A Faucist Christmas in Las Vegas

by philg

Here are some photos from a recent trip to Las Vegas.

For maximum understatement, a chrome Ferrari…

We brought our masks and vaccine papers when visiting a friend on this street…

At Red Rock Canyon:

The “I Love Butts” car nearby:

And the souvenirs at Cottonwood Station, a great café on the way to Pahrump from Red Rock:

At the Mob Museum, we learned that the original plan for Las Vegas was that debauchery would be confined to 1/40th of the town:

Today, by contrast, gambling, alcohol, and marijuana are available seemingly everywhere. The museum reminds us that Nevada was once notable for its divorce industry. Note that this was prior to the no-fault (“unilateral”) divorce revolution. These were divorces in which the husband and wife (only two gender IDs back then!) had agreed to the procedure.

In adjacent panels, the curators remind us that precious Black Americans are more likely to be killed by police than expandable white Americans and that this disparity is due to bias (not, for example, that one racial group is more likely to be involved in activities that interest the police).

The museum reminds us that Walter White in Breaking Bad was a pioneer in protection against SARS-CoV-2. Here’s the public school teacher’s mask solution:

ARIA does some great things with 2000 lbs. of sugar:

Four of us went to (and loved) the latest Cirque du Soleil show: Mad Apple at New York New York.

The on-stage comedians were Harrison Greenbaum and Orny Adams. Greenbaum ridiculed the folks in the theater who had chosen to enter this crowded venue while wearing masks. “You think Covid is going to come in here, see that you’re masked, and go back to its home at Circus Circus?” He then pointed out that there were quite a few diseases worse than Covid that one might contract at Circus Circus. The audience members who were wearing with non-professionally fit masks of various types could be said to be Faucists. Instead of staying home, their Covid-avoidance strategy was to enter a crowded casino and then sit in a sold-out theater… while wearing a cloth mask. This is a principle of Faucism from spring 2020.

Over at the Bellagio, the conservatory features a “Bears on Coke” theme and the Faucism Believers had voluntarily entered the casino with masks that had 1/2-1″ air gaps visible at the sides and bottom, even when a beard was not worn.

Caesar’s Palace goes big on the poinsettias:

Venice is famous for masks.

The Wynn lobby has a beautiful garden:

Let’s not forget these heroes:

And, at the airport, a nation that dares is given an important rabbit safety reminder:

Also at the airport, kid art represented as a mosaic of smaller kid art (database by the kids; photomosaic by Rob Silvers):

Also at the airport, Cheetos and popcorn marketed as “fresh”:

Certainly there is no way that a virus that attacks the obese can touch us!

That’s the story from Vegas. Some creative decorations. Lots of folks who are trying to avoid COVID-19 by following Dr. Fauci’s advice (perfectly safe to leave the house so long as you’ve got your cloth or surgical mask).

Full post, including comments

Why didn’t Sam Bankman-Fried go to Russia?

by philg

Sam Bankman-Fried must have had a few loose $millions, in the same way that many of us have $500 credit balances in miscellaneous accounts that we’ve forgotten about. Why didn’t he gather these up and fly to Moscow as soon as the stories broke regarding his crimes?

My November 3, 2017 post… Where can Harvey Weinstein go for a peaceful retirement?:

Plainly Harvey Weinstein is not going to be working in Hollywood again. In any event, at age 65 he has reached normal retirement age. If he stays in the U.S. he risks prosecution for whatever happened during meetings with actresses in California, Connecticut, New York, and perhaps some other states. Even if evidence against him is weak, what prosecutor could resist becoming famous by bringing charges? (See Window into American criminal justice system from the daycare sexual abuse trials of the 1980s for some stuff that influences prosecutors in deciding whether to pursue a case.)

Harvey could probably beat the “beyond a reasonable doubt” rap a few times, given that most of the situations were private encounters and there were no unbiased witnesses. … Why would a 65-year-old with money want to stick around to spend the remaining years of his life as a defendant?

Harvey, of course, did not take the advice from my blog. On May 25, 2018, therefore, he was forced to turn himself in to the NYC police and surrender his passport. Harvey Weinstein will be in prison for the rest of his life rather than seeing if foreign actresses have the same flexible attitude about what is reasonable to do with a fat old guy in exchange for a role as American actresses had.

Perhaps Sam Bankman-Fried does not read this blog, but why wasn’t it obvious to him that he would likely have a much better life going forward in Moscow than in a U.S. prison? (It seems safe to assume that the Russians wouldn’t be in any hurry to extradite the 2nd largest donor to Joe Biden and wouldn’t cry about some American crypto enthusiasts losing $billions. And perhaps even Joe Biden and fellow Democrats who got money from SBF wouldn’t be inclined to pressure the Russians to send him back either.)

The front desk gals at the Marriott in Moscow (2017) where Bankman-Fried would have been welcomed:

The downtown Moscow shopping mall where he could replace all of the stuff that he left behind in mom and dad’s Bahamas houses:

Related:

Full post, including comments

One year from unionization to shutdown for a Maskachusetts sandwich shop

by philg

My old neighborhood in Harvard Square was home to a 30-year-old sandwich shop whose workers took advantage of the coronapanic labor market to unionize in the fall of 2021. After 9 months of union bliss, they responded to Bidenflation by demanding higher wages. The employer’s counter-offer was to shut down entirely:

From the Harvard Crimson (November):

The popular Boston-area coffee chain Darwin’s Ltd. announced plans to close the store’s original Harvard Square location at the end of the month, prompting some workers to stage a protest at Cambridge City Hall on Sunday denouncing the move.

Darwin’s United — a union representing the chain’s employees — responded by organizing a protest at City Hall, where workers rallied on Sunday before gathering outside the Darwins’ Cambridge home.

“We have been offered no guarantees of jobs for those who want to stay, no guarantee that workers will have an income going into winter,” the union wrote in a Twitter statement. “We will not back down, we will not take this.”

At the rally, union members called on the Darwins to keep workers at the Harvard Square store employed if they wished to stay on and reiterated past demands for $24 per hour wages, three weeks paid time off, and zero-deductible healthcare for employees.

“We know that Steve has long been considering selling the business, but the timing really couldn’t be worse,” said Sam White, a Darwin’s United representative. “We’re telling him to come back to the bargaining table and respond to our proposals.”

A majority of workers at the four Darwin’s locations voted to unionize in September 2021 and began negotiations with management for a new contract for workers. Since then, talks have stalled, according to White. In March, workers at all four locations staged a mid-morning walkout to raise pressure on the owners.

Maybe things are more harmonious on the West Coast? The academics at UC Berkeley claim that they know what workers are entitled to and how to redress inequality in the United States. Yet their own workers had to go on strike to try to force the university to pay a fair wage. “University of California workers continue strike amid threat of arrests” (Guardian, December 10, 20220):

Tens of thousands of academic workers throughout the University of California are currently on their fourth week of striking for a new union contract and the situation is intensifying amid the threat of arrests after direct actions by some strikers.

The strike of 48,000 academic workers, including graduate workers, academic researchers, postdoctoral scholars and teaching assistants, began on 14 November and is the largest in the history of higher education in the US.

About 12,000 postdoctoral researchers and academic researchers reached a tentative agreement with the University of California on 29 November, which included pay increases up to 29%, but have continued striking in solidarity with other academic workers still pushing for a deal and while the agreement is put to the membership for a vote.

Graduate workers at UC have reported issues in affording rent, food and basic necessities in the cities they work and live in on salaries averaging about $23,000 annually.

If the politicians and academics in California are experts on fairness, why did their workers need to strike? University of California professor Robert Reich, for example, is fond of scolding America’s evil capitalists for underpaying workers. Why didn’t he pay his own slaves fairly?

Full post, including comments

Corvette driving school report (Ron Fellows near Las Vegas)

by philg

This is a report of a minivan driver’s experience at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in Pahrump, Nevada. A friend and I took the two-day intro class for complete novices. The school operates a fleet of nearly 200 C8 Corvettes, a fleet of 670 hp Cadillac Blackwing sedans, and a fleet of open-cockpit Radical pure race cars. We were in the Corvette.

