Broken (and kept) Promises

2 March 2019

Leftie hysterics assured us that if President Trump were to install Betsy deVos as Secretary of Education that she would destroy public education in America. If only. Two years in and the nightmare of organized child abuse (a.k.a. “public education”) continues to terrorize and warp the minds of the helpless. Leftists can’t seem to keep their promises.

But let’s give Mrs deVos some credit. Her new educational tax credit plan would allow those of us who are presently sickened by our involuntary support for tyranny, murder, and graft to divert some of our stolen money from President Bushbama’s friends at Halliburton and Solyndra to help out Jean and the Kids at the Freedom School.

Let the shrieking commence.

update 210223: It’s bad enough when leftists break their promises (about Betsy’s ending F’eral interference in education, for example). It’s even worse when they keep them. President Select Harris and Former Vice President Biden seem intent on keeping theirs, and so far have faithfully squandered endless (arguably already useless) Senator-hours and destroyed thousands of (otherwise rewarding) jobs.

On Scientism

27 April 2018 — “NASA is back!
You know what it is?  It’s great.  It’s science.  Important.”
Donal Ivan Fredovitch Trumpchev

5 February 2021

It is stipulated (generally by theists, miscalling atheists and agnostics) that “Scientism” is “the religious belief that is underpinned by faith in the scientific establishment,” and that it “has its own customs and nomenclature,” and clergy who “are known as ‘scientists.'” A particular proponent of this thesis also avers that “most believers don’t even know their own scripture.” On that latter point I cannot help but agree, probably in the matter of all faiths, let alone alleged “scientism.”

And no, they don’t mean “Scientologists.” The proponents make that clear as well. (I suspect they get credit for being seekers or something.) Their “scientismics” are those of us who buy into the moon landing or thermodynamics or vaccines or electricity or the heliocentric model. Especially the heliocentric model.

Contra their thesis, I would assert that very few (if any) actual scientists could be scientismics. Other than that one point, I’m happy to accept their definition. But it seems to me the real scientismics would be the troofers and the flerfers and the chemtrailers and others who would misuse the trappings of science to “support” fantasies like the flat earth or modern monetary theory.

update 210223: haunting suspicions enquire:
Is “flerfer” as offensive to flat earthers as “troofer” is to “9-11 Truthers?”
Or as funny as “magic bullet” is to the Deep State?

210317 — Vaccine! (meter stolen from Dolly Parton)

Vaccine!  Rapine!  It’s all obscene!
Please don’t shoot me up with RNA.
No unknown sera in my arm, I know you say it does no harm,
But you won’t say what side effects are seen.
Hank Aaron put it to the test, and now he takes his final rest,
But you can’t blame it on our great vaccine.
Ol’ Marvin Hagler took his shot, and with us further he is not,
But it’s because you skeptics are so mean!

Just because it hurts doesn’t make it not funny

29 February 1984 — Of course I am Lord and Master in my house, and my wife agrees.  She didn’t at first (sometimes she thinks I’m not very funny), but when I fully explained myself and defined it for her, she couldn’t help but be pleased.
I am a female chauvinist, and have been for as long as I can remember.  When I say “Lord and Master” I mean second in command to “Lady and Mistress.”
My duty is to enforce her will.
My desire is to influence her will.
update 200110:  Since composing the thoughts above, I have since added yet another favorite T-shirt/Bumpersticker slogan to the catalog in my head (thanks to the stranger who wore it):  “I LOVE it when MY WIFE lets me go fishing.”

14 March 2009
Oh Bearer of Light, Illuminate Our Path from this Garden of Ignorance

21 December 2010 — “I’m Ready”
After dealing with my Mom, my sister, two wives, a daughter, and various girlfriends, I’ve learned to understand Girl a little bit. 
“I’m ready” means “I’m ready for you to wait for me.”

“My Father Doesn’t Think Much of Me” (17 April 2014)
Now, that’s not to say that he dislikes or disrespects me. I just don’t think I cross his mind all that often. I love him and respect him and all, but we’re not pals. We are very different people.
He’s an affable joiner, I’m a troubled loner.
He’s a successful entrepreneur, I’m a low wage drone.
He’s a Born Again Christian, I’m an Atheist Materialist.
He’s a “conservative” and occasionally libertarian Republican, I’m a xenophilic anarchist (and a gay liberal republican).
Of course, we’re both successful breeders (thrice each) and divorced and remarried, though I’m more divorced than he is, but not by much.
update 210224:
Late reports from my stepmother suggest that in his advanced stage of dementia, Daddio doesn’t think of much of anything these days, though he still recognizes and loves his wife (and Jesus.) In other developments, he is comfortably retired and I am now a no-wage drone.

