Summer’s Last Caress: A Final Embrace of the Season

Happy August, everybody! It's nearly the end of summer, although summer is the hottest month in California, but the good news is here, temperatures are cooling down a bit, here and there, more or less. 

Here, I wanted to jot down some notes on the current state of affairs going on in my life, work life, recreational life, and the political affairs of the worldhood of the world. 

First, the democratic convention has been off to a great start. Trump failed to capitalize on his convention after he got shot at by an attempted assassin. I actually think Trump could have got much more leverage out of the shooting than he did. He could have appeared as a savior figure coming to face the United States of America but instead he played his same old playbook, yelling, complaining, and name calling any and whoever of his political enemies like a whiny brat. 

On the other side of the divide, the republican convention was a bore because it lacked star power other than Trump and Vance themselves. Here, with the democrats they really went all out. Even Oprah's speech was good. Bill Clinton. Obama. Michelle. Biden. And tonight at the end Tim Walz himself, the VP pick, who is now everybody's coach. I was trying to not really listen to every speech and everybody because I get tired of politics especially right now before the election but I have to say, some of these people and some of these speeches demand to be heard. I don't think you can say the same for the people who spoke at the republican convention. It's not an equal performance, the democrats looked, played it, and spoke much better with more depth, warmth, eloquence, and intelligence. Anyone who doesn't see that I reckon just isn't that bright. 

Moving forward, I'm not really the biggest Harris fan. I think she's what the democrats needed in the moment in order to keep up the momentum against Donald Trump and the MAGA wing of the republican party. However, I do think she represents the next step in the democratic party, she's the natural evolution, she's not an outsider, she's been in this politics business a long time, and she already has the skills to be a great president having served as Biden's VP. We know she's smart enough, we know she has the leadership skills, she speaks well, she appears in public, people like her, and she's a big hit with every crowd. 

In addition, Harris is definitely the choice. And if you're undecided just look back at what Trump did during his term. He barely built small sections of a wall, he did the Muslim ban, he called immigrants rapists and criminals, he did this stupid tariffs, he blamed covid on the Chinese and was very racist about it, he tried to persecute his political enemies even though he's the one who did all these crimes, and last but not least let's forget the Carroll case where he turned out to be a rapist, or slept with Stormy Daniels and paid her hush money, or said about John McCain being a soldier, "I like people who don't get captured, he's not patriotic," or the guy who said that soldiers who died were, "suckers and losers," the guy who helped cause the January 6 insurrection, and the guy who has 34 felony count indictments. This might be the worst guy ever to run for office ever. You don't have to be genius IQ level person to know that Trump doesn't care about working people and their families, rather, he cares about staying in office in order to hang onto control of his fate, because otherwise, he's probably going to be spending his final years in a prison cell with secret service watching him outside the door. 

Lastly on politics, I think republicans know that the Trump wave is over. They come out at the grocery store and when people steal they yell, "this is Biden's America," "only in Biden's America," they're quick to blame any of American's societal woes on the President when in reality that's not why people are going out and stealing groceries, they're stealing because they're struggling. Donald Trump isn't going to make things easier for the hard working families, rather, he's going to cut taxes for the wealthy, slap on tariffs, and increase your taxes. Donald Trump has promised to be a dictator on day one. We're here to make sure that doesn't happen. 

In other news, I've been working and reading a lot. I took a vacation a few weeks ago that was pretty satisfying. I read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and now I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities, so I've been catching that early 19th century British novel feeling. I think Dickens is sort of a genius inspiration. All his characters are relatable, mostly working class, although there's always a few rich people here and there, but for the most part he writes about everyday people of that era, and he sort of brings them life through the page in a very inspiring way. It's definitely not modern writing but the writing is so good that I'm surprised I haven't quite checked it out all before. I had always heard of Dickens but never checked him out until now. I know that his work is mostly assigned at the high school level for English courses. I might go through his catalogue, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield are on my list.   

Also, work has been on the usual side. Nothing exciting, but hey, no news is good news. Management still tries to get in your face and tell you off here and there, but you just can't let it get to you. There's a lot of internal politics there because lower management is union and upper management is not union, so there's always that us versus them element within this work environment. You have to lay low and sort of stay lowkey in order to protect yourself and try to keep rising in the company. It's a slow grind, a long burn. I've probably worked with over 100 employees going back to 2013, I've worked with over 6 upper management store directors and assistant store managers, so in a way that's a great sign, if I can't beat them in the game, I can surely outlast them, inshallah. But the work gig isn't really as important as the other things I'm doing, mostly reading. I've even been getting better at Spanish too, which has become very helpful at work with a lot of the Hispanic people that come through at self-checkout. I sort of see that with languages knowing the basics is easy, but most people talk about things using the basics, so I sort of see that other languages can be pretty easy sometimes, but not all times. 

Lastly, I think the hardest thing to do right now is to be successful. Most people are not successful. Nearly every guy I know or have known through work [mostly all retail people] or via mutual people and friends of mine are not successful and are not at their best at this point in their lives. I've been lucky enough to have found a little success in this cruel world and the truth of the matter is that once you get a little success in this world, most people are going to sort of bad mouth you or try to undercut you or devalue in some way, they want to bring you down, they don't want to see you rise higher and higher, especially because you're rising above them. 

I see men my age sitting inside in high AC just playing video games all day without a care in the world, they waste their creativity on being couch slugs, slurping down soda, energy drinks, booze, and smoking marijuana, and wondering why their wife or girlfriend is mad about them playing video games all the time. 

If you're anything of an intelligent man who's successful, even in a small way, these other types of not-successful guys [also women] will sort of hate on you via different ways; they'll bother you at work about your job performance or try to get you into some sort of trouble there, they'll belittle or give you back-handed compliments, they'll try to add you on social media and never post or comment on anything but try to watch your every move because although they don't like you, they want to keep tabs on you. 

I suppose what I'm saying is that once you find success in whatever way, shape, or form, you'll find that its very lonely because oftentimes, people don't want to see you, particularly you, in a better position than they are in. This goes back to the green-eyed monster. This goes back to the Trump thing too. The America that the media and more importantly, the right wingers are portraying is the us versus them America, yeah that theory works if you're not that smart, but the reality is that the worldhood of the world is much more nuanced, complex, and grey than what is normally seen in media, especially in right wing media. So yeah, if you're successful, you'll find that people around you won't be, because it's you. But more often than not, other successful people will find you and lend a helping hand here and there, because they're successful enough to do it. 

Fin

Covid Versus Retail, Fall Edition

Hello all, 

Thought I'd jot down some general thoughts about what's been like working at the market during this point in the pandemic, this far into it. 

It's been a long time coming. This virus will not turn on the breaks. It will take more and more lives. Working retail at the market is getting more fatiguing. Sometimes it feels like the customers really don't give a shit about the workers anymore. Yes, there are still some customers who like and support us so called 'essential workers', but the vast majority are people who see us as beneath them. The only purpose we have is to serve them, in their eyes. 

Yeah, working retail during COVID has become very dark very fast. The stress can destroy you. If you have health problems the stress will hurt you even more. Not to mention you'll be so much more irritable. I've seen it in most of my friends and coworkers. The most important thing now is to keep your sanity, save your health, and find a way to live with or without happiness. Can you manage that? If not, you're in trouble.

In terms of health and safety, my job isn't doing so great. They stopped giving masks to employees because it was cutting into their cost. Which means that we have to provide our own masks out of our own pockets. In addition, most of the time, nothing is cleaned, leaving a never-ending smear of germs on nearly everything that's touched. God to honest truth, I'm shocked we haven't had a more serious COVID problem, although there was two cases in the beginning of the pandemic. 

Thing are taking a sinister turn with this virus and the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, [the election]. Do the things you love and really try to find a way to live, with or without happiness. The next three weeks are very important in terms of COVID and the state of this great lodestar state. Remember, this is a battle for the soul of this nation. If we lose, then everything that's good and righteous will be cast into the fire. Goodbye peaceful protesters, hello white supremacist militia groups. The voice of the American people will be heard. If they choose Trump again, and the COVID response remains lackluster, say goodbye to some of your loved ones. 

It doesn't get much worse than this. The Trump demagogue has become a true death cult. The brutal murder of George Floyd, the death of Herman Cain, the Rose Garden ceremony, and Trump Rallies confirm this.

