Give It Up, Already

The lame duck's continued lawsuits are getting more and more ridiculous.  I knew this would happen.  One of the biggest reasons I didn't want him elected was because I knew it might be difficult to get him out of office afterward.

Republicans, seriously, aren't you embarrassed yet?  You knew going in that this was a possibility.  You had to know, four years ago, that this man would be a national embarrassment.  Are you really so fucking sexist, that you thought this would be better than having a female president?

You are marked for life, now.  You will forever have to live with the fact that you supported the worst president in US history.  And if, by some bizarre sequence of illegal events, Cheeto actually overturns the election... then you'll be responsible for America's transition from democracy to dictatorship.  Because anyone that power hungry will look for any way to keep it forever.

If Biden had lost by 74 electoral votes, do you think he would be trying to overturn the election right now?  Yes, some of his followers might be, because there's fanatics on both sides.  But Biden himself would have bowed out gracefully and admitted defeat.

Republicans, you are never again allowed to use the word "snowflake" to describe Liberals.  Nor can you use "participation trophy" analogy.  And after the RBG / Amy Coney Barrett thing, you're no longer allowed to describe Liberals as hypocrites (not that you really could before).  From this day forward, Republicans are the official snowflake, participation trophy, hypocrite party.  Was it worth it?

You made your bed, now lie in it.

Thanksgiving Quarantine

People are complaining about restrictions against family gatherings this Thanksgiving.

Don't be a child.  These restrictions are there for your own good.  You skip Thanksgiving this year, so more people are alive to attend next year.

People keep comparing it to Nazism.  Educate yourselves, jeez.  When the Nazis imposed restrictions, their goal wasn't to save lives, and their intent wasn't for it to be temporary.  If the Nazis tried to keep you from seeing your family, it was because they never wanted you to see your family again.  Temporary measures are not the same as totalitarian fiats.  

If you're looking for examples of abuse of power, look no further than Trump's current attempts to overturn a legal election.  But a government trying to save lives by postponing a holiday... that's not an abuse of power.  It's not Nazism, it's not fascism, it's not authoritarianism.  It's protection.  In fact, it's exactly the kind of protection we have governments for.

Be a grown up.  Right now, isolation saves lives.  You can visit your relatives once everyone's been vaccinated.  Until then, please play it safe.

A Blast from the Past

In 1982, I was at a high school basketball game, and ended up getting my picture in the newspaper.  We happened to be sitting behind Johnny Cash, whose son went to the same school.  On a whim, I went searching through the newspaper archives and found the photo.

You can see me on the left, sitting next to my dad.  Unfortunately for my brother, he was sitting directly behind Cash, so you can't see him at all.  But you can see his friend sitting next to him.

From The Tennessean

Monday, March 22, 1982 

Page 15

Congratulations President Biden

Biden Wins!

...for now.  You know Trump is going to pull every trick in the book to overturn it.  In fact, he'll spend his last two months in office focused on this one task, while continuing to ignore the pandemic.  That's just who he is - he uses the office of the President to benefit himself, and screw everyone else.  

I'm worried that the next few weeks will be filled with riots and violence, but to be fair, I was worried about that regardless of who won.  This nation is at odds with itself, and I don't know if it's even possible to reconcile.

I don't envy the work Biden has ahead of him.  Fixing Trump's mistakes will likely take up his first year in office.  A lot of rebuilding will need to be done before Biden gets to square one.  

A note to those Republicans who say, "Democrats only whine about the Electoral College when they lose."

I'm a Democrat.  My party won.  We still need to get rid of the Electoral College.  It sucks.  It's an antiquated system held over from a time when we didn't have the technology for a popular vote.

I'm not saying a popular vote is perfect.  But land can't vote.  A state with three people in it shouldn't have more power just because the state's boundaries are wide.  We're electing a president for the entire country, so we shouldn't be looking at state borders at all.  If the majority of the country's population is around the edges, then so be it.  

What we really need is an end to the idea that if you vote third party, you're throwing your vote away.  Some countries use a ranked voting system where you vote for your favorite, second favorite, etc.  So you could put down the Independent as your favorite, then the Democrat as your second favorite, and both votes would still count.  I wish we would do something like that.

In any event, our voting system is broken.  I believe this even when it benefits me.  I hope it is addressed at some point in the next four years.

Anyway, congrats to Biden and Harris.  I hope they are able to heal some of the scars from Trump's reign.

Election 2020

As I write this on the morning of November 4th, Biden has the lead, but most of the remaining states are skewing red.  So it really could still go either way.  Of course, Trump is already claiming he won.

This is very nerve wracking.  Republicans are currently thinking, "Oh no, Biden might win, and we'll have four years of political correctness!  Can you imagine not being able to use racial slurs?"  Democrats are thinking, "The planet can't survive four more years of this.  People are dying.  The climate is at a tipping point.  Children are in cages.  People can't afford life saving medicines."  

Gee, I'm just not sure which side's concerns should be taken more seriously.

But even if Biden wins, I'm incredibly disappointed in voters.  It should have been a landslide.  What kind of idiot looks at the last four years and says, "We need four more years of this?"

Idiots.  Idiots.  Idiots.  Idiots.  Idiots.  Idiots.  Idiots.  

Rest in Peace

My mother-in-law passed away today, after several months of health problems.

When I first met my wife, 27 years ago, her mother was in the hospital.  At the time, the doctors predicted that she had, at most, six months to live.  Just a few weeks later she was back on her feet and stronger than ever.  We always joked that she was too stubborn to die.  But this year her myriad of health problems finally caught up to her.

My mother-in-law was intelligent, sarcastic, headstrong, witty, and full of good advice.  We had our differences, but we got along, and I always respected her.  I will remember her fondly.  

Rest in peace.

I Voted!

I waited in line for 30 minutes, which is less time than it took when I voted 4 years ago.  I'm still pissed that I had to vote in person.  My state forbade mail-in voting unless you have a specific reason, and fear of COVID isn't considered an adequate reason.  It's an obvious attempt at voter suppression - what better way to ensure a low turnout than to make people afraid they'll die if they vote.  But it didn't seem to work, judging by the large number of people voting early.

In the past four years, we've seen Trump tell more lies than any president in US history.  We've seen him deny science, change tax laws to favor his wealthy friends, promote xenophobia, use the presidency to promote his own businesses, dismiss any problems that didn't directly affect him, blame the Democrats for his own mistakes, divide the country, stand up for racists and Nazis, and fumble the pandemic so hard that thousands more died than would have under a rational leader.

Remember, if you voted for Trump four years ago, you did this.  You.  Did.  This.  We warned you, and you didn't listen.  There is blood on your hands, and you owe your country a penance.

But there's still time to make up for it.  If you can't bring yourself to vote for Biden, at the very least don't vote for Trump again.  Don't double down on your error.  Own it, and resolve to do better.  Prove that you can learn from your mistakes.  Get back in God's good graces, and finally feel better about yourself.

Now go forth, and sin no more.

Dream Journal 10/19/2020

Screw it, I don't post enough blogs as it is.  I might as well use it as a dream journal as well.

Scot Adams, creator of Dilbert, has often said that there's nothing less interesting than listening to someone's dream.  But he's also a Trump supporter, so what does he know.  I can promise you this, that some of the dreams I post here will be boring.  But writing is a muscle, and I need to do it more often, even if I don't have a proper subject.  If you don't like them, skip those blog entries.

Last night I dreamed that I revisited my childhood home.  I still have lots of dreams where I live there, but this was different.  In this dream, I was the same age I am now, living where I do now.  But I found out that my parents' old house was now abandoned, and had been willed to me.

I arrived at the house, and everything was dark.  From the outside it looked pretty normal, except that all the windows had been boarded up.  But when I went inside, it looked much older.  Inside the house, everything was made of unfinished wood, like an old barn.  The floorboards weren't even tightly fitted, and you could see through some of the slats.  But other than that, the downstairs still had the same floorplan as the actual house.

But then I went upstairs.  The second floor was impossibly big.  It had the layout of a shopping mall - one huge hallway, and lots of store-sized side rooms.  But it was still completely wood.  I was there with a group of people I don't know in real life, and we all had camping gear, preparing to stay overnight.

An old woman approached us, and she told us she'd been living there for decades.  She said she was over 100 years old, and she was glad to finally have some guests.  I think she was based on Mother Abigail from Stephen King's "The Stand".  She said I could have ownership of the property, as long as I allowed her to continue to live there as well.  

