Archives for October 2022

Saturday October 8, 2022

President Biden was in Hagerstown Maryland at a plant that makes heavy duty car and truck parts. Things like engines, and axels. Did you hear the speech? Did you know he gave one? I doubt it because the news didn’t seem to report it.

Instead, the news I heard last night talked about Trump and Favre. OMG! Arrest the orange one. Brett? Well, can you believe white people in Mississippi have figured out a way, once again, to screw black people?

Biden is not the most outstanding orator. He had to overcome stuttering as a young person, and it’s still hard for him to speak well. Okay. Got it. But what he said was impressive. Oh I forgot, who cares about facts? He laid out fact after fact as to what he has done for jobs, for the economy, for working class people. He pointed out again and again the things he and the Democrats have done while in power. He pointed out again and again that if the Republicans take power they have vowed to get rid of everything he has done and then to go after our basic security net: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Was anyone in the news listening? Did they report it? I don’t know. I can’t find it. I mean if I google “Biden Harristown” the first thing that comes up is Maryland Matters reporting on it. Where’s ABC, NBC, CBS? They don’t appear on the first page of searches. Well, excuse me, here’s cbsnews “Biden to discuss US economy in Hagerstown Friday” Big whoop.

President Biden after going through the thousands of jobs his administration has created and the way they’ve tackled inflation and gas prices, then went on to mention the Republicans and their efforts to destroy all this.

When he talked about gas prices he mentioned Russia and Saudi Arabia, he said, “I’m not done with them yet.” What? And no one mentions this?

He pointed out the huge investments being made here in creating new factories and manufacturing jobs: millions, billions and even a trillion dollars of investment. What? The news wants to talk about Trump still has documents. (Well, “Duh.”) 

Biden mentioned Paul Gosar by name. Gosar is a big anti-socialist in his speeches. But as Biden pointed out when it comes to asking the government for money (Yikes! Socialism!) He’s begged three times. How about Rand Paul? Similar story. 

“I didn’t know their were so many Socialist Republicans,” said Biden. And the news doesn’t report this?

He pointed out that he passed a 15% tax on corporations. He pointed out that there were a bunch of companies in the Fortune 500 that paid no taxes, yet they each made $40 billion. He pointed out that the Republicans have vowed to get rid of that tax if in charge.

None of this is being reported in any major news outlet I can find. Well, let’s talk about Don, Brett, and Kim.

OMG.

Friday, October 7, 2022 

We went to the Michelangelo show that was in town. Big reproductions of his work from the Sistine Chapel. Up close some of the works didn’t look so good. When you consider however that the ceiling is sixty feet away you realize that the scale demands a different kind of painting. I had seen his show in New York a few years ago and picked up silk reproductions of two of his drawings. The originals were a foot square at most. The silk were three feet by five at least and the detail, even blown up, they were incredible.

Each panel was reproduced with a description next to it and a highlighted section to show you where the panel was on the ceiling. It’s a lot easier looking at those reproductions than at the actual ceiling! 

Five panels were of the Sibyls. I could not say exactly what a sibyl was. But it seemed she was a female oracle. Turns out I was right. What I found interesting was that in the history of the church, it was alleged (common knowledge?) that these women prophetesses foretold the coming of Christ. It got me to thinking about the idea of god. One idea I had not heard until recently was the line of thinking that asked how old the universe is thought to be, and how long man has been on Earth, and when did the idea of god come about? If you take the universe at 13 billion years; Earth at 6.5 billion, and man at 200,000 then the idea of god hasn’t been around for that long. It always fascinates me how people can believe their god is the only god and everyone else is wrong. Really? How many religions have there been? And, how many gods?

It seems that the idea of god is a person’s quest to try and have answers to questions that the answers are not truly known. Maybe, they can’t be known. Maybe, they haven’t been learned yet because the information is not available. I think about the discovery and cure of various diseases and afflictions. Before we knew what caused a disease it was left to god: god’s will. Or, there was the idea of another world, a spirit world. A place where your alter ego or spirit animal dwelt. If you were sick, it was because of your spirit animal. Something was wrong with them and you had to take the necessary steps as prescribed by your moral authority person to remedy the situation. If you were cynical you could see this as a big con game to exert control over people. Maybe the con is a type of confidence game? 

