Month: January 2023

What Am I Getting Wrong About A Possible Second American Civil War Starting In Late 2024, Early 2025?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that we’re in 2023, I find myself thinking about how likely it is that we may, in fact, have a Second American Civil War because of the passions of the 2024 presidential cycle. I continue to wrack my mind as to what I could possibly be getting wrong about the various dystopian hellscape scenarios that I’ve managed to come up with.

I continue to believe that if a 2ACW happens, it’s going to happen because Blue States refuse to bend a knee to ascendant Red States. As much as Reds want to murder people like me in cold blood using the rules of war, not law, in the end, they really don’t have any reason to start a civil war — they’re going to get everything they want via regular old dysfunctional politics.

It seems to me there are a number of milestones we still have to reach before we have a better sense of how things are going to sort out in late 2024, early 2025 between Election Day and Certification Day. We still don’t know if Trump is going to ever be held legally accountable for his massive, on-going crime spree. If he is indicted, then likelihood that he will be the 2024 Republican nominee grows significantly.

Additionally, there is the issue of how SCOTUS will rule on the “Independent Legislature” concept. If they give individual states significantly more leeway when it comes to the practical administration of elections that could very well be the United States striking an iceberg. It won’t be obvious at first, but when the time comes, the MAGA state legislatures of swing states might feel like they could step in and appoint their own electors, damn the will of the people. We’re not a democracy after all, right you fucking MAGA cocksuckers?

The last issue, the one that could really decide America’s fate is that of the debt ceiling. If MAGA Republicans in the House push America in to its first-ever default, then, well, the conditions are there for MAGA — and Trump — to come roaring back in 2024. They won’t even have to cheat to win, but Trump’s second term agenda will be so fucking radical that that, unto itself, could force the hand of Blue States and provoke a National Divorce, which, in turn would cause a Second American Civil War.

Then, of course, there are a few wildcards that I simply can’t game out one way or another. The issue of how old Biden is weighs on my mind a great deal. Harris is very untested and it would be a massive clusterfuck if Biden shuffled off this mortal coil at just the wrong moment in the post-election process. You thought 2020 was bad with the “Stop The Steal” bullshit, just imagine Biden’s Electors being up for grabs and Trump (or someone like him) ranting about how they should vote for him “for the sake of the nation.”

Anyway, I’m always wrong. It’s very possible that we’ll somehow muddle through the 2024 election and all my doom and gloom will look very foolish. But even if that is the case, there continue to be some significant tectonic issues with the American political system that we’re going to be confronted with sooner or later.

The Game Is Afoot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I know things are getting a lot better with this novel because I’m feeling an overpowering urge to “shut up and write.” And I would do that, but for the fact that I’m 100% extroverted and can’t help myself — generally, I talk and write about whatever is rolling around in my head.

My dream title for my first novel.

And for some time now, working on my first novel has been at the very forefront of my mind. So, here we are.

I continue to be uneasy about how literary types seem to think I’m drunk crank idiot. I can’t help who I am — but I can tell a good to great story. And, as such, they should judge my work on its merits, not on how much of a crank they think I am.

But that’s not how the real world works, I’m afraid.

I also worry about being “canceled” for my wasted, dissipated youth, especially what I was up to in South Korea all those years ago. I didn’t really do anything TOO bad, but given how fragile everyone is these days, I can’t help but worry that what I think isn’t all that bad will be viewed as the end of my career even before it’s even begun.

And, yet, the overarching issue is this novel gives me some direction in life. It gives me something to believe in. I am generally pretty delusional and for once I’m able to use that tendency towards delusion to actually work towards a concreate goal.

If I manage to pull off writing a novel good enough that it can actually be seen as something that I could successfully query to a professional literary agent, well, that, unto itself would make all this hard work worthwhile.

The Fucking Woke Hypocrisy of FilmTok Gets On My Nerves

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok, I got beef with the film reviewing community of Tik-Tok. Too often, they go out of their fucking woke way to shit on movies like Avatar — Way of Water for some bullshit woke reason.

Fuck this test.

And, yet, they liked Babylon?

I don’t get it. I really liked Babylon, too, but you would think the tender hearted people of woke FilmTok would not be able to bear how gratuitous and over the top the movie was. I’m reminded of the one time I used Twitter clone Mastodon, only to be driven off the service by fucking woke cocksuckers who jumped on me the moment I didn’t follow their strict woke orthodoxy. They, too, did not see the contradiction when they told me they like Dave Chappelle and Richard Pryor.

It’s because of bullshit like that that we’re probably going to lose our democracy. When “cultural Leftists” have such a strict orthodoxy that they attack anyone who doesn’t know the ends and outs of their “woke” agenda that the efforts to keep America a democracy falls into serious, serious trouble.

I just had to get that out of my system. I fucking hate the woke orthodoxy because of how dangerous it is for democracy. Sometimes you want to tell a story that will “trigger” people — because that’s the whole point! The issue should be telling a great story, not if two women have a conversation about something other than a man.

Fuck that.

My frustration with the “woke” agenda grows the better my first novel gets. Given how much representation there is in this novel — and who I am as a CIS white male — half the readership will think I’m too woke and half its audience will think I’m an evil representative ogre of the patriarchy because I’m writing from a non-white, non-male POV at times. (Ok, maybe a lot.)

But that’s my vision and I’m willing to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune over it.

What Is The Deal With Tech Bro David Sacks?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really enjoy listening to the All-In podcast because it challenges me, forces me to listen to people I generally don’t agree with politically. They are interesting, intelligent people who just so happen to find fascism way, way, too palatable. When your metrics for assessing something miss the issue of what is morally right, your politics are all fucked up.

Because, literally, the exact same reasoning that several people on the All-In podcast give for various degrees of support for Trump and MAGA could have been used by German industrialists in the 1930s.

But it’s David Sacks who shocks me with his consistently bad hot takes. His politics are identical to a relative of mine and so it is useful to listen to his bullshit for the next time I find myself debating politics with said relative. Sacks is “all in” with being a fifth columnist who supports Russia over Ukraine and the United States.

He is very intense and seems to have a huge fucking chip on his shoulder. It’s all very weird. But he’s cogent enough in his terrible hot takes that you find yourself listening to him and weighing different counter-arguments you might use to point out his hypocrisy.

Anyway, the point is — I’m growing very alarmed at the recent shift in politics among Tech Bros. They are very receptive to America’s new brand of fascism and, in the end, when we maybe need their support to stop the last seizure of power by fascists, they won’t be there for us.

Why The ‘Canceling’ of ‘TERF’ JK Rowling Makes Me Nervous

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I’m aware that JK Rowling has gone out of her way to aggravate things with her fans over her strident anti-trans views, I still find myself becoming a little nervous over the whole situation.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 13: J.K Rowling attends the UK Premiere of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 13, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

What’s happened with her and Dave Chappelle is an example of an orthodoxy that has developed on the Left that is going to do democracy no favors as we careening towards a dark future in late 2024, early 2025.

I just want to tell an interesting story to millions of people, but I also know that I’m something of a drunk kook who doesn’t always follow the media narrative on issues of the day. As such, I mull over all the things I done with my life — especially in South Korea — and I wince. It’s way too easy to think of various ways someone might be aghast at this or that thing I did then or, hell, now and feel an urge to “cancel” me.

I’m just not perfect. I’m made a lot mistakes in my life — usually with alcohol involved — and now I find myself full of angst about how I’m going to explain all that if I ever “make it big.” (Not that there is any reason, at the moment, to think that is going to happen.)

I know I’m overthinking things a great deal. And, yet, I like to make my abstract fears concrete and worrying about being “canceled” when no one really cares about me at all right now is part of that.

I really struggle with the JK Rowling thing because she’s an example of someone being “canceled” that my Traditionalist relatives can point to when they essentially decide they want to vote for autocratic fascism on Election Day 2024. It doesn’t matter the extenuating circumstances, they just think “famous author life ruined because of the radical gay agenda of the woke cancel culture mob and it could happen to ME.”

That’s literally what they will think when they vote away America’s democratic birthright. Literally. How do you fix that issue?

What The Fuck Is Going On With Tech Bros Becoming Fascist-Friendly?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m at a loss as to what’s going on with Tech Bros these days. I find myself listening to the latest episode of the All-In podcast and I find myself extremely perplexed as to how “all in” the Tech Bros of the podcast are when it comes to various shades of fascism.

I thought Tech Bros were all about libertarianism, not working hand-in-hand with the fascist movement to curtail freedoms. But it is very interesting that I can’t help but think of how German Industrialists were “all in” with the Nazis in the 1930s because relative to their economic and financial metrics they felt they were the best choice.

But I will admit that listening to the All-In podcast is great to help me develop rhetorical anti-bodies to fascism and fifth columnists who want us to destroy the post-World War 2 global liberal order so we can dance with Putin and autocratic fascism.

It is also interesting that people like David Sacks use the term “populist” when they really mean “fascism.” The whole situation is very concerning because it’s a sign that fascism continues to be very popular in the United States and is only going to grow even more powerful if we have a Petite Singularity in the context of a moderate-to-severe recession in 2023 – 2024.

