Ironies Abound

Theory - because of grade inflation across so many domains of school there is little to no incentive to use chatgpt for the smart student. You can coast to an A already!

Yes Indeed

So should I, like, use ChatGTP for a summary of the New Yorker piece about replacing reading with ChatGTP, or just skip it altogether?

Rockets - Warriors

Fascinating game last night. After the fast Warriors start, I thought the Rockets had them figured out. Thompson on Curry. Play through Sengun instead of Green. Get Smith and Eason on the floor for outside shooting. Attack Draymond and get him in foul trouble. Make the "others" beat you. There were sequences in the game when Rockets defense was absolutely stifling. 

But...Sengun seems to get a bit psyched out by Draymond. Not sure why. He's taller and quicker and I think the Rockets are smart to attack Green defensively to both get him in foul trouble and wear him down. Warriors have no interior D without Draymond. And Pods, Butler, and Hield showed up. Game could've gone either way. Brooks foul on Jimmy was beyond dumb. Also, soft call if you ask me. Crazy as well Butler didn't get a flagrant or tech on his takedown of Brooks. Worrisome for Rockets - they cannot expect another game like that from VanVleet...

Good Line

Once again, socialism is like a nude beach: sounds pretty nice until you see it in person

Why Dems Make Thing Suck

Obama efforts to make cars more efficient lead to larger and larger cars.

Perversely, Democrats planning, "intelligence," and sense of morality works against them. They think they understand complex systems, but they only understand 1st order effects. Republicans have all sorts of poor motivation for their policies - like selfishness and subtle racism, but they might be perversely better than the Dems attempts to social engineer outcomes.

Films...

The number of films I've seen from this list is shockingly low.

Adam Schiff

The highest I've ever thought on him in this clip.

I don't see how any of these California politicians can hold their heads high when they look upon their own state.

Copying Works Both Ways

China copies our good stuff, but we can copy their good stuff too... a 20K bare bones electric pick up.

Cutting off the Water

India cutting off the water to Pakistan. Is it genocide yet?

Rubio

I don't find anything he's been saying publicly to be wrong. Prefer him to Vance to take the helm from Trump.

I see little hope for any Democrat so long as Trump continues to moderate on tariffs and some of the more extreme deportation stuff.

PS -

A few weeks ago, every commentator was using the global stock market fall as evidence for Trump's failure (never mind that they would never use such a measure to compliment his prior Presidency). Now VT is down 1.5% YTD. Hmmm.

Who Holds The Cards?

I fail to see why any number of the 5 billion non-Chinese people in the world can't assemble iPhones and manufacture other products that are done in China on the cheap. 

India

Expelling all Pakistanis. When do the calls of genocide start on this one? Is not India guilty of stealing land from Muslims?

Times...

Looks like the world needs to wrap up this Ukraine Russia thing and the Palestininan-Israel thing so we can move onto the main event - India vs Pakistan nuclear armed standoff. 

Hmmm...Tariffs...

So after all that, VT (global stock) is down a measly 3.5% YTD and we put a 60% tariff on Chinese stuff? Isn't this the position "reasonable" tariff fans wanted?

Nancy Mace

"Are you going to host a town hall this year?"

"Stop harassing me, I'm a victim of abuse." 

MAGA is Obsessed with Trans?

She's got it all backwards. Maga uses trans issues because it's a clear political winner for them. They will keep repeating and repeating the issue so long as the Democrats are on the wrong side of it. And they are. The gender transition stuff is just absolute madness. As are boys in women's sports. Every single normal person actually has to deal with this nonsense these days. And of course it is not the biggest issue in the world! But it's horrible for the Democrats. Because it shows they have no sense of reality. When you get caught in a lie, you lose trust not on one issue, but ALL issues. This is  the hugest Democrat "own goal" of my lifetime. Even the question of how Israel treats the Palestinians has a hair more connection to reality than the trans issue. And no, Republicans didn't start the nonsense. The Democrats did, by prioritizing the most radical elements of the LGBT+ agenda. The old rule was leave everyone alone and we're cool. When it changed to make everyone accept what is patently false - that's when the Democrats lost the normies. It's political suicide.  

If I Were President...

My foreign policy would be we support our friends, crush our enemies, and compete with rivals. 

None of the Anti-Israel Positions Ever Make Sense To Me

The critics who call the war genocide also called the occupation from before the war genocide. And before the occupation, they called 1948 the Nabka and refuse to acknowledge Israel has any right to exist. It keeps going back to this circular logic that ends with supporting Hamas or PLO or basically any organization that uses violence against Israel. What makes no sense is that no one would support say, the 2 million displaced Chinese who left China for Taiwan attacking mainland China. Or for that matter, the native Taiwanese who saw 2 million Chinese migrants enter their country and then start suiciding bombing them. 

