Who's gonna work & let the economy grow if we all hang out in the street? Well, I don't know & I don't care, just as long as it ain't me.

 I'm in a fairly foul mood, so fair warning. The world is a mess, this country is filled with dingbats, this state is run by cheap grifters, and I'm still not getting enough decent sleep.

 I'm not linking to it, but Cenk Uygar tweeted out how if we get a Democratic president "with balls," they'd completely cut off the Red States and make them come begging for federal aid so as to punish them for electing Republicans as state leaders. You see this a lot, people wanting the South to secede again or arguing that they should've never been allowed back in the union. If they have any shame at all, they'll claim they're "just blowing off steam" over frustration at how denizens in those states always managed to screw it for the rest of us. They don't mean it, they claim.

 And that is, of course, complete bullshit. Mean it or not, just saying it - even to "blow off steam," deservedly or not - just shows you how much they don't care. And I'm not talking about white liberals/leftists being cast adrift. Nearly 40% of Mississippi's population is African American. Atlanta and New Orleans, along with having large black populations, are havens for LGBT folks. And it's not just the "undocumented workers" packing your food and picking your vegetables. The most red Midwest and West has an enormous Chicano population, most who can trace their families back before there was an America, much less a "progressive movement" much less a suburban middle class.

 And speaking of time spent compared to middle-class honkies, there are still plenty of Native tribes in red states who have been screwed, blued and tattooed by the federal government, sure, but the states don't have the best record, either. Probably what made for the final blow for Bernie Sanders' 2020 nomination run was giving up on the South just before Super Tuesday. The argument, not necessarily from him but definitely from his lieutenants, was that since the South was going red in November anyway, there was no reason to bother with them. And people wonder why Southern black folks went overwhelmingly for Biden.

 Bringing it all back around to Uyagr's nonsense, there is and has been a large strain bourgeoisie attitude towards anyone who didn't come up middle-class white and from the suburbs. You can deny this all you want, but I've seen it go all the way back to the implosion of the Greens after Ralph Nader (who's leftist bonafides are suspect to say the least). They put a few people in elected positions in a few cities, all of whom were out the door before Bush's first term was over. Then they sit on their thumbs before rolling out Dr. Jill Stein in 2016 to get stomped and then embezzled money that was supposed to go to a state recount, and that's the last we heard of it.

 Again, I'm in a bad mood and will probably regret this, but outside of work in certain cities and decent-sized towns, the "progressive movement" in America is horseshit geared more for yuppie spawn to pretend like they care until they knock each other up and start worrying about "safer neighborhoods". They don't really care about Southern or Western states, they don't care about rural areas, and concern for urban areas is more lip service than anything else while they pretend "medicare for all" and "American foreign policy".

And I hate to break it too y'all, but the money made off "American foreign policy" has way, way too much swing in this country to be too much damaged by one dude. Sanders would've fallen in line or wound up dead in a ditch. Neither he nor Elizabeth Warren were that big a danger to the groups of people who make money off blowing up brown people across the sea. I don't know how you goofballs think Jesse Ventura's the new Great White Hope of "progressive politics" when he's as much as anyone is involved with the worst horrors of the Bush Jr. Administration. Look up Paul Wellstone, Norm Coleman, how conservative media battered "The Body" into giving the GOP the edge in the Senate, and well... there you go.

 The flip side of this is, of course, the right-wing dingbats who're losing their absolute shit at being asked to hunker down for a bit so the people they actually want to go back to work die from the COVID-19. They're screaming at cashiers, physically attacking game wardens, and some poor bastard was shot to death just for asking folks to wear a goddamn mask. Even when employees are offering the mask the goons are losing their shit. And why? So Karen and Andrew can get a haircut. They're saying it's a "Constitutional" thing, and you know? That's just too dumb to dig into.

 It's been said that this whole push by right-wing politicians and pundits who can stay inside all they want are pushing this and getting the hoi polloi worked up so they can get workers fired and cut their unemployment insurance. This sort of strike would allow them to go further, cutting health insurance and employee safety regulations. Far as I can tell, this scans fairly well. Part of the appeal of being the Upper Class is the chance to enact cruelty on the plebes. And that's one of the main legs of the Republican Party. Cruelty is the point.

