What Does It Mean...

That Chinese AI systems are pretty excellent at English-language answers. Is AI equally good in all languages? This can't be the case, right?

"I'm Against Israel" 

Didn't get to the paid portion of this, as it seemed like Andrew Sullivan was getting to my own question, but I find it fascinating how this guy just casually drops into a discussion that "he's against Israel."

I just don't understand what this means. How can one be "against" a country? It would be like saying "I'm against China" or "I'm against Egypt." It's so weird.

If You're A Token

You'd be smart to appreciate the grift you've got, not make the lies too egregious, be a decent and friendly person, and maybe even just keep working at the thing you're supposed to be doing, and who knows...one day you might actually just become good enough at it to not be an embarrassment. This is how the rest of us do it.

Another Thought

Probably every single academic department in the entire US has or had some less egregious version of Jason Arday

Burrito Take

To be with the times, I feel obligated to come up with a burrito take. I love the damn things. It's the staple of Southern California more so than even the sandwich. However, I have several core principles when it comes to them:

-I won't eat them on road trips.

-Bean and cheese are terrific and underrated

-Grilled tortilla shell = thumbs up

-California Burrito = the ingredients seem odd, but try it. Double thumbs up

-An excellent burrito is rare, but so is a bad burrito

-Breakfast burrito should be modest in size and tends to be better with fewer ingredients

-At chipotle I get the bowls

-If in doubt, go with chicken, carne asada, or veggie

-I have never regretted adding guac but I don't always do it

Jason Arday Thing 

People keep asking why they didn't catch this fraud before, and folks seem to think it might have something to do with DEI. While I don't dismiss it, I also consider the possibility that academic fraud is a widespread practice used by 50-70% of academics and therefore impossible to stop/catch unless you want the entire infrastructure to crumble.

Peak Retard

I thought we reached peak retard the other day, but nope, we have found a new peak retard.

In total, Francesca Hong has spent $300,598 on anything related to paid media, from online ads to graphic design to newspaper ads. The GOP has spent 12x more on her behalf, to boost her candidacy - $3.6 million.

So somehow we've become a country where the Democrats fund the most radical Republicans and the Republicans fund the most radical Democrats. I don't know what to say.

Logging

TV: Your Friends and Neighbors

I'm sort of hate watching the show. My wife overhears and asks, "Is Jon Hamm a good actor?" Never really considered the question before; I think his main skill as a leading TV man is that the audience is willing to buy that hot women will throw themselves at him, thus fulfilling a fantasy crucial for the drama to function. 

My big problem with the show is the meta-message seems to be: don't hate the rich, they're really miserable too and really only need gobstoppers and a little trampoline bouncing just like you and me to be happy (how the episode I just finished ended). I'm sure the showrunner wouldn't characterize it quite this way, but that's my read. At least Entourage had the decency to be like: this fucking world rules. This show tries to make you believe this world sucks. What ideology is beneath that representation? I think it functions as a perverted way to justify useless privilege. If I can make myself emotionally miserable, people will sympathize with me. Is that not the chief governing ideology in blue regions today that holds us together? In the show nobody seems to have any purpose in life beyond money and fucking. No one builds anything. People "work" in finance and money management but seem to have no philosophy or purpose in doing so. They waste money investing in retarded toilets. They are therapists to underprivileged kids but don't help them at all. The only noble people play music of questionable quality. The crime in the show is a cry for help, a desperate attempt to feel alive. Maybe I just talked myself into liking the show...

Logging

Film: Blade Runner, director cut    

Every time I see this film, I feel like I'm watching something different. How many cuts are there? I'm watching scenes I don't ever remember seeing here and there. Is it my memory? Or on every new DVD release, are they issuing somewhat new versions of the movie? The strengths of the film are the first act and finale (in the directors cut), but the movie does slow down in the middle section and maybe explains - at least partially - the cold reception to the film initially. But god, that first act, the whole time I'm watching and just thinking to myself - how did they do that? How did they build that? Etc, etc. I don't often have a similar feeling watching big-budget films today - like Marvel, etc. It's because the world feels physically built and the actors are actually moving through the spaces. Some other things:

-Spare dialogue. Has any character felt more substantial with less dialogue than Edward James Olmos in this film? Most of his actual lines are unintelligible until his famous "It's too bad she won't live, but then again, who does?"

