Category: Politics

Sunday Morning Reading

Still bouncing back and through some health issues, but it’s Sunday and we’re approaching the start of the baseball season. So here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

David Todd McCarty wonders how we convince friends and family that they’re wrong and we’re right in today’s mixed up world in Those Closest To Us. My hunch is that’s becoming no longer possible.

The Internet is as mixed up and crazy as everything else in the world these days. Was it always? Joan Westenberg published a zine that you can download for free called I Miss The Internet: a zine. I’d grab a copy if I were you.

The bills always come due. But this one might never get paid. Christopher Mims takes a look at the growing problem of technical debt in The Invisible $1.52 Trillion Problem: Clunky Old Software.

It didn’t take long for someone to create an AI worm. Makes one wonder where the good guys are who might use AI to beat this stuff back. Matt Burgess sounds the alarm in Here Come the AI Worms.

Sports analytics has been the latest craze for quite some time now. With the Major League Baseball season just around the corner, some are concerned that AI will eventually overwhelm the new wave of analysts and the games. The AP has this report from Jimmy Golen, Sports Analytics May Be Outnumbered When It Comes to Artificial Intelligence.

And from the tech future to the tech past, check out American’s Last Morse-Code Station by Saahil Desai.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Playing a bit of catch up after a week off due to some health issues and travel to visit the grandkids, so here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to catch up on and share as the world continues its wobbly spin. 

Context is Everything. I concur with NatashaMH. Cat piss and all.

Trigger me this: John Mellencamp says that one way to combat our US problem with guns is to start showing the carange on the news. Daniel Kreps tells us about it in John Mellencamp on How To End Gun Violence: ‘Show America the Carnage.’ I think Mellencamp is right.

Teri Kanefield has a nice rundown on Why Some Prefer Oligarchy and What’s Russia Got To Do, Got To Do With It? If you don’t follow Teri’s stuff, you should. 

Michel Schwirtz and Adam Entous writing for The New York Times put out an explosive piece on The Spy War: How The CIA Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin. It’s not explosive for the content because those who need to know these things already do. What’s intriguing is that when info like this hits the Main Stream Media, there’s always a motive. The question is whose?

James Carville writes a piece for The Bulwark entitled A Crusade for Something Noble. If the title triggers you, read the article. If the subject matter doesn’t trigger you, well… let’s just say don’t say you weren’t warned.

Christopher Mims says AI means It’s The End of the Web As We Know It. I think he’s right, but have we ever really known this moving target?

David Dreams of Everything is a nice piece of introspection from David Todd McCarthy. Also check out his piece  Fish Or Cut Bait.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share on a day when the political world is fixated on diatribes about age, infirmity, and a tottering judicial system that’s too long in the tooth and already rotted out with decay. Meanwhile a majority of eyeballs are getting ready to tune all of that out and watch some talented young athletes bash each other’s brains out on a playing field, hoping for a moment of glory. But hey, you can always do some reading.

First up, Clare Malone wonders Is The Media Prepared for An Extinction Level Event? The short answer is no. But read the article. It’s good.

And speaking of bordering on extinction, David Brooks in The New York Times pens an interesting piece titled Trump Came for Their Party But Took Over Their Souls.A bit like that old axiom about shutting barn doors after the horses have galloped away, but worth a read.

Smart Is Not Always Wise, says David Todd McCarty. He’s right. I may have linked to this already, but it’s worth you catching up to if you haven’t yet. Also check out The Scale of Evil Things. Smart and wise.

One of the mysteries of our time is how so many got suckered into so much bullshit thinking about things that used to feel like touchstones in our lives. In this piece, Reed Galen is talking about religion. The scary thing is how spot on the title is: Hiding in Plain Sight.

NatashaMH thinks she needs to be fucked up in order to be creative in her piece The Fucked Up Creative. Here’s to being fucked up if that’s the case. 

Back on the politics beat, but also the fucked up beat, Ronald Brownstein talks about the non-secret plans the decaying orange turd has if he gets elected again in Trump’s ‘Knock on the Door’. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming this time around.

The Apple Vision Pro continues to dominate tech talk and here are a couple of interesting takes from this second week of that beta project’s life in the wild. Apple Vision Pro Review: Eyes on the Future by Jason Snell of Six Colors and  Christopher Mim’s analysis that Apple’s New Face Computer Is For Work. 

And finally to close out the morning here’s a look at How Steinbeck Used The Diary as a Tool of Discipline, A Hedge Against Self Doubt, and a Pacemaker for the Heartbeat of Creative Work by Maria Popova. No AI or fancy tech required.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

SCOTUS Hearing Marks The Middle of the Ending

Today is not the beginning of the end. It’s not anywhere close to the end. It’s smack dab in the middle. The US Supreme Court will hear a case on disqualifying everyone’s, including many of his supporters, most detested human from running for the presidency of the United States. As we’ve gotten closer to the moment the back and forth has been backed and forthed enough to make the Veritigo episodes I’m currently experiencing seem like I’m firmly rooted and well balanced on solid ground.

