Main Page: Difference between revisions

From RooKwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
 
(233 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__
<p align="right"><font size="6">[[Transition|<font face="Consolas, Courier new">claytoncastle.com</font> •  T R A N S I T I O N]]</font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="6">[[Transition|<font face="Consolas, Courier new">claytoncastle.com</font>]]</font></p>
<hr>
<hr>
<hr>
<hr>


=[[2021.04.03 Bikes and Vans and Stuff]]=
=[[2026.01.09 Men With Hats]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
As is standard for the past year, I'm not spending much time writing. Which isn't because there isn't anything happening, but rather because there's too much happening. Or, really, a combination of a lot of things happening, and my overwhelming state of satisfied happiness.  Which makes for odd and boring blog entries.  
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/IMG_0138_copy.png


BUT!  There's still a couple things to mention, as a matter of record here.
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/2675399054887965559_copy.png
</font>


===1: I broke the Kei Van===
<hr>
It had problems on a return drive from Sandy Ridge in a downpour, then wouldn't start again after we stopped at the Gnarthaller's.  Subsequent inspection showed it was dangerously low on oil (facepalm), even though the oil light never came on.  Will be working on resurrecting it soon.


===2: E-Biking is almost too much fun===
=[[2026.01.02 First Day Of The New Job]]=
Blasting a biggish lap out at Sandy Ridge yesterday was very soul-nourishing.  But even more telling was last week's "easy ride" turning into a 3-hour marathon with some very fast riders wasn't a problem, thanks to the little extra boost.  The twin joys of having fun going uphill plus also not being overtired during descents are really great.
<font face="consolas, courier new">
 
Sadly, my epic new seat was not ready to set up.  So I just admired the view for a minute - both out the across the river, and into my director's office at the giant Millenium Falcon LEGO set.
===3: Vaccination Imminent===
Have an appointment for my first Pfizer jab in a week.  The future is bright.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>


=[[2021.03.16 Mitsubishi Minicab Kei Van]]=
=[[2025.12.30 - 2025 Wrap-Up]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/3A4BC9E0.jpeg
==Fredmas Crash==
On the wet and rainy morning of Fredmas, Ember and Violet were commuting to Hillsdale for school when they were the tail-end of a 5-car pile-up. Speeds were modest, and the 2018 Subaru Impreza did all the safety-engineered things to sacrifice itself such that neither kid was injured in any way.


BEHOLD! The (tentatively titled) VANTACULUS Splinter Van!
Communication was not stellar, but Violet managed to let us know right away. So without actually having all the details up front, Amy and I knew they had a problem and could see that they were in the middle of the Fremont freeway bridge and jumped into Velma to go help.  When we showed up they were the only ones there - shivering in the rain on the side of the freeway.  Amy onboarded the kids to drive them the rest of the way SW, and I stayed in the shivering sideways rain for a couple hours with the wreck to wait for the tow truck.  Fun times.


Reactions to this vehicle usually fall into two basic categories: "AWWW!" and "What the hell?"
Some lessons learned, and Ember has yet to get back in that saddle.  Scheming about how to proceed with commuter vehicle plans is still ongoing.  It seems like a logical time and place to make a plug for the replacement to be an EV, but probably shouldn't push too hard.  Because reasons.


The easiest way to answer the latter is to refer to the former.  But there is a lot more about this odd emergence of reality, and seeing as how this is my medium for documenting all the publicly notable experiences it seems fitting to elaborate about that.
==Work Transformations==
December as a whole has been weird with trying to finish handing work batons to their new responsible engineers.  It's been the longest that I've been in any group - 10 years! - and recognize that it's going to be a long time to ever fully extricate myself.


Backing things up a bit, there has definitely been a hole in my vehicular capabilities ever since I sold the Tyrannosaurus (1984 Toyota pickup).  This was well-compensated for with the Schleppenwagen (Mercedes Metris van), but nothing since has been as suitable.  For a few years I've made-do with either a roof-rack on the ex's Subarus or disassembling my bike and jamming it in the back of my Tesla.
At the same time, the new Vehicle Level Engineering role is both exciting and boggling.  Frankly, it's a lot.


Much of my bike-hauling needs have been actually satisfied of late with my bike-valet and riding buddy, Friar Gnarthaller and his various bike-shuttling vehicles.  But it is left to me to limp along begging for help when taking Simon for a ride, and annoying whenever I want to go for a simple ride by myself.
Simultaneously, Amy is changing shifts to stop the 5 12-hour shifts in 6 days marathon every couple weeks and jumping into 3 shifts every week with her best non-Clayton friend.  We're all very excited for the shift in energy.


So I've been contemplating a van for a while now.  Why a van?  Firstly, because having had a couple pickups, I recognize that the "haul dirt" function is incredibly rare for me.  And secondly, having tasted the sweet nectar of full van-hood, I know the joy of having my stuff locked away by default, and protected from elements.
==Other Stuff==
This winter break had been bookmarked for a bunch of reading and writing plans, all of which have basically unravelled as I'm actually spending most of my time just mouth-breathing my way through the exhausting cold/flu that Ember gave me.


Also, specifically, I've been looking for a vehicle I didn't have to care too much about.  One of the great freedoms that the Tyrannosaurus provided was not worrying about much.  A dent?  Don't care.  Dirty?  Don't care.  Something broken?  If it doesn't stop if from working, don't care.  Like that.
Now that the kids are back, I do intend to inflict all kinds of old but beloved movies on them.  So there's that.  There's also a butt-tonne of sugary foods from all the sources to keep me overfed while I quietly lament how few bike rides I actually went on this year.


The prime target has been used work vans.  Sure, I'd eventually have to add seats if I wanted more than one passenger, but whatever.  The temptation of used minivans was ascendent for a while too - because of the ability to also haul larger groups of people by virtue of stow-and-go seating (in addition to the primary bike-hauling purpose).  And also somewhat greater reliability of Japanese builds.
So it goes.


Then I and my array of van-enabling friends noticed kei vans.  They are hilarious!  Oh, but they're way too expensive for my "not caring" budget.
Things I'm looking forward to in 2026:
* bunches of Amy+Clayton adventure time regularly
* diving into a dream job (should probably write a separate post about that thought alone)
* defeating fascism


Until this "cosmetically challenged" Mitsubishi Minicab popped up online at The Import Guys near Bellingham Washington.  And the rest was a PayPal purchase sight-unseen, a train (and bus) ride to Bellingham, and finally nerve-wracking hip-flexor-straining 95 km/h 6-hour scream down the I5.
So, here we are.  Ready to rock.  And ride.<br>
And, yes, the kids lost their damn minds when they saw it.
Was it a wise purchase?  No.<br>
Is it likely to be a memorable experience?  Absolutely, yes.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>


=[[2021.03.05 E-Bike Babbling]]=
=[[2025.11.30 Movember]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/IMG_3481.jpeg
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/IMG_0072_small.png


So, way back before the pandemic, I rode some e-bikes.  I've been curious about electric motor assisted mountain bikes for a while.  That interest, to be clear, is because I spend most of my time riding with people who are both more skilled than I am and in better physical condition.  There had been a running joke that I was "allowed" to get an e-bike when I turned 50 - or if I had some permanent ride-impairing injury.
Not my best effort.  I suspect that the grey makes it incrementally less impressive.  Plus I kept trimming to avoid poking Amy so much, and the surrounding scruff softens the effect even more.


The concept of it being allowable itself come from some stigma that e-bikes have in the mountain biking community.  And I myself had some doubts about whether I should give up the level of effort typically required, for fitness sake.  The way in which I too-often was over-tired grinding up the hill so that I was unable to ride down technical trails cleanly, at least not without an extended period of gasping and draped limply against a tree.  So, the allure, while obvious, has for a while been greater for me than many of my decades-younger-than-I riding crew.
Gone now, but not missed.  Other than the daily startle of seeing my dad in the mirror.
 
