Random Thoughts and Questions -- a guest post from my Key West, "alabaster Brother," Alex Symington

If the American Civil War hadn’t happened back in 1860 does anyone out there believe it never would have happened and enslavement of Africans and their descendants would be ongoing to this day? If you answered, “yes” you may stop reading now and go back to your bunker with your guns and canned goods. The answer is, of course, it was inevitable. The economic engine of the southern “one percent” antebellum days of African slave labor was unsustainable and doomed by the combination of the northern industrial revolution and the simply untenable immoral institution that it was.

So my question is why are these clowns, both north and south, proudly waving Confederate flags as if the war never happened? As if the south won? Are they saying slavery was a good thing? Do they even think about what they are doing on the planet from one flaming racist thought to the next? How would Dylann Roof’s world view be enacted? Reality does not interest these Orcs.

To the rational mind there is no explaining the blind hate of and by people except to say it exists. I overheard a man in a coffee shop enthusiastically proclaim, “I’m a Trump man all the way!” Another asked him why and he said, “I like him because he is just saying what EVERYONE is thinking.” From what I have heard Trump say that isn’t necessarily a good thing unless you are a fellow xenophobic, racist misogynist. Sure, we all like and respect a person that isn’t afraid to say what’s on their mind, but one needs to listen to the content of their pronouncements before championing them.

Speaking of doubling down has anyone ever wondered what would have happened if Bill Clinton had just come out and said, “Yes, I had sex with that woman, in fact I am a very sexually active guy. I have a tough job and I need stress relief.” Do you think if he’d just been honest people would have been ok with his philandering? I mean, after all he was just doing what EVERYONE was doing or wanted to do. Right?

Ever wonder why a lot of people that profess to be Christian and moral are neither. We have a new Pope in the Vatican pointing out that poor people around the world are suffering because hyper-capitalist behavior has turned human beings into a disposable commodity and the Pope is pointing out the obvious that that was never a tenet of Christ’s teachings. In fact he has come right out and said, “by itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion” and he also sees climate change for what it is; “The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming.”

What would Jesus do? Rape and pillage the planet as if we have a spare one lurking about? Deny the majority of people the basic necessities of life by commoditizing food and water so to maximize the income for a handful of elites? I don’t think so.  Pope Francis may be the Church’s first truly Christian pope and the one percent does not like it. If you get right down to it Jesus was a Jewish socialist that thought love was the most important and powerful force in this world and beyond and as the Beatles said, it was “all you need.”

One more thought on Donald Trump, the right wing and the comic theater of the absurd that is presidential politics. As a victim of age, in the sense I remember a time when the American people would never ever have considered the soft bodied, combed-over, egomaniacal billionaire as a legitimate contender for the highest office in the land. However we live in a new culture where greed and money and celebrity and bling are worshipped and held in high regard. The love of money and contempt for the poor and weak and powerless have been nurtured and coaxed along to the point that we have lost all perspective and some of us are no longer able to make intelligent choices. Donald Trump?! Really?!

Related:
- The Donald Trump effect: How the GOP’s “conservative principles” gave way to racism, misogyny and infantile rage
- 10 key excerpts from Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment

The strange career of patriarchy and race in the "belly of the beast"

This horrific, Good Friday night news story - Authorities: Mother Kills Two Children, Then Self  (watch video at link) - just jacked me the hell up from under myself. Nothing I'm dealing with compares to this tragedy.

So unsettling on its face, I couldn't tune it out.  And once I heard the details (such as they were), I just could not add, yet another "swirling of thoughts" to the already too-numerous ones floating around in my head.  My only choice?  Spew forth, and hopefully the drip will lead to a trickle, and then maybe a deluge - clearing my head of all the shit I've been seeing, hearing and feeling that just doesn't make sense.

It's been three weeks since this happened and I've heard nothing else about it in the local media.  I'm thinking it's because, as the officer so nonchalantly said in the video, "I can tell you that on the surface, it looks like a murder-suicide." 

First, I went off on a disgusted, "Damn!  More collateral damage from the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning Changeling's war."  And then, for reasons on which I can't quite put my finger, I got two very disturbing thoughts in succession which I said aloud:

1) "I sure hope there's going to be more investigation, because something in that milk ain't clean."
2) "I bet this is a Black family."

