Science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. Singer (sorry, no shows) & nudist (in my home). Beer, cat, cheese, coffee, pie and wine friend. Left IBM and Silicon Valley for the southern Oregon life but I miss the ocean. We're too far inland. Gotta move.
On the one hand, I would say that I am patriotic. I served over twenty years on active duty in the U.S. military. I was compensated for my service and the service itself doesn’t construe automatic patriotism; many people who have betrayed the U.S. claimed they were patriotic. I have stood with my hand held in a salute or over my heart to honor my flag and my nation.
But those are gestures, and there is the nub of the problem. I’m probably splitting hairs but this is an era of hair-splitting. My patriotism is not to a flag nor a nation, people, concept, party, or individual. I swore to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It’s the basis of our laws and the foundation of our government. And although my military service is completed, that oath is engraved in my spirit.
So, I don’t know if I’m patriotic. I’m not fond of my nation now and what is being done to it. But with that oath in mind, I will fight for the principles on which it was founded as proclaimed in the Constitution and its amendments until the very end, no matter the outcome.
Rain is hovering over the valley’s Sunda with a soft threat of rain. Sunshine is skipping in and out, and gray, traveling clouds are posturing like the rain threat is for real. It’s 43 F with a high of 51 F possible, ‘they’ say.
This is Feb. 16, 2025. With news firehoses running everday, February has taken a fast track through the year. Twelve days until it’s run its time and we’re on to March.
The morning mental music stream was jumping with a variety of remembered offerings. Now running the scene is a song by The Clash called “Clampdown”. Straight out of 1979, it’s a song about capitalism and how it beats people and steals their lives. I don’t know what prompted the Neurons to pull it up today. I mean, I’d just been reading again how the GOTP wants to put everyone to work at lower wages, young and old, to make ‘Merica great again. Cuz work is fun! Everyone loves the drone of machines grinding past, putting out new toys. If not there, they enjoy standing on their feet sixteen hours a day, waiting on other people. Or hustling food from kitchens tables before hurrying home to rest in front of the TV, computer, and walls. Of course, the billionaires and most millionaires would be exempted. CEOs, too. They’re wealth creators, you know. Tax them less and they’ll spend more, even as the poor starve and die. Yeah, I don’t know what prompted The Clash and “Clampdown” to get pulled into the MMMS.
In these days of evil presidentes Working for the clampdown But lately one or two has fully paid their due For working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! Working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! Working for the clampdown
Coffee has breached my defenses once again, taking over my agenda as it is wont to do. Hope you enjoy the music and the day embraces you in positive ways. Cheers
Portuguese editorial cartoonist Zez Vaz reaches back to Tiananmen Square to call on American defiance.
Right wingers won’t get it. They’ll respond something along the lines of, “That’s stupid. Musk isn’t sending cybertrucks out. China sent tanks. It’s totally different.”
Of course I have never intentionally broken the law. Unless you count speeding. Okay, I admit I exceeded the speed limit once or twice…or ten thousand…times. I had good reasons! Like, the bathroom, yeah, I had to go to the bathroom. That’s the ticket. And I was, um, I was, I was, yeah, late for a funeral. And my wedding! Yeah, I was late for my wedding, that’s it. So I had to speed to get us there on time — yeah, my wife-to-be was with me in the car, so, you know, if I didn’t speed, neither of us would have gotten to the wedding on time. So, you see, really, I had to. No choice.
And the other times it was because, um, I was picking up food! Food. Yeah, pizza, and Chinese and Mexican food. And doughnuts. So I had to speed because I was saving people from starving to death. Other than that, and those times I was speeding to get away from the cops because there was a warrant out for my arrest, I would never intentionally break the law. Oh, and that time I was fleeing the threat of bodily harm because someone accused me of stealing from them. But they were going to hurt me, so can you blame me?
But other than those few exceptions, which, you see, I had no choice about, I would never intentionally break the law. Well, except for that time I went back in time, but that doesn’t happen for another eleven years so that doesn’t count, does it? Because, if you’re gonna count that, you might as well count the time I broke out of jail on the moon.
Say, there’s no law against not telling the truth, is there?
Welcome once again. The show is starting, it’s never ending, the days come together and just keep on blending. So we give them numbers and call them names, this one is Saturda, the 15th. It’s still February and it’s still 2025.
An unenthusiastic sky made up of blemished and dull white swaths have been tossed over the sky. Blue is not in the scene today. Sunshine is muffled; only rays weary with effort break out. Piles of melting snow, blackened by dirt and pollutants, sketch reminders of last week.
We’re lookin’ at 36 F but ‘they’ say we’ll see 43 F later. Rain? Maybe. Sunshine? Could be. Fog? Why not?
Around noon Friday, the trio entered multiple offices at City Hall “demanding that employees turn over digital information related to alleged wasteful government spending and fraud,” the sheriff’s office said.
The employees refused the requests and called sheriff’s deputies. The men fled the building before authorities arrived.
Isn’t it a perfect metaphor for the Trusk administration? Lawlessness, ignorance, arrogance, and cowardice, all in one scene. Sums up Trusk for me.
I mean, think about it. These guys walk in and demand files related to wasteful government spending and fraud. What did they think was going to happen? Employees were going to reply, “Oh, yes, we have those files right here. Here ya’ go. Have a nice day.”
Jeezus.
Today, The Neurons have presented me with a classic CCR song. Dug up out of 1968, “Commotion” is playing in the morning mental music stream. It’s a fast-beat song with classic CCR lyrics.
People keep atalkin', they don't say a word Jaw, jaw, jaw, jaw, jaw Talk up in the White House, talk up to your door, So much goin' on I just can't hear
The genesis of the song in the MMMS is from reflecting how much the GOTP say without giving real information. Lies, bullshit, and evasion is their norm. I’d have to walk away from them if I heard them talking at a party. But as the song puts it, ‘so much goin’ on I just can’t hear.’ Which, others note, is part of the Trusk GOTP plan: if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. Keep talkin’ and don’t answer questions. Confusion is their friend.
Coffee has made its way into my system again, pushing my buttons and liftin’ my energy. Here we go, into another hazy shade of winter. Have the best day you can. See you on the other side. Cheers
