Random Notes from a Crank

I recently unfollowed a so-called friend on Facebook after I read a dumb-ass post of hers about a chem trails conspiracy theory. 

I need fewer nutjobs on my social media. 

The crazy thing is that I casually knew this woman in college and became FB friends a few years ago. She had some silly post about chemtrails, which correlates with the things I heard about how she and her husband believe that Covid is a US government conspiracy. 

You can't reason with stupid. 

I've been thinking of reading some classic pieces of literature that I never got around to reading during my lifetime. 

My first choice is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. I've read almost everything written by Hemingway, but I just never got around to reading that novel.

I also never got around to reading Catch-22 by Heller.  

I have a copy of Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner that a colleague gave to me. That's a possibility. I tried starting it once but wasn't in the mood for it for whatever reason. 

I've also been thinking of classics from Russian literature. Way back when I took a World Lit II course, we read part of A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov, which I liked at the time. 

Then other options are The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, War and Peace by Tolstoy, and Doctor Zhivago by Pasternak. 

Then I've thought about Don Quixote by Cervantes. 

Some of these could be very long reads. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The article about omicron and its spread in Denmark in the The Washington Post is a good one to read since the Danes are the best folks in the world to test and track the virus: "What Does the Omicron Variant Mean for a Highly Vaccinated Country? Denmark Has a Dire Answer." 

I checked the other day, and in my county in east central Illinois, only 43% are fully vaccinated. 77% of those 65 years and older are fully vaccinated, and 50% of those 18-64 are fully vaccinated. Those percentages are terrible. 

If you're interested in your own county or state, check out the Post's "Tracking the Covid Vaccine" link. 

I recently got a smoker, and I've spent the past two weekends smoking various meat. Last weekend it was a pork loin and then salmon fillets. This weekend it is spare ribs and then a whole duck.

I picked up a case of Sierra Nevada IPAs at Costco on our last visit. That is some great ale. It could be argued that Sierra Nevada is the brand that helped start the craft beer movement in the US.

Music Friday: "Idiots Rule"

I'm a Vikings fan, and the low vaccination rate of the team is a major blemish on the NFL. And Kirk Cousins' comments about surrounding himself with plexiglass are astoundingly stupid. 

The fact that the delta variant is creating havoc because of morons who aren't getting vaccinated is really angering me. 

The whole situation reminds me of the this song. 

However, I will say the idea of them "ruling" is a bit nuanced. They rule in a sense that we smart people have to go back to wearing masks because of their idiocy that has prevented herd immunity. 

Ruling by dumbassery...

Random Notes from a Crank

 I'm trying to catch up on my public affairs magazine reading. 

Here are some factoids from the last three months of "Harper's Indexes":

• Percentage decrease in the number of flu cases in the United States this season: 99
• Factor by which U.S. police officers are more likely to use force against left-wing protesters than right-wing protesters: 3.4
• Percentage of Black Lives Matter protests during which the police used force against protesters: 5
• Of Stop the Steal protests during which police did so: 1
• Percentage of Americans who identified as Republicans and Democrats, respectively, at the outset of 2020: 47, 45
• At the end of 2020: 39, 50
• Number of U.S. members of Congress who are not affiliated with a religion: 1
• Portion of the American population that is not: 1/4
• Percentage of 2020 Trump voters who feel more loyal to Trump than to the Republican Party: 54
• Who would support a Trump party over the Republican Party: 46
• Minimum number of identified long-term effects from contracting COVID-19: 55
• Factor by which a solar farm was more expensive to build and maintain than a coal plant in 2009: 3.2
• By which a coal plant is more expensive to build and maintain than a solar farm today: 2.2
• Estimated number of Earths that humanity would require to sustain its current level of resource consumption: 1.6
• Year in which humanity  is expected to require two Earths: 2030
• Number of U.S. state legislatures that are considering new voting restrictions: 47
• Number of such bills being considered: 361
• Percentage of Democratic or Democratic-leaning voters who are "extremely concerned" about Trump supporters: 82
• Who are "extremely concerned" about voter suppression: 53
• Percentage of U.S. electric-car owners who are concerned about being able to charge their vehicles on the road: 47
• Portion of U.S. electric-car charging outlets that are in California: 1/3
• That support only Tesla vehicles: 1/5
• Minimum number of state governments that are funding efforts to modify the weather with cloud seeding: 6

Usually when I provide the stats and figures from the Harper's Index, I just leave them as for readers to ponder for themselves. But for this post since it's three-months worth of numbers and percentages, I thought I'd comment on some of them. 

