Fathers

My fathering technique is to urge my sons not to do shit you'll need to be pardoned for. 

Prediction

Democrats are going to lose 20 years of elections across the country because they are systematically unable to moderate on absurd issues.

They are going to sacrifice everything - the middle class, abortion, environmentalism - at the alter of trans rights. How do I know? They've already done it by purging the moderates and all sensible people from their ranks. Their hopes rest on Trump being a fascist loon. Bad bet.

Watchful Waiting

"If "Watchful Waiting" were new expensive treatment, everyone would be raving about its wonderful benefit/risk.ratio."

Doing nothing can often be a surprisingly good way to handle problems.

Logging

Film: Unhinged

I'm only halfway through but the film is a considerably more unhinged than I imagined...

UPDATE: Upon finishing, I have nothing more to add other than a question: why does the kid always ride in the backseat of the car - he's like 12-14 isn't he?

True In Life

Was watching a bit of Detroit-Indiana hoops last night and one of the commentators said Bickerstaff decided Detroit needed to build around something and that something was a defensive identity. 

When I was a kid, there was this idea of being a well-rounded person and I still believe in that. But when you're trying to build something, it helps to become more narrow and find someplace to start. And I actually don't think it totally matters what that thing is, so long as it's something. It's just a place to start.

Ceasefire with Hezbollah

That came in a hurry. Wonder the behind the scenes...

Taleb claims Israel is a terrorist state. No, Lebanon does not control its territory. Taleb's antifragile theory when applied to societies might be indistinguishable from anarchy.

Perk of Getting Older

Is being able to see through the lazy narcissism (or solipsism) of many 20-something college grads who you used to be.

Logging

Film: Gladiator 2 

I suppose a satisfying film in 2024 - although can anyone explain why they needed suped-up CGI monkeys and great white sharks swimming around the Coliseum? Felt like a different franchise...

As compared to the first film, several things stood out-

a) Tightness of the main story in the first film - despite being a historical epic, the original film has a lean story contained to one major POV whereas this film sprawls out into numerous tendrils, none of which totally lands on its own. Some major character changes and developments are just hustled through as if saying blah-blah-blah now he forgives his mom and blah-blah-blah now he hates his brother -- as if the filmmakers are saying to the audience - you get it, right? As opposed to walking us through the nuance of the emotions. I'm sure there was a 3.5 hour version that attempted to do all this, but it ended up just being plot.

b) Charisma of the star - this guy Mescal is pretty good in the film but cannot match the movie star charisma of peak Russell Crowe. This is more a reflection of Hollywood in '24 where the studios and streamers are completely incapable of generating sustainable stardom.

c) All said, some good performances all around - enjoy Denzel as bad guy and twin emperors start well (but have nowhere to go)

What American Parents Are Dealing With

Institutions and bureaucrats actively making it harder for children to succeed. 

For The Record

With Sinwar dead, I'm becoming more sympathetic to the what is Israel doing now crowd? I've lost sense of their goals at this point. Are they still saying: return hostages? Does anyone believe that is their actual goal?

Articles

Feels like every substantial news I find perusing the internet is twinged with the same sense of foreboding -- hinting at an apocalyptic fear of whatever the subject of the article happens to be. Does anyone else notice this? Find it odd? It's like the same tonal treatment of literally every. single. subject. Trump elected - doom. Israel-Palestine - doom. AI - doom. Environment - doom. Guns - doom. Literally every subject somehow translates to existential dread.

Almost seems to me the subject is actually dread and the content merely an excuse to find it.

Bay Area

If you want a clue as to why Dems lost. Small example, but Newsom promises to build 1,200 homes for homeless people by fall. Spends $750 million. There are no homes yet. But we get a spokesman saying there is "progress," meaning they passed legislation and got some approvals. But again...there are no homes. Where is all this money going?

Interesting

Is polarization a good thing even if it feels bad? Like physical therapy. 

Percentage of the losing side who say the presidential election was illegitimate. 

2016: 56% of Dems 

2020: 70% of GOP 

2024: 10% of Dems

Something In This

"we live in a world where we don't so much own things, in many ways our things own us. Hot rodding is a form of radical ownership where you KNOW the thing, down to every nut, bolt, and wire."

