Sunday, May 15, 2022

'Learning to Live with Undesirable Outcomes' Funnies

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Friday, May 13, 2022

Wrong Track Wrangle from Far Left Texas


Gosh, I wonder if some truth is finally sinking in.


It's a good thing that Texas Democrats are poised to take advantage.


Uh oh.  Well, they've got a bit less than six months to figure it out and get back on track (the right track, or the left track, or even the centrist track, whichever you prefer to call it).  Maybe I should emphasize some of the worst-behaving Texas Republicans over the past week or so.


I guess that's my segue to the latest climate updates.


And here's my hodgepodge of social justice news.


The Texas Observer has a new editor-in-chief.


And the rest of my soothers for your weekend perusal.

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Thursday, May 12, 2022

Lucky Dorrell 2006 - 2022


We found her -- or she found us -- on New Year's Eve, 2008 while walking our Teddi.  Lucky always liked dogs better than people and she was very enamored of Teddi, so she followed us for a few blocks but didn't let us get too close.  We lived in West U in a 4-story condo at the time and Mrs. Did worked with her for three hours, finally getting a leash on and up the elevator.  It was a year before Lucky let me pet her.  We decided she must have been mistreated by a man.

She was a Lab pit mix and you can perhaps see her terrific Cleopatra-Queen-of-the-Nile eyeliner in these photos.
She was living behind a dumpster next to a Chinese restaurant, we learned later from someone while on a walk with her.  She had a bloody tail tip and was low-positive for heart worms by the time we got her to the vet.  She had a lot of fear all her life, which translated into aggression.  She jumped on a guy at the condo coming out of the elevator and tore his jacket, which we paid to fix.  She bit a handler at Rover Oaks.  When we took her to the dog park she lost her mind, barking incessantly at other dogs and chasing them and annoying the other dog owners.  We'd pump her with Benadryl beforehand but that didn't faze her in the slightest.  It was the same at the PetsHotel.  She couldn't do doggie daycare because of her fixations on other dogs.  Once she got bit on the muzzle by a dog she was bothering and they had to take her over to the Banfield people for a couple of stitches.

She was not drama-free.  But she was a great watchdog and she loved her sisters and her Mommy.  And she became a very calm, relaxed, happy dog in her dotage.

Her hip finally gave out a few weeks ago and she was just dragging herself around, mostly unable to walk or even stand at the end.  So we gave her a great send-off, with burgers and chicken and ice cream the past couple of days, and when the vet came to the house this morning we set up her bed outside in the sunshine, which she loved to lie in, and said goodbye.

Now she's with Holly, over the Rainbow Bridge, and she's jumping and running without any pain and they're both together and happy.

She was a good, good, dog.

I'll have the regular Wrangle tomorrow.
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Monday, May 09, 2022

Choose or Lose Wrangle


It would be beneficial for "The Left" to stop the backbiting and infighting on this issue and unite in order to turn back the Christofascist wave sweeping Texas and the nation.  Two things: not holding my breath, and because there are varying definitions of "left" and unite", I should clarify that mine do not include centrist Democrats nor voting for them.


I'm capable of voting for a few Texas Democrats in November, provided the party's voters can nominate some that I can support.  I can recommend a few more for those of you who vote blue in districts where you live, like Claudia Zapata in TX-21.


And I heartily recommend direct democracy.  Because it's really the only kind left.


But Democrats shouldn't kid themselves about their chances in the fall.  A lot of people who used to support them won't any longer.


Voting more and harder simply isn't going to solve this.


Fear of loss, fear of threats from 'the other', fear in the voting booth in general may be a prime motivator for conservative troglodytes, but it does not work on people with enough sense to understand the manipulation by the elites and media.  That is an increasing number of Americans who still choose to vote, a steadily dwindling number itself (despite the occasional upward ticks).

So prospects are exceedingly grim for the republic.  Which is why I'm also advocating for a general strike revolution.  I'm increasingly of the opinion that it's our last best option.  You see, I'm old and sick but I'm still capable of getting in the way.  Because blocking these chuds at every turn, by whatever means, grows crucial.


Greg Abbott's latest big idea is to get the SCOTUS to revisit every single case for which he didn't like the decision thirty, forty, fifty years ago.  Charming.


And what if we manage to deny him, and Paxton, and the Supreme Court and the Republicans in November?  We still have a planet on fire and Texas throwing gas on it.


Much of this Wrangle could have been published last week.  I'll try to catch up tomorrow or Wednesday with the latest, including the social justice posts.  Here's a story you should read if you haven't: Leticia van de Putte's recovery from her terrible accident.


And a notable passing.


Last: the soothers, starting with a few long walks.

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