Well, tis Christmas Eve. Bacchanalia. First night of Hanukkah.
So, make merry. Even if you don't do God or Gods or Goddesses, everyone should have an excuse to make merry betimes.
And remember, in life, you can be Scrooge, or you can be Fezziwig, it's your choice.
So, Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas !
and so on!

Best Wishes to you and yours.
- DLC

A last minute plea for the Republic.

Friends, I do not usually indulge in panic, and I'm not going to now. But I want to talk to you about a problem that threatens the very heart of our Republic. 

I am speaking about this incident of the Russian hacking of, and interference in, the late Presidential election. Here, I speak not as a partisan, but as an American. The current way in which the United States of America selects who is to be President and Vice President of the United States is complex, but it boils down to this:  The people vote to choose partisan Electors who then meet after the election in what's called The Electoral College. This body was created originally to prevent some influential demagogue -- a leader in a democracy who gains popularity by exploiting prejudice and ignorance among the common people, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation -- from seizing power. It was also intended to limit the possible influence of foreign powers in American internal politics. In this instance we have both of those problems. We have Donald J Trump, the demagogue's demagogue, doing all of those things in the definition. But it's the second thing that is really important:

Time for the missing man formation, sadly.

Word has reached me of the passing of Senator John Glenn. Marine fighter pilot with 59 combat missions in the south pacific in WW2 and 63 in F-9 Panthers over Korea, with a further 27 in F-86 Sabres. In combination, between his wartime service and his years as an astronaut, Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Six times. Perhaps one dark spot on his illustrious career was his refusal to support the concept of women astronauts, until much later in life, when he is said to have mentored the career of mission specialist Judy Resnik.  Glenn would himself return to space in 1998, when he flew on STS 95 as a payload specialist, becoming the oldest man in space at age 77.
A mostly brilliant and mostly honorable career by a man who never stopped to ask the cost, he just stepped forward with his hand up, the words "I'll go" on his lips.
We thank you, John Herschel Glenn Jr., for a lifetime of service and dedication to duty, and a spirit of American exceptionalism. Farewell, my fellow Ohioan.
My most sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Harvard Post-Election Forum

Just taking a moment to put down a few thoughts about the recent Harvard Post-Election Forum :

Recently, campaign staffers for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met at Harvard University for a post election forum. These meetings are what usually goes on after Presidential elections, and are put on by Harvard for the benefit of their students. This year was different, however, as staffers for both sides quickly allowed the meeting to devolve into a shouting match, when such meetings are usually at least civil, if not cordial. Well, what happened is this : Trump's people just had to rub salt in the wounds. They had to. Led by Trump mouthpiece Kelly-Anne Conway, they had to crow and strut and yell the equivalent of  "take that, bitches!". (more after the jump)

In sickness and in health, racism still sucks.

In 2012 I had a nasty case of Colitis. After 2 days of misery I was compelled to head to the Emergency Dept. of the local hospital (Banner Thunderbird) where I was treated by a professional, friendly and mostly polite staff who treated me with respect and granted me as much human dignity as they could. (with someone having bloody diarrhea every 30 or so minutes it couldn't have been easy or pleasant, even though I made it to the toilet on my own every time.) But what I want to focus on is this: the woman who did my x-rays was of middle-eastern descent and did her job while wearing a Muslim head-scarf. I did not berate her for following her religious dogma, or tell her she was a terrorist, or yell at her and tell her to get out of "my" country. You see, even though I do not personally agree with the dictates of Islam, and I believe it is a restrictive, misogynistic religion, I am an American. A USA-Ian if you prefer. I was brought up to believe in the Constitution of the United States, and I was taught that A person's religion does not matter so long as it does not interfere with the performance of their duties at their job or influence adversely how they interact with other Americans. (USA-Ians if you prefer.) This woman clearly did not worry that I was not a Muslim. She did not care. She did her job efficiently and with a friendly demeanor. I thanked her for doing a good job, and she nodded back at me and went about her business. So, here's a lesson for those of you who think "Now that Trump's won we can get rid of all this "political correctness" and say what we think about these *people* : No, you can't. You can hate all you want and nobody will stop you. But if you act on your hate and indulge in verbal or physical abuse, you will be stopped. If not by police, by me. I'm old and not the man I used to be, but I will stand between you and them and defy you to scream at me. I'm an old Wolf but I am still a Wolf and I will not stand by while you act like a sniveling coward. You may have some vestige of the courage of your convictions but you have no real courage, or you would do as I do and walk without fear in the world, and nod to all in passing, without allowing your fear to chase you into anger at someone merely for what religion they follow or how they dress or who were their ancestors. Grow up. Grow some spine, and remember, if you cannot be welcoming to all, you can at least be tolerant of all.

