Create Your Own Thomas Friedman Op-Ed Column

Caelian · 2024-04-22T20:51:01+00:00

I've heard of using artificial intelligence to fake a columnist. Thomas Friedman requires artificial stupidity.

Caelian · 2024-04-20T17:08:20+00:00

Exactly. The drones and vintage cruise missiles the West shot down were decoys. They may not even have been armed.

It's the hypersonics that got through and hit Israeli military targets -- just as in the Ukraine.

Caelian · 2024-04-20T17:04:49+00:00

Now Zelensky is going to have to face the music... alone.

Yep, just Z, his piano, and his...

Caelian · 2024-04-11T15:17:35+00:00

Ironclad lockbox! (sigh)

Caelian · 2024-04-07T14:51:26+00:00

All Zits Are Nasty

Caelian · 2024-04-07T14:45:58+00:00

Barack Obama would like to point out that "speranza" is an Italian word for "hope".

Caelian · 2024-04-06T17:32:13+00:00

it is easy to see this as de facto proof that China's model is not socialist.

Either that, or that socialist production is superior to capitalist production. I would think that "we're all in this together" is a better attitude than masters and slaves.

But what's really going on here is that the Biden admin doesn't want Green technology to thrive. Like the Republican Party, the Democrats are owned by the oil companies. The difference is that the Democrats lie about it.

I once heard Al Gore give his "An Inconvenient Truth" slide presentation live. It was a great experience, because he wasn't wooden in person and in fact has a great sense of humor. At one point in the presentation, Gore talked about a conversation he had had with a really smart friend of his. Gore was wondering out loud how the USA could possibly pay for the changes needed to convert to a renewable electric economy. His friend said "you have the sine wrong". Gore tried to remember his high school trigonometry and figure out what this had to do with the problem, but then he realized his friend had said "you have the sign wrong". In fact, the USA industrial expansion needed to go Green would pay for itself in new jobs and new economic activity. The problem is that it moves the profits from the oil companies to others, and the oil companies will do everything they can to prevent it from happening. Buying congress-critters is cheap and the public is easily gulled.

Caelian · 2024-03-23T00:34:35+00:00

Loretta should hold her smurf until she turns smurf!

Caelian · 2024-03-23T00:27:34+00:00

OTOH, the USA is perfectly happy to have one country interfere.

Caelian · 2024-03-23T00:20:15+00:00

And Democrats get flustered when Russia spends $20K 🐻

Caelian · 2024-03-10T23:03:15+00:00

Maybe gremlins...

The HMS Queen Elizabeth was docked in Scotland, so probably brownies 😺

Caelian · 2024-03-03T16:27:05+00:00

The Michigan primary has come and gone, so no need to pretend any more.

Caelian · 2024-03-03T05:21:40+00:00

"The Clintons are the sort of friends who are always there when they need you."

Caelian · 2024-03-03T05:14:33+00:00

And the ruling class themselves have ever more the mindset as described by Thorstein Veblen: only the ignorable do actual work while the truly successful indulge in leisure and conspicuous consumption as much as their means allow.

Evidently the leisure of the ruling class does not include the plays of William Shakespeare:

If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;

— Prince Henry in King Henry the Fourth, part 1, Act I, Scene 2

So if the ruling class only indulge in leisure, how would they learn the things that would qualify them to rule?

Caelian · 2024-03-03T04:51:39+00:00

According to Wiktionary, Russian кадры is from French cadre.

Caelian · 2024-03-03T04:37:37+00:00

Ruh roh.

Caelian · 2024-03-03T03:25:50+00:00

It's also the Law of Large Organizations:

In any Large Organization, Loyalty will always be rewarded over Competence.

Pointing out problems is considered Disloyalty and is punished accordingly.

Caelian · 2024-03-01T17:41:16+00:00

The Democratic Party has calculated that "they can fool enough of the people enough of the time". 2016 should have taught them that "math class is tough", but nope.

Caelian · 2024-02-23T15:37:44+00:00

Being There (1979)

Caelian · 2024-02-23T01:27:14+00:00

No, did they? :-D

Ah, you must have seen the film and remember that it ends with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan escaping Germany through a mountain pass and skiing downhill into Austria with the Nazis in close pursuit.

