Some mornings I go to the FOX News website to see what the conservative network is reporting. My intents are: to learn the perspectives and philosophies of people who think differently and; to try to find common ground that could lead to a less adversarial outlook. No matter how I approach those objectives, though, I leave with a high degree of confidence that the network is no more than a conservative propaganda factory, with the occasional innocuous story thrown in occasionally for “balance.” CNN and MsNBC are similarly biased, but from the other end of the political spectrum. I watch the two of them to learn about the left-leaning propaganda they report as factual. I watch or listen to NPR and NBC and PBS, as well, to minimize blatant bias, knowing that they, too, put a slant on their reporting. It’s hard to find believable sources of news that has no inherent bias. Even much of other countries’ English language media seems tainted by a tilt in one direction or the other. For example, if the tilt is to the left, the right-leaning guest commentators that ostensibly are to provide “balance” are weaker, either intellectually or with regard to the believability of their delivery. The same is true in the other direction. Both ends of the media political spectrum gleefully call out the biases of their opposition—but they refuse to admit to their own. And I think the vast majority of their respective supportive audience members cling to the assertion that “we are right, true, an pure and the opposition is a prevarication factory.” I think I woke with my cynicism in full bloom.
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Depending on perspective, many of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service (NWS) offices either are badly understaffed or, like the rest of the Federal government, are drains on the American taxpayer, places where waste long has been supported and encouraged. Of course, the perspective one adopts often depends on seasonal weather—when parts of the country are at risk for hurricanes and tornadoes. A person is more likely to rely on the NWS for information during such times than to wait patiently to learn what Elon Musk says in defense of round-after-round of reductions in force.
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I am in favor of establishing a national Pest & Insect Eradication Service (PIES). During the first two years of its existence, PIES would be funded entirely with funds reappropriated by Congress. Subsequently, its continued existence would depend on its own performance and its revenue. For example, the Nasty-Assed Mosquito Eradication Division (NAMED) might require achieving a 50% reduction in the mosquito population from year to year to qualify for funding. During its first two years, PIES might disburse funds for NAMED to establish a program which would pay citizens a bounty for each dead mosquito they brought to a NAMED regional office. The same concepts would be used to attack the chigger population (Filthy Annoying Chigger Eradication Division, or FACED), the Dangerous and Appalling Rodent Eradication Division (DARED), the Feculent & Loathsome Insect Elimination Service (FLIES), and other such pests and insects. The more I consider it, the more I think we ought not to require the pests to be dead; we could simply sentence them to Disgusting Rodent & Insect Prisons (DRIPs) in third-world countries, which would welcome the revenue they would receive by housing convicted Pest/Insect Terrorists (PITs). The PIES program, if properly managed, could be beautiful! All Americans would benefit greatly from the Reduction in Pests (RIP) concept. The first two years of financing PIES, by the way, would come from funds redirected from FEMA and the NWS. This is all utter nonsense, of course. Sometimes, absurdity is the only experience that will secure another day to fight battles that have no point and no purpose but that must be fought, anyway.
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Nuclear winter may follow natural spring. I hope not, but I have lost my confidence that sane people with influence over, or control of, decisions about whether to engage will stand in the way of calamity. And it may not be nuclear; it could be semi-traditional. I hate that there is a “traditional” way to be embroiled in war—a horribly violent way of securing domination over another country. Is war really a natural byproduct of civilization? I have always hoped civility would be civilization’s product.
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Today’s high temperature in Hot Springs is not expected to surpass 46°F. I understand that Amarillo, Texas yesterday had an April 5 snowfall that broke a 130-year-old record. I might not be surprised to learn that a massive iceberg, having found its way into the Gulf of Mexico, slammed into the coast of Texas, ripping open Earth’s crust as it moved inland. The subsequent volcanic eruptions and spitting and hissing flows of lava would heat the air that comes in contact with the iceberg. The clash of atmospheric conditions might create ideal conditions for the formation of bipolar tornadoes; molten rock swirling at high speed in the center and sheets of thick ice spinning around the red-hot core.
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I dreamed I had been taking a college class that covered seven or eight subjects but had not even glanced at any of the assigned readings. On the day of the final exams, I was worried that I would fail every exam. The exam was “open-book,” but only books distributed by the professor (who, it happens, was my boss at my first association job…who has also been in other of my recent dreams). Somehow, accidentally picked up materials that were prohibited during the exams. At least one other student and the professor implied that my mistake was intentional…cheating. I wanted nothing more than to complete my exam—knowing I would fail—and get out of the room and away from the situation. End of dream.
I love youe acronyms!