The Life Cycle in Christmas Cards

In early middle age, more and more Christmas cards you send aren't returned, because your friends' addresses no longer change so much from year to year.

In late middle age, sending Christmas cards gets more depressing as first a few and then more each year get returned marked "deceased."

Be thankful for middle, middle age. It's not a stable state of nature and it won't last forever.

May I Have a Word: Uggianaqtuq

According to the New York Times:

The Inuit have a word for changes they are seeing to their environment: uggianaqtuq. It means "to behave strangely."

Tragically, according to Vox:

The Trump administration is backing away from calling climate change a national security threat, a move that contradicts nearly three decades of military planning.

Behaving strangely, indeed. 

Can I have Bocce Balls in my Carry-on Bag?

Yes.

May I Have a Word: Just Joking

When Al Franken defended his boorish behavior towards a woman on a USO tour, his defense was that he intended it as a joke that, in hindsight, was never funny. Donald Trump "jokes" repeatedly, for example encouraging rough treatment by police when arresting suspects. Or at least that's how his apologists explain his statements: just joking. Most people don't accept the "just joking" defense (and for the record I don't either), but I read something today that explains where it comes from:

Humor is often a kind of aggression. Being laughed at is aversive and feels like an attack. Comedy often runs on slapstick and insult, and in less refined settings, including the foraging societies in which we evolved, humor can be overtly sadistic.

Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works

So, yeah, many people find cruelty to others to be funny. For them "just joking" is not just a defense. It's the simple truth of what those people find to be "funny."

Introducing Donald Trump

Searching the archives of this blog, I notice that there is no mention of Donald Trump. Maybe that's not surprising, as I took an extended hiatus from 2010 to 2017. In any case, it's time to rectify that. In case you didn't know (i.e., in case you have been living under a rock for that last two years), Donald Trump is a bully, a blowhard, a narcissist, a compulsive liar and a political know-nothing. It doesn't surprise me that such people run for political office. It doesn't surprise me that they occasionally even get elected (I'm thinking of you, Louie Gohmert). What does surprise me is that 46.1% of all American voters knew all that about Donald Trump and still said, "Yeah, that's who I want running the country."

The Future of Conversation

Someone just forwarded me an email that began "You didn't get this?" When I went to reply, Gmail offered me three ready-made answers, the first of which was "No, I didn't get it." I clicked that and then clicked Send. The entire text of my reply was generated automatically by Gmail and suggested to me. Soon our conversations will be nothing but Google talking to itself.

I'm Back

I'm back. Expect random thoughts at random intervals.

DART's "not so good thing" - Update

An anonymous poster submitted a comment to an old article (read here) regarding Rep. Angie Chen Button's role as a DART board member in DART's $900 million cost overrun in 2008. DART is still reeling from that. I don't know about a Button-Jeffus connection the anonymous poster refers to nor the requirements for a conflict of interest charge, but if what he or she says is true, this particular situation doesn't pass the smell test.

"Ed, I ran across this article while doing some research on Rep. Button. I did some checking into this Garland Council meeting and found this shocker: The guy questioning Button about the $900M shortfall (Jeffus) shows up on Button's payroll to the tune of over $60K in 2008 alone [Texas Ethics Commission filings and streaming video obtained from Garland City Secretary's Office]. This raises a question: A Dart Board representative works for the council that appointed them right? So was there a conflict of interest going on in 2008 with a sitting council member being on the payroll of a sitting board member the council appoints? Is there a statute of limitation for conflict of interest violations?"

Health Care End Game - Update

With full awareness of the immodesty of saying, "I told you so", I couldn't help but look back with much satisfaction on a post I made last August, titled "Health Care End Game" and subtitled, "Spoiler alert: How it will end." Now the end has come. That old post was remarkably prescient. Close vote. No GOP support. Budget reconciliation. The one prediction that failed was the expectation that if reconciliation were used (it was), then some form of the public option would be in the final bill (it wasn't). Still, I give my prognostication a solid B+.

No Mercy - Please Don't Go

This blog comment deserves to be a blog post of its own:

Destiny said:

"This is getting old.

And I figured OBVIOUSLY the only reason you're not coming back is because no one has written you a song yet begging you to. (you're so dramatic) So here, I wrote this for you and produced the music video as well, all by myself...in your honor."

In response, all I have to say is...