…no longer purport to sell just products and services. They leverage the explosion in “screen time” to successfully manipulate the way in which you think and act. Then along came social networks and “advertising” took on a whole new paradigm.
Evangelical Flip-Flop
Devout followers of certain Christianity flavors were writing books about the Fuckwit-in-Chief a few years ago. Now it seems they have reconsidered. Can’t say they weren’t warned. Will they follow through if the current POTUS dodges impeachment? Re-forming religious dogma to fit contemporary social and legal environments has worked before.
“And Trump appeals to these evangelicals because of his focus on declension, decline and destruction, which fits into evangelical beliefs about the end times.”
They’ll get their end times, alright. Just not like they expected.
Facebook Again
“Though Facebook exempts politicians’ ads from fact-checking, the company said politicians would not be allowed to run ads or post content that conflicts with its census policies.”
Apparently Facebook’s stock in trade is dishonesty and lies. Some (politicians) are OK with that, other topics (census) are not. Has corporate America become the truth arbiter in this country? Of course. It just didn’t become widely apparent until the Internet and mass media exposed the cocksucker’s scheme: money- grubbing bastards parlaying personal information to grab their paydays by any means necessary – not to mention the live-stream, electioneering, hate, racist, privacy and other endearing issues Fuckbook’s recently raised in our collective consciousness.
Space Race is On
This time we are competing with ourselves. Ballistic, warhead-bearing spacecraft are about the only space-faring news coming from the other side of the planet these days. Boeing and SpaceX are presently engaged in crew capsule ops, as candidates vying for NASA contracts to ferry ISS-bound astronauts. SpaceX’ Dragon capsule should be ready for humans next year, and Boeing has the new Starliner almost ready for a first test flight tomorrow.
(Late Update) “We have since experienced an off-nominal insertion and the spacecraft is in a stable position…” Both the Dragon and Starliner have experienced significant anomalies in development.
The Gentleman from Georgia
Listening to the partisan pleas for and against impeachment today was predictably repetitive and boring. But a few of the more deranged Republicans took the opportunity to once again demonstrate just exactly how closed their minds really are. Collins in particular, has a uniquely fervent style of embarrassing himself while speaking loudly and saying nothing. We even got a little treat to some dramatic antics, finger-pointing around the room accusing those gathered of egregious wrongdoing for even entertaining the thought of impeachment.
What a moron. This is the type of fascist demagoguery that gave rise to the 3rd Reich. Seriously.
“Why do we keep calling this a solemn occasion, when you’ve been wanting to do this ever since [Trump] was elected?”
Because some people catch on quicker than others. You know one of the big differences between smart people and dumb people? It’s not that smart people don’t make mistakes. They just don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
Boot-Lickin' Barr
I’ve been using the pejorative “toady” moniker WRT numerous political figures these days, and Billy here, fits the role just perfectly in look and deed.
Every time I think to myself “you just can’t make this shyt up…” it turns out, YES you can. And people even seem to start believing it, repeated often enough with the requisite visual aids. I’ve been rockin’ the chair to the point of almost being clear off it quite a bit myself lately. I must need stronger drugs.
Fuckwit Wrote a Letter
Sounds about right, for this juncture. Looks like the handlers were on coffee break when this one slipped out – peppered with insults, lies, false claims and generally dubious nonsense – just like the cluster-fuck of an administration he’s purveyed on the country for the past three years. This Russian cuck must have plenty of time on his hands as the isolation and marginalization builds. Genning up this six-page diatribe about how bad he feels heralds the prison manifesto brewing.
The emperor wears no (new) clothes. For real, if you are a GOP politician.
Climate Change
It might be melting the polar ice caps, but things are getting chilly up here in Colorado:
“Temperatures plunged around the state Tuesday morning, with -34 degrees reported in Waverly (5,321′), -32 degrees in Cowdrey (7,917′), -22 degrees in Tabernash (8,333′), and -18 degrees in Dillon (9,111′). It was even colder at Antero Reservoir, where early morning temperatures dipped down to a teeth-chattering -44 degrees at 8,942′ of elevation.”
We had snow on the ground three times before Thanksgiving this year – first time ever, in my recorded memory. I remember a big Thanksgiving blizzard of ’84 at Buckley ANG base, but that was a total surprise immediately preceded by warm, sunny weather, as usual. This year it just got cold and stayed cold – almost no autumn whatsoever. A few of the leaves frozen on the trees before they finished falling are still up there. Should be interesting to see what remains alive in the spring.
Moscow Bitch
Last name McConnell, aka “Moscow Mitch.” That’s not a meme below. People in Kentucky were worried about the current senate majority leader’s business ties to Russia a long time ago. Now he’s Trump’s bitch, so does that all roll up under the same gang of con artists now, or what?
Xmas in Sweden, 2019
Daughter #2 is across the pond for Xmas this year. I’ll update her photo page for this little expedition, as new pics show up…
Rudi's back from Ukraine!
…in support of the Republican Impeachment defense, resting solely on a new GOP political concept for re-defining reality. So Rudi Giuliani returned to the U.S. to advise his biggest client last weekend.
“He’s a great person who loves our country, and he does this out of love, believe me. He does it out of love,” (said our fuckwit POTUS) Riiiiiiiight. – out of love for keeping his own sorry ass out of jail. That little project is getting increasingly difficult, as the hub player in International Criminal Conspiracy USA 2019.
Stay consistent when the cover story gets blown. Just keep doing what you’re doing, pretending it’s all good. Fucking morons.
2020 is Ramping up in Russia
I hope the Intel and Cyber agencies not already sufficiently neutered by Trumpomania have a handle on this. At least we’re throwing some money at it. The propaganda campaign will be significantly more difficult to detect and thwart this time around. eMail bots I’m seeing appear to be in some cases, actively managed, with shades of reality attached. It’s not going to be a full frontal assault like last time. It will be low, slow, under the radar.
Let’s hope there’s not any good AI behind the FB and Twitter accounts.
My Suicide Equation
It’s a very personal thing, certainly varied by the individual in myriad ways. The big factors in that equation could be viewed allegorically as a culinary recipe, with similar ingredients from the different food groups substituted for flavor, consistency and caloric content. I alluded to how that works for me at the end of the ECHCS feedback post. Please allow me to break it down here, just to be very clear.
The VA gave me two things, and took one away. They gave me alot of un-anticipated pain and disability(PD), both physical and emotional. During the discovery phase lasting many months, the 2nd ingredient, cognitive dissonance (CD), was mixed in. That can really fuck with a person’s head after awhile. Then towards the end of my ECHCS relationship, to seemingly sort of seal the deal, they took away any hope for relief.
Mix those three things in somebody’s head, and you have a viable recipe for suicide brewing. The problem with the recipe allegory is when converted to the simpler, colder mathematical equation, the result solved for on the right can be only one of two things:
PD + CD + Hope = Life
PD + CD – Hope = Death
I hope that spells it out clearly enough for anyone who might be interested.
It's Tomlin!
I always liked this guy, and felt like he was a great coach, despite having no 1st-hand knowledge on the topic. The team’s performance speaks for itself, with this year’s amazing comeback emphasizing that fact like never before. The coaching staff is in my estimation, the biggest factor in any sports team’s success. Of course it takes star players to win championships. But even they go nowhere without a great coach tying it all together. Pittsburgh’s ejected a couple high-profile examples recently.
Nice Try
Great – another number to call when you’re contemplating offing yourself. Maybe they’ll make an app for that. Sometimes I wonder if the people working these programs have ever been the 1st person operative in a relevant scenario themselves. When it comes time to make a phone call, it’s already far too late in some cases. Prevention to me, means mitigating the contributors that eventually amount to a self-inflicted death.
Here’s the latest entry from my symptoms log, currently urging me to blow my brains out:
“14 DEC 2019: Constant glow from the injury site itself is now on the rise, probably I suspect, due to the discogram. It’s running a steady 3-4P level now, with the occasional movement jabs amplified as well. Any physical activity like walking or just simply standing, push it much higher, more quickly. Being basically sedentary has become a constant state of discomfort, punctuated with insomnia and acute flare-ups.”
That’s on top of the other, more troubling symptoms. It’s that bad. I can’t live like this. Left untreated, it probably wouldn’t be up to me, anyway. But like I told my Dad, I’m tired of talking about it. Ending this by any means necessary is a perfectly rational decision.
Don’t get me wrong – the phone lines certainly are a necessary, beneficial factor in the equation. I imagine a large cross-section of the “suicidal population” as t’were, is not really suicidal, so getting them on the phone is liable to stop them from acting. But it ain’t doing much for the overall growth of that population, generally speaking. Have a look in this little corner of potential suicide hell for another good clue. I use the term “hell” only to highlight the religious connotation there. I can’t possibly begin to imagine what that poor girl was going through. If you don’t call that the epitome of suicide prevention failure, I don’t know what is.
Monkey See…
…Monkey Do. That summarizes the Republican impeachment defense strategy. One after another, they take their turns spouting the same nonsensical talking points, embarrassing the entire country for all the world to see. Congratulations Putin – you won this round.
Glad to see I’m not alone in my opinion of this shitshow:
“If there’s anything I learned from watching all those hours of House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings, it’s not that Matt Gaetz is a shameless slime bucket or that any time Jim Jordan speaks, we gain a closer understanding of all that’s wrong with America or that Texas Republican Louie Gohmert is, well, irredeemably Louie Gohmert (who beats out, by some distance, the fact that Ken Buck is, well, forever and always Ken Buck).”
“Stalin, as you know, was infamous for show trials, in which the defendant’s guilt was pre-ordained. But I think there’s a different point to be made here: What do you call it when the fix is in for the guilty party to walk free?”
I call it the beginning of the end for the Republican Party.