"I have a bad feeling about this."
When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, that summed it up for me. I tried to stay optimistic, reconciled to the facts that the original cast would be back, and deep-pocketed Disney would spare no expense. I was hoping for an adaptation of the Timothy Zahn trilogy with Admiral Thrawn, which I vaguely remembered liking when I read them in my teens. At the very least, I hoped for something I wouldn't hate.
30-some years ago in a theater an hour's drive away, I got to see Return of the Jedi on the big screen, and being 9 or 10, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Nothing stands out memory-wise about first seeing Episodes IV or V, but they must have been on cable TV. I had the Death Star play set with the foam pieces for the trash compactor, vehicles, and about 30 figures (including 3 Lukes, one from each movie). Being from an ass-backwards town I couldn't wait to leave, I really identified with Luke Skywalker, and he was my favorite, but the whole cast was great.
Years later, working at a movie theater turned me into a Disney hater. On top of trying to usher all those obnoxious kids and clean up the huge messes between showings, I had to walk the aisles and experience the movies. I saw parts of everything they put out from 1990-2 and 1994-6, and nothing all the way through. Still haven't seen The Lion King (any of them now) because it looked like a Shakespeare ripoff. Pocahontas looked like cultural appropriation. So it's difficult to get excited about Disney when you associate them with cleaning up puke and exploiting any story they can recycle.
Thankfully, George Lucas had already cushioned the blow. The special editions came out, which seemed great, but really weren't. Then the Prequels got announced, which seemed great, but turns out it really wasn't. We left the screening of Phantom Menace speechless in the worst way, and the first words spoken were probably either "I hope they get better" or "WTF?!" And with each one it was...just...whatever. Fandom Erosion had left little behind by the time the Mouse sunk his claws in.
Hating Disney and hating giving money to Disney, I was just going to stick with the trilogy at first, but I bought a copy of Rogue One and then it sat for months. Like I lost interest once I got it home. It was pretty good when I eventually, but I thought there were supposed to be Bothans in it. Maybe my memory is fading.
Then came Force Awakens, which confused me right off the bat. First Order? Who are they? How did the New Republic already crumble and why are they the Resistance when 30 years prior they were the Rebellion? Then to find out Han and Leia split up and were in one scene together. There was still Luke, tho.
"I better pause it and step outside for a smoke. They haven't even gotten to Luke yet." I distinctly remember thinking those words, and when I set down the remote and glanced at the progress bar on the TV screen, it hit me. Maybe 10 minutes left, including the credits. So I sat back down. Hit play. Luke Skywalker was there. He was looking old and gray like me. I smiled at the flood of memories. Then he was gone.
Are you fucking kidding me? 5 seconds? Han getting killed made sense, especially if Ford wasn't into it, but Luke barely in it, except for the very end, made it an easy break. Haven't seen Episodes VIII or IX and probably never will unless I'm in a hotel room and they're on cable. No way I'm paying Disney another dime for Star Wars.
And in a way I'm glad Star Wars turned out the way it did. Consumers flexed their muscle, as 2/3 of the economy should. It also points to the dangers of too few entities owning too much.
So shout out to George Lucas, who got me hooked, weened me away, and ultimately allowed me to laugh at dumbass Disney.
Welcome to my blog. I'll be providing a wide range of content here, and on other platforms, a hodgepodge of politics, pop culture, lifestyle and more. Something for everyone.
1/27/2020
1/26/2020
My Week in Review #2
If I were possessed of the slightest knowledge,
Traveling on the great Way,
My only fear would be to go astray.
The great Way is quite level,
But the people are much enamored of mountain trails.
--Tao Te Ching
The snow finally ran its course on Saturday in NE Wisconsin. I think we only got about 4 or 5 inches total, but it was spread out over 3 days. Enough to keep things slippery and slightly treacherous.
Look for a Star Wars post this week. I've been meaning to weigh in with more of an outsider view now that Episode IX is starting to fade out of theaters, although I haven't seen it or VIII for that matter. I'm so behind on movies and TV. Still have Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the last season of Orange is the New Black to watch, plus I just picked up a copy of Arrival so I can get more acquainted with Denis Villeneuve before the Dune movie comes out.
