Unsightly Mental Blemishes

I don’t typically steal material off of FB, but this is too funny. It’s from the Punitentiary.

[h/t CB]

Soon to be ex-President Trump is apparently starting his 2024 Presidential campaign:

pic.twitter.com/g4NoRxSnQ5

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2020

Unless, of course, he’s just going to raise money and then not run.

But while I wouldn’t put that beyond him – frankly, no scheme of ill-repute is beyond him – I would draw my reader’s attention to the 41 second mark. No, President Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize, despite a nomination this year by a far-right member of the Norwegian legislature – another desperate attempt by third raters to look competent, I might add.

But President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. And, regardless of whether he deserved it, and I have my doubts on the matter, it sits on his mantlepiece, while Trump has nothing like it.

Trump’s apparent hatred for Obama, and this 6 second sequence, makes me think that Trump, due to his hurt feelings, will run again in 2024. And, if he wins, then beg for the Award. Are his accomplishments, yet to be evaluated by history, in the Middle East worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize? Show me normalization of relations between Israel and Iran, or Israel and Saudi Arabia, or China and India, or resolve the problematic province of Kashmir involving India and Pakistan – that would be impressive. Morocco, UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan – the last of which is no longer considered Muslim, even – are not major accomplishments. If we bought them off with the wrong bribe – and official bribery, such as an offer of better trade relations, is a normal tool in the toolkit of the diplomat – then his attempt to win a Nobel Peace Prize may actually backfire.

But this could be a salvo in the 2024 race. And, in a way, I hope the press simply ignores him on this subject.

That moment when you just realized you’ve slept with a rat! And you liked his hairless tail.

The House in Marsh Road (1960) introduces poltergeist to the viewing public. Cad David Linton and his wife, Jean, make a habit of taking lodgings and not paying for them while David writes his book, hoping to become a big-time author. Jean loathes this lifestyle, and when
her long-unseen aunt dies, leaving her a goodly sum of money and a mansion called the Four Winds.

And a poltergeist.

Jeans loves it; David would prefer to liquidate, take the money and run.

Jean is the owner. They stay.

David spends his time drinking, writing, and apparently being accident-prone, while Jean tidies up and enjoys her new home., along with her occasional housekeeper. But when David hires a shapely young lady to be his typist, household amity goes whoosh!

Literally.

It’s a bit fun, especially as my Arts Editor kept shouting at the TV, Get rid of him! David is thoroughly unlikable. But he makes it to the end, worse luck – for him. If you like old mansions, that’s a plus. But there’s nothing earth-shaking here. Well, not metaphorically, anyways.

Creedal:

[This is about as good as I could find. – HW]

The word “creed” comes from the Latin credo, which means, “I believe.” It is a concise statement of faith or beliefs held by a religious institution, outlining and clarifying that which sets the institution apart from others.

The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Westminster Confession are just three examples of the many creeds developed to define the Christian Church or an individual tradition within it.

There are many Christian traditions, Baptists and Quakers being only two, that do not promote the use of creeds. But the majority of Christian denominations, being so influenced by Greek, systematic thought, use creedal formulas, which new members are expected to affirm when being baptized or confirmed. [The Free Dictionary, referencing The Religion Book – see the link]

Noted in “America isn’t ‘hopelessly divided.’ It only looks that way because of our Constitution,” Jennifer Rubin, WaPo:

I get it — and agree with it to some extent: Americans are deeply divided, inhabiting two parallel political universes, ingesting different media and adhering to contradictory visions of America. One increasingly defines the United States as a bastion of White Christianity; the other sees a creedal nation defined by its founding documents. But perhaps the “civil war” perspective is overwrought and distorted.

As Creed is often used in reference to Christian tenets, I find this a trifle ambiguous. I suppose Rubin means that we are a secular nation with a creed of believing that a democracy is a better form of government than other forms.

I take the more pragmatic view that, while it may be difficult to measure and prove ‘better,’ the riots, butchering of the populace by governmental forces, and general unhappiness often found in monarchies, theocracies, and other governmental systems is lesser – but not non-existent – in democracies.

And that’s a good thing.

