Recall

An argument for Newsom's recall based upon his mismanagement of the drug crisis and homelessness. The proof is in the pudding. In an era of unprecedented riches in California, we have simultaneously mismanaged our political affairs to such a degree, our streets in LA and SF have turned into 3rd world blights. 

The LA Times today published 4-5 panicked pleas to vote for Newsom over the "nihilism" of Larry Elder. 

Please. 

The Democrat playbook is the same every single time: panic over the evil Republican (fill in the blank name). They are fascists, nihilists, etc, etc. 

Meanwhile, hold no Democrat responsible for anything. The LA Times articles say Newsom got unlucky with COVID and inherited problems of homelessness, drug abuse, and EDD. And he's brave for granting gay marriage licenses before the rest of the country in the gayest fricking city in the entire world -- my home - San Francisco. Gimme a break!

Meanwhile, we haven't had a real Republican in any sort of power in California for 30 freaking years. So let's ask this question: how are we supposed to register dissatisfaction with our government in California?

Seriously? Who can we call to cut this ridiculous lowering of standards in education? To cut out the anti-racist nonsense from our jobs and our politics? To clean up the streets, to help the drug addicted, the homeless, to do something about the astronomical housing costs, or the crazy amount of taxes, or the wildfires, or the gas prices, or the global fucking warming, or the EDD scandals, or rolling blackouts? Seriously, LA Times....what should Californians do? Just suck it up and keep electing the same cabal of incestuous, incompetent Democrats like Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and Eric Garcetti? The Democrats have had 30 years to tackle these issues and as far as I can tell, they've all gotten worse under their watch. Is this because of George W Bush, or Donald Trump, or all the racists out in the heartland? All the crazy Republicans blocking the Democrats from brilliant policies to solve these problems? Nope.

It's a bunch of lies for corrupt incompetents to hold onto power. 

Military Brass

So while Mark Milley was reading up on white rage, our actual enemies the Taliban and Al Queda were busy plotting our humiliation and the slaughter of our allies. Glad our military leaders have their priorities straight. 

And for the record -- what's the argument we can't sustain the small presence in Afghanistan to keep the Taliban off balance for the next 50 years? Unless I'm missing something, it seems like we're bringing home the troops to pay for the child tax credit and free school lunch. Not that I'm positive this is the wrong decision, but what's so unsustainable about keeping a couple thousand active troops to support those who oppose some of the worst people on the planet?

Biowarfare Lab

The US has a biowarfare lab in Utah the same way China has one in Wuhan. Imagine the outbreak started in Utah, do you think the US government and press would've "not" investigated the possibility of the lab leak theory? Would anyone in the entire world believe the "it occurred naturally" nonsense peddled by scientists.

When they say "trust the science" what they really mean is don't question authority. If you want the public to trust the public health experts, perhaps behave in a trustworthy manner? So...perhaps don't lie. Don't cover up for powerful interests. Be candid. Be honest. Be clear. Don't twiddle your thumbs with bureaucratic BS (like they've done with vaccine approval) and vaccines for those under 12. 

Logging

Film: No Sudden Move 

Despite the cast, it does not feel like a massive movie by a master filmmaker, but rather a genre mash up exercise made by someone with a fondness for 70s films like Network and Charley Varrick.

By biggest lingering question: What happened to Benicio Del Toro? He had more of a presence in Somewhere during a single scene in an elevator.

Welp

History has caught up to us. 

Against White Feminism

This looks relevant.

In Zero Dark Thirty (and the truish story behind it), American feminism — once a movement that existed in opposition to the state, as a critique of its institutions and mores — was recast as one that served the state’s interests through any means imaginable. This identification with state interests, and the idea of going out to conquer the world with the same mindset of subjugation and domination possessed by white men, seems to have become a warped feminist goal.

In other words,  “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

What Hath Free Britney Wrought

From CNN, who appears to be needing clicks:

She went on to write that she was posting the topless photos "because I was born into this world naked and I honestly feel like the weight of the world has been on my shoulders and it's made me view myself that way!!!!" "I wanted to see myself in a lighter way ... naked ... like the way I was born and to me looking back at my pictures when I shoot it's insane the psychology in seeing myself in my purest form gives evidence that pain ... hurt ... tears ... and heavy burdens aren't who I am," she wrote. "I am a woman .... a beautiful ... sensitive woman who needs to look at myself in my purest form!!!"

