![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Thought for the day: Drafty
28/1/25 23:29![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
garoteThe rise of blockchain-based "coin" economies, and the buying into them by the lower-middle class, is a direct result of them feeling shut out of the standard avenues of commerce for their young working lives.
From their point of view, boomers and tech magnates own and control the economy, and have found so many ways to twist it in their favor that it's nearly impossible for a young person to get established.
So, why wouldn't these people embrace things like Bitcoin?
If they instinctively believe that all currencies are scams, even the so-called "regulated" ones, then walking into the Shitcoin Casino doesn't seem like a change to them. Except perhaps the newness and obscurity of it can give them some breathing space from the chokehold of previous generations. You don't have to gain enough power to exploit everyone around you, you just have to be sneaky and fast enough to exploit enough of your own peers.
This exact line of thought is also why "prediction markets" - i.e. legalized gambling over an infinite variety of increasingly niche claims - has caught on at the same time. Everything is a race to beat public perception, and scam or be scammed, because productivity and objective truth are both traps for suckers. (Also, fighting your job to unionize can be violent and precarious, whereas blowing half your wages on DraftKings might make you rich.)
Hooray; another ugly monster for the next generation to fight. I might be a little too old and cranky at this point to care.
From their point of view, boomers and tech magnates own and control the economy, and have found so many ways to twist it in their favor that it's nearly impossible for a young person to get established.
So, why wouldn't these people embrace things like Bitcoin?
If they instinctively believe that all currencies are scams, even the so-called "regulated" ones, then walking into the Shitcoin Casino doesn't seem like a change to them. Except perhaps the newness and obscurity of it can give them some breathing space from the chokehold of previous generations. You don't have to gain enough power to exploit everyone around you, you just have to be sneaky and fast enough to exploit enough of your own peers.
This exact line of thought is also why "prediction markets" - i.e. legalized gambling over an infinite variety of increasingly niche claims - has caught on at the same time. Everything is a race to beat public perception, and scam or be scammed, because productivity and objective truth are both traps for suckers. (Also, fighting your job to unionize can be violent and precarious, whereas blowing half your wages on DraftKings might make you rich.)
Hooray; another ugly monster for the next generation to fight. I might be a little too old and cranky at this point to care.
Thought for the day: Inner wiring
23/1/26 22:37garoteImagine a person who was born without the ability to hear. Ask yourself “what does their interior monologue sound like?”
You can tax your imagination trying to answer this, but you can also do another thought exercise that might explain why the question is a trap:
Imagine a new species of animals that communicate with each other through wireless signals, broadcast directly from one mind to the next, without anything visible or audible occurring. To be clear, this is not like using a telephone. They're not sending the sound of spoken words on some other frequency. The information that passes between them has no real equivalent in audible sound at all. You could try recording it and then playing it back as audio but it would sound like garbled hash to your ears.
Imagine that the animals call this activity “wiring”, and they can understand each other quite well using it.
Now imagine that, like you, these animals have an inner monologue -- the equivalent of what happens in your mind when you think a bunch of words, to figure something out, without actually speaking. But it's not exactly the same thing, because their primary method of communication is "wiring". So appropriately enough, when they think about sending signals without actually doing it, they call it “inner wiring”.
Now ask them what their “inner wiring” would “wire” like if they couldn’t “wire”.
The question is crazy because you don't know what the noun is, what the adjective means, or what the verb is doing. So you have to throw all that away. What you're really asking is, "how do you communicate with yourself, if you can't use the units of expression and reasoning that you need to communicate with others?"
It's obvious that you can think without "inner wiring". You yourself are proof of this. Want to know what it would be like? You have an answer: It would be like you. And yet, you can still think quite complicated things without engaging a wireless transmitter ... or opening your mouth.
You're using something adjacent to - underneath - those sensory means of communicating. It would be there, even if those means were stripped away. But here's a fun riddle for you: What would thinking be like, if all those sensory tools were stripped away? I don't mean, "what if you were suddenly struck deaf," I mean, "what if you somehow learned to think without having any senses at all?"
Give us even the faintest, most tenuous sense - anything at all - and with time and willpower we can conjure the most amazing thoughts. But what if there was nothing? I rather suspect there would be no thought either.
And so we arrive at ... "Sum, ergo cogitare possum". René Descartes would be proud?? Hmm.
