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Twitter death spiral and red trickle and weed

rthstewart: (Default)
Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 03:53 pm
As someone who gets a lot of political news, reads a lot of political news, is married to someone who checks Real Clear Politics every day (spousal unit is far more conservative than I am and he's not having a good day), and who has sat in on dozens of meetings with highly paid political consultants going on and on and on (and on and on) about the red wave, I was happy with yesterday's results, even if I continue to be horrified that a full 49% of the American electorate are .... ahem... do not see the world as I do. Thank you Gen Z and I continue to be deeply embarrassed by white women generally and especially those in my age cohort. Old white lady Privilege. It's a helluva of a drug.

Why do people not yet realize 1) Rs are lying in their fake polls and 2) a significant cohort of the electorate will not answer phone calls even of people they know! Stupid polls.

I wish the Ds could have held onto the House but give the rampant gerrymandering that wasn't going to happen. I was very pleased to see Fetterman do so well and really wish that Senate wins could have been pulled out in WI and OH. Vance? Really? WTF? And I'm very sad for Texas and really wish that Stacey had been able to beat that snake Kemp.

Also, I'm shocked, really shocked that adult recreational use didn't pass in North and South Dakota or ARK.  I'd given several speeches predicting passage.  Oops.  I"m wondering if we're seeing the State Farm bureaus finally get organized.  Weed legalization ignores typical political boundaries.  It's hugely popular and SD had passed it in 2018 but then the bat shit cray Governor sued to stop it.  ND had a similar measure pass its lower legislative body.  So, I dunno.  But maybe it's a bit like what you see in Kentucky and Senator Mitch McConnell -- they don't give a damn about cannabis unless it's hemp -- they LOVE hemp and hemp derived cannabinoids.  However, due to poor cultivation practices, States like KY have a HUGE problem with "hot" hemp crop -- it's too high in delta-9 THC to be legal hemp (0.3% or less on a weight basis) but too low in THC to be marketable as marijuana.  it's basically just crap marijuana.  (I do a LOT of weed work).

In any event, I guess Elon Mush has been blathering in a Twitter thing all afternoon in a desperate attempt to keep advertisers. There's a whole thing where maybe you'll have to pay $8 a month for people to see your Tweets? Whut? I dont' even know. And now apparently they've decided to turn Twitter into... yes... a crypto Paypal or Venmo? But they promise returns! Fantastic returns! And debit cards!
I'm not a banking regulator -- but there's like -- A LOT.  Apart from the SEC, FTC Financial Services, Division and CFPB (you wanna bet Director Rohit Chopra has got staff on it already) and the assortment of federal and state banking authorities... I can't even imagine what this mess looks like.  Ponzi scheme comes to mind.  LOL.  it's pathetic.





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INCOMING FIC - Exchanges

rthstewart: (Default)
Sunday, September 6th, 2020 04:40 pm
So, I just participated in the AU Exchange and have a story that I wrote that I"m just THRILLED with that is NOT Narnia.  I got a charming Harry Potter alternate sorting hat story here, unafraid of toil.  I really screwed up my sign up and ended up in the pinch hit pile, so I feel badly but it seems my author enjoyed this and I'm happy to have participated.  I spotted an AU Vorkosigan, a Shuri doesn't get snapped, a Rilian/Bucky Barnes and a Susan Pevensie/Elizabeth Swan, a couple of Leverage stories,  including a Star Wars fusion (wow I hope that one is good) and a couple of GBBO that look very fun, including a Pride and Prejudice GBBO?  Also Rey on Jakku with dragons.

The whole library is here and I'm looking forward to digging into it in another week or so because...

The Narnia Fic Exchange will be going live next week and uhhhh I've been busy.  LOTS of stuff with my fingerprints on it.  So go forth and read over this (for an American) long weekend and celebrate the labor of others and your own.

I hope you all are OK.  My world has narrowed a lot lately.  I'm not engaging on DW much -- more on Twitter and Discord.  This tends to happen when I'm up to my eyeballs in fic.  I had my first (negative) COVID test.  and I suspect work will be picking up again A LOT by mid-September.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the quietest time I"ve had in 7 months.

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My inbox is a lost cause

rthstewart: (Feminazi)
Sunday, March 8th, 2020 02:02 pm
I've been on travel and gearing up for presentations the last month.  Yesterday,  I was on the way to another conference when it was cancelled 2 hours before I would have boarded a plane. So suddenly, yesterday at 4 PM, I had nothing to do.  I binged 4 episodes of Project Runway (Don't tell me how it ends but I've been very amused by Victoria from Moldova -- I've been to the Moldovan part of Romania in the 90s). 

And now I've attempted to tackle a backlog of hundreds of three sentence fics and my DW notifications -- I've got well over a thousand separate entries and emails ... it's not happening. 

So, alas, dear F-list, if something important or terrible or wonderful has happened and I've not seen it or responded, by deepest apologies.  Please share what's happened in the last month if you are so inclined.

For me, it's all been work -- so much work.  Weed -- specifically cannabidiol or CBD and prescription drug importation have taken over my life.  I won't bore you with the details but my powerpoints are gorgeous.  I warn you, I'm not kind to either CBD (mostly fraud, lotsa bad data, the placebo effect is profound and if it works, it's probably the THC) or importing drugs from Canada (leave the drugs in Canada, import the pricing model and repeal the non-Interference clause) and I'm very sad I never got to vote for Warren, Harris, Klobuchar, or Gillibrand.  Oh look, another old white dude.  But god this is all for nothing if we don't take the Senate.

