Getting Called a 'Satanic Faggot' While Processing the Titanic Federal Reserve Sinking Conspiracy Theory and Learning About the Great Studio Musicians Known as 'The Wrecking Crew'

As is our habit and tradition, do consider this a semi-open thread to share those matters of public and private concern that you find compelling or interesting.

I appreciate a good insult. I am a student of Elliot Offen.

I prefer a sharp dig and observation about a person's character, beliefs, and behavior as opposed to physical traits (folks can't choose the bodies they were born into). I give points for creativity, quickness, and the existential pain caused by the verbal barb. The insult should also be based on some fundamental truth about the target of one's ire.

This is none of those things.

Friday evening, I took my regular evening sojourn to the local watering hole. I am unsure if it is because of my striking good looks, Adonis-like physique, or enlarged head like the Talosians from Star Trek, but strangers love to ask me questions, and thus interject themselves into my semi-private conversations with others.

[My alternate hypothesis is that I have some type of icon over my head like the avatars in The Sims computer game, and we are all being played by some master user.]

Somehow, a young black woman who is supposedly studying for a degree in social work thought me to be a good resource for her insights about "the black community", racism, and police violence. She asked, "what can black people do to change their lives and situation?" I should not have answered. I also could not resist. This is one of my many character flaws.


I offered my standard response to such an inquiry. First, black Americans need to confront their own internalized white supremacy and self-hatred. Second, black Americans need to practice political consumerism and to stop giving their money to businesses that at best are not "black owned", or at a minimum to use the power of the wallet to advance a set of political and social goals.

[I also pointed out that for a people who have only been full citizens for 50 years, that Black America is doing pretty damn good all things considered.]

This young woman's response to me was "that we should pray and that the world was going to end very soon anyway". Sigh. After a bit of bantering back and forth, I asked her for proof that the End Times were upon us. Answer? Gibberish. I then told her that black folks do not need to pray to invisible mythological beings that supposedly watch them all the time--even in the toilet--and if this entity exists it likely doesn't give a damn about the human race.

Apparently, there are limits to so-called Christian behavior, as she then proceeded to scream and holler that I am a "Satanic faggot". I am unsure of the emphasis--does this mean that I am a "faggot" who happens to be a "Satanist" or is "Satanic Faggot" all one concept and the weight is on the synergy between the two words?

I laughed even while I was disturbed by seeing, again, the damage that religion can do to a person's mind.

While processing the mud duck's mouth yammerings, I meditated on the new (at least to me) absurd conspiracy theory of the week that the famed Titanic was intentionally sunk in order to kill a group of rich men who opposed the creation of the Federal Reserve banking system. This is somehow far more efficient than simply putting a bullet in someone'e head, burning their mansion down, poisoning, strangulation, or any other means of ending them.

My mind further knotted by "Satanic faggot" slurring and Titanic conspiracy theories, I sought out Netflix as a refuge. There I discovered the great new documentary on the studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. These men and women were the real deal folks, as they created the magic for some of the greatest American pop music acts of the 1960s and 1970s. Music is social history; The Wrecking Crew is a fascinating document of the personalities who helped to create the sound of several generations.

What adventures have you experienced as of late? Any stories or news items to share?