Finished reading: The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 📚💙 The first half of this book gripped me. The second half was a fever dream I could not follow easily. I worked hard to finish as much as I could, but it stopped being fun. Maybe I’ll pick it back up & finish someday ★★★☆☆
Amazon’s Kindle change is really about lock-in. They think we license ebooks from them, not that we own the ebooks we buy #enshittification
The problem is that if the ebook content is on a USB it can be transferred to a computer, and there the DRM can be broken and the book can be pirated and uploaded to a torrent and then downloaded by Meta to train its next AI.
My Applied Critical Thinking class assignment is “What information sources shape your worldview?” Fuck social media for news, fellow kids! was the gist of my epic essay of an OP and the subsequent comments on others' posts. In other news, damn kids on lawn; shakes fist at cloud
Next to the American death cult that is MAGA, the other American death cult that is 2nd Amendment gun-nuttery, and the other other American death cult that is our health insurance setup, the question my overseas friends ask about is why filing American taxes is so hard and stupid:
Let me tell you about the most wasteful US federal government spending I know about. It's a humdinger. You and everyone you know are mired in it for weeks, or perhaps months, every year. It will cost you, personally, thousands of dollars over your lifetime. I'm talking about filing your taxes.Not paying your taxes. Paying your taxes is fine. It keeps the country running, though not because the government needs our "tax dollars" to pay for things. The government annihilates the money it taxes away from us, and creates new money to pay for programs. The USA needs US citizens' dollars to build highways the same way Starbucks needs its Starbucks gift cards to make lattes – that is, not at all:
https://theglobepost.com/2019/03/28/stephanie-kelton-mmt/
I'm talking about filing your taxes. In nearly every case, a tax return contains a bunch of things the IRS already knows: how much interest your bank paid you, how much your employer paid you, how many kids you have, etc etc. Nearly everyone who pays a tax-prep place or website to file their tax return is just sending data to the IRS that the IRS already has. This is insanely wasteful.
https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/11/doubling-up-on-paperwork/#rip-freefile
When I filed taxes as an expat, the heavy lifting E&Y did was not so much what was needed for the country I was working in but rather the byzantine IRS paperwork. That was expensive work and E&Y charged my employer an appropriate amount. But it was still ridiculous.
Being back in the States for five years, I rely on the IRS Free File. I’ve no interest in contributing to the nonsense racket that is Intuit or H&R Block. I’ll fucking print out and mail my tax forms like in the old days before I’ll throw those leeches another cent.
🔗 The Path to Resistance: Document nd Share Everything
The path forward is clear: document everything. Share everything. Help others understand what they’re seeing. Tur...This is, without hyperbole, a five-alarm fire for digital privacy and security. The UK government is attempting to fundamentally reshape global digital security through a secretive demand, hoping the world is too distracted to notice or resist. They’re not just asking for a key to their own citizens’ data — they’re demanding the power to unlock everyone’s digital life, everywhere, while forcing Apple to lie about it.— Mike Masnick's UK Orders Apple To Break Encryption Worldwide While World Is Distracted at TechdirtThe stakes couldn’t be higher. This isn’t just about privacy — it’s about the future of secure communication itself. Don’t let this slip by in the chaos of the moment. The UK government is betting on our distraction and apathy. Let’s prove them wrong.
