“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.

“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

Don’t say it isn’t really funny.

Of course, nobody should have expected anything else given how Melania made her living pre-Trump.

Vice President Harris is currently serving meals to those impacted by Hurricane Helene. No paper towels being thrown. Just decency, compassion, and true leadership here. Donald Trump could never. Thank you, Vice President Harris, for you leadership. pic.twitter.com/GGNkjHxOT6

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) October 2, 2024

And then she’ll screech that nobody takes her seriously because she’s a woman. She made a choice to waste time on something a 12-year-old can do instead of showing executive skills and strategic thinking and organizing relief operations. It’s her choice to pose as a lunch lady and not as a leader. This is how she’s marketing herself to people.

Toadies can call this “leadership” but it’s pathetic, over-eager, fussy womanhood on display.

In case people think I forgot my main job amidst all the talks and public appearances, this week I had an article published in Italy, a book chapter in Spain, and another article was accepted also in Spain.

“How is this humanly possible, you crazy person?” asked a friend.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I simply don’t know.”

People are letting their partisanship blind them. Our town is covered with Harris / Walz yard signs. Covered, littered, filled to the brim. Once Biden was ditched, badaboom! Dem support went crazy.

But when I mention this to Trump-supporting friends, they say it’s not true. There’s no way a person with at least one functioning eye can drive around and not see this inundation of yard signs. The entire area around Main Street is plastered with them. Yet people sincerely argue that it’s not happening.

Denial of clearly observable reality is ripe on both sides. Everybody thinks that the other side’s candidate has no support. Then, when the opposing candidate wins, they can’t comprehend how it’s possible.

Vance, with his wooden delivery, a chronic incapacity to deliver a zinger, flat affect and zero charisma is the polar opposite of Trump who is charismatic, expressive, authentic, and churns out killer zingers one after another.

Yes, everybody will hate me at the end of the preceding sentence but I have to call it as I see it.

I understand the logic behind choosing a boring dude to offset Trump’s boisterousness. But this puts us in a bad position for the future. Who’ll be the candidate after Trump? Vance couldn’t sell cold water in a desert.

How are illegal immigrants competing to buy houses en masse? How do they get mortgages? Or are they so stonking rich they pay in cash?

Our town’s housing prices have gone insane since COVID. Absolutely insane. We do have a few illegals in town but they are definitely not buying houses.

20:14 Is my TV broken or is Walz not OK?

20:17 Two minutes in, and I’m perishing of boredom. What are they even on about?

20:18 Vance does look and move weirdly. He should talk openly about diabetes to explain some of it.

20:20 Did they do the ties in their party colors on purpose?

20:22 I despise, absolutely despise Walz’s politics but he’s winning this thing. Vance has failed to respond about the Dem border bill. He failed to respond on Trump’s first-term inaction on immigration.

20:26 Vance’s plan on immigration is repeating the word “empowering” a lot.

20:28 Walz quoted the Bible. That’s it, we are done. Walz won.

20:29 People get pissy when I use the expression “dumb bints” but, in the name of exceptionally dumb bints, who are these moderators and why are they off their meds?

20:35 Finally, Vance came in with a good prepared line on the stupidity of experts. And a great prepared line on his kids.

20:37 Walz is slaughtering. “I agree with what he said but it’s all talk, no action.” That’s my number 1 objection to Trump, too. This resonates.

20:39 God, I detest it when people answer a direct question with a recitation of their entire boring biography. Walz just lost me again.

The feelings meeting was bad. People cried. One person had a breakdown and had to be removed. Screaming, accusations, elevated blood pressure, evidenced in very red faces of not-so-young people.

I don’t think we’ll be asked how we feel about things in a long time. And that’s just as well.

A student asked me to fill out a questionnaire for a course about the experiences of professors from other countries. Here is question #1 on the questionnaire:

I don’t know what happened that it’s suddenly normal for young male students to question older female professors about their sex lives, especially in a context where one’s sexuality is utterly irrelevant. I wouldn’t have agreed to participate if I knew that sexuality was going to be brought up. Also, my age? Why not my salary and weight, for good measure?

Obviously, I didn’t answer.

I did wonder why this student decided to send in the questions by email instead of coming over in person. After seeing the questions, I figured it out.

We should really consider not talking about our sexuality at work. That would be a very positive change.

One of the things I appreciate about my kid’s school is that there’s no multiple choice. They are expected to answer in writing, in complete sentences or solve math problems and explain their reasoning.

Last week, for example, they had a social studies test with questions such as, “What role do businesses play in the community?” or “Are firefighters and police businesses or governmental services? Explain your answer.” And the kids had to write out sentences in response.

Also, they do rote memorization, which I applaud. Today, they’ll be tested on reciting the names of the 39 books of the Old Testament in the correct order (it’s a Protestant school.) They are memorizing the multiplication table, as well.