As I was saying... (return after 13 years)

Stock markets are not " THE ECONOMY". They are: • companies and individuals playing games to multiply their money (regardless of any profit resulting from their business's mission; added-value to society is beside the point). •companies selling stock to raise needed money, besides their profit from... Sign in to see full entry.

Don't stone me, but flooding the populace with people who undergo the usual military service, which is NOT as direct combatants, would change the character of our discourse. Since the Seventies, and largely coincident with the switch to an all-volunteer force, we have moved to civilian contractors... Sign in to see full entry.

I am not a fan of "pop psych" (there actually was a magaziine with that title!), but it can act as an offramp from destructive thought swirls, and an onramp toward considering the possibility of taking more agency over your own life. Unless you either picked a destructive meme, or just take it as... Sign in to see full entry.

"My sign (one of many on my 'fridge), says my remaining days are numbered, so why engage with online strangers who don't care about me, including my leaving comments when more than, say, ten preceded me? PS: I see I'm #43. Ciao all!".;) FACEBOOK. Present company excepted!! Sign in to see full entry.

MAD MAX MEETS KANDAHAR On the upper right corner of the MRAP's radiator cage is a magnetic sticker for the Sacramento band "Hero's Last Mission". I wanted the irony of the sticker and the grittiness of this huge armored truck. Every piece of sheetmetal or plastic in a US version here is heavy welded... Sign in to see full entry.

" For Fanaticism and Ignorance are forever busy, and require feeding". Spencer Tracy's line in "Inherit the Wind", about anti-science leading to censorship, then sectarianism Sign in to see full entry.

You're in a rowboat, you're offcoast about a mile, when the breeze dies and a peasoup fog rolls in. You cannot hear nor see the shore. "CONCERN" is realizing you have a problem, maybe serious, and it needs to be addressed, sooner than later. "SCARED" is you come to realize, out of 365 degrees you... Sign in to see full entry.

1,395 til we reach 1 million Sign in to see full entry.

Not one to pick up a book knowing it is going to make me feel sad. But I have now. However (sidebar coming).... it raises a grammatical point. There is a protagonist character whose name is Wolf because he IS a (were)wolf. He resents his family being called wolves or the Wolves". They are the Wolfs.... Sign in to see full entry.

It is a real cultural whiplash. My memory develops more leaks over time. I barely remember my time "here" from before, even though I think I was active for about ten years. Certain names stand out. Azure (always had something interesting to say, posts stopped in 2012). Benzinha, who passed away but... Sign in to see full entry.