Quotes for Today

 Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Science begins with a vision. Scientific thought is fed by the capacity to 'see' things differently than they have previously been seen." - Carlo Rovelli 

"Your task, Romans, will be to govern the peoples of the world in your empire. These will be your arts - to impose a settled pattern upon peace, to pardon the defeated and to battle down the proud." - Virgil

"Some things are hurrying into existence, and others are hurrying out of it." - Marcus Aurelius

"You're just mad you can't date me." - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

As They Say in the South, "Bless Her Heart"

The people of her district must be so proud of well she represents them.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

President Trump contacted Alex Rodriguez about the Wuhan virus because he wanted to check with A-Rod how the centaur community was handling the crisis. Next the President with check with Beto O'Rourke to check on how the furry community is coping...  Always thought a Lord of the Rings spoof about the "Mood Rings of Power" would be amusing. One mood ring to control them all! It would have the power to make people happy, sad, etc. If you wanted to make it an R rating you could also make the One Ring also have the power to make people horny... I see this and I automatically think "well that's proof they should re-open the golf courses!"... "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent." - Charlie Munger... Heh Heh - are we sure this is photoshop?... Remember when ESPN's Adam Schefter wrote, "Robert Kraft is 'not the biggest name' involved in [last year's Orchids of Asia] prostitution bust"? Well Adam we're still waiting. Why was Kraft singled out? And people wonder why Patriots fans dislike ESPN... Memento Mori would be a great name for a life insurance company...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh Heh

- Apple to pay up to $500 million in settlement over battery-related iPhone slowdown.

- Heh Heh - AOC shuts down Ted Cruz by making baking soda volcano

- Japanese James Bond posters. I know art when I see it.

- A step-by-step guide to Beethoven's nine symphonies. A good primer for a Philistine like me. HT Stephen Landry

- Elon Musk on the US Space Force

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tom Brady now has more rushing TD's on the season than Leonard Fornette, Alvin Kamara, and Saquon Barkley... This is very good life advice and an interesting exercise... Many-sided Mediocrity would be a good name for a band (or a descriptor of the next Democratic Presidential Debate)... I'm guessing the person happiest about the NBA/China kerfuffle is none other than AOC. Think about it - since this came up nobody has even cracked one "eat the babies" joke.. Good point... Sesame Street has a new muppet whose mother is addicted to opioids. Too bad in real life a child of a mother who is an actual addict is unlikely to have the luxury of HBO because that's the only place new Sesame Street episodes are broadcast... 

Money in Politics

For years I've heard that we need to get big money out of the political process. I guess each party doxxing the other party's major donors would be one way to accomplish this goal.

Though I think the people trying to shame Trump donors haven't thought this through.

If that's OK then I'm guessing it's perfectly fine for the ADL to publicly dox anyone who gave money to Ilhan Omar's campaign and portray them as people who are actively supporting anti-Semitism and Sharia Law.

Or for an opponent of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to publicly dox anyone who donated to AOC's campaign as being complicit is driving away Amazon's proposed headquarters from the district and costing 25,000 much needed jobs.

Under these new rules all that is fine - right?

This reminds me of when Harry Reid used the "nuclear option" to eliminate filibusters on executive branch appointments and federal judicial appointments. How's that short term thinking working for the Democrats as Mitch McConnell uses the new rules of the game Reid implemented to help President Trump install more Federal (Republican) judges than any President in history.

I would also be perfectly fine with taking away the tax deduction status of all political donations. It's nobody's business if I buy a large Hawaiian pizza from Dominos. When Dominos reports their earnings as required by law - they don't publicly report individual purchases by customer. So I don't have to worry about people doxxing me because I happen to like the combination of pineapple and ham (which I know some people view as an abomination in the eyes of the Lord). Likewise politicians would report how much money they raised but not from which individuals.

The big drawback to this suggestion could be the unfettered influx of foreign money.

Of course the simple solution would be for EVERYONE to just stop giving money to these assholes altogether (or all together which may fit better). Then maybe, just maybe, elected officials would have to run on their accomplishments and how they've helped their constituents and not on attack ads and much of the crap we deal with today.

Just a thought.

The Squad

This is funny. And persuasive. I'm an Independent but it should be clear that the Democrats are in trouble.

