Thursday, March 29, 2018

Dire Straits: Iron Hand


by Angela K. Durden
The Most Brilliant Woman in the World

This song still holds up. Brilliant lyrics. Wonderful use of language. Strong message.




Well alas we've seen it all before.
Knights in armor, days of yore.
The same old fears and the same old crimes.
We haven't changed since ancient times.

Songwriter: The Brilliant Mark Knopfler
Iron Hand lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Monday, March 26, 2018

The Gnu Yawker: Special Edition Cover

by Angela K. Durden


Lest you think this satirical magazine cover comes out of the blue, please be advised the most current edition (of a certain magazine) featured on their cover a cartoon of a naked president with a yellow-hair comb-over, whose bona fides are hidden by a lectern.

Therefore, I thought I should design a cover they should have done a few years ago. I mean, if they are claiming to be so hip and with it and so forth. And so, The Most Brilliant Woman in the World, Goddess by the microphone, Poet-in-Residence, and now magazine cover designer, has had her fun with the P-HWPCDLRSFC* magazine that spews their FLOTSAM** out of a famous city in the northeastern part of the U.S.

Geez, I wonder if the publishers will go Charlie Hebdo on me only in reverse? Good thing they can't find out where I live, right? I mean, it's not like my address exists in any database whatsoever...right?

Right?



Angela the Anonymous saying, "Enjoy."
P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** FLOTSAM: For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Now THAT is a summary I can get behind.

At it again...all for you. 
by Angela K. Durden
The Most Brilliant Woman in the World

Yet another mass shooting brings P-HWPCDLRSFC* outrage against those evil guns that simply can't seem to keep it in their clips. Let me quickly reiterate their arguments for gun control:

First: Blah, blah, blah.
Second: Boo, hoo, hoo.
Third: The CHILDREN!
Fourth: None for thee!
Fifth: Only gubment can have.
Sixth: Blee, bleck, and blooyee.

There. Done. And aren't you simply amazed at my ability to succinctly summarize? Want to see another great summary?

Well then, let's get to what Angela, also known as The Most Brilliant Woman in the World (in case you missed it above), has to say about gun control. 




Now THAT is a summary I can get behind.

P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies

Saturday, March 24, 2018

To a friend whose mother is passing.


While our journeys differ,
they are the same we always see.
E’er the house of mourning awaits,
our pain seems forever to be.
But when we begin to feel
our hearts are fragile as old glass,
our Father’s enduring love says,
“Bide awhile, child, this too shall pass.”

Angela Durden, 2018.




Friday, March 23, 2018

"Listen, babe, I intend to beat the crap-fire out of you. Will you marry me?"

At it again...all for you. 
by Angela K. Durden

There is a group of illegals who live in many countries. They are aided and abetted by loved ones who are powerless to help them.

I'm not exactly sure how it works but these illegals need permission from an international body in order to...well, let me tell it to you this way.

I have a friend. She is Catholic. She married a Catholic man. He beat the crap-fire out of her. She gave him quite a few years to quit it. He didn't stop putting the beat-down on her.

She couldn't take it anymore and left him. Against her husband's will she got a civil divorce. But my friend is a woman true to her faith. Which simply means this: The Church said that in their eyes she is still married and they will not grant an annulment unless she can prove there is some official reason for it.

This was not a problem for her as she was soured on men. My friend could not foresee a time when she would entertain the idea of dating, much less get married again. So the Church's specific rules were not causing her any angst.

But time did march on. 


And a kind man did enter the picture who has, for eight years, not stopped her from stewing in her own juices. Finally, after testing him out, she accepted his proposal to marry and a ring of intention was placed on her finger. But, uh-oh. She's still a good Catholic married woman.

At this time my friend has to write a letter to the church and explain why they should grant an annulment. My friend is not a woman who breaks laws. She does not want to live illegally. But if she marries again without the Church signing off on it, then she may be forced to become an — gasp! —  Illegal Congregant.

Given the People's Friendly Pope's attitude toward illegals, you would think the Catholic Church would give my friend, and others like her, permission to 'cross the border' and suffer no ill-effects, but no. Jorge Mario Bergoglio nee Pope Francis is a good Socialist and all Socialist hierarchy, believing they know what is best, always draw the rules so tightly for those they claim are too stupid to know better that there is no room for common sense.

I am not a Catholic and never will be. But I decided to look up the acceptable reasons for why my friend could reasonably be granted an annulment of her marriage. These are listed below. My reading of the list did not show any specific reason that matched my friend's situation, namely "Your spouse beats the crap-fire out of you."

