Random Notes from a Crank

I have a Word-of-the-Day calendar at work, and the word today is compunctious, which is an adjective meaning "1. arising from remorse or regret 2. feeling remorse or regret." 

With President Adolf's tariffs against Canada and Mexico starting this week, a lot of Americans can be described as that. American voters fucked around again and will be finding out. 

Members of the GOP have no spine. 

I'm not all that concerned about out the markets usually, but they didn't respond favorably to the tariffs with both Canada and China set to retaliate with their own tariffs right away and Mexico set to announce how they're going to respond by Sunday. 

I rejoined Facebook mainly because I want to keep in touch with my family members who are on there along with friends and fraternity brothers. I'm no longer using my real first name because I'm paranoid. 

Also, I'm going to be more judicious in who I accept friend requests from. If you're a supporter of Moscow Don, you're no virtual "friend" of mine. 

My plan is that I'm going to share my viewpoints on this blog and Bluesky and share  personal stuff on FB. 

Here's the cover photo I'm using on FB. 

Zappa is an artist I've always been interested in, but I have never bought any of his work. I did watch a great documentary about him simply titled Zappa. It's worth a watch. 

Now I'm pondering getting Freak Out! by Mothers of Invention. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I'm trying this concoction called oxymel. It's apparently a health that dates back to Ancient Greece, back to Hippocrates. 

At base, it is equals parts honey and equal parts apple cider vinegar. I got the recipe from this blog post I found on the InterWebs: "Herbal Oxymel Recipes & Benefits." I'm doing the one for cold and flu, so I some used dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, and ginger. 

We'll see whether if it's worth my time. At the very least it has polyphenols that create antioxidants. I wonder about the taste though. 

I'm leaving Facebook. I've already deleted my Instagram account, and I'm abandoning FB on Feb. 1. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to delete my account or just not interact with people on FB with a dim hope that the platform will reform its ways. I may just delete it, and if I rejoin FB at some time, I'll befriend the good people who are my "friends" and not befriend the President Adolf supporters I have accumulated over the years. 

Regardless, I just cannot be on a platform that has given up fact-checking/moderation because Zuckerberg is genuflecting and licking President Adolf's asshole while that autocrat, the GOP, and his oligarchic cronies further game the system for the rich and the 1%, destroy the social safety net, foment lies and disinformation, deport hard-working people, deregulate all kinds of things that should be strictly regulated, stack agencies with pro-business  lackeys, pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, and spread anti-science and anti-intellectual hokum while the poor, working class, and middle class lose out. 

Yet poor, working class, and middle class dipshits voted for President Adolf. 

I just have to remind myself that 54% of Americans read below a sixth-grade level. 

I can see why my daughter is looking at graduate schools in Europe. 

One of the books I'm reading right now is biography of Napoleon, Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts. I have some gaps in knowledge of European history, so it's an interesting read for me. The author's premise is that Napoleon is misunderstood for a number of reasons, one of which is because of British propaganda and Hitler being compared to Napoleon by Churchill during WWII. 

Napoleon was a brilliant military mind, and as I have found out, he was an intellectual. Here's a quotation from him that struck me as quite wonderful: "The true conquests, the only ones that cause no regret, are those made over ignorance." 

The world would be a much better place if people followed that statement. 

Random Notes from a Crank

One of the more trenchant articles I've read in a while is Anne Applebaum's "Why Do Republican Leaders Continue to Enable Trump?" in the The Atlantic. She deftly goes through the rationalizations people use to continue supporting Moscow Don even in the wake of his gross incompetence, among myriad other issues. 

One rationale she didn't provide is the one I've seen wherein a person states that the tax cuts helped their family, and they are going to support Moscow Don because he helped his or her family. This shoddy rationale is often provided by someone who claims to be Christian. Nothing like caring for one's fellow man, huh? 

I've studied all kinds of religions/mythologies. In fact, I studied the Gospel quite a bit when I was younger and Christian and even thought about being a minister at one time. It's not a hard argument to make that Christ's teaching espouse Socialism. 

And speaking of politics, here's something I shared on social media about what being a liberal really means. I got it from one of Mrs. Nasty's friends on Facebook. 

All of this except for that I'm not Christian...

"Reposted and sincerely believed.
I'm a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let's break it down, shall we?
Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for.Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:
1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.
2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case.
I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a better alternative.
I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.
3. I believe education should be affordable. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.
4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever.
I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor.
Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.
5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.
6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes.
What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.
7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; compulsory prayer in school is - and should be - illegal).
All I ask is that Christians recognize my right to live according to my beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules.
You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me.
I’m a Christian saved my grace Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force other people to believe the same!
8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the same rights as you.
9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally).
I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).
10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc.
It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE.
Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc.
Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.
11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities.
Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed.
Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.
13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.
14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do.
Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better.
When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?
15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?
I think that about covers it.
Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.
Copy & paste if you want. I did. Author unknown."

Music Friday: "Blood"

One of my friends on FB recently posted about how Pearl Jam is his favorite band. 

In honor of Mr. Grone, I offer "Blood."

Posting Alone

I thought I'd pass along an article from The Atlantic that has probably gone viral. The title is misleading because the piece, at least to me, is more about loneliness than Facebook.

As a preview, here are some nuggets from "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" that might make you want to read the whole thing:

• "We are living in an isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible."
• "Facebook arrived in the middle of a dramatic increase in the quantity and intensity of human loneliness, a rise that initially made the site's promise of greater connection seem deeply attractive."
• "We know intuitively that loneliness and being alone are not the same thing."
• "The idea that a Web site could deliver a more friendly, interconnected world is bogus."
• "We make our decisions about how we use our machines, not the other way around."
• "Our omnipresent new technologies lure us toward increasingly superficial connections at exactly the same moment that they make avoiding the mess of human interaction easy. The beauty of Facebook, the source of its power, is that it enables us to be social while sparing us the embarrassing reality of society -- the accidental revelations we make at parties, the awkward pauses, the farting and the spilled drinks and the general gaucherie of face-to-face contact."
• "Among people older than 65, 3 percent reported symptoms [of narcissistic personality disorder]. Among people in their 20s, the proportion was nearly 10 percent."
• "What Facebook has revealed about human nature -- and this is not a minor revelation -- is that a connection is no salvation, no ticket to a happier, better world or a more liberated version of humanity. Solitude used to be good for self-reflection and self-reinvention. But now we are left thinking about who we are all the time, without ever really thinking about who we are. Facebook denies us a pleasure whose profundity we had underestimated: the chance to forget about ourselves for a while, the chance to disconnect."

Still 29 After All These Years

Well, I'm still 29. I don't care what my birth certificate says.

One of the nice things about Facebook is that it helps dummies like me remember people's birthdays if you check in every day. And when your birthday rolls around, you get some nice comments for nothing.

I wonder how much of a hit the greeting card industry can chock up to social networking sites? When you say "Happy Birthday" on a site, it doesn't cost anything.

No big shindig or anything today, but Mrs. Nasty and I plan to head down to Effingham for dinner on Saturday at the renowned Firefly Grill. I've scouted the menu (click HERE for the Firefly's website), and I'm considering Braised Rabbit Stew and other options.

Stay Positive Wednesday: Facebook

Okay, I admit this weekly post is hard for me, so I'm going to have to volley a snide observation before I get to the positive: social networking sites are a strange mix of narcissism and voyeurism.

So let's move on.

Yep, I joined Facebook almost a month ago. Initially, I joined to create a FB page for the center that I'm the director of, but I can see some good with social networking sites.

I've connected and "friended" a number of people I haven't seen or heard from in years, so the site does provide ample opportunities to see what's going on in other people's lives. Some of the quizzes can be really interesting. And I'm especially fond of one application called "Pieces of Kirksville" where you can send pictures of the 'ville to people who have experienced the glories of the hub of northwest Missouri.

Stay Positive Wednesday: Bikes

I'm going to try out a new feature of this humble blog, which I'll call "Stay Positive Wednesday."

I tend to have a pessimistic bent, and a recent quiz I took on Facebook might validate that leaning. I took the "What Crazy Writer Are You" quiz, and my result was Cormac McCarthy, who is described in this way: "You love sunsets, the open range, and the freedom of the west... it would be a stretch to say that such things make you happy, though. All you see around you is darkness and greed; everywhere men go, they bring with the darker side of nature. All you can do is escape to your ranch and become one with the part of nature that mankind hasn't yet corrupted, keeping an eye on the evening redness in the west, looking for that glimmer of hope that pierces the darkness. What a fun guy..."

I actually prefer the Midwest or the South, but that's a small quibble. Regardless, to pull me out of the darkness, I'm going to be like The Hold Steady and "stay positive." So here it goes.

If you prefer a more environmentally-focused reason why bicycles are good things to use, you can click HERE and read onward. However, it's fun just to ride a bike because it gets you back to being a kid. For Father's Day, I got the bike that's shown above, a cruiser variety of a Schwinn. Like the famous Howlin' Wolf song, it's built for comfort and not for speed.

But it's a good time for my whole family to take a bike ride, enjoy the wind whipping by, and get a little exercise on a nice day.