About Alden Loveshade

Alden is a philosopher, personist, writer, playwright, screenwriter, director, actor, poet, photographer, dumbek drummer, roleplayer, and educator. Worked for others and freelance as a journalist, investigator, columnist, reviewer, teacher, animal caregiver, photographer, and dishwasher. Claims e doesn’t care about money, but always needs more. Recognized by Phi Theta Kappa, Golden Key International Honor Society, the U. S. Jaycees, and groups of like ilk. They don’t necessarily like em, but they recognize em. Graduated summa cum laude from some university that apparently figured the best way to get rid of em was to graduate em. Alden has worked with Emmy, Oscar, Tony, and Pulitzer Prize Nominees and Winners but they never shared their awards! Alden has dual citizenship in the Principality of Sealand and the United States of America. His official title for Sealand is Lord Alden Loveshade. E thinks that makes em sound impressive.

The Media is a Myth

Posted on 2017/09/27 by Alden Loveshade

Dennis_Prager_by_Gage_Skidmore_media_danger_quote

“The news media in the West pose a far greater danger to Western civilization than Russia does.” — Tweet by Dennis Prager

People talk about “the media” almost as much as they talk about “they.” But who are “they?” And what is “the media?”

“Media” is the plural of “medium.” A medium, in the media sense, is something that’s used by one person to communicate a message to others. “The media” includes every single medium. Every newspaper is part of “the media.” So is every magazine. So is every radio station, television station, movie distributor, blog host, chat group, social network. “The media” is Twitter and Google+ and My Space and Instagram and Facebook. Everyone who communicates on paper, radio, television, film, or Internet is part of “they” and part of “the media.”

“The Media” is actually a concept that exists in the human mind. But in terms of physical reality, there is no such thing as “the media.” You can’t smell it, feel it, taste it, hear it, or see it. You can sense a part of it, like watch a television news program or listen to a radio show or read this blog post.

But what about the conspiracy of “the liberal media” or “the conservative media?” I’ve worked for “the media” for a long time. I’ve written for newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, the Internet, and more. For years I wrote five days a week for a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper. I don’t remember even once being told if I was supposed to be liberal or conservative. And I don’t remember ever talking to someone who worked for another medium to coordinate what slant we were going to give to the news. I was much too busy doing my job.

But Dennis Prager, and apparently many others, sees the media in the West as a vast conspiracy, a greater threat to America than Russia. Interestingly, Dennis Prager is a radio show host (media), a columnist (media), an author (media), a public speaker (media), and has his own “Prager University” which is actually his media company (media) that posts on Facebook (media), all coming from the West….

Photo of Dennis Prager by Gage Skidmore is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Dennis Prager’s tweet is here.

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the whole family.

Emma Watson Can’t Be Sexy!

Posted on 2017/09/11 by Alden Loveshade

This photo of Emma Watson is by Georges Biard (and “censored” by us). It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Emma Watson must stop claiming to be a feminist right now! I don’t care if she has been a champion for women’s rights. I don’t care if she has a HeForShe campaign for personism or equal rights, or wrote a feminist book, or has been a UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador.

She posed for Vanity Fair in a photo that shows parts of the bottoms of her breasts. Her feminism days are over! Feminists cannot show certain parts of their bodies in public! They certainly cannot appear to be sexual beings. Men can, but women can’t. That’s a fundamental part of feminist thought, that women aren’t allowed to do the same things that men….

Wait.

Emma Watson’s Boobs Prove Why We Still Need Feminism

I acknowledge the Vanity Fair appearance was earlier this year. However, I believe this still, unfortunately, applies.

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the whole family.

The War is Over

Posted on 2017/09/03 by Alden Loveshade

Confederate flag exhibit in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Photo, taken by Daderot, released into the public domain.

Little known historical fact: the American Civil War, aka the War Between the States, is over. It ended in 1865.

I say that because it appears many people are still trying to fight that war.

I remember years ago visiting the capitol of Alabama in Montgomery. I was astonished to see both the flag of the United States of America, and the flag of the Confederate States of America, flying above the capitol building.

It was not that I had anything against the flag of the Confederacy being at the capitol. It is a part of Alabama’s history. Many brave and noble people lost their properties and their lives fighting for their homes, for Alabama, and for their view of America. The war, in many ways the most costly in American history, should not be forgotten. The Confederacy should not be forgotten, nor should its flags. I would have been perfectly happy seeing the flag openly displayed inside the capitol building.

But Alabama has not been part of the Confederacy since 1865. Neither has Texas. Texas has been under the flags of six different nations, including itself. Those fly over Six Flags amusement parks, as well they should. But not over the capitol, any more than the capitol of California should fly the flag of Mexico. Nor should Washington D.C. proclaim allegiance to the Nacotchtank. They inhabited the land long before Captain John Smith discovered them at the beginning of the 17th century, and even longer before it became the capital of America. But the flag that flies over the center of government should represent that government and its allegiance, not allegiance to another nation.

We’re now having a battle over statues of the Confederacy. Again, I have no problem with the statutes themselves, even after I learned there were more erected during the assertion of Jim Crow laws over “negros” than at any other time.

But if they’re displayed, they should be displayed as a symbol of American history. They should not be a sign of its allegiance.

An opinion of an individual member or associate of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire family.

Republicans are in Denial Over Donald Trump–Says a Republican Senator

Posted on 2017/08/01 by Alden Loveshade

“Who could blame the people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process? With hindsight, it is clear that we all but ensured the rise of Donald Trump.” That’s by Jeff Flake, Republican senator from Arizona. It’s in a piece entitled, “My Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump.”

Admittedly Flake is from Arizona, a state where Republicans like he and fellow Senator John McCain can say what they really believe about Trump without fear of it destroying their re-election chances. But in this excerpt from his new book Conscience of a Conservative, he points out how conservatives focusing on fighting Barack Obama instead of working for conservative values helped put Donald Trump in the White House. And while he says liberals are to blame as well, he wisely leaves it up them to “answer for their own sins.”

It’s pretty clear that virtually no leaders in the Republican or Democratic Party are happy with Donald Trump as president. No living president of either party voted for him. Even Vice President Mike Pence strongly disagreed with and distanced himself from Trump more than once before the election.

I believe, as does Flake, that’s it’s time for the Republican Party to assert its own values. It may be necessary for the party to recreate itself. It’s done that successfully before, notably after Republicans Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and President Richard M. Nixon both resigned from office in the midst of scandals. A few years later, it was a new Republican Party, and the new president was Ronald Reagan.

But things have to change if the Republican Party is to retain any semblance of its values. “If this was our Faustian bargain, then it was not worth it. If ultimately our principles were so malleable as to no longer be principles, then what was the point of political victories in the first place?”

Read “My Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump”

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/31/my-party-is-in-denial-about-donald-trump-215442

An opinion of a member or associate of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the whole family.

Alden Loveshade End of the Year 2016

Posted on 2016/12/12 by Alden Loveshade

Yes, it’s that time once again, time for another missive from moi.

This year is perhaps most significant for what has not happened; nobody I’m really close to has passed away. For that I am very glad.

However, it has been a year for things falling apart and needing repair. I fixed a gutter that leaked; got a computer working; got a modem working; cut/sawed/pulled/mowed small mesquite trees, wild grasses, and cat’s claw to make a path to the front tank (what those of you outside of Texas might call a “pond.”) Am I handyman or not?

Well, not. My intense mowing caused the lawnmower to start puffing out copious quantities of white smoke. I looked at the mower and discovered what looked like a major problem–there was a hole in its side. So we checked with the dealer–the hole had always been there. It was the exhaust. Oops.

