When Did Feminism Become Anti-Motherhood?

My question is when did career "success" become the primary metric by which we define ourselves. 

It's not just feminists, but they seem pretty preoccupied with defining equality by career results rather than any other metric, like say, choice, happiness, service, family, loved ones, etc.

Cheesy

Yet, true.

A Good Thinker

Thomas Sowell retires. Some good quotes. My favorite:

“If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.”

Grayson Allen

...Looks like he should be cast as a bad guy in John Wick 2, he plays for Duke, he's white, and he plays for Duke. Did I mention he plays for Duke? In other words, he's eminently hateable.  So now it comes out he's tripped not one, not two, but THREE guys in basketball games over the course of 2-3 years. Mon Dieu! ESPN collectively splooged their pants today -- every article is about how Grayson Allen needs help, how Mike Krzyzewski needs to suspend him indefinitely, etc, etc. And the glee. What joy these guys get from taking down Allen for tripping. My god. What an insane moment this is. Draymond Green goes around knicking guys in the balls and people think that makes him a tough competitor and he's back after a 1 game suspension. Grayon Allen might get tossed for the entire season. Look, I don't follow college basketball, I don't care about Allen, but I know the vivid glee with which the public likes stories that make out white privileged guys into manifestations of evil. And Allen - whether he's privileged or not - fits the optics.

Wes Anderson

Reading Wes Anderson's doing another animated movie -- this make a lot of sense.

Keep It Up

And we're getting Trump for 8 years. JetBlue passenger harasses Ivanka Trump.

Jeezus.

Logging

Film: Lethal Hostage (2012)

A Chinese crime thriller. One of the most surprising, chilling, cool crime thrillers I've seen in recently memory. A tad confusing due to a non-linear structure told from numerous POVs and difficult to find - I had to watch it via six parts online - but the director who made it - Cheng Er is someone to watch.

Snowflake Generation

Real or imagined? I definitely think there's a push by the mental health community to characterize the blues as "depression" and anxiousness with "anxiety-disorder." Not coincidentally, the "cures" to these things involve spending money on mental health. That is not to deny there are such things as depression or anxiety or serious mental issues, particularly alcohol and drug abuse. Nevertheless, I feel like many of the so-called disorders could be treated better with a steady diet of exercise and reading for pleasure versus going to therapy.

All the claims of students suffering from more mental disorders, methinks, is a result of choices and behaviors rather than pathologies. My suggestion to those young'ns suffering from depression and anxiety: stop doing social media, start exercising more (I suggest a team sport) -- and I mean 2-5 times a week, and start reading a lot for pleasure. I imagine if one takes the time to these type of things versus stressing about career, popularity, etc, etc, one will find themselves in a more relaxed state. Also, listening/playing music I imagine would be good as well.

What On Earth Is This Lady Talking About?

"America culture cannot accept the reality of a woman not wanting children."

Huh?

If you don't want children, I have a suggestion: don't have children. It's a lot of thankless work. But it's also, you know, crucial to the continuation of the species.

There's One Reason

5 reasons the Niners need to move on from Kap.

There's only one reason: he sucks.

Occasionally and under the exact right circumstances, he's good. Is that what you want in a QB? No thanks.

Another Liberal Tactical Mistake

All the bellyaching about Trump with promises of disaster is a dumb idea. It's the polar opposite of raising expectations too high for Obama. With Trump, anything less than nuclear catastrophe or a 1929-ish stock market crash will make Trump look like a half decent President. Already, Paul Krugman looks like a fool for thinking the markets would "never recover," and now they're skying to all time highs.

My advice: stop your bitching, praise the guy when he does something good and save your anti-Trump cards for when he actually does something problematic. What worries me is that when he actually does do something really wrong, no one will be listening to the left-leaning press anymore.

Very Troubling

Young people rejecting democracy.
'
We can thank social media. I imagine this the result of younger people living to much in the virtual world. But that's just a guess.

Multi-Variable Analysis

There is tremendous media energy being spent on dissecting the reason for NFL rating decline, and trying to limit the "Kaepernick" effect explanation. They love to use the multi-variable analysis to explain the ratings decline. But the same media types will explain the Trump phenomenon in a single variable explanation: racist Americans.

A Must Read

"We're teaching our students lies."

The guy does an incredible job of articulating the problems with PC-language culture in a very specific way.

Taiwan Call

Relax, adults are in charge.

I hope.

Logging

Film: The Arrival

Octopus's come to earth to bring about world peace. Gimme a freaking break. One of the most disappointing, humorless movies in a long time. Lifeless.

"Progress"

Virtual boyfriends and girlfriends.

Believe it or not, not every new technological gadget or invention is healthy or good.

Mortgage Debt

Re-financing 4 times to help pay for child's bi-polar disorder. This strikes me as a story about medical/mental illness cost and not mortgage debt, per se.

Nevertheless, if you want to think about in financial terms, taking out a series of loans on the house seems like a pretty terrible idea just on the surface. If you can't pay for the thing in front of you, what makes you think you'll be able to pay for it in the future?

Speaking of...how are families expected to pay for long-term issues like bi-polar, alzheimer's, cancer, etc.? I get how the rich do it...I don't see how anyone else does.

Last Take on Hamilton, etc.

I made the exact mistake I am going to criticize others about...commenting on Hamilton/Pence and all this stupid shit. Reading this AM, Trump is trolling Hamilton, calling it overrated, etc. Jesus. Chapelle nailed it - we've elected an internet troll as President. 4 years of this. He can't help himself. Pence seems to be handling this well, by keeping his mouth shut.

The End of Identity Politics

And good riddance. 

Hat tip, Viner.

Booing Pence at Hamilton

Certainly not courageous. Basically, it's just rude. Liberals can keep booing Pence in their safe spaces and protesting Trump for getting elected, and expect to keep losing elections and relevance - big time.

The Clinton Foundation

Chelsea is exploring running for Congress. Aye, aye, aye.

It'd be interesting to see how much less money the Clinton foundation is able to raise without a Clinton in any type of powerful government position. Then we'd know whether the foundation was a vehicle to buy influence, and, interestingly, by exactly how much in dollar terms.

Yes

The right way to oppose Trump.

Every sign I see from the Democrats and the Democratic party, however, signals they will not take any of his suggestions.

Kanye

Would've voted for Trump and "thinks black people should stop focusing on racism."

Agreed.

Both

Democrats have cried wolf too many times regarding racism, so nobody listens to them anymore (including me). An incredibly detailed piece (note: I didn't read the entire thing) suggesting the exact same thing. For someone who argues Trump is opening racist and bringing all this to the fore, it's a must read.

That said, in the story, the wolf comes to town. Has the wolf arrived? Perhaps. But I don't think the wolf is Trump. The wolf is inside all of us and the impulse to demonize the other. This applies to BLM and to high schoolers graffiting various anti-immigrant stuff. How do we combat this? Not by shutting down speech, not by opposing Bannon, not by calling everyone and anything racist. We combat on the local, specific issue at hand. It's about nuance, tolerance, discussion, and education. Most of all, it's about convincing people and not panicking, especially if you think your ideas are superior. They will win out. But the hysterical stuff turns people off and the overblown rhetoric and outright untruths (such as fake hate crimes) really make people close their ears.

How anyone can really be worried about the KKK is a bit beyond me, especially because these are same people who are silent on Islamic Terrorism.

Slippery Slope of Language

When did middle school bullying and graffiti become "hate crimes?" I remember when I first heard the term "hate crime" when Tina Brandon was murdered for dressing up like a girl. It was supposed to be a special category of crimes that were somehow worse than other crimes (yet, I fail to see how murdering someone because they are gay/lgbt is somehow worse than murdering someone because they talked shit, or murdering a spouse, or so forth). Nevertheless, it was coined to deal with serious issues. Now, the idea of hate crimes are being used to categorize any foolish utterance or middle school bullying. Ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Paul Schraeder, writer of Taxi Driver advocates violence and taking up arms against Trump, comparing himself to John Brown.