Psycho Circus

It's October 4th, 2020. Trump got the virus three weeks before the Election. Welcome to the psycho circus [coincidentally also a great song and video by the rock band Kiss]. 

There's so much division and hate these days. And the 24/7 news cycle added with social media is not helping us, its hurting us as a people, all across the nation. The more people look at a screen the more their brain becomes deficient. My much younger friend, he's about 24, and I'm 31, told me today that he's Republican, and that it shouldn't matter what political affiliation he is, or who he's voting for, and that the world would be a much better place if everybody sat in a circle and hugged each other. Very much a hippie. I was shocked that he was Republican but of course it doesn't change anything to me. But for many other Democrats, it would become a symbol of contempt. 

It's easy to see why someone would dislike somebody for voting for Trump. It's much harder to actually defend Trump and defend the so-called "good," that he's done for the country. But my friend tried. He said he's a Republican because it's been that way in his family a long time. And that he likes Republican economic policies, and that Trump's done well with his economic policies. Oh boy, here we go. 

Instead of arguing I let him speak. It is what it is. He's a soft spoken, kind, caring man who unbeknownst to him has a way with women but the political spectrum he chooses is one that shows disregard for the other; the less fortunate, the poor, the black and brown peoples, the LGBT community, anyone who isn't white and Republican. It's very telling, revealing but I can look past it because he's a genuine great person. 

What I've come to learn is that Biden can't change the hearts and minds of these type of voters. As they say, Republicans fall in line and Democrats fall in love. He loves Kennedy, which was pretty cool, but who doesn't like Kennedy? Trump will get these voters because they're already Republican, probably their whole lives, even if the economic policies that they say are so great, is really nothing but redistribution of wealth from the poor to the richest, leading the richest people not to create jobs, but play the stock market for fun and make even more money. 

So no, Biden won't get these diehard Republican voters and he has a hell of a fight for this upcoming election. Trump is playing on the sympathy of the entire country to his benefit, even though the whole reason why so many Republicans have COVID right now is because of him and that Rose-bowl speech. Trump is also the reason why over 200,000 Americans have died due to COVID. We didn't have a smart plan. Trump botched it. If not because of the fact that he's a white supremacist and won't renounce white supremacy or even the Proud Boys [which should be an automatic disqualification for President by the way], or the fact that he said and did nothing when George Floyd was murdered for the entire world to see [a real leader would have condemned the cop], the fact that Trump got over 200,000 Americans killed because of a failed COVID plan should result in a loss of power and possible jail crimes for undermining American democracy [among other things]. 

So Trump got COVID. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. The clown show is over. Maybe RBG gets the last laugh in the Great Afterward. I share her mirth.

Birthday Op-Ed

So my birthday is tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to enjoy the next three days off work, relaxing with family and friends. I wanted to jot down some thoughts about today, this year, this birthday, and what it means for me, and consequently for all.

Today a cop was ONLY charged for misfire shots, NOT for the death of Breonna Taylor. Although the family has been paid off some $12 million, the fact that the cop or cops in question weren't charged for manslaughter is an unforced error. Consequently, the streets of Kentucky are running hot, because as the hardcore BLM people say, "No Justice, No Peace." It's a dishonor to her memory. She was a front line health worker. The law in Kentucky has been written in a way that does not help black people, and it could be argued that it is written in a way to hurt them, as what happened in this situation. The disregard of black life animates much of life in America these days.

This goes into the question; what kind of country do we want to be? For the police and county and Kentucky not to have charged at least one cop for the death of Taylor is an unforced error. They couldn't at least have charged one cop for manslaughter? That's ridiculous. Instead they charged one cop for misfiring. That's just stupid. They might as well have not charged any cops with anything, that's what that charge was good for.

Now, I'm not a conspiratorial man. I leave that to the Socialist Leftists and the Far Right Trump Supporters. BUT...I also believe that this plays right into the hands of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. Bare with me. Kentucky is Mitch's state and if protests break into violence and deaths then this is the perfect scenario for McConnell and Trump to say, "Look! All these blacks are acting out.  They're dangerous. They're going to come to your cities and burn everything to the ground. Keep Mitch in power, he will protect you in Kentucky. Keep me as President, I will quell the chaos." That's pretty much exactly how I see the scenario playing out. Consequently, Trump's numbers will go up and he could even be reelected.

Now we get to the crux of the matter, the Tolstoyian question; who are we? What kind of country have we become, and what kind of country will we choose to be? I believe this is the most important year in my life, given everything that's happened [dismantling of American democracy, COVID, stagnant wages, unemployment, 200,000 American deaths, and this is just the beginning], and with that being said, this is the most important election of my lifetime thus far, probably the most important election of this country [ever]. 

Because you see that whatever direction we go in this election year will determine the fate of America. If we choose Trump then we will have chosen evil. We will go down the continued path of dismantling American democracy and fanning the flames of racism, bigotry, and hatred for anybody who isn't white. If we choose Biden/Harris then we will have seen the ultimate errors of our ways and try to find a way to go back to the way things were before [which will take years because Trump has already done so much damage]; human decency and respect for your fellow man [and woman]. 

There's no easy way to say this but I'm afraid that America will choose the wrong path, the Trumpian way, and delve deep into a ever evolving fascist system. More Americans will die, probably much faster because Trump will continue to botch COVID if reelected. More black Americans will be shot by policemen, provoking the black community to protest [and maybe some will riot], enabling Trump to fan the flames of racism, and allow him to say, "I will keep your cities safe from them." Unemployment will continue to be at its high peaks and the only jobs available will be low end minimum wage. College degrees will hardly be worth the tuition because families will not only not be able to afford it but they won't want to send their kids to school during COVID. 

Imagine if I were 20 instead of 31. This all would not only be very overwhelming to me, it would penetrate the fiber of my being. However, because I'm already an adult, and have lived a fairly privileged life, I feel the weight of this moment more powerfully than ever. I know that nothing is more important than the history that is happening now. I quit playing video games and find the internet to be not very worthy of my time. I live my life to the fullest everyday and love all the people in my life. This younger generation is going to have a much harder time than I did. College won't save them from COVID and Donald Trump. Let's pray the voters make the right choice. 

Biden/Harris 2020 

How Social Media Propels and Fuels Our Ignorance

Social media is a godsend in today's day and age. Think about it this way. I'm not a paid gigging writer but because I write daily on here my ideas are shown to countless thousands of people. Without it, I don't know if I would still be doing the blog. Would it be worth it if nobody read my writing?

Social media is important. But there comes a time when we have to see it for what it is and realize that deep down, social media propels and fuels our ignorance.

I'm a smart guy. I work in retail where most of the workers and bosses aren't so smart. I'm a big fish in a small pond in that aspect. When I go online on Facebook and interact with countless friends, peers, or even acquaintances, it's like my job times a million. What I mean to say is that intelligence drops down and everything else turns up to eleven. You can now see my point clearly. 

The problem is that social media has become a cesspool for bots, scammers, provocateurs, and hackers. Some of these are very easy to spot, others much less so. Most people on Facebook go on there to have a good time; they see what's new with friends and family, they like a few posts, they may or may not post something themselves, and then they continue on with their lives. But other people, myself included, often spend a lot of time on Facebook, not really sure what we're looking for, but we know it when we get it, that shot of dopamine; oh somebody liked my stuff! 

Of course, that's only one way of seeing Facebook. The other side of Facebook that I'm seeing right now is a lot more sinister than what it was originally intended for. After the brutal murder video of George Floyd was shown on social media, it's clear to say that pretty much everyone has seen it. Unless you live under a rock. But it's already having a bad ripple effect. Now there are pictures and videos of white people posing with their knee on their friends' necks, smiling, in a mockery of the murder of George Floyd. 

On top of that, the nationwide protests have sowed much discord on social media. My friends are my friends. Meaning that most of them are well to do, college-educated, professional people who, although they've never been brutalized by a cop before, they stand in solidarity with black and brown people and support them in the cause for more rules and regulations to stop these murders of black and brown men by police officers. It's what you would expect. But, at the same time, I think that just agreeing to stand with black people in and of itself isn't a solution, rather it's almost like a pat on the back, "my people systematically destroyed your race, and I'm sorry, but this is the most I can do," I get it. We get it, white people, you realize that the white power structure is rigged against blacks and you're sorry for it. But there's only so much I can take of my white friends posting BLM memes. The truth is that to be a true ally of black people you have to go a much farther mile, one that most white people wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. You can't just protest right now and say, "I'm an honorary black man now." It doesn't work like that.  

