How Many Olympic Medals Did Rush Limbaugh Bring Home?

I guess immigrants and women of color are too damn busy winning America glory and medals at the Olympics to worry what Republicans / Trump supporters think of them today.

— James (@wetcasements) July 29, 2021

"misfortune and disgrace"

"The post of President is always forced on some particularly noxious and unpopular citizen.  To be elected President is the greatest misfortune and disgrace that can befall an Islander.  The humiliations and ignominy are such that few Presidents live out their full term of office, usually dying of a broken spirit after a year or two.  The Expeditor had once been President and served the full five years of his term.  Subsequently he changed his name and underwent plastic surgery, to blot out, as far as possible, the memory of his disgrace."

-- William Burroughs, Naked Lunch

"technosignatures"

The Galileo Project is looking for intelligent life in our universe, but not through radio or light signals, but rather physical objects:

"Rather than searching for electromagnetic signals, the Galileo Project will search for physical objects associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment, also known as technosignatures.

The project will follow three major avenues of research: obtain high-resolution images of UAP through multi-detector sensors to discover their nature, search and conduct in-depth research on 'Oumuamua-like' interstellar objects, and search for potential ETC satellites.

'It is very important that we keep in mind that the Galileo Project is not for everything, and it is not for everyone,' said Laukien. 'It has a defined scope, and it has limitations,' he added, referring to the project’s aim of only exploring known physics explanations rather than speculating on prior UAPs [unidentified aerial phenomena], alleged observations and informal reports."

It's becoming clearer by the day that the Earth would be better off without humans.  And I love the phrase "technosignature," even though it's klunky as hell.

Are We The Baddies?

No, the Republicans haven't "turned" on vaccination.  They still hate things like science and expertise and empiricism in general.  What's happned is that more folks are (rightfully) willing to say what needs to be said -- if you aren't immunocompromised and haven't gotten the (free, easy to get) shot/s yet, you're the fucking asshole, not us.

Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and the rest of Red America writ large is going to be awash in preventable deaths this coming fall and winter.  No tears will be shed over in this part of rural-ass Bellingham.

"something of narcissism in this"

"It's clear, then, that always our real interest has been not in any particular place, but rather in our ability to get to that place.  It's the process of exploration itself that fascinates us, not the places we explore.  There is perhaps something of narcissism in this.  So, these days we hear all about the asteroids, the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the clouds of Venus, and so on.  These places are the new focus of our interest, of our primal urge to walk over the next ridge and see what's there.  There are the next hardest place to reach, and said to be supremely fascinating, but what will happen when we reach them?

Anyway, now here I am, on the moon.  After the Americans got to it in the twentieth century, they left, and for a long time it rolled in our sky, empty as it had always been.  A bone-white ball of rubble.  Airless, freeze-dried, unlivable, without extractable resources.  Why go back, having been there already?"

-- Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Moon

"that will be inflicted upon lesser beings"

"Silas ran his hand lovingly over the outdoor tomatoes.  One of them, full size and deep red, he picked and weighed in his hand.  'Oxford and Cambridge provide an excellent opportunity to learn, although not better than any well-motivated student can find in a first-class library.  But an Oxbridge education can make graduates feel that they are members of some privileged elite, destined to lead and make decisions that will be inflicted upon lesser beings.  Such elitism must of necessity be based on expectations that are often unfulfilled.  Thus Oxbridge has not only provided Britain with its most notable politicians and civil servants but its most embittered traitors too.'  Silas smiled sadly, as if the traitors had played a long-forgiven and half-forgotten prank upon him."

-- Len Deighton, Spy Sinker

"lunatic contraptions, and some of them worked"

"People escaped in gliders, hang gliders, microlites, and even hot-air balloons,' said Werner helpfully.  He was looking at me with some curiosity, trying to guess why I'd got Lange started on one of his favorite topics.

'Oh, sure,' said Lange.  'No end of lunatic contraptions, and some of them worked.  But only the really cheap ideas were safe and reliable.'

