Move Along. Nothing to See Here

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It must be nice to belong to a cult. Imagine having the ability to outsource all of your thinking. You just have to accept what your cult leader tells you, and even if the cult leader contradicts himself within a single setting, you can refer to his definitive posting is later on when he’s had the opportunity to correct reflect on what he said.  Never have to do your own processing of reality – you get reality spoon fed to you via regular dosage of your cult leader on your favorite media.

You do not have to have a functioning memory. So your cult leader can talk about how much respect has been lost internationally due to the feeble flailing of the current leader. You can eagerly forget the 2018 United Nations General Assembly meeting where the diplomats representing the nations of the world openly laughed at our dear leader. We should just get rid of the United Nations anyway. What use do we have of an organization that does attempt to set standards across international borders, anyway. We just need to go our own way and forget about the rest of humanity.

Oh, to revel in the selective memories of the cult leader. We do not need to proclaim our positions on any issue. We choose whatever the leader wants as a point of emphasis, and we will obfuscate, obliterate, and annihilate any attempt at the serious job of governance. We believe he is at the pinnacle of moral leadership. Witness the exploits of some of his most ardent supporters, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren “Boom-Boom” Boebert.  There has been enough ink spilled about Lauren’s latest adventure in high culture, but here’s a bit more. Nothing can demonstrate overt hypocrisy better than tweets about church services being preferred to drag shows by a member of Congress, than the public fondling by the selfsame member of Congress of a new boyfriend who happens to be the owner of a bar that takes part in a civic festival which includes hosting drag shows. But our cult leaders have spread their wings over these two exemplars of common sense and cocktail culture.

Soon we will be privy to one of the great spectacles of Federal governance. The total failure of one house of Congress to keep the lights on in said government. To the nihilist class, this represents a crowning achievement. We will put these overreaching, unelected bureaucrats in their places, and we will prune the branches of government down to the roots. Who needs any efforts at curbing the excesses of the excesses of corporations. After all, without some oversight of global corporations, we would all be wandering about in the wilderness, wondering where our pollution controls and labor standards went. If we are really lucky, the convulsions of one party (the party of the cult) will result in the decapitation of the leadership of the house. What is the over/under on the number of ballots it will take to select a new speaker? I myself think the number is over 50. Can you bet on this in Vegas yet?

I’m not certain we ever need to revert to reality again. It is so comforting to live in the adulation of our dear cult leader. We can snuggle up under our covers whenever someone brings up unfortunate facts. We can officially refuse to listen to them because they are coming from all of the fake media sources that somehow manage to exist outside of the control of the cult. But just wait. Because the cult leader has promised retribution against all who have waged war against his holy cause. We do need for someone to get control over the evil world that insists we are victims of a cult leader. How else can we expect his Pax Americana to take hold if there are any voices in opposition? I know, there may be a few eggs broken in the transition to a more perfect union, but will we really miss hearing from the voices of those who persist in saying such horrible things about our dear leader? I am quite certain that we will be much better off when we have such a wise leader back on the seat of power he had been expelled from in the last “election”.

I know there are those who exclaim that our dear leader has lost a step or two over time. But I am here to exclaim to you he has always been consistent in his personality, and has never had any propensity towards saying things that can be factually corrected by checking against previous statements. Any media source that would bring those things up are candidates for retribution when our dear leader resumes his reign. Again, I say to you, there is so much peace you can have by placing all of your trust into this man who inhabits a 6’3”, 215-pound body. He uses the Harold Hill school of exercise. If you just think about it, you don’t need to actually exercise to maintain fitness. Besides, if you exercise, you take away energy you may need in future years. You only have so much energy in your life. Remember, everything is transactional, and we live in a zero-sum world. We can only aspire to hold on to what we once had, and when that is gone, we don’t have a country left.

I wish I had more time to share with you the wonderfulness of our dear leader. But they are ringing the dinner chimes, and soon I will be led down to the room where they will release me from my strait jacket, if only for a while, so I can enjoy the meal provided by my dear leader.

The Joy of Kittens

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So we have ended our catless stretch. A couple of weeks ago, we adopted two kittens, each weighing easily less than a pound apiece, but their size belies their ability to get into mischief. Two fuzzballs, one a calico, one a tabby. Named Chessie, for the Chesapeake and Ohio mascot from years past (the calico), and Merry, short for Meriodoc the Hobbit. My first cat out of college was named Pippin, so now I have completed the set of inquisitive hobbits.

Kittens make you see things with fresh eyes. Shoes are evil, and the strings have to be set free and loose. Ceiling fans, too. They go round and round, and must be stared at in wonder. And then there are the occasions when some of their body emissions do not find their way into the litter box. That’s definitely the down side of things.

