Category Archives: Current Events

Neil/Joni vs. Spotify/Rogan & How the Left Continues to Devour Itself

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Note: This started as an informal Facebook post on 1/21/2022 addressing the controversy of Neil Young pulling his music off Spotify in protest of some of Joe Rogan’s recent guests. Watching everyone pile onto the “Cancel Rogan/Spotify” bandwagon was starting to bug me. Not only has his show on Spotify been grossly miscategorized by the mainstream press and it’s dangers highly exaggerated but the movement to shake Spotify’s support of him, I believe, is built on dangerous and false pretenses. I tried to get all my thoughts out and be brief as well. I definitely failed at the latter.  (Some of the grammar has been tightened up since originally posting)

 

 

I am 100% with Rogan on this and here’s why… first off don’t respond if you don’t feel like reading the whole thing. Unfriend me or whatever. I have no use for people who form their opinions based on twitter posts and out-of-context media clips. This complex world is too nuanced for that.

 

I heard what P. McCoullough and R. Malone said on Joe’s show, some of my thoughts were rattled for a bit but in the end it changed nothing for me. Glad I could hear their claims for myself. Glad I could hear that both of them might have drifted a little off course. Glad I know not to listen to much of what they say in the future. There’s simply better data than what they were touting; you might have to dig a little but it’s out there.

 

I’ve watched a slew of the “discredited” guests he’s hosted and I still safely believe that the vaccinated are 1000x more protected from CV19 than the unvaccinated and that a certain subset of masks (n95’s etc) really do their job well most of the time. This is where the latest data from around the world has been clear.

 

Where I commend Rogan and his guests is over their concern with the informational inaccuracies, mistakes and in some cases full on misinformation presented by the White House, CDC, NIH & WHO over the last 2 years. I’m not a ‘conspiracy theorist’. But not all that is considered a conspiracy always turns out to be so…

 

Also throughout the pandemic the lack of messaging for self-treatments like exercise, Vit-D/zinc, healthy eating, losing weight, and sleeping well, has greatly bothered me. Since healthy folks fair MUCH better than their counterparts when infected it seems like not hammering home this message was a hugely wasted opportunity.

 

To me this is a big failure of the powers that be. And it’s a little crazy that this post is maybe in danger of getting taken down as “disinformation” for even saying something as simple and obvious as that… Because if the CDC hasn’t said it then it’s considered false.

 

Much of what was once considered conspiracy thinking over the past two years has landed MANY a professional and media personality discredited, defunded and deplatformed. Problem is lots of this “crazy talk” turned out to be true in the end. Pick your example, there’s a ton.

 

It’s a good time to mention that I am triple boosted and if I had to go back and do it again i would DO THE EXACT SAME THING…

 

Anyways. This over-arching narrative, that has been our guiding light, has been breaking down through revelations of upper level email leaks and unignoreable facts of of happenstance; everyone is beginning to see the relativity and effect of so many falsehoods. The cognitive dissonance this has all been sowing isn’t helping with the cohesiveness of our already fractured society. Whether this shift is based on “bad intel” or is intentional I find I’m trusting CNN/NPR/MSNBC/etc as much as I trust the entertainment at FoxNews.

 

I don’t agree with, or take seriously much of what Rogan’s two guests (mentioned above) said. But I DEFINITELY don’t think silencing these voices prone to dissenting from the excepted narrative is the answer. Their concerns, as best I can tell are worthy; they think there’s something they know that we’re not being told or that the Powers At Be are ignoring altogether… You don’t want to live in a society where professionals are afraid for their careers to speak out when they think shit is going sideways. But we are getting closer to that everyday. And in the end, correct of not, the point is that dissent is the engine of self correction.

 

Far too often over the last 24-months we’ve seen esteemed professionals and scientists being totally blacklisted from the media for things they said that later turned out to be true… And then on the cover of Newsweek “yeah… Evidence kinda’ looks good for the lab-leak theory…Whoops.” Have those blackballed folks been allowed to monetize on youtube yet? Nope. Have they any options for appeal for raising a very valid concern? Also a big fat “nope”.

 

We need all the conversation we can get, even if it means crackpots like Alex Jones get a spot. (yes, I shudder to even type that) When the conversation ends there’s no other option but violence. These hive-minded shifts to gleefully cancel anything/anyone they don’t like is, to me, the death of all that is holding our democratic society together.

 

As much as I HATED the living fuck out Donald Trump but I’m still queasy about him getting deplatformed from everything (esp considering North Korea still has a Twitter account… do we want to know who’s in charge of drawing the lines?)

 

THIS SWORD CUTS BOTH WAYS. Lemme say that again but a little quieter and plainer “Censorship is a sword that cuts through the left, the right and the middle”

 

That leaves us where we are today. The Democrats have performed horrendously over the last two years and I anticipate an electoral bloodbath in both ’22 and ’24. I hate to say that but I don’t see how middle-lower class & rural America (the largest voting demographic) can possible relate to a bunch of liberal ‘city-folk’ who label everyone with white skin and any success at still staying alive as a ‘racist’.

 

But far-be-it for the left to notice such a digression. They’re too busy cancelling the fuck out of each other on twitter, the toxic social cesspool that Dave Chappelle correctly pointed out “Isn’t a real place”. Then again that just might be his “white- privilege” speaking. (you can thank NPR for applying that trope to the wildly famous BLACK comedian.)

Are things going off the rails or is it just me?

 

Oh it gets better. In response to this craziness the conservatives are again going full-blown-moron in response to the ‘call out culture’ of the left… Maus, the amazing graphic novel based on a surveyors account from Nazi Concentration Camps; is being removed from school library’s in some red controlled states because a bunch of whacked-out asshole, Christian alt-Right-wingers feel threatened by it. Whats Next Elie Wiesel’s “Night”? or how about Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”?

 

This is madness. I really can’t imagine a world where everyone doesn’t have access to these great works of human survival and perseverance. And I can’t image a world where huge corporations get to to decide what content you and I have access to and what we don’t.

 

But if you’re gonna go on blattering about what a dangerous tool Rogan is PLEASE, if nothing else, at least watch his 8min response to this new controversy. Don’t watch what CNN and NPR show you. As expected they cut out and ignore the important pieces.

 

Full disclosure, I’ve been listening to Joe’s show for years. I don’t know of many other podcast hosts willing to sit back and let the guests do the talking in such an open ended, natural way. It’s my opinion he has a wonderfully creative and curious mind and allowing some insanely great convos to flourish. And though at first sight he comes across as a bro-y meat-head he possess a refreshing amount of humility, constantly joking and playing down his own considerable intellect.

 

JRE has on an incredibly wide-range of guests, a majority of which I have little to no interest in. I personally dig the brainy ones. I took a chance and watched the recent interview with Jewel and it was one of the most inspiring and amazing interviews I’ve ever seen. Some of his guests, like Matthew Walker, Rhonda Patrick, Jordan Peterson, The Black Keys, David Sinclair, Wim Hof, Jamie Foxx, Peter Attia, James Nestor amongst many others, have truly changed my life and mind for the better.

 

The reason I say all this is because It has seemed to me, anyways, that the people who consider him alt-right, a misogynist, trans-phobic, racist, anti-gay, whatever… prob have never actually watched his show or have any idea what he is actually like. Seems they most likely read twitter posts and watch out-of-context take-down attempts on the mainstream media outlets a ways to inform their opinions. None of the wild accusations I’ve heard has ever squared with what I’ve personally witnessed in the 100’s of hours I’ve listened.

 

I love Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, always have, always will. But they are on the wrong side of this in a big way. Censoring voices you don’t agree with isn’t the way forward. Messaging to America that “you’re too stupid to think for yourself so we’ll control the info spigot” is a dead-end that will only strengthen the resolve of the craziness on the far right. Remember when they were the biggest proponents of censorship? Is this the direction we on the left really need to follow? That said, Joni and Neil will quietly put their music back on Spotify once this all dies down. That you can bet on.

 

So this brings me back to the original point of this whole way-too long thing. Actually LISTEN to what Joe has to say in today’s 8min response. See for yourself and then make up your mind and cancel Spotify or and talk shit or whatever.

 

In all aspects of life information is getting twisted before it reaches our ears. Always find the source and then only form your opinion. And think hard about what it means to pressure corporations into becoming a blunt tool for censorship. With effective censorship comes the ability to control with ease. You don’t have to take my word for it. Look it up.

 

Here’s Joe’s Response

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZYQ_nDJi6G/…

5 Quick Tips for Winter-Storm Driving in Texas

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Needed to make a few trips away from home during this ice-storm and was truly inspired by what I witnessed out on the roads here… So here’s 5 quick tips in case you’re not used to driving in the ice and snow. By my estimation, this soft-headed contingent might be as much as EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE currently on the road in Texas.

  1. If you have 2WD, bald/racing tires or a car that’s an inch off the ground: Stay the fuck home. No matter what. Even if it means you will die by not leaving. You’ll just end up killing other people (and yourself) with your ridiculously ill-equipped vehicle. Your lack of common-sense, as you do things like slide back down inclines into all the traffic behind you, will not endear you to anyone on the planet. Stay home.
  2. If you have a 4×4/AWD (with grippy tires) then proceed with caution by AVOIDING ALL OTHER CARS. Even if it means putting a couple wheels up on the sidewalk and blasting through red-lights. Just get the fuck away from the clumpy packs of other drivers. Do not let these harbingers of death surround you. They will creep about and spinout and roll into each other like it was some creepy slo-mo bumper-car ride at some inbred county fair. Remember all car packs consist of at least 72% petrified morons continually shitting themselves out of fear; this causes them to do exactly the wrong thing at all times. The other 27.9999% are too dumb to be scared. The .0001% is me. This statement is probably a fact.
  3. When your car drifts or slides in an undesirable direction LET OFF THE BRAKE AND PUT IT IN NEUTRAL (Even with an Automatic Transmission). Prob solved. Every time. Trust me.
  4. When you need to stop: Begin braking 10x earlier than you are used to doing by VERY LIGHTLY touching the brakes in quick spurts. Also throwing it in neutral (see #3) always helps; this keeps your wheels from spinning and will snap you back into a straight line. Your car has no clue what’s happening. So it does what it’s told by the gas dripping into the engine.
  5. If you decide to venture out (after passing the above qualifications) don’t’ drive 3-fuckin-MPH. Seriously. You’re like a wall standing in the middle roadway that everyone has to try to avoid. You become a huge fucking problem and a legit excuse for roadrage. This is why you have 4WD. You’re in the middle of it now… JUST FUCKING DRIVE. You’ll be okay (see steps 2, 3, & 4)… If your heart can’t take going with the given traffic flow, or faster when required, please refer back to the last sentence of rule #1.
  6. Please forward this to anyone unaware of the stupidly lethal combination of cars and ice and dummies.

04/27/20 ||| The Glorious Tumble Continues…

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••• Let’s Talk Confirmation Bias and Critical Thinking•••

Confirmation Bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.
Critical Thinking: the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.

Reading about the downturn in the Trump presidency has been one of the most satisfying activities I’ve been absorbed in over these last few whacky days. Since going wildly off-script and riffing about possibly using chemical-disinfectants and UV to save us all from CV19 the headlines have been like glacial-water dowsing the reality-tracker that is my overheated frontal lobe. Unbelief has been a constant daily-rider and some time apart would be nice. Honestly I forgot what normal feels like. My last taste was just over three years ago. And considering the possibility of returning to normalcy yields some strong, positive emotions for me. To think that maybe within the year we can have back a way of life that though it might have seemed a bit bleak while living through it, sure didn’t appear to be as utterly hopeless as things feel now.

I know Trump is a mush-minded-psycho and why everyone doesn’t know that too has been a mystery for sure. But for a few minutes each day I have reveled in the syrupy satisfaction of confirmation bias. I joy in reading writings that I swear I’d would have created if I worked at the Atlantic or NYTimes and happened to be a way better writer with more follow-through. Some of the articles I encounter everyday articulate my feelings better than I have been able to do for myself; to me that’s a sign of great writing. I mean, maybe it’s all a short-coming but I do consider myself a slow thinker. Most of my good ideas often take a lot of time to percolate and usually pop unexpectedly out of nowhere.

With the presses burping out a trillion words a day processing an even atomized fraction of it, with any degree of completeness, is not always in the cards. Either way it does feel great to read a lot of what’s hitting the floors lately. Sometimes it’s like reading a much more concise, less-confused version of my very own thoughts. Often after finishing a deep reaching piece there’s a glimmer of the sense of accomplishment; as if I had actually done something to deserve this glow of satisfaction.

It’s a strange sensation to rub up against… and yes, I know I’m engaging in something dangerous. But how is this any different than all the folks mainlining The-Fox-Propaganda-Network directly into that small spot behind their eyes?

“… IT’S THEM TO BLAME!!!… NOT YOUR FAULT!!!… WE ARE RIGHT!!!… YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG!!!…MUSLIM OBAMA!!!…. GUNS!!!… ELITISTS DID IT!!!”

….It isn’t different.
But also it kind of is, especially in one slight but important way: I’m trying to stay fully aware of what kind of box I’m sitting in. But before all that…

Let me try to narrow down the crux of a larger problem as I see it… On far-right conservative radio/cable shows the audiences deepest feelings and intuitions get summed up for them with maddening effectiveness. The folks in charge know how find and manipulate the pliable mind. For one thing the language is delivered at a level far below that of even the worst college students and then is reinforced day after day with blunt, usually divisive and simplistic phrases, repeated with almost comical emotional overreactions. Again, I’m simplifying here but eventually this process can’t help but to galvanize the loyal listener to a common narrative that will soon to be mistaken as independent thoughts that they must’a thunk up themselves. Of course they’ll need to defend these hard-adsorbed ideologies to the death whether they are technically right or wrong. Disentangling the ideas from the self eventually becomes impossible as the beliefs become the person. Lopping off a huge part of yourself fucking hurts; it’s certainly grounds for resistance especially in those not super accustomed to changing things up. It’s another manifestation of the Come and Take it theme…. dig? We live in a fly-trap jungle and roughly 40-55% of Americans are hopelessly but happily stuck within.

Most of the time I try to stay fully on-guard against these alluring tricks by using an invaluable tool called Critical Thinking. That’s the main difference here overall, as I have seen it play out in both the news and my own life, anyways.

Scrutinizing the daily information stream can, and should, be exhausting. Literately anyone, anywhere can say anything they want and can often do so in front of a huge impressible audience. Thinking hard, as a skill, couldn’t be more necessary or undervalued right now. Put your ear to the chatter; it’s pure chaos.

Opening the flood gates to too much bad info can rot your soul but the flip-side is how GREAT it feels to hear stuff you already believe come true? Especially when it’s at odds with the consensus. Therein lies the temptation of course. A rhythmic ping of victory to your deepest and most insecure intuitions can cause a resounding *BING* “YOU WIN! AND ARE ABSOLVED OF EVERYTHING FOR THE TIME BEING! CONGRATULATIONS. YOU SEXY WINNER YOU!”. This is nothing short of a serotonin drip, thumb-punch-controller firmly in your grasp with no oversight.

We live in a strange time where logic and reason and even our sense of time; has been wrung-out and pulped into puddles of jelly. And it feels nothing short of miraculous that current events seem to finally be be grinding the right set of gears again. Tooth by rusty tooth we’re slowly snapping back into the worn-out track; the ride doggedly racking us all back into alignment with the natural laws of the known universe. Is that the dark cloud of cognitive dissonance finally catching some wind to somewhere else?

To double back for a minute here… The ability, or will-power rather, to employ Critical Thinking to all cognitive-processing is hard (I would argue it’s a skill that needs to be first learned and then practiced) and this doesn’t happen to be one of the many things that the right-side of the political isle is historically well-known for. Introspection and self-criticism exists within a degree within the progressive* camp and probably to a fault. This is the party of self-cannibalization after all.
*Not to be confused with the Regressive Left

The fact is it’s always been the left where real civic change is often welcomed and fought for instead of resisted. (e.g.-  Civil Rights, Woman’s Suffrage, Gay Rights, etc…). But before you chalk this mornings ramblings up to my own snowflakery and political bias, which, yes, there definitely is some of the later at least; please know that I think the leader of the left are a dilapidated, misdirected and spineless bunch. They have more soul-searching and map-reading to do than they may be equipped to handle. A tear-down and rebuild should be the only game they’re playing but I’m afraid that approach won’t bode well with keeping the coasting and lifeless lifers employed. So instead they prop up a vanilla flavored mumbler next to Trump that no one at all is excited about. Why do this? Because instead of finding someone to work for We The People they decided, again, to find someone who won’t upset the game-board. More on that later I suppose.

The only thing I see in the Democrats favor, beside Trump finally becoming so un-ignorably atrocious that even hard-core righty’s want him gone, is having more humility when it comes to asking for help and deferring to experts. Though their record over the last few years ain’t so hot the left has always had a healthier penchant for admitting fault than their stogy counterparts. It’s all a symptom of the mindset no doubt which it’s also argued is a symptom of genetics. Either way, if a quick lobotomy could provide our leadership with even a dash of these simple virtues I’d be the first to run on Washington with shish-kabob skewers, charging straight for the bulls-eye.

But still, here we are. And instead of backing up and letting the experts rightfully run the show the grand-‘wizard’ himself keeps strapping us into the Clock-Work Orange chair and ticker-taping our eyes open so we don’t miss a moment of his terrifying but somehow humorous clown-show every damn evening. All the while tomorrow’s uncertainty about anything is the only wall we have to lean on.
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4/25/20 ||| Uneze is born + other soothing oddities

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•••I spent pretty much all of today fiddling with this blog•••

Originally I started a post about the process of writing and it’s overall arc in my life. It was just supposed to be a few key thoughts and then a few included links wit some of quipping but the damn thing kept sprawling on and on and now it’s some kind of monster that may never make it out of “draft” status. So as of yet I have nothing to show for these missing hours beyond this blog having a whole new domain name than I had yesterday. Uneze.com is a URL I’ve had on lock for a couple years; I’ve been floundering on just what to use it for and it hit me today this was the prefect title for this blog. I could have saved myself a couple bags of hours and a 12 dollar-bill had dawned on me before blitzing my way forward with Ericommeneded.com. But that’s just the way spigot spews sometimes. So in brief…


•••Something Hopeful, maybe•••

In the forefront of my mind is a couple recent articles that were in the NYtimes. Both reads trigger my most hopeful intuitions that Trump and his odd momentum HAS TO implode at some point. In what universe can this impossible and senseless drama play out day by day without consequence?

 


•••Yoga Ruins Your Life•••

I’ve been hooked on hot-yoga for two years come July. I’m not a fanatic and not all that interested in the crazy, fancy stuff but there’s an amazingly refreshing and reinvigorating feeling after a hot session of power stretching. Yoga benefits the mind as much as the body. A friend of mine, a yoga teacher and true fanatic sent me this quick little video. The Richard Freeman monologue that floats above all the pained looking participants is really what gets me. The rest just looks like it hurts though I assure you that although I can’t execute a fraction of what these yogi’s are doing, it’s anything but painful.

