Category: COMMENTARY

COMMENTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS

Shrinkflation

(Back in 2019, in JESS & IMA TALK -in the segment called ‘the Phool’s viewpoint on Inflation”…this subject was posted; here they are again!)

IMA: Jess, I just heard a media report where the word “Shrinkflation” was used to describe what we talked about in 2019 on our blog (see note above). I laughed out loud and said, “Well, they finally caught up with us, and are using a name I’d never heard of.“

JESS: Did they sound excited, like they’d just discovered something?

IMA: Yep, so I looked up the word and found out that an American economist, named Pippa Malgrem, had coined that word in 2009. Imagine that!

JESS: We’d been talking about the definition of inflation way before we decided to even create a blog, because we kept hearing the media talking heads telling everyone, there was no such thing as “inflation”.

IMA: It’s good to know that we weren’t out of our heads when we became so aware that amounts were shrinking while prices either stayed the same or increased.

JESS: Yep, manufacturers played it slick, by making the packaging look the same, while decreasing the amount of the content; even changed the shapes of bottles so it looked like the volumes were the same even though the sides had been flattened, to “make the bottles easier to hold”.

IMA: Well, a whole lots of folks we know weren’t fooled, even those who are not named “Phool”!

CANCEL CULTURE – 2021

There’s lots of talk these days about Cancel Culture. Not sure exactly what that means when spoken by folks who are railing about “true history cancelling their culture”. But when I put my mind to it I can interpret it this way:

Some “official” bodies, (read: government), long time ago (3 or 4 hundred years ago or more?), who wanted to secure land for themselves and their kind, went about “cancelling the culture” of the peoples who occupied the lands they wanted…of course they said “nothing was there”…it was “discovered”…so there was no problem with “cancelling” anyone’s culture, huh? And in fact not only did they cancel the culture, but in so many instances, they cancelled the people themselves, by force, war and disease. And then, later, when some of ‘those’ people (yep, same ones) got in the way of some of the “official” folks obtaining more land for ‘their’ folks, these same “official” people started rounding up ‘those’ people’s children and shipping them off to their “official” schools, to force the ‘wildness’ out of them and make them more like the “official folks”; thus, once more, again, ‘cancelling their culture’ … (in the long run, it didn’t work, but it wasn’t because they didn’t try).

In the meantime, some of these “official” folks, those who owned plantations and needed ‘free’ labor to work the plantations, got involved in the business of importing some free, black labor from across the world; once they got here, in the US that is, these “free-laborers, who hadn’t been freed”, were separated from their countrymen, their wives, their siblings, their children, their relatives and their culture and sold on the auction block to the highest bidder, (you know, those who had the money to afford that)..and once again, somebody else’s “culture was cancelled” ; and would you believe it, some of these “official” folks (or their descendants) once again tried to take some of these black and brown children and send them to special schools, so they could learn the “official” culture…Oops, was that cancelling their culture, also?

(To be fair, I have to point out that some of the people whose cultures were cancelled, actually wanted some of their children to attend these schools, so their children could learn the “majority” ways, in order to function in this “official” culture.)

And, guess what? Check out your history and you’ll find that “cancelling cultures” was nothing new. Among others, even Christians had/have been “cancelling cultures” for a long time, in order to convert everyone to Christianity; for example during the Crusades against the “others”, and during the “Doctrine of Discovery” against the indigenous peoples wherever Spain and Portugal found them. In fact, just name a place where “official” US has been and see if there wasn’t also some “culture cancelling” going on there as well.

I’ve heard rumors, well actually not “rumors”, but “real” folks explaining their “real” ideas about what they think should exist in this country from now on…a country of ONE religion…a ONE RELIGION COUNTRY! That’s what I heard on November 13, 2021, said by Michael Flynn: “If we are to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion under God. One nation under God and one religion under God.” …. So … would … anybody … call this “Cancel Culture” … or not?

And would one think that by burning books that deal with subjects that the proponents of “book burning” don’t agree with, might be classified as cancelling someone’s culture?

Now that I think about it, what was this “Melting Pot” idea all about, except the blending of all the population into a homogenous mixture by “cancelling the cultures” of the diverse beings who were already here?

