Captain Digital

Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

Things go better when Woke?

By now, you’ve probably heard about an internal Powerpoint stack that was leaked to the public, put together by the diversity department at Coca-Cola, and how they were trying to train employees to be “less white.” You might not have seen the original story, but you couldn’t miss all the memes flying about the ‘net, mocking Coke and their misbegotten messaging. (My particular fave are the ones that show Coke firing the polar bears, and hiring brown and black bears instead, because the polar bears are…wait for it…too white.)

Yes. Wokeness has gotten that stupid.

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Jeep Takes a Left(ist) Turn

I’ve held back from commenting on the SuperBowl Jeep ad for a bit, because I wanted to see if others felt about it the way I do.

Weirdly, both Leftists and Conservatives seem to feel the same way. They hate it. But for different reasons.
If you haven’t seen it, it features Bruce Springsteen as his trademarked character, the Working Man™, riding around Kansas, in a Jeep that’s gotta predate the Vietnam War. He’s drinking a cuppa Joe in a diner, driving the backroads, and (metaphorically) wrapping himself in the American flag, all the while staking a claim for unity in America.Lots to unpack on this one. So let’s get started.

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Lying is bad. Lying to yourself is worse.

How to tell if someone is lying:

The old answer about politicians is, “If their lips are moving.” Funny, and often true, but how can you tell if someone is lying in print, especially here on Facebook. Another political axiom springs to mind, namely: “If you don’t like the question you’re asked, answer a different one you do like.”

In another post on my wall, some friends have gotten into a ‘spirited’ discussion on a scientific/political issue. I asked a question of one of the people on the opposite side of the issue. He has now ducked my question at least four times, trying to evade the question by changing the subject. I know why. To answer my question means he would have to expose one of the leaders of his side as a fraud, or at the very least, a raging hypocrite.

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Everything That’s Old is New Again

Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Senator Joseph McCarthy, 1908–1957

I was born in the late ’50s, a little too late to experience the McCarthy Era firsthand. For those of you not familiar, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-IL) saw his political career rise, then fall, much like Daedalus, soaring high, then quickly crashing and burning. McCarthy was convinced that there were Communist sympathizers in both the Federal government and in the entertainment industry. Turns out, a couple of things were true: McCarthy was right, in that there were Communists and Communist sympathizers, in both the government and in Hollywood. He was also wrong in the way he pursued them, in what came to be called the “Red Scare” and the “Witch Hunts” of the 1950s.

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China Announces Donation of Land for Biden Presidential* Library

Artist’s concept of the planned Biden Presidential* Library.

BEIJING—A spokesperson for the People’s Republic of China today announced that Beijing will be the future home of the Biden Presidential* Library.

“We are pleased to donate a tract of land adjacent to the Imperial City in Beijing, for the planned tribute to your most glorious new Leader” said Hua Chunying, director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China. “As we all know, President* Harris will be soon taking over, but we do not know exactly when that will occur, it is prudent for us to begin plans for the Library now.”

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How to light for online video (on the cheap)

I get a lot of people who ask me, “What should I buy to light myself, when I’m on a Zoom call?” Good question. Lighting is most of the battle, when it comes to looking good online. (Cleaning up the area behind you and dressing appropriately – from the waist up, at least – being the other critical factors.) There are a LOT of solutions you can find online, none of which appealed to me, because of the cost. So I set out to create my own, out of things I could find for cheap on Amazon. Here’s what I created.

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Leftists Corner the Market on Hypocrisy.

Heard the one about the open-minded Leftist? Yeah…neither did I. In the week following the January 6th rally in DC, intended to show those inside the Beltway that 75,000,000 Americans are none too happy with politicians, don’t trust the government, and believe the election was stolen, the good news is “They got the message.” The bad news? Leftists have decided to throw their weight around, attempting to silence a sitting President (Twitter, Facebook, et al), punish companies that dare share Conservative viewpoints (Parler, Gab, et al) and kill the livelihoods of thousands who worked for companies sympathetic to Conservative views.

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The People’s Republik of Technostan.

I’m a ‘tech’ guy. I got hooked on PCs back in college, and shortly thereafter shelled out $4k for one of the first IBM PCs. I built websites back when “Notepad” was the only thing you could use to build ’em. And if you really wanna go hardcore, I still remember how to use EDLIN. As such, I’m not a nerd-come-lately to the Wonderful World of Technology. I’m also a small business owner (who depends on technology for my livelihood), a Capitalist/Entrepreneur, and a Conservative (with Libertarian leanings, or what at one time was considered a “Classical Liberal”). I’m in the “less government is better/lower taxes/reduce debt/the fewer rules and laws the better” bunch. Which is why the recent trend towards censorship and bans scares the ever-lovin’ crap out of me.

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