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To All Who Want It

Janet and I got our annual flu shots today. This year's is, once again, trivalent with the three strains of influenza viruses predicted to be prevalent in the 2025-2026 season.

For those who desire to be immunized September or October is a good time (I personally prefer September) to receive the vaccine.

As "senior citizens" the preferred shot is one of the so called "hi-dose" vaccines but you should check with your personal health care provider if you have questions.

To your good health,

Jim

09/20/25 09:21 AM

#16205

I nominate "disputacious" as the word for the day.

I can't recall running across this word before. Saw it in a news story. See below. Can't wait to work it into the conversation next time somebody gives me a hard time. Like: "Don't be so disputacious, you butthole!"

Mr. Cody is a former lawyer with a disputatious streak and a record of suing and quarreling with political opponents.

09/20/25 03:09 PM

#16206

Joseph Gentilini

Hi Jim H, glad you and Janet got your flu shots - Leo and I did also but I have a question.

Leo and I also got our covid shots but a friend of ours decided not to because he said there is a protein in the formula and stays in your body 'forever' and he dediced not to get it. Is this true about the protein????

Thanks, Joe

09/20/25 04:54 PM

#16207

Joe G.

To be honest, I don't know the answer to your question.

Of course, "forever" is a long time and COVID shots have not been out for "forever".

There have been a lot of questions about the new technology of that kind of vaccine (MRNA) and need to be answered regarding its longevity in the human body as well as other factors. Certainly the COVID vaccines were rushed to the market due to the worldwide urgency that was perceived at that time.

Did they save lives? I do think they did. Did they have problems? For many they most likely did. Was universal vaccination in all age groups needed? I don't think so.

There will be more pandemics in the future. Our generation may not be around when they occur. Hopefully, prevention and treatments will have not only advanced, but also will have learned a from the mistakes of the past - both medically and politically as far as infectious diseases are concerned🤔.

Jim

09/20/25 06:16 PM

#16208

Joseph Gentilini

THANKS, JIM

Joe G

09/20/25 09:12 PM

#16209

David Mitchell

The Mousekateers memories bring back one more fun small-world story.

Sometime about senior year of High School I took Nina Osborn on a date to see the (then) popular singer John Davidson at Mershon Auditorium on the OSU campus. It was a great show and at the end, he introduced his band to the audience. And he saved the best for last.

John Davidson

"Ladies and gentelmen, you all remember my drummer, former mousekateer - Cubby O'Brien".

We all laughed and roared our aprroval!

09/21/25 12:10 AM

#16210

Dave,

For a bit of trivia, did you know that John Davidson has some Buckeye in him as he attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio?

Saw him in a concert - which was being recorded for a TV special - at Notre Dame back in '67 with a female headliner by the name of Judy Collins who sang her signature song, "Both Sides Now".

He did his classic schtick of asking fans in the crowd questions. He asked one guy (at that time ND was all male) was that girl he was with his girl friend from St. Mary College across the way from ND? He answered 'Ummm...well, if this special gets televised I may not have my girl friend back home anymore!'🥴

Jim

09/21/25 01:23 PM

#16211

David Mitchell

Yes Jim,

I knew he went to Dennison. I had a young brother-in-law who went to Dennison. Brautiful little campus!

And speaking of St. Mary's of Notre Dame, my oldest sister went there for a year. Then she went to the university of Vienna, Austria for a year. Then Dad decided enough of the epensive costs and she came home to finish at some little school in Columbus down on the banks of the Olentangy River.

We visited her one weekend at South Bend and I got to go to a ND football game. It was during those awful years of coach Joe Kuharich - the only ND coach with a losing record. We sat in the open stadium in a downpour, but I wantd to see the whole game, so we sat there under plastic sheet. they lost to Northwestern by some huge margin. The young coach for Nortehwestern at the time was a young guy who had coached at Miami of Ohio (I think) and eventually moved up to take over the "Irish" teams for many successful years to come.

09/21/25 04:15 PM

#16212

Maybe there's hope after all. From an article by David Frum (former Republican and speechwriter for Bush 2) in The Atlantic entitled “Trump Might Be Losing His Race Against Time” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/trump-bondi-edva/684292/

Opening paragraphs:

President Donald Trump is worried that Attorney General Pam Bondi is moving too slowly to prosecute his political adversaries on fake charges. Trump has good reason to be concerned. He is carrying out his project to consolidate authoritarian power against the trend of declining public support for his administration and himself.

Autocracies are headed by one man but require the cooperation of many others. Some collaborators may sincerely share the autocrat’s goals, but opportunists provide a crucial margin of support. In the United States, such people now have to make a difficult calculation: Do the present benefits of submitting to Trump’s will outweigh the future hazards?Trump’s hold on power is indeed loosening. His standing with the voting public is quickly deteriorating. Grocery prices jumped in August 2025 at the fastest speed since the peak of the post-pandemic inflation in 2022. Job growth has stalled to practically zero.

As Bondi makes her daily decisions about whether to abuse her powers to please Trump, she has to begin with one big political assessment: Will Trump ultimately retain the power to reward and punish her? It’s not just about keeping her present job. On the one hand, people in Trump’s favor can make a lot of money from their proximity to power. On the other, Richard Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell, served 19 months in prison for his crimes during Watergate. If Trump’s hold on power loosens, Bondi could share Mitchell’s fate.

Almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of higher tariffs, Trump’s signature economic move. His administration’s attack on vaccines for young children is even more unpopular. This year has brought the highest number of measles cases since the Clinton administration introduced free universal vaccination for young children in 1993. Parents may be rightly shocked and angry.

Shortly after MSNBC reported that Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, had accepted $50,000 in cash from FBI agents posing as businessmen last year, allegedly in exchange for a promise to help secure government contracts, the pro-Trump podcaster Megyn Kelly posted “We DO NOT CARE.” This kind of acquiescence to corruption has been one of Trump’s most important resources.

09/21/25 04:31 PM

#16213

Charlie Kirk

09/21/25 08:52 PM

#16214

Joseph D. McCarthy

Just a short interruption.

In my travels I've run into some unusual sites/signs. But the one we saw in Wyoming on our way back to California made us stop and think, oh and take a good look around. We had stopped at a rest stop for a short break. In the restrooms were signs that read: PLEASE LOOK CAREFULLY, THERE MIGHT BE RATTLESNAKES THAT CRAWL IN.

09/21/25 10:17 PM

#16215

https://apnews.com/article/spencer-cox-unity-speech-kirk-political-violence-17a8c23ba06428cbbc413a673cd0f986

MM, the vast majority of Americans (myself included) are appalled at and condemn Charlie Kirk’s horrific assassination - if this is the way we settle our differences, the law of the jungle is the only law that guides us. But few beyond the extreme Christian right are OK with many of Kirk’s extremist ideas.

The opinion poll referenced by the center-right publication The Economist in my post above shows a 2.6% drop in Trump's' approval in the last week (the week after Kirk's assasination). The reason was not given but I'd suggest it was caused by Trump's cheap attempt to raise the temperature and use Kirk's assassination as a pretext to direct the Justice Department to go after "the left" and silence his critics.

Contrast Trump's rabid approach with that of Spencer Cox, the Republican goverenor of Utah, who did everything he could to lower the temperature. But, unfortunately, Cox seems to be the last of a dying breed of principled Republicans.

I was also really impressed with Kirk's widow's remarks at the memorial service yesterday.

09/22/25 10:46 AM

#16216

may this awful event unite us rather than divide us any further.

09/22/25 11:49 AM

#16217

John...."But few beyond the extreme Christian right are OK with many of Kirk’s extremist ideas."

I would argue that the tens of millions of people from around the world who held peaceful candlelight vigils in Kirk's memory hardly qualify as "few". And I am curious as to which of Charlie's ideas do you deem "extremist".

09/22/25 12:17 PM

#16218

Aspens, Elk, Wolves, Bears and Cougars

" It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"

I'm sure we all remember that old margerine commercial.

I have a strong interest in ecology which studies the interaction of all forms of biological, zoological, microbiological and botanical worlds. My years of living in Colorado and my passion for outdoor photography have increased that immensely.

The wolf reintroduction is a topic I have discussed in prior posts and to which generally I have been opposed. But an article in our newspaper today - by our outdoor editor - brought up some ecological points that I had not considered. It has to do with my favorite photo subjects: Aspen trees.

This month, September, has always been my time to bounce around on the forest roads clicking off photos of those changing Aspen tree leaves. Of course, due to my current state of lumbosacral problems that is not happening this year.

Over the decades there have been a lot of changes in the Aspen forests of the Western United States. Forest fires, various insects and droughts have been major contributing factors in the decline of these trees.

But there is apparently another reason that the number of aspens have been declining and it has to do with complex ecological and forest management factors.

To simplify things it has to do with the animals - and not just the human ones.

Large herbivores - mainly elk - feed on Aspen saplings. Where fires have destroyed mature trees these saplings are trying to re-forest the burn scars. Predators such as bears, cougars and wolves feed on the deer, elk and moose. Remove the wolves and you can see the possible problem. Granted, cougars and bears are probably more efficient elk predators than wolves but it is a factor to consider.

Forest management is an essential part of taking good care of our land. When politics gets involved - as it always does - things get complicated. Ranchers are a major factor here as their cattle have been attacked and eaten since the wolf reintroduction took place.

What is the answer? How can a good balance be achieved? It's a very complicated problem.

Jim

09/22/25 04:41 PM

#16219

MM, among other things, Kirk was a 2020 election denier. He said the Civil Rights act of 1964 was a mistake (and trashed Martin Luther King), and opposed the separation of church and state.

He was generally dismissive of women and blacks - during a 2023 episode of the Charlie Kirk Show he said prominent Black women such as Michelle Obama and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, did not have "the brain processing power to be taken seriously" and had to "steal a white person's slot".

And, the ultimate irony - at a Turning Point event in 2023 he said “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

If you want to read a couple more thousand words on this topic see the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kirk#:~:text=Partnering%20with%20Pentecostal%20pastor%20Rob,DEI%20programs%2C%20and%20LGBT%20rights. Scroll down a quarter of the way and start at the section “Political positions and activities”.

09/22/25 06:21 PM

#16220

What a fascinating character to be a bozo to some and a sainted martyr to others.

Somebody better than I is going to write this up with the perspective it provides on our times..

In the meantime here's a churchy definition of martyrdom that rather primly maintains that, neener neener neener, you can't be a martyr unless you're catholic.

i don't mean to be disrespectful. I just think the wording is....darkly amusing, I guess. But as a retired writer maybe I'm over analyzing.

"To officially be declared a martyr by the Catholic Church four criteria are necessary. 1. They must have been killed 2. The motive for their murder must be odium fidei or hatred of the Catholic faith 3. The victim must freely and consciously accept death without resistance, seeking only to witness to the faith—not suicide or provoking death. The martyr endures it as an act of love and obedience to God, forgiving persecutors if possible. 4.The person must be a baptized Catholic (or, in rare cases, a catechumen via “baptism of blood”). Heretics or schismatics are excluded, as martyrdom requires fidelity to the full truth of the Catholic faith.:"

09/22/25 10:17 PM

#16221

09/22/25 10:31 PM

#16222

https://x.com/thatskaizen/status/1967652741905518882?s=46

More context on a couple of issues you raised, John. Kaizen is a 2012 Harvard graduate for what that is worth.
https://x.com/thatskaizen/status/1968359438840201330?s=12

I will let you guys have the forum back now.