Logging

TV: White Lotus

Show fell off for me a bit in the 2nd half 

TV: F Boy Island

No mas. 

Question

Does the Afghanistan "smart war" failure make anyone else reconsider Iraq in a more positive light?

Maybe It Should Not Be A Surprise

That a country who cannot agree upon what human beings are male and female would have trouble nation building a tribal, warlike, devout set of 38 million people in rough terrain halfway around the world.

Disgrace

What's happened in Afghanistan in a national disgrace. I don't really know what to say about our country anymore. 

Question on Vaccines

Why don't the Democrats direct their ire at the plodding pace of FDA approval for young kid vaccinations? The national association of pediatricians wrote a strongly worded letter to the FDA to basically let kids over age 5 get vaccinated already. What is the hold up? How are we doing this again? 

Am I the only one that sees no basic public health policy improvements between the Biden Admin and Trump? The only successful element of public health policy during COVID was the creation of the vaccine. Would mask policy have helped much? I'm not really sure. 

Someone Must

Write a movie trivia question for the answer Armond White Lotus 

Laughing Out Loud

American Express does a training program about CRT and the racist evil of capitalism. What an absurd joke. A freaking credit card company. 

We all know what this is, right? A fucking payoff. A shakedown. Enough to make you sick. 

Not A Bad Idea

Hungarian PM: Have Four Kids and never pay taxes again. 

For all the valid fears of the far right wing populism, some of their ideas are not terrible. Maybe that is discourse working?

Interesting Take

I'm gonna have private security, but we need to defund the police. 

There's maybe logic in there...somewhere...

Numbers

CDC: 25% of the Black community are vaccinated.

The new Jim Crow would be vaccine passports.

And pandemic attitude by group.

I'm in group C (15%). 

I've accepted the fact that everyone is going to get Delta sooner or later. It'll be an endemic. So plan accordingly, but masks will only delay the inevitable. 

Heuristic on Teachers 

Not that one has a choice, but if you're below college aged, opt for older teachers but once in college and grad school opt for younger teachers. Why?

Old teachers are more "stuck in their ways" and for younger kids, those ways are good. They teach classics and basics and foundational elements with tried and true methodology. 

Younger teachers are not so much and more connected to the way things are now. And that will help you transition out into the workforce as one is preparing to do when in college and grad school.

Caveat: I don't just mean in age, but also soul. So an old teacher can feel "young" and those folks would be good college/grad school professors. Likewise, a young teacher could feel "old school" and they'd be good in elementary school.

No proof, just my instinct.

Hispanics Prefer To Be Called Hispanics

Or Latino.

But since 5% of them would prefer Latinx, the cultural elite think we ought to go for that one. 

I guess everyone can be called by whatever gender, race, pronoun they want except for the largest minority in the country. 

Thank God For the Republicans

For not which, the Democrats would eat each other.  

The Woke vs. Karens would be an enjoyable cage match.

"When we are combating a deadly virus & vaccine hesitancy in some communities, this kind of rhetoric is dangerous,” tweeted City Councilor Andrea Campbell tweeted. “Showing proof of vaccination is not slavery or birtherism. We are too close to give ground to COVID. Science is science. It’s pretty simple – Vax up and mask up.” 

 Janey responded to the criticism later Tuesday while at a block party, the Boston Globe reported. “What I said was there is a long history of asking people to show their papers,” Janey explained. “What our focus here in Boston is in making sure that everyone has access to the vaccine, making sure that we are doing everything to vaccinate our workforce in the city of Boston, making sure that our residents have access to the vaccine.”

After The Woke

The woke will die out eventually because they cannot build anything. They could do a lot of damage on the way down...but I very much doubt they could be as "successful" as say, the Bolsheviks (they lack the ruthlessness, organization, and picked the wrong home country). Ask yourself...do you know any Bolsheviks today?

