April 26, 27

 Frosty but not as much as yesterday when we had frost on the roofs and cars. We had frost warnings for the last couple of days which reminds me of why I try not to hurry up and plant. By next week the temperatures should be warmer but I still don't want to put anything in my containers till about Mothers' Day. I probably won't get everything in before sometime in June. At least seeing green leaves, and flowering trees and bushes has improved my mood--until I have to deal with computer problems which we still have.

John Ganz posted this interesting piece on his Unpopular Front substack site. Commentators have observed the growth of an "imperial Presidency" since the Nixon administration. As I read the post I remembered a theme I found in the various history books I have read: the stability of the society/government depended a great deal on the stability of the ruling line. The Roman Empire had its longest period of stability and relative peace (internally at least) between 98ce to 180ce. The emperors during this time came to power as adults with a record of competence after his adoption by his predecessor. Their succession was peaceful and uncontested. After the death of Marcus Aurelius that changed and the Empire was plagued with repeated contests between generals claiming the throne. During the Merovingian and Carolingian periods of Frankish history similar patterns developed. Kings often died leaving minor heirs who often died young, no heirs, or too many heirs in a system of inheritance where all male heirs had a claim to succeed. Democracies and republics have the same problems without the family drama (usually). Just because at least some portion of the citizenry can elect a leader doesn't mean that the chosen leader is wise, capable, or able to meet the needs of his time. We appear to be on the cusp of a time when the legitimacy of the "claimants to the throne" is questioned and we have no faith in the institutions which ensured legitimate succession.

Stray thought: I really can't believe that Justice Alito truly thinks they are making a "decision for the ages" in the case of Trump's claims to total immunity. NO decision is ever fully settled. Just look at the Dobbs hit job they issued. Roe v Wade was, according to Trump's three nominees to the high court, settled law--until it wasn't. I think several legal commentators had it right when they said it seemed more like the male, conservative justices simply didn't want to deal with the case before them so they shifted to more abstract themes.

 27**********************************************************************

It is warm enough to do some outside work but a bit too wet. And the clouds are back so we might get more rain. If it clears up I might get into the shed and start getting things in order there. But we have some soccer games on today. 

I have mentioned some very frustrating computer problems over the last couple or three weeks. I have most of the system back. The new computer can get my e-mail now but not my Blogger page. I can still get Blogger on my old computer which is still functioning well enough for that. I did cull my reading list a bit by not moving about a third of my list over and by unsubscribing to several feeds. Since I can't easily read and compose at the same time I think I will start posting only once a week. I can take notes on by hand and then incorporate them into a post later. I have thought about moving to another blogging site but haven't made a decision yet.

April 23, 25

Looking another sunny day. Still cool and likely to continue cool for another several days. We spent a bit of time figuring our schedule for errands over the next several days. I look at our grocery list and decide when and whether we need to go shopping--not this week. But this is the last full week of the month so we have to plan our trip to pay rent and do our banking--definitely some time this week.

Listened to an interview this morning where they were supposed to talk about the guest's new book on how to get rich but they spent 2/3 of the time on the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses and on the Hamas-Israel conflict. Two interesting things about the piece. First, in sync with several other pieces over the last couple of stories, they threw cold water on the anti-semitism them of earlier stories. The demonstrators, according to the commentators and reporters who have been at some of the demonstrations, were peaceful and included both Palestinians and Jews. They showed part of an interview where the respondent said that provocateurs not affiliated with the protest were responsible for any of the threats reported. I can accept that possibility. We saw a lot of that when outsiders tried to hijack the Black Lives Matter protests. One protest tactic which police and politicians should come down on hard are those tying up traffic. That is a public safety matter as well as disrupting normal life. Second, the guest tried to "put the situation [in Gaza] in context] by comparing it to other episodes involving the U.S.--Pearl Harbor and 9/11. The key notion was the small number of casualties (about 2500 at Pearl Harbor and about 3000 on 9/11) compared to the numbers we killed in response. The first wasn't a good comparison because the Pearl Harbor attack was part of the Japanese government's declaration of war. It was state-on-state violence. The second is a better comparison because it involved the response of a state to an attack by a non-state actor. However, that second instance didn't end well for us. I don't know that such a comparison either justifies the reactions (ours or the Israelis) or portends anything good for Israel.

