Folsom As Metaphor

It's the anniversary of Johnny Cash's concert at Folsom Prison! Imagine being one of those 2000 inmates.

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The good news is that I'm taking off next week with the goal of reading half of Infinite Jest. The bad news is that mathematically speaking, half of Infinite Jest is still Infinite Jest. When you are halfway done, you are no closer to the end.

January 13, 2022

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Everybody is responsible for their actions and anything that could reasonably be expected to follow from those actions. Imagine that you are Mitch McConnell and by pushing off the Senate trial you are willing to accept responsibility of any abuse of power that Trump pulls in the next week.

January 13, 2021

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It's almost funny to imagine those House Republicans who voted against impeachment, also voting against impeaching Hillary Clinton if she did the same thing. They might see things very clearly if that were the case, and so would I. She would have to go. 

Those House Republicans are without any principle. They'd love to whatabout this but there's not even any whatabouting to do, meaning they'd like to find something similar someone else did that was accepted, as a way to excuse they're own guy. There's no precedent to compare it to. What's going on here? 

Consider for a second the way polls of Putin's favorability between the parties changed from before Trump was president to after. Among Democrats it was 13% in 2015 and 9% in 2018. Among Republicans it was 11% in 2015 but grew to 25% in 2018. What happened in between for their approval to grow? You guessed it. A significant percentage took their marching orders from the president. 

Those two seemingly disparate facts seem related. I don't go for gross generalizations, qualifying wherever I can, but it's been said about support for Democratic and Republican nominees for president- Democrats fall in love, while Republicans fall in line. 

There has never been a clearer example of an impeachment-worthy crime by any United States president, and similar historic examples of citizens of other countries falling in line behind their leader after such a crime... let's just say they are not in good company. 

Good for those ten Republican Congresspeople who finally proved that they can march any way they like. And for the others, either they would support Hillary Clinton doing the same thing, or they are clearly devoid of any guiding morality.

January 13, 2021

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The Hill- Trump calls for ‘NO violence’ amid concerns of threats around inauguration

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/534078-trump-calls-for-no-violence-amid-concerns-of-threats-around/

Nice work Trump! I'll give credit where credit is due.

Sure, he incited a violent mob to overrun the Capitol leading to death and destruction, but this is a positive development.

(If perhaps a week late.)

January 13, 2021

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On Meet the Press, Ted Cruz was asked for his opinion on the FBI investigation into whether the president is a RUSSIAN AGENT. He said he needs more info before having an opinion so he'll wait to see what comes from the investigation. You know what he didn't say- "NO WAY, THE INSINUATION ITSELF IS CRAAAAAZY!!!" But you know Ted Cruz, stuck in his liberal bubble.

January 13, 2019

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Many of the president's supporters are focused on his vulgarity. You hear, "he talks just like the rest of us, that's why people voted for him." It's never why "I" voted for him. It's always why "people" voted for him. "I voted for him because he's vulgar like me," must seem too absurd to actually say out loud.

Focusing on the vulgarity completely misses the point though. If George Carlin taught us nothing else, it's that the words don't matter, the context does. 

And what is the context? He's saying that a continent is worthless, with Haiti tossed in. Imagine Obama saying that. Or Bush. Or Clinton. Or the other Bush, or Reagan, or the rest.

Is the president racist? Better yet, how can you measure? I don't know. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley does say that this president makes more racially insensitive remarks than any president since Wilson. And hey, the KKK had a resurgence under him, the same as hate groups are enjoying a resurgence today. The most racially insensitive remarks... that's measurable.

I'm concerned when people go right into apologist mode when the president says these things. The connotation is "he couldn't possibly be wrong," the hallmark of all authoritarians with a cult of personality. The leader above all. I wonder if it's possible to measure if every one of those leaders are shithole human beings.

