Tom Faranda's Folly

Toxic masculinity - STOP!

Like my house.  Loved the scene with the plunger.

 

Tuesday wordle

Top Gun Maverick - YIKES ten minutes on the training the actors went through!

Top Gun Maverick with Tom Cruise (he just turned 60 on July 3rd) back as Maverick is a huge blockbuster hit (I'll wait 'til it's on Netflix) already past $1 billion box office. First the training then the last couple of minutes has the official trailer. Thanks to Charlie for sending me this - it's really cool!

 

Monday 4th of July Wordle

4th of July!

Yup. God Bless America! With all our warts and troubles, still a great place.

Allies of Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre say Biden administraion set her up for failure (not satire or parody)

Yeah right. Must be systemic racism. This is so tedious.

Allies of the White House press secretary are blaming the Biden administration for her failures because they have a white man, John Kirby, standing by, according to a report in Politico.

The report outlined the struggles of Jean-Pierre, who assumed the duties of the office from Jen Psaki in May and become the first openly LGBTQ and black person to work as White House press secretary.

According to a review of transcripts from Jean-Pierre's time as press secretary by West Wing Playbook, she has been unable to answer reporters' questions 20 times as often as her predecessor, Psaki.

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Rather than blame these moments on Jeanne-Pierre, her allies blame the Biden administration and John Kirby, according to the Politico report.

Some Black communications officials in and outside the administration, along with allies of Jean-Pierre, feel White House leadership has set her up to fail by having Kirby, a white man who was in the running for her job, hovering nearby and taking the lead on foreign policy.

White House reporters also spoke to Politico about Jeanne-Pierre's performance thus far.

“At a certain point it wouldn’t surprise me if people started voting with their feet,” said one reporter who thought journalists may stop showing up at media briefings if Jean-Pierre continues to offer them few substantive answers.

 

Sunday's wordle

The Saturday wordle

Jeanne Robertson "Finding humor in rehab" -- Funny lady

I haven't posted anything from this lady in a few years - I think she's very funny.

Supreme Court rest rooms have been changed to gender neutral

With Ketanji Brown Jackson set to take over Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court today, aides have been hard at work changing all the restroom signs to "gender-neutral" so Jackson doesn't get confused when she has to use the restroom.

"It's important to make accommodations for differently-abled non-biologists like KBJ," said SCOTUS Clerk Michael Qian. "We are excited that Ketanji will not only be here to represent women of color, but people of mental confusion as well."

The clerks will also be hard at work striking all uses of the word "woman" from cases and legal briefings passed to the newest justice, as any use of the word "woman" causes her to start stuttering in confusion and say things like "I'm not qualified for this."

The Friday wordle

President Biden as a "transformative" President

Hmm. Certainly a transformation.

And here's more - President Biden speaking at the NATO Summit in Madrid said "Inflation is higher in almost every other country".

Uh huh.

The Thursday wordle

Markets post worse first half of year since 1970

Yes that's 52 years.  "Volatility" is a buzz word for "markets going south." S & P 500 down over 20% so far this year.

Investors gird for more volatility; almost everything—from stocks to bonds and crypto—falls to start 2022

About the only thing that rose in the first half was commodities prices. Oil prices surged above $100 a barrel, and U.S. gas prices hit records after the Russia-Ukraine war upended imports from Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer.

Now, investors seem to be in agreement about only one thing: More volatility is ahead. That is because central banks from the U.S. to India and New Zealand plan to keep raising interest rates to try to rein in inflation. The moves will likely slow down growth, potentially tipping economies into recession and generating further tumult across markets.

Biden RE: Gender surgery, "If you like your genitals you can keep your genitals"

President Biden made significant progress in transgender rights this week by signing an executive order that allows the Affordable Care Act to cover gender transition surgery and hormone therapy. Biden signed the order while surrounded by a number of drag queens and reportedly told reporters that "if you like your genitals, you can keep your genitals."

"Look, fat, here are the facts," said Joe Biden. "Too many trans people are seen as outsiders. So we're just gonna make everyone trans. If we make everyone trans then no one is. No, I'm serious."