Ya gotta love this for sheer stupidity:

A group of Republicans led by Rep. Louie Gohmert on Monday sued Vice President Mike Pence in an unusual gambit aimed at overturning President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s election victory.

The lawsuit claims Mr. Pence has the “exclusive authority” to decide which electors should be counted when Congress meets on Jan. 6 to finalize the results of last month’s presidential election.

The certification is a largely procedural issue overseen by the sitting vice president under an arcane law from 1887 known as the Electoral Count Act. That will put Mr. Pence in the uncomfortable role of announcing a Biden victory.

Mr. Gohmert, Texas Republican, argued in the lawsuit that Mr. Pence’s role in overseeing the election certification also gives him the authority to decide which electors are chosen. He says Mr. Pence can select the Republican electors, who support President Trump in five states where the election results were contested. [The Washington Times]

Really? Please not to confuse an administrative duty with a decision making duty; the two are very different.

But perhaps this is really Rep Gohmert, et al, trying to tell Trump cultists that they are on Trump’s team, and please vote for them in two years. Personally, I think Gohmert’s lawyer, assuming he’s not doing this personally, should be asked about Section 11, under which lawyers are stripped of the right to argue in front of a judge because of filing frivolous lawsuits. It tends to cool off lawyerly epileptic fits.

Remember Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R-TX) and his offer of a million bucks for evidence of voter fraud? For completeness, I offer this Houston Chronicle update:

All John Fetterman wants for Christmas is the $3 million he says Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick owes him.

The Democratic lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania has been trolling his Republican counterpart for weeks to collect on the $1 million Patrick offered in November for evidence of fraud in the Nov. 3 election. Three supporters of President Donald Trump have now been charged in separate voter fraud schemes in Pennsylvania. Fetterman says they should all count for bounty purposes.

Which is fine for justifying schadenfreude – savor – but Lt. Governor Fetterman’s expostulation is really the most important part of this exchange:

Fetterman says he is serious — about debunking the false allegations being thrown at his state. He has taken the lead in Pennsylvania pushing back on bogus claims of voter fraud circulated by Trump and his allies. Patrick — honorary chairman of Trump’s campaign in Texas — and his million-dollar reward are helping to disprove those claims, Fetterman says.

“While it’s undoubtedly and undeniably hilarious these cases involved Trump voters and their dead mothers, it’s irrelevant because it documents how truly rare voter fraud is and how impossible it is to truly pull it off,” Fetterman said.

If Trump and his allies are utterly incapable of bringing a credible case of systemic voter fraud or procedural irregularities to the attention of judge, whether appointed by Clinton, Bush, Obama, or Trump himself, then the only valid conclusion that any sane, mature, adult American can reach is that none occurred, and that Biden won the election.

These are the procedures we’ve refined & followed for more than 200 years, and to abandon them now is to abandon the very precepts by which the United States has been successful. Republicans love to toss around the word ‘radical’ in descriptions of Democrats, but it should be apparent that the only anti-American radicals are Republicans who persist in believing in systemic voter fraud.

And, by the way, Lt Governor Patrick’s offer, as I noted before, is the offer of a third-rater. What would he do if Trump’s victory of Florida was abruptly threatened by the revelation of systemic voter fraud on Trump’s behalf? Frantically withdraw or amend the offer?

Prominent Republicans: Don’t bother to look, there’s no good apples here.

It’s simply another symptom of the self-inflicted moral bankruptcy plaguing today’s Republican Party. For the honest independent, it’s difficult to list any prominent Republican name with pride, while those on the shameful side of the ledger overflow the bin.

It’s old news that President Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (2020) because it didn’t strip certain protections from social media companies, but Heather Cox Richardson’s summary of it sparked an odd thought. First, the summary:

Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, which specifies how the defense budget will be spent, on Wednesday, December 23. The NDAA has passed with bipartisan majorities since the 1960s when it first began, and presidents have always signed it. But Trump has chosen to veto it, on the grounds that it calls for the renaming of U.S. military bases named for Confederate generals and that it does not strip social media companies of protection from liability when third parties post offensive material on them. [bold mine]

Protection from liability? So, let’s stipulate Congress gives in on the issue.

How do the social media empires respond?

Do they shut down – permanently – offending accounts?

President Trump is a leader in the lies and conspiracy theories category of social media posting. Is President Trump looking to have his own accounts deleted? After all, stripping social media companies of protections means they’ll have to protect themselves by minimizing their exposure.

And this applies to all social media platforms. Like, say, Parler, the reportedly new social media platform used by right-wing fringe types. A few lawsuits tossed at Parler and they’ll either collapse or begin to frantically clean up spewing accounts.

No, I don’t think President Trump has thought this demand through. Neither has Donald J. Trump, private citizen. Losing his braying megaphone of lies would be a deadly strike against his ego.

<Caption needed here> 

The Death Kiss (1932) is a mostly ineffectual comedy that doubles as an average murder mystery. Leading man Miles Brent, on set and in action, is approached and kissed by a strange woman, the leading lady, who then wanders off. Brent, shaking off the kiss, begins to proceed about his business, only to be gunned down.

The production? “The Death Kiss.” But when it’s time for take two, Brent fails to jump to his feet: he’s really dead, a bullet through his heart. We’re off on a clumsy, gallumphing run, as the studio police, the city police, and scriptwriter Franklyn Drew, who writes detective novels on the side, fall in to the chase. But when the path leads to the leading lady and former wife of the murdered actor, Marcia Lane, Drew, who’s sweet on her, becomes disenchanted with the shortcomings of the police and begins a deeper investigation.

The humor, while perhaps accurate in its send-up of the inner workings of movie production, fails to translate to the screen in a useful way. But the murder mystery is mildly clever, including an intriguing method to the initial murder, a second murder which is set up to look like a suicide, and Drew, who tramples all over the evidence from here to Timbuktu.

In the end, it’s nothing compelling, but it is pleasant – if murder strikes you as a pleasant way to spend an evening. Or, if you’re a Bela Lugosi completist, you should also see this. He keeps his accent nearly imperceptible, and shows he had normal acting chops as well as his more traditional horror skills.

The mystery actually makes sense, as gradually more and more information is revealed, and in the end the bad guy gets his. Yay!

Average herd of New Jersey hitchhikers.

The Addams Family (2019) is another entry in the growing collection of films and TV series based on Charles Addams’ family of anti-society people. This version, an origins story, is animated and derives its artistic inspiration from Addams’ original cartoons of the family – an impossibly thin Morticia, the squat, debonair Gomez, and on and on.

So we quickly learn that Lurch is … well … that would be sayin’, as they say. But I do feel free to remark that, based on his entrance into the family, there may be something to be said for giving those who have been put away as mad a place in society. Give them a role, even as crazed as Lurch’s, and the frenzy’s energy may be absorbed by devotion to the role.

But the story has twin centers: Pugsley’s rite of passage, a desperate affair of uncertain judging and physical strenuousness, a veritable microcosm of the family’s search for a place on the landscape, and the evil machinations of a local TV star and interior designer who is bent on, well, being evil.

She’ll fit right in, won’t she? But only if Wednesday permits.

There’s room to hate the art – I didn’t care for Uncle Fester, for example, and my Arts Editor felt Kitty needed to be redone – but the story rarely drags and acknowledges the realities of normal society only when it absolutely must.

And who ever thought of a pink mansion for the Addams?

It’s not quite compelling – but it’s fun.

The Bird Way, by Jennifer Ackerman, is not a dry, academic work on our avian cousins, but rather an exploration, usually by way of anecdote and personal observation, of the varied habits of birds. From hunting to courtship to raising offspring – or not – Ackerman provides a well-written and frequently fascinating exploration of the vast range of behaviors followed by birds – and explores the question of just how much of that is instinct, and how much of it is learned.

From the brush turkeys who get no parental care at all, the brood-parasites such as the infamous cuckoo, to the clowns of the mountains, the kea parrots who frolic in the snow and show impressive intelligence, this is an easy and interesting read.

Where do I buy a crub?

From Harvest Rock Church, Inc. et al. v. Gavin Newsom:

Plaintiffs paint a stark picture. They claim that Tier 1 “totally prohibit[s] religious worship services of any kind and any number.” (Motion 3.) This is not true. The First Amendment has not taken a sabbatical. Californians may still worship, attend services, pray, and otherwise exercise their religious freedoms. They just may not do so in ways that significantly increase the likelihood of transmission of a virus which has claimed more than three hundred thousand American lives in less than one year. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. The First Amendment may not be used to make it one.