The first test ride was an eye-opening revelation full of giggling, and deeply planted seeds of desire.
 
A second test ride was a more focussed investigation of capabilities, and a goddamn handful of nails in the coffin of my reluctance.
 
Part of the confluence or capability and desire is my riding style, which I sometimes refer to as "aggressively mediocre" and "old man fast".  My riding lacks much finesse, so I have gradually leaned towards the full-enduro end of the bike spectrum in order to get enough plushness and stability to accommodate my need for speed and inability to avoid rocks.  So not only does the thrust assist help my increasingly feeble ability to climb, but the extra heft of e-bikes doesn't significantly impair any light poppy skillful line choices.
 
As a tangent - I have a wee rant about the Specialized Level SL.  It's a low-power small-battery e-bike that is an attempt to be as much like an acoustic trail bike as possible.  It's awful.  If you really want to have a light, playful bike to float down trails... yeah, no.  It's still has a motor and batteries.  But that motor and battery are incapable of creating the same quality of giggles, and of annoying less quantity. 
 
Bada-bing bada-boom - I became the proud owner of the Commencal Meta Power pictured above.  More, and more specific, riding impressions to come.  Hopefully soonish.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>


=[[2021.01.27 Clearly Not Doing This Right]]=
=[[2025.10.18 No Kings]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
The whole point of being all reclusive for the pandemic is to have to find things to do while stuck at home.  Which in my case should have involved a fuck tonne of writing and drawing.
40,000 people in Portland sending a clear message.


NOPE.
Awkwardly, the current administration has also been sending a clear, fascist message.
 
My life is pretty full, though, with working from home and having the homeschooling kids during most of the weekdays.  Any time not spent productively being an engineer or parent I while away being a boyfriend.  And I cherish this time, even though there's not much to mark it by.
 
Life is good.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>
<hr>


=[[2020.11.27 "Come on guys, it's OK."]]=
=[[2025.10.04 Federal Troops In Portland]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
"Come on guys, it's OK."
It's really weird.  Just, you know, profoundly weird.


A terrible idea occurs to me as I listen to the professional goon begging in the airlock.  It is most definitely not OK, and I repress a grin as I slip out my tool kit.
Acknowledging for a moment the footage from 2020 looked bad - as shown on cable news.  But even then that was basically constrained to a couple blocks downtown for actual protests.  Meanwhile there were other simultaneous marches about police brutality throughout the city that were completely peaceful and not newsworthy.


There's a reedy inflection in comm that I'm not sure is accurate or affectation.  "You sure didn't look like things were OK back there."
I suppose that if one were to conflate the "hundred days of protest" in 2020 with the rising homelessness problem, one could squint and see the folks cowering in tents and vehicles and pretend there's a direct connection of some kind.  I mean, other than the systematic violence done to the worker class both strip mining us for wealth and trying to overtly pit us against each other.


You could almost hear the goon's shoulder's slump.  "Yeah, it was pretty tense."
But in context of what is actually happening right now - which amounts to a group of 6-16 people regularly taunting ICE agents at a single building - it's wildly disproportional.  Especially with the Portland Police Department stating, in court, that all the altercations they have evidence for so far are mainly cases of untrained federal agents trying to instigate meme-worthy moments with the peaceful protestors.


"You're, ah, looking pretty zarking unscathed.  You know.  Considering."
So the federal activation of 200 National Guard to "pacify Portland" is, well, purely for show.


"...Yeah.  I don't know how I'm not dead."
Which makes Portland's main reaction one that endears this city to me even more: to be silly. Dressing up in harmless costumes, dancing, and handing out cookies.  Doing whatever it takes to make the video bites nearly impossible to weaponize politically, as the fascists so clearly desire.


This pause in the conversation sure sounds like other people conversing off-circuit.  I wonder if it's accessible...
And to the person in the inflatable costume that had the inlet of their suit sprayed with pepper spray: I hope you are OK.  As much as that must have sucked, and possibly could have caused serious medical repercussions, you embodied the shallow idiocy of their position. In no way could a bumbling inflatable costume be considered a threat, and to assault you was to show the cowardly and loathsome depth of their antisocial motivations.


"Guys....?" Ooop, sounds like the goon is thinking the same thing as me.
To the federal fucknugget that used pepper spray on an obviously-harmless person in an inflatable costume: Now we all know why you have no real friends and your life is empty of meaning.  You obviously don't belong in Portland.
</font>


"Just hang on a moment, Garvek."  Ah, goon's name is Garvek.  Or, at least that's what the reedy-voice being calls the goon.  Might not be a reliable source.
<hr>


"Not to be too pushy, guys, but I think we should get out of here before my luck catches up with us."
=[[2025.09.17 Bertrand Russell On Fascism]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
As mentioned on BoingBoing today:<br>
In 1962, Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, invited Nobel-winning philosopher Bertrand Russell to a debate. Mosley aimed to persuade Russell of fascism's merits.


Oh, I think they're over there...
Russell, who was 89 at the time, replied:


"...and it's bad for recruiting if we just ditch a crewman."  Don't recognize that voice.
<blockquote>


"Recruiting?  Are you zarking with me?  Potential security personnel on another planet aren't going to give a flying zark about what happened to this idiot."  Well, at least reedy-voice is just as unpleasant with others, and not just poor Garvek.
Dear Sir Oswald,


"For any old lump of cannon-fodder while we're still making a name for ourselves, sure. But once we start needing really top-notch people, this sort of shit will stain us for a long-ass time to come."  Hm. I think I like this guy.
Thank you for your letter and for your enclosures. I have given some thought to our recent correspondence. It is always difficult to decide on how to respond to people whose ethos is so alien and, in fact, repellent to one's own. It is not that I take exception to the general points made by you but that every ounce of my energy has been devoted to an active opposition to cruel bigotry, compulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism.


"Shut the zark up, Krunks."  Ouch.  Someone knows they're wrong.  Wonder if Krunks is going to stuff a fistful of righteous insight down Reedy-Voice's throat...
I feel obliged to say that the emotional universes we inhabit are so distinct, and in deepest ways opposed, that nothing fruitful or sincere could ever emerge from association between us.


"As you wish, captain."  Disappointing, but I guess I don't know the circumstances here.
I should like you to understand the intensity of this conviction on my part. It is not out of any attempt to be rude that I say this but because of all that I value in human experience and human achievement.


"Orders?"  That's a third voice, reptilian, who sounds like they were having trouble with the awkward pause.
Yours sincerely,
 
"Gah!  Let the impossibly-lucky goon in."
 
There might have been a grunting noise, but immediately afterwards we can feel and hear the heavy ship bulkhead door cycle.  I wish we could get a peek into that big central corridor...
 
<pre>...in process...</pre>


Bertrand Russell
</blockquote>
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>


=[[2020.11.27 Time Machine]]=
=[[2025.08.15 If Not Stupid, Then Why Stupid-Shaped?]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
Hello future-Simon and future-Violet when you're (a bit) older and reading stuff your dad wrote to find out what he was like outside of the interactions that formed your memories.
Seriously, there is so much political stupidity going on.
 
Well, life is really fucking¹ good, honestly.  It's horrific to think that maybe it takes 9 months of hiding during a pandemic and almost 4 years of racist/fascist Tumpocalypse to really appreciate where I am and what I have.  I like to think I would be thankful anyway, because I'm insightful and zen... but whatever.
 
Being able to hole up with you two for homeschooling in our airy little condo is just fantastic.  I love this time with you, and will cherish it always.  You are both adapting and overcoming this strange time better than I could possibly have hoped.
 
