What’s Happening Now
It’s 54 degrees outside, and the wind is coming out of the northwest as if getting to where it’s going is a critical mission. Consequently, Adams Pond is going to be observed from inside our nice, comfortable house. The air conditioning is fixed. According to the technician, it was extremely dirty and filled with spiders. That’s comforting news. Here in Texas, fire ants and wasps seem to be attracted to HVAC units. Now we have spiders to contend with. However, what happened to us is indicative of what can happen to anyone who doesn’t have their units serviced regularly.
Barney and Clementine are rough housing in the living room. My mother never understood that my brother and I weren’t fighting when we did it. She’d always get in between us to stop it, and we had to stop because we were afraid we’d hurt her. She didn’t understand we would never get into an actual fight. I could still run in those days, because my brother was strong enough to throw me across the room if he had the desire to do so.
Politics
Following Donald Trump’s arraignment, he promptly went back to Florida to give a speech in which he did exactly what the judge ordered him not to do. At least two major news agencies made the decision to wait until after Trump’s future speeches to determine if they’d air what he said. They’re concerned about their liability if they broadcast known falsehoods live. Considering what’s happening to Fox News right now for deliberately broadcasting lies about Dominion’s voting machines as well as the Great Lie about a stolen election, I don’t blame them for erring on the side of caution.
They had a good voting day in Wisconsin. After fifteen years of total Republican control of the state because of gerrymandering voting districts in their favor, the people of Wisconsin decided they’d had enough and elected a new Supreme Court judge who now gives the Democrats a majority. They have some very important decisions coming up, including redistricting the state’s voting regions to make them fair and representative of the state’s population.
Chicago also elected a progressive Democrat as its mayor. There was a time when that wouldn’t have been an issue because Chicago’s Democratic political machine wouldn’t have allowed anyone other than a Democrat to be elected. That was just as wrong as what we’ve seen happening on the GOP side of things in the last forty years. Fairness in our Democracy must be a reality. In a fair election, you may not like the results, but you can accept them and move on. Hopefully, the majority of the voters in this country will reflect their attitudes at the election booth next time around and thereafter.
Star Trek
I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since the summer before the original series first aired. That summer, the commercials for the new show grabbed my attention, and I couldn’t wait until it showed up in glorious black and white on my television. For the next three years, I followed it faithfully, even when the network tried to kill it and later succumbed to the demands of an orchestrated letter campaign. It wasn’t a perfect show, but it was science fiction! Since those days, they’ve produced a number of movies and additional television shows, and it appears the trend toward more is on-going. Right now, three Star Trek series are active. Star Trek: Discovery is in its last season. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds begins its second season soon, and they have already started filming season three. Star Trek: Picard was a limited series, and it’s completing its last few episodes this month. The current season has made the first two blush in shame. It’s been really great.
None of that includes the many Star Trek novels, comic books, podcasts, fan-made episodes, and conventions dedicated to Trek.
More Star Trek shows are in the works. I was thirteen when my personal Star Trek adventure started, and I’ll be seventy soon. That’s pretty impressive for any entertainment franchise. Star Trek has been an influence on human culture. There are few places on this planet where it hasn’t shown its collective face.
Last year, I mentioned to Sandy that I’d like to have a United Federation of Planets flag for our front porch. She got me one for Christmas. It’s out there declaring my enjoyment of the series. The fact that it’s blue and flying in a red state hasn’t been lost on me either.
In Star Trek: First Contact, the crew of the Starship Enterprise (Next Generation) went back in time to stop the Borg's attempt to assimilate Earth in 2063. Interestingly enough, that attempt coincided with Zephram Cochran's first attempt to achieve warp power in a makeshift spacecraft. This attempt was noted by a passing alien vessel, and that vessel diverted to Earth to investigate. It marked the first time human beings encountered the Vulcans. That day was April 5, 2063. Just forty years from now. It's celebrated as First Contact Day. Enjoy!
That’s enough for now.
Let me know what you think.
Take care. Stay Safe.
cma
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