I tried to put together a list of things that need to be fixed and I could not continue. It is too awful, it is too stupid. Its a nightmare. I dont know what will happen but I am sure I hate this country and I have no faith in it. I cant breathe.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
Zoom Comsec
draft
Zoom announces that they would not encrypt communications because they want to support law enforcement and I said:
Zoom announces that they would not encrypt communications because they want to support law enforcement and I said:
Michael Wahrman This is pretty weird. Only unsophisticated criminals or conspirators would use a communications channel that was not encrypted unless they really had to. And then they would use some sort of prearranged code that was seemingly innocent but rich in hidden meaning. "Did you ever get your car fixed ?" which really meant "Execute the informer and run for the border ...", etc. Which means to me, who typically has not read this article before commenting (yes, I know, I know) that it is more about spying on citizens than it is about traditional law enforcement. More about sniffing out those who would disagree with the government's always just and righteous policies so that dissidents who might disrupt new order can be removed before they disturb our harmony or our photo opportunities, etc. I refuse to believe that any of this is an innocent mistake at this point. A company of this size and importance who is in the business of enabling communication between individuals and small groups can not possibly have the excuse of being unaware of the implications of their policies in this matter.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
What is Our Moral Imperative Here?
draft
The obvious question is whether we should be in Washington protesting? One might want to be there to protest the racism that led to the death of Floyd, or one might want to protest the failure of our system of government to protect its people from an obviously deranged madman.
But in either case you can be sure that those who protest will be on lists, and that they will start killing people (you know, he committed suicide in jail, he tried to resist arrest by running away from drugs planted during a no-knock raid, or maybe he/she will just be asked to serve 10 years in prison in Alabama or whatever they come up with. Nevertheless, what is our moral position here? Should we be there even though we will be punished for protesting the actions of the leader?
The obvious question is whether we should be in Washington protesting? One might want to be there to protest the racism that led to the death of Floyd, or one might want to protest the failure of our system of government to protect its people from an obviously deranged madman.
But in either case you can be sure that those who protest will be on lists, and that they will start killing people (you know, he committed suicide in jail, he tried to resist arrest by running away from drugs planted during a no-knock raid, or maybe he/she will just be asked to serve 10 years in prison in Alabama or whatever they come up with. Nevertheless, what is our moral position here? Should we be there even though we will be punished for protesting the actions of the leader?
Thursday, May 28, 2020
The Events in Minneapolis and 50 Years
draft
I think that the protesters in Minneapolis should burn the damn city down. Its been 50 years since 1968 and lots of promises were made. Remember. Its the ballot or the bullet.
The government failed us.
Time to change the government.
I think that the protesters in Minneapolis should burn the damn city down. Its been 50 years since 1968 and lots of promises were made. Remember. Its the ballot or the bullet.
The government failed us.
Time to change the government.
Purge of Trump Collaborators
draft
I am starting to read articles about how to treat the civil servants who cooperated with Trump and his criminal agenda when/if Biden comes to power. One article in particular pleaded for a smarmy forgiveness of those who betrayed their country and committed crimes, as clearly anyone who cooperated with Trump did. They must be investigated and a certain number of the worst offenders prosecuted. The rest of them should just be demoted or fired. Cooperating with Trump is like cooperating with Hitler, and war criminals should not be allowed in our government.
I am starting to read articles about how to treat the civil servants who cooperated with Trump and his criminal agenda when/if Biden comes to power. One article in particular pleaded for a smarmy forgiveness of those who betrayed their country and committed crimes, as clearly anyone who cooperated with Trump did. They must be investigated and a certain number of the worst offenders prosecuted. The rest of them should just be demoted or fired. Cooperating with Trump is like cooperating with Hitler, and war criminals should not be allowed in our government.
The New Interface to Blogger: Why?
draft
The new interface seems to add nothing new. It just hides some functions and changes things around. There is no point to it. I plan to use the legacy blogger interface as long as they will let me.
The new interface seems to add nothing new. It just hides some functions and changes things around. There is no point to it. I plan to use the legacy blogger interface as long as they will let me.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Raising My Estimate of the Deaths from COVID-19
draft
I am raising my highly scientific estimate of American deaths from the coronavirus up from 200K to 288K. The world class logic (dry sarcasm, sorry) that I use for this estimate is as follows.
The WaPo death count for Americans as of this morning is 96,000. But we know the number is low because not all deaths from COVID-19 are officially marked as such for a number of different reasons, some benign, some less so. The estimates for an adjustment factor range from 1.25 to 2.0 although I have seen higher. Lets take a relatively conservative 1.5. That means that we are currently at 144,000 deaths. It seems likely to me, even optimistic, that we can expect an equal number of deaths going forward as we try to manage this thing although of course the future is uncertain. On the one hand we are getting better at testing, and know a lot more about how to treat the disease (although still not doing so great there, we are certainly getting better). On the other hand, it is likely that social distancing really did help (with regional variation) but different areas are opening up now and it would be a miracle if this did not cause local hot spots. A couple of good church meetings and political rallies can infect hundreds of people who will then spread the virus at the very least to their immediate family. The rallies in Michigan of the guys with guns and calling for people to resist the Mark of the Beast came from all over the country, I read, and we know some of them were infected. A vaccine in the next 12 months would be amazing, and I think has a low probability of happening, although it is certainly possible if we get lucky.
So it seems fair to me that if we had some N deaths getting to this point, and since we are nowhere near done, and at best we are at some sort of peak, then it is likely that we would have at least that many taking the curve down assuming that the curve is symmetric, which it may not be. Thus 2 * 144,000 = 288,000. At least.
I have been pretty good at predicting this so far, through my flakey back of the envelope estimates but hopefully I am wrong this time and it will just go away as the Great Leader who Knows All Things predicted.
I am raising my highly scientific estimate of American deaths from the coronavirus up from 200K to 288K. The world class logic (dry sarcasm, sorry) that I use for this estimate is as follows.
The WaPo death count for Americans as of this morning is 96,000. But we know the number is low because not all deaths from COVID-19 are officially marked as such for a number of different reasons, some benign, some less so. The estimates for an adjustment factor range from 1.25 to 2.0 although I have seen higher. Lets take a relatively conservative 1.5. That means that we are currently at 144,000 deaths. It seems likely to me, even optimistic, that we can expect an equal number of deaths going forward as we try to manage this thing although of course the future is uncertain. On the one hand we are getting better at testing, and know a lot more about how to treat the disease (although still not doing so great there, we are certainly getting better). On the other hand, it is likely that social distancing really did help (with regional variation) but different areas are opening up now and it would be a miracle if this did not cause local hot spots. A couple of good church meetings and political rallies can infect hundreds of people who will then spread the virus at the very least to their immediate family. The rallies in Michigan of the guys with guns and calling for people to resist the Mark of the Beast came from all over the country, I read, and we know some of them were infected. A vaccine in the next 12 months would be amazing, and I think has a low probability of happening, although it is certainly possible if we get lucky.
So it seems fair to me that if we had some N deaths getting to this point, and since we are nowhere near done, and at best we are at some sort of peak, then it is likely that we would have at least that many taking the curve down assuming that the curve is symmetric, which it may not be. Thus 2 * 144,000 = 288,000. At least.
I have been pretty good at predicting this so far, through my flakey back of the envelope estimates but hopefully I am wrong this time and it will just go away as the Great Leader who Knows All Things predicted.
Corrupt Supreme Court and Separation of Power
draft
My friend, the Harvard trained attorney, tried to convince me that the Supreme Court denied the Democratic subpoena for the Mueller report because of "separation of powers". He didnt convince me of that, but he did convince me that the system was corrupt.
I said: "If, as you say, the subpoena is denied because of separation of powers, then the Democrats were stupid to expect anything from an independent investigation. The president could just order his corrupt attorney general to suppress whatever was discovered. So either the Supreme Court is suppressing the evidence (it is) or the Democrats and the American people were stupid to trust the process (they were) but in any case the legitimacy of the American system is diminished. "
There are many problems here but the one that amazes me the most is not the actions of the corrupt right wing nuts in Washington. I think I understand them just fine. What I find most unbelievable is the large number of people who are willing to accept any amount of corruption and treason as long as they dont have to face the fact that their system failed.
But it did fail. It obviously failed many times. Wake up.
My friend, the Harvard trained attorney, tried to convince me that the Supreme Court denied the Democratic subpoena for the Mueller report because of "separation of powers". He didnt convince me of that, but he did convince me that the system was corrupt.
I said: "If, as you say, the subpoena is denied because of separation of powers, then the Democrats were stupid to expect anything from an independent investigation. The president could just order his corrupt attorney general to suppress whatever was discovered. So either the Supreme Court is suppressing the evidence (it is) or the Democrats and the American people were stupid to trust the process (they were) but in any case the legitimacy of the American system is diminished. "
There are many problems here but the one that amazes me the most is not the actions of the corrupt right wing nuts in Washington. I think I understand them just fine. What I find most unbelievable is the large number of people who are willing to accept any amount of corruption and treason as long as they dont have to face the fact that their system failed.