V for Vendetta

 V for Vendetta is a political thriller in which a mystery man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask fights to overturn a totalitarian religio-fascist government. The action culminates, not in the destruction of the Monarch that Guy Fawkes wanted  but in the destruction of the houses of Parliament, the overturning of the Sutler government and lots of mayhem. Oh, and V dies in the end.
Well, this is November 5th, 2016. In 3 days the United States will elect a new President.
Regardless of who is elected it will be a major turning point in the course of American history.
I'm going to lay aside partisanship for a moment, and pretend that I do not endorse either candidate.

Guy Fawkes Day.

Today is the 5th of November, the day in which the English celebrate Guy Fawkes day, and have Bonfire Night. In modern times it's really Bonfire Night which everyone gets worked up about. They have parties, and bonfires and fireworks, and there is much merrymaking. If you're interested in learning more about Guy Fawkes and why they have a holiday in his name, I recommend wikipedia's entries for Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes Night. 

Fool Moon Madness!

Every so often, I or someone I know will post a social media note about how they had a completely crazy day and just need to decompress. Then some usually well-meaning person will chime in with "Yeah, full moon's coming", as if that explains everything.  Well, I hate to be a big fat Buzz Killington, but no, it actually does not explain it.  Statistically, people do not lose their sanity more during the full moon, even though the terms "Lunacy" and "Lunatic" derive from the latin word for the moon -- Luna. Humanity is very tied to the moon. In fact, some have speculated that without the tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon, we humans may not have evolved. (myself, I don't try to speculate. It's one of those incalculables. ) So, we have ages of social conditioning and a considerable amount of confirmation bias which drives most people's belief in Full Moon Madness.
Except, there is simply no statistical evidence that any such phenomena occur. Hospital Emergency Departments, Fire stations, police dispatchers -- statistics gathered from all of those do not show any marked uptick in "madness"  -- accidents, assaults, fires, homicides etc -- during the nights of the full moon.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1316181/

Voter Fraud vs Voter Suppression

Statistically, there has been almost no voter fraud on the small scale, and none at all on the large scale. But that's the thing. It's all a matter of scale. 

Looking back at the history, you can see that approximately 126 million people voted in the 2012 elections. Looking at the totals per candidate, we see that 65 million people voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and only 60 million voted for Mitt Romney. There were other votes cast but they were for minor candidates and not really significant. Now consider with me -- in order to "rig" an election or reverse the will of the people, it would be necessary to conjure up some five to six million votes, spread out among the several states.

The Captain. . .

I've been hearing a lot of talk lately about how people want an "outsider" to be President of the United States. 

We've all be told recently how Donald Trump should be President of the United States because he is "an outsider." Let's grant that he is, for the moment. He has no knowledge or experience in government. He has no knowledge or experience in foreign policy, and none in domestic policy.
Now, let's consider a hypothetical, leaving names out of it.

Has Trump Crashed ?

Today, video was released from NBC-Universal's "Access Hollywood" in which Donald Trump is heard saying some things. He says that he tried to have sex with a married woman, while himself marred to Melania. He says he kisses women because they're good looking, without waiting to be invited. He says he can "grab them by the pussy" because he's a Star.
The net effect of the video is disgusting. If you needed more proof Donald Trump is not suited to be President of the United States, this is it. It is my considered opinion that Donald Trump is not fit to manage the affairs of a Hot-Dog stand, let alone the United States. I want to emphasize this point: I like sex as much as the next man. I like women as much as the next man. But I do not and would not objectify women to the extent Trump does. I have women friends -- women who I have never thought of having sex with, who are just my friends. Donald Trump surrounds himself with women he considers beautiful (as beauty is a subjective quality, I do not speak to that point.) -- women whom he can objectify. Women he can imagine having sex with. He is binary on it. You're either a piece he can think of having sex with, or you're ugly. Look at every woman close to him. This is the man who has said "If she wasn't my daughter I'd be dating her. " How can anyone look at this man and not see a cheap, greasy, dirtbag of a used car salesman? How can the "morally straight" upstanding conservative republicans look at Donald Trump and think he's someone they want in the White House?  Is their hate of Hillary Clinton that strong that they would vote a man like that into office with her as the alternative ?
The mind boggles.

Is the past truly prologue ?

