Now, I just sit back and wait!

Who Were You In High School?

A request from a F-book pal who grew up in the same town as I, but graduated 8 years later: "Tell us about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!"
The year was: 1964
1. Did you know your spouse? No, I had met none of them by then.
2. Did you car pool to school? With my sister(s), only; I drove.
3. What kind of car did you have? 1957 VW Cabriolet
4. What kind of car do you have now? 2003 Lexus GS 300/1997 Ranger XLT.
5. It's Friday night...where were you? Working at the radio station, KTRC, til midnight; then at the Senate Lounge til closing.
6. What kind of job did you have in high school? Disc-jockey at the local radio station.
7. What kind of job do you have now? Retired professor, former carpenter and journalist.
8. Were you a party animal? Yes.
9. Were you a cheerleader? No
10. Were you considered a jock? No, but I ran track in my junior year.
11. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in drama and speech/forensics (Ms. Rose Fidel.)
12. Were you a nerd? I never thought so.
13. Did you get suspended or expelled? Kicked out of class regularly. Suspended once. Never expelled. I cut school for most of my senior year.
14. Can you sing the fight song? Nope.
15. Who was your favorite high school teacher? Favorite? Jerry West, Godfrey Reggio and Don Gamache
16. Where did you sit for lunch? At Burt's Burger-Bowl or the Lotaburger...
\17. What was your school name? St. Michael's High, Santa Fe.
18. What was your school mascot? the Horsemen
19. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Knowing then what I know now? Beuhler!Q!!!
20. Did you have fun at Prom? I attended the St. Mike's Prom, the Loretto High Prom, the Pojoaque High Prom, and the Los Alamos Prom; each with a different gal. Had a fine time...
21. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Haven't seen any of 'em since 1964.
22. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? I went to the 40th, skipped 50, and will probably attend #60, should I live so long.
23. Are you still in contact with people from school? A few.
24. What were your school's color? Blue & White

Lest We/You Forget, It Started Here!

Lest we forget: The Brooks Brothers' Riots.<
For my money, the turning point in 2000 was the Brooks Brothers Riot, when paid political aides invaded the Miami-Dade Election bureau and halted the recount through physical intimidation.

There's a foto of it:
On Nov. 19, 2000, (via Wiki) "Hundreds of "paid GOP crusaders" descended upon South Florida to protest the state's recounts,[1] with at least half a dozen of the demonstrators at Miami-Dade paid by George W. Bush's recount committee.[2] Several of these protesters were identified as Republican staffers and a number later went on to jobs in the Bush administration.[3]
The "Brooks Brothers" name reinforces the allegation that the protesters, in corporate attire, sporting "Hermès ties"[4] were astroturfing, as opposed to local citizens concerned about counting practices.
The demonstration was organized by Republican operatives, sometimes referred to as the "Brooks Brothers Brigade",[5] to oppose the recount of 10,750 ballots during the Florida recount. The canvassers decided to move the counting process to a smaller room and restrict media access to 25 feet away while they continued. At this time, New York Rep. John Sweeney told an aide to "Shut it down."[2][4] The demonstration turned violent, and according to the NY Times, "several people were trampled, punched or kicked when protesters tried to rush the doors outside the office of the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections. Sheriff's deputies restored order." DNC aide Luis Rosero was kicked and punched. Within two hours after the riot died down, the canvassing board unanimously voted to shut down the count, in part due to perceptions that the process wasn't open or fair, and in part because the court-mandated deadline was impossible to meet.[6][7][8]

Morality & Voting: The Dilemma of the "Lesser" Evil.

There sure is a LOT of hysterical, "true-believer"-kind, ideological purity on display in the DIM primary contests between Bernie and Hillary.

One of them will be the Party nominee (and there's no point in moaning about "third parties."). That person will HAVE to defeat whatever clown the GOPhux throw up. If, after the past 35 years, you can placidly view the prospect of ANY of them in the WhiteHouse, you should turn in your driver's license, surrender your kids, and turn in your guns, because you're dangerously demented.

