Tag: Trump

Thursday, August 15th 2024

🎵 Who Can Take A Tic Tac…🎵

Seriously, have you ever seen a box of Tic Tacs that small? Anywhere?

I smell Sharpie. I need to see someone not related to the campaign or the party with a box of Tic Tac that small. I suspect it’s something he had made, it’s not out of the realm of possibility he knows someone who makes props. I’m just not buying it.

When The Project Laughs At You

I’ve had a long term photo project I’ve wanted to do for ages. I’m not even sure it will work, but I still want to do it. I want to start in Maine in the summer and make my way down the East Coast, and take photos of life in the small coastal towns, tourist traps, and everything in between. Part two would be doing the same in Winter. I was reminded of this about a month ago when we drove to DC for a talk by Neil Gaiman that didn’t happen (if you know you know). I rented an SUV for the drive (remind me not to do that again), and I was reminded that the reason I bought an MX-5 in the first place was to travel. However, it occurs to me that I can go only so far in a weekend because of the need to—and this is a technical term—not starve. So the project can laugh at me for now, but I’ll come up with a plan of some sort. Even if it’s to go where I can in a weekend and get back in time to continue not starving.

ME? DIY?

Thinking about ripping everything out of the studio/office and renovating it. I have some ideas about a floating desk, and I’ve been down a rabbit hole on YT looking for how to do this. I think I can, but I lack power tools. This may be for the safety of those around me. Like the Joker said, “It’s all part of the plan”. I’ll just add that he also said “Do I look like a guy with a plan?” So…

August 15, 2024
Tuesday, August 13th 2024

The Only British Railway You Know

Tooling around looking for something interesting, and the NC PBS Station was showing British Scenic Railways, and the episode was about the Jacobite Line. If you’ve been paying attention for the last 25 years, you know why eleventy billion tourists show up for this train.

It’s THAT Train.

Also, when the PBS station listed all the TV stations in the NC PBS Network, I learned there is a Bat Cave, NC. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Just This Once, Hit Back

The stepping aside of Joe Biden and the ascendency of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz has the empty barrels doing what they always do. Honestly, we should be insulted by these carnival barkers. You should be insulted by dirty tricks, the twisting of words, the quotes out of context. The truth is, we have allowed this. We like the ad hominem, the ‘owning’, the bomb throwing. I hope one day we will get back to a debate that’s worthy of us, but it won’t be in this election year. Frankly, it shouldn’t be. I think the Harris/Walz campaign has cracked the code on how to deal with MAGA, and it appears to be getting under Trump’s skin. We can still do that and talk policy, I think. What can’t happen is that the Dems go back to being the polite academic folks they’ve been historically. They’ll get slaughtered if that happens. There’s ~90 days to win or lose this, and with the abbreviated nature of Kamala’s campaign, they cannot afford to miss.

An Honest Question

I believe that the housing/real estate market is a bubble that’s going to pop, and it’s going to fuck things up. The question is when. The long term bet is that it will pop when those of us who own houses shuffle off this mortal coil, and the market will find themselves with one or two generations that can’t afford a fucking studio apartment for $1500 a month or more. A STUDIO. There may be some factors that could cause it to pop sooner, I wonder if the fed raises interest rates more than a couple times that it may hasten things? Keep your eye on this. A home in a lot of cases is the most significant portion of a families’ wealth in this day and age, and if home values drop, we’re all going to be taking a bite of the shit sandwich.

August 13, 2024
Monday, June 15th 2024
Recently I thought I’d try writing things—jokes, mainly-as they came to me. I liked it, but it just doesn’t fit with my mindset of what I (think I) want this site to be. I am forever a work in progress. There was a time where I was convinced that being forever a work in progress was a bad thing. I think there were people around me that were frustrated that I couldn’t be set in one thing, but that’s just not me. I’m going to be 54 next week, and my GAF was all but destroyed years ago.

It’s not me, it’s you.

Apparently my former employer is still ‘restructuring’. I saw that some remarkable human beings I had the pleasure of working with were told that his services are no longer required. I’m sure it’s nothing more than cutting the higher paid people in order to have someone else do the same job (or twice the work!) for less money. Still, the thing that’s really bothering me about this round is that it involved call center associates. They said over and over when I dodged the first two rounds of layoffs was that they weren’t going to touch the call center floor. I guess that’s been forgotten. It was only a matter of time. The company makes cameras and printers, neither of which are widely used by consumers anymore, and they were way behind the curve on things the rest of the camera world had embraced years earlier.

