Tunnels

I know nothing about engineering tunnels, but it strikes me that they need 1) an exit and 2) air. If I were worried the tunnels were full of traps and murderers, I would simply seal the exits and airways. Maybe that is easier said than done? The other option - isn't there an ocean nearby? I'd set up a big hose and just fill the tunnels with salt water. Again...I'm not an engineer.,,

China and Housing

If China and the US were companies, we should probably merge. 

We could use the housing and infrastructure. They could use the education, innovation, and culture.

A Feint

I kinda hope the Israel war plan to invade Gaza is a feint as well and they have an actual plan to deal with Hamas leadership and a way to punish Iran.

Logging

Film: Killers of the Flower Moon

With the underlying theme of: don't trust white people you would think this would be a hit with woke people. But guess what? They won't like it, people because there's no fucking way they can sit still for 3.5 hours. I loved parts of this movie - Leo standing there being interrogated was just a chef's kiss acting performance...and man the first hour...so incredible. DeNiro great. But the seams and stitching of this movie and story didn't quite add up. I remember reading this book awhile ago and thinking something similar -- the author didn't really have a sense of what actually happened or what the relationships were actually like. I don't think Scorsese did either. Because so much doesn't really track. Does she think her husband was involved with killing her sister or not? What would your reaction be to that? Trusting him? I dunno...maybe it was really weird times back then, but then the film doesn't capture that weirdness. Not saying it would be easy to...but still. And the movie does "The Oppenheimer" and goes into an hour long act 3 trial. My eyes were heavy at times. 

In the parking lot, two couples were animated talking about Taylor Swift and I realized one reason why the movies are dying. The great auteurs are not delivering to their audience the way Swift does. She delivers every time and her fans become her marketing machine. The auteurs still have their defenders, but you need to deliver to the fanboys in a way that aren't anymore. 

I hate to say it, but we need Harvey Weinstein...or some other movie whisperer who can provide the perspective of the world/audience. Because without this kind of collaborator, the auteurs go off the rails it seems to me...

PS 

We should recognize the Hamas attack for what it was: an attempted genocide. Anyone calling for ceasefire in Israel must come up with an appropriate worldwide response to such a thing. Propose ideas people...

Anyone Find It Odd...

How the Assad family has routinely committed war crimes, massacred citizens, used chemical weapons on opposition, murdered leaders in an occupied country (Lebanon) -- and nary a peep from the progressive Left, the DSA, the WGA, or a single campus organization about it. I wonder why? It's in the exact same neighborhood. Perpetrated by a minority (Alawite) against Arab and Muslims civilians. Look up the Hama massacre for historical context. For other context - look up what happened in the Syrian Civil War and during the Lebanon protests in the mid 00s. 

I really, really wonder what it could be? It's a gigantic mystery wrapped in a riddle...

Maybe I Was Right?

When I proposed Israel should be carpet bombing Tehran? 

How Every Sane Person in The West Feels About the Woke People Around Them

Logging

Film: Misery

One of the great films about being a writer.

Film: Tremors

Also holds up...did they use the same music as Midnight Run...?

And Spielberg straight up stole stuff from this film for Jurassic Park...

Logging

TV Show: Lioness S1 E1

Military porn. Super lazy final scene. Still, a few good scenes and lines of dialog. People very serious in the Sheridan-verse. 

Mistake

Nassim Taleb pointing out the Arab world is turning on Israel because of the hospital strike. Which turned out to be a lie. He's pointing out new dynamics - more Muslims in Europe, more on social media, etc. Here's what I think: we need to start caring a whole lot less of the Muslim street thinks and they need to starting a lot more about what we think. The Muslim street responds to one thing: the strong horse. We're the strong horse. We need to start acting like it. 

And so you say: what is the goal of this war? I say to end Hamas as an organization. The Arabs can get on board or not. 

Anti-Israel

Being anti-Israel is code/dog whistle for anti-Semitism. Full stop. Everyone knows it. The entire reason for Israel's existence is to prevent what happened in the holocaust from ever happening again. The "pro-Palestine" position was tried before. The Jews relied on more populous "friends" for defense and political power. We know how it worked out when push came to shove.

Liberal Jews who spout platitudes and criticisms of Israel ought to be super, super careful of what they're empowering and indulging. They're getting in harmony with a tapestry of people who hate their existence and their success. There are psychological reasons for this - read up on scapegoating. Don't indulge this shit. Don't be Little Red Riding Hood. That's not grandma - it's the wolf. Face reality now. 

Hospital Bombing

Desire...

Israel doesn't want to bomb hospitals

Hamas wants Israel to bomb hospitals

Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys?

Don't say it's complicated. It's not. 

Why don't pro-Palestinian voices ever say Hamas shouldn't build the political and war infrastructure underneath hospitals?

