Huh. Slapped together a new “War With The Deep Ones” tale

 blather, books, My Fiction, science fiction, War With The Deep Ones  No Responses »
Sep 022022
 

I haven’t completed a WWTDO story since 2018, but a few days ago I completed an all-new one: “The Camp Commanders Conundrum.” This followed after cracking open my WWTDO folder and taking a look at a number of incomplete stories last saved four years ago… a few of them carried out to some length… and I can’t for the life of me remember where I was going with them. D’oh. Hopefully as the Wu Flu cognitive effects fade away and my noggin returns to normal some memories will reemerge.

The first books worth of stories was completed in about a month four or more years ago; I then started work on two different books. The first book was a collection of separate stories from the first few days of the war; the second book would have covered a span of some months. The other book I started was something of a prequel. A third book, with nothing yet written, would cover a span of a few years, up to the end of the war (no spoilers on how it ends, but it’s in the Lovecraft mold, so go ahead and guess). I’ve another Book 2 yarn in mind that I might scribble down soonish, as well as returning to the incomplete ones. I think that when I’ve got the third book finished I might take a stab at finding a publisher. Shrug.

 

 Posted by at 1:24 am

Good guy or bad guy?

 blather, Hmm..., youtube  No Responses »
Aug 282022
 

A clip from… something, a TV show or movie I suppose (UPDATE: it’s from the 2021 movie “Queenpins”). The question: is the guy right?

My own interpretation: you are under no obligation to do anything for anyone, up to and including raising a finger to save their life. That said, a refusal to raise a finger to save a life will be seen as (and probably is) a serious personality defect. But being inconvenienced in order to provide someone with unearned satisfaction or amusement? That’s not the same. And we *do* live in a culture where far too many people are far too entitled, believing themselves *owed* other peoples time, effort and resources. “You have something I want, gimme.” “Boo hoo, I made whoppingly ridiculous financial decisions that predictably bit me in the ass, I want you to bail me out.” Perhaps kids finding out – and then learning to accept – that they can’t always get what they want simply because they want it – is a truly valuable lesson that should be taught and learned more often.

Or maybe the guy’s just a jerk.

But if I’m comfortably seated in a seat I specifically chose – perhaps having paid extra to select that seat – then perhaps I *really* don’t want to get up and move elsewhere. How are you going to compensate me for my cost and bother?

 Posted by at 12:09 pm

So *this* is nationalized health care…

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., I'm from the government, news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 272022
 

Canadian veteran suffering from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury was offered EUTHANASIA when he called Veteran Affairs Canada hotline for help – as Canadian Government orders ‘full and thorough’ investigation into the case

Well, euthanasia *is* a form of healthcare. So as the economic burden of taking care of vast numbers of poor, sick “migrants” and “refugees” continues to mount in places like the US and UK, expect to see euthanasia offered – and then pushed – onto those where the math just doesn’t add up. If you cost more than you add via taxes, if you vote the wrong way, if you don’t make the demographic quotas look right, or if you just contact a government employee who’s having an off day, is in  a particular mood, or if he/she/it/they simply dosen’t like the sound of your voice… well, there’s an easier, cheaper way to deal with your heart disease or cancer or PTSD or chronic acne.

Assisted suicide is spiralling out of control in Canada

Next year, Canada will begin allowing mentally ill individuals to qualify for assisted suicide under this formulation, and it is likely that this autumn the government will receive a parliamentary report recommending that children deemed competent (“mature minors”) should also be eligible.

*NEAT.*

I’m all in favor of euthanasia when the situation calls for it. Are you being eaten alive by a horrific cancer that cannot be cured? Are you trapped in a wreck of a body with no hope of any sort of quality of life? Is your nervous system on fire, making every moment unending agony, with no prospect of fixing it? Then, yeah, I can see taking a few deep lungs full of pure nitrogen as a merciful alternative. But because you’re *sad?* That’s a “no” from me, buddy. Especially Canada’s nonsense about making mental illness among minors eligible for an assisted dirtnap… because how many hormonal teenagers *can’t* be fairly described as bugnuts? Get them away from the social media and their weirdo pervert teachers, deprogram them from CRT and SJW, and just let them mature a bit, and most people will be fine.

