BrattyChaz
2yr ago
I’m not all the way through, but is this from the intro? A bit uncharitable to suggest that wasn’t just his enthusiastic assertion of non-Europeans being as smart as Europeans.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
And I'm skeptical, anyway, that someone who sends a broad message and adds "I don't really mean this broad message" is sincere about it, rather than just going for plausible deniability.
Someone recommended this forum, but man is it a disappointment. Top of this thead is don’t put words in people’s mouths. You’re not a mind reader, and Griner was plain about her views of the country as a whole. Unless, again, there’s some other statement of hers, which I fully leave open the possibility.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
That’s rather tangential to Griner, but yes, I do.
And I also remember how things like being against undertaking a war of nation building in a mountainous, tribal backwater of a country already known as “the Graveyard of Empires” was spun to be an attack on the troops. Even if you thought the government should stop paying private contractors more than they pay the troops, increase troop pay, fix and adequately fund the VA, and demand politicians not make arrogant and stupid plans that get troops killed, while noting that the supermajority of our servicemen bore no blame in the military failures of the last 20 years. I one-hundred percent remember people trying to conflate criticism of politicians with criticism of the troops for very cynical reasons.
And I do remember the impulse to add a disclaimer that we do, in fact, support our troops, because of the above.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Do you consider the following in reference to Breonna Taylor’s death to be pretty spicy, or are there other statements she has made about America to which your characterization applies?
"I honestly feel we should not play the national anthem during our season," Griner said. "I think we should take that much of a stand.
"I don't mean that in any disrespect to our country. My dad was in Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years. I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do have pride for my country."
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Yeah, the charges are above board. Forgot about cannabis oil for a vape pen in her luggage. An incredibly poor oversight when traveling to a country that was already on the U.S. State Department’s list of countries U.S. citizens are advised to avoid at the time of her trip.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Are there other quotes, or is this in reference to her response to not wanting the national anthem played at WNBA games as a protest in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s death?
"I honestly feel we should not play the National Anthem during our season," said Griner. "I think we should take that much of a stand.
"I don't mean that in any disrespect to our country. My dad was in Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years. I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do have pride for my country."
I know some in conservative media made a meal of the above, certainly. But in line with being charitable when discussing things, is this “going off about how terrible the US is”, or are there some quotes I’m missing?
There has been a lot of discussion around Griner’s detention, and it’s served as a focal point of the culture war.
It’s paywalled, but Ethan Strauss had an excellent piece on how other, not-Griner, athletes — as well as people in the media — have been off-putting in their framing of the topic…
https://houseofstrauss.substack.com/p/how-athletes-repel-the-public-on
…where it becomes a proxy for a lack of respect for (lesbians/blacks/women) as opposed to framing it as disproportionate punishment handed out to a U.S. citizen. And also framing athletes as above the average citizen. Which, in my opinion, is all spot-on in terms of things that will cause much of the public to roll their eyes.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Going through an airport and forgetting you’ve got something that’s going to be illegal once you enter your destination country is surely orders of magnitude more common than storming a legislature with the intent of disrupting proceedings.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Fair enough. Deleted.
Sometimes rich guys are dumb and impulsive, like a lot of people.
The drunken boxer stuff… I worked in the M&A industry for a decade. Watching Musk sign away his right to due diligence, then try and worm out of the deal, citing concerns that would have normally been addressed during due diligence, watching the share price drop with the rest of the market while Musk is locked in at the top, and now a judge (most-likely) dragging the sale across the finish line, has been some lovely schadenfreude. A-plus, chef’s kiss stuff.
Also, your info on the Feds blocking the deal is wrong. Musk is on the hook to resolve any objections, while Twitter can continue to demand their bag. Musk wanted to be Billy Big Balls and come in with a big, big offer containing terms Twitter’s board couldn’t refuse. And, they didn’t.
Large Twitter shareholders right now: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9Rd-FfKdcc8
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
These are some pretty broad claims. The CIA’s “New Left”?
