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The Probability of Possibilities

Posted on November 6th, 2024

Dave!If Harris won, Trump supporters would have been in disbelief because everything they saw convinced them the presidency was a lock. Trump won, and now Harris supporters are in disbelief because everything they saw convinced them the presidency was a lock. Most of us live in a confirmation bias bubble which tells us what we want to be told. And when reality unfolds otherwise... well... hopes are going to be dashed over expectations not being met.

Alas, reality is my bubble, and I didn't have expectations one way or the other. I knew the race was a dead heat, and the only thing I was certain of was that polls don't mean shit and it was anybody's ballgame.

So while I'm not shocked at the results, I can't help but be disappointed.

Not just because Trump is too fucking old and mentally unfit to be president (just as Biden was), but because his campaign message mostly consisted of calling people stupid and being generally awful. That's what passes for political discourse now? That's really what we want as president?

I guess so, because the American people have spoken.

And the consequences here could be pretty dire if you're anything other than a straight, white, healthy, wealthy, Christian man.

If you're not a man, you have to worry if a full abortion ban is in the cards. This means that not only will rapists get to choose the mother of their children and young girls and women who are pregnant from rape will be forced to carry to term, but that it's increasingly dangerous to get pregnant period. Because if something goes wrong, your chances of dying are much higher if you can't get the care you need when medical professionals are too terrified of being imprisoned to do what they need to do to save your life. That's already been happening since Roe V. Wade was overturned. Trump has said he won't push for a national abortion ban, and I hope that's true, but it seems like it's going to be easier than ever to get state legislation passed.

If you're not a Christian, you have to worry if Christian Nationalism is going to escalate to a point where it's dangerous to practice your faith in a country where you're supposed to have freedom of religion. Our country was founded on the idea that Church and State would be separate. But that hasn't been true in a while, and it's been made very clear that the Christian faith is the only faith that's going to be recognized by the administration. The trickle-down from that should worry everybody including Christians because we don't know what "brand" of Christianity is going to be calling the shots. JD Vance, for example, is a Catholic convert who is intent on forcing Opus Dei Catholic values on Americans. And while Trump can deny ties to Project 2025 all he wants, make no mistake, that's going to be his administration blueprint because too many people tied to it are tied to Trump. And Project 2025 is the blueprint for a Christian Nationalism that's very different from what the average Christian might think.

If you're not wealthy, you have to worry if the tax burden will continue to shift away from millionaires and billionaires onto the backs of the middle and lower classes. Trump has made promises that the wealthy will pay less of their fair share than they already do, so the money has to come from somewhere. And you also worry whether you'll ever be able to retire since Social Security, Medicare, and essential services for the aging could end up gutted. And that's not even touching on these massive tariff increases Trump has promised, which will inevitably end up being put back on Americans... making everything more expensive than it already is. Which will just be extending a trend for consumers, since American corporations are already experiencing record profits thanks to price gouging. It will be interesting to see if Trump will actually do anything about it as he's promised to do. Could be that it's too late to do anything because consolidation into monopolies has progressed too far.

If you're not healthy, you have to worry if health care will even be available to you. Pre-existing conditions, affordable insurance, government-sponsored research, and Federal assistance could all be shuttered if the Affordable Care Act is dismantled. And the nightmare scenario of having an anti-science, anti-vax, anti-doctor politician like RFK in charge of the nation's health agencies could be a blow to health care from which it could take decades to recover. Of all areas to worry about, this could be the most dangerous. People forget (or choose to deny) just how many people died from that initial COVID wave because the White House didn't have a plan for a pandemic response and fully ignore the plan that was left to them. Another event like this could have horrific consequences now that we will be even less prepared. How Americans have been convinced to paint "science" as some kind of evil entity that should be destroyed boggles my mind. I guess we're well on our way to once eradicated diseases like polio to make a comeback.

