Just Words

I just felt like posting some interesting words and their definitions.

--decamp v. (dih-KAMP) To depart quickly or secretly.

--estimable adj. (ES-tuh-muh-buhl) Worthy of esteem.

--pettifogging adj. (PET-ee-fog-ing) Insignificant; petty.

--haboob n. (huh-BOOB) A strong desert sandstorm.

--inveigh v. (in-VEY) To speak or write about something with great hostility; to rail against.

--pejorism n. (PEJ-oh-riz-uhm) The belief that the world is getting worse.

--thread adj. (THRED-ee) (of sound, the voice, etc.) Lacking fullness; weak; feeble.

Thanks.

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Somewhat Alarming

Recently I read that two scholars who have written about authoritarianism are leaving the US and moving to Canada--Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley. I think this sends a message--or should send a message --to American society. 

In other words, they are reading the tea leaves, and the tea contains arsenic.

To think that we are only two months into President Trump's second term, and this is happening. At least, though, there is some real pushback. The few Republicans holding town hall meetings are getting sliced and diced because of Trump and Musk's actions.

Maybe it's not too late.

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Some Nice Phrases

I just felt like posting snippets of writing (mainly phrases) that I found euphonic:

--"to advertise the reader's own urbanity and sophistication" (Ed Simon)

--"denizens of this remote hamlet" (Ed Simon)

--"skin-crawlingly uncomfortable" (Ed Simon)

--"considering the cutthroat capriciousness"  (Ed Simon)

--"a culture-wide attention deficit disorder" (Derek King)

--"and shakes her from self-absorption" (Derek King)

--"someone who delights in the demolition of norms and normalcy" (Ben Tarnoff)

--"ruthless enough to inflict the remedy" (Ben Tarnoff)

--"But beneath the buffoonery is something deadly serious." (Ben Tarnoff)

--"the mendacity and moral depravity" (Ben Tarnoff)

--"An empire in decline is a dangerous animal." (Ben Tarnoff)

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President Trump

Well, it appears the president is causing more debacles and causing them with even more rapidity than usual. He appears even to be nudging up to a constitutional crisis. By seemingly defying a court order, he is pushing into new territory.

It will be interesting, and scary, to see how far he will go before many of his supporters realize they have been snookered by one of the greatest salesman ever.

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On Freewriting, Again

I think I have used freewriting about two times in the past week and I found it helpful. It did seem to loosen my activity of writing and I felt a sense of accomplishment when it was over. Even though little from the freewriting is typically used.

I will use it again today in writing an op-ed I'm trying to get published. I think it will help.

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Freewriting

I've been considering using the technique of freewriting to help me get started on some opinion pieces. Freewriting is where you write for a period of time, say, five or ten minutes, and you don't stop to think, to correct a misspelling, or to change anything you've written.

I have used it in the past and I've found it somewhat helpful in loosening my mind up so I am more free to write down things that don't readily come to mind.

I think it will help me.

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Some Problems

It looks like President Trump and his Republican minions are getting pushback on the heavy-handed firing of government workers. I think a lot of Trump's constituents are starting to get nervous as the blade cuts deeper into government programs.

A lot of MAGA politicians have been awfully quiet lately. I wonder how long that can continue?

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On a Different Topic

Lately I've been doing research on a seemingly unusual topic--boredom. It is a malady all have experienced and it seems to be more common nowadays. 

I surmise it has much to do with the plethora of technologies available to all of us.

Related to this topic, it would be shocking to see anyone who is not a senior citizen sitting outside just looking around doing nothing. It would be rare, say, thirty years ago, but now it might appear positively alien.

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President Trump

Our new president has definitely made a splash in his first two weeks in office. What I predicted, as did many others, seems to be coming to fruition. That is, chaos writ large.

I think many of the people who devoutly supported Trump will be in for an uber-rude awakening. There will be a, to take from the title of a book, reaping of the whirlwind.

Some of our best guides during this tumultuous time will be people who have gone through autocratic regimes, such as Masha Gessen, of The New York Times. They know the lay of the land.

Buckle up, the ride will be something for the record books.

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Good Information

I'm listening to a great interview at The New York Times. The interviewee is Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist who works at Stanford University's Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic.

The interview is dated February 1st and is titled, "Digital Drugs Have Us Hooked. Dr. Anna Lembke Sees a Way Out."

I may write another post after I finish the podcast.

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Some Good Phrases

I'm back with some short, good writing. Mainly phrases.

--"An accident isn't necessarily ever over."   Diane Williams 

--"Despite the disdain..."       Colleen J. Shogan

--"a glass lifted to lips for a sip of water"      Victoria Redel

--"creating a kind of kaleidoscopic interiority".    Annie DeWitt

--"We learn by going where we have to go."    Theodore Roethke

--"On a scale of safe-looking to scary-looking, Egg Roll Hut is Ron Perlman."   A. Laussade

--"I was totally unprepared for the expanse of time it left behind."     Jenny Allen

--"The iniquity of oblivion."     W.G. Sebald

--"On every new thing there lies already the shadow of annihilation."    W.G. Sebald

--"and possesses ample upper-body upholstery"     Donna Britt

--her "physical presence is what struck me"   Donna Britt

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New President

We have a new president. And I do believe what Robert Reich recently said is true--that Trump's second time as president will finally open the eyes of the American people on how far the government has come from serving the people.

At the end of Trump's four years, the government and our society will be in shambles. It may take hitting bottom before we as a country become committed to a new direction.

One quick example of something that does not bode well for our future is a list of companies and individuals who gave over $1million toward Trump's inaugural committee:

--Ripple    $5 million

--Amazon    $2 million

--Sam Altman (OpenAI)    $1 million

--Tim Cook (Apple)    $1 million

--Ford Motor    $1 million

--Google    $1 million

--Intuit    $1 million

--Dara Khrosroushahi (Uber)    $1 million

--Meta    $1 million

--Microsoft     $1 million

--Toyota     $1 million

--Uber    $1 million

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Trump Again

Soon President-elect Trump will be President Trump. I have been wrong before, but I predict the floodgates of chaos will be unleashed. He will be less constrained this time around, and it will show, and it will show in the lives of average Americans.

American politics were quite horrid until recently, but I think Trump will take us to a new level of horrible. 

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About Trump

Recently MAGA experienced the beginning of what could be a civil war within its camp. It may just be a tempest in a modern-day teapot, but I don't think so.

It involves a battle between the traditional MAGA supporters and the newer Trump supporters, the tech titans. The latter is for immigration for those technically-skilled and the former see these new supporters caring only about their tech businesses, not legitimate die-hard immigration foes.

Well, Trump has tried to referee these two squabbling factions. Trump said he sides with the tech bros. I will keep an eye on this brewing brouhaha and report back.

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