Potholes….Again

Hello pilgrims,

Early this week there was a news clip from Manitoba. It was in fact centered on Winnipeg, and showed many potholes that have become obvious with the approach of spring. The clip showed cars gingerly negotiating the potholes. A wit was fishing in a large sized pothole. Another said that Winnipeg is the pothole capital of Canada and perhaps, the world. Then I remembered that I had written about potholes in this column a while ago and thought I might share excerpts of it for this week.

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I am partial to potholes for many reasons. First, it is good for the economy. The more and deeper the holes, the greater the chances of ruining your shock absorbers. The wheel alignment goes haywire. These issues keep the mechanics busy. Sale of fancy hubcaps goes up, some of them costing as much as 1,000 dollars. Tires are routinely shredded and this keeps KalTire, Canadian Tire etc. happy.

Another distinct advantage is that they cut down on the number of incorrigible cellphone users, who, in spite of repeated warnings, indulge in texting while driving. Drive on Bathurst Street and text a message to your friend and see what happens. Even reading while driving (a habit our Mayor has) is difficult because of the jolts.

It is reassuring that there are, indeed, many aficionados of potholes besides me. One of them is a gentleman called Andrew Clark. He waxes poetic when talking about potholes. To him the pothole is a living organism, which is born, which grows with proper care and dies at the hand of cruel road workers.

In a special to the Globe and Mail (September 10, 2012) He wrote:

The snow is melting and as it does one of our country’s most cherished national treasures is making its glorious return. They are emerging all over Canada, pushing forth through the earth’s surface like crocuses signalling the first blush of spring. I am referring, of course, to the majestic Canadian pothole.

Like bears, potholes spend the winter hibernating. In spring, potholes appear fully grown—glorious gaping cavities pocking our roads and highways, causing untold shock absorber damage, wheel realignments and chipped windshields.

Once potholes reach maturity, they are tended to by dedicated road crews.

Pothole nurturing is a nuanced process. First a road crew will stand around the pothole and smoke (this can take two or three hours). Meanwhile traffic is diverted (scientists have shown that the muffled anguished cries of the delayed motorists help the pothole to breathe.)…….

….After another hour or so, the road crew leaves the pothole, unmolested and moves on. Before that the crew will throw loose asphalt into it. This is known as pothole fertilizer….

It would appear that the asphalt is not pounded down hard, so that it comes loose in a short time, certainly during the next upheaval in the spring.

Clark has some advice for drivers if they encounter a pothole. “Surviving a pothole is much like surviving a bear attack. You must convince the pothole that you mean it no harm. Do not make any sudden movements or swerve out of your lane to avoid a pothole as you may hit another automobile or cyclist.”

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The artwork of Eugene de Blaas of Italy will knock your socks off. It is hard to believe that this painting below isn’t a photo:

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Tennis aficionados might be interested to know that Boris Becker, six time Grand Slam champion has been jailed for two and a half years for hiding several million dollars worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts. While giving her verdict Judge Deborah Taylor said, “While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility.” For details go to:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61276378

What is Genocide Anyway?

I had decided not to write about the apocalyptic scenes of barbarity in Ukraine. But the following story, I couldn’t pass by, maybe because this could have happened to me in another time and political place!

Irina Gen, 55, was an English teacher in the western Russian city of Penz (see below).

Irina Gen.

She was talking to her students about the war and said that the West’s decision to punish Russia is a correct one. “Until Russia starts behaving in a civilized way, this will go on forever,” she said. “We are living in a totalitarian regime. Any dissent is considered a crime.”

According to BBC, she told the students that Russia intended to overthrow another nation’s government and that Ukraine is a sovereign state.

A few of the students were recording this and they promptly informed the authorities. The teacher received a call from Russia’s federal security service five days later and was told they had received video footage of her criticism of the government. A criminal case has been opened against Gen, and she could face up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million rubles ($60,000). If her actions are found to lead to “grave consequences” (mysteriously undefined), her sentence could be increased to 15 years.  BBC has reported that many teachers have been under investigation or have been arrested.

In the hope of pumping some sense into Putin, the Austrian Chancellor had meetings in Putin’s residence, but according to the Chancellor it was a waste of time. He said that Putin has “Totally accepted the logic of war.” Whatever that means!! Last week Putin went on air and said that peace talks had reached a “dead end”, making clear that he has no intention of pulling back from his military campaign. He also said that Russia was constrained to attack Ukraine because earlier peace talks had been unsuccessful. When he met with Ukraine before the attack was not clear.