04/24/20 ||| Everyday Chances, Trump vs. Lysol vs. CV19, No Overlap, New Sam Harris

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••• A Noonish Good Morning •••

So it’s just after noon here on Friday morning and I’m feeling rather dumb. For one thing I spent almost five hours face-timing last night with a wonderful girl who lives about 2000 miles away. She might as well live next door; it’s not like we could see each other anyways. I’m thinking I’d throw an unhealthy amount of caution to the wind for this sweetheart if she was really that close. Welcoming these unexpected sparks into my life and actively panning for more isn’t why I’m feeling dumb though. Not in the least. Though at a glance the long game here looks bleak but I just don’t believe in dropping something that feels this good out of some pragmatic or existential reasoning. People who play too safe and live by some chanceless, idealistic bent tend to cut themselves down before the finish line. They may be happy to trudge home with the “participant” ribbon but you know the whole while they’re wondering what it feels like to hold the gold.

I’ve learned that if you want something then you have to stay the course and deal with the obstacles as they present themselves. Not give up before there’s any resistance. In my experience this is the only way the impossible can become possible. Right now I don’t care that her and I doesn’t make sense on paper and that we are separated by three solid days worth of driving and that both of us are heavily embedded in our own locales. I can’t think about that now. If this is meant to work out then it will find a way. I mean, saying that is sort of a non-sequitur because we can never actually know what would have happened that time when we zigged instead of zagged. What’s that quote? and who’s it by? “You lose every chance you don’t take?”

I’m not so stupid to believe in something as empty and vacuous as “The Secret” or that simply praying to the universe will bring what you want. If that shit worked EVERY TIME then I’d be a believer.  The fact is things sometimes work out and sometimes they fall apart; it’s always been that way.

Over the ages the charlatans have figured out that it’s easy to manipulate our feeble intuitions into believing there’s something behind random chance. People can’t help but to find patterns in the static, significance in the insignificant, spooks in the shadows. A face on the moon. We’re built for making sense out of this mystery we’ve been thrust into. Us human would never had made it this far without these great powers of deduction. But this machinery is still running on overdrive in a modern world that’s best understood through math and science. Those simplistic sentiments are as ridiculous as they are popular. I mean there’s very smart people who believe in numerology after all. I’m still waiting for them all to win the lottery. But winning the lotto is also chance.

My point? Look. Like each of you there’s tons of instances where I wanted something so badly and was even convinced my chances of living a good life depended on getting it…  and in the end things still didn’t pan out and I didn’t die. All the praying, all the good thoughts to the universe, all the miles walking on the righteous path and most importantly, all the grit and grinding and still no reward… How do you square these moments with the results after telling yourself to just wish harder? For me the best way is to notice your surroundings and the very spot where you are sitting. All these dashed hopes and near misses contributed as much to where you are as all the success’s and wins did. As long as something feels good then I think you need to go for it.  It doesn’t mean you’ll always get what you want but it might be that you get what you need. I have to give credit to the Stones for that tidbit of philosophy; I think they were dead on. Dawes, speaking of bands and songs, deftly grazed this fundamental truth of life as well. Dig the these lines from When My Time Comes.

“So I took what I wanted
And put it out of my reach.
I wanted to pay for my successes
With all my defeats.
And if Heaven was all
That was promised to me
Why don’t I pray for death?”

Right?!?! …and then there’s this line I rather like a lot…

“You can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks.
Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but it’s starin’ right back.”

Check out this Dawes song and their accompanying video here below. It’s stellar.

So I’m gonna keep leaning into what feels right because I don’t know how to do it any other way. The odds probably favor frustration and heartache if strong feelings develop but in the end (to use another well-worn cliche) you can’t win of you don’t play.
Okay, things just got pretty unspooled there; its been a long while since I’ve had a woman on the brain to such a degree and I’m no longer used to it… ah well. Moving on and I’m now realizing I still haven’t told you why I’m feeling so dumb today… It’s because throughout the duration or our five-hour chat I was sipping straight Tito’s vodka. This on the surface sounds nut, I know, but hear me out. This manner of imbibing has been a successful ‘life hack’ of mine I put into practice starting late last fall. I really like Tito’s vodka but not enough to gulp it straight. No way. The stanky burn of 80 proof spirits has a built in self-correction mechanism that works remarkably well for me. Part of my problem with alcohol has always been that I simply drink it too fast (i do the same thing with coffee and seltzer water). After a few drinks my governors often fall off and I lose the instinct to keep track; it’s just what happens when you’re having fun. By drinking it ‘on the rocks’ a single scotch glass worth tends to last me way longer than say a beer or a mixed drink would. Way longer. For instance, while playing in Key West with Ben Balmer in January one drink usually survived the full duration of our 4 hours sets. It has really worked for me but can’t I remember the last time that I drank for 5 fucking hours. So there-in lies my mistake. Live and learn right?

 

 

••• Trump in the time of COVID •••

Though the mental fog has dampened my day some there is still plenty of room for love, light and laughter. I mean the headlines this morning were just fucking priceless. Trump seems to think you can inject people with disinfectant to stop COVID… I wish the word “retard” was still permissible to use because it would have fit perfect here….

Oh and here’s a crazy yet related thought: Is it any wonder why the most ill-educated people in this country think Trump is the Second Coming of the Messiah?

Everyday I can’t believe things could get crazier but the alternative facts just keep flowing from the disgraced oval office.

In closing… maybe the president will save us all some pain and take his own advice:

••• “To my friends and relatives that still believe in Trump” ||| The DailyKos •••

A distant relative who I recently connected with sent me an article today. He said it made him think of me. Our values and sensibilities when it comes to scouring the planet for good information seem to be very much aligned. Not gonna get into the how’s or why’s but take my word on it. Had I found this bit of writing first I believe I would have sent it his way.

The opening venn-diagram really caught my eye. “Thoughtful People that read and think critically” in one circle and “Trump Supporters” in the other with VERY little overlap. Though this might seem like a easy jab it’s really not; it’s a clear fact for anyone willing to look with open eyes. For me this has been, and is, a constant and uncomfortable observation being that I’m related to a inordinate amount of Trumpers. Can’t say I have a single non-related “friend” who supports him though. I don’t really bother with anything less than great company and being able to think clearly is a prerequisite; every one of my close acquaintances are whip-smart.

Anyways it’s as impossible to not notice the lack of thoughtfulness in that tribe as it is to find pro-Trump arguments that are halfway coherent and don’t quickly devolve into something about Obama using those deflective “yeah-but-what-about” fallacies. The sad truth is that his supporters, for the most part, could give a fuck about a solid argument or they wouldn’t be supporting that one-dimensional sociopath in the first place. Seems they could give fuck about thinking all half the time. Instead they’d rather let the twisted fear mongering right-wing propaganda channels think their thought’s for them.

Let me share my youngest brothers opinion on tagged article; he’s always great for a smart take on something. Our sensibilities are also almost always in alignment. I count myself very lucky that I can send a good write-up like this to both of my brothers and it won’t be construed as an insult. But unfortunately I have my doubts that it will track much outside of the larger of the two circles.

“This article was great. It’s nice to read fact based things like this that try not to be partisan and still show how unqualified he is for the job. I know Trump supporters would still call it liberal propaganda but that’s the world we live in.”

Indeed brother….
Click the brilliant venn-diagram for the article.

••• Making Sense w/ Sam Harris: A Conversation w/ Caitlin Flanagan •••

Sam Harris is my jam. This dropped yesterday and I haven’t started it yet. But I will asap.
Hit his website at https://samharris.org/ and subscribe to his podcast
Also check out his awesome meditation app: Waking Up

 

04/23/20 ||| A Michelle Wolf, Eric Weinstein & Ryan Holiday kinda day

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 ••• Michelle Wolf: The Media Is Hopelessly Addicted to Trump ||| The Daily Beast •••

One of my little, but physically bigger, brothers sent me this opinion piece today. Really loving me the sharp-witted brain and tongue of Michelle Wolfe these days. She was on Joe Rogan awhile ago and I remember really loving the interview. (JRE with Michell Wolf) How comedians have become one of the best sources of truth is an important question. Maybe for a later time.

Like many of us my first introduction to her comedy was her unexpected and fitting roast of The-Orangy-One at the the White House correspondence dinner in 2018. That routine was a breath of fresh air for many of us silenced by our own fatigue over the years following the election. The human mind just isn’t built to grapple for so long with so much impossible information. Everyday the antics from the White House were out-doing the previous days with crazier and scarier shit… With the news cycle now being pumped into our faces in deafening 27/7 intervals it’s only natural that some of us have tune it out to survive. To get on with my life I learned to take small gulps of the insanity once or twice a week. It seems though that about 40% of the population learned to cope in a different way. They got free by taking their brains completely off-line. Guess they found it easier to accept the daily deluge of paper-thin lies and obvious contradictions as the truth than to deal with the cognitive dissonance the rest of us content with . These fine folks, mostly nestled far outside the ‘big cities’, learned to watch the action like a home team sporting event. They picked their team and root away even as the players are firing machine gun into the stands.

Another thing related to this line of thinking… Is it really surprising that someone so clearly detached from any of the decent moral teachings of the Bible has the evangelical vote? It’s not hard to find the tie that binds in this case. Back to it. Here’s Michelle’s great OP-Ed from the The Daily Beast.

Click for full article

 

••• 31: Ryan Holiday on the Portal w/ Eric Weinstein •••

Click to hear podcast.

