Sunday, March 31, 2024

Biden's Chances

President Biden last week sent a load of 2,000 pound bombs to Israel for use in Gaza. His claim is that Israel, stockpiled with about 90 nuclear weapons, needs our bombs for self defense. 

About 55% of our voters disapprove of Israeli war crimes. They want the bombing of civilians in Gaza to stop. Biden should listen. If he loses the next election by stubbornly supporting a tiny, useless war, what price will Trump make the western world pay? 


Tuesday, March 26, 2024

When Good Things Were Bitchin

When were good things bitchin?  About 1952.

In 2015 an unusual achievement was called "next level" or "one hundred."

These days you can show strong approval of something a friend just said by replying, "Word."  

For example, someone might say, "Donald Trump is the Charles Manson of presidents." 

"Word." 



 


 



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Friday, March 22, 2024

Trump's Madness


Most people these days seldom read newspapers or Doyle McManus, a columnist; so here is something McManus quoted from Trump about California. 

Trump once said: "Rich people in Beverly Hills (are) only allowed a small amount of water when they take a shower. That's why rich people from Beverly Hills, generally speaking, don't smell so good." 

In the California I grew up in, "rich people from Beverly Hills" was a euphemism for Jews. 

Trump also claimed (falsely) that in California the state can "take children away from their parents and sterilize them." 

 



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Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Trump Money

Agent Orange seems to be temporarily out of the cash he needs for a huge bond. Maybe Saudi Arabia or Russia will bail him out, but his best bet might be to sell the GOP.  He's sole owner of the party and there's no mortgage. Potential buyers include China, North Korea and Taylor Swift.  



Saturday, March 16, 2024

St. Patrick

My father's family was Orange Irish. My grandfather pulled on an orange shirt on St. Patrick's Day and went to bars in San Francisco seeking trouble. 

In America and Canada another name for his ethnicity was Scotch-Irish. This Anglo tribe was thought of as trash when they reached Canada and English America; they soon began producing Presidents from Jackson to Clinton. 

The Scotch-Irish were from Ireland, and my father called himself Irish. 

My mother was Catholic Irish. The Catholic part didn't stick--her  mother had been excommunicated-- but her favorite relative was her pipe-smoking grandmother, Mary Berry, who had come over on the boat. The Catholic Irish Presidents have been Kennedy and Biden.

My father's mother arrived in California driving a covered wagon. My own mother arrived in California when she was six. Her mother had driven an automobile on dirt roads from Des Moines to Compton.

So when people ask what my ethnic background is, I tell them I'm Californian.  And I once accidentally stepped on Audrey Hepburn's foot.



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Thursday, March 14, 2024

What we should do

Consider two questions. What is going on? What should I do?

We find out what is going on by studying music, physics,  anthropology, language, astronomy, history, art, etc.  

What we should do (the second question) is do the right thing.  That can be obvious. For example, do not kill 15,000 children. 


also on FB



Monday, March 11, 2024

How to Win

hope the Democrats don't make Orange Man the main focus of the next election. They should call him dangerous scum and move on to the main thing, how they can make our lives better. 

They can restore Roe through legislation. They can restore aid for poor families and pay off loans for students. They can stand up to Fascism here and abroad. They can work on sexism and racism.  

We need a positive future. 

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Trump and Socrates

Trump's political success illustrates why Socrates preached that democracy can't work. Socrates argued that ordinary people are too ignorant to elect competent leaders. 

For teaching authoritarianism to young people, Socrates was put on trial in Athens, a democracy. He faced a jury of 500 citizens. In the end he lost his case by a narrow margin. The verdict was that he could leave town or he could kill himself. 

So, in support of authoritarianism,  Socrates bumped himself off. By now you might be wondering how wise he really was. 

History describes worse forms of government than democracy. 

To be fair, I suspect Socrates lacked access to the big picture. He hadn't read much about the Bronze Age, other than one or two long poems about the Hittites and their allies. To him Troy was ancient history. 

Friday, March 8, 2024

Wang

 If you like classical piano, look up Yuja Wang on YouTube. 

Boy, have I had a bad cold.