Monthly Archives: November 2024

Enshittification:

Enshittification, also known as crapification and platform decay, is a pattern in which online products and services decline in quality. Initially, vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders. [Wikipedia]

The effect of self-important investors on damn near anything phenomenon. I’m not sure how well this fits a social media platform in which the problem appears to be an invasion of dishonest users intent on using the platform for ends unintended by the inventors of the platform itself, though.

Noted in “X is Elon’s world. Threads is a mess. Is Bluesky any better?,” Maura Judkis, WaPo:

Mmmmmmmmmm….tastes like Kool-Aid. Waiter, bring me grape!

Sparkling Cyanide (2003), based loosely on an Agatha Christie novel, meditates on the evils of the ol’ prosperity lust. The orphans who inherit their parents’ fortune, but only serially, are the first to lose a life, of the eldest of course, hardly touching lip to bubbly at a nightclub party before succumbing to the evil desires. Operatives of a Brit secret service puzzle over the death, as government ministers are present and interested, resulting in various dirty linens’ exposure, a traditional and important element in Christie stories. Don’t forget the too-happy step-brother!

Then a billionaire American, widower of the now-dead orphan, decides to recreate the incident, but the stand-in for the corpse survives just fine, while the billionaire himself flies to the floor to bubble his life away. This is hardly sensible; what is going on?

It’s an okay story, but I fear the translation to the screen may not do Christie justice, or perhaps the original story was not quite so compelling as her best. Still, it was a pleasant passage of an hour or so.

Rep Seth Moulton (D-MA), inspiration for this thread, engages in a bit of anonymous validation in the pages of WaPo, following his announcement of unease at the thought of his daughters competing against trans-women in sports:

And, yes, it doesn’t taste great.

Happy Thanksgiving!

His Star Wars helmet was that big!

Our Thankgiving film this year was Eye of the Beast (2007), which is definitely a second, or even third, echelon movie. Dr. Dan Leland is a young marine biologist investigating why the fish catch keeps shrinking in Canada’s Lake Winnipeg, arriving just in time over the latest disappearance to occur, that of young folks Krissy and Robbie. They’re not so worried about the missing as when actual bodies show up, so there’s time to show how local fishing folks detest folks like Dr. Leland, who they see as an interfering busybody. As a heaping addition of provincial scorn, local Indigenous people also view Leland suspiciously. We need some sexual tension? OK, the local law enforcement officer happens to be an attractive young lady. That keeps Leland interested.

Then Robbie’s boat, now reduced to a wreck, floats into the picture, along with Robbie himself, and we have ourselves a body and evidence. What could be down there eating fish and the occasional human snack? Well, I was voting for carnivorous hippos, since they’ve already migrated to South America courtesy of the drug trade, but I was outvoted. So the plot meanders along, finally reaching the end after reducing quite a few more folks into fish food and, somewhat cleverly, oh, well, that would be telling.

It’s a clumsily told story. For example, an innocent tourist is killed, but it’s nothing more than a killing that doesn’t do anything for the plot. Or a scientist working for the commercial firm that sent Dr. Leland tries to call him, but upon failure neither leaves an important message nor is ever shown again? Why?

Of course, you’ll see this if being a completist monster movie viewer is important to you. Otherwise, don’t bother.

For those who remember the 2022 surprise victory of Mary Peltola (D-AK) over former governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Nick Begich (R-AK), no doubt due to ranked choice voting (RCV) implemented in Alaska for that election, the bittersweet news for 2024 is that Rep Peltola lost her reelection bid to Nick Begich (R-AK), 51.3% to 48.7%, but a proposal to repeal RCV was defeated by a razor’s edge, barring a recount finding large anomalies:

The system, first approved by voters in 2020, quickly drew Republican opposition after a Democrat flipped the state’s single U.S. House seat in 2022, the first time it was used. But the state’s predominantly Native areas formed a bulwark to defend it this fall, despite notorious barriers to political participation in these more rural and remote regions.

The measure to repeal the system trails by 664 votes, or 0.21 percent, with all ballots counted. The small margin means that proponents of repeal may ask for a recount in December, though no statewide recount has changed a lead of this size in this century. [Bolts]

RCV is, I and many others think, the savior of moderates in the United States, as it allows moderates the opportunity to pick up votes for absolutists without voters being troubled that some favorite, deserving or not, isn’t on the ballot. Zealots, regardless of ideological position, have little to offer beyond bulging eyes and hair on fire, so they reject RCV as, somehow, too difficult to understand.

Moderates, much more so than steely-eyed right- and left- wingers, are not so arrogant and more prone to compromise and dealing. Their zealot-rivals, meanwhile, dig in their heels and are far more vulnerable to manipulation by thoughtful grifters and national adversaries.

As for the failure of Peltola, I suspect she was caught up in the anti-Democrat wave of 2024. Will it happen again in 2026? Honestly, both Parties are wandering around with their heads up their asses, so it becomes difficult to make confident predictions; and look at my 2024 predictions.

A Vampire preparing to perform the classic Kangaroo-Hop, famous in vampire lore for destroying their knee cartilage and enforcing a rough lifetime on vampires, after which they lay on the ground, squalling about the unfairness of life and their hunger for human blood, while small children taunt them with ketchup packets, and dingoes drag them out into the bush for feasts of their own.

Vampire Cleanup Department (2017) is a listless vampire-takeoff movie, using the device that, following a vampire feast, a cleanup must occur or the public may lose its lunch. Sometimes, too, the vampire is hanging around, and must “cleaned up” as well.

Sounds innovative? Or just a bit limp?

The problem may be that it’s filled with Chinese stereotypes, which may not be surprising for a Hong Kong-made movie, but is still irritating. Yes, even for ignorant Americans such as myself.

So, after a lot of dubious plot perturbations, a tragedy occurs, and then is maybe reversed, and we’re not sure why except the lead actor is sort of cute.

I was not impressed. You, on the other hand, may enjoy it. Maybe I was in a bad mood – the post-surgical blues, as it were.

Propinquity:

1. : nearness of blood : KINSHIP
2. : nearness in place or time : PROXIMITY

I hardly ever see propinquity, and didn’t know what it meant when I encountered it this time. Still, this usage is a bit of a cheat on my part, as it’s actually used as a proper noun, but alluding to evocative properties of some homes.

One … Two … Three! Oh,wait, I forgot Simon says!

Kansas City Confidential (1952) is a coolish sample of near-film noir. With World War II in the rear view mirror, Kansas City is rife with unemployed former soldiers. While most are harmless, a few are not. Mr. Big, a pseudonym, wants to pull off the perfect crime, so when he picks his three minions, one by one and vets each, he remains masked and unidentifiable; he specifies all should be masked for the actual crime in order to keep the perpetrators anonymous if one is picked up. The plan is an armored truck hit at its most vulnerable moment, open to pick up funds from the bank. In order to throw off the cops, they use a flower delivery truck that mimics a flower delivery truck that always shows up on the same route, every day, in front of the bank.

As the flower delivery truck glides away to deliver to its various customers, the heist occurs. All goes smoothly, if not interpersonally, as the four masked men have the usual clashes of men addicted to the quick fix, but they make it out and away, with Mr Big promising cuts when the heat drops off.

Meanwhile, the cops pick up the delivery truck driver, a World War II vet named Rolfe, with some minor offenses on his record, and the cops work him over. Despite promises of success by the cop, Rolfe survives the night and is released on evidence indicating his innocence.

But he’s not happy, and, working his own connections, he discovers one of the minions is headed for the gambling mecca of Tijuana, so off he goes. From here on in, the plot is dictated by the nature of the choices made by all these men, and I shan’t reveal more, except to say that, for some characters, there is a happy ending, and thus I can’t quite call it film noir.

But I can say that, if not fascinating, it was interesting and believable. Characters are worked out in careful detail, so each action-reaction is more than plausible – it just about had to occur as depicted.

But the nature of the story, and the unremitting greed of the bad guys, made it hard to connect with any of the characters in the gang, and Rolfe is also a bit cold and distant. A hook to motivate the robbers beyond sordid stupidity would have improved the story, and Rolfe, despite opportunity, did the story no real favors. The script needed a rewrite.

But it was an almost satisfying chunk of story. Hunt it down if you’re wondering what to do for an hour and a half or so. And then ask how you would have modified it to make it more interesting.

Erick Erickson has the low-down:

Donald Trump has picked a George Soros employee to be Treasury Secretary.

Is this draining the swamp?

Scott Bessent spent years working as George Soros’s right hand at Soros Investments. Trump now wants him to be Treasury Secretary.