The “moderate rebels” it supported in Syria were all Wahhabist/Salafist jihadis — “Christians to Beirut, Alawites (Shia) to the grave.” In the Donbas, the U.S. is arming neo-nazi, Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who view all Russians as Asiatic and not fully European (which in the abstract is bad, but neither you nor I are going to martyr ourselves defending an industrial plant in Donetsk). The CIA is nominally answerable to congress, so I’m sure they talk about diversity hiring on their website. But all I see are the same realist international politics. There is no power structure above the nation state, so nation states will compete for power as it is the only guarantee of their own security. Outright war in the nuclear age faces strong deterrent, so proxy wars and other jockeying for position ensue. Same as it has been since the OSS morphed into the CIA post-WW2.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
I think further study is warranted; agreed. Just wanted to highlight, albeit indirectly, the idea that autogynephilla is the primary driver of transsexualism isn’t a claim rooted in certainty.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Transsexualism is largely an adult male fetish that compulsively objectifies and covets womanhood. Men with autogynephila (the professional name for this form of transsexualism) seek to medically appropriate the sexed humanity of women by purchasing surgical simulacrums of their sexed reality, in parts, to assuage their compulsion. It is the apex of the sex industries, reducing women to parts for commercial and sexual use.
Per UCLA, referencing a pair of CDC datasets, “Of the 1.3 million adults who identify as transgender, 38.5% (515,200) are transgender women, 35.9% (480,000) are transgender men, and 25.6% (341,800) reported they are gender nonconforming.”
Source: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
It seems the choke points on the internet, currently, are (1) companies like Cloudflare that protect sites from DoS attacks, (2) payment processors, and (3) ICANN registration. There are enough hosting companies that KF could have kept hopping around so long as they were a Cloudflare client. I haven’t seen too much controversy around ICANN. But we are seeing weird stuff around payment processors. Some of the conditions placed on porn sites are odd and arbitrary…
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-cherie-deville
…as in, not full-stop anti-porn, but byzantine as to the specifics of what is allowed. And PayPal recently had to walk back a company policy where they could confiscate a set amount of money from users engaging in “disinformation”.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
I’ve read some other geographic-determinist stuff, that overlaps with Mearsheimerian, realist international politics. I think there is merit in the view, though as you say, generalists and grand-theorists of all stripes encounter problems.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Depends on how you use the internet, but you can block domains in Screen Time on iOS, and password protect Screen Time. Use same suggestion as elsewhere in the replies — use a long, randomized password you keep written down, somewhere, that you won’t remember and would have to go retrieve.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
I just finished Status and Culture by W. David Marx. I read his previous book, Ametora, about how the Japanese became interested in American clothing, and then, for niche menswear enthusiasts in the States, eventually began selling Americana back across the Pacific.
His latest book was a quick, general interest read that was fun. It looks at how various fashion, artistic, social, and design trends evolve, and the different approaches groups of people utilize to gain local and/or broad status. The examples used to illustrate kept the book interesting, like blue Harvestore-brand silos being status-symbols for prosperous American farmers, despite having defects; how cher and chíc aspic led to the demand for Jell-O, and a horrorshow of now-discarded Jell-O mold cookbooks; the invention of the tuxedo; etc.
Currently working on Guns, Germs and Steel since it was a small part of the Donald McNeil internal-hissyfit at the New York Times. Curious to see what the fuss is about.
Also finished Hermione Lee’s Tom Stoppard biography. Wonderful if you’re a fan of Stoppard’s work. Might be a bit too heavy a tome for casual-interest. But did a fine job of placing Stoppard’s thoughts, interviews and plays in the social, intellectual, artistic and political contexts of their time(s).
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
His video titles are infinitely-more click-baiting than their content, which can hopefully be forgiven as creators need to do so to grow a following. But for those with any interest in American football, Brett Kollmann released another one of his historical dives into the evolution of a particular play/concept. This time it’s how the Chiefs have tweaked the modern shovel-option, and the concept’s origin in the two-back veer option of the ‘60s and ‘70s:
Candidly, my knowledge of the housing industry outstrips my knowledge of cryptocurrency.
But, my first thought is that, no, I do not want decentralized titles. I explicitly want centralized titles. I want a lawyer, and a county clerk, and a judge, all talking about who owns what for most people will be the most expensive purchase(s) of their lives, if there is any sort dispute. I do not want ownership of my home tied to password security. I want wet signatures, and I’m bringing a blue pen, so I know if a document presented at a later date has been so much as photocopied.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
Tangential development that isn’t yet large enough to be a systemic problem but is small-scale horrifying:
Since the refi boom is over and sales are slowing, originations departments are looking for ways to lower costs for consumers, so they can write more loans. One old, bad idea being kicked around again is attorney title opinion letters. And Fannie Mae has begun accepting them in limited amounts.
