That is what is in the news today, at least in the pages of the Gray Lady, the New York Times. Apparently, if we don’t like Trump the alternative is no better. A sign of the times.
The New York Times writes about how conservatives point out Hogg’s more outlandish views like a 100% tax on all wealth beyond $1 billion and his making the case that all drugs should be legal. But I’m more concerned about his radical left views on gun control and taking away people’s rights to keep and bear and arms. Gretchen Witmer, the other alternative put forward by the Gray Lady doesn’t seem much more attractive in my mind either.
But on the other hand, I don’t like Trump’s turn against science and reality. Things like climate change and international trade are a reality, economists and scientists have studied such things to death and it’s advisable not to turn on our backs on what the evidence says. I also don’t like the idea of slashing and burning of federal government – federal employees do a lot of important tasks and produce a lot of important data – even if maybe the defense and federal law enforcement agencies are bloated and are prosecuting too many people.
Indeed, after listening to the news last night I awoke to a dream that the FBI was knocking at my door. They wouldn’t tell me where they were taking me or why they were there, except to say you know. They said it was part of President’s enforcement targeted actions against his political opponents. You know the ones the federal government is upholding, further delegitimizing the federal government. I’ve always thought government workers, especially the police and military are held into much too high of esteem for their highly compensated and honored government positions, when there are many jobs in the private sector just as dangerous and difficult but without the Memorial Day Parades. I did not comply, I was put down by a government enforcer with a bullet to my heart by the brave government workers, as the news reported. “He was crazy, we are not guilty, it’s been going on for 10,000 years,” goes the Great Mandela.
Truth is I agree that there ought to be more balance in academia, but the way to do that is not to stop funding colleges. I was listening to Elza Klein’s interview of Tom Friedman last night and he was pointing out the absurdity of how Trump is approaching China. Cutting funds to research institutions and blocking innovation in solar and wind power in favor of old dirty coal and oil power plants is setting our country so far beyond, as the European Union and especially China invest in their educational institutions and advanced technology. The idea that society can move forward on dubious Artificial Intelligence powered by coal and people driving in dirty gasoline and diesel automobiles seems absurd when we know the realities of climate change, which certainly anybody who has ever gone outside knows.
I do think federal priorities should encourage more study in economics and business – along with hard sciences – it’s true the liberal social sciences have gotten a lot of intention, and too often researchers mix politics in what they do. Often scientists are compelled to speak out based on their results, when the truth is they should be focused on the research and not the politics. Bias is an enormous problem in academia and scientific research more generally – but if anything we need to attract more voices by funding a wide variety of topics and people with different perspectives rather then cutting funding.
That said, I am not very political at this point. Honestly, we all have to live through the Trump administration, to get all riled up about it just means we are double sufferers – both our angst over the policies and what it’s actually doing to our lives. I’d rather just say the course, focus on my life and my career, save and invest in hope of eventually owning my own land and that off-grid cabin. Living out in the country, having pigs, goats, or even cattle, and a burn barrel for trash isn’t a super controversial thing, especially in a true rural place in a non-woke state where people just let you live how you want to live and own whatever guns you want without asking government permission. I can’t change Washington, much less Albany or the Town of Bethlehem but I can change my own life, and I can choose to eventually move somewhere that suits my values with less governmental overreach, lower taxes and more freedom. But for now it’s off to work, make money and invest it to a better tomorrow.
I made the tragic mistake of clicking on an article about the next generation of Schizophrenia drugs designed to help people with serious mental illness overcome their delusions and paranoia without many of the traditional side-effects of Schizophrenia drugs – namely the withdrawal from daily life and uncontrolled body movements.
Now I’m being followed around the internet with ads with creepy faces on toasters and refrigerators saying, “Know the Sneaky Signs of Schizophrenia”. The rather colorful and cute ads remind me of a psychedelic album cover from the late 1960s. You know the kind of artwork you might enjoy when you are pretty darn stoned and looking for something to be tuned into.
The irony of it all is such targeted advertising is not only creepy and plays in one’s own paranoia, it actually is in many ways a realization of the modern suburbanite’s home, full of internet connected appliances, constantly beaming information over the internet, some that you consent to and find useful but much of which can be used for nefarious or even surveillance purposes by hackers or government agents if they actually found you to be of something of interest.
