Morning Update: 08/02/24
Rain, rain, everywhere, rain. The lawn may never get mowed at this rate. At least not before temperatures are back up in the 90s next week. We had so much rain yesterday, that a part of Interstate 465, which goes around the perimeter of the city, was flooded and stopped traffic at rush hour. You can imagine the mess and backup that caused. There was more rain off and on throughout the night and there’s a pretty decent chance we’ll see more this afternoon/evening before a low-pressure system moves through. That could make things a little dicey if you’re planning on hitting the Foghat show on the free stage at the Indiana State Fair tonight. Personally, I’ll be staying in, close to the bed, ready to curl up and metaphorically die. Again.
Between downpours yesterday afternoon, G helped me move some things out to the curb for heavy trash pickup that is, allegedly, supposed to happen today. In theory, the first Friday of every month is supposed to be heavy trash pickup, but for both June and July, that Friday fell on the week of a holiday, which pushed normal trash pickup out a day. For whatever reason, when that happens there is no heavy trash pickup. Of the things we set out, scavengers picked up the old refrigerator that died back in May. Good luck getting the damn thing to work, guys. We’ll see how long it takes for the rest of the stuff to disappear.
Tipper is proving to be a good friend. When her new furry friend was pulled out of class for an IEP evaluation, she was asked to sit in the room with him to help him stay calm. They’ve created a very fast bond that allows them to watch out for each other and be each other’s confidant. Someone tugged at Tipper’s tail yesterday and word got back to the school’s Dean. He promptly facilitated an apology from the student responsible, something that Tipper was not expecting. Again, this strongly reaffirms our decision that PPHS is the best high school for her. Her first week has been surprisingly positive all around.
Not every school is as safe as PPHS. Topping local news this morning is the story of yet another teacher/pastor being arrested for producing child porn. Seriously, is no one catching the trend here? The number of cases of sexual assault and child porn being committed by pastors and other church leaders has been off the freakin’ charts! I know pedophilia is a big issue among conservatives, but people, the problem is not with drag queens or trans people. The problem is right there in your own churches! Wake up and smell the bullshit! Just two days ago, Christian Post announced that one of the founding elders of Gateway megachurch was forced to leave amid allegations of child sexual abuse. Increasingly, it’s becoming obvious that the least safe place for your children is at church!
There’s bad news from the American Cancer Society this morning. A study published in Lancet Public Health shows that cancer rates among Gen X and Millenials are increasing, sometimes dramatically, for 17 different cancers. No one seems to be able to understand why. What is especially bothersome is several of these cancers have been in decline among older people. Specifically, the increases in the following cancers are disturbing:
- Colorectal
- Endometrial
- Non-cardia gastric
- Gallbladder
- Ovarian
- Testicular
- Anal
- Estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers
- HIV-linked cancer called Kaposi sarcoma
Endometrial cancer is not only the fastest growing in terms of diagnosis, but it’s also the highest in terms of mortality. This shit is kinda scary, kids! With there being no firm explanation for why these cancers are increasing within these two age groups, you’re pretty much on your own in convincing your doctor to screen for tests. Don’t be afraid to stand up and advocate for yourself!
Of course, the big news this morning is the Russia-US prisoner swap that happened early this morning. It’s the largest post-Soviet prisoner swap to date and has been forever in the making (almost two years). You’d think that this would be something everyone would agree is a good thing. Nope. The Orange Felon has decided that the prisoner swap was “bad.” The guy who hates cat ladies is desperately trying to give the Orange Felon undeserved credit for the swap. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the GOP knows no low that they’re not willing to exploit in this election. The head of the GOP in Kansas has vowed to rid the state of the “Democrat infestation.” They’re grasping at straws as the Felon’s own words are rapidly sinking the ship. There’s little question in my mind that the hate speech coming from the right side of the aisle is just getting started. Race, gender, and even Judaism are being set up as targets. This is going to get nasty.
The situation in Venezuela isn’t likely to get better soon. The US has officially recognized opposition candidate Gonzalez as the winner. Maduro still swears that he won, and is likely to manipulate the courts to keep control. Expect more chaos there over the weekend.
If you travel with your kids, you’ll be interested to know that a proposed US rule would ban airlines from charging parents additional fees to sit with their children. Why this isn’t already a rule doesn’t make any sense to me, but then, the airline industry as a whole strikes me as being rather clueless. If you’re traveling anywhere remotely close to the Middle East, though, you might want to check with your carrier. More airlines are either canceling or diverting flights over what are considered dangerous regions. Tensions are high as it seems almost certain that the entire area is about to blow up.
Oh, this just popped up: Police are investigating hate speech targeting the Olympics opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolly. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times he tries to explain that there was no intended mimicry of DaVinci’s “The Last Supper,” right-wing idiots around the world are still issuing death threats, public insults, and defamation at a level that is illegal in France. This just further proves how intolerant, weird, and frankly, stupid the far-right is no matter which country they’re in.
