Vaccines and Tylenol

I got my annual shots yesterday morning (Covid booster, and an 'elder American bonus' flu shot).  

This morning, my shoulder was a bit sore at the injection site, and I had just a touch of the post-vaccination blues, so I popped a couple of Daddy's-little-helper acetaminophen tablets (Tylenol, if acetaminophen is too hard for you).  

I don't generally consider myself to be a Devil-may-care chance taker, but today I take a bow.  

Now, to go find my water colors, in case these adventures have made me artistic.  

Child: Mummy There’s going to be a fire.

A moment of comic relief from Francois Truffaut's movie adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 came when a mother was walking her son across an overpass, as 'fire trucks' zipped by below, with sirens wailing.  The boy tugged at his mother's sleeve and shouted, 

"Mummy, look there! Firemen!  There’s GOING TO BE a fire!" (IYKYK)

I think we have a similar moment now, except in real-life, as Federal forces pour into otherwise peaceful cities ... "Look Mummy! Federal police forces!  There's going to be civil unrest!"

Science Doesn't Negotiate with Folklore

Science exists in the realm of verifiable reality.

It is not the responsibility of science to negotiate with folklore, or cultural norms, in pursuit of compromise.  

The best science indicates the Earth, and our Solar system as being about 4.5 billion years old, with the most rudimentary life emerging only after a sterile half a billion, give or take a hundred million years.  

Traditional beliefs generally date the beginning of life to a much more recent time - in some cases, less than 100 thousand years - or even less.  

It is ridiculous to look for a middle ground ... say, maybe two billion years.  This would be unsatisfying to both science and folklore.  Let each of them exist in its own lane, untroubled by the difference.  

Turning DEI into a Negative

DIVERSITY

EQUITY

INCLUSION

Say these words aloud ... slowly ... one at a time.  Let each linger in your mind for a moment.  Chew it intentionally; digesting it slowly before moving on to the next.  Don't mush them together; abbreviating and conflating them - denuding them of their meaning.  

Unless denuding them of their meaning is your intent.  In that case, just say the first letter of each word, and chant the resulting contraction rapidly, without any of the underlying reality.  Listen constantly to speech that is peppered with this abbreviation, spoken contemptuously, until you come to adopt that contempt as your own.  

Over time, in your mind, these concepts are no longer societal North Stars, and the source of our nation's strength - but are instead, part of an insidious plot to weaken us; fairness is now perceived as cheating; up is down, black is white, good is bad. 

Surrender yourself to the NewSpeak.  

Voltaire, the French Enlightenment writer and philosopher,  is credited with coining the expression, ‘Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities’.  As we learn about loyal employees losing their careers, accused of nothing more pernicious than being a 'DEI hire', or see American citizens rounded up, roughed up, and detained for no cause other than that they met the profile of a class of human beings our government intended for that treatment, how can we not ask ourselves what have we become?

Trump Justification for firing Fed Governor

 Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is based on his claim of " ...  "sufficient cause" to remove Cook immediately, pointing to accusations that Cook made false statements on mortgage agreements."

Understanding the President's lifelong dedication to truth, lawfulness and the American way, it is understandable that he would react with such institutional repugnance to allowing her to continue serving in her role as a Fed governor.  

Considering his response to the mere appearance  of financial dishonesty, one can only imagine, if instead of APPEARANCE, she had actually been charged, tried and convicted.  

Just imagine his outrage!  

Trump Real Estate Fraud

Jewish Voices Against Genocide

I am blessed with many Jewish friends, and have been cautious about raising my voice in criticism of Israel, because I know that many of them identify with that nation.  

But, considering that the disproportionate power that Israel has in that region, the reality that this power comes directly from the United States ---and the reckless, often inhumane way in which they employ it, it has been hard to not scream in rage.  

It is gratifying to hear that many of the most outspoken voices calling attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza are Jewish, including American Jews, it is time now (if not long ago) that we add our voices to that chorus.  

This Israeli woman is courageous, and correct, in her characterization of what is going on there.  

It is indispensable that Jewish voices take a lead in expressions of outrage, in order to draw a clear, bold line between themselves and the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity.

Churchill is often credited with the phrase, "History is written by the victors".  That might be better phrased as "History is written by the survivors".  The world is unfamiliar with the history of the Punic Wars, from the perspective of the Carthaginians.  And we have had few sources to learn the perspective of the indigenous people of North America of their conquest by European settlers.  

It is an all-too familiar story; a group of Europeans leave to find a new home; whether to escape religious intolerance, establish their own religious intolerance, to escape oppression, or to write their own new chapter in history.  When they 'discover' their new home, the people who already live there are seen as obstacles, to either be removed, slaughtered, or placed on reservations - which tend to not be on the best land, and shrink over time, or if resources are found on the rez.  If the indigenous people find the conditions intolerable, and rebel, they are labeled ''renegades', or 'terrorists', and whatever actions they take when they 'go off the reservation', are treated as though that's where the trouble began.  Often these actions are used as a justification to steal even more of their land, leaving them in even more dire circumstances - and to characterize them as more savage, and less deserving of even the substandard conditions that drove them to that desperation. 

The choices for indigenous people are the slow-motion genocide of privation and starvation, or the more rapid genocide that follows acting in rebellion.  

Scopes Trial Centenary

With all the monkey business constantly flooding all lanes of media, it would be easy to overlook significant milestones from the past.  

The trial of Tennessee science teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution was wrapping up a century ago this weekend.  Tomorrow will be one hundred years since defense attorney Clarence Darrow called, as his only witness, prosecutor William Jennings Bryan, and choreographed a self-destruction of possibly the most prominent religious fundamentalist of that age.  

Scopes Monkey Trial

Though the trial is viewed by history as a victory of science over the teaching of folklore as literal reality, the defendant was actually found guilty, and the law was not overturned until decades later.  Stranger yet, there are still many in this country that would, given the chance, reinstate such laws.  

'Illegals'

ILLEGALS

Here's one of my late Father's favorite riddles;
"What's the difference between 'unlawful' and 'illegal?' "

Unlawful means 'against the law', and illegal is a sick bird."  

They're actually both adjectives, and as such, they are meaningless when not referencing a noun.  Without a noun, the adjective just hangs there like a wet paintbrush with nothing at the business end to describe or modify.  

This is more than bad grammar or poor English -- though it very much is these.  It can also be intentional, with the intent of diminishing or hurting another.  

Using a bare adjective to describe a human being is intended to dehumanize them.  When a person is identified only by an adjective--particularly one with a demeaning connotation--it makes it easy to ignore our sin when we treat them as less than human.  It is not the husband, father, hard worker, or desperate refugee who is being kidnapped, and sent to a concentration camp; it is an 'illegal', and by ridding our streets of them, we become more, for want of a better term ...  'legal'.  Viewing them in this way helps us feel like we are righteous, and we feel no shame when we then sit in a pew the next Sunday, praying to a God who very explicitly condemns treating humans this way.   

Though this kind of reductionist language is intended to diminish the target of our grammatical omission, it is we who are reduced.  

So, to borrow from my Father's old riddle, what's the difference between a sick bird, and a cruel, not-too-intelligent redneck? 

Future Amnesia

Denying food to the hungry, shelter to the unhoused, health care to the poor, and civil rights to all; while transferring the savings from this parsimony (and more) to those with the most, who need it least.  

Thousands of people who have been drawn to our land by our long-standing promises of sanctuary, fairness, and the promise of a better life--even some who have lived here and contributed for decades--are kidnapped and deported to hell-holes even more dangerous than the ones they fled to reach our shores.  Denying these captives of an opportunity to defend themselves - even a writ of habeas corpus, the most basic of civil rights under two-thousand-year-old Common Law.   

Doing all this while weekly finding assurance within the walls of a church; feigning worship of a God who clearly condemns their every workweek action; yet finding validation from a preacher who wouldn't dare to call out their blasphemy, for fear that the jingling in the offering basket might be silenced.  

