Did He Really Say That In Public??

I wasn't going to say anything about this; I was going to just let it slide, but the more I thought about it, the bigger the knot in my stomach grew.

Supposedly,  #hesnotmypresident Donald Trump is all about patriotism and loyalty to America and good old Christian values. I've heard it said that one of the big reasons a lot of white lower and lower middle class  Bible-thumpers voted for him was because they thought he would bring America back to what they consider the good old days, when beating up 'nigras' was thought of as entertainment just like dog and cock fighting.  The days when anyone who thought we shouldn't have been in Vietnam  was subject to being lynched for committing treason,  when boys didn't let their hair grow below their collars,  and the very thought of having gays and transgenders serving openly in the US Military was enough to make "Good Old General Hardass" toss his cookies and swoon.

Well, I don't see any of that happening anytime soon (even though he did make an effort by "taking   back" allowing transgenders to serve openly) so evidently he wasn't as gung ho about that platform as he was about what I believe to be his goal, erasing every single thing that Obama put into place. IMO, he just wants to wipe the Obama Administration off the books, (or perhaps put an asterisk beside it? LOL) and now he's trying again to ridicule the Obama family.

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Report: Trump called White House a 'dump' to NJ golf club

Tuesday, August 01, 2017 09:15 PM

WASHINGTON --

President Donald Trump has told members of his New Jersey golf club that he spends so much time away from Washington because the White House is a "real dump."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the account, which appeared in a lengthy article posted on the website golf.com. The story on Trump's complicated love for golf also appears in Sports Illustrated magazine.

The story recounts a scene in which Trump was chatting with some club members. Trump told the members he makes such frequent appearances at the property in Bedminster, New Jersey, because: "That White House is a real dump."

Trump has spent nearly every weekend of his presidency visiting various properties he owns and leases, including Bedminster.

Okay, I can hear the catcalls and the derision just as loudly as if you were sitting here next to me at the computer.  I know, it's a stretch, but we're talking about a man here who has been in the business of making money by any means necessary for longer than some of us are old! Every con that there is I'm sure he's done, and that includes long-term cons that require more patience than a black widow waiting for her latest husband to die! None of the big guns that Trump has fired have panned out (like the birther issue, the wiretapping issue, etc.) so why not pull out the stops and just pile up all the stuff they can find? Knowing that everything he says gets reported to somebody in journalism, what other reason could he have to make that statement in public? IMO, to ridicule #hesstillmyPresident Barack Obama. I mean the Obama family lived in that house for 8 years and you didn't hear any complaints about it, now he comes in and says it's a dump; and when someone says "Well the Obamas never said anything like that and they were there for 8 years.... "Of course it wouldn't be a dump to the Obamas, they don't know any better, you know how those people are." That by itself is no big deal, but if you stack up everything that he can dig/makeup well.....
Wonder what the next salvo will be?

Suing Here, Suing There, Suing Everywhere; and For What?

    It was my intention to write today about this litigious society we live in, and about all the frivolous cases we've heard of over the years. Then while reading news headlines I ran across this story about angry people and racism, and decided to use it instead. This is, to me, just another example of how ridiculous our society has gotten about the whole 'racism' thing. Now I'm not saying that there isn't any such thing. There is, and in some places a lot of it. This story is more about how just how far people have taken "playing the race card".

Sports Illustrated Called Racist For Using 'Exotic' People In Swimsuit Issue

The newest edition of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue is getting a lot of buzz for the wrong reasons this week, with critics charging that the global pictorials are racist and reinforce bad stereotypes.

This year the heralded swimsuit issue decided on a seven continents theme, with its bikini-clad models posing in countries around the world. The problem for some, however, is who the models were posed with.

Instead of sticking to exotic backdrops, some of the models are featured standing next to people allegedly representing the various countries--an editorial decision that makes the "native people" tantamount to exotic props.

Jezebel's Dodai Stewart takes specific offense to two pictures, one from China, and another from Namibia.

In a shot taken in a picture taken on a river in Guilin, Guangxi, model Anne V., who is white and blonde, sits on a raft piloted by an elderly Chinese man:

This photo cements stereotypes, perpetuates an imbalance in the power dynamic, is reminiscent of centuries of colonialism (and indentured servitude) and serves as a good example of both creating a centrality of whiteness and using "exotic" people as fashion props.

Besides which, the picture represents a specific decision to portray China as "non-Western" and "backward." As Shanghaiist notes, in Sports Illustrated's view "China is poverty and 'ethnic' clothing, not the world's second largest economy where the majority of people live in cities rather than the countryside."

The second controversial shot, featuring Emily DiDonato in an African desert, also include a tribal-looking, half-naked man carrying a spear:

These shots tap into the West's past obsession/fetishization with so-called savages, jungle comics and the like. Again: In a visit to seven continents, this image is what Sports Illustrated is using to represent the continent of Africa.

David Leonard, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies at Washington State University, told Yahoo! Shine he understands why some might find the pictures offensive.

"These photos depict people of color as exotic backdrops," Leonard said. "Beyond functioning as props, as scenery to authenticate their third world adventures, people of color are imagined as servants, as the loyal helpers, as existing for white western pleasure, amusement, and enjoyment."

In contrast, cover model Kate Upton, photographed in Antarctica, has penguins in her background.

Shooting fashion spreads in exotic locales has caused controversy in the past, of course -- remember when J. Crew raised eyebrows with a Bali shoot featuring local kids? Magazines have also found themselves in hot water over exoticizing cultures for the sake of a fashion shoot. Vogue Italia took a serious misstep in 2011 when they decided to call hoop earrings "Slave Earrings" on their website.

Meanwhile, some people have argued the whole Sports Illustrated debacle has been blown out of proportion. Unsurprisingly, a story on Fox Nation titled "Liberals Call SI Swimsuit Issue Racist" was filled with comments in support of the magazine.

Do you find any of the photos offensive?