Morning Update: 08/14/24
One of the things that is interesting around here is how much more noise there is around the house when Kat’s not home. When Kat’s here, we all try to be as quiet as possible. The kids understand that she rarely sleeps well during the night and avoid turning on lights and speaking loudly. When she’s not here? This morning G was up and in the shower at 5:00. Tipper was up shortly thereafter and it wasn’t long before the lights were on and the chatter was going. The dogs went out, the cats were fed, and there were plenty of conversations before they headed out the door for the day. I think I prefer the quiet days because the intensity of the chatter is a bit much for this early in the morning.
I talked so much about Tipper yesterday that I forgot to mention that G is now one of the Lab’s three student ambassadors. He’ll represent the Lab at other schools and different events, and he’s in charge of administering a program that gives points to students for positive behaviors. This is a fantastic leadership opportunity for him and it’s nice to see how seriously he’s taking his responsibilities. He’s overcoming his fears and learning to speak up on issues that are important to him. I’m looking forward to seeing how this year develops.
Yesterday was the last Two Dollar Tuesday of the Indiana State Fair, so I had to go. My hope was to get some selfies with draft horses. Tipper had talked about how many of them were there on Saturday, and I just assumed (an error) that there would still be some there yesterday. Nope. The horse buildings were completely empty. Not a horse of any breed in sight. I was severely disappointed. I did get a picture with the lovely gentleman you see at the top of the page. I figure we black sheep need to stick together, you know? I also made my way around to the DNR building and asked them what I’d need to do to get more bears, wolves, and elk back into state parks. For some reason, they weren’t amused by the question. I put in nearly 10,000 steps for the day, which is probably the most I’ve walked since starting chemo. When I got home, I took the dogs out and then collapsed into bed for a nap.
The dogs really don’t like it when I’m gone all day. They barely left my side when I took them out, and when we came back in, Belvedere tried climbing into my lap while I sat in my office chair. They both have been extra snuggly anyway. I’m a little concerned that they’re sensing something that I’ve yet to grasp.
I know we talked a lot yesterday about women’s autonomy, but over the course of the day, two more states, Arizona and Missouri, put abortion on the ballot for this fall. This brings the total to seven states that are putting some form of abortion measure to a vote. No matter where you live, this is an important matter that requires everyone to get out and vote. Again, these issues are totally separate from the races for president and members of Congress. And while the number of people registering as Democrats has increased over the past three weeks, we have to realize that prior to that point Republicans had been registering significantly more people since last December. It’s going to take a lot of effort in every state to prevent the dangerous and undemocratic policies of Project 2025 from taking effect. There’s no sitting on the sidelines or trying to avoid being political. Everyone needs to speak up and let their position be known. Silence almost certainly leads to disaster come November 5.
Interesting story out of New Zealand where a food bank accidentally distributed potentially lethal doses of meth disguised as candy. Disguising drugs as food items to get past border customs isn’t new, but the question is how they became donated to the Auckland food bank. With a street value of over $600 US per candy, it seems unlikely that this was a deliberate attempt to poison low-income and homeless people. The food bank is trying to get all the candies back, but four people have already been hospitalized for taking the drug.
Folks in Japan are a little on edge after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever “megaquake” advisory. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone places in the word. While last week’s 7.1 quake stayed offshore and provided little threat to the island nation, concern is growing that there’s now a 70-80% chance of a significantly larger quake in the 8-9 range on the Richter scale. Such a large quake could prove devestating. Unfortunately, the announcement didn’t come with any instructions on how people might prepare for such an event. This has led to considerable confusion and criticism of the agency. What may be worse is that without specific planning instructions, people are more likely to disregard the warning, leaving them completely unprepared should such an event occur.
