Far East Cynic

The paradox of low expectations.

I spent yesterday working on the site after we experienced a Denial of Service attack on Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve pretty well isolated where I think it came from and have taken proactive steps “under the hood” to keep it from happening again. Nevertheless, I am flattered that my modest

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Cry, the beloved country.

Among the many things I have come to despise our tea swilling, Galtian, Trump-humping, overlords for, is how they have ruined any celebration of national pride. Turning the American flag into a conservative litmus test of sorts makes it almost impossible to look at the symbol with a combination of

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Not liking a comparison does not mean that the comparison is incorrect

A quick post on the recent stunt by Florida’s legislature and deadly governor Ron DeSantis. Last June, I wrote a post about how today’s Republican party proves its resemblance to the apartheid government every day. In it, I noted, “What is also very much like South Africa, is the attempt

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One thing I absolutely do not regret.

I am approaching what could best be described as the contemplative stage of life. Savoring the adventures and the victories, dryly musing about the things I should have done differently – or should not have done at all. Regrets? I have a few. However, I will never regret wire brushing

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The rot, it runs deep.

Today I saw something that made me truly despair for the future of this country. 124 former flag officers, several of whom I used to respect, had the unmitigated gall to put their names to a piece of shit, rather traitorous, letter. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/fb7c7bd8-097d-4e2f-8f12-3442d151b57d/downloads/2021%20Open%20Letter%20from%20Retired%20Generals%20and%20Adm.pdf?ver=1620643005025&fbclid=IwAR0VuxO5QWIii8O-Z4Xp9Qu5-mMailCNVpKEmK3m0DjM_FqHIBoobPkdN4M One of the signatories is a former

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The current era, summed up succinctly.

Being the trendy, social media maven that I am (sarcasm definitely intended), I’ve gotten up and running on Tik Tok. Besides being a wonderful way to give Donald Trump the finger in 2020 – it has been really fun to see how creative a lot of people around the world

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The hostage crisis.

Personal choices are not always just between you and yourself. They oftentimes have very public consequences that impact millions. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of COVID-19, and the vaccines now available in increasing numbers to Americans. A writer named David Roth has written a thoughtful piece

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The fuse for this disaster was lit a dozen years ago.

If you are an American and watched what happened at the Capitol today – and are not outraged – then you are a defective person. And probably have been for a long time. Soonergrunt, long time commenter at Balloon-Juice, summed up these thoughts of mine very well. The list of

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Into the home stretch, or into the abyss. The answer is TBD.

I have not had a “normal” Presidential election since 2000, where coming into November, I did not feel anxiety and fear in the lead up to election day. Especially since 2012, when it became apparent that some 42% of Americans were truly committed to wanton cruelty. 2016 was just sheer

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It’s broken all right – they don’t even try to pretend anymore.

Hopefully, you had a chance to read my latest post before this one about how the major machinery of our US government is broken. If you have not, please go here first, then come back and read this post. I’ll wait. Today in the sham that is passing for Senatorial

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