elon musk – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Promises, Promises

Harold Hill never had such easy marks

Years ago when I ran professional theatres my principal responsibility was picking a season of plays and/or musicals, then pulling things together to actually produce that season. Planning was based on quite a few variables and data, but you never knew how things were actually going to play out in the end. Show business can be cruel.

The Music Man There were always surprises. Some good and some bad. Some shows would become surprise runaway hits, others that seemed like sure things would flop. Lose a weekend due to a snowstorm and the bottom line got hit hard.

Of course the choice of plays was always the key variable. I remember sitting in a particularly contentious board of directors meeting as we were nearing a season announcement and a board member was pushing back hard on our revenue and expense projections for what we had planned. He pounded the table and asked, “How can you know what will sell tickets a year from now?” I told him I could project, but I couldn’t know and that I always went into each season saying that if we succeeded as much as .300 hitters in baseball we’d be superstars.

Well, we weren’t baseball players, but we still usually came out ahead of the game with more hits some seasons than others. We held our own. The not-for-profit theatre version of the game I was playing relied on picking and announcing a season a year or so in advance. You’d promote and sell that season to subscribers to accumulate cash and support up front, and then once you were in the season proper you’d push hard for single ticket sales and then after they got a taste, try to convert them into subscribers, then donors.

It was always risky, just like many business propositions. I remember asking that same board member if his business would be comfortable announcing his plans and projecting sales a year in advance knowing all of the risks. It was a rhetorical question on my part because I knew his business couldn’t operate that way. Most can’t.

The entire thing was based initially on a promise, and each new season announcement was a new promise. Each time you delivered a promised season the theatre built or kept trust with that subscriber base. That loyal base would resubscribe based on that trust. Those customers knew there may be a play or two in the season they didn’t care for, but they came back season after season based on the quality of what we offered, and also that we delivered on what we initially sold and promoted.

As an artistic director (CEO) I was the one who was responsible for that trust and never took that responsibility lightly. Yes, there were times we had to change our plans, but the trust engendered along the way helped weather those moments as long as we were honest with our customers and donors.

The above is a long wind up to something I’ve been thinking about lately and spurred by an article I saw on Elon Musk’s latest promises about delivering robots “next year.”

No one thinks that’s real. For the life of me, I doubt he does. Given how many “promises” this guy has made and broken I don’t understand how reasonably intelligent (I assume they are reasonably intelligent) reporters and investors don’t just burst out laughing when the next one self-drives out of the empty garage that is his mouth. But then again, everyone is in on the con.

Musk isn’t alone these days when it comes to talking out of more orifices than human anatomy provides. Our politicians do it. Relentlessly. As do Tech and other corporate CEOs. The politicians you can almost understand because they are allowed to say whatever the hell they want under the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, granting them immunity for anything they say while doing their legislative duties. Unfortunately that seems to have spread a bit outside of the original boundaries through various court rulings and a willingness to boldly and brazenly lie at the drop of a hat.

But CEOs are supposed to be under more scrutiny. From their shareholders. From various regulatory agencies. And yet, those like Musk and many of the Artificial Intelligence promoters seem to be able to promise the Moon (or Mars) without ever delivering.

As I said earlier, at some point you’d think intelligent folks would catch on and actually run these Harold Hills out of town, instead of allowing them to continue courting the librarians they want to take jobs away from. If the regulators aren’t regulating and the shareholders keep writing checks I guess those of us watching shouldn’t care if they all end up playing air trombones. (Bonus points for those who get The Music Man references.)

There’s a truism in my business that nobody ever starts out to do a bad show. Yet, some shows flop. I used to believe that no one ever started a business to be a bust. But the flimflammery we’re seeing these days makes me wonder. As long as you can continue to fleece the flock along the way, does it really matter if you ultimately succeed in producing what you promised as long as you score along the way?

Set aside for the moment that anything, well intentioned or not, can fail. But after delivering a string of broken promises you’d think there’d be enough erosion of trust that only fools would continue to pony up their money. Perhaps I’ve just underestimated the number of fools.

My business was disposable. Technology isn’t. Essential as the arts are to our collective humanity, the arts are always the first to feel financial hits in tough times, and generally the last to recover. Technology keeps playing an increasing role in all of our lives and is becoming dangerously essential. Lord help us if an EMP ever goes off. Watching this new rush into the a world of Artificial Intelligence it’s frightening to contemplate even a small portion of what the promises offer, even as some have already collapsed under their own weight. It’s even more challenging to contemplate what the remaining ones might actually turn into.

