Month: November 2024

No One is Above the Law, Except Those Who Are

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Welcome to Crazy World

In a turn of events that shouldn’t have surprised me — but somehow still did — all charges have been dropped against Donald Trump. Legal experts had expected the prosecution to simply be put on hold for four years, operating on the assumption, perhaps, that Trump couldn’t pardon himself. But no — apparently, the legal system has thrown up its hands and declared, “We give up.”

So, as it now seems entirely legal to stage an insurrection as long as you’re legally elected afterward, welcome to crazy world. A place where accountability is a suggestion, not a requirement, and reality itself feels like it’s been outsourced to a late-night comedy writer.

Meanwhile, in the corporate wing of crazy world, Walmart has announced it’s scrapping its DEI efforts in the name of… supporting DEI. Because nothing says “diversity, equity, and inclusion” like abandoning programs designed to promote them. Who needs action when you can simply redefine words until they mean nothing?

Let’s pause for a moment and ask: What are the long-term consequences of these trends? When accountability becomes negotiable, the rule of law starts to resemble a suggestion box — easy to ignore and even easier to manipulate. If elected officials can act with impunity and corporations can greenwash their way out of responsibility, how can anyone trust the systems that are supposed to hold power in check?

It sets a dangerous precedent. The message is clear: consequences only apply to those who lack the power to avoid them. For politicians, this means the playbook has been rewritten. Why bother avoiding corruption or scandal when you can simply double down, claim victory, and wait for the public to move on? For corporations, the game is even simpler: slap a trendy buzzword on your PR campaign, do the opposite, and let the news cycle do the rest.

The implications go beyond politics and business — they erode the social contract. If those at the top can rewrite the rules at will, why should anyone else bother following them? When accountability collapses at the highest levels, it trickles down, breeding cynicism and apathy. Why believe in the idea of justice if it’s only available to those who can afford it? Why engage with a system that seems designed to mock your values?

And what about language itself? When words like “accountability” and “diversity” are twisted into marketing tools or hollow excuses, we risk losing the ability to communicate meaningfully. If anything can mean anything, how do we agree on what’s real? Without shared definitions, society becomes unmoored, drifting into a post-truth abyss where power determines reality, and reality becomes a matter of spin.

In crazy world, up is down, wrong is right, and hypocrisy isn’t just a feature — it’s the foundation. It’s a place where insurrections are “alternative inaugurations,” and cutting DEI programs becomes “enhanced inclusion initiatives.” A place where the rules don’t matter, so long as you play the game loud enough and long enough.

The question is: How long can we survive in a world where truth is whatever you can convince people it is? And more importantly — what happens when no one even bothers to pretend anymore?

I Try to Practice Mindfulness

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Photo by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash

Mindfulness — the art of being truly present, here and now. To cultivate it in daily life, one must begin with the simple act of attention. Not as a grim duty or a spiritual exercise, but as an exploration, a playful curiosity about this moment, as it unfolds.

I tell this to myself, as I channel my inner Alan Watts.

First, I imagine him to say, “recognize that mindfulness is not about achieving something. It is about noticing what already is.” A starting point could be your breath. You don’t need to control it, for your breath breathes itself. Sit quietly for a moment and simply observe the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation. Feel the air moving through your nostrils, the rise and fall of your chest. This, you see, is an anchor — a way to come back to the present whenever your mind drifts.

As you go about your day (my inner Alan Watts tells me), mindfulness can be woven into the most mundane activities. Washing dishes, for example, can become a meditation. Feel the warm water on your hands, the texture of the soap, the sound of the running tap. (This is why I don’t mind doing the dishes.)

Walking, too, becomes an opportunity to feel the earth beneath your feet, to notice the sway of your arms, the sounds of the world around you. (This is why I like taking solitary walks.)

I imagine Alan telling me that “the key is to avoid labeling these experiences as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Simply notice them.” The moment you try to forcemindfulness, you turn it into yet another task, another thing to “get right.” But life, as Alan would say, is not a riddle to be solved; it is a song to be sung.

