Category: Disaster

as reported by CNN today

Hurricane Ida has slowed to 10 mph, remains a cat 4, and is currently putting the shove to the entire flow of the Mississippi river, which is apparently flowing backwards. Normally it’s 2 feet per second and it was temporarily at -.5. Deep sections of the river could still have been flowing normally, this all depends on where the gauges are.

The river temporarily flowed backward during Katrina. Given climate change’s known exacerbation of wind speeds and duration of storms this looks to be a harbinger of the new normal.

If my pOp wants me to buy this for him he’ll let me know.

Hurricane Ida

Here’s a link showing that the hurricane doubled in speed in less than 48 hours while dropping 50 millibars in pressure in the eye. I believe ‘slam’ is the correct term for what is about to happen to New Orleans. I have been assured that the levees will hold. What will happen to the inundated coast, portions of which will get a five metre storm surge as well as 30 cm of rain, is anyone’s guess. I hope that Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas have no fatalities; the Cubans once again, since they aren’t fucking cruel morons about the lives of their own people, managed to undergo a Cat 2 with no casualties.

Conrad Black in the NP

The Nazi Post is once again hosting Conrad Black, a man who stopped being a racist in public while he was in jail in the US because he would have been shivved in the shower, and who promptly went back to his racist ways the instant he was released.

This is the first paragraph of his latest pixellated excretion.

Seven months into the Biden regime, the truism that dare not speak its name is now almost too obvious to bear stating. It was a catastrophic error to evict Donald Trump. No one, and certainly not I, would try to whitewash the stylistic infelicities of Donald Trump. He said many things that were toe-curlingly embarrassing coming from the holder of so great an office. But he proved in government as he had in the private sector that he was capable and forceful, and although he had the terrible handicap of personalizing everything and escalating all disagreements, he had a clear conception of domestic and foreign national interests and pursued them very successfully.

I was thinking that Donald Trump did everything possible to show that he was forceful AND incapable, but …. my opinion aside …. can you imagine shilling for Trump like this?

Shrub got the US into Afghanistan, when any sane military person would have said AW HELL NAW! The Afghans, who have hosted the best and worst of Islam (by which I mean Rumi and blowing up other people’s cultural treasures) over their history, have been happy to put empires on the ground, with a combination of local militias, intertribal arrangements, brutal geography, opium, and a really strong opposition to having foreign overlords using Afghanistan as a testing ground for military technology.

The fact that Conrad Black NOWHERE MENTIONS that Donald Trump’s lackeys handed the Taliban an enormous (and candidly treasonous) package of information, including the names and addresses of everyone who ever worked for the US, shows very clearly that this entire article is a narcissistic, aged capitalist wanting another even MORE narcissistic, aged capitalist to run the most dangerous country in the world. Nowhere does Mr. Butter Pat mention that they did this on Trump’s orders once he lost the election, so that the situation in Afghanistan would be IMPOSSIBLE for Joe Biden’s team to manage when the end came… an end Trump’s team precipitated. 

Such is the truly fellatial tone of this mangy screed, it’s hard not to wonder what the hell Trump has on Black. But it’s enough that he was powerful, I guess, and Black admires tyrants.

I close this rant with my assessment of this deranged fondness for Trump, as expressed by Dorothy Lamour’s quote, regarding Bing Crosby and Bob Hope: “There’s always a click when two heels meet.”

Small shop & collapse

Well my brief burst of energy has imploded. I’m feeling small and tangled-up and misanthropic, but many things, including Buster’s training schedule, are exactly as they should be. But…. blueberry turnovers, for the first time, so that was tasty.

Slept from 9:30 pm to 6 am this morning! I am well rested but not energetic, what gives, body.

Heading to Victoria next week with some descendants, unless something hinders. Fingers crossed for a good visit.

This is for me mam.

Still LOVING “Wanted”, coming up on the end of the show, 3rd season.

And from the JOSUS FUKING CHRIS IT’S A PANDEMIC PEOPLE department…

OTTAWA — The Public Service Alliance of Canada president says he “will not stand for the termination” of federal public servants who refuse to get vaccinated, after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau warned of “consequences” for those civil servants.

In an interview with CTV News, Chris Aylward said “it’s very concerning to us when national party leaders are making statements around discipline around terminations when it comes to these vaccinations. That is totally unacceptable to us.”

Aylward, who represents more than 160,000 federal public servants, stated that he supports the government’s stance that all federal public servants should be vaccinated. But he said unvaccinated employees will require accommodations to keep their jobs.

  • CTV News, from website 10;08 am PST 18 Aug 2021

An Alabama doctor is tired of helping people who refuse to protect themselves and others – so he’s no longer taking appointments with anti-vaxxers.

Mobile, Ala., physician Dr. Jason Valentine posted a photo on Facebook in which he’s seen standing in front of a sign that reads “Effective Oct. 1, 2021, Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against COVID-19.”

from

By 
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
AUG 17, 2021  5:23 PM
Today is the 40th anniversary of the day Paul and I went to housekeeping. I emailed him asking him if he wants to get takeout for lunch. His response was that he has appointments so we’ll do it tomorrow.
copyright Masato Mattori

I am not going to spend a lot of time yoinking your chain about Afghanistan. The politics of exploitation and colonization stretch into pre-history and I’m not a pro. Therefore I will stick with the present.

  1. If you have the money or donations in kind, please give generously to Afghan refugee and aid organizations in Canada or your jurisdiction. They are more clued in to what is going on and what is needed than I am and I’d rather give money to an Afghani woman in Canada, who will most intelligently disburse what she can to current refugees, than try to give a dime to international aid organizations, given the difficulties with freight at the moment. If your hope is lively donate directly to Afghan Red Crescent
  2. Please, if you have the stomach for it, read this: Stonekettle’s comments about Afghanistan.
  3. Please consider sponsoring or assisting in sponsoring a refugee, or asking your house of worship to sponsor someone. The one time I signed sponsorship papers for an individual it was the brother in law of a co-worker. I signed up for being financially responsible for him (as did another co-worker, who awesome as they are will remain nameless here) but never had to expend cash because he was working and self supporting two months after landing here (despite his considerable health problems, a consequence of the privations he endured as a refugee).

strange days

Had a panic attack at the dentist today. I was okay during the cleaning the other day but having two people in my mouth at once completely overwhelmed me and I was having trouble breathing. Big damned cavity, too.

I promptly spent a lot of money on delivery, after I walked home (more or less to demonstrate to myself that I was fine now, and also to help walk off the freezing (she gave the exact amount)) so yeah I was worked on by two total strangers after having dr. katz for like 20 years…. I just lay there and cried for the first five minutes and I don’t recollect doing that since the first time I had a root canal.

#FreePalestine #Naqba73

Well, another Naqba – the anniversary of the day the newly hatched Israelis started booting the Palestinians off their land – has arrived. Keith and I went to the demo but we’re both pretty easy to overwhelm thanks to the pandemic so we didn’t hang around longer than it took to watch the parade go by, but there were at least 2500 people there and there were literally hundreds of flags and signs, it was super colourful and people put a lot of effort into the signs. Everyone was masked, it was kind of a condition of showing up.

We parked at Edmonds and Skytrained in, and then sprinted home again – we left when the cops started flashing lights at the end of the column, although everything I’ve read in the news indicates it stayed peaceful. You can understand how the local cops would be a bit sensitive at the moment with bodies dropping left and down the street from here.

Anyway, what the Israelis are doing is war crimes and Hamas is trying to mount a defence that is not really working. I don’t want Canada to be supporting Israel in committing genocidal acts over several generations as outlined in David Ben-Gurion’s fucking diary and I understand the nutgrinder Trudeau’s got himself in on the subject and candidly I don’t care. Not in my name.

Gorgeous day

shootings aside this should be the nicest day this year so far in MST country.

I’ve put most of my laundry away from yesterday, I trained Buster twice, and brushed him, I ran the dishwasher and emptied it, I fed two lots of crows, emptied my purse and tidied it, put more recent medication in my spare pill bottle so I will now work my way through the older prescription, (I carry a week of my prescribed medication just in case I’m on the wrong side of a bridge when the big one comes through…), wrote a letter to Dave D and am close to stirring my stumps sufficiently to mail it…. not bad for someone who’s been up since 3:50. I had a very good night of sleep.

so much in the papers about the gang war.

Last time Paul and I went to Fraser Foreshore, which is at the bottom of Byrne Road, we were LAUGHING at the Cactus Club awnings, which look like could easily rip away in a wind and fly out onto the enormous intersection (Byrne and Marine – one of the major intersections in Burnaby as far as complexity and size and traffic level) and now right in front of those awnings one guy in the Brothers Keepers gang was shot dead (died on scene) and two of his faithful were hauled off to hospital last night.

 

Paul and I are about to go walking at Oakalla. If I see anything faskinating I’ll write it up when I get home.

Bitter and twisted

Huge construction fire in Langley, burned all through the night. Set fire to the building next door, 100 people had to flee their homes. Ten bucks says it’s arson, and I think fire raising is a bad bad thing.

Trudeau using a SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE to roast the living fuck out of Doug Ford who’s too busy drinking in Muskoka (which he’s not supposed to be driving to???)? Bring it on. Doug Ford is trying to kill people and doing a great job. Hope Ontarians finally vote him out.

CURVE IS finally coming down in BC. Took long enough. Still had 1000 new infections reported today.

Jeff is really feeling the vaccination, much as I did in the first couple of days.

the violence

As much as I’d like to mourn the shooting victims in the US, I am much more concerned this morning about the absolute shambolic BC Public Health response. It’s as if, having fucked things up previously they no longer even have to make an effort to make sense or improve things. I am not disappointed, I am boiling over mad.

and from Toronto!:

As for the violence in various US cities, the violence of the oppressed cannot be compared to the violence of the oppressors. The fucking cops are taking money to hurt people, they’re professional torturers at this point.

Weather continues glorious.

I am still at a very low ebb, but my mood was improved greatly yesterday by a trip to the Glenburne dairy for an old fashioned malted milk. (I waited in the car). Jeff then took my advice to take the Gaglardi way home instead of straight back down Gilmore, and we hit all the lights on the way home, which given that it was rush hour, was kind of spectacular (I’ve grown facial hair, waiting for the light at Gaglardi and Lougheed). I saved the whipped cream off the top of it so I may have some coffee – the last of it as far as I can tell, since I gave the rest to the kids – later on today.

My mood is not improved by the constant smell of dead animal all over the house. I may flee the scene just to get away from it.

Upsun note: Slider and Gwenny are talking about what it takes to register a domestic partnership in MST country LOL.

Dennis Probst memorial service today. He was a blessing, the old dandelion-head. CT Scan tomorrow (if it isn’t cancelled, we’ll see). Ultrasound next month. Booster shot in August.

I made flower buns yesterday. Gotta do something with the chicken today.

oh how am I to speak the truth with love to you

otherwise known as the story of my fucking life

I initiated contact with a loved one, I got what I deserved. I am a sadder and wiser person. I have cried more tears, but that’s okay. You have to be alive to cry.

I reached out to other loved ones. Both responded more or less instantly, helps that it’s midday Sunday, I guess. They got a hand under me apiece with their soft words and kindness and then I told, hopefully briefly enough, the source of my woes to Jeff. I tried to watch March Madness with him but I’m too fidgety.

Please be nice to the people you love by asking them what constitutes nice for them. And then… behaving that way. You can’t be nice to a person who interprets your every breath as hostile.

I have a headache from crying and I need to stop looking at a screen but between that word and this I’ve put in 812 words on my novel. Watching history repeat itself is so hard, but being history is worse.

Wrote a letter to Lois.

I’m going to have the last of Mike’s congee, watch an Elementary with Jeff and CRASH.

got some errands run

Many thanks to Jeff for being able to deliver biscotti and pick up Burritos yesterday. There was also a bong.

edit:

Jeff mentioned to me I might like to tell the story of how we ended up with a new bong.

Wellllll, it was like this. Around 5 in the ‘day before yesterday’ morning I’m thinking this bong is disgusting, so I cleaned it out in the downstairs sink. I cheated though; all I did was give it a sloosh and change the water and ungunk the bowl, but I didn’t do the deep clean, which involves rock salt and 99% alcohol. I go back upstairs after I practice for a while.

Jeff comes downstairs approximately two hours later. Jeff was watching a wombat come out of its cave on TV and Buster woke up in his lap, saw the eyes of the wombat (which were about the size of a cave bear’s) and HE BOOKED IT LIKE THE NINE WERE AFTER HIM. Nearly rendered Jeff scrotally challenged, but managed not to injure Jeff. However, the bong did not survive. It’s tempered glass, it broke in big pieces, it wasn’t hard to police up.

As you may know, bong water is the most disgusting crap on the planet and if you spill it the stench is lingering and disgusting, especially on an heirloom rug (Granny’s living room)…. but it wasn’t bong water, because I just changed it, so it was water. We put down towels, scattered desiccant packs, and thanked our lucky stars, and went out and got another one. I put felt pucks on the bottom of it so it doesn’t hurt the coffee table.

Honestly, I feel like the champeen of the world…. my luck is never this good.