Category: Bob Small

Larry Elder Time Has Arrived?

Larry Elder Time Has Arrived?

By Bob Small

One of the more well-known second-tier candidates for the upcoming presidential race is African-American Larry Elder, aka Lawrence Allen Elder, the 72-year-old California radio talk-show host of The Larry Elder Show. In the “crime” section of his campaign web site, he says that one reason he’s running is to support “the Enforce-the-Law Act” to rein in the George Soros-backed prosecutors and hold them “accountable”.

He’s known for his candidacy in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election, in which he garnered an astounding 48 percent of the vote!

Elder grew up in South Los Angeles and is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Michigan Law School. This article lists 14 links at the end, including one to an article stating that Elder’s ex-fiancée has become his biggest critic, and another one entitled “Elder and Newsom: A Special Relationship”.

He opposes college-admission racial preferences as “hurting more qualified students” and says that “the people that supposedly benefit end up dropping out. You put somebody on a campus where the pace is too fast, and they’re not going to be able to keep up.”

When he was first offered a job as a talk show host, he discussed it with his then-wife, Cynthia, a physician. According to him, the conversation went like this:

Larry: “I think of talk radio as stupid, shallow, and glib”.

Cynthia: “It is, you’d be good at it”.

Elder later stated that this “gives you an idea of that marriage”.

His private life has taken several twists and turns since then.

For another view of Larry Elder, see Opinion | The Off-Mic Moment That Changed My View of Larry Elder

Larry Elder is also a prolific author.

Note: Only a Black man could get away with titling a book Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card — and Lose.

Lastly, Larry Elder is challenging the RNC debate limits.

RNC debate limits are bad for the party and the American people

“Restricting speech is the way of the regressive left, obsessed with censorship on college campuses and in corporate boardrooms. Republicans have long championed free speech.”

Hopefully, some of the second-tier GOP candidates will be included in the upcoming debate(s).

Larry Elder Time Has Arrived?

Larry Elder Time Has Arrived?

Was Allen Ginsberg A Pedophile?

Was Allen Ginsberg A Pedophile?

By Bob Small

There have been a number of accusations — such as this Substack article — that Allen Ginsberg was a pedophile.

Ginsberg was a celebrated Beat poet. He died in 1997.

There is no  evidence of  “a smoking gun” such as someone coming forth with a claim that Ginsberg raped him while a child.

Everything is circumstantial.

Let’s start with Ginsberg’s explanation for joining NAMBLA which stands for North American Man/Boy Love Association and is an advocacy group for pedophilia.

“I joined NAMBLA in defense of free speech,” he said in an essay. “. . .NAMBLA’s a forum for reform of those laws which members deem oppressive, (it is) a discussion society not a sex club. “

And then there are the accusations by writer Andrea Dworkin — who went from being an admirer of Ginsberg to wanting him dead.

“He was exceptionally aggressive about his right to fuck children and his constant pursuit of underage boys,” she said. “I did everything I could to avoid Allen and to avoid conflict.” 

In defense of Ginsberg, a lot of academic and literary celebrities who weren’t pedophiles were speaking in support of pedophiliac rights five decades ago.

Among the signers of a 1977 petition that called for sex between adults and children to be decriminalized were Michael Foucalt, Jaques Derrida, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

In my senior year of high school my eighth period English Teacher, invited us to stay for a short post-class session on “Modern American Poets”.  Ginsberg was the first one, followed by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, etc.  

Over the years, I met Ginsburg at seminars and poetry readings, and though I never was able to present him at any of our Reading Series, I did present his husband, Peter Orlovsky, at The Painted Bride Arts Center.

I said all that to say all this — as a Philly poet, now deceased, would say– I don’t believe, a quarter of a century after his death, that we have any real proof of his pedophilia. 

I do hope I’m right.

Some other websites to peruse:

Who We Are · NAMBLA

The Legacy Of Allen Ginsberg: Poet To Pedophile – Cosmoetica

Is there any proof that Allen Ginsberg was a pedophile?

‘I’m a pedophile, but not a monster’: Man writes confronting essay …

Was Allen Ginsberg A Pedophile?