Caelian · 2024-02-23T01:11:57+00:00

There's very good 1940 American drama called The Mortal Storm about the rise of Nazism in Germany. The great Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) plays a distinguished medical science professor and researcher. At the beginning of the movie he has won a distinguished prize and receives a big round of applause from his students.

Then the Nazis take over. Prof Roth refuses to compromise his scientific integrity and is booed by the same students when he refuses to agree that there is something different and special about German blood. He loses his job and is soon taken away to a concentration camp where he dies.

Then things really go downhill.

Caelian · 2024-02-23T00:01:35+00:00

China... they have the monopoly for this raw material.

Not according to Wiki-Pooh:

Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes), and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes). One of the largest reserve bases of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.

Caelian · 2024-02-21T23:55:52+00:00

My dear father was an art historian. He often photographed paintings in museums, using a tripod and a light meter to get the correct exposure. He would take multiple photos, with lots of close-up detail shots. He was used to photographing artworks that hadn't moved in decades, and always took his time.

In family photos, my sister and I always look impatient and bored out of our skulls 😾

Could be worse. We could have been posing for John Singer Sargent.

The same painting with a fat cat 😺

Caelian · 2024-02-21T16:31:38+00:00

Hilarious. Decades ago I read some old instructions to photographers on what words to have your subjects say to get a particular look. "Cheese" for a happy smile, of course. For a serious, demure look the recommended word is "bosom".

Caelian · 2024-02-20T23:34:37+00:00

It certainly calls into question the concept of "the current state of medical knowledge"...

From an episode of Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber starring Steve Martin -- vintage SNL (04/22/78):

Unfortunately, we barbers aren’t gods. You know, medicine is not an exact science, but we are learning all the time. Why, just fifty years ago, they thought a disease like your daughter’s was caused by demonic possession or witchcraft. But nowadays we know that Isabelle is suffering from an imbalance of bodily humors, perhaps caused by a toad or a small dwarf living in her stomach.

Caelian · 2024-02-20T16:12:58+00:00

I found out about this in a comment at Moon of Alabama:

Bild: US, Germany, Russia discussed swapping Navalny for convicted Russian hitman

German, U.S. and Russian authorities had discussed exchanging Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian hitman sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany, before Navalny's death, the German newspaper Bild reported on Feb. 18, citing its sources.

So why would Russia kill Navalny if they were going to swap him for Krasikov? I guess for the same reason they blew up Nord Stream: They're mad, I tell you, mad! /s

Caelian · 2024-02-17T20:05:11+00:00

Ve haff vays of making you think!

Die Gedanken sind nicht frei.

Caelian · 2024-02-17T17:10:06+00:00

"This redistribution of wealth is trickier than I thought."

Caelian · 2024-02-17T17:02:58+00:00

I guess Germany figures that by the time the plants are built, Nord Stream will be back in operation.

Caelian · 2024-02-11T01:27:42+00:00

It's not about protecting women or children, it's just about keeping the population down, period.

On the other hand, many USA states have outlawed abortion and many right-wing politicians want to do it nationally.

Caelian · 2024-02-09T02:19:48+00:00

Moon of Alabama has comments on Putin/Tucker starting at #182.

I love this comment by Apollyon | Feb 8 2024 23:49 utc | 201:

Tucker: "Who blew up Nord Stream?"
Putin: "You for sure."
Tucker: "I was busy that day. I did not blow up Nord Stream."
Putin: "You personally may have an alibi, but the CIA has no such alibi."

Good comment by whirlX | Feb 9 2024 1:17 utc | 233:

I can imagine reactions on the Western morning papers' front pages:

Putin gives an empty history lesson again.
A talk worth of a taxi driver.
Putin spends two hours, begging the West.
Putin never looked so scared.
Is Putin signalling a surrender?
Should the World take Putin seriously?
Is Putin hurt enough?

While he says that, certainly, a big war will happen in the Middle East and Russia will never give up even if it results in a war with the West.