The point is, the anti-Israel folks never come up with a reasonable compromise. Never put anything but violence on the table. Never exert pressure on their own side to compromise. And thus ensure perpetual war hoping that someone else will shame Israel into not acting in their own interest. What country or state has ever voluntarily ceased to exist? It ain't gonna happen. 

Tariffs

I always thought the benefits of using tariffs was how easily they could be removed. 

Question

How is it possible we have two "political parties" who are both working against the interests of Americans?   

Logging

Film: Public Enemies

When Michael Mann makes a lower tier Michael Mann film, it still makes my top 10 of the year. Maybe even top 5. 

NY Times on Fire

First, Douthat's column on the age of extinction is a must read. I remain a hair more optimistic - my general feel is that things can change quickly for both worse and better. So this notion that we all voluntarily stop procreating and life ends can easily be turned around by simply turning off video games and porn, I think. But he's really onto something about how physical life has become so much more difficult whereas online life so much more easy. To give a simple example - little league vs video games. The fortnite video game costs something like $50 and could entertain (if I let it) my kids for 2 hours each a day. They will be safe and happy in the short run. To compare, baseball practice can similarly entertain them for 2 hours, but it takes driving 15 minutes each way, it takes me doing coaching training and filling out tons of paperwork, costs hundreds of dollars each for league fees, hundreds each more for bats, helmets, gloves...it takes tremendous coordination and effort by parents, coaches, league volunteers, parks and rec for field access, etc. It is at least 15% more difficult than when I was a kid. And that's for a well-organized system with deep roots. I can make a similar point about skiing. 

My point - recreation in the US is by some measure worse than when I was a kid whereas the video games are clearly like 5x better than when I was a kid. It's only one example, but shows why we are being pushed more into the virtual and must remain intentional to get out.

Next, this ADHD article feels urgent and important. Two things to note - the "disease" is diagnosed by behaviors and cannot be identified by any biomarker. And the disease is treated with amphetamines for kids with notable side effects. It remains unclear in a lot of cases whether the ADHD diagnosis can be separated from other issues - example being anxiety disorder. Kids may display ADHD "symptoms" and be diagnosed with ADHD when in fact they have anxiety. Well worth a read for the many folks dealing with doctors and teachers telling you your kid has ADHD. 

Remarkable

0% of Americans think the tariffs will personally benefit them. 

Who says we're economically illiterate?

A Solution to the Kilmar Garcia Case

We should bring him back to the US where he will likely commit a crime and both Dems and Republicans get to look like heroes. Dems for preserving the rule of law and the Republicans for correctly sussing out he was a criminal. As they say, solve for the equilibrium.

What Might Help, In General

Cease listening to "complainers." 

Not Helping

Hate to say it, but big long conversations with groups of women on live TV don't further the cause women's lib movement. Yes, you get one of four who know what they are talking about but those are the one's who get silenced by the others and drowned out.

And here Candace Owen's calls the NASA program fake and gay. It is funny, but not in the way she thinks it is.

UPDATE: Kanye now thinking Candace Owens might be a little crazy.

Sad But Perhaps True

Yglesias and Hanania think MAGA men want women to be poorer so they can have a better shot with the ladies. Gender dynamics can explain quite a lot in society, so I think they are onto something. The men, however, are dumb. If you are a guy with the following:

-A full time job (any, even a bad one)

-Some realistic ambition

-And remotely in-shape/attractive, ie not obese, a slob, or clearly unhealthy

-No disqualifying personality traits (psycho vibes) 

Or perhaps just 3.5 of the 4, you will attract a decent woman. 

All these incel and Maga types are the wokie's evil twin - they blame complex systemic when a simpler solution to their ailments would simply be: get a job, eat healthier, and/or jog.

Logging

Film: Furiosa

My wife: "why are you watching that?"

Me: "Because it's awesome." 

Is Every Boy's Favorite Game

To inflict violence upon his father, or just my kids? 

Moral Panic

The first moral panic I personally fell for - the Iraq War. I supported it as a 60-40 proposition that it would usher in a change in the Middle East. In that, I was wrong. I also figured getting rid of the most evil man/family in the world might be good unto itself. Still...the emotional sway of the arguments for the war was what won me over at the time. Now I've seen the playbook 10-15x since then. The same pattern being used A LOT around a lot of different issues. The environment? Remember that? What ever happened with climate change ruining earth? Is it still happening? You wouldn't know it by what folks talk about. Guns? School shootings? COVID and vaccine mandates, etc? China, Ukraine, Russia. Stolen elections. DEI. George Floyd. Each one of these issues is built into moral panic. Then it was Doge, which everyone seems to have forgotten from a measly two weeks ago. Then tariffs. Now immigration -- the Maryland man deported. Don't get me wrong. I think it's terrible. But the moral panic around issue is by design and how many times can we be told the sky is falling...