Can you who are reading this acknowledge that while you may not have been one who was involved in this “cancelling-of- cultures-process”, that some of your predecessors may have been? After all, most of those people whose cultures have been cancelled were never in charge of setting policy or precedent in this country. Wouldn’t want you to feel guilty about any of this; only want to share the truth and ask you to get to know the truth, by reading what the “official folks” wrote in their records, as they set about creating or trying to create a country that they wanted to look and think like them. If folks now are digging out these truths, from the textbooks, history books, historical documents (that were knowingly hidden from public view or just ignored), don’t call them trying to “cancel somebody’s culture”…they just want to tell it like it REALLY was…and IS.

Ima Phool: Just expressing my point of view!

JESS AND IMA ON HONESTY

JESS: Hey, Ima, I’ve been noticing that the word “honesty” isn’t being spoken of much lately.

IMA: No? I hadn’t paid much attention.

JESS: Well, in our run up to the last election, and ever since then, I haven’t heard the candidates speak about honesty or integrity in themselves, or their opponents. And since the last election no one seems to be using that term, not even the ‘TV talkers’. I wonder why?

IMA: Do you think that honesty is less important these days than it used to be? I remember, as a child, being told that I should be honest and truthful; that “honesty was the best policy”; of course that was before there was such a thing as “alternative truths”.

JESS: Yep, honesty was so important a long time ago that the country even lied about how important it was.

IMA: What are you talking about, Jess?

JESS: Don’t you remember the lies told about Abraham Lincoln and the penny, and George Washington and the cherry tree? They were part of our history lessons…only to learn later in life that because somebody thought that honesty was such a great character asset it was necessary to lie about how “honest” those two presidents were.

IMA: Oh, yes, I remember when the true stories were reported. And I remember, too, that honesty had lost some respect when Jimmy Carter was vilified for admitting “honestly” about ‘lusting in his heart’.

JESS: Yeah! Well, even though today “honesty” may have lost its place in terms of positive character traits, maybe one day it will be important enough again so that our current politicos and ‘importants’ will have lies told about them too.

FORGIVENESS 101

As more and more knowledge is being revealed and accepted as true concerning the brutality and inhumane conditions meted out during America’s Peculiar Institution Of Chattel Slavery, there seems to be a growing expressed desire for FORGIVENESS.

It is understandable that people of conscience would desire to atone for their country’s actions but, FORGIVENESS is not where the process begins. FORGIVENESS begins with honest and truthful CONFESSION…followed by the acceptance of the confession by the victim. Then, and only then, is FORGIVENESS manifest and RECONCILIATION possible.

CONFESSION BEGINS THE PROCESS AND FORGIVENESS IS NEAR THE END!

HOPEFULLY FOLLOWED BY PEACE

COMPROMISE vs ACCOUNTABILITY

I sense the foul whiff of compromise in the air and it alarms me. Compromise has never worked out well for me. The Compromise of 1790 robbed me of two/fifths of my humanity and perpetuated my enslavement.

By 1850, with America on the verge of collapse, Congress reached what it hoped was a solution….the notorious Compromise of 1850, which required that fugitive slaves be returned to their masters. Like so many political Compromises before and since, it was a deal by which white Americans tried to advance their interests at the expense of black Americans. Yet the Fugitive Slave Act, intended to preserve the Union, in fact set the country on the path to civil war.

The compromise of 1865 resulted in a reign of terror and lynching and 100 years of Jim Crow, discrimination and segregation.

We need the fumigating properties of ACCOUNTABILITY to dispel this loathsome whiff of political COMPROMISE.

I am concerned that failure to demand ACCOUNTABILITY…. given the rhetoric and actions that are being so easily expressed today…could result in the resurrection of ovens and gas-emitting showerheads, reminiscent of the not-too-distant past.

ACCOUNTABILITY

If his … untruthful utterances, his actions, and his inactions are found to have resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of US citizens and the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of persons globally … don’t meet the definition of … CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY … then, according to Little Milton in the 1940’s … “Grits Ain’t Groceries, Eggs Ain’t Poultry and Mona Lisa was a Man.”

Jess A. 2020

THE BIBLE

THE BIBLE IS A SELECTIVE GATHERING OF TEXTS WRITTEN BY VARIOUS AUTHORS AND TRANSCRIBED BY VARIOUS SCRIBES MOSTLY FROM THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST. THE BIBLE IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY READ BOOKS IN THE WORLD AND IS THE SOURCE OF MUCH HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND IS REVERED BY MANY.