However, after reading over the list carefully, I believe I have found a very good reason my friend can rightly receive an annulment: Fraud.

That's right — Fraud!


My friend was intentionally deceived about the presence or absence of a quality in the other. The reason for this deception was to obtain consent to marriage. In other words, what if he had told her,  "Listen, babe. I intend to beat the crap-fire out of you and then say I'm sorry and ask your forgiveness, and then do it again for years and years. So, will you marry me?" Do  you believe she would have married the man?

So, yes, fraud because I double guar-OH!-damn-tee-ya he sweet-talked her and made big promises about the happy life they would live together. Yes, he made his case so well, she happily walked straight into a hidden trap.

Enjoy reading the...

Grounds for Marriage Annulment in the Catholic Church 


There are very well defined canonical grounds for Marriage Annulment. Once these have been established marriage Annulment can proceed. It is important to understand the grounds for Marriage Annulment before making application, and if in doubt you should consult your local priest.

Insufficient use of reason (Canon 1095, 10) You or your spouse did not know what was happening during the marriage ceremony because of insanity, mental illness, or a lack of consciousness.

Grave lack of discretionary judgment concerning essential matrimonial rights and duties (Canon 1095, 20) You or your spouse was affected by some serious circumstances or factors that made you unable to judge or evaluate either the decision to marry or the ability to create a true marital relationship.

Psychic-natured incapacity to assume marital obligations (Canon 1095, 30)  You or your spouse, at the time of consent, was unable to fulfill the obligations of marriage because of a serious psychological disorder or other condition.

Ignorance about the nature of marriage (Canon 1096, sec. 1) You or your spouse did not know that marriage is a permanent relationship between a man and a woman ordered toward the procreation of offspring by means of some sexual cooperation.

Error of person (Canon 1097, sec. 1) You or your spouse intended to marry a specific individual who was not the individual with whom marriage was celebrated. (For example, mail order brides; otherwise, this rarely occurs in the United States.)

Error about a quality of a person (Canon 1097, sec. 2) You or your spouse intended to marry someone who either possessed or did not possess a certain quality, e.g., social status, marital status, education, religious conviction, freedom from disease, or arrest record. That quality must have been directly and principally intended.

Fraud (Canon 1098) You or your spouse was intentionally deceived about the presence or absence of a quality in the other. The reason for this deception was to obtain consent to marriage.

Total willful exclusion of marriage (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse did not intend to contract marriage as the law of the Catholic Church understands marriage. Rather, the ceremony was observed solely as a means of obtaining something other than marriage itself, e.g., to obtain legal status in the country or to legitimize a child.

Willful exclusion of children (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, to deny the other's right to sexual acts open to procreation.

Willful exclusion of marital fidelity (Canon 1101, 12) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, not to remain faithful.

Willful exclusion of marital permanence (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, not to create a permanent relationship, retaining an option to divorce.

Future condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2) You or your spouse attached a future condition to your decision to marry, e.g., you will complete your education, your income will be at a certain level, you will remain in this area.

Past condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2)R You or your spouse attached a past condition so your decision to marry and that condition did not exist; e.g., I will marry you provided that you have never been married before, I will marry you provided that you have graduated from college.

Present condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2) You or your spouse attached a present condition to your decision to marry and that condition did not exist, e.g., I will marry you provided you don't have any debt.

Force (Canon 1103) You or your spouse married because of an external physical or moral force that you could not resist.

Fear (1103) You or your spouse chose to marry because of fear that was grave and inescapable and was caused by an outside source. Error regarding marital unity that determined the will (1099) You or your spouse married believing that marriage was not necessarily an exclusive relationship.

Error regarding marital indissolubility that determined the will (Canon 1099) You or your spouse married believing that civil law had the power to dissolve marriage and that remarriage was acceptable after civil divorce.

Error regarding marital sacramental dignity that determined the will (Canon 1099) You and your spouse married believing that marriage is not a religious or sacred relationship but merely a civil contract or arrangement.

Lack of new consent during convalidation (Canons 1157,1160) After your civil marriage, you and your spouse participated in a Catholic ceremony and you or your spouse believed that (1) you were already married, (2) the Catholic ceremony was merely a blessing, and (3) the consent given during. the Catholic ceremony had no real effect.

























