September 13

 Well, we are almost through another month. We have some nice rain I hadn't expected but I did remark yesterday that it wouldn't take much to change the forecast. We are watching Premier League soccer this morning and later, after the last game, I will put on re-runs from our collection. The weekends are a respite from what passes for news. 

Brian Merchant at BLOOD IN THE MACHINE posted a good critique of both the news and social media. I have never been a fervent follower of social media. I do go onto Facebook but largely because a number of crafting groups are very interesting. As some of you may know I crochet, cross-stitch, embroider, and have take a stab at pin loom weaving. A lot of inspiring crafters post there. but I avoid the political crap. I haven't seen much since I started blocking those posters. I limit my viewing of the so-called news which now is either trying to canonize Charlie Kirk as their newest saint and carrying the Widow Kirk's demand for retribution against "all those who supported" the assassin. It isn't enough that the individual who fired the shot be held accountable but a whole nebulous class of people, loosely labeled "liberals," must be tarred with the same brush.

Denise Donaldson ends her piece at PONDERMENTS, Disparity Hurts, with a very appropriate statement. "Disparity, along with doublespeak, is the defining quality of our present moment, to the detriment of all."

I think that will be all for the day. I going to the What-Not Room to see if I have an embroidery piece Mom might like to work.

September 12

 Good morning, all. We seem to have entered into a dry stretch. The latest weather forecast says no rain and the temperatures (for now) in the mid to high 80s. The did take the 90s off but all it will take is a slight change in the wind patterns and things will change. So every other day I will need to water plants.

Sorry about my extensive use of capitals yesterday. The assignation of a conservative activist was bad enough but the responses were just as infuriating. Before any suspect has actually been identified too many were claiming the motive was political and aligned with liberals. It reminds me too much of the responses I heard after the Oklahoma City bombing. Most pundits at the time went on and on about Muslim terrorists. It turned out that good-old-boys from the militia movement were responsible for the crime. We have already seen misinformation  (to put matters gently) put out by sources we would usually trust that had to be corrected soon after. It feels like some people are so desperate to get not just the right assassin but the politically palatable assassin. Evidently the trolls on the internet are having a good time throwing out what ever crap comes to mind.

Bill Astore posted this article: The End Game For Gaza. It isn't a pretty picture. Just lately Benjamin Netanyahu announced an extensive new settlement on the Palestinian territory on the West Bank which will bisect what little land remains to the Palestinians. The announced goal, which they said out loud, was to make sure there would not be a Palestinian state. They are also planning to reestablish settlements in Gaza. When a people don't have a place to go (other states in the Middle East have refused repeatedly to take large numbers of refugees) and they really can't stay where they are what choices to they have. Is it any less genocide if you don't kill everyone in a group but simply make living impossible?

Timothy Snyder makes a good point distinguishing between "free speech" and "me speech." Too many of our political "activists" demand "free speech" but are all to happy to squelch people who say things they don't like. Free speech for me but you should shut the f*** up and get with our program. I would broaden Snyders argument and talk about the word "freedom." I remember some people (usually young men) who insisted on stealing the feminist mantra "Our bodies, our choice." They used it to insist on their right to reject masks. Interesting that many of the same type of men who insisted in their freedom concerning masks shifted the game and insisted, when the abortion debate heated up, "Your body, OUR choice." In other words they have the choice in everything and others have no choice. Nobody really asks out loud the underlying question: freedom for whom to do what? It is also interesting that most of those claiming "freedom" are white, straight me and most of those whose freedoms they want to restrict are black, brown, immigrants, women.