That Jaguar Ad...

Is "copy nothing" except every single woke HR departments inclusion mandate.  

Argument Against Democracy

And especially in terms of bringing it to foreign countries. The number of folks who believe the US government was involved in 9/11. 

20% of people in the US? Do they even require 2nd order thoughts on the matter - like - what does the government stand to gain by being involved in such a thing?

A Generally Safe Prediction

If you elect a progressive DA or hire progressive prosecutors crime will go up. 

Logging

Film: Daddio

I believe we have a subgenre here - the taxi movie. Taxi Driver, Collateral, and Daddio... Features of this genre: primary location: a taxi. The taxi driver is a loner and a little weird. Some type of romance story as a subplot. Urban location, some reflection or perspective upon the nature of the city/environment. 

Feckless

If this is true, Biden will be remembered as one of the worst Presidents of my lifetime.

Time

Is time on Ukraine or Russia's side? 

Some argue any ceasefire or other actions to freeze the conflict benefits Russia because they can simply regroup and invade later.

On the other hand, Russia keeps descending into a lower geopolitical situation year after year vis-a-vis China and the US. Whereas Poland and other Eastern European countries are now hip to the game and will plan accordingly. Not obvious to me Russia will be in a better position in say, 10 years. Also, Putin might die. 

Then again, Ukraine might depopulate. Would you want to live next to a nuclear armed neighbor with designs on your land? Perhaps not. But if you want a free country, you are going to need to be willing to fight and fight for it. Not like the US was created overnight. We had to fight the War of 1812...

ChatGPT

Are we really that close to AGI? 

Checking to see if my students are cheating - "what are the visual symbols used in the sopranos pilot"

The Sopranos pilot, directed by David Chase, uses a variety of visual symbols to establish the world of the show and underscore its themes. These symbols often carry deeper meanings, connecting to the psychological states of the characters, the nature of their world, and the central conflict of the series. 

Here are some of the key visual symbols used in the pilot: 

1. The Squirrel Symbolism: The squirrel that appears early in the pilot, when Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is sitting outside, is an important visual motif. The squirrel is symbolic of Tony’s life in a state of confusion or tension. Its frantic, erratic behavior mirrors Tony's own inner turmoil and the unpredictable nature of his life in organized crime. The squirrel's ultimate death — being killed by Tony’s shot in the head — reflects the sense of violence that permeates Tony's world. 

Theme: This moment foreshadows the randomness of violence in the criminal underworld and the fragility of life in Tony’s world. It also suggests Tony’s emotional instability, as he is unable to stop the violence or chaos around him.

Hmmm kay.

 

 

The Process

Replace the word sex with gender. 

Define the word gender as something different from sex.

Apply the new word gender to all structures and institutions build upon the reality of sex differences.

Bring down civilization.

America

Matt Gaetz Attorney General

America:

My Wife's Theory 

On the election: median wages dropped significantly during the Biden administration. AKA-

It's the economy, stupid.

Weird

I just noticed today three huge apartment complexes are for sale in town. What is this a signal of?

The Biggest AI Use Case

For now, anyway, the biggest use case seems to be students cheating. 

Another Example Why People Voted For Trump

A psychologist argues you don't need to spend time with family members who voted for Trump because "family is not entitled to your time." 

Just...WOW. 

These people are psychotic - just making their own lives as miserable as possible. Then I read about 35-year old women who are giving up any type of interactions with men because of Trump -- joining the South Korean 4b movement.

Nutty.

I'm tempted to make a joke about the difference between fasting and starving, but I won't.

Wondering Why Trump Won?

Just another small example: CA trying to do something to address maternal health issues, but advocacy groups argue to suspend the suggested implementation because -- you guessed it -- "plan to reduce maternal mortality fails to address systemic racism and puts an undue burden on individuals."

Here's a part:

Sherrod said that even when accounting for other factors, “Black women still have worse outcomes.” For instance, one analysis of maternal deaths in California found that Black mothers with the highest incomes had worse rates of pregnancy-related mortality than white mothers with the lowest incomes.

Anyone want to bet black mothers with highest incomes are older than white women with the lowest incomes? Could that be impacting maternal health? Just a thought...

Campaign Spending

A clue. 

Campaign Spending; Trump Raised $381.54 Million

Trump spent $345.42 Million 

Only $10.4 Million was spent on Staff. 

Kamala raised $1.003 Billion 

Kamala Spent $1.37 Billion

Kamala Spent $582.53 Million on Staff.

I've often wondered why Democrats embrace such retarded policy positions. If you followed the 582 million, I bet it would explain some of it.  

The Clinton's invented this political access-->career pyramid scheme, but Obama hijacked it from them. The scam is now out in the open - but it remains to be seen whether Trump will take it down or use it himself. Probably a bit of both.

Why Trans Issues

Why is the trans issue such a big deal. It doesn't directly impact a ton of people in a meaningful way - this is true. But people are not dumb. They know if Democrats are willing to lie and obscure reality in this absurd a manner, it makes them think: what else are they lying about? And they realize - wait a sec - how about everything? Do you know the story about a shop owner who catches an employee stealing a small thing and fires her. Naive son says - why did you fire her? That's the first time she stole something. And he says, "no, it was the first time she got caught." This is the trans issue. It's a canary in the coal mine. It reveals everything about the mindset of progressives and far left liberals. 

Election Explanation #2

Is it possible the Democrats lost because when given the opportunity, they governed poorly? 

Adios

Qatar tells Hamas they are no longer welcome. 

Hmmm.

Logging

Film: Last Man Standing (Bruce Willis movie, not Tim Allen tv show) 

Dull and nonsensical from the moment the film starts. Cannot believe this film cost 60 plus million to make in the late 90s. Felt like almost no point to making the film, like a pure exercise. A lesson in here somewhere. 

Film: Jackie Brown

Odd feature of prime video - during credits of Last Man Standing it just flowed right into Jackie Brown. Music caught me. I ended up watching an hour, then fast forwarding to certain parts. DeNiro's character - Louis Gara struck me this time around. I could not help but associate him with with his Neil McCauley character from Heat. These films were made close together - Heat in 95, Jackie Brown in 97. So DeNiro more or less looks the same. In Jackie Brown, DeNiro spends most of the movie in Bridget Fonda's Hermosa Beach apartment looking at the Pacific Ocean. In Heat, McCauley has a famously post modern, unfurnished Malibu beach house that also looks out upon the Pacific Ocean. They are both ex-cons released from prison for bank robbery. DeNiro in Heat dresses very well, in Jackie Brown, DeNiro is most happy when Sam Jackson buys him some new duds and cleans himself up. On the surface, their characterizations couldn't be more different. Louis is a loser. A pothead. A space cadet. He can't even hang up a phone at one point. In fact, Louis is basically stoned out of his mind most of the movie and not paying much attention to anything at all. Methinks he's fantasizing. And what's he fantasizing about? Being Neil McCauley. Heat is Louis's fantasy version of himself - a version of what he should be, a coping mechanism for what he is. He should have discipline. He should have a code. He should be the best bank robber in Southern California. This is what Louis is thinking about as he watches dumbass TV shows with Bridget Fonda and smokes weed. He's powerless and what do powerless men do? They fantasize. 

The final moment of the Louis's journey suggests it as well. Sam Jackson says to him "you used to be beautiful." Really? There was no suggestion of this side of his character throughout the film. But Sam Jackson doesn't say this to anyone else. He lies only about things to advantage himself. He has no reason to lie in this moment. So what he says is true. Louis was something once. So maybe he could've been Neil McCauley. Because the best fantasies possess at least a possibility of truth. Maybe his fantasy version of himself wasn't so far off the mark. If only he had turned down that weed and that crazy pussy... 

My Theory on the US Election

Donald Trump had policy positions more aligned with American public opinion than Kamala Harris. 

Housing

The best solution to housing prices is to just build more. Every rule or complication after that including rent controls damage the big picture.

Matt Ygelsias

Spells out a 9 point plan to become reasonable liberals again. I can agree with it all. It also happens to be quite similar to all of Donald Trumps positions. And almost none of Kamala Harris's positions. Makes you think.

"Mental Strength Expert"

How does one become a mental strength expert I wonder? Is there a licensing board?

As Predictable As The Sun Rising

Trump's victory attributed to white supremacy... with the added bit of Latinos are racist too. The jig for this BS is up. 