Of course, a major difference would be John Brown was murdering folks to make a point against SLAVERY and Schraeder wants to murder people because of...graffiti...being called a "cuck"...and enforcing immigration policy. I'd be surprised if he found much support.

Time for the Left to Reexamine Them(our)selves

On Left, Right, and Center, David Frum has some good thoughts for the left and those protesting Trump. Rather that indulging in "fear" and other emotions, or identity (I, as a woman, am terrified), start reclaiming American values, institutions, and symbols, and your(our) own. That is, protest not against the American Flag, but by carrying the American Flag. Appeal to American ideals. An agenda might look something like this:

1) Opposing mass deportation
2) Opposing logging Muslims into databases
3) Opposing abandoning our NATO treaty commitments

And focus on the specific, problematic ideas Trump endorsed in the campaign. In short, try to be appealing as opposed to divisive.

Kneeling and supporting kneeling for the National Anthem is looking even more foolish today. Because why the hell should the darker forces behind Trump get to claim the Flag as theirs? It's not. It's ours. It represents values of liberty, freedom, opportunity, all the things Liberals used to believe in. It doesn't break us into identity groups, it doesn't mean smashing cars and stopping traffic. Why get excited by this type of anti-social vandalism? Why protest the election results when Trump played by the rules and won. It is YOUR message that stinks. It is the way you deliver the message that stinks. If you cannot believe Trump won, it is because the Left chose to isolate itself into certain pockets of America and only engage in its own echo chamber. The Left chose emotion over rationality, it chose identity politics over individual rights, it chose relativism over patriotism, and guess what? Those ideas are rightly unpopular. Change. Adjust. Stop protesting Halloween costumes. Stop being crybabies. Stop rooting for American to lose wars. Grow up. Start acting like adults and people will start listening to you like adults.

No Surprise

Getting off Twitter leaves more braincells.

Fake Hate Crimes Spread Across America

Someone ought to do a study of the ratio of hate crimes of fake hate crimes.

News: Young Men Almost Get Into Barfight

It's going to be the end of the country.

They got called a "cuck," a term I've never heard. But it's good we're finding new, made up terms to find offensive.

A Good Idea

It might be a good idea to start logging all the claims and fears of what a Trump Presidency will mean and check back in 4 years to see how many came to pass. My guess is few.

White Power Gone Viral

If one is a relativist, or an advocate of identity politics in general, it isn't clear to me on what grounds one can oppose white nationalism. If one cannot utter the term Islamic Terrorism, much less denounce it, or finds Black or Latino Power attractive, the only argument against White Nationalism is that they belong to a different, less desirable tribe. But that of course, won't do the job of convincing anyone to not subscribe to the ideology. My suggestion would be to return to the principles of individualism vs. collectivism and focus on individual rights versus group rights, ideas which this country was founded upon and the initial civil rights movement espoused.

Twitter and Facebook Calls For Killing Trump

Not just on infowars. Seems to me, these accounts ought to be shut down for committing a crime and for hate speech. They did the same for Milo, Glenn Reynolds, and a number of others for far less severe statements. But, I won't be holding my breath.

Bad Strategy, Bad Ideas

Did BLM bring people over to Trump? Or, keep Dems home?

Thank You, Stephen A

"I'm not interested in a damn word he has to say and quite frankly I hope he goes away." Steven A on Kaepernick.

I will point out that there were a number of us who identified him as a moron from the get-go, but I'm nevertheless pleased the Johnny-come-latelys recognize it as well now...

Uncivilized and Undemocratic

For all those "worried" about anger and hate spewing from Trump supporters, the rioting and threatening to kill the President suggest "Hillary supporters" are no better and no different.

Kap 

Kaepernick isn't voting. Great role model. Calls Clinton and Trump "evil." Guy is a huge fool and needs to read a history book. Any book about anything that's happened in human history. In fact, he might want to start with a book about countries with other political systems and how those operate versus democracy. Jesus. I need to stop with this guy.

Election

I suspected this could happen. The writing's been on the wall and for those who are shock need to desperately reevaluate their understanding of the country and world we live in:

1) Clinton is a bad, unlikeable candidate. She's lost every real election she's attempted. New York Senator is a celebrity glamour position, not a real grassroots election. She went from frontrunner against Obama to getting crushed by him. She could barely fend off a socialist in the primary that was rigged in her favor from the beginning. Every step of the way, Dems were looking elsewhere - Biden, etc. She was a problem candidate from the beginning and suffered from a lack of competition.

2) On the flipside, Trump was a joke in the beginning and kept gather converts. He kept over performing. He nailed two big issues: immigration and the assault on political correctness. He didn't really trip up because he never came across as a hypocrite. All of his gaffes were consistent with what we expected of him. And his supporters were passionate in the way Obama, Bill Clinton, and GW supporters were passionate.

3) The Breexit was a warning shot that ordinary folks are deeply disillusioned with the progressive, urban, global vision of free trade, liberal immigration, environmentalism, diversity, etc, epitomized by institutions like the UN, Davos, TED, Aspen ideas, etc.

I urge people to not despair. This is democracy in action. The result may not be to our taste, but it's a pretty amazing f--- you to the political and media power structure who all thought it unfathomable Trump could win. And that's kinda cool and how it's supposed to work. It is a reckoning for the outrageous level of arrogance amongst coastal elites and should be read as a humbling reevaluation of certain sacred principals such as non-enforcement of immigration, identity politics, and thought-police levels of political correctness.

I want to add two final notes: I do not believe this is about tacit or overt racism or "hate" as you will hear people say for the next weeks, or perhaps years. There is demographic anxiety about the future of American culture and we need a new language to discuss these issues without calling it racism, which it is not. The concept of enforcing and limiting illegal immigration is not an inherently racist idea. Nor is wearing halloween costumes. Enough already. 56 million Americans are not racists and nor is Donald Trump.

538 and other pollsters were giving Hillary between 75-95% chance of winning. Now, I ask...what is more impressive - 538 picking the 2008 election breakdown right (which is really like going 8 for 8), or Public Musings predicting Trump? I'd argue Trump. I guess my point is that "data analysis" is good for telling us predictable information, but much less able to tell us unpredictable information. In short, it tells us the information least worth knowing.

UPDATE: One other tea leaf -- the tea party movement. It was dismissed and mocked by the coastal elites. This was a movement centered around the idea that government's gotten too big and unwieldy. Nothing particularly controversial. It was a popular, civil form of protest not taken seriously and Trump is the reaction.

Dialog

I challenge anyone to find a better exchange from the last five years.

"I heard you struck my son."
"Yessir, I did."
"May I ask why?"
"Yeah, well, because he stole John Wick's car, sir. And...killed his dog."
"Oh."

Why Are Football Ratings Down?

A ton of reasons have been mentioned, but the whole "election" argument doesn't seem as strong given the World Series ratings were the highest of all time.

1. Kaepernick is annoying.

In the words of Dave Chappelle, sometimes I just want to read stats. Or, just watch a game. Social justice ideas are out there in the world. They aren't hard to find. If people are interested in them, they can find them. Social justice advoctates people want celebrities and famous people to promote their causes because they think celebrity will bring their causes attention. The problem is, they don't grasp WHY people are celebrities -- and it's precisely because they don't get on soapboxes and lecture. Kap WAS a celebrity because he was exciting to watch play football. Now that he sucks and talks out of his ass, should it be a surprise people are tuning out.