If you're not white, you have to worry if you're going to be on the receiving end of an even larger share of the violence and inequity than society seems all too anxious to force on you in a country which was designed to be a melting pot of peoples and ideals. Doesn't matter if you're an American citizen or not... if you don't look "MAGA American" or you don't act "MAGA American" or you don't think "MAGA American" you're at risk of becoming a target of political policies. Though even if you are white, our president has made it very clear that anybody defying him will be targeted. Rival politicians, journalists, and anybody not onboard the MAGA Train is seen as a threat worthy of retribution and persecution, and that's going to be regardless of skin color. So at least there's something that will be based on racial equality to come out of the administration? I dunno. What I do know is that if these mass deportations happen, we're going to be in quite a pickle. Who is going to harvest crops and build stuff and do the tough jobs that most American citizens don't (or won't) do? I guess we'll find out. Maybe it will be robots.

And if you're not straight, well... what isn't on the table to worry about? A government backed by the Supreme Court means that marriage could be threatened. Equality and anti-discrimination protections could be threatened. Access to health care and social services could be threatened. It goes on and on and on. These marginalized persons have been ruthlessly attacked on the campaign trail with lies and vitriol, and the election has sent a very clear message to the LGBTQ+ community: We're going to do everything we can to relegate you to second-class citizen status and strip away anything that benefits you. And it's more than a little heartbreaking to think that this will make a toxic society even more aggressive when it comes to my LGBTQ+ friends and co-workers who are doing nothing but trying their best to play the hand they were dealt in life.

   
So, yeah, I am choosing to hope for the best, but it's tough not to be pessimistic when Trump will likely do exactly what he's said he'll do. I wasn't spitballing fantasy scenarios in this entry... he's showed us exactly who he is, let us know in no uncertain terms what he's about, and promises were made. So you have to be preparing yourself for the worst case scenario if you don't fit in the "MAGA American" mold despite being 100% American.

This will undoubtedly include a lot of Trump supporters who don't realize this means them.

So I guess we'll see what unfolds over the next four years. Could it be that a lot of people are worrying about nothing?

Anything is possible.

Alas, it's just not very probable in this case.

   

Bullet Sunday 785

Posted on November 13th, 2022

Dave!Don't worry about Christmas coming early... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Rebel Rebel! Finally got around to watching E10 of Andor. Holy crap! The quality of this series is unreal. Serious talent and money were put into it every aspect of the show, and it's all on screen. There's nothing currently on television that can touch it. The series transcends Star Wars to become something more... a gritty, surreal form of entertainment that will haunt you for a bit...

Cassian Andor in Prison.

Two episodes to go in the first season.

   
• I'm Batman! I was saddened to learn that Kevin Conroy died. Batman: The Animated Series endures in a way that the Batman movies struggle to do. A big part of that was the voice of Kevin Conroy. Another series that I remember him from was Tour of Duty where he played Captain Rusty Wallace, a character that helped define the first season...

He truly will be missed. Rest in Peace, sir.

   
• SOCK-LIGHT?? My new light switches do not have dimmable controls, which means I have to have dimmable lights. Which is not a problem, as I found pretty good pricing on Philips Hue can lights. Problem is... one of them I got had the clips bent and A DIRTY SOCK IN THE BOX! And it's like WTF? Returns are not inspected for this kind of gross crap?

A dirty sock in my light box!

Every time something like this happens when you are purchased a "new unopened item" it feels like merely replacing it is not enough. Not only am I losing time, but I'm also having to literally deal with somebody's dirty laundry.

   
• Whoopsies! Couldn't happen to a nicer piece of shit company raking in huge profits over a drug which the inventor meant to be free. He famously sold the patents to the University of Toronto for $1 saying “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” But of course Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi couldn't let that stand when there are billions to be made...

Insulin should be manufactured and sold at cost. It needs to be a function of government for the public good... not Big Pharma's balance sheet. It's disgusting that this isn't the case.

   
• The Merchant Tribe mourns. This past week Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opened up. I found out that last year Dorothy Steel died at 95 years old, and this was her final acting role...

