Ancestry DNA

Ponder Ancestry DNA courtesy a new TV ad. Who knew 30 seconds of advertising could make me this grumpy. The clip opens with a man glancing over a tall fence at his new neighbor. They exchange awkward silence, the man fumbles with his phone, then forces a weak hello. New neighbor responds in kind with a distinct Irish accent. The man looks away – no welcome to the neighborhood, polite introduction or attempt at pleasantries – without another word he looks down at his phone. Seems unfriendly tongue tied man is viewing Ancestry DNA, results indicate he is part Irish. Inhospitable man evaporates, a voice over gushes praise for Ancestry DNA breaking barriers, bringing people together and proving we have more in common than we think. We see the man beaming animated chatter with Irish neighbor, Ancestry DNA saves the day.

Did I mention both men are white? Two white men who couldn’t look each other in the eye until DNA revealed a smidgen of shared ancestry. WTF! If this isn’t messed up I don’t know what is.

Sorry Donald, You’ll Never Be President

Pondering Trump sentiments posted in March 2016. Yikes!

notestoponder

Settle down America, Donald Trump will never become President. Trump is America’s Rob Ford. Just as Toronto’s crack smoking mayor enjoyed a period of inexplicable popularity, Trump’s narcissistic, racist, misogynistic buffoonery will crash and burn. Similarities between Ford and Trump reside in ability of both men to exhibit reckless disregard for traditional politicking.

Disregard is a powerful weapon. Unexpected, refreshing, born of screwed up priorities. Gathering momentum, fueled by unspoken discontent, it penetrates stagnant air with herculean force. Caught unaware, disgruntled populations equate disregard with solutions.

Bolstered by celebrity, Trump entered politics with a haughty declaration, he would make America great again. Basking in waves of rhapsodic affirmation, Trump preened his vision of magnificence. Conservatives dismissed arrogance as patriotism, lining up to hang on his every word. Unscripted tirades mocked political correctness, lack of propriety made it abundantly clear – he didn’t know how, or was interested in playing politics…

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New Respect For Justin Trudeau

Every so often Justin Trudeau kicks ass – specifically, when he pisses off right wing America by expressing honest, tempered, polite, sensible reason. For the most part right wing America scoffs at my home and native land. Dismissing Canada as a hopeless puddle of brackish socialism suits conservative America’s agenda. So when our Prime Minister attracts the wrath of chest thumping U.S. troglodytes, this Canadian takes polite delight.

For the record Canadians have nothing to prove. We don’t seek U.S. approval or pine for the American dream. In the interest of amicable cross border relations we mind our own business. Once in a while right wing America can’t take perceived Canadian affronts to all they hold dear. They tolerated Canada under Conservative leader Stephen Harper, at least Harper tried to squelch gender, sexual orientation and abortion rights. Yesterday Justin Trudeau stood behind Canadian values – right wing America went nuts.

$220 million federal dollars courtesy the Canada Summer Jobs Program wait for qualified applicants, a subsidized grant program designed to create student employment. Here’s the catch – organizations must sign a form attesting that neither their core mission, nor the job being funded, opposes human rights including reproductive rights. Trudeau ( a Catholic for those who care since Canada doesn’t ) said –

“Certainly there is no obligation by the government of Canada to fund organizations that are determined to remove rights that have been so long fought for by women” adding “An organization that has as its stated goal to remove rights from Canadians, to remove the right that women have fought for to determine what happens to their own bodies, is not in line with where the charter (of Rights) is or where the government of Canada is”.

From – https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/01/05/anti-abortion-group-takes-trudeau-government-to-court.html –

“For years local MPs set out which groups would be given priority to receive funding under the jobs program.

The Liberals say that under that system, groups which promoted anti-abortion or anti-LGBTQ messages applied for and got federal money, including anti-abortion groups such as Campaign Life Coalition, Life Site News, Priests for Life, and the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform.

After a review last summer, the Liberal government revised eligibility criteria for the program. It now requires that the “core mandate” of an organization “must respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

The government’s website says the new criteria does not exclude churches or faith-based groups, but it does say the group’s work must respect Charter values including “reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”

Toronto Right To Life Association declared it will challenge government in court. The Campaign Life coalition website accuses the Trudeau government of wanting citizens to “renounce their faith”. Yesterday morning right wing America took exception, “Fox and Friends” host Brian Kilmeade said – “What message is he trying to send us, maybe?”, co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy countered – “What happens in Canada often comes down to us. This is an effort to silence pro-lifers. This is a sign of intolerance. If you have a pro-life view you’re not welcome to share it or else you’re kicked out of this program”.

What’s wrong with these people? Trudeau respects freedom of religion, is it too much to ask religion to respect the Canadian Charter of Rights? Pro-life organizations are free to hand out street corner flyers, organize marches, protest peacefully outside clinics.Trudeau’s Canada, my Canada, guarantees freedom of religion under the Charter of Rights. That said, the Canadian government has no obligation to fund objectives contrary to law of the land.

