The Unbearable Lightness of Hilarity...

I do find it hilarious that the "world's richest man," is a total doofus. A white-supremacist, who proves every day, that he is superior to no-one. A very unlovable billionaire. Clueless at his very own personal toxicity. 

Is it hilarious that Elon spent $25 million on an election in Wisconsin, just to prove that everyone really, really does hate him? Yes. It is. It really, really is fucking hilarious.

Imagine being the "richest man in the world," and it turns out your endorsement is "the Kiss of Death." Beautiful. Poetic.

Cars...

 Yes. Know your automobiles...

Worrying and Not Worrying...

I live with a world-class worrier, and I am acquainted with a few more worriers of admirable heft & distinction. I mean, I know some Olympic-level worriers. 

I am kind a slacker when it comes to worrying. I take off after Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman. Sure, maybe Alfred and I are less the worrying kind because of our short-sighted-ness, or just plain stubborness, or deep ignorance. You know, maybe the ignorance is so deep we have no idea how dumb we really are?  

My remedy to that? Go with the idea: "I know nothing." Or The Firesign Theatre's "Everything You Know is Wrong." And "We are all Bozos on this Bus."A good starting point, a way to find, feed and keep alive, your sense of wonder and curiosity. A way forward.

For some reason, when I see Alfred's smiling face, I think of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Put a straw hat on Alfred's head, dress him up in some faded overalls, and well, "Hello Huckleberry." Such an All-American Kid.

When I was a kid I had lots of freckles and crooked teeth too. I was a smiley, happy go lucky kid. I think that is still embedded deep in my being all these many years later. The freckles have faded, the teeth are still crooked.  

So, anyway, the reality? 

I am worried. I mean as a "woke-minded-Human," of course, I am worried. Super-damn worried about the way things are unfolding & unraveling here in the USA. But, at the same time, I am always chasing rabbits down rabbits holes. Every day pursuing private obsessions and diversions. It's a way of redirecting the worry. Maybe sublimating it? It's work. An expression of energy. Can be quite tiring.

A good way to start the day? When perusing the news, you say to yourself: "I wonder how the Tricky-Monkeys are fucking up today?" A healthy approach to the news.

Still, I keep my head up, my feet on the ground, and take each day as it comes.  It's a way of managing the worry. I suppose there is a discipline and defiance in that stance, even if the smile sort of masks the steely determination. You think Alfred is just a dumb kid, right, but he's a god-damned battle-tested warrior too. Not easy to push around, or to scare.

So, yeah, a roiling tornado of emotions inside; smiling, glad-handing demeanor outside. With a fiery stance of defiance swirling in my head: You know: "Fuck it." And "Damn the torpedoes." "What, me worry?!

That Nazi-DOGE Baby is Gonna Cry...

A chant on the streets from a Telsa Takedown Protest in Boston, MA: "We don't want your Nazi cars take a one way trip to Mars!"

I saw a video-clip of an interview with sad little Elon Musk. Big-time rich guy, pretty clueless, and supremely-whiny. He just doesn't get it. Poor Nazi-DOGE baby. Looks like little Elon is gonna cry in public soon. He just can't figure out why nobody likes him. He doesn't understand why his Nazi-saluting, goose-stepping and government-destroying ways just doesn't sit well with folks near & far. This Telsa Takedown movement has legs:

“Dump Musk, dump Trump, give our country back to us,” chanted protesters at University Village, many wearing costumes and carrying signs. They continued, as cars honked in support: “No Musk, no KKK, no fascist USA.”

Amen, brothers & sisters! It take a village to make a Nazi-Billionaire. The villagers are now restless. May the stock price forever tumble. Teslas are now just rolling Nazi-mobiles.  Bad juju. People Power in action. Gotta love it.

The Elon Musk/DOGE Criminal Enterprise and Crime Spree...

The thread from Josh Marshall over on Blue Sky is a must-read. The essence of the thread? Elon Musk is a Criminal & DOGE is a Criminal Enterprise in the middle of an illegal & Unconstitutional Crime Spree.

I think all of us "woke folks" know this deep our hearts. We have watched the crime spree rolling out & happening at lightening speed, right before our astonished eyes. It has been heart-rending and appalling. The Republicans and Trump are cheering this crime spree on, but the rest of us are watching in absolute horror. WTF?!

Will this last? How far will the crime spree extend? Will there be consequences? Can the Government as we know it survive? Will the Courts put a stop to this? Will anyone be arrested? Will the Republicans in Congress wake up? Will our Healthcare & Social Security be destroyed? Will the people rise up and demand accountability? Is this the beginning of the end to the Republican party? Will the Demcrats come roaring back via a new, powerful movement of concerned citizens? All great questions. We just don't know yet.