But after the woke, I can picture a new ideology centered around a group I'll call The Enthusiasts. I've noticed this type of person in a variety of walks of life. They are a know-it-all about minor subjects and love to slam mainstream opinion. A few recent examples: I started shopping for a BBQ a few months ago. And jesus, how complicated that's become. I started to settle on a Traeger for the combo of ease and cooking flavor, but then I started stumbling upon these BBQ enthusiast boards who were slamming Traeger for the expense, for the lack of searing ability, for the flavor, etc. They all suggested going for this Kamado Joe thing. Meanwhile, I'm exhausted by all the choices - I started this thing charcoal vs. propane. And now I'm looking at some $2500 egg grill. So after almost being "talked" out of the Traeger by the Enthusiasts I said f-it, I'll trying this Traeger and am happy as a clam. And now I'm thinking to myself what was the point of the hardcore Enthusiast disdain? 

In a similar fashion, I stumbled upon another online discussion of the Peloton. Now, we got one because my wife wanted one. It's that simple. I'm aware it'll probably be a clothes rack in 5 years. But I ride it now and it's totally great, especially because we have small children and it's frankly really hard to get out and do exercise. So hopping on a bike for a 20 minute ride is better than the alternative of falling asleep on the couch with a bag of cheetos watching White Lotus. You dig? And I don't think Peloton is a good deal. Fuck no. It's expensive. You get the thing when you're in your 40s, if you both work, and it's not easy to get out of your house. A single guy in his 20s with student loan payments should not get this thing. Nevertheless, you go onto a "Is a Peloton worth it" discussion board and you get people coming out of the woodwork explaining how stupid it is, what a waste of money, why it's bad for your knees compared to an elliptical, how they go running on the beach instead for 3 hours a day, how they'd rather spend the money on a home gym, how they'd rather use some random other brand I've never heard of instead. Etc. 

Who are all these people? Who spends all this time micro-analyzing workout regimens? Doesn't this just boil down to individual preference? A Peloton is worth it if the cost doesn't affect you and you'll use it. But the Enthusiast insists the Peloton or the Traeger or (fill in the blank) sucks and you should check out this XYZ other thing that undoubtedly sucks even worse, but it doesn't matter because I'd never go in that fucking direction anyway. I'm not getting an elliptical. I've never even done an elliptical. But the Enthusiast insists the elliptical is better than the bike. Who cares? It's like asking if Mammoth is a good place to ski and the response is: skiing sucks compared to sky diving. What is the appeal of this weirdo rabbit hole of logic?

20 years ago you could find what we'd now call a "woke" person on every college campus asking some stupid question about Che Guevara every lecture, but you never thought such people would amount to anything. I figured that person would either change their tune or be unemployed. Instead, they run newspapers, public schools, and corporations. Joke's on me. So I wonder what happens to these Enthusiasts in 20 years, especially after all the woke are finished eating each other. Just asking...

Truth Commissions

To be honest, I could do without a January 6th commission. I know what happened. A mob got riled up by reckless Republicans pushing the election was stolen narrative. They could've caused some damage, even gotten a public official killed, but guess what: these were clowns. They weren't in the least bit dangerous. There was not a single person or group plotting anything that could be said to be a coup or something of that magnitude. 

But what I do want a commission on: corona virus origins. And how the NY Times helped quashed any initial inquiries. And how the virus sequence was published by Chinese scientists only to be taken down and now over a year later, republished. I'm sure with no edits. 

Let's get our priorities straight.

And note: I'm sure it's true Rupert Murdoch and his fox empire have been searching diligently for the CCP-made origins of the virus theory. Liberal reporters cite this as a negative -- that Murdoch is pushing an anti-China agenda in the West, leading us down a path to war. But to me, he's doing the job of what places like the NYTimes OUGHT to be doing -- tracking down the freaking truth. Now, apparently, the NY Times thinks their job is to make things copacetic between the great powers in the world? Thereby entrenching those already in power...like the CCP and our current elite. And they wonder why the hatred and backlash from the public.

Follow Up Question

How old were you? 2 or 3? 

Interesting

At around 5th grade, most semi-intelligent kids can figure out this logic puzzle. 

But, the interesting find: if the 5th grader gets it wrong, the adult version of this (let's call them not semi-intelligent) still does not get it right. Some people are not capable of 2nd or 3rd level logic and never will be. Which is why we have lots of folks who would benefit from getting vaccinated, not getting vaccinated. And income inequality, btw.

Yikes

The teacher's unions insisted upon prolonged school closings and getting to jump in line for vaccinations, but over 40% (in NYC) didn't get vaccinated.

And now let me guess: they'll argue for school closings again because of Delta. Nitwits.