Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Daily Coach - Honor By Doing
- The Gospel according to Peter Thiel. A year old but worth another read.
- How to Snag a Campsite this Summer
- Wally Bock's The Statue in the Stone. Also a couple years old but worth a re-read.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"First ask yourself who you want to be, and then do what you have to do." - Epictetus
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." - John Steinbeck
"What I've learned in my life is if someone is acting badly, they're in pain. It's really a simple rule, they're either scared or in pain." - Sebastian Junger
"Journalists aren't neutral - they're the cavalry in the culture wars." - Naval Ravikant
"In order for men to do great evil, they must first believe they are doing good." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
"Of all the cards you can pick in the game of life, choose intelligence and drive. You can trade those two for almost anything else." - Naval Ravikant
"Sir, there is nothing which has been yet contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern." - Samuel Johnson
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Just saying but if you yell "Wakanda forever!" people will cheer. If you shout "America forever!" some will look at you like you're a xenophobic misanthrope. That's not right... Posted without comment... Still say that there's a market for a fantasy football app where if one of the players on your roster kneels during the Anthem your team is penalized 10 points off the top for each player who kneels. I think if that rule was allowed in Madden then it could also end kneeling almost overnight (players actually care about their video game numbers)... Also posting without comment... In 1920 when Warren Harding promised a "return to normalcy" - the word "normalcy" didn't even exist in the dictionary. We could use that return to normalcy right about now. Last night I went out to a bar to see a live band with dancing and NO masks. That was a step in the right direction...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The general wisdom of Ulysses S. Grant
- Life advice from Warren Buffett
- The audio recordings of the Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-64) are now publicly available
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." - Robertson Davies
"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." - Robert Heinlein
"Sometimes people ask you a question with their eyes begging you not to tell them the truth." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
"He who buys what he doesn't need steals from himself." - Swedish Proverb
"When you focus all of your energy in one direction for an uncommonly long period of time, you develop talent. Results follow obsession." - Shane Parrish
"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind." - Samuel Ulman
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Why Biden's Climate Change Agenda is Falling Apart
- Matt Ridley: The Covid Lab Leak Theory is Looking Increasingly Possible. There's no question in my mind.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The term "gay" meaning "homosexual" was actually coined by Cary Grant in the movie Bringing Up Baby when asked why he was wearing a dress said, "I've gone gay." Lot of irony in Cary Grant saying that. Also have to wonder how our language could have been different if Grant had simply chosen another word... Almost Soft would be a good name for a line of discount toilet paper... That was a good acquisition... Wailing Monkey Climbing Tree would be a good name for a heavy metal Barbara Streisand cover band... If you're excited for the Friends reunion show - I'm not sure if I want to know you as a person... I also don't want to know you if you wore masks with political slogans printed on them...
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Bose hit by ransomware, refuses to pay ransom. Good for Bose! (HT Steve Landry)
- I've been meaning to give Magic Spoon a try.
- New study says masks didn't slow spread of Covid. And millions of masks were littered around the country and nobody wants to touch them. Way to hurt Mother Gaia you lefty monsters!
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Inflation may actually help the newspaper industry are people start buying papers again just for the coupons to stretch their now shrinking buying power. Just like in the 1970's... CDC investigating reports of 'mild' heart problems in adolescents and teens after Covid vaccine. "The preliminary report by a committee tasked with monitoring vaccine side effects found 62 cases of myocarditis, including two deaths, in people who received the Pfizer vaccine." What would you rather risk - getting a disease which is almost 100% non-fatal to teens and adolescents or risking permanent heart damage? The CDC paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for less... God bless Jordan Petersen... A while ago I predicted some would look for "dating" apps to require vaccination status. That seems to be coming true. I also predicted the next step would be proof of STD and HIV testing. Next up - mandatory 23andMe tests... Adam Vinatieri announced his retirement yesterday. As amazing as his game winning kicks were the thing that stands out for me is the time he freaking ran down Hershel Walker...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- New study analyses the high costs of college. From the article - "a great deal of the cost of college today has nothing to do with education itself" - that much is self-evident to anyone paying attention. (HT Newmark's Door)
- The Bar Fight molecule is my spirit animal
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The quest for good explanations is, I believe, the basic regulating principle not only of science, but for the enlightenment generally." - David Deutsch
"Nothing in life is to be feared it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." - Marie Curie
"I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head." - Theodore Roosevelt
"A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth." - Daniel Kahneman
"We are the killer bees. Give us all your honey!" - John Belushi
"What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact." - Warren Buffett
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Don't let the media get away with U-turning on the lab leak theory (or Dr. Fauci)
- Outside Magazine: 48 reasons to feel optimistic. Disagree with a few of them though (why celebrate non-alcoholic beer?).