2. No Peyton Manning

This ought to be mentioned as a major factor. Manning was fun to watch play QB, even when his skills deteriorated because he knew the position and game so well.

Strange Bedfellows

Zizek endorses Trump.

Absurd

Kap is one really strange dude.

He hands out t-shirts to kids with the following:

1. You have the right to be free.
2. You have the right to be healthy.
3. You have the right to be brilliant.
4. You have the right to be safe.
5. You have the right be loved.
6. You have the right to be courageous.
7. You have the right to be alive.
8. You have the right to be trusted.
9. You have the right to be educated.
10. You have the right to know your rights.

Whatever his good intentions may be, this betrays an utter foolishness and misunderstanding of the world and of the meaning of "right." How can one have the "right" to be healthy? Does this mean Kap plans to sue the flu virus every time it strikes? Good luck with that. See if the Supreme Court will take that case. You have the "right" to be loved. Really? So, can someone force someone else to love someone, now? How's that gonna work? You have the "right" to be trusted? I'd like to see Bernie Madoff use that argument when his victims ask for their money back. This guy is utterly clueless.

One can be blessed with love and good health. One can earn trust. One can become brilliant through hard work and luck. One can be educated. But none of these - other than freedom - is a right someone, anyone is born with.

It's obvious he's never read anything about political philosophy and to listen to such an ignoramous is a deeply dumb idea.

And perhaps the weirdest element of all is Kap giving kids DNA tests. If a public school did such a thing, there would be an uproar about invading their privacy. I just think the entire thing is very strange.

I'm Suspicious of Any Notions with "Post-" In It

Article tagline: Finding Love in a Postromantic Postmarital Age

As Instapundit says, it reads as propaganda for old social conventions.

Beyond Absurd

Rapist of 10-year old boy has his sentence overturned.

Meanwhile, in America, the feminists are outraged over the Stanford student actually found guilty of rape, but not punished severely enough. One wonders whether this will yield equal outrage. I somehow doubt it.

Los Angeles

Plastered with anti-Hillary posters. 

I drove past Amoeba in Hollywood yesterday and all four corners of the street were populated with Trump supporters urging people to get out and vote. I was a little surprised, but then again, Trump supporters are more passionate.

Look Away

Despite denials by the media, the NFL, and his supporters, the Kap protests are hurting NFL ratings according to a poll of the fans.

Turns out people don't like being called racists, especially when they're not.

Low Interest Rates

Low rates are often cited as a reason to buy. I actually think they're a reason to sell because it props up the home prices. A study shows low rates do not provide savings over time to home owners, but owning still saves money over renting in the long term.

Like all things, it does until it doesn't.

Passion

When I overhear people talking in Los Angeles about Trump, it's all negative. No one can fathom he has a chance. But if ground level politics matters, he's dominating Hillary in terms of rally attendance, nearly 5 to 1.

I dunno...

Yep

The misleading promise of IVF. 

It hasn't work for all the people I know who've tried it.

Kaepernick

Bills fans boo Kaepernick. ESPN refuses to show the boos. They only show the kneeling. This is what is called media bias.

Kap says, "I don't understand what's un-American about fighting for liberty and justice for everybody, for the equality this country says it stands for," Kaepernick said. "To me, I see it as very patriotic and American to uphold the United States to the standards that it says it lives by."

He doesn't see what's not patriotic about kneeling during a moment designed to show love for his country. In other news, I'm giving my wife the silent treatment for not living up to her own standards and I don't understand why she doesn't see this as a sign of love.

Rigged Election

We should all be concerned the Trump supporters are already calling the election rigged. This is a classic move by conspiracy theorists and paranoid delusional maniacs to make claims that cannot be refuted without helping "prove" the conspiracy. What's worrying is the scale of these claims and the fact Trump himself is amplifying them.

But here's another problem: he's not entirely wrong. It's clear the media is in the bag for Clinton and trying to help her win. We know this by the leaked emails and how CNN provided her debate questions in advance of her debate with Bernie Sanders. This would be akin to a teacher telling one student the test questions before a test.

We also know the number one issue where Trump has more popular support than Clinton is immigration. This is the issue he has ridden to the nomination and could ride to the Presidency. No one is talking about it -- not in the press, not in the debates, etc. The press and the Democrats know the issue is a loser and seeks to make the election about Trump's personality and not the issues. Trump loses on personality, but could win on issues.

And it's not as if this just came about on this election. People will erroneously make the argument, well shouldn't the "responsible" press be in favor of Clinton because Trump is such a volatile person? First of all - that's not what we want from the press, although they've taken it upon themselves to play that role. Go back to Romney and McCain who now look like centrist candidates -- and see how the press treated them. They shit all over Romney for being rich, out of touch, racist, etc. They make McCain seem too old with too many health issues to be President.

It reminds me of when lunatic gamblers lose and claim the refs are in the bag, but it turns out Tim Donaghy WAS is the bag. This doesn't make the gamblers right, it makes both sides wrong.

Money Where Your Mouth Is

For those who argue a Trump presidency will be a "disaster," I wonder how many of these people are selling equities in advance of the election. If one truly believes Trump would be a chaotic disaster in the White House, it would make tremendous sense to hedge this potential outcome. Even if one believes Hillary will win, one must acknowledge a reasonable chance (even as low as 25%) that Trump could win.

I doubt many are doing this, which I why I consider their predictions of disaster to be hyperbolic.

Logging

New HBO

Westworld - Fallen asleep twice trying to watch the first episode. Not that it was bad, but I wasn't a fan of the Groundhog Day element. Second episode, however, was pretty awesome. Probably the one show I'll be keeping up with weekly.

Divorce - Ouch. Painfully bad. Again, the HBO trend of mistaking awful people for "realism." Too bad, because I enjoyed Catastrophe.

Insecure - A mumblecore movie with African American female characters. Made without dramatic craft. Pitch for pilot: a girl tries to cheat on her boyfriend. Maybe Issa Rae is a compelling personality...and I emphasize the maybe...I could see an Ellen DeGeneres like future for her.

Random other things:

The Good Wife - I can see why people like it.

Midnight Run - ages really well. Probably better than any movie released this summer.

Ray Donovan - definitely in a league below the great cable dramas, but watchable nonetheless. Jon Voigt stands out.

Trump

6 Reasons why people are voting for Trump.

I'd call it a must read.

I'm Not Alone

Ruth Bader Ginsberg says the NFL protesters are "dumb."

I'd add ignorant to the mix as well.

A Local Story

Caught this story in my local newspaper that comes with the Saturday LA Times. A man killed by cops after getting tasered. When you read the story, the incident makes sense. And while it's sad someone died, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea by him to attack the police. Or for his brother to pull a gun on the cops. Nevertheless, one wonders why this is a local story rather than a national one that garners protests by NFL players. You tell me.

Not About Free Speech

This article is correct: Kap's protest isn't about free speech. He concludes:

It’s wonderful that this young man wants to use his privileged position to call attention to the nation’s continuing scar of race. I’m just not sure it’s working. The jeers from the stands and the vehemence on the talk shows do not suggest any elevation of dialogue. Nor does it make sense to blame those who boo. The booers may be boors, but for all that Kaepernick’s intention might be to provoke conversation about race, he has instead provoked conversation about himself and his rights -- the very problem of which Doctorow warned.  

The principle of diminishing returns applies to protest as it does to other investments of resources. When the focus of the debate becomes not the issue but the protester, it is not unreasonable to consider a change in tactics.

Here's where I disagree: this was always about Kaepernick. It is about his feeling about what's "happening in this country," not about what's actually happening. It's attention seeking, pure and simple. It's a public display of narcissism and it's not a mistake about the way it's going down.