THERE ARE NUMEROUS VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. FOLLOWING IS A LISTING OF A FEW:

  • King James Version (1611, KJV) revised in 1769
  • American Standard Version (1901, ASV)
  • Twentieth Century New Testament (1901, TCNT) revised in 1904
  • The New Testament in Modern Speech (1903, NTMS)
  • The Worrell New Testament (1904)
  • Thompson Chain Reference Bible (1908)
  • The Scofield Study Bible (1909) revised 1917
  • A New Translation of the Bible (1928, MNT)
  • The Bible: An American Translation (1935, AAT)
  • The New Testament in the Language of the People (1937, NTLP)
  • Knox Bible (1949, KNOX)
  • Revised Standard Version (1952, RSV)
  • The Daily Study Bible (1954)
  • The New Testament in Modern English (1958, NTME)
  • Wuest Expanded Translation of the New Testament (1959, WET)
  • The Berkeley Version in Modern English (1959, BV)
  • Dake Annotated Reference Bible (1963)
  • The Amplified Bible (1965, AMP)
  • The Jerusalem Bible (1966, JB)
  • The New American Bible (1970, NAB)
  • New English Bible (1970, NEB)
  • New American Standard Bible (1971, NASB or NAS)
  • The Living Bible (1971, TLB)
  • The Good News Bible (1976, GNB or GNT)
  • The New International Version (1978, NIV)
  • New King James Version (1982, NKJV)
  • The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible (1984)
  • Revised English Bible (1989, REB)
  • New Revised Standard Version (1990,NRSV)
  • 21st Century King James Version (1994, KJ21)
  • Contemporary English Version (1995, CEV)
  • New Living Translation (1996, NLT) revised 2004
  • English Standard Version (2001, ESV)
  • The Message (2002, MSG)
  • Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004, HCSB)
  • Today’s New International Version (2005,TNIV)
  • New English Translation (2005, NET)

Some of the above versions do not include the books that are found in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the Old Testament but not in the Hebrew Bible. Some modern Bibles sometimes include them in the Old Testament or as an appendix, or sometimes omit them.

Also absent are materials from the Dead Sea Scrolls and The Nag Hammadi Scriptures which include The Gnostic Gospels: The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Truth, The Gospel of Judas, Gospel to the Egyptians, Gospel to the Hebrews, The Secret Book of James, The Secret Book of John, etc.

The Bible, in its various versions, will forever be a valued source of REFERENCE and REVERENCE for many.

Jess A., 2020

…..

THE JEFFERSON BIBLE

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Introduction by Forrest Church

Afterword by Jaroslav Pelikan

“Gives us a preaching Jesus of distinctly human dimensions, without miracles or resurrection. [A] fascinating document, telling us a great deal about a great eighteenth-century mind and its world.”

Charles S. Adams, Religious Studies Review

“These excerpts from the four Gospels are among the most interesting and compelling in all the Scripture. They emphasize Jesus’s ethical lessons of love, reverence, forbearance, reproachment, repentance, and forgiveness.”

Garret Ward Sheldon, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

…..

We must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus. There will be remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.

Thomas Jefferson

Featuring an introduction by Forrest Church, this reissue of The Jefferson Bible offers extraordinary insight into the logic of Thomas Jefferson and the Gospel of Jesus. Working in the White House in 1804, Jefferson set out to edit the Gospels in order to uncover the essence of true religion in the simple story of the life of Jesus. Jefferson was convinced that the authentic message of Jesus could be found only by extracting from the Gospels Jesus’ message of absolute love and service, rather than the miracle of the Annunciation, Virgin Birth, or even the Resurrection. Completed in 1819, this little book is the remarkable result of Jefferson’s efforts.

…..

Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) was the third president of the United States, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the founder of the University of Virginia. Among his proudest achievements was his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, passed by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1786, which became the first law of its kind in the United States. Also a noted architect and naturalist, Jefferson designed and built his home, Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia.

…..

Forrest Church is senior minister of All Souls Church in New York City and author of Lifecraft.

Beacon Press, 1989

MUSINGS BY JESS

THE OSTRICH AND THE DODO

Once upon a time about a million years ago, a verbal confrontation took place between an ostrich and a dodo bird. The dodo was lambasting the ostrich for the latter’s refusal to be aggressive when faced with adverse circumstances.

Said the dodo to the ostrich: “Ostrich, you big, foolish bird, don’t you know that sticking your head in the sand and being apathetic is no way to survive in this Dog-Eat-Dog world? You can’t go through life being a non-combatant.”