The Positive Case For Trump

He can and did say this last night:

We're the party of common sense. 

We want to have borders. 

We want to have security. 

We want to have things be good, safe. 

We want great education. 

We want a strong and powerful military. And ideally, we don't have to use it.

Democrats cannot utter any of these words because they cannot think or speak without a thousand disclaimers and caveats that are full of internal contradictions. 

To A Hammer...

Everything is a nail. MSNBC now calling Black and Hispanic men misogynistic and racist for their voting patterns. 

This is not the way.

Logging

Film: Porky's

I doubt anyone spent election night 2024 in a more productive way that me - watching Porky's for the first time with a few friends.

God Bless America.

 

Reaction

The market sure likes Fascist dictatorships. 

Lessons That Won't Be Learned

1) Progressives are fucking nuts and 75% of Americans loathe them and every idea they stand for. And for good reason - they want to get rid of cops, gifted education, support Hamas, and make girls into boys.

2) Kamala was a terrible candidate from Day 1.

3) The Democratic party machine is giant group of liars subordinate to a collection of interests (including most of all, careers) and has no center or soul. Beyond irresponsible. They had four years to set up a candidate. Couldn't find one. Why? DEI.

Yep

The most "important" election of our lifetime. So says the people who said the same thing about the last 6 elections. 

Remember: the entire future of our nation, nay planet, depends on you selecting the least horrifying imbecile we decided to offer you

 

Vote This Woman

For President. 

What's noticeably absent from this Asian American immigrant - the total lack of what I'd like to call NPR-voice. NPR voice is symptomatic of the neurotic, emotional, incompetent elites we have running this country. The voice that equates inner feelings with goodness. The voice that thinks that words matter more than actions. Or results. The type of people who break systems like the border, public education, or the international order but since they - in their hearts - "want to do good" feel they are absolved of any guilt or responsibility. They should have the decency to take their inheritances and go live comfortable lives where they have no responsibility or power. But no, they want zero responsibility, zero accountability, and zero cost to their personal lives AND they want the POWER. That's what's disgusting about these people. 

Logging

TV: The English Teacher S1

A really good show, proud of its transgressive worldview. The version of the show that would be really pushing boundaries, however, would be a very similarly low stakes show about a straight, white male English teacher.

Still, I shouldn't complain.

Hmmmm

Tucker slept with his four dogs, woke up with scratch marks and presumed it was a demon that attacked him. Just a thought - before jumping to the supernatural conclusion - perhaps get those dog claws DNA swabbed. 

I Call Bullshit

Now a lot of people are coming out and criticizing the gender dysphoria social contagion. But I was there for this. It was so obvious as it was happening. Did anyone study the Salem Witch Trials? Anyone in these schools bother to read the Crucible? I know this doesn't make complete sense, but I believe a large amount of this madness we see today is simply people not reading anymore. Because they can't recognize what is happening right around them. The dynamics.

Logging

TV: The Penguin E1-4

After the flashbacks to Sophia Falcone's pointless torture at Arkham, I'm officially out on the show. I thought the show was about The Penguin rising to power...not watching Meadow Soprano in a torture porn. Is there anything more played out than mental illness or queer stories (not that there's anything wrong with it) on TV these days...

Ads 

I'm being targeted for men over 40 getting rid of love handles and belly fat. They know too much about us!

Sam Harris - Andrew Sullivan

One candidate captured his party, the other candidate is captured by her party. Neither is a vote of confidence. Trump's an ego maniac and a narcissist. Not a Fascist. Or a wannabe dictator. Harris is a nothing - a cardboard cut out who will do the bidding of whatever Democratic interest groups can apply the right pressure. What signature issue does she have? What does she actually care about? I honestly have no clue. I don't think she does either.

Israel - Palestine

If your issue was wanting the war to end, you'd have better odds with Trump as President. For egotistical reasons, he would be more likely to negotiate a deal to end the war than Harris, IMO. 