You can tax your imagination trying to answer this, but you can also do another thought exercise that might explain why the question is a trap:
Imagine a new species of animals that communicate with each other through wireless signals, broadcast directly from one mind to the next, without anything visible or audible occurring. To be clear, this is not like using a telephone. They're not sending the sound of spoken words on some other frequency. The information that passes between them has no real equivalent in audible sound at all. You could try recording it and then playing it back as audio but it would sound like garbled hash to your ears.
Imagine that the animals call this activity “wiring”, and they can understand each other quite well using it.
Now imagine that, like you, these animals have an inner monologue -- the equivalent of what happens in your mind when you think a bunch of words, to figure something out, without actually speaking. But it's not exactly the same thing, because their primary method of communication is "wiring". So appropriately enough, when they think about sending signals without actually doing it, they call it “inner wiring”.
Now ask them what their “inner wiring” would “wire” like if they couldn’t “wire”.
The question is crazy because you don't know what the noun is, what the adjective means, or what the verb is doing. So you have to throw all that away. What you're really asking is, "how do you communicate with yourself, if you can't use the units of expression and reasoning that you need to communicate with others?"
It's obvious that you can think without "inner wiring". You yourself are proof of this. Want to know what it would be like? You have an answer: It would be like you. And yet, you can still think quite complicated things without engaging a wireless transmitter ... or opening your mouth.
You're using something adjacent to - underneath - those sensory means of communicating. It would be there, even if those means were stripped away. But here's a fun riddle for you: What would thinking be like, if all those sensory tools were stripped away? I don't mean, "what if you were suddenly struck deaf," I mean, "what if you somehow learned to think without having any senses at all?"
Give us even the faintest, most tenuous sense - anything at all - and with time and willpower we can conjure the most amazing thoughts. But what if there was nothing? I rather suspect there would be no thought either.
And so we arrive at ... "Sum, ergo cogitare possum". René Descartes would be proud?? Hmm.
Thought for the day: Social problem
26/1/26 22:23garoteIn about five years, our culture will discover a new social problem, where groups of (mostly terminally-online) people socially engage with each other and the outside world the same way they engage with the AI bots they use for their hobbies and careers.
Think of it less like a communication style and more like a mental disorder. It will go beyond simple speech patterns and tactics; these people will start to see other people as chatbots, and treat them in the same disposable, exploitable way.
This will be the thing that the current crop of new parents will panic about in their children.
I'm willing to bet it will mostly be a "young man" problem, because that group is historically a combination of:
1. Cynical about social interaction.
2. Not wise.
3. Hyperfocused on their work (because they need to survive and don't know how yet.)
Treating other people like chatbots will also have an ugly resemblance to a role young men are already vulnerable to, that women are all-too-familiar with: Being a pick-up artist. Say the right things to "game the system", and the reward is yours. Then hit "delete" and move on. Or, if it's not working, retreat back into your reassuringly pliant community of robots. Real people are "hard mode." Who wants that?
Think of it less like a communication style and more like a mental disorder. It will go beyond simple speech patterns and tactics; these people will start to see other people as chatbots, and treat them in the same disposable, exploitable way.
This will be the thing that the current crop of new parents will panic about in their children.
I'm willing to bet it will mostly be a "young man" problem, because that group is historically a combination of:
1. Cynical about social interaction.
2. Not wise.
3. Hyperfocused on their work (because they need to survive and don't know how yet.)
Treating other people like chatbots will also have an ugly resemblance to a role young men are already vulnerable to, that women are all-too-familiar with: Being a pick-up artist. Say the right things to "game the system", and the reward is yours. Then hit "delete" and move on. Or, if it's not working, retreat back into your reassuringly pliant community of robots. Real people are "hard mode." Who wants that?
Oooeeeerrrr -- young people!!
21/1/25 22:03garoteOutside the cafe today I heard a bunch of kids in their early 20’s reminiscing about the "good old days" of being ten years old, talking about console games, bumper cars, candy bar fundraiser campaigns in school, and lemonade stands.
"Bruh, I made 120 dollars selling lemonade in one day. I sat outside with a guitar, bruh. In a chair."
"Nice bruh!"
"I was, like, learning how to play and I thought I was real good. So I’d make up songs about lemonade. And so many people walked by. One guy gave me a 20 dollar bill for a cup of lemonade, bruh."