Update: the sun has disappeared and we have clouds with a light wind. Rain likely.

25*********************************************************************

We had a couple of errands yesterday and a quick perusal of news/blogs etc. yielded nothing worth commenting on or linking to.

Stray thought: often the "conservative" group (MTG and allies) are described as "isolationist" or "anti-globalist." First, I haven't seen or read anything that convinces me that that group is trying to "conserve" anything. Several real conservatives define conservative as "small government, low taxes, and pro defense." That doesn't fit MTG et al. Second, what is their definition of "isolationism" or "anti-globalism?" Do they conflate immigration with isolationism? They do seem to be anti-immigrant but only, it seems to me, concerning certain immigrants (poor, dark, and from Trump's s**thole countries." How isolated do they want U.S. to be? Third, we live in a very connected world. What aspects of globalization are they upset with? And how much of their lifestyle are they willing to give up to become "de-globalized?" The only consistent position they seem to hold is anti-Biden, anti-Democrat, and pro-their own power.

April 22

Good morning on a sunny but very cool morning. The weather people keep promising that the warmer temperatures will return soon. Watching the Weather Channel I am glad I didn't yield to the temptation to get plants and put them in the gardens. So far I am still planning for around mid-May when our average last frost day occurs. I did check out what is happening in the containers and found that my mints didn't survive. I haven't seen anything in one of the containers that had Asiatic lilies while the other is going really well. I will have to separate the bulbs and replant in the fall. The valerian is also popping up also but not the indigo. If we get some warmer days I plan to get more sweeping and start on sorting out the shed. Until then I pulled out a needlepoint I haven't worked on for a couple of decades. Since I just finished the embroidery on a table scarf I can pull something else out to join my other WIPs (Works In Progress).

Naill Ferguson has an article in the Free Press on "The Treason of the Intellectuals." Some years ago the news covered one of several cheating scandals in one of the service Academies at the same time that a poll of college students revealed that a majority of them would cheat if they could get away with it. My thought at the time was that expecting professionals of any kind, military or civil, to be more honest than the society in which they live is ridiculous. The same can be said of the intellectual class with regard to any passionate movement within society. As Ferguson  notes at the end, intolerance comes in right leaning and left leaning political varieties--and probably in other varieties as well.

Over the weekend I watched Climate: the Movie which presents the case for "climate skepticism." It is always a good idea to checkout views that challenge what ideas that are currently dominant in society/politics/economics, etc. So what does the film challenge? 

First, the very notion of "anthropogenic" climate change. The idea we constantly hear is that our climate is warming dangerously because humans are releasing huge quantities of CO2 which is a "greenhouse" gas. The scientists that appear during the 80+ minutes of the movie dispute that claiming that there is no causal relationship between increasing temperature and rising CO2 levels. Temperatures appeared to rise before CO2 rose. A case of "correlation not causation." 

Second, they challenge the very notion that the temperatures are actually rising dangerously and in fact that we are still in a cool period, a.k.a. an ice age. Maybe, maybe not. What they don't say is that there is a difference between the geological notion of an ice age and the human experience. At one point one of the presenters points out that at various times throughout earth's history the climate was considerably warmer but they don't mention that those points came before humans evolved. Over human history we have experienced both warm and cold periods. The Roman Climate Optimum (ca. 200BCE-200CE) was followed by the a climate shift that made the mediterranean basin dryer and hotter which had severe effects on Roman society.

I stop here with a note that when we are reading/viewing/listening to any information (scientific/economic/political) we have to ask for clear definitions of the terms and ask for clear evidence used to support the positions. Arguing about climate change from the perspective of geological time against those who are arguing from a human perspective (or vice versa) is disingenuous if not dishonest.

Tom Engelhardt posted an interesting item this morning: "Old Man World". Interesting and depressing. I think he reflects the feelings I had since 2020--we need new people and new ideas. 