With the drop of flu cases, it's clear that masks work, people. That's why people in certain countries in Asia wear masks during flu season. 

In response to the "Blue Lives Matter" crowd, it seems that the police feel conservative lives matter more. 

I hesitantly take the party affiliation changes from the start of 2020 to the end as a good sign. The Republican Party has lost any sense of a moral and/or philosophical compass with people's irrational support of Moscow Don. 

That long-term effects figure should be a part of PSAs about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. 

We need to build more solar farms and electric-car charging outlets. 

Back to the GOP, they want to restrict voting access because doing so helps them. But will it? I wonder if these ridiculous bills like the one in Georgia will only motivate people to vote. That's my hope. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The other day I made up some sweetbreads according to the recipe in The Joy of Cooking. I had never had them before, so I thought I'd try them. 

I won't be trying them again. They're a gland from the cow, and I don't care for them at all. They remind me of chicken gizzards except they're bigger and spongier. Not good eats.

I thought I might like them since I like other offal, especially liver. 

When I called into my local health care provider about getting my Covid-19 vaccine, as I was on hold, one of the songs that played was "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp. 

I had not heard that song in a good while. 

And then the song after that was "Calling Dr. Love" by Kiss. 

I like their sense of humor. 

D.C. and Puerto Rico deserve statehood. Here's a recent article from the Washington Post that breaks it down for you: "No Longer 'Chocolate City,' D.C. See Calls for Statehood Grow Louder." 

Random Notes from a Crank

The Guardian has an interesting article that ties in habitat loss, loss of biodiversity, and climate change to the likelihood of more pandemics. It's good reading: "Protecting Nature Is Vital To Escape 'Era of Pandemics.'" 

Because of my area of east central Illinois spiking in cases, our region now can't have eating in at restaurants, and bars will be closed. 

Even Russia is mandating masks in contrast the dumbass that is Moscow Don: "Trump's Ideal Strong Man, Putin, Orders Nationwide Mask Mandate as US Flounders Under Weak Leadership." As Cole notes, "But in the US, the mask refuseniks are about half the population, and they are led by the denialist-in-chief, Donald Trump."

"Mask refuseniks" is great phrasing. And Cole puts it well toward the end of the post: "Trump has confused ignorance and genocide by neglect with machismo." 

Random Notes from a Crank

Because I watched The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, I learned about Emmanuel Acho's YouTube series "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man." Here's the first episode, and I hope there will be many more. 




An email recently notified me that my three-pack of Vikings masks will ship soon. I think my favorite is the top one. 

I hope the Vikings sign Kaepernick to be the back-up to Cousins. 

Tim Scott leading the GOP effort to reduce police brutality is like making Franklin solve everything wrong in the Peanuts world. 

Musing of the Moment: Covid-19 & Strippers

With all the economic destruction Covid-19 has brought upon America, no one really thinks about strippers and strip clubs except maybe people who frequented them (full disclosure: I am not one of those people). 

Those ladies have to have found other professions to work in. 

There's no social distancing for lap dances. 

Random Notes from a Crank

News outlets are regularly running stories about Covid-19 deniers who die. One of the more recent ones is about a preacher who believed God can cure anything. He died of Covid-19 after discounting the pandemic and going to Mardi Gras: "A Virginia Preacher Believed 'God Can Heal Anything.' Then He Caught the Coronavirus." 

Thoughts and prayers I guess. 

The draft came and went, and as usual, Matt Miller of the Bleacher Report has "2021 NFL Mock Draft: Matt Miller's Way-Too-Early Predictions." There are a lot of players from Alabama and LSU on that list. 

I just heard on The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz that men who are able to grow beards early on are more likely to suffer hair loss. God damn it.