Random Notes from a Crank

As I can attest to, gardening is good for people from a physical and mental standpoint. The New York Times has a nice little article about the subject: "Why Gardening Is So Good for You." 

As much as I hate weeding, especially flower beds, I enjoy seeding and planting new crops. 

However, there are benefits of digging in the dirt. 

I'm in the midst of watching the Netflix documentary Turning Point: The Vietnam War. It's a good documentary. It's not as good as the PBS documentary by Ken Burn and Lynn Novick, but it's solid. 

As I was watching the third episode "Life Is Cheap," I had the idea or rather the question of whether anyone has ever written speculative novel that narrates what would have happened if Bobby Kennedy would not have been assassinated and would have become President in 1968. 

I guess what I'm looking for is perhaps some positive speculative fiction. 

At an antique bazaar we went to on Saturday, I bought a movie poster for Ferris Bueller's Day Off, easily one of the best comedies of the 80s. 

The poster inspired me to watch the movie yesterday, and it was excellent. 

The one scene in which the teacher talks about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that launched the Great Depression and George W. Bush's description of "voodoo economics" is relevant. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I'm trying to invent a new word. This word needs to concisely sum up this feeling: a professor who has taught for many years sees freshmen making bad decisions that he or she has seen year after year, but he or she has a sense of futility that whatever advice he or she might give is not going to be heeded. 

If you have any ideas for the new word that exemplifies that feeling, please post in the comments. 

Here are some intriguing data points from September's "Harper's Index":

• Amount that Carrier promised to invest in an Indiana plan in a deal with Donald Trump to save domestic jobs: $16,000,000
• Percentage of that money that will be used for automation: 100
• Amount taxpayers spent in 2013 on food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance for Walmart employees: $6,200,000,000

This evening I watched the final episode of the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary The Vietnam War. The ten-episode film is one of the most poignant and powerful documentaries I've ever watched. When they talked about the Vietnam Memorial tonight, I choked up and then started crying.