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Bag It
Tucker Carlson has a problem with disappearing papers. From NY Mag Intelligencer:
On Wednesday night’s show, Tucker Carlson reported that his team had acquired incriminating documents. However, they sent them from Washington to Los Angeles, and the documents disappeared. And they neglected to make any copies. So now the only copy of the documents that would nail the probable next president of the United States are gone:
Few believe poor Tucker. He’s being mocked to hell and back.
I understand, though. I’ve been there.
I was taking university classes with the University of Maryland (go, Terps!) around my schedule when I was stationed with the Air Force at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, back in the eighties. My wife and I lived with two cats in a tiny place off base outside of one of the gates.
Finishing a paper, I put it on the bookcase by the door so it’d be there when I departed and I was less likely to forget it. This was pre-computer days. I’d pounded out the paper on my used government IBM Selectric II typewriter. Our cat, Jade, jumped up on the bookcase and puked on the paper. Gross as was, there was no way I could turn that in. I thought about bagging it for evidence but laughed that off.
Abashed, I reported what happened to my professor and asked for another day. Dismayed, he said, “Well, I’ve heard that before, or variations, but I never expected to hear it from you. Well, okay, I’ll give it a day.” It really pissed me off that he clearly didn’t believe me, but he gave me the day.
Next time, I’ll bag it and turn it in.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
1978.
This song seemed everywhere for a while, but it’s one of those that’s been put on the bottom of the pile. It doesn’t seem to get much air play these days. Did its mix of acoustic and electric guitars not age well?
“Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)” by Styx rose through my mind’s layers as I read political news from the right about how great Trump is. Absolutely everything, from this young man’s point of view, was brilliant. Trump, to him, is powerful and intelligent, returning the United States to a position of international prestige and influence.
COVID-19? Why, that’s overhyped, as Trump just proved, in the young (his claim – I don’t know how old he is, just his claims) right-winger’s mind. No worse than the flu and already going away. No, the greatest threat to America comes from “libtards” and their willingness to give everything away (he believes “Obama destroyed America and the economy”). Further, Trump’s recent sickness was really just a cover for him to rise up and finally vanquish the Dems and “libtards”.
Okay.
So, yes, reading him, I thought, “You are really fooling yourself.” I can’t say that he’s under a rock; no, he’s fooling himself with his conviction that everything on the “lamestream media” is fake news. I don’t understand how they — these right-wingers who insist everything is fake news — receives the real news. That’s an opaque process. So, I reiterate, he’s fooling himself.
Which brings me back to Styx’s 1978 song, “Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)” from their album, The Grand Illusion. For my part, I think Trump’s claims about what he’s done is just grand illusion. Maybe it’s just me fooling myself.
The Twitter Response
A few days ago, Twitter informed me they’d blocked me because I tweeted a fact-check article that said the story being shared on social media about mail-in ballots being found in a California landfill is false. I challenged them because I disagreed with their decison.
Here is the exact headline I used, as copied from the offending tweet:
Viral Image Falsely Claims To Show Unopened 2020 Mail-In Ballots In A California Dumpster
I didn’t link this headline to any article in this post. If you want, you can copy that headline and search for it, as I did. I found articles that came up, confirming what I had tweeted was true in USA Today, MSN, Checkyourfact.com, and other places, including my original source, mediabiasfactcheck.com.
Twitter doesn’t agree. They say that I violated their guidelines. Here’s their copied response from the email.
Hello, Thank you for your patience as we reviewed your appeal request for account, @mwseidel1, regarding the following: Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision. You will not be able to access Twitter through your account due to violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically our rules around: In order to restore account functionality, you can resolve the violations by logging into your account and completing the on-screen instructions. Thanks, |
The Twitter mediocrity, sorry, bureaucracy, has made their decision. You can tell by the details included in their form letter that it was tediously thorough. They cited the violation — oh, wait, no, they didn’t.
Well, that doesn’t matter. They did cite the rule that I violated, so that I may look it up and learn my lesson from this incident, as I couldn’t find it when I checked their rules and guidelines before. The relevant rule is:
Well, they left that blank, too.
Surely, then, Twitter’s decision strikes me as a thorough, totally impartial, fair, and intelligent decision. Yes, that’s snark. They obviously did nothing of the kind and revealed how little their standards mean, as they couldn’t be bothered with citing anything. I’m too much of a peasant account for that.
In view of this response of theirs, I thought about my response. Should I waste more time fighting it? No, just delete it and go on. Sadly, Twitter’s decision is about the norm for customer service and modern organizations: damn capricious and with little thought.
I do keep in mind, however, that others who retweeted what Trump said often have their accounts locked for using Trump’s exact words, while Trump’s original tweet is just labeled with a mild warning.
As always, Twitter — like other organizations — speaks to power with one standard, and sneers at people like me, truly the mark of a wonderful corporate citizen and a worthwhile part of the social landscape. Sorry, more snark. Just couldn’t be helped. Their response just asks for it.
Cheers
Sunday’s Theme Music
Not light music today. Looked at the news landscape and thought, there’s a lot of psychopaths out there, a realization that let the 1977 Talking Heads song, “Psycho Killer”, stream into my mind. A repeat song but it could be the theme music for an entire body of uncaring people who lack empathy and are willing to kill in the name of their love, you know? I liked it up, and it’s been almost three years since I last used it as a theme song. That gives me license in my mind (which is where I’m making up these rules in the first place) to use it again.
Yeah, that is all.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
“Bang!” by AJR came out earlier this year, and probably peaked before the coronavirus pandemic. It seems like a good song for 2020. Each day, things appear a little worse for many. People have become leery of the expression, “It can’t get any worse.” That seems like a personal challenge being issued to the fates. Like, there’s the pandemic. Hurricanes. Wildfires. Ongoing wars. Murder hornets. Now an asteroid is going to make a flyby that’s closer than some weather satellites, as it passes within 17,000 miles. Nothing is expected to come of the asteroid…but this is 2020.
At one point, when you’re down and it looks like more shit is going to happen, you say, “Fuck it. Let’s go out with a bang.” Make it memorable, you know? Go down without giving up. That’s what this song is all about in my head.
Bang, bang, bang.
P.S. Does anyone else despise the WP changes? Damn, are they aggravating.
A Fire Update
Just a general update on things for friends and family. My neighborhood and family are safe. Ashland, where the Almeda fire began, is safe. The wind has abated but red flag alerts remain.
Gas stations and stores are busy with exhausted, worried out of towners. The Almeda fire started as a grass fire by a BMX park in Ashland but then spread west and north. The initiating source remains under investigation. Pushed by 40MPH plus gusts, the burned through Talent, then lit up and destroyed Phoenix. South Medford was next. The last word that we had, last night, was that the fire was contained. We’re looking for better info.
Meanwhile, spot fires had been going on, threatening other areas of Medford, Central Point, and Eagle Point, to our north and west. Those seem to have been extinguished. Interstate 5 is open in both directions.
Note: a rumor is going around in certain political circles that Black Lives Matter went along Interstate 5 starting fires. They offer no evidence. Police are working to dispel the stories circulating on social media. To me, these rumors increase the evidence of who this people are; at a time when everyone needs help and should come together, they use lies to plant seeds of distrust. There’s the wildfire that needs to be put out.
We’re under a request to limit water due to the water used to fight fires. We remain at Level 1, ready to go. There are other fires burning in Jackson County. Temperatures have dropped today. Locally, we’re expecting highs in the mid-eighties. But the temperatures will then return to the nineties and perhaps over one hundred. While the immediate worst threat has subsided, staying alert and ready is required.
Our air is smoky. I jump to the conclusion that it’s probably from smoldering areas of our fires. The smoke might be from California to the south, or other fires in Oregon up north.
I’m relieved that we survived here, but the losses suffered by others can’t be overstated. The impact on Talent and Phoenix, our neighboring towns, is like what happened to Paradise, California, and we all remember that. Buildings, homes, and possessions are gone. Our resources through government and charity are stretched. Assessments are still being conducted, and the fire monitored for hotspots. Only when the authorities are assured everything is out will the people be allowed to return to their places, make private assessments, and begin rebuilding.
Monday’s Theme Music
My mind is serenading me wit Red Ryder’s 1981 song, “Lunatic Fringe”, today.
Back when I was commuting and working in an office, I’d often think of this song. I always seemed to encounter people with perspectives and facts that didn’t align with reality. Feels like I’m seeing and hearing more of it on the television, radio, and intertubes. Yet, I always wonder if I’m the lunatic fringe, out of sync with reality. That drives me to verify and vet information, and trace stories, looking for the source.
All this is helpful while writing. I enjoy elements in what I read (or the movies and television shows that I watch), so I plug it into my writing. When I’m writing, I enjoy an imaginary reader wondering, “WTF?” This is especially true if I laugh out loud when I’m writing it.
Here’s a sample of “Lunatic Fringe” lyrics (h/t to Metrolyrics.com), followed by the song.
Lunatic Fringe
I know you’re out there
You’re in hiding, and you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming, and I know what you’re after
We’re wise to you this time we won’t let you kill the laughter
Lunatic Fringe – in the twilight’s last gleaming
This is open season, but you won’t get too far
‘Cause you got to blame someone for your own confusion
We’re all on guard this time against the Final Solution
We can hear you coming
We can hear you coming no, you’re not going to win this time,
your not gonna win
Saturday’s Theme Music
“You’ve yet to have your finest hour.”
I was rallying myself to get out of bed when the quote was remembered.
It’s a good quote Churchill, the second World War. (Has war stopped since then?) Queen put it into their 1984 song, “Radio Ga Ga”. After I applied it to myself (and wondering if it’s true), I applied it to humanity.
We — humanity — have been changing the world and our societies. Now the world is biting back, or so it feels. It feels like that because it’s us, and our moment. Review some history, and you’ll see that nature bites back pretty damn regularly.
So here we go with the theme music. Enjoy yourself, if you can, wherever you are, and wear your mask, please.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Today’s music arrives from yesterday’s doc visit. You’d think, then, it’s a doc-related song like “Dr. Feelgood”, “Doctor Doctor”, or “Doctor My Eyes”. You’d be wrong.
At the doc’s office, everyone politely asked, “How are you doing? How’s your arm?” Valid questions.
Wanting to be both upbeat and original, I sought different ways to answer. One was, “Hey, holding on, getting better.”
That was issued to Jocelyn, the xray tech. As I awaited the next round after her, memory picked up the holding on comment and supplied the 1988 Steve Winwood song with the title of, well, “Holding On”. It’s a typical Winwood hybrid, quasi rock and soul, with a brassy feel, big vocals, and optimism.
It worked well for passing doctor office time yesterday. I think, in this age of pandemic, change, elections. wildfires, and suffering, it’s good theme music for today.
Hold on. And wear your damn mask, please.
Michael Seidel, writer 