We live in a noisy world. It was never quiet, but what used to be a natural background has become an artificial assault constantly seeking to capture and at all costs hold our attention.
Rather than wind, waves, or animals, the modern blare comes generally from two sources: The sellers and each other. The internet granted upon us — for better or worse — the ability to be noisy on a global scale.
Modern technology grants us one and all the ability to easily contribute to the din.
In what now seems the distant past — the late 1990s or early 2000s — as I walked to my car after work each evening, I noticed a common behavior in others also walking to their cars. A lot of them were talking on their cellphones.
This was before smartphones became a thing and long before apps on phones. To the extent there was texting, one had to laboriously use the dialing keypad. Those devices were just cellphones.
Watching so many walk-and-chat struck me as odd — I valued the quiet moments of transition from work to personal life.
I have written many times here about the wonderful Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol (1843). I wrote the first post back in December of 2012 when this blog was less than two years old. The most recent was ten years later, in December of 2022.
December, of course, because Christmas. Every year I watch as many adaptations as I can find (and I read the Dickens novella). It’s one of my favorite stories: it’s small and personal; it centers on a redemption arc; it has a classic happy ending; and it has ghosts.
This year I was struck by how it’s a powerful example of our cultural normative social values — something expressed throughout human literature.
Just for fun, here are a bunch of meme images I’ve made recently. Most of them were for the Notes section of Substack (its version of tweets). They’re all just my version of interesting memes I’ve seen or good lines that I thought deserved a nice image. Enjoy…
Today is Juneteenth, formally Juneteenth National Independence Day, a national holiday commemorating the ending of slavery in the USA. Here is the official Juneteenth flag:
It uses the same colors as the American flag because the descendants of slaves are Americans. (It has been suggested that these days that any Americans protesting a tyrannical government should wave as many American flags as possible to highlight that they are Americans protesting an unamerican government — unamerican as defined by our founding and 200+ year history.)
Here is a good post giving some background on the flag, and here is another good post pointing to more background on Juneteenth.
P.S. If you’re a science fiction fan and have never read Octavia E. Butler, I highly recommend checking out her work. She’s among the best I’ve ever read, and each book is a unique gem. [see Octavia E. Butler for details].
Stay antiracist, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.
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I’m still trying to wrap my head around this:
With all the post-game analysis, and all the pearl-clutching about the future, it boils down to a simple fact: Americans are fucking stupid children.
The “Grand” Old Party has, at this point, descended into naked fascism marching in lockstep led by their would-be tyrant. It’s hard to believe it has gone this far. It is mind-bending and disturbing that a large segment of America — apparently blinded by propaganda or willfully ignorant — can’t see the problem. What’s even worse is the sense many indeed agree with the program.
Almost as disturbing is that, even now, many Americans apparently remain undecided. Yet the choice we face becomes clearer every day as the Republican party increasingly drops any pretense of upholding the Constitution or traditional American values.
When it was Biden/Harris, the choice was obvious. Now that it’s Harris/Walz, the choice is even more obvious. I made a scorecard…
Vote Blue, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.
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Someone on another platform used the phrase “social entropy”, and it has been echoing in my head ever since. It strikes me as perfectly encapsulating what feels like the fraying of our social fabric. I almost wonder if the new millennium blew some of our mental fuses.
It’s hard to know what to make of things now. Is this just another pendulum swing along humanity’s path or a genuine sign of decline. Has humanity peaked, been found unworthy, and slid into a dumb and numb acceptance of our lot?
What the hell is even going on anymore?
My President.
Okay, the debate was disappointing, let’s get that out of the way. There’s a long history of dismal first debate outings. Sometimes they are followed by stellar second debates. I’m ever hopeful, but there is a fundamental problem here with the Democrats that worries me.
I’ll get to that, but I want to stress my other point right away. Biden and the Democrats are far (far!) from perfect, but the alternative right now is unthinkable. What is offered by the Republicans is contrary to long-established conservative American values (let alone progressive ones).
I have no plan here, no notes, just some thoughts.
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