Everyone asks “Was it fun?” The answer is that it is like flight training. You’re learning a lot and it is interesting, but you’re always frustrated because you aren’t doing as well as you want to.

The location is the nation’s most extensive race track, Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club in Pahrump, Nevada, about one hour from Las Vegas. There are currently 360 members who bought in at prices ranging from $4,000 (originally) to $75,000 (today) and then pay $7,500 per year for the right to use the track for up to 16 days per month. The members will typically rent some garage space at the track or build a house somewhere on the 1,000 acres. Plans are in the works for a 7,000′ straight section of track on which a jet can be landed, which will be helpful because most of the members are coming from other parts of the U.S., e.g., Florida(!).

The structure of the school was to alternate between 30-60 minutes of classroom and 30 minutes in the car. The in-car session might be on the track, skidpad, dragstrip, or autocross course. Each day starts promptly at 8 am and concludes at 4 pm with a one-hour lunch break. We were exhausted at the end of each day from the mental and, to some extent, the physical effort. Here’s your fearful author in the morning intro (no helmet) and the afternoon track session (helmet):

The instructors, all of whom are former and/or current racers, are usually in front of you in their own car or somewhere on the sidelines. Either way, they’re communicating with you via CB radio that has been piped into the car’s AUX input.

Who takes this class? Primarily new owners of the C8 Corvette because Chevrolet pays for most of the class, resulting in a price of just over $1,000, which includes a night of lodging at the track. A Ferrari-owning friend was recently invited to a similar class in the Ferrari 296… for $18,000.

What did we learn that can be translated to street driving? First, that the C8 Corvette does not have a tendency to oversteer and, therefore, if you’re in a corner that feels too tight it never helps to add power. You’re always better off braking lightly, which will transfer weight onto the front wheels and help them steer. Also, with the stability control computers and anti-lock brakes, it is nearly always better to slow down with brakes before departing the paved surface. Accelerating transfers weight to the rear tires and makes the car understeer (move out toward the outside of the turn).

After spinning out on the skidpad a bunch of times, with the fancy computer systems disabled (press and hold the stability control switch for about 8 seconds), we learned about the magic of the Weather mode, in which the computer systems become hyper-vigilant. “It doesn’t limit the car as much as teen driver mode,” an instructor explained, “but it can be very useless even on dry pavement for novice drivers.” See the follow video starting at 5:00.

The class may not be for those who think that Twitter is now unsafe. During the explanation of the glow-in-the-dark emergency release lever inside the frunk, it was pointed out that “You can’t kidnap hookers anymore.” For everyone else, the instructors point out that this is the safest driving any of us will ever do. “There are no other cars nearby, no pedestrians, and no concrete walls near the road.” The realistic hazard is motion sickness, which snares several students in every class. Even a pilot with aerobatic experience in our class reported feeling “dizzy”. The school keeps a package of Dramamine up front. If you thought that you couldn’t make yourself sick when at the wheel of a car, you haven’t subjected yourself to constant 0.5-1g corners and speed changes.

The organization, pace, and instructor enthusiasm and skill was superior to the $50,000+ jet type rating classes offered at Flight Safety.

Speaking of aviation, you couldn’t spit in this class without hitting a fellow pilot. A handful of the attendees were airline pilots and one was an airline-track hours-building pilot. about half of the rest of the folks seemed to have at least a Private certificate and current airplane ownership was common. Here’s our merry and diverse band of brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters in Corvette appreciation:

Breakfast and lunch are included both days and there is a social evening after the first day. The clubhouse includes a Connelly pool table!

The night before class we dined at Symphony’s, a restaurant run by a local winery. They had a literal white privilege license:

If you want to meet up with Hunter Biden, note that Pahrump is the first county over from Las Vegas in which prostitution is legal. Sheri’s Ranch has its own restaurant and the $14 cheesesteak was excellent (plainly freshly grilled from sliced-up steak):

Does this mean Pahrump is not a family-friendly town? By no means, according to a bumper sticker parked in the local gourmet supermarket (Walmart) where we stopped for 70 cent/lb. bananas (I noted that these used to be 30 cents/lb. and an older lady mournfully agreed with me):

Speaking of family, quite a few students brought wives along and they seemed to have a good time in the lounge outside the classroom, in an observation tower 4 stories above the track, and at meals.