I haven't been following much coverage of the impeachment, except for where it intersects with the Democratic primary. I tweeted about George W. Bush and impeachment, because we had a lot of the same leadership in 2006. The idea back then was dismissed as unseemly, even though the crime of a preemptive invasion and its consequences in death and dollars is exponentially worse. Why take a stand now? Simply because it's Trump? That's how it looks. It risks being seen as a hyper-partisan waste of time when members of Congress on both sides are already unpopular for either not getting things done or doing dumb things (like funding Space Force).
I want to write about the Joe Rogan controversy, because I've seen close to 100 episodes and I consider myself a casual fan. I don't like MMA, so I skip those, and I don't watch his stand-up. All I really knew him from is Newsradio and an appearance on Chappelle's Show. I usually stick to the ones about science, history, musicians I like, and psychedelia, but I have seen the ones with Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro and Gavin McInnes too. I'm anything but alt-right, and I would argue those videos should be readily available. That deserves a post itself, soon.
Bitcoin's seeing another nice boost today, up around 4% to about $8650. A couple years ago I tried trading bitcoin hardcore and got my clock cleaned. Nowadays, since I've been watching it for month after month, I'll scoop up $300 or $400 worth if it looks at or near a bottomed-out level. Ride it up for a modest gain and clean the slate. The rest of my cryptocurrency all came through free methods like phone apps, websites, and wallet giveaways. Leave a comment to learn more or watch for future posts.
If it's not painfully obvious, I'm fairly new to social media in its current iteration. My sister was big into online groups back in the 90s and I attended some IRL meet-and-greets with her. In 2002, I was big into online diaries, before they were called blogs. I had accounts on freeopendiary, diairies.suchisthis, and InTheWire and got to know several fellow Wisconsinites IRL and folks from all over. I would say it's not much different now, plenty of phonies and vitriol, just amplified. I read a lot of tweets the wicked side of me wants to respond to, but I always give myself at least a couple minutes to digest them. Then come up with a reply I won't be ashamed of later. Then get bored and move on. I don't see much point in punching people directly unless they're in a position of power, like the DNC.
Anyway, if you have any tips or pointers on how I can up my social game, leave a comment and thanks for reading to the....
Traveling on the great Way,
My only fear would be to go astray.
The great Way is quite level,
But the people are much enamored of mountain trails.
--Tao Te Ching
The snow finally ran its course on Saturday in NE Wisconsin. I think we only got about 4 or 5 inches total, but it was spread out over 3 days. Enough to keep things slippery and slightly treacherous.
Look for a Star Wars post this week. I've been meaning to weigh in with more of an outsider view now that Episode IX is starting to fade out of theaters, although I haven't seen it or VIII for that matter. I'm so behind on movies and TV. Still have Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the last season of Orange is the New Black to watch, plus I just picked up a copy of Arrival so I can get more acquainted with Denis Villeneuve before the Dune movie comes out.
I haven't been following much coverage of the impeachment, except for where it intersects with the Democratic primary. I tweeted about George W. Bush and impeachment, because we had a lot of the same leadership in 2006. The idea back then was dismissed as unseemly, even though the crime of a preemptive invasion and its consequences in death and dollars is exponentially worse. Why take a stand now? Simply because it's Trump? That's how it looks. It risks being seen as a hyper-partisan waste of time when members of Congress on both sides are already unpopular for either not getting things done or doing dumb things (like funding Space Force).
I want to write about the Joe Rogan controversy, because I've seen close to 100 episodes and I consider myself a casual fan. I don't like MMA, so I skip those, and I don't watch his stand-up. All I really knew him from is Newsradio and an appearance on Chappelle's Show. I usually stick to the ones about science, history, musicians I like, and psychedelia, but I have seen the ones with Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro and Gavin McInnes too. I'm anything but alt-right, and I would argue those videos should be readily available. That deserves a post itself, soon.
