I propose the Dynamit Nobel Piece Prize consisting of a gilded bottle of nitroglycerine and a bundle of dynamite sticks ornated with Swarovski crystals in a carrying bag woven from gun cotton with a printed inscription in garish lettering about "booming again with bursting energy". [Of course it will not actually contain chemical explosives]
That's a pretty evergreen topic for me, and there's a lot to discuss on that. Is it going to be a crash, or a controlled belly landing? Opinions differ.
I'll put together a post of youtube links for people to watch today or tomorrow.
Pro Bono: the war between Armenia and Cambodia was a particular worry. And that was before he told hundreds of generals today that their troops would soon be carrying out an "internal war" in Chicago, San Francisco, LA (and I think also NYC), using those cities as "training grounds". How can the Nobel Peace Prize be far off?
Japan is headed for a population crash. Without immigration, maybe AI and robots can make up some of the difference. In any case, there will be a rough patch while the numbers of the old and young rebalance and the population shrinks over time.
Many countries are headed in the same direction, faster or slower, sooner or later.
– announced on social media that he’s sending troops into Portland, Oregon, which he described as “war-ravaged”. The city itself, which filmed reports show as boringly peaceful, doesn’t want them.
Boringly peaceful by day, while Antifa and other activists are home sleeping off the night before.
On a more serious note, I know some WP, but mostly things related to attaching odd bits of PHP to the standard hooks in various ways. For pulling stuff out of the database -- eg, some subset of comments -- I only know things that have PHP shorthand calls, not SQL. I know about get_comments(), but nothing about the underlying database calls.
I'm a long-timer Perl programmer, so I just think of PHP as Perl with a lot of the useful stuff stripped out.
Throughout my tech career, I always said that I was glad there were people who seemed to be interested in database design, because it meant I didn't have to worry about it.
I'm happy to tinker, and I would like it to be usable. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to make it more smartphone friendly and wondering how many posts should be on the front page. After things settle down with classes, I should have time to try some more things.
I'd note that Bill Kristol wrote an internal memorandum for the Republican party essentially saying that passing health care under Clinton would mean the end of the Republican party. The memorandum is here
"The President's health care proposal is the most important domestic political event of his presidency. Its defeat is the most important immediate goal of the Republican party. It will revive the reputation of the party that spends and regulates, the Democrats, as the generous protector of middle-class interests. And it will at the same time strike a punishing blow against Republican claims to defend the middle class by restraining government.
So it was shitty that Obama undercut Clinton, but Republican opposition was pretty much a constant, so one could argue that it wasn't a policy choice, it was what Obama had to do to undercut Republican opposition. This isn't to give Obama a pass, it is just to acknowledge that these policy arguments were not playing out on a blank slate.
IIRC correctly, Obama made an attack point of HRC's insurance 'mandate', during the primaries. Then, when he actually came to try to pass the ACA, the wonks explained to him that it was necessary, so he adopted it after all. I was a supporter of Obama, but I was deeply unimpressed.
In the end, the Rs torpedoed the 'mandate' as part of their performance theatre of opposing ACA while not being willing to take the electoral consequences of abolishing it. But they protected the insurance companies with restrictive enrolment periods instead, which turns out to be an inferior but workable solution.
(I think it wise to review how things have worked out after the row has died down. One might sometimes learn something.)
Ha, I've only just parsed PB's last comment properly (I think) to see that he is throwing shade at Obama for torpedoing HRC's mandatory health care proposal in the cause of realpolitik. Now, I was a supporter of HRC, and (obviously) of that proposal, but on the other hand the US electorate wasn't (for various infinite mirror variations of reasons), and Obama managed to pass at least a watered down version of the ACA. So, incremental progress as a result of realpolitik, or a failure? Very hard to say in my opinion.
I think it must be a weird time to be Ezra Klein (or similar). His gig is basically to have insightful things to say about where we're at, politically. And I'm not sure anyone can really make sense of it all.