It’s one thing to run a smartphone on a beta OS. It’s another when it runs your life for you.

Frankly, I don’t buy all of the promises. The ones that I think offer possible benefits I’m skeptical about. And that’s because I don’t trust the folks offering the promises, the folks funding them, or those rushing to implement them. They’ve all had their chance to earn my trust. There are very few remaining that haven’t squandered it.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

“Then No Line Exists”

Musk’s Grok has erased them all

I recently linked to Eizabeth Lopatto’s excellent and scathing article pointing fingers at Apple and Google for continuing to allow Elon Musk’s Grok AI to undress without consent adults and children. Calling Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai cowards in the headline on this issue is, in my opinion, table stakes and will be until they take public action and actually apologize for violating their own rules and the privacy of the users that pump money into their bank accounts.

Following that up I’m linking to another excellent article on the topic from Charlie Warzel and Matteo Wong, published in the Atlantic. The headline is strong, saying Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This. The article is stronger still. Yet, the sad reality is that he already has, and even if Cook and Pichai suddenly change direction, the damage has already been done. Like the political figures they have bent knees to, they won’t be able to find a mirror to look in that won’t reflect their cowardice back at them.

Hiding under their respective rocks, both Cook and Pichai have let Musk turn this from a ruinous troubling feature into a paid premium feature, which is not only ridiculous but makes a mockery of both Apple and Google. I’ve already said that any X users who still hang onto that platform are just as culpable.

But then that’s the world we live in. We ignore the horrible nature of what’s unfolding in front of our faces. So many demons have flown out of this era’s Pandora’s Box we find ourselves it is impossible to count them, much less have any hope of banishing them. But then, that’s what the demons are counting on. As the article says:

This crisis is an outgrowth of a breakneck information ecosystem in which few stories have staying power. No one person or group has to flood the zone with shit, because the zone is overflowing constantly. People with power have learned to exploit this—to weather scandals by hunkering down and letting them pass, or by refusing to apologize and turning any problem into a culture-war issue.

As Warzel and Wong also say, “the silence says everything.”

Hostile and Political Amazon

The dangerous farce continues (and sometimes it’s quite funny.)

I guess someone at Amazon read my post from a few weeks ago about how it is possible to bring a bully to heal. I doubt it. But it is fun to watch Jeff Bezos make the Trump administration sweat a bit under similar circumstances. At least for the moment.

In response to the Trump tariffs, which are already driving up prices and driving down consumer confidence, Amazon has announced that they will be displaying the amount of price increases that are due to tariffs on its product pages.

Of course this generated an immediate response from the White House with the press secretary, standing at the podium beside the Treasury secretary, labeling Amazon’s move as a “hostile and political act.”

Oh my.

Three things to quickly comment on:

First, when you need to trot out Treasury Secretary Bessent to try and clam waters you’re losing. As I’ve said before, he reminds me of the LaLa guy. Remember him?

Whatever Bessent says seems to make as much sense.

Second, we just reached the 100 day mark of this dangerous farce of an administration and the meaningless polls are telling us folks are unhappy. You don’t need polls to know that, see that, or feel that. The unease in the air is thicker than this Spring’s pollen count.

You can only create a fake reality in the movies. And even then, those fake realities fall apart in the end.

Third, most early bets are Bezos will fold and pull back on this. But one can only bend a knee so far before it breaks. Or they don’t let you launch any new satellites.

And the bending begins.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Boys Will Be Boys She Says

It’s raining adolescents who want to reign.

Two of Donald Trump’s minions, Elon Musk and Peter Navarro, are feuding with each other over tariffs and trade wars, taking the high road by tossing insults at each other like “moron.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to a press query about the feud by saying, “Boys will be boys, and we’ll let their public sparring continue.”

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Nice.

I remember growing up in the hills of Virginia in an age when moonshine and dangerous racing up and down and around curvy mountain roads was quite a potent entertainment mix. On more than one occasion someone would crash and end up dead, wrapped around a tree.

I also remember quite a few of my elders commenting in the aftermath that “boys will be boys.”

I don’t seem to recall anyone saying that at the funerals though.

Image from Carlos Amarillo on Shutterstock.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Tough reads for tough times with a nod to the Commodore 64.