Hearing you giggle while you melt your brains with youtube videos is one of my favourite sounds ever.  Having you joining Amy, my Vampire Queen girlfriend in her anti-running rebellion was also amusing, but going for our group PE runs feeds my soul.  And the best part of getting a robotic vacuum wasn't the automatic floor cleaning, but sharing your delight with watching it charge slowly about and piling your stuffed toys on it.
 
I've just gotten a new mountain bike, this time with an electric motor.  Which I'm looking forward to using to tow Simon on his mountain bike up the hill once the weather gets nicer.
 
Oh, and the hilariously annoying VAN, Volkswagen, snotty Volkswagen, and I-can't-believe-it's-not-a-van game everywhere we go these days.


And it's so fun for me to watch the new episodes of The Mandalorian with you.  You both make great little nerds.
ETA:<br>
 
Examples? Hell no.  It would be like admitting a vampire into your home to post anything like a meaningful set.
You probably saw bits of my work during this time, and mostly just saw me as being stressed by it.  Especially all the meetings. But you should also know that I really love developing all these new truck systems and mentoring new engineers.  Plus also helping out with the new electric trucks, and the autonomous truck project.  Being fulfilled by work is a satisfaction that I hope I can model for you well, so that you can find it for yourselves.
 
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
 
¹ <small>Yeah, you probably remember that your dad swore a fair amount. But he liked to think it was just nicely seasoned for emphasis, even though you thought it was too much at the time.</small>


If there is permitted to be accurate news and history recorded of this era, simple searches will reveal enough to explain.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
<hr>


=[[2020.11.13 United States of Assholes]]=
=[[2025.06.25 Corporate Culture]]=
<font face="consolas, courier new">
<font face="consolas, courier new">
The deep and profound relief at the (eventual) election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is thankfully still salving the past four years of horror.  Emotional, philosophical, spiritual, pragmatic utilitarian horror.  But the gestalt horror is not forgotten.  And, worse, the visceral terror of the implications of the numbers of the election cannot be un-discovered.
Big changes at work.  Not going to talk about that overly much - it's too boring to even write out.
 
People looking at the title of this post might be triggered, classifying this as just more of Clayton's typical pro-Canada elitism finding an opportunity to gloat.  And it's a fair comment.  But the United States really is magnificent, and Portland in particular is full of all kinds of awesome.  I've been here for almost 2 decades now, and have a lot of important roots, and that deepens how significant what goes on in the US is to me.
 
With that in mind, the fact that about 70 million people voted for Donald Trump in 2020 is... sad.
 
Even acknowledging the extreme polarization, it still means that almost twice the population of Canada worth of people were willing to at least "put up with" a fascist racist lying failure of a president.  And why would they do this?  Well, last month I speculated that it functionally makes them bad people - but virtually nobody does anything with the specific intent to be bad people (Mitch McConnell excepted).
 
I think the reason comes down to how the US is systemically structured to facilitate assholes.
 
It has gotten better over the centuries, but fundamentally it's still about harnessing the power of assholes.  It's not that everyone in the US is an asshole, or that only assholes thrive.  It's more that being an asshole is a distinct advantage in most aspects of living in the US.  And even further, the pitting of people's stoked avarice against each other allows for considerable achievements.  It just so happens that those achievements are usually at considerable human expense.  This every-asshole-for-themself individualism was key for expanding through a wild continent.  But it is now very much out of step for the interests of living with ourselves in civilization.


The divide politically is most obviously displayed with the geographical results - urban versus rural.  Many of the conservative people I know all have worries about reality where the only solution they can conceive of is raw independent self-sufficiency.  Even when I snarkily suggest adjusting shared societal factors to eradicate the selfsame problems.  However they insist such ideas are impossible - because there are too many assholes.  Which, inevitably, means that they have to pre-asshole to out-asshole the hypothetical assholes.   
BUT.  An aspect I find interesting is who is excited about these major changes, and who is worried about them.   


