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Facebook

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Facebook is 3 things: bad interface, bad management, and biased policies. I want a social network that gives me control of what I see and share -- both to my friends and to advertisers. I realize they need to make a buck, and my information is their product, but the point is you can still give users the illusions of control. But Zuckerberg seems to have falling into the egocentric pit that many young billionaires do, they think because they timed things well, and worked hard, and got lucky that they're smarter than everyone else. This makes them arrogant, less mature, and slower to grow than the average human: Dunning-Kruger, inflated by being surrounded by yes-men.
Main article: Facebook

AR-15 Bullets

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There are many people who claim the AR-15 bullets (the .223) are uniquely deadly, or that you can get shot one place and have it exit somewhere else, and other myths propagate by FakeNews outlets like The Atlantic, NYT, or CBS's 60 minutes. Some of these rumors were created by the military to make the troops more comfortable with using a gun that was far less powerful than the AK-47's that our troops were facing, and much weaker than the hunting rifles they had used at home. But sometimes weaker is better. Wounded soldiers cost more resources than dead ones, and lighter guns/rounds are easier to carry and shoot: and that's why the military chose it. But the facts are that.223 isn't even the most powerful varmint round, and is one of the weakest of the rifle rounds. It is so weak that it can't be used to hunt deer or larger game in many states. Anyone trying to sell this AR-15 bullets are more deadly than other rifle bullets, is either a fool or a propagandist. And if they're a media organization with a single fact-checker, you know which one.
Main article: AR-15 Bullets

Just Ban Assault Rifles

Anyone that says any variant of "Just ban assault rifles", "no one should own military grade weapons", or "it's not all guns, just these killing machines" shows they are completely ignorant about assault rifles, or bans. This article breaks down why you can't ban "Assault Rifles", and why it would be moronic to try.

Black Panther (2018)

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The first Marvel film of 2018. I was almost scared off by the SJW's and BLM types ranting about how groundbreaking this was, or saying retarded things like the first Black Superhero film (other than all the others). The more they hyped it, the more I wanted to skip it over concerns it was going to be filled with Afrocentrist stupidity.

But I did see it, and despite having a bit of Superhero burn-out, it wasn't bad, and slightly fresh and only a little shallow. I thought it was definitely in the top 1/3rd of Marvel films, about equal to Thor: Ragnarok. Though Black Panther took itself a lot more seriously than funny.

Main article: Black Panther (2018)

Do something

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After every mass shooting (especially School shootings), there's the hue and cry, "this happened again, we have to do something!" They usually don’t say what, and the few who do, usually aren't very informed on the topic. So let's tear it down and look at what we should do, and should not do, and what people are asking for. And understand why were are likely to stay divided between gun controllers and those with a clue.
Main article: Do something

Death Panels

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Republicans (and Sarah Palin) started using the term "Death Panels" to describe part of the ACA, where a panel of 15 (called IPAB) could make life and death decisions over what treatments would be covered or not (which would control costs). Of course the left all called that untrue, but accounted for the savings these panels would bring by denying care, and far left places like Politifact called this the lie of the year in 2009. Then they screamed again when those panels that never existed were eliminated in 2018.
Main article: Death Panels

Elon Musk: Visionary

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Imagine in an alternate universe that Elon Musk was a visionary, and wanted to change the world to use electric cars, how would he have gone about it?

I can tell you, that reality looks nothing like the Tesla as it exists today. (These are a collection of ideas I had, from the first time that Elon claimed he wanted to change the industry (circa 2003), but it became obvious that he really didn't mean it).

Main article: Elon Musk: Visionary

Trickle Down Economics

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There's a name for Trickle Down Economics... it's called economics. Even Keynesianism is the idea that if government spends, it trickles down. No rational economist will argue against the idea that cutting everyone's taxes leaves them more money to spend, and they will spend some of it. Increases in earnings will either be actively invested, saved (passively invested), or spent. And if they do any of those, that money is passed through into the economy: in other words, it trickles out (and down). Period. End.

Now there can be intelligent debates on what helps the economy more: spending, cutting, and whether cutting at the top or the bottom helps more. But liars (polemics, fools and the media), will perverts that debate on what helps more, into some fraud that cutting taxes at the top doesn't work at all.