Could Ryan Binkley Be Pastor-in-Chief In 2024

Could Ryan Binkley Be Pastor-in-Chief In 2024

By Bob Small

Fifty-five-year-old North-Texas businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley feels “we have to be unified” and “it’s time for us to believe”, and that he is the person to lead us.

Blinkley is among those running for president in 2024

Binkley is president and CEO of Generational Group, which has a dozen regional offices in the US.

He co-founded the Create Church with his wife Ellen, where they are the lead pastors. They have five children.

He also founded the Way to Freedom. The Way to Freedom is a 501 (c) (4) organization that seeks to rejoin conservative voices with compassionate voices.

A quote from his interview with D Magazine is “when we return to God, return to trusting each other, and return to wisdom to govern, our nation will never be the same.” 

Could Ryan Binkley Be Pastor-in-Chief In 2024

Binkley contrasts the time he has spent working for various companies with a 1995 church mission trip that he made to Guatemala, and discusses the ways in which the business part of his life intersects with the church part. He adds that “God really spoke to me that business was really part of my calling.”

He had some interesting ideas that he describes in the Word and Way interview.

While supporting the GOP’s positions on marriage and abortion, he says that, as a pastor, he believes that “the Democratic Party, in some ways, has a stronger position” on issues like “caring for the immigrant or for the poor”. He adds that “God is neither Republican or Democrat”.

A Google search for “articles about Ryan Binkley” yielded a list of fifty-some web citations spanning twelve pages. Among these is the Daily Beast article Texas Pastor and Businessman Ryan Binkley Announces Run for President.

Binkley’s ability to get his name out there online and his financial backing are both impressive. But it is doubtful he will become the first “Pastor-in-Chief” since Jimmy Carter.

On the other hand, the article below points out that unlikely things do happen.

Nobody Thought Jimmy Carter Had a Chance in the Presidential Primary

Could we end up with a President Binkley?

Could Ryan Binkley Be Pastor-in-Chief In 2024

New York Times Fear Of Transing

New York Times Fear Of Transing

By Bob Small

The  New York Times,  “the newspaper of record”, seems to have a fear of transsexuality itself, more than a fear of being dubbed “anti-transexual”, according to FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting).

Nine front-page articles were surveyed from last year; six were anti-trans, and only two dealt with the issues that human beings who transitioned would face. Transexuality is a multi-faceted issue deserving even-handed coverage, as gays and lesbians are  now  covered by the  New York Times. If the  New York Times  can’t provide this, maybe it should stick to sports.

In February, “about 200  New York  Times  contributors signed an open letter calling out the legacy newspaper for its coverage of transgender issues.”

The demand that the  Times  should “hire at least four more reporters and editors who are trans” smacks of blackmail.  Can only a transgendered person can be fair on the issue of transgenderism?

The  Vanity Fair  piece  quotes a town hall speaker who said, “There are people high up on the paper who think we are on the wrong side of history, and there is no public indication that anyone is grappling with that seriously.”

The Guardian  has another perspective.  Guardian  reporter Arwa Mahdawi says, “I do think the  Times  possesses a unique haughtiness in thinking it is above everyone else and that it performs ‘pure’ journalism that has nothing to do with advocacy.”

New York Times Fear Of Transing

She’s A Boy

She’s a Boy

By Bob Small

She’s a Boy is a video by Whistle the Band featuring Cat Cattinson, a detransitioned singer.

It’s one of those pop earworms that stays in your head.  This is about Lisa Thomas and other male to female transexuals who participate in women’s athletics.

How should we consider her and other transexual athletes, especially as Lia is listed as being pre-op.

So is Lia Thomas the Otto Pelzer or, less obscurely the Martina Navatrilova of trans sports.  Possibly it depends on whether you consider pre-op or post-op true transexuality — my vote is post-op — and whether you wonder whether there should be a handicap, like in golf.

My gut feeling is that the NCAA or the University of Pennsylvania should have noticed that Lia Thomas still had the equipment William Thomas was born with.  Of course, there’s no mid-way place for on-going transitioners to compete, no special league but would we feel the same if an actor named Lia Thomas had transitioned to William Thomas to get better roles because Hollyweird is still male-dominated and was rewarded with a Best Male Actor Oscar?

