This "might" be my last post here, but now I'm on Substack

Everything on my "to do" list is complete, so...I had time.

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Hey, I wrote something (actually, some things, and I don't mean this post)

So, if you follow this blog, you’ll note that I haven’t posted in a long time.  That doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing, though.  Let me tell you about it.

I’ve been working on a variety of YA (young adult) products, all under my pen name, Rex Michaels.  The first was a novel about a young boy who wants to be a radio DJ in the worst way…and succeeds…in the worst way.  Titled “Heavy Rotation,” it was (self) published this spring.  You can learn more about it (and buy it) here: https://books2read.com/heavyrotation

The second project was a novel, but I decided to try this new Amazon Kindle Vella.  It’s an episodic story program – you write episodes and release them over time to a “waiting audience.”  Readers can see the first three episodes for free, and then read subsequent episodes by using tokens (the rate varies as to the length of the episode).  Each reader gets 200 FREE TOKENS just for signing up, to be used however they wish.

I asked a few fellow authors if they had any experience with Vella, and the overall consensus was “meh.”  So, I have low expectations…however, you are more than free to check it out as the first three episodes are up, and I’ll add an episode every other day beginning August 27^th (and remember, the first three episodes are FREE) and you get 200 FREE TOKENS just for signing up, so you can read as much as you like.  Or none at all, but seriously, go check it out here:  https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0CG8DZQSP

Oh, what’s the story about?  It’s a fantasy called “Otis, the Boy Who Could Control Gravity (somewhat).”  Otis is a young boy who accidentally discovers he can change gravity’s flow…sometimes.  He’s actually scared to death about his new superpower, which isn’t all that super.  Anyway, he learns more about it and tries a few things and…oh, go read the write-up and the first three chapters (did I mention it’s FREE) here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0CG8DZQSP

Finally, I wrote a third YA novel, but I’m not releasing that one.  Yet.  It’s all about mini-golf!

Watch this space.

 

TWITTER JAIL!

I DID IT!

Late last night I was responding to a post over "there" by @davidcorn on the "news" that the former President might just have been a tax cheat. He concluded his post that these revelations "showed us who he really was."

My response was merely a tepid reply that rather than show us, it merely reminded us, as many of us already knew this information. I did not swear (for once), nor did I threaten, harass, defame, etc., nor did I use any racial/sexual/etc. slurs.

Hateful conduct? "Skank" got me tossed? Seriously? After more than a decade of f-bombs, a-holes, and worse, I get nicked for "skank?" Jeebus.

Of course I've appealed, but this just proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what a complete dumpster-fire Twitter has become of late.

I'd call it worse, but why tempt fate? The tweet in question:

SOCIAL MEDIA BOLLOCKS

I am cross-posting this blurb at the following, the reasons for which will be clear enough once you read the blurb…

·        “Damned Old Crank” Blogspot - https://mexinger.blogspot.com/

·        Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mike.exinger/

·        Twitter - https://twitter.com/MikeExinger

·        Post.News - https://post.news/mikeexinger

And for you Twitter readers, sorry, but you’ll have to go to (one of) the links to read the whole thing because of the 140-character limit.

To be honest, I don’t use Social Media all that much (yeah, I’m going to continue to capitalize it – deal).   I’ve been on the Interwebs in one form or another for almost 30 years now.  I’ve designed webpages (long live MS FrontPage!) but didn’t get on Facebook until we had the ice cream parlor and everyone said, “OMG you have to have a Facebook page so you can get reviews” and since it also required having a personal page, I did that, too.  I started my blog when I started publishing my eBooks, thinking that this would be a great advertising method AND a way to vent frustration on a variety of topics.  I got on Twitter because there were a few people I wanted to follow and I was utilizing it’s 140-character method for messaging Congressional reps and others about important issues of the day (mostly gambling related – sue me).

Over time the need to tweet lessened as gambling soon became almost ubiquitous in the states (still no online Poker in Oregon but we have a shitty Sportsbook, so there’s that).  Facebook is great for staying in touch with old friends and posting Wordle scores, and I haven’t blogged in over a year (a while variety of excused I could give you, but that’s all they are). 