Here's Josh Marshall laying out the Musk/DOGE crime spree in vivid language:

A Clarifying Time

Reports of "disappeared ones" snatched off the streets of America by black-masked agents of ICE. The great Chilean Poet and Novelist Roberto Bolano often wrote about that kind of thing happening in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Columbia, El Salvador. 

There are new stories about America's Gulags. Reminiscent of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's experiences in the old Soviet Union's prison system for dissidents. 

It's not supposed to happen here. 

You know, we supposedly follow the rule of law, the American Constitution, the Bill of Rights. Individuals are guaranteed Due Process, so that their rights are respected, and they are given a fair hearing. We all benefit from this legal, Constitutional Process.

Violate that process, and we all are victimized. Each and every one of us. So yeah, a very clarifying time. This is not my America. The current adminstration is violating the Constitution and the Rule of Law. What happens next? 

The Courts are weighing in. Will they hold anyone to account for these violations? Will the people stand up? Will we all take it to the streets, and march & protest? We shall see. Is America too fat & lazy, too distracted, too bored, too cynical, to give a fuck?

Over here, I'm hanging with my little blue bubble crowd, folks who really do still give a fuck. It's clarifying.

Hell on Earth...

The problem, and the theme for the next four years, if they, and we, all last that long; these are not honorable or honest people. They hold positions of tremendous & devastating power. Their actions are carried forward in our names, as citizens of this Country. They can drone-strike an apartment building, destroy the living quarters of humans beings across the globe, obliterate men, women & children in a shattering second, on a whim. And they will celebrate, and lie, and dissemble, and none of us, not one of us on the planet, will know if they are telling the truth about any of it. And if they get caught in their tangle of obvious lies, they will just double-& triple down; lie harder, bigger, & bolder and strike out at anyone calling out their B.S. So, yes, the problem and the theme: we will all have to live with the lies, the constant, shameless, shabbily-constructed lies, never certain if there is any truth, honor, or honesty in any of their thoughts, words, actions. It is a vision, and a reality of Hell on Earth.

Poetry Corner in D-Minor...

Poetry Corner in the Key of D-Minor...

My Dear USA
Dissolute
Disintegrating
Drifting

A not so slow Destruction
A complete Dessication
A terrible Debauchery

80 Years of the Post-World-War II Diplomacy
Down the Drain

All Because of the Party of Dum-Dums
Distracted Low-Info Voters
Mainlining Disinformation

Deplorable

Disgusting

Dissembling

Disassembling
Disheartening

Whatever happened to American Delectable-Delight?

Get Caught Red-Handed? Lie Your Ass Off...

Major operational security breach. Complete fuck-up. Caught red-handed. How do they respond? Lie their asses off.  Ha. Standard Operating Procedure with this crowd.

Heather Cox Richardson has the blow by blow here.

My pithy summary: This New Fascist Administration is Evil, Corrupt, & Incompetent. That's a snazzy trifecta right there. Hire a bunch of unqualified, compromised, sketchy folks mainly known for spending many hours blathering lies and disinformation on Fox News, and, well, you will reap & sow the ugly consequences.

It is a bit mind-boggling just how clueless these corrupt-amateurs really are. So, I guess the idea is to hire a bunch of people who have no idea what government does, or how it works, and watch them destroy it one day at a time. All to feed the new Fascist Regime.

Fuck. What a clusterfuck. 

Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, who spent seven years as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, posted: “From an operational security perspective, this is the highest level of f**kup imaginable. These people cannot keep America safe.”

Ha. Funny in a not funny way. Unfortunately, this kind of behaviour will be continued. No doubt. How bad will it get? Yikes. I hate to even hazard a guess. Batten down the hatches. We are all in the clutches of horrible, deplorable, incompetent people. Holy shite...

Living with the New American Fascism...

So yeah, living our lives (see two previous posts), you know, getting on with living. We all are here for a short time, shorter by the day. Each day really is precious, even if, sometimes, it doesn't feel that way. Maybe sometimes you have to remind yourself: It's your life, do with it what you want, give it your all, heart, head, spirit. It is your life.

So yeah, that's the main thing. The main theme. Living, getting on with the living. 

The new reality is we are living in a new Fascist America. Surprising. Didn't expect it. Didn't want it. Not happy that it's here. It's truly an ugly nightmare. Not what we voted for, not what we envisioned, not what want we wanted at all. So while we are getting on with the living, doing our best, to be our best, we are also carrying the flame of resistance and opposition inside of us.

This little thread of opposition to the new Fascism runs thru everything we do & think. It's just there now, we are iving with that reality, moment to moment. There is no escape. How does that imperative manifest in our lives? Ha. One person, or two people in an ocean of people? Be perfect in thought, action, spirit. Lean to the light. Be willing to vote, to march, to protest, to boycott, to only support those who are in opposition too. 

