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Greyhawk68

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Posts by John Roling:

2021 Music Top Ten

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The year of Punk and Pop Punk

Top 2021 Albums2021 was another horrible year of the pandemic, but at least it produced some great music.  Rise Against put out one of the best albums of their career with Nowhere Generation.  Songs like Forfeit and Sudden Urge resonated so much and there really isn’t a bad song on the album.  Royal Blood had an insanely good album as well.  Killer grooves and great lyrics along with some unique videos meant this was on rotation nearly continuously this year. Pop punk is having another wave due to Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker kicking it off last year.  Lil Lotus, jxdn and Mod Sun all dove into that genre and made great albums.  Mod Sun even had arguably the best song of the year with Flames, his duet with girlfriend Avril Lavigne.  This list has some fantastic music, and if you want to hear the highlights of the Top Ten and the honorable mentions, you can check out the playlist on Apple Music.

  • Rise Against – Nowhere Generation
  • Royal Blood
  • Teenage Wrist – The Earth Is A Black Hole
  • MOD SUN – Internet Killed The Rockstar
  • Lil Lotus – Error Boy
  • The Pretty Reckless – Death By Rock And Roll
  • Twentyone Pilots – Scaled and Icy
  • JxDN – Tell Me About Tomorrow
  • The Offspring – Let The Bad Times Roll
  • Third Eye Blind – Our Bande Apart

Honorable mention: Turnstile, Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters. Toad The Wet Sprocket, Thrice, K.Flay, Tom Morello

COVID Diaries Pt. 24

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COVID Resurrections

Well, it’s been a couple of months again, just haven’t been all that motivated to write.  A few weeks ago I was going to blog here to catch up on everything, and that was the day Kyle R. was acquitted on all counts in the murder of protesters in Kenosha, WI.

The kid crossed state lines, to defend property that wasn’t his, and obtained an assault rifle that he used.  He killed two people and seriously wounded another, and not a damn thing is going to happen to him.   If you read about the case, it’s pretty much because of the ways the laws are written.  That needs to change.  You shouldn’t be able to go looking for a fight while armed and then claim self-defense when you yourself instigated.  It’s appalling.

So that killed my motivation to write that day and then I let it slide.  Probably should have just put my hands to the keyboard, but hey, at least I’m here now.

Booster shots were approved for pretty much everyone now, so my whole family got ours immediately.  That’s really good news as the latest variant has taken the world by storm.  Omicron is the most recent mutation of the virus and it is way more transmissible than previous variants.  The NFL had to move games again because so many players came down with the virus.  The NHL hit pause on the season, and SNL had to essentially cancel and send almost all of their cast members home due to an outbreak.

All of this is hitting right as we go into the holidays, so it’s not a good trend.

Before Omicron, it almost seemed around here like the virus didn’t exist anymore.  Restaurants and movie theaters were packed, a lot of people weren’t really wearing masks and vaccination rates slowed a lot.   Sports stadiums were full.  Everyone let their guard down, and now hospitals are full again.  Make no mistake, the hospitals are full of people who refused to get vaccinated.  Those folks caught the virus, and that’s how mutations can happen.   Those selfish people are the ones responsible for this spike and responsible for how long this goes on.

Luckily Omicron is mild for people who have been vaccinated, which is good because it is infecting a lot of fully vaccinated people too.  I’m fearful that this recent surge is going to get much worse.  Let’s hope I’m wrong.  The US has already lost 800,000 people to this virus, and I shudder to think what the total can rise to.

The new Spiderman movie made $235 Million at the box office while being in theaters only this past weekend. I’m sure it was just pent-up demand to actually GO to a movie theater, but I imagine it was a major super spreader event now that Omicron is spiking.   Up next, the new Matrix Resurrections movie.  Luckily, I can watch that tonight on HBO Max so I don’t have to leave my house.  That is a much better option for anyone wanting this pandemic to actually, you know, end.

The next month is probably going to be pretty brutal folks, so hunker down, enjoy the holidays with your closest vaccinated family and friends, and please be safe. 

COVID Diaries Pt. 23

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Someone needs to mess with Texas

It’s been a couple months between posts again, but I guess I’ve been in a fairly grey mood.  We cancelled a week in Vegas due to their hospitals being stressed, and a week at home doing the same stuff I always do didn’t feel like the refreshing vacation I had hoped for.

