Our Revels Are Ended. Thank Goddess.

 I am not rabidly anti Xmas.  But the world expects a lot out of me this time of year. My nature makes me an easily drained empath, and I am something of a introvert.  Depends on my mood.  And I am an agnostic atheist who is strongly non conformist.

I tried to tone it down over on my FB wall.  But I did hit on the theme that this time of year?  A lot of people's small to minor to greater manipulative pathologies come out 

If there is any specific word tied to a more than not general idea that describes why Xmas gets on my last fucking nerve fast?

Manipulation.

Fuck that shit.

Don't Denounce Your Citizenship

 And move to Russia.

As a lifelong radical progressive liberal, I really mean it.

Don't denounce your American citizenship and move to Russia.

Alleged Art and the Supreme Court.

 I am still thinking of the related issues of that insane SCOTUS case, involving the bigoted, alleged artist. Who only is a web designer. And with my arty farty degree? And my experience with wysiwyg and more labor intensive web design experience? I have no problem saying that ain't art, she ain't no artist.

I got to thinking about the critical, literally, question. When does mere craft become art? My mind got to the idea that when something is basically a functional thing? It's not really art, even if "design" is part of the process. Case in point. A draftsman's blue print.

I was thinking that, ya know? And I literally saw an exhibit at the Guggenheim of school kid's art over the last year. And that clearly was all art. It was expression. It was art made for no better reason than the making of art. Pure art!

But that lady's web designs? Thought occurred to me was I could whip up an exhibit incorporating her web designs, in a multi media, video and light display that would be more obviously art, than her workaday, practical, commercial output.

I got around to googling the question. This is a fine answer.

But before I did that, my mind produced another observation.

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court deciding what is or isn't art? How many ways can that go wrong?

People Wear Me Out.

 What about you?

That Twitter Data Dump.

 Let me see if I have the argument correctly.  An interwebnetubes content publisher (not a traditional journalism company, not that it matters,) "suppressed" a bonkers story, back when the story could not be verified.  And the people who wanted the unverified story spread far and wide, had a specific political goal in mind; to manipulate public opinion around an election.   

Same could be said for some of the people who did not want the story spread.

But only one side was trying to manipulate the news, and or info tainment cycles?  Not both?  And not only ignoring the fact that a politician campaign is exactly that?  A manipulation of ideas, and minds, and public opinion?

And journalists have always had a thumb on that scale, anyway?  And by scale I mean public opinion.

And we are supposed to throw out the US Const. because one side's attempt to manipulate public opinion was not as far and wide, and or effective as they hoped?

Oh.  And despite all the hosts of horrors that political party repeated published during the last election cycle, in their attempt to manipulate opinion.  They, having newly won control of the House of Representatives, wants to investigate attempts to manipulate public opinion around elections?

Yeah.  That is not only bonkers.  It is childishly silly.