Category Archives: General

General

Assorted (political) musings…

…you’ve been warned!

Based on many of my political comments, one can rightfully surmise I don’t think much of “President” Donald Trump.  This feeling has extended into the Republican party and that’s because, IMHO, the party has been moving more and more toward having just such a Frankenstein’s monster of a leader for many years now.

The fact that so many prominent Republicans, the pundits in print and on TV now shake their heads and wonder what happened to “their” Republican party amuses and saddens me.

For example, I’ve written before that I liked what Michael Steele, ex-head of the Republican Party, had to say about the hypocrisy of Evangelicals in the way they looked away from all the dark moral actions Mr. Trump, noting that from now on they shouldn’t ever have anything to say about morals to anyone.

Kudos for that statement, Mr. Steele, but I have a long enough memory to remember when he was in charge of the Republican Party and during that time he said plenty of stupid crap that, sadly, has led the party to the point where it now is.

Another guy who laments where the Republican Party currently sits is Steve Schmidt.  His comments, whenever he appears on political shows, is sober and there is a genuine lamentation of what has become of the Republican party.  He has no kind words at all to say about Trump and wonders when any of the Republicans in office will finally stand up to him.

Based on these comments, he is another Republican I find myself in agreement with, but, again, there’s that pesky little memory of mine.

Wasn’t Mr. Schmidt the man who ran John McCain’s presidential campaign?  You know, the campaign that eventually gave us Sarah Palin?!

Yikes.

Anyway, my point is not to rub all these people’s noses in their past, though frankly those who so lament the state of the Republican Party and the “presidency” of Trump should really, really look hard in the mirror as he didn’t just come out of nowhere.  He was, I feel, part of a long and torturous process that took years to become realized.

Having said that and despite all the dark news regarding the current political state of the nation, I find myself of late remarkably optimistic.

It’s been said that the Great London Fire of 1666. a great tragedy that took the lives of many and destroyed much of medieval London, nonetheless allowed much of the city to rebuild from scratch and better than it was, perhaps leading to eventual greatness.

So too it feels with the state of the current Republican Party.

Yesterday in a special election in Pennsylvania there was a special election in what people have long considered a Republican stronghold.  The election, to be sure, means little as whoever wins stays in power only until November, when new district lines come into effect and an election will again be held throughout the state.

However, at this moment and at this time and thanks to now declared illegal gerrymandering, the district where this election was being held, as I mentioned before, was considered a “lock” for Republicans.  In the presidential election, Trump won by 20 percent over Clinton.

And yet, as of today it appears the Democratic challenger, Conor Lamb, has apparently won the election.  His margin of victory is razor thin, amounting to a little over 600 votes, but considering where the election was held, this can’t be a happy day for Republicans in general.

Mind you, I’m not anti-Republican.  I’m old enough to have *gasp* once been on the fence regarding party affiliation, one of those independents who could at times be for a Republican candidate as easily as I could be for a Democratic candidate.

Things changed, for me, during the Clinton years.  During this time the right wing, frankly, began to scare me.  I don’t like guns and scratch my head at this country’s fascination with them.  I like social services such as the police, fire-fighters, infrastructure workers, and scratch my head at the need to keep offering tax breaks to the rich when we need revenue to build and maintain the structure of this country.  Further, I want the government to fund science and technology.  I want more public transport and better schools.  All these things require tax money and while I hate seeing my salary go this way, the reality is that the investments have paid off.

Even worse, I hated, hated, hated the way many Republicans kept going after candidates on the other side as if theirs was a moral imperative.  They pursued Hillary Clinton for years over Benghazi yet they feel there is no more to investigate regarding Trump and Russia?

Wow.

Anyway, the election in Pennsylvania, whether it stands or not (there are calls by Republicans for a recount, something I can’t blame them for given the very close results), could well be the best example of how things just might be changing.

Today there’s a big protest from school kids regarding gun control, and suddenly, after far too long, it appears maybe people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that having such lax, pro-NRA elected officials in office may not be such a good thing.

