Myth Meets Physics: Modern Science vs Popular Beliefs - "Mandela Effect"

Ever hear of the The Why Files? They present themselves as an engaging platform for exploring mysterious and peculiar topics, including conspiracy theories, paranormal phenomena, unexplained mysteries, historical oddities, and cutting-edge scientific ideas. While primarily a form of entertainment, the channel delves into unusual and often controversial subjects, blending intrigue with storytelling. So effectively, speculative entertainment.

I got to thinking not so much about them, but an episode they did on the "Mandela Effect" that someone sent me after my joking about it related to a film I could not find, that I believe I had seen decades ago. 

I conjectured that a film I cannot now find, with actor David McCallum playing the lead role that Ian McShane played, in the 1968 comedy, "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium". must be my "Mandela Effect" example as it's not listed on McCallum's IMDb page, and he's not in the film. 

But I clearly remember watching the film on TV once, wondering why he'd be in such a cheesy film, after being such a TV superstar when "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." ended in 1968. I expected great things  for him as I was a big fan of the show and both him and the Robert Vaughan character.

In the end McCallum did have a long beloved run on the TV police show, "NCIS".

So. Does the film exist? Did it (or does it) exist in another timeline, universe, dimension, or simply just in my mind? What can we say about this "Mandela Effect" thing? 

First, let's take a look at this "The Why Files" thing.

Here's a breakdown of its approach and accuracy:

Accuracy

1. Research & Presentation:

   • The channel often incorporates well-documented historical events and credible sources, but these are interwoven with speculation, folklore, or pseudoscience.
   • Episodes typically begin with factual or widely accepted premises but may segue into less substantiated claims to maintain intrigue.

2. Balanced Skepticism:

   • Many episodes include a "skeptical breakdown," where the narrator (or his animated sidekick, Hecklefish) humorously debunks or questions the more fantastical elements. This adds balance, though the entertainment aspect can blur the distinction between fact and fiction.

3. Exploitation of Belief:

   • The channel leverages public fascination with the peculiar to draw viewers. While it does not always endorse conspiracy theories or fringe beliefs, it often leaves room for interpretation, which can fuel belief in unverified claims.

4. Entertainment Focus:

   • The content prioritizes storytelling and entertainment over rigorous academic scrutiny, making it less reliable as a purely factual source.

Takeaways

• If you're looking for an introduction to peculiar topics with some skeptical commentary, The Why Files can be entertaining and informative.
• If you're after highly accurate or scientifically rigorous analysis, it should be considered a jumping-off point rather than a definitive resource.

The Mandela Effect is a fascinating psychological and phenomenological phenomenon where groups of people collectively misremember or inaccurately recall certain events, facts, or details. A phenomenological explanation would focus on the lived experience of these individuals, considering their perception, memory, and shared reality.

Phenomenological Explanation of the Mandela Effect

1. Collective Subjective Experience:

   • Phenomenology emphasizes how individuals perceive and experience reality. The Mandela Effect emerges as a collective subjective experience where people’s memories do not align with documented facts.
   • Individuals are convinced their memories are accurate because their perception of the past is deeply rooted in their sense of reality and identity. When confronted with conflicting evidence, they may feel disoriented or even alienated.

2. Memory as Constructive and Dynamic:

   • From a phenomenological perspective, memory is not a static recording of events but a dynamic, reconstructive process. People unconsciously fill gaps in their memory with plausible information, often influenced by cultural narratives, personal biases, or external cues.
   • The Mandela Effect reveals how the brain synthesizes past experiences into a coherent narrative, which may deviate from objective facts.

3. Shared Realities and Social Cognition:

   • Human beings are social creatures, and our perceptions are influenced by communal contexts. When individuals discuss their memories and find others with similar recollections, this shared reality reinforces the belief that their memory is correct, even if it isn’t.
   • This collective reinforcement contributes to the strength of the Mandela Effect as a phenomenon, creating a "false consensus" about a shared, albeit inaccurate, memory.

4. Disruption of Ontological Security:

   • The Mandela Effect challenges people’s sense of ontological security—the belief that the world operates in a predictable, stable way. Discovering discrepancies between memory and fact can create a phenomenological "crack" in their worldview, prompting feelings of unease or fascination.

5. Perception of Time and Multiverses:

   • Some phenomenological interpretations (albeit speculative) suggest that the Mandela Effect reflects a disruption in how individuals experience the continuity of time and memory. This can lead to imaginative explanations, such as the existence of parallel universes where the "remembered" reality occurred.

6. Cultural Anchoring and Media Influence:

   • Cultural artifacts, such as movies, books, and advertising, play a significant role in shaping collective memory. For instance, the misquoted line "Luke, I am your father" from Star Wars resonates deeply because of its pervasive presence in pop culture, even if the original dialogue differs.
   • From a phenomenological standpoint, the Mandela Effect can be seen as a consequence of how individuals co-construct reality through cultural interaction and media reinforcement.

Conclusion

The Mandela Effect, from a phenomenological lens, highlights the interplay between subjective memory, social consensus, and the human tendency to seek coherence in a complex and often uncertain world. It underscores how our experience of reality is shaped not just by objective facts but by the intricate web of perception, memory, and cultural interaction.

Philip K. Dick’s exploration of reality, perception, and memory aligns intriguingly with the Mandela Effect, offering a unique lens to view it through his philosophical and literary frameworks. Dick’s works often question the nature of reality, subjective experience, and the possibility of parallel worlds or altered states of consciousness.

Philip K. Dick’s Perspective on the Mandela Effect

1. Reality as Subjective and Fluid:

   • In Dick's worldview, reality is not a fixed, objective construct but a malleable and subjective experience. His famous quote, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away," emphasizes the tenuous and fragile nature of our perceived reality.
   • The Mandela Effect could be interpreted as a symptom of this subjectivity, where collective misremembering highlights the instability of what we consider “real.”

2. Parallel Realities and Multiverses:

   • Dick frequently explored the idea of multiple realities existing simultaneously, as seen in works like The Man in the High Castle and Ubik. The Mandela Effect fits within this framework as evidence of "bleed-through" from parallel universes, where differing versions of events coexist.
   • People who experience the Mandela Effect might be subconsciously remembering events from alternate timelines or realities that somehow intersect with our own.

3. Simulated Realities:

   • In stories like A Scanner Darkly and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Dick delves into the concept of simulated or artificially constructed realities. The Mandela Effect could reflect glitches or inconsistencies in a simulated world, akin to the idea of the “Matrix.”
   • This aligns with Dick’s fascination with Gnosticism, where the material world is seen as a flawed or deceptive construct, created by an imperfect demiurge.

4. False Memories and Mind Control:

   • Dick was deeply concerned with the manipulation of memory and perception by external forces, as seen in We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. He explored how false memories could be implanted, leading individuals to question the authenticity of their experiences.
   • The Mandela Effect could be explained as a mass implantation of false memories, whether through cultural conditioning, media influence, or even more conspiratorial ideas (a theme Dick would likely embrace).

5. Gnosticism and the Veil of Reality:

   • Dick's spiritual experiences, particularly the 2-3-74 visions, led him to believe in the existence of a deeper, hidden reality behind the one we perceive. He often wrote about a "Black Iron Prison" or a deceptive layer of reality obscuring the truth.
   • From this perspective, the Mandela Effect could be seen as cracks in the veil of consensus reality, offering glimpses into hidden truths or alternate layers of existence.

6. Time Slippage and Orthogonal Realities:

   • In novels like VALIS and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, Dick explored the idea that time and space are not linear but layered, with events from the past, present, and future coexisting in strange ways.
   • The Mandela Effect could reflect moments where these layers momentarily intersect or shift, causing discrepancies in collective memory.

