Saltire Celebration

It's not nearly as famous as March 17, but Nov. 30ith is the feast day of one of the three patron saints of nations on the British Isles -- St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Several other nations also claim Andrew as their own particular patron.

Andrew, the apostle who introduced his older brother Peter to Jesus, was not thought to have visited the island himself, even in the most obscure church traditions. His relics, however, were brought there sometime around the 9th or 10th centuries and he was said to have intervened in a battle won by Scot king Óengus II in 832 after a prayer by that king for a sign of victory. He saw an X-shaped cross in the clouds when the sun came up the next morning.

Tradition says that Andrew was crucified in Greece on an X-shaped cross since he did not believe he was worthy to die on the kind of cross used in Jesus' execution. His brother Peter is supposed to have made a similar request and was crucified upside-down as a consequence. This cross, called a "saltire," forms the basis of the flag of Scotland and it joins the cross of St. George to make the English national flag. One of the questions that cropped up during the Scottish independence referendum a couple of years ago was whether England would change its flag should the measure pass.

There is no known connection between Andrew and bagpipes -- but since pipes are awesome, there dinna really need t' be, d'ya ken, laddie?

Ha! And Again, Ha!

Considering how often airline personnel seem to blame computer glitches for the problems faced by paying passengers, it is quite satisfying that such a glitch may leave them without enough pilots for two weeks in December.

Their computerized leave request system is supposed to deny leave if no one is available to take assigned flights during the time involved. But whoopsie, somehow the alarm didn't trigger and now the airline is in scramble mode to find reserve pilots or entice vacationing pilots back by offering them 150% of their usual pay for any flights they return to handle.

No word yet on whether American has contacted United Airlines to see if any of its security personnel are available to "request" the pilots come back to work.

The Cat Is The Hat

At least, that's what it looks like in the picture from Cynthia Bennett of the two animals that accompany her and her boyfriend when they go hiking.

The dog is named Henry and the cat Baloo. No word on when Bagheera may be expected to join the tribe.

Other photos of the adventuresome duo may be found at the link.

The Constant Struggle

Today I was sorely tempted to comment on a lot of my friends' Facebook posts, but I resisted, which is probably a good thing in the end. Not because I think I'm all that wrong, but because there's not really much of a point in being right in this particular arena.

Since today ends in a y, President Trump did something dumb and offensive. At a ceremony honoring Navajo codetalkers who helped keep communication secret during World War II battles, he made a lame joke about Senator Elizabeth Warren, referring to her as he often does by the name "Pocahontas." Warren, who represents Massachusetts but was born in Oklahoma, used to claim Native American heritage despite scant evidence thereof.

Now I have no problem making fun of Senator Warren, and I think it should be done more often. But the venue was wrong, the occasion was wrong and technically the joke was wrong, as the more common slam is to call her "Fauxcahontas," a neologism highlighting the speciousness of her claim.

So naturally a couple dozen people I know had to post links to the story along with assorted expressions of outrage, varying from disgusted butler eyeroll to full-on Olbermann froth. After I had seen the sixth or seventh, the temptation was great upon me to comment on each one something like: "You mean Trump is awful? Who knew?"

Because what is the point of raging out and buying yet another ticket on the Ischemia Express when President Trump does or says something awful, offensive, stupid or a winning combination of all three? He's going to do it again. Probably before the week is out and maybe even before the day is out.

Spending all of your time and Facebook feed linking to those instances will gain you what, exactly? It's hard to imagine the major media outlets not reporting on one of Trump's nuclear gaffes, so you're not informing anyone. People who don't like Trump and didn't vote for him (raises hand) are probably committed to the same path should he run again in 2020 (keeps hand raised). I suspect that should the Democratic party wise up and nominate someone under 70 who isn't interested in taking all of our money and who doesn't equate everyone who's ever been inside a church with Tomás de Torquemada (and who isn't Hillary Clinton), a large number of people who voted for the president in 2016 won't do it again.

I'm as disgusted with President Trump's behavior as I was with Candidate Trump's behavior. For that matter, Reality Show Trump and Real Estate Con Artist Trump were no picnic either. But I'm not going to waste my life, clutter my social media and burn out my cranial capillaries telling people what they ought to already know. Which, come to think of it, may also be behind my choice to refrain from commenting on all those posts.

Really?

I don't much care for presidential spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders' boss. I don't think much of her father Mike, whose unserious White House campaigns helped pave the way for the unserious campaign that finally succeded -- Sanders' boss Donald Trump. And presidential spokespeople are part of an elaborate media dance in which reporters pretend that they have a purpose other than self-aggrandizement and spokespeople pretend they are offering information.

But good grief! American Urban Networks' White House correspondent April D. Ryan is on the fast track to making Sanders look good. Ryan has previously asked Sanders questions like whether or not the administration for which she works believes slavery is wrong. Now, some members of the Trump administration have offered up historical judgments regarding the Civil War and its causes which would make most people wish they thought about what they said before they said it -- bringing nuance where contrast is more in order, for example. But does Ryan actually think there are people in the Trump administration who are in favor of slavery and would be dumb enough to tell her?

So now, after Sanders tweeted a picture of a chocolate pecan pie, Ryan tweeted as well, suggesting that the picture was not of a pie Sanders baked but was a stock photo or lifted from a television show. Now, that's the kind of sophomoric joke I'd expect more from somewhere like Daily Kos, but it's an actual joke. Ryan continued to dog the issue, though, demanding a picture of Sanders baking the pie and putting it on the table. At first, Ryan seemed to have stopped short of requiring a notarized signature or documentary footage, but she had yet to prove how far one can go without a single clue.

Sanders saw Ryan's tweets and offered to prove she bakes the pies in question by baking one for Ryan. At this point a lot of people would have decided to go along with the joke and accepted the pie, even if journalistic ethics might suggest it should be donated away. But not Ryan. Her response may have been intended to be funny, but its awkward phrasing gives you pause -- she wants to watch Sanders bake the pie and put it on the table, but she won't eat it because "you guys don't like the press." That's the part I think was supposed to be funny, but the stalker-ish "watch you bake it and put it on the table," combined with the situational grasp Ryan has demonstrated before makes me wonder.

Early in the history of this blog I made fun of a reporter who asked then-President Obama what most "enchanted" him about the job of being president. That kind of prostrated hero-worship clearly signaled some members of the press weren't going to play their proper antagonistic role towards the president. Their writing and reporting would not be very useful to people trying to be informed about the world around them.

Now we have the opposite. The mindset that every single thing said by Trump or one of the people who works for him must be challenged and "properly verified" clearly signals that some members of the press will smother their readers with minutiae rather than inform them of legitimate (and significant) issues raised by the administration's words and actions.

I'd suggest that Ryan ask Sanders some substantive and meaningful questions -- there are plenty -- but I don't find myself willing to take her seriously anymore, so it hardly matters. And so we find members of the press bringing their institution to the place where it doesn't really matter whether or not they're telling the truth or whether or not anyone trusts them.

Because if a reporter is going to get this worked up about pie and then turn down free food, then why would you even pay attention to her?

Holding Pattern

Computer restart issues following system update. Drive home from family Thanksgiving which included great meals and hot tub demolition.

Blogging will wait. Peace.

Location, Location, Location

Sometimes the problem with being a hobbyist or collector is finding outlets that stock or sell the material that interests you.

Well if you’re a record collector, the the “Vinylhub” section at Discogs can help you when you’re jonesing for the wax by showing you where record stores can be found...anywhere, all around the world (There are none, as you might imagine, in North Korea. Yet another reason it sucks to live there).

It’s an awesome resource, but might could stand some upkeep; a couple of stores listed as being near me don’t exist anymore. If I’m ever in Qatar, though, I’ll know where to go looking for tunes.