It’s in because, well, I was surprised that Grey’s Anatomy is in its 22nd season.

Its interesting that interactions here center on the one pop-culture element of my comment and none on the others. Yes, it’s a non-sequitur. It stands out.

Is it because the others are all self-evident? Flogged to death? Too controversial? Not controversial enough? Insurmountable?

• Expensive education

• Cities planned for cars

• 5-day work weeks

• Grey’s Anatomy

• Nuclear weapons

• Racism

And I agree with the others who’ve said:

• Fossil fuels, particularly coal

• Private health insurance

AI can read the Doomsday Clock.

Were you there when it happened to me?

I swear, that one Donald Sutherland scene in JFK had me going for such a long time on the conspiracy bent. I thought it was real.

Who knew, it was Kevin Bacon we needed to pay attention to all along.

Worse, it was produced by Alex Jones.

Purposeful juxtaposition or transcription error?

Whichever, it is glorious. Never change.

Haven’t seen this but have heard this title for decades. One day, I’ll have the strength to take this film on.

• The Pianist

• Empire of the Sun

• The End of the Affair

• 火垂るの墓 — “The Grave of the Fireflies”

• La Vita e Bella — “Life is Beautiful”

Less about how the front lines and the warriors fared. More about how the wars affected individuals, particularly children.

They did get me. I got away. But, it was my own kids.

CIA. Recruiting my own kids against me.

Always has been.

“Canadians say U.S. … is bigger threat [to us] than Russia”

World’s longest undefended border may have something to do with that.

Note: ask any country in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Africa, or the Arabian/Persian Gulf who is a bigger threat, you’ll get the same answer. Some might say China is forgotten from the list.

Canadians are breaking through the propaganda, finally. Contra-American sentiment or a political anti-American stance has probably not been this rooted since 1812.

Russia threatens European power. U.S. threatens the Western Hemisphere and

Seven Seconds by Youssou N’dour and Neneh Cherry (French and English)

• this was my first foray into “world music” in, like Grade 7.

Sadeness by Enigma (Latin and French)

Miserere by Arvo Pärt (Latin)

The Expanse by Clinton Shorter (Old Norse?)

Disappointment by Moon (Russian?)

Also, I lived in Korea when Gangnam Style dropped. It was magical at the outset, but now… well, hyperexposure is a real thing. But, good on Psy for his work.

The Roots (first four albums especially)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor / A Sliver Mt. Zion

Portishead, Massive Attack

Public Enemy

Ah. Oops. Did not know I’d transgressed.

As far as I know, these cycles were written by the post-maker. I just found them compelling, each a visual and visceral view of our inhumanity toward ourselves. The writing is pretty good. The AI is illustrative, though not altogether the compelling element.

In your head, change the name of a food you wish to avoid. I’ve done this with McD’s.

In my head, it’s been called McDicks since high school. I, personally, don’t enjoy eating dicks. So, when I see the sign, and I feel like a Big Mac would go down easy, I say to myself, “I don’t eat dicks.”

It works.

For those who enjoy eating dicks, well, you’ll have to choose another association. Also, I didn’t think the phrase “feel like a Big Mac would go down easy” would be so overtly sexual.

More people need to know about Bernays. Literally wrote the book, Propaganda in 1928. Went on to found the industry of Public Relations. He is the reason advertisers target your subconscious, make you feel bad, an use their products as a salve for the pain they inflict.

Adam Curtis covers the effects well in The Century of the Self. Watch out, it clocks in at just under 4 hours.

Do yourself a favour, watch the directors cut.

Let’s see: USA has 26.3% of world GDP. They jealously guard that by force of arms, unfair trade deals, and an aggressive propaganda campaign.

Then, the relationship turns truly abusive. America is even inflicting self-harm.

So, the trade partners of thw world want a divorce; to find themselves and reconnect to their core values, absent the frathouse belligerence of USA. Certainly, other powerful and potentially abusive partners are there among the large economies; but the smaller, resource rich countries are looking for better partnerships.

The US’s stars will fade. Their economic power will shrink. They may even lose some of their states to secession.

If I’m not mistaken, this is how the Holy Roman Empire collapsed — into a handful of warring kingdoms and principalities in the middle of Europe. It wasn’t the end of the world. It was the end of that world.

Skateboarding. Wingsuit flying. BASE jumping.

All seem like SO much fun. But, Im entering middle age with two kids. Broken bones are not fun. Nor are risks not covered by my insurance, apparently. That’s what my partner tells me anyway. She gets final say on fun.

Or, the insurance company does. Whichever. They’re on the same side: against injury. And fun.

For those who don’t understand these words, I’ll translate: driving a motor vehicle (car, truck, van, or other) with a manual-shift or stick-shift transmission.

In an automatic transmission vehicle, you have steering, gas, and brakes. The car itself decides automatically which gear to be in based on several conditions. This is the form of driving to which most are accustomed.

The rest of us can actually drive.

Ee-ahn’-aw-oh(ng)-oo(ng) for robot to vehicle. And quickly.