Personal Update December 13, 2023

 Posted by at 5:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 132023
 

I’m typing this on the 12th, but the 12th is almost over, and the article/email I want to share didn’t come in until late.  It’s from Joyce Vance, and it’s in regard to Kathy Griffin.  Griffin and Vance are personal friends, which would probably cause Joyce to recuse from the case (in an abundance of caution) if she were a judge, but IMO should not prevent her from weighing in on the legal merits, and legally speaking there are two issues, one being the first amendment, and the second being jurisdiction.  In fact, the title of her piece is “Can A Court in Tennessee Rule Against You If You Live In California?”

It’s no news to anyone here (and probably no news to anyone anywhere in the country) that Kathy is outspoken and woke, and outspoken about wokeness.  I can’t help wondering how much this lawsuit is prompted by misogyny (misogyny which was amply displayed in the incident which ultimately led to there being a lawsuit.)  Of course, hate, being an emotion, can’t very well be illegal, or made illegal.  The law can only deal with the actions it inspires.  I’ll just leave opinions at this point for y’all to decide.

I still haven’t listened to the RBG album yet.  I have read through the composer bios and the lyrics – there is much in both to inspire laughter, tears, or both at once.  (The last one is her big aria from Scalia/Ginsburg, sung by the composer.)

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Personal Update December 7, 2023

 Posted by at 1:36 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 072023
 

I missed a positive story last week, and am just picking it up today.  The Colorado state Peace Officers Standards and Training board has voted, unanimously and without debate, to strike the controversial diagnosis “excited delirium” from all training documents starting in January.  Yes, this is a move which is long overdue – and is srill long overdue nationally (although every state which does the right thingh helps) – the whole idea is not just a dog whistle but an extremely loud one – and eliminating it will certainly not replace the injustice of the treatment of Elijah McClain’s killers (five were charged, three have been tried of whom two were acquitted and one convicted of a lesser offense, two – both EMTs – are yet to be tried.)  But it is one small gleam of light in a far too big darkness.

Here are two cartoons about Pearl Harbor Day, both drawn from a column filled with them – here’s the link if you can handle the rest of them.

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Personal Update November 29, 2023

 Posted by at 12:01 pm  Politics
Nov 292023
 

I can’t remember a time in my life when I have just been so tired (and also sleepy – they aren’t the same thing). Not that I have ever been exactly a ball of fire, even as a child, but this is getting ridiculous. I am hoping (not without reason) that most if not all of this is related to having been off my meds for so long and the difficulty in catching back up (and delays in getting refills are not helping.) I was also off of OTC (but doctor approved) supplements for all of that time, and one or two of those are also energy related, but at least those I have more control over. Thanks for your patience and wish me luck.

I’ll leave you with this cartoon, which actually choked me up, revealing so plainly, as it does, everything which is wrong with “conservative” claims to be “Christian” – with just two pronouns. Do you suppose any of them would be smart enough to get it (assuming they would be anywhere they might see it?)

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Personal Update November 26, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 262023
 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was pleasant and quiet.  And there was an opera yesterday – Pelleas and Melisande, by Claude Debussy (an imprressionist), based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck (a symbolist), and by the time those two got through with it – well, there are events – at least things do happen – but it’s all so dreamlike I wouldn’t call it a plot.  The music is pretty and the cast was amazing.  There’s only one more left in the summer series – it’s a 21st century opera by Rhiannon Giddens (not a person one would expect to be writing an opers, but it won this year’s Pulitzer.)  After that the Met takes over, also with a new opera.

I’m still not up to writing (or researching, which is the real time-eater) yet, but I did want to share this – it’s a resource for keeping up with all the cases, and only the cases, where someone or some group or some state is attempting to use Section 3 of the 14th Amentment to keep Trump** off of the ballot – any and all ballots.  Trump** himself is such an attention grabber that he tends to suck the oxygen out of everything else, so it’s good that someone is paying attention to this.

And here’s something from Trae Crowder –

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Happy Thanksgiving! November 23, 2023

 Posted by at 5:32 am  Holiday, Politics
Nov 232023
 

Happy Thanksgiving from TomCat

 

And from me –

https://jlcards.com/aQ3fK8

And if you need a lttle something extra to be thankful for, this just might be it.  It certainly would have made TomCat’s day – if not his whole year (he would of course wish it had happened in Oregon, but the fact that it happened at all is eexlilarating.)
 

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Personal Update November 22, 2023

 Posted by at 10:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 222023
 

Yes, it’s that day again – 60 years ago now.  I was thinking about that recently in connection with an article on whether we shoould require the release of medical records by all candidates for President (along with tax records.)  Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?  But I have very mixed feelings about it.

In any case, before it’s too late, I want to share this cautionary article for anyone who might be honored by being invited to a Black Thanksgiving dinner but not know much about Black food culture in particular.  It gave me some chuckles, a couple of gag reflexes, and a few surprises.

The Root – 17 Dishes You BET NOT Bring to a Black Thanksgiving

#4 – Green Bean Casseerole.  Amongst the several polls I sent out requesting ideas for this list, this abomination was at the top. The only acceptable form of green beans is with smoked turkey neck and potatoes. Why is it a trend to make this a casserole?

#6  – Potato Salad with Raisins

Matter fact, keep anything you got with raisins in it. Keep ya potato salad, ya pasta salad, macaroni salad and the criminal attempt at a pan of macaroni and cheese if it has raisins. You must do time over this.

15 – Gelatin-Based Oddities

We’re wayyy past that odd 1980s moment when everything edible was put in gelatin. Leave it alone, babes..unless it’s Jell-O shots. Those are always welcome.

Yes, there are more.  And pictures.  I hope you get some laughs too.

Personal Update:  I have had one contractor here and have a contract for that service – which kind of has to be, maybe not done, but at least under weigh before I can do much else.  At least I am getting more confident getting around the house, and that’s a good thing.

 

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Personal Update November 20, 2023

 Posted by at 10:22 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 202023
 

11/20 Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is also World Children’s Day. I find that appropriate, and also ironic. I cannot begin to imagine what transgender children have to go through (heck, I can’t even imagine what some left-handed children still have to go through, and I can simulate that.)

I have a contractor coming today, so this will be all today.

 

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Personal Update 11/17/ 23 – First Full Day Home

 Posted by at 3:42 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 172023
 

So, first full day home amd I am grumpy as a grinch. No one’s fault (unless there are some kind of gremllins that are in charge of these things.) And it’s a story going back to 1976, when , newly out of the Marine Corps, I sprained my ankle. Of course I used “RICE” and eventually it stopped hurting – until the late 1990s, when it started to notify me that I had osteoarthritis there. That was when I started using a cane. I would not call that a flare-up – just a more or less constant annoyance which gradually eased off. I didn’t forget about the sprain, because it had affected the angle of the left foot a little, as well as the configuration of the arch area (which is a story in itself, but not for now), which were always reminders, but I had forgotten about the pain – until today, when I woke up with a full-blown flare-up – along with my usual back pain, which is on the right side. Suddenly, when neither leg is weightbearing, using a walker wasn’t so easy any more. Normally I ise the TENS in the den (at the opposite end of the house from the bedroom) but I wasn’t going to get there without something giving. Fortunately I remembered I had taken a spare TENS to the bedroom ages ago – the pads were smaller than I use on my back (they were intended for my shoulder) and the TENS had gottn unplugged from the charger somehow (fortunately there was enough charge to get me vertical) so I made it to the den, getting ice for the ankle along the way, so I’m much more comfortable now. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the flareup won’t be back tomorrow morning, and the next morning, and the morning after that, for up to four weeks. I did get a new wheelchair ordered, the samre make and model I have been using to visit Virgil, but one size smaller because doors (and just enough weight loss to fit comfortably),but that was about it.  I did note that, one day after SCOTUS adopted a “Code of Ethics, ” pundits are saying it is about as efficacious as a paper parasol in a hurricane – which was what I had guessed, and y’all had probably also guessed.

I shall now leave the “den” (and therefore the good computer) for the living room for a while, and attempt to find some things that I know I packed to come home with me – so they must be somewhere – but I haven’t figured out where yet.  Wish me luck!

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