Benyomin Ellegant - On the Times We Live In

  One individual, whom I think is president of the Andrew Carnegie fan club, accused me of engaging in gaslighting. To be honest, I was not sure of what gaslighting was, so I had to look it up. Here is what Psychology Today says about it: Gaslighting is an insidious form of manipulation and psychological control. Victims of gaslighting are deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true, often about themselves. They may end up doubting their memory, their perception, and even theirsanity. Over time, a gaslighter’s manipulations can grow more complex and potent, making it increasingly difficult for the victim to see the truth. Well, I do not know about me being a gaslighter. I don’t try to manipulate anyone but I do try to persuade using logic and I do believe that where I’m shown to be wrong, I’ll try to change my position to more adequately accommodate the facts if I’m not able to establish a rational rebuttal. But I do know

  Some of my Face Book friends posted comments about this picture and I appreciate that.   I get on FB partially as a break from studying and partially (and primarily) because I want to persuade.   I very seldom link my posts to others in the hopes that they will simply see them.   I (erroneously or otherwise) think that linking my posts to others is an imposition on their privacy and so I do not do that.   But since these individuals responded to my posting of this picture, I would like to share with them and you, my thoughts. I preface by saying that I took that post down along with the comments so to maximize as much anonymity as is yet possible.  As I hope everyone can see, what was missing from that photo was the presence of former President Trump and his wife. During the 2016 primaries, I was rooting for Ted Cruz.   I liked him and I still like him.   He’s intelligent, articulate, passionate and his agenda seems to agree with mine.   I was disappointed when President Trump

  In June of 2004 Jack Ryan, Republican candidate for the United States Senate to represent Illinois, withdrew from the race. Prior to his departure, I recalled seeing an article in the Chicago Tribune reporting on findings from the court mandated unsealed documents from Ryan's divorce proceedings with his wife, Jeri Ryan. The personal documents, now disclosed to the public, revealed that Ryan had attended many strip clubs and brothels throughout the country and abroad. Subsequent to these revelations Ryan dropped out of the race. He was replaced by another Republican and former ambassador, Alan Keyes who, in desperation, sought to block the Democratic nominee from getting to the US Senate. The Democratic nominee was a man by the name of Barack Obama. History records that Mr. Obama won the Senate seat. Mr. Obama never even completed his first term in the Senate before he was vaulted into the highest office in the land. He had become the first Black President of the United S

    Islam can never win this war against Israel and here’s why. I could give a fideistic reason and simply say “our God is bigger than their god”, but I disdain that sort of reasoning (or lack thereof). The following, I would argue, is a more reasoned explanation: All attention has been drawn to Jerusalem. I’m sure that many are saying “If only that racist, orange man, Donald Trump had not made Jerusalem the capitol of Israel, this conflict would not be going on with the level of ferocity that we’re seeing.” Yes, Jerusalem is one focal point in this conflict but I’d like to draw your attention to another focal point: Selkopp Norway. I’m sure this may have some of you scratching your heads, but allow me to explain. As a means of explanation, I need to discuss the fundamental mindset behind this war against Israel. Yes, there is a deep animus on the mind of the purveyors of Islam and the Jewish people. We Jews, knowingly or otherwise, via our survival of history, bear witness t

  There is a very large elephant in the room but it is either racist or anti-Semitic to acknowledge it.   I don’t believe that that elephant existed (or at least was very large) at the time of Martin Luther King.   The black family was still largely intact.   His enemy was rampant racism from outside the black community.   He was justified and, dare I say, effective, in confronting that issue.   And a lot of progress has been made in the area of racism.   How else could the United States have elected a black President of the United States?   How else could there have been a veritable plethora of black Congresspersons and Senators as well as two black justices of the Supreme Court? Nevertheless, the Black Community still has its woes.   It is an understatement to describe its problems as such because those woes are tragic.   Black on black violence is considerably more rampant than white on white violence percentage wise and whereas the trend of the former is more likely to be gang