Author Archives: iCentrist

THE FLAT EARTH CONSPIRACY

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THE FLAT EARTH CONSPIRACY

Once upon a time, science was regarded as one of the most respectable and important tools in our arsenal to understand our world, ourselves, and our place in the universe. Sure, it’s had its problems, its fanatic practitioners who’ve embarrassed the look of said tool, but always it was driven by fact and observation. Its butted heads with religion but at the end of the day science is not a religion but a practice of logic and practicality. Whereas religion is about feeling and faith, science is cold and calculating. A dominion of the mind.

     If a scientist said the moon was round, composed of various elements, and could only be reached via a slow two day trip, we believed them. Because they were scientists. These were the people who ‘knew’ because they used their minds to solve problems.

     And then something happened.

     Over the last few decades, hardline ideologues with a mind towards the theological, managed to convince a number of the public that scientists were wrong and not to be trusted.

     Global warming being caused by human beings?

     Don’t be ridiculous! Just because we’re pouring 40 billion tons of carbon into the air annually, doesn’t mean that’s having an effect on the environment! Besides, here’s a snowball!

     We need better monitoring systems of NEOs (near earth asteroids)? Ludicrous! A near earth object hasn’t hurt Earth since the dinosaurs! Scientists are just trying to panic you! We’ll never have to worry about that again!

     Immunizations can stop child hood diseases? Laughable! Do you think we don’t see what you’re trying to do!? You’re trying to make our children autistic! Don’t trust them!

     Our energy needs need to change? Preposterous! We’ve been using gasoline for over a century and we’ve never been better! They just want to take away your independence!

     Rhetoric is trumping our scientific understanding. And no where is it more apparent than under the growing movement of the Flat Earth Society.

     Yes. That’s right. There are people who believe that the Earth is flat. Still. And it’s getting larger. The movement that is.

     Now, I’m not going to sit here and give a rational summizing of how they’re wrong and this is the evidence supporting my claims and etc etc etc. Mostly because, I’ve already had this argument many, many times. And it’s frivolous. They just believe it and their minds cannot be changed. So I’m going to take this opportunity to lament over the lost scruples of our new day and age because, obviously, we’re devolving as a society.

     So, just what is the Flat Earth Society and the Flat Earth Movement (affectionately known as ‘flattards’ in some circles)? It is a movement that believes there is a global conspiracy to conceal the true nature of Earth. That every nation on the face of the planet might be in conflict with each other from time to time but agree on this one fundamental issue that they must keep the fact from everyone around the world that the world is actually flat. And that flatness is encircled by a giant sheet of ice known as Antarctica. And that no one has ever crossed that ice sheet because: A) it’s illegal and monitored by every nation’s military and B) because it’s impossible to do.

     They also believe that gravity doesn’t exist. That what we call gravity is a force of acceleration by the massive disk we live on as it continues to fly upward by some unknown force. Through space. Forever. The sun and the moon are also small spheres twirling around each other above us giving us day and night.

     That’s it in a nutshell.

     And this…THIS is what people believe in that movement. It’s impossible to believe that the Earth is round with its own gravity well but, BUT it obviously makes much more sense that a giant disc encompassed by an ice sheet is speeding upwards through space for all eternity with two marbles doing a synchronized dance just above its surface!

     Sure, why not.

     How have we gotten to the point in our society where science is ridiculed but believing THIS is rational!?

     But, Tim, you might say, we have the evidence to show them! We’ve been to space! We travel around the world every day! Photos show the curvature of the globe! Satellites are in geo synchronous orbit! We have the factual evidence of the distances of the sun, the stars, and other planets away from us! We can observe!

     LIES! They’ll tell you. According to the Flat Earther, NASA never went to space. It was made up because we were in the cold war with Russia. Those photos allegedly taken in space?  Fabrications to fool the public.

     Travelers flying on planes, the Flat Earther will say, are not flying around the globe. No they’re actually completing a wide circuit on the disk top that somehow expends less fuel than say flying in a straight line, I guess. OH! But planes also can’t fly in a straight line, they’ll say! Because the pilot must readjust altitude if this were a real globe and since they don’t that shows how flat the Earth really is! Don’t believe me? Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOWZGky6Rc0

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCbdneAe2gk

     You’ll note that Flat Earthers will keep saying ‘show me the evidence to support your claim’. And when you show the evidence from over three thousand years of human migrational patterns, photos, stories, observations, your own eyes- they’ll dismiss it out right as ‘fake’ because there is NO evidence that you can provide them that will satisfy their conditions of ‘truth’.

     On the other hand, if you ask them to provide evidence to support THEIR claims, the likely response will skirt the ‘it can’t be shown’ argument and references to some idiot over a century and a half ago performing visual experiments on a lake because, to them, a boat doesn’t disappear ‘over’ a horizon, it vanishes view because of a curvature of your eye. But if you grab binoculars or a telescope you can clearly see the boat is still there so therefore the Earth is flat.