If that’s not bad enough, he’s picked Rep. Chavez-Deremer [(R-OR)] of Oregon to be his Labor Secretary. This lady not only supports Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers who, by the way, is praising the pick, but Chavez-Deremer also supports the PRO Act, which would force right-to-work states to unionize.

But wait, there’s more. The National Education Association is also supporting Chavez-Deremer because she opposes school choice and cuts to the Department of Education.

Hey, Erickson, welcome to Trump-World, the domain of Mr Mendacity. Who may be afflicted to dementia.

How soon will Erickson advocate for VP-elect Vance to use the 25th Amendment to replace Trump with, ahhhhhhh, himself?

And how will that affect independent voters’ perceptions of the Republicans?

Or are we seeing Mr Trump deliberately stirring the pot, in his role of Head Drama Queen, just to see what comes popping out?

Baffling times? For some folks, yes.

This way to the path of folly.

Folly? Sure it was. I consistently misread the polls and the national mood, believing the Democrats had the advantage, as demonstrated by their dominance in special elections. Between the horrid performance of Republican House and Senate members in 2022-2024, and the Democrats’ natural advantage on the abortion issue, I figured they’d gain the House, hold the Senate, and, heck, the Presidency, too. Who would vote for Mr. Mendacity?

Well, a lot of people, it turns out. I haven’t seen an authoritative analysis as of yet, although a lot of hobby horse riding is out there, and I’m fighting surgical after-effects and a head cold (yes, yes, it’s all minor, but bothersome), so I’ll just mention a few issues here:

• It’s the economy, stupid. A favorite of folks who think Americans can’t think beyond the tip of their nose, but important in a nation where the favored economic stance is that you should be borrowed, mortgaged, and leveraged to the hilt. When you have no real margin, even minor inflation can enrage folks who think they have to buy the biggest house they can – and that makes the economy important.
• Americans are fascists! I’ve seen this out of the progressive wing who can’t empathize more than half an inch. This is followed by a rancid screed about cutting ties with all MAGA friends and family. I do wonder if that’s just covert Russian propaganda, of course, but I don’t read the comments. This I’ve seen on Daily Kos. This is a CYA (Cover Your Ass) position.
• Americans hate women and will never elect us! Presumably from female writers, there’s a hidden assumption that the Democratic policy positions on offer were at least as good, if not better, than the GOP’s positions. And some may be. But if the opinion of the policy aggregate, and the behaviors exhibited by the Democrats, is that they’re inferior or dangerous, then this position is inflated with arrogance. This is a CYA position.
• The Democrats should have held a primary when Biden dropped out. I’ve seen this a couple of times, and the complaint seems to be that, rather than old-fashioned debate, Harris was simply anointed. I don’t know if there was really time to run a debate and a mini-primary, but that seems to have spread to enough of the citizenry that it may have cost the Democrats a Senate seat or two. And just how many intra-Party debates did Trump participate in?
• Vote splitting. That is, where abortion amendments to state constitutions were on the ballot, opinion is that abortion rights voters voted for the amendment and against Harris and, where applicable, the Senate candidate(s) from the Democrats. I had not expected that. If it’s true.
• Transgenderism! I didn’t see my own take on how the Democrats have botched the issue, but some reports have credited a single Trump ad for a two percent swing in voters, which in our system needs a lot more analysis before it can be proclaimed important – but remains an important signal of a political Party is desperate need of reform.

I’m sure I’ve seen more, but, if you want an executive summary, the Democrats need to hire and then take seriously the recommendations of a PR Firm. Their public image is much worse than I imagined, or they imagine, and, given their treatment of Rep Moulton’s (D-MA) quite reasonable remarks on transgenderism, they just don’t get it^[1].

Once they figure out how they’ve come to grief, the Democrats will need to eject the dull-minded who let this disaster occur, and install those who will respect the citizenry, understand that arrogance leads to absolutist positions unacceptable to those citizens, as they should have learned in the wake of the 2021 Virginia Governor’s race, and that governance is complex and requires compromise.

Not that there’s much chance of that with the arrogant Republicans. That’s a challenge. Yes, a challenge.

Here’s an earlier summary of my post-election thoughts.

¹ I added the last clause to the sentence later. I plead post-surgical anesthesia syndrome.

