The name of this rather modest internet effort (blog) has from its beginnings been "Funny Odd Thing...Life." A reference to late great British writer, Douglas Adams.
So it is in that ongoing spirit of gratitude and homage that we pause from politics, LGBT rights, and all other whatnot to wish everyone a Happy Towel Day 2018
Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the Adams by his fans. Towels, as some of you may well know, play an important role in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
While best known for his Hitchhiker's books Adams, aside from being a brilliant comedy writer, was truly of the great thinkers of our age. and had a passion for humanity. So on this Towel Day we remember Douglas, and in this age of the insane reality show that seems to be our world in 2018 , recall his best bit of advice. Printed in the large and now famously friendly letters on the cover of the "Guide"...
DON'T PANIC!
On February 8th, 2018, Elon Musk's company SpaceX launched their rocket Falcon Heavy rocket with a surprise - the payload was Musk's own Tesla roadster. Seated in the front seat was dummy astronaut, and David Bowie's "StarMan" playing ona loop. But there emblazoned on the dashboard was "DON'T PANIC" as a tribute to Douglas Adams. Now flying through space for all time.
Life, The Universe and Douglas Adams, is a film by Joel Greengrass and Rick Mueller, and explores the details of Adams' life in a warm, funny, loving way. Telling of his life, his work, his famous problems with deadlines, and his passion for technology, humanity and world (and universe) around him.
The film offers a realistic look at a real live human being from the points of view of those who knew him best. Interviews with Adams' early teachers and comedy partners and friends.
The commemoration was first held May 25th, 2001, two weeks after Adams' death on May 11th.
Like many people I have wondered how any American with any sort of conscience or common sense could still be defending Donald Trump Yet all you need do is surf over to fox news dot com and scroll through the comment threads to find Trump Supporters who are desperate to talk about ANYthing but the core issues surrounding this President.
President Trump said multiple times that he "had no deals with anyone in Russia". That was a LIE he did. President Trump said no one in his campaign ever met with Russians or people connected to Russia, That was also a LIE, there were multiple contacts on multiple levels. The President says the Special Council investigation is run by Democrats, that is also a LIE Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein are both Republicans.
and... and... and...
But Ok , I get it. They can't ever face those facts because it means admitting they got conned. Like the little old lady who gives her bank details to the "Nigerian Prince" who emailed her for help, They fell for the scam hook line and sinker.
They voted to drain the swamp. President Trump filled it instead.
They voted for America First, and President Trump has instead lost Billions of dollars in Trade (specifically agricultural trade) to China and Russia.
They voted for a POTUS who said he'd be too busy working to play Golf, and instead they got one who is too busy golfing to actually work.
So yeah, I can see why they feel so defensive.
Hey! I feel their pain! I voted for Barack Obama. TWICE, thinking I was getting passionate progressive, and instead I got a moderate corporate centrist who squandered his majority and mandate trying to appease people who were never going to work with him, even on things they had thought of, (like the Health Insurance Individual mandate - which was a GOP idea.)
The Republican Party was once a beacon of rational and inspired patriotism. Now it is addicted to crazy. And like most addicts the hardest thing is admitting you have problem. So I get it, Trump voters log online, rail and rant about the "libs" and "Fake News" but we all know the real issue is, they cannot bring themselves to admit they were duped.
But admitting you made a mistake is the first step to fixing it.
When you are a kid, of the best moments was always getting to say “I told you so!”. There was an infantile schadenfreude at having been proved right, (usually at the expense of someone else…) For the most part these moments for me, tended to be harmless and involved Northside Elementary School playground dares , like “bet you can’t fit 50 grasshoppers into one hand!” (For the record you can, but it gets kinda messy. But the scream you get from the playground teacher when she asks you to show her what’s in your hand, is totally worth it…)
As an adult however, often we find that moment can be a double-edged
sword.Especially when being proved
right involves decisions and mistakes that have very real consequences.
Critics of what we will generously call Donald Trump’s “foreign
policy”, might be tempted this morning to do a little “I told you so dance”
over the news that North Korea did exactly what anyone with even basic knowledge
of the reality on the Korean Peninsula said they would do.
CNBC Reports:
North
Korea abruptly canceled talks with South Korea scheduled for Wednesday and
threatened to walk away from talks with the U.S., according to media reports.
North Korea's
state-run Central News Agency said the ongoing joint military drills between
the U.S. and South Korea are a "provocation" and a preparation for an
invasion, according to a Reuters report that cites South Korean news outlet
Yonhap.
South Korea's
Unification Ministry said it received a fax Wednesday from the head of the
North Korean delegation for the high-level talks, who said his country is
"indefinitely canceling the planned high-level inter-Korean talks"
due to the military exercises.
The regime of Kim Jong Un just yanked the football away from Charlie
Brown Trump as he lumbered forward to kick it through the goal posts of the
Nobel Peace Prize.
Which is exactly what
North Korea always does. The
basic reality of the unresolved Korean Conflict
boils down to a simple premise; The Kim family dictatorship doesn’t want
any sort of deal. They want things to
stay pretty much as they are. The whole
purpose of pursuing Nuclear weapons was to have the ultimate safeguard against any
sort of change.
For North Korea,talks are never about agreements.They are about time and concessions.Dangle the prospect of a deal and get temporary sanctions relief and buy
time tostrengthen those safeguards against regime change. As far as Donald Trump goes… Let’s be
honest.This whole push for a summit and
deal with North Korea isn’t about world peace, or even peace on the Korean
Peninsula.
This is about Barack Obama.
Yeah… This is STILL all about Trump’sdesperate need to “beat” President
Obama.To show that HE, Donald Trump
could do Obama one better. You have seen
it on all the usual comment threads by Trumpsters online;“ Hey Libs!Obama won the Nobel Prize?Well
look!Trump will too!But Trump will actually DESERVE IT!#MAGA!!”
How soon we forget, the whole reason Trump decided to run
for President was because Barack Obama and Seth Myers made fun of him at the White
House Correspondents Dinner.
Which brings us to the real danger of Trump’s desperation to
strike a deal with Kim Jong Un.A brutal
dictator guilty of untold numbers of human rights atrocities, who leads a
regime with horrific labor camps where entire families are sent to instill
terror and submission in a population that is literally starving to death to
pay for the dictator’s lavish lifestyle.
But none of that matters, as long as Trump can tweet about how he beat Barack Obama. This insecure manbaby in the White House is willing to abandon our nation’s core values and principles and ensure the continued long term survival of one the of the world’s most repressive regimes if doing so strokes his own ego.
In the days to come we will see the Trump Administration offer massive trade concessions to China in exchange for their help coaxing North Korea back to the table so Donald Trump can get his Photo Op. Trump will undoubtedly even offer to ease or lift Sanctions.
All the while, North Korea will be using the time to move their Nuclear program to new sites so they can show off the old empty old ones as “proof” of their willingness to join the rational international community.
Something that in reality, will never happen, as any meaningful agreement is NOT in Kim's interest. Something that Trump doesn't get, but North Korea holding the football and smiling sweetly, offering the chance to kick it through the “See I beat Obama!" goal posts, will be irresistible to Donald Trump.
And North Korea and China both know it. So,yes, I told you so.But being right in this case isn’t a win, for
any of us.
While best known for his Hitchhiker's books Adams, aside from being a brilliant comedy writer, was truly of the great thinkers of our age. and had a passion for humanity. So on this Towel Day we remember Douglas, and in this age of the insane reality show that seems to be our world in 2018 , recall his best bit of advice. Printed in the large and now famously friendly letters on the cover of the "Guide"...