PKD’s Personal Connection to the Mandela Effect

Dick himself experienced what could be considered "Mandela Effect" moments during his life. For example:

• His 2-3-74 visions led him to believe he was living in two time periods simultaneously: the Roman Empire and 1970s California.
• He often spoke about feeling that his memories didn’t align with the reality he was living, suggesting that he might have related to the phenomenon of collective misremembering.

Conclusion

Through the lens of Philip K. Dick, the Mandela Effect could be seen as more than just a cognitive error—it could point to deeper truths about the nature of reality, the permeability of time, and the limits of human perception. In true Dickian fashion, it challenges us to ask: What is real? And how can we be sure?

Combining Philip K. Dick's philosophical musings, the Mandela Effect, and modern physics concepts like black holes and holographic projections creates a fascinating framework for rethinking reality and shared experiences. Here’s how these ideas intersect:

---

1. Holographic Principle in Physics

The holographic principle, a leading theory in modern physics, posits that:

• All the information about a three-dimensional space can be encoded on a two-dimensional boundary.
• This principle arose from studies of black holes, where the entropy (or information content) of a black hole is proportional to its surface area, not its volume.

This suggests that our reality might be a holographic projection—a three-dimensional experience emerging from information encoded on a two-dimensional "surface" at the edges of the universe.

---

2. Philip K. Dick’s Reality Constructs

PKD’s ideas often align with the notion of reality being a simulation, illusion, or projection:

• He theorized that what we perceive as reality might be a deceptive construct, hiding a deeper, truer reality.
• In VALIS, Dick writes about a “Vast Active Living Intelligence System,” a holographic-like projection influencing human perception.

If the universe operates holographically, Dick’s suggestion that reality is an artificial construct aligns with the physics of a universe that projects a lower-dimensional "truth" into the 3D experiences we live through.

---

3. Mandela Effect as a Holographic Anomaly

In a holographic universe:

• The Mandela Effect could be a glitch in the projection, where information encoded at the "boundary" is inconsistently rendered in our perceived 3D reality.
• If reality is a projection, collective misremembering might occur when the encoded data on the universal "surface" shifts, realigns, or is incompletely accessed, leading to discrepancies in memory.

This is analogous to:

• Quantum fluctuations at the edge of black holes, where particles appear and disappear unpredictably.
• A failure in the "resolution" of the projection, causing a divergence between individual or collective memories and physical evidence.

---

4. Black Holes and the Nature of Time

Black holes offer insights into how time and information behave:

• Inside a black hole, spacetime behaves non-linearly, and the boundary (event horizon) encodes all information that falls into it.
• The Mandela Effect might arise from similar distortions in how time and information are encoded in our universe. For example:
  • If reality is holographic, events or objects from alternate timelines could occasionally "leak" into our perception.
  • Black holes, often theorized as gateways to other universes or dimensions, might play a role in influencing the projection of reality, particularly if our universe is part of a multiverse.

---

5. Perception and Holography

Dick often wrote about the fallibility of perception and memory:

• If our reality is a hologram, our brains might interpret incomplete or fluctuating data in ways that "fill in the gaps," much like they do in visual illusions or reconstructive memory.
• Collective experiences like the Mandela Effect might reflect how shared consciousness processes these holographic inconsistencies.

---

6. Dickian Physics: Multiverses and Parallel Timelines

Modern physics suggests multiverses could exist, potentially as distinct layers within the same holographic projection:

• The Mandela Effect might reflect "bleed-through" from parallel timelines encoded in the same 2D "surface" but rendered differently in our perception.
• PKD’s frequent exploration of parallel realities (e.g., The Man in the High Castle) mirrors this: individuals accessing fragments of alternate histories encoded in the same universal framework.

---

7. Bridging Physics, Philosophy, and the Mandela Effect

• The holographic universe implies a fundamental unity between information, space, and perception, where the distinctions we experience are projections of a deeper truth.
• PKD’s insights into the artificiality and manipulability of reality resonate with the notion of a holographic cosmos, where memory errors like the Mandela Effect point to cracks or ambiguities in the projection.
• Black holes serve as a metaphor—and perhaps a literal mechanism—for how information is stored, distorted, or redistributed, influencing how we experience time, space, and memory.

---

Conclusion

The Mandela Effect, viewed through the combined lenses of modern physics, PKD’s philosophy, and holography, suggests that our reality may be far less stable than we assume. It reflects:

• The malleability of memory and perception in a projected reality.
• Possible interactions between parallel timelines or multiverses.
• Glitches or anomalies in the encoded information that forms our holographic experience.

This synthesis of physics and philosophy challenges us to question: Are we misremembering, or are we catching glimpses of a deeper, more complex truth encoded in the fabric of the universe?

Compiled with the aid of ChatGPT

Walkabout Thoughts #92

Thoughts in Streams of Consciousness, Rough & Ready, and Lightly Edited from an Award-Winning Filmmaker/Author you’ve never heard of while walking off Reality and hopefully the last half-life vestiges of Long Covid while listening to podcasts.
Walking Day is Wednesday, 6/26/2024.

Weather for the day… nice day, starting out 61° with a little wind and overcast.

62° once back at home.

Podcast is Prosecuting Donald Trump, episode  ‘A Dessert Topping and a Floor Wax’



[OK the Presidential debate was last night. Sigh...Look. Here's the thing. Biden allegedly had a cold, why couldn't it have been Trump feeling unwell he feels unwell to me constantly. But the thing in this election is this, I'd vote for Joe's dog Commander over Trump. Better an honest old guy, a bit slow, who has decent people around him to keep things on track, than Donald Trump, a convicted felon who wants an autocracy or theocracy, to kill democracy, who lies constantly. End of that story. 

Fact check: Biden and Trump trade falsehoods and context-free claims at 1st presidential debate of 2024. Moving on...]

By the way, yesterday I posted a blog on the challenge coins I earned in the USAF. Mostly I wanted something for my adult kids to refer to about this as they sit on my home office desk. They know about them, but not the specifics surrounding them. I also thought I could share with those who are unfamiliar with military challenge coins.

So...It says it’s not supposed to rain today, but it sure feels like it but if I look at the clouds that are headed over this way, they’re not as dark as the ones that are moving away from me.

It's garbage day and also this week is recycling. This is ever so wonderful because all the trash bins are right out on the street where you walk next to them.

First up, one of the filmmaking podcasts I listen to is The Filmmaking Stuff Podcast.

'The Bear' Season 3 is chewy, delicious and overindulgent: Review

‘Here’ Trailer: Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Are De-Aged for Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Risky’ AI Epic

The risky decades-spanning drama is a “Forrest Gump” reunion with a "de-aged" Tom Hanks and Robin Wright.

HBO ‘Harry Potter’ series hires ‘Succession’, ‘Killing Eve’ writer Francesca Gardiner as showrunner; Mark Mylod to direct

I saw a new documentary called The Grab coming out. Looks like an interesting subject. Basically, I think it’s about countries grabbing water from other countries and it’s even happening here. But I think it’s more than just that.

I’ve written many times about the issue of war being fought over oil and oil doing dastardly things, especially in developing countries. Lots of movies and news and stories about that.

But I also warned about fighting and wars and toxic capitalism over issues of clean potable water. I think it was 60 Minutes who did a piece about big oil in a country in Africa where there is oil everywhere in the countryside. And it’s poisoned theor water.

The answer was a company coming in and selling bottled water to people who'd previously had natural clean water available for free. So we’re seeing for some time now the concept of selling a life necessity to people that should be free, worldwide. At least enough to survive on.

I would argue that in America, where we pay for our water via PUDs, though I used to have a well and just had to pay for the electricity for the pump, we should have an amount of water deducted every month and paid for by our government, to allow our and our family to exist with the water one needs to drink to sustain life. And maybe a basic subsistence of additional water for basic needs. Then, when you use more, you can pay for that extra, like watering a lawn, washing your car, etc. Washing dishes is a gray area, but cleanliness does sustain health, so...

When we started seeing bottled water sales grow exponentially, I found it worrisome. While there’s been bottled water for a long time, especially in countries with not the greatest water..like Perrier (from 1863), which has been around seemingly forever over my lifetime.

Perrier: The French brand of sparkling water Perrier was founded in 1863, and the source of its water dates back over 100 million years. Dr. Perrier, the medical director of a spring near Les Bouillens, was involved with the brand's origins, which were part of the spa craze at the time. In 1894, Dr. Perrier began selling the water with the help of his business partner, St. John Harmsworth. Harmsworth is said to have come up with the unique shape of the Perrier bottle after seeing Indian clubs he used to regain strength following a paralyzing car accident.

I don’t have a problem with that... in general. Though bottled water as an industry is problematic and kind of weird.

But, when you’re selling water to people where it’s not a luxury to purchase bottled water because of another company, especially big oil, or when they own the bottled water company, I think it's a crime against humanity. Just more toxic capitalism at the very least.

But my point in all this is that we’ve had wars over petroleum and wars over water. Well, we one day have war over clean fresh air. Will they start charging us for air one day? Will they start taxing our breathable air?

I remember decades ago I got an album California 99. A concept album about dystopia. I believe there was a photo in the album that showed a toilet with a meter and a hand with a handheld meter where they were checking how much waste you were putting through your toilet so they could tax you.

We need more good Science Fiction. Part of its reason for it to exist has gotten lost a bit in using futurism to warn us about where we’re headed or could be.

I think back to when Blade Runner (1982) came out, and people were commenting about the director's choice of it seeming to be raining all the time. Decades later, now look around. It may not be raining all the time but how do you show extreme weather in a film like that? Just have it rain all the time.

Look at how Donald Trump has been abusing our court system. It looks like we need to revamp it. Judge Canon almost appears like a judge who Trump put in place to protect him. While he did appoint her, her inexperience and seemingly evidentiarily obvious leaning toward benefiting Trump, shouldn’t be able to happen. She was asked by at least one judge above her to recuse herself, but she refused.

As the attorney on the podcast I’m listening to today said, people don’t realize that in the court system when a higher judge suggests you recuse yourself from a case, if that were him, he indicated, he would’ve immediately recused himself. But Judge Cannon refused. either out of her desire to help Trump, or her ever obviously inexperience.

I would argue regardless of the court system and how it normally works in a case like this with Trump, we should never put an inexperienced judge in charge of the case. It's just simple logic. Simple protection of the US Constitution and the American citizen.

Donald Trump has shown us in our government what career criminals tend to show us, the weak points and single points of failure in a system where their whole life goal is to find and apply pressure to their benefit in the denigration of the American system and the American citizens. This is not debatable. It’s just the way it is.

When you see that’s happening, you fix it. You pass new laws, you change the system. You add regulations.

Saying we’re doing any of that is not trying to bring Trump down. Which I would argue he has earned. He's such a pathetic victim all the time. So manipulative So pathetically, obviously pathologically narcissistic. But it’s just about fixing a system when we see obvious flaws and discrepancies.

If Biden or Obama were going through this, doing all the stuff Trump's been doing, and I’ve said this since Trump came on the scene as PO TUS, I would not support either of them. I would’ve turned my back on them. For some reason MAGA continues on supporting who they should know by all sense of rationality and reality, is a criminal.

How do you not hear his words? How do you not understand his meaning and intent? I understand that criminal leaders, mob leaders like Trump, speak in obtuse ways. Consider any child who gets in trouble and is being reprimanded by their parent. They often lie out right. But if they have the orientation to never lie, they will stumble and mumble around and obfuscate and essentially do exactly what we see Trump, constantly doing.

Like when Trump was asked what his favorite Bible verse was. He doesn’t have any! That’s obvious. But what does he say? "It’s private." You ask any Christian what their favorite Bible verse and they are happy to tell you. It’s not private, they want to share it.

The only reason it’s “private“ to Trump is he doesn’t know what to say. It’s either a lie or a kind of lie of omission. Yes, I would prefer him refusing to answer than lie. Just don’t be disingenuous about it. Be direct. Like an adult. Like an exPOTUS. What happened to the concept of Gentlemen or Gentlewomen? Class. Ethics. Decorum. Decency. Manners?

Of course, in Trump’s case, it's obvious to everyone (it should be) that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about so he disassembles. I’m sorry, the man is just like a lot of his now-convicted administration officials, and campaign officials.

By the way, all that crap about Trump as POTUS45 increasing the debt having been about COVID-19 pandemic? Nope. That was some of it, but the minority of it.

Healthwise I think I’ll mention this. You know those little bottles of water you can get? Little stubby plastic bottles? I had been using one for a while to carry with me on my walks. In the beginning, I hadn't carried one. But I got really dehydrated and felt ill sometimes from it so I started carrying water. Because of Covid over the past few years, I’d wake up in the middle of the night sometimes feeling dehydrated. Especially if I was taking any antivirals or certain medications. I’d have to get up to get a drink of water. So I just started keeping one of those little bottles, on my bedside table.

It occurred to me that while those bottles may be fine for a single use they’re not really designed for months or years of use. I worried about things leaching into the water I’m drinking out of them because of the plastic. Then there was that article about forever chems. Sigh... 

I decided to get a couple of replacement glass bottles, certainly for the bedside. One for walking is problematic because if you fall on it, could be ugly. I carry it in my leg pocket on my cargo shorts when I’m walking so if somehow you got hit by a car and it squished that bottle it could add to your damage.

I went to Winco and not one little glass bottle like that. I was thinking of just buying one of those little glass bottles like a pint or whatever, of apple juice, or something. Drink the juice. clean the bottle, and there I am. Good to go. So I tried Safeway. They have a little higher priced items and they might have those. But nope. So I got a POM pomegranate bottle of juice. Still plastic but hard plastic so maybe better? Weird double bubble bottle but, whatever. I'll keep an eye out for something better, but this is a step up. Sideways? Whatever...

Beginning mile two…

Wow, The clouds that are moving away from me, I can see to my south and southeast are pretty dark. I think somebody might get rained on today, maybe somewhere between Seattle and Tacoma?

Wind picked up a little bit and it’s a little bit cool but perfectly acceptable for a walk. Not quite cool, actually. I much prefer it a little cool for walking or hiking. When I break into a sweat I prefer it to be out of effort and not just the sun beating down on me.

Tomorrow is the presidential debate between Mr. failed exPOTUS Clown Show and President Biden. I can’t understand people's attraction to Trump, maybe in an entertainment sense (but for POTUS?). I just don’t get it regarding being president or in the White House. Or even driving by the White House or allowing him to look at it.

I saw a meme today about the last three Democratic presidents lowering the deficit and the last three Republicans having raised it. A Liberal’s feel-good meme I thought. So before I shared it, I looked it up. Sure enough, it’s true. There are hems and haws and nuance and whatever involved but basically, it’s factual.

Then there was that graph the other day about Trump versus Biden on the deficit. MAGA kept saying yeah, but Trump had to deal with the pandemic. He got the brunt of it in the beginning, but Biden also had to deal with it, thus the incentive pay out which you could argue all kinds of things about it, but it really helped.