"Haha! What!"
"I was like, what do I even do with this money? Can I take this? Bruh, he walked away without asking for change. I don’t even remember what I bought with it."
"My Dad’s friend is like, a gardener at Disneyland, bruh."
"You mean, a dream maker, or whatever they call them."
"Yeah bruh. He has a special card that’s green. All the normal people get cards when they go in, but his was green."
"Yeeeah!"
"He took us on the Toy Story ride when it wasn’t open for the public yet, bruh. It was so amazing, bruh, I was like, oh my god, I’m VIP at Disneyland.
"Ballin’ bruh."
"I was so ballin' bruh."
The speech patterns are so weird! I was packing up my bike so I heard a lot of it, and I wanted to make some kind of friendly comment, but I had no idea what to say. "Bruh, if I made 120 dollars at your age, I would have gone to Fry's Electronics and bought a hard drive."
(Long, confused, pause.) "Okay, sir."
It’s like ... a thousand hours of urban influencer prattle and braggadocio, flattened down and then used as a strainer, to create this very specific dialect, and so help me I know these people are smart - they’re Berkeley suburban kids, basically raised in luxury, with every resource at their disposal - yet I hear that dialect floating out of their mouths and I want to deduct five hundred points on the "reliable", "dependable", "interesting", and "experienced" scales, and start from the assumption that all they’re really good for is being crass consumers and working service-economy jobs, because they would slack off, and crap on, anything harder.
Yes, I am definitely too old, and I know it. What's amusing to me is, it's the dialect, not even the subject matter, that's messing with my head.
And also, yes: For a certain amount of time at that age, I slacked off, and crapped on, most of what adults claimed was worthwhile!
"Bruh, I made 120 dollars selling lemonade in one day. I sat outside with a guitar, bruh. In a chair."
"Nice bruh!"
"I was, like, learning how to play and I thought I was real good. So I’d make up songs about lemonade. And so many people walked by. One guy gave me a 20 dollar bill for a cup of lemonade, bruh."
"Haha! What!"
"I was like, what do I even do with this money? Can I take this? Bruh, he walked away without asking for change. I don’t even remember what I bought with it."
"My Dad’s friend is like, a gardener at Disneyland, bruh."
"You mean, a dream maker, or whatever they call them."
"Yeah bruh. He has a special card that’s green. All the normal people get cards when they go in, but his was green."
"Yeeeah!"
"He took us on the Toy Story ride when it wasn’t open for the public yet, bruh. It was so amazing, bruh, I was like, oh my god, I’m VIP at Disneyland.
"Ballin’ bruh."
"I was so ballin' bruh."
The speech patterns are so weird! I was packing up my bike so I heard a lot of it, and I wanted to make some kind of friendly comment, but I had no idea what to say. "Bruh, if I made 120 dollars at your age, I would have gone to Fry's Electronics and bought a hard drive."
(Long, confused, pause.) "Okay, sir."
It’s like ... a thousand hours of urban influencer prattle and braggadocio, flattened down and then used as a strainer, to create this very specific dialect, and so help me I know these people are smart - they’re Berkeley suburban kids, basically raised in luxury, with every resource at their disposal - yet I hear that dialect floating out of their mouths and I want to deduct five hundred points on the "reliable", "dependable", "interesting", and "experienced" scales, and start from the assumption that all they’re really good for is being crass consumers and working service-economy jobs, because they would slack off, and crap on, anything harder.
Yes, I am definitely too old, and I know it. What's amusing to me is, it's the dialect, not even the subject matter, that's messing with my head.
And also, yes: For a certain amount of time at that age, I slacked off, and crapped on, most of what adults claimed was worthwhile!
Worldcon, ho!
26/1/26 22:47silver_chipmunkGot up this morning around 7:30, had breakfast, and went back to bed until 11:30 when I got up, had coffee, an began puttering on the computer.
One thing I did was I posted the two stories I wrote for the Starsky and Hutch Advent Calendar. Akk thee of my usual places, fanfiction,net, AO3, and the Starsky and Hutch archive.
Here's a link to them both on ffnet:
A Christmas Eve Tale
A Me and Thee Thanksgiving
And here's the link on AO3:
A Christmas Eve Tale
A Me and Thee Thanksgiving
So after I posted them, I went to the bedroom and played solitaire.
