Thursday, December 31, 2020

grievance culture

A grievance is a complaint, often at a perceived unfairness or injustice. Sometimes they are justified. But crying for justice is not always appreciated. Some grievances are false. Some people are not interested at hearing any grievance (outside of their own). In slightly coarser language, complaining is called bitching, which is so applied to downgrade the process of any complaint. Truly there are people have suffered great harm and distress, and truly there are people who claim such for every instance of their displeasure over even the slightest matter. 

In a non-genteel occupation i labored in, which is rife with gossip, one fellow complained so often he was nicknamed Bitch; later his son joined the same labor force, and was christened Son of Bitch. Years later, when they were no longer working, and not seen, they were still recalled; and their tale was spread to new workers. 

This year was a very angry year in this country. The chief subject was race. Lyndon Johnson did say,If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”  He was right then, and is still right. Bernie Sanders, who is class conscious, ran in 2016 and this year always gives economic arguments. It is true, that the wealthy, obscenely wealthy bank on race to camouflage their mercenary greed. To divide and thus conquer the population over racial antagonisms has been a sure winner. Trump was the champion of white grievance.

The chief beneficiary of race hatred to gain political office in this country has been Donald Trump. He began his public 2016 campaign with hatred of Mexican migrants, and he never relented. He began the private campaign in response to Barack Obama, a man of color. Now and always, Donald is a wretched soul. Opposition to Obama was immediate. Soon tea-baggers formed, financed by rich Republican interests, and Fox News [sic]. This ersatz 'populism' appealed sotte voce to racists, and also screaming racial hatred directed at Obama, his wife, and others. With Trump the white racists found their standard bearer, and the grifter Trump would sell standards for them to bear.

Trump was born a rich man, and failed at everything, but being the son of a rich man failure became a success. If we were to put Donnie on the couch, he might remember his first grievance was he was not breast fed enough, if at all. That baby crankiness enveloped him to a mental sickness [krankheit]. Look at him in film, and fotos. He looks the opposite of happy. His smiles are always posed frozenly, and never come to him naturally. His humour exists only in mean-spiritness. He has a near permanent, fish pout.

Trump projects continuously. In April, in Concord N. Hamp., he again told the Scalise (the congressman, not the mobster) story. Scalise was shot, and his wife cried; Trump says a lot of wives wouldn't (his three). Also, for years he has told the snake story, Foolish woman, you knew i was a snake when you took me in.. Trump always talks about himself.

White people, and black people have grievances. Some of both think there are only two people: me, and the other person of the other race. Because you have a grievance, it was not caused by society favoring the other guy against you in every situation. America has angry white people, and angry black people who resent each other. Sometimes it is a turf war (and it should be acknowledged, when a formerly white neighbourhood becomes a black neighbourhood, the white people left behind are often targets of hooliganism, and crime; and this is never described as racially motivated). Other times it are the economic interests manipulating, and playing with people's lives. First look at the numbers. There are many more whites than blacks. Every white man is not set back by advantage to a black man, there are not that many black men. Also, because there are so many white men in spots, not all of them are there because a black man was cheated; there are not that many black men to be cheated.

“...Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation.” — Exodus 34. vii.
“...who visitest the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” — Numbers 14. xviii.
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.” ― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

Systemic racism exists. Some white people object to the term, and the idea. The effects of history last far longer than those who propelled them. A hundred years is not much time in history, history lingers. The chief event in American history is the war fought between 1861 and 1865. All those alive then, are dead now. Many in America to-day are not descendants from those in America at the time. That war was fought over black chattel slavery, and yet some people lie about it. The losing side, as Faulkner pointed out, was defeated but unvanquished. The social antagonisms, and classism did not stop. It still exists. Why are people publicly lamenting the confederate war banner? and confederate statues? The Germans do not fly nazi flags, and there are no nazi statues in Germany. Now, some white people resent this, and some black people are permanently angry. There is no collective guilt for future generations. There are lingering effects.