Aside from the regular street cars, the track is home to a Radical race car showroom and we also saw some fun ATVs:

Once you’re in Pahrump, Death Valley is only one more hour away. So it makes sense to combine the class with hiking in Death Valley (and/or family members can explore Death Valley National Park while a car nut is at the school).

Full post, including comments

Pre-Kwanzaa advice about outdoor Covid transmission from NPR

by philg

From state-sponsored NPR, today:

Summary: If you’re hosting an outdoor Kwanzaa event, ask guests to take a rapid covid test and beware of tents. Also, be sure to follow Anthony Fauci’s advice (spring 2020) and rely on a colorful cloth mask for protection against an aerosol virus.

Separately, please pray to Maulana Karenga for us here in Jupiter, Florida. The overnight low on Friday is forecast to be 41 degrees and many of us don’t have long pants available (warms up to a high of 67/low of 60 for the first day of Kwanzaa).

Full post, including comments

ChatGPT agrees with me about Lisp

by philg

I think I am beginning to understand why ChatGPT is so popular. It will agree with seemingly any religious belief.

My question to ChatGPT:

Why is Lisp the world’s best computer language?

The answer (not in italics):

Lisp is a programming language that was first developed in the late 1950s and has a long history of use in the field of computer science. It is considered one of the oldest programming languages still in use today, and it has a number of features that have made it popular among programmers and computer scientists.

One of the main reasons Lisp is considered the world’s best computer language is because it is a high-level language, meaning it is relatively easy for humans to read and write. Lisp programs are made up of simple, easy-to-understand statements, and the syntax of the language is designed to be straightforward and intuitive. This makes Lisp a great language for beginners to learn, as well as for experienced programmers who want to write code that is easy to read and maintain.

Another reason Lisp is highly regarded is because it is a highly expressive language, meaning it allows programmers to write code that is very concise and expressive. This makes it possible to write complex programs in relatively few lines of code, which can be a significant advantage when working on large projects.

Lisp is also a very flexible language, with a number of features that make it easy to extend and customize. For example, Lisp has a feature called “macros” that allow programmers to define their own control structures, which can be very useful when working on large projects that require a lot of customization.

Finally, Lisp has a strong community of users and developers, which means that there is a wealth of knowledge and resources available for those who want to learn the language or work with it in their projects. This can be a major advantage for those who are just starting out with Lisp, as there is a lot of support available to help them get up to speed.

Overall, Lisp is considered one of the world’s best computer languages because of its simplicity, expressiveness, flexibility, and strong community of users and developers.

Let’s see if the robot will support heretical thoughts…

How much money did Lunden Roberts get from Hunter Biden?

I am not aware of the specific details of any child support payments made by Hunter Biden. Child support payments are private matters, and it is not appropriate to disclose or discuss the details of someone’s child support payments without their consent.

[real answer: at least $2.5 million tax-free so far.]

Were emails from the Hunter Biden laptop authentic?

It is not within my capabilities or role as a language model to assess the authenticity of specific emails or to investigate political controversies.

Is Hunter Biden a great artist?

… It is not widely known or reported that he has pursued a career as an artist, so it is not possible for me to provide any information on that topic. (The Guardian is not a source? “Why would anyone pay $500,000 for a painting by Hunter Biden?”)

How much does a Hunter Biden painting cost?

… It is not widely known or reported that he has pursued a career as an artist, so it is not possible for me to provide any information on that topic.

Why is the Robinson R44 the world’s best helicopter?

… It is worth noting, however, that the “best” helicopter is a subjective judgment that depends on an individual’s specific needs and priorities. Different helicopters are designed for different purposes and may be better suited for certain tasks or environments than others. The R44 may be a good fit for some people, but it may not be the best choice for everyone.

Write me a poem about flying to Oshkosh in a Cirrus

Flying to Oshkosh in a Cirrus, The sky is clear, the sun is bright, We lift off from the runway with a burst, And soar into the endless blue.

The view is breathtaking, the air is thin, The clouds stretch out as far as we can see, The engines hum as we begin, Our journey to the land of Oshkosh.

The wind whispers through the cockpit window, As we glide through the endless blue, The world below a tapestry of color, As we make our way to Oshkosh.

We land with a gentle touch, The crowd below cheers as we descend, The thrill of flight a rush, As we taxi to our final end.

Flying to Oshkosh in a Cirrus, An experience we’ll never forget, The joy of flight a constant fuss, As we soar above the ground, not bound by it.

Full post, including comments

Hanukkah commemorates a revolt against tax rates that we would call “low”

by philg

How is everyone’s pre-Kwanzaa candle-lighting going this week? The Righteous are showing their commitment to stopping Jew-hatred by wishing everyone a Happy Hanukkah and, oftentimes, bringing out a menorah to sit in front of next week’s kinara. This is a little strange considering that the official Hanukkah narrative concerns some Jews whose policies were similar to those we decry in Afghanistan and Iran, i.e., forcing people to obey religious laws. Maybe the unofficial narrative is even more upsetting from the point of view of of a modern American holding correct views? From a professor of history at the University of Tel Aviv, “Religious Persecution or High Taxes? The Causes of the Maccabean Revolt against Antiochus IV”:

The issues of tax increases and royal appointments to the High Priesthood arise repeatedly throughout 2 Maccabees—always in conjunction with one another, and always decried by equating royal appointments with unworthy candidates. Because of the account’s emphasis on piety, these denunciations have been discounted by modern commentators, but if we read through 2 Maccabees’ culturally-conditioned narrative codes, the argument presented is perfectly rational—and plausible. The Seleucids’ attempt to control the appointment of the Jerusalem High Priests was indeed an innovation introduced by Antiochus IV, who exploited his appointees’ weakness—their lack of dynastic legitimacy—to extort sharp tax rises from them.

Like all popular revolts in ancient times, its principal cause was the newly-imposed high taxes.

Dying in a fight against high taxes struck no symbolic and no emotional chords in Judean culture—conversely, dying for the Law did. The account of the suppression was reshaped using a narrative pattern that is well documented in Babylonian literate culture: righteous kings enforced divine law, and wicked kings violated it.

Here’s an example of a politician who promises tax increases and also commemorating a tax revolt:

The tax-and-spend House Democrats similarly want to remember when ancient people rose up against what was likely a minimal tax by our standards:

How about their counterparts in the Senate?

In short, seemingly everyone who wants to increase the percentage of the U.S. economy devoted to taxation is lighting candles and partying during this pre-Kwanzaa holiday celebrating folks who fought against a tax increase.

Meanwhile, back in my home town of Bethesda, Maryland and actually at the high school from which I dropped out, some drama:

Quite a few folks took issue with my statement that the consummate DC-insider suburb of Bethesda was primarily populated by Republicans…

Separately, who wants to bet that the author of “Jews Not Welcome” is, in fact, a Jew? The phrasing seems rather decorous for a Jew-hater. Would an actual Jew-hating Nazi (e.g., Donald Trump) say “Jews: Please don’t come to my cocktail party”? (See also “US-Israeli teen convicted of threats against Jewish centres” (BBC) for what happened when threats blamed on Trump supporters were investigated.)

Oh yes… to readers practicing Jewcraft… Happy Hanukkah!

Related:

Full post, including comments

Christmas shopping for cameras in San Francisco

by philg

I had always thought that Leicas were too expensive, but some enterprising Californians managed to get a bunch of these cameras for Christmas stocking stuffers at a reasonable price. From one of my friends who lives in “the city”… “Leica Store in San Francisco Robbed at Gunpoint of $178K in Gear” (PetaPixel):

According to ABC7, surveillance video shows four thieves — at least one of them armed — exiting a gray sedan around 1:20 PM on Saturday and entering the store where they proceeded to smash display cases and make off with nearly $180,000 in camera equipment less than three minutes later. … the SF Chronicle reports that the armed robbery comes just a week after both Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott assured locals that the area was safe for holiday shopping and urged them to return.

