The success of the Atlanta Braves during the regular season was compelling to watch for the team's fan base (of which I count myself). When they entered the postseason, however, things changed. Both management and ballplayers failed to execute.
A monkey wrench was also thrown in the machine. Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports, a media/left sports journalist, dutifully reported the grievances of a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Ryan Helsley. The Cardinals were facing the Braves in the division series.
Helsley's complaint was about the Tomahawk Chop-- a sort of rally cry at Braves' home games. He stated that he was a Native American, and implied that the Chop was hurtful. He said the following:
“I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,” Helsley said. “Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that.”
Of course, this was a profoundly stupid statement. The Tomahawk Chop does not imply anything about Native Americans today. It rather invokes what they represented in history many years ago. It is not a slur to imply that they were fierce warriors at one time.
Interestingly, Helsley does not have appear to have dark black hair. That suggests to me that his ancestry is mixed. The surname Helsley apparently originated in England or in Norman France.
I think, however, that we should concede that Ryan Helsley is at least as Native American as Elizabeth Warren.
The real problem, however, is that the Braves' management immediately caved. They stopped passing around foam tomahawks to fans; and reduced playing the Chop music over the stadium sound system. They were so quick to surrender and betray their supporters that many suspected they must be closet Republicans.
Their cowardice probably meant they deserved to lose this division series to the Cardinals-- just as they have lost every division series in which they played since 2001.
They should have adopted the stance of the Washington Redskins, and ignored Helsley's complaints that had been amplified by the lefty media. At worst, one can only wonder whether his complaints were carefully calculated to throw the Braves off balance.
The team's management probably feared angering the media titans, thereby risking the bountiful pipeline of television advertising dollars.
Now, the Braves have struck a successful economic formula-- winning enough to get to the postseason and engage a large fan base; getting taxpayer subsidies for an amazing stadium complex; but simultaneously refraining from having to pay the higher costs associated with fielding a championship team.
In any case, this past weekend in North Carolina, Governor Cooper-- a committed leftist-- proclaimed Columbus Day to be Indigenous People's Day instead. He could have chosen any other date of the year; but he had to choose Columbus Day because it represented the introduction of Western Civilization and Christianity to the Americas-- and all the prolonged success associated with that civilization. Those things had to be disavowed.
Maybe the Braves should hire Governor Cooper for their front office.
Posted at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
This past Saturday, I had the privilege of participating in a fairly extraordinary ministry.
The sole abortion clinic in Greensboro is located on Randleman Rd. It has been existence for over two decades. It is a horrible place where human lives are deliberately taken nearly every work day. More than likely, tens of thousands of unborn babies have been killed at this facility.
Fortunately, a Christian ministry was begun in Charlotte a couple of years ago. It is called Love Life. This organization conducts "prayer walks" at abortion clinics in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and even in New York City. It is a combination of worship, targeted prayer and intervention. In Greensboro, participants gather at the Destiny Christian Center on Randleman Rd. After a period of worship and prayer-- which includes music and singing-- those assembled walk approximately one block to the site of the abortion clinic where the services continue.
At the abortion clinic, the organization has trained sidewalk counselors who attempt to intervene in a loving manner with the young women who arrive to have their unborn babies killed. Later, mentoring is offered for these young women. Love Life also recruits potential foster and adoptive parents for babies and children who essentially are orphans. This is therefore a ministry both to the young women, and to the children who are saved.
Also at the site is a van operated by the Greensboro Pregnancy Care Center that offers on-site, mobile ultrasounds on behalf of these young women and their babies.
A key objective is to reduce the numbers of abortions at the facility, and thereby ultimately to make the business nonviable. Love Life is a moral presence that calls for God's help to snuff out the evil activities taking place at the clinic.
Love Life has been doing all of this at the Greensboro abortion clinic for nearly two years. It has assembled there on Wednesdays and Saturdays; and claims a sharp reduction in the number of young women undergoing abortion on these days. Regional churches are recruited to assist. When I was there, three churches were represented; and 185 people participated.
