From the moment the tapes were made public, the drumbeat to Trump's personal walk of shame began. Politicians who formerly endorsed him fled in terror, not wanting the soiled stain of sexual stigma attached to them. NeverTrumpers descended in holier-than-thou glee as they declared how noble and right they've always been not to support such a despicable man. And the left has been howling like puritanical wolves, condemning him for his immorality and sexist treatment of women.

I find this reaction to Trump's private conversation rather ironic. It's ironic coming from a secular culture that long ago declared objective morality dead. It's ironic coming from politicos and media bottom-feeders who defended the abusive and disgusting behavior of Bill Clinton, not when he was a private citizen but when he was a sitting president.

It's ironic coming from a Republican political elite that has told its religious base that social and moral issues don't matter in politics. "It's all about the economy, stupid. Leave your morals in the church but don't voice them in the public square."

https://pjmedia.com/blog/america-you-have-no-right-to-judge-donald-trump/

How soon will this happen to our lovely blog hostess?

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/black-tenant-slams-neighbors-noise-complaint-as-racist-white-tears/

After following the Robbie Soave links on Amy's post from yesterday, I have sadly come to the conclusion that neither major candidate is fit to be President. Furthermore, their unstable temperaments (yes, the both of them) are concerning, considering the tensions between US and Russia in Syria, which could eventually become a war that could go nuclear. And I'm not sure which of the eeeeevil 3rd-party candidates (Johnson or Castle) I'll vote for.

Down with everything!

I drink my coffee mixed-race:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-perilous-whiteness-of-pumpkins/article32293466/

I R A, thanks for the "lovely" -- and that is truly unbelievable.

And mpetrie98, I just wish enough people would vote for Johnson that he'd get in. I don't particularly love him, but foreign policy advice can be arranged, and he's a grownup and not a bad guy.

I suppose that I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. is forbidden?

Student leaders of this year’s freshman orientation at James Madison University were given a list of 35 things they should avoid saying, including phrases such as “you have such a pretty face,” “love the sinner, hate the sin,” “we’re all part of the human race,” “I treat all people the same,” “it was only a joke,” “I never owned slaves,” and “people just need to pick themselves up by their bootstraps,” among other expressions.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/29307/

Amy's coffee link is a reminder that sometimes that a peer reviewed paper is not worth the paper it's written on.

Is it racist to say that I prefer my coffee as my Celtic forebears drank it? which is to say "mixed with booze". Not sure how my northern European ancestry drank theirs, but I don't think they'd object to the booze.

These are not the droids you're looking for...

Buonanno came home with fingers crossed, and a three-week supply of pills. The results seemed miraculous. “As the days went on after a week, I kept feeling better and better. Now I’m thinking, ‘What’s in this?’”

So what WAS the special something in those pills? It was … absolutely nothing. Linda was taking placebos, containing no real medication at all.

What makes her story even more astonishing is that, unlike traditional experiments with placebos, she was TOLD she was taking placebos!

...

Ted Kaptchuk, a professor at Harvard Medical School who ran the experiment, said his colleagues initially thought he was crazy at the beginning of the study. But it worked: He says roughly 60 percent of the subjects in his study reported getting better, even though they knew they were taking a placebo.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-do-placebos-work/

Something a bit lighter.

MOLIERE: You're the Greek, Ari. Why did Zeus bring us together for this? He's interrupting my lunch.

ARISTOPHANES: He said we were the only ones who could possibly understand this colloquy of fools in Argentina.

MOLIERE: Argentina? Fils de pute.... Il est aux États-Unis - the United States of America!

ARISTOPHANES: Oh, them. Cassandra said they would be gone years ago.

MOLIÈRE: Well, they're not. Although they may be soon enough.

ARISTOPHANES: Now that you mention it, Zeus did say something about the United Stares of America turning into Argentina. It's hard to hear him over the thunder. Anyway, he did give me two tablets with the biographies of the candidates - one is titled The Blowhard and the other The Liar. I've never seen him so upset.

https://pjmedia.com/diaryofamadvoter/2016/10/09/wikileaks-exclusive-aristophanes-and-moliere-preview-the-coming-debate/

That pumpkin article is a gem. My satire recognition radar (SRR) kept flashing on. In the end I don't know what to think. She's really smart. Maybe she just wanted to have a go at comedy. Here's a bit:

"Food scholars like Levenstein have long argued that U.S. culture’s growing preference for white foods—sugar, flour, bread, or eggs—parallels the tightening of Jim Crow laws after Reconstruction.
Conversations about “pure foods,” “hygiene,” and “sanitation” were racial codes . . . '"

Talking about Pumpkin Spice Latte.. Here's a recipe for a homemade version:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pumpkin-spice-recipe_us_57ea65e0e4b024a52d2a6fcd

I R A Darth Aggie, I looked over the list, and many of those expressions can easily be said for very condescending reasons, depending on the context. At any rate, many of them are cliches (automatically annoying, though not always rude) or overly personal (always rude). Not to mention that it's certainly rude to assume that all people from a group think the same way (as in "what do your people think?"). Some people don't need to be taught those rules, due to their upbringing, but others do.

Miss Manners pointed out, once, that you don't get to ask someone "where are you from" just because it's obvious that person has a foreign accent. If people want to tell you, they will. Just because it used to be more common than it is now to get more nosy with foreigners than you would with someone who isn't, doesn't make it polite - then or now.

In the same vein, racist attitudes can be taught "politely" and without words, unfortunately. I wish I could find the source for this anecdote - it was a short, post-1990(?) kids' book on racism: A white Southern woman, probably born in the 1950s, said her mother was an impeccable lady and also "quite a racist." However, the mother never said an unkind word about any person due to that person's skin color, because "she was too much of a lady for that." Even so, every time the mother and her daughter went shopping and had to talk to a black cashier or sales employee, the mother used a tone of voice as if she were talking to a silly preschooler. So, wrote the daughter, "she taught me to be a racist without a single word being exchanged between us on the subject!"