Thursday, April 26, 2018

Kanye

The woke media is going crazy over Kanye's MAGA support, producing article after article trying to decipher what's gone wrong with the guy. My counter: if you're upset with a pop star's political views, the problem is YOU. Not the other way around. Firstly, you're too invested in assigning meaning to a musician. Secondly, you've lost your way with the Trump derangement syndrome.

I'd bet money -- when Trump is gone, we will look back and be like "huh...that wasn't so bad. I don't know what all the fretting was about." Any takers?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Monday, April 23, 2018

Being Woke

In my casual observation of wokeness, the woke always seem unhappy and depressed. Correlation / causation, I don't know...but it certainly ain't a good sales pitch. Even the Islamicists pitch a good afterlife.
The More Of Everything Problem

Smart.
So, before continuing down The More of Everything path, consider an alternative. Sometimes the answer is more of something. But often, a more relevant question is how well something is being done. Are you getting the most out of what you already have? What can be done to improve community cohesion today? To what extent are the existing pieces integrating in a productive way?

In my experience, the answer to these questions comes not from adding, but from activating and transforming. That makes it an issue of culture and mindset, and means that seemingly small changes in behavior—adopted widely and practiced consistently—can have a big impact on outcomes down the road. It's not always the big moves that get you where you need to go.
Unconscious Bias Training

According to a study, doesn't seem to work.

Also, already known to literally anyone who's ever had to sit through one.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Strong Counter

To building more housing.
Phillip Glass

A good read.
In those days you could work three days a week, maybe four sometimes, and you could live on that. It was the quickest and easiest way to make an honest living. I thought it was a pretty good deal. I didn’t have to teach any classes anywhere. I just drove the car and I got paid. I liked that. I had my independence, which was very important to me. But also, it didn’t take much time. 
But, look, the thing to remember is that life was financially much easier. Actually, for the young people trying to make a living today, part-time, it’s almost impossible.
When the history is written of this era, I think the thing people will notice are not the hysteria surrounding racial or gender injustices, but the cultural logic of careerism and what it is doing to the family and culture. People work to hard for too little and spend their time self medicating through drugs or entertainment or facebook.

Notice even the "radicals" accept this logic. All the radical feminists, etc, really just want more money and better jobs.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Yep

On the soullessness of careerist from Barbara Bush in 1990.
These seemingly anodyne, Hallmark-y words, when taken seriously, are the most subversive words that could be uttered, then or now, on a college campus—a place where subversive words are supposed to be prized and protected but often aren’t. Mrs. Bush’s subversion wasn’t a matter of left or right, or even of feminism or traditionalism. She cut much deeper, into an American faith that transcends political categories. 
This is the faith of careerism. For generations, career had been the guiding light of the bourgeois American male. Work came before family, even if work was done in service of family, as many men told themselves it was. The result was that fathers and mothers of the broad middle class lived separate lives: men at work, women at home to attend to domestic matters, kids above all. Mrs. Bush understood that this division of labor, enforced through countless social customs and economic arrangements, was manifestly unfair to women who wanted something different, and no decent person could object to dismantling the barriers that stood in the way of their ambitions. But in this otherwise admirable goal, Mrs. Bush suggested, the advocates of women’s equality overshot. They went beyond making materialism an option to making it an expectation, perhaps even mandatory. 
They fell for the great lie at the heart of American business and professional life as men had lived it: that a single-minded pursuit of professional success was the surest source of personal fulfillment. The lie was well known to be a lie. 
By 1990, we had already accumulated a vast literature about the soullessness of the modern corporation, the emotional poverty of “the organization man,” the terrible spiritual price paid for capitalist conformity. The best of the 1960s rebellion briefly understood this. But then came Reaganism, the valorization of the all-conquering market, the glorification of material advancement. When Mrs. Bush spoke to Wellesley’s class of 1990, many self-declared feminists had fallen hard for the unforgiving materialism of a liberal society and the market economy. Feminism itself got tangled up in a wan and desiccated view of what life is for. 
Well, that was then. It was always a “First World problem” anyway, as we call them nowadays. The debate is long behind us. The materialists won. We’re all careerists now, men and women alike. 
The enormous success of Sheryl Sandberg’s chilling Lean In is proof of that. For Sandberg, the worthiest goal in a well-lived life will be found in the steady march through the cubicles of corporate America straight into the CEO’s corner office, or as near to it as you can get. Power is the object—power as successful businessmen have always defined it: lots of money to spend, lots of subordinates to boss around, nice houses, nice vacations, work, work, work . . .