I am sure you have seen the atrocities committed by the unspeakably brutal Russians. Civilians and civilian institutions are being targeted. The soldiers rape and loot at will. The destruction in many places like Mariupol is total. And Putin, dissatisfied with the commanders leading the onslaught, has appointed a new guy, Alexander Dvornikov, whose nickname is ‘the butcher of Syria’ after his slaughter of the thousands of Syrians a few years ago. He wrote the definitive book on depravity and brutality.

Meanwhile the US president declared that what is happening in Ukraine is genocide. “Foul!” cried a chorus of world leaders led by the French President Macron.

Really??

Inspired me to look up what exactly the word connotes. Miriam Webster says that genocide is “The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group”. Then I remembered that there was something called The Genocide Convention of 1948. The outfit’s membership is 150 countries including Russia.

Article 2 of a document defining genocide says “any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as:

        **Killing members of the group

        **Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

        ** Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

        **Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

        **Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

After watching the destruction to life and property, you decide whether Russia is committing genocide or not.

Meanwhile the pride and flagship of the Russian navy, called the Moskava, was lost to “a fire” (according to the Russians).

It has angered Putin so much that he has ordered Phase 2 of the “military exercises”. That means indiscriminate destruction, be it a kindergarten. hospital, shops, homes……CNN reported on Wednesday that in a town called Erpin, the toys of kids had been booby trapped.

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Wimbledon officials on Wednesday said that they would bar Russian and Belarusian players from entering this year’s tournament. That means that the reigning US open champion, Daniel Medvedev will have to wait, maybe, another year for the coveted trophy.

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On Wednesday at least half a dozen world leaders, including Canadian officials walked out of the G20 meeting in Washington when Russian officials began to speak.

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Unusual Names

The names are of real people and not the figment of my imagination.

1.Nate Persily

2. Chelsea Coffin

3. This last name was sent to me by dear friend Bruce Douglas.  This gentleman, whose name I have given below, lived in Lethbridge, Alberta passed away on the 16^th of February, 2022 at the age of 29. His name:

CeeCee Junior Across the Mountain-11 Sta Pakkana-Flying Star.

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On Policies and Such

I had written and edited a blog dealing with the moral outrage happening in Ukraine, but at some point, I hit the wrong button, with the result that it has vanished from sight. Of course, I have on several occasions, unabashedly, declared that I am a klutz as far as the computer is concerned. Oh well!!

So, for this week I was constrained to go to the archives and pick one of the older blogs. The one that appears below was first published on December 13, 2007.

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It appears that, a 14-year-old boy, somewhere in Ontario, bought for himself a second-hand car for $400, got it registered and took two of his friends for a joy ride. He crashed the car and, in the process, killed the two passengers. The criminal case against the boy is pending.  But when the officials of CAA were asked about the bizarre instance of a 14-year-old boy getting a car registered in his name, the response was that the policy on this is not clear.

        Here, policy is the operative word.

        One has to wonder about the genesis of thousands of policies and regulations that govern us.  In all fairness, though, our lawmakers don’t have much to do with this.  It is the bureaucrat and his minions that brew the policies—people like deputy ministers and their subordinates.

        A bureaucrat, I guess, is one who sits at a bureau which, after all, is a desk or a cabinet or something of that sort. These people create what is called a bureaucracy.  One of the definitions of this word amused me.  It reads, “government by departmental officials following an inflexible routine”.  This, of course, they do by making policies. The more policies there are, the more inflexible and annoying the ‘routine’ becomes.

        Again, the fearsome word is “policy”.

        Ah, policies!! Where will we be without them!! What follows is a look at the genesis of the word and the concept ‘policy’; the authorship is anonymous:

In the beginning was the plan.

And then came the assumptions.

And the assumptions were without form.

And the plan was completely without substance.

And the darkness was upon the faces of the workers.

And they spake unto their group heads saying, “It is a crock or do-do, and it stinketh”

And the group heads went unto their section heads, and sayeth, “It is a pail of dung, and none may abide the odor thereof”

And the section heads went unto their managers, and sayeth unto them, “It is the container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none here may abide by it.”

And the managers went unto their directors, and sayeth unto them, “It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength.”

