September 24

 Cloudy with rain predicted today. Had a nice three hours crocheting and then got some of the What-Not room straightened up. Have a lot more to do. The big problem is organizing things so I can find them again. I don't know how many times over the years we have bought something simply because we needed it but couldn't find what we already had. In between I also got some little chores done. Haven't really started reading e-mail yet.

However, the news actually has been focused on the shooting at the Ice Facility in Texas. I have a few observations of what has gone on so far--which isn't much. First, I am so glad so many politicians, including Ted Cruz, are speaking out against political insisting it must stop. However, my second observation is that all of the statements seem be insisting that the political violence against government, government agencies, or government-allied persons must stop. There is an old joke that asks what is the difference between a tax collector and a robber? Answer: official permission. We can say the same thing about Ice. What is the difference between a masked, unidentified group of thugs who kidnap people off the street and a group of gangbangers? One is an Ice "officer" hired by the government and the other is just a thug. The politicians are supporting those with official permission leaving unaddressed the underlying mess beneath. Third, we really have no firm notion of the shooter's motive except anti-Ice message written on his ammo. Might they be misdirection? Who knows? Fifth, who were the victims? Finally, someone has asked whether the Ice personnel were the targets and the shooter was a really lousy shot? Or did he have a grudge agains immigrants? Again no one knows. So much verbiage expended and so little facts!!

Another news item that has been churning in my mind was Trump's and Bobby Kennedy's insistence that pregnant women and young children shouldn't take (or be given) Tylenol. For years (decades, actually) Tylenol has been suggested for pain during pregnancy, especially for those who can't use aspirin or had digestive issues that made such pain meds dangerous. As usual in these pronouncements the assertion was made that acetaminophen MAY cause autism. No real evidence and totally ignoring a number of studies which indicate there is no link between the two. But I wondered because Mom's general physician warned against using aspirin because she already prescribed a low dose aspirin to help regulate her blood pressure. I said we could shift to Tylenol but the doctor strongly nixed that. I decided to do some research and found that in high doses (I didn't see a definition of "high") acetaminophen can raise blood pressure. Interesting.

Oh, well! Time to go to my reading.

Denise Donaldson at PONDERMENTS asks if we feel rushed. She writes from her perspective as a crafter. I know what she means. I just got the latest Herrschner's catalog and a large part of it features Christmas projects with a sprinkling of of Spring items. And, yes, I have noticed for a couple of decades now how I have noticed how Christmas shopping season has crept closer to Labor Day. Thanksgiving and Halloween have sort of faded from view. My own response is simple: I don't pay much attention to the speedup. I am a crafter but none of my projects is really geared to a holiday. The only one I can think of at the moment is one with holiday penguins I have been working on for about four years (on and off, mostly off) and am only about a third done. It will get done--someday. I remember a crochet afghan (full bed size) that took me almost a decade. Life just kept intruding. 

September 22, 23

 Welcome to astronomical Fall which arrives sometime today. Many have already shifted their mental seasons beginning September 1--the meteorlogical start of Fall. I have had a busy morning already. Shopping by way of Instacart, another couple of rows on the Bavarian stitch baby blanket, and a load of laundry. I still have dishes to do and clothes to put upstairs. The rains we have had over the last couple of days have done a nice job of reviving my hibiscus plants. Sometime I have to go out and fill the bird feeder. The birds and the little ground squirrels are feeding for winter now,

23************************************************

I didn't have too much to say yesterday so I just vegged out and ignored most of the world. We had an appointment with Mom's hearing clinic to get her hearing aids cleaned so between that and doing my morning stint of needlework I haven't done any reading or watching much news. 

I did notice that Disney decided that Kimmel will come back on TV tonight. They faced a rebellion among their subscribers and some of the actors playing in their Marvel movies. The financial threat was enough to send their stock down. I loved the Republicans touting their new talking point about "consequences culture" insisting that people have a right to say what they like but they were not entitled to a job. They intended too apply that to people like Kimmel of course but the same notion can be applied to companies, especially those who depend on public approval for their profits. They can make the decision to fire someone who offends the powers that be but. they aren't entitled to making a profit off those who like what those people say.

I debated whether to link to Frieda Berrigan's post on Tomdispatch today. However, considering how much of the country has been in one level of drought or another. Even the area where I live has gone between dry, and moderate drought all summer. And areas of the country have gone from drought to flood in the space of hours. She puts things in a personal light. What would she do if....? What would you do?

