In past years, I would use my blog to share my choice of income tax software and the reasons why. In the present day of income tax season in the year 2024, I find I cannot use any of the government’s recommended income tax preparation software for reasons that are both philosophical and of personal privacy and liability concerns. I will start with the fact that my income tax is, or should be, a simple affair.

Patrick Stewart’s memoir, Make it So, was the second book I finished reading in 2024. I started reading this book after finishing all three seasons of Picard, and was watching seasons one and two of The Next Generation on Blu-Ray while reading this book. This book was not just about his career as Captain Picard; while just over the last quarter of it was, this is very much a book about his life and the hardships he overcame while maintaining a positive outlook throughout and being guided by the light of his cultivated passion in acting and of Shakespeare.

There are moments in my life when I do something I haven’t done in a while, which causes me to take pause to reflect. Living in a culture where the social norms and ways of doing things seem to change from day to day, things that have permanence in our culture really stand out. Turntables. The AM and FM radio. The traditional wristwatch. Safety razors. And books. Yes, the good old fashioned paper book.

I use the Internet based on a set of principles. These principles are based on concepts of ownership, autonomous sovereignty of my property, and democracy. When I purchase a product in this democracy, I own that product, and am free to do with it what I like within the laws that protect the rights of others from harm. This means the intended purpose or use of a product I buy is entirely up to me (governed by well-principled laws) once I have paid for it, not to the person who sold it to me.

A common theme among fans of Star Trek is the idea of living in a Star Trek utopia, and discussing ways of how we are to achieve this. Some go on to describe a harmonious society, perhaps with communist undertones, and with the expectation that we should all should just have respect for all life, apply science wisely, and pursue principles of justice, fairness, and reason. Whenever I see something like this, I must immediately assume either this person doesn’t really understand the fundamental lesson of Star Trek, or, if they do, they are purposely twisting its meaning towards a political agenda.