Satan and Yoga

 

Politics, picnics, and chips, by Hal Brown

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April 25, 2022

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These are the best tasting potato chips I have ever eaten, at least since I left New York where as a kid we always had Wise Potato Chip which I didn't see for sale in Michigan or Oregon. The company still exists (website) and has quite a few varieties in addition to the standard unflavored which I grew up eating.

 Here's the Boulder Canyon company website. I got them from New Seasons.

Yesterday was a sunny Sunday with the temperature hitting the low 70's. It  began with a picnic at nearby Sellwood park. I'd never been there before. Unlike Molalla State Park and Willamette Park in West Linn which are favorite places to grab a table next to the river there are no riverside tables at Sellwood Park. In fact you can't even see the river from the park. 

Instead you can get a decent view of downtown Portland's taller buildings.

Still, it is pleasant place to go for a picnic. Although it was quite crowded it was possible to find a fairly isolated table (below).

There was good political news for a change yesterday. 

This came when the results of the French presidential election were announced and the pro-Putin anti-immigration nationalist Marine Le Pen suffered a major defeat. While it is disturbing that she got about 40% of the vote indicating how many voters in France share her views this isn't all that different than the numbers who share the views of Trump and his minions here. 

Here's E.J. Dionne, Jr from the Wash Post (subscription)

Excerpt:

The robust victory of France’s middle-of-the-road President Emmanuel Macron in Sunday’s election is good news for the Western alliance on behalf of Ukraine and bad news for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Macron’s reelection is also a triumph for the European Union and a setback for those who would weaken it or break it up.

And the defeat of far-right leader Marine Le Pen dealt an important blow to nationalist forces in Europe focused on limiting immigration and marginalizing immigrants, particularly Muslims. It was thus a victory for democracy as well.

The size of Macron’s margin — projected at 59 percent to Le Pen’s 41 percent — was more comfortable than many of his supporters expected even two weeks ago, when Macron and Le Pen advanced to the decisive round.

It reflected Macron’s success in making the dangers of a Le Pen presidency more salient to key voter groups than their frustrations with inflation, their sense that he is out of touch, and a conviction among progressives that while he promised five years ago to be neither right nor left, he governed more from the center-right. To woo the left, Macron softened his stance on economic questions, notably his proposals to raise the eligibility age for social security. 

His conclusion: None of this, however, should detract from Macron’s extraordinary achievement. A loner who broke with the major parties and, from scratch, built a novel coalition of the center managed to win a decisive reelection in a time of deep discontent and uncertainty. He prevailed in a nation that has not looked kindly on incumbents for decades.

And through his victory, he saved Europe from political catastrophe.

My illustration is probably wishful thinking. Would it be that her fate could be the same as that of the Wicked Witch.

Too bad we don't have a Dorothy to set her on fire when she was attempting to use a torch to burn the Straw Man. We need a Dorothy to destroy, as the witch calls it "her beautiful legacy".... which is of course was to be legacy of evil.

Watch video.