Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Re: "Gurriel suspended for racist gesture—But Astro avoids ban during Series, gets 5 games to start 2018," Sunday SportsDay story.

A five-game suspension for an insensitive gesture. Don't guys commonly joke and rib and gloat when they finally make the play that's eluded them? Accidentally catching his response on camera has caused the Astros' Yuli Gurriel five games of no play, no pay in the 2018 season and the stigma of being a racist.

Let's now compare that scenario of a player to the raucous, biting, inflammatory daily spoutings of Donald Trump, a man occupying our government's highest office, and . . . give him a pass, a daily pass to get away with saying whatever he wants. He's not just accidentally caught on camera, he broadcasts his insults on purpose to as wide an audience as possible.

Where is the overseeing machine to reign him in, to make him pay and be accountable for his excessively heinous comments? We have things screwed up around here. This is upside down.

Martine Chambers, Dallas/Lake Highlands

#USA🇺🇸 #Japan🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/EvxFqAVnFS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2017

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No Heavy Petting (1976).

Here.

Here.

I started this blog on 5 November 2003 (here is the first post), so today is my 14th anniversary. I'm pretty sure I haven't missed a day of blogging, which means that today is my 5,115th day of posting at least one item. I've posted as many as 20 items in a single day. Thanks for visiting. My readership is way down from what it used to be, but I still enjoy blogging every day. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to vent.

Here is an interesting essay about the irrationality of atheism. I've been saying for years (in this blog and elsewhere) that if belief in God requires a naturalistic explanation, then so does belief in no God. Why would one belief but not the other require a naturalistic explanation?

Here are the latest rankings. My beloved Arizona Wildcats (6-3) lost to USC yesterday evening and have fallen out of the top 25. Easy come, easy go.

We all have been taught that the United States is an exceptional country, as well as heard numerous proclamations by our fellow Americans that we are the greatest country on the face of the Earth, and even perhaps that we are the greatest country that the world has ever known.

I have been fortunate enough to have been to approximately 40 countries and to have worked and communicated with people from many places. We truly are exceptional. Here are some of the ways:

We love guns and possess somewhere around 300 million of them, resisting almost all gun regulation despite our extraordinary gun violence. We even prevent government-funded research into gun violence.

We have a major political party that values gun rights more than a right to health care—thus it is not surprising that even though we spend almost twice as much on health care per capita as the average developed nation, our results, when compared to other OECD nations, are frequently poor, particularly on infant mortality.

We have a president and administration that deny climate change and are the only country to have pulled out of the Paris climate accord.

We are so deeply partisan and fact-averse that despite our educational opportunities, we are easily susceptible to foreign election interference because we readily believe the worst of people with whom we disagree.

We have a substantial element of citizens who deeply oppose contraception availability even though the result of such frequently is unwanted babies born into poverty or aborted.

We have a government that asserts we have starved our military and its needs despite the fact that we spend more on the military than the seven next highest-spending nations combined.

Our country does have many accomplishments of which to be proud, but I fervently hope that in my remaining years we become less “exceptional” so that my grandchildren can enjoy a greater quality of life.

— Lawrence Casazza, Chicago

Heading into the 12 days with great negotiating strength because of our tremendous economy. https://t.co/4HnXkR3EhW

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017

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