Women’s rights

I like to think of myself as open minded and I come from a multi-cultural background. But because of my name and the way I look, people think of me as "a white guy" which is a blessing - and a curse.

I always treat everyone as equals, no matter what.  Everyone deserves respect and the benefit of the doubt. 

I could never understand why some have a sort of superiority complex with anyone who's different than them. 

For most of my life, I was aware of racism, xenophobia, and general distrust of other men. 

But I never really thought about women and how they are generally treated. Maybe it was foolishness on my part. Maybe it's the stereotyping or the way society on the whole treated sex or sexism. 

Surely, we've come a long way from the 50s era with the "traditional housewife" and the man being the main breadwinner. 

But over the last several years, I've seen it differently. Maybe it's because I have a daughter. Maybe it's because I'm older and wiser. I don't know. 

But why is it that "boys will be boys" is acceptable? How can "locker room talk" be an answer for things?

What I'm seeing is that the #MeToo movement addresses some of this. But pushback has been interesting especially from old, white guys who would prefer a "simpler time" like the 50s where they can be sexist and have their way with women. And women have limited rights. 

Now on the topic of the day about sexual assault. I try to be open minded. I realize that not everyone will be truthful and honest. Surely some people are out to harm others and may lie. But for whatever reason it becomes "he said, she said" and in general unless there is hard evidence, "we" tend to believe the man. 

I can only imagine how hard it is for a woman to come forward. And yet some do, and it would seem like a growing number of them are now. 

But yet, we as society still dismiss their claims. We tend to favor the upstanding guy with the moral character and the religious conviction (and speaking of that, hows that working out with priests?). The woman must be mistaken must have had a lapse and somehow it's her fault, or she's deemed to be morally loose in some way. 

I see it and I want to say something. Damn you old white guys and your silly notions. Women are our equals. We need to treat them the same way as we do the men. 

And on a related topic, here's a terrific piece about how men always dominate the conversation when it comes to abortion. It's worth your time. 

https://www.designmom.com/twitter-thread-abortion/

I was reminded of this video earlier.

Eddie Murphy did this in 1984. Sometimes I wonder how far we’ve come on the 35 years since.

I’m on clear on this. Spanish? But made in China? What?

Golf Outings | TrumpGolfCount

Awesome site.

https://trumpgolfcount.com/displayoutings

Read about the candidates, and vote for the ones that has your interests at heart

Elections always have consequences. I would urge us all to consider that as we think about Florida’s senate and gubernatorial races.

Political parties have been upended and its hard to just say that you want to vote along party lines “just because”...take some time to consider the candidates and what they do, who they are, what they stand for, and what they have - or haven’t done - for you.

First the senate race.  I will agree that Bill Nelson is somewhat underwhelming. In a state this size, we should have someone that speaks loud and has an ability to get people to rally around him.  But, he has *quietly* stood up for Floridians.  He has made efforts to represent Puerto Rico when others just dismiss it.  He cares about his constituents and has relished his service.

On the other hand, you have Rick Scott. I have never been impressed with him.  Personally, I think he’s a tool.  He won his first governorship with a mere 37% or so of the vote total.  And did just slightly better the next time out.

He ran on a campaign platform of “I was never convicted” which is kind of sad.  You have nothing better to say about yourself?

Read more about that here: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-05-20/news/fl-rick-scott-governor-hca-20100520_1_medicare-fraud-case-hospitals-in-el-paso-hospital-giant-columbia/2

And here: https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/mar/03/florida-democratic-party/rick-scott-rick-scott-oversaw-largest-medicare-fra/

As far as his time in office, here are a couple of key items.  For being someone who was in the healthcare business, he never helped Floridians, with a fair number of people who are near the poverty line and senior citizens who could use more.  Except of course his wife’s (nudge, nudge) private healthcare business got rich.

More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/fl-op-column-randy-schultz-florida-health-care-rick-scott-20180529-story.html

Also, there’s Transportation in this state to consider.  We have no comprehensive plan for a state this large.  Who’s to blame?  You might say it’s Scott:
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/08/28/a-rick-scott-tweet-about-transportation-touches-a-raw-nerve/

And as for gun violence, don’t get me started.  The MSD incident happened close to home, and his response to that, to the nightclub in Orlando, and to Jacksonville shooting has been pathetic. We need some better answers than “thoughts and prayers”....we need leaders who will stand up and fight for common sense in gun regulations.  He is not that guy.  https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/02/16/a-brief-history-of-gov-rick-scott-doing-jack-shit-about-florida-gun-violence

The list goes on.  Gambling.  Tourism.  The algae bloom.  On that last one, you might read this:
https://newrepublic.com/article/150662/environmental-catastrophe-decide-floridas-senate-race

It’s just all too much, and he should never make it to the senate.

He is reaching out to Spanish’s speakers of late, but don’t be fooled.  He doesn’t care about you, he only wants your vote.  Consider this article, and realize that if he did care about Puerto Rican voters he could have done something about it:
Judge Orders Florida Officials To Provide Sample Ballots In Spanish https://n.pr/2Czf30i

Consider what he has done, and how he has helped you.

And if you see his attack ads against Nelson, consider them carefully.  They’re very “nuanced”messages designed to push a button. But they are dishonest and misleading.  Do a little homework and please don’t take them at face value.

——
Now on to the governors race.  There has never been (at least in my memory) two candidates who are such opposites.

You have a guy in Andrew Gillum who has the peoples interests at heart. I hate labels, but you can call him a lot of things (progressive, for example), and they’re probably accurate.  After Scott, we need someone who will look out for all of us - not just the wealthy donors.

And he’s up against a former congressman Ron deSantis, who literally just quit his congressional job to focus on this race....so you surely can’t count on him staying with things, can you?

He’s a trump endorsed guy.  He is a racist, a guy who doesn’t like Hispanics, a xenophobe, an nra guy (hello? You won’t find any sort of common sense gun regulations here), and a guy who will do nothing more than promote special interests and screw us, the people.

He’s anti-immigration and yet his family came here via the policies he doesn’t like:
https://medium.com/@smolenyak/meet-your-great-great-grandmother-ron-desantis-e440780753f8

So what’s good for him is bad for you and me.  Think about that. 

Loved Aretha Franklin but to me this was the most memorable moment

The NFL can keep their crappy product.

I was a fan of the dolphins from a young age. I started Daves Bitchin look at the Miami Dolphins as a means to get on the internet and express my thoughts about what was a fun product coming into the early 90s.

But...Somewhere along the way, my interest in the Dolphins waned. So I took in a broader view of the NFL to get my "football fix" ... but then, that waned too.

And now here we are. I haven't watched a dolphins game from beginning to end in about 5 years. And except for most of a couple of playoff games, I haven't watched a single NFL game over the last two.

And so ...I wanted to tell you all I was unequivocally done.

My reasons are threefold:

First it's about the product. There are too many commercials and other stoppages in play.

And the product on the field, when they do play, isn't so great.

There are very few players who stand out, and I'm tired of many teams saying "hey we'll get it right *next* year"...you want me to watch and pay for your poor decisions, poor coaching, and not-so-great player development? No thanks.

Plus concussions coming to light and being mostly ignored isn't right.

Second, it's about the money. It's gotten out of hand, and that's at least part of why there are so many commercials.

Players are less accessible than they were, and you don't just see them in the grocery store buying toilet paper much anymore.

Ticket prices keep going up - and $40 just to park seems excessive.

Plus this constant cash grab for Super Bowls, for teams to build stadia, and for tax breaks is absurd.

Of course the NFL changing its status to better shield their profits (and pay less in tax) is silly.

The owner of the Dolphins doesn't live in Miami and clearly doesn't care about the community. But he wants your money! That's just too bad. I won't give it to him.

Third it's the politics of it all. Players chose to protest because they have a platform. People on both sides get silly when discussing it.

The NFL makes a point of saying they want to stay out of the politics of it, but then come up with a haphazard policy.

The owners say things like honor, and respect, and a desire to not let the players make a political statement.

But then we hear Stephen Ross saying he talks to trump all the time and that swayed his thinking and he instituted a new policy. And shortly after that the cardinals owner tweets his praise of trump from the teams twitter account (rather than his own personal account) and on and on.

Of course they can do what they want; I don't care that they love or hate the politicians. What I don't like is for them to say one thing and do another. This isn't about honor or respect; it's about politics. For them. Which is ultimately about money. And it makes the games even more meaningless.

Fold in there this nonsense about flyovers and saluting the troops, patriotism, and being so overly concerned about the flag ... while the DoD pays for all of that supposed goodwill and it just feels murky.

And so for all of those reasons I'm out.

Keep the Dolphins.

Keep the NFL.

I'm not here to debate it, I'm simply telling you what I think. If you want to keep watching, then enjoy.

I will not be posting to the Dolphins blog that exists within this domain. But, I will leave the site up - at least for now - as a forum for others to talk about this team.

For the record, I discarded nearly everything dolphins related I owned. I only kept a few items from the 70s and early 80s, when the team was still meaningful to me as a youngster.

Bitchin Dave has left the house. Peace!