why i rarely write about politics
I write to explore questions that are possessed of depths that I want to explore and, at the present, politics / the state of the republic / etc etc is so objectively shit on a surface level that there's nothing for me to explore.
It reeks of it, it pours and seeps out of every vein: fascist authoritarian cankle tumors and toady lickspittles running ripshod over admittedly broken systems and institutions (worst solution to very real problems humanly possible) while feckless, woefully inadequate-to-the-task opposition leaders (a term I use charitably with the current Democratic leadership – and yes, good job on shutting down the government: you should've done it in March; doing it now is the legislative version of a perfect attendance certificate) pretend they're replaying their greatest high school football victory (the 2006 midterms) when the other side's playing some fucked up horror show and the Dems who are more up to and of the moment are sidelined in the name of decorum, seniority, and/or fear of straying too far from the impotent.
None of this means that I don't have opinions or that I won't use my voice or my wallet where I can and where it's of the most benefit to those most in need (any Democrat running in '26 possessed of genuine, heartfelt solutions on how to make the lives of everyone better: my writing skills are yours for free); it means that using what little brainpower I have left writing about it is a waste of whatever time I have left. Case in point.
Police Pull Over Waymo to Check for Drunk Driving
via Futurism:
On Friday night, cops in the Bay Area city of San Bruno who were on the lookout for drunk drivers stopped a car after it made an illegal U-turn at a traffic light — only to realize there was no one in the driver’s seat. There was no smell of booze or someone slurring their words, either. It was a Waymo robotaxi blowing off traffic laws like many a human driver when it’s late out.
“No driver, no hands, no clue,” the police department wrote in a social media post about the incident, per the Chronicle’s reporting.
The self-driving cab, however, didn’t get dinged like you or us. Since there was no one operating the vehicle, the cops couldn’t issue a citation. But they did reach out to Waymo’s parent company Google to let them know about the glitch.
“Our citation books don’t have a box for ‘robot,'” the department said.
/202510021212
Weariness continues, though I'm doing far, far better than yesterday. Two sleepless nights took - and continue to take - their toll. A new surprise project has lurched forward and made its mark via a new burn on my wrist (thankfully not from the laser: I can both give cancer and remove it, go me). Had written a thing about another thing but didn't think that thing was worth committing to the digital ether. Not saying this one is either but at least it's more of the moment than the other thing was. A note to myself: "the words still aren't there; were they ever?"
