Two Posts In Two Days

So much content! 

This was too good not to share. 

The Wayback Machine, Photo Edition

I loathe having my picture taken. I did not sit for a senior portrait in high school, so none exists. Decades later I avoid the camera as aggressively as ever. One of the many reasons I quit facebook was that it was impossible to keep people from posting and tagging photographs of me without my consent. (Facebook sort of added consent, but you are very much at the mercy of whoever posts the photos. No thanks.) 

All of which brings me to this 1993ish time machine: shirt and jeans both two sizes too big, surrounded by my relatives. These guys were described as my 'cousins', but that was shorthand. To this day I am not sure of our exact blood relationship. Their mother was my grandmother's cousin's daughter, I think? That's my best guess. Their mom was very kind to me when I was a kid; I still make chocolate chip cookies using her two-spoon drop cookie method. 

The guys pictured here were also very kind to me as I was growing up. After I got old enough to be able to have more adult conversations they gave me jobs so I could earn some walking around money, let me crash at their house when I needed place to stay, let me borrow their car when I needed a ride, talked to me about how to handle adolescence, allowed me to come to their grown up parties and awkwardly wander around, and generally made room for me to grow up in ways that are necessary but difficult/impossible for parents to enable. I was very lucky to have them in my life. They were more like brothers to me than anything else, so I am very glad that this photo exists. 

The funniest thing about this photo (aside from the overall look itself) is that this is exactly how I remember all three of these guys. I got older, but they stayed the same age in my memory. Of course that is not accurate, and they are all nearly 30 years older now, but I will always remember them at this age, in this way. 

Thanks for reading. 

I've Been Busy

Long time between posts. I had some things happen. Personal health issues, family issues, and work was busy. 

Personal health can be summarized in one line: chronic back pain is a bummer. 

Not interested in getting into all the details of family issues and work stuff in this forum. I will share that I had to travel to St. Thomas to bury my uncle two weeks ago. He died suddenly, but it should not have been unexpected. I say 'should', because I was not prepared for it. I will write more about what my uncle meant to me later, maybe. I was the only family member that went to sort out his personal effects and take care of his funeral arrangements, which should tell you something about how close we were. 

My uncle was a weather geek, a political wonk, and a sports geek. I will maybe write more about that later too. 

PSA: if you do not have a legal will that also designates an executor, please make one. Do not put it off. The last thing you would want when your friends and loved ones are grieving is to make their lives more difficult because you did not spend 30 minutes filling out some simple paperwork. Do not do that to your family or partner or friends or people that cared about you. 

The Buddha Was Not a Big Shopper: Your Phone is a Dissatisfaction Engine

People are finally coming around to the idea that Big Tech in general, and social media in particular, is not good for you. This is a welcome shift in opinion. You can read books about it, you can watch documentaries about it, or you can just wake the fuck up and stop looking at your phone. You've got some options, is what I'm saying. 

Facebook is the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company of the twenty first century: they know exactly what they are doing, they are in business to make money, and they do not care about any negative externalities related to their efforts to increase shareholder value. 

Increased self-harm and depression among pre-teens? Oh well. Destabilizing democracy with misinformation campaigns funded and directed by foreign powers? lol "We are not responsible for the content of our platform, we are just the platform." Propagating bizarre conspiracy theories and harmful medical misinformation? That's just the cost of doing business. Driving 'engagement' at the cost of your mental health? That's on you, because it is up to you to limit your exposure to the toxic morass of social media. 

Facebook makes money by selling your attention to advertisers. In this they copied Google, because Google had already achieved wild success in 'monetizing' your attention. In order for Facebook to sell your attention they must first get your attention, and then keep it. It turns out that getting and keeping your attention is not very difficult. It also turns out that the most effective way to get and keep your attention is to generate an emotional response, such as outrage, anger, or frustration. You do not put your phone down if you read or watch something that is wrong; instead you think about it, you comment on it, and you share your comment, you engage with it. 

It may be useful here to ask what the true goal of advertising is. What are advertisers trying to do, and what are they trying to get you to feel? Advertisers are trying to get you to spend something, usually money, but maybe also time, or attention, or all three of those things. How are advertisers trying to make you feel? Are they trying to make you feel happy, content, satisfied, fulfilled? No. Their intention is to do the opposite of those things, because happy / content / satisfied / fulfilled people do not buy things. (Buddha was not a big shopper.) 

