A Few Reads for Friday

Yes, those who voted for him really are that stupid. 

They are just like their cult leader, and they identify with him.

__________________________

Obit:  Martial arts icon and actor Chuck Norris, 86, has died.  He just celebrated his birthday ten days ago.

I never saw his films or paid much attention to him, let alone paid much attention at all to his political beliefs.  He was a lightning rod in some quarters.

Snip:

Though a mostly non-verbal tough guy was his go-to role on screen, offscreen he established philanthropies for children and veterans, became a nationally-syndicated health and fitness columnist, got active in Republican politics, and wrote about 10 books including not just martial arts manuals, but two memoirs, two novels, and a conservative activist handbook called Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America.

At his home in Texas, he continued to work out and train well into his 80s. And though mostly retired in recent years, he was amused to find himself the subject of internet memes, "Chuck Norris Facts" that celebrated his supposed toughness with hyperbole and exaggeration.

__

No cause of death was given.  He had been in good shape as recently as his birthday a couple of weeks ago, but he had a sudden hospitalization in Hawaii and died.

Some Thursday Reads

 Lots of people are still in denial about the late Cesar Chavez being a piece of shit rapist.

During his lifetime, he might have been the most politically powerful Latino in the United States and certainly one of the most visible.  It would have been impossible for any woman to have spoken out against him, especially Dolores Huerta, who was every bit as important a figure in organizing farm workers has Chavez.

There should be lessons to be learned from these allegations.

Snip:

It shouldn’t have taken 60 years for these women to be heard. It shouldn’t have taken decades for these women to feel as though their experiences could be validated. We certainly shouldn’t have waited until 30 years past Chavez’s death to learn of their abuse and their trauma—a point at which real justice and accountability are rapidly diminishing prospects. These women have watched as the country has venerated a man they knew to be their abuser and elevated him to the highest annals of our civil rights history. They should never have carried such a terrible burden for so much of their lives.

I can’t think of a single woman in my life who hasn’t been assaulted, manipulated, or groomed by men they’ve trusted. Just this last week, I have read through conversations of women detailing their own assaults, sharing deeply painful memories in an effort to get readers to understand how this culture of violence and manipulation invades every space we walk into. I, myself, have been assaulted by people I thought I could trust on numerous occasions since I turned 18. Just as was the case for Dolores Huerta, two of the assaults I suffered resulted in pregnancies. My most recent assault was in 2022. This happens with startling regularity.

_______________________

Wednesday Reads

 Peter Thiel is literally one of the biggest scumbags in the world, if not THE biggest.  Frank Schaeffer, in one of his podcasts, talked about the latest antics this batshit crazy billionaire of Palantir notoriety pulled in Rome.

By the way, Thiel has his degrees, including a law degree, from Stanford University (his Palantir partner in crime, Alex Karp, also has a JD from Stanford).   Not that it confers intellect, for it certainly doesn't in his case.

_____________________________

Although long dead, Cesar Chavez has taken a beating as of late.  His reputation is probably shot to shit for good.

Dolores Huerta is an unimpeachable source.  Of course, there are many others.

NYT article

___________________________

Some Reads for Monday

 What a hell of a thing for Trump to say, even for him.

_____________________

Well, some people are getting some good information about those tariffs.

______________________

In case you missed it, and I did because I lost the antenna connection, here is the list of the Oscar winners.

This year marked the 98th event.  

The first was held in 1929, two years following the release of The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson.   It was a part-talking picture but it was mostly silent.  The inaugural awards covered films that were released between August 1, 1927 and August 1, 1928.  Wings, an excellent war film and late silent (with synchronized sound), was the first to win Best Picture.  It was also believed to have been lost for decades, but fortunately it was found years ago (1992 to be exact) at a Paris archive and has been released on home video.

______________________

Cathedral Hills Hike

 After about three years, I returned to the Cathedral Hills network of hiking trails, located just outside of Grants Pass, Oregon.  I was in a group of eight who signed up for the hike as part of the Medford Parks and Recreation hiking program.  I included the hike leader and driver of the van in the count.

Some photos I took today.  The wildflowers were just starting to come out.

Some Reads for Thursday

 Secretariat's Triple Crown saddle, which had been in the possession of jockey Ron Turcotte's for fifty years before he sold it for around 2 million in 2023, sold again, this time for $1,200,000.

It really belongs  either at the Kentucky Horse Park or the National Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga, not to some rich asshole.

____________________________

Equine obituary:  Champion racehorse Serena's Song, 34, has died due to the infirmities of old age.  She won 11 Grade 1 races and was trained by the late trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Snip:

"Serena had such a profound impact on many people's lives, especially the Lewis family, our family, and the staff who worked with her during her time at Denali," Denali's Conrad Bandoroff said. "We are incredibly blessed and honored that Bob and Beverly, and eventually their son Jeff, chose to keep her with us and trust us with her care for three decades. She is and always will be the Queen of Denali Stud.

"I would like to think that Wayne had a stall ready for her up there, and that he, Bob, and Beverly welcomed her with open arms."

Serena's Song had a long and illustrious life. Bred in Kentucky by Dr. Howard Baker out of the Northfields mare Imagining, she sold as a yearling at the 1993 Keeneland July Sale for $150,000 to the Lewises who were purchasing yearlings to put into training with Lukas.

_______

A key figure in the Watergate scandal, Alexander Butterfield, who shocked the nation when he disclosed Nixon had recorded conversations in the White House, died the other day at the age of 99.  He would have turned 100 next month.

Without his disclosure, it isn't likely Nixon would have been forced to resign from office.

Snip:

Butterfield started off in the White House as a deputy assistant to the president. He initially did not like the job and wanted to quit. But things got better for Butterfield in the White House at the end of 1969 when his office was moved next to Nixon’s and he was able to keep a close watch on the president. He eventually went on to become one of Nixon’s closest aides.

Nixon nominated Butterfield to be administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1972, a post he was confirmed to by the Senate the following year. He was called to testify before the Senate about the then-suspected White House taping system just four months after he started at the FAA.

___________________________

Tuesday Reads

 If  AI were done away with, I wouldn't shed a tear.

If used by students in academia, that is flat-out cheating.

________________________

What the eff is the matter with men regarding Trump?

___________________________