Slapping the religiously entitled down, one church at a time.

But we can also guess that it’ll be rulings such as this that the far-right will use to prop-up their So sad are we, we’re such victims! propaganda. Sigh.

The post is better than any stills, really. Another mark of the 1970s,

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) is a bizarre slasher movie in which its biggest star, John Carradine, is reduced to just a couple of minutes of screen time, restricted to writing on notepads and ringing a little bell one might find at a desk. He manages to gasp out all of a single line of dialog – I think.

But the movie does have the oddest charm about it, as proven by the fact that we not only finished it, but we kept looking at each other, mystified concerning where it was going. After an opening in which we learn the previous owner, Wilford Butler, self-immolated twenty years earlier, leaving the property to his grandson, Jeffery, lawyer John Carter shows up at a magnificent ruined East Coast mansion, much younger mistress in tow, to inspect it. From there, he travels onward to the City Council and states that he’s authorized to sell it to them for $50,000 cash – perhaps 20% of its value, he states.

The Council is its own collection of characters with hidden pasts, from mayor to sheriff to the mute newspaperman. None appear to be happy people, but they tell the lawyer that they are interested and will attempt to raise the money. The lawyer returns to the mansion and the arms of his mistress, and, well, as this is a slasher flick, we can guess what happens to them.

But it’s just the start, and it’s not clear who’s providing the horror. The caretaker, who remains a figure in the dark? The daughter who birthed the grandson? Random mad slasher? The daughter of the sheriff, who, surprised by a random stranger who appears from nowhere, meets him with a gun? And, hey, how does that early scene showing someone escaping from the local insane asylum play into this mess?

But at the denouement, we learn the horror is much worse than a simple mad man with a big knife. Incorporating a scene which was filmed either with deep incompetence or admirable innovation – take your pick of adjective, but at the end of the sequence I was unsettled – this sickly moral horror piled on other moral horror on yet another moral horror, all filmed in a decayed manner which emphasizes the fragmentation of the moral depravities on which the film is based, makes the initial murders almost trivial in comparison to what has happened in the past.

I cannot possibly recommend this, but it was actually fascinating as we kept juggling elements and trying to make rational sense out of it. The era sensibilities vis-à-vis the art of movie-making, much like that of Britain’s, is that slightly brittle style of bad audio, unclear visuals, and apparently unsympathetic characters, but these technical facets gradually recede into the background as the bodies pile up and the mysteries of the characters become paramount.

Enjoy? Be horrified? Are those the same things? After this, you tell me. Merry Christmas!

P.S. As it was never copyrighted, here it is:

Kickback:

A kickback is an illegal payment intended as compensation for preferential treatment or any other type of improper services received. The kickback may be money, a gift, credit, or anything of value. Paying or receiving kickbacks is a corrupt practice that interferes with an employee’s or a public official’s ability to make unbiased decisions. Kickbacks are often referred to as a type of bribery. [Investopedia]

Used by me here. I receive annual training from my employer that emphasizes kickbacks will result in termination. Since I’m not in Sales, it doesn’t really apply, but the training is still mandatory.

This will be a short feature, since Trump has less than a month left in office. These are deals that appear to be ripe for benefiting Trump personally. Retroactively, we can include this deal with the United Arab Emirates, as well as the other deals for Muslim nations to normalize relations with Israel (see previous link).

Here’s the next deal on the Kickback Watch:

The Trump administration has formally notified Congress that it intends to sell nearly $500 million in precision bombs to Saudi Arabia, a transaction that is likely to fuel criticism from lawmakers who object to arming the Persian Gulf nation over its record of human rights abuses and stifling dissent and role in the war in Yemen. …

The gulf monarchy, with which the Trump administration has forged close ties, has been the subject of bipartisan criticism over its war in neighboring Yemen, where Saudi jets, using U.S. precision munitions, have repeatedly bombed civilian targets as the kingdom has sought to weaken Iranian-linked rebels there. [WaPo]

That the Trump Administration is trying to sneak it past the media and public by announcing it on December 24^th is telling. But this is particularly worrisome:

An individual familiar with the sale, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment to the news media, said the deal includes 7,500 “Paveway IV” precision-guided bombs, worth $478 million, which under the terms of the agreement would be produced in the kingdom.

