Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Pawcity (floofinition) – A small amount of something taken by an animal through the use of a paw. Origins: 1960s New Floof City. Closely related to an English word, paucity.
In Use: “Unseen on a chair, the cat reached up and seized a pawcity of chicken off of Karla’s plate.”
In Use: “Whenever Jim and Greg looked away, their big dog snuck a paw out to steal a pawcity of their food.”
My wife and I have noticed a striking trend: shelves in various kinds of stores are emptier and emptier.
We were talking about this earlier in the week when at a Rite Aid. Many shelves were empty, but it also seemed like the store had rearranged the shelves, providing much wider aisle space but reducing their shelf space. She and I discussed whether it was an extension of unresolved supply chain issues encountered during the pandemic, Rite Aid was in trouble, or if it was just this store.
But yesterday, we headed to a larger town, Medford, and visiting the mall and several other locations. The wider aisles and paucity of goods were encountered in Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target, Ulta, and several other stores.
It used to be that when we were in these places, so many goods were being provided that moving between racks and shelves was a distinct challenge. Now the script seems flipped.
I did some research. Empty shelves in Rite Aid stores in Bakersfield, CA, was attributed to Rite Aid’s bankruptcy.
The others? I couldn’t find reasoning provided but it wasn’t a deep dive. Perhaps it’s just my perception, or a local phenomenon, or the stores have simply changed policies.
I don’t know. Like many things in life, I’m just left wondering.
Someone shot at Donald Trump on Saturday, 7/14/2024. A 20-year-old white male armed with a rifle, hit Trump in the ear during a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
Not to make light of it or to excuse anyone, but hey, there are headlines out there that have been out for a while, covering a comment Trump made:
“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country, that’ll be the least of it.“
In the entire context of his speech, Trump is talking about an economic bloodbath. But in an era of sound bites, his statement easily becomes a trigger warning. It’s often been quoted as something as other than economics. Plus, coupled with GOP politicians refusing to say that they will accept the election throws fuel on the situation.
In the wake of the shooting, Republicans like Rep. Mike Johnson are calling for toning down the rhetoric. I urge Johnson to clean his own house up before he starts on others. Look back on Jan. 6 and what happened then.
As Donald Trump mouthed as he was hustled off stage after being shot, “Fight. Fight. Fight.”
So, to recap. Without significant opposition, the GOP decided that Donald Trump is the ideal candidate to be President of the United States — again. He barely won in 2016 and lost the popular vote by millions in 2020.
But he is the GOP nominee again because he is an ultraright tool. The ultraright people propelling him forward is an elite, powerful group called the Heritage Foundation.
A conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation emerged with a manifesto to install many conservative idealists and Trump loyalists in the Federal government. It explicitly defines exactly how ultraright there are. Although not fully marching in time together, they plan to ignore or change laws with a conservative Roberts’ Court help, including such matters of separation of church and state. This is known as Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: A Conservative.
The document has gained traction on the losing side of Americans’ thinking as they recognize what serious threats to democracy and freedom in the United States the document holds. Recent polls show every group except MAGAs disapprove of it.
That’s the backdrop. As this all unfolded in the public realm, Donald Trump began disavowing any knowledge of the document. He didn’t even know what it was, he claimed. It has nothing to do with us, his campaign declared. That’s because Trump’s handlers he began realizing that most Americans do not like its proposals and there is a strong chance for him to lose votes because of it. “Full reverse, all engines,” they screamed.
Unfortunately for Donald J., there it is, video evidence from April of 2022. Donald J. Trump was out there in front of a crowd, cheerleading the document known as Project 2025. “They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do,” he said.
There it is. Despite his efforts to lie his way out of it, he is a firm player in this document’s efforts to remake the United States into a ‘christian’ nation, undermining our founders’ deliberate efforts to be an open and inviting nation for all faiths.
You know it must be bad when Donald Trump does an about face and runs hard away from it. The guy will put his name on anything from tennis shoes to buildings if he thinks it’ll bring him power, respect, or money. For him to claim, “I know nothing,” means it’s really fucking bad.
Project 2025 is a dangerous and radical vision with a feckless, useful idiot as the face. But mistake it not: it’s a poison pill for liberty, equality, and democracy in America.
Vote Blue.
I enjoy doing online puzzles and games in the mornings. Nothing strenuous or involved — Wordle and Hurdle, Sudoku, Connections, Spelling Bee — or pangram, as my wife and I call it — and Tiles. Easier and more satisfying than addressing the life puzzles superballing around my mind.
Mood: sizzlin’
Greetings from Ashlandia, where the heat stays on. It’s Friday, July 12, 2024. July has been a flaming month. Formalling started on July 4th, when the thermometers were showing it’s over 100 F and has barely eased. For today, we’ll tap one degree below 100. It’s a pleasant morning now, though, 68 at my house after falling to 62 F. Tomorrow, we go back to 100 F. Sunday is expected to drop into the low 90s, kicking off a stretch where our highs will crest in the 90s and the lows overnight will find the mid to upper sixties.
Air looks pretty good. Blue cloudless sky looks particulate free, except over in the horizon’s northwestern sector. Probably from the Salt Creek fire. They’re making good progress on it with a lot of mopping up going on. They warned that we’d probably see greater smoke last night, as we did, because they started a fire inside the containment line to fight to fire to keep it from jumping the fire line.
Boy howdy, that cool night air was invigorating, friends. As the sun slipped away and the temperatures slithered down below 80, I slid open the bedroom slider and the cats and I reveled in it. I’ve been sleeping atop the duvet, not bothering with even a coverlet, but I awoke cold enough that I pulled a light blanket over me. Tucker (pronounced Tuckah) stayed with me most of the night but as I got up to open the slider’s screen door to let Papi in and out (and in and out, repeat), Tucker said, “Hey, I want to go out there, too.” The boy has been feeling the heat, and his age.