Dorothy Steel in Black Panther

I remember reading an article when the first Black Panther was released about how she started acting at age 88. Which just goes to show that you're never too old to chase your dreams!

   
• Ribbit! The Red Wave that wasn't has come and gone. It would appear the Democrat's strategy of not doing a damn thing about preventing the things their base cares about getting destroyed (like codifying Roe) so they can scare people into showing up to vote actually worked. It's like "Oopsies! Sorry you lost the right to choose, but we needed a way to survive the midterms, so we let you lose it so you'd show up." An incredibly fucked-up strategy, but there's no denying the result...


I COULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF NOT FOR YOU MEDDLING KIDS!

Wonder what they'll be throwing away next so that they have a chance in two years?

   
Time to make the chimichangas...

   

Happy Election Day

Posted on November 8th, 2022

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Categories: DaveLife 2022Click To It: Permalink  0 Comments: Click To Add Yours!  

   

Bullet Sunday 731

Posted on September 26th, 2021

Dave!I may have finally turned the heat on and bought some Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix, but it's still toasty here at Blogography... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Dream! Oh yay. It looks like The Sandman is going to be very faithful to the comic!

The people putting this show together actually understand that what made such a good story doesn't need to be changed or "improved" or shit on... the reason it was so popular as a comic book was because IT WAS ALREADY GOOD!

   
• SOURCE! MATERIAL! On the other hand... Everything I feared about the AppleTV+ Foundation series is coming to pass. Boring as fuck. They are dragging shit out just to keep the same actors in the story for a while because if they followed THE ORIGINAL BOOKS (which is what we all want to see) it would leave the initial characters in the dust after 15 minutes. I mean... who gives a fuck about roast peacock and all this other stupid shit?

The promo poster for Foundation showing a woman with a rifle standing in front of a glowing construxt on a rough planet.

What they should have done was followed the original trilogy as it was written and hire a bunch of guest stars to make small appearances throughout the series. But NOPE! Boring as fuck it is. At least they spent money on an effeccts budget... the show looks beautiful.

   
• This just in from the No Fucking Shit Department... The Discredited GOP Election Review In Arizona's Largest County Also Finds Biden Won I simply don't understand how people can honestly continue to believe that the election was "stolen" when it keeps getting proven over and over and over again that it wasn't. I keep waiting for the "My Pillow" idiot to put up or shut up with all his claims of election fraud, but the evidence never materializes.

   
• Joe! There's a new show on Peacock (NBC) called Ordinary Joe. It's an okay show... nothing revolutionary. But what entertains me are the REVIEWS. a good chunk of people are completely baffled by the three timelines concept and I find that hilarious. THEY LITERALLY BROADCAST WHICH TIMELINE YOU'RE IN WITH EVERY SCENE! In the "NURSE" timeline, Joe wears glasses AND THEY PUT THE COLOR GREEN EVERYWHERE! Green lighting. Green props. Green clothing. — In the "ROCK STAR" timeline, Joe has a beard AND THEY PUT THE COLOR RED EVERYWHERE! Red lighting. Red props. Red clothing. — In the "POLICE OFFICER" timeline, Joe is clean-shaven and glasses-free AND THEY PUT THE COLOR BLUE EVERYWHERE! Blue lighting. Blue props. Blue clothing...

The three timelines of Ordinary Joe, conveniently color-coded.

How can you not understand which timeline you're in when they literally hold your hand through the entire episode?!? I mean... I learned a long time ago to not underestimate the intelligence of the average human, but this is next level. There are genuine criticisms that can be made about this show, but it being "confusing?" I don't get it.

   
• I'm No Superman! I am rewatching all the episodes of Scrubs because I do that every couple of years. Every time I start, I remember back to when I first watched it. I liked it from the start. Then loved it completely on the third episode when Erasure started playing. It's no accident that Bill Lawrence wrote for both Scrubs and Ted Lasso. Excellent television is what he's about...

