Monday, December 14, 2015

Tuesday OYSTERS

Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:
Love is a condition in which the happiness of another is essential to your own.”
Robert Heinlein

I went to lunch Monday at one of my favorite places. I had fried flounder, steamed cabbage, fried okra, banana pudding, water and cornbread. My server was a middle aged black man named James who had on a “I Love My Church” tee shirt. James sings a lot. Normally it is “How Great Thou Art” but this time it was “Oh happy day, Oh happy day, when Jesus washed...washed my sins away”. James is religious.

Speaking of religion:

Greenville, SC is the home of Bob Jones University/Academy. It is a very narrow-minded Christian based school teaching from kindergarten to a master's degree with about 3,000 students. A while back the administration was called to task for their actions, or lack thereof, relative to reported sexual abuses/attacks on campus. An independent Christian based organization named GRACE was hired by the Academy to look into these allegations. After a few weeks of squabbling, GRACE and BJU agreed on the rules. After two years of investigating Grace issued their 301 page report. GRACE in an organization formed by a relative of Billy Graham just for this purpose. The report was not to determine if sexual abuses existed but what the Academy was doing about it when and if it is reported. It took me a while but I read this report and I am still stunned at what I read. GRACE did not pull any punches, y'all, the report was blistering. 60% of those victims that were interviewed reported that when they reported their encounters to BJU they were told outright to not call the police or they were discouraged and/or browbeaten from doing so. It is also apparently the position of BJU that in the case of sexual abuse/attack both people bear some of the blame. The Academy does not approach this issue at all in their curriculum. They even suggest that it is “sinful” to even talk about it and they have no professionally trained counselors available. If the victim is female the Academy's position is to question whether she precipitated the event with her behavior, attire and/or her body language. If the answer is no, then it is still sinful for her to feel “bitterness and be unforgiving”. One female student reported that a professor's son had sexually abused her and when she tried to report it to her “Resident Adviser” she was told to let it drop because it could negatively effect the professor's ability to do “God's work”. In nearly all of the females interviewed they felt that the Academy advocated male superiority and that “male lust should be controlled by the behavior and attire of the women”. One girl reported a sexual assault to her adviser and he asked for all the details. She said that she was not comfortable with telling everything and the adviser told her that if she did not want to give the details she must be lying about the whole thing. What a sick bastard. I am beginning to gasp for breath and feel a throb in my temples. How can this be here in the 21st century? I have three daughters and I may be prejudicial...but I don't think so, I know evidence of sick minds when I see it. I wonder if Bill Cosby went to Bob Jones. Later on Greenville Law enforcement refused to pursue it.
This Date in History December 15

1961 Earlier in 1906 Adolf Eichmann was born in Solingen, Germany. In 1932 he joined the Nazi party and was absorbed into the elite SS military/political machine of Adolf Hitler. He rose swiftly in rank and authority and eventually he was in the inner circle of those in the Nazi party chosen to find a way to exterminate all the Jews in Europe. As Field Marshal Herman Goering called it, “We need to find a “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Goering was the second in command to Hitler and was tasked by Hitler with eliminating the Jews. Goering in turn assigned Eichmann to figure out a way to get this attempt at genocide on its feet and still be to best effect for the 3rd Reich. Eichmann was equal to the task and very shortly had death camps, work camps where the workers were slaves building the tools of war for the German military. They were literally worked to death and buried in mass graves, or burned into dust in ovens. Eichmann’s creations were responsible for the deaths of about 4 million Jews, Slavs and Gypsies. There were another 2 million deaths that were the responsibility of others in the SS. After the war was lost Eichmann was captured but escaped and bounced around in the Middle East for several years before making his way to Argentina in 1950. The Argentinians played it fast and loose with immigrants, especially former German military personnel. Eichmann assumed the name of Roberto Klement and began a life of a factory worker in Buenos Aires. In 1957 a former German officer told the Israeli secret police, known as the Mossad, that Eichmann was living Buenos Aires. The Mossad was very interested in Eichmann for obvious reasons and sent two secret agents to Buenos Aries to try and find this monster. It took a while but they located the home of Eichmann. In May of 1960 Argentina was having a celebration commemorating the 150th anniversary of freedom from Spanish rule. There was a large influx of visitors to this celebration and Mossad took this opportunity to bring in more agents. On May 11 the Mossad agents descended upon Eichmann’s house and waited. When Eichmann got off the bus coming home from work, the agents grabbed him, injected him with enough drugs to knock down a mule and flew him to Israel. Argentina raised hell and demanded Eichmann’s release but Israel said he was an international war criminal and there was no way in hell he was going to be released and he was put on trial for crimes against humanity. On this date Eichmann was convicted on all counts and was sentenced to death. Eichmann’s total defense was that he was doing as he was ordered like the good soldier that he was. On May 31, 1962 Adolf Eichmann was hanged, his body cremated and his ashes thrown into the Mediterranean. Thus ended the life of one on the worst monsters this world has ever known. But there are still more out there, count on it.

1890 For years the holy man for the Lakota Sioux, Sitting Bull, had been warning his people that any contact with people other than those of their tribe would result in disaster. His warning proved to be prophetic as the honky settlers took more and more of Sioux land by force. This meant that the Sioux were fighting a defensive battle the great majority of the time trying to hold on their tribal lands and traditional way of life. It was a fruitless fight because the settlers were protected by a well armed and well trained United States Cavalry. Finally Sitting Bull persuaded his people to go to the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota or risk complete annihilation. The US Cavalry got wind of an increase of the practice of the legendary “Ghost Dance” by the Sioux. This dance was usually a prelude to war so the Cavalry assumed this practice was fostered by Sitting Bull. On this date the Reservation Police went to arrest Sitting Bull at his tiny cabin on the Grande River. They went to get him at 6:00a so they could take him away as quietly as possible. It was not to be. Sitting Bull began raising almighty hell and soon a crowd had gathered around the great leader also raising almighty hell. One hothead in the crowd shot one of the policemen and the police responded with shooting Sitting Bull in the chest and head killing him instantly. The police were not finished. They continued shooting killing 12 of the crowd and wounding 4. Just a few weeks later the Indian spirit was broken with the massacre of Chief Black Kettle and 156 of his tribe at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This was the last “battle” between the US Cavalry and an Indian tribe. All they wanted was to be left alone to live their lives as they saw fit.   It was not allowed.

      Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow


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