Make Good Art - Neil Gaiman

Good way to start a Friday morning.

The Coming Disruption to College

Interesting article forecasting the future of colleges and universities. I disagree with the last part of the article but many good points were raised.

However, I think two potential outcomes may have been overlooked.

Personally I would not be surprised to see many colleges and universities "go out of business" and be converted to condos / office space. Think Thornton Melon in Back to School. There would be a certain something for adults to live on the old college campus. Maybe even have intramural sports.

Is it also not inconceivable that many States facing large budget deficits would consider selling their State Universities. I've already seen some people say that New York should sell all of the SUNY campuses and get out of the college business altogether. Historically State Universities were the cost effective option for many students but with many "name" universities being forced into lower cost distance learning that could spell the death of "commuter schools." The justification for States to be in the college business may have just evaporated over months of lock-down.

I also can't help but keep thinking about this quote from Naval Ravikant on education, "If the primary purpose of school was education, the Internet should obsolete it. But school is mainly about credentialing." Not as many will be willing to go into life-long debt anymore for those credentials - especially liberal arts credentials.

One thing is for certain - college education just changed forever. There's no going back to the pre-Wuhan Virus days.

Linky Links

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

- Michelangelo and The Statue in the Stone

- This map blows my mind. Wonder what the percentages per State would be if you added in frontline healthcare workers in nursing homes too.

- Reading recommendations from Naval Ravikant

- The movie cross-over we've all been waiting for.

- Do bees understand the concept of zero?

- 17 secrets to live without regrets

Battle of Midway

Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Midway - a battle sited by most historians as the turning point in the Pacific in World War II. Below are links to two good articles on the history of the Battle of Midway and its significance.

The inside story of why Japan lost the Battle of Midway.

The importance of the Battle of Midway.

Chris Rock on Bad Apples

Chris Rock hits the nail on the head. We can't afford "bad apple" police.

Linky Links

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

- Interesting list of economic tenets (and how most are misunderstood)

- Cool - the winners of the International Photography Awards

- Tyler Cowen on the weirdness of the American psychology. As an aside - we should be more outraged at the deaths in nursing homes. That was pure elder abuse and nobody was there to speak up and stop it.

- I shouldn't laugh at this but...

- Scientific fraud. The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine should be ashamed at themselves (or be sued for millions by patients who were refused hydroxychloroquine treatment because of their snake oil ways).

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Still say that my crowning achievement during the Wuhan virus lockdown was to get my work email In Box to just a single page. No idea how long I can sustain that... Banshees and Drunken Monkeys would be a good name for a band... "The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." - Eden Phillpotts. What a beautiful way of looking at the world... It is now estimated that the latest the resumed NBA season could end is October 12th. That would further eat into interest in watching MLB games. Baseball is headed for a reckoning... If the residents of Hong Kong are no longer free to commemorate those who died at Tiananmen Square as they have for the past 30-years then they are no longer free. Time to end Hong Kong's special status... Have the "TRUMP/PENCE 2020 - No Fat Chicks!" bumper stickers been printed up yet?...

Era of Easy - Joe Rogan

Boycott China

You'll be doing yourself a favor by not buying shit products from an asshole government.

And the way the game is played these days people should also be asking the question, "Why are you buying a product marked Made in China - do you want grandma to die?"

EDIT: Going to keep posting this periodically because China is asshole!

HT American Digest

Linky Links

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

- I'd probably favor revoking Hong Kong's "special status" - the actions of the Chinese Communists must have repercussions.

- James Altucher with some side hustle ideas

- Study hints at how Psilocybin works in th brain to dissolve ego.

- This photo does look like a portrait. A beautiful portrait. (Credit Bill Ingalls/NASA)

- Matt Taibbi on where policing went wrong. While I agree with him for the most part Taibbi does not mention the word "quota" (and no not hiring quotas). Requiring officers to have X many arrests or hand out Y number of tickets is a real problem, Many police forces need that revenue and that need perverts justice. Also - there is no need for any city to allow officers to live outside the city limits. They should be part of the community they are policing.

- Police Union Privileges - Revisited. This is a problem.

Where Do Sports Go From Here

I was going to call this post "How Baseball will Lose Generations of Fans" because that's what seems to be happening.

Consider that both the NBA and NHL will have playoff games scheduled in July and August - normally the dog days of summer that usually belonged solely to MLB. As a sports viewer what would you rather watch - an NBA or NHL playoff game or a regular season baseball game? I think the ratings will show the clear answer (that is of course if baseball ever comes back).

Sports bettors will show their clear preference too and it won't be for baseball.