 "Matt, you're letting liberals and centrists off the hook." No, because y'all got that covered. I've seen enough chants of "fake news" and "liberals suck" from red roses that I'm pretty confident that, like the MAGAts, they didn't start paying attention to politics until around 2013 or so. Furthermore, they haven't put any effort into learning the history of American politics, much less how it operates from day to day. How the sausage is made, in other words. None of us are innocent, and facing the truth of American politics reminds people of that. Everyone wants to be the hero and no one wants to admit they're just another person keeping their head down.

A lot of this is why I have an affection for anarchism. It's not perfect and there are flaws or places where reality is just flat-out ignored in favor of ideology. However, I don't have to pick a group to join with to pretend I'm not guilty as everyone else. In any event, everyone should read more Emma Goldman, I don't think anyone can argue that. And, lord-a-mighty, do not get me started on just how dumb and ignorant the whole "MSM sucks/fake news" thing people don't want to bother to understand because if they're not going to spoon fed, then they'll kick the bowl away. It's easier than having to use your brain.

 Okay, got that off my chest. Heading back to the world of XCOM and XCOM: Chimera Squad and ignore the rest of the world. If I can remember it, tomorrow's News will focus on just how badly screwed Tate Reeves is with regards to the welfare scandal that's popped up. Hey, we made The New York Times. Big time, baby.

My words are all true. I'm lying to you, but the words that you hear are all mine.

 I think all this is going well, this Work and Fun business. After knocking out last night's News, I wound up writing one of my assigned pieces of Work in the wee hours and laid down the other one this morning. I'm still getting the flow of things but I do think they came out well. It is pretty dry stuff, but one of them at least let me have a little fun.

 Anyhow, the world moves along at the dumbass pace this reality finds itself in. Rolling off the president's incompetence, mendacity and constant flip-flopping, another group of states have gotten together to work out their "reopening" amongst themselves. The governors of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Kentucky have signed a multi-state agreement to coordinate strategies for reopening their economies, and why not. The president proves on a daily basis that he is indeed playing favorites, his favorites still manage to suck at their job, and his goons actively organize AstroTurf organizations to make things harder for "disloyal" governors for some damn reason, probably because they're bastards.

 Apparently he's still pushing for May 1st as the day the country is supposed to "reopen," whatever the hell that means. I don't see why it's such a hanging manner. Apparently thanks to the recovery of the stock market, the 10 most billionaire billionaires made an additional $51 billion by doing what appears to be absolutely nothing. As I've said, I don't really grok the stock market or why it's necessary for mankind's continued survival, but that's nice work if you can get it. Why we can't tax a modicum of that extra $51 billion they weren't hurting for so other 327,999,990 million of us can eat is beyond me.

 Speaking of rich rat bastards, Georgia's nepotism Sen. Kelly Loeffler - best known for being given her seat and making a shit-ton of more money thanks to insider trading at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic - has been assigned to the "task force to reopen America" because why the hell not. I refuse to believe Trump has that much wit to do something like this as a cruel twist. He's just a dumbass who doesn't give a shit.

 Let's see, what else... well, Elizabeth Warren finally came out and endorsed Joe Biden, which for some reason set the rabid ding dongs who can't accept Bernie Sanders wasn't just given the nomination by the party leadership he's been flipping off for the past five years. He, of course, readily endorsed Biden just a few days after he dropped out of the race, but Warren's endorsement opened those days-old wounds.

 So they've spent the day howling about "scorched earths" and Warren's obvious treachery against Saint Bernie. Where all this comes from, I don't know and really don't understand. Maybe it's just how my brain works, but this "Great Man Who Will Save Us All" is quite possibly the most dangerous and distracting aspect of American politics.

 For one, it's too much to lay on one person's shoulders. The ding dongs would have lost their minds if Sanders had actually won the nomination and found himself in the position of making the sausage of politics. That would have happened. And had he actually become president? Hoo buddy, to get anything done he would have had to do some serious shucking and jiving to get Medicare For All passed. Their heads would've exploded like popped zits if Warren gets them this het up.

 Look, y'all. There are no Saviors. There are no Great Men. Trump's loony followers think he's the Great Man, their Savior. If you think that's the way things should work, how society should run, then neighbor, you have been drinking some bad buttermilk.

