December 21, 2020

Just a ramble. I have been re-reading Frank Herbert's book, Dune.

It is a good book, science fiction, written by a reporter who had covered the Mid-East and decided to write a book about how a society forms, socially and economically, around its scarcest resource.

In many ways, the book, which was written in 1965, presages modern times. I first ran across it in the early '70s on a Safeway book rack.

Anyway, in reference to the article about the right-wing megachurch pastor who used CARES Act PPP funds to buy himself a new jet, and to the right-wing evangelical movement in general, I would like to cite a passage from Dune:

Of course, if you've read the book, you will know that the Fremen, who are curiously similar to the Arab Muslims, declare Jihad and are unleashed on the universe with the boy Paul Muad 'dib as their leader.

See this is the thing - I don't want us to be carried off the cliff with these lemmings. I believe Trump is in the process of becoming less and less relavent as he breaks down. The latest we have heard is he is sounding out his staff about declaring martial law, and bringing in the military to 're-do' the election in the battleground states.

But that is not going to happen. The military has made it very clear that it 'has no role' in redoing any presidential election. Just as the Supreme Court has made it clear his frivolous lawsuits to subvert the election have 'no standing.'

No, in the end, Trump will be exposed as all truly evil people are - banal, narrow-minded, mean-spirited - basically a nobody who made life miserable for everyone. His followers will end up going back under their rocks, while the Republicans who are still standing frantically try to distance themselves once the monster is out of power.

Anyway, I'd like also to wish all of you, my DU friends, a very happy Holiday Season, and may our new year be AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE BETTER THAN THIS SUCKY ONE WE'VE JUST GONE THROUGH. 2020 was the ABSOLUTE WORST.

Also, let us release the multitude of fellow humans who have died in this plague to eternal rest in perpetual light.

And finally let us, who are blessed with enough, hold those are homeless, hungry, and without enough of anything, in our hearts, and give to them if we can.

As Tiny Tim, a character from yet another favorite book, said, "God bless us, everyone!"

On edit - I misspelled 'relevent.' Geez. Senior moment.

December 3, 2020

'Time' Names Its Kid Of The Year: Water-Testing Scientist Gitanjali Rao

Source: NPR

Gitanjali Rao, a Colorado teenager who invented a mobile device to test for lead in drinking water, is Time's Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine announced the award Thursday, citing Rao's ability to apply scientific ideas to real-world problems — and her desire to motivate other kids to take up their own causes.

It's just the latest recognition for Rao, 15, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She won praise in 2017 after she responded to the Flint, Mich., water crisis by creating a device named Tehys, using carbon nanotube sensors to detect lead in water. The Lone Tree, Colo., native was named America's Top Young Scientist when she was in the seventh grade. She went on to collaborate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/03/942034617/time-names-its-kid-of-the-year-water-testing-scientist-gitanjali-rao#:~:text=Gitanjali%20Rao%2C%20a%20Colorado%20teenager,take%20up%20their%20own%20causes.

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What a great kid!