Factions Everywhere

Our culture is becoming radically factionalized. We wonder why our politics stink? It's because our culture stinks.

The chances of anyone saying anything smart about the Oscars or the host is roughly nil.

Sherman Rips Redskins for Not Signing Kap

Meanwhile, the Niners are the worst team in the league with a quarterback named Nick Mullen.

Football players who think other teams should sign Kap reminds me of when a single guy recommends another single guy date a girl. A smart person does not take such advice.

The WASPS

Ross Douthat on why we miss the WASPS.

I'm old enough to remember when the WASPS ruled and maybe because I was young, or maybe because I was naive, but I don't remember a whole lot of people being very angry about the whole situation. Whereas now, it seems like everyone is angry and oftentimes about a lot of weird stuff.

Regarding the Meritocrats - the record on their rule hasn't been good. It seems to me the meritocratic play is to take over existing institutions and reshape them in their own image. But who thinks the University system, the Federal Government, Hollywood, or Wall Street has been improved by meritocratic rule?

The outlier might be Silicon Valley, but my impression is that Silicon Valley was built by the weirdos and is now also a meritocratic stronghold.

Color me skeptical of the meritocrats. Is there a walk of life they as a ruling class have made better?

UPDATE: And the journalism is worse. Much, much worse.

This Would Make A Good Reality Show

The ex-presidents and their petty family dramas.  Really great ruling class we got -- they behave like high school students. How astonishing that George HW Bush gets to play hero (or so it feels by the article)

Taiwan Can Win A War With China

Interesting take.

When's the last time China won an offensive war against someone other than themselves? I don't know the answer, but I imagine it's been a long time.

Logging

Screener season!

Film: A Star Is Born

Really wanted to see this in the theater. Young children, alas. Does it get easier?

First Act = Oscar

The rest felt less interesting. Music great. Performances great. Directing on the whole impressive, but some stylistic choices felt not quite right for me. Example being using jump cuts in dramatic scenes, a thing I associate with indy films of the early 2000s. Makes it feel a little low rent and Sundancy, which wasn't right for what was meant to be a great Hollywood spectacle. Nice to see Andrew Dice Clay.

OTHER THOUGHT: We now have a whole category of films where the trailers are better than the movie. Off the top of my head: Zac Snyder Superman, A Star Is Born, Miami Vice (I love this movie, but love the trailer more).

Brief Thoughts on Warriors - Raptors

Durant was going crazy, but it just reminded me of what OKC used to be. Hero ball. And they end up losing despite his ridiculous individual performance. And that said, I thought Kahwi outplayed him in the final minutes as they were going mano v. mano on both ends of the floor. Kahwi is one of the only players that truly goes toe-to-toe with these Warriors. I suppose LeBron does as well and Kyrie did for that one series. But I've seen Kahwi do it a number of times. I can't believe I drafted Westbrook over him in fantasy this year.

Interesting Take

The question isn't why we sleep, but why we wake.

And the answer might be that we need to attend to the basics of life—the eating and mating and fighting—only to ensure that the body is fully ready for sleep.

I like sleeping. And now, with young children, I am rarely more at peace than when I see my children sleeping. I thought that was because it meant finally a little break, but perhaps there is something more to it...

Logging

Film: Tag and The Spy Who Dumped Me

Plane watching while holding sleeping children. I didn't want to get up to get my headphones from the overhead, so I watched with subtitles and am not convinced I missed anything. Which I suppose, is an insult of sorts. Are these kind of movies really just tv shows without any legs? I mean -- why see either of these films in a theater? Laughter with a crowd? Maybe that is the thing. I found neither movie offensive or terrible. It beat looking at the back of the seat. If forced to choose, I enjoyed Tag a bit more.

Book: A Wanted Man by Lee Child

My first foray into the Jack Reacher universe. Enjoyable mystery/thriller. Does an interesting structural thing in this one -- maybe in all of them -- but cuts back and forth between POVs, giving the reader a whole lot more information than the characters. So we are ahead of the characters and sort of putting together the pieces of the story and I think this is the main enjoyment of the thing. Makes the reader feel intelligent.

Tech Leaders Turning on Facebook

All these previous supporters of Facebook are now dismayed by the effect Facebook is having on the world. I have no idea why they are surprised. Facebook has always appealed to the small version of ourselves. You know? Everyone has the big version of themselves and the small version. The small version is petty, envious, status-obsessed, the stalker who constantly looks at others to compare. There's also the bigger version - the one that sacrifices and lives for others, the one that strives to create something - art, life, a business, the one who does his or her duty. Facebook has always been about the smaller version of ourselves - how to "show off" how good your life is to others you don't even know that well. The one that wants to see how others are doing as a way to measure their own self worth.

So sure, now Facebook is selling private data and I suppose that's worse than not selling it. It's been taken over by careerists. Big deal, no surprise. But I'd argue it was bad at the outset and the only selling point has always been: everyone's on it. Everyone's obsessed with the small things. But I knew that before Facebook and the fact that Facebook multiplies that effect -- I don't ever see why anyone saw this as a good impact on the world.

People argue: it's great for getting it touch with people who you lost touch with. Really? Ever heard of picking up a phone? Writing an email? A letter. An in person fucking visit? These things are so hard? You got out of touch because you didn't make the time, not because you didn't have a social media platform.

Lean out.

Good Beginning of a Discussion

The magnificent 7 places to live in the US.

And why everywhere else is falling behind. Hint: it has to do with the top 1-2% vs. top 10-20%. This is not good for humanists.

