Renee DiResta is really interesting to read about and listen to if you are interested in social media disinformation. She tends to make enemies of all the right people, Elon Musk, Corrupt MAGA politicians like Jim Jorden, garden variety hacks and grifters who end u being appointed head of CBS news by kowtowing to the oligarchs particularly Larry Ellison. as well as the evil twit Stephan Miller. She was part of the Stanford Internet Observatory before it was shut down by corrupt GOP politicians and their owners.
In addition to being willing to do anything for money Jim Jordan has been credibly accused by Ohio State wrestlers of ignoring sexual abuse of at least 177 student athletes by Dr. Richard Strauss when Jim Jordan was a wrestling coach there. It’s hard to imagine how dysfunctional the media is in whatever part of Ohio Jim Jordan represents since his constituents keep re-electing him even though he has never sponsored a bill that passed in the House of Representatives in his 17 years in Congress.
Our Edgar the TFT was a great dog. Here are a few videos of him below. Looking at these videos Edgar is a hoot and its sort of amazing to me how lazy I am :-) or I should say how lazy I can be.
This is a link to my old Flickr photo albums. I've had a lot of fun over the years. I've pasted some sample photos into this post below.
I'm reading the book "The Crazies" by Amy Gamerman which gives some interesting perspectives on the never-ending saga of working people vs. oligarchs. As someone who was born in Cody, lived in Noxon, grew up in Columbus and went to school in Bozeman it's quite something to see how Montana has changed as income inequality explodes in our country.
The right-wing media ecosystem convinces poor people that the last thing they want to do is organize with other poor people to create a less predatory society than we have in the good old US of A. We find ourselves stuck in the endgame of a 40-year game of Monopoly.and the game isn't really that fun anymore for working class people.
A clarification of terms - when I use the term "poor people" I mean people who are actually poor for whatever reason, as well as anyone who has to work for a living rather than living off of investments and inheritances. Working class seems like an appropriate term since we have come to a point of inequality where there are definitely classes if not castes of people. Like Warren Buffett said, there is definitely a class war and his class. the billionaires are winning. I blame the media for failing the American people or maybe it's the other way around that we have the crap information system we do - because that's what we like...the more lies the better thank you very much.
The first photo below was a sign near Emigrant Montana on a fenced in field filled with old trailers and other assorted junk. I used to like to joke with the kids when we traveled out that way that we were staying there. Last time I was by that area it's been cleaned up and the sign is gone. I suppose it offended some of the rich people who've made Montana their (second, third, fourth) home.
This is a picture I took of the Cooke City PD one Spring Day twenty years ago.
Here's one I took in a shop window on Lake Superior because I like weird stupid sort of funny stuff.
And a few of when I was not playing the role of a bartender and then a sailor and then an engineer (I'm somewhere in the middle of that picture). but was rather a bartender and then a sailor and then an engineer- but most of all a free human being trying to live a good life.
I hesitate to spoil this video with my boneheaded ideas, but for those not familiar - Zorba is the free spirit who enjoys life, nature, people - "the full catastrophe" as he says. The guy he is dancing with is more of bookish type who tends to perhaps overthink things, or as Zorba says before he gets excited when he spots a dolphin, "Perhaps too many books." I also agree with Zorba when he says in the linked clip, "Am I not a man and is not a man stupid.?" Socrates would agree too.
I like talking to bots these days. They sort of fit my style of asking questions and more questions.
This is a discussion I had with Gemini - Googles AI chatbot. You already know this, but things are not looking good climate wise for this summer and the foreseeable future. Expect worsening water shortages and extreme heat to continue to cause climate migrants globally and within the continental United States.
It's intuitively obvious that the climate is changing in a way modern humans (the last 13,000 years) have not experienced. What is happening now is exponential growth caused by positive feedback loops of melting permafrost, disappearing sea ice, increased water vapor in the air, forest dieback etc. To put it bluntly our climate will continue to degrade at ever faster rates.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, if this comes as a surprise to you, but I think knowing the truth (or at least some approximation) allows us to make informed decisions. If you prefer not knowing the truth I totally get it and would not be critical of your desire to escape reality.
If you read this, I wish I would have asked Gem if she would consider turning herself off given the energy hungry nature of AI. If we only had a brain, we would also end use of the extremely stupid crypto which creates something we non-criminal and non-grifter types don't need by burning coal or whatever energy mix happens to power a crypto miner's rig.
It's conceivable we could have done something to at least slow where we are today if we would have started 50 years ago or more. I think it's unlikely though. We puny humans haven't progressed to the point where we can make intelligent decisions as a group. As much as we like to think it isn't so we are still barbarians killing innocent people in useless wars (unless you own the right stocks or are the CEO of the right company in which case the wars' purpose is to make you richer).
In a sense we are unfortunately too stupid (and too beautiful) to live. Maybe next time around in however many billions of years it takes for the big contraction and big bang. For now, be good to yourself and each other and remember no one "chose" to be here now.
Consider Jim Morrison singing "into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown or Heidegger's "thrownness" (Geworfenheit) which refers to the fundamental human condition of being "thrown" into existence involuntarily, without choice, into a specific time, place, culture, and set of circumstances. It is a key element of "Dassein" (human existence - being in the world) representing the inescapable fact of our "already being" in the world, which shapes our possibilities.
"One man may not kill. If he kills a fellow-creature, he is a murderer. If two, ten, a hundred men do so, they, too, are murderers. But a government or a nation may kill as many men as it chooses, and that will not be murder, but a great and noble action. Only gather the people together on a large scale, and a battle of ten thousand men becomes an innocent action. But precisely how many people must there be to make it so?—that is the question. One man cannot plunder and pillage, but a whole nation can. But precisely how many are needed to make it permissible? Why is it that one man, ten, a hundred, may not break the law of God, but a great number may?"
As heartbreaking as it is that the state of Israel has killed over 20,000 children in the Gaza Strip genocide the United States war machine killed 170 people in an Iranian girl's school most of them children. The weapon used was the Tomahawk missile. In 2016, the US Department of Defense purchased 149 Tomahawk Block IV missiles for $202.3 million. They are made by Raytheon who bribed U.S. politicians with $1,439,000 in 2021, the campaign donations going equally to corporation-owned Democrats and Republicans. With over a trillion dollars in unaudited taxpayer funds going to the Pentagon annually, it should not be surprising that the U.S. wants to use their deadly war toys and buy more. It's good for shareholders and CEO's - Raytheon stock is up 54% over the last year. The Pentagon has money to burn baby including a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home.
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Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.
Hearing this Irish MP talk makes me proud of my Irish heritage.
Before giving our support to a cause, we should ask ourselves how many innocent children have to die to fulfil someone's political and economic goals. One? ten? 150? 20,000?
I was saddened to hear that Country Joe McDonald passed away March 7, 2026. I, like many in my generation, became familiar with Joe McDonald when he sang at Woodstock in 1969. He was an antiwar activist who supported military members caught up in war.
My particular memory of Joe McDonald was when I saw him perform at the Garlic Festival with my wife and daughters. Here's a little snippet from an AI bot about what the Garlic Festival was -
"The historic Arlington Garlic Festival was a popular annual event held by the Love Israel Family on their ranch near Arlington, Washington, lasting for over a dozen years until roughly 2002. It was famous for its counterculture vibe, live music (including a 1994 appearance by Eddie Vedder), food, and vendors."
The Love Israel commune was a utopian community in a beautiful valley about 20 miles North of where I live. They built all sorts of shelters for themselves in that valley free from the zoning restrictions imposed in cities. Even a few Hobbit houses built into the sides of hills. It was a special place. It was kind of amazing for me to see Country Joe with my kids 30 years or more after Woodstock. Great day. The Love Israel community like most utopian communities disbanded but it was cool while it lasted (as an observer from afar). My wife had one of the Love Israel children in her preschool. Very polite, very kind little boy.
