Staring Into The Sun

 Made it to the other side. 

No more football to distract us to the mission at hand.

Wait. 

You say we need to delve more deeply into the "controversy" surrounding the halftime show? 

Puh-leeeze. 

As a football fan in good standing, having run my school's fantasy football league for more than five years and the guy who made "a deal" with Comcast to get NFL Redzone pouring into his house every fall, I figure I owe it to everyone else to tell you what the halftime show is for: 

Potty break.

Oh, I understand that the organizers of this particular extravaganza went out of their way to provide viewers with something they could be watching on MTV, if it existed anymore. I appreciate the demographic study that went into bringing Bad Bunny to the nation's TV screen. And I applaud Mister Bunny on his showmanship. I do wonder just a bit about how this episodic montage appeared from the seats in Levi Stadium, but that's not the point.

The point is for thirteen minutes, the ax we all felt the need to grind was about the most streamed artist on this planet was given a showcase for his music and brought along some special guest stars. And he had the temerity to sing in a language other than English.

A side note here: Rolling Stones' front-man Mick Jagger has allegedly been singing in English for several decades now, and when his band played the Super Bowl XL in 2006 I didn't catch a word. And, if I may point out still further, Mick and his crew are not U.S. citizens. 

Bad Bunny is.

But for those thirteen minutes, the singing, and dancing and fireworks made me forget about the Trumpstein Files.

Almost. I felt no compulsion to peek in on the "alternative" halftime show, just like I didn't switch to the Puppy Bowl. I was there for the spectacle. 

And the potty break. 

Whimsical

 Would you buy a used space shuttle from this man? 

The world's only paper trillionaire has decided to scale back his plans from colonizing Mars to building a city on the moon. 

In my head, I started picturing Space X employees working the phones and knocking on doors, not unlike Glengarry Glen Ross, trying to sell investors on how great this change will be for them, even though the moon is much closer and already has a certain amount of debris left there by previous landings that will need to be cleaned up before the tennis courts go in. That's a difference of thirty-five to one hundred forty-five million miles, depending where the moon is in its orbit around the earth. And, as previously mentioned, the moon is kind of played out. 

More than fifty years ago Apollo missions landed humans on the moon's surface where they picked up rocks, drove around in a moon buggy and played a little golf. That last bit might be enough to get the Mar A Lago crowd excited, but I'm not sold. 

As I have mentioned here previously, I am immediately suspicious of any vehicle Elongated Mush is selling for fear that they might explode. Add to that the lack of oxygen during the trip and once you get there there won't be any atmosphere so you'll be subject to whatever price Mister Mush decides to charge you. And hitchhiking back to earth seems like a stretch. 

It was just six years ago when everyone's favorite nearly-human insisted that he would have human beings landing on Mars right about this time. Since then, he's been "busy." Getting his pal the convicted felon into the White House so he would be encouraged to take a chainsaw to parts of the government that he wanted to mine for data as well as giving up interest on saving the planet with electric cars in favor of building robots so he would have someone to talk to. 

And again, who is to say that once the first space cabins have been pieced together near Mar A Luna that Mister Mush would decide that he was really more interested in making a perpetual motion machine, leaving the colonists stranded on the moon. Just like all those Cybertruck owners who decided to take their new vehicle to a car wash. 

Dare To Be Great

 Someone online made this observation: "Remember when Sarah Palin was the dumbest person in politics? Good times."

This got me to thinking about this whole "Make America Great Again." It sounds like a boast, but I have decided it is actually more of a dare. 

If you believe that those we entrust to guard and defend our Constitution and Institutions should be subject to the same laws that the citizens who vote for them are, Make America Great Again by getting rid of the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. 

If you believe that America is the land of opportunity and that as a nation of immigrants we should welcome the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, then the dream that this country has always embodied isn't just for a select few. Make America Great Again by ending the persecution of those who have come here for many of the same reasons all those boatloads came before us. 

If you believe that politicians are elected for their capacity to bring a better life for their constituents and not to feather their own beds, then Make America Great Again by getting money out of politics and stop pretending that corporations are people. 

If you believe that convicted felons have no place in our government and anyone bragging about the results of their cognitive test is already past their use-by date, Make America Great Again by voting for those who will usher hope and change and not business as usual. 

If you believe that health care is a right and not a privilege and that women should make decisions about their own bodies, Make America Great Again by making health care affordable and free of judgement from those who pretend to know.

If you believe this truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave, Make America Great Again by being both. At the same time. 

I dare you. 

Starfleet General Order 1

 Hear me out: I believe this all started with the distress call from Sigma Iotia II. When the Enterprise arrived, they were told that the inhabitants of that planet had knowledge of the Federation's exploration ship, Horizon, lost some hundred years before. This Iotian, Bella Oxmyx, suggests that a team from the Enterprise beam down to the surface so that he can hand over the information personally. Chief Science Officer Spock reminds the Captain that this could lead to a violation of the Federation's Prime Directive that prohibits its members from interfering with the natural development of alien civilizations. Though exceptionally imitative, the Iotians lack many of the components of a culture that would allow them to achieve warp speed and interplanetary travel. Their culture seems based primarily on gangster movies from the 1940s. 

Not to belabor the point to those of you who have seen A Piece Of The Action, but the gangsters of Sigma Iotia II eventually get some sort of order impressed on them via the manipulations of the wily Captain of the Enterprise, much to the chagrin of Mister Spock. Then once the crew is safely back aboard the Enterprise, satisfied with their handling of the situation, it is revealed that Doctor McCoy has left his communicator back on the planet. From the basis of the technology found in that communicator, it is feared that eventually the Iotians will find their way more abruptly to space travel, and warp speed. From there, Kirk imagines it's only a matter of time before the Iotians show up asking the Federation for a piece of their action. 

And what I'm suggesting here, expanding briefly on plot points found throughout at series subsequent iterations that were spawned from Star Trek that it's only a matter of time before the Iotians can figure out how to travel in time as well as space. And somehow, the ancestors of Bella Oxmyx and his kin found their way back to Earth in 1947 where they influenced the birth and raising of their spawn here who would eventually become a real estate tycoon and game show host. 

And eventually find his way into the White House. 

It's the only explanation that makes sense. 

Dog Whistle Or Air Horn?

 "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."

These were the words the spokesmouth for the "president" of the United States used to explain away the video the convicted felon and still only twice impeached pedophile in chief posted on his "Truth" social media account. The post depicted the superimposed faces of Michelle and Barack Obama on the bodies of two apes. The fake outrage of which Ms. Leavitt spoke was the voices calling the images racist. 

Once again, it should be pointed out that the mild cleverness required to create such a meme is beyond the seventy-nine year old former game show host. It is not, however, beyond his capacities to mash on the "repost" button. And it is definitely not beyond the capacities of this despot to make or promote racist images or commentary. This is a cretin with limited understanding for world beyond his tiny fingertips, but what he knows is that his slavering minions seem to go for this kind of thing in large ways. 

Of course this kind of thing tends to play in the background while Nero fiddles and Rome burns. The Pressed Secretary has a full time job making excuses for all the somethings "actually matters to the American public." As proven time and again with this herd of cretins and their nominal "leader," the bar that was once set to be cleared above now required a trench of some depth be dug into the ground in order to find it, let alone get over it. 

Because getting over it is not what we should be doing. Each day's outrage is a reaction to the poison being spewed by the deranged Cheeto knocking things down across our nation's capital. He is attempting to sue the IRS and the Treasury department for ten billion dollars. An economist who happens to know about such things was asked where the money for such a decision might come from and the answer that most viewers of Schoolhouse Rock could probably come up with was easy: The American Taxpayers. 

Meanwhile, I don't expect the Obamas to get into a battle of wits with an unarmed racist. I will point out that Michelle's documentary has a ninety-three percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Melania's has yet to break out of the single digits. Barack has a Nobel Peace Prize. With his name on it. 

I could go on and on, but I have to prepare for today's outrage. 

SportsBall

 Hey sports fans!

If you read this sentence it means you're not my younger brother because he's pretty decidedly not a sports fan.

He did, however, accompany his idiot brother to San Francisco ten years ago to soak up all the festive goings-on in Super Bowl City. That was just up the road from where the actual game was going to be played in Santa Clara. To be completely transparent, the San Francisco Forty-Niners played on the outskirts of the city from which the team took its name, some sixteen miles from the center of all that truly is San Francisco. Cable cars. Rice-a-Roni. 

Candlestick Park was not where I dragged my sports agnostic brother ten years ago. Instead we took a BART train under the Bay and wandered up to the surface to see armed guards patrolling the streets. The Streets of San Francisco, a Quinn Martin Production. Recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino had created a heightened sense of imminent danger surrounding special events. 

Like the Super Bowl. 

But once we were inside the relatively friendly confines of the armed perimeter, we found the carnival-like atmosphere of Super Bowl City to be every bit as consumer-driven as we might have expected. The whole area was bathed in a soft blue haze brought on by the pervasive beer sponsor, Bud Light. We encountered many different opportunities to both stand in line and give up ridiculous amounts of cash to experience standing in line and giving up ridiculous amounts of cash. 

Eventually, after only being separated half a dozen times by the milling throng, I made my way to the one attraction that truly held my interest: wading through a sea of like-minded individuals to get a chance to buy my Official Super Bowl Fifty baseball cap. At this moment, typing those words, I understand the full absurdity of buying a baseball cap to support my favorite football team, but that's how we learn. 

Sometimes it takes a full decade. Sometimes it takes just a few sentences. And if you happen to see my younger brother, let him know that I was thinking about him. 

Discontented Winter

 Way back in the winter of '25 I attended the Eagle Court of Honor for my brother-in-law's girlfriend's daughter. She had attained scouting's highest honor, and I appreciate the time, energy and commitment it takes to do anything outside of getting to class on time in high school. Wilderness adventures like the ones I heard described during the ceremony are the kind of memories that last a lifetime. 

Not that I would know. I was an Indian Guide. This was a father and son organization formed under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association. YMCA for those of you who like your acronyms set to the Village People. There wasn't as much wilderness retreat as there were hanging out in friends' living rooms eating brownies and making craft projects. My older brother gave the Boy Scouts a try, making it all the way to First Class. This required a weekend sleepover camp, and I wasn't having any of that. I'll stick to my brownies and soup can rattles, thank you very much. 

Back to the winter of '25: I was struck by the amount of pomp and pageantry involved, and then at the length of the tangents the scoutmaster was able to spin. Later, once the presentations had been made, there was some discussion of just how recently the Boy Scouts had dropped the "boy" and started letting girls in. This change came about officially in 2019, so given the time it takes to earn all those merit badges, what I had witnessed was still a pretty fresh experience. 

Insert doom chord here.

Now Secretary of War and Cocktails Pete Hegseth wants Scouting to return to "common-sense core values." Pentagon Spokesmoron Sean Parnell burbled the following statement: “For more than a decade now, Scouting America's leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable.”

So unacceptable, in fact, that the War Pigs are considering cutting funding to Scouts unless they start providing "boy friendly places" once again. Maybe they were unaware of the precedent set back in 1971 when Marcia Brady decided to join Greg's Frontier Scout troop. The settlement apparently involved a certain amount of Brady tit for tat when Peter was cajoled into joining the Sunflower Girls. Hilarity ensued. 

But those were simpler times. Not like the winter of '25.