"...the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description."Missouri Executive Order 44 passed on this day in 1838. The law made it legal to kill Mormons in Missouri. The law was not repealed until 1976.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"I think Hell's something you carry around with you. Not somewhere you go." - Neil Gaiman
"Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it." - Epictetus
"Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods." - Socrates
"Quiet people have the loudest minds." - Stephen Hawking
Starbase under construction. (Headline shamelessly stolen from Execupundit.)
Leaked emails reveal twists in the Australian Open vaccine drama. Supposedly nobody who wasn't "double vaxxed" would be allowed into the country but now it looks like some exceptions may be made.
World Number One Novak Djokovic has not revealed his vaccine status (good for him) and his participation may be in question. And why would a person of Djokovic's stature and accomplishment want to quarantine himself for 14-days in a hotel as the exceptions require? If Djokovic and others decline to participate or are not allowed to participate - the winners of the Australian Open should have a huge asterixis next to their names in the record books.
If I were in Djokovic's shoes - I'd hold a competing tournament at the same time as the Australian Open and hold it in one of the Nordic countries that has completely removed all COVID restrictions. I'd sell the TV rights to this competing tourney and use those funds to pay the participants. The IFT (International Tennis Federation) should question why Australia has one of the four tennis major tourney's in the first place. Open up a competition to replace Australia and generate so much more exposure and interest for the sport. Australia has no one to blame but themselves. Going forward the Australian Open should be relegated to the status of a local tourney and nothing more.
Agree with Taibbi that the "coverage across the board was ridiculously one-sided" and the press basically once again revealed themselves as being not only completely biased but also bereft of any sense of humor. Those in the media who argued that Chappelle "defended" the rapper DaBaby also probably thought he was defending Jussie Smollett in an earlier special.
Dave Chappelle, himself, speaks out about the "controversy." And for the record - Hannah Gadsby is completely unfunny.
I think Peter Thiel is 100% right.
"If we say crypto is libertarian and that it is fundamentally a force for decentralization, then I think we should also be willing to say that AI, especially the low-tech surveillance form, is essentially communist."
"If you want to frame it as a technological race... I want the crypto decentralized world to work," he said.
(HT Meanderthal)
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"It is amazing how much panic one honest an can spread among a multitude of hypocrites." - Thomas Sowell
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetus
"That which we need the most will be found where we least want to look." - Carl Jung
"I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand." - John Wayne
Governor Ron DeSantis wants to offer "anti-vax" police offers bonuses to come to work in Florida.
Was talking about this very thing this weekend with some friends. Florida and Texas are the perfect landing spots for these cops. Two things to add:
1. Many of these cops would be taking retirement and then moving to Florida. They would thus be both experienced but also fairly flush with cash which would also help the State's economy.
2. The article originally appeared on the Huffington Post and you can see the clear lefty bias in the article.
New York City takes down statue of the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Even though I have conflicted feelings about Jefferson - the author of the piece provides a compelling argument and some interesting history. One thing I'd point out is that removing Jefferson is not about slavery - it's about removing traces of our history and what this country was built upon. The statue of Teddy Roosevelt was removed from outside the Museum of Natural History in NYC and he never owned slaves.
Have a new Flotsam and Jetsam column up at Substack.
As always if anything in the column made you smile or think please hit the Like button and share with your friends. Also please subscribe. Thanks in advance.
Some historians are revisiting "the accusation of treachery, arguing that Tlaxcalans and other city states were in fact fighting a war of liberation against the oppressive Mexica (as the Aztecs were known)." Interesting history.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Obscurity is the refuge of the incompetent." - Robert Heinlein
"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." - Adam Smith
"Poems are always better than a bloody turkey foot in the mailbox,. Few would disagree." - Jim Harrison
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - JRR Tolkien The Hobbit
Beyond Meat implodes after reporting catastrophic Q3 sales.
You couldn't pay me to eat fake meat. Who the hell is buying $106 million's worth of this crap?