And euthanasia should almost never be promoted by the people paying the bills.

The video below has some slightly spicy language. I’m not entirely sure, but I think he’s a little upset about this.

 Posted by at 12:28 pm

Oh boy! Mayhem!

 blather, Crazy, Hmm..., news, politics  No Responses »
Aug 212022
 

Putin’s inner circle fear coup after war guru’s daughter blown up ‘by rogue FSB agents or Russian resistance fighters’

PUTIN’S inner circle are on high alert after the daughter of the mastermind behind his invasion of Ukraine was killed in a car bombing.

Rogue elements within the Russian security services and resistance fighters who want to overthrow the regime are among the suspects in the Moscow assassination of Darya Dugina, 30.

Oh yeah. This is the sort of thing that *never* escalates.

So what should e expect to see? Enemies of the state hung, shot, disappeared en masse? An expansion of the war(s) to distract attention? Further assassination attempts, perhaps even targeting Putin? Bright flashes in the sky a few thousand meters above major metropolitan areas around the world, followed by a mighty thump and a strong warm breeze?

 

The Wikipedia article on Alexander Dugin makes for entertaining reading… the man is whackadoo at an advanced level.

In June 2012, Dugin said in a lecture that chemistry and physics are demonic sciences, and that all Orthodox Russians need to unite around the president of Russia in the last battle between good and evil, following the example of Iran and North Korea. He added: “If we want to liberate ourselves from the West, it is needed to liberate ourselves from textbooks on physics and chemistry.”

Snerk. But as funny as his nuttiness is, he is a genocidal loon who wants a Russian Empire that extends not just through the old Soviet territory, but into western Europe and American territory. He’d be laughable were it not for his influence on Putin. The fact that he’s close enough to neo-Nazi as makes no difference makes the Kremlins lies about invading Ukraine to combat Nazis even goofier. Kinda makes me wonder if the assassination attempt was carried out under *Putins* orders.

 Posted by at 11:50 pm

Alternative Economy

 blather, Hmm..., politics, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 152022
 

A lot of people have, for a number of years, seen the future economy as probably splitting in two: those who dare have politically incorrect views being deplatformed and unbanked. When it’s only a tiny minority, those people are utterly screwed: unable to get a job or do business because of the woke mob, their future is bleak. But the wider the baying hounds of cultural decay cast their net, the larger the population of people they separate from the economy… the larger the population of people who can form their *own* economy. And if an alternate economy gets set up and survives the inevitable attacks, the less relevant cancel culturists become.

An example of this alternate economy is a new app called “PublicSq,” which matches up customers with local businesses. That’s not a new type of app, but for a business to get onto the app, they have to agree to a set of “core values:”

  1. We believe The United States of America is a free country, a net-positive to the world at large, and is worth protecting.
  2. We believe the Constitution & Bill of Rights are essential and must be prioritized and respected.
  3. We believe in a limited government system that “represents” constituents, instead of “ruling over” them.
  4. We believe in the sanctity and importance of the family unit, including the protection of the unborn.
  5. We see people for who they are, not for their skin color, gender, or ethnicity. We believe that we ought to be judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.
  6. We believe in a free-market system of economics that prioritizes the voluntary exchange of goods between consumers and the businesses they patronize; free from as much government intervention as possible.
  7. We believe in the rights of individuals to take responsibility for their own health choices. (ie. we stand against vaccine mandates and vaccine passports).

A long and verbose discussion of the app is here:

There are lots of people who specifically seek out “black owned” or “LGBTQ friendly” or “I Support Current Thing” businesses. It’s inevitable that other people will make other choices. It could well be that the end result of “progressive” policies and bullying is a return to segregation much more stark and complete than anything supported by Jim Crow Democrats.

Additionally: a fully functional alternative economy might well run on alternative finances… bitcoin or barter or who-knows-what. That would be a problem for the IRS. Makes ya wonder if that might be a part of the reason why they suddenly decided to hire themselves a private army.

 Posted by at 12:38 pm

Expand your vocabulary

 AARRRGH, blather, Forward!, Gah., I'm from the government, news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 132022
 

A word for today:

vacuous [ vak-yoo-uhs ]

adjective

  1. without contents; empty: the vacuous air.
  2. lacking in ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind.
  3. expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid: a vacuous book.
  4. purposeless; idle: a vacuous way of life.

