The War on Stupid

Dear you,

Futile and exhausting. My efforts to rise above the prevailing tide of stupid here in the Florida Panhandle are, currently, in epic fail mode.  I'd say at this point, after five years of ownership in condo-world, I have a total of five allies, five out of more than a hundred.  The favorable five don't just echo my views. They do, however, share my aim to not be STUPID. We six are seriously outnumbered in our war on stupid. Here's an anecdote, an example of what we deal with in enemy territory:

A few nights ago, the owner of the ground floor unit in my corridor informed me that she "personally didn't like Biden" (personally?) and is supporting RFK Jr.  Instead of walking away with a cheery "have a good night", I went there (so yes, that was STUPID of me) and asked "You support the isolationist, anti-science, anti-vax dude?"  Ground floor gal voiced her fear of the COVID vax specifically because she "read" it changed our bodies in a bad way.  Me:  "Are you talking about that whole DNA idiocy?"  Her:  "Yes."  Me:  "Then you've studied this mRNA vaccine carefully.  Educate me on the basics. What is the difference between RNA and DNA?"  Her:  "Well, I don't really know but blah blah blah blah." This time I made the not-stupid choice and walked away. It could have ended there but NO.  I just had to toss a double "fuck you" over my shoulder.  Rise above effort, epic fail. But why am I the one who has to make an effort?  RFK Jr., really? 

See the recent interview with Bill Maher. Candidate K asserted that "There is 25 percent of Americans who believe that they know somebody who was killed by a COVID vaccine." And your point is what, candidate? That 25% of us are delusional? They believe things like "information" found on South Carolina's government website.  There, they declare that "the Pfizer mRNA vaccine is contaminated", containing pieces of DNA that are "likely to damage the human genome". When this 25% was googling away looking for facts that fit their beliefs, they clicked deep into that shit! I guess they skipped the piece from Scientific American (Jan., 2024) titled "No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNA", the article opening with something you would hope they never had to say:  "You have a better chance of becoming Spider-Man than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines." 

Look, I know I might be very wrong.  All I know is that the COVID vaccination might have made me sleepy and achy day one, but it didn't kill me.  In fact, since I was immersed in a COVID-denying locale dealing with unmasked, un-vaxed sneezers and geezers and never caught the virus, I am thinking the vax probably saved my life. And even if future research reveals that I will indeed transform into Spider-Woman, I'd rather be an arachnid than an idiot.

End!

Love, Joyce

SCOTUS depression

Dear you,

Our Supreme Court is depressing me again.  During arguments about whether January 6 Rioters could be rightly charged with interrupting an official government proceeding, justices raised questions like this:

Alito:  "Let's say that today while you're arguing, five people get up, and they shout either, 'Keep the Jan. 6 insurrectionists in jail,' or 'Free the Jan. 6 patriots.'  And our police officers have to remove them forcibly - would that be a violation of this statute?"  Ridiculous.  Trying to compare a vocal interruption with a violent attempt to take over the Capitol and stop the certification of a presidential election. Well, we all know what Alito wants. 

And then there is the stellar case about whether homeless people can be fined for sleeping outside in a rural Oregon community. The homeless people in Grants Pass have camped out in a park near a pickleball court, apparently bringing too much reality to the game players there.  A raid emptied the tents of many, including one that sheltered an eighty year-old man and a woman blind in one eye.  They were at risk of being fined for staying too long.  Fined.  As if they have the means to pay that fine.  Cruel, just cruel.  As is often said these days, I suppose cruelty is the point.  Who knows how this case will be decided, but considering the callous makeup of SCOTUS, I fear those homeless folks will be even more screwed than they are now.

Power to punish the homeless; power to protect insurrectionists. It is all just so backwards.  And depressing.

Antidote for this, a way to get my mind off of Supreme disfunction?  Eyes up, look out:

There they are, green again, leafy and swaying in the breeze. The crepe myrtle trees that survived the HOA's (a condo version of the Supreme Court) instructions to annihilate some of them (or most) defiantly thrive.  So pretty, so perfect, so above it all.  Glorious.  And soon they shall bloom:

That's it.  That's enough for today.

Love,

Joyce

Blasphemy 101

Dear you,

So many weeks since I've typed something here. I 've been eyes-wide-open stunned into speechlessness once again by the local, the national and the global.  

Local:  Spring break nearly broke us on 30A.  Early March brought mindless noise-makers from Tennessee and Texas who rocked the neighborhoods. Party in the condo!  Early April brought large crowds from the metro-Atlanta area who rocked everything - Walton County law enforcement had to close the 30A beaches to minors after 7 P.M. for a week. 

National:  Donald Trump rules the airwaves with his increasingly vile rhetoric and grifter stunts.  My favorite recently?  His personally endorsed TRUMP BIBLE for $59.99. The Bible. WTF? Who would buy that?  God in heaven, who is that blasphemously stupid?  Answers can be found on X.  One cult supporter who often posts with the hashtag "persistence" is a surefire customer.  Today, he celebrates efforts in Pennsylvania to register voters at gun shows, an upcoming WrestleMania event, and among the Amish community.  The Amish.  I just can't.

Global:  Wars rage on; Palestinian children starve; Ukrainians fight on - without enough bullets or air defense - as our far-right GOP bows to Putin and denies aid; the earth quakes beneath our feet in Taiwan and New Jersey; and another hot summer is on the way.

Enough already.  I have no fresh perspectives on any of this.  However, I do have The Onion, my favorite satirical news source, to at least lift my spirits.  See their "Best Parts of Trump's $60 'God Bless the USA' Bible".  Loving these bits:

"Jesus encounters 5,000 hungry people and runs them over with pickup truck."

"Israelites have been renamed - In order to make them seem less Jewish, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob now go by Tucker, Rudy, and Ted Nugent."

"Blasphemy Matches - The inside cover includes a set of easy-strike matches for burning all heretical, non-Trump versions of the Bible."

"Upgradable - For an extra $20 you can get one that says adultery is okay."

Hilarious!  I may be short on sassy thoughts these days, but at least I can still appreciate the sass of others.  There is an art in their kind of resistance. And if things go badly in November, we are going to need a massive amount of "art".

Cheers to those who never lose their words.

Love,

Joyce