In the last year we have seen a wealthy braggart spend millions of dollars and log thousands of travel miles zig-zagging across the country, whipping up support from people he candidly calls "The Low-Information Set". He's been making broad, ridiculous, almost fantastic (in the classical sense) promises to people across the country, all in order to garner support. He tells people that the country is going down in flames, ruins all over, rampant crime by gangs of armed marauders who're kept out of the prisons by the wealthy money men. He promises more jobs, more infrastructure, lower corporate taxes, higher trade protections and fewer wars by way of having more wars.
Am I alone in recognizing what line of attack this man is using ? He attacks the disabled, mentally challenged, mentally ill, women, transgenders, veterans and the poor, and his fans eat it up. He spoon feeds them hate disguised as political rhetoric and they not only buy into it but many are there already You and I should know better. Do you have to be led by the hand and shown all the details, or are you so resigned to the banality of evil that my efforts are worthless ? Do my words really fall on deaf ears ? Will none of you see what is placed before you ? What is painfully obvious to any student of history ?
Holy hell. I feel like I need a wash up and a nap. or a good brandy.
Shit.

-- DLC

A bit of Brutal Truth.

I'm gonna lay some brutal truth on you, straight up with no sweetener :

As things stand right now, there is no Fourth Amendment to The Constitution of the United States.
Your cell phone is routinely monitored. Your mail scanned and photgraphed, your email read for keywords and "Suspicious behavior". You are videoed everywhere you go. Police will search you as they want and make up an excuse for why later, up to and including arresting you for Resisting Arrest or Obstructing Justice. Further, you have no right to avoid self-incrimination.

A story fragment

This one came to me while I was waiting in a parking lot.


I'm sorry , you shouted yourself mute. When the serum started to take effect, the excruciating pain must have been too much for you to remain silent. It's a good thing these walls are sound-proof or the others might have been disturbed. You'll be able to get up and move about soon, but I don't recommend it.
(I might come back to this later and finish it. who knows. -- DLC )

Why are we still having this conversation ?

I'm really wondering why we need to be having this conversation. 

I really am. The current elections of 2016 are between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.The two of them could not be more different :
On one side, we have a greedy, arrogant, cheating, lying, misogynistic, racist, bigot, gonif, meshuggenah, POS that calls himself Donald Trump. On the other hand, we have Hillary Clinton, a woman who has a less than spotless reputation, owing largely to 30 years of being slimed by her opponents with the mostly willing cooperation of the news media. (newsies will tell you, if you manage to slip one enough truth serum, that they hates them some Clintons) Yes, it's true that Mrs Clinton has made mistakes, and some unforced errors, and has at times skated a bit close to the thin ice. But she's human. She puts her pants suits on one leg at a time just like the rest of us. She bleeds red blood, gets sick sometimes, and probably has said some sharp-tongued things. But compared to Donny, she's a freakin saint. Holy crap, I can hardly believe I have to explain this to people. HRC is not my favorite democratic candidate. That would have been Bernie Sanders. But she is light years ahead of Trump. Galaxies, even.

A few thoughts about "The Government."

When it comes to how people in the USA think about their government, many people reply to polls like this  , or this stating that they distrust "The Government"  (a nebulous, poorly defined thing but seemingly meant to be the Federal Government of the USA). I place responsibility for this trend in thinking directly upon They.

What's wrong with this picture ?

When some person gets in hot water with the IRS because of his sincere belief that paying taxes to a government that uses it for war is wrong, we call him a tax cheat and put him in jail. When some person gets in hot water with a federal judge because of using their elected office to deny people their rights gets in trouble, we call them a hero and have parades and demonstrations in their honor. What's wrong with this picture?

I wrote this in 2015 during the uproar over a certain County Clerk in a certain state who was refusing to do her duty and issue marriage licenses to *those people*. 
In my opinion, this County Clerk was misusing the power of her office to further a religious agenda.
In case some of you missed it, the state may not discriminate  on basis of religion, which includes because of the government official's religion. If you are a government official it is your sworn duty to do your job without favor for all who require your services. You may not
refuse service to someone, even if their personal lifestyle, culture, religion, ethnic origin or creed disturbs you or offends you. If you are unable to carry out the duties of your office due to this, you are obligated by honor to leave that office. You can always lobby government to change regulations, but beware that doing so to appease one specific religion is off the table.

Filed under "You can't go home again" not even on Google Earth.

From time to time I have a look at old neighborhoods I once lived in on Google Maps utility Google Earth. It's a telling bit of nostalgia. Telling because, as always, nothing stays the same. The old gas station where I used to push Dad's lawnmower with a quarter in my pocket to buy gas (a gallon was 35 cents, the mower took less than 1 gallon.)

