So are black-faced coal miners now racist?

Forget poverty and risking their lives – these men are ALL racists!

Reverse racism isn't any better than the original

Heartburn isn't only caused by bad food, but bad experiences. It can also come as the result of a chronic condition; in this case, an ongoing state of agitation, one that takes aim at the innocuous while dismissing the root cause – willful blindness and the desire to remain in the dark about one's own racist presumption.

Rashaad Thomas, opinion contributor at AZ Central – when speaking about a vintage photo of coal miners in a downtown Phoenix restaurant – says: "My concern that the photograph of men in blackface was a threat to me and my face and voice were ignored."

But was he ignored? Or was he educated?

Thomas entered the establishment amidst friends, friends who told him the truth. The photograph on the wall was – in fact – a black-and-white vintage snapshot of coalminers (a marginalized group, if ever there were, in today's economy). Thomas, however – intent on seeing what's not there – insists the photo featuring coalminers having a pint after-hours represents oppression to people of color. Forget the oppression of those who live in poorer areas who brave the mines.

Check out the realities of coal mining in current days in the video below:

In his mind, Thomas experienced a fast-forward to a completely unrelated piece of so-called art, "Birth of a Nation," a 1915 film that features white men in blackface. He drew correlation to art galleries where he feels he's not represented. (Welcome to my world. Middle-aged women with laugh lines and less-than-perfect figures don't feature predominantly in art galleries. I don't see myself adequately represented in action film either, or Hot Rod Magazine. But that's beside the point.)

"The white owner saw coal miners in the photograph. Therefore, it was not offensive," Thomas says.

Well, Thomas doesn't seem to grasp that he saw the restaurant owners as white. He immediately presumed a bias based on skin color. He ignored the truth, giving a pass to his own racially charged world view. A snapshot of coalminers isn't just art, either. It isn't imagination. It's reality. Men – including men of color – suffer greatly going down into mines, risking their lives to support their families and keep America warm. It's a fact. Not a fantasy. Not a propaganda film.

The propaganda here is the pretense that a picture of reality on the wall – workmates sharing a pint – is somehow marginalizing others. An offense. What's real is the not-so-subtle intimidation of others to agree with one's delusions. The restaurant owner heard Thomas out. Listened to his complaint. Thomas's friends endured his pulling the plug on their holiday party. All the while, in addition to Thomas's reverse racism issues, he could be tagged with male privilege.

Thomas said, "I asked a Latinx and white woman for their opinion. They said it looked like coal miners at a pub after work. Then they stepped back, frowned and said its men in blackface." One must ask why these two observers were pressed to express something other than their initial observation. Why did they step back? Were they asked to do so? Were these women marginalized by a man who, unsatisfied with their response, pressured them to his male-centric point of view?

The photo in question featured only one woman. A woman in an apron. That's offensive, especially considering women work in mines, too! So while Thomas ranted on about what he saw, he completely ignored the lone woman portrayed in an apron, as if serving a bar full of miners was her only value. That's presumptive male privilege for you. Thomas was so wrapped in his Y chromosome, that the plight of women – the one in the photo and the two female observers – isn't even considered. Too bad these ladies weren't given a voice to make Thomas "step back" and reassess his live-art enactment of male privilege.

So while Thomas may think, "A business' photograph of men with blackened faces culturally says to me, 'Whites Only.' It says people like me are not welcome," what he's saying to the world is – I like my heartburn and want to keep it. Too bad.

Who's your daddy?

Think daytime television is the only place you'll spy a surprise paternity test reveal? Think again. Humans aren't the only ones who monkey around, cuckolding spouses.

The Basel Zoo in Switzerland is reeling from the revelation that little Padma – a five-month-old orangutan – was not sired by Budi, the 14-year-old male enclosed with mother Maja. Why? Because Maja and her paramour are separated by a fence. But apparently love finds a way.

Keepers don't know precisely how.

But DNA doesn't lie. The routine exam that tracks DNA for future breeding purposes told the tale that may have gone hidden otherwise.

Here's a video clip of a human paternity test reveal conducted as a result of a failed vasectomy. It's far tamer than the daytime television variety that make human beings out to be animals, but you get the idea:

Gotta love that dramatic music throughout. But as HuffPo reports, "It appears that for Maja and Vendel, the dominant male at Basel Zoo, the dividing fence was no obstacle to some monkey business." Poor Budi.

Thankfully, all parties involved didn't behave like animals when learning the truth.

Ground Control to Major Tom – not quite a space capsule!

If you missed the Amsterdam Funeral Fair, no worries. We've got you covered – at least when it comes to the latest high-tech option to off yourself (that's suicide). This "solution" is not quite the four-letter word in socialist Europe that it still is here in the States – at least in some regions. Europe has advanced to the point where offing yourself is something to celebrate (much like killing one's own culture in an effort to virtue signal; there's nothing quite as holy as a heady dose of self-loathing).

Enter: The Sarco Capsule.

"The device is designed in two parts. One part is a reusable machine base and the other is a capsule that can be detached and used as a coffin," IBT reports. "The machine that has been developed in the Netherlands by Dr. Nitschke and Engineer Alexander Bannink, is designed in such a way that it can be 3D printed and assembled in any given location."

The killer pod's design will be open-source, making it free for anyone to copy and use. Nitrogen gas is released via touch pad, voice commands, or a series of blinks. The victim falls asleep and never wakes up. Handy, that.

Check it out (fast-forward to the two-minute mark for the English explanation of this so-called marvel):

Ruptly explains, "Sarco, short for sarcophagus, presented a suicide pod that enables its users to take their own lives at a push of a button." You have to be of sound mind to be given the code to take your own life – arguably not a sane thing to do.

But who am I to judge? Nobody would ever be pressured into using such a device. Never. Never. Never. Kind of like those pushing for third-trimester abortion say that women would never ever seek out such a procedure for anything other than the most horrific of medical conditions. Right?'

But people are fickle creatures, and what's unlivable to some is entirely doable by others. All those Harvey Weinstein victims a la #MeToo were of sound mind, no? Careers were made. Roles won. And the Hollywood machine moved forward, letting women choose what they wanted. The trouble with choosing to kill oneself is there is no recourse to rethinking motives, no ability to seek compensation or a change of culture. Not for the victim. But, hey, Sarco is green and easy to use.

"Sarco does not use any restricted drugs, or require any special expertise such as the insertion of an intravenous needle. Anyone who can pass the entry test can enter the machine and legally end their life," Dr. Nitschke said.

And we all know that removing legal restrictions is the way to free the vulnerable into doing what's best for them.