Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- From the archive: Thomas Sowell's 3 questions. Good practice to be in.

- John Fetterman has no regrets. Interesting (but longish) profile of a guy who could become the face of a new Democratic Party or is one step away from saying he's an Independent.

- Jonathan Turley on the EU declaring war on free speech in the US. People should boycott traveling to Europe in favor of traveling to US states instead in response to this attack on our "indispensable right." Tourism from America to the EU is big business.

- Biden accused of abuse of power, obstruction in blistering House Republican impeachment report. Not new details but still kind of chilling to see this all documented in one place.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- In wake of Impeachment, Biden White House sends memos to corporate media to go after Republicans. All it takes is for Biden to address the press live but I think that'll never happen.

-  Interesting look a Alabama visiting non-Power 5 USF on Saturday. Always found it amusing that the University of Southern Florida is in Tampa. If you know your geography - this is amusing.

- Iconic Seattle fish market to close after 77-years amid rising crime and homelessness. Hard not to laugh at the self-inflicted wounds of Seattle and Portland.

- Profile pf Alex Rodriguez on ESPN that paints him as a steroids using, rat informant. One can't help but wonder if ESPN is trying to get A-Rod out of the broadcast booth.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jonathan Turley on why the House has no choice but to Impeach Joe Biden. Now every Democrat up for election will now have to face questions about Hunter Biden.

-  Reports say the Pentagon misled Congress about bases in Africa. What else could they be lying about?

- On a related note: VDH on the historical lessons of Imperialism in history.

- Any trust I had with the CIA is gone

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share,

- I admit I laughed

-  VDH on the Frightened Left. What goes around, comes around.

- Disney and Spectrum come to an agreement in time for tonight's Monday Night Football. My hunch is that Disney blinked and couldn't risk losing the revenue from a single MNF game.

- The Free Press on the government and censorship. Today's must read.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In the old days when SNL was funny it would almost be guaranteed that there would be a spoof of the Springsteen / Jeep commercial. I'd be surprised if they went there today...  Heh heh - NFL 2021 Bad Lip Reading... Not sure about you but I'm not paying any attention to the "Second Impeachment Trial." Not worthy of my time nor attention. The exception is any Republican Congressman or Senator who goes along with this sham. That I will pay attention to and remember... I've avoided reading this book for some time. Probably for the same reason I've never seen Schindler's List. I don't want to put myself through that emotional trauma. To understand where I'm coming from - I choked up in tears just walking through the Holocaust Memorial in Boston. But time to get over that. Ordering the book today... In the old days (meaning just 2 or 3 years ago) after the Super Bowl I would be counting the days until Spring Training. Not this year. Kind of could care less.... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Rest in peace Hank Aaron.If you have a few moments today spend some time looking at his career stats. Incredible! Still the all-time leader in RBI and total bases (and in my mind he's still the HR king)... So did half of the country wake up Thursday morning and wonder, "Wait am I a dog-faced pony soldier?"...  Lady Gaga is among the 46 people President Biden is following on Twitter. But not Taylor Swift or Beyonce - are their rabid fans aware of this giant slight?... "Page 3 of 2" would be a great name for a blog... My greatest hope... "Are you now or have you ever been a dog-faced pony soldier?"... A Christopher Hitchens quote that is very relevant to the latest Impeachment, "That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence"... Sportswriters please take note - due to Covid-19 concerns I will NOT be participating in this year's NBA Dunk Contest. I repeat - I will NOT be participating. Thank you for your understanding... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Earth could be heading towards a "mini-ice age"as the Sun enters a decades long Grand Solar Minimum. The scientists saying the Earth is warming must be pissed at this news.

- How awesome would this be if it were true!

- Spotify is buying Bill Simmons The Ringer.

- Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas passes away aged 103. I did not know that Douglas hired Stanley Kubrick to direct Spartacus. If the Golden Age of Hollywood was the 1940's and 50's then Kirk Douglas is the last of that breed. If it also includes the 60's then Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood are still kicking.

- Steven Pressfield: Resistance = Fear

- Thomas Mann's American Democracy Lecture Tour. A bit of history that I was unaware of. Agree wholeheartedly with the idea that our democracy and history need to be cared for but I find it ironic that the author states "It is a lesson we are in dire need of today as we watch democracy slip away in Trump's America." Whereas those on the right would argue "It is a lesson we are in dire need of today as we watch democracy slip away as the Democratic party embraces socialism." Maybe the fears of both sides can help protect and defend the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and our historic legacy. (HT The Happy Curmudgeon)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I bet Joe Rogan gets at least a good five minutes of material for his next stand-up special from the ridiculous "controversy" of him "endorsing" Bernie Sanders. Can't wait I'm sure it will be great stuff... Put me in the camp that thinks the coronavirus flu should be know as Xi's Disease going forward. Not the Kung Flu... Something tells me there's no way the movie Silver Streak could get made today. As great as Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were together this scene just does not get made today... It is truly amazing that Bill Belichick has now been the coach of the New England Patriots for 20-years. What he's accomplished in that time is otherworldly... "We suffer from knowing the numbers." A quote from Sam Zell heard in his recent Tim Ferriss podcast. The quote in context really resonated with me... I'm on the waiting list for one of these bad boys...  Haven't watched a single minute of the Impeachment hearings and I'm a better person for it...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This was quite good.