How It Works

NFL ratings are down 20% and the protests are a factor.

Kap's gesture is deeply unpopular because it is ill informed and ignorant. Of course he has a right to do it, but it doesn't mean we need to like it. Or watch it.

I support those who are tuning out. I'm not so up in arms about it, so I' still watch with mild annoyance and less enthusiasm. In general, I'm already annoyed with big sports.

Side note: I also support people dropping off twitter and facebook for it makes the culture worse, imo.

Almost Famous

Been a long time since I saw this one...and I always liked the film, but can't say I loved it. Still don't. But damn, it's a hell of a movie. All heart. It made me deeply sad to finish the film because it feels like it was made ages ago...and I cannot imagine it getting made today. There's just a million reasons why it wouldn't work - no stars (or, all stars, could be another way of looking at the casting), I can see it being taken apart on the internet for being too white. It's a period piece. A drama. Funny to see how many character actors went on to headline tv series from the movie - Zooey Deschanel, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin, Jay Baruchel.

I don't know. A lament for an era of cinema that's gone.

Trump

I'll admit to being clueless about elections...for instance, I thought Romney would beat Obama (although I thought Obama would beat McCain), but my instinct is that Trump will win simply because his supporters are more passionate about him than Clinton's supporters are for her. Looking back on my lifetime, I think passion is what wins out.

Bill Clinton's supporters were more passionate than George Bush. GW's were more passionate than Al Gore. Obama more than McCain.

Clinton is the logical choice. I'll probably even vote for her because I like to protect my downside and think Trump offers more downside, but I nevertheless cannot shake the fact that a good number of her supporters have - since the beginning - been looking elsewhere (biden, sanders, warren, etc), whereas Trump, on the other hand, seems to be gathering converts.

I also find it pretty discouraging that liberal outlets think Clinton won the debate and conservative outlets think Trump won the debate. What kind of surreal country do we live in where we all see what we want to see? Maybe the debates aren't even competitions at all, but just a tv shows where opinion is gonna be split.

I came away thinking less of Trump and the same of Hillary. The small things stuck out to me. Trump doesn't pay his Federal taxes. He can't both be proud of being a successful businessman and also proud of not paying taxes. Not to me, anyway. Hillary annoyed me with her bringing up the women getting paid less than men lie and this idea of "implicit bias" suggesting everyone is racist, which of course, means the idea of being racist has zero meaning if you take it to a logical conclusion.

Implicit Bias

If everyone is racist, then it ceases to mean anything.

Freedom of Speech for Me, Not for Thee

Seattle Mariners back up catcher suspended for the rest of the season without pay for tweeting that the Charlotte protesters ought to be locked up like animals.

Explain why Kaepernick's "freedom of speech" is important to protect versus this guy's.

Best Idea

This is probably one of the best ideas out there.

Big Data

Irony:

The irony? More questions are being asked, more data is being collected and more randomized experiments are being run in the effort to win the presidency than will ever be used to choose policy by the presidency. Sad.

I'm Glad

Kaepernick spent some quality time talking to people about how to clarify his message and make it not about the military.

I just wish he'd spend equal amount of time and passion memorizing the playbook.

Trouble

If this is true and a distant space signal indicates a civilization vastly more technologically advanced civilization than our own, I would say we need to start figuring out ways to hide.

Even I Underestimated The Stupidity of Kaepernick

I thought he would only ruin the 49ers. Looks like he's going to ruin the NFL with politicizing an area - sports - which people watch to AVOID politics.

A Mom Takes Down Kap

On Twitter.

If I were the Niners, I would've cut him yesterday. He's too much of a distraction and not good enough.

Kaepernick

Sits for the National Anthem to protest racial inequality. Notice something about the timing of this. This is a personal reaction to Kaepernick's career plummeting fast. Here is a great example of how millennials confuse personal neuroticism and immaturity with political issues.

Kap is a basketcase and unloved by his teammates. He does not work hard to learn the craft of being a QB. He is stubborn and when faced with challenges to his decision making, doubles down on excuses. He is immature. His protest, IMO, is a personal reaction to assign blame for his personal and professional failures and frustrations elsewhere. BLM is simply a vehicle for that. And by the way -- that's what all these alt-left and alt-right movements are at their core.

Millenials Not Buying Houses

Any reason beyond: 1) Housing is more expensive and 2) Millenials don't make much money or have job security is what one can properly call bullshit.

Ivy League - Grandiosity and Depression

An interesting article, much of which I suspect is correct. I look at it from a bit of a different angle -- I work in film and there's no shortage of Ivy Leaguers doing the same. But I look at the great filmmakers and writers in the world, the people I truly admire, and a shocking few come from the Ivy League. Given the Ivy League's estimation of itself vs. tangible accomplishment, I'd say they score pretty low. Perhaps the theory expressed in the article goes part of the way to explain.

Good

For U Chicago.

Never Cry Wolf

Yep. How liberal pundits made Trump possible.

His convention was called “one of the worst ever.” Chris Matthews deemed him “dangerous” and “scary,” Ellen DeGeneres said “If you’re a woman, you should be very, very scared.” His opponent ran an ad against him portraying him as uniquely dangerous for women. “I’ve never felt this way before, but it’s a scary time to be a woman,” said a woman in the ad. He was frequently called a “bully,” “anti-immigrant,” “racist,” “stupid,” and “unfit” to be president.  

I’m referring, obviously, to the terrifying Mitt Romney.

Obama's Legacy

Leaving us more racially divided.

My view of America is that we are a place of great promise and opportunity, where someone like me, who is the grandchild of illiterate black Southern sharecroppers, can achieve success and reach the American dream. We are a place occupied by fair-minded, hard-working people whose culture and values have built a nation that is the envy of the world. I am proud to be a part of that culture. 

Our Founders, while imperfect and a product of their times, were visionary heroes who made hard choices and compromises to give us the successful system we have today. Because Americans are good, we’ve worked hard over time to right the wrongs in our society that our Founding Fathers could not eliminate in their time. In summary, we are a fundamentally decent people blessed to live in a phenomenal land with a rich heritage.  

But not so for President Obama. His view of our nation seems to be very different than mine and that of many other Americans. I believe that when President Obama thinks of America, more so than a place of hope or opportunity, he thinks of a place where racist white Christian fundamentalists came here from Europe, committed genocide against Native Americans, enslaved and segregated black people, denied women, gays, and other minorities their rights, and used capitalism and a rigged legal system to oppress poor people for centuries. He also believes this is still continuing today.

I believe that's what you call "nailing it."

Never Cry Wolf

Perhaps Trump is racist, but calling it out has no impact because everyone not properly politically aligned is accused of being racist these days. Reports of his racism cannot be trusted because reports of racism are so commonly overused and overemphasized, the word is being stripped of meaning.

Losing the Intelligence War

How the terrorists are winning.

I'm sick of losing to these clowns. I'm for whatever will work. The deportations idea at the end of the article is interesting.

Also, why are we hesitant to carpet bomb the Islamic State?

We can accept two options:

1) Play by the niceties of peacetime, and live with terror ebbing away at the West, destroying Muslim countries in the process, and making civilians unsafe, OR

2) Commit to winning a war against Islamic Fascism and being the strong horse in the fight.

The only other option is surrender.

I'm for 2). It'll might be ugly for a bit. But war is ugly.

Is This Debatable?

Obama has lost control of the Middle East.

Logging

Film: Neon Demon and Midnight Run

Neon Demon was enjoyable for 2/3s as a stylistic exercise and by the end I wanted the film to end. Not what you want, IMO.

Midnight Run is fantastic. I loved the movie as a kid and it grows better with age. When DeNiro passes on and we need to reflect on 3 quintessential roles...I'll be in the minority, but I'll go with Mean Streets, Midnight Run, and Heat.

