Pariah

Earlier this week I finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Yes, I know that Atwood herself calls this "speculative fiction"* rather than science fiction. But one of the recurring tropes of science fiction is the examination of what constitutes a "person". And this book has that in spades. 
 
I won't attempt a detailed plot summary or analysis, but I will say that this is one of the most disheartening and challenging books I've ever read. Atwood's world-building of a society that has reduced half (or more) of its population to possessions and/or tools is depressingly thorough. The world is a nightmare, and there's really no way to fight against it. There's little freedom and less hope, and any indiscretion could lead to a horrible fate.
 
And the saddest part is how much of all of this seems to be creeping into our society today.
 
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”, indeed.
 
--
* Isn't all fiction speculative by definition?
 

I'll confess that when I read this my first thought was "The Raiders QB room is so FUBAR that they're starting a Congresswoman from New York?" But hey, I'm not here to judge.
 
Of course, the Broncos QB room now sounds like a personal injury law firm. "Did you or any of your loved ones watch Broncos football between 2016 and 2023? You may be entitled to financial compensation! Call the law firm of Stidham, Wilson, DiNucci and Nix for your free consultation today!" 
 
 

Nope, I guarantee Vegas would have taken Nix if Denver hadn't.   Because...
 
 
...they obviously had no plan for both Nix and Penix being unavailable, so they panicked and drafted a third TE.  With the 13th overall pick.  My Raiders do not disappoint!
 
What they should have done was flip the script and picked up one of the elite defensive players that were still on the board as a result of the QB run.  If you have to go into 2024 with AOC under center, build around Maxx Crosby and make a truly fearsome defense.  If we can't score, no one will!  Oh well, missed opportunities.
 
 
 
I actually kind of understand this after a season of Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.  Problem is with both Cousins and Penix on the roster they won't be able to afford any other players.

Fare thee well, Master of the Mellotron.
 
Moody Blues Cofounder Mike Pinder, Last Surviving Original Member of Band, Dies at 82

Fare thee well, Master of the Mellotron.
 
Moody Blues Cofounder Mike Pinder, Last Surviving Original Member of Band, Dies at 82

Making short videos of yourself eating small mints in a rickshaw is a Tuk-Tuk Tic Tac TikTok tactic.

I saw a mock draft earlier today in which Denver trades down with the Eagles and still ends up with Bo Nix. That wouldn't be a horrible outcome, I suppose. Except for Ben DiNucci, who would then be on the next plane out of town for the UFL.
 
This same mock draft has Penix Jr. falling to the Seahawks. 

So I see that the Los Angeles Rams are choosing 19th in the draft tonight. This will be their first first-round pick since 2016. Crazy.

HA! 
I have precisely no belief that my team will reach the Super Bowl and emerge as Champions.

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

One of the problems with a "Gentleman's agreement" is both sides have to actually act like gentlemen

I think my favorite boy band of all time is probably The Beatles. 

If it doesn't have Tim Curry and three different endings, I'm not interested.

If it doesn't have Tim Curry and three different endings, I'm not interested.

If it doesn't have Tim Curry and three different endings, I'm not interested.

In case you missed it:
 
 

If you haven't checked out the Osmonds, trust me, you're missing out.
 
And I think that's about as far from politics as we can get. 😏

"My days of not taking you seriously have just about reached their middle."

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn or Human or Centauri or Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
But always it is the same voice.
 
It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us.
And the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says we are One.
 
No matter the blood, no matter the skin,
No matter the world, no matter the star,
We are One.
 
No matter the pain, no matter the darkness,
No matter the loss, no matter the fear.
We are One.
 
Here, gathered together in common cause
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:
That we must be kind to one another.
 
Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,
And each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation,
The fire that will light the way to a better future.
We are One.

My turn to disagree.   Yes, Trump has no heir apparent.  But neither is he unique.  The circumstances that created him--extreme wealth inequality, a corrupt boardroom class, and a frightened, undereducated population--will still exist if Trump leaves power.  Sure, there will be a lull while the MAGA base and the oligarchy find another demagogue to rally around.  But they inevitably will, unless something is done about the conditions that ultimately drove Trump's rise to power.

For a song called "Piano Man", the guy with the harmonica won't shut the **** up. 

From The Athletic, through me, to Mr. P...don't say I never did anything nice for you.

 
 

For a song called "Piano Man", the guy with the harmonica won't shut the **** up. 

I disagree. There is no heir apparent to Trump. If there was, with all the detrimental developments that have swollen around him, an heir would have appeared by now. And there's no MAGA hierarchical command structure for someone else to step into when Trump is gone, like Stalin after Lenin. The alliance between corporate elites, white supremacists, and evangelical Christians that Donald Trump forged is not natural. There was no such mass movement in America for him to have seized control of. He inspired it, and its disparate elements are invested in him and him alone. There are many other greedy, ambitious, evil people, who could do much harm, but they don't resemble Trump, and they can't replicate his brand of success. Donald Trump is a unique phenomenon. Thank God.