Trumponomics

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I saw some silliness about how the current bull market has nothing to do with '45 (Trump). That to me is as dumb as giving him all the credit. Presidents can either (a) create headwinds on growth (raise taxes, regulations, energy costs) (b) put tailwinds on growth (decrease taxes, regulations, and lower energy costs through encouraging drilling/pipelines). That can be swamped by other factors, but they are a known variable in the equations -- and they do have SOME ability to influence markets.

I don't care how people vote, or who they like or not. Love or hate Trump anyways, whatever. But I do care about the truth, and the truth is that Trumponomics has done more positive for the economy than Obamanomics did.

Main article: Trumponomics

Getting my CCW

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The other day, I went and got my CCW (License To Carry a Concealed Weapon). Well, technically, I took the class to get my CCW, and have filled out my forms (it'll be a couple months before I get them back). And since I'm in the People's Republic of California, I only took the classes for the other ≈40 or so states (in Free America) that respect the Constitution and 2nd Amendment (called shall issue states): those silly rules don't apply in California, unless we get national reciprocity, then they'll secede. Still, it was an experience that I figured I'd share.

Main article: Getting my CCW

Shitholegate

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Democrats leaked to the Democrat Press (WaPo), that Trump used the term "Shithole" to refer to a few countries (that are shitholes), while in the immigration debate. Then both hypocritically made a stink about a nothingburger for many many days of 24/7 coverage, while ignoring all the important points. There's deeper issues here, but the mocking of the term (or the defense of it), just divided us on partly lines because making stink over Trump's style (and what the Dem side did too), isn't going to persuade anyone who doesn't already hate Trump of anything. The thinkers will be outraged at what's went on behind the curtain of FakeNews and histrionics.
Main article: Shitholegate

Twitter

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Twitter is an enemy of free speech and tolerance. Examples include them shadow banning conservatives (and admitting it, on-tape), some of their employees getting excited about violating their members privacy (assuming those members are conservatives/Trump), and how they suppressed anti-Hillary tweets during the election. That's scarily Orwellian. It's still their company and they get to be as dicky as they want to be with it (within the bounds of the law). But I'm going to point out their moral terpitude just so that consumers can make an informed choice -- not as any call to action (legal, governmental or otherwise).
Main article: Twitter

The Girl with Seven Names:
A North Korean Defector’s Story

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The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story, is a really good book about a spoiled girl (with 2 more names than I have), from North Korea, who selfishly and irresponsibly escapes from North Korea, and gets astonishingly lucky in the whole process. Then creates a better life for herself, convinces her family to leave, and burns down any opportunity for them to stay or go back to the oppressive regime.

While it is a bit of a narcissists tale of suffering, we were all narcissists at her age. And despite her being brash (not thinking ahead) and suffering consequences for her recklessness (including to those around her), it is still wonderfully eye opening to see North Korea, Korean culture, and the world through the eyes of a teenage girl, who slowly learns how lucky she has been (though the bigger hardships of those around her). And where would the world be, if there were at least some silly/brash kids risking everything to have a better life?

Koreagate

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Trump tweeted the truth (obnoxiously, as always), the left lost their minds. Just another day in the upside-down.

I have no problem thinking Trump is a big-mouthed bombast, that's going to respond to every provocation. But that's a duh! He's a realityTV star, with a NY-attention-hog personality. So not liking the style is fine... just remember, that's just style (not substance). But now let's use our thinking brains and dive into the realities of this.

Main article: Koreagate

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

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DirecTV gave me a free 4K movies to watch and home (with limited choices), and this was one of them. My wife said her Aunt thought this was one of the best books, "she'd ever read". So we tried it. It was overpriced. A rom-com survival film, with not a shred of comedy or believability, pounding every cliché into the ground with awkward acting and dialog, which left me bored and feeling like I'd survived something harrowing, by making it to the syrupy abrupt ending.

Robert Reich

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Robert Reich the 3rd (or the 3rd Reich), seems to be a German with Napoleon Syndrome, and pick the wrong side of every issue. The charm of Rosie O'Donnell, the wit of Nancy Pelosi, and the balance of Michael Moore, if I want a moral compass, I use him for his knack to always point due south. This article details a small fraction of his stupidity and dishonesty.
Main article: Robert Reich

Phobias and Anxiety

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Phobias and Anxiety: That which does not destroy us makes us stronger... but given the choice, I might opt for a little more weakness.

I learned a lot about phobias and anxiety the hard way. I was a precocious kid and early adult, and then something snapped. It helped me learn first hand what these things are, and are not. These are just my views, based on those experiences. I am not a psychologist but because of my experiences I've read quite a bit on the subject. I am hope that explaining some of these experiences will help others with "phobias" recognize what they are, or help those who know people with "phobias" to understand them a little better.

Main article: Phobias and Anxiety

Broken Arms

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Many people have never broken a limb. I'm not one of them. My left arm seems to like to snap like a twig. I've broken it five times. No, it isn't weak, and I don't have osteoporosis or brittle bone disease - I actually just do dumb things or get unlucky, and sometimes both. These are my stories.

Main article: Broken Arms

ANWR

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To grasp how dumb the ANWR fight is, I included some pictures.

In an desolate federal reserve the size of South Carolina, the state and locals wanted to drill on 3 square miles of deserted frozen wasteland tundra, in the middle of fucking nowhere (20 million acres of inaccessible nothingness). And the thought that other people might be doing something productive to get us off foreign oil, miles away from anywhere, was too much for the left to handle. They created a misleading ads showing majestic mountains or fertile rivers (that were 500 miles away), having nothing to do with the area we're talking about. They screamed about the caribou and polar bears, again, which had nothing to do with the area we were discussing. Obama promised "all of the above" energy, then obstructed this for 8 years. Once a non oil-obstructionist was elected (Trump), it was allowed months later -- which will result in less foreign energy dependence, cheaper gas, and more jobs.

Main article: ANWR

My Bias

Everyone is biased, I'm open about mine, so that people can decide if I'm right in spite of them, or where I go wrong (if they disagree). It started in 5th grade when I learned early that the School textbooks and teachers were indoctrinating me with lies (spin). The Italian part of my family was dominant, and that was the normal operating behavior: believe your own lies (self delusion), and repeat them to others until they believe them too (it didn't help that many were in sales). Then I noticed it in movies, TV, books, and Newspapers. The more I looked into everything I was being told, sold or cajoled on, the more bullshit and bias I became aware of. So cynical skepticism (distrust of what I'm told) was ingrained early, often, and imperfect skepticism served me well in most topics I dived into.

Main article: My Bias

Shanty Town

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I have no problems with social experiments. I just want honest accounting of them. San Jose Mayor (Sam Liccardo) got people to sponsor "tiny homes" (garden sheds) for the homeless on public lands, at about about 5x the cost per unit (≈$70K each) as it would cost an individual. Which I find compassionate to the homeless, and cruel to the taxpayers. We know how this will end: crime, disease, and detritus to our community, suppress property values, it will attract more homeless (for the free housing, etc) -- and those things will cause backlash against the Homeless it claims to help. But Sam gets free press, and that's what's important, right?
Main article: Shanty Town

Net Neutrality

The left fought for "Net Neutrality", which really means giving the government taxing and regulatory authority over the Internet. It is a Mao suit: one-size-fits all, poorly -- to defend us from choice and free will. Imagine the idea of "mail neutrality": where you're only allowed to charge one fee for mailing a letter, or a 500 lbs. refrigerator, any distance: one price fits all. We had no net neutrality for the first 60+ years of networking, the Obama admin invented a few "regulations" in 2015 to protect us from liberty (imaginary demons under the bed and non-problems that weren't happening), and the left/media act like repeal of that (liberty) will be end of days.

Main article: Net Neutrality

Dumb Democrats and Evil Republicans

They say Republicans think Democrats are dumb, while Democrats think Republicans are evil. But why? The answer is surprisingly easy. Democrat know they want to help people, so they think anyone who doesn't like their ideas on how to do so must be evil. Republicans know they want to help people -- so when Democrats call them evil (or greedy, racist, etc), and they know better, then they know that Democrats are just stupid. So Republicans know Democrats are dumb, because Democrats think Republicans are evil.

