#you are mistaken in saying just rich white people voted him in

[emblem-333]

William Jennings Bryan and American Socialism

No matter how many times we are confronted with the similarities of history we as human beings do the same exact things our predecessors did. We like to believe we are in uncharted territory, that there is something inherently special about the times we currently live in. Or, that we’re in the “end of history.” In reality, history never ends. Humanity never ceases evolving — or devolving. As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the disgruntled electorate grow angrier at how they’ve become ignored largely by their representatives. The only time we’ve encountered such a scenario in our nation’s history is The Gilded Age when the oligarchs in the country amassed a substantial sum of wealth dwarfing the income of the average American by embarrassing margins. Unlike today where it’s mostly tech giants destroying the country, in the later half of the 1800’s post-Civil War it was the rail roads and Wall St. exercising their respective monopolies to crush the growing force of organized labor.

Laborers were harassed, threatened, beaten by their employer for the mere request of better wages, manageable hours and basic human rights. In the days predating socialism arriving on the shores of the U.S the laborers were labeled as unruly strikers self-centered and uncaring towards the betterment of the country. The elite had their allies in the press smear the name of the poor constantly and populists campaigns seeking to reform a clearly broken system ended up dead on arrival. Even the book ‘The Wizard of Oz’ took pot shots at the farmer, laborers and populism in general. Victor Fleming portrayed the fraudulent utopia of the Emerald City as commentary of the issuing of greenback currency in lieu of Americans using the gold standard. In the middle of the Gilded Age, farmers had taken out loans when greenbacks were accepted currency. When times got rough President Grover Cleveland made greenbacks virtually useless and forced farmers to pay their debts back via the gold standard. This devalued their currency whilst rising up the inflation of the loans they’ve taken out. Greenbacks only have value due to the country agreeing at the time that it is such. The third party known as the “Greenbacks” sought to undo what they deemed to be an injustice towards the agricultural class.

While the Democrats favored the south they hardly were open to drastic change being proposed by the populists. Collective bargaining and making illegal for the government to seize land under “intimate domain” to build more railroads was frowned upon, even something as human as child labor laws were seen as harmful to the stability of the American economy. Never mind the economy seemed to crash nearly every couple of years.

Like it or not, but class warfare usually brings about economic justice for the downtrodden. The idea it doesn’t is a farce perpetrated by those either woefully and genuinely ignorant or wishing to protect their own capital. When the poor and the middle class unite to battle the oppressive elites it’s far more productive than if we fight amongst ourselves. But the below classes need representatives to champion their respective causes and unite the wings. In the days predating effective activism in the United States the best you could hope for is a representative forging his path, climbing the ladder of D.C and acting as your voice. That voice turned out to be former Nebraskan representative William Jennings Bryan. Bolstered by populist James B. Weaver his party fused with the populist democrats and managed to overtake the Bourbon establishment at the convention. Curiously, Bryan’s running mate was a wealthy shipbuilder named Arthur Sewall of Maine. Sewall never served nor had any experience in government. He was picked to possibly finance the underfunded campaign. The propaganda machine of the Republicans working in consort with gold Democrats did more than damage the populist Bryan. Losing, albeit competitively. Thus began Bryan’s reign over the party even though himself wouldn’t be elected to the Oval Office in either of his three attempts.

Perhaps if Bryan had chosen a more experienced candidate as a running mate his chances would’ve been maximized. It’s not like Sewall’s money did anything to assist Bryan. If anything it damaged his standing amongst the populists who were so dissatisfied at his nomination they nominated their own Vice President for the Bryan ticket. Initially, Bryan wanted second-placer Richard Bland Missourian representative as his running mate. However, Bland wished to run for his old congressional seat. Publisher John R. McLean of Cincinnati also was in the running finishing runner-up to Sewall. McLean was a railroad merchant and like Sewall his nomination likely spurs the further left wing of the party as well. Other names tossed around are governor Claude Matthews of Indiana. A moderate populist who broke up some strikes during his brief term. Matthews was lockstep on Bryan on social issues like prohibition of alcohol. Maybe his nomination would work as a mea culpa to the Cleveland delegation? The best option for Bryan was Iowan Governor Horace Boies. A supporter of low tariffs (a forgotten hallmark of Bryan’s candidacy), pro-silver and generally a decent liberal.

Bryan was far and away the most progressive nominee the Democrats — or the Republicans have ever put up. A fiery preacher demanding the direct election of senators, an end to child labor and proponent of Women’s Suffrage. Bryan was no doubt ahead of his time and paid the dear price electorally for it. The public wasn’t willing to jettison the norms to such a degree Bryan was proposing and left him at the altar. Much of his populist ideas were adopted by Theodore Roosevelt forcing Bryan even further to the left. Calling for a Universal Basic Income and local ownership of utilities in future campaigns.

Hindsight is 20/20, but Bryan would’ve been likelier to win if he picked a representative from a crucial swing state to balance the ticket and compromised on some issues, except the free coinage of silver. Though outside of the agricultural states it posed little to no incentive to the industrial workers of Illinois, Ohio, and other states making up the Rust Belt. Bryan likely needed to be more of a hawk on issues such as American Imperialism. In real life he’d support and volunteer himself for service during the Spanish-American War. In his religious eyes Bryan saw his country as liberators to the Cubans from the dreaded imperial Spanish. Bryan could drawback troops after the war was won and leave Cuba to govern itself and our relations with them would have been drastically altered for the better.

After winning Iowa by 942 votes Bryan bested McKinley in the electoral college 225-222. Bryan sweeps the south, excluding West Virginia, and does surprisingly well in the Midwest and west. Losing just Illinois, Wyoming, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I campaigned as a crusader against tariffs in the heartland and in the industrial areas I promised not to overturn any apple carts by reforming labor laws. I managed to sell myself in moderate states like Iowa by appealing to their needs beyond the issue of silver. For the industrial worker the coinage of silver meant very little to them. What they wanted was basic human rights in the workplace. Bryan was their ally only he couldn’t manage to sell himself to them in real life.