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For what it’s worth I don’t have a middle ground. I think the guy should be tossed out on his oversized orange keister, and that the well compromised Supreme Court should take a flyer to cover their asses in a few blankets shy of complete ignominy. Sure that might lead to violence, but I think that’s coming regardless. Just a matter of when. Call me cynical. But you’ll call me right before we get to the end.

What’s going to happen today? No one knows. That’s why this is such a fraught moment. The drama and the stakes don’t get any higher. The only problem with this drama is that no self-respecting writer would populate it with such transparently screwed up characters and motivations. Hell, even farceurs wouldn’t touch this list of characters. If you believe, as I do, that we’ve already done irreparable damage to what was the United States and all it stood for, today is the middle act of a tragedy heading to its conclusion.

I’m linking here to a good rundown of what the arguments in the court may be about today. For those interested in placing bets on the outcome here’s a link to what the oddsmakers are thinking. I’m mean if the ship of state is  going down, you might as well try to make a buck or two on how long it’s going to take.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome and check out The Lehman Trilogy Diaries here. 

Sunday Morning Reading

It’s one of those winter Sunday mornings. Time to share a little Sunday Morning Reading while trying to get back into a different groove after returning home from a long gig and nursing a couple of bulging disks in my back. Today’s version is a wide mix of topics today mostly in the cultural realm. Enjoy.

First up, check out Scott-Ryan Abt’s The Euphoria of Quiet Time. Quiet time is something I’m trying to find more time for.

Controversial theatre director Milo Rau is coming to America. Helen Lewis takes a look at why he’s controversial in The Theater Director Who Likes to Go Too Far.

Family squabbles over money and legacies are never fun. Certainly when they invovle art collections. Check out Kelly Crow’s piece about the Neuman family in The $1 Billion Art Collection That’s Tearing a Family Apart.

Legendary record producer Max Norman says there’s no point in making “world class” records any longer because no one cares anymore. Check out The Phonecian’s article on Norman here.

It’s no secret what most of us think of as journalism is in as much trouble, if not more so, than anything else. Phillip Longman offers How Fighting Monopoly Can Save Journalism. It’s a long, detailed look at a troubling issue.

Speaking of journalism, Kirstin Butler tells us why Dorothy Thompson Is The Most Famous Female Journalist You’ve Never Heard Of.

Michelangelo Signorile discusses an issue that I wish was a larger part of our political discourse in Welfare States Declare War On Donor States. But They Have No Money. It’s ironic how those who decry socialism need it to survive.

David Todd McCarty says I Owe You Nothing. He’s right. Go read the piece and find out why.

And finally this week marked the release of The Apple Vision Pro. I posted some links to some great review coverage of the device and what it may or may not promise here. This one, Apple Vision Pro Review: The Infinite Desktop, from Brian Heater is also worth your time, regardless of which device you read your bits and bytes on.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

From deep in the heart of the frozen South here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share. A slimmer list of links this weekend as we head into the final week of rehearsals for The Lehman Trilogy fighting the cold, burst water pipes and other winter wonders. Looking forward to putting the tech touches to this show and heading home to Chicago. Oh, wait. It’s winter there too. Meanwhile stay warm and enjoy this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

As someone who wakes early, even in the crazy late night weeks of directing a play, Scott-Ryan Abt’s What Do You Do at 3am? feels very familiar.

Richard Zoglin takes on all the pre-movie promotional stuff tossed at movie goers in When Is This Movie Really Going To Start? I’ve Been Here Half an Hour. My going to the movies habit began changing long before the pandemic because of this.

NatashaMH takes us on a tour of life through a visit to a bookstore in Small Wonders In A Big World.Wonderful.

David Todd McCarty takes us the long way around in telling this story about story telling in ‘Round The Outside. He’s also wondering Where Have All The Hitmen Gone?

Steven Levy takes us through the evolution of the Mac in Apple Shares The Secret Of Why The 40-Year-Old Mac Still Rules.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviews Kevin D. Roberts the head of the Hertiage Foundation in Inside The Heritage Foundation’s Plans for ‘Institutionalizing Trumpism.’ If you want to know where the crazy comes from on the right, talk to Kevin.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Winter is bearing down on big portions of the U.S. Some places are already digging out. I’m in one of the former portions (Memphis) that doesn’t handle it well. So today, Sunday Morning Reading will contain less links than usual. We’re rushing to get things accomplished before folks anticipate a rough time (or a snow day) in this old southern town. But don’t rush through these links.

As for winter, Zoë Schalnger has a good piece up about The Threshold at Which Snow Starts Irreversibly Disappearing.  Given deadlines and what’s impending here I sort of wish it never would appear, but that’s not the point of this article.

U.S. Politics may be a hot topic, but not enough to defeat Old Man Winter in Iowa where the first caucus will be held tomorrow for apparently no reason. The debate also rages on about the 14th Amendment. This piece from Jason Linkins, The Fourteenth Amendment Scolds Abetting Trump’s Return, turns up the heat on that issue and the media that keeps screwing up the coverage.

Natasha MH, talks about school reunions in The United States of Reunion. Great piece about the inner conflicts they can dredge up.

Smart is Not Always Wise. I concur. So does David Todd McCarty who penned this piece.

And for those who come here for a little tech, check out John Siracusa’s take on Artificial Intelligence entitled I Made This. Well worth your time.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here.  You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

The Lehman Trilogy Diaries: Interpret or Learn?

The other night there was a moment in rehearslal for The Lehman Trilogy that caught me and stood out. The moment is in one of the more comic scenes of the play. Given what’s happening  around and to us in the world these days, the truth behind it isn’t very funny. Then again, sometimes comedy is the best mirror in which to see ourselves.

That moment goes like this:

Young Herbert Lehman is a trouble maker in school for always asking too many questions. His Rabbi asks the class to recite back to him the ten plagues God visited on Egypt. The Rabbi does everything in his power to keep from calling on the young troublemaker, choosing every boy in the class, until at last there’s only Herbert left to regurgitate the answer.

RABBI: I suppose I should hear the last plague from you Herbert Lehman.

HERBERT: HaShem let the children of Egypt die.

RABBI: That’s wrong, Lehman. HaShem did not do that.

HERBERT: Yes he did, Rabbi.

RABBI: No, he didn’t.

As usual, you want to interpret, rather than to learn.

According to the scripture: ‘At midnight HaShem slaughtered

every firstborn in the country of Egypt.’

Every Firstborn is not the same as ALL the children, Lehman.

HERBERT: Whatever it says, Rabbi.

I have a problem with HaShem’s decision.

Why massacre the children of Egypt who were innocent?

RABBI: Lehman…

HERBERT: I have a problem with all of the plagues.

RABBI: Lehman! This is intolerable!

HERBERT: In my opinion, HaShem – instead of wasting time with plagues – should have simply killed the pharaoh…

RABBI: HaShem does not take advice from Herbert Lehman!

“Interpret rather than to learn” is what caught and what catches. For much of our lives, and I daresay for much of the lives of those who’ve populated the planet since humanity wiggled out of the slime we’ve been both blessed and plagued by the margins between “interpreting” and “learning.” Witness current events and how violently we seem to disagree over interpretations of things we’ve supposedly learned.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome and check out The Lehman Trilogy Diaries here. 

Some Things We Just Know On The Merry-Go-Round We Call Life Today

On the merry-go-round of life some things we just know. Some things we just know but find that others want to pretend something different. Here are some things we just know.

Donald Trump is a criminal, a rapist, an insurrectionist, a scumbag, a loser, a lousy liar, and more beyond redemption than most of the evil people in recorded history. He’d love to top even that list. He wants to dismantle the US Constitution and any other aspect of governance as long as he can stay out of a prison jump suit that might clash with the color of his makeup while grifting his way to the grave.

The Republican Party is the largest collecton of cowards and liars ever gathered under the guise of a political party, afraid of any shadow with a hint of orange in it, and terrified of the ignorant constiutents they represent and claim to love. They deserve whatever comes from their cowardice and lying. The rest of us don’t.

Elon Musk is a drug-addled fool who just happens to control a few companies, somehow has a national security clearance, a hoard of wealth, and could care less about anything other than for whatever is in his brain at the moment. Or the next.

Too many American voters don’t know which way to turn because either fork in the road seems like a tortured path. Too many American voters need to pay better attention, because if they are not careful they’ll lose the ability to make choose how severe the torture is going forward.

Big Tech isn’t Big Tech anymore. Big tech, like most other human endeavors, is in the Big “Let’s Make All The Money We Can before the merry-go-round stops” game. The merry-go-round always stops.

Artificial Intelligence can be both a boon and a bust. It will be both. You don’t have to be intelligent or real  to see that coming. 

Social Media can be fun. Social Media can be harmful. In either case, only if you let it. 

Wars are destructive, foolish expressions of ego and and desire. Rules and Laws of War are silly made up sing-songs  to allow men to destroy each other and anyone in their way in service to those egos.

The Media is a mess of its own making in covering any of the above, and seems to enjoy swimming in its own slop with its mouth agape. Anyone in their right minds would have stopped the bleeding by now. Unless they just enjoy self-harm. But if it bleeds it leads. Even it’s draining the lifeblood out of you.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.