TRANSGENDER ATHLETES

I am a liberal.  Which to me means a libertarian with social constrains.

I believe that people have a right to do whatever the hell they want – provided it does not ‘directly’ effect another person. 

Whether we admit it or not, we carry the prejudices of our societies time and place.   During the sixties, seventies and even the eighties I could not imagine a friendship with a male homosexual (Queer.)  During the nineties I realized my brother-in-law was gay.  A better man never walked the face of this earth and I love him.  This totally changed my perspective on the gay community.

Now we have added bi-sexual and Trans.    I absolutely support the LGBT community; but there is a grey area involving Trans, and raising the issue should not be taboo.  

In Connecticut two transgender high school students took first and second place, crushing the competition, in both the girl’s 55-meter and 100-meter dash at the State Indoor Open Track Championship.   Whether a person identifies as male or female, the average man is bigger, stronger and faster than the average woman.   

Imagine a star NBA player identifying himself as a transgender female wanting to switch to the WNBA – or move the scenario to the Olympics.

Everyone has a right to be who they want to be, love who they want to love, have sex with whomever turns them on, and dress how the hell they want; but is it fair to the other competitors for a transgender female athlete, with a physiological and testosterone advantage, to compete in the female category?  

I don’t have a right to insert an opinion in this discussion; but it is something the LGBQ community should address before it becomes a Republican talking point to further drive their base toward extreme homophobia. 

the Ol’Buzzard

BUTTIGIEG FOR PRESIDENT

The brightest man in the Democratic field for President in 2020 is Pete Buttigieg.   Beside his credentials: speaking seven languages, a Rhode Scholar and an Afghanistan Vet; just listening to him respond to questions should be enough to convince anyone that he would be an excellent President: But…

I want Dems to beat Donald Trump and Buttigieg can't.   He is gay.

The Religious of this country would never vote for a Presidential candidate who would have a ‘First Same Sex Husband.” 

Catholics gone; Methodist gone; Baptist gone, Fundamentalist gone:  they would elect the devil before they would elect a gay man. 

 

It is a shame; but that is what religious bigotry does to a country. 

Beat Donald Trump

The Ol’Buzzard

OUCH!

I had a root canal this morning and it hurts in more than one way.   I can’t complain too much since after eight decades I still have my own teeth; but this drilling was through an existing crown and now my jaw is sore and when my teeth come together (when I chew) a bolt of pain shoots through the tooth – according to the dentist this should subside over the next day or so. 

 

The other pain is the procedure cost me $120 from my local dentist for a fifteen-minute diagnosis and $1,450 for the endodontics procedure which took one hour.   My insurance covers at 40%. 

How in the world can people living from pay check to pay check afford dentistry?   No wonder there are so many people walking around without teeth.   Cosmetic dentistry can cost as much as a new car.  Some people can afford this but most working people with families can’t. 

To hell with medical doctors; if you have a child or grandchild looking for an occupation, dentistry is the way to go.   Our local dentists here in western Maine are now scheduling six months in advance for appointments.    The money rolls in, the demand is high, and you’re not having to look at people’s assholes.

I’ll take a BC Powder and come back strong.

the Ol’Buzzard

 

LIBERAL REDNECK ON RICH AND PRIVILEGE CHILDREN

Ivanka, Jared and Donald jr. didn't earn their positions in life?  I'm shocked!   

Having been raised in the Delta of Mississippi I've got more in common with Trae than most of the people I interact with today.   I wasn't raised in a trailer, but my grandmother and I lived in three rooms in one half of a shotgun shack - and I have lived in trailers. 

Rich kids were like aliens from another planet.  We didn't have any truly rich in our town.    

My choices when I graduated from high school were: ...join the military.

But Tray is right about one thing: For the most part, the kids of the rich will be pushing the buttons and pulling the knobs for the rest of us into the distant future.   

Trae Crowder explains it best.   






I'm just saying
the Ol'Buzzard

THE NEW ZEALAND SHOOTING

“I forget that every day – every 24 hour rotation of Earth – people kill and get killed in the name of someone else’s conception of God, and that some people who do not kill in the name of God, kill in the name of needs or wants or political dogma.”

Neil de Grasse Tyson

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

This is a poor comment on the human race; but this is who we are and who we have always been. 

the Ol’Buzzard

EVERYONE IS ASLEEP BUT ME!

For about the last three months I am averaging five hours sleep a night.  When I can I nap in the afternoon.  I get up to pee about three-thirty or four and find I am wide awake.   I try to control my breaths, empty my mind, relax; but I am fucking awake. 

Some say you need less sleep as you grow old, but after a while the lack of sleep saps your energy.  Maybe it is just the winter.  

Without a future to look forward to I find much of my thoughts are of the past.  Perhaps it is because I am trying to control what time I have left that I realize I was never in control in the past, but simply reacted to choices, and any difference choice, anywhere along the line, would have totally altered who and where I am today (the butterfly effect.)

I am not complaining.  The last thirty-eight years with my wife have been the best times of my life.     It has been chaos; but if it were true that your life passes in front of you when you die, mine would have to be a double feature: some good, some bad, but always an adventure.

Fuck it. 

the Ol’Buzzard

GOD DAMN ROBOCALLS

I am getting, on an average, of ten robocalls each day.   I have quit answering my phone and now let the answering machine pick up all calls. 

For a while I was answering the phone only to hear the same spiel over and over:  The IRS is auditing you; The first 100 callers – press one; knee braces almost free; Free medical alert; congratulations you have won; your automobile warranty is about to expire...

Sometimes the call would be followed twenty minutes later with an identical call.  

I don’t know if everyone is getting calls at this frequency, or are they particularly targeting older people. 

It makes me wonder how many people are actually falling for and answering these scams?  

I know that people want the government to step in and somehow limit robocalls; but the easiest way to stop them would be for all TV and Radio and internet sights to run a one-minute info-commercial each hour telling people not to answer or reply to any call that is not recognizable, and impress on the public that these calls are scams.

If people no longer responded to robocalls they would stop. 

the Ol’Buzzard

I HAVE HAD ENOUGH WINTER

I am a winter person.  I love the cold weather and the snow - it makes  me feel truly alive.  I like that nature declares her primacy during the winter season, putting man in his place of insignificance as he feels her power of weather he can not control. 

But I have had enough of this winter.   Our windows are covered and we are living in a snow cave.  The cats can't look out the windows at the birds, and they are showing signs of cabin fever - charging through the house.     Fortunately, my wife and I are not claustrophobic, but we are ready for a change.  

I love a metal roof.  I don't have to get on the roof and shovel, but it packs the snow against the house.

 This is the north wall so even that little clearance at the top doesn't admit much light.

 We use lamps during the daytime.  

Not much of a view.

About four feet of standing snow with drifts up to six or seven feet

I have tried to keep the front of the house somewhat cleared.  I have to shovel wearing snow shoes and that a pain in the ass.  

But, it is winter in Maine, and I would not change it.   There is always another season to look forward to.

the Ol'Buzzard

SURVIVING THE APOCALYPSE

Survivalist always picture a Mad Max scenario, with themselves as the hero, after a nuclear, or biological attack.

That scenario is not likely, because the easiest way to disrupt a nation would be to deploy a computer virus that would permanently shut down the power grid.

Think of it, no electricity: water and sewerage plants shut down; no lights, heat or air conditioning; no refrigeration, gas pumps don’t work; banks closed and ATM machines inoperable.  No TV, no radio, no cell phones, no cell phones, no cell phones, no cell phones – and soon the laptops batteries would be drained….

All the ‘survivalist’ - once they had run out of gas in their big trucks - would have to stay home and protect all their guns and ammunition. They wouldn’t have FOX and Friends to listen to and no ‘survivalist sights’ on the internet to tell them what to do.   You have to feel sorry for them, because they are the most afraid.

Survivalist web sights tell you to put away food and water and ammunition for ‘that day’. 

I have thought about it – but decided naaa.

 HERE WOULD BE MY LIST

1.    For the cats: 550 pounds of IAMS cat food and 52 jugs of cat litter.

2.    For my wife: a case of CHEEZ-IT’s

3.    For me: a case of Irish Whiskey. 

You may copy my list if you feel the need.

You’re welcome

the Ol’Buzzard

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

In the aftermath of the tornadoes in Alabama, and in times of stress, people seem to turn to an imagined God who is suppose to look down on them and protect them during adversities.    Even some atheists agree; if faith in a supreme being gives solace in time of stress, then it is not a bad thing. 

Yes, Christianity and many religions bring comfort to their followers; but we should not forget the wars and bigotry and violence that permeates this world as a result of religions. 

Just last week the United Methodist Church declared their opposition to gay clergy and same-sex marriage, Expelling LGBQ pastors and pro-LGBQ churches.   Prior to the 1970’s churches led the fight against inter-racial marriages, and now follow that same Path against the gay community.

  

 The middle-east is a powder keg because of schisms between Sunni and Shia Muslims.   The conflict in Palestine between Jews and Muslims could ignite a middle east war.   Tension between Iranian Muslims and Israeli Jews is another powder box.  The conflict in Ireland was basically Catholic vs Protestant Christians; Kashmir – Muslim vs Hindu; Sudan – Muslim vs Christian; Nigeria – Muslim vs Christian; Indonesia – Muslim vs Christian; one million people have died in religious killings between India and Pakistan and both nations possess nuclear weapons. 

