I saw a reference to Donald Trump as the “Divider in Chief” recently, and the comment made me laugh. The context was that of the pandemic and response to it, and how to frame the response: the model most people take is that of motorcycle helmets, and the model the poster preferred was that of… Continue reading Dividers in Chief
Tag: politics
Books that Shaped You
What books helped shape your political and moral opinions? A lot has gone into my reading list. Here’s a list of the things I think were most important, with a focus on fiction: Starship Troopers. Often derided as fascist, this book... isn’t fascist. It’s not a complicated book, but it does contain a lot of… Continue reading Books that Shaped You
Socialism
In a lot of ways, the way people talk about Socialism today sounds like an attempt to say “I want to take what you have” without the guilt associated with theft - because it’s corporate and pits membership in social classes against each other. “I do not have it, and I need it” elicits natural… Continue reading Socialism
The Trees is an ideal (and pragmatic) leftist’s song
I love the song “The Trees,” by Rush, on their “Hemispheres” album. It’s the first song of Rush’s catalog that I heard, even though I didn’t know the band was Rush at the time. It’s an incredibly leftist song. I wholly approve. I am a leftist at heart. I’ve been asking people I know what… Continue reading The Trees is an ideal (and pragmatic) leftist’s song
Deliver what you promise when you write
I've gone on a number of (hopefully mild) rants about clickbait in writing: "Seven Reasons Your Wife Will Leave You!", "Trump's Bat-Baby!", and so forth. Today I read with great interest an article on CNN entitled "Why Trump wants you to be afraid of high speed trains." It's... an interesting article, but I came away… Continue reading Deliver what you promise when you write
The Grammy Awards ignored Rock and Metal!, Gordon Ramsey, Larry Hogan on CNN
Things I'm thinking about: The Grammies An article in "Ultimate Classic Rock" was entitled "How the 2019 Grammy Awards Basically Ignored Rock and Metal". I'm... a little bit surprised, considering how rap and hip-hop (are those different?) have been ignored by the Grammy Awards ever since they became significant art forms, and rock - historically… Continue reading The Grammy Awards ignored Rock and Metal!, Gordon Ramsey, Larry Hogan on CNN
Outrage on Social Media articles; State of the Union
Things I'm thinking about, after switching back to a list-based list of thoughts because Gutenberg headers annoy me: Gutenberg headers annoy me. I'm thinking of switching back to my comfortable editing process where I'm not constantly griping about my editor. It's a flow thing.Good article from Medium, paywalled (so if you don't have a Medium… Continue reading Outrage on Social Media articles; State of the Union
Intersections with Politics
Things I'm thinking about: I'm changing the format up today, because one of the entries is longer than usual. Trump and the Patriots It's really annoying that people are mad at the New England Patriots because Trump likes them. I dislike the Patriots myself - I nearly cost myself a job after they lost to… Continue reading Intersections with Politics
Impressions
Things I think about sometimes: I love the idea of being someone who might be described like "He only cares about the things that matter," except loving that particular idea means that I... care about things that don't matter. Darn it.My DJ name is rather obvious: "43rd to the Q."Finally got a new phone! I'm… Continue reading Impressions
Big Time!, Politics and Empathy, Football
Things I am observing myself thinking about: I can't listen to Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" these days without thinking that it's something like Donald Trump's theme song.I've hit a wall in exercising. Need more motivation. Need to push harder. (Oddly enough, my annoyance at having hit a wall was motivating.)I think a lot of the… Continue reading Big Time!, Politics and Empathy, Football
