After watching and the thinking about the Jan 6 Committee hearing yesterday, I’m more impressed by the process than I was at the beginning. For Republicans, this is like a slow-moving train wreck in which they’re trapped. They’re sure it’s going to hurt; they might even die, and they can’t stop the action. They can only look on in horror. The people who supported Trump’s actions are getting a spotlight placed on them, and it isn’t pretty. And I don’t know what motivated Cassidy Hutchinson, but I’m thankful for it. Someone had to come forward, and she womanned-up.

Weather-wise, July is coming in hot in Louisville. Looks like we’ll have 90+ degrees and humidity in Louisville through at least my first week there. Good weather for tomatoes. And maybe I’ll sweat off a few pounds.

On the lighter side of things, we watched the first two episodes of FX’s The Old Man last night. Very, very good new series starring some great actors. Recommended. And I *love* those dogs.

McSweeney’s tells the sad and funny story of the fearful last bottle of ketchup left at Mar-a-Lago. Hilarious. I’ve always found humor in dark and hopeless realities – this fits. “We lost Daryl that day…”.

I’ve seen too many friends meet what we call “The Wall.” When he gets angry, we get scared. And he gets angry a lot. Sometimes he gets mad about people saying he should be in prison for trying to overthrow the government, sometimes because he can’t drink water from a glass, or sometimes because his hands are too tiny to cut his well-well-done steak. Sometimes he’s not even eating. One time he got back from trying to walk down a ramp and was so mad he ordered food just to throw it against a wall. We lost Darryl that day. Every time his ire matches the color of his makeup, another friend meets The Wall.

I’m the last bottle left. Surrounded by plastic brothers and sisters who no longer are willing to risk their own safety to protect me. I keep telling them there’s this poem: “First they came for the mustard, and I did not speak out — because I was not mustard.” They don’t care. Most of them can’t read. I asked one if it supported the peaceful pouring of condiments, and it said, “I plead the fifth.” I’m alone here.

It’s just a little over a week until my visit to Imaginarium. It should be fun being surrounded by writers, filmmakers and fellow geeks for a couple of days. I’m not doing any creative writing lately – too much paid consulting work – but I’m hoping this visit to the other side gets me going again. And i just noticed that the venue, a Holiday Inn out on the east side of Louisville, is right next to Cask, a most excellent brunch spot. I figure that’s how I’ll begin a day or two at the conference.

Here’s some fun video of the ever-cringeworthy Lauren Boebert lecturing a receptive group on how the church is supposed to lead the government, and how she’s tired of this stupid separation of church and state junk. It’s hard for me to believe that there are people who think this way, but…there they are. You couldn’t make this shit up.

As the US moves ever closer to becoming a theocracy, I’ve been thinking about where I’d like to live. My first choice is The Culture, a post-scarcity galactic society in which the irrational human animal is governed managed kept from doing most stupid things by a benevolent federation of all-powerful AI starships. When I write it like that, it sounds dumb. But Ian M. Banks could make it sound wonderful. I sure miss that guy.

Great news! I received this message today, and our financial future is now assured:

Hello,

I am Mrs. Mavis Mconnor, I won the Powerball Jackpot worth
$758.7million Dollars on 28th August 2021. I am granting 3 individuals
$950,000.00 each and you are among the 3 lucky winners in this year
donations. Contact me for more details at: mavismconnor1@gmail.com

Mrs Mavis Mconnor

What a lovely person she must be. So generous.

More Louisville news. A two-year-old girl from Crestwood has become the youngest Mensa member ever. That’s very cool…I hope she does great things in life. The story is behind the Courier-Journal’s online paywall, so I can’t link to it.

Just waiting for this next SCOTUS boot to drop. Here’s the tally:

• Remove women’s rights to control their body….check
• Remove several separations of church and state….check
• Remove Federal authority to regulate corporations’ tendency to pollute air and water…check
• Remove states’ ability to control gun culture…check

That’s a pretty good month’s work, SCOTUS. Nicely done. Now please go back to whatever demonic nth-circle-of-hell dimension you’re from and leave us alone for a while.

Yes, the images of young men praying together after a football game are inspiring. It’s good to have them participate in a peaceful, collaborative meditation on life and the game. No argument there.

But the real test of this decision will be if a Muslim coach gathers players to lay down a prayer rug, face east, bow down and pray to Allah. If that is also protected and accepted, then the Court’s latest decision has some logic. I hope someone tests that theory soon…

The coach is in a position of power. He or she can have great impact on the players, and can not-so-subtly pressure the players into following his/her lead along with the rest of the team. That’s kind of the definition of being a coach – you teach and influence. But what about the Muslim kid whose parents don’t want him joining in a Christian prayer? Or the atheist kid? And again, what about a Hebrew coach who wants to lead the team in a piyyut – a prayer chant? Will the WASPy parents respect that coach’s right? Based on my experience in football America, I don’ think so.