The rapid decay of all things continues. I’m not even sure if “decay” is the right word. “Collapse” might be a better choice. Regardless, there’s no “decay” or “collapse” in my sharing articles and writing every week in Sunday Morning Reading. Enjoy.

Russell Shorto tells us that the fracture we’re facing shouldn’t surprise in America’s Fatal Division Is Nothing New: It Was Baked In From The Beginning. He’s right and that’s also nothing new. We just have a propensity for ignoring what we shouldn’t.

Marc Elias says We Can’t Give In To Fear. He’s right. But with those we mistakenly counted on having already done so, it makes it tougher for the rest of us.

Brian Barrett of Wired (which continues to do excellent reporting) gives us a rundown on The United States of Elon Musk. Good piece with good context. I don’t disagree with his premise that it’s unsustainable. The larger concern is what’s left in its wake.

NatashaMH opens up a personal tale of exploring justice, relationships, and personal power in The Price of Guns And Butter.

Things aren’t just decaying on political and social fronts, technology is marching right alongside, if not leading the charge. John Gruber lays out a mea culpa of sorts in discussing Apple’s less than intelligent move into Artificial Intelligence in Something Is Rotten In The State of Cupertino. Om Malik also weighs in with Apple Intelligence, Fud, Dud or Both. I’ll have more to say on this later this week. I wrote a bit about it last week also.

Will Knight, (again in Wired) tells us that Under Trump, AI Scientists Are Told To Remove ‘Ideological Bias’ From Powerful Models. Tell me. Who didn’t see this kind of thing happening?

Cory Doctorow in Pluralistic lays out how Amazon Annihilates Alexa Privacy Settings, Turns On Continuous Nonconsensual Audio Uploading. One way user agreements flow only one way. Again, who didn’t see this coming?

In times of uncertain futures it’s always somewhat uncomfortably comforting to reminisce about simpler times. When it comes to technology there was perhaps no simpler or more innocent time than during the age of the Commodore 64, which was my first home computer. We’ve come a long way. Gareth Edwards takes a look at Jack Tramiel’s success in How Commodore Invented The Mass Market Computer.

(Image from Ashni on Unsplash)

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.

Another Important Voice Speaks Out: Marc Elias Answers Elon Musk’s Attacks

Speak up now. While you still can.

Those who care about voting rights know who Marc Elias is. He’s an outspoken lawyer who has helped turn many cases and laws generated by those who seek to dismantle the right to vote into dust. So, it’s easy to see why he draws attacks from the right and wherever Elon Musk is with whatever drugs he’s taking.

Musk recently singled Elias out on Twitter claiming that Marc Elias was “undermining civilization.” Elias has responded with a letter that you can read in full at this link. I’ll quote a short passage below from Elias’ conclusion below:

I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath. I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey. Defiantly, Marc Elias

We need to see and hear more of this from voices that matter. Quite frankly we need to hear from all voices who understand what’s at stake. I encourage you to read and share the full letter. I also see and hear from quite a few folks on social media about helpful ways of challenging what we’re in and what’s to come. If you ask me social media has basically devolved into silos largely of common cause, so in a sense, while it is good to find that common cause, we’re preaching to the choir. Media has been that way for a while. We expect our political leaders to speak out, but it’s rare when they do so meaningfully. Yes, they are afraid. So am I. But at some point we’re all going to be measured. Perhaps in addition to social media, or as an alternative, it would be beneficial if more folks started blogging (or whatever they hell we call writing on the Internet these days). There are plenty of venues on which to vehemently disagree. Use them. Use your voice. At least while we still can. You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

When ‘Shock and Awe’ Turns Into ‘Aw Shit’

Put on your waders. Shit’s getting deep.

Shock and Awe! Shock and Awe! Yes, we’re all shocked but I think there’s more of an “Aw Shit” response than there is any real ‘awe.’ At least I hope so. If that’s not the reaction, then you’ve been holed up like a groundhog or in some fantasy of your own creation for far too long. 847a798f f09a 4cfe aa65 e19a439daf13_w1080_r0_s.jpg.

