Hunting down murderers, false history, and fake billions
The quasi-lockdown here in Taiwan is getting rough. But I suppose I should feel grateful, after all, we had more than a year almost completely untouched by the modern plague.
I figured I’d switch it up a bit this week with some more organized thoughts instead of my usual raucous rambling rants. Can I call them raumblants?
Yes. Yes, I can.
*If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider sharing it with others or subscribing. It will make me smile at least once.
1. Liam Neeson has nothing on this badass.
There was this super mom who’s daughter was kidnapped in 2012 for ransom by a group of gang members in Mexico. Lying gang members. Despite the mother’s best efforts, her daughter’s remains were found two years later. She then spent every waking moment hunting down the killers, using disguises, subterfuge, and sheer grunt investigative skills. Her efforts ended up in 10 of the culprits being imprisoned! Unfortunately, they got revenge on her and murdered her a few years later. Her son carries on her noble mission though. RIP Miriam Rodriguez.
2. When a Joke is Worth More Than Saving the World: Dogecoin
A few weeks ago the cryptocurrency called Dogecoin was worth an insane $96 billion. But the kicker is, the 2 creators of the coin did it as a friggin joke. They even left the community after it started getting out of hand. Weirder still, that $96 billion is worth more than the cost to cure the entire world of COVID, apparently. Sigh.
Also, screw Elon Musk.
3. Trump’s worst fear is coming true—irrelevance
The world’s greatest narcissist probably isn’t too happy these days. After only 29 days, his “blog” was being made fun of for incredibly low numbers—so he shut it down in disgrace (read: hissy fit). I used an SEO tool to take a look at the page and it was truly hilariously low. Like less than 1% of people who visited his ridiculous website visited his even more ridiculous blog. I don’t normally take pleasure in stuff like this, but this time, I made an exception. 😁
4. The Lone Ranger Would’ve Been Convicted of Genocide if He Was Alive Today
I did a deep dive into the not-so-hot-topic of The Lone Ranger the other day. I forget why but boy was that a rabbit hole to disappear into. From Texas being a standalone state, to genocide committed by Texas Rangers, to the creation of the myth of the Lone Ranger—it was an interesting ride.
5. Famous Historical ‘Facts’ That Are Actually Completely False
This was a fun (but long) rabbit hole down misrepresented historical facts. Of course, the list could be endless, so I tried to narrow it down to 5 of the more interesting-yet-random false facts we think actually happened in history. No witch burnings. No 300 Spartans. No Christopher Columbus discovering anything but how to impress royalty.
In other news, for those that care, I just hit 10,000 subscribers on Medium. That was a cool feeling and something I’ve been looking forward to for over a year now.
While my writing is almost covering my bills, I still have a long way to go if I want to make this life experiment work in the long term.
So thanks to each and every one of you for reading my…raumblants!
J.J. Pryor
PS. I started including friend links for any articles that are my own. This means you don’t have to be a Medium member to sign up, just in case that was an issue for you.
PPS. What do you think of the new style? I’m kind of leaning towards it myself, but let me know!
PPPS. I’m hungry.
PPPPS. The picture is from my local beach here after a nice rain.
Keep up the good work. I really like your sense of humor - so I guess I am as sick as you are?
I love it, JJ. Great style and interesting pieces. Have you had a peek at my Rosy's Ramblings yet? http://rosygee.substack.com/ It would be amazing if you did and even more amazing if you subscribe to it - it's FREE! No hidden catches: just trying to get more eyes on my words...thank you. P.S. Congrats on reaching 10K followers. I am about to hit 1K and it is sooooo exciting!