Critics, however, associate Serra with human rights violations and the destruction of native cultures, among other things charging that natives at his missions who refused to embrace Christianity were often mistreated, including imprisoning them to prevent them from leaving.

Source: Another statue of St. Junipero Serra vandalized in California

I hated history for most of my school-forming years till I had a great teacher in High School who taught us that we would never comprehend what happened if we did not understand what was going on at the time the events happened. We were forced to research from what was eaten to medicine to transport to literacy, basically what the normal people were doing and how were they living. It made for an amazing comprehension on how things came about and how we got here from there.

The other thing he taught is was to avoid (as much as could be avoided) to see past events under the tinted glass of modern “morality” and politics. This was amazingly helpful to weed out the tons of bullshit surrounding the New History that was becoming vogue back then and now populates our classrooms.

Was Saint Junipero Serra the perfect man? Nope. Was the monster they are trying to make people believe now? Not by far. He was doing his church mandate of conversion, created missions in God-forsaken places and brought peace and sanity to the region.

“Damn it, Miguel! How can you say that? He is responsible for the destruction of the culture of the poor Aztec injuns!”  Well, the Aztec culture was not their, it was Mayan that they pretty much stole as they were what we would now call an invading species. And the Aztecs were keen on not only addicted to warfare and torture, but loved to sacrifice thousands of human beings every time they had one of their religious festivities. And they were also into certain gourmet delicacies that were a bit unusual: Cannibalism.

Let us not forget that Cortez’s handful of soldiers had the backing of tens of thousands of indians that were tired of the shit from the Aztec Elite and Priests. The idea that somehow the Spaniards and specifically Junipero Serra were responsible for the destruction of a peaceful and creative culture is just an unadulterated lie. But makes for great Social Justice fodder.

I am not sure if this guy was trying to tag me as White Hispanic Supremacist or a Hispanic White Supremacist after figuring out that not all (possibly a big majority) of “People of Color” lockstep with the Liberal B.S.

There are a lot of guns in Miami. There are a lot of Gun Owners in Miami. There are a lot of NRA members in Miami. There are a lot (majority) of Hispanics in Miami. Figuring out that Hispanics of all colors and beliefs might be members f the NRA is not such an intellectual leap.

This is just lovely.

Protesters threatens news reporter then tosses water at him.
Former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley was charged with the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith and found not guilty Friday, Sept. 15, 2017. Video by Denise Hollinshed.

I can almost read the reporter’s mind: “But…but I am on your side! Power to the People, No Justice, No Peace and all that! Why am I being treated that way?”

Just when you thought the threat against you are your profession came from Dana Loesch and the members of the NRA, you realize you have been getting high on your own supply and you are just a flunky about to be beaten to a pulp by the “downtrodden” you “defended” all these years.

There is no loyalty in Liberalism.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Allow me to introduce to you my generator:

Bought “second-hand” after Wilma from somebody who used it all of 8 hours and decided he wanted a whole house system. We paid $400 and IIRC, back then this baby was running well over the $500 mark. I am sure that after a decade, there are more efficient and cheaper generators out there and that only means one thing: Somebody wants to get rid of his and you can get it for even less.

Go through your Wish List of things you want for the next hurricane or natural disaster and then start combing the local selling exchanges online. Get what you can and store it properly. Make a generator top on your list because they do come handy. We had a fridge and a freezer full with food bought before the hurricane was a threat and nothing was spoiled; that alone paid for the $400. And the additional bonus was to run the fans to fend off the mortal heat we had inside the house. Kid you nor, it reached 91 degrees.

PS: The white stuff on the tires is Loctite insulating foam. You see, the tires were not solid and the rubber cracked after many years of faithful service. It is a pain in the butt to drag that thing on flats, so I found out some videos in YouTube that showed how to convert them into solid tires by using insulating foam. I used Loctite rather than Great Stuff because the product dries bigger and denser… which led to some excess pouring out from locations I did not make sure were properly covered. Really, you don’t want to see them tires before I installed them back.  And they are not perfectly round, but then again I am not planning on entering the generator into a NASCAR race, just need to drag it in and out storage and that is good enough.

She is about the only actress in Hollywood that makes me feel giggly.

I meant no offense to Miguel with my post on Shannon Watts.

I find his experience enlightening.

In response to El Mac and Miguel, let me give you my perspective.

I may have been over broad in my condemnation of the church as a whole.  What I speak of was deathly real in the Polish/German/East European tradition, which is my background.

I heard “scratch a Christian, find an antisemite” from not just my Grandfather, but many Old World Ashkenazim Jews from that region of the world.

My mother’s side of the family is Polish Catholic.  She never forgave my mother for “marrying one of those people.”  Yes, I heard her say that to my mother.

I was told a story about my parents wedding, that I have confirmed from multiple family members.

My Great Uncle on my father’s side was from the same region of Poland as my mother’s family.  My great uncle was talking to my maternal great grandmother at my parents wedding.  My great grandmother didn’t speak much English and my great uncle was fluent in Polish.  She asked him how he spoke such good Polish.  He said (in Polish) “I’m Polish.”  My great grandmother replied very loudly, “You’re not a Pole, your’e a Jew” and walked away.

In more objective history, the Irish community in the US had a history of terrible antisemitism.  Boston was notorious for being the most antisemitc city in America.  In that same vein was Father Charles Coughlin, who was an radio personality and priest who railed against the Jews and was an advocate for peace with Nazi Germany, until he was kicked off the radio in 1939.

I should also say that this was not entirely a issue with the Catholic church.  The pogroms of Poland and Russia were supported by both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

I can say, growing up in Miami, I didn’t experience antisemitism from my Catholic friends and neighbors, almost all were of Latin American heritage.  Cuba and Argentina also gave Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany safe refuge, which the US did not.

I guess this is why the work of John Paul II sicks out of history so much for me, he was not just a Catholic but a Polish Catholic condemning antisemitism.

The history between Christians (in general, not just Catholics) and Jews is rocky, that is undeniable.  It has improved over time, and I acknowledge that.  Miguel’s experience is literally and figuratively half a world away from that of my background and experience, and I am sorry if I offended him.

I hold no animosity to the current Church for the past (we can have a long conversation however about this soft on socialism Pope).

Lastly, long time readers of my posts know that I do no hold back when it comes to big goverment supporting Jews.  I have called Bloomberg, Schumer, Feinstein, and their ilk Kapos before, and given the chance to say it to their faces, I’d do that too.  I cannot tolerate these Bagel Bolsheviks who seem to think being Jewish means understating the inside jokes in Woody Allen films.