Bitcoin's seeing another nice boost today, up around 4% to about $8650. A couple years ago I tried trading bitcoin hardcore and got my clock cleaned. Nowadays, since I've been watching it for month after month, I'll scoop up $300 or $400 worth if it looks at or near a bottomed-out level. Ride it up for a modest gain and clean the slate. The rest of my cryptocurrency all came through free methods like phone apps, websites, and wallet giveaways. Leave a comment to learn more or watch for future posts.
If it's not painfully obvious, I'm fairly new to social media in its current iteration. My sister was big into online groups back in the 90s and I attended some IRL meet-and-greets with her. In 2002, I was big into online diaries, before they were called blogs. I had accounts on freeopendiary, diairies.suchisthis, and InTheWire and got to know several fellow Wisconsinites IRL and folks from all over. I would say it's not much different now, plenty of phonies and vitriol, just amplified. I read a lot of tweets the wicked side of me wants to respond to, but I always give myself at least a couple minutes to digest them. Then come up with a reply I won't be ashamed of later. Then get bored and move on. I don't see much point in punching people directly unless they're in a position of power, like the DNC.
Anyway, if you have any tips or pointers on how I can up my social game, leave a comment and thanks for reading to the....
Namesake
There was something featureless yet complete,
Born before heaven and earth;
Silent, amorphous, it stood alone and unchanging.
We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth.
Not knowing its name, I style it the "Way."
--Tao Te Ching
The title of this blog, Emerald Way, comes from an idea that crystallized and expanded in my head over the last ten years or so. Back then, I was playing disc golf all the time and began competing in tournaments, traveling to lots of new courses, and generally soaking up the positive vibes. In Wisconsin, you see a fair number of homemade courses installed by individuals on their private land, and that became a future goal, more like part of a retirement plan.
Years before all that, in the course of reading about and exploring topics of interest, I got really fascinated with the concept of intentional communities. From Amish/Mennonite enclaves (which exist here in Wisco) to Israeli kibbutzes to hippie communes, I was struck by the notion of organizing a community around a motivating principle/s. Then trying to understand why they fail, why they succeed, what principles really bind a community together.
Those thoughts crept back into my head and begged several questions. What's the point of having 40-80 acres of land, even with visitors there to disc, if you're just going to live there alone? Why not invite people to live and/or work there? And why not include everyone who does in a fair share of the profits?
I don't know how many people are like me. I'm 45 and I've worked manual labor jobs most of my adult life. They've taken their toll. I also love the variety of city life, but truthfully, I'm ready to go back to Nature for good. I'm ready to drop out of the rat race and go back to a simpler Way. A more spiritual Way.
It's hard to define exactly what the eventual site/business would look like without having a piece of land already, without knowing how much space we'd have to work with, without knowing who would be participating and what skills they might bring, etc. Ideally, it would have one or two full disc golf courses, a shop, a restaurant serving locally-sourced/grown onsite food and drink, and 3 accommodation options (rustic camping, hostel-like rooms, and simple cabins about the property).
Ideally, it would be a place for anyone willing to contribute their skills and labor for the good of the group. To share the work and share the profits. To make a change and opt for a "job" that's fulfilling and meaningful.
This year I hope to make this dream a reality. Leave a comment if you'd consider a move from the city to the country.
Born before heaven and earth;
Silent, amorphous, it stood alone and unchanging.
We may regard it as the mother of heaven and earth.
Not knowing its name, I style it the "Way."
--Tao Te Ching
The title of this blog, Emerald Way, comes from an idea that crystallized and expanded in my head over the last ten years or so. Back then, I was playing disc golf all the time and began competing in tournaments, traveling to lots of new courses, and generally soaking up the positive vibes. In Wisconsin, you see a fair number of homemade courses installed by individuals on their private land, and that became a future goal, more like part of a retirement plan.
Years before all that, in the course of reading about and exploring topics of interest, I got really fascinated with the concept of intentional communities. From Amish/Mennonite enclaves (which exist here in Wisco) to Israeli kibbutzes to hippie communes, I was struck by the notion of organizing a community around a motivating principle/s. Then trying to understand why they fail, why they succeed, what principles really bind a community together.