P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** Pussy-Hat Wearers
*** FLOTSAM: For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters













Thursday, March 22, 2018

The Pit and The Pendulum: Poor Zuckerberg.

DATELINE — Sometime in March of 2018


Screensnip from TheStreet.com

by Angela K. Durden (also known as The Most Brilliant Woman in the World)

Want to bet those "Lawmakers" in the headline are all Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democratic Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies? No? Don't want to take that bet? 

In any case, here we go again dragging Donald "The Hammer" Trump into yet another scandal over voter tampering. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry for laughing so loud, but this is too funny because this time the poo-poo flew all over Mark Zuckerberg. I won't even try to tell the story from the MSM reports because, frankly, they are confused on the whole thing except for one point...

I'm sorry, Dear Reader. What's that you just said?...Hahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Could you repe---...HAHAHAHAHA! Yes, that is the MSM's regular state: Confused! Thank you for calling in to the page. I love it when my readers call in to the page. You guys make the column even better. 

Here's the situation: 


Facebook lost a ton of market share almost overnight. So much so that even Zuckerberg himself is said to have lost $5 billion. It's all make-believe money anyway when it gets to be that much. Why do I say that? Because all Zuckerberg's P-HWPCDLRSFC* friends punished him by dumping their shares, then what did Mark have to show for all his hard work?

What hard work? Oh, let me tell you about that. See, Zuckerberg wants to be the biggest P-HWPCDLRSFC on the planet. So he courted favor with those P-HWPCDLRSFC that are bigger than him by carrying their water.

One way Zuckerberg did this was to avail a certain Democrat running for office — that is, Obama — of Facebook 2012 Election's Opt-In Policy that said whoever opted in gave them permission to access all their Facebook friends.

Carol Davidsen, who ran this marketing campaign for Obama, publicly bragged that enough people opted in (my note: and thereby applying the concept of six degrees of separation) that President Obama now could target everybody in the United States that was on that social media platform. 

That was around 200 million people in 2012. (2018: 230 million.)  


Two thirds of the country, mind you, but only with Facebook's help...


...because the P-HWPCDLRSFC could not have afforded that kind of reach via traditional methods. And Obama won. Brilliant move by the Democrats, according to MSM media. "See the power of social media!" they all crowed.

Then came 2018 when it came to light that Facebook had somehow allowed access to 50 million of their users to receive 2016 pro-Trump messaging.

And now who's a bad boy? Zuckerberg, that's who.


Out of favor! Punished. Hell, fined, to the tune of $5 billion dollars because he was a bad, bad boy. Yes, Zuckerberg missed the toilet and the P-HWPCDLRSFC* beat him and rubbed his nose in it. The P-HWPCDLRSFC are asking Mark to "explain" how his data could be "compromised", that is, how he could allow pro-Trump messaging to get through at all much less to a mere 20% of the users the Obama campaign reached through him. 

Oh, how the sharp blade of the pendulum swings lower and slices slowly. How dare Mark get the big head and think he's one of them? The P-HWPCDLRSFC, MSM flacks, and Wall Street hacks laugh as they put Zuckerberg in his place. 

Still, I'm not worried about it. First of all, Facebook might not admit it, but privately the company is worried about market share shrinking because of user non-engagement. Why do you think the company bought Instagram? That's right, it's because Instagram was poaching Facebook's user base.

But such strategies won't work for long because if you have to buy back your users then aren't you already behind? Too big to fail? No such thing. 

Oh, such fun times to see The P-HWPCDLRSFC turn on one of their own. 





At it again...all for you. 




P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies











Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Lies

Respectable

Marie

Euro-trash girl (Live)

Stealin' (New Version)

The original was released by Uriah Heep in 1973.
40 yrs later they went back into the studio and did it again.
Enjoy.

(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet

Guns, Cars, and USSR serial killers.

At it again...all for you. 
by Angela K. Durden
The Most Brilliant Woman in the World

Mostly I do not engage with those on social media when I see it will be a clusterf---...ummm...I mean when I know a bunch of liberal pussies will pile on with copy-and-paste me-too commentary that all ends with "you're just stupid."

But then there are those times I do. And this most recent school shooting, running commentary of which I had vowed to stay out, finally could no longer be ignored.

I could no longer keep my mouth shut because a video started going around wherein...


I'm sorry, Dear Reader, you want me to share the video with you? Hmmmm...Oh, totally. I'll be happy to...Yes, yes, let me go find it for ya...Of course. After all I am...That's right! I am Citizen Journalist and...Why, thank you for your kind words. Hang on just one sec let me get those collateral pieces for you...AND WE'RE BACK! 