     And that’s it. Nonsensical retorts to scientific observations because what science has shown of the true nature is empirical.

     But that’s really part of the modern problem though isn’t it? These days the Flat Earthers CAN exist because our culture encourages them to exist. It’s no longer about empirical evidence and replication of experimentation. It’s no longer about the mind and what you can support with facts. It’s now about how you ‘feel’ something is true and therefore must be. I’ll use a word I once heard Stephen Colbert use: ‘truthiness’.

     Truthiness: I feel it is true so it must be.

     That sums up the state of our nation, of our species any more. The idea that personal world views supersedes factual demonstration is now paramount in the average mind. It’s a self placating gesture to shield oneself from serious problems in a world that continues to become more complicated and difficult to find a solution within.

     That and fear. Both are driving forces convincing people to follow the rhetoric of obvious liars because at least they offer a solution to issues we’re generally ill equipped to contend with. But this sort of personal security comes at the cost of other’s well being.

     If you’re a parent afraid to vaccinate your child because you fear the potential of autism being acquired, then you should be aware of the FACT that you’re definitely putting your child’s health on the line to whatever disease they might have been vaccinated against.

     If you don’t believe that human activities are a direct link to climate change and go out of your way to help elect candidates that are staunchly against environmental regulation, you should be aware that 40 billion tons of pollutants are entering the atmosphere every year. which, admittedly, is only .oo4 percent of the total atmosphere of our biome. However, the caveat being that that very slight change causes a warming of up to 1 degree temperature overall which leads to melting polar caps which add fresh water into the world’s oceans which disrupt currents, change migration patterns, can cause droughts and famine, and alter the soils where we farm making those locations no longer viable for food production.

     If you believe we are not facing an energy crisis and that our society will always have access to fossil fuels, you should know that the future viability of fossil fuels are very much in question and a need for alternative sources of energy production are required moving forward if we don’t want our society coming to a screeching, screaming halt.

     I’m sure a few people reading this will already be saying, “Look at this liberal cuck spewing ideological nonsense! You liberals are why we have problems!” To that I retort that’s part of the problem and what I’m talking about. Science has been demonized so much over the last few decades that it’s been given a label that doesn’t properly denote its value, that if you follow science you must therefore be a liberal. Effectively turning science into an ideology and thusly an enemy to be despised.

     But science is not liberal. It is not conservative. It is a tool. A tool we use to understand our world. The people who use those tools can have an ideology but the observation and replication aspects of the tool espouses no desire and only provides findings. And those findings give us the information we need to make educated decision.s Which is something I should think we’d all want.

     However, too many are taking aim at science. Taking aim at the very notion of finding real, irrefutable facts. Instead favoring ‘alternate facts’ and the idea that feeling is just as valid as the reality around them. Don’t get me wrong, feelings are important. They can keep you out of trouble and help you be wise in your decision making. But feelings are not observable. Alternative facts are not observable. Facts are facts because they were observed to be true. And that comes about by using the scientific approach.

     Unlike Flat Earthers who are the most notable syptom of this increasingly widening problem. And we need to get back to our respect of science. Or one day we’ll all believe we’re living on a giant disk screaming through space with two twirling marbles in the sky just above it giving us night and day.

     Are we sober yet?

 

For further reading check out this excellent article on the subject:

https://www.distract101.com/2017/01/flat-earth-theory-debunked-complete-guide/

I’m Just A Guy

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I’m just a man in a world filled with people. I struggle to keep food on the table and the bill collectors at bay. I pray to be successful in my own, private business but fear I will always be locked into a retail job that I hate. I have talents that await in the wings but can’t be fully realized due to time. I write here to share my feelings with the world but I think the world continues to pass me by. I continually try to make a difference in the lives around me but I get the sense that nobody could care less.

I would like to think that my thoughts mean something. And they do. To my friends, my family, my colleagues. To an extent. Some would say I’m angry and cynical. And this is true. The world has become a mosh pit of hate and a symphony of destruction. I see the innate capabilities of our kind to be better than we are, yet witness it thrown by the wayside for selfish gain. Sorrow seems to be my only ally here as no matter how much I speak and try to be logical, those around me seem content to ignore it and simply…be.

How can our species construct such amazing civilizations as the Aztecs, and the Egyptians, and the Mayan, and the Sumerian, and the ancient Chinese, and yet be so content to be violently opposed to one another’s endeavors to  seek the very basic ideals we all cling to as societies across the world? The yearning to be free and accepted. To become more than the sum of our parts. And yet the ire remains that if you aren’t one of us you’re one of them.

It’s like pissing in the wind and only getting soaked. I want more. But have to settle for less. I want to be heard yet I don’t want to be the center. I just want to see our kind evolve to its most perfect form. And fear that we’ll always be stuck with our hate and primal proclivities.

