Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1561
There has never been a period free of political violence in my lifetime, Apple Events during fascism, hand surgery, listening to Current 93 with my daughter.
Good morning, good morning. Hello. Hi. How are you? Bit early today. Keeping Jane home. Cough has gotten worse, she has a doctor’s appointment anyway today. We have made some progress. I left it up to her, and she spent a good while deliberating the decision, didn’t just seize the opportunity blindly. Weighed the pros and cons. Felt like maybe we were making some progress. Been a rough parenting week, I’ll tell you what.
Two other school shootings yesterday. I would say that it would be nice if we had no guns in our country. Getting from point A to point B, getting from here to there, with a bajillion whackos who are ready to die rather than giving up their guns is a difficult thing, but not impossible. Offer money. Limit the supply of bullets. Slow and steady.
Maybe we can let them ban guns to trans people, an insane idea, and then use the newly packed supreme court and convince them that everyone who has ever worn make-up, gotten botox or taken hormones or testosterone is a trans person and then work from there. Boom. 90% of the people can’t own a gun.
Also it would be really cool if we stopped, oh, I don’t know, removing Secret Service protection as political retribution. Seems real weird to be convinced that political killings are on the uprise and strip political figures of their Secret Service protections. Seems maybe a smidge hypocritical and, maybe, self-defeating in the long run?
People keep saying we’re entering a new era of political assassinations but honestly I don’t remember an time we were not in an era of political violence in this country.
A Nazi drove a truck into the White House with the intent to kill Biden. A man shot into the Obama White House, a far-right terrorist group FEAR plotted to kill him, another man sent Ricin to the Obama white house along with Bloomberg and dozens of others. A man sent a pipe bomb to Obama’s house. Another man was organizing his militia to kill Obama and Hillary.
Obama had the most security threats of any president before him, and Trump beat that number in his first administration: A man tried to kill him in North Dakota, a man sent him Ricin in 2018 I didn’t even hear about that one. Another man sent him ricin in 2020, and also in 2020, one of the nine men found guilty of plotting to kidnap and kill Gretchen Whitmer also had Trump on a list of people he wanted to hang.
A man was arrested plotting to kill Bush II, another man fired a semi-automatic at the Clinton white house at Clinton, and of course there was the guy who suicide-bombed the white house with his plane during the Clinton administration. We had the guy who shot Reagan. Then we have the Alphabet Bomber when I was a wee toddler, who was trying to kill Ford. Oh and Squeaky Fromme who only failed in killing Ford because her gun didn’t fire. And Sarah Jane Moore trying to kill Ford again seventeen days later and missing the shot from 40 feet. Samuel Byck hijacked a DC-9 with a plot to kill Nixon.
This is just domestic there were a bunch more overseas – Bush I had particular trouble with overseas attempts. Al Queda tried to kill Bill and Hillary.
Well over a dozen attempts and that’s if you count the ricin guy as one attempt. And forget about the man shot with Reagan, James Brady, whose name you might find familiar due to a certain law and the efforts of Brady’s opposing political party to get it passed on his behalf.
And these are just presidents. Don’t forget the candidates: I just missed George Wallace, shot two months before I was born. A pipe bomb was mailed to Hillary to her home in Chappaqua when she was first lady, and for good measure that guy sent one to VP Biden as well.
And lest we not forget that someone laid a bunch of bombs in front of a ton of Democratic offices the night before January 6 and they still have not been caught.
The Mayor of Evanston in 1980, the Mayor of Kirkwood in 2008. New York City Councillor James Davis. Sayreville, NJ City Councillor Eunice Dwumfour. Gabby Giffords. John Roll. Robert Smith Vance. Richard Daronco. John Wood. Leo Ryan. Allard Lowenstein. Tommy Burks assassinated by his opponent for Tennessee Senate, Bill Gwatney shot in the Democratic HQ of Arkansas, South Carolina Senator Clementa Pickney shot by Dylan Roof in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Melissa Hortman shot by a gunman impersonating a police officer — no difficult thing these days — just 89 days ago.