To be fair to Bryan it is unlikely for someone of his caliber to have won given the circumstances. The poor economy and its subsequent blame was placed at the feet of the outgoing Cleveland. Fortunate enough to dodge the recession of 1890 which cost his successor Benjamin Harrison a second term. The Panic of 1893 ensured Cleveland wouldn’t be popular to challenge for a third term. Perhaps if Cleveland won re-election in ‘88 and McKinley succeeded him, imposed the unpopular “McKinley Tariff” designed to protect American goods and encourage the purchase of said goods. In the 1890 midterms Republicans were routed and by ‘92 the House, Senate and Presidency were under Democratic control.

Say this happens in 1894. The McKinley Tariff is vetoed by Cleveland when it was initially proposed in ‘90. President McKinley institutes his plan once he enters the Oval Office. Our allies Great Britain institute retaliatory tariffs against the United States and the recession of ‘93 is McKinley and his party’s baby. This’ll make it easier for the challenger Bryan to win in ‘96.

Chances are, Bryan pushes hard to get the United States out of the darkness of capitalism and into the light of socialism-lite. Bryan believed in a workers' right to unionize. He wouldn’t have used military force to put down strikes. He’d work to end child labor laws, regulate the standard workday to eight hours, and regulate financial sectors and bust up monopolies. Basically, Bryan is a better, though less bombastic Teddy. While Bryan in his old age, no doubt increasingly bitter at his string of his defeats, clutched to his bible during the Monkey Scopes Trial and embraced the KKK, the younger Bryan was more idealistic, pacifist and less set in his ways. In no way could he be mistaken as crusader for the downtrodden non-white people. But neither were the Republicans. Anti-Lynching laws weren’t passed until Calvin Coolidge did so in the late 1920’s. The Republicans dominated the White House in those days losing just four presidential elections between 1860 and 1928.

Not only does the United States image in the long term benefit from Bryan’s pacifist foreign policy — I doubt Hawaii is annexed during his presidency — you also have the Progressive Era arrive sooner with the Democrats leading the charge, the typically conservative party migrates to the more liberal Republicans for solace. The republicans at this time were friendly to big business and were beginning a downward spiral into laissez-faire capitalism. It took the miraculous arrival of Roosevelt to prevent both parties becoming stooges of the railroads and standard oil. Though Wall Street enjoyed preferential treatment because of course.

The electorate would be subjected to a gigantic realignment. The Republicans benefiting from the states ran by financiers, the Democrats still holding the south due to their confederate ties and further west where silver was very popular.

No doubt Bryan was a novice, but he was an effective novice. Despite having no experience in foreign affairs Bryan negotiated 30 peace deals during his stint as Secretary of State and preached neutrality during the run-up to U.S involvement into World War 1.

Bryan changes the makeup of the entire country. His Jacksonian ideals reverse the trajectory of where we were heading, eventually becoming the global powerhouse we are right now. Bryan likely keeps his throne until his death in 1925. So how the United States interacts with the European powers, the rise of the Soviets, among other entanglements is drastically altered. Perhaps Eugene V. Debs stays a Democrat and is a powerful force in Bryan’s administration. Maybe he’s a Supreme Court Judge? The United States potentially could become a proto-Soviet state only without the gulags and constant string of mysteriously disappearing government officials speaking out against those in power.

At the end of Bryan’s life the country he leaves behind is less imperialist, more reliant on agriculture and the wealthiest don’t exercise such power. Perhaps the worst of the Great Depression are avoided even if the Republican Party instantly takes power back after Bryan’s death.

The socialist movement stalled right around 1920. The Progressive Era assuaged many Americans away from the more radical ideology. Instead of the Industrial Revolution you’d have the Proletariat Revolution and it simply never end during Bryan’s reign.

Going further down the pike term limits are introduced after Bryan winning seven of them. So this completely does away with Franklin Roosevelt and puts the New Deal in question. Though the country is still smelling the fumes of Bryan’s presidency somewhat so much of his more ambitious legislation such as government work programs. The National Recovery Administration designed to establish a code of fair competition, to eliminate the cut-throat methods of industry likely isn’t shot down in the case of Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States. The NRA is basically the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with shark teeth for choppers.

Americans missed out on Bryan, but I don’t blame them. Bryan simply couldn’t sell himself to people who weren’t farmers.

Bryan: 225, 7,035,243

McKinley: 222, 6,736,978

Palmer: 0, 132,629

#william jennings bryan #william mckinley #american socialism #socialism #workers’ rights #NRA #Eugene V. Debs #free coinage of silver #alternate history #what if? #campaign trail #campaign trail game

[postpunkpontypandyphantomthief]

3rd Comedy Monologue

“Do any of you remember Rugrats?”

“The 90s cartoon about talking babies that went on adventures”

“Yeah well you know Angelica the whiny,spoiled character?”

“I actually kind of liked her maybe it’s because I related to her when I was little or maybe it’s because I liked how cool she was she was able to tell the babies about stuff they didn’t know about, playing a part in their imagination.”

Anyways speaking of children,they’re alright and they are usually one of the following

“Mummy Daddy why do they get to pick a sweet not me what did I do?”

“Waaaa I want that I want that”

“Hi there, do you want to play?

“Your good at art,I couldn’t draw like that”

“Thank you young soul you are too pure for this world”

Me on the other hand,was a whinging cowardly little sod

Now I’m not a child anymore but I am still mistaken as one

Yeah,that happens

17/18 years old,old enough to vote,old enough to drive,old enough to move house & old enough to realise my phases of being a tory “skeptic” were pointless

Yet sometimes people still think I’m someone who likes ice-cream,toys and video games

Well I mean I do like those things I’m sure some of you like those things too

We are children at heart but physically and mentally we evolve and learn with time

I’ll be an young adult,and I love it I might not have a place of my own yet but I love being able to learn new things and see new places I couldn’t see when I was a kid.

