Clearing the way.

 

24 SEP 2024

 

Who knew I’d still be here and using modern tech to write in what’s known as a “blog”? That I’ve made friends around the world via “social media,” or can talk long distance via my car? Or, if I wanted to, and I don’t, have a washer and dryer I can control with my cell phone? (I genuinely see no purpose or advantage.)

 When I think about my grandparents living from the horse and buggy days, with no indoor plumbing or electricity to men walking on the moon, or my mother having lived with neither of the above to using a computer, it blows my mind (for lack of a better expression).

Sketchy sentences, to be sure, but I think my intent is to bridge the gap, as it were, between what was and what is, even what will be. I got to thinking about all this as I’m trying to weed all the excess books out of my house and the hardest thing to get rid of are my dad’s old uni textbooks. I can’t, I simply cannot. Many of my mother’s books? No problem. But somehow the ones Daddy used at Trinity U I just can’t part with.

At one point, seven years ago, when Mother died, I said (quite foolishly, knowing better), I’m going to read ALL THE BOOKS, because I had just inherited a bunch of hers and they all looked interesting.

***station break for insane laughter***

Of course, some of those I kept because they seemed interesting about language or were good reference books, but I’ve had to face the hard reality I will never read all those interesting books about language and I can literally look up anything on the internet and it will be up to date, unlike some book on grammatical standards written in 1945.

So what makes me hang on to the now very outdated textbooks?  Sentimentality, plain and simple.

As a corollary, there is so much CRAP in this house and I’m 72 years old, I seriously need to employ Margareta Magnusson’s ‘gentle art of Swedish death cleaning, because no one needs to be saddled with all my junk.

Cheers, y’all.

America has lost its goddamned mind

 30% of Americans still back that complete conman, criminal, and just generally despicable man who somehow or other became president before Joe Biden. 

Seriously, I just do not get it. And to top it off the Republicans in Congress are still stirring the shit pot trying to find something, anything, to hang on Biden to impeach him. They're like a bunch of middle-schoolers, they can't stand it that their golden, or rather orange boy is actually being held accountable for crimes and sedition, so instead of doing their fucking jobs, they're playing "take that!" Except they can't find anything. Gee, I wonder why not. I'm not under any illusions here, I know Joe is no angel, but he's far too savvy to do anything that's going to get him squarely in the sights of the rabid right. 

So. Iowa. With the choices being aforementioned criminal, a Fascist, a bigoted bimbo, and as Trae Crowder put it "a brown man," plus a handful of wishful thinkers, they overwhelmingly chose the criminal, the man who tried to overthrow the government. Smooth move, dudes. It's actually scary that the Grand Old Party, or as I like to call them the Great Obstructionist Party, cannot field one single sane, viable candidate. The only choices are just laughable. Of course anyone with any kind of morality is right out for them, RINOs they're called.

The Democrats have a lot more good choices, but the majority of Americans won't go for them. The gay transportation secretary, the aging Socialist, the current VP (not a huge fan of her being prez, to be honest, but more research is needed), and I'm sure there are others, but no one high-profile enough to challenge the incumbent. 

One of the other problems is the Democratic Party itself. Apparently they are unable to hire a competent ad agency: they fail spectacularly to spin the good things this administration has accomplished. It brings to mind that blond idiot from Georgia reading off all the supposed bad things, and it's actually a list of very good things. Makes me cackle every time. 

There are a few things I really wish this Congress would do: censure Israel and tell them to stop being bullies. I'm by no means an anti-Semite, but the Israeli government has always treated Palestinians like a biblical plague of pests that just needs to be eradicated. I do not in any way condone what Hamas did, but the retaliation has gone far beyond any punitive action and is now in the genocide territory. You'd think they'd understand that, given their history. 

Next, Congress needs to pay back all the funds filched from Social Security since the Reagan administration. Instead of constantly saying it has to be reduced or eliminated because it's a draw on the deficit, PAY BACK THE TRILLIONS STOLEN! The Republicans (and Clinton apparently) have used the fund like their own personal piggy bank for things like funding the (unnecessary) Iraq war. We really don't need another super duper fighter jet, just pay back the money already and the fund will be fine for a loooong time. 

There are many things they need to turn their attention to besides one-upping each other in the payback game, but this one is also a biggie: Codify bodily autonomy for all. The anti-abortion thing has never, ever been about the babies. How do I know? Because if you look at the voting record of Republicans across the country when it comes to anything that would help children, they vote against it. You'd think they don't know babies become children. They don't give a rat's ass about babies. It's just one more way they can control women. Oh, they've convinced the Jesus crowd that it's about the babies, but we all know how gullible that lot is.

Well, that's enough to bring the trolls out. If you comment, be nice.