Another odd thing, while most of the mall level was wood, there was one exception.  We discovered that there was one actual store in the otherwise empty mall.  It had a normal looking store front, made of plexiglass and neon.  It appeared to be a video/music store like FYE or Media Play.  The logo looked like Blockbuster Video's, but had a different name where the logo would be.  It looked so out of place, all lit up and modern, surrounded by old wood.

The old woman told us that was where she kept her record collection.  And that's all I remember.

COVID Dreams

I haven't had a lot of dreams that take place in the current pandemic.  I think one time dreamed that I went to the mall and realized I'd forgotten my mask.  It was very similar to a "in public in your underwear" kind of dream.  But other than that, I don't remember any dreams directly referencing COVID-19.

But I have been having more zombie dreams than usual.  Now, my zombie dreams usually aren't particularly scary, because they tend to trigger lucid dreaming for me.  I think that the existence of zombies breaks my suspension of disbelief just enough to where I know it isn't really happening.

When I have lucid dreams, I don't walk around saying, "This is my dream, I can do whatever I want" a la Nightmare on Elm Street 3.  It's more like I see myself in two places at once - the dream participant, and the writer narrating the story.  So if a zombie bites me, I'm like, "No, let's not have it happen that way, rewind and dodge this time."

I want to say that more of my dreams have been taking place indoors lately, but I think I've always had mostly had indoor dreams.  I really can't think of a lot of dreams that took place outdoors.  But lately, when I look out the window in my dreams, it looks like a nuclear winter.  It might be a warm day, but either snow or ash is falling from the sky, and the sky itself is an odd color.  Also, the streets are usually empty, unless it's a zombie dream.

I never live in the house I currently live in.  In fact, I don't remember ever dreaming about this house.  Sometimes I live in a shopping mall.  Last night I had one such dream.  My "home" was a converted movie theater inside a mall.  The lobby was our living room, and each of the theaters had its own purpose.  We had a lot of guests over, all sleeping in one of the theaters, where we had put a bunch of beds.  The guests were all people I knew from high school, most of whom I don't really like any more, but I kept my tongue and remained polite.  

I don't really have a point here, I just thought it was interesting.  I wonder how long the pandemic would have to continue before my subconscious mind recognizes it as the new normal.  

Try or Try Not, There Is No Do

I heard a neat theory the other day.  Why does Yoda use such backwards syntax?  Because he's old.  Well, duh, everybody who gets that old is going to have a hard time speaking correctly.  But Yoda speaks that way because he's older than the current version of language.  In other words, he's speaking correctly, but the language has evolved around him.

William Shakespeare lived about 450 years ago.  That's only half of Yoda's age in the original trilogy, and yet look how much language has changed since Shakespeare's time.  If Shakespeare showed up today and started talking to a redneck farmboy from Tatooine, they'd probably understand each other eventually, but not without some difficulty.

But that's not what I came here to talk about.  You know what grinds my gears today?  One of Yoda's most repeated aphorisms:  "Do or do not, there is no try."

Look, I get it.  Don't allow for failure.  If you visualize success strongly enough, you will succeed.  Put failure out of your mind, those thoughts can poison your chances of success.

But that's a pile of bullsith.  There is no appreciable definition of "do" that doesn't include trying first.  Trying is the act of doing.  Until the doing is done, you are trying.  If you don't try, you just sit there.  "There is no try" leads to "there is no do."  When Yoda said his famous line, Luke should have answered, "Fine, guess I'll go home now."

Plus, that line of thinking leads to people not having backup plans.  If you're so sure you can't fail, why bother taking safety precautions?  Why wear a seatbelt?  Why buy car insurance?  You're not going to wreck, Yoda said so.  All you have to do is do, not try, and you'll never wreck.

Plus, I'm not sure it's good psychologically to rule out the possibility of failure.  I mean, sure it's good for people to give everything their all, to not take no for an answer, to push ahead until they succeed.  It's good, that is, until they actually do fail.  Some people aren't mentally prepared for that.  If they spent a little time deciding how they'll handle failure, then they might not be as devastated when it happens.

And should we really be taking this advice from a guy who fled the senate to go brood in a swamp for twenty years?  He's had two decades to mount a counter offensive.  We've seen how powerful Jedi can be, and we've been told that Yoda is one of the most powerful.  If Galen Marek can pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky, why can't Yoda toss them at the Death Star like paper airplanes?

But no, he failed once, couldn't accept it, and went into seclusion.  Not exactly the role model for chasing your dreams.  

Geez, what a muppet.

An Almost Cogent Argument For Trump

So for four years I've been asking questions like, "How can anyone rationally vote for Trump?  How can anyone be that stupid, that racist, that short sighted?  How can anyone call themselves a Christian and vote Republican?"

Most of my Republican friends have been conspicuously silent these past four years.  They'll post a pro-Trump thing whenever he does something that directly benefits them, like a tax cut or whatever.  But otherwise they've been relatively quiet.  

I finally found something written by someone who sounds somewhat rational.  This has been going around Facebook.  I don't know who the author is, and I don't care enough to find out.  This is a little long, and therefore I'm not going to reply to every point, but at least I now have a glimpse into the mind of the average, not-necessarily-stupid Trump voter.

This was forwarded to me from a friend today, I take no credit for this other than sharing it.

“If you are a liberal who can’t stand Trump, and cannot possibly fathom why anyone would ever vote for him, let me fill you in. It’s not that we love Donald Trump so much. It’s that we can’t stand you. And we will do whatever it takes — even if that means electing a rude, obnoxious, unpredictable, narcissist (your words not ours) to the office of President of the United States — because the thing we find more dangerous to this nation than Donald Trump is YOU.

How is that possible you might ask? Well, you have done everything in your power to destroy our country. From tearing down the police, to tearing down our history, to tearing down our borders. From systematically destroying our schools and brainwashing our kids into believing socialism is the answer to anything (despite being an unmitigated failure everywhere), while demonizing religion and faith, and glorifying abortion, violence, and thug culture. From calling us racists every time we expect everyone of any skin color to follow our laws equally to gaslighting us about 52 genders, polyamory, grown men in dresses sharing public locker rooms with little girls, and normalize the sexualization of young children, you simultaneously ridicule us for having the audacity to wish someone a “Merry Christmas” or hang a flag on the 4th of July, stand for the national anthem, or (horror of horrors) don a MAGA hat in public.

So much for your “tolerance.” (See why we think you are just hypocrites??) We’re also not interested in the fact that you think you can unilaterally decide that 250 years of the right-to-bear-arms against a tyrannical or ineffective government should be abolished because you can’t get the violence in the cities you manage under control. That free-speech should be tossed out the window, and that those who disagree with your opinions are fair game for public harassment or doxing. That spoiled children with nose-rings and tats who still live off their parent’s dime should be allowed to destroy cities and peoples livelihoods without repercussions. That chaos, and lawlessness, and disrespect for authority should be the norm.

This is your agenda. And you wonder why we find you more dangerous than Donald Trump? Your narrative is a constant drone of oppressor/oppressed race-baiting intended to divide the country in as many ways as you possibly can. You love to sell “victim-hood” to people of color every chance you get because it’s such an easy sell, compared to actually teaching people to stand on their own two feet and take personal responsibility for their own lives and their own communities and their own futures. But you won’t do that, you will never do that, because then you will lose control over people of color. They might actually start thinking for themselves, God forbid!

This is why we will vote for Donald Trump. Not because he is the most charming character on the block. Not because he is the most polite politician to have ever graced the oval office. Not because he is the most palatable choice, or because we love his moral character or because the man never lies, but because we are sick to death of you and all of the destructive crap you are doing to this once beautiful and relatively safe country.

Your ineffective and completely dysfunctional liberal “leadership”(?) has literally destroyed our most beautiful cities, our public education system, and done it’s damndest to rip faith out of people’s lives. However bad Donald Trump may be, and he is far from perfect, every day we look at you and feel that no matter what Donald Trump says or does there is no possible way he could be any worse for our country than you people are. We are sick to death of your stupid, destructive, ignorant, and intolerant behavior and beliefs — parading as “wokeness.” We are beyond sick of your hypocrisy and B.S. We are fed up with your disrespectful divisiveness and constant unrelenting harping and whining and complaining (while you live in the most privileged nation in the world), while making literally zero contributions of anything positive to our society. Your entire focus is on ripping things down, never ever building anything up.