We just had a good laugh. I got an e-mail from someone I don't know who obviously doesn't know me. He wished me a Happy Birthday five months late. Crap.

Robert Reich posted on the Jimmy Kimmel snafu and made some very good points. One of the commentators on MSNBC noted how hard it would be for him to cancel Disney which underlined a point I have been dealing with for sometime although my response is somewhat different. Disney doesn't play much of a roll in my life. I see programs on other providers I would like to watch but I would have to get a streaming service which may or may not have anything besides that one show that might appeal to me. And it would be an additional cost on top of the bill for internet/cable service I now have. Better to do without and stay solvent. Incidentally, I never watched Jimmy Kimmel's shows. I haven't watched any late night talk show since before Johnny Carson reigned supreme. I preferred to get my sleep so I could get up and do what ever I had to do the next day. My mother likes the TV because it gives a background noise that makes her tinnitus bearable. If I had my way I would cancel the cable and keep the internet. I get most of my info that way.

Isn't it interesting how often Trump's actions involve money--A LOT of money. Earlier in this monstrous regime he instituted a "Gold Card" which allows someone willing to invest $1million can get entry into this country. Now he has proclaimed a new "fee" of $100k for H1B visas. That required a lot of cleanup because neither the existing H1B visa holders nor the companies who employ them knew the details--like whether it applied to current visa holders or not. The government and the companies are hashing out those details in the media now. But once again it is a case of "pay to play."

September 20

 We have rain. Or rather intermittent rain. And that is what the weather forecasts predict for the next several days. Any days I don't have to water anything on the patio. I spent a nice time watching (or mostly listening to) the Premier League days. We have four today but only one tomorrow. At the same time I continued the simple cross stitch piece Mom felt required smaller stitches than she wanted to try. We have been trying to find something she would like to do and have come up with nothing at all. She quit doing crochet about fifteen years ago just after she finished the lace on three sets of sheets and pillow cases she gave to my siblings and their partners. She complained that it hurt her hands too much. We tried punch needle work but neither of us likes them. She mentioned embroidery several times but I don't think that will go any where. I showed her the needles I use and mentioned that I split the 6-strand thread into 2-strands for most of my pieces she decided, for the moment, to give it a pass.

Rachel Bitecofer posted an interesting piece this morning, or maybe yesterday since I didn't really go through my e-mail. I don't know how her suggestions concerning reigning in social media. She describes how the Nazis used the new media of radio to spread their propaganda. There have been other game changing technology that destabilized the society of the time. Gutenberg's printing press opened up literature to the masses and, especially, allowed people outside the Catholic priesthood to to read and interpret the Bible. Quickly others translated the Bible from the Vulgate Latin and printed a lot of copies across Europe. The Church was no longer the sole arbiter of what the sacred text meant. In the mid 1800s printing was sped up by new presses and a whole lot of printed matter rolled out including the "dime novels" which the intellectual elites found especially harmful to young people. We heard about the Comstock Acts with regard to abortion materials (including printed information) which were labeled "pornography." But the same label was applied to the cheap and entertaining books. In the 1950s the relatively new "comic books" were also seen as a threat to the moral development of children and the Comics Code was instituted which basically infantilized the medium for thirty years. Similarly TV and movies were constrained by various FCC measures to protect the sensibilities of the populace. Most of the measures enacted to control new media were effective but only for a time. Social changes made most toothless after a time. Various authoritarian governments are busily censoring not just the internet sites but also books, newspapers, and magazines. Those will last only as long as the regimes last.

Joyce Vance suggests that we take a page from E. Jean Carroll  who thought emulating Norwegian teachers and students who signaled their resistance to Nazi occupation by wearing a paper clip on their clothes.

I saw that Trump's lawsuit against the New York Times has been thrown out. Heather Cox Richardson lays out the Judge's ruling which was scathing. I heard a number of commentators denounce the spurious nature of many of Trump's legal actions which simply waste time and resources. They notice, as Richardson does, that his lawyers take up 80+ pages to (not) argue two complaints. They don't spell out the complaints until the last five or so pages. I wonder why the judges put up with the frivolous nonsense. Some 30 years ago (+/_) when I lived in Colorado the state judiciary got real tired of a so-called "sovereign citizen" who harassed state officials with spurious leans on their property and frivolous lawsuits which he filed on his own. A state judge eventually banned him from filing on his own and required him to hire a lawyer for any legal action. Surely the Federal Judiciary has a similar remedy. Any lawyer out there know? The judge did limit Trump's team to a 40 page limit for any amended new filing.