We're dealing with a very strange group of political actors at the moment, people driven by weird and somewhat opaque personal agendas. Or maybe not opaque as much as inexplicable.
They really are a crew of weirdos. I guess that may sound kind of judge-y, but it would take a much better mind than mine to make sense of it all.
Better days, y'all. They will come. We're mostly olds here, so maybe not before we peg out, but they will come. In the meantime, hold fast to what is worthwhile.
LJ thank you for keeping things going here. I haven't been posting all that much but I appreciate the work you do to keep something on the front page every day.
Thank you!
And many many thanks as well to Michael and Janie and anyone else who made the transition happen.
I have at very best a journeyman's experience with MySql but it was all a few years ago at this point, and when I retired I made a commitment to myself to only get myself engaged with living things. Or at least analog things. I'm sorry I haven't been of greater help in keeping the lights on.
I will promise to deliver non-concise rants when stuff just gets too maddening. Or even when not.
And it's been a minute but it would be great to see old pals like Eric and Slarti jump in now and then. Although I think Slarti may be even deeper down the living thing / analog well than I am, at least in his free time.
But I ain't gonna speak for either of those guys, other than to say it would be great to hear from them here.
Re. the Blitzer scenario: I've just remember Obama's attacks on Hillary Clinton over her well-thought-out position on mandatory healthcare insurance. That's the sort of realpolitik Klein approves of.
If you do think strictly voluntary healthcare insurance is a good idea, which of course I don't, then you have to make healthcare meaningfully worse for anyone uninsured who could afford to be insured, otherwise why would anyone go to the expense. So chapeau to Blitzer's audience for intellectual consistency, if not for compassion.
Firstly, the essay GftNC linked above is really and expresses pretty much my view on the matter:
What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed
For those who felt denigrated by his rhetoric, the bipartisan tributes to him as a champion of free speech augured something dangerous: the mainstreaming of formerly extremist views.
Secondly, I have started working at a school recently and I wonder more and more what this mainstreaming of extremism will do to our kids one day - to those who will be victims, to those who will just live in a world with different values than previously accepted and to those who will be perpetrators. This reactionary hate speech Kirk peddled is just diametrically opposed to any humanism and basic decency. Basically we spend half the day in one form or another telling kids to show respect and empathy for others and maybe some manners. And then these crazy people come along telling everyone the opposite is true:
You can tell the pupil sitting next to you she's stupid because she's black and her mother only got that job because she's black. You can crash the LGBT meeting and tell them they are disgusting child molesters. You can tell the Jewish boy that he's part of a vast conspiracy to rule the world and subdue the white race. You can tell the girls they are inferior, cannot get an abortion under ny cricumstances and have to submit to their husbands. You can tell the boy from Sudan, Ukraine, Mexico or wherever that he and his family are disgusting parasites feeding on the body of white America.
And then Klein tells us that we should somehow get onboard with all this because the Overton window has shifted and we have to embrace some weird version of doublethink. Let's just ditch all the values people have thought about and fought for hundreds of years and move to the ever rightward drifting "center". I rather think it's time for a "have you no decency" moment (though that was actually staged ... but pretty well).
/rant
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Where are the 5 words?”
I propose the Dynamit Nobel Piece Prize consisting of a gilded bottle of nitroglycerine and a bundle of dynamite sticks ornated with Swarovski crystals in a carrying bag woven from gun cotton with a printed inscription in garish lettering about "booming again with bursting energy". [Of course it will not actually contain chemical explosives]
On “Citizenship”
That's a pretty evergreen topic for me, and there's a lot to discuss on that. Is it going to be a crash, or a controlled belly landing? Opinions differ.
I'll put together a post of youtube links for people to watch today or tomorrow.
On “Where are the 5 words?”
Pro Bono: the war between Armenia and Cambodia was a particular worry. And that was before he told hundreds of generals today that their troops would soon be carrying out an "internal war" in Chicago, San Francisco, LA (and I think also NYC), using those cities as "training grounds". How can the Nobel Peace Prize be far off?
