If we're still coming up with various King days, Don King Day could be fun if everyone promises to wear their hair upright like a Treasure Troll. Wearing it upright like Berthold from Baron Munchausen works too. And bonus points if anyone shows up all hived out like Marge or Kate Pierson. If you get any Coneheads to show up, that's the jackpot - we'll play ring toss with king bundt cakes. I'm kind of stoked.
That reminds me! Have you two ever heard this Picard classic from the Golden Age of the Internet? My friends and I have listened to--and quoted this--so many times it's embarrassing, yet it somehow always makes me laugh despite how stupid it is haha
I am of the opinion that "stupid" things are often the best. That video is like a time machine. Doesn't take me back as far as Zero Wing Rhapsody and is not quite the same flavor, but the nostalgia and hilarity are there in equal measure. LOL
Must be suffering from a glitch on my end since the article says "11 comments" but I can only see five, lol (only time that's happened to me is when someone's blocked me).
"Credit to me" had me in stitches, and obligatory "hell yeah Linkin Park reference" comment here ;)
[This is tangential but I do want to preface that I might not agree on the immigration issue—after an unsavory exchange with a CBP official (I'm a legal citizen, mother was visiting legally, all the paperwork was impeccable despite the rather byzantine process), my views on immigration have softened quite a bit. I hate to admit it, but "if the legal process is bereft of decorum / professionalism despite *us* seeking out the legal avenues, then why should the rioters care about law and order?" is a thought that transpires over my schadenfraude/resentment-addled mind a bit too often.
At this point, the only laws that merit strong distaste and contempt from me personally are ones where someone creates an actual victim (e.g. don't kill, steal, rape), and I'd err on mercy when it comes to say, a fruit vendor on Brooklyn bridge. I also think that it should be legal for anyone to work if they’re over 18, as this would get rid of the perverse incentive for a corporation to hire labor at low cost, since even an illegal immigrant would be entitled to minimum wage and workers’ rights typically afforded to citizens—no one’s working on the down low. But you're one of the few authors that I enjoy reading even if I might have some fundamental disagreements, so this doesn't detract from your piece ... just my two cents XD]
Needless to say, it’s really astounding to me how often people recycle superhero plots in such a way that it detracts from the original instead. In this case, the overuse of Star Wars analogies have made me very skeptical of watching the movies—granted, the only movie I watched from that franchise was the Force Awakens (infamous for a Muh-Rey Sue ;).
I do think there's a degree of nihilism and existential dread that lends itself to people seeking self-actualization through external pursuits like politics, but something I've also considered at length is whether it's also an attempt to do a "how do you do fellow kids"-esque appeal.
Partly because I think that if someone is intensely focused on their sense of despair, the world appears a lot more inconsequential to them. As a personal anecdote, for most of my high school life, I would be somewhat unable to extend empathy towards victims of world events as I was struggling with my own bouts of self-loathing and melancholy (the "you will never understand my pain" meme comes to mind).
This is something I've discussed (in the grass-touching realm, with unfortunate listeners) at length, but the overall system is so screwed up that people are dying for any semblance of coherence. There's a sense of despair that arises when one realizes the amorality that girds our lives on the macro scale (even the oft-bastardized idea of "no ethical consumption under capitalism" gets at this, imo). When I first learned about the--still looming--possibility of war with Iran, all I could think of was how we've seen this wanton destruction before with countries like Libya and Iraq.
The only options to this seem to be to take the blackpill ("Some say we'll see Armageddon soon
/ I certainly hope we will") or to become an ostrich, and somewhere in between is this sense that one could just *be* someone who "woulda fought off the Nazis". People want to be the good guy, not just due to a lack of objective meaning in life, but because the external world is so bleak. Anthropomorphizing evil is an expedient way to compartmentalize despair, I think. Trump is uncouth and politically incorrect, and that's enough for him to be the perfect candidate (I'd cite how Obama was a warmonger too, but he's a complete foil to Donnie due to his affability).
