A mixed bag

All posts in the A mixed bag category

I’M GOING TO TRY…

Published September 3, 2022 by Nan Mykel

AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL –  Although I tend to make promises and renege on them due to one thing or another, I’m going to try and dedicate one day a week to a climate change update, headed How’s Mother Earth Doing?   I’m telling you now at the age of 86-going on-87-that I’m still a computer newbie and have resigned myself to that fact.  (I quit d’verse because it became too challenging for me when they made a little change in directions several years ago).  Which means that I will be lifting facts from resources listed under Google, and cannot mess with all the ways to frame them, for the most part.  Everyone can use Google or other “search engines,” I think they’re called. I hope to start today, so will hope to feature my new post every Saturday….How challenging and scary! ….

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The last day of the month found Pakistan in big trouble. as deadly floods devastated Pakistan.  Much of Pakistan is underwater and more than 1,100 have perished  as bridges have been washed out, crops drowned and roads wiped out.

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In the United Arab Emigrates they’re salting clouds, seeking more rain, and in Saudi Arabia and Iran they’re considering following suit.

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Soylent Green is a 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Charlton HestonLeigh Taylor-Young and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. Loosely based on the 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison, the film combines police procedural and science fiction genres, the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman and a dystopian future of dying oceans and year-round humidity, due to the greenhouse effect, resulting in  pollutionpovertyoverpopulationeuthanasia and depleted resources.[2] In 1973, it won the Nebula Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.

The Situation: By 2022,[3] the cumulative effects of overpopulationpollution and an apparent climate catastrophe have caused severe worldwide shortages of food, water and housing. In New York City alone, there are 40 million people, and only the city’s elite can afford spacious apartments, clean water, and natural food. The homes of the elite are fortified, with private security and bodyguards for their tenants. Usually, they include concubines (who are referred to as “furniture” and serve the tenants as slaves). The poor live in squalor, haul water from communal spigots, and eat highly processed wafers: “Soylent Red,” “Soylent Yellow,” and the latest product, far more flavorful and nutritious, “Soylent Green.”

It’s kind of too old a movie to require a spoiler alert, but use your imagination: people.   I don’t know how difficult it would be to legally arrange things so just the scene of the people before harvesting are allowed to sit in a large dome surrounded by images of MOTHER EARTH the way it used to be, but it would sure be a powerful statement if a national climate change PR outfit could manage a recurring spot on, say facebook, or even  Daily Kos, or AlterNet   Are there anypopular sites that don’t charge for their ads?  It takes toop long to go through the sites that continue in 10 or 12 spurts.  I know, beggars can’t be choosers.  That powerful scene is the only thing that burned its way into my memory.

That’s all for this week, Folks!

 

 

 

 

JAW-DROPPING

Published September 1, 2022 by Nan Mykel

 

TRUST ME — Because I can’t figure out how to reblog Diane Ravitz’s blog today I’ll  just cut to the chase and refer you on to her cited reference: TRUST ME, it’s well worth the visit. :

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article264450116.html

(Copy and paste the url)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Van Gogh

Published August 31, 2022 by Nan Mykel

 

In December, 1888,  while with Paul Gaughin, Van Gogh’s left ear was cut off.

Image:  Vincent Van Gogh with his bandaged left ear missing.  What?  The bandage is over his right ear!  But it’s a self portrait and he was looking in the mirror, I guess… The artistic genius was a troubled man….

Vincent Vab Gogh’s Biography:  Mental Health   Source:   Hundreds of physicians and psychiatrists have tried to define Van Gogh’s medical conditions over the years. The following are some of the more probable mental and physical diagnoses.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Van Gogh suffered from seizures which doctors, including Dr. Felix Rey and Dr. Peyron, believed to be caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Van Gogh was born with a brain lesion that many doctors believe was aggravated by his prolonged use of absinthe causing his epileptic condition. Dr. Gachet, another of Van Gogh’s physicians, was thought to have treated his epilepsy with digitalis. This prescription drug can cause one to see in yellow or see yellow spots. This may have been one of the reasons why Van Gogh loved this color.

Bipolar disorder

Due to Van Gogh’s extreme enthusiasm and dedication to first religion and then art coupled with the feverish pace of his art production many believe that mania was a prominent condition in Van Gogh’s life. However, these episodes were always followed by exhaustion and depression and ultimately suicide. Therefore, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or manic depression makes sense with the accounts of these episodes in Van Gogh’s life.

Thujone poisoning

In order to counter act his attacks of epilepsy, anxiety, and depression, Van Gogh drank absinthe, a toxic alcoholic drink popular with many artists at the time. Thujone is the toxin in absinthe. Unfortunately, the Thujone worked against Van Gogh aggravating his epilepsy and manic depression. High doses of thujone can also cause one to see objects in yellow. Various physicians have differing opinions on whether or not this is what caused Van Gogh’s affinity with yellow.

Lead poisoning

Because Van Gogh used lead based paints there are some who believe he suffered from lead poisoning from nibbling at paint chips. It was also noted by Dr. Peyron that during his attacks Van Gogh tried to poison himself by swallowing paint or drinking kerosene. One of the symptoms of lead poisoning is swelling of the retinas which can cause one to see light in circles like halos around objects. This can be seen in paintings like The Starry Night.

Hypergraphia

Hypergraphia is a condition causing one to need to write continuously; this disorder is commonly linked to mania and epilepsy. Some believe that the massive collection of over 800 letters Van Gogh wrote during his lifetime could be attributed to this condition.

Sunstroke

Because Van Gogh strived for realism in his paintings he was often painting outdoors especially during his times in the South of France. Some of his episodes of hostility and the nausea and “bad stomach” he refers to in his letters may have been the effects of sunstroke.  From <https://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/mental.html>

Vincent cut off his left ear on 23 December 1888. It was the first of several serious breakdowns that plagued him until his tragic suicide a year and a half later. We don’t know precisely what his illness was, but it had a huge impact on him.

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/stories/on-the-verge-of-insanity

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Published August 29, 2022 by Nan Mykel

Offering paper towels to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico…

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OH OH!  All that’s left in my Media Library

of the photo of other candidates on CNN crossing their heart while the National Anthem

is playing, except Donald Trump.  See my blog for September 24, 2017

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No Comment…

My Emotions This Week

Published August 27, 2022 by Nan Mykel

Image: artfido.com   Johnson Tsang

 

 

DISMAY — For two months now China has been enduring a prolonged heat wave.  The New Scientist reported that hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken. Subway stations have set up rest areas where people can recover from the heat.  On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reached 45°C (113°F).

APPRECIATION —  Finished reading an enjoyable and exceptionally well-written book, Entwined, by Joyce Wallace Scott, whose Down Syndrome twin sister spent more than three decades in a state institution.

FRUSTRATION — Having spent more than fifty dollars on a new bird feeder, two days have passed and not a single bird has visited to peck at the new,  easy-to-reach bird seed.

ENJOYMENT —  Spent time at a local thrift store with super wonderful, unusual items, including an illustrated book of myths.

EMBARASSED  — to realize that my state of residence is so reactionary, especially in the areas of abortion, gun control, gerrymandering and public schools.

WORRIED — A Trojan virus tried to invade my computer but I knew what to do: unplug the computer immediately.  Then I had to wrangle a bit to get my computer and phone working again.

RESOLVED — To continue working on my 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, which I’ve been working on for a good two weeks now.

CHAGRINED —  I read the truth about Woodrow Wilson and the extreme censorship he condoned by his segregationist postmaster, the former Rep. Albert Sidney Burleson who, in the era of World War I,  declared certain newspapers and other publications “undeliverable,” and confiscated them.  A Justice Department special agent seized one periodical from the Wells Fargo Express company.  An early version of the Espionage Act  allowed Burleson to declare 44 American periodicals entirely “unmailable,” followed later by an additional 30 more. The in-depth article, “The Censor,”  is by Adam Hochschild in the current Mother Jones.  I had always thought well of Wilson.

 

 

A BUNCH OF WONDERINGS

Published August 24, 2022 by Nan Mykel

First, what’s the story behind the ads selling U.S. postage stamps?  I can’t imagine.  If it’s a scam, why is it advertising itself?  The more I wonder about it the crazier it seems.   I’m stubborn and don’t like to Google everything!

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Second is not so much a wondering as it is a sharing.  Acording to Mother Jones, Martin Luther King Jr. was refused a gun license despite credible threats to him and his family.  The article refrained from pointing out that he was eventually killed by a white man’s gun.

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The following is not so much a wondering as it is an answer to questions tht arise when reading the daily news.  I’m educating myself as I share.  For instance, what are the recent generations’ definitions?  Oh, alright, I used Google:  Currently, five generations make up our society.

What are the primary generations today?

  • Generation Alpha, named but not characterized except by some politicians…It hasn’t happened yet…
  • Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials: Born 1996 – 2015.
  • Millennials or Gen Y: Born 1977 – 1995.
  • Generation X: Born 1965 – 1976.
  • Baby Boomers: Born 1946 – 1964.
  • Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born 1945 and before.

So what happened after 2015?  And who says the Silent Generation is silent?  I reckon 2015 to present and beyond might some day be dubbed “End of the World As We Know It.”  Or–might 2022 forward be the generation “That Saved the World As We Know It?”  I keep on reading…Generation Z (or Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.

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LOL…I’m never sure what that means.  Lots of Luck?  Lots of Love?  Via Google I learn it also can mean Laughing Out Loud,  even “I hear you.”

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I think by now we’ve all learned the meanings of  Woke  and Cancel Culture

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MAGA – “Make America Great Again,”  Trump’s slogan

Antifa – Antifa’ is a shortened version of ‘anti-fascist

WASP –  White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: an older descriptive acronym for a racially prejudiced person

KKK – Ku Klux Klan,  with its long history of violence, is the oldest and most infamous of American hate groups

Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and the Proud Boys are only three of a number of  US terrorist groups.  Google has an apparent hesitancy in listing many of the paramilitary groups across the US.

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That’s enough for today…

BOY AM I SLOW!

Published August 23, 2022 by Nan Mykel

 

 

 

My family thinks I’m paranoid, but I’m thinking I’m Miss Pollyanna and too trusting.

I just put two and two together and got four, instead of five… I never realized that mankind/womankind has tipped the scales so that dark colors are associated with death and dying. And age.  The symbolic slur occurs even in gift giving of new clothes.  Somehow, folks seem to feel more comfortable easing oldsters out of tbe limelight by relegating them to the dark side.

The first time I realized this (okay, suspected this), was when one of my children warned me not to give my young nieces any jewelry with brown stones in it.  (I often gave fossilized jewelry of the darker kind),  “because they won’t wear it.”

Then I looked in my closet.  Am I molded (thanks, Darwin!) to dressing myself precipitously in the colors of the cold, cold ground?  Quoth the raven (and me) “Nevermore!”

(Image is of Granny D, who completed her 3,200 mile walk for campaign finance reform, from California to Washington D.C., arriving in 2000 at the age of ninety.  I’m pretty sure she selected her own color in which to march for campaign reform.)

A Useful Referral

Published August 23, 2022 by Nan Mykel

 

I won’t reblog her post, but you might want to visit Diane Ravitch’s site today, in which she recommends Christians Against Christian Nationalism.

We need to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Published August 18, 2022 by Nan Mykel

Irreparable harm appears to lie in wait for us if the Republican shenanigans take hold in our country.  The situation gets wilder and wilder with the passage of time and the approach of elections.  I speak of what is being done to the ragtag of our public schools and the profession of medicine.  I don’t refer to the Mir-a-lego combustion.  Hopefully that is being attended to elsewhere.

My first concern is the eradication of sex education in the public schools.  Why did we ever begin sex education?  All those issues will become caustic again.  What is this?  Along with forbidden abortions  we’re not going to warn children?  How dark! Not only did unwanted pregnancies cry out for sex education, but also vulnerability to child sexual abuse.  “A third of sexually abused children are abused before the age of nine.” (Finkelhor, 1986, p 229).  “Stranger danger” wasn’t a joke.

Equally as nervy and destructive is attacking the physician’s time-worn oath to “do no harm.”  If recently passed state prohibitions prevail,  some states will find themselves with a crippling doctor shortage. (I’m trying not to say, “and it serves them right.”)  “If you see a fleeing of providers from states that have severely restricted their ability to practice in line with their moral compass and medical ethics, it will be a huge loss to public and community health,” said Jamila Perritt, an abortion provider in Washington, D.C., and the president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. “We don’t have to guess what’s going to happen. We already see the high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in places like Louisiana and Mississippi. But we’ll see much more of that as these bans continue to sweep the country.”

DID YOU SEE…

Published August 16, 2022 by Nan Mykel

On January 6, 2021 — or the next day– I  saw footage on television of our former president and staffers standing around watching the capitol invasion on a telvision screen.  The friends and/or staffers appeared to be drinking and unconcerned, if not downright happy.  There was no sound, but Eric was talking into a video camera and appeared excited, if not downright happy.  I assume it was on CNN but unsure.

Did anyone else see this?  I wonder who owns the video tape?  I really did see it…I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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