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Congress Needs To Take The Pledge - And So Do The Rest Of Us

3/30/2023

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Enter today! Entry period: March 23 thru April 20, 2023

“Two extended and blended multi-generational and crosscultural families become intertwined and interwoven with each other to form a tangled web of relationships. Funny and emotionally moving.” –R. Bruce Logan, co-author of the award-winning Back to Vietnam: Tours of the Heart

CONGRESS NEEDS TO TAKE THE PLEDGE - AND SO DO THE REST OF US

Everybody who doesn't intentionally wear blinders holds this truth to be self-evident that a large mostly Republican block of the of the United States Congress is on the payroll of the gun lobby. And not just for a little bit of money; for a lot of money. Some Congressional legislators receive hundreds of thousands of dollars,

...while others receive millions,

And then there's Mitt Romney in a league of his own:

It's also a self-evident truth that these legislators are addicted to their gun lobby money and as long as they are addicted there's no way they will allow any kind of effective gun control to pass in this country because an addict will sacrifice their own mother, their own father, even their own child - not to mention someone else's mother, father or child,

...to keep getting their fix.
And though in the United States the leading cause of death among children is now gunshot wounds, the truth is, the only way we will ever have any effective gun control laws in this country is if our gun money-addicted Senators and Representatives get clean. They need to swear off gun money, and every member of Congress needs to take the pledge to never again touch a penny of it.
And We the People need to take the pledge to never again vote for a candidate who accepts money from the gun lobby,
As for me, I've already taken the pledge.

References:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2022/04/18/the-leading-cause-of-death-in-children-and-youths-is-now-guns/?sh=1ebe417e1705

https://katiecouric.com/news/politics-and-policy/senators-who-take-the-most-money-from-the-nra/

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/25/ted-cruz-lawmakers-money-gun-rights-groups

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=q13&cycle=2022

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I Was Going To Blog About Something Happy Today, But Then...

3/27/2023

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This morning I was feeling fine and good. I was coming off a nice weekend. My new purple dining room curtains that I ordered from Amazon arrived:

...and even though the dining room table was in a state of income tax-related disarray, the taxes were FINALLY FINISHED, and what's not to be happy - or at least relieved - about that?
Some of my kids came over for their favorite meal, brunch served in the middle of the afternoon,

...for which I made their favorite mid-afternoon brunch food: scrambled eggs, tater tots, and a pile of French toast served with fruit, syrup, and whip cream.

And my daughter brought me from the Fox in the Snow Café the most beautiful, delicious puff pastry,

...with custard on top and a jelly donut filling.

Yes, it was a lovely weekend, and today, Monday, March 27, I woke up to a beautiful day in the neighborhood,

...and a little happy flutter at the realization that one month from today my third book will be released.

And so this morning I was of a mind to blog about something light and cheery, but then this afternoon when I sat down to write I decided to first have a look at the news and was hit with this:

Now I'm finding that my mind is no longer in the place it needs to be to write about pleasant things, "the heaven of the now and here, the daily things of life that are so dear."
Now all I can think about are the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends whose hearts have been torn out of their chests today. Now I'm heartsick and so afraid for my own loved ones, afraid that tomorrow or the next day or any day after that it could be my heart being torn out of my chest.
And now, once again, I'm angry, so, so angry, because our lawmakers who have the power to ban assault weapons and pass meaningful, effective gun control laws refuse to do so. And I don't know what to do about it, except to write about it.
But what in the world good will that do?

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If Trump Goes To Jail, Does The Secret Service Go To Jail, Too?

3/25/2023

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It was my hubby Tom who brought up that question yesterday morning over breakfast while reading the latest iteration of the non-stop, 24/7 Donald Trump Show.