'Cheap?' I said.  I hadn't heard this theory before.

'The more money that went into an escape, the greater the number of people involved in it, and so the greater the risk.  One way to defray the cost was to sell it to newspapers, magazines, or TV stations.  You could sometimes raise the money that way, but it always meant having cameramen hanging around on street corners or leaning out of upstairs windows.  Some of those young reporters didn't know their ass from their elbow.  The pros would steer clear of any escapes the media were involved with.'

'The tunnels were the best,' pronounced Werner, who'd become interested in Lange's lecture despite himself."

-- Len Deighton, Spy Line

Speaking of Conspicuous Consumption

I gotta say, Rich Assholes In Space is my least favorite Netflix of 2021 so far...

— James (@wetcasements) July 20, 2021

Heavy Industry

 

Whatcom County, Washington.

"misrepresented to further a political agenda"

Vox on how the wellness and new-age health industry is kinda sort very racist, and Orientalist in particular:

"Cultural exports are a complex, inevitable result of globalization, and cultural appropriation doesn’t always carry negative effects. As Asian-inspired practices and treatments edge toward the mainstream, the problem isn’t necessarily appropriation. It’s what appropriation can produce: an Orientalist perspective toward non-Western practices that can be misrepresented to further a political agenda.

The process by which this happens is likely familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, although this type of appropriation predates the brand by decades. It usually begins with an influential (usually white) Westerner who encounters a practice with origins in East or South Asia. The person integrates the tradition into their lifestyle, publicly touts its benefits, and helps disseminate a version of the practice to their own community. (Such was the case for acupuncture in 1971, after a New York Times reporter wrote about the benefits of his treatment in China.)"

As always, there's nothing wrong with "borrowing" from other cultures but it takes a hell of lot of work to fully understand the context and history and what you're borrowing.

Of course, read the whole article which is very good and gets into the overlap between right-wing Nazis and ostensibly "left" New Age hippie, anti-vaccine types.

One Thing That I Can Depend On

Along with a new car I've been taking the time to go through my music collection and finally get rid of stuff that I simply don't or have never listened to.  It's still painful, since I don't really collect anything other than books or music, but it's interesting that I left behind at least 150 novels in Daegu and couldn't have cared less.  But for some reason deleting an album from my hard drive always makes me hesitate, even when it's more than likely available on Youtube.

Anyhow, I pared my collection from about 65 gigs down to 60, and that fits somewhat snugly on my new phone.  (I am just filled with the spirit of conspicuous consumption these days.)  I also got rid of iTunes, which felt great.  Over the past decade it's managed to garble and/or murder a lot of albums that I'm going to have a less than easy time replacing.

It's interesting that new cars (my car at least) don't come with CD players any longer.  I spent an hour playing with satellite radio, and I was thoroughly unimpressed.  The thought of a long drive where I'm dependent on someone else's taste in music honestly frightens me more than it should.

Anyhow, as I told some ex-pat friends, I guess I'm an American now, again.  Having my music library all set makes that go down a little smoother than it would otherwise.

"We're part of another world."

"He sipped his brandy and smiled sadly.  'She adores you, of course.  Any fool could see that.  I could see it in her eyes as soon as you walked into the house.  Never takes her eyes off you.  But she's just a child.  She has a life ahead of her.  How old are you? . . .  Over forty, right?'

'Yes,' I said.

'She's determined on this university business.  You'll not persuade her otherwise.  She'll go to college.  And there she'll meet brilliant people of her own age, and because they are at college they'll all end up sharing the same appalling tastes and the same half-baked opinions.  We're old fossils.  We're part of another world.  A world of the dinosaurs.'  He swigged his brandy and poured more.  There was a lot of spite in him.  His friendly advice was really a way of hurting me.  And it was a method difficult to counter.

I said, 'Yes, thanks a lot, Dodo.  But, the way I see it, you are indisputably an old tyrannosaurus, but I'm a young, dynamic, brilliant individual in the prime of life, and Gloria is an immature youngster.'

