Sunday, February 28, 2016

Miscellany

Sunday
28 February 2016

I have made a resolution which is going to last at least until I finish this post.  Enough with all this negativity.  I'm sick of hearing prophecies of doom that never come to pass.  I don't agree with the Republican freak show that America is going to hell in a hand basket.  So I'm going to ignore all that and just offer here a random list of things to be happy about.

VIOLENCE IN SYRIA ABATES ON DAY 1 OF CEASE FIRE

This was buried on the inside of The New York Times this morning.  No, it is not an overwhelmingly hopeful piece.  After all, the cease fire has only been in effect for one day, but it has already exceeded the expectations of conventional wisdom and I like that.

EARLY ELECTION RESULTS FAVOR REFORMISTS IN IRAN

In an election for Parliament and another for a clerical council seat, reformists outperformed Iranian hard liners.  The reformists favor the "nuclear deal"; the hard liners don't.  This was the first election held in Iran since the John Kerry-brokered deal and the turn out was above 60%.  You won't hear about this on Fox.  Of course, if the election had been a farce, Fox would have spent at least a full week explaining why Obama was at fault.

MONARCH MIGRATION REBOUNDS

This is truly cause for celebration.  Monarch Butterflies, major pollinators, include Mexico in their migration pattern.  But just like a dwindling bee population, the Monarchs have been in decline.  Until this year.  Butterfly experts in Mexico measure the butterfly  population by counting the number of acres the fluttery little insects blanket at this time of year.  They covered 10 acres this year, more than three times the coverage of the year before.  This provides cause to hope that flowers will still be pollinated.  Of course, 20 years ago the Monarchs covered 45 acres.  No one has an explanation, but they may be rebounding.

BUFFETT REJECTS CANDIDATES' MESSAGE OF US DECLINE

In Warren Buffett's annual letter to the  stockholders of Berkshire Hathaway, he rejected the false picture Republican candidates are painting of an America in decline.  He fairly brimmed with optimism, but he also cautioned against income inequality.  "The price of achieving ever increasing prosperity for the great majority of Americans should not be penury for the unfortunate," he wrote, immediately endearing himself to right-wingers across the country.

THE NEW DREAM JOBS

Remember John Cusack's list of perfect jobs in High Fidelity?  Writing for Rolling Stone in the late 60's was one.  He also wouldn't mind being a record producer for a specific label that escapes me.  This list is different.  Millennials were polled.  The number one response:  Google.  Walt Disney comes in #2, followed by St. Jude Research Hospital (makes sense to me).  Surprisingly, Apple is behind St. Jude (and falling).  A career in the army was toward the bottom of the list with Build-A-Bear Workshop at 50.  In other words, these people are all over the place.  When I was thinking career, my choices weren't quite so endless.  I can remember the order.  Teacher - Lawyer - Priest - Writer.  If I had known about places like Google with cool little cubicles and water slides and colorful places to have lunch and exercise, maybe my list would have been different, but I doubt it.

MY FAVORITE MOMENT IN A LONG TIME

Just as I turned onto Wadsworth with Willa and Jaydee in the back, Willa asked for her pacifier.  I told her that when I was packing up for the return trip to her house, I must have spaced out her pac (soft c).  Her face fell, she looked at the pac in Jaydee's mouth, and start a pretend whimper that I knew would quickly become real.  In spite of my reasonable explanation, my telling her that she might as well stop because there wasn't much I could do traveling 65 miles per hour on C-470, it was to do avail.  All of a sudden--somewhere around Quebec--the whimpering stopped.  Since it was 4:30 and the traffic wasn't moving, I was able to turn around.  I was just in time to see Jaydee reach over and hand her pac to her big sister.  "I love you Willa," she said.  Willa stuck the thing in her mouth and then they both reached out across the back seat and touched hands.  It might have been the greatest thing I've ever seen.  I took advantage of the jammed traffic to wipe the tears out of my eyes.