- If you accept that Trump was never going to jail under any circumstances, then let’s focus on what happened today. The verdict was upheld, a sentence was passed. I’m not sure if this is appealable to a higher court from here, I think he would have to show something happened to prevent him from getting a fair hearing? If it’s not appealable, then the bottom line is that Donald Trump is now and forever a convicted felon. Make all the jokes you want about ‘getting away with it’, he didn’t. In a (very) small way, there has been accountability. Trust me, he’s livid about this.
- If you want to know why you’re in a cult, part eleventy: MAGA has jumped to naming all the people who also have convictions, like MLK, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela… You could hear the sound of millions of goalposts moving. Like I said the other day. “STOP PERSECUTING ME!” said the guy in charge.
- I listened to the Supreme Court arguments for TikTok today. IANAL, but it appears to me that the government is dressing up a free-speech argument as a national security threat. What the government is accusing TikTok of doing is using an algorithm to show you content. It thinks China can manipulate that algorithm to show you what it wants you to see. The trouble with this argument is that an algorithm is an editorial slant. That’s ANY For You/Discover/We Think You’ll Like/Related Page at ANY content company. Facebook does the same thing, lest you forget. There are two questions to answer: Does a threat to national security trump the 1st Amendment? Second, if TikTok poses a national security threat, then show us the threat. I can think of a greater threat to national security than this, and it’s not hypothetical. It’s real, and it’s taking office in 10 days. That opinion has been and will be all over TikTok, and I think that’s the real reason the gov’t wants it gone. Speaking truth to bullshit? Well, we can’t have that, can we?
- I put together my new desk chair last night, and I realized upon sitting in it that it does not recline. It’s one of these ergonomic chairs that adjust in a few ways, but reclining is not one of them. It’s probably very good for my back if I can keep from slouching forward. This is just one of the ways I don’t human very well I suppose, but we’ll see if this chair helps my posture. I’m practically a hunchback on my best days.
- With any luck, a super-duper pod this weekend. Stay Tuned.
Category: Blog
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Friday, January 10th, 2025
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Monday, January 6th, 2025
- Everyone knows what day it is and is well aware of what happened on this day. There was a point when we all agreed that it was horrible, but that was short-lived. Today, we saw how it’s supposed to be done, lest we forget.
- If you believe we’re merging with Canada and buying Greenland, I can’t help you. He got a rise out of us. It’s covefe. It’s “the calm before the storm.’ It’s the Sharpie. I keep saying that his fear is not being shamed, he has no shame. His fear is the day he bleats out some insane rant, and hears nothing in response. No reaction. No anger. Nothing. Trust me, it drives people like him nuts. I know this from experience.
- I started the studio redesign this weekend. I have a new L-shaped desk for my Mac and my WFH stuff. I still have much to do, but I must confess that I overlooked something: This desk does not have a lip or space for my mic desk clamp. Looking for solutions. That’s why there was no podcast this weekend. I’ll resolve it as soon as possible.
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Friday, January 3rd, 2025
- I wonder what Mike Johnson had to give those two congressmen to keep his job. The old curse is that we live in interesting times. It’s going to be an interesting two years.
- I try not to spend every waking moment in my office. So, I take my iPad Pro into the living room. I try to be social while I do what passes for research and writing. The fine folks at WordPress have an app for that called Jetpack. For the most part, I like it. The only problem is that I can’t copy the format of an earlier post. It considers every line in a post to be a separate block. I wondered if it works in the iPadOS Safari Browser, it does not. Finally, I went to my iMac, and it works there. If I copy the template from the iMac into my Notes app and copy it from there it works. I wonder why there’s a difference.
- One of the things I’m looking forward to is playing with some new toys from ShiftCam. I have a new SnapGrip, the Stand Max, and a Snap Pocket light. These attach magnetically to my iPhone for photography and videography. Over the next year, I intend to use my iPhone exclusively, because it’s less bulky and easier to pack. I hope it means the device is easier to use. If the process has more friction, I won’t use it. It doesn’t seem difficult, so it’s up to the space between my ears.
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The Verbs, January 2025
Watching: 1923, from the Yellowstone series (Paramount +)
Reading: The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Jamming: Live 1978-1992 by Dire Straits
Podding: The Black Dahlia Serial Killers by Wondery
Working: Right here on this site. I’m just working on creating content for now.
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2025
- As much as I’d like to write some flowery New Year’s related prose here, I will resist the urge. I never live up to it anyway.
- From a numerology standpoint–if you’re inclined to believe that stuff–this would be a ‘4’ year for me, where I lay a foundation for whatever is to come. I’ve been through one of these years about a decade ago. I did not get the message, or this stuff is just cyclical. It’s probably as much a bunch of hokum as astrology. To be fair though, the day I was rear-ended by a drunk driver in 1988, my horoscope said that ‘evening would find you in a bit of a scrape’. So, I’ll stay open to the Universe, thanks.
- I don’t want to spend the next year–or four–obsessing over the dementia patient and the techpolitburo. If anything, this is where being a card-carrying member of Generation X may come in handy. Maintain an overdeveloped sense of cynicism, sarcasm, and dark humor, and get on with it. Wolverines, Bueller, and Amen.
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Wednesday, December 4th, 2024
I have but one takeaway from today’s US v. Skrmetti oral argument, but it’s informative: The TN GOP is all about parental rights until they don’t fit the agenda. In this case, the government knows better than parents what’s in the child’s best interest. These drugs harm a child’s body irreversibly. So does being pregnant at a young age, but y’all aren’t concerned about that one in Tennessee, are you?
On a related note, Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs is mulling a run for Governor of Tennessee. Politics has become pro wrestling in suits so I suppose that’s logical. Surprisingly, the one guy in 30 years who made you believe he was a redneck rattlesnake, wasn’t. Go figure.
Since we’re on the subject of pro wrestling, I have never liked that walking hot dog Hogan. I have never liked good guys. Bad guys were WAY more interesting. I was a Piper fan. I was a Jake Roberts fan. These days, the line has blurred because we’re not interested in good/bad anymore. These aren’t superheroes, they’re people. Since the Attitude Era, we’ve realized that characters who evolve and have reasons for their actions are more interesting. CM Punk, Karrion Kross, and Hangman Adam Page are great examples. I have one exception to this: Bray Wyatt. I miss him more than anyone I’ve ever rooted for. Hands down the best character since The Undertaker. I’ll die on that hill.
I’m beginning to think that anytime someone beats their chest loudly on TV and says that they’re not going to back down, wait 24 hours or so. I don’t know who was first, but I’ve named this Agnew’s Law. How long before Agnew’s Law applies to Hygiene Hegseth? he came out today saying he’s not backing down and said all the attacks on him came from anonymous sources. His mom, for example… Wave bye-bye to the E-Ring, Hygiene Boi.
Something to pay attention to in the House of Representatives: Jerry Nadler (D) NY, has been the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee for a long time. He has announced he’s stepping down and endorsed Jamie Raskin of MD to take his place. This is interesting because Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has said she might run for ranking member of Oversight if Raskin gets Judiciary. There are many reasons to root for this happening, but let’s focus on two. First, James Comer is the Chairman and is going to lose his damn mind dealing with her. Secondly, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert are on Oversight and at least one of them will try to take AOC on. Take my advice: If this happens, Start watching C-Span, particularly the oversight hearings. They might get lively. There is one thing the House GOP might try, and that is to try to use something AOC says out of context to strip her of committee assignments. I predict MTG will be the one to pull this stunt to ‘own the libs’. Watch this space.