Random Notes from a Crank

The Washington Post reports that the National Guard troops deployed for "crime" are cleaning up parks by getting rid of graffiti and trash and raking leaves: "National Guard Troops in D.C. Add Sanitation, Landscaping Duties." 

This move simply shows how President Adolf's "crime emergency" is just another example of his lies and bullshit and misuse of resources. 

I was surprised that the Vikings traded for Adam Thielan. But I guess he's probably close to retirement and might want to end his career with the team he started with. 

In a special election for an Iowa State Senate seat, a Democrat won in what I assume is usually a red district: "Democrat Caitlin Drey Wins Iowa Senate Special Election, Breaking Republican Supermajority."  I enjoyed what the DNC Chair said: "Iowans are seeing Republicans of who they are: self-serving liars who will throw their constituents under the bus to rubber stamp Donald Trump's disastrous agenda - and they're ready for change."

I am going to have to use the phrase "self-serving liars" more often.  

As is easy to expect, the Daily Kos reports that "Of Course Conservatives Are Being Weird about Taylor Swift's Engagement." 

The current administration is possibly going to depress sales of EV vehicles even though EV vehicles are being bought in other countries in the world: "EV Sales Are Booming in America--For Now." 

The big stupid bill killed the EV tax credit. 

Random Notes from a Crank

 

I got this meme from "Eat the Rich" on FB. It's appropriate. We only have so many natural resources and probably way too many unnatural ones.  

In my job I have to work with first-year students, who are usually 18-year-olds. Their inability to use the basic "attach file" function of email is astounding. Yes, I know how that statement makes me sound old as Hell. 

As reported in The New York Times, the enrollment of international students has steeply declined. President Adolf's hurdles have turned us into the United States of Xenophobia. Here's the article: "Trumps Tactics Mean Many International Students Won't Make It to Campus."

I dislike the statement, "It's been a minute." People try to make it sound funny, but it just sounds stupid. 

This political cartoon by Nick Anderson is relevant to how President Adolf is trying to sugar coat the reality of slavery as presented by the Smithsonian. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I read an article in Mother Jones about Rep. Maxwell Frost: "Why Maxwell Frost Wants Democrats to 'Get Caught Fighting.'"

Later that day he was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He's sharp as hell. 

When he turns 30, he needs to run for the U.S. Senate to kick out one of the GOP douche bags in Florida--hopefully that penis-look-alike Rick Scott. 

Lately I've become irritable about the drivers where I live. They drive so damn slowly. 

So this past weekend I was in Muncie, Indiana for a baseball tournament, and the drivers around there might be even morse. 

People were driving so slow, especially around corners. It's like I was in the Deep South again with all these slow-ass drivers. 

What's the deal with people calling sports stars/personalities by their first names? My in-laws do this with professional golfers they follow. Or most notably they use when they talk about Caitlin Clark. They call her "Caitlin" in casual conversation. 

I just find that weird because using the first name connotes a personal connection. 

Well, the U.S. under President Adolf is back to bombing brown people because of "weapons of mass destruction." 

We've seen that move before. The president's poll numbers are in the crapper, so the administration gets into some kind of military intervention based on shoddy intelligence. 

There are some consequences here. First, Congress is the only entity that can wage war, not the Executive Branch. Moscow Don has basically involved us in a war because he's just doing what Israel wants. 

Second, one can assume Iran is going to react in various ways, whether it's related to the Strait of Hormuz or sleeper cells inside the U.S. doing terrorist activities.

The Trump administration is making America poor and making American less safe again. 

Random Notes from a Crank

 

I saw this image from the Radical Centrist on FB. I thought I'd share. 

If you were to make a Venn diagram of these assertions, that Venn diagram don't hunt. 

I don't understand why Tottenham Hotspur appears not to be showing any interest in the Canadian striker Jonathan David. 

He's a free agent. He's two-footed. He's productive. He's in his mid-20s. And there's no transfer free. I think he's a fabulous player. 

In a recent YouGov daily survey, 50% of people polled said "Yes" to this question:"Would you ever vote for a third party or an independent candidate?" I said Yes to that question. I'd vote for one for sure if the candidate was viable. 

The third question was "Do you think a third major political party is necessary for the United States, or are the Democratic and Republican parties enough?" 55% answered "A third party is necessary in the U.S." Only 20% agreed with "The Democratic and Republican parties are enough to represent Americans." 25% were "Not sure." 

Mother Jones has a solid short article that describes the importance of preserving and probably expanding wetlands: "The Economic Case for Preserving America's Wetlands." 

As the author relates, wetlands work like sponges, so they can prevent the massive flooding events that are only going to be more frequent because of climate change. Unfortunately, under the the administration of President Adolf, I doubt many projects like the one in Raleigh are going to get going.  

A frightening article in that same issue of Mother Jones is one about Clearview AI, a facial-recognition tech company whose founders have ties to right-wing extremists, Holocaust deniers, and Neo-Nazis. 

Check out "The Shocking Far-Right Agenda behind the Facial Recognition Tech Used by ICE and the FBI."

Here are some interesting statistics from the June "Harper's Index":

• Percentage by which tourism to the United States is projected to decrease this year: 9
• Percentage increase this year in seizures of eggs being smuggled into the United States: 48
• Percentage increase last year in the number of U.S. households that owned chickens: 28
• Factor by which the word "notable" appears more frequently in AI-generated sentences than in those written by humans: 13
• By which the word "esteemed" does: 120

I'm surprised the decrease in tourism is only projected to be 9%. I thought it would be in the high teens.

I'll be on the lookout for "notable" and "esteemed." 

Random Notes from a Crank

After watching Elizabeth Warren's appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it's pretty clear to me that she is the President of the United States that the country should have had. 

She was my first choice, and Kamala was my second choice. 

Thursday's word of the day on my word-of-the-day calendar was "superbity," which is a noun meaning "haughtiness or arrogance." That's a new one on me, but it's a word that can applied to current conditions in the U.S. for sure. 

I saw a guy on Tik Tok talking about a "joke going around the White House this week." It's "What do all the universities that Trump is targeting have in common? Baron didn't get into them." 

It's probably true. He's attending NYU.

The Washington Post has reported on the proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services: "Internal Budget Document Reveals Extent of Trump Program Cuts." 

Apparently they plan to eliminate Head Start, and there are severe cuts to the hospitals in rural areas. As the article states, "Rural programs formerly under the Health Resources and Services Administration appear to be hard-hit. The rural flexibility grants, state offices of rural health, rural residency development program and at-risk rural hospitals program grants are listed as eliminations under AHA." 

Rural America, FAFO. You nitwits voted for this idiotic goon. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Rachel Maddow covered the imbecility of the Secretary of Education extensively in one of her shows, but the marketing gurus took it a step further with this Instagram post. 

That's some pretty good satire right there. 

I happened upon an interesting article from the BBC that talks about how people are using brewers spent grain. They're experimenting will turning it into food products and an alternative to leather. Check it out in "How Beer Sludge Is Being Turned into Vegan Milk and Leather." 

My word-of-the-day calendar shows that today's word as "mala fide," which is an adverb or adjective meaning "with or in bad faith." That word sums up a lot about the current administration in D.C. 

My club, Tottenham Hotspur, have a huge away game tomorrow. 

As much as I like Ange, if he doesn't win it all in the Europa League, I think he's going to get sacked. 

The team went through a dreadful spell for about three months when they had all kinds of injuries, but with the way he has turned again or criticized the fans, I don't think he'll survive for next season. 

But I hope to be proven wrong by him winning a trophy and Spurs doing well in the remaining games in the Premier League. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Back in the 90s I was an avid reader of the work of Henry Rollins, and I listened to spoken-word performances. 

What he says above makes sense to me. 

It makes me think about what my mentor in grad school said about "extra money." He said it's an oxymoron. 

With what President Adolf is doing to the U.S. economy and the world's economies, that statement is clearly apparent. 

Normally when someone says, "I know what I'm doing," that person is indicating they don't know what they're doing. Moscow Don is a case in point. 

For no good reason, the current administration is going after international students in the U.S.: "With Secret Moves against International Students, Feds Spread Fear." 

The complicity of the GOP to what Moscow Don is doing can be summed up in this image. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The strip from today for Rabbits Against Magic has it right. 

The MAGA hat should be referred to as a "Ku Klux Kap." 

Moscow Don and his minions are calling what's happening to Tesla dealerships "domestic terrorism." No, it's vandalism. 

Domestic terrorism is what happened on January 6th. 

Or what one of Moscow Don's supporters did to protesters in Palm Beach County. That move, albeit at a slow speed, is reminiscent of what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

What a jackass. 

In related news, Tesla sales are dropping like a lead balloon in Europe as reported by The Guardian: "Tesla's Europe Sales Drop Nearly 45% amid Row over Musk's Trump Links." 

I follow the US Men's National Team. They had a terrible week by losing to both Panama and Canada. I thought Pochettino would take them to another level, but I hope these are just growing pains.  

Poch's comments after the game basically related that it's better for them to find out what they need to work on now rather than later. At least this summer the coaching staff should have a full month or so to work with the players they select for the Gold Cup. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I have a couple of favorite Norm Macdonald jokes (1) The moth who went to the podiatrist and 2) The unconventional doctor's solution to a husband whose wife is in a coma), but one of his small observations is spot on. 

I wonder if there is a similar deal with the abbreviation of "number," which is "No." as in No. 2. 

Why the heck is an "o" used instead of "Nu. 2" or "Nr. 2"? But some cursory research shows that it's my old friend the Latin language making an appearance on the linguistic scene because the Latin word for number is "numero."  

This week's Existential Comic is one of my favorites: "The future will have stupidity beyond our wildest imagination." Indeed. "Stupidity will multiply and spread, and new advanced forms of stupidity will emerge that we cannot even begin to conceive of." 

As Stephen Colbert noted in Tuesday's monologue, Moscow Don didn't even say the car company's name right in his photo app. He called it "Tesler," which is probably a Freudian slip since it seems to be a mash-up of Tesla and Hitler. That's on brand because Musk supported a far-right Neo-Nazi-like party in Germany's recent election. 

After watching the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, I am wondering if there are plans for a move to San Francisco in the series because we find out that Karen Page is in the Bay Area, and in the comic books under Mark Waid's run, Murdock moved to San Francisco. In fact, I think I have a number of those issues/books down in the basement. 

As Moscow Don cuts the Department of Education, the smallest federal agency, by half, it remains to be seen how these cuts will affect the funding for K-12 education and the FAFSA. I doubt the cuts will improve matters. 

Musing of the Moment: "Up and Not Crying"

Mrs. Nasty posted a reel from "wanderingbird.adventures" on social media that I also posted after I saw it.

Here's what it says: "In Norway 'up & not crying' is a standard response to 'How are you doing?'--and I think that's a very reasonable standard to hold oneself to these days." 

I agree.

I've read or heard that Norwegians have a reputation as the Scandinavians who are the most depressed. So that response "up and not crying" tracks. And I guess you can tie in seasonal affective disorder. 

Yet the saying flies in the face of the reputation of Nordic countries scoring the best on happiness surveys, which they do according to the World Happiness Report.

An article in The Guardian from 2018, "Nordic Countries 'Happy' Reputation Masks Sadness of Young, Says Report," shows some figures. And the numbers support that those countries are doing much better than other countries in Europe. 

Regardless, I like the black/dark humor of the saying.  

Random Notes from a Crank

I got these stats from some dude on social media. I'm pretty sure it's from the Jon Cooper who is a Democratic strategist. Since Moscow Don has openly talked about how his policies might create a recession, it seems appropriate to share.

The dipshit is affecting markets worldwide apparently. 

In related news, Canada got a new Prime Minister who has harsh words for President Adolf as reported by the BBC: "Canada's Next PM Mike Carney Vows to Win Trade War with Trump." 

 

On most weekdays I've been sharing a word-of-the-day post from The Dictionary of American Slang on social media. I've been discovering all kinds of words I never knew about, and some of them are quite old timey. 

Today I shared a V-word, the "visiting fireman." But the one I thought about sharing was "voos," which is a plural noun signifying "Human female breasts, esp. of a sexually attractive young woman." 

I've heard of all kinds of words used for tits, such as "cans," "headlights," and "ta tas," but voos is a new term for me. I would guess it came about because it rhymes with "boobs"? 

Happy National Napping Day.  

Random Notes from a Crank

If you like a good fact checking like I do, read "Fact Checking 26 Suspect Claims in Trump's Address to Congress" from The Washington Post.  

Journalists need to stop calling what he's doing as "false claims." They are LIES. I do like how the author calls one of his assertions "absurd" though. 

I learned in January issue of Harper's that the "word 'huh' or its equivalent seems to exist in every human language, for unknown reasons." That fact makes sense to me. 

Here are some interesting gleanings from the February and March Harper's Indexes:

• Rank of November 6, 2024, among the days with the most account deactivations on X since Elon Musk acquired the company: 1
• Factor by which the average wait to receive approval for federal disability benefits has increased since 2019: 2
• Estimated number of Americans who died in 2023 while waiting for such approval: 30,000
• Percentage change since 1973 in the average American's carbon emissions: -36
• Factor by which per capita U.S. carbon emissions exceed the global average: 3
• Average percentage by which the opening of a Walmart Supercenter causes nearby household incomes to decrease: 6
• Percentage of U.S. solar-power capacity growth last year accounted for by Texas: 31
• Percentage by which Texas's new solar-power capacity exceeded California's last year: 358
• Chance that an American believes they have undiagnosed ADHD: 1 in 4
• Chance that they do have ADHD: 1 in 17

I wonder how many more deactivations have happened on Twitter because of Musk's work with DOGE? I hope there have been a lot. 

And I imagine the number of Americans who will die while waiting for approval for federal disability benefits will skyrocket this year because of DOGE cuts to the workforce. 

I'm surprised about the solar growth in Texas. However, it makes sense that the state could harness solar power. 

Like ADHD, I think there is a similar difference in Americans who think they have an anxiety disorder and those who actually have an anxiety disorder. 

The U.S. is a well medicated nation because of Big Pharma. 

Random Notes from a Crank

In what has become normal for the GOP, they focus on stupid issues. 

For example, the Texas Lieutenant Governor, instead of focusing on the measles outbreak in his state, is more concerned about renaming a cut of beef to be called "Texas strip" instead of "New York strip." 

Read about this lunacy in The Guardian: "Texas Republican Focuses on Rebrand of 'New York Strip' amid Outbreak." 

It will always be Gulf of Mexico, people. 

Distractions keep people focused on the wrong issues. 

I know a guy who works in some kind of government program that's linked to Veterans Affairs. He's a big supporter of Moscow Don. I wonder if he lost his job. That'd be ironic.  

The Executive Branch is clearly a puppet of Russia. At least that's what the Kremlin is saying: "Washington Now "Largely Aligns" with Moscow's Vision, Kremlin Says." 

I got a package today from this company. 

As a Star Wars fan and as a big fan of the character Chewbacca, I dig it. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Apparently, according to American Opposition on Bluesky, President's Day looks like it might be a national day of protest. 

I used this dressing the other day. I got it from my local Ruler Foods. 

What the heck is California French dressing? What does the Golden State have to do with French dressing? 

 

I think I should make my own anyway. It'll be Illinois French style dressing. 

Speaking of a European country, I just read an article in the New York Times about how the E.U. is preparing how to deal with President Adolf's tariffs. Like Canada, the E.U. plans "hit specific, politically-sensitive sectors--like products made in Republican states--with targeted tariffs meant to inflict maximum pain." 

Random Notes from a Crank

Kristian Ramos has an excellent article in Salon: "The High Opportunity Cost of Trump's Economy." 

The dark irony is that, as he says, "Latinos, as much as any group, are poised to bear the brunt of Trump's corrosive MAGA policies. This is particularly ironic given that Democrats lost ground this cycle with Latino voters because some believed Trump would improve their economic well-being." 

With labor shortages set to happen in the agriculture and construction industries because of mass deportations happening and President Adolf also wanting to impose tariffs on imports, the price of everything is going to go up. 

All of these changes aren't going to affect the rich. They are going to fuck the poor, working class, and middle class (what's left of it). 

Yesterday I was in the men's restroom at work filling up my watering can to water my jade plants. A colleague was at the urinal as I came in. He finished taking a leak and just walked out.

Without washing his hands...

Disgusting. He's spreading dick cells around. 

Also, why the hell do we can call it a "restroom"? I remember back in grad school, one of my comrades, an Englishman, made fun of this term for the place you go to pee and poop. His statement, with a wry smile, was "Yeah, I'm going there to rest." 

I prefer the term "crapper" or "the John." 

At least with "John," it's accurate in that Sir John Harrington invented the flushing toilet. Thomas Crapper, on the other hand, was just an English plumber but a very successful one.  

What's the deal with people backing their vehicles into parking spaces, so they can drive out with the front of their vehicle going first? Most cars nowadays, if it's a more recent one, have back-up cameras. 

Do these people seem to think they're better than the rest of us backing up their vehicles into parking spots. 

In addition, when I came to work today, all the vehicles that were parked that way were pick-up trucks. Is there something going on here with male fragility? 

I've had a hypothesis for decades about pick-up trucks. Unless you're actually a farmer who uses the truck to do chores, the size of the pick-up truck is inversely proportional to one's penis or brain size. 

Random Notes from a Crank

A while back one of the words of the day was "kakistocracy," which means "government by the worst people."

With Adolf's number of executive orders and with the GOP having majorities in the House and Senate, that is the country the U.S. is living in, unfortunately, 

It's all very depressing. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert helped get me through his first administration, but I haven't girded up my emotional loins to watch the program since Adolf took office. 

But what can we expect with 54% of Americans reading below a sixth-grade level?

One of the better editorials I've read is from Bernie Sanders in The Guardian: "What Trump Didn't Say in His Inauguration Speech." 

Here are the last two ¶s of the opinion piece, but I recommend reading it all. 

Bottom line: as we enter the new Trump presidency, we have got to remain focused. We can’t panic. No matter how many executive orders he signs and statements he issues, our goal remains the same. We have got to educate. We have got to organize. We have got to bring people together around an agenda that works for all, not just the few.

Now more than ever, we have to fight to create an America based on economic, social and environmental justice. Let’s get to work.

He's right. 

But what's happening is damn depressing. 

Nothing like "backing the blue" when you release the Jan. 5 insurrectionists.

And repealing civil rights protections. 

Random Notes from a Crank

On a mainly weekday basis, I've been posting definitions from the Dictionary of American Slang, which was published in 1967, in alpha order on my FB feed. 

Today I was on the letter M in the alphabet, so I posted this definition from the dictionary:

"meatball meat ball n. 1. A dull, boring person; an obnoxious person; anyone regarded with disfavor, esp. one of flat or uninteresting character; a creep, a drip, a square, a wet blanket. 2. A tactical signal flag bearing a black dot on a yellow field; also, the Japanese national flag. #. A swelling of or on the face, cause by a blow in fighting. 4. In baseball, any pitched ball that can be hit readily by a given batter. v.t. 1. To strike someone with a fist. --ism n. 1. Anti-intellectualism; the state of willing ignorance or mediocrity. 2. A state of, or instance demonstrating, decreasing standards of integrity, ethics, intelligence, and individualism in culture, politics, education, and the like; democratic rule by an uneducated, non-thinking majority."

I'm particularly fond of the term "meatballism" because I think it properly describes the U.S. for quite some time. It's an anti-intellectual country, and it's been like that for centuries. 

The amount of willful ignorance is astounding, and the if you follow politics for any amount of time, the "decreasing standards" will make you depressed. 

I think the U.S. is currently engaged in "democratic rule by an uneducated, non-thinking majority." 

I guess there are glimmers of hope though with the Labour Party coming back into majority power in the U.K.: "How Ken Starmer Overwhelmed Britain's Conservatives."

