Humorous Redefinition of TDS

I ran across this humorous "revised TDS definition" online and couldn't resist sharing:

 

Revised Clinical Definition: Trump Dependency Syndrome (TDS)

 

Diagnostic Overview:

A cognitive condition characterized by the total suspension of personal ethics, logic, and long-held civic principles in favor of an unwavering allegiance to a single individual. Unlike traditional political support, TDS involves a "reality-decoupling" where the subject views a leader’s erratic behavior and factual errors as evidence of superior genius.

 

Primary Symptoms:

• Fact-Refractory Logic: An immediate, involuntary rejection of peer-reviewed science, documented history, or video evidence if it contradicts the leader’s current statement.

• The "4D Chess" Delusion: A persistent belief that tantrums, policy reversals, or obvious mistakes are actually part of a brilliant, invisible master plan.

• Ethical Elasticity: The ability to excuse personal conduct (infidelity, crude language, or financial opacity) that the subject previously spent decades condemning in others.

• Hyper-Defensive Deflection: When presented with a specific policy failure, the subject reflexively shouts "What about...?" to protect the ego from acknowledging reality.

 

Behavioral Indicators:

1. Science Aversion: A deep-seated suspicion of experts and data-driven institutions, replaced by a reliance on "vibes" or unverified social media posts.

2. Tantrum Normalization: Viewing childish outbursts and professional bridge-burning as "strength" or "authenticity" rather than a lack of emotional intelligence.

3. Institutional Erosion: A willingness to dismantle the guardrails of democracy (free press, independent judiciary) to satisfy the whims of one individual.

 

Conclusion:

True derangement isn't found in those who notice the emperor has no clothes; it’s found in those who describe the fine silk of the emperor’s invisible suit while shaming everyone else for being "blind."

Return from Omaha

So, we got to the house in Omaha this morning, to pick up Jennefer’s new flame point kitty (apparently, not to be found anywhere near Denver), and also met his sibling. 🐈🐈

The plan was to choose one of them, but they were both so darned cute, and everybody was concerned about separating them, since they’ve really bonded. So, I said, “Hey, let’s take them both, and do our best to give them a great home!” 🤦‍♂️

Both kitties did really well on the long drive home. We learned that one is a great adventurer, and insists on telling the entire world about it. His favorite place was on the shoulders of the passenger. The other is quiet and shy but cuddly. He would camp out for hours in my lap when I was driving. Occasionally the adventurer would join us. 

We’re finally home safe, after a moment of high anxiety along the way. With both cats in the car, we stopped for gas a couple of times. About an hour and a half after the last stop in Julesberg, we realized that we hadn’t seen the second kitty for awhile, which is not that unusual, as they like to wander the car. But they would eventually settle down someplace in sight, sometimes for hours, often in a lap. But this one wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and we decided we needed to know where he was, before we went any farther. We stopped by the side of the road, and tore the car apart, trying to find him. He was not to be found. 😱

We began to doubt our sanity, and wondered if he had snuck out at the last gas stop in Julesburg. We were back in the car, and preparing to turn around for the extra three hour round-trip, to see if we could find him at the gas station, knowing full well the odds were almost zero. 🥺

Then, Jennefer had the brilliant idea to feel all the way around way back under the rear seats, in some nooks and crannies where we couldn’t see, and, wonder of wonders, there was a furball under there. OMG, the relief was tremendous! 🎉 🎈

 Whew. Sooo glad to be home. And now our new kitties are excitedly exploring their new space. And we’re steeling ourselves for this new phase of our lives…

Cleo lab work

Sep 13 am: Terrible news this morning, from Cleo’s bloodwork follow-up. The lab results indicate that she has so many things wrong in addition to the stomach tumor, such as her kidney failure that is now advanced, and severe anemia exacerbated by a stomach bleed, that she’s probably going to be in a lot of discomfort for the rest of her life. They’re recommending euthanasia. Jennefer is a mess.

Cleo kitty vet visit

Sep 12: Cleo kitty is glad to be home from the vet, after taking her there, to troubleshoot appetite and other issues. She’s checking every corner of the house, to make sure nothing’s changed in the last two hours. 