Ugh. Why has this taken so long to write? Well, there might have been a rabbit hole or two along the way. When one consumes as much news as I do, it’s easy to become distracted. Let’s get on with our Friday, shall we?
Party on!
Morning Update: 08/15/24
There are mornings when I struggle with how to start this update. This is being one of those mornings. At 4:00 this morning, Frankie, the smashed-face wheezer kitty, decided that he needed to give himself a bath. For any of the other cats, that wouldn’t be a big deal as they’re rather quiet about it. Not Frankie. Thanks to his collapsed sinus, Frankie’s baths sound more like a piece of cellophane trapped at the end of a vacuum cleaner. It’s loud. I’ve been awake ever since and my brain is having difficulty forming words, let alone sentences that make any sense. We’ll see how far we get this morning.
Yesterday afternoon was exciting as Tipper brought home her new friend from school. We’ll call them R for now. R is the friend who took her to the fair last Saturday, and the one who threw up at school on Monday. While they’re older than Tipper, they are several inches shorter and incredibly thin. They do have some cool piercings, though. They hung out in Tipper’s room until after G’s violin lesson, then Kat took them to her favorite hiding spot at Eagle Creek. I’m not sure what time they got back as I was already asleep, but Tipper’s report this morning was that R had a really good time.
The only issue we had was that Hamilton really wanted to be R’s friend. I’d kept the dogs in the Recovery Room when the kids first got home so that they wouldn’t jump on anyone and that worked well for Belvedere. Not so much for Hamilton. He knew that someone new was here and he was desperate to meet them. I took the pups outside and the kids joined us. Hamilton refused to leave R alone, not in an aggressive way, but more of an “I love you please pet me,” manner. Even after we came back in and they retreated to Tipper’s room, Hamilton sat right outside the door, waiting, in case they might come back out.
We all like R, but the details of their life are… challenging. Having Tipper as a friend is good for them. She takes extra snacks to school to share and gives them emotional support when they’re having trouble. It will be interesting to see how their friendship develops.
G is finally getting into the full swing of school. The D&D gang is back together. He likes what he’s working on in class. He’s getting back that rhythm and structure that he missed during the summer. He’s often exhausted by the time he gets home. His days are long, starting at 5:00 AM and often not getting home until after 6:00 PM. We’re having to re-think the whole chore and dinner scenarios because both kids tend to want to hit their bed when they finally get home.
There’s an interesting amount of news related to kids today, too. Associated Press is reporting this morning that chronic absenteeism remains a problem, having never recovered after COVID-related school closings four years ago. Every state except Arkansas has absentee rates that are still higher than they were before COVID. Different schools are trying different things, such as “recess” for high school and paying students for perfect attendance, but not all of those programs are sustainable. I think there are probably a lot of places that could benefit from a micro-school model such as what G has at PPHS, but even that isn’t going to work for everyone. One universal thing, though, is that it takes highly qualified teachers to keep kids in their seats and you’re not going to get that for the meager wages teachers are paid. Schools need more funding. Period.
What happens when kids get bored? One Detroit girl ended up in jail clothes and wearing handcuffs. The scenario is that the girl’s class was on a field trip to a Detroit courtroom. The judge, Kenneth King, saw the girl falling asleep and was offended, finding her inattentiveness disrespectful. The judge told a Detroit TVV station, “I wanted to get through to her, show how serious this is and how you are to conduct yourself inside of a courtroom.” Obviously, that action didn’t go over well with the environmental group that sponsored the field trip. The Greening of Detroit released a statement, saying the “young lady was traumatized. The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful.” The judge talked to the girl’s parents and offered to be a mentor, but something tells me this situation is far from over.
Not all kids get to go on field trips, though. The World Health Organization has, for the second time in two years, declared MPOX a global public health emergency. This comes after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to other countries. A new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact, and is being blamed for the problem. Without a coordinated international response, the disease could easily spread over the African continent and beyond. Yes, doctors and scientists are a bit frightened by how easily this strain is spreading, so expect it to stay in the news for a while.
Sexual abuse is in the news again, too, because we still haven’t fixed the systems that allow for it to happen. The Vatican expelled the founder of Peru’s Sodalitium movement after severe charges of abuse and corruption. While we appreciate that action was taken, it took the Vatican over ten years after first being made aware of the problem before reaching this decision. Why? “… canon law didn’t precisely cover his alleged misconduct.” What the fuck? Perhaps God needs to throw a brick at someone’s head to convince them that abuse is not acceptable. Ever. Period.
This date, August 15, has some history to it. Macbeth was killed in battle in 1057. Panama Canal opened on this day in 1914. And in 1969, this was the first day of the Woodstock Music Festival! Ah, those were the days!
There’s more stuff but my brain has reached its limit for combing through any more stories. I’m thinking that an early nap is absolutely mandatory. Coffee alone just isn’t cutting it.
Weather’s moving in, too. I think the worst is going to our South, but there’s enough here to have me feeling miserable.
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