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Of course I’m referring to all of the insane stunts that are happening during these early days of the end of the American Experiment. Don’t blowback on the use of the word “stunts.” People get hurt doing stunt work all the time. Some have died. Both are going to happen at some point in our future. But make no mistake, these “shock and awe” stunts are literally intended to do real harm while overwhelming any attempt to impede them. It’s designed to create chaos. Sadly, it’s working. To say the Democrats are in disarray is to spit out a bad cliché like a rotten sunflower seed. To say whatever used to be the GOP has surrendered everything except their daughters to Trump is also old news. That last part might also be premature. To say the fourth estate is complicit misses the point completely. Ask yourself where the cameras were during all of Elon Musk’s frat boy takeovers this weekend. Perhaps if a plane had crashed into the Treasury building they would have been there. To say the oligarchs and tech bros are the real winners is watching a trailer for a comedy action thriller that leaves out the spoiler in which everybody dies in the end. Josh Marshall has two good pieces about this that are worth reading here and here. They both reveal that we’re cascading down a series of rapids, without a paddle, heading towards a waterfall without a life preserver. One line stands out “The point is that you do ‘shock and awe’ when you don’t actually have the power to pull the job off.” He’s mostly correct there, leaving out only the important part about also having the smarts. Just remember how shocked and awed we were when the bombs dropped in Baghdad. Also remember how much of a shit show we turned that into. You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Social Media Stewing in the Stewpot

Social media, like everything else, is in a state of flux.

Social Media is having another moment. Social Media has many of those. This one is in the wake of the historic U.S. election and a largely a delayed reaction to Elon Musk’s raping of what used to be Twitter, pro-Trump propagandizing, and general infantile behavior. That last comment was not intended to insult infants. They know no better.

Certainly it cuts deeper than that. But not by too much. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter it has largely become a stinkier cesspool than it already was pre-Musk. Now, it’s overrun by frat boys, tech bros, and Nazis, all far too eager to rape and pillage as Twitter/X barrels down a path to becoming State Sponsored Social Media. That would be ironic if irony applied to anything on the Internet and in politics these days.

Since the takeover, there have been at least three massive migrations of Twitter/X refugees that would make a human trafficker lust with envy for the business. The first came in the days leading up to and after Musk’s takeover. Most of those folks headed to Mastodon at the time. But, for quite a few Mastodon offered too many hurdles, too much policing, and too little inclusiveness to overcome their quest for Social Media solace. But quite a few stuck.

Then there was Threads, the Mark Zuckerberg empire’s attempt to swipe back at Musk. That too pulled in a rush of users, at least initially because you could import your entire Instagram graph. That could and should have been an early warning sign.

What was funny to watch in that migration was how conveniently many who had been pounding Zuckerberg as an Internet devil in the Meta hellscape, quickly developed amnesia and jumped on board. But Threads began to lose luster, when it became apparent that producing, sharing, and viewing desired content (most of it political and news) became secondary to Meta’s commercial needs. Again, that should not have been a surprise.

And in this latest chapter there is yet another shift to yet another social network, this time BlueSky.

This last migration to bluer skies is both yet another reaction against Twiiter/X and also the increasing dissatisfaction with Threads. There are reports that Mastodon is also seeing a smaller wave of newcomers or returnees. Regardless of platform, returnees is a key. When a new service, in this case a social network, is launched, there are quite a few who sign up simply to reserve their name or handle on that service, assuming that at some point their followers will, well… follow them there. Some try it out and stick, some move on, perhaps to return at a later date.

To be clear, I’m on Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky. (Yes, those are links to my profiles on each of those services.) I stopped participating on Twitter during the first big migration, though I kept my account active for a period of time before finally deactivating it. I am one of those who will grab my name, (I always use my real name), when a new platform debuts and it is littered around more Internet services than I can remember.

If I had to choose one social media platform today I’d choose Mastodon. I’m comfortable there, and that will probably be my downfall. So I continue to actively explore because I don’t think there’s anyway to predict how any of this will evolve. Ask anyone who proudly proclaimed with each new app that they were replacing the Twitter icon on their home screen with Mastodon, then Threads, now Bluesky. Always a good laugh. Infatuations are always infinite entertainment.

Know this. For one reason or the other all of these services will end up disappointing users at some point in the future.

Here’s the thing. The story we’re living through has been repeated many times on Internet platforms other than social media and in social spheres other than the Internet. Folks find an app or a service they like. The business of that app or service changes hands when the original owners cash out (nothing wrong with that), or choose to pivot in different directions. Customers show their dissatisfaction and move on. Nothing is forever in life. The distance between now and forever is even shorter in Internet time.

Why is social media so attractive an addiction?

Being on social media is largely a performative gesture. If you’re going to participate, as opposed to just lurking and following, you’re choosing to share what you think or feel, in and of itself, quite a bit like performing. Some do it as themselves, some adopt personas.