April 20, 21

 Sunny for now but cold. It is only 38F and the high will only reach high 40s. But the low is right at average for April and the high is a bit below average, if the prediction pans out. We went out for pizza at our favorite pizza restaurant because we simply wanted to go out. Before the pandemic we went out for meals, maybe, five or six times a week. Over the last four years we have tried various frozen/you-bake pizzas and were very disappointed. Yesterday, the spinach stuffed pizza was a treat. We brought half home. Though we ordered a small it was still too much for us. We also ordered a small loaded pizza thinking it would be good for toady. Well, it is a pizza weekend with the left over stuffed pizza today and the other for tomorrow.

Bill Astore posted a piece that could have been featured in Brian Klass' book FLUKE. He tells how his father survived WWII because of an interesting series of accidental happenings, flukes.

An opinion in one of the blogs I read yesterday noted the disappearance of "civil discourse." It isn't respectful (i.e., civil) and not really discourse because the parties don't listen or talk to each other. Name any issue in modern life and all sides are rousing up their supporters with their trite and meaningless word salads while trying to shout down the other side.

21*******************************************************************

I wonder if others had the same problem with blogger I had yesterday. Suddenly I had a blank page here and a message that they couldn't find my data. I had just typed "Crooks & Liars" and everything disappeared. Frustrating--but too much of our technology has been frustrating lately. And so very inconsistent.

Crooks&Liars (this is where the interruption occurred) posted a parody song that so reflects my sentiments about a former reality tv host now on trial in New York (and Georgia, and Florida, and D.C.). Enjoy.

April 19

 Sunny today but cool. We are on that spring roller coaster. Had rain again last night. It is really pleasant to see green again--grass, bushes, trees. Even the largest trees are leafing. Those are usually the last to do so. Now to catchup.

I love Carol Michaels' gardeners math. We both here had a bit of a giggle reading it.

Lately we have seen a parade of Republicans shift from Trump critics to Trump supporters--although I have some nasty things I could say about their lack of backbones. One of the latest to do that Republican retreat from principle was Governor Sununu who brazenly admitted the maneuver claiming it wasn't about Trump but about getting a "Republican administration." Robert Reich put it most accurately on his substack blog yesterday: The Party Is Over. Meaning the Republican Party whose luminaries like Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan must be spinning in their graves.

CNN has an interesting story about China's sinking cities. Most of its coastal cities are sinking between 0.1 and 0.5 inches each year. They are experiencing flooding as the sea levels rise at the same time as the land sinks. Some areas where they have been pumping ground water out of aquifers to support their agriculture during recent droughts are sinking at a faster rate. In case you think they are alone the authors note that our eastern cities are in the same situation.

John Michael Greer continued his posts on lenocracy--government by pimps. 

April 16

 Another sunny day though thunderstorms are predicted for this evening. The forecast is for cooler, more "normal" temperatures.

I just had a frustrating and unnerving experience. For some time I have followed a blogger who is an American, who also has Russian citizenship, living in Russia. I liked getting a different perspective on both what is going on in Russia and the international tensions. But, when I got to his most recent post which continued the complexities and difficulties in arranging travel to the U.S. for himself and his daughter, my browser said it couldn't find the site. I had just been reading it. I tried several times with the same result and, finally, checked out one of the other sites I normally follow. I got connected there with no problem. So I am left with the question: WHY? (Update: I opened my old laptop and was quickly able to get the site and finished reading it. Again, WHY?)

Stray thought: I happened to catch reports on both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The contrast was startling. Biden did look old but fit and alert. Trump looked old but bloated, blotchy and fat. I don't think that was simply that Trump was caught on a bad day at a bad time. I remember thinking the same looking at pictures of Trump's rallies.

April 15

 Nice sunny day today. We just finished our grocery errands. I might go out and sweep on the patio later. Asiatic lilies are pushing up in one of the containers but not in the other yet. But everything else is still dormant or dead. Stores are putting out their annual plants. We are a month away from our average last frost date so I am restraining myself on planting anything. Besides I still have dead plants to clear. I left them over winter as ground cover.