So I've seen a lot of that. And I've also seen a lot from the alt-right and conservative side as well. Now, I don't have too many alt-right friends but I have many conservative friends who are older than me. In terms of the alt-right, I've seen a lot of political propaganda supporting Trump and justifying the brutalization by police to protesters. I see a lot of young people that are Trump supporters trolling the left in posts, asking them questions, about facts. When has Trump or his base ever cared about facts? The reality is that it is Trump's actions that warrant his removal from office. Although he never tells the facts either. He always lies about everything. "I didn't hide in that bunker from the protesters, I was inspecting the bunker, I inspect bunkers." 

As far as my older conservative friends go, I can sometimes see their point of view. They're business owners and some of them even protected their businesses with guns out on the streets where looting took place. They support Trump no matter what but some of them also think that there's no right or left, they're both corrupt, but for whatever reason they still support Trump. Most of these people are in their 40s/50s, they have money, and some of them are musicians. The musicians lean more heavily towards the libertarian idealogy like the 1970s never ended. 

When you interact with all of that going on, as a real, legitimate person, you see that's all rather a waste of your time and efforts unless you want to come to some sort of understanding. When someone takes the time to agree with you on something they just read it off for a second, either react to it or don't, and then leave it forever in a vacuum. The people that really interact the most are the provocateurs, the ones that want to rile you up, the internet trolls that the internet is based on.    

Not to mention the countless articles that are distributed on social media. This is what people construe as facts. But the sad reality is that most of the articles I see shared on social media aren't from fact worthy websites. In fact, they're from crappy websites run on the old javascript engine, where there are ads in the news articles. Has nobody on social media ever heard of the guardian, the LAtimes, the NYTimes, or the daily news? How about WSJ? Nope, I've hardly ever seen articles from any of those reputable periodicals. But I see plenty of news from Buzzfeed. Some from Slate and Politico. Those last two aren't bad but still.

The fact that people use these illegitimate sources to prove their points and to show off facts, shows that we live in an era where facts don't matter, as these sources often report fake news, false facts, like the President himself. It's like 24/7 Fox News. This is a grievous blow to the historical accuracy of this time period we're all living in and to real journalism, which still takes place sometimes by people like Rachel Maddow and the Washingtonpost staff journalists like Robert Costa, Phillip Ruecker, and Ashley Parker. 

Moving forward, I think we all have to be a lot smarter when using social media. Things have changed so drastically from 2016 to 2020. Remember, social media was used by Russian hackers to help get Trump elected. Is that the kind of election we want to continue to have in the future? So we have to be more vigilant in detecting falsehoods from shared articles, proving, or disproving facts. Not only does the article have to report the facts but they have to get every detail of the facts right otherwise their merit is diminished and supports their enemies. You got that?  

This is a difficult thing to write about. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who agree with me on this or have similar thoughts on the topic. Personally, I only log into Facebook a couple times a day. After checking it out for five minutes I log off. By logging off it forces me to reset and think about if I really want to go back again and for what purpose. The times have not been kind to social media. And although the movement of the protests has been spearheaded by social media, remember that it was the widespread sharing of the brutal murder that sparked all this unrest in the first place. There was an anti-lynching bill today. Well, that brutal murder video was a lynching for the entire world to see. The internet has become an angry mob, but to what purpose, only time will tell.  I'm hopeful that positive things can happen out of all this. 

Lastly, I want to conclude by saying that one of the problems with social media is that your friends agree with you and those that don't, well they aren't your friends and you unfriend them because they're Trump supporters, too far left, or too far right, and not centrist enough. That's why I actually like having conservatives on my friend's list because I don't want to only interact with people who agree with me. To understand the complexity of the situation, you have to sometimes put yourself in another person's shoes, so if I can see why this 40-year-old businessman supports Trump no matter what, maybe I can learn more about what makes him or her tick, and come to an understanding between us, between them and the left, and the world. It's all about understanding. Of course, I disagree with them but when I see their points they make in favor of or against certain issues, I can see the slips and cracks where their reasoning is faulty, and show them the reason why they're wrong, explaining it to them in a way that we don't have to fight or attack each other, but recognize each other as fellow Americans with the right to share and express our ideas.