The Thing About Diversity, etc

A sort of lazy gripe about diversity (and you all know what I mean by it when I say it) is that it rewards whining. Whoever can position themselves as the most aggrieved gets advantage (they argue to offset a historical disadvantage). While in a one off situation, this calculus may be right, may even be fair, but life isn't a one off situation. What we've done is incentivized whining. So now we get more whining in response like the younger sibling who says, "But wait...no fair..." And I think this is sort what you have right now with the Alt Right and that is, basically white folks getting in on the whining game. And the Harvard admissions thing we've got the Asian folks whining. So now we just get a whole bunch of whiners and it's a really poor look and so yes, I do kinda think this thing we call diversity is a problem, or at least badly defined.

Logging

Film: Wind River

Quite good, although I didn't love the abrupt cut to a flashback to explain everything. I enjoyed the first half of the film better than the second half. Mystery stories so rarely pay off in a meaningful way.

Book: The Man From the Train

Super interesting historical true crime book from Bill James (the baseball writer) about an axe murderer who terrorized small towns near train stations in the early 1900s. Most fascinating parts were the town people's reactions to the crimes - especially because the whole idea of serial killing hadn't hit the public consciousness. It seemed that many of them intuitively understood what was happening, yet all the structural forces at the time sort of pushed the people toward blaming crazy people or other local folks with grudges, etc. Bill James comes away thinking at least 4 people were mistakenly executed for these murders, which is quite a shocking thing unto itself.

Film: Bridesmaids rewatch

Enjoyable.

Midterms

So, in 2016 the opposition party took the Presidency after 8 years of Democratic rule and two years later, the Dems take the house, but Republicans hold onto the Senate.  In other words, following a pretty similar trend to most elections post-War with tiny variations here and there.

I keep waiting for either fascism or anarchy to rise up, but it seems like there's a lot of forces out there opposing them successfully. Hurrah for America.

SIDE NOTE: Is there any doubt the turnout was high for this midterm was due to Trump? Does this mean all the folks who have been complaining about low voter turnout for decades are satisfied?

Kavanaugh Accuser Admits False Rape Claim

If one deeply cares about sexual assault, one ought to believe these false rape claims are horrible offenses that deserve maximum punishment because they make it easy to dismiss the actual sexual assaults.

Filmstruck

Our corporate overlords reveal their true selves and are shutting down Filmstruck. I feel doubly terrible because I have a membership and never use it. (NOTE: I have access to a great DVD library at my school and use that by habit). A smart person would buy AT&T stock and use the profits to assemble the greatest DVD collection ever.

Long live the DVD/BluRay! Don't trust streaming.

A Horrible Look

Pete Davidson mocks a congressional candidate with an eye patch who was wounded by an IED in Afghanistan.

I mean, it's one thing to be banging Ariana Grande and making jokes for a living while others are out there risking their lives, but shouldn't one at least pretend to be grateful for it?

Harvard vs. Asians

Very well may be true:

The Left/liberal/progressive side engages in cant about “diversity”, when we all know they mean a very precise sort of diversity and a very particular type of background when they talk about “background.” But the Right/conservative side’s emphasis on merit and colorblindness strikes me as consciously blind to the fact that these institutions were always about shaping and grooming the elite and engaged in the game of reflecting and determining the American upper class. The Right/conservative project would abolish Harvard as we know it on a far deeper level than the Left/liberal/progressive posturing cultural radicalism, which at the end of the day has no problem bowing before neoliberal capital so long as lexical modifications are made.

I'd go even deeper into the subtext. Liberal/left/progressive side engages in a big lie: they expound values like tolerance, diversity, egalitarianism as a salve to entrench their own power in institutions, lifestyles, and careers and the Right/conservative side is annoyed and sickened by it and merely wants to poke them in the eye using whatever blunt tools they can.

So who is more wrong?

5th Stage of Grief

Liberals are experiencing it.

If politics were sports, these midterms completely favor the Republicans. Why? Because all the pressure is on the Dems. If the Dems lose the midterms and cannot take either the Senate or the House, there is going to need to be some incredible soul searching. Whereas the Republicans merely need to show up and force a tie.

Google Employees Take A Break

A perfect empty example of the world we live in: a company approves of its own employees walking out and protesting the company. 

Safe to say, if the company approves of your protest, you aren't doing it right. If all you guys cared so much, why not quit? I know why, do they?

Don Lemon's Comment

Re: white men being the biggest terror threat to the country is beyond dumb. He cites raw numbers without taking into account white people FAR OUTNUMBER Muslims in America, so of course you're going to have more incidents (of both positive and negative events) involving white men vs muslim men. Looking at numbers this way, one would conclude white people both commit way more and way fewer crimes that everyone else. White people would be on welfare both more and less than everyone else. White people would go to college far more and far less than everyone else in the country. What an incredible insight.

Harvard and Asians

One of the best articles Tyler has written and that's saying a lot.

The Real Reason They Hate Trump

Interesting.

For now, though, the left’s only issue is “We hate Trump.” This is an instructive hatred, because what the left hates about Donald Trump is precisely what it hates about America. The implications are important, and painful.

The Kids Party Where No One Showed

Went viral. I might have a counterintuitive take: everyone eventually learns the lesson this 6 year old just did - people are fickle and will disappoint you. Maybe next year if 3 friends show up, he'll appreciate them all the more.

Spike Lee

F*** John Wayne and John Ford. To standing ovation. Classy, brave folks these people are to speak ill of the dead. I hope they all expect similar generosity and kindness from the people of the future.

Spitgate

Rewatching spitgate video. I'm not 100% sure Rondo spit intentionally. He's got a mouthguard in. Could he just be trying to talk? Catch his breath? Scoff? The super close up appears to show spit coming out, but come on...we're talking a little ocean spray. Also, don't trust super slow motion close up bullshit.