 We see this so much lately, and not just from conservatives who you kind of understand they act that way. Liberals, leftists, socialists, communists, hell, even some anarchists for some goddamn reason. I really don't get it. I thought we'd left all this sort of thing behind when we collectively decided "divine right" was a bullshit stroke. Ah, well.

 I believe that'll do. I've written a good bit in the past 24 hours and I think that is plenty. Still looking forward to XCOM: Chimera Squad and will probably plop down the bread for it when it's released. Maybe give it a day to see what the "critics" say about it. I've already broken my rule with Rebel Galaxy Outlaw and that worked out well. Besides, between my birthday the other day and recent Work joys, I'm due a reward. And hey, if the Work blows up in my face, I'd need a treat to sooth the burn. Winner all the way around.

You cannot win if you do not play.

 I have two assignments this week to get done by Friday. Since I'm still figuring all this out, I figure it'll take me two days to properly research and write about it. Luckily, the writing isn't really all that hard, either in mechanics or creatively. It reminds me of the day-to-day grind back when I did weekly newspapers, doing pages and pages of obits or classifieds or legal proclamations papers have to print. Dull as hell but easy to do, just put on some music and go.

 The downside is, of course, I don't know how much of this or The News I'm going to be able to get accomplished. This is easy, really, just ramble on for 500 words and call it "art". The News is a little bit more of a hassle, but even then, I could shmooze it if I wanted. Basically, the news is every day "people are dying from a virus we don't have a solid grasp of yet, we're not doing what we need to do and what we are doing we're not doing well, and the President is a big ol' tittybaby", if maybe not in that order.

 He really is showing his whole ass here the last couple days. Between losing his cool with Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins just being reporters causing him to melt down before announcing that he had "full authority" over when states re-open, sounding awfully authoritarian in the process. It's almost every day at this point that he pitches one of his little fits, when he's not blaming everyone else to distract from his own fumbling.

 It's got to be chaffing him so many governors giving him the finger and doing it for themselves are seeing success, and the ones that do toe the line can't do anything right. It's been sort of entertaining watching the right-wing media twist itself in knots to keep up with Trump's almost daily changing of the narrative, especially when they can catch his pitched bitch as easily as anyone should they show disloyalty.

 Speaking of pitching fits, the Sanders dead-enders are in day two of their wail-a-thon. It's even louder and poopier after Bernie Sanders himself came out and said working against Joe Biden winning the presidency was "irresponsible". A small but loud contingent of Twitter, they do little more than prove how little they know about how politics works. Sanders would not have endorsed Biden if something he wanted wouldn't come out of it.

 Look, y'all. Politics is an ugly business but it's a serious business. It calls for deal making, and if you can handle that, leave it to people who can. Organize and agitate, sure, but recognize it's a different ball game. The more they talk about Biden's legislative choices from 20 years ago or objectionable things the Obama administration did, the more they show they really, really don't care about anything but the "bending of the knee". Which is just stupid, but that's what you get when people convince themselves that Twitter and Facebook was equal to a political science degree.

 Maybe the most amusing thing that's happened in the past 24 hours is Florida increasingly obsequious governor Ron DeSantis announcing that WWE was an "essential" business during the shut down. What that boils down to is they'll be filming wrestling matches in front of an empty auditorium in Florida. They already held their yearly homecoming Wrestlemania in front of an empty house. All this comes off the heels of Vince McMahon's XFL football dalliance declaring bankruptcy for the second time. It also comes just after Linda McMahon's announcement that her Super Pac was dropping a tidy $18.5 million into the "Florida For Trump" re-election push.

 Now, I used to dig wrestling as a kid but bailed out before McMahon admitted it was all scripted to save his ass during the 1993 steroid trial. And, for whatever it's worth, I was more a fan of the NWA stuff than the WWF stuff, which was decidedly aimed towards kids. That being said, I've long been fascinated with the history of professional wrestling and its place in American Culture. I maintain that it's one of this country's truly unique contributions to world culture and a full grasp of the American psyche is impossible without an understanding of how pro wrestling developed alongside the ubiquity of television. Later, it pushed closed-circuit television, pay-per-view and internet development, second only to pornography in its influence.

