November 22 to November 28 2020 — Existential Autotrip

Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, November 22, 2020
through
Saturday, November 28, 2020

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It’s Saturday, November 28, 2020
Welcome to the 951st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Faith

In the art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Virtues were often personified by human figures carrying identifying attributes. Faith in this case had a chalice and a cross, now broken. As represented by Mino da Fiesole, a contemporary of Deside… — In the art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Virtues were often personified by human figures carrying identifying attributes. Faith in this case had a chalice and a cross, now broken. As represented by Mino da Fiesole, a contemporary of Desiderio da Settignano and Antonio Rossellino, Faith and a companion piece Charity appear as slender young girls in clinging, layered gowns with fine pleats. Their heavy mantles are carved in distinctive, angular folds. Typical of Mino's style is the fine, precise, sharp-edged treatment of textile folds and locks of hair, giving these features an ornamental quality different from the softer approach of Desiderio and Antonio Rossellino.
Set in arched niches, the figures must have been intended as part of a monument combining architecture and sculpture, probably a wall tomb inside a church. The Virtues would represent reasons for the deceased person's good memory on earth and hopes for Paradise.
Faith and Charity stand on bases treated as little banks of clouds, as if they were already in heaven themselves. Hope, the third theological Virtue mentioned in Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, might have completed such a group.

(Armani), by Mino da Fiesole.
I, Sailko,
Вяра“, статуя на Минои да Фиесоле в Националната галерия във Вашингтон, САЩ

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2.0 Commentary
For many of us, faith provides the belief that goodness will be rewarded.
Faith keeps us on the straight and narrow.
Faith keeps us joyful.
Faithlessness it is thought brings on gloom and even desperation.
Comes this Christmas season, or holiday season, and refreshes our faith.
As it should.
And that faith underlies the swelling joy most of us feel as the month rolls by.
That joy seeks an expression, and gift-giving is certainly part of that equation.
A thoughtful gift.
Love pushing our gift-bearing arm forward to the recipient.
Faith, belief, love, expression.
Let’s not allow these lovely feelings to be buried by events swirling around us.
Let’s keep our perspective.
Merry Christmas season.

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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
While Kat remains home (until Sunday morning) finding time for research is proving impossible.
Her company well worth the loss of research.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t gamble, I don’t cheat on my wife, I am early to bed and early to rise, I work hard all day, and attend religious services faithfully.
I’ve been like this for the last five years.
But wait until they let me out of this place!”

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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192

These two letters both coming from Howard D, continuing the discussion of precautions. Here, using a sanitizing wand in a café:

Email 2:

I’m sorry, by the way, if I make it sound in these emails like I think you are like a willful child. I know you are cautious, and conscientious…

Just keep the goddamn LED lights out of your face (and especially your eyes) and your skin… That seems to be the main thing to be cautious about.

The problem, obviously, is, for the lights to do their thing, they have to be energetic enough (in the literal sense: powerful battery, strong light emissions, and longer exposure times) actually to kill the viruses, but that means the danger of careless exposure is raised…

Until the UL tests these devices and comes up with a standard of safety, it’s up to you buddy. Unfortunately UL won’t test these for virus-killing efficacy. A different kind of lab would have to do that testing, and it wouldn’t be cheap to do.
It would be lovely if they did work as promised. Obviously, I doubt it. I’d put more trust in sterilizing my phone in one of those UV light filled coffins they sell to put it in overnight… But that doesn’t help when you’re out at a café… I understand that.

On the other hand, there’s other forms of caution, perhaps overcaution, who’s to say. But it’s why M and I have not been “out” anywhere for anything edible or drinkable since the first week in March. No take-out, no delivered dishes to go; it’s like I said, if I didn’t cook it, we don’t eat it.

I really miss Chinese and Mexican food.

xoxo

h

Blog meister responds:
i am willing to use in the prescribed manner to sanitize the tables WHEN NO ONTHER MEANS IS AT HAND.
this last part is added on to my routine because of you.
because of you i look to the cafe's santizing spray bottle and use that instead of the wand, when available.
when no, i'll risk the dangers to kill the covid pests.
until i get vaccinated.
your friend

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Howard’s email 1:

I won’t belabor this.

I think, as happens sometimes, you’re kidding yourself my friend.

