Quick Jots: August 2022

Moving
#offtopic #race
I have been in the middle of moving among a flurry of other things, making posts more difficult. We are moving into a new development over the hill from where I used to live. Interestingly enough, when one of my wife's friends caught wind of this, she looked into moving into the same place because where she lived "lacked diversity" (in other words, there were too many white people). I don't think our new neighborhood is that much more diverse. Throughout the neighborhood, nearly everyone appears to be either East Indian or East Asian. Given that the friend is East Asian herself, the "ethnic" makeup of the community would go from two (white and East Asian) to two (East Indian and East Asian). On the other hand, it seems like I am moving from a truly diverse neighborhood (black, white, Hispanic, and Asian) to a less diverse neighborhood. We met our new neighbors last week and the first couple we met was a true cross-section of the community: One East Indian and one East Asian. So far, to our right is an East Asian couple and both houses to the right are East Indian couples. So far, an exact 50-50 split between East Asian and East Indian, unless you count the Taiwanese guy that is renting a room. I have a feeling it's going to be a great neighborhood. Anyway, it's just funny people's perceptions of what diversity means.

Zuby Speaks to Reason
Nick Gillespie interviewed Zuby at Freedomfest and it was quite an interesting one. Two points stuck out. Zuby mentioned that the left tends to compare things to utopia while the right tends to compare things to history. This is maybe not new, but interesting to put together like this. On the face, it seems to be a detraction to the left, which is likely what Zuby intended, where the left has their heads stuck in the clouds while the right is grounded in reality. There is some truth there. On the other hand, this also says in the subtext that the left tends to be forward-looking while the right is backward looking. I think there are major, uncomfortable truths to both interpretations. Nick didn't focus on this but rather mentioned that the left seems to be more worldly and educated, and Zuby thinks they are not as much as they think they are. I thought that was a missed opportunity for a far more interesting conversation.

The second was that Zuby mentioned he thought the legalization of gay marriage was where "the left became unhinged", as that was the last major oppression still on the books. Now that there are no true social injustices left at the governmental level, they had to make things up, overcorrect, and now they are infringing on women's rights. 

Housing is a human right, also don't build new housing
#housingcrisis
In the crazed city of Bezerkley, where people's minds operate with the assumption that the Penrose Triangle is a real-life object, protesters flooded the streets, chanting "housing is a human right!" Hrm. They must be demanding housing subsidies or something, right? Nope. They were protesting the construction of a student dorm and a subsidized homeless shelter. This is like fighting climate change by flying private jets. This is like protesting new buildings casting shadows while hiding in the shadow of a building. This is like protesting tuition hikes by smashing windows. ... Goddamnit.

Anthony Fauci to retire
#anthonyfauci
The man who has done more to destroy lives in the United States more than anyone else in the pandemic plans to retire soon. Sure, he'll say he has only provided guidance, but that's bullshit. He clearly provides "guidance" directly to the people in charge. He was essentially dictating what policies to put in place. He also advocated for harsh lockdowns, and even when looking back, Robby Soave at The Hill interviewed him and Fauci said he would lock down even harder, despite the evidence clearly saying lockdowns just destroy the economy and lives. Not that he was particularly interested in the evidence, as he was proven wrong again and again when pitted against Rand Paul. Fauci has claimed before that going against him was going against science itself, a laughably unscientific thing to say. Oh, and this high priest of science will retire with a $350k per year pension. Think about that next time you're struggling with rent payments. You should have worked for the government, where you can wreak destruction on people and later get paid a top salary for doing nothing.

Liz Cheney loses
#lizcheney #republicans
LOL. Liz Cheney lost her primary race for her incumbent seat on Wyoming's sole House seat to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. Although everyone following the establishment line seems to be fixated on the "Trump-backed" part, I couldn't care less about that. I'm sure Hageman will be a terrible Congresswoman. But Liz Cheney is one of the most disgusting people in the United States. This is a person who criticized John McCain for being queasy against torture. John McCain's only decent foreign policy instinct and Liz Cheney chose that one to criticize. 

Brian Stelter fired
#media
ROFL. The rumors that Stelter was directly in the crosshairs of CNN's new management, looking to shift CNN's brand back to, well, real news, proved to be true as Stelter's show was canceled in mid-August. It seems like the whole world knew except Stelter, who was reportedly taken by surprise at the firing. His last show was not any better than the others. In true tone-deaf fashion, he stated "It is not partisan to stand up to demagogues - it's required, it's patriotic." No, you moron. The point is that you only "stand up" to demagogues on one side, which included flat-out falsehoods and lies. It's fine to get things wrong now and again, but you're not fooling anyone when you only "get things wrong" to the benefit of one side. He then said, "We must make sure we do not give a platform to those who are lying to our faces." Amazingly, this was said without a sense of irony. That is also not his job. The best way to expose lies, particularly from those in positions of power, is to platform those lies and then explain why they are lies. If you're not able to do this, then maybe look in the mirror.

This is all one needs to know about Stelter. One real question from a college student, and he responds with a nonsensical, non-sequitur, word salad: