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CARB DAY/RACE DAY PARKING ETIQUETTE
May 23, 2024

PLEASE READ IF YOU’RE USING ALTERNATIVE LAWN PARKING OUTSIDE THE SPEEDWAY.

After The Race [2023]

Race day must be just around the corner. How can we tell? Sanitation trucks have been going through the neighborhood setting up portable toilets throughout the neighborhood. There are more of them than last year, but it still won’t be enough. It never is. People utilizing parking outside the speedway is something of its own tradition and the track secretly relies on in, though they don’t want to actually acknowledge it. The speedway accommodates parking for roughly 100,000 people. That sounds like a lot, and it is. I’m sure back in the 1940s when the Hulmans were building the thing they never dreamed of filling it all up. Race attendance for this Sunday, however, is estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000. They all need somewhere to park.

Homeowners around the track have made their lawns available for both Carb Day (Friday before the race) and Race Day for decades. Prices have varied over the years, depending on the anticipated demand. The 100th running brought significantly higher prices than we’ll see this Sunday. People living in the neighborhoods around the track consider this small compensation for all the traffic and noise we have to put up with. You are not necessarily welcome, but for many, it is a way to help the rent for June. We see a lot of bad behavior, so if you’re going to park on anyone’s lawn, please take these items into consideration.

  1. Arrive early and just plan on chilling for a few hours. Available spots fill quickly. A lot of people accept reservations (we don’t) and some smaller lawns are technically “full” already. I’m outside ready to welcome you and your money at 6:00 AM. Others are out there earlier. Last year, our available spaces were all full by 10:00 AM and I was back inside taking a nap.
  2. Not everyone charges the same. Those of us closest to the East gate of the North 40 tend to charge the most because this is prime space. The further from the gate, the price begins to drop. However, rarely does it go below $10.
  3. Bring cash, 20s and 10s, please. I know that the track itself is cashless, but you’re making a deal here with a person, not a corporation. We don’t make enough to pay the 5% bank card fees. Personally, I also accept Venmo (@C_I_Letbetter) and I know of at least one neighbor who does the same, but I can’t make any promises for the bulk of the neighborhood.
  4. Cash also applies to many off-track vendors. I know Fat Cat’s BBQ will be here early Sunday morning setting up their smoker across the street. If you’re going to get here early, and you should, they can take care of both your breakfast and lunch needs. They’re good people, but they don’t take cards.
  5. DO NOT ask to use the bathroom inside someone’s home. That’s an invasion of privacy none of us like. There are multiple outdoor facilities scattered all over the neighborhood. Be prepared, though, some of them charge as much as $3 per use.
  6. Don’t think you’re going to get out of the neighborhood quickly once the race is over. See that picture up top? That’s what the entire street looks like for nearly two hours once the race is over. You can come and sit in your car or you can tailgate some more. Some people get in their cars and try to leave, but then end up going nowhere and wasting gas. Plan on taking your time. You probably need to drink water and sober up a bit anyway.
  7. Bring an umbrella. The forecast for Sunday says there’s pretty much a 100% chance of rain. The big question is: WHEN? We don’t know. Even Sunday morning, no one’s going to be 100% sure. Expect at least one set of showers Sunday morning, well before race time. As long as they’re done by noon, they should be able to get the track dry by 2:00. Any prolonged rain (more than 30 minutes) after 2:00 could cause for the race to be postponed until Monday.
  8. In case of a rain delay, your race tickets are still good on Monday. Your parking is not. You’ll need to negotiate with your host how much to pay for Monday’s parking.
  9. Bring sunscreen. Even if the skies are overcast, you can still get a sunburn from prolonged exposure. You won’t look any sillier wearing sunscreen than you do with that straw hit bearing the IMS logo.
  10. Consider bringing a change of clothes, especially if you have tickets for the Snake Pit, which promises to be a muddy mess. Even if you’re not in the mud, changing out of your hot, possibly wet, almost definitely smelly clothes will make your ride home more comfortable.

SPECIFIC TO PARKING WITH US

  1. We have limited space. If you want to tailgate to either side of your vehicle, that takes up a spot we might otherwise “lease” for the day. Therefore, we will ask for additional compensation.
  2. No, I don’t share my coffee.
  3. I may park a couple of cars inside the fence. If I do, you’ll have to be extra patient getting out after the race.
  4. PLEASE don’t stick your hand over the fence to pet the dogs. You can’t trust them.
  5. Yes, you may feed the humans, but not the animals (even though they’ll ask with big brown eyes). The dogs are too old and fat for human food. The humans are just hungry. That especially applies to the teenagers.
  6. No, Kat is not here. She has the good sense to leave and not take any of us with her. Which is another reason you may want to feed the humans. We’re probably hungry.
  7. I’m not pulling out the camera this year. I don’t have the stamina for that. I’ll use my phone to take a photo if you want, or use your phone if you don’t want to wait on me to process it. Flashing me your boobs is totally allowable if the kids are not in the yard.

As much as I fuss about the race, I do hope you enjoy the day. Know that every year is a little different, though. Take your time. Plan well ahead. Be flexible, especially with the weather. And don’t come running to me if you get struck by lightning. That’s not part of the track’s evacuation plan.

How To Win The Race [2011]
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Morning Update: 05/14/24
May 14, 2024

Saddle up and ride [2011 original with AI background]

There really is nothing to share about yesterday. The kids went to school. Kat went to work. I went back to bed and stayed there. The most exciting part of the day was the delivery of more cat litter. Most Mondays seem to be this way anymore, especially if we’ve done anything outside the house on Sunday. My body doesn’t seem interested in being active two days in a row. The dogs don’t seem interested in being active on Mondays, either.

It was another violent weekend in Indy and I’m concerned that violence will only increase as it gets warmer. Consider, here are just a few of the local headlines I’m looking at this morning:

There are times I feel as though we’re living in a bad episode of some police procedural television show. Gunning down victims in the street, calling SWAT to a dispute between neighbors, and someone shot to death while sitting in their pickup? Who the fuck does that in real life? Are these cases of, “Oh, I just happen to have this gun handy so I think I’ll use it?” Or is it more “I don’t have any idea how to resolve this conflict so I’m just gonna shoot somebody?” Maybe it’s a case of “I don’t feel that I have any control over the circumstances in my life, so I’m going to make sure someone pays attention to me.”

Overall, nationwide, violent crime has decreased since 2020. Cities significantly larger than Indy have seen violent crime plunge significantly. In cities such as Indy where violence continues to increase, the causes seem to come down to three significant issues:

  • Economics
  • Insufficient policing (largely due to low recruiting numbers)
  • Education

We can look at these issues because we have data showing the relationship of cause/effect. What we don’t look at, though, is who is behind those causes. Numbers don’t solve problems, people do. If economics is a primary issue in increasing violence, the question needs to be WHO is responsible for that? I can tell you now it’s not a politician. Instead, look at the head of major corporations and retailers in a city. Where are they located? Who are they hiring? How much are they paying? Who is being left out? Start addressing these problems and the economics issue goes away.

The same can be said for education. Why are teachers quitting in frustration? Why are some schools limited in how they can teach while others get to explore new and innovative methods? Why the hell are people with absolutely zero experience in a classroom telling masters-level educators how to teach? Why are students in certain economic zones not getting all the opportunities as students from other areas of town? All these things (and a lot more) factor into failing schools, high drop-out rates, and a large sense of desperation among those who don’t manage to thrive within the system.

Why are some cities unable to recruit new officers? I don’t have information to argue that one. Theoretically, out-of-date policing procedures, low pay, lack of basic safety programs, and insufficient training are what gets called out first. That doesn’t mean those are the only problems. I’m sure there are some who will never consider police work because of its traditional stance against people of color. Complaints of abuse within the ranks are part of what’s keeping more women from both police forces and the military. At the baseline, though, the problems are internal and we have to hold the leaders of those departments responsible for making the necessary changes to both methods and culture.

Brandon’s taking Kat to the rifle range today for her birthday. Kat’s taking her AR15 out for the first time. Her dad gave her the gun when she graduated boot camp and it’s never been fired. She never felt that there was any need or reason to do so. We haven’t even had any ammo for it. But now? I’m glad they’re going. I’m glad she’ll have a response in case things go awry in the neighborhood, and there’s no good reason to think they won’t.

We, you and I, created these problems because we’d rather rally around shallow slogans with no real meaning or understanding the issues, because we try holding politicians responsible for problems that are caused elsewhere, and because, more than anything, all we do is complain rather than become involved in a solution. We are responsible for the society we’ve created. This didn’t happen out of the blue. Aliens are not responsible for this mess. You are. I am. And we’re the only ones who can fix it.

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Morning Update: 05/12/24
May 12, 2024

Happy Mother’s Day [2009 original with AI background]

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Mothers everywhere are being justly celebrated today as their children attempt to behave and not fuss and argue with each other for just one day, damnit. I understand people still get dressed up and go to church with Mom and then they all go out to lunch, which means someone’s kid and someone’s mom has to work because restaurants are in all-hands-on-deck mode for the day. The affected moms smile and say something like, “Oh, we’ll celebrate later.”

Somewhere along the line, someone will ask that we please be considerate of those who’ve lost children, or who were unable to have children. The day may be a test of resolve for those who have specifically chosen not to have children. No one wants to be left out of a party. Some will say they’re happy being dog moms or cat moms. I have a feeling some of those are lying.

We deliberately ignore those who are bad moms; the ones who are selfish, leave their kids to fend for themselves, don’t seem bothered by placing them in direct danger, the ones who leave drugs and paraphernalia lying around, whose babies desperately need diaper changes, and are living in squalor. We also ignore those kids and look down at them demeaningly as we declare that they’ll probably never be worth anything. We’re fine with letting child protective services step in, bounce children from foster home to foster home, and then wondering why the poor kids had trouble surviving as adults.

Neither do we seem to mind bombing moms and their children if they live somewhere we’ve never been and have a belief system we don’t understand. How ironic it is that we go to church with our moms while preventing others from doing the same with theirs. Apparently, we’re cool with letting some moms cry as their homes and villages are bombed out and their children lost in the carnage.

Americans, specifically, are also increasingly fine with their moms having to go back to work for peasant wages because we’ve built an economy where they can’t even pay rent with what they get from social security. We think it’s just fine that we can’t have lunch with Mom today because she’s having to work in the deli at the grocery store for minimum wage. She’s struggling, but we’re okay with that as long as the stock market is doing well. Never mind that 93% of our moms have no investment in the markets at all and that corporations’ continual drive for increased profit keeps them from being able to afford even a meager life.

We’re also far too accepting of the fact that our moms don’t come close to making as much as their male counterparts, especially if your mom is a person of color. There will be some who declare, “But look how much things have improved,” but they’ll also ignore how much distance remains to be covered. Too many still believe the nonsense that moms belong at home, taking care of the kids, keeping the house clean, and catering to daddy, who is off drinking with the boys and having an affair with a young waitress.

