Personal Musings category archive
Stray Thought 0
“Gourmet hotdog” is an oxymoron.
Muhammed Ali 0
I once saw Muhammed Ali.
It was only for a moment and he never knew my name.
At the time, my office was in 30th Street Station Philadelphia. On a break, I was wandering about the waiting room (one of the pleasures of working in 30th Street) and Ali and a small group of persons who cared about him (today they would be called “an entourage”) were waiting for a train. He was already in the early stages of Parkinson’s and you could see some of its effects.
As I read the homages to his passing, I note an absence of acknowledgement of the hate that confronted him.
He was hated in the Jim Crow South, where I grew up.
Once he revealed that he had become a Muslim and had taken the name, “Muhammed Ali,” no one in the Jim Crow South, where I grew up, was willing to refer to him as anything other than “Cassius Clay.” When he fought, in the Jim Crow South, where I grew up, the white folks rooted against him, cheered when he lost, and seethed when he won.
When he did what I consider the bravest act of his career, something I would not have had the courage to do, refusing to fight in America’s war for a lie in Viet Nam, the war for a lie of his and my generation, he was reviled as a traitor in the Jim Crow South, where I grew up.
Muhammed Ali committed the gravest crime that any black man could do in the Jim Crow South, where I grew up, for all that America is better for his being, a crime that took more courage than I can imagine.
Muhammed Ali was uppity.
Stray Thought 0
I really don’t want to know what it means when you’re on a bike ride, stop for a drink of water, and look up to see a turkey buzzard circling above your head.
Not at all.
The Hollow Men* 0
I believe I’ve mentioned before in these electrons that the decay of our society accelerated when everything became “a brand.” Emphasizing “branding” ipso facto is fascination with flackery, admiration of appearances, worship at the holy of hollowness.
At Psychology Today Blogs, Dale Hartley skewers the notion of “personal brands.” A snippet:
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*With apologies to T. S. Eliot.
Rules 0
I was at a political function this past weekend. One of my acquaintances was kvetching about complaints from Sanders supporters about some primaries, specifically, complaints that they “had not been allowed to vote,” when, in fact, the issue was that they had not ensured that they were properly registered to vote.
Virginia is an open primary state, but many states have “closed primaries,” which means that, if you wish to vote in a party primary, you must be a registered to vote as a member of that party. If you wish to vote in the Democratic primary, you must be registered as a Democrat; in the Republican primary, registered as a Republican; in the Green Party primary, registered as a Green, and so on. Delaware, where I used to live, was a “closed primary” state.
This is nothing new.
Sanders supporters who were not registered as Democrats were not allowed to vote in Democratic primaries in closed primary states, and, frankly, that was their own damn fault.
“How simple would it have been,” fumed my acquaintance, “for Bernie to tell his supporters to register to vote.”
For more about rules, see Balloon Juice.
“Delivered to Your Door” 0
Take a look at this gallery from SeattlePI and decide whether the game is worth the candle (SeattlePI is all that’s left of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a once-fine newspaper, my paper of choice when I was in that part of the world).
When I was a in high school, I went through a sci-fi phase (Isaac Asimov was my favorite sci-fi author and should be yours too). I read a story I forget what it was called by an author I forget who it was which envisioned a future in which nobody ever left his or her room. All interaction was via some sort of futuristic television. It was not a nice place to be.
That future is now.
Afterthought:
I have a solution for persons who need to get out more.
Get out more.
Showing My Age 0
When I see a crossword puzzle clue citing “Avengers,” I think of Diana Rigg.
Tax Relief 0
My tax returns are done and mailed and I won’t have to use MS Windows again for another year.*
Afterthought:
If Microsoft succeeds in foisting Windows 10, Spyware Edition, on me, I’m buying a Mac just to do my taxes.
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*Commercial manufacturers of tax return software support only Windows and MacOS. Excellent FOSS accounting software exists, but not tax prep software.
Dreamers 0
I rather get a kick out persons who talk about a “real” Republican Party as if such a thing magically mystically exists on some plane separate and distinct from actual voting Republicans.
My real car is a 2016 Lamborghini. The 13-year old pickup truck is not my real car. It’s just not.
Stray Question 0
If you built a grain elevator shaped like Aphrodite, could you call it “Venus de Silo”?
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
One element that seems to be missing in discussions about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is this: Supporting Bernie Sanders does not ipso facto mean repudiating Hillary Clinton. I suspect that the great majority of caucus- and primary-participating Democrats could vote quite happily for either one in November.
The “repudiate Hillary” meme seems stronger amongst Sanders supporters, but is not, in my opinion, indicative of any quality unique to them or their candidate. Rather, I think it’s reflective of his position as a long-shot underdog.
Supporters of long-shot underdogs tend to see themselves as crusaders. They are more likely to “crusade” than to “campaign,” and “crusading” tends to excess.
“He Don’t Know His Place” 0
As regards the Supreme Court vacancy, any Southern boy can tell you what’s going on.
Republicans are punishing President Obama for being uppity.
How To Get Nevada and SC Results Instantly 0
Spend a quiet evening.
Tomorrow morning, get out of bed, bring in your newspaper, and look at it.
You will see the results in an instant. I promise you, they will not change overnight.
Stray Question 0
Just what exactly are “polar bear plungers” trying to prove?
Stray Thought, Igloo Dept. 0
At the grocery store yesterday, I overheard the person ahead of me telling the clerk that she had heard several forecasts of snow. She seemed quite concerned.
None of what she said is supported by the weather link, over there, on the sidebar.———->
I have become convinced that telly vision weather forecasters are not happy until they induce panic.
Panic is their friend. Panic is click bait.
Reality is their enemy.
Leave Her Alone 0
Oh, for Pete’s sake.
Paying a grand for a puppy is stupid too, but, if the lady wanted a collie, let her have the damned collie.
I wouldn’t say I love animals, but I like them okay and have housed more than my share. I do contemn cruelty, but fanatical “animal lovers”–well, words fail me.
The Climates They are a-Changing 0
It’s February.
I’m running the air conditioning to dehumidify the joint.
Don’t you dare tell me that it’s a fluke of weather and not somehow related to climate.
Ground Hog Day 0
How would you like being dragged out of a nice sound sleep, pulled out into the light, then stuffed back in your bed, all just so a bunch of old white men can have their picture taken with you?
Where is PETA when they could do some good?