Frankly, I use Social Media mostly to see what others are saying – my commentary has been reduced to clicking the “like” or “care” icons and offering responses like “Lock HIM up!” “LFG!” and “Bingo!”  It’s rare that I take the time to correct a commenter on his or her wrong-headed views of the world, of politics, of the COVID virus or vaccine, of gas prices and what causes their rise and fall, etc. etc.  Why?  See: Pig Wrestling.

So, my use of Twitter especially has been reduced to scrolling just to see what others say, and that’s why I started looking around for another spot to roost.  Twitter’s demise has been predicted for weeks now, ever since Elon Musk bought it and started to “modify” content (90% of which seems to be either about Musk, Twitter, Nazis, or “Nazis on Twitter”).  Many LIBS such as myself have been looking at other Social Media outlets like Mastodon, Tribel, BlueSky Social, etc.  Having a communication outlet controlled by someone who is…well, use your own description here.

For me, Musk is just another one of those incredibly rich assholes who believe they are infallible and can do whatever they want.  Worse yet, as they expand their empires, they attempt to “control the narrative” as to who they actually are (many websites actually credit Musk with creating PayPal, and…uh no.  That’s the BS I’m talking about).  Even this weekend the NY Times seems confused as to what Musk’s political leanings, are with the article headline: “Critics Say Musk Has Revealed Himself as a Conservative. It’s Not So Simple.”

Yeah, it is.  If the “Twitter Files” non-bombshell nothingburger, readmittance of Trump and other ultra-right-wing coup-plotters wasn’t enough, there’s this:

“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci”

So even if Twitter doesn’t implode like a bad-wired Tesla, I plan to leave the platform by the end of the year.  And I’ve landed, for now, at Post.News.

I don’t know if my habits will change all that much with the move.  I might post a bit more there since the long form is “in style.”  I’ve never had big followings anywhere (and the Blog was the only place that I tried to make that happen because of the books, and since they’re selling better now than ever with no posting on the blog whatsoever…), so unlike a lot of Twitter users, it’s NBD to me one way or the other.  I do admit to a morbid curiosity of wanting to watch the last days of Twitter, like when Trump finally decides to return in his futile bid to stave off further investigations or indictments, and/or whatever other follies occur there.  Frankly, I can’t recall seeing any business anywhere else go through so many changes so quickly with a new owner…and so disastrously as well.  One wonders if self-destruction was actually part of the plan.  It very well might be.

If you’re on Post.News, I hope you’ll give me a follow and I’ll return the favor. 

Side note 1:  Facebook has its own issues, and since Mark Zuckerberg reads everything on FB, let me advise him of his latest F-up – today, for some reason, whenever I “like” or “care” or choose some other icon to comment on an existing post the cursor moves up one, two, or even three stories from the one I “like” on so I can’t even see it in my browser.  WTF, Mark?

Side note 2:  Looks like Elon might reconsider the 140-character limit and bump it up to 4000.  Problem is, Mein Kampf was longer than that.

 

 

Face it – LGB fits the GOP to a T

What is surprising is that they spelled it correctly.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the right’s newest meme: “Let’s Go, Brandon.” If you’ve been living under a rock, it’s everywhere, though some still might not know what it’s about (short answer: code for “Fuck Joe Biden”).

I think it’s the PERFECT descriptor for the Republican Party, because:

• It’s based on a mistake

• It doesn’t mean what it says

• It covers a vulgarity

• It’s only being used to either

o Be hurtful or spiteful, or

o Be printed on clothing, hats, masks*, bumper stickers, etc. and sold to the rubes...er, faithful – it’s such an obvious grift.

* What could be more iconic/ironic that someone wearing a “Let’s Go, Brandon” mask while protesting a government mask order? I mean, you CAN’T wear the mask in “chin strap” position and still get your message across, which is…what, exactly?

What did I miss?

or

Prove me wrong.