The idea: you are one little helpless being in a vast ocean of beings. It has always been so. Still, you are alive. You do, you act, you think, you envision, as best you can. So, yes, living life to the fullest. And opposing, resisting the lawless cruelty, the new gulag, the madness, the hate, the idiocy. Damn the Torpedoes. Imagine a better day and a better way. Refuse the nightmare, cling to the dream. Fuck it.

Music Therapy. All Falls Away.

Music therapy. 

Yes. That describes being in a band. Collaborating with a group of musicians. Writing songs, bringing the songs to the room, and then everyone adding their own fire and creativity to the moment. It's thrilling and satisfying when it clicks. My songwriting partner and I are lucky to have a band of musicians of extraordinary talent that we call collaborators. It's been a long-time process. Really a way of life. This creative pursuit. It is our reason to live. A calling. We have played with these folks for years. Our catalog of songs is now nearly 70 songs strong. Not all of them make it to recent sets & gigs. Some songs fall away to the wayside, but we have a good core of material to draw upon; very old songs, fairly new songs and just-hatched songs. Yesterday we tried some brand new compositions, even by the second time thru, you could feel the room shift, a new song was starting to jell. Then we played some very familiar songs and we all "took off." We live for those moments. Pure transcendence. Nothing better. The best drug, the best exerience we know. Riding the massive vibes of 6 musicians giving their all in a little rehearsal room. We all totally lost ourselves in the moments of the music. Epic. Gratifying. Life-affirming. Ego falls away, consciousness falls away, just pure moment. Pure vibe. Therapy for each & everyone of us. The best of us.

Turning to Another Way...

Well, in order to survive, to keep your head and spirits up, you often need to turn away from the disaster that is now the USA. There is no doubt that the country, the economy, and the political mode has turned definitively dark and Fascistic. Ugly. The worst amongst us are in the ascendent. 

What's a Humble Pilgrim to do? "Be here now." It is a practice, & a disicpline. Sometimes, that means going to a house-concert to listen to two fabulous musicians play in a beautifully appointed apartment. Candle-light and drapery. Paintings & sculptures. Creative humans in the audience; painters, poets, musicians. Kind and caring folks, gathered together.

So, yes, we left our troubled minds behind, and bathed in the beauty & emotion of the moment. It was a healing thing. Good for the head, the heart, the soul. No one mentioned the shite, the darkness, the ugliness. All that was left behind.

Sure, a turning away, a turning to another way. Beauty & Hope. In the room. Right there before us. In the moment. In the eyes and heads of our fellow human beings. It was a good thing to do. Be here now. Yes, indeed. 

A Case-Study of Self-Sabotage & Implosion...

Funny. The implosion going on now with Elon Musk & Telsa has got me following the Stock Market, and reading articles from the Financial Times. So unlike me. But I am fascinated by the Nazi Brand Ambassodor destroying his own brand, and stock holdings, in real time. A real case-study of a massive failure of epic proportions. There is brand-building, and, then, well, brand-unbuilding.

Tesla is Musk's major source of wealth. And he is trashing it at an astonishing rate. Talk about self-sabotage. It has spawned two fabulous campaigns: #Teslatakedown & #EverybodyHatesElon. People Power directly taking on the malevolent rich-guy. Tesla sales are slumping, the stock is tanking, the cars are crashing, & being recalled, folks are protesting at Tesla dealerships across the land, it's an all around cluster-fuck. Sort of beautiful to see.

Musk very publicly aligned himself with hard-right, white-supremacist, & blatant-Nazi movements & parties around the globe. He helped Trump get elected with his cold, hard cash and disinformation Machine. He also seems intent on robbing Americans of their Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Plus he's destroying other programs & departments that do the good work for hard-working, common people here and around the globe.

Talk about getting out over your skis. So yeah, the pushback has been glorious and furious. Taking things away from Americans is a good way to WAKE THEM THE FUCK UP!

Seems Musk has found himself in the "fuck around & find out phase"of this case-study of implosion. Remember the  Enron Scandal? The scam that magically pancaked?! $ vanished in an instant? How to spell Enron today? TESLA!

Check out this from the Finnacial Times:  $1.4bn is a lot to fall through the cracks, even for Tesla
When money spent on assets doesn’t result in assets. 

What is that smell? Is it fear? Is it fraud? Is that Nazi going to cry? How badly can one very rich guy fuck up his own life and company?  To be continued...

Amplified Stupidity...

Ha. Maybe not a brilliant thought, you know, we are swimming in stupidity, so if you have a moment of clarity, it sort of stands out like a sore thumb. 

This morning it hits me like a little lightening flash. The stupidity. The amplified stupidity is everywhere. And my fellow humans, many of them, who knows, maybe most of them, desperately want to be stupid.

Why?

It's easier. Humans are lazy and want things to be easy. We are all so defiantly-stupid, we think our stupidity is some kind of genius intelligence. Ha. Very funny.  A  hall of mirrors of stupidity. 