A few hours ago I was gearing up for a run. Or paring down actually. It’s a beautiful, sunny day here in Austin and I saw no point in anything besides the minimal clothing requirements. Before setting out I was flipping for the next podcast to dump into my head. I’d just finished the Joe Rogan episode I mentioned yesterday. When I run I don’t really enjoy listening to people talk. It’s usually some chill music for me. Or nothing besides my own rhythm and thoughts. Exercise I typically find to be a great time to disengage from the world and an even better time to get closer to some hypnotic, meditative state. Running is perfect for rocking the present.

Since CV19 however I’ve had little reason to go on long drives which is where I usually consume the bulk of my programs. Driving and cooking meals are my windows for this. Food always takes about 30 mins for me to dish a dish and it’s one of my favorite spaces in the day for podcasts (and phone calls for that matter) but I only cook twice a day and the shows are piling up.

Anyways I happened on episode 31 of the Portal; a show hosted by one of the most brilliant people on the planet Eric Weinstein. This guy is truly over the top in his encyclopedic like knowledge and infinite reservoir of curiosity for all things. He can be a bit much for some personalities to take and it’s understandable; there’s often an air of entitlement when he’s delivering opinions or interlocking with a guest. I’ve done my best to overlook all that because there’s an incredibly interesting mind beyond his more jarring and less-savory human qualities. When you’re an honest-to-god polymath at the top of the intellectual pack and and many of the brightest minds on the planet look up you maybe the underlings could cut some slack? No one is perfect and everyone is a little weird once you spend enough time with them.

His guest is Ryan Holiday who is a resident of Austin I just found out. Neat. I’m halfway through his book The Perennial Seller. He has a smooth flow that makes for easy and pleasant reading. This particular book, although short, is taking awhile because I don’t wanna miss anything. This one truly has my attention; it’s about making and marketing products (including art/music) that lasts for decades. Currently I’m in the 11th hour of releasing a long overdue album but great advice can’t be had too late.

I have only made it about 1/4 of the way through this 2:30hr show and posting here and now seems a little premature but I guess I am excited to share. It’s always a thrill to hear my favorite personalities talking the talk.

It’s Probably available everywhere podcasts can be had. I listen in the Apple iPhone app; here’s that link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-portal/id1469999563#episodeGuid=gid%3A%2F%2Fart19-episode-locator%2FV0%2FvWnLrFUwSgXyEvUlRwtclxEraQkXoH0WfsrUD60bZqU

 

 

04/22/20 ||| Ericommended

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 ••• Eric Recommended = Eric0mmended. Get it? •••

I think have an idea that I believe will serve us both well… Probably me more than you but still.
For starters I will be leaving WordPress open in my browser from now on. Typically I always have an iPad setup on a table ready with a Bluetooth keyboard so with the slightest inclination I can jot down thoughts or write journal entries. I could, and often do, do this on my laptop but I find there it complicates things. The ease of plunging myself into an infinite amount of knowledge is often too great. Of course an iPad provides the same temptation but the workflow with those things tends to be more of a pain-in-the-ass affair. It’s just easier for me to stay put on an iPad.

The point I will try to get to without any more unnecessary tangents: EricOmennended is my “daily briefing” of what’s good of what I find throughout the day. Like many of you, everyday I’m happening across great articles, videos, podcasts and music. Once consumed they mostly fall into oblivion. There is definitely value in having a personal archive and that’s why I write in a journal. I’ve been doing that off and on throughout my life but it’s only this last half a decade that I’ve been getting more fervent about it.

To me time is a mystery. It comes and goes and doesn’t always leave proof it was ever here. Sometimes I find it hard to believe I even existed 10 years ago. My nightly dreams often feel more real than the scanty memories of my past. Somewhat later in life I learned the value of keeping a personal record. Not sure exactly the point it dawned on me but I wish it had been sooner. Reading entries from even a few years ago is sometimes like reading the writings of someone else who lives one dimension removed from ours. What’s really great is how even some of the most simple accounts such as “I woke at 8:30am and went to the dentist appointment” can unlock tons of surrounding images and supporting memories that also happened that day. It’s the same as trying to remember some weird dream where one silly detail can help the whole thing bloom into existence again.

That said I’m mostly going to be using this to post “stuff” I find during the day and probably won’t get too crazy with prose or proofing for that matter. These entries will be more of an extension of my personal journals which would bore you to tears I’m sure.