Promising NOT to support or even vote for Hillary if she prevails in the primary contest--which I have encountered in MANY whom I previously respected--is a symptom and index of the  social and economic "privilege" which the folks proclaiming it enjoy.

It's their way of saying "I'm so protected and insulated by my privilege that I will be "safe enough," no matter what shit the GOPhux may pull, with complete control of the Gummint. It won't affect me."

(Though they'll deny it signifies any such thing. But they're already delusional.)

When the choice is between varieties of CorpoRat war mongers, I'll select the one with the least toxic DOMESTIC agenda.

All/ANY USer leader/President will (MUST!) necessarily and enthusiastically prosecute the Empire's international/regional programs. No one person can interfere. The Empire will roll on until it doesn't anymore. That's NOT something that's within the individual's or the voters' power to decide.

The determining factor to me is who will minimize DOMESTIC damage.
I'm a Rawlsian*: Act so as to endorse/support the LEAST HARM to the greatest number. That, to me, means that if Bernie is vanquished, and Hillary is the nominee, there is a moral imperative to vote for her.

In any case, whosoever finally wins, the GOPhux won't let any Dim govern.

They haven't, since 1992. It's nothing "personal." They are intent that NO ONE but they should hold or use actual power in this country. They've been organizing and preparing for this for almost 70 years.

Prez Lowbar provided the perfect excuse and opportunity to expand this design, because he was 'disqualified' on TWO counts: 1) he's a "Dim," and 2) he's not WHITE. The perfect storm, you might say.

History has amply demonstrated that when the lesser evil is defeated, usually it is by a GREATER one.

I'll vote for Bernie in the Primary, here, in June. But if he does NOT win the nomination, and Hillary does, I shall vote for Hillary, AGAINST the fucking GOPhux.

*Rawlsian: An acolyte of John Rawls, (late) Harvard ethicist and political philosopher whose major work was/is "A Theory of Justice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Theory_of_Justice

Morality & Voting: The Dilemma of the "Lesser" Evil.

There sure is a LOT of hysterical, "true-believer"-kind, ideological purity on display in the DIM primary contests between Bernie and Hillary.

One of them will be the Party nominee (and there's no point in moaning about "third parties."). That person will HAVE to defeat whatever clown the GOPhux throw up. If, after the past 35 years, you can placidly view the prospect of ANY of them in the WhiteHouse, you should turn in your driver's license, surrender your kids, and turn in your guns, because you're dangerously demented.

Promising NOT to support or even vote for Hillary if she prevails in the primary contest--which I have encountered in MANY whom I previously respected--is a symptom and index of the  social and economic "privilege" which the folks proclaiming it enjoy.

It's their way of saying "I'm so protected and insulated by my privilege that I will be "safe enough," no matter what shit the GOPhux may pull, with complete control of the Gummint. It won't affect me."

(Though they'll deny it signifies any such thing. But they're already delusional.)

When the choice is between varieties of CorpoRat war mongers, I'll select the one with the least toxic DOMESTIC agenda.

All/ANY USer leader/President will (MUST!) necessarily and enthusiastically prosecute the Empire's international/regional programs. No one person can interfere. The Empire will roll on until it doesn't anymore. That's NOT something that's within the individual's or the voters' power to decide.

The determining factor to me is who will minimize DOMESTIC damage.
I'm a Rawlsian*: Act so as to endorse/support the LEAST HARM to the greatest number. That, to me, means that if Bernie is vanquished, and Hillary is the nominee, there is a moral imperative to vote for her.

In any case, whosoever finally wins, the GOPhux won't let any Dim govern.

They haven't, since 1992. It's nothing "personal." They are intent that NO ONE but they should hold or use actual power in this country. They've been organizing and preparing for this for almost 70 years.