 People forget that up until the mid-Aughts, Trump was stuck in tabloid hell. His biggest cultural impact came from his feud with then-daytime talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell and nobody cared after they passed through the grocery store checkout line. This all changed in 2007 when he popped up on WWE television opposing the "Mr. McMahon" character in the "Battle of the Billionaires" as a baby face. That is, he was the good guy you rooted for against McMahon's heel character, or bad guy.

 Long story short, he "won" the conflict and soon after became the Twitter tumor we all know and loathe/worship. Again, study the history of pro wrestling. In the process you'll learn what kind of absolute bastard Vince McMahon is, both personally and business-wise. Given that, it's sort of understandable how the U.S. could degrade to such a point that we'd allow a bit of media fluff like Trump to be president. Inevitable, really.

 In any event, I got work to do so I don't know how it'll affect this. If nothing else, I'll post quick updates. But, for the most part, I'm a happy camper because I'm getting paid to write and there's a new XCOM game coming out by the end of the month. Sweet.

I ain't trying to get into, I was just swingin' on your gate.

 Before we get too deep in the big muddy today, I want to post a link to this superlative piece of journalism from Caleb Bedillion, Tina Campbell Meadows and Blake Alsup of the North Mississippi Daily Journal. Less than a month after Gov. Tate Reeves initially pooh-poohed the very real threat of COVID-19, especially to the people of Mississippi who're more poor and less healthy than the rest of the nation, Tippah County finds itself going under and sinking fast.

 Long story short, this county of 22,000 on the Tennessee line has the among the highest per capita infections in the state with 14.1 known cases for every 10,000 people. There have been three deaths so far, as well, and I know that doesn't sound a lot to y'all what live in the civilized world, but you have to understand what kind of place Tippah County is. Small, rural, close-knit and known for one helluva Labor Day party.

 As of last night, the only county in Mississippi that doesn't have any recorded cases is Issaquena in the Delta. However that county has barely 1,400 people - down from the 2,700 noted on the 2000 Census - a per capita income of just over 10,000. Furthermore, it's mostly African American, and we're learning that of everything that's being shut down, racism in America is still going strong. I've no doubt when the state gets around to it, they will find sufficient.

 So, read that piece. It's pretty good. Also check out this New Yorker interview with Fran Lebowitz. She's a hoot.

 Another link I want to share is this piece I wrote for the News yesterday evening concerning Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America, how it affects the upcoming election as well as the legions of soi-disant leftists left out in the cold, and Just What It All Means. It's not quite as good, but I think it's a pretty solid slice of uncut journalism, but check it out yourself.

 I will say this. Since yesterday, a large number of those aforementioned "soi-disant leftists" have been gnashing their teeth and rending their garments that Sanders wasn't just given the nomination by the party he's been telling to suck his dick for the past five years. For his part, Sanders isn't being obnoxious about all this and hopes to use the delegates he has won (and could continue to win, since he'll be on the ballot for a while) as leverage to get more of his ideas into the party's platform for the election come November. As we say back in the Hills, "that's politics, baby."

 But because not running the risk of being slapped 'cause you're an asshole brings out the worst in people, Twitter's been full of The Faithful - both random dickheads and people whose opinions are supposed to matter - being tedious bores about the whole thing. If they're not demanding Joe Biden personally get down on his knees and perform fellatio on them for their vote, they're declaring their intention to take their ball & just note vote, which will certainly show the Democratic Party, since it worked so well in 1972, 1984 and 2004.

 Hold on, I want to show you something.

 See that? That's my brother, the tail-end of a very good thread of his as to why this whole "I can't in good conscious vote for Biden and another four years of Trump wouldn't be so bad (for me)" is just so irrevocably, undeniably stupid a stance to take. Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer - two of the four leftist voices on the Supreme Court - are both getting on in years and will probably have to retire before 2024 comes around. If you don't think a 7-2 Supreme Court with four Trump judges all in the same vein of Brett Kavanaugh but worse if he could get away wouldn't put give a death blow to any hope of any even slightly liberal rulings for the next two generations - as well as active attacks on contientious things like abortion, privacy laws and right to sue corporations - you are far, far too stupid and myopic to pay any attention whatsoever when it comes to politics.

