Category: Uncategorized

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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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.

Completion. Another month of writing every day in November, and not shaving my upper lip is complete.

I did it, and I can move on to the next thing which is the attempt at a podcast.

But there’s an essential thing here, and one that I think I’ve been letting bother me lately.

I’ve made several mentions of how the Austrian School economists are now undertaking a very, well, totalitarian way of viewing everything under the sun. They’re getting to be as bad as the Randians, honestly.

You must have a currency based solely on precious metals. You must think that the business cycle theory is the be-all, end-all explanation for everything.

But, you know what? You can live your life the way you want, regardless of what the men with guns who are running the central banks want.

See Trevor Lawrence.

Buy what you want to buy, do what you want to do.

When people want men with guns to stop it, make them fucking say so. Down to the point where they have to shoot you for your noncompliance.

Bubuhbut Rothbard said!!1!

I admit that could have just as easily been Mises or RON PAUL(pbuh).

Yeah, it doesn’t matter. You do what you want to do, and don’t mess with other people’s stuff.

It’s really not that difficult.

And if you want to put me in jail over it, something the President and Vice President are very accomplished at doing, fine. Just say it, already.

Time to do December stuff. To whom do I want to give money this year? It is “Giving Tuesday,” after all.

Two more after today.

I’ve spent a lot of time the past eighteen-or-so hours digesting this.

I understand that he’s sleep-deprived. I’ve never formed babby, so I can’t empathize, but I can offer sympathy.

But none of the things he’s ranting about do anything to further what he says he’s about.

It’s part of the experiment in moving into official politics. There’s nothing at all there. Nothing.

But those people also thought that Scott Horton smoked Bill Krystol at the Soho forum debate. I was there. I wrote my take here. In the pre-debate voting I was undecided. After the debate, I voted for Krystol just because Horton had been so terrible. After further consideration, my initial take was correct, but mainly because of how poorly the question was worded.

But, no, it wasn’t as cut-and-dried as Dave makes it out to be.

That he speaks as if he’s a fucking elder statesman of the Liberty movement is incredibly grating.

My initial objection to him as the Presidential nominee is that he’s not accustom to signing others’ paychecks. My latest objection is that he doesn’t write anything, ever. Though he does say that he could have written someone else’s part on a TV show.

Do it.

(I’ve got serious doubts about whether you actually can.)

The FNC and CNN audiences are 65-dead. The MSNBC audience is 55-64.

Who gives a flying fuck that a Neocon resigned because of a Tucker Carlson special?

Meanwhile, people are losing their livelihoods because of what government’s done with regard to vaccinations and lockdowns.

But something George W. Bush did in 2001 is front of your mind.

Elder statesman. Got it. *click* That’ll be the last time I listen for a while.

Yeah, that’s today. I’m prepping for a medical procedure on Monday, and wishing I could go to the Sayulita Super-spreader event. Money isn’t an issue for a change. My cantankerous body, and my employment, on the other hand, are.

Oh well. There’s going to be a lot of things I need to do before the end of the year, still, but I’m ummm…optimistic, maybe? There’s a resignation that’s come across. Do what you will; I don’t care. To paraphrase Ray Lewis, I’m a Machine. You can’t hurt me.

I’m supposed to finally get my next infusion five days late at the new site. It’s jumbled my schedule for getting a flu shot, but I’ll deal. I still haven’t gotten my reimbursement from what I paid last year, either. See the first ¶.

I am a bit disappointed that when I catch the dreaded COVID, I won’t die, but probably also won’t be able to get any sizzurp.

Trying to figure out when, exactly, I should start the writing on Monday. I think I’ll probably do it early. I have3 to be at the hospital at 0800, and I’ll be under sedation, so writing later in the evening probably isn’t going to happen.

We’ll see.

Until the kickoff, I’m away…..

Rather uneventful week, thankfully.

I don’t know what to do, really.

I do have some more ideas, thankfully, that might work well.

We’re still looking at buying a house. This is in spite of bad news coming out about where the housing market’s probably headed.

I’m hoping we can get to the point where we’ll be able to almost pay cash for somewhere.

Maybe I’ll be at the point where I can just pay outright, and not have to really worry about a lot.

I need to figure out what to write about next month. I’m also curious what I wrote about, if I wrote, during my first trip after leaving radio.

Me, that is.

I have two things I need to write about.

I really meant to write about this (Voluntary Vixens Ep. 96) late last week, but I forgot. I guess my initial take is along the lines of where I am with so many other things lately.

People get so accustomed to preparing (for anything!) one way that they don’t take into account changes that’ve happened in the world.

The Emergency Preparedness information is certainly familiar to me. It sounds like my youth background is very similar in terms of the Boy Scouts.

But things have changed.

The US Army deactivated its last MASH unit in 2006.

There’s no need to do a ton of things in the field anymore. If shit really goes down, they get you to a place where you can be cared for away from the imminent danger.

The US just pulled out of Afghanistan after twenty years. If a servicemember was injured in the field there, he/she would be stabilized for helo transport to a place that’d be acceptable for transport to a full hospital somewhere else.

The corporate press here combined information from the first Gulf War in 1991 with the modern wars’ statistics.

We’re pretty damned good of keeping track of people these days. If someone is hurt or killed, they’re not just left on the battlefield like they were previously.

What I’m saying with the emergency preparedness efforts is: understand what modern tools entail. I traveled to NYC earlier this week. I had two credit cards, a debit card, my paratransit card, a $20 bill, and a phone. When I got back to DC the next day, I had the same.

Did I ever want for something that would have been in the gargantuan wallet I used to carry? No. Would that have been the same in 2005? No.

Out of curiosity, I decided to search back, and see if I’d mentioned Bob Zubrin here before. Yes. July 2014. What he was writing about was his inspiration for Martian exploration based on the historical examples from polar exploration.

You have to go light, and you have to be able to move. If there’s something you need along the way, you can probably find it if you look around.

This is almost antithetical to the ultra-prepared crowd.

Will you be able to get somewhere safe? Almost certainly. So unless there’s something you will die without, pick it up along the way.

It’s very difficult to communicate this sort of thinking.

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Now I should write about the trip and the debate.

First, I did not carry my vaccine card with me. No, you don’t need to scan my card. Sorry. You can see a photo of it in my phone unlockable to anyone who doesn’t have my thumbprint. If they hadn’t let me in, I probably would have disputed all the charges for the trip with my credit card company.

But they were satisfied, so it was a non-issue.

As for the debate, itself, I registered my vote as undecided at the outset. As I wrote Saturday, I really was.

As a refresher, the resolution was: A willingness to intervene, and to seek regime change, is key to an American foreign policy that benefits America.

Despite a couple of notable questionable assertations, the neocon of all neocons cleaned the floor with Horton.

While Krystol didn’t really do a ton to support it, he did spell out some instances of American intervention that have benefitted humanity.

As my friend and I discussed later, were Grenada and Panama really black eyes for America? Did either really talk about those? No.

I was also thinking about where we didn’t even do the bare minimum, to loan Bradley Fighting Vehicles to end the slaughter in Rwanda.

The default position should be one of non-intervention

But can positive things come from military action? Absolutely.

I think a lot of that would be short of regime change.

Neither of them really argued to that. Horton was digging up things completely irrelevant to, well, anything.

I get earwormed by Duran-Duran’s “The Reflex” when I hear him speak about the Middle East; he’s reflexively pro-Shiite.

On balance, is the world a better place because the Shah was removed?

I don’t think so.

I’ve volunteered to discuss it with a few podcasters I frequently consume. We’ll see if any of them take me up on it.