So many strings! Each one must be played with. And then there are the endless bouts of wrestling between them. Only once have I seen this wrestling become serious, and that is when I shared a slice of deli ham between them. The growls were real in that case. The rest of the time, they are only playing, and we only object when they are wrestling while atop us in bed at 6 AM. See, it is growing light by that time, so everyone should be up and about.

We can hardly wait for the upcoming holiday season. We can only hope that they do not choose our Christmas tree as their own personal mountain to climb. I can hear them right now as they chase each other through the house, the pitter-patter of their little feet skittering along the wood.

The other downside for these cats is they had fleas. We got them from the neighbor of one of our friends, and we feel good for helping these two kittens escaping from their less than desirable surroundings. Apparently the woman of the house refuses to get her animals spayed and neutered, so litters continue to be brought forth in steady procession. The lucky kittens get adopted out, the less lucky get turned out of the house and onto the street once they lose their kitten charms. Since these kittens are so small, a bath in Dawn dish soap and Johnson’s baby shampoo are the only things we can use to get at the fleas. We’ll see if we can keep these cats as indoor cats, because their flea control will be so much easier if we can eliminate them now, and the cats never become exposed to them later in life. It will be a challenge to keep them inside, since they have already taken to camping by the door whenever we go outside. My reflexes will be tested as I remember how to discourage their exploration by forcefully removing them from the vicinity of the door whenever they want to expand their horizons. Since we love our outdoor living room, that will be a challenge for both of us.

 They are at peak charm right now. I had forgotten what it was like to have two cats fall asleep atop of me, the two of them intertwined and exchanging positions slowly over time. When it is difficult to figure out where one cat begins, and the other cat ends, you figure that they are comfortable and happy to be where they are. And, after all, that is all you can hope with new kittens. That they are happy to be with you, and you are their 2nd best plaything (after each other).

Put Me In, Coach!

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Put me in coach. I’m ready to judge his guilt.

Ah, the dreams we can come up with when a hint of a trial relocation is made. Just transfer a case from the District of Columbia, to West Virginia, where we are “more diverse”. First time I’ve ever heard a reference to my current state having any sort of diversity in it. I guess what is meant is a conviction is less likely in this state since this state voted for him by a margin of greater than 30%. But I can dream, can’t I?

I could just see being impaneled in this state for his trial. Never mind that I have a history in this blog of bashing him mercilessly, and my main complaint is that his record is a too target rich environment. Like late show comedians, these past few years have been a bonanza of material just waiting to be mined. Of course, I recognize I am atypical in this state.

I realized that shortly after I moved here in the mid 1980’s. One of the first issues I voted on was an amendment to our state constitution enshrining the right to bear arms. When my side lost by a 6-1 margin, I knew I was an outlier, even with a hugely democratic legislature. Well, over the decades that margin has melted away, and this state has had Republicans in charge of state government for nearly a decade. During which time we’ve been swimming in the fetid pool of culture war items, you know, the sort that declares transgender athletes are an existential threat. Of course, they are only worried about males who transition to female. I’m not aware of any concerns about the athletic prowess of females who transition to males. Wonder why that is?

It is amazing. I’ve made it to nearly 69 years of age, have voted in almost all elections I was eligible for, but have never been impaneled on a jury. I did receive a summons for service – from Memphis, about 6 months after I had moved to West Virginia. I never even responded to that request. I imagine any issues arising from my lack of response has now been wiped away by the statute of limitations. So I make my case right now to be impaneled, but only in the event that a change of venue is granted to go from the DC district to the southern district of West Virginia. I’ll even offer to forego any compensation for the chance to be a juror on his trial.

My biggest problem will be to limit myself to consideration of the facts brought up in court. There are so many other crimes that come to mind, I have no doubt but that I will be able to find him guilty. Oh, well. Since it is extremely unlikely that the trial will be moved, and even more unlikely that I would be accepted as an unbiased juror once the existence of this blog is made known, this just is another pipe dream I have of being one of twelve avenging agents of justice.  Besides, the trial won’t be televised, so it would hardly be worth it to participate.

Ignorance Is No Excuse

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The laughs keep coming. Every day more and more cringe worthy statements come out of Republican mouths. The latest one is Trump’s excoriation of McConnell – a brief mention of his recent health scare, followed by scorn heaped upon him for supposedly signing on to the Green New Deal through supporting the infrastructure plan. See, what these “Publicans want you to know is that good ole American energy can only consist of things you burn. Coal, and natural gas, and oil, represent America’s birthright. Any suggestion that they cause harm goes against what all true American’s want. Thus the antipathy towards all forms of renewable energy – it’s not worthwhile to try to convert solar or wind to electricity because these sources don’t work 24/7.

It is obvious that none of these fake patriots who support fossil fuels ever took a course in thermodynamics. There they would learn about the inherent inefficiencies in the Carnot cycle. Energy can only be extracted from the difference between two thermodynamic states. In general, this is high pressure steam, being reduced to a lower pressure after doing work turning a turbine inside of a magnetic field. This is how we generate electricity in power okants. Any fossil fuel combustion process uses this. Nuclear energy also uses steam cycles as well. But what these science illiterates either ignore, or are ignorant of, is that less than 50% of the available energy from a steam turbine is converted into electricity. That means that only ½ of the energy created from combustion actually goes to creating a form of energy useful to humanity. All the rest of the energy goes to die in thermodynamic hell as what is euphemistically called waste energy. You may be able to capture bits and pieces of this waste energy, through extraordinary means, but the fact remains that a large portion of the energy we release by burning goes into heating the environment. By the way, that is only a small amount of heat compared to what the greenhouse effect can capture.

The two main sources of energy available from renewable sources are solar energy, and wind energy. Both of these sources have conversion issues. For solar energy, the direct current must be changed to alternating current, and stepped up in voltage. Similarly, the output from windmills must be changed into a useful form for transmission along electrical lines. But guess what? The same conversion issues exist with fossil fuel sources. Steam turbines electrical output must be converted to high voltages so it can be conveyed to the ultimate consumer. What can be said about renewable sources of energy is that they do not have the inefficiencies of the Carnot cycle to steal from their useful output.

Yes, but only in fossil fuel plants and internal combustion engines can we take advantage of the high energy density available in our fuels. We would be wimpy if we tried to use only electricity to fuel our God-given right to mobility. We will never surrender to those who say there are limits to what we can and cannot do. Damn socialists!

You hear those statements coming from committed conservatives, who wish the status quo to remain in place. By God, we became great by using what was available in this nation, and no one can tell this 4% of the world’s population that we cannot use 15% of the world’s energy forever and forever.   We are exceptional after all, and no one can steal our birthright.

Well, I hate to break it to the MAGA crowd, but we are not the only ones on Earth. And there are more and more people who are demanding a say in what is happening to them. As human population has surged over the past 100 years, so too has the number of people living at low elevations. These are the people who are most affected by sea level rise. So if we ignore their plight, we worsen the refugee crisis. Then the kneejerk reaction is to put up walls along our borders to keep out invaders. Sorry, but it might be instructive to look at the causes of refugee migration. By our insistence upon continuing to release ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, we threaten to inexorably turn our planet into a hell hole for many of the people we live with on Earth. And in case you haven’t noticed, there ain’t much hope for finding another world we can mess up.

During my lifetime, it is amazing how we have expanded our abilities to learn about other planetary systems. I see many stories about new planets being found in other solar systems, but nowhere have I seen a report on a habitable planet other than the one we live on. Besides, the planets we are looking at are many light years away. Do you have any idea how far a light year is? Do you have any idea how much energy would be needed to launch a sizable population to a new planet? And how many generations of humanity that would take? No, I am quite certain that those who control the money in politics are solely concerned with their own status as the lucky few who have “made it” in the world. By seeing clearly how far they potentially have to fall, they insist on using their money as political speech, writing multi-million dollar checks to political action committees whose intent is continuing the conflagration of fossil fuels. It does not matter that the projections of climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations are coming true on a daily basis. They find the one scientist who does not agree with the vast majority, and exclaim “Oh, it’s not a universal consensus. We can continue to claim that the science is not settled.”

So what will it take to convince these science deniers that potentially irreversible changes are occurring? And that they will not like the results? My guess is that their opinions will change only when heat domes descend upon their vacation homes, causing fuel drying and leading to catastrophic fires such as we’ve already seen in the west, and along the Mediterranean.  After all, if these pampered people cannot fly their private jet into Aspen because it is on fire, they may begin to feel the effects of global warming. In which case my prediction is they will wonder why no one has taken action before it got this bad.

Observations of the Summer

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Every once in a while, it is instructive to bring back one of the statements of one of our greatest philosophers. Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot by just watching”. That is a true statement, but it requires you to take the time to really observe. Nowadays with the ubiquity of cell phones, people wish to live in their virtual worlds instead of the actual world they live within. The insect shown in the photo above is something that only becomes apparent if you truly observe. We were drinking coffee on our front porch when Carrie said, “What is that on the wall? A bug or a dead leaf?”

We quickly checked our sources. Carrie put it on Facebook, and within about 10 minutes she had an answer. Meanwhile, I googled insect identification sites, and had an answer shortly that matched the answer we received in Facebook. It is a Pandorus Sphinx moth. A harmless species that hides in leaves (near perfect camouflage) in the Eastern US. Our Facebook source told us the name, and shared a reminiscence about a cabin where these moths covered the outer wall one morning.

We do observe things. We heard the first cicada of the summer this week. It is not mid-summer until you hear the rhythmic murmuring of the cicadas advertising for a mate. Quite a life, to live underground as a nymph munching on roots for several years, then digging your way out into the surface world, shedding your nymph coating on some solid surface, and starting to sing your solitary song until joined by another.

It is still not late summer. So far only the males have visited our hummingbird feeders. It will be late summer when we start to see females, and the males lay claim to the feeders as part of their territory. Then you get the aerial acrobatics and fights in flight where the hummers get to show off how much faster they live than other species.

The squirrels have disappointed this year. We have a crop of crab apples that are just dropping slowly onto the spare car below. Up until this year we got to see the squirrels bend and twist, trying to strip the spindly branches of their ruby prizes. We don’t think too many have committed suicide through ill-advised dashes across the street, but they just haven’t gone after something to eat. At least they have left the tomatoes and peppers alone. I am still waiting for the first orb to turn red, inviting me to create the king of sandwiches (BLT). No mano for me, just the moisture from lettuce and the ripe slices of tomato is enough, especially with slices of toasted sourdough.

I’ve seen our neighborhood snake a few times this year. Since we no longer have any cats to torment them, they are able to explore our yard at their pace. So far this year, we haven’t seen any turtles. Margaret Renkl of the New York Times had a wonderful column talking about her turtle Opinion | The Turtle Who Came Back From the Dead – The New York Times (nytimes.com), and its reappearance after a long absence. I still remember the time we saw turtles mating in our back yard, followed by baby turtles emerging from one of our garden patches. But that was several years back.

Soon it will be time to look for the daffodil bulbs crowding the surface. By digging them up, then replanting a few, this gives the opportunity to spread the excess bulbs across the town and the states, sharing the flowers of spring among many. We’ve covered most of our available space with bulbs, so now we are trying to look for perennials that can survive living among the herd of neighborhood deer. I saw one buck who had his antlers already – far too early to see that. But that is the wonder of trying to really observe what is around you. Sometimes you wish you hadn’t observed quite so closely. Like the other night, when we were out at one of our favorite local restaurants, I saw an adolescent boy proudly wearing a t-shirt bearing the image of an assault rifle. Never saw him engage with any of his dining party in conversation. You can imagine there may be problems there in the future. But that is the human world. It is better to observe the world of nature, especially when it shows up literally on our doorstep

Say Riddikulus!

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The world has gone mad today,

And good’s  bad today,

And  black’s white today,

And day’s night today

Cole Porter’s words were written nearly 90 years ago, but much like the words of H. L. Mencken, they resonate with honesty in today’s world. Indeed, much of what is viewed as classic literature over the years is classic because the emotions it describes are still applicable today, regardless of the age of the composition. We went to a Spoleto show recently of a one-man performance of his adaptation of the Illiad. It transported us to the universal human emotions of Homer’s characters, brought forward through time and space.

So maybe it is appropriate to view the world we live in as a single episode in a ballad yet to be written by the Porter, or Mencken, or Homer, or Shakespeare of today, who is able to take the events of the last decade and convert them to a universal meme we can all accept as representative of the world as we are experiencing it.

Certainly I could never conceive of a world where everything became topsy-turvy. Character traits assumed to be virtuous are ridiculed as being out of style and superseded by the need to worship at the feet of our fearless leader. Not only do we need to disparage our predecessors, but we need to actively disrespect them by hiding their secrets in bathrooms. Maybe what we are missing is that Mar-A-Lago is severely short of toilet paper, and the unwritten instructions were to use classified documents as a cleansing aid.

After over seven years, it becomes evident that this movement has a staying power beyond anything I could imagine. My problem is that I’ve tried to understand the logic behind the movement. Like many of my peers, I am unable to understand the movement through any sort of logical analysis. It just does not make sense logically. Therefore, I must assume all of the reason behind its success is due to its appeal to an emotional need on behalf of its adherents.

So we shall try to understand the emotions behind the movement, recognizing I will necessarily do a poor job since I do not share the emotional state of many supporters. I must assume that following a charismatic leader fulfils some deep, unmet need within the psyche of those who have succumbed to its wiles. Since many of the most ardent adherents are those who profess a firm and literal belief in God and God’s word, it is necessary to assert that following someone as an infallible figure is more emotionally satisfying than trying to get that same emotional satisfaction in raising your arms and hollering hallelujah.

There is nothing that stirs the soul up more than feeling you are minimized by the dominant culture. And certainly the culture wars stirred up by this movement reflect the minimization felt by these people over the past 60-70 years. Ever since an imperious Supreme Court told people they had to open up their schools to “those creatures”, removed prayer from school, enabled hussies to obtain abortions, and declared that the Constitution meant what it said when it was amended to ensure all people were covered by its clauses, they awaited their opportunity to wreak revenge. Owning the libs became more important than any economic accomplishment that might be simultaneously torn down. Though most couldn’t define the word, they became nihilists.

