CRANKY OLD FART
WITH THE NEWS #337
Thursday, July 6, 2023 • Schools censor plays • Judge won’t recuse herself from clergy abuse case, despite donations to the church • GQ rolled over and showed its belly to David Zaslav
• Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying Swedish police during oil protest Gotta like that kid.  … [read more]

Part 5 of this issue’s
letters to Pathetic Life

Under the pen name Bo Peep, someone otherwise unknown to me publishes a zine I like, called Not A Pet Rock. … [read more]

My wife and I got a 2003 Chevrolet Malibu, used, around 2010, and we added maybe 100,000 miles to. Two of the dents are hers. Two of the dents are mine. … [read more]

After my last day on the job at Haugen & Dahl, I rode the bus from Millionaires’ Island to downtown Seattle, and waited among the bums for my #99 bus home.  … [read more]

CRANKY OLD FART
WITH THE NEWS #336
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
• When Georgia football players are accused of crimes — which is often — this fixer shows up • As theorized by Einstein, time flowed slower way back when • Gizmodo and Kotaku staff furious after owner announces move to AI content • Twitter’s decline: Gradual, then sudden

• A third of North America’s birds have vanished • Yesterday was the hottest day ever as global temperatures rise • Splooting behavior in animals signals extreme heat made worse by climate change • New paper links climate change to shrinking brain size in humans • Study deepens our understanding of how humans affect climate change • Global climate institutions have embraced the primacy of capital, private firms, and markets — and in so doing have fatally undermined their own efficacy • Only 5% of national TV news segments on the record-shattering heat wave that scorched Texas mentioned climate change 

• Half the police force quit. … [read more]

Seven movie sorta-reviews is too much writing and editing at once, and probably too much to ask of a reader, so let’s slow down to one or two or three movies at a time. … [read more]

Part 4 of this issue’s
letters to Pathetic Life

THE NEVERENDING FILM FESTIVAL #160
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Ants! (1977)
a/k/a It Happened at Lakewood ManorThere are too many ants at Lakewood Manor, and they’re mean ants. … [read more]

A long time ago, I had health coverage through my job, but my girlfriend at the time was unemployed, so she had no coverage.

That’s the way it works in America — if you have the right job at the right company, you get health insurance, and if you don’t have a job, or don’t have the right job, you don’t.Insurance … [read more]

Growing up, Star Trek was a show I never missed, first in prime time, then in reruns, then movies and more TV shows. Eventually I drifted away, for numerous reasons — Doctor Who is more fun, Star Trek is too military, and there are far more options for decent sci-fi now than in 1966. … [read more]