Those thoughts crept back into my head and begged several questions. What's the point of having 40-80 acres of land, even with visitors there to disc, if you're just going to live there alone? Why not invite people to live and/or work there? And why not include everyone who does in a fair share of the profits?
I don't know how many people are like me. I'm 45 and I've worked manual labor jobs most of my adult life. They've taken their toll. I also love the variety of city life, but truthfully, I'm ready to go back to Nature for good. I'm ready to drop out of the rat race and go back to a simpler Way. A more spiritual Way.
It's hard to define exactly what the eventual site/business would look like without having a piece of land already, without knowing how much space we'd have to work with, without knowing who would be participating and what skills they might bring, etc. Ideally, it would have one or two full disc golf courses, a shop, a restaurant serving locally-sourced/grown onsite food and drink, and 3 accommodation options (rustic camping, hostel-like rooms, and simple cabins about the property).
Ideally, it would be a place for anyone willing to contribute their skills and labor for the good of the group. To share the work and share the profits. To make a change and opt for a "job" that's fulfilling and meaningful.
This year I hope to make this dream a reality. Leave a comment if you'd consider a move from the city to the country.
1/25/2020
Unloading the Term "Socialism"
"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
--Karl Marx
I'm heartened that things have progressed to the point where an honest discussion about socialism can be had. Too often, the conflation of socialism with Communism and dictatorship would immediately shut down that conversation. It's easy to decry the situations in Venezuela or Cuba, and just as easy to ignore where it works, even on a small scale. It's healthy for us to tackle some of these taboos head on.
First and foremost, I don't view socialism as the government takeover of all industries or the total abandonment of all capitalistic enterprise. The profit motive is real, and shouldn't be discounted or necessarily discouraged, but it runs amok. Look at health care. Look at prisons. If the profit motive leads to companies selling people opiates, then selling them overdose drugs, then selling them addiction recovery treatments, it should be discarded. If it leads to judges getting kickbacks for sentencing more people to private prisons, it should be discarded.
That's where the government should step in. It should fill the cracks in the free market system when the profit motive fails. Is there a real reason why the government can't house all the homeless? If the government wanted to pay people to fix up distressed properties so that homeless people could move in and have a chance to get back on their feet, would this really upset anyone? We already pay for so much asinine BS with our taxes, so let's do some basic good. Plus doing so would put people to work, at least temporarily, and put roofs over others' heads. The free market wants to build luxury condos. I get it. Make your profit, pay a fair business tax, and let people on a local level take care of those who can't afford them.
The goal of a socialistic society should be to see to the basic necessities of all citizens. We're the richest people on the planet, but not everyone has a place to live. Not everyone has access to quality food and water, much less healthcare. Some people's education is dependent upon the socioeconomic background they were born into. Others are priced out of higher learning. Some would rather learn a skill or trade. The goal should be to find a place for all. Provide a baseline of services to all.
Consider the state of mental health in the USA. If we need more psychologists to function better as a society, can't the government step in, recruit people for the profession, and subsidize their education? Similar to the military, in exchange for the training, the person agrees to work in an underserved area for 2 years, or 4 years, or whatever. You can do the same with nurses, or whatever the job may be.
I don't see it as controlling the economy. I see it as supplementing it, directing it when necessary (producing and distributing insulin, for instance; something I think the government should do, Medicare For All or not), and regulating it fairly. Start with the basics (food, clothing, shelter, utilities, education, wellness) and you can go from there into things like jobs, transportation, internet access for all, and everything else we now consider essential in the modern world.
An American socialism would look unlike anything that's come before. It would also require getting a lot of unscrupulous out of our government, because it always seems to go awry when regular people get caught up in that profit motive. It would need to be less in the hands of federal agencies and administered more on a state and local level according to each state's priorities and concerns. Keep the unaccountable bureaucrats out of it.
Anyway, if you read this far, many thanks. Look for a post later today about how I would put these ideas to practical use.