Here is the boy's picture. If you watch the video — here is the link to #CrunkNewsNetwork video — you will note this young man is either wanting to be the next MLK Jr., or he's running for office. He has the cadence, the moves, the rhetoric. Yes, he's got the look of a P-HWPCDLRSFC* sharing FLOTSAM** we are too stupid to understand ourselves.

Screensnip from #CrunkNewsNetwork

So, there I was, quietly ignoring Fakebook ramblings...


...when I could no longer ignore "my friends" on Bacefook and decided to stir the pot a bit. Here are three things that got their panties in a bunch.


"Andy, you do realize, don't you, that anybody can get anything they want illegally and that no law would have stopped him. I say this because there are laws that say it is wrong to murder, yet did that law stop that boy or any other person who has done these deeds? It did not. Laws have no power to stop the evil person."

Now, Andy agreed that laws cannot stop anybody who wants to do it, but he went on to say that the shooting was all the fault of the gun lobby. Then he went on to point out in a perfectly logical fashion the breakdown in the FBI's response pattern that let the identified future shooter get this far and we should make laws about that. My response was:

"My dear Andy, it is obvious you care. But more laws do not solve the very problems you mentioned. It is the execution of perfectly fine, strong, and robust laws already on the books that is flawed. Of course, there are reasons for that happening, too, and let me tell you, it has everything to do with The Deep State's need to control the populace. How do they do that? Take away freedoms one by one. Ability of an armed populace to defend against a tyrannical government isn't the only freedom under attack. Do not be fooled in this at all.

"Look, what you and others are advocating is equivalent to a man who takes his puppy out to the middle of the street and guts it. All the people who see it are horrified. Then somebody says, 'We need to pass a law that will limit puppies from ever getting made again because otherwise look what happens when puppies get in the hands of...'

"No more puppies? But what about the kiddies who want a puppy? And some do-gooder says, "But the puppy will get eviscerated so NO, you can't have one."

"Your arguments do not correlate to reality and ignore the concepts of freedom."


This is when Lori jumped in to defend Andy.


She said I was totally wrong and Andy was totally right and maybe I should get my head out of my...

NO! Lori didn't say that...exactly. Lori is a fine woman and she merely hinted at that extraction action with the words, "We may disagree but you are wrong."

My response to Lori — which response, by the by, will be the last I make on that thread — was this:

"Lori, gun manufacturers carry no more blame for school shootings than car manufacturers do for the driver that runs over her spouse six times when she catches him coming out of a hotel with another woman.

"School shootings are not the problem, they are a symptom of a larger cause.

"Interesting point that correlates: During the USSR's heyday, the country claimed to the world they had no crime. That was simply a PR stunt on their part. You know, selling the world on the awesomeness that was Communism. And a lot of the world bought it. But those who did not believe the propaganda knew the lies when they saw it. They knew them because their eyes were open to all the facts.

"For instance, among rapes, everyday murders, domestic violence, theft, drugs, the Black Market, etc., we now know the USSR had one of the most prolific serial killers of all time that terrorized the rail routes for years. They HID the crimes until finally the general populace rose up and demanded they find the perp. Their young daughters' bodies were being found littered in the woods like so much trash. This was not right. Do something.

"But the authorities couldn't find the guy. So, where could they get help to do it? Why, the US had this thing called the FBI's Behavioral Unit.

"But to get the help to stop the perp, the USSR would have to admit they had crime. This they would not do and the killings went on until finally the general populace could no longer be ignored and the FBI was brought in to advise on what to look for, how to process crime scenes in order to find him, and so forth.

"The man was caught. Those killings stopped.

"Therefore, if you think of the anti-gun lobby as a PR stunt on the part of the Deep State that is meant to control the general populace's perception of what the real problem is in order to weaken them in submission and take away their freedoms, then you won't fall so fast for their lies."


I daresay all of that will go right over their heads.


But there are reasons they call me The Most Brilliant Woman in the World. And one of reasons is that I know when to stop beating my head up against a brick wall...or at least take a break from it.




P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** FLOTSAM: For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters

Friday, March 16, 2018

It's Drink O'Clock: My Baby Gives It Away

Elvis Presley and my mother

Why is Angela so attuned to music? Well...
by Angela K. Durden

Talk about a titillating headline.