- Nassim Taleb - How to Be Rational About Rationality

- Beautiful - Time lapse photography of light through stained glass at the National Cathedral (HT Execupundit)

- Hanns Scharff master German interrogator. Interesting and entertaining slice of WWII history.

- Very nice gesture by the 49ers George Kittle

- Simple chart explains why Trump will be re-elected in 2020

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

15-years ago the New York Times actually had the headline "Can Angelina Jolie Really Save the World?" And it was in the business section! Just in case you were wondering if the NYT giving up on being a serious news organization was a new thing... This is the sort of thing that makes you believe peace in the Middle East is actually possible... Who knew? Richard Nixon and Otis Nixon shared the same birthday... A Christopher Hitchens quote that seems very relevant to the Impeachment hearings, "That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence"...  A racial crisis may materialize in two years for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both steroids tainted Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have two years of eligibility left to be elected to the Hall. If the white Clemens gets somehow elected at the last minute while the black Barry Bonds does not then the cries of "Racism!" will be loud and clear. And probably not wrong...  If the DNC really wanted to stick it to Bernie Sanders they could insure that someone at the next Democratic Debate asks Bernie if he's elected would he make his wife Secretary of Education...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Africa's ghost Roman city buried in the sand for centuries.

- Analysis - True!

- Peter Thiel's 2019 Manhattan Institute's Wriston Lecture.

- This may be the end of free conference calling services.

- Individual neurons may be "smarter" than previously believed. Though I'm not enamored with the metaphor of the brain as a computer.

- Trudeau's administration has pushed government spending to the highest levels in Canada's history. As much or more than 40% of GDP - higher levels than during World War II. And the economy has nothing to show for it.

- Heh Heh

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh Heh - Boobies!

- I predicted that about 4 Democratic Congressmen would end up switching parties because they represent Districts in which Trump is popular. Looks like we've just had our first to switch.

- The next nuclear reactors will be small, svelte, and safer.

- The new California employment law is starting to crush freelancers - I would say "unexpectedly" but people were warned about this.

- Tough not to root for new BC football coach Jeff Hafley

- Cool - The Spaghetti Western trailer for The Mandalorian

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Can't help but wonder how many Democrat Congressmen in Districts Trump carried in the 2016 election will end up changing parties in the next few months to protect their re-election efforts. All because of how off-putting the impeachment efforts have been to their constituents back home. I'd put the over/under at 4 Congressmen... We have reached an inversion point in our nation's relation to China so much so that it has become an election issue... I'm a male over 50 but if I get denied employment as a surrogate mother - under the new rules some are trying to force on society shouldn't I get to sue for discrimination?... I love the Queen song We Are the Champions as much as the next guy but was a bully kicking sand in someone's face ever really a thing? Really? I mean I remember those Charles Atlas ads as a kid but that stuff may have happened once if at all... In that Johnny Depp Dior Sauvage cologne commercial is Depp burying his jewelry to hide it from debt collectors? Is he crying over what happened to his career? Inquiring minds want to know!...

Trump, the Democrats, Syria and Iran

Interesting article that claims that President Trump may have prevented a war with Iran by withdrawing our troops from Syria. This paragraph really got my attention (and my blood pressure up):

"People should remember that in the height of the Nixon Watergate Impeachment tumult during late 1973/early 1974 culminating in Nixon's resignation in August 1974, the North Vietnamese reneged on the Nixon Paris Peace Accords, and Saigon fell soon thereafter, in April 1975. G-d only knows what will happen because of Democrats' paralyzing of an American President while the world is in flames."

Now I hesitate to draw any comparisons between Trump and Nixon and I would also hesitate to use the description that "the world is in flames" but there's a special place in hell for those of either political party who claim to be acting on behalf of world peace or downtrodden folks in foreign lands when they are only acting in the interests of their own domestic political agenda. A special place in hell!

Do you remember the plight of the "boat people"?

Remember how eager the press was to hear from General Mattis prior to his recent book tour when they thought he was going to speak badly about President Trump? Remember how quickly they dropped any interest in him when they learned it was President Obama who was slammed in the new book?

Remember the 24/7 news cycle about how "Trump was abandoning the Kurds" and the predicted horrors that awaited those poor people? Can you remember any of those horrors coming to pass? And you know if they did come to pass it would have been an orgy of coverage. Instead we got fake news footage from a  Kentucky shooting range. 

Remember how Libya is now a failed nation-state because of the actions of President Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Slavery is now an accepted practice in what used to be Libya! Talk about horrors (horrors you won't learn about on the MSM).

I remember! And I hope you do too! A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I think the people who developed the Guitar Hero game should come out with a Pan Flute version. You could play real music and maybe become the next Zamfir master of the pan flute. Of course the slobber all over the flute would make sharing something of an issue... Chore for today... I know "Learn to Code" has become a punchline to some but I want to do it. My current job doesn't require it but I feel it is something every adult should know how to do - like knowing how to drive a standard transmission...  In Hong Kong the American flag is a symbol of freedom while to some in the US the flag is a symbol of oppression. I think this is a case of some people don't know how good they actually have it... Interesting take on Trump and impeachment from a proud lefty.... The protests in Hong Kong have gotten a lot of attention (and rightly so) but don't overlook the protests in Moscow over how elections are run. Moscow recently saw their largest protest in a decade... The word for today is "matronolagnia" - think of it as the thinking man's way of saying MILF. The power of words!...