December 2025

Sputtering To The End

I started writing a long entry recapping year, but I’m having trouble sticking to it.

There’s many things with which I’m unhappy, but there’s really not a lot I can do about any of them.

So whatever.

The first part of the year was okay, I suppose, but things quickly went downhill. I’m trying to not just do what I do, and leave.

Hang on for a bit longer.

Okay, but that doesn’t mean things are really going to be better.

PHPhony Future

I’ve spent too much time looking into what versions of PHP will work for my various projects over the next few years.

I’m surrendering. I just don’t have the attention span to string something ancient along.

I still love NetBSD, but I’m not sure there’s much of a place for it anymore. This was part of the discussion yesterday with the lawyer working on my disability claim. Can I do work? Maybe. Do I get distracted, and forget what I was doing? Absolutely. Can I sit through additional “education” to pay the entrance fee to allow me into the racket that is modern IT? Maybe…? I don’t even know.

I’m still really trying to get accustomed to doing all configuration via a CLI prompt instead of editing a config file. I suppose it’s something that I could have anticipated given IBM’s sponsorship of Postfix, but I still am not completely comfortable with it.

The accustomed-factor plays into the MS stuff. The cognitive effects of MS are known. They’re very difficult to quantitate, and even more difficult to justify to someone else. Just snap out of it! Smoke some weed, man; it works for Montel!

And, as evidence, I end up watching The Podfather on with Rogan talking about it.

But, back to the topic, I just want something that I can use for the foreseeable future to relax and write, as well as keep up the smoldering remains of other things I’ve cobbled together over the years.

So it’s something to work on over “the holidays.”

I’m still trying to get my main arguments together for my next OWT. Kind of a chicken-or-the-egg thing with that, though. Do I really focus on writing good stuff, or do I start trying to bring in some money with it?

As I mentioned in my recent entry, “Unblocked,” there’s all sorts of things I’d like to say. The news cycle, however, is something I really can’t bring myself to care about too much.

Whatever the issue, the fiscal irresponsibility of the past twenty-five years blocks my OUTRAGE over whatever else there is.

The Federal debt has tripled since 2009. I’ve been following up that fact statement with an encouragement that it be said aloud.

Bubuhbut ICE!!1!
The size of the Federal Debt has tripled since 2009.

Bubuhbut Minnesota Medicare!!1!
The size of the Federal Debt has tripled since 2009.

But Epstein!
The size of the Federal Debt has tripled since 2009.

All Trump’s fault!
The size of the Federal Debt has tripled since 2009.
(And OrangeManBad’s decisions really only matter in about three of those years considering the Russia stuff, and COVID.)

*yawn*

This episode was an interesting listen. I do think, partially, the attempts to adhere to etiquette result in less consumption as well as consumption of better stuff. Was I ever really hungry with a small plate of amazing food? Nope. Did I enjoy the big drinks? Yeah, but, again, it’s an issue where quality over quantity can be important. Are the EXTRA BIGASS FRIES from Carl’s Jr. better than the small portion of something better?

I don’t think so.

Unblocked

i was trying to do things this morning to really get back on schedule, perhaps get the thinking working.

And, voila — two things to write about.

Tariffs — Reflexively I’m opposed because they are a tax. But, with that understanding, they’re a middle class tax increase, something that’s been needed since the Clinton Administration. This plays, in a way, with what Boortz and Linder were proposing with the “Fair Tax,” which implemented a big value-added tax (VAT) on everything; a national sales tax. Some quick SingTFWeb shows that a big percentage of filers pay zero income taxes. I’m going to need to dig more into that to get better information on what those numbers actually look like. Gemini has some good output on it, but I need to run it to ground more
The Reason Roundtable from yesterday talked about OrangeManBad’s EO basically invalidating state-level laws (and regulations) over AI. Again, instinctively, I’m opposed to the EO, and the states’ regulations. But I understand the arguments about the need for uniformity. The discussion unearthed a painful memory about the UCC. I’m also thinking about all of the states that ended up adopting California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions standards. Whether the California standards make any sense is a matter of debate, and I understand why the climate catastrophist Democrats want those implemented nationwide, so just have everybody adopt the California crazy standards. Pitch it as a benefit to the automakers and unions for making it so only one type of car is needed for sale nationwide. Again, it’s a way to backdoor things that Congress isn’t doing.

