Dear Readers,
Alas, Joared's next post will have to wait. Her internet service went out a couple days ago and the provider is not yet providing an estimate on when it will be repaired. She'll return to her (ir)regular publishing schedule as soon as the internet gremlins are dismissed.
Cheers,
Son of Joared
ANNOYING WORDS
In the scheme of life this topic matters little, but I keep getting annoyed every time I hear the word "jabbed" used to describe people getting the vaccination combatting this world sweeping pandemic. I don't know why this word used for this purpose grates on me, but I find "injection" or even "shot" (though, come to think of it, shot can have a worse meaning) much less objectionable.
Maybe "jabbed" in my mind suggests just a careless imprecise sticking of someone with any ol' object, anywhere, in which case who would want a vaccination -- I wouldn't. But I don't mind getting a shot? Go figure!
Are there words that just automatically trigger a negative reaction aggravating you when you hear them used?
ANNOYING ACTIONS -- be forewarned of political commentary
Writing of jabs and annoyance, I might add I'm more than a little annoyed that my and others tax money here in California is being squandered to the tune of $276 million. We're having to foot the bill for a special election to recall our Governor Newsom that I consider to be purely politically motivated. Do you think there just might be better ways to spend that sum? I do!
I don't question there are issues with actions our Governor has taken with which some Californians have not agreed. I do not believe they have risen to the level warranting this recall vote, however. This is especially evident when compared to the gross actions the previous U.S. President of that major political party's monied supporters promoting this recall consistently tolerated by denial and turning a blind eye -- they still do.
We California citizens are basically paying for a pre-primary election for the Republican Party prior to our future regular election, November 2022. They view this recall election as an exercise to come up with a viable candidate to offer next year, as described by a writer with a newspaper that endorsed one of that Party's candidates for this recall election. (Note: I'm not registered with any political party.)
If this recall is successful, we're really only shortening our current Democratic Party governor's term by one (1) year! There is no justifiable reason in my view for not waiting for the regular election in 2022 to determine if we want him as governor, when we can reject or re-elect him at that time.
My ballot arrived in the mail this past week offering me the choice of two actions. The first choice is, do I want to recall our Governor -- "Yes" or "No". The second action is to select who should replace him from the 46 listed candidates if he is recalled. That's right -- 46 candidates! (24 Republicans, 9 Democrats, 9 No Party Preference, 2 Green Party, 1 Libertarian, Write-Ins of unknown number, if any)
Our current Governor must receive a majority, 50% or more, of the votes saying "NO" we don't want to recall him in order to stay in office the last year of his elected 4 year term.
Here's the scary part -- if the voters recall him, the candidate who has the most votes will become our replacement governor. The votes for all the other candidates may total more than the winning candidate but that won't matter.
What kind of representative of the electorate would that person be? This is how political nutsos (technical term) receiving only a meager number of votes can be elected to office! That, and occasionally via the Electoral College less-in-number votes taking precedent over the larger majority popular votes. The latter has taken place twice in recent years with disastrous consequences -- Iraq War, Capitol Insurrection.
Reading the resume' of most of these candidates reveals qualifications that hardly prepare them to be our state's governor. One or more candidates might realistically be considered as endorsement fodder by the Republican or Democratic Party come our regular election, but many other candidates might not be judged realistic prospects for political offices in their own communities whether the office of mayor, treasurer of a local club, or dog catcher.
Of course, there is that woman who is simply described as "Entertainer", or more precisely, "Billboard Queen, Icon. Experienced politician." She has a P.O. Box in Beverly Hills so what further qualifications or endorsements does she need? (No Party Preference)
Hopefully, the majority of my fellow Californians will mark their ballot, "NO" we do not want to recall our current Governor. Let him serve out his four-year term, then we'll decide whether to re-elect him or not.
Our current Governor Newsom is telling those who support him to vote "NO" on the recall, but not vote for a candidate. I haven't heard him explain why not vote for a candidate. He cannot be written in either as the vote won't be viable. I guess he is optimistic that he will not be recalled.
Perhaps he does not want the primary opposition Republican Party to have the benefit of learning the voting strength of any of his Democratic Party's candidates, but especially which of their own candidates might attract the most votes in 2022. So far, the most prominent Republican candidates agree on the major issues, with which I don't agree, despite whatever lesser issues they disagree on with each other.
Frankly, I'm not inclined to want to make the Republican Party's formulating their 2022 election ticket any easier for them either. I don't trust a political party whose actions have demonstrated efforts to undermine our democratic republic. This gives me little confidence in whether most of their candidates would protect our freedoms -- a troubling perspective I never imagined their actions would cause me to form of that Party.
I have mixed feelings about not selecting a candidate, since not only do I resent my tax money paying for this recall election, I am angry about being used by the Republican Party in this manner -- an abuse of the political process and all taxpayers. Just when I think they couldn't ethically sink any lower earning my respect for them, they keep managing to go deeper at every governmental level into the national cesspool they seem to have created.
What I think also, is, if by some fluke the recall vote succeeds, do I want to take a chance on who the candidate receiving the most votes will be? No doubt the Republicans will come out to vote in full force, but if I don't select a candidate, do I want to risk their possibly choosing the most unacceptable to me of their candidates?
Their voter track record for quality candidate selection isn't too good as I recall the last time they put one of their own in the White House as a prime example. Too many of the Republican Party members appear to continue to bend, bow and kowtow following this now ex-President's much less than noble, unethical example garnering votes with total disregard for facts and truth coupled with their promoting often ridiculous, even dangerous conspiracy theories.
In addition to voting "NO" on the recall, I must decide whether to vote for a specific candidate, then vote by September 14th.
Let's see what's been going on with me here in SoCal. Our town in northeast L.A. County has seen an increase of 59 corona virus infections. Data was unclear whether there has also been one new death.
I felt kinda funky toward the end of the previous week, eventually pondering what I was experiencing. Some of my symptoms I associated with occurring earlier in the season, possibly allergies, but not usually this late in the summer. Reviewing Delta+ symptoms I was reminded that for those like me who had received one of the 2-shot vaccinations, we could contract the virus, that the symptoms are often quite mild and similar to those with allergies.
I recalled my daughter's recent frustration that a team member where she's employed who exposed co-workers for two weeks when she felt ill because she didn't think she could have the virus and hadn't gotten tested. My daughter has kept wearing her mask those days when she"s had to go into the office from working remotely so, fortunately, seems to have been protected from becoming infected.
I finally checked the internet which revealed nearby, 10-15 minutes away, L.A. County Fairplex -- fairgrounds where immigrating children bused in from Texas after illegally crossing the Mexico/U.S. border are being temporarily held and processed -- was offering drive through Covid testing with or without an appointment. So, I decided to take my first test that Friday afternoon.
There was no long line of cars in any queue allowing me almost immediate access to taking the long Q-tip-type self-administered nasal test. A young lady handed me the items in a plastic bag as she gave me verbal how-to instructions, then observed my actions. I carefully removed the Q-tip from its packaging, then inserted the Q-tip in each nostril. I only coughed slightly at the end of each nostril's insertion. After readily completing the process, I followed her direction to place the Q-tip in the bag and deposit in the container there. This whole experience took only a few painless minutes.
This UCLA video shows what the nasal insertion was like at my L.A. County drive through.
I was told I would receive the results in 24 hours which might have occurred had I tested positive. Others who have taken Covid tests said they were told results reporting would take longer, so I didn't fret.
I did call a County phone line Tuesday of the following week. They returned my call that day stating my Covid test results were negative, indicating I did not have the viral infection just as I had tended to believe. I was glad to know for sure though -- if I hadn't taken the test, why subject myself to periodic wondering thoughts, and I could ease the minds of my children who live miles away across the country.
I had told my children of my symptoms and plans to take the test so didn't want them to worry. As I've aged, my children have requested I keep them informed of my various health symptoms and actions before the fact when possible, rather than wait until after the fact reporting, lest matters might not go as well as I expected.
My ability to communicate to them could be hampered in some scenarios, so there's less possibility of unexpected surprises for them which they don't want -- such as years ago when I finally called 911 a couple times since living alone and spent a long night in the E.R. one time and overnight in the hospital another time but didn't tell them until after I was home again.