“What will we do if Islamist Regimes, which grow dewy-eyed at the near mention of paradise, acquire long range nuclear weapons?”

Sam Harris

The End of Faith

Christianity brought on a thousand years of dark ages where people were tortured and murdered for any free thought.  Christianity is, and has always been, an enemy of science.  It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that the Catholic church finally admitted that the sun is the center of our universe.   The Catholic inquisition burned heretics and witches, and in the United States pious Christian preachers were infected with a witch burning frenzy. 

Ignorance, intolerance, racism, bigotry and violence is the legacy of all religions.   Unfortunately, these cults indoctrinate children from infancy, and church communities entice adults with camaraderie and support.

From the Catholic Church, which has its own country and is one of the richest organizations on earth, to the Christian fundamentalist, that wish to legislate laws from a book written two thousand years ago, religion is a detriment to mankind.   We should not celebrate it because indoctrinates turn to it in a time of stress.

the Ol’Buzzard

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WAKE UP CHRISTIANS?

Multiple tornadoes went through the south creating massive death and destruction, especially in Alabama.   The apocalyptic scenes left in the wake of these storms were almost beyond comprehension, and the sudden death and injuries visited upon these people is heart rendering.

But, one of the pictures that was most pitiful to me, was a group of people standing in front of landscape of total destruction, linking hands and praying to God to thank him for their salvation from the storm.

Neighbors dead, grandma put in the hospital, their trailer turned into matchsticks and their dog skewered by their TV antenna, and they are thanking God – not questioning why their all-powerful God didn’t stop the tornado from targeting His faithful.

If they believe He saved them, they should believe He could have prevented this.   What sort of sadistic God would allow something like this happen to his followers? 

 Faith beyond comprehension.  I don’t see it as amiable.  What does it take for the faithful to finally give up the cult and ask questions?

Locking hands in a show of strong community and mutual support is inspiring, but thanking a god for the outcome of a tornado is pitiful.

the Ol’Buzzard

BON APPETIT

I have to admit that my wife and are foodies.   We love good restaurants, and we eat out a lot.   

Food, right after sex, has always been my driving force.  I like well-prepared fine food; but I also like my own version of junk food.   I often eat mayonnaise sandwiches, or almost anything between two pieces of white bread slavered with mayonnaise.   I like spam and I like deviled ham.   Being from Kentucky I love pimento cheese sandwiches.   I also eat almost anything covered with gravy.

Long ago, as a Navy survival instructor, I got over any pickiness when it came to eating.   I have eaten rabbits, squirrels, porcupine, beaver, muskrat, grubs, maggots and I have drunk animal blood.   I have eaten deer, moose, sheep, bear, caribou, seal and most kinds of fish – the list could definitely go on if I took time to think about it. 

 Usually, when we eat out, I am looking for sea food.   A good seafood alfredo and a couple of glasses of good red wine and I am in food heaven.   I love fish and chips, raw oysters, steamed clams and mussels.  In Portugal my favorite dish was baccala – salt cod with potatoes.  Fish-and-brewis from Newfoundland: salt cod with hardtack that turns into dumplings when boiled together – cover it with scruncheons (fried salt pork) and you can’t get me away from the table. 

In southwest Alaska the Yup’ik kindergarten kids made Eskimo ice cream (akutak.)     In the far north the Natives mix whale oil, sugar and berries; but as the Yup’ik are inland Natives they mix Crisco, Wesson oil (since whale oil is not available), fresh fish, sugar and berries, all beaten together like cake icing.

My wife and Kalskag kindergarten children learning to make Eskimo Ice Cream

Preparing the fish

Adding the sugar and berries

  stir until fluffy

 and now for the feast

I know that foods are an acquired taste; but I really have no truck for picky eaters that refuse to try ‘different’ foods.

the Ol’Buzzard

Note: the southern Yup'ik don’t mind being called Eskimo but the Northern Natives don’t like it.   Many decades ago the Athabaskan Indians used the word Eskimo for the northern people to mean ‘eaters of meat’ – the connotation being cannibalism.

THIS HAS BEEN AN EXPENSIVE WINTER

In December my car slid into a snow/ice bank and my insurance deductible for repair was $500.   I was going less than five miles per hour when I turned into our icy road; today's cars are built so flimsily that they damage easily.  

The rental car, not covered by insurance was $380.  

In early January my nineteen-year-old snow blower finally gave up the ghost.  The replacement was $550. 

I have just been told by my dentist that I need a root canal: $$$$

Fuck!  this has been an expensive winter.    

This winter has been crap weather: snow followed by sleet followed by rain followed by snow followed by sleet followed by rain....   I always claim to be a winter person; but I will be glad to see this one pass. 

We are in the 90-100 snow line

  
the Ol'Buzzard