Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Gun violence in America has long been a wound that never quite heals, a constant reopening of trauma that we are asked to accept as the “price of freedom.” The irony, of course, is that the same people who have consistently waved off school shootings, grocery store massacres, church slaughters, and concerts turned into war zones as “tragic but inevitable,” are suddenly clutching their pearls now that one of their own, Charlie Kirk, has become the latest victim. For years, Kirk has said out loud what many on the far-right believe but dance around: that bodies in the streets are an acceptable cost of our Second Amendment. That freedom, they insist, requires blood. But when it is their blood, suddenly the narrative changes.

No one—left, right, or anywhere in between—wants to see gun violence unfold. Nobody truly wants to walk into a public space and wonder if it will be their last time breathing fresh air. That’s not freedom; that’s fear disguised as liberty. But America has been conditioned to normalize this cycle. A mass shooting happens. We argue for a few days. Politicians pick teams. Then we move on until the next round of lives are stolen. The cycle repeats itself endlessly. When it’s kids in Uvalde or Sandy Hook, Republicans say, “Don’t politicize it.” When it’s families at a Walmart in El Paso, the response is: “A good guy with a gun could have stopped this.” But now that it’s one of their cultural warriors, suddenly the tragedy deserves special reverence.

The hypocrisy is glaring. Republicans didn’t pause for a national moment of silence when Minnesota legislators were murdered in their own homes. They didn’t demand that America honor these public servants who were killed by the very violence Republicans so often excuse. They shrugged. They moved on. But now, with Charlie Kirk, they are framing him as a fallen soldier in the war for freedom, a martyr for the Second Amendment. It’s not about stopping gun violence—it’s about keeping score in the blood sport of American politics.

This team-sport approach to mass death has to stop. Gun violence should not be a partisan issue. The dead are not Democrats or Republicans. They are mothers, fathers, children, neighbors, and colleagues. Every time the story breaks, there are empty chairs at dinner tables and birthdays that will never be celebrated. Yet we act as though some lives deserve more outrage than others based solely on political affiliation. That rot in our national conscience is almost as dangerous as the guns themselves.

The saddest truth is that daily school shootings barely register anymore. Headlines about a teenager opening fire on classmates are now background noise. A massacre in a workplace barely trends for 24 hours. But when a conservative commentator is harmed, the story suddenly becomes symbolic, a rallying cry. If that doesn’t expose how broken our moral compass is, what will?

Gun violence is not a team sport. It should never be about “our side” or “their side.” It is a crisis of humanity, a crisis of policy, and a crisis of leadership. It must end—and not after the next tragedy or the next headline, but now. Because every day we delay, more bodies in the streets are treated as acceptable. And no human life should ever be reduced to a political talking point.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Every generation seems to carry a date burned into its memory, a day so dark that it shapes how people remember the world before and after. For the Greatest Generation, it was December 7, 1941—the attack on Pearl Harbor, a sudden explosion of violence that dragged the United States fully into World War II. For Millennials, it was September 11, 2001—a morning when ordinary life was shattered as planes became weapons and the skyline of New York burned before the eyes of a horrified nation. For today’s younger Americans, January 6, 2021, may stand as that date—the day democracy itself was attacked from within, when the peaceful transfer of power nearly collapsed under a mob’s rage. These days are remembered because they rewrote history in ways no one could ignore. They were, in the truest sense, defining tragedies.

But what about the tragedies that don’t make it into the permanent national memory? The ones that don’t get carved into history books or repeated in annual memorial ceremonies? In the last two decades, our country has been scarred by another kind of violence—school shootings, mass killings, and random acts of terror in our own neighborhoods. Yet unlike Pearl Harbor or 9/11, the dates blur together. No one outside of Newtown, Connecticut may pause on December 14, the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Few people recall the precise day in April 1999 when Columbine High School erupted in bloodshed, even though it was supposed to be unthinkable then. The Las Vegas shooting in October 2017—the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history—claimed 60 lives and injured hundreds, but even that horrific moment slips further from our collective memory with every passing year.

Why do some tragedies define us, while others fade into the background noise of a country that has almost learned to expect them? Perhaps it is because Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and January 6 felt like attacks on the nation itself—acts of war, terrorism, or insurrection that demanded a response. But what does it say about us that when the violence comes from within, when it is inflicted on children in classrooms or music fans at a concert, we allow the dates to be forgotten? Maybe it is too painful to look at squarely. Maybe forgetting is easier than acknowledging that we live in a society where mass shootings happen so frequently that none of us can keep track anymore.

