homeaboutarchivescommentscontacteverything

Maybe it's better they stop pretending.

 
leftovers & links
Sunday, May 21, 2023

Occasionally I see articles with headlines like, "What you can do to stop climate change," but they're invariably nonsense. What you can do about climate change is jack and also shit.

You could write to your Congressperson, sell your car, grow your own vegetables, unplug entirely from the grid, replace your toilet with a compost heap, and shower once monthly only with cold water, but it wouldn't have any measurable impact on anything outside your own home — unless you can get billions or at least millions of people to do the same things. And you can't.

To actually stop climate change and the looming destruction of civilization, we'd need laws reining in the giant corporations, and unflinching enforcement of those laws.

And for that to happen, we'd need to end corporate capitalism.

And for that to happen, we'd need a revolution — literally, the kind of revolution where Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and all their friends are swiftly separated from their heads.

That's how to stop climate change, but it can't be done, so game over. 

On to more important topics:

Apparently the entire third season of TV's Picard is an extended reunion of the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I've seen some enjoyable clips, and of course everyone's 30 years older now, as are we all.

If anyone reading this watches Picard, tell me please: What's the show's explanation for Data — the android supposedly built so much better, smarter, and stronger than humans — getting old and gray and wrinkly, the same as any flesh-and-blood person?

After complaints from the comically-evil Catholic League (which has no affiliation with the almost-as-evil Catholic Church) the Los Angeles Dodgers have decided there's more money to be made on Gay Pride Night without the The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In a clumsy press release, the team announced:

"Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the Sisters' inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees."

Gotta wonder how today's Dodgers would've reacted to the "strong feelings of people who were offended" that Jackie Robinson wore the uniform.

Like most of Major League Baseball, the Dodgers market Gay Pride every June as a ticket-selling gimmick. This year, because they dumped the Sisters, the Dodgers will do their fake Gay Pride Night without the participation of Los Angeles Pride or, I'll wager, any other prominent gay, lesbian, bi, trans, or question and answering groups.

I don't often read anything in the news and think to myself, Good, but giant corporations' greenwashing, gaywashing, and other feel-good posturing has always been fake. Maybe it's better they stop pretending. 

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make people smile, and don't even charge a fee to do it. All the Dodgers do is play baseball and manufacture profits. The world needs the Sisters a thousand times more than it needs the Dodgers.

News you need,
whether you know it or not

US wars since 2001 have killed 4.5 million people 

Perv Epstein moved more than $250,000 between accounts for Noam Chomsky, who said the money was for a 'pure technicality' 

TikTok users sue Montana same day the app is banned 

Climate change is making crabs lose their sense of smell — and seafood may never be the same 

Climate change to push species over abrupt tipping points 

Arizona's farms are running out of water, forcing farmers to confront climate change

Cop actually admits he was wrong to brutalize a man who thought he was being assaulted by criminals 

Cop gets probation for for repeatedly punching, tasing and pepper spraying a civilian who was filming officers at a traffic stop 

NYPD took this dog into custody because his owner filmed the police 

FBI misused surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM arrestees and others 

Agreement with watchdog agency allows Virginia State Police to investigate itself 

"We've had death threats, bomb threats": Rural libraries, often a lifeline, now face efforts to ban books and restrict funding 

Republican Congresswoman's family terrifies neighbors 

Republican Congressperson: "The world needs more men like [subway strangler] Daniel Penny." 

After school shooting, Tennessee governor signs bill to shield gun firms further against lawsuits 

Republican candidate wants to restrict voting for Americans between 18 to 25 amid Republican struggles 

Tennessee bans oversight of police

Florida prosecutor goes after people misled into thinking they could vote  

Black lawmaker responds after Republican felt threatened by his presence: "White supremacists — this is what they do" 

Mystery links
There's no knowing where you're going

ClickClickClick
ClickClick

My browser history
without the porn

We need to give Wendy Carlos the flowers she deserves while she's still alive 

"The Court's position is, no one can tell them what to do." 

Another thing that interests me about the Eagles is that I hate them. 

Benny Hill was a master of the erotic 

The history of kissing 

♫♬  It don't mean a thing  ♫
if it don't have that swing

The Avengers — Laurie Johnson

 • I Want to Break Free — Queen 

Kiss You — Cyndi Lauper 

Questi Stivali Sono Fatti Per Camminare — Eileen 

The Sadder but Wiser Girl — The Music Man 

Eventually, everyone
leaves the building

Martin Amis 

Peter Brown 

Doyle Brunson 

Chester Hartman 

Bill Saluga 

Andy Smart

 5/21/2023   

Cranky Old Fart is annoyed and complains and very occasionally offers a kindness, along with anything off the internet that's made me smile or snarl. All opinions fresh from my ass. Top illustration by Jeff Meyer. Click any image to enlarge. Comments & conversations invited.  

Tip 'o the hat to ye olde AVA, BoingBoing, Breakfast at Ralf's, CaptCreate's Log, Dumnezero, Katameme, Looking for My Perfect Sandwich, One Finger Medical, Two Finger Magical, Miss Miriam's Mirror, Nebulously Burnished, RanPrieur.com, Voenix Rising, and anywhere else I've stolen links, illustrations, or inspiration. 

Special thanks to Linden Arden, Becky Jo, Wynn Bruce, Joey Jo Jo, John the Basket, Dave S, Name Withheld, and always extra special thanks to my lovely late Stephanie, who gave me 21 years and proved that the world isn't always shitty.

4 comments:

  1. >What you can do about climate change is jack and also shit.

    Piss in the sink, like I do about half the time. I piss outside another 25% of the time, I think.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I remember that quote from The Match!, but am unsure if I read it there, of if you quoted it in an old PL. Regardless, I miss The Match!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, but when you're pissing in the sink or off the porch, it's only because you have to piss. You're not standing there dribbling and thinking you're saving the planet.

      These days THE MATCH is all anti-vax, too depressing to read, but I ran that quote in PATHETIC LIFE #24, yeah, and that's where I saw it and decided to run it again.

      Delete
  2. I don't live in the Bay Area so I'm just seeing now the viral "outrage" around the death and funeral of Jen Angel. I don't think I've ever personally known someone who has gone viral as fodder for the right-wing culture war before. She was an incredibly sweet person who published me multiple times in Clamor, even though I really wasn't much closer than an "ideological well-wisher, sometimes" and she knew it. It's like some cosmic joke that the people there should be more of are the first to go, and their deaths are greeted with cheers by the miserable fucks who will live bitter, nasty lives until they're 100.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah jeez, is there right-wing outrage about her murder? I haven't seen it and don't plan to look for it, but I guess it's to be expected. She was gentle and believed in justice and got killed by thugs, so she's exactly ripe for their purposes.

      It's been months since her murder and police have no suspects, have made no arrests, which probably means it was a cop who killed her.

      Delete

🚨🚨 BY THE WAY 🚨🚨
The site's software sometimes swallows comments. If it eats yours, send an email and I'll get it posted.