I know it’s not supposed to be personal, but when you invest a great amount of yourself and your time it’s hard to not take it personally. In my case, I’ve always felt it WAS personal. It really destroyed me for a long time to the point that I couldn’t do anything creative at all. I hope my friend can bounce back better than I did. I also hope he can make an honest go with his photography business. I’d like to direct you to his photography website, but it appears to be down. So I’ll direct you to his Facebook Page. Please have a look and if he brings back his shop site, please consider buying something from him, and by all means spread the word.

We’d like you to decide, even though you’ve already decided.

I honestly don’t know how this isn’t the simplest of decisions. I don’t care who the Democratic nominee is, I’m voting for that person because I am not interested in opening the Seventh Seal of the Apocalypse. Is Biden older than dirt? Of course he is. Do I care? Maybe, but that’s what the 25th Amendment is for. I’m waiting for the first Republican to say a damn thing about the 25th Amendment, but if I was a betting man, I’d bet they will stay quiet about handing the Presidency to Kamala. Funny thing, that. I bet they do return to the birtherism real quick, tho.

That said, Biden hasn’t helped his cause. The stuttering is baked in, as far as I’m concerned. What isn’t baked in is the switching up of names, the rambling and gibberish with no real direction, and the long—LONG—pauses. Yes, Trump does it too. Breaking News: They’re both old as fuck. However, that’s the ballot. Unless there’s a real, successful draft at the DNC in Chicago (the irony!), Biden is the nominee. No draft movement has ever been successful.

He’s Just This Guy, You Know?

Trump is the immediate existential danger, but if I’m being honest it’s not Trump himself I’m worried about. What worries me is the Zaphod effect.

In the classic-oh-my-god-this-is-required-reading novel The Hitchikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, the President of the Galaxy is Zaphod Beeblebrox. He brings nothing to the table. He’s a party animal and an idiot. But his antics distract the people so they’re not paying attention to the folks really doing the work. That’s Trump.

Trump is going to Trump. We know this. They know this as well, and they’re counting on it.

Yeah, but when is the Two Minutes of Hate?

The RNC convention started today, and maybe I’m just old. I remember conventions being run differently. Not covered differently (although I can make that argument as well), but it seems more like a marriage of informercial and cult worship than it used to be. I’m watching C-SPAN for neutral coverage (because I am that nerd), and some minor amusements.
- *First, I see Marsha Blackburn, the protokaren from Tennessee, found the time to brush that rats nest she calls a hairdo.
- Second, it’s funny to hear the band playing Where The Streets Have No Name, but dare not speak a word of it.
- They’re doing the nomination election at 3pm on the first day. Why the first day, and why not in Primetime? Also, it has been my experience that at some point, someone makes a motion to wrap up the nomination by acclamation. Not so in this case. Ego much?
- Junior’s a twat. Also, Junior’s a twat.
- Youngkin is slightly less of a twat than Junior, but the twatfulness is still strong.
- They are really calling The Orange Mush ‘the bravest man in America.’
- All the folks who read their speeches from a phone or a sheet of paper and STILL mangled their way through their state delegate votes totals need to have a fucking seat when it comes to Biden’s stutter or prompter use.
- You can always count on old white dudes (including me) to have the worst rhythm in the known universe. Awkward knows no party.
- In what must be the first documented Karen moment of the convention, Senior Karen was upset that Middle-aged Chad wanted her to stop waving her Trump placard long enough for him to get a picture of…something. Probably the house band, Slightly Spicy Mayo (I don’t know, why not?), to document their playing ‘I Want You To Want Me’ for 15 minutes.
It’s only 4pm. This should be fun…
July 15, 2024
ARTICLE: Maybe We Should Start Learning Swedish

Today’s Supreme Court decision on immunity doesn’t fill me with confidence. To look at social media today, there’s a lot of spewing on both sides about which side ‘won’.

No one ‘won’, but I think *we* lost.

This argument isn’t about Trump. This is about the Presidency. It doesn’t matter who that person is, but everyone you see or read is preoccupied with the short term. They’re also reading for the lowest of hanging fruit. Democrats are saying “Well, that means that Biden can (insert wet dream here)!” Over on the MAGA side they’re dragging out the ‘mug of liberal tears jokes’ again. Neither side is interested in looking beyond November of 2024 out of political convenience.

