Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"The tools for learning are abundant. It's the desire to learn that's scarce." - Naval Ravikant

"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

"Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats." - George Orwell

"A government that is big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

"What is grief, if not love preserving." - Vision

John Stuart Mill

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling, which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill 

Top 5 - Reasons Why NBA Rating are Going Down

Here are my Top 5 reasons why NBA TV ratings will drop.

1. Politics - whether it be the NBA putting Black Lives Matter on the court in the Orlando bubble or Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announcing he'd no longer play the National Anthem before Dallas homes games. The "in your face" manner that the NBA handles politics is very off-putting (to say it mildly) for a large segment of the the US (many of whom used to be fans but no longer).

2. Player movement - LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and others have all now played for multiple teams and treating fan loyalty like something that is disposable is harming fans willingness to consume the NBA's product. Plus the way that many of these relocations happen is also distasteful to many fans (looking at you James Harden).

3. Too much ISO and 3's - there's way too much isolation play and too many three point attempts. Watching someone try one-on-one moves or kick out for a 3-point shot is boring basketball. Sure simple math says 3-points are better than 2-points but for the viewer 3-passes before a shot makes for more exciting play. In a way the point above was about too much player movement (from city to city) and this one is about too little player movement (on the court).

4. China - this is separate from politics because even many who support BLM are upset with the NBA's kowtowing to China. It was naked crass greed and very repellant. LeBron James wants to lecture me on human rights but defends China? Go fuck yourself.

5 Costs - there are no fans at games right now but even when there were the cost to attend games was getting out of reach for the average fan. It is not a stretch to say to be a season ticket holder these days you'd have to be earning at least six-figures a year. Taking away access to attending games in person hurts a person's desire to watch that same product on TV. Covid precludes people from attending today but the very costs (tickets, parking, concessions, etc.) having been putting the experience of attending a game out of reach for years.

I could also include the awful way replay is being handled, especially in the last minutes of the games and the refereeing of games in general but that's a post for another day.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Is it messed up that most of our politicians have higher negative polling ratings than positive ratings? Or is even more messed up that we even have those polls to begin with? Don't think Thanos ever paid attention to polls... As an aside the political leadership on both sides of the aisle really don't have a lot of sex appeal. Nancy Pelosi? Mitch McConnell? Please. Tulsi Gabbard 2024...  As a reminder March 1st is officially recognized in New England as the date many men of all ages put away their long pants for the winter (seriously - go into any bar in New England and see the variety of guys showing off their pasty white calves)... I have decided that I can use the phrase "back when I was growing up" to refer to any event that happened before yesterday... Did you know the scientific term "quarks" (a type of subatomic particle) was taken from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake... 

Teddy Roosevelt and the Man in the Arena

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt (Paris Sorbonne,1910)

Linky Links

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

- Cool - the day Private Willie Mays threw out my dad. (HT Daddy Pundit)

- Interesting partnership between Apple and Target.

- Very true

- The 10 biggest archaeology finds of 2020 

- Cool cover of Roxy Music's Avalon. Peter Frampton doesn't get enough credit as a world class guitarist. (HT Meanderthal)

Joe Biden and the White House Correspondents Dinner

Is there to be a White House Correspondents Dinner this year? Haven't seen anything about it in the news. Guessing because of Covid-19 there won't be such a gathering but I can't help wondering how such an event would go with Joe Biden in office.

Donald Trump famously stopped going to the event once he became President. He felt that the event hurt the dignity of the office. I have long held that this event shouldn't exist.

But if it were to be held you know Joe from Scranton would be looking forward to it. But would those participating really poke fun at the elderly Biden? Guessing a Michele Wolf-type MC wouldn't dare make any dementia jokes. It would be all Trump insults and abortion knee-slappers. But then Joe would have to speak...

You know THAT would make news. The gaffes. The forgotten punchlines. What is obvious to most put on display for the world to see simply because the "journalists" wanted their "Nerd Prom." (As an aside what kind of nerd gets offended if someone jokes that they should learn to code?) 

Too bad it doesn't like like they'll be holding one this year. I'd tune in to watch that train wreck.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Always thought it was ironic that Teddy Roosevelt is next to Thomas Jefferson on Mount Rushmore. Roosevelt hated Jefferson and thought he was the worst President in US history... No amount of cooling will freeze helium into a solid. And no amount of money or PR will turn Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg into likable human beings... Dan Jenkins' rules for sports writing... The old robber barons at least used to fund institutions of higher learning - think Stanford, Vanderbuilt and CalTech. What are the modern day tech robber barons leaving for future generations?... (Supposedly) the top 25 beaches in the US. Haven't been to Hawaii but have been to 7 of these beaches and I can say for sure #7 isn't even the best beach in New England... Think matching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Chia Pets would make great Christmas gifts for almost anyone on your naughty and nice list. They already have a Donald Trump version... 