I’ve known you for, what?, 53, soon to be 54 years now, and at least in this way, you haven’t changed.

Nothing wrong with conviction. And you are, as you always were, susceptible to reason.

It’s important to you to stick to what you believe – though it’s sometimes, in all those years, not been clear to me how you come by some of those beliefs – and that’s always a good thing, to a point, as I say. The point is, like that old saying about where your freedom to throw a punch stops, it’s a good thing, unless it hurts you.

In that extended email of mine I said it was all right to reprint (one of two, and I’m not clear on whether you posted both or just the one), I said I’d look further into those UV-C wands you’ve decided, now it’s clear by that mysterious edict you sometimes live by, “won’t hurt.”

I did look further into it, because, as I already pointed out in an earlier email, you seem to want to make it seem like I’m taking issue with something deliberately to be provocative and contrary.

To me, it’s a matter of reason over intuition, of science, if you prefer, over gut feelings.

What you do is your business. I can only, up to, but not over the line, some boundary where I’m making it my business, without permission, offer a warning, which I do, and only to people I care about a lot.

I said I wouldn’t belabor it. But I will repeat myself once. You’re kidding yourself.

You indulge me by listening and always responding to what I say, or at least how I say it, with reinforcing approbation. I appreciate that. But it’s not enough to neutralize my concern.

If I can’t convince you, and since you put so much stock in words that someone you don’t know decided to make seem like it’s probative, by publishing it, maybe this article I found (because I did and will continue to look into it) will help you turn down the volume on what seems to threaten your self-respect. I respect you regardless. I just don’t want you to get hurt, especially with no help from anyone but yourself.

https://www.cnet.com/news/uvc-light-wands-kill-viruses-experts-warn-major-safety-issue-coronavirus-covid-19/

I couldn’t help but think about that old tired cliché, as I read this.

If it seems too good to be true, it’s probably because it isn’t.

take care

xoxo

h

if you want to research this further yourself, let me save you a minute or two. Just Google (or Bing, or whatever…) the question “Do those UVC travel wands really work?” That’s what I did. You should get a lot of URLs, virtually every one of which will say what this link (above) says.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thanksgiving dinner a great success.
Brought to us by Kat and Wiliam.
Congratulations to both of you!

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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Faith, derived from Latin fides is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept.
In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often think of faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of warrant, while others who are more skeptical of religion tend to think of faith as simply belief without evidence.

James W. Fowler (1940–2015) proposes a series of stages of faith-development (or spiritual development) across the human life-span. His stages relate closely to the work of Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg regarding aspects of psychological development in children and adults. Fowler defines faith as an activity of trusting, committing, and relating to the world based on a set of assumptions of how one is related to others and the world.

Stages of faith

Intuitive-Projective: a stage of confusion and of high impressionability through stories and rituals (pre-school period).

Mythic-Literal: a stage where provided information is accepted in order to conform with social norms (school-going period).

Synthetic-Conventional: in this stage the faith acquired is concreted in the belief system with the forgoing of personification and replacement with authority in individuals or groups that represent one's beliefs (early-late adolescence).

Individuative-Reflective: in this stage the individual critically analyzes adopted and accepted faith with existing systems of faith. Disillusion or strengthening of faith happens in this stage. Based on needs, experiences and paradoxes (early adulthood).

Conjunctive faith: in this stage people realize the limits of logic and, facing the paradoxes or transcendence of life, accept the "mystery of life" and often return to the sacred stories and symbols of the pre-acquired or re-adopted faith system. This stage is called negotiated settling in life (mid-life).

Universalizing faith: this is the "enlightenment" stage where the individual comes out of all the existing systems of faith and lives life with universal principles of compassion and love and in service to others for upliftment, without worries and doubt (middle-late adulthood (45–65 years old and plus).

No hard-and-fast rule requires individuals pursuing faith to go through all six stages. There is a high probability for individuals to be content and fixed in a particular stage for a lifetime; stages from 2-5 are such stages. Stage 6 is the summit of faith development.
This state is often considered as "not fully" attainable.

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It’s Friday, November 27, 2020
Welcome to the 950th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY14)

Franmarie Metzler; U.S. House Office of Photography - https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/about archive copy

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2.0 Commentary
My daughter is visiting with her boyfriend Will.
She arrived on Saturday last and will leave this Sunday.
It’s been a great time.
But it does throw schedules off.
Pretty amazing, in fact, trying to find time to get basic chores done.
Thank goodness they’ve shouldered the burden of cooking for the big day,
an undertaking which is producing enough food to last until they leave, early Sunday morning.
Still, pretty amazing how events do indeed scatter routine to the wind.