 Now, I posted that picture of Baby Brother's gracious admission for a little context. For a good two decades, I was the guy that gave you shit and mocked you if you didn't vote. I was the guy who called you small minded when you said things like "politics doesn't matter" or "both parties are the same". I was the guy that worked registration booths and irritated you at work because of your bullshit reason why you didn't bother to take any sort of active participation in deciding who gets to tell you what goes and what doesn't, and why you were a ninny for giving that.

 That was then and this is now, though. I still think voting is important, even necessary, and I firmly believe that not voting as a protest is one of the dumber aspects of American culture. I do think that if we could get more than just maybe 40%, if we're lucky, of the voting age populace to actually take part in the process we wouldn't have to be dealing with, for example, a half-bright effete fancy lad who's never accomplished anything on his own except trading on his name and stirring up the worst aspects of the American psyche. This is your life. You have a say in how things go. You should take it.

 Except I really don't give a shit what you (the royal "you") do anymore. Vote or don't vote, I could give less of a damn but I'd have to be dead. This may be a facet of middle age, cynicism and nihilism taking over, or merely an aspect of my chronic depression, but I don't feel this is my world anymore. I will be 45 come Sunday and I doubt I'll see past than 30 more years on this, the third rock from the sun. I don't have kids. Indeed, I have nothing really invested in the future. I cherish my cousin's little ones, but I am not taking responsibility for them. I'm one of those sorts who has little sympathy if you decided to bring another human being into this veil of tears and it turns out to be a tough row to hoe.

 Much as I hate to say it, I'll be okay. For one, I'm a middle-class straight white guy and it's going to be a long time before we start feeling the cold and hearing the wolves howl. Furthermore, I have a good bit of land in my name and enough investment in such that so long as nothing drastic happens, I'll have plenty to keep me fed for the next 30 years. Even if that falls through, my extended family really likes me and would probably let me put a trailer in their backyard. Plus, I have guns in case shit really goes south.

 But this is your world. You're the one with kids. You're the one who has something invested in the future. You're the one who's choosing to live in this cold, cruel world and sharing the ride with 300 million of your nearest and dearest. You're the one who has to make a decision to boil that frog or do the very least to pull everything back from the Abyss. Read a little history and you'd be amazed at what human beings can pull off once they put their minds to it.

 Finally, I got to say it again. If all it takes for you to throw in the towel and give into pigs and bastards of the world is that the guy, the only guy, you put all your hopes and dreams onto didn't win the race he agreed to run, I have to be frank. I really don't think you really care beyond your ego and I certainly don't think you've got it in you to do the actual work it would take to move this world to what it should be for everyone.

 Prove me wrong or piss off.

Some got to win, some got to lose.

 Going to do something a little different today. It's about 9:40 in the morning as I open this page to write, and I'm just going to fool around as the day goes on with the Gibberish. I'll post it sometime this afternoon and unless something interesting happens with the News, I'm not going to worry about it. Long story short on that, CORVID-19 shows no signs of the slowing down and the U.S. government shows no signs of improving their response.

  'Course the problem with that is, I'm almost convinced, we really don't want it to. Yesterday, Trump threw one of his temper tantrums over a relatively softball question from NBC's Peter Alexander. Everyone who was already tired of him was, of course, outraged and discouraged. And, of course, his Base came in their drawers over him sticking it to the MSM, man, but the average dipstick who started paying attention to politics in the past five or six years got pretty hard about this, as well.

 People - especially liberals and leftists - really need to stop waiting for a Savior or a Great Man. People either kvetch that Joe Biden isn't doing enough or claim Bernie Sanders will save us all. That partly explains Trump's popularity. He isn't a Great Man but he checks all the various boxes that Americans consider a "Great Man" should. He's a rich celebrity and has had sex with a lot of what Middle America considers "hot" women. He's not a physical threat apart from his size and tendency to screw with peoples' personal spaces, but we're pretty easily fooled about that. We think, culturally, actually think actors - actors who've never been anything but actors - like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood are inarugably bad-ass dudes. So what do we know.

 "Why isn't Joe Biden (or Obama) saving us?" "Bernie (or Ron Paul) is the only one who can save us."

 That's actually what people are saying. It's one thing for the liberal side of Middle America to trumpet this. That makes sense, as this whole country's history is a string of Great Men. It boggles my mind to see soi-disant "leftists" do the exact same thing, though, especially for the types of guys they're doing it for. I mean, sure, admire or rally around a charismatic figure who actually gets shit done (good or bad, we're not dwelling on that). That totally makes sense even if it's not something that sits well with me. I just don't understand this idea that seems to have permeated the Left - from self-declared socialists to equally claimed anarchists - whinging that a Savior isn't riding in on a white horse or that the stupid normies aren't throwing in with whoever they decide is this week's Savior.

 As a side note, I'm watching a lot of YouTube videos on "cursed books" and every single one of them acts like The Necronomicon didn't stem fully from H.P. Lovecraft's imagination. Even things like the Simon Necronomicon wouldn't exist without Lovecraft. Cut that out, man. There's plenty of weird books out there in the world.

 Okay. I wonder if anyone is going to put forth the idea that the reason Bernie Sanders is getting trashed in the primaries is because he ran a rotten campaign. Or is that just me? Now, I'm not saying Biden ran a great one, but he didn't have to. Sanders has a lot of passionate ground-level support, especially online, but to get the nomination he needed to attract not only people who weren't on board (and might've been leery of the whole "socialist" thing) but also hardcore Democrats and the party in general. That just makes sense to me; if you're running for the Democratic Party nomination, you have to get the Democratic Party leadership on your side.

 But he really hasn't done that. Indeed he - and particularly his surrogates and followers - has been telling the Democratic mainstream and centrist liberals in general to suck his dick for the past five years. And from what I'm seeing on Twitter, the reaction from at least the surrogates to the drubbing Sanders is getting in the primaries is anger at people who aren't voting for him with the concept that people are voting for Biden just to screw with them. They're not voting for Bernie, goes the argument, just because "boomers" want everyone to die.

 This isn't scientific, of course, just observation. I voted for Sanders but I've never been lit on fire about him. Great ideas, sure, but if great ideas were all that were needed in America politics, we wouldn't be in this shape. Asked this time last year the worst primary combo, I would've told you Biden and Sanders. Partly because Sanders probably wouldn't try to bring in a coalition and partly because Biden's the walking, talking, breathing example of The Swamp, for lack of a better phrase. He wasn't going to light anyone's pubes on fire, and probably the only reason he has any pull at all is most people who vote Democrat aren't really inclined to cut up too much until Trump gets booted out.

 I've said it elsewhere, but nothing Sanders champions is all that radical, even for American politics. More progressive taxation, cheaper education, minimum wage that's actually enough to live on, even the idea of Medicare For All, none of that is new. Some of it already existed and some were things that past presidents tried but couldn't pull off. Hell, Nixon pushed a better medical insurance scheme over 40 years ago and he was Nixon.

 Okay. Enough of that. I'm in a bad mood today. I had another dream last night, and most of my dreams these days are things I've done - from working in kitchens to riding with football teams to cover the games - but no one wants me around. Indeed, people are actively hostile to my presence and contemptuous of my contributions.

 I've always prided myself on being useful and likable. I'm not the best cook or reporter than stomped the Terra nor have I ever been Good Time Charlie, but people have always found me easy to like and before to long have been glad I'm around. I'm stable and dependable and don't cause anyone too much strife, mainly because I don't like it. I do my job and get along.

 In these dreams, I do not. I don't understand where all this comes from, and these dreams didn't start happening until I came to accept that I'm pretty much never leaving this hill for any extended time. On the surface, I'm fine with that, or at least I think I am. Momma, the Ex and my Therapist have all asked me, acknowledging that while I prefer my solitude, if this "social distancing" isn't getting up my nose. It's not, not really. Not on the surface, at least.

 I've told them all, look, apart from my Trips and Visits, the only reason I've left the house in the past two years have been doctor visits, hitting the gym, or family gatherings. Furthermore, every last one of them - again, apart from the Trips and Visits - I've tired to get through and done with as quickly as humanly possible. I like my solitude. I like being alone and fairly sedentary. I like reading and writing and playing games and going for walks with Otis, and frankly, that's about all I like to do.