Another sunny day and the temperatures should make us feel like summer is still here. The longer forecast predicts 90s for Sunday through Wednesday next week. Damn--I had hoped cooler temperatures would continue. Luckily we don't have anything which would take us out of the house. I got outside to sweep the patio and water the remaining plants. I also used the power setting on the watering wand to clear a lot of the detritus I couldn't reach with the broom.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk has pushed almost everything else off the news on this side of the Atlantic. And "assassination" is appropriate or perhaps "murder." We do so like to soften harsh realities--like the rising number of violent acts in this country. I'll be honest: I had only heard the name before yesterday. I knew he was a MAGA activist but I couldn't have associated his name with a specific idea or political argument. I doubt very much I would have been terribly interested in anything he had to say. I am 45 years older than he was--he was 31. I am female and, as you can see from my use of pronouns, he was male. But, and this is the key point, I don't know who murdered him (I won't soften this by using the passive voice) I DO NOT SUPPORT KILLING ANYONE BECAUSE OF A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. I can remember times when I thought that a political situation might be greatly improved if we "had several funerals" of some of the stubborn old farts involved. BUT I NEVER THOUGHT ANYONE SHOULD ACTIVELY KILL THEM. Each such act takes us further on the road to barbarism.

A couple of news/commentary segments were interestingly juxtaposed yesterday. One talked about a book, THE BARN which I haven't read, about the Emmett Till murder in 1955. His mother's decision to have an open casket funeral showed the world the consequences of our American apartheid and helped create the political environment leading to the passage of the CIVIL RIGHTS ACT and the VOTING RIGHTS ACT. But the next discussed what little was known about Charlie Kirk's murder (which was damned little) and segued to a list of acts of political violence over the last few years. The commentators referred to several fringe groups like Qanon, and others I hadn't even heard of but who, finding the present unpalatable, want to erase the last 80 years or so. In other words, they want to go back to 1955. I don't remember the 1950s because, having entered this world in 1949, I was way too young. But I do have memories from later times. I remember that my mother, for much of her life, couldn't get a credit card or bank account in her own name. I remember a friend who had a long running struggle with the IRS because they insisted on listing her husband as "head of household" and issuing refund checks in his name. He contributed almost nothing to their income and getting him to fork over the money was an added insult. I remember women I knew who couldn't get a mortgage on their own without a MALE cosigner. So, as you can guess, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO GO BACK TO THE 1950S. When "conservative" pundits talk about increasing social stability by getting rid of no-fault divorce, or celebrate employment statistics showing a drop in women's participation because the back to the office pressures make child care problematic, or when the current administration dismisses capable women in favor of less capable men (usually white men), I am infuriated. I remember all too well being shuffled into home economics classes when I would rather have taken wood working or auto mechanics shop--but those were for boys. Few people asked girls what they wanted to be when they grew up when I was young. Our only options were teacher (until we married and became pregnant), nurses or secretaries. Boys had the world. I have too many memories of the past to want to go back.

A blogger I often read has a regular segment "Words and Phrases we could do without." I would like to add one that has popped up fairly frequently over the last few years: "This isn't who we are." Well all too often this (what ever it is) is exactly who "we" are--and a lot of us wish otherwise.

Today is the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that have scared us as a society. A lot of the news and blogs focused the memories. I remember where I was that day. When the first tower was hit I was in my car driving to my first class in paralegal studies of the day and listening to the radio. I don't think I really reacted to the news which sounded too horrific to be true. The second plane hit the other tower during the break between classes and when we weren't in class we spent the time glued to the TV. I had the sense of being somewhat separate from the rest of the people watching. One student who was a bit further along than I was in the program vowed she would not take a job in a Chicago high rise. I didn't say anything but I thought the response was as bizarre since a similar attack hitting skyscrapers in an inland city was minimal. As it turned out no further such attacks took place. The event still has a surreal feel to it. 

September 10

 It is hazy and partly cloudy but warm enough that I changed from the flannel shirt I wore for my errand to the drugstore into a t-shirt. This is the time of year that what you wear in the morning may not suit that afternoon. But at least we don't have the 90s. We don't have rain either so tomorrow I will have to water the hibiscus plants, the large clump of chives and the Asiatic lilies. That is all I have on the patio right now.