And the directors went unto their director-general, and sayeth, “It contains those which aids plant growth, and it is very strong.”

And the director-general went unto the assistant deputy minister, and sayeth unto him, “It promoteth growth and it is very powerful.”

And the a.d.m  went unto the deputy minister, and sayeth unto him, “This powerful new plan will actively promote the efficiency of the department, and this area in particular.”

And the deputy minister looked upon the plan, and saw that it was good.

And the plan became policy.

From Cartoonstock

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        If the Globe and Mail and its contributor Philip Jackman is to be believed the problem of ‘dumb’ laws is not restricted to the American continent. For instance, if you are ever visiting the Houses of Parliament, don’t die.  You could be arrested and thrown in jail, because dying in the mother of Parliaments is against the law.  It is also illegal to enter the parliament wearing a suit of armor; and so, technically, if you die in Parliament wearing a suit of armour, you will have broken the law twice!

        Maybe you don’t know that it is illegal in Ohio to get a fish drunk.  Other foreign laws deemed irredeemably dumb is the French legislation forbidding anyone naming a pig Napoleon.  See what happened to Gilliam Gibbons who, as I write this, is languishing in jail, and will be deported from Sudan in another few days.  She, a teacher, encouraged the class to name a teddy bear Mohamed!  She was going to be given 40 lashes in public, but the government decided to deport her instead after 15 days in jail.  If you are in Florida and happen to be unmarried, don’t jump off a plane in a parachute on a Sunday.  You could be jailed. In Vermont the plight of women is even worse.  You cannot wear false teeth without written permission from your husband.

Globe and Mail listed the laws are the dumbest of the dumb: the top ten.  Here are a few.  Most of them are, I am afraid, archaic British laws…interesting, all the same.

It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the Monarch, upside down.

In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless, unless she is a clerk in a tropical fish store.

A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman’s helmet.

The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail belongs to the Queen.

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Well, I am sure that you know the flagship of the Russian fleet Moskava was shelled by the Ukrainians although the Russians say that it was a fire that caused the destruction. Below is an interesting picture of the ship – all 600 feet of it – making its way to its watery grave.

Massacre Unchained

Many years ago, I was assigned to Izhevsk, an industrial city in Russia. The city was famous for manufacturing the AK 47 gun. Kalashnikov was born and raised in Izhevsk.

I am sure the story that follows is familiar to many who know me, but it bears repeating.

A young lady Razalia Gainullina (a Tarter) was assigned to be my interpreter. When I saw her, I noticed that her hair was not quite natural. One day I took courage and asked her whether she was wearing a wig or not. She said that she dyes her hair brown because she is totally gray. I was curious and she explained how she because prematurely gray.

During the Afghan war, the Russian government drafted many young people, many of them students. Her brother was 18 and in high school when he was sent to the battlefield. A few days later Razalia got a memo from the Army saying that her brother had been killed. When she woke up the next day after a night’s restless sleep, she noticed that her hair had gone completely gray.

I accepted the story because I had no reason not to, but it made me wonder. How is it possible!

Last week CNN also had a very disturbing story to tell. Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, has been totally decimated and many civilians killed. The advancing Russians pillaged and raped. One of the victims of rape was a young mother who has an eight-year old son. The rape was done by three soldiers in front of the boy, and by the time the soldiers left, the boy’s hair had gone completely gray.

I mention this now because Putin is seriously considering a draft and inevitably the draftees would be young people from high schools and colleges. Anyone over 18 is fair game. How many would have their hair turn gray by the time the massacre and destruction end?

I am sure you keep abreast of the atrocities being perpetrated by Russians. Besides killing innocent civilians, once the soldiers occupy a town or city, they go on a looting spree.

The news feed alerts us of the atrocities going on in Mariupol, Buch and such places. But have you heard of Nova Basan. Or Chernihiv? Probably not. Badly frightened and hungry, residents of  Nova Basan, a town east of Kiev, emerged from their cottages and farmhouses and described living through the terrifying ordeal of the Russian occupation—detentions, rape, threats to life—and a strict curfew that confined them to their homes with no outside communication for a month.