The Essentials    (4 April 2017) I expect that I could live without garlic or cannabis, but neither as well nor as long.

18 November 2017 — As a proper Anarcho Materialist Death Cultist I understand that ultimately we’re all doomed. I’m not at all depressed or bitter about it. Life is rich with tragedy and tragedy is rich with humor. If we couldn’t laugh we’d be crushed by the overwhelming sadness of life. As a proper Rastafarian Agnostic Sybarite, I often ask,
“Does not getting stoned REALLY help?”

1 September 2018 — What seems to inform Dangerous Cults?
Neither the New World Testament ( or The Book of Mormon ) nor Lamb ( or The Gospel According to Biff) contradict Ye Olde Testament or The New Improved Testament any more than they already contradict themselves. I haven’t yet read the Koran so I’m unqualified to weigh in on that one, but judging from the behavior of many of its adherents I gather that it is a grimmer and grittier version of the original. Sort of like Frank Miller’s Dark Knight up against Adam West’s Gotham Guardian.
Marxism is a competing faith, as is statism more generally. They all seem to be of a kind — theism, statism, nationalism, socialism — and I lump them together as types of collectivism and self abnegation. Lefties all!

8 July 2019 — Most Americans have a Phlogiston Theory of Human Rights, that they are a grant of our secular masters (Gub’mint) or our eternal master (Gawd). As usual, they get it exactly backward. We are not filled with rights by an outside entity. Like other human attributes, rights devolve organically from our nature.

12 July 2019 — It is well established that God is an Asshole.
The question remains, however, what kind exactly?
I paraphrase from memory. God tells Moses,
“I shall bring forth water from that stone. Hold out your staff.”

Moses strikes the rock with his staff.
God says, “I didn’t say shit about hitting any rocks. You’re screwed!”
God is a drill sergeant, who must be obeyed. TO. THE. LETTER!

22 July 2019 — One might consider Lutherans and Catholics (at least) to be natural Transcendental Mathematicians. I’ve read most of the major scriptural bases of Western Civilization, but haven’t witnessed all the liturgies of Christendom. Still, Lutherites and Papists both acknowledge the difference between for all time (“…for Thine is the power and glory Forever…”) and for all time and then some (“…and Ever.”) So far only Aleph-null and Aleph-one, but it’s a start.

27 August 2019
I know that God is cruel when David Koch dies of cancer but
The Deleterious RBG does not. update 201119: Maybe God got my complaint and balanced things up, having harvested Ginsburg recently. Still, when I further reflect that Chris Wallace and Chris Hayes and Chris Cuomo all continue to live, and Chris Farley does not…

8 September 2019 — Most theists “Know” Gods’ Love the same way Susan Smith’s sons “knew” that Mamma loved them. They wished to believe it so much that the thought of its not being true was too painful to accept.

25 May 2020 — “Love is not enough,” said Elizabeth Holloway Marston
(and others, too, but at least her character said so in the film
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women“.)
But without love, everything else is also not enough.

22 June 2020 — The only people to ever tell me that “Money isn’t Everything” had more of it than I have. And it seems like, the more they had, the more adamant they were about it. Which of course makes perfect sense; on those elevated margins it is much less valuable, just like everything else.

DC Statehood?

update 1 February 2021

The proposed State of “Washington-Douglass Commonwealth” (nee District of Columbia) is another bad idea whose time may have come. The idea that a territory that cannot police itself, support itself, nor defend itself should be considered a “free and independent state” defies reason, history, and the Constitution. How good an idea this might be for the Democrat party, and how bad an idea for the rest of humanity, have been belabored elsewhere.

Instead, I’ll point out that this is another case of right problem/wrong solution. “Taxation (with or) without Representation” is indeed tyranny, and it is embarrassing that not all American taxpayers are permitted a voice in the House charged with spending their money. It’s embarrassing now, and it was embarrassing when I was an earnest congressional candidate.

Amending the Constitution, part 29
29 June 2002

Well, I’m not one to leave well enough alone. People don’t run for office if they don’t think they have better ideas than the people who are already there, and on that score I am certainly no different.

