Clarence Thomas and his White law clerks

 Well, happy Christmas eve everybody.  We got drizzles here in Central PA, and they're supposed to be lingering throughout the day.  Fun stuff.  Temps are going to hover around in the mid 40s (F).  Tomorrow, however, they're supposed to climb up into the 50s (F).  Keep in mind, even though 2023 has been the warmest year since humans have started keeping records, there is no such thing as global warming, at least as far as many of the truly religious are concerned.  God wouldn't let that happen to us.

As expected, yesterday there were not a lot of customers in the store yesterday.  For the most part, the 6 hours I spent there were truly boring.  I did talk to people, but scheduling was lite; management must finally be reading the room.  I did sell some flooring yesterday, and one customer signed up for a credit card.  We did have 2 customers, a husband and wife, who scammed us on getting a military discount.  We knew there was a problem, but they knew exactly which bells and whistles to tap and blow in order to get their 10% discount.  I have no problem with people who are thrifty, and frugal, and who try to save a penny, but those that lie and cheat in order to pay the lowest price they can possibly get?  They are one of the reasons retailers raise their prices.  Corporate is going to do everything within their power to make Market Share, even if it means raising the prices for everybody.

And I saw this picture in the Washington Post this morning.  Tell me, what stands out in this photo of Clarence Thomas and his law clerks?

Do you think it was that there was only one black person standing in front of a lot of white people?  Does this mean that Clarence doesn't like black people?  He, himself, rose in the ranks with the use of affirmative action, yet he has also stridently worked against it.  Maybe he believes minorities should be hired by others, and not him.  Or, perhaps he thinks that if he hires minorities he'll be showing reverse prejudice.  Or, and this seems to be the most accurate possibility, Clarence wants to be white, and so surrounds himself with white people.  He's been called an Oreo, black on the outside and white on the inside, for a long time.  For those of you still wondering this is a good illustration of an Oreo.

Grow

Wednesday.  Yes, it is, in case you didn't know.  Today is my 5th day at work.  I'll get to work tomorrow and then have 2 days off.  From the forecast, I suspect my days off will be... drizzly... at least on Friday.  We shall see.
Pew released an interesting survey on race relations.  56% of Americans believe the Idiot Jerk in the White House has made things worse.  What I find interesting is that when you break it down, only 49% of white people see things as going downhill under his administration.  Statistically speaking, that would mean that about half of all white people see him as creating a more racist atmosphere.  Of the 51% who seem him as not responsible, you have to remember he has a 43% approval rating.  Deduct that and you find that about 8% of Americans don't see him as being accountable.  Who are these people?  Hell if I know.  I think the survey highlights a very sad note about a majority white Americans:  since it doesn't effect them personally, they don't see it as a problem.  I suspect this is the same group of people who didn't pay attention at school, didn't learn anything in science class.  Telling them they are on their way to becoming a minority is about as realistic as telling them they've been signed up for a vacation on the moon.  For them, 'real' is only what is right in front of their nose, anything else fails to elicit a response in their neurotransmitters.  Oh... well, this is how survival of the fittest happens.
I set up the pasta maker to see how it works.  You need to clamp it down because the blades are quite heavy.  This will be interesting.
And, since I've been playing around making little video clips, I thought I show you all a tiny shot of part of my kitchen.  I do have plants... and shutters.  The snake plant in the owl (on the right hand side) is old.... very old.  I got that from my Grandma, that's right, you saw her a few days back.  Originally it was in a yellow plastic 'Art Deco' planter which survived neither its growth, nor the tests of time.

Besides the snake plant, there are aloe plants, an orchid (which isn't blooming right now), and my squash plants., and a jar of peanut butter I use for baiting mouse traps.  In case you didn't know, I do have some luck at making things grow.

Dominant genetics

For a while now I've been thinking about evolution and how we as a species are continuing to grow and evolve.  While process takes a long, long time, all you need to do is look to see one change happening all around us:  skin color is getting darker.  This is bad news for certain religious sects whose theological beliefs tend to fall apart when their creation myth is disqualified.  And, we as a species are getting darker.  Certain groups in our society also find this to be an unimaginable problem; race is not an indicator of superiority. 
In their attempts to totally refute the evolutionary process, these 2 groups are on the verge of banding together, or at least that's what seems to be happening in America.  One race and and one religion are deemed to be superior, nothing else is considered.  They are trying to grow their hatred.  They will surrender nothing, but will fight tooth and nail, no matter what the cost to humanity, to maintain even the tiniest grasp of dominance. 
Of course they will fail.  As Jeff Goldblum said in "Jurassic Park" mother nature will find a way of getting around.  In fact, all you need to do is walk into any mall to see where are dominant gene is taking us.  This is life.

The Changing white population

The US Census bureau released some information that a number of Americans no doubt found staggering:  that by 2043 white people will be a minority group.  I'd read something several years ago which at that time suggested racial integration in America was picking up speed.  Back then it was suggested those people who call themselves white my reach minority status in the 2050's.  That  data must have been wrong, or else it has been continually re-evaluated. Actually, this is no surprise to me.  Genetically darker skin is the dominant gene.  This is life, which makes me laugh at the thought of all of those white supremacists who saw that press release and shit a brick.  I wonder if, with their numbers slowly dwindling, they might at some part consider a Black Nazi Party.  What a hoot that would be!

Five years from now this picture will be different

I did some research and discover defining 'white' is not as easy as it sounds, unless you're from one of the southern tier states.  Some people view Spaniards as white and others don't.  There are a number of Latino families out there who consider themselves white and yet they are darker then Marco Rubio.  Speaking of him, one can only wonder what he calls himself in his heart of hearts.  I suspect he thinks of himself as white.  In some of the Central Balkan countries religious ethnicity seems to take a big part in considering if one is labeled dark or light white, irrelevant of the actual skin shade.  Believe me, this gets really complicated.  Take a trip to Italy and you'll find a lot of dark skinned people who, if they lived in this country, would call themselves white even though many of the residents of Tulsa would call them Latino.  Of course being 'white' doesn't really mean anything. Boy, is time proving that to be true.  If you look at all the children under 5 in this country, 49.9 % are considered minorities.  This year or next that number is going to change.   This is how it goes.