The Ear, the Ride, and the Ugly

Yesterday was pretty cool and windy.  I had a hearing test and a visit with my Otolaryngologist.  What genius decided it would be a good idea to change the name of the specialty from Ear Nose and Throat to that.  Blogger spell check does not recognize it as a real word.  Anyway, my hearing has not declined since last year, the hole in my ear drum has not enlarged, and unless I'm sick of the water restrictions on the ear, there's no real reason to do a third surgery.  I'm going with do nothing. 

A view of the Catalinas from the roof of the parking structure.  It's not a great photo, I was too lazy to get out of the car to take it. 

Today was a ride day.  It started out cool, but quickly warmed up.  It's interesting how quickly it goes from cool to warm.  I think this is a giant aloe blooming in front of someone's front yard.  It's a big plant, it has been there for awhile.

Some of the ocotillos are blooming, many have not put out leaves yet.  They all seem to march to their own drummer on that.  The big one we have in the yard is not doing anything, we're hoping it's not dead.

Who watched the 100 minute deranged speech the deranged president did last night?  I did not, couldn't stand it.  It was full of lies and insults.  47 said that no matter what he did, the Democrats would not clap.  I wish they all would have walked out after Rep. Al Green was escorted out, or not shown up at all. 

DOGE is cancelling building leases.  To date, they've cancelled the building where the NOAA Doppler radar inputs are processed, the building where nuclear waste is processed before being put in deep tunnels in the ground, and the jewel of the FDA, which is the lab where bad pharmaceuticals were investigated.  All this while federal employees are being ordered back to the office.  400 some odd buildings are on the list for closure.

Anyway, in news of the horrible, there is Ukraine.  There was a plane in the air, taking weapons to Ukraine, the shit gibbon ordered it turned around.  They're cut off from weapons.  They are also cut off from intelligence.  The US was feeding them data from satellites and listening stations.  That's been cut off, as well as 47 ordering the UK not to share, either.  So Ukraine has no visibility of Russian movements.  At present, Putin is bombarding cities with ballistic missiles, 47 is complicit in this, up to his ugly neck. 

This is a really long piece, I have not been able to make it through all the way.  It explains one theory of what is actually happening here.  It's not about republicans vs. Democrats, it's about the uber wealthy wanting own everything, and some weird theory that democracy is bad, and that the people need to be ruled by autocrats.  This has been circulating in the background, this is the first explainer I've seen.

 The ongoing restructuring of U.S. digital and administrative systems must be understood in the broader context of the neoreactionary (NRx) movement, a “Dark Enlightenment” ideology advocating for the dismantling of democracy in favor of centralized corporate or monarchic rule. Nick Land and Curtis Yarvin are the foremost proponents of this ideology. Touted as the “godfather of accelerationism,” Land has argued that democracy inherently leads to societal decline and proposed that societies should be run more like corporations, with competent elites at the top, akin to CEO-style governance rather than electoral politics. Similarly, Curtis Yarvin also known as “Mencius Moldbug,” has extensively written about his vision for replacing democracy with an “efficient” autocratic regime controlled by a CEO and technocratic elite:

Elon is a true believer.  Anyway, it's here, I'm reading it off and on.  I promise, I have not become a conspiracy nut.  I'm just really hoping this doesn't come true.