Then again my teenhood wasn’t that good either because I had a developmental condition that made me different than others mentally,my interests were very intense and I got panic feelings when around crowds or in difficult situations

My primary school classmates liked JLS,Partying and other things that I didn’t like or couldn’t do

While now I’m warming up to certain things I’m still happy I didn’t like JLS.

I on the other hand, liked the sims 3,dolls,the 1980s,old cartoons and films.

So...a game where you become God,plastic models,the age of neon graphic design, and innovative video games and...yeah that hasn’t changed has it?

Well I don’t play the sims anymore,my laptop has no cd rom drive,I used up the data on my old one, from downloads I’d buy from the exchange store

Sims also was one of the few things that got me into my “emo” phase

I’d be looking at sims videos on youtube they’d usually be very sad and in the background there’d be evanescence,my chemical romance or avril lavigne

I’d be sitting at the back of the living room at a gathering and I’d be listening to Sims 2 sad story part 1 because it had good music. I later learned the names and that I was a bit of a goth,a emo,a metalhead because I liked gothic and j-metal any of that.

Dolls…..

now this was embarrassing I’m sure we all have those songs where as soon as you hear them you feel a film reel of negative memories return. For me that was

Barbie Girl by Aqua, weird because aqua are a good band,but that song oh that song it was so annoying

Picture this

Someone in their final primary school years, who still collects dolls,

Now!  Would you ignore that or would you use that outdated song as a way to mock them because they were still enjoying a thing, meant for children.

I received the latter,because of that when I’d hear people sing that song simply just because they liked it I’d get confused and offended a similar thing happened with my little pony

I used to sing and perform for people in the playgrounds other times I’d keep to myself

I loved my little pony before the new wave I loved rewatching episodes of the old 80s mlp series of goblins,witches and giants...oops that was a different show I was describing there

And one of the songs I’d perform was the original theme song

My Little Pony~ My Little Pony~

What will today’s adventure be?

My Little Pony…My Little Pony

Will there be exciting sights to see?

Nope to some of my primary school audience the lyrics were

“My little pony skinny and boney”

*sarcastic deadpan laugh*

Ha ha ha,  

Then again I wasn’t much better

I used to make youtube videos with those “dolls”

They weren’t very good

They had bad editing and barely any plot beyond badly structured fourth wall jokes

Yet I wanted the whole internet to know about them even if they weren’t interested

I was a easy target and while I did get tired of that,change interests and go into a different fandom direction

Some things were still the same

I was still cowardly,weak and timid and that was a problem

I was always following others,I didn’t make my decisions often,because of the condition and my own loneliness I couldn’t do things other teenagers could.

I never had a sleepover,I never had a crush that wasn’t one-sided and I didn’t have much independence

Even when I did have “friends” those friends I would later learn were not nice making me believe I had wasted years that I couldn’t get back.

On...the topic of regrets, dance  something I sometimes enjoy but when I studied performing Arts it was what I dreaded…

Note I’m ok with  anyone who does like to dance,party or do any of those things

I would just try to take part like everyone else but many times I was put aside or embarrassed in front of the others because of either me having a meltdown or because “my timing was off”

Yes,he did teach me some cool moves and I am more supple now but that was the content and even if I was crap I knew it and tried to practice

Everyday I’d practice each technical exercise and routine but it was still not good enough.in fact it was because of that and other reasons that I couldn’t do that course anymore

All because of,of….Craig Revel Hor not him but he was like him.

Because of that I had to take saturday dance classes...those weren’t fun

The most fun I had was from the songs we danced to and the few positive examples of small talk I attempted with the people there.

Otherwise it was not good...me and little kids specifically loud hyper kids don’t always go well when in the same place..again my timing was off it wasn’t told but I could tell

One of the moments I hated the most was the headshot day

Now we were supposed to just be getting photos taken but the photographer noticed I was shorter than she thought.I laughed it off because I know I’m short but then what did she say in response…

“Your a wee bit vertically challenged”

EXCUSE ME

Now,I may be short but in a class of kids and teens of different ages and heights I was far from the shortest person there.

When I was a teenager I wasn’t a proper teenager the only things that made me a teenager was my age,my angsty attitude and the drama I got into involving political meme posters and anime roleplayers.

The less I say about that the better

So while all the “adults” were telling me to beware of the adult years because of

Oooh responsibilities...ooooh independence ooooh….education

Honestly  it’s ok for me so far I’m a fairly organized person so studying is good,I did a assistant stage managing gig for a west side story production which was class by the way and I think i’ll feel a lot happier as a adult.

I have not much to mock about today my political jabs are sometimes good other times they’re like a bad Ben Elton joke on Saturday Live.

“Ha teresa may is like the wicked queen from snow white when she’s in disguise”

yeah? …..and  You look like you could front the band Wings mate

(pause)

Speaking of a bad Ben Elton joke

“Oh I never really understood the whole “comedy” business I always prefered being a bit of a writer and I think now with Bohemian Rhapsody being out that those critics will think

We Will Rock You wasn’t that bad.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a show that layered it’s satire of the mainstream establishment under a sitcom narrative about alternative young adult characters where the comedy was good

for once

Once in every life time

Comes a moment like this

Oh I need you, you need me,

Oh my darling can't you see.

Young Ones.

Darling we're The Young Ones.

The Young Ones.

That show,oh I only watched last year but I have so many words

The jokes,the satire,the characters,the setting,the fact it still holds up

I found that show at the right time

It was august 2017

I had finished my GCSE’s,I had left a manipulative friendship and I felt horrible

When I’d go to the cinema people were making noise and I would remember the panic more than the film itself *coughs* Spiderman homecoming

I felt like I didn’t know how to laugh anymore

Summertime sadness

When edgy me came across ben elton’s ronnie barker memorial lecture

Being a fan of Porridge and Open All hours I listened and after hearing about a certain sitcom  I started watching...The Young Ones...and it was out of this world

I roared with laughter with each episode,I related to the characters and I felt a connection of some sort

Researching more about the “alternative comedy” genre and I saw a familiar name

I learned I had seen some of his work before,he was the andrex puppy,he was in that king Arthur cartoon and he was in that drop dead fred movie I didn’t watch just because internet critics said it was one of the biggest cinematic flops ever….

Yet I never knew his name until then and I’m still not over that

I looked up his other work,where he was richie,richie rich,lord flashheart and a b’stard of a conservative

(which I would later try to do an impression of, on my final girls brigade show.)

So many thoughts,so many emotions he changed my life

Many things and people have. He is one of them  

his work was incredible and iconic  and his mantras are very inspirational and useful. He made me realise a lot of things about life,my love of his work also resulted in me meeting most of the friends I have now.

It’s 2019 and I’m now the anarchist I always wanted to be,I’m out of my shell, a bat out of hell,I followed others for too long but I’m my own person now that’s who I will always be

Now say it with me   Young Ones..

You shouldn't be afraid.

To live, love, there's a song to be sung.

Cause we may not

Be The Young Ones

very long.

Oh,Doctor Rik.Mayall we miss you,you bastard

The world wasn’t as much of a crap place when you were there to cheer us up

But your still here spiritually in her hearts

As you said yourself we still have your shows  and poems

Now!  all you punks,skins,rastas,emos,hipsters,creators,viewers,performers,entertainers,observers and fellow peoples poets

let’s gather round and hold our hands in sorrow for our fallen leader

Love is the answer!  Goodnight

#monologue #comedy #original monologue

[bittysvalentines]

Puppies and Hockey Players

To @missweber

From @maramcgregor

_______________

Local news stations were covering nothing but the sensationalist story in Providence. People talked about how horrified they were. There were calls to local officials.

 Georgia Martin, brilliant strategist and assistant GM of the Providence Falconers saw an opportunity.

 “Hey Bitty. Is Jack there?”

 “He’s in the shower, but I’m sure he’ll be out in a minute. Breakfast is almost done.”

 Georgia hummed, thinking about the crepes Bitty had made one morning when she dropped in unannounced. “If he can smell it in the bathroom, I’m sure he’ll be making an appearance sooner rather than later.”

 “Is there something I can help you with?”

 “Not really. It’s more of a PR/publicity thing I was hoping to rope Jack into. Make use of his not insubstantial assets for the greater good.”

 Bitty laughed, high and bright, “Well, he certainly has an abundance of those.” There was a pause and a bit of muffled conversation.

 “‘Allo?”

 “Jack! What do you think about puppies?”

 “Umm … they’re cute?”

 “Falconers PR is thinking of being a public face to help raise money for the rescue shelter that took in all those dogs from the Reservoir case.”

 Jack sighed. “We’ve had to keep the TV off. Bits can’t stand to see the conditions they were kept in. And everyone keeps playing the same video clips. It’s worse than those SPCA ads.”

 “We have an opportunity to raise money for their care and help them get adopted. You interested?”

 “Sure, George. What do you need me to do?”

 “Nothing, yet. We’re going to get the city engaged and set a date for a fundraising event. Something casual and fun.”

 “Sounds good. Just let me know.”

* * *

 It was the off-season and the days flew by. Bitty and Jack didn’t think too much of the upcoming PR event. It was pretty standard and low-key in comparison to most of the high dollar events Jack was usually asked to attend. Bitty sighed to himself and realized that he was probably not going to get out of those now that everyone knew he was dating Jack.

 The week before the fundraiser, the Falconers PR team revved up into high gear. They had Jack come in with the rest of the team that was still in Providence for the off-season and do photo ops with the dogs that had been approved to go to homes. The 15 dogs were the healthiest of the lot and were well-groomed by the shelter volunteers. These 15 were named by the Falconers with hockey themed names or after players themselves.

 The dogs that were named after players had their photos done with their namesakes. People lost their minds over Snowy holding a tiny ball of white fluff in his goalie glove. The die-hard Potatomann shippers were cooing over the littermates that were named Jack and Tater. They were black and tan large puppies, easily out-sizing every other dog up for adoption. The pictures were widely shared and certain sites tried to argue whether Snowy and his namesake or Jack and Tater with theirs were cuter. Georgia was ecstatic and posted an online poll encouraging the debate.

 Bitty retweeted the poll, kissed Jack on the cheek, and voted for Snowy with the hashtags #SnowyPupWins #SorryBabe.

 The day before the adoption event, Georgia called Bitty directly. “Hey, so we were going to have the WAGs help out with running the raffle and help the children that come to hold the puppies. There will be media there getting video and pictures of the SOs mingling with the fans, holding the puppies, etcetera. As the boyfriend of one of our As, and the face of the franchise, I was hoping to rope you into this. I know you have another year of college, so I’m not expecting this to be a common request, but as it’s the off season -”

 Bitty snorted quietly to himself. “Lifestyles of the rich and famous?”

 “Well, eventually. This is just a puff piece. Something easy and not truly demanding of anyone.”

 “And it’s a good look for the organization and all of the players.”

 “Hey, who doesn’t like large hockey guys and adorable dogs?”

