Fake News

 Well, it's a partly cloudy Thursday morning.  Temps are in the mid 40s (F) here, with a predicted high in the mid 60s (F).  Supposedly we're in for a quick cool down, followed by a mini-scorcher during which our high temp will top off at 90 (F).  I guess it's time to prep for an air-conditioned summer.  Will this summer be as cool as last?  If the trend continues that will probably be the case.

Yesterday was so boring at work.  Today is going to be more so.  We are fully staffed... on a Thursday.  We need to be fully staffed over the weekend, unfortunately we have associates in the department who don't like working either Saturday or Sunday, so they call off.  And calling off is soooo easy now.  There was a time when you actually had to speak to a manager who might give you attitude.  Those days are gone.  Now you can call off, or let the store know you're going to be late by using an app we're all forced to use.  You no longer have to talk to anybody, not that talking to a manager was much of a deterrence.  The app just makes calling off soooo much easier.  Sadly, no one's going to call off today, though I was already by one of the specialists that he's not going to make it in on Saturday.

Pretty much everything is set to go for my trip to Greece.  Now, all I have to do is wait 5 months.

And, of course, thanks to David Pecker's testimony in Trump's Campaign Interference trial, we all know that headlines such as these emblazoned across the national Enquirer were all lies.

It's been said many times before and will continue to be said, that everything accusation from Trump and the Republican party is nothing more than a projection.  They have already, or are still committing the crimes.  The lies and deceits they blame on everyone else are merely a reflection of their own crimes and misdemeanors.  They want to exclude themselves from rules, and regulations, and laws they are constantly claiming others are breaking.  The fact that their cultist base knows, understands, and accepts this should be a wake-up call for all normal Americans.  

One thing I find funny are the polls.  In 2016 polls showed Hillary with a large lead, and she lost because Democratic voters stayed home because they thought she was going to win.  And here we are in 2024 and the polls are doing the same thing, this time many of them have Trump in the lead.  And Republicans are happy with these polls.  Am I the only one who sees their mistake?

Allez, Allez!

When I got up this morning the temperature was 4 (F) - that's still cold.  It's supposed to go up to 40 (F) today.  I really hope it does.  I have ice.  Usually I use Hailite salt - no problem.  The dogs have never had a problem with it.  This year I decided to get the 'pet friendly' stuff.  Well, it doesn't work... no, that's wrong.  Each granule melts the area directly beneath it which means you get lots of little holes in the ice.  That's one problem.  My back porch is enclosed with a vinyl floor.  This 'pet friendly' shit makes that vinyl slick as... ice.  That's the 2nd problem.  I put a throw rug down... and that slides.  The only solution is to scrub it down every time the dogs go in and out.  My dogs go in and out a lot.  Let me tell you, this pet friendly shit is a pain in the ass.
So, Cory Booker is running for president.  My brother doesn't like Cory at all.  He texted me the equivalent of a sarcastic cheer.  My reply reminded him that by 2020 1/3 of all registered voters will be minorities.  No response.
The Idiot Jerk gave some sort of interview with the Times (?)  in which he was asked about 'fake news' and his response was something like, 'it wouldn't be fake if it was a good story.'  In other words, he wouldn't call it 'fake news' if they published 'fake news'.  Ironic, isn't it?
In French, the verb for 'to go' is aller.  Yelling 'allez' is often used as a cheer, you know 'go, go, go.' In fact, if you've ever seen any of the Tour de France, you will see the fans lined up along the route shouting 'allez, allez.'   However, while 'go' can be used as cheer, it can also be used as a command, or a desperate plea.  Sometimes a certain song will fixate in my mind while I'm writing.  The lyrics rarely influence me, however the tone, the beat, and the instrumentation provide inspiration.  Right now I'm working on a chapter tentatively titled 'Allez, Allez!' and this is what I'm listening to.

The song is "Super Fade."

The bloomin' Truth

So I went to visit my Mom yesterday.  Because of her dementia you never know what she's going to say.  For Christmas I gave her several boxes, stacked in the shape of a tower, filled with candies and snacks - she believes my cousins gave them to her.  They're empty now, so she's has them in stored in a green shopping bag because she thinks my cousins are going to take them and fill them up again for her.... not going to happen.  At one point she pointed to a silk orchid sitting in her window that that my brother and sister-in-law gave her about 12 years ago and said "look, it has buds, I can't wait to see them bloomin'."  Never going to happen.

And I had breakfast with my brother this AM.  And, of course, he wanted to bring up the Oprah connection, the idea that she might run for President in 2020, which I shut down rather rapidly.  I did this by pointing out that while it had been a minor subject in conversation, it tended to be a favorite topic of Republicans attempting to get people to talk about anything other than the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  His "shithole" comments are still reverberating around the planet.  Isn't it funny watching Republicans denying the veracity of Dick Durbin's statement; might have helped if they hadn't waited 36 hours to speak up (not really).  Unfortunately for them, those 36 hours speak volumes about their apparent acceptance of the Idiot Jerk's racist remarks.

Interestingly enough, there's been a lot of research on "fake new," and papers are now being published.  This one is from Dartmouth.  Read the paper, it's deliciously detailed.  One of the things you'll find out is that Idiot Jerk supporters were far, far more likely to follow links to 'fake new' websites than Clinton supporters, most likely to stoke their hatred.  This is rather ironic when you realize how often the Idiot Jerk brings up 'fake news,' in fact rarely does a day go by in which he doesn't utter that phrase.  Some one should tell him the bloom is off that rose.