Thirty daze hath September, and the month just
flew right on by while I was Otherwise Occupied. As always, it
wasn't a dearth of material to write about that kept me silent on
this Whirled; it was quite the opposite. But in keeping with my 20-years-and-counting
commitment to publish at least one post a month, I want to take a
few moments of your valuable time to whine about the weather.
Wait...what?!? you might be thinking. She's going to waste her
one wild and precious post for September on something as mundane
as weather, instead of griping about #NeverWasMyPresident Donald J. Trump?!?
I can do two things at once, as it happens.
There's scary weather headed my way over the next few hours. We
need rain in the Hill Country, desperately, but not in excess,
though excess is what we're currently being warned about. There's scary weather elsewhere too; a massive, multi-state weather event fueled by the
moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Polo is slamming parts of New Mexico and other points west
of me. And the East Coast is still reeling from that rare late-September nor'easter.
All across America and around the globe, weather events are getting more and more extreme. You probably already know that. The increase in
extreme weather is primarily because of climate change, and you
probably know that too. You probably also know that Trump* and
his legions of MAGA minions, not to mention the entire American
reich, continue to insist that climate change is a hoax. (* See, I told you I can do two things at once.)
Meanwhile, the extreme weather just keeps on extreming.
Fortunately, however, there are brilliant minds at work to help
us tame that weather, particularly hurricanes. Trump himself is
one of those very individuals. He doesn't believe in climate
change, but he is aware that there are such things as hurricanes,
and he has shared sage advice about them in the past.
I used to write about these matters a lot on this Whirled over
the years, particularly about the folks who try to use the power
of their mighty minds to tame the wild winds. I haven't done so
in a while, but I need a brief break from worrying, and perhaps
you do as well, so here is a link that will take you to many, many words of
reassurance from the Whirled archives.
And since we're on the topic of Trump and the American reich, the
sociopolitical climate has changed so drastically in the US since
Mango Mussolini first descended that golden escalator in 2015
that super-scary "weather" is an everyday thing now. We
never know what fresh shitstorm we're going to wake up to every
morning.
The good news -- and here are more words of reassurance, if you
need them -- is that we do have a lot more control over the
metaphorical scary weather than we do the literal stuff. And one
thing we can all do to help reverse the nasty-weather trend is to
vote this November. If you're eligible, make sure you're registered.
And just to be on the safe side, check your registration
frequently during these last weeks leading up to the midterms.
None of these precautions and efforts rule out the
very real and frightening possibility that Trump and his goons will take radical,
unprecedented (and un-presidential) steps, such as declaring a
national emergency, to sabotage the election. Trump hasn't ruled out invoking the Insurrection Act. On September 30, 2026, Democratic Senator Elissa
Slotkin, speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace in D.C., warned that Trump's ongoing attempts to change election
processes so close to November are very concerning. She said, “If you hear in the next 34 days that
there is a new security threat that you've never heard of, that
somehow requires federal law enforcement or the military and not
local police, an alarm bell should go off in your brain.” I'm
already hearing the alarm bells loud and clear. (Metaphorically
speaking, of course. I'm not having auditory hallucinations.)
Some analysts have also expressed concern over the possibility
that on January 3, 2027, Holy Mike Johnson, the Squeaker of the
House, will simply refuse to seat newly elected Democrats, thus
"stealing" the midterms. Although the concern is likely unwarranted, it's still worth
noting, because the Trumpian reich is
constantly finding ways to run roughshod over the will of We the
People, and honestly, you can't rule anything out with these
rapscallions. What I'm saying is that, in the immortal words of
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Looks
like we're in for nasty weather."
Just be prepared.
Meanwhile, stay safe from the literal weather, wherever you are.
Stock up on bottled water. Make sure you have plenty of
non-perishable food on hand. Make sure your mobile devices are
all charged and that your chargers are charged too. Make sure
your flashlights and lanterns have batteries. Run from the water,
hide from the wind. You know the drill.
Here's that Whirled archives link again, and I'll see you next month.
One more thing before you leave...
With my husband Ron's passing in
February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss. And
now that I am facing new personal challenges, donations are
urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to
do it:
- New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
- New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to my PayPal page.
- Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.
NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please
specify that your contribution is for "friends and
family," which will waive PayPal's substantial transaction
fee.
Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this
Whirled.