But it did fail. It obviously failed many times. Wake up.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
How Do You Spell Stoodge?
draft
What fun it is to see the destruction of the American Republic in real time! A maniac injecting himself with fantasy drugs while Americans die right and left and the inspector generals are fired and Republicans with blood on their hands violate their oath of office in a way that would make a Roman senator turn away in shame. The tax returns are still not released, I guess the right wing supreme court is waiting as long as it can to protect their stoodge in the white house. I went to UCLA and we know all about running out the clock. Golly, they sure moved quickly enough when they blocked Al Gore's presidency and installed their boy! And of course I know, somehow I just know, that McConnell's right wing racist judges will enforce the law and not allow voter suppression, of course, of course. The oath! They will do their sworn duty like all true Republicans, like Rep Nunes and AG Barr if you know what I mean, wink wink. Hey too bad about Mueller, I guess he wasnt compromised enough and constrained by regulations for the True Americans in the White House. Let those Russians go, after all, we all know who guaranteed those loans at Deutsche Bank, now dont we? You DO know who guarnteed those loans this administration is being SO transparent about, right? They have old Trump-y, the quinine king, right where they want him. And lets not worry about arguing that "impeachment" is actually a process that will protect Americans! Never in the history of the American Republic, so-called, has there been a clearer case for removing a miscreant from the White House than the case that the Democrats prepared. It makes me wonder what this world is coming to. Surely, surely, surely someone must worry that all those decades about lying to the third world about how great our system is might affect our credibility. Oh yes, and now the Republicans are saying we must cut even the stupidly inadequate social services this country has because deficit! Oh yes, the deficit-y.
It amazes me that the Republicans would commit treason to keep power but they have. The system failed. It has failed every day of the last 3.5 years and a good case can be made that it failed in November 2000 and this is just the 800 lb chickens coming home to roost.
Implement the voting rights act. Put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court. Tell McConnell, Nunes, Barr, Kavanaugh, Trump and Pence to go home and stay there until we decide what to do with them and for them not to travel without notifying the FBI.
What fun it is to see the destruction of the American Republic in real time! A maniac injecting himself with fantasy drugs while Americans die right and left and the inspector generals are fired and Republicans with blood on their hands violate their oath of office in a way that would make a Roman senator turn away in shame. The tax returns are still not released, I guess the right wing supreme court is waiting as long as it can to protect their stoodge in the white house. I went to UCLA and we know all about running out the clock. Golly, they sure moved quickly enough when they blocked Al Gore's presidency and installed their boy! And of course I know, somehow I just know, that McConnell's right wing racist judges will enforce the law and not allow voter suppression, of course, of course. The oath! They will do their sworn duty like all true Republicans, like Rep Nunes and AG Barr if you know what I mean, wink wink. Hey too bad about Mueller, I guess he wasnt compromised enough and constrained by regulations for the True Americans in the White House. Let those Russians go, after all, we all know who guaranteed those loans at Deutsche Bank, now dont we? You DO know who guarnteed those loans this administration is being SO transparent about, right? They have old Trump-y, the quinine king, right where they want him. And lets not worry about arguing that "impeachment" is actually a process that will protect Americans! Never in the history of the American Republic, so-called, has there been a clearer case for removing a miscreant from the White House than the case that the Democrats prepared. It makes me wonder what this world is coming to. Surely, surely, surely someone must worry that all those decades about lying to the third world about how great our system is might affect our credibility. Oh yes, and now the Republicans are saying we must cut even the stupidly inadequate social services this country has because deficit! Oh yes, the deficit-y.
It amazes me that the Republicans would commit treason to keep power but they have. The system failed. It has failed every day of the last 3.5 years and a good case can be made that it failed in November 2000 and this is just the 800 lb chickens coming home to roost.
Implement the voting rights act. Put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court. Tell McConnell, Nunes, Barr, Kavanaugh, Trump and Pence to go home and stay there until we decide what to do with them and for them not to travel without notifying the FBI.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Picture of my Patron
draft
This is a picture of my patron, who is on Facebook, but must remain nameless. It has been nearly two years since she picked me up out of the gutter and placed me here at the Monastery in Santa Barbara to study the Esoteric Knowledge.
No one knows where this is going, not really.
This is a picture of my patron, who is on Facebook, but must remain nameless. It has been nearly two years since she picked me up out of the gutter and placed me here at the Monastery in Santa Barbara to study the Esoteric Knowledge.
No one knows where this is going, not really.
An Experiment
Draft
So to my friends who think that everything is just peachy keen and there is nothing to worry about, I have the following suggested experiment. Go to one of these "stay open" protests, one with idiots with assault rifles and nooses, and stand in front and loudly say that you hate Donald Trump, that you think that he should be in jail, and that you are a Jew.
See what happens.
So to my friends who think that everything is just peachy keen and there is nothing to worry about, I have the following suggested experiment. Go to one of these "stay open" protests, one with idiots with assault rifles and nooses, and stand in front and loudly say that you hate Donald Trump, that you think that he should be in jail, and that you are a Jew.
See what happens.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
This is All You Have to Do to Fix Things
draft
1. Trump in jail, 2. Barr, McConnell, Nunes, Pruitt, etc in jail. 3. Remove the Electoral College, 4. Remove the right wing judges put in power by McConnell/Trump, 5. Make it impossible for the Supreme Court to throw an election like in 2000, 6. Remove Trump's executive orders, 7. Put the traitors in jail. 8. Reverse Citizens United. 9. Enforce the Voting Rights Act. 10. Put the Wall Street criminals from 2008 in jail.
1. Trump in jail, 2. Barr, McConnell, Nunes, Pruitt, etc in jail. 3. Remove the Electoral College, 4. Remove the right wing judges put in power by McConnell/Trump, 5. Make it impossible for the Supreme Court to throw an election like in 2000, 6. Remove Trump's executive orders, 7. Put the traitors in jail. 8. Reverse Citizens United. 9. Enforce the Voting Rights Act. 10. Put the Wall Street criminals from 2008 in jail.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Prepare to Go to the Mattresses
draft
Surely it is just prudence to build a fortress. Secret passages to the subway and the park. Back ways out. Overlapping fields of fire. Antitank and surface to air missiles. Internal passages. Traps for the unwary. Better to be safe than sorry. Offsite weapon caches. Maybe a backup in the country. Dormitories with kitchens, food to last 6 months or a year. Communications facilities. Backups of everything. Water, power, etc. It doesnt have to be that expensive if you dont wait to the last minute. Secrecy is important, only you should know where everything is.
History tells us that this is a good idea.
I have read a lot and it is always useful to have a place like this.
Surely it is just prudence to build a fortress. Secret passages to the subway and the park. Back ways out. Overlapping fields of fire. Antitank and surface to air missiles. Internal passages. Traps for the unwary. Better to be safe than sorry. Offsite weapon caches. Maybe a backup in the country. Dormitories with kitchens, food to last 6 months or a year. Communications facilities. Backups of everything. Water, power, etc. It doesnt have to be that expensive if you dont wait to the last minute. Secrecy is important, only you should know where everything is.
History tells us that this is a good idea.
I have read a lot and it is always useful to have a place like this.
Friday, May 1, 2020
What The World Needs Now
Draft
What we need now is something to drag us down from the precipice and into the gutter where we belong. Another plague, a real economic collapse, a global war or two, and a new aggressive religion ought to do it.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Will the USA Drag Down the Western Alliance?
draft
The USA has proven beyond doubt that it is an unreliable ally, capable at any time of devolving into a racist and self-destruction quasi nationalism, a nationalism as conceived by the most literal and ignorant of people. And as its economy craters due to the hard work of the bipartisan globalist morons, most Americans will find themselves on the short end of the stick. Impoverished and unemployed or working at stupid menial jobs while the elite jetsets around the world. I doubt that Americans will enjoy living in this world they so diligently created. As their self-impoverishment becomes more apparent, I think they will be shocked. And that they will lash out, I predict, with some truly insane late-imperial militarism.
And yes, any country that is affiliated or allied with us will no doubt be drawn into stupid military adventures, expensive as well as ill-conceived, demonstrating the most crass and shallow understanding of the situation even as it uses some clever but expensive new munition.
Historians will write for centuries about the stupiity of the USA and perhaps also of the west, of their (or at least the USA's) self destructive behavior but they wont have any answers. It is not much more complicated than it appears. People are not pretending to be shallow. They are shallow. The USA self-destructed out of greed and dumbness.
But we may not have to worry about the judgment of history as everyone may be dead due to global climate change. Go methyl hydrate! Go polar ice caps! Yay!
The USA has proven beyond doubt that it is an unreliable ally, capable at any time of devolving into a racist and self-destruction quasi nationalism, a nationalism as conceived by the most literal and ignorant of people. And as its economy craters due to the hard work of the bipartisan globalist morons, most Americans will find themselves on the short end of the stick. Impoverished and unemployed or working at stupid menial jobs while the elite jetsets around the world. I doubt that Americans will enjoy living in this world they so diligently created. As their self-impoverishment becomes more apparent, I think they will be shocked. And that they will lash out, I predict, with some truly insane late-imperial militarism.
And yes, any country that is affiliated or allied with us will no doubt be drawn into stupid military adventures, expensive as well as ill-conceived, demonstrating the most crass and shallow understanding of the situation even as it uses some clever but expensive new munition.
Historians will write for centuries about the stupiity of the USA and perhaps also of the west, of their (or at least the USA's) self destructive behavior but they wont have any answers. It is not much more complicated than it appears. People are not pretending to be shallow. They are shallow. The USA self-destructed out of greed and dumbness.
But we may not have to worry about the judgment of history as everyone may be dead due to global climate change. Go methyl hydrate! Go polar ice caps! Yay!
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Pride and the Endless Pit!
draft
It is pride, false pride, that lead the righteous to their inevitable doom, destined by the Gods to rot for all eternity for their failure of character. No amount of experience can prevent those who are predestined for eternal torment will prevent them from making that fateful mistake on that fateful day. And so it is with me, two days before a self-generated intermediate deadline, I say "Now is a good time to use a modern HTML / CSS layout technology, I had read about how CSS Grid works and it looked straightforward. And with that single decision, all forward progress halts, and his soul is thrown into the endless pit! If anyone out there happens to have used this technology and can answer some simple questions, please let me know.