I guess in the end what I have to say doesn’t really matter though I’ll keep saying it regardless. I’m doomed to be an observer in the midst of madness and hope I’ll keep my wits in whatever life comes next. Maybe one day I’ll be able to focus on my animations and my tales. For now though it seems I’ll have to meander about in obscurity wondering how I’m going to pay the bills next month.

Anybody feel the same way? Or …Am I just speaking to the void?

 

https://www.patreon.com/CosmicFantasies

http://www.youtube.com/caeliclord

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWdU67nDn_UplIZnCS41WRA

 

Us Vs Them: The Human Condition

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US VS THEM: THE HUMAN CONDITION

Racism. A rightfully hateful word. It’s full of rage and disgust and the judgement that whatever is different is bad. Or if it’s not bad, it at least is predisposed to certain proclivities that can’t be ignored. For most people, racism as a term implies the eternal struggle between black and white (any sort of prejudice towards foreign entities tends to be more in the “xenophobic” category in most minds. Unless you’re African). It is filled to the brim with assumptions of character, class, wealth, identity, and mannerisms. It doesn’t care if it’s accurate, only that the wielder is secure in their own mind about what’s right and what’s wrong.

     Unfortunately, we don’t get racism without stereotypes. And stereotypes exist because of certain truths we’re all familiar with. Yet those truths come from over generalization based on a limited interaction with select individuals. Which of course colorizes perspectives and leads to general prejudices for which we’re all guilty.

     Let’s look at a prime example that I think shines a bright light on my line of thought. This is an example that, regrettably, is all too prevalent in our society and serves as the driving force of confusion, fear, and ignorance.

     The example being, but of course, the perception of White Vs Black. These perceptions are a result of two different prognostications: All Black people are criminals. And all White people are racist.

     Out of these misunderstandings you get the Black Lives Matter movement and its counterpoint: All Lives Matter. Both are correct in their assertions but are driven by a disconcerting bias both wield like a lethal weapon, changing the type of discourse we as a nation need to be having.

     The Black Lives Matter movement was spearheaded as a response to police violence and brutality. It says that Black people shouldn’t be targeted for being Black and that officers need to be held to a higher level of accountability. A sentiment that is completely reasonable but that in and of itself has approached its methods like all police and White people are the enemy. At least, this is how the movement is perceived from those outside of it.

     With the All Lives Matter movement, we have a direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement (And from here we get campaigns like Blue Lives Matter and the ill-conceived suggestion of a White Lives Matter movement in the works. But we’ll focus on the umbrella thought of All Lives Matter). The line of reasoning here being that you can’t just focus on one set of people. Everyone is important and deserve the same rights and respect. Which, again, is a reasonable line of thought.

     The biggest problem with these movements is their unwillingness to see through each other’s eyes. There are officers out there who are racist and more accountability is never a bad thing (though for some reason some would argue against that notion and would rather assume that authority would never turn on them). Yet, those officers make up only a small percentage of the police force and the truth is just as many incidents of police shooting unarmed White people occurs yearly as well. Though the media doesn’t help here as sensationalism is the big draw and a certain narrative must be maintained.

     Just the same there are Black people out there who do commit crimes as well. It’s a reality but one based in selectivity. And certainly the police need to be able to respond to criminal behavior be it breaking and entering, theft, rioting, or murder. There is a truth to be found in the facts that there is a large portion of Black youth who are criminals and do threaten members of society.

     I can hear it now. “That was the most racist thing I’ve ever read!” And that’s part of the problem. If we, as a society, are unable to discuss race related incidents without shouting “that’s racist” there will never be a solution to our ails. You’ll note that I didn’t say all Black people are criminals. Didn’t even say all Black youth are criminals. And I didn’t even suggest that it was a majority of Black youth. And this is because I don’t believe it to be true.

     In fact based on the data I’ve seen crimes as a whole tend to gravitate towards certain pockets of society. And just because one pocket is of a certain color does not imply it’s indicative of an ethnicity as a whole.

     Statistics will show fairly accurately that most crime is committed in heavy population centers. And those statistics are pretty consistent percentage wise over the various ethnicities guilty of perpetrating said crimes. (I’m not going to bore you with those stats here but you can find them quite easily via government and FBI websites. This is more an opinion piece and my thoughts than a paper on these issues though I can provide those stats if it becomes necessary.)

     Regardless of ethnicity commented on: White, Black, Asian, Native, Latino, etc, the list goes on, the data pretty consistently points to poverty and convenience as the main motivations of crime and that is the same across the board. Afterall, law enforcement didn’t just spring up overnight because a certain ethnicity moved in. It’s been necessary since the dawn of civilization because wherever you find humans, you find crime.

