Time to weigh in on TayTrav, or whatever the cutesy shorthand is.

Good for them, if they’ve found something in each other! I just hope Taylor isn’t headed for another song about another heartbreak. If that happens, then it’s not all bad news for her—she’ll cash in a couple times with an original release and then a remake, maybe even develop another whole movie about this latest not-so-private romance.

Sorry for the snark—it’s hard not to have had enough of the mindless stargazing and spectacle and saturated coverage. Enough is enough when it comes to Taylor Swift, but at least we’ve been treated to a fluffy diversion to the rest of the news.

And the curmudgeon signs off.

Vladimir Putin and people like him are useless in the world. Not exactly model citizens, but instead power-hungry relics, motivated by old, stale visions of greatness. They talk in riddles and not-so-veiled threats. They don’t value the lives of the people they govern, but see them only as servants, as available bodies, unworthy or incapable of making decisions for themselves. They can’t envision a world in which nations at least try to get along. They are suspicious, bent on calling the shots, intoxicated by the thought of staying in power until they die.

Putin in particular appears to have a bone to pick with the U.S., but get in line, buddy. And of course he’s now making threats toward Finland, since they are close by and have become part of NATO.

The concessions we’re forced to consider. I wonder if the leadership of Finland really wanted to become a part of NATO. But what choice did they have, really?

It’s a shame things have developed the way they have, nations not trusting each other, always spending outlandishly and unforgivably on defense and armaments and implements of war, having to make decisions not based on growing an economy or providing for the flourishing of its citizens, but more often influenced by what needs to be in place in case the shit hits the fan.

Speaking of spending outlandishly and unforgivably, North Korea is in the news again, because it fired its latest long-range missile, as a warning, I guess, after talks between the U.S and South Korea. Heavy sigh.

What is their deal, anyway? What is their purpose on earth, besides being a weapons depot for China in case things go south in that neck of the woods? What is the argument for spending a substantial amount of its money on war preparations? Or is it just a puppet regime at China’s beck and call, without commerce or trade?

What is North Korea known for besides another wannabe dictator and world player and a growing nuclear arsenal? What’s left for the population, for the North Korean citizenry itself? Are they all automatons, just scraping by so its leaders can focus on “more important” things, like nuclear warheads and such?

Wow, we humans are fucked up.

I feel no compunction to multi-task, and I don’t necessarily see it as a virtue.

I focus on one thing at a time. If I’m cooking a meal, I don’t have any urge to go do a load of laundry or catch up on reading or neaten up the living room. I am perfectly OK with tending to the task at hand.

I don’t know why this is. Maybe I’m not easily bored, maybe it’s how I’m built and wired. Maybe it’s because I see others around me who can’t sit still for more than five minutes and who always need to feel like they’re accomplishing something, using every available minute to its max, and this only hardens my resolve to just not be that way.

There probably is a time and place for being that way, but those days are over for me.

There’s no rewinding of the tape, no taking any of it back. No do-overs. It happened and it can’t be undone. Three hostages killed by friendly fire, in the fog of war, by fellow countrymen. I wonder if there’s more to learn about this story. Probably just more details that will render it an even more hideous and tragic event.

Who couldn’t have seen this coming?

Follow-up re COP28—I guess it’s considered progress when the finished documents and press releases dare to actually mention “fossil fuels” by name– and these as needing to be phased out!

Baby steps and feet-dragging are all we can expect, I guess, especially since the President for the event was the UAE oil chief. Ya, that sounds about right.

Talk about turning the Titanic around.

If this country still exists in 50 years, the history books—or whatever medium is used to convey information—will hopefully include a chapter or two about the state of the Republican party in 2023, and how they thought it wise to pursue impeachment of Joe Biden—you know, out of concern for the letter of the law and all.

The books will hopefully, without hint of snark, reveal that there was no evidence on which to base a decision to spend precious election year time in a pursuit motivated by vengeance and desperation, with tactics designed to distract the electorate and introduce doubt just as they were really deciding who to vote for.

Such a plan was in part born of the appalling lack of substance in the Republican platform, the creaking, decaying, nostalgic pablum that Republicans were wont to push on their favorite news outlet, watched by millions who thought Donald Trump was still a viable candidate for POTUS in 2024.

-The media cover everything, from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the Northern Lights to Donald Trump.

-Does the human capacity for wonder and awe signify anything, mean anything, indicate anything?

-It’s too late to talk about redemption and Donald Trump in the same sentence. Trump is living his life as if that ship sailed a long time ago. No one doubles down as often or as defiantly as he does without already having given up on redeeming themselves or asking for forgiveness. For Trump, it’s full steam ahead with an empty coal car.

-Speaking of fossil fuel… COP28. The theme should have been, “Why bother?”

How can there be any reaction other than blistering anger when one reads of the situation in Texas?

Putting aside whatever spin has been generated, and hoping that the story as Rachel Maddow conveyed it last night is as accurate as it can get, how can anyone stand with Texas—and especially its AG—after hearing about the situation Texas put Kate Cox in?

When she gets back from wherever she went to get the abortion, will she be a marked woman, face criminal proceedings? Will she even come back to live in Texas, will she be told to leave, move to another state?

As the situation was being described last night, I couldn’t help but feel like we indeed have neo-Nazis among us—and not only in Texas, but in every state that has or is hoping to have these oppressive, medieval laws on the books. This is evil, this is conservative religion in all its oppressive, backward, ignorant ugliness.

What’s next? One might assume this story is far from over.

The overturning of Roe v Wade looks more and more like a total misread and ill-advised overreach. Like something conservative Republicans should have known would blow up in their faces, something they should have left alone.

Seems to be a lot of complaining about the refs this season in the NFL. Maybe it’s like a lot of other things lately—either fans and pundits and players are turning into a bunch of whiners, taking the games way too seriously, or the caliber of officiating is dropping off with the gradual influx of new recruits fresh out of training who are getting their feet wet, more prone to missed calls, or maybe more focused on administering the letter of the law, not quite up to speed on how and when to just let the players play.

What about the whole Draft Kings/MGM/name-your-favorite-wagering-concern influencing decisions? Probably not, but it’s a new world with betting becoming so mainstream– sort of raises the stakes.

Or wouldn’t it be something if refs play favorites and find ways to penalize teams and players who piss them off?

Rule are rules. They exist to be followed. Either that, or evaluate the rules from time to time. What about just dispensing with refs altogether and giving the players free reign, letting them police themselves? That should work well.

Shohei Ohtani gets the contract, stays on the west coast, and I’m sure is guaranteed a substantial amount of the $700 million he signs for– you know, in case he ends up being a disappointment from here on out because it turns out he’s injury-prone and has already played the best baseball of his life.

Seven hundred million dollars. Sorry. I can’t summon “good for him” anymore. If an organization has that much money to spend on one person who plays a kid’s game, count me out as a fan. It’s difficult to relate, to not think in terms of fabulously misplaced priorities.

It’s one helluva mortgage. The Dodgers better hope he gets healthy. I’m sure they’ve structured the deal so everybody wins, except maybe the ones who have to pay to get in to see him. And they still have to put a cohesive, productive unit of nine egos on the field.