This is a great example of correlation is not causation, and confusion of cause and effect. Hint: Consider the possibility that people who have more sex are also more open to pot.
Category Archives: Social Commentary
The Trump Takeover
In another thread, I learned that, apparently, I am not to criticize the God-King. Jonah is getting tired of it, too:
What I find so shocking is not so much the capitulation but the terms of the surrender. Or, rather, I should say the term — singular — of surrender, because there seems to be only one requirement expected of Republicans: Lavish praise on Donald Trump no matter what he does or says. Or at the very least, never, ever criticize him. Policy is an afterthought.
Yup. This is a cult (just as it was with Obama). Of course, I feel even more free to dispense such heresies, given that I’ve never even been a Republican. And then, this:
I’m more interested in the psychological factors animating commentators and the rank-and-file Trumpublicans of the GOP.
They also talk about wanting to get things done and the importance of fulfilling the Trump “agenda.” But they reserve their purest passion and most sustained vitriol not for people who don’t vote with Trump, but for people who do vote with Trump but who also refuse to remain silent. The same holds for Trump himself.
Why? Well, in the president’s case, the answer is obvious: his own Brobdingnagian yet astoundingly fragile ego. Because Trump cares so little about policy, he can forgive policy differences quite easily. What he can’t forgive is anyone even hinting that the emperor’s new clothes are, at best, invisible to the naked eye.
He’s a child. I’m glad she lost, I’m glad he’s stealthily rolling back regs, and I’m glad that he’s fixing the judiciary, but I weep at what someone in the same position, not so flawed, could be accomplishing.
The Art Of The Deal Writer
Trump is the same man-child he was at seven as he was at seventy:
“Along the way, he failed to develop the qualities of character that most of us do in the natural course of growing up to a greater or lesser extent – honesty, empathy, generosity, reflectiveness, the capacity to delay gratification and appreciate or subtlety and nuance, and above all a conscience, an inner sense of right and wrong,” the writer said.
This rings very true to me, based on my own external observations.
But Obama is a man-child in his own way, as well. Another similarity between the two.
Elon’s Plans
Doug Messier has a critique, with which I largely agree. He does seem to be laser focused on solving the transportation problem (which was the first one he encountered when he tried to implement his initial Mars plans). I emailed him years ago about the fact that we have no idea whether or not we can conceive/gestate in 0.4g. His response was basically, “that’s not my problem right now.”
But this blinkered mindset may not ultimately serve him well in terms of his long-term goal. It would be tragic for him if he solved the transportation problem, but not the biological one, and his dreams of Mars colonies ended up being still born, despite the cost reduction of transportation there.
War On Women
I wrote about the Left’s long-time misogyny over five years ago, but in light of the latest revelations about Hollywood scumbags, it’s just as relevant today.
[Update a few minutes later]
Glenn Reynolds has some related links.
Still Busy
We have relatives visiting this coming week, and are doing things to clean up and organize the house that we’ve been putting off for months/years. Meanwhile, go see how pathetically Tom Stafford is stuck in the 60s. #Apolloism
Lisa Bloom
Wow. Like her mother, she really is a hypocritical piece of work:
‘You know what is truth, Lisa? I feel like people should know that you’ve been calling my literary agent and saying there’d be money for me if I got on the “Harvey’s Changed” bandwagon?’ the actor wrote.
‘You told her that I should care about HIS reputation. How HE has a family now and how HE has changed. Well, guess what? I’ve always had a family and that didn’t stop him from assaulting me.’
Lord Acton identified problem w/Hollywood (and a lot of other places) a long time ago. And not only does it corrupt, but evil seeks power.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) October 15, 2017
[Update later morning]
Hollywood’s masculinity deficit.
The Twilight Of The Liberal Gods
This is a couple weeks old, but I don’t think I linked it at the time, and it’s well worth a read, from Sarah Hoyt.
Gun Control
No, “feel good” remedies won’t solve the problem. As noted over there, an attempt to confiscate Americans’ guns would be tantamount to the government making war on its own people. It would not end well.
[Update a few minutes later]
No, there were not 273 “mass shootings” by any sane definition. There were nine.
Why We Must Go To The Stars
Thoughts from Sarah Hoyt. Yes, some empires gave colonialism a bad name, but as she says, all life does it.