CSotD: Friday Funnies – Discursions and Inclusions
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Agnes (Creators) and Trout debate the reality of what’s right in front of their faces, which certainly fits in with all sorts of current events that I plan to save for another day, though I’ll add the possibility that Trout is just jerking her chain.
Point being that it’s hard to know, these days, who is jerking your chain and who is sincerely denying the obvious or proposing a theory that makes no sense at all.
First we had suicidal science-deniers declaring that covid was a false-flag myth, and now their success has encouraged the flat-earthers to climb out from under their two-dimensional rock. There appears to be no belief so nonsensical that it doesn’t have people willing to stand up in public and proclaim it.
But that topic quickly morphs into Big Lies and politics and I’m not in the mood, so I’ll just propose this only-somewhat-political
Juxtaposition of the Day
The first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem, but you don’t have to be either paranoid or a denialist to be confused over climate change. It’s definitely happening, as evidenced by the melting of polar ice at both ends of the globe and the general raising of overall temperatures.
But tagging it to specific events seems problematic, because, while the denialists are generally wrong, that doesn’t mean this or that particular event is a sign of climate change. The increased number of destructive hurricanes almost certainly is, but the flooding in Yellowstone seems more arguable.
Fell is right that a good number of people aren’t paying attention, but I’ve been surprised by the number who are, not simply in deep debates but in casual, random conversations. A quick quip at a convenience store the other day prompted a serious response from the cashier and a few rejoinders from other customers, and I think people genuinely are concerned about our choices and their impact on climate.
But I also think they’re a little overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and the issue of what any individual can do about it. To repeat my oft-quoted Abbie Hoffman line from the first Earth Day, “I’ll pick up the Dixie Cup. Who the **** is gonna pick up Con Edison?”
Rather than being blissfully unaware, people seem to feel overwhelmed and overpowered. How does it help Old Faithful for me to pick up that Dixie Cup?
The issue of how picking up Con Edison might help is too political to discuss today, but my grandfather did observe that the steel industry would have saved money by simply cleaning up instead of spending so much in fighting the Clean Air Act.
And I’ll persist in politics long enough to comment on this Edison Lee (KFS), because my father observed at one point that his WWII generation had come home to good management jobs in the steel industry but then pulled up the ladder and failed to recruit, encourage and mentor those just behind them.
The result, by the 1970s and 80s, was that management consisted of a lot of geriatric, stuck-in-their-ways old timers and a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears youngsters and nobody in the middle to bridge the gap.
Which I’ve been thinking about a lot in recent days, watching the US Senate and projecting the possibilities for the 2024 elections.
At least this Pickles (WPWG) is apolitical, and, as it happens, my mother’s Facebook account was hacked by someone who began sending out messages in her name, and I also got a friend request last week from someone who was already a friend.
But I also get friend requests from various unknown comics fans, which I certainly welcome, except that I’m wary about really cute girls in low-cut blouses who have only been on Facebook for a month and about random people who, it turns out, haven’t posted anything at all in two years.
Or, in Marta’s case, three.
I mentioned the other day that the Lockhorns (KFS) can be quite up-to-date on technology, but Leroy apparently hasn’t discovered that, when the local grocery store becomes culturally inclusive, you can always go online to find out what it is and how to deal with it.
Take mangos, for instance. They’re very popular in a lot of places I’ve never lived, so I was always intrigued but had no idea how to handle them. Well, wonder no more!
Once you shift from fruit to vegetables, however, much of the appeal requires both a deep knowledge of the cuisine to which they are native and a prodigious spice rack.
Some ethnic cuisine can be faked, but, even then, you’re not likely getting the full effect. I had a son who lived in an apartment complex with a lot of Indian families, and when I’d visit him, I’d walk down the hall smelling dinners along the way and think, “To hell with him. I want to go see these folks!”
I also knew a Quebecois lecturer whose presentation included a hilarious bit about the grandmeres and tantes at New Years, arguing over the proper recipe for tourtiere. I’m sure Indian families could tell similar stories.
I’d rather eat at the least of their tables than try to duplicate their lifelong knowledge.
And speaking of having to be there to get it, this Bizarro (KFS) happened to come along at the right moment.
I’d just been telling a friend about the time I met Artis Gilmore, a basketball legend who is 7’2″ on his own, but at that point, in the early 70s, sported an enormous Afro and wore clogs, the combination of which boosted him up to nearly eight feet tall.
When Afros came down in size, that started the backwards ballcap thing, which white kids promptly copied and which culturally appropriated fashion Wayno jokes about in the cartoon.
But back in the days of the old school Afro, young Black men often kept their picks stuck in their hair, which — in that conversation — I said I didn’t like but which my friend said she had looked on as a really cool accessory.
This fellow would agree with her, and I offer his thoughts as a prime example of who should be listened to on such matters:
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