Maybe it's just my imagination but Udon always looks vaguely appalled at her own behavior. Gibbs was not like this. Gibbs would do Udon-ish things like flop down in the middle of something I'm doing and roll around with his paws in the air, but it always felt wholesome and expected, like Gibbs was merely indicating that he wanted to participate. Udon, however, always looks somehow shocked and wide-eyed. "I am on the floor with my legs in the air, human. How did this happen?! Do something about it!" seems her mood. ~Chara

I believe in democracy, and yet I'm not entirely sure why I do. I don't have an argument that would withstand much scrutiny, anyway...not yet, anyway. Because of my Catholic moralism I view all human beings, including myself, as equally untrustworthy with power. Therefore pure democracy seems like the only option. The implication is that giving anyone extra powers, for any reason, will inevitably lead to abuse. No human being is perfect; therefore no human being will ever be perfectly immune to corruption and the temptation to abuse power.

This is some sort of argument in favor of democracy but not a strong one. If I challenged any American political commentator who branded themselves as Christian with this argument, they'd shoot it down immediately, probably by attacking my assumption that every human being is untrustworthy, which I derive from my interpretation of the concept of original sin. No non-Christian would be obliged to take my premises seriously in the first place!

Democracy has never had strong defenders in any American society I've known, even from earlier decades. Democracy tends to be defended in purely negative terms, because that's what makes the most intuitive sense: as with violations of civil rights, the harmful consequences of violations of democracy are the most obvious arguments (in my opinion) for preserving democracy. It really is "the worst system aside from all the others" partly because it's also the simplest system. Designating an arbitrary leader immediately invites conflict: who gets to define "leader"? What are the criteria for leadership? There's ten thousand think-tanks who owe their daily existence to the fact that one can argue these questions in circles forever—and therefore I say the simplest solution is the best. NOBODY gets to be a supreme leader. NOBODY gets to belong to a privileged class. NOBODY gets shut out as valueless to humanity. What else makes sense?

It's quite obvious that American society has abandoned democracy. The Republicans brazenly betrayed democracy in 1980 with the installation of Ronald Reagan and the open embrace of fascistic methods. The Democrats and liberals responded, I contend, largely by giving up on democracy. Liberal political rhetoric in the U.S., from what I little I remember of the 1980s, took refuge in extreme snobbery. Stupid people were in charge now, that was the problem, according to lots of liberals. To be sure, Ronald Reagan was clearly not all there and being fed his lines; clearly he wasn't President because of his brains and his decision-making. Someone else was doing that. But the resentful conviction that Reagan and the GOP won only because Americans were "dumb" took hold of Democratic politics, and they started to normalize the idea that certain people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

And now...look where we are.

~Chara of Pnictogen

I have a little Asus laptop, several years old now (in fact it was purchased during the late 2016 trip to Scottsdale, AZ where Daria got her GRS done) and still usable, but unfortunately it won't work with Haiku. The OS doesn't seem to recognize the trackpad, and the installer doesn't see the laptop's SSD, so...that's that. I guess I could go with Linux but bleech.

What's least objectionable?

~Chara

We have massive problems with executive dysfunction and avoiding unpleasant tasks, and we've been extremely aware of it for years now and yet we still feel some days like we've made no headway against it. We feel like we can keep up with tasks one day, and then the next day we can barely drag ourselves from bed. Attempting to think about many routine jobs brings on a dull roar of bad memories and buried anxieties and we're getting annoyed by the vagueness of that feeling. Isn't there some way to put all that stuff into the past tense? We're constantly taunted by the idea that we can somehow crest this hill, and then we'll not feel always haunted by the stench of past failure. ~Chara