There is so much stupidity in the oral defecations of some political pundits. I heard one yesterday which had me scratching my head in disbelief. A MAGA lawyer said that President Trump could declare an emergency over conditions that he thinks threaten the very existence of the U.S. and suspend elections. She cited the 22nd Amendment as the basis for the notion. That amendment specifically prohibits any one who has been twice elected to the presidency from serving any more terms. Also it prohibits anyone who succeeds to the presidency on the death or disability of the president and serves more than two years of the unfinished term from seeking two full terms in his/her own right. But it DOES NOT provide for any president to declare a national emergency and suspend elections. I decided to check on whether the Constitution has any such provision anywhere and found it does not. I did have to look this up because although I did read the Constitution a long time ago in my high school Civics class (required for graduation). Evidently such classes are nearly extinct in our school systems.

I have been watching the mess in France as its second prime minister in nine months and its fifth in two years. The French government is in the midst of a financial mess with the interest on its debt exceeding what they spend on education and defense together (according to BBC). For the last ten or fifteen years they have been trying to get their fiscal house in order but their usual tactics have been measures that are deeply unpopular such as raising the retirement age to cut down on pension payments, raising fuel taxes etc. All of those affect ordinary citizens while not touching the corporate or financial sectors at all. And they have the additional problem of the pressure to meet the perceived threat from Russia by increasing their defense budgets a lot. France isn't the only country that has tried to deal with budgetary problems by imposing "austerity" on their people. The Greek government almost two decades ago imposed stringed cuts because the IMF and European Central Bank insisted on that to get loans that would allow them to pay their foreign creditors. They also had to sell off national assets at bargain basement prices. The EU has tried to force similar measures on Italy. What always ticks me off is how the notion of "austerity" is always applied to the citizens and not to expenditures for business industry, and the military. Over on this side of the pond similar noises have been made and no one in any government has mentioned the corporate and industrial give-aways or to the Defense Department which hasn't passed a mandatory audit forever.

Poland has, according to reports, shot down Russian drones that invaded their airspace. A lot of pundits are clutching their pearls over the "provocation". From the video I saw this morning the damage in Poland came from the drones that were shot down. I am a curious person so I started looking at the maps of the area and wondered how Russian drones supposedly bound for Ukraine managed to stray into Poland. Well there is one direct path that would put such drones into Polish airspace. If they were launched from Kaliningrad, that little slice of detached Russian territory surrounded by Poland and Lithuania. But, I just saw a plot of the drone traffic over Ukraine and several of the paths the drones were on would take them over Polish territory. However, to say the matter isn't provocative is akin to saying that the Germans at the beginning of both world wars didn't "intend" to invade Belgium but merely took the easiest route to get at France. I always hated the term "collateral damage.

We see another bit of "collateral damage" in Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Doha. I suppose we should not be surprised since part of the agenda for the talks was whether Hamas would accept an American proposal that would free all the hostages at once. After all, almost every other Israeli attack has come when the peace talks seemed to be gaining ground.  

September 9

 Another sunny and cool day. Temperatures should max out in the mid 70s. We have a doctor's appointment for mom so my reading will be broken up. I got a nice stretch of stitching done this morning. I usually try to spend two or three hours in the morning doing some form of needlework. Yesterday I got a couple of rows on the Bavarian stitch baby blanket. It is large enough that a couple of rows is a lot of work. Day before I got several rows done on the Tunisian stitch blanket after I took out about three rows because of a mistake changing colors. Several days ago I pulled out all the work on the original blanket because I couldn't make the color changes work out right. Decided to do something simpler and review the process. It seems to be working well now. I am getting a "housekeeping" bug and will tackle a junk drawer in my small rolling storage container. Every now and then I simply have to straighten sup such areas. I usually find items I simply forgot I have.

I am spending less and less time with the news because after hearing the same BS for the second time I simply want to throw something at the TV. I give the BBC new a bit more time simply because it is somewhat different. The whole Jeffrey Epstein mess only got a simply 30 second statement. The news reader made a passing comment when covering the argument some European governments have concerning the Gaza tragedy: when is genocide actually genocide?. Some of the more "legalistic" politicians insist that Israel isn't committing genocide because no court that has jurisdiction has ruled its actions are genocide. Others look at the devastation and deaths and say, like I do, if it quacks and walks like a duck it is a damned duck. It looks like genocide therefore it is genocide. Ah, well, neither side is any closer to persuading Israel to change course.