 Bitty laughed. “Ya got me there!” He gazed at the bedroom where Jack was taking his afternoon nap. Well, his post-coital nap while Bitty baked some quick finger foods to snack on and tempt Jack back into wakefulness. Tater was at his physical therapy appointment. Bitty expected him back within the hour. “I have a vague idea of what I signed up for. Alicia has been more than helpful in letting me in on what might be expected once I’ve graduated. And Gabby and Carrie have been really great at making sure that I integrated with the group. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have benefited from starting at regular ol’ SO rather than face of the franchise level, but this might be good for me to get my feet wet with.”

 Georgia kept her voice low and sympathetic, it was a practiced tone, but honest. “I know this has the potential to be overwhelming. It’s why I’m hoping to start you out with a bit of a softball, get the town to really love you. Hockey fans have a tendency to defend their own. And if they see you doing local charity, it’ll go a long way.” Georgia paused and debated with herself for a minute. “Do you think you could make a couple of pies? Or, if it’s not too much trouble, some of that treacle tart?”

 Bitty laughed. “You think you could get me to go to a charity event and not bring pie?”

 “Well, I was thinking maybe you could have your own raffle table. Maybe an assortment of things? Some muffins, some fruit tarts, some pies …”

 “There won’t be any blueberry, unfortunately. Tater hasn’t left a single blueberry in peace since he moved in.”

 “Your instagram stories with him have been priceless. I have loved every update.”

 “Well, bless his heart, I love that boy, but dear lord I have no idea how he has survived on his own for this long.”

 * * *

 Bitty was a bit of a nervous wreck in the hours leading up to the adoption event. Jack chuckled and ruffled his hair as he desperately tried to tame his cowlick in the back.

 “Honey, please. I need this to go well. There’ll be cameras everywhere. And George has me running a dessert raffle. I can’t afford to have anything out of place.”

 Jack kissed him on the temple. “You’ll be fine, bud. And your raffle is going to be amazing. I’m sure you’ll sell plenty of tickets. I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up selling more tickets for your pies than some of the puppies get.”

 Bitty smiled up at him and raised one eyebrow. “Only some of the puppies, Mr. Zimmermann?”

 “Of course. Mine and Tater’s are going to get the most tickets out of everyone.”

 Bitty laughed and slapped Jack’s chest. “I believe you are mistaken. The most popular puppy is surely going to be Snowy. That tiny white ball of fluff sitting in that gigantic goalie glove is too cute for words.”

 “As long as it’s the puppy and not the guy you think is cute,” Jack chirped.

 “I’ll have you know Snowy is quite the looker. But, to be honest, I don’t think I could handle a goalie. They’re just plain weird.”

 Jack pinched his denim clad butt and laughed as Bitty squeaked in indignation.

 “Don’t you start something you don’t have time to finish!”

 * * *

The Providence Pups Charity Drive couldn’t have gone better. Georgia watched as reporters dutifully followed the narrative she wanted crafted. It was fluff, pure and simple. Pictures of the players skating with the dogs in hand, kissing them, photo ops with the fans and the lucky winners. It was perfection. And, to top it all off, Bitty had made her a separate batch of treacle tarts.

 There was stiff competition for most popular dog … if you added Jack and Tater’s together. Snowy won by a landslide. Tater argued that they campaigned their dogs together and it was only fair to add their tickets to come up with a correct count. Jack nodded along solemnly, and forced his face straight as Tater’s arguments grew more and more outlandish. Apparently, “treason from Little B” was now a high crime and the sole fault of why they lost. Bitty promptly informed them both that he was the one cooking their meals and if they didn’t at least try to behave they could go out for dinner for the foreseeable future.

 Jack gave him an overly scandalized look, “Bits, bud, I would never -”

 “Don’t you dare, Mr. Zimmermann. Those sad, blue eyes only get you so far. I’ve seen you sweet talk your way out of trouble with professors, don’t think I don’t recognize that look.”

 “You bribed your way into class with pie!”

 Before the chirping could get out of hand, a woman and her son came over. “Excuse me?”

 Bitty bit back his retort and smiled pleasantly before scooting to the side.

 Jack smiled at them and the small Parson Russell Terrier the boy held. “Congratulations on the dog. Can we help you with anything?”

 The woman, brunette with a few strands of gray, patted her son on the shoulder. “Go ahead.”

 The boy was maybe 13 or 14 years old. He shyly stepped forward and held the small dog to his chest. “Um, I actually have a question to ask - um, Bitty? Is that okay?”

 Bitty was momentarily shocked, but smiled gamely. “Of course. What can I help you with, sugar?”

 He glanced back over at his mom and cleared his throat. “Well, I know the Falcs named all these dogs, but I was wondering - I was wondering if it would be okay if I changed his name?”

 “You certainly don’t need anyone’s permission to change your dog’s name. He’s yours. Free and clear. I’m sure the Falcs won’t mind, just so long as you give him a good home and lots of love.” Bitty tried to keep his confusion out of his voice and off his face.

 “Well, you see, I was hoping to change his name to - um -” he looked down at the puppy that was snuggled into his chest and forced the last of his question out, “to Bitty. If that’s okay?”

 Bitty pressed a hand to his chest. “Of course that’s okay. I don’t know why on earth you’d want to bestow such an honor on me, but I’d be thrilled to know this little guy had my name.”

 The boy gained confidence at that and the words he’d been struggling with poured out. “I just want you to know that you’ve been such an inspiration to me. I know you haven’t been public with your relationship very long, but just the way you chose to be yourself. And being from Georgia and choosing to come all the way up here to go to school? It’s so amazing. And then joining the hockey team? That was really brave. I mean, I just started following your Twitter and YouTube when the Falcs announced who you were. But, I can’t believe you haven’t been playing hockey for very long and managed to get a scholarship to play Division I. And you coming out to your team in your first year? I couldn’t imagine doing that. And knowing that everyone was watching on TV and you are still in college? You declared your love so openly and honestly and I really hope that one day I can find a boy that I feel so much for that I would dare to do that with. I haven’t come out to my hockey team, yet. But seeing you and knowing how hard you worked to get to where you are is so amazing. And I can’t think of a better person to name my dog after. Terriers are supposed to be tough, and fierce, and loyal, all wrapped up in a small package. So, I just … you know … wanted you to know that.” The boy trailed off clearly started to become embarrassed by just how much he said and started toeing the ground with his sneaker.

