Tag: rant

Why I don’t talk about important stuff

For me, the important things are:

  1. Welfare of my family and loved ones. Their conditions are private.
  2. My job, and it is not good to broadcast proprietary information in public.
  3. Events of the day: political and social issues.

So, only 3 is fit for public discussion, and I just have no interest in putting it out there. There are many reasons. I’ll vent about a few of them:

  1. Low quality discussion. Say, I take exception to the way ICE does things (yes, I think that law enforcement should announced themselves, show badges, etc.). So, if I say this, some moron will say “oh, so you are in favor of illegal immigrants just coming over whenever they want?” (no, I am not) “Oh, you must be against deporting illegal immigrants.” (no, I am not). I just happen to believe that law enforcement should be as human as practically possible and that we ought to have better guest worker programs.
  2. I do not love everything associated with “my side” (I am a Harris voter). I agree with many Trump voters on a few issues. But, I am not a single issue voter, and yes, Trump seems to attract many who ARE xenophobic, racist, approve of fascism, etc. But where I do say this, people would accuse me of thinking that most Trump voters are evil and stupid, and I do NOT believe that. This brings me to
  3. While I voted for Harris and would do so again, given the choices that we had, I think that most Trump voters are really no worse that most Harris voters. In my opinion, both sets of voters have their virtues and their shortcomings, as do I. And, sadly, it is THIS point that would have me on the outs with many who voted the same way that I do.

The fact is, I think many of the attempted implications “if you voted for X, you must be in favor of Y” are just outright false.

Sigh. No, I am not smarter, more moral, or more virtuous than most. But I believe that if I *really* spoke my mind about all issues, well, I’d probably get disowned at home and have no friends left anywhere.

And…here is the kicker: I honestly believe that some of my beliefs ARE WRONG. But I don’t know which ones they are. I don’t have all the facts. I am not well informed on everything. And I am capable of getting emotional and making logical errors. On the other hand, this does not mean that I have any desired to listen to half-baked nonsense from other people. I am often amazed at how confident others are in their opinions, including those whose self confidence is a mystery to me.

Random rants (empty inside, etc.)

Well, yes, it appears that we are getting another wave

New York Times. Fortunately football does not appear to be driving it, but I am still masking up for personal protection. (KN-95)

But though I am doing more than I did in 2020, I admit that my normally “not that charitable” attitudes have become worse; my “cup of care” is basically empty.

From the above NYT link, the vaccinated are 5 times less likely to get COVID and 13 times less likely to die from it (when one adjusts for age)

This chart is local and does not adjust for age; it does distinguish boosted from non-boosted. And even sans age adjustment (54 percent vaccination rate among the population), well, look for yourself.

But, none of this has any effect on the hard core anti-vax morons. “See: you can still get it and spread it”, they say. Yes, sober people get in car wrecks, non smokers get lung cancer, and fit people can get heart attacks.

Of course, they miss that point entirely, and frankly I am sick of it. And arguing is a waste of time.

Wokeness I made a small mistake of entering into a woke pile on…and encountered the following gem:

Look at the last line: that, IMHO, is what wokeism is about: the null hypothesis (base assumption) is the said figure is indeed a bigot (whatever flavor) and the burden of proof is on those who would refute the claim.

I always believed that the burden of proof was on the accuser (“the null hypothesis” is “not guilty”) but, IMHO, this is a distinguishing characteristic of a “woke.” If you want proof of guilt, or at least compelling evidence, I don’t consider you to be a woke.

General stupidity

Student loans came up and, more than once, I’ve seen college graduates complain that they regularly paid on loans and the amount owed never went down..or even went up. (yep, probably the same “mashed potatoes for brains” that tell me that I don’t understand logic or reasoning..but I digress)

Simple fact: loans come with interest, and every period of time (usually a month at a time) that you keep the money, interest accrues.Example: suppose you take out a loan of 100,000 dollars at 3 percent annual rate.Each month, the interest on the loan is 100,000 (0.029596/12) = 246.63.

That is, if you pay exactly 246.63, you would have paid the interest ONLY and not made the principle (the amount borrowed) go down at all!!!

If you paid 250 that month, you would have knocked off a whopping 3.37 off of that 100,000 dollar amount.If you paid 200 dollars, then you’d know owe 100,046.63 on the loan. The amount you now owe has gone UP, not down.

I remember back in 1985: I went to the “graduate student orientation” at the University of Texas. We were warned to be mindful of the debt we might accumulate. We were told something like “If you are getting a master’s in electrical engineering, you’ll make enough to pay it back. But if you are getting some sort of arts degree, you might not be able to, so watch what you borrow.”

But yes, you are supposed to take them seriously.

Extra Burdens And of course, I see all types doing “self advocacy.” Here is where I think much of this goes wrong: right now, people are mostly overburdened and overstressed. If you want something from them (more time, more effort, etc.) you have to explain why it is in their interests to make such an investment; something like “I deserve it” isn’t going to convince anyone.

It is as if activists and advocates think that if their cause is righteous enough, it should win, even without salesmanship or convincing. And it does not work that way. At least, I don’t think that it does, and I haven’t seen evidence that it does.

I never thought I’d say this out loud: I actually envy those who live in other countries

Yes, some intellectuals like Fareed Zakaria said that this was coming.
After WW 2 the US basically stood alone. The old USSR had a strong military but in just about everything else, save a hiccup with Sputnik, it was USA, USA for a long time..even the Olympics.
But things change, circumstances change, and challenges change.