On “Citizenship”
Japan is headed for a population crash. Without immigration, maybe AI and robots can make up some of the difference. In any case, there will be a rough patch while the numbers of the old and young rebalance and the population shrinks over time.
Many countries are headed in the same direction, faster or slower, sooner or later.
On “Ad futurum”
cleek, you are as much of a mensch as ever!
On “Where are the 5 words?”
– announced on social media that he’s sending troops into Portland, Oregon, which he described as “war-ravaged”. The city itself, which filmed reports show as boringly peaceful, doesn’t want them.
Boringly peaceful by day, while Antifa and other activists are home sleeping off the night before.
On “Ad futurum”
On a more serious note, I know some WP, but mostly things related to attaching odd bits of PHP to the standard hooks in various ways. For pulling stuff out of the database -- eg, some subset of comments -- I only know things that have PHP shorthand calls, not SQL. I know about get_comments(), but nothing about the underlying database calls.
I'm a long-timer Perl programmer, so I just think of PHP as Perl with a lot of the useful stuff stripped out.
"
I wrote something in FORTRAN about 38 years ago. Is that good?
Seriously, though, thank you for your efforts, lj.
"
i have WP programming experience, and MySQL.
i can't promise i have enough of either to be of use. but if you think you might need me, give a shout.
"
Are there any folks with WordPress experience, or some knowledge of mySQL?
Grok volunteers... :)
Other LLMs might be helpful too.
MySQL Assistance: Queries, Design, Optimization
"
I'm 25+ years out-of-date and out of practice with SQL, and am more of a danger than a help at this point.
"
...or some knowledge of mySQL?
Throughout my tech career, I always said that I was glad there were people who seemed to be interested in database design, because it meant I didn't have to worry about it.
"
I'm happy to tinker, and I would like it to be usable. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to make it more smartphone friendly and wondering how many posts should be on the front page. After things settle down with classes, I should have time to try some more things.
On “Ezra Coates DESTROYS Ta-Nehisi Klein!!!”
I'd note that Bill Kristol wrote an internal memorandum for the Republican party essentially saying that passing health care under Clinton would mean the end of the Republican party. The memorandum is here
"The President's health care proposal is the most important domestic political event of his presidency. Its defeat is the most important immediate goal of the Republican party. It will revive the reputation of the party that spends and regulates, the Democrats, as the generous protector of middle-class interests. And it will at the same time strike a punishing blow against Republican claims to defend the middle class by restraining government.
So it was shitty that Obama undercut Clinton, but Republican opposition was pretty much a constant, so one could argue that it wasn't a policy choice, it was what Obama had to do to undercut Republican opposition. This isn't to give Obama a pass, it is just to acknowledge that these policy arguments were not playing out on a blank slate.
"
IIRC correctly, Obama made an attack point of HRC's insurance 'mandate', during the primaries. Then, when he actually came to try to pass the ACA, the wonks explained to him that it was necessary, so he adopted it after all. I was a supporter of Obama, but I was deeply unimpressed.
In the end, the Rs torpedoed the 'mandate' as part of their performance theatre of opposing ACA while not being willing to take the electoral consequences of abolishing it. But they protected the insurance companies with restrictive enrolment periods instead, which turns out to be an inferior but workable solution.
(I think it wise to review how things have worked out after the row has died down. One might sometimes learn something.)
On “Ad futurum”
What Tony P said, in both comments!
On “Ezra Coates DESTROYS Ta-Nehisi Klein!!!”
Ha, I've only just parsed PB's last comment properly (I think) to see that he is throwing shade at Obama for torpedoing HRC's mandatory health care proposal in the cause of realpolitik. Now, I was a supporter of HRC, and (obviously) of that proposal, but on the other hand the US electorate wasn't (for various infinite mirror variations of reasons), and Obama managed to pass at least a watered down version of the ACA. So, incremental progress as a result of realpolitik, or a failure? Very hard to say in my opinion.
On “Ad futurum”
lj,
My vote is: keep the current layout and save yourself some ... fun(?) And thanks again!