In Chernihiv officials buried hundreds of civilians in makeshift coffins and hastily dug trenches. The latest estimate of bodies in the mass grave is over 300.  But the people of Russia  have been convinced that it is all a fake, a cleverly staged event. Putin’s approval ratings stood at 83% last week! Russians are made to believe that it was Ukrainians that invaded Russia and who fired the first shot. The west are still pussyfooting about how best to deal with Russia. One thing is clear: the conflict will go on for many months to come. And the reconstruction? The cost? Who knows?

At some point in the tragedy, one of the lawmakers of Ukraine, while decrying the atrocities, said that the Russians are behaving like animals.

Sorry madam, I have to disagree with you. Animals do not kill another of the same kind. Sure, they have skirmishes, mostly about girlfriends. Not otherwise. Animals kill for food, and never due to politics.

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Say what?

On Thursday afternoon the Senate confirmed the appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black female judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court. It was a historic moment.

But earlier in the day Politico came with the following headline: “Jackson on the precipice of historic Supreme Court nomination”. Precipice? Like a very steep rock or cliff? Will she have a parachute when jumping off the cliff, wherever that is, into the hallowed chamber? I don’t think Clarence Thomas, who is the Sphynx on the bench, had to do it.

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Will Smith, the actor who showed the propensity to jump on the stage and slap the guest announcer during the Academy awards a few weeks ago, has been barred from attending the Oscars for 10 years. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke!

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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” William Shakespeare uses this line in Romeo and Juliet to convey that the naming of things is irrelevant.

Regular readers of Subtext would know that I have a fascination with names. I occasionally publish ‘unusual’ names of people. I am fascinated by the names of products put in the market by pharmaceutical companies. Ingreeza,fasenra, farxiga, skyrizi to name a few. Of course, you knew that skyrizi  is really the patent name for Risankizumab-rzza, used for treating moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

But Azo?

No, pilgrims, it is NOT what you think. Its generic name is Phenazopyridine It is a medicine for relieving symptoms caused by irritation of the urinary tract.

If you are a regular patron of CNN, you would have noticed that many of their sponsors come up with pharmaceutical products. That is material for a future blog.

Meanwhile let me share something that baffles me. I regularly see commercials promoting something called Tremfya, used for treating psoriasis. Why would the professional actor who promotes it pronounce it ‘tremfaya’? And why hasn’t someone corrected him?

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Jokers of the week.

Yes pilgrims. There are two this week. Before I announce the names let me say that there was some interest in the challenge I posed two weeks ago—identifying the Joker. Only two people had the correct answer—Lindsay Graham– and they will receive the gift I had promised: chicken curry and rice. Oops! Padmini, one of the winners, is a vegetarian. I will think up something else.

This week’s jokers are two senators, both of whom ran for President: Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lindsay Graham of S. Carlina. Yes, good old Lindsay again.

Around 2.13 on Thursday, the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson took place. Rand Paul delayed the proceedings because he did not turn up for nearly 25 minutes. Finally, he voted from the cloak room, not in a suit. Lindsay Graham also shed his jacket in an act of protest. Glad that he stopped at the jacket and did not go any further!

It is generally understood that lawmakers try to placate their constituents by saying and doing things they do. The behavior of these two is a poor reflection of the voters in their respective states.

A&E Section

To take your mind off the sad, bad news of callous murder and destruction, here is something to make you feel good. Hopefully!!

The Slap Heard Around the World

The 94^th Academy Awards came and went, but not before leaving a trail of controversies. There was a display of uncouth and asinine behavior.

It is not the first time that unusual things have happened at the annual celebration of success in films.

One remembers that in 1974, when David Niven was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor, conceptual artist and photographer Robert Opel jogged across the stage in his birthday suit, flashing a peace sign. The unflappable Niven said, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.”

In 1992 Jack Palance,72, while accepting the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in “City Slickers”, recreated a scene from the movie by doing one armed pushups. He wanted to prove that what happened in the movie was not a ‘slick’ camera job!

In 2003, Adrian Brody while accepting the best actor award for his performance in “The Pianist”, pulled the presenter Halle Berry into his arms and gave her a very long, passionate kiss, almost ripping her lips off.

But what happened on Sunday was totally beyond the pale. After years of declining figures, the Academy was desperate for more people to watch the 2022 Oscars. They got three women, all comedy stars, to host the event. Prior to Sunday’s ceremony, it was widely expected that Will Smith would receive his first ever Oscar for his performance as the father of tennis players Serena and Venus Williams. Chris Rock, who was on stage to present the best documentary award, noticing Jada Pinkett Smith, the wife of Will Smith, said, “Jada, I love ya,  GI Jane 2, I cant wait to see it”. The joke (if it is funny) was a reference to the 1997 US war drama GI Jane, which saw Demi Moore shave her head to play Jordan O’Neil, the first woman to undergo Navy Seal Training.

