Multiple fires

My social calendar for the rest of January is light. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is doing Pops concerts and other things I’m not interested in (that will change in February with their French festival where I’ll attend 5 concerts in 3 weeks at the same time the Olympics are on). So I’ve got a list of movies to see and I’m aiming for two a week. Last week was Coco (when the story is about a boy wanting to be a musician what’s not to like?) and Bombshell (which I discussed here).

Today I saw Wonder, about a boy with a disfigured face. I enjoyed it very much. It is more than the boy overcoming adversity. I thought it filled in all the main characters pretty well. And the boy, when he is among people who know him, is a pretty cool kid.

As for the second movie this week – check back in a couple days.



Last week residents of Hawaii were given a big scare when the emergency alert system said a ballistic missile was headed to the islands and they had 15 minutes to seek shelter. An agonizing 38 minutes later they were told the announcement was false. News reports said someone had pushed the wrong button.

The American news hasn’t said much about a similar false alert in Japan. Two such incidents in one week in places with a common enemy? People, including Melissa McEwan of Shakesville, are now saying this probably isn’t a coincidence. Someone (and a good guess who) is meddling with the warning systems. The claims that a worker pushed the wrong button may be a cover for something much more dire.



Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, thinking about budget authorization needed by tomorrow, tweeted:

Quick timeline: Last year POTUS actually says “we need a good shutdown.” Then, DACA is revoked. Then, CHIP expires. Then, no deal on budget. Republicans set multiple fires that they cannot put out. We are willing to work with them, but it’s impossible when they act this crazy.

Michigan’s LGBT newspaper Between the Lines, by way of the Washington Blade, has a good story about Danica Roem, the first openly transgender legislator, in her first day as a member of Virginia’s House of Delegates.