I only hope the MSM is having a slow news day. Maybe they will pick up the headline and think, "Ah, hah! We have yet another person claiming Elvis is their daddy", and will retweet, link to, post, and otherwise share it with their fifty sane readers and their hundreds of thousands of P-HWPCDLRSFC readers without reading the rest of the article.

Because the only thing titillating about this article is the headline. Let me tell you what happened and how it involved my mother.

It happened in the mid-1950s when my mother was fifteen and Elvis came through her town on a train. Seems all the teenage girls in the area had gotten the message they should be at the train station to see the great man himself as he stepped off the train for a photo op.

My mother, who at the time was a fun-loving gal, went. Why not? She didn't have anything better to do — and it was Elvis. When would she ever get to see him that close again? Never, that's when.

So, to the train station she went at the appointed time whereupon she and the other girls were met by some people with cameras and others with clipboards who proceeded to tell them how the photo op would go. They were instructed on how to scream and reach for Elvis. Their practice session was successful.

And here came the train just in time. 


And off fell Elvis down the steps and off the train.

Yes, I said, he fell. He was either drunk or high and couldn't hold himself up. So, his handlers tried to prop him up and get him to walk down again several times.

The movie cameras were rolling, the still cameras' bulbs were popping, the girls were screaming, and Elvis still couldn't stand.

My mother, along with these other girls, were not actresses. They were realists and after a little bit even the screaming seemed faked.

So Elvis was packed back up onto the train. Other packing went on as well. The publicity agents packed up their schedules, newshounds their gear, and the girls their hopes and dreams.

I was reminded of the story this afternoon because, in the background, I heard Ed Sullivan introduce Elvis to his audience. The King began singing and just as he sang the song's hook, like a fire hose, the female screaming was turned on. They had to have been watching an applause prompter because it turned off to a dead silence in just the right place when harmonies kicked in.

This routine went on three times during the song. Dead silence. SCREAMING. Three times.

I know you, Dear Reader, are disappointed that I, your Poet-In-Residence and Goddess by the Microphone, did not get her talents from Presley.

In fact, I didn't even know who he was until he died. 


I told you I lived a sheltered life. I was nineteen when Elvis died and only remember because some friends had talked me into buying a ticket to see him in concert somewhere in North Carolina. I heard on the radio the concert was cancelled and I drove straight to the radio station to get my money back for the ticket.

My friends were livid I had gotten my money back. "That ticket will be worth something one day!" they cried. I said I could use the money now.

About thirty years after that I came to realize what a damn big deal he was. I told you I am often slow on the uptake when it comes to men.







Thursday, March 15, 2018

Chess: Son-in-law and Me.

by Angela K. Durden
Citizen JournalistBusiness writer, novelist, songwriter, and Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. 

This is an actual screenshot of me winning at an online game of chess.
I am white. The win came as a happy surprise to me.
I don't have many chess stories, but the one's I do have are doozies. You can read about one of those stories in the December 26, 2017, column on this site entitled "Chess: Perpetual Student, Old Boy, and Me."

This one today involves my now-ex Son-in-Law (SIL) when he wasn't ex. I wanted to learn and play chess. He did, too. They lived down the block. So, I bought a chess set. Many happy evenings transpired in which our spouses, that is to say my husband and daughter, watched TV in the living room as we sat at the kitchen table learning the game.

Oh, it was fun. I recalled the conversation I'd had with Perpetual Student and all that he'd taught me and all that he wished Old Boy would never learn, namely: Chess is a mind f*ck.

And since Son-in-Law's mind was so easy to screw with, of course the game was much more fun for me than for him.

You see, he was serious about it. He would be better than Mother-in-Law (MIL). He. Would. Beat. HER!

Frankly, and truth be told, neither of us are very good at it. We're equally matched in chess skills. He won 49.5 percent of the games and I won the rest. For the most part, 98.25 of those games were not too-too exciting.

But the other 1.75 percent is where the mind games blossomed. In those is where I really got to mess with his mind. For instance, here's one story:

So, there was SIL, chasing MIL around the board and somehow or another, MIL managed to continue to avoid SIL even though SIL massively outgunned MIL. Technically you could have called the game a draw, but SIL would not let that happen. He. Would. Beat. MIL!

"MIL! Give up. You know you've lost."

"Clearly, SIL, you can see I have not lost, but it is you who have no more options. You're out of opportunity to..."

"I am not. You are, MIL."
"Nope, SIL."
"Yes! Give up, MIL."
"Never! Not me, SIL."