- Evidence for the Wuhan Lab Covid-19 hypothesis isn't going to be waved away.
- Interesting - How Phil Mickelson took control on Sunday at the 2021 PGA Championship
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The Obama Administration wanted higher gas prices because they reasoned people would then drive less and thus release less carbon emissions. The Biden Administration got higher gas prices simply through incompetence... In my will when I die all of my books are being donated to the Library of Congress just like Thomas Jefferson did. (Just kidding - I don't plan on ever dying)... If you argue that the Biden Administration also wanted higher gas prices to reduce carbon emissions then what about higher food prices? Did they want people to eat less? Hunger builds character? Are you really going to go with that reasoning?... The NBA and other pro sports leagues need to reverse the trend to add more and more teams to the playoffs and actually have fewer teams qualify instead. The regular season for the NBA has become a joke. Paying to attend a regular season NBA game has become a waste of money - like attending an NFL pre-season exhibition game...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- How Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship may save NASA from it's own incompetence
- Matt Taibbi: "Fact Checking" Takes Another Beating
- Ask yourself where that extra money is going and why. Who gets that extra dollar you're paying for a gallon of gas?
- Deepfake videos are getting pretty damn convincing
- A disturbing review of stolen and failing Chinese technology. True innovation requires freedom of thought which doesn't exist in Communist China.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Greatly amused with all the anger and hatred directed at Tim Tebow and the Jacksonville Jaguars for signing him as a tight end. Why they did it is clear - Tebow remains very popular and can sell tickets for the Jags. Since his signing Tebow actually has the top selling jersey in the NFL - more jerseys sold than either Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady. Not bad for a guy lucky to take the last roster spot on the team... Heh Heh... Speaking of Tom Brady - he actually has more career rushing TD's (25) than running back teammate Leonard Fournette (23). Just find that interesting... I hope the young people who voted for Joe Biden because they believed his pledge to cancel their student debt have learned an important life lesson about trusting a politician (but I'm not holding my breath)... It may be just me but I really don't miss the days when it seemed like Bono from U2 was either called on to comment or felt the need to speak up on seemingly every socio-political issue of the day. He's kind of faded into the woodwork which is fine with me... Would love to see the New England Patriots trade for Julio Jones. Wonder if an offer of a second round pick along with receiver N'Keal Harry would be enough to get it done?...
In his honor - here are 25 Douglas Adams quotes to live by.
"Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with." - Douglas Adams
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Cool - comprehensive explanation on how Bluetooth actually works.
- Noah Smith of the future of war and technology
- 73,000 people see a fight indoors and no impact on Covid numbers? Wait numbers actually went down?
- The 60-year old scientific screwup that helped Covid kill. Remember this next time anyone tells you the "science is settled."
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Last time I went to California was 2-years ago for a vacation in Santa Monica. I remember thinking that California was a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Now it's gotten to the point where I wouldn't even want to visit. Guessing I'm not alone in feeling that. Will be interesting to see how tourism fares in the state the next few years... Honest question - would you use a contraceptive that was only 90% effective?... My Lakota Indian name is Walks with Subtitles... Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship aged 50, the Bruins beat the Capitals to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Lakers lost. Yesterday was a good day in sports...
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"A lot of unhappiness in the world is the result of people trying to force their version of unhappiness on someone else." - Ed Latimore
"A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control." - Naval Ravikant
"Freedom is not obtained by getting what you desire, but by controlling your desires." - Epictetus
"Martyrdom is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability." - George Bernard Shaw
"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can." - Nikos Kazantzakis
"Realizing the gaps in your knowledge is more important than realizing the depths of your knowledge." - Kunal B Sarkar
Recently re-read the book Kim by Rudyard Kipling. There was no good reason to do so. Just felt the urge to read that book again maybe for the tenth time. I'm happy to report that the book still holds up for me.