--Karl Marx
I'm heartened that things have progressed to the point where an honest discussion about socialism can be had. Too often, the conflation of socialism with Communism and dictatorship would immediately shut down that conversation. It's easy to decry the situations in Venezuela or Cuba, and just as easy to ignore where it works, even on a small scale. It's healthy for us to tackle some of these taboos head on.
First and foremost, I don't view socialism as the government takeover of all industries or the total abandonment of all capitalistic enterprise. The profit motive is real, and shouldn't be discounted or necessarily discouraged, but it runs amok. Look at health care. Look at prisons. If the profit motive leads to companies selling people opiates, then selling them overdose drugs, then selling them addiction recovery treatments, it should be discarded. If it leads to judges getting kickbacks for sentencing more people to private prisons, it should be discarded.
That's where the government should step in. It should fill the cracks in the free market system when the profit motive fails. Is there a real reason why the government can't house all the homeless? If the government wanted to pay people to fix up distressed properties so that homeless people could move in and have a chance to get back on their feet, would this really upset anyone? We already pay for so much asinine BS with our taxes, so let's do some basic good. Plus doing so would put people to work, at least temporarily, and put roofs over others' heads. The free market wants to build luxury condos. I get it. Make your profit, pay a fair business tax, and let people on a local level take care of those who can't afford them.
The goal of a socialistic society should be to see to the basic necessities of all citizens. We're the richest people on the planet, but not everyone has a place to live. Not everyone has access to quality food and water, much less healthcare. Some people's education is dependent upon the socioeconomic background they were born into. Others are priced out of higher learning. Some would rather learn a skill or trade. The goal should be to find a place for all. Provide a baseline of services to all.
Consider the state of mental health in the USA. If we need more psychologists to function better as a society, can't the government step in, recruit people for the profession, and subsidize their education? Similar to the military, in exchange for the training, the person agrees to work in an underserved area for 2 years, or 4 years, or whatever. You can do the same with nurses, or whatever the job may be.
I don't see it as controlling the economy. I see it as supplementing it, directing it when necessary (producing and distributing insulin, for instance; something I think the government should do, Medicare For All or not), and regulating it fairly. Start with the basics (food, clothing, shelter, utilities, education, wellness) and you can go from there into things like jobs, transportation, internet access for all, and everything else we now consider essential in the modern world.
An American socialism would look unlike anything that's come before. It would also require getting a lot of unscrupulous out of our government, because it always seems to go awry when regular people get caught up in that profit motive. It would need to be less in the hands of federal agencies and administered more on a state and local level according to each state's priorities and concerns. Keep the unaccountable bureaucrats out of it.
Anyway, if you read this far, many thanks. Look for a post later today about how I would put these ideas to practical use.
1/19/2020
Stock Footage
A socialist in the stock market? Yeah, I'm a hypocrite. What of it?
As I much as I may rail at times against the greed of corporations, I also consider myself a pragmatist. Not in the sense that word is being used now. Pragmatist seems to be used now to mean a centrist moderate, i.e. no bold proposals, no overarching vision. No, I mean in the sense of being able to spot opportunities.
Back in 2016, I was as shocked as anyone that Trump won, and grappled with all the ramifications. Having hit 40 and dealing with a mindset that can't help but look to the future, I was asking myself "What are you going to do if/when you can't make a living from your physical labor?" Watching the stock market begin it's steady rise in November and December of that year, I decided it was time to get in.
I like to gamble (conservatively), and in fact, during the fall and winter of 2016 I was playing a lot of bingo, so it was easy to set that money aside for investing instead. Getting started had always seemed daunting and intimidating, but fortunately I'd finally upgraded my smartphone. I started with Acorns, but then switched to the Robinhood app (still use it, plus the Stash app; see below). After some issues funding my account, I bought my first stocks in the spring of 2017 and I've been picking stocks ever since.
I was lucky. I got in and started learning the ropes during 2017 when just about everything went up, had a strategy going in (heavy on dividends) that I stuck to, and enjoyed great returns until the bottom fell out in January 2018. Since then, the strategy has had to adapt and evolve, and I'll be sharing more about that in future posts (it's basically buy good stocks on the dips and hold good dividend payers).
