[Spoiler Alert]

Watch Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice this night to observe Good Friday.

Superman dies.

Watch Justice League (Whedon or Synder version, viewer's choice) this Sunday for Easter.

Superman is brought back to life.

What better way to acknowledge a tale of death and resurrection? It's not like they're gonna bring Iron Man back.

No. They can hide. That is what you are requiring from them.

. . . a man who had just lost his husband.

We aren't exactly close, the two of us, and he's a pretty self-contained person and I am not a hugger. But the pain in this quiet man's face was palpable.

I'm a straight, White lady of a certain age and when it comes to my personal life and inclinations, I am very much a lower-case "c" conservative. But it utterly stuns me that anyone can stand outside such heartache and deny the legitimacy and profundity of another person's love and loss.

Opening up one's heart to another is a a frightening challenge in this world today. I applaud anyone with the courage and optimism to look for connection and the patience and tolerance to make a commitment to another human being.

Love is love, indeed.

Other things make us want to take a shower, or empty our stomachs or shake our fists.

I just wanted to do the first, and share a sort of "oldie but goodie" that many will recognize.






It is also worth mentioning here that when not hampered by hooped skirts and social mores, women, too, will take up the fight for their country. We're seeing that happen now, and those efforts also lift us up.

Slava Ukraini

. . . That some talking head at Fox criticized Biden (shocker, I know) for NOT singing "Happy Birthday" to the boy whom he called out to during his State of the Union address. The President mentioned that the young fellow's birthday had just passed and even said the words, "Happy Birthday" to the kid. Apparently, that just wasn't enough and it would have been more "human" if Biden had sung.

Major eye roll moment here, folks. Can you imagine what those selfsame Fox News pundits would have said if Biden had sung "Happy Birthday" in the middle of The SOTU? They would have called him a doddering old fool; there's no doubt in my mind.

Criticizing our elected officials is more than a right, it is a civic duty, particularly for the press. Nobody serving the people should get a free pass and even Democrats have to guard against becoming a bunch of "Yes Men". But the utter crap that Fox News puts out as they spin threads of nothing but hot air into clouds of dust is mind-boggling.

From The New York Times via Yahoo News:

One Menacing Call After Another.

It may not be a new problem, but we know who has exacerbated it.

"Threats against members of Congress jumped more than fourfold after Trump took office. In 2016, the Capitol Police investigated 902 threats; the following year, that number reached 3,939.

The threats range from phone calls with gruesome, specific descriptions of violence that have led to jail time for the callers to broad threats posted on social media for which juries have, on occasion, acquitted those charged."

This point is both infuriating and chilling:

"In several cases, defense lawyers have taken to arguing that their client should not be punished for comments that were consistent with what elected officials and political pundits have said. Several rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 have employed similar 'Trump made me do it' defenses."

Threats of physical violence against other people are wrong, of course. But in a system that permits free speech, the right to protest and the opportunity to vote, the people making these threats demonstrate their lack of commitment to our democracy. If things don't break your way politically, work harder and smarter for the next round, like Stacey Abrams. Pouting, blustering, threatening and assaulting people who oppose you is the Trump method.

Says that she was the "most persecuted woman ever in the Royal Family".

Anne Boleyn can't even shake her head over that statement.

Twice, now, I have seen a particularly unflattering picture of Ms. Psaki posted as a thumbnail over a click bait title. The first title made mention of some luxurious home she has (I don't recall the exact adjective)--because I guess living in a nice house makes her a hypocrite for supporting social programs that help the poor. The other click bait title (which I am NOT about to click on) shows up on my Huffpost feed and reads: "Take a look inside Jen Psaki's repulsive life." "Repulsive life" ?! Why don't they just come out and say she has cooties?

The picture chosen to make her look bad shows her with very large breasts and despite the way it is cropped, I suspect she may have been pregnant when it was taken.

Mind you, I'm not saying that pregnant women are unattractive--much less "repulsive"--but a woman carrying all that extra weight may feel ungainly which affects posture and mood and thus result in photos that are less than stellar. And of course, that is the point.

Psaki is attractive, in a polished, professional way--unlike the painted dolls of Fox News. The way she handles herself and her job is also polished and professional, so people gunning for her, her boss and the current administration need to dig out photos that make her look as bad as possible and attack her on whatever grounds--however flimsy--that they can find.

The whole thing is childish, ridiculous and obviously sexist. And, in a way, it highlights just how competent Psaki is. Because if they had anything substantive to work with, they would use it.

One of those blindingly obvious thought came to me the other day. My first response to my insight was self-congratulatory. Then I realized how non-original my "insight" was.

But here it goes:

Flat Earthers-- I can understand to a degree why you are skeptical of proofs regarding a round world if the proof involves pictures of our planet taken from outer space. I, myself, have ooohed and aahed over NASA images only to note the fine print in the caption advising that I was looking at an artist's impression. I can admit that some types of images can be faked.

I am more saddened by your inability to accept circumnavigation of the world when it has been done so many times for so many centuries. But hey, it's not like you were traveling on one of those ships yourself and even if you were aboard ship, you probably couldn't actually see the curvature of the earth from your vantage point.

But speaking of ships and vantage points, surely one of your vast and enlightened numbers has the impetus and resources to get on a boat, (or plane or helicopter, whatever), and whip out a smart phone and take a friggin' picture of the edge of the earth.

Where is YOUR proof flat-earthers? However it is that you picture the contours of our planet that differs from the many, many images of sphere-shaped planetary bodies in addition to our own home, why hasn't anyone provided any visual evidence for an edge or other discernable end to what you insist isn't a wrap-around world surface?

I'm not going to ask why no one has fallen off, (though you should), and I won't ask for pictures, because we know those can be faked. I just want to know why some member of your cohort hasn't gotten in some sort of transport vessel and gone there to see whatever you think there is there to see. Surely someone who has seen the magnificent Truth with their own eyes can report back whatever the hell is supposed to mark the non-curved starting or stopping point of a Flat Earth.

Of course, maybe somebody has provided a vivid description of the outer edges of our non-spherical world on one of the many Youtube videos devoted to the discussion of Flat Earth Beliefs. I can't say that I've ever managed to watch one all the way through. Guess I am just an ignorant fool caught up in a worldwide conspiracy that spans the edges of our disk-shaped planet. (Are the edges crimped or fluted? I'm picturing a lumpy apple pie here.)

What I really want to spotlight here is her poignant--but understandably angry--song at the end of this video. I don't know how to time sort/stamp/code whatever, but you can skip to around minute nine to get to the best part by sliding the red line from left to right until you see Amber walking away from her desk.