Kim is among a handful of books I like to re-read just for pleasure's sake.This time around I was worried that I'd be more cognizant of any overt racism (the book is over 100-years old). However, whatever racial slurs there were in the book were used to illustrate the ignorance of any British menial workers or soldiers. The adult heroes of the book include a Muslim horse-trader, a Tibetan lama and a Bengali spy - all portrayed respectfully with authentic detail by Kipling.
I couldn't help but compare this in my mind to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes. That book was a favorite of mine growing up but today would be unreadable because of the overt racism.
I'm sure I'll re-read Kim again in another year or two.
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Good for Shopify's CEO Tobi Lutke
- VDH: The Firebombing of Japan. Malcolm Gladwell has a new book on this subject that's on my reading wish list.
- The rise of anti-Semitism in America is disturbing and has no place in a civil society
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry S. Truman
"I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I think and feel." - Naval Ravikant
"You can suck 'em and suck 'em, and they'll never get any smaller." - Willie Wonka
"Twitter is toxic. I don't think it helps you at all. You have to be careful of what you're looking at there." - Chris Petersen
"It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say - This I have done, and this is what it means to be an American." - John Wayne
"There is no distinctly native American criminal class - save Congress." - Mark Twain
"On the first day of filming, in 1931, Weissmuller arrived in costume, a large knife at his side. The first Cheetah bared its teeth, growled loudly and lunged at him. Weissmuller coolly took his knife out, slammed the chimp on the side of the head and then held it in front of its nose. Cheetah grinned at Weissmuller, and from that moment followed him around the set like a puppy." From The Fixers.
Chimpanzees can be terrifying creatures known to rip off people's faces. Weissmuller won 5 Gold Medals in two Olympics but I had no idea he was such a badass.
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Biden gives Putin the Nord Stream prize and gets nothing in return. Not exactly the art of the deal.
- Hartford U President Gregory Woodward facing criticism and scrutiny for moving from Div 1 to Div III and for fibbing about his own athletic career. Interesting drama playing out in Connecticut.
- The Texas Mask Mystery. It's no mystery - lockdowns and mandatory masks made no difference and were just ways for the government to exert control to look like they were doing their best.
- You aren't actually mad at the SAT's (your mad at what they reveal). "The controversy over college entrance examinations stems not from the examinations themselves, but from the fact that they reveal profound differences in human capital that make progressives uncomfortable."
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
While married to Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner had an affair with director John Farrow whose daughter Mia would later marry Frank Sinatra. Did you follow that?... Heh heh... Would be really curious to see a poll of who is more unpopular - Kamala Harris or Ghislaine Maxwell... My favorite campaign slogan of all-time was Ronald Reagan's "Elect me and let's forget the Carter Presidency ever existed"... Heh Heh... There's a pretty good chance that the Falcons' Matt Ryan will finish his career with more passing yards than Dolphins legend Dan Marino. Ryan currently has 55,767 while Marino sits at 61,361. My how the game has changed...
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Problems are conflicts between ideas." - David Deutsch
"You want to be an artist, but you want other people to starve for your art." - Louis B. Mayer
"Wake me up before you go go." - Wham
"Success is to be able to control the quality and balance of your life." - Chris Petersen
"Never take any man's opinion as final. Never take your opinion as final. Never expect anyone to help you but yourself." - Irving Thalberg
"We're way more wired to be selfish than for the for the greater good of others but the paradox is, it gives us so much more joy when we are about others." - Chris Petersen
- The Multidisciplinary Approach to Thinking
- Ben Franklin: The Thirteen Necessary Virtues (something that should be revisited from time to time)
- Advice for Young Scientists - and Curious People in General
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Covid-19 Disrupts Years of Health Progress in US. The deaths per 100,000 people in the US were bad last year - made worse by Democratic Governors killing the elderly in nursing homes with their policies.
- Heh Heh - 'Back in the NY Groove': New ad campaign launched. So that's why I'm suddenly hearing that song after decades. (Thanks Stephen!)