If you're interested in dipping your toe into the market, I have a good way that will also put some money in both our pockets. I'm a member of InboxDollars, an online earning site that I use to make roughly $150/year doing surveys, watching videos, doing web searches, etc. They're currently running an offer for new users of the Stash app, which lets you invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds and bonds. It costs me $1/month, but I make more than that in dividends, and I think you can sign up for other services that will waive the fee. So:
Good luck!
As I much as I may rail at times against the greed of corporations, I also consider myself a pragmatist. Not in the sense that word is being used now. Pragmatist seems to be used now to mean a centrist moderate, i.e. no bold proposals, no overarching vision. No, I mean in the sense of being able to spot opportunities.
Back in 2016, I was as shocked as anyone that Trump won, and grappled with all the ramifications. Having hit 40 and dealing with a mindset that can't help but look to the future, I was asking myself "What are you going to do if/when you can't make a living from your physical labor?" Watching the stock market begin it's steady rise in November and December of that year, I decided it was time to get in.
I like to gamble (conservatively), and in fact, during the fall and winter of 2016 I was playing a lot of bingo, so it was easy to set that money aside for investing instead. Getting started had always seemed daunting and intimidating, but fortunately I'd finally upgraded my smartphone. I started with Acorns, but then switched to the Robinhood app (still use it, plus the Stash app; see below). After some issues funding my account, I bought my first stocks in the spring of 2017 and I've been picking stocks ever since.
I was lucky. I got in and started learning the ropes during 2017 when just about everything went up, had a strategy going in (heavy on dividends) that I stuck to, and enjoyed great returns until the bottom fell out in January 2018. Since then, the strategy has had to adapt and evolve, and I'll be sharing more about that in future posts (it's basically buy good stocks on the dips and hold good dividend payers).
If you're interested in dipping your toe into the market, I have a good way that will also put some money in both our pockets. I'm a member of InboxDollars, an online earning site that I use to make roughly $150/year doing surveys, watching videos, doing web searches, etc. They're currently running an offer for new users of the Stash app, which lets you invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds and bonds. It costs me $1/month, but I make more than that in dividends, and I think you can sign up for other services that will waive the fee. So:
- Sign up for InboxDollars with this link
- Find the Stash offer on the Offers page
- Create a new account with Stash, deposit $5 or more, and Stash matches your $5 while InboxDollars pays you $15
Good luck!
1/18/2020
My Week in Review
A snowy day in Wisconsin.
The week got off to a surprising start with the whole Warren/Sanders thing. I had a bunch of possible tweets rolling through my head all week, but I read one by Ilhan Omar calling for deescalation and kept my opinions to myself. I will say that I view Bernie Sanders as more trustworthy. Elizabeth Warren was 4th or 5th on my wishlist mainly because Trump goaded her into a DNA test and she touted a potential positive of 1/1024th as vindication. It made me question how she would withstand the constant barrage coming from the Trump camp in a general election. Also, Warren beat GOPer Scott Brown in 2012 after he held that Senate seat for 3 years. Before an appointee, Ted Kennedy held that seat for 47 years, so her inflation of her electoral victories fell flat for me.
I didn't watch the debate and haven't seen any of them. The format is inadequate and outdated and the corporate circus is an insult. As a registered Democrat, I think it makes the party look bad at a time when the DNC should be doing all it can to reform its image. People I know and/or work with mostly associate the DNC, and by extension the party, with the shenanigans of 2015-6. For some people, that'll be the first hurdle any Democratic nominee will have to jump. For me, that's where the "Who's more electable?" argument begins.
Anyway, I much prefer highlights and analysis from Youtubers like The Hill, The Humanist Report, The Rational National, Sam Seder, The Convo Couch, and Jimmy Dore, and then doing a compare/contrast with mainstream media takes. Hopefully gets me a wide spectrum of views, at least on the big news.
I have mixed feelings towards Bill Maher, but for the most part (propping up Amy K and questioning Bernie as too Left aside), I really liked his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. Maybe it's the lack of an immediate audience to need to play to. I disagree with his opinion that Bernie would be unable to get any of his proposals passed, but even if that's true, it's at least a starting point for negotiations. Let the debates and compromises come after the election's won.
