Animated and illuminated BLM yard art? (or Rainbow Flagism displays?)

by philg

Our neighborhood has gone from Bleak Maskachusetts Winter to Yet Bleaker Maskachusetts Winter due to folks having taken down their epic yard displays, e.g.,

What about cashing in on the latest trends in righteousness, and making American suburbs far more beautiful in the process, by offering animated and illuminated BLM yard art analogous to what one can buy for Christmas? The Christmas season is short, but the BLM season can last continuously for decades!

Americans have demonstrated a commitment to BLM yard displays by purchasing signs, but generally these are not illuminated. This should give us some confidence that some containers of night-time BLM yard displays would fly off the shelves.

Readers: What should the illuminated and animated displays depict? Let’s refer to the Wikipedia timeline of BLM for a few starter ideas:

  • animatronic Karen Amy Cooper with camera and image recognition software that can identify Black passersby and harangue them
  • an inflatable burning Minneapolis Target store, commemorating the mostly peaceful protests of 2020

What if we adapt the idea to the religion of Rainbow Flagism? Would would the nighttime lawn scenes look like then?

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Maine coastal aerial photos: Vinalhaven to Westport

by philg

After departing Vinalhaven towards KRKD

This photo is a favorite (steep bank in the helicopter to get the straight-down perspective):

Enough power for your Tesla, near Westport, Maine (but where does all of this power come from and what is it needed for in an apparently deserted part of the shoreline?):

Gourmet breakfast sandwich stop at Owl’s Head General Store:

From our Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine trip in a Robinson R44 helicopter. Tony Cammarata was in back with a door removed and a Nikon D850. Instrument student Vince Dorow and I were flying.

Also available as a streaming 8K video.

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Lockdown is our Vietnam War so it will end gradually?

by philg

A Facebook user posted “Canadian expert’s research finds lockdown harms are 10 times greater than benefits” (Toronto Sun) regarding an academic paper by Dr. Ari Joffe, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at University of Alberta (i.e., a colleague of Dr. Jill Biden, MD).

I’m not that interested in the paper because, even in March I expected that the shutdowns would kill far more people than they might save, What was interesting to me was the gloss added by the Facebooker:

Of course, we can’t actually do this reassessment because doing so would admit that the last year was madness. The lockdowns are like Vietnam, the political and media establishment have so much invested in them, only a gradual drawdown will be permitted, regardless of the “science.”

Readers: What do you think of this analogy? We decided that the Vietnam War was unwinnable in 1968, but we didn’t get out until 1975 (timeline).

MLK Memorial:

MLK’s thoughts from 1967:

I oppose the war in Viet Nam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world. I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. There can be no great disappointment where there is no great love … Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war we must spread the propaganda of peace.

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Maine aerial photos: Deer Isle Bridge and Vinalhaven

by philg

From the Bar Harbor Airport we proceeded southwest to the Deer Isle Bridge (cost $900,000 to build in 1939, $17 million in today’s mini-dollars):

And for the sailors, North Haven and Vinalhaven:

From our Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine trip in a Robinson R44 helicopter. Tony Cammarata was in back with a door removed and a Nikon D850. Instrument student Vince Dorow and I were flying.

Also available as a streaming 8K video.

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Department of Homeland Security is reading academic papers

by philg

A medical school professor friend was denied Global Entry at Logan Airport when returning to Boston from a Christmas holiday in his native European homeland (remember to listen to public health advice from the MD/PhDs regarding the covid-spreading potential of travel; don’t follow their examples!). His luggage was taken apart piece by piece, scrutinized, and repeatedly X-rayed. He presumed that the unprecedented (for him) examination was due to all of the European food that he’d packed. The agents explained, however, that he and another passenger on the same flight had been flagged due to having published journal papers on the subject of COVID-19. Someone at DHS had read these and flagged the two academics as potential carriers of forbidden “human biological samples” (Customs and Border Protection page).

My literary foray into the area of what the government might be monitoring (a few commenters seemed to think that I was serious):

We still have some of the brisket in the freezer…

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Sunrise over Bar Harbor aerial photos

by philg

Departed BHB just before sunrise, south through Somes Sound and then around the east side of Mound Desert Island:

The Jackson Laboratory, a great place to stop for mice:

And then on to the main town for this part of Maine, so to speak… (Bar Harbor itself):

And finally a fly-over of the BHB airport:

From our Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine trip in a Robinson R44 helicopter. Tony Cammarata was in back with a door removed and a Nikon D850. Instrument student Vince Dorow and I were flying.

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How does Indian-American intersect with BLM?

by philg

Message in a discussion group from an (East) Asian immigrant:

My town is half Indian. Everyone is “Love is love”, “BLM”. I want to see their daughter fall in love with a Dalit boy.

Readers: How are your Indian-American friends doing with BLM? What does it mean to folks who recently showed up and missed nearly 400 years of Black-white relations? Are they identifying with the oppressed or the oppressors?

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What praise for our new leaders are you seeing?

by philg

From a woman in her 50s who has spent nearly her entire life in government-funded jobs:

I put an American flag on our front porch. Today’s the first day in years I’ve been proud to be an American.

My response:

“proud to be an American” implies that it is somehow better to be an American than to be something else. Virtually any other country on the planet should be objectively superior as an ID due to having zero Trump voters. Why is it an accomplishment (and therefore the subject of pride) to be “American” rather than to be Nigerian, Laotian, Norwegian, or Bolivian?

From a guy whose paycheck is derived from federal taxpayer funds:

A Maskachusetts suburbanite’s feed:

An MIT graduate’s feed:

Weeping with joy, with relief, with hope.

Three from a Harvard graduate’s feed:

His summary: “This is like my childhood in the USSR. When the new general secretary got appointed, there were tears of joy and dancing in the streets. When can we start asking when children will be let out of cages and reunited with their parents?”

Readers: What are your favorite public expressions of support for America’s new rulers?

An inauguration meme sent by a friend:

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Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor Aerials

by philg

Bass Harbor to Southwest Harbor:

Northeast Harbor, a not-intolerable place to suffer through a summer 2020 COVID quarantine:

From Northeast Harbor to the core of Acadia National Park and the Park Loop Road:

Late afternoon light on Bar Harbor, Maine itself and then to the airport and Columbia for an overnight stop.

From our Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine trip in a Robinson R44 helicopter. Tony Cammarata was in back with a door removed and a Nikon D850. Instrument student Vince Dorow and I were flying.

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