And when you inevitably find yourself lost in thought, distracted or overwhelmed, be gentle with yourself. The act of noticing that you’ve wandered off is, itself, mindfulness. In that moment, you are aware of awareness.

Ultimately, mindfulness isn’t something separate from life. It is life. It is the art of realizing that you are not apart from this flowing moment but an intrinsic part of its dance. The wind doesn’t have to try to blow; it simply does. So, too, let mindfulness arise naturally, as an expression of your own being.

And with that, my inner Beavis and Butthead start going, “Heh heh, heh, heh heh heh, he said ‘blow.’”

Updated Covers

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Very happy about the updated covers on my Bridge of Eternity series. They should be available from booksellers soon. In the meantime, I still have a stock of autographed copies with old cover art. I’m wondering if I should drop the price on them?

And So it Begins

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One of Trump’s new cabinet members?

If you believe the mainstream media (I don’t), 51% of the USA adores our duly elected President, while the other 49% wish one of the two failed assassination attempts had been successful.

I see this seething hatred of Trump online, and I see it in the media. Because I exist in an echo chamber, the only time I see praise and adoration for our new President is in clips shared by his detractors as examples of how stupid Trump supporters are.

I can’t help but wonder if this snide, superior attitude on the left is exactly what drove people toward the right. A Newsweek article published on November 9, 2024 claims that those who supported Obama are now the ones supporting Trump.

Do I believe that? I don’t know! I don’t know what to believe anymore. I now think it’s just as likely we’re in a simulation run by the aliens we keep seeing in those leaked UFO videos, and they’re trolling* us for their amusement.

*In the context of simulated worlds, “griefing” is the proper term.

The new administration’s team lineup appears to be finalized, giving us a clear picture of who will be running the show for the next four years. Meanwhile, reports suggest that “the Republicans” are unhappy with some, if not all, of the selections. On the left, many of these choices are dismissed as part of what critics are calling a clown show.

But are they clowns, really? Or is this just how they’re being portrayed by a clearly biased news media? The right doesn’t have a monopoly on radical bias, and again, I think this over-the-top bias had a major effect on how the vote skewed right. People no longer trust the news media and so assume it’s all lies.

I don’t blame them. I don’t trust mainstream media either. They don’t care about truth; they care about advertising dollars. This has always been the case, but it’s far worse now due to increased competition in the media. Fearmongering has become the go-to strategy for capturing attention. By keeping people angry, divided, and scared, the media ensures consistent viewership, driving up ad revenue.

The politicians are all too willing to help, especially those on the right, because without division, they generally lose. Both the right- and left-leaning media are incentivized to keep the division intact, no matter what they say about wanting to help “bring everyone together.”

They all lose money on slow news days.

Speaking of which, as I write this, the news media is stoking the fear of impending nuclear war, so much so I saw an article with a map of the USA purportedly showing the best places to move if you want to be away from all the atomic blasts. You know, because those annoying mushroom clouds are bad for the local real estate markets.

Side note: I live well within the blast zone of one of the major targets. If nuclear war breaks out, I’ll have nothing to worry about because I will be vaporized. All my problems gone in a flash.

So along with the rest of the frightened, angry, disappointed people in my echo chamber, I fear what is going to happen as we move deeper into this dystopia. Then again, I also find myself morbidly curious. How bad will it get, really? Can it match the wildest fears of the supposed 49% whose candidate didn’t win? Or is this all just hysteria?

I’ve stocked up on emergency food rations, just in case.

The Past, Looking Into the Future

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This is me as I’m staring into the future, back in 1985 (Photo by David Siler)

While going through my old DOS-based word processor files from the 1980s, created on my very first computer (an IBM PCjr), I stumbled upon notes for a dystopian science fiction story I called Americana 2025. Set 40 years in the (then) future, it was to be about rebels battling for freedom against a corrupt, fascist, corporate-controlled dystopian U.S. government. It was your basic run-of-the-mill mid-1980s cyberpunk stuff, which is why I ended up never writing it. I had, in fact, completely forgotten about it.

That was until a few weeks ago, when I converted that old WordPerfect 4.1 document into something I could read in a modern app.

Stumbling upon it, I sat there in front of my computer, feeling a bit stunned. The story idea and plot notes I described were close enough to our present reality that they gave me chills.