There has been a great deal of talk for the last several years on the subject of Statehood for the District of Columbia. I think that that is a thoroughly awful idea. In addition to its microscopic geography, and complete lack of any practical resources, it is a hotbed of liberal Democratic sentiment. It would be bad enough to send two more Democrats to the US Senate, but the typical DC politician makes Senators like Tom Daschle and Paul Wellstone seem positively moderate. On the other hand, it remains a national embarrassment that half a million American citizens are denied a voice in the People’s House. The Twenty-third Amendment, which granted DC residents three Electors for President was a small step in the right direction, but Statehood would be a huge step in the wrong direction.

In the interests of full disclosure, I think now would be a good time to point out that I am in favor of Statehood for Puerto Rico. It is long overdue. Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green, two new delegates from America’s last colony deserve their place in the United States Senate. (But Senator Marion Berry? Senator Jesse Jackson? Please. We might as well elect Senator Fidel Castro or Senator Robert Mugabe.)

On the other hand, the people of DC, and also those of Guam, Saipan, Samoa, , and all across the Pacific deserve their voice in the government. Toward that end, then, I propose that DC cash in its three Presidential Electors (as granted by the Twenty-third Amendment), in favor of a more equitable arrangement for all Americans outside of the Several States.
To wit:

Territorial Suffrage Amendment

Section IThe twenty-third article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section II: The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People of the Several States, and of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, and of all Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

Section III: Representatives shall be apportioned among the Several States, and among all Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of Persons in each State, District, Possession, Province, Commonwealth, or Territory. For purposes of apportionment, the Congress shall have the power to consolidate the populations of any Provinces, Commonwealths, or Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, but not of the Several States, nor of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States.

Section IV: All Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall appoint, in such manner as Congress may direct, a number of Electors for President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Representatives to which they are entitled, and they shall be considered, for the purpose of the election of the President and the Vice President, to be Electors appointed by a State.

Do I think this will quell the campaign for DC Statehood? Not likely. Nevertheless, it is still the right thing to do. From the Marianas to the Virgin Islands, all Americans deserve to be heard. Taxation without representation is tyranny. For that matter, taxation with representation isn’t so terrific either, but at least this way people will have a little more say in their own destiny.

update 180128: There may be a few more years of life left to the Grand Confederacy. To comfort its passing, and to spare ourselves the danger of its death throes, I like to offer notions to mitigate the offenses of democracy. For one, let’s blow up the Congress! (No Madonna, I don’t mean with dynamite, I mean with Reps.). Presently one congressmember “represents” about three quarters of a million of us. Expanding their ranks to (at least) a thousand would bring them each closer to their constituents. In fact, let’s make that the minimum formula.
Give me a few weeks to tweak the language, but the gist:

The Congress shall consist of one thousand Representatives, and upon the admission of each new State, that number shall be increased by twenty Representatives, the sum to be apportioned among the several States, Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories according to their numbers as provided by law.

update 210201: I continue to believe that Puerto Rico deserves their places in the Senate (or their independence), even as I recognize the obvious advantage that it gives the Democrat party. To that I say, “I’ll see your two Puerto Rican Senators, and raise you eight Texans!”

Don’t confuse that “29th Amendment” up there with the more dystopic model presented in my recent novel, The H.E.R.O. Act. Get it now!
The HERO Act – The Greigh Area

Sixteen Year Old Coffee

5 February 2022

In my freezer is about a half-liter of six-year-old coffee. Well, not quite six years old, not until the 20th of June. It was inspired by a brilliantly hilarious cartoon, possibly by Skip Williamson. I’m not sure, as it remains in Bud’s possession. I do recall, however, that it was done in the graphic style of Williamson’s “Snappy Sammy Smoot.”

The joke is presented as a two-panel seriagaph. The first panel shows “Sammy” declaring that he likes his women just like he likes his coffee. The second panel shows smilin’ Sammy slurping his cup and saying, “Sixteen years old!”

I had originally thought about saving that half liter of frozen coffee for another decade, just to test the premise. Adolescence may be long behind us, but our recollections of sixteen and seventeen year-old girls (who looked convincingly like women at the time) are still quite vivid. I thought perhaps that Bud and I could do a test when the time came to see if sixteen-year-old coffee measured up to Sammy’s comparison.

That seems less likely now, in light of my recent dismissal and impending relocation. I am not going to try to move a block of ice from Ohio to Texas, and I have my doubts that Bud remains as committed to the joke as I was when I first put it in the freezer.

update 230305: A year and many miles later, it is now seven years old (and counting). Said block remains safely frozen in Westexas. It turns out I’m sentimental and weak (who could guess?) and a half kilogram was small enough a load to fit into my cooler with all the other goodies I’d packed. It sat in L’Historienne’s freezer for a few months until she fetched it up to me here in Geezer Tower. Perhaps once Bud’s shed whatever’s still riding him, we can revisit some fun. There’s almost ten years left to sort this shit out. I remain optimistic — unless that jab does him in first!

Weissheit uber Demokratie

11 January 2021

Just because El Donaldo is a putz doesn’t make mainstream Demoblicans not addled authoritarian demagogues.  And just because she is an addled authoritarian demagogue doesn’t make Nancy Pelucid always wrong.  In another serendipitous manifestation of the “Kondracke Effect” (stumbling blindly into the truth), she accurately included me under the broad brush that she wielded, intending to besmirch millions of Americans. 

I do value whiteness over democracy. 

Of course, whiteness means almost nothing to me, since I am neither proud nor ashamed of the colors of my skin or hair or eyes, nor the names, achievements, or crimes of my ancestors.  Since none of those things are my accomplishments, they are hardly representative of my sense of identity or self-regard.

So, for me, the value of whiteness is approximately zero, which is vastly preferable to such destructive and dangerous diseases as diabetes, diphtheria, or democracy.  Which would YOU prefer? 

Nothing, or a broken leg?  Nothing, or skin cancer? 
To have your whims be catered to by strangers (anarcho-capitalism),
or to be pushed around by your neighbors (democracy)?

I may know not what others prefer, but as for me:
Give me Liberty, or give me Gridlock.

update 210321 — Temple Guards
There are reportedly now more National Guard troops stationed in just the District of Columbia shielding the Temple of Democracy from Les Deplorables than are stationed in all of Afghanistan and Iraq combined. Which makes perfect sense. A too present and in our business Congress is more likely to injure Americans than would distant jihadists.

Amending the Constitution, part 28

28 June 2002

I know, every politician runs for office swearing to uphold the Constitution, and as soon as he finds out that it doesn’t authorize his pet schemes, he either ignores his oath, or proposes to amend it. Maybe I’m no different. You be the judge.

Our Federal Constitution had a few problems from the get go. That noxious business about three fifths of a person was a bit of an embarrassment, but that was taken care of by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and, on paper at least, all men have stood equally before the law. And then there’s that statement I just made about “all men,” and that problem was addressed by the Nineteenth Amendment which gave women the vote in 1920. Better late than never, I reckon. So we have made some progress since the Bill of Rights was tacked on in 1791, and I sure wouldn’t want to monkey with that.

On the other hand, there have also been some mistakes along the way. I have serious problems with the Sixteenth Amendment and the odious income tax, and I’d be happy to see that one go. And the Eighteenth Amendment, which brought us America’s First War on Drugs was a complete disaster, but that was taken care of by the Twenty-first Amendment, which nevertheless granted to the States the Authority to conduct their own Wars on Alcohol, but at least Prohibition was no longer a national disgrace, merely a local one.

So there’s been some progress, some missteps along the way, and a few mid-course corrections, but by and large our Constitution (including its amendment provisions) has worked fairly well. But, like all would be statesmen, I’m not quite satisfied. As I said, the Income Tax has got to go, and with it the Sixteenth Amendment which arguably grants it some measure of legitimacy.

Another big problem I have is with the Seventeenth Amendment. Prior to its ratification in 1913 the US Senate stood squarely in the way of the federal juggernaut and its intended encroachments on the Rights of the States. It was designed to be the brakes on the federal engine. Our bicameral national legislature was brilliantly conceived as a balance between transient popular opinion, and legitimate State authority. The House of Representatives was the People’s body, and the Senate stood up for the States. That’s why a Senator’s term is six years, whereas mine would be only two. The Senate was to be the senior deliberative body, holding back the House from its natural pandering proclivities. As it stands now, there are no significant differences between the philosophies or outlooks of the Houses of Congress. Elected Senators are merely Super-Representatives, and are beholden to the same ephemeral interests that drive the House. Originally, a Senator was a respected member of a State body, typically an elder State Legislator or Governor who would go to the District of Columbia to represent the larger interests of his entire State, rather than the more parochial concerns of a Congressional District. Now, I’m hardly inclined to denigrate the House of Representatives, particularly as I’m running for that same body, but I am keenly aware of the differences, and wish to restore the balance that our Founders intended. Hence, as a member of the House, I will offer for consideration this proposed