My eldest asked me, "What makes you think that, Mom?  The news didn't say that."  All I could say was, "Just seems so open-and-shut."   

And it did.  And it bothered me all night long. 

The next day, I got a call from this lively, Panamanian woman I'd met, at what passed for a dialogue on race relations (that's another "interesting" story I'll probably get around to telling) a month or so ago at a local community college.  Our conversation turned to the deaths and I repeated my hope that there'd be further investigation.  A divorced Army wife and long-time San Antonio resident, she looked at me and asked, "Was she Black?

Unnerved (because I'd been thinking the same thing), I said, "I'm not sure, but I'm going to try and find out."

Then she said, "You know they don't care nothin' about Black people killing each other down here."  (I thought to myself, "Or anywhere else for that matter.")

We talked for awhile about how the Changeling's war was producing collateral damage both abroad and at-home, with families torn asunder by stress due to falling-outs about money, or infidelity - and of course, the plethora of difficulties should they not come home in one piece either mentally or physically.

I told her I was going to see if there was anything more online and that I'd try to find out if the family was, in fact, Black.  I told her I'd let her know, and hung up. 

Then, I found this even more distressing and confusing, Holy Saturday story which accompanies the photo above - Threat preceded apparent double-murder suicide:

Richard Griffin sensed danger.

In the midst of a divorce, the U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen talked early Friday to his estranged wife, who was living in far West Bexar County with their two school-age sons.

In that conversation, Sheena Griffin threatened to kill herself and their children.

Richard Griffin, who filed for divorce March 1 and was scheduled to soon deploy to Afghanistan, quickly called local authorities and asked them to check on his family. He was worried, he told them.

When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found the two-story home in the 12000 block of Gable Oaks engulfed in heavy smoke.

Inside, in the children’s upstairs bedroom, firefighters made a grisly discovery: The two boys, ages 8 and 9, were dead from gunshot wounds and lying together on a twin bed, their 36-year-old mother on the floor, also dead.

“On the surface, it looks like a double-murder suicide,” Bexar County Deputy Chief Dale Bennett said, adding that a handgun was found at the scene.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Trevino said authorities were called to the home shortly before 7 a.m. It wasn’t their first time to that residence, he said, as deputies had gone to the home several times in the past because of marital disputes.

Authorities said the fire started downstairs and caused $75,000 in damages. They believe gasoline was used to start the fire. As investigators combed through the home and collected evidence, an Army chaplain escorted the distraught Richard Griffin to San Antonio.  (more at the link)

According to my source, the Griffin family was indeed, Black.

I don't know the man, I don't know his wife and I certainly don't know their marital situation.  But, taking the stories together (all three of them), everything about this screams, "ASK MORE DAMN QUESTIONS!"

1. First of all:  "in the midst of divorce," "U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen" and "...about to deploy to Afghanistan" are all issues with which most military families contend at one time or another, but particularly now.  That he'd just filed for divorce on March 1st while on pre-deployment duty and living in Killeen, coupled with that Coldwell Banker sign already on the lawn - seems strange.
2. The husband spoke to his wife sometime before 7 a.m. .  They had a conversation - that only he heard and knew about -  during which she threatened to take, not only her life, but the kids' as well.  Strange.
3. "Sensing danger," he hangs up and calls local cops to do a welfare check at his home and they high-tail it over there - arriving some time around 7 a.m. (according to the video).  Not so strange that they immediately went.  Welfare check requests are common when a spouse is deployed.  And if nothing else, Texas IS a place that takes their "patriots" seriously.  But, when the cops arrived, the house was engulfed  - in SMOKE.  They couldn't get in and had to wait for the firefighters (according to the video) who found the bodies - kids on a twin bed and the mother on the floor.  How long had this "fire" been burning??  They got there around 7 a.m. - when kids are getting up and out for school by 8 a.m., How come nobody saw the "fire" before then?  According to another television station's report in which the wife has already been blamed for starting the fire:  "The blaze was contained to the downstairs area of the home. Officials said the fire appeared to have been purposely set in numerous places on the first floor. More than $75,000 in damage were done to the home."  $75,000 in damage - downstairs!  Real estate values here are way more realistic than most places in the country.  And if that figure is even close - that's a whole lot of damage for this house - in such a short period of time (remember he spoke to her before 7 a.m. and the cops immediately responded somewhere around 7 a.m.).  Strange  
4. According to the video, the next door neighbor heard "screaming/really loud yelling" coming from the house that woke her up just minutes before the cops arrived.  But she wasn't aware the house NEXT DOOR was on fire??  They all died from single, gunshot wounds and none had suffered any burns as a result of the fire according to my source.  Who was doing the yelling?  And if she heard it "just minutes" before the cops arrived, how come she heard - not one gunshot?  As close as the homes are to one another - not a single person reported that they'd heard any gunshots.  Strange.

