Posts
Meghan Markle
Big Pharma commercials
Billionaires
Big Corporations
the Far Right
the Far Left
Fox Network
People who neglect their pets, abandon their pets, or refuse to neuter their pets
People who kill animals for fun
Evangelicalism
Catholicism
Islam
Antifa
Neo-Nazis
People who force their religion upon others
People who cheat the elderly out of their life savings
People who use nonprofits like Wikipedia and the Public Broadcasting Service but don’t support them although they could afford to
Some clarifications… (1) In order to keep the list short and to make it less generic, I went back and deleted such obvious things as Trump, Putin, and rapists. (2) When I say hate, I don’t necessarily mean hate with a capital H. For instance, a person can be a wonderful human being and also be a Catholic, so when I say I hate Catholics, what I mean is that I hate it that Catholics financially support a sexist and callous institution that destroys lives through its crass materialism, its opposition to birth control, and its shielding of pedophile priests. Same with hunters. Many hunters are moral, generous and otherwise kindly, yet I believe it impossible for someone to remain a hunter following mature consideration of the rights and feelings of other species. I don’t even feel capital H hatred for all neo-Nazis because many such people are young, lost, and desperate for a sense of purpose and belonging. However, as with hunters, I don’t believe that a person of depth and consistency can forever remain a neo-Nazi. (3) Other times, I do mean hatred with a capital H. For example, nothing that could happen to Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump would be bad enough to suit me. Meghan Markle is another story.
So why, in god’s name, did I include Meghan Markle, but having done so, why didn’t I also include Prince Harry? The answer to the first question that the couple are on my mind because every time I turn on news of late, there they are. The answer to the second is that I don’t necessarily think Harry is evil; I think he’s a weakling and a chump. A comparison…
Many years ago, I belonged to a lodge, and in that lodge was a fit, attractive, and popular widower (I’ll call him Larry) in his seventies, who could have had his pick of many of the lodge’s widows if he had wanted. Then came the day that a woman in her fifties (I’ll call her Barbara) transferred into mine and Larry’s lodge from another lodge where she had served as treasurer and was under a cloud of suspicion regarding some missing funds. I couldn’t stand Barbara who was smug, morbidly obese twice over, had an air of entitlement, boasted of her wealth (which I didn’t believe she had), used a walker, and couldn’t shut up about her many health problems. A few months later, Larry told me with wonder in his eyes and awe in his voice that he had “finally” gathered the courage to ask Barbara to go out with him, and—God be praised—she said yes. I thought Harry had lost his frigging mind because Barbara had bad news written all over her. In trying to understand his attraction, all I could come up with was that she was decades younger.
The more I saw Meghan Markle, the more I felt that she was a young and skinny version of Barbara, an estimation that was deepened by the fact she hailed from a family of opportunistic lowlifes. Obviously, good people can come from bad backgrounds, but I doubted that she was among them.
When William and Kate visited America recently, they arrived on a commercial flight, and Kate wore at least one rented dress during the visit. During the same week, Meghan and Harry flew to NYC on a private jet (they use private jets despite their claimed devotion to environmental activism) for an awards ceremony during which Meghan wore a designer dress. Meghan and Harry then tried to steal the show from Kate and William by releasing the previews of their upcoming three-part documentary in which they proclaim that Meghan was victimized by the press, the royal family, and particularly by Kate and William.
In one of those previews, Meghan demonstrated how she curtsied before the queen. It was not a real curtsy; it was how a child would curtsy in play or a grown-up would curtsy if she wanted to show contempt for the person she was curtsying to. Also, in the documentary were photos in which scores—perhaps hundreds—of members of the paparazzi was shown hounding Meghan. Only they weren’t. One such photo was taken at the release of a Harry Potter movie; another was of the press photographing a Trump associate on his way to criminal court; and other photos also failed scrutiny.
Ironically, Harry now claims that William and Kate were envious of Meghan because she was more popular than Kate as was evident from the tremendous press attention Meghan was receiving. Given how horrible Meghan claims it is to be pursued by the press, I should rather think that the envy would run in the other direction, and I would also think that she would be keeping a low profile to avoid future problems. But no, not Megan. She is greatly desirous of press attention now that she is using her claimed victimization to make more money in a year than most of us could make in several lifetimes.
