2021: Retrospective & Prescient

December 31, 2021

Happy Holidays and Happy Friday!

We’ve reached the end of 2021. Truly, it was a milestone year!

It was a heck of a year for socio-political events. Six days into the year, we witnessed an insurrection which will forever be remembered, historically, as both a day of infamy and low point for American democracy. We all learned part of the Greek alphabet corresponding to several Covid variants. The pandemic death toll in America quickly approaches 850,000. The majority of new deaths, exponentially, are from the ‘unvaccinated’ segment of the population. America is now on track to reach 1 Million deaths from Covid in the first quarter of 2022.

The mortality rate chart will forever remain available here.

Our family took a month-long vacation and drove across America to get married back in California; thankful to reunite with family and closest friends. Watched my best friend get married in Washington, honeymooned in Hawaii, watched Browns games in Cleveland & Los Angeles, etc.; plus all the usual suspects – trading, coding, music.

It was an excellent year to make art. Started uploading videos to my original YouTube channel. Learned the basics of generative art; check out my generative origami project. Could be a fun project to release some NFT music in the future.

If you’d like to get involved with the future of my art stuff, you can check my Threadless shop. A portion (10-15%) of all proceeds are donated to charities such as Red Cross, Mental Health America, World Central Kitchen, Global Citizen, etc.

It was a great year for enjoy music & movies, too! On the music front, my ‘Best of 2021’ playlist is public on Apple Music. If you’re into movies, I highly recommend Psycho Gorman, Pig, The Rescue, Summer of Soul and The Beatles: Get Back. Top honors (for me) was Adam Macay’s Don’t Look Up. which is equally hilarious and horrifying.

We are overjoyed to welcome 2022. Let's make this the best one yet!

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

November Notes

November 30, 2021

Happy Holidays! Hope everybody enjoyed Thanksgiving. Brief notes this month.

Winter has arrived in Ohio. Nights are festive. Snowfall and holiday lights decorate the landscape. We drive around to enjoy it all. It's the season, more than usual, to truly appreciate the small things, to share- and show- love. That is where our focus remains.

Inflation Theater

Decided it’d be redundant to write about inflation, considering the topic was covered in practical terms seventeen months ago in Pajama Republic. Therein, sounded the alarm bells about fiscal irresponsibility, $6 Trillion dollars in reckless spending, and the inevitable rising cost of goods and services. America remains stuck on this debt path for the foreseeable future. The explanation and words therein remain relevant today.

Fast-forward to November 2021, inflation has certainly arrived. Average Americans feel the effects. Some elected Officials are quick to forget the CARES Act and Repo Market. Instead, their strategy is to combine gaslighting, denial, and fear; all in an effort to exploit inflation for political gain. My homegrown term for such behavior: inflation theater. Best to ignore those engaged in inflation theater.

Make no mistake, inflation is real. Inflation is very real. Debt, is very real. The reality is that taxpayers will continue to be signed-up (involuntarily) to bail out corporations and pay for reckless spending until citizens demand change. The silver lining, if there is one, is that bad policies can change to good policies. It will take innovation and courage. Again, might want to re-read Pajama Republic.

Covid Updates

In November, America reached the grim milestone of 800,000 citizens dead from Covid. This is reflected in the Covid-19 Mortality Rate Chart. To complicate matters, news broke this month about yet another Covid variant, Omicron (B.1.1.529). Vaccines remain available. Please, consider getting vaccinated and get a booster.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

Spending a substantial amount of time thinking & writing about NFTs. Exploring how this (or similar) technology could revolutionize the value and experience of art for both creators and audiences. Lots of potential to integrate and/or disrupt several industries.

Let’s keep our collective minds open & curious and our hearts full of love.

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

Halloween & Artwork

October 31, 2021

🎃Happy Halloween!🎃

October is transformative. Colors glow bright before leaves fall. Warm fires, burning wood, and rainfall. Welcome the short days and cold nights of autumn.🍂

Today, we wear costumes and/or provide the adorable trick-or-treat'ers with generous amounts of fine candy! Yet, there's so much more to this special day, even beyond today's Browns vs Steelers game...