WaPo’s Jennifer Rubin talks about the quasi-competition:

Demisexual:

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation in which an individual does not experience primary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that is based on immediately observable characteristics such as appearance or smell and is experienced immediately after a first encounter. A demisexual person can only experience secondary sexual attraction – the type of attraction that occurs after the development of an emotional bond. The amount of time that a demisexual individual needs to know another person before developing sexual attraction towards them varies from person to person. Demisexuality is generally categorized on the asexuality spectrum. [Wikipedia]

Noted in “Asexuals: the most oppressed group in the alphabet soup,” Julie Bindel’s writing and podcasts:

For the benefit of any bigots who haven’t bothered reading up on what those particular identities are, let me help you out. Demisexual is an “umbrella term used to describe people who may only feel sexually or romantically attracted to people with whom they have formed an emotional bond”, whereas ‘greysexual’ (also known as Grey-A) is another umbrella term, this time describing people who experience attraction only occasionally, rarely, or under certain conditions.

Bindel’s use of the term bigot may be sarcastic or even ironic.

I suspect Rep Buddy Carter (R-GA) may find himself being primaried in 2026 as punishment for consorting with the enemy:

I submit that Congress would be more effective if every member slept in their office because there is inherent value in getting to know people across the aisle as people rather than as just the opposition.

Some folks might decry this practice as “rent-free living.” However, if it maximizes Congress’s productivity and camaraderie while respecting professional boundaries with staff, then it is a step worth taking. [WaPo]

Work with, exercise with, it all leads to socialize with – and realize that your political enemy who reputedly eats babies and laughs at God is actually … just another human being, warts and all. Combine that with a Republican Party still trying to accelerate to the right, with a leadership built on the myths about Democrats, not the reality, and it seems unlikely Rep Carter will be in Congress all that much longer.

Bombogenesis:

To understand bombogenesis, you need to first remember the basics of high and low pressure. High pressure tends to clear the skies and calm the winds. Low pressure tends to pull in wetter air and gusty winds. Thus, the higher the pressure, the calmer it’ll be, and conversely, the lower the pressure, the stormier it’ll be.

Pressure? Yes, we measure the state of the atmosphere in millibars. “Static” or standard low pressure is about 1013 mb. Low-pressure systems tend to be in the upper 900 mb range.

As a storm forms, we refer to its “genesis” to borrow the biblical term – it is growing. If a storm grows quickly, it’s called rapid intensification. If a storm’s central pressure drops more than 24 mb in 24 hours, that’s bombogenesis. [krem2]

Sounds a bit silly. Noted in this Ryan Hall video.

The Portable Door (2023) is a whimsical little story concerning starting a new job that happens to involve goblins. It’s all very silly, and then it comes to an end.

The problem? There’s no real risk for the characters’ choices. Think of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Right from the start is a man driven by his ambitious moral choices in one framework, and how they collide with those of another – and the presence of the woman he loves as the background to it. By the time the Ark is opened, the audience is quivering in near-panic.

But this? A colorless Brit with magical powers that he hasn’t earned, another Brit in a fast track to division leadership, oddball management… it may be worth a laugh, but that’s it in the end.

So there’s a reason I’ve never heard of this movie: there’s nothing memorable about it.

Too bad.

From WaPo:

The protests erupted into Parliament’s debating chamber Thursday when Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, a 22-year-old lawmaker for Te Pati Maori, or the Maori Party, was asked to state how her party was voting on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, which seeks to reinterpret New Zealand’s foundational agreement between the British Crown and the Maori people.

Maipi-Clarke used the opportunity to perform a haka, or war dance. She tore up a copy of the bill in front of its author, as members of Parliament (MPs) from the Maori, Green and Labour parties, and people in the public gallery, joined in the haka.

Yeah!

Professor Richardson notes:

The protections of the system FDR ushered in—the banking and equities regulation that killed crony finance, for example—are now under attack by the very sort of movement he warned against. Whether today’s lawmakers are as willing as their predecessors were to stand against that movement remains unclear, especially as Trump tries to bring lawmakers to heel, but Thune’s victory in the [election of Majority Leader of the] Senate today and the widespread Republican outrage over Trump’s appointment of Gaetz and Hegseth are hopeful signs.

And what if Senator Thune (R-SD) is trying to bring future President Trump to heel? Consider this from Erick Erickson on Gaetz:

Gaetz has burned every possible bridge in the House of Representatives, and his colleagues want him gone. The House Ethics Committee intended to vote in two days to release its investigation into Gaetz and human trafficking. Only one Republican on the Ethics Committee needed to vote yes, and that would happen. If the Senate holds hearings, that will still come up. Gaetz’s departure last night killed the investigation. That suggests that this nomination is to provide pre-text for Gaetz’s resignation, and the subtext is a congressional finding that Gaetz possibly engaged in sex trafficking of young women.