Read that as “technology transfer” – from advanced science to manufacturing techniques. If I were a fly on the wall in the Oval Office, my guess is that the Saudis refused to pay a kickback without that clause.

Merry Christmas, everyone. The Sun is giving you a gift of a new sunspot, which have been few and far between in the last few years.

From NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Another Nutcracker Suite has arisen, and I can only pity Vice President Mike Pence:

Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to “act” in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence, whom he has complained recently isn’t doing enough to support his bid to overturn the election.

The discussion was “entirely unrelated” to the eventual tweet, one person familiar with the matter said, though would not specify whether the issue of the January 6 ratification in Congress arose. The two men went separate ways for the holiday. [CNN/Politics]

Pence will be in charge of the counting of the Electoral College votes on January 6^th. By bringing him to the attention of the Trump cultists, Trump  has given Pence two unpalatable choices:

1. Ignore Trump’s pathetic treaty. Trump’s cultists will hate Pence forever, and his political career is over. He cannot win an election without the support of the cult.
2. Somehow bollix up the count. We can then assume Trump will desperately try to hold on to power for as long as possible, and pick his own successor. It’ll be a member of his family, not Pence. Additionally, if it fails, Pence’s perfidy will be remembered, and his political career is over.

As observed by many, for Trump loyalty is for suckers, and Pence has been loyal even when he could have led a 25^th Amendment maneuver to remove Trump from power, and made it stick.

Now, I would be shocked if he ever wins another election.

The kid did good work.

Identity Unknown (1945) follows a man’s search for his name and identity in World War II. Caught in a blast in France that killed three other servicemen, he alone survives – but not all of him. He’s forgotten who he is, and all of their dog tags were blown off and recovered, but with no clue as to who is who – and fingerprint checks take a long time when computers don’t exist and there’s a war going on.

Sent back to the United States, with a list of potential names and homes in his pocket, he takes the name Johnny March^[1], and impulsively decides to search for his identity. He jumps a train and begins his exploration of America’s id.

He encounters a woman who assumes she’s a widow, a little boy who thinks March is his Daddy, a gang war in progress, and a farm auction, and in each manages to make a positive contribution. He’s the quintessential Everyman, proving that it isn’t position, but what’s in the heart that matters.

It is not as compelling as it might have been, but it kept us interested and watching. Its mystery keeps it in the ballpark, and its humanity keeps it watchable.

And here it is now. It’s a feel-good movie, no doubt about it, and if that’s what you’re about, this may be for you.

¹ Yes, yes, I know that “Johnny March” is the same name I mentioned in the recent review of The Power Of The Whistler (1945). So I screwed up, eh? I think the name in that movie was simply “George.” Mea culpa!

Over the last couple of days we’ve seen Fox News, NewsMax, and OANN retracting or otherwise whitewashing claims aired on their networks of corruption of voting machines, under threat of lawsuit from SmartMatic.

And today there’s a new lawsuit in the wings:

An executive for a voting machine company that has been the target of conspiracy theories in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss and been baselessly accused of swinging the results against the President is suing his campaign and conservative media figures for defamation.

Trump has called Dominion Voting Systems “a disaster,” and his supporters have pushed the conspiracy theory that the company deleted votes for Trump on its voting equipment and that Dominion’s director of product strategy and security, Eric Coomer, helped subvert the election. …

The lawsuit names as defendants the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani, Trump adviser Sidney Powell, conservative media outlets One America News Network and Newsmax Media, the right-wing website Gateway Pundit, and Colorado businessman and activist Joseph Oltmann, among others. CNN has reached out to those named in the lawsuit. [CNN/Politics]

And I’m left wondering:

Is the lawsuit the point?

Or is the legal process of discovery the point?

Will there be some interesting information that comes popping out if these lawsuits are not settled prior to reaching court?

On this snowy night here in Minnesota, that’s what is coming to mind.

