VIOLENT RHETORIC

 Here's what is setting me off today: A few days ago a New Hampshire legislator tweeted “Public Service Announcement: if you see a BLM sign on a lawn it’s the same as having the porch light on for Halloween. You’re free to loot and burn that house.”  (AP wire, 9/7/2020) The same day I saw a headline from Arizona about an armed militia man saying it was "open season" on blacks.  These are not "one-off" remarks.  This is the cult of Trump supporters.  

It is bad enough to have trolls attack you on Facebook or Twitter if any slight is given to the president or the Republican Party.  That has been going on for years.  It is escalating to actual physical altercations.  At the same time I'm seeing reports (from legitimate news sources) of sheriffs and other police officers opting not to enforce laws they disagree with.  This can't end well.

Switching to a separate but related topic, peaceful protests.  Usually, a gathering of protesters is observed by police, ostensibly to protect them, or others, should some law-breaking occur.  That becomes somewhat strained if the protest is against the police.  It is incumbent upon the organizers to maintain a peaceful and lawful demeanor.  They have got to recognize that their group will be infiltrated with those intent upon violent confrontation and they need to have a plan to stop it.  Obviously, that is not happening.  Likewise, they will have counter-protesters.  If BLM is to succeed, they need to follow the example of MLK.  And as for those intent upon burning and looting, lock 'em up.

POLITICAL FERVOR

 Covid-19 has brought about a new normal.  So has the current resident of the White House.  He is modeling for us that lying and outrageous behavior has no consequences.  At the moment, it appears he is mostly correct.  But what has set off this post is the leaked video of Nancy Pelosi getting her hair blown out (I have no knowledge of this term, I'm sure it is in the hair-stylist lexicon).  So I will re-phrase what has happened.

Mrs. Pelosi has crushed her opponents in her district (12th Congressional), garnering 86% of the vote in 2018.  In my mind, that makes her very popular in her district.  She has used the salon for years.  Did the owner think she could trash Pelosi without getting any blow back from the area residents?

Sure, Pelosi has taken a hit, but has counter-punched.  She acknowledges "the buck stops here," but also says she was set up.  Apparently she was, in a manner of speaking.  It turns out, the salon owner has been operating in violation of the health order since April, requiring her stylists to work.  Pelosi was assured by her stylist that they could take one person at a time in the salon.  That is correct is some parts of California, but not San Francisco.

So the owner is getting some heavy criticism.  I'm wondering why her license hasn't been lifted yet.  Maybe a large fine.  Certainly a loss of customers, and probably some stylists.  Given the ways news cycles work, we'll probably not be updated.

On another note, I see scurrilous Steve Scalise doctored a video of a man with ALS and must use an artificial voice to make it sound like he was in favor of defunding the police.  When called out on it, he didn't apologize, didn't remove the video, and managed to blame the democrats.  He won his district with 74% of the vote, so the voters won't turn him out.  Perhaps the House Ethics Committee might look into it.

In any case, if politics is getting you to do something immoral or illegal, perhaps you should step back a little. 

EXCESS STUFF

 At the beginning of the Covid crisis I was askance at the hoarding of toilet paper.  There was some reasonable explanation, in that more people were staying home and not using commercial TP, and because of that, manufacturers had to retool and step up to the demand.  Those of us who didn't hoard had problems when the normal time to stock up came and we couldn't find it.  All of this has little to do with the current post, other than to bring the subject of hoarding to mind.

This tendency to "stock up" is more pronounced in older folks.  Of course, lots of times it's because we acquire stuff that doesn't wear out and who knows when we might need it again.  I've often posted about my collection of bike jerseys.  I now have over thirty.  I think in the thirty-plus years I've been riding, I've only tossed out two.  Some of the oldest ones only get worn once or twice a year, but they're still serviceable.  I have lots of bike socks also.  I have half a dozen brand new that have been waiting their turn for over five years.  Bike shorts wear out.  But I still wear the ones that are fifteen years old (on short rides).

Staying on the sock subject, several years prior to my retirement in 2005 I purchased dress socks, a necessity for work.  I still wear them when the occasion requires.  I have a lifetime of dress socks of various sedate colors.  Mostly I wear white athletic socks, purchased in bulk at Sam's.  These last maybe three or four years.  I my dresser drawer is an unopened package of twelve such pair.  They have been there for three years waiting for the current crew to wear out and be put in the travel drawer (where they will go on the next vacation and never return).  In my underwear drawer I have a rotation of twelve which is usually sufficient to last between laundry days.  Sadly, I have another twelve new ones that have been waiting their turn for a little over a year.  That's not a lifetime supply, but I'm thinking ten years.