I have often wondered about the Egyptians who for thousands of years did exotic burials so that the dead person could move on to the afterlife. I asked one time if they ever questioned what they were doing/ “No, never,” was the reply. 

Yet, tomb robbers came in and desecrated the body looking for treasure. Someone knew something.

I remember when I was church shopping – ie looking for a church to join for my children. We went to a Catholic church and here was a priest with a lovely Irish brogue telling some parents the story of one of the young boys who must have fallen asleep during the lesson about Jesus and Easter. Because when he awoke and heard that a dead man rose after three days he said, “Uh huh, nope. When you dead. You dead.”

The priest and those around laughed. But the laughter was a nervous laughter. “What if the kid was right?”

Thursday, October 6, 2022

I heard a piece on the radio about Florida and its wetlands. They had development rules in place, but the developers hired lawyers and got those laws and rules put aside. When Rick Scott became Governor he got rid of the oversight agency calling it “a job killer.”

The developers created housing in “hurricane alley,” and now we see people crying over losing their homes. What does Rick Scott say now? “We need to build safer.” Yeah? Really? Ya Think? Brilliant.

Then there’s the video clip of Biden and DeSantis and their wives. Old Ronnie actually seems polite and humble. Wonder why? After all the dickish things he’s said about Biden and Democrats and the left, now he’s being polite and wants what? Reach across the aisle? Only so he can grab a check. Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and he was the one holding the purse strings? 

Oh wait, we don’t have to wonder/ Roll his remarks after Hurricane Sandy. You know. Government handout. How are you going to pay for it? Increasing the Federal deficit. Blah blah blah – now? Oh no, we need the money, look at the homes destroyed, the people without food and water. etc.

I think when the bill comes up in Congress for money for Florida for Ian, every new York, New Jersey, and New England congress person should stand up, quote some idiotic thing DeSantis said during Sandy and then vote Yes with an additional comment of F.U. Ronnie this is for the people of Florida, not you.

Maybe throw in a little Matt Gaetz dickishness as well. “I won’t give any money to support the Republicans of Florida like Ron DeSantis” – that kind of rhetoric. (substituting Republican for Democrat, and DeSantis for Biden)

Or maybe more heartfelt dickishnness, “I’d love to help the poor people of Florida whom Rick Scott deliberately put in harm’s way, but I see no change of heart in him, or Ron DeSantis or Mark Rubio. So, …”

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

I keep thinking of Herschel Walker’s video intro to one of those reality shows he was on. Maybe, it was the cooking one, or maybe it was Dancing With The Stars – I can’t recall. But one thing he said stands out in my mind. The piece was Walker narrating about his life and showing different things he had done besides football. He said, “I’ve done a lot of things in my life.” 

Indeed, he has. I think being a U.S. Senator would be, for him, just another thing. 

Unfortunately, he has shown a lack of understanding of most issues, and those he has expressed opinions on show either an ignorance or a lack of compassion. He has taken the no abortion no exception stance. This morning it came out that he paid for a woman’s abortion. His lawyer and Walker himself say that is not true. But there is a cancelled check from him and a get well card. 

Then there’s the OathKeepers’ trial. No one is arguing over the evidence, only the intent. The defense is saying that the OathKeepers were standing by waiting for word from then President Trump to declare the Insurrection Act and they were going to come to his aid. Furthermore the head of the group, who was outside the Capital on Jan 6th and was seen directing those inside who seemed like a general ordering his troops. Ah, not so, says the defense, he’s a man of peace, not violence, those who entered the Capital did so on their own.

Ah yes.

But there’s all this communication talking violence, not only before, but after. They were planning to disrupt the Inauguration. That is why the FBI moved quickly to arrest them before that date.

There’s also the statement that the Insurrection Act is only a “cover”.

So the evidence shows they were planning to disrupt the Jan 6th proceeding and after that the Inauguration, regardless, of what Trump said. Hum. If this ain’t sedition nothing is.

