Happy Thursday night! I’ve gone through a transition as it were back to Las Vegas. Ka is still in Phuket working his construction job as I try to parse information on his panel physician check and related jabs, the last step theoretically on his visa. This has only taken 5 years so far.
How could I not be here for the Great American Solar Eclipse on April 8, with its path of totality sweeping from Texas to Toledo and beyond? For my Thailand expats group I can also reconfirm that Gab does not work in Thailand without a VPN, but does work in the USA again.
I’m not planning on travelling anywhere special to see this event. The sun goes down every day and other things block it like dark rainclouds from time to time, so it’s not something I’ll go out of my way to view. Nor do I understand why there might be big crowds gathering when the eclipse is cutting such a wide path of totality through so many areas of the US. What central place would they be going to experience it?
That all said with the rumbling of WWIII getting louder, with NATO presence in Ukraine, Israel’s strike on an Embassy in Damascus, three food trucks in Gaza and open ethnic cleansing, it does feel like a time to keep an eye on the eclipse. Are some Satanic priestly types going to try to open up the gates of Hell by sacrificing some red cows for the third Jewish Temple? Will CERN reopen its collider to spin things out of control? Or will this eclipse just be used to start Armegeddon in some other fiendish way? Those in power seem willing to do anything to maintain their grip on control.
Whether you believe in Biblical prophecies or not is not the issue if the tail is wagging the dog. There’s a lot of chaos going on:
Jeff Childers had an interesting chart on how many kids grew out of feelings of their desire to change their sex. I think the second often or sometimes is mislabelled but the gist is that a lot of 11 year olds drop their desire to change to the opposite sex by 16 and even more do so by 25 years old. So yes, some of this is just a phase.
I was quite the tomboy growing up as I became very close to my older brother after our little sister died. As such I hung out with all his male friends and was very competitive. There probably was a brief time where I wished I was a boy especially as I heard about the horror of periods and other changes that were soon to happen to me. I hit puberty relatively late at about 14 where I went from a completely flat chest to changing bra sizes every few weeks. At that time though nobody would have considered telling me that I could really be a boy, or that I could make these transitions that I was anxious about not happen and thus somehow feel better.
Why have we pumped so much money at this strange vanity project? When did we turn doctors into high priced drug and vaccine salespeople and those who perform mutilation? They have a playbook that could have come from the office of the most shady used car salesman: upselling, minimizing damage, if one is okay then 10 are better thinking but then it is all backed by coercion and magical solutions to complex psychological problems. Why can’t we let kids be kids? Perhaps when the money stops flowing we will again.
That has had me thinking of both of my daughter’s many phases in their life. My older girl was more into Pokemon and online games while my younger daughter went through her Barbie stage but in all cases I can see where their tastes changed as their circumstances did. It’s a fast flowing process.
Now my brother is in town with his three girls aged 13, 8 and 7. Their new phase together is fairies. My daughter has replaced the Barbie shoes I used to find everywhere with stones from obsidian to amethyst and likes to make fairy potions. She’s decorated her bedroom with flowy vines and magical lights. She likes to play with wind outside as an airbender.
Grandma Hawkins used to say you could go too far one way as you could the other. I suppose I could denounce her fairy activities as some sort of witchcraft and proceed to smash her beautiful little fairy garden. Or I could go the exact opposite direction and actively encourage her to fly like a fairy by jumping off the roof onto the bare cement below. I’d say such a harmful idea would work better at younger ages like three, say. But during these phases I think it is best to keep a light touch and let the child work it out for themselves.
When did we decide that often permanently damaging intervention is the best choice here? If my children are so commited about an idea then they’ll be well able to hold off until they’re legally able to make such a choice as an adult. That should be a logical starting point that in more sane times virtually everybody could agree on.
My daughter’s oldest cousin claims to be a fairy hunter, being a little older and all. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this video Eliza made:
Why is there no money to be had in turning these girls into real fairies? This could be the next cottage industry like Tulip mania or something. I’m starting to think it’s better science…
Wonderful story & cartoons.
Keep 'em coming!
-Edwin
So, “Peter Pan” and “Cinderella” taught me that fairies are impish, magical, and benevolent. The younger ones get a little jealous when they feel jilted, but they’re not into sorcery. They grow up to be “Godmothers” famous for gentle kindness, generosity, and wisdom, and they grant commendable wishes—such as “turn me from a toad or wallflower into a prince or princess”—by teaching wish-makers that the power of change comes from within the wisher. They are above monetization, and when they work in the film industry, they work pro bono. We desperately need more of them as actors, role models, and social workers. I wish unlimited success to every aspiring fairy and offer only the advice of wannabe Godmother Jiminy Cricket: always let your conscience be your guide. I hope your daughter creates disciples and trains an army.