Monday, September 7, 2020

Labor Day Links

  • When it comes to freedom of association, the government arm of the ruling class is absolutely ruthless in declaring everything a “public accommodation” so that freedom effectively becomes nonexistent. But when half a dozen (or fewer) big tech companies take over the means of disseminating speech and ideas—oh, no! That’s not a public accommodation! Those are private firms and the rights of private firms are sacrosanct! [Michael Anton
  • The centre of the print is occupied by a financial wheel of fortune or merry-go-round ridden by figures representative of the broad section of society taken in by the scheme, including a whore and a clergyman on the left, then a boot black and a hag, and a Scottish nobleman to the right, on a fat-faced horse. The ride is surmounted by a goat and the slogan "Who'l Ride" and surrounded by a jostling crowd below. To the front of the crowd, a short pickpocket rifles through the pockets of a larger gentleman. Paulson identifies the first as a caricature of Alexander Pope, who profited from the South Sea Scheme; and speculates that the other is John Gay, who, refusing to cash in enough of his stock to enable himself to have "a clean shirt and a shoulder of mutton every day for life", lost his investment and all his imagined profits. The image of the wheel is a parody of Jacques Callot's La Pendaison from the series The Miseries and Misfortunes of War, and the crowd has elements taken from his La Roue. Women line a balcony to the upper left, queuing to enter a building surmounted by stag's antlers, under a sign which offers "Raffleing for Husbands with Lottery Fortunes in Here". [Wiki]
  • Assuming that PRC ASBM have these capabilities, which seems quite plausible to me, this test was presumably a demonstration for the US, to make sure that our military appreciates the PLARF ability to hit a moving target (e.g., US aircraft carrier) at sea. Once this mutual understanding is in place, FONOPs in the South China Sea become mere theatrics for the dim witted. [Steve Hsu]
  • Please check the tie rods under your Model Y so that they are securely in place! We noticed the other day that our Model Y's (VIN 0307xx, barely a month old) front right tire was pointing inward (top pointing inward) more than it should be. Upon inspection, we found that the tie rod was sideways and there was nothing holding it in place! Normally, a tie rod is held in place by a castle nut and cotter pin to keep the tie rod securely in place. None of this was there. Just the end of the tie rod. As soon as we realized this car is not safe to drive, we called Tesla. They called a tow company to tow our Y to the nearest SC here in Florida to get it fixed. Thank God nothing worse happened to us as we have already driven the car more than 2000 miles on road trips! However, for a $60,000+ car, this should not happen! Please check over your Model Y to make sure yours is safe to drive. You don't want to have tie rod come loose while driving down the road. [TMC]
  • The Polanco district was my favorite, all named after famous authors west of the Parque Lincoln (I feel pretty sure that was named after Abe) and famous philosophers and scientists east of that. To the west: Dickens, Moliere, Ibsen, Tennyson, Oscar Wilde, Julio Verne, Alejandro Dumas and Edgar Allen Poe. To the east: Galileo, Aristoteles, Hegel, Newton, Schiller. [link]
  • I still prefer the old wine making style of Caymus vs the new wine making style. They must add sugar to this wine to make it taste like blackberry cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. There is virtually no tannin. It is a flabby, jammy, primary pleasure wine, which will appeal to those who don’t even like wine. No complexity, no structure or backbone, no tension. Just a syrupy mess. [Cellar Tracker]

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