Then there’s the Nazi spy who dropped leaflets on the White House during WWII. A famed woman aviator, she spoke at peace rallies organized by a group called, “America First.” Wow. can’t these folks come up with new slogans?

And the Supreme Court is going to hear cases that would allow state legislatures to overturn the election of the people, and to allow radical gerrymandering – even worse than what we have now.

This is not good.

And lastly, Kim Kardashian and the mummy.

Ms Kardashian posed with an Egyptian Mummy at the MET Gala in 2018. The picture was posted on her Instagram account. (She has 25 million followers, Or I also heard, maybe wrongly 320 million. Whatever.)

The mummy was recognized in Egypt as having been stolen from the Egyptian Museum during the Arab Spring. In fact, the feet of the mummy were damaged during the looting. See the clubfootedness?

The mummy was returned.

Here it is back in the Cairo Museum where I photographed it in 2019.

October 1, 2022

Yeah, it’s hard to believe but Republicans, including those from Florida, voted against giving their constituents needed hurricane relief. Matt Gaetz, being the dick that he is, said he wouldn’t give any money to Joe Biden’s agencies. Nice. Smart. Classy to the end. Dip.

Val Demming (D-Florida’s 10th) and running for Senate voted for the package.

…

It turns out that this isn’t as I was made to understand from the headlines. 

I could not find the House vote. Finally, it became clear that this wasn’t just a disaster or hurricane relief bill. It was wrapped into the Continuing Resolution to keep the government running. Had the bill failed to pass the Federal Government would have shut down.

So, people like Gaetz vote against it because they don’t want to give any money to Dems when they are running the government. This skirts the larger issue. Mainly, do you keep the government up and running when you are not in charge? This is the “burn it to the ground” idea offered by Newt Gingrich, Steve Bannon, Grover Norquist and many others. They may dress it up in various names but the idea is that your side never helps the country if it requires working with the other side. There are fanciful ideas that emerge and always the details are glossed over.

Remember Ron Paul and his Revolution? It was based on what was known as Austrian Economics. The idea that you could fiddle with the monetary rate and the debt would somehow disappear.

Or Reagan’s “trickle down” economics? Didn’t make sense when proposed. Didn’t work in practice. Yet, some still cling to it.

Or “Brexit” ? Didn’t make sense when proposed. Didn’t work in practice. Yet, some still cling to it. (Okay, It’s the Brits, but it’s still stupid.)

The list goes on and on.

Or Steve Bannon’s hostile idea to ruin the government and thereby shrink it to the size of a pea? (his term.) Somehow this would be helpful.

Yet, no matter what, there are two things that seem to run through all of this talk:

1 – It applies to “the other” not me (the one proposing)

2 – There is always an element of magic (it will shrink. It will go away.) etc.

Yet. It never works as proposed.

Not only that, but when these people take power the only thing they do is cut taxes for their rich friends and corporations, attack benefits for the poor, and make pompous statements.

Some say Biden is old. He is. Some say he’s boring. Maybe. But he is consistently moving our country forward, solving one problem after another, or at least making it better.

Remember when he took office we were in the death grip of Covid? There was no plan to distribute the vaccine that had been developed. He got that turned around. He got much of the country vaccinated.

Then there was the back up at the ports. You don’t hear anyone talking about that now, because he got that moving along.

Recently, there was the impending railroad strike. He got that averted.

He got more IRS folks hired to go after the rich who aren’t paying their taxes. Republicans are running ads saying agents will be breaking down your doors to take your money. They don’t want these extra agents because what the IRS is hiring is accountants to go after the Republican benefactors.

Biden got a health care bill passed. It limits the amount folks pay for insulin and caps prescription drug payments. He didn’t get it for everyone because Republicans blocked him, but for many. He got the okay for Medicare to negotiate its own prices instead of the stupid system we had. What have Republicans said about that? They will repeal that bill as soon as they can. In other words, the Republicans will screw you over as soon as they take power.

Biden ain’t flashy. He’s not holding press conferences everyday promising to do this or that and then doing nothing like the last administration. In fact, if the last administration had done nothing it would have been better than what they did do.

Okay. Gotta go.