Redistribution - A Problem with Nepo Babies

A fresh argument for redistribution is the problem of nepo kids. Exhibit #1: Oakland A's owner is the son the folks who created The Gap. A billionaire idiot. He gives two shits about baseball, the A's, or anything and is moving them to Vegas. Why? No reason, just something to do. We see this with Abigail Disney as well - nothing but a last name and a few sociology courses. 

I don't know how we can solve this problem, but it's real because the amounts of money controlled by these people are staggering and they can really screw things up.

Overton Window

Every horrified liberal who finds themselves surrounded by hateful terrorist cheerleaders has no one to blame but themselves for letting the Overton window shift leftwards the past 20 years. 

Logging

Film: Sneakers 

Government agents and Hollywood stardom feels superior and more powerful than the tech bros in the movie. Times have changed. Tone and execution of the movie still enjoyable. The liberal platitudes / politics of the film hold up poorly. 

My Least Popular Opinion: The Iraq War Was Still Not A Mistake

Neither was Afghanistan, but the pullout was.  

Noisy voices on both right and left casually dismiss the Iraq was as some sort of horrible travesty - one of the dumbest and worst things the US has ever done. Really? Have we been attacked again by Al Queda? Has Saddam spread violence and instability across the region? Have WMDs spread in the region?

ISIS and Al Queda are exhausted forces. It's a practical miracle they didn't manage any follow ups post-9/11. Israel has normalized relations with almost all the Arab states.

If anything, the big mistake with respect to the Iraq War was France and Germany fracturing the UN and making it feckless. 

Question

Why don't activists who want to return land to the indigenous peoples celebrate the only country in the world who did exactly that: the state of Israel.

Efficient Way to End The War

A lot of calls from the far left for Israeli restraint and peace, etc. Why not call for the thing that actually could end the war: Hamas surrendering? 

Israel - Palestine

At least in the NY Times, US intel says Iran didn't know about the Hamas attack so I guess my carpet bombing idea was a bit hasty. Still, the world now knows what "decolonization" means in practice. 

Indigenous People's Day

For those who celebrate: were the indigenous people you are celebrating slave holders and murders? 

We Already Knew

Where these people stand...the squad, the far leftists, the feckless Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians, Hamas, Iran...just don't ever forget it. Print the receipts. 

"Exercise Restraint" 

Any country that says Israel should "exercise restraint" (ie China) should have its border invaded by a neighbor, its citizens murdered and taken hostage, and then exercise their own fucking restraint.

Logging

TV: Poker Face S1 E2 

Didn't like this episode nearly as much as the pilot. Feel like we are back in TV propaganda land... all the female and minority characters are heroic (and boring) and every white male character is a villain. 

Strategy - For Starters

1. Taiwan needs to draft and train 1.5 million militia troops in how to defend the island against Chinese invasion starting next week.

2. NATO and the US need to start manufacturing massive amounts of ammunition and military supplies next week. US needs to demand NATO allies get on board or kick them out of the alliance. 

3. Sanctions put back in place against Iran immediately. 

4. Israel has carte blanche.

5. Build a fence on the Southern border. 

6. Question: what would the Greeks have done to the Palestinians?

UPDATE:

Further thoughts in the shower:

7. Make an arrangement like this: if the Iranians attack US interests, we decimate their navy and give half their country to the Saudis and Iraqis if they're willing to take it. 

8. Make a deal with the Indians, Vietnamese, and Japanese that if the Chinese invade or blockade Taiwan, the Vietnamese will invade the Yunnan province from the South, the Indians will invade from their border region and the Japanese will defend Taiwan from the sea. 

9. For the crowds cheering on Hamas in Rotterdam and any other European countries, I'd get names and revoke immigration status of 10-25% of all participants. I'd put them on a boat to Gaza next week. If they protest again, another 10-25% and so forth. 

Tehran

Among the many reasons I'd make a bad leader of a country, I see little reason why Israel isn't carpet bombing Tehran right now. And to be honest, I wouldn't even call and ask US permission.

Palestine-Israel

In reaction to efforts toward peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Hamas decided to mass murder civilians with rockets and a killing spree. 

I'd love to see someone take the Palestinian side on this one...what kind of mental contortions it would require is beyond me. 

Logging

TV Show: Poker Face Pilot    

This is one of the best network TV shows I've seen in a long time. There is one tiny problem baked into the design. The show is for dudes. The lead is a sassy woman. The show will never be able to square the fact that dude-dudes won't tune in for the long haul to watch a sassy women. They'll watch a film with a sassy woman lead. But if given the choice of Justified vs. Poker Face (or even old school Miami Vice or Sopranos) - they will always opt for the dude in the lead.

So as excellent as the show is, it won't be a hit. Which squares perfectly with what Hollywood is right now - politically correct instead of a money maker.