I used to muse that “depression” requires a fascinating juxtaposition of extreme self-diminishment and extreme self-aggrandizement, in so much that you believe you are singularly pathetic and that this is singularly important. Of course, this may just seem interesting to me because I am self-loathing, self-absorbed "depressive." :)
I am very sorry to hear about you and your mother’s experience with CBP. I’ve dealt with very unpleasant, disconcerting treatment from authorities toward myself and then-girlfriend as an immigrant while living abroad (not U.S.), so your sentiment is not lost on me. Immigration is a very large, complex topic to be sure, and I’ve only touched on the tip of the iceberg, so I’ll just add one smaller point that struck me: as much as lack of decorum angers me—truly, to quote David Byrne, “I hate people when they’re not polite.” and I especially hate Stanford Prison Experiment-types desperate for an excuse to flash their plastic badge and baton—and I absolutely know/can imagine from a combo of experience and extrapolation how arrogant, dehumanizing behavior from bureacrats/LEOs can create longstanding trauma and resentment, I do not believe that rudeness or a lack of professionalism alone warrants immediately cannonballing into outright riots or disregard for laws, as righteous and justified (or even just Fight Club-nihilistic) as one may feel in the moment. Not to say one shouldn't pursue legal methods of "preventing the machine from working," nor that there cannot reach levels of illegal authoritarian abuse and violaton of people's rights that "become so odious" that cardboard sign protests, strongly worded articles, and the occassional trip to the ballot box quickly lose their luster.
The original Star Wars trilogy is still really great btw :) Don't let Mark Hamill and Ted Cruz ruin that for you hahaha
Looking back on my response, I've learned (only to forget it in the future) that I shouldn't write when I'm sleep-deprived hahaha
Probably should have clarified that I'm not saying that someone *should* riot (that makes it worse for everyone in the long-run), but rather that I think that there are some very real--albeit resolvable by the overarching system--incentives for someone to travel illegally ... and there are incentives by the system *not* to resolve it, so that it can continually be brought up as a wedge issue and ascribe culpability towards someone who's guilty of minor offenses at best (perhaps on par with driving without a license). I don't dislike Donnie for blue-haired Bluesky reasons, but I do strongly think he could've acted differently such that there would be less political unrest today.
This might be a bit off-topic, but I appreciate how many pre/post-ambles you add even (or especially) if there's a disagreement on our stances on something. It might seems like a superfluous and time-consuming step on your end, but in exchanges like these, it's always read across as a considerate way to avoid dismissing others' concerns.
That's an interesting way to think of depression indeed ... but what if the self-awareness of one's narcissism makes them even more depressed? ;D
No worries at all; your original message is fine :D It was just my monkey mind getting easily distracted by a shiny word or two and then darting off with a pair of thought scissors on a tangent about perceived proportionality lol
"I think that there are some very real--albeit resolvable by the overarching system--incentives for someone to travel illegally ... and there are incentives by the system *not* to resolve it..." Agreed! The immigration, travel process in America is often an absolute nightmare, often ridiculously byzantine, and near-impossibly time consuming and cost prohibitive. I've seen it with friends and also with a spouse (non-American) of an American friend. It needs to be streamlined to help people, even if that also means some people just get flat out denied faster. And trying not treat people like inhumanely during this process, regardless of nationality or result, would be nice. And as I've said elsewhere, I concur that most politicians have zero incentive or desire to actually fix anything or even honor their own campaing promises (often the exact opposite actually)!
As for what Donnie could have done differently to ameliorate some of this unrest, that is an interesting topic. For my part, I may sort of split that apart and say I also do believe he could've handled things better from where I sit, but I actually don't think that would have any impact on the unrest, if that makes any sense. It may affect people like you or me, haha, who are less tribal and more willing to at least try call balls and strikes and consider nuance in good faith... but DemDems excoriated Donnie *for giving an award to a little black boy who'd just recovered from cancer* ffs lol! A reaction for which my beloved Hobo Fett legendarily nuked his own party for their "sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance." P O E T R Y! I will never get over how good that line is.
So not to sound partisan because listening to Lindsey Graham, or watching Tucker callout Fat Dracula the other day, reminded me how much I dislike Pubbykins too, but I have seen a bit more variance/individuality in the Pubbykins, with some standing by Donnie and others openly dissenting (even within his own admin like my other beloved, Tulsi), but as for DemDems they were (outside of Hobo Fett) always going to wail, gnash teeth, and riot. Nothing Trump does matters. He could cure cancer and invent the water engine, and they'd write paeans to melanoma and blow up the water engine factories... to save the climate, of course. Hell, some of these astroturfed "protests" could well have been planned by Soros or who knows who before Donnie enacted a policy. DemDem responses remind me of Gabriel's mantra in the new M:I, "It is written."
This, of course, really sucks and is self-defeating because the info-noise makes it harder to levy reasonable critiques of Donnie's policies because they get drowned out by the shrieking lunatics who won't brook any reference to Donnie isn't the usual recitation of his singular cosmic evil (and conversely you have the people who won't allow any critism of Savior God-King Trump, though I genuinely don't see them nearly as often).