Black Lives Matter is a response to police brutality. Police in America are often given extreme latitude, often to the point of carte blanche. The black population, especially, feels like a captive population. Police have freely killed black people often enough, and without penalty. It is perfectly expected for black people to be upset. The examples of their lives being treated as something without any value is too frequent. One of the cliches, that are so often recited, is that nothing is worth more than a human life. It is not true in America. To this openly, obvious reality the police and their supporters go ballistic. Of course the use of ballistics is part of the problem. Police accept no reproach, and fiercely bristle with anger over criticism. Blue Lives Matter is a nonsense slogan. Black people did not say other lives do not matter, but many people do not value black life. Further, police have created a fiction, in which they are warriors preserving society. And when anger spills into rioting, many people damn the rioters while ignoring the reasons for anger. Police aggression is then positively viewed. Also the slogan “defund the police” was self defeating. Police are a political power in cities, and politicians (especially Republicans) love to use their support, and this year they were part of their campaign language. In Cleveland the police union president, Steve Loomis, in 2016, and later when he was out of office was himself an organiser of Trump events. Loomis is one of 2020's Trump electors.

White privilege is a stupid, and self defeating term. It is not a privilege to be white. Being white is not an extra gift: it even suggests that not being white is existentially inferior, and that truly black lives do not matter. It is often an advantage in America to be white. All white people are not privileged, many suffer the problems other people have. There is a privileged and favored class, and that status is primarily based on wealth. Using the term, white privilege, is meant to be provocative, and is counter productive. When making a plea for justice, to attack people with accusation, and condemnation when they are not those who are your enemies is asinine. 

And there are people who use the complaint of political correctness, as a term for censorship. They are upset of being socially not accepted for saying often rude things. There is also times when the powers in charge do not want to hear views, and they have the situational power to keep people silent. Some of those views silenced are considered politically liberal. Other terms in this realm are call out culture, and cancel culture. And then it also goes for noting lewd behaviour, e.g. slut shaming. Not all grievances carry the same weight, or importance.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

the second statues

Tom Johnson, Mayor of Cleveland,  1901-09. Herman Matzen. 1915. 
“Johnson is the best mayor of the best governed city in America.” —  Lincoln Steffens
see previous post [click]. Johnson was the Democratic mayor of a Republican town for four terms. Marcus Hanna was the string puller for the Republican Party, until he died. Hanna made Canton's McKinley president, but Johnson outlasted Hanna. Hanna's cohorts and minions got a beer baron, soon to be forgotten, to defeat Johnson in 1909. 

Moses Cleaveland. James C. Hamilton. 1888. 

“While I was in New Connecticut I laid out a town on the bank of Lake Erie, which was called by my name, and I believe the child is now born that may live to see that place as large as Old Windham.”

These two statues, supra, look out at each other. Behind both of them is Ontario Avenue, which bisects the public square laid out by Cleaveland in 1796. These are the statues, which people think of and computer search engines find, of Johnson and Cleaveland; but they are not the only ones.

There is another statue of Tom Johnson. William McVey. 1986. Western Reserve Historical Society.
Moses Cleaveland is about to leave the building
Moses Cleaveland is carrying a surveyor's tool in his left arm, and holding a staff in his right hand, just as the earlier statue. What was built as the Cleveland Club beginning in 1929 found Hoover's Depression, a hard time. It started as a private men's club, and opened in January 1930. The building had a swimming pool, Al Capone had a second one built for his private use. Capone also had a mile and a half tunnel created to reach Little Italy.
 
It became a hotel in 1939, Tudor Arms. Its Empress Room was often used as a Jazz club. It then became university housing, beginning in 1960 by the separate schools:  Case, and Western Reserve. The merged university leased it to Cleveland Jobs Corps, and sold it in 2007. It opened as a hotel again in 2011.
 
The year stone reads: CC 1929. It sits at ground level below Cleaveland. Many people drive by the corner without noticing the stone (which is partially covered by a potted shrub), and the statue.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

some light around the solstice

the Oil Can Church, Methodist

Being in the northern hemisphere, far from the tropics, there is not much daylight ~9 hours. In northeastern Ohio, on the coast of Lake Erie it is the cloudiest time of the year too. There has not been any appreciable sunshine for twelve days; to-day there was some light, still very cloudy. We went out with the camera, as we walked the greyhounds. Parts of University Circle are great to walk, and during institutional closures there is a place to park.

the Temple seen from the Chinese Cultural Garden

This is a beautiful building, and is now part of the university. The portion of blue block on the right is an addition of new theatre stages. The spot previously had classrooms for the temple. The Chinese Garden has a raised platform, with a pleasant design; but inferior cement, which is crumbling. There is a new long walkway that goes from the Temple, past the Garden, across the street, over the brook, past the art museum, crossing another street, onto a green.

part of the Harvey Rice statue group, and rock moving machine

It was too dark for a good foto of the statue group.  The vehicle sits above Doan Brook. It is thought there were too many rocks in the stream, and a different flow rate ewas wanted. The scoop sat idle to-day, it must of acted like a claw machine arcade game.