So that sucked, and work has been extremely stressful.  One of my most trusted staff and good friends moved on to an awesome gig, and I couldn’t be happier for him, but after 15 years of working together, it’s going to take a while to get over the fact he’s no longer there.  He’s still a good friend outside of work, but it’s still a bummer.  There is some good stuff going on with work though, so hopefully the stress levels can subside a bit soon.

Fall is my favorite time of year, but we’ve had a week of gloomy, rainy days as well, so I think that hasn’t helped the mood.  I just have to “keep fucking going” like we say.

Since I last wrote here, Texas passed a bill that basically outlaws abortion by deputizing Texas residents to be able to sue anyone who has anything to do with an abortion, including people like the Lyft driver who takes the person to the clinic.  The Supreme Court refused to hear it due to the technicality of the law, so for now anyway, abortion is effectively banned in Texas.

The thing that is so glaringly hypocritical is the fact that the Governor also signed an executive order banning any vaccine mandates.  And he also banned mask mandates.   You know, the two things that could help reduce the spread of the virus.  The things that could help his constituents NOT DIE.   You have the right to choose to not get a vaccination and not wear a mask because of FREEDOM.  Women just don’t have the same rights when it comes to their own bodies.  They don’t have that freedom.  It’s appalling.

Also, Texas schools are being told to teach “opposing views” of the Holocaust.  Holy shit, how do you even spin this?  I really have no words.

I guess Texas is going to Texas.  Sorry Austin.

In other news, William Shatner got a ride into space on Blue Origin’s rocket.  He was the oldest person to do it at the age of 90.   Some people are giving him a hard time for it, saying the money could go to better things, but come on.  If someone offers you a ride to space for free and you are nearing the end of your life, of course you take it.   And if you heard how he spoke after he got out you could tell it affected him deeply.  The innovations in space travel always propel mainstream technology, at least from NASA.  Let’s hope the billionaires and their rocket schlongs do the same.

In a less uplifting story, Jon Gruden resigned as coach from the Las Vegas Raiders after emails surfaced in which he hit every racist, homophobic, and sexist trope imaginable.  I imagine this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this stuff.  Apparently, there were 650,000 emails in the Washington investigation, and these leaked.  If these did, so will others.

Lastly, vaccine boosters have been approved for all the various ones, and guidance says you can mix and match different versions.  It’s only approved for elderly and at-risk right now, so I imagine we’ll have more information to go on once it’s approved for everyone.  But for right now, it’s a good sign, and hopefully we can finally get past this thing.

COVID Diaries, Pt. 22

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Cloudy with a chance of Depression

SemicolonWow, it’s nearly been three months and a lot has happened.  The delta variant of the virus ended up being way more transmissive and took over.  Vaccinated people are getting breakthrough cases, but the overwhelming majority are those that are unvaccinated.

Quite a bit of the population is still not vaccinated, and they are all at great risk.  Hospitals in the South are overwhelmed and the places that did NOT have mask mandates or other restrictions are getting hammered now.  Florida and Texas especially.  Florida even passed a law to PREVENT schools for requiring masks.  It’s all anti-science BS and I just don’t get it.

What does it take for people to see that if you take no precautions, you are going to get sick?  It’s simple common sense, but people are so angry to do it.

It’s so nuts that there have been hundreds of cases of people being poisoned by taking a horse de-wormer to protect against COVID.  Something that is a poisonous neurotoxin if used incorrectly and is made for livestock somehow seems MORE appealing than a vaccination and masks.  Figure that one out.

In other news we’ve pulled out of Afghanistan after 20 years occupying the country.  I’m glad, because I’d rather not be pouring money and American lives into that quagmire any longer.  It’s the right decision, but the Taliban has already taken over, and we are trying desperately to evacuate Americans and allies.  It hasn’t gone well, but we’re out.  We just need to help folks who helped us there for 20 years.

Another thing that took place during this time frame was the Olympics that were hosted in Tokyo, Japan.   Japan was in the middle of a COVID health crisis, so the games went on without fans, and several athletes could not compete due to testing positive.   Another woman was disqualified for cannabis, which is just stupid, and will probably be another blog post at some point.  But the main headlines were that Simone Biles, our best gymnast, probably the best gymnast of all time, pulled out of most of the Olympics due to mental health struggles.