January 13, 2018

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I went to my family doctor today with flu-like symptoms. It was a doctor I had never seen before and he took me through all of the charts from the doctors I had seen over the past year or two. It was pretty neat seeing all of their notes. He kept saying that although they are specialists in their fields they are not necessarily great communicators. He checked me over, looked in my throat and said "oh boy," said they'd get me a prescription and left. The nurse came in with the prescriptions, but I realized the great commmunicator never even told me what I had or what to expect! The checkout lady told me he wanted to see me back in four months, so I put a note on my schedule to cancel that appointment a week prior.

January 13, 2018

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Blanche: I hate being the brunt of jokes.

Dorothy: That's funny, you don't mind being the brunt of limericks. 

Blanche: That's different, it's poetry.

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Want a prediction for next week- Leonard Peltier's sentence commuted. Or Snowden. If I'm wrong, just call me Nostradumbass.

January 13, 2017

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I don't know what's going to happen next week, but I do know that this was the most newsworthy week I can remember, and I know that next week will be even more newsworthy.

January 13, 2017

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What would Trump say if he was the same jerk but hated Trump? "I have people looking closely at failing Trump's Russian dossier- all true! PATHETIC!"

January 13, 2017

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Look at this dumbass holding a hawk! (Somehow I picked it up off the road, figured there was only a 5-10% of getting my face shredded off.)

January 13, 2015

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I've been listening to Michael Shermer's book, Why Do People Believe Weird Things? The other night I had to pause it because there was a car crash right in front of me. A couple days later I paused it because Gretel puked (for the first time ever) in the back seat. Today I paused it to rescue an injured hawk in the middle of the road. It's as if someone or something doesn't want me to finish it. Haha, wouldn't that be something very strange to believe??? (It's because of our innate tendency to assign intentionality, by the way.)

January 13, 2015

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Emma's mom pointed out Clinton's Spock Ears. I pointed out his W.C. Fields' nose. People from all generations can agree- Clinton looks weird.

January 13, 2013

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The Reichstag Bloodbath took place on this day in 1920, the bloodiest demonstration in German history.

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Trump was impeached for a second time on this day in 2021, on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 United States Capitol attack one week prior. He was totally guilty.

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Richard Moll, who played Bull from Night Court, was born on this day in 1943.

Bull Shannon- "You're a public defender. You stand for the underprivileged. I'm a bailiff. I stand. Kind of like cattle."

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born on this day in 1961. “Three squares? You can’t spare three squares?”

I was just thinking about that quote yesterday! I'm not going to share the circumstances.

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Andrew Yang was born on this day in 1975. I've loved him ever since he was on Sam Harris's podcast, before he even announced he was running for president. I don't know of any other politician who can speak for so long, and so intelligently come up with me agreeing with every word. It forces me to question with her and bleeding things dogmatically. 

"Grit, persistence, adaptability, financial literacy, interview skills, human relationships, conversation, communication, managing technology, navigating conflicts, preparing healthy food, physical fitness, resilience, self-regulation, time management, basic psychology and mental health practices, arts, and music—all of these would help students and also make school seem much more relevant. Our fixation on college readiness leads our high school curricula toward purely academic subjects and away from life skills. The purpose of education should be to enable a citizen to live a good, positive, socially productive life independent of work."

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Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Andrew Yang started off day four of the democratic convention in 2020.

https://youtu.be/XFRfqHqHbNY

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Nate Silver was born on this day in 1978.

"The irony is that by being less focused on your results, you may achieve better ones."

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Lawyer and politician, Solomon Bundy, was born on this day in 1889. He is not to be mistaken for Solomon Grundy, the zombie and murder victim who tormented the Super Friends.

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The famous lawman, Wyatt Earp, left us on this day in 1929. 

And photographed later on by his wife.

It's true, cool picture. And I don't use the word cool too often anymore.

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James Joyce left us on this day in 1941. From Ulysses:

Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.

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John Cleese on Stupidity

https://youtu.be/wvVPdyYeaQU

January 13, 2016

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Boston Globe- For presidential hopefuls, simpler language resonates

Trump speaks to voters at a fourth grade level, Sanders at a tenth grade level...the Gettysburg Address is at eleventh grade level. The point- there are consequences to over-simplification.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/man-whose-epic-icy-faceplant-video-was-seen-by-millions-its-not-my-first-spill/2018/01/12/36db5718-f71b-11e7-9289-b670cbc3add4_story.html

January 13, 2016

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Washington Post- Man whose epic, icy faceplant video was seen by millions: ‘It’s not my first spill’

Oh my goodness, that was enjoyable!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/man-whose-epic-icy-faceplant-video-was-seen-by-millions-its-not-my-first-spill/2018/01/12/36db5718-f71b-11e7-9289-b670cbc3add4_story.html

January 13, 2018

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AV Club- Adam Sandler said he'd make a movie "so bad on purpose" if he didn't get an Oscar nod. We have some pitches

A sequel to It's A Wonderful Life called It's a Terrible Life. Sandler plays Mr. Potter's grandson, who bullies and torments George Bailey's grandson, played by Tom Hanks, driving him to jump to his death off the same bridge. In this version guardian angels are not real and Sandler's character gets voted President of the United States for life.

https://trib.al/K4sCNC8

January 13, 2020

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Miyazaki, on AI-generated art- “I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it, but I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself. I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.”

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Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind:

"On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the moon. In the months leading up to their expedition, the Apollo II astronauts trained in a remote moon-like desert in the western United States. The area is home to several Native American communities, and there is a story – or legend – describing an encounter between the astronauts and one of the locals. One day as they were training, the astronauts came across an old Native American. The man asked them what they were doing there. They replied that they were part of a research expedition that would shortly travel to explore the moon. When the old man heard that, he fell silent for a few moments, and then asked the astronauts if they could do him a favour. ‘What do you want?’ they asked. ‘Well,’ said the old man, ‘the people of my tribe believe that holy spirits live on the moon. I was wondering if you could pass an important message to them from my people.’ ‘What’s the message?’ asked the astronauts. The man uttered something in his tribal language, and then asked the astronauts to repeat it again and again until they had memorised it correctly. ‘What does it mean?’ asked the astronauts. ‘Oh, I cannot tell you. It’s a secret that only our tribe and the moon spirits are allowed to know.’ When they returned to their base, the astronauts searched and searched until they found someone who could speak the tribal language, and asked him to translate the secret message. When they repeated what they had memorised, the translator started to laugh uproariously. When he calmed down, the astronauts asked him what it meant. The man explained that the sentence they had memorised so carefully said, ‘Don’t believe a single word these people are telling you. They have come to steal your lands."

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Seneca- "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful."

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Mark Normand- "Churches never have wi-fi. I guess no church wants to compete with an invisible power that actually works."

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Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul- “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.”

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Robert Anton Wilson- "...when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases."

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Asimov- "I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow, it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time."

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Camus, The Stranger- "I had only a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God."

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Hawking- "[In the Universe it may be that] Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare. Some would say it has yet to occur on Earth."

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Hitchens- "The clear awareness of having been born into a losing struggle need not lead one into despair. I do not especially like the idea that one day I shall be tapped on the shoulder and informed, not that the party is over but that it is most assuredly going on—only henceforth in my absence. (It's the second of those thoughts: the edition of the newspaper that will come out on the day after I have gone, that is the more distressing.) Much more horrible, though, would be the announcement that the party was continuing forever, and that I was forbidden to leave. Whether it was a hellishly bad party or a party that was perfectly heavenly in every respect, the moment that it became eternal and compulsory would be the precise moment that it began to pall."

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James Acaster- "I’m a Dr. Pepper man. I love Dr. Pepper. I don’t claim to understand it. I’m not that arrogant, of course not. What an enigma that is. I drink it every night, I could not tell you what flavor it is. No idea. If I had my mouth full of Dr. Pepper and all my other senses shut off, I’d be like “It tastes like a sexy battery. Are you happy?” When she kicked me out, she said “I love you, but I don’t feel I know you.” And that’s also how I feel… about Dr. Pepper."

He went on to say that sometimes at a restaurant he'll send his food back because it tastes too Dr. Peppery. He likes to see what the chef changes, says you can tell a lot about the chef by what they change.

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