Presidential pardons.
The President’s prerogative.
Motives not the issue.
Flynn hasn’t given up the President.
The pardon his reward.
Not elevated men, those two.
But they don’t need to be patriots.
One of them just needs to be President.

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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
No time left over after hanging with daughter to research.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I broke my finger last week.
On the other hand, I’m okay.

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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Richard Case of Roche Bros. Boston.
He had just found the size turkey I wanted and set it aside.
You remember he had found a goose for me last week.
I thanked him and he responded:

Not a problem. Time for someone to cook for you! Take a break, relax and enjoy the Anti-Social Thanksgiving!

Blog meister responds: Thank you my friend for your help, for Thanksgiving and all the other special requests you fulfilled for me through the year.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday night we had a dinner of William and Kat’s first Italian Gravy, with a large Italian pasta.
It was brilliant.
Including the chicken feet.
Instead of olive oil they rendered pancetta, a type of bacon rolled up with an assortment of herbs and spices. That unique fat contributed to a unique Gravy.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx, portions of north-central Queens, and Rikers Island in New York City. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Ocasio-Cortez drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district on June 26, 2018. She defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries.
She defeated Republican opponent Anthony Pappas in the November 2018 general election. She was reelected in the 2020 election, defeating John Cummings.

Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.
She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics, graduating cum laude. She was previously an activist and worked as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.

Ocasio-Cortez is among the first female members of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress.
She advocates a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee, the Green New Deal and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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It’s Thursday, November 26, 2020
Welcome to the 949th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Classic work of lesbian pulp fiction

Several women in a barracks in various stages of undress while a fully-dressed woman in uniform looks on Barye Phillips - Gold Medal Books #132Cover of "Women's Barracks" by Tereska Torrès 1950 — Several women in a barracks in various stages of undress while a fully-dressed woman in uniform looks on
Barye Phillips - Gold Medal Books #132
Cover of "Women's Barracks" by Tereska Torrès 1950

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2.0 Commentary
A perfect winter day!
Sunny. Not very cold. Little wind.
Good to be out.

Finally the official Presidential transition is in progress.
And few challenges to the returns remain undecided.
What a torture it’s been to get to this place.

One thing that’s been proven: voting for President should be spread over two to several weeks.
And regulations re: mail-in ballots should be nationally uniform.

My experience with covid-19 testing has not been inviting; anything but.
The airwaves are flooded with exhortations re: testing.
Important! Get tested!
Free! Available everywhere!
No and no.

My health care provided PCP would not set up a test for me: no symptoms.
The neighborhood health care center would test me – for $40.00. No symptoms.
Returning to my health care with symptoms, I had to wade through a series of phone calls and extensions to reach the right appointments person.
They agreed to a testing; but someone has to call me.
Am waiting.

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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Finally found the time today to finish my research on Botticelli’s Madonna of the Magnificat.
It’s a lovely tondo which I’ll share in the next day or two.
Opened a sheet to research the next piece,

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
To the person who stole my gold-rimmed, diamond-studded glasses,
I will find you, I have contacts.

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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192

This from Tommie Toner:

I agree with Howard D. Don't EVER fuck around with your health, my friend! We often do not have second chances at life. Spoken from someone who lives with someone who ignored signs and was given a second chance.

Blog meister responds: Waiting on a call now for a testing appointment. I’ll be careful, guys. Thanks for worrying.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday night we ate at the Fin Point restaurant on Broad St, Boston.
It was very nice.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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Women's Barracks: The Frank Autobiography of a French Girl Soldier is a classic work of lesbian pulp fiction by French writer Tereska Torrès published in 1950.
Historians credit it as the first US paperback-original bestseller, as the first lesbian pulp fiction book published in America, and as "the pioneer of lesbian fiction".

As the first of its genre, it received heavy backlash, and it was banned in Canada. Its popularity prompted the formation of the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in the United States.

Its original cover art is considered a classic image of lesbian fiction.

Tereska Torrès was a member of Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces, and worked as a secretary in de Gaulle's London headquarters.
After the war, Torrès' husband, Meyer Levin, urged her to publish her wartime diaries.
Torrès wrote the book as "a serious-minded account of wartime situations" and an exploration of "the way in which conventional mores break down during conflict".
Torrès wrote the book in French, and her husband translated it into English.

For a half century, Torrès refused to allow Women's Barracks to be published in France because she felt readers might come away thinking the Free French Forces had behaved irresponsibly in London.
In 2010, she rewrote and translated it back into French, and it was released in 2011 under the title Jeunes Femmes en Uniforme (Young Women in Uniform).

The diaries upon which she based the book were also published. In 2007, The Independent called them "frank, moving and funny diaries of life in wartime London" and "among the finest first-hand accounts of Britain during The Blitz".

In 1950 Fawcett Gold Medal published Women's Barracks in the United States with a print run of 200,000 and a cover by Baryè Phillips that "signalled the lesbian content within"[1]:25 and according to Salon, has been "long considered a classic image of lesbian fiction".[4] According to Duke University

The cover image gained instant attention from American readers because it featured four women partially dressed on the cover, all in one room standing and sitting close to each other. The women on the cover featured two brunettes, one blonde, and one woman with red hair. One woman was in just a small white towel, while two of the other women were in the process of getting dressed, shown in just their bras and spandex, and the fourth woman was featured in the corner of the cover wearing her military uniform. Since there are no men featured on the cover, and the women are exchanging romantic glances between each other, the cover art was a sign that this book contained lesbian characters and possibly a homosexual romantic story line.

A fictionalized account of Torrès' wartime experiences, the book "quickly became the first paperback original bestseller," selling over two million copies in its first five years.
In 1962 Consul Books released an edition and reprinted in 1964.
In 1972 Sphere Books released an edition.

When Feminist Press republished the book in 2003, it was described as having inspired the then-new genre of lesbian and feminist literature in the United States and called a pioneering work.
As of 2005 a total of 4 million copies of the book had been sold in the United States and it had been translated into 13 languages.

Feminist Press called it "the first lesbian pulp novel".
Torrès rejected the description, saying, "There are five main characters. Only one and a half of them can be considered lesbian. I don't see why it's considered a lesbian classic".
She told Salon she thought she had written a "very innocent book" and said, "these Americans, they are easily shocked."

The release created a "ripple effect" in the publishing industry. While the publisher had marketed the book to male readers, the book created a new market for pulp fiction among women, and Fawcett Gold Medal soon began publishing other lesbian pulp fiction.

Historians credit it as the first US paperback-original bestseller, as the first pulp fiction book published in America to address lesbian relationships, and as "the pioneer of lesbian fiction".
As the first of its genre, it received heavy backlash. It is considered a classic in its genre. According to literary scholar Yvonne Keller, it created the genre of lesbian pulp fiction.

According to the 2003 Feminist Press afterword by literary scholar Judith Mayne, the book was "an important part of the history that made lesbian lives and lesbian desire a central part of paperback publishing in the United States."

It was banned in Canada, where a Crown prosecutor argued it was "nothing but a description of lewdness from beginning to end", and in several US states.
In 1952, the US House of Representatives formed the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in reaction to the book's popularity.
The Committee used the book to illustrate how paperback books "promoted moral degeneracy".
A letter from "a literary expert" read into the minutes by Fawcett president Ralph Foster Daigh compared "Women's Barracks with Plato, Homer, Sappho, Shakespeare, and Marlowe", scandalizing the members of the committee.

The book was not banned nationwide in the US because Fawcett agreed to add a narrator who commented disapprovingly on the characters' behavior so as to "teach moral lessons" about the "problem" of lesbianism.
The publicity from the government investigation prompted the book's second edition.

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It’s Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Welcome to the 948th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Jewish Ghetto Police in Łódź Ghetto, 1940

Bundesarchiv, Bild 101III-Wisniewski-025-08 / Wisniewski / CC-BY-SA 3.0

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2.0 Commentary
It’s Monday morning and it’s raining.
What could be more appropriate.
Hopefully the rain will have a measurable impact on our drought.

Figuring @ 147 years old I have earned high consideration,
I called my health care provider to ask how they are generating their priority lists for covid-19 vaccinations.
They have heard nothing.
Zero.
Zip.
Zilch.
When they hear more, they will let me know.