After going so far over the bend with someone like Trump, could it be that the pendulum is finally swinging back?

General

What more need be said…

Sad news yesterday of the passing of Stephen Hawking, an intellectual giant who, despite physical limitations, soared like few others.

Known as a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, but was also a best-selling author and, perhaps most incredibly, celebrity, Mr. Hawking will be missed.

 

General

Eh… I remain skeptical. The fate of Emelia Earhart, part three

One of the great mysteries of the 20th Century revolves around the ultimate fate of pioneering female aviator Amelia Earhart.

As I’m certain most people out there know, in 1937 she attempted to be the first female aviator to fly around the world.  However, in early July of that year she disappeared over the central Pacific and, since then, no one knows what has become of her.

Last year there was an intriguing -though ultimately proven very false- “discovery” that she might be in a photograph discovered in the U.S. archives and taken years after her disappearance (I wrote about that here and the fact that it was very quickly proven false here).

Anyway, the latest bit of news involves a re-examination of bones found in 1940, three years after her disappearance, and on a South Pacific island named Nikumaroro, some 400 miles from Earhart’s intended route.  Rachael Leah in an article posted on Salon.com reports on this:

Scientist says bones found on Pacific Island belonged to Amelia Earhart

Here’s the thing, though, and I know I’m spoiling the article but, hey, it is what it is:

The bones found in 1940 have long ago disappeared.  The person who found them who originally examined them thought they belonged to a man but measurements were taken and those notes still exist.

Going by the notes and the measurements within them, anthropologist Richard Jantz in the journal Forensic Anthropology determined that…

The data revealed that the bones have more similarity to Earhart than to 99 percent of individuals in a large reference sample.

How did Mr. Jantz come up with this?  By using photographs and the actual clothing of Ms. Earhart to come up with detailed measurements of her size and then compared these measurements with those of the bones found on that island in 1940.

Now, I grant you this: It is a very strong statement to make that the bones found on that island have such a strong similarity to Ms. Earhart.

However…

The fact remains that the actual bones are long gone and we have to assume the measurements used are indeed very accurate (there is no evidence to suggest they are or aren’t).

I feel, though, that with only those measurements as a guide and not the actual bones to examine we’re speculating an awful lot.

Not to degrade those who found and examined the bones back in 1940, but they believed at the time that the bones belonged to a MAN and not a woman.  If they did indeed belong to a woman (or, as Mr. Jantz speculates, Amelia Earhart herself), is it possible other errors were made back then, too?

And if so, it feels like quite a leap to assume we may indeed have her bones.

General

By all that’s holy…

I will give Trump this much credit: By having so many catastrophic-sounding things happening in one day, as a voter one is so overwhelmed it’s hard to focus on any one thing!

For the record, among other things we’ve had happen is: Longtime aid Hope Hicks -who many thought would be the last one to leave Trump’s side- resigns one day after a grueling congressional testimony session, its finally made clear that Mueller’s investigation is going directly after Trump, there was a meeting with Senators regarding gun control and Trump noted -among other things!- he would go after guns (I can’t help but chuckle about this one… it made many a pro-NRA people/Republicans’ heads explode), Trump goes after Sessions (I suppose this is low hanging fruit), Kushner’s security status downgraded -it was announced his family received perhaps billions of dollars in loans from foreign run companies- and people are now wondering what’s still keeping him there and why he hasn’t resigned…

What else?

I feel like I’m missing a couple hundred things!

There is, however, one thing I find a positive development: It appears the massacre at Parkland, the latest example of one person with a weapon of war killing far too many people, looks like it finally –finally!– has moved the needle regarding awareness of, and perhaps lowering tolerance for, assault weapons.

To date, many companies have reacted, from no longer giving discounts to the NRA for their services to Dick’s Sporting Goods stating they will no longer sell such weapons while Walmart stated they will no longer sell weapons or ammo to anyone under 21 years of age.

Some have noted Dick’s barely do sell assault weapons to begin with so this might be more of a PR move but, given their public statement, I do believe its a brave thing to do.  Same with Walmart.  I use neither company all that much, but I do salute their moves.

