bits and pieces

Bits and Pieces — April 15, 2023

Fandango16 Comments

Just a few bits and pieces that I thought I might share with you today.

Number 1 in the Nation

Mississippi Christians have erected a 14th giant cross. The latest cross — 120 feet high and 64 feet wide — towers over the town of Aberdeen, and cost $240,000 in private donations. Mike Rozier, whose company is putting up the massive crosses, says it’s money well spent, despite Mississippi’s very high poverty rate. “People say Mississippi ranks 49th or 50th of 50 states in various categoies,” Rozier says, but “we’re proud to say we’re number 1 in the number of crosses.”

The Check is in the Mail

Only 70 percent of mail intended to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service within three to five days arrived on time last year, an 11 percent drop from 2022. A $40 billion overhaul of the system ordered by the Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has caused widespread disruptions, and state and federal officials are voicing concerns about the possible impact on mail-in ballots in the 2024 presidential election.

A Lot of Work to Do

Atmospheric concentrations of the three most potent greenhouse gases rose to new record levels in 2023, highlighting the failure by world leaders and industry to curb carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emis-sions.

While the increases in each did not quite match the record jumps of recent years, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and livestock farming have brought the world’s CO2 levels 50% higher than they were before the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

“As these numbers show, we still have a lot of work to do to make meaningful progress in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere,” said Vanda Grubisi, director of NOAA’s global monitoring laboratory.

Bits and Pieces — September 11, 2023

Fandango20 Comments

Just a few bits and pieces that I thought I might share with you today.

Naming Rights

Under a new “parents’ rights” law, lowa teachers must seek parental permission to use children’s nicknames. The law requires teachers to alert parents if a student asks to be addressed by “a name or pronoun” that differs from school records. In emails, parents in Iowa schools are being alerted and must approve if, for example, Kimberly wants to go by “Kim,” or Joseph requested that he be called “Joe.”

Imagine the hubbub if Samantha wants to go by “Sam.”

Low Test Scores

Black students at Florida’s Bunnell Elementary were called into a special assembly and warned that they “could end up being killed or go to jail” if they get low test scores. Superintendent LaShakia
Moore said, “there was no malice” behind the presentation but concedes it was inappropriate. “Sometimes, when you try to think outside the box,” Moore said, “you forget why the box is there!”

I wonder what happens to white students who get low test scores.

Trump’s Trinkets

Donald Trump’s campaign raised $7.1 million in the first 48 hours after he was booked in an Atlanta jail. That included $4.18 million raised the day after the booking, the highest one-day total for the campaign, which is marketing shirts, bumper stickers, and beverage coolers adorned with Trump’s mug shot and the tagline “Never Surrender!”

Well, never surrender until they handcuff him and haul him off to jail.

SoCS — Perchance to Dream

Fandango11 Comments

D6CA6094-C6AA-4F89-9117-3225F111F174For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill, we are asked to write a post using the word “dream.”

I dream every night. In fact, I dream multiple times each night. I know this because I will typically wake up two or three times during the night. I wake up, look at the clock, and realize it’s way too early to get up. I will recall that I was dreaming right before I woke up and sometimes I’ll even remember what I was dreaming about.

There are times, after I wake up like this, that I hope, when I fall back to sleep, the dream will resume. There are other times, though, when I hope the dream won’t continue because it was not a very pleasant dream.

The dream I have right before I wake up for the final time, which is usually between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning, is often very vivid. I think to myself that I need to remember the dream, but because what woke me, more often than not, is a pressing need to take a leak, I will head to the bathroom, take care of my pressing need, wash my face, and brush my teeth. If I’m lucky, I may be able to remember a few bits and pieces of the dream, but more often, by the time I leave the bathroom, it’s gone…poof!

I really wish someone would develop a technology that could record dreams so that you could view them like you can view TV shows you recorded on your DVR. Wouldn’t that be cool? Although I wouldn’t want my wife to watch a recording of that redhead I dreamed about last night.

Image credit: RondellMelling at Pixabay.com.