Funny thing Calico said :)

October23

My son confidently announced to us a few weeks ago that “I don’t eat my boogers now, but on special occasions I do.”

posted under Family & Marriage | Comments Off on Funny thing Calico said :)

Shepherd 6 month anniversary!

October19

Today is the 6 month anniversary of Shepherd’s beta launch! Things are going very well and we have 1,878 lists in the system with 1,561 published. My goal is to reach 2,000 published by Dec 31st :)

And, we are building the 3 big features that I hope to launch in early December (rough ETA). Those being the book recommendation search, new front page, and topic pages.

Slowly but surely :)

posted under Business, Shepherd | Comments Off on Shepherd 6 month anniversary!

2022, 2024, and will America be a “democracy” in 3 years?

October12

I am not sure American democracy will be around in 2024/2025.

You might scoff, laugh, or think I am crazy, but I urge you to take a close look at what is going on and where that might lead over the next 2 election cycles. I used to think this was a very small possibility and now it looks like a very large possibility.

What is happening right now:

  • The Republican party has fully embraced the lie that the 2020 election was somehow stolen or had high levels of fraud. Despite losing every lawsuit, despite having zero evidence… their entire party is embracing this lie and the cult of Trump. Many know this is an utter lie as they are not in the Trump cult, but they know that in order to stay in power they need the Trump cult so they do and say nothing. And, publicly they embrace it in fundraising and rallies.
  • Republican-led states have passed a myriad of voter restrictions designed to reduce votes from people who vote Democrat. A lot of lawsuits are pending, but we are fast approaching deadlines that lock in current laws so elections can be run.
  • Far-right extreme Republicans who believe this big lie are running for local political offices that control local and state elections and voting certifications on a local level. Nobody pays attention to local elections like these, they are usually boring, but we are seeing Qanon and other crazy right-wing conspiracists replacing “moderate” Republicans because those Republicans certified the 2020 election.
  • More and more far-right extreme Republicans are running against so-called “moderate” Republicans in Congressional races (with more expected). These are true believers who see Trump as a savior who are replacing Republicans they deem not ideologically pure. Many so-called “moderate” Republicans are retiring because they know they have no chance.
  • We are uncovering more and more information on how the Trump administration tried to commit a coup in a myriad of ways from using the DOJ to pressure the election, putting pressure on Pence to not certify the election, to putting pressure on state election officials to do something illegal and finding him votes. It didn’t work but the next election cycles are putting people in state and local power who will do these things.

Some members of the Republican party know they are riding a tiger and they don’t know how to get off.  They have spent the last 50 years crafting a Republican voter base using fear over substance, and Trump is the result. They can’t stand up to the lies they created because they would lose their base, lose their job, and lose power. And, now they are being replaced by true believers who believe all the lies they have been told for the last 50 years.

Let’s just imagine where this goes… 

2022…

In the 2022 midterms, the Republicans take control of the House (likely). Politicians who echo the lie that the 2020 election was stolen win offices to oversee state and local elections (inevitable as they don’t have anyone to run against in high Gerrymandered distracts). This sets them up to do what Trump tried to do in 2020 by having them certify the election for him in spite of the votes.

2024…

Trump runs in 2024 and loses both the popular and electoral votes.

But, on the local and state level, Republicans in charge of elections overturn actual election results and declare him the winner (this is what he tried to do in 2020 but was rebuffed at the state/local level and who he is replacing with his cult members). The Republican-controlled House certifies his win despite the clear fraud at the local and state level. Then Kamela Harris as VP rightly refuses to certify the election given the fraud. Republicans decry a communist dictatorship takeover and a stolen election and hundreds of thousands of cultists march on D.C. in a bigger and better-planned coup. January 6th was just a warmup. We watch on TV as our country dissolves into violence and chaos, at worst case a civil war, at best case our system is shaken to the care while the global economy goes into a recession/depression as a result.

Here is a good breakdown by Bill Maher that paints a similar picture…


 

The Democratic party meanwhile is blind to all of this.

I get tired of saying this year after year but the Democrat party does not understand the Republicans stopped governing decades ago. They aren’t even playing the same game. They still think it is politics as normal and can’t even get a basic voting rights bill passed because a single member is worried about losing his next election. Fuck your next election, if you don’t do more to safeguard democracy the USA won’t be a democracy in 3 years. If that means losing your stupid election so be it.

But Ben, this could never happen in the USA… here are some fun survey results of Republicans:

And, here are recent results from Iowa showing a really disturbing result given this traitor tried to become an American dictator:

  • Trump has a 53% favorability rating among all Iowans.
  • Trump has a 91% favorability rating among Iowa Republicans.
  • Among Iowa independents, Trump has a 48% favorability rating (to 49% unfavorability rating).

“Interesting” times.

posted under Dangers To World | Comments Off on 2022, 2024, and will America be a “democracy” in 3 years?

Martins da Costa Abafado 1960

October4

My wife got me a bottle of this Port for Christmas and I just finished it last night… it was the best port I’ve ever had. She got me some new bottles for my birthday which I am looking forward to trying :)

posted under My Thoughts, Wine | Comments Off on Martins da Costa Abafado 1960

This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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