Life On A B-I7

Sleep Walking

A recent New York Times article stated “we are sleeping into autocracy.” It’s tough to come up with an argument against that observation. It seems that Trump is following the Orbán playbook, made more likely by Orbán’s three visits to Mar-a-Lago prior to the last election. I can imagine Orbán schooling him. It’s clear now to all but the most unaware, that Trump admires tyrants. Trump is working hard to own the courts, if he is successful in that, it could be his winning lottery ticket.

I typically don’t put a lot of stock in predictions, but I’m going to go ahead and lay this one out there. Clearly Trump sees himself as president for life. If every other strategy to remain in office fails, before the end of his term he is going to find an excuse to declare Marshall Law and he will have the legal mechanism (owning the courts) in place to support him.

A more likely strategy would be to circumvent the “only elected twice” clause in the Constitution. He’ll run again as Vice-President under Vance and then after the election Vance would resign allowing Trump to hold a third term. This option is already being put out there and we aren’t even out of the first 100 days of his second term.

Screen Time

I’ve been averaging 3-1/2 hours a week screen time on my iPhone. That sounds bad to me but I bet it is a relatively small number compared to a lot of people younger than I am. (I’m a Boomer.)

It is actually a very interesting statistic. I looked in Settings at my usage data and it is revealing. It tells me which applications I use and how much time is spent in them. This shows a pretty clear picture of what I’m doing with my phone. You could use this to help shape your interactions with your phone. I noticed, to my surprise, that today I have spent more minutes in the ChatGPT app than I have in Messages or Mail (it’s still early). I’m not sure how the “minutes usage” is being calculated. I would really like to better understand what is going on under the covers there. The best takeaway from today’s data is that I have spent twice as much time in the “Productivity & Finance” apps category, than I have in the “Social” apps category. Take that Gen Z and Gen Alpha!

Air Force One

In a recent interview on Air Force One, a reporter asked Trump:

“Why do you think young men are so overwhelmingly coming in your direction?”

This may be April 1st, but that quote is not a joke…

Material stolen from Jon Stewart. It was too good to pass up.

Website Author

Son of JWA

JWA

The New Order

J. D. Vance to President Volodymyr Zelensky:

“Have you said thank you once?”

Donald Trump to President Volodymyr Zelensky:

“You don’t have the cards right now.”

The United States of America has officially, and for the first time in its’ history, become a gangster state.

My Bitch

I’ve got this guy pretty well wrapped around my finger. I’ve developed some killer strategies to get what I want.

If I stand by my bowl with a pleading look, the simpleton get’s a packet of food and puts it in the bowl. If I sit by the back door with my head cocked, he opens it for me. (Why there is such a thing in the first place that I can’t open is beyond my comprehension…)

Often when he’s putting things away I’ll just lie down on them to see if he will go off and do something else, most of the time he does. Occasionally he will put his head right up to mine and bump me. I have no idea what he is doing. I was very concerned at first because I thought he was going to take a bite out of me. I’ve learned that this behavior is harmless, but inexplicable. In an odd sort of way, I enjoy it.

When everything is said and done, I’m lucky. I pretty much have the run of this place and I have to admit, even when I think he has no clue, he ends up doing just what I had in mind for him. I’m a lucky cat. It’s truly a pleasure to have such a dumb being at my disposal.

MAHA

Do fat Republicans get a pass?

D I S K A N / A D K I N S

You Know Who You Are

“Chicks dig the long ball.”

“I’m just hard working 81 I.Q.”

A Conversation

Recently Donald Trump railed against Atlantic magazine Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg after his reporting of a serious security breach by some of Trump’s high level staff. The reporting itself is not in question, but in the course of responding to the situation, Trump felt compelled to call Goldberg a “sleazebag.” Trump also made derogatory statements about the Atlantic magazine. What follows is a conversation I had with ChatGPT on this subject:

Me:

Is calling someone a sleazebag a nice thing to do?

ChatGPT:

No, calling someone a sleazebag is not a nice thing to do. It’s a derogatory term used to insult someone’s character, often implying that they are dishonest, immoral, or untrustworthy. While people use strong language in heated debates or criticisms, resorting to insults usually escalates conflicts rather than resolving them.

Me:

Do you think Donald Trump should have called Jeffrey Goldberg a sleazbag?

ChatGPT:

Insults like that don’t really add much to the conversation, especially in politics, where discussions should ideally be based on facts and reasoning rather than personal attacks.

Me:

Do you think this kind of rhetoric affects how people engage in political discourse?