And over in France, Macron's gamble to call an election turned out better than expected since left-leaning folks flocked to the polls and put down the right-wing idiots trying to take power: "France Electioin Results: Far Right's Rise Suffers Unexpected Blow as Left Surges." 

But what does this mean for November? 

At least if you're going by a flash poll by YouGov that I took today Trump hopefully is in trouble. At the time I'm writing this post, 36% of people polled think Moscow Don is mentally fit to be President, 5% think he was mentally fit to be president in 2020 but is no longer mentally fit to be president, and 54% believe he was not mentally fit to be president in 2020 and is not mentally fit today. 

At least on that last answer, Biden only clocks in at 31%. 

In better news, the people polled were asked about their opinion of the GOP's "Project 2025," and 53% have a very unfavorable opinion of it. 

The biggest challenge before Biden is that he has to hit the swing states hard since we still live under a system that relies on the idiocy that is the Electoral College.

Musing of the Moment: Interesting Facts/Trivia

For the holidays I got book of factoids titled Interesting Facts for Curious Minds: 1572 Random but Mind-Blowing Facts about History, Science, Pop Culture and Everything in Between. 

As I read the book, I noted these facts/trivia I found most interesting, and I'm sharing them in this post. 

They are below, and I'm quoting the author, Jordan Moore, word for word. 

• Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was a pragmatic leader. One of his best-known quotes is, "A revolution is not a bed of roses."
• Panama may be a small country, but Manuel Noriega was able to build a personal fortune of $300 million as its dictator from August 12, 1983 to December 20, 1989. He built his fortune through drug smuggling, CIA contracts, bribes, money laundering, and fraud.
• If you really don't care about something, you "couldn't care less," not you "could care less." The latter implies you still have some caring to do. 
• The once common dog name "Fido" came from the Romans. The name is derived from the Latin word, fidelis, which means "loyal." 
• An average dog's hearing is four times better than a human, but the part of their brain devoted to their sense of smell is about 40 time larger than ours. 
• Although the ancient Egyptians didn't name most of their breeds, their texts and reliefs show they had basenjis, salukis, and greyhounds. 
• When your dog kicks his hind legs after relieving himself, it isn't a weak attempt to cover the poo. No, Spot is merely marking his territory with the scent glands in his feet. 
• Although dice games preceded the Romans, the Romans were the first people to bet on dice. The Romans called double 'ones' -- 'snake's eyes' today -- a 'dog throw.'
• Up to 20% of the American population may be allergic to the chemical nickel. This could be big considering that nickel is a major components in smartphones. 
• The 1980 arcade game, Pac-Man, originally came out in Japan as Puck Man. The name was changed when it was realized how vandals could have fun with the word "Puck." 
• The Atari 2600 console hit the stores in 1977. It was a big step up from previous game systems because it used separate cartridges for each game. 
• The lyrics of the nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosie" are a bizarre mystery. Many believe it refers to a bout of the plague where people carried bouquets of flowers and herbs to smell while walking in public, while others think it refers to a pagan ritual. 
• The bean bag chair was invented in 1968 by Italian Piero Gatti, Cesare Poolini, and Franco Teodoro. Its popularity peaked in the late 1970s. 
• As Charles Darwin (1809-1882) developed his theory of evolution, he also invented the modern office chair by adding wheels to make a swiveling chair. 
• The Ancient Greek mathematician Pythogoras (ca. 570-495 BCE) is best know for his theorem but he was also a mystic who led a commune. 
• The opposite sides of traditional dice always add up to seven. You can throw the dice as much as you want, but it's always the case. 
• According to the "birthday problem," 23 random people can be placed in a room and there's a 50% chance two of them will have the same birthday. 
• Tamales are an ancient dish dating back at least 5,000 years in Mesoamerica. The word "tamale" is derived from the Nahuatl/Aztec word, tamali.
• The Carthaginians reportedly catapulted pots filled with venomous snakes onto the ships of the Pergamon navy during a battle in 184 BCE. 
• Greek Fire was an incendiary, napalm-like weapon used by the Byzantine Empire from 672 to 1453. The ingredients and process to make Greek Fire remain a mystery. 
• In  the 500s BCE, the Greek colony, Sybaris, in Italy, passed one of the earliest known noise ordinances. It prohibited tinsmiths and roosters form the city limits. 
• Hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms were taken by many different American Indian peoples as part of religious rituals. The Aztecs even referred to one species as the "divine mushroom." 
• In the 1980s, ethnobotanist Wade Davis claimed that Haitian Voodoo zombies were created by a combination of tetrodotoxin from a pufferfish and bufotoxin from a toad. They were then "reanimated" with a natural drug, datura.
• Englishman Thomas Crapper (1836-1910) didn't invent the toilet, but he did improve plumbing by inventing the "U-bend" trap. It prevents liquids and gasses from flowing back into the toilet. The actual invent of the flush toilet can be traced back to a British man named Sir John Harrington who, in 1596, devised a mechanism with a cord that, when pulled, flushed away waste with a rush of water. 
• A survey revealed that the average woman hasn't worn $550 worth of clothing they own or about 20% of their wardrobe. Interestingly, shoes are the number one unworn item. 
• Islam has traditionally viewed dogs as "unclean," so they aren't very common pets in the Middle East. Cats were kept by Mohammad and considered "clean." 
• Contrary to common media portrayals, most burglaries take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Professional crooks strike when homeowners are at work or school.
• "Molly Pitcher" is the legendary name of either Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley or Margaret Hays. The story is that "Molly" carried pitchers of water to Patriot troops to cool the canons during a battle in the American Revolution. 
• Warrior goddesses were not uncommon in the ancient world. The Greek goddess Athena, the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, and the Egyptian lioness headed goddess Sekhmet, were all martial dieties. 
• No US state uses wind as its primary source of electrical power. But it's the second source of power for Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Kansas. 
• "Forest bathing" is a form of natural mental health therapy where a person simply spends time in forests. The activity is officially sanctioned by the Japanese government, which calls shinmin-yoku.
• A single cottonwood tree can release 40 million seeds in one season. The seeds can then float through the air for days, much longer than any other type of seed. 
• In the Keynesian view of modern economics, low unemployment is more important than low inflation. Government spending is encouraged to keep employment levels high. 
• Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) was South America's George Washington. Bolivar drove the Spanish from northern South America to become the father of the nations of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia. 

