Day 64

I always thought that Facebook micro-targeted its ads at specific target individuals.  One time, I bought some replacement drip pans for a Hotpoint stove on Amazon, and Facebook must have thought I was trying to corner the market on drip pads, because each day for the next month or so I had anywhere from three to five ads for drip pads in my feed.

Today, I inexplicably found a political ad for Donald Trump in my Facebook feed.  Have they SEEN any of the other posts in my feed, much less my own postings?  So much for the pin-point precision of Facebook advertising.

Interestingly, the comments were left open, and it was full of over-the-top praise for Trump and fire-and-brimstone warnings about socialism and a Biden presidency.  So, since it was an open forum, I wrote "Donald Trump is a malignant tumor on the undescended testicle of the body politic," fully expecting the remark not to appear in the comments.  

But it did.  Emboldened, I wrote "Remember that time Trump gave Russia hell for putting bounties on the heads of American soldiers?  Yeah, me neither."  That showed up in the comments, too.

Next, I posted "Remember that time Trump pulled back American troops in Syria so that Turkey could bomb our allies, the Kurds?"

"Remember that time Kelly Loeffler made national news by dumping all that stock after being briefed on the covid pandemic, all while telling her constituents here in Georgia that there was nothing to worry about?" 

"Remember that time Brian Kemp 'just found out' covid could be spread by asymptomatic people?  Well, today he just found out that he'll be a one-term governor."

This was too much fun.  All the comments were showing up beneath the ad.  So, finally I added "Remember that time some goofball posted a GOP ad on my Facebook feed and left the comments open?"  That one showed up too, but a few minutes later the entire ad "mysteriously" disappeared from my feed.

Je ne regrette rien.

Day 65

Longtime readers of this blog, if any, know that if there's one thing I love complaining about, it's falling trees and power outages.  So yesterday's tree fall and blackout might be just the thing to snap me out of my what's-the-point-of-it-all? quandary and get me posting here again.

I've learned by now that it's usually a bad idea for me to start up a video game late at night, but last Friday, after watching Bill Maher and Room 104 on HBO (btw, is anyone else noticing the creative ingenuity behind the latter?), I didn't feel quite like going to bed yet, so I started playing my latest obsession, Ark (more on that in a later post).  It was 11:30 p.m. when I started.  Then next time I looked at the time, it was 3:00 a.m. 

I brushed my teeth and went to bed, but for one reason or another (this is not atypical for me), I woke up and rolled over to go back to sleep.  But as I checked the time to see how long I had been out, I noticed that the alarm clock was black.

No power.  Again.  I wondered where the tree had fallen this time.

I got up and looked at my cell phone.  It was 5:00 a.m. I had been asleep for two hours.  Checking the Georgia Power outage map, I didn't see any indication they were aware of my situation.  

The logical thing, since there was nothing else to be done anyway, would have been to go back to sleep and deal with anything that needed to be dealt with if the power wasn't back on in the morning. But laying there in bed, my mind didn't accept that logic and wondered about which tree had fallen and where, and how big of a deal it will be to repair the lines. I put on some pants and my shoes, grabbed my handy flashlight, and went outside to investigate.

Just as I did, I saw a Georgia Power utility truck, bright flood- and searchlights on high and looking for all the world like a UFO from Close Encounters, coming down the road.  It stopped at each telephone pole and scanned the lines with its bright searchlights, and then finally stopped three houses down the road from me. I started to approach to see the problem for myself, but ironically the blindingly bright lights in my eyes kept me from seeing what they were doing.  I figured I'll just go check it out in the morning and went back home to go back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that the problem was being addressed.

Before I got back beneath the sheets, the power came back on.  It was 5:30 a.m.  If I hadn't rolled over when I did, I wouldn't have been aware of the outage, and would have have just awoken later in the morning to a blinking alarm clock

Later in the morning, when the sun had finally risen and I had my morning coffee, I went to check out the damage.  An entire tree hadn't fallen, just one very large branch which was still laying near the middle  of the road.  Interestingly, it was almost the exact same spot where a major tree had fallen just before Christmas, knocking out power for a day and internet and cable for about three (including the Christmas holiday).

Many years ago, what we call "Georgia" was once a vast forest occupied by Creeks, who lived harmoniously with the land.  But Caucasian Europeans came across the waters and drove out the Creeks.  They axed the trees and built all manners of houses, shopping malls, factories and other monstrosities, and planted only the occasional decorative tree to replace their clear cuts.  But those trees grew, and after enough years they grew taller than most of the houses, shopping malls, factories, and other monstrosities.  Now, they've collapsing back down, demolishing all that offensive infrastructure and reclaiming the continent for Mother Nature and for the Creeks.  

You could say they're making America great again.

Day 68

I don't know what to say after the murder of Jacob Blake, the latest in the most recent wave of police shootings.  After that white supremacist kid murdered three protesters in the street and then walked right past the police and back to his home in a neighboring state.  All this while a Category 4 hurricane is making landfall in Louisiana and the Republican National Convention (aka The Donald Trump Show) is continuing to air.

Instead, I'm joining with the NBA, the WNBA, major league baseball, and various other sports figures and stepping down for the day both in protest and to reflect on what I can do from this small, insignificant platform to make a difference in the world.

We'll talk soon.

Day 69

Brides of Dracula, Daughters of Darkness

I went to bed at about 12:30 a.m. last night and got a good, solid one hour of sleep before I woke back up.  Yawning, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but to no avail.  After the alarm clock said "2:00 a.m," I realized I wasn't getting sleepier, I was actually more awake and alert than I was when I first started trying to go back to sleep. Laying there longer wasn't going to help, I reasoned, so I got up to watch a little t.v., tire myself out a little more, and then go back to bed.

My timing couldn't have been better, because when I turned the television on, I caught the opening credits of Hammer Studio's 1960 classic, Brides of Dracula.

On one level, it's not a very good movie.  It doesn't add anything to the Dracula legacy.  In fact, the count isn't even in it - "Dracula" is just a titular euphemism for "vampire." And it's not particularly scary.  When the lead vampire turns into a bat, it couldn't more obviously be a puppet on a string - they weren't even trying to make it look realistic.

On another level, it's an absolute masterpiece of set design, atmospherics, and period costumes.  It's almost post-modern in its absolute disregard for trying to tell the story yet its total commitment to surface appearances. It's as if the creators were more interested in still shots and frames than the actual movie itself.

It's also ponderously talkative at times, which had the unintended but beneficial effect of putting me back into sleep mode.  I must have watched the second half of the film in some sort of hypnagogic daze, as I can't precisely recall the details of the film yet when I did go back to sleep (at 4:30 a.m.!), I had lurid dreams about the actresses who played the brides.

Earlier this year, as a project to fill some time during this pandemic, I explored the extensive discography of the prolific French lo-fi drone band Natural Snow Buildings.  The whole exploration is documented over on Music Dissolves Water, the sister, music blog.  NSB are heavily influenced by all manners of horror genres, from Aztec to Inuit mythology, from Lovecraft to Appalachian folk tales, and cinema - grindcore, slasher flicks, and, yes, Hammer Studios.  Their 2009, six-disc album Daughter of Darkness, pays explicit tribute to Hammer, including Brides of Dracula.

Here's standout cut Carnal Flowers from DoD, with an excellent albeit fan-produced (not me!) video.

Carnal Flowers, or some variation thereof, was the soundtrack of my lurid, early-morning dreams last night, and the video is not unrepresentative of the contents of those dreams.

As per habit, the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m., so I got at most maybe 3½ hours of sleep last night.  It was rainy and overcast all day today, and as a result I spent much of the day groggily managing to stay barely awake, my nose just above the surface of consciousness. I took at least two naps today, and now I'm worried that with such a low-effort day if I'll be able to fall asleep tonight.

Maybe there's another Hammer Studios film on late-night t.v. tonight.

Day 71

Well, this is fun.  On the first day on the Republican National Convention, over two dozen former Republican congressman not only denounced Trump but went so far as to actually endorse Biden for president.  The NYS District Attorney announced new charges against the Trump Organization, this time specifically aimed at son Eric.   Longtime advisor Kellyanne Conway announced today that she's stepping down and leaving the White House at the end of this month (can't wait for that tell-all book).  Extrajudicial police shootings have occurred in Wisconsin, Louisiana, LA, and elsewhere, leading to new waves of BLM protests.  Evangelical supporter Jerry Falwell Jr has resigned as President of Liberty University amidst an increasingly lurid sex scandal.  His Postmaster General was embroiled in rancorous and contentious testimony before the House this morning.  Meanwhile, two tropical storms, Laura and Marco, loom offshore and are poised to make landfall during the convention later this week.

And it's only Monday.

All this, of course, against the backdrop of the continuing coronavirus outbreak, a shaky-at-best start to the school year.  

Good times . . . .  

Day 72

Earlier this week, an asteroid which nobody saw coming missed the Earth by the astronomical equivalent of inches - closer than the Moon's orbit and that of some GPS satellites.  Today NASA announced that they have seen another asteroid heading our way, this one scheduled to arrive in November, the day before Election Day.  The nerdlings at NASA say the asteroid has "only" a 1% chance of hitting Earth. 

WHAT?  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  A 1% CHANCE OF THE EARTH ENDING OR A MAJOR EXTINCTION EVENT IS WAY MORE THAN I'M COMFORTABLE WITH!!!  DON'T TELL ME "ONLY" 1%!!!

Would you get on a plane knowing that one percent of all flights were going to crash that day? Would you let someone fire a random gun at you knowing that only one percent of the guns were loaded? Would you support government policies that would result in one percent of the population contracting the coronavirus?

Actually, if you're a Republican, you do and worse - at 5.7 million Americans infected, 1.7% of the population has now contracted the virus.  You're almost twice as likely to get the coronavirus in America than the asteroid striking the Earth, but a 1% chance of global annihilation is still too high! This is 2020 we're talking here.

Also, another reason to be nervous:  What are the long-tern effects of coronavirus?  No one knows, because no one's had it yet for more than a year.  Does is leave long-term heart and lung damage? Does it accelerate or increase the chances of other illnesses or cancers? Who knows?  Only time will tell. Does it reoccur on any frequency?   Maybe, maybe not.  Does it turn its victims into nocturnal cannibalistic humanoids bent on destroying civilization?  Probably not, at least no evidence suggests that it might, but no one knows yet because it's still so new.  

If it in fact does cause a zombie apocalypse, then maybe we should be cheering for the  asteroid to rid the world of the undead menace. 

Day 73

A high tide may raise all boats, but what America needs this November is not quite a low tide, but a downward sucking whirlpool, sort of like what you see in the toilet bowl, that will flush Trump and suck all his cynical enablers down into the sewer of oblivion with him.

They all knew, but they supported him and promoted him anyway, because their political calculations suggested it would work out in their favor.  Shame on them all.

America won't forget.

Day 74

Of course we're going to get hit by two tropical storms/hurricanes simultaneously - that's SO 2020!  In a year where everything that could go wrong does, and often in the worse way imaginable, it wouldn't be enough for one hurricane to hit the west side of low-lying, flood-prone Louisiana, we also have to have one hit the east side of Louisiana a day later.

Fun!

And while we were all hunkered down watching the Demo Convention, Earth had a near miss with a car-sized asteroid that wasn't spotted by NASA until a mere six hours before it passed.

The asteroid came as close as 1,830 miles to the planet, or one tenth of the distance to the moon. Satellites fly at higher orbits than the track of this asteroid.  It's the closest recorded  near miss Earth has ever had with an asteroid.  

That's all we need in 2020, a terminal extinction event, our own personal Chicxulub.  Somehow, Trump would find a way to make it all about himself.

Day 75

Tonight is Night Four of the Demo Convention, but I honestly think the Republicans are doing more for Biden's cause than the Dems are.

Today, Trump's former White House advisor Steve Bannon was arrested for fraud related to some sort of Build-The-Wall foundation.  The criminality of this administration seems to extend to each and every member.

The Senate Republicans have finally released their report on Russia's role in the 2016 election, and the report is even more incriminating that the Mueller report.  Yes, Russia actively interfered with the election, and yes, the Trump campaign knew and actively accepted their assistance.

Need I go on?  Wednesday, Trump praised adherents to the conspiracy theory QAnon, claiming they were people that "love our country," and he's heard that they support him and that's all he needs to take their side.

The administration is quietly planning to sell F-35 fighter jets and advanced drones to the United Arab Emirates.  Just when it appeared that maybe, just maybe, the administration finally did something good by brokering a treaty between Israel and the UAE, it turns out it was all just a cover to sell arms and weapons.

The Bidens, Joe and Jill, and the Obamas, Barack and Michelle, as well as Harris, Warren, Sanders, and others, are all making a good case to elect the Democrats this November, but Trump, Bannon, Miller, and all are making an excellent case to oust the Republicans.

Day 76

The Boston Celtics, without injured forward Gordon Hayward, still manged to beat the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 129-101 tonight and took a 2-0 lead in the Conference Quarterfinals.  Reasons to be cheerful . . . 

Of course he did - Donald Trump, the so-called "president" of the United States, today called for a boycott of an American corporation, Goodyear, because they banned employees from wearing MAGA hats on the job. Nothing says "job creation" and "leadership" like rooting against a major domestic employer.  Reasons to despair . . .

Meanwhile, watching (and enjoying) the socially-isolated, virtual Demo Convention.

Day 77

Oil Drilling In the Arctic

Today, the Trump administration finalized its plan to open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas development, a move that overturns six decades of protections for the largest remaining stretch of wilderness in the United States.  The decision sets the stage for what is expected to be a fierce legal battle over the fate of the refuge’s vast, remote coastal plain, which is believed to sit atop billions of barrels of oil but is also home to polar bears and migrating herds of caribou.

You don't need to be worried about this.  Any oil production within the refuge would be at least a decade in the future and would require more permits, although companies that bought leases could  theoretically begin the process of exploring for oil and gas sooner.

But the price of oil and gas is down, and companies aren't exactly looking for excuses to increase their overhead costs.   They are more likely to spend money looking for ways to increase production and yield from fields currently being exploited and where infrastructure for development and transportation is already in place.

But what they are looking for is the opportunity to purchase new drilling leases and claim new fields. Why?  Because it's a tax shelter - not only is the money spent on buying leases tax deductible, but the value of the land leases is based not on the price they pay but on potential yield from the tracts.  Buy a lease for $1M, and then claim a deduction for $20M based on profits that could potentially be made off the land.   Also, report to the stockholders that you just purchased $20M worth of potential new leases, and your stock price goes up, enriching your CEO and the stockholders,  

Buying new leases is highly lucrative; developing new leases is not.

It's all just Trump's latest tactic for distracting us and diverting attention away from the atrocious job he's done on managing the coronavirus pandemic and the economy.  He's hoping this gets environmentalists all worked up so he can further divide us by calling them "treehuggers" or whatever, and falsely claim they're more interested in polar bears and caribou than American jobs. He can get his base worked up chanting "Drill, baby, drill" and have his opposition fighting over something that's not going to happen anyway.  Meanwhile, no one's talking about the 170,000 Americans dead from covid-19 and his billionaire handles realize more profit from tax relief and stock-price increases - it's a win/win strategy on his part.

No, oil and gas production should not occur in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  It's not needed to meet energy demands, it would accelerate climate change, lead to more rapid extinction of species like the polar bear, and spoil one of our largest and last true wilderness areas.  But long before the first oil rig would be installed, after all permits have been obtained and litigation settled (but profits by the oil companies already realized), the Trump administration will have long been out of office and subsequent administrations will have effective and efficient measures in place to ensure that drilling never occurs.

Don;t fall for the distraction. Vote the bastards out of office due to their corruption, their incompetence, and their authoritarianism, and don't take your eye off the ball in pointless, Palin-era arguments about Arctic drilling.

White Supremacist With Small Dick Compensates With Assault Rifle (Day 79)

I mean, just look at where he’s touching himself with the gun’s magazine.  In any event, the BLM protesters weren’t intimidated.  This was yesterday in downtown Stone Mountain, Georgia.  I wasn't there and these aren't my pictures, but I watched a lot of it in real time on a local news channel's live stream.

You could tell the good guys (BLM, antifa, democratic socialists) from the  bad guys (white supremacists, III Percenters, and the KKK) by what they were wearing.  Generally speaking but not always, the good guys were the ones wearing face masks, and the bad guy were generally, but not always, wearing camouflage. I don't know, maybe they figured that if the virus couldn't easily spot them, they wouldn't get infected.

Here are the good-guy counter-protesters.  They significantly outnumbered the other guys:

These were the other guys.  It seems more than surreal to me that some 150 years after the Civil War and 65 years after WWII, we're still seeing armed confederates and Nazis, and marching side-by-side at that.

.

There were a lot of up-close, face-to-face confrontations, which was a little unnerving given the number of guns being openly carried. But other than a little pushing and shoving, and one supremacist spraying people in the face with Hot Shot wasp-repellent pesticide, things never escalated to the crisis level and the police remained vigilant but cool.  Some of the good guys did manage to capture and burn a confederate flag.

I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned here is, other than extremism exists and this is what it looks like.  I am sad, though, that some people are still so lost and deluded by their fear of others that it leads to confrontations like this, although I'm thankful that it didn't result in violence (at least not that day).