Poignant comment by jpb | Feb 9 2024 1:51 utc | 246:

Vladimir Putin's last story of the tragedy of Ukrainian soldiers surrounded by Russian soldiers who tried to get them to surrender and save their lives. The Ukrainians shouted back, "Russians never surrender!"

When the war in Ukraine eventually ends, the Ukrainians will morn their lost brothers, sons, and fathers and ask, "What for?"

The Chechens fought a brutal war with Russia which ended with the deaths of their brothers, fathers, and sons. When they asked, "What for?" They admitted they made a mistake and returned to Mother Russia.

At the end of this war, Ukrainians will turn their backs on the Empire of Lies and return to Mother Russia.

Caelian · 2024-02-06T16:00:55+00:00

What – Me Worry?

Caelian · 2024-02-06T15:50:36+00:00

"There are no optimists or pessimists — just happy imbeciles and sad imbeciles."

— the great Jeanne Moreau in The Bride Wore Black (1968)

Caelian · 2024-02-06T15:44:36+00:00

GCC = GNU Compiler Collection, which includes the GNU C/C++ Compiler?

/geek 🐃

Caelian · 2024-02-04T15:48:27+00:00

Dave Smith is a New York based stand-up comedian, radio personality, and political commentator.

Reminds me of a line from Roger Rabbit:

— Do mean to tell me that you could have described a workable plan for peace in the Middle East at any time?

— No, only when it's funny 🐰

Caelian · 2024-02-01T15:52:52+00:00

"Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos" (if you raise ravens, they'll tear your eyes out) — old Spanish proverb

Caelian · 2024-01-31T15:00:20+00:00

Thank you for posting this. Ugly situation, but the USA and Israel have been building towards this for a long time.

Caelian · 2024-01-30T01:46:03+00:00

Thank you for posting this. I rarely watch videos — I much prefer transcripts.

I found this particularly interesting:

Wider war: Israel is no longer feared by its Arab neighbors and the Israeli population believe this as well which for them spells insecurity and an existential threat. This boxes the zionist project in, and it's why the focus is being shifted from Gaza to Hezbollah.

Israel has been a big bully for a long time, confident that its bigger bully buddy will prevent retaliation. IMO the only existential threat to Israel is from itself.

Caelian · 2024-01-28T16:13:07+00:00

Answer: No, Democrats and Limousine Liberals believe that Biden and his entourage can do no wrong.

Caelian · 2024-01-25T18:12:42+00:00

Kucinich, Kucinich, Kucinich!

Caelian · 2024-01-25T17:55:38+00:00

Registered NH Democrats were not allowed to vote in the Republican primary. Unaffiliated (independent) NH voters could, and voted for Nikki by a large margin.

Caelian · 2024-01-25T03:49:09+00:00

According to Wiki-Pooh, a recent Arab American Institute survey found that Pennsylvania had 182,610 residents of Arab descent. Biden won that state by 80K votes in 2020.

Caelian · 2024-01-24T01:07:19+00:00

Modern automobiles use lots of chips. Copper wires have become very expensive, so instead of bundles of wires going from the dashboard to headlights, taillights, brake lights, low tire pressure indicators, etc., cars instead have a single high-current power bus and a local area network that talks to small modules controlling groups of lights, etc. Each module has a cheap microcontroller that talks to the LAN and turns nearby lights on and off. A modern automobile has many dozens of these microcontrollers as well as the power transistors that drive the light bulbs.

None of these chips require high-density semiconductor processes. 14 nm and above are fine, and are preferred for their robustness. They are perfectly suited to China's mass production skill.

Caelian · 2024-01-17T15:55:34+00:00

Western academics are paid not to understand.

Caelian · 2024-01-17T15:41:07+00:00

I heard this one from Michael Feldman:

A Minnesota farmer marries a Palestinian woman. What do they call their first-born son? "Yasser Youbetcha" 😺

Caelian · 2024-01-17T15:38:14+00:00

Isn't that outlawed by the Nuremberg Laws?

Caelian · 2024-01-16T15:27:53+00:00

Russia is keeping a low profile, but I don't know about neutrality. Someone is providing targeting data to Iran, and would Iran be launching missiles and declaring that they had done so if they didn't have strong backup? Of course it could be the Chinese.

Caelian · 2024-01-15T18:26:34+00:00

At this point, Europe is a bunch of chihuahuas trying to pick a fight with a Doberman

From the Scottish wing of the Old Jokes Home:

A Scotsman is walking his Great Dane. It's hot and he's thirsty, so he decides to stop at the pub. He ties his Great Dane to a post outside and goes in for a pint.

A few minutes later, a distraught man comes in and asks "Is that your Great Dane tied up outside?"

-- "Aye, what of it?"

-- "I'm afraid my dog may have killed him."

-- "What kind of dog do you have that could kill a Great Dane?"

-- "Well, he's a Chihuahua."

-- "How in hell could a Chihuahua kill a Great Dane?"

-- "Well, I'm afraid the wee bastard got caught in his throat."

Caelian · 2024-01-15T18:01:32+00:00

Trump is mad at Europe because of all those photos that make him look ridiculous.

This one is real. Angela just said: "Ve haff decided that you must stay after class und clean ze erasers".

This one may have been doctored a bit.

Caelian · 2024-01-13T05:13:24+00:00

This guy can sniff out child targets from 20 miles away.

Caelian · 2024-01-12T15:28:12+00:00

This week on my Android tablet "reddit.com" has become pretty much unusable. I think they switched to "new Reddit" with its awful user interface, and they won't let me select the desktop version. So on my tablet I switched to "old.reddit", which works for now. I can still use "reddit.com" on my GNU/Linux desktop if I use my old version of Firefox. One thing I like about SaidIt is that the user interface is uniform across my platforms.

Caelian · 2024-01-10T05:58:44+00:00

The Clintons are indeed egregious, but my "worst thing" prize goes to Nixon. When I was a child, I was taught George Washington's "I cannot tell a lie", Abraham Lincoln's "All that I am or ever hope to be I owe to my sainted mother", and JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you..." That is, a highly idealized view of presidents as statesmen who were role models for children, avoiding even the appearance of wrongdoing.

That all fell apart with Nixon, who lied, cheated, and did everything to advance himself while pulling the presidency through the mud.

Then we had Reagan, who replaced JFK's idealism and cooperation with "every man for himself".

Clinton just took advantage of the new standards set by Nixon and Reagan. I don't think he would have been possible otherwise.

I talked about the shift from JFK to Reagan in my May 2020 Reddit post Happy Days Aren't Here Again.

Caelian · 2024-01-08T02:38:56+00:00

That is why I am hopeful that at least one of the liberal justices will follow the lead of the three...

SCOTUS has six conservative justices, so if the case is decided politically it's an easy majority. Regarding the Colorado Supreme Court, all justices were appointed by Democratic governors. They have all since been reaffirmed by Colorado voters. This must be done two years after their initial appointments, and then every 10 years until mandatory retirement at age 72.

The US and Colorado justices are supposed to decide cases in a non-partisan way.

Caelian · 2024-01-05T02:22:53+00:00

Capone getting convicted on tax evasion rather than violating Prohibition.

And, of course, all those murders.

Caelian · 2024-01-01T15:59:09+00:00

I've noticed that SaidIt seems to have stopped asking for authentication every five minutes. How long has this annoyance been fixed?

Caelian · 2023-12-20T17:29:08+00:00

😺

Very amusing comment! There are many literary examples of my stereotype. I was thinking in particular of Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Caelian · 2023-12-19T16:46:58+00:00

Families are having fewer children. So you don't have the traditional large family practice of having the oldest take over the family business, having the smartest be the oldest's "brains behind the outfit", having the family idiot join the clergy, and letting the rest be soldiers.

Caelian · 2023-12-19T14:17:44+00:00

"We support them 1000%. Just like Ukraine."

/s

Caelian · 2023-12-17T22:29:05+00:00

My advice: stay away from butts of Malmsey 🐴

Caelian · 2023-12-14T19:42:51+00:00

"Some of my best friends are Israeli"?

Caelian · 2023-12-11T15:45:43+00:00

It’s an itty-bitty spaceplane, not quite 30 feet long and under 10 feet tall, with a pair of stubby wings and a rounded, bulldog-like nose.

