Month: March 2018

How To Use Time Magazine As The Core Of A ‘Twitter Killer’ #startup

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

The word on the street is that Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated are for sale. Rather than let some insane Right wing nutjob buy them and turn them into a mainstream Brietbart, why not do something really innovative. Why not think outside the box and turn those the writers and editors of those three publications into something really unique.

The thing about Twitter is a lot of really powerful writers and editors use it as some sort of public salon where they sit around and talk about issues of the day. What if you designed a “Twitter Killer” made up of Time and its sister publications that had a similar purpose to Twitter but was much, much better.

It seems so obvious. It would be really cool and I feel it would be a near instant hit. What you do is you completely re-imagine Time. You accept that the the print magazine is doomed and have all the content that the magazine’s writers and editors otherwise produce dumped into your new Twitter Killer.

You could also use those very same writers as the seed group of users. They would invite their friends as you grew the service and it would help the service star off on the right foot. This is such an obvious application of Time that I don’t understand why someone with a lot of money doesn’t run with it.

Twitter sucks so bad that if you did as I suggest, it would be quite popular, quite quickly I believe. As I keep suggesting, you design the service by leaning on the concepts of Usenet from 20 years ago. But no one listens to me and the social media space isn’t exactly bumping anymore. People with all the money are too interested in AR, VR and automation to worry about something so blase.

But I really do like the concept. It’s really strong.

The ‘Unwinding:’ ‘Deep State Radio’ Talks John Bolton

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Oh boy. I’ve been listening to the latest episode of Deep State Radio which is about the appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser. The issue for me is it reaffirms everything I’ve been thinking the last few days, which is we are lurching towards a war with at least the DPRK, if not Iran as well. I’m glad that the smarty pants of Deep State Radio are also beginning to freak out a little bit as well.

We really need to accept to take the concept that we’re hurdling towards a massive Wag The Dog in the guise of a war with the DPRK. The issue is that a war with the DPRK — started about August 2018 — would be, in theory, the perfect way to prevent a Blue Wave from sweeping the House and Senate in November.

There is a real risk that we’re going to look back at all of this as such a crass, craven power grab on the Trump Administration that history will not be kind to anyone involved. My real fear, from what I’ve read, is that just as Rex Tillerson gutted the State Department, so, too, will John Bolton will gut the National Security Council staff. This will happen just as the United States is about to go to war with the DPRK.

What is even worse is, I may be low balling the risks of essentially World War III. What I’m saying is, we may have two major regional wars taking place at the same time — one against the DPRK and one against Iran. Throw in the massive amount of instability that would cause around the world, there is a real risk that India and Pakistan would threaten nuclear war. And Israel and Iran may have at it as well along the way. And there is a real chance that the Russians would use all of this as a cover for a major escalation in their low-grade war against Ukraine.

The point of all of this, as I mentioned, is to divert attention away from the domestic disasters of the Trump Administration. Try to remember what was going on in the United States in early September 2001. It’s really difficult. A lot of stuff went down the memory whole once 9/11 happened. So, too, will Stormy Daniels and #TrumpRussia go down the memory hole should World War III essentially happen.

I suggest you listen to this Deep State Radio. It’s really good and affirms much of my thinking about John Bolton and what could happen next with the DPRK, Iran and beyond.

What We Need Is A Good Movie About The Trump Era

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I’m struggling with a screenplay these days. I’m going to write it as a novella first and then once I save up the money, buy Final Draft and write it as a screenplay. But the point of the story is I want to tell one that really gets into how Trump has effected life on a personal level.

There have been a few movies like that, but nothing as seminal as, say, The Big Chill. That’s the type of movie I’m striving for, with maybe a little bit more drama. I have a lot of things I want to talk about in the story and they’re all coming together in one tidy project. I was the publisher of a magazine in Seoul about a decade ago and that story is really interesting, but I’ve struggled as to how to tell it. This story would be a way for me to do just that and that would be using as back story.

It’s been difficult to actually write the story. Part of writing a story as a writer is having to entertain yourself as you do it. So sometimes I get bored and stop working on this story, but I’m generally a creative person and I find myself wanting to write something again. So, I hope to return to this story pretty soon, if not today.

There is so much to talk about when it comes to this surreal Trump era we’re in. So much we can talk about in a story when it comes to how its changed how people are interacting with each other with such a troubling person as president. I have so much I want to talk about in this very thing in this story.

Regardless, it is going to take time. It’s going to take time to process all the batshit stuff that is happening because of Trump.

‘Spank My Booty’ — Idle Thoughts On The Current State Of The Stormy Daniels Affair

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

The sad thing is that even if we see Trump’s junk, he may very well not only survive but prosper. Whatever dark part of the American psyche Trump has tapped into is so strong, do powerful that we simply may not be able to get rid of him until he absolutely has to leave office unless he changes the Constitution.

