The Answer-Man (Thaddeus Howze)

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

I can't tell you what to do. It is clear, I don't have the good sense to avoid the news even as it stresses me out to see the venal corruption and criminality at every level of government and corporate power. But if you don't vote, if you don't participate, oppression is on the menu for decades.

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

We have constructed a vocabulary that praises people for surviving conditions we ought to be questioning. We call them resilient. Resourceful. Hardworking. Dedicated. Indispensable. But those descriptions conceal an uncomfortable question: Why must ordinary survival demand extraordinary endurance?

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

I spent the day in the ER yesterday. Unexpected. Unavoidable. People will be angry because I was not available to them. They don't care why I wasn't there. Political attention has an economic cost. Democracy often assumes its citizens can afford to pay it. Sometimes you can't do more with less.

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

If you hadn't heard: In 2018, Bannon told Michael Lewis: "The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit." The real battle lies between #EconomicPrecarity and #PoliticalSaturation. My mother said it best: "Folks are too poor to pay attention."

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

People still possess the right to protest. They just cannot afford to be detained for two weeks. They have the right to organize, but who has time? They have the right to remain informed. They just cannot endure another evening absorbing disasters over which they feel they have no control. WTF?

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

He says to me: What If you're someone who wakes behind the curve. Your pay sucks, rent's rising, healthcare's unaffordable and no matter what you literally can't afford to have a heart attack or stroke. The holidays are approaching and you are BROKE as hell. What do you do? What can you do?

I woke to news Democrats barely hold their lead. Skinny-dipping in fascism, neighbors being dragged from their cars, government corruption laughed at in congressional hearings, the president bleats, "shut up, piggy" as he bombs kids while gas reaches $7 a gallon. And folks still don't vote.

Walter Koenig died on October 25, 2026, at the age of 90. He died of natural causes at his North Hollywood home, surrounded by his daughter and niece. It's another enormous loss to the original Star Trek generation. Koenig joined the Enterprise in 1967, during the show's second season.

And Koenig had another memorable science-fiction role: Alfred Bester in Babylon 5, the calculating, frighteningly self-assured Psi Cop. Quite a contrast to the enthusiastic young navigator of the Enterprise.

Walter Koenig died on October 25, 2026, at the age of 90. He died of natural causes at his North Hollywood home, surrounded by his daughter and niece. It's another enormous loss to the original Star Trek generation. Koenig joined the Enterprise in 1967, during the show's second season.

Adding to the list of things you can't do while Black: Getting to be more than 1 year old. A child was killed after a police call for suspected shoplifting in a Walmart parking lot ended in tragedy. No one will be charged despite the evidence someone should be. www.instagram.com/reel/DeufLBH...