Now do Baltimore.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I consider myself a person of color. Unfortunately during the summer that color is usually a distressing shade of sunburnt red... Prediction - tight white tennis shorts that were popular in the 80's are going to make a comeback. I'm going to stock up now and start priming the fashion pump before the summer's out!... Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate rates at Reagan National causing fare price surges. I can see both sides of this issue. I can also see just calling a cab... Thinking of changing my name to "Glass of Water" and moving to the NY 14th District to run for Congress. My campaign motto would be a simple "I'm not AOC!" Only way to see if Nancy Pelosi was right about that... Seriously can't believe the number of supposedly smart people who voluntarily uploaded their pictures for that stupid aging app...  I'm also thinking of proclaiming myself a minor celebrity. Who's to argue? So I'd be a minor celebrity person of color running as a Democrat against AOC. That's seat in Congress is as good as mine!... Damn it! It looks like I'm already too late to the party...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just saying but if you're an American who supports the US Women's National Soccer Team then by definition if not by extension you support the borders of the United States as a sovereign nation. It's the "national" team. And if you support the idea of national borders you logically would support the protection of those borders by things like the Border Patrol and ICE. Correct?  Would it please therefore be possible to get AOC to condemn the women's World Cup winning team as enabling the detention of children at the border? That's all I want for Christmas... Winning Super Bowls is a snap... If you added "Candidate McCandidateface" to most polls of Democratic Presidential candidates - how much would you like to bet that McCandidateface would be the top vote getter?... Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak says most people should get off of Facebook permanently. I agree and not just for the privacy concerns - also for the mental health aspects. I've never been on Facebook and never will... The trade war with the US is having measurable negative impact on the Chinese economy.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Always skeptical when I read that the Celtics or Patriots are targeting certain players. Danny Ainge and Bill Belichick do not share their intentions with the media. That said - I hope the reports of the Celtics trying to sign Kemba Walker turn out to be true... Heh Heh... "Habits are the compound interest of self improvement." - Srinivas Rao... Who knew? Before Evel Knievel became famous as a daredevil bike rider he had a brief stint as a semi-pro hockey player... Interesting viewpoint on Democratic Party insanity from an old school liberal... Heh heh, "It's only physics if it comes from the Physique region of France. Otherwise it's just sparkling math." - Anna Hughes...

Heh Heh

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So how are those climate change agreements like the Paris Accords working out? Coal was responsible for 38% of the world's power in 2017 - the exact same level as when the first global climate change agreement was signed 20-years ago... Heh Heh... Instead of the vulgar "MILF" the correct linguistic term is matronolagnia. The power of words!... Pumpsie Green Day would be a good name for a cover band... Wow - the police used a fake bomb threat in order to install the hidden cameras used in the Robert Kraft massage parlor arrest. No wonder they have been so insistent on Kraft agreeing to a plea deal. Seriously - what's the worse crime; a fake bomb threat or getting a rub and tug?... I knew Kurt Vonnegut was a WW II POW but I either forgot or never knew that he was captured at the Battle of the Bulge (then he survived the bombing of Dresden)... "We all fool ourselves from time to time.. to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with hat we have already done or decided." - Robert Cialdini...

Let's Talk Some Politics

Let's get this out on the table first - I'm a registered Independent who last Presidential election voted for Gary Johnson. I'm a first generation Irish American in Massachusetts whose parents both had union jobs. I should be the poster boy for the target Democratic Party demographic (but instead they seemingly go after this guy's vote instead).

The Democratic Party has made a hard lurch leftward into a warm embrace of Socialism. This, in my opinion, is plain stupidity.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is becoming the face of the Democratic Party and she's fully supports Socialism. You mean like Venezuela?  Her supporters will say, "No like Sweden." But Sweden isn't a Socialist country - it is a capitalist county. Proposing Venezuelan solutions and expecting Swedish results is pure ignorance.

No we mean Socialism in terms of National Healthcare they stamp their feet. Kamala Harris is in favor of doing away with private health insurers. Wait didn't that experiment just fail miserably in Finland? Why yes - yes it did.

Vermont too tried single payer healthcare. They had to pull the plug because single payer was going to destroy the State's economy. Bernie Sanders - you're from Vermont right? And you want to do to the whole country what single payer almost did to Vermont? Are you stupid?

As an older white male the Democratic Party increasingly doesn't want my "kind". Which is fine by me because I actively try to avoid associating with stupid people.

Bob Hope was right.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Somebody pretty please ask Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she'd eat the moon if it were made of ribs. Or better yet ask her if the Sun is her favorite planet. Please, please, please... My current life goal is to live longer than Charles Bukowski did. That means if I make it to 75 I win!... Alex Trebek is the best!... Now that Beto is in the race - when does the Rent if Too Damn High guy announce he's running for President too?... "The tools for learning are abundant. It's the desire to learn that's scarce." - Naval Ravikant... "Stinktum" should be a word. It's so much nicer sounding than either "anus" or "sphincter"... How funny would it be if Odell Beckham Jr. didn't pass the Browns physical and had to return to the Giants? I have my fingers crossed because I enjoy a certain amount of chaos...