brainiac conspiracy

Farewell Address

I started up this dopey ol' blog seven years ago in response to what was the horrible political environment I worked in at the time. The company I worked for was grotesquely overstaffed with dittoheads and birthers, so I built out this site and started posting content as a form of catharsis. And for a good long while, it helped. Nowadays, however, the site has become sort of a burden. It hasn't made me any money---not that I cared much, but it would have been nice---and I've come to the conclusion that viewing our times through the sarcastic and sometimes cynical prism that's a staple of most posts here is exerting a corrosive effect on my emotional well-being, and that my energies would be better applied in other, more constructive pursuits. The myriad disappointments of the past few years have been bad enough without having to relive them every day. Besides, the very reason for this blog's existence---my former employer's political views---is receding further away from my rear view.

So with this post, we're putting the Conspiracy to bed. There are plenty of other great lefty political bloggers out there who can keep fighting the good fight, but as for yours truly, my calling is elsewhere. For anyone who ever posted a comment or corresponded with me through this blog, a heartfelt thanks. Who knows, perhaps I'll have a change of heart a few weeks or months from now, and we'll revive the site with the usual daily dose of vitriol and bile. For the near term, however, your humble blogger is going to leave the jeremiads to others, and go off in search of a little serenity. Selah.

---Baron V

Tuesday Night Music Blogging

Because Dickwad the Internet Service Provider has been playing tricks on me all afternoon with Denial of Service notices because, allegedly, I have "exceeded my monthly browsing limits" even though I didn't know I even had any. I think this means, "Give us more money or you don't get to play on the YouberTubes." I'm sure glad that I can count on the people who govern us to protect Internet access, but as soon as my contract with these people expires, a new ISP beckons.

---Baron V

Not Keen on This at All

So we've already established that Donald Sterling is a racist shit, but even racist shits have some rights, and one of them---presumably---is the right to hold racist-shit views. His beliefs may be repugnant, but I don't see how you can bar someone from his chosen profession for being a racist shit without trampling all over his First Amendment rights to be a racist shit. Okay, I know why the league is doing it---because they've conveniently overlooked all the other horrible ways he has treated people throughout his career as an owner---but it sure seems to me that he'd have a decent court case if he wanted to contest them. He might not bother since his sponsors are deserting him in droves, and that, not the league, is what may ultimately force him to sell off his team.

---Baron V

Quote of The Day

Every hero becomes a bore at last. ---Emerson

(Via.)

---Baron V

Monday Night Music Blogging

Because being a First World nation sure was fun while it lasted.

---Baron V

Why We Fight

There might have been a time---WWII, for sure---when we fought wars for legitimate reasons, but in my lifetime, I can't think of a single one our nation has waged (with the provisional exception of Afghanistan; was probably justifiable 12 years ago, but not anymore) that was even remotely defensible on national-security grounds. Then again, when war-toy manufacturing is among your political leaders' preferred government make-work programs, you've got to keep buying all the shiny toys those people make, and what's the use in buying them of you're never going to use them? So perpetual war, at this point, is essentially baked into America Inc.'s business model.

---Baron V

We're Doing It For Your Own Good

Because cities are for cars, not people.

To the point, there is something seriously wrong about your policy priorities when walking through an intersection---in the crosswalk, on a green light!---can merit a fine that's three times the amount you'd pay for leaving your car in a "No Parking" zone. If the local burghers want to encourage people to get out of their cars and use their own two feet for short trips---because, you know, it reduces congestion, smog, wear and tear on our roads, etc.---they've sure got a funny way of doing it.

---Baron V

Sterling

The racism and misogyny are icing on the cake, but it bears remembering that for most of his career in basketball, his franchise was one of the most incompetently managed organizations in the history of professional sports. What's more, he didn't give a shit about it. For decades. In fact, it made more sense for him to field a crappy team than a contender. Why? Because loading up his roster with minimum-wage rookies and retreads allowed him to rake in a tidy profit thanks to league's revenue-sharing program, even if the team finished last and nobody attended the games. In most endeavors, we'd call someone like that a welfare moocher, but this being America, he's a job creator par excellence.

---Baron V

Today's Worst Persons

The Toyota Motor Salespersons.

I was wrong: capitalism is, by definition, evil. Remind me again why I should ever want to work in service of such a system, or live in a country that gives it free rein. Uruguay looks better with each passing day.

---Baron V

Still More Minimal Blogging Day

Because your humble blogger, well, is turning into a minimalist. Or something.

---Baron V