It sounds "nasty, brutish, and short" to me 😺

Funny! Autocorrect changed "brutish" to "British". Oh, what a give-away!

Caelian · 2023-12-09T23:20:21+00:00

You can ask Angela Merkel what to expect from your "ally" the USA.

(I'm referring to reports that the NSA tapped her phone from 2002 to 2013.)

Caelian · 2023-12-08T01:10:49+00:00

I find that for every 5 minutes I read or hear Nikki's words, I dislike her an additional 10 dB.

Caelian · 2023-12-08T01:07:13+00:00

So if they were not anti-Semitic at all, they could watch any amount of TikTok?

Caelian · 2023-12-03T16:52:02+00:00

Our fearless leader u/FThumb relates his experience with making the DailyKos audience "uncomfortable" in 2016:

One of the most abrupt 'tells' that GOS [the Great Orange Satan, a nickname for Daily Kos later adopted for Trump] was on the verge of jumping the shark was in late January '16, and I found myself on a "time out." This was odd as, short of a brigade of flags for asking a simple (and legitimate) question in a "Hillary Safe Zone" diary a couple months prior, I didn't have anything but the rare random flag and no hiddens.

So I asked, "What's the deal?"

I had been posting my mocking "I've Never Been Convicted — Vote Hillary!" series here and there, and was told by TPTB that, (and this is a real quote) "While funny, your humor has been making some people feel uncomfortable." And I was put on a temporary ban for it.

Oh. Political humor is making "some people" "uncomfortable?"

Okaaaaaay...

Caelian · 2023-12-03T16:42:11+00:00

Even Henny Youngman:

Two Polish guys on Halloween with bandages on their faces — they were bobbing for french fries!

They sent a Polish terrorist to blow up a bus — burned his lips on the exhaust pipe!

Caelian · 2023-12-03T16:37:46+00:00

Honoré Daumier 😺

Caelian · 2023-12-01T00:39:52+00:00

I like the sign that says:

Respect your elders. They made it through school without Google or Wikipedia.

Caelian · 2023-11-30T15:34:16+00:00

I miss that Bernie.

Caelian · 2023-11-30T05:24:30+00:00

Dick (1999) is a hilarious parody of All the President's Men (1976). Dan Hedaya is perfect as Nixon. Saul Rubinek is excellent as Kissinger. The DVD has a hilarious outtake of Nixon and Kissinger praying in the oval office. I could not find it online.

Caelian · 2023-11-27T05:21:34+00:00

I have heard that most Europeans hoped the South would win the US "War Between The States". They feared that a united USA would become a dangerous bully.

Caelian · 2023-11-27T03:40:02+00:00

If there's any karma left on the planet, this should end up being terrific publicity for la fée verte.

Caelian · 2023-11-25T21:38:54+00:00

There's a discussion about this at Moon of Alabama: It's Official — U.S. & UK Pressed Ukraine To Reject Peace Deal With Russia

Caelian · 2023-11-25T18:58:40+00:00

According to legend, Oscar Levant -- the famous American comedian, actor, composer, and concert pianist -- was drafted for WWII, but was disqualified when he failed the psychological test. They asked him whether he felt capable of killing another human being. He replied "Friends, yes. Total strangers? I don't know."

Caelian · 2023-11-25T18:53:02+00:00

"A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."

-- Isaac Asimov's First Law of Robotics, from a work of fiction natürlich.

Caelian · 2023-11-25T18:39:14+00:00

Names of people are often interesting in Blighty. There's a villain in Graham Greene's excellent 1936 anti-war novel A Gun for Sale named Cholmondeley, which is pronounced "Chumley". Monty Python mocks this with Graham Chapman's "No, no, no -- it's spelt Raymond Luxury Yacht, but it's pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove" :-)

Caelian · 2023-11-25T07:26:13+00:00

it always sounds more highbrow in French

My other daughter says French adds a certain je ne sais quoi, a certain pomme de terre.