He laughed out loudly enough to rupture my eardrums, and he grabbed my shoulder to save himself from falling over.

'Zu, darling!' he shouted gleefully and loud enough for her to hear him from the kitchen.  'Where did you find this lunatic?'"

-- Len Deighton, Spy Hook

Graveyard, Empires, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda

If only America could stay in Afghanistan another 20 years and get it right this time...

— James (@wetcasements) July 9, 2021

Yikes

I miss a lot of things about my life in Daegu, but the summer weather isn't one of them.  Those violent storms early in the week are relatively short, and just make everything even more humid and swamp-like.

Everything In America Is O.K.

Was it only four years ago when right-wing pundits were desperate to remind everybody that Trump's victory was a) due to "economic anxiety," not white supremacy and b) was no big deal?

This is unbelievable.  By that I mean, totally believable:

"The book details a phone call the day after the January 6 insurrection between Milley and Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has close military ties. Cheney voted to impeach Trump and has been an outspoken critic of his election lies, leading to her ouster from House GOP leadership.

Milley asked Cheney how she was doing.

'That fucking guy Jim Jordan. That son of a b*tch,' Cheney said, according to the book.

Cheney bluntly relayed to Milley what she experienced on the House floor on January 6 while pro-Trump rioters overran police and breached the Capitol building, including a run-in with Jordan, a staunch Trump ally in the House who feverishly tried to overturn the election.

Cheney described to Milley her exchange with Jordan: 'While these maniacs are going through the place, I'm standing in the aisle and he said, "We need to get the ladies away from the aisle. Let me help you." I smacked his hand away and told him, "Get away from me. You f**king did this.""

An attempted coup is still a coup.

Also, fuck Gym Jordan. 

"You can't just make them disappear"

"'It's the anti-Jewish propaganda that is so wicked.'

'I don't give that any attention.'

'You won't forget that your daughter, Helena, is half Jewish, will you, Peter?'

'It's just their strategy.  Pauli knows these people, and he says that it's only for vote-catching.  Everyone knows that the anti-Jewish nonsense will all be dropped if they get any nearer to a majority in the Reichstag.  In the coming year they'll begin to eliminate it from the program.'

'What program?  They haven't got a program, except hating the Jews.'

'Nothing is going to happen to the Jews, Lottie.  Don't get upset on that account.  Look around you: the German economy would collapse without the Jews.'

'But do the Nazis know that?'

Peter looked at his wife with concern.  He hadn't realized how much the Nazi propaganda affected her.  It was, of course, the presence in Berlin of her parents.  Suddenly she was having to explain to them things she'd previously avoided thinking about.  'Well, anyway,' said Peter in an effort to relax her and end these childish fears.  'How can they get rid of the Jews?  They're Germans; they live here, don't they?  You can't just make them disappear.'"

-- Len Deighton, Winter

Through Yonder Window

Bellingham, Washington.

I call this one "Sunrise Over The Septic Tank."

Red Ones Go Faster

I bought a new car, a red Hyundai Kona baby SUV out of loyalty to South Korea I guess.

Haven't done a lot of driving with it yet, but it's very nice

Now it's time to start looking for some part-time work, which I'm actually looking forward to.

If we can make it through the rest of summer without another historic heat wave, I'll be happy.

English Toast

Well, England made it to the Euro final so color me impressed.

I see no way how they can beat Italy though.

Note: I am always wrong when I make sports predictions.

