Re: Um...
 

I think we're talking about different things. I'm not talking about pure equality through socialism. The NFL is egalitarian in that every team has the same rights and opportunities. It is completely artificial and designed. Those who succeed over time are doing it based on skill and insight. I think everyone on this board believes this is how it should be. The Patriots deserve to reap the benefits of their sustained success. The Jets deserve to wallow in mediocrity. However, no team deserves to have no shot ever. And they've designed the League to make sure that if you're on the bottom for too long, it's because of your incompetence, not your opportunity.

Are you arguing that the NFL should look more like the MLB?

TM

Re: Um...
 

I think you're right. But I don't think that's an innately human trait. It's learned. It can be unlearned.

If you give me the choice of $X + Status, or $XXX + No Status, I'm taking the latter all day long. I think the majority of people think as I do. "Life's short. I just want whatever I need to trade for things and experiences that are fun." It's a thin slice of people with an insecurity, or a void, who need to measure themselves against others. They are unenlightened. They should be made to take psychedelics and understand:

It's just a game. Don't get caught up in thinking the game is real. One day it will end, and all that worry will have been for nothing.

https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-M.../dp/1594204225 (The book is awesome.)

(I need to try DMT. Meet the "mechanical elves.")

Re: Um...
 

People have a right to be selfish. You can chide them for it. And you should. But people have that right.

I do not think people have a right to fix the game. It's one thing to not give a shit about others. But when you work to make sure they never have a chance, you're doing something different. When you rig the system, you're not saying, "You're on your own little guy... good fucking luck." You're instead saying, "You've got no chance because I have the ability to fix society so you cannot do better."

The difference is, with the latter, you are anti-competitive. In the former, you're just selfish. You're correct that these behaviors can be seen as a continuum of thinking. But I think fixing the game trends from libertarianism into unethical, perhaps quasi-criminal behavior.

Re: Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.
 

We're both atheists.

Re: Um...
 

No, I was trying to suggest that there is a widespread appetite for competitions with winners and losers. The NFL should change its rules to make the game more entertaining for its fans, preferably with fewer head injuries. Our society should change its rules to provide for more equality of opportunity and, if not socialism or equality of result, a better safety net to make sure that the worse off are not too badly off. The NFL, in its infinite wisdom, divides television revenue relatively evenly, so that the Patriots don't get that much more for winning than the Jets do for being the Jets. As with society, there is quite a lot of contingency in how this works -- the NFL is more able to do this than MLB because the national broadcast rights are so valuable and trump local broadcasts. The MLB continues with huge income disparities between teams that are a function of local TV markets, not success on the field. That kind of inequality has a disturbing way of perpetuating itself.

Re: Um...
 

I'm really glad to hear that your son is back. I hope he does well. Let any of us know if we can help in any way.

Re: Um...
 

It's even more fixed.

Re: Um...
 

At the beach a few years ago, we were running up to a corner store to get Q and Fever Tree tonic for drinks (stuff is addictive... so good). A buddy with Prime said we were wasting money. Case of Q arrived two days later. Saved us a bunch of money.

I like the savings, but it kind of creeps me out. People are already “bowling alone,” as that famous book was titled. I think all of this home delivery stuff is making us even less socially connected, and a lot weirder.

Millennials can’t even hold proper conversations. They get mad if you call them instead of texting. And the even younger kids are still stranger yet.

If you can’t hold a conversation, you aren’t going anywhere. Unless you’re some freak in Silicon Valley or a quant fund. Tell your kids to become “personality coaches.”

Fucking coaching... That’s another sad development. Executives need coaches? For what? Nobody did that shit in the past. It’s McWork. Fucking nonsense.

Re: Um...
 

The place outside Dallas is apparently one of the toughest places in the country. He has stories!

Re: Um...
 

and a mentor to help him tell his stories?

Re: Um...
 

So use the time you save from going to the corner store to chat with your neighbor.