Caelian · 2023-11-25T07:16:52+00:00

I generally say Targét. My daughter introduced me to that amusing pronunciation. But I'm switching to calling it Tarrrr-get after George Grisby, a minor but memorable character in The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Grisby's best line is "Just tell 'em you're taking a little tarrrr-get practice." My version is "I'm going to do a little Tarrrr-get shopping" 😺

Did you know that in French the word toupée is spelled toupet? It's pronounced the same way. The French don't need the accent to tell them to pronounce it Frenchly.

Caelian · 2023-11-25T01:01:57+00:00

where she drove him into a lustful frenzy by talking French to him

Is it anywhere as hilarious as John Cleese speaking Russian to Jamie Lee Curtis in the excellent A Fish Called Wanda?

Caelian · 2023-11-25T00:56:07+00:00

IMO both culinary and cuisine have the connotation of fine cooking. Fish and chips is IMO better described as eats, grub, or nosh 😺

OTOH, sometimes a word choice is merely pretentious:

Q: What's the difference between deli and charcuterie?
A: About $10 a pound 😺

Caelian · 2023-11-24T22:48:57+00:00

Well, businesses don't want to pay young people, so fair is fair.

Caelian · 2023-11-24T18:37:08+00:00

That reminds me. NPR had a segment this morning about the astronomic rise in the price of fish and chips in England. They described fish and chips as "an integral part of the British culinary landscape". Kind of like describing McDonald's as cuisine.

Caelian · 2023-11-23T21:46:54+00:00

Sure, if you like your steak boiled.

Asterix in Briton is very amusing. The French love to make fun of the English, especially their feeble attempts at cooking. In the book, the Britons eat boiled boar and drink warm ale. At 4 PM, everybody stops what they're doing to have a nice cup of hot water with "a cloud of milk". Tea hadn't been discovered yet.

There's a number of things I cook with a combination of microwaves and a fry pan. I start with microwaves to get the food hot and/or dethawed. Then I fry the outside to bring out the flavor.

Caelian · 2023-11-23T21:36:17+00:00

Yeah, but you're French. Cooking is in your blood, mon ami :-)

Caelian · 2023-11-23T00:16:17+00:00

No sign of terrorism in blast that killed 2 at U.S.-Canada border in Niagara Falls, governor says

Two people were killed in an explosion at the Canadian border where an "airborne" car crashed into a checkpoint at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls on Wednesday, officials said.

According to the article, the vehicle was a car coming from the US side at alarmingly high speed. It hit a median barrier and went airborne and crashed into a couple of booths. The two people killed were in the car.

Caelian · 2023-11-23T00:05:09+00:00

"Snakes having sex?"

— Classic Rorschach joke

Caelian · 2023-11-22T01:39:36+00:00

forcing Kamala Harris down everyone's throat.

In last Friday's Harvard-Harris poll, Trump led Biden 53-47 (+6). He led Kamala 52-40 (+12).

Source = RealClearPolitics

Caelian · 2023-11-21T21:22:29+00:00

Plenty of time to have an open primary and select a different awful candidate for 2024 :-)

Caelian · 2023-11-21T02:38:46+00:00

Happy cake day, Pudd'nhead Biden! 🎂

Caelian · 2023-11-21T02:37:50+00:00

Happy cake day, Pudd'nhead Biden! 🎂

Caelian · 2023-11-20T22:16:08+00:00

"Being famous means you can't pick your nose in public."

-- Marlon Brando (as told to me by my dear father)

Caelian · 2023-11-18T22:23:38+00:00

Did the USA ever have control of the Middle East? They certainly didn't have control of Saudi after the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and I don't know when Israel took over Congress.

Caelian · 2023-11-18T03:04:59+00:00

Music To Lead Cavalry Charges By

How'd you like the lyrics, Bill?

Caelian · 2023-11-18T01:59:19+00:00

LOL!

Caelian · 2023-11-18T01:11:16+00:00

Dudley Do-Right to the Rescue!

Trivia question: what is the name of Dudley Do-Right's horse?

Caelian · 2023-11-16T01:46:15+00:00

There's a long discussion about this at Moon of Alabama: Shifa Hospital Bunker - How Would They Know?

Caelian

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