And so on for at least ten minutes during which time — I am confident memory serves me accurately — I laughed cruelly at SIL and continued to taunt him on the board and with verbal thrusts aimed at his manhood until he stood up, laid down his piece on the board, threw his hands up in the air, and cried out, "You win. I can't take it anymore."

I said, "Are you conceding I've won?"

"Yes! Yes! Damn you! I'm never playing with you again. Aaargh!"

And we never played again. Mostly because of the divorces that followed, but I didn't miss the game because truthfully I don't like it. It's boring because it is so rule bound and relies on its own mystique to keep people coming back for more.

The mystique is that it is war. And that, if you are good at strategy on the chess board, then somehow you are good at strategy on the battlefield.

Well chess isn't war and the board isn't the battlefield.
Ideology and practicality are two different things.

Then again, if you can convince the enemy they've lost, then you will win. So maybe chess is war after all.








Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Stephen Hawking dead: A non-admirer's non-obit.

by Angela K. Durden

Stephen Hawking is dead.

The man was a theoretical physicist. I bring this up because I want to get it out of the way that the man was brilliant. Okay. We all know that to explain, predict, and rationalize natural phenomena, Hawking theorized using mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems and that is not something your everyday person can do.

Further ramming home the point how smart he is, upon his death headlines used words such as renowned, famed, and visionary. We know he had a sense of humor. He was a character on The Simpson's. The Big Bang's title characters worshiped him; the show's writers built some humorous episodes around him. They were funny. I laughed.




10 million copies of Hawking's book, "A Brief History of Time", were sold. Somebody had to buy them. I found a copy of his book at my local Goodwill store where I always go looking for first editions. Everybody knows that when Granny finally dies, nobody is going through her books. So they get boxed up and donated.

Upon first reading Hawking's book, and not getting anything out of it, I started reading it again.

"Geez, Angie Belle," I said to myself, "this guy must be super smart because you, as The Most Brilliant Woman in the World, are not understanding it even though you've given it quite some many hours of reading, re-reading, note-taking, and research. Could it be this Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is smarter than you? Say it isn't so!"

You see, I was expecting a brilliant read. One that helped the layman understand the underlying scientific concepts of space, time, blah, blah, blah. Instead all I got was a dud. Badly written and edited. Meandering and convoluted. I am not alone in my opinion.

And he sold 10 million of these? God help all us authors...except —

Just how brilliant can a man be who denies a creator?


For a man who used computers that did not simply evolve into being. Who employed vehicles, electricity, technology, the banking system, and the National Healthcare Service. Man-made systems, each and every one. 

For a man whose livelihood depended upon the constancy of the natural laws in the physical world around him to deny the existence of the Creator of systems far more complicated than any made by humans, then such a man is a hypocrite as he himself said, "For a scientist, cherry picking evidence is unacceptable." 

Yet that is exactly what he did. He cherry picked evidence when it came to having to admit to an intelligent power higher than himself. He gave chance and randomness the seat of honor at the table. 

Just imagine it. A man who celebrates thought. A man with vision. A man who says he is searching for the why and how and misses the biggest cause in the universe. 

Still, on some level he must have believed in the Almighty. If one doesn't believe, why does one constantly try to disprove He exists? Or was Hawking's ego just that big?


Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Words to take home. (See Trigger Warning.)

by Angela K. Durden

HEY YOU, P-HWPCDLRSFCS*. HERE'S YOUR TRIGGER WARNING: Please be advised the use of three letters — A, M, and N — are used in this article in a non-alphabetic yet consecutive fashion so that it spells a word that means male. If you do not want to read that three letter word again, you are hereby advised to stop reading here and go no further. You have been warned.




BEGINNING THE NON-PC COLUMN: 

On a recent Saturday, when I was on my way to the monthly Sisters in Crime Atlanta Chapter meeting, I found myself arriving so early I had time to do some shopping.

I was in need of another br--errrr...undergarment and knew that Target might have it. So I popped in to the chain's location near our meeting place.

Sure enough, I got what I came for and went to the self-checkout. There was a young man there whose task was to look after the customers in that area. Target should be pleased to have such a employee because he exemplified great customer service.

The young fellow was making the babies laugh with funny faces. Giving high-fives to the kids who could barely walk. To the boys he gave a "Du-u-u-ude" and a manly fist bump. The mothers were helped with moving their bags to the cart as they held onto their kids. Everybody smiled and the Targét goodwill fairly flowed like manna from the heavens on an early morning.

