Linky Links

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

- Minnesota as a systems failure: How NGO's process dissent until reality no longer matters (but the tax dollars do).

- Sadly true!

- Is NY fraud 10x worse than Minnesota's? We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg aren't we?

- Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich. I'll have to give this a try.

Linky Links

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

- Trump's entrance and Trudeau's exit offers US and Canada chance to reset their relationship.

- New lung cancer treatment based on mussels? Interesting this come from China where smoking and lung cancer is still a major issue. 

- With the Trump sentencing , the verdict is in - for the NY legal system.

- Jerry Seinfeld, Ichiro Suzuki and the Pursuit of Mastery. Long but worthwhile read. (HT Tim Ferriss)

Today's New York Post

New York really could go for Donald Trump.

Linky Links

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

- Peter Attia on new colorectal blood test probably not as good as existing ones. If you are over 50 you should still have a test done every 5-years.

- Oh the irony! White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo plagiarized minority authors in her PhD dissertation, It's like rain on your wedding day!

- Chinese spy case rocks NY politics.

- VDH: Can they really reinvent Kamala Harris in 70 days?

More Linky Links

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

- Matt Ridley - the world's getting greener, cleaner, healthier, and richer in wildlife.  Anyone saying otherwise is pushing propaganda.

- Heh Heh

- Lee Zeldin has some proposals for fixing New York. But New York is too much of a mess. Gerald Ford was right.

- Tesla tops BMW to become the top selling luxury car in the US

Linky Links

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

- The truth about the Great Barrier Reef. It's actually pretty healthy - no matter what the eco-scaremongering people say.

- NY Governor Hochul declares healthcare worker shortage of her own making. So it went from "two weeks to flatten the curve" (so hospitals and hospital workers wouldn't be overwhelmed) to now the firing of unvaccinated healthcare workers which is overwhelming the healthcare system. Makes zero sense (and we're allowing it to happen) 

- On a related note.

- Jonathan Isaac is now one of my favorite NBA players. How can you argue against what he said?

Linky Links

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

- Interesting - Tesla Model Y taxi fleet successfully blocked by NY commission. I thought the Green Nude Eel was being led by NY politicians? 

- Morgan Housel: Little Stories. Good stuff.

- That fans in Montreal may actually care about this is just another reason to root against the Canadiens.

- Michael McCann: Now that the Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 against them - what's next for the NCAA?

Linky Links

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

- VDH - Optimism Inc: One too many lies? "We are becoming cynical 1980s Eastern Europeans who quietly scoffed at their daily government news." Too true! 

- Noah Smith: Why politically guided science is bad. Agree 100%.

- The Amazon 2020 letter to shareholders actually makes some interesting reading

- Tech Startup Cities may be the future and Miami may be in the vanguard.

- You could have called this a mile off - Broadband industry groups sue New York to stop $15 broadband service mandate.  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The 2021 net migration rate for Iraq is 0.359 per 1,000 population. That means net more people are moving into Iraq than into California or New York. Think about that for a minute... What will history recognize as the worse fashion fad? Pussy Hats or bell-bottom corduroy's?... Seems unfair that people remember Wally Pipp as the man who was replaced by Lou Gehrig but hardly anyone remembers Babe Dahlgren. He was the man who replaced Lou Gehrig... Salt (NaCl) is the only family of rocks eaten by humans... There were a lot of happy New England Patriots fans last night as Bill Belichick selected Alabama QB Mac Jones with the 15th pick. Belichick wasted no time submitting the pick either an indication they were really happy that the QB dropped to them. I hope the second-guessers at least give us a day to enjoy the pick... Would love to see a reporter ask a confused Joe Biden if he owns a pussy hat. How do you think Kamala Harris would react to such a question? Please someone make this happen...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Hypothesis: if AOC hadn't chased away the proposed Amazon East Coast HQ and the 25,000 plus jobs it would have brought many people would have moved to or stayed in NYC and New York wouldn't be losing a Congressional seat. Just saying... Really enjoyed the Marvel series Falcon and the Winter Soldier but I kept having the thought how amusing it would be to print up bumper stickers that replaces the Flag Smashers logo with the DNC logo to re-use the "One World. One People." catch-phrase...  Heh Heh... Explanatory Knowledge would be a good name for a blog... Truth be told - I'm a little disappointed 2020 didn't actually give us murder hornets... So the Oscars were watched by just 9.85 million people. That means Hollywood's signature event now just has ratings slightly better that this year's Peach Bowl which "pitted" Georgia against Cincinnati (hardly a marque bowl game). That game was watched by almost 9 million...

Linky Links

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

- Matt Taibbi - "Amazing" Hypocrisy: Democrats Make Wreck of Covid-19 Relief Negotiations  

- If you're wondering what to get me for Christmas

- New Yorkers should be still angry with AOC over Amazon (but not angry enough to vote her out I guess)

- Never forget

- Trump's peace deals mean the anti-Israel boycott movement is dead. One can only hope so.

Linky Links

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

- Matt Taibbi on the history populism in the US and what it means for today. 

