The past week or so at the day job has been ridiculous. Huge deadlines on a huge project that’s really too huge for the timeline it was scheduled for.
Of course, it does look like we’ll be close enough.
It also looks like it’s driving me utterly mad with stress.
So, the feed is a bit… odd. Because that’s how my brain is working (when my brain is working).
I’ll let you see for yourself.
Here’s the feed…
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge continues to spread (and pull in tons of money and awareness). Now we’re up to Muppets like Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog participating.
I continue to be amused. (And, in some cases, impressed.)
There’s still lots of problems in Furguson… and there are so many media-types there to get a piece of the action that they’re becoming a bit of a problem themselves. Pro tip, news-hounds: if there are more of you than there are protesters, you should probably dial it back a bit and decide amongst yourselves who’s going to go cover another part of the story.
Then there’s a new survey out that says a whole lot of people don’t think any kids under 12 should ever be out and about unaccompanied. That’s just ridiculous. Most of the people who think that have obviously forgotten that they likely survived a whole lot of unaccompanied time growing up. (Especially if they’re my age or older.) These are likely the same parents that complain like crazy about being run ragged trying to get their kids to all the meticulously planned (and structured) activities they’ve pushed them into. Send ’em out to climb a tree, dammit. Falling teaches you about physics… and risk management. Coddling them until they’re in their teens gives you “adults” who can’t deal with the real world.
And, as you scroll through the feed, you’ll also see a few trailers for movies that look new and different and interesting. Probably not blockbuster theater “success” stories like Guardians of the Galaxy… but likely infinitely better writing and acting than all the movies everyone will hear about.
Here’s the feed…
Hell continues to break loose in Furguson, MO. Journalists are being arrested. Citizens are being arrested. There are reports of shooting and rioting (which only serves to encourage the police response–seriously, knock it off, people!).
It isn’t good.
Not at all.
And Don Pardo died. (But he was 96, so that’s not that bad… but, still.)
Check it out for yourself in the very few actual articles on stuff that I could bring myself to post today. Most of what you’ll see is distracting fluff. Because that’s really all I could handle today in any quantity.
Here’s the feed…
Yep. Up too late again, trying to catch up on non-day-job work that I didn’t get to last week (or the week before) because I was so wiped out by the day job work.
Much needed fun over the weekend, but my sleep schedule is still recovering.
Yeah, that’s the excuse I can use for at least one more day.
(We all know that the reality of it is that I’m naturally nocturnal and, left to my own devices, would rarely be up before noon and usually be going to bed around sunrise.)
Ah, well… so much stuff in the feed from the past few days. You’d best just take a scroll through it to see for yourself. (Since this is all going to be quick and haphazard as I should be asleep now… except I crashed out on the couch earlier in the night… which does exactly nothing to “fix” my schedule.)
Here’s the feed…
I spent more time than I probably should have discussing the goings on in Furguson, MO, today.
Can’t say that before yesterday I’d really ever heard of that St. Louis suburb before, but after today it’s going to be hard to forge.
You see, there’s some massive police action going on there. That’s in reaction to some massive public action–including looting and riots. And that’s in reaction to a shooting that left a black man definitely dead and a cop reported injured.
Chains of events like this aren’t all that uncommon.
It’s a symptom of the ongoing and underlying racial and economic divides we’ve got going on here. That we’ve had going on here pretty much forever.
It’s tragic all around.
First that there’s any legitimate question that an altercation with a law enforcement officer was uncalled for or that the cop’s response was out of scale. Further that pretty much any any event between white people and people of a different race will far too often set off protests and riots.
I’d like to say “It didn’t used to be this way…” But that’s not entirely true. There is a tremendous history of those in power (who have always happened to be white, and almost always male here in the United States) abusing those of different races, genders, and sexual orientations. So much so that any “event” involving a minority has to be deeply questioned and, in many communities, serves as a flashpoint for the pent up frustrations of the population.
In Fuguson, the death sparked riots (which, in and of itself is an utterly counter-productive reaction–“Let’s mess up our own town to protest the actions of the powers that be!”). Those riots sparked a highly militarized police response (which, in some cases, was definitely called for–if you’re setting things on fire and robbing stores, the cops are kind of supposed to stop that). The problem is, because the police force itself was seen as the aggressor in the ongoing tension in the town, having them show up at even peaceful gatherings looking like an occupying military force and then moving in on the crowd isn’t going to do anything but incite resistance and more distrust.
Which is exactly what’s been happening over the past four days.
It’s a problematic and unfortunate situation that has done near irreparable damage to the community in many ways. Law enforcement and those in power are going to have a very difficult climb to even get back to the strained point of tolerance they had with the residents before this all fell apart. The residents are going to have to deal with numerous issues this is inevitably causing in their own community–when neighbors of yours are burning down buildings you shop at, there’s going to be some lingering frisson there.
And then the country, not as a whole but as a divided population of “us” and “them”, has yet another example of why they shouldn’t trust those we’ve put in power. That brings us one step closer to collapse… and that helps no one get anything positive done.
Anyway, there are 70 or so back and forth exchanges, all filled with fantastic and diverse opinions attached to the articles about it in the feed. Definitely check those out.
Also, there are baby ducks swimming in a sink.
And a dancing tree.
Just to balance things out.
Here’s the feed…