The trouble with assholes, aside from the inherent assholery, is the tendency to assume that everyone else is an asshole too.  Perhaps more than just a tendency for some, but a full blown paranoia that the world is stuffed full of dicks out to fuck the unwary.  This causes them to forgive all sorts of crazy shit for the purpose of supporting political forces they think will be the right kind of assholery.
Now, obviously, both reactions are simultaneously valid and possible.  I feel both myself.  But whether the excitement is more important compared to the various individual level of concern does speak to where many of us are.  Which, in turn, is strongly indicative of the sense of trust we have with the company - or our sense of trust in ourselves to offset any lack of trust in the company we have.
</font>
</font>


<hr>
http://www.kvankii.com/gallery/Challenge_vs_skill.png


<hr>
<hr>
<hr>
<hr>


<br>
<br>
Line 399: Line 351:
<hr>
<hr>
<font face="consolas,courier new">
<font face="consolas,courier new">
Some people need to find the edges of things, instead of assuming what they might be. I like your style.
RESISTANCE STATUS:
 
* US citizenship:  APPLICATION (still) PENDING
* local politics:  NULL, homeless situation correctly one of the main foci
* global politics: NULL, wait - Justin is dating Katy? Nice.
</font>
</font>

Latest revision as of 01:42, 10 January 2026

claytoncastle.com

2026.01.09 Men With Hats

IMG_0138_copy.png

2675399054887965559_copy.png

2026.01.02 First Day Of The New Job

Sadly, my epic new seat was not ready to set up. So I just admired the view for a minute - both out the across the river, and into my director's office at the giant Millenium Falcon LEGO set.

2025.12.30 - 2025 Wrap-Up

Fredmas Crash

On the wet and rainy morning of Fredmas, Ember and Violet were commuting to Hillsdale for school when they were the tail-end of a 5-car pile-up. Speeds were modest, and the 2018 Subaru Impreza did all the safety-engineered things to sacrifice itself such that neither kid was injured in any way.

Communication was not stellar, but Violet managed to let us know right away. So without actually having all the details up front, Amy and I knew they had a problem and could see that they were in the middle of the Fremont freeway bridge and jumped into Velma to go help. When we showed up they were the only ones there - shivering in the rain on the side of the freeway. Amy onboarded the kids to drive them the rest of the way SW, and I stayed in the shivering sideways rain for a couple hours with the wreck to wait for the tow truck. Fun times.

Some lessons learned, and Ember has yet to get back in that saddle. Scheming about how to proceed with commuter vehicle plans is still ongoing. It seems like a logical time and place to make a plug for the replacement to be an EV, but probably shouldn't push too hard. Because reasons.

Work Transformations

December as a whole has been weird with trying to finish handing work batons to their new responsible engineers. It's been the longest that I've been in any group - 10 years! - and recognize that it's going to be a long time to ever fully extricate myself.

At the same time, the new Vehicle Level Engineering role is both exciting and boggling. Frankly, it's a lot.

Simultaneously, Amy is changing shifts to stop the 5 12-hour shifts in 6 days marathon every couple weeks and jumping into 3 shifts every week with her best non-Clayton friend. We're all very excited for the shift in energy.

Other Stuff

This winter break had been bookmarked for a bunch of reading and writing plans, all of which have basically unravelled as I'm actually spending most of my time just mouth-breathing my way through the exhausting cold/flu that Ember gave me.

Now that the kids are back, I do intend to inflict all kinds of old but beloved movies on them. So there's that. There's also a butt-tonne of sugary foods from all the sources to keep me overfed while I quietly lament how few bike rides I actually went on this year.

So it goes.

Things I'm looking forward to in 2026:

  • bunches of Amy+Clayton adventure time regularly
  • diving into a dream job (should probably write a separate post about that thought alone)
  • defeating fascism

2025.11.30 Movember

IMG_0072_small.png

Not my best effort. I suspect that the grey makes it incrementally less impressive. Plus I kept trimming to avoid poking Amy so much, and the surrounding scruff softens the effect even more.

Gone now, but not missed. Other than the daily startle of seeing my dad in the mirror.

