This Was Helpful

17:42 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 78.1°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 92% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 36

Long video, but as good an analysis as you'll find, probably better, for early analyses. It's complicated. We're in a great deal of trouble. And we have got to figure this out and get it right.

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Self-Help

16:20 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 79.95°F Pressure: 1015hPa Humidity: 89% Wind: 13.8mph
Words: 14

This was an open tab from a couple of days ago.

Seems pretty solid.

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Go Shopping

13:46 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 80.1°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 89% Wind: 11.5mph
Words: 120

It does have a kind of 9/11 feel.

So I guess I'm taking my cues from that inspirational leader, W, and stress-buying.

If I were a good person, I'd be donating more money to non-profits. Right now, I'm just trying to "be still," and mostly failing.

So I bought another Apple IIe. This is how this hobby gets out of control. Started out just wanting a //c. Then I wanted a IIe to do some more robust interfacing with other devices. But, you know, seven slots in there...

Might as well fill 'em up!

Except, they don't all fit.

Solution? Buy another IIe!

I'm going to hell.

Not to worry, I'm sure I'll be in good company.

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The Banality of Evil

13:09 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 80.73°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 88% Wind: 12.66mph
Words: 212

I'm going to try to refrain from borrowing trouble, there'll be more than we could want soon enough. But as regards the title of this post, Hannah Arendt right.

Perhaps "good" and "evil" are merely emergent properties and not intrinsic ones. We all seem to possess the capacity for both to varying degrees.

To what extent, then, are we culpable? Is it all just contingent? Does being immersed in a capitalist media culture just make people evil? Or just push those inclined that way, farther along?

How many of our fellow citizens, our "neighbors," may find themselves one day, not too far from now, saying what so many Germans were saying in 1946?

"I was a 'good German'."

And is the evil we witness today, and will witness tomorrow, simply the evil we choose to see, while indulging our own self-delusions regarding our "goodness," when it comes to our culpability for the evil we choose to ignore? I trust I don't have to point out what that is.

Yeah, we're probably all sinners.

Doesn't seem like we take it seriously though.

I don't think the answer is in the Bible; because if it was, I don't think we'd be here today.

Anyway, introspection and self-reflection is for chumps, bro!

Winning!

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One More Thing

05:33 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.15°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 11.5mph
Words: 69

My neighbor across the street was certain Harris would win. I guess I was "hopeful." The margins in Florida seem to confirm what I suspected, that people were going to vote for Trump, but they weren't as proud of it. No flags. No parades.

They'll be proud now.

For a while anyway.

There was something chilling about the grim faces I saw walking into early voting.

Winter is coming.

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Chinese Farmer

04:37 Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.36°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 95% Wind: 11.5mph
Words: 767

I was going to link to the Taoist parable of the Chinese farmer. I thought I'd written about it here, but I guess that was in Groundhog Day.

In any event, if you Google it, it comes up a lot, and in many places I wouldn't wish to send anyone just now. It is interesting, though, how many different kinds of people see something in that little story to validate whatever their point of view may be.

Yesterday I wrote that one of the results of the binary choice we faced would be a catastrophe, and it appears that is what we're confronting this morning.

The collapse of this civilization has accelerated.

There would be suffering, as there is always suffering, whoever won. Now it will be different people, different times. Ultimately more people, sooner. I would not want to be in Ukraine today. Or Gaza. Or a Haitian in Springfield, Ohio.

One of the elder sages of the internet, a triumphalist who prides himself on the monetization of our social interactions through the pernicious construction that "markets are conversations," is blaming Democrats and the stories they tell, while holding himself as "above the fray." I have nothing but contempt for that guy. Textbook example of the power of self-delusion.

But even feeling and writing that is a waste of time and energy.

I think it's likely that our timetable for leaving Florida has also accelerated. Both the marijuana and abortion amendments failed and we are clearly redder than I expected.

For most of us, by which I mean the folks who hoped for a different outcome, I'd say it's time to kind of take stock and consider our immediate circumstances. Much of this has been outside of our power to control. "Do your best, the rest is not up to you." If you did your best, you have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to regret.

The world is about to get more chaotic. Our capacity for collective action at the international level has been significantly diminished, if not destroyed. This has implications for public health and climate change. And the role of the federal government in mitigating adverse events in those areas has also been significantly diminished.

More than ever, we are on our own.