The ostrich looked at the dodo, smiled wryly, then poetically replied: “My dodo friend it may well be that what you say is true, let’s talk again in a million years or will that be too late for you?”

Jess A., 1980

OF DANDELIONS AND SPARROWS

The concept of “The Survival of the Fittest” suggests that those species and varieties that are strongest and are most adaptive will endure and flourish.

Is it not interesting that after having demonstrated evolutionary superiority, these species and varieties are despised and maligned, while those that are fragile and rare are cherished and prized?

Jess A., 1980

CULTURE GAP

You see

3 M’s

and

think of

Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing

I see

3 M’s

and

think of

Medgar, Malcolm and Martin

Jess A., 1981

IRONY

Late one night, strange noises were heard coming from the basement. I got up to investigate. Cautiously I opened the basement door. The sounds appeared to be raucous laughter and merriment. I tipped down the stairs, one at a time. In a distant corner there was a small, faint light. Quietly approaching the activity I was able to distinguish roaches, crickets, grasshoppers, ants, flies, spiders and other insects laughing and guffawing, many seemingly close to delirium.

I looked closer and there I saw a newspaper clipping whose headline read:

“HUMANS FALL VICTIM TO KEPONE POISONING.”

(for the young, Kepone was the most popular insecticide in its day)

Jess A., 1981

PERCEPTIONS

SOME

HEAR

I – C – B – M

AND

THINK OF

LONG RANGE MISSILES;

OTHERS

HEAR

I – C – B – M

AND

THINK OF

FRIGID FECES.

Jess A., 1981

EXODUS

How come most of the

Cubans

leaving Cuba

that I see

look MORE like

Desi

and

not like me?

Jess A., 1981

DEPRESSION

More and More

I care

Less and Less

About

More and More

Jess A., 1981

DIMINISHED PASSION

I saw her ankle

and I longed to see more;

I saw her calf

and I longed to see more;

I saw her knee

and I longed to see more;

I saw her thigh

and I longed to see more;

I saw more

and I yawned.

Jess A., 2017

THE WITNESS

I DIDN’T DO IT;

IT WASN’T ME;

MAYBE HE DID IT,

BUT, I DIDN’T I SEE .

Jess A., 1989

POINT OF VIEW

The other day I noticed,

As I walked out of the door,

A lady of the evening

We usually call a WHORE.

At her side, glancing

Now this way, then the other,

There pranced a joyful toddler

Who lovingly called her MOTHER.

Jess A., 1976

DESIRE

They act as though they don’t want me to

Have It

So I guess I really ought to

Want It

Jess A.,2019

REQUIEM

The last man died last night.

He was Dependable, Trustworthy, Honest,

Loyal, Peace-loving, and Helpful.

The last Man died last night.

He was Friendly, Courteous, Empathetic,

Thoughtful, Questioning and Creative.

He was Brave, Courageous and Just.

The last MAN died last night.

MALES remain in abundance

But

The last MAN died last night.

Jess A.,2019

ENLIGHTENMENT

Knowledge is the precursor to Understanding

and

Understanding makes Wisdom possible

Jess A.,2009

WASTE

Every Body comes with a brain

but

Everybody doesn’t choose to use theirs

Jess A.,2018

MORNING NEWS

CHIT CHAT

WEATHER

SPORTS

TRAFFIC

CHIT CHAT

COMMERCIAL

NEWS

COMMERCIAL

WEATHER

TRAFFIC

CHIT CHAT

WEATHER

SPORTS

NEWS

HAVE YOUR SMART SPEAKER TUNE IN FOR MORE NEWS AT NOON

Jess A.,2019

TRUMPING

WHEN CONSIDERING THE ISSUES OF

RIGHT AND WRONG

OR

WAR AND PEACE

WORLD VIEW AND IDEOLOGY

TRUMPS

GENDER AND PIGMENTATION

Jess A.,2016

QUERY

WHEN DID SPEECH MOVE FROM THE

DIAPHRAGM

TO THE

NOSE ?

Jess A.,2019

DANGEROUS COMBINATIONS

DRINKING AND DRIVING

GASOLINE AND OPEN FLAMES

WHITE SUPREMACY AND THE PROFIT MOTIVE

Jess A.,2018

Wasted Effort ?

