-
If they meant it
Whenever a Repooflican is serving as the current puppet, musicians love to perform parodies of the Star-Strangled Banner. When the current puppet wears the D team shirt, musicians perform it normally and proudly. No need for stupid guitar buzz sounds. If a musician REALLY wanted to parody the song, he could simply go back to…
-
If government had NOT been murderous
Last week I wrote what might be the most important thing I ever wrote, and didn’t hit it hard enough. (I’m in a dull futile mood lately.) This item is my best and most crucial answer to the Thiel question: What’s something you know that nobody else agrees with? = = = = = START…
-
No sympathy
Rushfield at The Ankler is writing a ‘field guide’ to the various species that inhabit Hollywood. Actors, agents, producers. Today he covers reporters. = = = = = START RUSHFIELD: At the root of the reporters condition, always remember that they are the survivors of a nearly dead profession, even if the trade variety here…
-
Still smells the same
Wired is covering the silly trial where Craig Wright is trying to prove his false claim to be Satoshi. Along with the stupid lawyer tricks, the trial has also pulled some previously unseen emails into the public eye. The emails show Satoshi collaborating with a team of acolytes. As with the C++ code, the tone…
-
Conjoined Substack
Substack|Substack has created a new and interesting UI|UI bug|bug. When you click into an article, it first appears in this hall|hall of mirrors|mirrors: and then when you click on either one of the titles, it resolves to the usual single-stack setup. Sometimes a UI bug is peculiar to Firefox, but this one appears in both…
-
Reprint on completion
Linked in previous, worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2017 REPRINT: An article in Aeon starts with an excellent and evocative question: Should life in jail be worse than outside, on principle? Author Chris Barker is a prof at a small POST-Christian college (Methodist) in Winfield. You don’t see articles by Kansans…
-
Normalcy is a dirty word
Every job worth doing leads to completion. This is how we judge real talents and interests. If you enjoy DOING a task, it’s not necessarily your best talent. If you enjoy COMPLETING a task, you should pursue this path. As I listen to these 1950s industrial films, I’m constantly reminded of the intended COMPLETION of…
-
Flat wrong.
From EvoNews: = = = = = START QUOTE: The advancement of science is one of mankind’s greatest triumphs. And who could be against it? Deploying the raw power of rational analysis, science exponentially increases our understanding of the natural world and leads to wonderous applications to improve the human condition. = = = =…
-
Not trying
Happened to notice the moon landing by a private company, watched a few minutes. NASA isn’t trying hard to reinvigorate trust. The “announcers” are badly animated, and they’re mechanically reading a poorly written script that could have been done better by ChatGPT. If NASA wants to bring back public interest and trust, this won’t do…
-
Classic example
This headline is a classic example of journalistic language abuse: Today’s ATT outage is just a preview of what can happen when cell service goes out. No. Cell service going out is what happens when cell service goes out. It’s a tautology, like Three = 3. Treating it as a warning of a potential trouble…
-
For once the admins are right
Via KREM: A group of WSU faculty is complaining about the current university president, saying that he needs to bring in more money. They want a new admin that will: = = = = = START FACULTY: Will implement effective strategies that bolster the academic and research excellence of WSU, along with its associated reputation…
-
Grandma’s salience rule
One of my base rules for writing comes from Grandma. Around age 60 she was acutely conscious that most old folks repeated the same dull story over and over. She declared: If I can’t say something new, I’m not going to say anything at all. Salience or silence. I always try to follow Grandma’s rule…
-
Reprint on analog/digital
Linked in previous, definitely worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2013 REPRINT: Noticed an interesting article on an unfathomable and completely pointless dispute among mathies. The ‘foundational’ types seem to be puzzled about the distinction between countable infinities and the continuum. This leads to some kind of irreconcilable thingamajig which must be…
-
Text snappers
I’ll often get a strange contradictory semi-dream after a few minutes of drift. The semi-dream snaps me into wakedom, which is a good thing in an intended brief ‘reset’ nap. It’s not a good thing at the start of an intended full sleep. Example from 2017: I was hiding inside the upholstered front seat of…
-
Who are they fooling?
The current disconnect on economics is weird. At this point many of the ‘establishment’ types recognize that ordinary people are suffering. Even Bloomberg News, heart of the ‘establishment’, describes reality pretty well. Meanwhile, the alleged ‘leftist’ and ‘radical’ economists stubbornly stick to the crazy official numbers. An article by Dean Baker in the Nation asks…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 