Add to this the very real — and growing — danger that Trump will start a war with the DPRK and things as of this moment are not looking so great. It’s very possible that once Trump essentially starts WWIII, that Stormy Daniels will go down the memory hole and we’ll wake up in 8 years to a president even more conservative and bonkers than Trump.

I guess what I’m saying is we have to take seriously the notion that Trump is going to eliminate Ms. Daniels as a threat by willfully killing about 1 million people in Korea and beyond. I fear that we’ve not really processed that yet. This is really serious. The addition of John Bolton to the White House staff means Trump is at least lurching in that direction.

Additionally Sec. of Defense James Mattis allegedly has said he may not be able to work with Bolton. So, there is the off chance that Mattis — the only “adult” left in the Trump Administration may bolt and we’re totally, completely fucked.

This is personal for me because I used to live in South Korea. If I see Seoul razed on TV, it’s going to be pretty deep. It’s going to be one of the worst moments of my life to date. But there’s little any of us can do at this point. So, it’s possible that Stormy Daniels may have significantly more power in her hands than any of could possibly imagine.

It’s really weird, though, the power Trump has over his supporters. What, exactly, do they at this point love so much about him? Why does it seem that the typical rules of politics don’t apply to Trump? How did we get here and how do we make our way out?

It seems as though maybe the United States suffers from structural Constitutional rot and we may very well be careening towards an actual civil war. Or, put another way, the United States as some have quipped, is going through a slow motion Civil Cold War. It could be that at this point the only thing stopping us from having an actual real civil war is, well, Donald Trump. Or that we’re just too generally meh about politics on an existential level that it’s just not going to happen any time soon.

All I can say is, hurry up Stormy Daniels. We really need to see whatever “proof” you may have. The fate of the world may be at stake.

‘Own It’ — #Lyrics To A Woke Pop-Rock Song

This is just me screwing around. These lyrics are about me telling Trump supporters who get so bent out of shape about me saying their racist to own it. Instead of shadowboxing and bob and weaving about how they support a racist, misogynistic bigot they should ‘own it.’ I may have used this title before, but no one cares about any of these lyrics and it’s just for fun, so, so what?

Own It
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
please give credit if you produce or perform

I tell you you’re a fucking racist
but you just get mad
tell me to get out
after I’ve screamed and screamed
that little hands demeans
women left and right
you don’t put up a fight
just don’t say I want to take your gun
that’ll start a fight
but all I gotta say
much to my own dismay is

own it
own it
just shut up it and
own it
own it

but there’s nothing I can do
nothing I can say
that will make you play my way
you’re always going to yell
when I tell you the truth
you’re a fucking racist without a doubt
why does that bother you so much
I have to ask
when Donnie has admitted to be a cad

so we’re at a stand still it seems
nothing will change I’m afraid
you’re still in your cult
still in your bubble
reams of paper prove
my thoughts but what can you do

own it
own it
just shut up it and
own it
own it

[bridge]
we’re all in this together
our leaders are afraid of the NRA
wish I could get an amen
from my friends on the other end

we’re all going to have to fight
hash it out until the end
I just don’t know where to begin
I just don’t know where to begin
I just don’t know where to begin
you can begin, my friend when you

own it
own it
own it
own it

‘Avoidance’ — #Lyrics To A R&B Pop-Rock Song

I fear my crush is actively avoiding me, so this is about someone talking about that scenario. As always, I just am writing these lyrics to vent and relax. It’s not like they’re any good or that anyone will ever produce them.

Avoidance
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
please give credit if you produce or perform

headed to the protest
hoping you’ll be there, be there
but your beau is supicious
won’t let you get within inches
so I walk around
looking for your smile
but it’s obvious to me
that you’re avoiding I believe

one day when you’re free
maybe you’ll be by my side
until then I’m alone
thinking of thee

you’re avoiding me
it’s obvious I’m afraid
you’re avoiding me
just hope you won’t flee
just hope you won’t flee

I hope to see you near
call you dear
maybe feel your presence near me
but I’m afraid it’s not to be
you’ll never be mine
’cause you love your man

you’re avoiding me
it’s obvious I’m afraid
you’re avoiding me
just hope you won’t flee
just hope you won’t flee

[bridge]
nothing will ever change
I’m afraid
I’m afraid
I’ll just think of you
with this sad refrain

you’re avoiding me
you’re avoiding me
you’re avoiding me

avoidance
avoidance
avoidance

Richmond March For Our Lives Photos #resist #MarchForOurLives #MFOLRVA #RVA

There are not all the pictures I took, but they give you a sense of what I took. Facebook wouldn’t let me embed more than two sets of pictures for some reason.