And as for COVID-19, well, our health infrastructure is shit and even being well off and well insured won't protect you.  Millionaires will have to wait for hospital beds too.    I'm not panicking for myself or my son who is traveling on spring break.  We both have robust immune systems and practice good hygiene.  My spousal unit, on the other hand, has the immune system of a 90 year old, is vulnerable to respiratory disease due to pneumonia 2 years ago,  does not have the spoons to remember things like washing his hands and would never, ever deign to use hand sanitizer.  Stress induced memory loss and depression is a thing and wow, I just hope he doesn't get too close to people on public transit.

I think the product sourcing from China is going to be an issue -- so many raw materials are sourced there -- not just pharmaceuticals and medical devices but lots of food ingredients too.  I'm very amused that Campbell's Soup is seeing a big surge -- they source about 90% of their ingredients in the US -- or maybe Mexico and Canada as part of NAFTA. This will likely spur a long overdue and important conversation about supply chain resiliency -- it had begun in the pharmaceutical space last year and I see it expanding which would be a very good thing for U.S. workers. 

So, I'm going to head to the grocery store and pick up a few things, maybe another can of tomatoes and some frozen things.  Can I get you something? 

How are you?

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December Posting Meme

rthstewart: (Momentum)
Sunday, November 16th, 2014 09:22 pm
Wow, it's been awhile, yeah?  (PS, I did post an xover US Election Day rant.  You can find it on AO3 if an xover between Captains Crane and Rogers interests you.  Steve and Ichabod go out for pho).

Anyway, this has been going around and gosh I used to do this sort of thing all the time and it led to GREAT prompts and ideas and things, so maybe it will kickstart me out of current state.

Pick a date in December and give me a topic, and I'll ramble on it for a bit. It can be anything from fandom-related (specific characters, actors, storylines, episodes, etc.) to life-related to pizza preferences to what in RL has been sucking out my lifeblood and all energy since January.  Fic is a definite possibility too. 
I'm stalling out a bit on Yuletide -- and it's entirely possible that everything could really, really blow up  on or about Nov 27.  heh.  But, in the meantime, I'd love to get some things going and would love to return the favor!

(By the way, once Yuletide is done, how about 3 sentence ficathon in Febuary or March?)

Dec 1: broadlybrazen please talk to me about baked goods! the good, the bad, the ugly. which kind is the most fun to make? which kind is objectively THE BEST? which rules them all & in the darkness binds them?  A response here,

Dec 2:  xahra99  a Temeraire ramble -- Rank the dragons in Temeraire with the dragons in LOTR and a series of your choice (eg McCaffrey series, How to Train Your Dragon, The Natural history of dragons, etc etc)Or, you know, just write something about dragons
Dec 3:  [personal profile] autumnia how about you talk about travels or traveling? 
Dec 4:
Dec 5: yalumesse  Can you describe Morgan, please? (You've made physical descriptions of her here and there in the stories but I have real trouble picturing her.) Also, if that's too boring, how about: When did you first know Morgan was going to be such a (lovely, endearing, heartbreaking, fun) important character?
Dec 6:
Dec 7:
Dec 8:  mama_pyjama  What makes you happy at work, leaves a smile on your face and makes you think Yes!
Dec 9:
Dec 10: joyeuce01  something on the responsibilities of leadership or maintaining a relationship. Perhaps in the Vorkosigan saga? Any day.
Dec 11:
Dec 12:  redsnake05  perhaps you could talk about 1977?
Dec 13:  [personal profile] vialethe  I feel like she's the Pevensie I understand least, and I adore your characterization of all four of them, so...tell me things about Lucy, either Narnia!Lucy or England!Lucy.
Dec 14: corellian_sugar  What holiday meal have you made that you thought was the biggest success? The biggest failure? And the same for what holiday dessert?
Dec 15:  Anon:  if you had to assign a Hogwarts house to each of the Four, who would get which house and why?
Dec 16:Syrena:  I would love to hear a Golden Age anecdote about the time Cook took on an apprentice - a survivor's tale, perhaps, or whatever comes to mind! ... Maybe with a guest appearance by Jalur
Dec 17:  [personal profile] edenfalling   Mara Jade: tell the world why she is awesome! (Special bonus round: invent a different EU plot arc that doesn't "require" her death and lets her continue to be the hero of her own story.)
Dec 18:
Dec 19:  [personal profile] heliopausa Codes, and cracking the codes - spy-style or social, story or real life. (Or ancient, come to that, like the Rosetta stone, or alien cultural codes.)
Dec 20:  [personal profile] alexseanchai   Susan Pevensie vs Susan of Narnia.
Dec 21: dm_lunsford  tell me about three things that bring you joy and fulfillment in life. Name three, and please explain about why it brings you joy and fulfillment for at least one of them. :)
Dec 22:  [personal profile] watersword   revisions process
Dec 23:  adaese  old-school teaching and texting in full sentences -- maybe something encouragingly old-school, or that Shakespeare was (prepare to be shocked) - Fun! Meant to entertain! Don't sit at your desks reading, prance around acting!
Dec 24:
Dec 25:   [personal profile] the_rck  Christianity and The Stone Gryphon Trilogy (or any part thereof.
Dec 26:  undauntra  young Magneto's escape from Auschwitz - with added Pevensie(s)?
Dec 27:
Dec 28: lotl101  Favourite thing about fandom? or if that's been taken, your favourite little joy of life?
Dec 29:
Dec 30:   [personal profile] philippos42  Horses
Dec 31:
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