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Five Fast Thoughts Under the Fedora: A Good Start, A Calendar oddity, A Bit of Luck for Next Season, Celtics Still Proving me Wrong, DeSantis goes there.

Posted: November 19, 2023 by datechguy in under the fedora
Tags: , , , , ,

The first of the three David Tennant Doctor Who specials meant to try to get the views they chased away to tune back in prepare for the 60th anniversary of the show is due out this week but for the Red Nose day children in need business in England there was a short special that came out yesterday:

It was not only hilarious but had several little things for the folks who have been gone:

  • Julean Blech as Davros who played him in opposite both Tennant and Capaldi
  • Reference to the Mark Three travel machine, vs Mark 4 in the premiere Davros episode
  • Reference to Genesis of the Daleks
  • The joke about messing up the Canon (in reference to the actions of Chibnall)

It’s a promising start.

Thanksgiving comes very early this year meaning that Advent, the beginning of the church year will not be starting the Saturday after thanksgiving as usual, but the week afterwards. So technically we have a full week between Thanksgiving and the start of the shortened Christmas season but the start of the shopping season still begins on the 24th.

The media and the admin keeps insisting that the economy is doing fine. The events of the next two to six weeks will tell us if they are right or if they are full of it.

In my tabletop baseball league my team which has been overachieving has dropped out of 1st but is still solidly in the playoffs. But no matter how it ends I’m looking good for next year.

Both unanimous winners of the MVP Ohtani in the AL and Acuna Jr. in the NL are currently on my roster so no matter what happens the rest of this year, It going to look pretty good for me next year.

But I think Ohtani would look much better in a Redsox Uniform next year. It would be the best marketing move to bring the Redsox fans back to the stands.

Will they have the balls to do it?

The Celtics with Porzingis and Jrue Holiday have gotten off to an incredible start and it has become apparent that Holiday has more than adequately replaced Marcus Smart both in terms of defense and in terms of intentional fortitude.

At least one writer has suggested that Philadelphia go after Smart to shore up their defense as they chase Boston, but no matter what the situation there is no question that I was completely wrong in terms of the effect of this trade.

The Celtics and the Bruins both with incredible starts are making a serious move to win over the Boston/New England fans who are walking away from the Pats. If they can follow through they might just do so.

Both the media and the Trump campaign have gone all in on the idea that Ron DeSantis is finished both to serve their own purposes as both fear him but despite this DeSantis continues to pull in money and continues to make the fight.

Yesterday he made the case for him over Trump noting some basic facts that people ignore

“As a lame duck with poor personnel, and the distractions, it’s going to be hard for him to get this done,” DeSantis said. “My candidacy is lower risk, because we’ll run Biden ragged around this country, but high reward because you get a two-term conservative president who’s going to stand for your values and deliver for you for eight full years.”

And on CBS he played the age card rather effectively:

Trump is still my 2nd choice and if he’s at the top of the GOP ticket next November he’s have my vote no prob but anyone who is discounting DeSantis is deluding themselves

Update: Here is one more

The Seven Faces You will Encounter in Debate, online and off and how to deal with them.

Posted: November 18, 2023 by datechguy in oddities

It’s my experience over a long life that you will find seven different types of people when you debate a subject of some importance that you have a strong opinion on. Here are my suggestions on how to deal with such people:

  1. The ignorant

One must remember when dealing with the ignorant that ignorance about a subject is not the same as stupidity. In fact it worth remembering that just about everybody is ignorant about more things then they are knowledgeable or even informed about.

The way to deal with ignorance is to provide information. How they react to that attempt will give a clue if you’re dealing with the willfully ignorant (who want to avoid a moral or difficult subject to avoid having to make a choice) or the uninformed. One must remember that being informed doesn’t automatically mean they will come to your point of view

  1. The stupid

There are some people who are simply not able to grasp certain things. When dealing with the stupid no amount of information or argument will have an effect so unless you wish to provide evidence on an argument within a social media timeline one is better off not wasting the short valuable time you have on earth getting worked up over an argument with them.

  1. The indifferent

There are people who simply don’t care about the things you do. Maybe their priorities are different than yours, maybe they have personal issue that override anything you might care about or maybe they just want to be left alone.

In this case one should remember that freedom of speech also means the freedom to not listen to your speech. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, if people don’t want to listen to you respect that choice. If the issue is their own imminent life & death (and I mean life or death NOW not in a month or a year or 30 years) you might press a little harder but odds are that won’t be the case online so if people want their space give them the freedom to have it.

  1. The different perspective

These tend to be the most interesting while at the same time being the most frustrating people to deal with in a debate. They are people who will look at the same facts as you and come to a completely different conclusion from them. Except in the case of mathematics one must remember that this is totally legitimate. Perhaps they have more or different information than you. Perhaps they have a different background or family history or give more weight to one part of the fact trail than another. Or perhaps they just look at things differently because by definition they are different than you as everyone else in the whole world is.

These are the people that I find most enjoyable to deal with because you can learn from their perspective and they keep you honest because as I like to say, if your argument is worth anything it should be able to stand up to critique. I find these folks are rare and while fun online are even more fun in person over a good lunch.

Stockpile such people as they are a great treasure.

  1. The mercenary

These are the anthesis of those who I just mentioned. They tend to have an agenda that is usually paid, in fact said agenda might be their primary source of income. No amount of information or argument makes a difference here and the best move is to simply disengage.

Occasionally if it’s an issue of sufficient importance you might take the trouble to expose the financial motive if possible but be wary as you don’t know if this is the only way this person feed their family and who are you to take the food out of the plate of this person’s kids?

Oh, one more thing about a mercenary. Depending on the issues you might find one who is on your side. That doesn’t make them any less of a mercenary so be wary in terms of trust because by definition they are only a higher paycheck away from betraying you.

  1. The Fanatic

The fanatic carries a religious or religious like belief in what their worldview. Usually based in Marxism or some kind of sexual or gender ideology or occasionally in actual religion. No amount of facts is likely to change them and you will beat your head against the wall doing so.

Furthermore such people are the most dangerous, particularly online as they are the type who will give you actual bodily harm in the service of said fanaticism and belief it as righteous. Beware of them and when possible disengage and block them.

But do pray for them, because there is one irony about them. If they are in such a bubble and manage to escape it by either the pressure of reality or the grace of God they often become the bravest warriors to stand with in a time of danger.

  1. The Malicious, dishonest and/or dishonorable

There are some folks who are just evil. Who life for the sake of lying, who hate for the sake of hating or take joy in the discomfort of others. Such people just want to wind you up for their own amusement.

Avoid them like they were the plague because they are.

One quick closing thought, remember that you do not always know who online is real and who is not. Act accordingly.

First Amendment 101 in North Andover

Posted: November 17, 2023 by datechguy in opinion/news, internet/free speech
Tags: , , , , ,

Apparently there was a big fuss about North Andover flying the Palestinian Flag.

When I first heard about it my first thought was “oh brother here is the woke Democrat left in action.”

Then I actually read the story and it changed the picture for me.

Apparently the town (like Fitchburg) allows various flags to be flown if petitioned to do so. Earlier this month the flag of Israel was flown.

A group of Palestinian supporters petitioned to have their flag flown under the same rules. There was a rather contentions meeting over it and a lot of people were angry but in the end the request was lawful and the flag is flying now.

As a very public supporter of Israel actions in Gaza to destroy Hamas let’s cut to the chase.

This was not only the right decision but the smart decision.

It was the right decision because:

  • 1st Amendment rights are supposed to be allowed equally without playing favorites
  • the proper answer to speech someone opposes is more speech
  • the proper procedures and rules were followed
  • It is right because one should always support lawful methods of public expression
  • It is right because it supports the rule of law applied equally
  • The flag in question was not one of a recognized terrorist group.
  • It’s an important lesson in citizenship and civics, particularly for the young and new arrivals
  • It is just

And it is smart because

  • You should always support peaceful forms of expression of ideas
  • You can’t demand enforcement of laws against violent expression when you don’t apply them for peaceful one
  • People who are able to vent peacefully are less likely to cross a line later
  • You can’t expect people to respect your rights if you don’t respect theirs
  • If you don’t defend those rights when in power you won’t have them when you’re not
  • if you’re opinion is worth anything it should be able to stand up to the other guys opinion being expressed
  • the right thing is always the smart thing

I can certainly understand why some would object, frankly my own 1st instinct was against it but either you’re for the rule of law or you are not and this is lawful application of the 1st Amendment.

Now if the city wants to change their rules on flags (consistent with our constitution of course) that’s up to them but the law need to be respected and enforced and the rights of citizens under that law MUST be respected.

Otherwise what’s the point of being American?

Update: A lot of people who generally agree with me disagree on this one but let me make one important point:

The Biden admin and the FBI not withstanding there actually isn’t a “I think those guys are a******s” exception to either the 1st amendment or the principle of equal application of the law.

Three interesting Hospital Videos from the Israel Hamas War

Posted: November 16, 2023 by datechguy in Israel, Israel vs Hamas
Tags:

I want to hit you with a pair of videos that I think speaks volumes.

You have seen Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus on networks around the world giving update on Gaza and challenging the Hamas narrative of the MSM everywhere. Today he was in Gaza going through a hospital in a single shot without cuts here:

The combined with the video from CNN the day before really makes the point about hospitals that israel has been making for a long time.

Having CNN seeing the stuff really make it hard for them to push the narrative that’s why this video is so big:

Both of these are big and make the point but there is one video that wasn’t produced by either the MSM or Israel that I think is the most significant:

Now take a good luck at the video of the panic and note the oddity. Which I think of panic in a hospital, expect to see doctors, and patients, and sick people and families running around but that’s not what we see, instead we see a bunch of apparently healthy looking military age men scared to death that Israel is about to attack.

Of the three videos, this of is, in my opinion the most telling of all. It shows who is actually getting the fuel and the supplies and it shows who the international community is actually in such a hurry to protect.

Of course our friends in Hamas might think the other two are more important as they signify what is in store for those hiding in other hospitals further south.

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