It is pride, false pride, that lead the righteous to their inevitable doom, destined by the Gods to rot for all eternity for their failure of character. No amount of experience can prevent those who are predestined for eternal torment will prevent them from making that fateful mistake on that fateful day. And so it is with me, two days before a self-generated intermediate deadline, I say "Now is a good time to use a modern HTML / CSS layout technology, I had read about how CSS Grid works and it looked straightforward. And with that single decision, all forward progress halts, and his soul is thrown into the endless pit! If anyone out there happens to have used this technology and can answer some simple questions, please let me know.
[ So I nearly have this fixed. It turns out that there are too many ways to do everything and anything in CSS and I pity those who must implement this in a browser. So, I am taking the time to learn CSS more or less from first principles. I have the problem about half solved and I am sure I can get where I want to go. ]
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Authentic Southern Vegetarian Sweet Potato Pie
draft
This recipe is completely authentic except that it isnt.
1. We use the Trader Joe's frozen to-be-baked crust and a glass pyrex pie baking dish. 2. Bake about 2.5 - 3 lbs of sweet potatoes at about 450 F for over an hour or until the sweet potatoes are squeezable. Use a baking dish. Insert a knife or fork into each sweet potato so it doesnt explode. 3. In a dish combine the (cooled) sweet potatoes with 1 cup sugar, vanilla, some corn starch, the peel of one orange, the juice of 1.5 - 2 oranges, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix well. Add cornstarch until you get the consistancy you are willing to live with for the rest of your life. Is it sweet enough? Too sweet? 4. Cook bottom of pie crust in oven for 10-12 minues at about 400 F. 5. Let pie crust cool a little bit and then add filling. 6. Make the executive decision about whether you want a crust top to your pie and add it if so. 7. Bake for about 30 minutes but do not let the crust burn. 8. Be careful not to burn the sh*t out of yourself.
This recipe is completely authentic except that it isnt.
1. We use the Trader Joe's frozen to-be-baked crust and a glass pyrex pie baking dish. 2. Bake about 2.5 - 3 lbs of sweet potatoes at about 450 F for over an hour or until the sweet potatoes are squeezable. Use a baking dish. Insert a knife or fork into each sweet potato so it doesnt explode. 3. In a dish combine the (cooled) sweet potatoes with 1 cup sugar, vanilla, some corn starch, the peel of one orange, the juice of 1.5 - 2 oranges, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix well. Add cornstarch until you get the consistancy you are willing to live with for the rest of your life. Is it sweet enough? Too sweet? 4. Cook bottom of pie crust in oven for 10-12 minues at about 400 F. 5. Let pie crust cool a little bit and then add filling. 6. Make the executive decision about whether you want a crust top to your pie and add it if so. 7. Bake for about 30 minutes but do not let the crust burn. 8. Be careful not to burn the sh*t out of yourself.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Vocabulary in the Age of Trump
draft
Words to know in the time of plague and the collapse of our government and our society:
-- supine, n. failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence
-- boogaloo, n. right-wing term for a coming civil war
Words to know in the time of plague and the collapse of our government and our society:
-- supine, n. failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence
-- boogaloo, n. right-wing term for a coming civil war
Friday, April 17, 2020
On Civil Disobedience in a Dictatorship
draft
A friend who will remain nameless asks a reasonable question: is it fair or right for us to use civil disobedience to protest the right wing dictatorship in Washington. Well, if you have faith in the system or in our elites, then possibly the answer is no. But I have no faith in our depraved elites or in our system. I think that ICE/Gestapo is going to keep murdering children, that Devoes is going to keep destroying people's lives and ignoring court orders, that the right wing DOJ will exonerate russian spies and that our Republican representatives will do anything to defend an obvious criminal and traitor in the white house. In other words, I think the question is nonsensical and could only be asked by someone who is in total denial of the situation they are in. Your government is probably murdering children right now and you dont know about it but your lack of knowledge does not make you innocent in these circumstances. You are complicit in their crimes unless you take every possible action to stop and defeat them.
A friend who will remain nameless asks a reasonable question: is it fair or right for us to use civil disobedience to protest the right wing dictatorship in Washington. Well, if you have faith in the system or in our elites, then possibly the answer is no. But I have no faith in our depraved elites or in our system. I think that ICE/Gestapo is going to keep murdering children, that Devoes is going to keep destroying people's lives and ignoring court orders, that the right wing DOJ will exonerate russian spies and that our Republican representatives will do anything to defend an obvious criminal and traitor in the white house. In other words, I think the question is nonsensical and could only be asked by someone who is in total denial of the situation they are in. Your government is probably murdering children right now and you dont know about it but your lack of knowledge does not make you innocent in these circumstances. You are complicit in their crimes unless you take every possible action to stop and defeat them.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Picture from Benton Jew
draft
Many years ago, Benton Jew and Josh Pines came to town and I guess we all went to Griffith Park Observatory.
Many years ago, Benton Jew and Josh Pines came to town and I guess we all went to Griffith Park Observatory.
Purchase Stamps from the USPS
draft
Since the Trump weirdo is trying to destroy the USPS, now is a good time to purchase stamps from USPS.com or from your local post office. The more the merrier.
Since the Trump weirdo is trying to destroy the USPS, now is a good time to purchase stamps from USPS.com or from your local post office. The more the merrier.
HI Trump Weirdos! Hey!
draft
One of my few comments from a Trump weirdo.... deleted. Yay! Totally fucking bugnuts. I hate these people and I want them to die.
One of my few comments from a Trump weirdo.... deleted. Yay! Totally fucking bugnuts. I hate these people and I want them to die.
More on Operation Paperclip
draft
[Excerpted from a letter to a friend regarding Operation Paperclip]
I think you might benefit as I have from reading this book. The CIA made public a book review on it:
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html
It wasnt just rocket scientists, it was much more than that, and complicit is not the word. In many cases these are the leaders of the projects that killed 10s of thousands of slave laborers (100s of thousands?). I am not aware of the Manhattan project being even close to what happened in Nazi Germany. We are talking about some of the worst people of the Nazi regime when it came to such things as medical experiments with a 99% death rate on non consensual subjects. And it was after the fact and we hired these people because we did not believe that we could compete with the Russians with their German scientists any other way. I say, bullshit.
I dont think that the Manhattan project makes us equivalent to the Nazis even a little bit, in any way, whatsoever. I could argue this persuasively for 100,000 years and some people could not hear me, so I suggest we dodge it. They dont want to hear what went into the decision to drop those bombs, what went into the decision to stop dropping those bombs, and so forth. It is way beyond their capability to put themselves into the mindset of those who were there. Even the simplest historical issues are beyond their capability to hear. If it were me, I would not have dropped the bombs directly on those cities, I would have deliberately dropped it offshore, for example. The city would have been wrecked, many people would have died although not as many who did, and the point would have been made. But would the Japanese leadership have heard the message if they had done that? I dont know, but I know that the people who were there and whose job it was to save American lives did not think that it would. Hiroshima was not a civilian target, not even a little itsy bitsy bit. Some scholars wrote a nasty letter a few years ago (10?) comparing Hiroshima to the beautiful and innocent city of San Francisco not realizing how insanely stupid and ignorant their argument was (and these were people who studied the subject), because even a stupid moron who studied the war in the pacific would realize that San Francisco was one of the eseential cities in our war in the Pacific. Perhaps people in academia in this subject are by definition stupid, I dont know, but they sure did not enhance their credibility in this discussion. The Manhattan project is one of the great achievements of our civiilization and really is not comparable in any way with the use of Nazi scientists who deliberately killed people in their charge.
There is an important issue here: we can not trust our government to uphold our morals. We must realize that we must take action and at the very least punish those who, for example, by government policy use torture to achieve policy goals. We have used torture in our nations past, but never by policy to the best of my knowledge. Is this an important point, yes I think it is.
We are all complicit today in the destruction of our government and the murder of innocent people, whose number we will never know because unlike the Nazis we deliberately do not keep and destroy the records (see EPA and Gestapo/ICE). Every day that Trump is in power, every day that McConnell puts right wing nuts in the court system means our system failed. The courts need to be sanitized at once, failure to do so means that we live in an oppressive right wing dictatorship. There is nothing those people wont do to achieve their bizarre right wing goals over the wishes of the majority of the people in this country (which is obvious to everyone in the world except maybe Americans in denial).
The game is over. Its time for a new government.
[Excerpted from a letter to a friend regarding Operation Paperclip]
I think you might benefit as I have from reading this book. The CIA made public a book review on it:
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html
It wasnt just rocket scientists, it was much more than that, and complicit is not the word. In many cases these are the leaders of the projects that killed 10s of thousands of slave laborers (100s of thousands?). I am not aware of the Manhattan project being even close to what happened in Nazi Germany. We are talking about some of the worst people of the Nazi regime when it came to such things as medical experiments with a 99% death rate on non consensual subjects. And it was after the fact and we hired these people because we did not believe that we could compete with the Russians with their German scientists any other way. I say, bullshit.
I dont think that the Manhattan project makes us equivalent to the Nazis even a little bit, in any way, whatsoever. I could argue this persuasively for 100,000 years and some people could not hear me, so I suggest we dodge it. They dont want to hear what went into the decision to drop those bombs, what went into the decision to stop dropping those bombs, and so forth. It is way beyond their capability to put themselves into the mindset of those who were there. Even the simplest historical issues are beyond their capability to hear. If it were me, I would not have dropped the bombs directly on those cities, I would have deliberately dropped it offshore, for example. The city would have been wrecked, many people would have died although not as many who did, and the point would have been made. But would the Japanese leadership have heard the message if they had done that? I dont know, but I know that the people who were there and whose job it was to save American lives did not think that it would. Hiroshima was not a civilian target, not even a little itsy bitsy bit. Some scholars wrote a nasty letter a few years ago (10?) comparing Hiroshima to the beautiful and innocent city of San Francisco not realizing how insanely stupid and ignorant their argument was (and these were people who studied the subject), because even a stupid moron who studied the war in the pacific would realize that San Francisco was one of the eseential cities in our war in the Pacific. Perhaps people in academia in this subject are by definition stupid, I dont know, but they sure did not enhance their credibility in this discussion. The Manhattan project is one of the great achievements of our civiilization and really is not comparable in any way with the use of Nazi scientists who deliberately killed people in their charge.
There is an important issue here: we can not trust our government to uphold our morals. We must realize that we must take action and at the very least punish those who, for example, by government policy use torture to achieve policy goals. We have used torture in our nations past, but never by policy to the best of my knowledge. Is this an important point, yes I think it is.
We are all complicit today in the destruction of our government and the murder of innocent people, whose number we will never know because unlike the Nazis we deliberately do not keep and destroy the records (see EPA and Gestapo/ICE). Every day that Trump is in power, every day that McConnell puts right wing nuts in the court system means our system failed. The courts need to be sanitized at once, failure to do so means that we live in an oppressive right wing dictatorship. There is nothing those people wont do to achieve their bizarre right wing goals over the wishes of the majority of the people in this country (which is obvious to everyone in the world except maybe Americans in denial).
The game is over. Its time for a new government.
Monday, April 13, 2020
This is Why We Can't Wait
draft
However, this is why I do advocate as of now a general strike and civil disobedience, which might indeed get people killed.
Because doing anything else, is immoral. Waiting is immoral. And I cite for you the following evidence: Did Trump remove the rules protecting the elderly at nursing homes? Would you agree that if he did such a thing that it would be an act of incredible cruelty, removing necessary protections (we know they are necessary because of things that have happened) to protect those who can not protect themselves?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-rolls-back-rules-protecting-elderly/
This is just sick.
If we had a government that functioned, this would not have happened because the Orange Moron would have been in jail one or two years ago.
However, this is why I do advocate as of now a general strike and civil disobedience, which might indeed get people killed.
Because doing anything else, is immoral. Waiting is immoral. And I cite for you the following evidence: Did Trump remove the rules protecting the elderly at nursing homes? Would you agree that if he did such a thing that it would be an act of incredible cruelty, removing necessary protections (we know they are necessary because of things that have happened) to protect those who can not protect themselves?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-rolls-back-rules-protecting-elderly/
This is just sick.
If we had a government that functioned, this would not have happened because the Orange Moron would have been in jail one or two years ago.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
New Constitution Project
draft
Every day that Trump remains in office just proves that the government has failed and that we need a new constitution. Voting for Biden will remove one of the symptoms, which is nice, but it wont fix the corrupt politicians or judiciary and it wont fix an obviously failed constitution. Since our elites have failed to fix or even discuss a new constitution we may as well start discussing one ourselves. It wont really help and any good ideas (or bad ideas if they are useful to someone who wants to steal money) will just be taken without attribution, but thats OK. As peons with no political power, what else do we have to do with our time?
Every day that Trump remains in office just proves that the government has failed and that we need a new constitution. Voting for Biden will remove one of the symptoms, which is nice, but it wont fix the corrupt politicians or judiciary and it wont fix an obviously failed constitution. Since our elites have failed to fix or even discuss a new constitution we may as well start discussing one ourselves. It wont really help and any good ideas (or bad ideas if they are useful to someone who wants to steal money) will just be taken without attribution, but thats OK. As peons with no political power, what else do we have to do with our time?
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
How To Get the Bernie Supporters to Vote for Biden
draft
I have heard a lot of people command and threaten Bernie supporters that they had better enthusiastically support Joe Biden or they are traitors, etc. I dont think that is the best approach. Here is what I suggest you do to get people's enthusiasm. The following is intended for example only, obviously the details might vary.
Joe Biden would announce a major policy speech. For that speech, Bernie Sanders would introduce him and say something like "I would like to introduce my good friend and long time colleague in the struggle for justice in this country, please welcome, Joe Biden!" and then Biden would go up there and, in JFK or RFK style, in ringing tones, say something like "We will end racial discrimination in this country! We will guarantee an elite education to anyone who qualifies! We will see that the rich pay their fair share of taxes and undo the stupid so-called Republican tax reform! We will put the criminals of the previous administration in jail! We will punish those countries that have interfered in our elections and attacked our society! We will get the right wing nutty boys like Roberts, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh off the bench because America will not be a slave to the right wing minority! We will make our elections free and fair for all Americans! We will take a leading role in addressing global climate change! We will do all this and more. Join me!"
And then I think you would no longer have to threaten Bernie supporters to get their vote.
I have heard a lot of people command and threaten Bernie supporters that they had better enthusiastically support Joe Biden or they are traitors, etc. I dont think that is the best approach. Here is what I suggest you do to get people's enthusiasm. The following is intended for example only, obviously the details might vary.
Joe Biden would announce a major policy speech. For that speech, Bernie Sanders would introduce him and say something like "I would like to introduce my good friend and long time colleague in the struggle for justice in this country, please welcome, Joe Biden!" and then Biden would go up there and, in JFK or RFK style, in ringing tones, say something like "We will end racial discrimination in this country! We will guarantee an elite education to anyone who qualifies! We will see that the rich pay their fair share of taxes and undo the stupid so-called Republican tax reform! We will put the criminals of the previous administration in jail! We will punish those countries that have interfered in our elections and attacked our society! We will get the right wing nutty boys like Roberts, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh off the bench because America will not be a slave to the right wing minority! We will make our elections free and fair for all Americans! We will take a leading role in addressing global climate change! We will do all this and more. Join me!"
And then I think you would no longer have to threaten Bernie supporters to get their vote.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Facebook List of Celebrities You Have Met
draft
But what is a celebrity?
Here is a possible list, all real.
Jimmy Carter
Forrest J. Ackerman (and Wendy Wahrman Ackerman)
William Shatner
Ivan Sutherland
Ed Catmull and John Lassiter
Lynda Weinman
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jim Clark
Bill Joy
Tim Leary
Terrence McKenna
Grace Hopper
Willis Ware
John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Joel Hynek, Dennis Muren, Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich
Jerry Brown, Jr.
Graham Nash
Matt Groening
A host of West Coast SF writers, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Bob Silverberg, etc.
Sumner Redstone
Mark Hammill
Bill Mumy
Jim Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera
Harry Marks and Saul Wurman
Steven Spielberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Bob Kurtz
Greg MacGillivrey
Joni Mitchell (sortof, its a long story)
But what is a celebrity?
Here is a possible list, all real.
Jimmy Carter
Forrest J. Ackerman (and Wendy Wahrman Ackerman)
William Shatner
Ivan Sutherland
Ed Catmull and John Lassiter
Lynda Weinman
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jim Clark
Bill Joy
Tim Leary
Terrence McKenna
Grace Hopper
Willis Ware
John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Joel Hynek, Dennis Muren, Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich
Jerry Brown, Jr.
Graham Nash
Matt Groening
A host of West Coast SF writers, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson, Bob Silverberg, etc.
Sumner Redstone
Mark Hammill
Bill Mumy
Jim Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera
Harry Marks and Saul Wurman
Steven Spielberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Bob Kurtz
Greg MacGillivrey
Joni Mitchell (sortof, its a long story)
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Look! My Lyft Driver Gave Me a Mask!
draft
My Lyft driver, a nice Hispanic lady, had a very limited supply of masks and she offered me one. At first I refused but she wanted me to have it. I gave her a big tip but that isnt what matters. What matters is that people help each other in a time of crisis.
Unlike my friend David in LA who goes out of his way to infect people.
Me at Pharmacy in Montecito
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Returning the Gift of Nastiness in the Pandemic
draft
Its not everyday that you get to return the favor of nastiness to someone who has attacked you in the past and for no good reason. I am sentimental about my old friends, yes even my old lovers. Friends on Facebook for several years she suddently attacked me for no reason. So here we go, dear, love you! Text follows.
End of text. That was fun!
Its not everyday that you get to return the favor of nastiness to someone who has attacked you in the past and for no good reason. I am sentimental about my old friends, yes even my old lovers. Friends on Facebook for several years she suddently attacked me for no reason. So here we go, dear, love you! Text follows.
Since you went out of my way to be as nasty as you could be to me for no good reason, and when I was just being cordial and pleasant, I wanted to return the favor. I hope that you or someone you love is damaged permanently in this pandemic. With luck it can be someone who dies because you infected them so you can live with the guilt, assuming you are capable of experiencing guilt. Please dont ever talk to me again.
End of text. That was fun!
Getting A Message to Richard Edlund, Somehow
draft
I just want to get a message to Richard Edlund, ASC, somehow. I know he is on the Board of Governors of the Academy. Anyway I want to make sure and hope that he is taking care of himself in these challenging times. And to thank him for all the times he has been very kind to me. He probably doesnt even notice, he is probably kind to everyone. But it really has meant a lot to me over the years.
I just want to get a message to Richard Edlund, ASC, somehow. I know he is on the Board of Governors of the Academy. Anyway I want to make sure and hope that he is taking care of himself in these challenging times. And to thank him for all the times he has been very kind to me. He probably doesnt even notice, he is probably kind to everyone. But it really has meant a lot to me over the years.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
The Whole World is My Garden
draft
For those who use Voltaire's garden as a way of excusing their failure to stand up for what is right, my response is that my garden is the whole world. If you fail to stand up for what is right you will not be forgiven by history.