The attorney title opinion is a written letter from a lawyer that says based on the public records they were able to review, the title on the property you are buying is clear. It’s a cheaper alternative to title insurance, but what it isn’t, is title insurance.
Now, title insurers make good money. As an industry, they bring in billions in premiums versus paying out hundreds of millions in claims. But they also protect consumers against error and fraud.
Most homebuyers would surely love to save several hundred dollars in closing costs. But the ones that get burned and wind up in contested law suits are going to be out five figures in legal costs. Uncontested title resolutions run $1,500 to $5,000.
I look at it similarly, but that I can schedule when I feel like dung.
At my job, there are certain weeks where unless I’ve been admitted to the hospital or the like, I’m not allowed time off. (This isn’t a huge imposition as these are scheduled well in advance.) So, I always get flu shots (and now COVID boosters) on Friday evenings of weekends I have open. Better for me to sacrifice a lazy Saturday if I can lower the likelihood of having to slog through a busy week while under the weather.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
This is 💯 a caretaker-manager situation. Sam Allardyce will be the next PM, do just enough to keep the U.K. up, and get replaced over the summer.
Can you expand on what you mean by housing crash?
A wave of defaults and foreclosures? We don’t have the same ARM bomb exploding. John Q. Public has a fixed rate loan, today.
Residential mortgage investment vehicles losing value? Home prices losing value? Supply still does not need demand in many, many metro areas where people want to live. There’s left- and right-NIMBYism rampant in zoning laws and planning commissions across the country. Lenders are currently laying off 25% of their originations staff, because no one is refi-ing into a 7% fixed-rate, and the price of homes is starting to level off, but there might not be a dramatic fall in prices because of the housing shortage in desirable areas. A moderate drop in home prices combined with a significant decrease in the rate of home sales is a very reasonable possibility, as buyers who can’t pay cash hold on to their current homes.
And, unsolicited advice for anyone who didn’t put 20% down on their mortgage. If you think we’re at the top of a bubble, now is a good time to call your lender, schedule an appraisal, and if you still have it, see if you can drop your PMI, because you now hopefully have 20% equity in your property.
BrattyChaz
2yr ago
I think that’s fair criticism.
Perhaps because of the large city in which I live, and the impact it has had even on center-left people and vaguely progressive-aligned non-political institutions, the old line that new converts to a religion are often-the most pious, has been pinging around in my head.
If I spent time at suburban school board meetings in the Bible belt, I might well have the same take on anti-woke, as opposed to it being something I see online and elsewhere.
There is flimsy, fun content and weightier, more-rewarding content in every medium. The golden age of opera and the dark age of opera are two terms for the same period (mid-to-late 1800s) when opera experienced a massive commercial boom in Italy and to some extent Germany. A whole mass of operas were created, most of them have rightly been forgotten as they were uninspired, formulaic cash-grabs. But some, still considered classics, emerged from that mass that was produced. Plenty of Verdi being performed, today.
A lot of the same criticisms about kids rotting their brains have been rolled out with the proliferation of each new medium — the serial novel in the wake of the movable-type printing press, films, radio programs, television programs, video games, social media…
But mediums shape content and technology shapes content. The particular advantage of books is that they’re an information-dense medium everyone can consume at their own pace. People naturally slow down, stop, dwell, ponder, resume, speed up, slow back down, etc. while reading. This can be approximated in other mediums, but doing so is comparatively clumsy. Video games get closest, given how interactive they are. But, they don’t tend to lend themselves to exploring the same content, given how costly they are to produce. As an example, faithful non-fiction like a realistic WWI game depicting the misery and tedium of life in the trenches, as opposed to just using period weapons, clothing, terrain and equipment, is going to face a taller commercial hurdle (and require books and other written materials to research). And a documentary or audiobook cannot cover as much material in the same amount of time.
Whether that advantage appeals to someone is their prerogative. In practice, I’ve not encountered the same depth in other mediums and this is surely downstream from how different mediums shape content.
And, I’m not banging the “make you a better person” drum, here. I find the Thirty Years War and WWI interesting, and enjoyed reading about them. But learning more about them gave me no advantage in my professional career, etc.
Looping back to O.P., I think formal schooling sours some people on reading because you’re getting assignments issued to you. If you had to play video games and watch movies you regularly found tedious, similar feelings might emerge.
Don’t worry, this is my last post here. There’s little buy in to the terms, and it’s not just that poster.
More options
Context Copy link