After last week’s wonderful victory, for a moment the Patriots had us all thinking, ‘Making the playoffs.’
That indeed a brief moment.
This week, against a lesser team, the Pats had the ball with a very long four minutes left to play and they down by less than a touchdown.
This is the type game that for twenty years we Patriot fans have come to expect a win.
Love Cam.
He provides a real entertainment.
But not a victory.

Sadly, Cam’s not TB-!2.
Playoffs now a wistful memory.
Only TB-12 is TB-12
and TB-12 is doing well.
But not in Boston.
And we’re Bostonians.
We were rooting for Cam tow weeks ago.
We rooted for Cam yesterday.
We’ll root for him next week.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
What has one finger and is very demanding?
A ransom note.

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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192

This from Sally C:

Dear Dom,

Your steady and persistent research into art and cultural treasures to investigate when you get to Italy puts me in mind of a fellow I once worked with.

He heated his house with wood and the previous winter he had run out of wood before spring and had to spend big bucks for oil. (This was around the time of the 1979 oil embargo, so prices were seriously inflated.) So, anxious for that not to happen again, he began in the spring to spend his weekends out on his 150 acres, taking down trees here and there, cutting the lumber into stove-sized pieces, and stacking it on site to season. This went on all summer and into the fall. In November, he went out to collect all of these little caches. He brought it all in and stacked it near the house. He found that he had about 50 cord of wood, about five times what his house used in an average winter.

I’m not disparaging your level of collection of information at all – it’s better to know more than you need than to wish you had done some research beforehand. It’s a lot like writing non-fiction – you have to collect far more information or details than you’ll ever use, or will ever need to use, but this kind of deep immersion lets the information soak into the pores of your heart and mind. Invaluable!

My friend spent a comfortable winter knowing that, if he ever broke his leg and couldn’t cut wood, he and his family would be warm.

Cheers! And stay warm!

Sally

Blog meister responds: Love Sally’s ‘down homey’ stories.
She’s a wealth.
Sally, I hope your friend had as much fun chopping wood as I enjoy doing my research.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night we had leftovers supplemented by some Chinese food from Peach Farm.
Love Chinese food.
Love all Asian foods.
Except cilantro.
And not crazy for peanut sauces although my experience with them is very limited.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
The Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law (Hebrew: חוק לעשיית דין בנאצים ובעוזריהם, תש"י-1950‎) is a 1950 Israeli law passed by the First Knesset that provides a legal framework for the prosecution of crimes against Jews and other persecuted people committed in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe between 1933 and 1945.
The law's primary target was Jewish Holocaust survivors alleged to have collaborated with the Nazis, in particular prisoner functionaries ("kapos") and the Jewish Ghetto Police.
It was motivated by anger of survivors against perceived collaborators and the desire to "purify" the community.

The law punishes crimes against humanity, war crimes, and "crimes against the Jewish people", as well as a variety of lesser offenses.
It has unusual provisions, including ex post facto application, extraterritoriality, a relaxation in the usual rules of evidence, and mandatory death sentence for the most serious crimes laid out in the law.

Under the law, around forty alleged Jewish collaborators were put on trial between 1951 and 1972, of which two-thirds were convicted.
Such trials were highly controversial and have been criticized by judges and legal scholars due to the moral dilemma of judging someone who was also persecuted and under threat of death at the time the offense was committed.
Three non-Jews were also prosecuted under the law, including the high-profile cases of Adolf Eichmann (1961) and John Demjanjuk (1987). Although both Eichmann's and Demjanjuk's lawyers challenged the validity of the law, it was upheld by both Israeli and United States courts.

The Holocaust was a genocide committed primarily by Nazi Germany that claimed the lives of six million Jews living in Germany and German-occupied Europe.
Many Jews were forced into Nazi ghettos where a Jewish leadership (known as Judenrat) and Jewish Ghetto Police was appointed to execute Nazi orders. Refusal to hand over other Jews to the Nazis to be killed could result in execution.

The Jewish Ghetto Police was perceived as "the most hated Jewish organ during the Holocaust", according to Rivka Brot.
In Nazi concentration camps, a small number of Jews were recruited to become prisoner functionaries aka "kapos", in which they had the responsibility of supervising other prisoners and executing Nazi orders.
Not all prisoner functionaries were collaborators; some were considered to have "behaved honorably".
Becoming a kapo could mean the difference between a chance to survive and almost-certain death.
However, among other survivors functionaries are remembered for their brutality; survivors often charged that Jewish kapos were "worse than the Germans".