The Dog Ate My Ballots

Every student knows this one trick, and it’s not even weird.  It’s a cliché.  Didn’t get that homework assignment done in time?  No sweat – just tell Teacher that the dog ate the finished product.  You’re blameless and best of all, there’s no evidence (the dog ate it – get it?).

Kinda like VOTER FRAUD.

It’s become the GOP cliché to claim that every election is due to one reason and one reason only – VOTER FRAUD (always capitalize, and BOLD when necessary; italics might make some feel that the phrase is being used ironically – laugh here).  They lose not because they don’t have the best interests of voters in mind, nor that they failed to “get out the vote” or because they have absolutely no good policies or even because they ran shitty candidates or IT’S A FUCKING LEFT LEANING STATE FOR CHRISSAKE.  Nope, gotta be VOTER FRAUD.

And VOTER FRAUD is just like “the dog ate my homework” in that (a) teachers/gullible conservatives tend to believe it without any evidence, and (b) there’s never any evidence.  Easy peasy.

It doesn’t even matter if there were hundreds of thousands of votes and the margin of victory was tens of thousands, 10% or more.  Those wily Democrats imported ballots from China or Norway or somewhere and maybe the governor’s dog ate a whole mess of them.

And any whiff of potential fraud no matter how many times it’s been debunked or explained is worthy of reporting…over and over and over and over.  Red meat for the base.  If 300 ballots are a small part of some larger mail heist IGNORE all that and tell your viewers just how diabolical those pesky Dems are, and assure them that mail-in ballots are the devil’s work and that fraud is in the air, everywhere and the election is rigged – hell, every election is rigged.

Unless you win, and then it’s all good.

Voter fraud is, in the words of Brennen Center for Justice, “vanishing rare, and does not happen on a scale even close to that necessary to ‘rig’ an election.”  OF course, that never stops Republicans, especially now that VOTER FRAUD has been given Carte Blanche by the former guy (I am surprised he didn’t use it in the big heavyweight fight he did commentary for on 9-11; and gosh, wasn’t THAT patriotic of a former President?).

So, for the record, let me state that:

• Almost twice as many Californians are registered Democrats (46.5%) than Republicans (24.0%).
• California’s two Senators are both Democrats.
• Forty-two of the 53 House of Rep seats are held by Democrats (that’s almost 80%).
• The California State Assembly is overwhelmingly Democratic, 60-19 (1 indy).
• So is the State Senate, with Dems having a 30-9 advantage.

IT’S PROBABLY THE MOST LIBERAL STATE IN THE UNION.

Every pre-election poll this month showed the recall failing and/or failing badly (and before this month there were only three polls out of 26 that showed a potential for recall.

But VOTER FRAUD.

Riiiiiiight.

For the record, loser-Republicans who bitch about imaginary VOTER FRAUD are pathetic whiny-ass-titty-babies.

And let’s not forget that Republican-in-case-this-recall-thing-works candidate Larry Elder put up a website on Monday…the day BEFORE the election…to claim that they already found fraud:

Statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran) have detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor.  The primary analytical tool used was Benford’s Law and can be readily reproduced.

For the record, loser-Republicans who bitch about imaginary VOTER FRAUD are pathetic whiny-ass-titty-babies.

And for the record, at the time this website was live and the above was loudly proclaimed, NO results had been released (since the election was THE NEXT DAY).

Also for the record – I had to look up what the hell Benford’s Law is, and while it’s fascinating, it cannot be used to prove fraud for ANYTHING (merely a potential that something might be amiss). 

And also too – voter distributions do NOT fit into the standard data used in Benford’s Law tests; ergo, not only can it NOT be used to prove fraud, it cannot be used in a statistically valid manner.

I’m sure Larry Elder knows that.

Fucking pathetic whiny-ass-titty-baby.

Is EVERYTHING Joe’s Fault? (No)

It's OK to look, Joe.

I read a headline earlier this week that said President Biden’s approval rating had taken a nosedive, citing two reasons – the current situation in Afghanistan, and the ongoing COVID crisis.  I found this amusing and insulting, for a couple of reasons.

