213 Controlling your thoughts is the most expensive thing
Lots of screencraps to look at today, let's do a speed round.
Where we learn our "go slow" approach is having its intended outcome.
History shows us when a public health effort is mounted to respond to an epidemic, and less people die, society, including the economy, bounces back quicker.
In this instance, "quicker" is looking like two years, and "too quick" is looking like two months.
Of course, it could simply be we're enjoying a longer summer.
Which brings around the subject of the holidays.
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty itching to carry on with some sort of winter visiting with relatives. But I'm not "dying" to do it, so I probably won't.
Meanwhile, after seven months, in which I have seen kids playing in garages, on sports fields, and in the street, the city has decided to open playgrounds.
But of course, the central planners had to dive into the details first.
Also, guessing none of the central planners were under the age of 18. Or even 40.
Although our surgeon general maybe agrees, parks should be open?
And besides, what's the worst that could happen? Kids don't really get that sick.
Sure, they could take it home to an older relative, but as we've seen, pop some Regeneron, and after a weekend, you're good to go.
Or, alternately, get sicker and sicker, turned away from the hospital a few times, then admitted, tubed, in a medical coma for weeks, kidney shutdown, dialysis, and then...? 80% end up dying.
That's what a quarter of a million Americans experienced this year, including my father-in-law, and we may have not seen the worst of it yet.
File under: blew out my gold-embossed flip-flop
Yesterday morning's headline. Sure, we're more than 10% of the country's population, and 15% of the national GDP, but we're not voting for him, so fuck us.
Yesterday afternoon's headline. Evacuations in south city.
This morning's headline. Did he step on a diamelle-encrusted pop top?
Let's take a brief break to look at a kitchen remodel.
The choice to blow out the back wall and replace it with custom steel and glass window/door obviously was huge.
Not so nuts about this choice to reuse a fireplace to hold the sink (guessing there is a dishwasher someplace, because there is no room for a dish rack, or anything else you might want to set beside the sink.)
In general, they went for minimal countertops and cabinets. This gives the kitchen an old school, uncluttered appearance that I kinda love.
Then they hid everything in the pantry, behind this wall of cabinets. (You're looking at a washer/dryer.)
Pretty fucking sweet. This is Europe, of course, where you don't ruin your home's resale value by installing anything less than an industrial-sized walk-in.
And there is that cluttered counter top, hidden away. Love it!
Although, even though I love cooking on gas, my guess is if we ever do a kitchen remodel like this, we'll go induction.
In the meantime, I'll just keep on fucking myself with our "existing infrastructure."
File under: two sides of the same coin
Of course, if you listened to Senator Whitehouse, you would understand religion and abortion are just a smoke screen for money and pollution.
How?
We don't really live in a world of stuff anymore. Yes, stuff and services are real, and you can trade money for them, but the most valuable commodity in the world now is ideas.
Controlling your thoughts is the most expensive thing.
File under: let's make sure we don't go there
It sure looks like we've been in a slow slide into fascism for quite a while. Before 9/11's jingoistic patriotic police state, there were the superpredators of the 90s. And let's not forget the first lockdown, tanks in the street moments of Boston Strong, under O44.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible we are actually sliding out of fascism. As more and more people become aware of our unjust justice system, voter suppression, prison slave labor, gerrymandering, war mongering, election charading, citizen dividing, and dehumanizing, we are seeking a kinder way of being.
And really, in most ways, we have it. People generally live in harmony with each other.
Shit, the other day I was taking care of a sidewalk garden with Deb, in a far flung corner of the city. A houseless guy, stripped to the waist and washing himself with the neighbor's hose, was standing next to our job site, muttering to himself. He didn't leave, or stop talking, but he did move his stuff away from where we needed to work.
Eventually, he finished his washing and disappeared. He was crazy the whole time he was there, but he didn't want any trouble, and neither did we. That is how much people can get along.
One thorny rhino at a time...
("Whoops, did they get that on tape?" asked Senator Seussical.)
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