RIP Rosalynn Carter

 To whom I am not related, really, there are a lot of Carters in the world. Jimmy Carter was a good president as American presidents go. He's a good guy, but an American first, and in 1980 stated what became known as "The Carter Doctrine" which says about the Middle East that it's OUR oil, even if its under THEIR sand, and we'll shoot anyone who gets in the way of our getting it. 

I got up at around 5, had coffee etc., then kicked my own ass to get out the door and (a) drop off a very full bag of trash, (b) go to Nijiya for some things, then (c) go over to the exercise stuff by the County building and do some exercises. 

When done with my exercises I tried going into the parking lot of the building/complex thinking I'd be able to go out onto 1st street at the next corner but it turns out to be a baffling maze and God help you if you're disabled, as there are tons of traps that would be difficult for someone in a wheelchair to get out of.

I've noted that disabled people are hated here and thus are very rare. I grew up in Hawaii with disabled people being a fact of life, perhaps due to lots of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans being around. It was no big deal. Some people are good at things but one of the things might not be walking. In a civilized society, we make accommodations for them, 

But here in Silicon Valley, the doctrine of Social Darwinism is very much in vogue. Want to use the bathroom at Whole Foods? You have to be able to walk up a double flight of stairs to get the code. The streets, businesses, and so on around here are just very hostile. So if you're disabled you stay indoors all the time or you leave the area I guess. Or kill yourself maybe, unfit, surplus population and all that. 

I got back here and on the radio ol' Shankar Vedamtam, one of the regular hosts, it having a long talk with a lady who had one of her children killed by someone in a car. This long discussion is all about not paying it too much mind, getting on with life, etc. The unsaid message they're talking around is that being killed in traffic is a noble way to die, that an adult ought to be proud to sacrifice a daughter via a horrible death so the rest of us can keep driving, and that sympathy and sorrow are for the weak. Buck up, Americans!