Thursday, June 23, 2016

Some Random Thoughts...

Just a couple random thoughts today.

Social Security In Danger!!: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Whenever there is a Republican in the White House, the media screams about Social Security going broke. Whenever the Democrats own it, Social Security is saved for all time! Then there was Obamacare, which saved Social Security by stealing all of its money. Anyways, now that Obama is leaving the White House and there is a very high chance that a (pretend) Republican will win it, Social Security is in danger again. Not only are we told that it will crash and burn in 2048, but it will do so two years sooner than expected. Panic!

Honestly, I’m sick of this. I’m sick of the homeless vanishing, AIDS being cured, inflation dropping to nothing, and wars mysteriously ending without the shooting stopping whenever the Democrats are in charge and then returning with a vengeance the moment the GOP is in charge again.

Stairway To Court: There’s an interesting story from the world of music. Led Zeppelin has been sued for stealing their signature song, “Stairway to Heaven.” When I heard this, I thought it was just a money grab, but the trial seems to be going against them. Apparently, the introduction of the song comes from the song “Taurus” by 60’s rock bank Spirit. And even more apparently, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page may have seen this song performed at Birmingham’s Mother’s Club, though both claim they can’t recall that. In fact, Robert Plant has admitted that he can’t remember the 1960’s. Ouch.

I get the issue of copyrights and I do feel badly for Spirit if their stuff was actually stolen by Zeppelin. But let’s be honest, there is little original work in the arts. It’s all copies of copies of copies. All that really matters is what you do with it, and what Zeppelin did was timeless and amazing. What Spirit did, just didn’t take with the public.

Seems Wrong: This week, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department released photos of Michael Jackson’s porn collection. While I in no way condone what he did, I find it wrong that this stuff is being made public. The man is dead and it strikes me that this is just piling on for the sake of satisfying the desire of some in the public (and more in the media) of selling salaciousness. You can disagree, but I just don’t see the point in continuing to drag a dead man through the ringer when we already know what he did.

Surprise!: For a decade now, women’s groups have been pushing to improve women’s “body consciousness.” They tried everything from railing against magazines and films hiring only skinny models/actresses, to “shaming” women for airbrushing photos, to making it unacceptable to tell fat joke involving women. Just about the only thing they haven’t tried is giving up the jobs they got because they were hot and letting fat women take them instead... do as I say, not as I do. So basically, they did what the left always does – try to sell fake self-esteem over substance and act hypocritically the whole time (see e.g. feminism, anti-racism, environmentalism, anti-capitalism, anti-gun ownership, etc.).

So guess what? Yep: it didn’t work. In fact, women’s “body consciousness” has declined sharply since this all began. Imagine that. Every time the left tries to solve a problem, it makes it worse... every single time... everything they touch turns to crap.

As Reagan (kind of) said, “The scariest words in the English language are, I’m a liberal and I’m here to help!”

23 comments:

Kit said...

BBC says "LEAVE TO WIN"

AndrewPrice said...

Wow! That's a shock! Watch out stock market tomorrow!

AndrewPrice said...

Dow futures are down 600 points.

Kit said...

This morning I thought Remain was going to win, maybe a 75% chance.

Instead, Leave is going to win by a close margin. Probably of about a million or so votes.

AndrewPrice said...

My prediction... Britain goes into recession. There will be an exodus of firms, particularly finance firms to Paris.

The EU responds by shrinking to a core of German/French countries and jettisons the other countries to a secondary status.

Spain and Belgium break apart.

Kit said...

I'll admit, as worried as I am about many of the potential problems this may cause for the UK, my heart is a bit warmed at the thought of someone giving a middle finger to the Eurocrats.

Kit said...

Interesting bit of irony here: It was Labour and left-wing areas like Birmingham and Wales that put it over the top.

Kit said...

For those who don't know: Labour Party is very pro-EU.

Kit said...

An article at BBC.com on the issues the Labour Party now faces in the wake of Leave.
"Labour 'must change' after EU campaign"

The opening:
---------------------
Sunderland and South Tyneside - traditionally Labour heartlands - have voted decisively to leave the EU.
Labour Leave campaigner Kate Hoey MP told Sky News Labour supporters were "fed up of being told they're ignorant" and the party could lose its support.
MP Jamie Reed said: "No doubt, tonight, whatever the result, the Labour Party has to change fundamentally."
---------------------

Koshcat said...

It was only a city manager who told me this but he stated "the voters are always right no matter how wrong you think they are".

If exit won by a million votes, that is a blow out as it was being called too close to call.

Kit said...

Koschat,

By a million votes, it will roughly 17 million to 16 million, or about 52-48%.

tryanmax said...

I simply can't imagine things going so bad for Britain as the experts predict. The sudden plunge in sterling's value almost feels like a deliberate slap. It's so stark it defies sense. I think in general we're in an era where the experts believe themselves.

BevfromNYC said...

So I fall asleep and all hell breaks loose! So, what's gonna happen to the Chunnel? The stock market is going crazy, but I think that it will settle down. Cameron announced he is stepping down as PM later this year.

BevfromNYC said...

This just in: When it rains, it pours...now the rumbling undercurrent begins by calling for an Independant Scotland and a United Ireland! Round and round we go, where it stops nobody knows...

Now back to a regularly scheduled programing.

Anthony said...

Haven't paid much attention to Brexit. I'm not shocked. The fallout will be interesting to watch. Finance will probably leave for greener pastures but I doubt it will mean much to the US.

Anthony said...

Just heard that the Prime Minister of England is resigning.

AndrewPrice said...

I don't see leaving the EU as a problem by and large. It will hurt their exports and London's finance sector will fade, but that's not a huge problem. I see the problem as this...

Everyone is going to misinterpret this vote. The British left is going to return to a unionist 1970's position on the idea that this vote was about British workers demanding freedom from international markets. The British right will probably return to representing rich, country folk and "pensioners," and will stupidly embrace a pro-immigration stance as a moral thing.

I also suspect Scotland and Northern Ireland will leave and follow Britain's example of going union-left.

So ultimately, I think Britain is about to repeat the 1970s.

BevfromNYC said...

What's going to happen to the Chunnel though?

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - I agree with you about the Michael Jackson reveal was just for clickbait up to a point. There are other rumblings about the vast and wide sexual exploitation of children and young adults by Hollywood dealmakers/elites/stars who either did it or looked away to further their own careers. I predict that the Priest/Pedophile scandal will pale in comparison - See: Bill Cosby and now confirmed Michael Jackson and more to come. Rumor will turn to hard evidence...

AndrewPrice said...

Filled in with concrete, Bev. Sadly.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I agree with you about Hollywood, but I'm not sure anyone is connecting this. I get the sense this was just clickbait.

BevfromNYC said...

Back to Brexit - When I was in the UK in early May, we were on a bus tour that went through PM Cameron's constituency. The tour guide was shocked at how many huge red "Brexit NOW!" and "Leave" signs were up.

ArgentGale said...

Good collection of thoughts. I find the media attention shifts to be exasperating as well. I'm not surprised on the latest left movement backfire, either, and agree it was needless on the Jackson thing. Also I'm in the camp that wasn't surprised by Brexit and suspect you're probably right about their politicians screwing it up. It'll be interesting to see what happens next regardless.

- Daniel

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