this...how stupid can you get?