- Glenn Greenwald: Biden, Reversing Trump, Permits a Key Putin Goal. As has been pointed out many places the Biden Administration is now on record as being against a pipeline wanted by Canada that would have created thousands of jobs in the US but is in favor of a pipeline that will help Russia and hurt the US geopolitically.
- Bill Gates hoped Jeffrey Epstein could help him win a Nobel Prize according to report. Bill Gates really doesn't seem to have really good personal judgement. BTW Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Isn't about time to start calling what's happening in Portland and Seattle a quagmire? There seems no end in sight and more cops are quitting in both cities every day... What are we doing to our kids?... History fact for the day - in 1910 there were 8,000 automobiles in the US but only 10 miles of paved road... Always surprises me that George Brett is not the all-time batting average leader for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's .305 average is second to Jose Offerman's career .306 average... Just saying but "Stoink" would not be a good nickname for a field goal kicker... Today's word for the day is "holoholo" which is Hawaiian for "to ramble for pleasure"... When I was growing up Dan Marino was the gold standard for passing yards. Number one in career passing yards by far. This season Marino should be passed by Ben Roethlisberger and slip all the way down to seventh place on the all-time list. It's a different game today...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Steven Pressfield: Francis Ford Coppola on Re-writing. I remember Gardens of Stone as a pretty good movie though I haven't seen it in decades.
- Interesting - MySpace Tom got it right.
- Victor Davis Hanson: Why does the Left hate Israel?
- Tesla's Elon Musk comes through for UFC's Beneil Dariush. "Elon time" is a real problem though.
"We have this personal scoreboard that some of us are only kind of aware of; the ones that are probably more adjusted and healthy, understand what this is all about, and that's our personal scoreboard. It's about relationships with your family, your colleagues, your friends. It's about your purpose in life. It's about your values. It's about living authentically. It's about growing. It's about balance. It's about fitness, physical and mental." - Chris Petersen
Via this great Bruce Feldman interview at The Athletic (subscription required)
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I share.
- What would have to be true? An important question to ask when planning anything.
- Morgan Housel: The Optimal Amount of Hassle
- International experts ratchet pressure on China to probe Covid lab leak theory. "In a significant move, 18 scientists from the world's top universities, including Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, have demanded further investigations into the origins of the pandemic."
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Not to be mean but some people would be better off continuing to wear masks. Funny enough many of these people also have coexist bumper stickers... Have long held that one of the first steps boxing should take to try and regain relevance is move from being a Summer Olympics sport to a Winter Olympics sport. There's no reason the bouts can't happen during the winter and they would get much more attention as one of the few events that can be scheduled at night. This will help with name recognition for the fighters and maybe get more interest generated in these athletes for when they turn professional... For whatever reason the past few weeks I've heard KISS's Ace Frehley's Back In the New York Groove like a dozen times after not hearing it for years... At Harvey Weinstein's funeral I wonder how many of his victims will show up just to make sure he's dead or to get a small modicum of justice...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- I agree 100% with Michael Wade on this. Coinbase instituted the same "no politics" policy last year with only 5% of the company taking a buyout and moving on because of it. Coinbase is thriving now - perhaps because it can simply concentrate on business?
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The dark past of pool bowling hustlers
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The original childhood obesity test... Everyone seems to be saying that Joe Biden is bringing back all the things from the Carter Administration like gas lines, war in the Middle East, inflation, etc. I can deal with those and the inevitable bellbottom pants but really not looking forward to the return of naturally hairy vaginas. Seriously not looking forward to that... Can anyone remember when half a million people attended the Sturgis motorcycle rally last year and there was basically no Covid related issues either before or after? Yeah funny how the media seemed to skip over that event after warning that everyone was going to die... Who knew? Hollywood actually started as a Christian community planned with a Methodist church on every block... Truly random aside - I would be greatly amused if the legal name of Vermont was changed to "Vermonth." Pronounce ver-month. Or failing that "Vermouth" would also do...
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"You can't let other people set your agenda in life." - Warren Buffet
"We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one." - Confucius
"You will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks." - Winston Churchill
"Self-esteem is just the reputation that you have with yourself. You'll always know." - Naval Ravikant
"It's never wrong to be on the side of freedom - never." - Victor Davis Hanson
"Judgement is the art of knowing what to ignore." - Shane Parrish
"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome." - Dr. Samuel Johnson
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- What is economic growth? And why is it so important? Remember growth requires innovation and innovation requires freedom. Chipping away at our freedoms only hampers our growth. Also this is the greatest time ever in history to be alive. (Long but interesting read)
- Glenn Greenwald: Liz Cheney lied about her role in spreading the discredited CIA "Russian Bounty" story. Liz Cheney is not a good human being - period.
- Covid-19 did come from the Wuhan Institute for Virology and now even an outlet like Newsweek has to say that's possible shows that there are cracks in the dam. Saying the truth isn't racist or xenophobic either.
- Breakthrough in reverse-osmosis technology may lead to the most efficient seawater desalination ever
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting ruling in Florida - a golf cart is not an auto. GEICO doesn't come off as heroic here though.
- Why those who preach renewable energy are unrealistic. We need to invest in more safe, renewable nuclear power.
- Every upcoming Marvel movie release date in 2021 and beyond. I'm a Marvel movie junkie.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Just got back from the lovely St John USVI all sunburnt and painkillered out (the rum drink). Lots of great snorkeling and good times but one travel tip - make sure you leave plenty of time when trying to get off the Islands from the airport in St Thomas. That airport has the biggest clusterfuck of a security line I may have ever seen... Heh Heh... Any time Governor Baker of Massachusetts gives a public speech for the rest of his life he should be heckled relentlessly. "Wear a mask!" "Cover your face!" Relentlessly!... Heh Heh... Anyone remember when "Keep your laws off my body" was a liberal rallying cry? Now it belongs to the libertarians and conservatives...
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar." - H.L. Mencken
"The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple." - Albert Einstein
"Socialism produces bad music, bad art, social stagnation, and really unhappy people." - Frank Zappa
"Action builds resilience. Inaction feeds doubt." - Shane Parrish
"It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste most of it." - Seneca
"It is easy to love people in memory: the hard thing is to love them when they are in front of you." - John Updike
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
What CNN really needs now - ratings wise is for another jetliner to go missing so they can return to their journalistic roots... Six Beers and a Gummie would be a good name for a band or an update on the Irish 7-course meal joke (old joke was a six-pack and a potato)... Business idea: a line of condoms called "Sanitized (for your protection)"... Mathematical Abstractions would also be a good name for a band... Who knew? The last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, was a Confederate victory... One of my favorite pieces of trivia - the JAWS character Captain Quint's last name means "fifth" in Latin. In the move he's the fifth person killed by the shark...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The CDC has been completely misleading when it comes to the risks of Covid. A child wearing a mask outside is child abuse pure and simple. And that's according to the science!
- Matt Taibbi: Reporters once challenged the spy state. Now they're agents of it.
- This is so spot on (HT Instapundit)
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong." - NPR Disclaimer
"In the thick of battle, you will not rise to the level of your expectations, but fall to the level of your training." - Daniel Kahneman
"How can you think yourself a great man, when the first accident that comes along can wipe you out completely." - Euripides
"Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers." - Socrates
"The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it." - Eckhart Tolle
"Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach." - Seneca
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Some Thoughts on [Bob] Baffert and Betamethasone.
- James Altucher - AOC and Progressives Hurt the Poor Every Day: Here's How
- Baffert Blames 'Cancel Culture' for Suspension, Could Go to Court. Good explanation of the legal situation for Bob Baffert.
- Origin of Covid - Following the Clues
- I suffer from this feeling often. Too often.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Not for nothing but if Medina Spirit's second drug test comes back negative then those who question Covid vaccines and their efficacity will have another data point. Modern medicine can't even tell if a horse is on steroids but I'm supposed to trust the government on these vaccines? I can just hear the bar chatter now... Heh Heh - Biden Proposes $2 Trillion Bill to Study What's Causing Inflation Rates to Rise... Who knew? Rudyard Kipling's actual first name is Joseph. I guess Joe Kipling just didn't have that same literary appeal as Rudyard... The idea that Socialism will bring prosperity is fundamentally no different than the idea that storks will bring babies... I wonder if the Iranian Mullahs see Israel's Iron Dome in action and worry that they don't have any protection like that in place... Jazz Cabbage is my new favorite term for pot...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting review of The Big Chill a movie I've probably seen a dozen times but the older I get the less appealing it becomes because the characters are so whiny and entitled. (HT Newmark's Door)
- Biden Administration may be hiding damning report on student debt crisis.