Of course, much of our social media, all that shiny tech in the palm of your hand, or on your desktop, is there to burnish and broadcast our stupidity out to the world, and back to us. 

And those self-proclaimed geniuses? Of course, their egos are so prodigiously blimp-like, there really is no room in their heads for even a sliver of intelligence. They are proudly, loudly, enthusiastically stupid, and they want to smack you upside the head with their stupidness.

It amazes this humble pilgrim that many of the most successful folks amongst us, you know, those with positions of power and prestige, wield their stupidity with gleeful bravado. There is no shame. No self-awareness, no humility to be found. Very, very, funny.

Don't try to argue or reason with a truly stupid person. It's just not a good use of time. Might as well stick a fork in your eyeball. Just move on. The best we can do in the face of the truly, proudly stupid? Shun them.

Yes. The Age of Amplified Stupidity.  And this Amplifed Stupidity has been weaponized. Stupidity is a political movement, a cultural mode, a way of life. You know we can all gladly proclaim: I"m with Stupid!. Think of a map with a highlighted circle: Stupid, You Are Here.

The Black Robes Phase of Democracy...

We have entered the Black Robes Phase of our Democracy. It turns out that our Democracy is not as healthy, vibrant and solid as some of us had hoped & believed. There are powerful forces, wicked, and yes, evil, out to destroy our little democratic experiment. Why? Multiple reasons: money, power, cruelty, revenge, stupidity, ego. Typical human shite.

The battle is moving slowly, but surely to courtrooms across the land. That is where the Black Robes rule. It is supposedly where Justice is meted out. Funny. Sometimes Justice is denied; innocents lose, the guilty win. Sometimes a killer skates, sometimes an innocent dies. Justice & Judges are not infallible. They too are very, very fallible & human.

We are hurtling towards a Constitutional Crisis and the Judges will have to weigh in. Their decisions will help us discover if we live in a Democracy or a Dictatorship. How does it all work? Words written down on little pieces of paper. Laws. Legal language. Sometimes subtle, sometimes convoluted, language. How those words are interpreted in the minds of human beings is sometimes enlightening, or maddening, maybe both simultaneously. It all depends.

What do the words mean? How are they interpreted and implemented? Are they instructive? What are the arguments? Who and what is most persuasive in the courtroom? Where do the chips fall? Are we all saved, or totally fucked? Do we walk free, or are we marched off to the gallows? 

Oh yeah, one other decisive question: Will the evil-doers play along with the game of Justice? Will they abide by the rulings of the Black Robes? If yes, we may make it as a Democracy. If not, Jesus, we are in fucking cluster-fuck of authoritarian trouble.

Hard to believe it comes down to the Black Robes, and what flows from their decisions, but, sometimes, yes, it's true, it really does make the difference... yikes...

Dismantling the Brand, One Ad at a Time...

This ad campaign running on the streets of London? Absolutely brilliant. An amazing series of ads. Truly creative and provocative and on-the-money. Darkly-hilarious too. It's from the group Everybody Hates Elon. The good folks in Britain are pretty wised-up on Nazis, and the hard-right, white-supremacy movement. Many still-living humans have vivid memories of bombs raining down on London in World War II. Dark times in the last century. 

It's quite the unbuilding the brand idea. Once Tesla's brand ambassodor revealed his Nazi-sympathies, the process of unbuilding, dismantling, destroying the brand took hold. What's great, it's a serious, non-violent, movement. Using advertising is just so elegant & perfect.

It folds in nicely with the Telsa Takedown movement in the USA. Divest from Telsa stock. Sell or trash your Tesla automobile. It's funny the Tesla was the darling of wealthy, environmentally-conscious, progressives in America. Then, Musk revealed himself, and declared war on the "woke mind virus." It turns out that the rich woke-folk were his best customers and investors.

The stock is tanking. The cars are crashing. It became obvious that the stock price and the car company were madly, wildly, super-over-inflated. Sort of a shiny, techy, Ponzi scheme. As someone remarked: "Telsa is no longer a car company, it's a bank for Fascists."  Reality is now rearing it's ugly head. 

Musk then multiplied the damage by going after Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security programs here in the States. Something about an over-amped billionaire attacking the social safety net of the common folks just doesn't sit right.

How does this all end? Who knows?! It is gratifying to watch the stock price tumble. Can't wait for the next ads to drop. People Power. It is an awesome and inspiring phenomenon.

Rest, Relaxation, Joy and then, well, the New Tyranny = A day of Two Minds...

Sunday was a day of rest & relaxation for us. We were of "two minds," but feeling very Zen. An enjoyable day filled with creativity and laughter, bounded by the dark clouds of the new mad-man-tyranny.

Sure, we were concerned about our President now acting as Malevolent King who thinks and acts as if he is above the law. Of course, in our America it is the law that is supposed to be King. And, well, we are hurtling forward to a Constitutional Crisis. I mean, yes, we are already there.  