Came my turn at the register and I proceeded to check myself out with minimal drama. I'm pretty good at that routine. When I turned toward the door the young man stood directly in my path and had something to say to me. But first, he smiled with just a teensy bit of a gentlemanly art-approving eye. Then he winked very nicely indeed. He followed that up with, "Stay awesome."

Stay awesome. 


I was not expecting that and it took me by surprise. I'm afraid my reaction may have stymied the young fellow's next efforts at expanded customer service. That is to say, I stared at him, then nodded, then thought, then smiled a little bit, and walked out. Dissing him was not my intention. I'm often simply slow on the uptake because, you see, I live in my head.

And at that moment my head was on chapter budgets and coming projects, and unfinished chapters in my new books. I was feeling pleased I found the br---...ummm, I mean undergarment I liked. Plus, at the Beall's next door was a long, black, lacy, flowing thingy one wears over a blouse and pants that fit me perfectly and was my price, that is to say, on deep sale.

But by the time I got halfway across the parking lot I was grinning big. By the time I got to my car I was laughing out loud and people were cutting their eyes at the crazy lady. When I shut the door to my car, I said aloud, "Oh, boy. Those are words to take home!"

And I did. But first I took them to my meeting and shared them. Lots of people found it humorous.

Let me put this scenario into the current P-HWPCDLRSFC* context.


I will explain why the young man felt free to say something like that to me. He would not be able to express it himself, but he did feel it as his core. You see, he knew I would not bite his head off and call down the wrath of the Radical Feminazi and report him to management for inappropriate behavior.

The RadFem and RadFem Wannabe would have already had their smart phone filming him while making running commentary about his Unchecked White Male Privilege Not Having a Patriarchal Clue as he Raped Women With His Mind Which is Just As Powerful as His Real Male Member That He Would Have Used If Other People Had Not Been Around, boo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

That video would go viral because one of the MSM would see it, put it on their website and tweet it out as a hard news story. Day two: RadFems and other social justice warriors with nothing better to do, would be calling for yet another ban on Target and the head of the young man on a silver platter.

Day three: Target C-Suiters would have scrambled their crisis response team to fashion an apology to all the disenfranchised genders. Day four: The young man would be fired, at best. At worst, he would be reassigned to a non-public facing position and told rising through the ranks was never going to happen for him.

Still, I think he's like a lot of other young men these days.


They are rebelling against the silly women because they are tired of not being able to be men.

Did you continue to read, P-HWPCDLRSFCs? If yes, did you notice how many times I've used the letters M-A-N consecutively in this article? Let me count them for you. Ten. Deal with it, you whiny butts.


Hey, stay awesome, y'all.





P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies




Monday, March 12, 2018

Things Unsustainable: The Case for Speaking Up.

Angela as  Curmudgeon,
thanks to Snapchat.
by Angela K. Durden

I've been seeing videos from this young fellow below. His name is Nas. In it he makes the point that the Internet, as it is now being used, is an unsustainable medium. He is not wrong.

See? Some folks agree with me and they all aren't old curmudgeons wishing for the old days when everything was right with the world. The world has never always been right, and you know it. Still, Nas has a point.

The Internet is one long chase for the ever-elusive monetized click count at the expense of substance. To get it, people do all the things this fellow shows in his video. Watch it, then read on.




How is the Internet different from print media, you ask? 


Not much. I can guarantee that Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Penthouse, and Elle would not still be in business if they didn't have lust-inflaming pictures celebrating Sex in every form because — let me tell you! —  they are woefully lacking in substance.

And before you ask "Hey, Angela, how do you what's in them there magazines?" I will come clean and tell you.

I grew up on Playboy and Penthouse; they were considered the lighter porn in my house. I won't even go into detail about the hardcore stuff just laying around, but you understand what I'm saying.

When I was a teenager, my friend's father confronted me with an issue of Cosmopolitan I had loaned his daughter. He asked how I could spread that smut to her. I said, "What is smut and what in there in particular is this thing called smut?" He showed me a picture of a woman sitting in a chair with her legs spread though all the pertinent parts were artfully if barely covered. But they were covered.

I was confused. I stared at the picture trying to figure out what was wrong with it and told him I did not understand what he was upset about. Some conversation ensued wherein I told him that Cosmo was art compared to what else I read.

At home.

In the open.

In front of parents because they are they ones who brought it in.

This was something the man did not know about our family. We were in the kitchen and I remember his righteous anger in trying to protect his daughter. Though such a reaction was alien to me, I respected it.

