When you read this statement by Jill Biden, don’t you wonder about choice words at the end?  “Chaos?”

To be sure, chaos isn’t a good thing, but it’s the very best thing you can say about Trump’s effect on our country and the rest of the world.

Why be so cautious?  You’re talking about a common criminal who tried to overthrow the U.S. government.  As I mentioned in another post, Trump’s niece isn’t mincing words in her descriptions of her uncle.

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Guesstimate as to Americans’ reactions to Mary Trump’s statement here:

50% agree completely.

5% agree generally, but regard this as something of an exaggeration.  After all, he’s a genius at communicating to hateful morons, and, so far, manipulating the U.S. justice system to his favor.

10% agree generally, but have been convinced, somehow, that Biden is worse.

35% disagree completely, they think he was sent by God, that he’ll seal the southern border, cut taxes, ban abortion, cut off aid to Ukraine, etc.

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The observation made here by one of the Capitol Police is not shared by damn near every American, and that’s a mystery to me.

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Those unfamiliar with the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction can skip this post.

For everybody else, the flick was so popular in its day that many readers will recognize the photo here, in which the character Winston Wolf, played by Harvey Keitel, is called in to deal with a very messy situation.

The public adoration of Pulp Fiction was so great that, in my day, I would often meet a new client, and introduce myself as follows: I’m Craig Shields.  I solve problems.  

 

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One might think that the Republicans’ abuse of women would be a death knell to their candidacy in 2024, given that (slightly) more than half of registered voters are female.  Yes, there are a few fanatical Christians who think that abortion, in all cases, is murder, but that’s not going to get the job done in November.

The problem, of course, is that so many Americans are so driven by their hate and ignorance that the impact of the ban on abortion simply passes them by.

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I clicked on this ad from “Modern Fuels,” in the hopes of learning about some breakthrough in our planet’s use of energy, but I was disappointed to see that it concerned pencils.

When was the last time you sent a fax, rented a movie on VHS, had a car phone installed, or, for that matter, used a pencil?

For $90, you can buy a mechanical pencil that is lathed to tolerances of thousandths of an inch.  It’s guaranteed to last 100 years.

Am I being played by comedians here?  These people won’t last two weeks, let alone 100 years.

Soon, I expect to see a promotion for paperclips that are individually made from 5-inch strips of wire that people in factories use needle-nosed pliers to form into place.

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No one can possibly disagree with the statement here.  But there’s more to this issue.

When these unions make it difficult or impossible to fire our very worst teachers, all decent people draw a line.

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In truth, we know essentially nothing about life beyond Earth, but Goethe’s point is a good one nonetheless.

The United States may re-elect Donald Trump, unmitigated climate change is on track to destroy our only home, and we’re destroying our capacity to educate our children.  The list of insanities goes on from there.

 

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Apparently, these kitchen composter appliances are selling fairly well.

My only issue is this: The process of using substantial amounts of electricity (~200 Watts times 6 hours per day) from the grid to dry out food scraps is most definitely not good for the planet.

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A few years ago, I was privileged to hear a talk in a smallish auditorium by the great Ken Burns.  Our world is filled with incredible minds, but IMO, Burns is at or very near the top when it comes to an understanding of history and philosophy, combined with his unparalleled capacity to explain it to the rest of us.

If you have 20 minutes to spare (and who doesn’t when we really want something?), please check out his speech to the 2024 graduating class at Brandeis University.

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