Here is Rondo's statement on the matter.

Is it weird that CP3 went straight to the media to report the spitting? Why so concerned?

On the other hand, I also wouldn't put it past Rondo to be practicing spitting with a mouthguard in.

Rondo - CP3

It seems that Rondo spit. But why am I still siding with him? And why do I vibe that a lot of other people's natural instinct is to side with Rondo as well?

Findings:

a) I actually like CP3
b) But can see how he'd be annoying to play against (and sometimes with)
c) CP3 is a lot better than Rondo
d) Rondo is the most unique player in the NBA
e) CP3 is a little bitch.
f) Rondo is not.
g) Teammates like Rondo more than they like CP3
h) Rondo is smarter than all the media people who are talking about him
i) CP3 might be too.
j) A lot of NBA players wish they could punch and spit on CP3
k) Rondo will come out of this with more swag
l) Rondo is playing 6 dimensional chess and used his spittle on CP3 because he found it the appropriate action to communicate his feelings. He does not habitually spit on players, nor spit on respectable players, he specifically did this to CP3 and CP3 only. All this is to say, this is not a case like Suarez where he cannot stop biting opponents.
m) Should we be thanking Rondo for the entertainment or should we pretend to be horrified and appalled by his behavior?
n) This start to the NBA season far exceeds my expectations.
o) I do not condone spitting on people during sports.

Will There Be An Investigation?

Or press coverage? Will anyone talk about it? Democratic Senator accused of sexual assault in the 1980s. Will he be asked to step down?

The Saudi Journalist

One thing we Americans are terribly guilty of is thinking everything is about us. So much of the time it isn't. So why do we feel the need to react swiftly to this disappearance of the Saudi journalist? Does anyone think we actually know what happened or who is behind it with confidence? Does anyone know the effect our actions will have? Why do we need to react at all?

I don't think being a global leader means walking around thinking we know everything and like an overbearing parent at a playground, feeling like we need to intervene every time something happens.

I'm all for figuring out what happened. But that would require our intelligence agencies and political class to actually do their job and know what's going on around them.

Political Correctness as a Hack

One part: who suffers the most from PC culture?

The biggest day-to-day losers from the political correctness movement are other left-of-center people, most of all white moderate Democrats, especially those in universities. If you really believe that “the PC stuff” is irrational and out of control and making institutions dysfunctional, and that universities are full of left-of-center people, well who is going to suffer most of the costs? It will be people in the universities, and in unjust and indiscriminate fashion. That means more liberals than conservatives, if only because the latter are relatively scarce on the ground.

In other words, me. Which is why I'm so vocal about it.

Another Marginal Revolution tidbit: white liberals now to the left of blacks on some racial issues.  Does that suggest white liberal feelings on these matters might be more self hatred than an actual desire to help oppressed people?

Kanye

What's most interesting about his Trump-bromance is the liberal reaction to it. The volume of venom spit towards Kanye must indicate something. He's hitting a nerve. And what nerve is that?

It's race. Democrats have embraced the progressive / identity politics wing of their party and are letting that tail wag the dog. I've long thought this is a mistake, but regardless of whether it's a mistake, it's what's happening. This is why they gambled on Kavanaugh and you can just see it everywhere - all the heat, passion, is with the identity wing and the old classic liberals or moderate liberals are hiding in the bushes.

Kanye threatens this group. Why? Because anyone who knows anything about identity politics knows African Americans hold the top spot in the grievance olympics. And rightfully so if you subscribe to that thing. Everyone knows the history. So when Kanye explores thinking about the grievance train differently, the liberals lose their freaking mind. Because if African Americans start questioning whether identity politics is a useful way to approach political problems the entire pyramid is gonna collapse. I don't think Trump is possibly smart enough to see this -- or is he?

NOTE: Jemele Hill's Atlantic article and it's a doozy. She criticizes black men for empathizing with Kavanaugh. The worst thing about her argument isn't that she is pleading with them to see Ford's side. No. Her point is that Kavanaugh is privileged and they are not and therefore...they shouldn't empathize? Huh? She's threatened by these men thinking for themselves on matters and abandoning the tribe that pays her bills. If one had a strong intellectual position, one wouldn't be so threatened. Or at the very least, take up the argument in a different manner.

Ouch

The Onion on Elizabeth Warren.

Agree With Some of This

Scott Galloway on Roe v. Wade.

Remarkable kids from lower- and middle-income households can get to an Ivy League university, with financial aid — there’s never been a better time to be remarkable. However, it feels as if the US has fallen out of love with the unremarkables, which is most of us. People of my generation constantly comment, with some pride, that they couldn’t get into the college they graduated from if they were to apply today. They are right, and that’s not a good thing.

Read the whole thing where he gets to Roe v Wade.

The Democrats, if worried about Roe, ought to start writing a good old fashioned law and start building a political coalition and start making the argument about why abortion should be legal. You know...how it's supposed to be done.

Political Correctness

80% of Americans hate it, including minorities and young folks.

When you try and figure out how Trump got elected, you need look no further than being right on the issues important to the majority of Americans. Not rocket science.

Bear This In Mind

When you hear about Google "not being evil" and their attitudes toward Republicans....Google working on a censored search program for China that will not include terms like "human rights," "student protest."

Obama

I wonder where he stands on the Kavanaugh thing. I can't imagine he'd embrace the lunatic left. Much as he shares some of their misguided ideology, I never thought he'd share their irrationality.

Thing To Look Out For

Now will a good time to watch closely what Trump does as President. He is feeling high after the Kavanaugh affair. And especially if the Republicans retain control of the House and/or Senate, it will be revealing what he does.

He's unhappy with the Fed.