This time my symptoms continuing and even worsening, but with no temperature, convinced me that maybe I better start an antihistamine treatment. I was outside some these past days, but not for long periods of time. I had noted in TV weather reports smoke from Northern California's massive forest fire that had been going east across the country as far as NYC had finally spread south our way. Perhaps, this is what had aggravated my head, sinuses and more though I hadn't noticed smoke in the sky.
This Saturday as I write this, I looked north out my kitchen window at the front of my house toward the mountains. Where are those peaks, I wondered? Only the closest immediate line of peaks are visible now with the horizon behind them a grubby-white looking solid blanket of thickened smoke as far as my eyes could see, completely hiding the rest of the mountains. I'll certainly be staying indoors as much as possible in the days ahead. I may need to change my AC blower filter sooner than usual.
Are any of you subjected to smoke from this fire or other fires where you live, though some may be coping with other environmental challenges like floods, mud slides, tropical storms, sink holes, earthquakes?
Do you have access to drive through Covid testing, especially if walk-ins are more challenging for you?
I wonder about the experience others may have had with Covid testing, or if any have been tested to see if antibodies in their blood which indicate they've been infected, maybe didn't even know they'd had the virus?
I also wonder about the communication arrangements others have about their health symptoms and activities with their adult children, especially if they don't live nearby?
One of my favored blogs I've previously mentioned is "Cop Car's Beat" (her cat's name). She mixes in some humor with accounts of her daily life, including gardening, primarily directed toward her family and friends.
She occasionally highlights some really thought-provoking items she's ferreted from sites with which I've not been familiar. Her background and work before retiring has been fascinating which I won't go into other than to say she has flown around quite a bit, then later she and her husband individually devoted themselves to helping others including in times of disaster.
One of her most recent posts captured my attention which she introduced for "Neuro Nerds" and prefaced with ...
"We better get on this or all sorts of things will occur automatically and we may or may not be alerted in a timely way to opt out if we're even given the choice."
The Slashdot article she briefly discusses notes that science has scanners now...
"...making manipulation of the human mind increasingly possible, creating a need for laws and protections to regulate use of the new tools, top neurologists said."
"If you can record and change neurons, you can in principle read and write the minds of people."
"This is not science fiction. We are doing this in lab animals."
This rather lengthy video is Dr. Rafael Yuste, a neuroscientist at New York's Columbia University discussing some of his research relative to this topic and AI (Artificial Intelligence):
Dr. Yuste said in a Reuters article:
"Usually people only start talking about ethics and regulations after a big scandal, but with neurotech I hope we can take on these questions before that scandal".
"Yuste introduced the NeuroRights Initiative, which advocates five "neuro-rights" to protect how a person's brain data is accessed and used, including a right to mental privacy and to free will."
Seems incredible to me now that mind reading is even possible, but Yuste describes the current scientific environment as being like "the Wild West". These are a couple cautionary views with more perspectives in the Reuters article:
"Ienca at ETH Zurich said major ethical issues could arise if the data commercial neurotech devices collect is widely shared and analyzed without proper safeguards, he said.
"We already have digital biomarkers that can indicate if someone is predisposed to developing dementia. Let's say (that) data is shared with a prospective employer, you could face discrimination on the job market," he said."
"In Chile, senate member Guido Girardi favors strict regulation. "We didn't regulate the big social media and internet platforms in time, and it costs us. We have lost control of all kinds of data, from our location to our romantic interests -- it's all up for sale," he said."
"If we allow for all this brain data to be taken, who knows what the consequences will be? We'll have algorithms deciding what it means to be 'happy'," Girardi said".
We should be concerned. Now is the time for action -- expecting and supporting our scientists to ensure criteria are established, determining what regulations may be needed and followed to protect the individual. Does privacy matter?
What are your thoughts on the potential of mind reading and the need to establish individual rights now to protect our brains, those of our children and grandchildren from future manipulation?
"TIME GOES BY" DRAMA
"Time Goes By" (TGB) blog with past content appears to presently continue being available on the Internet hosted by TypePad with this URL: https://www.timegoesby.net/ as Ronni wrote here. We can thank another blogger at "Cop Car's Beat" (her cat's name) for her research locating Ronni'sTGB post quote regarding her blog :
"Arrangements are being made for this blog to remain just where it is online for at least five years after I've died. If anything is different, my friend Autumn, who is handling everything following my death, will let you know via this blog. So, when she posts information, it will show up in your email subscription just as you receive it now."