So…things to consider as I look to write this week.

Writer’s Block

Since I finished NoJoMo, I’ve really had it.

I need to write something for OWT. I might need to update resumes.

But I’m fumbling around with other things, and waiting until I can update hosting, etc..

So, what am I up to that’s filling my brain?

Trying to get a stable platform, again, for my various tech bits. While my current configuration has worked for a while, and will continue to keep working, I’m running into issues with things surrounding PHP, etc.. I want something that’s RHELish to align with where Loonix has gone. I’m not sure I like it, but it’s how things are set up. I’ve also been looking for someone who can handle the mailman stuff; mailman3 is such a PITA. I also need to redo my DNS setup, and want some more-reliable setup for my mail archives. Oddly-related, I did find a nice tuide from FreeBSD about how to use mutt with gmail.
What to write about with OWT. Obviously, after yesterday, there’s so many things I could write about. The shooting at Boston University gives a couple of thoughts. Then there was the situation in Australia. Australia is basically a gun-free zone, as was the campus at Boston U.. Virginia’s esteemed governor-elect put out a Post about how outrageous it was, and she was thinking about the tragedy. She didn’t go into the verboten “thoughts and prayers,” but the sorts of gun regulations are the sort of thing that she, her Lt. Governor, and AG candidate want to see instituted in Virginia. Jay Jones actually said he’d like to see a political foe’s children assassinated to get similar laws in VA. Those sorts of laws work so well that he’s willing to kill children to pass them. And when they don’t work, noi a single politician who ever supported those laws will be held accountable for government not working.

More later, maybe.

Everything Was Perfect

In the 1990s. Keep that at the front of you mind. I’m watching paying a big of attention to the coverage of the WAR CRIME that was the attack on the remints of the Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean.

WORST THING EVER
HEGSETH IS A MURDERER
TRUMP PHONED IN THE ORDER
LITERALLY HITLER

(God, I miss the Blink tag….)

From “the other side,” you have Megyn Kelly essentially cheering the survivors’ deaths in the additional strike.

Hmmm.

Yeah, I’m not sure I’m 100% comfortable with all of this. At the same time, I’m also very, very, very uncomfortable with the Maduro regime, and what they’re doing in many areas.

The Fifth Column had an interview with Thor Halvorssen
where he discussed what’s going on in his home country. Then María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize.

There’s a ton of information that’s come out courtesy Milei in Argentina about some of the stuff the Iranians, Russians, and Chinese were trying to do there under the Peronists. Venezuela was a friendly place to the north sitting on a ton of oil.

You get into some of the ancillary conspiracy theories about things like the coding of the electronic voting machines originating from .vz, etc.. I’ll leave that to Lara Logan, but there’s more than a little smoke about what’s happening.

OrangeManBad points the finger at Fentanyl, but I suspect the boats were probably carrying cocaine smuggled in under a compliant Maduro government. Do whatever y’all want so long as we get our cut. Oil ain’t selling all that well, now. Those stupid Americans and Canuckistanis learned a new way to coax oil of the ground. Imperialists!

After several cuts, we’ll hold fast, even as the price keeps dropping.

But on the drug boats, I was reminded of the Iraq No-Fly Zone from the Bush41 and Clinton years. (Okay, I’ll admit that I was thinking about some of the A2A glories of the F-4, and that was probably one of the last times it was used in combat, but…)

Pappy Bush justified it under another UN resolution. The UN Security Council couldn’t block what the Americans, Brits, and French were doing. Several other countries went along with it.

This is what the Air Force was doing when Khobar Towers happened. (I know, I know, Libertarian Institute; this was only to sell weapons to defense companies, and was all a par5t of a regime-change operation aimed at Iran from Saudi Arabia. Complete. i get it. I listen, Jersey Dave. I understand!!1!)

To me, what’s happening looks an awful lot like a maritime version of the no-fly zones.

Hmmm.

Yeah, I’m okay with it.

I should probably work on an OWT entry on it.

Maybe this weekend.