What To Know About Project 2025

November 2024

 I started writing this four months ago. 

Today, following Election Day, USA, we learned that Project 2025 is going to be the whole of the law very soon. 

I read Project 2025 so you don't have to. Of course, I didn't pay for it, even though it's for sale as a book. But it's also free as a PDF on the Heritage Foundation's website, at this link here.

(In the words of the great Gil-Scott Heron: "Mandate, my ass.")

It's a long read, with many pages devoted to how the government works, in the hopes their current candidate will read it and figure some things out, but it's essential to know why their platform is not what you want to vote for. Worst case scenario: you can dazzle your MAGA family with your knowledge of their candidate's platform.

They are making it loud and clear what the next Republican POTUS* and Republican-controlled Senate is going to do. And what is that?

Let's take a look...

Here's what they have to say about sexual freedom: (p37)

Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.

Highlighting this for all the bros who plan to vote for this candidate because he's the ultimate alpha, bro. 

HE IS COMING FOR YOUR SECRET PORN STASH. He is coming for Stormy Daniels and Cory Chase (Ted Cruz' "favorite" on twitter when it was twitter) and their "besties". He is coming for your fantasy OnlyFans girlfriends and your weird hentai.

But of course, this is all so much shock and awe for their real target: your library. Your kids' public school. Your community college. P351: the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.

And, once again, PBS (p278 on. Yes, a whole chapter is devoted to it.) Right after our new POTUS has CBS taken off the air because they refused to do a puff piece on him.

Remember Stephen King getting targeted by Dan Bongino and Nick "Apple Shaped Male" Adams? That's their strategy. They HATE people who are educated and read and learn, because we are the ones who see right through them.

And, of course, their weird obsession with transgendered persons is blatant from the foreword on. Sex education? Counseling and services for trans youth? Gone, per page 94.

Abolishing the Gender Policy Council would eliminate central promotion of abortion (“health services”); comprehensive sexuality education (“education”); and the new woke gender ideology, which has as a principal tenet “gender affirming care” and “sex-change” surgeries on minors. In addition to eliminating the council, developing new structures and positions will have the dual effect of demonstrating that promoting life and strengthening the family is a priority while also facilitating more seamless coordination and consistency across the U.S. government.

Again, they hate adults, young or old, taking classes like psychology or neurobiology - or as it's known on Fox NewsMax: "Gender Studies". They don't want you to know that gender is a complex chromosomal and neurobiological maze that we start trying to figure out at a young age. They want you scared of a mysterious boogeyman known as "The Groomer".

And, of course, Mexicans. 

Their other obsession with "open borders" is rife throughout the book, with, of course, the typical militaristic response. Nothing about arresting the rich corporate elite who hire undocumented workers, refugees, and other immigrants for pennies on the dollar. In fact, they intend to nix further H1B visas (p170). Nothing about sending immigration lawyers and judges to the border to clear the line and give refugees due process. They're cracking down on that, too (p173). Just more deportations of children, and refusing asylum for those in danger, and more money and support for ICE and the border military. And more fear mongering about cartels and fentanyl (p215).

What's surprising about this election is how many Latinos want the new arrivals to go back to where they came from. Well, they're about to get their wish.

Their stance on race is simple: 

p37-38: The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.

Someone explain to me how addressing bigotry and discrimination "deprives" anyone of their First Amendment rights. Make it make sense.

But no surprise, they hate "critical race theory",  known in academia as History. And "DEI",  known in the general population as "equality in the workplace". This is gone (p290). 

And p354: Enforcement of civil rights should be based on a proper understanding of those laws, rejecting gender ideology and critical race theory.

Uhh...so no learning about why civil rights are evolving and why they matter. Got it.

And finally, the most important of all: climate change. I believe climate change affects Israelis and Gazans, it affects Ukranians and Russians, it affects Mexicans and the Chinese and the Koreans. It affects you, and it affects me.

They are supporting a candidate who wants to ban the sale of electric cars. Who addressed the oil tycoons of the world at a summit and promised them, for the low, low price of one billion USD, that he will sign any legislation they force through Congress.

You know....the "Windmills cause cancer" guy.