Yes, that describes the fault line running through the heart of the United States. Those who have more education, and are more comfortable with critical thinking, are more likely to lean Democratic in their vote. Those who prefer to be told what to think, who react emotionally to expressed threats, especially directed against their young, now tend to lean Republican in their political positions. So we are in a battle where logic must fight emotion, and throughout human history, emotion has prevailed far more often than logic. I am convinced it is not possible to convert someone who acts on the basis of their emotions, to suddenly see the errors of their way through exposure to a logical argument. One must fight emotion with emotion.

One of the fantasy spells in the Harry Potter books was “Riddikulus”. This spell was to be used to destroy the deepest fear buried deep in the person’s psyche. The magical creature Boggarts would assume the form of the deepest fear of someone, and it became necessary to cast the spell “Riddikulus” while simultaneously imagining some ludicrous idea that the Boggart would assume to obliterate the fear. What we need is a national spell of “Riddikulus” where we would convert the form of the fearless leader to an object of derision. Given the many foibles of the once and hopefully never future leader, it is easy to conjure up an image capable of inspiring loathing. Indeed, some of the endless parade of candidates who have declared for the Presidency sense this, as they tout their athletic prowess as a way of contrasting their fitness to the would-be returner to the throne. Does anyone find it abnormal that the only person drawing any physical taunts from the pulpit bully is Chris Christie, the only other candidate who may have more visible fat than does the Donald?

So pick your image. You might choose the sight of those magnificent buttocks as he attempts to return a tennis ball. You might pick an image of him driving his golf cart down the fairway as he solves the world’s problems on a course. You might have the image of him waddling down a ramp (now that’s really unfair. I had two bad knees and could empathize with him not dealing well with uneven surfaces.) But I think my very favorite “Riddikulus” moment was early in the pandemic, where he was suggesting the ingestion of antiseptics while flooding the body with cleansing light. Would that he would have taken his own advice, we would not be in this position today.

Adieu, Sweet Blinky

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For the first time in 47 years, I am not sharing my home with a cat. We had to put our nearly nineteen-year old cat Blinky down yesterday, and the pain still resonates within me. Blinky had pretty much stopped eating over the last week. With great work, he showed some appetite for plain tuna in water, just the sort of thing that would trigger his thyroid condition. We had made the appointment for the veterinarian yesterday, and he confirmed Blinky had lost 25% of his body weight just in the past two months. Dr. Patton helped us through the process, as he had with several other cats before Blinky. We brought him back to his home in a bag for burial today along with his predecessors out in our woods.

We had managed older cats with thyroid issues for a while. Blinky’s brother, Napoleon, did not die of thyroid issues, but of lung cancer nearly 4 years earlier. We had managed Blinky’s care with prescription food that kept iodine out of his diet. We should have taken more notice when he quit eating the dry food a few months ago, but his appetite for the canned food seemed adequate. Then he had a stretch where he wouldn’t eat anything, so we got some canned tuna to try to tempt him into eating anything. That seemed to work, so we also tried canned chicken since it should have less iodine (still trying to keep his thyroid in check). But even that failed, and we were forced to go to plain tuna in order to try to keep him going.

It is hard when you have been the protector, and the source of all things good for an animal, but you realize you can’t help him anymore. He would look at me patiently, assured that I could make it better, but I couldn’t. His plaintive meows indicated he wanted food, but when he was given some he just sniffed it and licked it, then turned away. He liked the thought of food, but his appetite was gone.

Cats are hedonists. They revel in their own pleasures, and if you can help that by providing food they like, a warm lap to sit in, a place where they can catch rays of sun, then you are fulfilling your duties as a cat parent. When Blinky’s brother died, we knew this day was coming, when our hedonistic cat no longer found pleasure in his life’s activities. We could have waited for a completely natural end. But we were certain that would have caused pain and suffering, and Blinky did not deserve that. So with tears in our eyes, we drove to our veterinarian’s place of business (I have tears running down my cheeks as I write this). Normally we would be accompanied on this drive by a strong string of complaints, but this time the complaints seemed half-hearted, and totally stopped for a good portion of the drive.

Blinky had a long and I’d like to believe a happy life. For nearly 15 years, he shared our house with his brother, until cancer claimed him. We met him and his brother when they took up residence in the engine block of a car that our neighbor across the street was ready to junk. We took Blinky and his brother in, segregating them for a few days until we could get a clean bill of health from our vet (the same Dr. Patton), and then introduced them to our other three cats. Over the years, the others departed, leaving the two thyroid challenged cats alone. Finally, with Napoleon’s death, we were down to a single cat. We would have gotten more, but the logistics of trying to deal with feeding where you wanted to keep the $50 bag of cat food away from any cat without dietary restrictions kept us from getting any more cats.