The art museum and college are closed, the fountain has been drained. People were taking the opportunity to take fots at the fountain, and also the Thinker statue directly in front of the museum.

The new University Center building has a lot of outside glass. This is not good for birds.


 Case Western's "Spirit Wall"

Students are allowed allowed to paint messages. They must be dated. This is from June 2nd, and it has not been defaced.

Church of the Covenant has an outside, decorated tree. Some of the ornaments contain objects.

Moses Cleaveland checks out from Tudor Arms

What was built as the Cleveland Club beginning in 1929 found Hoover's Depression, a hard time. It started as a private men's club. It became a hotel. It was a Jazz club. It was used as university housing. It became a hotel again.

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nota bene:  Blogger does not accept all of my formatting, and keeps the ultimate decision in spacing, and indentation.

Friday, December 11, 2020

Akron miscellany

some trees grow in a big spread when other trees are not around
noon on a sunny day, with ground haze
skate park and airdock
outside the Rubber Bowl
Akron North Vikings, on a building addition, in the shade
 

Thursday, December 10, 2020

akron deco

 Fulton or Guggenheim Angel holding a blimp

Daniel Guggenheim Airship Institute started in 1929 in Akron. Both the University of Akron, and California Institute of Technology were involved. In 1932, the building was opened. Guggenheim had a sculpture made that would face the Akron Fulton Aeroport, and the Goodyear-Zeppelin Airdock. The pilots could see it. This is on the back of the building. Next to this building is an elementary school built in 1921. M.M. Konarski was the Akron school architect, and his design was used for the Airship Institute. Konarski was the school board's architect from 1919 to 1938. He used both neo-classical, art deco elements.

Both buildings are used for Hallowe'en.

A little further on Triplett Avenue is the Aeroport Terminal, it has art deco style and built at the same time [click].

The second North High School (Akron) was built in 1931. Major additions came in 1955, and 1970.
Beautiful tiles at the old entrances (now marked 1, 2, 3). This was at a time when schools were part of the pride of a community, and sometimes well built with some architectural highlights; before the concrete bunker era. This school was built when Konarski was the school district's architect.


The tile runs across the old building, and there is some on the smokestack away from the building.
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Anyone else see a similarity?

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Rubber Bowl revisited

The entrance has been taken away, and some of the building, but much of the bowl remains. See previous post [click].

letters were formed inset in pre-formed channels, then painted

 trees pop through like weeds, and in concrete steps, stands, walls

 For years after abandonment, the carpet was not much taken, now almost all marked carpet is gone.
 up to 54
the former entrance is gone, a 1940 Roosevelt WPA project
beyond is Soap Box Derby track, and Goodyear Airdock
the field is trashed, and rubbish comes
lotsy graffiti, some with artistic skill, some only verbiage, and a lot of  phallic drawings


Friday, December 4, 2020

Akron air terminal

three clocks on this side of the building, one on the other side, none working
twin merman fountains, water off for winter
Akron-Fulton International Airport opened in 1929. The air terminal was built in 1930 in art deco style. Across the field is the Airdock, where Goodyear beginning in 1929 built dirigibles for the US Navy with a team of German Zeppelin engineers.  A few dirigible disasters ended passenger travel by blimp.Well over an hundred airships were built here, and four thousand FG-1 Corsair fighter planes were built here. The airfield became a naval air station.
 
During the 1950's drag racing was held at the aeroport. Since then, an Italian restaurant operated here. The new owner has a building next door, and manufactures surgical instruments. The building is used by clients flying in by private areoplanes. A very well maintained garden looks out towards the runways, and also the Rubber Bowl and Derby Downs, and sport fields. Roadside entrance has historical markers, and a statue of Chrstopher Columbus.
terra cotta ornaments grace the building
Yesterday, i read that beautiful Arctic ground birds were sighted: lapland longspurs, snow buntings, and horned larks. The address given was Akron Skate Park (1800 Triplett). I knew that was the aeroport campus, but that address was the terminal. The birds were not there to-day.
the tail appears to have a Kent State emblem