Think about that as there is something fundamentally very wrong in the psychology of people who choose destruction as their primary modus operandi. When Donald J Trump is reelected, don’t blame us, look in the mirror and blame yourselves. Because you are the ones that are responsible for the rise of Donald Trump. You are the ones who have created this "monster" that you so despise, by your very actions. By your refusal to respect your fellow Americans, and the things that are important to us. You have made fun of the “fly-over states,” the people who “cling to their guns and religion,” the middle class factory workers and coal miners and underprivileged rural populations that you dismissively call “yahoos” and “deplorables.” You have mocked our faith and our religion.

You have mocked our values and our patriotism. You have trampled our flag and insulted our veterans and treated our first responders with contempt and hatred. You have made environmentalism your religion, while trashing every city you have taken responsibility for. You scream from the rooftops about “global warming” and a “green new deal” while allowing tens of thousands of homeless people to cover your streets in literal sh!t and garbage and needles and plastic waste without doing a single thing to help them or solve the environmental crisis your failed social policies are creating. But we’re supposed to put YOU in charge of the environment while gutting our entire economy to institute this plan when you can’t even clean up a single city??

You complain — endlessly — yet have failed to solve a single social problem anywhere. In fact, all you have done is create more of them. We’ve had enough. We are tired of quietly sitting by and being the “silent” majority. So don’t be surprised when the day comes when we finally respond. And trust me it’s coming, sooner than you might think. And also trust me when I say it won’t be pretty. Get ready. When Donald Trump is reelected it will be because you and your “comrades” have chosen to trash the police, harass law-abiding citizens, and go on rampages destroying public property that we have all paid for and you have zero respect for.

When Donald Trump is reelected it will be because we are sick of your complete and utter nonsense and destruction. How does it feel to know that half of this country finds you FAR more despicable than Donald J. Trump, the man you consider to be the anti-Christ? Let that sink in. 

We consider you to be more despicable, more dangerous, more stupid, and more narcissistic than Donald Trump. Maybe allow yourself a few seconds of self-reflection to let that sink in. This election isn’t about Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden. This is about Donald Trump vs YOU. So if on the morning of November 4 (or more likely January 19, by the time the Supreme Court will weigh in on the mail-in ballot fiasco that we are headed towards), and Donald J. Trump is reelected? The only people you have to blame is the left-wing media drones and yourselves. You did this. Yep you.”

So... first off, let me get this out of the way:  What a fucking wimp.  Under total Republican rule, immigrants are put in cages, people are dying because they can't afford healthcare, women can be forced to give birth to their rapists' children, one religion's sermons can be made into law, and all manner of totalitarian fiats.  But this guy is afraid he might have to use "They/Them" pronouns or have to recycle an aluminum can someday.  Wah wah wah, his penis is going to dry up and shrivel off over this inconvenience.  

Some specifics:

"From tearing down the police..."

See, this is why you should research your opponents before berating them.  There are a lot of different takes on what should be done with the police, but hardly anyone believes they should be eliminated completely.  Most of us just think the police need to be restructured.  They need diversity training, they need more accountability for their mistakes, they need more options for non lethal weapons, and they need to only be called for situations where police are appropriate.

Yes, there are a few people calling for absolute removal of all police systems, but those aren't Liberals, those are anarchists.  Most of us just want the right people to come when you call 911.  If it's a job more suited for a mental health professional, for example, then they should be sent instead of the police.  This is actually good for the police, because it keeps them from being thrust into situations they were never trained for.

Many different plans have been discussed.  Not a single one of them involves letting criminals run free.  Rest assured, when you hear someone in your house in the middle of the night, and you call 911, someone will still come save you.

Though that's kind of a funny thing for Republicans to be afraid of.  Whatever happened to, "In this home we don't call 911, we just shewt 'em ourselves!"

"...to tearing down our history..."

Anyone who thinks tearing down statues eliminates history is probably too stupid to learn much from this blog.  Bottom line: books educate, statues honor.  There is no reason to keep honoring history's greatest monsters, when we can learn all about them from history books.  There are very few statues of Hitler in the world (they're not allowed in Germany), and yet WWII is the most well known event in history.

We aren't trying to eliminate history, we are trying to portray history more accurately.  We're trying to acknowledge the mistakes we've made in the past, and to honor the people who actually deserved it.

"...to tearing down our borders."

This hypocrisy always strikes me as funny.  It doesn't matter how many generations ago your family came to America, the time to limit immigration is always now.  And so many Republicans threaten to leave the country whenever a Democrat is elected.  Why is it okay for those countries to accept you, but not okay when America accepts desperate refugees from other countries?

"From systematically destroying our schools and brainwashing our kids into believing socialism is the answer to anything (despite being an unmitigated failure everywhere..."

The aspects of socialism that Liberals want to adopt are so far removed from actual socialism, that they shouldn't even use the same word.  And the parts Liberals want (like tax-funded health care) are actually a huge success in many other countries.

"...while demonizing religion and faith..."

Separating church and state isn't the same thing as demonizing religion.  All we want is the freedom from having to live under the rules of someone else's religion.  Conservatives would be just as up in arms if we passed a law that required all Americans to eat kosher.

"...and glorifying abortion..."

I'm probably long overdue for a blog on abortion.  Look, I don't know when life begins.  My best estimate would be 25 weeks, which is well after most abortions happen.  It's at 25 weeks that real brain activity is said to occur.  If we're willing to pull the plug on dying people due to lack of brain activity, then maybe that same benchmark should be used for when life begins.

The Bible doesn't help much either.  The closest it comes to declaring when life begins is a verse that implies that you become alive when you take your first breath of air with your lungs.  Some early Hebrew texts define the punishment for causing a miscarriage, and it was just a fine, not a murder charge.  So where ever you're getting the idea that abortion is anti-Christian, it sure ain't the Bible.

But what I do know is that a fetus represents a potential life.  I will absolutely give priority to people who have experienced life, and worked to be where they are, over a mass of cells that doesn't even know it's alive yet.  

If a fetus is loved - that is, the parents plan on bringing it to term and are already thinking of baby names - then it is a tragedy if that fetus is lost.  But, I'm sorry, a fetus without a future is just a biological process.  Maybe it can feel pain if it's that far along, but pain isn't suffering.  You have to be sentient before you can experience suffering.

We eat animals that have higher reasoning abilities than a fetus.  We swat insects that are capable of building complex tunnels, and exterminate rats that can remember mazes.  The fact that cells have human DNA should not give it higher priority.

Want a more religious argument?  Fine.  If God knows everything, then he knows which children are going to get aborted.  Therefore, he probably doesn't waste his time stuffing souls into those fetuses.  Without a soul, it's just tissue.  And if you do think God is stupid enough to put souls into fetuses with no future, then guess what?  You just called God stupid, you blasphemer.  Enjoy Hell.  Yes it's a silly argument, but from my point of view it's no sillier than most actual religious arguments.

But more seriously, unwanted pregnancies cause massive pain to the living.  Pregnancy can change a woman's body forever, and some women do still die in childbirth.  Poverty-stricken mothers end up with more mouths to feed, leading to hunger and rising crime rates.  It's strange how much Conservatives hate the poor, but don't seem to mind making more of them.

So don't even think about maintaining the "it's just nine months of inconvenience" mindset.  Anybody who thinks that way is a misogynistic piece of shit, and their opinions simply don't matter.

One more thing on abortion - it's a useful political pawn for Republicans.  They know that it's the most important issue to many of their voters.  An awful lot of people - and I do mean "awful" - would vote for absolutely anyone who promises to cut down abortions.  Republican politicians love that, because they can say all kinds of nasty things and still get elected.  If you're one of these so-called "Pro-Life" single-issue voters, always remember - you're being used.  You are a pawn, and they are using that belief to manipulate you.

"...violence, and thug culture."

I assume this is referring to the protests and riots?  The vast majority of protests have been peaceful, it's just the more violent ones that make the news.  And of those that got violent, a lot of the violence was started by anti-protestors.  But that said, the violence is inevitable.  There's only so long you can prod someone with a stick before they fight back.

The average white person has no idea what life is like in America for people who aren't white.  For some, it's like living in a completely different country.  Now and then they try to bring it to our attention, and all we do is dismiss their problems.  They try to protest by kneeling, but white people call it disrespectful.  Black people ask us to stop building monuments to racists, and white people respond by putting up even more confederate flags.