Consider then that Facebook is an advertising platform masquerading as a 'social' platform, and that the function of advertising is to make you feel dissatisfied, to make you feel unfulfilled, to make you feel incomplete. It is literally a massive dissatisfaction engine that is designed and built to print money. No wonder people are unhappy. 

Facebook is a net positive for many people's bank accounts, but a net negative for the world. 

RJR Tobacco knew that their products were addictive, knew they were harmful, knew they were giving people cancer. They took no action until the Federal government got involved. Facebook is doing all the same things: creating hugely addictive products, marketing them to children, giving people attention cancer, all in the name of profit. Only tech companies get this type of free pass to poison their users. You should demand better. And you should delete your Facebook account today. 

Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse: Two Names You Never Should Have Had to Hear

Blake and Rittenhouse are being celebrated in their respective communities, Blake as a martyr because he got shot during an arrest, and Rittenhouse as a hero, because he shot three people (killing two) during protests related to Blake's shooting. 

Both of these things are bad and wrong. 

I do not think that Blake deserved to get shot. I have read a lot of coverage in the NYT and the Atlantic and there is a common reference to the fact that he got shot 7 times in the back, with no mention of the actions leading up to it, and what he was doing when he got shot. If you turn your back on an officer holding a gun and reach into your car then expect the officer to shoot you, wherever he can, and as many times as he wants. Blake fully understood this, and while there has been much mention that he was 'protecting his kids', that was not in evidence in the video. What I saw was a frustrated man acting irrationally. Why was he frustrated? Probably because the system is unfair, and because he knew he had an outstanding warrant, and because he knew he was going to get flushed through the system, lose his job, deal with drama with his partner / spouse, and so on. A grim prospect. 

The boycotts from major sports teams seem misguided to me because I do not see an alternative outcome based on Blake's actions. Were the officers supposed to let Blake get something out of his car? Should they have let him get in his car and drive away? Should they let him walk away? They had already attempted to detain him and tased him; he resisted arrest, and then he went for his car, and then he got shot. This is not a vicious act of malignant racism or bad policing. Should they have attempted to subdue him before he got into his car? Supposedly they did so with a taser. Should they subdued him with physical force by piling on him and cuffing him? Maybe, but then we would be reading articles about the severity of their response and use of force. Should Blake have just sat back down on the curb when the cops pulled their guns and told him to sit down? Obviously yes. 

The problem with Blake as a martyr is that he escalated his altercation with the cops. I agree that cops can be (and frequently are) power-mad shitheads that treat people terribly. I was treated roughly by cops a few times in college and learned that contrary to what you may see on TV, you have no rights when you are dealing with a cop. They can do whatever they want and you can take it, or you can get beaten up or worse. I saw it in person and experienced it myself, and I was a white kid. This has not changed since I was a kid, and I expect that it is many, many times worse if you live in a crime-riddled community or a low-income community. Police act with impunity because they are effectively immune to prosecution and retribution. 

The guy that shot Blake should have done more to detain him before he got to his car, so that was a failure. Once Blake went for his car then the officer did exactly what any other officer would have done: Your car is a deadly weapon, and just trying to get into the driver's seat is reason enough for them to shoot you, never mind what you may have inside the car. 

The root problem here, aside from systemic racism and inequality in Blake's and many other communities, is guns. Because America has so many guns, the cops also have to have guns. Every interaction with a police officer is potentially lethal. It's a travesty. 

Speaking of too many guns in America, we have that idiot kid Rittenhouse and his enabler mom. That kid wants to leg-hump police officers and definitely watched way too much Fox News. And then he ended up armed at a protest to protect a car dealership? You can open carry in Wisconsin, so anyone can just walk around with a gun as long as it is out in the open. Rittenhouse was very poorly trained but entirely too well armed, which is a recipe for disaster. The police were overwhelmed, and they are far too lenient with the armed vigilantes that show up to 'protect' other people. Again, the problem is guns and escalation. Why was Rittenhouse allowed to have a gun (he is only 17) and wave it around at unarmed protestors? Why were the protestors allowed to set fires and vandalize property? Why did Rittenhouse even think he was necessary? Why do the police tolerate or tacitly endorse these vigilante nutjobs? 

The law in CA is that if you are a civilian you are only legally allowed to shoot someone if you or someone you love is in mortal danger. You cannot shoot someone over property, such as if they are vandalizing your car. Looters muddy the waters a bit, because they might be stealing essential goods during a disaster, but in general if someone is just stealing something you are not allowed to shoot them under any circumstances except if you or someone else's life is in mortal danger. Arsonists are more easily justified, but you still have to prove mortal danger in court later. Not sure what the laws are in Wisconsin, but if Rittenhouse gets an all white jury and he can reasonably claim to have feared for his life then he will be acquitted of the murder charges. He still has the weapons charges, and whatever else they can pin on him, but murder? Not likely. (One of the people he shot was reportedly also armed, which Rittenhouse was unlikely to have known but will figure prominently in his defense.) 

All of it is a huge, stupid, preventable mess. The solutions are obvious but the system is broken. Trump is actively making it worse. Fox News is actively making it worse. People that demonstrate in support of Jacob Blake are actively making it worse. Facebook is allowing Russia to actively make it worse. No idea what is next, but it all helps Trumps chances in November. 

Common People

This is one of my favorite jams. 

Maybe it's not for you. Maybe the tempo change (90 BPM at the start, finishing at 160(!!) BPM) is too much. Maybe you don't like dancing. Maybe you don't like the lyrics. Maybe you don't like britpop. Maybe you're tone deaf. Maybe it isn't good. 

But maybe not. I'll see what I can do. 

(Apologies for the four minute radio version - the 6 minute version on soundcloud is blocked.) 

Step Into the Wayback Machine: Tracking Treasure Down by Gabriel and Dresden ft Molly Bancroft

Was going to spend another 1000 words explicating on another of the infinite examples of idiocy in the wider world but the blog tells me I've been doing that for almost 15 years and it does not seem to have made a difference (so far). 

Instead here is a good old-school trance anthem. I heard again recently and remembered how much I liked it. I am giving you the radio edit, because you don't need 3 mins of intro and outro, you just need the highlights. 

Enjoy. 

Both, or Neither

Browsing the paper this morning and the New York Times announced that they will be capitalizing 'Black' when referring to Black people, but they will not be capitalizing 'White' when doing the same. 

As I tut-tutted about it my girlfriend said, 'are you having a tough morning, White man?', which was funny and accurate. How very middle-aged White man to be frowning at some news in the morning paper. 

And yet, here we are. 

I am all for capitalizing Black when referring to people, but if you are going do that then it follows that you should also capitalize White. Whatever rule applies to one should also apply to another. Both are broad generalizations, and if there is a Black experience (and there very much is) then it follows directly that there is a White experience. This is not complicated or difficult to understand. 

What is difficult to understand, and where the Times blows it, is by applying different rules for what are, effectively, two sides of the same coin. (Actually different sides of a multi-faceted object, but still.) I am unconvinced by the Times arguments against capitalization. Here it is: 

We will retain lowercase treatment for “white.” While there is an obvious question of parallelism, there has been no comparable movement toward widespread adoption of a new style for “white,” and there is less of a sense that “white” describes a shared culture and history. Moreover, hate groups and white supremacists have long favored the uppercase style, which in itself is reason to avoid it.

Let's unpack this. 

'an obvious question of parallelism' - yes, the question is why do you have different rules for different people? Why do the same rules not apply to everyone? 

'there has been no comparable movement toward widespread adoption for a new style...' - this argument is debatable, and you can expect that there will be a 'movement' now that you have adopted this style. Also, the absence of a 'movement' is not itself a valid reason for discrimination, so we can put this argument in the trash where it belongs. 

'there is less of a sense that 'white' describes a shared culture and history' - Is there? This argument suggests that Black people have a shared culture and history, which they do, but that history is extremely varied at the individual level, and much of what they share (so far, in the USA) is systemic racism and exploitation by White people. White people also have extremely varied cultural history, but they do share one thing in common: they have a White experience. In fact it is very difficult (impossible, in the United States) to justify the existence of a Black experience without a White experience; you would just have 'an experience', and you would have to come up with some other way to classify people, such as by socioeconomic status. 

'hate groups and white supremacists have long favored the uppercase style' - If the Times were endorsing the ideas of the 'hate groups and white supremacists' that would indeed be reason to avoid it. But they are not; they are coming at this from a different direction. The hate groups do not own the language, but by deferring to them you empower them. This is a mistake. 

Black people deserve to be identified as such. So do Whites. The Times gets it wrong here. 

Dave Chappelle Tells the Truth

Here you go. 