I was born in the very late 1950’s and grew up on Air Force Bases. Yes, I remember the debacle in Vietnam all too well; our dads went there. Mine: twice.
I lived in Japan (on Air Force Bases) and, many of us got home sick; “The World” is what we called the US. “When do you get to go back to The World?” was a common question.
This was the days before things like ESPN; we saw games that were old, listened to them on shortwave radio, etc.

And I served in the Navy for a few years and saw some of Europe. Our Navy lead the way; we had ports in different places; seeing other places made me just a bit smug.

Then came the mid 1980’s to 1991 when I was in grad school. Sure, many of the students were international (“hey why are you working that hard…you are an American! Yes, I studied like the Chinese students did…) and, of course, many of them had unflattering things to say about the US of A. And yes, my American grad student friends went along..and at times I asked “if we are so horrible, why are you here?” The understanding is that we, being the Leviathan, should just accept it in good humor. But I saw cases of “The Ugly Foreigner” right in my own country and didn’t like it.

And yes, there are still aspects of the US that are outstanding, e. g. freedom of speech. Of course, the wokes and the Bible thumpers would love to change that..

But along comes the pandemic and oh my goodness, we suck, big time. Other countries (e. g. Canada) have done much better. But they have this “we are in this together” ethic that the US lacks…badly lacks.

Want to party: “can’t tell me what to do.” \

Want a massive get together sans social distancing? You aren’t the boss of me!

Oh..this great cause! Well, massive protests are ok! (yes, they probably spread it a bit) though masking (present at some of them) and many staying the hell away may have mitigated it a bit. But..I think that conservatives have a point when they attack liberal hypocrisy:

We just don’t have that “all hands on deck” unity that other countries can draw on.

We are configured to be skeptical of “expert opinion” and given how poorly the media reports said opinion (and they are awful..they ALWAYS get it wrong when it is the least bit technical; journalists are not intellectuals)

Herp Derp: “virus is smaller than your mask mesh” (yep, but gets to you via droplets..it just doesn’t float by iteslf)
“if your mask works why do you care about mine?” (masks better prevent the spread from an infected person..inverse square law…and when worn by the non-infected person it can help reduce the dose of COVID19…it is risk mitigation, not risk elimination..think of resistors in series….

But people listen to such “common sense” garbage and blow off science.

Anyhow, I envy ex pats but we’ve screwed up so badly, we aren’t wanted anywhere.

Ah…we were overrated. No…I am not saying that other countries are better in all ways or even in most ways. We do some things very well. But pulling together when it requires subordinating immediate gratification..we are awful at that, at least at this point in our history.

EVERYONE thinks that THEY know what is best.

Rant: no one cares what you think unless…

I see a lot of ranting on the internet; I get it; it is a way to blow off steam.

But…

Unless you have something someone else wants OR if you can withhold something someone else wants, no one really cares what you think.

Business: don’t like the customer service? Well, unless poor customer service actually HURTS the business, it will not improve no matter how much you complain. People tend to go by price alone and do not reward customer service with their dollars.

Politics: yes, politicians want your money and your vote. But some right winger in Kentucky or Oklahoma will not give a rip what I think. Come to think of it, the left wing won’t care either unless I have money to give them (and I don’t).

So all of these “this ends now” or “we’ll vote ’em out” stuff means, well, nothing.

Yes, local politicians might care BUT look at how horrible the voting rates are for local elections. Ironically, people tend to not vote in races where their votes might make the most difference!

Personal This is kind of painful to admit, but unless people *want* your company…well…this advice is tough medicine but I think it applies. If you want to be popular, you have to have something that makes people feel better about being around you (wit, or..well..respect for what you DO or what you ARE.)

We have an opening vs. Trump. Will we blow it?

No, Trump’s numbers are not good, especially given the economy isn’t doing that poorly, overall. His numbers are roughly what Reagan’s were at this point in his presidency (scroll down a bit to see the comparison). And there isn’t enough “room” in the economy for him to be rescued by a “Morning in America” the way that Reagan was.

And to many, it appears as if the economy is top heavy; the benefits are…surprise…NOT trickling down and many are noticing. Add that to Trump’s toxic demeanor and he isn’t in great shape.

Yes, I know; the 2018 elections ..but remember that Obama bounced back from a rough 2010 (the were key differences; in 2010, you saw the effects of a rough health care vote AND many McCain CDs coming home to the Republicans).

Still, IMHO, the Democratic field appears to be a hot mess, and the D’s appear to have their knives out for each other:

I should probably just get off of Twitter. But you have people going after male candidates (now it is time for a WOMAN…ok, I happen to back one but I really, really like Amy Klobuchar and her sex has zero to do with it) people going after white candidates, people saying that owning a handgun ought to be disqualifying (no, NOT the Onion…USA Today!)

There are times when I don’t like liberals either…and this is one of them.

We can be so sanctimonious. And we are, at times, incapable of introspection. If anyone attempts an honest “ok, what could WE have done better in the 2016 general election” be prepared to be flamed online. That Russian interference and the Comey letter hurt us (at least a little) is undeniable. But to think that we didn’t play a part in the loss…OMG, what can I say.

Activists just don’t DO introspection ..any negative outcome is *always* the result of unfairness or the result because the other voters just aren’t as moral, informed, smart and principled as WE are. The idea that we might have alienated anyone or had a faulty strategy or used ineffective tactics is pure anathema!