Obvious other candidates: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas (overshadowed by Pesci), Silver Linings (his David O'Russell films), Cape Fear/Untouchables (crazy DeNiro), Meet the Parents (comedy DeNiro)

For me, it breaks down this way - there is Scorcese-DeNiro and you get to pick one performance. Taxi Driver or Raging Bull are the obvious ones, but I pick Mean Streets and I'll tell you why. Story goes - when studio execs first saw Mean Streets they thought Scorcese found DeNiro in an insane asylum. That does it for me.

Heat is the greatest film of the past 25 years and DeNiro out acts his rival, Pacino, in the quintessential coffee shop scene. This is DeNiro in his last "great" role, better than his Oscar winning Godfather 2 performance, IMO.

And lastly, comedy-DeNiro deserves a nod. He's been doing it now for 15 years and it basically encompasses the final act of his career. But who gives a shit about Meet the Parents and his roles in David O'Russell films are great, but really part of a ensemble and secondary. I go back to Midnight Run, a film where he's fucking hilarious and carries the movie. His scenes with Alonzo Mosley, the FBI agent are brilliant, including the genius physical comedy bit when he walks down the street with Mosley's FBI badge and stops and flashes it to no one in particular. The film also mixes in a great deal of emotion and the awkwardness of the scene between DeNiro and his daughter/ex-wife is painful to watch even today.

Duncan Retires

There is no athlete for whom my feelings have radically altered over time more than Tim Duncan. Part is him, part is me. In the old days, I disliked the twin towers style of bball played by the Spurs. I didn't care for Duncan's ugly, gangly post play.

But over time, he and the Spurs evolved as a player and team. He stayed relevant, was a great teammate, and avoided drama on the court. They played beautiful basketball the last couple years. And Duncan had grit. I'll never forget game 6 in the Miami series 2013 - the game Ray Allen hit the 3. Duncan was incredible the first half. He ended up with 30 points and 17 rebounds and was probably the best player on the court that game, despite facing Wade and LeBron at the peak of their powers and he being 37 years old. If it weren't for that Ray Allen 3, we'd be talking 6 NBA titles for the guy.

He did it his way all these years and his retirement announcement was no different. His career paralleled Kobe. They were opposites in so many respects, from how they played, to how they treated teammates and coaches, to how they grew old, to how they officially retired. Basketball fans during this era could be broken up into two types: Kobe-guys or Duncan-guys. I started as a Kobe guy, but now I'm a Duncan guy. It's no contest.

Bill Clinton

Meets with the AG and then charges against his wife are dropped.

Jesus.

Americans are going to vote "f--- you" for Trump.

What do we think just happened with the Brexit. It's no fun being played. The Clintons have played the American public to the tune of their 100 million dollar fortune. How does a couple who's basically been in public service for 30-40 years accumulate that much money? Off paying to play access.

Of Course Not

No charges for Hillary Clinton.

All Against All

The future: minority wars.

Hobbes warned about this, but none of these people have ever read Hobbes.

Brexit

I suppose when all the spoils of economic integration go to upper and upper middle classes, you can expect the rest of the folks to be against it. No one's figured out how to get globalization to actually trickle down and I see more of these type of movements happening around the globe.

Also, is this how World Wars start?

Faith Left

A nice story about random plane passengers supporting a grieving grandmother.

I teach. And I hear a lot about these insane, coddled students in the media. But in my experience, most students aren't like that. Not even close. When you talk to people, it's shocking how rational, friendly, kind, and smart most Americans are. You wouldn't know it to read the papers or to view our national political discourse. So here's the thing - I have a lot of faith in our people, still. What I have nearly zero faith in these days is our political system working on behalf of our people. There's some type of enormous disconnect. Our problems are solvable. I don't even think they are particularly difficult compared to problems other human beings faced throughout history. Nevertheless, they remain unsolved. Islamic terrorism shouldn't be this difficult to defeat. We must decide to do it. Reigning in the national debt isn't even hard - all we need to do is spend less than we make. It's actually quite simple. I could go on.

Is this LA or America?

Today, I paid $5 each for a coffee and a full chicken (Costco).

Teaching

I'd expect this is one of biggest low hanging fruits in America today: how improving teaching craft would impact the students.

In many countries the way to get ahead in a school is to move into management. Mr Fryer says that American school districts “pay people in inverse proportion to the value they add”. District superintendents make more money than teachers although their impact on pupils’ lives is less. Singapore has a separate career track for teachers, so that the best do not leave the classroom. Australia may soon follow suit.

Tough to Dispute

"If terrorist doesn't represent all Muslims, why does he represent all gun owners."

Islamic Terror

I haven't done any type of analysis, but my impression is that since we left Iraq in 2011 the size and scope of attacks against the West has increased.

Similarly, it was the time of "peace" in the Middle East when the original Al Queda grew into the group that took down the twin towers.

Rather than endlessly bickering about the legitimacy of removing Saddam, the western world would've been better off figuring out how to win the war.

Interesting and Weird

After Orlando, gay support goes to Trump.

The frustration with political correctness is real, but so is the fact that Trump sees himself as a monarch.

Also, file this under more evidence Trump can win.

A Very Bad Sign

Births in the US were down to the lowest rate EVER in 2015. Check out the chart on the article and births have been in decline ever since the Great Recession.

And then there's this: we're richer than ever (because of inflated asset prices).

So what's the verdict? Are we poor and uncertain about the future and thus not having babies? Or, are we richer than ever and declining birthrates have to do with something other than economics.

Here's a theory: older, non-birthing aged adults are reaping the money from inflated asset prices (stocks and homes) at the expense of birthing aged adults.

McDonald's

A nice article (ironically, British) about how McDonald's provides a cheap space for communities to gather. If I had to guess, I'd say McDonald's brings more joy and well being for the poor and lower middle classes than any non-profit in America.

Also in San Jose

San Jose

Trump supporter egged and yelled at by Trump protesters carrying the Mexican flag.

Making me want to vote for the guy.

Political Correctness

Is it the biggest problem facing the nation today? 

Half the country seems to think so.

Yes

In a world of self driving cars, we'll still need the Miata.

Shot Fired At Trump Rally

Funny, when Obama was running for President, a number of liberal friends predicted/worried he would be assassinated/attempted assassinated because he was black. I guess they saw Mississippi Burning too many times as a youngster and can't differentiate between 1955 Mississippi and 2008-2016 America. But, whatever.

I wonder where they'll stand on this.

Yep

Obama's been a failure in terms of Middle East policy. 

He'll leave the place in considerably worse shape than he inherited it.

Doesn't Seem Right

As part of BofA and Citigroup's bailout, the Obama required the banks to fund community groups backing his political agenda.

They realize the bailout was done with taxpayer money, right?

The Onion or the New York Times

They NYT tries to do a hit piece on Trump. My favorite bit:

He simultaneously nurtured women’s careers and mocked their physical appearance. “You like your candy,” he told an overweight female executive who oversaw the construction of his headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

Are they trying to get me to vote for him?

Old Shit

An incredibly prescient letter written in 1969 about the effects of "affirmative action," ie quotas.

No one can be expected to accept an inferior status willingly. The black students, unable to compete on even terms in the study of law, inevitably will seek other means to achieve recognition and self-expression. This is likely to take two forms. First, agitation to change the environment from one in which they are unable to compete to one in which they can. Demands will be made for elimination of competition, reduction in standards of performance, adoption of courses of study which do not require intensive legal analysis, and recognition for academic credit of sociological activities which have only an indirect relationship to legal training. Second, it seems probable that this group will seek personal satisfaction and public recognition by aggressive conduct, which, although ostensibly directed at external injustices and problems, will in fact be primarily motivated by the psychological needs of the members of the group to overcome feelings of inferiority caused by lack of success in their studies. Since the common denominator of the group of students with lower qualifications is one of race this aggressive expression will undoubtedly take the form of racial demands–the employment of faculty on the basis of race, a marking system based on race, the establishment of a black curriculum and a black law journal, an increase in black financial aid, and a rule against expulsion of black students who fail to satisfy minimum academic standards.