Stray thought and pet peeve--the over use of "unprecedented." We seem to be in the Age of Unprecedented. We have never had a criminal trial of a former President but it is unprecedented in the narrow view of our own national history. We came close at least once but Warren Harding died before the full story of the corruption in his administration came out. Several cabinet secretaries and their aids did face trial, and at least one was convicted and served time. March was the tenth month in a row in which the temperature set record average high. That is unprecedented. Other environmental extremes also are coming at an unprecedented pace. We also have two candidates for President who will, which ever one wins, be the oldest person sworn in. And one of them, the incumbent, is already the oldest person to take the oath of office.

Second stray thought and pet peeve--the use of the term "loan" in the discussion of foreign aid to Israel or Ukraine. Aid is a gift to a country or person with which or whom you have a friendly relationship. A loan is a commercial transaction in which the lender provides funds to a borrower in hopes of gaining a monetary profit. Both sides in this "transaction" should follow Shakespeare's advice in Hamlet: neither a borrower nor a lender be. By the way--given the level of destruction in Ukraine how soon do you think they would able to clear any loans?

California has just cancelled the salmon fishing season for the second year in a row and has asked for a federal fisheries disaster declaration. (Story on the Weather Channel.)

Most of the "news" this morning concerned the unprecedented trial of Donald J. Trump and the fallout (real and potential) from Iran's "unprecedented " attack on Israel's home territory. The trial at the moment involves the housekeeping details of what evidence can be entered and under what conditions, and jury selection. Concerning Iran the speculation is on whether the revenge Iran tried to exact for the Israeli attack on their consulate, though Israel denies the site was a real diplomatic office and that the people they killed were "plotting." Already one of Netanyahu's cabinet members is frothing at the mouth for the obliteration of Iran. Israel promises revenge at a time of their choosing. One of the pundits worried that Iran's activities could push the Israeli government into a wider conflict in the area. Well, Israel doesn't need prodding--they will do what they do. And who says that conflict isn't already area wide and deepening?

Stray thought--saw a headline declaring "Michael Cohen is an admitted liar but he is the star witness in Trump's trial." So?? In the trial that went against the Trump Organization the judge found the admitted liar was more credible than the head of the company, a.k.a. Donald Trump. So another jury will get to decide which liar is more believable.

I don't like to wear t-shirts with logos and legends on them but I just saw a t-shirt I wouldn't mind having. The legend on it read: I googled my symptoms and just need Trump in jail.

April 12

 The weather is improving here. Temperature is in high 50s so far and it is sunny. The wind is picking up and the forecasters say showers should develop over night. But if it is dry and sunny over the weekend I hope I can get out on the patio and clean up some more.

The news is covering the death of O.J. Simpson. Hadn't heard anything of him since he was released from prison after serving time for trying to rob someone he thought had some of his memorabilia. He was passing quickly into a memory blackhole. Sometimes I find it surprising how people who garnered a lot of publicity at any time fade from our consciousness.

Jeff Jackson has an interesting post but not for the discussion of the hearing in the Armed Services Committee of which he is a member. His account doesn't give any hopeful that the House is going to vote on the Ukraine aid bill but he did give a list of bills that are supposedly on the table for next week. I will let you look at the list. I already have because I was curious about the titles of the bills. I am always amused at how the our politicians use and abuse terms like "freedom" and "liberty." There is a theme in all of the bills listed. They all want to prevent government actions to prescribe and enforce conservation standards, such as efficiency standards, for appliances. I will let you make of this what you will but it reinforces my view that the only changes we will make in conservation and energy efficiency will be on the individual level. Government and industry will not save us.

Stray thought: I have said for some time that one of our most intractable problems dealing with the world is that our politicians haven't recognized how much it has changed over the last 30 years. I was gratified when a pundit said just about that this morning in reference to the situation with Israel. Our diplomatic stance toward Israel was set in 1948 and into the 1950s and hasn't changed much since. But, to bastardize a saying, it isn't your father's (or grandfather's) Israel anymore and nor are the surrounding countries what they were either. 