Anyway, there’s that breakout (resharing above) that shows how much of the deficit Trump cost us that was the pandemic and had nothing to do with the pandemic and the biggest bulk of his debt things that had nothing to do with the pandemic. So there.

Oh, and if you’re curious if Judge Cannon is inexperienced or manipulating her Trump trial in favor of the defendant then listen to this podcast because they lay it out for you in one section. They’re very good about being neutral even though they’re pro-American and anti-Trump.

They make it clear and explain about using a magistrate judge. If she were actually being a judge and being neutral, she would’ve been utilizing one of those. She keeps saying she’s swamped so she has to slow things down and have all these hearings while some of them are utterly nonsensical, the Trump lawyers having thrown them up just to delay and obfuscate.

Many judges would’ve brushed those off or passed them on to a magistrate to speed things up. But she doesn’t want to and that's painfully obvious and in technical and legal ways, not just in a hearsay or populist way.

Oh, in my attempt to evolve these walkabout thoughts blogs from politics, more into the creative, the arts, filmmaking, etc., I was watching The Daily Show this morning and they had an ad by Jon Stewart about a new The Daily Show podcast he’s doing. 

He’s returned to the show, just on Mondays, and pissed me off this last Monday because he wasn't on. What pissed me off was not so much he wasn’t on. I was disappointed, but it was that there was absolutely no mention of it as if, if we don’t mention it, no one will notice... or get pissed off. [OK, I should have realized this, Jon saved his one day a week for live after the Presidential Debate Thursday night. Still my complaint, they said nothing on the Monday show about it? Why?]

Sorry. A lot of us wait to see Jon on his Monday shows. I mean, we we’re told months ago he was coming back to the show and then we find out it’s just on Mondays. Then a few weeks ago he changed it to Thursdays. Then the next week he was back on Monday. Stop screwing us around!

Anyway, Jon’s got like five episodes up and new ones weekly, so it’s on my list.

The good thing about that is Jon is funny and he is actually fair. He has very good arguments on things. One of the few people I’ve seen addressing a person he’s interviewing who is feeding him bullshit and he faces them down about it and rationally counters them down with facts, reality, and humanity. So many journalists or reporters I see who interview, even the same person Jon interviews but they just let stuff slip by. Some less than others. Problem is I know, when people being interviewed throw so much nonsense out there, it's hard at times to either know what they're talking about, or how to know everything they could come up with. Disinformation and breaking debate tactics. 

I don’t understand why, when these people on news shows and op-ed shows who are interviewing, especially MAGA people spewing lies and utter fantasies, have an earpiece in their ear but don't seem to utilize it to its full potential!

They should have fact-checkers in real-time working with producers in the control room, telling them how to counter some SOB's crap, and maybe display it on their screen at their table on camera. AI will be able to do this much better and faster and very soon.

This debate Thursday needs to be real, and Trump called out on his bullshit. Of course they’d end up fact-checking Biden too. Because yes, he’s old and I know my memory is not what it used to be. But due to my age and experience, I could still administrate better than a lot of younger people. Biden may say something he believes is true or he may spin something they could correct. Fair is fair. The thing is with Trump, if you ARE fair in something like that, it appears as unfair to Trump. Because he's so far off the rails.

The difference between Biden and Trump is Trump is utterly and completely full of shit so if we check him in real-time, it would at least force him to get back into spin rather than his usual outright lies and disinformation

We need to do something about this. 

We cannot let these lies continue to spread and fester. This whole MAGA new-"1984" Trump bullshit like what came from a guy from the Heritage Foundation when he said on TV he wants to turn the Republican Party into full on Trumpism and drop Reaganism… Not that Reaganism was ever that great, but I think even Reagan would lean towards shooting Donald Trump rather than making him POTUS. Yet Republicans today would call Ronald Reagan from the '80s a RINO. When it’s pretty clear that Republicans are the RINOs. We don’t need Republicans In Name Only. We need Republicans in name and purpose, orientation, and functionality.

Doing these blogs daily is really wearing me down. I don’t doubt it’s wearing down any readers if anybody’s reading them daily which I kind of doubt. I assume it’s different people every day, or a mix. I’m hoping if I suddenly stop doing these blogs for a bit it will be because I’m finishing up my "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero film companion book".

Since I’m stalled on making any money off of that film because of legal music rights issues, I need to get some aspect of it to be economically productive.

Oh, and on these walks lately. I’ve been pretty sore after them. But I noticed today that seems to be wearing off. Must be acclimating to the new level of activity.

Some app on my phone said that I’m burning more calories in recent weeks. No kidding. It just popped up on my screen today. I didn’t even know I had that function on my iPhone 11.

My oldest son called me last night from his town. We text every day but he’s been kinda quiet lately and I haven’t talked to him in a week or so. We spoke for about two hours and that was nice. I was dying to get to the new episode of Dark Matter on Apple+ though I do prefer talking to him. We talked about just about everything. Past relationships and what’s going on with his girlfriend who has been in and out of hospitals for over a year and never able to come home. The new day to come home is Friday and neither of us believes that will happen. Hopefully. That poor woman.

Starting my 3rd mile…

It occurs to me that reading these blogs might give someone insight into how my mind works in it jumping around and playing its ADHD card. One might wonder how I ever get anything done. And yet throughout my work history, I’ve been known as the guy who doesn’t seem to be doing anything most of the time but does two or three times the amount of work of anybody else, and very high-quality work, by the way.

So yeah, I don’t know how that works. I just know what has happened and what I have produced.

I do know ADHD people have the superpower of being incapable of focusing, paying attention or staying on track. But they also have the other side of that coin. Superhuman ability to focus, pay attention and stay on track.

Apparently, there’s gonna be a Scott Pilgrim animated spinoff. When I heard the name, I was interested. When I saw "Animated", kind of lost interest. Much to the dismay of my kids since they were children. I’m not really into anime or animation. Though I do like some.

OK, the podcast is over. I looked through my podcast for the newest one and landed on Pod Save America, about the debate.

I saw a video of Trump saying if he took his shirt off you’d see a very good… And I’m like OK asshole what are you gonna say now? And he said, “person“. Not really. Almost like he was going to brag a lie, then realized it was going too far and caught his narcissism in its tracks.

He also was talking about the 10 Commandments at some event because of that nonsense going on and started to name them. He got as far as Thou Shall Not Kill, which I think just about everybody knows. He moved on to State another, and it seemed pretty clear it was going to be Thou Shall Not Committed Adultery, which also a lot of people know (and don’t follow, and he never followed), and it stopped him abruptly and then he moved on hoping no one noticed.

I keep saying that in months or years to come we may well find out that Trump has broken every single one of the commandments, except for murder, though we actually may find out that he was also involved in that.

You know me and just about everybody has said they don’t believe he has been involved in murder or assassination or ordered it. But whenever I find myself saying something like that, a little bell goes off in my head and I have to rethink it.

Who’s Trump's hero? Putin. Who else? Kim Jong-un. What are those guys known for among other things? Assassinations and murders. Good grief, Un murdered his own uncle. He’s had generals executed. You know you really can just fire them and put them into retirement... dumbass.

So my assumption about Trump is either he’s been involved in murder or he tried to be and failed or whoever he chose to do the "wet work" screwed it up. Or he’s looking forward to doing it at some point in his future but hopefully not as POTUS ever again.

As far as Trump leaning into (voice to text translated that as "trampolining") the Christian nationalists, and the whole Jesus comparison with him...my assumption about the antichrist had always been...well, somebody very different than Donald Trump. Better looking, more charismatic in a more cohesive way, not obviously a criminal but apparently, that’s not the case.

