Tag: News

Sunda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Okay, I made a BFM* today. I read a Ross opinion piece in the NYTimes.
“How Democrats Drove Silicon Valley Into Trump’s Arms”.

This was a conversation with Marc Andreessen. Andreessenwas supposedly explaining why he went from supporting Democrats to supporting Trump. Puke-inducing? You betcha! Andreessen made this flat-out statements and ‘lo, without any supporting information or explanation. This is his view and that’s just how it is. Say, isn’t that how Trump and Musk operate, too? Sure, you betcha! It’s the MAGA GOOP way in this century. Say some bullshit and ice it as fact.

BTW, I worked for a Fortune 500 company under three different CEO. Honest to god ‘blue chip’ company. Not one of those CEOs ever struck me as someone trying to convince the rest of us that they were a ‘good person.’ They cut and cut products, benefits, and headcounts, all trying to increase and optimize profits. But that’s just one company, right? Sure! But if Andreessen can make his statement and declare it as fact, so can I!

So here you go, some tasty *not* nuggets out of the Andreessen revelations.

“The most privileged people in society, the most successful, send their kids to the most politically radical institutions, which teach them how to be America-hating communists.”

***

“First of all, let me disabuse you of something, if you haven’t already disabused yourself. The view of American C.E.O.s operating as capitalist profit optimizers is just completely wrong.

“That’s like, Goal No. 5 or something. There’s four goals that are way more important than that. And that’s not just true in the big tech companies. It’s true of the executive suite of basically everyone at the Fortune 500.

“I would say Goal No. 1 is, “I’m a good person.” “I’m a good person,” is wildly more important than profit margins. Wildly.”

***

“But there were lots and lots of underground peer-to-peer discussions from 2018 through to 2021 saying, “OK, things are off the rails.” And my point is, we were softened up for the Biden radicalization. Then when the Biden administration turned out to be far more radical than even we thought that they were going to be then that’s what generated the response that ultimately — “

***

“Government-mandated enforcement of D.E.I. in very destructive ways. Some of these agencies have their own in-house courts, which is bananas. Also just straight-up threats and bullying.“

You can read the conversation. Ensure I’m not taking stuff out of context. That’s always possible, isn’t? Also, I quit reading. These pretenders had me ready to regurgitate everything I’d eaten so far in 2025.

1

Sunda’s Theme Music

Mood: coldasfrickinice

Winter left frosty white prints all over the valley this morning. Well, on the house’s western side. Out back, it’s green and almost springlike in appearance, until you step out and the 21 degrees F slaps your face.

This is Sunda, January 19, 2025. A freezing fog advisory is in effect but the crazy frog has vacated my area. Sunshine is instead smooching everything, causing stretches of vapor clouds to rise in the air as the frost hastens its escape with the sun’s urging. Gonna be 50 today, ‘they’ say. Well, yesterday didn’t see us get over 39 on my home’s system or my friend’s system. But today seems like it has more of a chance, if the scene outside of blue sky and sunshine doesn’t change when I look away.

News: TikTok is going dark today under the government’s orders. Three hostages were released in Gaza. Kansas City is advancing to the AFC championship game and a lot of fans seem displeased about it. The Washington Commanders shocked the NFC’s number one side, the Detroit Lions, with an almost flawless game. Another new wildfire was reported in southern California while the Palisades fire still burns, although the latter is 52 percent contained. WaPo is circulating rumors that the new administration wants to replace DeJoy as the nation’s Postmaster General. Just an aside to that, Democrats and many Republicans revile DeJoy for what he’s done to the USPS but he’s kissed the ring and threw lots of cash at Trump, so I’m surprised to hear it being discussed.

One news story that disgusted me is about Jefferson Griffin. The Republican ran for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat in 2024 and lost. Now he’s asking the state to throw out 5500 military absentee ballots. His reasoning is that they don’t provide a photo ID with their vote. Their vote in the mail. The same voting method that this character used in 2019 and 2020, BTW. Oh, and he’s only challenging these absentee ballots in heavily-leaning counties. This feels like it transcends hypocrisy. Feels like it’s absolutely venal in its naked desperation and hunger to win at any cost. If others’ rights get screwed in the process, well, that’s just too bad for them.

Musically, The Neurons have an Al Stewart song playing in the morning mental music stream. “On the Border” was released in 1977 and has a folk-rock flavor, which is flock in my vocabulary. (Folk rock, right? Flock.) There is some jazz flavoring to it as well. I have no specific reason for its inhabitance of the morning mental music stream. I was just tidying up in the kitchen some after feeding the beasts when I realized it was in my head. But these lines may have been the inspiration:

Late last night the rain was knocking on my window
I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow
I thought I saw down in the street the spirit of the century
Telling us that we’re all standing on the border

h/t to Genius.com

And that is because many of us simply feel like the nation’s spirit underwent a significant change when PINO-elect Trump won in 2024. Particulars include a substantial number of Americans showing vast disinterest or apathy by not voting and enough supporting a convicted felon to give the U.S. a new low as a first: a convict POTUS. As billionaires and the less wealthy line up to get on his good side and laws are proposed or passed to erase decades to centuries of change, it feel likes we’re standing on the border of becoming somthing other than the founders’ original intentions. I’ve said all of this before. Now it feels like I’m just cryin’ in my coffee.

Coffee and I have brokered another treaty for the day and I have commenced sipping out of the mug. Here’s the tune. Hope you enjoy the melody and have a terrific Sunda. Cheers

1

Sa’da’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Crooks & Liars offer a post that shows PINO-elect Trump’s approval ratings are underwater. Conventional wisdom will suggest that’s not good news for him.

“A NPR/PBS News/Marist College poll released Wednesday shows that just 44% of Americans view Trump favorably, while 49% view him unfavorably. That’s nearly identical to the 45% approval rating Trump has in Civiqs’ tracking poll.“

Sorry, but I shrug. After that last election, I just don’t trust polls any longer. But I did enjoy reading — sorry, can’t help myself — “Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, has just a 19% approval rating in the NPR/PBS News/Marist College survey. And the survey was conducted before Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, when Democratic senators laid bare the nominee’s abhorrent behavior of alleged sexual assault, womanizing, on-the-job drinking, and misogynistic remarks.” 

It’s thought-provoking information, even if I’m no longer certain where polls fit.

0

Sa’da’s Theme Music

Mood: freezincoffeevated

Ashlandia is sportin’ a frosty crazy frog mornin’. Fog greets our vision in all directions. Frosts offers greetings from the low plants and unpaved ground. Sunshine mingles with fog to inspire bleak graylight. Warmth is an alien suggestion. It’s up to 28 F here, a long way from promises of mostly cloudy sky with sunshine and a high of 50 F. We never crept anywhere near the forecasted claims yesterday as fog declared, “Nope, not leaving.”

I read Paul Krugman’s piece, “Voodoo, MAGA Style”, last night. Krugman covered Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, and his magical thinking about how to change the economy.

Bessent is very much like Trump. Promises are made, details are vague. Dusting off the Wayback Machine, we can revisit Trump’s claim that he’ll build a wall, and that Mexico will pay for it. He’ll replace the ACA. Etc. I recommend you read Krugman’s post about Bessent’s declaration about how the economy will be changed. Because, like Trump’s vaporwords, there are no details, and the promises vanish, often with a defiant stance that goes, “I never said that. That’s a lie. Fake news.” No, I don’t expect Bessent to be different. Maybe, though, he’ll start selling Trump-branded gimmicks to improve the economy. That’s a Trump fave to make money. Natch, Trump will get a cut.

My wife’s exercise routines inspired The Neurons today. She sometimes plays “Head Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK. Now it’s caught on in the morning mental music stream. Those of you familiar with the bouncy 2020 song will understand. To the rest, I warn you: it is catchy. It is a repeat song choice.

Coffee and I had a morning tryst. Hope your day goes in a satisfying way. Here’s the music. And away we go. Cheers

2

Just In Passing

I stole this graphic from a Facebook post I saw today. Not mine at all. But as I encounter bloggers who sometimes issue GRRRRRRs in response to news events — won’t give any names here — I thought the graphic was apropos.

You can probably bet I’ll spend some time in my private growlery over the next few days.

0

Wezda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Texas and Florida are led by two of the most right-wing, reactionary governors. Governors Abbott and DeSantis constantly assail liberal values such as freedom and equality for all, decrying these as part of that terrible, terrible ‘woke’ agenda. Gadzooks, the woke agenda is so evil, in their minds. Gender recognition, women’s rights, abortion rights, it’s so, soooo horrible to hear them. Why, those liberals, aided by Democrats, are willing to do something about restricting gun rules just cause children are being murdered in schools and mass shootings happen with a sickening regularity. Those damn liberals. And let’s not start them about the climate change hoax, or the environmental protections that allowed much of the nation to have some decent air and water and reduce cancer rates. They get spittin’ mad just thinkin’ ’bout it

One of the favorite tools for these two states is secession. If the nation won’t see things their way, they’ll just leave the nation. That’s how much they love ‘Merica. The way that talk, they’re all give, give, give, getting nothin’ back from those damn Feds except lies, except when a Republican sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

Well, Mr. Paul Krugman has a nice post this week remind us of how that damn Federal government bailed out their states of Texas and Florida a few times. Mr. Krugman is writing in the context of Republican threats to put conditions on helping California recover and rebuild from its horrific wildifires. “Remembrance of Red State Bailouts Past” takes us through a short journey. It’s a fact-based journey, of course. You know how terrible the Republican crowd is ’bout facts. They’ve yet to met one that they like, much less remember one.

Hope you click on over and read Mr. Krugman’s column. It’s important that the rest of us know the facts so we can challenge those ridiculous un-American positions.

1

Some Good News

A Plethora of Good Tidings…

I hang my mind on any good news that arises. Here’s a sharing of a sharing of good news brought to us by Annie Asks You and Jessica Craven. Cheers

0

Twosda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

I read an excellent analysis by Allison Morrow on CNN the other day: “There’s a reason why it feels like the internet has gone bad”. Ms Morrow goes on to remind us of a term that Cory Doctorow coined several years ago:

Enshittification

Enshittification is the process by which a platform destroys itself. “First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.”

The thing about enshittification, though, is that it’s more universal than just social platforms and online endeavors. My wife and I have noticed enshittification taking place in restaurant chains, for example.

Take a chain called Fresh Choice. I don’t know its status these days. When it first came to the SF-SJ bay area, my wife and I loved it. She fluctuates between being a vegan and a vegetarian and all shades in between. Now she eats fish and eggs but not cheese, and never, never eats pork, beef, or fowl. So Fresh Choice, focused on breads, soups, salads and a small dessert offerings, was a reasonably-priced place to go for lunch or dinner.

We had certain favorites, like a squash soup. But then one month, it tasted different. Now, we don’t have evidence but we believe that Fresh Choice was using quality ingredients. But to sustain their profit margins and reduce costs as they expanded, they switched ingredients to less expensive ingredients. We soon no longer found the food as tasty. Then they raised prices. Started doing different levels of purchases, if I recall right. The cleanliness of the local franchise declined, and the wait staff became less friendly. We ceased going.

The thing is, we knew enshittification without naming it, because we’ve seen this happen time and again to businesses. We saw it happen to cable companies and phone companies. Internet streaming services. The airlines, of course, are big examples of enshittification, reducing legroom, monetizing every aspect of travel, stealing away all the aspects we used to take for granted as part of the flying experiences.

As Ms Morrow noted, “In other words: Products are good when they first hit the market, because companies need to lock in as many consumers as they can to achieve the huge scale they desire. Once everyone’s using the product, the company refocuses on creating value for business partners, padding its profit margins and letting the product corrode. Eventually, the company maxes out what it can extract from its business partners, too, and the whole thing fades into obsolescence.

Once you wrap your head around the idea, you start to see enshittification all around — not only online, but across the economy, in services that have been picked over by private equity (vet clinics, nursing homes, prisons, countless other industries) or in the products peddled by highly concentrated industries.

I’ll go one further, though. I think the GOP is undergoing the process of enshittification. As Mr Doctorow said in a Nightline interview, “In terms of the future of enshittification, these platforms that have hollowed themselves out, where there’s just no value left in them except this kind of awful lock-in. It’s the old “we go broke a little, and then all at once.””

That’s this century’s GOP, hollowed out, going for broke. Enshittified, with a shitty leader and a shitty agenda. Let’s hope that we survive as a democratic nation and don’t become too enshittified while MAGA is in power. More than hoping, let’s work against our nation becoming enshittified.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