That truth is a tragedy in itself. We should not live in a country where children practice active shooter drills like fire drills. We should not shrug at the news of another shooting, chalk it up to the cost of “freedom,” and move on by the next news cycle. If Pearl Harbor demanded we enter a world war, and 9/11 demanded we reshape global security, then surely the countless school shootings and mass killings demand something too. They demand change—not just in laws, but in values, in what we are willing to accept as normal.

Every generation will have its defining day, but we should not allow those days to pile up endlessly, each one marked by grief and violence. The dates we forget are just as telling as the ones we remember. It is time to make sure the lesson of all of them is not that we can endure tragedy, but that we can prevent it.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

So now we’ve seen it—the actual drawing in Epstein’s 50th birthday card. A grotesque little sketch that looks exactly like the kind of thing Donald J. Trump, self-appointed “artist” of reality, would scratch out with a Sharpie between cheeseburgers and creepy locker room talk. And, of course, the signature—his infamous tachycardic EKG scrawl that screams “unstable vital signs” more than “former President.” It’s all there: the pervy doodle, the jagged signature, the stink of narcissism. But what’s even more damning than the card itself? The shrieking denials coming from Trump and his designated parrots.

Trump could have taken the sane, if revolting, route and said: “Yeah, I drew it. I’m a gross motherfucker with the artistic talent of a deranged middle-schooler.” But no. Instead, he and his press secretaries put on their best “Who, me?” faces and start bellowing like televangelists swearing they don’t know what hush money is. And in their over-the-top performance, they practically scream guilt louder than any Sharpie stroke ever could.

This is a familiar playbook. Trump denies things nobody else would bother denying. He denied knowing Epstein “that well,” even though there are photos, quotes, and entire parties tying them together. He denied the Access Hollywood tape—until he admitted it—then denied it again, like a man suffering from selective amnesia caused by ego. He denied losing the 2020 election while America watched the loss in real time. And now he’s denying his own artwork, which might be the most laughable denial of all, since his handwriting is practically a biometric identifier at this point.

The drawing itself is gross, yes. But the desperate theater of denial is worse. Because here’s the truth: if you weren’t guilty, if you didn’t do it, you’d laugh. You’d shrug. You’d dismiss it. Instead, Trump reacts like a toddler caught with his hand in the cookie jar, insisting the crumbs on his face are “fake crumbs” planted by the deep state. His press secretaries repeat the script like malfunctioning robots—“Not him, fake, not true, witch hunt”—as if reciting it often enough will rewire our brains.

And the irony is delicious. By denying so hysterically, they’ve turned a nasty little doodle into a confession written in all caps. It’s almost Shakespearean: the denial is the admission. The harder they scream “not guilty,” the guiltier they look. Trump’s entire career is built on this paradox—deny reality, and hope people believe the lie long enough to forget the truth. But when the evidence is a literal drawing in your own demented hand, the lie only makes the truth louder.

What this card really shows us is the core of Trumpism: exploitation, vulgarity, and the inability to ever, under any circumstances, own up to a damn thing. Honesty doesn’t exist in his universe—only bluster, denial, and projection. He’d rather look like a fool shrieking “fake!” than a man who admits to being a creep. And so, in trying to cover his ass, he exposes it fully, neon lights and all.

So yes, the drawing is revolting. But the denial? That’s the smoking gun. That’s Trump in his purest form: a guilty man screaming innocence so loudly that no one can hear anything else.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Honestly, I can’t believe more people aren’t catching on. We’ve got a guy sitting in the Oval Office who has turned the presidency into a glorified merch stand, and somehow folks are treating him like George Washington reincarnated. The White House, once a symbol of democracy, is now basically a gift shop. You half-expect to walk in and see racks of “Make America Great Again” golf towels next to the Lincoln Bedroom. Forget the Library of Congress—what this man really wants is the Catalog of Trump.

And people are still buying it! Literally. Trump Won flags, Trump 2024 hats, Trump wine, Trump steaks, Trump golden sneakers—if you can slap his name on it, he’ll sell it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start offering “Trump Holy Water” bottled from the White House plumbing, only $49.99 a pop. It’s not politics; it’s a traveling circus where the price of admission is blind loyalty and your credit card number.

What blows my mind is that people still walk around with those flags, like carrying an off-brand superhero cape somehow proves patriotism. You’ve got caravans of trucks waving “TRUMP” in letters bigger than the American flag itself, and no one stops to think: huh, maybe this isn’t about the country at all. Nope—it’s about worshiping at the altar of Trump, where every prayer comes with a matching coffee mug.

Meanwhile, the guy himself is laughing all the way to the bank. He doesn’t care about infrastructure, healthcare, education, or any of that boring stuff. He cares about moving units. You’re not citizens to him—you’re customers. Repeat customers, at that, because nothing keeps the cult fire burning like a fresh shipment of poorly stitched hats made overseas. And every purchase is a tithe in the Church of Trump, where the hymns are angry rally chants and the communion wafer is a $35 T-shirt.

And let’s not even pretend this is subtle. This isn’t some clever backroom deal. This is a full-blown, neon-lit, cash-register-ringing grift. He’s managed to turn democracy into QVC, and people are still eating it up like it’s Sunday brunch. Imagine Teddy Roosevelt selling teddy bears from the Resolute Desk. Or Lincoln hawking stovepipe hats on a street corner. But with Trump? Totally normal. Just another day of “governance.”

So no, he’s not some divine patriot sent to rescue America. He’s a walking billboard, a human infomercial, a guy who has convinced half the country that buying his merch is the same as saving the nation. And the wild part? They believe it. They wave their flags, they empty their wallets, and they bow down not to a president, but to the ultimate grifter-in-chief.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The long, hot days of summer are behind us, and with the arrival of crisp mornings, colorful leaves, and pumpkin-flavored everything, one thing is certain: football is back. In America, fall and football go hand in hand, almost like Thanksgiving and turkey. The moment the calendar flips to September, stadium lights flicker on, parking lots fill with tailgaters, and living rooms everywhere transform into shrines of team loyalty.

College towns erupt with marching bands and rivalries that run deeper than family feuds, while professional stadiums roar with tens of thousands of fans, each convinced their team is finally destined for glory this year. Whether you follow the NFL, college ball, or even just your local high school team, the game’s return marks a seasonal reset—a cultural ritual we anticipate as much as the changing weather.

Football isn’t just about the sport itself. It’s about the shared experience. Friends gather around televisions, families plan their weekends around kickoff times, and entire communities rally behind their teams. Tailgates, fantasy leagues, heated debates over coaching decisions—all of these make football season less of a pastime and more of a national obsession.

The drama is part of the appeal: the underdog upsets, the last-second field goals, the heartbreaking injuries, and the moments of pure athletic brilliance. In a way, football season gives us a story that unfolds week by week, with millions of Americans tuned in to watch the highs and lows together.

So as the leaves fall and the air cools, football takes center stage once again. Whether your team is rebuilding or chasing a championship, the return of the season gives us a reason to cheer, to argue, and to hope. After all, it’s fall—and in America, that means football.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Hydrogen is not just the most abundant element on Earth — it may also be the key to saving our planet from climate disaster. While people talk about solar panels, wind farms, and electric cars, hydrogen often hides in the background. But if we are serious about a green revolution, hydrogen is not just an option; it is a necessity.

The first reason is clear: hydrogen is a clean fuel. When we burn coal or oil, we choke the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, the gas most responsible for global warming. When we run cars on gasoline, we poison the air with smog and greenhouse gases. But when hydrogen is used in a fuel cell, the only byproduct is pure water. No smoke, no carbon, no pollution. In other words, hydrogen offers us the dream of energy without guilt. If we are looking for a true replacement for fossil fuels, hydrogen is the only fuel that delivers power and leaves the air cleaner than before.

Second, hydrogen solves the biggest weakness of renewable energy: storage. The sun does not shine 24 hours a day, and the wind does not blow on command. Batteries help, but they are costly, heavy, and wear out over time. Hydrogen, however, can act as a limitless energy vault. We can take extra electricity from solar panels or wind turbines, use it to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and store that hydrogen for later. When night falls or the wind calms, hydrogen can be converted back into energy on demand. No other fuel matches this flexibility.

