“The Book of Mormon” Musical Is Extremely Racist - Medium

 

“The Book of Mormon” Musical Is Extremely Racist - Medium

Worst thing about ‘Book of Mormon’ musical is the racism

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/09/05/worst-thing-about-book...

This article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the University of …

Is The Book of Mormon (musical) racist? - Quora

https://www.quora.com/Is-The-Book-of-Mormon-musical-racist

Yes, “The Book of Mormon” does show the Africans as being uneducated, primitive and …

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The Book of Mormon is racist - why isn't anyone talking about it ...

https://www.clairejharris.com/2018/11/10/the-book-of-mormon-is-racist

When I saw The Book of Mormon, 

Recollections of Chris Lawson and Seth Berry

    I often do not use real names when talking about some real-life stories, but this rumination involves a couple of people that I may talk to or communicate with someday--we never know--before things are all said and done. (And when will that be?) Perhaps in our older ages we can have some conversations about the past, which I am open to, or at least I am curious enough to further discuss some of these matters if the opportunity affords itself. 

    Some people say that the past is dead, but like some dreams or nightmares, some events or memories linger and comingle in both the conscious and the subconscious, or unconscious, so I wish to throw a few things out there. It sort of has to do with basketball, but may not be so much about that sport so revered in Indiana, as much as psychology, personal and general. It might have more to do with human nature, or perhaps it is mostly just about my quirky mind. So here it is, people.

    In middle school I became friends with Seth, an aspiring basketball player. He was already tall, maybe 6'1"; he thought that he would grow to be close to seven feet. We played basketball at his house and mine, we talked basketball, we watched it. From sixth to eighth grade, Seth and I were pretty close. He was close to my longer time friend Jake also, and we all could hang out and have some good times. I was not the best friend to him, I admit, and when I abruptly left the Dungeons and Dragons group that I had begged him to join (I was upset that we did not play more by the rules) one hot summer day, I know that was not a good lookk or impression. Yeah, my mea culpa. I could have been a better friend, in a few ways.

    I almost picked Seth to go with me on a big holiday trip midway through our 8th grade year; I chose Patrick instead. Jake also would have liked to go. Patrick was my man in the middle. ( I am leaving out Jake and Pat's last names, this is about ballers. However, Pat and Jake lived close to me, on 1st street and Henderson and Maxwell.)

    Seth and I kept our friendship the summer after the last year of junior high, but things would change. He now was bonded to his basketball buddies from Binford and Batchelor Middle Schools, which was probably more Batchelor, a group of kids more from the country, the surroundings outside of Bloomington in Monroe County, Indiana. The Batchelor students got to know us Binford townie kids a year earlier, and then on to the four years of high school at South.

    Chris Lawson was the big, tall, held-back-from his 8th grade year another year red head basketball stat. He was destined to be one of the better players in the state, and eventually played for Bob Knight at IU. 

    Seth gave up on me that freshman year, and I reciprocated the sentiment. He said he was coming to my house, and when he was not there 20 minutes later, I called him to confirm, he said again that he was going to show up soon, and then never arrived. That was that. We still saw each other at school, including at least one class, but he was with the basketball group, and the longtime group of elementary and middle school guys who sat together at lunch, no matter how much we were drifting apart, no longer included Seth.

    One time in Mr. Zager's computer class big Chris came up to my desk on the top floor near the stair well and pounded my shoulder with his big fist. I cannot remember if I said anything in reply. I think he was silent. I let it die.

    I thought about this years later and had the primordial urge to sock him back really hard in the arm. And maybe say nothing, as he did to me. But his buddies would not be around like they were in 8th grade. Jerk. I guess. Whatever.

    We were figuring each other out, the country kids and us townies. He was figuring me out, probably a lot about himself. I bet he was bored that second time going through 8th grade.

    He moved on, so did I. I rooted for Seth and Chris throughout our whole high school careers. Our senior year we were upset by Bloomington North at the home court of them on the north side, in the sectional at the end of winter of 1980. Chris and Seth's last go round together after five years of playing together.  Our Panther team was a top 20 group in the state; I tried to yell and distract the rival's free throw shooting. To no avail, the Purple Panthers would not advance to regionals. The years of glory had ended.

    We lost. Lawson ended up at Vanderbilt after transferring from Indiana, and then did some Taiwan pros, and Seth was at Holy Cross as a walk-on on their team, I guess. I still have not communicated much with him. I friendship ended in an odd and sad way, I feel. We saw each other at a YMCA a few years later, but we did not talk. Both our prides speaking louder, or at least mine.

    I saw the Seth on Linked-In, I suppose. Decades later. He seems to be doing well; now all of us in our 50s. Do either of them, Lawson or Berry, still play basketball? I do. I still play it, discuss it, watch it.

    And I still think about a few questions from the past.

    And that is most of what I know.

    May we meet again, gentlemen. On good terms, I hope.

    And yeah, I do not need to pound Chris on his shoulder as a I felt and urge to do years later, after joining the Army, and spending some time in training how to fight and being defensive about it, also spending time alone and perhaps dwelling on many things a lot. I would like to ask him if he remembers that day and act, when he aggressively struck me, and maybe more importantly: why did he do it?

    And: why should I care? Should anyone still care? Why ask why? (A beer advertisement slogan). Why should I think of you? Why would you want me to? (These lines of Sting are about someone he loves).

    Why did we go are separate ways? It seems natural. Why did a guy a foot taller than me, and a year older than me, with whom I barely ever talked to, hit me so hard?

    You tell me.

    

Writing a Book - Contemplation

    End of October, 2022. I find myself in my hometown. Another year older, at not deeper in debt. I am grateful not to have financial burdens, helping our next generation get their educations and set up their lives.

    Spending time with family. 

    I started a book last year, about 370 or so days ago in November. 2021.

    I think it is a good book; now I have to edit and revise it, get it published.

    See where it goes.

    I think that it will be good for me, for others, for the world.

    Yeah.

    Blog it.

Home School Fans Episode 8 and 9 (Part III): Indiana, My Hoosiers Sinking

Alas, we had our chances.

Two weeks in a row, IU had the leads against beatable teams. And both times, they come up short.

Maryland, a late turnover clinched it for the Terrapins. Ugh. Close game, no dice.

Last week, led 14-0 against Rutgers, and go away from Piscataway losers, 24-17. The offense turned off.

I don't know. The running game goes silent, the defense makes a few mistakes, the offense turns it over.

    The Terrapins got a big run that IU could not stop on a late third down.

    Penn State is next, Indiana is ranked like 90, and things might get ugly. Uglier.

    We had our chances to be 5-3, and now we are 3-5.

    A little better than last year, but not much.

Home School Fans Episode 8 and 9 (Part II) - Weeks 7 and 8, the Next Five

 Home School Fans Episode 8 and 9 - Weeks 7 and 8, the Next Five - Part II

Indiana, UVA, JMU, Texas A&M, Fresno State.

    Mostly a bunch of more mediocrity. At least the Wahoos won, and are staving off the toilet bowl. Let's start with them.

    Wahoos Beat the Wrambling Wreckers on a/the Thursday Night

    Virginia handles the underwhelming Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, 16-9. UVA is now ranked 83rd, rising 11 spots from the week before, and is now 4-3 heading into a game against the mostly forsaken Miami Hurricanes. I pick the Cavaliers. I hope they win. I love to see Miami lose! Don't tell Jones or Bill I said that. Or feel that. They can go away, those convicts! Struggling like my religious Cougars, at least this season. 

    But yeah, the Cavs are staying within the realm of respectability. Unlike...

    Aggies are Aghafied! 3-4 in mid-season...

    Texas A&M continues to disappoint, this time by getting beat down by: South Carolina. The Gamecocks have hit some good times. A guy I worked with in Camp Marmal was a So Car guy. Owen. I hope he is happy. Must be in his young thirties by now. They have Ole Miss next, and while not ranked as they were earlier in the season, they are still good enough to whip up on a supremely disappointing Aggie team. Money on the Rebs. But I would like A&M to win, regardless. CBS has them at 60. About the middle of the pack. Pretty poor.