The Genocide Crowd

I never heard a peep from the genocide crowd during 2007-2023 while Hamas terrorized Gazans and Israelis and orchestrated this entire war. Nor during the entire Syrian Civil War. Nor while Iran quashed protests or executed thousands of their own citizens. Nor when the Chinese locked up millions of Uigers. Nor when Russia targeted civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Nor when North Korea holds all its citizens as slaves. Nor when ISIS massacred civilians all across Iraq. Continual silence. And now, they ask nothing of Hamas, Iran, or the Palestinians. And they wonder why no one in power listens. Because they have no principles, only feelings. 

Liberals Could Rule the Roost

I believe liberals could easily hold an electoral majority in the United States if they simply backed off the crazy pedal. Examples:

1) Relax on the extreme versions of DEI and trans issues. 

2) Don't do really dumb economic stuff - the pure thievery - like rent control or attempting to tax unrealized capital gains. 

It shows me a lot that they aren't capable of moderating and using common sense, despite it being in their interest. 

Maybe Evil?

Or at the very least toxic femininity. So many levels of wrong here.  NIH commissions a 9 million dollar study of the effects of puberty blockers on kids. Note: this is taxpayer money paid to scientists. The results show no mental health benefits to the kids going on blockers. BUT...here's the kicker...the women in charge of the study refuses to publish the results because of the "political environment." So...the American public is denied information it PAID FOR because the results don't conform to what the woman in charge wants them to. Insanity.

This is Weird

Kamala emotes re: being a parent and making mistakes.  Thing is - did she parent much? I'm not denigrating step-parents here, but the kids were already adults by the time Kamala married her hubby.

As an aside - if Trump had a successful career and didn't settle down until age 48 and then became a step-dad - would this be a political plus or minus? I have to think the Democrats would use this against him. It would be some type of evidence of being a toxic man. Yet for Kamala, it hasn't been an issue. 

Trump is a Fascist?

Harris calling Trump a Fascist makes me think Harris doesn't know what a Fascist is. She's closer to the Big Lebowski than Winston Churchill.

The Problem

With the Dems spending the past decade blaming toxic white men for all their problems -- now they've gotten some of what they want -- and ran many of those men out of town. But now they actually have to do stuff like produce tv shows, print newspapers, educate students, and run the country -- and they don't have the white men to blame anymore. Is there any evidence the job being done is better than before? Seems to me a whole lot worse.

My Guess - 50-70% 

Of trans kids have stories just like this one.

Young Boys Perspective

They see a guy like Elon Musk building rockets and cars. They see Ohtani hitting home runs against 95mph fastballs. They admire these accomplishments. Then they see Kamala being celebrated for...being a woman, half-black/half-Indian, and full of phony joy?

Who do you think they will admire? How do you think they will vote in the future?

Inevitable

Now it's racist to pay for things. 

The Liberal Mind

Is rotten. Andrew Sullivan goes on a deep dive this week about how liberals in the Biden-Harris administration suppressed scientific evidence to continue unwise medical treatment on "trans kids." Just a pure cut and dry case of ideology over reality. But there is so much more...

Harris criticized Israel's invasion of Rafah earlier this year. Had she been President, she might've used her leverage to stop it. Yet that is where Sinwar was. The invasion of Rafah lead to the death of Sinwar. Now I understand those who oppose Israel. They see the issue clearly: they think Israel was founded on a crime and can only continue to exist through more crime against the Palestinians. They are wrong, but they are clear. American liberals on the other hand are both wrong and unclear. They on the one hand welcome Sinwar's death and defend Israel's right to protect themselves. Yet...they Israel only to protect itself in a certain way - a way that won't allow them to protect themselves. They want to live in a dual reality where Israel can protect themselves without inflicting any damage on the Palestinians. Please explain how in the real world this is supposed to happen? This is like asking a football team to win the game, but not allow them to play offense because that will hurt the feelings of the other team. Huh? What are we even doing or talking about here?You see this on nearly every single issue for liberals. 

Liberals want "fairness" and/or to rectify past injustices, so we put into place something called affirmative action. But when you look at affirmative action you see there is a cost - a cost to the folks who would've otherwise gotten into college or a job without affirmative action. So this is unfair. But instead of acknowledging the issue and working toward a compromise, liberals change the language. They argue we don't need affirmative action, but rather - diversity. And now we are told that the "losers" of affirmative action policies are actually winners because "everyone benefits from diversity." It would be like saying we are doing the Palestinians a favor by letting Israel rid them of Hamas. Do any Palestinians feel this way? Even I doubt it. Liberals cannot admit there are trade offs. Or even choices to be made. They literally feel like they can engineer the world into being a better place with rhetoric.

Take homelessness. The liberal idea is that your can correct homelessness by calling them unhoused and pouring an ungodly amount of money toward the problem. Then, when it doesn't work, they think: we need to more 2x ungodly amount of money toward it. Then, a few normal people push back against their terrible policy ideas, and they turn around and blame the pushbackers of being the worst of all possible things: Republicans. And probably racist too. 

The liberal mind cannot solve problems because the liberal mind doesn't believe in natural forming hierarchy or priorities. So the Liberals will on the one hand will believe climate change is an existential threat, but then on the other hand not want to buy or support Tesla because Elon owns Twitter. Or, they will put tariffs on electric Chinese cars because they also recognize we need a domestic auto industry and all the union votes. So they can't ever decide upon what problem actually matters - does climate change actually matter? Or do auto unions matter? Or strategic industries?

I read some liberal semi-criticizing Musk on twitter and longing for a world where NASA was able to be as efficient as SpaceX. Feels like a weird way to critique Musk. Isn't the better case study - why isn't NASA able to do what Musk is able to do at cost? Does this have something to do with a design flaw in central organization? Answer this question first, it seems to me. 

 

Sinwar

Good opportunity for the Middle East players to bring this war to an end. Return hostages for ceasefire. Some type of political settlement whereby Hamas must compete with Fatah and other Palestinian groups for who calls the shots going forward in Gaza. Let Palestinians decide if they like the way Hamas ran things.

Trump Didn't Enjoy Getting Tackled in Football

This is the most sane thing Trump has said in awhile and Dems think it makes him look bad. 

I Support...

Women who want to wear bow ties. 

Anti-War

Do the anti-war and ceasefire people realize what they're really saying is: let's do this thing over again in 5-10 years when Iran has nukes? 

Overlap

I wonder what percentage of people who think Columbus was a force for evil also think Elon Musk is a force for evil. My prediction: 80%. And the only thing in common: men with tangible accomplishments.  

Columbus Day

Rather than celebrate nautical accomplishment and being a brave, bold explorer of the world, we shall now criticize and judge a man who lived 530+ years ago as a way to make us feel better about sitting on the coach staring at phones. Congrats America, we've made a lot of moral progress by simply nodding along with the zeitgeist. Who knew it was so easy to be a good person?

Of All The 20th Century Horrors...

Where would one rank the Nakba? I'm guessing in the 50s-70s. Why is this the only one the world doesn't want to move on from?

I wonder. A mystery wrapped in a riddle. 

Liberals

Called Reagan a fascist. Then called Bush 1. Then Bush 2. Then McCain. Then Romney. Then Trump. Now Elon.

Notice a pattern? Everyone who disagrees with the progressive agenda is by their account, a fascist. Cluster B personalities. 

Envy

Is what makes the world go round. This is right. 

The man could cure cancer, take us to Mars and miraculously walk on water and half this country would still hate Elon. Not surprising at all, unfortunately.

Psychotic

It is psychotic to want to see men playing in women's sports at a competitive level.

Hamas Documents

These are the people Israel is dealing with. There will be no peace for Israelis or Palestinians until Hamas and Hezbollah are gone. It will be fake and temporary. If you care about the Palestinians the fastest path would be surrender. If you cared about the Israelis...come on, you don't care about the Israelis...

Fire The Entire Commission

CA state commission in charge of coastal wildlife rejects SpaceX plans to shoot rockets because they don't like Musk's politics. 

And you wonder why Donald Trump appeals to people.

Tragedy

Yes, there are horrors in Palestine - a terrible situation for all. But made so by the intractable and ridiculous demands of Palestinian political leaders and all those who support them. Imagine if the Chinese who lived in Taiwan demanded their lands and property back - confiscated by the Chinese Communists. What if they conducted suicide raids on the mainland. What do they think would be happening to them? Would Americans be supporting them? Not in a million years. Plus, they aren't so stupid to think this could ever work.