Now I’m looking at this from the outside having never wanted to be another sex but this option should be open to those who truly need to become someone else, as long as they are adults and aware of the travails that may happen.

Cat Cattinson is the detransitioned lead singer for Whistle the Band.  Whether her biology degree, her detransitioned status, her being a singer, her being a songwriter, is the most important of the adjectives to describe her is for her to decide.

Cat has said “I don’t think that people should have to be a man or a woman or non-binary to be able to express themselves or do what they want to do.”

Lastly, we’re talking about a very small part of the population.  How important is this, really?

A tip of the hat to Vermont Scott.

Here’s the video

She's a Boy

Canada’s Hidden History In The Revolution

Canada’s Hidden History In The Revolution (And Why It Wasn’t More)

By Bob Small

You have probably never heard of Jonathan Eddy and his campaign, known as Eddy’s Rebellion. He led a group of Nova Scotians who planned to conquer Nova Scotia in order to make it the 14th colony. In 1776, he led a force of 72 people (including some Americans) in an effort to take over Fort Cumberland.

Their slogan was “let’s add another stripe to the American flag.”

However, the first attack on Nov. 11, 1776 because the Indian who was supposed to open the fort door from inside was struck down before he could get the door open. A subsequent attack also failed. Fairly soon after that, an English warship containing 400 men arrived. Failing as a military hero, Eddy later became a U.S. politician.

There was also a Nova Scotian act of insurrection when “a large consigment of hay, bound for Boston, where it would be used as forage for the British army occupying the city, was burned in Halifax before it could be loaded onto transport ships. A Canadian Hay Party, if you will.”

In 1784 the mainland of Nova Scotia became New Brunswick, a refuge for the Tory loyalists fleeing New England.

Meanwhile, in another, slightly more successful invasion, U.S. forces occupied Montreal in 1775 and attacked Fort Chambly. The Americans then left Montreal on May 9, 1776.

As to why Canadians chose the British, it possibly came down to “better the devil you know than the one you don’t know”.

Another article to ponder: We Could Have Been Canada | The New Yorker

Lastly, there was the “New Light Movement, which came up in the 1770’s and took some people’s thoughts off revolution.

Canada's Hidden History In The Revolution

Canada’s Hidden History In The Revolution

The Mayor Who Would Be President

The Mayor Who Would Be President

By Bob Small

Though there has never been a president who from being mayor to president, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez believes he could be the first one.  The son of a former mayor, the Cuban-American is the only Hispanic among the major party candidates.

Suarez, who’s trying to channel Ronald Reagan, saying he tries “to be Reaganesque” in terms of being inclusive.  He has criticized his governor, Ron Desantis, for what he sees as his “personal vendetta” against Disney, a major employer in the state

Meanwhile, Suarez, who started as a lawyer, is being investigated by both the FBI and the SEC for $10,000 monthly payments he received from a South Florida developer for “consulting services” regarding a stalled real estate project in Coconut Grove.  This investigation is on-going.

The Mayor Who Would Be President

Suarez supports sex education and feels that limiting discussion about sex and gender in all grades is “excessive”.  He supports a national 15 week Abortion Ban.

He receives his mayoral salary in Bitcoin and is a big supporter of crypto-currency.

Suarez is not a “Trumper” and he has distanced himself from Desantis, both fellow Floridians.

He is billing himself as a “next generation leader.” He’s 45 and has a history of working with Democrats which ,as they say,  “may be a blessing and a curse”. He is also a big advocate for tech, as evidenced by his mayoral career.

He was quoted as saying “I think I can grow the tent-not for an election, but for a generation”.

Most recently, he shared his lack of knowledge in international affairs.  During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, responding to a question about the persecuted Uyghur people in China by responding “What’s a Uyghur?”

Swarthmore Getting LGBTQ Rainbow Crosswalk

Swarthmore Getting LGBTQ Rainbow Crosswalk

By Bob Small

Swarthmore Borough (population 6,523 as of 2023) will have its very own LGBTQ rainbow crosswalk, probably the smallest municipality by population to attain this distinction.

During the public safety segment of the June 12 Council meeting — at about hour 135.30 — it was announced that    $1,000 will be donated by the Borough for paint. All the work is volunteer. (

For what it’s worth, this we believe this is the first Borough Council we missed in 20203.

