Friday already! Friday already!
Time never stands still, but it seems to be moving at a faster clip than in the previous life. As a worker involved with the general public, a lot of people nowadays make comments on the express-train time travel moments of this modern age — one elderly lady claimed it’s because we are older, but nay, nay, age has nothing to do with it.
Speed increases on any downward motion, a gravity-fed velocity toward some lower rock seemingly awaiting all of us.
In the news coming up this weekend, check out Firedoglake’s roundup for all kinds of shit — the madness of King Kim, the douchebagness of Jim Inhofe, and all kinds of other nefarious goings-on, all extending into Monday.
(Illustration found here).
And speaking of time accelerating, here’s a new one:
As we move through time, we are facilitating that movement with the latest technologies.
We know the faster we go, the sooner we will get to wherever we are going.
And faster travel leaves less time for sightseeing as things whiz by us in a blur.
We can say we are traveling to our particular future, because we are effectively moving through time.
Time travel has always been the stuff of science fiction, but I submit to you that we are all capable of actual time travel, not by going to the future, but by bringing the future to us faster.
Do we really want to get to the future quicker? What’s ahead ain’t pretty, no matter the high-tech gear.
In these early morning hours, I surf through a shitload of news sites — the best, The Journalist’s Toolbox, which covers just every notion of news sources, here in the US and foreign as well — and can see there’s more things happening than there’s room to fit. If you follow a full-on news search, you know the future looks like shit, not only from the natural/unnatural way of things, but from the pure shitheadness of world leaders, a goodly portion Americans.
Sometimes there’s a theme to the news, war, or the climate, or politics itself, which I think has a hand in creating the horror coming shortly upon all of us.
Just remember, we’re in this together, no matter what.
A couple of news items did strike me this morning, as either interesting or laughable.
One being the infamous Mitch McConnell secret tape recording noted yesterday has finally found a source — a couple of guys from the liberal group Progress Kentucky.
Via the Christian Science Monitor:
The two men from Progress Kentucky – Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison – said they secretly recorded the meeting while standing in the hallway outside the room, according to Jacob Conway, a member of the executive committee of the Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party.
Mr. Conway reported the two men’s claim in an interview with WFPL, an NPR affiliate in Louisville, Ky.
The secret recording sparked outrage by both Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats were outraged that the McConnell campaign was prepared to attack Judd over her struggles with depression, including suicidal thoughts as a child, as detailed in her memoirs.
Republicans were upset over what they called “Watergate-style tactics†afoot in the 2014 campaign.
…
“WFPL’s reports that left-wing activists illegally recorded a private meeting inside our campaign headquarters are very disturbing,” McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton said in a statement.
“At this point, we understand that the FBI is immersed in an intensive criminal investigation and must defer any further comment to them.”
Kentucky law states that “eavesdropping†is a felony, but it’s unclear if recording a meeting overheard from a hallway qualifies as a crime.
What is clear is that Democrats are eager to pick off McConnell in the 2014 midterms.
The latest poll in Kentucky, by Public Policy Polling (PPP), shows the senator in a weak position, with only 36 percent job approval and 54 percent disapproval.
Still, Kentucky is a solid red state, and McConnell will be hard to beat.
Oh, how I wish Judd would run. Even if the results are problematic, McConnell needs to be sent packing.
And the second is about the so-wonderful black gold — no, not oil.
As a former coffee-shop manager, I noticed the start yesterday of something called the United State Barista Championship in Boston – there is indeed an art in making some of those silly-assed coffee drinks for some of the most- pretentious people on earth, but it’s still pretty neat:
Fifty of the county’s best baristas get 15 minutes to prepare and serve four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature beverages of their choice to a panel of judges.
Competitors are judged on taste, procedure, consistency, cleanliness and technical details including whether they are wasting precious coffee.
…
Being a barista can be a very challenging and very rewarding, said Dan Streetman, chairman of the Barista Guild of America and head judge at the competition.
“Most barista work in a cafe where they are the first person someone has to interact with every day and, I don’t know about you, but for me, I’m not a very happy person before I’ve had my coffee,” he said.
“And sometimes that interaction can be a little bit tough, but a great professional barista should be able to smooth that over and give someone a really great beverage and make them smile before they even start their day.”
…
So what exactly is great coffee?
“It’s kind of like drinking a really fine wine or a fine malted scotch — you drink it and you notice really intricate nuances, and it’s something that can be a compelling experience for 20 minutes, rather than just, you know, a medicinal ‘I need caffeine’ kind of experience,” Streetman said.
As it turned out, I became really good at making these caffeine-quaked drinks. Sad, alas due to age and bad stomach I can’t drink it anymore, but WTF, it’s all part of the total abstraction of life.
Weekend, whoa!