It is January 4th, 2026. It has been another long spell without a journal entry for which I’ll blame three things: the lack of motivation, disorganization and my dog always wants to sit in my lap where my laptop is supposed to go.
I have a couple of things on my mind that I’ve been meaning to post about and are entirely unrelated. Let’s get to it.
Earth – A Tiny, Fragile Blue Bubble.
I am no fan of William Shatner, as like many of the famous, they were simply not nice people, especially at the height of their fame. However, I enjoyed his quote about Earth:
While I was looking away from Earth, and turned towards the rest of the universe, I didn’t feel connection; I didn’t feel attraction. What I understood, in the clearest possible way, was that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet. – William Shatner
He looked out into the infinite expanse of the universe and saw death. Everything out there would kill you. Only in our small, fragile, blue bubble can we survive. And what do we do in this fragile bubble? We trash and pollute it daily. Looking at the average air quality index, we’ll see the air is extremely hazardous and almost unbreathable in too many countries. Here is a great representation of our beautiful blue Earth, with the red spots showing real wounds we’re inflicting on the planet.
https://www.iqair.com/earth?nav
And what does the Trump administration do? Drill baby drill! It has been a year under this nightmare of an administration, and I believe there is a feeling of reluctant apathy, of numbness to the daily barrage of idiocy that flows forth from the partially demolished White House. The “flood the zone,” strategy is working.
TRUMP
Every day, there is yet something new to lament coming from the administration. By design, it is too much. I don’t feel like wasting my Sunday going into details, so here are some quick thoughts.
Kimberly Guilfoyle
The Trump Administration takes a very big page from reality T.V.
- The President was a reality T.V. Star
- Many in the administration are former Fox News T.V. Hosts
- The women have a “Trump Style – Rapunzel hair, false eyelashes, plumped lips, figure-hugging sheath dresses and high heels. ” They are fake, just like much in this administration, made for show.
- Just like reality T.V. you’ll have these absurd relationships that seem to exist only for drama, only for show, only for ratings. And that is what we get, not only with the President, but with many in his circle, including his sons.
Kimberly Guilfoyle is a twice divorced former fiancé of Don Jr. What fascinates me most about her above all the other Botox infused women of Trump’s harem (stable?) is that she was married to Gavin Newsom, our current governor of California. Talk about sleeping your way from one side of the political spectrum to the other! Perfect reality T.V. But this isn’t T.V. this is real life, in real politics which affects us all directly!
I wish I could just put her out of my mind, but here is the problem. I take voting seriously, and guess who is a very likely candidate for the Democratic nomination? GAVIN NEWSOM! I don’t want to vote for Gavin Newsom. Just like William Shatner, once you learn more about many of these famous folks, you’ll learn they’re just not nice people. I remember this every Christmas when I listen to Bing Crosby and was reminded again learning about Chevy Chase as a documentary about this life – I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not – coming out. Gavin has recently been casting himself as more of a centrist than the far left, for which he was known as the governor of San Francisco. But this post isn’t about him, so let’s move on.
I wonder if Kimberly might find a way to slide back into his bed should he win? I mean, political men aren’t really known for their fidelity, no matter how many attractive spiritual advisors lay hands on them.
The first time I heard about her was in 2020, and it bothered me enough to post about it from the start.
The New York Times ran a piece on Guilfoyle today which is timely as I was wondering what became of this twice divorced, political gold-digger.
I’ve given more than a thought of cancelling my subscription to the Times, as they’ve portrayed characters like these a little too kindly in recent years. In this article I did like how they pointed out many Greeks considered her appointment a ‘slap in the face’ especially since Kim called them all freeloaders back in 2015. Here are some other points I liked:
1. She likes the nightlife and often seen at late parties. Fits in perfectly for a “Trump woman.”
2. Her appointment may have been a way to get her out of the country after Don Jr. dumped her. You know for a fact it wasn’t her dumping him.
3. Referring to the Greek energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, “she often calls him at midnight,” with the explanation being that “when she needs to finish something she doesn’t need office hours.” Right. Could it be she is just a bit tipsy from the late night partying, or is accustomed to calling men after the club?
The whole administration is absurd, and this is just one small piece. But it is so absurd that I begin to question my sanity, as any of this would have been a scandal just ten years ago. I’m certain that something in reality broke during the pandemic.
J.D. Vance
I’m not going to linger here but want to put this point across – the strategy he is employing is based on white grievance due to jobs lost to globalization and an increasingly diverse USA.
His strategy is not new: when things are bleak, blame the immigrants! It is quite interesting that his wife is Indian, which presents some very serious challenges to Republican voter support. Usha Vance is not an immigrant, but she looks like one, while the President’s wife IS an immigrant but doesn’t look like one – according to Republican thinking of course. Why? Because one is white, and the other isn’t.
J.D. said we can all stop apologizing for being white. Well, guess what, we’ve never had to apologize for being white. In fact, after reading much history I think that well,,,,, I think we actually have a lot of apologizing to do if we’re going to collectively group ourselves under a banner of “White. ” Boy did the Europeans do a lot of bad things and when finally, FINALLY there is a movement to recognize this very obvious fact of history, many white people get all flustered. I mean, let’s just acknowledge a couple of absolutely DEVASTATING facts!
- Slavery – I challenge anyone to spend one week as a slave would have on a cotton plantation. I contend that 90% wouldn’t last more than a few hours.
- Discrimination – What happened after slavery ended? Did everyone get treated equally and live happily ever after? If not when was racism eliminated? I’ll wait.
- The understanding that European disease wiped out over 90% of Native Americans. 90%!!!!
- Colonialism. Let’s look at all the instances of white colonialists taking over non-white territories. Then let’s look at all the instances of non-white people colonizing non-white countries. What do we see? Again, I’ll wait.
J.D. Vance is capitalizing on white angst, a feeling of lessening status among many primarily white young men. Too many jobs were shipped to foreign countries in the name of profit, and with globalization there is too much competition by foreigners. J.D. is riding that wave, but it is slightly awkward with his base due to the color of his wife, isn’t it. Given that his is the Trump Administration reality T.V. show, I bet there is a 50% chance he trades her for Erika Kirk. I still remember when they paraded the Palin family out in their suits, with American flag pins, as an ideal American family. One quick Google search, and you’ll be in Reality T.V. – Trailer Park season.
But I guess this is all OK with many of the American electorate. I mean Boebert can vape and jerk off her boyfriend at a play primarily for children and not face any consequences so perhaps we’ve just evolved from trailer park to OnlyFans – Political Episode!
Holidays
I’m bummed that yet another holiday season has come and gone. It is Sunday, and we all return to work tomorrow. The holidays went especially quickly this year and I don’t feel as though I was able to really tap into the magic, although I tried. I’m now 48, and I guess after 48 holiday seasons it won’t continually feel the same. One factor is we never have the weather for the holidays here in California – it is always 60 degrees and sunny. I think another factor is that I didn’t work out very much at all in 2025, karate or in the gym. This is something I’ll resume in 2026 not only for the sake of my body as I get older but also for my mind.
As for the holidays, I always feel a bit sad when I look at the Christmas tree lots at all the trees that didn’t get picked. I really love our Christmas tradition here in the USA but I don’t like how we cut down living things just for a months use and then throw them out on the curb. My family has always had a fake tree but I understand the attraction of the scent of a real tree and the tradition that goes along with it. BUT, as I get older I’m against killing anything and yes I know this makes me a hypocrite as I’m a meat eater.
I thought about the trees due to The Family Circus comic this morning. I’ve gotten annoyed at this particular comic over the years; part of me wants those kids to grow up already and stop perpetually asking stupid questions. Furthermore, I’ve become part Grinch I know. But this comic was particularly annoying as I’m quite sure the tree, left dying out on the curb by the trash, wasn’t thinking it was happy to give this family a month of joy. Rather, it should be outraged to have its life extinguished to satisfy the selfish desires of these people for only one month. The least they could do is shred it and use its remains for mulch, putting it back into nature. But no, they leave it out with the trash and us humans imagine it being grateful to us as its life slowly fades away?
I’m reminded of this comic from Calvin and Hobbes.
Now imagine the man’s last thoughts thinking how grateful he is to be used for whatever purpose these deer would like him for. Perhaps his head will be mounted somewhere for other deer to admire?
As I’ve gotten older it has become painfully apparent that humans are selfish with only a few having any ability at all to empathize with other living things. Another example of this occurred at the circus where 6 depressed miniature horses were forced to walk in a circle while giving rides to children. It was obvious the animals were sad and broken while the humans laughed and took pictures. We’re only 115 years from having a zoo where humans were displayed, perhaps in another 115 years we shouldn’t be doing the same to animals. Let’s not hold out too much hope because humans can be resiliently stupid and narcissistic.
Well, I had thought I’d also write about my adventures with Linux but I’ve made myself sad and depressed thinking about all of the stuff above.
New Year’s Resolution?
Try to ignore this seemingly downward assent humanity is on to the best of my ability. Remain hopeful and workout more.
Footnote: I resumed sending a Christmas card this year to those childhood friends who unfortunately became Trumpers. At 48 I seem to be one of the very few who still values (and remembers!) those old friendships. The only people that reach out to me anymore are only my international friends. I don’t know why but I feel very strongly about keeping even weak links to childhood friendships. For any young people reading, these bonds (and memories) fade away very quickly. People are busy with their own families, weighed down by adult responsibilities and that vigor of youth just fades away. If I reach out I’ll often hear nothing in return, but if I don’t reach out then I’ll certainly hear nothing. That’s how it works.
