www.markholder.org

 After taking a job for which I slowly realized I was wholly unsuited for, I find myself back in the job market. Things feel a bit different this time around. After the implosion of Brown Industries, a hiring frenzy seemed to take place. Now feels a bit different, more slowly paced. I have interviews lined up, including two in one day, as happened before, but this has taken a couple of weeks to form.  The weekend after leaving the aforementioned job, my family and I went on a long weekend getaway to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a charming little town on the Gulf Coast. It was a much-needed stepping away from the anxiety of the last two months and we're thinking of going back for Mardi Gras.  One position I'm interviewing for could, if an offer is made and accepted, prove on a personal level that Nietzsche was right when he said time is a flat circle - more to come in a future post.  

  "There is no route out of the maze. The maze shifts as you move through it, because it is alive." - Philip K Dick

 One week ago, I, along with all employees of the print division of Brown Industries, was summoned to a meeting. Tensions were high and fear was palpable, as work had been slow for several weeks. Layoffs, it seemed, were to be announced.  If only it were so simple. Speaking through a poorly set up PA system, one of the two CEOs announced that funding that had been sought had fallen through and the company could no longer sustain operating costs. Brown Industries, inventor of the carpet sample industry and economic juggernaut for more than 60 years, would permanently suspend operations.  I was suddenly unemployed.  All were stunned. A short Q&A session took place in which we were reassured this wasn't the fault of labor, this was a failure on the management level. Cold comfort, to say the least. My immediate coworkers and I returned to our desks and began filling boxes with photos and other personal effects. I was reminded of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and seeing fo

 In May, I read an article that said gas prices would reach $3/gallon in the US, partly due to increased demand as the country reopens from the COVID restrictions and partly to possible shortages. This was before the ransomware attack that shut down the Southeast’s main pipeline, an event that had my fellow Southerners filling plastic bags with gas.  It is June as I write. Gas is just under $3/gallon. I learned long ago that when an announcement is made regarding prices, don’t take it as a prediction, take it as a statement of intent. There have been no shortages as of yet, except for during the week in which the previously mentioned fuel bags were being filled. The article mentioned the most likely cause of shortage wouldn’t be a lack of fuel, but a lack of certified truck drivers to deliver the fuel. While a commercial truck driver can drive most any truck, he or she must be certified to haul hazardous chemicals such as gasoline. When COVID shutdown much of the economy in 2020, many

Technology has made our world a smaller place, a place less mysterious and perilous. Where once one had to travel to see a destination, now we simply look it up and look at pictures. This is both an advantage and a loss, and I'll try to explain in the paragraphs that follow.  Gone are the days of grand adventure, of heading off into the unknown. While it is true one can set off on a small, personal adventure, you're never too far away from information that can remove obstacles and inconveniences from your path, but remember those things are part of the path , and to remove them removes at least some of the adventure.  So, what to do? I suggest doing what technology regularly does: miniaturize.  Get to know your local area. You may think you already know it, but a few minutes of online research will have you raising your eyebrows. For example, I recently learned an old bridge just a short distance from home holds the distinction of being the oldest bridge still in use in the cou

 The attacks on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 had their roots in a novel titled "The Turner Diaries" by the late William Luther Pierce. The novel, long a favorite of the extreme Right, has inspired violence before. In the 1980s, a group calling themselves The Order robbed an armored car and assassinated a radio talk show host, among other crimes before disbanding after their leader was killed in a standoff with the FBI.  The events of Jan. 6 were disturbingly similar to the plot of the book, which, unlike many who mention it, this writer has actually read. The racism, the hatred of government, even the gallows erected on the hill recall the book. Clearly it was used as a script for the attack, which thankfully failed.  The question on my mind is one many are asking: What's next?

 Like a great many others, I recently watched “The Vow”, a documentary series about the NXIVM personal growth cult, with a mix of curiosity and incredulity. As a child in the 70s, I watched the tragedy in Jonestown play out on the nightly news and have been intrigued by cults ever since. Strangely enough, there were two cults operating in my hometown a few years back, so there was always some easy research at hand. NXIVM appeared to be an executive-level self improvement group on the surface but things got weird. Submission, late night calls from the leader, eventually women branding themselves with a symbol that no one bothered to look closely at and see the founder’s and an associate’s initials incorporated into the design. Like I said, weird. The members weren’t the downtrodden that Jim Jones preyed upon; NXIVM recruited the wealthy and educated, all the better to give the group image a boost.  This is where my call of BS radar beeped. One of the members was a filmmaker named Mark V