Author: polistra
-
Today is Odometer Day!
Today is Odometer Day! Time for a reprint from Dec 2020. = = = = = START REPRINT: In 1999 there was considerable hubbub over the Y2K bug in old programs, many of which were in COBOL. The language itself wasn’t busted; its date functions have four digits. But the early mainframe programmers in the…
-
Who’s the bedbug 2
Latest pithy point from Kirn: It takes only moments for AI to “write” a book, but it will still take hours, even days, for a person to read one. It used to be the other way around; the writer labored far longer than the reader. It made reading books feel worthwhile, to know that. Now?…
-
Who’s the bedbug?
Earlier I talked about Marx’s real purpose. He was a scholar, not a politician, and he was trying to disprove the economist theory of marginal utility. In theory every product is identical except for price, and consumers choose products SOLELY on price. The real world doesn’t work that way. Every product is different, just as…
-
QT continues to solve problems
Yahoo notes that Beyond Meat, a pure QE cash-burning fake company, is on the way down. They miss the main problem, which I discussed in 2019. = = = = = START REPRINT: It’s been clear from the start that Tesla cultists are not truly green. They’re rich fuckheads who fly and drive all the…
-
Gold rush observation
I’m sure somebody has made this observation before, probably Sailer, the true expert on California. Levis is happily “leaning into” the ESG craze of advertising solely for trannies. Unlike Budweiser, they’re making the right lean, and will be rewarded. Levis has been haute couture for a LONG time. Their loyal customers are haute couture. Levis…
-
Why Branson is failing
WSJ asks why Branson’s spaceflight venture is failing. They miss the main points. 1. Because it was just another way to burn up QE for a tax dodge. Now that QE is gone, no reason for the burning devices. 2. Because there’s no mass market for it. Only Branson’s transhumanist buddies in the Epstein gang…
-
Good question from Sailer
Sailer asks a damn good question: = = = = = START QUOTE: The massive deinstitutionalization of the 1960s–1980s is now widely considered a blunder, but why did it seem like a good idea at the time? We need to consider why progressive reformers in the English-speaking world turned as fervently against lunatic asylums in…
-
Snobascope
Kirn retweeted this item from a film snob who saw only the lens in Carlson’s “I’ll be baaaaack” clip. Shoutout to my bro @justingum (we worked together on Hoaxed w/ @scooter_downey) He shot this clip using anamorphic lenses to give it that beautiful epic feel. I’ve seen several film snobs triggered that Tucker would dare…
-
Zero problems approach growing?
A couple of interesting flips toward pragmatism. These decisions aren’t SOLVING problems, but at least the executives are trying to stop MAKING problems. Both decisions are politically tough, crossgrain to the desires of the base. 1. Biden had turned off a Trump order which slowed down asylum-seekers. The resulting flood was predictable. Now Biden is…
-
Third shift workers day!
Today is Third Shift Workers Day! Rehashing… The Weather Bureau salutes Third Shift Workers Day, for the folks who work graveyard shift. Hadn’t heard of this Day before. From the linked items I couldn’t tell for sure which day is the Official Day. They range from May 7 to May 13. This is fitting, since…
-
Breaking the sucker barrier
Hersh’s latest piece is personal again, discussing his exposure of CIA’s internal spying. He seems to have been genuinely ShockedShockedShocked that CIA was violating “laws”. He also believes that the Church Committee made new “laws” which CIA then followed. Most likely the Committee was acting on behalf of FBI, who owned the franchise on domestic…
-
Turing test?
Old joke: Joe was a simple-minded guy who lived in a small town. He was the town mascot, mowing yards and shoveling snow for a dollar here and there. Everyone liked him, so they made sure he had enough to eat and a place to sleep. One day the city decided to make the arrangement…
-
Incurable idiots
In the last 50 years both “parties” had dozens of ideal opportunities to stop making problems and start solving problems. Every single time they refused. Even when the problems are ALREADY BEING SOLVED, the Repooflicans still can’t figure out how to ALLOW THE SOLUTION. They’re digging in on the ‘culture war’, calling it the most…
-
Assisted skillicide
The cost of outsourcing a skill is NOT a simple binary. Humans, and our nearest relatives birds, naturally make and use tools. It’s in the genes. When an object is too hard to reach or too heavy to lift, we find external ways to do it. More sophisticated automation has been around for a few…
-
Brinkley’s ghost is pissed.
Polly on Rumble is discussing the Transhumanist and Effective Altruist types who want to live forever so they can continue ruining the world forever. Several of them, including Thiel, are into ‘young blood’ transfusions as a way of reversing their age. The ‘young blood’ doctor received FDA approval for his craziness. Doc Brinkley’s ghost is…
Polistra's Mill 