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Starbucks

I'm not in a position to judge the situation, but as I writer, I am in a position to speculate.

If I were one of the two dudes who got asked by an employee to either buy something or leave, I would've bought something. I go to coffee shops all the time and overpay for shit for the right to hang out there. It's sort of the deal. Coffee costs $2. Once the employees asked multiple times, I would've left, since if I got this far, I must've REALLY not wanted anything. By the time the police came, I would've definitely left before getting arrested because I'm not stupid. (Yes, it's stupid and self destructive to get arrested over this.)

If I were the manager or a store employee and two guys are sitting in Starbucks not ordering something, I would probably not call the cops on them. I'd just let it go unless this was an ongoing problem that was hurting business. And don't rule this possibility out - my local Starbucks, on occasion, is a bit homeless heavy. Let's be honest - that's not a pleasant vibe. I'd go elsewhere.
I Can Confirm This

SF tourism czar speaks out against the city turning into a shithole (an expensive shithole).
$1,000 Bet

I'd bet anyone a cool grand that the anonymous racist graffiti at Depauw is a hoax by some of the folks protesting it.

Also related: this is a new chapter in the absurdly dumb protests in our country - now they are protesting an event the protestors openly acknowledge has nothing to do with the very thing they are protesting. As dumb as the Starbucks protests are, at least there is some connection to be made (although one manager calling the cops isn't really the fault of every single Starbucks, is it?)


Monday, April 16, 2018

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Russians

They are talking retaliation against the West.

Unwise.

The Russians are great fighters, but so were the Germans and the Japanese. And the thing about dictactorships are that taking out one man and all his support is a lot easier than defeating an entire nation, especially with the technology available today.
The Revolution Eats Its Own

Starbucks protest. It's easy to hand over other peoples money, space, and labor. Harder when it's your own.
Investigation Into Broward County

This is really interesting and worth reading. Don't see why this isn't the national story instead of the NRA.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Let's Get GRRM On It

The Syria situation is too complex to model. Someone should hire authors and screenwriters to develop various scenarios. We are better suited than social scientists.
Logging

TV: Superstore

Not bad, not good. I chuckled at times and cringed at others.
Molly Ringwald

Publicly calling out a dead man who made her star by "standards" that weren't obviously not around when he was alive. Utterly despicable on human being to human being level. And yet, totally woke.
Housing

Wells numbers suggest bad news for housing market going forward. Although we should take ZeroHedge with a grain of salt because the sky is always falling over there.

I'm of two minds re: housing in Coastal California. On the one hand, the prices are high because of supply issues that I don't see going away. On the other hand, incomes aren't rising as fast as prices and something that can't go on, won't. So that fact goes some of the way to explain how a small 1% rise in rates totally kills new mortgage applications: new buyers are pushing their housing costs to the limit.

What breaks first?
Debt and Dave Ramsey

Listening to his podcast today, he said something that caught my attention: when you carry debt, you're lying with snakes. Most of the time, you won't get bit, but eventually you will.

It didn't take me long to discover this - on my very first mortgage application. These people are scum and although they don't mean to screw you, they will -- for any variety of reasons that are theirs and not yours.
Parenting

As a general thing, being a parent helps one see how little choices matter a lot.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Kap

Not being worked out by the Seahawks because he is undecided on the anthem. 

Everyone is looking for some type of GOTCHA to blame the NFL for blackballing Kap. But it's obvious: this is a combination thing - the QB position matters a lot more than other positions, Kap is a mediocre QB of questionable starter-quality, and his stance is bad for business. Here's another thing none of these reporters write about: I'm sure the protests are not popular in the locker room. Some guys support, but other guys don't. Having a QB being the face of a radical faction within the locker room does not sound like a recipe for football success to me. These reporters aren't reporters. They don't dig into the reasons for what's happening, they simply try to use the situation to get across their own political opinions.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Paul Ryan

I kinda like the guy and sadly, his decision to retire makes me like him more. He seemed like an adult. And although that seems like a small thing, and maybe it is, but it seems to me in short supply.