September 18

 Good morning again. Not much going on in either the weather (thankfully) and the needlework progresses. A number of crafters call hand needlework slow stitch for a reason. Handwork has always been slow which is why various machines were created to speed up the process. However, one reason I like crochet so much is because, according to a history of fiber work I read ages ago, nobody has found a way to mechanize it. Spinning was hooked up to water power in the mid 18th century and later to electricity. Weaving followed not much later. People had found various ways to speed up knitting like knitting looms of various kinds. But the looping pattern of crochet stitches has somehow eluded mechanics. Good.

Well, another late night comedy/talk show host has fallen to the new "cancel culture." Jimmy Kimmel had the temerity to accuse the MAGA crowd is using the Charlie Kirk murder for political ends and that the accused assassin was really MAGA. The first is somewhat obvious but the second is questionable and is on the same objectionable level as the MAGA insistence that somehow a shadowy liberal cabal is involved. The news/commentary shows noted that ABC which pulled the Kimmel program (under not at all veiled threat from the head of the FCC) is involved in an acquisition which requires the government's approval. Shades of the Colbert mess. The commentators noted that these media conglomerates are both deeply connected to the right wing/MAGA/conservative politicians and businessmen and are deeply dependent on the Federal Government. That makes them susceptible to government pressure.

September 17

 Good morning, everyone. The view outside is the same today as it was yesterday and the forecast is also the same. I will have to water things tomorrow on the patio because we, probably, won't get any significant rain til next Tuesday. Had a quiet morning stitching so far and got a good bit done on the cross-stitch scarf I took over from Mom because she thought the pattern called for smaller stitches than she wanted to work. The iron-on pattern packs I ordered from Amazon came yesterday. They do look interesting but I don't think I will set up a different project for Mom soon. She keeps going back and forth on whether she wants to do anything. I think she is bored. 

Most of the news focused on Trumps unprecedented state visit to the U.K. The British are pulling out all the stops to stroke his ego. I wish there was something we could offer them to keep him. Oh well, it is a nice change of pace to Kash Patel's infantile temper tantrum before Congress. On a sad note Robert Redford has died at age 89. Sad because we won't have any more great films from him; but he did have a long and productive life that gave us some iconic movies.

Rachel Biticofer put this up on THE CYCLE detailing the many ways Trumps tariffs are a con we are paying for. What really burns me up is that we have a legislative branch split between cowards who won't cross Trump, true believers who think the sun rises out of his ass, and some Democrats who talk a good game of opposing the MAGA bully but caves in so they won't be blamed for shutting down the government. I have news for that last group: you are going to be blamed anyway so it's better to do what is right and then be aggressive about telling people who is actually to blame.

The New Dem Dispatch posted this piece on a joint round table hosted by Rep. Janelle Bynum and Rep. Andrea Salinas focused on the needs of rural communities. I have thought for sometimes, and on occasion mentioned, that our Federal government's policies seem designed to bleed rural communities dry. I guess that food appears magically on the supermarket shelves.

September 16

 Good morning, everyone. It is a nice sunny day predicted to be dry and warm (mid 80s). I spent a nice morning working with my Zoom Loom. I thought I would try using two yarns together but found that too bulky to work easily so I took out the first square only about 4 strands into the last pass. I managed to pull out the weaving and instead made two squares with each of the strands. It was a bit lighter than I like but not bad. And it tightened up a bit after I removed it from the loom. After that I played with using a light worsted yarn as the base and a fingering weight for the last past. That actually made an interesting block. I still have to get back (sometime) to edging and blocking the crib sized blanket I have almost finished. House work? As a joke I saw on Facebook says house work is what you do when you run out of fabric, thread, or yarn. I have managed to not reach that dire condition so far.

Now I am looking at my e-mails. First thing I looked at was the message from Amazon telling me that the iron-on pattern packs I ordered have been shipped. When I receive them I will actually have to do some housework and clear my work space upstairs in the What-Not room so I can prepare a piece for Mom to work.

Bill Astore, writing at Tomdispatch, has some interesting thoughts about the (what's old is new again) Department of War. I wonder when the administration will change the slogan of the Strategic Air Command because "Peace is our Profession" seems out of step with the ethos of a Trumpian America.