••• 2/21 ‘Letters From an American’ Post •••

Anyways the first thing I want to mention was sitting in my inbox when I woke up. My last couple posts were about Heather Cox Richardson and I think she’ll prob be a fixture here since her work is a fixture in my information funnel. Her blog “Letters From an American” is just too good.  >>>> https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-21-2020

••• Joe Rogan w/ Tom O’Neill •••

Though I’m getting pissed with Joe Rogan these days (he promises to vote for Trump because Biden is too decrepit. My beef is that a comatose Biden would fare better than this noxious mouth-scab running train on democracy) but he does still tend to have on great guests even as the onslaught of CV19 rages on. I’ve been listening to this interview for a few days via the apple podcast app. Prior to this I knew little to nothing about the Manson murders and didn’t care that much. But this guy, Tom O’Neill has uncovered all kinds of government conspiracies and secret groups dating back to the 50’s. Not to be filed under ‘conspiracy theory bullshit’ tho. Its not. This dude has been investigating these murders, Charlie, and FBI for 20 freaking years. It’s wild. He cites real sources and has the proof in hand. It’s a long one but well worth it.

 ••• Wired – Hold the Line •••

I’ve been getting wired magazine for years and I have no idea why but I’m glad I do. I typically read these cover to cover. Although having them around is killing my book reading rate it’s still worth it. The newest issue came a couple of days ago and as is now customary I let it sit under my shoe rack for a few days. Supposedly this kills any Covid-19 virus that may be attached. Anyways the first article, a letter from the editor type thing, is well worth blogging about.

https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-covid-19-hold-the-line-editors-note/

Trust Smart People Pt.2

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Yesterday I bopped off a quick piece intended as an excuse to post a link to the wonderful blog site “Letters From An American”; authored by Heather Cox Richardson. Supposing’ I didn’t really need an excuse to post a link on my own blog but it seemed bit lazy to without some sort of a preamble.

This morning however I stumbled into the same long patch of thoughts I was treading in last night but this time more intention was warranted than I previously allowed. Guess I wasn’t quite done. In the end I think I stole some phrases and direct thoughts from yesterday’s post but I don’t mind. Consider them one in the same; the second being a better developed extension, or a first draft that was prematurely published.

Here’s the entire post that I put onto my personal facebook page a few minutes ago:

When it comes to following the daily happenings most of us are getting worn dangerously thin and right now just isn’t the time for our collective indifference. I totally get the urge to disengage. Everyday we’re faced with a whole new heap of problems thrown on top of yesterday’s heap of unresolved problems… ad infinitum. Tracking reality has become overwhelming and begins to seem impossible to the frazzled brain. At times it feels like we’re blindfolded and barreling towered the center of the earth on a hyper-speed rocket launched in exactly the wrong direction. Exhaustion in this state is pretty much inevitable; there’s really nothing more fatiguing and unmotivating that not knowing what the fuck is going on when caught in a crisis that is directly impacting your life in every way. Here are a three simple rules I have established for myself that have helped me tremendously. #1) Limit intake of US big-media; esp the extreme left and right. #2) Don’t take anything Kim Jong Trump says seriously or anyone under his erratic sway for that matter. Unfortunately even the good Dr. Fauci is restricted to what “truths” he’s allowed to express on any given day. And anyways Dear Leader is using the pandemic as a way to secure his reelection (god-fucking-forbid) instead of trying to help us through this in the most efficient manner possible. Everything he says is being filtered through the twisted prism of his selfish interests and gross narcissism. #3) Listen to SMART people not beholden to the main-stream narrative. Folks who are free to criticize all manner of political viewpoints, leaders and financial interests without fear of retribution. The internet has thankfully provided the cover for the independent mind. We have access to innumerable up-standing, honest humans with powerful; finely calibrated brains that are trying to understand and pass on to us, what is ACTUALLY going on. There’s one bright light in this obscure star-field I wanna turn you guys on to. Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian and best selling author, who is writing some of the most coherent and thoughtful takes on our current situation. Please check out her fantastic blog “Letters From an American” then sign up for her email updates. The times are dark and we have a bonafide maniac ranting from the captains-chair; slyly dismantling our democracy and his presidential constraints as our eyes slowly glaze over. Now just isn’t the time to look away. – and thx to Jodie J. for hipping me to this site. It’s a been great dose of daily sanity.

Attached Link:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-20-2020

 

 

 

If You Want to Survive Then Trust Smart People.

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That’s it. If anything can be gleaned from these layers of chaos that are everyday being heaped on us then it’s just to trust smart people. No one really has their hands on the controls; there’s no all knowing being behind the curtain pulling the dials and levers. There’s just people, lost in the wilderness and trying to find their way safely out. And at the same time, much to our detriment, there’s mentally ill narcissist standing on the captains chair babbling and screaming incoherently. Yeah don’t listen to that fuck. He’s dangerous and he actually HATES our freedom. How his bald-eagle hat Walmart-buying-Chinese-made-USA-Flag-shirt wearing supporters don’t seem to see what he’s actually up to is a whole other subject all together.

Luckily for us there are serious people in the wings analyzing, predicting and adding to the pool of our current understanding with their wonderfully intact and fine-tuned brains. Heather Cox Richardson is one person I place in that category. A friend recently turned me on to her website where she publishes a good number of well-written and well-thought out writings each week.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/