Tag: Trump

  • ODDS and ENDS: Dog Haircut, Covid Conscious, and Just Doing What I’m Doing

    (They tried to kill him with a forklift…)

    My dog needs a haircut. Some might call that grooming, but I find that word problematic; grooming. She gets a cut every three months, so being that we just crossed into April, we’re right on schedule. Yet, the dog is hairier and shaggier than she has ever been. And she stinks. The wife does bathe the dog regularly, but the hair is so long, it just traps in the smell. I guess what I am really saying is that the dog is a mess. And she knows it. She looks at us, at least I assume as the hair covers her eyes, in a most pitiful fashion, saying, “Please sir and madam, may I have a haircut?” Again, that’s an assumption.

    The wife has Covid. Not very server, more like a mild flu. I’m taking care of her, and making sure she’s resting and being taken care of. Sadly, I didn’t get my Covid vaccine this year, so I have set myself up for a possible infection. If I’m still healthy by Sunday, then I know for sure that I am in the clear. As such, I’m being very cautious and conscious of my contact with other people. Mainly, this is my excuse for not going to the gym this whole week. You gotta be safe, and I like having an extra hour to drink coffee on the couch while watching DREW.

    So… the world might be going to hell or ending soon; who can tell these days. For that reason, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m not giving up, and I will still see you at the March.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Boycott, Data, and the WAPO

    (Nothing really matters…)

    Today is the Economic Blackout, if you haven’t heard, and our household is taking part in it. Yesterday, I ran all around town and did all of our shopping, and even gassed up the car, just in case. It can be rather tough to not spend money in New York, as it feels like you spend $20 the second you step outside of your apartment. I am confident in the reasons we are doing this (corporate greed, wealth inequality, oligarchs, inflation, Elon, Trump…) and I also know that other people have their reasons as well. I also know that many people out there think that doing something like this is meaningless and more theatrics than action. But, I will say this; if you are upset with how things are going, then it’s time to do something, even a “little” something. I won’t sit on my hands any longer waiting for someone else to say or doing something. What’s the saying? If you want change, you have to make the change.

    And as long as we are talking about boycotts; when will there be a boycott against the largest greediest companies in America? Talking about Meta, Apple and Google. (I would think the Economic Blackout would affect Amazon, but what the hell, we can throw them in as well.) Do we need to stop using our phones and computers for a day? Delete their apps? How do we stop these companies from getting what they really want from us; our data. What does a data boycott look like?

    And finally, I’d like to take a swing at the Washington Post while I’m at it. This morning I received an email from the editors at The Drift with an essay written by James Woods, the staff writer and book critic at The New Yorker and not that other James Woods. The email/essay delved into the stupidity of Jeff Bezos’ letter announcing the change in policy to The Washington Post’s editorial page. Long story short, Bezos is ordering that there will only be one opinion on the WAPO Opinion Page, which will be to support Personal Liberty and Free Markets. Woods’ does an excellent job in pointing out the hypocrisy and illogic in Bezos statement, and to me, signals the end of what The Washington Post used to stand for under Graham/Bradlee. (I would post a link to the essay, but it seems to only be an email at this time. If a link becomes available, I’ll share it.) With all of that having been said, I have a fantastical idea! Bezos bought the Post for $250 million, which is roughly what Elon spent to get Trump elected, so what if all the liberal billionaires, and all the other billionaires who hate Bezos, pooled some money together, say $250 million, and started a new newspaper in D.C. Then hire the whole WAPO staff away, and leave Jeff with a worthless company. Right? Isn’t that the only way to fight the oligarchy, is with the oligarchy?

  • ODDS and ENDS: Still Cleaning, Thanksgiving, and Wrong Week…

    (You got to hide your love away…)

    I’m still processing Trump’s victory, what this says about us as Americans, and at the end of all of this contemplation, I am going to have the cleanest kitchen in The Five Boroughs. I know what I’m really doing; trying to put order back on the world of chaos I find myself in. It’s working, as any good therapy does, but it will still take time. Deep down, I sort of do hope that I am over reacting. That Trump’s term will be a big nothing burger of incompetence and gaffs, but the economy improves and we all go on with our lives. But I also know nothing is really over. And there always is a tomorrow to try again. Not the most encouraging thought, but it’s all that I got right now. That and I have some grout to scrub.