If his naysayers are right and Trump feels politically powerful, pay attention whether he meddles with the Fed. That'd be a sign he's power hungry and out of control. But if he merely criticizes and allows them to do their job and remain independent - that'll speak volumes.

Kaepernick Trademarking Image

Funny, I don't remember MLK or Jackie Robinson doing something like this.

Guy is about getting attention for himself. And he's good at it.

The Democrats 

Went all in with an inside straight draw on the on the Kavanaugh charges and lost the pot. I think they'll lose the midterms and 2020 presidential reelection over this.

Irony is, by going batshit on the Russia probe and Kavanaugh, I think they've missed the real dirt, which is the Trump family tax fraud. Politically speaking, the Democratic base are making the Trump lead Republican party look like the sane adults in the room.

My guess on the matter:

5% chance Kavanaugh assaulted Ford like she claimed and he managed through luck, conspiracy, and a really convincing lie to avoid corroborating evidence.

10% chance Kavanaugh and Ford had some unusual interaction that Ford remembers as worse than it was and Kavanaugh (and no one else) can remember it at all.

30% chance a case of mistaken identity or confusion due to the long time before she confronted the issue. That is, something happened to Ford and she somehow got in her head it was Kavanaugh, but it was actually someone else.

10% chance Ford is batshit crazy and nothing like it happened, but she believes it did.

10% chance Ford is lying.

35% something else, I have no clue what.

I'd be interested in hearing someone who totally disagrees with me on the issue would lay out the percentage odds.

Logging

Film: Black Panther

Took me three sit downs to finish. Puzzling film. Action sequences inferior to Game of Thrones and I use this reference because they overtly ripped off Battle of the Bastards. Plotting entirely predictable. The racial politics...felt a bit strange. Even the premise of the film is actually a bit odd - that there's a country in Africa light years ahead in terms of technology, etc, and yet they remain invisible to the world. Why? They are worried about being colonized? But they have weapons far beyond what other countries possess. In fact, the bad guy plot is essentially Wakanda ought to arm oppressed black people from around the entire world. So which is it? Does Wakanda need to hide? Or use their might to empower the diaspora? Costumes were unique, but something about the visual effects combined with the performances -- it didn't quite add up.

The Republicans Best Case

1) The Democrats have lost their minds and turned the Kavanaugh nomination into a circus based upon a ridiculous, uncorroborated claim.

2) Kavanaugh has gone through a total of 7 FBI background checks without any corroborating evidence to support any of the sexual assault claims.

3) This is a plain attempt by the Democrats to circumvent the fact they lost the election and has nothing to do with the veracity of the claims made by Ford.

The Democrats Best Case

1) In a nation of 320 million people, can't we find someone to be on the Supreme Court that doesn't have an accusation of sexual assault against him/her?

2) This isn't a court of law and we're not talking about Kavanaugh going to jail, we're talking about him getting the privilege of serving in the most esteemed court in the land. There shouldn't be any questions about his character -- and there are.

3) Trump is a unique danger to our country and must be opposed forcefully to ensure that he does as little long term damage as possible and that includes nominating unqualified Supreme Court justices. 

Kavanaugh's Best Argument

1) He strongly, vehemently denies.

2) Not a single witness who Ford names could collaborate even parts of her story.

3) No strong evidence of similar behavior or similar character defects

Ford's Best Argument

1) What motivation does she have to lie?

2) Sexual abuse like the event she described is much more common than we thought.

Interesting Take

I suspect we'll see more people thinking like this come 2020.

For the first time since Donald Trump entered the political fray, I find myself grateful that he’s in it. I’m reluctant to admit it and astonished to say it, especially since the president mocked Christine Blasey Ford in his ugly and gratuitous way at a rally on Tuesday. Perhaps it’s worth unpacking this admission for those who might be equally astonished to read it.  

I’m grateful because Trump has not backed down in the face of the slipperiness, hypocrisy and dangerous standard-setting deployed by opponents of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. I’m grateful because ferocious and even crass obstinacy has its uses in life, and never more so than in the face of sly moral bullying. I’m grateful because he’s a big fat hammer fending off a razor-sharp dagger.

As Instapundit is fond of remarking, Trump's greatest skill is unmasking the Democrats as the petty, power hungry, entitled partisans they are (or as I prefer to say, have become).

Agreed

Douthat suggests some lines of inquiry to find out what happened.

Even if the Senate doesn't do it's job and try to figure this out -- can someone else? A documentary filmmaker? A journalist? Jessica Jones?

Truth

What's so fascinating about this Kavanaugh-Ford situation versus most other sexual harassment situations is that there is a clear truth out there that would reveal one of two things:

1) Kavanaugh is a sociopathetic liar and the Republicans so paranoid, they are willing to sweep under the rug an attempted rape because they want a Supreme Court pick to go their way. Further, all witnesses and people involved conveniently "don't remember" anything resembling the event suggesting they might be covering for Kavanaugh.

2) The Democratic Senators and their base have lost their mind so completely, they've embraced a total fabrication in order to discredit a man they don't agree with politically.

My wife thinks we'll never know. I disagree. There is such a thing as truth - especially in this case - something resembling it happened or didn't and someone is either lying or delusional or hugely mistaken. And I really want to know, because it sort of matters...and will put into perspective our current time. Either the Democrats are Mccarthyites or Kavanaugh is an utterly despicable and corrupt human being.

Sullivan

Nails it again. He's re-becoming an important voice of sanity.

To the extent that the hearing went beyond the specifics of Ford’s allegations and sought to humiliate and discredit Kavanaugh for who he was as a teenager nearly four decades ago (a dynamic that was quite pronounced in some Democratic questioning of the nominee), it was deeply concerning. When public life means the ransacking of people’s private lives even when they were in high school, we are circling a deeply illiberal drain. A civilized society observes a distinction between public and private, and this distinction is integral to individual freedom. Such a distinction was anathema in old-school monarchies when the king could arbitrarily arrest, jail, or execute you at will, for private behavior or thoughts. These lines are also blurred in authoritarian regimes, where the power of the government knows few limits in monitoring a person’s home or private affairs or correspondence or tax returns or texts. These boundaries definitionally can’t exist in theocracies, where the state is interested as much in punishing and exposing sin, as in preventing crime. The Iranian and Saudi governments — like the early modern monarchies — seek not only to control your body, but also to look into your soul. They know that everyone has a dark side, and this dark side can be exposed in order to destroy people. All you need is an accusation.

America

Let's get this drunk Mark Judge on the stand and figure out what happened. Maybe it'll be a drunk holed up in beach house that brings us back to reality. That'd restore my faith in the US of A.

The Testimony

Ford came across as credible. So did Kavanaugh. If I could gamble on what happened, I'd bet she was assaulted by someone other than Kavanaugh, but I realize that's a really stupid thing to say.

The thing that makes me most believe Ford is the fact she names 4 people at the party all of whom were friends of Kavanaugh. She couldn't make this up, so I believe she was at parties where Kavanaugh was.

But the thing that makes me believe Kavanaugh is his strong denial of anything even resembling the event happening and the fact that the 4 people named all deny the event taking place. Very tough to buy all 4 would completely deny even the party taking place -- no one being able to remember anything about it at all or something resembling it.

Seems to me the key to figuring out what happened is this "2nd guy" in the room that according to Ford, she knew better and hoped would stop what was going on.

Great entertainment. Terrible for the greater good of our country and souls.

Assault on Kavanaugh Proving Trump Voters Right

Rich Lowry isn't wrong.

First, that good character is no defense. If you are John McCain, who genuinely tried to do the right thing and carefully cultivated a relationship with the media over decades, they will still call you a racist when you run against Barack Obama. 

If you are Mitt Romney, an exceptionally earnest and decent man, they will make you into a heartless and despicable vulture capitalist, also for the offense of campaigning against Obama. 

If you are Brett Kavanaugh, a respected member of the legal establishment who doesn’t have a flyspeck on his record across decades of public service in Washington, they will come up with dubious accusations of wrongdoing from decades ago when you were a teenager.

Democrats decided to embrace tribalism, but ask the other side to behave decently. Doesn't work that way.

Revenge of the Nerds

And they say Trump is lowering the discourse.

Democrats are poised to ask questions about the drinking culture of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s high school when the judge faces the Senate Judiciary Committee following a sexual misconduct allegation. 

“We want to hear — I would be wanting to hear what kind of environment it was in high school,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Sunday during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Apparently, there was a lot of drinking and partying going on,” she continued. “This is why we need an investigation. We need an independent investigation that lays all of that out for us, so there’s at least some chance of some outside entity, like the FBI, doing an investigation.”

The Senate is now investing high school parties from 35 years ago. Not that they have anything more important to do.

Logging

Film: Mississippi Grind, Empire Strikes Back, Outland

Great trio of films. Mississippi Grind grew on me a lot after starting off as almost too much of an Altman homage.

Outland - crime film on a space station with a young Lester Freeman. Say no more.

TV: Forever, ep 1

Not for me.

Books: The Orientalist, The Last Kind Words Saloon

Enjoying reading these simultaneously.

COLIN KAEPERNICK CAN PROTEST THIS!

Every Once In Awhile Andrew Sullivan Is Right On

Today, he was.

I also believe we need to slow the pace of demographic and cultural change. It is happening too fast, even for America, to sustain our society’s coherence and cohesion. The elite indifference to mass immigration — especially the illegal kind — is an ugly pact between Republican elites, eager for cheap, exploitable labor, and Democratic elites, who cynically encourage it because they think it will give them a reliable voting bloc.

Which coupled with the PC-movement, is why Trump is President.

The problem, as I see it, are the "elites" show no less arrogance for their terrible governance and the PC/identity politics crowd is even louder than before. So we will have more Trump or something even worse.

Lowering Tuition

St. Johns cutting tuition by 17K. This is good, but I'd be pissed if I just finished paying for my kid to attend.

The Serena Williams Thing

I've only read about it, but men are generally taught in sport to not blame the refs. This ethos starts early on and is widely accepted. Many still do, but their better angels are encouraged. In this case, somehow feminists are reading into it as a gender (vs. a sport) thing in which "blaming the refs" is completely valid. If they're curious where this attitude leads -- I can tell them: to no more sports.

Wouldn't surprise me if they were satisfied with this goal.

The LeVeon Bell Thing

So I heard Cowherd's take on the Bell situation the other day. It was basically: dude, you signed up for this when you decided to be a running back. And I get it's a little weird when his teammates and QB are all calling him out. But...but...but...I think it's a little telling when all the fantasy folks had the same analysis on Bell: the Steelers were going to "run him into the ground" and not sign him to a long term deal.

Beyond being a bit dehumanizing, if all the fantasy guys know the Steelers plan, isn't it pretty obvious that Bell would be aware of the same plan? And if you were Bell and you knew your employer planned to run you into the ground and not resign you -- doesn't holding out for a more secure, guaranteed contract make sense? Especially when you have some leverage, ie are healthy and the championship window is closing for the Steelers?

With what we know about RB careers, I don't blame the guy. That said, I think Bell could play for a long time. I've noticed he runs very gracefully and doesn't seem to take huge hits like some of these guys who initiate violence when they run.

Football Is Back

Storylines I'm looking forward to:

1) Alex Smith turning the Redskins into a playoff team.

2) The rise of the Chicago Bears

3) The electric Kansas City offense that puts up crazy fantasy points, but finishes 8-8

4) Jimmy G banging every single girl in SF, but not making the playoffs

5) The Los Angeles Chargers going 13-3.

6) Marshawn Lynch reestablishing Beast Mode in Oakland

7) LA Rams underperforming

8) The Browns not being terrible because of Tyrod Taylor

9) The Seahawks not making the playoffs

10) My fantasy teams finishing in the money for the first time

Storylines I'm Not Looking Forward to:

1) Pats going to the Super Bowl again

2) Instant Replay

3) National Anthem protest tracking

4) Anything to do with the Lions or Tampa Bay

Unsolicited Kaepernick Advice

This is good advice and all true, but what the man doesn't understand is that Kaepernick isn't interested in solving any issues or making people's lives better. He's about getting attention for himself -- he's always been about this -- and the proof is that he has turned down many opportunities to actually resolve the issue or put quiet, behind the scenes actions into place. Instead, he's been manipulated by ideologues who flatter his puerile need for attention and this is why the issue hasn't gone away -- and yes, why it plays to Donald Trump who has a similar set of motivations to Kaepernick.

I'm Very Curious

How the world will respond to this: China Is Treating Islam Like a Mental Illness.

It pits two favorites of liberal intelligentsia against each other - Communist Chinese vs. Aggrieved Muslims. But since neither are white males, who will they root against?

Interesting Take

That I suspect is correct: immigration.

PPS. I don’t believe that immigration will make America more diverse, nor do I think it will make the electorate vote more Democratic. That’s because immigration from Asia and Latin America has made earlier immigrants from southern and eastern Europe seem less different, more “white” than they seemed in 1924, when immigration was restricted because America seemed to be becoming extremely diverse. By the 1950s, that same ethnic mix was viewed as homogeneous. Intermarriage rates are now so high that the day will come when both Asians and middle class Hispanics will be viewed as culturally “white”. Fifty years from now America will still be about 75% “white”, in terms of people’s perceptions. (The black population will stay around 13%) Diversity is a state of mind.

And as immigration brings in people who don’t vote Republican, it makes existing residents more likely to vote Republican. Thus each party will continue to win roughly half of the vote.

Logging

Film: Mission Impossible Fallout

Screenwriting lessons:

What doesn't matter: Logic/motive. MacGuffin originality.

What does matter: awesomeness, nods toward emotionality even if false. Tom Cruise doing real stunts.

In sum, an inoffensive summertime action film with one awesome set piece a handful of side characters actors who command the screen rather well.

Quote

"The world needs better parents, not a better f***ing phone."

You wouldn't know it by our collective actions.

Strange detail in the NY Times article - the Atlantic is owned by the Emerson Collective, an organization that pursues liberal political activism. I've noticed what used to be my favorite magazine just become a progressive mouthpiece. This is a place where Christopher Hitchens used to write for crissake.

So how am I supposed to feel when Donald Trump attacks the media? I'm supposed to be offended and disgusted by his lies? But what...I'm supposed to embrace media outlets being officially owned by ideologues who are trying to sell me their political agenda funded by Steve Jobs billions of dollars? Mmmm...k.

Twitter

Maybe folks out of get off Twitter.

Crazy Rich Asians

"Unprecedented," "Hollywood Can't Ignore," etc. So you're telling me a poppy New York Times bestseller got turned into a successful movie...wow...this is really going to turn the industry upside down. Please. The only way to view this film as unique is if all you see is race and somehow missed Joy Luck Club or Better Luck Tomorrow.

Videogames, Netflix, Smartphones to Blame...

The services are facing a dwindling pool of largely obese, uneducated delinquents. Why?

Yep

Chiefs will miss Alex Smith this year.

Logging

Film: Crazy Rich Asians

Unsure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I want to admire/appreciate the poppy-ness of the movie and how it pleased the crowd. On the other hand, the acting for the most part is terrible, the directing off in several key moments, and there were more hatable than great moments (although there is one great moment). Awkwafina and the dude from Silicon Valley were the best parts and completely outshined the two leads.

Restaurant: Osteria Mozza

Never been before. Overflavored, I prefer the Pizzeria.

TV: Gomorroh thru S. 2

Lost me in the final episode. First real binge for me in a long time. Loved up until that point, although it got a little sloppy in the storytelling at times.

Weird, But Interesting

Will Berkshire Hathaway buy Apple?

Not Good

Chaos and economic collapse in Turkey would be considerably worse than any the Iraq war, the Syrian Civil War, or pretty much any geopolitical event in recent memory, I imagine.

Just look at the map, and it becomes clear why Turkey is a critical ally and buffer between the West and the Middle East.

Unite the Right

Media: Trump is normalizing the alt-right! The alt-right is taking over!

What happened today: 30 people showed up to the "Unite the Right" rally. That's right. 30 people. There were more maniacs at my nieces birthday party at the same time, yet not a peep from the national news.

These alt-righters are clowns and have ZERO support and yet the mainstream liberals seem to think we're on the verge of the Handmaids Tale. Now, who are the crazy ones?

Buying A Car

I've only bought three cars in my life. Before yesterday, the last one was in 2001. Some observations...

1) I used Costco Auto club and Truecar to get initial quotes. This was a smart way to get close to the true price. In fact, the initial Costco price ended up being about $900 more than what I finally paid.

2) The way it works: you enter the car you want on Costco and Truecar websites and local dealers contact you with their prices.

3) I settled on wanting a Subaru Outback rather quick because of space limitations in my driveway/garage and having two young kids. A lot of my time was spent weighing the different options on the Subaru and our family preferences, but this also provided leverage in dealing with the various dealers.

4) I also contacted several auto brokers. One guy was able to beat the Costco price (working in conjunction with the Costco program), which gave me the idea that it was possible. But this guy and others tried to push leasing as a better value.

5) A lot of friends, etc promoted leasing because you can "write it off" as a business expense. I remain unclear about this idea. Even if you bought the car, you could still write off the business driving expense, so it's unclear to me why leasing is better. Also, you are not supposed to "write off" personal use of the car -- OR -- if the car is owned by your "business" and you drive for personal use, that is considered income and thus taxable anyway. So...I'm not clear what is going on here, either people are a) misreporting the amount of car usage for personal use or b) allowed themselves to get talked into leasing by autobroker/financiers who make money by maximizing lease transactions or c) know something I do not.

6) I ended up phoning around to just about every dealer in the area to compare availability and price. One place quoted me an option package $1200 cheaper than anyone else, but in a color scheme I didn't love. I tried to leverage this into the color scheme I wanted, but no one else would match and seemed genuinely surprised by how low they would go. It did get one guy to give his "bottom" price on that package which was still $900 more than the lowest price.

7) So I set out to buy that option package, but could not get the dealer to confirm the price via email because the woman who quoted it to me wasn't there. I figured she was lying to get me down there or made a mistake because she was in their internet sales. Still, that "mistake" helped me see that I was getting near bottom.

8) I found the car I wanted from a kinda far away dealer and thankfully they had another car with the better option package I would've also been happy with. I called them and refused to get off the phone until the manager matched the lowest price I had in writing on the big option package. He suggested I go buy at the other place and the only way he could give me that price was if I paid cash (which was $900 lower than Costco). I got him to agree to give that $900 lower on a different car as well, which is the car I ended up buying. He would not email me the offer either for fear I would leverage with another dealer. This low price matched the lowest price an autobroker offered me and seemed close enough to the bottom for my meager negotiating skills.

9) They still put me through the finance folks to try and sell extended warranties, etc, which I turned down. But I did ask the guy about the 0% financing over 48 months which seemed too good to be true. He said, I could do it, but would have to pay the $1500 more sticker price. A ha! That's how they get you.

10) I spoke to a few people who regretted leasing their cars because if anything goes wrong, ie a little extra damage, a little extra mileage, etc, you end up paying for it. I also think you pay a higher sticker price.

11) Costco does a deal if you want accessories that is incredible - 50% off after your purchase.

12) Conclusion: Use Costco or a similar service to get down near the true price. Get an additional discount for paying cash -- you can always get a better deal paying cash, so do it if you can. Leverage dealerships against each other. Don't settle, but be flexible. Find the car you want and pay a fair price. Have a backup you'd be perfectly happy with.

Yes We Can

My son discovered "Bob The Builder," a children's tv and book series about a construction crew. It's okay. But the main catchphrase is "Yes, we can!" So my question is:

Did Barak Obama steal his mantra from a children's tv show?

Doesn't that sound about right?

How Facebook Targets Teens

Growth at any cost is Facebook's credo.

Scum.

Sheryl Sandberg would do better for the world by leaning out.

Oh Yeah, This Is A GREAT Idea

Facebook in talk with banks to get user data.

The scum of the earth.

Logging

TV: The Good Place

Pretty good network comedy. Kristen Bell is funny.

Logging

Restaurants: Mian and Lao Sze Chuan

Mian is a noodle place by the Chengdu Taste chef. Quite good and reasonable, but maybe not worth the drive. Chengdu Taste is special, Mian would be a great go-to regular lunch spot if nearby.

Lao Sze Chuan is somehow Michilin rated which seems absurd to me. Still, good in a pinch. The Glendale block where it resides also is home to a Tsujita, an Egg Slut, a Shake Shack, a Philz, a Ding Tai Fun, and Raffi's Place which arguably makes it the best restaurant block in Los Angeles although all of these places are not the original spots (except maybe Raffi's).

Pumpkin Spice Latte

The only great item at Starbucks will be back soon.

You must order with one pump.

Sorkin Was Right

About the internet.

I give it a 25% chance that when the history is written, the internet, we realized turned out to be a very bad thing. And I give it an additional 25% chance the very history that will be written will be false propaganda foisted upon us by the trolls who managed to seize power. (Hint: they already have)

The Right

Much of my blog time is spent criticizing the Left, but here a thoughts for the Right.

The increasing appeal of socialism to some Americans should be viewed as a warning signal. I personally find the ideology repugnant, but the pragmatist inside asks: what is going on here? Why are these foolish and bankrupt ideas getting traction?

And it strikes me the most obvious answer is economic instability. The appeal of socialism is it promises a solution to instability: get the rich to pay for the basics - some basic income, some basic healthcare, some basic housing. These are bad ideas, but are they worse than "you're on your own?" Because what is the right saying? Sure...the social conservatives have an answer: get yourself to church, find a community, etc...and this isn't a BAD answer. But many on the right are not social conservatives - so what is the libertarian response to declining wages, increase costs of education, healthcare, rent, housing, etc?

I don't hear any ideas and if the Right can't come up with any beyond "deregulation" or cutting taxes, then I imagine socialism is only going to get more popular.

Twitter

A thing I like about it is the ability to discover new POVs and do a quick deep dive on their thoughts.

Rather like this thinker: Scott Galloway.

Misstep

Trump going after LeBron building a school in his hometown is one of the dumbest things he's done in his Presidency. Most of his other antagonistic and insulting tweets have a strategic purpose, regardless of how you feel about them. Were he smarter, he'd be praising LeBron, but maybe a leopard cannot change his spots.

Sarah Jeong

Racist or not-racist or whatever you want, I can attest her language towards white people is VERY COMMON amongst the crowd who calls itself woke.

And they wonder how this country could elect Trump.

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Comedy: Ali Wong, stand up #2

Eh. Maybe I'm just old and cranky, but dick and vagina jokes have diminishing returns.

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TV: Gomorrah

Friday Night Lights meets the Sopranos meets the Wire in Naples. Recommended.

The Chinese Love/Admire Trump

This has been my experience with the Chinese as well.

Irony are the liberals admire/fear the Chinese, so I wonder how they take this data.

BART

Violent crime increased 69% over last decade.

The crazy is getting way out of control.

'They'bies

I wonder what these parents will do when their children announce to them - as one of mine has - that he is a cat.

Why The News Sucks

According to Elana Ferrante.

I believe click bait capitalists discovered we pass along news of panic very fast for evolutionary purposes -- there's a fucking lion over there! And so what within us is a survival instinct is now manipulated by internet folks - Google, Facebook, news outlets and their click attraction departments to get our eyeballs. This has reached a fever pitch with Trump because whatever Trump does seems to incite an absolute panic as if WW3 has broken out.

Sadly, I believe this is creating a new reality. But what's really happening is that all these "smart" people have lost control over their own mental states. This is what you get with excellent sheep.

Clearly

"I'm not an expect on geo-politics," but she nevertheless thinks Israel is "occupying" Palestine.

Playing dumb works fine when waitressing. Not so good when speaking as a potential member of the House of Representatives.

The trend toward dumping moderate Democrats is a bad one for everyone.

Funny

Kavanaugh caught feeding the homeless.

Kavanaugh

Is being criticized for buying season tickets on credit cards for a group of friends and borrowing money to do a house remodel?

This is going to ingratiate him to all other red blooded Americans. Look - the guy is smart - he's racking up reward points by buying a big ticket item on his card, getting his buddies to reimburse him. That's what I want in a Supreme Court Justice!

This guy is gonna get confirmed, easy. Opposition is dumb at this point. What did Democrats think would happen if they lost the White House? They knew this was coming. If they want to win elections, they need to start recruiting other independents and on-the-fence Republicans by appealing to their policy preferences instead of calling them backwards racists. I'm sorry, but the Democrats have no one but themselves to blame for losing to Trump. They cared more about being snarky and dismissive toward Republicans and virtue signaling than protecting policies and law they proclaim to care about.

Thought

Is there a scenario where LeBron and the Lakers never get out of the first round of the playoffs for like 2-3 years? Say GSW and Houston are 1-2 for the next 2 years after which either the T-Wolves, Pelicans OKC, Utah, Portland, or Denver supplant one or both. LeBron could be facing a finals dry spell for the rest of his career and go out like Kobe. Just saying, it could happen.

UPDATE:

I'm enjoying thinking about one of the "other" West teams taking a leap. T-Wolves might be able to just with the right coach. Pelicans, I think, have found their big two, and just need to put smart pieces into place before Davis bails. OKC needs to shed Melo and just keep up the super-athletic, long identity, and I think they could luck into a finals appearance if the chips fell right for them. Utah feels like Gordon Hayward away from being able to beat Houston. Portland needs Zach Collins to become Porzingas like next year. Denver...I don't know...but they have talent. Is there a 2004 Pistons version of that team? No true star, but just a really deep starting 5.

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TV: Cobra Kai

What the hell can I say, I freaking like the show. A lot.

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Film: Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Confusing, non-sensical, all over the place and I'm still glad I saw it in the theater. One day the New Bev will play this with The Counselor and it'll play great together.

I Fear This Is True

On late capitalism.

Could you expound on that, because this is a foundational problem and I want to make sure the reader knows exactly what you mean when you say “embedded growth hypotheses” are turning us into “scoundrels and liars.”  

Eric Weinstein:  Sure. Let's say, for example, that I have a growing law firm in which there are five associates at any given time supporting every partner, and those associates hope to become partners so that they can hire five associates in turn. That formula of hierarchical labor works well while the law firm is growing, but as soon as the law firm hits steady state, each partner can really only have one associate, who must wait many years before becoming partner for that partner to retire. That economic model doesn't work, because the long hours and decreased pay that one is willing to accept at an entry-level position is predicated on taking over a higher-lever position in short order. That's repeated with professors and their graduate students. It's often repeated in military hierarchies. It takes place just about everywhere, and when exponential growth ran out, each of these institutions had to find some way of either owning up to a new business model or continuing the old one with smoke mirrors and the cannibalization of someone else's source of income.

I've seen this everywhere since I started working.

A Decent Soccer Article By An American

How strange, a good defense of Neymar.

Neymar’s trickery deserves absolution, because it is the very source of his greatness. A mind that’s always thinking of how to deceive a defender is also always thinking about how to deceive a referee. Cunning is his stock and trade. In this way, the “adolescent” description fits. He is like the teen who finds an artful and improbable excuse; he is Ferris Bueller racing home.

I've seen Neymar a number of times and am not convinced of his greatness. But his antics do not bother me much.

Our Spies

A brilliant article dissecting Russian and Putin.

Our spies may be doing a decent job of making us physically safe, but they seem to be doing a rather horrible job of educating Americans on the threats we face. Maybe it is the fault of politicians, not spies. I'm not sure. But we were blind to Islamo-fascism and blind to Russia's plans until it was rather late.

Woops

White millenial men becoming Republicans. Gee, I wonder why.

Oh yeah, and this: #Walk Away.

I'm back and forth on Walk Away. I agree with everything he says, but I like to walk toward things, no away from them.