General

Is there hope…?

After yet another school shooting that left 17 students dead, one could be forgiven for thinking that, like the too many others (one already being far, far too many!) that the furor over the student’s deaths and the calls for gun control would, as they have the previous times, work themselves out.

As typical, the NRA went silent on twitter following the latest massacre but politicians this time around weren’t being let off the hook as they’ve been before.  The (frankly) stupid “thoughts and prayers” issued by these politicians for the victims and their families weren’t being tolerated this time around and pointed questions were finally being asked of them, especially in light of their ties to the NRA.  In fact, the exact amount donated to various candidates by this organization was plastered throughout the internet.

Yesterday there was a town hall meeting in Florida.  The Governor, Rick Scott, didn’t show up.  Neither did the President.  Senator Marco Rubio did show up, and he was grilled for his ties to the NRA and about his views of gun control… no more so than by Fred Guttenburg, whose daughter Jamie was one of the victims of the Parkland killings last week…

I’m going to be blunt here: I don’t like Marco Rubio.  Just about everything about him rubs me the wrong way, from policies to the way he comports himself.  I feel it was good he was dressed down as he was here.

Having said that, I will do a quick 180 and give him considerable credit: He, unlike many others, at least showed the hell up to this meeting.

Unlike the Governor.

Unlike the President.

Unlike the too-many other pro-gun lawmakers who, in the face of massacre after massacre, offer their already mentioned “thoughts and prayers” and hope the whole thing blows over.

So Mr. Rubio: we differ on many things, but I will not only give you credit for showing up, I will thank you for having the guts to do so.  Maybe, just maybe, seeing those who suffered from some of the too lax gun laws in this country might, just might, make you change your mind, if only a little.

In this one instance at the very least, you did good.

General

What the hell is wrong with these people?!

Given the above headline, you figure I’m going to talk politics, right?  I mean, there’s plenty of stuff to talk about there, right?  Every day is a party when your “President” is Trump!

But no, that’s not what this is about.  From CNN.com and written by Ellie Kauffman and Ben Westcott, we have the story of how a very dumb (American, alas) museum goer decided to take a very, very valuable souvenir while visiting a museum…

Chinese angry after terracotta warrior’s thumb stolen in U.S.

As per usual, I really don’t want to give away everything from the article, but I will spoil parts of it…

The Chinese loaned Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute a few of their famous terracotta figures (the article is unclear as to how many, but they had at least one warrior and one horse figure).

Here’s a photograph of some of the terracotta warriors that were dug up…

Excavation of the world's largest underground army started after local farmers discovered the first Terra-cotta warrior while digging a well in 1974 in Xi'an, China.

…and here’s a photograph of the piece whose thumb was snapped off by a fool who is identified in the above article:

After confronting the vandal, they found two pictures on a cellphone which were taken concurrently when he was around the objects.  As you can see, the concurrent pictures show the figure with, then without, a thumb.

So, shame on him.

I have to say, though: This is far from unusual.

Go to any historical building, say an arena or fortress, and you’re likely to find graffiti on the walls, some of which might have been made when the structure was in use, some of which was likely made later on.

While I don’t do it (hey, some of us pride ourselves on being perfect! 😉 ), there seems to be a perverse need by some to mark up historical landmarks or objects.  Hell, its the reason so many priceless items which are on display are protected with glass/plastic.

Of well.

At least they caught the guy who did it and the thumb was returned.  I suppose its possible to replace it but clearly the next time the Chinese loan out an object like this one, they’ll insist it be well protected.

General

Yet another mass shooting…

This time, near where I live, at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward Country, perhaps a forty-fifty minute or so drive, depending on the traffic, from my home.

If you’re curious for more information and are able to stomach yet another tale of tragedy with the full awareness that there are plenty of politicians -sell-outs, in my opinion- beholden to the NRA once again expressing their empty “Hopes and Prayers” for the victims, here’s an article on the matter by Faith Karimi and Emanuella Grinberg and found on CNN:

Shooting suspect “always seemed like the unstable type”, ex-classmates say

I just don’t know what to say about this anymore.