For years, Blinky and his brother were the champions of their realm. Then, a cat (Harold) moved in across the street, and their reign came to an end. Instead of keeping our yard clear of voles and chipmunks, the cats became reluctant to go outside. We still remember the time Blinky appeared on our kitchen’s window ledge, making that weird noise when their mouth is occupied with prey. Blinky had a chipmunk, and was so proud of his accomplishment. He put the prey down, and accepted praise, but as soon as he put down the chipmunk, it vamoosed. Just playing possum in its own desperate attempt to survive.

Blinky took about two days to tell that the heat was turned on each year in the fall. He had his own heat vent he claimed as his own. Since he was a black cat, he brought back my thermodynamic memories of black body radiation, and I often wondered about the equilibrium temperature he achieved by absorbing the heat, then distributing it back.

There is a whole range of Blinky stories we hold in our hearts and memories, like the time when he was still a kitten, but had managed to climb up our butternut tree and get temporarily stuck. He was at eye level with us on our deck, which with the slope of the yard, meant he was up about 20’. That was a time he was able to get down himself, and he never got stuck up a tree again.

We will undoubtedly get new cats. As Carrie posted the news about Blinky on Facebook, we became aware of a bunch of kittens ready for adoption in about a month. The number of available cats almost always exceeds the number of loving households to take them in. But when they do enter your life, it is amazing how much they can integrate into your heart. Especially if you have nearly nineteen years to share with them. Rest well, Blinky. We miss you.

An American Fable

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Photo by Tunde Olaniron through CNN

Once upon a time, there was a nation where everything was peachy-keen. Nobody was discriminated against, everyone was judged by their character rather than their skin color, and the nation had never been guilty of anything bad ever happening in its glorious history. Into that country slinked some naughty evil people, who stole an election from the rightful winners, and went on to impose all manner of bad rulings and total debauchery.

Fortunately, the good guys (because of course, it was guys since you can never depend upon that other sex to do anything resembling logical and virtuous behavior) came up with a plan to reinstate their glorious leader and set our nation upon its righteous path again. Who could object to that?

Oh, but of course the evil people wouldn’t stand for that. They insisted upon reminding us that this nation had not always behaved honorably. There were times where we didn’t give those who appeared different from us an even break. They even had the audacity to remind us that 350 years of subjugation could not be overcome with 60 years of legal equality. Why, by gum and by golly, if those who aren’t true Americans can’t overcome the disadvantages they are up against, then they don’t deserve any consideration at all. Can’t see giving them any sort of a hand-out. They’d only want more, and they’d take that from all of us who really deserve to be respected and honored.

Well, we will just have to make certain that our young’uns never hear about any of these past issues. After all, we now are past any of the sins of our long-ago ancestors. None of us have ever enslaved anyone. And just remember, it was our ancestors as honorable northerners who fought and bled to free those slaves. You know those others, who fought against the northerners and wanted to keep slavery as an economic system? Why, they just were trying to stand up for state’s rights. Certainly people could understand the lily-white motives of the good people on both sides? We would never have any sort of remembrance of that, no torch-lit parades of marchers, would we?

Oh, but of course we are conflating issues here. See, much of the problems that we have is due to those few people who follow Judeo-Christian religious beliefs, but only the first part of that hyphenated word. You know, that small group who somehow manages to worm their way into controlling all of us, the true Americans. You can see them as they spread their tentacles over all of our media. That is why we have to scrub all of our media, in order to ensure that any images reaching our precious children show no traces of the struggles of humanity.

Why, any suggestion that we might not represent the ultimate pinnacle of evolution needs to be stricken from any historical source. If we remove all traces, and ensure that our precious children never have to feel uncomfortable about actions of their ancestors, then we can move forward and claim our prize. Just like if we expunge the historical record of the foul stench of impeachment, it will be as if it never happened. See? If we’d only have discovered how easy it is to alter the past, we’d never have any actions to repudiate in the future.

Now, I know some of you are feeling just a mite uncomfortable with the thought we can change the past. Let me assure you of all of the successful movements of the past where this has borne fruit. We all remember the thousand-year Reich, right? That pinnacle of man’s glorious accomplishment where we all celebrated the purification of our race? There’s no finer example of how successful we can be if we but emulate those in our recent past. Why, I have no patience for those who dare to declare any words which minimize our ascendancy atop humanity’s peak. Since we’ve learned the trick of reversing anything unpleasant in the past, we’ve certainly learned how to get rid of any mention of the victims of those who dared to be different than the objectives of those who ran the Third Reich. Now those people would never have a reason to lie.

