Calendars and Polar Bears

 For the past 15 or so years, I have made myself a calendar from photos taken during the previous year-- 1 per month, 13 pictures, 12 months plus a cover.  Some years I've made 2 because 13 images were not enough to give the flavor of the past year.  However, this year, 2021, I did not make a calendar. Indeed, 2020 ended at Friday the 13th of March. The world went into its Covid confinement, and there were no happy or arty scenes to record.  I took very few photographs and went into a rather non-productive sad funk.  

As a result, since January, I have been using 2 of the free calendars that come in the mail each year, one from the Nature Conservancy and the other from the Ocean Conservancy (is there a pattern here?).  I usually get one from the dry cleaner, but this year like most small businesses that are only almost getting by, they could not produce for such frivolities as calendars.

Be that as it may,  the real reason I'm writing about calendars and not the sorry state of drycleaners is that the Ocean Conservancy with its February picture of an ugly common rockfish told me that today is International Polar Bear Day.  I felt totally unprepared for such a celebratory event, so I went outside without a jacket and stood in the 45 degree weather in sympathy with the polar bears, although they have fur and are not cold. I did have some experience of their environment.

I think I might bake a cake tonight and pop a prosecco.  It's as good an excuse as any.  Happy Polar Bear Day!

10-year blog

 

It’s hard to believe this blog is still active. This time it’s been 10 years between posts.  Some might ask, Isn’t she dead yet? Nope, here I am suffering the curse of the survivor—although I’m not really that old.  I read yesterday that Ferlingetti died at 101—not Covid, but just regular stuff.  That’s for me, live to 101 when most folks will ask: Isn’t she dead already? I had no idea.

 It’s part of the loss of attention span. Who could pay attention to someone living beyond, say, 50 years?  Particularly when they can’t even sit through a one-act opera. It’s no wonder Wagnerians seem to be an endangered species. Four hours, even with potty breaks, and food breaks. Even if it’s the coolest spectacle on the planet.

So the blog goes on after 18 years.  All hail the internet, and we live on—at least until we reach 101 and die of regular stuff.

Short-lived phenomena

Scientists speak of short-lived phenomena, earthquakes, fish rains, meteor impacts. They run off and study them. As a scientist, I'm interested, too, but more as an amateur social scientist studying humans' short-lived phenomena. One occurred yesterday, and, unfortunately, I totally missed it--the Target/Missoni stampede.

I confess that I read women's magazines, and last month my magazine alerted me to several designers who would be placing lines in more affordable stores like Target. My magazine had a double-page spread on various designers and their products. I particularly liked Missoni's bold colored bargello-like zigzag patterns. Learning that the line would go on sale September 13, I dutifully marked my calendar and noted the prices and items I intended to buy-- a cardigan, scarf, shoes, and vest--online.

I don't do stores much anymore, and I shop online almost exclusively. I buy vacuum cleaner bags, backyard sheds, mandolins, sandals, etc., all on the internet. The problem with the Missoni at Target was I didn't look at my calendar yesterday, and all was sold when I looked today online. However, frequently believing in magic, I stopped by my local Target on the way home. Not surprisingly, there was not a zigzag in sight. I asked a salesgirl if I was in the right department. She assured me I was and that there were no Missonis to be had. She went on to tell me about the crowd at the door yesterday at 8 AM, before the store opening at 8:30. She said they stormed in, and it was all over in 6 hours. I guess it would have been fun to be part of this short-lived phenomenon, but then I'd never get up that early--even for Missoni.

PS the picture shows Ottavio and Rosita Missoni (from Wikipedia).

The New Girl on the Block

As promised, Tiki now has a new friend--Irene--named after two aunts. Both my mom and my dad had a sister by that name. One Aunt Irene is still thriving near Chicago; the other passed away in December. They were a year apart and now in their nineties. I maintain that being named Irene is the secret to longevity.

This new Irene is 6 years old and a Petit basset griffon Vendeen like Jina. She is beautiful, as you can see by her picture. In addition, she is well-behaved, not timid, happy, healthy, and wise.

I am comforted as she lies curled up at my feet, trying to figure out this machine that keeps me immobile for so many hours. We both have our inner lives. Mine comes out through speech and writing; hers comes out through her snuffles and movements. I'm hard pressed to say which is best.

A truth commission is a good idea as far as it goes...

Dear Senator Leahy,

While I think your idea of a truth commission is good, I do not feel it goes far enough. Without looking for "vengeance" we will not accomplish the task of preventing these heinous acts from recurring. I would suggest you refer to Prof. Alfred McCoy's book "A Question of Torture" where he cites previous examples of torture and the cycle that leads to impunity.

I think we Americans know enough of the truth to realize that torture can happen easily without the rule of law. We need to bring the torturers and their implementers to justice and, yes, punish the guilty. Without these actions, we are supporting a Latin America-like impunity that will continue to destroy our country.

So, I will sign the petition to bring up the truth commission, but with the caveat that we need to not sing "kum baya" and go home feeling good, but that we need to punish the guilty to the full extent of the law.

Regards,
Barbara Karn

US Impunity is Wrong

I find I cannot let this torture horror go. On yesterday's Democracy Now program, Amy Goodman interviewed Alfred McCoy about Obama's not addressing the issue of torture beyond the release of the torture memos. McCoy, a history professor from the University of Wisconsin, cited instances of past torture by the CIA where a. the public found out, b. Congress got in a frazzle, c. no one was prosecuted, d. all was forgotten, and a-redux, the whole cycle was repeated. His 2006 book documents this sordid past.

The program featured a video of Condaleezza Rice dancing around the torture issue with some Stanford students, saying essentially the barbarians at the gate called for desperate measures after 9-11. McCoy points out how the South American dictators used the same arguments to torture their own people. I'm not sure how many Americans were tortured by Bush. Certainly, he terrorized US citizens to the extent that they would not speak out in spite of the "big sister" warnings in the Metro-"See it; say it." I felt I was in China during the Cultural Revolution getting my parents imprisoned as imperialistic intellectuals for bad words against the state. No jokes at the airport I find particularly oppressive...maybe getting arrested for bad puns or accordion jokes is OK, but turning air travelers into humorless automatons is beyond my pale.

What struck me most was McCoy's using the word impunity. It means "exemption from punishment, penalty, or harm," according to my hardback big, fat American Heritage Dictionary. ( I tend to get impunity mixed up with impugn, so I have thought that impunity was the same as impugning, rather than nearly its opposite.)

I found an internet site called Impunidad. The first line states,"Impunity. Perhaps no word defines the experiences of Latin America as well as this one," and goes on to say how the guilty are free and often at their old posts where they can do it (torture, kill) again. They state, "Impunity without doubt is one of the gravest problems affecting the continent, and one that needs to be urgently addressed."

I would maintain that the continent includes the land mass to the north and that we need to urgently address this grave problem. Let's start with Bush and Cheney and move to all the signers and signifiers of the torture memos and the apologists like Rice. Let's prosecute them and punish them for their crimes against humanity and especially for their crimes against the USA. Let us return to the rule of law.

May Day

When we were kids, May Day was a big deal--pageants, dances around the pole and flowers for Mom. One year, we were probably 6 and 8, my brother and I picked violets and dandelions and arranged them in a little basket we made out of cardboard. We hung this basket on our front door, knocked (we didn't have a door bell), ran, and hid behind some bushes.

My mom opened the door, looked around and went back into the house. We sneaked out, knocked, and hid again. For the second time, my mom came out, wiping her hands from the dishwater, looked puzzled, and closed the door.

The third time she came out, she was really mad.."You kids are gonna get it, if you do this once more!" Then, she saw the basket...we got a great big mom-hug. Maybe she had tears in her eyes, but kids wouldn't notice that.