The cast of Scrubs!

I will say, however, that the one thing that sticks out SO badly to me when it comes to Scrubs is the passive misogyny that seems baked-in to the show. Dr. Cox constantly referring to JD by girl names and such. On one hand it feels like political correctness can go too far and people latch onto it way too aggressively now-a-days. But, on the other hand (especially in cases like this), I'm glad things are changing. Because unrelentingly implying that girls are less than boys isn't all that funny. Seeing how often it happens in Scrubs really makes me feel for young girls... and women even... that they have this being drummed into them so often that they may actually believe it. But even worse? The boys and men having this drummed into them so they believe it. Absolute trash.

   
• Apple Be Apple! It is categorically stupid that Apple hasn't moved the iPhone to USB-C like everything else they make (well, not Apple Watch for obvious reasons... though it would be nice if the MagSafe charging puck had ISB-C instead of USB-A, which you can't find on any current Apple computer). Maybe we'll have the EU to thank for Apple finally getting off their dumb asses and letting us have ONE charger standard.

   
• Experience! My day yesterday summed up completely...

HULU: "Which ad experience do you prefer?"

ME (screaming at the screen): "DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT I GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHICH SHITTY AD YOU'RE GOING TO INTERRUPT MY SHOW WITH?!? WHO AT YOUR COMPANY THINKS THAT PROLONGING THE FUCKING 'AD EXPERIENCE' BY MAKING ME FIND THE STUPID-ASS REMOTE CONTROL SO I CAN CLICK ON 'McDONALD'S FRIES' INSTEAD OF 'EGG McMUFFIN" IS IN ANY WAY A SERVICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS? WHOMEVER IT IS, FUCKING FIRE THEIR MORONIC ASSES FOR BEING SO GODDAM STUPID THAT THEY WOULD EVEN COME UP WITH THIS IDIOTIC SHIT!!!"

(sorry, Hulu, I'm just salty that I can't afford the ad-free version)
(not sorry, McDonald's, for your signing off on this fucking bullshit)

   
And now back to my hot cocoa, already in progress.

   

Bullet Sunday 687

Posted on November 8th, 2020

Dave!The election may be (mostly) over, but don't destress just yet... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• FAME! One of my earliest blogging friends is Heather Scarbro Dobson (formerly of Coal Miner's Granddaughter). She's an author and paranormal investigator living in Georgia. We've met up several times when I was in town for work and I've been on two investigations with her. The first was to Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky in 2011 (which I wrote about here). It was on that trip where we saw a board that had photos of all the "famous" paranormal teams who had investigated there. I knew none of them. But one of the photos stood out because it was a glossy, fully-staged production which had a team of brooding, pouty badboys... and it was autographed!

I mentioned to Heather that their tagline might as well be "Bustin' Ghosts and Breakin' Hearts!" And ever since then we've been joking back and forth about who the sexiest member of the team was. She picked Chris, I picked his brother Brannon, and we've had a faux fight going on ever since...

I mean, seriously, Brannon is totally the hottest, amiright? Anyway, Heather writes about the time that we met up in Jefferson City to go on an investigation with The Wraith Chasers in her new book, Recollections of a Future Ghost...

A page from Recollections of a Future Ghost.

Naturally I wrote about the trip here on Blogography. If you want to read about it, here's your link.

   
• Count! I laughed way, way too hard at this...

The best part about visiting Australia is the Australians.

   
• Chappelle Show! Just like after the last election, the host for Saturday Night Live this election was Dave Chappelle. He is one of my most favorite comedians because his form of insightful commentary illuminates in a way comedy so rarely does...

"Don't let hunger dictate your life" is almost prophetic about where we're headed.