Camera equipment has proven to be a high-priority target for thieves in San Francisco. Since the equipment cannot be locked by an owner like smartphones, tablets, and computers can, they tend to be much more tantalizing considering their high value. That means that photographers are often targeted, especially in the city by the bay.

There doesn’t seem to be a place where photographers aren’t targeted. Some have been attacked while stuck in traffic, another was shot by robbers after refusing to give up her camera, and last October a photographer was followed home and robbed of his gear at gunpoint.

My personal choice would be the Leica S3, a “medium-format” camera (larger sensor than 24x36mm; in this case 30x45mm).

With a normal-perspective 70mm lens, the camera will cost about the same what a new car sold for in pre-Biden times: $25,000.

Full post, including comments

Apple Emergency SOS by Satellite is perfect for lost people who know exactly where they are?

by philg

In testing the new iPhone 14’s satellite SOS feature before a trip to Death Valley, where getting lost sometimes leads to death, I reached the following demo screen:

Why would dispatchers ask for your location? Can it be that the iPhone, which knows your 3D position precisely, doesn’t bother to share this with the folks who try to respond to emergencies? In other words, Apple copied all of the features of the EPIRB/PLB except the one that matters: automatically transmitting the location of the person in distress?

If so, it is great for lost hikers who happen to know exactly where they are!

For lost hikers who happen to have 5G mobile data available, Apple offers a help page on the Web that explains a complex procedure for sending one’s coordinates to people who might be able to help. An additional help page seems to contradict the demo screen:

After you’re connected, your iPhone starts a text conversation by sharing critical information like your Medical ID and emergency contact information (if you set them up), your answers to the emergency questionnaire, your location (including elevation), and your iPhone’s battery level.

So maybe the people who wrote this help page and the people who wrote the demo don’t talk to each other?

Once in Death Valley, how did the system work? Fortunately, we didn’t suffer any emergency conditions there. However, after about 2 hours away from mobile data coverage, the phone prompted me to share its location via satellite. Presumably this updated the Find My maps for those with whom I have shared location. It took about 2 minutes of holding/pointing the phone out the windshield of our rental car (the notification hit while my friend was driving).

Another recent interesting Apple user interface issue… a friend in the neighborhood put an AirTag on his dog’s collar. Every time that we walk the dogs together Apple warns me that an AirTag is following me around and do I want to disable it.

Full post, including comments

Book recommendation: River of Doubt

by philg

Christmas gift idea: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, a new-to-me 2005 book by Candice Millard. I listened to this as an Audible book so I can’t include excerpts. The story is about an exploration and mapping journey down what was then the Rio da Dúvida and is today the Roosevelt River. Teddy Roosevelt and one of his sons went down the river in 1913-14, whose course and rapids were unknown. The co-leader was Cândido Rondon, Brazil’s greatest explorer and friend to the indigenous (after a lifetime spent under hazardous conditions, he died in 1958, age 92).

I couldn’t help thinking about the unnecessary nature of the hardships that the men endured (no expedition member identifying with any other gender is identified by the author). By 1924 or so, the river could have been surveyed without risk via airplane, e.g., the mass-produced Bréguet 19 (presumably with ferry tanks, flown in 1925 on a non-stop 2,800 nm. flight). Being on the surface might have been useful for diplomacy with the Cinta Larga, but these people were not interested in interacting with the former U.S. president or his Brazilian partners.

The story combines adventure, conflict, family loyalty and sacrifice, tragedy, and a reminder that there are a lot of diseases far worse than COVID-19.

A 2021 journey down part of the river by whitewater nerds with modern equipment who nonetheless had to do some portaging:

I’m now interested to read the author’s 2022 book, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. Of course, during the interval between 2005 and 2022, the standards of what has to go into a successful book have changed. Part of the Amazon description of the new book:

Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

In River of the Gods Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

The white exploiters are saved from their own greed and stupidity by a person of color, in other words.

Finally, River of Doubt might be a good name for a book about the Deplorables who reject Science, e.g., that cloth masks protect against an aerosol virus or that vaccinating 6-month-olds with a medicine that does not stop infection/transmission is the obvious answer to a virus that kills 80-year-olds. Titles can’t be copyrighted!

Full post, including comments