We also police what moms wear, denying them their personality and sexuality. We get so upset if they dress too much like their teenage daughters. We get upset if they dress too comfortably. We get upset if their dresses are too sheer. We get more upset if our 21-year-old sons find them attractive. We don’t know how to handle it if someone’s mom is out chasing the pleasures she missed when she was 20-something and home changing diapers.

We have these unreasonable expectations that Mom should be fine with “whatever.” We spend thousands of dollars to make sure that we see all the concerts, take all the trips, and indulge all our own fantasies. All Mom gets is a card and a candle. Never mind that she’s not left her home overnight in years, that none of her dreams have been fulfilled, that her shoes have holes in them, that she’s still wearing the same clothes as when you graduated from high school fifteen years ago. Mom doesn’t mind just getting by.

Some people have two moms and other people have an extra dad in place of a mom, but we’re not supposed to talk about either situation because our religious upbringing has decided that those situations are wrong.

Neither Mother’s Day nor Father’s Day is ever going to live up to the social expectation. The ideal only exists for something around 20% of the population. Parent/child relationships are fraught with difficulties and challenges because of mistakes made by both, mistakes that are sometimes deliberate. There are plenty of children who will tell their mom, “Happy Mother’s Day” only to be dismissed and ignored. There are plenty of moms who will hear nothing at all from the children they raised.

A lot of moms will shed tears today, but not all will be tears of joy. There are too many moms hurting, too many lonely moms, and too many moms who can’t bear to acknowledge the day. So if your mom is still alive, maybe you at least acknowledge that she brought you into the world, and you survived.

There’s enough hurt in the world. You have no business adding to it.

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Morning Update: 05/11/24
May 11, 2024

IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud [2014 original with AI background to avoid licensing issues]

Once upon a time, absolutely nothing happened on the track at IMS before 8:00 AM. That is no longer the case. The first set of cars was off and running at 7:30 this morning. I hadn’t planned on being awake at 7:30. I had intentionally turned off my alarm for this morning in the hope we could sleep. You see, the animals respond to my schedule. They know I feed them, so they don’t start raising a fuss until they see I’m up. So, if we all want to sleep late, I have to stay in bed. But no, that didn’t happen this morning.

Then, we discovered that the bacon was missing from the kitchen. Kat pre-cooked a pound of bacon yesterday so we’d have it to go with meals. All of it, including the plate it was on, has disappeared. I know the dogs didn’t get it because they stayed right next to me all day. The cats might have tried nabbing it, but they wouldn’t have taken the damn plate. I’m sure whatever happened to it is my fault because it was there when Kat left for work yesterday. I’ll have to buy more to replace it.

There’s not much else that happened yesterday. I made dinner. The kids were unusually interactive (and loud). I tried to control my anger over the absolute insanity showing up in my newsfeed. Did you know that Fox News actually thinks that religion promotes strong mental health? That flies in the face of studies like this one, this one, and this one showing that believing in a vengeful, punishing deity has negative effects that lead to depression, suicide, and violent tendencies.

We posted this video yesterday, but since only three people have seen it, let me post it again. Take the message to heart:

I am deeply saddened when I see people I’ve liked in the past posting some of the most transphobic nonsense. When I see someone posting blatantly incorrect information about Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, or Sudan, I question whether there’s a disconnect in their cerebral cortex. There is no room on the planet for bigotry. Ignorance cannot continue to be tolerated.

But who’s listening? Who cares? Perhaps, no one.

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A NSFW VIDEO FOR BIGOTS
May 10, 2024

Don’t sleep on this

Whether you like someone or not is irrelevant. Everyone on the planet deserves a safe place to exist, a sufficient amount of food to eat, healthcare without prequalifications, personal dignity (respecting how they identify), and love.

You don’t get to deny them these rights. They don’t get to deny you, either. That’s the way it has to be.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, THAT’S JUST TOUGH. SIT THERE AND BE BITTER BUT STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY.

FOREVER.

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Morning Update: 05/10/24
May 10, 2024

If All The World Were A Beach [2011 original with AI background]

Today is the first official day of practice and qualifying open to the public at IMS. I’d tell you to not bother going and instead spend your money somewhere more deserving, and it bothers me when you don’t listen. Qualifying this afternoon is for tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix. Who the hell is Sonsio? They’re the people who’ve been trying to reach you about your car/home’s extended warranty. It’s an insurance company and they damn sure don’t need your money. You’d be better off putting your premiums in a passbook savings account. I’m sure around 15,000 people will still be there because they have money to burn and no conscience for the rest of the world. It’s sad, really, how little these people give a shit.

It was 50 degrees when I took the dogs out this morning. Temps are on the low side all weekend and there’s a chance of showers every day, mostly in the evening/overnight. I’m looking at the calendar trying to figure out the best time to mow. Looking at the forecast, Sunday would be the best day, but that’s Mother’s Day and I’d rather the kids not be all sweaty when Kat gets home.

Interested in “eating the rich?” Be aware that there’s a showdown coming as the 2017 tax cuts for the super-wealthy are due to expire. I would tell you to contact your legislators but we all know they don’t pay a damn bit of attention because they know you won’t vote them the fuck out as they deserve. The American public is spineless. These tax cuts shouldn’t have happened in the first place and I don’t see any of you shouting out against them.

Oh, and get this: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he doesn’t give a shit if the US doesn’t send bombs for them to drop on Rafah. They’re going to invade and wipe out the border city anyway. This is how much of a bitch Netanyahu is. He doesn’t care how Israelis feel. He doesn’t care how the world sees the conflict. He’s a power-mad authoritarian who is turning history on its ear by engaging in the same form of atrocities against Palestine as the Germans did against Jews a century ago. Anyone who is not supporting a two-state resolution to Gaza is wrong and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

If there is any question that popular music has gotten worse over the past 50 years, here’s the proof. New research suggests that music since the 80s, including all of Taylor Swift’s eras, has become more negative, angrier, and more simple. Perhaps that’s why older music is still preferred by almost everyone with a brain. Or, it could be due to the fact that the world you’ve created is more negative and angrier and the music is reflective of that. Either way, ’70s music still rocks.

Oh, and just in case you’re buying into the claptrap that Elon Musk and other GOP mouthpieces are spewing, no noncitizens cannot vote in federal elections.

I’m in a mood this morning and coffee alone isn’t going to fix it.

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Morning Update: 05/07/24
May 7, 2024

Spring At Its Best [2014]

Ouch, my calves hurt. Walking is such a fun challenge. After Sunday’s activities, my body didn’t especially appreciate having to move yesterday. I kept my activity to a minimum, edited some pictures that I may take down later, took the dogs outside as necessary, and did frozen pizza for dinner. The kids were happy and I didn’t risk straining anything. Today may be similar. the forecast shows a 100% chance of rain and if we end up getting some of the system that spawned tornadoes in Oklahoma last night (it will likely go south of us) then getting out of bed may be a struggle.

G has been given a chance to spend a week at Purdue this summer, earning both college and high school credit. Being a PPHS student allows him to attend for free. I’m excited for him to go not only because of the program but for the opportunity to experience a taste of dorm life and eating on a meal plan. Think back to your own college experience: how many kids bailed out quickly because they couldn’t adjust to campus life, being away from home, having to make basic decisions for themselves, and being responsible about meals? We’ve not been able to give him long overnight camp experiences. This is a chance for him to test his mettle without us being there looking over his shoulder.

Tipper, on the other hand, is bailing on her class’s trip to Chicago this weekend. The annual 8th-grade trip is supposed to be a reward for all their hard work, but Tipper only sees it as a long bus ride with a lot of people she doesn’t like. Of course, we’re not forcing her to go, but her lack of positive social interaction bothers me.

A pop-up notification from the National Weather Service just informed me that this afternoon’s storms could be severe, with high winds and possibly hail. Afternoon. When the kids are on buses. How do I not worry about that?

In reading an article this morning about re-drawing political district lines in Louisiana, I see that white voters are claiming that having districts favoring African Americans offends their (the white people’s) “personal dignity.” Okay, if you really want to start that fight, let’s go for it.

According to Deleware Law School, which seems to have the most concise and least confusing definition, personal dignity is defined as “the equal, inherent, and inalienable value of every person. It touches every important aspect of the human experience, from sexual and gender identity, to citizenship, equality and privacy, education and employment, healthcare, and more.” Okay, pretty straightforward. Sort of.

The International Journal of Constitutional Law, [Volume 10, Issue 2, 30 March 2012] makes the argument that “in spite of widespread international agreement on the importance of the principle, there is a significant degree of confusion regarding what it demands of lawmakers and adjudicators, and considerable inconsistency in its formulation and application in domestic constitutional law.” The author argues that “there is little or no consensus as to what the concept of human dignity demands of lawmakers and adjudicators. Indeed, for all the importance and emphasis placed on human dignity in the text of international conventions, domestic constitutions, and court decisions, the elusive nature of the concept has led many commentators to argue that it is, at best, meaningless or unhelpful, and at worst, potentially damaging to the protection of fundamental human rights.”

Most of the argument comes down to how loosely courts and legislators have played with the term, resulting in it having no practical meaning at all. Is “dignity” a right or is it a characteristic of something else?

Here’s my take: if “personal dignity” is a right that is defensible under the Constitution, then:

  • The uninvited presence of the descendants of European invaders on native lands offends my personal dignity and I demand they be removed.
  • The absence of a national healthcare program that resolves the medical needs of all citizens in an efficient and medically superior fashion offends my personal dignity and I demand one be put in place.
  • The presence of gerrymandered voting districts offends my personal dignity and I demand that non-gerrymandered maps be put in place across all 50 states.
  • The willfully malicious destruction of life by any government offends my personal dignity and I demand that they be tried and held accountable for their actions.
  • The failure to sufficiently guard the personal, mental, emotional, and financial safety of all persons regardless of sex, gender, nationality, or ideology offends my personal dignity and I demand that such be considered in the actions of all governments in any decision.

I could go on with that list for a long time but you’d stop reading before getting into the more detailed elements. The issue is “the relative looseness with which the term has been used by drafters, judges, and academics, as a consequence of which domestic constitutional law frequently defines “dignity” in a manner that cannot be reconciled with international human rights law.” [ibid.] We need a tighter definition that prevents courts and legislators from watering it down to the point it doesn’t exist. Until that happens, until we stand up for all human rights (which the US has yet to do), then none of us can claim any right to personal dignity. Attempting to do so only puts us at odds, possibly in violation of everyone else’s personal dignity.

If you disagree, feel free to present a reasonable and intelligent argument in the comments below.

The sad fact is that we only want rights and freedoms for people who look, act, and think like we do. We don’t understand universal freedom because we’re afraid of it, afraid that it might change the way we live, who controls the power, and how we might dominate those around us. To claim that allowing people of color to vote in a district designed to represent them violates your rights is racist and empty. You have zero right to deny someone else adequate representation in Congress or anywhere else.

I’m loudly in favor of breaking up the “good old boys club.” I’m unapologetically in favor of removing the influence of any religion from government. We need to re-think the whole mess in terms of global human rights because the movement of people across national borders, the ability to access and influence information without nationalistic or religious barriers, warrants that we protect the rights not only of those who live within our borders, but everyone who may, whether physically or digitally, visit our lands, our thoughts, our art, our education, or any other readily accessible portion of our existence. You can take your offense and shove it up your ass.

Meanwhile, I’m going to have leftover pizza for breakfast.

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Morning Update: 05/04/24
May 4, 2024

May the Fourth Be With You [2013 original photo with AI background]

Try sleeping late on a Saturday morning when all the animals in the house are accustomed to the 6:00 AM weekday schedule. The dogs aren’t really that much of a problem. I took them outside late enough that they were comfortable waiting on me to move first. The cats, on the other hand, are less patient. They began invading the Recovery Room when I hadn’t fed them by 7:30. They climbed on top of me, nudged me, licked me, and mewed in my face to let me know that they were going to starve to death if I didn’t get up right now. Fortunately, Kat was already awake so the impact was minimal. Still, there are days when the cats’ alarms need to turn off.

The first message I saw this morning was from a college friend, one of the smoothest tenor voices I’ve ever heard, letting me know that he, too, has now been diagnosed with cancer. I guess we’re all at that age where our bodies turn against us. Whether it is a familial inclination that plagued the generations before us or the aggregate compound effect of life’s choices, we see more of our friends fighting health battles that keep them from engaging in the things they love. We work all our lives, practice, study, and perhaps even experiment with our craft, trying to become the best we are capable of being, wanting to be one of the wise elders who is respected as we pass information down to subsequent generations. Yet, when we’re at that point in life when we should be enjoying the fruits of our labor, we get hit with some disease that strips away all that glory and leaves us with a shell that struggles to survive. We may still live but not at the timbre we did before.

I made the mistake of watching Anne Hathaway’s new movie, “The Idea of You” last night. It was a mistake not because of the quality of the movie; as rom-coms go, it was rather decent. But it highlights the challenges of not only finding love as we get older (in this case, “older” being a whopping 40 years old) but also what happens when you find it in someone significantly younger. For the movie’s characters, the solution was simply to wait five years when the social effects were less severe. Whether it’s inadvertent or not, the movie also demonstrates the degree to which finances play a role in finding these exceptional forms of love. Had the younger male character not been swimming in cash, had the female not been independently financially stable, the romance would never have happened in the first place. Money put them where they were.

There are always people in our lives who will say, “I love you.” How they mean that changes over the years. Much of the time, the definition is along the lines of, “I appreciate your place in my life and value your presence.” That’s nice, and it keeps us from being able to complain that no one loves us. What we lose, though, are those people who would define their love as a soul-level experience, a desire to be an intimate and constant part of who we are, what we’re doing, and wanting to join their lives to ours for everyone’s pleasure. That love? Yeah, you can kiss that goodbye as you get older. Companions become tolerated because, if not them, who? Even then, for how long? The deep connections we have with people erode with time. We’re no longer exciting to be with. There’s nothing new in our relationships as we become set in our ways and, we like being set in our ways.

At the end of the movie, she’s 45 with a daughter happily in college. He’s 30 with a new solo album. As the movie ends, the producers would have you believe that their relationship picks right back up with the same level of passion as before. You and I both know that’s not the way it works, though. Things happened over those five years. Everyone changes. Five years, especially when you’re twenty-five, is a long time and our emotions change dramatically. We might remember former loves tenderly, even longingly, but the day-to-day is going to have less passion, less heat, and more illness and doctor’s visits and disparities between our desires. Maybe he wants a family. She already has one. He wants to keep that jet-set life. She’s anchored to the business she owns. As the movie fades to black, the relationship inevitably falls apart.

Maybe what’s disturbing is that ending: all our lives slowly fade to black. We still want that high, the fiery love that we knew when we were young and healthy but it’s no longer something we can maintain. Not only is the other person letting go, but we let go of ourselves because who we are now is not the person we thought we’d be.

Or maybe I’m just an old man babbling in a pool of loneliness. I really shouldn’t watch rom-coms.

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Morning Update: 04/03/2024
May 3, 2024

An Empty Forest [original photo 2011 with AI background]

The pups weren’t of a mind to hang out in yesterday’s mid-80s temps. We’d go outside, I’d settle down in a chair, and they’d be ready to go back inside. They were out long enough to scare Lilly, the baby Jack Russel Terrier next door, out for her first walk on a leash. All it took was one big “woof” and she was telling her mom, “Nope, outside is too dangerous. Let’s go back in.” Hamilton was especially disappointed.

Thanks to Kat, we did get to have pizza for dinner. It’s been long enough since pizza was an option that the kids downed it gleefully for a change. They’ll be okay going another couple of months without it. I’m the one with the problem. Visions of a truly deep dish Chicago-style pizza wander through my brain, longing in my … stomach I guess, because my heart certainly doesn’t need that much cholesterol.

Otherwise, yesterday was rather boring. Oh, I did re-apply for Medicaid after finding out Kat and the kids were approved. The challenge is likely to be that we share an address and resources. We don’t go through the fridge labeling who gets to eat which food. We don’t have separate meters for utilities. We’ll have to see what happens. Having Medicaid back would open more housing choices.

Still, I don’t have any exciting news to share. I’m sorry. There weren’t even any interesting dreams last night. Headlines? Same stuff we’ve been reading about for over a month. No one’s changing their mind, Congress won’t get off their ass, rich people are getting richer and caring less about the rest of us, and stock values are up enough that Apple announced a huge buy-back for this quarter. Crude oil prices are taking a dump, but they’ll be back up when Israel inevitably turns Rafah into dust, just because they can and Netanyahu is a war criminal. An Oregon couple just let their two-day-old infant die because of their insane religious beliefs. An NYPD officer fired into the ceiling as he was breaking up a protest at Columbia University. No one was hurt so he’ll get a reprimand and be back doing the same thing this morning.

If you’re a fan of Rue21, liquidation sales are happening as the brand clears all remaining stock as part of its bankruptcy deal. The IRS announced yesterday that it plans to triple the audit rates on large corporations with assets of more than $250 million, large partnerships with assets of more than $10 million, and wealthy individuals with a total positive income of more than $10 million. It’s not as effective as eating the rich, but it could give a few a place on the menu.

This is that time of year when we waste time speculating on what’s going to happen next when we have no real clue as to what’s going to actually happen next. Isn’t life fun?

Hit me up and let’s get coffee. That’s probably the best way we can spend our time.

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Morning Update: 05/01/24
May 1, 2024

With Flowers All Around [2021 original with AI enhancements]

Happy May Day! I might eventually get accustomed to the idea that no one celebrates anymore. No one ever invites me to a Maypole. And there are never any worker riots, though we could probably use some. I mean, we’re halfway to Summer! Why shouldn’t we celebrate? Okay, so it’s supposed to be a little cooler here the next couple of days. It’s still warm enough that we could go outside and play with colorful ribbons and such. I’m sure the dogs would love to participate as well!

I found out yesterday afternoon that our neighbor across the street had a visit from IMPD at about 12:30 AM. Why? We’re not sure. Our next-door neighbor’s security cameras caught all the actions. Several squad cars pulled up, and surrounded the house, and officers exited with their rifles at the ready. They were shining flashlights in the windows, but they never breached the front door. When they were finally satisfied that there was no imminent threat, they put away their rifles, then gathered in the middle of the intersection and chatted for the next 15 minutes. How the hell that much activity failed to awaken anyone in our house amazes me. I’m hoping to be able to catch the neighbor out today and ask them what was up. My guess: their alarm system, which is monitored 24/7, made an error and thought they had an intruder when they didn’t.

Looking for an apartment is going on hold. Everyone wants an application fee and several places won’t even show you the property until you pay the damn application fee. I don’t have money for an application fee, so we’ll wait until I do.

Everything else is pretty much nonsense. There’s not a damn thing I can do about campus protests. I’ve already shared my opinion and that’s all I’m going to say about them. Actually, if we go back a few years, I’ve also shared my opinion on protesting here and here. I even have one post about Protesting Naked. Anything else I would say at this point would be redundant.

If you fly, and I haven’t since returning from New York in 2005, you may want to watch the Senate as it attempts to renew the FAA authorization. No, it makes zero sense that the Federal Aviation Administration, which controls all the airspace in the US, requires re-authorization. EVER. The fact that it’s left to a group of political numbskulls is yet another reason not to be flying. The biggest danger is all the unrelated amendments that senators want to add to a must-pass bill. The committee has already knocked down Sen. Cruz’s amendment for extra security for politicians. They also killed an amendment that would have raised the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67. That one’s a big deal considering the growing pilot shortage. IF you fly, you’ll want to pay close attention to that one. This makes taking the train sound like a much better deal.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention G’s influence on everyone’s dreams last night. He fell asleep while watching something on YouTube. When the video ended, YouTube punted to something else, then something even more different. At one point, after midnight, whatever it was showing had a soundtrack like a cheesy, low-budget 1980s knockoff of a Richard Chamberlain adventure movie. That influenced everyone’s dreams and we all woke up complaining about the strangeness. G promised to be more careful about turning off YouTube in the future. 🤣

As for the rest of this morning’s news, there’s not a damn thing you or I can do about it. A lot of it, honestly, is artificial. Politicians barking at other politicians is a complete waste of time; something for them to do in place of actually governing. I’d love to see an episode of “Survivor where the entire Congress is locked in the chamber without their cell phones or laptops and forced to balance the damn budget without raising taxes on those making less than $150,000 (yeah, that really is the median point now). I’d put money on Rep. Greene behind the first one kicked out. It would be the most interesting and valuable thing they’ve done all term.

I wonder if I could make a Maypole with the laundry…

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Morning Update: 04/29/24
April 29, 2024

The Best Assistant [2012]

Yesterday was perfect weather to get out and do something fun. So, what did we do? We mowed. I started about 9:30 and took care of the grass outside the fence. The kids “took over” for a while, and then four hours later I finished up. Four hours. Have you seen our lawn? It’s not that large. Sigh.

We would have done better going to a park, but that whole transportation thing…

My goal today is to be a pain in the ass of every property manager in town until I find a place that provides what little I need at a price I can afford. Yeah, I know, I’ll be asleep again by 10. But one at least needs a goal, right?

I mowed yesterday. I’m thinking now that was a stupid idea.

About this morning’s picture: Leohna was just over a year old, if I remember correctly. We were at a park and took a bunch of pictures of her playing on the swings and stuff, but it was this picture that stole my heart. While I was talking with her parents, Leohna started going through my camera bag. The face she made when she found the tea lights was just too adorable. I had a chance to reconnect with her mom last week. This baby girl is now taller than her mom and helping care for her three younger siblings. The time just passes too quickly.

Here we are at the end of April. That means the noise from our friends “next door” will start getting loud again. The RV lot on Georgetown is completely full and has been for a week. This year may actually be interesting. Penske‘s been in hot water with IRL recently as have a couple of 500 winners over how some new rules are translated. IRL‘s shot themselves in the foot before. Maybe they just like hobbling. At least IndyCar is banning political messaging from the cars. Both RFK, Jr. and the indicted one had made sponsorship requests. IndyCar said, “Nope.”

Stop and think about it: IndyCar is full of international drivers. Brazilian drivers have won the race how many times? To have cars sponsored by idiots who are on the wrong side of immigration issues would be a conflict of interest. And then, there’s always the chance of counter-messaging if the sponsored car were to crash and burn. Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of flags among the nutjobs out in the North 40. There always are.

So many silly thoughts running through my head this morning. Who knows what the day may yield?

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Morning Update: 04/27/24
April 27, 2024

Feeling Flirty [2021 original with AI background]

The cats are fussing with each other and keeping Kat from sleeping. This isn’t going to be a good day. I forgot to turn off my alarm, so the dogs demanded to go out the instant it went off. This isn’t going to be a good day. Rain went through early this morning, just enough to make me miserable. This isn’t going to be a good day. However, the twins are over here being cute and Tipper has already popped into the room to say hi. Maybe I’ll make pancakes.

The bright point of yesterday was G going on a “field trip” to Purdue. I put “field trip” in quotations because, yeah, that’s how his school had to classify the trip in order to use school transportation. But let’s be honest, this was a recruiting trip, no two ways about it. They visited the dorms. They ate in the cafeteria (which thrilled G). They visited the School of Business (I’m a little surprised it wasn’t engineering). He gained some new perspectives and has a lot of ideas. I kinda wish I could have gone with them, but this was a trip he needed to make independent of parental influence.

Other than that, we spent a lot of time in bed yesterday and are likely to do the same today. The pain reaches up into my cerebral cortex and is probably at least partially responsible for the low level of patience I’m feeling with things I cannot control. Not that I would change my opinion, mind you. I still support the pro-Palestinian protests because we have to find a two-state solution and without the protests, Israel will steamroll over millions of innocent people. Earlier this morning a report came from Rafa that an infant girl had died from the extreme heat. These protests aren’t antisemitic, but a demand for a humanitarian solution. Israel would like to wipe out the Palestinians completely. We can’t let that happen any more than we would tolerate the opposite.

I’m also more than a little pissed that the Republican National Committee is tying up courts in all fifty states (yes, Ms. Trump, there are only 50, not 80 as you claimed earlier this week). The RNC’s main goal here is to keep as many people from voting as possible. Let me make this clear: REPUBLICANS DO NOT WANT YOU TO VOTE. They know they can’t win a legitimate election. Their claims are baseless and void of evidence, but they will put every election into question. This is not democracy and they need to be punished severely for attempting to overthrow the government in this way.

Anger and pain are not a good mix. One fuels the other and I can’t be sure my reasoning is accurate.

No progress was made in finding a new place to live. So help me, property managers are the bain of my existence at the moment. They’re misusing technology in an attempt to avoid direct contact. Why the fuck do you need to know the name of my cats? Maybe I want to rename them Homer and Aristotle. How would that make any difference as to how they’ll behave in an apartment? Talk to me directly and I’ll tell you what I need. Don’t send me another fucking form to fill out.

Maybe I’ll re-process some more pictures of pretty people. Get used to that as it’s all I have left now.

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The Protests Must Continue Until The Lessons Have Been Learned
April 26, 2024

Lessons We Haven’t Learned [2021 original with AI enhancement]

Next Saturday, May 4, marks the 54th anniversary of the Kent State massacre, where National Guard troops were sent to break up a Vietnam War protest. Four innocent students died. Ten others were injured. Among the lessons we should have learned is that a) The military doesn’t belong on college campuses; b) college students have every right to protest; and c) Just because an idea isn’t popular doesn’t make it wrong. Obviously, we haven’t learned those lessons.

In its regular round-up of photos from the week, Reuters published a large number of photos from protests on university campuses. They included everything from violent encounters with police (the violence often started by the police making potentially illegal demands for ending the protests) to accounts of the Palestinian genocide such as this one:

reuters
A list of names of children under three killed in Gaza hangs in an encampment, where students are protesting in support of Palestinians at Emerson College, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Boston, Massachusetts, April 24. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

And this one:

Texas state troopers arrested a man at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Austin, Texas, April 24. Jay Janner/Austin Statesman/USA Today Network via REUTERS

For those of us who were alive and paying attention to that fateful day in 1970, these images should bring back some frightening memories of an age some might have that was relegated to the past. The idea that students would be skipping class to protest war is one we want to put on the shelf with the history books of what we want to think of as a “more troubling” time. Was the Vietnam situation really any more troubling than what we’re facing today? I don’t think so. In fact, what we’re seeing today seems to be a clear indication that we’ve not grown, we’ve not become more intelligent, and we’re definitely not more humane than we were in 1970. We’ve not learned the lesson of that fateful day, which means the Kent State Four died in vain.

Perhaps we need a refresher course as to why these protests are necessary in the first place. The issue at the core of the protests is the longstanding and complex debate around a two-state solution. When the modern state of Israel was created in 1947, the United Nations put forward a plan to partition Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, with special international administration over Jerusalem. This plan was accepted by Jewish leaders, who were allocated about 56% of the land area, despite comprising only about one-third of the population and owning less than 7% of the land. On the other hand, the Arab League and Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan, leading to the Arab-Israeli War following the end of the British Mandate.

This initial division and the successive wars and conflicts have left deep scars and continued political and territorial disputes. Over the decades, the idea of a two-state solution has been supported by various international bodies as a potential way to resolve the conflict, ensuring a peaceful co-existence between an independent Palestinian state and Israel. However, numerous challenges and failures in negotiations, changes in leadership, and external influences have hampered consistent progress toward this solution. Understanding this historical context helps clarify why the issue remains so passionate and why many feel protests are a necessary form of expression and advocacy for their rights and visions for the future.

Partisan religiously-fueled politics have long been the bain of any lasting solution. Former President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for seemingly brokering a solution between Yasar Arafat representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Factions external to the two political organizations resorted to violence in their opposition. Hamas, who currently controls Palestine, overthrew the PLO. Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an ultra-nationalist who allegedly had ties with current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. President Reagan tried solidifying relations with Israel, but that blew up in his face as it only made violent Palestinian factions more determined. Former President Bill Clinton tried his hand at a Camp David Peace Accord only to have that fail pretty much before either leader made it back home.

What’s the fuss all about? History. Both Palestinians and Israelis claim that they are the rightful owners of the land, going back thousands of years when both tribes were born through a wandering sheepherder named Abram. God, in one of those acts for which there were no third-party witnesses, told Abram that he and his family were chosen for all time and that the land was theirs.

Trouble started immediately. Abram didn’t have an heir. So, he fucked his side-girl, Rachel, and she had a son named Ishmael. Problem solved, right? Nope. Abram’s wife surprised everyone and even in her “old age” had her own son, Issac. Who would be the rightful heir? According to mythology, Abram told Ishmael to go in one direction and then took Issac in a different direction. Ishmael is seen as the founder of Islam, and Issac as the father of Israel and the two factions have been fighting over the same damn piece of land ever since. Both sides claim Abram gave the land to them. ALL of it.

Oh, but there’s more. Abram had more sons: Zimran, Ishbak, Jokshan, Midian, son of Abraham, Medan, son of Abraham. They each staked a claim to the land. THEN, Issac had twins, Jacob and Esau, and they weren’t able to get along and they each claimed the land. However, along came the Egyptians and everybody lost everything. They all went back to being nomadic tribes with no right to claim any piece of land as their home.

WHY THE FUCK CAN’T THEY JUST LET EACH OTHER LIVE IN PEACE? Because, quite honestly, the whole place is too factionalized. Even Netanyahu doesn’t have a majority of Israeli support within their own country! There’s no agreement anywhere and without any agreement there is never going to be a solution. Period.

What does exist are millions of innocent people who want nothing more than to live their lives, raise their children, sell their goods, and go home at the end of the day to a good meal and a nap. They want to play music, sing songs, play games, dance, and go to weddings without having to worry that some mother-fucking jackass with a theo-political agenda is going to detonate a bomb in the middle of everything.

Instead, one side bombs the other and the side bombs feel they have to retaliate. Who’s getting hurt when this happens? Innocent people. Always. Innocent people.

Innocent people are what fuels the protests. Specifically, the United States continues to fund the genocide of innocent people. Netanyahu likes saying that it’s just a price of war, that they can’t tell the difference between Hamas militants and a three-year-old child or a convoy delivering food aid. If they can’t tell who the fuck the enemy is then maybe they should put their fucking guns down and we (the US) should use our money on enemies we can define such as homelessness, hunger, and healthcare.

As with the Vietnam protests, what bothered college students was the number of innocent people in Vietnam and Cambodia who were being killed by US and UN Coalition troops. Remember this picture?

Nick Ut/AP Images

Those were our troops who burned their village, killed their parents, and sent them running from home, clothed or not. How could we not protest this type of action? How can we sit still in the face of such overwhelming inhumanity? The soldiers in this picture are guilty of genocide!

And here we are right back at it again, killing children, bombing hospitals, pretending that we can’t tell the difference between a Hamas militant and a starving child! We’re not really that stupid. We have facial recognition that can identify people in a crowd of thousands. WE KNOW DAMN WELL WHO THE BAD PEOPLE ARE, we just like killing in large numbers.

As reported on April 8, 2024, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in more than 34,000 fatalities. This figure includes 95 journalists and 224 humanitarian workers, with 179 of those being staff members of UNRWA. A substantial number of these deaths, totaling over 33,091, occurred in the Gaza Strip, where 70% of the deceased are women and children.

I was sitting on the bus yesterday morning, looking through the reams of nonsense, when I got a notification from the IMPD that said a protest had been broken up and 14 people were arrested for Obstructing Traffic. This is the image they shared:

IMPD made sure to mention that “not everyone that was arrested was from Indianapolis.” WTF? Four are from Fishers, which borders Indianapolis at 96th Street. Then one each from Lafayette, Columbus, and Union City. If that statement intended to make it sound as though the city were being invaded, then maybe IMPD needs to take a look at who the fuck is staying in our hotels this weekend. Not many of those folks are from Indy, either, and they live much further away than fucking Fishers.

Police/government attempts to stop the protests are their way of trying to control the narrative and keep everyone in line, something they’ve always been bad at doing because it’s not their fucking job. Protests both on college campuses and in the middle of the street are exercises of the freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. And, as is the nature of protests, they’re not going to agree with those who are in power. If they agreed with what the administration is doing, then they wouldn’t need to protest, would they?