Evidently "cancel culture" is alive and well. Jennifer Rubin notes, on CONTRARIAN, that many who whined about cancel culture when it was people they liked being called to account for attacking people they don't like are very happy with it when people are "punished" for criticizing them. I don't approve of any one rejoicing in anyone's pain or death. But tit for tat doesn't sound like a very constructive policy.

Stray thought: when I was (much!) younger and still attended church, somewhat, regularly I often heard a certain phrase: hate the sin, lover the sinner. It appears to me that many have jettisoned the last part of the phrase and decided to hate the (perceived) sinner as well. And they have expanded the definition of what is a sin.

I just saw reports (see here) that the judge in the trial of Luigi Mangione has dismissed the murder charges linked to terrorism. The judge ruled that the evidence the prosecution produced to support the linking of the murder to terrorism. Terrorism, like so many other words, has been thrown about indiscriminately and I agree with the judge.

September14. 15

Bright and sunny today, The rain cleared out late yesterday. The  forecast says the temperature should be in the mid-80s. And we might get a stray shower. Mom asked yesterday if I had an embroidery piece she could work on. I have been busily reducing the number of to-be-started items in my stash. I found one which looked like a simple project--just six colors, no complicated color changes and only cross-stitch and outline stitch needed. I put it all together she decided it wouldn't really do. The cross-stitching is hard to follow and too small. I put it in my pile and started on it earlier. Now I have three crochet pieces on the hook, a small blanket I am finishing made up of woven squares, and four embroidery pieces on hoops.

I don't have any other pieces she would find enjoyable so I decided to look at iron-on patterns that can be applied to some of the plain fabric I have in my stash. I found and ordered four packs of Aunt Martha's patterns which should arrive early next week. I had thought about using the iron-on patterns before because I was finding so little I really wanted from my usual sources. Mom had a kit from Michaels but it just didn't work out for her. The background is so flimsy it has already torn where she had to remove stitches she didn't like. I will throw it away soon and keep only the left over thread and hoop.

15***********************************************

Half-past September already and it is still sunny and cool. I like this time of the year because I can open the windows and patio door for some fresh air--at least as fresh as our air can be in this age of massive and continuing fires. One of the gardening bloggers calls this the messy time of the garden year. It isn't so messy this year because I got so little planted. Mom's month and a half in hospitals followed by another six weeks of physical therapy came at a most inconvenient time-- just when I should have been putting out plants. I hope next year will be better.

Bill Astore at BRACING VIEWS has some good thoughts about AI and the study of history. He calls AI generated history the "dirty purple" a reference I hadn't seen before to the old mimeographed summaries with their messy purple inks that got on everyone's fingers. The key word there is "summaries." No deep dive. Computers from the beginning have encouraged a superficial, uncurious scholarship. I remember card catalogs fondly. Yes they were slow, and sometimes confusing. But I found tangents in the search of the cards which I never would have found in any computerized catalog. It took a while to ask "what else it there" and not take the computer info as holy writ.

Astore makes a good point when he writes that the superficial view appears to be the preferred one among segments of our political, social, and cultural leadership. Think about how Trump responded to the 1619 PROJECT. He seemed to feel personally insulted that the authors started American history with the arrival of the first African slaves in Virginia. He preferred to start our history with 1776. I have a contrary preference: keep 1619 because the introduction of slavery was important but remember that that year also saw Virginia inaugurate the House of Burgesses, the first democrat legislative assembly. You can debate all you like, as you should how democratic and by what definition of democracy it was but the members were chosen by a vote. Both events were pivotal.

I knew the soccer World Cup is scheduled for next year with the U.S., Mexico, and Canada jointly hosting the games. But Pat Garofalo at BOONDOGGLE describes the plant for "dynamic pricing" for the tickets. I enjoy watching soccer when our media decides to carry it. However, I have no plans to see any of the games and, if I had seen this article, I would have changed my plans. Tickets should be sold at a definite price for a specific seat at a given event. We have long had varying prices based on time of events (matinee vs. evening shows, for example) or location of seats (sidelines vs "nose bleed areas). But unless you were so desperate that you paid extra to get sold out tickets from a scalper you knew what you had to pay for a particular seat at a particular time. The price didn't change just because a lot of people wanted them. I have been very skeptical of "surge pricing" and other attempts to bleed the public. The more I hear of Mamdani the more I like him.