For those who use Voltaire's garden as a way of excusing their failure to stand up for what is right, my response is that my garden is the whole world. If you fail to stand up for what is right you will not be forgiven by history.
When is a Nazi a Nazi?
draft
When is a Nazi a Nazi? Do you have to wait until they kill 6 million innocent people? Or is it sufficient for them to kill as many of their scapegoat ethnic and other group(s) from "shithole" countries as they can get their hands on?
Was Adolf Hitler a Nazi before the extermination camps? Of course he was. For those who say he was not, you are just excusing your moral laziness. You should not have to wait for all the murders to happen before you should be willing to stand up and oppose them.
You can send me all the holocaust porn you want, and it doesnt change a thing. Your sophistry does not excuse you from failing to oppose these murders. You are complicit with their crimes.
Fat and Unhappy
draft
Letter to my friend Andy about being overweight.
The situation about losing weight seems to be somewhat complicated. It doesnt seem to be so much about the "healthiness" of the food I eat, although that is part of it, but is probably about the amount/calories thereof. I have been cooking at home every meal for about 15 years. I am a lacto vegetarian (which means I eat cheese and butter, but avoid eggs and of course meat of any type). But I have decades of bad food habits, big meals, and medicating anxiety with food. I have a sweet tooth. My metabolism has changed with age (my father warned me of this) and my exercise per day has gone way down. If you subscribe to the calorie theory of weight loss (and I only sortof do), then you realize to your horror that one scone may be the total calories permissible in a day. To that add the interesting evidence of calorie restriction and life extension, and you realize that you (or me, rather) is / are fucked. I have a variety of different cost/quality equations that I use to control my expenditures and I am most excellently knowledgable about reducing cost in this area, but sadly that would reduce fresh fruits and vegetables and increase carbohydrates. Bad. So I increase costs and eat healthy home made soups, stews and salads. Non fat dressing. Olive oil when an oil is used. Try to keep a lid on the amount of cheese, use half the butter a recipe calls for. On the other hand, life is short, and food is a big part of the pleasure I am permitted to get in this disgusting world we live in. With the orange moron as president and my life and career a ruin, who would begrudge me a half a stick of butter to make blueberry ersatz scones once in a while? Is that so much to ask from life?
So I am fat and unhappy and that is not the way its supposed to be.
Add to that the local culture where all the people here look like they just stepped out of a Nike catalog (and possibly did) and the situation is worse. And everyone here eats kale and my feeling is that the only people who are qualified to eat kale are people from the South, probably black, and they use a lot of tasty pig fat when they do so, and cook the shit out of the stuff. I dont go with this healthy kale thing.
Letter to my friend Andy about being overweight.
The situation about losing weight seems to be somewhat complicated. It doesnt seem to be so much about the "healthiness" of the food I eat, although that is part of it, but is probably about the amount/calories thereof. I have been cooking at home every meal for about 15 years. I am a lacto vegetarian (which means I eat cheese and butter, but avoid eggs and of course meat of any type). But I have decades of bad food habits, big meals, and medicating anxiety with food. I have a sweet tooth. My metabolism has changed with age (my father warned me of this) and my exercise per day has gone way down. If you subscribe to the calorie theory of weight loss (and I only sortof do), then you realize to your horror that one scone may be the total calories permissible in a day. To that add the interesting evidence of calorie restriction and life extension, and you realize that you (or me, rather) is / are fucked. I have a variety of different cost/quality equations that I use to control my expenditures and I am most excellently knowledgable about reducing cost in this area, but sadly that would reduce fresh fruits and vegetables and increase carbohydrates. Bad. So I increase costs and eat healthy home made soups, stews and salads. Non fat dressing. Olive oil when an oil is used. Try to keep a lid on the amount of cheese, use half the butter a recipe calls for. On the other hand, life is short, and food is a big part of the pleasure I am permitted to get in this disgusting world we live in. With the orange moron as president and my life and career a ruin, who would begrudge me a half a stick of butter to make blueberry ersatz scones once in a while? Is that so much to ask from life?
So I am fat and unhappy and that is not the way its supposed to be.
Add to that the local culture where all the people here look like they just stepped out of a Nike catalog (and possibly did) and the situation is worse. And everyone here eats kale and my feeling is that the only people who are qualified to eat kale are people from the South, probably black, and they use a lot of tasty pig fat when they do so, and cook the shit out of the stuff. I dont go with this healthy kale thing.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
So Now We Wait
draft
So now we wait. Is it the apocalypse or just another example of the dysfunction and stupidity of our government? I have no idea. But presumably if the hammer comes down it comes down in 1-3 weeks. I am guessing we will only know it is bad if we start hearing stories of hospitals filling up. Or not filling up, as the weeks go by. Idiots.
So now we wait. Is it the apocalypse or just another example of the dysfunction and stupidity of our government? I have no idea. But presumably if the hammer comes down it comes down in 1-3 weeks. I am guessing we will only know it is bad if we start hearing stories of hospitals filling up. Or not filling up, as the weeks go by. Idiots.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Jim Houston, RIP, Damn It
draft
Jim Houston died unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 61. Cause of death is still a little uncertain but it is probably from complications from a stroke. He was young, had years more left to him, but he was not taking care of his health and that is a proximate cause.
I will elaborate this post with pictures and so forth as I get them.
At some point there will be a memorial service out here, but in the time being, he will be buried in Pennsylvania.
Jim and I talked perhaps once / week and I am really annoyed.
Jim Houston died unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 61. Cause of death is still a little uncertain but it is probably from complications from a stroke. He was young, had years more left to him, but he was not taking care of his health and that is a proximate cause.
I will elaborate this post with pictures and so forth as I get them.
At some point there will be a memorial service out here, but in the time being, he will be buried in Pennsylvania.
Jim and I talked perhaps once / week and I am really annoyed.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Scenario for the Failure of Recent Democratic Coalition
draft
So this is my argument for why the most recent democratic coalition will fragment after the next election.
Lets run through a few scenarios. In all scenarios, assume that there is some percentage of democrats who we might call Sanders/Warren supporters and that Biden is nominated, as he certainly will be. I also assume that the most important factor holding the Democratic coalition together for this next election is fear of a Trump 2nd term. In the first scenario, Trump defeats Biden through a combination of obvious vote repression and russian interference or possibly just obvious judicial interference as we saw in 2000 and really in all elections since then by the failure of the judiciary to correct obvious abuses. The usual finger pointing results, with the so called mainstream democrats blaming the sanders/warren faction for the loss. But the sanders/warren faction will say you guys really didnt give us anything with Biden, just like you didnt with Clinton, and your only hold on us is that you claim we have to stick together to win elections. Well, screw that. And the Democratis party becomes essentially two parties that never talk to each other (through a process I could not begin to predict). It goes without saying that the conversion of this country into a right wing dictatorship will be completed trivially in the second Trump administration, but that is a different topic, and besides, its pretty close already. In scenario two, Biden wins and utterly fails to address the progressive agenda except through obviously insincere and insufficient acts, utterly failing in all regards, including even to reverse trump exec orders. He does do a few things, like maybe something at least superficially to help his major blocks such as unions and the african american vote, but very little to help the sanders/warren crowd. To be fair, since Biden is just a stooge of the right wing neoliberal faction just like Obama, it would be wrong for him to do anything else. But he is certainly better than Trump. But in that scenario the sanders/warren crowd will also say "what the fuck is this", and walk. Again, two democratic parties, unable to unite beyond certain very specific elections, the Democrats refuse to reform (the DNC has been incredibly bad in the last two years) and thats the end of that. The Republicans romp through the next 2-4 presidential elections because their minority, a solid 35-45 percent, always unite behind whatever traitor or idiot they nominate, and they win. This may or may not apply to the individual states, each of which has its own situation.
Now maybe Biden will pull the party together, unlike Clinton who failed utterly at that, because after all at this point even a pretense of democracy will be gone and people may unite because the situation is so dire, but by then it will be too late anyway, probably.
So that is why I think the most recent incarnation of the democratic coalition will pretty much cease to exist after the next election.
As always, I tend to be too optimistic, but whatever.
So this is my argument for why the most recent democratic coalition will fragment after the next election.
Lets run through a few scenarios. In all scenarios, assume that there is some percentage of democrats who we might call Sanders/Warren supporters and that Biden is nominated, as he certainly will be. I also assume that the most important factor holding the Democratic coalition together for this next election is fear of a Trump 2nd term. In the first scenario, Trump defeats Biden through a combination of obvious vote repression and russian interference or possibly just obvious judicial interference as we saw in 2000 and really in all elections since then by the failure of the judiciary to correct obvious abuses. The usual finger pointing results, with the so called mainstream democrats blaming the sanders/warren faction for the loss. But the sanders/warren faction will say you guys really didnt give us anything with Biden, just like you didnt with Clinton, and your only hold on us is that you claim we have to stick together to win elections. Well, screw that. And the Democratis party becomes essentially two parties that never talk to each other (through a process I could not begin to predict). It goes without saying that the conversion of this country into a right wing dictatorship will be completed trivially in the second Trump administration, but that is a different topic, and besides, its pretty close already. In scenario two, Biden wins and utterly fails to address the progressive agenda except through obviously insincere and insufficient acts, utterly failing in all regards, including even to reverse trump exec orders. He does do a few things, like maybe something at least superficially to help his major blocks such as unions and the african american vote, but very little to help the sanders/warren crowd. To be fair, since Biden is just a stooge of the right wing neoliberal faction just like Obama, it would be wrong for him to do anything else. But he is certainly better than Trump. But in that scenario the sanders/warren crowd will also say "what the fuck is this", and walk. Again, two democratic parties, unable to unite beyond certain very specific elections, the Democrats refuse to reform (the DNC has been incredibly bad in the last two years) and thats the end of that. The Republicans romp through the next 2-4 presidential elections because their minority, a solid 35-45 percent, always unite behind whatever traitor or idiot they nominate, and they win. This may or may not apply to the individual states, each of which has its own situation.