This has been constant, our entire lives.
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We are listening to the new Margo Price this morning. It is pretty god. I like a country lady who keeps making country music. I like a progressive liberal country lady. She follows me on Threads shame I don’t use that much anymore. I think it would be fun to be in Margo’s band I could get into that lifestyle.
So I went to the hand doctor yesterday. There was a TV in the lobby, volume too high, playing network daytime television teaching me how to cook an elk and rhapsodizing about how it is the best meat. Made me wish I had one of those clicker things. No one needs that, especially not me, the only person in the lobby. They have a paid parking lot at this office, UNC’s ambulatory surgery center. I do not understand this. It is annoying. I resent it every time I go there.
The doctor was a fill-in but he was good. He could not remove the piece of glass in my finger at that moment, which was a shame. But he set up a surgery to do so in two weeks.
So for a while there I am going to be without my car and without use of my right hand for a week that’ll be fun.
BUT he is also going to fix my trigger in that finger, so one of my three trigger fingers should be fixed. And if it goes well, I will get the other two done before too long.
General anesthesia. My choice, and suddenly I am sorta questioning it. Eh whatever it’ll be fine. We wasn’t offering the amazing, glorious annihilation of general anesthesia, he was just offering grogginess.
Two weeks, can’t lift more than five pounds with that hand. Boo. This will interrupt studio work.
There was an Apple Event Tuesday. I forgot to write about it because it was mostly underwhelming. New Airpods look cool and not black, the real-time translation seems great, though I am deeply dubious it will work any time soon. Thin phone is pointless. iPhone 17 looks fine but I am…
I mean I dunno, man, I am pretty much not into this shit since Tim went and gave our fascist president an actual golden plaque. Hard to get excited about the next batch of incrementally improved gadgets. Maybe that’s just me, maybe I am letting my concern about the fate of the world get in the way of a good capitalist dopamine hit and the ability to take a horizontal selfie while holding the phone vertically. It might just be me and my pompous self-righteousness, but I’m not feeling it.
Also Tim sounded old. He’s only 64! But you could hear it in his voice. I mean yes being constantly blackmailed and pressured by Trump has got to be taking its toll. And someone needs to run Apple. But this ain’t it. If you’re gonna prematurely age, Tim, have something to be proud of to show for it.
I feel very bad about the position you are in and the pressure you are under, and clearly what’s best for Apple doesn’t seem to align with what’s best for the country. Clearly for Apple it makes sense to kowtow to the dictator-in-training. But Fuck that. For America, it is very very bad. And I think maybe people should put justice before business.
And when you make these decisions otherwise, well, I don’t have to keep giving you my money.
Also you put three fucking ads in my system settings and I can’t even get rid of two of them and if any other company tried to do anything like that you would ban them from the entire Apple ecosystem so fast and it is major hypocrisy and it is annoying.
Last night when we were coming back from Gymnastics my phone played “Earth Covers Earth” by Current 93 in the car. Jane was very fascinated about that. Earth can’t cover earth, she said. Well, what is our planet called, I asked. Earth, she said. And what’s that stuff there. Dirt, she said. And what’s another word for dirt, I asked. Earth, said mommy. So, that earth is covering the earth. But daddy does he ever even say “earth covers earth” in the song? Yes, he does eventually. Why hasn’t he said it yet? Well, I don’t know. I am not that familiar with this version, I usually listen to the 1988 studio version not this 2005 live version, though I like this version it has the Six Organs of Admittance guy on it. Daddy can we sit in the car and listen until his says “Earth Covers Earth,” yes we can, Jane.
So Emma and Jane and I just sat there in the truck, parked in the driveway, for like three minutes, listening to Current 93.
That was kind of awesome.
Hrm don’t seem to have a playlist ready for you. So here is the new single from my old band mate Aug Stone. Man Aug can write a pop song.
Have a lovely day, friend.
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Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.