Prez Lowbar provided the perfect excuse and opportunity to expand this design, because he was 'disqualified' on TWO counts: 1) he's a "Dim," and 2) he's not WHITE. The perfect storm, you might say.

History has amply demonstrated that when the lesser evil is defeated, usually it is by a GREATER one.

I'll vote for Bernie in the Primary, here, in June. But if he does NOT win the nomination, and Hillary does, I shall vote for Hillary, AGAINST the fucking GOPhux.

*Rawlsian: An acolyte of John Rawls, (late) Harvard ethicist and political philosopher whose major work was/is "A Theory of Justice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Theory_of_Justice

Low-Back Up-Date

As my friends and correspondents know, I have been plagued for the best part of the last five-10 years with pretty constant, pretty significant discomfort in my lower back and extremities. Enough that, finally I undertook to seek some relief. So, after the diagnostic preliminaries--x-rays, MRIs, ultra-sounds, etc--I presented myself at the Spine and Pain Clinic for treatment.

The discomfort has been considerable, enough to interfere with anything like a "normal" life--I shall not claim my infirmity has caused me "pain," as women who've endured childbirth scoff at such claims from/by men; but for duration and duress, I am pretty sure it qualifies as AT LEAST "severe discomfort." I was unable to stand for more than about 10 minutes, or walk for more than about 100 yards without crippling, simultaneous numbness and bone-deep aching in my hips the effected spots would ease my uncomfortableness.

So, on Monday, a pal drove me to the clinic (on Dr's instructions) where the nice people went through the same questionnaire for the third or fourth time, then laid me down (under a machine that in my mind's eye resembled the infamous Harrow, oif Kafka's "Penal Colony"), gave me an epidural, and then proceeded to shoot the interstices between my vertebrae full of a steroid called Kenalog http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-9275/kenalog-injection/details).

The resu8lts have been startling.

I do not know whether the effect is "placebo," from the mere attention paid to my aching back, but after yesterday's injections, I found I am able to move the next morning with FAR more ease, and FAR less discomfort, far less stiffness (and with far fewer, and far less voluble grunts and groans) than at any time in the past five years, at least. I could/can sit and stand without theatrical expostulations and/or gyrations.

Since mobility was the main issue, the first day after the treatment, I went to make groceries at the local supermarket (Smiths/Kroger) as a sort of first venture/foray. However, for me, the key situation will be presented the next time I go to Costco, for dog food/treats, whisky, beer, and breakfast treats. Until this week, I had been unable to consider fully traversing the acreage of the local store without planning necessary, recuperative breaks. I now think there's a chance I can navigate the whole place without discomfort! Whether or not I can once again lift a 35-lb bag of kibble will be the acid test. The Smiths store is about a third the size of Costo, whither I must go for prescriptions, whisky and dog food/goodies--though not THIS week.

The results were encouraging. The absence of discomfort in my back was constant, but the hip-thing was still evident--though not immediately, as hitherto. Instead, it began only when I was standing (a long time) in the check-out line AFTER fully 40 minutes on my feet.

I'm delighted!

The magical substance that was introduced into the interstices between my vertebrae on Monday morning, by a machine I had visualized as something akin to Kafka's Harrow, was a formula called Kenalog. My vet sez they use the veterinary analog, "Vetalog," on critters like horses. I don't yet feel frisky, but we'll see...

I do not yet have the faintest inkling of the duration of this relief. I have a follow-up appointment in a month. So far, I am thrilled with the amount of relief I have so far experienced, though I am still wary that the hip-nerve-numbness thing will be less satisfactorily resolved, on current evidence. It is definitely diminished. I was able to stand at the sink and wash about four days of dishes without having to take a break, though not without discomfort entirely...

Sitting and standing are significantly easier, and involve far less oral expostulation, huffing and/or groaning, which is terrific, since those are the two things I do the most of. 

So far, I'd have to pronounce the procedure a limited, but definitely encouraging success.