Friday, March 31, 2023
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Read Old Books. Making sure they're the right old books is the key.
- David Deutsch - Chemical scum that dream of distant quasars. Great TED Talk from 2005
Friday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Friend told me Opening Day tickets at Fenway yesterday were available for as low as $13. It was a cold March day but $13 tickets? Just shows you how little enthusiasm there is for this year's team. Please Subscribe, hit the Like button or share with others. Thanks.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Castaneda
"Knowledge if not digested does not give nutrition, only adds weight." - Osho
"When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It's pain only for others. It's the same thing when you are stupid." - Richard Feynman
"Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." - Robert Frost
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The surprising history of the car radio. With many cool tangents. Love history like this!
- Interesting list of useful websites
- A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century. Great work from The Tablet.
Find Something Beautiful Today
Trees reflected in a drop of water. (Photo via) Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The most serious problem facing any organization is the one that cannot be discussed." - Marc Andreessen
"The assumption that spending more of the taxpayers' money will make things better has survived all kinds of evidence that it has made things worse." - Thomas Sowell
"Never was a government that was not composed of liars, malefactors, and thieves." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The overeducated are worse off than the undereducated, having traded common sense for the illusion of knowledge." - Naval Ravikant
The Importance of a Single Vote
On this date in 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for the price of $7 million which worked out to about $.02 per acre. This purchase was known at the time as Seward's Folly after Secretary of State William Seward who arranged the purchase. Seward was also in charge of trying to get the Senate to ratify the treaty authorizing the purchase. The treaty was ratified on April 9th but it passed by a single vote.
Think of that. If one person changed their vote from yes to no - Alaska might not be part of the US today.Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Welcoming our new Chatbot Overlords. People should recognize that there's a world of difference between AI (a tool) and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) which is where sentience will reside. We are a long way from AGI.
- The Biden Administration's war on large appliances.
- The IRS visiting Matt Taibbi's home the same day he was testifying to Congress is not a coincidence. The weaponization of government is becoming more overt.
- Hollywood's Great Awakening. Little skeptical since Christian films are still "niche" in Hollywood but I would not be surprised about a general Christian awakening in America as many are in desperate need of community.
A Modest Proposal
Here's a modest proposal to help fix education in America in a few short steps.
Problem solved. What do you think?
Please Subscribe (reminder - its FREE), hit the Like button, and please if you liked the article share it with others.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"I dream with my eyes open." - Jules Verne
"Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"The reward for our work is not what we get, but what we become." - Paulo Coelho
"Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal. Because it would require total state control over its citizens' lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons." - Ron Paul
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Nearly 25% of Adult White Women are on Antidepressants
2023 Tax Burden by State
Source: WalletHub
Interesting data. Surprised by Maine being third on the list. Scroll over your State to see your rank. Was also surprised my State - Taxachusetts was 20th. (HT Newmark's Door)
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting timeline of Cannabis Legislation in the US. Looks to be legal in all states in near future.
- How people get rich now. (Paul Graham post from 2021 but worth revisiting)
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The modern mind is overstimulated and the modern body is understimulated and overfed. Meditation, exercise, and fasting restore an ancient balance." - Naval Ravikant
"May you live a thousand years, and never be a worse judge of the right sort than you are at the present moment of your life!" - Charles Dickens
"In your prayers substitute 'protect us from evil' with 'protect us from those who improve things for a salary.'" - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
"In America, the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience." - Oscar Wilde
Monday, March 27, 2023
Life Expectancy in the US
Monday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Guess the people who thought that NIL (name, image, and likeness) in college sports would only lead to the richer getting richer will have a hard time explaining this years' Final Four in basketball. As always please Subscribe, hit the Like button or share with others.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Movement is life, and as we move we get continuous feedback - which leads to discovery, wonder, joy, and all the other experiences you can have throughout life's great adventure. When you are no longer able to process energy, you will be declared dead and your adventure will be over," - Bill Perkins
"Never confuse education with intelligence, you can have a PhD and still be an idiot." - Richard Feynman
"I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." - Robert Heinlein
"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Top NHL Goal Songs
The Athletic has their List of the Top 10 NHL Goal Songs (subscription required). The above is the snippet of Zombie Nation that plays after each Boston goal and as a Bruins fan this has a special place in my heart. The Athletic reluctantly has this listed 6th on their list (as an aside I thought Zombie Nation was the name of the song but its actually KernKraft 400 by Zombie Nation).
