Blog: If I understand this

WASHINGTON (AP) — Empathy is usually regarded as a virtue, a key to human decency and kindness. And yet, with increasing momentum, voices on the Christian right are preaching that it has become a vice.

As in: “Empathy becomes toxic when it encourages you to affirm sin, validate lies or support destructive policies,” said Allie Beth Stuckey, author of “Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion.” – and who decides what “destructive policies” are?

For them, empathy is a cudgel for the left: It can manipulate caring people into accepting all manner of sins according to a conservative Christian perspective, including abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, illegal immigration and certain views on social and racial justice.  – From what I remember of my church going days, isn’t that against the teachings of Christ? 

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Dad Joke:

Why can’t you trust atoms?

They make up everything.

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Kath and I have gotten into a habit of watching what are known as “film noir” movies.  We have a couple of channels that show them.  One of them does all movies like that two nights a week.  Roughly, these are movies from about 1938-1959, and most all black and white.  They usually have a murder or some other serious crime to solve, or perhaps a different mystery (who is trying to drive that woman insane?)  A couple have been war movies.  If we don’t do that, we sometimes watch an old episode of Murder, She Wrote.  Not to go to bed with a murder on our minds, there is a channel that has reruns of comedies like Everybody Loves Raymond, or The King of Queens, to finish the day on a happier note.

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Per Huffpost:  Democratic strongholds including New York and California are already losing population to Florida, Texas, Idaho and other Republican-led states, a trend that many Republicans view as an endorsement of their party’s policies. – to me, a lot of that is cost of living issues, but the Rs will use any data to support redistricting.  Maybe enough will move to change the politics of those places.

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This is a bridge in Vietnam. For some reason, it reminds me of those old Allstate commercials, you know, “You’re in good hands.”

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Huffpost:  WASHINGTON — Free from the supervision of European leaders, President Donald Trump on Tuesday reverted to form, blaming Ukraine for getting invaded by Russia and making dictator Vladimir Putin’s arguments on his behalf. – Emphasis mine.

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Fruit Loops Fact:  The O’s of Froot Loops come in a variety of fruity colors, as if they each represent a different fruit flavor. However, the color is the only real difference among those O’s, because the flavor is the same throughout the box.

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So, lessee: 

Trump attacks LA – black mayor.

Trump attacks DC – black mayor.

Trump threatens Baltimore – black mayor.

Trump threatens Chicago – black mayor.

Trump tries to fire Fed Governor – a black woman — the first Fed governor a president has ever tried to fire.

Often has said that a black woman (like Maxine Waters) was “low IQ.”

Any pattern here?

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Your social security info is safe with Trump, isn’t it?  This:  Huffpost:  Elon Musk’s acolytes copied a database of Americans’ personal information and uploaded it to a vulnerable server, warned SSA’s chief data officer.

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Wonder why your grandma can’t get thru to social security?  WASHINGTON – More than 199,000 federal workers have left their jobs or have been forced out by the Trump administration since January 2025, according to an alarming new analysis by Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit focused on better government.

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And the attack on voting continues:  Researcher Who Has Distorted Voter Data Appointed to Homeland Security Election Integrity Role

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Man:  You should come over to my house this weekend – I got a new, 26-piece patio set.

Friend:  Wow!  What did you get?

Man:  Two plastic chairs and a case of beer.

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More Republican thoughts and prayers needed:  It is impossible to claim guns as our guard against “domestic dangers” when firearms killed more children than any other cause—more than cancer, more than car crashes—for three years in a row. It is impossible to assert that guns keep us safe from “distinct threats” when we know that more kids are killed by guns in states that have the most permissive gun laws. – Not to mention the vast difference in murder rates in countries that have strict laws or forbid them entirely.

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Didja Know Dept.:  Tryouts have been held for a professional women’s baseball league.

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George Conway on Trump: “You don’t have to be that smart to be an authoritarian,” Conway said. “All you need is a complete lack of conscience and restraint, an insatiable desire for control, worship and revenge, and a simple understanding of what makes people afraid. Trump’s reptilian intelligence meets that inglorious standard.”

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Useless trivia:  The Calvin and Hobbes comic strip first appeared 40 years ago.  I still read it.

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We spent two days in San Diego this last week.  Had a great time.  Glad we bailed out on Saturday, though, as the hotel was becoming packed.  If you want a referral for a terrific but pricey seafood restaurant downtown there, try Top of the Market.  We stayed at the Marriott on Harbor Blvd.; it has many rooms with a bay view.  One night we met up with some other graduates of the Merchant Marine Academy, and had a good time as well as discussion of their rejuvenated Alumni Chapter.  When we lived in Phoenix, SD was our preferred “escape the heat” destination.  Been there many times.

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As others try to remind us: “I’ve never met anyone else remotely like him,” said Charles Leerhsen, who co-wrote Trump’s book, “Surviving at the Top” in 1990. “He is and was profoundly stupid, completely lacking in intellectual curiosity.”

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Baseball notes:  Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer (Orioles) said that the way to pitch was:

Throw strikes.

Work fast.

Change speeds.

I met him once.  His two girls attended a private school where I taught.  I did not have them as students but met him in the hallway on Parents’ Night.  He was divorced at the time, and the young, single women teachers all wanted his kids in their classes.  Go figure.

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All for now.  Nice day here, although a tad warm for us.

All take care,

Kevin