That would be the Senator McConnell’s (R-KY) in the wringer over the recently passed Covid-19 stimulus bill:

“I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2000 or $4000 per couple,” Trump said in a video released on Twitter. “I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items in this legislation or to send me a suitable bill.”

The extraordinary message came after he largely left negotiations over the measure to lawmakers and his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump did not explicitly threaten to veto the bill, but said he was dissatisfied with its final state. [CNN/Politics]

McConnell’s signature behavior over the years has been No victories for Democrats! Even more so than Only conservatives need apply for positions in the judiciary!

But this bill is a response to the Senate race runoffs in Georgia, a carefully crafted attempt at buying votes for incumbents Loeffler and Perdue. If the benefits of the bill are expanded to more money for direct subsidies to citizens, that will be a direct blow to his creed. Democrats will be able to use it in future campaigns. Democrats used Trump to increase the emergency benefit to you, while Republicans had to be dragged into it! Although Republicans denied increased benefits to you for no good reason! is also an effective slogan.

And the Democrats have seized on this opportunity:

Still, Trump’s message appeared to be greeted favorably by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tweeted: “Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks.”

“At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent,” she said. “Let’s do it!”

Will Republicans tell their beloved President NO! and risk the wrath of the wretched Trump cult?

Or will they fold and hand the Democrats a victory?

This is the problem of supporting a narcissist as your Leader. Trump has no loyalty to anyone but himself, and he has been disappointed that most Republicans are not willing to cross the line into autocracy territory and hand him what he thinks would be power, so he’s putting the squeeze on them by pushing on McConnell, who’s much more a leader than newbie Rep Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or any unelected official. This is a tug of war between McConnell and Trump.

It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.

One of the complaints of the Skeptic community concerning journalism on such subjects as homeopathy and other quack remedies is that the journalists think that balance is the arch-goal, and often the only goal.

Therefore, the Skeptic community should be cheering Jennifer Rubin’s piece in WaPo yesterday on the next step the journalistic community must take to avoid enabling autocrat-wannabes in the future:

Fairness comes not in serving up equal portions of lies and truth, but in accurately separating, as best the media can at that moment, what is true and what is false. Instead of “balance,” which denotes an artificial leveling of the scales, reporters should aim for perspective, context and completeness. And, most critically, notions about moral equivalency between the parties and the assumption of sincerity and honesty from Republicans must be rethought in an era in which so many Republicans are indifferent, if not hostile, to truth and democracy.

Quacks, would-be theocrats, and other believers in the ridiculous may hate it, but facts and the study of reality – which is science – take precedence over their wants. Journalists are not finished when they’ve presented “both sides” of a subject. They need to also survey the relevant science, whether it be directly (hard), or by interviewing an acknowledged expert in the field (also hard, as sometimes an “expert” is either a fellow crackpot, or someone outside of their field). For example, a clash between a homeopath and a skeptic should include the fact that there are no solid scientific studies (which would be studies that have not been shot down by scientific criticisms about procedures or analysis, including making allowances for the well-known, yet mystifying, placebo effect) showing homeopathy has any efficacy.

“In fact, given the number of such studies that failed to show the effect, homeopathy is probably bullshit.” This might be a bit harsh, but accurate.

A good journalist would also include a short paragraph on how homeopathy might result in treatment delay, which, in the case of serious illness, can shrink life expectancy.

I think Rubin has done a service for the entire journalistic world here, not just for political reporters.

But this might be it:

It’s never aliens, until it is. Today, news leaked in the British newspaper The Guardian of a mysterious signal coming from the closest star to our own, Proxima Centauri, a star too dim to see from Earth with the naked eye that is nevertheless a cosmic stone’s throw away at just 4.2 light-years. Found this autumn in archival data gathered last year, the signal appears to emanate from the direction of our neighboring star and cannot yet be dismissed as Earth-based interference, raising the very faint prospect that it is a transmission from some form of advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI)—a so-called “technosignature.” Now, speaking to Scientific American, the scientists behind the discovery caution there is still much work to be done, but admit the interest is justified. “It has some particular properties that caused it to pass many of our checks, and we cannot yet explain it,” says Andrew Siemion from the University of California, Berkeley.

