The response to this can be broadly broken into three classes, all of which lead to greater or lesser amounts of despair:But you see, there is one answer to the fine tuning problem which does not lead to despair: this universe was created by God, and He created it this way specifically so He could create sentient beings with free will.
The "it's all just random" class: There are so many universes that all possible combinations of fundamental constant values are represented somewhere. We live in this one because it is one in which we could exist. Since these other universes are (most likely) unobservable, proving this conjecture is probably an exercise in futility.
The "I give up" class: There is no deeper theory and we simply ended up like this for no reason that we can discern.
The "keep digging" class: There is a deeper theory that naturally produces a set of unique fundamental constants of the value we observe now.
You cannot make an equation account for God, and of course the universe appears to have "just happened" to one extent or another. (You can hearken all the way back to Fungus bloviation #5 for why that is.) But the fact of the matter is, there is a limit to what science can do and they will probably never find an answer to this question that satisfies them.
One of the things that I liked best about the movie Creator was Harry Wolper's philosophy, and he had this lovely line, paraphrased a bit: "One day you'll be peering through your microscope and come eye-to-eye with God--and the one who blinks first loses his testicles!" Wolper's character--at least as the movie presented him (haven't read the book; perhaps I should)--understood that there was a limit to what science could know, even as he worked tirelessly to push against that limit. And not only because his life was dedicated to science, but because he wanted to clone his wife, who died in childbirth decades earlier. The story is named "Creator" because Wolper himself is trying to become one--only he finally comes to accept his place in the universe, and to understand that those limits exist for a reason.
* * *
Florida is locked down because of three counties thereof. That's insane. There's no justifying that, except to a Democrat.
* * *
Go down to "The Atlantic can die in a fire news".
If Democrats are too successful at their cooperation with Trump--if they successfully help the administration avert the worst economic consequences of the virus--they potentially throw Trump an electoral lifeline.And so what the Atlantic is saying is that the Democrats should try to make this (manufactured!) crisis as bad as possible--and to hell with all the little people who get hurt!--in order to keep Trump from winning the election in November.
"Who gives a shit about all those people out there who are furloughed and struggling and losing their jobs and businesses? They're all useless little proles, anyway. What's important is that the Democrats win the election in November!"
I don't know--does the media think we're that abysmally stupid that we can't figure out the natural consequences of action? Because if there's anyone who doesn't understand one of the most basic laws of nature--action, reaction--it seems to be the elites.
The elite arrogate to themselves an intelligence they don't really have, and think everyone else is less intelligent than they. "I went to Harvard. Where did you go to school? I'm rich and and popular and well-dressed and I'm a member of the cognoscenti. You fix computers for a living and live in the suburbs. Obviously I'm smarter than you are."
...so Atlantic sees nothing wrong with saying what they said, there, even though the rest of us read that and conclude that Democrats want us to suffer as much as possible, solely because if we don't, we might vote for Trump this autumn.
Of course, I've already come to a very late understanding of the evil that's entrenched in the Democrat party leadership--entirely due to how they've acted in this crisis--so this Atlantic article isn't going to change my mind...but how many people out there will read that and realize, "Wait, I thought they were on my side, so why...?"
And then the media wonder why people no longer listen to them.
* * *
Related:
Atlantic loves them some communism, because of course they do. The communist party's approach to free speech is simply not to have any, but of course the Atlantic thinks that under communist rule they--as part of the elite--will never have their speech trod upon.
Until the first time--the very first time--the Party comes to their editor and says, "That piece you want to print? You're not printing it," they will blithely and blindly toddle along, thinking this time is different because the RIGHT people are doing it!, not realizing that when it comes to communism there are no right people. In fact it may take more than that, because the true believers never realize what they've done until they're standing in front of a firing squad, wondering why on Earth Comrade Dear Leader hasn't responded to their pleas? "If Comrade Dear Leader knew about this, he'd stop it!" Only problem is, Comrade Dear Leader himself signed your order of execution. Because of that little quip you printed about the uneven hem on one of his pants legs.
Such a small thing you said: "Surely, Comrade Dear Leader deserves better tailoring than this!" Was what you said, but I can count three anti-revolutionary sentiments in that sentence, and I'm not even a communist. (For the record: the implication that anyone is better than anyone else in our glorious egalitarian system; the implication that communism ever produces defective merchandise; and the implication that Dear Leader's appearance was anything other than glorious.) (YES I know two of those contradict each other. IT'S FUCKING COMMUNISM. What do you expect? They're hypocrites eighty times before breakfast.)
And so, If we we kill all the lawyers, we should start by killing the law professors. And not to put too fine a point on that, but the very very first step should be Harvard Law School.
Law professors arguing against the First Amendment on the greatest library of information the human species has ever created is obscene.Because of the "Long march through the institutions" most of the college faculty in the United States is marxist. So of course they look at China with proud admiration and envy.
It is incredible that American lawyers and law school professors would ever defend turning our internet into China’s internet, but this is where we are when it comes to liberty in the United States in 2020. Especially how the model that they want to impose here is responsible for so much death and destruction over there.
Either they're stupid, or evil. Or maybe both.
* * *
Blue states made a hash out of their response to this thing and one of the things they did most wrong was to encourage people to get out and mingle SOLELY BECAUSE PRESIDENT TRUMP HAD SAID OTHERWISE.