09/23/25 11:25 AM

#16223

MM, your list didn’t address the fact that Kirk was an election denier and wants to undermine church-state separation.

Regarding point 2 on the list, of course Kirk was entitled to his opinion, but saying Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson don’t have "the brain processing power to be taken seriously" seems a bit over-the-top to me.

And on point 3, Kirk was all over the map on MLK and the Civil Rights Act but in later years his positions got increasingly strident. Very few things in life are unadulteratedly good or bad, but I think most Americans think the Civil Rights Act was a good thing and MLK was not "awful ... not a good person"..

And I didn’t make any claims about the other points.

And I find random posts on X (including from Harvard graduates) unconvincing - as with all social media, no proof or sources are ever given.

09/23/25 12:09 PM

#16224

Highbrow journalistic media got nothing right on the Trump/Russia collusion election interference for nearly 3 years, the Hunter Biden laptop story for 2 years & Covid origin, treatments, social distancing, masking & lockdowns for 3 years.

09/23/25 01:36 PM

#16225

David Mitchell

"Coons in the garbage"

In an earlier post, I mentioned the fact that my oldest sister, Kathy, spent her freshman year of college at St. Mary's in South Bend, just down the road from Notre Dame, which was still all-male at that time. Most of the girls, including my sister, dated guys frorm Notre Dame.

St. Mary's was sort of a school for "Rich girls from Chicago" (as someone put it). We also had close friends, from Columbus with an older daughter who was close friends with some of those well connected Chicago girls. Two of them were Mary Carol Daley - daughter of the famous long-time mayor of chicago Richard Dalley, and another, Patty Donovan, daughter of a powerful judge in Chicago. My sister began dating Patty Donova'n older brother Johnny.

When our close family friend, Mimi Hughes (first cousin of Janet in our class from IC, and to my future wife, Mary) got married in Columbus, she had among her wedding party, my older sister, Patty Donovan, and Mary Carol Daley.

When the weekend of the wedding arrived, we had two house guests from Chicago for the wedding - Mary Carol Daley and Patty Donovan. This was to be the first time Mary Carol Daley had been away from home without any sort of body guard.

I was about 16 or 17, and had come home late from a Columbus Jets game. As I walked down the long wooded driveway, I had to chase two racoons out of the garbage cans sitting beside our garage. When I entered the house, I was introduced to the guests, and then my mother asked me what the noise was?

"Oh, I just had to chase a couple of coons (racoons) out of the garbage cans."

At that, Mary Carol sat up in her chair and asked rather nervously, "Coons?" You mean you've got coons outside the house? My mother and my sister tried to calm her down but she would not relax. She actualy sat up all night worrying about the "coons" in our driveway - thinking I meant "Black men" and drove my mother and sister nuts trying to get her to go to relax and go to bed.

09/23/25 09:13 PM

#16226

Mary Margaret is correct -- and the new york times was not:

"The New York Times issued a correction Thursday, admitting it had wrongly attributed an antisemitic remark to Charlie Kirk when the late Turning Point USA founder was actually critiquing the comment.

As part of its story on where Kirk stood on key political issues in the wake of his assassination, The Times reported Kirk was "repeatedly accused of antisemitism." Kirk was a staunch supporter of Israel and has been praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"An earlier version of this article described incorrectly an antisemitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made on an episode of his podcast. He was quoting a statement from a post on social media and went on to critique it. It was not his own statement," the New York Times wrote beneath the report."

And what I take from that story of yours, Dave, is that the girl grew up among adults that described people of color as "coons."

Which is disgusting.

I would have gotten a lecture had I used that term in front of my parents.

And I can't walk away without duly noting that the new york times is the best damn newspaper in the world. If it screws up it cleans up - as all good newspapers do. I made a mistake or two or three or whatever in my career and lordie was I humiliated and humbled and yes when you screw up you have to write up the correction that runs in the paper the next day. Cringe cringe. Keeps you humble.

09/24/25 12:46 AM

#16227