Fort Hood's approximately a 2-3 hour drive away, so I'm not saying the husband was there to do this.  Besides, he's got an alibi for his whereabouts during the time the bodies were discovered (unless of course, he was there in the wee hours of the morning and left (What?  It could happen!).  All I'm saying is, I'm just not convinced - without more details and investigation - that the wife did this (and no, it's not because I think Black folk don't do that kind of shit.  I must admit though - "When We Were Colored?" - I did think that way).

It bothers me that the "double murder-suicide" ruling was just accepted by the media with no apparent, substantive questions asked.  It bothers me that there seems to be no one following up on this story.  The funerals have been held (hope an autopsy was done) and it's like it never happened.  It bothers me that we've heard nothing about any continuing investigation.  And yes, it bothers me - that they were Black - and no one seems to care.

They took this man's word for everything.  Who speaks for the wife?  In patriarchal institutions, like the military and the police particularly, there's an inherent value in the words of men over women's.  Not just in Texas, but all over!

Two cases immediately jumped into my head (yeah it's crowded up there) after mulling this over - mainly because I was living in Texas and then Florida during both.  The first, was that of Darlie Routier in Rowlett, TX back in 1996.  She sits on death row, accused and convicted of stabbing her 5 and 6 year-old sons to death.  Her husband and baby were asleep upstairs and she and the two older boys had fallen asleep watching TV downstairs.  In early 2008, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed a 2007 ruling denying DNA testing of hair and blood evidence collected in 1996 which her attorneys believe, will prove her story that an intruder stabbed her, and killed her sons (there were three fingerprints found not belonging to anyone in the family or any of the scene investigators). 

This case is especially interesting because it involves new Dallas D.A., Craig Watkins (about whom I've written, here and here), a young man I respect immensely for his dogged determination in freeing (as of 2008) 17 men who were wrongly accused - based on - DNA evidence.  He inherited Routier's case and, based on the afore-linked piece about the reversal, he seems to believe that they've got the right person even though Darlie supporters disagree (I hope he wasn't just regurgitating the "company line" because he was new on the scene).  The show American Justice covered the case and it is available on You Tube in five parts, entitled, "Mother on Death Row."

The other, was the 1997 murder of Sheila Bellush in Sarasota, FL at the hands of hit-man, Joey Del Toro - paid for by her millionaire husband, Allen Blackthorne of San Antonio.  After having stalked her since their 1987 divorce - and through her new marriage to Jamie Bellush  into which quadruplets were born - he had her killed.  Her body was found by one of the daughters she shared with Blackthorne - with her two year-old quadruplets toddling around in her blood.  Sound like a "Murder By The Book" story?  It was.  Author, Ann Rule chronicled the horrific story in her book, "Every Breath You Take" in 2001.  It took THREE YEARS before he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

 As for the Griffins - yes, there was a history of marital discord.  The cops admit they'd been there before - on many occasions.  That, in itself is disturbing.  Domestic violence cases, the majority of which are reported by women, are rarely taken very seriously by the police.  I met a woman in January, who'd been arrested for domestic violence (another around-to-it draft).  She was so distraught at finding out her husband had long been cheating that she was uncontrollable when the cops arrived and they took her in.  She had no family here and was worried out of her mind about what would happen to her two kids because she was in jail. 

Women have a hard row to hoe when dealing with the rampant sexism and misogyny in patriarchal institutions.  And women of color have it even worse.

