Out With The Old

January 2nd, but kind of New Year’s Day because that fell on a Sunday.

Things are moving erratically, but I’ve really been about taking my own damn advice, and just leaving when things are happening that I don’t like.

There’s lots of really awful people around.

I could get upset about it, but that won’t really help anything.

So some changes.

  • GNU Screen. I have to use tmux for work, and have had some stumbles already where I use tmux keystrokes inside screen. So I guess I’ll just get used to it.
  • The Libertarian Party. Again. Unsubscribed from the stupid shit that was coming over their email list, and said I would not be renewing. I won’t. The Libertarian Party of Virginia disbanded itself instead of submitting to the stupid shit coming from the national party. Whatever. You destroyed something. Be proud. There won’t be any more messaging you don’t like, and you might well get fewer votes than Andre Marrou got in 1992. But, like, fuck you. With that, though, I’ve really started in on unfollowing people/accounts connected. I want nothing to do with you, and you can’t have any more of my money.
  • Feeling the same way abour much of hte crypto world, too. I sent bits and pieces of what I’d set aside to a mining operation, and to someone working closely with them. It’s fine. If there’s some lawyer who wants to take up the case, you can take it. I’m finished, and don’t expect to see things resolved. I just don’t want to deal with any more of it.
  • Piecemealing subscriptions. Again, choosing to leave. I’m giving more money to a company, but getting a lot more out of it.

I could keep reciting things, but I’m nog going to waste time doing that.

Move on.

Late

My schedule is all out-of-sorts. Four-day weekend is really strange.

But it’s been okay, I guess. I miss my wife. I miss our dog.

I’ve gotten a lot accomplished, but I’m definitely feeling end-of-dose fumes.

But tomorrow.

Am kind of following news, but all it seems to do is reinforce my skepticism about some of what I’d been consuming over the past couple of years.

There’s an interesting confluence of really stupid shit from the Cold War rebranding itself as Libertarianism and actual evidence of what’s happened. Predictions really have failed in so many instances, but if we move past those incorrect predictions, everybody will get to Valhalla. Or something.

Still on the to-do list:

Figure out L2TP setup for various VMs, sites, etc. on my personal stuff. Figure out what I want to write about next month. Figure out what the trip/next month look like.

But the weather’s getting cold, at least. I turned on the heat yesterday. Seems to be working.

Listen Without Prejudice

I summoned myself to listen to Angela McArdle on with Chrissie Mayr. That I’m summoning up a 1990s George Michael record title reveals my Generation X coming to the surface.

Take-aways:

  1. Shaking my head at the RONPAUL love. No. Even if you can make a bit of 9/11 being “blowback” per RONPAUL(pbuh) in 2004, it’s not the full explanation for everything. I haven’t written about it, here, but I was opposed to the Iraq operation until I heard Tony Blair make arguments for it to Parliament. I suppose the absolute adherence to this explains some of why people thought differently than I did about the Krystol-Horton debate last fall, but I still don’t think it’s correct. There are bad people who do bad shit without regard to US foreign policy. Whether the adherence to this position is out of willful disregard of evidence that doesn’t support the conclusion, or intentional avoidance of being exposed to that evidence is not for me to declare/declare. The invasion/occupation of Iraq was probably a mistake in retrospect. At the same time, you have to stipulate that there’s instances where it might have worked. Not everything the US has done has been with ill-intent. But you’re not supposed to even consider that.
  2. I could write more about the blind adherence to Austrian Economics, but I’m not sure that anyone would care about that. This is something that I haven’t fully worked-through; I admit that. I do agree with some of the things that Andrew Mellon did to deal with the Depression of 1920, but there’s not a single politician who’d take the sort of steps he did to address what was happening then. I mean, there aren’t any similarities. No global pandemic. No end of a big war that had diverted a bunch of resources. Nope. Wasn’t anything like that. (But, again, you have to willfully ignore the realities of “The Great War.” (I’m very much of the opinion, at this point, that government spending needs to be slashed, interest rates, and taxes need to be substantially-raised. So you hate the Federal Reserve. Great. Can the private market actually raise interest rates to above inflation? And it’s not just the Federal Reserve; it’s pretty much every central bank in the world. Every bank is printing too much money. Every government is spening way more than it should.)
  3. It might be unpleasant, but you are known by the company you keep. Folks in the Mises Caucus spend far too much time paying attention to what particularly-awful people. It’s not been long since I turned off, and withdrew my financial support, a host I’d listened to for a while who had on a 9/11 Troofer. I’ve said this, using Ron Paul as an example, he might sometimes speak to a questionable crowd, there is never a question about whether he, personally, shared the crazy extreme views. Know that everybody is watching, and act accordingly.
  4. Her take on what’s happening with The Libertarian Party of Virginia left me very disappointed. If they were alive, why is the website gone? Why have there been alternate social media accounts set up? No, it’s dead. If you’d, you know, paid attention to the law(s), maybe this wouldn’t been the case. But, no, we can just take over, and go fuck yourself if you don’t agree. Yeah, about that. I just got my absentee ballot in the mail, but I haven’t opened it. Virginia doesn’t have a Senate race this year, but I seriously doubt there’ll be anyone on the ballot other than the incumbent Democrat, and a Republican who’s got not chance at all. Whatever. (Being one of those hated “Beltway Libertarians, you’d find an excuse not to spend money here, anyway) You had your chance, and i hope you’re satisfied with what you got. I know, if we had an edgier message, the rich people around would totally get on board. Really?

So I’m tuned out. Enjoy, and do what Ron Paul did in 1992….and give us Andre Marrou.

Because Tuesday

I’m making progress on a few things at work, which is nice. Preparing for my trip this fall, and trying to do it Meta-free because of this.

It’s a similar thing to the LP of Virginia.

My choice is to just head off and do my own thing.

So be it.

A Modesty Proposal

Writing this kind of in reaction to what I heard with some of the things with the Libertarian Party takeover this past weekend.

Yeah, I can’t hang with those sorts of folks. I am not going to share those sorts of personal details.

I wrote that last sentence kind of in the young-and-healthy mindset. I just got an email notice reminding me that it’s my twentieth anniversary as a LiveJournal user. Um. Yeah. I hadn’t written anything since 2003.

Obviously, I’ve been feeding this writing compulsion for a long time.

But back to the point, one of the former Reason editors, maybe Virginia Postrel, had a column (which I can’t find, unfortunately) complaining about the marijuana odor swirling around somewhere she was (I think SoCal).

I’ve never smoked marijuana. I worked in radio for how many years? I have multiple sclerosis. I’ve never smoked weed. I don’t like the odor. I’m skeptical about In my current situation, even though I am mildly curious about the neurological effects of cannaboids, and other psychoactive chemicals, I don’t partake.

That’s my choice.

To me, that’s the quintessence of Libertarianism. I can do what I want, and if I’m really not affecting anyone else by doing it, whatever.

But it’s also none of your business, and I don’t feel any urge to tell you about it.

I didn’t read too deeply into my old LJ, but I’m almost certain that there’s no discussion of executory activity.

I really don’t need, or want, to know about the last time you met physical needs.

It’s not me. I don’t need to know.

And, despite the fact that I wasn’t informed on the latest podcast that being immodest is Libertarian, it’s how I operate.

It’s how I’ve always operated.

But means I’m the enemy. Whatever.

The sorts of things I’ve heard are things that would absolutely have mortified me if others knew about them.

But it’s actually none of their business, either.

I don’t even like to share some of those things with my wife.

Does that make me an evil statist? Well, tune in to the guy who’s never made a payroll, or written something longer than a comedy sketch and find out.

But I’m not just going to rage quit. It’s not what I do. I just leave.

I hope you find satisfaction with whatever is your choice when you get Marrou-level vote totals thirty-plus years down the road.

Saturday, again

But it’s not the morning, at least.

I didn’t work yesterday to avoid earning a bunch more paid time off. I need to take some time, but I’m not sure when that’ll happen.

Still kind of on edge about job security.

Perhaps I should be more pensive about that, but I can’t bring myself to be really worried about it. I’m still relaxed with the situation in which I find myself with private disability insurance.

At the same time, I do find myself in demand, professionally. Just a question about whether I can do the things that appear on my resume anymore. The fleet of foreign recruiters, however, don’t really understand that. Or that I’m not interested in moving to a different state.

In the past two days, I’ve gotten north of twenty recruiters trying to get me to Austin, Texas.

First, I don’t want to go.

Second, my wife doesn’t want to go.

Third, I’m worried about my ability to get around there. Flashback to Milton waiting on the bench for the bus from Office Space.

Thirteen were from recruiters from the same company. I’m not going to link them, but the temptation is very much there.

Other stuff….

  1. Abortion. I’m tracking the rich white folks marching through DC about the leakedstoen draft (Use the sort of language used about the Hunter Biden laptop…), and finding myself torn on it. I am torn on the issue. As an errant part of the Paist Conspiracy, I am opposed to both abortion and capital punishment. But I really don’t think the government has a role in what, ultimately, should effect one universal policy. I brought up to Elizabeth Nolan Brown over twitter in reaction to her Reason column on it. I don’t think anyone would argue that buying, and consuming alcohol is a protected right in the US. Here in the Beltway Swamp, there’s four separate regulatory frameworks for buying liquor. Where I live, in Virginia, I have to buy all of my distilled liquor from the Commonwealth of Virginia. I can get it delivered directly to me, but it’s a strange process. It also takes a few days. Going across the bridge named after the most racist President in US history, into Prince George’s County, Maryland, you can buy from a private store. I don’t know what the delivery there is. If you take US 50 back into the District, you can buy at all sorts of private stores, and get it delivered by Drizly. Go further east into Montgomery County, Maryland, and you have to buy pretty much all of your alcohol from Montgomery County-owned stores. I’m not planning to ever buy liquor from a MoCo store. I’m also not planning to live in MoCo, probably ever. Difference among places isn’t an issue. There doesn’t need to be a single standard for the entire country. Even the blessed European Union has countries with different standards across national borders. Abortion is pretty much illegal in Poland. Does that affect someone who lives in France? No. The law that the Supreme Court is set to rule on is a law in Mississippi that doesn’t outlaw abortion. But it does limit it to the first fifteen weeks of pregnancy. Which is less restrictive than the Stupid Flandsers in Belgium (where it’s fourteen weeks). Why does there need to be a single standard in the US? I don’t understand it. Do I really care that you can’t pump your own gasoline in New Jersey? No. No, I don’t. I just won’t buy gas in New Jersey. If you want an abortion, you can go somewhere else. You’re not stuck in one place. This goes into something that was a reading recommendation from one of my doctors. The book was interesting, but the epilogue/conclusion was something that was despairing about climate change, the Trump Administration, and Bolsonaro. No. In pretty much any situation, you can leave, if the situation is too much for you to take. Want to have someone get an abortion? Pay for her train ticket to New York. It’s not that tough.
  2. Happy that The Fifth Column has successfully away from that other funding source. I can subscribe, now, without reservation. The reason I wouldn’t use the previous support platform is what they did to someone who I find loathsome. No, it’s not okay to just take money intended for someone. I’m sorry if that negatively affects some others who I’d like to support. I’m also happily supporting other things on Locals. Choice isn’t a bad thing.
  3. Listening to TFC, however, is tempering the takes on news. Still marveling at how wrong the NeoHippies have been when it comes to everything surrounding what’s happening with the Russians. It’s bang-your-head-on-the-desk stupid. Just because someone in the “corporate press” is reporting something doesn’t mean it’s wrong. For a few from the “underground,” Russia is probably losing. But, no, I should pay more attention to the people who said that there wasn’t going to be an invasion. Got it. GFY

I think I’m going to stop there, and go watch football.

Back On Track

Maybe.

Very, very, very long week. That, and about five ounces of Gin and Tonic, caused me to sleep through part of it. Oops. I hope I wasn’t snoring, and if I was, I hope that the mic was muted. Good discussion at the end of where we got into a little about what I think is the um, trying to figure out the politest way to say this, maladjusted view of foreign policy of some in the libertarian movement.

(I know, I know, I can’t say that because I’m not the one defining what is 2022 Libertarianism, but, well, I’ve been here for a while, and read and argued many sides of an issue…..but, hey, that’s not libertarianism, because and I fucking wrote what libertarianism is based on my narrow reading list from the RON PAUL 2008 campaign….)

In other news, things are a lot calmer, otherwise, this week, thankfully.

I should make a to-do list for the next few months.

Next month is Shmoocon. I need to figure out what I want to see.

April, I hope I’ll be able to travel down to see my mom’s new house. This week was spent trying to get her set up with a new iPhone, as her provider cut off the cellular network her old phone used.

May is another medical procedure.

June may be figuring out what to do if I end up being unemployed at the end of that month.

No idea with the rest of the year, except that I do want to go to the Super-spreader event in Mexico in the Winter.

Sunday Without

An NFL game that means anything.

I don’t think I’ve watched a Pro Bowl since they moved it to the week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

So I’ve been cleaning up various things.

Podcasts’ websites are working.

Start working on taxes, even though I don’t have all of the documents yet.

Looking at the Podcasting 2.0 information.

So, figure out a bit more with crypto wallet interconnection with various sites/platforms, and different ways to support things i consume.

I think I’d written before about shit I’d bought to support podcasts I listen to. But I really am having issues drinking through all of this coffee, and my underwear drawer is full.

I don’t really like the Great Reset you-will-own-nothing-and-you’ll-be-happy idea, but I think I could own a lot less stuff.

How do I get around to doing that? Hmm.

I think my wardrobe would be a good place to start.

Maybe next week.

This week is going to be busy. Monday is a long work day. Tuesday is an infusion in the morning, and another medical appointment in the afternoon. Then home to do proposal work. I will probably nearly as exhausted as I was Thursday, where I worked something like thirteen hours.

But at least the weather’s getting warmer.

Almost Missed

Writing on Saturday. I did miss the last two weeks. This was only partially intentionally, but it’s something I kind of was okay in avoiding.

I didn’t work yesterday, as I was about to exceed my hours for the pay period. With the Shmocon delay, it was even worse.

So coffee today didn’t happen until almost noon.

There’s football this afternoon, this evening, and tomorrow.

The Saints aren’t there. The For(mer)skins aren’t there, either. I’m really beyond the point of caring.

I can root against the Iggles, but that might be done pretty quickly.

So….bear down, and wait for the rescheduled Shmoocon.

Way behind on my podcast queue, too, as things have opened back up the past two weeks.

Didn’t get much last night with the HRGeeks Jitsi meeting last night. I started watching Don’t Look Up, but I didn’t have the energy to finish it. I did today, however, and, well, I get where they were going with it.

The concept was similar to my concern with the asset-backed currency folks. As I’ve said, with the predictable response of, “shut up math *(#,” the currency supply needs to increase at a predictable rate, in order for pretty much any sort of modern finance to work.

(And I get distracted looking whether charging an origination fee is okay with the Islamic prohibition on charging interest. I’m not finding a quick answer…)

I need to respond to an email. But I really don’t have the energy to really get into it.

Back At Again

I’ve never finished setting up the domain I snagged for “Notes of a Goon,” — BackAtAgain.com.

Considering the last episode, maybe I should give Harrington “mikey@backatagain.com”.

On a somewhat-related note, I’ve kind of narrowed-down what I’m going to do with my thing.

Start with three stories. What was said at the time it was reported? What was reported in the time in between, and what’s the latest news on the story?

I figure I can probably do roughly four minutes per story, which gives me some time for an intro, outro, and maybe a spot. *fingers crossed*

I’m still curious about whether I can make any money off of it. I think it might be an interesting way to supplement income after I stop working full-time. I am curious about what Michael Malice said about wiring a book.

But the OYR thing, I think, would probably be about three hours per episode doing everything myself. Obviously, folks who do a lot more opinion/entertainment-related shows probably don’t spend that much time, but I am going to do all the research, writing, and editing myself.

What else….

I’m doing some of my end-of-the-year donations. I do feel like of stingy with it, but I’m giving what I can at the moment. Maybe I shouldn’t wait until the crunch in December, but it is what it is. Who’s gotten money so far? Well, the charity gift thing my company is putting on, Reason, Cato….

I don’t know if I’m revisiting some of those, really, as a reaction to the nonsense with the LPMC fans.

They have nothing aside from their now-dated RON PAUL fascinations.

It’s not 2008.

It’s not 2012.

The Austrian school of economics is not right about everything.

I heard a longer description of what would happen if all currency was backed with real assets. While I appreciate the sentiments, there are so many things that are taken for granted in modern finance that would just completely go away.

One of the things that occurred to me the other day is that businesses run by Austrian School adherents should decline their employee compensation with predictable price deflation.

Yeah, we’re gonna drop your pay rate by 3% next year. It doesn’t matter if you kick ass performance-wise, everything you buy is going to be cheaper, so you’ll need less money.

Good luck finding people to work for you, Saint RON(pbuh).


So…news.

This.

In the wake of Epstein, the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, etc., you can see how things like the Comet Ping Pong story get a following.

I’m also not seeing the story I found on Wednesday or Thursday about how housing prices are pretty much at 2008-peak levels again.

Many people will be upset by this, but I can’t bring myself to be.