According to terminally-on-social-media people in the United States, politics is an easy choice. On the one hand, you have the racist fascists who will destroy democracy and bring in an evangelical theocracy. On the other, you have woke communists who want to destroy free speech and force children to medically transition in Kindergarten. It’s that easy, good guys vs. the bad guys, and it’s manifestly obvious who’s who. In the case of the reelection of Donald Trump, I’ve seen a lot of liberals say that racism is the dividing line. If you voted for Kamala Harris, you’re good, but if you voted for Trump, you’re a racist. Easy peasey, no need to dig any deeper. Case closed. ...
Ranking Every Nun Related Movie Ive Watched This Month
During this spooky season, I’ve watched a surprising amount of nun-related scary movies. I’m not really sure why that is, it’s not like it’s a sub-genre that I’m particularly interested in. It just seems that every time I bring up Netflix or Hulu the algorithm wants me to watch yet another movie about a young nun in a secluded convent who uncovers an evil plot by some bad guys. I’ll put these in order from best to worst. ...
Lessons From the Stoics for Tottenham Supporters
The best revenge is to not be like your enemy [Arsenal] -Marcus Aurelius After a long summer full of watching the Euros, Copa America, the Olympics, and even MLS, my first football love is back in action. The Premier League kicks off this weekend and on Monday Tottenham Hotspur face off against newly promoted Leicester City and their mega superstar Harry Winks. (I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.) This time of year is always filled with unbridled passion and expectations only to come crashing down sometime later. It’s like when I decide to go on a run and feel great for the first 30 seconds. I’m a runner, I’m going to get into shape, I’m going to be the type of person who runs a half-marathon. The endorphins start flowing. Then I realize how terrible running is and within a minute I’m thinking about jumping in front of a car. That’s the life of a Spurs supporter. ...
A Simple to Do List in Logseq
Logseq is a great piece of software that so many people seem to sleep on because it isn’t Obsidian or Notion or some other closed-source application. But for someone who wants to use open source and maybe isn’t interested in the learning curve of Emacs or Vim, you really can’t go wrong. In my case, I use Helix for text, Zed code writing and Logseq for outlines and to do tasks. I used to be a big follower of GTD, but lately I find that a simple todo list works just fine for me. I don’t need a complicated system to do the things I do, a list of tasks and maybe a shopping list suffice. Something that syncs between my computer and phone is a bonus. So, I keep my tasks in Logseq with a single page called “To Do”. ...
The River and the Limits of Working Class Solidarity
“The River”, a 1984 film directed by Mark Rydell and starring Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson, is one of the more underrated political films of the 1980s. The story centers on Tom and Mae Garvey, Tennessee farmers who are barely holding onto their land during an economic crisis. As we begin, their farm is nearly destroyed by a flood and Tom is almost killed in the process. It doesn’t get any better from there. ...
We Are Living in the Post Apocalypse
On the night of the 12th of January 2007, I was violently awakened by the apocalypse. You might not remember it because, as far you can tell, the world did not end in 2007. But for me it did. For my family it did. And for hundreds of thousands of others in the Ozarks, it certainly did. The day began like any other. I woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and went into work. There was some small talk about the weather. Apparently, a big storm was moving into the area and the TV guy was calling for some ice. But the weather guys were always wrong, so I didn’t pay attention. ...