Look, if you don’t believe in the goodness of those who want to run this country, just look at all of those who support them. You couldn’t find a more honorable group than those evangelical followers who have not quite internalized the lessons of the Beatitudes. They are the ones who believe in the inherent goodness of concealed carry without a permit. They are the ones who embody the life of the gospels by turning away all strangers, since they might be carrying fentanyl. And everyone knows it is not their fault if someone shows up at their door without explicit permission, thus incurring a lead baptism. Why, if we have these God-given rights, would we not want to exercise them to their fullest extent?

I’m tired of trying to explain to others how wrong they are. Since they refuse to accept their faults, I feel justified in using my fist to impose a little ‘larnin upside their head. If we do that enough, surely they will begin to pick up some sense. Least that’s what I think.

College – Is Bad? Not In My Life

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I owe my position in life to my college studies. I made it through 5 semesters of calculus, 3 semesters of physics, 7 semesters of chemistry, and eventually an entire buffet of technical courses applying to my major of chemical engineering. I learned about statics and dynamics. I learned about electrical engineering principles. I had fundamental computer skills which were taxed in later years as my profession underwent computerization. With a diploma in hand, I was able to take out my books and learn all about statistics when my job required that knowledge. Would I have learned these skills if I bypassed college and went directly into the workforce? Probably not.

I had a smattering of non-technical courses. Always I had a performing vocal course, as it served as a way for me to keep my sanity and help to balance out the sexual imbalance present in my technical courses – virtually no women in those classes. Even there, in my electives, I chose difficult classes. How many folks would take Music Theory for Non-majors as an easy class? Likewise, how many folks would take Biochemistry for the fun of it? Face it, I had an unusual thirst for knowledge, and college was the place for me to expand my knowledge and provide me the skills I would need for my entire career. Which is one reason why I have difficulty in understanding the bad-mouthing being given to college by so many in today’s world. Yes, I do understand that relatively few have the thirst for knowledge I possess. I also understand that relatively few have the tenacity to put themselves out and finish classes requiring such explicit technical knowledge.

I am not able to make a judgement about whether we are graduating too many lawyers, when we have so many problems where lawyers slow down implementing solutions, instead of facilitating them. I cannot say that “soft” skills are inferior to the hard sciences I was exposed to. I have good reason to understand that “soft” skills have great value in this world. I married a woman who was motivated enough to survive a double major in college (in 2 “soft” skill subjects), and then put herself through 2 master’s programs. I have to refer to her as master, master, in recognition that her creditable skills are greater than my own pile of BS. But somehow, over the nearly 50 years since I completed my field of study, it has been decreed that college is “not worth it’.

How did that happen? In part, because colleges and universities began a competition. They were participants in the huge meritocracy experiment we conducted upon ourselves. Annual surveys were made of the “best’ schools, and much of the inflation of costs for college came about as college administrators fought to keep themselves relevant in this age of competition. These fights even reached down to state schools, where not only were amenities deemed essential, but support from states diminished over the decades. Now you had to determine whether the NROI of a college was worth it. Whereas I was able to attend at a cost of $16 per credit hour, those costs now are in the hundreds of dollars per credit hour at state schools, and literally thousands of dollars per credit hour at the peak of the school meritocracy list.

I know my college had a huge NROI for my expenditures. Yes, I could work a minimum wage job on a very part-time basis, and end up paying for my expenses and leaving enough for pizza and beer. On the college campus, we only had those in fraternities and sororities who were able to lord it over the poor students living in un-air-conditioned dorms. Somehow, I didn’t encounter very many of those folks in my science and engineering classes. The class distinction existing outside of college was perpetuated by these Greek houses.

Now, looking back, it is obvious to me that my choice of majors greatly influenced my earning power. Employers did want those who had technical skills (and if you were literate and could string sentences together coherently, so much the better). I was a beneficiary of the value society placed upon technical skills. What is abundantly clear is that too many of today’s graduates are not valued adequately for the benefits they provide to society. First among the list of the undervalued are teachers. It takes a special set of skills to enable someone to convey their own love of learning to a new generation who actively disdains schooling. And if we want a new generation to continue the path to prosperity we find ourselves on, then it is obvious teaching is a vital skill for society. Yet too many teachers find themselves locked out of living in the districts they teach in due to their own paltry pay. Somehow we must find a solution which enables teachers (and other civic servants) to live in the neighborhoods they serve.

