Friday Takes, Hot & Fresh (Updated)


Poor Mister B. He came down ill last week. The vomiting and diarrhea kept getting worse, and when he lost interest in eating we took him to the animal hospital. He has a heart murmur, which isn’t rare in older dogs, and a slightly enlarged liver, but no evidence of cancer or bowel obstruction. There are some stones in his kidneys and bladder, but they’re not causing problems and can be treated with a prescription urinary diet. They rehydrated him and gave him some meds to control nausea, and he’s much better. Now Lulu has the squirts, whether because she’s genuinely sick or just expressing sympathy with Mr. B we can’t tell. Anyway, we’re watching the whole gang closely. All three were fired up for their walk this morning. It was me who wanted to stay home, out of the chilly winter wind.

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Lap time w/Mr. B, Lulu, & Fritzi

Oh, Whoopi.

I don’t know from race. Surely it’s an outdated concept, but most of us mentally group ourselves and others by race, whether we say so or not. Race and racism play a huge role in society, IMO no less so today than historically.

Race isn’t real. Race is very real. Both sentences are true.

I’ve always loved movies and TV shows like “Starship Troopers” and “The Expanse,” which depict futures where humans of all races and ethnicities live and work together without conflict and are equally represented in leadership positions, where women and men are equally capable in all endeavors and occupations. Will we ever get there? Honestly, I don’t know. Fear of the other seems baked into our DNA. But we can certainly behave better toward one another, and that’s a place to start.

Update (2/5/22): “I don’t know from race.” Yes, I realize how white and male that sounds. No one who’s been discriminated against because of race, ethnicity, religion, or gender would ever say such a thing.


This is from Wonkette, posted this morning under the headline “Facebook Stock Tanked Because It SUCKS“:

Facebook . . . has fueled the growth of white nationalists, QAnon, and anti-vaxxers, spread insane conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and allowed its platform to be used to organize everything from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville to the January 6 Capitol Riot.  . . .  The UN has documented Facebook’s role in spreading hate speech that led to the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, and Facebook’s own internal auditors documented the ways its platform was used to foment violence against Muslims in India.

I don’t know if I’m a typical Facebook user, but I don’t see any of that shit. I don’t use the site for news. I don’t belong to racist, hate, or conspiracy groups. But I agree with Wonkette’s overall assessment — the suckitude is strong, and getting stronger every day.

Stupid memes. Fewer and fewer friends posting anything personal or informative. People going through the motions of being social without being social in a meaningful way. Memory says we used to put more thought into what we posted on Facebook, but I could be deluding myself. I so want to quit but what better vehicle is there for letting friends and followers know when I’ve posted new blog entries? Or, as we all say by way of justifying not quitting, keeping in touch with family and friends?


Anyone else excited about the series premier of Reacher on Amazon Prime tonight? We may have to watch the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony on tape delay, but we’re not going to miss Jack Reacher!

One thought on “Friday Takes, Hot & Fresh (Updated)

  • Yes, ‘race’ as a concept is nonsense but otoh xenophobia and mistrust is most def baked in. We were tribal for about 99% of the specie’s duration and suspicion was always called for when a strange tribe rolled up to your group’s watering hole, considering general human vileness.
    I’m with Ran Prieur on how long it will take us to overcome xenophobia and racism. Maybe 10,000 years but it doesn’t seem like we have that long.
    I’m almost as old as you and I’ve always liked and used email. Group emails seem like they would serve anyone pretty well for communication purposes. This presumes you’re writing to actual friends, family and acquaintances and not FB ‘friends’ you’ve never met.
    I believe that every act we perform is both a moral and a political statement. And when you collaborate with such evils as FB, and now Spotify, you become complicit to its immoral core.
    I’ve been a REI member for many years but am quitting them on Monday because of their anti-union stance in New York.
    Naturally my pipsqueak acts of protests can never have any effect whatsoever on our corporate overlords. But I feel better about myself if I do not participate their evil acts. Also, nothing of value would be lost.
    I can’t change the world but I can refuse to go along with evil when it reveals itself. Feeling good about my behavior is the most important thing to me. I don’t want to regret my choices on my deathbed.
    ‘Tod’ recently posted…First Solo Orbit, After SprayMy Profile

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