Sometimes you're being attacked not because you're black but because you're the smartest guy in the room. Always have friends that are not just allies, but are as smart as, or smarter than yourself, you want more of those kinds of friends. This ensures that if you make a blunder, they can always swoop in and save the day, whether it be a workplace conflict, business, or even social media. Imagine you make a great point on a post, only to have your much dumber associate tarnish it with some inane comment? 

Democracy Dies in Darknesse

There's been a lot happening in the last couple of months. Hell, in the last eight days. We've been under quarantine dealing with COVID-19, the worst pandemic since the 1918 Flu, which has killed over 100,000 Americans. On top of that, every night for the last eight nights in a row, people have taken to the streets, risking the spread of COVID-19, to protest the brutal murder captured on video of George Floyd, a nonviolent black man.

We've all seen the brutal murder video on social media or news media outlets. It's hard to watch. An officer was seen with his knee pinned on George Floyd's neck. There were people there who witnessed the murder, and it was filmed by a 17-year old girl. George Floyd died eight minutes later, his last words being, "I can't breathe." He called out to his mother in his dying words. The national outcry for his murder has been resounding over a week later still.

There was a lot of rioting and looting reported and seen on video. However, what the media isn't reporting nearly as much is the peaceful protests that are going on in the midst of the chaos. This is sort of like the 1960s but there's one major difference.

There weren't this many different and varied people all protesting the same thing in the 1960s. That is new. This will lead to many young people becoming 'awakened', tuned in to the systemic issue of police brutality against black men in America. This will lead them to other issues that are important to them, specifically them, their families, and their communities, making them more educated and more effective in voting and voting measures.

This is the way we can change America. Yes, peaceful protests are good. And yes, some of it will be bloody, as were the protests of the 1960s. But, we can't let the media use us, the protestors as an angry mob. We must galvanize our forces, register more voters, and vote in the right people that will help our cause, whatever that might be. In this case, fixing the problem of police brutality against black men, it's going to be a long fight that could take decades.

Police departments are local entities, not national. So to stop this problem, one would have to go to the heart of every single local police department and vote for the right police leaders, and all that could take a very, long, time. But the people demand justice, now! Right? It's not quite so easy. You can quell the chaos, but you cannot stop the wheels of justice. This is where time works for you. That's where all those protesters come in.

Personally, I've been accosted by cops many times. I'm a black man. Luckily, I was never harmed or arrested. But many times as a teenager in Wisconsin, the cops would ask to see what was in my backpack and check it. They were racist cops but I got lucky. They could've been looking for a violent offender one of those times and things could've escalated in some way. I could've been George Floyd. Any black man could. That's the problem. That's why we're enraged.  

As if that wasn't dark enough, there's a small chance that despite all this, the protests won't change much, and more black deaths at the hands of white police officers will take place? What will be the response then? Well, who knows, right? This goes to show that one justice for one death isn't enough and that we must go beyond, into voting measures that will counter this. Am I hopeful? Yes. Optimistic? Yes. But thinking about how bad the protests have been, how the issue has hundreds of years of white racism and hatred, there's a feeling I get that these protests won't be enough, as powerful as they are. Your protest voice is strong, but your voting voice is much stronger. That's my opinion. I thank and value all the protesters. I just wish there weren't so many looters and rioters. Not to mention the businesses burning down their buildings for insurance money. But that's another story the media isn't telling.

Next, it's all one story, it's all apart of one single story, which is ours right now; 2020, winter lockdown, beginning of summer quarantine, COVID-19, George Floyd's death, past 100,000 cases, the second wave has hit, Trump orders military to attack protesters for a photo op at church, Trump Administration stops anything to do with the containment of coronavirus. Although it is morbid to put all of this together, I think it's really important to see it all as one big picture, rather than say, just the protests, racism, police brutality, or just COVID.

