Brittney Griner II

 

Free At Last

On my knees when the light pass'd by
I thank God I'm free at last
Tho't my soul would rise and fly
I thank God I'm free at last

Brittney Griner is free at last

Thank you President  Biden! The price was high, but the end is so worth it.

On the Spectrum

 

Whiter Shade of Pale

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

That it is because it is on a spectrum, not a binary.

Autism is said to exist on a spectrum. And a form of high functioning Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, is still said to be on the spectrum.  A co-worker joked that Asperger’s must be in the job description at our firm. Those with Asperger’s have to be reminded that the old CBS show “The Big Bang Theory” is a comedy, not a documentary.

The most recent podcast of Stuff You Should Know  was on Face Blindness, prosopagnosia, which is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces. The most famous sufferer of Face Blindness is Brad Pitt. The podcast also discussed coping mechanisms for those who suffer from Face Blindness The podcast ended with a request that those who suffer from Face Blindness write to them. However, Face Blindness may not be a matter of you have it, or you don’t. It may also be on a spectrum.

I think that I may have an undiagnosed form of Face Blindness. Admittedly this may be that I have developed coping mechanisms for most cases, but not this one. I do not have the ability to recognize faces in unfamiliar settings. The most prominent example was when I was on vacation in Virginia and heard a voice say, “Hello, Dan.”  I asked the person who they were. I should mention that she was distinctive in the manner that only a freckle-faced, bi-racial woman could be. Her response was that I was her supervisor at work in Massachusetts and sat next to her for the previous five years At work, no problem, 1,000 miles from work, who are you? Oh yeah, that’s why I should know you.

One of the coping mechanisms that I may have developed is trying to treat everyone with kindness. If the old adage is true that "You should treat people nice on the way up the ladder, because you might meet them again on the way down,” then treating everyone nice because they might be a long-time friend that you don’t recognize at the moment is even more true. Those with Face Blindness, even on a spectrum, may have to treat everyone the same because they can’t recognize any differences. People who you have treated well in the past, expect the same treatment, whether you recognize them or not.

303 Creative

 

I’m A Man

I stand outside creatin'
All the groovy kinds of love
I'm a man, yes I am and I can't help but love you so
I'm a man, yes I am and I can't help but love you so

And no man is God.

Justice “Not Merrick Garland” Gorsuch during oral arguments for the 303 Creative case slammed the State of Colorado for forcing a Christian baker to undergo a “reeducation program” after he refused to create a custom cake celebrating a same-sex marriage on the grounds that it violated his religious convictions.

That Christian baker is licensed by the state of Colorado.  That baker has his premises inspected by Health Departments of governments in Colorado.  That baker receives police, fire  and other protections and services from the government.  That baker accepts payment in US currency, not in barter.  Is it too much to ask that this Christian baker abide by the laws of our governments, even if those laws and regulations violate his religious belief.  The Supreme Court is being asked to be Caesar, not God.  It should be a good Christian and remember  Christ's teaching “ Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s."  The baker’s religious convictions are God’s.  The state of Colorado and the Supreme Court are not God, they are Caesar.  Is Justice Gorsuch under the impression that he is God?

Discontinuities

 

Go to the Mirror, Boy (See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me)

I often wonder what he is feeling
Has he ever heard a word I’ve said?
Look at him in the mirror dreaming
What is happening in his head?

Maybe our universe IS inside the mirror.

The original Star Trek ( yes, I am that nerdy), had an episode Mirror, Mirror where Captain Kirk entered an evil mirror universe ( the one with Spock with a Goatee!).  Our universe appears to be hyperbolic https://dbeagan.blogspot.com/2022/07/forever.html. It may also be that evil mirror universe.

Random events appear to follow an exponential distribution.  Those random events, and that statistical distribution, are constrained to real positive values.   This may be a limitation of our universe.  If negative numbers are allowed AND the negative distribution is a mirror of the positive distribution instead of being confined to positive numbers, there is a discontinuity at the origin.  In other words, the Probability density function, PDF of the exponential distribution for all values of x, not just x>0, may be

(x≥0)*(λ*e^-λx) + (x<0)*( λ*e^λx)

Alito and Leaks

 

Up on Cripple Creek

Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

The Supreme Court has a leak. Who will mend it?

