The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 26)

November 2, 2021

THE GOOD

FEEL GOOD STORY OF THE WEEK: “Moms Discover Their Babies Were Switched at Birth, Make Stunning Decision Together.”

THIS IS VERY COOL, BUT I’LL TAKE A PASS. Oh, and by the way, freediving is NOT a real sport! “The Secrets of The World’s Greatest Freediver.”

GOOD ON BAD

• ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK—The Story (good article on bad topic): “The Wrecking of New York City: Accident or Design?”

• ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK—The Movie:

NICE, BUT WHAT IF THIS TECHNOLOGY GETS NATIONALIZED BY THE NSA?  "Smart toilets" are apparently the next big thing just in case you want Big Tech monitoring your butt too.”

CAPITALISM = PROGRESS: “We Work Less, Have More Leisure Time and Earn More.”

JEALOUS: “Rowdy celebrations erupt in Norway as COVID restrictions end.”

THERE IS A DIRECT, CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPITALISM AND CHARITY. Capitalism brings out the best in people: “Quiet Generosity.”

THE BAD

THE MORAL PRINCIPLE THAT DESTROYED NEW YORK CITY: “FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEED”: “The Cost of Communism: 'Comrade de Blasio' Has Gutted the Big Apple.”

When de Blasio took over as mayor of NYC, it was like inheriting the 2009 championship Yankees. Eight years later, he is leaving the city looking more like the Detroit Tigers. Almost 200,000 people signed a petition to have him impeached. Nothing came of it because communists never quit. We might as well change the name of New York City to  “Moscow on the Hudson.”

‘CAUSE “DEFUNDING THE POLICE” WAS SUCH A BRILLIANT IDEA:

OREGON HAS THE BEST RULING CLASS, PART I: “After Mandating Masks Outdoors, Oregon’s Active COVID-19 Cases Increased 73 Percent.”

OREGON HAS THE BEST RULING CLASS, PART II: “Oregon health officials say you can kiss on dates -- if both vaccinated.”

OUR RULING CLASS AND THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: “Killing Children with Safety: Child Obesity SOARED During COVID Lockdowns.” And it’s just not the kids: “Study: Lack of outdoor time likely impacted quality of life, sleep during pandemic.”

GIVEN ME ONE REASON, OTHER THAN THE OBVIOUS ONE, WHY THE MEDIA WOULD BE UPSET BY THIS: “Why isn't the media more upset about Antifa's attacks on journalists?”

HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF THIS QUESTION: WHERE IS IT ALL HEADED? Alternatively, you might ask: Does nihilism have a “past due” date? Or, is there a point at which even the nihilists say “uncle”? “EXCLUSIVE: After Reviewing Netflix Show, Parents Group Demands Child Pornography Investigation.”

Though Netflix’s animated series, “Big Mouth,” bills itself as TV-MA and is ostensibly intended for adults, it features 12- and 13-year-old characters engaging in sex acts and includes animated nudity and graphic dialogue, according to a parents group demanding Netflix be investigated over the show.

One scene, for example, shows a 13-year-old boy who doesn’t want to be left at camp yelling, “I’ll suck your d**k,” to his departing father. Another shows a group of middle school boys fully nude in a shower, waving their penises. Still another scene shows two boys discussing mutual masturbation, sharing tips on how to masturbate, and fondling themselves in front of one another. . . .

For the report, released Wednesday, the PTC reviewed ten episodes of “Big Mouth.” Among the explicit content it found:

·      A child is held down and has a penis forced into his mouth.

·      A minor exposes his scrotum.

·      Minors are shown in a shower with erect penises.

·      A child urinates on another child in a shower.

·      A male minor character penetrates a female minor character with his fingers.

·      A character suggests having sex with his own excrement and eating it.

I’m glad I’m not the father of young children anymore. As a future grandparent, though, I will no doubt be a living nightmare for the peddlers of filth.

WHAT DOES “FAIR SHARE” EVEN MEAN? And of course Biden didn’t pay his “fair” share because they never do: “Biden calls on rich to ‘step up and pay’ ‘fair share’ in taxes — despite report that he didn’t.”

THIS IS NOT GOING TO END WELL. Pretty sure you need to do your Christmas shopping NOW, otherwise it will be sparse holiday : “Ships anchored off NY and LA face 4-WEEK wait to berth and trains in Chicago are backed up 25 miles with global supply chain on the brink of collapse: Americans face shortages of cars, shoes and exercise gear as holiday season looms.”

FROM BAD TO WORSE: “Workers Who Maintain Supply Chains Warn of Worldwide ‘System Collapse’.”

WHAT CAN’T GO ON FOREVER, WON’T: “NYC Restaurateurs: Business Down 40 to 60 Percent Due to Vaccine Mandate.”

THE UGLY

SAMANTHA POWERS, CALL YOUR OFFICE: “Taliban founder says strict punishment, amputations to return to Afghanistan.”

I THINK THIS IS WHAT THEY CALL PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE. The Ruling Class wants to rule us into poverty: “Serfing the planet: Green policies will accelerate the immiseration of the global working and middle class.”

Like its global predecessors, the COP26 Glasgow conference will usher in a new wave of apocalyptic warnings about climate change. It will also likely prove no more successful, in terms of actually addressing the issue, than its predecessors, particularly as China, India and other developing countries ramp up their emissions. . . .

Nevertheless, none of this will force the climate activists to reconsider how the current strategies against global warming could break the backs of the already beleaguered working and middle class. (For British readers, I use the phrase ‘middle class’ here in the American – less bourgeois – sense.) The climate chorus of celebrities, oligarchs and royals may feel virtuous, but for most people the future could prove to be propertyless proletarianisation. Many of those in Glasgow at the moment pray at the altar of ‘de-growth’. They want to limit the consumption of the working and middle classes, undermine their jobs, raise their energy bills, and inhibit their ability to buy property or travel. . . .

The lockdowns may seem tragic to operators on Main Street, but some greens see them as providing the basis for a bureaucratically controlled future where credentialed mandarins determine the minutiae of daily life. This includes policies designed to change how people live. Already climate-oriented policies have underpinned efforts to block affordable homes being built on the periphery and force ever more density on urban areas. This has had the effect of raising prices, resulting in declines in homeownership, particularly among the young, notably in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. . . .

All this fits what the Davos crowd calls the ‘great reset’, a top-down effort at refashioning capitalism and daily life along green lines. The goal is not just to turn potential owners into tenants but also to reduce all consumption in general, as part of a move to a ‘net zero’ future where cars will become rarer, miles will be taxed and only expensive electric cars will remain, largely only for the rich.

Read the whole thing.

LEFT-WING NIHILISM: This is where the enviro-egalitarian movement is leading us. Not surprisingly, the advocates of this policy are never the first in line to volunteer. “Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?”

. . . and THE BEAUTIFUL