I don’t have Internet at home but I have been to plenty of homes where people have Amazon Echos and “smart” televisions and refrigerators with large displays that smile at you and try to be friendly in appearance, even if they are data collecting machines, mostly for innocent purposes like telling you when your toast is done on your cellphone, that and selling your data and marketing to you. I mean, the schizophrenic aren’t exactly wrong about whereAmerica is going these days in your typical suburban home.
At least they’ll stop with all those obnoxious ads for overpriced tax software on this liberation day. Maybe that’s what the liberation is what it’s all about. At least both the state refund came through and my transfer before tax day, now I just need to figure out if I should return the transfer or invest it.
The sun is shining and it was nice to sleep with the windows open. For a while it rained last night and at for this morning it was a bit cool but nothing like yesterday. Good to be in a good mood on tax day, after all. I want to topped off the rear tire on the bike and then I’ll ride in. Noticed some cracks in rim which is some of noise I’ve been hearing but it also rides a lot quieter when the tire is good in hard. Easier peddling too but you do feel the bumps for sure.
Rain is coming later today, though my hope, probably unrealistic is to not ride in the rain. It’s all a matter of timing. I might stay late if I have some work to do until the rain passes. Otherwise I’ll ride downtown and take the express or local bus home. Been over a week since the last time I bused it in to work. Tomorrow looks windy but at least I think I can ride in tomorrow. I should go shopping this evening, though I probably can survive another day without shopping if I want to push it out to Wednesday. But the pantry gets more and more depleted and I’m out of milk.
Looking windy again for the second half of the week. That gives me pause about potentially going to camping with the fire risk, though I guess I don’t have to have a big ol fire though I’d like to burn some stuff up. Maybe I’ll look at going for a hike on Good Friday, assuming that’s a holiday but nobody knows this year with the state budget. That said, the wind is expected to die down on Friday, and rain by early Saturday so it might be good to hike then camp on Good Friday.
With rain showers pushing inm the skies have gotten dark and cloudy. Plus the days aren’t that long compared to May and it was kind of cool with the wind this afternoon, so I went down to park for a bit before heading back home. Probably be in bed by 8 PM, I’m kind of tired.
I need groceries but with the bananas and apples, and some creativity with cooking I should be fine at least through tomorrow or maybe Wednesday. By then maybe I’ll have a better idea of what Good Friday will look like for with work. Not sure what my plans are – I could do an overnight, though I kind of want to go farther out of town, maybe do a hike. I think was thinking more about Grandma Moses Country and wondering if there were other interesting options for hikes up there like Peaked Point at Batten Kill State Forest I explored last spring. But I also do want to get and do an overnight.
Looking back, it’s true many years the first real trip of the year wasn’t until late April or even the first or second weekend of May. Snow sticks around a long time in Adirondacks, there have been times when I’ve camped up there in late April or even early May when there is still snow up there. Saw this probably AI generated off-grid cabin post on Facebook today, and it peaked my interest. It’s almost like it was generated to get my interested. I could be paranoid about such things but I’m.
I knew I had an air bubble in the brake line on my bike again, but was hoping to do a simple handlebar bleed, but that didn’t work. I pulled the caliber and opened that bleed port, and there was so much air in the line, it almost just bubbled out without any pumping. But then I was out of mineral oil to refill the brake line, but I ended up topping it off with an old bottle of power steering fluid that seemed to be pretty close to mineral oil. Only used it really to finish off the bleed, and it’s working good, though I need to order more fluid.
For a while it rained last night and at for this morning it was a bit cool but nothing like yesterday. Good to be in a good mood on tax day, after all. I want to topped off the rear tire on the bike and then I’ll ride in. Noticed some cracks in rim which is some of noise I’ve been hearing but it also rides a lot quieter when the tire is good in hard. Easier peddling too but you do feel the bumps for sure. 
though my hope, probably unrealistic is to not ride in the rain. It’s all a matter of timing. I might stay late if I have some work to do until the rain passes. Otherwise I’ll ride downtown and take the express or local bus home. 
Been over a week since the last time I bused it in to work. Tomorrow looks windy 
but at least I think I can ride in tomorrow. I should go shopping this evening, though I probably can survive another day without shopping if I want to push it out to Wednesday. But the pantry gets more and more depleted and I’m out of milk. 
That gives me pause about potentially going to camping with the fire risk, though I guess I don’t have to have a big ol fire though I’d like to burn some stuff up. 
Maybe I’ll look at going for a hike on Good Friday, assuming that’s a holiday but nobody knows this year with the state budget. 
That said, the wind is expected to die down on Friday, and rain by early Saturday so it might be good to hike then camp on Good Friday.