If the price is less, it's possibly because Amazon is the conduit for Wall St investors to subsidize your drinking, but it's more likely that it's cheaper to sell stuff without covering the costs of leaving it at retail locations for a while before it's bought.

OTOH, the new technology enables new community through internet chat boards and the like. You don't have be a Timmy to point out that the communications there become rich in their own weird way.

The people I know who have become coaches should not be coaching anyone until they can fix their own lives.

Re: Um...
 

I think where you are leading with most of your arguments is that technology will eventually deliver for us the 15 hour work week promised by John Maynard Keynes.

I wish that were true. I think it actually might become true, but not likely within our lifetimes. The folly in that prediction is, like so many other economic predictions, it assumes rational actors. Humans are so stupid that we have let the technology drive us to work even more, rather than simplify our lives.

There is also this thing we have in the west called the “Protestant work ethic.“ we think the only reason we are here is to be endlessly productive, and that working around the clock is some sort of virtue. Rather than look at the time we can gift ourselves through use of technology, we are having a meltdown about losing unproductive jobs.

I love the idea of a 15 hour work week, but I don’t think the rest of our society, or our consumer economy, can quickly adjust to it. Stated more simply, we are going to have to find busywork to keep the masses occupied for a couple more generations, or shit is going to get very weird.

Re: Um...
 

Maybe you misunderstood what I said. I didn't say anything about Amazon making workers' lives better there. Myself, I would rather work in a corner market than in an Amazon fulfillment center. My point was that as a consumer, I am super happy to be freed of the need to run to a corner store to buy something that can be delivered, especially if that's cheaper. (For similar reasons, people go to Costco and buy lots of stuff all at once, but I don't have a house big enough to do that.)

Re: Um...
 

I'm not sure what the point of this is. Yeah. People have a right to be selfish. And if you're selfish, you get called on it. People have a right to shit their pants. So what?

I do not understand why you think being selfish when it comes to the amount of taxes you spend and where that tax money goes is somehow different than what you just described. Taxes are spent on things we value as a society. Any reduction in taxes reduces the resources we share. If you vote your wallet, you are saying you think those resources should be diminished and services should be cut. Absolutely no one who "votes their wallet" is thinking strategically about efficiency no matter how many times they tell themselves that if the government has less money they'll be forced to be more efficient. That's just bullshit to justify the fact that they don't want to pay taxes.

No. You're just talking degrees of selfishness.

People who actively work to change how tax money is spent or who vote for people who want to reduce the defense budget or cut out the overwhelming amounts of pork attached to bills, I can respect. People who just whine about taxes and ignore every other fucking issue this country is facing are full of shit and selfish assholes.

TM

Re: Um...
 

I was trying to grab all our recent tech posts and guess where you were going in a broader context. The freedom you cite here is part of a slow unfolding of Keynes’ prediction, and a great defense of tech generally.

(I like talking to people at the bodega myself, but that’s another issue.)

Generally, the freedom Amazon provides comes at cost of others’ jobs. But it also frees them in terms of time. Where it gets tricky is “having money to pay for goods.” As tech eliminates wages and gifts us time, the price of things we need has to drop considerably. We can’t have an economy where we all have more time but only a small slice of us have funds to enjoy it.

Right now, we can’t even have that conversation because we’re so wired to think we must constantly work that a 15 hr work week and life of mostly leisure seems impossible... even as it is clearly coming.

Re: Um...
 

Okay, I don't even know what we're arguing about anymore. I don't disagree with anything you're saying, which is why I'm still confused about your initial comment.

TM

Re: Um...
 

I lost a car key on a run and I had to crawl 2 miles on my hands and knees to find it. I vowed never again. I looked for shorts with zippered pockets.

I went to Dick's, Nike, Sports Authority, Modell's, nothing. Spent most of my Saturday.

Went on Amazon, found them in 90 seconds, ridiculously cheap and they were at my house in two days.

So to hell with Brick and Mortar. More time running. Less time shopping.

Re: Um...
 

Honestly, I’m starting to think I’m the only sock here with an assistant.

Re: Um...
 

I call bullshit. You don't have anyone get your running shorts for you.

Re: Um...
 

2

Re: Um...
 

Ty@60 has an "assistant," but em calls emself something a little more medical-ie than that, although Ty's ass is involved.

LessinHanoi

Re: Um...
 

I miss Ty@20.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Impeach Pence.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Can someone give me something to read about why the Ukraine would know anything?

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Know anything about what? Trump was inviting them to bring bogus charges. The idea that Biden has some scandal here is completely bogus.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...n-and-ukraine/

TM

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

This is a weird one. Here's an article looking at some of the political gains and losses to both Trump and Biden accruing from the Ukraine thing: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...-biden-1507051

At first, I thought Trmup really fucked up this time. Then I thought, is this a trojan horse? Will we ultimately find this whistleblower is assisting Trump? Is this a strategy to get the media to run with a story that winds up fucking Joe?

No, Trump cannot think that far ahead.

But could some of his people? Maybe?

Or... Is it possible Trump wants to be impeached so badly - thinks he needs to be impeached to win - that he stoops to this?

Then I thought I may be thinking too much, and so I gave up thinking about this and applied Occam's Razor: Trump's just being Trump. He's using blunt force to squeeze Ukraine. But as he did with Michael Cohen, he'll have said nothing that conclusively proves the necessary elements of whatever charge/allegation/whatever-the-fuck-is-needed-to-nail-him. Here we go again.

Wait until the Hunter Loves Blow and had a relationship with his dead brother's widow stuff starts emerging. Trump is going there. Just like the W coke and DUI scandals.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

The bet is that they are sufficiently corrupt to play ball, not that there's anything real there.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

What's it like to carry around that emptiness inside you?

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

What? That's the best article on the issues. Axelrod is cited in it.

What you're actually saying is, "How can you not embrace my view? How can you not feel what I feel?"

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

No, that article is horseshit political analysis. It says nothing of substance, it will be obsolete shortly, and no one will ever think of it again. It's journalistic cotton candy.

I will grant you that if the only thing you care about horserace coverage, that article is a fine example of the genre. But there is no horserace without horseshit.

Aw, it's hard to stay angry at you when you mock yourself so ably.

No, what I'm actually saying, "How come there is a void in your soul that prevents you from having a substantive opinion here, and instead compels you to talk about horserace coverage? Why do you skip over questions like, is it a good idea for the Trump to use taxpayer dollars to pressure a foreign government to smear a political rival? I would kind of prefer that you have a different view on the issues here, since then we could have an interesting conversation. When I refer to your emptiness, I'm not suggesting that you disagree with me, but that you seem incapable of even that.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

How interesting is my opinion? As interesting as yours. As interesting as anyone's. By which I mean, not very interesting.

Sincerely, what a person thinks about the right and wrong or impropriety of a thing simply isn't terribly fascinating stuff. Do I think it's okay for Trump to pressure a country to give him political dirt on an opponent? No. Do I think it's icky for for Hunter to get on a board - at $50k a month - on which he has no business being, and has only been placed for the purpose of having a political contact? Sure. But as Joe Biden said of Hunter's gig: "He's an adult. He can make his own decisions." (paraphrased)

What is interesting to to try to guess how this thing unfolds, and whether there is some strategy in Trump's camp. I conclude there isn't, but sometimes I have to wonder... How in the fuck can someone so dumb be so lucky?

Trump's blundering through the system, the way the system checks him and doesn't check him and changes and responds, is fascinating. Politics is fascinating like a football game is fascinating. It's my opinion Penn State should always win, and Notre Dame should always lose. And I of course hate Clemson and Alabama. But who the fuck cares about that? You don't watch a game to see your opinion of who ought to win validated. You watch a game to see how the plays are executed and be surprised at how the score often doesn't match your opinion.

You want me to have a back and forth with you about how terrible something is? How far does that go before it leads to the horserace conversation? Not long. Why? Because the latter is the naturally interesting conversation. I'm just cutting to the action.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

This is the most white privileged thing you have ever written. I hope that statement doesn't trigger you.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

If you don't have anything to say, don't say it.

What reptilian instinct of yours compels you to address the propriety of what Trump has just done and what Hunter Biden did several years ago as if they are somehow two sides of the same coin? Never mind, don't bother trying to answer that.

If you are really interested in trying to guess how this things unfolds, you should eschew Politico's horserace journalism and think a little more about the substance of the stories, because the latter will keep driving the former.

As for what drives Trump, if you find that interesting then why are you reading Politico?

Where you see "the action" is like the most boring part of the whole thing. This is like saying that you don't need scouting reports or color commentary when you're watching college football because what's naturally interesting is the play by play in the moment. If you have money to invest, do you want to hear someone breathlessly telling you whether the stock market is up or down in the last hour? No, you want to know a little more, because it's not just a game.

If you think politics is just a mindless diversion from the rest of your life with winners and losers who just go on to play again the next weekend, everything else you say makes perfect sense.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

I do have something to say. I'm trying to assess what's happening. You're the one with nothing to say. Does anyone need to have the following said:
"If Donald Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden by threatening to withhold aid, this is amazingly stupid, or amazingly brazen, or both, and an impeachable offense." No shit. Who the fuck doesn't know that?

They are the two horses in this political race.

What? OpEds decrying Trump? Which of the 10,000 per week should I start with?

Because Politico is relatively unbiased.

You've mixed two very different concepts there.

As to 1, you're not citing scouting reports. You're citing articles stating that Trump is guilty of something and Giuliani is spinning. Both may be true, but they are not dispositive as to the political outcome of this debacle. Just because you're darn sure someone committed an impeachable act does not mean he will be impeached.

As to 2, actually, yes, because most investing today is herd investing. Unless you're seeking those magical asymmetrical returns, you might as well just watch CNBC.

I think for purposes of interesting conversation it is. Should my only reply to you to be to defend Trump or agree and re-verbalize your view that Trump Has Done Something Awful and So Has Giuliani? Uh, again, probably, no shit? How often are they doing awful things? A lot. So should I either decide to echo you or play devil's advocate? Those are my only choices? How incredibly fucking boring.

Do you think writing things on chat boards is an act of consequence? It's an act of entertainment, perhaps enlightenment. It's a way of exercising the brain a bit. An act of consequence would be something like devoting your time to the candidacy of someone against Trump. This place is just talking about stuff. And I can't think of anything less compelling than a conversation in which I am forced to either argue against your point or commiserate with you about the awfulness of the awful thing you're citing.

The only question that matters, as well put in Fear and Loathing, with the narrator assessing a fiasco that might serve as a proper analogue for numerous scandals of this Presidency is, "Next?" What happens next?

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Umm, no. “I’m voting third party” is.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Thus far every elected R.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Well, this is turning out to be an interesting week.

I really didn't think that THIS would be the issue. I guess it finally snowballed. We'll see how far this goes.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

They know it. They have made one, two, or all three of the following calculations:

1. I could lose my elected position if I break ranks.
2. Whatever impact Trump has on the country, it is a lesser evil to that which a Democratic Party in charge of two branches would effect.
3. Trump’s impact is positive for conservatives even if it’s not really conservative, as it violates norms and embraces populism, so I can live with it.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Your inability to find interest in things other than horserace journalism is what I was commenting on in the first place.

I am telling you that you should pay more attention to stores about what Trump (and Giuliani and Pence and others) have actually been doing, and less attention to political journalists bloviating about how the narrative will help and hurt Trump and Biden. When I refer to the substance, I'm talking about the former, as opposed to horserace journalism. Not sure why it's so tough for you to see that.