You may notice that I cite pages from the document and references from the internet, because citations matter. (Apparently they switch pages around, so scan the document for quotes if you can't find them.) You have something to say on the internet? Back up your statements and claims. And don't trust anyone who doesn't.

But it doesn't matter anymore. Everything is about to change, and most people are scared. And they should be.

*The actual POTUS will be JD Vance. Trump will be in Walter Reed's memory care ward getting his dementia looked after while JD "How do you do, fellow rednecks?" Vance will be at the Resolute Desk with the Project 2025 book in front of him, making all these laws happen over the next 4 years.

The Menace To Society THEY Don't Want To Talk About!

I need to talk to you about something urgent.

The recent arrest of Tyler Boebert, a Caucasian youth "accused" of robbing storefronts and running with street gangs, just to name a few crimes of his - "accused" my foot, he did it - has made it hard to avoid the most troubling threat facing the nation today. Nobody wants to address the issue, as indicated by dozens of news publications publishing article after article on the story and promoting it in front of anyone who can do basic googling.

But it's time to talk about The Caucasian Menace™.

You know it's happening. It's everywhere in our suburbs and urban downtowns. Every day, you see Caucasians flood over the borders of our universities and corporations and gentrifying our downtowns. And it never makes them better, let me tell you!

Their presence, this invasion, is not an innocent or innocuous thing. This Caucasian Infiltration™ is the reason everything you encounter costs too much. Your home, the food you eat, going to your job (which you still have to do, for reasons), even watching TV! Why can't you afford anything anymore? Why is everything inferior quality and customer service seems to be a thing of the past?

It's all because of corporate price gouging, layoffs, systematic wage suppression, and manufactured inflation - and who do you think invented all that? Mexico?! 

But it gets worse. White collar crime rates have ballooned over the last few years. Corporate executives hoard billions in high-interest savings accounts and hedge funds that aren't even in America! And they promote their toxic values all centered around the "work ethic", while you slave away trying to appease their corporate agenda and lifestyles. Notice any patterns in who's committing these crimes?

Hmm?

If I sound angry, it is because this is personal to me. An Uber driver near where I live in Connecticut was struck and severely injured by a Caucasian man driving drunk, and his passengers were also severely injured. 

Well, what do you know about that - another Tyler perpetuated this disaster! And he was driving an Audi to boot! You know that guy ain't a Hindu!

You know who is? That good, honest, hard-working, self-sacrificing immigrant who can tell you first hand about The Caucasian Menace™ plaguing our college campuses today. (To be fair, his riders could as well, but they were probably Caucasians, so never mind them. Probably out to get drunk and go dancing as Caucasians are wont to do.)

Personally, I would be OK if these Caucasians carried themselves in a more responsible and socially acceptable manner. After all, any one of them has to be held responsible for each and every thing other Caucasians they may or may not know do or say! Don't they know that? So they should be more likable and less loud or brash in public. Not to mention if they would stop playing that horrible country music and classic rock too loud when driving around in their fancy cars.

Finally, it has to be pointed out that people like Tyler Boebert are not created in a vacuum. It's not entirely their fault, even though we should all act like it is....No. They're the product of a Caucasian upbringing. It's worth pointing out that his mother has been seen vaping and performing sexual acts on her date in a crowded theater! She and all her children posed with assault rifles on a Christmas card.

A Christmas card, people. Now how do you think someone brought up in that kind of household is going to act?

The worst part? This is the woman the Caucasians have installed in Congress to push a Caucasian agenda. Remember when she was losing that election in very centrist Colorado, and then won by a few hundred votes?! Election fraud! Recount! Audit that election so we, the people, can ignore the results to our liking! 

She's even established an "anti-Squad" in Congress with fellow Caucasians Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. From Georgia and Florida, notable hotbeds of Caucasian ideology and lifestyles, respectively. 

All at the bidding of one of the most prominent Caucasians to ever occupy the Oval Office. A POTUS so Caucasian that in 1973, when he was a private citizen (and another notorious Caucasian was in office because he wasn't prosecuted yet) he was sued by the US Department Of Justice for not renting his family's luxury properties to renters of color. 