I posted about this on Facebook yesterday afternoon, but I want to get a little more into it this morning. The United Auto Workers Union has filed a complaint of worker intimidation with the National Labor Relations Board against the Orange Felon and Elon Musk after their glitch-filled chat on Monday. While the Felon’s campaign is trying to pass off the complaint as “frivolous” there could be some real meat to the story. Back in June, eight former workers at SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, sued the company and Musk, alleging he ordered them fired after they challenged what they called rampant sexual harassment and a hostile “Animal House”-style work environment at the company. In Monday’s chat, the Felon told Musk, “I look at what you do. You walk in and say, ‘You want to quit?’ I won’t mention the name of the company but they go on strike and you say, ’That’s OK. You’re all gone.’” That statement would seem to be a direct attempt at intimidation against unionizing efforts at Tesla and elsewhere. If you needed another reason to not vote for the lying, cheating, swindling, rapist felon, there you go.
Mornings like this, I kinda wonder if we’re all not a little bit crazy for living in a society as messed up as ours. The economy is questionable, climate change is progressing faster than anyone predicted, and it seems that politicians suck no matter what country one lives in. We can change this, you know. Young people in Bangledesh proved that last week. The question is what will it take for us to get serious about anything?
Maybe I just need more coffee.
Morning Update: 08/20/24
Coffee isn’t going to be enough to keep me awake this morning, even though I made it super strong. There was a battle for bed space between the cats and dogs and I was the loser. Add to that some really strange dreams (including a coupon for $3 off the tail-end of a movie), and I woke this morning feeling anything but rested. Fortunately, nothing is demanding my attention today. The dogs are already signaling that they’re ready for a nap. I’m happy to oblige.
G spent most of his school day applying the new point-driven merit system he developed for The Lab. He was tired enough that he skipped playing D&D with his friends, came home, and crashed. Tipper went to the robotics club for the first time after school and discovered that she’s very good at assembling wheels. If she was tentative going in, she was thoroughly convinced that the club is a good thing by the time she left. She’s looking forward to staying again today.
Something must have happened on the bus last week, though. Tipper had been fine with riding the bus home alone, but now she doesn’t want to if she can’t take the first bus right after school. The reason? She doesn’t want “creepy old men” touching her. I know every woman on the planet can relate. Her solution would be to carry pepper spray, but that is totally prohibited at school (for understandable reasons). My solution is for me to take the bus down to the transit center on days she stays late and ride the bus home with her. She likes that idea because, in her words, “it gives us more Daddy/Daughter time.” I’m going to talk with the school’s Dean about the situation first, though, and see if they have any suggestions.
The news this morning is focused on President Biden’s “handoff” speech at the Democratic Convention last night. US intelligence officials say Iran is to blame for hacks targeting Trump, Biden-Harris campaigns, which confirms what already seemed evident. Taiwan flexed its missile firepower on rare trip to sensitive test site, sending a warning to China. I’m just waiting for that whole South China Sea situation to blow up in everyone’s face. And a magnitude 5.3 earthquake shook parts of Pakistan and the Himalayan region of Kashmir early Tuesday, panicking residents.
There are a couple of “below the fold” stories that I find interesting. Earlier this year, Stephen Chamberlain and Mike Lynch were co-defendants in a fraud trial over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard. Both men were acquitted of the charges in June. But then, earlier this month, Chamberlain was killed in a traffic accident in London. That might not have raised many eyebrows were it not for the fact that Lynch is among the missing after a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily last week. The circumstances of the yacht’s sinking are still a mystery, which raises the specter of the two “accidents” being related, if not to the Autonomy deal, then perhaps some other business dealing gone wrong. There’s not enough information about either incident at the moment to form a firm link between them, but given the situation, it seems a stretch to look at them as just a coincidence.
The second story comes from Nicaragua where 1500 NGOs, including a number of churches, were forcibly closed without warning yesterday. What it comes down to is authoritarian President Daniel Ortega is eliminating any space that might include dialogue he can’t control. He’s especially concerned about churches preaching against his atrocious human rights record. While he’s been closing Catholic churches for a while, this round included several Pentecostal and Baptist churches as well. As the situation in Nicaragua continues to deteriorate, immigration away from that country to the US inevitably increases. Can you blame them?
Indy’s summer violence continues even as temperatures have cooled down for this week. Among the headlines this morning:
Instances of violence may be decreasing elsewhere in the country, but Indianapolis seems determined to keep the numbers high.
The animals are telling me that nap time is at hand. I’d be a fool to not join them. Ya’ll stay safe.
Share this:
Like this: