this and that, TGIF version

 Today is the 6th day of the 23rd week, the 7th day of the 6th month, the 159th day of 2024 [with only 200 shopping days until Christmas], and:

• Anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation 
• Daniel Boone Day
• Horseradish Day
• Hug an Atheist Day
• June Bug Day
• National CAPHPACH Day
• National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
• National Donut Day
• National Fish & Chip Day
• National Gun Violence Awareness Day
• National Oklahoma Day
• Tourette Syndrome Awareness Day
• Trial Technology Day
• Union Dissolution Day - independence day for Norway
• VCR Day
• World Caring Day
• World Food Safety Day
• Voyager I is 46 Yrs 09 Mos 02 Days and 15,143,576,890 mi/24,371,232,155 km/162.91162462 AU from the Earth

Quote of the day:

"Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?"

~  MC Escher

It was a very restless night, not because of the storms, but because of my troubled dreams.  They weren't nightmares, not really, just the kind of dream that wakes you up and makes you glad to get up and make a potty call.  Dead family members, not even close family, walked through them, and the problems of packing and moving were a constant theme.  

I know what I need to do.  I do not know when I am going to find the time and energy to do it.  This, of course, is what has added to the inertia in finding another place to live as conditions hereabouts have deteriorated through the last few years.  

The news makes me equally restless, and those who follow me on social media have probably noted that I have succumbed to doom scrolling to a certain extent.  Time to turn off the firehose again and collect all my meandering thoughts in one place!  Read on, if you are interested....

Surely there must be a better solution for both the hospital and the patient?  The article lays out the difficulties clearly, but solutions are not going to be very simple.

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/public-health/medstar-good-samaritan-hospital-lawsuit-HF6XKCML4ZBRDCOC4EJY3YVWHM/

Sometimes the headline tells you all you need to know about a publication, neh?   For the most part, the alt right has been quiet as Hunter Biden's trial winds down [because it doesn't fit the current narratives of DOJ interference and gun rights], but this particular article caught my attention.  It's behind a paywall, so only the first paragraph is visible, but you don't need to read any further to understand the depth of the bias on display, especially since the headline below it blares:  "Election Becomes a Referendum 'Twist the Trump Haters and Those Appalled at the Corruption of the Legal System."

https://www.nysun.com/article/prosecution-expected-to-rest-its-case-against-hunter-biden-as-his-attorney-prepares-a-campaign-to-sow-doubt-among-jurors?lctg=1433574154&recognized_email=beladona%40gmail.com&utm_source=MG&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20Sun%20%202024-06-07

Politico had a more balanced report on what is going on with the trial:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/07/hunter-biden-trial-truths-column-00162083

Speaking of gun rights, this couple shows absolutely no remorse and now wants their guns back

https://www.ky3.com/2024/06/06/records-expunged-st-louis-couple-who-waved-guns-protesters-they-want-their-guns-back/

SCOTUS has been on my black list since the Citizens United decision back in 2012 declared that corporations had the same rights as people, which allowed the rich and powerful to blatantly buy politicians.  I do understand that the Warren Court was anathema to conservatives, and the current alt-right SCOTUS is an over the top reaction to the liberalism of that age, but I do think the judges should be subject to the same restraints other federal judges face

https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-supreme-court-ethics-questions-are-more-common-now-than-in-the-past-231443

And I am not alone in feeling this current SCOTUS has lost its way [gift article]

https://wapo.st/3x6sFgq

In case you missed it yesterday, APPLE has given us the shelf life of our iPhones - five years of security updates is all that they will commit to

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/6/24172843/apple-iphone-minimum-five-years-security-updates

Why are they in trouble?  Well first they treated the historically low rates as "normal" instead of an aberration, and didn't plan for higher rates, and then they did stock buybacks rather than investing in the business or reducing debt.

https://apnews.com/article/zombie-business-corporate-debt-investing-interest-borrowing-52bd9ebbe1dd98983d39fe7d14e3c7fd?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

Underground fires have always been fascinating.  Locally we had a "stump dump" that smoldered in Baltimore County for years, and in Pennsylvania, a whole town had to be abandoned due to a smoldering coal fire, but I had never realized the melting of the permafrost could ignite the peat

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/arctic-zombie-fires-rising-from-the-dead-could-unleash-vicious-cycle-of-warming 

One thing hasn't changed over the years, and that is the threat of nuclear war.  This graphic posted today shows Russia and the US are still the same Cold War antagonists that they have been since WWII, but Russia is actually planning on using "tactical" nuclear weapons

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-nuclear-drills-b007cffdc4fc57922042a35fbe47907f?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

I have to admit the idea of just packing everything up into storage and staying on a cruise ship has occurred to me now and then...

https://www.unilad.com/news/mario-salcedo-cruise-ship-living-cost-for-lifestyle-734723-20240607

The two new Dune movies have been enjoyable, even though I disapprove of the changes made to both Chani's and Paul's characters and relationship, and I look forward to the next flick.  I agree that adapting the next two books of the Dune series would be even more challenging.  

https://movieweb.com/denis-villeneuve-wont-adapt-third-dune-book-why/

Pat Sajak has been the host for a very long time!  I didn't realize he was retiring, indeed has already done so since the show set to air tonight was filmed back in April.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/arts/television/pat-sajak-wheel-of-fortune.html?u2g=c&unlocked_article_code=1.x00.hMkb.WjDfv-gZgbKd&smid=url-share

China's lunar module has docked with its base, and the samples transferred to bring them home.  

https://spacenews.com/change-6-spacecraft-dock-in-lunar-orbit-ahead-of-journey-back-to-earth/

Yes Trump plans on getting even for every imaginary slight he feels he has been subjected to

https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/i-love-getting-even?r=4ge5d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

And no, Joe Biden did not try to sit on a chair that was not there yesterday

https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34VL7QR

It really was a very unpleasant book.  I don't remember whether I read it because it was assigned or picked it up on my own, but I didn't care for it.  

Somewhere around the 5th grade, I rashly embarked on a course of classical reading - the Middle River library had bought an entire collection of books from one publisher and they all had the same book cover [white striped with the title in green] and I made a vow to read every single one of them.  Did it too, altho of course I went back and revisited many of them when I was older and better able to appreciate them.

Affordable housing is in short supply, but having a company like this close its doors is disheartening news.  There is no word on what happens to the renters

https://www.arlnow.com/2024/06/06/company-managing-former-welive-apartments-in-crystal-city-office-building-files-for-bankruptcy/

I hope you enjoyed this sample of the kinds of things that I read while hopping around various news stories, blogs, and posts.   

Triscuit is totally unconcerned with any of these issues, of course, as long as the apartment is comfortable, the  litter box is fairly clean, the water fountain is working, and the food is put out regularly.

Friday nights are the best time of the entire week as work is behind and the entire weekend stretches out before us to enjoy ....