Allergic to
Bull is going to be a politics-free zone today, if that can be at all helped.
But as we
gather around with family and share our blessings—and yes, even with the
difficulties I am facing, I feel blessed, with the help of friends (and occasionally
pro-bono attorneys)—and it is appropriate that if you have a couple extra
bucks, to suggest you give to a good cause.
Specifically this:
That is the
owner of Ferguson Market and Liquor, in that store, surveying the damage on
Tuesday morning, after the riots of Monday night. This store, in a way, is “ground zero” of the
entire Michael Brown controversy. It
started there, when Brown stole cigars from this store and pushed one of its
employees aside. And as you can see, it
was trashed in the riots. Whatever you think
of the shooting of Brown, this family that owned this business didn’t deserve
this.
And now is
your chance to do your share to make things right. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help them
out and you can participate, here.
This isn’t the
first fundraiser for a store harmed in the riots. Natalie’s Cakes and More has a GoFundMe page,
here, as well. But at last writing, the first one got like
$150 in donations, and the second got over $200,000, so obviously one needs the
help more than the other.
If you find
out of any similar fundraisers for anyone else harmed in all of this, let me
know and there’s good chance I will link to it, similarly.
But of course
any discussion of GoFundMe would not be complete without discussing another
worthy cause: helping my friend Mandy
Nagy out. As regular readers know,
she was afflicted with a stroke in early September. You can follow the most updated post in
blogging history on her progress, here. Unlike the store owners, I don’t think she
has insurance, so her need might be much more acute. I am not honestly sure, because, well, how
much do you know about your friends’ finances?
But please keep her in our thoughts and prayers this day.
As for those
who dread talking politics over dinner, don’t worry, dear reader, I have two
versions of advice on how to handle it. One is a parody of the liberal
“how to survive Thanksgiving dinner with a conservative uncle” trope, and one
is apparently meant in earnest. Which is
a parody and which is not?
Well, without
giving away the links let me quote from two of them. First, one quote:
The
hurt feelings and the culture of psychological entrapment. The long-dormant
resentments that seem to redouble like fingernails on a corpse.
Like
you, I have often wondered, “How might a hostage negotiator help the average
American family get through Thanksgiving?”
I’ve
had this thought not because of my own brood — we Alfords are a wholly
agreeable lot, whose emotional vicissitudes take the form of a lot of muffled,
Protestant sobbing — but rather because so many reports I receive of others’
holiday gatherings sound like football scrimmages subtitled by David Mamet.
Surely these are matters for professionals who’ve received months of intensive
training in crisis intervention?
“Just
shut up and listen,” said Frederick J. Lanceley, the F.B.I.’s former senior
negotiator and former principal director of its negotiation course, when asked
how to get two parties who are at odds with each other to cooperate at the
holiday dinner table. “People want to be heard. They want the attention.”
And from the
second piece:
In
the great progressive spirit, here are a few tips on how to talk to — and
morally improve — your family this Thanksgiving:
1. Your crazy uncle complains in passing
that the construction on Redlands Avenue is limiting the flow of traffic to his
hardware store, and wonders if the job could be completed more quickly.
This
must not be allowed to stand. Ask your uncle if he’s an anarchist and if he has
heard of Somalia. If you missed Politics 101 at Oberlin, refer to the Fact
Cards that you have printed out from Vox.com and explain patiently that the
government is the one thing that we all belong to and that the worry that it is
“too big” or “too centralized” or “too slow to achieve basic tasks” has a long association
with neo-Confederate causes.
The full
pieces are here,
and here. The first one seems to be in earnest, but I am not sure. Could it be a subtle parody?
In any case,
enjoy the holidays, and take pity on your high strung relatives and leave
politics out of it. Enjoy the Turkey-induced
semi-comatose state.
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My wife and I
have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist (and adjudicated
pedophile) Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame
me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years. I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you
read starting here,
you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video
evidence. If you would like to help in
the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the donation link on
the right. And thank you.
Follow me at
Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for
snark and site updates. And you can
purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A
Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.
And you can read a little more about my
novel, here.
---------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
I have accused
some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct. In some cases, the conduct is even
criminal. In all cases, the only justice
I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice
system. I do not want to see vigilante
violence against any person or any threat of such violence. This kind of conduct is not only morally
wrong, but it is counter-productive.
In the
particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him. Do not call him. Do not write him a letter. Do not write him an email. Do not text-message him. Do not engage in any kind of directed
communication. I say this in part
because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want
that to happen to him.
And for that
matter, don’t go on his property. Don’t
sneak around and try to photograph him.
Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision. Your behavior could quickly cross the line
into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).
And do not
contact his organizations, either. And
most of all, leave his family alone.
The only
exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course
nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any
stories you might report. And even then
if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request. That this is a key element in making out a
harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you
refuse.
And let me say
something else. In my heart of hearts, I
don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above. But if any of you have, stop it, and if you
haven’t don’t start.
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