Personal Musings category archive
Signs of the Fall 0
I seldom look at the sport section of my local rag (except to read Bob Molinaro’s column, because he is a fine writer with a sharp pen and a wicked sense of humor). Even when I paid much more attention to sports than I do now, I was more interesting in watching competitions than in reading about them.
Nevertheless, as I leafed through the sports section on the way to the agony columns in yesterday’s paper (yes, paper, not electrons), something caught my eye.
My local rag now carries a syndicated column methinks no doubt subtly designed to suck people into covering sports betting.
We are a broken society.
Stray Thought 0
When persons loudly and repeatedly crow about how patriotic they are, they probably aren’t.
Dissonance 0
As I was preparing to hang the flag out–something I do for national holidays–I thought of others who fly the flag, maybe just not only on holidays as I do but every day, some of them even flying maybe multiple flags from their “I am an inadequate male” pick-up trucks.
I thought of how they congratulate themselves on being such patriots.
And I wondered, as they do that, do they think of the pledge, do they repeat the words
. . . and liberty and justice for all . . . .
to themselves, even as they vote for Donald Trump, the man who puts children in cages?
The Rule of Flaw 0
I go to sleep worrying about the American dream.
I wake up to the American scream.
I am not sanguine.
No, I Am Not Watching the Election Coverage 0
I am stressed out enough already from worrying that we are on the verge of the end of the American dream.
I’ll read about it tomorrow.
It’s All about the Benjamins 0
All Hallows Eve it not until next week, and I was just subjected to a Christmas commercial.
Furrfu.
Stray Question 2
When did “who has the ugliest grill/front end?” become the standard against which automobile designers measure themselves?
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
It seems clear that Richard Nixon’s “southern strategy” has come full circle and that today’s Republican Party has devolved into the party of the Secesh.
A. The “I Am an Inadequate Male” Pick-Up Truck 0
Q. What do you call a ginormous pick-up truck with dualie rear wheels that some dude buys so he can drive it to the 7-11?
Stray Thought 0
This whole pumpkin spice thing has gotten way out of hand, but at least my dentist didn’t try to inflict pumpkin spice dental floss on me.
No, I Will Not Be Watching the Debate, Reprise (Updated) 0
My friend watched some to the debate while I was watching Inspector Frost.
Based on her reaction to the behavior of one of the participants (you know which one–the one of which she said, “I can’t believe they allowed him to be on that stage”), all I can say is, well, I called that.
Addendum:
An early fact-check from Scripps News.
Facts may not lie, but Donald Trump most assuredly does.
No, I Will Not Be Watching the Debate 0
Whatever happens on the debate stage cannot affect my vote, while subjecting myself to political theatrics and demented right-wing ramblings (you know to whom I refer) will likely serve only to increase my stress level, which is high enough already.
Rather, I will likely watch an episode of A Touch of Frost on Tubi. And you should too.
The Sure Thing 0
Read the full story for the details.
Aside:
The reason you are seeing so many commercials urging you to install gambling apps on your “device” is simple.
In the long run, you lose.
Gambling* is a mug’s game, and they’re hoping you volunteer to be the mug.
_____________________
*I’ll make exceptions for friendly wagers between friends (he said redundantly) and for playing the ponies. If you know what you are doing, you can do okay playing the ponies. My late ex-father-in-law certainly did very nicely at the OTB. Indeed, thanks to his tutelage on how to read the racing forms, I once hit an exacta at Delaware Park.
Come to think of it, that’s the last time I went to the horse races.
Stray Question 0
If Donald Trump were Pinocchio, just how long would his nose be?
Stray Thought 0
Today’s Republican Party does not want to govern.
It wants to rule.
Stray Thought, Still Rising Again after All These Years Dept. 0
I think I’ve finally figured out just what heritage the “Heritage” Foundation is determined to preserve.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
All the coverage I’ve read and heard about the recent presidential debate–well, almost all–seems to focus on appearances, on how persons looked and sounded.
Very little seems to concern what persons actually said.
Methinks it more important to focus on the substance, which leads in a much different direction.
A Close Encounter 0
Yesterday, as I was running an errand, I saw a Tesla Cybertruck sitting at a red light.
The darn thing is uglier in real life than I imagined from pictures of it.
It is a crime against design.
A 1958 Ford Elsel looks elegant in comparison.
Afterthought:
Every time I see a Tesla, there’s this moment of near-panic when I think, “I hope the driver isn’t stupid enough to be using Tesla’s autopilot.”
The “Political Correctness” Misdirection Play 0
In an interview, Julia Louis-Dreyfus takes issue with Jerry Seinfeld’s recent complaint about what he dubbed “PC crap.”
The Veep actress said pushing back on political correctness could be a “red flag.”
“When I hear people starting to complain about political correctness — and I understand why people might push back on it — but to me that’s a red flag, because it sometimes means something else,” she said. “I believe being aware of certain sensitivities is not a bad thing. I don’t know how else to say it.”
My take is simple.
When persons start complaining about “PC crap,” it’s generally because they don’t like being called out for being mean for the sake of mean.