Then just days after the warranty ran out on the television, the sound went out. Great timing. Did you know almost nobody fixes televisions anymore? Just throw it away and buy a new one. Anyway, this one got fixed, but certainly not by me.

My mom didn’t get a new hand with a carpal tunnel problem, but did get surgery to help fix it. Mom is scheduling surgery for the other hand.

My long-running animal care gig is over, at least for now. But I do have a couple dozens puppies–which are also kittens. Both terms apply to baby mice. I’m getting a young black-and-white mouse used to sitting on my brown-and-white dog’s head.

In the writing/publishing gig, I published some articles, edited a magazine issue, and did some graphic design for a couple of magazines. I recently learned a book I helped with five years ago is being published. Finally.

I finally got dragged to Six Flags for the first time. I got pushed to try a “mild ride.” I asked, “If it’s such a mild ride, why is it called ‘Pandemonium’?”

From a recent doctor’s visit, I learned that my weight is the highest it’s ever been. Oops. So it’s more exercise and less late night snacking. And more mowing and sawing.

Have a Great Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Chanukah, Wonderful Yule, Fine Winter/ Summer Solstice, Terrific New Year!

Alden Loveshade

alden.lovehade.org

www.facebook.com/aldenloveshade

An opinion of an individual members of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect that of the whole family.

Photo of Alden on the wall from self-portrait by Alden with graphics from http://cliparts.co added by Vance Lizza.

America’s Last Righteous War

Posted on 2016/12/08 by Alden Loveshade

The USS West Virginia and the USS Tennessee burn on Dec. 7, 1941, after Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor. | REUTERS/KYODO

Seventy five years ago today, the United States of America declared war on the Empire of Japan. America had what was widely recognized as a very good reason; the day before, Japanese forces bombed the air base at Pearl Harbor in the then territory of Hawaii.

That’s the last time America had a clear and present danger to itself as justification for declaring war. So why has America gone to war several times since?

The Korean War of 1950-1953 was a colossal failure. The United States got involved in an internal conflict when North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korea today is widely accused of having one of the worst human rights records in the world.

The Vietnam War of 1959-75 was between North and South Vietnam. Again, there was no “clear and present danger” to the United States.

In the 21st century, it could be argued that the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 was an act of war; the headline on some newspapers named it so. But the War in Afghanistan didn’t begin because of an attack by that nation, but by a group of al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters. America didn’t declare war on Texas because of the Fort Hood shooting of 2009, or on the University of Massachusetts because of student participation in the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013.

The Iraq War began with the United States leading a “preemptive strike” (unprovoked attack) on the nation of Iraq in 2003. This was because the nation supposedly might pose a threat to the United States at some future point in time if certain things happened.

So why has America gone to war so many times in the last 75 years? I consulted with a friend who’s an expert on American military conflicts. I asked how many wars had America declared in the last 75 years that proponents didn’t believe would benefit American corporations? Without hesitation, he answered, “none.”

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire family.

Donald Trump Sees Women as Sex Objects: So What?

Posted on 2016/10/09 by Alden Loveshade

Donald Trump on cover of Playboy. Cover is linked and copyrighted and appears here for illustrative purposes.

Some of Donald Trump’s most prominent supporters are now backing away because of a 10-year-old tape in which he jokes about kissing women without asking and grabbing their genitals. Why? Haven’t they been paying attention?

The three-time married Donald Trump had an affair with his then future-second wife while married to his first, and impregnated her. He’s bragged about his womanizing in both speech and writing.

In addition, he promised to water-board terrorist suspects (which could include women) and do “more than that” even if it meant violating international treaties against torture. He promised to bomb fighters in Syria and “take our their families,” killing innocents including women and children in acts which could well be treated as war crimes, and then take their oil and sell it.

Then he wanted to violate the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion by barring all Muslims (including women) from coming to America.

His primary campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again,” which literally means he is saying that America, which certainly includes women, is not a great nation. (If you don’t believe that’s what it means, ask an English teacher.)

