What’s It Gonna Be?

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The Supreme Court ain’t so supreme, of late.

Maybe it has always benefited from a certain undeserved mystique- its members aren’t gods, after all, just human beings tasked with important work. Justices over the years have produced many landmark decisions seemingly based on a sincere and fair treatment of testimony and applicable law, even charting new ground from time to time, especially when it comes to human rights and bodily autonomy.

Lately, though, there seems to be some backsliding. More suspicion, more doubt, more finger pointing in the direction of a hand-picked conservative majority on a mission to, oh, I don’t know, tighten things up, bring us back to a “better” place that pleases straight, white Christians everywhere.

In the midst of the Trump mess, the court seems to not want to stick its neck out and abide by the 14th Amendment provision of forbidding insurrectionists from running for office. Though he hasn’t been accused yet, many know what Trump did and who and what he really is, and how dangerous he has become.

So maybe it comes down to how closely the court adheres to the letter of the law, along with its efforts to reel in the temptation to react to certain public sentiment, and to what many are seeing with their own eyes: Trump running roughshod over, and even making a mockery of certain norms that have long served as guardrails.

Sometimes it looks like nothing can be done to make him go away.

Not Exhaustive

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Daily writing prompt
Write your guide to setting healthy boundaries in relationships.
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Work on creating a culture of trust. Laugh often. Give each other the benefit of the doubt, at least in the beginning. Recognize that the other is a one-of-a-kind human being with their own origin story. Listen to the stories. Check in, but not so often that it gets annoying. Do an unexpected nice thing every now and then. Give each other space. Support each other in their aspirations. Push each other from time to time, but not constantly. Be realistic. Relax. Don’t be in a hurry to move on to The Next Thing. Enjoy each other’s company. Breathe.

And a Peace Deal To Boot!

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Call me whatever you want, but I’m glad the UFC thing is over. This is the kind of great programming one can look forward to with a Paramount Plus subscription.

It must have been the best way to cap off a great 80th birthday for the loser who has everything but a soul and the world’s respect. I hear there’s a chance the gaudiness may stay put on the South Lawn for a while, or as long as Trump resides in the White House. That’s just great.

It’s pretty easy to hate the guy, especially when he uses the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool as backdrops for cheap gladiator bullshit and turns the residence grounds into some sort of warped carnival. He’s certainly leaving his mark, not dissimilar to skid marks in a pair of his oversized briefs.

Freedom 250? It’s likely not gonna get any better than this. Theirs is a skewed vision. Trump and the rest have no idea what freedom really means.

Misled

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They’re stringing us out. Donald Trump and the rest of the crew say things that keep us listening. They will, for example, point to the downward trend in gas prices (at least here in northeastern PA) and claim this to be a win for all. But is it, really?

Is our continued addiction to fossil fuels a good thing, or simply the result of a powerful lobby that still gets its way because enough members of Congress—and the POTUS—are beholden to their deep pockets?

I’m growing weary of hearing the litany of troubles the average consumer is facing, which includes high gas prices. Isn’t anyone else tired of having to deal with a commodity as fickle as gasoline and diesel? Haven’t we had enough of the volatility, and the pollution, and being held hostage by an administration that has nixed mandates on fuel efficiency and loosened restrictions on pollution standards to the point of advocating for an anthracite comeback?

Their environmental stance is really no stance at all, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the canary has been laying in the bottom of the cage for a while now, soon with Xs in its eyes. We can’t go on like this. We can’t keep filling our tanks and simultaneously run on empty.

Donald Trump and the fossil fuel industry want to be our junkies, keep us placated with a supply of refined, anaerobically decomposed plant remains and other organic matter from eons ago. If it were up to them—and thus far it seems to be—there would be nary a mention of any other energy source. We shouldn’t let that happen anymore.

Meh

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Daily writing prompt
Do you think humans will ever colonize Mars? What would life there actually look like?
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I don’t really care. If we do, we do. I’m just not sure what purpose it will serve, other than proof that we could do it. There are most likely visionaries who can see all sorts of benefits, or vendors and manufacturers with dollar signs in their eyes, but colonization would be only for those who could afford it, were handpicked to propagate our species, and who could stand the 7-9-month trip, based on current modes of propulsion.

It’s cynical, I know, but I don’t see the value. And quality of life would be assessed in a different way, couched in a certain amount of restraint and restriction, since the Martian atmosphere is much thinner and colder and harsher than Earth’s.

I’m not a big proponent, but there are those who figure that we’re doing a fine job of messing up our current planetary home, so we best develop a Plan B. If there were important learnings that could benefit us back here on Earth, I might soften the skepticism a bit.

A million of ’em

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite meme?
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There’s one with the Dos Equis guy that has a picture of him with the words, “I don’t often crop pictures, but when I do…” and the last line is unreadable.

There’s a short video clip of a woman fresh from a dentist appointment who can’t close her eye and has a droopy lip. I laugh every time I see it, and that’s without the sound turned on.

Another is a picture of a young, attractive couple who must be candidates for a home improvement show or something, with the caption, “I walk iguanas and my wife sells umbrella insurance from home. Our budget is $2.1 million.”

And from the El Arroyo sign, somewhere in Texas: “What if soy milk is just regular milk introducing itself in Spanish?”

There are so many.

Sunset… Sunrise

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a cultural tradition from another country that you wish existed in yours?
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Maybe Midsommar, or Midsummer. I remember my Mom and Dad returning from their trip to northern Sweden and talking about how on the day they arrived, they got to celebrate the festival with some of the long-lost relatives they had traveled there to visit.

It was June, maybe mid-June, and they were far enough north that the sun set for only a few minutes before it came back up again. There was much frivolity and food and merriment, and it sounded like something that would be highly anticipated every year.

Of course, if we adapted it for this neck of the woods, the sun’s disappearance and return wouldn’t be quite as dramatic. But I think we could replicate the rest of it.

Well, we’d also have to have a vacation cottage to head off to. Many over there have a place for a summer getaway.

Disregard Like No One’s Ever Seen Before…

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So, a lake in Arizona suffered a 100% loss of its fish population. Well, that doesn’t sound normal. Severe drought and mandatory water releases from a nearby dam are the culprits.

Elsewhere, Katy Tur catalogued a number of water issues and heat-related abnormalities which, let’s face it, aren’t abnormal anymore. Lack of snow for run-off, low water levels in the Colorado River, on which 40 million depend, including farmers who won’t be plowing and planting for the foreseeable future. Apparently, there’s a large current system in the Atlantic Ocean that’s about ready to collapse, and an unusually powerful El Nino is taking shape.

Sadly, we are nowhere near ready to deal with any of this. All of these things and more have been threatening us for a while. The foundation started eroding long before the Trump disaster began unfolding. But I have to believe that this administration’s total disregard for the environment can’t be helping. Other than grassroots efforts, there’s no momentum in the direction of addressing the obvious challenges before us, and it’s beginning to look like the window of opportunity is closing quicker than predicted.

This is shaping up to be an apocalyptic summer, and Donald Trump and company couldn’t care less.

Get It Right The First Time

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We’re having doors replaced at the front of our house. At one point, there was talk of tackling the job ourselves, but after yesterday, we’re glad it didn’t work out that way. We’re glad for the guy who’s actually doing the work—he appears to be something of a perfectionist and put in a long day prepping the opening and getting the main door installed and square before he went home.

Hanging a door is, I guess, something that can be straightforward and relatively easy when compared to other aspects of home building or renovation. But there is still a list of things one has to take into consideration and get right, including squareness within the opening—assuring that when one looks at the closed door a few days after installation, there is still equal amounts of light showing around the top and sides.

A shim here, a shim there, no small amount of tweaking. Details, details, but who wants to look at a crooked door for the next 25 years?

Soundtrack

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a song that always puts you in a good mood?
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Song names aren’t coming to me yet, but probably something singable, tuneful, maybe with a beat and some now-familiar riffs that strike a chord within, and maybe get the body moving and toes tapping.

Nothing current, probably something from the late 60s, early- to mid-70s from The Beatles or Steely Dan or Chicago– Here Comes the Sun, Bodhisattva, Beginnings, respectively. Maybe Your Mama Don’t Dance, from Loggins and Messina, or Crazy Little Thing Called Love, from Queen, released in 1979.

Something like that.

Quite A Show

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Daily writing prompt
What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?
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Thunderstorms. I think I’ve just outgrown the fear and understand them better. Anymore and for quite a while now, I’ve found them intriguing and awesome, but still something to be respected. It’s not wise to be cavalier when lightning is involved.