Huck and Jim Had a Dream

Through a convoluted series of thoughts this morning, I got to thinking about Huckleberry Finn.  That led me to think about my relationship with his story and the banning of the book now and then throughout the course of its history.

First off, let me say that, if you've not read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, you should.  Ernest Hemingway famously said that it was the "one book" from which "all modern American literature" came.

Not only is it great literature, it's an essential tale of Americana that should not be overlooked.  Critics complain about the offensive language, and, it's true, the language can be offensive.  They also claim that it puts slavery and discrimination up front and center.  That's true, too.  It does.

Mark Twain

What critics fail to see, however, is that Huck's tale is a story that condemns not only slavery, but discrimination.  As a lad, reading it for the first time, I came away sickened by the inequality experienced by the African slaves portrayed in the book.  Jim, the slave running away from owners in order to be with his family, is a favorite character of mine.  I love his essential goodness. 

Post-Election Stress Disorder

When I was a youngster, I read a quote by Sherlock Holmes.  He said that the truth is far stranger than fiction.  It's funny because Holmes is/was a fictional character, but, nonetheless, I thought he was wrong.  In my young, concrete, adolescent mind, I figured that the feverish imaginations of humans would be far stranger than the truths in the world.

I was very much mistaken (which means that I was wrong.)

It seems that each week, sometimes each day, I read about something that makes me close my eyes and shake my head in wonder.  The latest is this nonsense about PESD.  I promise you that I'm not making this up.  Sometimes I parody a point of view, but this is real.

‘PESD’ Is PTSD For Dems Who Can’t Stop Crying Over The Election

Berkeley's Brand of Tolerance

Unbeknownst to me, there's an English guy who is Greek, half-Jewish, gay and very conservative. 

Weird, huh?

This guy has so many political identity categories that it's hard to keep track of them all.

Oh, and he mostly dates black guys.

Meet Milo Yiannopoulos.

I'm not much in the mainstream of trendy things.  Most would say that I'm so far out of the mainstream that I haven't seen flowing water in years.  They'd probably be right.  I came to know about Milo because of the riots at Berkeley last week.  He was scheduled to speak there but lots of people didn't like that much.

The Cute Blonde and the Picture Frame

Katie Richter
a.k.a. The Cute Blonde

I hate to say, "I told ya so," but I did tell you so.  Come to think of it, I guess I don't hate it all that much.

For context, you may want to review my post entitled Conscientious Abstention.

There I documented the schizophrenia surrounding the issue of denying services to those with whom one disagrees.  The case study was a baker in Colorado who didn't want to make a cake for a gay wedding.  Of course, he was vilified by the press.  And, of course, he was sued by the gay couple.

I warned you there that this policy would come again but with different examples, including liberals refusing to provide services for those with whom they disagree.

To be fair, it wasn't much of a prediction because, in the post, I cited three other incidences where liberals refused service and no one seemed to care.  It was obvious that it would happen again.

And now it has.  And it happened in Colorado.  Gotta love the irony of it all.

American Stew

Rosalynd Harris

While perusing the news online this morning, I read a heartwarming story.  It seems that some white guys from Texas went to Washington, DC to witness President Trump's inauguration. 

During their stay, they ate at Busboys and Poets where they were served by Rosalynd Harris.  Ms. Harris had recently been a part of the Woman's March and was proud to have participated.

Ms. Harris happens to be black and she admits that she was a bit prejudiced when she found out that these guys were in town in support of Mr. Trump.

One of the men complimented her on her smile and they all chatted a bit. It was a friendly exchange between people of different worlds, races, and ideas.

It was America.

Imagine her surprise when she picked up the ticket after the men had left.  For a meal costing $76, they'd left her a $450 tip and a message.

Remodeling America's Bathrooms

Eureka!  I have found the solution to America's bathroom problem.  With all the fake problems in America today (economy, unemployment, terrorism, for example) the real issue is the bathroom crisis that the transgenders amongst us are experiencing.  It's appalling, really.

So, I've been putting my considerable brain power to work on the problem.  After an exhausting matter of seconds, I've cracked the code.

Conscientious Abstention

I've been reading about celebrities refusing invitations to perform at the Trump inauguration.  Honestly, I couldn't care less about who performs, so that's not the point of this post.

It did, however, lead me to wonder about how this relates to some other news making abstentions in the past few years.

It seems to me that abstaining from an activity approved by the left is considered an egregious affront to humanity, whereas abstaining from activities blackballed by the left is considered heroic.

As I've said in previous posts, I'm not interested in telling anyone what, or what not, to do, thus, it troubles me when one group forces their will upon another person or group.