Some thoughts on A J Raffles, Bunny Manders and A.C. Doyle.

Recently, I've been reading some old Victorian books

most recently, the AJ Raffles stories by E.W. Hornung. Hornung was Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's cousin, and he wrote the Raffles stories contemporary to Doyle, even dedicating his first novel The Amateur Cracksman "To ACD, A Form of Flattery."

Donald Trump wants to win, he just isn't able to.

Recently, filmmaker Michael Moore wrote an opinion piece in which he details how Donald Trump never really wanted to be President, which is why he's tanking it now. It's a good piece, and you should read it if you haven't. (here) .  Moore puts a lot of thought into his work, and he makes a good case for Trump not really wanting to be President of the United States. (Resist my friends the impulse to write POTUS as if you were some secret service agent.)
But, with respect to Mr Moore, I have to disagree in some respects. I have spent a bit of time studying Mr Trump's doings, and I have to say this : Trump fails more than he succeeds, simply because his personality failings -- grandiosity, vanity, greed, short-tempered-ness and his inability to consider the long term outcomes of his actions -- combine with a carefully concealed lack of native intellect and stunning ignorance for someone in his position lead him to overvalue his worth, overestimate his ability and grossly underestimate his opponents. Unlike Mr Moore, I don't believe Trump didn't see it coming because he overlooked a bet, I think Trump was simply incapable of seeing himself losing. I believe Trump thought he would make a big splash, beat out all the other contenders for the GOP nomination, and then carry the general election on force of personality and name recognition alone -- that people would vote for him despite his glaring lack of ability.  Look back at Trump's history. You'll see his back trail is littered with failed business ventures, outraged contractors and other goods and services providers who were either never paid or grossly underpaid, and even bankruptcies. It extends to his personal life too -- a number of failed marriages, smoothed over personal lawsuits and other debacles that show a distinct lack of character.
All these failures can be laid at Trump's door. So many so that the question of his being a successful businessman must be answered in the negative. So, while Trump may have wanted to be President of the United States, it is a thing he can aspire to but simply hasn't got what's needed to take it. Moreover, I think that deep down Trump is aware of his failing in this regard and is -- perhaps subconsciously -- setting himself up to fail in such a manner as he could then blame his failure on someone else. It won't really matter if his blame game seems credible to others, it just has to be something that fits into his false-reality bubble.

Post Script : 

Well, I got it wrong. Apparently character doesn't matter anymore. Trump got elected on an Electoral College vote of 306 to Clinton's 232. Clinton won the popular vote by some 3 million-odd votes. Trump carried the EC by some 80k votes spread through Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. According to Michael Moore Trump took Michigan by 2 votes per precinct.  Consider this most carefully. Donald J Trump took the election by the margin of the usual crowd at an NFL Football game. Now do not tell me your vote doesn't matter. 

What are we going to do If/when Donald Trump loses ?

What are we going to do If/when Donald Trump loses ? 

Seriously. What can we expect the roughly 20% of the American population who're die-hard Donald Trump fans to do when the Duke of Orange loses ? Right now, there's roughly 20% of the population (about 40% of the republican voters ) who are angry. They've been fed bollocks for so long that the truth looks like falsehoods to them. They've been told by the far right that the Government (all government) is evil and must be done away with. They've been fed the myth that the Confederacy wasn't at all bad, and certainly had nothing to do with slavery, they just wanted time to deal with the slavery issue at their own rate, and most certainly would have gotten around to freeing those slaves sooner or later. (the fact that they had since 1789 to do so and still hadn't by 1860 notwithstanding)
The crowning lie they have been fed is the notion that they too can be billionaires if they'll just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get to work! They get told that government never does anything right or good, that anyone who receives government assistance is a conniver, lazy and a crook. Then they get fed the divisive horse crap that *those people* are a bunch of crooks, liars and (gasp!) potential terrorists. It doesn't matter that *those people* (whoever they might be) are mostly ordinary people who just want to live their lives in peace, they have committed the deadly sin of being different ! They are dark skinned, or have strange customs or speak a different language. But all this is not really important.
  The GOP have promised a return to a mythical good old days for 30 years, and they keep promising that knowing full well that they'll never deliver. After all this time, the people who believed those promises, who bought into those myths, have become frustrated at the lack of such things happening. They were told that a state of affairs would result wherein they had good jobs, *those people* would be put in their place and kept there, and none of those pesky GLBTQ types would bother them. Things would be swell, just like in Leave it To Beaver. Except, they don't seem to realize that Leave It To Beaver was never real. It was a falsehood. The Cleaver house existed only on a studio backlot. So, having had to put up with the foreigner Barack Obama for 8 years, with a woman set to win the office of President of the United States, what are they going to do ? The way Trump's talking, using thinly veiled violent rhetoric and already claiming that his opponent has rigged the elections, what will happen when the say, 50 to 100 or so really angry nutters decide that Hillary Clinton isn't going to be their President, and she isn't going to be anyone's  President. Or what if it's worse than that, and a few thousand decide to take up arms ? Can the Union survive another insurrection ? I confess to being a bit worried. But then, I thought some lunatic fringer might go after President Obama also, and that hasn't happened. Perhaps things will be all right after all.