     So if we all experience the same issues, and stereotypes are driven by interactions with individuals and small groups (gangs, rednecks, hate groups, rioters, or however else we perceive these outliers) then why do we, as a species, cling to this belief that certain other people are just no good? Why do we cling to the idea that all muslims are terrorists despite knowing those are isolated groups of militants who are often ostracized even in their own homelands? Why do we continue to  harbor the ill feeling that all Jews are covetous and greedy despite the knowledge not every Jewish person is an accountant or lawyer or even have an opinion in political affairs? Let alone know how to balance their own checkbooks? Why does the notion linger that all Black people love watermelon and fried chicken when we know for a fact that EVERYONE loves watermelon and fried chicken? Ok, that last one is not factual just a strong feeling because KFC is not kept open by just Black folk.

     But now that we’ve opened that can of worms, why is there a perception that KFC is for White folk while Church’s is a Black establishment? They are both popular. Both good. And both prove that Americans love chicken.

     The problem, unfortunately, is the most simple thing yet the most complex aspect of being human: Us Vs Them. Or, in the most simple term, tribalism. Our species has its origins in surviving the elements through family groupings. And anything that wasn’t our family was a threat. And this mentality still seems to hold sway over civilization to this day.

     “If it doesn’t look like me, it doesn’t sound like us, it’s a threat to our way of life.” And that’s the view the individual in society seems to adopt. Because it’s simple. It’s far simpler to hate someone for being different than it is to accept them for who they are.

     It’s far easier to come up with a muslim ban because the assumption is all muslims are going to kill us and enforce sharia law rather than look to the socio economic issues that have led to militancy worldwide and try to solve THAT problem.

     It’s easier to ignore the Black Lives Matter movement in favor of an All Lives Matter movement because there’s no way there could be endemic issues with American values that would lead to the impoverished and left behind getting into conflicts with law enforcement. Because clearly poor people are poor because they want to be, right? And their issues with the police are a result of their own impulsive behavior. And therefore they have no respect for law enforcement.

     It’s far simpler to build a wall dividing the US from Mexico over fears we’re being overrun by illegal immigrants, than to really look at the problem and figure out why so many are taking the life and death risks of crossing the Rio Grande looking for opportunities and safety that they can’t find back home.

     It’s easier to say that we’re a Christian nation that’s the best nation in the world and turn our backs on those who are suffering most and pretend we still have the moral highground when we’re sacrificing everything we hold most precious out of fear than it is to acknowledge that every religious perspective holds wisdom and gives people a sense of security.

     Because that’s how tribalism works.

     It cares about nobody else but our own. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. And if you want to be with us then that means you were never one of us to begin with. And we further isolate ourselves and put ourselves in even more vulnerable positions as a result.

     Until we can resolve this inner state of chaos, I worry that we’ll never be able to truly solve the issues of our time.

     Issues like terrorism. Issues like nationalism. Issues like global warming. Issues like illegal immigration. Issues like racism and all the other –isms we have to contend with. Issues like dwindling supplies of fresh water and adequate sources of food production. All of it.

     Because, sadly, time is running out. And these issues are not just going to go away. We have to be able to discuss these problems rationally or we truly will lose ourselves to “them”. Only that “them” we’ll discover too late was always “us”.

 

 

To Hell With The PC “Master Race”!

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I am so SICK and tired of hearing how AWESOME the PC players are with their nonsense gaming experiences! Playing games on the PC fucking sucks! I mean completely! I have had enough of the obstinance from the PC community thinking they’re superior to the rest of us. I’m a console player through and through and there’s a reason why.

With a console I don’t have to worry about tweaking my damned game to work right. I don’t have to fine tune the details until it is visually acceptable. It works right when I put it in. The controllers do EXACTLY what they’re supposed to do! I don’t have to download this driver or that update. On a console it just does it! This is the disconnect between PC gamers and console gamers. PC gamers don’t understand WHY console gamers like their consoles.

“Well it’s outdated as soon as it releases!” And I say True! But I don’t have to spend 20 hours trying to get my software to work in the vein hope that there won’t be any issues at the end of the process. With a freaking PC I have to be a fucking programmer with advanced knowledge in C++ to make the goddamned game play. This is true for Steam products and EA products and any games that you have to download! Sure, y0u get to customize your experience but keep in mind this you, “master PC gamers”, those of us who like consoles like them because we DON’T have to be fucking programmers to play one fucking game!

It’s fucking ridiculous! If I buy a controller for the PC and plug it in, the mother fucker should work the second I plug it in! I shouldn’t have to find some obsolete driver that may or may not still exist on the internet just to use it! I shouldn’t have to update my windows os to some newer version I just don’t fucking want just to sample the newest game released! Plug N Play is a term for a reason jackasses! And it’s not for me to sit there and pretend I’m something I’m not and to be berated for not being on board with your bullshit to begin with!