First off, both of these problems are inherited problems.  The war in Afghanistan goes back twenty years, through FOUR administrations:

• Bush, who started it all,
• Obama, who actually accomplished one of the goals by eliminating Osama Bin Laden, and
• Trump, who, like everything else he touched, fucked it up.

It was Trump who set the deadline for troop withdrawal there.  It was Trump who cut a billion dollars of aid there.  It was Trump who released all those Taliban prisoners.  It was Trump who invited the Taliban to Camp David for talks ON 9-11!  And it was Trump who explained all of this and Pompeo’s mystery trip there this summer to the new administration when they handed over the keys to the White House in all of those transitioning meetings they held.

I kid…there was no transition, and Trump left Biden in the dark on this and everything else.  He fucked it up (on purpose?) and Biden was left holding the bag.

But Joe gets the blame because it happened on his watch (despite the timetable being set by Trump).

And COVID is the same thing, of course, except Bush and Obama are blameless.  Despite Biden’s call for every American to be vaccinated and his administration's continued reminders for people to take precautions and practice measures like masking up and social distancing, the virus rages on.

But…even though some vaccinated individuals who swear they wore masks all the time are catching the disease, it’s mostly an unvaccinated issue.  Those areas that have low vaccination rates are the ones experiencing the highest COVID-positive rates.  And the highest serious illness/hospitalization rates.  And the highest death rates.

And to no one’s surprise, these same areas are red states or red counties in blue states.  And it’s governors of red states (DeSantis, Abbott, Hutchinson) who rule our mask mandates and are putting their citizens at much higher risk.  They are literally killing their own citizens.

But Joe gets the blame because it happened on his watch (despite EVERYTHING conservatives and Fox News has done to thwart everything he’s accomplished).

That’s not the most galling thing about the Blame Joe movement.  With both the Afghanistan pullout and the battle to contain COVID, there’s been plenty of blame thrown around.  Much of that blame for Afghanistan comes from warhawks like Rice, Bolton, and Cheney – folks who got us into this mess in the first place.  And the hawking media has been piling it on, too, conveniently forgetting all that’s happened in and to Afghanistan before 2021.

And COVID…can you imagine what people might have said if Trump were President and there was a dramatic spike in COVID cases?  Yeah, HE actually said that.  As if no one could imagine it.  Because we don’t have to imagine it.  It happened.

But it’s not who is blaming Joe that’s the problem.  The problem is – that’s ALL they’re doing.  Blaming.

Not offering alternatives.  Not explaining what THEY’D do in the same situation.

To my knowledge, no one has offered any sort of alternative solution to either Afghanistan or COVID; just blame.  There could be a good reason for this – there IS no alternative solution.  Certainly Bush, Obama, nor Trump pulled the level to end what in pretty much everyone’s opinion was (another) failed operation in the Middle East.  And certainly bleach, ultra-violet light, and ignoring the problem wasn’t the solution for COVID.

In fact, COVID’s problems are so entrenched that one possible idea that I thought might make a difference is not only off the table, but it illustrated just what Biden is up against.  Months ago, it was suggested that Donald Trump make PSAs suggesting that his fanbase get the poke.  All the other living Presidents have been very vocal about being vaccinated and even though Trump did his in secret, he’s made a couple of off-handed comments about getting the shot.  Many thought that if he made a sincere effort to reach out to his supporters, it might make a difference.

Last night, in Alabama, he kinda did just that.  During his 90-minute rant of greatest hits (complaints), he mentioned that it was a good idea and that people should get vaccinated against the virus.

And he was booed loudly.  He quickly backtracked, and never mentioned it again.

So yeah, scrap that idea.  Ain’t NOBODY gonna change the minds of those spreadnecks.  But blame Biden.  Sure.

Joe Biden is doing the best he can, and it seems half of this country is making him do it with one hand tied behind his back and blaming him for damn near everything that goes wrong.

At least they’re not blaming him for rising gas prices.  Oh, wait.