   
• Trebek! Many times, the host of a game show just has to rely on their personality to get the job done. It's not like Pat Sajak requires anything past the bare minimum of smarts to get through a game of Wheel of Fortune. But the host of a show like Jeopardy really has to be on their toes. They have to review all the clues prior to the show. Be sure to grab the right clue from 30 clues. Read the clue in a fluid way that makes it easy to understand. And be sure to pronounce even the most complex words from clues correctly in order for them to be correct. On top of having a winning personality. Alex Trebek has done all this by reading the answers on Jeopardy in the most brilliant way possible for years. That alone deserves kudos... but the fact that he was such a good sport about being lampooned over it all was what made him so beloved...

Trebek was parodied for years on Saturday Night Live, but the best bit was when the Alex Trebek himself made a cameo appearance...

Business Insider did a really cool behind-the-scenes with Trebek last year...

But my favorite appearance out of everything he's ever done? When he was a man in black on The X-Files...

What a sport. I've been watching Alex Trebek on Jeopardy for most of my life... and was saddened that he passed away at 80 years old today, losing his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was a truly great and talented personality and will be missed.

   
• Masked! At this point, I don't know why anything more on this subject needs to be said, but here you go...

Science has laid it all out on the table. There it is. Masks can halt the horrific effect of the pandemic and save lives. But too many people refuse to fucking listen, so here we are.

   
• Maya! I tell you... every single time I see Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris speak, all I can think of is just how totally on-point Maya Rudolph's impression of her is...

Maya Rudolph being Kamala Harris.

I sure hope that this means we'll be seeing more of her on Saturday Night Live!

   
• Burn! Soooo... is Bernie Sanders psychic?!? No. He just saw what so many people saw was going to happen...

"For whatever reason?" Come on, Bernie. Democrats were specifically told by Biden to vote safely by mail. Republicans were specifically told by Trump to vote in person. What happened is exactly what was always going to happen given how Republicans were cutting into Post Office operations, restricting drop-off locations, and doing whatever they can to delay or eliminate votes coming by mail... up to and including calling those votes "illegal" with no evidence at all. What's funny is that they also dictated in some states that votes couldn't be counted as they were received, but instead had to be counted after Election Day... once again to provide the illusion that votes were being "found" after Election Day. It's such a transparent load of bullshit. But that's politics for you. Don't hate the players, hate the game for allowing this kind of stupid shit to keep happening.

   
And that's your election coverage for this fine Sunday.

   

Spiders Need Love Too

Posted on November 3rd, 2020

Dave!Well, maybe not so much "love" as "acknowledgement." An acknowledgement that they too are a living creature on this earth and deserve to be cherished as any living creature should be.

Which is why I don't kill spiders or flies or anything else if I can help it.

All Hallows' Eve was a depressing affair. I bought Halloween candy thinking that I would figure out a way to pass it out in case trick-or-treaters showed up. But, alas, I ultimately decided it would be better to close the blinds, turn out the lights, disconnect the doorbell, and drink. In the near-five-years that I've lived here I've never had the blinds down. I didn't even know if they worked...

The Blinds on my Door

I ripped down the blinds by the cat tree so the cats wouldn't get caught up, so I had to board it up. Jake was not happy...

Jake being upset at the cardboard blocing his view.

The drinking had more to do with ending Daylight Saving Time than being depressed at how shitty my Halloween had become, but you probably knew that already.

When I woke up Sunday morning the first thing I saw was a tiny fuzzy spider on my bedside table lamp. I took my chocolate graham crackers out of their Ziploc and used the bag to trap the little guy. And I do mean little, as you can see by the grain of sugar on his back...

A little spider in a Ziploc with grains of sugar from my chocolate grahams.

It's a nice warm Fall day so I set him out in the sunshine, make sure he could walk okay, then took his picture...

A little spider on my front porch.

It wasn't until I got back inside my home and looked down to admire my clean floors that I noticed I was in my underwear. I didn't think that I saw anybody out there with me... but didn't know for sure. Can they call the police for indecent exposure if you're outside in your drawers? Probably...

A little spider on my front porch.

