Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Monday, September 11, 2023
Airline Etiquette
I probably did most of my life's regular flying in the post-9/11 era, so I was trained not to fuck around at all. I'm actually quite amazed how airline passengers get away with "behaving badly" without having an air marshal escort them to the little room when the flight lands.
I'm not saying the post-9/11 heightened security theater was a good thing. I remember getting off an international flight - probably around 2004 or so - and some excited tourist was snapping pictures with her digital camera while in the immigration line and they acted like she had threatened to set off some grenades. That was all bad! I just mean that I instinctively "behave" and am surprised when people don't (even if their "misbehavior" is fine).
I'm not saying the post-9/11 heightened security theater was a good thing. I remember getting off an international flight - probably around 2004 or so - and some excited tourist was snapping pictures with her digital camera while in the immigration line and they acted like she had threatened to set off some grenades. That was all bad! I just mean that I instinctively "behave" and am surprised when people don't (even if their "misbehavior" is fine).
Dust Mites
Mrs. A developed this issue, though only with raw or undercooked shrimp.
“If you put a shrimp and a dust mite like face to face, they look pretty darn similar,” Warren said. Their muscles are made of the same proteins, and once your immune system starts reacting to the mites, it might detect in shrimp the same, presumably dangerous, compound.
Dust mites (and their poop) may be unusually likely to trigger allergic reactions, and they bombard us constantly — far more frequently than our guts probably get treated to Maine lobster or jumbo prawns — giving our bodies plenty of chances to consider arthropods a threat. Research in adult-onset allergies remains scarce — they’re rare enough that you’d have to follow tens of thousands of healthy adults to get a big enough subgroup that would develop any given allergy — but it seems reasonable to assume that adult exposure to dust mites may trick your body into thinking shellfish are dangerous.
Elites
An explanation centrist dipshits give, for why they care deeply about what goes on in the Oberlin Student Council, is that elite institutions create the people who go on to positions of elite power, so this is perhaps more important than, say, what happens at Bumblefuck U. or a random Kansas schools district.
For years the "concern" has been the supposed "illiberalism" of students protesting racist speakers or objecting to the quality of their cafeteria sandwiches. Unwilling to embrace Freeze Peach and tHe mArKEtPlAce oF IdEAs.
The governor of Florida is a person with immense power who comes out of those elite institutions (Yale BA, Harvard JD). Shouldn't this refocus the concern about the problems with these institutions just a bit? Just what is going on at Harvard that is produces such people? Don't think it's the Woke Mind Virus!
The truth is all these centrist dipshits think Prager U. is a great education model and The 1619 Project must be eradicated.
Centrist dipshits are just extreme right wingers who are mildly embarrassed by it.
The governor of Florida is a person with immense power who comes out of those elite institutions (Yale BA, Harvard JD). Shouldn't this refocus the concern about the problems with these institutions just a bit? Just what is going on at Harvard that is produces such people? Don't think it's the Woke Mind Virus!
The truth is all these centrist dipshits think Prager U. is a great education model and The 1619 Project must be eradicated.
Centrist dipshits are just extreme right wingers who are mildly embarrassed by it.
Happy Rudy Giuliani Day
My big life failure is that everyone somehow forgot just what a shitshow the Bush administration was. It wasn't just disastrous and mendacious, it was also utterly and completely absurd in the way that the Trump administration was. Completely ridiculous things every damn day, the horror of which was compounded by a news media absolutely committed to propping up these stupid awful people as Very Serious stewards of the post-9/11 era.
I see some backlash on social media about zoomers making 9/11 jokes and, really, make all the 9/11 jokes you can think of. People being murdered isn't funny, but basically everything else from that era should be mocked.
Since we are all (rightly) horrified at the open racism at the moment, I implore people to remember the open racism against Muslims, blessed by the same coalition of dipshit centrists and Republicans, that permeated that era.
I see some backlash on social media about zoomers making 9/11 jokes and, really, make all the 9/11 jokes you can think of. People being murdered isn't funny, but basically everything else from that era should be mocked.
Since we are all (rightly) horrified at the open racism at the moment, I implore people to remember the open racism against Muslims, blessed by the same coalition of dipshit centrists and Republicans, that permeated that era.
Sunday, September 10, 2023
What's It All About Then
Another WH reporter lamented Trump’s loss in 2020. Said they don't have as many contacts within the Biden Administration and it'll hurt them with scoops.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) September 10, 2023
Sure Why Not
I don't think there's anything wrong with populating a fictional world with lots of stories. World building is hard and if an author manages to do it then, whatever, go nuts. The people who are like "oh no the new star wars hurt my childhood memories" or whatever are silly. If it sucks you don't have to watch it.
But lol it's all going to suck.
But lol it's all going to suck.
"One of the other real strengths of Warner Bros. is we talk about the great IP that Warner Bros. owns," Zaslav said. "But, for us, the challenge is that our content, our great IP — Harry Potter, DC, Lord of the Rings — that content has been underused."
Saturday, September 09, 2023
History
Not that I ever thought what historians did was just summarizing newspapers from 30 years ago, but being acutely aware of just how much garbage there is in the various "first drafts" has made me appreciate just how hard it is to figure out the past.
That and getting older.
Isaacson being eager to refute himself because (probably) Elmo made an angry call is quite something!
A Great Man Writing About Great Men
Doing PR for The Great And Good disguised as journalism/history has always been Isaacson's schtick, and this is what happens when the person you are doing PR for makes an angry phone call.
Rolling the tape:To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not. They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a…
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) September 9, 2023
Throughout the evening and into the night, he personally took charge of the situation. Allowing the use of Starlink for the attack, he concluded, could be a disaster for the world. So he secretly told his engineers to turn off coverage within 100 kilometers of the Crimean coast. As a result, when the Ukrainian drone subs got near the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, they lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly.The linked piece in its entirety is such hagiography. Musk being brilliant, people telling Musk he's brilliant, Isaacson typing it all up. (ht Ed Zitron)
Friday, September 08, 2023
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