What’s great about the PS4 or XBOX One is that you can just put in a game, plug in a controller, and sit back and enjoy the fucking game you just spent 70 dollars on without having to jump through a million hoops! I HATE, HAAATTTTTEEEE PC gaming! It is soooooooooo inconvenient and frustrating! There is NO fun to be had in it unless you’re some psychopath who has hours a day to spend on specking your rig to the optimal settings and knowing what graphical cards you need, what audio drives you need, what cooling systems are required to make your fucking PC actually fucking work!!!!

To HELL with that shit! Sorry for my obscenities but I’ve had enough! Stop claiming to be the superior gaming society when you have to go through a military boot camp just to play the latest release! It’s annoying and inconvenient! You want to know why so many gamers like console releases!? It’s because they don’t have to spec their PS4 or XBOX One every time they buy a game! They can just plug it in and it works! Period! After a dozen hours of just TRYING to sample a new game, I’ve entirely given up! It’s not worth the stress and agitation! It’s not worth the grief! I’ll stick to my consoles thank you fucking much and don’t you come at me anymore with your bullshit PC master race crap! Because I’ll just call you a sadist and a masochist who’s only happy to suffer under the most unbearable of electronic circumstances!

I just wanna play!

Anyhow…that annoys me sometimes so I won’t be doing that anymore. Just wanted to vent my frustration because, damn, it’s ridiculous. But, you know, if that’s your thing, more power to you.

Viva La Console Race!

The New World Order

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I’ve been wondering lately about something. Do we still need nations? We’re so divided as a species that we’re all constantly warring with one another over “sovereignty” and “statehood” yet we refuse to be concerned with the issues of others who are not ourselves. This leads to the very real threat of global violence on a scale we’ve never seen before. The fascist tendencies of our administration in the US has isolated us already from many diplomatic connections the world over. I mean, how much power does the UN have anymore themselves? There are five veto wielding members of the UN: The US, Russia, France, the UK, and China. Anyone of those entities can basically at a moment’s notice tell the world to go screw itself and no one can say anything about it.

Iran still seems obsessed with controlling the Middle East agenda. As does Saudi Arabia. North Korea seems to think it’s a real threat to the world while China wants to dominate Asia. The UK voted to leave the EU in the vain conceit that somehow they don’t need the rest of Europe. Africa has always been a hotbed of warlords. Russia is flexing its muscles yet again to show that they’re still relevant. Mexico is in a tiff with the US over the border wall. And ISIS STILL thinks they can establish a caliphate in the middle of territories controlled by multiple governments.

But to what end?

Where does this get ANYBODY?? Are any of us safe? 

Trump keeps spewing rhetoric out of his ass as if he actually gives a damn about anyone other than himself about “making America safe again” or even “Great Again” as if this country has never ever been the backbone of trying to establish some sort of global cooperative that wasn’t just about itself.

And no I’m not excusing the poor behavior America has engaged in in the past. Because, let’s face it, we’ve done fucked up on a number of issues but we at least TRIED in the past to be better than the stupid shit we’ve done. And for one brief moment throughout the late nineties we ALL looked to be becoming a global community finally. After at least a dozen wars worldwide over the last century (oh that’s just what I can think of! I’m sure it’s as high as 40 or more easily!) we’re no closer to being an actual global community than we were since. We all gave up! We listened to our leaders who just wanted to get into an epic dick measuring contest with each other across the world! AND FOR WHAT!?! WHAT ARE WE GETTING OUT OF IT!?! HOW ARE WE BENEFITING FROM ALL THIS CARNAGE!??!

We’re not! Religious wars, oil wars, territory wars, border wars, immigrant wars, hate wars, spite wars, economic wars, climate wars…it just doesn’t fucking end! And whenever you bring up a global government that might be able to bring some sort of hope to the destitute survivors of constant war, you have some assholes spouting nonsense about global conspiracies trying to control the populace! It’s too much! Any sane mind has to ask “why?” Why are we doing this to ourselves? What’s the point of nationalism when nations keep changing and borders keep getting redrawn? Will there ever be a time when we can just put down our arms and look to exploration again? When we can thrive together in a cooperative to preserve our societies and ensure that no one is left behind? Must there always be conflict? 

I see the hate in my own nation. See people turning against each other because of political diatribes and dubious ideologies. We’re all so up our own asses about our own beliefs that we’ve stopped being concerned about how our neighbors are doing. And this is because too often even our neighbors are out to get us! How have we survived this long as a species!?

This has become more than a rant than anything but I need to get this off my chest. I no longer care about nations. I care in being Terran. This is our world. We our ONE species. The color of our skin is meaningless. But the test of our character is eternal. 

I look to stories told such as Mass Effect and see a glimmer of hope in the writing that people want to see a better tomorrow. Want to see our species reach for the stars and to coordinate our efforts to be better than the sum of our parts. That we’re not just the rhetoric of our leaders, but that we, as humanity, have a place in this galaxy. We must be driven to be a United Earth. One that will not put up with mutually assured destruction as a defensive mechanism. That we can protect ourselves from the natural threats present in our solar system and that we can settle Mars. And the moon. And Titan. And even Pluto. That we will work together to solve our problems as a world. As Terrans. Not as individual nations selfishly trying to destroy one another. Because if we can’t…then we don’t exist. And that might be okay from those arrogant SOBs who profess to be looking out for our best interests, but it can’t be okay for our species.

We have to give up our notions of boundaries and focus our efforts on those who would strike out against us. Because those who want to control us (criminals, terrorists, xenophobes, racists, tyrants, imbeciles) don’t represent the best of our kind. They only represent the worst of the individual. And no nation is an individual. It’s made up of a world of people.

So let’s stop being individuals. And start being a world. Because then and only then will we truly be great.

The Trump Presidency: How Did We Get HERE?

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THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY HOW DID WE GET HERE?

It was Tuesday night. November 4th. 2016. I was mostly drunk and furious. On my knees with tears on my face raging to the heavens at the absurdity I was witnessing. This wasn’t the world I wanted to live in. This wasn’t the way I wanted to see a Republic fall. Or rather, I wailed about not wanting to live through the collapse of my nation.

     I went on Facebook and ranted and raved. My wife locked herself in the bedroom because, despite our vows, she didn’t want to move to Canada. And several of my friends just left Facebook altogether due to the diatribes they were seeing. Not just from me of course.

     The next day, embarrassed by my hyperbolic posts, I deleted them save for one. Which I’ll get to later. I then proceeded to write an amended piece. Not one of “Let’s give him a chance,” but one devoted to a more in depth analysis as to WHY I was so vehemently upset. You see, I meant what I said. I was just ashamed with how I said it.

     Now, based on the fact that I raged so (afterall, no one saw this coming…well, outside of a few predictors) one might assume that I’m some far left liberal nutter who can’t imagine a conservative president being in office again. Because they don’t hold the same values as America right?

     Sorry to disappoint. The truth is I’m a moderate with liberal leanings. It’s also true that I despised Hillary Clinton. But, and it’s important to stress this, I didn’t throw my support behind her because I thought her policies were superior. Nor that I just hated the guy she was running against and she was the lesser of two evils. (I mean, she was, but that’s incidental.) No it was because I knew she could do the damn job. Hell, I know Mike Pence could do the job. That Romney would do the job. That certainly John McCain could do the job. And even that walking meme Jr could fumble his way through most of the job (with help from his puppet master, of course.) In fact, the majority of the voters felt the same way.

     YET, here we are. The bumbling cheesy poof won. The man who probably couldn’t figure out how to zip up his own pants with his tiny, tiny hands without assistance from his yes men is now leader of the free world and God help us all.

     Like I said, I’m a moderate. So this isn’t an ideological issue I’m having as such a charge is levelled quite frequently at people who hate the man. In fact, though liberal leaning, I would have been fine with a McCain administration. Ok with a Romney administration. Somewhat dubious of a Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, or a dozen other’s administrations. Yet they still would have brought a certain perspective to the table that we are currently missing: that they alone are not the ones to “save” America but would work within the framework of the Constitution to perform their jobs.

     That we find ourselves with this affront against all the values we hold dear is a terrifying example of what can go wrong when a nation loses faith in its government. What’s even more worrisome is that his supporters don’t seem to get what all the uproar is about.

     So how did we get here?

     I have heard a variety of reasons of how we ended up with the current president. Reasons running the gamut from racism to xenophobia. From sexism to destroying Washington. And from what I can tell it’s all of the above. And none of said reasons. You see, for whatever the reason was, it was determined that the only way to solve it was to pull the pin on a giant orange grenade, lob it at Washington, and see what the end result would be.

     And what these last several weeks have demonstrated quite clearly is that such a mentality is a detriment to our Republic.

     Drain the swamp? How about we make it more murky.

     Build a wall and make Mexico pay for it? Well, they probably won’t pay for it but we’re gonna build it anyway no matter the cost!

     Immigration reforms? Let’s go ahead with that Muslim ban but NOT call it a Muslim ban and assume no one will notice. (And then argue with the Judicial Branch claiming they’re “so called Judges”. They’re judges, bub. This is what judges do.)

     Deal with actual terrorist threats? Nah. Let’s make up terrorist attacks and then focus on our daughter’s clothing line when a real one happens.

     Defend the LGBT community like we said? Pfffft! Don’t be absurd! It’s clear people only go to the bathroom to watch each other do their business. (I mean, I don’t. I don’t want to know what’s going on in the next urinal or stall over. I get my business done and get out. No time for conversations. You hear that?? I don’t want to chat while doing my business so stop trying! Where’s the “Shut Up And Do Your Business” legislation, huh?)

     He has also gone slap happy with executive orders and memorandums (which are on par with the number Obama issued in his first three to four weeks. Both went crazy compared to the last six presidents) in his first month in office. My issues with these last actions are not so much numerical (insane though it is) but substantive. We rolled back regulations on Wall Street before. Did that help America or, oh I don’t know, lead to an economic crash in 2008? Why is he obsessed with creating a government run task force to combat crime nationwide? Shouldn’t we rather make sure our police forces are better trained and prepared to handle a wider variety of modern threats? Doesn’t this idea of his sound a bit…authoritarian? Will they have a cool set of initials too like the SS or KGB? In fact, I can only give das führer one cause for applause in that he wants to combat human trafficking. It does need to be stopped. But why do I get the feeling that policy endeavor will come with some caveats? I mean, it’s not like anything from the hand of orange can be purely altruistic? Can it? It would be great but doubtful.

     And now the nuclear powers around the world are starting to flex their muscles in a bid to take advantage of a perceived vacuum on the global stage. What’s General Hairpiece up to? Golfing. After ridiculing the idea while campaigning. Nice.

     Now about those reasons.

     First up, the accusation of racism. Agent Orange didn’t do himself any favors by labeling Mexicans “rapists”, inferring the police are the only victims in a system badly in need of reform, called for a ban on all Muslims (yet, and I must be clear, was fine with Christians from those nations coming in-so less racist than a religious test yet still bigoted in its approach), and encouraged his supporters to punch and hit “those” people (though he likely just meant protesters YET had to have known how white nationalist his crowds were getting, right? RIGHT?!) And though Captain Planet claimed he didn’t know who David Duke was, it has been shown that he IS aware of him as he once called him a racist and denounced him several times for it. Therefore, at some level, there has to be a recognition by him of this fact and may even be using it to further his career.

     However, though we can see there is a racist component in the candidacy and possibly in the administration itself too, we can’t conclusively say racism is what got him elected.

     What about xenophobia? It can’t be argued that our subject of interest wants to bring a halt to a majority of immigration for the time being. But can we call it xenophobia? Certainly there are elements in the support base who’ve taken it upon themselves to show those nasty foreigners what’s what and definitely the xenophobic urge is present in his base. What was once the Muslim ban became the Travel ban and the wall to keep out those pesky Mexicans is going up. (Though there doesn’t seem to be a concern about Canada and potential terrorist cells there. Perhaps tackling THAT border would be too monumental of a task.) There does seem to be a legitimate concern from this supposed president over terrorists entering the country illegally. He wants stronger vetting measures afterall. But his arguments get undermined when terrorist cells have entered LEGALLY and are often homegrown. But sure let’s pick on the Syrians and then undermine our own arguments by saying it’s alright to let in the Christian ones. Because a Christian has never committed a terrorist act. Oh wait…

     Sure there’s fear about the unknown but given the massive protests over the Travel Ban (even by some former supporters) it’s likely this wasn’t the sole contributor to victory either.

     Let’s consider sexism. Because you can’t be a 70 year old man talking about grabbing women by the pussy and disparaging their appearances on national television without you NOT being labelled sexist. Yet there were an alarmingly large group of women who didn’t seem bothered by this. In fact, a lot seemed to view it as an indicator of honesty. Especially given the deep distrust of Hillary. But what’s really remarkable are those women who’ve I’ve personally talked to who voted against Hillary because they truly didn’t believe a woman should be running the nation. (An issue that will have to be addressed by any future women running by either party if they hope to win.) In fact, the general consensus among those individuals is that a woman is too emotionally unstable to concentrate on such weighty issues as national security, or domestic policy. (Total bunk, mind you, as the world has already had numerous female leaders who were more than up to the task and are still there. But there’s also the bunk idea that a man can’t be ‘emotionally unstable’. Hell, we’re living through proof right now.)

     Hillary didn’t do herself any favors by bringing on board the most boring and whitest white guy who ever whited Tim Kaine. A man so forgettable that one can easily forget he was even the VP pick. And then there was the whole email controversy which further convinced the anti-women women that women couldn’t handle the responsibilities of higher office. (And an issue that seems to be moot now given that the entire administration has, up until recently, had their own private servers. The claim now though is that those accounts have been deleted. We shall see. Regardless, Commander Hairpiece STILL won’t get off the unsecure Twitter account!)

     But despite these issues, the perception of Hillary being the elite example of Washington may have more to do with the vitriol. Making even this idea of sexism, sexist statements aside, another unlikely sole component to get him elected.

     And the destroying Washington claims and claims like them? I can’t take these that seriously. Though the thought among most was to shake up Washington, the majority (vast majority) still want a federal government. They just want the representatives to do their jobs and stop the infighting. It’s the extremist fringe that holds up true reformation in Washington. Even so, I can’t imagine that many people just want to do away with it all.

     That sets the stage for anarchy and there has never been a large presence of anarchists in the US making this the most unlikely component of the Orangutan’s ascension.

     Therefore, the only conclusion to draw here, in my personal estimation, is that it was all a part of the process yet none of it clearly drove the outcome. In the end, it just seems like a way to grab Washington by the shoulders and shake it till it listens. Which I’m doubtful about. Afterall, Washington is so entrenched with itself that not even an orange grenade will do much more than make it flinch. Personally, I think congress is just waiting for him to tire himself out and likely won’t move on anything vital until he’s willing to follow their lead. Well, asides from the Affordable Healthcare Act that they’ve been chomping at the bit to tear apart for a while now. (Oh and apparently go nuts on some ideological issues that they’ve been hungry for for a long time leading to some really horrifying results. I’ll probably get into that in a later blog.)

     We got here by policies that ignored too many people for too long a time. And by the implementation of a political agency (the electoral college) that no longer seems relevant in this day and age.

     We got here because the nation wants Washington to listen, but Washington doesn’t seem to care.

     We got here because our choices in an election seem to really come down to a turd and a giant douche so this time they went with the absurd.

     We got here because there’s a mentality in the country bent on dividing the nation into extremist elements that can easily be labelled Retardicon or Libtard with no consideration for a centrist viewpoint.

     We got here because talking points are more important than facts and faux media is at war with journalism. (And the parties right now seem more concerned about just holding office and just don’t care WHO represents them in the office. Just so long as they have power and THIS is a dangerous goal to hold.)

     And we got here because half the country is in an ideological war with itself while the other half has stopped caring altogether.

     This is an untenable situation and if we’re not careful the next election cycle is going to give us something even more outrageous. This time from the extremist left. Let’s turn back to moderate and centralized ideals where diplomacy and compromise are no longer dirty words but the most useful tools in our social contract. Let’s get back to recognizing that America is great and it’s great BECAUSE of our values of compassion, diversity, sense of unity, and for being the beacon of hope that recognized all peoples for who they are.

     I mean, isn’t that why we’re having an immigration problem to begin with? Shouldn’t we be proud that so many people WANT to come here? Do we need to drive away the world to make ourselves feel better? If we continue down this path we won’t be a Great America, we’ll be an America that was once great.

     Oh, and as for that one post I kept? It’s this picture below and I think it says it all.

 

 

 

Pewdiepie Is NOT Anti Semitic

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Ugh. What’s happening to this world? How is everything going to shit so fast? Everybody is at each other’s throats and nobody is stopping to listen to what the other is saying. Case in point, the recent Pewdiepie allegations.

Apparently, the Wall Street Journal felt compelled to write an article and post a video speaking to the instances of one Felix Kjellerg aka Pewdiepie posting about Nazi propaganda. The only problem? These videos they referenced weren’t propaganda but rather commentary on how insane the world is becoming. Now I’m not a fan of Pewdiepie, in fact, I find him rather obnoxious and annoying. But I’ve seen many videos of his, including those referenced in WSJ’s pieces. And those pieces were so taken out of context it’s disheartening. I’m shocked. Stunned. Appalled. In a state of disbelief. Not because I think Pewds said these things maliciously, but that these so called journalistic agencies failed so miserably to commit to journalistic integrity.

No, Pewdiepie is not antisemitic and though those videos were stupid and over the top, it’s no less than what you see on South Park or Family Guy. Yet, Disney dropped him and youtube is distancing itself from Felix’s channel. And the reasons for this are due entirely to bad reporting. And what pisses me off most is that I find myself SIDING with those idiots in the White House! They keep levelling the charge of a dishonest media with a penchant for delivering faux news and then THIS happens! Legitimizing too many thoughts coming from Agent Orange’s head.

This is unreal. It can’t be true. The entities that are supposed to adhere to truth are NOT into making false statements and misleading the public. YET here we are. And I wouldn’t have believed it if I weren’t so in the know with the source material. It is quite literally a hit job and every site I’ve seen is running with the WSJ’s assessment. How can this be reality? How can people be fine with ruining a man’s reputation? I mean, he’s an idiot, but he doesn’t deserve to be railroaded over something that isn’t true! And yes it’s true the content you’ll see in those posts by WSJ are from Felix’s videos but sans context, how will you know what it actually meant? The conclusion will be drawn by the average reader and viewer that Pewdiepie is this Nazi White Nationalist they’re painting him as when in fact he’s not. No where near it.

It’s getting out of hand! I fully believe in equal rights for all people: men, women, immigrants, races, etc. But I don’t believe in false narratives like you see with so many SJW posts around the web. I fully support freedom of speech and think it should be held in highest esteem regardless of what trite nonsense is falling forth from mouths the nation over. BUT I despise the art of putting words in people’s mouths that were never said! Or twisting the words that were! I might not like Pewdiepie, but I support his right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. And shamefully enough, we have a growing culture that likes to get its news through opinions rather than facts. Which is what we got from the WSJ. Shame on you, Wall Street Journal. You’re better than this.