So how did things turn out with Larry and Barbara? Barbara was permanently expelled from the order by the Grand Lodge of the State of Oregon for embezzlement. As for her ever loyal husband, he believed her lies about the charges against her being concocted by people who were envious that her talents and charisma had enabled her to rapidly assume offices that they had worked hard for. Larry immediately denounced his many long time friends, and he angrily resigned from an order in which he had been loved and to which he had devoted his adult life.
Had it not been for that experience combined with the fact that a citizen of my own country is doing her damnedest to bring down the British monarchy for personal gain, I probably wouldn’t hate Markle so. Ironically, I have no interest in the continuation of the British monarchy. As I write, the British government is claiming that it can’t afford to pay its nurses a living wage, and an elderly British friend is complaining that he is given a different doctor every time he becomes ill. I believe that the livelihood of nurses and the welfare of the elderly is more important than King Charles’ palaces. I think most people would agree, yet King Charles has spent 74-years living off the labors of others, and I think I can safely say that he gets to see whatever doctor he wants and that he doesn’t have wait in line to do it.
The world is often a place where bad people prosper and good people founder, and so it is that talentless celebrities like Markle sometimes bother me out of proportion to their importance simply because I attribute their success to the fact that they are so silly and obvious. I’m surely old enough that I should be above such things, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m not.
8 comments:
I have no idea how I missed this post, and can only put it down to brain fade. Sorry.
I love that you started with the things you love, which is one of the ways I maintain my sometimes precarious grasp on sanity.
And agree with you about many of things on both lists.
As for the Meghan/Harry debacle, for a couple who say (repeatedly) that they despise publicity they certainly seek it out. I am not interested in them as either individuals or as semi attached members of Australia's royal family.
"I have no idea how I missed this post, and can only put it down to brain fade."
Sue, I've blogged for a very long time, and never until this post and the one following it have I received zero comments (prior to the one you just left). This suggests to me that there is either a problem with Blogspot or a sudden loss of interest on the part of my readers, and I really have no idea which it is. My problem is that, if the latter is the cause, I don't know what I can do about it because I'm putting my heart into these pages, and while I know that my heart is not always pretty to look at, it is still who I am, and it would be a waste of my time to misrepresent who I am.
"I love that you started with the things you love, which is one of the ways I maintain my sometimes precarious grasp on sanity."
Sue, I don't know how much, if any, comfort you might find in Ernie Pyle's writings about American infantrymen in WWII, but while I'm like you in that I take courage from thinking about those things that are endearing and happy, I also take courage from the often sad lives of people who, despite their sickly bodies and emotional vulnerabilities, knowingly thrust themselves into situations that cause stronger people to collapse.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy might be another such person. My first awareness of him was when he visited the US during the Trump presidency. On that visit, he struck me as timid, cringing, and obsequious, yet he and his wife have since come to inspire the Free World through their enormous courage, tireless energy, and unwavering resolve. Because I am older than Zelenskyy, I feel as though I should also be stronger than Zelenskyy, yet I seriously doubt that I was ever stronger than he, and his example makes me feel as though I could--and should--do better. It also tells me that I shouldn't place too much confidence in my impression of what a given person is capable of, whether of good and of bad.
"As for the Meghan/Harry debacle, for a couple who say (repeatedly) that they despise publicity they certainly seek it out."
My impression of Meghan reminds me of my impression of Trump in that both seemed so obviously flawed from the beginning that I was incredulous that anyone trusted them. She also reminds me of my impression of Trump in that, in both cases, the passing of time vindicated my initial judgment. As for Harry, he might have lived his entire life with appreciably greater affection and respect than his more reserved brother had he never met Meghan Markle. I suppose it can go the other way too--as when a decent woman destroys herself through her blind loyalty to, and belief in, an evil man--but in this situation, I doubt that Harry is malignant by nature. I think that the day might even come when Meghan concludes that she has gained all she can from her relationship with Harry at which point she will leave him and write about how he, like his family, abused her. Should that happen, I think she will find that her previous success as a manipulative liar caused her to overreach, just as Trump's success has led him so far afield that he is beginning to lose his power over the Republican Party. Of late, he has even called for the suspension of the very Constitution that all elected federal officials are sworn to uphold, and I think that alone will be his death knell.
I would put some at least of your dearth of comments down to blogger. It is messing with a lot of minds, hiding posts and making it difficult to comment when/if you do find them.