- 4 Ways to Simplify the Complex
- Heh Heh
Noah Smith has a thought provoking comparison of Contemporary China vs Imperial Japan. Here's some of the thoughts it provoked with me.
I don't think Imperial Japan is the right comparison. I would lean more towards the "Rising Sun" Japan of the 80's and 90's. That economy was a threat to that of the US but was not able to keep apace for many reasons. A truer comparison would have contemporary China compared to a cross of Rising Sun Japan and Soviet Russia. A combination that in my opinion is destined for failure.
China had been giving a lot of leeway to it's entrepreneurs but that leeway has evaporated under Xi Jinping. A growing economy needs innovation and innovation needs freedom. I predict that China's economy will stagnate in the coming years (although reported data won't dare show this). You can't have economic freedom and iron fist control by one person. Won't work.
Smith also seems to believe that China is so big that it doesn't need territory expansion. This doesn't take into account Tibet which was a pure territory grab by the CCP. China needs the waters from the Himalayan mountains for its farms on the plains. What other territory will China deem necessary?
When it comes to military action Smith wants to make this a heads-up fight between the US and China. A more realistic scenario would be China vs an allied group of the US, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Australia. China would have no real allies (only maybe mercenaries).
Much of the discord in this country is being sown by the Communist Chinese and Russians because they understand that a strong US that appreciates its own strength is unstoppable. A "blame America first" mindset being taught in US schools only plays into their hands.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
One of my favorite history nuggets is the fact that Alexander Hamilton's son was also named Alexander Hamilton and he represented Aaron Burr's wife in her divorce suit. Aaron Burr died the day the divorce was made official... You may be cool but you'll never be as cool as Rogie Vachon in the 70's cool... Brain Grenade would be a good name for a band (or new strain of marijuana)... Another history nugget that sticks in my noggin... Truly believe that we have created a major mess when it comes to overly generous Unemployment Insurance benefits. As this post illustrates it is probably worst for restaurants. People have no incentive to return to work until their "bennies" run out. The people who worked during the pandemic deserve to be paid more than the people who sat at home on their couches when this all ends but you can't keep up the unrealistic wages and still expect restaurants to remain open. Guessing we'll see restaurants going out of business and smaller portions as the immediate short term results of this disastrous policy...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Psychedelic drug passes big test for PTSD treatment. "Two months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 32 percent in the placebo group."
- Noah Smith - Pandemic UI needs a redesign. No it doesn't - it needs to end. Paying people not to work and sending them great big "stimmie" checks is a recipe for disaster. That Dunkin Donuts in Rutland is still closed because it can't get enough workers to staff it. And it's been closed for over a month now. That's the real world not some spreadsheet prediction.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Every time I see Lebron James' beard I keep waiting for Spike Lee to announce he's signed Lebron to play Ahab in an all-black production of Moby Dick... God help us indeed!... When is Consumer Reports going to do an all tazers issue? I only want to buy the best... I've said this for a long time but I think all candidates for Congress should first have to take and pass the citizenship test immigrants take as part of the Naturalization process. And the results should be made public. That would both weed out candidates who don't know our history or how our system works (looking at you Maxine Waters) but also provide an easy metric for people on the fence to make a choice (pick the candidate with the higher score)... Sad but true... Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! (Those words will always be magical to me)...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Cool - Libraries that look like books. (HT Daddypundit)
- China emits more greenhouse gasses than the rest of the developed world combined. But they didn't pull out of the Paris Accords so everything peachy or some such nonsense.
- Matt Taibbi on the economy. Two turns of phrases I enjoyed "...in the finance sector, the economy's blood pressure just seems too high: we have vessels bursting and cash flying out all over." And "...deficit spending has been deemed an acceptable, if not mandatory national indulgence."