Five presidents have apparently been shot in US history and Ulysses S Grant had a horse fall on him. I’m not sure what kind of big deal that is though. My ex-wife was a horse trainer. Had it happen several times in her life. She said anyone who works horses all their life probably had it happen. Our youngest had it happen once as a kid shortly after we divorced but luckily they were fine. I was freaking out waiting for the doctor because I was not in the area, able to get to the hospital. He said kids were pliable at that age and there was no damage. 

All of this reinforced my feelings that I don't want an animal later than a dog or one that can fit in my car. However, I did see a photo once of a guy who cut the roof of his car so a horse could sit in the passenger side.

The podcast has a good point about two of the 10 Commandments not to commit adultery and don’t lust after your neighbor's wife. I guess women are free to lust after their neighbor's husband? Also, shouldn’t those two be the same because one does lead to the other. If you don’t do one, you don’t get to the other? So like, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's spouse or commit adultery? I mean from any writer's perspective that seems pretty obvious.

Apparently, the Faith and Freedom Conference was going to be canceled, but Trump said he was too afraid to not go to it so they rescheduled it so he could attend. Seems it’s something he does annually. Whatever...

Seems like the Faith and Freedom Conferences should be liberal's (faith, and democracy, and the freedom from tyranny and toxic conservatives). They should be trying to figure out how to get rid of Donald Trump, but hey whatever…

Trump and the Heritage Foundation Project 2025: If you don’t know what it is, you’d better find out.

Trump says he’s going to end the Department of Education and turn education back over to the states. Which may sound like a great idea with the whole American great experiment of having states trying things and other states selecting the best of what’s been working? But I don’t know if you’ve been noticing, we have some states seemingly under Republican leadership who are really fucked up. Which is why we have federal laws to protect citizens from stupidity in the states. You know, it shouldn’t be federal heavy, but it can’t be State abusive heavy either.

Trump said as POTUS he would not give any money to any schools that have a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate. So Polio we're welcoming you back with open arms! This man is so stupid as to boggled the mind of anyone how any would think he's someone to follow or be led by.

On Trump claiming Biden takes drugs before debates. First off any one who he gets a B12 shot, so what? The podcast had a good idea that Biden should tell Trump, "You know what drug I’m taking before the debate? I find a quiet place with Jill and she tells me how much she loves me and that’s all the drug I need. You know what that’s like, right Donald?"

One of the guys in the podcast said Biden should just say to Trump: “Narc.“ What’s interesting about that is it’s that personal freedom thing that MAGA is so into and in say ing that it makes Trump and his administration the police, the authority.

From yesterday:

Below is from yesterday's podcast and blog. I finished my walk and was out shopping and played out the rest of the Jewel podcast with Marc Maron on WTF?. Now one of my favorites of his podcasts. I guess along with the Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath episode on his last episode. Marc, you’re kicking them out of the park!

This podcast with Jewel is fascinating. I’ve heard her be interviewed before. She has had an interesting life, but beyond what we know about in the music industry.

This past week I talked on the blog about facing our fears. She mentions facing one's pain. She said she wonce read that the buffalo is the only animal that goes into the storm and she realized she has to go into her pain to deal with it.

And that’s a very good point.

Jewel Is Co-Founder of a New Mental Health Platform in the Metaverse: 'We Cannot Let Happiness Be Elitist'

"Accessibility is critical," singer-songwriter writer tells PEOPLE about why she's partnering with the virtual reality platform Innerworld

On that note, I’ll bid you adieu… and leave you with that. It’s noon and time for lunch.

Cheers! Sláinte!

About ThrilzTV.com - New Streaming Indie Video Channel by 3 Indie Filmmakers

I have been working since late last year on a new project, ThrilzTV! A streaming indie video channel. Thought bubble of Tony Green, in Montreal, who pulled in Kelly Hughes here in our PNW where together after a lot of work and a couple of false starts, we recently went live. We're building something very special here that you can get in on the beginning of, something very interesting, very unique, where you can help to make it all that it can, and will be.

We are three indie filmmakers who got together and started the Thrilz streaming indie video channel, one we could be proud of, offering a place for others like us. When Amazon Prime recently dumped a lot of indie filmmakers' films, where would they go? 

Who are we?

Tony Green - Tony is an indie film director with a long history in the recording industry who resides in Montreal, Canada.

Kelly Wayne Hughes - Kelly is an indie film director and event creator (Gorst Underground Film Festival, Slash Night Monthly Indie Film Night (which COVID-19 killed off), and other events) residing in Port Orchard, Washington. He lives across Sinclair Inlet from JZ, which hosts the massive Bremerton Naval Shipyard.

JZ Murdock - JZ is an indie film director, author, writer, and event creator (along with Kelly, with their Gorst Underground Film Festival and Slash Night Monthly Indie Film Nights, in Gorst & Bremerton, Washington respectively).

Our goal? To support our indie filmmaker community, their films, and fans. All are welcome, but not all may see it as their cup of tea. What we're not? Hollywood. Bollywood, Nollywood, or any "wood" other than the woods we frequent off the beaten path.

Does that mean we're bad? Naw...not at all. Just: Raw...Indie...Cinema! As we evolve over time, bringing to light more and more of what is missed and unseen out there, and needs to be brought into the light. There is so much interesting media out there, media that no one will ever see, all because it's not vastly overmarketed by a massive machine of business and the film industry.

We are Indie!

We are...ThrilzTV!

About

Welcome to ThrilzTV, your go-to streaming channel destination for thrilling movies and TV shows! Our channel features a wide selection of action, suspense, and horror movies, TV series, and some unique oddities and we support our indie filmmaker community. 

YouTube / Twitter / Tumblr / Instagram / Facebook / Reddit

At ThrilzTV, we offer exclusive access to hard-to-find movies and TV shows, as well as behind-the-scenes content and interviews with your favorite actors.

Our Mission:

ThrilzTV is an indie movie channel built by a team of passionate filmmakers who believe in the power of storytelling to inspire, entertain, and educate. Our mission is to showcase the best in independent filmmaking and provide a platform for emerging filmmakers to share their unique perspectives and stories with a global audience. We are committed to promoting diversity, inclusivity, and authenticity in storytelling and are dedicated to creating a community that celebrates creativity, innovation, and collaboration. With ThrilzTV, we aim to redefine the indie movie-watching experience and provide a space where filmmakers and movie lovers can come together to connect, learn, and grow.

What are we?

ThrilzTV is the ultimate destination for independent filmmakers, dedicated fans, and avid viewers seeking an electrifying streaming experience. Created by a dynamic trio of passionate indie filmmakers, our platform is designed to celebrate and uplift the indie community while providing an immersive space for unique storytelling and thrilling cinematic adventures.

At ThrilzTV, we understand the indomitable spirit of independent filmmaking and the boundless creativity it embodies. Our mission is to empower and showcase emerging talent, giving them a platform to share their extraordinary visions with a global audience. We believe that independent films possess a raw authenticity, pushing boundaries and challenging conventions, and we are committed to giving these captivating stories the spotlight they deserve.

For Filmmakers - ThrilzTV serves as a launchpad for careers, a showcase of a place where their cinematic dreams can take flight. We provide a supportive environment where artists can connect, collaborate, and find inspiration, nurturing a vibrant community that thrives on innovation and originality. Our commitment to filmmakers extends beyond the screen, offering resources, mentorship programs, and opportunities to connect with industry professionals, empowering them to reach new heights in their artistic endeavors.

