Trump trumps, New York executes a squirrel, UK shoots for Net Zero and poops on prayer, Australia FaRTs and poops on privacy, the Internet Archive slips down the memory hole
Even though Trump won, I’m still somewhat clutching my black pill. He won too easily, save for the weirdness that is ongoing in Arizona. There is so much time between now and Inauguration Day for all kinds of nefarious acts. Even before the election there’s plenty to chill the heart…look at what happened to our beloved Wayback Machine or the DoD retooling of 5240.1 to allow the military to kill US citizens, Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the non-responsive FEMA and the hindering of rescue efforts that is still ongoing. Weirder and worrisome!
A story I think of often is the Chinese parable of the man who loses his horse. The closest I could find to an original version was unfortunately on Wikipedia, so, if there are any historians or specialists in Chinese/Taoist folklore reading this, please forgive any inaccuracies:
Good luck and bad luck create each other
and it is difficult to foresee their change.
A righteous man lived near the border.
For no reason, his horse ran off into barbarian territory.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
Several months later
his horse came back with a group of [good, noble] barbarian horses.
Everyone [people] congratulated him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you bad luck?"
Now his house is rich in horses
and the son mounted with joy/loved riding.
He fell and broke his leg.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
One year later
the barbarians invaded across the border.
Adult men strung up their bows and went into battle.
I recognise this trip.... it was some bad acid I took back in the 70s. Someone must have found the recipe and given it to all the totalitarians.
One would have hoped that being high on power would be enough, but you might be on to something...
Even though Trump won, I’m still somewhat clutching my black pill. He won too easily, save for the weirdness that is ongoing in Arizona. There is so much time between now and Inauguration Day for all kinds of nefarious acts. Even before the election there’s plenty to chill the heart…look at what happened to our beloved Wayback Machine or the DoD retooling of 5240.1 to allow the military to kill US citizens, Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the non-responsive FEMA and the hindering of rescue efforts that is still ongoing. Weirder and worrisome!
A story I think of often is the Chinese parable of the man who loses his horse. The closest I could find to an original version was unfortunately on Wikipedia, so, if there are any historians or specialists in Chinese/Taoist folklore reading this, please forgive any inaccuracies:
Good luck and bad luck create each other
and it is difficult to foresee their change.
A righteous man lived near the border.
For no reason, his horse ran off into barbarian territory.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
Several months later
his horse came back with a group of [good, noble] barbarian horses.
Everyone [people] congratulated him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you bad luck?"
Now his house is rich in horses
and the son mounted with joy/loved riding.
He fell and broke his leg.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
One year later
the barbarians invaded across the border.
Adult men strung up their bows and went into battle.
Nine out of ten border residents were killed,
except for the son because of his broken leg.
Father and son were protected/both survived.
Hence: Bad luck brings good luck
and good luck brings bad luck.
This happens without end
and nobody can estimate it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse
Yes, that does sum it up fairly well!