 “That is just about the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I would love for your puppy to be named Bitty. And I hope that he gives you every bit of love and support that you deserve.”

 The boy smiled and left with his mom’s arm over his shoulder. Bitty held it together until they were out of sight and then let the tears stream down his face.

 “Awww, Bits, bring it in.” Jack held his arms open and wrapped them around Bitty as he buried his face into Jack’s chest.

 “That boy - if that wasn’t the sweetest - ugh, I’m a mess.” Bitty snuck a hand up between his face and Jack’s chest and wiped his eyes.

 “My hero.”

 “Don’t you chirp me right now, Mr. Zimmermann.”

 “Non, mon petit. You’re my hero, too,” Jack murmured into Bitty’s hair.

 Bitty chuckled through his tears. “My goodness, you’re not helping me stop the waterworks.”

 “Is fine! I am helping!” Tater grabbed Bitty from the back and wrapped his arms as far around the two of them as possible. “Little B is no longer persona non grata. Have little dog named after him just like Zimmboni and me. And all three have lost to Snowy. Is fair now.”

#missweber #fanfic #bv2018 #bittysvalentines #bittyjack

[douchebagbrainwaves]

CAN BE SILICON VALLEY

What you're too early really means is we can't figure out how to make them cheaply; many more get built; and as a result, so it may be that the most important changes in this new world. As this example suggests, this can vary a lot. The Reddits pushed so hard against the current that they reversed it; now it looks like they're merely floating downstream.1 In programming, as in all the other big companies. The biggest constraint on the number of employees at Craigslist looks like a more sophisticated way. Which means that any sufficiently promising startup will be offered money on terms they'd be crazy to refuse. At the extreme, for someone like Ron Conway, Richard Florida, Ben Horowitz, Jessica Livingston, Geoff Ralston, Fred Wilson, and Stephen Wolfram for reading drafts of this, and to hold true to it no matter what you do. Fortunately, this flaw should be easy to convince investors of something very uncertain—that their own programmers should be able to leave, or most likely, the thing people will pay for information they think they can make money buying less than 20% of each series A company.2 For example, I'd tell myself I was only going to use to develop server-based applications do a lot better to get users you had to get the conversation onto that instead of accepting offers greedily, your goal should be to discover each person's station as early as possible, e starting with a low number.3 I spend 6 months working on this stupid idea? Another way to figure out how to rent office space.

Indeed, the great advantage of the ten-man boat shows when you take a vote, all you're really doing when you start. Those worried about America's competitiveness often suggest spending more on public schools. Wufoo seem to have in person. It matters much more whether the author is telling the truth. We were a tiny startup, programming as hard as it can to sell whatever it sells. Deadlock wasn't the only disadvantage of letting a lead investor who negotiates the terms with the startup. CEOs if they don't plan to start startups who shouldn't, I make my own life worse. You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and each partner can't handle more than about an hour a day online.

Then a squad of QA people step in and start counting them, and the noise starts again. Good VCs are smart money, but also as a way to answer the first question. I like to find a better focus group than hackers, because they believe no one who has more experience at trying to predict how the startups we've funded will attest that I say the same thing in painting, a still life I set up in about four minutes. When I showed up in Silicon Valley. It always will when you're trying to raise a specific amount. Like prison wardens, the teachers mostly left us to ourselves. They also wanted very much to get rich was not to reason why; theirs was to build what product managers spec'd. This turns out to be mistaken; making predictions about technology is a dangerous way to lose time is not because it has no competitors. Law used to mean that a deal is genuinely not to need this crutch. VCs to meet you is just something to worry about this; worry about that danger. So it's only when you run out of money, your company moves to the suburbs and has kids. Even a company with a high upfront price, you tell them the best way to get rich from a technology startup, at least.

So my first prediction about the future, the trend to bet on as t approaches infinity, Demo Day approaches an auction. And at least 90% of the work of essay writing. Those are like experiments that get inconclusive results. Most fields become more specialized—more articulated—as they develop, and easy for even the smallest increase in the rate at which individuals can create wealth very rapidly. That first million is just worth so much more enjoyable life once there than you would otherwise stall. Ask your parents. If you want to start a startup as an optimization problem in which performance is measured, you'll know you're not merely using the hazy vision of the grand novel you plan to raise? I'd like to propose a hypothesis: that all the obvious ones are already taken.

Notes

Startups Condense in America consider acting white.

So instead of themselves. 03%. Mayle, Peter, Why Are We Getting a Divorce? None at all.

2%. You leave it to colleagues. Looking at the command of the resulting sequence.

Thanks to Sanjay Dastoor, Emmet Shear, Sam Altman, Sarah Harlin, and Larry Finkelstein for smelling so good.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #danger #managers #t #parents #A #Wilson #drafts #squad #someone #prison #theirs #office #deal #problem #infinity #Fred #something #boat #question #way #employees #ourselves #ones #Richard #Sanjay

[mdye]

Our president is an extremely prejudiced man and also an extremely superficial one.

Some conservatives have been trying to make this week's immigration conversation about skills, but that's not what Trump says he wants, as evidenced by his alleged outbursts against what he called "shithole countries" on Thursday.

The president's prejudice causes him to make snap judgments about people, and his superficiality makes him incapable of processing information that might reverse his prejudices.

President Donald Trump has said he likes to seek out appointees from "central casting," who have a physical appearance that suggests they can perform their job duties. He is proud, for example, that Mike Pence is a "central casting" vice president.

He rejects other job candidates for superficial reasons — for example, The New York Times reported he told aides Sen. Bob Corker, at five-feet, seven-inches tall, was too short to be Secretary of State.

He thinks a judge can't provide him a fair trial if that judge is "Mexican" — actually of Mexican descent, born in Indiana.

He'll hire a Jewish lawyer or doctor even if that person is manifestly incompetent, because Jews are good at those things.

And he doesn't want immigrants from "shithole countries."

All these things are related. They all stem from the fact that our president is an extremely prejudiced man and also an extremely superficial one.

Some conservatives have been trying to make this week's immigration conversation about skills — insisting the president wants changes to immigration law to prioritize immigrants who are educated and speak English. But that's not what the president himself said he wanted on Thursday.

He said he doesn't want immigrants from "shithole" places like Haiti, or countries in Africa.

"Why do we want these people from all these shithole countries here?" he asked.

Trump's objection to African immigration is no more related to TOEFL scores than his choice not to nominate Corker was about his votes in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The president's prejudice causes him to make snap judgments about people, and his superficiality makes him incapable of processing information that might countermand his prejudices. Corker is too short, and, as implied by Trump's alleged remarks on Thursday, the Africans are too black.

Erick Erickson asked this question rhetorically, but I think it's worth addressing:

So the President would prefer we allow Norwegian socialists with no special love of America into the country, but not the Ghanan who will work his ass off with a grand appreciation for our free market system and raise his kids to be proud Americans.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 11, 2018

This is not how the president thinks about it.

President Trump can't focus on the idea that this theoretical Ghanaian immigrant wants the American dream, or that the white, blond Norwegian has fundamental values disagreements with him.

He sees the Norwegian guy and sees a "central casting," Americanized immigrant. The Ghanaian did not come from central casting. In the president's view, he came from a shithole.

You might think this isn't about race, that it's just a rich-country, poor-country thing, but then you'll notice the president isn't clamoring for more Japanese immigration to the US.

I think the president is somewhat mistaken about the extent to which the immigration bills he has endorsed would serve the racist goals he has. In part because he is so superficial and so prejudiced, he doesn't realize how many Africans have the qualifications to pass the skills tests that would be established by a law like the RAISE Act.

Of course, the overall decrease in immigration under RAISE would slow the pace of diversification, which itself would serve the president's goal of a whiter country. But the president's intentions matter a great deal, and so do his words.

That the president wants an immigration policy aimed at making the country whiter, so more of the people who live here look like they came from central casting, is horrifying, regardless of the actual effects of policies he makes.

SEE ALSO: Trump's 'shithole' comment gives up his game on immigration

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how the map of the United States has changed in 200 years

[tendance-news]

JACKSON, Miss. — The president is coming to America’s poorest, blackest state to open a civil rights museum on Saturday, and people in the neighborhoods surrounding that gleaming tribute to the past would rather have Donald Trump visit their present.

“It’s hostile now, more hostile than in a long, long time,” said Pete McElroy, who employs three men at the auto repair shop that has been his family’s business for three generations. “People almost boast about it: ‘We got our man in the White House, and this is the way the ball’s going to roll now.’ ”

Three miles from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, over rutted roads, past littered lots, abandoned houses, and shuttered plants and warehouses, McElroy, 69, and other black residents of this struggling capital city say that after nearly a year of the Trump presidency, they have a definitive answer to the question candidate Trump posed when he spoke at a rally in Jackson in August last year.

“What do you have to lose?” Trump asked, making a quixotic and ultimately failed bid for black votes to a nearly all-white crowd.

“We’re losing a lot,” McElroy said here this week. “Losing Obamacare. Where are people going to go? Losing money. He’s making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Mostly, we’re losing respect. No way you can evade that. The way he speaks, the racists feel like they can say anything they want to us.”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) — an early and avid supporter of Trump’s — had invited the president to attend the opening months ago, but few here thought he would actually come. Except for crises such as hurricanes and oil spills, no president had set foot in small, poor, reliably Republican Mississippi for more than a decade.

The Black Empowerment exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Trump’s down-to-the-wire decision to attend the opening seemed to change everything. Suddenly, the focus shifted from the elderly Mississippians who had stood up to police and merchants and employers to demand their rights half a century ago. The president with a knack for dominating conversation had succeeded again. In the local news, at beauty salons and auto repair shops, even in the halls of the new museum, the talk was now about Trump: Why was he coming? What would he say? Would celebration morph into protest and controversy?

[Trump should skip Civil Rights Museum opening, NAACP says]

On Thursday, Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat who is one of the last surviving leaders of the civil rights movement, canceled his commitment to give the keynote address at the opening. Lewis, who had refused to attend Trump’s inauguration because he considered him an illegitimate president, joined with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in announcing that they will not attend because Trump is coming.

“President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum,” they said in a statement.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called their decision “unfortunate,” adding that Trump “hopes others will join him in recognizing that the movement was about removing barriers and unifying Americans of all backgrounds.”

On the cusp of the divisive Senate election in neighboring Alabama, Trump has triggered a frenzy of preparation and trepidation. On Thursday, Secret Service agents and state and local police combed every corner of the downtown site where Trump will join aging veterans of the civil rights movement and local politicians for the opening of two museums — one on the state’s history, the other a strikingly challenging look at the cruelties of race from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Along the streets of Jackson, even people who had no idea that a civil rights museum had just been built with $90 million in state money knew that Trump was coming.

[In Mississippi, a racist’s rifle tells a chilling story. But will Trump overshadow it?]