I'm not saying the riots are right, I'm saying they're inevitable.  You've given them no other way to make their case heard.

"From calling us racists every time we expect everyone of any skin color to follow our laws equally..."

Breonna Taylor was fucking ASLEEP you piece of shit!  What crime do you think she committed?  What, do you think she was dreaming about robbing a liquor store?  If that had been a white person, you'd actually care.  That's why we call you racist, it's because you're racist.

Of course we think everyone should follow laws equally.  But the courts have a history of convicting black people more often than white people for the same crimes.  Police seem to be a lot more trigger happy against black perps.  It's Republicans who seem to want different laws for white people.

"...to gaslighting us about 52 genders..."

Now you're just being silly.  Gender (at least in this sense of the word) is said to be a social construct.  Therefore, there are as many genders as society defines.  Just because you don't like them doesn't make them fiction.

"...polyamory..."

What's your problem with polyamory?  I'm not into it, but as long as everyone involved is adult, consenting, and fully aware of the arrangement, I don't see a problem with it.  Again, you're wanting everyone to live by your religion's rules.

"...grown men in dresses sharing public locker rooms with little girls..."

*sigh*  I'm not going to bother with this one, I've covered the topic more than enough in the past.  But this would be a gross oversimplification even if it wasn't blatantly transphobic.

"...and normalize the sexualization of young children..."

I'm not even sure what he's referring to here.  In my experience, Liberals are way harsher on underage sexual exploitation than Conservatives.  Unless he's talking about transgender children, in which case he's mixing up sex and gender.

"...you simultaneously ridicule us for having the audacity to wish someone a 'Merry Christmas' or hang a flag on the 4th of July, stand for the national anthem..."

Most of us are perfectly happy with you doing all of those things.  We're just not happy being forced to participate.  Say Merry Christmas all you want, just don't pitch a fit if I reply with "Happy Holidays."  Hang a flag all year long if you want, as long as it's not the Confederate flag.  And of course you can stand for the national anthem, as long as you don't complain about those who choose not to.

That's the problem I have with Conservatives - they view all non-participation as aggression.  Somehow it infringes on their rights if I choose not to stand for the anthem.  Seriously they think they're oppressed if they're not allowed to oppress others.

"...or (horror of horrors) don a MAGA hat in public."

Wear it all you want!  It makes you look like an idiot, and I will make harsh judgements about you, your parentage, and the size of your genitals.  But I will defend to my death your right to wear it.

"So much for your 'tolerance.' (See why we think you are just hypocrites??)"

Read "The Paradox of Tolerance" and get back to me.

"We’re also not interested in the fact that you think you can unilaterally decide that 250 years of the right-to-bear-arms against a tyrannical or ineffective government should be abolished because you can’t get the violence in the cities you manage under control."

I don't have a lot to say about gun control.  Personally I'm not a fan of guns.  Guns give you the power to point at another person and instantly end their life.  The average human being can't even navigate a four-way stop, they don't need the power to point and kill.  But realistically, I think America is too far along to even consider revoking that privilege now.  

That said, hardly any actual Democrats want to take away the Second Amendment.  Republicans love to accuse Democrats of wanting to take everyone's guns away, but it's just a scare tactic.  It's true that Democrats would like to make it harder to get a gun, in order to keep them out of the hands of mass murderers.  

But the laws they suggest wouldn't affect the average person.  Maybe it takes a little longer to buy your next gun.  Maybe you have to fill out some extra paperwork or wait a couple of weeks... so?  You still get to have your guns, and maybe, just maybe, we have fewer school shootings.  Why does that scare you so much?

"That free-speech should be tossed out the window, and that those who disagree with your opinions are fair game for public harassment or doxing."

Exactly what is it you want to say, that you're afraid would have repercussions?  Nobody is saying it should be illegal to use racial slurs.  But if you do decide to use racial slurs in public, of course you're going to get shamed for it.  Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences.  

If there's really something you want to say, but you're afraid doing so would get you branded a racist... maybe you should examine your beliefs.  Are you sure you're not racist?  

And doxing is never cool, no matter who is doing it, unless we're talking about exposing a criminal to save lives.  But in my experience, Liberals get doxed more often than Conservatives, so I'm not sure what this guy is so afraid of.  Feminist gamers were doxed for years and this guy probably never cared.  It wasn't until people started doxing Nazis that it made this guy's radar.  Defending Nazis isn't American.

"That spoiled children with nose-rings and tats who still live off their parent’s dime should be allowed to destroy cities and peoples livelihoods without repercussions."

Is this about riots again?  Anyway, the hate on nose-rings and tattoos is pretty indicative of what kind of person the writer is.  Fashions change.  If someone from the 1800s saw the jeans and T-shirt you're wearing today, they'd probably think you were underdressed.  A hundred years from now, tattoos might be the norm, and you'll be considered naked without one.

My point is, don't judge people by appearance.  That sort of judgement goes both ways, and after writing this, you have way more to be ashamed of.

"That chaos, and lawlessness, and disrespect for authority should be the norm."

Nobody wants chaos or lawlessness.  We would appreciate laws that more accurately reflect what people actually want, instead of laws based on racism and scripture.  We respect authority when that authority deserves respect.  I'll respect your badge as long as you're not using it to shoot innocent people.

"Your narrative is a constant drone of oppressor/oppressed race-baiting intended to divide the country in as many ways as you possibly can. You love to sell “victim-hood” to people of color every chance you get because it’s such an easy sell, compared to actually teaching people to stand on their own two feet and take personal responsibility for their own lives and their own communities and their own futures."

In other words, you're denying the existence of white privilege?  That takes a butt load of ignorance.  

"But you won’t do that, you will never do that, because then you will lose control over people of color. They might actually start thinking for themselves, God forbid!"

This guy probably claims he's not racist, but he's perfectly happy claiming that black people don't think for themselves.

"...but because we are sick to death of you and all of the destructive crap you are doing to this once beautiful and relatively safe country."

What you and I call destructive are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  And I get the feeling "relatively safe" means "safe for the author."  As long as you're white, male, straight, and cisgender, then sure, this country is relatively safe.

"Your entire focus is on ripping things down, never ever building anything up."

There are a lot of things we want to build up, if we ever have the power to do so.  But there are a lot of things that need to be torn down first.  You can't just throw a fresh coat of paint on a moldy, rotting structure.

"Think about that as there is something fundamentally very wrong in the psychology of people who choose destruction as their primary modus operandi."

Here's the thing about white oppression.  Anything that threatens to take away white power is seen as oppressive.  But Liberals aren't trying to take away white power, they're just trying to make sure everyone has the same power.

Liberals want to create the future that Conservative claim we already have.  We want a future where anyone can grow up to be president.  We want a future where if you work hard enough, you can achieve your dreams.  We want a future where no one has to die because they couldn't afford food or medicine. 

Conservatives like to claim that everyone has the same opportunities in life, so if you're not rich, you're not working hard enough.  But that's simply not true.  The hardest working people I've ever known were also the poorest.  

So yes, we do choose some level of destruction.  We are trying to destroy a glass ceiling that privileged people claim doesn't exist.  But that doesn't mean we want to leave worthless rubble in its it's wake.  We're tearing down to build up.  You're tearing down because everything we build is seen as a threat to your power.

"You have made fun of the 'fly-over states,' the people who 'cling to their guns and religion,' the middle class factory workers and coal miners and underprivileged rural populations that you dismissively call 'yahoos' and 'deplorables.' You have mocked our faith and our religion."

Yes, everyone gets mocked.  It doesn't matter which side you're on.  Some ideas should be mocked.  I'm guilty of it, you're guilty of it.  Stop acting like Liberals are the only ones who mock their opponents.  You should see the insults that get hurled at me on Twitter.

"You have made environmentalism your religion..."

I wish this was true.  Environmentalism has more potential for saving the world than religion ever has.  If there is a god, then everything's going to go according to his plan regardless of what we do.  But if there's no god, then this Earth is all we've got.  And we're not treating it well.  We are actively killing future generations because we don't feel like making minor changes.  

That's the crux of what bothers me:  He doesn't believe in the science of climate change, or the psychology of gender dysphoria, or the sociology of racial inequality.  He feels that his layman's opinions outweigh the facts proven by professionals who have devoted their lives to studying these subjects.  But he still votes based on those opinions.  Based on his feelings.  And those votes have consequences.  Those votes change the world.

