Cranky Old Man #88
a frothy mix of leftovers and links

Weapons companies boast Ukraine-Russia tensions are a boon for business

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Amid the GOP's national campaign to purge "leftist ideology" from public schools, local officials across the nation are now banning certain books that deal with race, sex, and gender, from school shelves.

There's always some middle-of-nowhere burg trying to ban something from the library, but Republicans in 2022 have made censorship a key strategy.

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A Tennessee school board votes to ban Art Spiegelman's acclaimed graphic novel Maus, which depicts his father's experiences as a holocaust survivor.

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Militarized dolphins protect almost a quarter of the US nuclear stockpile

Militarized dolphins. Jesus H, that's evil.

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Big cars and trucks and SUVs are killing Americans

Over the long term, we have to shift our focus from blaming individuals when they are struck by cars — “Did you look both ways?” — to addressing the systemic factors that put them at risk. The government can no longer allow the auto industry to treat walkers and bikers like collateral damage.

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Trump for Dummies: Behind that link, there's a broad, easy-to-grasp overview of Donald Trump's scheme to steal the 2020 Presidential election.

CNN reported last week that the scheme was overseen by Trump campaign officials, led by Giuliani. This wasn't something organic that just happened out of nowhere on the state level.

Everything about this is illegal, of course, and Trump and all his henchmen ought to be prosecuted. Sadly, that's a sentence repeated often, to no avail.

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'Reckless' lack of vaccines for poorer countries ensures a steady flow of new COVID variants

They are asking ministers to support moves to waive the intellectual property rights on Covid vaccines, so that developing countries can manufacture their own versions…
So far the UK and the EU have opposed the temporary lifting of patents on COVID-19 vaccines. The US surprised the world by supporting the move in May 2021 and the World Health Organization (WTO) is also in favor.

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Federal judge cites climate crisis in decision to cancel oil and gas leases in Gulf of Mexico

This is an intelligent court ruling, but…

Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz told CNN that the department was reviewing the decision...

And...

Scott Lauermann, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, told CNN it is reviewing the "disappointing decision" and that the group is considering its options.

Which means it'll probably be appealed. If it is, and it reaches the Supreme Court — where freedoms go to die — it'll be overturned.

Sigh... It's depressing to say this, so usually I don't, because nothing you or I say or do matters in the slightest, but here's a truth: Western Civilization is ending now, while you're surfing the web.

The climate is changing, catastrophically, and our lifestyle of convenient access to fresh and frozen produce, electricity and hot water at the turn of a knob, and the reliable lack of a hurricane, flood, or wildfire destroying your house and your city, is less tenable today than a week or a year ago.

Soon it won't be feasible at all. The only thing in doubt is how soon 'soon' will be.

If oil and gas leases in Gulf of Mexico are canceled, 'soon' might be postponed by a few months. Either way, though, hell is coming, and soon.

In fifty years, virtually nothing about life as we know it will be available to anyone but the very wealthy and very well-armed.

But you have a great weekend, OK?

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I like movies, but never had any desire to make movies, so to me, Joe-Bob is talking about whatever the hell matters, which might be more than movies. It's less than six minutes, and it's a fine inspirational speech.

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Trying to disappear the poor':

California clears homeless camp near Super Bowl

It happens before every Super Bowl, every major convention. That's the only time homeless people matter to the people who do matter, and all that matters is that they not be seen for a week. After that, the homeless and impoverished will be ignored, as usual.

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People no longer believe working hard will lead to a better life, survey shows

Working hard leads to a worse life. That's obvious, just from looking at the world.

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Some transit systems have done away with fare gates, and instead verify that passengers have paid by having cops or cop-like personnel roam the trains, demanding proof of payment from random passengers.

I'm a complete geek for public transit, but fare-checking cops have always made me uncomfortable — same as any other kind of cops. It seems less than constitutional to me, and to this guy who's suing.

When the three officers got on the bus and asked for [proof of] payment, Meredith initially told them he had it, according to court documents. But, after patting his pockets, he did not have an ORCA card or receipt. The officers ordered him to exit and followed him off the bus. Under questioning, Meredith gave the officers a fake name. When the name did not appear in any databases, police identified Meredith using a fingerprint device and found he had outstanding warrants. The officers arrested him on suspicion of making false statements.

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Amazon has disbanded the Twitter army it paid to tweet about how great Amazon is

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One-word newscast:

• cops

• cops

• elections

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

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Sing along with Doug:
♫♬ "Sad Joy"
Manfred Mann ♫
Tip 'o the hat:
All Hat No Cattle • Linden Arden
BoingBoing • Captain Hampockets
Follow Me Here • John the Basket
LiarTownUSA • Messy Nessy Chick
National Zero • Ran Prieur
Vintage Everyday • Voenix Rising
Extra special thanks:
Becky Jo • Name Withheld • Dave S.
and always, Stephanie
1/28/2022
Cranky Old Man