my journal: various subjects, opinionating, CW at times
The title explains itself.
If you're interested in the ramblings of a middle-aged man with chronic conditions who, at times, sees things a little too clearly for his own good, then read on.
Sometimes I get political, but it won't be all the time.
I don't mind comments in general but if you're going to differ with what I write, that's fine--as long as you can explain your position clearly & reasonably. Rants, shouting & general incoherence will be ignored or flagged, depending on the situation. Try to remember that not everyone else in this world holds your beliefs.
Every so often I may post art or snapshots of projects I'm working on.
If you're still interested after reading all the above, great. (I do wonder at how much time you have on your hands, though)
Not only is today the anniversary of 9-11, this morning I was awakened by the rain...actually it wasn't just rain. It was pouring down like the flood of Genesis. 🤦🏼♂️ Finally it stopped...for now.
Don't have much more to say today, gentle reader. If you've kept up with this journal then you know I'm old enough to remember that day firsthand, & you know my feelings on what caused it, who's to blame & why they hate us.
On top of all that, I can't listen to Eric Clapton anymore. Not after this s***... I wasn't a fan of his after the end of the 90's, but this just makes my not listening to Clapton's music "official".
(Incidentally, a relative of mine notified me of Clapton's racist rambling onstage back in 1976. I wasn't aware of that before two nights ago. Oh well...in my book, Clapton's guitar work is rather overrated. He's good but he ain't that good)
Been meaning to tell youall: I had my hobby journal thread shut down. This was about three days ago... Yeah. After some rumination about it, I decided there was no point in leaving it up.
I left the Hobby Zone forum, too.
Any future art I post (if at all) will probably be on here. Stay tuned 📺 if you wanna.
Surely one of the most frightening things you can hear in modern times is "we work for the [gov't agency acronym], & we're here to help."
@slowdecline48 Definitely! They all lie and deny. Tell you what they think you want to hear while twisting the knife they stuck in your back
I fasted today...will eat tomorrow. Hopefully this will calm my GI tract down.
Did anyone here watch the debate btwn Harris & Trump? If you did, what did you think of it & why? (All honest questions--I missed it)
@slowdecline48 I did. Tbh I have mixed feelings. She was smug and he was arrogant. I think she lied more than he did. The moderators fact checked him but not her. (I did my own checking on things - Springfield Ohio for one and found it to be true as told by actual residents. Most of what she said was untrue)
Personally I don't think she has the country's best interest in mind. She's going to "fix" what the current administration screwed up but she's part of the current administration 🙄 In one breath she says no and the next she says yes. There is proof on this. I think she's saying whatever she thinks she has to in order to win. (Which I know all politicians do that) I don't have a problem with immigration I think it's a good thing provided it's done legally. We're spending billions to take care of all these people when we should be taking care of our own. I could go on and on lol
Wouldn't it be nice if we could replace our joints the way mechanics replace faulty or worn-out parts in our cars & trucks?
The high priests of the Federal Reserve will meet this Wednesday. Given Jpow's statement this past August, everyone knows a rate cut is coming... Snapshots from the app:
Interesting thoughts. I don't believe the drop will be 75 basis points* but Lazaro is right about the national debt...Frank Reza has a point re kicking the can down the road. (It's a natural tactic, especially in electoral "democracies" like ours). "skull splitter" has the most sensible take. For the record, I predict it will be a 25-basis point cut with noise to the media about a possible further cut soon, to goose the markets so they don't dip.
*That is, a drop of 75 thousandths of a percent, or 0.75%. My prediction is -0.25% with cautionary noises.
Having fun in comment threads today:
This is how you make it through a political comment section: by not taking it seriously. I'd say that also applies to life in general.
@slowdecline48 Dang I'm impressed. I made homemade sauce once about two years ago. The tomatoes holy cow they were a pain
@slowdecline48
Id like to see the picture of the tomato sauce 🍅 you made 🥫☺
💩 on f***ing toast, man...
the Meniére's is acting up. I fell into my nocturnal tendencies again, which doesn't help. It also doesn't help that my creativity is at its best at night.
NSAIDs are a basic food group...this might be a YKYGOW moment. At some point I'll have to make a meme about it.
🫠
[CW: politics, the usual two cents]
As I see it, that decision means more than one thing:
- Though I didn't include it here, an informal poll of Teamsters' rank & file indicated more support for Trump than for Harris. (Dunno how wide or well-run the poll was) The union bosses won't go along with that because unions have solidly backed Democrats since about the mid-1960's if not earlier. Thus they decided on non-endorsement. That's the real story.
- Not only the fact above but also that the Teamsters--mostly the bosses & members who agree with their decision--did not stick to the usual party line, is telling. Though it's different from one labor union to another & from one chapter to another within a union, to varying degrees, some unions are run more for the benefit of their bosses than for the members. Not everyone is on the same page.
- One reason for pro-Trump sentiment among blue-collar guys is his protectionist stance vis-a-vis certain American industries. They probably figure the less manufacturing of our stuff abroad, the more will be made here, which means more jobs for them. But
- it is an unrealistic stance to take in today's world. With today's globalized macro-economy & fast-advancing tech, many blue-collar jobs are effectively obsolete. Factories can be shut down in one place & reopened elsewhere in a few days at most. Onshoring jobs here would jack up the prices of many products--which consumers do not want (especially these days!)...we all learned how it works in the late 90's to early 2000's. The only jobs that are truly resistant to outsourcing are in construction/building trades & trucking, for a few reasons. Even then, advances in robotics & AI will not stop...so those jobs will not exist indefinitely.
If I had to make a prediction, I'd say that in a few years the Teamsters will be the first union to fade out. Real live traffic conditions are tough for current autonomous vehicles but such machines do exist now; research/experiments with self-driving trucks is ongoing as I type this. There is a delivery service using small 4-wheeled robots in at least one city in Japan. Once autonomous 18-wheelers become practical...the Teamsters will start to die off.