This Canadian applauds Trudeau for calling bullshit on funding efforts to strip women of fundamental rights. Pro-lifers, knock yourselves out but pay for it out of your own pockets. Trudeau doesn’t want anyone to renounce their faith, freedom of religion is alive and well in Canada. Count yourselves lucky and stop whining because the government won’t fund agendas contrary to the Charter of Rights. As for right wing America  “what happens in Canada often comes down to us” – surely you jest. Fox News wouldn’t recognize integrity if it slapped them in the face. Blither on America – at the end of the day you’re stuck with Trump and Canada has Justin Trudeau.

Shithole

Ponder newspeak of shithole Trump –

“George Orwell warns us in his dystopian novel 1984 that authoritarianism begins with language. In the novel, “newspeak” is language twisted to deceive, seduce and undermine the ability of people to think critically and freely.

Donald Trump’s unapologetic bigoted language made headlines again Thursday when it was reported he told lawmakers working on a new immigration policy that the United States shouldn’t accept people from “shithole countries” like Haiti. Given his support for white nationalism and his coded call to “Make America Great (White) Again,” Trump’s overt racist remarks reinforce echoes of white supremacy reminiscent of fascist dictators in the 1930s.” – http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/shithole-countries-trump-uses-the-rhetoric-of-dictators/

Enough Gwyneth!

Oh Gwyneth Paltrow – why you so crazy? Did you look in the mirror one morning and see a dreadful actress? Was that the reality behind your decision to become a lifestyle and wellness guru? A thousand years from now will students eager to grasp intricacies of the downfall of western civilization line classrooms for lectures on Goop? Why Goop? You do know it means “sloppy or sticky semifluid matter, typically something unpleasant”. What were you smoking in 2008 when – “it is a nickname, like my name is G.P., so that is really where it came from. And I wanted it to be a word that means nothing and could mean anything” justified Goop as a lifestyle brand?

Gwyneth’s tepid celebrity might well have launched a successful lifestyle following based on responsible health, fitness, yoga, exercise, meditation (despite Goop branding ) without yanking the crazy chain, but Gwyneth is crazy and crazy loves company. Ad Age put 2016 Goop brand revenue somewhere between $15 and $20 million.

Ponder some Goop, a schizophrenic brand hawking everything from perfume and $400 blouses, to pricey skincare, cookbooks and home detox kits.

https://shop.goop.com/shop?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=&utm_term=gwyneth%20paltrow%20goop&utm_content=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9e6XjOPM2AIVFpd-Ch0X6A8OEAAYASAAEgKuQfD_BwE

At first glance, just another high priced lifestyle site, right? Wrong! So wrong, and oh so crazy. Lets visit the “Implant O’Rama”, a “at-home coffee enema,” which claims to relieve people from “depression, confusion, general nervous tension, many allergy related symptoms and, most importantly, relief from severe pain,” – yours at Goop for $135.

https://www.livescience.com/61355-pseudoscience-goop-coffee-enema.html

Medically speaking, colonic detox is a really bad idea. Only crazy would peddle coffee up the ass as a cure for depression or chronic pain. Gwyneth isn’t bothered by truth or responsible lifestyle advice, Goop doesn’t just thrive, it banks on crazy. Goop lunacy urges women to steam their vaginas at a Korean spa in Santa Monica courtesy Mugworth V-Steam: “You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al. It is an energetic release—not just a steam douche—that balances female hormone levels. If you’re in LA, you have to do it.” ( Goop lifestyle travel advice )

Goop crazy Gwyneth is hung up on vaginal wellness. Lifestyle guru Paltrow wants us to stuff jade eggs between our legs.

https://goop.com/wellness/sexual-health/better-sex-jade-eggs-for-your-yoni/?irgwc=1&utm_campaign=10079_OnlineTrackingLink&utm_source=impactradius&utm_medium=affiliate

Another really bad idea according to medical experts who point out the danger of bacterial infection and toxic shock syndrome. Crazy doesn’t care – on the promise of “help cultivate sexual energy, increase orgasm, balance the cycle, stimulate vaginal wall, prevent uterine prolapse, develop and clear chi pathways in the body, intensify feminine energy and invigorate our life force” – Goop sold out of jade vagina eggs at $65 USD. Crazy demands a peek at the link above – a hysterical Q&A debacle covering everything from Chinese concubines using jade eggs to stay perky for the Emperor, to “recharging” your egg in moonlight if it seems sluggish. WTF?

Smarten up people – say enough Gwyneth by shaming coffee enemas, vaginal steaming and jade vagina eggs recharged in moonlight.

First Page, Second Result

Mine is a predictable blog world. Daily views hover within expected constants. Every few weeks views spike sharply, an anomaly driven by a random viewer browsing hundreds of posts in one go. Followers, views and statistical analysis mean nothing, but search term directed traffic is fascinating. Specifically – why “core 7” generates more traffic than all other search terms combined.