Republicans have pounced on the president for taking his policy positions from Magneto's evil plot in Bryan Singer's X-Men, which was released in the year 2000.

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Pelosi has reportedly called a vote to codify the president's executive order so that a future president cannot undo it. She confirmed that we'll know for sure if we get to keep our genitals after the law is passed and we all see what's in it.

Wednesday's wordle

Last Saturday - up Breakneck Ridge via the (relatively easy) Nimham route

See the map, which shows that you are walking (all uphill!) seven tenths of a mile to Breakneck Ridge. The Nimham route only opened  last year - someone constructed a million five hundred stone steps!   You come out about halfway up, arriving above the flag that is on Breakneck. It's still a vigorous walk - you rise about 600 feet (according to my software) over the 7/10's of a mile. But nowhere near as tough as the first 600 feet directly up Breakneck. Joe went with me.

View at the 3/4 point. That's Bannerman Island of course.

When we got to the intersection here are the views - right at the south edge

Then looking east up the trail - can you see the  people right in the middle of the picture? Pretty cool!

Looking west, below us - where several people are standing in the little clear area - that's where the trails intersect and we came in.

We went back to the intersection of the trails and here's a good shot of the flagpole and across the river Storm King. The peak of Storm King is over 1330 feet so twice as high up as where I took this picture. Storm King is actually higher than Breakneck at it's highest Ridge, by about 90 feet.

I'm thinking I might like to do the whole Breakneck Ridge Loop, but by way of the Nimham Trail, cutting out the initial crazy rock climb to the flag. I wouldn't want to handle that anymore. Total round trip would be about 3.7 miles and take maybe three and a half hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tuesday wordle

Super-popular Psychologist Jordan Peterson "opens up about Catholicism"

Excellent nine minute interview.  I've posted a few times about Peterson and here's a review of his blockbuster book from four years ago, which I really enjoyed. Recent Read: "12 Rules for Life, an Antidote to Chaos".

Worth investing nine minutes to watch -

 

Monday's wordle

Democrats favorite Republican - Liz Cheney - tweets about the Roe V. Wade decision

So despite her disdain for Trump, she holds to her pro-life values. What will Pelosi say?

Yankees pull out a dramatic win against the Houston Astros

The fourth game of a four game set, and the Astros had won two out of three, including a no hitter (Yanks didn't get a hit!) on Saturday. And for awhile yesterday's game looked bad from the first pitch - but then the turnaround.

Sunday's wordle - - an ace!

Pretty good going - only took me 4 - 5 minutes. As always first line was ORATE. So I knew R had to be either the first or third letter (what word ends in TR?). I figured an ending of TH was very possible and almost certainly either or both U or I was in there. So put in as a sample RUNTH to see how it looked, and boom! RUSTY became an obvious possibility.

 

Sydney McLaughlin breaks her own world record (again!) in the 400M hurdles

22 years old and a newly wed - from New Jersey. Makes it look easy. She's broken her own record twice now. This was in the USA Championships, for places in the World Championship in a few weeks.

"In Venezuela, a priest is facing the prospect of prison, for speaking out against hundreds of execution-style police killings"

Go here for the whole article -

Fr. Alfredo Infante, SJ, helped publish in March an investigation into 1,414 extrajudicial police killings in his country last year. Now, the priest is facing charges of “aggravated and continued defamation” for “exposing the [state] governor to public hatred and contempt.” Infante and his lawyer spoke to Edgar Beltrán, writing for The Pillar, about his prospects and the lack of due process he is facing. “Almost 100% of the victims are young, poor males,” he told us. “It seems that for law enforcement, being a young, poor man is being a criminal.” “As a man of faith, I am inspired by the sacred commandment: ‘Thou shall not kill.’ The Church will keep its voice and action in favor of the victims, and [in favor] of re-establishing the rule of law,”

The Saturday wordle

A few more pictures from last Saturday's Beacon to Breakneck hike

I posted about the just under nine mile hike here Hike - second shakedown for tentative CT hikes - Beacon to Breakneck and it includes an explanation of what my goal is this summer.

This includes some mushroom pix - and I hope my friend Kathy can ID them for me!

