How to kill a fly

The recent supreme court ruling on trans atheletes is an example of how to kill a fly with a machine gun. 

In most states, transgender atheletes are either non-existant or represent a tiny sliver (much smaller than the trans population of the state) 

However this is red meat for right wingers because nothing enrages like the image of a transgender weight lifter dressed in a pink leotard sporting facial hair when the reality is more likely a lone spindly trans girl running high school track. 

Meanwhile, Mac Beggs who is a trans man wrestler has been largely ignored because he is going in the opposite direction. If after taking testosterone he beats a weaker and less adept genetic male, that doesn't matter because it doesn't fuel enough outrage. 

Needless to say that everyone wants fairness in sport but that's not what this is about. This is about finding an issue that inflames passion in the ignorant and the bigoted. 

Since human stupidity is a gift that keeps on giving, it will forever remain a primary feature and not a bug.

Like they say, "you can't fix stupid".

Winner take all

Trade deficits are not inherently bad things especially when one considers economies of scale. For example a country like Canada which is roughly 9 times smaller than the US in terms of population, is not going to consume at the same rate. 

Therefore trying to eliminate all trade imbalances shows a lack of understanding of economics which is what Trumpism is all about. The idea is to crush and to see trade partners as adversaries rather than as allies. Mutually beneficial arrangements are not the goal.

The point is to win and gloat which comes from the psychopathy of the man-child president. 

As example, the Kentucky bourbon industry has taken a massive hit because, as retaliation for tariffs and the 51st state rhetoric, Canadians stopped buying US alcohol. Who is the largest consumer of their product outside the US? we are. 

The Trump regime is using a clumsy sledgehammer approach to trade that will ultimately leave them isolated. 

US farmers voted heavily in favor of Trump who has been doing everything but help them. They fell for the rhetoric and many are going bankrupt as rising cost of fertilizer (Hormuz closure), rising cost of farm equipment (tariffs) and markets for their crops (like soy beans) decrease. 

When Trump leaves office he will have left everything worse than when he entered it. But many will never allow reality get in the way of dogma which is a real shame.

Happy Canada day :)

I need you to turn to

 

Paris is burning

The planet is burning up. Record temperatures are being set everywhere and climate scientists say it's too late to do anything about it. Our 2 C as target maximum increase is now beyond reach.

Human greed and stupidity strike again. 

Europe and large parts of North America are under the effects of a large heat dome. It will be a miserable time for people who are health compromised and cannot access relief. France, for example, isn't accustomed to these temperatures but they had better get used to them. 

The Trump regime doesn't believe in science so it's full speed ahead with fossil fuels and eliminating wind farms. When the problem is bad why not make it worse. Maybe the religious right that supports them can speak in tongues to remedy things. Instead, tongues will just be wagging.

Right now it might as well be the dark ages. 

In many parts of the central and southern US it will feel as high as 115 F with the humidity and It's not going to be any fun.

Not even up north where I am.

Out of my hands

I crossed paths with Isabelle in the early morning but she didn't recognize me at all. I hadn't seen her until the last minute and then suddenly my brain went into recognition mode. 

She is probably in her late 40's now and we worked together until she left for a competitor some years before I retired. Had she been walking alone I would have stopped to greet and perhaps shock her but she was accompanied by someone I didn't know. 

I knew to leave well enough alone. 

This phase of my life has become interesting because who knows and doesn't know about me has now fallen out of my hands. I don't care because I am not hiding but I am also not making an announcement on any large platforms. 

This morning when Justin served me my coffee I was standing next to a lady roughly my age who frequents the same spot. I say hello to her briefly and there was some additional banter which resulted in her finding out I was retired. 

"She's retired" she says as she turns to Justin who simply nods. 

"I think it's going to be September for me" she says as she walks out the door with her coffee and croissant. 

Who knows, maybe we'll compare notes one day.

Beatriz at dinner

"Beatriz at Dinner" was made in 2017 at the beginning of Trumpism. It's about a Mexican massage therapist whose car breaks down after a session and ends up attending an evening at one of her client's soirees. 

John Lithgow plays a billionaire stand in for Trump who grills Beatriz and denigrates her by questioning her legal standing as a US citizen. 

The entitlement and tone deafness of the rich guests contrasts sharply against the empathetic and earnest Beatriz who doesn't understand how people can be so disdainful of the plight of others; the people whose livelihoods are affected by their business interests. 

Trumpism is about us versus them and this film taps into its core with contrasting visions of the world; one which is frank and honest while the other is transactional and cynical. 

On Tubi.

The glass half full

The less we care about what others think, the more other people are prone to irritate us. We have removed the weight of their opinion from our shoulders and suddenly their flaws become even more apparent. 

We have stopped being extra critical of ourselves and thus see the world a little more realistically. 

This can be a dangerous phase because we can become bitter if we aren't careful and be less forgiving of what are natural human failings. If we feel somehow betrayed by society we will be more apt to dislike people and their foibles.

You have spent years being obedient to a society that is much more flawed than you had realized and open your eyes over time to that reality.

In other words, we may have allowed what stupid people think to affect us.

This is the part I am working on now as the last of my cleanup phase. I breathe slowly when I witness stupid or entitled behaviour especially if it doesn't impact me directly.

If we allow every malcontent in the world to affect us, we will be perennially frustrated.

Better to focus on the goodness out there and see the glass half full.

The files

 

Not so simple

Decades ago it appeared far easier to make distinctions between male to female transsexuals in terms of their sexual orientation. We split them into androphilic (man-loving) and gynephilic (woman-loving) but then during that time the fluidity in sexuality we see today was far from being evident. 

Yes, Kinsey had confirmed through his work in the late 1940's that sexuality also operates on a kind of spectrum except that it was much more hidden and repressed than now. 

Also, transitions by gynephilic transsexuals tended to happen later in life after attempts at "curing" themselves because their true gender was more misaligned with orientation. 

Today things are entirely different because not only are all transitions happening earlier in life, but also some people are reversing orientation post transition as they realize they had also been suppressing sexual desires. 

This doesn't happen in every case but in many.

REM

The new REM (reseau express metropolitain) has improved my ability to get around the island of Montreal. 

The new elevated track rail service allows for quick movement across the city and provides access to areas that were not necessarily well served by public transit. 

My transit card now covers me for bus, metro, train and REM and I couldn't be happier as a person who doesn't own a car.

Kyle

Kyle was sitting on the sidewalk and greets me as I walk past. I stop and we begin to chat briefly. 

He is disheveled and is likely considerably younger than he looks. A scruffy beard and shabby clothes disguise a kind soul who just wants to be acknowledged by a passerby who might also soare some change. I tell him I have none.

"I just need to make my $30 or $40 per day and I'm all right" he tells me with resignation "life is expensive and I don't know how people do it these days with expensive rent and utilities" 

He points to a place nearby asking $2,300 per month and I tell him that is one of the reasons my 28 year old lives with me. 

"What's your name?" He asks looking up at me.

"I'm Joanna, nice to meet you Kyle" 

Then I'm off again with a little more appreciation for the life I have.