Some asshats criticized her, but most of the world took it as a time to really examine mental health for everyone.  People realized that even the most elite people deal with mental issues, and it’s okay.  It’s okay to take time to work on yourself or get your head right.  As similar thing happened with a pro Call of Duty player who took a few weeks off right before the biggest tournament of the season because he was also dealing with mental health struggles.

It’s both sad and comforting to know so many other deal with the same issues.  I think it all helped people struggling feel a little less alone.  At least I hope so because there have been a lot of people opting out as of late.

Since the pandemic began, both of my daughters have lost friends to suicide.  In addition, another girl that was the first playdate of my eldest took her own life.  A good friend of ours (who is a teacher) found a guy slumped over in his car in the parking lot.  It was a 24-year-old cop who had shot himself.  Then, one I can’t even really grasp.   A husband of someone we know well walked into a gun store, rented a gun for target practice, took a couple of target shots, and then turned around and shot himself in the chest.

This gun store is 30 seconds from my house, and I drive by it nearly every day.  Every time I just get a pit in my stomach wondering how a successful, rich guy with a wife, three kids and a seemingly good life just decides to do that to himself and his family.

But that’s the thing, depression doesn’t make sense.  Depression lies to you.  It preys on your fears and maximizes your worst thoughts.  Depression is real, and a whole lot of people have experienced it during this pandemic.

This, along with the anxiety that the pandemic has brought, is a horrible combo. 

If you are reading this, please understand that you are not alone.  I’ve been depressed and anxious quite a bit myself over the last year and a half.  My family and I have all leaned on each other, and that’s kept us sane.  As sane as you can be in a world like this.

Lean on your friends, lean on your family, lean on your pets.  There are others that feel the exact same way that you do, and talking about it helps.

We talk openly about our feelings, and we use a lot of dark humor to cope.  None of us have been good, but we are there for each other.  We also have a mantra, and I’m dedicated to that mantra.

Keep Fucking Going.

COVID Diaries Pt. 21

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Actual normalcy?

Sorry, it’s been a while since I wrote.   I think that might be a good thing because I didn’t have any major things implode in the world to comment on.  That said, there are still a few.

Since the last post, Chauvin was found guilty in the murder trial of George Floyd.  Thank Cthulhu that happened.  If he had gotten off the consequences could have been dire.

Next, I had mentioned mass shootings in the last post.  Nothing has changed there.  No exaggeration, there have been shootings nearly every single day.  The gun culture of this country is just nuts to me.  I don’t mind guns, but the fact that they are so easy to get, even for dangerous people makes no sense.  I won’t get into that now, but I don’t like living in a world where mass shootings are common and no one seems to give a shit.

On the COVID front, 60% of adults have received a vaccine, which is great, but we still have a ways to go.  Before, it was extremely hard to get an appointment, but now it’s relatively easy and many people are just refusing to get it.  Hell, states are even giving away things like money, and yes, even guns as a reward.  The reward should be that you don’t die from a horrible disease, but hey I guess for some people that’s just not enough.  Sigh.

The CDC has come out and said vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks in most situations.   They still urge non-vaccinated people to wear them.  This has given way to tons of maskless people out in the wild.

I used to get mad about the selfishness of people who refused to wear them, now I’m past that.  If they want to refuse the vaccine and go maskless, that’s on them.   If they get COVID I honestly don’t give a shit now.  Reap what you sow.

My whole family is vaccinated and we all wear masks when it makes sense.  If a business wants it, no problem.  If a friend feels more comfortable meeting with masks, so be it.  But it does feel nice knowing that we don’t have to in most situations.

Which leads me to this last weekend.  My good friend Ron hosts a golf outing every Memorial Day weekend.  It’s the one time I play golf a year.  It was so nice to gather with those 40 guys again.  No one had masks, there were handshakes and hugs, and to be honest, it was the first normal thing I had done in well over a year.  That normal feeling was absolutely overwhelming. 

Work is starting to pick up again, and I was reinstated to full salary, which is a huge help.  The past year was so uncertain, and we drained our savings, so it’s nice to build things back up finally.  I’m still fairly burned out, but it will get better.

The IT work never stopped.  We still had to maintain all the systems, make sure all the users could work remotely, and we did it with a fraction of the staff we had before COVID.  My team has been slammed the entire pandemic, and now it’s ramping up even more.  I look forward to when I can hire some more people so the staff that’s still here can get back to their normal.  I tell them, but I really hope that they know I’m sincere when I thank them and tell them how appreciative I am.  I have a killer team, and I’m proud to have worked with them through this.

