Hump Day News and Stupid Commentary

Cross-posted at Really? Seriously?

Good morning from my office perched between two stadiums in Seattle. It is my Friday, and I’ve been here since about 0200, replacing can lights in the restaurant, and zapping myself with 277 volts with a regularity. Fun stuff, but I am finished with it. I probably could have let our engineering staff take care of it, but they are currently at our Broadway property installing a new Make-Up Air Unit. Besides, I enjoy the puttering.

Now that I am done with that project, I can get back to my real work: designing an SQL-Server tracking database for all of our equipment assets.

But first, the news.

I had some guy by the name of “Bob” complain that he didn’t like my commentary, and that he was never going to come back. Gee, that just hurt my little feelings.

I’m sorry, but in case none of you haven’t figured it out yet, I am not spending any time actually reading the articles here. I’m just opining off the top of my head (or out of my ass)

Headlines That Caught My Eye This Morning

Item 1: Biden visits his Pennsylvania hometown to call for more taxes on the rich and cast Trump as elitist

The word “elitist” sure gets tossed around a lot — and usually in places where it doesn’t quite fit.

Is Trump an ‘elitist’? IMHO – NO. He’s more of a con artist that has simply gotten away with far more than he ever should have gotten away with in his life, and it is just now starting to catch up to him.

Item 2: Melania The Witness?

It certainly would explain where she’s been all of this time.

It would be interesting if she did become a witness against her husband, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Item 3: Momentum builds to oust Johnson from House speakership

It is really about the only thing that Republicans have been able to ‘accomplish’ in this past session: shit-canning their own leadership. The question is, can they really afford to remove another Speaker from their ranks?

Typically, if a person quits or is removed as Speaker of the House, they almost immediately resign their seat. Can Republicans afford to lose another body?

The answer is NO. If they lose any more members, the House will go into Democratic hands, and then maybe something can be salvaged from this session of ‘do-absolutely-nothing Congress’.

Item 4: Michigan Democrats win special elections, regain full control of state government

Abortion and pot. If Abortion and/or pot is on the ballot, then you can expect a landslide for Democrats. It is, what it is.

Item 5: Combatting cannibalism and jailing librarians: Idaho Democrats see opportunity in extreme GOP agenda

Okay. The word “cannibalism” is what drew my attention to this headline.

Is there a serious problem with Right wing cannibalism in Idaho right now?

Item 6: Tesla reportedly halts ALL Cybertruck deliveries due to fatal flaw that causes EV to accelerate to top speeds

I have absolutely NO idea who ever thought that this ‘cybertruck’ of Tesla was anything special. It has got to be the ugliest thing since Citreon first came out with a vehicle that looked almost exactly like this.

Ford, GM, and even Dodge have been able to come out with electric pickups that look … well, like pickups. They also seem to have less problems than have been reported by Cybertruck owners — whoever the fuck they are. (I don’t know anyone stupid enough to want one of these monstrosities.)

Item 7: More adults being diagnosed as neurodivergent. What does it mean for modern workplaces?

I think that we are probably ALL on ‘the spectrum’ to some degree.

Item 8: Whistleblower says Boeing should stop production of 787 Dreamliner due to safety issue

Seattle has always been the “Home of Boeing”. But when Boeing merged with McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, a really strange thing happened: the Boeing board was desolved, and McDonnell-Douglas’ board took over. Boeing headquarters was moved to Chicago and away from the actual manufacturing plants.

Boeing went from a company that was operated by Engineers to a company that was operated by MBAs — and from there, the quality went downhill fast.

I personally knew a few electricians on the 747 line in the Everett plant who were methamphetamine addicts. Many others were into cocaine and heroin, and pot was everywhere.

Item 9: Ohio man, 81, is charged with murder for shooting dead female Uber driver who was called by a scammer to pick up parcel outside his home

I have some mixed feelings about this story.

On the one hand, the guy shot and killed this woman when his life and/or well-being was never in jeopardy. This woman was NO threat to him — he had every opportunity to step back, turn around, and go into his house, lock the door and call the police. Instead, he chose to confront the woman with a firearm, and when she tried to explain why she was there, he wasn’t listening. He felt that she was one of the people who had been allegedly hassling him, and he wasn’t going to let her ‘get away with it’.

What screwed him was that while he had every opportunity to call the police before he fired the first of three shots, and he didn’t. He didn’t call the police until after he had shot her for the last time.

Why do I have mixed feelings on this one?

The guy is eighty-one years old, and has reported that he has been ‘harassed’ by someone, and cannot come up with any real evidence of that fact, which tells me that he may be suffering from dementia.

At any rate, the guy probably should never have had a gun in his mental condition.

There. That’s it for today. I know, I pretty much ‘phoned this in’ today, but I am tired and I’ve been here since before you got up this morning.

See? There’s a reason why I usually call this “stupid news and commentary”.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.