Gropegate

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"Gropegate" is a completely overloaded term, since the most popular way to slander a political opponent in recent years, is to accuse them of sexual harassment.. then trounce out one or more Women with claims ranging from "he said something that they felt was to sexually forward", to "he used his position to intimidate me into sleeping with him", all the way to various kinds of rape to slur their integrity. Thus there is no "one" gropegate -- there's Clinton, Schwarzenegger, Trump ("grabbing pussy" comments on tape, or specifically one of the women on a plane that said he did it to her), everyone in Hollywood, the media, and all those that helped them.
Main article: Gropegate

Roy Moore

Roy Moore was the Republican nominee in Alabama for a contested U.S. Senate seat, had run multiple campaigns for decades (with nothing coming to light). The left hates him with a blind seething passion for his positions against Gay Marriage, and for the 10 commandments, and for switching from their party. So WaPo timed a hit piece to do the most damage it could to him, and to help the DNC. I wouldn't vote for a Judge that puts his ego above the law (as it appears Moore has), but the important question is whether the allegations are true, or just true enough for WaPo's quality standards.

Main article: Roy Moore

USA Today

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USAToday has a long history of dumb, and they should have been renamed USSA (United Socialist States of America) because that seems to be their bend/lean. But here's an example of their dumb.
Main article: USA Today

Islamic Phrases

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I'm not a cunning linguist, nor a middle eastern expert -- but my Dad is Iranian and Muslim, as is 1/2 my family, and being "not from here" means I've been more observant of different cultures than most. Just like when you say "Fuck you", it rarely means want to copulate with them, when middle easterners say some phrases like "Death to America", or "God is good" (Allahu Ahbar), it probably shouldn't be literally translated either.
Main article: Islamic Phrases

White Privilege

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The idea of White Privilege is to pretend that Jaden Smith, or Barack Obama's kids, have fewer opportunities than some poor, white, son-of-meth-head does, by nature of skin color. Of course that's complete bullshit. The facts are that many black individuals will have far more opportunities than many white ones, and many black sub-groups well outperform many white-sub-groups. Asians outperform whites. Black immigrants outperform both the black and white national averages, because they're not handicapped with black gang-culture. So while there is some minor burden of color, they are far outweighed by individual or sub-group advantages. Thus the people that repeat the fallacy of "white privilege" are either racists, idiots, or racist idiots -- none with a clue on the way the real world works.
Main article: White Privilege

New York Times

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A never great News Agency has become a shadow of their former self: admittedly biased by their own Ombudsman and editors, as well as exposed confessions. They still have occasionally good content, but that can't make up for their more frequent bad, or their willingness to deceive, commit lies of omission, or present things in a biased way. (Never trusting their readership with the whole truth). More than that, some insist on idol worship for what they publish, and abject denial of their obvious and omitted bias: and that fuels the backlash against them.
Main article: New York Times

The Foreigner (2017)

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If a Chinese Production company, watched too much Jack Bauer (24) and too many American Revenge films, then made an action movie about that happening with the IRA in the UK, this is exactly what that movie would look like.

Main article: The Foreigner (2017)

Blade Runner (1982) (2017)

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Some movies hold up better as a memory, than in rewatching them. Blade runner did that for me. It wasn't bad, and was iconic for its day. But it's nearly 2019 and I'm not sure how they thought we were going to advance that fast, or how mega-buildings would look 50 years old, only 27 years in the future. It was also wrong on a lot of futurism. But it's both entertaining for its day, and a great story and visual today. If you don't mind a bit of noir. The sequel (2049) took all the worst parts of the first (plodding, dark, self-indulgent: visually and plot-wise), with none of the freshness. It was an hour longer than it needed to be. So while won't be the worst movie I see all year, it won't break the top 20 either.

Politicizing Sports

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Progressives seem unhappy when anyone else is happy and not waving their flags of anti-patriotism. They see some injustice in the world (real or imagined) and they feel compelled to lecture and spoil anyone else's good time. Nothing demonstrates this more than the recent politicization of sports -- with the completely expected consequences that this alienates enough of the audience, to ruin it for everyone.
Main article: Politicizing Sports

You probably think...

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The dumbest phrases in the English language often begin with "you probably think...".

When someone begins with that phrase, I usually give them a warning, and if it happens again, I block them.

What that phrase actually means is, "I don't know what you think, and I don't care or I would ask you, I just want to grandstand and tell others what you think... because what you actually think is probably beyond my ability to argue with". Because if they cared about what I thought, or they had any interest in an actual conversation or growth, they would ask me what I thought and try to engage, instead of trying to disengage and provoke, by telling others what they think I think.