I also remember that sitting in front of him that day was something he had not known existed. He stood up straight. Backed to the counter and leaned against it, still holding the rolled up issue. He was thinking hard as he took in this new information.


The man was right. 


That picture in Cosmo was the tip of the slippery slope of the iceberg of smut. I know what art is now. That was not art. It was a celebration of the basest and worst in us and for what? To sell a watch or a perfume or a pair of pants?

I never bought that magazine again, not because I understood why it was smut, but because I valued his opinion. I came to understand the insidiousness of it later and I thank the man for speaking up.

Because it is only with the speaking up of people who value courage, virtue, honesty, good morals, and high-quality character traits will the fight against their opposites have a chance of winning — or at least having a sporting chance of survival.

Because on thing is for sure will not stop: The unrelenting nature of the insidiousness campaign of the P-HWPCDLRSFC* which tries to shove us all into acting base and loving the debauched — and all in the name of Inclusion. 

Any society that devolves to that base state ceases to exist. Any community that says everything goes and nothing is wrong becomes massively unsafe.

Who is tired of apologizing for celebrating virtue?


I am. And I'm tired of being made fun of for it, too.



P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies

Saturday, March 10, 2018

"With Us Abide": A poem for all, including P-HWPCDLRSFC*.

With Us Abide


an original poem 
by Angela K. Durden
your ROTW Poet-in-Residence
(Please see footnote.)

Outside was the dark and gloom,
faltering like the gloaming
of a deepest winter's eve
on a day I spent a-roaming.
And whence soon the gloom 
spake my name with sighing, 
"Ride on through, my little child,
your days are fastly flying."
Oh, how I hated 
the false gloaming's dark and gloom, 
and holding high the torch full lit, 
I hurried to my room,
where lamps quickly cast 
the dark enemy aside and,
waiting in my nest, Words and
Music sang, "With us abide."






KEEP SCROLLING




KEEP SCROLLING




KEEP SCROLLING




ALMOST THERE. 



YOU MADE IT TO THE FOOTNOTE!





THE FOOTNOTE: 
Great pains were taken to confirm there was not one need for Trigger Warnings lest a P-HWPCDLRSFC* should happen by. You will note in the above poem body, poem title, and post title not one time are the letters A, M, and N used consecutively in another order to spell the offending noun representing males, and by males we mean "White Males" who are the greatest offenders against all women and males of other colors and genders who also are offended by the letters A, M, and N used consecutively in another order to spell the offending noun representing males. 

P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies


Friday, March 9, 2018

I am so damn smart, I scare me sometimes.

by Angela K. Durden


Dear Reader,

I am so damn smart, I scare me sometimes. Used to scare my ex, too, because he often said, "Well, how about that. You're sooooo smart. You know everything, don't you?"

Of course, given that I work hard on staying humble and making the most of my humility, I would try to disabuse him of those notions and would purposefully say something that would make him think he was so much smarter than me and that whatever smarta— errrr...I mean to say — whatever wisdom had fallen from my lips was purely accidental and in no way meant that he was stupid. He would then say, "You damn right, woman, and don't you forget it. Where's my coffee?"

Oh, yes, I knew just how he liked his coffee, and never forgot. Which means he benefited from my smartness but did he appreciate that?

Thank goodness I don't have to play those games anymore — especially with you, Dear Reader. Which brings us to the reason for today's column.

I've been saying it forever.

I've been writing it for years.

I even put it into a novel I wrote.

And now — finally! — agreeing with me are researchers at the American universities of Arizona, Southern Methodist, Iowa, and Indiana, and an Australian organization called First Person Consulting, whose mission statement says they are seen as "a leading contributor of services which strive towards a sustainable, just and fair world", have officially come out and said —




HELLO! WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING!


Following the headline above were 154 comments. A perusal showed some women agreed with me, though there were the other women — you can be sure they are pussy-hat wearers — who got snarky and started with the insults. But let's focus on those who agreed. (See below.) Quite a few did not want to put their picture with their comment, preferring the old "egg head" for fear of reprisals from female coworkers. They aren't stupid. But just because one is smart does not guarantee success.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that "the swift do not always win the race, nor do the mighty always win the battle, nor do the wise always have the food, nor do the intelligent always have the riches, nor do those with knowledge always have success, because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all."

And that, Dear Reader, explains a lot. You can thank Yahweh, another writer, for that wisdom. He is smarter than your Citizen Journalist.