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They lie for a living
Years ago I had to go through a metal detector to enter a courthouse. I was reporting for jury duty (I was never empaneled, which was a bit disappointing). I emptied my pockets and the guards confiscated one of those little nail clippers I had in my pocket. I asked why and they claimed that Continue reading
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The vulnerability of enormity
I cancelled my Disney + subscription. Partly because of the company’s capitulation to the fascist occupying regime, but also partly because it just wasn’t being used very much. Cancelled NetFlix at the same time. In that case, only because it wasn’t being used very much. It made me think about the changes to Disney, the Continue reading
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I always wonder
There are an awful lot of people in the US who spout what they think is “traditional” religion (it really isn’t; what they mostly put forth is a 20th century invention) and seem to be able to convince big crowds to come listen to them talk (they talk a lot) and to donate money or Continue reading
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Above the law indeed
The orange baby got its Supreme Court to place it above the law. One of the things it said while campaigning was that it could kill someone on a busy street and get away with it. Now it’s proceeding with murder, which it has done a lot of talking about. A little open outboard motorboat Continue reading
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Irony
This should be listed as the definition of “irony” in some dictionary. Stephen Miller…Stephen Miller! The “un-American political extremist.” He wrote this: “There is an ideology that has steadily been growing in this country which hates everything that is good, righteous and beautiful and celebrates everything that is warped, twisted and depraved. It is an Continue reading
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What is twitter really for?
I’ve been thinking about “social media” quite lot lately. And here I’m focusing on twitter-like systems more than, say facebook. Services, that is, that are for short messages that are widely distributed, the authors have little control over once they’re posted, and that have such a massive flow of data that the focus of the Continue reading
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To Anxious Friends
The editorial below was written by William Allen White on July 27, 1922. The disorder of the day, which he mentions, was a nationwide railroad strike. In 1922, railroads were critical infrastructure — they still are, but in 1922 there were no alternatives. White was the editor of the Emporia Gazette of Emporia, Kansas, where Continue reading
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Tragedy
Imagine for a moment that you’re 22 years old. You’re healthy, you’ve had a good education, you’re pretty bright. You have a family that’s close; you’re not isolated. You live in a peaceful beautiful place among a population that’s reasonably happy. How do you come to decide to throw your life away by killing someone Continue reading
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Not my president
In the past, I’ve always assumed that a phrase like “not my president” had to do with a hissy fit by some snowflake way out on the right or left wing of political bent. But this time the president has decided on its own that it is not my president. And that goes for more Continue reading
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Passions, Products, and Utility
or: It’s Just a Phone The MacPsych blog has an interesting post about mobile phones, on the occasion of the latest Apple “event” introducing new iPhoniana. They say: “I have read lots of differing perspective online, from fanboy exclamations of ‘the best phone everrrrrr!’ through to the much more realistic ‘it’s just a fucking phone’. As time passes, Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.
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peterharbeson@me.com