Goofing off

Some readers have told me the posts are too serious, not funny, too dry.  So, thanks to my friend Bill in North Carolina, here are three items to amuse you:

1.  Kash Patel has a new book out:  50 Shades of Hay.

2.  Headline:  “Fox relieved to learn that Trump is only banning news networks from the White House.”  (That one was from Andy Borowitz.)

3.  Old Soviet Union Joke:  

Guy stops by the news stand every day, scans the front page, doesn’t buy the paper.  One day the vendor asks what he’s up to.

Guy says, I’m looking for an obituary.

Vendor:  Those are toward the back of the paper, comrade.

Guy:  Not the one I’m looking for.

"volunteer my ass off"

Tonight I spoke to a woman whose name I was given as a possible volunteer for the Democratic campaign this fall.  She was so pleased to be contacted and said she was, and I quote, “ready to volunteer my ass off.”  It is that kind of attitude and commitment that will propel Democratic candidates to victory in November. 

Annie Dillard, 1945-2026

Her most famous book was Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, sort of a Walden about her experience with the natural world near Roanoke, Virginia.  Her book that I liked  better was An American Childhood, an account of her growing up in Pittsburgh.  She was one of those kids who read a great deal, loved her neighborhood library, and found the people in her neighborhood to be worthy of respect.  I also found it refreshing that as soon as she had memorized her phone number, she was allowed to roam her neighborhood by herself.  Here in Towamensing Township it seems the kids aren’t allowed to walk a hundred feet from the bus to their front door without a parent meeting them

And here is a factoid that was not in the New York Times obit.  Her dad was an extra in “Night of the Living Dead.”  I don’t know how I know that, but it might have been in mentioned in An American Childhood.  I know I didn’t just make it up.

No need to worry about AI

We live in strange times.  Here is Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders telling us we need to rein in AI.  It is too dangerous and needs to be regulated.  Here are tech bros running AI companies who are sounding an alarm that AI needs to be regulated.

But wait.

Trump said concerns are overblown.  No need to be concerned.  No need to be alarmed.  Fears are overstated.

But wait.

Isn’t that the guy who said global warming is a hoax, who said he would end the Russian war against Ukraine on his first day in office, who said that Covid would be over in weeks, who had a better health plan than Obama, who would end inflation, and who would end the war against Iran in a few days and then in another few days and later in another few days, etc.?  I’m not so sure I want to trust that guy.

Mail-in ballot victory, but we need more

One of the few things I have in common with Trump is that we both vote using mail-in ballots.  For some reason he decided that it was ok for him, but not for me.

Now the Supreme Court has ruled that he does not have the power to prevent states from using a system of mail in ballots.  

He’s mad at the Supreme Court justices he appointed, evidently thinking that since he appointed them, they should follow his wishes.  On the other hand, two justices–Thomas and Alito (not his appointees, just his lap dogs)–voted that the President of the U.S. can arbitrarily mess up voting systems.  

If normal people ever get back into power, one of the structural reforms we will have to make is to fix the Supreme Court.  There are any number of ways to do that, and I won’t go into them here, but it should be high on the agenda. 

James Talarico on Jimmy Kimmel

As probably every reader knows, the FCC Chair, in a move right out of Dictatorship 101, threatened Jimmy Kimmel with legal problems if he interviewed Texas Senatorial candidate James Talarico.  The FCC Chair said that late night TV hosts could not interview political candidates, ignoring the fact that Trump was interviewed on that very show when he was running for president.

So Kimmel put the interview on YouTube.  Please watch it.  Talarico explains his positions, but he is also very funny.  The YouTube video already has over 6 million views.  It should have more.  It is really one of the best political interviews I have seen.

10 Commandments in Texas schools

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9 to 8 that Texas schools can be required to post the 10 Commandments in every classroom.  The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled this to be unconstitutional in the past, but the Fifth Circuit now contains quite a few Trump appointees, six of whom voted with the majority.  

Here is what I don’t get.  Given the behavior of Texas politicians, wouldn’t it be more important to post the 10 Commandments in the halls of the Capitol, in the legislative chambers, in the Governor’s official, and anywhere Ken Paxton does business?