Category: Uncategorized
-
Unspeakable now
A single 1947 episode of ‘ABC Hollywood Tour’ is preserved. It was a Hollywood gossip show mixed with a sort of quiz. The lady who could answer the question would get the DREAM OF A LIFETIME: A BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR OF HOLLYWOOD!!!!!! Host: Do you want to take a Hollywood Tour? Audience in unison:…
-
More Manhattan
Previous item detoured me into Manhattan history. The Manhattan city website had a recent record of archeological finds. Some of the locations (like the Goodnow house) are thoroughly familiar. I used to do my own digging there in an old midden, without thinking of it as archeology. I was just looking for old auto parts.…
-
Dubious, obvious
Three hot decisions by the Supremes today. One is dubious, the second wildly obvious, the third meaningless. = = = = = Dubious: They said Biden couldn’t forgive student loans. There’s no principle involved at all. Student loan programs already include forgiveness when the student meets certain conditions. If you become a teacher in a…
-
Today is Food Truck Day!
= = = = = START REPRINT: A lively article on fast food by Addison Del Mastro tied in nicely with my Great Smith screen-side truck. Del Mastro misses a big part of the timeline for fast food. He seems to think that fast food developed mainly as a result of American car culture, spurred…
-
It’s all about the delta
A constantly shifting landscape is the mark of the psychopath. Rules and expectations change abruptly without warning. Each rule doesn’t matter. The delta is what matters, what keeps the Losers from feeling stable enough to function and learn. Since Elon bought Twitter he’s been changing the rules all the time. I never joined, so I…
-
Ford is nature
Assembly-line work is supposedly an unnatural invention. In fact it’s far more natural than artisanal craftsmanship. Every cell includes dozens of factories, each turning out repetitive proteins and neurotransmitters. Our cerebellum is a library of repetitive routines. When deprived of daily assembly-line work, humans still need to run an assembly line. We see the result…
-
Which humans?
At MindMatters: = = = = = START QUOTE: Today’s video features a panel representing companies on the leading edge of technology applications. They discuss emerging technologies that hold great promise for human prosperity — from the conversion of waste to clean energy; to the production of graphene for a multitude of uses including building…
-
I started to say…
Jake Tapper, who is paid millions to be a “journalist”, refuses to talk with newsmakers he doesn’t like. First thought: Well, ordinary people can be selective, but the whole fucking purpose of a reporter is to talk with people he doesn’t like. You’ll never get any Shannon information from NICE people. NICE people don’t have…
-
New coal, old coal
Britain is starting up a lithium mine in Cornwall, a traditional mining area. This is the REAL Brexit. Boris was playing an evil game, freeing his own demonic desires from EU limitations. Now Britain is trying to free itself from Chinese domination of the NEW coal, providing jobs for the descendants of the OLD coal…
-
Why our rulers are stark raving mad
This WSJ piece doesn’t ask WHETHER ruling lunatics are totally wacked out on LSD and magic mushrooms. The reporters start with their understanding (which is NOT widely known!) that everyone in power is zonked all the time. They discuss WHY the ruling lunatics feel it’s necessary to lose their minds. Here’s why: Venture capitalists pressure…
-
Kirn loses it
Katharine Boyle said: The decline in liberal arts degrees bodes well for society on almost every dimension. College students now know that majoring in Book Club won’t get you a great job. This is progress. Kirn snotted back: “On almost every dimension” isn’t English, brainiac. Close, but not quite. And what would know about dimensions…
-
Graphing the era
Elaine Low at the Ankler is discussing the modern absolute dependence on SHARE VALUE in connection with the writers strike. = = = = = START QUOTE: Broadly, the sense is that the town cares what investors and bankers think far more than it did over 15 years ago, the last time the writers put…
-
Wonderful concept
In this podcast Eric Anderson brings in a powerful concept, but he discusses it from an angle that seems unproductive to my tastes. His approach must be persuasive to some types of scientists, but it doesn’t hit the mark for my engineerish mindset. The concept: When organisms change over time, they’re not Innovatively Disrupting. They’re…
-
Hall of one-way mirrors
Krystal is shocked that a behavioral researcher was caught faking data in a study on honesty. Krystal thinks that the government agencies who use such research will be misled. Nope. Government agencies conduct their own research, which is always VASTLY more thorough and accurate than the research allowed in academia. I saw a shadow of…
-
Not ironic
Bari Weiss’s big substack is featuring a series of articles on woke judges in high school debate, written by a debate coach who is trying to set up an alternate non-woke board of judges. I took debate in junior high, around 1963. It wasn’t a huge influence but it did give me practice in serious…
Polistra's Mill 