This, I thought, is no longer fiction. It’s reality. And staring at the title, I decided I had to write this now-true story as a journal. This had to be a firsthand look at history as it happens, told personally through commentary on daily headlines and interviews about how these coming changes to American society affect people — not celebrities, not the rich who can afford to escape, but the common person who will be the most affected by what is about to happen.

I want to find what the actual reality is, beyond the anger, the fearmongering, the division, the shock, the jubilation of the MAGA supporters. What is actually happening, who is it affecting, and is it as bad or good as people hoped or feared? Will Donald Trump, America’s first convicted felon president, enact the Project 2025 plan he claims he knows nothing about, despite it being put together by his own people?

I don’t know what is going to happen. No one does. For those reading this online as a blog, we’re all going to find out together. For those future people reading this in book form, this is a record of what happened as it happened.

Either way, this is history, and I just hope I can do it justice.

Nature Sounds: Midsummer Solstice in Finland

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Recorded June 21st, 2013 in Porvoo, Finland

A magical time that I’ll never forget, where the sun never set and the birds sang all night long.

Nature Sounds: Rainy Night

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Recorded in Rock Island on November 18th, 2024

Since it seems I’m not going to podcast anymore, I was about to sell this Zoom H6 recorder on eBay, but at the last minute I pulled it back down and decided I would keep it, and use it to record nature sounds.

This evening I put it up next to one of my upstairs windows and recorded the rain.

Finding Calm in the Midst of Chaos

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These days, it can feel as if the world itself is at war, spinning in a frenzy that threatens to pull us under. The future seems uncertain, and with that uncertainty, fear arises — fear that the things we hold dear will crumble, that the freedom we cherish will slip through our fingers. It’s natural to feel disillusioned and angry, perhaps even betrayed by those who allow such things to happen. But what if, instead of getting lost in the storm, we found a way to touch the peace that lies beneath it all?

Let us consider the nature of peace. We often think of it as a quiet, tranquil environment — one free of conflict or disturbance. But true peace is not a place, nor is it dependent on what happens around us. True peace is the depth of an ocean, the boundless expanse of the sky. It is something that we are, not something we must seek outside ourselves.

Imagine yourself as the sky, vast and open. Within you, clouds of thought, emotion, and worry drift and gather. Storms arise, lightning flashes, thunder rumbles — but all of it passes. The sky remains untouched, unchanged by the drama unfolding within it. This is the true nature of peace: an inner stillness that doesn’t depend on external calm, but rather welcomes everything without resistance, without losing its essence.

Of course, it’s easy to feel that life’s storms are too fierce, that the pressure is too intense. We may think we’re on the verge of being crushed by the weight of it all. But in those moments, remember that even the fiercest storms pass. All things in life are impermanent. No empire, no movement, no leader lasts forever. And just as they come, they will go. We are not here to fight the tides of history but to find within ourselves the strength to meet them with grace and wisdom.

When the world is in turmoil, our greatest act of courage is not to run away or lash out, but to cultivate that calm center within us. This isn’t to deny the suffering in the world or to turn our backs on others. On the contrary, when we find stillness, we can move through life with clarity and compassion, able to see beyond our fear and anger, able to act wisely rather than react impulsively.

In times of great upheaval, remember that what you are — what you truly are — cannot be touched by any outside force. You are the awareness in which all these events arise and dissolve. This awareness is boundless, open, and unshakeable. It allows you to feel deeply without being overwhelmed, to care without becoming consumed. And from this place, you can bring the light of calm and kindness into the world, even as the storms rage around you.

So, if you feel the urge to flee or despair, pause. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and remember the sky within you. Let the clouds of anger, fear, and frustration drift by. You need not push them away, nor cling to them. Simply allow them to be, as the sky allows every cloud to pass. When you touch that boundless, peaceful awareness, you bring a little more peace to the world itself.

And that is no small thing.

I hope these words offer some solace and perspective to those who need it most. Each person who touches that place of inner calm becomes, in their own way, a quiet lighthouse amid the storm, guiding others back to their own unshakable peace.