Linky Links

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

- A hypothesis of why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor illustrated for a modern audience

- 5 misconceptions about colonial America

- 3 exercises you should do every day

- Interesting look at Tim Cook, Apple and how they got to be the 500 pound gorilla of the tech world.

- What impossible meant to Richard Feynman

No Good - Kaleo

 

Good way to start a Friday afternoon.

Linky Links

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

- Sex Tapes, Hush Money, and Hollywood's Economy of Secrets. Not interested in Hollywood gossip or sleaze but Hollywood "fixers" do hold a certain fascination for me.

- Interesting perspective on Bitcoin. (HT Newmark's Door)

- 12 hidden gems to visit (west of the Mississippi). (HT Newmark's Door)

- Cuban propaganda during the Communist revolution.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

How long before some people start equating limiting data (data caps) by broadband providers to limiting free speech? Don't think we're far off from that... Cool story of a wedding that took place in Lake Tahoe at the same time the Bruins were playing the Flyers... If before the season I told you the that going into March the two finalists in the Eastern Conference (Boston Celtics and Miami Heat) would be tied with the New York Knicks in the standings - you'd probably think the Knicks must be having a great season. Not so much... Think much of what passes for news but is actually misinformation, rumor or speculation could be greatly reduced if all social media platforms had the policy of simply labeling any story that uses anonymous sources as "potentially fake news." Think of how many stories from the past few years that turned out to be complete bunk that were based on anonymous sources... Speaking of fake news - remember two years ago when outlets such as CNN were touting fraudster Michael Avenatti as a hero? I haven't forgotten (which in part is why I never watch CNN)... 

The Democratic Party and Socialism

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.

God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash

Large Numbers

Here's one way to think about large numbers:

One thousand seconds equals 16 minutes and 40 seconds

One million seconds equals 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds

One billion seconds equals 11,574 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes and 40 second

One trillion seconds equals 31,709 YEARS, 9 months, two weeks, 1 day, 2 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds.

The US national debt is $29 trillion. In seconds that would equal almost ONE MILLION YEARS!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The passing of Rush Limbaugh leaves a large vacuum on the Right for information and entertainment programming. Wonder if Donald Trump could somehow fill that gap with a syndicated radio show? Many had been speculating about Trump launching his own TV network but this seems to be an opportunity too glaring to ignore... Government Cheese Vaccines would be a good name for a band...Could Dark Matter simply be the leftover quantum entanglements from matter and anti-matter that were annihilated just after the Big Bang?... Bill Belichick considering bringing back Cam Newton as his starting QB is a macroagression against Patriots fans. I'll need a safe space if that comes to pass... Cult of Inhibitions - band name or all-inclusive singles resort?...  Actually wouldn't mind if the Patriots gave Gardner Minshew a shot as their QB in 2021... 

Linky Links

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

- Elon Musk says Starlink Internet speeds to double to 300 Mbps this year. Doesn't say if Starlink is going to a tiered service or what the upload speeds will be. 

- The Power and the Silence. Interesting read. (HT Execupundit) 

- Morgan Housel: When Everyone's a Genius (A Few Thoughts on Speculation)

- Comcast pushes back broadband data caps until 2022

Farnam Street Knowledge

- Rudyard Kipling: How to Be a Man

- Hanlon's Razor: Relax, Not Everything is Out to Get You

- The Feynman Learning Technique

Linky Links

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

- Dan Crenshaw's list of 22 core conservative principles (HT Newmark's Door)

- Earth's Magnetic Field flipped 42,000 years ago creating a climate disaster. Been mentioning this for years. The science is not settled - in fact in this case we have no idea why or when it happens.

- Kapil Gupta - The Successful Man's Path to Lasting Satisfaction 

- Matt Taibbi: Even By Democratic Party Standards, Censoring Fox News is an Insanely Stupid Idea

- Related - The Government Censors are Here

- Cool Underwater Photography

Quotes for Today

 Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." - Seneca

"'No' is often a decision, frequently temporary, to maintain the status quo." - Chris Voss

"He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks does not know." - Lao Tzu

 "It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness." - Seneca

"I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes." - Edward Gibbon

"It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance." - Epictetus

"Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; and on the other hand, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it." - Boethius