Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

It'll be interesting, Jeff, to see if you're right and China's "cure" turns out to be propaganda being used to settle markets.

BTW, this sounds like my personal hell. 3700 quarantined on a massive cruise ship for potentially 2 weeks off the coast of Japan after 10 passengers test positive.

Say what you will about the processed food of the center aisles (delicious!) or the mass produced, less flavorful meats available at our Temples of Food, or general obesity -- no one ever caught a fucking death bug from a goddamn Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart.

[Dr. Strangelove]

More people every year get food poisonings from vegetables and salads than they ever do from Whoppers. Remember that. Plan accordingly.

[iam416]

Correct. But not that vegan Whopper bullshit.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Correct. But not that vegan Whopper bullshit.

The one that's worse for you than an actual Whopper?

[iam416]

Yes. You're a man who doesn't need told that, but there are others who read this thread that fall into the simpleton category.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Since we've reached a spirit of comity I hesitate to bring this up but...

Pelosi tearing up the speech. Childish and stupid right? Sure. But if the goal was to troll Trump...it worked? I don't know that trolling Trump benefits the American people in any way but he has taken the bait and already posted over 20 times about what she did this morning (retweeting various conservative flacks). And people are talking about HER this morning (even if badmouthing her) rather than talking about the content of Trump's speech.

Is that the point? Was that the point? Who knows, who cares. We're in the Age of the Damned.

Also, I've seen some moaning about how all this partisanship has ruined the great tradition of the SOTU. To those earnest souls I say: go fuck yourself, asshat. The SOTU is a garbage spectacle and I'd be delighted by any President declaring he was scrapping them.

[iam416]

I like that they didn't bother to paper over the the partisan divide. Pelosi altered her introduction, PDJT refused to shake her hand, she tore up the speech, your precious #Squad boycotted...why pretend? We had, in that chamber, the "Impeach the Motherfucker" crowd and the "Perfect Call" crowd with almost no one occupying the vast swath of reason betwixt the two.

Of all the things I saw yesterday, I liked James Carville's rant on MSNBC the best. Although, watching PDJT/Pence/Pelosi (with the sound off) for facial reactions wasn't bad -- for a minute or two.

[Hannibal]

I've been following California's minimal efforts to address its massive housing shortage. I'm not sure why, but I am. So, GFY. In any event, California couldn't even pass a bill that would rezone areas near mass transit stops for multi-family dwellings. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/...bill-rejected/

And then someone like Senator Harris has the balls to propose that the FEDERAL government subsidize high rental costs. And I'm sure Bernie has some sort of plan where it's all free -- I'm sure housing is a right.

But for the way Californians vote, it's basically the "Capitalist Income Inequality Hellscape" that Ds think is the rest of America.

And we're just getting started. CA is taking the lead in low carbon fuels (i.e. trying to repeal the laws of thermodynamics). In the future, being able to actually drive your car to work will be considered a privilege of the wealthy.

[Hannibal]

Along those same lines, Talent, I have been meaning to recommend this article if you haven't seen it yet.

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible

[Dr. Strangelove]

I like that they didn't bother to paper over the the partisan divide. Pelosi altered her introduction, PDJT refused to shake her hand, she tore up the speech, your precious #Squad boycotted...why pretend? We had, in that chamber, the "Impeach the Motherfucker" crowd and the "Perfect Call" crowd with almost no one occupying the vast swath of reason betwixt the two.

Of all the things I saw yesterday, I liked James Carville's rant on MSNBC the best. Although, watching PDJT/Pence/Pelosi (with the sound off) for facial reactions wasn't bad -- for a minute or two.

Even your boy Tim Ryan walked out and left midway through, saying he couldn't take the bullshit any more.

[iam416]

And we're just getting started. CA is taking the lead in low carbon fuels (i.e. trying to repeal the laws of thermodynamics). In the future, being able to actually drive your car to work will be considered a privilege of the wealthy.

Yeah, look -- I'm with you. I find it remarkable that their grossly awful policy decisions survive. I guess they basically blame all their failures on go-to bogeymen -- income inequality and greed for anything economic; climate change for blackouts, fires and anything else; racism for everything. And so on.

And now they've managed to export their genius independent contract=employee bill to the House. God help us.

[iam416]

Thanks for the link, Hanni. I have a god-awful mediation I have to endure today. That should help me through it.

Every time I read about those efforts my first reaction is -- god, we're so fucking wealthy. The vast majority of human existence has been a battle for resources that effectively comes down to strong vs. weak (whether individual, tribally, nationally or culturally). Now, we are so wealthy that we can impose costs on resources. The idea of willfully increasing the cost of energy is so contra to human existence that it's staggering.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Yeah, look -- I'm with you. I find it remarkable that their grossly awful policy decisions survive. I guess they basically blame all their failures on go-to bogeymen -- income inequality and greed for anything economic; climate change for blackouts, fires and anything else; racism for everything. And so on.

And now they've managed to export their genius independent contract=employee bill to the House. God help us.

I agree that the California housing stuff is a problem but it's a bipartisan one. California Republicans are in no more of a hurry to damage their property values than liberals are. And that's what any solution would do, either by building more homes more cheaply, or by building more homeless shelters which the state clearly needs.

[iam416]

I agree that the California housing stuff is a problem but it's a bipartisan one.

LOL. I mean, I don't know if your comment on California Rs is true or not. But the idea that anything in California has to be "bi-partisan" is hilarious. The Ds control the Senate and House in numbes comparable to (Senate) or exceeding (House) the R control of Ohio. If the Ds want something done, surely they could make their 26-14 and 55-25 advantages count for something.

So, yeah, the Rs could be in favor of demolishing homes for all I care. There is only one party with the power to do anything about it and they simply don't.

Even for you, that takes a lot of Chutzpah.

[froot loops]

When silicon valley started it was much more communal than the vampires they have out there today. I would say they would be aghast at the behavior today but some of them are the same people. I understand why people think if you build more housing that it will hurt your property values, but I don't think that is the case in the long run.