For Fans - To our dedicated fans and viewers, ThrilzTV offers a captivating selection of indie films that will leave you on the edge of your seat, captivated by their rich narratives and breathtaking visuals. Whether you're a lover of intense thrillers, thought-provoking dramas, mind-bending sci-fi, or heartwarming indie gems, our curated library will satisfy your cravings for exceptional storytelling. Join us on a cinematic journey that transcends traditional boundaries, where creativity knows no limits.

We invite you to immerse yourself in the world of ThrilzTV and become a part of our thriving indie community. From engaging interviews with visionary filmmakers to exclusive behind-the-scenes content, we go beyond just streaming films, providing a holistic experience that celebrates the art of filmmaking. Join the conversation, connect with like-minded enthusiasts, and explore the endless possibilities that the indie film world has to offer.

Together, let's redefine the boundaries of cinema, supporting indie filmmakers and fostering a thriving community that believes in the power of storytelling. ThrilzTV is here to entertain, inspire, and ignite your passion for indie films. 

Welcome to the electrifying world of ThrilzTV – where indie cinema comes to life!

RAW INDIE CINEMA!

Walkabout Thoughts 33a - ThrilzTV, Our New Streaming Movie Service

Well. Not much walking of late. But I thought I'd offer an update.

I've been saying for a while I was working on building a brand new streaming movie service. And so we have been. It recently went live online. We've yet to market it yet, holding off on that as we continue to build it up and other things. 

A streaming service by indie filmmakers for indie fiimmakers, and lovers of other than mainstream big studio films, with a taste for the unusual and unique. Some vintage, some bizarre, some docs on fimmaking, some movies you probably won't see elsewhere, and just stuff. We have big plans for it. Not just movies, but expanding beyond that.

Brief aside about streaming services from the WrapPro: "The Oscars Box Office Bump Is Dead – but the Streaming Lift Is Alive and Kicking"

I used to work at Tower Records, and Posters (started there) and Video (ended there, in Seattle, other than being a supervisor there, I took over Jeff Ament's job (of Pearl Jam). Our video employees would gather some nights to party, blow off steam after a week of dealing with the public (Have you MET the public?), and we'd bring some fun/weird films from work. And we'd always have a blast. We would have loved this, having a streaming service such as we're building. And no need to check out VHS tapes from work!

Mostly we're just testing it out, getting more movies on it every day, and already...somehow, we've  already acquired subscribers! So if you want to get in on something at the beginning...here we are!

From a post by our marketing department guy, Steve:

"I'm excited to be helping out with a new streaming movie service called ThrilzTV.  If you're a fan of fun, thrilling entertainment and looking for something a little different then come check it out.  Not your Hollywood blockbusters but a range of independent films and nostalgic "B" movies too. 

"If you're interested in being a beta tester and getting a free month send me a message and I'll give you a promo code.  All we ask is that you watch some movies and take a short 10 question survey."

So there it is! Thanks, Steve! 

Well, I said I'd share when it came online and here we are!  As always...

Cheers! Sláinte !

Walkabout Thoughts #15

My thoughts, while walking off long Covid and listening to podcasts...a blog designed and meant to be freely associating, on the run, and not perfectly edited:

Weather for the day… 58° and overcast.

Well this is going to be an electic blog today, I can just feel it!

Podcast for the day is Pod Save America, November 3 episode, "Last Call for Democracy." Obviously about the midterm elections this Tuesday.

Second podcast today is Political Gabfest, Live From Atlanta! But I don't really mention anything from it in this blog today as I was just finishing up the walk.

Instagram post for the day is...well? I didn't shoot one today. So I'll include this one from my friends...cartoonist Pat Moriarity and his son Jack's annual SausageFest in Port Orchard, WA which began years ago as an evening of grilling sausages apparently, on this past Halloween Monday night. That's Jack talking about the late famous Patrick Haggerty (who had died the night before the party), of Lavender Country band fame. I liked Patrick. We will all miss him. Especially Jack who's known him since he was young. This post is Pat presenting his son's band's Kiss tribute (only) that night. And this short post is the band getting started. I shot some music videos with those guys in the band and my fellow directors Kelly Hughes and Tyler Darkow, a year ago that have been in some film festivals now.

It was a great night as SausageFest always is (Patrick was there last year so it was sad this year without him not to mention, he died only the night before). Here is a newspaper article about Patrick's passing and here is a post on my Instagram of Patrick at Pat Moriarity's art showing a couple of months back in nearby Poulsbo, WA.

Here's articles on Deadline, one on NPR, CNN, Seattle Times, about Patrick Haggerty. What's also sad about this is this, "WA’s pioneering gay country band Lavender Country releases first new album in 50 years"

Well... back to the walkabout thoughts... 

I didn’t walk yesterday, but I walked Thursday, the day before. Today is Saturday, and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. It said it's supposed to rain today, but there's broken clouds, so I’m walking. Nice to see some blue sky.

I was set at home waiting for lunch time to arrive, multitasking by listening to a professor talk about the history of Winston Churchill on C-SPAN, and writing/editing my new book on my film, “Pvt. Ravel‘s Bolero“. I was just writing about how the film came to be, with a little history about me and how I got around to shooting some other films at this house and my last house and my house before that. Where we were for 16 years and where for a great part of their lives, I had raised my kids until they moved out as adults. Those are good memories. Mostly. Not so much the first year or two there as it was seeing the end of my marriage. But, moving on...

My friend and fellow local Indy director Kelly Hughes had shot some films at that house of 16 years in Suquamish, Washington. Then I sold that house and moved here to Bremerton. First we lived in a big house with my son and his girlfriend and her son. They had the whole downstairs while I had the upstairs with an incredible view. Maybe I’ll include a photo.

Included photo from my picture window at my previous house

Then after two years I moved a mile away to where I’ve now been for the past three years.

I had shot a film in college that I am detailing in my new book. I shot my first documentary in 1993 (25th Anniversary of Lost In Space) which was cablecast around the greater Seattle area on Viacom cable. Since then I have helped Kelly Hughes on some of his films. 

We moved to Bremerton and I shot a short film, “The Rapping“ (think Edgar Allen Poe, not Rap music), with my son, since we were just at the house there and could shoot whenever we were ready. 

I moved a to this new, smaller house and I shot my film “Gumdrop“, a short horror, based on one of my previously published true crime horror stories. A true story I had been told about by my university abnormal psych professor.

Which won some awards internationally at film festivals. Then while suffering from long Covid I tried getting back into filmmaking and I came up with an idea for, "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero”, a historical documentary and filmic poem. That film because it allowed me the opportunity to work as I could, when I felt up to it, and finish at my own pace. With no actors or no schedules. My first day working on it lasted only about an hour because it was all I could do for the day. Because of long Covid. I spent six months in post production on that film, after years of research I based at all on a poem I had written with the same title, back in 2014. That film is still winning awards at film festivals around the world. Each film I produced seems to win more awards that the previous film. So, maybe I’ll try to keep it up…

Wow, that got off the track of he walk today...

Anyway, one of the guys on the Pod Save America podcast just said, "I think everybody’s pretty much got to remind me to put your vote and forward this point."