    Thanksgiving is not too far away, like less than three weeks. This is the holiday that I look forwards to the most. I love making food with my family, and taking it easy. The kid is old enough now to start making her own dish for the event. And it’s an all day event in our home; A special baked good breakfast of some sort, noshy lunch, and then the dinner when everything is ready. Each year it runs a little different, as we like to keep evolving our Thanksgiving menu, adding this dish, or retiring that side. But as I get older, it’s the time with my family that means the most. Planning together, shopping as a family, putting all the pieces together starting the night before and the day of. All that time shared together.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Doomscrolling is Back, My Picked Apple Goal, and Letting Go

    (I didn’t say no, but that’s not a yes…)

    I am back to my old doomscrolling ways, like it was October 2020. Oh, and this has 100% to do with the 2024 Election. The nerves have started kicking up again, and I keep scrolling on all the platforms looking for something to make me feel better, help me relax, and tell me that everything is going to be okay because the rest of America would never do what I think the polls are hinting that they might do and plunge us into another four years of orange chaos!!! If I learned anything about the internet, if you search long and hard enough, you will find what you are looking for.

    We went apple picking last weekend, and I even wrote blog about it, AND I even got a weird comment about it, which I think was snarky and sarcastic. As what happens with apple picking, you bring a shit ton of apples home. The wife does a good job of making a couple of deserts from the apples, and we put apples in the kid’s lunch, which she claims that she eats, or someone eats. Yet, year after year, we have to throw away some of our apples because they have sat on the counter too long, and are starting to rot. This year, we made a pact in our home to collect fewer apples, in the hopes that we will be less wasteful. And damn it, I’m holding to that; I will eat an apple a day, maybe two even, not just to avoid going to the doctor, but to do my part in ensuring that we eat every stinking apple that we selected from a farm in upstate New York!

    So what is the difference in giving up, and letting something go? If you give up you’re a quitter, if you let it go, then you are practicing self-care? There is a fine line there. But when this question pops into my head, this is the scene that plays out…

  • Debate Thought

    I should have made snacks last night. The wine was good, but I needed something to eat. If only I had some popcorn…

    The spin has begun from what happened last night between Harris and Trump. Consensus is that Harris won the debate, and I have to agree with that. I won’t waste your time, as there are plenty of news outlets you can go to find out why and how this happened. I do find it odd that you would come here first, though I am flattered, as I do not believe that I am a solid or creditable news source.

    The one thing that I noticed last night with the spinning and analyst, and even in the paper this morning, is that the criticism, for both Harris and Trump, concerns that they didn’t go into detail about their plans. They didn’t give enough information.

    I’m sorry, but that’s not what televised political debates are about, and it has never been about information. Look, the first one, Nixon and Kennedy, what does everyone remember about it? Nixon sweating under the lights and Kennedy looking calm and in control. Does anyone remember the tax policy they discussed?

    What do people remember about these debates? Reagan’s “Four Years” line, or the “Not exploiting his opponents youth and inexperience.” How about, “You’re no Jack Kennedy,” or Bush looking at his watch, Gore loudly sighing, binders full of woman… I think you get the point.

    These debates are about creating and capturing emotional reactions. Logic has no place here; it’s window dressing. Besides, everyone is sitting at home with a smartphone in their hand, so when they want to find something out, like is that how tariffs work, or how does the child tax credit get paid for, they just look it up. Why would a candidate waste valuable screen time, getting all wonky on policy, when they can work to get voters comfortable with the idea of them being President? I believe Trump and Harris are of this thought.

    So please, political talking heads and hacks, please drop this crap about not learning about policy in these debates. You should know better.