Part of the terrain from North Mt. Beacon to the higher South Mt Beacon peak, which has the old fire tower. Two young women ahead of me, to give some scale. It's a scramble!

Two views from next to the fire tower. You can go here for more great views from there, which I already posted here - Hike - second shakedown for tentative CT hikes - Beacon to Breakneck

Further along the trail going south, I have to stay on the yellow trail. Next time, will reverse hike from the south and figure out where the blue trail goes to.

Now deluge of mushroom pictures - not sure (no idea!) what kind they are, so anyone who can help - leave a comment or email me.

Then further south, suddenly came upon a workman's storage box seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

And here's I presume why - a few hundred yards further people working on maintaining the trail.

Further adventures are scheduled!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday wordle - a close call

Been awhile since I got down to the last line.

Yanks and Aaron Judge cut a deal for 2022 salary, avoiding arbitration.

They split the difference and there are some incentive clauses built in. 

The deal is for $19 million and contains incentives that include $250,000 if Judge is voted the American League MVP, in addition to $250,000 if he is named World Series MVP, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

Judge and the Yankees had been $4 million apart. Judge and his agent, Page Odle, were prepared to argue his value at $21 million, while the club filed at $17 million.

“For me, it’s plain and simple,” Judge said earlier this week. “I love this team, I love this organization and everything. But there is the business side of it that I don’t like at times. I don’t think the team likes to do that. You just have to go through it, you handle it, then you move on.”

The 30-year-old Judge is enjoying an MVP-caliber campaign, owning a .304/.379/.658 slash line, with a Major League-leading 27 home runs and 58 runs scored in 68 games.

In his latest heroics, Judge's walk-off hit capped a Yankees comeback in their 7-6 victory over Houston on Thursday night. However, a potential arbitration hearing would not have incorporated arguments from this season, only focusing on Judge’s performance from 2021 and earlier.

Avoiding the hearing seems to be a prudent decision for both sides. Judge had planned to dress in a sharp suit and log on for a Zoom meeting scheduled to begin around noon on Friday, then would have likely been in the Yankees’ lineup later in the evening against Houston.

On Opening Day, Judge turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million extension that would have set his 2022 salary at $17 million.

The new hispanic congresswoman from Texas, Mayra Flores - is passionate as she's sworn in

Is she ever right (the hispanic community in Croton also getting the short end of the stick...). Her story is a great story - 36 years old, married to a border patrol agent and she has four young children.

 

The Thursday wordle

My anniversary today!

I (we) were married in 1979, so seven more years to go on the deal before considering a renewal. Meanwhile Brigid is in the UK -in  Scotland right now, having visited her sister outside of London a few days ago. Brigid off to England and Scotland for two weeks  She is retracing some camping trips outside Edinburgh her Dad made when he was a student there over 90 years ago.

Brigid is spending her evenings drinking scotch in pubs and no doubt carousing. This is the closest she's sent of a picture of herself to me - really. In my imagination I can see her reflection...

This is Brigid heading to the airport last Tuesday (that's Tim)

And here she is in 1979, at Lover's Leap on the south coast of Jamaica, a month or two before we got married. I met Brigid in Mandeville, Jamaica - we were both teaching there and were married in Mandeville.

"10 Times Socialism Actually Worked!"

The list below the picture... 10 Times Socialism Actually Worked

Bernie Sanders famously said that "real" socialism has never been tried. Frankly, we're shocked he would ever suggest such a thing because there are numerous examples of real socialist utopias that we have to pull from.

Here are just a few:

1) Star Trek's Federation of Planets: There's no money, but people still work for some reason. Workers of the world, set your phasers to Social Contract!

2) The Borg Collective: Like a more efficient Federation that tears through freedom-loving planets and subjects them to the will of the collective.

3) In the wonderful dream AOC had last night: Elon Musk even made an appearance.

4) In John Lennon's "Imagine": Everything works perfectly when you imagine it! Even marriage to Yoko Ono.

5) Smurf Village: Cheerful workers in a heavily regulated population. Just like China.

6) In Bernie Sander's serial fanfic: He's been writing Social Thunder for three years now. It's a big hit on his Substack.