Privilege ? What Privilege ? 

I read it a lot these days. I'll be perusing some blog or other and reading an article about some issue of importance -- usually to do with civil rights or equal treatment for all  -- and someone will throw down with "Check your privilege, asshole" as if it were some kind of trump card. Personally, as I only rarely comment on blog posts and I don't post anything that would be considered privilege speaking, I don't get such replies often, and usually when I do it's some miscommunication or someone trolling by giving my words the least charitable interpretation. As if I had said "it's a bright sunny day" and someone jumped in with "Are you trying to insult the Albino community!??!!! check your privilege, Asshole!"  (there's always an insult added on. )

A quick note about fear.

Fear is one of humanity's basic emotions, rooted in the deepest, most ancient part of the brain.
Fear can cause the brain to invoke the atavistic fight or flight reflex, which can cause people to act with adrenaline-boosted strength, reflexes and with rage and unconcern for future consequences.
To crib from the old Jedi line: "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side."
Or, if you prefer, the Bene Gesserit recitation on fear :

Why Psychics are the Bunk.

We've all seen them. Commercials on late night television -- someone selling their services as a psychic, medium or tarot reader. What most people don't realize is, they're all Bunkum. 

Bunkum, Hoax, Fraud, Flummery, Mummery Smoke and Mirrors, Bullshit. They're all synonyms for something false or fake that some few believe to be true.

Well, the Republican Convention is all over but the shouting.

Personally, I am unimpressed. Donald Trump promised "The best convention ever" and in my opinion he fell far short of the mark. 

The Republican National Convention is not officially over yet, but the main business they gathered for is done -- Donald Trump is now the official nominee of the Republican Party. As I write this, the delegation from Alaska has held up the works, demanding that their vote be re-counted. They re-counted the vote or something and then Dana White got up to speak. Yes, Mr. UFC. Mixed Martial Arts Impresario Dana White. Their prime-time speaker. After Appearances by Un-Stars Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr. What next ? is Jon Voight going to talk to a mattress so as to upstage 2012s empty chair discussion held by Clint Eastwood ?  Look, I don't expect to see "Hamilton" or "Cats" or "The Producers" or even an off-broadway rendition of "Death of a Salesman".  But really. Chachi ? Dana White ? These were the best speakers Trump could draw ?

Then and Now.

Then and Now. A perspective on violence and vigilantism.

In the 1980s, I drove (among other vehicles) a 1972 Buick Skylark GS.
Aside from being a Banker's Hotrod, the car had a sound system which I (budding electronics wizard that I was) tweaked and pumped up until it would rattle the air in your lungs at close range.
My favorite tunes in those days were bands like AC/DC, Jethro Tull, Molly Hatchet, Judas Priest , Jimi Hendrix and others. In other words, early metal. I played it, as every other 17-19 year old did, turned up to 11. If you were stupid enough to tell me it was too loud, I was stupid enough to tell you "you're too old" or a simple"Fuck Off." I was young, inexperienced, angry and had teenage invulnerability. But then, the worst that might have happened to me was that someone would take exception to my taste in music with their fists, and I would of course offer a rebuttal in kind.

Nice, France.

Word has just reached me that a lone terrorist has driven a truck into a crowd of people. 

Nice, located in the Southern coast of France near the Italian border, was the scene of a horrific terrorist attack tonight. At this hour, BBC and French government officials are reporting some 77 people killed and 15 seriously injured.

Shootings, both civillian and police.

After two days of two black men being shot, now 4 Dallas Police Officers are dead after being shot, and 11 others are injured. 

As I write this, the chief suspect in the shooting of 11 Dallas Police officers is negotiating with police, exchanging shots with them and shouting defiance. 