You can find all the pictures on my Facebook profile.

Cynthia Nixon, Chelsea Handler & The Right’s Hypocrisy About Trump

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

The Right has made an epic, enormous, historic deal with the devil when it comes to Trump. They simply don’t care that Karen McDougal was on TV for an hour talking about how much she banged Donald Trump while he was married. They just don’t care as long as gun rights are protected and the march towards making abortion illegal continues to be inevitable.

But trouble is brewing for the Right.

It comes in the guise of any number of women celebrities who might run for higher office at some point in the future. It will be difficult — but not impossible — for the very people who are completely silent about Trump being, essentially, a whore monger, to get upset if a female celebrity who has at some point in her career done nude scenes runs for office. I mean, hell, Chelsea Handler has a revenge-porn sex tape out that I’ve seen and I’d still rather vote for her than Donald Trump.

I guess what I’m saying is while the Right is completely shameless in their hypocrisy, them sucking up to Trump is at least going to make it a little bit more difficult for them to do it in the future. Maybe. A little bit. Should Cynthia Nixon become a viable presidential candidate, they’re going to attack her on her morals and on whatever she’s done on Sex & The City.

So people like me are going to go, “What the what?” I mean, it’s difficult for one to flip flop on morals within the span of a generation…twice! So it will be interesting. The damage that Trump has done to the moral standing of the Right is so devastating, so wide ranging that it is within the realm of possibility that the United States could go from a Right-wing nutjob (be it Trump or Pence) to a progressive bisexual woman all within the span of less than a decade.

But there are an enormous number of caveats to this scenario. The Russians could meddle again, Trump could start a war with either or both Iran and the DPRK. And history is pretty weird sometimes. It goes off in strange directions that you can’t possibly predict.

And, yet, like I said, the Republican Party is setting itself up for a pretty astonishing flip-flop on morals. Hell, even if it’s just Pence, the Republicans are in for a lulu of a moral compass change. Trump is such an historical aberration that no matter what happens, we’re in for head spinning change once he’s gone.

The question is, of course, will thing snap back into place, or have the changed forever? Only time will tell on that question.

‘John Bolton (We’re All Going To Die)’ — #Lyrics To A Woke Pop-Rock Song

One thing I keep hearing about John Bolton becoming National Security Adviser is “we’re all going to die.” So, in that spirit, here are some lyrics to yet another pop-rock song that will never be produced. I write these very fast and you could consider this a first draft of sorts. I do this just for fun because it’s relaxing.

John Bolton (We’re All Going To Die)
lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
please give credit if you produce or perform

never met a war he didn’t like
John Bolton will have the president’s ear
everything we hold dear is at risk
what are we going to do now
I ask and I ask

we’re all going to die
John Bolton
we’re all going to die
John Bolton
we’re all going to die

things seem so dire
but I wish they’d get higher
we’re all just going to have to wait
the weight of the world is on our minds
now that John Bolton tells Trump the time
the time to start a war
what are we going to do now
I sigh

we’re all going to die
John Bolton
we’re all going to die
John Bolton
we’re all going to die

[bridge]
but maybe I’m wrong
maybe it’s all a dream
one I wake up with a scream
let it be so
I plead

but who knows what to say
when they tell me to shut up
and just get laid
the end may be near
and everything I hold dear
will be made dust
gotta have a lust for life
so what are we going to do
we’re all going to die
we’re all going to die
we’re all going to die

Face It, Guys, With John Bolton At The White House, WWIII Is Around The Corner

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Now, if I was still a reporter, I would give you links and detail examples of why I think John Bolton’s appointment to the president’s national security team is an example of us lurching towards what will be marketed by the press as “World War III.” But, alas, I’m not a reporter anymore and I’m too lazy to do basic journalistic stuff. So you get this.

Here’s what I think is going to go down.

We’re going to go to war with the DPRK by August, but it’s very possible that we could go to war with Iran along the way. Or Pakistan and India could go to war at the same time because of the instability our wars against Iran and the DPRK cause. Or the Middle East in general could go up in flames. Or Russia could invade Ukraine in a big way as well.

Regardless, if the United States attacks the DPRK the massive amount of instability that will cause probably cause several other regional wars to happen and the press will be quick to market the whole thing as WWIII. I have no proof this is going to happen, but I definitely see all the signs pointing in that direction.

Once John Bolton is ensconced in the White House, he will have the president’s ear on nearly a daily basis and all signs point to the president looking for a way out of all his sex scandals, not to mention TrumpRussia. Bolton is a known warmonger and all the pieces of a war cabinet are beginning to take shape.

Anyway. We’ll see I guess.