A lot of "self-sorting" has taken place with people moving to regions more sympathetic to their political perspective, though most of that seems to have been people on the right moving to red states. It's probably time for people on the left to consider moving to regions where they're more likely to encounter people whose views align more closely with their own.

We will have to work together at the very local level to establish resilient networks. I think that effort looks different depending on where you are on the political spectrum, and it will be easier and more effective if you're among like-minded people. If you feel like joining a local militia and carrying a weapon, then a red state will welcome you.

If you feel like working in a community garden, maybe you should think about moving to a blue state.

That's not to say that both of those things won't happen in either state, just that the emphasis and effort into each will differ by temperament.

You're less likely to encounter friction, and the chances for unfortunate and regrettable misunderstandings are less.

I am profoundly disappointed with my country this morning. But there is nothing to be gained by indulging those feelings. We need to figure out how to come together and work with one another, because things are going to get worse, faster now. It'll be easier and more effective if we share something of a common perspective with our neighbors. So a change of venue may be appropriate for many of us.

Rural New York is pretty red, but it's not the deep scarlet that exists in Florida. I think we can do ok in New York, even with winter.

I worry about my kids, but they're all adults and must make their own choices for their families.

I wanted to get out of here by 2026, 2027 at the latest. I think we'll make it by 2026. We need to take advantage of the opportunities we have here to get fit. The 2025 hurricane season is a risk, but I don't see us being ready to launch in six months. But we'll see. If we had to, I think we could.

Though we don't all see eye-to-eye, we are all in this together.

It's a shame that fear won.

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I like his policies

06:44 Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 71.67°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 91% Wind: 3.44mph
Words: 666

There's an early scene in Battlestar Galactica where Gaius Baltar and Number Six are having a moment, and Number Six says something to the effect, "Your capacity for self-delusion is really exceptional. We should make a scan of your brain." (I could probably find the actual quote, but I want to get these thoughts down right now.)

We are not rational beings. That's perhaps the foundational delusion. We reason backward from our feelings. As embodied beings, our experience of "the world" generates "feelings." A kind of analog, biological heuristic network that our brain uses to orient its conscious experience.

Your "gut."

These feelings are accessible to the rational, cognitive part of our brain, but we seldom practice that sort of introspection or self-reflection.

Thinking is hard. It's energy-intensive, and most of the stuff going on in our heads is habituated anyway. It takes effort, and who really has the time?

My neighbor sent me a lengthy message he received from his pastor. Two excerpts:

This may be the reality described by political candidates and depicted by cable news, but it is not the reality we experience on a daily basis as we go about our lives. The people that live down our street, or that we stand in line with at the grocery store, or that we strike up a conversation with in a waiting room, or that we share a pew with in church are a far cry from the enemies that are demonized in our political discourse. Actually, Christians have a word for what these people are: neighbors.

This election is not a battle between good and evil; it is a contest among neighbors—neighbors who differ in their convictions but who are nevertheless united in their love for this country and their desire to see it thrive.

It's a marvelous sentiment, but it's wrong. It's self-flattery to believe that we have "convictions." We have reactions. Emotional ones.

"Neighbors" elected Nazis to the Reichstag. Hitler lost the only election he ran in, for president against Hindenburg in 1932. Yet German voters made his Nazi Party the largest party in the Reichstag, which ultimately led to Hindenburg appointing him Chancellor in 1933.

Self-delusion, rationalization, wishful thinking, whatever you want to call it, it's the mechanism we call on to resolve the tension between how we "feel" and what others seem to "think."

Trump voters, the "nice ones," most often say things like, "I don't like the things he says sometimes, but I like his policies."

"I like his policies."

Trump evokes an emotional response in them that is congruent with their own default interior state. One that seems to be aggrieved, fearful, or angry.

The pastor says the election "is not a battle between good and evil." Well, isn't it?

What does he think that looks like? WW II maybe? Concentration camps and carpet bombing? That's a battle between "good and evil"?

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.

I don't know what I should do. Love my neighbor? I can't talk to him. He has his feelings, he doesn't want to believe they're "wrong." He's not going to "do nothing," he's going to vote for evil. Why? Because of his "convictions"?

And they'll look the other way, and keep looking the other way, as people are "rounded up" and deported. Look the other way as political enemies are persecuted and jailed. Look the other way as the institutions that provide the foundation and structure of this civilization are systematically dismantled to give free reign to the wealthy and the hateful.