- Offshore wind power a vast boondoggle that New York can no longer afford. As an aside the Town of Princeton MA pays the highest electric costs in the State because years ago they installed a couple of windmills now known as the White Elephants because they no longer work (but the Town is still paying for them)

- South Dakota expects 250,000 bikers for Sturgis rally. This will be interesting to watch. Also interesting despite the huge cuts to State revenues across the US (average down 29%) - South Dakota's State revenue is up 1-2% during the Wuhan virus pandemic.

- Japan upping its air defense with a big F-35 order. China has been pushing its "neighbors" and its not surprising that these neighbors like Japan are preparing to push back.

- Heh Heh - funny because it could be true!

- Interesting - is Patreon in danger of being destroyed? Go Woke Go Broke?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tesla selects Texas as home to the next Gigafactory. After the Supreme Court ruling regarding Oklahoma I think this was basically a done deal. Won't be surprised if some manufacturing capacity is moved from California to Texas as well... "Invest the best hours of your day on the biggest opportunity, not the biggest problem." - Shane Parrish. Such great advice but at the same time so hard to do... US banks can now hold crypto-currencies. Why do I have the sneaking suspicion this actually makes things like Bitcoin less secure?... On the plus side NFL coaches wearing masks on the sidelines won't have to bother to hold up a call sheet to hide their lips from any lip readers anymore... Andrew Cuomo: "We now have people coming to New York, fleeing other states because it's the 'safe' state." I must admit that having recently re-watched the HBO Watchmen series I can't help but think of the Looking Glass scene where he reviews a NYC tourist commercial. Yeah nobody wants to go there right now... "More the knowledge lesser the ego, lesser the knowledge more the ego." - Albert Einstein... 

Linky Links

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

- VDH on Peak Jacobinism. I think the peak has yet to hit - the real peak will come in August at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.

- Heh Heh - Kanye West drops out of race after Elon Musk offers him position of President of Mars

- Mount Bromo really looks like a gateway to hell

- Interesting look at The Ballad of the Green Berets. Sgt Barry Sadler lived a very interesting life and as an aside The Ballad of the Green Berets would be one of the worst lap dance songs ever.

- Comparing the epidemic curve in Sweden and New York State

- Heh Heh

- FCC approves operation of "Starlink Router" for SpaceX. Interesting to note that the device is apparently "Made in Taiwan" which must make the Chinese really happy.

Linky Links

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

- How do you say "Redneck Wimbledon" in German?

- The Genie, the Bottle, and What's Next. Agree 100%. Ineffective middle management jobs may be hardest hit when this is all said and done.

- Why Two Decades of Pandemic Planning Failed. "The failure of the United States government to respond to the coronavirus was not a failure of foresight. It was a failure to create a coherent strategy and to provide clear lines of authority to implement it." Long read but worth it.

- This was elder abuse. Pure and simple - elder abuse!

- Scientists find a link between beef jerky and mania. So side effects of snapping into a Slim Jim could be mental illness? (Oh and the "link" is nitrates. Don't eat nitrates.)

- I think this is so cool. I could see myself living in a tiny home in the woods or on a lake.

CA and NY

In recent reports both California and New York have lost significant amounts of population. Enough so that each State will be losing seats in Congress.

One common sense explanation that seems missing from most reports of the exoduses is the anti-business and high costs of doing business in those States (especially energy costs). These States are driving businesses away. The people are simply following the jobs. Usually to States that are business friendly - like Texas.

Linky Links

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

- Why you've never heard of most of the happy, successful people in the world.

- "Breathing pavement" (would also be a good name for a band)

- Interesting (but long) read on the rise and fall of a New York sports radio shock jock

- Heh Heh

- Could a trade deal with China be just a month or two away?

- Cool - how to make a teapot. Love videos like this.

- Could New York State be divided up into three "districts"?

Let's Talk Some Politics

Interesting article/rebuttal about Why Upstate New York Feels Unwelcome in Its Own State.

New York City has the wealth and provides the entertainment not just for the rest of the State but for much of the country. What does "Upstate" New York offer? Well how about the food, the electric power and the natural beauty/resources just to start. The whole things gives off a Hunger Games feel. 

In Panem - Capital City also had the wealth and the entertainment (in the form of the Hunger Games) while the Districts each provided their own distinct contributions.Fish, electricity, coal, food, etc.

The big difference is in the fictional world Capital City had the military power while in real life - it is the residents of Upstate NY that are armed. Makes you wonder if that's a psychological underpinning of residents of Capital New York City being such ardent advocates of gun control while the Upstate residents are such "bitter clingers."

It's true in New York State and it's true in much of the rest of the country. Who knew that Suzanne Collins was such a big MAGA supporter?

Linky Links

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

- Interesting question - do deep sea creatures explode or implode when brought to the surface?

- Found another black Trump supporter (funny how spot on this actually is)

- A 6,000 match chain reaction - cool to watch but what's left over might resemble the Browns too much for Cleveland fans to witness

- Dave Grohl is the best!

- Heh heh

- The legal and economic impact of the MMA legalization in New York

- Cooling the body temperature may lead to longer life

- Russian badass soldier surrounded by ISIS calls in air strike on himself