Techdirt’s coverage on privacy＆encryption is strong；everyone should read UK Orders Apple To Break Encryption Worldwide While World Is Distracted，especially the folks who are all but I have nothing to hide as that is a naively bullshit position to take
Backdoored encryption is not encryption at all．The technical reality is stark：You can’t create a backdoor that only works for＂good guys.＂Any vulnerability built into the system becomes a vulnerability for everyone — state actors，cybercriminals，and hostile nations alike.— Mike Masnick，but also me
I find [the Beatles winning a grammy] depressing．First，the song was an utter dirge．Second，half of the band are dead．Third，it wasn’t rock．Fourth，it wasn’t a song that they，the band，wrote…—The Overspill 5th，it sucks, the grammies；should be about new＆developing artists，not established $$$ stale acts
[trump's] chaos isn’t confidence—it’s desperation．He’s trying to conjure power he doesn’t actually have．He is manufacturing a perception of dominance in the hope that Americans will simply accept it．The real danger is letting his illusion of power become reality.– The Guardian Editorial Board
"Because common sense is never more than an inherited amalgam of past clarities and past confusions, the defenders of common sense are unlikely to enlighten us.”via Philosophy Bites– Alasdair MacIntyre, A Short History of Ethics
From Ben Werdmüller：I want you to do these four things right now
Okay，friends．Here’s what we’re going to do．It’s not going to take long…A post I planned to write，tho prefer BitwardenLet’s install Signal
It’s time for a password manager
A VPN is a great idea
Let’s make your social media more secure
Currently reading：A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy 📚💙"A wise man seeks wisdom；a madman thinks that he has found it." – Persian proverb “The only real science is the knowledge of how a person should live his life．And this knowledge is open to everyone”
Here’s a line from Niall Williams …“… you could stop at，not all，but most of the moments of your life，stop for one heartbeat and，no matter what the state of your head or heart，say This is happiness，because of the simple truth that you were alive to say it.”– h/t Stoney Soil Vermont
Currently reading：The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 📚💙＂I began to walk，fearing a hundred things that would never harm me and utterly ignorant of the real risks I ran.＂p.4 What a gripping and terrifying start．Looking forward to where this takes me．Also，the quote is basically cybersecurity
Finished reading：The Book of the New Sun: Volume 2 by Gene Wolfe 📚💙 Glad I stuck w／it；Autarch_＞_Lictor．Kind of explains what I didn’t like of Lictor w／o wholey redeeming it 🙁．The story’s ending both was expected＆surprised me．Heading into The Urth of the New Sun next
… a Turkish proverb: “If a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king; it makes the palace a circus.”– The Overspill
Currently reading：The Book of the New Sun: Volume 2 by Gene Wolfe 📚💙 Finished The Sword of the Lictor，which went weird in the back 3rd ＆left me cool towards continuing．Diving straight into The Citadel of the Autarch anyway．Considerably longer；I’m hoping it reignites my enjoyment of the tale.
😍🎧🎶
Trick of the Tail，the 7th studio album by Genesis … the album they made after Peter Gabriel left the band & Phil Collins took over as [singer] … I was interested in it．It was compelling．It was different.
– The Trick to Getting Into Trick of the Tail and Genesis | I Have That on Vinyl #musicsky
Finished reading: The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 📚💙 Still sorting out my feelings on The Claw of the Conciliator. I liked it; didn’t always know what was happening. The play was particularly inscrutable for me, at least so far. Curious to see what The Sword of the Lictor will bring
“If it is important to you, you’ll find a way.If it isn’t, you’ll find an excuse.” | Anonymous, seen on the walls of a Jiujitsu gym.
It resonated.
when … a critical thought pipes up to cut me short—I pause．And then I wonder：Why now？What is it about this … that has excited my internal doubters？… what am I afraid of？… I’ve come to realize how much of my doubt is actually fear—of being judged，of being shamed.– Adam Haslett on the Uses of Doubt
Snow ⛄️ Day! No work no school! Think it’s time to knock my home office into shape once I finish my coffee ☕️
For those participating in Dry January: note that not everyone experiences the same benefits from abstaining. I’ve been dry for a year; while I lost weight and cut back spending, most other benefits folks claim escaped me. Ultimately I’m still me, boozy or dry. Remember: your mileage may vary
Currently reading: The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 📚💙 Finished The Shadow of the Torturer (I have the old-school paperback) & starting The Claw of the Conciliator. It takes a while to look up all the baroque words Wolfe used in his story, but it is worth it.