^H

End of July. I was promised last year that things certainly would be all better by now. It’s over. They failed. Let’s try something different.

Sitting back and rereading that; it’s about as polite and positive as I can be.

At the same time, part of me says that no courtesy is required, much less warranted. Stop being nice, start being real.

I don’t care that you’re more concerned with others’ well-being than I am. I’m not going to get behind, EVER, aggressing against them.

If you want to do something that’s going to cost money, limit freedom, you need to have defined measures of performance. If you don’t meet those, your experiment stops, and you pay them back for any damages that they’ve incurred.

“How long do you think I should spend in prison if I want something else?”

A polite person might not ask that question.

I might counter that a truly-polite person would never advocate a policy that might elicit such a question in response.

Speaking of that, a look at the news.

Evictions loom after Biden and Congress fail to extend ban that is set to expire Saturday

Emphasis by me, of course. The eviction moratorium is a perfect example of where government’s prescriptions don’t, haven’t, and won’t work.

Searching around about my own residence got me sidetracked. I’ve wondered if my complex’s shoddy work has had to do with people living here rent-free. IN the middle of the pandemic, there was a rather-abrupt management company change. The new folks took a long time to get up-and-running, but haven’t done a great job.

Today, there was another curt note from the property management. Thought it doesn’t really affect me, the tone might reflect the pending period of evictions, and lack of tenancy.

Things are going to get really bad really quickly. Someone with a more-conspiratorial bent might say that the push on masks, extra inoculations, might be an attempt to justify extension of the bad policy.

For the mask thing, I’ve ordered an NPC mask.

Continuing on…

Mask guidance divides parents heading into new school year

If I had kids, this might be of interest. (I could say a lot more about this, and how it ties into some other things, but I don’t feel like it.)

Though I don’t have any kids, I don’t think they should be masked. There is a chance of getting sick all the time. Even if the masks worked 100%, I’d be opposed to making kids wear them. Just like I’m opposed to making them wear helmets all the time.

My dad was pretty adamant that I couldn’t play tackle football until I was in high school because he was worried about me being injured. I appreciate that now. It didn’t take the government to protect me.

The U.S. economy is bigger than ever, but it’s still got a few big problems, too

This pins a shortage of supplies and labor on the rising prices.

When it comes to manufacturing, labor, itself, is a supply. Consumer products don’t assemble themselves.

The story also doesn’t talk much about the compounding element of price — available money. Employers/manufacturers have to top the additional unemployment benefits.

When you actually start earning money, too, you stop qualifying for many other benefits.

Don’t work, and qualify for Medicaid, or work, and pay for a plan from the healthcare.gov exchange that’s almost exactly the same as Medicaid.

I actually was asked by one provider if my exchange plan was Medicaid. Uh, no, I’m paying hundreds of dollars a month. Yeah, sorry, we don’t accept Medicaid this plan

Once again, the government solution didn’t fix anything.

More tomorrow.

Long day in the District for a variety of reasons. No neat photographs out the window; the room I was in had a great view of the parking garage.

A bit reminiscent of my perch at the radio station.

But getting home took absolutely forever. It’s one of those things where you balance the money you’d spend on a cab versus the sunk costs I have in paratransit fare.

I was kind of spun up about what I’ve seen with what’s been happening with the “Beltway Libertarians.” I’d listened to the podcast that set Dave off, and while i didn’t really agree with what either side said, I took some of what Dave said in his response to heart.

Link

Reason’s done a remarkably poor job articulating much of anything other than things that don’t affect many people’s lives — drugs, sex work, and school choice.

I can’t take drugs, regardless of whatever individual states do. I have no desire to frequent sex workers. I don’t have any kids, so I’m not particularly worried about government schools.

Out of the demo. Frequent story for me.

Regardless of me, it strikes me as extreme narrowcasting. Your tricycle motor is going to go to some exclusive prep school, and you’re going to be able to redirect funds away from the corrupt teachers’ union to support it. Great.

What’s that do for the shop owner who’s lost everything because of the failures of government to protect property during the riots?

How about the incredible expansions of government power and spending to battle a disease that’s rarely fatal?

To that end, one of the things that occurred to me this morning — quick, off the top of your head, no searching the web, name a celeb who’s died of the disease this year (2021).

If you can name one, is that person’s life worth the liberty that’s been surrendered in hopes of not repeating such a loss?

To me, it’s a hard case to make.

And several of the organizations I’ve supported, financially, have been damned near silent on the excesses, but are very concerned with off-color humor from others.

Eyes on the big picture, y’all.

Where has government made anything better? There’s vaccines now that weren’t there before, and they’re being distributed because government got out of the way.

Is that the dreaded bothsidesism?

I don’t know, or care.

Let me live my life as I choose, and protect my liberty and property.

It’s not that difficult to understand.

So. Prompt.

Do you have a fear that you want to overcome? What is it and do you have a plan to overcome it?

This was something that fits nicely with some of what I’ve been doing with my mental health work lately, but it also speaks to some of what’s been going on with Simone Biles quitting the Olympics.

I do see both sides of the argument.

She’s worried that she won’t be able to deliver a performance up to her standards Maybe she’ll be embarrassed. Maybe there’s something else. Or maybe she performs well enough to get the job done for her team.

I do understand and appreciate both arguments.

You could be Ronnie Lott, and get part of your finger taken off during a game, and still play. Or Curt schilling with the bloody sock for the fackin’ Red Sawcks.

Or you could end up producing the “full Delhomme.” Ultimately, however, it’s up to the athlete, and the coaches.

For my personal things, I’m not going to share. There are things that I won’t write aobut.

Listening to a company meeting. It’s largely a marketing thing, but whatever. I’m kind twiddling my thumbs.

At the outset, I mislabeled my post yesterday. For whatever reason, I thought yesterday was the 29^th. Nope. Oops.

Still trying to figure out how to take some time off for the rest of the year.

At the same time, there’s very little I really want to go do. I guess that kind of plays into today’s prompt….

You get three wishes, no rules. What do you ask for?

1. Obviously, I’d like a cure for MS, and at least partial relief from my various MS-related problems
2. An end to the pandemic, and the various remedies thereto
3. Land/House/Whatever where I can modify things to fit my tastes

How about that?

Long, long day again. Ugh.

The mask mandate for Federal employees is concerning. Naturally, the union has been completely silent about it. (Or my DDG News skills are lacking.)

Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

Quick answer — yes.

Longer answer — there’s a lot of things where I can improve.

I look back at what I’ve done, and there’s nothing I’m terribly regretful about. Are there things I could have done that I now regret not doing? Yes, but nothing major that I’ve done that I regret.

Should I be proud of that? No? If anything, it’s more a reflection on those who influenced me, probably.

Are they proud of me? I’m not sure, but I can’t think of anyone close who really has an issue with me.

There’s a few instances, especially professionally, where I’m sure I rubbed people the wrong way. But the people who I’ve really gone after have done something to me that I thought warranted retaliation. I can really only think of handful of people with whom I would not at least converse courteously. Another handful who wouldn’t get the level of cordiality.

I’m stopping now. I’m very tired, looking forward to getting my recharge Friday.

Today’s news is just confirming the clarity I had Sunday morning.

We’re finished with that attempt. You failed. Move on.

I wish I was better at UML so I could explain it someway that the business-types could understand.

Government — your prescriptions failed. That doesn’t mean do it again, harder.

It didn’t work. Go away. You don’t have the answers, and let’s see what happens when people are free to make their own choices.

This isn’t that difficult.

But, I reiterate — YOU FAILED. I don’t hate you because of it, but I don’t want to be forced, at the point of a gun, to pay for you to try again. I also don’t want to be forced, again, at the muzzle of a gun, to adopt your new guidance.

I will take your recommendations into consideration, and make my own decisions. Don’t like that? Well, okay. Do what you will. I just ask that you do it where someone can see it.

On to prompts….

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I accidentallied my prompts for today, so I’m going to answer several at once. They’re short answers, anyway, so consider it a mini-survey.

Talk about  two things about you that would surprise those who know you.(T2K)

I’m not sure I can pick even one, honestly. I really don’t hide many things, and when I do stumble across something that suits my fancy, I don’t hide it. I mean, why would I?

What was the last thing you put in your mouth? (T2K)

My sinister ring finger.

Do you sleep naked? (T2K)

I used to when I was younger, didn’t have my problems. Now, normally just underwear. You know, the kind one of my fictional sons is worried that the gnomes are worried about collecting.

Worst physical pain of your life? (T2K)

Getting on an airplane with a problematic tooth. Three martinis during my layover in Atlanta sortakinda dulled things, then the flight back to Virginia, and all the pain was back when the cabin started pressurizing.

Worst emotional pain of your life? (T2K)

I’m not sure? I mean, losing my dad was tough, but I think it would have probably been tougher if it’d been completely unexpected.

Favorite place you have ever been? (T2K)

I’m really not sure anymore. Everywhere in the world is fucked courtesy the virus, and the politicians’ reaction to it.

How late did you stay up last night? (T2K)

I guess I went to sleep (again) a little after 11.

If you could move somewhere else, where would it be? (T2K)

I don’t really know. I do like where I am, though I miss real city life. But see the question about the favorite place I’ve been. Everywhere, I think, is completely fucked thanks to politicians trying to fix something they can’t. I’m really not bitter about it, but I do wish they’d just stop.

Which of your Facebook friends lives the closest? (T2K)

Well, i married the person who invited me, so… (I fell into the weird middle ground; I graduated too early from college for it to have been a thing when I was there. My girlfriend, now my wife, sent me an invite. 2006, maybe? My best friend from high school lives a few miles away. But I spend so little time there, they’re getting upset that I’m not seeing ads. That’s what you get, you ginger dropout…

Getting into this a bit. But I’m Sofa King busy again. More. Ugh.

What do you think about banned books? Do you think it is necessary, or do you think that it constitutes censorship? 

You can’t. It’s impossible, no matter what whichever agencies of power want. Something something burn books also burn people somehting.

Same goes with bans. The truth will get out, in spite of authoritarians’ best efforts.

Obviously, this is showing up with things like the lab leak theory with COVID-19. This has been floating around some news sources I see in the past couple of days.

Holy shit.

Up way too late getting through most of a TV season’s episodes with my wife last night.

It was a nice Saturday, certainly. It’s taken until July, but this is feeling like a “normal” weekend, at least.

Another day of somewhat relaxation, then four days of work. I’m just going to take all day Friday in an attempt to actually take some vacation this pay period. I’ve nearly worked all of the extra hours I’d need to make up for last Friday.

I still need to figure out how to take nearly two more weeks before the end of the year. Pffffft.

Maybe I can spend a few days trying to write. I’m trying to deal with this right now.

What you want to do is present the author’s arguments in the strongest way possible, then refute each of those strengthened arguments one-by-one.

That said, picking through my fuzzy memories, when I was a kid, the employees at this place weren’t making careers out of low-end food service. I can remember one of my high school substitute teachers, the one who looked like Ned Flanders. He delivered pizzas to supplement his paltry substitute teacher’s pay.

No, that’s not a career. It’s not supposed to be.

On to the prompt before I step over to get coffee…

Do you think it is important to read the classics? 

With my horrible eyesight, reading is very difficult.

Aside, if you wanted proof of it….

That’s the scans of one of my optic nerves. The old scan from last year is on top, and the newer one is on the bottom. The big divot in the images on the right are MS lesions. The messages travel up the outsides of the nerves, and if the insulation surrounding is damaged, the signals fall out. Yes, my wires are frayed.

So most of my information again is aural. Reading a paper book is nearly impossible at this point. I have enough trouble reading a sign on the wall.

I did read many things when I was younger, healthy, and the things contained in those things still do influence my thinking. Some of the podcasts I consume make references that I have only the vaguest familiarity with.

I’ve been working through the Bible In A Year podcast, but I’m not able to actually do the associated reading. I was going to say that I feel bad about not being able to do the reading, but that’s not entirely accurate. I do what I can, and reading isn’t part of that right now.

The audiobooks are a different kind of problem. I was kind of enjoying the rainforest-owned service, but I was running out of hours in the day. I cancelled it when I was really getting them out of my life after what they did to some pages hosted with them.

And I’m getting sidetracked with the particulars.

First up on my actual reading list, however, is The Anarchist Handbook.

And there I go again, getting sidetracked. Classics

The two authors at the top of my list right now: Thomas Aquinas, and Niccolo Machiavelli. The idea of going to Hillsdale in DC has come to mind more than once.

Time to stop for the morning.

The abrupt departure last night was a combination of both exhaustion, and perhaps a bit too much alcohol.

But what I was getting to is that I do, generally agree with the oft-told sentiment:

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.” — Anne Frank

What happened to Anne Frank was due to a few sick, sick people using the power of the state to inflict their evil on others.

Politicians are people, and generally good at heart. Stop using the thugs to accomplish things.

As I was thinking about this sort of thing this morning, I was trying to reduce everything down to a B-tree.

Whatever that was is finished; we’re done.

Now on to the analysis.

[Did it || did it not] accomplish what I wanted

If yes, repeat it. If no, don’t do it again.

With that, though, I’m thinking about all of the things people have done with the government to fight COVID-19.

Do an After-Action Review on everything that’s been done. What were your measurable targets? Did it accomplish what you thought it would?

But, for politicians, there’s very little of this sort of review. Ever. Just keep perpetuating the perfect thing you assembled. Whether or not it accomplished what you wanted it it is ultimately unimportant; you will obey.

No. No I won’t.

We’re finished. Do the analysis, move on to the next thing.

I’m very much at the we’re finished point with just about every law and regulation.

The whistle has blown. The play is over. Huddle up, and wait for the next play to come in from the sideline.

On to what I had lined up for today….

Have you ever had a strong belief completely disproven by facts and evidence? 

This kind of plays into what I’ve been slogging through in the past couple of days.

Maybe it’s appropriate that I’m listening to this in the background.

The Germans ruthlessly attached a civilian passenger ship which led us to join the Allies in the first World War.

Please pay no attention to those ammunition rounds sitting on the floor of the Atlantic. Please pay no attention to this warning.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to never look at things again, and adjust your conclusions.

Do you think you can ever trust a politician’s word? 

At the risk of being labelled terminally-whitepilled, I don’t think most politicians are deliberately lying.

At the same time, I really don’t think that most politicians, or people who preach government force as a solution to problems, really consider the underlying basis of their thoughts.

You do something because it’s just, you know, the way that things are done.

You want people to stop doing something? Great. I don’t think that it’s a good idea to do that thing, either.

So you’re okay with men with guns locking people in cages for doing something you don’t like? How about breaking into residences in the middle of the night?

Oh. Um. That’s how we’ve always done that.

Here’s an idea — don’t hurt people, and don’t take their stuff.

And I’m having trouble concentrating on this, unfortunately, so I’m stopping.

I’d planned to start writing this the other day, and I forgot. It’s evidence, maybe, that my therapy is working. I have OCD, and the writing streaks might be an example of a compulsion. I’m supposed to avoid them. Oh well.

Writing makes me focus my thoughts. Nice segue into the topic for today —

What’s your take on religion? 

For a long time, from about age sixteen, until my mid-twenties, I considered myself a pretty committed atheist. Note that I said atheist, not agnostic. Even before I recommitted to theism, I was hostile towards the idea basic ideas underlying fundamental agnostic thought. (Yes, they’re fundamentalists….)

You’ll never have enough evidence to know; it’s impossible to know.

Okay, that’s fine.

But, you, as an individual, can make a decision based on the evidence you have. I can’t ever know whether gravity is an absolute certainty, either.

But I have enough evidence to wholeheartedly support the theory.

When it comes to God, the afterlife, etc., there might not be enough evidence for you to make a pronouncement.

You do have enough evidence to make a judgment on just about anything; Han shot first. You are allowed to change your mind when you get new evidence.

I actually got into a conversation the other day after listening to an interview with Bryan “Hotep Jesus” Sharpe. He’s written a book about the origins of some of the American wars.

There’s things I thought about the First World War that have really been shaken over the past few years.

The Triple Alliance’s story about what happened seems to be, well, less than true.

I had the same feeling as things were coming out about the Covington Catholic kids while I was at Shmoocon. Okay, so the kid is in a MAGA hat, and he’s smirking as this guy is beating a drum next to his face.

Twitter, CNN, etc., are saying that the kid had a punch-able face, and that these affluenza kids were harassing a brave native American veteran. Reason did a good job covering all of this. But if you stopped taking in new evidence about it after hearing your chosen outlet’s initial reporting, you’d never know.

If you took in information from multiple sources, you might get the wrong story.

Chuck Todd would say that it’s dangerous.

There are people close to me who refuse to investigate further.

To me, however, very little is permanently-settled

TRUST THE SCIENCE!

You know, the sort of science that said that COVID came from the thing in the wet market that Randy Marsh nailed, right?

One of the other things that Bryan is hitting on is the idea of self-perfection.

I get it, but it makes me doubly-jealous. First, there’s lots of things I think I’d like to do that my body just won’t cooperate with. Second, my will power is weak more often than I’d like.

Following a religion’s self-control teachings, however, is something that does help with the self-perfection.

You learn a lot about being a responsible adult from participating in something that taxes you both mentally and physically.

For some, that’s religion. For others, it’s serious sports training. For others, still, it’s things like joining the military. Whatever. You structure your thinking towards a certain cause, and it helps you.

Some people like this guy have embraced things like Orthodox Christianity. But, really, does it matter what it is? There’s a basic human need to do that sort of thing, whether it’s one of the Abrahamic religions, one of the Eastern religions, Scientology, whatever. I’m pretty well convinced that this is something that humans need.

That doesn’t fit well with either Atheism. It also doesn’t really fit in with Evangelical Agnosticism.

If you ever wish for something you’re, in a way, participating in some sort of mystical experience. Ever hold your breath watching the completion of a competition?

How does that ever affect anything?

So why do you do it?