Then I started thinking about Worldcon in Montreal in 2027. I have been thinking for awhile of going. It's not often a Worldcon is in a place I could get to easily. There's a train from New York directly to Montreal. And I've always wanted to go to one. And the registration price goes up after January of this year.
I looked into it online, and finally decided I could put the registration fee on plastic. It's $200 Canadian, and I looked up the exchange, it's a good bit less American. $146 to be exact. So I did it. I registered.
So I have that taken care of, so... I guess I'm going to Worldcon next year!
I came out to the living room then and calledmashfanficchick. We talked awhile, then I did some banking online. and then Teamed the FWiB, though I had lost track of the time so I was a little late getting ready.
Then about an hour into the call John and Denise called, they had been supposed to call last week, but were busy. I said could they call back in half an hour, and they said yes, so I continued talking to the FWiB for about twenty minutes.
John and Denise never got back to me, John just texted now, they'll call tomorrow. Cottage business.
Anyway I had dinner, and went to the bedroom and played solitaire until pet feeding time. Then I fed the pets, and went out to the lobby to check the mail. There was supposed to be mail today according to my informed delivery, but I think the mailman didn't deliver cause there wasn't any.
Anyway, that's the day. I'm excited about Worldcon. If anyone on my flist is going, let me know, maybe we can meet up.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2.mashfanficchick
3. The Kid texted me.
4. Got my stories posted.
5. Going to Worldcon!
6. Family.
One thing I did was I posted the two stories I wrote for the Starsky and Hutch Advent Calendar. Akk thee of my usual places, fanfiction,net, AO3, and the Starsky and Hutch archive.
Here's a link to them both on ffnet:
A Christmas Eve Tale
A Me and Thee Thanksgiving
And here's the link on AO3:
A Christmas Eve Tale
A Me and Thee Thanksgiving
So after I posted them, I went to the bedroom and played solitaire.
Then I started thinking about Worldcon in Montreal in 2027. I have been thinking for awhile of going. It's not often a Worldcon is in a place I could get to easily. There's a train from New York directly to Montreal. And I've always wanted to go to one. And the registration price goes up after January of this year.
I looked into it online, and finally decided I could put the registration fee on plastic. It's $200 Canadian, and I looked up the exchange, it's a good bit less American. $146 to be exact. So I did it. I registered.
So I have that taken care of, so... I guess I'm going to Worldcon next year!
I came out to the living room then and called
mashfanficchick. We talked awhile, then I did some banking online. and then Teamed the FWiB, though I had lost track of the time so I was a little late getting ready.Then about an hour into the call John and Denise called, they had been supposed to call last week, but were busy. I said could they call back in half an hour, and they said yes, so I continued talking to the FWiB for about twenty minutes.
John and Denise never got back to me, John just texted now, they'll call tomorrow. Cottage business.
Anyway I had dinner, and went to the bedroom and played solitaire until pet feeding time. Then I fed the pets, and went out to the lobby to check the mail. There was supposed to be mail today according to my informed delivery, but I think the mailman didn't deliver cause there wasn't any.
Anyway, that's the day. I'm excited about Worldcon. If anyone on my flist is going, let me know, maybe we can meet up.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2.
mashfanficchick3. The Kid texted me.
4. Got my stories posted.
5. Going to Worldcon!
6. Family.
Who you calling insane, Mr. Colbert?
26/1/26 14:09edelsontI refer you back to my Dreamwidth journal entry of January 8, which has the subject line Should the USA invade Greenland?
Full credit for the humorous wording belongs to late night television host Stephen Colbert. My quotation from one of his monologues ends with "They're insane!", where "they" appears to refer to the people of the United States. Since Colbert is a US American himself, as am I, this statement may raise some eyebrows: does he, and do I, actually regard our own country, taken as a whole, as insane?
I don't. It's a great line in the Late Show context, and I am not criticizing Colbert for using it, but if you take it seriously and literally …
Based strictly on newsworthy recent events in our country, I can think of one individual who is far more clearly qualified to be called insane than is the average American. That would be our president.
Unused video for Oscar screenplay nominees post
25/1/26 23:59neonvincentI decided I didn't need this for'One Battle After Another' and 'Sinners' lead screenplay categories at the Oscars according to Gold Derby.
(no subject)
26/1/26 15:15fridiIdeas that never worked
I’ve been thinking lately about why so many grand political visions, the ones that promise a perfect society, never actually deliver on their promise in the real world. From imagined egalitarian communities to sweeping revolutionary projects, history is full of schemes that sounded inspiring but stumbled on the realities of human behavior, power and governance. In theory, utopian politics appeals to our desire for fairness, justice and collective well-being. But in practice it often fails because it assumes that structures can be perfected first and people will magically fit into them second. Systems that ignore how power actually works tend to collapse or become something very different from what their creators intended. One article that captures this pattern is here, in case that interests you: https://everythingstudies.com/2022/09/24/why-utopia-fails/
What’s striking is how this dynamic plays out in today’s politics...
I’ve been thinking lately about why so many grand political visions, the ones that promise a perfect society, never actually deliver on their promise in the real world. From imagined egalitarian communities to sweeping revolutionary projects, history is full of schemes that sounded inspiring but stumbled on the realities of human behavior, power and governance. In theory, utopian politics appeals to our desire for fairness, justice and collective well-being. But in practice it often fails because it assumes that structures can be perfected first and people will magically fit into them second. Systems that ignore how power actually works tend to collapse or become something very different from what their creators intended. One article that captures this pattern is here, in case that interests you: https://everythingstudies.com/2022/09/24/why-utopia-fails/
What’s striking is how this dynamic plays out in today’s politics...
When trust in AI gets out of hand
26/1/26 15:00abomvubusoFormer Spain manager sacked for ‘ordering team to stay awake for 28 hours after using ChatGPT to plan training’
An additional tool why not? But for Moreno, GPT eventually became one of his primary tools.
An additional tool why not? But for Moreno, GPT eventually became one of his primary tools.
theme song: ICE, F**K YOU
26/1/26 08:15mellowtiggerThe word for today is "indignation". That summary comes from the USA's own history via a USA historian, one of the two that I keep mentioning so often. That pair of USA historians called the USA officially a fascist government several days (weeks?) ago. In that same vein, I didn't catch this news originally, but this morning I saw that our Minnesota Governor Walz compared events now to Nazi occupation.
Which brings me to today's theme song. The lyrics feature the primary chant during the march where one group called out "F**K ICE!" and the other group responded with "ICE OUT!" We continued that process occasionally throughout the 2+ hours that I was at the march. Another chant was the ever popular "This is what democracy looks like!" CAUTION: This video is loud, and it uses the same crude language throughout. I would normally include the great lyrics, written below the video as is my custom, except for the same crude language. It's appropriate, though.
I like this video primarily because it has excellent drone footage of the downtown march in Minneapolis during the general strike on Friday last week. I need to find an original source for it. The crowd was enormous. Tens of thousands of people. This video footage is great. The crowd attendance was great.
And the Beat Goes On
25/1/26 20:33jacober_calcSo get this, the Baofeng radio that I wrote about in my previous post has not shown up. When I call the shipping company, they have a wait time of three hours plus. And I do not have three hours to wait for customer service on the weekdays when they are open. But I ordered another Baofeng radio model on Amazon and it came right to my door in two days! And also since that time Canada Post has delivered my Swiss Micros DM15C-- a credit card sized version of the famous HP15C RPN calculator.
And so just just like the title says, the beat goes on, because I at least have a handheld radio (a pretty fine one for the low, low price) and my precious credit card sized DM15C which is henceforth my everyday carry.
...and the beat goes on and on and on.
And so just just like the title says, the beat goes on, because I at least have a handheld radio (a pretty fine one for the low, low price) and my precious credit card sized DM15C which is henceforth my everyday carry.
...and the beat goes on and on and on.
Snow day!
25/1/26 23:03silver_chipmunkGot up at 10:00, had breakfast and coffee, then went back to the bedroom to read the Harry Dresden book until the Starsky and Hutch creative work session at 1:30.
The chat was larger than usual which was nice, and I actually wrote something though I don't know where it's going.
The chat ended somewhat after 7:00, and while I was getting ready to Team the FWiB,mashfanficchick called me and we talked a bit. Ze is fine.
Then I Teamed the FWiB but since it was late we only talked about an hour, til 9:00.
I had dinner, and then went to the bedroom to read some more. I called the Kid but she didn't pick up.
Then it was pet feeding time and I fed the pets, and started here.
Meanwhile the snow has stopped here, I'm not sure what the accumulation was but I won't be going out in it!
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. Good books.
3. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.
4. Warm apartment.
5. My pets.
6. More time to read.
Edited to add: Once again forgot to say I called Middle Brother. He is fine, nothing new.
The chat was larger than usual which was nice, and I actually wrote something though I don't know where it's going.
The chat ended somewhat after 7:00, and while I was getting ready to Team the FWiB,
mashfanficchick called me and we talked a bit. Ze is fine.Then I Teamed the FWiB but since it was late we only talked about an hour, til 9:00.
I had dinner, and then went to the bedroom to read some more. I called the Kid but she didn't pick up.
Then it was pet feeding time and I fed the pets, and started here.
Meanwhile the snow has stopped here, I'm not sure what the accumulation was but I won't be going out in it!
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. Good books.
3. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.
4. Warm apartment.
5. My pets.
6. More time to read.
Edited to add: Once again forgot to say I called Middle Brother. He is fine, nothing new.
Out In the Cold
25/1/26 22:16l33tminionEverything seems too much lately.
My own life is quietly busy. Last weekend was Mystery Hunt. Definitely was a good time this year. Felt like I was able to contribute less than usual, felt like there were more difficult "insight needed" bits and fewer puzzles with lengthy mining through clues, but there were at least a few puzzles where I helped move things a bit towards a solution or even found some key bit of insight. My team came far from first this year, but we did finish hunt in the wee hours of Monday morning, and I was glad to stay up for what was really a very fun and charming end-game.
This past weekend Erica had her in-town birthday party on Saturday, and I was a bit stressed about the details leading up, but it all went well. Today, some real winter weather rolled in. The last time Boston got a real blizzard was in 2022, we've had several winters in a row that have been quite light on snow. Erica and I walked through the snow to Time Out Market for lunch after her art lesson, and though heavy snowfall had commenced and there were already a few inches on the ground, we passed more than one jogger and one couple holding their (I assume) usual iced Dunks coffee in their bare hands. Never can get Boston down. We boarded a train direct to Union Square, had to change trains when our train went out of service three times, and then were delayed getting into Union due to a frozen switch. I made hot chocolate when we got home, and frittata for dinner.
I've been playing a lot of Hades II, and got in my first victories on both routes.
The national news is so dismaying. It seems like the administration has decided that interfering with or just annoying their goons is worthy of summary execution. And Republicans are still largely behind this. The story I'm alluding to is even more egregious than the ICE murder that I was talking about in my immediately last post. Again, sending masked agents door-to-door to ferret out crime somewhere is not how America does law enforcement. It's not a way of doing law enforcement that's compatible with the substantive personal freedoms that America values and protects. If that's allegedly the only way to enforce a set of laws, it certainly calls into question whether those laws are at all just or reasonable, and also calls into question the motives who insist that this particular approach must be pursued, that all its deficiencies must be remedied by sheer overwhelming scale.
My own life is quietly busy. Last weekend was Mystery Hunt. Definitely was a good time this year. Felt like I was able to contribute less than usual, felt like there were more difficult "insight needed" bits and fewer puzzles with lengthy mining through clues, but there were at least a few puzzles where I helped move things a bit towards a solution or even found some key bit of insight. My team came far from first this year, but we did finish hunt in the wee hours of Monday morning, and I was glad to stay up for what was really a very fun and charming end-game.
This past weekend Erica had her in-town birthday party on Saturday, and I was a bit stressed about the details leading up, but it all went well. Today, some real winter weather rolled in. The last time Boston got a real blizzard was in 2022, we've had several winters in a row that have been quite light on snow. Erica and I walked through the snow to Time Out Market for lunch after her art lesson, and though heavy snowfall had commenced and there were already a few inches on the ground, we passed more than one jogger and one couple holding their (I assume) usual iced Dunks coffee in their bare hands. Never can get Boston down. We boarded a train direct to Union Square, had to change trains when our train went out of service three times, and then were delayed getting into Union due to a frozen switch. I made hot chocolate when we got home, and frittata for dinner.
I've been playing a lot of Hades II, and got in my first victories on both routes.
The national news is so dismaying. It seems like the administration has decided that interfering with or just annoying their goons is worthy of summary execution. And Republicans are still largely behind this. The story I'm alluding to is even more egregious than the ICE murder that I was talking about in my immediately last post. Again, sending masked agents door-to-door to ferret out crime somewhere is not how America does law enforcement. It's not a way of doing law enforcement that's compatible with the substantive personal freedoms that America values and protects. If that's allegedly the only way to enforce a set of laws, it certainly calls into question whether those laws are at all just or reasonable, and also calls into question the motives who insist that this particular approach must be pursued, that all its deficiencies must be remedied by sheer overwhelming scale.
cloak-and-dagger
25/1/26 20:02mellowtiggerI'm pretty sure that I'm not up to the task for all of this cloak-and-dagger stuff in my life at the moment. I mean, I understand that I'm being increasingly dramatic, but... I'm short on sleep, and, seriously, this is what's happening in my actual city and my actual life right now.
I'm in the middle of taking virtual training courses, and I'm already having to rethink how I want to participate. So, I think that means the first session was excellent. I now understand much more about legal observer tactics. And apparently the neighbor-to-neighbor community networking method that is being used here in Minneapolis is modeled after one developed a decade ago for Rogers Park in Chicago.
A few hours before that training session, the neighborhood security response chat (loosely described in this video) was compromised shortly after I joined it. It made me wonder, "Hmmm. I certainly didn't share details, but the timing is strange. I wonder if my Yahoo email account is monitored, since the needed details were there with my invitation?" Which then led me to wonder about the appointment I have tomorrow after work to meet a total stranger at the nearby Cub grocery (aka "public space" which is open to ICE intrusion). I never really understood why meeting a unionist in Minneapolis would be necessary before I could talk to the IBT Local 8 (in Pennsylvania) about what it would mean for me to join from another state. I did ask IBT Local 8 about it, using my Yahoo email address. Later, a random person contacts me to meet in person about unions and cross-state involvement. "Sure, " I say, simplemindedly. Now, though, I wonder. Should I ask the local network to have someone there at that time, to record the interaction, just in case? Or is this just part of the Teamsters' own cloak-and-dagger protocol? They certainly have their own history of corruption and violence. *sigh*
Fascism sucks. It ruins everyone, I think. Trust is hope is antidote... maybe? We have to choose which life, which world, we want to inhabit. I'm certain of that much, at least. The rest of this Andor political intrigue is just not my specialty. I prefer everything out and visible on the proverbial table.
I've seen lots of good and interesting videos recently. I'll leave you with this one primary recommendation, though. I mentioned the high-quality Legal Eagle channel back in 2024, and here is their main lawyer in a very uncharacteristically emotional video with good review of what's happening. He gets bonus points for mentioning stochastic terrorism, which I've also called out a few times over the years.
New Harry Dresden book
24/1/26 22:50silver_chipmunkGot up this morning a little after 10:00, and the new Jim Butcher Harry Dresden book I ordered from Barnes and Noble the other day had been delivered! I thought it wasn't coming til Tuesday.
Anyway, haven't had any time yet to so much as open the box, first I had breakfast and coffee, then showered and dressed, then went despite the temperature, to my Al-anon meeting. Fortunately I did not have to wait long for the bus! It was 10 degrees F.
The meeting was very good and I went to the diner afterward with S as usual. I had a bowl of New England clam chowder and a cup of tea.
Took the bus home, again got lucky and didn't have to wait too long. Though the walk from Parsons Blvd. was pretty cold.
Got home and went to the Starsky and Hutch episode watch and chat, managed to see about half the episode, which was Silence.
We chatted til a bit past 7:00, then I Teamed the FWiB. We talked about an hour.
Then I caught up on the internet, and then had dinner. Then I went to the bedroom to catch up in my solitaire game.
At pet feeding time I came out and fed the pets, and started here though with technical difficulties.
And that was the day. Tonight, I read the ook!
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. New book came.
3. My meetings and the people at them.
4. Quick bus rides.
5. Warm apartment.
6. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.
Anyway, haven't had any time yet to so much as open the box, first I had breakfast and coffee, then showered and dressed, then went despite the temperature, to my Al-anon meeting. Fortunately I did not have to wait long for the bus! It was 10 degrees F.
The meeting was very good and I went to the diner afterward with S as usual. I had a bowl of New England clam chowder and a cup of tea.
Took the bus home, again got lucky and didn't have to wait too long. Though the walk from Parsons Blvd. was pretty cold.
Got home and went to the Starsky and Hutch episode watch and chat, managed to see about half the episode, which was Silence.
We chatted til a bit past 7:00, then I Teamed the FWiB. We talked about an hour.
Then I caught up on the internet, and then had dinner. Then I went to the bedroom to catch up in my solitaire game.
At pet feeding time I came out and fed the pets, and started here though with technical difficulties.
And that was the day. Tonight, I read the ook!
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. New book came.
3. My meetings and the people at them.
4. Quick bus rides.
5. Warm apartment.
6. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.
The Bill Of Rights is gone. What now?
24/1/26 17:54mellowtiggerBy now, everyone knows about this morning's event and the video. This news article contains both.
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/breaking-federal-agent-shoots-man-in-south-minneapolis
Somebody took still images from that video and highlighted a key point. The federal agents removed the gun before shooting the victim who had a phone in his hand. Elsewhere, news is reporting that the victim was registered to conceal carry that gun. I'm using online reports (caution: "I saw it on the internet, so it must be true.") and this New York Times summary.
Click to read the detailed list of former Amendments that are now useless and why...
If all of those bits of evidence are true, then it naturally follows that...
- The 1st Amendment is gone. It has been repeatedly established for everyone except this Republican administration that everyone has the legal right to observe. There are trainings going on in Minneapolis based on that very right. Except it's clearly gone here, where the observer (who was holding a phone, not a gun) was killed.
- The 2nd Amendment is gone. We've endured decades of school shootings and other mass murders, all because some people insist on the right to bear arms. If it's true this person had a legal firearm and a legal conceal and carry permit, then this amendment is also clearly gone.
- The 3rd Amendment is gone. ICE repeatedly insists that it can do whatever it wants, including known examples of breaking and entering without a judge-signed warrant. The federal government can intrude into your house for whatever reason it wants. We saw from earlier ICE actions that this amendment was gone before today's incident.
- The 4th Amendment is gone. The victim, a USA citizen, was not the intended target of this ICE invasion and action, and simply recording the incident was not interference in it. (See: 1st Amendment, above.)
- The 5th Amendment is gone. The victim had a right to not answer ICE agent questions, which maybe is what annoyed them to decide attacking him? I'm not as certain on this point. If true, then this amendment is also gone. Answer, or else.
- The 6th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to have a right to trial. This guy was apparently judged and executed on the street, not captured and jailed. Also, ICE repeatedly prevents local officials from accessing the crime scene and data, again in today's shooting, despite local officials getting a warrant from a judge.
- The 8th Amendment is gone. Everyone is supposed to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This guy was already shot and prone, when the second agent started shooting him again. I mean, you gotta be sure that your extrajudicial killing victim is dead, right?
- The 10th Amendment is gone. News stories abound regarding ICE collecting data willy-nilly, soon maybe even from popular Ring cameras. Orwellian surveillance is not something really imagined by the founders of the USA, so theoretically this power should belong to the people or the states. That kind of collection has been continuing for a while, but DOGE and ICE and Palantir have clearly escalated the problem.
I took this Reddit thread and expanded it above. With little exaggeration, basically, the entirety of the famous Bill Of Rights is now shredded.
What do we do now? Our Minnesota state governor Walz sent an even more strongly worded message to Trump.
I'm ready (and so is he, "I'm 70 years old, and I'm fucking angry") to write a new detailed list of grievances for the next Declaration Of Independence, with that list eerily similar to last time.
Wherein I disagree with the Danish Prime Minister
24/1/26 16:08edelsontDuring the first week of 2026, Denmark’s prime minister warned that an American attack on Greenland would cause the end of NATO. She may very well have been correct.
Of course, I hope we never find out: I hope that our government never actually does anything so insane.
But is that what would happen, in the event of such a blunder? It certainly might, as I said, but I think it’s unnecessarily pessimistic to regard it as certain. There’s at least one other possible outcome, and I think it would be a better one:
The rest of NATO could expel the United States from the organization.
Or, if that’s not technically feasible, and NATO, as such, has to be dissolved, then the civilized countries among its former members could form a new organization, identical in its basic purpose, with a different name.