Oh, you want to talk politics?

Leftovers & links #38
Click any image to engorge.

From my email outbox:

Oh, you want to talk politics?
I hold these truths to be self-evident:
People who aren’t white are people. Women are people, and fetuses aren’t. People are people, no matter what gets a person hard or wet, no matter their religion or lack thereof, no matter their net worth, age, heredity, abilities or disabilities. Even people who aren’t Americans are people, and all people deserve an equal crack at the marvelous bounties of the Earth and human society.
The rich don't deserve more rights than the poor, so all people have rights to free speech, free education, free health care, free help when it's needed, and free justice.
Freedom is awesome, and should not be denied without a damned good reason. But also, freedom is not the most important or only thing that matters.
Killing people ought to be avoided. Just plain cruelty should also be avoided.
Yeah, I think that about covers it.
Now, if you want to tell me I'm full of crap on some political issue, by golly let’s go at it, but if you dispute these basics of human decency, then you're not a decent human, and we have nothing to talk about.

That’s a message I sent to a self-described “conservative” who wanted to argue about abortion and other asshole political points, three weeks ago. Since then, silence.

I guess he disputes the basics, and we have nothing to talk about.

♦ ♦ ♦

File this under "sure looks shady."

The Cleveland Ex-Indians’ newly-announced name, Cleveland Guardians, was already in use by a roller derby team, so the baseball team is apparently attempting to simply swipe it.

♦ ♦ ♦

The SEPTA rape case shows Americans eagerly believe the worst about cities.

A woman was raped on a Philadelphia commuter train. Police said that witnesses only watched, offered no help, and did not call 911.

But, on Thursday, the prosecutor in charge of the case, Delaware County district attorney Jack Stollsteimer, said in a news conference that the narrative that a bunch of people had “watched this transpire and took videos of it for their own gratification” is “simply not true. It did not happen. We have security video from SEPTA that shows that was not the truth.”

This is a rerun of the common but false claims that all her neighbors ignored Kitty Genovese's screams and did nothing during her murder.

Authorities often lie, and journalists — whose job is supposed to involve skepticism — often present whatever the authorities say as if it’s true, simply because authorities said it.

Some skepticism is always warranted.

♦ ♦ ♦

Some days I put a lot of effort into what I write here. Other days I just bang something out and hit ‘post’.

I’m not sure which days the writing is better, or whether any of it’s worth reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

Dang it, I saw Casino at the California Theater. That should be enough to make the place historically significant.

The California is a nice old art deco movie palace in Berkeley, and it's been closed for COVID, but now it's announced that the theater won’t reopen. Not because Landmark wants to close it, but because the owner has other uses in mind, and won’t renew the lease.

I'm sure a Starbucks and strip mall will do very well at that location.

♦ ♦ ♦

I worry that the cat doesn’t drink enough water. Which is stupid, because she's a grown cat with a million years of instinct, so of course she drinks plenty of water.

There’s always clean H2O in her bowl, but in a year and a half with this cat I’ve never actually seen her drink the water. For all I know, it’s just evaporating, so it was good news when her water dish was empty one morning. I’d filled it the day before, though, so suddenly I had the opposite worry. Is something wrong, something making the cat extra thirsty?

Next morning, her water dish was empty again, but this time I noticed that the oversized pad under her water dish was wet like a loaded sponge. You could hear it gurgle if you stepped on it. I therefore conclude that she’s not drinking the water, she’s tipping the water dish over.

Meow, man. Cats are complicated.

Now the cat has a new water dish — an old spaghetti pot I never use any more, which weighs more than the cat does. She’d have to work pretty hard to knock it over, but like me, I think she'd rather nap than work.

♦ ♦ ♦

A highway where trucks work like electric trains.

♦ ♦ ♦

I haven't made a Halloween pumpkin in decades. Do most people save the innards and make a pie, or do they just toss the pumpkin guts?

I'm certainly not carving a pumpkin in 2021, but still, inquiring minds want to know ...

♦ ♦ ♦

Asian-American women in early film, mostly forgotten.

♦ ♦ ♦

The stairway to Heaven is only an illusion.

♦ ♦ ♦

My pledge to you: On this website there will be no links to Fox News, the New York Post, or any of a thousand other mysteriously well-funded right-wing bullshit ‘news’ sources.

♦ ♦ ♦

Mystery links — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:

—①—

—②—

—③—

♦ ♦ ♦

Sincere tip 'o the hat to:

• Becky Jo

• Dave S.

• BoingBoing

• Captain Hampockets

• Follow Me Here