Example:

Imagine “fireside chats” and “state of the Union” addresses like this.

 Posted by at 2:18 pm

Book 3 Update

 awesomeness, blather, Book 3, news  No Responses »
Aug 072022
 

Substantially slowed due to illness, I’m finally done writing Book 3. I need to edit it and do a few other things, but at least if I get run over by a Mack truck, the book could still be released as a complete book. Woo.

 Posted by at 5:33 pm

Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke

 blather, Hmm..., news, politics  No Responses »
Aug 022022
 

Pelosi arrives in Taiwan, vowing U.S. commitment; China enraged

I’m torn. Telling West Taiwan to go pound sand, that the United States can have business and diplomatic relations with whomever we want? I’m all for that. On the other hand, the current administration has shown itself to be so weak and incompetent that the ChiCom junta were probably already itching to start something, and now the administration has given them one more thing to get in a snit over. On the gripping hand, if China pouts and throws a loud tantrum but *doesn’t* actually do anything, they will be in some sense weakened by this.

 Posted by at 3:21 pm

Woke Trek at high speed

 AARRRGH, blather, history, Hmm..., science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jul 302022
 

So some friends and I are watching through “Star Trek Discovery.” We’re Trek fans from *decades* back, so it might surprise some that it’s taken us this long to get around to wading through all of STD. We’re well into season three… and we’ve made an important decision.

Star Trek, whether the episode was good or bad, was always pretty much *fun.* But STD is *not* fun. A lot of it is downright painful. So while we’re generally interested to see where the plot goes, the characters themselves are often just nightmarish. So the decision was made to stand by on the Fast Forward button. Someone starts crying? Fast forward. Someone starts a monologue about how awesome someone else is, or any form of emotional validation? Fast forward. That cringy Trill/human “couple?” They show up… fast forward.

We’re getting through episodes *really* fast now. More than anything, this cringe-edited version of STD reminds me of those Super 8 versions of sci-fi movies that were available in the late 1970s.

I remember seeing, circa 1979-1981 or so, a desktop “unit” that had a film cartridge that showed Star Wars boiled down to maybe five minute on a display just a few inches across. Until VHS, that sort of thing was the only way to watch Star Wars on demand. And fast forwarding is the only way to watch STD *at* *all.*

 Posted by at 8:16 pm

This guy *barely* avoided a beatdown

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, critters, dumbassery, Gah., news, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jul 292022
 

So this guy decided to go gambling at a Las Vegas casino. Normal enough. Parked his vehicle on top of the parking garage. Normal enough. But he left his puppy in the car on a day when it reached 113 degrees. Not normal, not good. Spent two hours inside. *And* he taped the dogs mouth shut, probably to keep the famously noisy Husky from alerting people to its plight..

Fortunately the casino security found (or was alerted to) the situation and rescued the dog through the sun roof and called the local police. Police body camera footage shows the moment the owner walked up and the cops response to him. The police officer maintained discipline and professionalism…  but you can tell … just barely. The officer was PO’ed, and rightly so. You can imagine that everyone involved here might well have been hoping that the owner would do something stupid (well, additionally stupid) so as to merit a few love taps from a billyclub. The police officers tone and actions just scream “contempt.” As well they should: I imagine cops dealing with brutalized children and animals must be about the hardest parts of their jobs (after getting shot and stabbed, obviously).

Looks like the casino staff put in a good effort… there are multiple uniformed security guys, a woman caring for the pup, and a guy in a suit who looks… ummm… a bit like A Casino Guy in A Suit You Don’t Want Coming For You. Also a guy with a bicycle who might have been just a bystander, or might have been the guy who found the dog. Shrug.

Some commenters at the twitter thread note that the dogs owner was not read Miranda rights before being arrested. But… Miranda is used to make sure the suspect is aware of their rights before being interrogated. I’m not sure that that directly applies here. It will before he is questioned at the station, but “Is this your car?” doesn’t really seem like that big of a deal.

Who would do this? WHY would anyone do this? Assuming the dog pulls through, I have little doubt that the line of people wanting to adopt it will wrap around the block.

Feh.

Here’s some brain-bleach:

 Posted by at 5:32 pm
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