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My rule
All “journalists”, whether genuinely orthodox or fakely independent, believe firmly in one rule. If it bleeds, it leads. Always start every story with a shock. This is damaging to the soul. Constant shocks and surprises keep the panic knob turned high, which is the SOLE PURPOSE of “journalism”. My rule: If it bleeds, don’t read.
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Probably won’t last long.
Earlier I bitched about the drab dull visual aspect of Substack. Pictures range from engravings of ancient standard conservative old men like Plato and Marcus Aurelius and Ben Franklin, to black and white photos of semi-ancient conservative old men like CSSSS Lewis, GKKKK Chesterton, and JRRRRR Tolkien. Modern is represented by modern drab old men…
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Reprint on real value
Linked in previous, worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2019 REPRINT: Robert Shiller is arguing that economics pays too much attention to theories and numbers. Perfectly correct. He’s also arguing that real economies run mainly on narratives, feelings and gossip. Half correct and possibly deceptive. We need to separate economics from Dow.…
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Oughta be a word, is a word
I was thinking yet again of the total wrongness of everything we memorized in school. Everything in the schoolbooks was false. Some of it was outright lies, some was distorted, most was omissive. I was proud of making up the word because I’ve never heard it before. Turns out to be a real word with…
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Starker comparison
In previous item I contrasted Hudson’s personal approach to GM’s anonymous bureaucracy. Hudson was a stock company but behaved more like a family-run outfit. Hudson’s founder Chapin continued running the company from 1909 until he died in 1936. Then Abraham Barit, who had been with the company from the founding, took over and continued until…
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Hudson’s brake patent
Here’s the 1935 patent for Hudson’s unique lifesaving failsafe brakes. It’s wonderfully clear in both text and diagrams, explaining the purpose of dual safety. NO OTHER COMPANY EVER COPIED IT, EVEN THE ULTIMATE COPIER GM. When AMC produced Nash-based Hudsons for three years, it kept the system on the Hudsons but NEVER TRANSFERRED IT TO…
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The real cheat
If you really want to talk about illegitimate elections, immigrants are irrelevant, mail-in votes are irrelevant, and cheating on the count is irrelevant. Start with one huge fact. 48 of the states are illegal. Only Maine and Nebraska obey the Constitution. The Electoral College was always a terrible idea, but its original plan was at…
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Auto random
Outside mirrors have a strange position between optional and standard. Left mirrors didn’t start until around 1935. They became standard on the better cars around 1950, but remained optional on cheaper cars until 1967 when they were required by federal law. Despite the supposed optionality, EVERY car had an outside mirror. Driver training films from…
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Truth is lazy
Watching the endless parade of fancy nicknames and fancy memes churned out by the partisans. I remember playing this game in 2004 when I was stuck in the R cult. Making up a new fancy nickname or a new cartoon for Horrible Other Party takes work, but if it’s good enough it will Impress Your…
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Two for the ages
Maybe it’s time to update something I wrote last month. Washington’s farewell address: Make no entangling alliances! Eisenhower’s farewell address: Beware the military-industrial complex! Biden’s farewell address: KU KUX KAN DIDN’T WEAR THEIR HOODS! WOMEN ARE NOT WITHOUT ELECTRICAL! [Adding:] Trump’s farewell address: THEY’RE EATING THE CATS! THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS! The last item isn’t…
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Auto oddities
Vintage.es has pictures of railway inspection cars. Some were fully converted, others have hydraulic guide wheels so they can run on roads then switch to rails when needed. Most are regular sedans or wagons. Two are interesting. The 7th pic is a 1955 Imperial Ghia limo, with a uniformed waitress standing on the gravel beside…
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Trying to break Parkinson
FinRegRag describes a part of government with a real scientific attitude. = = = = = START QUOTE: This past Tuesday, the Brookings Institution hosted Fed Vice Chair of Supervision, Michael Barr, who spoke about progress on the US Basel III Endgame revisions, given that the last version faced much resistance within the Fed and…
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Best answer
Enid Buzz asked one of those standard questions: Q: What’s a word most people pronounce incorrectly? After the usual suspects, mostly dialectal instead of wrong, one commenter hit it. A: Incorrectly. = = = = = Reminds me of Q: What rhymes with orange? A: No it doesn’t.
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Glenn and 9/11
Greenwald has a lengthy piece on the propaganda surrounding 9/11, which hasn’t gone away. The two neocon parties are still maintaining that Islamoterrorists “hate us for our freedoms”. In 2001 I was a rabid neocon and went along with most of the Islam-hating idiocy, but this statement kept bothering me. Gradually I switched sides. One…
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The real problem
Listening to some of the reactions to the debate, one thing stands out. Immigration was a main topic, and it was Trump’s original big point in 2016. The politicians and the commentators all ignored the real problem. Crime is NOT the main problem. Immigrants and internal migrants always include some criminals, along with some ambitious…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 