Tag: history

Commies

I am a proud cold war veteran. I served in the US Navy while Vladimir Putin was serving in the KGB. The Commies were our sworn enemy. Still are. What’s left of them anyway, the Russian Federation. They and China want our country to fail; along with an unfortunately growing list of other countries. But for me “Commies”, especially as an epithet belongs to those two countries.

Russia is not a communist nation anymore. But it’s leader-for-life wants to restore the glory of the old Soviet Empire. But he really isn’t a commie. He’s a totalitarian. China is a communist nation. A big powerful communist nation that runs on communist principles. As far as I know. I don’t know that much about them or communism actually. Except that they want the entire world to be a communist world state with it as it’s natural leader. They’re aggressive and tenacious. They are our enemy in international relations and if left unchallenged would run rough-shod over its neighbors.

So, can you tell them I am not a “Commie”? Because what I am is a member, dues-paying member, of the Democratic Socialists of America. So my politics are left of center, but they are not Commie. Socialists are to the left of us. Communists are the way out there. Just like those fascists nazi cosplayers who marched through our capitol July 4th are on the far right of MAGA. Hopefully far away, but that’s up to the individual MAGA.

So the MAGA megaphone that is Fox News has been blasting the air waves with misinformation and misrepresentation of what DSA is and what its members believe is a tenet of DSA-ism. Yes, there are some really lefty politicians who are a part of the DSA that have extreme views. I agree with some on principle, even if I think they are extreme in their rhetoric.

I’m not a DSA scholar. I joined the DSA in 2016 when the DCCC stole the primary from Bernie to crown HRC as the democratic candidate. I’ve been paying dues mostly every month ever since. I have voted against Trump every chance I’ve had. I was depressed after the 2024 election when 3 million people who voted for Biden in 2020, couldn’t be bothered to vote for Harris. I have no doubt, ok maybe a little doubt, that Trump won the election without interference from Musk, but it’s a good conspiracy theory. Americans voted for the same guy that violated his oath. Knowing he was going to be tried for his crimes against our nation’s top secret files. We’ll never know now what Jack Smith found out in his investigation that he was ready to go trial with. But I digress. Trump is our president. You voted for him. We collectively elected him president. Again. SMH

Anyway, don’t get all of your news from one place and don’t let someone do the thinking for you. Do your own research, but take into account that every news source has a bias. Including you. It’s easy to disregard out-of-hand things you don’t agree with. It’s hard to suspend our judgement to weigh the evidence objectively. Find someone who has the opposite opinion you have. Someone you can trust. Make friends with them and be honest with your opinions. They’ll let you know where you’re full of baloney. Those are the best friends;.

I’m a cold war veteran. I’m a proud DSA member. I’m a proud American. I’m not a commie.

But I am ANTIFA!

Ancestry & Geology

The longer I stay in Wyoming, the more I find to love. I came to Wyoming last year looking for a place to live. Cheaply. There’s more than one reason Wyoming is the least populous state. But those reasons have resulted in some cheap rent, and I’m happy for that. But that’s not the only reason I’m here.

My great-grandfather was adopted by a man of Irish heritage named McLaughlin. Growing up I was proud of my Irish heritage. I loudly celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, cheered for Notre Dame, and made sure when giving my name it was, “Capital m, small c, capital L…” My mom had t-shirts made with the Mclaughlin family crest. Why?? We weren’t Irish!

Supposedly the child that was adopted Mr. McLaughlin was a Native American kid adopted from the Wind River reservation. So that made us part Shoshone! My grandad had very bushy eyebrows. That was supposedly because of his native heritage. My grandparents lived out there retirement years in Arizona. They adopted Native dress and jewelry. As if they were elder indians living on the reservation. We’d call that cultural appropriation today. I guess they thought it was just easier to pretend they were what they looked like, rather than be what they were. It sort of makes sense for my grandad, after all he was supposedly secretly native. But my Grammy?

I got a DNA test done. 0.0% Native American. There’s some hint of Irishness, but mostly my ancestry comes from England and Northern Europe with a trace of African ancestry. My suspicion is my biological great-grandfather was of mixed-race African ancestry and his dark complexion was attributed to Native instead of African for acceptability reasons in 1890s Wyoming.

The puzzle-solver in me wants to find out where my great-grandfather came from. But now I have to try and find the birth, baptism, or adoption records from 1890s Wyoming. It was just barely a state! I think he came from either Wind River or one of the Catholic missions/schools of the area. I don’t know if I have enough interest to maintain an investigation.

Especially when there’s so much to look at! If you like looking at geologic strata tilted at angles when you’re driving, Wyoming is the place for you! Just don’t bring a light trailer as it is likely to get blown over in the near-persistent 50mph winds the state is know for! But my goodness the views you’ll see out your window as you drive across the beautiful state!

Ok, just one example of how awesome this place is that I just discovered. In northern Wyoming there’s a beautiful majestic whit mountain called Heart Mountain. It’s like a huge white rock plunked down on a base of lesser rock. It turns out unlike most of the rest of the world, the older rock is ON TOP of the younger rock. Rocks are supposed to get older the deeper you dig. How’d this huge big old rock end up on top of the younger base? Millions of years ago a 40,000 square mile section of a mountain broke free and slid at about 50 mph for over 30 miles. Heart Mountain is just the tiny remainder of the result of the world’s greatest landslide!