April 11

We had heavy rain overnight and it is raining lightly right now. We are still getting used to the new computers which is a frustrating process. I can get on my Blogger page from this, my old, computer but haven't been able to do so on the new one. At some point over the time since I signed up for Blogger it was taken over by Google. I haven't signed on to Google for even longer and no longer remember either ID or password so I haven't been able to use the new machine. I did ask for a code to by-pass that but I didn't find it on my e-mail until very late yesterday evening. I checked out Wordpress but they only offer paid services. I will let that ferment in my mind for a while.

In the mean time here are a few thoughts from yesterday's readings I simply jotted down.

First--George Dillard on Medium asked "Why Malthus was wrong" and answered lacxter that Malthus wasn't really wrong. Humans have simply applied technology to the problem and moved the goal posts. The basic premise is still right: any species, humans included, increase their numbers until they break through the carrying capacity of the environment (that is, eat them selves out of hearth and home). Then the population crashes as individuals starve Our technology doesn't change that dynamic--it simply provides the food resources to, as I said, move the goal posts. I don't know if many remember the hopeful and exuberant celebrations over the Green Revolution in the late 1970s and 1980s. Eastern Africa experienced a devastating famine and the proponents advised the adoption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides along with the development of high yield grains to end famine forever. Well, East Africa is again experiencing famine due to a combination of conflict and drought which technology can't do much about. Malthus couldn't predict the technological advances but today's pundits haven't recognized the limits of technology. First, we need fossil fuels to produce fertilizers (because stocks of natural fertilizers are scarce now especially for industrial farming) and the costs of fossil fuels are going up making anything made from them. Second, the high yield seeds work well in the test fields but under other conditions (scarce water, poor farmers who can't afford chemicals, heat) they often don't produce well. And the pests the chemical (a.k.a., fossil fuel derived) pesticides were developed to combat are quickly becoming resistant. Third, more areas (urban and rural) are suffering water scarcity. All of those factors as well as social and political conditions will limit food production and distribution. And we are back to Malthus.

MSNBC, over the last couple of days, featured a focus group of undecided voters discussing Biden and Trump. It was a case of nobody "liked anybody much." I was struck by the difference between the criticism of the two presumptive candidates. The criticism of Trump centered on his behavior while that directed at Biden centered on policies. Most wished Trump would shut up and behave in a more dignified fashion while saying they agreed with his "policies." I put the word in quotes because I doubt he ever has explicit policies. He was always testing which way sentiment was going and then getting on the train. And he never had the attention span to stick with any position or policy consistently for any length of time. Most criticized Biden on promises "not" kept (student loan relief) or on economic condition that are stymying their lives (interest rates, rising cost of groceries, cars and housing). I put that word in quotes because Biden did propose student loan relief which did make things easier for some borrowers but it was shot down by the Supreme Court. Not his fault. He is trying again so we'll see what happens. Interest rates are set by the Federal Reserve over which he has no real power. And no one, including politicians, wants to even consider that the economy is really beyond their control.

Learned a new word yesterday: hiraeth. It is Welsh and describes a kind of homesickness for a departed place or condition; a grief or yearning for a home or culture you might never experience again. I think it describes a pervasive condition in today's society. Consider Mark Robinson who is a Republican candidate for North Carolina's governor who would like to go back to a time when women couldn't vote because "they got things done." He is black but he didn't suggest going back to 1865. We have a lot of people who are yearning for an American Eden which never existed except in their imaginations. I found another term that is more apt: "anemoia," which is the yearning for a place or time you could not have experienced.

April 9

 Good morning. It is sunny and getting warmer. We didn't see the eclipse yesterday. The pictures on the news were spectacular but we didn't feel any urge to travel south where the path of totality crossed our state. We did see a dimming of the sunlight to about 80%. If the weather stays mild and dry I hope to continue cleaning up the patio and removing dead plants. I saw some valerian shoots emerging but nothing yet.