See the campus protests this year. I'm always amazed at how smart the old timers were about things in general.

Excellent Article

The myth of progressive.

Sickening

A story about Venezuela where they lack toilet paper and are putting a businessman in jail because of it. This story would be funny if it weren't true. Anyone with firm liberal redistributive beliefs ought to seriously examine the last 15 years of Venezuelan social history as a case study of what happens when these ideas are put into practice in the real world. But I very highly doubt many of them will. Instead, they will vote Bernie.

This Doesn't Smell Right

A 24-year old artist who painted a naked micro-penised Donald Trump claims she was assaulted off La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles.

Here's what makes no sense:

-To know who this "artist" is would require being quite an infovore. I didn't know who she was. You'd have to be following the internet pretty close to be able to spot her.

-The type of person who would pull over and randomly punch a girl for political reasons would be pretty rare indeed.

-The type of person who would do both...that is, know an internet artist and be willing to randomly assault her on the street in Los Angeles...I don't buy it. Are there really that many passionate Trump supporters in LA in this age bracket?

I don't buy it.

Widespread Mental Illness

Taking over America one bathroom at a time. Yes.

I got a newsflash: if I need to go, the men's bathroom is full, and the women's is empty, I go in already...

Alcohol Consumption Habits Learned Young

My takeaway: we should all drink more wine with others.

Logging

Film: Get Hard

Better than Keanu at examining perceptions and misperceptions of black ghetto culture. Surprisingly witty film. I'd take this over Bulworth and Keanu combined.

And the scenes of Will Farrell doing capoeira cracked me up.

Logging

Film: Keanu

Movie comedy these days...so rare they knock it out of the park. I laughed a few times, but the "movie" aspect of these things are really lacking. They feel like snacks and not meals.

Logging

Screenplay: Beetlejuice

A great deal of fun. They don't make 'em like they used to...I cannot fathom a studio making such an inventive and weird film today.

Game of Thrones S. 6

Disappointing first episode. Pure exposition. Bummed about the events in Dorne. Still itching to watch the next one (or read the GD-book!)

Sounds Right

College Encourages a Lively Exchange of One Idea.

US Weekly

The wife reads it, so it's around the house. They do this feature "25 Things You Don't Know About Me" and recently featured Hillary Clinton. One of the things she listed: she likes the Beatles. The Beatles! She likes the Beatles!

Good God. We are going to elect this woman President? She would've sided with King George III in 1776.

And Yet, One of Our Top 4 Candidates Is A Socialist

Venezuela does not have enough money to pay for its money.

We'll See...

Zuckerberg thinks AI will outperform humans in the next decade.

I suppose the big question is: in what? Computers outperform humans in all sorts of things already like counting big numbers.

Technology

I'm skeptical of technology until I see the application. I remember the Segway hype and when they cloned the sheep Dolly. Also, I used a toilet today with the auto flush sensor. Does this thing work for anyone? Every time I put the toilet bowl paper on a toilet with the auto flush, the auto flush takes it away. I dunno. I just don't see driverless cars living up to the hype.

Yep

Jodie Foster, "There isn't really some big plot to keep women down."

Super Bowl Ceiling

Bart Scott thinks he would've won 2 maybe 3 super bowls with Alex Smith as QB.

I wonder what he thinks of Kaepernick.

Martini Log

2.5 oz Martin Miller (80 proof) Gin
.5 oz Vya vermouth
.5 oz olive juice from jar (Tipsy Pimento Olive)

Crisp. Junipery. Smooth. Served ultra cold. A really good martini. Superior to the Beefeater with the same portions the other night.

Logging

TV: Happy Valley

A terrific main character introduction. Eerie and dark in a subtle way.

Logging

TV: Catastrophe

Watchable.

Crazy People

If this teacher were teaching my kids, I'd demand she be fired.

Martini Notes

Gins Tried:

Martin Miller ($28-32): Super smooth, 80 proof. For one with expensive taste, could serve as an awesome baseline gin. If you order a basic martini at Providence (the 2nd best restaurant in America), this is what they use.
Martin Miller Wellsbourne ($30-37): That said, I think the splurge to the Wellsbourne version is worth it. I found a bottle at K&L for $30, which is the same as I paid for the regular MM at a liquor store. Even at $37 (Bevmo), the price difference is still worth it. Basically, the main difference is a higher proof - 94. Again, a super smooth gin. If you meet someone who doesn't like gin, pour them a MM and they will change their minds.
Fords ($25-28): This is my baseline gin right now. For guests or celebrations, I'll use MM. On a regular Thursday night before eating a steak, I'll use Fords. Incredible value. And more gin-like than MM. This is like having a great pair of boots that can be worn at nearly every occasion, except a wedding. If I were buying one gin for the cabinet, I would take Fords.
Beefeater ($16-18): Good enough in a pinch. Can find it at nearly any grocery store. Cheap. If at a crummy bar, or you don't feel like overpaying, Beefeater can do the job.
Bombay London Dry ($20 for a handle): Good value, but I don't love it. Prefer Beefeater at the price point.
St. George's ($35): tastes like a Christmas tree. A neat novelty gin, but I don't drink it on the regular.

Vermouth:
Vya: Highly recommended, but I prefer Dolin. For some reason, it tastes a little sweet to me.
Noilly Prat: Serviceable.
Dolin: My favorite. Dry.

Olives:
Small Spanish: bad
Large Spanish: good
Castelvetrano: inappropriate, but delicious

The other night, I poured a Beefeater (2.5oz), Vya (.5oz), and Large Spanish (.3 juice). Solid, but not spectacular.

The week before, we drank MM Wellsbourne (3oz), .5oz olive, and tried one with Dolin and one with Vya. I preferred the Dolin.

Logging

Film: Spy

A terrible movie.

The Enemy: Nihilism

On the revolt of a nihilistic public and the rise of Trump.

Hillary Clinton

She does not possess the attributes I like in a person, much less a Presidential candidate. She strikes me as foremost a careerist and to what end, I do not know. In this way, she most resembles Ted Cruz of the remaining candidates.

I don't even know where she comes from. Isn't this strange given her long career in the public eye? What is her "base" other than women who support other women? What election has she ever won other than Senator of New York, which is essentially a celebrity position? What is her foremost policy accomplishment as a Senator or Secretary of State? I remember the following:

1) Voting in favor of the Iraq War and then flipping on George Bush's war when it seemed politically expedient to do so.

2) Public failure at health care reform as a first lady.

3) Leading from behind as part of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East, which lead to the pullout in Iraq and chaos in Libya.

4) Getting investigated by the FBI for breaches of email security.

What else? Being generally good on liberal and women's issues? What accomplishments can she point to other than joe-average Democratic party policy positions?

Here are some things that annoy me:

1) She is touted as having "experience"? Why? Why does being First Lady count as experience for Hillary Clinton and no other First Lady in the history of the position? She's won one - ONE! - election. (Note: She actually won re-election and only served 2 years)

2) What has she accomplished independent of Bill? As far as I know, she wasn't a particularly successful lawyer. In fact, she failed the bar exam in DC and passed in the much easier state of Arkansas.

Logging

Film: Triple 9

Great cast, but unpleasant tone and barely coherent story telling. The characters were uniformly bleak and treacherous, but most notably, stupid. And this was the downfall of the storytelling and the movie.