You Can Lead A Man To Knowledge But You Can’t Make Him Think

Jess A.,2009

LETTER POWER

WHAT IF “L” HAD BEEN CHOSEN RATHER THAN “A”

AND THE NAME HAD BEEN

NALCP RATHER THAN NAACP

AND THE GOAL HAD BEEN

LIBERATION RATHER THAN ADVANCEMENT ?

(JUST A THOUGHT)

Jess A.,2017

WHERE’S THE LOGIC ?

BUYING WHAT YOU DON’T NEED WITH MONEY THAT YOU DON’T HAVE

Jess A.,2016

AMERICA

Why You Get Angry

When I Take a Knee

Don’t You Remember

You Took Me?

Jess A.,2017

AND WHEN YOU GET ANGRY AT MY TAKING A KNEE,

REMEMBER MY EXCEPTIONAL AMERICAN HISTORY.

I AM THE ORIGINAL

STOCK

THAT WAS

EXCHANGED

ON WALL STREET

AND THE WOUNDS FROM THE SHACKLES ARE STILL RAW AND PAINFUL.

Jess A.,2019

IMPOTENCE

How did it happen that the world’s population is being held hostage to the irrational behavior of one individual?

JESS A.,2017

GOD, THE TERRORIST?

Terror: Extreme fear

Terrorist: A person who uses or favors violent and intimidating methods of coercion.

According to THE BOOK, God employed famines, swarms of locusts, pillars of salt, floods, plagues, the murder of first-borns, etc….

…to persuade His CHOSEN PEOPLE to behave themselves.

If that ain’t terror ….

Jess A.,2019

THE ENLIGHTENED SLAVE

A MASTER, THREATENED BY WAR, SUMMONED HIS TRUSTED SLAVE AND SAID “TAKE THIS RIFLE AND KILL THE ENEMY.”

THE SLAVE SMILED, TOOK THE RIFLE AIMED AND FIRED .

Jess A,,2019


THE OTHER WAY AROUND

SH_ _ AIN’T NOTHING BUT

PROCESSED FOOD

AND

VICE VERSA

Jess A.,2017

LEAVING WELL-ENOUGH ALONE

RELIGION WAS FINE

UNTIL IT WAS ORGANIZED

Jess A.,2019

NEWSPAPERS

A LOT LESS NEWS,

A LOT MORE PAPER.

Jess A.,2019

WHATS IN A NAME ?

LOVE

HOPE

JUSTICE

C. LOVE

JESS HOPE

N. JUSTICE

CLARENCE LOVE

JESSE HOPE

NORMAN JUSTICE

GOOD MEN…ONE AND ALL

Jess A.,2019

THE DONALD

He GAVE YOU:

TAX CUTS

YOU GAVE HIM:

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Jess A.,2019

PATRIOTISM

PATRIOTISM IS THE LAST REFUGE OF SCOUNDRELS.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS:

WAVE THE FLAG and PLAY THAT SONG,

AND MOST NON-THINKERS WILL GO ALONG.

JESS A., 2019

De-ja-vu, All Over Again

FUN AND GAMES

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THAT’S HOW EMPIRES END

Jess A., 2019

WHY?

Why did they begin making cars out of thinner and thinner steel

and then remove FUNCTIONAL front and rear bumpers ?

Jess A., 2019

SPEAKING OF HEROES

Un-Sung

and

Un-Hung

Jess A.,2019

Heavenly Cuisine

THE STANDARD FARE IS MILK AND HONEY

BUT, PERSONALLY, I PREFER

WELL-SEASONED COLLARD GREENS AND CORNBREAD.

I GUESS IT’S JUST A CULTURAL THING.

Jess A.,2019

How Much?

HOW MUCH ENERGY IS CONSUMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF

TRASH ?

Jess A., 2019

I SOMETIMES WONDER

HAD I HAD SOMEONE TO STEADY THE LADDER, HOW HIGH WOULD I HAVE DARED TO CLIMB?

Jess A.,2019

MAKE ROOM

DON’T SCHEDULE YOUR LIFE SO TIGHTLY THAT YOU LEAVE NO SPACE FOR THE JOY OF SPONTANEITY.

Jess A.,2019

YOU KNOW IT,WHEN YOU HEAR IT

MALE BOVINE FECAL MATERIAL

a.k.a BULL SH_T

Jess A. ,2019

A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION

In Recognition Of All You’ve Done For Us Over The Centuries

THANKS

F rom U s C olored K ids to Y ou

(NO OFFENSE INTENDED)

Jess A. ,2020