Sure, there are other means of communication, but which one is likely to actually get the immediate attention of those who are responsible for making a decision: a nicely worded email that Senator Young never sees, or the protest that blocks his way to the Capitol? Which is more effective? Which is more likely to result in something being done.

You don’t have to like what the protestors are saying, but if there’s one lesson that we should have learned from May 4, 1970, is that we probably need to start listening because history is almost certain to prove that they are right.

Politicians are stupid. Listen to the people who see the plight, the misery, and recognize the genocide their great-grandparents ignored. Until then, the protests will continue.

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Morning Update: 04/24/24
April 24, 2024

The Perfect Party Dress [2024 with AI Background]

Before you ask, no she’s not smoking, and those are giraffe spots she colored onto her arm. Her Grandpa asked what she wanted for her birthday and it arrived yesterday. She’s beyond excited and plans to wear it to some luncheon at school. This is the reality going on inside my daughter’s head. There’s not a damn thing anyone can do to control it. They would be fools to try. She is unique and chooses to express herself through what she wears. Anyone having a problem with that needs to talk to me.

The rain kept me in a very blase mood yesterday. I had enough to write another post, but I couldn’t make myself do it. I did look at some apartments and made arrangements to look at a couple of them tomorrow, but they both expect one to make 3X the rent, which is absolutely laughable. Everything else about them is workable, but Social Security controls what I make. I don’t get any say in the matter.

The Senate passed the ban on TikTok last night, so now it will be interesting to see if the President puts an imaginary danger in front of free speech. Let me repeat: there is ZERO evidence that the owners of TikTok have any method for transferring user details to the Chinese government. And who the fuck is posting such information on TikTok in the first place? Actually, I could ask who in their right mind is posting on TikTok at all. However, I know a number of brands are deeply invested in the platform as part of their marketing plan. This is going to be another matter that drags its way through the courts, taking up time over an issue that has no viable evidence behind it.

The Senate also passed the funding bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The wars will go on because the US just doesn’t know how to exist anymore without being in the middle of someone else’s war. We’ve been this way since the end of WWII. Our government saw how war is an economic boon and decided to make it part of our existence. We went from Germany to Korea to Vietnam to the Persian Gulf to Iraq to Afghanistan to Ukraine, and now Israel and Iran. None of it makes any sense. We now do incredible amounts of business with Germany, Korea, and Vietnam. The mission for the latter two was never achieved. Communists are still in power. In fact, one could argue that the Korean situation is worse now than it was in 1954. But hey, it makes money, so you can bet our government is going to make sure peace never actually arrives.

In another round of “Politicians Be Stupid,” Georgia’s governor signed a bill yesterday stating that parents must consent for minors to sign up for social media. They also copied the Texas law about showing proof of age for porn. Shall we note the number of Constitutional and realistic problems with this stupid law?

  1. Teens have Freedom of Speech, too. Any bill requiring them to have “permission” from any other person impinges upon that freedom.
  2. Teens can publish their own material on their own blogs, bypassing the functions of the laws.
  3. By requiring Meta and other social media owners to require the permissions the law requires, Meta is also becoming liable for Free Speech issues.
  4. Blocking something a teenager wants to do does not endear them to your way of thinking. They’re more likely to want to rebel in even stronger ways. Ask any psychologist. You’re not going to win this argument.
  5. Interfering with interpersonal communications is one of the most undemocratic actions a government can take. What, you don’t think your kid has access to 240-bit encryption already? The law is morally wrong and to try and frame it as “protecting” children is socially bankrupt.

Politicians have never been the brightest bunch of low-watt bulbs in the box. Yet, we seem to have elected a group that would rather yell about their moral expectations of others and follow those morals for themselves. And would should all be extremely mindful that, as of this week, this Congress has passed fewer than 60 bills, whereas the average for this time in the process would normally have more than 350 bills to its name. They have no sense of why we elected them, why we sent them to Congress, and what the fuck they’re supposed to be doing up there. None of them deserve to be re-elected, but I don’t think we, as alleged adults, have the common sense to elect anyone any better. All any of them are going to do is stand there and babble like baboons.

Meanwhile, I need a new place to live. Do you think I can rent a small parcel of land and just dig myself a hole? I’m beginning to think that might be a better idea. Or, perhaps the world will just blow us up to get rid of this invasive species.

Fueling A New World [2024 original with AI background]
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Earth Day: The Warning We Keep Ignoring
April 22, 2024

Shrinking Wetlands [2024]

Talking about global warming on a day in April when I woke up to 36-degree Fahrenheit temperatures may feel to some as if we’re perpetuating some kind of myth or conspiracy theory. We have this horrible tendency to consider global warming theory as meaning the same thing to all regions around the world. We’ve blocked it from being taught in many schools because we fail to understand how critical the matter is to the world as a whole and probably won’t recognize the danger until it’s too late.

Warning: for much of the world, it’s already too late.

Take a look at the picture above. I’ve been coming to the same spot in this park for 19 years. Normally, including last year, I could not stand on dry ground to take this picture from this position. The water would be at least ankle-deep. While we’ve set some rainfall records for the month, there still is a deficit in the amount of water flooding traditional wetlands. This may not yet affect how green the grass is in your overly manicured earth-warming yard, but it does affect the wildlife living off the wetlands, and that wildlife inevitably impacts the quality of the air you breathe and the temperatures in which you are forced to live and work. Changes that are occurring are not yet to the point that they are slapping you in the face on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean they’re not sneaking up behind you, ready to pounce.

A Good Environment For Monsters [2024]

We tend to think of the Middle East as a relatively dry place, don’t we? We hear the reference and think of camels and deserts and turbans. Last week, the Dubai Airport had to close and a record number of people were killed because of rain and flooding. Just this morning, The Washington Post published the story: “Flooding Wreaks Havoc Across East Africa. Burundi Is Especially Hard Hit.” Climate change is real and if it’s not already affecting you in disastrous ways, just wait: you could be next.

The climate on this little blue ball of nonsense has never been all that stable. That’s why our most ancient ancestors created deities whom they could blame when weather-related disasters such as floods, storms, famine, and drought. They didn’t have any understanding of science or weather patterns and how they work, so they invented something to help them understand. They were wrong, but it gave them comfort to pray to those deities and offer them sacrifices.

Now, as our understanding of climate and weather continues to increase, we can see more reliably how actions in one part of the world affect weather in other parts of the world. What we do in North America has a disastrous effect on people on the African continent. As things change in the Middle East, Europe can suffer changes that upend the entire food supply and their ability to work outdoors.

Yet, right here on the ground level people in the United States, continue to remain willfully ignorant of climate matters and think that this whole warming thing is “just a phase that will straighten itself out.” Yes, it’s going to straighten itself out, but it may not do so in a manner conducive to the continuation of human life on this planet. We are latecomers to the scene anyway. The planet has no obligation to keep us alive.

The Monster Under My Bed Inspects The Water For Ducks [2024]

One of the reports released earlier this morning states “World’s Workers Increasingly At Risk As Climate Changes.” This report from the International Labor Organisation (ILO) should make everyone shudder more than a bit. Among its findings are fun things like air pollution killing 860,00 workers each year. Now, compared to a global population of just under eight billion, 860,000 may not sound like much unless you or your children happen to be among that 860,000.

“We do have some (countries) that already limit exposure to high temperatures and also limit exposure to air pollution, but we rarely have occupational exposure limits set for the other hazards,” said Manal Azzi, ILO Senior Specialist on occupational safety and health.

Hmmm. Could he possibly be talking about the states of Florida and Texas that block local governments from passing laws that protect outdoor laborers? Seriously, the states of Florida and Texas won’t allow city governments to require that workers be provided with shade and water during the hottest months. This isn’t only a denial of climate change, but genocide toward those who work in extreme heat, people who are often among the lowest paid and least likely to be politically involved.

When you consider the full cocktail of environmental changes that affect those who work outdoors, that 860,000 number jumps to over 3.4 billion. Is that a large enough number for you? That’s more than 90% of the entire US population. Anyone who spends any significant time outdoors is in trouble and should be considered at high risk for lethal health issues.

Flowers Growing Smaller [2024]

Another article released from Brussels this morning warns that ” Europe is increasingly facing bouts of heat so intense that the human body cannot cope, as climate change continues to raise temperatures.” This wonderful bit of news comes from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization. What they’re specifically looking at is a 7% increase in the parts of Europe where daytime temps have exceeded 46 degrees Celsius, the point at which the body needs immediate healthcare to prevent heat stroke and other issues. In one particularly disastrous case, a 44-year-old man painting road markings in the Italian town of Lodi collapsed from the heat and died before an ambulance had time to respond.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent on the planet. Heat-related deaths there have increased by more than 30% in the past twenty years, making it one of the most dangerous places to work or play outside. With the Summer Olympics coming to France this year, how the heat will impact athletes is a major concern, especially when outdoor track events are frequently held in relatively quick succession, not giving athletes a lot of time to recover from the previous event.

None of this is terribly new, of course. Scientists have been warning that deaths and illnesses are going to increase if countries don’t take demonstrable measures to offset the warming. The Paris Accords were passed but the United States and several other countries have failed to live up to their part of the agreement. This is a dangerous situation where we are allowing petty politics to interfere with the potential extinction of our species.

I know that, as a group, humans can be extremely stupid and self-defeating. Are we so stupid, though, as to endanger human survival beyond the next 100 years?

Yeah, we’re that stupid. I’d worry for your grandchildren if I were you.

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How Much Do You Value Free Speech?
April 20, 2024

Feeling Spicy [2011 original with AI background]

The House of Representatives has been busy today. First, they passed the massive funding package for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. You might hear some people talk about the “bipartisan” effort in passing the bill. What they mean is that the Republican “majority” was so divided that the bill wouldn’t have passed without Democrats supporting it. The final vote was 311 to 112. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Traditional House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson have risen to the occasion. We have a responsibility to push back against authoritarianism.”

That authoritarianism would be ultra-conservatives who wanted to attach US border legislation that would have rendered the bill DOA when it arrives in the Senate next week. Three of those ultraconservatives, Greene of GA, Massie of KY, and Gosar of AZ, are ready to attempt to oust the Speaker for working with Democrats to pass the bill without the addendum.

Those ultra-conservatives may see such a move backfire. Democrats could vote to keep the Speaker in power, OR they could make Jeffries a contender who would only need four Republican votes to become Speaker himself. Either one would be seen as a strong rebuttal and shaming of Greene and other pro-Putin traitors.

The Key Garden [2011 original with AI background]

In the same session, the House passed a bill by a vote of 360-58 that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the US. The bill is primarily a sanctions bill against Russia and Iran. The sanctions aren’t likely to stop wars that either country is running, but it looks good on the campaign trail. Tucked deep inside the small print, however, is a part that requires TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the video platform to a US-based entity within nine months or face a ban.

Don’t go crying about the loss of the app just yet, though. IF the bill passes the Senate without the ban being yanked out, there’s an inevitable First Amendment battle ripe for arguing for years and could possibly win in a Supreme Court that’s likely to change a couple of members before the issue would get to them. It’s also possible that the Senate could modify the bill to allow any NATO member country to purchase ByteDance’s shares, and that could also be challenged in multiple international courts which could delay any result even longer. This issue is far from over. In the meantime, feel free to go ahead and learn that dance in the confidence that we are all going to laugh at you when you post it.

Now, here’s the question: Which is more important, free speech or national security? The whole reason this issue was squeezed into a totally unrelated bill is the fear that the Chinese-owned company could use the app to spy on Americans. ByteDance says there are precautions in the software against that, that the Chinese government has never requested such data, and that the company has strong rules against data sharing with any government entity. Forcing the removal of the app would have a huge First Amendment effect on the millions of US-based users and US-based advertisers who rely on TikTok influencers to help spread the word about their products.

Without strong evidence of China being up to something, supporters of the measure could find themselves not only barking up the wrong tree, but alienating younger voters who frequently use the app.

Personally, I’m too old to be on TikTok so I’m not directly impacted either way. It seems like a real stretch to try and make it a Homeland Security issue.

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Cancer Update  /  Current Issues  /  Morning Update  /  Personal  /  pop culture  /  Social Commentary  /  Status
Morning Update: 04/20/24
April 20, 2024

High Fashion Era [2009 original with AI background]

If you’re not celebrating today, or at least thinking about celebrating if you’re not physically able, then can you really be my friend? Of course, I can’t partake, either. Not only is it not legal in Indiana [insert stifled guffaw here] it can interfere with my meds. There are some edibles that I can tolerate, but since Kat’s not here for the weekend I’ll have to make do with coffee. 😪 We have to give up some of the best things because of cancer. I’m not liking that part at all. I guess if I wanted to give up something this would be the time to do it. But I’m too old goddammit. Now’s the time to be indulging in all the pleasures we’ve put off earlier in our lives. No one over 60 should have to say no to any form of pleasure. If it kills us, at least we went out doing something fun instead of lying in a hospital strapped to tubes.

I tried to get a lot done yesterday, but it didn’t happen at the rate I wanted. Part of that was because I couldn’t get the pictures to do what I wanted. There are times when even the best technology available isn’t sufficient to read my mind and deliver the image my brain is seeing. After a couple of hours of arguing with Adobe over what is and isn’t a violation of the terms of service, I just gave up. So help me, their censors are apparently offended by people having a chest at all.

Just in case you missed them, though, we posted the following articles yesterday:

I mean, we try to be entertaining even when we’re feeling like whatever that was the cat just threw up on the floor. We want to give you something to do besides playing with that tear in your underwear; you’re only going to make it worse.

We investigated more apartments yesterday but came up empty. Too many listings don’t tell you if all utilities are paid. I’m assuming if they don’t mention it, they’re not. There are also far too many listings for studio apartments that are two or three times what I make in a month! WHAT THE LIVING FUCK! That doesn’t make sense for any apartment, I don’t care where it’s located or what amenities are included. And at that price, someone had better be bringing me breakfast each morning. Ya’ll are kinda stupid if you’re paying that much. Seriously! What a fucking waste of income!

One of the issues that I can’t seem to get past is the fact that once I take the chemo meds, I have a little less than two hours before I’m dead asleep. This does not make me happy. I have to take the meds with breakfast. I can only put off breakfast for so long before my body starts to complain. The hungrier I am when I eat, the shorter period I have after taking the meds before I’m completely knocked out. This drives me nuts because midmorning is one of the best times of day to get things done and where am I? In bed, surrounded by these two dogs, as sound asleep as if it were the middle of the night. Trying to juggle the timing so that I can get things done is unnerving.

Oh, here’s the ridiculously stupid headline of the day: Woman Who Didn’t Get Raptured Demands a Refund on Her Generous Tips. There’s stupid, and then there’s “Oh my god, do you even have a brain.” This certainly falls into the latter category. I can’t imagine ever going back and asking a server to return all or a portion of a tip you’d left. Just how fucking brain-dead does a person have to be to do something like that?

If I had limitless income, which I don’t, I would buy every woman on the planet a copy of Wonder Woman #8, the issue where Wonder Woman is under the influence of a religious (Christian) nut job. It’s only 30 pages, extremely well illustrated, and easy to read. My hope would be that women with religious assholes for husbands would find themselves in this story and find their own path to escaping the mind games men and churches use to keep them bound in marital slavery where they’re not respected or valued as anything more than property. If you know someone who is in this trap, maybe buy them a copy and slip it to them in between the pages of the Bible they’re forced to read. Consider it a mission of mercy.

Okay. I really need to eat now. Ugh. Check back with me after I wake up this afternoon.

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Morning Update: 04/19/24
April 19, 2024

Safety First [2010 original with AI background]

Everything I’d hoped to do, needed to do yesterday was done. The results, however, were not necessarily what we had hoped. After calling Social Security multiple times, I finally got an answering machine instructing me to leave my contact information. Sigh. Will they call back today? I’ll give them a chance. They’re on central time, which drives me a bit nuts, but I need to know what to expect and/or how to plan before relocating myself. I also contacted some apartments that are supposed to be for people who are over 55. What frustrates me there is that their ads on Facebook, which I’m getting in droves, hide the financial information until you give them your contact info. THEN, you find out their prices are well outside your budget. This isn’t going to be easy but we simply must find a solution somewhere.

A thunderstorm hit early this morning. The result was that I went from having two large dogs and five cats scattered around my bed to two large dogs and five cats all trying to snuggle as close to me as they possibly could. What the hell are they going to do for comfort when I’m gone? I think Hamilton would lie in my lap while I’m typing if he wasn’t so freaking big.

Tipper went to the pediatrician yesterday. She saw a new doctor because her usual pede is out for the month. I was a little concerned about how that would go, but it was fine. Tipper reported that the doctor told her to either get more sunshine or she’d have to take more pills. Tipper said she’d rather take the pills. Is anyone surprised by that surprise? No, not at all.

G got his PSAT scores back. I was impressed that his score puts him in the top 2%. He was disappointed that he didn’t make the top 1%. He said he was tired and hungry while taking the test, problems he’ll be sure to eliminate the next time he takes it. Let’s hope the child doesn’t choose the dark side at any point. Something tells me he’d have the Death Star up and operational in a matter of months.

Perhaps he can devise a way to keep stupid people from doing catastrophically stupid things. When we woke yesterday, we discovered that parts of six states had lost their 911 service just hours after Homeland Security warned that our 911 network is at risk of cyber attacks. Naturally, everyone immediately assumed that the report had been a self-fulfilling prophecy, possibly in an effort to increase funding. Nope. Turns out it was just stupid people doing stupid things. Late yesterday, we were told that workers installing a light pole in Missouri cut into a fiber line, causing the outage. You know all those signs you see everywhere about calling 811 before you did? One might think that doing so would be a natural part of the process for a utility contractor, something completed days before they started installing the new pole. Nope. Stupid people do stupid things that have dangerous consequences. If anything what we’ve learned from this experience is that yes, the nation’s 911 system needs to be protected. From ourselves.

Kat sent me a screenshot last night showing me the insane number of steps she had yesterday. She’d obviously had a full day and she’s feeling the results of that exertion this morning. It was only two years ago that I was putting in a similar number of steps on a daily basis. Now, I’m afraid to walk around the block alone. I almost fell over unfastening the gate this morning. Still, I want to try and stretch my stamina somehow. So, I think I’m going to see how many posts and images I can put in front of your eyes today. I have to try and stay awake to hear from Social Security anyway, so I might as well try to achieve some form of productivity even if it doesn’t really matter to anyone at all.

I find it interesting that since I started posting again, the highest amount of traffic still goes to a three-year-old post that is perhaps the most explicit I’ve ever published. I also find it interesting that a high number of those hits come from outside the country, often from Islamic countries where I’m pretty sure such content is illegal. I’m questioning whether I should try and top that one with something new. I’m pretty sure I still have some images I’ve never processed.

Breakfast time. Ya’ll try to stay out of trouble, okay? 🤣

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science  /  Social Commentary
We Are Pathetically Insignificant
April 19, 2024

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ixzb2H7T2V8?si=7M8opU7zKvfgJNjd
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Current Issues  /  News & Comment  /  science  /  Social Commentary
The Sky Is Falling. On Florida. Again.
April 16, 2024

The Sky Is Falling, Again [2011 original with AI background]

My personal disdain for almost everything Florida knows no limits. From its insane antics to its morally deprived and equally insane politics to its over-rated beaches and redneck behavior, There isn’t much about Florida that justifies people going there. Ever. There’s an equally good Disney attraction in Anaheim and dozens upon dozens of better beaches around the world. I mean, have you seen Hawai’i? So, I’m never surprised when the universe seems to take a shit on the god-forsaken state.

Well, it’s happened again, this time in the form of space trash that refused to burn up during re-entry. A piece of space junk used batteries from the space station that were supposed to burn up when they hit the earth’s atmosphere. This isn’t a fast process and normally it takes everything anywhere from two weeks to two months to make the trip. But not everything burned up this time. Instead, a piece about the size of a cell phone, if cell phones looked like a chunk of mastodon tusk, fell into a home in Naples, FL. When I say into I mean through the roof, the ceiling, and the floor. All the way through.

Alejandro Otero, the homeowner, said his son was at home when the event happened. There was a “tremendous” noise and then, boom, the sky fell onto the Otero’s home. No one was hurt, fortunately, but NASA says they’re going to have to “recalculate” how space trash re-enters the atmosphere.

Gee, ya’ think?

This isn’t the first time the sky has fallen on Florida or other places around the globe. Every time a new satellite goes up there has to be a projection for when/where it is expected to return when it leaves orbit. Most pieces are expected to burn up. The big pieces they hope will fall into an ocean. Those calculations are wrong to a somewhat frightening degree.

Granted, one is still more likely to get hit by a bus driven by a drunk Republican in Florida, or smashed by a raging bull elephant anywhere else. “Large uncertainties, primarily driven by fluctuating levels of atmospheric drag, prevent more precise predictions at this time,” according to the ESA (European Space Agency), which is one of NASA’s partners in the orbiting laboratory. That means, “We don’t know what the universe is going to throw at us, so maybe go ahead and duck.”

Since so much of what is in space leaves here from Florida, I guess we shouldn’t be too terribly surprised when the universe tries to send it back from whence it came. I’ll just add this to the already long list of reasons to stay the fuck out of Florida.

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Current Issues  /  News & Comment  /  Photography  /  pop culture  /  Social Commentary
Reasons The US Isn’t The Best
April 16, 2024

Lounging In The Tree [2008 with AI enhancement]

I think most of us, at least those over the age of 40, grew up being told, with great confidence, that the United States was the best country in the world, and there was little to refute that statement. All that has changed now. It doesn’t take a social scientist with a Harvard degree to realize that the US is far from being the best. We certainly have punted on being the best at democracy, as the multiple criminal indictments of a past president indicate. We’re far from being the best at healthcare. We’re not even close on human rights. Those are just some of the major points where the United States is failing badly.

As I was doom scrolling through one bad news story after the other, I came across a BuzzFeed headline that caught my curiosity. BuzzFeed isn’t exactly known for being any bastion of journalism. They don’t even try. But they claimed to have a list of 43 “cool” things that prove the US is lagging behind on the social front. 43? Really? That seems an odd number, don’t you think? Certainly, this mandated some level of inspection.

Mind you, these are strictly social elements, things that the US could do but hasn’t. None of these things would require an act of Congress. Well, maybe one or two when it comes to infrastructure funding. Most, however, are simply a matter of having entrepreneurs step and and give the concept a try. Are Americans ready for this kind of advances or are we too busy arguing with each other over who is American enough?

I don’t find all 43 items on the list that amusing, either. So, I narrowed it down to ten, starting with:

Bikes with airless tires you can rent, so you don’t have to worry about tires deflating.

The list refers to Singapore’s bike rental industry, which is kinda cool but something several US cities have. What we don’t have are airless tires. There’s nothing quite as lame as renting a bike and having a tire go flat. Whose responsibility is it to change the tire? How do you even report a flat tire to the rental company? Do you get your money back? The problem of flat tires is not an issue that needs to happen. Airless tires have been around for a long time. The technology isn’t even that difficult. It is well past time that we stepped up to the plate on this issue.

Caught in a Private Moment [2005]

Traveling movie theaters so remote areas far away from movie theaters can still catch the latest releases.

Having been raised in rural Oklahoma, I feel this one to my core. Going to the movies was never easy, and if you were including a meal, it was even more difficult. Chances are you had to go to the late showing and wouldn’t be getting home until the wee hours of the morning, and that’s not including any time of hanky-panky. Traveling movie theatres in Scotland are essentially tractor-trailers whose sides expand out once parked. They can set up in a parking lot at a park or store, seat up to 100 people at a time, and give everyone the chance to see current movies not yet streaming. This could be especially important for the thousands of people in the US who don’t have reliable Internet service, either. Someone needs to take advantage of this quickly!

Secluded Night Away [2004]

Solar-powered buses

With all the arguments (it’s not really a debate because it’s mostly yelling and short on facts) about the fuel impact of public transportation, Hong Kong seems to have found a reasonable solution. The fact that it’s working in a demonstrably dense urban area is all we need to know. Say goodbye to exhaust fumes and charging stations. The only place where I see this possibly not working is in the Seattle, WA area, where the sun has an obvious dislike for joining whatever party they’ve got going on up there. For everyone else, this solves not only the question of fuel but also the question of costs since, ta-da, sunshine is free! There’s a pretty decent chance that high-speed rail could be operated similarly.

Sunday Morning Attire [2005]

Make the whole traffic light rod light up, so there’s no mistaking when the light changes.

Was that light red or not? Americans may not be the worst drivers in the world (have you been to India?), but we certainly qualify among the worst. We have this bad habit of insisting that we’re right 100% of the time. Any time there’s an accident at an intersection, someone is screaming, “But I swear that light was green!” Let’s put that to an end, or perhaps a reduction, by lighting up the whole lighting structure. Yes, this is an infrastructure cost and no one wants to spend money on things we need, like infrastructure. This is also a safety issue, though, and the number of pedestrians being hit in crosswalks hasn’t gone down anywhere. Light things up, maybe even make crosswalks more visible while we’re at it, and let’s see how many fewer dead bodies we have to scrape from the pavement.

Mixing Drinks [2008 original with AI background]

“Confectionery-free checkouts” with no small candies or snacks, so you aren’t tempted to buy anything. These would also be a lifesaver for parents of kids with grabby hands.

This is apparently a popular idea in Australia. Apparently, folks down under actually care about giving their customers a pleasant shopping experience. I can’t imagine how grocery stores in the US would operate without indulging that last-minute “I deserve a candy bar” craving or giving in to the persistent screaming of the two-year-old sitting in a basket. Think of the revenue that would be lost! Why, this sounds absolutely un-American, and it is. We’re too fucking greedy to ever give this idea a decent shot, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthwhile concept.

Smoke Break [2004]

Lights showing which bathroom stalls are occupied.

Imagine walking into a public restroom, especially in a crowded club or restaurant, and not having to peek through the cracks to see whether a stall is occupied! This is the reality in Taiwan and there’s absolutely no reason it shouldn’t exist everywhere. Not many people like being spied on while they’re in the bathroom, especially if that shrimp you had for dinner wasn’t the freshest. A light panel just inside the doorway saves all the questioning and allows one to go straight to the nearest empty stall which is what you wanted to do in the first place. Now, if they’d just add better ventilation to that…

Sunning in the Garden [2008]

Vending machines for things other than snacks or drinks.

The vending machine concept is far from new, so why is it that the US hasn’t started using them for things more than snacks or drinks? Looking around the world, there are vending machines for used books, wine, flowers, cakes, and many other things that one might want to grab on the go. The technology is easy and could be set up at places such as bus stops so that one could get what they need without having to wander all over town. This could be especially advantageous in places that are currently food/resource deserts. Think about entire individual meals, health products, and even resource guides at the ready! Bonus points if they’re paired with Foodstamp cards for those in need.

Rising from the Water [2005]

In-store signs that warn you about shrinkflation.

Again, I don’t see this happening in America because we’re too bent on allowing ourselves to be fooled so that we spend more than we should. France finds such signs a part of doing an honest business. American companies would find such signs an attack on their revenue. What that says about American business and shoppers alike isn’t flattering. But then, it’s been a long time since Americans gave a shit about honesty. We’re much too greedy for that.

Playing in the Dirt [2006 original with AI enhancement]

Braille notices on canned goods and drinks

How do blind people shop? For the most part, they need someone else to do it for them. Telling the difference between a bag of potatoes and a bag of oranges is almost impossible. But what about when they get home? They may know what was bought, but if you’re feeling around the refrigerator, how do you tell the difference between soda and beer? In Japan, there’s braille on the top of cans that tell you! This simple kind of stamping would be extremely easy to implement, but less than .01% of consumer-oriented goods make any kind of allowance for blind or vision-empaired customers. This is an idea that is long overdue and one we need to get behind.

Garden Music [2006 original with AI background]

Public points to get help for people with dementia or autism issues.

Anyone with autism issues knows what it’s like to be out in public and suddenly become overwhelmed by any number of sensory issues. Maybe it’s sound. Maybe it’s too many people, Maybe it’s too many lights. I have family members who experience such moments and their bodies simply shut down, right there, unable to do anything to help them get to safety. Now, take those same feelings and apply them to people with dementia. They might have been just fine for days and in a place they know well, but all of a sudden they’re lost. Americans talk about caring for these people, but we do a lousy job of actually doing anything about it. Multiple Asian countries, however, have established copious help points, quiet rooms, and emergency assistance staffed around the clock just for these situations. They provide paid professionals who can make a quick assessment of the problem and find the appropriate help so that no one gets hurt. These are countries that actually care about their citizens, including those with neurological disabilities. The US does little more than talk, and there’s a severe lack of sincerity in our conversation. We have yet to put any real effort into addressing the many issues.

These ten things are just the edge of all that is happening around the world to make people’s lives better. We are so behind these trends that I’m a little surprised anyone at BuzzFeed thought to take a look at them. I’m guessing it’s someone who travels a lot internationally and was starting to feel a little jealous. Americans have let our international dominance slip so far that we’re afraid to take the steps necessary to start moving back up the ladder. We don’t want to spend the money. We don’t want to be bothered with someone else’s problem. We don’t have the spine to stand up and do what’s right.

I hope you’re feeling ashamed. I do.

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Cancer Update  /  Morning Update  /  Personal  /  Social Commentary
Morning Update: 04/16/24
April 16, 2024

Bound By Illogical Idealism [2020 original, AI background]

What I want to do and what I actually do are two different things, almost daily. I thought I’d get more written yesterday. You don’t see any other posts than the morning update, do you? That’s because I’d start working on something and within minutes I’d start falling asleep at the desk. No amount of caffeine was able to stop it. This is the power that the chemo has over me and is the side effect I’m most concerned about not losing when the chemo is over. I fear my body has become too accustomed to my brain checking out and taking long naps during the afternoon.

Yesterday was a rough day for the kids as well. They came home, did their chores, and promptly fell fast asleep. Neither one ate anything for dinner. G woke up somewhere after 8:30 and Tipper didn’t wake up until 10. To no one’s surprise, I was out for the night by that time. I’m not sure anyone was awake at whatever time Kat got home. Her Mondays are almost always long days, and yesterday started earlier than normal. If it wasn’t for having to take care of the pets, I think we all could sleep around the clock.

The warm weather was nice when I was awake. The dogs loved being outside again. They’re being a lot more chill this spring, not barking as much at people who are passing by, not causing any problems. They’re even being nicer to the mail carrier. She still keeps a wide berth as she passes, but she doesn’t feel the need to walk out in the middle of the street any longer. I’d be tempted to take one of the dogs for a walk, but out of safety, I think I’d need someone to walk with us.

I need someone to take me to see the new movie Civil War. Having watched all the trailers and probably too much news, I can see the movie being prophetic in disturbing ways. I’ve told others that I’ll be surprised if we make it through this election season without any violence. This movie seems to take that thought to the extreme. The fact is, we’re in as much danger from domestic extremism as any Islamic country. We’re wrestling with many of the same issues with too many parallels among the factions. There are too many so-called “patriots” who think that anyone who disagrees with them needs to die. There are too many Supreme Court decisions encouraging the chaos. If I’m going to die before I’m 85, I want it to be because I ate too many coconut creme pies, not because I ran afoul of some idiot with a grenade launcher. Here’s the trailer. Let me know in the comments what you think.

Given all this stress and such, I’m kind of in the mood to take some risks. It’s about a mile and a half, give or take a few steps, over to Nick’s Chili Parlor and some incredible foot-long hot dogs. I’m pretty sure I could make it over there safely. The question is, could I make it back? And who would I call for help if I couldn’t?

Maybe I just need to eat breakfast so I can get the idea of food out of my head.

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Art  /  Fashion  /  Social Commentary
Thoughts on the Passing of Roberto Cavalli
April 12, 2024

Fashion Thoughts [original 2015 photo with AI background] The unique and wonderful designs of Tiffiany Gilstrap-Scott

Roberto Cavalli died today at the age of 83. I wish you could have known him. Or maybe not. He was a unique character in the fashion world, his own life shaped by the loss of his father, shot by nazis when he was three years old. That event did two things that lasted: it gave him a stutter that could make his words difficult to understand whether in Italian or English. It also sent his now-single mother to make dresses, from which he would learn great skill.

Cavalli loved three things: art, women, and wine. Art was almost always behind the purpose of his fashion, but bringing out the sexiness of the female body was behind the silhouettes that graced his runways. And wine? Cavalli never shied away from throwing a party. In fact, the party atmosphere of his fashion shows was pretty much a staple.