Here's what The Athletic had as their Top 5 songs:
3. Chicago Blackhawks - Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis (perhaps the funkiest of the choices)
5. Minnesota Wild - Shout by The Isley Brothers (old school)
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Jimmy Stewart reads a touching poem about his dog Beau.
- Heh Heh
- Interesting look at the history between Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Open AI
- Interesting question - why not put chip manufacturing plants in Canada?
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Darth Vader goes to Walmart (completely scripted and produced by AI)
- Oliver Stone coming out with pro-nuclear energy film, "Nuclear Now"
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"It doesn't take much to convince us that we are smart and healthy, but it takes a lot of facts to convince us of the opposite." - Dan Gilbert
"When people are trying to see how far they can push things, that is the time to let them know that they have already pushed things too far." - Thomas Sowell
"Being alive is great, you can eat at Denny's, you can wear a hat whenever you want to, it's wonderful." - Norm Macdonald
"Hard work isn't punishment. Hard work is the price of admission for the opportunity to reach excellence." - Jay Bilas
78 Years Ago Today the US Marines Secured the Island of Iwo Jima
"We were Marines. They say you go - you go." Semper Fi.
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Find Something Beautiful Today
A full rainbow photographed at 30,000 feet. Rainbows are actually full circles but we normally only see half. (Photo via) Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The Road Not Taken perhaps the most misread poem in history
- Heh Heh
- As we come up on the 2023 Masters a reminder that past Masters are available for viewing on YouTube
- WTF? Bedtime cereal? This must be aimed at people who still wear masks while driving alone.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Doctors won't make you healthy. Nutritionists won't make you slim. Teachers won't make you smart. Gurus won't make you calm. Mentors won't make you rich. Trainers won't make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself." - Naval Ravikant
"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou
"Man has been reduced not even to a digestive tube, but to a bag of money that gradually is losing its value... This is both economic history and the history of a spiritual decadence." - Ezra Pound
"Your desires would diminish drastically if you didn't need to impress anyone. - Derren Brown
Friday, March 24, 2023
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Banking crisis far from over - now its Deutsch Bank in trouble. (Of course it could be much worse by the time this posts.)
- Its time to end the speed limit in US airspace. Agree 100%.
- Khan Academy adding AI to help with education.
- Florida State Rep reads fake names into the official record. Mike Hunt and Dick Hertz from Holden could not be reached for comment.
Why Bruins Fans Love Brad Marchand
"You don't hit our captain late. That was a three-second late hit. I love that Marchand did that." - Bruins Coach Jim Montgomery (Photo via)
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- 20,000 years ago our ancestors had the speed of Olympic sprinters but were barefoot running in sand.
- Ford sees $3 billion pretax loss on EV business this year. Only Tesla seems to be able to make a profit on EV sales.
- Coinbase asked the SEC what rules they may be in violation of but got threats back instead. The people who brought you the latest banking crisis don't want anyone escaping their grasp via crypto.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own." - Albert Ellis
"Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together." - Jonathan Swift
"A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
"I'd rather be a poor master of my own fate than a rich servant of someone else's." - Michael Caine
Thursday, March 23, 2023
The Kinks - Low Budget
With the economy going the way its been going don't be surprised if this song makes a resurgence.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting - using Starlink or other satellite services to link to your smartphone in remote areas for cell coverage may be coming soon.
- Morgan Housel on herd mentality and the SVB bank run.
- Chevy to discontinue the Camaro. It's an end of an era.
- Inflammation may be more important than cholesterol in preventing heart attacks. (HT Newmark's Door)
Thursday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Hate to say it but I was kinda rooting for Japan vs the USA the other night for the WBC championship. It just meant more to them while for most Americans it was just an exhibition. Please subscribe, hit the Like button or share the link with others. Thanks.
An Observation
Compare that to what alphabet books or shows like Seasame Street would use for the letter "D" today (most likely dog or doll). It just seems like we are expecting less of our kids today . Unless they're home schooled.
Just out of curiosity - how many of you knew that a dromedary was a one humped camel?
It was this Tweet that made me think of this post. Made me wonder if I was wrong about my observation. Or if the two children from the Tweet were homeschooled.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Wherever the ways of man are gentle, there is commerce, and wherever there is commerce, the ways of men are gentle." - Montesquieu
"Random violence makes the news precisely because it is so rare; routine acts of kindness does not make the news precisely because it is so commonplace." - Matt Ridley
"That's the reason they're called lessons, they lessen from day to day." - Lewis Carroll
"Unlike material possessions, which seem exciting at the beginning but then often depreciate quickly, experiences actually gain in value over time: They pay what I call a memory dividend." - Bill Perkins
8 Book Recommendations from Naval
I've read four, own three others, and will be adding The Untethered Soul to my reading list. Have been meaning to re-read Siddhartha for a while now. Would not recommend Sapiens - would suggest anything by Will and Ariel Durant instead. The Beginnings of Infinity is not an easy book so keep that in mind before you jump in.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Sharing a bed with pets may cause lack of sleep. 100% true but wouldn't change a thing.
- The Groundhog Day of liberal fantasies.
- Heh Heh
- Noah Smith makes the case for banning TikTok. Agree 100%.
Banking, Beer and Taxes
Have a new post up on Substack on the interesting parallels between today and 90-years ago.
Find it amusing that FDR, who was known for his White House cocktail parties during Prohibition, used a loophole in the Volstead Act to help solve the banking crisis he was faced with as he entered office.
As always - please Subscribe to my Substack, hit the Like button, or share with others. Cheers!
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The case for reading fiction from Harvard Business Review.
- Interesting - reportedly US intel helped India rout China in 2022 border clash. We need to be closer allies with India.
- If you have a Samsung cell phone there's a critical security bug you need to be aware of.
- Matt Ridley on the "Racoon dogs" being the latest - it wasn't a lab leak distraction out of China. It was a lab leak. "Don't trust China - China is asshole!"
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"So many people have just filled their 'religion hole' with political ideology and they don't realize it." - Zuby
"Maximizing your fulfillment from experiences - by planning how you will spend your time and money to achieve the biggest peaks you can with the resources you have - is how you maximize your life." - Bill Perkins
"Robert Johnson wrote that the word happiness comes from to happen. Our happiness is what happens." - Jeff Bridges
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week." - General George Patton
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Tuesday, March 21, 2023
The Best Way to Remember Things - Take Notes!
The value of reading, and of writing things down that we read, or hear, cannot be overstated. Two expert guests (who specialize in speech and memory) on the Huberman Lab podcast explained that when we read text or listen to something and then write key aspects/takeaways down by hand- not typing, it engages our motor control centers in ways that deeply embed that information to our memory. Taking notes, however cursory, turns out to be the best way to remember and implement information later. - Andrew Huberman Ph. D
I have always found this to be true - and why I highlight the books I read. Huberman's podcast is well worth you time as well.
Politicization of Acedemia
The tragedy of modern German [pre WW II] is an object-lesson in the dangers of allowing academic life to become politicized and professors to proclaim their 'commitment.' Whether the bias is to the Left or Right the results are equally disastrous for in either case the wells of truth are poisoned.
Sound familiar?
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Interesting profile of Robert Duvall focusing on his roles in Western movies. A little disappointed The Great Santini wasn't mentioned in the article but Duvall's played so many great characters and there's only so many words in the post (HT Execupundit)
- The Deceptive Design Hall of Shame
- Speaking of deceptive - Google won't honor medical leave during layoffs. Reminder that Google got rid of its motto "Don't be evil" in 2018.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual." - Calvin Coolidge
"One day you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the things you always wanted. Do it now." - Paul Coelho
"The only way to solve a problem is to act on it." - Naval Ravikant
"The people running our country are utter fools. These people are getting us on the brink of war with Russia, And I don't have any faith in them and I think most people don't." - Joe Rogan
Monday, March 20, 2023
Happy 75th Birthday to the Great Bobby Orr
I think the expectations in Boston have become such that any Bruins season that ends before the anniversary of Bobby Orr flying through the air to beat St Louis in the Stanley Cup (May 5, 1970) is a disappointment. Happy birthday Robert Gordon Orr!
Monday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Going to have to check if there's any Silent Disco channels on YouTube. Think watching those folks dance would be amusing. As always - please Subscribe, hit the Like button, and share the Link with others. Thanks!
