Attacking the Press is Un-American

The President was in the news again over the weekend because the preening, self-absorbed moron enjoys nothing more than seeing himself on television. He has worked overtime to normalize aberrant behavior since before he was even elected, so it is easy to become numb to his endless lies and fabrications. 

Do not become normalized to this aberrant behavior. 

It is not normal to attack the press. It is not normal to declare that the press is lying when they report facts that are not in dispute. It is not normal to insult, disparage, and attempt to discredit your enemies via social media from a bully pulpit. These are not things that a decent person would do, never mind the president of the United States of America. 

There are few things less democratic, less fundamentally American, than attacking the free press. It is enshrined in the very first amendment to the constitution. Impugning the press as an 'enemy of the people' and complaining endlessly about 'fake news' would, in a country with sentient voters, disqualify a person from holding office. Here in America these qualities are held up as idealized examples. It may be that we will see a change in the upcoming elections, or it may not. Either way, this is not normal, and eventually the Blowhard in Chief will either die or leave office, and the country will be much better off. 

To the Bikes!

Speedy!

I've been busy, doing things. Mostly work things. Some bike things. Keeping busy.

Donald Trump continues to aggressively disqualify himself for the office of the President of the United States, but as long as the economy continues to hum along then I do not think he is in any danger of being impeached. Each new revelation that he is a lying, racist shitbag is not really a revelation. Everyone knew it already. Even better: his supporters love him precisely because he is a lying racist shitbag. They can release the tapes of Trump saying the n-word and aside from the media firestorm nothing will happen. There is no danger of him being impeached. He will remain in office until he loses an election or dies. Either one would be great, but sooner is better.

The economic fallout from the current bubble propping up the economy is the greater concern in the long term. Currently the economy is growing at 4.1%. That is not sustainable, and it has never happened unless there was some kind of rebound or correction from a depression. You can read all about it here if you care. So this current rate of growth will make a lot of people very rich, and then the bottom will fall out like it did in 2007, and the rich people will still be rich. But the poor and middle class will be fucked. If you are reading this then expect it to happen and plan accordingly. It would be really nice if there were a social safety net in place to help out the poor and middle class during the rough times, but that would make too much sense. Instead you can fend for yourself.

I still have severe tendonitis in my elbows and cannot ride a mountain bike. Sad days indeed. I can ride a road bike, and that's fun. Pictured is my new crush. She's so sporty! May get involved in it, and may not. Depends how things go with my other bike and how my recovery goes. Had thought to get a custom titanium framed bike I would rather have a faster road bike and a mountain bike. Would still have a mountain bike if my lame tendonitis would just chill the hell out. Ugh. Annoying.

So that's what has been keeping me busy: bikes, books (more on that later), and work. And the usual hobbies (food, and my peeps, etc.). Busy is maybe not the right word. Keeping me engaged. Busy, not so much.
Thanks for reading.

Nerf Graviton Lance, or Buff All the Other Guns

Probably shouldn't play Destiny 2 any more anyway. I think it is contributing to my elbow tendonitis.

Graviton Lance is game-breaking weapon in Destiny 2. I hate it because the gun is so unbalanced that almost every single player uses it. Yes, I have it, and yes, I have used it occasionally, but now I reject it out of principle. It's bad and dumb and broken.

Bungie can either nerf the gun or raise the power levels of all the other guns so that there are other options. If they do the former then people will complain that the game is too slow. If they do the latter then it becomes Call of Duty in Space.

In summary: never read the Bungie forums. Also: Graviton Lance can eat shit.