Caitlin Flanagan is a Treasure

Caitlin Flanagan is your friend's mom that is low-key the most savage person you know. 

Consider this understated gem: "Say what you will about Charles Manson; he really empowered women to pursue excellence in traditionally male-dominated fields."

That mix of brutal truth and wild understatement is a hallmark of Flanagan's writing, and if you liked that, and also if you like thoughtful, intelligent reporting, then you can review much of her work over at The Atlantic. I recommend it. 

What's Wrong with America: Police and Police Unions

It is easy to look at the widespread protests at the murder of George Lloyd and wonder how we got here. 

We got here because people are dumb as shit, and that includes police officers. The problem with dumb as shit police officers is that they get to inflict excessive violence without any consequences. (They get to do a lot of other things without consequences, but the violence is the main problem right now.) 

As anyone who has ever had a dog or tried to teach a child something knows: actions must have consequences. If you allow someone to act without any consequences, then you cannot be surprised when they do something ugly, like take a shit on the floor, or throw food in your face, or, in the case of this aggressively stupid and arrogant collection of clowns at the Buffalo PD: knock a 72 year old peace activist to the ground and send him to the hospital with a brain injury. Congratulations, America! You have a police department, and a police union, that is objectively more dumb than my friend's 4 year old. 

Watch the video and tell me if you think that is good policing. According to the NYT report, the officers were 'simply following orders', per the local police union. That the local police union defends this kind of thing is part of the fucking problem! Also, it bears mentioning that if the goons are too stupid to be able to recognize that by 'simply following orders' they will hospitalize an old man who had the temerity to try and speak with them like adults then they are not qualified for the job. 

It turns out that when two of the officers were suspended, the other 55 members of this team of assholes all resigned in support. I am not a fucktard moron that works for the Buffalo PD, but even I know that mayyybe knocking a peaceful old man around is not an action I want to 'support'. 

I may have been in the minority if I did work there, because around 100 people showed up to protest the fact that the two officers were charged with assault. I guess it's cool to nearly kill someone if they try and talk to you when you have your orders? What the actual fuck is wrong with these people? Are they truly so aggressively obtuse that admitting any wrongdoing will cause them to disintegrate in a cloud of bitterness and testosterone? 

It is very easy to figure out if this kind of action is acceptable. Borrowing (again) from lessons for a four year old: put yourself in the other persons shoes. Would it be acceptable to nearly kill a peaceful old man if it were your dad, or grandfather, or you? I doubt it. 

Why are people supporting a police officer's decision to assault an old man? How do you justify that kind of action? All they had to do was put him in zip cuffs and walk him to a squad car. Instead they almost killed him. 

If you want to know why people are demonstrating across the country, look no further than the Buffalo PD. Protect and serve, indeed. 

Color Me Concerned

Your sundowning American president continued his long and inevitable slide into oblivion over the weekend. It was so spectacular that it has taken the news cycle a couple days to catch up. Or maybe firing off 150 tweets over the course of a Sunday morning really did manage to 'flood the zone with bullshit', as Steve Bannon memorably described his strategy. Either way, hooooo boy! This guy is crazy for real. Obamagate? What the actual fuck are you talking about? When pressed, he gave the classic "you know what I'm talking about" as a response. Truly, a master of rhetoric.  

It's hard to know what to say or guess at any more when the erstwhile commander in chief is incapable of basic, coherent thought, but somehow continues in office. He cannot answer a direct question. There's only so much deny / deflect / distract that they can do. Barr will not hold him accountable because he is a bible-thumping holy warrior on a crusade to Save America from, umm, cannabis? No idea. McConnell just want to make sure that his rich friends stay rich, and that corporations can keep on making as much money as possible, and if you're not rich then that's your fault. Anything that threatens their hegemony is unacceptable, so any type of voter suppression and shady dealing is perfectly fine because the end justifies the means.  

If you were to create a cartoon villain and all of his cronies from scratch and you ended up with something that looked like Trump and his enablers you could only put it in cartoons, because all the characters are too flat and one-dimensional. The treasury secretary loves money? The puppetmaster in the senate looks like a turtle taking a shit and also pulls all the strings behind the scenes? The head law enforcement officer prostrates himself before the president and only does his bidding? The president only surrounds himself with attractive young female aides? It's all a little too on the nose. Call me back when you can add some subtlety or nuance.  

January cannot come soon enough. They can open every shop and restaurant in America if they want to. I am avoiding people for as long as it takes, and it will be a while. 

Oliver Heldens: We're on a Boat!

Sometimes you just need to get out of the house. How can you maintain social distance while still straight vibin? 

On a boat, obvs. 

One man (and his boat driver person) bringing the beats to the people. 

It's not much but I'll take it. 

I Don't Know I Just Work Here

Are you tired of quarantine? Me too, and I have the benefit of my own living space and (just about) all the entertainment that money can buy. Youtube served me this, because at this point Google probably knows me better than I do myself.

In times like these it's good(?) to turn to the classics, and this song takes me places. Several years ago my friend got married and had an 80s cover band for the music. They had party favor packages with neon wristbands, headbands, neon wayfarer-style sunglasses, neon necklaces, and stickers and flare. The band brought the HEAT. I drank too much the correct amount, wore out the dance floor, had PDA with the hot Swedish cousin (a former Guess girl, allegedly), and made those sunglasses look like it was hot in 1988. Dear Reader, I am here to tell you that it fucking ruled.

In summary: I need to get out of the house. Until then, let's kick out some jams.

Wash Your Hands, Maintain Social Distance, and Wear a Mask

Not much to report.
Wear a mask, wash your hands often, and avoid people. I was doing the first two before the plague kicked off, but the mask really completes my look.

This thing will be going on for a good long while. The social distance and mask wearing should continue until we have a vaccine, and/or the infections start to slow down. Expect second and third waves of the epidemic to hit once this first wave is done, with more of the same all over again.

I don't have any good news. I hope that you are not sick, and that you do not get sick.
See you out there.

The Rich Get Richer at No Risk, While the Working Man Gets Screwed

Here is a good summary of the why a bailout for corporations can be bad.

In short: hospitality and airline companies have been plumping up their own executive comp plans with stock buybacks for the last 10 years, leaving them in very risky positions when times get tough. Stock buybacks are great for rich people, not so good for rank and file employees (who either do not own enough stock, or own no stock at all).

This is very good business! The executives that got paid don't have to give the money back, and now they can rely on you, the taxpayer, to bail them out.

America, everybody!

Desus and Mero and Andy and Anderson

This is good. I don't much care about any of Andy Cohen's shows, or watch anything that Anderson Cooper is doing (I don't have cable), but Desus and Mero are great.

YOLO, aka 2020 KTM 1290 Super Duke R

:: SWOON ::

We love the two wheeled machines in this space. Motorcycles, bicycles, whatever you have is welcome.

Does it involve wearing silly outfits and putting your life at risk? HELL YEAH. Is it expensive? YOU CAN'T PUT A PRICE ON LOVE. Do you get to wear a helmet? IT'S CALLED A BRAIN BUCKET FOR A REASON. What is wrong with you and why are you shouting? I DON'T --ahem -- I don't know. The motorbikes just get me SUPER PUMPED and then I have to watch 30 minute videos as a welcome distraction from my fading middle age and also a global pandemic. Seems reasonable, no?

Not much else to add here besides that motorcycles are like bicycles except you do not have to work as hard.

COVID-19

Here is A Photo of a Kitten

I wanted to write about something else, literally anything else, but it seems disingenuous. There is a disturbing amount of misinformation out there, so here are some facts that you may or may not find useful:

- COVID-19 is way worse than the flu. Forget about comparisons to the flu. Those comparisons are bad and inaccurate. Best guess is that it is 7x as bad as the flu in terms of fatalities. Might be a bit less, or a bit more, but that's where we are right now.

- It is not kind to seniors, or anyone with existing lung conditions. Older people are dying at a rate of about 80%. That's a lot! If your parents, or grandparents, or anyone you know that is elderly gets infected they will almost certainly die.

- If we do not decrease the rate of infection then the morbidity rate will go up for everyone infected, including people in their 30s and 40s.

- Younger people are very low risk for hospitalization and fatal infections, but high risk for infection transference.

So that's that. Follow through on your social distancing. Stay healthy if you can. Isolate yourself if you are sick. This thing will burn itself out one way or another, and life will go on. It might look a lot different at first, but it will settle back down eventually. It's weird not to be able to give my friends hugs, and to be isolated, but it will not last forever.

See you out there.

The Political Commentary We Need

'Warren coming with that strong teacher that cares energy right now' killed me.