Now maybe Biden will pull the party together, unlike Clinton who failed utterly at that, because after all at this point even a pretense of democracy will be gone and people may unite because the situation is so dire, but by then it will be too late anyway, probably.
So that is why I think the most recent incarnation of the democratic coalition will pretty much cease to exist after the next election.
As always, I tend to be too optimistic, but whatever.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
The Long Term Effects of COVID-19 (part 1)
draft
There are many issues regarding COVID-19 and whether it will affect America in the long run. There is a clear answer from American history because there are some very interesting case studies we can review including the Civil War, the Pandemic of 1918, the Depression, World War II and Vietnam. I am going to focus here on the Depression but the others would each have their own story to tell. The Depression is particularly noteworthy because it was a prolonged disaster, it affected everybody, and I have some personal stake in the matter.
The short answer is this: the effects of the Depression were profound for those who lived through it, but tended to go away over time as new people entered the world who had not directly experienced it. Until today, its most notable expression are some fascinating art and infrastructure projects that have remained behind to baffle, uplift and mystify us.
My father told me stories about his time during the depression. It was very hard to relate to, and ultimately I found them colorful but not necessarily applicable to my experience. In that, I was wrong, because when I realized that I had, unwittingly, taken chances with my own economic survival because I thought I was, somehow, exempt, I blamed myself even more. Why? Because I had been warned and I had not listened.
Ultimately, everything about the Depression was ignored by our various right wing governments as unions were attacked and financial institutions and procedures deregulated. The common people may have an excuse for this, but our elites never.
And yet, now and then one sees something like the Hoover Dam, or these fabulous remanants of the WPA and one has to wonder, how is it that our corrupt and crass government(s) went out of their way to sponsor such interesting art and architecture?
There are many issues regarding COVID-19 and whether it will affect America in the long run. There is a clear answer from American history because there are some very interesting case studies we can review including the Civil War, the Pandemic of 1918, the Depression, World War II and Vietnam. I am going to focus here on the Depression but the others would each have their own story to tell. The Depression is particularly noteworthy because it was a prolonged disaster, it affected everybody, and I have some personal stake in the matter.
The short answer is this: the effects of the Depression were profound for those who lived through it, but tended to go away over time as new people entered the world who had not directly experienced it. Until today, its most notable expression are some fascinating art and infrastructure projects that have remained behind to baffle, uplift and mystify us.
My father told me stories about his time during the depression. It was very hard to relate to, and ultimately I found them colorful but not necessarily applicable to my experience. In that, I was wrong, because when I realized that I had, unwittingly, taken chances with my own economic survival because I thought I was, somehow, exempt, I blamed myself even more. Why? Because I had been warned and I had not listened.
Ultimately, everything about the Depression was ignored by our various right wing governments as unions were attacked and financial institutions and procedures deregulated. The common people may have an excuse for this, but our elites never.
And yet, now and then one sees something like the Hoover Dam, or these fabulous remanants of the WPA and one has to wonder, how is it that our corrupt and crass government(s) went out of their way to sponsor such interesting art and architecture?
Some Biden Questions
draft
Some Biden questions:
1. Will he take a fitness test to prove he is physically and mentally competant? (same question for Trump, of course), 2. Where does he stand on prosecuting russians and traitors, 3. Where does he stand on prosecuting Trump and his family? 4. Where does he stand on prosecuting people like Barr, Pruitt, Nunes, etc? 5. Where does he stand on term limits for justices and what will he do to help make that happen? 6. Where does he stand on the electoral college, changing it to see that we are not victimized by it ever again, 7. Where does he stand on changing statute of limitations? 8 As more crimes of the Trump administration come out (torture, destruction of records, etc), where does he stand on prosecuting those people, 9. Where does he stand on prosecuting big tech for their crimes (FB putting Trump in power, for example) and criminalizing behavior like Twitter and hate tweets, etc.)
Of these, I think that #1 would be hard to do because Trump would never agree to be tested, not really. Also #9 is perhaps controversial.
Do we know the answer to any of these questions? Yes, of course I will vote for Biden over Trump, but then who wouldnt?
Some Biden questions:
1. Will he take a fitness test to prove he is physically and mentally competant? (same question for Trump, of course), 2. Where does he stand on prosecuting russians and traitors, 3. Where does he stand on prosecuting Trump and his family? 4. Where does he stand on prosecuting people like Barr, Pruitt, Nunes, etc? 5. Where does he stand on term limits for justices and what will he do to help make that happen? 6. Where does he stand on the electoral college, changing it to see that we are not victimized by it ever again, 7. Where does he stand on changing statute of limitations? 8 As more crimes of the Trump administration come out (torture, destruction of records, etc), where does he stand on prosecuting those people, 9. Where does he stand on prosecuting big tech for their crimes (FB putting Trump in power, for example) and criminalizing behavior like Twitter and hate tweets, etc.)
Of these, I think that #1 would be hard to do because Trump would never agree to be tested, not really. Also #9 is perhaps controversial.
Do we know the answer to any of these questions? Yes, of course I will vote for Biden over Trump, but then who wouldnt?
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Are Interpretations of Silence a Form of Delusion of Reference?
draft
I do perhaps 99 percent of my social interaction via "electronic mediation" whether that be texting, email, Facebook, telephone or instant messaging. Sometimes a friend does not reply and then time passes and he/she does not reply to another message and then months go by and he/she does not respond to another message (email, whatever) that may be particularly chosen to be easy to reply to and relevant, entertaining, whatever to his/her interests.
Obviously I wonder if I am being ghosted. But there are lots of reasons a friend might be doing this beyond the possibility that one is being ghosted, ostracised or rejected. He/she may be going through a particularly intense time in their family or in their career or in other areas of their life. They might be helping a friend or themselves get through a serious illness. They might be travelling or trying to make a deadline that is not happening for them. There are lots of things that may be going on. After all, it is likely that you are not the center of interest in their life even if you are a friend for many years.
But since sometimes you are being ghosted, or at least that has happened to me in the past, and so the question is, is it a delusion of reference to interpret silence as a signal of social rejection? Maybe "delusions of reference" lite?
Delusions of Reference on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_of_reference_and_delusions_of_reference
[Addendum: the best algorithm I have found for evaluating if you are ghosted, is as follows: You send short emails at a constantly increasing interval: e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc. Each email is constructed to be easy to respond to. No major questions that require thought. Then if you still dont hear from him after some long period of time, you assume you are ghosted and try not to worry about it.]
[Addendum: my friend got back to me, so I am not exactly ghosted, and he is probably just very busy. However, it definitely makes me wonder if I have overstepped some bound, so we will see.]
I do perhaps 99 percent of my social interaction via "electronic mediation" whether that be texting, email, Facebook, telephone or instant messaging. Sometimes a friend does not reply and then time passes and he/she does not reply to another message and then months go by and he/she does not respond to another message (email, whatever) that may be particularly chosen to be easy to reply to and relevant, entertaining, whatever to his/her interests.
Obviously I wonder if I am being ghosted. But there are lots of reasons a friend might be doing this beyond the possibility that one is being ghosted, ostracised or rejected. He/she may be going through a particularly intense time in their family or in their career or in other areas of their life. They might be helping a friend or themselves get through a serious illness. They might be travelling or trying to make a deadline that is not happening for them. There are lots of things that may be going on. After all, it is likely that you are not the center of interest in their life even if you are a friend for many years.
But since sometimes you are being ghosted, or at least that has happened to me in the past, and so the question is, is it a delusion of reference to interpret silence as a signal of social rejection? Maybe "delusions of reference" lite?
Delusions of Reference on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_of_reference_and_delusions_of_reference
[Addendum: the best algorithm I have found for evaluating if you are ghosted, is as follows: You send short emails at a constantly increasing interval: e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc. Each email is constructed to be easy to respond to. No major questions that require thought. Then if you still dont hear from him after some long period of time, you assume you are ghosted and try not to worry about it.]
[Addendum: my friend got back to me, so I am not exactly ghosted, and he is probably just very busy. However, it definitely makes me wonder if I have overstepped some bound, so we will see.]
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Michael and the Saxophone of St. Timothy
draft
I know you will find the following story hard to believe but I swear every word of it is true. I am of course oversimplifying since what had occurred is not spelled out well in our sources but I am loathe to elaborate freely. Many decades ago, a young boy tried to learn three musical instruments and failed at all three. The first was a cheap recorder which he had bought at a gift shop and which made plausible pleasant noises but nothing coherent. The second was his brothers 1959 Fender Stratocaster with which he could make chord changes and even some version of the rhythm accompaniment of some songs but it mutilated his fingers and he stopped. But the third was the most frustrating and confusing. It was his brother's clarinet and all he could ever do was to have it make horrible squeaking noises. The young boy was crushed and knew he was a complete failure and withdrew from society and lived in total isolation in the horrible wilderness in N San Diego County. But one day, many decades later, he took a very rare trip to the north and staying at the house of his friend Tom, a house filled with music, he happened to mention to his friend that he could never figure out how to play a reed instrument. One of the sons of the family overheard him and being a trained musician and filled with the spirit of hospitality, undertook, on his own initiative and at his own expense, to show the visitor whom he had never before met or even heard of, how to play a reed instrument, an antique saxophone. To the hermit's astonishment he was able to, with the instruction of his friend's son, immediately make plausible if unrefined saxophone sounds. This so amazed him that his depression and sense of failure dropped visibly from his shoulders like some great winter coat and he was inspired to go out into the world and help many of the poor and downtrodden. His name was Michael and as you may have guessed this is the origin of our famous story that every child knows, "Michael and the Saxophone of St. Timothy". I swear every word of this is true, so help me God.