So the announcement is sad on a number of levels: 1) simply reflects what we already know - our national politics sucks 2) why do our "elites" need to sacrifice being good parents.

I'm not convinced the meritocracy isn't making us a nation of Tracy Flicks - a bunch of soulless overachievers and busybodies who actually don't do much of anything well other than participate in an echo chamber.
Zuckerberg and Senate Hearings

Facebook collects data on non-users, too. Yep. And then this:
In another startling revelation about how Facebook is reaching out beyond its members, CNBC reported that Facebook has been in discussions with a number of hospitals, including the Stanford Medical School and American College of Cardiology, asking that they share data about their patients, such as illnesses and prescription info, as part of a research project.
Uh huh. Look...I can see a good application of this...but I can also see a bad one. What makes us remotely confident Facebook cares either way?

PS - I can't picture the US Government regulating Facebook is going to help anything. Tyler Cowen has been looking at the issue in much more depth than I. The thing I find absurd is the idea that people WANT the government to regulate Facebook. Does Facebook provide any essential service? I don't see what government involvement seeks to achieve. If users don't trust Facebook, it ought to be their responsibility to get off it.

Monday, April 09, 2018

I Call Bullshit on Everyone

From Day 1, it was obvious Facebook wasn't interested in privacy and was only appealing to the pathetic, stalking impulse inside everyone.  And they sought to monetize it somehow. All people needed to do was say no or cancel or not sign up in the first place. But 3 billion or whatever number of you didn't. And that's fine. But you won't get MY sympathy now. In fact, it's pretty silly to hear people SHOCKED by all this. Face it. You gave away your digital privacy because you were afraid of not being invited to party or you wanted to promote the brand of you.
The Challenge of China

Interesting.
The Chinese Audience

Doesn't buy American values. Or maybe because our storytelling at a blockbuster level is so lousy?

Sunday, April 08, 2018

Gender Neutral Kids

This sounds like the makings of a disaster on many different levels. How long will it take the parents to realize they are more likely to be the targets of their kids inevitable rage (from being raised in a boundary-less environment) than the rest of society?
Heh

“This is America, after all, a land where we are all free to express our own opinions, so long as they agree with mine,” the article concluded. “Or I will bring your livelihood crashing down so fast you and your family won’t be able to breathe.”
On Kevin Williamson and Abortion

Ross Douthart on the issue. And Conor Friedersdorf on the same.

My views on the issue will be obvious and unsurprising to anyone: disagree with Williamson's position, also disagree with his firing.

Only thing I'll add is this: I'm not particularly religious and my official stance is pro-choice, but I know what Douthart is talking about. I've been had close friends say - without any sense of regret or horror - that, yes, without a doubt, they would abort a down syndrome fetus. And I will confess this sentiment makes my stomach churn.

My wife and I spoke briefly about what we would do in such a situation and came to no conclusion. I couldn't honestly say what I'd do. I have had a few, not particularly meaningful interactions with down syndrome people over the years and don't find myself pitying them, or feeling like their lives are worthless, but I rather enjoyed their company. I can't say what this means, but I'd probably go back to the point that human life (including that of a fetus) has intrinsic value and I wouldn't be so quick to discard it for the sake of inconvenience.

Because that's the sick part, isn't it? My pro-choice stance is based upon the presumption that abortion is a hazy issue. A fetus is not a person. It is a fact that many women will find themselves pregnant without any reasonable chance to raise the child well. This is a reality and so we have a choice - the law chooses or the women chooses. My position is to err on the side of the women.

But the Down Syndrome question is different. Presumably, the issue here is that parents (or the women) ARE trying to have a baby, or at the very least are capable of raising A CHILD well, and they learn the fetus doesn't meet their expectations or desires. Aborting a fetus in this situation is entirely different, isn't it? A women is saying: I could raise a baby, I just don't want to raise this baby because it'll be hard for them. Or perhaps, what they truly mean: because it will be hard for me?

Tony Robbins on MeToo

This is not going to go the way you think.

MeToo will advantage a very narrow group of already privileged women into a narrow advantage over equally advantaged men. And the only thing I imagine they will discover is that powerful women can be every bit as monstrous as men, albeit in a slightly different way.
All You Need To Know...