My Lovely Alma Mater

Protestors at Pomona College celebrate October 7th in numerous violations of student codes.  

1) Disrupting classes, not letting teachers and admin into their work

2) Vandalization

3) Wearing masks on campus (many of these "protestors" are not students but activists from the area)

Easy solution - kick all participants out of the school. Make they pay for destruction to property. No arrests needed. 

Lunatics

Think Saleh was fired as Jets coach because he wore the Lebanese flag. These fools no nothing about football and see the world through one lens - Palestine. No one in the US or football fans even cares about this stuff. Delusional.

So Lame

Bring me back to the 20th century, please...

Who wants to play VR games on an omni-directional treadmill? Begin on a treadmill is a metaphor for boredom - go outside, people!

Vibes

The vibe I get from Kamala -- drunken class President who organized the 30 year high school reunion. Goes around hugging and slurring and reflecting how much she misses everyone.

Lies

From Scientific American about inequities between males and females in sport. 

In my casual observations as a youth soccer coach, by age 6 I can see significant athletic differences between boys and girls - strength, speed, coordination so much so that 95% of girls would simply not enjoy playing real competitive sport against boys. And for the record, 25% of boys do not like competing against other boys their age simply because of the physical challenges. So if you want to get rid of this gender stuff - and did a simple thing like made soccer co-ed - you would see probably about 1 girl per team of 8 actually playing and enjoying it. 

I Know

The Republicans are crazy, inept, and conspiracy-oriented. Yet there's quite a bit of evidence they'd be better at governing or at least not worse.

In Chicago, the public schools doubled per student spending over the past decade only to see test scores drop.

This is what happens when liberals govern. They spend more money for worse results. You see the same exact thing in California on both public schools and homelessness. Why? Because they create incentives for career bureaucrats to make up fake work for themselves in order to pay themselves more. The Republicans at least attempt to cut this stuff and do better by just not fixing what isn't broken.

All of DEI can be seen this way. It's all fake work. And costs money. To get worse results than if they had done nothing at all.

True

This is true about humiliation, but people also remember suicide bombings and fanaticism -- people know by instinct the order of things can be worse. Suicide terrorism is a glimpse into it.

Blacks and Browns

Are testing nearly six grades apart from Asian students in California. It seems like average black and brown students are 3 grades below grade level and average Asian students are nearly 3 grades above grade level. Even if you believe there might be some genetic and demographic aspect to these differences, I cannot think that could account for more than 1-2 grade levels at most. 

This is at least two trends - main one being a the total shit show of public education - bureaucrats trying to change how they teach basics like reading and math and no one in the system being held to any standards at all. And two, Asian parents not giving two fucks and insisting on their kids learning by paying for tutoring like Kumon to get it.  

My question: why not just outsource all math education to Kumon? It couldn't be worse than what the public school system is doing. Why won't they do it? Too many people making money for not doing shit.  

The Sopranos: Johnny Sack doesn't like the shoes

Answers

Now seems to be a great time to get deep answers about dark American secrets. Ask Joe Biden, he will forget what he's not supposed to say. "Mister President, was there a second shooter when Kennedy was shot?" "Oh yeah, definitely...right on the grassy knoll. I've seen the film." "Mister President, are there aliens living amongst us?" "Not living amongst us right now, but there are alien artifacts being studied by scientists in Area 51. Next question?"

Woops

CNN says Nasrallah agreed to a ceasefire before he was killed. Now remember Hamas and Hezbollah both had a ceasefire with Israel on October 6th.

For all the folks who claim to stand with the Lebanese Shia and Palestinians on "moral" grounds - does it give them any pause to consider these are groups are allied, funded, and controlled by the mullahs in Iran? Does that reality sink into their mind at all? Does it give them pause? 

Bring It On

Some students at Tufts want to "bring the war home." These folks are so weird - desperate for their lives to have meaning, but at the same time too scared to step off campus. 

When They Tell You Who They Are...

Believe them. A US progressive organization wants to "Flood the Streets of NYC" on October 7th.

Now This Is True

I woke up with a disturbing thought: with Kamala there is a near-certainty of more wars coupled with a lot of bullshit about "peace" initiatives. With Trump (rather, Trump-Vance) there is a possibility of peace coupled with loud saber rattling.

A Lie Agreed Upon

Both Israel and Iran are incentivized to lie about the damage done by the Iran missile attack. Iran, so it looks like they can retaliate. Israel, so it looks like they are under siege and continue their war on Hezbollah.

Weird times. 

 

Apparently, Charles Schulz had the same issues with organized kids sports that I have in 1972-1973. Hmmm...

Logging

Film: The Wild Robot

It would not surprise me to see this get a best picture nomination. I'm loathe to admit, but movie animation making large creative strides that cohere artistically unlike its live action counterparts.

Film: Megaopolis

I've encountered this phenomenon twice now in theaters where some part of the audience laughs, but I'm not sure whether it's at the movie or with the movie. Or perhaps both? For all the low audience numbers in the press, at the AMC on Monday night, this movie was half-full. Not bad although this might be the movie crowd sensing it won't last long in cinemas. One of these laughs was when a giant hand reached out of a cloud and grabbed the moon. Cut to Giancarlo Esposito sitting up in bed telling his wife "I just had a dream where a hand reached out of a cloud and grabbed the moon." Not sure what's going on here on a narrative, filmmaking, and audience level -- is it the equivalent of listening to drunk Uncle Bob on Thanksgiving? At another point in the movie Adam Driver says something to the effect, "Man should only love women," which elicited uncomfortable chuckles (I am assuming he was quoting Marcus Aurelius, btw).

I'm enjoying the contrarian takes on the film that its full of ideas and not boring, etc. But...come on now. What astonishes me is not all the clunky writing and uneven pace and plot holes but how the film wasn't all that pleasurable to look at. Consider the images in The Godfather films, The Conversation, or Apocalypse Now -- or even the documentary films he produced - Koyaanisqatsi or Powaqqatsi? It seems to me the quality of images has regressed.

For the first half of the movie I was thinking: this is brilliant - Coppola has managed at age 85 to make what feels like a first feature film. He's somehow regressed into his youth. But by the end, I no longer felt that way. 

I have one strange theory...this film was actually made to be re-cut by billions of people on the internet into their own remix versions of the film.

Film: Billy Madison

Kids loved it.

Film: Mission Impossible 

Kids weren't that into it, actually got frightened by first act since Ethan Hunt's entire team was murdered. I did not recall Emilio Estevez was in this film and gets impaled in the first act. That said, I think I'm doing them a service by showing them how DePalma places the camera...

I might start including the scene in the restaurant between Cruise and Henry Czerny as a scene study. Really awesome scene...

Lemme Get This Straight

Progressives are complaining about the US not putting brakes on Israel destroying Hezbollah. This is a terrorist organization with American blood on its hands and your position is that we should help it survive? That we should be ashamed of building the bombs that Israel used against them?

I guess their argument is that Hezbollah will just disappear on its own if we do nothing. Feel like that tactic has been tried for 30+ years. Did it work?

This Argument

That Israel created Hezbollah and Hamas by its actions is bizarre. It'd be like saying the Northern states caused the KKK by defeating the South in the Civil War. 

APAIC

Re: the claims made by folks like Macaes and Taleb that APAIC controls Congress, etc. If this were the case, why wouldn't the Arabs have formed a similar group to influence Congress in their favor? Lack of money? Doubt it. Nobility? Doubt it. They just can't accept the reality that Americans aren't going to be persuaded by suicide bombing campaigns and invasions of Israel. Sorry. Just go visit a 2nd grade classroom, they'll tell you all you need to know.

Is It Just Me

Or does Israel seem like they're handling all family business. 

To all the naysayers and Jihadist apologists: the receipts are all on twitter. 

Terrible Ideas

Both candidates have terrible, disqualifying ideas toward the center of their campaigns. For Trump and Republicans - its these tariffs and trade wars. Bad idea with a lot of unintended consequences. For Kamala, reparations and taxing unrealized capital gains. Can you think of a more polarizing idea than reparations? Can you think of a more clumsy and burdensome procedure than taxes unrealized gains?

The good, the bad and the ugly - Ecstasy of Gold

Can AI Do Better Than This?

Spending Money

When CA spends money on homelessness, we are giving money to people and organizations who "work" with the homeless -- not, actually, the homeless.