I’m certainly not alone.

As I’ve noted before around these parts, I have absolutely no love for handguns, rifles, etc.  When I was much younger, there were times I participated in target practice with rifles, handguns, and shotguns.  I didn’t do this with any regularity, only when the opportunity was there and I never hunted nor ever, ever used such weapons to “protect” myself.

These few experiences filled me with neither awe nor interest, so after a while and when the “new” experience was no longer so new, I let the whole thing go.

Fast forward many years later.

Who would believe a country as mighty as this one could be in the grip of so many mass shootings?  And what will it take for politicians to finally, finally have the stones to provide proper regulation and -yes, Goddammit- make certain guns illegal to own?

I can understand you wanting to protect yourself with a small caliber handgun.  I can see a hunter wanting to have a rifle.

What  cannot see is the need for anyone to have an AK-47 type assault rifle.  I cannot see the need for anyone to have weapons that are best left in the army and/or used in times of war.

So what’s the solution?

Former Republican lawmaker David Jolly, from Florida, had an idea:

It’s time to vote Republicans out so we can get gun control

The above linked article, found on Huffingtonpost.com and written by Ed Mazza, notes the GOP lawmaker was on TV yesterday following the tragedy and offered that advice.

Yes, the bulk of Republican lawmakers are certainly beholden to the NRA and, yes, this should be one of many litmus tests to boot them out.

But let’s not completely forgive all the Democratic lawmakers.  There are several of them, though not quite as in lock-step as the Republicans are, that are also pro-NRA and pro-gun.

The elections are rapidly approaching and so much seems to be wrong with this country and I hope, I really really hope some of the more obnoxious people within government are finally given the boot.

And I hope I live to see the day when true gun control wins the day instead of us having to hear about another massacre.

General

“Real” time travelers…?

From Cheryl Eddy at i09.com, a fascinating article regarding…

5 Times That People Claimed to be Real-Life Time Travelers

Sadly, all the mentioned individuals sound like they’re scamming people and/or having a good laugh at others’ expense, which I suppose is to be expected.

Time Travel is one of my favorite fantasy genres.  So very many great stories have been built around the concept of Time Travel, from H. G. Welles The Time Machine to the excellent original Harlan Ellison penned (though he was angry with changes made in his script) Star Trek episode City on the Edge of Forever to (again with that Ellison fellow) Outer Limits episodes Demon With The Glass Hand and The Soldier to The Terminator films (which, btw, Ellison successful sued the studio behind the film claiming director/writer James Cameron took many elements from his Outer Limit episodes), to Groundhog Day (a clever variation on the concept of time travel and, as far as I’m aware, has nothing at all to do with Harlan Ellison!), to the romantic cult-favorite Somewhere In Time.

The concept of time travel is so powerful and has been pursued by so many authors that I distinctly recall the admonishment that as a writer one should avoid doing time travel stories, given that so many others have done them so very well.

Though probably good advice, I’ve ignored it.  One of my favorite short stories creations, Dreams Do Come True (found on my short story collection Shadows at Dawn), involves Time Travel and I’m very proud of that story.

Having said that, like many things involving the fantastic, I suspect time travel is pretty much impossible.

As someone else noted, the best evidence it doesn’t exist is the fact that to date we haven’t seen any time travelers.  Well, legitimate time travelers, people who can prove they have come from a future time and provide solid evidence to this fact.

Again, the people listed above don’t fall into that category.

Mind you, I’d love to be proven wrong here, so if there are any time travelers out there who’d like to take me on a quick journey to the far future or the distant past, I’m available! 😉

General

Tesla… in spaaaaaaaceeeee…!!!!

By now you’ve seen it, Elon Musk launched his Tesla car into space and we got to see the pictures…

Just… wow.

Then there came news, the very next day, that Tesla lost more than expected.

What’s going to stick with you, those numbers or that image above?

Btw, you’re not fooling anyone, Mr. Musk.  I know what inspired you here, from the 1981 film Heavy Metal: