Take It Up with the UN
Wa. Wa. Ancestors lost their land 50-100 years ago. Welcome to the club with billions of other descendants. Get in line at the UN and make your specious claim. Try to kill the descendants of the people who "took" your land is going to lead to a predictable outcome: death and misery. But sure, keep trying it. By all means.
More Hospitals
Israel psychos invade hospital and kill three Palestinian medical professionals.
Oh, wait. Nevermind...they actually turn out to be terrorists hiding in the hospital. Yeah, we should really be sympathetic to these folks. Real easy to deal with, common sense, salt of the earth types.
Logging
Film: Anatomy of a Fall
Fairly gripping examination of a troubled marriage. If I have a complaint, it would be this: never for a moment did I believe she "did it" and so from a mystery/procedural perspective I found the drama a bit lacking. That said, I walked in a few moments late and don't know what I missed at the beginning of the film. On some level, I read this film as a plea for sanity.
Another random thought: everyone seems to think the 21st century will be the story of India and China's rise. Europe has become an afterthought. But if I could place a bet, it would not surprise me if a European woman was the one to create a Fortune 500 company. If I could wager, I would bet on a European woman over the favorites: American, Indian, or Chinese.
Settler-Colonialism
The entire settler-colonialist argument against Israel - why does this argument not apply toward the Islamic conquests of Jerusalem and Palestine more largely? Do people think the original inhabitants of Palestine were Islamic? Like there were dinosaurs, then mammals, and then people who practiced Islam? Did the folks peacefully convert to the religion out of choice?
The Other Difference Between Ukraine and Palestine
Besides the Palestinians starting the war against Israeli and the Russians starting the war against Ukraine - the other main difference: Ukraine wants peace and freedom for themselves as a sovereign nation. They have no desire to "overtake" Russia or wipe Russia from the map. The Palestinians on the other hand want to destroy their neighbor and take their land that they claim was stolen 75 years ago. That's the difference for those who would like to draw parallels. One is holding a line. One wants to redraw them.
Pessimism As A Disease
I sense so much pessimism when it comes to Israel-Hamas. Even so far as people claiming "Hamas is winning." Winning?!? What ludicrous world view thinks getting 30-50% of your fighting force and all your infrastructure destroyed - not to mention total destruction of your people and land as winning? What if I reframed my life goals as: going bankrupt. And then I proceeded to do exactly that. Would anyone say I succeeded in life? Does joining a death cult and then dying count as "winning?"
As my kid would say, "no way, dude."
Folks are marching in the streets against Israel. So what? Ever heard of a losers? Does anyone remember Occupy Wall Street? They had just as many protestors and guess what? Last time I checked, Wall Street is still there and the Occupiers are still delinquent on their student loans. Sorry folks. The crocodile tears for Palestinians are a Western luxury good more fickle than even our support for Ukraine. See, just as cancellations, wokeness, etc can cut both ways so can Westerners attention. Ask the citizens of the Central African Republic how much Westerners really care about civilian deaths in foreign lands. I don't mean to be glib, but ultimately humans can't be expected to care equally about all 6 billion souls on the planet. It might be rational to do so, but we can't. If the Palestinians want to live in peace and want their land and control of their own destiny, it will be on them to curtail the maniacs in their own camp. They've failed to do so for the past 50 years.
Not Going Away
This issue of anti-semitism is not going away. And by the way, this isn't really about antisemitism - it's about profound dysfunction within both elite and non-elite circles in the Western world. We've become insane and I can't really tell you why. Anti-semitism in places like Harvard is like drug use for spoiled kids - just dysfunction for the sake of dysfunction.
Dead Teslas In The Freezing Cold
The other day there was a considerable line at a bank charging station here in LA as well Cold weather no good for battery operation.
Another Example
Taleb says Israeli politicians were making mistakes on October 9th. Again an example where he expects Israelis to play 9-D chess and be inhuman supercomputers and the expectations for Palestinians is to only fantasize about mass murder and genocide of their neighbors but that acting upon it might - under certain conditions - cross a line.
Russian Strategy
Interesting twitter thread - we are closer to war with Russia than we think. Russia would not fight a conventional war against NATO, but rather a psychological risk-escalation war. I agree this would be in their interest. But I don't think we should fight either type of war with Russia (or China) if it came to it. We should fight a war against the leadership of Russia and the leadership of China - a war that is totally ruthless, mafia-style that involves decapitating their leadership and their kin by any means necessary and as fast as possible. A war that would encourage paranoia and the people surrounding the leadership to turn on them as quickly as possible. I believe this would leverage NATO and the West's material advantages because neither Russia nor China could ever "eliminate" the threat. Likewise, it would position our strengths (unreliance on a single person or mafia group) against their weaknesses - the continuous threat of democratic revolution from within.
Countries and People Who Dislike Us
Sometimes I feel bummed about our country, but then when consider the alternative and in particular, the folks that don't like America - here are the list -
Iranian Ayatollahs
Chinese Communists
Russian Fascists
Palestinian Terrorist
Yemeni Pirates
North Korean Dictators
That these folks don't like us suggests to me that we're doing something right.
17%
Per this Niall Ferguson youtube clip, only 17% of the world's population lives under liberal democracy. Can this be right?
Mark Cuban
What's going on with this guy? First, he sells the Mavericks suddenly and totally gives up control. It made me think the guy has a terminal disease. Now, he's wading right into the middle of the culture war by taking the side of DEI the moment when the tide is turning against it. Sort of like signing up for Napoleon's army once he got to Moscow. Strange decision. It makes me wonder now if there is some type of legal case or charges of pretty bad behavior coming down the pipe for the guy and he's looking for some type of exit ramp. I dunno. It's quite weird.
Innocent Palestinians
When people use the term innocent Palestinians - are they referring to the people whom Hamas gives Israeli hostages to hold in their apartment for 50+ days? Are they innocents? Non-combatants? I really want to know since all these pro-Palestinian folks seem to be war crime legal experts now.
In 500 Years...
Historians will look back at our present and make one of these two observations:
1) There was a time period in a place called America where men pretended to be women and women pretended to be men and common practice was to just pretend this was normal. Or...
2) There was this time period where people were so ignorant, they thought the body you were born into was the same thing as your essential soul.
I wish I could bet on this somehow.
Unreality
What reality are Taleb and Macaes living in where they think Israel or any country with capability would standby stoically while their neighbors assemble and plot their mass murder? My question for those criticizing Israel's post Oct 7th actions: what should they do? What is the alternative to dismantling Hamas? How could they possibly allow Hamas to operate in Gaza as before? It wouldn't work. Taleb and Macaes know it won't work. Do they think ANY country or people with any sort of power would be able to take the higher road after such an assault and invasion? Do they think there is some moderate group of Palestinians who can "reign in" Hamas? Where is there any evidence of this?
Their criticisms do not reflect the reality facing Israel or any country.
Malcolm X
Reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X...his father just killed and everyone in the family thinks he was murdered by the Black Legion, a Klan offshoot. Insurance company refuses to pay because they believe it was a suicide. Officials think it was a streetcar accident. So I want to find the truth and look it up. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find out any information on the internet - all records just cite what Malcom says in autobiography. Even ChatGPT 3.5 says this:
Malcolm X's father, Earl Little, was indeed killed, but the circumstances surrounding his death are a matter of historical debate. Earl Little, a Baptist minister and supporter of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), faced threats from racist organizations. Some accounts suggest that he may have been targeted by the Black Legion, a white supremacist and terrorist organization active in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.
On the night of September 28, 1931, Earl Little was found dead on the streetcar tracks in Lansing, Michigan. Officially, his death was ruled as an accident, with authorities stating that he had been hit by a streetcar. However, Malcolm X and his family believed that his father had been murdered, and they suspected the involvement of the Black Legion.
The Black Legion was known for its violent tactics and intimidation against African Americans, Jews, and other minority groups.
While the exact circumstances of Earl Little's death remain unclear, the suspicion that he may have been targeted by the Black Legion reflects the racial tensions and violence prevalent during that time. Malcolm X's upbringing, experiences with racism, and the circumstances surrounding his father's death played a significant role in shaping his views and activism later in life.
The only half decent information is buried deep within an article in the NY Times about Malcolm X's mother.
Family life, solid if not secure, was shattered in 1931, when Earl died after he was run over by a streetcar in Lansing, Mich. The idea that the incident was not an accident — that Earl could have been murdered — became a touchstone of Malcolm’s life story, though it has largely been refuted.
Seems to me this new era of AI provides new tools of propaganda that will make the truth harder to discern.
Logging
Film: Vengeance
By BJ Novak. A strange film. Both a really good and really bad movie crammed into one. Almost like the filmmaker knows what makes a good film, but at the same time that he cannot make one. I really wonder what would've happened if he just tried to make the good film. This would've entailed: no podcast element, no Issa Rae, and no BJ Novak as the star. But strangely, would've meant keeping Ashton Kutcher doing what he did in the movie, a couple more script rewrites, and a little more design/style in the filmmaking.