The May We Live In Interesting Times Edition – For Thursday

Cross-Posted at Really? Seriously?

Good morning from my Hunker-Bunker overlooking the Puget Sound in West Seattle. Not to be confused with Seattle proper — that’s an animal of an entirely different color. We’re the people responsible for giving you Pramila Jayapal, while at the same time voting in a sensibly-conservative city council-critter. I have a die-hard Trump supporter neighbor to the left of me and a card-carrying uber-Liberal-Elite living to the right of me. They are the best of friends. Our block parties are LIT.

My Echo Dot tells me that the current weather is 47° F with a forecast of sunny and a high of 63°F. My sun umbrella is already out and ready to go. It is now 0700 hrs and there is a slight breeze with the smell of the salt water wafting up here… sigh

I love the early calm of the morning. The cat is snoring next to me, and the foot heater under my desk is humming with a comfortable blast of heat. Out my window is the Puget Sound below me with Bremerton and the Olympic mountains in the distance. I need to wash my fucking windows…

My plan today is to sit here and put in a major effort to finish my SQL project. There are no distractions around me and I am motivated to get this done, finished, and put into action.

But first, the news…

Headlines That Caught My Eye This Morning

Item 1: Netanyahu iced pre-approved plans for immediate Iran reprisal after Biden call

I know that there are a lot of you who are clamoring for a brutal Israeli response to Iran. Lindsey Graham is giddy with excitement at the prospect.

Iran probably deserves a proper wakeup response. One that would certainly get their attention. But whatever it is, it should be proportional to Iranian attack.

The question is, does Israel attack to deter, punish, or both?

The majority of the world seems to indicate that Israel should temper its response, defer a response, or maybe not respond at all. The reason is that the sane people of the world don’t want to see a greater, regional war, because it will quickly become global. This doesn’t end well. We are on the hook to defend Israel against attack, but we are NOT bound help them in any wars of their own making.

THIS particular incident was a war of Israel’s making. They unilaterally bombed an embassy of a sovereign nation in another sovereign nation, under the protection of Russia. The Iranians killed were worthy of dying — you would get no argument from me, but there are certain targets that are considered out-of-bounds, and that is typically the head of state, diplomatic corps embassies, hospitals, the UN, aid workers, journalists… Israel seems to fail on a few of those international conventions.

Was anyone surprised that Iran might be a bit perturbed over that attack?

Let’s get one thing straight: Iran is guilty of playing fuck-fuck in the region, and was/is instrumental in the current Israel/Gaza mess. The fucknozzle generals that earned their 72 virgins were part of the planning of the October 7th attack. Or at least that is the official version we are being told. We may find out years later that something entirely different was going on, but we’ll go with what we know now, this moment in time. Iran is dirty and needs a comeuppance. A good bitch-slap or few. Like I said, no argument from me on that front.

But does that mean Israel MUST immediately respond with full force and anger? Most countries are saying no, and maybe not at all. After all, the end result of this attack was really nothing more than a spectacular fireworks show, with very little of it actually reaching Israel. Iran got to save face, and Israel proved that Iran is really no great match for Israel.

If I were Israel, I would defer a response. If Iran feels emboldened by this, then smack them back into reality.

Right now, Israel needs to shore up the allies that are threatening to withhold support if Israel chooses to continue its military responses when they are being advised restraint. Nobody wants to see a wider war.

Item 2: Some Biden aides refer to Trump as ‘Hitler Pig’

Hitler has become a cartoon of the man he was. Everyone we don’t like is “Hitler”, or “Hitler-like”. Everyone is now a “NAZI”. Ironically, we now have “Jewish-Nazis”. In a generation or two, the Republican/Democratic Nazi Party will be the evil history taught in school — if such things still exist in sixty years.

“Hitler”? No. The more you compare people you don’t like with the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, et al, the more you cheapen the history of those people and events.

Trump is no Hitler. He hasn’t the brains or skillset. He can mimic Hitler in the way speaks in the language of nationalism and blame, but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s basic theatrics taught in any drama class. It’s stage presence and production. But more importantly, it’s all about the camera angle, and how it is portrayed to people viewing it on a screen.

Trump portrays himself as a ‘businessman’. The reality is that he’s been an entertainer for the twenty-something years prior to his decent down his golden escalator in 2015 to announce that Mexico was sending it’s rapists and other criminals across the border, and by golly, he was going to run for president to save America and make it Great again. (Oh, and lock her up, she’s a criminal)

“Pig”? Sure, I’ve seen the caricatures.

It’s easy to draw the comparison, both figuratively and literally. It is what it is.

You could (and probably do) caricaturize Joe Biden in similar ways. The possibilities are endless, and a lot of them are hilarious. Many are spot-on, just like the Trump-Pig above. Politicians of all stripes throughout world history have been caricaturized and / or lampooned without mercy.

Item 3: Senate kills Mayorkas impeachment trial, votes both articles ‘unconstitutional’

Most Republicans didn’t feel this ‘impeachment’ was real. The “laws” that are alleged to have been ‘broken’ have already been run past the Supreme Court and shut down. This is the reason the Senate spent all that time to come up with a bipartisan immigration bill that would allow the administration to ‘shut down the border’ to further asylum and migration. The people who voted for the impeachment were the same ones who didn’t want to actually GIVE the Homeland Security Secretary the tools to actually DO what they were demanding he do. There was no crime of any kind committed here, high or misdemeanor.

Item 4: Kennedy family to endorse Biden in show of force against RFK Jr.

Like I give a flying fuck who the Kennedy family endorses. Or the Bush family or Clintons, or Obamas. I don’t care who the Adam’s family likes, or the Lincolns or the Garfields. Especially not those Fords, those cunts.

Seriously? Robert F. Kennedy Jr has been pretty much estranged from his family for a LONG time. I’d be more suspicious if any of them were endorsing him.

I love how he just recently ‘turned down’ the idea of running as the Libertarian candidate. He also just recently ‘turned down’ running as Trump’s VP, which was especially interesting considering that nobody on the Trump campaign ever considered talking to him, which is probably the same for the Libertarian Party. It’s easy to claim he’s ‘turned down’ something in order to make his own candidacy appear to be more real than it actually is.

Sooner or later, we are going to hear that he’s ‘turned down’ the idea of actually running for president.

Item 5: Trump campaign asks for cut of candidates’ fundraising when they use his name and likeness

This isn’t ‘news’. Trump has always insisted that people pay him for the use of his name and/or likeness. He’s even gone as far as to try and trademark his name and likeness so he can sell licenses for the use.

Item 6: Mike Johnson sets up weekend showdown on foreign aid bills

I will be amazed if it actually happens before they try to remove him from his seat. Democrats will quickly step in and save his narrow ass, but not without a price.

It could get even worse for Republicans if they try to push him out of the Speaker’s seat. It could literally hand the House over to the Democrats.

Either scenario isn’t exactly ideal for Republicans at the moment, should they choose to oust Johnson from the Speakership.

Item 7: Sick of Your Blue State? These Real Estate Agents Have Just the Place for You.

South Carolina. Ugh. I don’t think I could get that sick of my blue state to voluntarily relocate to South Carolina, of all places on the map. Especially not the God’s Green Earth that they want to socially engineer in South Carolina. That may be someone’s preference, and God bless ’em for it, but it’s not on my journey’s itinerary. Besides, my blue state’s politics is seasonal, just like the weather. We are swinging Rightward at the moment. We are still solidly in the blue, but within ten years we will be back in the Red again for a while.

It is entirely possible we may wind up with a Red Governor this time around. Mike Ferguson, our current Attorney General, is running as a Democrat, because thankfully, Jay Inslee is ‘retiring’ from politics.

Item 8: Americans check their phones 144 times a day: How you can break bad digital habits

I have two smartphones. TWO of them. One I keep here on my Hunker-Bunker desk, charged up but off, and the other I carry with me at all times. Unless I forget it at the office, or here at home, which happens at least once or twice a week. Guess where my phone is right now? I don’t know, I haven’t seen it since yesterday — in my office.

I use my phone as a camera 99 percent of the time. I take photos of everything. They instantaneously show up here on whatever computer I’m on, because my desktop and other data files are stored on OneDrive, and my phone saves all my photos to OneDrive. It’s brilliant.

If you try to call me on the phone, I will never know. Sorry. Unless you are in my contact list, your phone call will end up in dead space. My phone will not ring, nor vibrate. You can leave no message that I will ever hear, because my phone carrier doesn’t store phone messages not on my contact list.

Text? I don’t text. I block a lot of shit that I don’t recognize.

I have email. I check that all the time, just not from my phone.

The bottom line: I use my phone like it was a screwdriver or any other tool. I have all our wifi thermostats on my phone, I can tell when zones are out of range and adjust. I have equipment online that will send me information that I can check. It’s a tool, nothing more.

Item 9: Woman Called Cops Over Bad Batch Of Meth

Well, LOOK at her. Would YOU sell her meth if you were in that sort of business plan?

Item 10 Airline executives predict a record summer and even more demand for first class

I can tell you that OUR forecasts are looking quite good for all of our properties. We are spiffing ourselves up in anticipation of a very good nine months…

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

What In The Hell Did I Just Watch?

Baby Reindeer – Netflix

[…] Over four and a half years, the woman sent him 41,071 emails, 350 hours’ worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters, and a variety of weird gifts, including a reindeer toy, sleeping pills, a woolly hat and boxer shorts. She obsessively stalked Gadd outside of his home, workplace, and on stage in comedy clubs, even going as far as harassing his loved ones, including his parents and a trans woman he started dating.

Based on a true story