ChatGPT:

When political leaders use insults and name-calling, it often shifts the focus away from meaningful discussions and fuels more division. Instead of debating policies or ideas, it becomes about personal attacks, which can make it harder for people to engage in productive conversations.

Conclusion (Me):

ChatGPT seems to have a better grip on civility, if not reality, than, oh, say, FOX news hosts and the current Administration.

I apologize if that ”shifts the focus away from meaningful discussion”.

Be Nice to Strangers

Learning how to be nice to strangers will pay off later in life when you are living in a memory care facility. It never hurts to cover your bases.

Touching Paper

I briefly flirted with the idea of building an eLibrary using Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) rather than continuing to buy the print version of books. After a brief trial run, I concluded that eLibraries are not for me.

As an experiment, I downloaded ADE and bought a book. The first observation I made was I had to increase the font size in ADE to maximum just to make the book readable. The next observation that jumped out at me was there is no turning pages. One of the pleasures of reading a book is physically turning the page as you progress through the author’s work. There is something uniquely satisfying about that.

There is no substitute for holding a book in your hands and turning the pages one at a time, underlining, tagging, and just plain being present with words that you can see and touch. The book is always there for you. You don’t have to carry a device with you. A device, especially one like a MacBook, is a pain to haul around. Yes, there are eReaders out there that are designed for that purpose but I’m adverse to owning another electronic device, in particular a single purpose one. I feel like one device should be enough. (Not counting the ubiquitous cell phone.) I realize this makes me sound like a Luddite. I’m not. This website is built using a MacBook Pro and sophisticated editing software.

At last month’s book club meeting I sat next to a fellow that had a large format eReader on his lap. A dozen books were displayed on the library shelf in addition to the one we were discussing. He never opened the book we were discussing, he just sat with the eReader on his lap, very proud of the titles staring me in the face, or so it seemed to me. I had the print version on my lap, tagged, ready for discussion. When the chance arose, I opened my print book to one of the tags that marked a favorite passage and shared the words with the group. I guess I’m old school.

As a final deterrent to building an electronic library, the digital editions cost almost as much as their print cousins. Unless you are going to stick to what your library offers electronically, which of course does not include everything in the print world, there is little difference in cost between an electronic library and a print library.

I’m going to continue touching paper.

Am I Human?

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to create an X account. My idea was to post content that would provide a different picture of Elon Musk than the one normally projected on that platform. When I got to the Turing Test, I couldn’t pass it. Honestly, I didn’t try all that hard.

I may try again. On the other hand, I don’t really want to try again. I’m truly not anxious to bring the cesspool that is X into my life.

MAGABOTS

Elon Musk is using bots to turn negative survey results into positive stories.

FYI: Bots generate votes that originate from a single IP address, or a very few number of IP addresses. For a vote to be a valid indicator of public sentiment, there must be a one-to-one correlation between votes and unique IP addresses.

It won’t be long before Elon shows Donald how to use bots to make it appear that his MAGA base is larger than it actually is…

We are beginning to live in a dystopian world. 1984 is coming.

Who Will Save Us?

Either Republicans in Congress will save the nation or they won’t. It’s as simple as that. There are other solutions, much less desirable…

Turing Test

Can today’s AI engines pass Turing Tests that websites use to identify human users? The answer to that is most likely yes. This creates a serious problem for humans when it comes to identifying fact from fiction. If an AI can pass today’s Turing Tests, then an AI is capable of having a super abundance of influence over public opinion. Perhaps every social media post should be accompanied by a clickable IP address which allows the reader to view the number of posts coming from that address and the user type owning that address. That too is capable of being spoofed. Are there any reliable answers?

Zermat

Zermat is a magical place. There wasn’t a lot of new snow so we had to stay on piste. Off piste would have required a guide anyway. We skied both the Swiss and the Italian side of the Matterhorn. It takes an entire day to circumnavigate the mountain.

Mr. Tux

I remember two, maybe three winters ago, I was driving from Salt Lake City to Phoenix, I had my traveling companion Mr. Tux the cat with me. We were somewhere south of Page Arizona. I decided to spend the night in a teepee on the Navajo Reservation. All was well until about 2 A.M. I woke up and realized that my furry companion was no longer by my side. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and put on my down coat. Did I forget to mention it was December in the high desert and the temperature outside was in the mid-teens? I found my flashlight and went hunting for my cat. I was distraught. My mind was filled with any number of bad outcomes that might have befallen my buddy. What in the world would make him want to leave a warm teepee in the middle of nowhere and wander about in an unknown wilderness? I kept asking myself that, as I navigated larger and larger circles around the teepee, shining my flashlight and calling his name.

I walked around the teepee in ever larger circles for about twenty minutes before I stumbled upon my boy. Of course there is no way of knowing… but I think he was glad I found him. I picked him up and carried him back to the teepee with me. I’m going to assume he was happy I found him because he made no more attempts that night to exit the confines of our (somewhat) comfortable encampment.

That is the night I realized that I loved my cat more than I had imagined. I still do. I have no plan to spend the night in a teepee any time soon, but if I do, and if Mr. Tux is with me, I will be keeping a very close eye on him.

“Joy Ride” by Kristen Jokinen

“A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina”

Having done a couple of tours myself, I was interested in reading this book to see if our experiences were similar. To put it simply, the answer is yes.

The book has its faults when compared to other Travelogues, It can’t hold a candle to “Shantaram.” That’s not a problem. Kristen is not a writer by trade but still did a marvelous job telling her story.

My favorite lines from the book were these. They really resonated with me.

“Life on a bicycle, free from the constraints of our former lives, made the world feel both bigger and smaller. When we had been riding the Dalton Highway, a single mile had sometimes felt insurmountable, and now after two months we had completed almost 3,000 of them. At the start of the ride, a day in the seat felt like an eternity. I don’t remember the moment I stopped counting the miles, but I know I noticed them less. My internal voice had been silenced. I was able to still my mind. Thoughts would come and go as I passed through ever-changing landscapes. I felt more peaceful, quiet, and calm. The chaos that had existed in my life before the ride felt far away.”

The question that everyone faces after completing an epic journey is how to hang on to the experience once you’ve returned to everyday life. How do you retain the hard earned state of mind won during the long days and nights of the journey. Holding on to some of that serenity is the point of the journey. If you can do that, you will have made yourself a better person.

Hunter S. Thompson

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a ride!”

I’ve crossed the country twice on a bicycle and I plan to do it again. I’m skiing better now at age 71 than I have ever skied in my life. That’s living. Of course I won’t be able to ride 3,000 miles on a bike or rip a black diamond forever. But I will continue doing both to the best of my ability until I fall down and can’t get up.

A Skier’s Prayer

In addition to honoring each day with a prayer to the Creator, I have also written a prayer to honor the mountains. After all, the Creator is responsible for the mountains and the blessings they bestow on us…

A Skier’s Prayer”

I acknowledge the Creator and give thanks for the opportunity to ski another powder day. It is my intention to honor this day on the mountain by presenting as much of my skis to the snow as possible. I will strive to present my skis to the mountain through all three phases of my turns. I will honor this day by remaining in an athletic stance. I will show respect to the mountain by always looking ahead. This will allow me to choose the path the mountain wants me to take.

Brahama Muhtra

One of my intentions for 2025 is to take time each morning to welcome the new day. In Hindi, the 48 minute period before sunrise is a “Muhtra.” Brahama Muhtra literally means “The Creator’s Time.” This is when the world as we know it was created. This is the best time of day to honor the Creator and to receive knowledge. Meditation, reading, writing, creating a plan for the day, reflecting, and remembering your parents and the Creator are the best ways to honor the new day. My intention is to start each day with a prayer that I wrote. This prayer honors the Creator and provides me with inspiration and guidance for the day ahead.

Brahama Muhtra

I acknowledge the Creator and give thanks for the opportunity to greet another day.

It is my intention to honor this day by presenting my best self to the world.

It is my goal for today to be kind to everyone I meet. I will look for the best in everyone and treat everyone I meet with kindness and respect.

I will share a smile whenever I can because I believe a smile has the power to make lives better.

Welcome to 2025

It’s the start of a new year. I can’t recall feeling more excited about the year ahead than I do now. Invigorated is a good description. Who would have thought that at age 71, one could look back on their life with some pride and also look forward with an expectation that even greater things are in store, but that is how I feel. Another wonderful thing about this year is I feel I have some powerful intentions that are not only worthwhile but are attainable. I’m excited about putting in the work to get there. All of this while we are facing a trying time as a nation.

America is changing before our eyes. Sometimes it feels like no one is aware of what is going on. Democracy is dying and is being replace with rule by the rich. Whatever benefits the wealthy is the new political policy. The irony is that this change was made possible by the people that will benefit the least from this transformation. I’m not going to dwell too much on this reality going forward for two reasons. The first is there is nothing I can do about it in the short term. The second is because we will come out of this, it will take time, maybe even more time than I have left, but we will come out of this.

Perhaps that is the reason I feel optimistic about my own future. This national crisis has given me the freedom to focus on myself. My future is up to me and no one else.