Of AI & Spotify

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a conversation with a relative that left me feeling like an idiot. What I was TRYING to say is there was an unexploited space for Spotify to use AI. In the scenario I had in my mind, you would type in a concept or keyword into a playlist and AI would generate a list a longs from that.

I was a bit inarticulate about the concept I was proposing and I came across sounding like an idiot. While I may be an idiot, I continue to think about how I could have put a bit finer point on what I was trying to say.

I don’t think that all of Spotify’s playlists are done manually, I do think that there is a place for harder AI to be used for streaming services. Spotify knows me really well and if you hooked that knowledge up to a harder form of AI I think some pretty interesting things could come about not just with keywords but with discovery.

Anyway. I’m a nobody. Ignore me.

‘Pick Me Girl,’ Emrata

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Emily Ratajkowski is, at least in my view, the best looking public figure woman in the world. And, yet, at times she does have some curious personality quirks. She notoriously didn’t pay her rent in New York City because of a loophole. More recently, she’s become known as a “pick me” girl.

What this means — at least to me — is she will occasionally do and say things that she knows will make her more popular to her fans. Sort of a fan service for hot chicks. So, she claims she’s interested in dating a woman. She talks about how she’s interested in getting breast reduction surgery.

Sometimes, she says things that makes one think, “You know we know what you look like, right?”

She kind of wants to square the circle. She wants to soak up the vibe of being wealthy and gorgeous…but at the same time she wants to be popular with people for being “relatable.” I will give her credit for knowing that if she doesn’t stay relatable to the average person she risks people hating her just like people hated Anne Hathaway at some point back in the day.

Anyway. I’m a nobody in the middle of nowhere. And old. And poor. So, nobody cares what I think.

Cara Delevingne — My Celebrity Crush Of The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m well aware of not only how bonkers Cara Delevingne is but how she’s not all that interested in men, but I find something about her very attractive. She’s a real babe. If you want “my type” — even though I don’t really have one — Delevingne is in the sweetspot.

Cara Delevingne

I suppose some of her appeal is she’s interesting. She has an air of something really unique that catches one’s eye whenever she’s in your mind. She is very much in the same vein as my other British celebrity crush, Alexa Chung. Both women are witty and interesting and self-aware enough that they’re greater than the sum of their beauty.

Alexa Chung

All this makes me think about how I wish I hadn’t blown out an emotional knee because of ROKon Magazine. If that had not happened, I have the innate photographic ability that I could very well have bounced to New York City after Seoul and tried to be a professional fashion photographer.

But…that was moment has passed, I’m afraid. Even if I get what I want, say, because I stick the landing with my first novel and suddenly have the funds to make some of my other dreams become a reality, I’m just too old.

I have to accept that any success I have will have a far different context than I hoped I might have when I was living in Seoul as an expat in my mid-30s. I’m almost 50 now and, well, lulz. even if I become very wealthy overnight….the whole context would be different. I would be mature and “wise” and just not able to do the crazy, fun things that younger people do without even thinking about it.

Ugh. I hate being od.

Mulling The Identity of This Blog’s Obsessed Reader

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I enjoy attention as much as the next person, but it definitely seems as though one person reading this blog is a little…obsessed? The person, whomever they may be, reads this blog to the point that I struggle to understand their motive for caring so much about me.

I’m a random nobody in the middle of nowhere and, as such, if someone is all that interested in me, I can only assume they know me personally in some way. It’s unlikely that they just like my content. With that in mind, let’s contemplate who my “stalker” might be.

A Korean
I love Koreans, but they don’t have a middle switch. It’s all or nothing with them. And, given my bonkers behavior back in the day in South Korea, I can easily imagine some Korean living in the United States REALLY hating me or REALLY liking me and, as such, wanting to read everything possible I might be generating.

A Former Expat
Expats in South Korea are prone to being pretty fucking bonkers — I should know, I was once a bonkers expat myself. To the point that I was put in a book about crazy expats. (Still smarting about that one.) So, it’s as such, possible that some bonkers expat is obsessed with me for some reason.

Someone Connected To Annie Shapiro
Given where the person is coming from, my mind focuses on how close they are to about the area where the late Annie Shapiro’s body was found. So, being the paranoid person that I am I keep thinking that maybe the person who murdered her somehow, someway knows about me and is keeping an eye on me. Or, it could be the person obsessed with me is one of Shapiro’s relatives who heard a lot about me from her before she died and, as such, they’re keeping an eye on me.