We were hoping it was just a bad reaction to being stung by a wasp that got into her food bowl a few weeks ago, but no, it’s probably a lot worse than that. They think they saw a mass in her stomach on today’s X-Ray, but aren’t sure if it’s cancer. 

Tomorrow’s unscheduled activity will be a trip to an animal ER that can perform an ultrasound, to get a better sense of what’s in there. Jennefer’s having a really difficult time right now…

I Voted

I dropped off my ballot on Wednesday, and was already notified today that it’s been counted. Cool beans.

No excuses necessary

Lately I’m seeing more people posting listsisting the reasons why they might feel the need to keep following pandemic mitigation guidelines. I’m so sorry that people are feeling like they need to apologize or give excuses for still wearing a mask, now that they’re not legally required.

I don’t think anyone should need an excuse for wanting to protect themself and those around them. Especially in today’s environment, where authorities are rolling back protection measures more because of COVID-19 fatigue, than any reduced need for them.

I’ve been seeing stories about it in the news, but this article does a good job of summarizing the concerted effort in progress, to legislatively remove pandemic protections, regardless of their need or effectiveness.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2021-09-16/over-half-of-states-have-rolled-back-public-health-powers-in-pandemic

Lockdown effectivity?

Here's an interesting critique of a recent paper about the ineffectiveness of “lockdowns,” that is being picked up and pushed by deniers of anti-pandemic policies. This article, and the paper itself, are both interesting reading. In my opinion, no anti-pandemic policy will work, if you have enough people refusing to follow it. Y'all be careful out there! 

If Your Time is Short:

 

* Three economists affiliated with Johns Hopkins University found that COVID-19 lockdowns barely reduced deaths, but the paper has not been peer-reviewed and is considered a working paper. Johns Hopkins University did not endorse the study. 

 

* Other research has found that lockdown measures have helped save millions of lives during the pandemic. 

 

* Several experts have criticized the paper and point to issues such as the authors’ extremely broad definition of lockdown (to include any government mandate that limits peoples' possibilities), a limited focus on the first wave of the pandemic, a comparison of policies that look very different from country to country, and an exclusion of studies that look at the science of disease transmission.

 

* These authors have questionable credibility in my mind; one of them has expressed his opinion online about "fascist" vaccine policies and has made false claims about the pandemic.

Swiss Cheese Model

As the Omicron variant blossoms everywhere, I see too many people  blaming others for not doing one particular action, like masking or vaxxing, which they say is causing the problem. Then I see others asserting that one particular action isn’t that effective, so they shouldn't bother doing anything special. Someone on Twitter posted that *everyone* she knows that has caught COVID-19 lately, is fully vaccinated. She concludes that we shouldn't be putting such emphasis on vaccinations, and that Biden is wrong for calling it "a pandemic of the unvaccinated." It’s such a multi-faceted issue. Catching and spreading COVID-19 are bad, but lethality is the main issue, and a vaccination really helps at the end. In my mind, this continues to be a pandemic of the willfully ignorant. A “Swiss cheese approach” (the above diagram is just one example) to COVID-19 defense is effective, but too many people want to keep it too simple. Not unlike diets, anti-pandemic measures are only effective, if you follow them. 🤷‍♂️‬

It’s complicated

I think of most of the big issues these days as being multi-faceted. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to find someone who insists on making their “solution” all about just one of those facets. 

I suppose this concept is an integral part of my “We’re all different” philosophy…

Recognizing Misinformation

There are some good tips in this article, about recognizing misinformation online, and stopping the spread. Worth reading! 

• Misinformation is false information that catches on — whether the people behind it intended to mislead others or not. 

• Disinformation is false information that’s spread on purpose. The people (or bots) who put it out there have a motive. It could be financial, political or plain diabolical. But it’s always intended to persuade someone to think or do something.

Misinformation isn’t new. But organized disinformation campaigns are becoming more common online, and social media can help this type of content travel much faster. Truthfully, we’ve all got a responsibility to help stop its spread. On the bright side: It doesn’t require getting off the couch.

Voting my conscience

Done! I dropped off my mail-in ballot at the county admin building last night, as has been my habit for the past 26 years. As always, I trust that the right protections are in place, so that my vote will be counted, and that no one will change it for me. And just because I can, I’ll be checking online, to make sure my ballot is processed. 

One particularly hilarious (for me) issue on this ballot, was yet another attempt to increase the already exorbitant taxes on marijuana sales, presumably because “all them other folks” who use pot should be the ones paying for our schools. Basically, another one of those “tax THEM not me“ approaches to public funding. 

I will continue to vote my own conscience, regardless of all the “big lies“ that are being propagated, by people who have no inclination to look behind the curtain, as long as the misinformation causes damage to their political opponents. And some go beyond not looking, to actively attacking anyone who questions the lies. Whenever another lie is disproven, they are more than willing to take aim at whomever has made the effort to do the research necessary to uncover the lie. Lately I’ve seen even more signs of a movement to discredit fact checkers, as if they are the problem. Yeah, that’s it, let’s tear down those who are helping us get to the truth. Unbelievable. 

I read another article today, about how the “Big Lie“ about voting fraud has so completely poisoned the Republican Party, even though it’s been disproven so many times. But people who watch Fox News, or pay attention to Qanon, Newsmax, OAN, Breitbart, WNG, or the myriad other conservative conspiracy sites that are more than willing to propagate similar lies, seem to be taking it all in, hook, line, and sinker. 

As if lying isn’t enough, physical attacks are also on the agenda. I was especially incensed yesterday, when yet another news article popped up, about the police officers in San Marcos, Texas, who refused to respond to 911 calls from people in a bus on its way to a political campaign rally. I guess the officers agreed with the physical harassment on the road by a caravan of trucks driven by their political opponents. How many other law-enforcement officers are harboring malicious thoughts towards anyone different than them, and are willing to act on those thoughts? 

On a slightly more positive note, apparently some Texan Republicans are so fed up with the big lie, and the damage it’s doing to their party, that they’re paying to have billboards posted around the state calling for an end to the election audits. 

The common thread that appears to keep repeating, is that attitude a lot of people have, that it’s OK to mistreat anyone who isn’t the same as them. Hey folks, we ALL have our differences! How about a little respect for our fellow humans, even if we disagree with them?

Hope and unity

Kamala Harris said we chose “Hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth!” 

 

Joe Biden said, among many things, “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end, here and now!” 

 

— it all sounds so good to me. 

Is he nuts?

Watching the real-time election analysis, and following chatter on the Net... Am I the only one who thinks our President has gone off the rails? Trying to wreck our democratic election process?? Setting this country up for civil war with his inflammatory lies, if his more violent followers also refuse to accept the (now becoming obvious) election results??? At work, if we were letting someone go, and they misbehaved, we would have Security escort them out immediately, so they couldn’t do any more damage before their last day. I kind of feel like he needs to be escorted out, before he does something even more dangerous, between now and January. I have so much respect for the Presidency - the most powerful position on the planet - but he’s acting like he doesn’t. Get a grip, man... 😱 ⚔️ 👮‍♀️ 💣 🤷‍♂️ 

Unbelievable

CNBC: Trump campaign says it is suing to stop Michigan and Pennsylvania ballot counts 

I find it amazing, that our incumbent President is attempting to stop the counting of mail-in ballots. Most of those ballots were received long before Election Day. In this time of COVID-19, when people are trying to stay home as much as possible, I would think they should’ve been counted first, since they arrived first. Dare I say it: gee, look who’s *actually* trying to steal the election. Pretty funny, in a nightmarish way. 🤦‍♂️

Rejected again

Well, I was called for Jury Duty again, this time for Arapahoe County, which requires me to drive way over past Centennial airport, to the Justice Center over there. I've been called so many times over the decades, and never made it onto a jury. This time, I made it all the way into the jury box for about 30 seconds. I took the place of a potential juror that had just been excused by the prosecution. Within seconds of moving to the front row, the defense attorney chose me for one of his peremptory challenges. This felt a little like the last time I was excused. I suspect that when they asked me to list my favorite TV shows in their initial questionnaire, my answer probably made a difference. I said, "Blue Bloods." ;-)