Third, hydrogen is versatile. It can power cars, trucks, and buses, but it doesn’t stop there. It can run cargo ships, airplanes, and heavy industries like steelmaking, which today rely on dirty coal and natural gas. It can even heat homes and provide backup power for entire cities. Unlike electric batteries, which are limited mostly to cars and small devices, hydrogen can serve every corner of our energy system. Imagine a world where the gas station, the factory, and even the kitchen stove all run on the same clean fuel. That is the hydrogen vision.

Of course, critics will point out that hydrogen is expensive today. They are right. Most hydrogen is still made from natural gas, which creates carbon emissions. But this is not a reason to abandon hydrogen — it is a reason to invest in green hydrogen, made by splitting water with renewable power. Every new technology, from cars to computers, was costly in the beginning. Prices fall when nations commit to scaling up. If we make the choice now, hydrogen will soon be as cheap as fossil fuels, without the deadly side effects.

The truth is simple: without hydrogen, the green revolution will remain unfinished. Solar and wind may light our homes, but they cannot decarbonize ships, planes, and heavy industry on their own. Hydrogen can. It is clean, abundant, flexible, and waiting to be unlocked. If we want a future that is not just sustainable but thriving, we must crown hydrogen as the fuel of tomorrow.

Hydrogen is not just part of the solution — it is the solution.

Dwain Northey ( Gen X)

The MAGA movement, for all its bluster about loyalty and unshakable faith in their chosen God-King, is built on the same brittle foundation as every cult of personality: fear, self-interest, and the promise of power. Loyalty lasts only as long as the checks clear, the rallies feel like Woodstock with red hats, and the illusion of invincibility remains intact. The moment the ship starts tilting, history tells us, the rats start sprinting for the lifeboats, claws bared, shoving one another into the waves.

Predictions? The unraveling is already underway. The first wave of defectors will be those who were always half in, half out—professional opportunists like certain senators and governors who rode the MAGA train for votes but never bought the hat for personal wear. They’ll start speaking in “regretful tones,” offering soft critiques while insisting they “still respect the base.” Expect this within six months of Trump’s next major public embarrassment—whether it’s a legal defeat, an electoral flop, or a health scare that proves the King bleeds like any other mortal.

The second wave will be the loyalists who suddenly remember they have “deep reservations” and were “concerned all along.” These will be the loudest hypocrites, elbowing each other for the microphone as they proclaim, with crocodile tears, that the movement betrayed them. That stage takes another year, maybe two.

Finally, the diehards will fracture. A few will remain tattooed with the man’s name until their graves, but most will splinter into mini-tribes, each crowning a new wannabe strongman. By that point, MAGA will no longer be a coherent movement—just a political shipwreck with survivors fighting over the last scraps of influence.

So, to answer plainly: the sinking has started. The kicking begins the minute the water reaches their ankles.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