Attacking the Source

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When people can't refute the points made, their ego often demands a response. Since they don't have an intelligent one, they let loose their inner child, and attack either the source or the author. I get that a lot. I take it as a compliment. It means my arguments are so well formed that they can't find a better response than claiming something silly, like, "iGeek looks like Wikipedia, but is biased", or "who is that guy", and so on. It's cute, like watching a 5 year old (their emotional bretheren) throwing a tantrum on the toy/candy aisle because Mommy won't buy them something they want".
Main article: Attacking the Source

American Assassin (2017)

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A completely predictable, but not unwatchable super-spy movie.

You've seen the story line so many times, you know it by heart. Mitch Rapp loves his fiancé, who is killed by terrorists in front of his eyes (if this is a spoiler, you haven't watched the trailer). So of course he decides to become the baddest mo-fo in the world to get them back. You can practically hear "Eye of the Tiger" playing, while he's doing one-handed clap pushups and beating people up in his MMA classes. Then CIA Deputy Director is impressed by his moxy, and so brings him into a super-secret double-good special ops group, under the tutelage of Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). And you know Stan is good, because he doesn't fear liability lawsuits when he disregards all common sense safety practices, like playing with live ammo and real knives. Lastly, they're going after a super-duper good ghost, who has to be Hurley's ex-protige.

Zero Sum and the Government

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While discussing progressive "solutions" the other day, someone said my problem was that I saw government as a zero sum game. Where every dollar you used to help one person, came from the pocket of someone else, so there could never be a net win for society. I explained that it is much worse than that: when government is involved, because there's overhead, waste, fraud, work rules, politics, and other things that dissolve efficiency, freedom, pride and value, as part of the transaction, it is always a negative-sum (lose-lose) game. That isn't to say there aren't winners, there's just always far more losers: because of how the system works.

New Jersey and the Economist

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The Economist ran an oft quoted FakeNews story that any first year economics student should call bullshit on. It was that red states get a surplus of tax benefits, because of subsidies by blue states. The truth is that for each $1.00 New Jersey gets back from the fed, they have to give the fed $1.64 in taxes, they have to pay $.18 in compliance costs, and the government borrows about $.81 of that dollar, and sticks New Jersey with the debt obligation. On top of that, federal work-rules and controls means that dollar is actually only about as effective as $.60 would be if it was under local or private hiring practices. Progressives see the $.60 of real value as a net win. Anyone else, can see that you paid about $2.63 to get it. This isn't as dramatic for some red states, but the only states that come out ahead are West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico and Puerto Rico (and D.C.). So if any publication repeats the lie of the Red states mooching off the Blue ones, you know they don't have fact checkers, or are just partisan shills.

Jesus Fucking Christ

There was a comment that Democrats are "learning" to hate God, and that's a danger to them both morally and politically. But it's much worse than that. The party of identity politics (that divides us for votes) has not come to this behavior recently. They decided long ago, that if the establishment believes X, it must be wrong (unless they're the establishment). And the other side is worthy of contempt and mocking, while proclaiming their sides superior tolerance, political correctness and respect. And nothing demonstrates this more than the Hunky Jesus Contest.

Main article: Jesus Fucking Christ

A Monster Calls (2016)

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One of the best movies, I've seen all year. (I caught this on HBO in 2017).

It's a bit of a downer, using tragedy to remind people of what's important in life -- but the messages are beautiful and on-target, if you can handle a movie that's showing the human spirit through the trials that life (and death) throws at it, and a child's shock and frustrations at the powerless of human condition.

DACA

Do you love the Constitution and Rule of Law, or do you prefer a corrupt political tyranny (where the President has the powers to write/nullify law)? Pick one. If you support DACA then you aren't compassionate, you just picked the latter.

Main article: DACA

North Korea

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I sometimes call myself a radical centrist. It's not because I like playing devil's advocate for the sake of being argumentative, it's that many people see the world in extremes: their way or the wrong way. Thus when people are arguing a cartoon version of the world (the U.S. or a President is always wrong/right), I just want to point out that it's a lot more nuanced than that -- and usually they respond with a reductio ad absurdum response, "if you're not completely against X, then I must be for it" (or vise versa). I wish the world that was that simple, but it isn't. North Korea is the perfect example of that.

Main article: North Korea

Obamacare is a Republican Idea

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There’s an oft repeated lie, that the Affordable Care Act (ACA / Obamacare) was modeled after a Republican plan. People that say this are either liars, DNC mouthpieces, or people completely unaware of the actual facts and are just repeating what they’ve been told by DNC mouthpieces. This debunks that tripe.


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