And though Donald Trump as a subject of conversation has moved beyond tiring - waaaay beyond tiring - still, my mate and I found ourselves pondering what would actually happen to Trump's assigned Secret Service agents if he landed in jail? Would they have to go to jail, too? Or prison, if that's where he ended up? Wouldn't the Secret Service Agents need prison guards to protect them while they protected Donald Trump?
And here's another related quandary: If the police showed up at Mar-a-Lago to arrest Donald Trump and he resisted, would the members of his Secret Service detail have to rush to the ex-President's defense? Would it be their duty to defend him from being handcuffed if he didn't want to be handcuffed? How the heck would they work that out, anyway?
But really, who believes that Donald Trump would ever be put in a jail or prison cell? Who believes that would ever happen to him, even if he were convicted of a hush-money cover-up, Georgia election tampering, unlawful removal and destruction of White House documents, and instigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, all of which criminal offenses he's currently under investigation for?
On the other hand, I can see Trump, if convicted, even of a felony, being allowed to serve his time under house arrest at Mar-a-Lago where could continue to enjoy life in the style he's accustomed to. Or maybe he'd be allowed, in the style of Medellin Cartel drug lord Pablo Escobar, to build his own luxury prison to his own specifications on one of his golf courses, so that even while incarcerated he would never have to miss a tee time.

At least that would be easier on his Secret Service detail.

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Trump's Real Mistake With Stormy Daniels

3/23/2023

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TRUMP'S REAL MISTAKE WITH STORMY DANIELS

I wouldn't say that the biggest boo-boo Donald Trump made regarding l'affaire Stormy Daniels was having sex with the woman in the first place - though, certainly, if he'd stayed home in Trump Tower with his wife and newborn son,

...instead of going out to the golf course and pitching woo to porn star Stormy Daniels while he was supposed to be playing golf,

... he wouldn't now be in this stinky kettle of fish.
But, as we all know, Trump's gonna do what Trump's gonna do, and having done it with Stormy Daniels, his real mistake was that he didn't just blow the whole thing off and let Stormy spill the tea all around the town if she so wished. After all, if accusations of sexual assault by several women and Trump's own hot-mic admission to his predilection for grabbing women's private parts didn't dim the love of his disciples or keep him from being elected President,

...then what difference would one more accusation - and this of consensual sex, even - have made?
Why did he need to pay off any woman or hush her up? Donald Trump's worshippers to this day worship him none the less for his sleazy and sordid behavior.

Nor does his marriage to Melania seem any the worse for wear for it.

(We won't bother talking about ethics and morality, as those qualities don't exist or even compute in Trump World).
Anyway, on top of going through all that unnecessary and ultimately futile expense and time of trying to hush up his sexual escapade with Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump now has to put up with the petty nuisance of an investigation and possible criminal indictment, which, if it were happening to the likes of you and me, would probably rattle us plenty.
But then, you and me aren't Donald Trump. Thank goodness.

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Every Little Step Is NEAT

3/20/2023

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TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAY
Pre-ORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

https://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/tropicaldepression?rq=Tropical%20Depression%20Patti%20Liszkay

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EVERY LITTLE STEP IS NEAT

Doesn't it seem like calories are something we're constantly struggling to avoid as opposed to something we need to live? And considering that calories are, in fact, what keeps us alive but that we're constantly burning them up, wouldn't it seem intuitive that we'd want to stock up on the most calories that we could, so as to a have a nice, well-padded metabolic bank account to draw from?
But alas, as we all know, calories are not the same as money - although maybe they are in that too much of either is not particularly healthy or beneficial, and having just the right amount of both to meet our daily wants and needs is likely best.
However, the conventional wisdom seems to be, earn money, burn calories.
Taking off from that point, do you know what burns up most of the calories that we consume? Not exercise, but NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis:

Apparently NEAT is all the movements, big and small, that we make all day long that aren't exercise. And the more of these movements that we do throughout the day, the more calories we burn. Some common examples of NEAT are cooking,

..housework,

...shopping,

...playing an instrument,

...playing with the dog,

...going up and down steps, getting from point A to point B, even fidgeting while sitting counts.

One hour of exercise purportedly takes up 4% of our waking day, while non-exercise takes up a whopping 63% (assuming we're sleeping for eight hours. Which I, for one, just about never am, not because I wouldn't like eight hours of sleep a night, but because that much sleep will not come to me no matter how many hours I lie in bed).
Anyway, what got me cogitating about this subject was this article I read in the New York Times last week about the potential health drawbacks of working from home.

Among the drawbacks were the likelihood of less walking, as from the one's car to the building of one's employment, less getting up from one's desk to consult with one's co-workers, less hanging around the water cooler chatting, etc. In short, less NEAT. It was also an exhortation to those working from home to get their NEAT on.
Which I, frankly, have been doing. Ever since I read that article I've been trying to have more of an awareness of all the moves I make during the day while making the effort to make enough of them.
However I do feel confident that I at least have the fidgeting all sewn up. All my life people have been saying to me, "Geez, can't you sit still for a minute?" Now I finally have a righteous answer: No, I shall NOT sit still. I'm busy NEATing.

https://www.verywellfit.com/neat-non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis-2241984

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/opinion/wfh-return-to-office-health.html

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Celebrating Anusha

3/15/2023

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TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAY
ORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

https://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/tropicaldepression?rq=Tropical%20Depression%20Patti%20Liszkay

before April 27 for a 15% discount using promo code
PREORDER2023

CELEBRATING ANUSHA

On February 15, 2023, my niece Anusha became an American citizen.

To celebrate this very special occasion, I proposed that we throw a party in Anusha's honor, which we did this past Saturday, March 11.
The day before, I decorated the living room with patriotic balloons that I picked up from the Dollar Tree.

N.B.: If you ever need helium balloons, the Dollar Tree is the place to go. The balloons are $1.25 each and they last a whole lot longer than you want them too. I once let a bunch of Dollar Tree balloons continue to float around my house after the party was over just to see how long they'd last. Two months later they were still afloat. (See post from 8/15/2015, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/the-persistence-ofmemoryballoons).

On Saturday morning Tommy and Randy - Anusha's hubby - came over to help Tom, Theresa and me with the preparations. I put Tommy, Randy, and Theresa on pastry patrol.
I'd come up with the idea, in honor of Anusha's country of birth, of decorating a batch of mini-cupcakes as the flag of India.

This task I assigned to Randy (right) and Tommy (left).

The flag of India:

The cupcakes:

As Anusha is also a citizen of Canada along with now being an American, I decided to commemorate this as well by making two tartes aux fruits - big soft cookies iced with a mix of whipped cream and cream cheese and topped with fresh fruit - in the shape of her flags. This task I likewise assigned to Tommy and Randy. Tommy opted to make the American flag, while Randy took the Canadian flag.

(I also bought flags of Canada and India and hung them on the front porch, but, alas, I forgot to take pictures. Then at the end of the day I gave the porch flags to Anusha).

Theresa, meanwhile, worked on icing a batch of chocolate cream-filled mini-cupcakes,

...while Tom valiantly took on dishwashing duty.

Next I put Tommy and Randy to work on the final edible tribute, a flag of India veggie tray,

...stylized, of course.

And then it was all hands hustling around doing whatever else needed to be done before the guests arrived.

At one o'clock the guests began arriving,

...including guest of honor Anusha, who, in her typical fashion, immediately chipped in to help with the last-minute details.

By the time all the guests had arrived - 17 family members (and one friend) in all - the table was set.

We called everyone to the dining room and I said a blessing.

On the menu was:
Rice with garlic and lemon shrimp and vegetables
Corn with sauteed vegetables

Tater rounds
Green beans almondine

Mac and cheese
Shredded pork

Hot rolls
Ham and cheese stromboli
Margherita pizza stromboli
Flag of India veggie tray and dip

Vanilla flag of India mini-cupcakes
American flag tarte aux fruits
Canadian flag tarte aux fruits
Red, white and blue M&M cookies
Chocolate cream-filled mini-cupcakes

Fruit salad brought by my sister-in-law Mary Jane
Jelly fruit slices
Chips

I gave a blessing,

....then Anusha gave a lovely little speech of thanks for family and friends and in gratitude for her new citizenship and for this day.

Then we all dug in.

A little later I gave Anusha a citizenship gift,

...a bird feeder set with glass mosaic pieces, the colors of which evoked the colors of the globe: blue like the oceans, green like the trees and plants, and golden brown like the desert areas.

Then we spent the rest of the day sitting around,

...chatting,

...going back for seconds, thirds, and fourths,

...and otherwise enjoying the day.

As the day wound down and people began to leave, I asked everyone to take with them a balloon and a piled-up plate or two (or three) of left-overs. Most were glad to oblige.
And then the party was over and everyone was gone. But - as the song goes - the memory lingered on.

And it was a happy one.

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The Library Space

3/13/2023

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The downtown main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library has been showing a photographic exhibit on redlining in Columbus, redlining, or racial zoning, being the real estate practice in this country of marking off neighborhoods where people of color lived and designating them as low value areas not worth the financial investment of a mortgage loan.

Last Tuesday Tom and I decided to see go the library exhibit.
Now, the main branch of the Columbus library underwent a major renovation a few years ago, and though at the front entrance one can still find a vestige of the building's beautiful original interior design,

...upon entering the library proper one steps into a vast, bright, modern space with an attractive open-area design.

As we traversed the library space on our way back to the redlining exhibit, we passed another quite engaging exhibit on human migration,

...as well as the beautiful staircase mural painted by Columbus folk artist artist Aminah Robinson.

We also passed the library bookstore,

...the café,

...and lots of places to sit,

...before we arrived at our destination, the redlining exhibit.

And it was all good, the exhibits, the shops, the nice public spaces; but it hit me: where are the books in this library?
Not that there were no books at all; there was one long row of shelves that held a number of copies of a couple of different books.

...and I did catch sight of a display in one of the sitting areas,

...and there were some books hanging on a wall.

But the most books were to be found on the shelves of the book store, which was the only area that, to me, looked like a library.

All the books on the store shelves were used library editions for sale for a dollar or so.
I asked the cashier where all the books were in this library.
"The books are on the second and third floors," she said. "And there's the children's library to the left of the entrance."
I knew about the children's library. Last summer I took my granddaughters there, and they had a fine time playing with the baby chicks and ducks from the hatchery that had been set up in the children's library,

...also looking at the Lego display,

...and even looking at some books.

So I headed, instead, up the staircase to the second floor, where there were shelves of books to be found,

...amidst the space.

There were also some bookshelves spread out around the third floor,

Wow, said I to myself while taking in the impressive view from the third floor of the second floor,

...there's just not a whole lot of books in this library.
But after giving it a moment's thought, I decided that this state of affairs wasn't necessarily bad, but just a sign of the times. After all, just because people aren't reading print books doesn't mean they're not reading. It likely means, rather, that they're reading on their Kindles and Nooks or listening to their Audiobooks. And if the Columbus main branch library is no longer the repository for oodles of tomes that it once was, it's still a beautiful community space where people can come to read or work on their devices, or for any number of other beneficial reasons,

...and have a snack or a drink while they're at it.

But it's sure not your mother's library.

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Ron DeSantis Is A Weener Doodle And So Is Jason Brodeur

3/8/2023

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FRIDAY, MARCH 10
"Equal and Opposite Reactions" by Patti Liszkay
will be 99 cents on Amazon Kindle
http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

RON DESANTIS IS A WEENER DOODLE AND SO IS JASON BRODEUR

Okay, I know it's not nice that I just called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a weener doodle.

And it's not nice that I called Florida Republican state Senator Jason Brodeur a weener doodle, either.

But the thing is, there may be but a small window of time left until a blogger such as myself will no longer have the freedom to call these guys weener doodles or anything else less than adulatory. So I thought I'd better hurry up while I still have the chance to say it without the risk of being censored and fined.
But, of course, I wouldn't call anybody a weener doodle under any circumstances unless they deserved it, and Ron DeSantis and his buddy Jason Brouder certainly deserve it.
Why does Ron DeSantis deserve to be called a weener doodle? Well, really, how do I count the whys? But as for Senator Jason Brodeur, he dreamed up and introduced to the Florida state legislature a bill that would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state.
I'm serious. According to Brodeur's bill, failure to register with the state within five days of the blog post would result in a fine of $25 a day, with a maximum of $2500 per blog post. And if a blogger (unlike moi self) happens to make any money from their blog about the Governor et al the blogger must report who paid them and how much.
Kinda has a creepy vibe, doesn't it?

