In a moment of casual conversation with my mom and sister, they mentioned in passing that my late non-uncle Kyle will be losing his house.

CRANKY OLD FART #249 leftovers & links   Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022

He spent his last ten years in a nursing home, along with his wife, and during that time the house they’d owned for fifty years has been occupied by their daughter, who was caring for their disabled son, who’d never lived anywhere else and probably couldn’t. Uncle Kyle’s son died a month after Uncle Kyle, so now the daughter is packing to vacate the premises.She has no choice. She’s not selling the house. The state owns it. 
Mom and Katrina thought this was barely worth mentioning, and I had to lasso the conversation with a long rope to bring back what they’d said, and request further explanation.Kyle’s daughter, now in her 70s, has to move out in a hurry because the State of Washington paid for ten years of Uncle Kyle’s nursing home care, along with his wife’s, and for this the dead must pay.Of course the state seized Uncle Kyle’s house. What else would you expect? This is America, and this is what happens: A man works all his life, buys a house, raises a family, pays his taxes, and then stupidly gets ill health for his last years, so the state steals his house. 

News you need,
whether you know it or not• Armed militia protesting San Antonio drag show on Tuesday has history of provocation It’s futile to try making sense of whatever right-wing idiots are upset about on any given day, but — why drag, and why now?Some Like it Hot was a big hit in 1959, Paris is Burning was 1990, and RuPaul’s Drag Race has been on national TV since 2009. Why are the fascists up in arms (literally) about drag now?• EU becomes first leading economy to legislate for ‘green tariff’ on imports • New Zealand passes legislation (slowly) banning cigarettes • Trump Organization was held in contempt after secret trial last year Oh, you didn’t know that America has secret trials?
• Over 70% of people live in countries that ‘severely discriminate’ against nonreligious

• 1984, Orwell’s novel of repression tops Russian bestseller lists • Why golf might not survive the 21st century And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because climate change isn’t ‘coming’, it’s underway. It’ll kill billions, and we’re not doing squat about it.• Co-workers of cop who killed 3 in California took items from his home before official search And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because all cops are bastards, or they know who the bastard cops are and do nothing about it, which is the same thing.• Onslaught of new abortion restrictions looms in reddest of states And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because Republicans are the enemy of common sense, common decency, simple truth, and democracy.

Clicks ahoy• Third annual rerun: 🎄 The best Christmas ever 🎅• The purloined papers, by Paul Modic• Patients familiar with NYC mental health system are skeptical of Mayor’s new policy • Clever birds • Approach, flatter, seduce, trap: That time a woman tried to lure me into a cult • And, honestly, he was the best roommate I ever had. He kept to himself, was quiet and always put the toilet seat down. • Tracing the tracks of Parisian chimneys • Making pots from Nazi helmets • Merle Oberon was an Indian actress playing the biggest role of her life • Squirrel fishing • Mystery links… like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going, so click and click and click a third time.

♫♬  Mix tape of my mind  ♫• Coconut — Harry Nilsson • Gangnam Style — Psy • Love Can Make You Happy — Mercy • San Franciscan Night — Eric Burdon • Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd 

The End• Mike Leach • Rodney Peppé • Jim Stewart 

12/15/2022