The Lost Bug

A couple decades ago, pop singer Madonna stirred passions by announcing that she wanted to adopt a child, and that child would be gay.

Yeah. Really. Approximately. I think.

Well, you know. That’s what I remember. And in those days right before the rise of the information superhighway? You’d think they were dark ages, a long-lost era. I’m not certain how many of my age peers’ memories reach back to the middle of the nineties, speak nothing of beyond. Then again, our only real verification that the eighties existed is bad music and this curious videologued gospel of The Lost Boys.

The Lord sayeth, “Sometimes she shines, and I know Beauty has her way”. Amen.

Oh, right. Hell’s bells, I’m not actually doing a Madonna song.

Wait a minute, she is empirical proof of the eighties.

Never mind. This is all just filler, anyway. Setup. Because you know Adam went and broke something, again.

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Huber, Adam. “A Dip Off the Old Block”. Bug Martini. 10 August 2015.

Spectacularly Apocalyptic

And then there is the end of the world. Not literally, but nobody’s blaiming Tianjin survivors for thinking so; it would seem that’s pretty much what it felt, sounded, and looked like.

Powerful explosions rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, officials and state media said.

China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, said that at least 17 people were killed and that 32 were in critical condition. Chinese media reported that at least 300 people were injured.

Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that the blast occurred at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at a warehouse storing “dangerous goods” and that the explosion and fire touched off other blasts nearby. Local media reported that the strongest was the equivalent of 21 tons of TNT.

(NBC News/Associated Press)

Far be it for us to try to keep up with real time reporting, but this one is pretty spectacular, and we all will be hearing much more about this in the next days’ headlines. Injury numbers have soared as high as four hundred.

Our best wishes to Tianjin.

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Image note: Apocalyptic horror ― Detail of image from Weibo showing a massive industrial explosion behind highrise buildings; at least seventeen people are reported dead in the 12 August, 2015 blast.

NBC News and Associated Press. “Blasts Rock Chinese City of Tianjin, At Least 17 Reported Killed”. NBCNews.com. 12 August 2015.

Not the Sort of Thing That Helps Anyone

This is called going out of their way to make things worse.

COLUMBIA, Mo. • A Facebook posting declaring Sunday “Darren Wilson Day” in this college town brought protesters to the police station on Monday and strong criticism from city leaders.

(Moore)

These actions do not really help anyone as the officers on the street and the departments sending them forth work to rebuild badly damaged relationships with their communities. Because Columbia might not be New York, or Cleveland, or Seattle, or Los Angeles, but in any of those places and everywhere in between, when people hear this sort of tale, well, right. It just doesn’t help.

And, yes, the Columbia Police Department knows this. Chief Ken Burton attended a protest against the CPOA stunt, telling local reporters, “I found the post offensive, and I thought I needed to stand with the community and say what the police department thinks about it”. And we can imagine this publicity stunt by the CPOA is the kind of headache exactly nobody needs. Not the cop on the street. Not the chief who has to send them out there. And certainly not the community they serve.

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Moore, Doug. “Police organization’s ‘Darren Wilson Day’ in Columbia, Mo., sparks protest, criticism”. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 10 August 2015.

The Marco Rubio Show (Mansplanation)

“Obviously, my faith has a teaching that governs me in my personal life on these issues. But I think our laws on those issues are different.”

―Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

There really is a lot going on, but we also just need to get this one out of the way:

Rubio also said that he does not support measures to ban emergency contraceptives and intrauterine devices (IUD), which some anti-abortion groups contend cause abortions.

“I don’t want to ban any contraceptive efforts,” Rubio said. “Obviously, my faith has a teaching that governs me in my personal life on these issues. But I think our laws on those issues are different.”

(Richardson)

Just … okay, work with me, here. Please.

If your religious faith resolved as such to govern your decision in such a fashion that it is acceptable for you to use an IUD, Mr. Rubio, then what, exactly, would you do with it?

The problem with the Florida junior’s sort of evasion is that the maneuver involves digging a hole in very unstable ground. There is no good way out.

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Richardson, Bradford. “Rubio vows to end Iran agreement if elected”. The Hill. 9 August 2015.

The Current Earworm (Duvet)

And there really isn’t any need to ask why.

And you don’t seem to understand; a shame, you seemed an honest man. And all the fears you hold so dear will turn to whisper in your ear; and you know what they say might hurt you; and you know that it means so much, and you don’t even feel a thing. I am falling. I am fading. I have lost it all. And you don’t seem the lying kind; a shame that I can read your mind. And all the things that I read there, candlelit smile that we both share. And you know I don’t mean to hurt you; and you know that it means so much, and you don’t even feel a thing. I am falling. I am fading. I am drowning; help me to breathe. I am hurting. I have lost it all. Ia m losing; help me to breathe.

―Bôa

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