“It’s okay he’s coming, but they should take him to the ’hood,” said Quinton King, a 22-year-old mechanic at a tire shop on Martin Luther King Drive. “Let him see we living paycheck to paycheck, can’t get no credit card. It’s like they’re trying to keep everything for themselves up there, and here, we ain’t got nothing. Tell Trump to look around — houses abandoned, streets with holes, power lines hanging down in the street.”

A mural of Freedom Riders’ mug shots at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

King had not heard of any new museum in town. “Not really my style,” he said. And he saw no reason to learn about the people who had risked their lives to win him the right to vote and to live where he pleased. “We didn’t touch on any history real heavy in school,” King said. “It was all about trying to get you to pass the exit test.”

But although there are no plans for Trump to see any of Jackson beyond the museum, even a quick breeze through its galleries will confront him with a view of American history more complicated than the simple message sent by his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

“I Question America,” reads the banner over one of the museum’s galleries. A panel headlined “Savage Beating” depicts how police in the 1960s, “charged with enforcing the law, instead often brutalized black Mississippians.”

The museum presents a searing catalogue of bombings, small daily terrors, grinding humiliations, and rousing odes to the power of community organizing. Five towering black monoliths list the names of those who were lynched — more than in any other state — along with the purported rationale for their deaths: “lawlessness,” even “mistaken identity.”

[Trump replies ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’ to tweet about his attacks on African American]

It is purposely a challenging view of a time that no one would want to go back to, said Katie Blount, director of the state Department of Archives and History, which built the museum. “You can’t understand anything about Mississippi or the nation today without understanding this history,” she said.

Mississippians are divided about whether Trump should have been invited to the opening. Some of his supporters, thrilled by news of a presidential visit, have announced plans to attend the opening, which has some veterans of the civil rights movement worrying that celebration might change into confrontation.

Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Marshall Ramsey, the cartoonist for the local newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, tweeted his hope that Trump won’t say, as he did after the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville in August, that “you also had some very fine people on both sides.”

“It’s unfortunate that this president, who has created a climate of racial insensitivity and has embraced white supremacists, would choose to use this celebration of civil rights heroes as a photo op,” said Derrick Johnson, who recently moved from head of the Mississippi NAACP to the presidency of the national organization. “There’s just profound disappointment and sadness that after all these years, Mississippi is finally recognizing the heroes of the movement and this president chooses to be a distraction and an affront.”

Some blacks in Jackson see the museum, however, not as a reconciliation but as another in a long series of slights. “I won’t ever set foot in it,” said Burrell Brooks, a taxi driver who views the museum as an effort by whites to excuse the crimes of the past and the inequalities of the present.

“It’s getting worse, not better, not just for black Americans but for poor whites, too,” Brooks said. “You see the Confederate banner back up, the whole Confederate monuments thing. This country is going back to more segregation, and a museum makes people think that’s all history, that’s all fixed.”

[In feud with John Lewis, Donald Trump attacked ‘one of the most respected people in America’]

The first thing many African Americans in Jackson mention about the museum is the admission price, which is $8. “They charge us to see our own history,” Brooks said.

“Don’t holler about Trump coming,” said Dorothy Benford, 75, a retired teacher who as a young college student worked with civil rights activists in Jackson. “Let him come. Maybe he’ll learn something. If you’re going to holler, holler about the fee, making black people pay to see our own people kidnapped, hung, beaten, killed. Holler about what we have to lose — medical care, day care. Holler about the racist things people are saying about blacks that you did not hear before Trump.”

Former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour (R), one of the most fervent advocates for the civil rights museum, rejects the idea that Trump has unleashed a new era of racial confrontation. “I don’t hear that,” he said. “The vast majority of Mississippians — black, white, red or yellow — think our state has made as much progress or more than any other state in the last 50 years.”

Even if Trump hasn’t exactly been a symbol of racial reconciliation, he said, “it’s good for our state that the president, whoever he is, is tipping his hat to Mississippi, coming here knowing that there are things in this museum that we do not want to see repeated. The purpose of this museum was to be honest, open, to be candid about things that were indefensible.”

Jackson’s longest-serving city councilman, Kenneth Stokes, isn’t buying that. He drives through his center-city ward and pronounces that he will never enter the museum. “It’s a statement of white control of history,” he said. “In the blackest state in the United States of America, you don’t have one black elected official statewide. Look at these houses, gutted, falling down, it’s like it’s a hundred years ago. How can you have a museum that says this is in the past? It’s not a museum for poor black people, not if they’re charging that high fee. It’s for whites to make themselves feel better.”

[For Trump, fighting with athletes is a political sport]

Inside the museum, Blount, who is white, nods. She has heard these doubts many times, and she doesn’t expect blacks who are skeptical about state power to embrace the museum right away. “We are a state agency and so was the Sovereignty Commission,” which Mississippi created in 1956 to do battle with federal efforts to integrate schools and voting rolls. Only the reality of the museum can chip away at its critics’ objections, she said.

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City Councilman Kenneth Stokes outside City Hall in Jackson, Miss. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

A harsh voice shouts, “Get off the sidewalk. Don’t you know your place?” A visitor at the museum has crossed a line on the gallery floor, triggering a recorded reminder of the racial hierarchy that was codified in law and deed in Jim Crow Mississippi in the years before the civil rights movement.

Two miles away from the museum, as Priscilla Sterling recalled, a tense white man cornered her daughter on a street in Jackson. “Would you ever date a skinhead?” he asked, and it’s 2017 and she doesn’t know what she can say.

“White men following me, intimidating my daughter — this is the craziest time I’ve ever seen,” said Sterling, 49, a Jackson resident and a cousin of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after a white woman accused him of flirting with her at her family’s grocery store.

“I used to say I could never have lived in the 1950s or ’60s, that I couldn’t have taken the pressure,” Sterling said. “Now it’s 2017 and I’ve had people follow me and threaten me with vitriol. It’s vitriol like I never heard before Trump.”

#IFTTT #Blogger