Random Notes from a Crank

In the February issue of Harper's, they provided some excerpts from The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, the great jazz saxophonist. Here are some entries to spoke to me: 

• Another good day to think and be thankful for.
• Ask Charles: Is it about eating and putting a roof over your head? Is that what life amounts to?
• I have at times wanted and wished for time to stand still at particular moment. If it would all stay this way this would be heaven. But of course (reality) the other side of the whole soon reappears. Things are never constant. Disaster is coming. Disasters are coming. 
• Forgive everyone everything. 
• What other people think of you is none of your business. 
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up. 

Here's an interesting gifted article from The Washington Post: "The Remarkable Power of Holding Hands with Someone You Love."

The article reminds of a bit by Chris Rock in one of his more recent specials where he talks about how he'll do all kinds of sexual stuff with a woman with no personal attachment, but if he holds hands with her, then he gets emotionally attached. 

It's been a long time ago since I had gotten under the weather. I think the last time I got sick was maybe in 2018 or 2017. I survived the pandemic without contracting Covid (as far as I know), and this past weekend I got brought down by the common cold. 

Apostrophe Abuse: Oakland As Cap and a Jesus Bumper Sticker

 

This is a new feature for this blog. There's an old blog that documented "apostrophe abuse" that is no longer available on the InterWebs. So I'm taking up that lost writer's mantle. 

And I'll have another feature that takes after another defunct blog titled The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. 

I care about the proper care of language. 

The first culprit of apostrophe abuse is the cap for the Oakland Athletics. There's not need for an apostrophe. 

It should be just like this: As

I actually kind of like the Athletics, but I can't stomach buying one of the team's caps with the unnecessary apostrophe. 

The other culprit I saw today when I was running errands. There was a mini-van ahead of me that had this bumper sticker: "Jesus loves you," but the "loves" was spelled with a heart image followed by an apostrophe and an "s."