Well, I’m not happy about this. Not a fan of Sapporo, and I’ve always liked Stone’s IPAs. So much for San Diego being a craft beer leader.

This Onion headline isn’t far from true: “Supreme Court Votes 5-4 To Reclassify Women As Service Animals“.

Very interesting perspective here.

The most surprising thing is that you wouldn’t let anyone steal your property, but you consistently let people steal your time, which is infinitely more valuable.

Today my brother and sister-in-law fly off to a new life two thousand miles away. They quit their jobs, sold their house, sold their cars, packed/shipped their stuff and today fly from San Diego to their new location in Louisville KY. Costs of housing and living are the big reasons – they’re joining the thousands of people each month leaving California. We’ll miss seeing them in Socal, but we’ll see them in KY.

Meanwhile, the Roe v Wade demise is starting to sink in with folks. I hope that people realize that this is just the first step in the conservative/evangelical push to make sure that every person in the US abides by their rules. That’s the whole problem with this – it’s OK to be a white evangelical and have specific, strict beliefs and practices. Good for you; I’m happy for you. Or an Orthodox Jew. Or a Buddhist. But when you decide to impose your belief system on me, it’s not OK. Particularly if your belief system includes taking control of my (your) body, in any circumstance.

Every woman in America, every gay person in America, every non-white person in America, make no mistake – they’re coming for you and your rights. So get out there and vote.

Travel day today, not much time to write. We *do* have a problem to solve once we get home – turns out our well isn’t working, so we have to figure out why and fix it. No water in Socal – that seems about right.

OK, this has a lot of creepy use cases. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear my dead friends and relatives talk to me via Alexa.

The Supreme Demonic Court is at it again this morning. They’ve struck down New York’s law requiring licenses for concealed handgun carry. <Sigh.> Archdemon Justice Alito mused about the rights of law-abiding citizens wishing to carry a weapon on the NY subway to protect themselves. Absolutely, I want to carry a gun to protect myself on public transportation (NOT). Welcome back to the 1850s, I suppose.

Alright, call me sexist, but this is just wrong. Natalie Portman wielding Thor’s hammer. So what the heck is Thor using as a weapon? Thor should stay Thor, and Mjolnir is his alone. I didn’t even like it when Captain America picked up the hammer in a previous movie.

This is the trouble with endless movies featuring the same characters…the Hollywood geeks feel the need to muck with the canon. Asshats.

The Hell’s Kitchen visit last night was good. Small-ish restaurant, inside a casino. Service was excellent, food was excellent, not a lot of menu choices, and it was rather expensive. When I look at it overall, it seems designed to maximize profit. I mean sure, all restaurants want to make a profit, but every little touch here was something that enhanced profitability. No bread served. All menu items in a category (starters, salads, main courses) approximately the same (rather high) price. Small portions for the salads and starters. One dessert choice. Wine prices at about 3X retail. And I’m betting young, just-starting-out cooks and chefs who aren’t as expensive as more experienced staff. Chef Gordon Ramsay has designed a money-making machine. All that said, it was a really nice meal.

News came out yesterday that Sen. Ron Johnson of WI tried to hand VP Pence a false slate of electors only minutes before the official vote counting. I find this particularly egregious – pretty much direct treason. He should be in jail, this minute, if it’s true. Hell, based on what I’ve read of Johnson he should be in jail on general principles. These guys are so used to committing crimes in plain sight, they think they can gaslight everyone and just move on. Here’s what Heather Cox Richardson reported yesterday:

Striding quickly past reporters today, Johnson told CNN’s chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju that he had “no idea” who asked him to share the fake electors with Pence. He said he had “no involvement” in the attempt to provide fake electors to overturn the legitimate outcome of the 2020 election and claimed he didn’t know who handed his office the envelope that was supposed to go to Pence. It was, he said, “some staff intern” who handed another staff member the envelope. When asked if he would try to find out, he said, “No. No, because there’s no conspiracy here. This is a complete non-story, guys. Complete non-story.”

Complete non-story, huh? Not for me, and I hope not for many others. These assholes committed crimes trying to keep their crime boss Trump in power. They need to pay.

In other news, evangelicals have daddy issues. They just want a strong male authority figure to take care of them. Poor snowflakes.

It’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. We happen to be in a beautiful place for this year’s longest day, in the mountains above Gardnerville NV. K’s sister and husband have a palatial home tucked away in the shadow of Job’s Peak, and the views from here are stunning. Here’s a picture from the main room.

The big event for today is dinner at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe. Should be interesting.

Meanwhile, so much for separation of church and state. The conservative SCOTUS lives up to expectations – Supreme Court says Maine cannot exclude religious schools from tuition assistance programs. We’re on a collision course with a theocracy, and I don’t think folks will like it once it’s here. Take a look at Pakistan or Iran for that future.