In the spirit of, well, spirits, wish to honor some select spirits who have long since passed; specifically artists from centuries ago who inspired UvU album artwork:

Dr. Alesha Sivartha's 1898 The Book of Life illustration for The Nervous System serves as the centerpiece for the debut album I: Man.

Jan Toorop's 1892 painting O Grave, Where is Thy Victory? is an all-time favorite. In particular, the two Sirens who carry a man, presumably away from the human world, into his final resting spot in the ground; the basis for the artwork on Heart Massage.

Fortunio Liceti's 1665 illustration Monsters depicts nearly a dozen physically abnormal creatures; affectionately termed ‘baby cyclops’ and ‘belly button man’ found on the third album III: Monsters. It should be noted that Fortunio Liceti himself was equally fascinating; physicist & philosopher, contemporary of- and friend to Galileo Galilei, living in Italy during an especially painful anti-science period; one empathizes.

In the spirit of Halloween & Allhallowtide, cheers to Sivartha, Toorop, and Liceti. Spent a couple months working on UvU artwork and merchandise. More on that another time.

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

Reflections on 9/11 (20 Years Later)

September 30, 2021

Hello everybody, Hope you’re all doing well.

Next month, I promise to focus on art, music, and copyright -- far less controversial topics. But since it's the 20th anniversary of important events, and having the heart of a historian, decided to dedicate September to retrospective analysis. If politics & policy is not your cup of tea, or if any of the following bothers you, please kindly click away or reach-out. Frankly, I do love everybody, regardless of their current (or prior) views.

Some days change the trajectory of an entire nation. September 11th, 2001 ("9/11") was one such day. It will forever be a watershed moment in American history; the largest terrorist attack in America; 2,977 innocent casualties. The world watched, in shock and horror, as two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in Manhattan. The images remain heartbreaking; surreal to watch. Even now, watching footage of the towers in all their original, majestic glory, seems like a lifetime ago.

When we reflect on 9/11, it’s vital we pause for a moment. The most prosperous nation in the world, certainly at that time, faced a moment of legitimate crisis, adversity, and vulnerability. In the days afterward, the entire world waited with anticipation for America's response. Would America elect to adopt: (a) diplomacy-first approach with strong international support; or (b) military-based approach. Metaphorically, would America’s response be more scalpel or sledgehammer?

America’s response to 9/11 was the latter; a metaphorical sledgehammer wrapped in freedom fries and dynamite. Specifically, we leaned into the Bush Doctrine of unilateral, pre-emptive, military attack; it guided America’s subsequent War on Terror.

Fast-forward twenty years. The anti-vaccination skeptics of 2021 are eerily familiar; reminiscent of the pro-war crowd of 2001. Both crowds share a few demographic traits. Furthermore, both emerged prominently during national crises, both crowds ignored subject matter experts including political scholars and medical professionals, and both crowds peddled misinformation and propaganda while embracing conspiracy theories. The fear mongering claims of “microchips / magnets" in the covid vaccine today are reminiscent of yesteryear’s fear mongering claims of “Weapons of Mass Destruction” -- yet neither existed, as claimed. It appears that both the anti-vaccination and pro-war crowds, separated by 20 years, not only come from the same misguided, distorted reality, but further -- they will both age about as well as cold cheese in the hot sahara desert. Just as the War on Terror was memorialized in the satirical 2004 movie Team America: World Police, the anti-vaccine folly will continue to be memorialized as foolish; via science, reason, and comedy.

To be clear: there is nothing actually funny about the harm caused by anti-vaccine rhetoric. The Covid Mortality Chart illustrates the damage done to America; the death toll is now equivalent to one 9/11 event per day for eight consecutive months (and counting).

Not only has Covid-19 killed more Americans than the 1919 Flu Pandemic, Covid is going to kill more Americans than the U.S. Civil War of 1861-1865. Think about that -- four years of bloody, weaponized, infighting surpassed by two years of Covid. Heartbreaking when you consider the majority of these Covid deaths are now mostly avoidable; the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die, if infected. Yet that staggering statistic is ignored by far too many Americans; the vaccination rate in America remains relatively unimpressive. Please consider vaccination and (if applicable) a booster shot.

It's important to remember that our individual freedoms ought be balanced alongside our responsibility to one another in pursuit of the long-term stability of society at-large.

20 years later, the collective pain, worry, and memory from 9/11 remains. Heart goes out to the first responders who still battle issues from toxic dust, trauma, and medical bills. Heart goes out to anybody who lost a friend and/or family member that day, or in the years that followed.

Most genuine hope is that Americans remain United. Regardles of what we believe(d) about the War on Terror or Covid, far more connects us than should ever divide us.

Thanks for reading!

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

August Notes

August 31, 2021

Hello! Hope you’re all doing well.

Beautiful weather in Ohio. Browns went undefeated in preseason. Lots of music, mixing and mastering. Making stuff with my bare hands for the control room / studio. Suppose I could focus a bit more on trading & coding.

If you’re upset by the following viewpoints, please kindly click away.

Folks in disbelief that U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan. Others, speaking personally, wonder what the h-e- double toothpicks took so long? For literally decades, America’s longest “war” dragged on...with seemingly no end in sight. Regardless of which President signed the deal with the Taliban and which President enforced the deal; Diplomatically, it was time to go, long ago.

Nonetheless, here are some sobering lessons from Afghanistan (2001-2021):

Integrate lessons from prior failures or else repeat them
Success is linked to defined, attainable, goals
U.S. citizens were sold an expensive military operation with relative ease

Spring’s warmth thaws wintered grounds. Reset clocks, restart daily walks. Welcome season’s change. One small family, ebbing harmoniously, joyfully, together through streams, among fish & fauna, blooming flora, foliage. Nature provides pulse, we abide.

Change, the universal constant. Here; now and everywhere; always. Ripples our reality daily, hourly, per second. Change. An everflowing stream of rhythm, syncopation, constant evolution; pauses for nothing, nobody.

Individually, in various degrees of comfort & speed, all accept the subtle, natural, invite to grow, whether like grass or weeds; we grow. We too change, In the ways we desire, gracefully, towards a philosophy in which we aspire, hopefully.

Change, the universal constant. Opportunity. Adapt, evolve our mindset, our actions. Deliverance from ignorance, shed pain. Grow, change.

History is yesterday’s pulse guiding all into this moment.

Let's challenge ourselves to be present, here, for we are most needed in the now.

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

Short & Sweet ❤️

Feb 28, 2021

Hello, Happy Sunday! Short & sweet blog post for a short & sweet month. Grab a drink, let’s catch up.

Executive Stability: Far fewer political blunders from the new Commander-in-Chief in February. No new insurrections. No new top-down conspiracy theory. No new big lie propaganda. No new late night Executive branch Twitter tantrums. A testament to President Biden’s stable month is Newsmax, having nothing juicier to complain about, forcing a 10-minute segment dedicated to the ridicule of the First Dog, a 12-year old German Shepherd senior rescue named Champ. Biden’s job approval rating (average) sits at 54.2 percent.

Biden Doctrine: Biden administration has plenty of foreign policy matters to consider. From Russian cyberwarfare and annexation of Crimea, to Saudi royalty and Turkey's role in the brutal murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashogi, to Mideast policy with potential future militarism across Iran, Syria, and Iraq, to name just a few. Perhaps a dedicated policy prong will exist for China, and what action to take, if any, in response to ongoing protests against the military coup d'état in Myanmar? Eager to see exactly what the Biden Doctrine will entail. One thing is for certain, it will be more complex than the ‘America First’ stance of yesteryear.

Impeachment Trial: The second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump lasted less than one week. The Senate voted 57-43 to acquit Trump on the charge of Incitement to Insurrection. Four (GOP) senators did not even cast a vote. From an academic, legal and political theory perspective, the January Exception remains problematic; an exploit left wide open which renders brittle the peaceful transfer of power. This blind spot for Executive accountability during the final days in office requires both short-term patch and long-term correction.

Covid: Reached the grim milestone of 525,000 covid-related deaths in the United States. Covid continues to evolve. Researchers identified a new California strain (B.1.1.7), New York strain (B1526), among others. Immunization and social distancing practices remain the most pragmatic approach; particularly for the most at-risk populations.