Brexit

I'm not British, but I would like to share a few thoughts on the upcoming vote in Britain whether or not to remain in the EU.

I know, it's odd, an American voicing an opinion on a strictly European issue, but here goes :
Europe is currently operating in an economic balance, with France and England balancing out Germany in economic power. A change in this structure could cause unknown damage. The other European powers could, and probably would, institute some forms of Tariffs on trade, which would cause an economic slump, first in Britain, and later spreading to the other EU countries. The EU would probably recover from this in a few years, but in the meantime there would be a loss of jobs, and a slowdown of the EU economy, which would probably spread to the USA and Canada, in a time when economic slumps are more dangerous. Many more people now are living close to the bottom, just a paycheck or two away from disaster. Do we really want to risk it ?

Update : (post Brexit vote)

I had originally written this a couple days before the vote, intending to come back to it, but other events pushed it off my plate. Post-Brexit vote, I'm adding a few thoughts.
 -- DLC.

Conspiracy Theories and political extremism.

I've been doing some thinking about political extremism and conspiracy theories lately.
Mostly, I've been wondering how it is people who subscribe to various conspiracy theories also mostly happen to be political extremists -- anarchists, libertarians, extreme conservatives and so forth. But what brings these people to jump on the conspiracy theory bandwagon ?

Nigel Farage is a big fat jerk.

This just in UKIP doyen Nigel Farage is a big fat jerk. 

A big giant bag o dicks. Sorry, my british friends, but Nigel needs a brain transplant.

Update : (7/4/2016) : 

Nigel Farage has stepped down as head of the UKIP.  Apparently he is like a kid who throws a brick through a window. Having seen the damage he caused and hearing the alarm bells, he's run for it, hoping the neighborhood copper doesn't grab him by the collar. 

Some poetry.

The thought is never far from the surface of my mind, that good men and women today fight on in countries far from the "Civilized" USA. Men and women who have lives, families, friends, and children. I'm no poet. I'll borrow from A.E. Housman.
Although misleadingly titled "An epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries" Housman wrote it as a tribute to the British Expeditionary Force, who in 1914 crossed over to Belgium to defend that nation against the onslaught of the Imperial German Army. Critics labelled them Mercenaries because they were men who volunteered to serve as soldiers in a time of peace. Apparently some then believed that fighting men should work for free. Housman thought differently, and I agree.
Here it is.

Women as central characters.

A couple of years ago, Disney released their animated production "Frozen" to theaters around the world. This movie followed on ground already broken by "Brave" and "Mulan" , in presenting a strong female character as the central figure in the story.  At the time, some commentators were actually angered by Frozen, because it had two good women heroes (Elsa and Anna) and the largest male part was relegated to a part-comic-relief part love interest for Anna, or an entirely comic relief snowman.

Person of Interest is Over . . .

I caught the first episode of Person of Interest on CBS, and tonight I saw the last one.

The show was apparently not popular enough to stay on the air, so CBS crammed the last 13 episodes into this last month and a half. Or perhaps stars Michael Emerson, Jim Caviezel, Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker were tired of doing it. For whatever reason, the show came to an end, Tuesday 6/22/16.

Is Trump's house of cards falling ?

A measly 3 mil in May, with a lousy 1.3 mil on hand. Corey L is out. Is Trump's organization failing ? 

It certainly looks like he's floundering. Stalling out. No money coming in, no operating funds coming from Trump. For a billionaire he's certainly being penurious with his cash, assuming he really has any. So what's Trump's next play ? The cash he has on hand isn't enough for another month's operations unless he minimizes everything. So what's he going to do ?
Meanwhile, I see that there is an "insurgent" group of GOP delegates who are working toward exempting themselves from being bound to vote for Trump in the convention.
According to The Rachel Maddow Show 
there is a move on by some within the delegates to add a rule in the convention rules to allow delegates to not vote for a candidate based upon what amounts to any conscience reason.
So we have Trump with no money, with Delegates plotting to desert him, and what next? 
Trump will market himself and his book, make sure he gets enough campaign contributions to pay himself back for the 45 mil he loaned his campaign, and then what ? quit ? I think he'll flame out well before the election. He'll be the Michael Dukakis of the GOP. But, am I indulging in wishful thinking ? Perhaps.
Myself, I saw the choices as being Hillary Clinton or John Kasich.
I guess I was half right.

Homeopathy is Bunk.

Yes, I'm not going to soft-soap it. Homeopathy is bunk. bollocks. built on stupidity. 