How do we get out of this endless treadmill of escalating costs but insufficient remuneration for jobs unlocked by education? It does require a revisionist approach to the issue of what should college do? First, it must keep the supply of technically-educated people alive and growing. We bask in the fruits of technology (food supply security, incredible technology for communication, medical miracles in imaging and pharmaceuticals), but we do not provide enough recompense for those who study in the fields which make it possible to grow new fruits. Second, we believe in the moral superiority of those who create jobs. Thus it would seem a greater emphasis on economics and entrepreneurism would benefit all of society. But even more, we need a renewed emphasis on those who can maintain the infrastructure we have created for ourselves.

Back when I was growing up, you could find shade tree mechanics who could diagnose and fix problems in cars. Now? It is nigh unto impossible to even begin to understand the highly computerized systems making up today’s cars. I remember needing to stay current on things like oil levels in a car, since you could anticipate problems by just understanding baseline performance. The other day I had to pop the hood on a car we’ve had for seven years. It took forever to figure out how to raise the hood. We just do not need to look there as much as we used to. We’ve been spoiled by the improved reliability from auto manufacturers. But as we have seen, it takes much more technical knowledge to enable someone to understand cars and fix their inevitable problems. There should be a place where these skills are taught, serving the public by improving the human infrastructure. A combination of community college and college/university courses can give someone the knowledge and skills not only to directly fix problems, but to eventually build their own business in auto repair. We do see some of that driven by businesses, trying to generate the knowledgeable employees businesses need. There is a need for people to learn these skills, and it keeps growing as our systems we depend upon grow ever more complex.

Unfortunately, that is not what our college and universities seem to want to provide. At some point, we need to move beyond ivy-covered walls and do a deep dive on how to use college to meet all of our needs as a society, without creating massive debt as a primary product.

So. Many. Boxes

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Photo from Justice Department

Hundreds of docs. Thousands of docs. Millions and billions and trillions of docs. Like many others, I had a mental image of the documents in question stored at the Mar-A-Lago resort. That image did not include a stage filled with boxes, a bathroom where the reading of choice could have included nuclear secrets, a wall filled with banker’s boxes of documents. The sheer scale of the illegally retained documents forced an unanticipated gasp from my throat. Of course, there are millions of people who will deny the evidence presented to them, and who defend the indefensible.

By this time, it is apparent it is impossible to shame any of Trump’s defenders. What we have here is the divine right of kings personified in a hugely unfit blob of protoplasm. If you look at Donald Trump through the veil of royal prerogative, his actions become much more understandable. He has been accorded the divine right, thus he is incapable of doing anything wrong. All of the moralists of all time have it wrong regarding Trump’s actions. You cannot hold him accountable for any of his actions because he was forgiven by the divine right he possesses. Thus it is not a problem for him to have pontificated for better controls for classified materials in 2016, and then claim total and complete innocence when his own issues dealing with classified materials were revealed in 2022-23. Then the victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome go on the offense, defending the man’s actions since it is clearly evident he could never do wrong.

No, what is evident to those of us outside of the Trump cult is the complete idiocy of his positions, and those who support him. What one must keep in mind is this quote from Charles MacKay: “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.” There will never be a single event which will cause the true believers to abandon the object of their affection. All you can ever hope for is that you have a slow and steady erosion of his support as the steady drip, drip, drip of his wrongdoing keeps getting exposed.

I’ve read the 49-page indictment. It is abundantly clear that the object of Trump’s obsession with his documents was a misguided belief they belonged to him, and him alone. Never mind his insistence on deceiving his own attorneys into swearing to his veracity when saying he had turned over everything of interest. How could he be held accountable for retaining items post-presidency when he never actually entered post-presidency. After all, he won the election, didn’t he? It’s not his fault that the reality-based view of everyone outside of his cult is that no, he actually lost the election. He’s been totally consistent in his insistence that the election was stolen from him.

The problem is now he is dealing with those who are mentally disturbed who still belong to his cult. And many of these (as Kari Lake points out) believe in second amendment solutions. That is, over and over, those who believe violence is justified are simply awaiting their opportunity to demonstrate loyalty to their fearless leader by committing some act of violence with their plethora of second amendment weaponry. In their warped minds, anyone who dares to express any statement of disloyalty is just asking to be upbraided with a 9 mm solution. If they can take out a transgender supporter at the same time, so much the better. In other words, the entire political discussion has now become more than toxic. It has become dangerous to the vast majority of the nation, since it is only a relatively small minority who still believes in Trumpal infallibility.

I for one am sick of this charlatan who has hijacked the national discussion. There are so many real issues we need to deal with, yet we keep getting stuck on discussing this toddler who commands the loyalty of so many who are brain dead. Sooner or later, they will discover it was never about them. It was always what can we do for Donald? How can we give him the honors and fealty due him? If we give him what he wants, then everything will be all right, because of course, his magnificence will solve all problems we have. We just need to return The Donald to the seat of power and all will be right with the world. Gahh!