#95. A Gorilla and a Kid

Of all the gazillions of happenings on any given day in our galaxy, the national and worldwide news agencies present to its readers and listeners only the most significant of these happenings. Most events go unnoticed, of course. If an incident worthy of broadcasting is in the news a second or third day, it becomes a newsworthy event that will go down in history . . . that is, until it is no longer vital to . . . human interest. Some events are in the news day after day for a rather lengthy period of time, even weeks and months. After all, inquiring minds want to know.

Such a recent happening that captured our attention for weeks on end – it seems – was about a gorilla and a kid. A young child found its way into a gorilla camp at the Cincy zoo. Fear captured the onlookers – family, friends, and sightseers -- for the gorilla was quite huge and the youngster was so very small. The drama ended with the killing of the gorilla to protect the life of the child.

However, the finale was only the beginning of the news story. Everybody had somebody to blame . . . and the reporters gave us the nitty-gritty low down. Some factions accused the zookeepers of needlessly killing an innocent 17 year-old gorilla. They believed that the child was not in harm’s way at all because the gorilla was actually protecting the little guy. I can believe that!

Another faction claimed racism, assuming the black kid was white. They were the wannabe civil rights crusaders of the 60’s when full-fledged racism was thriving – most likely, these wannabes were not even born till decades later.

Indeed, there were those who blamed the zoo for not building a fence – no doubt, to protect the zoo animals from the zoo attendees -- and making the animals pay for it.

Still another group of complainers blamed the mother of the kid for not keeping an eye upon her son 24/7. No doubt, she had a lot on her plate and forgot the lasso at home.

However, somehow, someway, somewhere . . . the reporters of the catastrophic event could not get it straight as to whether the father of the child … was present … at the zoo ... or not!  But his past criminal history was there, for sure! Hmmm

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#87. Splain That, Will Ya!

The happenings in the world are often unexplainable by the rational mind. That’s why I am here – to use my irrational mind to explain the non-explainables. 

#1 X-sample:  Here we go – only a moment ago, my computer spell-check let me know that ‘explainables’ is spelled inaccurately; the word is singular, not plural. But, my irrational thinking tells me that if I have more than one thing to explain, then it makes no sense to me that the word cannot be pluralized. Therefore, I shall add the plural spelling of the word – explainables – to my computer dictionary.

Of course, it may just be that rational people only have one thing they know how to explain. 

#2 X-sample:  Who is behind the propaganda for ‘climate change’ – alias ‘global warming’ – alais ‘Al-gor-rhythm'. The claim that the temperature of the earth is warming flies in the face of scientists with thermometers. They assure us that the earth has been cooling for the past several decades; and the claim that climate change is caused by ‘man’ is a contradiction to the Respiratory Society which believes that breathing in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide to be a natural phenomenon of life. 

Of course, the truth of the matter is that man does create all this carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And who are these political lobbyists that have been encouraging man to toxify the air? 

No, it is not the kingdom of the Brits!  I have found the culprits, though, with my irrational mind! It is the plant kingdom! They are out to get as much carbon dioxide to eat as possible. In fact, because man is producing more and more carbon dioxide, the trees and bushes and grasses are getting so fat from eating all that toxic stuff that they are being forced to exercise their limbs more vigorously and to go on those fad-diets en masse. 

#3 X-sample: The word ‘racism’ has recently been reactivated in our society. Why would a policeman – black or white – go out of his/her way in today’s world to shoot someone – white or black? That’s not rational! So you need me to explain with my irrational brain as to what’s going on here.

My dictionary defines racism as “a doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior.” Today, racism is defined more simply: “You don’t like me because I’m black!”

Actually, the latter would have been a more appropriate definition in the 1950’s and 1960’s than the academic definition (I was around in those days). But it has been my experience during the ‘80’s and 90’s and 00’s and 10’s (I was also around those decades) that racism out in public view had disappeared for most Americans – black or white. Heck! They’re marrying each other and having black and white kids (just trying to lighten it up a little, so give me a little slack, ok).

What has reared its ugly head recently, though, is not racism, but reverse-racism. I define the term as ‘playing-the-race-card’. Sounds like a poker game to me. And those with a race-card up their sleeve are sometimes black and sometimes white. And whatever the reasons they have for playing their race-in-the-hole, you can bet it has something to do with winning the game. 

Me, I don’t play that kind of poker! And those that do are not even aware that racism and reverse-racism are not legit games to play. There is only one race, for heaven’s sake:  The Human Race! And nothing in all the world is superior to it – except for cats and dogs.

#4 X-sample:  You have probably never, ever heard me say that I believe in atheists  – you know, people who do not believe in God (that’s what the word means). But I don’t believe in atheists! They must believe in a god and I shall use my irrational mind to prove it.

If a person claimed to be an atheist (which I don’t believe in), I would ask him/her which god it is that you don’t believe in. After all, there are many gods. So, tell me which god is it that you don’t believe in; it may be that I don’t believe in your god either! 
So, you see, my irrational thinking shows that they have to believe in a god so that they can say that they don't believe in it.

#5 X-sample:  The post office in my local city has a beautiful building, but the entrance doors are on the left side of the exit doors. Why would a highly educated architect do such an irrational thing as to switch the in-door and out-door ? Why would she or he make such a blunder? 

Moreover, when entering the post office through what should be the exit door, you must push the door open as if you were left handed rather than right handed. Are you following me here? 

This drives my rational mind right out the wrong door. Nor can my irrational thinking make any non-sense out of it. Finally, I have found the answer and I regret to explain to you that – it was not a mistake at all! The architect … was from England! And he must have been left-handed! 

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#73. Displaced Aggression 101

Everyone is familiar with the tale of a man who was criticized by his boss. Arriving home, the man yells at his wife who yells at her son who yells at his younger brother who has no one around to blame. So he yells at the dog and kicks his innocent dog.

This story illustrates displaced aggression. The playground bully is another such example. Usually, he chooses a powerless, innocent kid in which to take out his aggression. The victim has become a scapegoat -- a term that goes back thousands of years.

It is recorded in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 16, where a goat is chosen to be a sacrifice, is symbolically burdened with the sins of the Jewish people, and thrown over a cliff to rid the nation of its guilt.

No, this is not a new phenomenon. When problems occur, people do not like to blame themselves. A scapegoat is a person or group that is forced to take the blame for happenings that are not their fault; in other words, someone upon which to express their displaced aggression.

Scapegoat Theory is a social, psychological term used when a person or group expresses prejudice toward another individual or group in order to vent their anger.

We can see a contemporary illustration of this in the George Zimmerman trial and its aftermath. The facts become irrelevant for, you see, scapegoating is not about the facts, but about pent up emotional stress -- which has heretofore found no release.

  I’m left recalling the words of the Master:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.” (Matthew 23:37)

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