While we agree with the sentiments behind this project, we wondered what  local other towns have done this.

The June 12  notes will not be voted on until July 10th, then to be entered online.

In Phoenixville (population 19,354) the painting party became a community lovefest. 

“Together, we ensure every person is safe, loved and celebrated,” said Mayor Peter Ueschel

In Doylestown (population 8,532) there was opposition to the painting decision.

“What about Chinese Flags? What about the hammer and sickle?” asked Resident Art Larson.

“If we’re looking to have a better understanding of each other, there are probably things that work better than painting,” said business owner Jona Franklin.

It was noted that “installation and ongoing maintenance costs will be covered by the Doylestown Pride Festival”.

In Canada, Leithbridge has a “permanent transgender pride flag crosswalk and a permanent rainbow crosswalk”. 

We can also add Toronto and Vancouver to this list of cities with pride designations. Besides Philadelphia, we have Key West, Long Beach, Miami Beach, San Francisco, West Hollywood, and many others.

Swarthmore Getting LGBTQ Rainbow Crosswalk

British Movies About The American Revolution

British Movies About The American Revolution

By Bob Small

I have been thinking about how British movies have treated The American Revolution, with July 4 approaching. Well, there are only three such movies that come to mind, and that’s partially because the Revolutionary War is barely taught in Britain.

Many British considered Britain and the colonies to be like a mother and her whining teenager, as this article makes clear.

“The Madness of King George” (1994), a joint British-American production, speaks of George III, who was the king during the war. The film takes place in 1788. “When King George III goes mad, his lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.”

Note: all plot summaries are from IMDB.

To add to this, the British Prime Minister at the time was Lord Frederick North.

Briefly, there are only three British or British-American films dealing with the war. “The Devil’s Disciple” from 1959 is one of multiple versions of the George Bernard Shaw play, and it has the best cast — i.e., Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Lawrence Olivier.

The plot summary is ”the black sheep of a family and the local minister discover their true vocations during the Revolutionary War.”

Next, we have 1985’s “Revolution”, starring Al Pacino. This plot is “a trapper and his young son get pulled into the American Revolution early as unwilling participants and remain involved through to the end.” It’s actually a British-Norwegian production, and it was widely criticized for having been made in England. Though it tanked at the box office and critically, it’s now being re-appraised.

There’s also 1929’s early Brit talkie “The American Prisoner”, whose plot summary is “an American prisoner of war escapes and saves a squire’s daughter.” I did not find any online reviews.

Lastly, there’s a BBC TV series entitled “Rebels and Redcoats” (2003).

There are also a few more films that were made as joint US-Canadian ventures. To be continued.

British Movies About The American Revolution

First Serious Presidential Candidate From North Dakota

First Serious Presidential Candidate From North Dakota

By Bob Small

Doug Burgum, second-term millionaire governor of North Dakota, has declared himself a GOP Candidate for President.

In his campaign website, he touts how he inherited a $1.7 billion state budget shortfall which he balanced by cutting spending.  He’s a self-made millionaire who worked his way through college as a chimney sweep, etc.

The Stanford Graduate, from North Dakota State, (the same college as former Eagles QB Carson Wentz), sold his company, Eagle Great Plains Software, to Microsoft for a cool $1.1 billion.  He began the software company by mortgaging $250,00 of inherited farmland.

He became Governor in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020, despite his ex-wife Karen Stoker campaigning for his opponent, Shelley Lenz

He grew up in Arthur, North Dakota, population  323, 

Why Doug Burgum Could Surprise In The 2024 Republican Primary

 He is among the top six candidates financially.

A New York Times article quotes conservative North Dakota commentator Dustin Gawrylow as saying Burgum “is genuinely thinking this is a vehicle for promoting North Dakota.”

Another New York Times article mentions he has signed eight pieces of anti-trans Legislation, though there was a great deal of protest around this as per this Inform article.

For all of that, there is a great deal of hope for his candidacy.

He signed a bill requiring physicians to inform women that it may be possible to reverse a drug-induced abortion.  For his other views, see these two websites.

According to https://ontheissues.org “he would not back a nationwide ban on abortions and that the issue is best left to the states”.

First Serious Presidential Candidate From North Dakota