7) A beaver dam: Everyone chips in or they all die.

8) The nuclear family: Too bad the nuclear family is RACIST.

9) An ant farm: It worked great until a kid came and shook it up.

10) Whatever South American country Che Guevara ruled: We're sure socialism worked there, otherwise people wouldn't still be wearing the shirt

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You see! Socialism is alive and well today. You only have to open yourself up to the imaginary world behind you and seize the means of production for the proletariat!

Wednesday's wordle

The letter, in response to Biden's letter, the Chevron CEO sent to Biden; which the President mocked.

Gasoline prices - all very funny. The Chevron CEO is Michael K Wirth. Showing his trademark sense of humor Biden said "He's mildly sensitive."

Here's the link to the Chevron letter - but the entire text is below. Takes three minutes to read and well worth it.

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for your letter dated June 14, 2022. As industry leaders, academic experts and numerous policy makers have pointed out, there are no easy fixes nor any short-term answers to the global supply and demand imbalances aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Addressing this situation requires thoughtful action and a willingness to work together, not political rhetoric. I look forward to meeting with Secretary Granholm and am hopeful for a constructive conversation about actions to address both near-term issues and the longer-term stability of energy markets.

In 2021, Chevron produced the highest volume of oil and gas in our 143-year history. In the first quarter of 2022, our U.S. production was 1.2 million barrels per day, up 109,000 barrels per day from the same quarter a year earlier. In the Permian Basin alone, we expect production to approach 750,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, an increase of more than 15 percent from 2021. And Chevron’s U.S. refinery input grew to 915,000 barrels per day on average in the first quarter of this year from 881,000 in the same quarter last year.

In addition to increasing American oil and gas production, Chevron is also investing $10 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and scale new advanced energy technologies, like carbon capture and hydrogen, along with growing our renewable liquid fuels production capacity to 100,000 barrels/day by 2030. America will lead in these critical new industries, creating jobs at home and exporting them to the world to meet energy and climate objectives.

American oil and gas supplies are among the most efficient, responsibly produced, and lowest carbon intensity supplies in the world. At roughly 15 kg of CO2-equivalent per barrel, Chevron’sPermian Basin carbon intensity is some two-thirds lower than the global industry average. U.S. Gulf of Mexico production has carbon intensity just a fraction of the global industry average.Increasing American production will offset barrels produced in other parts of the world that may not support America’s energy security, economic competitiveness, or environmental goals.

I want to be clear that Chevron shares your concerns over the higher prices that Americans are experiencing. And I assure you that Chevron is doing its part to help address these challengesby increasing capital expenditures to $18 billion in 2022, more than 50% higher than last year.

Chevron and its 37,000 employees work every day to help provide the world with the energy it demands and to lift up the lives of billions of people who rely on these supplies. Notwithstanding these efforts, your Administration has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry. These actions are not beneficial to meeting the challenges we face and are not what the American people deserve.

While today’s geopolitical situation is contributing to this energy crisis, bringing prices down and increasing supply will require a change in approach. You have called on our industry to increase energy production. We agree. Let's work together. The U.S. energy sector needs cooperation and support from your Administration for our country to return to a path toward greater energy security, economic prosperity, and environmental protection.

We need clarity and consistency on policy matters ranging from leases and permits on federal lands, to the ability to permit and build critical infrastructure, to the proper role of regulation that considers both costs and benefits. Many of these elements are described in our industry’s recently released 10-point plan. Most importantly, we need an honest dialogue on how to best balance energy, economic, and environmental objectives – one that recognizes our industry is a vital sector of the U.S. economy and is essential to our national security.

We can only meet these challenges by working together. Chevron will engage in this week’s meeting with Secretary Granholm. I encourage you to also send your senior advisors to this meeting, so they too can engage in a robust conversation. Your “whole of government” philosophy in addressing major issues should apply here too, as a comprehensive approach is best to address the energy needs of our nation and of our allies.

The American people rightly expect our country’s leaders and industry to address the challenges they are facing in a serious and resolute manner. We are a willing partner in that endeavor and trust your Administration will be the same.

Sincerely,

Mike