The Germans thought Hitler's rhetoric about the Jews was just that, rhetoric. Or, that's what they told themselves anyway.

It never ends well.

One of two results obtains today, though which result may not be clear for several days.

One will be imperfect, but better than the other.

The other will be a catastrophe.

Because my neighbors "liked his policies."

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Not This Morning's Bird

11:36 Monday, 4 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 80.47°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 74% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 83

But it is a bird. Red-shouldered hawk we spotted back on the 1st when we were out for a walk. I'm walking more slowly for now, so I'm bringing a camera along. The OMDS OM-5 with the mZuiko 14-150mm mounted. Edited and cropped in Photos. The little light spot to the left of the hawk's eye is the sunlight focusing from over the bird's (red) shoulder.

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This Morning's Bird

11:30 Monday, 4 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 80.47°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 74% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 63

Not a bird, and not this morning's.

Shot this back on the 30th. There are two blooming from this plant now. Other folks seem to have better luck with theirs than we do. These are dwarf or miniature, apparently. Mitzi's the gardener, so I don't know.

Anyway, a photo.

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Seeing Spots

10:41 Monday, 4 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 79.79°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 79% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 663

Working around a cluster of aura that just popped up. Significant enough to cause me to consult Dr. Google. This, from the University of Washington, kind of reassured me.

“Just one night of poor sleep can increase a patient’s likelihood of having a migraine attack,” Murinova says.

And I haven't exactly been sleeping well. Did okay last night, but I think I'm still in something of an overall deficit.

For those just tuning in, I've had aural migraines for many years, not knowing at all that's what they were. They come and go, usually after a few minutes. I've mentioned them to my doctor, who sent me to the eye doctor and my retinae are fine. This episode got my attention because there were three of them and they came on rather suddenly, as these things go. (They're fading now, one still active.)

Anyway...

To do something productive tomorrow (I've already voted for Harris and the straight Democratic ticket here in deep-scarlet St Johns County.), I'm giving blood. I figure it might relieve some of the pressure and reduce the likelihood of having a stroke. But maybe that's not how that works.

Tornado outbreaks in Oklahoma over the weekend seemed to get lost in the media coverage of the election. Hard for me to say, exactly, since we don't get network television anymore. Maybe it didn't. But another clue that we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

My brother lives in a tornado-prone area of Alabama, and he's had a shelter installed in his garage. Keeps all his important papers in there.

New York, historically, hasn't experienced a high incidence of tornados, though that may be changing. Nevertheless, I think that, given a choice, I'd rather prepare for the risk of a tornado than the risk of a hurricane. While a tornado may be more destructive in the immediate term, the scale of the damage is more limited and permits more rapid recovery in the affected area, I think. Just as bad individually, but collectively more resilient.

Pick your poison, I guess.

Getting out of Florida came up a few times while we were up in Georgia. Mitzi pushed back pretty hard, but I didn't debate her. I know the seed is planted. The house across the street sold a week or so ago, and the one two doors down is on the market. Mitzi was talking about the kinds of people that would buy those two, different, floor plans. Then she added, "Some couple is going to buy this house, and love it."

So I know the idea is still germinating.

It's all a matter of timing. Ideally, we will get out before we experience a hurricane loss. That's the whole idea. Doing so avoids the trauma of loss and "recovery." It also eliminates the requirement of disclosing whether the house has ever been flooded, and permits the continuing self-delusion that this region is somehow immune from hurricanes. So the sooner we sell and get out of here, the better. Ideally, before next hurricane season; but I suspect I may have white-knuckle it through 2025. Moving is an unwelcome challenge.

I've told her we wouldn't necessarily have to move to New York, but I would insist that we relocate to someplace with a low climate risk.

I spoke to another neighbor who I see frequently walking her dog. She said her husband has been looking for property in Connecticut. She's not enamored with moving because of northeast winters. Winter and no state income tax are Florida's two biggest draws. And maybe fascism for those so inclined. I know I wouldn't exactly welcome either (or any) of those, but I can deal with winter and taxes better than dragging all my shit to the curb and "starting over." Especially the sense of defeat I'd feel, because I know I could have avoided it if I'd gotten out of here in time.

Not exactly how I'd have envisioned my "golden years."

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The Veneer of Civilization

07:11 Monday, 4 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 72.72°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 91% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 60

"People can turn on you because of a label."

Watch the whole thing.

"Permission is very important."

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Mom's Vote

12:13 Sunday, 3 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 79.63°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 81% Wind: 20.71mph
Words: 73

I spoke to Mom this morning, and we talked about voting. She voted last week. Her Parkinson's made it hard for her to insert her ballot in the scanner.

A poll worker, a woman, came over and helped her.

Because of the way the scanner and the ballot are arranged, she could see how Mom voted.

She smiled at Mom and said, "Thank you for voting."

It was a warm smile, Mom said.

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Exhaustion

11:55 Sunday, 3 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 78.84°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 84% Wind: 17.27mph
Words: 206

Slept "better" last night, but still dragging today. I had a sudden infusion of energy watching last night's SNL cold open, followed by the news out of Iowa.

Dare we hope?

I don't know.

Something I supposedly know, isn't much comfort these days. But then, maybe being comfortable isn't what's important.

I'm supposed to have faith. "The way of the warrior is to say, 'Yes!' to it all." That whatever happens, everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be.

But fear seems to be close to getting the upper hand, and maybe that's an underestimate.

For me, that is. Can't speak for anyone else.

I don't often remember my dreams. Years ago, almost never. In recent years, more often. I remember having dreams last night. Navy dreams. Old shipmates. Trying to get gear fixed. Missing parts.

I'm tired though. I'm sick of Trump. I'm sick of what he's done to us. What we've allowed him to do.

Whatever happens Tuesday, it's not a punctuation mark. Well, it's not a period. It'll just clarify what we have to do next. Because nothing is ever over. Different, perhaps. Not over. Hell, the Civil War isn't "over."

Maybe Tim Walz is right.

"We'll sleep when we're dead."

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Sleepless

07:31 Saturday, 2 November 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 69.44°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 3.44mph
Words: 567

Been up since 0300. Read this whole thread at AppleFritters, because I just received the card and now I have to figure out how to play with it. Here's a video if you don't want to read several hundred posts. If you want to see an Apple II running Mac System 6, running an Apple II emulator, worth a watch. (Technically, it's an ESP32 running a Mac emulator, running II In a Mac. But the ESP32 relies on the Apple II for all of the user interaction.)

I'm creating something of a challenge for myself. The IIe is becoming more interesting than the IIc, because it is more expandable. I can work on it in the garage, but it's a little uncomfortable and the garage isn't the best environment for that machine. After we get back from our trip up north, I'll have to really put some serious effort into reconfiguring this office.

I've got another modern card coming for the IIe, an FPGA card that will output VGA video and emulate a Mockingboard sound card and a SuperSprite video board. I had a Mockingboard back in the day, and a fair number of games used it for music and sound effects. Will Harvey's Music Construction Set was a program that allowed you to create your own tunes for the card. The SuperSprite board used the same video processor from Texas Instruments that was in the TI-99. Very little commercial software was ever released for it, chicken and egg problem. But probably fun to play with.

Here's a video of how that project came to be, back in the early days of the pandemic. It's pretty amazing what smart people can come up with to pass the time. I'm intrigued by their implementation of the SuperSprite board, which supposedly originally contained an Echo II speech synthesizer and a General Instruments AY3-8912PSG sound chip. (The Mockingboard used two AY3-8910s.)

Mitzi and I binge-watched The Diplomat and enjoyed it very much. Now I guess we'll have to wait an eternity for another "season." Can probably do a season 1 and 2 re-watch, and see if we missed anything the first time. We watched the last two episodes of season 1 before we started the second one, because who remembers what the heck was going on that long ago? Worth your time. Suggest you do it soon to avoid the spoilers.

And we rented Twisters last night. Not sure why that movie seemed so popular or well reviewed. It was fairly entertaining, but probably not worth the effort as a re-make.

We also watched a "direct-to-streaming" movie, Canary Black, on Prime, Friday night. Derivative. Sloppy writing. "Pull up" is the only verbal directive for displaying a computer file, and they do it a lot. They cast a Scarlett Johansen-type as the lead (Kate Beckinsale), and found someone who resembles Alec Baldwin to play her boss. We made it through the whole thing, in part, because part of the attraction was identifying all the elements "borrowed" from other action movies, and there were so many that we didn't have to endure long stretches of boring "action" between them.

It wasn't as bad as another movie we started watching on Prime, Killer Heat. We stopped watching that one less than halfway through, it was that bad. Insufferable.

Guess I'll go take a walk.

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