We have been here before.  

One day, our nation will awaken to the cruelties being committed in our name, and end them ... 

And the next day Republican school boards across our land will create curricula that will prevent the history being created today from being taught tomorrow.

Bill Moyers' Passing

I think it may be a bit self-indulgent to feel like it was like a punch in the gut when I learned a few minutes ago the Bill Moyers has died.  He was ninety-one years old, and has shared from the depths of his soul for his entire life.  It is time to let him rest, rather than be envious of whatever thoughts he might have left unshared at the end of his time.  

One of the last television shows I would try to schedule around was Bill Moyers Journal on PBS.  He would interview guests I had never heard of, but would seek out once I learned of them.  His extended conversations with Joseph Campbell are such a treasure-trove of insight on mythology, showing commonalities of the elements of the heroic narrative that spans cultures, and unites humanity.  The way they shared their conversation invited the listener to be part of it.  It really conveyed a feeling of oneness with humanity.  

As brilliant as Bill Moyers was, it was never his intent to display his intellect, but to facilitate our visit into the intellect and imagination of the guest he was interviewing.  It's been a while, but I've enjoyed many hours hiking in the woods, with the volume my earbuds set so I could hear my footsteps, and the squirrels, but also take in the insights of  conversations like this one, with Campbell.  

Moyers & Campbell

One-Liner Quips

GOLF - A game played by fat middle-aged men who pretend to be athletes, and by athletes to just want to relax and pretend that they are not.   

Bridge of Giggles

La poésie n'est pas incompréhensible, 
 elle ests inexplicable.  
 - Octavio Paz

Little Donny Not Loved

My father never had any use for 'bleeding hearts', or 'sob sisters', so I know I risk his wrath from the afterlife, as I express my sympathy here.  

But I can't help but wonder what chance the Current Occupant of the White House ever had ... 
and just how different things might have turned out, both for him and for the world, if he had ever, for a moment been shown love as a child.  

Mass Deportations

The internet is alive with stories about people being deported due to mistaken identity, or for exercising their rights to free speech, guaranteed by our Constitution.  In some cases, they are not just being deported, but are condemned, without due process, admittedly by mistake, to a hell-hole prison, where our government intends to abandon them to their fate.  

Seems to me an excellent subject for discussion in the days leading up to Good Friday - the annual remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  In that context, it is worthwhile for each of us to consider in our own hearts, which side we are on.  

-------------

Well, Jerry, you have wound yourself into a pretty tight logical Gordian knot here. The validity of your point rests on a web of entirely:

((- You are absolutely certain that nobody you know meets the criteria you have set

AND

- All of those we have sent to this hell-hole meet the criteria you have set)

OR

(- You are willing to relax some of your criteria for the people you know... perhaps they may beat their wives, so long as the are not gang-affiliated,

OR

- the gangs with which they are affiliated are not 'illegal'.))

OR

The other possibility is that this has nothing whatsoever to do with logic, fairness, or rule of law. You just don't like having Latinos here--legal or not--and are happy to randomly round them up, and send them to this death camp, irrespective of what they may or may not have done - and will come up with any excuse to justify your behavior.

SAVE Act and DINOs

The Republican Party faces an ongoing demographic barrier to remaining relevant. A key part of their response to this is to disenfranchise as many progressive voters as possible. Once enshrined in law, these changes are almost impossible to reverse, because those most seriously affected no longer have a voice in our democracy - and are thus reduced to a substandard tier of citizenship.

Whether one is a woman who changed her name when she married, a poor person who doesn't have a passport, or even a public figure who moves fluidly between using her birth surname, her husbands surname, and a hyphenated version of both, the effect is the same - disenfranchisement.

Even a small number of Democrats voting for this outrageous attack on fairness lends it a transparent patina of bipartisanship. We cannot allow the center to be moved so far to the side of unfairness ... or leave it to the Senate to display the courage lacking in our representatives.