But what's not clear is whether this Florida anti-free speech law would apply only to bloggers who live in Florida or whether bloggers all over the world would have to register with Florida when they wrote about the Governor, his Cabinet, or his legislature. I mean, could they somehow find out our addresses and make us register? Or make us pay if we don't?
Do they have their ways?

In any case, the bill is now before the Florida legislature and there's already a copy of it on Governor DeSantis's desk for his consideration.
It's hard to believe such a piece of tyranny would come to pass in this country. But then, there are a lot of things that come to pass in this country that are hard to believe.

Still, I can hardly imagine that the Florida blogger registration bill will come to pass. But just in case it does I'm going to play it safe and say it now while it can still be said: Ron DeSantis is a weener doodle. And so is Jason Brodeur for making up such a stupid bill.

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Thoughts On A Rainy Day

3/6/2023

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A few days ago we woke up to a rainy morning here in Columbus, Ohio, and the words from the old Joni Mitchell song played in my head:
Rows and floes of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on every one...

...for which I'm thankful. For the raining and snowing on everyone, that is. If only it was raining and snowing on everyone. Or at least on everyone whose patch of earth needs it.
See, I, too, used to look at clouds and see ice cream castles and all that other stuff in the air. But now when I look at clouds they fill me with the hope of rain. Or even snow. These days water in any form falling from the sky is welcome to me. Now when I see the rain pouring down I think of underground aquifers soaking it up, water tables rising, reservoirs topping off, rivers, lakes and streams swelling. I think of water, the source of life on this planet, being replenished. And I wish the rain could be shared.
I especially wish the rain could be shared during that treacherous and treacherously absurd season created by climate change during which it's now the norm for the southern coast of the United States to be drowned by monster hurricanes at the same time as the West Coast is being consumed by drought-induced monster fires.
But here's the thing: I believe that humans, American humans especially, could invent a way to harness the rain brought by hurricanes and transform it from devastation for the South to salvation for the West.
Consider all the wonderful, incredible things we Americans have shown ourselves capable of constructing, including some three million miles of gas and oil pipelines that crisscross this country.
Is it so farfetched, then, to imagine three million miles of pipelines for transporting hurricane water from Florida and Texas to Oregon and California? Is it so farfetched to imagine vast systems of ground drains and pumps connected to vast systems of water evacuation connected to vast systems of pipeline connected to vast systems of water recovery and distribution?
I believe that we humans, so infinite in faculty, could without a doubt accomplish just such a feat of infrastructure. And some days I even find myself believing in the possibility that we might.
I guess I can't stop seeing those ice cream castles in the air.

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​​CONGRESS NEEDS TO TAKE THE PLEDGE - AND SO DO THE REST OF US

​TRUMP'S REAL MISTAKE WITH STORMY DANIELS

​TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAYPre-ORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

​BEFORE APRIL 27 FOR A 15% DISCOUNT USING PROMO CODEPREORDER2023

​​EVERY LITTLE STEP IS NEAT

​TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAYORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

before April 27 for a 15% discount using promo codePREORDER2023

​​CELEBRATING ANUSHA

​​RON DESANTIS IS A WEENER DOODLE AND SO IS JASON BRODEUR

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CONGRESS NEEDS TO TAKE THE PLEDGE - AND SO DO THE REST OF US

TRUMP'S REAL MISTAKE WITH STORMY DANIELS

TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAY
Pre-ORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

BEFORE APRIL 27 FOR A 15% DISCOUNT USING PROMO CODE
PREORDER2023

EVERY LITTLE STEP IS NEAT

TROPICAL DEPRESSION BY PATTI LISZKAY
ORDER FROM BLACK ROSE WRITING

before April 27 for a 15% discount using promo code
PREORDER2023

CELEBRATING ANUSHA

RON DESANTIS IS A WEENER DOODLE AND SO IS JASON BRODEUR