--TP
"
nooneithinkisinmytree,
It's great to see you again! I hope you're doing well despite the fact that most of what you warned us about for years has come to pass.
--TP
On “Ezra Coates DESTROYS Ta-Nehisi Klein!!!”
We can only hope the kids we've kicked off our lawns, when we weren't too busy yelling at clouds, will get things straightened out.
"
Apropos of nothing in particular:
I think it must be a weird time to be Ezra Klein (or similar). His gig is basically to have insightful things to say about where we're at, politically. And I'm not sure anyone can really make sense of it all.
We're dealing with a very strange group of political actors at the moment, people driven by weird and somewhat opaque personal agendas. Or maybe not opaque as much as inexplicable.
They really are a crew of weirdos. I guess that may sound kind of judge-y, but it would take a much better mind than mine to make sense of it all.
Better days, y'all. They will come. We're mostly olds here, so maybe not before we peg out, but they will come. In the meantime, hold fast to what is worthwhile.
On “Ad futurum”
LJ thank you for keeping things going here. I haven't been posting all that much but I appreciate the work you do to keep something on the front page every day.
Thank you!
And many many thanks as well to Michael and Janie and anyone else who made the transition happen.
I have at very best a journeyman's experience with MySql but it was all a few years ago at this point, and when I retired I made a commitment to myself to only get myself engaged with living things. Or at least analog things. I'm sorry I haven't been of greater help in keeping the lights on.
I will promise to deliver non-concise rants when stuff just gets too maddening. Or even when not.
And it's been a minute but it would be great to see old pals like Eric and Slarti jump in now and then. Although I think Slarti may be even deeper down the living thing / analog well than I am, at least in his free time.
But I ain't gonna speak for either of those guys, other than to say it would be great to hear from them here.
Also, too - hi!
"
hi
On “Ezra Coates DESTROYS Ta-Nehisi Klein!!!”
Re. the Blitzer scenario: I've just remember Obama's attacks on Hillary Clinton over her well-thought-out position on mandatory healthcare insurance. That's the sort of realpolitik Klein approves of.
If you do think strictly voluntary healthcare insurance is a good idea, which of course I don't, then you have to make healthcare meaningfully worse for anyone uninsured who could afford to be insured, otherwise why would anyone go to the expense. So chapeau to Blitzer's audience for intellectual consistency, if not for compassion.
"
Firstly, the essay GftNC linked above is really and expresses pretty much my view on the matter:
What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed
For those who felt denigrated by his rhetoric, the bipartisan tributes to him as a champion of free speech augured something dangerous: the mainstreaming of formerly extremist views.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/magazine/charlie-kirk-rhetoric.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.E_Qk.vE_VAYwg6Chi&smid=url-share
Secondly, I have started working at a school recently and I wonder more and more what this mainstreaming of extremism will do to our kids one day - to those who will be victims, to those who will just live in a world with different values than previously accepted and to those who will be perpetrators. This reactionary hate speech Kirk peddled is just diametrically opposed to any humanism and basic decency. Basically we spend half the day in one form or another telling kids to show respect and empathy for others and maybe some manners. And then these crazy people come along telling everyone the opposite is true:
You can tell the pupil sitting next to you she's stupid because she's black and her mother only got that job because she's black. You can crash the LGBT meeting and tell them they are disgusting child molesters. You can tell the Jewish boy that he's part of a vast conspiracy to rule the world and subdue the white race. You can tell the girls they are inferior, cannot get an abortion under ny cricumstances and have to submit to their husbands. You can tell the boy from Sudan, Ukraine, Mexico or wherever that he and his family are disgusting parasites feeding on the body of white America.
And then Klein tells us that we should somehow get onboard with all this because the Overton window has shifted and we have to embrace some weird version of doublethink. Let's just ditch all the values people have thought about and fought for hundreds of years and move to the ever rightward drifting "center". I rather think it's time for a "have you no decency" moment (though that was actually staged ... but pretty well).
/rant
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.