In the 1800s one Samuel Hahnamann came up with the idea that if a substance taken internally at regular strength caused certain symptoms, and if giving that substance in lesser, diluted forms caused lesser symptoms, then diluting it until there couldn't possibly be any more of the substance in the solution -- so that there was a negative amount of substance in the solution -- must then cure those symptoms. To this he added in the mumbo jumbo of praying over the water and slapping the bottle of solution being mixed against a leather bound book -- usually but not always a copy of the christian bible. The resulting stew of pseudoscience he passed on to his followers, who keep at it to this day, diluting stuff in water, alcohol or glycerin, sometimes dropping drops of it on sugar pills, and then selling the resultant useless crap for big sums of money. Because of placebo effect, and a phenomenon known as "regression to the mean" or because human beings sometimes get well on their own, People allow themselves to be deluded into thinking the stuff works, when in fact, it is only water, alcohol, glycerin or sugar pills. Entertainer and renowned skeptic James Randi has often challenged homeopaths to bring him a "fatal overdose" of Homeopathic sleeping pills, which he takes entire boxes of without ill effect (other than perhaps on his blood sugar.)

I am also reminded of the statement made by comedian Tim Minchin, who has said "if a vial of water can remember the memory of one drop of onion juice why doesn't it remember all the poo that's been in it ?"
One of these days I'm going to have to look for some quality research on why this stuff (and other weird quack treatments) persist in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.
Somehow, I suspect it will be for similar reasons to why people continue to subscribe to damnedfool ideas like flat earth, geocentrism and young earth creationism.

Vin Scully.

It's not unusual for Baseball announcers on TV to go off the script. 

Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray was famous for it. He'd be going on about some player, some play in the game, or some statistic, and the next second he would be babbling happily away about something off in left field. Last night, Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully must have been really bored, because he went into a discussion of the failure of Socialism, citing the alleged failure of Venezuela's government under the late Hugo Chavez. Personally, I thought it was just a rather humorous non sequitur. Sort of like reading the weather on TV only to suddenly mention how tight your shoes are. Well, apparently other people weren't so happy about Scully's discourse. By the way, the Dodgers won it 10-6 over the Brewers. 
Someone play Take Me Out to The Ball Game. 

Father's Day 2016

I don't usually do these holidays created by marketing execs.
My father was gathered unto his ancestors in 2012. He left behind 3 sons
and his loving wife, Jo. My Dad was not always the best of men. In his youth, he drank, he fought, and he philandered. In later years he would reform, drinking only in moderation, not having a temper, and joining the baptist church. His life in later years was marked by his love of his wife, Jo and his good nature. He loved fishing and golf, and spending a good time. Dad and I didn't always see eye to eye, but we settled our differences years before I moved to Arizona, and decades before he passed on. I wish he were still with us. Unfortunately, my family are not much for photos or I would post one here. Dad was a tall man, large framed, with red hair and blue eyes. I'm larger, and have greying chestnut hair and blue eyes. I don't really resemble the old man except in size.
Today I remember him. Rest in Piece,  Dad.


- DLC

A few more thoughts on gun control.

More on the guns issue:

(I apologize if this seems a bit disorganized, but it's been a long and chaotic day, and I had many things to say, which I tried to cram all into one post. -- DLC)

The debate continues in it's usual cycle, with one side demanding gun bans and more restrictions and the other side pointing to the second amendment and demanding constitutionality.
I've already written about how I'd change the background checks system here , but now I want to add in something I left out then -- the Ammunition issue.
I've heard a lot of talk about banning rifles that can hold more than some number of rounds of ammunition, mainly from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former Governor Cuomo. (This happened, in the NYSAFE act )

A dream, perhaps.

I have dreams. Sometimes they're the seeds of stories, and sometimes they're just my brain going on holiday and taking me along for the ride. 

This time, it was the seed of a story, but probably not one with any publishable content. Yet still, I think there's some meaning here, so I'm going to try to write it down while I can. The setting is the well of the United States Senate. The principal character; Senator Robert Coughlin, R- AZ, a fictional Senator from my home state.

When religion and hate mix.

I think everyone in the United States has this Sunday seen what can happen when you mix Religion and Hate. 

I'm not going to sit here and give a sermon. I'm not a priest and make no claims to special wisdom. God does not talk to me. I do not talk to God. By and large, if you subscribe to a particular set of beliefs in the unprovable or supernatural, I might disagree with you, but I will not attempt to dissuade you of your beliefs. If those beliefs are particularly wacky, I am likely to deride your weirdness,

Some sad sporting news.

Word has reached me that hockey legend Gordie Howe has died. 

He was 88 years old. While I am not the biggest Hockey fan, as a child I was shown video of Howe playing in his heyday. Being no expert I have to admit I didn't really understand it at the time, but I knew I was watching one of the top men in his field doing what he loved doing. Hats off for Number Nine, folks.
My condolences to his family and friends. 

Some good things about The Sims 4

Some good things about The Sims 4

I usually don’t talk about my computer gaming experience, aside from the ones I mentioned in my profile.  Usually, games are a sideline, a diversion from boredom when I’m not working or trying to sleep. Well, my internet service has been down this week, and it has given me time to reflect on a few things. Among them is the computer game The Sims 4™, by EA Games subsidiary Maxis.   The game itself is fairly smooth, although it has some bugs that can make playing it annoying. But let’s handle the good things first.

Weed War 2016!

Weed War 2016:

Already into phase 3; digging out the enemy one stubborn holdout at a time. I was able to wipe out a small formation of the enemy using the string trimmer, but had to stop due to a lack of ammo. Then came the backup weapon, the hula hoe. With that, I was able to clear more small groups of the enemy, taking them en passant, using Halsey’s maxim of Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often. Finally, hula hoe amenable targets having diminished, I took to the most primitive of weapons, the spade. I was able to spade up about ¼ of the hardest held enemy positions, but two clusters will require actually digging in by hand with a trowel, as they are too close to the concrete sidewalks. Oh, for a small supply of Round-Up™.

Final Note:

The enemy has retaliated in force using biological weapons and mine warfare. (pollens and goats-head thorns) I’m going to be down for cooldown and then for allergy symptoms for the next 3 or 4 hours. I went out at 10 AM and it’s already in the 90s. Tis what comes of living in Hell Central Arizona.

Gluten-free ≠ healthier

This from Orac @ Respectful Insolence. Have a read, he's right on the money here. Gluten Free Diets are the bunk. 



Gluten-free ≠ healthier: One of the more annoying health crazes going around right now is the gluten-free diet. While it’s a boon to the very small proportion of the population who have real celiac disease and thus truly c…

Zimmerman trial, and vigilantism in general.

A funny thing happened to me while watching the Zimmerman trial.

Back in 2012, there was an incident.
I came home from the store one afternoon, and there was a suspicious unmarked white van out in front of the house next door. This was about 2 months after the family who lived in the home had moved out, having discovered that their home was under water and they would never be able to pay it off. Well now there were strange men lurking around the place, after there had already been 3 break-ins in the area, including my car. What should I have done ?

This one reminder got lost in the shuffle.

(delayed due to my being busy, I now make amends . . . )

Seventy-Two Years ago this day. 

Seventy-Two years ago, on this day, June 6, 1944, on the beaches in Northern France, the United States, British, Canadians, Free French and others embarked on "The Great Crusade" to free Europe from the Nazi tyrant. 
Before dawn, some 156, 000 men, under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, got down into landing craft and prepared to go ashore. Awaiting them were some 31,000 men of the Armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Things you miss when your Internet is down.

Things you miss when your Internet is down.

As much as I find listicles annoying, I still see the usefulness of them sometimes. So here’s a list of things I have found to be bothersome about not having internet:

·         No Google. No Alta Vista, Webcrawler, Excite or Bing either. You don’t appreciate the usefulness and ubiquity of such things until you haven’t got them.

·         No web resources – no Wikipedia, Snopes, History pages, Smithsonian, New York Times, or even Huffington Post.

Belated Obituary for Muhammad Ali.

And another icon of a bygone age has passed . . .

Word has reached me earlier today that Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay Jr in 1942, has died, likely of complications due to Parkinson’s disease. He was 74.  I never met Ali, though I did meet his onetime opponent Joe Frazier. Ali, once known for his brash, brassy showmanship and improv poems, later became known for his gentlemanly demeanor and his humble charity. He was a man of his time, but also in ways ahead of his time. While I did not agree with his draft dodging – he should have declared himself a conscientious objector, in my opinion -- His life eclipsed his boxing career. He was a man who lived with Parkinson’s disease, who saw his illness as a challenge to rise to, and a cause to fight for. Unfortunately, not even The Greatest was able to banish Parkinson’s, but he kept at it until the end. His family and closest friends were by his side when he went. My condolences to his family and friends. Goodbye, Champ. You were The Greatest.

== Muhammad Ali: b.1942 d.2016. ==

(note: written while I was offline between June 1st and June 7th. )