Category: matthew66

Jack Black(190217)
He eschews both “Thomas” and “Jacob” and answers to “Jack”. From the “Soup-Nazi-of-Record-Store-Clerks” in High Fidelity, to the befuddled music instructor in School of Rock (a Dead Poets Society for head bangers?) this one time “challenged” student has carved out a niche for himself in comic and musical film. Though not quite the Pick of Destiny, his financial security seems assured. With steady work in feature flics, television, you-tube, animation and video-games, the acclaim of his peers and his commitment to Tenacious D et al, Jack’s artistic and professional orbits rival those of his satellite engineer parents’ other high-flying issue.

Hugo Lafayette Black
1886-1971
Democrat®, Klansman, segregationist, imperialist aggressor, he served as a Captain in The Great War, and as Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937. He led the filibuster that ultimately exhausted and defeated an intended “anti-lynching” measure in 1935. His vigorous defense of FDR’s “New Deal” to overturn the Constitution’s contract protections (among other crimes), his support for the “court packing” bill designed as a democratic end run around judicial review, and his criticism of the “judicial excess[es]” of an antagonistic court all led to his appointment to the Supremes in 1937 after Justice Devanter‘s departure.

Eric Black, Jr. (190209)
While reportedly “only” the wheelman in the drive-by murder of Jazmine Barnes, Mr Black nevertheless had a profound impact not only on Miss Barnes’ immediate family, but also on Houston’s community overall. As happenstance put a “skinny white man in a red pick-up” near the scene, this also fueled an unfortunate and unnecessary narrative of alleged racist hate crime. For a week this phantom suspect was sought and discussed, to no purpose other than fanning the flames of discord and distrust.
Our hearts break for Miss Barnes and her family,
as our contempt for her killers knows no bounds.

update 220209: Still awaiting trial for felony murder, Eric Black was released on bond on 24 June 2019. Jazmine Barnes remains dead.

Clint Patrick Black (190205)
Though he affects the same demeanor as another “Singin’ Cowboy” and his resume does include the citation “actor” he has nowhere near the screen time as King Roy Himself nor likely even any individual “Trigger.” None of which means of course that one is or is not the Better Man. Nevertheless, with a string of contemporary country hits through the Nineties and the Noughties, and still churning them out, albeit at a more relaxed pace, Clint has not been Killin’ Time. Eschewing schooling in favor of education, he dropped out of Senior Juniorhigh in the early Eighties to pursue his musical career, once again demonstrating the superiority of higher education over government indoctrination.

Baxter Black (190201)
Navy brat ‘n’ Brooklyn native, this cowboy poet was schooled in vet’rinary medicine at the New Mexico and Colorado State Universities. Before quittin’ medicine fer poetry ‘n’ shootin’ the breeze fer a livin‘, he specialized in typical cowboy critters — hosses ’n’ heffers ’n’ such like. Abidin’ in Arizona these days with his Cindy Lou, he still gets published reg’lar and speaks his mind now and then on the public radio. Doin’ without cell phone, TV, or fax, Bax says, “Ya either are [a cowboy] or ya aren’t.”

As of 220201 (today) he resides in Benson, Arizona, where he owns the “Coyote Cowboy Company,” a publishing company specializing in his own works.

5 November 2021

As an American atheist, the “Sharia Laws” with which I am most familiar (no wine or hard liquor to be sold on Sundays or fines for public nudity or prison for sodomites, for example) are mostly of the Judeo-Christian variety.  I am less concerned with Buddhist or Hindu or Muslim silliness, but because these faiths also energize literally billions, I take pains to familiarize myself with their mythology.  To that effect, I have been reading The Quran lately.  As literature, it doesn’t compare well with its competitors.  Ye Olde Testament and Edith Hamilton’s Greek Mythology are still tied for the best stories, but The New Improved Testament and The New World Testament are not far behind.  The Quran and The Bhagavad Gita are both very dry and tedious, but nevertheless interesting.  

But The Quran has its unique charms.  I get the impression that it was inspired (contrary to the pedophile Mohammed’s claim) because Leviticus just wasn’t harsh enough.  Chapter 8, verses 14 & 50 both prescribe death by fire for unbelievers, while chapter 9, verse 17 reiterates that we will be in the fire forever.  Like the other texts, it is not always explicit, so some Imams will interpret that as prescriptive – put them to death with fire – whereas others claim that it is merely predictive – they will burn in Hell (“What an evil destination.”)  Nevertheless, it is a gruesome and cruel notion, difficult to reconcile with the claim that “Islam is a religion of peace.”

Or maybe not so difficult.  After all, Joe Gill’s and Pat Boyette’s creation, The Peacemaker (now being portrayed on the screen by commie tool John Cena), was so committed to peace that he was “willing to FIGHT for it.”  And the motto of the Strategic Air Command, as I was reminded every morning when I reported to the Jet Shop, was “Peace is our Profession.”  Upon reflection, I guess it’s not such a stretch.  What’s more peaceful than a corpse?

“Logic… logic… logic is the beginning of wisdom.”
— Roddenberry, Nimoy, & Konner
(Spock, The Undiscovered Country)

“Fear of [our authority] is the beginning of wisdom.”
— Shamans throughout the Ages