What about fantasy baseball players? Well many fantasy leagues have already cancelled their seasons so the number of players will be minuscule compared to years past. The average guy tuning in to see how one of their players is doing may not exist this season. And many fantasy leagues may not recover and return next year. I'm not sure if my primary league will return. There's a number of guys who feel that fantasy baseball has run it's course for them (and I may be included in that number).

What about support for baseball from rural areas that are home to minor league teams? Well MLB is trying to shut down many of those same teams so how do you think that's going to translate into support? Many residents will say - "Screw my minor league team over? Well screw baseball then!" Huge self-inflected wound by MLB. Kids who may have grown up taking school trips to the local minor league affiliate will now never have that exposure and their fandom of the major league parent team will never happen.

And next year and potentially for years to come the sports calendar will be changed - and not in ways that favor MLB. The NBA and NHL will probably be forced to push back their next season's opening for a month or two to accommodate this year's messed up schedule. That means NBA and NHL playoffs next year will also overshadow baseball. Who is going to care about Spring Training exhibition games that are up against playoff NBA and NHL games? That could be the new normal.

That would in effect give baseball just a couple of weeks of having the sports calendar to itself before college and pro football returns in August. That exclusive couple of weeks may not be enough to sustain baseball. And this isn't even taking into account that MLB games have been priced out of the range for an average family of four to attend in person.

Baseball is heading for a reckoning. And it ain't going to be pretty.

I Am There

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Surprised the nickname "Canadian Beto" never stuck for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau... "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." - Marcus Aurelius... Jack Dempsey said the only man he ducked fighting when he was heavyweight champion of the world was Ernest Hemingway. Dempsey didn't want to hurt the great writer who was insistent on proving his manhood... Nick Saban on the 5 choices we all have in life... Can you imagine how different the history of the Knicks and the entire NBA would have been if Pat Riley was given full control of the franchise instead of being allowed to bolt for Miami all those years ago?... "It's only physics if it comes from the Physique region of France. Otherwise it's just sparkling math." - Anna Hughes...

Fred and Barney for Busch Beer

Linky Links

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

- 13 reasons why anyone can benefit from a daily writing habit

- Always makes me chuckle

- How John Steinbeck used the diary as a tool of discipline

- 20 cognitive biases that screw up your decision making

- The Greek philosopher who was exiled for claiming the moon was a rock not a God

- The 7 step process used by Navy Seals to achieve goals

- I would so love to buy a copy of this painting

Truth

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Would be amusing to see an all-black comedy remake of Woody Allen's pretentious movie Interiors. Dave Chappelle would be great in the EG Marshall role of the father... Holy crap! Talk about bad omens - a prototype Starship blows-up during testing a day before today's SpaceX Crew Dragon launch... Larry Page's original name for Google was BackRub proving that Google was creepy from the git-go... I agree with this. Especially Rule 10... I admire how some people refer to the lockdown as the "current crisis." To me that infers that not only are we dealing with some shit right now but that we've also dealt with shit in the past and will do so in the future. So buckle-up buttercup... Analysis - true!...

Linky Links

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

- This is flying a little under the radar but worth keeping an eye on - Canadian Supreme Court rules Huawei CFO can be extradited to face charges in the US

- Scientists try to understand Earth's weakening magnetic field.

- Cool Infographic on Scott Adams' the Math of Life

- 10 chance meetings that changed the world

- Dr. Stanley Ho: Father of modern Macau. The man's obituary reads like a James Clavell novel.

-  Matt Taibbi on the growth of digital censorship as a weapon

Life Advice

Via

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Seems unfair that people remember Wally Pipp as the man who was replaced by Lou Gehrig but hardly anyone remembers Babe Dahlgren who was the man who replaced Lou Gehrig... When it comes to politics I second this viewpoint 100%. As a reminder I am a registered Independent who tries to see things as they are not view things on how they'll help my Party or candidate... When I feel a little down or depressed - I picture Bill Belichick dancing to Dee-Lite's Groove is In the Heart. And I am made happy... I'm an awful person because if I ever did see Joe Scarborough out and about I'd probably yell "Murderer!" at him just for a laugh. Has nothing to do with politics just my strange sense of humor... Columnist Howie Carr has given Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker the nickname "Tall Deval" - that's going to stick... One of the bad things about living alone is there's nobody to blame but yourself if you happen to run out of toilet paper... If kids are forced to wear face masks at Disney World can you imagine how many will go flying off on Space Mountain and the other roller coasters? Could those masks get lodged into the tracks and become hazards? What about the water rides? Do you have to wear masks on those and then have the kid wear the soaking wet mask for the rest of the day? Wearing masks in this country is not going to last...