Whistling Dixie in South Florida...Part 2

UPDATE: Seems they may be taking the easy way out: "Confederate flag may end Homestead parade"

~#~

More from "NAACP, Homestead in dispute over Confederate flag." (again, all emphasis mine). Despite the "unique "small-town" atmosphere with all the urban amenities" description on the town's website, Homestead is primarily an agricultural community. It has the dubious distinction of having suffered the second costliest Atlantic hurricane in U.S. history as a result of Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane that devastated the area on August 24, 1992. The town is still recovering and rebuilding. Situated about 30 minutes southwest of Miami proper and directly northeast of the notorious, "18-mile stretch" leading down the Keys to Key West, it is the second oldest city in Miami-Dade County. It boasts a lively tossed salad of immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras with a relative sprinkling of everybody else thrown in for good measure. Republican, Lynda Bell is the first female mayor in the city's history.

''And the city of Homestead went one step further and decided to dissolve their part of the Human Relations Board,''he said.

Last month, the city council disbanded the Homestead/Florida City Human Relations Board, which was created in September 2002 after black city workers in Homestead complained of discrimination. It aimed to resolve issues involving race, immigration, police profiling, employment and housing.

The advisory board took up the issue of the flag display for six months, but did not come to a resolution with the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the chamber. The veterans group proposed flying less controversial Confederate flags at a Homestead public workshop, Bell said. But the board rejected that, ''insisting instead that the Sons of Confederate Veterans be banned entirely from all future parades,'' Bell said.

She said the changes to the human relations board, which she suggested, were implemented to make the board more reflective of the city. Hispanics make up about 60 percent of Homestead's population.

The fact that the Human Relations Board was not formed until 2002 to address racial discrimination and then disbanded only seven years later is an indication of how "Deep South" the city really is. With such an expeditious and miraculous cure for those pesky racism issues, the city ought to bottle that remedy and peddle it to the rest of the country. But I digress. The revamping of the Board follows a pattern of institutionalized racism commonly practiced where these kinds of boards, intended to address discrimination, are concerned. I've seen it firsthand. Back in 2002, an attorney with whom I worked to establish an independent Citizen's Review Board of the police department in Key West, aptly described the predictable stages of opposition. It was so dead-on, I wrote about it in one of my weekly columns in April that year. He broke it down like this (feel free to substitute city/county/federal government for police and just plain "board" for civilian oversight/review - it works):

1. The "over our dead bodies" stage, during which the police proclaim they will never accept any type of civilian oversight under any circumstances;
2. The "magical conversion" stage, when it becomes politically inevitable that civilian review will be adopted. At this point, former police supporters suddenly become civilian review experts and propose the weakest models;
3. The "post-partum" resistance" stage, when the newly established review board must fight police opposition to its budget, authority, access to information, etc.

He went on to say, "Expect minor lip service to be given to civilian review coupled with recommendations for the weakest civilian review board possible." Such was the fate of the Homestead Human Relations Board - I am certain. Another tactic that has worked amazingly well to dilute the voice of the Black community across the state is redistricting (read gerrymandering). In my June 14, 2002 column, "Could Key West go the way of congressional redistricting?" I wrote:

Consideration of the three alternatives for Key West voting districts, submitted by the Redistricting and Charter Revision Commission, was tabled last month and will be revisited in July. In the brief interval between now and then, Key West's minority voters would do well to look to the mainland, paying close attention to the legal battles surrounding Florida's new Republican-drawn congressional district maps.

Democrats, as we speak, are in U.S. District Court in Miami trying to convince three federal judges that the new district maps violate the Constitution and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to ensure that the minority vote is fairly represented. Additionally, suit has been filed in state court by Carrie Meek of Miami, Alcee Hastings of Fort Lauderdale and Corrine Brown of Jacksonville.

Florida's three black congressional representatives, the first elected since Reconstruction, contend the congressional redistricting plan as proposed will result in a substantial dilution of the black vote in their current districts. And in a June 5 Miami Herald article, Allan Lichtman, a professor at American University testifying on behalf of the redistricting challengers, agreed saying, "Several versions of races that produced black winners under old boundaries would result in toss-ups or outright defeats for black candidates now."