I haven’t talked much about my mental health through this pandemic, but let’s just say it hasn’t been good.  I’ll write about it at some point, but I’ve had some of my lowest moments the last couple of months.  I have to thank my wife for keeping me somewhat sane, but we even had the worst fight of our lives not too long ago.   We worked through it, but it was a terrible low point for me.

My two best friends have been a big help too.  We’ve been a group chat and keep in touch every day, and we are helping each other through this, but it’s been rough on all of our families.

Please check on your friends and family, even ones that seem okay.  Because I’ll guarantee you that most people are decidedly not okay.

Lastly, today happens to be my 26th wedding anniversary.  I could not ask for a better partner than my wife.  She was the person who looked after the whole family during COVID and I owe her everything.  I’m not sure what any of us would have done without her, and I am eternally grateful.  Happy Anniversary babe, I love you.

On that note, be kind to people, be safe, get vaccinated and let’s truly get back to some semblance of normal.

COVID Diaries Pt. 20

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Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

About another month has passed, but some good things are happening.  100M vaccinations happened in the first 59 days of this presidency.  41 days before promised, and yesterday, we were reaching 3M vaccinations a day.  So, on that front, things are getting much better.  The vaccination process has opened up to more people, and it’s going faster.

The unfortunate thing is that people are starting to act like this is all over, while another surge is quietly happening.

Numbers right now are WORSE than the worst part of last summer.  And they are trending up.  Yet tons of things are opening up, states are removing mask mandates, and people packed places over spring break and Easter.   That’s not exactly how we get numbers to come down, but I guess stupid people are going to continue to be stupid.

Once you are vaccinated, you can now meet in small groups of vaccinated people with little to no risk.  Also, it seems vaccinated people cannot carry the virus to infect others.  That is huge, and it’s going to allow me to see my parents for the first time in 15 months here soon.  I’m also going to have a guy’s weekend here in the Man Cave with some of my best friends a couple weeks after that. 

So yes, some things CAN return to normal, but we still have to be vigilant.  Wear your mask in public, don’t pack places with people, get vaccinated.  All of these things will help us close this thing out quicker.  We just have to be careful for a tad longer.

In other news, things really are back to normal as we’ve had a few mass shootings again.  An Asian hate crime targeting massage therapists in Atlanta, and then a shooting at a grocery store in Colorado.  In both instances, they brought in the killer alive.   I’ll give you a guess as to what skin tone they have.

In another incident, a man drove his car into a barrier at the Capitol, killing an officer, and was then shot dead as he brandished a knife.  I have no problem with that show of force from Capitol officers, especially given the recent insurrection. 

When I wanted things to go back to normal, this is not what I meant.

Next you have Matt Gaetz aka Pervy McForehead, a far-right Congressman.  He has been under investigation since the previous administration for allegedly paying for sex (with Apple Pay and other online systems) and taking a 17 year-old girl across state lines, which is sex trafficking.  This asshole should go away for a long time.  Maybe the Q cult should focus their attention on where the real pedophiles are lurking.

And speaking of assholes, the officer who knelt on Geroge Floyd’s neck and killed him is currently on trial.  The testimony has been heartbreaking.  Even the Chief of Police testified against him.  He needs to be found guilty.  If he isn’t, protests are going to explode around this country.  I’m not looking forward to the state of the country if that happens.  How anyone could ever watch that video and not convict him is beyond me.  Let us hope that justice prevails.

In the meantime, let’s keep ramping up the vaccinations, keep wearing the masks, and don’t rush back into unsafe conditions.  We are so close to finally getting through this, let’s not fuck that up now.

COVID Diaries Pt. 19

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Consequences

Well almost a month has passed again, but we have plenty to talk about.

First, a few weeks ago NASA landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.  It was another amazing feat from the people at NASA, and it was so inspiring to watch the landing.  The amount of work it takes to land a vehicle on another planet is simply staggering, but NASA has proven it can do it again and again.

NASA is also one of the very few places we give money to where those funds actually trickle down.  Innovations designed by NASA have given so much to us and will continue to do so.  Dare Mighty Things indeed.

As you know from my last post, we were covered in snow here in Chicago with cold temps that kept all the snow from melting.  We had nearly 50 inches here, so it was pretty nuts.  But, for the most part everyone was okay.  Power stayed on, roads were cleared, and everything pretty much went on as usual, with mountains of cleared out snow everywhere. In sharp contrast, we have Texas. 

Texas also experienced a storm of epic proportions.  Their power grid failed, and people there went long periods without any power, heat, water and food.  Because they had no power, temperatures inside houses got low enough to freeze pipes, and cause major damage.  People died from exposure.  Everything was shut down.  It was pretty nuts.

Now Texas has their own electrical grid.  This was on purpose to avoid federal regulations and to maximize profits.  Power providers were told for years that they need to winterize their power infrastructure to make sure it kept going in the cold.  Since it seemed something like that could never happen, they chose profits over actually doing the work to winterize.  And when everything went down, they couldn’t get help from the federal power grid because they had isolated themselves.  In addition, to many people who actually still had power, they jacked up the rates in such a manner that people were getting $16K power bills.

We had the ingenuity and drive to land a rover on Mars, but Texas lacked the basic steps to winterize their power gear, because it saved them money.  It’s a pretty stark contrast. 

Next the company behind Mr. Potatohead, rebranded to just Potatohead to be more inclusive.  In addition, the company publishing Dr. Suess books decided to stop selling six books that included racist imagery.

Two companies trying to be more inclusive is a good thing, right?

Not according to conservatives.  They all latched on to this as cancel culture, and had a bunch of “What next?” scenarios.  They tried to get everyone so riled up and outraged over BUSINESSES choosing how they wanted to, you know, DO business.  Even moderate people were on FB thinking this was going too far. 

Are you fucking kidding me?  Seriously, no one “cancelled” Dr. Suess.  They made the decision to remove books that were fucking racist.  They own those books, it’s their right.  I’m so sorry you won’t be able to show racist caricatures to your grandkids.  I mean, what the fuck?  If you were really mad about Dr. Suess, or Potatohead, you are simply a fucking idiot falling for the racist faux outrage at this.   Seriously, there are much more important things going on right now. 

And shut up with your fucking “cancel culture” bullshit.  It’s CONSEQUENCE culture.  Do something shitty and you’ll get called out for it.  If it’s shitty enough, people will stop supporting you.  That’s how life is supposed to work.  How about don’t do the shitty thing, eh?

And also, there are people who bitch about companies being more inclusive.  Potatohead changing their name is a small thing they can do to make some people feel better about their brand.  How is that in any way offensive to you?  You can still buy a fucking Mr. Potatohead.  They still sell it.  How did their company name change affect YOU in ANY way?  The answer is that it doesn’t, but people want you outraged?  Why?  

People that claim inclusivity is dumb are the same people who have always been included.  If you are a cis white male, such as myself, how about you shut the fuck up and sit this one out?

On the vaccine front, Johnson and Johnson was added as another option, and it only requires one dose.  This makes it much easier to get more people vaccinated.

The whole process is a nightmare though, and unless you are on the computer hitting refresh hundreds of times at midnight, it’s hard to come by appointments.  That said, my wife is the vaccine hunter, and my family all has their first shots.  My second is the end of the month, and by mid-April we are all fully vaccinated.

There are a lot of things to still be anxious about, but my family being protected helps alleviate my number one worry.  We still have a ways to go before this pandemic is over, but the prospect of myself or my girls dying from this has subsided. 

I can sleep a little easier at night now.  Here’s hoping you do soon as well.

COVID Diaries Pt. 18

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Of Course...

It’s been awhile since I last wrote, and quite a bit has gone on.  The inauguration went off without a hitch, as Biden and Harris were sworn in.  I had feared violence, but the 25 thousand National Guard troops protecting the Capitol dissuaded that.

Speaking of the Capitol, many of the main assholes we saw storming the place have been arrested because it was so damn easy to figure out who they were.  It appears many of them are going to do serious time.   Hopefully that helps hinder that movement by taking some of the worst out of circulation, while those consequences will hopefully prevent others from following suit.

I also think they’ve been quiet because all of those lying, inciting violence, and posting about Q have been banned from many media platforms.  That lack of amplification of absolute bullshit conspiracy theories will hopefully help so that fewer people fall for the nonsense.

Let’s get to the guy who incited the riot.  He was impeached by the House for a second time, and then it went to the Senate.  We figured that not enough Republicans would have enough of a spine to get the votes needed.  Still, I had a sliver of hope that the evidence presented in the trial might just be too much for some to bear.  HA!  Yeah, not a chance.  The prosecution provided a TON of evidence, and the defense lawyers were SO laughably bad. But of course, they acquitted him anyway.

I mean it wasn’t like these Senators, who are impartial jurors, did anything like meet with the defense team.  What?  They did?  Wow, that’s pretty brazen.   If you or I were in a jury and we met with the defense lawyers to strategize how to get the defendant off, what do you think would happen to us?

Then Mitch McTurtle came out and voted to acquit, and immediately came out afterwards saying that the defendant was guilty and law enforcement should investigate.  He said he didn’t believe that you could try an ex-President when he was out of office, even though McConnell was IN CHARGE OF THE SENATE when the President SHOULD have been tried.  It’s so fucking transparent that it literally hurts my head.  These people will NOT compromise and will do everything they possibly can to stay in power, no matter how it hurts this country. No consequences for the man who incited a mob who could have killed them.  It’s pretty pathetic.

So, that’s all over and we’ll see what law enforcement does, but for now it will hopefully be quiet.  The Q weirdos still think Trump is going to be inaugurated March 4th, so I can’t wait for it to come and go so they can move the goal posts again.  Since absolutely none of the predictions have ever come true, I don’t know how these people keep getting duped.  If I fake throw a stick for a dog too many times, even they wise up.

In some good news, vaccinations are starting to pick up a bit and the current administration purchased an additional 200 million doses, which is a good thing.  One of my best friends has been vaccinated as has my mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law.  Hoping my parents can get it soon too.  I’ll wait my turn, but I’ll get it the second someone will give it to me.

In local news we’ve gotten a couple feet of snow over the last couple weeks.  Temps have been absolutely frigid with below zero temps being common.  As such, none of the snow has melted.  And every day a bit more has been falling.  We’re supposed to get another three to five inches tonight after two to three last night.  Chicago itself might even get a foot.   So yeah, been pretty cooped up and can’t even take our dog Pepper for a walk.  Looking forward to winter being over, but the solid groundhog science says we have awhile to go. 

Time to bundle up and look at a screen… just like the entire last year.  Keep hanging in there folks.

COVID Diaries Pt. 17

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What the actual fuck?

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty

After my last post, the next milestone I was waiting for before I wrote again was the Georgia Senate runoffs and the US House and Senate confirmation of Joe Biden as our next president.  I figured after those milestones I could breathe a little easier again.  Well after some initial joy that the Democrats won both Senate seats in Georgia, it turned ugly as MAGA supporters stormed the capitol building during the confirmation votes.

I wasn’t surprised at all at what happened.  If you looked around online, you could see his supporters threatening violence.  It was everywhere, on Twitter, on now-defunct Parler (Nazi-Twitter) Facebook and elsewhere.  I knew those threats were not veiled.  I’ve seen the hatred and horrible rhetoric from these people firsthand.  I know these people are as hateful as they seem.

In actuality, I had been kind of in a depression spell leading up to the confirmation vote.  I thought it would go down like this, and I was dreading those two days.  The more I saw online leading up to that day, the worse I felt.

And then it happened.  The Stop the Steal bullshit rally did what I expected them to, and what they broadcasted they would.  They stormed the capitol building.

I expected that when they got there they would be met with force.  After months of seeing officers beat the shit out of protesters at BLM rallies, with tear gas, and rubber bullets, and batons, surely the same was going to happen to the rally goers.  

But it didn’t.

The capitol was woefully unprepared and understaffed.  There were some clashes with police, including where the “Blue Lives Matter” people actually TOOK a blue life.  For the most part, the crowd just flowed right on into the capitol.  They broke windows and busted down doors to get in.  Another woman lost her life after being shot by Secret Service trying to breach a window.  These people vandalized offices, stole, and even shit and pissed all over the capitol.  Men in tactical gear were in the Senate chambers with zip-tie handcuffs.  What do you think those were for?  Or the gallows outside with a noose?  What was that for?  Oh, what was that? People actually said out loud and on camera to hang the Vice President?  Really?  Well shit…

I watched from the beginning of coverage and late into the night.  I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I thought they would get to the capitol and have to be dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets like we had seen in the summer.  I didn’t think they would actually make it in.  It’s the capitol, surely it would be locked up tight.  Well, THAT was wrong.

Apparently, the powers that be don’t have the internet, or perhaps they would have seen it coming.  Or maybe some people allowed this to happen.  They wanted this to happen.  They wanted to overturn the results of a free and fair election where the loser lost by over seven million votes.  I’m sure a lot will come out about this in the coming months, and we’ll find out who was in on the inside job.   Officers have been arrested, suspended, and one even committed suicide.  There was coordination here, and that frightens me even more.

Now after this seditious act of Insurrection at the capitol, our lawmakers went back to finish the job of validating the election.   And this is where people like Cruz and Hawley still voted against the results.  They had been cowering in offices and tunnels in the capitol just hours earlier, but they STILL perpetuated the lie that the election was stolen.   These people should wear a scarlet letter forever.

They, along with the Orange In Chief and anyone else who was continually lying about election results, are complicit in what happened in the capitol.  Five people lost their lives, one of them a police officer. Everyone that had a part should be held accountable.

It finally took this, and all the lies, to get Mr. Velveeta kicked off of Twitter for inciting violence.  It came WAY too late, but it was warranted.  He basically lost access on all social media.  In addition, the alt-right Parler app was removed from app stores because they wouldn’t remove posts that were calling for murder of elected officials and liberals.  Parler later shut down when Amazon kicked them off their platform for the same thing.  That cesspool might never come back. 

Now of course that crowd is saying that it infringes on free speech.  This is because they are idiots and don’t understand the first amendment.  The government can’t prevent you from saying anything, but companies certainly can.  Especially if you won’t take down posts advocating murder.  All those people can fuck right off and go back to civics class.

This is the thing; I can’t wrap my head around how dumb those in the base truly are.  I honestly mean this; I just don’t get it at all.  They believe every lie and conspiracy theory, they don’t understand our Constitution AT ALL, and they refused to wear masks while committing insurrection.  DC probably is one of the most surveilled places in America.  You are always on camera.   So hey, don’t wear a mask, and parade right into the capitol.  And in case the cameras didn’t catch them, they helped out by posting pictures of themselves committing the crimes on social media.  I mean holy shit.  Right now, it’s socially acceptable to wear a mask in public, and they refuse even when they are committing seditious acts.  It’s truly, astonishingly insane to me.  Every single one of them needs to be arrested and pay the price.  You could tell that they didn’t expect to be arrested, in case you need some examples of white privilege.

So, what happens now?  Well first, as I’m writing this the House has impeached that vile man for the second time.  It will go to the Senate after the inauguration for a trial there, after the Democrats take control.  In the meantime, we have another week until Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in.   That same crowd is planning protests at all 50 state capitols, and the US Capitol as well.  There is a lot of chatter of much worse violence being planned.  This time around, however there will be twenty thousand National Guard troops protecting the transfer of power.  That should prevent another storming of the halls, but I fear for what next week brings.  It won’t end there.  We will see violence for some time to come. 

By the way, COVID is the worst it’s ever been and is killing over 4000 Americans daily.

Looks like I get to stay depressed for a while longer…

2020 Music Top 10

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Music that helped me get through

Link to Top 10 PlaylistBring Me The Horizon – POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR – EMO.  Even though this is technically an EP, this album has been on constant rotation since its release.  It’s quite a bit harder than last year’s Amo (my second favorite album of 2019) but it’s all about the pandemic and feelings that Oli and the band were feeling.  And quite frankly, they match mine spot on.  Parasite Eve talks about the virus and the corrupt government around it as does Obey.  My favorite song on the album is Teardrops whose lyrics hit me pretty hard.  The album ends with a duet with Amy Lee from Evanescence.  At first listen it seems like a breakup in an abusive relationship, but the meaning is much deeper.  It’s actually about climate change, and Amy Lee is the earth while Oli is the human race.  And the title kind of tells it all: “One Day All The Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Your Death”

The Used – Heartwork – EMO/PUNK.  The Used are another Emo Punk band who I’ve been a fan of since they formed in the early 2000’s.   They still put out stellar music, and this album has a lot of references to classic literature woven in, so it’s quite cool for that as well.  It’s fairly heavy and can be screamy as well, but it fit my 2020 mood perfectly.   Songs like Blow Me, Paradise Lost, and Bloody Nose all are heavy songs that hit you in the gut, then you have club tracks like Cathedral Bell, Clean Cut Heals and Lighthouse that show another great side of the band.  Lastly, I always smile when listening to Wow, I Hate This Song.  I love this album.