Well, read news last night that the Beastie Boys were suing some restaurant over use of their song, “Sabotage”, from 1991. As soon as The Neurons were informed, they pulled the song from their mental file cabinet (my brain still uses paper but they’re talking about going digital) and now it’s blasting in the morning mental music stream (Trademark melting). As with many songs I enjoy, I’d never seen the video for it. Seeing it today is like a smack in the face from a wayback machine. Great fun.
Stay positive and be strong, and Vote Blue in 2024, and return President Biden to the Oval Office. Coffee and I have come to terms and are getting along swell. Here’s the music video, directed by Spike Jonze. Hey ho, let’s go. Cheers
Donald Trump is claiming that he doesn’t know anything about the medieval document known as Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: A Conservative Promise. And although the man is an unrepentant liar, known for lying almost every time he opens his mouth — especially if it’s being recorded — I believe he is telling the truth.
Yes, CNN and others have substantially documented the ties between Trump and the document’s authors. But first, we know that Trump doesn’t like to read. Second, he has demonstrated that he’s as dim as a burned-out light bulb.
I mean, come on, man. Remember his suggestions for treating COVID-19, like putting a light in your body?
Recall his history lesson about the American Revolutionary War when he noted, “Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do.” (My emphasis added, to point out, the world didn’t have airports in the 1770s).
What about his claim as President that Americans need an ID to “buy a box of cereal”?
So, yes, I certainly believe that he knows nothing about Project 2025. And that — his consistent stupidity and deep-rooted idiocy — is the reason he should not be elected.
Flooflife (floofinition) – 1. The attention span an animal will give device, event, or command. Origins: United States mid-twentieth century.
In Use: “The flooflife for Sophia’s cats watching birds out the window was a few hours long, much longer than the flooflife for any of their toys.”
In Use: “Puppies and kittens typically have a flooflife measured in seconds when it comes to playing with things, often discarding one object to chase another.”
2. An existence spent living with or around one or more animals. Origins: Europe, early 1800s, derived from middle floofish.
In Use: “Feeling trapped by restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans adopted a flooflife, welcoming animals into their homes from shelters to help assuage boredom and loneliness.”
In Use: “People adopting animals find that a flooflife can get complicated, depending on the animal’s personality, habits, and sometimes, their new pet’s neurosis.”
I’ve been working on my home HVAC system. The AC did not kick on when needed two weeks ago. Playing around with the system, the fan didn’t come on, the heat didn’t turn on, the air conditioner did not engage.
After tracing wiring and troubleshooting, I drew down on the stepdown transformer. The board wasn’t getting energy. The board’s fuse was intact, all circuit breakers and switches in the proper locations, etc., but the board’s diagnostic light was dark. I thought I’d accurately followed all the steps that led to the transformer but replacing it did nothing.
That leaves me at a circuit in the road. Call in a pro or keep at it myself. I’m reluctantly inclined to bring in a pro but my inner idiot (I2, also sometimes referred to as I squared) is saying, “No, mate, don’t give up, you got this.” That aligns with my overall philosophy that to succeed, failure must be risked and overcome.
My wife seems inclined to let me continue. Although we have high heat, she’s been using an electric fan and shrugging it off. That reminded me that we’ve existed without AC before. Both of us grew up in homes deprived of having AC. Early duty stations in the military included Randolph AFB, Texas, outside of San Antonio. I remember us enduring a string of days over 100 degrees F. Our military homes on Okinawa and our home in Germany also didn’t have AC.
So, you know, we can survive without the air conditioning if we’re prudent and thoughtful. It is a nicety we’d like to have but we don’t find it overly necessary. As far as fixing the AC, I’ll get with my wife and talk it over.
I think I’d be happy either way.
Journalists and the media seem to have concluded that Trump has lied so much that they no longer report it. Continuing to make insane claims, such as in this instance, about electric boats being too heavy to float and getting electrocuted if they sink, they’re also shrugging. Yet they relentlessly go on about President Biden’s age.
This is from the Robert Reich July 8, 2024 column that I’m sharing from Jill Dennison’s post.
“So I said, ‘Let me ask you a question,’ and [the South Carolinian] said, ‘Nobody ever asked this question,’ and it must be because of MIT, my relationship to MIT — very smart. He goes, I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery is now underwater and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there?’
This story and its absolutely bonkers points should be all over the news every day. This is the individual the GOP is supporting for the powerful position of President of the United States.
Donald Trump is claiming an electric boat would be so heavy it would sink. Really? Really?? Really???
So, that electric boat would be heavier than all those cruise ships out there? You’re probably seen the ads for these floating cities lit up with electricity at night. These electric boats will be heavier than battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers? They all float, don’t they?
The largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy is the USS Nimitz. It weighs over 100,000 long tons. It typically carries 64 full-sized aircraft on it and has a crew of 5,000. Yet, it doesn’t sink. It floats. Moreover, it has a nuclear powerplant and nobody is getting electrocuted.
Yes, the story was briefly covered, mocked, really, in the USA Today, NewsWeek, MSNBC, Washington Post and other outlets. But, come on, man, think about what Donald Trump was asking and claiming. Think about the fact that millions are promoting as the next POTUS.
IMO, Donald J. Trump shouldn’t be anywhere near an important office where decisions are made regarding the welfare of the nation. That the GOP fully supports this man who wonders about getting electrocuted by an electric boat says boatloads about what they are as a political organization.
That more media attention is being paid to President Biden’s age over Donald Trump’s remarks pretty well indicts our media as pretty damn useless when it comes to this election. As Jill put it, they’re failing miserably.
And then the media wonders why their readership keeps dropping.
Michael Seidel, writer 