TGB readers who do not have blogs recently contacted me when they received notification of changes with the RSS feed that regularly has provided them the TGB blog. Their effort to implement the newly provided Feed/blitz link did not work. They have been concerned as to whether they will continue to be able to receive TGB and access those existing blog posts plus any new publications should there be any.
In an effort to find an answer for them, I emailed questions to TGB's host TypePad but received no response; then suggested to the readers they might want to contact TypePad themselves. One reader reported she did receive a TypePad response that this was now a host Feed/blitz issue. These TGB blog readers questions remain unresolved as I write this, to the best of my knowledge.
For whatever the reasons, Autumn has to date not written any further posts on TGB since December 2020 when she said she intended to continue the blog. The blogger at "The Awkward Widow" recently reported: "She [Autumn] is not going to post", concluding TGB "...is dead."
We cannot always control that our specified wishes will be carried out after we die despite our best efforts as the Awkward Widow notes. I might add, there may even be occasional instances when individuals have written, signed, documented forms specifying health care wishes that may later be contradicted by family with the medical provider, so there are no guarantees even before death either, in my experience.
If, for some reason Autumn is unable to write a post on TGB where all comments are now also closed, and there is no active contact email address there, I wish she would contact any one of numerous TGB blogger commenters, or me -- that she would write a statement with as much or as little specifics as she might choose to share regarding TGB's publication, especially the blog's subscription feeds and her intent to continue the blog, or not.
I, or a blog commenter she might choose, would welcome the opportunity to publish on our blog such official information from Autumn which I believe TGB's followers deserve to know and Ronni would expect at the very least -- some final resolution directly from Autumn regarding TGB's future, not simply ignoring the blog's followers.
Will TGB have a new editor writing blog posts?
Will TGB existing content continue to be on the Internet with TypePad hosting the current URL?
Will TGB'S existing and/or any new content continue to be fed to subscribers by Feed/blitz, including to those readers who don't have blogs?
I would like to add, I see no useful purpose in speculating further about Autumn's plans, or why she has handled the matter as she has. She wrote she was only a child when she first knew Ronni who was then an adult and their close relationship developed from that point forward -- I think, maybe being family-like.
I continue to feel sympathy for Autumn's loss and whatever challenges emotionally and otherwise she may be experiencing resolving Ronni's estate. Some of us can even act a bit flaky, or appear to be so, after the death of someone for whom we care very much -- sometimes for quite a long period of time after that person is gone from this earth that others may not understand and even we may not about ourselves.
CAFE ' NOIR
Well, I did it! I finally retired my large but old automatic coffee maker. I purchased a single cup automatic coffee maker producing from 8 to 14 ounces of my cafe' noir from whatever my favored grind. Unfortunately, for me, that is generally decaf, unlike many years of my drinking lots of caffeinated coffee and espresso, but this is much more conveniently in line with my coffee drinking habits now. I can vary the strength, adjust the amount from cup to travel mug. I don't use those limiting expensive little prepared cups used with some coffee makers.
I won't share the product brand since my blog policy, like Ronni Bennett's "Time Goes By" policy, does not provide free advertising or promotion for commercial products. If a reader ever wants to know about anything I mention on this blog, I'll share such information in response to a private email that can be sent to the address in the upper ride hand corner of this screen page.
OBNOXIOUS
Nothing ensures with more certainty that I will NEVER conduct business with an individual, company, or organization than if they ignore or fail to remove me from their email or any other mailing lists, including postal service mail, if I request them to do so, as has occurred with regular letters from one such advertiser. Another obnoxious company, but on the internet, said I could unsubscribe but when I submitted such a request, ultimately more than once, instead they bombarded my email with multiple emails every day for weeks to months, finally reducing it now to only one email almost every day though I've never responded to any -- and I NEVER WILL!
Comments here on any or all of the above topics are always welcome. Those attempting to sneakily seek free advertising or promotion in comments with links, often with no relation to any blog content, can be assured their comment will never see the light of day on this blog and will instead be screened out, sent directly to spam, even permanently blocked.