Is that what you want? Caucasians writing laws for you and telling you what to do and how to think? Because how has that gone throughout history?

If this "congressperson" or her voters are reading this, let me turn off the satirical part of this essay and talk to you directly....

Do you understand now how you sound when you talk about your precious border? About people you don't know and will never meet? Do you understand how it feels?

I Love Radio!

Sometime during the pandemic, I got sick. No, not with that disease, but something else. Story of my life.

For a week, I couldn't get out of bed. And I lived alone because I'm a loser, and UberEats decided not to work so I subsisted on cans of soup my mother gifted me because, again, I'm a loser. And my Ikea bed broke. Do I have to say it 3 times?

What kept me sane?

The steady stream of music coming in from our community radio station. Shunning advertising and corporate "underwriting" to exist on donations from fans - how very socialist! 

They kept me alive.

I've always had a thing for college and similar non-profit radio stations. It feels quaint these days - in an era where every single movie, album, and TV show ever made is uploaded and ready to be streamed into your head at the snap of your fingers, radio feels like an antique technology.

But radio is evolving. Every radio station in existence has a internet stream, so the snowy static of a station that's too far away is, mostly, a thing of the past. You can go to their site and listen to the show they do at 3AM when normal people are asleep. You can collate their streams via apps like Radio Garden and TuneIn to play on your phone - and, by proxy, your car. So OK, they are getting into the streaming revolution a bit.

I mean, people still watch TV via an antenna. Typewriters are still a thing. So are laserdiscs.

Nerds for antique technology exist, and have the money to keep their obsessions alive.

But radio broadcast dishes are super expensive. Even in a culture where everyone seems to shit money, there seems to be a tight budget for upgrading on-air broadcast equipment.

And, as usual, corporations ruin everything. They descend on small communities, buy all the little local radio stations, fire everyone who did all the work, and turn it into an antenna for their own market-based, professionally produced drivel. Which doesn't help. Why bother when YouTube also has the mass-produced drivel that - admit it - you really want?

Well, think of the station DJ as a musical sommelier or gourmet - someone who knows what's great and how to best assemble and present it to you in a way that you'll love. In that sense, playlists (or, for people of a certain age, mixtapes) are an opportunity for anyone and everyone to be someone's personal DJ. For the rest of us, there's a great radio show.

Of course, it's a calling. And as usual, anyone who's not a corporate executive essentially is taking a vow of poverty by pursuing this calling. 

But it's an essential service. Someone out there is depending on music to keep them sane, to keep them alive.

We can't let them down.

Blogs are Back! No, really, this time I swear

My writing hobby is in transit. Here's what's going on, in case anyone cares.

Mainly, I am shifting away from Quora. I've posted there for going on 8 years and enjoyed doing it, writing tons and tons of great material. I even made a little money! I've made more money literally doing nothing while my money accounts accrue interest, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?!

Unfortunately, though, the site is now an unmoderated xChan trash pit of trolls, perverts, bigots, ChatGPT hacks, spammers, and other internet flotsam. I spend more time as a volunteer admin reporting losers and downvoting garbage material than I do writing. 

So I archived all my material and might open a secret page on mariocaiti.com ? Watch this space for details!

And some essays may get ported here. Well, what else am I gonna do with that stuff? Another blog? A Mario At The Movies thing? Blech....I considered opening a Letterboxd account for movies and TV stuff, but I have a feeling that's also a hotspot for bored teenagers and rude cranks, and I just don't have the energy anymore.

Lastly, I go to Mastodon for short takes and commentary. My account for creative work is mastodon.art/@gtrplayingman, and my account for mouthing off about hot topics is mas.to/@mariomakesstuff. Don't tell Mom about the second one...LOL

I'll see you there or on one of the vBulletin sites I frequent (that hasn't gone away either). Comment or see me on the "Fediverse" if you have any questions.

Blogs are Back, Baby!

 ...because where else are we gonna go?

I admit I was a little sad to see twitter turn into what it's turned into. Why was twitter important? Because it was the place where the whole world went to argue about politics and current affairs, get it out of our system, and get on with our day.

That space - dare I say safe space?! - is breaking down under a toxic storm of rampaging trolls, declining numbers of real people (or "normies" in the local dialect) and a basically incompetent management. People are re-entering the real world after almost 3 years in isolation and they're tired, so very tired, of the yelling and posturing and pointless, performative arguments that never end.

Here's when you know things are bad: is when the Meta sites are where you go to relax and find peace. (Not that they haven't had their share of bad stuff, but I covered that on my other blog.)

And Mastodon really wants to take it's place, but...

First of all, go to mastodon.com and you'll find...backhoes and stuff like that. I bet they're wondering why their website stats are suddenly through the roof!

No, you're supposed to go to mas.to - that's just for the basic site. For many categories and specialty servers, you have to create an "instance" with it's own compressed URL. I've seen howlr.me and mamot.fr and toot.thoughtworks ... you get the idea.

And you then have to set up your username in the context of said URL, and then establish the rules and framework for your instance, and manage it after it launches. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to explaining any of this to my elder relatives either...

But the closest thing to a homepage Mastodon has is mas.to, and when you scroll the preview? 

Yes, that's right. It looks exactly like twitter from about 2015. 

Including all the same people. ALL of them. 

Literally the only thing that changes is the colors, and you can tweet more characters. Sorry, did I say tweet? I meant toot.

Toot. Seriously.

Why is this any different from far right people leaving Fox News for Newsmax? Or leaving twitter for Telegram groups or sketchy apps like Parler or Gab? One sign your worldview is too toxic for anyone to deal with is when you describe everyone else in your life with terms like "normies", and another is when you have to leave the "public square" and find the secret clubhouses where freaks like you can tolerate each other.

But if that's how things are going to be, then I say get ready to adapt. Make a blog and include a blogroll (working on this as I type, really). If you want people to see the blog, make a Substack and promote it (not doing that yet).

Look for weird vBulletin sites that cater to stuff you like to do. They're harder to find because they might have bad SEO and Google discriminates against non-SEO-optimized sites regardless of how good they are. When you do find them, amplify them too. No algorithms, no AI...just word of mouth again.

Finally, if you have a good expertise in how the internet works, then set up tools that help people find what they're looking for and find their tribe online, without the interference of giant corporations or tyrannical megalomaniacs demanding obedience and silencing dissent.

We can do it!

Astronomy and Souls: Heretical Thoughts From A Random Guy

 If you want to watch something really depressing, skip the Fassbinder and Tarkovsky movies and try How The Universe Works on Science Channel. You haven't really experienced in your heart how small and insignificant we are in the universe until you've done a dive into astronomy.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking about the concept of a soul. What a weird idea, huh?

Think of what a soul is. An eternal being, filled with the greater consciousness and awareness, actualized and powerful.
So what does your deity do? It sends this powerful aware being to inhabit the body of a human. A human! A kind of sentient mammal, with a shy bladder and a fear of spiders and a constant, unending craving for pizza and porn. This eternal soul has to inhabit this simple creature for 80-90 Earth years...if it makes it that far.

And then when the mammal dies - in pain and alone - the soul is judged on the quality of the mammal's existence and participation in this dumb community we call a civilization.
And is sent to:

• Eternal suffering....or 
• Eternal pleasure

Does this seem fair? Why would a god set up a system like this? What is the reasoning behind the eternal souls' civilization running like this?

So let's review how this turns out: your soul, the soul inhabiting you, gets lucky - really lucky - and is sent to heaven. And there you are, you eternal being that picked the right team in the comparative religious studies sweepstakes, with your parents and your favorite movie stars or angels that look like them a lot...drinking all your favorite drinks, eating all your favorite foods, and having fun parties with your favorite celebrities or angels that look like them a lot....for billions and trillions of years.

But most importantly, you're on the edge of God's country club watching all the hundreds of billions of souls who did not luck out (As P.J. O'Rourke perfectly put it, "It's hard to get into God's heavenly country club") writhing and crying and acting out the most upsetting extreme horror movies ever made (and a few we humans wouldn't dare make) for your amusement. For billions and trillions of years, you, the blessed soul, watch this.

These souls inhabited people who by any objective measure were good people, who worked hard, who endured hardships and pain on Earth. But they worshipped the wrong God - or called bullshit on all of it - and now they are in the great torture chamber under the ground in Russia (perfect place for hell, I'd say). Doomed to billions of years of horror movie pain and anguish. Billions.

And you watch what the demons do to these poor souls...and then go back to your heavenly orgies of pleasure.

If this is your dream of your life's redemption, what does it say about you?

And think of these timelines...billions and trillions of years of this.

This is where astronomy, e.g reality, comes into this scenario.

In about 7 or 8 billion years, the sun will explode. All stars die, the sun is a star, and scientists think that is when our sun will die. As it dies, it will inflate into a red giant, and burn the Earth and then devour it. (Same with Mars. Sorry, Elon.)

So does that mean hell will be demolished along with it? Holy scriptures do suggest that hell eventually ends...but not heaven.
How will you residents of God's country club feel about your show being ended? Will you miss the grand guignol show, the billions of years long Heironymous Bosch orgy of misery and unhappiness, performed by the infidels and unworthy for your endless pleasure?

Oh, and it gets better! Trillions of years hence - and yes, your lucky blessed soul will be around for trillions of years! Think about that - all the stars in the universe will die. And the universe will become a desolate, cold, black, endless, empty tomb.
Forever.

How will life in your eternal holy country club / pleasure palace feel then? Will you care? Will the clouds you hang out on debating the important things and indulging your pleasures on still be dappled in sunlight generated by your god? Or will you just switch to nightclub mode?

Can you understand why the faithless have problems with your faith yet?

Religion is the original psy-ops. It was dispatched for noble reasons - to keep our uncivilized ancestors from killing and raping each other - but over time, it has become a monster that has caused untold suffering and misery on Earth. Think of how many problems we have in this world because of religion.

Science is hard, and it teaches us hard realities that are painful to deal with emotionally and psychologically. But science has a moral imperative, sort of - to tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts.

So science has that advantage. 

Don't you like science better?

Thanks for reading. See you all in hell.

A Walled City Theory Of Economics, by a guy who knows it's a good idea

So, these crazy kids with their socialism. What's up with that?

And these CEOs having the wealth of nations, am I right?

Pure socialism was bad. Pure capitalism was bad. Pure libertarianism is bad. Pure communism is really bad.

Every nation or district where these were attempted have resulted in failure. Look it up.

So what's the answer?

Well, I'm no economist. Reading Paul Krugman on twitter doesn't count. But I gotta believe the following is a good idea, and would love an explanation of why it isn't.

I think of it as a walled city approach. Each side represents a filter of letting in the good stuff and filtering out the bad. Like this:

SOCIALISM

Everyone has a job, stock in the company, and makes a living wage according to their rank. Good!

Innovation and growth is stifled by the "common good". Bad!

COMMUNISM

The government regulates businesses to eliminate corruption, fraud, and poor quality in the marketplace. Good!

The government takes all the money and property and doles out rations. Bad!

CAPITALISM

The individual has a right to make money and grow as a professional or business owner. Good!

The individual can hoard the wealth of nations while their employees starve and everyone starves. Bad!

LIBERTARIANISM

The individual has a right to land, money, and related freedoms. Good!

The individual can do what they want and never contribute back to the community. Bad!

All the good stuff is inside the walled city, all the bad stuff is outside in the dark. Result: Utopia!

Cool, huh? Like our government filtered in the good aspects of democracy and a republic and filtered out the bad. Or at least, they did...but that's a topic for another day.

It will never happen, of course.
Because greed is inherent in humans - we are, at the end of the day, another breed of mammal trying to dominate each other for resources and mates.
Or as the Real Golden Rule puts it: them with the gold makes the rules.

Our Economic Utopia Nation will still have problems with outside nations siphoning off resources and greedy "alpha" persons inside fighting to hoard power and resources, until it's not workable anymore and we have to start over.

You know....like our country is doing now.

I'd love to know what you think. This will, of course, be roundly poo-pooh'd by the people who stand to lose the most in Utopia. But wouldn't you love to live there? Why or why not?