Throughout this entire debacle, the Democrat party has been so obsessed with making Trump look bad that they've stood against every common-sense disease control measure he's taken. When he barred travel to and from China, they wanted to pass a law limiting his ability to do that. When he suggested social distancing, they told people to go on and keep doing what they do. When he suggested that hydrochloroquine had seen some utility as a countermeasure, they tried to ban its use.
...and every measure he has taken--every last measure--has seen them turn around and endorse and support wholeheartedly after it turned out to be the right thing to do.
Because the Democrat party is evil and wants Americans to suffer so they won't vote for Trump.
* * *
I am not an extraordinary person.
It used to bother me a bit, when I'd have this or that opinion, and learn that there were a hell of a lot of people who thought that way. Doesn't matter what it is. I'd think, "Hey, I like this," and then be dismayed to learn that a hell of a lot of people liked it. It was a little disconcerting for someone who styled himself an iconoclast.
But then I realized the utility of that. Because I fit rather neatly into a mainstream segment like that, it's useful for me to use it as a gauge--always with the caveat that there's no such thing as "100% average" and this gauge could fail at any time.
Throughout Trump's presidency I have been pleased to notice, however, that it's worked pretty well. When Trump did something that I admired, it turned out that a hell of a lot of other people thought the same way. Things that raised him in my estimation seem to raise him in others'.
Which is why this comes as no surprise to me. I'm sick and tired of the lockdowns--having been supportive or at least neutral about them until now--because we now know that they don't help and they're just making things worse for everyone. It's time to end them, not extend them.
The protests are happening now because we can tell the difference between healthy caution and Democrat scheming.
* * *
Speaking of which, they are doing their damnedest to downplay the very real and credible accusation of sexual assault against Joe Biden. Of course the media's take is, "Republicans pounce!" making the GOP reaction the story, rather than this credible allegation of sexual assault against the presumptive Democrat nominee.
It's not about Biden assaulting a woman, and it's not about multiple corroborating witnesses, and it's not about CNN memory-holing the ep of "Larry King Live" from their web site that contained a corroboration of the story, no--the real story here is Republican reaction.
The hypocrisy is not news. Of course in Kavanaugh's supreme court nomination case it was vital that we postpose the confirmation hearing and investigate fully the made-up horseshit. But when we have a Democrat who did something wrong, and especially because there's a bunch of corroborating evidence, the media is pretending really hard that the story lies elsewhere.
Mustn't derail the Democrat. Ever.
* * *
The Biden campaign, at this point, is tantamount to elder abuse. Biden is clearly not firing on all cylinders any longer, and the desperate plea he made at one campaign stop ("Help me! I don't want to do this any more!") seems more real than anything else he's said in the last three months, even though the Democrat-media complex laughed it off as a joke and then memory-holed it with all expediency.
I don't expect him to be running for President. I still think the most likely scenario is that sometime after the convention, something will happen that forces Biden out--and then they front "his" choice for VP.
VP is usually announced shortly before the convention takes place. That gives them time to decide who to pick for the job, and who they pick depends on how their campaign to use COVID-19 to ruin the country works out. If they get their way, it'll be someone who they want to be President. If they don't, it'll be a disposable candidate, a Walter Mondale or a Bob Dole-type, affable and life-long party man who doesn't mind being the head of a losing campaign in order to go into retirement in style.
But if they think they can win in November--then it'll be Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren or someone of their ilk, someone who is safely under control and who will do what they're told. It will not be Bernie Sanders; forget that, because Sanders isn't even registered as a Democrat. (He ran for the nomination as one, but he's actually Independent.) And Sanders as President is what the Democrats did all this to avoid, anyway; it's why they pushed Biden into the job.
So: Biden announces his running mate, we have the convention, and then? Something happens. Exact timing will be down to when it's the most advantageous to the Democrats. Biden gets sick and withdraws. Biden has an unlikely accident ("He slipped and fell and hit his head on the bedpost nine times!") and is dead or in a coma and out of the running. He gets assassinated--that's a two-fer, because it also lets the Democrats amp up their calls for gun control. He starts blabbering nonsese and makes a big fool out of himself again, but this time, suddenly, the media is "concerned" about the gaffe and what it says about his mental status, and in a moment of clarity Biden says, "I have dementia, so elect my running mate," and retires.
...and I don't see it working. Not on any level. If Biden doesn't stand for election--if there is any question whatsoever about the legitimacy of what happens to him--then the people who voted for his nomination will stay home and not vote. That is disaster for Democrats.
* * *
You see, this kind of thing is why I have no sympathy for Disney corporation during its times of trouble. I'm reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where the makers of "Itchy and Scratchy" are trying to find their way out of ratings doldrums and they get some kids in a focus group. The producer says enthusiastically, "You've saved 'Itchy and Scratchy'!" And the lawyer immediately holds up a document and says, "Please sign this affidavit stating you did not save 'Itchy and Scratchy'."
It's almost enough to make me start spelling their name "Di$ney" again.
* * *
I was pretty sure I watched all the David Tennant eps of Doctor Who so why don't I remember that one?
Oh well.
* * *
The weather is glorious today. I have a day off, selected in advance and "paid for" with a floating holiday; good timing!
...gonna go cut the east 40, which I didn't do the last time I cut the grass, because it didn't need it then. Sure does now!