Following World War II, some alleged collaborators were subject to extrajudicial violence and even murder from other Holocaust survivors.
In order to maintain order, postwar Jewish communities in displaced-persons camps set up "honor courts" that would judge alleged collaborators, handing down sentences of public condemnation and social ostracism.
Similar clashes also erupted in Mandatory Palestine and informal honor courts were operated by landsmanshaften (organizations for immigrants from a certain country) and the World Zionist Congress.
After World War II, many Holocaust survivors immigrated to Israel; by the late 1950s, they consisted one-quarter of the population.

While some Holocaust survivors preferred to leave the past behind them, others thought that the new state should be pure of collaborators with the Nazis.
Beginning in 1948, some Holocaust survivors brought petitions to Israeli police alleging that other Holocaust survivors were Nazi collaborators, but there was no legal basis for prosecution in these cases.
According to legal scholars Orna Ben-Naftali and Yogev Tuval, the drafters of the law saw its purpose in pragmatic terms as assuaging the anger among Holocaust survivors in Israel.
This is disputed by other writers who argue that there were only a few dozen complaints among a large number of survivors, which could not be considered popular demand.
Knowledge of the Holocaust, and understanding of what Jews faced at the time, in Israeli society in general was limited at the time the law was passed.

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1.0 Lead Picture
Mike Tyson

Toglenn - Own work Mike Tyson, Los Angeles California in June 2019 - photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.comPermission details This photograph was taken by Glenn Francis (User:Toglenn) and released under the license(s) stated below. You … — Toglenn - Own work
Mike Tyson, Los Angeles California in June 2019 - photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com
Permission details
This photograph was taken by Glenn Francis (User:Toglenn) and released under the license(s) stated below. You are free to use it as long as you credit me and follow the terms of the license.
Attribution : © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com
(Email: glennfrancis@pacificprodigital.com)

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2.0 Commentary
All of us adopt measures to reduce our chances of getting sick
On the basis of the claims of the manufacturer, I have recently taken to using a sanitizing wand on tables and chairs in restaurants and café I patronize.
Here is the claim:
“Disinfect Quickly and Effectively]:This UVC sanitizer travel wand uses powerful Ultraviolet-C light to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria. Just turn on the ultraviolet sanitizer light wand, hold the portable uv sanitizing wand, then wave it slowly over anything you want to sterilize, sweeping back and forth 4 or 5 times(About 10-20S). It naturally eliminates germs and bacteria, with odorless, chemical-free, no residue and no secondary pollution.”

Lamb Stew, Marinara Sauce, Roast Goose, and morning omelets have usurped much of my free time. But for the coming meals, one night (tomorrow?) we’ll eat leftovers buttressed by Chinese restaurant takeout, a fried rice and lobster sauce that my daughter loves, we’ll go out to eat another night, and Kat and Will are committed to cooking Thanksgiving.
Demands on my time will soon ease.

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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
No work today.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Parallel lines have so much in common.
It’s a shame they’ll never meet.

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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192

This from Howard D who keeps abreast of these things.
In response to my publishing my use of a sanitizing wand on the table and chair I use at a café or restaurant.

Subject: Re: Aha... reality check time again

Certainly a good thing to arm yourself with safety measures.

I’ve been intrigued with those UV wands (and chests with lids to store your personal gear overnight while they get zapped)… and I have to look into them and the protocol for effective use.

There’s nothing magical about UV light rays. Their power (or, depending on how you look at it, their toxicity, as they do alter cell structure to the point of cell necrosis – as you know, being a devotee, at least at one point, of tanning beds) – is a function of the intensity of the rays (which, in a portable device is dependent on the energy of the power source: batteries are powerful up to a point)

A brief exposure periodically to UV rays is sort of safe, to avoid the possibility of alteration of cell DNA, leading to anomalies, like cancer (hence the necessity of sunscreen, or staying out of the sun altogether, which is what I do, and have done for decades).

But the point is, I’m not sure, based on my admittedly scanty knowledge of the science, and the specifications of these commercial devices, that a quick pass (anything less than 15-20 minute exposure at close proximity to the source of the UV light just intuitively tells me it can’t do much good) is not going to kill many Covid “bugs”… I think it would be more effective to carry around a small container of a good variety of disinfectant wipes (like Clorox or Lysol brand… but try to find them; they are in extremely short supply) and wiping down things around you that you might touch, or you know you did touch would be much more effective.

I have carried around wipes. I also always have a pair of nitrile or latex gloves, for one time use, in my pocket, whenever I go out on a rare errand (to the drugstore, to Trader Joe’s once every six weeks).

I not only don’t touch my face (that took about four weeks of highly conscientious self-control), I don’t touch anything, with my bare flesh.

It’s good for peace of mind to take these measures you are describing (the best is the sanitizing fluid – I carry those small bottles too, and we have a larger one in the car at all times – but even Purell is not as effective as 20 seconds of washing with soap and warm water). I am sure it is anodyne. And if it makes you fell better (though, rationally, it should only make you feel marginally safer), that’s a benefit. Peace of mind and a healthy sense of well-being (as opposed to morbidity and depression) leave you in much better condition overall, that is holistically, to deal with whatever oppotunistic bug tries to do you harm.

Keep up the good work. But really, like I said, the best thing to do is “stay the f*** home!”

xoxo

h

Blog meister responds: The use doesn’t hurt anything.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday evening we had Lamb Stew.
In a Dutch Oven, sear the floured lamb chunks, remove and, using a little bit of red wine and stock, braise and season the vegetables. Return the meat and add a copious amount of red wine and your own chicken stock and cook for a couple of hours.
Yummy.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is considered one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time.
He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title.

Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after stopping Trevor Berbick in the second round, and added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. He successfully defended his titles nine times, including victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. In 1990, Tyson lost the titles to underdog Buster Douglas, who knocked him out in the tenth round. Attempting to regain the titles, Tyson defeated Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991, but pulled out of a fight with then-undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (who had defeated Douglas in 1990 to win the titles) due to a rib injury.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison, although he was released on parole after three years.
After his release in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He regained the WBC and WBA titles in 1996, after stopping Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon. With his defeat of Bruno, Tyson joined Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman as the only men in boxing history to have regained a heavyweight championship after losing it. After being stripped of the WBC title in the same year, Tyson lost the WBA title to Evander Holyfield by an eleventh-round stoppage. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears, one bite notoriously being strong enough to remove a portion of his right ear.

In 2002, Tyson fought for the world heavyweight title again at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2006, after being knocked out in consecutive matches against journeymen Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite having received over $30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. At the time the media reported that he had approximately $23 million in debt.

Tyson was known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring. He holds the third longest unified championship reign in heavyweight boxing history at 8 consecutive defenses. Tyson currently ranks 14th in BoxRec's ranking of the greatest heavyweights in history. He was ranked 16th on The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, and first on ESPN's list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History". Sky Sports described him as "perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring". He has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

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It’s Monday, November 23, 2020
Welcome to the 946th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Demonstration of a throat swab for COVID-19 testing

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2.0 Commentary
All of us adopt measures to reduce our chances of getting sick
On the basis of the claims of the manufacturer, I have recently taken to using a sanitizing wand on tables and chairs in restaurants and café I patronize.
Here is the claim:
“Disinfect Quickly and Effectively]:This UVC sanitizer travel wand uses powerful Ultraviolet-C light to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria. Just turn on the ultraviolet sanitizer light wand, hold the portable uv sanitizing wand, then wave it slowly over anything you want to sterilize, sweeping back and forth 4 or 5 times(About 10-20S). It naturally eliminates germs and bacteria, with odorless, chemical-free, no residue and no secondary pollution.”

Lamb Stew, Marinara Sauce, Roast Goose, and morning omelets have usurped much of my free time. But for the coming meals, one night (tomorrow?) we’ll eat leftovers buttressed by Chinese restaurant takeout, a fried rice and lobster sauce that my daughter loves, we’ll go out to eat another night, and Kat and Will are committed to cooking Thanksgiving.
Demands on my time will soon ease.

_______________________________
5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192

This from Howard D who keeps abreast of these things.
In response to my publishing my use of a sanitizing wand on the table and chair I use at a café or restaurant.

Subject: Re: Aha... reality check time again