Everyone who reads my blog must listen to Keith Olbermann's new podcast. Start with the first episode. There's more to the history of the Civil War as he tells it. What the Confederacy did by seceding from the Union was quite similar to the January 6 attempted coup, but after the Civil War, we (ie the United States) made the same mistake the Bidens are making. They wanted to bring the Confederates themselves back into the country. So really it was no surprise that slavery continued, it was just a bit more complicated. When we prevail this time, when Trump is dead and gone, and his successors are a bit easier to shame, we must have a purging. With force. No more trying to love the rebels back into the country. Deport them any place that will have them. Offer them to Russia or Hungary. You want em? We don't. If not, build huge prison camps in remote parts of America. Life sentences with no parole. These people should not feel after all is said and done that they are part of America. They didn't love it, they left it, tried to destroy it, they do not get to come back and enjoy the benefits of living in a free society. It's their turn to really feel the pain.#

What made me think of this was a random experience while waiting for my order this morning at Utopia Bagels in Whitestone, NY. It's in the neighborhood I grew up in. The people behind the counter looked nothing like the people I grew up with, coming from the current working population of Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world. The night before I had gone to see the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves. This year's Mets are unusually competent. Anyway there was a man there, in the crowded bagel store, probably in his early 80s, wearing a rent-a-cop uniform. I thought he was one of the few people remaining from my time there. He looked like a drinker and smoker. He could have been one of my childhood friends' fathers. He picked me out and asked if I knew what he thought. I said nothing. He said "America matters, that's all." I mumbled quietly well we can agree to disagree. After that I avoided him, looked around, he and I were among the oldest people there. This, I thought, is the new Queens, we are part of the old (and I am long-gone, just back for the Mets game and the bagels). On the way out, on an impulse, I tapped his shoulder and said in a voice that I was sure he could hear, but not too loudly -- Black lives matter. I don't know why I said it, it probably only meant pain for this man. He is a human vestige. So old and obviously tired, but he still had to do a job probably no one else wanted. I think what he was really saying to me was hey brother, you look a bit like me, maybe we agree us white people matter. But he couldn't say it that plainly. #

I snapped this picture of the scene at Utopia Bagels at 6:30AM this morning.#

I got a Lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel at Utopia Bagels and ate it on the drive home. It was heaven. I will remember that bagel as long as I live. Also the store gets its name from the street it's on, Utopia Parkway. It's just an avenue, not a major thoroughfare, not what in NY you'd call a parkway. It winds north-south through this part of Queens. I always felt privileged to live near Utopia. Wikipedia says where the name came from, an attempt to create a utopian community in Queens. There's no mention of Utopia Bagels in the Wikipedia article, but there should be. 😄#

I think Twitter, with Musk largely history, can become a stronger company than they've ever been. The way forward imho is to focus on the platform, so lots of apps can be made to run on it, not just one way to use its capabilities. Lots of user experiences. That's something none of the other social media platforms have let happen. Amazingly in 2022, while there are standards for images, movies -- everything but simple documents, with titles, unlimited length, simple styling, links and enclosures. That's where I'd like to see Twitter be the leader. Be the world-scale distribution system for simple text documents. Lead by filling the void. No standards bodies. PS: I bought a small amount of TWTR stock a few years back and continue to hold it. PPS: I basically wrote this business plan for the Apple of 1996. #