Directly in front of the abortion clinic, a small group of abortion supporters wearing rainbow vests congregate to assist the clinic and to disrupt the activities of Love Life by jeering and making a bunch of noise. But it does not deter the activity even one iota. Love Life's activities are highly planned and structured; and the leaders caution attendees not to engage with the nasty leftists. Attendees are given a distinctive T-shirt to wear to enable observers to understand that this is a planned, deliberate activity-- with participants all on the same team.
Of course, the clinic is located on the eastern side of town which tends to be much more heavily African-American. This tends to corroborate the point made by some pro-life advocates that abortion is partially intended to exterminate selectively African-American babies.
North Carolina residents with pro-life convictions who reside around Greensboro, Raleigh or Charlotte ought to check out this organization and get involved.
Posted at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
It was very interesting yesterday to see that WND was casting a huge spotlight on the major HMO, Kaiser Permanente, pronouncing in a prominent advertisement its support of drag queen story hours for children.
Of course, we were supposed to have had our own drag queen story hour for children here in Greensboro several weeks ago at the Pride Festival. These festivals have become clarion indicators of the cultural rot that has taken hold in American cities. The big message is that various perversions and deviances are to be celebrated and embraced.
Of course, the local pride festival had its own list of organizational sponsors. These were, according to YES!Weekly:
These organizations were, indirectly, sponsoring the drag queen story hour for children that was to take place at the local Pride Festival... by supporting the larger event.
Of course, this is only a small partial list of organizational support of cultural Marxism locally, statewide, and indeed nationwide. It is very unfortunate that so many organizations pretend to be responsible; but openly reject God's plan for gender, sexuality, marriage and the family-- and then attempt to force it on young people.
Posted at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
I received last week a communication from the North Carolina Medical Society. It had hosted a Maternal and Infant Health Summit recently. Among the speakers? None other than Deena Hayes-Greene, the chairwoman of the Guilford County Board of Education. Ms. Hayes-Greene was wearing a different hat at the meeting, however:
Deena Hayes-Greene from the Racial Equity Institute in Greensboro addressed ‘Race & Health: Making the Case for Racial Equity.’ Through statistics, research studies and stories she described the longstanding historic structures that have led to our current system and that perpetuate racism. Race is a primary indicator of outcomes in all ares of life, not just health, she said. She encouraged the audience to, as Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, advised: 'Get proximate to problem; change the narrative, be willing to be uncomfortable and inconvenienced; maintain hope, despite the brutal facts.'
Those with interest in the field of preventive medicine, however, know that both health behaviors and genetics have a profound effect on health. It is true that maternal and child health outcomes are worse in the black community. But we need to consider the effects of substance abuse, smoking and alcohol in pregnant women; conceiving and having children out of wedlock that can lead to material and emotional effects; improper diet; and of course any genetic contributors. A vast welfare state exists to assure that poor pregnant women can receive proper medical care and nutrition.
But it is apparently necessary to blame the problem somehow on racial inequity.
Ms. Hayes-Greene, of course, has had a long, distinguished career practicing identity politics on the Guilford school board. One of her primary interests had been to shield black students from the consequences of misbehavior thereby increasing disorder in the classroom and diminishing school safety. And because Guilford is a lefty county with corrupt, race-based machine politics, she was able to ascend to the position of chairwoman.
She has made a high-powered career out of racial aggrievement, traveling and giving programs through her Racial Equity Institute, that employs numerous trainers and "organizers". Various employers-- private and public-- require these insufferable training exercises.
The effect of such programs, and other initiatives of this type, is to marginalize and stigmatize white men in particular.
During prior years, it might have been possible for lucrative school system contracts to land in the lap of a paramour, or live-in lover, or husband, or whatever... as reported in the old Rhinoceros Times.
But now, it is also possible to "cash in" by nursing old racial grievances, and selling the product to various organizations.
Posted at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Imagine the specter of a major corporate executive-- the CEO of a Blue Cross Blue Shield organization-- getting arrested on an interstate highway for drunk driving after being involved in a motor vehicle accident with his two young daughters in the vehicle. Imagine that the CEO then proceeds to threaten the state troopers responding to the situation; and behave toward them in a belligerent fashion.