When you see it for what it really is, you have to ask yourself one question; What is the turning point for Republicans? At what point will they stop, will they let this President step down or be removed out of office before they give him unyielding powers? Is there never a time where they will say no to this President, will they ever relinquish power, will they ever realize that they're fueling this frenzy, this angry mob, and to what purpose? I'm no conspiracy theorist but it doesn't take a genius to know that the Republicans will do anything it takes to keep control and to keep Trump in power. They've proven that time and again. And anyone who disagrees with Trump gets fired and replaced by a croony who does agree with everything he says. It's no wonder democracy is dying in darkness. We have a Nero rather than a President of the United States.

This is why your vote matters more than ever. That, and taking part in your community, helping them in whatever ways you can. You can protest if you want, but voting is even better. If you do both, then you are a Godsend. Don't forget that great things happen out of catastrophe. We will achieve great things together as Americans in the coming days, months, and years. This lodestar democracy has seen better days but with your help, and more importantly, your vote, America can live up to its name, and we can live in a better, more nuanced America, where the peoples' voice is heard as well as felt.

2020 in our sights

Greetings, readers of the interwebz. 

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I'm glad 2019 is almost over and that 2020 is about to begin. A lot of the chaos stems from political turmoil in America. Mainly, that the President is using the highest office of the land for his own personal political gain. It's infuriating and it's despicable. We have one party in government that is completing undermining American democracy just because the President is 'their' guy. Simply put, it goes without saying that if Obama got caught doing the quid quo pro, he would've been impeached by now. Democrats would've defended him but they wouldn't have defended him to the death like the Republicans are clinging to Trump? Why? Because they have values still whereas the Republicans today lack that. 

The division and spread of hate via politics have become mainstream. People are identified by what 'tribe' they are in. Trump's base versus Americans who think he's undermining American democracy. There is no in-between. We'll have to wait until Congress comes back from their holiday recess to see what will inevitably end up happening regarding the Trump impeachment. Merry impeachment, happy new year, new year, new President? Something along those lines would be nice. 

I got a lot of reading time this year. According to my Goodreads account data, I read 26 books over 11,000 pages. I've spent more and more time each day reading rather than playing computer games or hanging out with friends. Also, I can finally play through Sequenza for guitar by Luciano Berio [though not that well or fast]. That took me about a year to do that. Also, I've finally adjusted to a diet where I eat less food at night and eat less overall, while not starving myself or doing complete fasting. Rather its an overnight fast, fasting when I'm sleeping. I've been playing in a straight-ahead jazz duo for a year straight and I've learned a lot about jamming, jazz, and improvisational music through all those performances and recordings. I've accumulated all my best sound recordings on my Soundcloud and put it out there for the world to hear. I've been working nonstop at the same place for seven years straight. These are great accomplishments. 

When I think of what I was missing out on there are a few things I can think of. In 2020 I want to play more guitar, learn more songs, hang out with more new people and friends, who are more into art/music/literature, as well as write a lot more. I mainly want to write more short stories and develop a short story collection as a novel. I'd also like to finish up on my novella, my memoir, which I started a year ago and sort of finished but didn't edit very well. I want to learn more about technology and science to use that knowledge in my own science fiction stories. Things like that. 

When I think of the world/country/city/general life in general as opposed to my own personal well being/job/friends/family/hobbies/life I would say 2019 had more downs than ups. But I'm an optimistic guy. "It's getting better all the time. Me used to angry young man..." As the Beatles sang life does indeed get better. I get really down on my luck regarding the job and the rising inequality of the middle/lower classes in America but I'm still very hopeful of a better America. Maybe not in 2020, maybe not in five or ten years, but in a future where I'll be older, smarter, and hopefully working an office job. 

I think progressive politics scares a lot of people still because it's associated with the 'dirty' word socialist. However, the way things have gone down in America it only makes sense to start using more socialist policies. In a way, I feel that capitalism has run its course. Of course, it could never be completely abolished. Rather, there would be a future where there are fewer capitalistic systems and more socialist ones. In five-ten years down the line, I could see a guy who has similar policies as say, Andrew Yang, get elected. The old school Republican versus Democrat has just got to go. 

So 2020 is in our sights. Let's all make these last few days of 2019 good. Remember how tough it was this year. For the world in general. And look forward to things getting better.