Anyway, I digress! "... but what if the self-awareness of one's narcissism makes them even more depressed? ;D" Find out the answer to this and other burning quetions when I finally publish my memoirs!
Also! Thank you so much for this exceedingly thoughtful message: "This might be a bit off-topic, but I appreciate how many pre/post-ambles you add even (or especially) if there's a disagreement on our stances on something. It might seems like a superfluous and time-consuming step on your end, but in exchanges like these, it's always read across as a considerate way to avoid dismissing others' concerns."
I sincerely appreciate that, and it means a lot to me for you to pick up on that, as it is something I make a conscious effort to do. Though I try to always be honest in my views, I do value civility (This is an upcoming article!) especially with people whose opinions I respect and who I know have also made a concerted effort to be polite in addressing possible disagreements with my (potentially insane ha) perspectives as well. All of which is of course even more challenging online and in today's hyper-divisive, vitriolic milieu. (This is also why I'm trying to just to quit Notes because it is just too draining for me haha.) Less nobly, this practice also means I sleep the sleep of the just even if I decide to nuke someone like Fisty Chobani from orbit because I know that, like a good Starship Trooper, "I did my part!" in trying to maintain a cordial discourse. You are the only person to ever notice and/or take the time out of your own busy day to express that though, so thank you very much, and right back at ya. :D
As we celebrate Juneteenth with chitlins, fried chicken, boiled greens, and malt liquor, we grieve because there is still no Rodney King day in America.
Let's face it: the world is being led into the pit of perversion, violence, and evil. And it is led by the CIA.
😆😆😆
Why confront the banality of daily life when you can simply dive into a fanfic where you’re the heroic protagonist fighting for freedom?
Exactly! "Recall! Recall! Recall!" :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEllFk3Hqw
"See you at the party Ricta." 😃
If we're still coming up with various King days, Don King Day could be fun if everyone promises to wear their hair upright like a Treasure Troll. Wearing it upright like Berthold from Baron Munchausen works too. And bonus points if anyone shows up all hived out like Marge or Kate Pierson. If you get any Coneheads to show up, that's the jackpot - we'll play ring toss with king bundt cakes. I'm kind of stoked.
This totally feels like a Stefon sketch. 🤣🤣🤣
That would be AWESOME! I'm already psyched for next years party now :D Imma stock up on bundt cakes, pretty sure they don't go bad.
Also, we could add in a plain ol' King Day, like from Tekken, and we could all wear jaguar masks and do luchador moves.
https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp3788969.jpg
LOL!! Bundts are forever!! And I'm totally down with the luchadors. Especially StrongBad. Soooooo good!!!!!
https://media.tenor.com/vAtngcxyHZIAAAAC/homestar-homestar-runner.gif
All of it. Make it so.
That reminds me! Have you two ever heard this Picard classic from the Golden Age of the Internet? My friends and I have listened to--and quoted this--so many times it's embarrassing, yet it somehow always makes me laugh despite how stupid it is haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCbZfXW223E
Whaaaaat. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I am of the opinion that "stupid" things are often the best. That video is like a time machine. Doesn't take me back as far as Zero Wing Rhapsody and is not quite the same flavor, but the nostalgia and hilarity are there in equal measure. LOL
Could not agree more! :D
Must be suffering from a glitch on my end since the article says "11 comments" but I can only see five, lol (only time that's happened to me is when someone's blocked me).
"Credit to me" had me in stitches, and obligatory "hell yeah Linkin Park reference" comment here ;)
[This is tangential but I do want to preface that I might not agree on the immigration issue—after an unsavory exchange with a CBP official (I'm a legal citizen, mother was visiting legally, all the paperwork was impeccable despite the rather byzantine process), my views on immigration have softened quite a bit. I hate to admit it, but "if the legal process is bereft of decorum / professionalism despite *us* seeking out the legal avenues, then why should the rioters care about law and order?" is a thought that transpires over my schadenfraude/resentment-addled mind a bit too often.
At this point, the only laws that merit strong distaste and contempt from me personally are ones where someone creates an actual victim (e.g. don't kill, steal, rape), and I'd err on mercy when it comes to say, a fruit vendor on Brooklyn bridge. I also think that it should be legal for anyone to work if they’re over 18, as this would get rid of the perverse incentive for a corporation to hire labor at low cost, since even an illegal immigrant would be entitled to minimum wage and workers’ rights typically afforded to citizens—no one’s working on the down low. But you're one of the few authors that I enjoy reading even if I might have some fundamental disagreements, so this doesn't detract from your piece ... just my two cents XD]
Needless to say, it’s really astounding to me how often people recycle superhero plots in such a way that it detracts from the original instead. In this case, the overuse of Star Wars analogies have made me very skeptical of watching the movies—granted, the only movie I watched from that franchise was the Force Awakens (infamous for a Muh-Rey Sue ;).
I do think there's a degree of nihilism and existential dread that lends itself to people seeking self-actualization through external pursuits like politics, but something I've also considered at length is whether it's also an attempt to do a "how do you do fellow kids"-esque appeal.
Partly because I think that if someone is intensely focused on their sense of despair, the world appears a lot more inconsequential to them. As a personal anecdote, for most of my high school life, I would be somewhat unable to extend empathy towards victims of world events as I was struggling with my own bouts of self-loathing and melancholy (the "you will never understand my pain" meme comes to mind).
This is something I've discussed (in the grass-touching realm, with unfortunate listeners) at length, but the overall system is so screwed up that people are dying for any semblance of coherence. There's a sense of despair that arises when one realizes the amorality that girds our lives on the macro scale (even the oft-bastardized idea of "no ethical consumption under capitalism" gets at this, imo). When I first learned about the--still looming--possibility of war with Iran, all I could think of was how we've seen this wanton destruction before with countries like Libya and Iraq.
The only options to this seem to be to take the blackpill ("Some say we'll see Armageddon soon
/ I certainly hope we will") or to become an ostrich, and somewhere in between is this sense that one could just *be* someone who "woulda fought off the Nazis". People want to be the good guy, not just due to a lack of objective meaning in life, but because the external world is so bleak. Anthropomorphizing evil is an expedient way to compartmentalize despair, I think. Trump is uncouth and politically incorrect, and that's enough for him to be the perfect candidate (I'd cite how Obama was a warmonger too, but he's a complete foil to Donnie due to his affability).
I used to muse that “depression” requires a fascinating juxtaposition of extreme self-diminishment and extreme self-aggrandizement, in so much that you believe you are singularly pathetic and that this is singularly important. Of course, this may just seem interesting to me because I am self-loathing, self-absorbed "depressive." :)
I am very sorry to hear about you and your mother’s experience with CBP. I’ve dealt with very unpleasant, disconcerting treatment from authorities toward myself and then-girlfriend as an immigrant while living abroad (not U.S.), so your sentiment is not lost on me. Immigration is a very large, complex topic to be sure, and I’ve only touched on the tip of the iceberg, so I’ll just add one smaller point that struck me: as much as lack of decorum angers me—truly, to quote David Byrne, “I hate people when they’re not polite.” and I especially hate Stanford Prison Experiment-types desperate for an excuse to flash their plastic badge and baton—and I absolutely know/can imagine from a combo of experience and extrapolation how arrogant, dehumanizing behavior from bureacrats/LEOs can create longstanding trauma and resentment, I do not believe that rudeness or a lack of professionalism alone warrants immediately cannonballing into outright riots or disregard for laws, as righteous and justified (or even just Fight Club-nihilistic) as one may feel in the moment. Not to say one shouldn't pursue legal methods of "preventing the machine from working," nor that there cannot reach levels of illegal authoritarian abuse and violaton of people's rights that "become so odious" that cardboard sign protests, strongly worded articles, and the occassional trip to the ballot box quickly lose their luster.
The original Star Wars trilogy is still really great btw :) Don't let Mark Hamill and Ted Cruz ruin that for you hahaha
Looking back on my response, I've learned (only to forget it in the future) that I shouldn't write when I'm sleep-deprived hahaha
Probably should have clarified that I'm not saying that someone *should* riot (that makes it worse for everyone in the long-run), but rather that I think that there are some very real--albeit resolvable by the overarching system--incentives for someone to travel illegally ... and there are incentives by the system *not* to resolve it, so that it can continually be brought up as a wedge issue and ascribe culpability towards someone who's guilty of minor offenses at best (perhaps on par with driving without a license). I don't dislike Donnie for blue-haired Bluesky reasons, but I do strongly think he could've acted differently such that there would be less political unrest today.
This might be a bit off-topic, but I appreciate how many pre/post-ambles you add even (or especially) if there's a disagreement on our stances on something. It might seems like a superfluous and time-consuming step on your end, but in exchanges like these, it's always read across as a considerate way to avoid dismissing others' concerns.
That's an interesting way to think of depression indeed ... but what if the self-awareness of one's narcissism makes them even more depressed? ;D
No worries at all; your original message is fine :D It was just my monkey mind getting easily distracted by a shiny word or two and then darting off with a pair of thought scissors on a tangent about perceived proportionality lol
"I think that there are some very real--albeit resolvable by the overarching system--incentives for someone to travel illegally ... and there are incentives by the system *not* to resolve it..." Agreed! The immigration, travel process in America is often an absolute nightmare, often ridiculously byzantine, and near-impossibly time consuming and cost prohibitive. I've seen it with friends and also with a spouse (non-American) of an American friend. It needs to be streamlined to help people, even if that also means some people just get flat out denied faster. And trying not treat people like inhumanely during this process, regardless of nationality or result, would be nice. And as I've said elsewhere, I concur that most politicians have zero incentive or desire to actually fix anything or even honor their own campaing promises (often the exact opposite actually)!
As for what Donnie could have done differently to ameliorate some of this unrest, that is an interesting topic. For my part, I may sort of split that apart and say I also do believe he could've handled things better from where I sit, but I actually don't think that would have any impact on the unrest, if that makes any sense. It may affect people like you or me, haha, who are less tribal and more willing to at least try call balls and strikes and consider nuance in good faith... but DemDems excoriated Donnie *for giving an award to a little black boy who'd just recovered from cancer* ffs lol! A reaction for which my beloved Hobo Fett legendarily nuked his own party for their "sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance." P O E T R Y! I will never get over how good that line is.
So not to sound partisan because listening to Lindsey Graham, or watching Tucker callout Fat Dracula the other day, reminded me how much I dislike Pubbykins too, but I have seen a bit more variance/individuality in the Pubbykins, with some standing by Donnie and others openly dissenting (even within his own admin like my other beloved, Tulsi), but as for DemDems they were (outside of Hobo Fett) always going to wail, gnash teeth, and riot. Nothing Trump does matters. He could cure cancer and invent the water engine, and they'd write paeans to melanoma and blow up the water engine factories... to save the climate, of course. Hell, some of these astroturfed "protests" could well have been planned by Soros or who knows who before Donnie enacted a policy. DemDem responses remind me of Gabriel's mantra in the new M:I, "It is written."
This, of course, really sucks and is self-defeating because the info-noise makes it harder to levy reasonable critiques of Donnie's policies because they get drowned out by the shrieking lunatics who won't brook any reference to Donnie isn't the usual recitation of his singular cosmic evil (and conversely you have the people who won't allow any critism of Savior God-King Trump, though I genuinely don't see them nearly as often).
Anyway, I digress! "... but what if the self-awareness of one's narcissism makes them even more depressed? ;D" Find out the answer to this and other burning quetions when I finally publish my memoirs!
Also! Thank you so much for this exceedingly thoughtful message: "This might be a bit off-topic, but I appreciate how many pre/post-ambles you add even (or especially) if there's a disagreement on our stances on something. It might seems like a superfluous and time-consuming step on your end, but in exchanges like these, it's always read across as a considerate way to avoid dismissing others' concerns."
I sincerely appreciate that, and it means a lot to me for you to pick up on that, as it is something I make a conscious effort to do. Though I try to always be honest in my views, I do value civility (This is an upcoming article!) especially with people whose opinions I respect and who I know have also made a concerted effort to be polite in addressing possible disagreements with my (potentially insane ha) perspectives as well. All of which is of course even more challenging online and in today's hyper-divisive, vitriolic milieu. (This is also why I'm trying to just to quit Notes because it is just too draining for me haha.) Less nobly, this practice also means I sleep the sleep of the just even if I decide to nuke someone like Fisty Chobani from orbit because I know that, like a good Starship Trooper, "I did my part!" in trying to maintain a cordial discourse. You are the only person to ever notice and/or take the time out of your own busy day to express that though, so thank you very much, and right back at ya. :D
As we celebrate Juneteenth with chitlins, fried chicken, boiled greens, and malt liquor, we grieve because there is still no Rodney King day in America.
Let's face it: the world is being led into the pit of perversion, violence, and evil. And it is led by the CIA.
Great point! Where is my Rodney King Day!? Sadly, I think we both know the last thing the CIA wants is for all of us to “just get along.”