obituaries

Write now

Some events send ripples back through time. Two weeks ago, I paused to watch a few minutes of The City on the Edge of Forever, one of my favorite StarTrek episodes. “By chance,” a few days ago I started to read “I have no mouth but I must scream.” As I reached the end of the first page, the author, Harlan Ellison, died.

In his wake, many are talking about how that greatest StarTrek episode wasn’t really what he wrote, but toned down enough to enrage him. Writers and editors circle each other, inky knives drawn.

Many know that Ellison sued Cameron for ripping off an Outer Limits episode Ellison wrote, which, at least, inspired Terminator. I think they both ripped off a great Michael Rennie movie, Cyborg 2087, but you never hear about that.

In that ocean of life, in that bay of human existence, in that puddle of literature, that drip is Ellison. He had to die now for the sake of the timeline.

Poems, The Atheist's Pulpit

No sparrow falls unnoticed (a new poem)

What befell this sparrow
writhing on our porch
one wing extended
leg out, as if,
stepping into space
but for the head twisted back.
Are you watching me, Lord?

Wisdom says leave it
time may heal it or end its pain,
but I cannot suffer at a distance.
I scoop it up into the nest of my hand.

It slows, the head turns forward
as the wing contracts but
one little foot clutches my finger
like a limb.

Rest here and wait
for mama to come
as she has every other time
you needed her.

Its eye stares at this feeble giant
then closes slowly
as a chorus in the trees
sings its soul to heaven
and I weep.

6-26-18

loco

Scan, bag, NO!

Recently, our neighborhood Smith’s doubled the number of self-check lines as part of a new program called Scan, Bag, Go. The new system allows a customer to carry a scanner through the store, scanning items as they pick them up. At self-check, the scanner can total the selections, “sparing” the customer the need to scan there.

I’m not opposed to this program, per se. If a customer likes this redistribution of labor, fine.

I’m opposed to the abrupt reduction in the number of cashiers working at any given time. I’ve seen only one or two cashiers at the regular checkout while lines grow.

Self-check was originally sold as reducing checkout time. To force more of us to do the labor of scanning and bagging, Kroger (the parent of Smith’s) has cut back on people in favor of machines.

Many people don’t realize that supermarket cashiers are usually union workers. These people work hard and endure standing and repetitive stress for hours in exchange for decent wages and benefits (I hope). These are our neighbors, families, and friends, taking care of us, and bargaining collectively. Unions are our last, dwindling hope for standing up to corporate profiteers.

This new program takes money out of our community and sends it out-of-state. Now, I’m a shareholder in Kroger and I like dividends and profits. However, I will not see my community impoverished for corporate profit. Kroger — all corporations — must support the communities and workers who support them or there will be hell to pay.

dump trump

You Voted For Trump: How Do You Like Him Now?

Ben Mallicote posted on Facebook 2/3/2017:

You voted for Trump because Clinton was going to be in Wall Street’s pocket. Trump wants to repeal Dodd-Frank and eliminate the Fiduciary Rule, letting Wall Street return to its pre-2008 ways.

You voted for Trump because of Clinton’s emails. The Trump administration is running its own private email server.

You voted for Trump because you thought the Clinton Foundation was ‘pay for play.” Trump has refused to wall Off his businesses from his administration, and personally profits from payments from foreign governments.

You voted for Trump because Of Clinton’s role in Benghazi. Trump ordered the Yemen raid without adequate intel, and tweeted about “FAKE NEWS” while Americans died as a result of his carelessness.

You voted for Trump because Clinton didn’t care about “the little guy.” Trump’s cabinet is full of billionaires, and he took away your health insurance so he could give them a multi-million-dollar tax break.

You voted for Trump because he was going to build a wall and Mexico was going to pay for it. American consumers will pay for the wall via import tariffs.

You voted for Trump because Clinton was going to get us into a war. Trump has provoked our enemies, alienated our allies, and given ISIS a decade’s worth of recruiting material.

You voted for Trump because Clinton didn’t have the stamina to do the job. Trump hung up on the Australian Prime Minister during a 5pm phone call because was at the end Of a long day and he was tired and fatigue was setting in.”

You voted for Trump because foreign leaders wouldn’t “respect” Clinton. Foreign leaders, both friendly and hostile, are openly mocking Trump.

You voted for Trump because Clinton lies and “he tells it like it is.” Trump and his administration lie with a regularity and brazenness that can only be described as shocking. Let’s be honest about what really happened.

The reality is that You voted for Trump because you got conned. Trump is a grifter and the American people were the mark. Now that you know the score, quit insisting the con-man is on your side.

dump trump, Election

Did we really elect Donald Trump?

by Kathleen Parker, WaPo

For the undecided (or the unpersuadable), let’s pose a hypothetical: What if Clinton had publicly asked Russia to hack Trump’s records and release his tax returns — and Russia did? And what if the FBI announced less than two weeks before Election Day that it was going to investigate fraudulent practices at Trump University? Let’s say that Trump’s number dipped dramatically and he lost.

Do you reckon Republicans would be a tad upset?

dump trump, Election

Election Facts to Keep Handy for Thanksgiving Dinner Discussion – #dumptrump

Election Facts to Keep Handy for Thanksgiving Dinner Discussion – The New York Times By KEVIN QUEALY

  1. Hillary Clinton definitely won the popular vote, and that lead is only going to grow.
  2. Turnout in the 2016 election was not low. It is about the same as it was in 2012 and comparable to most 20th-century presidential elections.
  3. Yes, the polls were off, but not in extraordinary ways.
  4. Third-party candidates, like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, may have cost Mrs. Clinton Michigan, but they almost certainly did not cost her the presidency.
  5. Exit polls are useful, but don’t give them too much credence.

Details at the link above.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams