And Samantha Bee is wrong about comedy.
Category Archives: Popular Culture
Big Business
Why it loves Black Lives Matter, and woke politics in general:
Woke politics has also been useful for firms hiding all kinds of unsavoury practices. Many firms will proclaim allegiance to BLM one day, while lobbying against curbs on forced labour the next, for instance. Indeed, whether you take the Marxist view, that all firms in a capitalist system exploit labour anyway, or the Adam Smith view, that sellers in a marketplace act out of self-interest rather than kindness, it is surely hard to take any company’s proclamations of righteousness too seriously.
This reminds me of how “feminist” men use their wokeism to attempt to insulate themselves from their abuse of women, like when Harvey Weinstein went to war with the NRA to deflect from his predatory behavior toward starlets.
[Update a while later]
Big Tech, Big Law, And Big Woke are banding together for a political realignment.
Kong Versus Godzilla
If you like watching a big ape (not “monkey”) punching a big lizard (and vice versa), does Sonny Bunch have a movie for you.
But notwithstanding the quality of the flick itself, I have to dispute his characterization of his home theater as “decent enough.” A soundbar is easy, but it’s not home theater. I’ve put in 5.1 surround sound, with a Polkaudio subwoofer, and that is close enough to theater quality for me to watch at home. To me the big difference between home and theater is screen size, even with our own 65″. It’s much more immersive when you can’t see much of anything except screen.
The Current Politicocultural DIsaster
Heinlein saw it coming six decades ago.
[Thursday-afternoon update]
Yes, our “elites” do seem to want a racial apocalypse.
Virtue Signaling
…replaces baseball as the national pastime.
What we need is a coalition of the unwoke.
The great awokening:
[Update a while later]
I hadn’t been aware that Neill Ferguson had married Ayaan Hirsi Ali, apparently in 2011.
[Late-afternoon update]
The Dream Of The 90s
I remember when Nancy moved up there. She told us she was planning it at a Halloween party in 2003 at the late Cathy Seipp’s place.
O’Reilly Auto Parts
I need to do more shopping there. They have everything.
De Jure And De Facto Censorship
Why we have to be worried about both.
21st-Century Problems
Remote hijacking of “smart” sex toys?
Acme To Take Over As SLS Prime Contractor
March 1st, 2021
WASHINGTON (Routers) In a move that most of the aerospace industry found shocking, the Biden administration today announced that the Boeing Corporation was to be removed from its role as Prime Contractor for the troubled Space Launch System (SLS) contract and replaced in that position by the Acme Corporation, a diversified manufacturing company based in the southwestern United States. The move came as a shock, given that Acme has no aerospace experience per se, although it does have a vast catalog, including a Rocket Motor Division based in Albuquerque, NM, which makes small solid-rocket motors used in various Acme products, such as rocket-powered sleds and roller skates.
Acme will now assume the overall management of the program, although it is expected to rebadge a large percentage of Boeing technical employees, and will begin negotiations with Boeing for them to remain as subcontractors on substantial portions of the program.
Anticipating critical comment, White House spokesmen pointed out that Acme had a long history of use of solid-fuel rockets for crewed applications, “without loss of human life or serious injury” despite some less-than-fatal mishaps. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) vigorously denounced the decision, pointing to Acme’s long history of damaging consumer litigation concerning injuries sustained by users of Acme’s rocket products. “Just Google the term ‘Acme v. Coyote‘ and you will see that the pleadings in the litigation over this company’s mistakes have become a classic of the legal profession.”
An Acme spokesperson responded that there was only one such litigant on record, and he seemed to be a classic vexatious one. “The litigant, Mr. Coyote, is well known as an endurance athlete who pushes the envelope and takes chances most runners would consider unacceptable. He has also been injured numerous times in instances in which no Acme product was involved. And despite what were undoubtedly uncomfortable incidents, we note that he has never suffered permanent disability as a result of any of them, and in fact continues to perform as a long-distance runner at a high level. In fact, despite his age, he continues to hold the title of second-fastest runner in the southwest United States.”
The spokesperson also added, “It should be noted that Acme’s products have never killed anybody. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Boeing.”
[Post by James Bennett, so I don’t get the blame]