Cavalli could be fiercely competitive and one of the fastest ways to get on his bad side was to be wearing Armani in his presence. So fierce was his competitive nature that he would threaten to file suit if his Milan show was within two hours of Armani. He wanted to be the biggest show of the day and throw the biggest party afterward.

While the designer loved seeing a woman in a dress, it was the stretch denim fabric and the resulting jeans that made him stand out. The jeans hugged a woman’s curves in the sexiest way possible, often leaving very little to the imagination. He’d pair the jeans with a daring low-cut top covered in sequins and rhinestones and five-inch tall stiletto heels, They were looks that were impossible to miss and anyone in the know recognized the look at Cavalli’s.

Roberto hasn’t been directly involved with the brand for some time now. With age came the loss of motor functions, making it difficult to sketch, and exaggerating his stutter, making it difficult to communicate. Finding someone to replace him was difficult, though. Designer Peter Dundas failed miserably at the house, failing to understand the basic look of the brand (despite his kind words in Vogue). Eventually, Fausto Puglisi took the creative director’s post and has continued with designs that match Cavalli’s concept of making beautiful women impossible to miss.

Yes, there were some issues with Cavalli as the world changed. The designer loved being around models and that gave rise to accusations that were less than flattering. While I never witnessed anything inappropriate, his personality certainly made it difficult to dismiss the charges, especially those made regarding the ’80s and early ’90s. He kept such matters private, though, and as he aged was much more careful about his interactions with the women who walked his runways.

Cavalli could be gruff and fun at the same time. He might complain about a sample not falling the way he wanted, demanding to know who had done the sewing or why the wrong stitch was used, but in the same instant, say, “Oh yeah, I did this, didn’t I? Maybe I should fire myself.” Everyone would laugh, and then he would remove the piece and either fix the problem on the spot or remove it from the show.

Cavalli was part of fashion’s Old Guard, a group that really only has two or three members left. Younger designers are coming along with new fabrics and ideas that are better suited for today’s women. He’ll be haunting someone, though, if his legend is ever lost behind Armani’s. Be sure of that.

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Cancer Update  /  Current Issues  /  Morning Update  /  Social Commentary
Morning Update: 04/10/24
April 10, 2024

River Dance [ 2007 original with AI-enhanced background ]

Happy birthday to my second-born son, Benjamin Lafayette! I still think of him as some little wild-haired, mac & cheese-eating dude who hated wearing clothes. Now, he’s turning 29. TWENTY-NINE! How the hell is that possible? Can I really be old enough for him to be 29? Here he is being an incredible young man, running around being all responsible and stuff instead of lining up his trains and Matchbox cars all over the den floor. Time flies much too quickly when it comes to our children. Thinking of them as adults is almost impossible, but here they are, doing all the good stuff and doing it better than their parents did.

Speaking of kids, if your kids are in that age group where Lunchables are part of your daily routine, you need to find another routine. According to news released yesterday, Lunchables contain a scary level of lead and sodium. I know, it’s easy and the kids like it and they’re not eating it for every meal. Can it really be that bad? Yes. Please remember, omitting all the sciency stuff, lead makes people stupid. Those of us from my generation should be a sufficient case study to prove that point. You’re probably not going to like this suggestion, but making them a sandwich or “lunchable” type of meal on your own, as time-consuming as it is, would be much better for them. We’re guilty of hooking our kids on processed food much too early in their lives because it’s easier. I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else. I’m glad that my kids are old enough to get up and cook their own lunches to take with them. In fact, that’s exactly what Tipper is doing as I type. Please, don’t follow my example on this one. Stop feeding your kids Lunchables.

Yesterday kinda sucked. I’m not sure why this happened, but about 10:30 yesterday morning my digestive system rebelled and made me more ill than I’ve been in several months. I was running back and forth across the hallway to the bathroom most of the day with far too much intestinal pain. I don’t know if this was a side effect of the chemo or if I ate something stupid. It seems to be gone for now, but I’m still tentative about eating anything substantial.

The good news is that my SS check hit my bank account this morning! While it’s not a lot, it means I can actually pay some bills and take care of some much-needed food items. Of course, I’ll be budgeting carefully to make sure it lasts all month, but the relief I’m feeling at this moment is substantial. And the odds are pretty high I’ll be having fried chicken for lunch.

One other strange thing that happened yesterday is that one of the buses at Tipper’s school ran into a police squad car as they were leaving the school. Apparently, the squad car took the brunt of the force, neither the bus nor the kids on it were hurt. Still, it caused all the buses to be about 30 minutes late. It wouldn’t be worth mentioning if this was the first time this same bus/driver has had an accident while leaving the school. Last spring, just about this same time of year, it was a car they collided with, and again, it caused all the buses to be late. I’m not going to blame the driver right off, but there’s a stop light at that intersection. There’s no sensible reason for anyone to be having a collision there. Someone’s not paying attention.

Okay, there’s a lot to try and do today. I may do a photo dump later? Maybe. You just have to stay tuned!

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Current Issues  /  Nature  /  News & Comment  /  Social Commentary
Time To Eliminate The Hoarders
April 9, 2024

Waiting For His Time [2004 original with AI background] Yes, we were that close.

Dreams are odd and unusual things that sometimes have a meaningful message and other times are nothing more than a series of bizarre images that have no noticeable relationship to real life. Sometimes, dreams are replaying events of the past, especially those one wishes they could change. Other times, dreams indulge in fantasies, things we might like to do if we didn’t have to suffer the consequences of doing them. Dreams are not trustworthy. Dreams are not predictable. They are glimpses into a part of our mind that science has yet to understand. So, when I dreamed of a movement to eliminate billionaires the hard way, I woke up trying to tell myself that it absolutely does not mean that I’m bloodthirsty.

In my dream, we (those faceless individuals with me) commandeered a submarine and torpedoed Jeff Bezos’ yacht. We (presumably the same group) then used a surface-to-air missile to take Elon Musk’s plane out of the sky at 30,000 feet (Is that even possible?). Immediately, the world started being a better place as the billions of dollars they hoarded were distributed more equitably through charities named in their wills. While their deaths were news for a moment, people quickly forgot all about them and went on about their business.

Reality would be much different, however. For all the calls to “eat the rich,” killing rich people isn’t sufficient to redistribute billions of dollars of wealth equitably. Billionaires have wills, trusts, and succession plans already in place to make sure that whoever comes behind them continues to build on the wealth they already have. Like fighting the legendary Hydra, cutting off one head only causes two more to pop up in its place. If we’re really going to put an end to billionaires, all of them, then we are going to need a much better plan, one that ensures money is getting to where it’s most needed.

First, let’s take a look at who, exactly, we’re talking about when we use the term billionaire. Forbes just updated their list last week. Consider who’s hoarding the most wealth.

  1. Bernard Arnault & family, the head of LVMH fashion and beauty powerhouse. They are sitting on $233 Billion in assets. While headquartered in France, their holdings are global.
  2. Elon Musk is riding high on $195 Billion despite having made a mess of the X platform and continually having recalls and missing deadlines with Tesla.
  3. Jeff Bezos is right behind Musk with $194 Billion and on any given day, depending on how the market fluctuates, they may trade places on the list.
  4. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg comes in with $177 Billion but he may also be one of the more vulnerable billionaires on the list as his stock value depends highly on mass public appeal that could turn on a dime at any moment. Stop using social media and he’s broke within a few months.
  5. Larry Ellison, the insane (literally) head of Oracle rounds out the top five with $141 Billion. Only because Oracle is a solid and proven product does the stock price withstand Ellison’s foot-in-mouth comments that are so bizarre he makes the 45th president sound sane by comparison. Fortunately, he’s not really in charge of the day-to-day operations.

The number of billionaires has increased by 141 over last year, up to 2,781 with an aggregate value of $14.2 trillion. The US has the most, by far. China comes in second and India third (up significantly from last year). It is almost impossible to wrap one’s head around how much money these people have. Let’s examine the obligatory comparisons.

  • It would only take $1.6 trillion to eradicate hunger on the entire planet by 2030 completely.
  • The UN doesn’t put a budget number on housing, but it would take only $20 billion to house everyone in the US. Extrapolating that out, housing everyone on the planet would only cost around $800 billion.
  • Educating everyone in the world through secondary school (12th grade) would only cost a little over $2 trillion. That’s every country, which would eliminate a great deal of the ignorance causing problems today.
  • Providing healthcare for everyone in the world would only be $2.2 trillion.

Excluding war, these are the four biggest problems addressing the world at the moment and they could all be completely eradicated by 2030 and our group of billionaires would still have more money than they can possibly spend. Think about that for a moment. All the world’s most critical needs can be met if the world’s billionaires would kindly get their heads out of their collective asses.

Apparently, all those billionaires need some incentive. The go-to response is that they need to be taxed. That sounds like it should be an easy solution. However, the US government wastes approximately .51 cents of every dollar on bureaucracy. Even at the most streamlined methods, it would still double the cost of any endeavor. Other countries are worse. Then, once the government has the money, there’s the fight over who gets how much. Inevitably, the military, which doesn’t need any more fucking money than it’s already getting, would be yelling and screaming for more and there are far too many politicians willing to give it them because of the pull the military-industrial complex has. Several billion would be lost to pork projects in individual states under the guise of “creating jobs.” The inefficiencies of government cause very little actual help to reach the people who need it.

A much more efficient way would be for the billionaires to get together and handle these matters themselves. They already have the people and the structure and, unlike governments, have reason to operate in the most efficient way possible. Think of all the good Chef Jose’ Andres is doing with World Central Kitchen and he isn’t a billionaire! These problems are fixable without involving governments and the solutions would almost certainly last longer and be more effective than any government-funded project would be.

The problem is, that billionaires don’t want to work together and don’t want to let go of the money they’ll never spend. The motivation has to come from people like us. We have a couple of choices: either we stop buying their products and dump their stocks (which puts more money in our own pockets), or… we start buying rocket launches and putting them to good use. How many billionaires do you think we’d have to blow out of the sky before they got the hint?

Before you get all self-righteous about murder being wrong, stop and think about the degree to which billionaires who could help world problems and don’t, are accessories in the deaths of millions of people who die because they didn’t have enough food, protection from the elements, enough education to survive, or sufficient access to healthcare. MILLIONS of people that they could and should be helping.

There is a moral responsibility we all have to help those in need. Hoarding wealth in extreme amounts does not excuse anyone from that responsibility. Knowing that you could completely eradicate an inhuman condition and doing nothing more than throwing pennies at it (donations less than $100,000,000) makes you just as inhumane. Billionaires are the real animals in our society, and yes, that includes the ones you like.

This all brings to mind the French Revolution and the solution they found for the inhumanity of the rich: cut off their heads. The advantage of using rocket launchers is that you don’t have to get as close to the filth.

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