Montana Was Better

Lots of guys on talk radio now say Brady is the best QB of all time. This is total recency bias.

Montana played in a much tougher era for QBs and still prevailed.

All you need to know about QBs in the Brady era is to look at Manning, Brees, Rodgers, Eli, etc., and realize Brady wasn't even the best QB in the league for many of the years he played.

Montana had no peer.

Brady is great, but he rides the coattails of Belichick. One could say the same of Montana and Walsh, perhaps, but Montana won a Super Bowl without Walsh and took the KC Chiefs to the AFC Championship game and the playoffs, still performing his late game heroics late into his career. On the flipside, the one year Brady went down, the Pats were still 11-5 with a career backup in Matt Cassel.

IMO, Montana was not only the best QB of all time, but the best player. People talk about "clutch" players, but there was no one - not Jordan, not Kobe, not Brady, no one -- who was calmer, cooler, and better in the clutch than Montana. Go look at the tape.

SIDE NOTE: I actually think there's a better argument that Manning in a superior QB to Montana because he did a lot more - basically functioning as his own offensive coordinator - if you went by overall, regular season metrics. Manning's flaw, of course, is his inferior postseason record where he can't hold a candle to Montana (or Brady).

MMQB

On Kaepernick's flaws:

And then there is Kaepernick’s poor understanding for why certain plays are called. Case in point: multiple times in recent years, the Niners have opened a game with a simple fullback flare pass to the flat. It’s a play you call to get your QB comfortable and to put yourself in at least second-down-and-medium right out of the gates. There isn’t a more basic concept in pro football. Unfortunately, Kaepernick, several times, has failed to pull the trigger on these throws, opting instead to kick off the game with a randomized, sandlot throw. That he’s repeated this mistake more than once is baffling, especially considering that he threw an interception in this scenario on the first play of the Raiders game two years ago. (The Niners went on to lose that one.)  

If a nearly four-year starting quarterback can’t be trusted to even attempt—let alone complete—something like a fullback flare on the game’s first play, then he can’t be trusted. You can’t construct, let alone perfect, a passing attack with such instability.  

All of these flaws speak to an ill understanding of basic progression reads and coverage diagnostics, as well. Because if Kaepernick consistently knew what he was looking at on his dropbacks, there’s no way his pocket poise and decision-making would be so erratic. Adding to this: when Kaepernick does play with patience, he has a tendency to be late with the ball or to flat-out leave open receivers untargeted.

Yep.

Logging

TV: The Missing, e. 1-4

A good British mystery series in the vein of Broadchurch and Top of the Lake and True Detective, if you like those things.

Good Analysis

On why Trump will flame out.

Oscars

Brie Larsen shined. Her graceful speech stood out amongst the mess of petty whining scolds. She thanked the moviegoers! I can't remember seeing that before. Her lovely, graceful speech ought to be the norm, but it made her look like royalty amongst a bunch of children.

Martini Thoughts

-Gin is superior to Vodka. In fact, I don't really drink Vodka martinis anymore. That said, Vodka martinis got me started and were a gateway to the better, gin variety. Sort of like how Oz lead to the Wire.

-Martin Miller is both the best and the best value gin I can find. The Wellsbourne version costs about $6 more per bottle and is worth the upgrade.

-Spanish olives

-Dry vermouth should be bought in smaller bottles. After about a month the vermouth is not as good. Dolin and Noilly Prat are both good, but there are other brands I want to try.

-Other than the ingredients the single most important factor is getting the martini as cold as possible.

-I like the ratio 6 parts gin to 1 part vermouth and 1 part olive juice, although I am playing with increasing the vermouth to 4 to 1 or even 3 to 1.

-Gins I want to try: Plymouth, Ford, Greylock, Beefeater

-Notes on gins I've tried lately: St. Georges - tastes like a christmas tree. I like it for the difference, but cannot say I'd drink this every night. Bombay London Gin - classic, good value for the big bottle. I'll say, however, I'm not drinking a ton right now, so when I indulge, I like to go for a little tastier gin. But I love having the Bombay as a bar standby and I like it for G&Ts. Hendricks - good, but for the price point, I go for Martin Miller.

The Best Monologue In The Wire (And there were a lot of good ones)

"Listen to me you fuck. You did a lot of shit here. You played a lot of fucking cards. And you made a lot of fucking people do a lot of fucking things they didn't want to do. This is true. We both know this is true. You, McNulty, are a gaping asshole. We both know this. Fuck if everybody in CID doesn't know it. But fuck if I'm gonna stand here and say you did a single fucking thing to get a police shot. You did not do this, you fucking hear me. This is not on you. No it isn't asshole. Believe it or not, everything isn't about you. And the motherfucker saying this, he hates your guts, McNulty. So you know, if it was on you, I'd be the sonnofabitch to say so. Shit went bad. She took two for the company. That's the only lesson here."

Somebody give that actor a job -- something Gene Hackman would be good for.

Diversity Hawks

On the Coen Brothers providing the "wrong answer." From the article:

Their opinions are valued and reported upon because they are major members of the industry. To whiff on this answer so badly is tremendously disappointing, especially coming from such ambitious filmmakers.

Seems to me, this sentence makes absolutely no sense. If their opinion matters, then the opinion should be considered, not condemned. Think of the implication here...the only "opinion" must be the "right-thinking" one. This is 1984, plain and simple.

And then this:

Being famous in 2016 requires an awareness beyond yourself and a sense of social justice — that's indisputable.

I'd dispute it.

Hat tip, Viner.

Cam

Just watched the press conference. Don't see the big deal. Pop and Belichick do the same type of thing all the time. Another thought: WHO FREAKING CARES ABOUT PRESS CONFERENCES?

I didn't see the fumble play, only the replay. Looks like he didn't put full effort. I dunno. It happens when you're frustrated in games. Also, hard to tell the context without seeing it live.

Been Awhile

Random Thoughts:

1. I watched Denver play a lot this year and their defense was really good.

2. A lot of talk on the radio about Peyton Manning not being responsible for winning the SB. True. But if we're gonna mark him down for not playing well in a victory, it seems kinda unfair to mark him down for "not winning the big one," which was tag he carried for a long time, oftentimes when playing quite well.

3. All that said, a lot things broke well for Denver during the playoffs.

4. I have no opinion on Cam Newton.

5. Trump and Bernie won in New Hampshire and it suddenly hit me to be worried about the election. Listening to Trump prattle on about "making America great again" seems about as vacant a motto as "Hope." His rants about China, Japan, Mexico stealing from us and bringing in the best business minds strike me as a pretty odd way to talk about allies. Bernie Sanders has a really good pitch. I listened to him in the last debate. Hillary is unloved. But Bernie Sanders is a freaking socialist and free college, healthcare, and dessert for everyone and the billionaires will pick up the tab sounds nice and would last about 3 years before we ran out of spending rich people's money.

6. Numb3rs isn't a bad tv show.

7. Colin Kaepernick dated a transvestite is one of the weirder football stories of the year. I wouldn't be opposed to keeping him on the Niners as a back up at a back up salary.

How I Miss, Thee

The Onion, whenever I stop reading it for awhile.

Renting vs. Owning A Home

An economist considers the question.

I often hear people talk about how low interest rates are good for buyers because they pay less to borrow money. But easy money is available to everyone and the low borrowing costs just get factored into the house cost. Strikes me that low interest rates are good for sellers. And for property tax basis.

Sologamy

New trend of marrying oneself.

Why not?

File This Under Signs of the Apocalypse

Bank of Japan charging people to hold their money.

In a related story, corporations are holding trillions in cash. Apple alone holds 1/5 of its stock price in cash.

I start to hoard cash when I don't see a lot of income coming down the pipe. Or, when I've got nothing I want to spend it on. Neither are good signs for corporations.

Broncos-Pats

Broncos getting to Brady and know they aren't running. Why couldn't KC do this?

UPDATE: Meant to post regarding the Manning PED story earlier. Normally, I'm prone not believing athletes when it comes to PED related stories. Except in this case. I'm not a huge Manning fan, but I believe the guy has quite a bit of integrity. Perhaps this is pure bias because of his personality, but also because the sharp deterioration of his physicality over time coincides with my understanding of aging. Whereas guys like Bonds or Arod, I'm less inclined to believe.

UPDATE 2: 4th and 1 after a lousy run call - Denver should have gone for it. Actually, they should have put in a jumbo package with a plan to go for it on 4th when it was 3rd and 1...and take two shots at pushing it through. IMO.

UPDATE 3: Every time I've seen the Broncos D play this year they look really good.

UPDATE 4: Listening to sports radio post game and a couple things:

a) Gostkowski was taking the blame for the loss. This is pretty ridiculous. Sure, he missed an extra point, but it was in the first half. It had little bearing on the game. The story of the game was the Broncos pass rush putting Brady under intense pressure all day and the Pats only putting up 18 points.

b) Of interesting note, the Pats were doing the silent count all game and apparently it becomes harder to coordinate keeping the defense off balance with the silent count. This can partially explain why Denver was getting such a good jump on the rush whereas Kansas City was not.

Logging

Film: Top Five

I need to think of a name for the genre of content of which Top Five, Girls, and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee occupies. It's something akin to memoir and it's not a development I like. Basically, it amounts to privileged people complaining...and trying to position themselves as victims to gain cultural currency. And they put their talents toward naval gazing as opposed to fiction. I occasionally hear cultural commentators talking about this kind of content as some kind of radical new development. Bret Easton Ellis calls it "non-empire." I dunno. Seems to me Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, Woody Allen, and JD Salinger all did this type of thing with considerable more skill and insight.

Anyhow, Top Five is the worst of all this stuff.

Logging

Film: The Hateful Eight

Pre-intermission, I was really enjoying the movie. Post-intermission was probably the worst hour of filmmaking in Tarantino's ouvre. Most disappointing to me, I think his writing is slipping. The entire Channing Tatum element of the film felt like the guy wrote himself into a corner, had no way to get out, was too lazy to fix it, and just went backwards into a totally different and uninteresting story.

Tarantino's use violence is getting increasingly less humorous and more grotesque, which I don't like. Also, his casting is becoming too predictable and repetitive. I love Walt Goggins, but he's better in Justified than any of his Tarantino roles...

Although he needs a new Christoph Waltz or Sam Jackson, what he needs even more is a new John Travolta.

Playoffs

Chiefs got outclassed the Pats. My biggest gripe with the performance was the Chiefs inability to get a pash rush (supposedly one of their strengths) against an utterly predictable Pats offense.

The Chiefs needed a big turnover type of play and to the Pats credit, they didn't make any mistakes. Or, they needed Alex Smith to outplay Brady, which he didn't. It was made particularly hard without Maclin.

In the end, the Chiefs injuries hurt them more than the Pats -- Maclin and Houston. The bye week helped.

Smith played like Smith. Solid, but not spectacular. He missed a few throws and couldn't get them into the end zone early. He made some awesome plays with his feet. He needed a big turnover from the defense or a stifling overall effort.

Actually, if early on the Chiefs D stopped the Pats on some of those 3rd and long plays, the game would've been closer down the stretch.

This was the only game I watched because I'm tired of football.

Making A Murder

Good interview breaking down who Avery really is.

Seems to me pretty relevant that he was accused of molesting a young cousin at one point and Teresa Halbach was creeped out by him and didn't want to go out to his place... facts the documentary left out over the course of 10 freaking hours.

Bad Things

I have a young child, so I'm often not on top of the latest happenings. But it's interesting to come up for air and find out what's happening in the world...

1. It actually appears Donald Trump will be Republican nominee for President. I initially found Trump entertaining and a fun sideshow to keep the real candidates on their toes. Now, the jokes on all of us. (BAD THING)

2. My streak of falling asleep during eight straight episodes of Making A Murderer continues. I've yet to think the guy is innocent. Perhaps a big twist is coming, but I doubt it. What I find fascinating about the phenomena of these vindicating-the-accused true-crime shows is how the filmmakers expect the audience to simultaneously consider the characters incredibly stupid and incredibly smart to undermine the accepted view of events. For example: the local cops would need to be incredibly stupid to put their careers in jeopardy to frame Avery for murder. They would need to be quite evil as well, to pull blood from an evidence vial, to move the ashes, move the car, and/or plant the key. Also - the filmmakers expect us to believe the cops are more likely to frame a guy who was already vindicated for the rape because they are mad about it? Huh? I would think the cops much more careful and less likely to accuse a guy who was already wrongfully convicted. And then, of course, we must also consider this "other" murderer who must be a genius to wait to kill the woman on the same day she visits Avery and along with planning the murder, also manage to frame Avery, and then also - perhaps using voodoo - anticipates the cops helping to frame Avery by further planting evidence. It all becomes quite absurd to think about. I'd sell my stock in these type of shows if I had any.

3. Iran grabs 10 US Navy personnel, holds them captive overnight, and the United States is apologizing for drifting into Iranian territorial waters. For the "greatest military ever," it sure doesn't seem like anyone in the Middle East is very worried about pissing us off.

4. All the passion regarding the Oscar nominations is directed at the "snubs" of minorities. Of course, the real story is the pathetic state of movies produced in the US and how it's turned into a legacy industry mixed with some advertising for comic and young adult books. Nevertheless, people are upset Creed was not nominated despite the fact that Creed was a mediocre movie that took a terrific idea and couldn't come up with an original story. Couple it with the fact that Michael B. Jordan is a hugely limited actor (2 notes only with that guy - cool and mad), in a healthy movie industry, this film would be considered a letdown. As it is, it becomes a lightening rod for the diversity crowd, a group with an ultra liberal political agenda they forward through non-traditional political channels because of the unpopularity and bankruptcy of the ideas.

Chip Kelly

Kap jersey clearance ends.

Peak Oil?

Or the return of $1 a gallon gasoline.

I hate to make predictions, especially about the future.

Playoffs

For all the commentators who shit on Alex Smith, I bet the Houston Texans would give up every single player on their team other than JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins for him.

Now...Chiefs-Pats. Damn, I wish Maclin was playing. He is probably their most important offensive player beyond Smith. (Charles is their best, but clearly not the most important). It would make the game considerably more competitive. I think the Chiefs can win if Alex Smith outplays Tom Brady. That's a tall order and not likely. Not impossible, though.

Meanwhile...

Dozens of women raped in the streets of Cologne, Germany on New Years Eve.

I'll just point out the obvious:

1) They bury the lead, of course...which is, the perps were groups of "Arab-North African Men." In a country that welcomed millions of Syrian refugees...

2) A few months prior American college students were protesting the rape culture of their schools, none of which experienced anything remotely as criminally insane as this incident.

So...conclusion...

a) We cannot attribute the rapes in the streets of Cologne to any type of cultural or religious attitudes -- that would be racist.

b) But, we can attribute the fondling mistakes of drunken college students as an urgent cultural problem that must be addressed.

Riiiggghhttt.

Is This Peak Oil?

World awash in oil, price drops.

Or acid rain? Or a hole in the ozone layer? Or running out of food? Or the sky is falling?

Coughlin

Gonna miss seeing his red face on the sidelines. I thought he was a pretty good coach.