As an example, take a look at what happened when Harry Reid nuked the 60 vote cloture rule for all judicial nominations except for the Supreme Court in 2013. In the short term it gave the Senate Democrats the ability to confirm their nominations to the bench with a simple majority. Great news for the Democrat majority, until they lose that majority.

In 2017, Mitch McConnell—having regained the position of Majority Leader— stepped through the door that Harry Reid opened and nuked the 60 vote threshold for Supreme Court Justices. As a result, Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were confirmed relatively easily without a vote from the Democratic side. We all know the rest of that story.

The point is that what was politically expedient for one party in the Senate in the short term worked against them in the long term. Presidential immunity will be no different. There’s nothing to stop a President from taking any action they like as long as it can be justified as an official action. That means that they will find a way to argue that everything they do is an official action, and litigating that will take longer than these Trump cases. The President—any President—is now unburdened by the threat of prosecution, and that’s not likely to change any time soon.

What will change is the group that thinks that it’s not a problem.

July 1, 2024
Journal, April 23rd, 2024
- Today was the second day of testimony in the Trump ‘Hush Money’ case, and I a now certain of three things:
  - David Pecker was called up first for a reason, and that reason is to back up what Cohen says in his testimony. It’s a ‘pre-buttal’, if you like. Cohen’s credibility will certainly be questioned, and this is meant to corroborate his testimony. Of course, IANAL and all that.
  - I will be snickering to myself every time I hear ‘Pecker’ because I am 14 years old.
  - I cannot help but hear Idris Elba as Stringer Bell in The Wire. “Is you taking notes on a criminal conspiracy?” Go look it up on YT if you want the explicit version.
- I’m a little hazy on which groups of people it’s ok to slaughter.
- Elvis, Weed, Heavy Metal, Explicit Lyrics, Hip Hop, Video Games, and TikTok. What a nice little herd of scapegoats. There might be one difference with that last one: they might be scared of TikTok. Not because of China, that’s bullshit. Many TikTok creators actively took on the misinformation and disinformation about COVID during the lockdown. Some creators were able to get some of those people thrown off the platform and shunned in society, and some were even arrested. I remember one person who was able to get their hands on blank immunization cards and for a fee, would sign off on an immunization that was never given. The TikTok ban is about one thing, and that’s payback. When they realized they didn’t have the votes to pass it as a standalone bill, they tucked it into a so-called ‘must pass’ bill. So, we’ll see. I’m watching the Senate debate of this bill on C-Span, and there are some No votes after all. This will be interesting.
- Looks like we might be getting new iPad/iPad Pros next month, Apple’s announced an event on 5/7. I’ve had an 11 inch iPad Pro since 2018, and it’s been a really great thing to take with me to work on writing on the go. That said, I think it’s time to accept that what I really want is a MacBook Pro. I bought the wife a 13 inch MBP in 2021, and I think it would be nice to be able to edit audio and video on the go. I’ve given up hope that Adobe will make a version of Audition or Premiere Pro for the iPad Pro, and I the iPad version of Final Cut Pro is not compatible with my machine. I think what I need is a MBP and an external hard drive to work from, so I can also edit from the iMac.
That’s all for now. Herself would like me to take a break and pay her some attention. You now how it is.
April 23, 2024
Journal, April 22nd 2024
- Did you happen to see DJT’s rant today? Unbelievable. I want you to keep in mind that this is only Day 1 of the trial. This is going to get so much more unhinged you won’t believe it, but it’s perfectly understandable once you accept the fact that the man has NPD combined with a clear mental decline. For the first time he finds himself not in control, and the lashing out is his attempt to compensate. However, he’s got no self-control, which is why he vomited his ever increasing list of grievances. Of course, he’s innocent. Everyone else is to blame.
- Share this with your older family members or the technically challenged: Not all search results are equal, and some are downright nefarious. I was reminded of this yesterday when I read about a man who was trying to fix his printer, so he searched for [Printer] Tech Support. The top of the page were sponsored ads. He called one that tried to have him run something in the Command Prompt for Windows, and tried to charge him 750 dollars to fix everything. Of course these are scammers. Please share this.
- Started watching Manhunt on Apple TV. If you like historical fiction, this is pretty good. Patton Oswalt is a pleasant surprise, and in Episode 3 you may find Confederacy Karen. Worth the watch.
April 22, 2024
JOURNAL: November 6th, 2023

A little housekeeping, even if you see it right up front. I’ve changed the theme of this site to something more manageable. The momentary downside is that it’s gray, and adding in some additional CSS code doesn’t quite cover it, so I’ll work on that. I like my blue and white jam. I was using a WP theme that I had to shoehorn it into doing what I wanted it to do. This one just does it by default. Roley happy now. Almost.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but when you slap a sociopath on the wrist for his bullshit, it’s not a disincentive. In fact, they’ll think they got away with it. They’ll hit you with more bullshit, and it will get worse. Stop coddling the sociopath.