Democrats charge in a June 9 Herald article that the GOP has diluted Hastings' mostly black district by adding thousands of white voters, many of them residents of the Century Village condominium in Pembroke Pines.

"I'm more than happy to represent Century Village, but it will drown out the black vote," Hastings said.

Minority voters in the affected districts can expect no intervention from the U.S. Justice Department. On June 7, it concluded that the newly drawn boundaries are in compliance with the federal voting rights law.

Given all the facts above, one might wonder how the Justice Department reached that conclusion. Simple. Republicans said it was necessary in order to provide a third congressional seat in South Florida for Hispanics who are also a "protected" group, thereby satisfying Justice Department requirements. Never mind three black districts would all but disappear.

Pitting each of these minority's interests against one another, keeps the old divide and conquer routine alive and well and keeps the powers-that-be, the powers-that-be.

So, why do minority Key West voters need to pay attention? Because it appears that the exact same thing could be in the offing for Key West but the results appear more racial than partisan, particularly with the "three-district, three-at-large" and the "six-residential districts with at-large voting" proposals.

As I understand it, the first proposal would not likely ensure the election of a minority commissioner in any district since blacks and Hispanics in the three proposed districts only represent roughly one quarter of the voting population based on the 2000 Census figures. This plan could pose a problem for the city in terms of Justice Department approval.

The second proposal could also pose similar Justice Department problems given the breakdown of the numbers of blacks and Hispanics versus whites. It is questionable, though not impossible, that a minority candidate, successful in their residential district, could or would win an election citywide.

Keeping in mind that blacks and Hispanics share "protected" status, a district drawn to increase the chances of a minority representative does not necessarily have to focus exclusively on blacks. If that district incorporates Hispanic voters in the minority as well, it may be possible to achieve a high enough minority percentage to satisfy the Justice Department, as has occurred with the congressional redistricting.

Since the Supervisor of Elections has pointed out that current district lines are flawed because they were initially drawn across census block boundaries, the status quo proposal changes somewhat. But, it appears that it is still the best thing going as far as minority representation is concerned.

All registered voters have an obligation to fully understand what is on the table, so when the meeting rolls around in July, Old City Hall should be packed to the rafters.

The NAACP notwithstanding, it seems Mayor Bell, with her "more reflective of the community" comment, stands poised to use the same totally legal, voice-silencing tactics to effect changes to Homestead's Human Relations Board a similar maneuver often used by the Changeling to muffle the, "No Justice, No Peace," normally heard anytime someone mentions what he's NOT done for the Black community.)

''This board will be structured more like the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board,'' she wrote in her e-mail. ''At the end of the day, I would think that everyone, including the NAACP, would be delighted and pleased that this Mayor and Council is working to be responsive to the entire community.'' Former Homestead Mayor Roscoe Warren and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson pledged to use a softer approach -- diplomacy behind the scenes -- to work with Bell and the council to resolve the dispute. ''I'm confident we will work it out,'' said Warren, Homestead's first black mayor, who started the board in 2002. ``You don't want to elevate this [dispute] to the state and national level.''

Meanwhile, Curry hinted at a possible boycott of chamber businesses at a time when most industries have been hit by the recession. He also set his sights on the November elections. Curry pledged that the NAACP would register new voters and raise the issue of the flag if council members did not ban it from future parades. Five of the seven council members will be up for reelection in November, including the mayor.

''Someone is going to be a casualty,'' Curry said.

As has been the case in these modern days of "movements," the NAACP appears more reactive than proactive on both the Board and the flag issue. It'll be real interesting to see just how effective all the proposed back-room dealing, boycotting and registering of new voters will be. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Whistling Dixie in South Florida - Part 1

Having just had a conversation with the husband's decidedly, Republican family this weekend about South Carolina's battle to remove the Confederate flag from atop the State House (among other various and sundry racial topics), imagine my surprise when I came across this, "NAACP, Homestead in dispute over Confederate flag," while perusing MiamiHerald.com today.

All that sun, fun and Miami Vice-like, glitz in print and on both the big and small screens tends to fool folks into thinking that South Florida is any and everything else BUT the Deep South, particularly from Miami, on south through the Florida Keys and down to Key West. But the article, and the very interesting comments that follow surely gives the lie to that perception.