This afternoon blog views went crazy, hourly visits grew in hundreds rather than familiar dozens. “Hey, cool” I remarked to my husband, “looks like someone is blitzing my blog again”, then promptly forgot about it until a few hours ago.

Usually rogue view spikes subside within a few hours, this one was anything but normal. For the first time in Notes history a investigation took shape.

Looking for anything abnormal, Reddit leapt off the list of search referral engines. Not now or ever a Reddit member, I watched as referrals jumped from 10, 20, 30… A click on Reddit took me to “What is Core 7?”, followed by an answer comment with nothing but a link to this blog. Wow, OK, curious but explains a lot. On a whim I Googled “core 7” – there I was, first page, second result – https://notestoponder.wordpress.com/tag/core-no-7-ancient-egypt/

I don’t know what it takes to appear on the first page of a Google search, but there I am courtesy Reddit and my top traffic generating search term. Go figure.

 

 

For Profit Prison Pot Ponder

Within a heartbeat of California legalizing marijuana, attorney general Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama administration sentiment to stay out of pot friendly state law. Sessions put America on notice, federal law trumps state fancy – federal prosecutors have been instructed to replace hands-off State decriminalization of pot with an aggressive approach to prioritizing resources in a crack down of possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana in states were it is legalized.

“In deciding which marijuana activities to prosecute under these laws with the department’s finite resources, prosecutors should follow the well-established principles that govern all federal prosecutions,” Sessions said in a memo to all federal prosecutors. “These principles require federal prosecutors deciding which cases to prosecute to weigh all relevant considerations of the crime, the deterrent effect of criminal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community.”

A ponder was born – why now, why California, has Trump been extra naughty prompting another pathetic news bomb diversion? Then it hit me – duh! American for profit prisons are tossing a fit, a raging tantrum punctuated with threats of dwindling campaign contributions.

Major players in the for profit prison industry are GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America ( CCA ). In 2014, CCA wrote in their annual shareholders report –

“The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. … Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior.”

GEO and CCA report a combined annual income of more the $3 billion. For profit incarceration contracts stipulate local and state government maintain a minimum occupancy of inmates (typically 90%) or taxpayers  pay for empty beds.Contracts of 3 private prisons in Arizona demand 100% occupancy. Sweet deal that goes a long way toward explaining why America has more prisoners per capita than any nation in the world. Hardly surprising that over 75% of inmates are jailed on drug charges.

So what do for profit prisons do with contractually guaranteed inmates? Rehabilitation, education? Hell no. Try forced labour under contract with Federal Prison Industries ( aka UNICOR ), a government owned corporation who in 2015 reported total salaries paid to all inmates combined $33,538 , and annual profits from textile, agriculture and manufacturing $558 million, up $90 million from the previous year. Check out this link – http://all-that-is-interesting.com/private-prisons-us-stats

Make no mistake, American profiteers demand an uninterrupted supply of marijuana possession felons to satisfy their bottom line. Legalization of pot threatens to decimate profitable chain gangs. America is anything but a great nation.

 

Behemoth Supermoon

Trumpeting moon talk announced the arrival of 2018. Tonight a behemoth supermoon hangs in the sky – of 13 full moons and 14 lunar perigees in 2018, this is the closest full moon and lunar perigee alignment of the year. ( A supermoon happens when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit. ) Tonight is the second of 3 consecutive supermoons.

Technically close and bright as tonight’s supermoon shines, January 31, 2018 promises to steal the show. This third supermoon in a row is a blue supermoon (second full moon in a calendar month ), one that will pass through Earth’s shadow, delivering a full lunar eclipse.Follow this link for eclipse in your time zone – http://earthsky.org/tonight/super-blue-moon-eclipse-on-january-31#calculator

Can’t sign off without a moon song –

January 1, 45 B.C.

Good morning 2018. January 1 has welcomed you since 45 BC. The year Julius Caesar frowned upon the Roman calendar, proclaiming we could do better. Tired of a woefully inaccurate lunar based calendar, one tolerated since the seventh century BC, Julius Caesar called bullshit on constant corrections to out of sync lunar fancy and nailed down a solar year.

With the help of Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar abandoned lunar year in favour of the solar year. Calculated at 365.25 days long, Caesar added 67 days to solar year 45 BC. Consequently the next year started on January 1 rather than in March. He also decreed an extra day would be added to February every 4 years to avoid pitfalls of runaway time.

Caesar and Sosigenes meant well but their 365.25 day solar year was actually 365.242199 in a calendar year. A miscalculation of 11 minutes a year that by the mid 1500s added 10 days to the year. In the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII enlisted astronomer Christopher Clavius to come up with a solution. In 1582 the Gregorian calendar replaced Caesar’s Julian calendar with leap year rules capable of managing untidy extra minutes. See – https://www.timeanddate.com/date/leapyear.html

Much as I doubt anyone cares why they drank too much last night, take solace in the rising sun and know its the reason January 1 marks a new year. Happy New Year to all.