If I don't believe in your god, you still get to go to Heaven.  If you don't believe in climate change, your ignorance dooms us all.

"You complain — endlessly — yet have failed to solve a single social problem anywhere."

That's because people like you keep standing in our way.  This is the hilarious part.  He's blaming us for not being successful in overcoming his power.  Well, which is it you want?  Are you mad at us for wanting a higher minimum wage, or are you mad at us for not defeating you to accomplish it?

"We are tired of quietly sitting by and being the 'silent' majority."

Right, silent.  I'll concede that this is another one that cuts both ways.  Everyone wishes the other side would shut up.  Everyone thinks they're the silent one, and that their opponents are the loudmouths.  

"How does it feel to know that half of this country finds you FAR more despicable than Donald J. Trump, the man you consider to be the anti-Christ? Let that sink in."

Let's be realistic, it's not half by a long shot.  He lost the popular vote, and roughly half of the country's eligible voters stayed home.  

"We consider you to be more despicable, more dangerous, more stupid, and more narcissistic than Donald Trump."

And you're wrong, case closed.  

Another Dream

Last night I dreamed I was at a movie theater, which was in the same building as an aquatic research lab.  Sir Patrick Stewart was in the theater, sitting in a wheeled office chair he had stolen from the theater's manager.  As long as he was sitting in the chair, he was allowed to go theater hopping, which he did gleefully.  So as soon as one movie ended, he would roll the office chair to another theater, pushing himself backwards and looking pretty silly.  He offered to sneak me into some movies.

I saw two movies.  The first was a new MCU Spider-Man movie.  I don't remember much, except that the Green Goblin was the main villain.  The future of MCU Spidey was in question, so they killed off Peter Parker in a vague way.  At the end of the movie, after Spidey defeated Goblin, a cleanup crew starting picking up debris.  Spidey saw a sanitation worker in the distance, picking up one of Goblin's discarded bombs.

A light on the bomb started flashing repeatedly, but the worker just stared at it, confused.  Spidey shot a web to pull the bomb out of the worker's hand, bringing it to himself.  But he didn't have time to throw it before it exploded, and Spidey was apparently disintegrated by the explosion.  It ended with everyone looking on in horror.  

But then there was a post credits scene, where somebody was analyzing a video of the explosion.  Slowing it down frame by frame, they saw Spidey disappear right before the explosion engulfed him, like he was being pulled into another dimension.  This set up all sorts of possibilities for whichever studio made the next Spider-Man movie.  Maybe it would be a live action Spider-Verse film, or maybe Miles Morales and/or Gwen Stacey would take over the mantle in this universe. 

After that movie ended, I watched a new Hotel Transylvania sequel.  I wasn't really interested, but hey, it was free.  This one focused on the child (Dracula's grandson).  He was a couple of years older now, and being bullied for being the only monster in a human elementary school.  

I didn't get to see much of it because my cat Kara was there.  She kept sneaking in to the aqua lab next door, and bringing me exotic fish.  I kept having to get up, sneak into the lab myself, and throw the fish back into the tank.  I wanted to complain to the marine biologists about not having proper security, but I couldn't tell anyone without getting myself in trouble.  Finally Kara brought me a cyclopian-eyed goblin shark, and it was so disturbing looking that I woke up.

Vote Like Your Life Depends On It

So, could Trump be any more obvious at this point?

Look, it's always been obvious when Republicans try to suppress voters.  Historically, voter suppression favors Republicans.  Whenever they close down polling places, it's usually in poor neighborhoods that tend to vote Democrat.  If everyone who wants to vote were actually allowed to vote, we'd probably have more blue states than we think we do.

It's a despicable practice.  Engineering who can vote and where, gerrymandering, and now sabotaging the Postal Service - it's like they admit they can't win without cheating.  And yet, Trump is the one who keeps saying, "If I lose in November, it will be because of voter fraud."  

That's not idle prattle.  As usual, he's trying to plant the seeds to support whatever lies he might need later.  Even if he says nothing more about it (yeah right), if Trump loses in November, Republicans will doubt the results.  They won't need any further evidence of tampering, they'll only need those seeds Trump planted in their highly suggestible brains.

We can't leave any room for doubt.  We need this to be a landslide, so no one tries to overturn the election on some "hanging chad"-style technicality.  Do whatever it takes to vote.  If you're not allowed to vote by mail in your area, take the risk.  Wear a mask, stand six feet apart, take whatever other precautions you can, but go.  Keeping Trump out of office is one of the few things worth the risk of leaving the house during a pandemic.

Four years ago, some of my friends couldn't decide between Trump and Clinton.  Some of them didn't vote.  Others threw their vote away on third party candidates.  Under normal circumstances, with normal candidates, I'd support voting for third parties.  You won't win, but if they get enough votes, it sends a message that the world is ready for new ideas, which could influence future elections.

But too many people stayed home four years ago, and now people are dying.  Many people are dead now, people who would still be alive under any other president.  If you didn't vote for Clinton four years ago, you share some responsibility for those deaths.  I'm not going to flat-out declare you responsible, because you didn't know.  This time you do.  If you don't vote for Biden this election, more people will die, and you will be responsible.  

If you voted for Trump four years ago, you were a fool.  I can forgive fools.  If you let him win this November, you're a murderer.

Token Ethics

You've probably heard of "Nice Guys" when it comes to feminism.  If not, basically Nice Guys (not to be confused with actual nice guys) are guys who pretend to be a woman's friend, when they're really hoping she'll eventually become their girlfriend.

Now, there's nothing wrong with having a secret crush on a platonic friend, and being too shy to tell them.  But Nice Guys only pretend to be a friend, and only hang around their target to weasel their way into their heart.  They feel that they're owed a sexual relationship after putting so much time into being a friend.  Or as many people on the internet put it, Nice Guys treat women like vending machines.  They believe that if they put in enough Nice tokens, eventually sex will pop out.

Lately I've been thinking about the token theory as it relates to other subjects.  For example, Christians.  Many Christians seem to believe that all they have to do is pop in a few religion tokens - like going to church, wearing a cross, putting a "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper stick on their car - and then they can do whatever they want the rest of the time.

They claim to love Jesus, but they vote against helping the poor.  They think they're going to Heaven, but they're prejudiced against foreigners and GLBT people.  Christianity is supposed to be a "think of others before yourself" philosophy, but they think that if they just memorize enough Bible verses, they can just forget the part about helping the less fortunate.

Most recently I've been thinking about Patriotism tokens.  People seem to think that if they stick enough US flags on their property, that they're true Americans.  But they refuse to comply with the basic ideals of our society.  There's more to being an American than sticking a "Love it or leave it" sticker on your bumper.

Some tips:
A true American doesn't wave a Confederate flag.  That is the flag of a movement that was - by its very definition - anti-American.  Arguably, it's treason.  I can accept immigrants who still wave the flag of their old country, because it's possible to love two countries.  But you can't love the Confederacy and also love America.  That's like pledging your soul to both Satan and God.  They aren't compatible ideals.

A true American isn't xenophobic.  I hear racists talk about America losing its cultural identity if they let in too many immigrants.  But our cultural identity is supposed to be "Melting Pot".  We were founded by immigrants and refugees from many countries.  One of our greatest landmarks is the Statue of Liberty, a gift from a foreign nation, and a symbol of hope for those fleeing other countries.

"Oh, but we're overcrowded!"  Yeah, funny how whenever Liberals talk about the overpopulation, Conservatives claim you can fit the world's population in Texas.  But when Liberals talk about immigration, suddenly the US is packed to the brim.

But of course, what really prompted me to write this blog was the current pandemic.  I'm still seeing people who refuse to wear masks unless they're forced to, or wear them badly, or otherwise not taking this COVID-19 seriously.  I'm even seeing maskless people make fun of those wearing masks.

That is some next level stupidity right there.  I don't care if you're Democrat or Republican, because neither side has declared the crisis to be over.  Not even the  mango-in-chief has declared the virus gone, he's just shown a general preference for making money over saving lives.

So it's damned if you do, damned if you don't right now.  You can wear a mask and lessen the spread of the virus, but Trumpers will make fun of you.  That's an easy choice - I'd rather be mocked and live, than die a cool person.  Except - the masks don't really protect you, so much as they protect others from you.  So going maskless doesn't make you "tough" or whatever, it just means you don't care about other people.

To all the virus deniers out there:

If you refuse to wear a mask in public during this pandemic, you are a wimp.