...About our culture can be summed up by the fact that David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez are household names, but there was a kid at Parkland named Anthony Borges who took bullets for his classmates, is credited with saving 20 lives and barely anyone is talking about him.

What is the difference between these students? One took courageous action and wants to hold the school and local authorities responsible for not doing their job. The other students are pushing a popular liberal national policy goal of blaming an organization (the NRA) who had nothing to do with the shooting at all.

Saturday, April 07, 2018

Clever Arguments

On why California models American's future and the end of Republicanism.

All I can say is: maybe.

Contend with these facts/realities: California is losing population because cost of living is too high. The last time I was in San Francisco driving around, I saw homeless people openly injecting needles into themselves. I don't remember this type of thing when I lived in SF. Anecdotally, one of the most common fantasies amongst my younger-ish adult peers is leaving CA for lower cost of living places. The strangest person you can come across in coastal california is not a transgendered person who cut off their penis and takes hormones, not a porn actor, not tech titan, or a famous novelist, but rather someone who has (or wants) more than 2 kids.

Also, I've live in California my entire life and I don't know a single person who thinks the state is a better place to live today than decades ago. So, if this is the future, what we also might want to consider is whether that is a good thing.

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

Logging

Film: Local Hero

Highly enjoyable, idiosyncratic, humanist film.
File This Under Duh

Having fathers in the home and/or neighborhood benefits black boys.

This article explains in a kind way everything that's wrong with PCism. The folks who conducted this study misrepresent their own data so as not to say what is exceeding obvious: having fathers around benefits kids. Why acknowledging such an obvious truth is offensive blows my mind. And I see no reason why this would apply more specifically to black kids vs white kids. Even a marginally competent father with limited part time work provides an extra pair of hands for childcare, child teaching, income, etc. Or the potential for as much.
Movie Idea

Some people are their own identical twin.

Monday, April 02, 2018

Logging

TV: Ozark S. 1

One of my favorite shows and biggest surprises of this year.

Sunday, April 01, 2018

Paying Off Mortgage

With the standard deduction increasing, there is less of a reason to use the mortgage interest deduction.

Easier said than done, but still, small incentives add up.
The Left Will Eat Itself (And Already Is)

Steve Kerr and Kevin Durant face questions from reporter about why they didn't attend protests in Sacramento for the killing of an unarmed black man.

The question with progressivism is always going to boil down to: why don't you donate all your money to poorer people than yourself? Or donate all your time to protesting injustice? And when the obvious answer to those questions don't satisfy, the progressive appeals to the state to mandate we all do more.

PS - I rather like Durant's pithy response: "We had a game."
Autonomous Vehicles

I'm on record of being skeptical of autonomous vehicles, but I want to log my thoughts in a deeper way:

1. I have no problem with the technology per se, but I'd rather not be a guinea pig in the QA phase of introducing the technology to the "real world."

2. I can forsee LOTS of obvious problems introducing these vehicles onto the roads. Just a couple: when in traffic and you need to switch lanes and you gesture to the other driver and make an agreement to switch lanes - how with autonomous vehicles deal with this situation? As a result of autonomous vehicles, will people become "worse" drivers - in particular - people who are already bad drivers and don't like driving in the first place?  Will this result in more accidents where human drivers are meant to "take over" from the vehicle? Who bears responsibility on accidents? The human driver or the car company? There are often driving situations that are technically "illegal" but safe. Likewise, there are driving situations that are legal, and yet, unsafe? How will a driverless car make this decision? Can a driverless car be hacked and used as an undetectable weapon?

3. A terrific idea is for a single, small city to become driverless cars ONLY. I can see that being a lot more safe - and the roads redesigned for driverless cars. I would not live in this city, but would enjoy visiting it a lot.

4. How much will the things cost? How costly to improve infrastructure to make it work? I am skeptical we are going to be saving money. Do I want my transportation costs to go up?

5. I like driving culture. What will the impact on this culture be?

6. I hate traffic. I am open to the possibility the vehicles will somehow reduce traffic, although I don't quite see how. I perceive telecommuting and staggered work times to be simpler, cheaper, and more effective ways of achieving the same.

7. I do see cool opportunities to reinvent the movie car chase.