Bloomberg is a clown. A rich clown, but a clown nonetheless. He is no more qualified to run the country than a mayor from a nowhere town in a nothing state, and they deserve to be called out for their bullshit.

Warren with that strong teacher that cares energy is also full of shit (her health care plan is a pipe dream), but at least she ethered the most obviously unqualified dipshits on the panel.

Also Desus Air Max 95's are dope. I like that color way. I would never wear it, but it's cool if you can make it work for you.

Here We Are: 02/20/2020

Welp, here we are. 02/20/2020 - I know, I didn't think we would make it either, but life is full of surprises.

Today there will be cake. And some sweet, sweet jams. Tomorrow, who knows? You get today. So have some cake, tell your friends and family you love them, and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

See you out there. 

This is How Democracy Dies

The Senate is the absolute worst. A president elected after losing the popular vote + a legislative branch that gives unequal representation = government by a minority.

Wyoming, with a total population of about 580,000 people, gets two Senators. 580,000 people would make the entire state of Wyoming approximately the 15th largest county in the state of California. It would only be the fifth largest city in California, which: lol.

Alaska has about 700,000 people, and also gets two Senators (bridge to nowhere!). North Dakota, same thing. South Dakota, same thing. Same principle is true of Vermont, Rhode Island, and several others.

The problem with this is that residents of states with low populations have a disproportionate say in national legislation. The other problem is that the senators from these states are easier to buy in bulk than senators from states with large populations: your lobbying money goes a lot further when the politician you buy does not have very many constituents. That's why Orrin Hatch lived comfortably in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies for 40(!!) years.

Democracy is messy and imperfect, but it is not difficult. The US government is broken, in large part because senators wield influence that far outstrips the impact of their constituents. The United States Senate is an enemy of democracy, and it should be abolished.

Abolish the Senate

Imagine a world where Barack Obama conspired with a foreign government to try to gain an advantage in his own re-election. Imagine that the evidence was clear, obvious, and incontrovertible.

Imagine then that he was impeached, and that the Senate had to hold a trial to determine if this constituted 'high crimes and misdemeanors' (hint: it does), and imagine that before the trial even started that the majority leader announced that Obama would be acquitted, and that the Senate would not allow any witnesses to be called.

That would never happen, because Barack Obama, in addition to not being a fucking moron that routinely breaks the law to enrich himself at the expense of the country, is not an enemy of democracy.

The United States is being held hostage by a minority of its population, because the Senate is broken. It should be abolished, along with the electoral college. Put them both in the trash where they belong. Rich old white men will have to find something else to keep them busy in their dotage besides fucking up the greatest nation on earth.

Insecurity Can Ruin Relationships

I found this article deeply interesting and relevant, and ordered the book as a result. I confess that I see more of myself in some of this than I would like to admit. The Atlantic had the title as 'Negativity Can Ruin Relationships', and that is true, but the part about insecurity being the root cause of many breakups made a bigger impact on me.

There's lots to unpack here, and no doubt much more in the book, but you can start with this and see where it takes you:

Some couples, of course, are better off splitting up, but far too many of them sabotage a relationship that could have worked.

Teach Your Child to Ride a Bike

I thought this was charming. And I rode everywhere when I was a kid, so of course I think it's great for kids to ride bikes. YMMV (literally)

Happy New Year

Happy new year!
I'm very busy the next couple weeks with not-very-important business. You care.

I got a new job, which is similar to the old job, but hopefully better because I will be able to actually sell some software this time. We can but hope.

Right now the idiot President and has associate idiot Secretary of State are trying to start a war with Iran. Just in time for the election! The last time an idiot started a pointless war in the Middle East it cost over two trillion dollars (and counting) and went on for 15 years (and counting). What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for starters, Iran is a big country that is remarkably unified, and it is chock full of religious fundamentalists. The value of destabilizing a relatively large country full of religious fundamentalists can only be fully understood by a 200 IQ galaxy brain genius like Mike Pompeo, but up here in the cheap seats it is not very strategic to kill a much revered foreign general unless you have (and can show) concrete proof that it is worth it, and that there was a credible threat to the United States. In other words the death of a single American contractor (who was operating in a de facto war zone) does not justify starting a war, unless you're a complete and utter fucking moron. Oh, wait, I forgot who I was talking about.

But hey, oil prices are way up, and I am sure that none of the President's failsons took positions in energy securities before this thing kicked off.

More on this as the situation develops. Or not. I actually do have stuff to do. Weird, I know.