And yes, I take courage from the way that other people face things that I would find insurmountable. Their courage also makes me feel inadequate. I am frequently inspired/humbled by the people I speak to on the crisis line. Faced with things that would have me velcroed to the carpet under the bed and refusing to come out they persevere.
This post did not arrive until today, 25th in my Reader,
I very much agree with your dislikes. Mountbatten the younger and Mrs Sparkle are boring and I don't bother reading or watching anything about them now. Money grubbers, the pair of them. However, I couldn't help but hear that there were tens of thousands of complaints about a newspaper column in a British tabloid in which the author wrote scathing and crude things about Mrs Sparkle. The complaint was I think justified but I am surprised that enough support her to complain.
The British NHS is far from perfect and in some ways our system is superior but we still have our hands in our pockets to a minor degree, especially for less serious matters. The English who use the NHS generally don't. For really good publicly funded and effective health, some European countries do it very very well. They would be higher taxing countries but their tax systems are usually more equitable and isn't it so much better that everyone can receive decent health care.
This is Sue from Escape from Cancerland. I too had not seen this post until now even though you published it a week ago. Blogger has me comment as anonymous and does a lot of other annoying things
I agree with most of your list Not sure if I hate Miss Markle but certainly don’t admire her for making a business out of ‘poor me’ pampered pet as she is
As for hunters, mixed feelings. If they need to eat, fine but their lead casings end up polluting the waters. And seeing how many birds they can kill just to rack up numbers is sickening. Southern Michigan is chock full of deer but the hunters prefer northern Michigan which has much less. Maybe because they can use rifles there
"blogger....is messing with a lot of minds, hiding posts and making it difficult to comment when/if you do find them."
I'm relieved to hear this from you and from others, some of them commenters to this post.
"For really good publicly funded and effective health, some European countries do it very very well."
Because I'm over 65, I am on publicly funded healthcare (called Medicare), but I supplement it with private insurance. Also, Medicare doesn't pay dental costs or drug costs, so I pay the former on my own, and although I have insurance for the latter, I mostly pay for drugs myself because I can get them cheaper that way. But if this is true, why do I even have insurance? The reason is that if I don't have it now, the government won't allow me to buy it later on when I might really need it for some horrendously expensive drug.
"They would be higher taxing countries but their tax systems are usually more equitable."
America's income tax code, tax regulations, and taxpayer information, add up to 75,000 pages of legalese, making it impossible for most people to do anything but get shafted while, thanks to Trump, America's rich pay no taxes. Trump certainly doesn't, his explanation being, "I'm smart," although shifty accountants might have something to do with it.
"Not sure if I hate Miss Markle but certainly don’t admire her..."
I don't hate her as much as I hate some (such enemies of freedom and decency as Republican politicians and Supreme Court justices, for example), and I only included her in my list because she has been in the news so much lately.
"As for hunters, mixed feelings. If they need to eat, fine but their lead casings end up polluting the waters."
Lead has been federally banned for waterfowl hunting (the pellets are now made of steel). Interestingly--to me anyway--Annie Oakley used a .22 rifle, but a PBS documentary about her speculated that lead poisoning caused her death.
"Southern Michigan is chock full of deer but the hunters prefer northern Michigan which has much less. Maybe because they can use rifles there."
In the places I've lived, deer hunters preferred rifles because they're deadly at a greater distance. Here's an article about the subject: https://resources.mossberg.com/journal/shotgun-vs-rifle-for-deer-hunting. I first hunted alone--with a .22/.410--at age eight, and I continued to hunt off and on until I reached my upper teens when I gave it up due to a lack of interest and because I opposed hunting for moral reasons. I still own a number of guns, some of which I bought and others of which I inherited. My only current interest in guns is for home defense, although I would vote for a government ban because it would save hundreds of times more lives than it would cost.
P.S. to Sue. "Michigan is chock full of deer..." Although my house is a fifteen minute walk from the heart of a metro area of 400,000, I've seen deer within three blocks of here. While bear and even mountain lions sometimes wander into Eugene, deer reside in ever greater numbers the farther toward the edge of town one gets.
I completely missed this post, perhaps because it was quickly followed by the "things I love" post.
I'm not keen on Ms Markle but I find there are many who have bought her story and won't countenance my misgivings.
As for the monarchy, they don't fit my socialist leanings but somehow I bear them no ill will. I can only say that maybe that is because they were in existence and I accepted their place in the world long before I was able to make any other judgement.
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