I know you will find the following story hard to believe but I swear every word of it is true. I am of course oversimplifying since what had occurred is not spelled out well in our sources but I am loathe to elaborate freely. Many decades ago, a young boy tried to learn three musical instruments and failed at all three. The first was a cheap recorder which he had bought at a gift shop and which made plausible pleasant noises but nothing coherent. The second was his brothers 1959 Fender Stratocaster with which he could make chord changes and even some version of the rhythm accompaniment of some songs but it mutilated his fingers and he stopped. But the third was the most frustrating and confusing. It was his brother's clarinet and all he could ever do was to have it make horrible squeaking noises. The young boy was crushed and knew he was a complete failure and withdrew from society and lived in total isolation in the horrible wilderness in N San Diego County. But one day, many decades later, he took a very rare trip to the north and staying at the house of his friend Tom, a house filled with music, he happened to mention to his friend that he could never figure out how to play a reed instrument. One of the sons of the family overheard him and being a trained musician and filled with the spirit of hospitality, undertook, on his own initiative and at his own expense, to show the visitor whom he had never before met or even heard of, how to play a reed instrument, an antique saxophone. To the hermit's astonishment he was able to, with the instruction of his friend's son, immediately make plausible if unrefined saxophone sounds. This so amazed him that his depression and sense of failure dropped visibly from his shoulders like some great winter coat and he was inspired to go out into the world and help many of the poor and downtrodden. His name was Michael and as you may have guessed this is the origin of our famous story that every child knows, "Michael and the Saxophone of St. Timothy". I swear every word of this is true, so help me God.
Betrayal and the Virus
draft
I feel betrayed by our government's failure to use reason and science and experience to help set policy and to be proactive in this pandemic. We have had years to improve our medical system in general, and years to improve our system's response to an unspecified pandemic. We knew that a pandemic was a risk, possibly even an increasing risk, based on history and a number of factors (international air travel being only the most obvious).
But specifically we lost 2.5 months at the beginning of this pandemic when we knew we had a respiratory illness on our hands. Training health care workers in this specialty and possibly increasing the number of respirators in hospitals are two obvious things that could benefit from those 2.5 months. Another, mentioned so many times in the press, is the issue of testing. You need testing to know what is going on or you are flying blind.
The point is, we pay our government and its elites to deal with a number of very difficult problems. Many of those problems include uncertain risk. Classic examples are the risk of nuclear war, the risk of earthquakes, and so forth. We spend a lot of money preparing for these disasters even if we dont know that they will happen for sure and when. To make decisions about these things requires a lot skill, expertise and judgment.
I am going to give an example of this. Los Angeles is not known for planning for the future and yet they have spent a fair amount of money preparing for an event which is sometimes called the 50 year flood and the 100 year flood. These are events where there is so much precipitation that the normal water management capability is overwhelmed. I can point you to many examples of infrastructure hidden in plain site where the city has prepared emergency water diversion infrastructure to accept a huge amount of water overflow until the normal system can process it. And this is Los Angeles where corruption and failure to deal with important known issues is infamous.
I propose to you that our federal government has been given ample warning of various pandemics and could have done a better job preparing for this threat. Thats their job.
I feel betrayed by our government's failure to use reason and science and experience to help set policy and to be proactive in this pandemic. We have had years to improve our medical system in general, and years to improve our system's response to an unspecified pandemic. We knew that a pandemic was a risk, possibly even an increasing risk, based on history and a number of factors (international air travel being only the most obvious).
But specifically we lost 2.5 months at the beginning of this pandemic when we knew we had a respiratory illness on our hands. Training health care workers in this specialty and possibly increasing the number of respirators in hospitals are two obvious things that could benefit from those 2.5 months. Another, mentioned so many times in the press, is the issue of testing. You need testing to know what is going on or you are flying blind.
The point is, we pay our government and its elites to deal with a number of very difficult problems. Many of those problems include uncertain risk. Classic examples are the risk of nuclear war, the risk of earthquakes, and so forth. We spend a lot of money preparing for these disasters even if we dont know that they will happen for sure and when. To make decisions about these things requires a lot skill, expertise and judgment.
I am going to give an example of this. Los Angeles is not known for planning for the future and yet they have spent a fair amount of money preparing for an event which is sometimes called the 50 year flood and the 100 year flood. These are events where there is so much precipitation that the normal water management capability is overwhelmed. I can point you to many examples of infrastructure hidden in plain site where the city has prepared emergency water diversion infrastructure to accept a huge amount of water overflow until the normal system can process it. And this is Los Angeles where corruption and failure to deal with important known issues is infamous.
I propose to you that our federal government has been given ample warning of various pandemics and could have done a better job preparing for this threat. Thats their job.
The Sepulveda Dam in the San Fernando Valley is one of the City (or County?) of LA's emergency water diversion sites.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
So Here It Comes Again
draft
So here it comes again. The Democrats nominate a "moderate" guaranteed to allow no change and support the rich. Their candidate will fail to prosecute criminals on Wall Street, any change to the economy will be minimal. (Editor's note: Michael is just blowing off steam again).
So here it comes again. The Democrats nominate a "moderate" guaranteed to allow no change and support the rich. Their candidate will fail to prosecute criminals on Wall Street, any change to the economy will be minimal. (Editor's note: Michael is just blowing off steam again).
So Its All Over
draft
The country failed and armed revolution is the only solution. Not aware of any argument against this. (Editor's note: Yes he is.) Its too bad. Also I tried as a citizen to find a way to participate but failed. No one had any ideas and I sure didnt. (Editor's note: Yes he did.)
The country failed and armed revolution is the only solution. Not aware of any argument against this. (Editor's note: Yes he is.) Its too bad. Also I tried as a citizen to find a way to participate but failed. No one had any ideas and I sure didnt. (Editor's note: Yes he did.)
Monday, February 10, 2020
Is It Wrong to Accuse Someone of Violating a Law That Does Not Exist?
draft
I asked a friend the following hypothetical question:
And my friend the Harvard-trained entertainment attorney replied:
To which I said:
I asked a friend the following hypothetical question:
Imagine the following. Person A is an official of our government charged with, among other things, the responsibility to abide by and enforce the law. In the course of normal politics, Person A accuses his/her enemy, Person B who is also an official of the goverment, of a crime. Lets say that Person A accuses Person B of putting pesto sauce on his kale on Fridays. "Thats outrageous, its against the law!". But as far as anyone knows, the laws about kale make no mention of pesto sauce, nor has there been any case about pesto sauce and kale in all of recorded history, and it is reasonable to expect Person A to know this. In other words (a) the issue is not at all subtle, and (b) Person A is responsible in some sense of that word in his official capacity, to understand, in broad strokes, the state of the law about kale and pesto sauce (and if he was confused, he could go ask somebody). The question is, has Person A, in accusing Person B of violating the law, in fact violated the law himself?
And my friend the Harvard-trained entertainment attorney replied:
You are right that there is an idea that people in office are supposed to understand and respect the law, but mostly it’s just aspirational, not a legal standard to which they are held. It’s probably not a crime for a public official to make outrageous statements claiming violations of the law that he knows are not violations at all. If you and I (i.e someone not protected by making a statement relating to duties in a public office) did the same thing, it might be defamation because it is defamatory to wrongfully state that someone committed a crime, though maybe not because if he really did put pesto on his kale and the only falsehood in my statement is that in doing so he committed crime, it is possible that might not be considered defamation, because defamation usually goes to the truth of the underlying act not to its characterization as good/bad or legal/illegal. In making the statement in his official capacity and even in wrongfully prosecuting a case for violation of a law that he knows that he is making up, he is probably immune from prosecution under several different theories, but it could be grounds for removal from office.
To which I said:
We must thank our friends the Russians for their help in improving Democracy by stress testing it. It wont be possible to indulge this kind of behavior going forward now that we have endured Trump. Sadly, even lawyers, and particularly lawyers in positions of trust, must now be held to a higher standard. But that does not necessarily mean an orange onesie learning new skills, it may merely mean they are not permitted to be Attorney General or POTUS.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Guidelines for Crossing Into Canada for a Conference
draft
This is what I learned from being unable to cross the border into Canada to attend an academic conference. I probably did everything wrong. You can learn from my mistakes.
The guiding principle is to avoid the appearance of someone who is going to cross into Canada and then become a "problem", someone who intends to stay in Canada and who may need financial assistance or try to get or take a job from a more deserving Canadian citizen. In order to sniff out these potential miscreants, the border officials have certain things that they look for and I managed to get a perfect score, I think.