 

Wait. He said that? I'm editing this later in the day now. Hmm... I would just say I pity those who are voting for MAGA Republicans. (I'm sure the podcast was talking something about THAT) I understand their mindset and how they got there, sure, though I don’t think many of them understand. Obviously Trump and Fox News, et al, have done everything they can to surreptitiously inject false information into a bubble so big people look around and believe it’s reality. The problem is and the problem always is with fascism that at first it all seems like fun games and cathartic and  reasonable… Until it’s not. And that’s where you get that quote about how first they came for this or that group when I said nothing but then they came for me and suddenly it was scary and only then I realized my mistakes too late! Obviously some fascists will always love their fascism. And those are the ones who at the end of Italy in World War II and in Germany and other countires (Japan) along with those who supported the Nazis & the Japanese Emperor, and their collaborators, or worse… Is exactly why those people were then judged and punished after the war. So, just don’t be those people.

Ballot drop boxes and polling places... Regarding these intimidating or at least they try to pretend they’re intimidating, although they look pretty silly, those MAGA “poll watchers“ and “ballot box observers“, especially the ridiculous armed ones… First off, unless they’re gonna shoot me on the spot... I’m not intimidated. I just find it very comical in a "Keystone Cops" sort of way. I would suggest, if you have to use a ballot box, take a friend and have them at least pretend they’re filming those clowns. And while those people are trying to film you, or to make you notice how they're trying to get your license plate number recorded, do the exact same back at them. It doesn't even have to be real, although I would suggest doing it for real. But when you’re being intimidated, intimidate them right back. If they escalate and it gets out of hand, call 911. For myself? I mailed my mail-in ballot in over a week ago, or whenever it was, but it was the next day after I got it. I put it in my mail box and our nice postal lady picked it up. MAGA freaks out about a secure drop box, but about mail in ballots in each voter's own mailbox? Nothing. Nada. No fear whatsoever! Whatever...it's all just stupid distractions and time wasting. And the meek shall inherit the earth and the dumb can have the Republican Party.

Podcast is now talking about President Biden's speech this week and President Obama‘s speeches. They’re talking about how people want to hear about the economy when the issue of a democracy is far more important. So here’s the thing, whether you elect Republicans this Tuesday or Democrats, the economy is going to get better. Maybe not so much if Republicans get in. Listen to what they want to do! When a Republican governor candidate says only Republicans will ever be elected again in my state if I get elected. What the hell is that? It's not democracy. Democracy is how the people have a say in things. Regardless how little you think they have now, in an autocracy you've got no say. Look at Russia's faux democracy with their petty dictator Putin doing whatever he wants. Their people don’t want war. Their people don’t want to attack their friends, relatives and loved ones in Ukraine. Russia is waking up. Slowly. When’s our MAGA gonna wake up? Every fascist state that’s been elected into office hasn’t lasted. Certainly not without a lot of abuse, restricting or ending civil rights, and harming and murdering its citizens. States should not murder their citizens. Which is why I’m against capital punishment. Except for those like Donald Trump who try to murder the State. That’s...kind of an exception.

By the way, regarding Obama's speech this week, take a look at that speech in a clip where he’s talking about Republicans who have said, openly stated, that they want to end Social Security. They've also said they want to end the VA because our promise to our veterans isn’t worth shit, apparently. And they want to end Medicare. And they don’t want healthcare for all. Anyway, look at Obama when he talks about that. He talks about how our parents and older people, like myself, as I am of that and I’m on Social Security, I’m on my retirement from my job, which isn't gonna make it for me, without my Social Security and my VA. But in that speech, Obama is not just saying it. He’s not just stating the party line as we see with MAGA Republicans running for office, those who you know most of them don’t believe in it. Except for some of the dumb ones. But Obama is genuinely pissed off and angry, very angry at that idea like the rest of us are, taking away from us the things we paid into over our lifetimes. And taking away our civil rights. All for a theocratic notion of authoritarianism and keeping one party forever in power. A vocal minority who don’t deserve power, or being an American citizen. Which frankly, they’re trying to destroy, while denigrating the quality and import of being a citizen in this country. They really don’t even deserve that which they’re trying to destroy. Like I said, fascists who embrace fascism always end up regretting it.

Now about Social Security… When I look at my statement, my history, I’ve been paying into Social Security since 1969. I was in ninth grade. Working after school. I’ve been putting my money into it and all of that was hard-earned. The first half of my life with a lot of physical labor, the second half with a lot of stress, emotional duress and intellectual exacerbation. They want to take that away from me? That’s theft, outright theft by the State. If they want to do that? What they need to do is to make a new pact with young America. Everyone who paid into Social Security should get their money back out of it, one way or another. Or it's theft. Preferably paying it out until they (we) die and then giving the overage to their descendants as is appropriate and legal. And they need to come up with a new plan, offer that to all citizens and have them not just have legislators vote on it. But they need a vast majority to agree to it and then go through their entire lives going forward, not expecting any help when they retire.

People need to be aware of a change like that over their lifetime. Not just when they are retired, when they are about to retire. So they plan to do this to people in long-term care homes who are so old they can’t get out of bed, or are ill but all of which who will die there. Who is going to pay for that if their Social Security and Medicare go away and their VA is shut off? 

If there’s one thing Republicans are expert at, it's to say things in their soundbites to get votes,  power and money, but aren’t very well thought out long term (or immediate term). And so they end up not implementing those things, which is basically lying to their voters. Or carrying them out and further wrecking our economy and our civil rights. It's getting pretty old, really.

By the way, that whole last paragraph above? That is about democracy. Protecting citizens against that kind of autocratic bullshit. They kinda see democracy at shoulder length, way off in the distance as some ideological conceptual idea of democracy. So too many don’t care about it, especially MAGA types. But that’s not what democracy is. Not functional democracy anyway. Democracy is there for not being run over by the State as they did in the USSR. It’s about Stalin not slaughtering millions of citizens because he’s paranoid. Nixon got paranoid at the end. Trump was getting paranoid at the end. Give him a second term see how paranoid he gets at the end of THAT. Especially if he were able to somehow put off his upcoming indictments for the crimes he’s committed. That’s where Putin is at now, terrified to leave office because it’ll come back on him. That’s what happened to Yeltsin when Putin took over. Yeltsin made Putin president to protect himself and his family because of his crimes. Putin‘s looking at the same situation, only worse because he’s been in power for over 20 some years. Because he slaughtered people in other countries. Because he’s had people murdered in other countries, in the most horrible ways. We’re going to see the same crap with Trump, which we were starting to see at the end of his first term. But he wasn’t desperate like he will be at the end of a second term. Or the end of his third term. We don’t need anyone as president or king for three terms... or life. I would say we don’t need anyone for longer than two terms. After that they get too cocky and careless. We probably also need some term limits in Congress. They could be long terms. With SCOTUS, too. We need to end this crap where you die in office from old age. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, loved the woman. But her dying really screwed up America since she died as a Justice on the Supreme Court. So that position ended up with not someone she would have wanted. How does that help?

If Republicans win on Tuesday, please change the name of the Republican Party to the MAGA Party. Now they may do that anyway, because they’re just coming right out and saying the stuff they couldn’t say, even 10 years ago, or five years ago. Just come out and admit who you are. If the majority of Americans see you as fascist or like the Nazi party as it ramped up to take over Germany in the 1930s, maybe that's who you are. When most of the decent world sees you that way, maybe you just are. Maybe you are. And Republicans, seeing Democrats as if they are fascistic or Hitler? They’re just making shit up like a third grader on a playground who’s being called out for being a bully (because he is a bully) but his response is what? To say, "No! You’re a bully, you’re a bully! Good grief. It’s embarrassing that grown adults in positions of power or running for positions of power, are acting like immature children. Unbelievable

Podcast just had a good point, we need to go from being "the protectors of democracy to the reformers of democracy". It’s true, because some of MAGA who are were pissed off, is about democracy needing reformation. We’ve all felt that. First off, the Money in our politics needs a vast reformation. Toxic capitalism being allowed because of lobbyists and big money being allowed in our elections. That’s got to change. We’re never going to please some of this MASGA crowd. But we can certainly make changes to lower them into a sense of "all right, I guess I can handle this, then. It seems reasonable to me anyway."