Very soon we will know if we are living in a Democracy or a Dictatorship. Very strange. It looks like it will be up to the Courts to decide. And then, well, does the Wanna Be King ignore the Courts and the Law?! That would be the end of Democracy as we have come to know it. Sad. It would be a terrible way to lose our Country. Lawless, Self-sabotage.

And, yes, well, we do agree with Paul Krugman, USA is now a Rogue Nation. Yikes. Once a champion and model for the rest the world, now a lawless, outlier to be shunned and condemned. Double-yikes.

Still, we chilled. Turned to good music, delicious, healthy, food, a good movie, good books, laughter, and a bit of frolic. We retreated to the safe space inside our heads & imaginations. We were able to detach a bit from the sadness and malevolence. It seems essential in order to survive. We can feel the ground shifting beneath our feet. Sometimes, in the face of the madness, you just need to "go with the flow," keep your head above the swirling waters, and breathe. 

Can't help it, we believe we will get thru this dark period, and enter a new phase. Maybe we need to experience the crash, and then emerge into a new light?! Ha. There is that unbeatable, unsinkable lightening flash of Hope zinging thru our bodies. Fuck it. We must carry on. Damn the torpedoes. Not giving up on the Dream, we refuse to succumb to the Nightmare. That's just the way we roll.

A Brilliant Ad Campaign In London...

 

Yes. The Swasticar ads popping up on the streets of London are brilliant. Supposedly a group called, "Everyone Hates Elon," dreamed up this fabulous campaign. Those out of the loop might ask: "Why Does Everyone Hate Elon?" That's easy. Being super-rich, coming out as a Nazi, trying to swing elections around the world to hard-right-white-supremacy parties, intent on robbing working folks of their healthcare and social safety-net programs, buddying up and partnering with America's newly-elected Toxic-Tyrant, desiring to rule over all the humans on the planet; well, that just doesn't sit well with some segments of the human population.

There is brand-building, and then there is anti-brand-building. One day this will be an incredible case-study for those interested in pop culture and advertising. A man, and a brand, destroyed by one man's own hubris, arrogance, and self-sabotage. One exuberant Nazi-salute, and the empire of $ started to crack & crumble. Ha. Ha. Ha. The Telsa Takedown is in full swing. People Power in action. Beautiful...

A Bumpy Ride...

Seems the world is burning. We have the two-headed Mad Kings destroying everything in their paths. Our institutions are failing, the people are reeling. WTF?

Everyone I know is stressed & unhappy. Yikes. Lots of uncertainty in the land. Hard to find anyone with any answers. The world is turning to shit before our eyes. 

A bumpy ride ahead. That seems to be the forecast. I cling to my little life-raft of sunniness, clinging hard despite all odds and indications. Trying hard to make sense out of the senseless. All I got: be here now. Damn the torpedoes...

Can We Make that Nazi-Oligarch Cry?

A billboard going up on a wall in London. You gotta hand it to the Brits. They really know their Nazis. Tesla. The cars are crashing, and so is the stock. The Fast & the Fuhrer a new flick coming to a screen near you. 

This Tesla Takedown Movement has legs. Musk decided to reveal himself as full-metal-Nazi, and well, surprise, surprise it's not a very popular move around the globe. Tesla car sales and Tesla stock prices are both crashing. The Takedown is a fabulous way to take on this rich, over-amped, ketamine-soaked, Dunning-Krueger effected, Oligarch.

Oh yeah, don't forget this rich guy has also joined forces with Trump to rob Americans of their social-net-safety programs: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. I kid you not. The audacity of the wealthy. Cuts for the commom folks to feed the beast of tax cuts for billionaires. Another example of how too much power & wealth is not good for a Human Being, or the Human mind. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

As Paul Krugman put it: "Nobody likes Elon." What an incredible self-sabotage campaign. Elon is entering Charlie Sheen, Kanye West, Milli-Vanilli territory. Total public meltdown. Couldn't happen to a more deserving Nazi.

So yeah, most of Musk's wealth is "on paper," embodied in the inflated price of his car company. How's that going?

"And as of March 11, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, that has meant $126 billion being shaved off Musk's own personal wealth since the beginning of this year, not an insignificant amount despite his massive financial holdings."

Ha. Down $126 Billion since the beginning of the year?! That is a great start. Come on folks, keep it going. How low can it go? It all leads one to wonder: "Can we make that Nazi-Oligarch cry?"

Disordered Discourse, Disordered Minds...

 

Eliot Higgins. One of the great finds on Blue Sky: Founder and creative director of Bellingcat and director of Bellingcat Productions BV. Author of We Are Bellingcat. Tonal Whiplash Zone.

"Disordered discourse." Of course. It's a cultural/political schizophrenia. It is so disturbing for folks on the other side of the MAGA ideological chasm. A paradigm shift. We went from benevolent, honest, sleepy Joe, the caretaker of America and Democracy around the world, to a Gangsta/Authoritarian/Creep/Made in America Oligarchy intent on demolishing everything we hold dear in our Democracy.

It seemed to happen in a blink of an eye. And we sort of slept-walked into it. And now, all of our institutions are being corrupted. It's like a sickness, a virus, a plague, a madness seeping into every nook and cranny of our country.

And you can't argue or reason with the disordered mind or the party of disordered minds. Point out that they are wrong on the facts, and on the wrong side of reality, and history, and they will deny the facts and the reality and try to rewrite the history. They will double and triple down on the lies. 

That is where we are at the moment. Some of us live and die with every new development, every little outrage, act of corruption and madness. Some of us are ignoring it all, hoping it all works out. The disordered minds and the disordered discourse is wreaking havoc here and abroad. Fuck. Yikes. It's sickness. No doubt. Clearer heads are spinning. WTF?!?

"The Worst Versions of Themselves..."

Paul Krugman nails it here: "A Mind is a terrible thing to Lose."  We have unbound, and unleashed the Two-Headed Mad King Monster. And together they are intent on destroying our beautiful country. A beautiful, thriving Democracy is also a terrible thing to lose. As they say, read it and weep. Those will be real tears you will shed, no doubt. Krugman is always brilliant and insightful. 

Are these two crazed, unhinged, billionaires stupid, corrupt, crazy? Why not all three?!

At the end of the piece Krugman comes up with a fabulous formulation.What happens when the powerful &  wealthy get so powerful & wealthy they become untethered to the real world?

"Cowed Republicans and timid Democrats have effectively given Trump and Musk the freedom to become the worst versions of themselves. And the whole world will pay the price." - Paul Krugman

Right. "The worst versions of themselves." The result of too much power, too much wealth. Yikes.

Things are Looking Up by Trending Strongly & Boldly Down!

Yesterday, it was a little blast of "spring" in the air around here. Temps near 60 degrees, sunny, blue skies, a glorious day, everyone out and about. It was a promise of better days ahead, slowly emerging from the winter doldrums. Sure, it was just one day, but it a was a hint, a marker, a reminder that the world is turning, and things are always in flux.

Things were looking up on the financial market scene too. When I say "looking up" I mean, looking, decidedly, boldly down. It was a cheerful development over in our corner. We are cheering on the Tesla Takedown, and maybe a market reckoning for this new turn to Fascism, and well, there was a 15% drop in market capitilization, for Tesla stock yesterday, a sweet & beautiful Karma. 

Sorry, if you are a Tesla stock-holder, or vehicle-owner, I do pity you. What to say? Sell. Now. Take the hit, or the profit, and get out now. I am not making any market predictions, but like I said before, having your brand ambassador going full-Nazi, intent on destroying America's social safety net, in order to get a tax break for the filthy rich, is not good for business.

 As Josh Marshall over on Blue Sky asked: "How can it be that more and more people don't like the socially-stunted dweeb-fuhrer?"

A neighbor down the way owns a black Tesla. It does look pretty sleek and cool in the driveway. In the bay window of the house there is a Ukrainian flag proudly displayed. I wanted to ask the owner what he thought of the Nazi, being stuck owning a Tesla, Musk siding with Putin against Democracy and Ukraine, but I just didn't have the heart, it was just too nice of a day for such talk. But I did wonder about the cognitive dissonance crashing like an out-of-control self-driving Tesla, in my neighbor's head.  WTF?! 

Time to Protect & Preserve...

 

Seems going full Nazi is bad for biz... the Tesla Takedown is in hyper-drive. This dude is a fraud & the weak link in the new Fascist Terror Dome Regime. Yes. The protests, rallies, marches & signs are having an effect around the world, Tesla sales are slumping, the stock is tanking, and it is a very good thing indeed. Folks are "speaking truth to power." We don't like this Nazi shite. We are against the billionaires joining with the Republicans to rob us of our Healthcare (Medicare & Medicaid) & Social Security,. We are being smart with our hard-earned $. Calling out the bad actors and their bad actions. Now is not the time for silence or inaction. Now is the time to speak up. This is our Democracy. We all need to do our part to protect & preserve it.

The Downside of "Unfettered Capitalism" = Thy Name is Musk!

 

Ha. Yes. It seems the Tesla Cybertrucks are now joining the Tesla Takedown movement (see previous post), they are committing ritual Seppuku on the streets of America.

Who in their right mind would want to ride in one those "self-driving" monsters? 

From Heather Cox Richardson: "In the Public Notice interview, Thor Benson asked Ryan Mac: “What’s something about Elon’s huge role in the Trump administration that people perhaps aren’t understanding?” Mac answered that Musk is the manifestation of the nation’s extreme wealth inequality." 

“What happens,” he asked, “when there is unfettered capitalism that allows people to accumulate this much money and this much power?”

Robbing Americans of their Jobs, their Healthcare, and SSI...

Maybe going full Nazi is bad for business? Maybe being the face and most blatant example of the insane, rampant, over the top, income inequality & disparity of wealth, pervasive in America, is a bad branding idea? Why is this man trying to rob Americans of their HealthCare and Social Security? Who appointed this man Emperor? Maybe this billionaire class is a bit "over their skis?" Maybe they haven't thought through the consequences of so boldly lording over the people? There are a few of them vs. many, many, many of us.

Sometimes in the midst of the bad shite, you stumble across some good news. This Tesla Takedown movement seems to be working:

"The company’s poor performance has also affected Musk’s personal wealth. At the beginning of February, Musk’s net worth was around $433 billion. Today, that number is $330 billion, per Bloomberg’s billionaire index—a drop of $103 billion."

Ha. That is People Power right there.  Protests & rallies at Tesla dealerships across the country. A beautiful thing. Down $103 billion in a month? Pretty impressive. I mean, fuck yeah! Nice work America. Still so much more to go. Tesla is this man's Achilles Heel. Hitting him in the pocket book is just such an elegant, brilliant, and effective strategy. Good work folks. Keep it going.

Terror Dome City...

We sipped hot chocolates, made with oatmilk, topped with whip-cream, yesterday afternoon. You have to find joy where you can. We looked out onto the busy street. Lots of activity, mostly young folks navigating the day. We were in a coffeeshop just blocks from a very large, prestigious Midwestern University. This whole town is DEI in action; diversity, equity and inclusion is sort of baked into the community here. Hard to believe that will change anytime soon, even with the autocratic directions from our New Fascist Terror Dome Regime rolling out of D.C.  

My partner looked around at all the fresh faces, most folks wrapped in their own private realms, smartphones in hand, headphones on ears, eyes peeled, Human Beings lost in their own Private Idahos. Floaters across the land. She asked: "Do they know what's happening? Do they care? Are they fighters?" 

Funny questions. Of the moment. And hard to know. Are we sleeping-walking into a certain retrograde, soul-killing Fascism? Do these kids have any clue what they may lose? Our little Democratic experiment is flailing and failing, under assault from lawless billionaires intent on robbing us our our $ and our way of life. 

Fuck. Sure, we have been freaking out. Following along with every malevolent development. We try our best not to panic. But the bad shite is sort of overwhelming. On the street none of that seems evident. Who knows? What happens next? We finished our hot chocolates and headed into the cold reality of the day. Terror Dome City is beckoning. Yikes.

Instant Karma...

My partner follows an Astrologer, who, to me, comes across as basically a Life-Coach with some planetary knowledge thrown in to spice things up. She is engaging, funny & sometimes seems to have a bit of good advice, which usually breaks down two ways: "Be careful, it's not a good time to make rash decisions," OR "Now is an excellent time to be adventurous, creative, a good time to refresh & recharge."

We were working under the assumption of the latter advice yesterday. It wasn't working. It was a day of disappointment, frustration, to-&fro-ing, false starts & hitches, lost time and dead ends. And, of course, the reality of our New Fascist Terror Dome Regime lately hangs over us like a toxic cloud.

We both were ragged & out of sorts. Still, we powered thru, we went to our rehearsal studio with the idea of banging thru some of our songs, preparing for a session with our band this coming weekend. Before we started, my partner discovered that one of her drums had cracks in the skin. Another frustration. She took a detour, picked up her phone, and started calling around to find someone who could repair it.

While she was doing that, I started hacking away at my guitar, more from boredom & frustration than anything else. I started playing the chords to Neil Young's "Down by the River." I got aggressive, and then started hanging on the Eminor chord, I discovered a very hard & funky rhytmn and riff. My fingers danced on the fret-board in a new way. I played that over and over. It was sort therapuetic. Basically fucking-off.

My partner found a repair-man for the drum. She put down her phone, put it in "record mode" and picked up an old notebook that I don't recall seeing before. My partner looked at me and said "Keep playing." And then she started singing lines from the notebook. 

I was in standard tuning, so we tried the same riff in a couple keys with me moving a capo up the fretboard, E-minor>F#-minor>G-minor. We settled on G-minor and played and recorded the riff & lyrics a few times. We realized we had a new song. So wild. Out of the ether. Unexpected. Not even trying. The moment of creation just seemed to appear from nowhere.

My partner told me she"re-discovered" the old notebook the day before, cleaning out a closet. She had paged thru it, filled with drawings, recipes, and a few poems & lyric fragments. She just happened to put the notebook in her satchel and brought it to the session with no thought or intention.

It made the day. No doubt. 

Good lesson there. Inspiration can come from frustration & boredom, and the ragged, jagged moments of a day. There does not seem to be a method to our creative madness, sometimes it's an accident, a gift, a goof. You need to be alive, aware, awake to the tiniest of moments. The "magic" can happen in an instant. Easy to miss or fumble, unless you are paying attention. Yes. Instant Karma, indeed...

buddy/master/handler/co-conspirator/big daddy

 

How to explain the shit-show that is unfolding in America now? 

The simple, elegant and obvious explanation: The President isn't really working for America or Americans. He never has been, and never will be. 

What is the one consistent theme that explains his actions? Vladimir Putin & Russia. Just look at the evidence. Our President is always aligned with Putin. He always takes Putin's side. It doesn't take much digging or homework or hard-thinking to come to that conclusion. That explanation has been floating around since forever.  In fact, it is so blindingly obvious, it's almost invisible now. For proof just look at what our President says and does. Words & actions. It's all about his buddy/master/handler/co-conspirator/big daddy, Vladimir. 

MAGA has never been about making America great. It is selling division, demoralization & diminshment here and abroad. It is an invalidation of America. It weakens us. Trump's mission is Putin's mission too. Their enemies: A free press, fact-based reality, rule of law, free & fair elections, healthy Democracies around the world. 

You may ask why? 

There are many plausible explanations. It is probably a combination of many things, but we are stuck with the cold hard reality. It's a bummer. For sure. A terrible thing. Bad for America and our allies around the world. Seems Un-American. Buddying up with an anti-democratic strongman against the free world. But as Kurt Vonnegut liked to write: So it Goes...

A Scenario...

We have entered the 2-headed Mad King phase of our Democracy. So weird. Our Democracy isn't supposed to have Kings. One head is Ketamine-Tech-Bro-Billionaire-Unleashed, the Other is Orange-Tan-Loud-Fat-Head-Undone. They are both running amok in their own ways. The country is in thrall, some folks cheering on the destruction of America, some folks living & dying, eyes filled with horror, at every little act of the destruction. Good Lord. It's a bad scene.

Over here in our hidey-hole we are firmly against it. We are hunkering down, hoping it will run thru it's ugly course, and then some kind of rebuild, reboot will be in the cards. Paraphrasing Dylan, we are "praying the pieces won't fall on us." Sure, we are calling our Reps, writing emails, ready & willing to protest at a drop of the hat, but really, we are just little drops in the ocean. Right now that ocean is a roiling mass of hurly-burly.

Who is in charge? Are there any sensible, responsible people left? Is all the power pointed to destruction? Can anyone stop the madness? Those kinds of questions hang in the air.  Pretty sure there is no saviour waiting in the wings. It's just us. The job of righting the wrongs is left up to us, the little, common folks. You know the people who get pushed around? We do a lot of running to & fro, hoping the sky doesn't fall on us.

We didn't elect Kings. This shouldn't be happening. But of course, weird, unexpected things happen all the time. Welcome to the World. How bad will it get? That is a running game in our heads. Maybe it has to get so bad everyone feels it? Then, maybe enough of the little, common ones wake up, band together, and throw off the tyranny of the 2 Mad Kings? 

We've seen that kind of thing happen in History. It's a familiar theme, the rich & powerful ones get so rich and powerful, they get cocky, too full of themselves, so convinced that they have conquered gravity, common sense & truth. And then the reckoning comes. As Jimmy Cliff sang: "The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, one and all..." 

The organized protest* starts in the homes, the streets, the town squares, and boils & bubbles across the land.

That's a nice scenario right there...

*Note: Organized Protests: Peaceful, non-violent. We have many tools available: Voting for those who stand up for the Democracy, the Rule of Law & the Constitution, raising our voices, gathering in crowds, holding rallies, peaceful protests, boycotts, general strikes, encouraging students and labor organizations to join in the cause of protecting our rights in our Democracy, hounding our Represenatives to stand up against the 2 Headed-Mad Kings. What if the common ones could join together as one voice? We could change the world.

A Simple Formula for Better Living...

"Do the right thing." Yikes. It seems to be out of fashion. It is a bit disorienting when the whole culture seems to be pointed in a completely contrary direction.

Clarity. Silence. Discipline. Out of date phenomena. 

This morning, I feel out of sync & out of tune with my fellow Humans, & especially with the latest events rolling out from our Facsist Terror Dome Regime in D.C. 

I know there are others like me out here, but I am not seeking shelter in the herd. I don't care about safety in numbers. Maybe I should be worried about standing out in a field all by myself, but I am not worried. At the moment this is still America, land of the free, home of the brave, at least in my fertile imagination. I mean, damn the torpedoes.

I cling to some basics: truth, facts, scientific method, honesty, love, creativity, music, poetry, literature, improvisation, clear-mindedness. Oh yeah, and a sense of humor. Life is too short to succumb to the hate, and to be consumed with the haters. 

You know fuck them. Cursing by the way is good. All those nasty swear words. Useful. Do the right thing. Yep. It is a simple formula for better living.