What if Thune sent the nomination to committee – and they sat on it? Trump doesn’t get his lapdog, and Thune sends a message: Nominations of grownups only.

The Senator was elected in 2005, so he’s pre-MAGA. Interesting times.

Or perhaps Trump sees Gaetz as a liability. hmmm hmmm hmmmm.

Cat state:

Quantum superpositions are typically fragile and fleeting, but one such state has now been maintained for a record-breaking 23 minutes. Keeping quantum states stable for this long could help make more robust quantum devices, or lead to discoveries of strange new effects in quantum physics.

This long-lived phenomenon is known as a cat state, named for Erwin Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment where a cat is placed in a box under such peculiar circumstances that it becomes impossible to tell whether it is living or dead. Cat states are superpositions where a quantum object can be in several mutually exclusive states, but it is impossible to tell which one it actually occupies – it effectively simultaneously occupies them all. [“Quantum ‘Schrödinger’s cat’ survives for a stunning 23 minutes,” Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, NewScientist (9 November 2024, paywall)]

It’s been a week since my last update on the price of DJT, the public stock of Mr Trump’s social media company, when the price/share was $27.69, and it had just dropped 30% in the wake of his victory in the 2024 Presidential Election. Have investors recovered their enthusiasm for the once and future President?

Hardly. While I’m sure the zealous base are convinced it’ll return to dizzying heights soon enough, and it may, the more experienced amateur and professional investors are staying away, as illustrated in the above one month chart.

I can’t help but wonder if Mr Trump’s choices for important government positions are dismaying for them. While the choice of former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) as ambassador to Israel might be simply a way to get a fellow grifter out of Mr Trump’s hair, such choices as Waltz, Gaetz, Gabbard, Rubio, and others may be big red flags that Mr Trump’s judgment is deeply suspect, if only for how he puts control of the House at risk by satisfying the ambitions of House members. There is more than just that here, but that’ll be revealed in the near future, I’m sure, and I don’t care to speculate here.

All this may tempt the ambitious investor to gamble. Between investors from MAGA-world risking all, the more sober investor risking a nickel, perhaps on the downside, and the unknown maneuvering of world leaders eager to buy the favor of a world power about to replace a strong leader with a weak leader, it’s very hard to say where this stock will go. I certainly think the fundamentals are terrible.

I’ll repeat from earlier posts on this thread: I’m not putting any skin into this game.

I will be having surgery on my shoulder in the next few days, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to resume posting.

Perimenopause:

Perimenopause means “around menopause” and refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years. Perimenopause is also called the menopausal transition. …

The level of estrogen — the main female hormone — in your body rises and falls unevenly during perimenopause. Your menstrual cycles may lengthen or shorten, and you may begin having menstrual cycles in which your ovaries don’t release an egg (ovulate). You may also experience menopause-like symptoms, such as hot flashes, sleep problems and vaginal dryness. Treatments are available to help ease these symptoms. [Mayo Clinic]

Noted in “Perimenopausal women are ‘enraged’ — and no longer keeping quiet,” Rachelle Bergstein, WaPo:

[Comedian Samantha Bee] had been suffering for over a year, she admitted. Bee, who debuted her limited-run off-Broadway show “How to Survive Menopause” in New York City this October, said she’d been scared she “was losing [her] mind … I was like, ‘something terrible is happening to me.’”

But the doctor offered another explanation. “She was like, ‘Hold the phone!’” Bee said. “‘How old are you? Oh honey, you’re in perimenopause.’”

Rep Seth Moulton (D-MA), age 46, speaks out on transgender sports, which may require a spot of searching on the reader’s part of this article:

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton from Massachusetts said on Sunday that he stood by his opinion on transgender athletes, saying that Democrats are out of touch with majority of Americans.

Moulton, who recently won his reelection bid unopposed, told New York Times that the Democratic party should shift its approach to transgender issues, and that as a parent, he does not want his daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.” [CNN/Politics]

Look for a few people to start shrieking bigot, as the Pavlovian training kicks in – but I’m not sure how many.

Rep Moulton is certainly young enough to be a long-time leader of the Democrats. This part is encouraging, too:

During the interview with CNN, Moulton said that he’s not an expert on this issue but is willing to engage in thoughtful debate.

My bold, and kudos.