I never watch Real Time with Bill Maher in it's entirety. I watch the monologue, any mid-show gags, and New Rules, but I only watch the one-on-ones if the guest is compelling and totally skip the panel discussion. I connected with last night's New Rules because, for a variety of reasons, I have no contact with my family and haven't for 6 or 7 years. It's a weird situation and I'm a weird individual. Sometimes it really gets to me, and then I can go weeks without giving it a thought. Sometimes I regret it a lot when I think about certain family, and sometimes I laugh about others.
On the mundane side, the 4-6 inches of snow we got was a good excuse to hunker down today and get organized. I'm still recovering from a back injury that knocked me out for a week or two over the holidays, then had a little over 40 hours of work this week. So behind on dishes and cleaning, but I do have a small place, so that helps. Still updating an ebay auction that ends tomorrow, which I completely forgot about until yesterday (if you know anyone looking for Magic the Gathering cards, share this link with them). Catching up on hockey highlights. Watching to see if bitcoin tops $9000. Never enough hours in the day for no shortage of things to do.
"Without going out-of-doors, one may know all under heaven;
Without peering through windows, one may know the Way of heaven.
The farther one goes, the less one knows.
For this reason, The Sage knows without journeying,
Understands without looking, accomplishes without acting."
Tao Te Ching
The week got off to a surprising start with the whole Warren/Sanders thing. I had a bunch of possible tweets rolling through my head all week, but I read one by Ilhan Omar calling for deescalation and kept my opinions to myself. I will say that I view Bernie Sanders as more trustworthy. Elizabeth Warren was 4th or 5th on my wishlist mainly because Trump goaded her into a DNA test and she touted a potential positive of 1/1024th as vindication. It made me question how she would withstand the constant barrage coming from the Trump camp in a general election. Also, Warren beat GOPer Scott Brown in 2012 after he held that Senate seat for 3 years. Before an appointee, Ted Kennedy held that seat for 47 years, so her inflation of her electoral victories fell flat for me.
I didn't watch the debate and haven't seen any of them. The format is inadequate and outdated and the corporate circus is an insult. As a registered Democrat, I think it makes the party look bad at a time when the DNC should be doing all it can to reform its image. People I know and/or work with mostly associate the DNC, and by extension the party, with the shenanigans of 2015-6. For some people, that'll be the first hurdle any Democratic nominee will have to jump. For me, that's where the "Who's more electable?" argument begins.
Anyway, I much prefer highlights and analysis from Youtubers like The Hill, The Humanist Report, The Rational National, Sam Seder, The Convo Couch, and Jimmy Dore, and then doing a compare/contrast with mainstream media takes. Hopefully gets me a wide spectrum of views, at least on the big news.
I have mixed feelings towards Bill Maher, but for the most part (propping up Amy K and questioning Bernie as too Left aside), I really liked his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. Maybe it's the lack of an immediate audience to need to play to. I disagree with his opinion that Bernie would be unable to get any of his proposals passed, but even if that's true, it's at least a starting point for negotiations. Let the debates and compromises come after the election's won.
I never watch Real Time with Bill Maher in it's entirety. I watch the monologue, any mid-show gags, and New Rules, but I only watch the one-on-ones if the guest is compelling and totally skip the panel discussion. I connected with last night's New Rules because, for a variety of reasons, I have no contact with my family and haven't for 6 or 7 years. It's a weird situation and I'm a weird individual. Sometimes it really gets to me, and then I can go weeks without giving it a thought. Sometimes I regret it a lot when I think about certain family, and sometimes I laugh about others.
On the mundane side, the 4-6 inches of snow we got was a good excuse to hunker down today and get organized. I'm still recovering from a back injury that knocked me out for a week or two over the holidays, then had a little over 40 hours of work this week. So behind on dishes and cleaning, but I do have a small place, so that helps. Still updating an ebay auction that ends tomorrow, which I completely forgot about until yesterday (if you know anyone looking for Magic the Gathering cards, share this link with them). Catching up on hockey highlights. Watching to see if bitcoin tops $9000. Never enough hours in the day for no shortage of things to do.
