This would eviscerate BBC’s funding, and either take BBC off the air or make it become a commercial enterprise.I’m going to temporarily not take this too seriously, though, because the Beeb is Britain, and (maybe?) the British people won’t stand for this. It would be like Trump pulling the plug on PBS — but much worse, because BBC has several channels of quality and original programming while PBS doesn’t even have one, and BBC covers the news far more thoroughly and worldwide than PBS has ever attempted. And also, BBC is where Doctor Who‘s TARDIS docks, so this aggression will not stand, man…

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Texas county rejects half of mail-in ballot applications amid new voter restrictions
When people vote, Republicans are in trouble. That’s why Republicans fear and oppose voting much more than they fear or oppose COVID-19.

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You know what I hate worse than bad writing? Good writing.

Bad writing is boring or aggravating, but also reassuring. I read it, and think, Ha, even I can write better than that.For many years, I kept a copy of The Second Son, by Charles Sailor, because that novel was so poorly written, I could open it to any page at random and improve any paragraph. I read it front to back and flipped through it at random many times, whenever I lacked confidence. Wish I still had my copy, even today.

Good writing, though, like Ace Backwords’ site, or anything by Jack Finney or Philip K Dick or B Traven, sometimes has the opposite effect. I read it, enjoy it, and aspire to one day do it, but… it’ll never happen. They’re all better writers than me 8½ days out of 7, as are so many others.

I’m currently re-reading Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers for the 23rd time, and it’s still excellent, and still something I couldn’t begin to write, and damn, that’s still depressing.

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Trump did all he could to destroy the 2020 Census, and largely succeeded. I remember reading about it as it happened, don’t you? So it doesn’t feel like ‘news’ to me now, but here’s a report on some freshly-disclosed revelation that Trump also tried to destroy the 2020 Census in a slightly different way than was previously known.

Have I said this already? I’ve been thinking it for years:It doesn’t matter what crimes were committed by Donald J Trump. He is not subject to American law. Everyone knows he’s a criminal, but I’ll bet $100 that Trump will eventually die of old age, never punished for any of his many crimes.

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Good news about COVID-19 —

• Austria — Vaccination will be required for all adult residents
• France — Vaccination will be required to enter restaurants, sports facilities, and other venues
• Manila — Vaccination is now required for access to public transit

Bad news about COVID-19 —• China — Omicron reaches Beijing, three weeks before the Olympics begin

♦ ♦ ♦Here’s something that could finally pierce the ‘cool’ factor, and make virtual-mania, cryptocurrency, and NFTs fade from popularity:

Walmart plans to sell virtual goods, create cryptocurrency and NFTs

♦ ♦ ♦Phillis Wheatley was a slave, allowed to learn reading and writing, who became the first published African-American poet. Her works include this kinda beautiful but heartbreaking rhyme, titled “On Being Brought from Africa to America” —

‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

It wasn’t enough to steal this woman away from her home, her family, her life, and imprison her. They also put the Christian god into her head. “Jesus,” as they say.♦ ♦ ♦

I’m being laid off in two weeks. The company nicely let us know six months ago, so I’ve had ample time to do some serious thinking about this, send out resumés, etc, but I haven’t. Haven’t done squat.

All jobs end. Life ends, too, but I’m not in a panic about it. It’s an old saying but true, that I was out of work when I
found this job. When I’m out of work again, soon, I’ll find another job. Seems highly unlikely I’ll starve to death, and I need to lose some weight anyway.♦ ♦ ♦

Chase Bank, or Chase Manhattan when I was a kid, is a humongous and evil subsidiary of the international multi-trillion-dollar conglomerate, JPMorgan Chase. They’ve opened a new branch at 21st @ Mission Streets in San Francisco, and had this floor-to-ceiling poster created for the lobby.

It’s ever-so-slightly out of touch with the city, though.

① The neighborhood is Mission Dolores, not Delores. ② None of the poster’s pictures are from the Mission Dolores neighborhood. And ③ 21st @ Mission is a few blocks beyond even a generous definition of the Mission Dolores neighborhood, which orbits around Mission Dolores church and park. (hat tip, r/SanFrancisco).

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Europol ordered to delete vast store of personal data

The EU’s police agency, Europol, will be forced to delete much of a vast store of personal data that it has been found to have amassed unlawfully by the bloc’s data protection watchdog.

ACAB isn’t just a catchy acronym. It’s true: All Cops Are Bastards. Police everywhere, even (especially) at the highest level, believe they’re above the law.♦ ♦ ♦

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In my ordinary internet surf cycle, there are several major league blogs that link to comedic highlights from the latest Saturday Night Live, every Sunday after every new episode airs. I never click those links, and pledge to never post such links — not because the show isn’t funny. I dont’ watch it, but I’m sure SNL is funny. It’s just everywhere, that’s all.♦ ♦ ♦

 Mystery links  — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:

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