I think our computer woes are, I think, I mentioned that our system was completely thrown out of whack when we upgraded our Xfinity modem/router to their new "gateway." We decided it was also a good time to retire our old laptops (somewhere between 8 and ten years old) with new ones. They have become increasingly balky and unreliable. We got our new laptops going fairly well but couldn't get our old printer connected. Our computers and original printer communicated by wifi but I couldn't figure out how to connect the new printer to the computers by wifi. So I finally went back to the old way and connected my computer directly by cable. It worked beautifully. So finally the system is back to a new normal.

Stray thought: Is Margery Taylor Green some kind of time traveler? I thought the notions of eclipses and earthquakes being signs of some god's disapproval and our response should be societal repentance and reform (presumably in the direction MTG thinks god has told her) went out of fashion when the celestial mechanic showed how planetary motion created regular eclipses and geological studies showed how the motions of tectonic plates created irregular earth tremors. No deity require. But the notion is so medieval.

April 6

 Beautiful clear sunny day. Temps still cool but not cold. It is a slow morning. The cats let me sleep until almost 6am. Still working on getting the new computers set up. I have already noticed that the speed is so much greater in my new machine. Good morning for soccer. We are in the middle of a series of three games. After that we might put on the hockey. That reduces the amount of time we spend with the so-called news.

Infidel753 notes the story last week about Botswana threatening to ship lots of their elephants to Germany where the government is poised to pass a law prohibiting the anyone from bringing hunting trophies into the country. Botswana encourages (and profits from) outsiders who want to hunt and bag a trophy. Infidel makes a good point: our view of nature depends very much on where we are: urban or rural, affluent or poor.

Time to get back to putting what I want on the new computer. I have culled a whole bunch of items I no longer want to spend time on.

April 5

 Cloudy morning and cold but dry--so far. Spending a lot of time trying to get our new computers up and running. It is a bit slow. We find that some sites we want to use on the new computers have changed or we forgot to update passwords. We got too used to the system we had going, until it became too unreliable, and were a bit lazy about updating information. I have also been trying to get our printer connecting to our computers through wifi. Made some progress but not fully up yet. I am using the process as a chance to eliminate a lot of stuff I accumulated but didn't eliminate when I no longer used it.

According to the news this morning

    1. No Labels is ending its attempt to field a slate of candidates to challenge the Republicans and Democrats. It is hard to get candidates on ballots in all states or even a significant number of states but I didn't hear about any candidates who interested me. And they never finalized any candidates.

    2. New Jersey experienced a 4.8 level earthquake this morning. New Jersey and New York officials are surveying possible damage.

    3. Taiwan had a more distractive quake yesterday.

    4. A boy shot and killed a 12-year-old classmate in Finland supposedly because he was bullied.

    5. NATO is 75 years old. My how it has grown from the original 12 countries. 

On to what I am reading

John Michael Greer introduces the term "Lenocracy" in his latest post on Ecosophia. The term means a government by pimp. He extends the term "pimp" far beyond the just a person who stands between a sex worker and customer taking a portion of the price while giving no additional value to the transaction. Pimps act throughout our government and economy. Are you a doctor? Well you have to deal with medical boards, licensing agencies, insurance companies, politicians, and other pimps who stand between you and your patients decreasing your profits while increasing the costs to the patients while skimming part of the transaction. Such skimming is pervasive.

April 2, 3, 4

 We got our errands done yesterday before any rain came in. The wind started increasing while we were out and got cold. More rain came in overnight and will continue today. The forecast indicates mixed rain and snow through Thursday. Luckily we don't have to do anything away from home for the rest of the week. Looking at the Weather Channel we are glad we aren't any more south than we are--they are getting severe storms with the possibility of tornados.

So far I have spent a little time stitching but far too much with computer updates. Mine went smoothly but, for some reason, Mom's computer was changed and we haven't been able to get it back entirely. Why I don't know. That is simply the latest of technology headaches lately.

The situation in the Israel/Hamas conflict keeps going from bad to worse to worse yet. Yesterday the IDF bombed the Iranian consulate in Syria killing seven military officers (and no reports indicate how many others) and a van load of aid workers with World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Now all of the pundits are wondering how the Iranians will retaliate.