"Without going out-of-doors, one may know all under heaven;
Without peering through windows, one may know the Way of heaven.
The farther one goes, the less one knows.
For this reason, The Sage knows without journeying,
Understands without looking, accomplishes without acting."
Tao Te Ching
1/12/2020
Enter Stage Left
"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
--Eugene V. Debs
Hello, and welcome to my blog! I'm setting this up until I can get a more permanent home established, but I wanted to give some background to help put past and future posts in context.
I grew up in a small city in Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, a very blue-collar area dominated by the manufacturing and tavern industry. My family was deep into both, having had parents who served as elected officials in their unions. All of them at some point tended, managed and/or owned a bar.
I went to good public schools during the '80s and had a lot of encouraging teachers. Pretty typical of the time, I was into Star Wars, Transformers, GI JOE, pro wrestling, Atari, and MTV. Despite all that, I still read young adult versions of writings by Twain, Poe, Melville, and pretty much anything with a story to tell, especially comic books. By the end of the decade, I was a solid B student because I was playing Dungeons and Dragons multiple nights a week, working at a movie theater, watching movies for free when I wasn't working, playing hours of Nintendo, and reading/writing as much fantasy and sci-fi as I could.
I joined the Navy out of high school because I needed money for school and wanted to travel. I served honorably for probably the bare minimum of active duty I had to do (a subject for another post) and got out to attend college. That didn't go quite as planned, but it was all good. I was doing lots of traveling, working on a novel, and whatever else I thought would expand my horizons.
During that time, the late '90s, I read everything from Kurt Vonnegut and his writings, in many ways, articulated a view and version of socialism that I would adopt, more or less. Ralph Nader got me out to vote for the first time and I was able to participate in the anti-war movement after 9/11. Since then, just trying to keep the Democratic Party anti-war and focused on workers.
In more recent years, things have been far less exciting. Working full-time when my back doesn't go out on me. Played disc golf competitively as an amateur and pro when my back didn't prevent it. Working on a small business in my spare time, as well as trying to get back into writing.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time if you read this far and follow me for updates on this year's activities.
--Eugene V. Debs
Hello, and welcome to my blog! I'm setting this up until I can get a more permanent home established, but I wanted to give some background to help put past and future posts in context.
I grew up in a small city in Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, a very blue-collar area dominated by the manufacturing and tavern industry. My family was deep into both, having had parents who served as elected officials in their unions. All of them at some point tended, managed and/or owned a bar.
I went to good public schools during the '80s and had a lot of encouraging teachers. Pretty typical of the time, I was into Star Wars, Transformers, GI JOE, pro wrestling, Atari, and MTV. Despite all that, I still read young adult versions of writings by Twain, Poe, Melville, and pretty much anything with a story to tell, especially comic books. By the end of the decade, I was a solid B student because I was playing Dungeons and Dragons multiple nights a week, working at a movie theater, watching movies for free when I wasn't working, playing hours of Nintendo, and reading/writing as much fantasy and sci-fi as I could.
I joined the Navy out of high school because I needed money for school and wanted to travel. I served honorably for probably the bare minimum of active duty I had to do (a subject for another post) and got out to attend college. That didn't go quite as planned, but it was all good. I was doing lots of traveling, working on a novel, and whatever else I thought would expand my horizons.
During that time, the late '90s, I read everything from Kurt Vonnegut and his writings, in many ways, articulated a view and version of socialism that I would adopt, more or less. Ralph Nader got me out to vote for the first time and I was able to participate in the anti-war movement after 9/11. Since then, just trying to keep the Democratic Party anti-war and focused on workers.
In more recent years, things have been far less exciting. Working full-time when my back doesn't go out on me. Played disc golf competitively as an amateur and pro when my back didn't prevent it. Working on a small business in my spare time, as well as trying to get back into writing.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time if you read this far and follow me for updates on this year's activities.