As they say on the podcast, the fact that we went back to lobbyists seven years ago and "ear marks", is bullshit. Citizens United? Gotta go. Toxic capitalists calling themselves legislators? It's got to go. They also said, if we want them to care about democracy we’ve got to make them feel like we’re willing to change our democracy. It could be they don’t really wanna get rid of it, they just don’t like how it is. None of us like how it is. Except those who are benefiting from at the most. The wealthy, the powerful, certainly too many legislators, Trump, too many mostly Republican governors.

Dammit I’m seeing tiny raindrops every so often now!

Apparently, when they polled people who said they were worried about threats to democracy, when they drilled down on that, it was mostly about corruption. Why didn’t we see this a year ago? 10 years ago? In the 1990s when Newt Gingrich started to use old Soviet KGB disinformation tactics to subvert the Republican party, evolve a "tea party" which morphed into a MAGA Party morphing into a cult of hero worshipers for a moron and failed businessman and failed reality star in Donald Trump. All we’re gonna get after Trump is somebody who’s better at being that kind of bad.

Again the podcast has a good point in why we’re drip bleeding Democrats to the Republicans. Because when you’re poor or working two jobs and bouncing from motel to motel because you can’t afford a house, no one is addressing that issue. Other than by saying "democracy is at threat". While the Republicans are lying saying they’ll take care of them. They may not know any better and shift to the Republicans. Republicans are going to fix it? They don't give a shit. They just want your vote. As with Trump who just says whatever you want to hear according to who you are in that room with him at that time. Then he has your vote and goes to say the opposite to somebody else. He (and they) dissemble and mumble and lie in such a way that when questioned, they can come back later to say they didn’t mean that, or, that’s not what I said. If you go and prove it or if a reporter goes and looks it up, those people are not gonna see that report in an hour or a day or a week. So much of this is about how, "A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes."

“We have ceded the reform (of democracy) issue to a group that is full of corrupt Republicans.“

It’s ironic how the 2000 election actually was stolen and yet we backed down. Maybe shouldn’t have. But we did it because we didn’t want to cause some kind of constitutional crisis. Then in 2020 in what was the most secure election in history, without the problems of the 2000 election, we had a president who was begging for a constitutional crisis, begging for an insurrection, dying to apply martial law and somehow become King Trump. I’m sorry, but what kind of foolish ignorance is that who supports someone like that?

Remember, it wasn’t that long ago, just this year that Mitch McConnell openly admitted the big Republican problem in this election was their low quality of candidates running for office. He and Trump often say exactly what’s going on. And yet, the right people never hear the right message. While the wrong people sure hear the wrong message.

Warnock vs Wallace. You need a great football player, go with Walker. But not now! He’s beyond his prime. A prime that should never be in public office. Warnock is hands-down better candidate no matter what your belief system is. Unless you’re a Nazi of course. Or you just like stupid people. Or you’re really into automatons which actually the Nazi party built: "Follow your orders or will shoot you" And they blindly followed the orders to slaughter tens of millions of human beings, all for their ridiculous beliefs. The Christian nationalist beliefs by the way. Who the FBI tells us are our biggest domestic threat now, in our white Christian nationalist... Aericans.

The SCOTUS ruling allowing Republicans to make abortion illegal, which then happened almost overnight in some states, would’ve served America better had it happened in October. The only thing I can say pro SCOTUS about that is that we had 50 years to fix it in Congress and we failed to do it. Because we got lazy, thinking we were covered. Especially nowadays with these Republicans, don’t believe you’re covered. This was a knife fight Republicans carried guns to and are happy to shoot you in the back. I think though, Democrats have bigger guns. They just never realize it. Why do Republicans keep doing so well as a minority? It’s just like with cops and robbers. Police, or Democrats in this case, have rules to follow and decency they want to adhere to. Republicans, just think it's win at any or all costs to any or all others, as long as it's not them. They’re happy to break laws, mores, morals, rules, traditions, when they're the traditionalist conservative party. Maybe the Hypocrisy Party?

I just had a weird thought… Republicans built a wall trying to hold back democracy. But there was, of course, a leak. And Trump rushed right up and shoved his dick in it.
What squirted out of that little hole, accumulated a bunch of really disgusting people on the other side who wanted to switch to be, some Democrat to Republican, some Independent to Republican, with some Republicans who came out of their shells and entered that hole, rushing right up into... Trump's prostate. And unsurprisingly, they’ve loved being there ever since.

Podcast had another good point that if you’re denying polls and the scientific data that's the political version of denying climate change. Yes polls can be wrong, but there’s a lot of data out there and a lot of science to tell you a lot about what’s going on. Really, what their better telling us is what's trending and when it’s used to be something more specific, it starts to fall apart. You have to know what you’re doing. That being said, I studying statistics at university. I know, I know, people love to say things like there's statistics and there's damn statistics. Or you can make statistics tell any lie you like. But that's avoiding one obvious truth. Statistics can be like magic to give you accurate forecasts that are stunning in their accuracy. I've proven it myself using statistics where I gathered my own data, drew up my own formula and the results were stunningly accurate. Like magic, they foretold the future. I kid you not!

Republicans:
“Democrats rely too much on data.“ Well, do pilots rely too much on radar? 

For those in the bottom half of the economic classes, especially the lower economic class, and such, who really believes Republicans are going to save you? Republicans are famous for saying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Not for them, but say "others" need to do that (so as to not bother them, or cost them money, even if it saves money...yes, it's bizarre and at times, stupid). They’re very anti-Socialism. While Democrats are not pro-Socialism. Social programs are about people, society, social issues that are programs designed to help. How that's "Socialism" is beyond me (AND Republicans). Socialism is a political doctrine that has nothing to do with it. But if you think Republicans are the ones that are going to save the economy? Damn, that’s just dumb. People need to realize it's ignorant and naïve because they're believing Republican lies When if they look around at the Republican's platform over the years, what they say has nothing to do with helping those leaving the Democratic party because they think Democrats won't help. When they’re really our best shot. The good news? Just maybe all this transition period is a paradigm shift that will lead to fixing... that’s a stupid word, "revamping" )maybe?), our democracy And our country. But the best America has right now? It’s better we disband the Republican Party, throw many of them in jail who need to be. OK. It’s actually just a very few of them, but those in positions of power who also have many following them. Just take the Democratic Party, split it in half and call the conservative side, anything but a Republican Party. Because that’s dead now. They killed that a long time ago. And remember the Democratic Party of today was the Republican Party of Lincoln, because they switched back in the late 1800s. And if you don’t know about that, well, go look it up.

Damn, I’m just finishing up my 4th mile. I thought I could make five but suddenly the air turned cold and there’s a huge black cloud moving overhead from the Olympic Mountains, with all that cooler, moist air from the Pacific Ocean. And it’s supposed to rain today. Well maybe four is it today?

This photo is what I'm wearing today. It’s not raingear…but very comfortable for a walkabout today.

Democrats need to remember (while Republicans are welcome to forget this, when Republicans come back to be an American political party, then they can remember this to), no matter how bad things look leading up to the end of an election, the worse it looks, the more you need to vote, and the more you need to vote against the nonsense. At this point in time, that would be...the Republican Party.

So, that’s what it is. From the podcast...Republicans want to privatize Social Security. As they say, "cut the knot" on seniors. Good grief! Fuck those people!

Cheers! Sláinte!