What happened with his continuing statements that were so outrageous they could be considered increasingly Anti-American? His popularity in America increased.

Now a 10-year-old tape of him making crude comments about women to another guy surfaces. So what? These are the same sort of comments probably millions of American men say to other American men when there aren’t any women around. But suddenly many of his supporters are shocked at Donald Trump’s morality in regard to women.

Why? Haven’t they been paying attention?

This blog borrows from Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: The Short List, No. 3, Donald Trump

The opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the whole family.

Dangerous Dogs, Untrained Handlers, Native Americans

Posted on 2016/09/09 by Alden Loveshade

democracy_now_jonni_joyce_dog_attack_native_american_pipeline_protestors

Image of video of dog attack incident and interview with Jonni Joyce.

Dangerous Dogs, Untrained Handlers, Native Americans clash in protest over pipeline.There’s a big debate about a pipeline going through Amerind land where it could impact on both sacred ground and the availability of clean water. A federal judge has temporarily halted some construction. But I’d like to focus on the dogs brought in to “handle” the peaceful protest.

I’m not an expert in this kind of dog training like Jonni Joyce, who is interviewed in the video by Democracy Now. But I am familiar with it as a journalist who covered crime for many years and I have worked with animals including dogs for quite a few years. It’s obvious to me in this video that the dogs, the dog handlers, or both have not been properly trained. That is completely inappropriate and is, as can be seen in the video, dangerous. Several people and apparently a horse were bit. I’m sure heads are going to roll because of this.

Here’s a shorter Facebook version of the video.

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire family.

U.S. Marines Enter 21st Century

Posted on 2016/07/06 by Alden Loveshade

This is still a rifleman.

The U.S. Marines is following orders. U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the Marines to start making titles more female friendly, i.e,, more genderless. This is especially important as the first female has signed up for the Marines as an Infantry trooper.

Some people will no doubt lambast this as political correctness gone awry. “What difference does a word make?” As I’ve been a journalist, an investigator, and have some very basic training in psychology, I can tell you it makes a world of difference. All of these professions are trained to listen very carefully to the exact wording a person uses. The precise choice of words is key to understanding a person’s thinking–especially those things that they’re hiding from you or from themselves.

I still struggle after all these years of knowing nurses that were men, even being friends with one and acting with another, to think of one as a nurse and not as a “male nurse.” Younger people who grew up hearing nurses of both sexes called “nurses” likely don’t have that problem.

See terms that are changing (and those that aren’t, such as “rifleman”), here.

Link is at http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/28/marines-keep-rifleman-rolling-out-gender-neutral-job-titles.html

Thanks to Herr Bookmonger for providing the link and suggesting a form of the title.

America is Better than Everybody Else

Posted on 2016/06/28 by Alden Loveshade

If you haven’t noticed, we’re moving close to the Fourth of July, the American Independence Day. While the phrase is rampant all the time, this is especially the time to hear, “America is the greatest country in the world.”

Ever stop to think how that sounds to non-Americans? (Of course if you aren’t American, you have). What does it literally mean? It means Americans are better than everyone else. In other words, every other country in the world is inferior to America. It’s an insult to the world.

Do an online search for “Greatest country in the world” and (as of five minutes ago) you’ll see articles either saying America is the greatest or America is not the greatest. They’ll almost all be about America.

America is a superpower. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said America is “probably the only superpower.” But the “land of the free, home of the brave” is consistently not listed as the greatest in personal freedom, in economic freedom, in freedom of the press, in education level, in medical care, or in having law-abiding citizens (instead it has the highest prison population rate in the world).

But America is the greatest country in the world. So is Russia. So is China, and the United Kingdom, and Israel, and Egypt, and Iran and Iraq and every other nation in the world to someone.

If you want to praise America on the 4th of July, by all means do so. But consider saying, “America is the greatest country in the world–to me.”

An opinion of an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily reflect the view of every member of the family.

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