Machine Gun Kelly – Tickets To My Downfall – POP PUNK.  Machine Gun Kelly is best known as a rapper and the actor who played Tommy Lee in The Dirt on Netflix.  But this is quite a departure for him.  He enlisted Travis Barker from Blink 182 to create a fantastic pop punk album.  I wasn’t expecting much but was blown away.  Forget Me Too, Kiss Kiss, Bloody Valentine, Drunk Face, My Ex’s Best Friend and Jawbreaker are all fantastic.  If you like Blink, you’ll like this album, and it’s great to see this kind of music having success again.

Local H – LIFERS – ALTERNATIVE.  Local H is a Chicago band that has been around since the early nineties as a two-piece rock band.  I’ve been a fan forever and have seen them several times live, and they never disappoint.  So, when they released a new album I was really excited, and they delivered.   LIFERS is blistering, noisy, catchy and the lyrics are very anti the current presidential administration which I could get behind.   Songs like High Wide and Stupid, Hold That Thought, Innocents, Turn the Bow and the epic seven and ten minute songs Beyond The Valley of Snakes and Defy and Surrender were all fantastic.  Best album of their career over 25 years after they started.

Kesha – High Road – Pop.  I have always loved Kesha’s music, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  She has a great voice, has overcome a lot, and put out a fantastic pop album.  She has a no fucks to give attitude that I’ve always admired and it’s on full display here. The lyrics here spell it out pretty well “And I love, singing ‘fuck’ in all my songs, ‘Cause the only people who got the time to be offended have probably never gotten off.”  There are a lot of club bangers like My Own Dance, Kinky, and Birthday Suit (with a Super Mario Bros. sample) some more straight-ahead power pop like High Road, Shadow and Honey, and then some songs that will really hit your heart like Resentment and Father Daughter Dance.  This album makes me happy, and I bet it will make you happy too.

YUNGBLUD – weird! – ALTERNATIVE/POP/POP PUNK.  This album really lives up to the title as it veers all over the place style-wise, but that’s one of the things I love the most about it.  Dominic has straight ahead rockers, pop tracks, punkish tracks and all of it is driven by his emotional vocals and lyrics hitting the current state of the world.  There are tons of great songs on this album, but check out cotton candy, strawberry lipstick, mars, god save me but don’t drown me out, weird! And it’s quiet in beverly hills.  It came out in December but immediately jumped into my best albums of the year.

Anti-Flag – 20/20 Division – PUNK. Anti-Flag is a socially conscious activist punk band who have been around since the late 80’s.  This album was very pointed towards the current political climate and administration, with songs like Christian Nationalist, Hate Conquers All, Un-American, and It Went Off Like A Bomb.  I’ve always been a fan of intelligent inclusive punk rock and these guys put out one hell of an album.  Highly recommended.

Palaye Royale – The Bastards – ALT ROCK. Palaye Royale have a glam, classic-rock vibe but with a snarling urgency and theatrical undertones.  Like a darker, much heavier Panic At The Disco. Songs like Anxiety and Massacre, The New American Dream both attack with heavy guitars and distorted vocals, then you have the absolute dance-rock of Hang on to Yourself and equally funky screamy Fucking with My Head.  This is a fantastic album and has a particularly great lyric: “I was born to be, anything, that I wanted to be. Raised to be fucking mean, I’m a masterpiece.”

Stand Atlantic – Pink Elephant – POP PUNK.  If you are a fan of Paramore, you will love this album.  Stand Atlantic are a great female led band with excellent vocals and catchy songs.  This was a bright spot of happiness in a year that was pretty dark overall.  There truly is no bad song on this album, but bright spots include Evilgo, Shh!, Blurry and Like That.  If you want to be dancing around the room and in a good mood, this is the album.

Halsey – Manic – POP.  Halsey is one of my favorite pop vocalists, and she released a fantastic album at the beginning of the year.  Graveyard, You Should Be Sad, Finally//Beautiful Stranger, Be Kind and the awesome Without Me (which to be fair is an old single.)  Look for some of the acoustic and stripped versions she has released too because those really show off the emotion and strength of her voice.  You’ll also find her guest singing on the YUNGBLUD and Machine Gun Kelly albums that are in my tops of the year as well.

Some honorable mentions include Green Day, Pearl Jam, The Strokes, All Time Low, Blue October, Smashing Pumpkins, Hollywood Undead and a very political Bon Jovi album.  Thank you to all the artists putting out music during this shit storm of a year.  It helped me cope.  If you want to check out the best songs from my top 10 albums, you can check it out on Apple Music!

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