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth." - George Orwell
"Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong." - Calvin Coolidge
"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." -James Madison
"I've realized that somebody who's tired and needs a rest, and goes on working all the same is a fool." - Carl Jung
Sunday, March 19, 2023
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Matt Taibbi's Twitter Files #19 - The Great Covid-19 Lie Machine - Stanford, the Virality Project and the Censorship of "True Stories"
- Great story that explains why Jack Nicholson was always loyal to Paramount head Robert Evans. (Via)
- Carpenters do use strange ways to measure stuff. Or is this a reference to the movie Clerks?
- Why China appears ready to go to war with the US over Taiwan
Find Something Beautiful Today
Recent photo from the Hubble Telescope. (Photo via) Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Did ESG help sink SVB? Yes - next question.
- Heh Heh
- Surprising - Joe Biden's birth date is closer to Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration - than to his own Inauguration. Perhaps the only time Biden and Lincoln can logically be used in the same sentence. (Via)
- Manhattan DA announces plan to get Trump re-elected in 2024.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." - Soren Kierkegaard
"Silence is a lesson learned through life's many sufferings." - Seneca
"How quickly you unlearn what you think you know often determines how far you go. A lot of adults think they know the answer so when the world tells them they're wrong, they dismiss it. And that is the moment they stop getting better." - Shane Parrish
"But because I believe that the reward for discipline is greater than its immediate objective, I would not have you think that discipline without objective is possible: in its nature discipline involved the subjection of the soul to some perhaps minor end, and that end must be real." Robert Oppenheimer
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Find Something Beautiful Today
The beautiful Hedy Lamarr (photo via). Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.
It's an Open AI Chatbot World - We're Just Living in It
Microsoft introduces Microsoft 365 Copilot. The demo video is pretty cool.
Microsoft is also in the news for "cutting a key AI ethics team." The team was called "ethics and society" which makes one wonder what sort of bias on ethics and society that team was actually bringing to the table.
Not to be outdone - Google announced AI features in GMail, Docs, and more to rival Microsoft.
Think one of the aspects of AI chatbots like 365 Copilot, GPT-4, and others is that in the very near future people will be using the tools to work multiple full-time jobs and double-dip on salaries.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The richest people in the world in 2023.
- Maybe its just me but I think this is so cool
- Think I'll try this with $100 too!
- Lincoln as Commander in Chief. Interesting history. (HT Newmark's Door)
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so." - Robert Heinlein
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"Death had to take [Teddy] Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." - Thomas R. Marshall
"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety." - Isaac Asimov
Friday, March 17, 2023
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Starlink now has worldwide roaming service available. $2,500 for the in-motion hardware and then up to $200 per month for service. Imagine this would be great for yachts and mobile homes.
- Americans deserve to know who funded the BLM riots. When did Newsweek morph into National Review?
- Anglo-Eastern plans to install Starlink on 200 ships. The technology is a game-changer.
Friday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! It would warm the cockles of my heart to know that while I'm out today doing a pub crawl that you are Subscribing, hitting the Like button, or sharing the link with others.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." - Humpty Dumpty
"Dead people receive more flowers than living ones, because regret is stronger than gratitude." - Anne Frank
"Government cannot make us equal; it can only recognize, respect, and protect us as equal before the law." - Clarence Thomas
"No man was ever wise by chance." - Seneca
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Saint Patrick's Day Music
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Here are my Top 5 Songs for celebrating Saint Patrick's Day (because Oh Danny Boy is shite).
1. Rocky Road to Dublin
2. If I Should Fall From Grace with God - The Pogues
3. Four Green Fields - Makem & Clancy
4. The Foggy Dew - Sinead O'Connor and the Chieftains
5. I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphy's
2. If I Should Fall From Grace with God - The Pogues
3. Four Green Fields - Makem & Clancy
4. The Foggy Dew - Sinead O'Connor and the Chieftains
5. I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphy's
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Human lab rats. I couldn't do this but to each their own.
- Hockey players and fans are the best! Your feel good story for today.
- Heh Heh - Many a truth is said in jest!
- ChatGPT's liberal bias. Sadly for the people who designed the AI chat bot this isn't a bug - it's a feature.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Going to hell for laughing at this (and for pulling it from the archives to laugh at it again). Be sure to have the volume on.
- Speaking of archives - from Forbes archives from 5-years ago, "We have five years to save ourselves from climate change." It's been a scam all along.