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Morgan Housel: The Limits of Investing Sanity
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
In the very near future many if not most questions by journalists will be responded to by either "I reject the premise" or "How dare you ask such a question!" These will basically replace "no comment" as the go to response... Here's an example of how the media will be dealt with going forward. Like hostile witnesses in a courtroom... In California I can see Caitlyn Jenner being the sacrificial lamb that asks all the right questions and elevates certain issues only to take all the slings and arrows. Another candidate, like a Richard Grenell, will be the beneficiary of her sacrifice.... Remember all we ask is two weeks to flatten the curve. Have we ever determined who was responsible for this monstrous lie?... So when do we see the stories that Aaron Rodgers has put his home in Green Bay up for sale? You know that story is coming...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- I always thought the boating life would be cool to try for a year or two.
- SpaceX Starlink service now has 500,000 pre-orders. Not mentioned in the article - the FCC has only given Starlink licenses for 1 million devices. Also not mentioned the Brownsville / South Padre island area where SpaceX has moved their operations is served via fiber (AT&T) and cable (Spectrum). Just saying.
- Roger Daltrey: The "Woke" generation is creating a miserable world
- Jordan Peterson - the truth will set you free
- The 2022 Tesla Cybertruck. I'm on the waitlist for the dual motor version.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that is invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." - Douglas Adams
"Lillies that fester smell far worse than weeds." - Shakespeare
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." - Winston Churchill
"Either Shit or Get Out of the Kitchen." - Neil Gaiman (or maybe Terry Pratchett)
"Education is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use." - Rudyard Kipling
"Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask." - Tim Ferris
"I got some new underwear today. Well new to me." - Emo Phillips
Likewise, economics has been divided into the study of the large (Macroeconomics) and the personal (Microeconomics). Yet you never seem to read or hear about any economists working on a unifying theory of economics. This seems odd to me. Like such a theory is not a priority. Makes me wonder if it is because economic decisions are made by people who aren't always rational or because economics isn't really a science?
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
If the Democrats succeed in making Washington DC a State then that means the Democrats think elected officials should have the right to ban dancing in an entire State by proclamation (even at weddings). But they'd be doing it for your own good!... Heh Heh (Flaming Barbells would also be a good name for a band)... "If you disagree with me that means you want to kill grandma."- Governor Andrew Cuomo. See how that works?.... Still blows my mind that Wade Boggs has his number retired by the Red Sox while Nomar Garciaparra does not. I also think the Red Sox ownership thought they could trade Mookie Betts with little PR fallout because they were "successful" in trading Nomar... The story of Basecamp deciding on a no-politics at work policy continues to fascinate me. First it's a 57-person company (or at least it was until a third of the company took severance to leave).How many 57-person companies get this amount of press? Could it be they've touched a nerve? This "inside look" at the company's all-hands meeting is amusing. One of the "sources" complains that the owners didn't listen to them just as the story describes how one of the founders spent two and a half hours answering any and all questions. The lack of self-awareness is classic. My guess is the company is much better off today with those who think their world view is all that matters out the door...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- VDH - Optimism Inc: One too many lies? "We are becoming cynical 1980s Eastern Europeans who quietly scoffed at their daily government news." Too true!
- Noah Smith: Why politically guided science is bad. Agree 100%.
- The Amazon 2020 letter to shareholders actually makes some interesting reading
- Tech Startup Cities may be the future and Miami may be in the vanguard.
- You could have called this a mile off - Broadband industry groups sue New York to stop $15 broadband service mandate.
1. Jay Z and Beyonce
2. Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen
3. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
4. Neil Gaiman (Brit but think he has dual citizenship) and Amanda Palmer
5. Alexis Ohanian (founder of Reddit) and Serena Williams
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Colleges and Universities have lost 650,000 jobs. Came for the graphic and explanation stayed for the comments which were not sympathetic to those who lost their jobs or the state of education overall.
- Glenn Greenwald on corporate journalism and how they knowingly spread "fake news." Of course the "mistakes" are always geared to damage one party. The use of Twitter is further evidence Twitter is a sewer.