That is precisely what happened a couple of months ago here in North Carolina. It was only reported two weeks ago.
I had first written about this gentleman one year ago after he had first taken his position as CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. I had reported that Patrick Conway had been a high-ranking official in the Obama Administration. He had been "Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality, and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)".
This ugly episode did produce one huge hero. Conway requested that State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey (from Guilford County) keep the matter confidential. But Causey, to his credit, immediately called upon his employer to find a replacement. Conway quickly resigned his position. Blue Cross had until then been planning to retain him; and allowed months to pass by without informing Causey of the situation. The organization was planning a merger with a major west coast Blue Cross plan; and that deal fell apart because of the drunk driving incident and the aftermath.
It probably would be a good idea for the Board of Trustees of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to do some collective soul-searching; to discern how this could have happened to the organization; and to change its mindset.
If you want to have a leader with impeccable character, the last place you should have looked was from within the former Obama Administration.
How likely would it be that someone within a socialist administration-- whose designs were to control the activities of doctors and hospitals, and effectively tell them what they can and cannot do for patients-- would have impeccable character? If you look at the composition of the Board of Trustees, you find at least a couple likely aligned with the establishment GOP; two from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and one from North Carolina A&T.
Character matters. But worldview also matters. How many of all these parties were enthusiastic about advocating for a limited government, free market approach; and were determined to see it find a path forward? How enthusiastic were they about granting maximal efficacy and autonomy to patients and physicians? Hiring Conway was absolutely inconsistent with that approach.
Yes, the organization had to function in a world markedly distorted by Obamacare and the GOP's response-- MACRA. But that did not mean the organization had to embrace them gleefully, and abandon advocacy in a more appropriate direction. Health insurers were some of the major intended beneficiaries of Obamacare; but that did not make it right. BCBS of NC a couple of years ago terminated all the grandfathered pre-Obamacare plans within the state; and covered individuals saw their premiums utterly skyrocket.
The people of the state of North Carolina deserve better. Maybe Mike Causey can show them the way.
Posted at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
During the early days of the Trump Administration (2.5 years ago), I had a post here that argued the Trump Administration needed to go on offense. I suggested his DOJ should be investigating and prosecuting flagrant wrong-doing among those democratic socialist figures who were already acting in a concerted manner to undermine his presidency.
Much time has elapsed; and now we are witnessing a whistleblower referral and impeachment inquiry orchestrated by the far left. Meanwhile, there has not yet been a single indictment or prosecution for the Russia collusion hoax; the fraudulent FISA searches and surveillance; Fast and Furious; the Clinton Foundation; the Clinton e-mail server; all the leaks from within the administration; the violence encouraged against police officers, and at political events and rallies; the Biden China/Ukraine corruption; and the fraudulent collusion between the media and the democratic socialist party to influence the primary election during the 2016 presidential race.
It has been a giant goose egg so far. The much vaunted, long-awaited Inspector General's report from the Justice Department has been pushed back further and further. He has already let Jim Comey off the hook, and some suspect the ever-postponed, big second report will ultimately be unhelpful also. The investigation by US Attorney John Durham is ongoing apparently; and it is unclear what fruits this will produce.
Trump's fate will ultimately depend on whether the Republicans hang together and support him. I have pointed out here many times before that he is effectively employed by Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP caucus, because they have the power to remove him from office. And these swamp rats are fully capable of doing this. They are also capable of holding removal-from-office over Trump's head to extract various policy considerations from him. In fact, they probably already have.
It is entirely possible that the impeachment inquiry might be an attempt to forestall what might be otherwise forthcoming from the Inspector General report and Mr. Durham.
The intensity of the opposition to Donald Trump within democratic socialist ranks is unprecedented. But there have been opportunities to put them on the defensive and achieve some semblance of justice.
And those opportunities have been squandered thus far.
Meanwhile, some of those now virulently pursuing Trump were arguing more than two decades ago against Bill Clinton's impeachment and removal-- even though Slick Willie had perjured himself in a court of law during his presidency.
Posted at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Recent Comments