 I loved my Big Trip out to see the brother and sister-in-law in Oregon. Not so much seeing them - they come to visit here twice a year, and that's plenty - but because of all I saw on the drive out there and back. I'll say it again, more of us should wander across the country and see it for ourselves. Maybe we wouldn't be so contemptuous of each other. I loved bouncing back to Athens to see the people who I haven't seen in a decade but still love me. I loved going back to New Orleans to remind myself why I loved the town. Same thing when I spent a couple days up in Memphis. Once I get in the mood and people settle down, I'll do some more Traveling and Visiting.

 On the surface, however, I am fine with my world being this Hill, Momma, my varmints and my time killers. But what if I'm not. What if these dreams are telling me that I'm discontent and unsettled with my life, despite what I tell myself. I'm not sure what to do if that's the case. I spent the last 20 years trying to be "normal" and failing miserably. Short trips into what everyone else does on purpose 24/7 are enough for me and can get too much pretty quickly. But still I have these dreams and wake up miserable.

 I'm not going to lie. As much as I miss getting high, maybe the main reason I wish I was in a position to smoke copious amounts of weed again is if one stays stoned constantly, one doesn't remember one's dreams. Whatever I'm being told, frankly, I don't think I'm interested in hearing. It's certainly not going to help the cause a'tall.

 Okay. I've been writing for two hours. I'm going to go ahead and post this on Blogger, and link it elsewhere staggered throughout the day. Maybe I'll write more, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll play some games or maybe I'll sleep until this afternoon, then take Otis for a walk. We'll see.

ADDENDUM: I had a dream during my nap, but it was actually a good one. I dreamed Otis was being sociable to my cats instead of trying to kill 'em like he usually does. Plus, I was in a situation where everyone was leaving me alone. I swear, this is better than therapy.

Thursday, March 5, and Friday, March 6, 2020

 Once again, I forgot to post yesterday's link to the Daily Gibberish, so here 'tis. It's mainly about Liz Warren dropping out of the nomination race, how badly Sanders is pissing away his shot, and how uninspiring Biden is. And, here's today's update on how badly the U.S. government is handling the growing unease over the CORVID-19... thing.

 Have a nice weekend.

Monday, February 24, 2020

 I had an idea strike me this morning, and while I don't know how on the nose it is, it's given a sense of clarity to a lot of things. I'm just getting down and will do more with it, maybe, at a later date. All of this is outside my wheelhouse and has more in common with being an interested student, like if I were writing about epistemological philosophy, Taoist thought or the Many-Worlds Theory. So be patient and hang in.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

 Well, the rain's back. It moved in with some warmer temperatures and they say it'll come down through to Tuesday. On the upside, it's not supposed to add more to the flooding in the state. On the downside, Otis realizes we're not going to be able to take any constitutionals for a bit. You know how much a depressed Jack Russell can bring down a room? Plus, he thinks I make it happen on purpose.

Saturday, February 22, 2020

 I'm not promising any great shakes tonight. It's been a lovely day, if a bit cold, and I have been unable to pay attention. So let's go, hey?

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

 A little insight on how all this goes down if you'll indulge.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

 Okay, so a little insight into my day-to-day life. I am, at heart, a night owl and the sunshine bores the daylights out of me. Usually, my evenings breakdown into finishing this mess, having supper, taking a little nap, and waking up around 10 p.m. to spend a couple hours working, reading or playing a game.

 Still looking for writing/editing work, by the way. I work cheap, y'all give me a call.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

 Man, the Sleep took a-hold of me this morning and instead of trying to fight it off, I let it run wild. I didn't have anything I had to do today besides go to the gym, and I don't really like doing that any way. I need to go, don't get me wrong, and I recognize that, but you will never get me to enjoy it.

Monday, January 13, 2019

 Let's see how weird this week will be. Let's see if by the end of the week if wingnuts are still pretending to care about Iran. I'm not saying they're hypocrites - though they are - I'm just saying the news moves so fast these days, it's barely worth it to try to nail them down. Marshall McLuhan was an optimist.

 Anyhow, in the last 36 hours or so, we've had two more hopefuls for the Democratic nomination drop out and neither were Michael Bloomberg. Cory Booker and Marianne Williamson both called it a day, as it finally became obvious that they weren't going to claw themselves out of the basement. All I'll say about Williamson is I never thought her bid was a serious one; that is, she went into it wanting to spread wisdom rather than actually win. There's nothing wrong with that, despite what people who enjoy the smell of their own farts will tell you. Selling a book isn't an easy thing.

 Like with Julian Castro and Kamala Harris, though, I am a little disappointed that Booker's campaign didn't catch more fire. Very centrist and perhaps a bit too skittish about rocking the boat, but he said a lot of good things about poverty and prison reform, something no one else is discussing. Granted, given the ongoing horrors in Mississippi's law enforcement, I am a bit biased towards this topic - seriously, click that link, it's a booger - but I digress.

 Another problem with Booker dropping out is the game board gets that much whiter and, at the risk of ageism, over 70. I don't see Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang making much more of a dent than they already have, and apart from Bloomberg, does anyone really know who's in the race beyond Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttegieg and Joe Biden?

 Still and all, Booker's out and it remains to be seen where he goes from here. He would be a prime candidate for Vice-President and remains a solid voice in the Senate. The race is starting to heat up with or without him, anyway.

 That being said, we may be wanting it to be hotter than it actually is. Media reports are saying that back in 2018, when discussing possible runs for 2020, Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren that a woman can't win the Presidency. Apparently, four different people have verified this conversation went on, but differ in how things were said. For their part, Sanders has denied he said anything like that and Warren won't even acknowledge the question.

 And, of course, liberal/left-wing Twitter has been in a three-alarm tizzy all day. This is another example of Bernie's rampant sexism while at the same time a bit of rat-fucking by Warren since she's the DNC's golden girl this time around. It's just another example of both candidates attacking the other, like they have the whole campaign even if they never did it out loud and it was generally their followers looking for reasons to get huffy.

 Or it could be a nothing that the Corporate Media is blowing up because they're lazy, this sort of thing is a reliable page-filler, and it will always pull in eyes or garner clicks. Something to think about, maybe? I mean, it is possible that Sanders did indeed try to torpedo Warren's hopes before they got off the ground, assuming she'd be his biggest competitor for the left-leaning vote. Or it could be that Warren is actually blowing up this as yet another example of her trying to trash Bernie because he's got a grip on the left-leaning vote.

 It could also be that 95% of the political experts on Twitter have absolutely no idea what they're talking about, no clue how politics works and a naive if hopeful view of how journalism operates. Instead of looking for conspiracy theories in everything objectionable, maybe consider the press is full of lazy drones who depend on eyeballs to pay their rent and get little Lisa her braces. It's bad enough the press is that indolent and rote that they'll print another version of the same story they've been running at least since I've been paying attention to go looking for more sinister reasons. Does no one remember the whole PUMA thing?

 And, yes, that sort of view is naive. Looking for some grand plan when it's as often as not just people trying to hold onto their own is distracting and pointless. It's like thinking the Illuminati is behind everything or that every misspelling in one of Trump's tweets is a secret message to the Q folks. Sometimes shit just is. Really, half of the existential angst the average American boob suffers is because they're looking for fairies at the bottom of the garden instead of just enjoying the flowers.

UPDATE: I finish this and sit down to supper to find out that Warren is corroborating this story but doesn't consider it worth too much consideration, as Sanders wasn't saying so much that a woman shouldn't be president but that Trump would use sexist tactics against her. That should surprise no one and Warren repeated that her friendship with Sanders and shared progressive goals overcome any media punditry wanking. Meanwhile, Twitter's huff-o-meter pinged out in righteous indignation.

 Okay, that's about it, but a couple more quick shots. Trump apparently authorized Soleimani's killing seven months ago which sort of pokes holes in the story he initially gave, but no one's going to care by this time next week. Here's a neat story about the Hubble Deep Space Telescope finding little clumps of dark matter (maybe), and here's an interesting piece about Artificial Intelligence and the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Here's an interesting video about the connection between nihilism, existentialism and absurdism from a literary perspective. If that don't pull your little red wagon, here's another from a philosophical perspective. Both talk about Albert Camus' The Stranger, which is a pretty good read regardless.

 So, yeah. Have fun.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

 Well, I am not going to lie. I am a little disappointed.