"palm trees standing like dying prisoners"

"I went up to my room, up the dusty stairs of Bunker Hill, past the soot-covered frame buildings along that dark street, sand and oil and grease choking the futile palm trees standing like dying prisoners, chained to a little plot of ground with black pavement hiding their feet.  Dust and old buildings and old people sitting at windows, old people tottering out of doors, old people moving painfully along the dark street.  The old folk from Indiana and Iowa and Illinois, from Boston and Kansas City and Des Moines, they sold their homes and their stores, and they came here by train and by automobile to the land of sunshine, to die in the sun, with just enough money to live until the sun killed them, tore themselves out by the roots in their last days, deserted the smug prosperity of Kansas City and Chicago and Peoria to find a place in the sun.  And when they got here they found that other and greater thieves had already taken possession, that even the sun belonged to the others; Smith and Jones and Parker, druggist, banker, baker, dust of Chicago and Cincinnati and Cleveland on their shoes, doomed to die in the sun, a few dollars in the bank, enough to subscribe to the Lost Angeles Times, enough to keep alive the illusion that this was paradise, that their little papier-mache homes were castles.  The uprooted ones, the empty sad folks, the old and the young folks, the folks from back home.  These were my countrymen, these were the new Californians.  With their bright polo shirts and sunglasses, they were in paradise, they belonged."

-- John Fante, Ask The Dust

"The sun was very pleasant to lie in"

"'You should bring your wife here,' she said.  'There are a lot of guys around.  Somebody would take her away from you and and when you got over it you'd be a lot happier.'

A croquet ball came rolling down the path from Teddy Blue's house.  It explained the sounds we had been hearing.  Sergei, wearing a pair of old shorts, came strolling after the ball carrying a mallet.  Another ball came down the path and a long-haired boy followed it.  Sergei ignored us and studied the position of this ball.  The long-haired boy studied the position of his ball.  Neither of them spoke.  Finally Sergei hit his ball down a little trail that led away from Leslie's house.

'There are ninety-nine wickets you have to got through,' Leslie said.  'They're all over the Lane.  The one thing you have to remember, if you start coming here, is never to move a croquet ball.  There're a couple of balls down the street that have been where they are for two years.  Everybody's afraid to move them.  The guys who started it may come back some time to finish their game.'

Pauline and Cleo came walking down the path, Pauline still in her nightgown.  They sat on the grass, and Cleo played in her mother's lap.  I lay back on the grass and considered taking a nap.  The sun was very pleasant to lie in.

'He has a bad wife,' Leslie said.  'She won't sleep with him.'

'She must be unhappy,' Pauline said."

-- Larry McMurtry, All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers

"taste, intelligence and culture, (so-called,)"

"The People!  Like our huge earth itself, which, to ordinary scansion, is full of vulgar contradictions and offence, man, viewed in the lump, displeases, and is a constant puzzle and affront to the merely educated classes.  The rare, cosmical, artist-mind, lit with the Infinite, alone confronts his manifold and oceanic qualities -- but taste, intelligence and culture, (so-called,) have been against the masses, and remain so.  There is plenty of glamour about the most damnable crimes and hoggish meannesses, special and general, of the feudal and dynastic world over there, with its personnel of lords and queens and courts, so well-dress'd and so handsome.  But the People are ungrammatical, untidy, and their sins gaunt and ill-bred."

-- Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas

"to warble spontaneous songs"

"Give me nights perfectly quiet as on high plateaus west of the Mississippi, and I looking up at the stars,

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturb'd,

Give me for marriage a sweet-breath'd woman of whom I should never tire,

Give me a perfect child, give me away aside from the noise of the world a rural domestic life,

Give me to warble spontaneous songs recluse by myself, for my own ears only,

Give me solitude, give me Nature, give me again O Nature your primal sanities!"

-- Walt Whitman, "Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun"

Life As A List

One way to think about aging is that you've got this list of things you can do, that you're used to doing, and with the passing of every few months you check a few things off of the list -- too dangerous, too overwhelming, simply impossible.

Of course, older folks aren't stupid.  They realize when you've decided there are things they can't do by themselves any longer -- bathing, de-skinning chicken, pulling weeds around the yard, boiling some eggs.  It hurts to have further and more basic things constantly taken away.

My Dad had a really rough time at the grocery store yesterday.  I'm afraid "going shopping" might get crossed off the list soon.