No one is well informed, as the USA is presented with binary choices without acknowledging that there is nothing real to assess. Democracy is mob rule but completely controlled by the absence of any real choices. Local is fine, "out there" is a scary place coming sooner rather than later.
People blithely carry on.
Our Republic has morphed into something not recognizable in two/three generations.
I hope you have a safe place to go, and are prepared (as possible).
Those emails your friend sent is a definite illustration of the different realities people live in. The irony is, if the authoritarian regime existed, he could not post that email and would be hauled off to jail for hate crimes and conspiracy to start an insurrection.
As much as I prefer a Trump presidency over a Kamala presidency, I am also somewhat dubious of Trump. This latest feud online between Trump and Elon shows just how far we have fallen as a society in terms of having respectful conversations. And while the other side might feel a bit smug about the childish behavior, I do prefer childish behavior over a president who didn't have the brain power at all to even conjure a coherent response to those who disagreed with him.
Agree with both points. Though I think the second is due to the first. My friend did not become what they are now just because T was elected. They have been like this for years, decades most likely. But until this email, the first contact we have had since early in the panic, is the first time they have ever made any political comment. Until this email, they provided no clue on which way they leaned politically, which led me to suspect they might be right leaning. Most of those who lean left that I know proudly make their political preferences known within seconds of first meeting them. And conversations of any kind with them is well high impossible.
Not even sure what working out looks like at this point. What would be funny is if those who are living under my name and SSN# in the States get hit with these payments after I leave Japan as the two countries have a collection treaty.
The comments from your students are a nice vindication. One of my favorite high school classes was from a semi insane teacher who was in World War II. He often showed films and offered anecdotes not part of the curriculum. I aced all his tests, and loved drawing and taking notes in class while he talked. He even encouraged me in my art, because he knew that my art was not a form of distraction, but listening.
But man, did he comes down hard on you if you were distracting yourself and not listening. People who played cards and passed notes, he did not suffer them well and they were yelled at and shamed.
The best teachers use books as a guide, and ultimately will instill within the students they teach a fire and a desire to learn more about whatever it is they are teaching.
And then the carrot of the vindication, the confusion between school policy and classroom experience. I would have hung a large sign in the room that said "The actual experience in the classroom may differ from school policy."
“Semi insane” probably does not describe me, at this point “off his rocker” is probably the closest fit. All joking aside, the constant distraction of trying to navigate through these rocks and shoals with enough sea room an momentum to make head way after they are passed has me pulling off a much better impression of Biden that I would like to be the case.
Another distraction is the need to be careful in my conversations with coworkers, esteemed colleagues and employers and most importantly, my kids lest I betray my problems to them.
reader request: Kitsune, can you just say 'he' or 'she' when you're talking about random people (not your kids, for example)? I know you're trying to protect anonymity but narrowing down a hundred million potential individuals to fifty million doesn't exactly 'out' your subjects. Plus using 'they' makes it sound like you're obliging pronoun freaks (which I know you're not). Cordially, DW (he, him, his)
This I knew was bound to happen and I am not surprised it is you that brings it up, that, by the way is a compliment. Let me bring you in to my thinking. First, is my education. ZI was taught in grammar school to use “they” when referring to individuals when the gender was either not knot known or not importatnt. I was quite shocked at earlier comments on this. It seems this is no longer taught and may even have been a regional thing like “whom” and “Tumpt”. I am really outing myself with the last one there.
Another issue is the possibility, though admittedly remote, that my esteemed colleagues or employers may stumble across my substack. I know that one of my colleagues has seen my postings because he reads a substack I read and comment on. They, there I go again, do not know my pen name though. This person I would be honored if they comment on my postings and more so if they read my substack.
But an even bigger issue is not the protection of those I write about, many of whom I care not one wit about, but my own protection. If my employers or even some of my esteemed colleagues realized that it is they I am referring to, whoa boy, not a good thing for Kitsune.
Know that striving to keep the genders and other identifying markers unknown is tedious to the extreme. There is so much more I could post if I felt I didn’t;t need to worry about this and it would be far easier to post what I do. There are other factors I cannot even allude to publicly.
Then there is the fact that we now have the pronoun police. Your point is valid, but from my perspective, I am merely using the word “they” as I learned way back in the 70s and 80s. In my mind I am not acknowledging the madness, rather completely ignoring it and not letting the maniacs dictate how I am to use words that they have developed a fetish over.
That said, as I teach my public speaking students, the audience drives everything from topic selection to the words you use.
I will take this under advisement but pleas know that even if I ultimately decide to continue this, it in no reflects negatively on my respect for you and your comment.
At times, I omit the he/she because it isn't germane to the conversation. I see many instances where people try to turn things into a "gender" issue when it isn't. It is a "people behaving badly" issue.
I am sympathetic with those who, like myself, are sick of the pronoun madness and want to stop its spread. There are reasons that compel me to use “they” for individuals rather than “he” or “she”, however if this comes across as myself being “woke”, well that’s a problem. Need to come with another way, nicknames perhaps.
The drama is real.
The truth is opaque.
