“I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”
~America’s most pissed off writer, John Steinbeck
I’m in a funk, but I can’t complain because my complaints are, relatively speaking, unimportant. We all have something or things. We all have scars, not all of them are visible.
“To be alive at all is to have scars.”
~John Steinbeck
Despite the things that we all have, as John Steinbeck reminds us, we, unlike this tree, are alive. And that’s… okay; it’s just great.
Academy Awards:
I don’t care. I just don’t. I didn’t watch. There will be no accolades for the rich and famous from me.
A coward dies 1000 times before his death.
~William Shakespeare
Donald Trump 👆🏼inspired this quote… or maybe just me adding it to my post.
The afore mentioned menace to society is on the verge of ne plus ultra. A (what comes after a trilogy?) fourlogy of “finding out” — financial crimes and rape in New York, election tampering in Georgia, (despite local politicians’ attempts to thwart those indictments) and the investigation into 1/6 sedition by Jack Smith, are readying indictments. I know; wake me up when we get there. My popcorn is stale.
A bank has failed, 🤨 but before it failed, executives passed out cash. 🤔 Reminder: Donald Trump deregulated banks. He eliminated regulations created by President Obama meant to prevent a financial collapse like the one in 2008. It was sabotage. The failure of this bank is a result of Trump’s action.
Moving on.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64919125.amp
This is from the school of “click this story” by exploiting our fears. Increased readership is worth a little journalistic trickery… A newly sighted asteroid is headed toward earth! Oh my God! Click. Yawn. In 2046, according to NASA, there is a 1 in 600 chance that an asteroid (rock) the size of a swimming pool could hit earth. [math] That’s 23 years. Imminent threat? No. Say it will happen on Valentine’s Day! Do not mention, until the end of the story, that the harm, if the rock beats the odds and does hit the planet, would not be earth-shattering. (Pun intended.)
https://finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/more-half-americans-wouldn-t-154606169.html
From the annals of wow, I could be a financial advisor because I knew this: “more than half of Americans wouldn’t be able to afford their bills and groceries if they lost their job.” ~wisdom from Yahoo Finance 🙀 And also, if you don’t have a car you might need to find an alternate source of transportation. And that hour of sleep, lost to daylight savings, may have made you tired.
“Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms.”
~ John Steinbeck
A slaughterhouse cleaning company hired minors who worked in two Arkansas factories. Not to worry. Not to worry…
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/feb/21/slaughterhouse-cleaning-company-hired-minors-who/
State Legislators, in Ohio, Iowa, and Arkansas, are revoking child labor laws. Children as young as 9 can work eight-hour days. This could explain forced birth, as a GOP solution for the “cheap labor” shortage. Exploitation by desperate or abusive parents will grasp the opportunity.
https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/03/07/ohio-may-loosen-child-labor-laws-tim-schaffer
This is great news for corporate America. It’s interesting that some states with the strictest abortion laws will let you put that baby to work.
- Arkansas: Nine-year-olds can now work without parental approval. (Thank Governor Sanders)
- Ohio: Children may soon work year-round, including school nights, until 9pm.
- Iowa: Alcohol served in bars by children? Iowa says okay! 14-year-olds could soon work in industrial freezers, meat coolers. Forget the canary in the coal mine; use a child instead.
Random thoughts on: Goat Yoga
- What the hell?
- Is it vegan?
- What happens when they poop?
- Why? Why must people find new ways to use animals for profit?
https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/goat-yoga-sessions-taking-place-at-echo-bay-farm-6686967
“I shall revenge myself in the cruelest way you can imagine. I shall forget it.”
~John Steinbeck
The point of this post is that nothing in the news matters… to me.
The tree guys have arrived. Have a good day. 😉
A lot from Lydia 
I was introduced to John Steinbeck in high school and he has always been one of my favorite writers. He doesn’t call things as he sees them, he calls them as they are. Awesome.
Good luck with the tree guys. If my neighbor complains about one more damned tree….
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I love him, and could quote him all day, but it would be easier to copy/past “Grapes of Wrath.”
The tree guys are still here. I live in a wooded area and the dead one dropped 8-foot branches. (trees without roots) One landed on my roof. It sounded like a bomb.
$$ “Anything that just costs money is cheap.” JS
This is not cheap.
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Hi Lydia, fantastic post. I also joined the “I don’t watch, I won’t listen, and I won’t comment” club some time ago. Must read some Steinbeck too. Hope the tree men did a good job, recently had a pine tree taken down that the possums were using as a ladder to get on the roof to party all night.😊
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The tree guys did what I could afford. The dead tree is trimmed but still there. I can relate to unwanted guests- I had ivy on my house that mice used as a ladder to get into the attic. That’s off but it tries to come back. Ivy is hard to get rid of.
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Almost impossible to get ivy away from a building once it takes hold. Looks lovely though (little bonus). I had a lovely old garden once that Ivy and Wisteria had claimed. I knew it had to be sorted but I was so looking forward to seeing the Wisteria just once before we sorted it. My dear husband demolished it just prior to flowering. It still grips my insides when I think about it, but it was too late to complain. As much as I think mice are cute I would not like them in my house. Tree surgery is expensive but we have neighbours that don’t bother and it is a constant source of annoyance. Massive trees do not belong in suburban gardens. Must stop grumbling though.
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