Restoration of the Confederal Senate Amendment

Section I: The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section II: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen in accordance to the laws thereof, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote.
When vacancies occur in the representation of any State in the Senate, the Executive Authority of such State may make temporary appointments until the People, the Legislature, or the Executive Authority thereof fill the vacancies in accordance with State Law.

Section III: This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the term of any Senator elected before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

This puts the power squarely back where it belongs, in the hands of each individual State. If one State wishes to continue letting the people elect their Senators, then they will have that authority to do so. On the other hand, if a State prefers to return to the original method of charging the state legislature with that authority, then that too would be the prerogative of that particular State. And if a State would rather that its Governor be responsible for appointing its Senate Delegation, then that State’s wishes would also be respected. The authority would be returned, in any event, to each State to function as it sees best. The united States were never intended to be an homogeneous flock of interchangeable administrative districts, but a Confederation of unique Sovereigns, each following its own lights.

update 180121: I should clarify my use of the term “legitimate State authority,” which may seem a little discordant coming from an alleged anarchist. I might plead cynical opportunism. I was running for office in 2002, after all, albeit as a Losertarian. But I’m too much the weasel for such a bald confession. Instead I’ll explain that I place it into the context of a compact between states. In continuo, the state has legitimate prerogatives, just as, in other continua, green kryptonite is a legitimate danger to Kryptonians.

update 210204: Unknown correspondents address the issue of States’ continuity of representation in the Senate, complaining that it can often take months to fill a vacant seat. Well, of course it doesn’t have to in today’s world of rapid communication, but it appears to still be a State’s prerogative. However, if Americans wish to “streamline” or “nationalize” that process, they might consider this instead:

Section II: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen in accordance to the laws thereof, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote. When vacancies occur in the representation of any State in the Senate, the Executive Authority of such State may make temporary appointments until the People, the Legislature, or the Executive Authority thereof fill the vacancies in accordance with State Law. In the event that a State’s Executive fails to make such a temporary appointment within forty-eight hours, the vacancy shall be filled by the State’s senior delegate in the House of Representatives, who shall thereupon surrender his seat in the lower House.

These comments are sponsored by The Confederate Mint (purveyors of metallic securities in gold, silver, copper, and lead). For sample sheets of Metallic Certificates (total face value One Tenth Silver Dollar) send One Silver Dime plus a self-addressed stamped envelope; or Four United States Legal Tender Federal Reserve “Dollars” in scrip, check, or money order, to Greigh Area Associates, c/o Gene Greigh // 401 Rio Concho Drive, #105; San Angelo, Texas; 76903

Is Ashli Babbitt Crispus Attucks?

9 January 2021

I expect we cannot really know such a thing until long after the fact. With our faces pressed up still too closely to the recent awful siege of the Congress, many are having difficulty finding dispassionate perspective or meaningful context.

I am grateful for this thoughtful guest analysis by correspondent NT:

I don’t think this pathetic excuse for an “insurrection” was anywhere near well armed, organized, or popularly supported enough to represent any kind of threat to the power of the ruling government the way the Revolutionary War threatened the power of the British Crown in North America. As such, my answer is: no, I don’t think that’s a very apt comparison.

Ashli Babbitt feels more like another Jorge Gomez to me. Another rioter in the season of coronavirus killed by law enforcement for behaving very aggressively towards them. Two of, not very many actually, as far as I can tell. I was both annoyed and surprisingly relieved to discover that my research did not easily discover many people matching that description in order to make that comparison. I had not heard the name Jorge Gomez before doing that research, and I doubt Ashli Babbitt’s death will be remembered as especially any more or less important than his.

(Jorge Gomez was shot by Las Vegas Police on June 1st during a “mostly peaceful” demonstration protesting the death of George Floyd.)

curious addendum:
Tachycardia is an accelerated heart rhythm disorder, typically greater than 100bpm. In addition to possible organic defects, it can also be caused by tension, anger, exertion, or chemical stimulant.
I CAN cut back on the caffeine, and Mr Floyd COULD have foregone the fentanyl.