Pump and Dump

The folks who gloat over the about-face on tariffs this week—who say that maybe he has learned his lesson, and is chastened—have missed the point.  

It's a variation on he classic 'pump-and-dump', perfected in the days before securities regulations, to move money from investors to insiders.  There is money to be made on stocks, whether they are going up or down.  The trick is to know which way they are going, and when.  

Though sharing or receiving, and acting on, inside information for a single stock has earned high-profile individuals a few high-profile stretches in jail (Martha Stewart, for example), there isn't much in the way of precedent for going after those with inside information on the timing of tectonic shifts in the entire economy, and the timing of their reversal.  Trillions of dollars were made and lost in the recent boomerang announcements of crippling tariffs, followed by their postponement.  The opportunities for an insider for sudden wealth would be irresistible - assuming such an insider intended to resist in the first place.  The person who can pull these economic strings would be in a position to make or break fortunes, and demand loyalty from the wealthiest people on the planet.  

He has indeed learned a lesson - a lesson he intends to repeat over and over again, until he perfects it.  He has nothing to lose.  He's playing with house money.

Imagine, if You Will

Imagine, if you will ...

You wake up in a world in which this youngster, Anthony, is now the nation's leader. He has never been disciplined, and demands that his every whim be manifested in the world. 

Political and business moguls, long thought of as powerful, are revealed to be mere ass-kissers and boot-lickers.  At the leader's command, international bodies of water are obediently renamed, and annual celebrations and remembrances disappear from calendars.  All that displeases him is made to go away.  

Where do these lost things go?  Better to ask, what kind of Twilight Zone remains behind.  

Twilight Zone - It's a Good Life Excerpt

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde

Like many Americans, I had not heard of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde until she led the service at the National Cathedral on the day of the recent inauguration. And, though I admire her courage in speaking truth to power; and preaching kindness and mercy to one from whom it will be most needed, but is unlikely to be forthcoming.

But she is not New in this post, and this is not the first time she has used that office to show mercy where it is sorely needed. This post showed up in my feed this morning - and I find that I admire her even more.

Bishop Budde & Matthew Shepard

Emergency Response

There may be no time that offers a better window into the character of an individual, a leader, an organization, or a nation, than how they respond to an emergency.  

It has been so gratifying to see communities around southern California, northern California, and throughout the west, from Oregon and Washington to Utah, and as far east as Houston Texas, respond to the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles in the spirit of shared humanity, and instinctive sacrifice and heroism.  Resources from Canada, Mexico, and other nations have likewise joined the effort to ease the loss, and make these communities whole once again.  Even Ukraine has offered to share from their hard-pressed resources to pay back a people they feel have done so much to protect them..  

I have nothing but admiration for these men and women.  

Then there are those who sit on the sidelines, contributing nothing, yet mercilessly critiquing those who help.  They are like middle-aged football fans, who scream insults at their televisions, when an elite athlete can't quite haul in a down-field pass, then grunt like a swine as they haul their lard-asses out of their appropriately-named Lazy-Boys, to trudge off to the fridge for yet another beer.  

Teddy Roosevelt spoke of these folks, and their shallow, lazy, meaningless critiques of 'doers' in his short piece, 'The Man in the Arena'

The Man in the Arena

2024 for the WIN!!!

The year 2024 is now on record as the hottest year on record.  

It was neck and neck going into the final month, but 2024 edged out 2023 by a nose.  

I don't know what the Las Vegas betting line was, but those who placed their money on 2024 hit pay dirt.  

In the sporting world, they say 'records are meant to be broken' - and for better or worse, I think this one will be moved off the podium before long.  

Like most people, I'm tired of seeing this same news from NASA year after year.  In an ironic sense, then, it will please many that NASA is likely to stop sharing this news for a few years now.  I mean, why bother people with facts and data and stuff.  

For those few nerds, who want to see behind the curtain, we have (for now at least) these further underlying data.  But we are likely to soon be less troubled by this annual release as well, and will be able to continue on our blissful way, without all the conflict and confusion these generate.  

NOAA historic data