As a born-n-raised, Black, South Carolina girl who has lived in South Florida - from Miami to Key West - on several, different occasions, the dispute over the Confederate flag has long been a part of this journey of me. And as I've walked it, I've grown and evolved tremendously. Well, sort of. Okay, let's just say - some.

In any event, parts of the piece were particularly interesting (all emphasis mine):

A HURTFUL HISTORY

Since the Civil War, the Confederate battle flag has been a controversial symbol in American history. For some, it represents Southern heritage and evokes pride. Supporters have brought the battle flag to such events as the January's 24th Annual Kiss Country Chili Cook-Off and Concert in Pembroke Pines.

For others, it serves as a harsh reminder of slavery and racism. Thousands of white Mississippians, for example, waved Confederate flags when then Gov. Ross Barnett declared in 1962 that integration would never take place on his watch.

"Initially, we all thought this [Confederate flag-waving at the Homestead parade] was a matter of stupidity and all it would take would be to educate people that the flag is a symbol of terrorism," said Bradford Brown, first vice president of the Miami-Dade, NAACP chapter.

First of all, the Confederate battle flag will always be a controversial issue in these "united" states because let's face it, it does represent two sides of a diametrically opposed historical coin - depending on the lens through which the coin is viewed and who's doing the viewing.

For a long time (here's where that, "evolving some" comes in), I was definitely a member of the no-holds barred, no-Confederate-flag-wavin'-'round-me group. Its mere presence was, "a harsh reminder of slavery and racism."

But I can tell you exactly when I, ever so slightly, moved away from that position to the current limbo of sorts in which I find myself today. I even had a picture of it (said picture has apparently gotten lost over our many moves since I can't seem to find the damn thing. Back then, there was no saving to a CD, much less your camera!). I do, however, remember it like it was yesterday for some odd reason.

We'd moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1994 where we stayed for seven years. At the age of 10, my youngest son met a tow-headed blond kid, of East Texas parents, who would remain his best friend to this day. My son is now 25 - they still hang out.

On one of our annual "Let's get the hell out of Texas" summer vacations, we decided to take Calvin with us . He'd never, left the state before and I thought it'd be a great experience for him. The five of us and the dog piled into the Jeep and drove from Texas to South Carolina - an interesting undertaking, considering everybody except the dog was at least my size!

It was a wonderful and eventful trip (I won't even go into the three-car accident my oldest had while driving around town with the other two that extended my stay by a week! They still, to this day, blame it on a bee flying in the window!). Every time we crossed a state line, we'd stop so the guys could hop out and pose for a picture on every "Welcome to..." sign. When we got to my mother's, we decided we'd go downtown and do the whole tourist thing. The next day, we headed for historic, downtown Charleston.

We spent some time at The Old Slave Mart (preserved and restored - Lest we forget). There are sales transactions for "property" of another kind now at the open air vendors and shops which are also a part of the building today. I stopped in the doorway to talk to the Sweet grass basket ladies while the boys went through the stalls. Suddenly I heard a loud, "Man! This is so cool!"

Just beyond the doorway where my husband and I were standing, we could see Calvin and my youngest in a stall. With the sun streaming in from a small window overhead, I could see he was holding up possibly the biggest Confederate battle flag I'd ever seen. It had a picture of his favorite country music singer, Hank Williams, Jr., sewn smack dab in the middle of it. I looked at my husband, he looked at me, and I snapped the picture.

In that moment, it hit me - the flag controversy was not an either/or, but a both and. As the piece points out, to this kid, "it represents Southern heritage and evokes pride." To this not-yet a teen-aged kid, it was not, as Brown points out above, a "symbol of terrorism" on that sunny Low Country day, but his favorite singer on the Stars and Bars that his family holds dear. Jarring, to say the least.

Over the years since, I've still not yet figured out what exactly to do with this not-particularly-Teutonic shift in my thinking. But since it is a shift, nevertheless, I have at least acknowledged that there are huge challenges to figuring out how to somehow reconcile the two sides into something which marginalizes neither. I'm still workin' on it.