Parler: Mentioned last month in The Curious Case to Restore Parler, expect the Parler platform return sometime in February/March. On February 15, 2021, Parler did return, in limited form, with new hosting provider Skysilk. Focused on Parler’s updated organizational structure, policy enforcement, and next product updates.

Game Stopped: Kudos to the folks who reached-out to ask questions over the past few weeks. Mentioned last month: hope folks (re)watch The Big Short, Wall Street, and (re)read Year One. Privately wrote a piece on the Gamestop debacle; might share, eventually. In sum, the bull thesis for retail is extremely toxic. Most folks ought to remain on the sideline, sit on their hands, and avoid potentially holding the bag on Gamestop stock. Unfortunately, many will hold for weeks, months, and/or years.

Artistic Bandwidth: Saved the most important update for last!

Dedicated the past 12 months of this blog to the purposeful, albeit long-winded, writing for the historical record -- My good-faith effort to capture the significance of 2020 (and its aftermath) in all its importance (and ridiculousness). 2020 was truly a pivotal, historic year for America and Democracy. From the Covid-19 global pandemic, conspiracy theories gone mainstream, global recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, Presidential election and events leading up to the insurrection -- the blog documented it. Hope to revisit it all one-day in the future; perhaps Matt Damon can read each post in audiobook form. Jokes aside...

March 2021 is the perfect time for me to step aside, breathe deep, smell the flowers, and dedicate more time to art. Make no mistake, my inner-historian lives on, Politics goes on, and all my momentum of 2020 continues -- forever toward the advancement of health, science, morals & ethics, human rights, and equality across the globe. Time for me to express these beliefs in more concise ways and beyond mere words. March On!

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

Insurrection, Impeachment, and the Internet 🌐

January 31, 2021

Hello everybody. Welcome to 2021. Grab a warm drink (or two), let’s catch up!

Georgia, For the Win: The State of Georgia held a special runoff election on January 5, 2021. On that historic date, voters elected two Democrats named Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to unseat and replace both incumbent GOP Senators. Two months prior, Georgia rocked the political landscape when it cast the State's 16 electoral votes for Joe Biden. Georgia is no longer a safe haven for Republican politicians, who have long relied on gerrymandering and voter suppression to keep political power. Further, and perhaps more importantly, the outcome in Georgia’s special runoff election provides Democrats with a Senate majority.

Insurrection at the Capitol: On January 6, 2021, former President Trump hosted the infamous ‘Stop the Steal’ rally. The subsequent Storming of the Capitol was both self-coup and insurrection. The events of that day will live forever in infamy. Five people were murdered at the State Capitol, including one police officer and one military veteran. In the weeks to follow, at least two Capitol officers would later commit suicide.

The eternal optimist hopes January 6th may serve some American equivalent to France’s Bastille Day (July 14th, 1789). Perhaps we can enter a similar age of enlightenment, while avoiding all the violence of the French Revolution. Recall the French Revolution gave rise to France’s national motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité, which inspired America’s forefathers, which in turn inspired the U.S. Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution. In that spirit, one sincerely hopes January 6th becomes an annual, nationally-recognized celebration of our commitment to Democracy and the Certification of electoral votes. Regardless of whether our political candidate or political party won the prior election, we ought pledge to remain free of violence, free from tyranny, and most importantly -- committed to one another in Democracy.

Re-Impeached: For his role in the deadly insurrection and self-coup, Donald Trump was impeached for a second time. He is now the only President in American history to have been impeached, twice. Less than a week until his Senate impeachment trial is scheduled to begin, five of his lawyers quit, including his lead litigation lawyer. In the decades to follow, fully expect Historians and legal scholars will detail additional high-crimes and misdemeanors which warranted additional impeachments.

President Biden: Biden started the first week of his first term cleaning house. On day one, he signed over 17 Executive Orders spanning Ethics commitments for anti-bribery and anti-lobbying for Executive Branch personnel, science-based approaches to climate change and Covid-19, terminating federal handouts to private prisons, re-apportionment of the 2020 U.S. Census, and highly-anticipated economic relief for the ongoing Covid pandemic. The Orders further symbolize swift and deep cleanse of the prior Administration.