A new wrinkle in the methods of getting people out of the country, now we are going to denaturalize individuals that we deem to be unfit. Who do you suppose they will target first? The person that has committed a crime like robbery or worse? Some one that runs a business that violates some rule like DEI or whatever? How about an individual that has been elected to Congress but represents the opposition? What a crook of crap this administration is has been pointed out in so many ways and it just gets worse. This rule, or law, or whatever you call it has popped up and most likely been overlooked because of all the other shit that been hitting the fan, and yet it could be so very devistating to many among us. The brutal methods used on people by ICE or whoever the MASKED men, they ain't the Lone Ranger, are show that they want someone to show even the slightest resistance so they can then be as brutal as possible. How much are these guys being paid to sink into the cesspool of subhumanity that is required to be an agent? One day we will see this rein of terror come to an end and when we do all records of who these guys are should be made public and all of them should be awarded the kind of prize they deserve. Let your imagination run wild as to what you feel those prizes should be. For starters I would expect that once this career goies away and they become known that they never get another job, cannot apply for assistance and the list goes on. Not only will this be negative for them but their families are not going to be very forgiving at that point. If any of you HERO's are reading this just keep in mind that what goes around comes around and your windfall today will very likely be your downfall tomorrow. These conformation hearings for some of the most unqualified people to fill important positions keeps moving along like a very dangerous snake. Why do the idiots keep voting for these people? If Trump has the stroke to primary everyone then all of you should make him put his money and his inflluence on the table. Think about what his tariff policies are doing to coorporations and the wealthy owners behind them. Do you honestly believe that his influence is still high enough to go after all that are up for reelection? We all know the GOP has for years tried to destroy every public supportive program and oganization we have, an yet when and if they considered that without the middle and lower classes they would have nothing it would seem obvious that their effort to destroy those programs in pretty much like committing self destruction. Keep on with all these negative efforts and watch as the world shrinks. When you can no longer go to other countries because we Americans are no longer welcome. When there are no venues to entertain you grandchildren becasue there are no people to man Disneyland and all you have left are some golf courses, possibly overgrown as there are not labor personnel to keep things up. Without those that do the work all the money in the world is just as useless as statement coming from your great leader, pure unaulterated bullshit. Another issue that seems to be getting some attention, not necessarily positive attention, is that of younger people getting involved in politics. Well guess what, they need to get involved as they are going to inherit this mess very soon. There are younger people in the current administration but most are not terribly well versed in government, or the Constitution. They are also overly impressed that daddy dump picked them to be in certain positions, not because they are qualified but because they kiss ass. The impression is that everyone working for Trump is pleased with the fact that, although they are unqualified, are happy to be in these positions so they can be the school yard bully as long as they don't challenge daddy. The consequences of this gross stupidity are currently being visited upon the populace but when the power change happens those consequences are going to be dumped in the laps of the idiots that so happily signed on to the job of stooge. It may take time to get all of them punished but the fact that you get to spend your life looking over your shoulder waiting for the hammer to fall won't be any fun. This administration has done it's best to destroy our Democracy and when we get it back the destruction will be visited on those that did the bidding of a fool.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

Ah yes, let’s all rise and salute the good old days when Barry Goldwater’s campaign ad had schoolchildren reciting the Pledge of Allegiance like little wind-up patriot dolls. Because nothing says “freedom” like mandatory loyalty chants. Do we still do that? Of course! And if some lawmakers had their way, not only would kids be pledging allegiance every morning, they’d be kneeling before a golden tablet of the Ten Commandments mounted above the Smartboard. Forget math, forget science—just recite “Thou shalt not kill” before heading off to active-shooter drills. The irony practically screams from the chalkboard: politicians pretending they care about morality while simultaneously passing laws that turn every strip mall into the O.K. Corral. Truly, we live in a master class of hypocrisy that could only be described as Olympic-level stupidity.

Meanwhile, freedom—remember that quaint little concept?—is hanging by a thread. The idea that one party, already mangled beyond recognition, could dominate every part of our lives is no longer a cautionary tale; it’s a business plan. Their economic “program” has already tanked jobs and stunted growth faster than you can say “trickle-down.” And the immigrant raids? Nothing like state-sponsored home invasions to really capture that warm, fuzzy, family-values vibe. Our so-called moral compass is less “north-south” and more “spinning wildly like a broken ceiling fan.” Brute force has now become a lifestyle brand—one part dystopia, one part reality TV, and somehow people are buying the merch.

And what’s the cherry on top of this sundae of national decline? More guns, of course! Because nothing says “problem solved” like flooding the streets with weapons while removing whatever pitiful regulations still exist. The logic here is dazzling: create chaos, then use that chaos as justification for more brute force. It’s the kind of brilliant strategy you’d expect from someone who thinks “Home Alone 2” is a documentary. Civil war cosplay is being openly courted, and the recruits? ICE agents being paid handsomely today, only to become tomorrow’s cannon fodder in a game where the rules are written in crayon.

And let’s not forget the police officers and soldiers being used as chess pieces in this empire-building fantasy. Every day, they wake up to the possibility that they’ll be asked to sacrifice not for liberty, not for justice, but for the fragile ego of a coward who confuses tweeting with leadership. National Guard troops are already signaling: “Hard pass, we’re not dying for your tantrum.” If being King is such a burning passion, then by all means, hand the man a rusty bayonet and point him toward the front line. Spoiler alert: he won’t go. He’ll sit on his gaudy throne, tweeting about his “strength,” while others pay the ultimate price.

And those who follow him blindly? They’re not marching toward greatness; they’re marching straight into the abyss. But hey, at least they’ll have the Ten Commandments framed nicely on the wall while everything else burns to ash.