And now I guess it's time for me to willfully ignore Election Night coverage. I've voted and that's all I can do. Whatever happens happens and I'll find out about it tomorrow... or next week... or next month. In the meanwhile it's once again absurd how all these sites are forecasting a runaway election for Biden. I know better. We've been through it all before.

   

Clearly Diminished on Hump Day

Posted on June 24th, 2020

Dave!This has not been a good week. Adobe updated their Creative Suite (which includes the primary tools I use for my work... Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) and, just like last time, there have been serious problems. Things that used to work great no longer work at all. Things that used to work one way now work an entirely different way. It's as if Adobe doesn't bother to beta test with people who actually use their tools, because so much of the stuff I'm having problems with are not esoteric, hidden, or new features. These are basic functionality issues that have been killing my productivity during a busy time.

I guess the good news is that I have less time for all the political drama. Facebook has gotten completely out of hand, and I just don't need it.

Tonight as I was listening to YouTube videos while I (tried) to work, I found out that even that's not safe...

Holy shit... Impeached President Cadet Bone Spurs is calling Uncle Joe "diminished?" I'm not even going to argue that point, but the most diminished person in this fight is so obviously Cheeto Jesus that I guess he pretty much has to point fingers.

It's all he's got, really...

I suppose it's too late for Spider-Man 2020?

Hasan Mihaj from Patriot Act has a really great take that pretty much mirrors where my head is at these days...

So long as we keep clinging to a busted-ass, shitty system, we're going to continue getting busted-ass, shitty candidates. I don't even think that's something that's up for debate.

Time once again to post this fantastic video from CGP Grey on the Alternative Vote...

And if you haven't seen his amazing look at elections, do yourself a favor and take a look at the entire series right here.

Sorry, if I'm forced to be mired in this shitty political bullshit, you get to as well.

   

Christmas Without the Mouse

Posted on November 6th, 2018

Dave!Washington State is 100% vote-by-mail, so I already voted last week.

When it comes to local races here, two of the biggest are too close to call. We won't know the outcome until the remaining mail-in votes are tallied on Friday. Frustrating, but it's a small price to pay for a system which allows you to vote in the privacy of your own home without standing in line. And now that we have automated voter registration for all of our eligible citizens, Washington State has one of the highest voter participation rates in the nation...

Lil' Dave Davetoon with a Voted Sticker on His Jacket

Now that Halloween has passed, the country is already preparing for Christmas.

Back when I had work in Orlando two and three times a year, I'd fly in for my conference then fly home the next day. I'd rarely go to Disney World (even though work would pay for it) because it got to be more of a chore than fun. I just can't handle the lines and crowds of people.

In December of 2007 I was working in Orlando when some work friends and I decided to go to Epcot for dinner in "Italy." After that we took the bus to Disney Studios to goof off for a bit. While I was there, my mom called to tell me something. "What's all that noise?" she asked.

"Oh, that's The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights," I replied.

"What's that?"

"It's a show at Disney World where they have a bunch of Christmas lights flashing to music. I'll send you a picture..."

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

"That's pretty! I want to go to Disney World!"

"I've taken you to Disney World lots of times!"

"But not at Christmas! I want to go at Christmas!"

"Okay. Next year I'll bring you along then."

One year later I kept my promise, and here she is...

Mom at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

It immediately became her favorite thing. She loved it so much that I ended up taking her a couple more times. The last time was in 2012, I think, since that was the last year I had work in Orlando. They closed down The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in 2016.

This morning I was flipping through my newsfeed while waiting for work to start and saw this terrific video from Disney World showing how they transform The Magic Kingdom Park for the holidays with Christmas decorations...

Pretty cool!

A part of me is glad that I don't have work in Orlando any more. Especially over the holidays. It would be really tough to go there knowing what it meant to my mother. Perhaps it will be easier over time. But right now? I just can't fathom it.

It's that way for a lot of things though.

I miss my mom.

   

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