No one is well informed, as the USA is presented with binary choices without acknowledging that there is nothing real to assess. Democracy is mob rule but completely controlled by the absence of any real choices. Local is fine, "out there" is a scary place coming sooner rather than later.
People blithely carry on.
Our Republic has morphed into something not recognizable in two/three generations.
I hope you have a safe place to go, and are prepared (as possible).
Those emails your friend sent is a definite illustration of the different realities people live in. The irony is, if the authoritarian regime existed, he could not post that email and would be hauled off to jail for hate crimes and conspiracy to start an insurrection.
As much as I prefer a Trump presidency over a Kamala presidency, I am also somewhat dubious of Trump. This latest feud online between Trump and Elon shows just how far we have fallen as a society in terms of having respectful conversations. And while the other side might feel a bit smug about the childish behavior, I do prefer childish behavior over a president who didn't have the brain power at all to even conjure a coherent response to those who disagreed with him.
Agree with both points. Though I think the second is due to the first. My friend did not become what they are now just because T was elected. They have been like this for years, decades most likely. But until this email, the first contact we have had since early in the panic, is the first time they have ever made any political comment. Until this email, they provided no clue on which way they leaned politically, which led me to suspect they might be right leaning. Most of those who lean left that I know proudly make their political preferences known within seconds of first meeting them. And conversations of any kind with them is well high impossible.
I do hope it all works out for you.
Not even sure what working out looks like at this point. What would be funny is if those who are living under my name and SSN# in the States get hit with these payments after I leave Japan as the two countries have a collection treaty.
I like the way you always keep a sense of humor regardless of circumstances!
Mind you, it is dark humor.
The comments from your students are a nice vindication. One of my favorite high school classes was from a semi insane teacher who was in World War II. He often showed films and offered anecdotes not part of the curriculum. I aced all his tests, and loved drawing and taking notes in class while he talked. He even encouraged me in my art, because he knew that my art was not a form of distraction, but listening.
But man, did he comes down hard on you if you were distracting yourself and not listening. People who played cards and passed notes, he did not suffer them well and they were yelled at and shamed.
The best teachers use books as a guide, and ultimately will instill within the students they teach a fire and a desire to learn more about whatever it is they are teaching.
And then the carrot of the vindication, the confusion between school policy and classroom experience. I would have hung a large sign in the room that said "The actual experience in the classroom may differ from school policy."
“Semi insane” probably does not describe me, at this point “off his rocker” is probably the closest fit. All joking aside, the constant distraction of trying to navigate through these rocks and shoals with enough sea room an momentum to make head way after they are passed has me pulling off a much better impression of Biden that I would like to be the case.
Another distraction is the need to be careful in my conversations with coworkers, esteemed colleagues and employers and most importantly, my kids lest I betray my problems to them.
reader request: Kitsune, can you just say 'he' or 'she' when you're talking about random people (not your kids, for example)? I know you're trying to protect anonymity but narrowing down a hundred million potential individuals to fifty million doesn't exactly 'out' your subjects. Plus using 'they' makes it sound like you're obliging pronoun freaks (which I know you're not). Cordially, DW (he, him, his)
This I knew was bound to happen and I am not surprised it is you that brings it up, that, by the way is a compliment. Let me bring you in to my thinking. First, is my education. ZI was taught in grammar school to use “they” when referring to individuals when the gender was either not knot known or not importatnt. I was quite shocked at earlier comments on this. It seems this is no longer taught and may even have been a regional thing like “whom” and “Tumpt”. I am really outing myself with the last one there.
Another issue is the possibility, though admittedly remote, that my esteemed colleagues or employers may stumble across my substack. I know that one of my colleagues has seen my postings because he reads a substack I read and comment on. They, there I go again, do not know my pen name though. This person I would be honored if they comment on my postings and more so if they read my substack.
But an even bigger issue is not the protection of those I write about, many of whom I care not one wit about, but my own protection. If my employers or even some of my esteemed colleagues realized that it is they I am referring to, whoa boy, not a good thing for Kitsune.
Know that striving to keep the genders and other identifying markers unknown is tedious to the extreme. There is so much more I could post if I felt I didn’t;t need to worry about this and it would be far easier to post what I do. There are other factors I cannot even allude to publicly.
Then there is the fact that we now have the pronoun police. Your point is valid, but from my perspective, I am merely using the word “they” as I learned way back in the 70s and 80s. In my mind I am not acknowledging the madness, rather completely ignoring it and not letting the maniacs dictate how I am to use words that they have developed a fetish over.
That said, as I teach my public speaking students, the audience drives everything from topic selection to the words you use.
I will take this under advisement but pleas know that even if I ultimately decide to continue this, it in no reflects negatively on my respect for you and your comment.
At times, I omit the he/she because it isn't germane to the conversation. I see many instances where people try to turn things into a "gender" issue when it isn't. It is a "people behaving badly" issue.
I am sympathetic with those who, like myself, are sick of the pronoun madness and want to stop its spread. There are reasons that compel me to use “they” for individuals rather than “he” or “she”, however if this comes across as myself being “woke”, well that’s a problem. Need to come with another way, nicknames perhaps.