Transferring To Medicare on October 1st

Health insurance costs an insane amount, and I'll be glad to leave that world behind. Medicare for me, finally!

Daniel Watts For Governor - Final Weekend of the Recall Campaign

Quick thumbnails on the candidates. Daniel Watts is here. 

Plus this....

Late-Summer 2021 Jigsaw Puzzles

I assembled my Walter White jigsaw puzzle (purchased from Marq and Ed's Breaking Bad Store in Albuquerque). I had trouble finding the very last piece. Did it fall on the floor? Not obviously. On a hunch, I checked my dog’s stash of chew toys. Voila!

“The Tower of Babel” by Pieter Bruegel.

Socorro Magma Body

Cool (or I should say hot) video.

 

Plus this New Mexico volcano video, which describes the big "X" - the Jemez Lineament and the Rio Grande Rift.

 

"Flag Day" - Sean and Dylan Penn

Saw this with Joe the Plumber at the Tower Theater. Told from the daughter's perspective. I would have preferred the dad's perspective a bit more. Sean Penn tends to be a little inscrutable to me.

 

September 11th - Two Classmates

Every time September 11th rolls around, I'm reminded of two classmates in my freshman year at New Mexico Tech (a college that specializes in geosciences). 

I took Dr. Loganbill's English class in the Spring of 1975. I was apprehensive about this class, having already heard stories about Loganbill's fascination with structuralism and postmodern linguistics. Freshmen technical students could see the value of an English class - good for writing better owners' manuals, after all - but this jargon-filled Long March into philosophy was intolerable. 

The first classmate, Victor Saracini, was 24, a bit older than most. We shared small talk. What I remember was his smile, his humor, his calm demeanor, and unflappability under postmodern stress. 

I never saw Victor again after Loganbill's class. After graduating from NM Tech, he became an airline pilot. He was the pilot of United Flight 175 on September 11, 2001 - the second airliner. The hijackers killed him and his copilot before flying into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and into history. 

The second classmate was Kathy McGrade, a student majoring in metallurgy. After 9/11, she toured the 9/11 Truther circuit. Apparently, debris from the World Trade Center contains metal microspheres. McGrade believed these microspheres were highly-significant, since they can't be generated at the lower temperatures characteristic of open fires. Conspiracy theories flowed from that observation. 

I think McGrade was just wrong. It happens - highly-trained people can make mistakes. I think the microspheres came from high-temperature welding - metal ash from the building's original construction in the late 60s. No need to posit elaborate conspiracy theories. I'm just baffled. Why didn't she think of that simple explanation? 

Two classmates. Diligence and error. My generation's collision with history:

Victor J. Saracini was born on August 29, 1950 in Atlantic City, New Jersey to parents Anne and Victor Saracini. He attended local grammar schools, Atlantic City High School, and was a graduate of the New Mexico School of Mining and Technology with a major in biology. He joined the United States Navy's Aviation Officer Candidate School, was commissioned as an ensign, and in 1976, received his Naval Flight Officer wings in Pensacola, FL. Victor attended graduate school at Louisiana Tech University. 

Victor served in the Naval Reserve at Willow Grove, PA from 1980 to 1985 and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Navy "E" Ribbon, and the Expert Marksmanship ribbon. Victor worked as a corporate pilot for Trenton based Johnson & Johnson, and Pennsylvania based Penn Commuter and the former Wings Airways. He joined United Airlines and was the pilot of the United Airlines Flight 175 when it was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.

The Growing Rage Against Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Maskers

I'm all for white-hot rage, but also worried. My sister is an anti-vaxxer, not so much based on principle as based on a deep desire for autonomy. Still, if we are going to get back to normal, we have to get on it, now, before this winter's coming peak:

We were willing to debate the efficacy of masks.

We agreed there should be balance between lockdown measures and economic interests.

We patiently accumulated evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

We kept our cool through every quack remedy and grifter treatment. 

We offered guidance to the confused and correctives to the misinformed.

We forbore ignorant assertions that the coronavirus was a hoax, bratty defiance of public health orders, puerile abuse of “freedom," looney vaccine conspiracies.

We did this all with fear, as we watched wave after wave of infections disrupt our lives and kill members of our families.

But now, as we suffer through a second summer of illness and death, we find ourselves confronted with a category of people whose behavior is despicable — the COVID obstructionists, the ones who not only refuse to protect themselves but actively prevent others from doing so. 

There's no point trying to understand them, no reasoning with them. They deserve no patience, no forbearance. The only reasonable response to these miscreants is anger. White hot anger.

Looks Like a Failed Road Test To Me

Road testing Trump's stupid, failed approach:

“It’s probably rigged.” That was Donald Trump’s assessment of the effort to recall Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, during an appearance on the dutifully sycophantic network Newsmax. “They’re sending out all ballots―the ballots are mail-out, mail-in ballots. I guess you even have a case where you can make your own ballot. When that happens, nobody’s going to win except these Democrats.” 

...As with so many of the ideas that spill from Trump’s paranoiac imagination, the idea that Democrats have engineered a massive voter fraud conspiracy across dozens of states is now a key plank of the Republican Party platform; an operating premise of the party that’s done more to undermine democracy than any since the Reconstruction era. 

...Fox Nation’s Tomi Lahren told her viewers that “the only thing that will save Gavin Newsom is voter fraud.” Baseless claims of fraud have trended on social media throughout the summer. Larry Elder, the Republican radio host most likely to become the state’s governor if Newsom is recalled, has also suggested that Dominion Voting Systems was working to rig the gubernatorial recall election.

...As The Washington Post’s Philip Bump argued on Wednesday, these tactics also provide “a way to undermine the credibility of elections in general, using a Democratic state preserving a Democratic governor as evidence that Democrats are somehow cheating.” This all bolsters the larger argument that will be the foundation of Trump’s 2024 run: that he was cheated out of reelection in 2020 by a vast conspiracy that is stealing elections from righteous Republicans.

So Now They Want To Blame Larry Elder

The 2021 Recall Election was winnable. A generic GOP candidate could have walked away with it. Now it looks like the election of a Republican isn't possible. Why?

The Democrats woke up! What woke them up? Several things. The Delta Variant rampage.  The Texas Abortion Case. Dodging a bullet aimed straight at them - the Caldor Fire didn't burn down South Lake Tahoe, despite all the destruction wrought by that fire, the Dixie Fire, the Tamarack Fire, the Lava Fire, etc., etc. 

What really helped too was finally getting a favored Republican candidate, Larry Elder, a shock DJ who came across on his TV ads as a humorless true fanatic. Democrats woke up! Right now it looks like Independents aren't fired up, so it all boils down to a nakedly-partisan skirmish. And Democrats have the advantage! 

Now, why did support coalesce around Elder in the first place? That's the real mystery to me.  Way too extreme for California.  Trumpers on the national scene running things when Trump is hated almost everywhere in California.  It's not really Elder's fault, although he will get blamed.  Professional politicians weren't in charge, that's for sure! 

Kicking ass and taking names.  Love it!:

Gov. Gavin Newsom is on track to survive a recall election in deep-blue California after initially causing Democrats severe heartburn, with veteran Republican insiders blaming GOP front-runner Larry Elder.

The conservative talk-radio host motivated previously complacent rank-and-file Democrats — which neutralized Newsom’s biggest challenge of voter apathy — by catering to the Republican base with polarizing rhetoric and adamantly opposing mask and vaccine mandates amid a resurgence of the coronavirus. In a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2–1, Elder made himself the perfect foil for Newsom — enabling the Democratic incumbent to make the campaign about the GOP rather than his embattled leadership.

“Newsom has successfully framed the race as him versus Elder, and Democratic voters are responding by voting,” said Rob Stutzman, a GOP operative in Sacramento who advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican who succeeded Gray Davis after the Democrat was recalled from office in 2003. “Elder has no appeal outside of GOP voters.”

...“Before Elder, the race was all about Gavin, and our polls were looking very good,” said a Republican consultant in California. “If the election had been four or more weeks ago, we would have won.”

Elder has received some support outside of the traditional conservative circles. 

Democrat Gloria Romero, who served as her party’s majority leader in the California Senate, even cut a television advertisement for the Republican.

“Yes, I’m a Democrat. But the recall of Newsom is not about political party,” she said in the spot. Meanwhile, Elder’s Republican critics concede the GOP faced several hurdles in this special election campaign that have nothing to do with Elder, as is true for the party in every statewide contest.

The Democratic Party enjoys a 22.4 percentage point advantage over Republicans among registered voters, and Newsom and the anti-recall forces vastly outspent the pro-recall groups and the handful of Republicans seeking to replace the governor. Additionally, former President Donald Trump, broadly viewed as the leader of the Republican Party, is disliked in California. In contrast, top Democrats — President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama — are popular.

Despite all of that, some Republicans claim Elder squandered opportunities to hobble Newsom when he was on the ropes. Voters were upset with the governor for infamously ignoring his own pandemic, and they tired of his coronavirus regulatory regime. There was frustration over closed public schools, rising crime, and a homelessness epidemic. The state unemployment agency overseen by Newsom’s administration was beset by fraud and mismanagement. 

...“This is over,” added Garry South, the Democratic operative who was Davis’s chief political adviser in 2003. “Newsom beats it by double digits.”

Those Were People Who Died

@jungchick

#DenimYourWay #darwinawards2021 #thosearepeoplewhodied

♬ People Who Died - Jim Carroll

Enter The Skunk

It took me a while to put together the clues. Jasper was barking in the back yard at 12:30 a.m. Not that surprising. Jasper then came in and burrowed himself into a throw rug. Odd conduct there. 

Suddenly the house reeked of skunk. Overpowering! The skunk must have released its scent really close by too - various burnt overtones were present in different rooms of the house. I was so alarmed by the odor that I checked the house for smoldering plastic. 

Satisfied there was no immediate fire danger, I went downstairs into the basement and checked on two rather hi-tech mouse traps I have there. It would be really terrible if I caught a skunk instead. But the traps were unmolested. The only creature I’ve successfully caught with them so far is me (my fingertip). 

I went into the back yard and got Jasper ready for his nightly walk. I heard the thud of an animal. Could it be? Yes, a skunk was in the back yard, hiding behind a bush just 15 feet away, making noise and otherwise trying to be as scary as possible. Scared, we left the yard for our walk. I left the yard’s gate open, to facilitate the skunk’s departure, should it choose to depart. 

Only then did I stoop to smell Jasper. Sure enough, the skunk had got him, probably earlier in the yard. I guess the skunk came to Jasper rather than the usual opposite. We took an abbreviated walk and returned home. 

To Jasper’s great surprise, at 1:30 a.m., I gave him a bath, using dog shampoo on him, plus non-chlorine bleach usually used for clothes. The hydrogen peroxide in the bleach is really good for eliminating skunk odor. 

At 2 a.m., after toweling off Jasper, I went out and locked the back yard gate. The skunk had apparently departed. Safe once more! I need to start using my lapsed methods to keep skunks out of the yard.

The Century Plant Is Still Holding It Together

The neighborhood Century Plant is even taller than it was before. It's looking old and battered these days, but it's still holding it together.

Random Trip To Support Joe The Plumber

Joe The Plumber needed financial backup for some truck repair, so off I went to an obscure location known as Security Park, off South Sunrise Blvd. 

I missed encountering Joe at Security Park. He managed to get his truck repaired for free, and left Security Park, so no financial support was required. Instead, we met at Costco.  Joe ate lunch and we tossed crumbs to the starlings.

Is California Doomed to Keep Burning?

I saw the headline "Is California Doomed to Keep Burning?" in The New Republic, from October, 2020 (and just as applicable this year). 

In my opinion, California will settle back down once we get some rain here. The drought of 2013-2016 killed so many trees all over California that a slow motion disaster was set into motion. Most of those dead trees would burn, and fairly-soon. There was no way to stop it. 

This year, I knew the big fires would be in the Sierra Nevada, since that mountain range hasn't burned extensively. In the years 2016-2020 many of the big fires were in the Coast Range north of San Francisco and south of the Trinity Alps, but that area can't really host big fires right now since they've been largely burned. Indeed, very few fires at all this year have started there. It's progress. 

It's a brutal process, but we're getting there.  Getting to more-sustainable thinner forests with less ground cover.

Surprise Fire

We had a surprise fire, just three blocks from my house, at the end of Larkin Way. In these photos, the fire is on opposite side of the railroad sound wall. There are lots of surprise fires these days in California, and they scare me.

Here are two photos, posted by Stephanie Duncan, on Nextdoor, Curtis Park.

A Small Fire

Jasper and I were walking near Sierra 2 Community Center in Curtis Park at our accustomed hour of 1:30 a.m. when we saw flames ahead. A homeless person had just set a fire on the little porch steps at 2424 Castro Way, at one time, the rehearsal space for Runaway Stage Productions. 

As we neared, the homeless person, wearing a grey hoodie, began to shuffle away, and head north on 24th. There’s been a woman on those steps before; perhaps it was her. Jasper and I lingered nearby. Then I used my pooper scooper to snuff out the remaining embers. From the ashes it looked like maybe a book had been set afire. 

I reported the events to Sacramento Fire Dept. I hope they responded. It’s important to stress that no one should be burning anything in California these days without professional supervision.

The Larry Elder Folks Know Intimidation Works Best

Bastards:

A Democratic candidate in the California recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom alleges that Republican front runner Larry Elder’s security detail assaulted her and detained her against her will after she interrupted a speech Elder was giving at a Los Angeles area church on Sunday. 

Jacqueline “Jackie” McGowan, a cannabis advocate and lobbyist who is one of 46 candidates seeking to replace Gov. Newsom in a recall election, told The Sacramento Bee in an interview that several security guards “attempted to bodyslam me because I challenged (Elder) to a debate.”

Apprehensive at Target

I went shopping at the local Target this evening. I've been there many times before. Still, I felt disoriented, and a bit alarmed. 

They've been remodeling the store lately, and so every time I go there, it's different - floor tile removed here and there, more shelves, narrower aisles, products shuffled around. So, some disorientation was to be expected. Still, certain items on the shelves were understocked or nearly-absent - milk, for example. It felt like deja vu - March 2020 all over again. 

Then there was the ambient music - weird, soaring vocal synth booming through the reorganized space. And the people - a different crowd than usual. Everyone seemed dressed in black. Serious people. No joking around. 

Is this the Delta Variant at work? The Caldor Fire? The drought? The Recall Election? Afghanistan? Or some combination of all of it?

dont want to make any waves

Recall Effort Looking Shaky

The PPIC poll is the best available. It shows the recall effort will likely fail:

SACRAMENTO — Most likely California voters are opposed to the Republican-led recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom and a growing number fear the consequences of removing him from office with a hard-right conservative best positioned to take his place, according to new poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll found that 58% of likely voters surveyed in California oppose removing Newsom from office compared to 39% who support recalling the governor, a gap rooted in the sharp partisan divide between Democratic and Republican voters in the state.

The findings, which were gathered by pollsters over a nine-day period ending on Sunday, may offer some hope for Newsom, who has for the past month expressed concern that an “enthusiasm gap” among Democratic and nonaffiliated voters could lead to his political demise — particularly with high engagement in the recall effort among Republicans.

In response, Newsom has blanketed California with ads attacking the top GOP candidates, casting them as devotees of former President Trump who oppose state mandates for COVID-19 vaccinations and mask wearing, a clear strategy to rally California’s left-leaning electorate.

...If Newsom is recalled, the candidate on the ballot who receives the most votes wins — no matter how many votes he or she receives. The crowded field of candidates is expected to splinter the electorate, which means a Republican who reels in just a small fraction of the vote could become California’s next governor. No Republican has won a statewide election in the state since 2006. 

Ballots have already been mailed to all California registered voters. The mail ballot returns so far show that more than twice as many Democrats have voted than Republicans and that liberal areas of the state such as the Bay Area have the highest rates of return, according to state officials and political data researchers.