I don't want to stoop that low with my insults, but it's the only language these idiots understand.

A true American doesn't shy away when America needs help.  The government has asked us, for the good of all America, to comply with quarantine rules.  This means staying home as much as possible, wearing masks in public, and avoiding crowded places.

And yet Conservatives are putting their own comfort ahead of the needs of their country.  They are the citizens who have always considered themselves the most patriotic.  They've spent years claiming that they're the only True Americans, and yet when their country actually called upon them to be heroes, they said, "No, we need haircuts."  They claim being forced to wear masks is unconstitutional, despite the fact that they've never read the Constitution past the Second Amendment.

It is time to change our perceptions of the parties.  Currently, Liberals are seen as bleeding hearts who only care about foreigners and the poor.  Conservatives are seen as patriotic Christians.  The truth is that Liberals care about the big picture.  Liberals care about the world as a whole, and recognize that what hurts anyone hurts the world as a whole.  Conservatives don't care about any issue that doesn't affect them personally.  How is that considered patriotic?

You can't just make token gestures.  You can't just shout, "America Great!" at the top of your lungs and call yourself patriotic.  Sometimes your country will ask something of you.  In this case, it's something pretty small:  Wear a mask in public, and stay home as much as possible.

Is that really so much to ask?  If you're such a pathetic wimp that you can't comply with such a small request, what's going to happen when the country needs something bigger from you?  How can you call yourself patriotic when you can't even do the little things?

Want to be a patriot?  Then take this as a challenge.  Show your American pride by actually doing something for your country.  This is the smallest thing the country could ask of you, and if you can't do it, then you're the very thing you've accused others of for years:  A traitor.

Stay home as much as you can.  Wear a mask in public.  Wash your hands.  Stay six feet apart.  Take the current crisis seriously, whether you believe in it or not.  The lives we're trying to save include your own.

Two Kinds Of People

When we discuss issues like tax-funded college tuition, there are two kinds of people.  Some people say "I suffered, but I don't want you to have to."   Others say "I suffered, so you should suffer, too."  The former are making the world a better place.  The latter are actively trying to make life harder.  

What if we applied the same logic to other progress?  "I suffered through polio, so why should today's kids get a vaccine?  And what's with cars?  Horseback was good enough for my ancestors, so it's good enough for today's entitled slobs."

But that's only a subset of the bigger problem.  Take any social justice issue.  Racism, economic disparity, gun crimes, whatever.  Again, you have two kinds of people: "Life is hard, so let's work to make the world a better place" people, and "Life is hard, so suck it up, buttercup" people.  Again, the former are trying to improve things for everyone.  The latter are simply assholes.

Assholes. 

Their opinions don't matter.  They are not worthy of our respect.  The world is a worse place because they are in it.  

Don't be like them.  I'm not saying you have to devote your life to charity.  Just don't be one of those people who throws up their hands and says "The world sucks, but whaddayagonna do?" while supporting the very politicians who are making the world suck.

Life is hard.  But it doesn't have to be this hard.  Sometimes the world does suck.  But it doesn't have to suck this much.  It's impossible to fix everything.  But that doesn't mean we can't fix anything.

If you can't be the visionary, at least don't be the obstacle.

Gender Check-In

Just an observation.  

When I make a lot of transgender-related posts in a row, I hear rumblings of, "That's all he ever talks about!  He just keeps saying the same thing over and over!"  Some of that might be my own inner voice, but other people have commented on now and then.

But when I go a long time without mentioning gender at all, I hear rumors about myself from the grapevine.  Musings along the lines of, "Well, it looks like he's given up on his dream of wanting to change his sex... I guess it was just a phase after all...  He finally came to his senses..."  This gossip mostly comes from family.

Trust me, gender is still the one thing I think about more than anything else.  I make daily visits to transgender message boards.  I fall asleep at night imagining life as a woman.  I play The Sims and D&D just to live vicariously through female characters.  

No matter how bad things get in my life, if you were to ask me to list all my problems in order, gender dysphoria would always be at the top of the list.  If I were in a plummeting 747, mere minutes from crashing, and suddenly a genie's lamp bounced into my hands from an overhead compartment, I'd still use my first wish to change my sex.

But just as you're probably tired of seeing similar posts over and over, I get tired of writing about the same subjects.  If I don't post about my gender issues for a while, it's usually because I don't have anything new to say about it.  I mean, if I wanted to post the same blog over and over, I'd just copy and paste it.

Heck, I'm pretty sure even this blog is something of a repost, so I'll stop right here.  If you're just stumbling across this blog for the first time, here's some of my more relevant entries on my relationship with gender:

What Cis People Need To Understand

I Know.  Still.

Doing The Math

...But The Math Is Irrelevant

You Can't Make An Omelette...

Facebook Politics

Very rarely do I make political posts on Facebook.  I used to, years ago.  But then I started using Twitter, Tumblr, and Reddit.  These days I like to keep my Facebook clean and fluffy, with mostly cat pictures and vacation photos.  I use the other sites (including this blog) to vent about politics.

Not that my friends don't know my politics.  I still click "like" on my friends' political posts, and occasionally comment, so I doubt I have a lot of Facebook friends who think I'm a Republican.  But for me, Facebook is now a place to show off what's going on in my life, not a place to start fights.

But I do think others should be allowed to post whatever they want.  It's their page, their decision.  If somebody starts to post too many annoying things, I'll unfollow them.  Very rarely do I actually unfriend someone over politics, when it's just as easy just to change my settings so that I no longer see their posts.  

Okay, I have unfriended one guy over politics, but that's because I really couldn't see any reason to keep him in my life - he wasn't family or an old high school friend or anything, just a guy I played D&D with before he moved out of state.  And he really did have despicable political opinions.

But 99% of the time, I feel that it's better to just mute or unfollow the people who annoy you, rather than unfriend them.  What I definitely won't do is ask people to police what they post on their own pages.  About ten years ago, this one friend kept asking people not to curse in their Facebook posts any more, because her son had just started using Facebook.  

Um... no.  I mean, I can't remember ever using foul language on my own Facebook status updates, so I'm probably not one of the people she was complaining about, but still, no.  You don't get to ask that.  Facebook is a place where we get to be ourselves, and it's not our job to present a false version of ourselves just to protect your kid from seeing certain combinations of letters.

I have this one friend... well, high school friend, I haven't actually spoken to him in years... who often complains about people making political posts.  The thing is, he posts plenty of political memes of his own.  He claims to be apolitical, but he really likes stirring the pot.  He'll post something controversial to his page, wait until a good argument gets going in the comments, then reply with, "This is why I never make political posts."

Recently a few more of my friends have started complaining about political posts.  But here's the thing.  We are three months away from a presidential election.  Three months.  You are going to see political posts.  Even if this were a normal year, you would expect to see a lot of politics right now.  But 2020 isn't just any year.  This is the year of COVID and police brutality.  And the incumbent candidate might well be the biblical Antichrist.  It would be insane not to expect political posts.

If you really can't stand politics, you should probably stay off Facebook until December, or at least start muting your most political friends.  Remember, you can mute someone for a month, or you can unfollow someone permanently (or until you change your mind).  They don't see it when you do this, so it's not going to offend them.  And it's a much better solution than unfriending them.

Redundant Data Phenomenon

I wonder if there's a word for when two things you think you know actually turn out to be the same thing.

For example, my office has about fifty employees, which is just enough people that when a new person starts working there, I don't meet them so much as I gradually become aware of them.  A few years ago I started interacting with two new employees.  First was Mikey, with whom I sometimes made small talk in the break room.  The other was Micaela, who I never met in person, but who would sometimes send me e-mails when she needed information from my department.  (Note, I've changed the names for privacy reasons, but you get the idea.)

One day I passed Mikey in the hall, and she asked me about an e-mail she'd sent earlier.  I couldn't remember her sending me any e-mails that day.  I'd gotten one from Micaela, but I couldn't remember seeing one from Mikey.  Actually, I couldn't remember ever having received an e-mail from Mikey.  So she described the contents of the e-mail, and that's when I put two and two together.

Another example - back in high school, I had a friend who wasn't into wrestling.  However, enough of his friends were fans that he knew a lot of the names.  He was aware that there was a wrestler named Hulk Hogan, because he'd seen that name in print, but he'd never heard anyone talk about him out loud.  

But there was this other wrestler - that guy with the shoulder-length blonde hair, balding on top, handlebar mustache, wears bright yellow shirts that he always rips off before a match...  Yeah, his friends wouldn't shut up about this "Hull Cogan" guy.  When I told him the truth, he didn't believe me at first.

It sounds ridiculous, but it makes sense.  I've never played a Pokemon game or watched the cartoons, but I bet I can name at least fifty of them thanks to pop-cultural osmosis.  But the names are still vague enough that I wouldn't notice if there were both a "Voltorb" and a "Vull Torb" in my mental pokedex.  If my friend had cared enough about wrestling to ever think about Hulk Hogan and Hull Cogan within five minutes of each other, he might have put it together himself.  

It's almost like that bit of trivia is taking up two slots in your brain, and realizing they're the same trivia is like discovering your best friend Clark Kent is also your boyfriend Superman.

Though I also have an opposite story.  I might have already posted this one in a blog, but whatever.  Back in college, there was this student I used to see around campus.  She dressed in punk outfits, and had a neon colored buzz cut.  Some days her hair was bright orange, other days it was bright green.  I thought it was weird that she recolored her hair so often, but I figured it must be that Halloween hair color that washes right out.

After months of passing her on campus, seeing her hair change color a couple of times a week, I finally saw both twins together.  Neat.

Getting Fed Up

I've been watching my brother and my aunt argue on Facebook about wearing masks.  It's amazing to me.  My side links to all sorts of reputable reports about how the masks save lives, and how doctors overwhelmingly believe that mask use is the way to go.  My aunt keeps replying with nebulous comments like "plenty of doctor agree with me" and "I heard somewhere that masks can cause diseases."  She sounds a lot like Trump.

It's not up for debate.  You're either wearing a mask in public, or you're a bastard.  This pandemic has lasted too long for us to keep having this conversation.  Some of you are still stuck in April, making the same stupid arguments you had then, your fingers in your ears going "la la la la".  We already know how to end the pandemic, but Republicans just aren't willing to do it.

Trump has made us the laughing stock of the world.  We're one of the few countries left that hasn't gotten the disease under control.  If we want to know how to do the same, all we have to do is look at some of these other countries and see how they did it.  It's pretty simple - Enforce everyone to stay in their homes, except for a few essential jobs, like doctors and delivery drivers.  Anyone who does have to leave the house, has to wear a mask, no exceptions.  And of course, pay people to stay in their homes.  It would only take a couple of months for the virus to die out, if they strictly enforced this.

Instead, we're trying half-assed method after half-assed method, and cases keep rising.  You might think it's too expensive to pay people to stay home, but in the long run it would be cheaper.  Two expensive months versus what will probably be more than a year of various half-assed methods. 

If we had done this in April, we'd have it under control by now.  I know it would be hard to enforce, and here's where I get really mean.  But I would recommend total enforcement.  I'm talking totalitarian, "snipers on the roof" enforcement.  Wear a mask or go to jail.  Resist arrest and die.  Yeah, I know it's harsh, but it's only for two months.  And frankly, at this point, I think refusing to wear a mask is attempted murder.  

Treat the maskless like the potential murderers they are.  They know they run the risk of infecting others.  If a guy started walking around Kroger firing a handgun in random directions, he'd get arrested (if he's lucky).  This really is no different.

My aunt says, "I don't believe masks help, and I'm entitled to my opinion."  But ignorance can't be an excuse when lives are on the line.  The fact that anti-maskers are incredibly fucking stupid isn't a valid legal defense.  If my hypothetical Kroger shooter said, "I don't believe bullets are dangerous," we wouldn't just say, "Bless your heart, I guess you can go."  

No more half-assed solutions.  If Trump really wants to get re-elected, he should bite the bullet and get this over with.  Lockdown.  Enforce it.  Pay the citizens.  Then he can take credit for ending the virus (despite the rest of us recommending these actions since April).  He'd finally be the hero, and the quarantine would be over just in time for the election.  

But of course he won't do any of that.  He won't do the right thing even when it benefits himself.  It's just not in his nature.

So... People Suck

Yesterday my wife had to go to Walgreens. She wore a mask, but some of the other customers weren't. The maskless man behind her in line stood just inches behind her, and acted annoyed that she wouldn't move closer to the next person in line.  He kept reaching past her to grab impulse items.

So as careful as we're trying to be, my wife (who is high risk) could still catch it due to some random asshat who probably thinks the quarantine is a Liberal hoax.

It's just, I don't care if they believe in the disease or not, why can't they just play the game in public for the benefit of others?  Gambling is fine when it's only your health, but they're gambling other people's lives.  If they break the rules and someone dies, as far as I'm concerned, that's murder.

IDIOT!!!!

I am sick and tired of being so angry all the time.  Every single day that man comes on TV and says something even stupider than the day before.  The fact that I don't even have to tell you who I'm talking about says it all.

A couple of days ago, the muppet-in-chief speculated about using disinfectants internally to cure COVID-19.  Democrats immediately started making memes claiming the president suggested we inject ourselves with bleach.  Republicans immediately rushed to the president's aid, claiming he was referring to some actual existing treatments involving UV light and medicines that use the same ingredients as disinfectant.

Of course, neither is true.  The Democrats' memes are just that - memes.  Jokes.  We know he didn't literally tell citizens to inject bleach.  We're trying to lift the mood because life is such a horrorshow right now.  The Republican defense was disproven by the president himself, who now claims his comments were just sarcasm.  Of course that's a lie in itself; nothing he said resembled sarcasm.  If that was intended to be sarcasm, that man doesn't know what sarcasm is.

The actual truth is, the president was just spitballing.  He was thinking out loud, throwing out ideas to the medical professionals present.  His questions made him sound like a five year old, asking questions that adults have known for years, revealing an absurd lack of education.  It's uncomfortable to watch, I'm actually embarrassed for him.  I've seen the video at least ten times now, and it makes my skin crawl more each time.

He's such an egomaniac that he believes he'll come up with a treatment the actual doctors haven't considered.  Actual experts - people who have studied medicine for decades - are working around the clock, all over the world right now.  But DJT thinks he's going to just blurt out a magic cure if he brainstorms enough, like some scene from the climax of a movie.

DJT: "But those things are different, like apples and oranges..."

Doctor: "Wait... what did you just say?"

DJT: "Apples and... oranges?"

Doctor: "Oranges!  You're a genius!  We haven't tried Vitamin C yet!"

But regardless of which side of the fence you're on, or why you think he said it, you have to admit that it was a remarkably stupid thing to say.  It was dangerous and naive.  There's enough stupid people in this country that some will actually try it, and guess what, those people are DJT voters.  Combine that with all the Republicans who gather in large groups to protest the quarantine, and I'll be surprised if any DJT supporters are still alive to vote this November.  I'm not actually wishing for anyone to die, I'm just amazed that the president is so cavalier about the lives of his own voters.

The man is an idiot.  You can tell this every time he opens his mouth.  If you can't see it, you're either in deep denial, or you're just as stupid.  Seriously, how can you listen to this guy speak for more than five minutes and not recognize that he has no idea what he's talking about?

Happy Easter! Now Go Wash Your Hands.

Best wishes to everyone today, whether you celebrate Easter or not.

That said, if you attend church in person today, you are not a Christian.  Yeah, yeah, I have no right to dictate the rules of your religion to you, yada yada yada... but there is no version of Christianity that would support the risks you're taking if you congregate in large groups right now.

A church is not a building.  A church is wherever people gather to worship, and that includes online.  There is no reason to risk spreading the disease by getting together.  You might be willing to take the risk, but it's not all about you.  Even if you don't have the virus yourself, your actions can help spread it.  Getting other people killed is not going to get you rewarded in the afterlife.

Stay home, wash your hands, and don't be an idiot.

Quick Quarantine Update 4/7/2020

So I'm writing a lot of blogs, because it's one of the few things I can do while working.  Well, more like I'm finishing old blogs, and starting more that will remain unfinished for a few months.  Seriously, you should see the "drafts" section of my Blogger account.  There are currently 110 unfinished blogs in there, some of which date back to 2009. 

Some of them are just ideas, inspiration for future rants.  Some of them are 90% finished blogs, just waiting for me to do some research I never felt like doing.  And some of them are a single incoherent phrase like "rember the red worm", that I must have written in a hurry.  My past self had a lot of faith that my present self would remember what the hell I was talking about.  Sooner or later I should start deleting the ones I'll never finish.  I mean, if you don't finish a thought after ten years, you probably aren't going to.  But you never know.

As I work, I have the TV on for background noise.  No sense hogging up the streaming bandwidth that I'm already using for work, especially if I can't even see the TV screen.  So antenna TV it is.  It's been a long time since I've watched daytime TV.  We've been cord cutters for over a year now, and I kind of missed broadcast TV.  There's something charming about the randomness of TV stations, showing you what they want to show you instead of retrieving specific videos you request.

Commercials are weird.  I'm seeing the kinds of commercials I used to see when I was younger, before I had cable.  I guess antenna is where all the cheap advertising goes now.  Lots of law firms and "As Seen on TV" products.  Some weirdly specific ones like "Were you sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest as a child?  You might be entitled to compensation."  Oh and there's a hat that shines lasers on your head, supposedly to stimulate hair growth.  It's so obviously a scam, I don't know how it's even legal to show the commercial.

There are two different commercials for devices that clean CPAP machines.  I mean, plenty of people use CPAP machines and I suppose they do need cleaning, but it still strikes me as oddly specific.  It feels like the modern version of all the denture cleaning commercials I saw as a kid.

Working from home makes me feel sort of floaty, like I'm dreaming that I'm at work.  It reminds me of a recurring dream I had back when I worked at Subway.  I was supposed to close at midnight, but I had a rush of customers at 11:50, and it took me until 1 AM to close the place.  Then I went home, and was about to get ready for bed, when there was a knock at the door.  I opened the door and there was a long line of customers.  I turned around and my living room was a Subway, and the never ending rush continued.

What really drives me nuts is that all my neighbors are using this newfound time to get things done in their yards.  I am constantly driven nuts by the sounds of lawnmowers, pressure washers, and whatever the hell the neighbor across the creek is doing.  It sounds like he has a giant motorcycle engine in his back yard, and he runs it for hours at a time.

Anyway, my job's still going fine, neither of us are sick, and we've got groceries.  I hope you're doing well too.

JuRo Stables

My Mom's horseback riding business has had to close temporarily due to the quarantine.  While I don't believe she's in any danger of losing her home or anything, she can't afford to feed all those horses without any income.  Without help, she may have to sell some of her horses.  If you can afford to help, here is a link:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/juro-stables

Table Trek III: The Search for Shlock

So I’ve been looking for a new D&D group for over a year now.  I love my previous DM, he’s a good friend and an excellent DM.  But we just want different things.  He doesn’t like D&D Fifth Edition, but that’s all I’m interested in playing right now.  I’ve given his favorite games a fair shot, but they just don’t do it for me.  So I’m on a real life quest to find a decent group.  But there’s no time limit here, especially with the current quarantine, so I have the luxury of looking for a perfect group.  Okay, fine, perfect groups don’t exist.  But I’d really like to play with people I could consider friends while away from the table as well. 

For one thing, I’m tired of playing with Trump supporters.  Usually I don’t care about politics, and I try to avoid the subject at the table.  I truly don’t care if my friends are Democrats or Republicans.  But there’s a difference between a normal Republican and a Trump supporter.  A Republican believes that corporations should have more political power than citizens.  They’re wrong, but it’s the kind of wrong where we can agree to disagree on what’s best for the economy.  A Trump supporter believes that people of color are lesser creatures and don’t deserve the same rights as Caucasians.  This is not an opinion worthy of consideration or tolerance, and I do not wish to sit at a table with these people.

Yeah, yeah, "I thought Democrats were the party of tolerance," you say.  Look, better people than me have explained why tolerating intolerance is a danger to tolerance.  But the bottom line is, I don't feel safe sitting at the same table as someone capable of voting for that monster.  To vote for Trump is to say, "I don't care about the economy.  I don't care about the poor.  I don't care about foreigners, or non-whites, or GLBT people, or women.  The only people that truly matter are rich, straight, white men."  And being a Liberal SJW trans person, I doubt they'd want to be my friend either.

Given how many people additional people are dying based on Trump's mishandling of the current crisis, I'm amazed that anybody still supports him.  But based on my Facebook feed, his followers seem to be doubling down on the stupidity, and looking for any excuse to blame the current situation on Democrats.  Just a couple of days ago a former high school classmate posted a meme that said "Wash like you just shook hands with a Democrat."  But I digress, I came here to talk about D&D.

D&D has had a surge of popularity for the past few years, ever since Stranger Things made it mainstream again.  My social media feeds are full of people wanting to try it, but who can’t find a group.  Unfortunately none of them live in my area.  My ace in the hole is that I’m willing to DM.  According to reputable sources – that is, internet memes – DMs are highly sought after and have no trouble finding games.

So my thought was, try and find a group of GLBT players.  I know they exist, they’re all over my Twitter feed.  Very few of them are Trump supporters.  They wouldn’t even care if I showed up to a game wearing a dress.  So where do I find GLBT D&D players in my area?  A Google search didn’t find much.  I did join a Facebook group, but my posts there didn’t get much attention. 

So last July I had an idea.  The Nashville Pride Festival was coming up.  I would wear a Rainbow d20 shirt, and anybody who commented on it, I’d give them my contact info.  I even had some free business cards printed up.  I kept the cards in my pocket, and prepared to give out dozens.

Well, the first part of my plan worked – I got a lot of compliments on my shirt.  At least twenty people stopped me and told me how much they loved the it.  But social anxiety strikes again, and I didn’t hand out a single card.  With each compliment I just said “Thanks!” and kept walking.  If I can’t be comfortable there of all places, how am I ever going to meet enough strangers to start a group?  I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in myself, and for the next couple of weeks I was deeply depressed.

A couple of months later, I got to play in a one-shot.  Someone in one of my Facebook groups was setting up a practice session in preparation for running a game at a con.  I could tell from the post that he was looking for a GLBT-friendly group.  Once again, social anxiety got the better of me, and I waited a couple of hours before hitting the “interested” button.  By then the table was full, but he allowed me to join the event as sort of a spectator/backup player.

I had a great time.  It was exactly the kind of diverse group I’d been looking for.  Several were newcomers to the game, which is great because I like helping people learn the game.  Most of them had just as much social anxiety as I do, which made me a lot less nervous.   Somebody mentioned Trump’s latest crimes, and everyone sighed and rolled their eyes in solidarity.  My kind of people.

Only… they weren’t interested in me.  I had to leave early (my wife had made us plans with friends on the same day), and when I tried to say my goodbyes, I couldn’t get anyone’s attention.  I had hoped to pass out a couple of my business cards in case any of them were looking for a regular group, but all of them just kept their noses in the game.  I’d spent so much time looking for a bunch of people who met my qualifications, that I never considered the possibility that I wouldn’t meet theirs. 

Yes, I’m taking it too personally.  In reality, they wouldn’t look up because they didn’t hear me, and were too focused on the game.  But it still hit me hard, and I was in deep despair for a few more weeks.  Okay, months.

I’ve just recently started looking for a group in earnest again.  I’ve got feelers out on several social media platforms.  I was hoping to try handing out cards again at this year's Pride, but then COVID-19 happened.  

So now I'm looking into online gaming solutions like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.  This might be a better solution anyway, because I can meet more diverse people online than in person.  But I still have to fight my own stupid fear of people, even online.  I will talk myself into it this time, I swear.

Quick Quarantine Update 4/1/2020

We're fine for now. 

I have a job that allows me to work from home when needed.  I rarely used this feature before this year.  I've worked from home maybe five times in previous years because of snow or whatever, but this is the first time I've had to do it on a daily basis.  It was a little uncomfortable at first, but I've since made myself a better office space, though that's an ongoing project. 

Our company was one of the first to implement mandatory work-from-home, starting on Friday the 13th.  I've only been out of the house a couple of times since then, to pick up important sundries.  Beyond that we've been really good about staying home. 

My wife was already unemployed, as of the end of last year.  She was going to start looking for work before the outbreak started, but now of course is not a good time.  This is fine, I currently make enough to where she doesn't have to work as long as we're careful with our money.  Our biggest temptation is ordering delivery when we have food to make here.  Beyond that, there's not a lot of reasons to spend money.

Even if I get the virus, my finances are pretty stable.  I have decent health insurance, and enough paid sick leave to stay out for weeks.  So don't worry about our health or our finances.  Our sanity is still up for grabs, but more on that later.

So stay safe, stay home, keep six feet apart, wash your hands, and don't touch your face.  I wish the best of health to you and your family.