“Rapping” the Fed

21 July 2018

How very gauche of our uncouth President to be “rapping” the Olympian minds of our exalted “Federal Reserve” as they pore over their auguries and divine the holiest and purest of interest rates for a grateful nation.

Backward rubes like Mr Trump might believe that in a primitive commodity based free market economy natural interest rates would be based on the perceived availability of surplus resources. In Our Enlightened Democracy we’ve learned from the great Soviet Pioneers that central planning, top down, one size fits all dicta are always superior to the chaotic caprice of capitalism and its mysterious invisible hands. All right (and wishful) thinking citizens understand that only the wizards of the Fe’ral Reserve have the moral clarity and detached objectivity to proclaim that most revered of rates. (Viva Vigorish!)

Mr Trump clearly fails to recall the Constitutional Convention of 1913 that repealed the Tenth Amendment (which theretofore had authorized State resistance to Fe’ral encroachment — really a dead letter anyway since Mr Lincoln’s invasion of the Sovereign South) and rescinded Article 1, Section 10’s prohibitions of the emission of Bills of Credit and of the States’ bar on making any Thing other than gold or silver Coin a Payment of Debts.

Silly President.  Constitutions are for tricks.

These comments are sponsored by The Confederate Mint (purveyors of metallic securities in gold, silver, copper, and lead).  For sample sheets of Metallic Certificates (total face value One Tenth Silver Dollar) send One Silver Dime plus a self-addressed stamped envelope; or Four United States Legal Tender Federal Reserve “Dollars” in scrip, check, or money order, to Greigh Area Associates, c/o Gene Greigh //  401 Rio Concho Drive, #105;  San Angelo, Texas;  76903

Company Loves Misery

20 May 2019

Childhood for me was an intermittent horror show. 

The Thug was born in 1953.  I was born in 1956.  For most of our time growing up I was his favorite punching bag.  In 1962 our mother remarried (after divorcing our “boring” father) and began thirty-five years of excitement under the dominion of The Submariner.  Fortunately, lacking vaginas, my brothers and I weren’t all that interesting to him, so his attentions, when we did receive them, were delivered with his fists rather than his ecumenical erection.  Our baby sister, born later, was not so lucky.

Those who believe that I can’t admire the accomplishments or desire the cool stuff of others without resenting them, will likely also suspect that I was cheered by the prospect of The Thug’s coming in for “his share” of physical abuse.  Sorry, but I don’t “envy” that way.  Just because The Thug could delight in my pain, I was unable to appreciate his.  Or our other brothers’.  Or even, much later, our sister’s, whose suffering may well have eclipsed all of ours.

I may take righteous satisfaction from the punishment of the guilty, but sadism and revenge leave me cold.  Yet another of my defects (just like my lack of jealousy, resentment, loneliness, or boredom.)  But making everything WORSE for everybody (beatings all around!) didn’t make anything better for anybody.  Except Mom, maybe.  The serotonin must have been especially rich for her to forgive his raping her daughter.  My greatest regret is not killing him (The Submariner, not The Thug) when we lived together all those years ago.  It probably would have been easy.  Just jump on him from off a staircase or rooftop or tree, land on his shoulders, and quickly slit his throat, and my sister could have been saved.  But I’m a sniveling coward, so I didn’t think it through.  Upon reflection, most likely the State of Connecticut wouldn’t have gassed a twelve-year-old boy.

update 210107: I neglected to mention above that killing The Thug might also have been a kindness. Or redundant. As an enthusiastic bully, he was also, naturally, a coward, and quite possibly a sociopath as well. He hanged himself in 2009, leaving his body for his wife and dogs to discover. Abusing and betraying those weaker or dependent on him was perfectly consistent with the rest of his miserable life. I was sorry for his wife and his daughter and his grandchildren and for our Mom and for our older brother, whose birthday he picked to do himself in. I am less sorry for him than I am relieved for those he can no longer hurt.

Firehair, Bat Lash, Pow Wow Smith, El Diablo, and Johnny Thunder are all properties of Detective Comics and Warner Communications.  Their images are reproduced by Piracy Press for purposes of analysis and scholarship.  If anything, their use here constitutes free advertisement for DC‘s properties at the considerable expense of Piracy Press and Greigh Area Associates.