Missives from Samsara

Today was the day one of the nine Supreme Court Justices of the United States Supreme Court is visiting my school. Pretty freaking cool! Problem is, I came down with a gnarly cold on Tuesday. I ended up taking Wednesday off from work but I spent a fair bit of bandwidth worrying about what to do if I was not feeling great when I woke up this morning.

On the one hand I realized seeing Justice Jackson speak in person with my AP Gov students is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On the other hand, I knew I didn’t want to get anyone sick and I certainly didn’t want to get any sicker. There’s also the fact that once we were are in the library, we couldn’t leave and come back because a live radio program was broadcasting the talk.

This morning, like I always do, I went into my ‘Stoic and Buddhist Wisdom” Notebook LM and asked it to give me some helpful reminders. Part of today’s response is below. The first bit of advice, specifically the part about irrational fears, landed perfectly because it spoke to the niggling worry I had all day yesterday about how things would turn out today. The bottom line, I was reminded, is that spending mental energy yesterday worrying about how today would play out was not wise. Both the Stoics and the Buddhists argued against getting caught up in worries about things beyond our control. Indeed, I felt better enough to go to school today so my worries about missing the opportunity were for naught. Had things gone the other way, that would’ve been alright, too.

My daily reminder protocol spits out simple advice, but it was very helpful to hear this morning.

More on the Justice Jackson visit in the coming days.

I was at the mall with my kiddo today and we wound up in a Sephora to get something my kid needed. When making the purchase, I was asked for my phone number. I declined, and was asked for it again. I declined for a second time. I was then told I could ‘share my points with someone else." I didn’t know what the clerk was talking about and I think my politeness meter had declined somewhat noticably (at least that is what my child told me once we’d left). I realize this sort of retail experience is common. Nevertheless, it seriously grates. Indeed, over the years I have evolved a habit of not sharing my personal info with brick and mortar retailers because I don’t trust them.

When I got home I did some poking around and wouldn’t you know it, apparently Sephora (owned by European luxury giant LVMH), was busted in 2022 by the state of California for mishandling customer data. According to the article linked here, “Sephora failed to tell customers that it was selling their personal information, failed to allow customers to opt out of that sale, and didn’t fix the problem within 30 days as required by the law, even after it was notified of the violation, state officials said.” Shocker.

My experience at the mall was a good reminder that distrusting large retailers is probably a good idea.

Tomorrow is the start of Lunar New Year, celebrated by billions of people around the world. I know very little about the holiday and celebration, though I have picked up a few things from teaching, as I have always taught a large number of Vietnamese-American kids.

This year is the Year of the Fire Horse, not to be confused with the usual Year of the Horse. According to a description I found online, the Fire Horse “symbolizes speed and freedom…[and is] is associated with dramatic, chaotic, and revolutionary changes, favoring bold, fearless, and proactive decisions over cautious ones.” With AI, global climate change, rising authoratarianism, and America’s obvious decline, I’m a bit wary of ‘dramatic, chaotic, and revolutionary changes.’ Oh well, we’ll see.

I happened to be born in the Chinese Year of the Pig. As an American, that sounds pretty awful, but I poked around a bit and discovered that it isn’t as bad as it sounds! See description below from www.chinesenewyear.net

Well, the times they are a-changing. Just a quick note here about the news out of Chicago this week that the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and Chicago Blackhawks (NHL), is going to start selling beverages with THC. Apparently, they won’t be sold at the those games, though. Hearing this, I’m not sure what I think. Is it better than alcohol? Yes, probably; though I’ve never had a THC beverage so I have no idea how drinking it plays out in someone’s head. I assume they’d be a bit buzzed heading to the parking lot, especially if they have more than one. I saw that one of the arguments in favor of the move is that Americans are much more likely to properly dose themselves with a beverage, than say with a gummy. That makes sense to me. Americans have been self dosing alcohol by imbibing for our entire history. We’re used to medicating ourselves that way. What I wonder is how long it takes for the beverage to have an effect. The longer it takes, the more likely for mayhem on the roads. Then again, concerts take place every night all over America with stoned drivers heading home and that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue. Indeed, since they aren’t selling the beverages at the games (yet), I imagine concert will be the type of event that they will be available at.

Another thought I have about this is that it is a positive step away from alcohol and towards a more benign, though still powerful drug. Combine this with the related fact that Americans are consuming less and less alcohol and I can see why the United Center is making the decision (they are capitalists reacting to what the market wants) and why consumers might be looking for an alternative to $14 Bud Lights (ugh).

I am also curious to see if this catches on in freedom loving blue states where cannabis is legal (as it should be) and where grown ups get to decide for themselves how to relax at a sporting event or concert. Also, how long before they are available at the Bulls and Blackhawks games? Will those leauges, who are so averse to ticking off a part of their fan base, eventually come around. My guess is they big sports leagues will continue to resist, while the idea catches at arenas elsewhere.

Comcast was so unpopular they had rebrand as Xfinity 15 years ago. Well, Xfinity sucks just as bad Comcast. They are essentially a monopoly, and they act like it (with high prices, shitty customer service, because what are you going do about it??). Yesterday our internet was down for a good 9 hours. They said they were going to improve service. Once it was turned back on, it was slower than before. Today it went out again, and we got no heads up via text. Then, when I went to the app to deal with it, it wouldn’t let me sign in. I knew my password, but it still wouldn’t let me in. Then, of course, I tried to call them to get some help. Did I get a chance to talk to someone? Nope….No humans available.

The CEO of Comcast is a guy named Brian Roberts. He made approximately $34 million in 2024. That was a step down from 2023, when his total compenstaion was $35.5 million. He’s a billionaire, so these earnings are a mere pittance. Guess how he came to the CEO of Comcast? Yep, he’s a nepo baby. His daddy was the founder. He apparently owns ‘only’ 1% of the company via ownership stock, but he owns approximately 33% of the B shares (i.e., the voting shares). The top 3 Shareholders (by equity) are The Vanguard Group (~10%), BlackRock, Inc. (~8.8%), and State Street Corporation (~5%).

Oh, and Comcast also owns a controlling stake in NBC Universal. That means that a nepo baby who didn’t earn shit owns one of the biggest media companies in America, as well as the means of providing the media to your home or computer.

This is another example of someone with too much power, making tremendous amounts of money he merely has the privilege to be earning. Roberts inherited his company, and therefore his disgusting salary. And to be clear, the service they provide, especially their customer service, is shitty.

Funny side note: I just asked Google’s Nano Banana Pro to generate an image of people with pitchforks marching up to a castle named Comcast for my tiny little blog. It wouldn’t do it. Said it was a violation of their guidelines. I read the guidelines and think their explanation is a stretch. Anyway, Google’s got the back of their fellow corporoate overlords covered. Checks out.

OK, rant over.