We’ve Been Here Before

@nowthisimpact ‘Bueller? Bueller?’ — This iconic scene with Ben Stein might be 37 years old but feels like essential viewing as we all argue about tariffs #taxes #trump #economy #films ♬ original sound - NowThis Impact

ISS Alert!

Jasper and I stumbled out into the wet Sacramento streets for the early-evening walk. Jasper turned unexpectedly on a nearby street. We approached a man standing motionless on the sidewalk there in the dark murk. 

"Do you want to see the International Space Station?" the man asked. He pointed upwards at a bright star - brighter than Venus - moving rapidly northeast across the sky broken with clouds. "Wow!" I said. (I used love watching satellites as a kid.) "How do you know it's the ISS?" "I have this app," he replied. "It dings 15 minutes ahead of time. Usually the ISS isn't quite so bright, but the sun has barely set, so it's catching the full rays of the sun." 

He was beaming and happy to share his interest.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Duck

Matt Gaetz Tapped for Pervert-General

Matt Gaetz for Attorney General! Hard to imagine! It’s like the Jefferey Epstein Child Sex Memorial Act of 2024! Child sex for everyone! 

I enjoy listening to the Tik Tok videos of the Knitting Cult Lady, who grew up in the Children of God sex cult. She says that all organizations run as cults will inevitably degrade into child sex cults, because there is no better way for the cult leader to demonstrate their power. Trump is demonstrating just how that works. 

The Senate used to have leaders, but these days they are just cringey wraiths. They will not resist Trump’s plan. There used to be people in this country outraged by child sex trafficking, but most of them joined Trump’s cult, so they won’t resist either. Republicans will be split on the issue. 

No, once again it’s up to Democrats, and Democrats alone, to remind people that sex with children is immoral and illegal.

A New Tropical Depression

There is a developing tropical depression forming in the Caribbean, likely to be called Sara when it reaches tropical storm strength. Modeling over the last day is fairly consistent, showing the storm meandering for awhile but then breaking free and reaching the west coast of Florida around Wednesday, November 20th. It’s as if Milton and Helene will get together and have a daughter. Something to keep an eye on.

Family Guy in Middle America

@yaoboix Family guy trump 2024 #familyguy #bestmoments #funny #random #trump #2024 #maga ♬ original sound - Family Guy Best Moments

"The Room"

Even though I saw "The Disaster Artist" in 2017, a comedy about the making of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 "The Room," I had never actually seen the movie until last night at the Tower Theater. 

There were about thirty people in the audience, all ready to see, by popular agreement, one of the worst movies ever made, but for that very reason, something of a modern masterpiece. There was a Rocky Horror ambiance about it. Everyone seemed to have plastic spoons to toss at critical times. Interludes that featured San Francisco Bay were met with chants of "water, water!" Views of Golden Gate traffic were met with chants of "go, go!" Views of the city were met with "meanwhile in San Francisco!" And, of course, the classic meme, "Oh, hi Mark!"

 

Could We See a Revival of the Klan?

The recent texts to Blacks and Hispanics telling them to report for cotton-picking duty caught my attention. It struck me as an update to old-fashioned Ku Klux Klan terror tactics. 

Perhaps we are going to see a revival of the Klan, perhaps the fourth surge in its history, or if not the Klan, some organization like it. The second revival of the Klan came after WW1 and was driven by anti-immigration and pro-Prohibition sentiment; similar to today's border frenzy and stricter abortion laws. 

I think it's unlikely that any mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, or mass crackdowns on young women, will succeed, in part, because local police will be required. Many agencies won't cooperate, because they are already busy enough. Still, militant, engaged civilians could step in where the police won't:

From the beginning, Prohibition was tied up with anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic biases. Many of its advocates were white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants who thought only people like them could be “real Americans.” They believed the country was under siege by Catholic immigrants from countries like Italy, and that these people threatened the U.S. with their foreign drinking habits and saloons. 

“It was really a battle for cultural supremacy in a country that was changing,” says Thomas R. Pegram, a history professor at Loyola University Maryland and the author of One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. “Prohibition became a way in which that could be enforced in local communities.”