- Perennial Rice - larger crop yields with less labor. This is a big deal. Worries me that it almost seems too good to be true. Is the sample size of four years and eight cropping seasons enough to know the full scope?
- Interesting post - if you're a founder would you want to be an insider (a Nirav) or an outsider (a Naval)?
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Character is a powerful defense in a world that would love to be able to seduce you, buy you, tempt you, and change you." - Seneca
"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are." - Anais Nin
"Do no harm, and take no shit." - Elizabeth Lesser
"People would rather believe than know." - E.O. Wilson
Blog Anniversary
Missed the anniversary last Friday but its now been 19-years that I started this silly blog as a place to jot down my thoughts. Back then about half my posts were about sports (baseball in particular).
Sports has taken up less and less of my time and attention but old habits die hard and I'm still a fan of my Boston teams.
The photo to the left is of Fred Lynn who was one of my favorite players gowning up (still believe Lynn would have been a Hall of Famer if he stayed in Boston). Going with Lynn seemed right to mark the anniversary although Steely Dan's Hey Nineteen may have been a more clever way.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Die with Zero
Great moral. But when does the ant get to play?
Great question from and the guiding premise to Bill Perkins' book Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life. Just started the book but enjoying it. Doesn't hurt that I had already embraced the premise without knowing it.
Battlebots 2024
Not sure if I like this future.
- AI Bots beating Captcha protections.
- And AI Bots getting revenge on robo call bots.
Good bots vs Bad bots. Think you'll see people disconnecting completely from the Internet in the near future to avoid the battle arena completely.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- From the archives - "Naked female scientist tames belugas in freezing Arctic" (Warning: naked female Arctic scientist)
- The Jussie Smollett hoax perpetrators re-enacting that fateful night - awesome.
- Vitamin D may reduce dementia risk by 40%. Vitamin D is one of the two supplements I take every day (along with Omega 3 fish oil)
- Diamond Sports files for bankruptcy. Diamond is the owner of 19 regional sports networks (RSN) with rights to 46 pro teams from MLB, NBA, and NHL teams.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"If you worked as hard at doing difficult things as you did avoiding them, you'd become unstoppable." - Shane Parrish
"There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe." - Friedrich Nietzsche
"We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures." - Susan Jeffers
"A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot." - Robert Heinlein
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The heavy-handedness of the Democrats and the government in general is really troubling. Thank goodness for people like Matt Taibbi.
Tuesday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
Happy 90th birthday to Michael Caine. Did you know if you say "My Cocaine" you are also saying "Michael Caine" in his native accent? As always please Subscribe, hit the Like button, or share the link with others.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love..." - Marcus Aurelius
"Money's greatest intrinsic value - and this cannot be overstated - is its ability to give you control over your time." - Morgan Housel
"Our span of life is brief, but is long enough for us to live well and honestly." - Cicero
"The more communist the newspaper, the more expensive the luxury goods in the ads." - Marc Andreessen
Monday, March 13, 2023
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- SVB gave out employee bonuses hours before collapse of bank. Talk about bad optics.
- Speaking of SVB - is it awful that I want one of these hats?
- Matt Taibbi on the Democrats disastrous miscalculations on civil liberties. The Democratic Party becoming more and more autocratic is very troubling.
- History can instruct us on the fallout from SVB's collapse
Sam Harris on Wisdom
From Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans. Trump Derangement Syndrome may have broken Sam Harris' brain but the above is still excellent life advice.
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- So Very True. Every year.
- How dare she!
- Interesting look at the run on SVB from the perspective of a customer.
- How Biden's abuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is harming the US
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war." - William S. Burroughs
"The means of learning are abundant - it is the desire to learn that is scarce." - Naval Ravikant
"Though they may start out with entrepreneurial zeal, once firms or bureaucracies grow large, they become risk-adverse to the point of Luddism." - Matt Ridley
"I've bongoed naked until the cops arrested me." - Matthew McConaughey
Sunday, March 12, 2023
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- The head of Financial Risk Management at SVB. The profile doesn't mention anything about her actual financial experience.
- Some top shelf trolling by the Russians.
One in Ten Americans are on Antidepressants
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- If you pay via a Silicon Valley Bank issued credit card does that make the discount 100%?
- The weaponization of government has got to stop. And those who engage in it should be made to pay a price.
- This is great on so many levels.
- Former Enron employee Paul Krugman never fails to amuse. Another of his failed predictions.