-Good plot strategy for "the hunt" where Deckard hunts Replicants while the Replicants are searching for more life. 

-The non-critical casting in this film is just...chef's kiss...M. Emmitt Walsh, William Sanderson, Brion James, James Hong

-Less is more. "If you're not police, you're little people." What does this line mean? Is this a threat? Does M Emmitt Walsh mean to say Deckard will be killed if he doesn't take the job? Not sure we are meant to know. I love it. 

-This time around I have to admit I felt like Rutger Hauer was chewing a bit of scenery. Probably blasphemous to say. Whatever. 

-One of the huge benefits of noir (and this is a tech-noir) is how you can get away with quite a bit of murkiness in both plot, character reasoning and motivation, and meaning. One of the dangers is you can't go to this well too much. But noir dances with the mysteries of the subconscious and human nature and thus some of the lack of clarity actually ends up adding to the atmosphere and mood of these films. 

Oh Leo...

These sad photos of Leo on the yacht get at something we all know but can't quite admit. At 51, dating a supermodel, boozing it up, and yachting in Europe sounds frankly not all that fun, especially after doing it for 30+ years already. He'd enjoy himself more by coaching a Little League team. 

DSA Movement

The funniest thing about this whole DSA thing - so we all know this is a movement centered around college graduates. These are folks who cannot quite excel in the hyper-competitive global economy but expected to. They see no hope. But these are not working-class or poor folks. So they come from means. They might *feel* like they don't have means, but their families do. At the very least, they have houses. I think part of their fears and frustrations are feeling like they aren't going to achieve even those middle-class things like their parents - owning homes, stable jobs, etc. I can understand all this. But here's the irony. They will inherit these things one day. It seems long off to them. It seems irrelevant because they're just trying to start their lives. But if their political movement succeeds, around the time they actually a) figure out some way to make a living, get some progress in their careers b) get married and settle down so they, in effect "double" their resources and c) stand to inherit quite a bit from the prior generation(s) is precisely when their redistributive policies will start to really kick in. So the people they will actually end up robbing are themselves.

Logging

TV: House of the Dragon s3

So into it, I went back to reading the book.

Huh

This Yale Law Professor says children are hostages of their parents, and younger people, like college kids, have a better idea of what's best for future generations than their parents do. What a lunatic! On some level, I think he's close to getting at an interesting point but then totally loses it at the last minute. He says the family's priorities come before the children's. Does he fail to recognize these children are part of the family!?!

Despite All The Drama

I still have never watched a WNBA game. Not even one minute. 

Rent

If you think rent is expensive, try paying for housing upgrades, taxes, and landscaping. 

The dirt appreciates; the house depreciates.

NYC Communist Grocery Stores

Prediction: even if they were well-run, they'd still be inefficient and bad, but in practice they will almost certainly be poorly run, super inefficient, and terrible. 

The irony is that if they are good, they will simply be exploited/used by the folks who live nearby and paid for by the folks who don't live nearby. Hilarious. 

Democrats

I'd be more inclined to vote for them if they weren't blood-sucking communist leaches who intend to ruin this country and everyone in it. But that's just me. 

Even Handed

The rarest of rare things: an even-handed, sober outlook on foreign affairs. 

Yes, it would be entirely within reason to rebalance how the US deals with the Islamic world, especially in light of having a rival state on the world stage now.

Logging

Film: Uncle Buck

Quite good in moments. Better than I remember. Totally paved the way for Home Alone and Ferris Bueller. Would be quite the triple watch.

Interesting Conclusion

This guy seems to think Israel and the US are behind the migrants from Morocco entering this place called Ceuta, a little area I've never ever heard of. Seems quite far-fetched. Are we to assume Trump even knows what this territory is?

Free Advice

Go to Mammoth Lakes and go hiking. Be prepared. 

Follow Up

On Trump not liking the Iran situation.

He doesn't know what he's doing.