The Obama legacy ends, enter the Trump era

President Obama did a great farewell address last night in Chicago. He mentioned a lot of important details about his presidency such as the Affordable Care Act and how the economy improved. It was a great speech. As we leave the Obama era and enter the Trump era there's a lot to think about.

What will happen to our so called post-racial society? What about the illegals and the so-called wall? What about the increasing gap between the poor, middle class, and rich? What about the economic crisis? And lets not forget all the environmental problems that the United States faces. What about terrorism and especially Syria? And the fact that Russia hacked the election?

These are all important questions that will hopefully be answered during the Trump administration. I'm not optimistic about Trump whatsoever. He's already shown what kind of person he is in all his speeches. As Obama said a lot during his presidency and even about the Trump campaign, "that's not who we are". Right now I'm watching his first press conference as president-elect and its interesting but I can't help but find everything he's saying to be idiotic. The way they're explaining what's going to happen with his assets is a bit asinine. He's giving control of all his assets to his family but who's to say he won't have a say in whats going on when he's President? They are family after all so they will always be in complete communication. Just not cool.

Having a billionaire President isn't cool. It's very douche-y as the kids say. He's out of touch with the American people in terms of wealth, intellect, and political views. The fact that he won the election shows how out of touch the American people are with politics. I don't mean to put on a top hat and say I'm smarter than thou but I would say Americans are so stupid that they're stupid enough to vote for someone who will lead them to ruin.

However, I believe that stupid people can become smart. And that's my hope. Obama ran as president on hope in 2008 and he won. My hope is that Americans, (my people, that's my heart) realize that they picked the wrong man, get smarter, and pick a better leader in the future. I'm not against the Republicans totally. I think there are a lot of smart Republicans in Congress. But I don't want them running and ruining my life or my future with their terrible ideas. And their ideas are terrible.

In eight days we will have a completely new political spectrum. It will be an interesting four years. Get ready for change. 

Trump Defeats Hillary

Today was unprecedented. Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton. The polls all got it wrong. The news stations all got it wrong. It was a regular work day for me but a lot of momentum built up to this election day and I was excited throughout the entire day, even checking the news on the break room TV all day for any updates. I was prepared for a victory of the first ever female American President.

But that's not what happened. Trump ended up winning. During all the time up to today I thought he was a joke and that Hillary was going to win in a landslide. Needless to say, I'm quite shocked. Still am as I'm of this post. I'm not necessarily angry but I am not happy either. Either way life will go on for me and I'll need to do all the necessary things I need to do to lead a happy and fulfilling life.

But then again there's something odd about all of this. How could so many people vote for a fear mongering, racist, misogynistic, asshole? The answer is clear. People are afraid and uncertain about their future. They don't want another Clinton in the White House because Clinton's represent the old way and she comes with a shit ton of baggage. Many of my young associates didn't vote this election because they said both candidates were shit.

Well, if you chose not to vote then in my opinion you don't get to complain about the country's future. I believe as an American it's your duty to vote. While I do think Hillary and Trump aren't the best Presidential candidates (I had my eyes on Bernie) I do think Hillary was the lesser of two evils. Even if she's a baddie too at least she's a baddie with Presidential experience and a hard working political record. Trump, on the other hand is just an asshole with a loud mouth. The stuff he's said during his campaign is all mostly evil shit.

It's possible that he will lead us all to ruin. It's possible we've already reached the peak of human evolution and potential and voting for Trump will bring us backwards. But the stupid part of me thinks Trump could be a great President. He could somehow get the right people in Congress to work together and get a lot of work done. I wish him good luck on that.

Even though I thought of Trump as a joke I gotta hand it to him that he's come very far with no political experience and being a straight up hater. It will take a village to show him how to lead and organize people and the country. I don't think he knows what he's doing but I think with the right political aides and advisers as well as senators backing him up I think he can learn the job as he goes. It will be political improvising with the fate of the country. But I do think that it's possible for him to do it. At least that's what I want to believe.

He could just bring the country to its knees and cause more division, hate, fear mongering, all that jazz. He's been great at doing that so far. Let's hope he quits the bullshit he's been spewing during the campaign and actually starts learning how to be a leader.

If not, then God help us all.