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So many of my thoughts come back to something from Coach Mora.

I don’t know whether The ReOpening was good or not.

I guess it’s supposed to be something done in the style of The Office. Of course, I’d watched a few episodes of it, but the humor was largely lost on me.

Kind of the same thing with the special.

I have absolutely no idea. And I can’t really judge whether it did a good job in trying to capture the spirit of the inspiration.

I don’t like eggs. I couldn’t tell you which restaurants make a good omelet.

And even if there was a place that made one of the best ones around, I wouldn’t order it because I don’t like eating eggs.

Looking around on Twitter the day after, however, the response seems to be somewhat muted. I kind of expected to see rave reviews, just like the NeoHips’ rejoicing about The Debate. But I didn’t see that sort of adulation.

I think I’ve been trying to be better at thinking that sort of way.

If that makes me not part of the team, whatever. I can believe or not believe whatever I want.

Background music… (And apologies to myself, or anyone who reads this in the future, for any broken/dead links; everything gets deleted, eventually…)

MacMoMo that is. On Orkut back in the day, there was a particularly-radical Islamic grad student at a university in Scotland who was particularly intrigued with the “new left,” or “Libertarian Socialists.” His first name was Mohammad, which got shortened to “MoMo.” Since he was in Scotland, that morphed into “MacMoMo.”

Cathy Young, a former writer for Reason (a publication to which I’ve been subscribed on and off since about 1995, and to whose foundation I donate money) published a tweet storm from someone I think might be MacMoMo just absolutely eviscerating the thing that seems to be an undeniable truth in the NeoHippie LP Russia Caucus, that the gas attacks against people in Syria didn’t happen.

So, who I think is MacMoMo’s rebuttal to that.

It has to be a lie to continue granting unquestioned veracity to the storylines coming from these people who’ve “taken over” the Libertarian Party. The biggest proponent, one featured prominently in the LP’s antiwar rally in DC a short time ago, claimed on another podcast that the Rwandan genocide was because of something the US did.

The source for that? Edward S. Herman. The same guy who helped write coauthored Distortions At Fourth Hand. He also wrote extensively denying what the Serbs did in Bosnia/Kosovo during the 1990s.

The evidence for those things is pretty conclusive. There’s people alive who were on the ground that you can talk to. The UN and ICC held hearings on what happened.

But it takes me back to “The Debate,” which the NeoHip bobbleheads running the LP loudly-proclaimed was won by one participant. You have to snake around the reasoning, but it’s ultimately straightforward — Everything bad that happens is because of the US.

No. That’s not true.

Then you start looking at the things that get omitted from the storylines to protect those who you admire, and who might have been at fault.

Things happen. There’s no underlying reason or cause. There’s no grand conspiracies.

That realization is very, very difficult for many people to accept.

It speaks to things like whatever happened with the Nordstream Pipelines.

It could have been the US. It could have been Russia. It could have been Ukrainians. It also could also have been an accident. But there’s Sy Hersh saying that the US blew it up!

Logical fallacy.

We’ll just gloss over contravening information about what Syria did with regards to chemical weapons.

Just leave out the parts that don’t fit, and you’ll be better off.

Um.

A similar line with the health effects of the mRNA vaccines. Any negative health thing that pops up for someone who was vaccinated is because of the vaccine.

Can’t be that there’s any other explanation. It has to be because of the vaccine.

Or not. It couldn’t be anything else, because there needs to be something immediately to blame.

I’d started writing this before the final episode of the podseries was released.

I still feel pretty much the same way I felt after hearing JKR’s final bits.

So I’m leaving this as is, and will add bits after….

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I’ve been considering lately, and no shit, it’s been costing me sleep, things about the issues surrounding J.K. Rowling.

Then Richard Dawkins, hero of evangelical agnostics, came out and said that there’s only two genders. (Pls2bforgiving the CR link, but it’s what came up when I S’dTFW for it….)

This episode, in some of the Twitter discussion, was supposed to be the killshot for her reservations.

The individual interviewed in the episode described the mental health benefits that came from early transition.

But it was female to male.

I think what Ms. Rowling is concerned about is the sorts of things that only males can do.

Can a biological man be physically-abused by a female? Absolutely. But, it’s the exception, rather than the rule.

While I was working through this entry, I say this story float actroas my Twitter feed.

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I fully understand why she feels the way she does about hard-fought women’s rights, safe spaces, etc., being taken over by predatory biological males.

Refusing to acknowledge that, to me, is pretty disgusting.

But it also shows a fundamental misunderstanding; people aren’t just going to assent, no matter how much damage you think you’ve inflicted with your cancellation efforts.

Leave people alone.

If there’s something made by a person you once admired, but no longer do, you have the choice. You don’t get to demand he/change it because it doesn’t comport with the views you hold at this instant. If it really bothers you that much, you can leave.

The work isn’t there to please you. It’s there to communicate whatever the artist wanted to commmunicate when he/she wanted to communicate it.

Maybe that same take isn’t there anymore. Maybe it is. Whatever. It’s not for you the consumer to change. If you don’t like it, stop paying attention.

Odd week, but some resolution on what I’m going to be doing over the next few weeks.

It goes along with finding resolution on lots of things.

• I think I’m permanently finished with some things and places. i just don’t have any fondness anymore. I find it a bit fascinating how you can people can just erase anything someone might have found interesting. So whatever. The Gen X comes out; I’ll find something else.
• With that, perhaps more than is healthy, I’ve been looking into Yuri Andropov. Some of this is in reaction to the rally the LP shamefully signed its name on to in DC a few weeks ago. Growing up, and in school, I’d heard a ton about Prague 1968, but there wasn’t a lot I got on what happened in Hungary in 1956. When I was there (1993), Budapest was an interesting mix of modern and filthy. Seeing some of the more-recent pictures, it looks a lot better. But the Andropov-era scars were still around. Excuse the sourcing, but Putin loved the guy. I think there’s probably some backstory that can be absorbed from examination.
• I haven’t watched any XFL. I will probably watch some USFL when it comes back, but the desire to watch sports is somewhere behind many other things. Again. Whatever.

Something I’ve been mulling lately is how long it’s appropriate to hold a grudge.

Not sure what got me on this line of thinking, but it did go into thinking about companies I’m refusing to forgive for things they did during COVID.

I have relatives who probably never bought another Nestlé product after the boycott. Did that go too far? I mean, hearing about this would have been well into the 1980s. (I really don’t remember many current events before about 1985; I remember, vaguely, worry about my dad with the crash into the bridge out of DC; my dad had been TDY at Ft. McNair that day. A bit with the Beruit Embassy bombing, Reagan’s reelection…)

But when do you stop being angry with companies for overbearing things they did? Is it okay to permanently withhold your business?

I do try to forgive people who’ve wronged me, but there’s some I’ll certainly never speak to again if I can….

*STFW for this*

Hmph. I’m going to send this to my psychologist to see what she thinks.

I don’t know. But I’m inclined to never visit the places that wanted vaxports ever again.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.