5 Thoughts for July 15, 2017

1. The Eclipse Is Coming: And I haven't bothered to plan ahead. If I stay right here, I'll still experience a 98% solar eclipse. If I drive south-ish to McMinnville, I can experience 100%. I haven't decided yet. I don't even know if I'll be free to go down there. Seems like it would be a driving nightmare if everyone decided to drive down and back on I-5 -- anyone driving back up from Eugene after a football game knows just how bad it is. NASA's got maps and shape files to plan ahead.
2. Pokemon Go: I've made it to level 32 and it took me 23 days to do it. It's going to take 750K points to make the next level but I've got a pretty good plan I think. I think I'll be able to do it in roughly 30 days or so. After that, however, I don't know how much longer I'll be motivated -- you either have to start spending money or take forever to move up to the next level and I'm all about the rapid ascent. Also, there are a lot of people cheating. Even with spending $$$, there are very few people who have the time to go around and collect Pokemon, so the vast majority of people above me, I suspect, are cheaters. By the time Niantic responded, it was too late. Those folks were already at or near level 40. Oh, and damn, the bugs; it took me 2x longer to defeat a gym because I had to force close the app multiple times.
3. Republican Healthcare Strategy: Ignore the current bills for this topic. In 2009/2010 when the ACA was being debated, the biggest problem with public opinion was that the Republican Party was lying about the effects of the ACA. In the years since its implementation, it experienced a lot of turbulence because of the GOP's attempts to undercut the ACA by blocking the cost-sharing funds and the risk-corridor programs. By doing so, they pushed many co-ops out of business and raised premiums. Without a doubt, Democrats have failed Americans by not making this message clear. Even this year, the ambiguous commitment to the cost-sharing subsidies has forced more insurers to abandon certain regions. They wrought instability and now wish to capitalize on that instability, only to realize that they have no real concept of what they want to do. "The Party of No" may be a great opposition formula but it is not a good basis for governance.
4. GOP Support for Donald: It is not entirely accurate to say that Republicans remain committed to Donald. HuffPo's tracker shows that the GOP support has eroded from an aggregate of 85% down to 80% while Donald's disapproval has shot up from an aggregate of 9% to 17.3%. Essentially, a number of Republicans who were ambivalent have been slapped in the face and woken up to Donald. Of course, people continue to believe that he can turn it around and "become presidential". It is a ridiculous notion based on normal human nature. Donald is not normal. While others express frustration, anger, and exasperation at his antics, I just laugh. You could see this disaster coming from the start and it's only going to get worse. Anyone thinking it'll get better hasn't a clue.
5. Current Listening to: Elton John's Greatest Hits, 1970 - 2002. I grabbed it at the library yesterday and it's blowing me away at how many hits he's had that I'd forgotten about. I'm going to have to do a top-10 list of his songs. If I were to pick my favorite Elton John song it would either be Rocket Man or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Californication included Rocket Man multiple times including the series ending episode closing with the sun setting over the Pacific and Hank's Porsche abandoned. Rocket Man was also used in the season 2 finale of The Blacklist. Both are so extremely bittersweet, they're perfect.