Most curiously, it occupies a very narrow band of the radio spectrum: 982 megahertz, specifically, which is a region typically bereft of transmissions from human-made satellites and spacecraft. “We don’t know of any natural way to compress electromagnetic energy into a single bin in frequency” such as this one, Siemion says. Perhaps, he says, some as-yet-unknown exotic quirk of plasma physics could be a natural explanation for the tantalizingly concentrated radio waves. But “for the moment, the only source that we know of is technological.” [Scientific American]

It’s quite convenient that the apparent source is the closest star system to ourselves, isn’t it? While everyone says they expect this to turn out to be natural or from an Earth-based system, there’s an undertone of excitement.

It’d be quite a turnaround, after this mess of a 2020, if 2021 was the year in which we confirmed there’s someone else out there?

If you’re in the mood for amusement, the blizzard of Presidential pardons that began today should provide it. First, toss out the idea that pardons should be used to correct injustices.

The goal here is to understand what each pardon is trying to accomplish for Donald J. Trump.

For example, the pardons of campaign aide George Papadopoulos, former NSA General Michael Flynn (admittedly an early pardon), and others in this category are a signal that President Trump will take care of those who are willing to break the rules on his behalf. This guarantees a flock of potential criminals applying for jobs with a future Trump campaign.

The pardons of former Republican Congressmen Collins, Hunter, who I’ve mentioned before for their missteps, and Stockman signal that if you’re a loyal elected Republican official, don’t be too worried about corruption, Trumpie will take care of you. This applies to those politicians who signed the legislation Texas v Pennnsylvania, especially. All they have to do is get Trump, or his designated ideological successor, reelected, and any corruption problems will be resolved.

See? It’s fun! But those are the easy ones. How about the non-violent drug offenders? That’s a bit more of a challenge, isn’t it?

An addendum to the last part of the Campaign Promises Retrospective series:

With his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud rejected by dozens of judges and GOP leaders, President Trump has turned to a ragtag group of conspiracy theorists, media-hungry lawyers and other political misfits in a desperate attempt to hold on to power after his election loss.

The president’s orbit has grown more extreme as his more mainstream allies, including Attorney General William P. Barr, have declined to endorse his increasingly radical plans to overturn the will of the voters. Trump’s unofficial election advisory council now includes a pardoned felon, adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a White House trade adviser and a Russian agent’s former lover.

Members of the group assembled­ in the Oval Office on Friday for a marathon meeting that lasted more than four hours and included discussion of tactics ranging from imposing martial law in swing states to seizing voting machines through executive fiat. The meeting exploded into shouting matches as outside advisers and White House aides clashed over the lack of a cohesive strategy and disagreed about the constitutionality of some of the proposed solutions. …

In [the place of relatively mainstream Administration advisors such as White House Counsel Pat Cipollone], Trump has welcomed figures from the political fringes who have offered him optimism and ideas for how to stay in power. Their brazen proposals have rankled some of the president’s aides and allies, who have warned that attempting to invoke the military or challenge states’ election processes through executive power would violate the Constitution and backfire politically, according to officials who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy. [WaPo]

Anyone who wishes to contend that Trump has hired the best must now attempt to justify the appearance beside Trump of the likes of Giuliani, Sidney Powell, MacEnany, and even worse figures who have little respect for democracy – but a hunger for power.

But the striking feature for me is that Trump does not stare hard reality in the face and deal with it. Instead, he seeks those who say what he wants to hear, without regard to the quality of the source. In this, he’s emblematic of the Fox News viewers who flock to Fox News not because of excellence, but because it tells them what they want to hear – especially its editorial side –  such as that the election was rigged.

The recent walk-back of Fox News‘ Lou Dobbs’ claims in that arena must have been quite a shock to them.

I have to wonder how many Fox News viewers will find in the loss, and despicable post-loss behavior, of President Trump an allegory for their own behavior – and how they should modify it.

And that doesn’t mean moving on to OANN and NewsMax, who are vying to replace Fox News in the affections of the conservative viewer. It means seeking facts, not lies, opposing viewpoints and not precious coddling.

President Trump didn’t seek out and hire the best of the best for his Administration. He sought and hired those who shared his predilection for conspiracy theories and amateur ideas of America’s place in the world – and how we should behave.

And we’ve been paying the price for that in prestige and lives.