By implying that Jada could star in a possible sequel, Chris Rock was poking fun at her closely shaven head. The fact is that Jada has alopecia, an auto-immune disorder that causes hair loss. Jada looked upset at the joke, but Will Smith seemed to be laughing at it. What abruptly changed such that he shouted profanities at Rock, and before anyone knew, jumped on the stage and slapped Rock is not known.

Much has been written about the incident, and so there is no need to replicate it here. Was Rock out of line? Most certainly. One does not poke fun of another’s physical problems. Was Will Smith out of line? Decidedly so.

It was the ugliest Oscar moment in history. One of the most revolting.

The ‘comedy’ was that Smith would receive the Oscar a few minutes later, and the audience forgetting the onstage drama gave him a standing ovation!

The latest news is that the Academy is pondering serious action against Smith. Withdrawing the award was considered at one point, but that would have been counterproductive.

But there is always something to celebrate. A low budget, independent film CODA—which stands for Children Of Deaf Actors—won the best picture award. In fact, it is the first film featuring deaf actors in leading roles and only the second actor, after his co-star Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God). Troy Kotsur became the first deaf male actor to win the Oscar (for supporting actor).

(Stop press. Yesterday Will Smith resigned from the Academy. But they will continue to move forward with disciplinary proceedings)

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Turning to really serious and tragic events. I need hardly describe the destruction of property and lives in Ukraine. This week’s TIME has a photo essay on the ravages in Ukraine. Truly heartbreaking. Several cities have been destroyed. Mariupol has almost been razed to the ground.  Over 4.1 million refugees have left Ukraine, half of them children. Bombing is going on indiscriminately. But it has also been brought to light that the Russians have a morale problem. They are sabotaging their own equipment, shooting down their own planes. There is no real leadership, the generals on the ground are not getting clear instructions. The surprising news is that Putin has been misinformed of the lack of morale and the retreat of Russian soldiers because the aides are afraid of giving him the bad news.

Meanwhile the greatest leader that the US has ever seen, Donnie, is asking Putin for dirt on Hunter Biden, the son of the President. Ukraine be damned, said the one-time President of the greatest nation on the planet.

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Yet another tragic news, closer to home, is that Sarah Palin is entering the race for Alaska’s lone congressional seat. I remember that in an interview with Katie Couric , the then VP candidate  said that Africa is one country she would dearly love to visit.

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One of the hardest things to deal with is ignorance. Be it your own or as manifested in others. Of course, it is not a crime or sin and does not make one stupid. I have tried very hard to understand the nuances of Dialectical Materialism. To no avail. I have a scientific background and thought that understanding the theory of relativity would be a cake walk. But, alas, no!

But, as I said, ignorance is not a crime. As you are aware, the hearings into the appointment of the Supreme Court justice closed last week and with the Republican Susan Collins supporting her, Jackson has the sufficient number of votes. She might get two more, but, Mitt Romney, a potential support, is still not very sure of the judicial philosophy of Jackson. Again, ignorance in full display. But he has a couple of weeks to find out.

But during the confirmation ignorance raised its ugly head. In the 13^th hour of the hearing Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked the nominee, “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Jackson should have said, “a mature female who can maintain her composure while being badgered on national television by posturing politicians.” But Jackson reminded herself of the adage, ‘Where ignorance is bliss, it is foolish to be divine’ and said, “I am not a biologist.”

Then Blackburn chided Jackson claiming that, “the fact that you can’t give a straight answer about something as fundamental as a what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about.” News media, political commentators, and lawmakers pounced upon Blackburn. Totally unnecessarily, I say. If Blackburn is ignorant of what a woman is, there is no point in criticizing her. Send her a full-length mirror instead, so that she can find out all by herself.

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A&E section

But, thank God, we have beautiful things as well, to take our minds off the ugliness around us. I am an amateur shutterbug and so photographs that display unique composition always excite me. Here are two, courtesy of Dr. Anup, one of my nephews.

The first one is an unusual picture of what looks like two trees embracing. The second is an equally unusual photograph of a solar eclipse.