I wrote a video script today. it’s very short, but it works and that’s all I need it to do. Stay tuned.

There’s a definite upside and downside to working with a cat in your lap. Both happen to be that you have a cat in your lap.

November 6, 2023
LINK: Trump Testily Testifies (CNN)

I believe Trump is almost daring this judge to throw him in jail because he believes the persecution card is worth it.

I wonder if a better idea would be continue to fine him heavily, demand the money in a timely manner, and figure out a way to give every fine he pays to places like Planned Parenthood, Everytown for Gun Safety, Immigrant Advocates Network, and so on.

That probably can’t happen, but it damn well should.

November 6, 2023
Getting In Trump’s Ear

In October of 1973, Spiro Agnew pleaded No Contest to tax evasion and escaped prosecution over many more counts as long as he agreed to probation, a fine, and that he resign from the Vice Presidency. One might think he ‘got away with it’.

On August 8th, 1974, my parents were racing across Arizona, heading towards my dad’s new duty station in San Diego, they pulled into a motel, ran into the lobby, and pleaded with the desk person to just give us a key, we’ll settle up in a few minutes, Nixon’s about to resign. Nixon, of course, had to admit that he knew about the Watergate break-ins soon after they happened, and tried to cover it up. I don’t think anyone knows if a deal got made for his resignation, but on September 8th, 1974, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon. He escaped prosecution and impeachment. One might think he ‘got away with it’.

In both those cases, someone got in Agnew’s and Nixon’s ears and said something to the effect of, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here. If you don’t want to go to prison, I suggest you exit stage right, fucking now. Agnew and Nixon, to their ONLY credit, realized that it was time to go, and did so in order to not put the country into a crisis we hadn’t seen before. Everyone involved was concerned about the effect these events would have had on our country, security, and safety, and everyone involved acted to put the country first when it counted. I tell you all of this to ask a simple question.

Do you believe that someone hasn’t gotten in Trump’s ear and tried to tell him the same thing? Someone has. I feel very sure about this because there are still people that have the interest of the country, our security, and our safety at heart. There are still people that care enough not to plunge the country into a crisis. Someone has surely told Trump if he doesn’t want to go to prison, there’s a way out of this, and herein lies the difference. In Trump, there is no desire to put the country first and avoid a crisis. If you read or listen to him, you might come to the conclusion that he doesn’t think much of this country at all. Nation in Decline! American Carnage! I mean, it’s not exactly Shining City on the Hill, is it?

Here’s the thing: If we’re going to talk dystopia, I can’t think of anything more dystopian than a person who is running for President getting convicted of Federal Crimes, and insisting “Nothing to see here folks, all completely normal.” How does this work, exactly? Where do you put a President convicted of Federal Crimes? Not Leavenworth, that’s for damn sure. Is he gonna be Charles Foster Kane isolated in Xanadu for the rest of his life? Is Rosebud actually the name of his junk? I thought we might have a picnic tomorrow, Melania. And then, what if he actually wins AFTER he’s convicted? I know, I know, OWN THE LIBS. No, we need to stop and think about this. The sitting President of the United States, a convicted felon, serving a sentence for Federal Crimes defines Constitutional Crisis any way you look at it.

Trump wants to be president to try to get out of the nightmare that awaits him. His cult wants him to be President to own the libs. Neither of these are workable situations for the country. Surely you can see this.

The way out is through, I suppose—strap in, kids.

August 6, 2023
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023

So, let’s be clear on what most of us in the real world knew to be true.

He knew he lost, he was told several times he lost.

He knew what he was saying was a lie, and he continued to lie.

He intended to cause chaos and violence, and he caused chaos and violence.

He’s as guilty as sin. And yet…

If sees the inside of a courtroom for a trial, much less the inside of a jail cell, I’ll be surprised.

God help us if he gets re-elected.

READ THE INDICTMENT

August 2, 2023