03*********************************************************************

We have snow and rain today. I don't think any snow will accumulate. However, we have decided to hibernate til Friday when we will see the sun again.

Random thought: listening to the news commentary on the Israeli "accident" that killed World Central Kitchen workers. However, that strikes me like some mass shooter claiming it was an accident someone died because he wasn't aiming at that person. Bulls**t. They managed to precisely target Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers in the Iranian consulate in Syria and yet they "accidentally" hit a 3 vehicle convoy on a route previously arranged with the IDF.

04********************************************************************

Computer problems--not mine; Mom's. This whole mess started because Xfinity forced us into getting the new modem/router/hub (whatever). Oh, we could have "chosen" to keep the old one but they would have charged us an additional $5/month to use it. Some choice!!! But that upset everything. Mom got on line easily enough but I had to get my own line for my laptop and iPad. Then her internet connection kept cutting out. Mine was solid. We tried to fix it but haven't really succeeded. She shut down her computer but now she can't find the password to get the machine running again. But in all this crap we also lost the connection between our printer and the modem and our computers. We can't print out anything because the modem doesn't see the printer. There are times when I really hate this technology.

Aurelien posted this long article that I have let ferment in my brain for a couple of days and have re-read a couple of times. It brings up several points about education that have occurred to me over the last three decades. First: education has been reduced to a series of hoops people have to jump through hoping that when the last hoop is done the former student will be on a career path to the middle class or better. When I was teaching many students had an attitude that irritated me: D for diploma. They thought that grade was acceptable if the course was not core for their major but chosen to satisfy the "electives" requirement.  Second: the commitments of time and money make it difficult for students to change paths even if the original path isn't suitable. Third: The cost in terms of time and money is unaffordable. Too many go into debt hoping that the "investment" will yield  a comfortable living before they die but that depends on uncertainties like a job market that has a jobs available that match their training and that pay a wage/salary that allows them to pay back the loan and leave enough to live on. I knew a young PhD candidate who looked for teaching positions while she finished her dissertation and described, in disgust, the options as "genteel poverty." Aurelien is right that the mission of education has been redefined over time and is in a muddled stage now because we don't have a defined mission any more because our culture is so fractured.

April 1

Hope everyone had a nice Easter however they celebrated (or didn't). We here don't celebrate many holidays. Most are so commercialized and we are more than tired of being sold to. It is now April 1 so the year is already one-quarter gone. It is also April Fools' Day so I am being more skeptical of stories I am reading.

One such set of stories appeared on The Bulwark's Morning Shots. One claims that the Miami Herald obtained an "extremely confidential" copy of an order in Judge Aileen Cannon's chambers setting a firm trial date for Trump on June 3. I am waiting for more extensive confirmation--especially since the alleged order is dated for April 1. Another claims that Mitt Romney is going to announce his exit from the Senate to join Biden's administration as a special advisor along with other prominent Republicans. However, on second (third and fourth) reading, I am pretty certain that it is a prank. I have linked to it in case you want a bit of a chuckle.

OK--now for something not a joke. Mehdi Hassan posted this piece on his new site taking apart Netanyahu's claim that only 13,000 Hamas fighters killed in Gaza. He took the Prime Minister's estimate that 1 civilian was killed for every 1 to 1.5 Hamas fighters and comes up with about 26,000 Gaza's killed. It appears that nearly EVERY male Palestinian corpse was counted as a Hamas fighter. Really?? That reminds me of the casualty figures that came out in the last years of Vietnam when "if it was dead and Vietnamese, it was VietCong." It gave the powers-that-were the illusion of success.

Found this by way of Naked Capitalism and it describes a trend I am not at all comfortable. I have said for sometime that I don't want my refrigerator keeping tabs on what foods I consume or telling me when I am low of anything. I don't want any of my other appliances reporting anything back to anyone. Today I replaced my "smart" phone with a flip phone which seems to have some of the same capability but will be easier for me to use. All I have to do is pick up the phone flip it open and put in a phone number (if making a call) or talk (if answering a call.) The features I don't use I can more easily ignore. Simple is better.