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"There are people who can neither find happiness in their own lives nor permit those around them to be happy. The best you can do is get such people out of your life." - Thomas Sowell
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." - Cicero
"The endless modern laments about how texting and emails are shortening the attention span go back to Plato, who deplored writing as a destroyer of memorizing." - Matt Ridley
"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best." - Epictetus
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has collapsed and many people are asking why and what are the ramifications.
I have a new post up on Substack with my thoughts and observations on the situation.
Science Today
The below quote if from Ernest Lawrence who among other things won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics and founded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:
In scientific work, creative thinking demands seeing things not seen previously, or in ways not previously imagined; and this necessitates jumping off from "normal" positions, and taking risks by departing from reality. The difference between the thinking of the paranoid patient and the scientist comes from the latter's ability and willingness to test out his fantasies or grandiose conceptualizations through the systems of checks and balances science has established - and give up those schemes that are shown not to be valid on the basis of these scientific checks. - Ernest Lawrence
It could be argued that today these checks and balances in science have been mostly removed or neutered. So what then becomes the difference between the scientist and the paranoid patient? This is how we wind up with String Theory dominating physics and in medicine medical cures whose side effects are worse than the ailment they are trying to cure.
Crazy!
Farnam Street Knowledge
First I come across the Morgan Housel post on writing from 5-years ago, which reminded me of the Paul Graham essay on writing and now this from Shane Parrish: its like the universe is telling me to write more!
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share,
- NFL Career Passing TD Leaders Visualized
- Interesting tech - interesting potential application
- Morgan Housel on Psychological Paths of Least Resistance
- It's that time of year again - Dr. Peter Attia on the epidemic of Martiomania
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Only wholeness leads to clarity, and truth lies in the abyss." - Schiller
"I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand."- John Wayne
"Principle X - neither the minority nor the majority should be able to impose their preferences on other." - Nassim Taleb
"A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of his life." - Charles Darwin
Friday, March 10, 2023
Putting Ideas Into Words
Paul Graham has an essay on writing - and why you should write.
You can know a great deal about something without writing about it. Can you ever know so much that you wouldn't learn more from trying to explain what you know?
I find this to be true and in large part this why I blog (please note that I'm in no way trying to equate myself to Paul Graham or any serious writer). In part to get the ideas out of my head (to hopefully make room for new ideas) and because writing those thoughts and ideas down helps me to better understand the subject whether it be how the the vaccines may effect your health or how a free agent signing may help one of my favorite sports teams.
Comedians are perfect examples of this. Most great comedians get an idea for a joke and the first thing they do is write it down. Then they rewrite and rewrite the joke until they feel it is ready to test out on an audience. And based upon the reaction of the audience they'll probably rewrite the joke some more. Changing words and maybe adding some tags.
This is basically a repost from last year but finding that Morgan Housel post on Selfish Writing made me think of it.
More Linky Links
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Programming vs Demon Summoning
- Michael Shellenberger also testified in Congress alongside Matt Taibbi. Michael deserves our thanks for his yeoman's work protecting our First Amendment rights.
- Rand Paul's criticism of Anthony Fauci was right all along. We owe Dr. Paul our thanks too.
- Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, invests $180 million on a life longevity startup. Billionaires in the past gave us universities and libraries. Today's billionaires want to give us longer and healthier lives (except Bill Gates - he wants us to eat bugs).
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- GM to offer workers in the US voluntary separation packages (VSP) to help cut costs. "General Motors' South Korea division will offer a similar VSP package, but workers in Canada, Mexico, and China will not." Non-union Tesla not cutting any employment in their US plants.
- Matt Taibbi's statement to Congress. Today's must read if you haven't read it already. The First Amendment and free speech is a non-negotiable right.
- Naval Ravikant's Life Formulas. Great life advice!
Friday Flotsam and Jetsam
Have a new miscellaneous thoughts and observations post up on Substack.
What's new pussycat? Well my post on Substack is new and I'd appreciate it if you'd subscribe, hit the Like button, or share with others. Can you do that for me pussycat?
Quotes for Today
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"You are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn't making you stronger, they're making you weaker." - Tim Ferriss
"Sustained outrage makes you stupid!" - Kevin Kelly
"You are willing to die, you coward, but not to live." - Herman Hesse
"Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world." - Voltaire
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