In Korean, “Hahaha” sounds more like “kh- kh- kh-”, represented by, “ㅋㅋㅋ”

When they were handing out the disaster lunchboxes, I heard a person in line say, “they had better offer alternative milk” as though offering oat, almond, and soy like they were at Starfucks was the priority in a hurricane. I get it. Some people can’t process lactose. My partner can’t. Nor can she handle gluten. She, at the same time, realizes that her dietary needs might play second string to 230 km/h wind and a legit deluge. She took her white bread and cheese sandwich, milk and cereal, banana, and Oreos and dealt with it. She was more concerned with all of us being alive at the end of the day and wanting to help the staff get home to their families.

Amen.

No one has posted an example of one read by the author, so I will: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Funny, insightful, and a truly incredible autobiography in his own voice and with full knowledge of all the languages he can speak.

Wait, maybe the justices just gave Biden the authority to do just that.

…

Naw. See, if he did, that’d delegitimize the presidency and cause a constitutional crisis.

But, if a Republican President does it, it’s an exercise in upholding American freedom and the true authority of the office. See the difference?

Should the UNSG also have said nothing?

I’ll print more legibly in the future.

That’s just how I process information. Pencil in hand and post-its are easy to find in my house. They end up in notebooks with more writing. Better, by far, than on back of some envelope or on my kids’ school work like my parents used to do.

Also, made you look.

Ding ding. Correct.

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Qatsi films

Solaris (2002)

If it’s alive and not a plant, not a fungus, and not a single-celled organism, it is probably an animal.

Operation Gideon (2020)

"… Two boats were launched from eastern Colombia toward the Caribbean coast of Venezuela north of Caracas, carrying approximately 60 Venezuelan dissidents and two American former Green Berets employed as mercenaries by Silvercorp. Both boats were intercepted before they reached land. At least six Venezuelan dissidents in the first boat were killed, and all but four of the invaders were captured during the attempted landing or subsequent search operations, including the two Americans from the second boat, whose interrogations were broadcast on state television.

Venezuelan intelligence agencies and the Associated Press (AP) had prior knowledge of the operation. Commentators and observers described the operation as amateurish, underfunded, poorly organized, impossible, and a suicide mission, and divergent narratives led to questions about how the plot unfolded. Sources criticized the poor planning and execution, alternating between characterizing Operation Gideon as an attempted invasion, infiltration, raid, ambush, assassination or coup.

Thanks for bringing Wiley Miller back into my life today. It’s been too long.

My preferred quote on this line:

“Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.” ~ Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

It takes the will of a saint to be incorruptible — to not become addicted to the exercise of power. Those who do not desire power, like saints, may have it thrust upon them.

Even when left to own devices, a person can only exercise power within a society that has desires, wants, and fears. The whole society would need to be incorruptible. This is improbable. In the unlikely case of such a pure society, it would also need to be incorruptible when in contact with “the other” — peoples, species, events, and ideas. This is exceedingly improbable. So, the whole of existence would need to be incorruptible.

Power corrupts.

QED (using the slippery slope, I know)

So, Jumper.

Lucy (2018) - some mild insanity, remorselessness

Genie from Aladdin (1992) ‐ everything is a joke

Bruce Almighty (2003) - can’t actually control himself

I’m going to go off on a comic-book tangent here:

Wielder of Infinity Gauntlet (1991, 2018) - potential insanity, later radiation scarring

Phoenix Force (1976) ‐ heavy insanity, desire to consume planets (see: Dark Phoenix Saga (1980), (X-Men '92, S03E11), Avengers vs. X-men (2012))

Omega-Level mutants - tendency toward megalomania (see: Jean Grey, Magneto, Kid Omega, 4 horsemen of Apocalypse… even Ororo Munroe (goddess), though Iceman seems well-adjusted)

Beyond - remorselessness, destruction of universes (see: Secret Wars (1984), Time Runs Out Event (2014))

Trigonometry

Yeah, I don’t mind it. Thor is a name and a title/power. God (presumably) is a name, and Thor has the power of a god.

Prince is a title. It’s also a name. And, to some musicians, Prince is a god.

It’d be rare to win an argument by invoking Prince, but there you go.