Bill Astore has some thoughts on the matter from a slightly different perspective. I had another thought. We have come to associate THE HOLOCAUST with the Nazi efforts to exterminate European Jews. Yes, 6 million Jewish victims is a horrendous number. However, another 6 million other Europeans were also slaughtered: the German "useless eaters" (frail elderly, chronically ill, mentally ill), the Romany (aka, Gypsies), Slavs. homosexuals. I can agree with the sentiment expressed in the slogan "Never Again" but it shouldn't be applied only to one group. It can't be "no genocide for me but mass death for thee."

Chris Armitage on MEDIUM describes "soft secession" as an answer to increasing Federal intrusion into states. Some time ago I said that the U.S. is at a crossroads. Will it continue to be a "federal" system" which divides powers between a national government, state governments, and the people? Or Will it become a truly national government where states are merely administrative divisions with power only to enact what is dictated by the national government? 

September 2, 3, 4

 Nice sunny start for September and meteorological fall. I lazed around yesterday reading and doing needlework. I am not much more energetic today. But got a couple of rows in the Bavarian stitch baby blanket and some of a cross stitch dresser scarf. But the most important chore was getting the Instacart order. I thought at first to put it off but we were out of too many items. Normally, when I did the shopping myself, I wouldn't have gone out on the day after a three-day holiday and was prepared for a longer time before the delivery since a lot of people do shop to get goods they used over the weekend and the lines would be long. But they filled my order and delivered it as quickly as always.

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

Yesterday was one of "those" days--what ever get-up-and-go I had early got up and left me behind. So today we had to go to a medical center and get Mom's blood drawn for tests for next week's visit with her doctor. We should have gone in yesterday because we had an appointment but I followed my usual pattern and labeled this week for it without noting day and time. But new doctor and new medical group with a different system. Thankfully they rearranged things quickly and we got slotted in quickly.

We had a strange thing happen this morning. Normally we watch a couple of hours of MSNBC before shifting over to BBC and then the Weather Channel. But this morning MSNBC kept freezing. I wondered if it was a general problem but going through several of our favorite channels we found that the only sites having a problem were MSNBC and CNBC. I checked "IS IT DOWN?" which tracks whether a particular site is functioning and it said MSNBC was up. But on our screen it was still frozen. I checked some of the comments which many of which said they weren't getting the channel and a couple that said it was down on their cable but they could get it working on their on line systems. I checked my iPad and MacBook where I found it working well. So we watched the programing that way until things were fixed about an hour and a half later. I have no idea of what screwed up or with whom.

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

Very chilly this morning and we probably won't get out of the 60s. The trees should change more quickly now. I have already started bringing out our usual colder weather foods: soups, stews, casseroles, and chili. I have also been able to open our windows a bit again. Summer is usually too hot and winter is too cold. 

August 31

 Welcome to the last day of August. Nice and sunny. The temperature is still comfortable. We expect, according to the weather report, a slight increase over the next couple of days but still within the comfortable range. I have taken things easy this weekend. We, as I have often noted, don't really celebrate holidays much. Mom is the last of her generation as far as I can remember. There may be a couple of relatives we have lost contact with. My generation are all retirees now and dealing with health conditions that restrict our mobility to one extent or another. The next is somewhat scattered and, for the most part, involved with their own work and family lives. Getting a large group together is really difficult and has been for some time. So we usually just sit back and vegetate. We are doing that now watching a series of three back-to-back-to-back Premier League soccer games.

George Dillard has an interesting article on  LOOKING THROUGH THE PAST. I knew about the Sumner-Brooks incident because I have spent a lot of time in history classes and reading history. I also knew that Brooks' cane was made of gutta-percha. I didn't know that the substance was the "plastic" of its day and only displaced after petroleum based plastic displaced it. By that time the gutta-percha trees that supplied the sap that was used to supply a glutenous market for things made from it were becoming rare. One thing a market economy has always been good at is depleting resources to meet demand.