If you rub digital elbows with celebrities, sports heroes, and other favorites, you get to bask in their spotlight while pretending that you are actually communicating with those larger than life folks with large followings. Think of it has having a backstage pass. You’re part of the entourage, part of the show. At least in your mind. And like all performers that’s where the juice is juiciest. In the little theatre or grand stages of their own minds.

But, the minute you step on any stage you also open yourself up, and become vulnerable to judgment, criticism, and yes, ridicule and possible abuse. Willing to share, many recoil at the responses that can come flying back their way, yet some thrive and build lucrative lifestyles from it. To say you need a thick skin and not care oversimplifies and understates the paradox. Protestations aside, (“I don’t read reviews”), all performers care. Even stating you don’t care is an act that shows how much you actually care.

Reacting to Reactions

Everyone wants whatever new social network pond they are swimming in to be either what TwitterX was before Musk, or anti-what TwitterX became. Everyone also wants their pond to be just the right temperature and free from scum. Except of course the scum. There will always be scum no matter how many ways of blocking or muting a network can provide.

Variety may be the spice of life, but there’s also a healthy clamoring for all of these new networks to work together. Protocol debates are heating up and some interesting solutions for cross pollination are buzzing about. Quite honestly I hope whatever we end up with will be something different with distinctions with differences among them.

I don’t expect any of these social networks will find ways to escape, or be free from whatever you, I, or someone might consider bad or wrong behavior. You would have to get rid of humans to do that. (Maybe we’re heading that way faster than we think. *Cough* AI *Cough*). There are new features in all of these newer networks that are reactions to how things sunk so low on Twitter/X. Call them reactions. Every action may have an equal and opposite reaction, but that’s a cycle that never ends.

Why we should have an expectation of a safe and conflict free “social” network when we live in an age when we can’t expect that at a sporting event, a church, or a family holiday gathering is beyond me. I’ve always viewed social media no differently than I view any other social interaction, there’s just a safer illusion of freedom when you’re behind a keyboard and not face to face. Remember, TwitterX had its bad actors even when it was in its prime.

Real Time

Bad actors notwithstanding, there will never be another Twitter/X-like social network that resembles what it was in that heyday. Those days and that utility are gone. In my feeds I could get real-time local news, as well as real-time news from around the planet. I could communicate with companies I did business with, promote my own, and receive technical support, (remember ComcastCares and Frank Eliason?) There was also great fun to be had reacting online in real-time to sporting or current events.

The key to all of that was the real-time or near real-time utility of Twitter. Currently none of the newer networks comes close to that. I doubt they ever will.

Bluesky looks like it might have the best chance of achieving some semblance of that real-time utility, but it’s early and it has a ways to go before any determination can be made. What is obvious is that Bluesky has put up enough of a threat to Threads, which seems to have no interest in anything approaching real time, that Meta is making rapid changes signaling they are feeling the pressure. All that means is we’re going to see some bursts of activity and change as competition, perceived or real, heats up. In real time.

What was Twitter/X wasn’t built in a day and just like everything else happening in the world we’re in a period of transition without knowing, but perhaps fearing, what we’re transitioning to. So, it is wise to be skeptical.

Far be it from me to tell anyone where to consume or perform on social media. I’ll continue to explore what’s out there, because one way or another we’re heading somewhere different, perhaps faster than we could have imagined a short time ago.

Pick your poison.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Tech Bros Gamble on Trump Hoping for Vance

High stakes gambling going on. But there’s a hedge.

The tech bros are going all in, pushing all of their chips onto the table in favor of convicted felon, child rapist, and national security threat, Donald Trump. Well, not really. They’ve got a hedge.

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The cynic in me (it’s a very large cynic that overwhelms sometimes) thinks that the big tech bros donating to Trump are gambling that he gets elected, expires or is removed from office somehow, making Trump’s new VP pick, J.D. Vance, their penny ante puppet. They’ve already paid plenty of pretty pennies to pull Vance’s strings.

Elon Musk gets most of the attention because he begs for it, but he’s not alone.

The hedge is that even if Trump continues to hang in there he’ll create enough chaos to let them run rampant without any real adult (read government) supervision. It’s the same gamble Putin, Xi, other world leaders and CEOs are making.

Either way, they’re priming the pump gambling they won’t have to dump it.

Image from Dugger94621

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

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.