Missive 391

A beguiling, surpassingly strange novel by the renowned—and decidedly idiosyncratic—author of Blood Meridian (1982) and The Road (2006).

“He’s in love with his sister and she’s dead.” He is Bobby Western, as described by college friend and counterfeiter John Sheddan. Western doesn’t much like the murky depths, but he’s taken a job as a salvage diver in the waters around New Orleans, where all kinds of strange things lie below the surface—including, at the beginning of McCarthy’s looping saga, an airplane complete with nine bloated bodies: “The people sitting in their seats, their hair floating. Their mouths open, their eyes devoid of speculation.” Ah, but there were supposed to be 10 aboard, and now mysterious agents are after Western, sure that he spirited away the 10th—or, failing that, some undisclosed treasure within the aircraft. Bobby is a mathematical genius, though less so than his sister, whom readers will learn more about in the companion novel, Stella Maris.I didn’t like this book much but will read the companion novel and see if that is an improvement. Saving The Road for the last of his that I will read. Alicia, in the last year of her life, is in a distant asylum, while Western is evading those agents and pondering not just mathematical conundrums, but also a tortured personal history as the child of an atomic scientist who worked at Oak Ridge to build the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s all vintage McCarthy, if less bloody than much of his work: Having logged time among scientists as a trustee at the Santa Fe Institute, he’s now more interested in darting quarks than exploding heads. Still, plenty of his trademark themes and techniques are in evidence, from conspiracy theories (Robert Kennedy had JFK killed?) and shocking behavior (incest being just one category) to flights of beautiful language, as with Bobby’s closing valediction: “He knew that on the day of his death he would see her face and he could hope to carry that beauty into the darkness with him, the last pagan on earth, singing softly upon his pallet in an unknown tongue.” Enigmatic, elegant, extraordinary: a welcome return after a too-long absence. — Kirkus Review

This quote is Kari Lake’s swan song. She has been defrauded in two elections and still has the character to make a statement like this. I can’t help thinking that she will come back from this. I’m also very disappointed with the Republican Party’s lack of support for her. Perhaps she will be part of a ‘strong’ third party movement that will most likely form in this country.

Hi, Arizona, Kari Lake here. For 30 years, you trusted me to bring the news into your homes to tell you the truth. About three years ago, I walked away from a seven figure contract in the fake news because I couldn’t lie to you.

What good is money, if it comes at the cost of your soul? I was sickened spreading the government’s COVID narrative, and I was at my desk one day and opened the Bible and an old Bible verse gave me the courage I needed, the courage to walk away.

I thought that would end my time in the public eye, but to my surprise and my eternal gratitude, the people of Arizona rose up and requested that I run for political office. This journey that we’ve taken together over the past few years has been once in a lifetime. It hasn’t been easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

They threw everything at us: Fake news, hundreds of millions of dollars, and the most vile attacks, and through it all, you never wavered, and I can’t thank you enough for that. It was a movement of love—for family, for Arizona and for America, and I am grateful to all of you who shared it with me.

Arizona is a special place, and I’m thankful that President Trump and a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress will be in office to help protect us. As I watch his cabinet forming, I take great comfort in knowing that America will be made great again. And that’s good because that’s what the American people deserve.

You deserve a secure border, a prosperous economy, safe streets and free and fair elections. And I know more than anything that this administration will fight to deliver that for you.

As for me, well, I can say for certain that truth will never stop mattering to me. You will never stop mattering to me. These memories that we’ve made together will never go away.

They will grow sweeter over time, and I will never stop fighting for the state I love. I entered this fight with a Bible verse, and I will leave it with you as well.

It’s First Timothy, chapter six, verse seven, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is for certain we can carry nothing out.” It’s an amazing Bible verse. It really inspired me, and I hope it inspires you. Thank you for everything. I love all of you, God. bless America, and God bless state 48.

The quote is from a good posting by CHS, a suggested read.

We seem to be approaching the point where a rebalancing of extreme asymmetries is at hand, and so we have to choose between policy changes and social upheaval. Those benefiting from the current asymmetrical distribution naturally feel that all is right with the world, while those whose purchasing power and political power have been strip mined feel that regaining what was taken from them is only fair. —
The Seeds of Social Revolution: Extreme Wealth Inequality by Charles Hugh Smith

My basement ‘heater’ is plugged into a thermal switch which turns on when the temperature drops below 35°F. There have been mornings when it has been below that trigger point and the the switch indicator light has not come on. So yesterday morning I disconnected the switch and placed it in my refrigerator freezer for about an hour. Took it out and plugged it into a 120v power source and the light came on so it is working. The basement is staying warmer than the outside temperature which is good.

While I was in the testing mood I plugged in the heating element, a reptile 150W Ceramic Heat Emitter, directly to 120v to make sure that it was also working. It passed the test and was emitting heat after only a minute or two.

I was ready for the 29°F low that was forecast for this morning and the 25 for tomorrow then it will warm up again — maybe.

These are the readings that I got yesterday using https://www.highspeedinternet.com/tools/speed-test/starlink:

@8:20 Download 85.28Mbps, Upload 7.11Mbps, Latency 31ms
@10:55 Download 52.45Mbps, Upload 7.55Mbps, Latency 42ms
@16.45 Download 75.02Mbps, Upload 2.42Mbps, Latency 33ms