About My Blog

My blog is about history, popular culture, politics and current events from a democratic socialist and Irish republican perspective. The two main topics are Northern Ireland on one hand and fighting anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia on the other. The third topic is supporting the Palestinians, and there are several minor topics. The three main topics overlap quite a bit. I have to admit that it’s not going to help me get a graduate degree, especially because it’s almost always written very casually. But there are some high-quality essays, some posts that come close to being high-quality essays, political reviews of Sci-Fi TV episodes (Star Trek and Babylon 5), and a unique kind of political, progressive poetry you won't find anywhere else. (there are also reviews of episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and reviews of Roseanne)

(my old blog was not showing up in Google search results AT ALL (99% of it wasn't being web-crawled or indexed or whatever) and there was another big problem with it, so this is a mirror of the old one although there will be some occassionnal editing of old posts and there will be new posts. I started this blog 12/16/20; 4/28/21 I am now done with re-doing the internal links on my blog) (the Google problem with my blog (only 1% of this new one is showing up in Google search results) is why I include a URL of my blog when commenting elsewhere, otherwise I would get almost no visitors at all)

(The "Table of Contents" offers brief descriptions of all but the most recent posts)

(I just recently realized that my definition of "disapora" was flawed- I thought it included, for example, Jews in Israel, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, and with the Irish diaspora, the Irish on that island. I'll do some work on that soon (11/21/20 I have edited the relevant paragraph in my post about Zionism))

(If you're really cool and link to my blog from your site/blog, let me know) (if you contact me, use the word "blog" in the subject line so I'll know it's not spam)

YOU NEED TO READ THE POST "Trump, Netanyahu, and COVID-19 (Coronavirus)" here. It is a contrast of the two on COVID-19 and might be helpful in attacking Trump. And see the middle third of this about Trump being a for-real fascist.

Friday, July 3, 2020

Roseanne Reviews F

This is a set of reviews of Roseanne episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I will focus only on the political aspects and will mention what percent of lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by people of color.

“Sweet Dreams” Episode 8, Season 2. Wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne tries to relax in the bathtub despite constant interruptions from her family; she ends up dreaming about murdering her husband and kids. The dream ends with Roseanne on trial, her family back from the dead to testify on her behalf, and a lavish musical number.”

Probably about 50 lines were by non-family members and none were by people of color.

“We Gather Together” Episode 9, Season 2. Wikipedia summary is: “On Thanksgiving Day, Jackie finally tells her mother about her new police career. They end up being the main event with their bickering and snickering flowing throughout the holiday feast. After dinner, Dan gets a huge shock when he learns his father is romancing Crystal.”

Of about 15 lines by non-family members, none are by people of color.

“Brain Dead Poets Society” Episode 10, Season 2. Wikipedia summary is: “Darlene's homework poem wins teacher recognition, and she is asked to read it at the school's Culture Night. Roseanne is thrilled, but Darlene does not want to go. Roseanne puts her foot down, and the family goes to the event, where Darlene's reading strikes an emotional chord with all.”

Out of about 25-30 lines by non-family members, none are by people of color.

“Lobo-Cop” Episode 11, Season 2. Wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne gets a second job at the Lobo Lounge, but soon discovers that she and Dan are spending too much time apart.”

Out of about 50 lines by non-family members, about 10% are by people of color.

“Chicken Hearts” Episode 13, Season 2. Wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne's new job at a fast-food restaurant includes an obnoxious teenaged boss. When she invites him to dinner to try to butter him up for better shift hours, his nasty attitude soon convinces everyone that Roseanne deserves better treatment. Glenn Shadix guest-stars as an indecisive customer.”

This episode is, of all the episodes that are about labor and management, probably the furtherest from being pro-union. It DOES however illustrate a labor-management problem and one aspect of why it’s important to talk about working families. Ideally parents shouldn’t have to work when it’s inconvenient for their family life. They’re contributing greatly to our society by raising children and our society should help them with that.

Of about 40 lines by non-family members, none are by people of color.

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