Days later, Biden phoned Vladimir Putin in Russia; the first real-talk conversation between leaders in the U.S.A and Russia in half a decade. According to reports, Biden requested the release of popular dissident Alexei Navalny, voiced displeasure of Russia’s unlawful annexation of Ukraine, issued stern displeasure with Russia’s interference in the U.S. 2016 Presidential election and cyber espionage attack on Solarwinds. In a swift change of pace, Putin will finally be held accountable under Biden, while Russia simultaneously works to quell ongoing domestic issues. Sincerely wish the best to all Russian citizens; Udachi / Удачи.

Social Media Suspension: In the final days of Donald Trump’s Presidency, the top social media companies finally suspended Donald's accounts. The action was long overdue. For far too long, Donald Trump peddled baseless conspiracy theories, disinformation, and misinformation on topics ranging from election fraud to the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to President Obama's birth certificate. On queue, they chose the most convenient time (for themselves) to take enforcement action. On a busy Friday evening, 5pm Pacific, overshadowed by news headlines about the recent ‘insurrection’ and ‘impeachment’, Silicon Valley grew a miniature backbone. Click, click, click, suspended.

Nevertheless, credit given for finally doing the right thing in enforcing their own policies. Not easy work to convince the C-Suite to be bold. And yet, this policy enforcement should not ever be regarded as bold; companies made good on enforcing their own policies, which they do thousands of times per day. Companies are merely now consistent with prior decisions to suspend other serial violators including Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones for repeated violations of Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. So, while it’s never too late to do the right thing, urge large-companies to think deeper about policy enforcement and be braver, faster.

Y Tu Parler, También: While Donald Trump’s social media presence was evaporating, Parler, the popular conservative-leaning alternative to Twitter, disappeared entirely. In the span of a few hours, Parler was removed from several online platforms spanning the Google Play Store, Apple App store, and disconnected from domain host Amazon Web Services (AWS). In an ill-advised move one can only assume arose from frustration and desperation, Parler proceeded to sue Amazon. In short order, Amazon’s legal response correctly points-out, as have others, Parler’s case rings hollow.

Folks interested in content moderation and internet policy can read a meditation I explored and wrote entitled, The Curious Case to Restore Parler.

Covid Mortality: The Covid Mortality Rate chart remains available. January was the deadliest month for Coronavirus, so far. Over 100,000 people died from Covid in the past 31 days. For perspective, America now experiences nearly the equivalent of one 9/11 each morning and another 9/11 each evening. We learned from the incoming administration about the lack of a vaccine distribution plan by the outgoing administration. Painful to think this could have been at least partially reduced. We rapidly approach 606,880 total Covid-related deaths in the next 45 days -- approximately the volume of deaths caused by cancer in the U.S. for 2019.

On the bright side, several immediate family members have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccination. Comforting, in fact liberating, to watch Anthony Fauci return to public view on matters pertaining to public health and science advisor to President Biden. Mentioned last year, we are clearly biased, in favor of any little old italian man also named Anthony who also trusts science. These are much welcomed developments and, yet, we still have a long way to go to defeat Coronavirus.

Meme Stocks: In response to the recent flood of inquiries regarding GameStop (Symbol:GME), this seasoned trader simply offers the following: “Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought” -Gordon Gekko, quoting Sun Tzu. Invite everybody to (re)watch The Big Short and Betting on Zero and (re)read the book Year One: A Trader's Journey. Good luck to All.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Hope to share some artistic updates next month.

Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍

- anthony

2021 (Archived)

2021: Retrospective & Prescient

December 31, 2021

November Notes

November 30, 2021

Halloween & Artwork

October 31, 2021

Reflections on 9/11 (20 Years Later)

September 30, 2021

August Notes

August 31, 2021

Wedding & Home

July 31, 2021

Aloha, Mahalo 🌸🏝️🍹

June 30, 2021

Home Stretch

May 31, 2021

April Update

April 30, 2021

Constant

March 31, 2021

Short & Sweet ❤️

Feb 28, 2021

Insurrection, Impeachment, and the Internet 🌐

January 31, 2021

Blog Archive