TOXIC HISTORY FOR MODERN TIMES

Toxic history is nothing new for baby boomers.

You could say the same for every generation aging out, closer to the end than the beginning of life.

That’s how it works if you don’t pay attention.

Toxic old people push the toxic envelope to the max because they see time running out.

One old man I don’t consider toxic still had one of the best responses to the toxicity of life:

“The public health authorities never mention the main reason many Americans have for smoking heavily, which is that smoking is a fairly sure, fairly honorable form of suicide.”

– Kurt Vonnegut

My Dad was a smoker. He used to say it was more stressful to quit than it was to smoke, and stress kills.

The old Marine looked invincible smoking a lung dart beside his tent in the Korean War. Seeing those pictures make we want to fire one up.

Except I’m not a cigarette fan.

Sometimes he got a sore throat. We could tell because he took the medical advantage of smoking menthols until his neck got better.

He did however go in for a quintuple by-pass. Heart surgery forced him to quit for a short time, then he picked up where he left off.

I call it a win that he didn’t die of cancer, or heart disease, but he still died.

Toxic History Fed By Misinformation

If you want to do better, first you need to know better, or get lucky.

How’s your luck holding up?

Johnny Cash sang about bad news, which seems right in line with today.

Old Wildfire got caught and hung, but he didn’t choke, he broke the rope, and they had to let him go.

If that’s what you’re counting on if you get caught doing the wrong thing, you’d better get yourself straightened out.

One man who got press recently was shocked by the treatment he received for failing to obey the law.

A professional white man baby boomer with a Harvard PhD in economics, Peter Navarro showed a different side when he lined up with Trump as a mover and a shaker in positions invented by the then president.

During his final year in the Trump administration, Navarro was involved in the administration’s COVID-19 response. Early on, he issued private warnings within the administration about the threat posed by the virus, but downplayed the risks in public.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede, Navarro advanced conspiracy theories of election fraud and in February 2022 was subpoenaed to testify before the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

How did it it go when he decided he had better things to do?

Toxic history is full of spunky little guys who almost get away with flaunting the law.

Almost.

Do all baby boomers, Portland baby boomers and the rest, expect preferential treatment?

Asking for a friend.

Interpreting Gun Law Misinformation

A Columbia University under-grad publication takes a curious look at guns:

Firearms and the Phallus: Using Guns to Reclaim Masculinity

If you are a man who needs to ‘reclaim their masculinity’ I have one question:

What the heck happened to it? Where did you lose it?

Personally speaking, I’ve never thought to reclaim my masculinity, but I have expressed my manliness on a regular basis.

I bench pressed 280 lbs for two reps in my fifties before failing to move up to the 300 Club.

I ran a 3:32 marathon in Seaside while trying to break three hours.

If you need to reclaim your masculinity, do something manly. Try doing something manly. You still get BoomerPdx credit if you fail, but make an effort.

Buying a gun won’t do it, and neither will making fun of family men who care more about their country than they do some painted up man claiming the title of Most Manly.

Storming the Capitol is not part of manliness, either.

Neither is whining and complaining when you’re called to explain your presence where you didn’t belong.

Toxic history is full of fringe character claiming their ‘TRUTH’ is the guiding light forward; it’s full of the exploits carried out by minions blinded by that same light

No gun, car, or trophy wife will help reclaim your masculinity. I’m sorry to say that once it’s gone, it’s gone.

The awful reality is you weren’t very masculine to start with, so where are you looking?

Try a therapist’s office.

The phallic symbol is unattainable, yet firearms and, consequently, violence are used to promote white masculinity. Gun advertisements use phallic imagery and language that promotes toxic masculine ideals. Due to the demographics of gun owners, the majority of the consumers of these products are white men.

Where does this train of thought lead?