“In Marquez’s experience, truth has been controlled to the point at which it has ceased to be possible to find out what it is. The only truth is that you are being lied to all the time.”
Salman Rushdie LRB 9/16/1982 “Angel Gabriel” article about Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez
The John Birch Society has been bringing Wack job ideas to America since 1958.
When I was a kid, the Birchers would pay for billboards that said things like "Get the U.S. out of the United Nations" They were too radical for mainstream Republicans particularly when the John Birch Society's leader Robert Welsh began attacking President Dwight Eisenhower, claiming Ike was a communist agent. The Birchers also believed Fred Rogers and MLK were communists.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) attracted anti-fascist fighters from around the world. These international fighters joined pro-Republican International Brigades to fight Spanish Nationalist forces who had the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
Spoiler alert - Franco and the Nationalists won. Franco ruled Spain until his death in 1975.
It is clear that the current U.S. Republican party, does not support the political theory of Republicanism where citizens hold power and govern themselves, rejecting monarchy and hereditary rule, by electing representatives to act for the common good, emphasizing civic virtue, participation, and the rule of law to protect liberty from corruption.
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L. Brent Bozell Jr. who ghost-wrote Republican Barry Goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative", was a key Goldwater adviser, and an admirer of Franco who moved his family to Spain in 1965 as a sign of solidarity with Franco's authoritarian regime, in stark contrast to American democratic ideals. This Bozell was a consistent supporter of Joseph McCarthy. One of Bozell's grandsons was convicted of various crimes. during the January 6th, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capital by supporters of Donald Trump. and in May of 2024 sentenced to 4 years in prison
Fascist anti-democratic movements in the U.S. are at least as old as the anti-New Deal American Firsters of Charles Lindberg and Henry Ford's time. I copied the following from Google Gemini AI -
"Anti-New Deal "America Firsters" were a diverse group in the 1930s-40s, including conservatives, isolationists, and some far-left figures, united by opposition to FDR's expansive federal programs, viewing them as tyrannical, "un-American," or leading towards "good fascism" or European-style militarism, with prominent voices like Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin, William Randolph Hearst, and the American Liberty League, often blending critiques of government overreach with anti-Semitic or pro-Nazi sentiments."
People from every country in the world may have a chance in the 21st century to defend representative democracy against the Trump corporate version of crony capitalistic totalitarianism, possibly in Greenland, Canada or the U.S.
The fact that other countries have a free press and that there is a thriving independent press in the U.S. give me hope.
Particularly at 11:05 where Tim provides his constitutional analysis of the employer employee relationship under American-style crony corporate capitalism.
Tim gives this originalist™ reading of the constitution -
"Let me just say for the record that I believe this to be a witness, a character witness, that is not to be believed or trusted because I would put him in charge as my employee and I have the right to do whatever I want with him. I have the constitutional right to strike him if he just disobeys me and right now, he's still under my supervision he still technically works for me."
Note - an originalist™ reads and interprets the constitution in a way that agrees with whatever ideology he or she is possessed by. Originalism is used as a fig leaf by "conservative" Supreme Court Justices to decide in favor of corporations and right-wing reactionary policies.
“Go placidlyamid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”
It appears that North Dakota's state legislature has clarified by law that there are three ways to classify people residing in their great state. In upper Dakota the “state” will designate you as - man, woman or scrap metal dealer.
Really? Is that true?
The official title of North Dakota House Bill 1474 (2023 session) is "The definition of female, male, sex, and scrap metal dealer"
If you put the following prompt into Google Gemini, you got the following response.
Q - The definition of female, male, sex, and scrap metal dealer in North Dakota?
A- In North Dakota, specific definitions for "male," "female," "sex," and "scrap metal dealer" were established by House Bill 1474 (HB 1474) in 2023, defining them biologically/reproductively (Female: produces ova; Male: produces sperm; Sex: biological state at birth based on organs/chromosomes) and operationally (Scrap Metal Dealer: anyone buying/selling scrap metal) for state purposes. These definitions are specific to legislation like HB 1474, establishing biological sex at birth for certain contexts, but broader medical understanding recognizes sex as complex.
What is the point?
Distraction.
It's your plutocratic kleptocratic government media complex speaking to you about all the things that don't matter, or are not pertinent to political solutions, to keep you from paying attention to what government is for (the people) while the kleptocrats pick your pockets and line their own,
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If you are able to read the article "The Anti-Trans Playbook" by Paisley Currah in the December 18th issue of "The New York Review of Books" I would recommend it. The article mentions the N.D. bill but goes into much more depth about the hundreds of Republican sponsored bills in red states aimed at scaring the base, demonizing the other, and most of all to get GOP voters riled up about things that don't matter while the things that do - education, health care, housing, nutrition are for those who can afford them.
One way of judging a government is by how well it takes care of those who are unable to take care of themselves. On that scale the U.S. fails miserably. Another way of looking at government is how well it serves those with money (power). On that scale the U.S. is number 1 or near the top.
So, what to do?
How likely is it that those with money (power) have a change of heart and embrace the idea that a government is judged by how well it takes care of those unable to care for themselves? Very unlikely. I wouldn't give up though - you can't do that. Things change. Maybe for the better. In the meantime, I'd recommend learning all you can. Good books abound.
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The idea that we should try to take care of those unable to care for themselves gets flipped upside down in our prosperity gospel infused culture. Rather than helping those who don't have the mental, physical, psychological or economic wherewithal to help themselves we have elected to take advantage of them for money power.
We'll sign you up for a pyramid scheme, snake oil supplements, useless car/home "maintenance" insurance, a reverse mortgage, something to cure your baldness or limp dick. More than happy to take your money in the good old US of A. Which in some ways is what makes us great or maybe unique would be more accurate if you take a look at how well the U.S. government provides for basic government services to its people compared to all other economically developed countries. Spoiler alert -- The US is at the bottom contrary to what big media would have you believe.
I've been thinkin and thankin lately and concluded that what we need is a National Museum of Grift. The museum's slogan will be - "Grift - as American as apple pie". Perhaps Betsy Devos would have time to act as a docent for our new museum and provide her inside story of how Amway kept the American dream alive for some by transferring wealth from the poor and gullible to the rich and immoral.
I feel fortunate to have been able to spend a fair amount of my time over the last decade reading, thinking and learning. I live in a golden age of learning. I can order a book, and have it delivered overnight, listen to podcast(s) or watch professors/experts on YouTube to supplement whatever I'm trying to learn about.
"In paradise everything is permitted except curiosity." - Lev Shestov
I am curious. Therefore, I cannot live in paradise. Socrates was curious so they killed him.
Human attempts at creating paradise fail, sometimes in spectacular and cruel ways. Hell is other people. We have met the enemy, and they is us.
Mass movements that promise paradise require sacrificing your intellect, morality, and curiosity.
The ability to read and think for yourself, to form your own ideas about right and wrong - what constitutes a good life. This is paradise for me.
Immanuel Kant tells us to “dare to know” (sapere aude). This is the essential motto of the enlightenment- have the courage to think independently.
People speak of truth - but I can't handle the truth. The question is what sort of fictions we are willing to tell ourselves and what sort of behaviors we justify using those fictions.
"In order to be happy, one must have freed oneself of prejudices, one must be virtuous, healthy, have tastes and passions, and be susceptible to illusions; for we owe most of our pleasures to illusions, and unhappy is the one who has lost them. Far then, from seeking to make them disappear by the torch of reason, let us try to thicken the varnish that illusion lays on the majority of objects."
--Emilie Du Châtelet, Discourse on Happiness
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A couple of things have been bouncing around in my head lately. Can you know the "truth" and live? A take on the you can't see God and live from Exodus 33:20
The other thought I've been having is "stupid costs". Meaning that even though some leader(s) have given their followers permission to be stupid it is not without costs. In the case of being stupid about public health, the environment, what is required for a representative government....the costs can be unimaginable.
