It's a butterfly!!!!

 

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This Supreme Court Really Does Not Care About Women

 If you are still on the fence about the Supreme Court, think of this: the just 'ruled" that the state's commitment to overrule women's body autonomy now runs to overruling a federal law that requires hospitals to save the life of a woman EVEN if that requires a pregnancy termination.

Yes, ladies and germs, the ruling against Roe means that any state with abortion laws is not required to save the life of the mother if it requires an emergency operation that terminates the viability of the child.

The Supreme Court and some states (Idaho and Texas at least) have decided that you MUST keep the pregnancy, viable or not, definitely at the cost of the mother's life.

I wonder how they will rule on Trump's lies about the election. Let's think....

Sunday Rant Day

 Happy Sunday. It is my rant day, but I can't bring myself to talk about Trump's "proposals" because they are unconnected sound bites lodged in his brain that are untethered from reality. For example, he says that IVF will be free for everyone while also supporting the Life Begins at Concept Act, which would outlaw IVF. 

Trying to talk about his plans is useless because, beyond a thirst for revenge, he has no coherent and consistent plans. His "perfect plan to replace Obamacare" has been talked about since 2016. In the debate he says he now has "the concept of a plan." This is someone you cannot take seriously.

Except for the grift. That he is serious about.

What is he selling?

From his own websites - not affiliated with Trump 45 official campaign.

The official Trump Bible $60 (it is $6,000 if you want one guaranteed not to burst aflame)

Trump Sneakers $225 - $1,500 per pair

Trump Trading Cards - $99 per (collect the set!)

Digital Trump NFT cards - $99 per

Donald signed print with a piece of his suit from Debate #1 - #1500

Donald signed print with a piece of his mug shot suit - $1500

Donald signed print with a piece of his attempted assassination suite - $1500

Needlepoint Trump belt: $225

An 8 gigabit USB stick for $24.00 (you can get 5 on Amazon for less OR 1 USB with 128 gigabits - which is 16 times the size - for $11.00)

Trump "Make America Great" red hat Christmas Ornament $149

Trump Watches $100,000 (you read that right) estimated cost 

This is the tip of the grift iceberg. He also sells raffle tickets to have dinner with him. Raffles for a trip to Maralago.

One of the Interesting Impacts of Climate Change - and why it is a threat.

 Antarctica is a frozen hellscape, populated by seals and penguins. Okay, was.

Antarctica is "greening" at a rapid rate. It is from an astoundingly low base of plants, but it is happening. I think this is kind of cool, except for the impact on penguins, but basically it seems cool.

But it has a time bomb problem with it. As the continent warms, invasive plants and animals might move it. Since it doesn't have too many native plants, invasive species don't quite freak me out. But animals! 

Rats. Rats are what explorers and tradespeople spread around the world. Rats wreak havoc on the animals that were not used to them. Rats and Cats have destroyed bird species' nests and driven many to extinction. I don't want to see penguins and massive numbers of seabird nests destroyed by rats. So, people are trying to limit the impact of tourists and the numbers of cruise ships.

The growth is cool, but possibly deadly to local plants and animals.

How much rain fell in the mountains of the South.

 

Hurricane Helene brought some of the worst flooding in over 100 years to North Carolina. For those who think of Cape Hatteras and the low-lying coast of North Carolina, the idea of mountains seems very odd. But there are mountains in the western part of the state - the eastern part of Tennessee. And that is where Helene dropped an unbelievable amount of water. How much? The amount of water in Lake Tahoe. 

Imagine this much water falling in just a few days into Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

Wow.

Asheville, North Carolina and environs.

Gavin Creel passed away

 My guess is that most of you did know Gavin Creel. He was a very fun actor, primarily in Musical on Broadway. He was also an advocate for gay marriage rights. Eddie and I saw him in his Tony winning turn in Hello Dolly. He was Cornelius Hackl. He also starred in Hair, She Loves Me, and the revival of Into The Woods.

There is only a little of his legacy that is easy to find. But these two songs are fun. They are both from the MCC series Miscast. This is an evening where men and women sing songs written for the opposite sex. Here is an excellent rendering of Take Me or Leave Me from Rent. Interestingly, the second one is from the Covid years when they had to do it online. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43gvHOOrFSo

And the second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF8AtY28lNk

Finally with Jane Krakowski in She Loves Me.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fHVGTZ3nvV4?si=1bC362Sf8shXM-cn