    Dukes are Dinked, or Donked

    James Madison has been humbled and stumbled, and after their auspicious start at 5-0, have fallen on harder, more expected times. They are in their first year in the top tier, FBS! The last two, and first two, defeats were to Georgia Southern, by a touchdown, and then really handled by the Marshall Thundering Herd. (Marshall beat Notre Dame first weekend back in September, don't ya know).

     Next up are the Louisville Cardinals on November 5. I say the Cards will rout these Dukes, but the upstarts are still having an impressive season, just coming down to a more realistic start to Football Bowl Series ranks. Dukes still a respectable #44 in the CBS list of 131. Not bad for a transition year from the FCS realm.

    Fresno State Bulldogs? Worth It? Buying or Selling?

    The Bulldogs are on a mini-roll, beating the San Jose State Spartans by a Touchdown, then lambasting the New Mexico Lobos. They are only 3-4, and ranked 79th. They have the San Diego Aztecs next, and I think that the so Cal state school will take it from the San Joaquin Valley foes.

    Book it.

    Those are my seven, in two installments. Not so great.

    BYU has to beat the Pirates this Friday! Tomorrow night...

    C'mon, Cougars. Be hungry.

    WAIT! I forgot my IU Hoosiers... That will be Part III.

    

Home School Fans Episode 8 and 9 - Weeks 7 and 8, Painful Losses...

    The season has gotten worser and worser for my main alma maters. I skipped all of week 8, and now I am due to report on week 9. Acchhh!

    Where to start? With the Brigham Young Cougars, the team that I watched with my family in person. The day was lovely, BYU lead 14-3 after one quarter, and then the wheels came off the Cougar train.

    BYU Gives Up the Ghost 

    OUCH. Worst loss in a long time. I have attended some other painful ones. Not the close losses, but the blow outs. East Carolina in 2017. Stanford in 2004. Washington in 1997. I feel like there was bad one or two in 1994 or 1995.

    This one hurt. We were deflated, and bashed. The offense could do next to nothing after the first quarter. The defense was incapable of forcing a punt. The entire game! Two turnovers helped a little, but far from enough. I was there.

    The game before, the week of BYU in the 7th weekend, was where the wheels came off against Arkansas. I had to work; I tracked some of the game as I was trying to get home for the 3:30 PM game. The Cougars had a late first half lead, scoring okay, before quick turnovers led to a halftime deficit, which went further quagmire mode in the second half. BYU gave up 52, only scoring 35 versus the Razorbacks. But, Liberty in Lynchburg was far worse. Week 9 is a gut check for the Cougar team.

    BYU has lost three in a row, by 8 to the Irish in neutral Las Vegas, by 17 to Arkansas in Provo, and (gulp) 27 to the Flames on the road. This is not a good trend.

    East Carolina means a lot this Friday night in Provo. Perhaps the whole season.

        BYU is rated 58th, dropping 13 ranks, 4-4, and East Carolina is now at 48th, rising 17 places after smashing a decent UCF squad, that is now 39th, dropping 13 spots. Four games left.

        

    I could on about BYU, but it is time to move on to... the best of my seven: Utah.

    Utah is Pretty Good Still 

    Utah beat top 10 (7th?) USC, in Week 8, two weeks ago. The Trojans losing almost always makes me happy, 42-32. (Don't tell my pilot church buddy from my military tour, or my former Zone Leader Elder Higginbotham from my second area time in Chile). They are giving up a lot and scoring a bunch. The Utes, that is. 

    I don't want to get into them too much, but they have had significant injuries and keep chugging, with Washington State next. CBSSPorts has Utah 15th, up one, and the Cougars of Pullman are down one from the week before, 43rd. The latter is 4-3, the Utes are 5-2. Losses to Florida and UCLA. 

    Incidentally, the Bruins who were pretty rocking, are now 6-1 after losing to the surging Oregon Ducks, 45-30. 

    Who is next best between Virginia, Indiana, Fresno State, James Madison, and ... who was my seventh team? Oh, Texas A&M. Probably the Aggies.

    Continued in Part II.

    

    

Places I have Left the U.S. For: About 35 Times Total

    First it was Canada back in the 1970s. 

    We would go to Niagara Falls, and Kingston, and my dad would visit his sister. Both places in Ontario. This may have happened four or five times.

    In 1976 we went on a major Canada trip, going to Montreal Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. This took a few weeks or so. We camped in a pop-up tent trailer. Very memorable despite my young age.

        In 1982 I went to Tamaulipas, Mexico. First time there. Went to Quintana Roo in 1983. Left for Bahamas and the Caribbean in 1982 before that. 1984 made it to the Eastern Antilles.

    1985 went to Alberta, Canada.

1989 went to Spain, and to Montreal again.

1990 Chile.

1993 Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

1994. Chile again. British Colombia, Canada.

1995. Israel. Mexicali, Mexico.

1999. Mexicali and Baja North again.

That was before the 21st century.

IU Soccer Drives Me Mad and Graham Doty Cannot Pronounce "Hooziers"

    Frustrating watching these would-be talented recruits that make up one of the better Big-Ten teams play tonight to a piddly tie to the Evansville Aces, the first non-win since 1990. A streak of 18 wins broken. Busted.

    Like the Indiana Hooziers. Oh my, Graham Doty! The announcer/commentor, mispronounced the nickname all night long. What a tool. I guess his partner was not smart enough to correct him, even though I think he pronounced right. HOO. ZURE.

    Like A-ZURE. 

    The Indiana soccer team has not performed as well as most would hope, but they still lead in points in the upper part of the Big Ten, poised for the conference tournament.

    Indiana does not play with enough urgency, nor does it control the ball enough, with passes and defense. I want them to win and watch them play, but they

DRIVE ME NUTSO.

    Hoosiers.

    Hooziers. Graham Doty. Yeesh.

    

    

Life, Death, and College Football

    I was looking forward to my alma mater's football team visiting Virginia for many years. Maybe four? Whenever it was scheduled. BYU looked impressive after its first two games, and people had them highly ranked. Then, the wheels started to come off. After a shellacking yesterday to the Liberty Flames, I could break down many of the break downs. But today is the Sabbath; there are things deeper than the Xs and Os of the game.

    I was bummed by the atrocious performance of the last three quarters of the game that we drove a far way to attend, but everything else was really nice. The weather, the drive, the food, the interactions with BYU and Liberty people alike. I was also bummed by my IU Hoosiers, that gave up a winnable game. Again. But again, more on the games later. There are more serious things.

    I was scanning other scores at the end of the day, looking for silver linings, like some former opponents that notched good victories, or other teams that I wanted to lose. (There is always a healthy list of those!). At the end of my phone ticker was a postponed game: San Jose State versus New Mexico State. I see these and they are usually weather related. Lightning, or at times heavy storms, thunder or no. I came across the reason shortly. A young player for the SJSU Spartans died of a tragedy.

    He was on an electric scooter that was hit by a bus. Early in the morning. The game in Las Cruces, New Mexico has been cancelled with no make-up date.

    For my team, and game, and event, no one died. We were all right. We will live for another day.

    Not so for young 18 year-old Mr. McWright. May he rest in peace.

    I have known a couple 18 year-olds that have died. Obviously prematurely. Always sad, always unexpected. Except for a few with long term illnesses. Anticipated or not, life is fleeting for too many.

    I have loved college football for a long time, because it offers the promise of vitality and triumph, surviving and scraping to be the ultimate winner at the end of the day, the season. To survive and progress. Win or lose, all involved advance to the next stage, knowing that they gave their all.    

    Some give their all off the field of play, and we shall miss them.

    We hope the best for his family, friends, and teammates. May they triumph in the end, as we hope for his soul in the next realm.

    

 Hoping and Longing for People and Things

    We all do it. We have to. If not, there is maybe not much else.

    We hope for real people, we hope for people and things that many do not consider real. But millions, billions of us do it. All the time. All our lives. Every day. Consciously and subconsciously.

    The seculars, the agnostics, the atheists, the believers: all of us. Otherwise, with no hope, we cannot live or move forward. We need it. Crave it. Subsist on it. 

    We as homo sapiens, thinking beings, have to have hopes. God or no, afterlife or no, we need hope and hopes in people, things, processes. systems, governments, institutions, principles. Principles? Yes. Fairness, justice, compensation, love, kindness; all of those positive things we call attributes and sometimes feelings, or emotions. We have many hopes based on emotions and emotional needs.

    Which leeds to the phenomenon of longing. There is an emotion to think about, or for me which I try to analyze. Longing is not as fundamentally necessary as hoping, or hope, but I believe it is normal to long for people or things, or that it occurs a lot. Longing can be, or actually is different from hoping. Longing adds elements of emotion which can be nuanced from hope, like thinking about something extensively, even obsessively, or forlornly, or sexually, like a fantasy, wistfully, or focused more in the past or as, which is now gone, or that can be a present or future hope that proves elusive as a subject or object that is not a target of real hope, but the feeling or emotion has more to do with something or someone that one cannot acquire, engage, or have, but one spends time thinking about it or them.

    I think that we understand the emotion or construct of hope much better than longing, and that hope is probably healthier for most of us than longing. I will give examples of both, perhaps comparing and contrasting. This will illustrate and help us understand these feelings and phenomena better.

    A humanist hopes for human beings to be philanthropical, generous, fair, and for humans to have rights and privileges that are better than what they have been historically for humankind.

    Longing for humanist things is less concrete, it can be less realistic; hoping for things that will not materialize or that which cannot be. A Chilean or American or German humanist hopes for things that help the human condition, and it will generally happen, because it tends to materialize over time. Perhaps a person in some places like China, or Palestine, or places without as much success of hope for some versions of humanism, but it is the longing for those things that are less realistic that may happen.

    Hope versus longing. Perhaps the difference is the thought of feeling like one can acquire and engage one thing while never being able to have the other.

    As a Christian I hope for Christ to return, I hope for my family to be united in Him, I hope for my idea or notion of Zion to come to fruition. I hope for others to accept the Savior and to follow His commandments, especially as how I like to see Him worshipped and engaged.

    Longing is different. People long for Jesus, as a Christian, but it is not the same as hope. Perhaps it is wanting something within Christianity that cannot be obtained. Like helping a person be active in church who is adamantly against it, or trying to convince a skeptic or opponent of Jesus as Christ that He is who He says that He is, the Lord of All. 

    This happens in faith or hopes and longings for all peoples, systems, institutions, etcetera. Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, scientist, businessperson, in everything. Psychiatrists and psychologists want to do the same, to help all of us be whole, as individuals and societies.

    I hope for many things, and I long for many too.

    One is healthier, usually. Longing can be sinful, to some extent or definition, if it is outside the scope or needs or defined proprieties of what is accepted.

    I have probably longed for some things (or people) that is a common threat in my life, for most of my life. And, it may never stop.

    But it is good to analyze and talk about it a bit.

    Because defining the differences and the nuances of these feelings can help us understand ourselves better, and perhaps live and feel better in our life.

    

  

IU Men's Soccer: 800 Wins in 50 Years, Fastest to Do So

    They got a great thing back in the 1970s. The legendary coach, Jerry Yeagley, got them to the NCAA championships a few times before breaking through and winning six, in the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s. His brief successor won a seventh, then his son Todd came back and won another. In 2012.

    The Hoosiers have been back to the championship and lost, but they have been right there.

    Other teams have played great since St. Louis dominated until the 1970s.

    Virginia, Maryland, Stanford.

    But Indiana hopes to keep going, in Bloomington.

    Go IU!

    

Nelson Cruz, Older Player may Be Back in 2023

He is old and he was .2 WAR, which is barely good enough to be worth the time to play again. Not that many homers, but it may be his time to return. We will see him play more in 2023? Or will he be done, like the greats Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera?

SUMMARY

2022

Career

WAR

0.2

42.6

AB

448

7358

H

105

2018

HR

10

459

BA

.234

.274

R

50

1081

RBI

64

1302

SB

4

83

27.	Miguel Cabrera (20, 39)	507	11426	R	HR Log
28.	Eddie Murray+ (21)	504	12817	B	HR Log
29.	Lou Gehrig+ (17)	493	9665	L	HR Log
	Fred McGriff (19)	493	10174	L	HR Log
31.	Adrian Beltre (21)	477	12130	R	HR Log
32.	Stan Musial+ (22)	475	12721	L	HR Log
	Willie Stargell+ (21)	475	9027	L	HR Log
34.	Carlos Delgado (17)	473	8657	L	HR Log
35.	Chipper Jones+ (19)	468	10614	B	HR Log
36.	Dave Winfield+ (22)	465	12358	R	HR Log
37.	Jose Canseco (17)	462	8129	R	HR Log
	Adam Dunn (14)	462	8328	L	HR Log
39.	Nelson Cruz (18, 41)	459	8244	R	HR Log
40.	Carl Yastrzemski+ (23)	452	13992	L	HR Log

 Scrounging for Pennies

    I like to write and compose good prose. Writing in sentences and paragraphs, amounting in chapters. Poetry is not a strong suit for me really, in comparison. Not in strength or predilection. However, it can be an effective way to record thoughts, feelings, memories, ideas. Sometimes making poems is an easier or lazier way to write, record, express, compose, organize the ideas and creations of the mind.

    Yeah.

    This is a poem of sorts about survival and money.

    

SCROUNGING FOR PENNIES, WEALTH

    We have to resort to work.

    Some people do it naturally, and are driven

    Others are more obliged to do so

    Some labor and effort is for our own well-being and hygiene

    Some work is pro bono, no remuneration.

    We all volunteer, we all serve, we all clean and tidy and mow or wash.

    We pay others to take away the trash

    Among the trash we can find treasures

    Recyclables

    Other forsaken refuse, that at times become treasures

    Rubbish and throw aways

    Like receipts from purchases

    Yes. Paper receipts.

    

   

    Now there are apps

    (Applications in computers, mostly in our cellular smart phones)

    Apps that pay us money for payment records

    Of things that we procured

    

    Rather cyclical, circular, recyclable

    In a way

    

    So now I chase them

    I trace my steps

    And find others' detritus, 

    Treasures for me, and my own

    Paper trails of purchase

    We sweat, we toil

    We have worked outside, inside, 

    Serving food

    Picking up stuff

    Little things, even gum inside sidewalk grooves

    Large things: logs, rocks, dirt, planks...

    hauling, lifting, scraping, digging

    All kinds of work and moving with our muscles

    In sun, rain, snow, ice, mud, puddles, rivulets of water, dust, gravel

    Some make good money outdoors

    I have done some

   

    In Indiana

    Utah

    California

    

    Virginia

    Upstate New York

    Even the Middle East

    

    Blue collar and white-collar work and labor

    We use our brains

    In offices,

    On phones,

    Face to face

    Everywhere, no where

    Somewhere

    Even blogging: typing, virtually communicating, clicking our devices

    Taping, filming. drawing, scheming

    Planning- executing and sending messages and orders

    --I did write a poem with these very same words recently--

    About my daughters

    And, some of us have sons

    We pay forwards and back

    We work from young till old

    We really never stop, earning formally or not, accruing wealth

    

    My father has not stopped

    Into his ninth decade

    

    My mother worked,

    Till the end

    and beyond

   

    The work does not stop

    Ever.

   

    Earning our pennies does not stop

    Ever (no periods)

    Ever, forever

    

    We are scrounging for pennies and cents, 

    Heavenward and below

    In all languages

    In all climes

    In all clans

    In all books

    In all pages

    Searching, reaching, climbing

    For coins

    Treasures

    Mansions

    Kingdoms

    Give us this day, our daily bread

    Scraps, foods, beverages

    Of all kinds

    We collect those pennies

    We collect those pennies, some discard them

    We gather all the monies

    And call it a day

    Till tomorrow

    We do it again

    Do you have all your receipts?

    Someone does.

    

    

This one worth 900 USD.

   

     I saw some U.S. pennies, even old ones that looked decrepit, that were worth up to 19,000 U.S. dollars. It might be very worth our time to gather and count our pennies.

    They make nickels and dimes, and eventually we have wealth.