I previously thought that Justice “Long Dong Silver” Thomas was the most dangerous man in America. I based that on his opinions and those of his wife. But with his leaks, Justice “Strip Search Sammy” Alito has pulled into the lead.

The draft opinion for Dobbs, which was written by Justice Alito and included the overturning of Roe v. Wade, was leaked in May. Now it has come to light that Justice Alito also leaked the draft opinion in the 2014 Hobby Lobby case, which he also wrote. I have watched enough episodes of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Perry Mason, Scooby Doo, etc., to know that the criminal is usually the one who most benefits from the crime. Before the 2020 leak, Chief Justice Roberts was lobbying the other Justices to possibly not overturn Roe v. Wade. After the leak he ceased those efforts and Justice Alito’s draft opinion became the Court’s majority opinion. Given his history and the fact that Justice Alito benefitted the most from the leak, if you do NOT think that Justice Alito was the source of the leak, I have some nice ocean front property in Kansas I would like to sell you. 😏If Chief Justice Roberts wants to maintain control of his Court, not only should he adopt the position that supermajorities, which on the present Supreme Court means 6-3 opinions, are required, I believe that prior to the Hughes Court in the 1940s, the Chief Justice always required that its opinions be by consensus, Chief Justice Roberts should also never, ever, let Justice Alito write an opinion. If he doesn’t write the opinion, then maybe he won’t leak it.

Respect for Marriage Act

 

Why Don’t We Do It in the Road

Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?

We don't because the road is a public space, and “it” is a private action.

In the song, we all know what “it” is, and  “it” is a private action. The rules for public spaces are there, regardless of whether someone is watching you or not. And just as private actions are allowed in private spaces, and public actions are allowed in public spaces, public control should not exist in private spaces, and private control should not exist in public spaces. When a public group tries to control private actions in private spaces, or a private group tries to control public actions in public spaces, there is a problem.

The government is the public. It grants certain rights for example, to those who are married. Marriage means that health care of spouses, inheritance, etc. are protected by the government. A marriage, like all government actions in one US State, has to be acknowledged in every other US State. Just as a Driver’s license in Massachusetts is valid in Texas, Texas does not have the right to say how Massachusetts issues that driver’s license, ....or marriage license. And if a transaction happens in the public marketplace, then no one should have the right to object based on private beliefs. The public can’t change what is in a private heart. But the public can control what are acceptable public actions, subject to the rights of individuals guaranteed in the constitution. You should have to show actual harm to ban a public action. Being offended is NOT justification to ban a public action. But the public also does not get to change what is in a private individual’s, or a group of private individuals', heart. If you want the public’s protection in economic transactions, then you also do NOT get to also decide in which economic transactions you will participate. 

It is also why Justice Thomas is showing his hypocrisy in saying Obergefell, Lawrence, and Griswold were improperly decided but Loving which would affect him, was omitted from his list. Render onto Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s. There seems to be some confusion  among the Justices of the Supreme Court as to which things are which.

Debt II

 

Pretty Polly

A debt to the devil, Willie must pay
A debt to the devil, Willie must pay
For killing Pretty Polly, and running, and running, and running, and running away. 

Is our national debt to the devil?

To answer my own question, the national debt is an investment in the future, NOT a debt to the devil.  Since we have a fiat currency that is based on the national economy, our national debt should be a percentage of the national economy.  That way if the economy grows, the debt ceiling will also grow.  Also the debt ceiling should NEVER be set in unadjusted dollars.  The US currency has been subject to inflation, especially beginning with the Nixon Shock of 1971.   The debt ceiling should recognize this inflation.  If the economy is stated in current dollars, not in the dollars of a previous year, then the debt ceiling should also be based on the economy stated in the current years dollars, and not the dollars of a previous year.

It is arguable that there should not even be a national debt ceiling set by Congress.  Congress has the power of appropriation in spending bills.  And the ability to raise taxes to pay for that spending. Then why is there also a need to also impose a  national debt ceiling on that spending. The debt ceiling should not be used as a hostage to hold spending, or taxes, hostage.  Yes, if there is no debt there is no need for spending, or taxes, to repay that debt.  But then there is also no investment in the future.  If you believe in the future, and you believe in growth, then you have to also allow for debt.