To that desired end of convincing the nice people at the border to let you through, the following guidelines are suggested: 1. Fly directly, do not use the bus from Seattle to Vancouver. I attempted to cross the border via the regular bus shuttle from Seattle because I thought it would allow me to be more flexible and save money. A false economy, I think. Had I flown directly to Vancouver, I think I would have appeared to have more financial means and to put more value on my time which is the sort of thing they look for when separating the wheat from the chaff. 2. You should have booked a return ticket and be able to prove it on paper without any hesitation. I did have a return ticket, but it was from Seattle to Santa Barbara, my plan was to return by bus to Seattle and did not make a reservation since I was not completely sure when I wanted to return. Definitely a mistake. 3. Have documentation for where you plan to stay. Avoid the appearance of improvisation. Have your hotel reservation confirmed and carry paper documentation. 4. Carry lots of cash on you. These days most of us rely on getting cash on demand from an ATM. They want to see plenty of financial responsibility in overt ways. $1,000 in cash and maybe $1,000 in travellers checks would not be out of place. 5. Dress like you are going to the bank for a loan. 6. Do not carry your dinner and think you are going to take it over the border with you. 7. Have documentation about the conference you are going to attend. In this case, that would mean a piece of paper that demonstrates that you have preregistered for SIGGRAPH (and spent your $1,000 US in Canada, already). And, finally, 8. When they ask you if you are employed, do not tell them the truth, that computer animation has failed to provide steady employment for so many people, but say that you are self-employed.
Beyond that, it would have been nice if SIGGRAPH had perhaps a volunteer with a car who could escort people from the border to the conference center, as once you are held back for further review, the logistics of getting into the city are non-trivial even if they do let you through.
To recap, the Canadian border officials want to have some confidence that you are not planning to come to Canada to stay, but will come only briefly, spend money, be respectable and go home.
This is what I learned from being unable to cross the border into Canada to attend an academic conference. I probably did everything wrong. You can learn from my mistakes.
The guiding principle is to avoid the appearance of someone who is going to cross into Canada and then become a "problem", someone who intends to stay in Canada and who may need financial assistance or try to get or take a job from a more deserving Canadian citizen. In order to sniff out these potential miscreants, the border officials have certain things that they look for and I managed to get a perfect score, I think.
To that desired end of convincing the nice people at the border to let you through, the following guidelines are suggested: 1. Fly directly, do not use the bus from Seattle to Vancouver. I attempted to cross the border via the regular bus shuttle from Seattle because I thought it would allow me to be more flexible and save money. A false economy, I think. Had I flown directly to Vancouver, I think I would have appeared to have more financial means and to put more value on my time which is the sort of thing they look for when separating the wheat from the chaff. 2. You should have booked a return ticket and be able to prove it on paper without any hesitation. I did have a return ticket, but it was from Seattle to Santa Barbara, my plan was to return by bus to Seattle and did not make a reservation since I was not completely sure when I wanted to return. Definitely a mistake. 3. Have documentation for where you plan to stay. Avoid the appearance of improvisation. Have your hotel reservation confirmed and carry paper documentation. 4. Carry lots of cash on you. These days most of us rely on getting cash on demand from an ATM. They want to see plenty of financial responsibility in overt ways. $1,000 in cash and maybe $1,000 in travellers checks would not be out of place. 5. Dress like you are going to the bank for a loan. 6. Do not carry your dinner and think you are going to take it over the border with you. 7. Have documentation about the conference you are going to attend. In this case, that would mean a piece of paper that demonstrates that you have preregistered for SIGGRAPH (and spent your $1,000 US in Canada, already). And, finally, 8. When they ask you if you are employed, do not tell them the truth, that computer animation has failed to provide steady employment for so many people, but say that you are self-employed.
Beyond that, it would have been nice if SIGGRAPH had perhaps a volunteer with a car who could escort people from the border to the conference center, as once you are held back for further review, the logistics of getting into the city are non-trivial even if they do let you through.
To recap, the Canadian border officials want to have some confidence that you are not planning to come to Canada to stay, but will come only briefly, spend money, be respectable and go home.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Some Ideas Beyond Voting
draft
Since democracy has failed in the USA, by which I mean the will of the majority of people in this country is ignored, I am collecting ideas for what to do about it. Short of armed rebellion (which I personally think wouldnt work), two other ideas are to (a) move people into states where the Republicans are working to purge voters from the rolls in order to add a few hundred or thousand votes on the side of righteousness and (b) buy a politician or two (how much do they cost? I really dont know). None of these would be enough to restore democracy (see for example the problem of the right wing nuts in the judiciary), so I freely admit these ideas are half baked but nevertheless submit them here in the hope it may stimulate ideas. I wonder if they sell politicians on the dark web?
Since democracy has failed in the USA, by which I mean the will of the majority of people in this country is ignored, I am collecting ideas for what to do about it. Short of armed rebellion (which I personally think wouldnt work), two other ideas are to (a) move people into states where the Republicans are working to purge voters from the rolls in order to add a few hundred or thousand votes on the side of righteousness and (b) buy a politician or two (how much do they cost? I really dont know). None of these would be enough to restore democracy (see for example the problem of the right wing nuts in the judiciary), so I freely admit these ideas are half baked but nevertheless submit them here in the hope it may stimulate ideas. I wonder if they sell politicians on the dark web?
Voting is Not a Solution
draft
Whenever someone tells me to "Vote!" as a solution to the current right wing dictatorship in this country, I have the following comments. 1. For one reason or another I have voted Democrat in all major elections since and including 1972 (I have missed some midterm elections), 2. In one election, 2000, my vote was ignored when the Supreme Court made their right wing stoodge, W. Bush, president over the wishes of the people, 3. In another election, 2016, Russian interference and the insane electoral college (which should have been fixed long ago) was used to put the moron king into power, again my vote was ignored, 4. The supreme court has enshrined Citizens United and destroyed the Voting Rights Act. Without these being reversed and enforced in law and in the field, there can be no reason to think that an election has been fair. 5. By allowing Republicans to put their right wing tools in the judiciary, you can count on any legislative or executive action to restore freedom will be reversed. Therefore any plan to restore freedom has to include a way to get these right wing nuts (like Kavanaugh, Thomas and Gorsuch just to name three) out of the judiciary and review and reverse any decisions they have made. Those three are just the tip of the iceberg. 6. Therefore, any plan you have that does not deal with these issues, the electoral college, citizens united, the voting rights act and the right wing judiciary is just wishful thinking. 7. I will be happy to vote but it is a sucker game as far as I am concerned. 8. Enjoy your dictatorship. I was in Washington protesting the right wing coup d'etat in November, 2000. Where were you?
Whenever someone tells me to "Vote!" as a solution to the current right wing dictatorship in this country, I have the following comments. 1. For one reason or another I have voted Democrat in all major elections since and including 1972 (I have missed some midterm elections), 2. In one election, 2000, my vote was ignored when the Supreme Court made their right wing stoodge, W. Bush, president over the wishes of the people, 3. In another election, 2016, Russian interference and the insane electoral college (which should have been fixed long ago) was used to put the moron king into power, again my vote was ignored, 4. The supreme court has enshrined Citizens United and destroyed the Voting Rights Act. Without these being reversed and enforced in law and in the field, there can be no reason to think that an election has been fair. 5. By allowing Republicans to put their right wing tools in the judiciary, you can count on any legislative or executive action to restore freedom will be reversed. Therefore any plan to restore freedom has to include a way to get these right wing nuts (like Kavanaugh, Thomas and Gorsuch just to name three) out of the judiciary and review and reverse any decisions they have made. Those three are just the tip of the iceberg. 6. Therefore, any plan you have that does not deal with these issues, the electoral college, citizens united, the voting rights act and the right wing judiciary is just wishful thinking. 7. I will be happy to vote but it is a sucker game as far as I am concerned. 8. Enjoy your dictatorship. I was in Washington protesting the right wing coup d'etat in November, 2000. Where were you?
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Script for Video (People I Worked With at Abel's)
draft
As part of an application to an MFA program, I am supposed to include a 60-90 second video of me explaining or describing some event that was important to my development as an "artist" or something like that. I plan to describe some of the people I worked with when I went to Abel's. For that video, I have prepared a list of some of the people. Some of these were full-time, some were project based, some were clients. The list could easily be twice as long. In this list we have at least 5 academy awards (between three people) and probably more than I realize.
Bob Abel,
Clark Anderson,
Richard "Doc" Baily,
Tom Barron,
Steve Cooney,
Rod Davis,
Allen Debovoise,
Richard Hollander,
John Hughes,
Judy Kaiser,
Pat Kenly,
Bill Kovacs,
Rob Legato,
Tandy Martin,
Kenny Mirman,
John Nelson,
Con Pederson,
Randy Roberts,
Terry Schwartz,
Jim Shaw,
Richard Taylor (client on Tron),
Frank Vitz,
John Wash
As part of an application to an MFA program, I am supposed to include a 60-90 second video of me explaining or describing some event that was important to my development as an "artist" or something like that. I plan to describe some of the people I worked with when I went to Abel's. For that video, I have prepared a list of some of the people. Some of these were full-time, some were project based, some were clients. The list could easily be twice as long. In this list we have at least 5 academy awards (between three people) and probably more than I realize.
Bob Abel,
Clark Anderson,
Richard "Doc" Baily,
Tom Barron,
Steve Cooney,
Rod Davis,
Allen Debovoise,
Richard Hollander,
John Hughes,
Judy Kaiser,
Pat Kenly,
Bill Kovacs,
Rob Legato,
Tandy Martin,
Kenny Mirman,
John Nelson,
Con Pederson,
Randy Roberts,
Terry Schwartz,
Jim Shaw,
Richard Taylor (client on Tron),
Frank Vitz,
John Wash
A Package Gets Mislaid and I Know Why
draft
A package got mislaid on its way to me and I know why, but no one will listen even though I have been doing this for a few years now. It goes like this: if the package is important for any reason, and there is any cheapness (e.g. sending it in a non-trackable way) then it will get lost or delayed.
Every time.
But no one listens.
A package got mislaid on its way to me and I know why, but no one will listen even though I have been doing this for a few years now. It goes like this: if the package is important for any reason, and there is any cheapness (e.g. sending it in a non-trackable way) then it will get lost or delayed.
Every time.
But no one listens.
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