- Matt Ridley: We no longer need to fear Covid
- Do You Feel You've Been Rehabilitated? Keep this in mind if you're ever asked woke questions expecting woke answers.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Coinbase enacted a similar "no politics" ban as Basecamp's recently enacted policy and reportedly 5% of their workforce resigned in protest (but with severance) last year. Would be really curious to see some reporter follow up and see if that 5% that resigned in protest were fully "vested" and made a killing in last month's Coinbase IPO or whether those 5% potentially made the biggest mistake of their lives. Coinbase now has a larger market cap than GM, Twitter, and FedEx... Heh Heh... For the record - I did not order the Code Red. You're goddamn right I didn't!... Ultimate Spinach would be a good name for a new cryptocurrency (or a new strain of medical marijuana)... Whenever you are thinking you are too old to start something new - remember that famed SCUBA diver Jacques Cousteau didn't learn to swim until he was 40-years old...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Brutally honest wine labels.
- Heh Heh
- VDH: American Universities have lost their prestige. "Bachelor of Arts degree, is no guarantee that a graduate can speak, write or communicate coherently or think inductively." Students are definitely not getting their money's worth.
- A third of Basecamp's workers resign after ban on talking politics. "Some employees are relieved, other are infuriated, and that pretty well describes much of the public debate around this too." If some employees were relieved that's evidence of an uncomfortable working environment. Those who are infuriated are they upset they can no longer force their views on those who are now relieved? Basecamp is much better off and will be so much better when all the Karens resign in protest.
"A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that." - Douglas Adams
I think living a good life can be boiled down to three simple rules.
1. First simply try to live life by the Golden Rule - treat others as you'd want them to treat you.
2. Try to make good decisions in life. For the most part you know instinctively a good choice from a bad choice. Try to make good choices.
3. You will make some bad choices - it's unavoidable. However when you do - treat your bad choice as a learning experience and take the words of Douglas Adams to heart and try not to make the same mistake twice.
Rinse, lather, repeat. A good life doesn't need to be complicated.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"You can't improve if you don't know what you're doing wrong." - Shane Parrish
"Thy aunts have never had a nose for seven generations!" - Rudyard Kipling
"Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life." - Robin Sharma
"I was asked about my mental preparation and what I believed early in my career. How many people are on the planet, 6-7 billion? I believed I could beat every single one of them. That's what I believed." - Mike Tyson
"What if this life is the paradise we were promised, and we're just squandering it?" - Naval Ravikant
"Here I stand, I can do no other." - Martin Luther
"You got to lower your ideal of freedom if you want to suck on the warm teat of China." - South Park
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Perhaps the biggest thing that worries me about the Patriots taking Mac Jones in the NFL Draft is the fact that the last QB they took with the 15th pick of the draft was Tony Eason who happens to be the least favorite Patriots QB of my lifetime... Well technically doesn't that mean that their sacrifices may have worked?... Prosthetic Ears would be a good name for a band... Happy Money (which would also be a good name for a band)... I'm very disappointed that President Biden has not appointed Elizabeth Warren to be Head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Please! Please! Please..
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting - the longest baseball road trip in history. (HT Daddypundit)
- Who knew? A1 Sauce wasn't originally for steak and it was first made famous by a king. (HT Daddypundit)
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"You have to be odd to be number one." - Dr. Seuss
"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature." - Joseph Campbell
"You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution for their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic." - Lewis Carroll
"If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough." - Meister Eckhart
"Life is short, break the rules. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that makes you smile." - Mark Twain
"Write your goals on a sheet of paper. Circle the three most important. Avoid doing any work on anything that's not circled." - Shane Parrish
"First and above all else, you must secure life, liberty, and the right to pursue your own happiness. That's politics done right, hard earned, often by war." - Charles Krauthammer
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Tim Ferriss: The Master and the Fool.
- Noah Smith: Someone has to Run the Fabs. America needs more investment and focus on STEM education.
- The media is lying about Joe Rogan. In other news - water is wet. The media is always lying about Joe Rogan.
- Pat Forde on the best and worst horse names in Kentucky Derby history. If I owned an entry in the Derby I would have simply named it Horse (because I would have been amused by that - my mind works differently than most)
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." - Richard Feynman
"We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." - Seneca
"Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?" - Rumi
"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." - C.S. Lewis
"A mistake repeated more than once is a decision." - Paulo Coelho
"Of all the Thompson gunners, Roland was the best." - Warren Zevon