VDH's columns can seem repetitive at times but that may be because he seems to be among the few in the media who recognizes that these things are BIG deals. And people need to pay attention to them. For instance we still have many Americans stuck and seemingly forgotten in Afghanistan since their plight is almost universally ignored by the corporate media who seem to prefer to cover what Netflix will do about Dave Chappelle instead.
Interesting look at how the "creator economy" has not only become a real thing but big business. Next year expected to pass $10 billion.
Stripe is an interesting business.
Here are some quotes that I hope may resonate with you.
"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." - Ernest Hemingway
"You will not be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger." - the Buddha
"The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself." - Peter Thiel
"The secret to being likable is to not care if people like you." - Ed Latimore
More info on why the Celtics' Enes Kanter spoke out against China.
Kanter is a brave man living in exile from his own country. He knew he'd get death threats but spoke out anyway.
Agree 100% with Glenn Reynolds on this.
I would also add that most of those who get the shots to save their jobs - there is bound to be a lot of resentment. That resentment will manifest itself in many ways - not least in who they vote for in upcoming elections.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"You have to be odd to be number one." - Dr. Seuss
"If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind." - the Buddha
"Depend on nobody. Take pride in yourself. And fight for everything. That's the way it has to be." - Bob Gibson
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self." - Ernest Hemingway
Five years ago this was the prediction made by The New York Times. Just a reminder not to believe what you read in the New York Times.
A movie's cinematographer has died after being shot by a prop gun on a movie set. The gun was fired by Alec Baldwin but until proven otherwise I'd hold him completely innocent. In fact - I'd say he's also one of the victims. Can't imagine how awful he must feel.
On the other hand - Hollywood has had so many cop show plot twists where someone switches blank prop gun bullets with real ones that I'll be following this story to see what the investigation finds. If only Columbo or Castle were on the case.
EDIT: Seems like it was a real gun loaded with one real live round - not a "prop gun." Still giving Baldwin the benefit of the doubt - for now.
Musk is currently the world's richest person with a net worth of $241 billion. Or as Morgan Housel puts it, "Elon Musk's net worth is now higher than the market cap of all but 25 public companies."
NCIS wished the Navy a happy birthday with a picture of a Russian ship.
Good enough for government work I guess.
As always if you could share my post and perhaps let some of your audience try my writing and viewpoints - it would be greatly appreciated!
China's economy slows amid power cuts and real estate crisis. "The world's second largest economy could contract even further as the year draws to a close."
Increasing energy costs and food shortages will further hurt the Chinese economy and trust/obedience to the CCP. Also do not trust China's self-reported growth numbers. The CCP is not to be trusted.
Some quotes that I hope may resonate with you.
"All cruelty springs from weakness." - Seneca
"Professionals are people who can do their best work when they don't feel like it." - Alistair Cooke
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan
"If you take care of the minutes, the years take care of themselves." - Tibetan Proverb
How do you insult a pig by calling it a pig? Don't trust China - China is asshole! Free Tibet! Free Hong Kong!
Interesting look at casual set theory and how it fits into quantum physics.
This theory competes against string theory and loop quantum gravity. In my opinion string theory is a waste of time. It should be noted that it's not just casual set theory which imagines a universe without a beginning - loop quantum gravity does the same. In fact even Georges Lemaitre, who came up with the concept of the Big Bang, thought the Big Bang may not have been the beginning. Lemaitre, who was a Catholic priest, even persuaded the Pope not to say that the Big Bang was confirmation of the Biblical creation story because there was a chance it may not have been the beginning of things.
"A huge part of the casual set philosophy is that the passage of time is something physical." This - right there is why I lean towards casual set theory as being correct according to my intuition.
(HT Newmark's Door)
Have a new Flotsam and Jetsam column up on Substack.
As always if it makes you smile or think - please hit the like button and share with people.
Steven Pressfield on the military term "operational" and how it applies to writing.
If you have been thinking about a project - declare yourself "operational" and get to work.
As always the comments on these posts are also well worth your time.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"If you're trying to fit in, you'll never reach your potential." - Shane Parrish
"Socialism is astrology for beta males." - Jack Posobiec
"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic." - Frank Hebert Dune
"Practiced execution become game results." - Mike Lombardi