2025.10.18 No Kings

40,000 people in Portland sending a clear message.

Awkwardly, the current administration has also been sending a clear, fascist message.

2025.10.04 Federal Troops In Portland

It's really weird. Just, you know, profoundly weird.

Acknowledging for a moment the footage from 2020 looked bad - as shown on cable news. But even then that was basically constrained to a couple blocks downtown for actual protests. Meanwhile there were other simultaneous marches about police brutality throughout the city that were completely peaceful and not newsworthy.

I suppose that if one were to conflate the "hundred days of protest" in 2020 with the rising homelessness problem, one could squint and see the folks cowering in tents and vehicles and pretend there's a direct connection of some kind. I mean, other than the systematic violence done to the worker class both strip mining us for wealth and trying to overtly pit us against each other.

But in context of what is actually happening right now - which amounts to a group of 6-16 people regularly taunting ICE agents at a single building - it's wildly disproportional. Especially with the Portland Police Department stating, in court, that all the altercations they have evidence for so far are mainly cases of untrained federal agents trying to instigate meme-worthy moments with the peaceful protestors.

So the federal activation of 200 National Guard to "pacify Portland" is, well, purely for show.

Which makes Portland's main reaction one that endears this city to me even more: to be silly. Dressing up in harmless costumes, dancing, and handing out cookies. Doing whatever it takes to make the video bites nearly impossible to weaponize politically, as the fascists so clearly desire.

And to the person in the inflatable costume that had the inlet of their suit sprayed with pepper spray: I hope you are OK. As much as that must have sucked, and possibly could have caused serious medical repercussions, you embodied the shallow idiocy of their position. In no way could a bumbling inflatable costume be considered a threat, and to assault you was to show the cowardly and loathsome depth of their antisocial motivations.

To the federal fucknugget that used pepper spray on an obviously-harmless person in an inflatable costume: Now we all know why you have no real friends and your life is empty of meaning. You obviously don't belong in Portland.

2025.09.17 Bertrand Russell On Fascism

As mentioned on BoingBoing today:
In 1962, Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, invited Nobel-winning philosopher Bertrand Russell to a debate. Mosley aimed to persuade Russell of fascism's merits.

Russell, who was 89 at the time, replied:

Dear Sir Oswald,

Thank you for your letter and for your enclosures. I have given some thought to our recent correspondence. It is always difficult to decide on how to respond to people whose ethos is so alien and, in fact, repellent to one's own. It is not that I take exception to the general points made by you but that every ounce of my energy has been devoted to an active opposition to cruel bigotry, compulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism.

I feel obliged to say that the emotional universes we inhabit are so distinct, and in deepest ways opposed, that nothing fruitful or sincere could ever emerge from association between us.

I should like you to understand the intensity of this conviction on my part. It is not out of any attempt to be rude that I say this but because of all that I value in human experience and human achievement.

Yours sincerely,

Bertrand Russell

2025.08.15 If Not Stupid, Then Why Stupid-Shaped?

Seriously, there is so much political stupidity going on.

ETA:
Examples? Hell no. It would be like admitting a vampire into your home to post anything like a meaningful set.

If there is permitted to be accurate news and history recorded of this era, simple searches will reveal enough to explain.

2025.06.25 Corporate Culture

Big changes at work. Not going to talk about that overly much - it's too boring to even write out.

BUT. An aspect I find interesting is who is excited about these major changes, and who is worried about them.

Now, obviously, both reactions are simultaneously valid and possible. I feel both myself. But whether the excitement is more important compared to the various individual level of concern does speak to where many of us are. Which, in turn, is strongly indicative of the sense of trust we have with the company - or our sense of trust in ourselves to offset any lack of trust in the company we have.









































































































RESISTANCE STATUS:

  • US citizenship: APPLICATION (still) PENDING
  • local politics: NULL, homeless situation correctly one of the main foci
  • global politics: NULL, wait - Justin is dating Katy? Nice.

Retrieved from "http://www.kvankii.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=2864"