“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”Thomas Sowell. ?Anna Devís & Daniel Rueda pic.twitter.com/do0UwAY2s5 — Cecilia Qui (@CeciliaQui1) October 14, 2022 Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Chess Game of the Day: 10-Move Vienna Game
One of my online chess games. More like an 8-move Vienna Game, since Black’s 8th move leads to a forced mate in 2. Some annotations below . . . 4. …exd4? (4. …Bxd4 would prevent White’s next move.) 5. …Bd6?? (5. …d6) 7. Qg4 (7. Qxd4 is also good.) 7. …g6? (7. …Kf8 would be better for reasons that will soon become clear.) 8. …Ne7?? Read more →
Rachel Dolezal on OnlyFans
There’s nothing that Rachel Dolezal (who still self-identifies as black, btw) could post on OnlyFans that would induce me to pay money to see it, but if you disagree then it’s your lucky day, because her nude photos have been leaked on social media. The success of OnlyFans has always puzzled me given the quantity of free pornography (so I’ve heard) available online, and obviously even OnlyFans content can turn up for free. Read more →
Inflation Numbers and Unemployment Numbers
Latest inflation report came out today (BLS is the Bureau of Labor Statistics): Annual inflation via BLS just out: 42.9% airline fares33.1% utility gas30.5% eggs18.2% gasoline17.2% chicken15.7% coffee15.2% milk14.7% bread10.1% furniture9.2% vegetables8.2% all items8.2% fruit8.1% ham7.6% women apparel7.2% used cars6.7% rent3.7% men apparel — Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) October 13, 2022 Core inflation excludes energy and food, so we get to say that inflation is at 8.2%, which is still the highest in 40 years, but most of the items on that list are energy and food, and many are a lot higher than 8.2%, so the 8.2% number doesn’t do justice to the enormity of current inflation. Biden economic adviser Jared Bernstein said this: What the president said was that a recession is far from inevitable and I think what he was referring to there is the strength of our job market. Look, you just don’t have a recession when… Read more →
Molly Brodak
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Biden and Gas Prices
I’m seeing that the White House is now taking credit for declining gas prices: I remember the whole time that gas prices were going up to record levels, President Biden was referring to it as “the Putin price hike” or blaming it on COVID, however that was supposed to make sense, while his sycophants kept repeating that “presidents don’t control gas prices.” But he does want to take credit when prices go down. Unfortunately, his timing was a little off because gas prices are going up again. Prices where I live in California had come down to less than $5.50 a gallon but then shot up about a dollar seemingly overnight. This is what our prices look like today: I thought maybe World Was III had started when I wasn’t paying attention. Read more →
Woman’s Body Found in Santa Clarita Clothes Donation Box
Woman’s body found in Santa Clarita clothes donation box — msn.com Maybe she didn’t understand that you’re supposed to remove the clothes before putting them in the box. Actually, she was stuck in the donation slot so it seems more likely that she was there to collect (i.e., steal) the donations. Read more →
White Lives Matter?
New Kanye West tee: I like it. To me it makes more sense to say that either all lives matter or no lives matter. I wouldn’t break it down by group, but I still like it. Read more →
The Most Dangerous Movement in History!
Yes or no: is MAGA the most dangerous movement in modern American history? — Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) October 6, 2022 Yes! We must continue Biden’s historic progress on GDP, inflation, stock market, crime, border security, energy independence, foreign policy, supply chain, etc. etc. Read more →
Cancel Culture is the Stupidity of Our Generation
Well, you know, the human race has consistently behaved stupidly throughout history. Cancel culture is the stupidity of our generation. Time will pass, we will look back and it will happen to us as with the McCarthy era. We will be ashamed of it. And we’ll say to ourselves, “My God, did people really do that and accept it? That teachers be fired, university professors, that scientists be discredited, that actors be put on blacklists? People will take time to see it. Again, the example of McCarthyism serves, which was horrible in the US. Everyone was called a communist. “If you listened to folk music, communist.” It turned into something laughable. And then people started seeing it. There are already many people who see cancel culture for what it is: an embarrassment. — Woody Allen Read more →
Billy Eichner Laments
Billy Eichner Laments Box Office Flop of His LGBTQ Rom-Com — mediaite.com “Laments.” It’s lamentable that no one paid to see his gay rom-com. But really, who did anyone think was going to see it? Billy Eichner fans? Maybe I’m not up to speed on popular culture but I’ve never heard of Billy Eichner. Rom-com fans? I hate rom-coms, as does every adult male that I know. I don’t like movies about love. Why do people cry over love stories with a happy ending? Are they crying tears of joy? No . . . I think they’re crying because we’ve all lived long enough to know that there probably is no such thing as true love and if there is, we’re all going to get old and die without finding it. Still, women love rom-coms — why else would Sandra Bullock be famous? — and sometimes they can get a… Read more →
It’s Called Acting, My Dear Boy
Bros Actor Guy Branum Blasts The Whale and Brendan Fraser’s Casting — movieweb.com In which a couple of fat gay actors complain that Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming move The Whale casts Brendan Fraser, who is not gay or especially fat, as a 600-pound gay man. “Who knows more about being an obese queer man than an obese queer man?” asks Daniel Franzese, an obese queer man. This reminds me of a story (which admittedly Dustin Hoffman has said is not quite accurate) about Marathon Man, in which Hoffman starred with Laurence Olivier. Hoffman showed up one day having not slept the night before so he could shoot a scene in which his character had not slept the night before. Olivier thought it was absurd. “It’s called acting, my dear boy,” he said. Olivier in that movie played a cold-blooded Nazi killer, that is, a cold-blooded Nazi who killed people, not a… Read more →
What Kind of Dogs Were They?
The dogs were pit bulls. I haven't been so shocked since Claude Rains discovered gambling at Rick's Café. https://t.co/eBN7UuKLPy — Paul Epps (@paulepps) October 8, 2022 Read more →
A Total Lack of Humanity and Empathy
I’ve said this before, but progressives, who position themselves as paragons of tolerance and inclusion, are always the most hateful people I’ve ever met. pic.twitter.com/ddtcRzAC8R — Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) September 29, 2022 Read more →
USC Cardinal Divas
As a USC alum, I'm very proud of this. And there is no sane "backlash." Every time a black person does something, there's a "backlash," real or imagined. A couple of wingnuts on Twitter is not a "backlash." https://t.co/cbEJlRLQgj — Paul Epps (@paulepps) October 7, 2022 Read more →
How Hot is Hot?
Politics Obscures Our Common Humanity
If politics drives you to hate your neighbors and everyone who sees the world differently from you – instead of being angry with centers of power – then it’s playing a very distorted role in your life. . . . Politics matters. But, by design, it often obscures the common humanity that drives most of us. — Glenn Greenwald Read more →
Chess Game of the Day: Four Knights Game
One of my online chess games. Some annotations below . . . 4. Nd5 A Four Knights gambit that I like. 13. …Qd7 13. …c5 or 13. …d5 would be good here. 20. Qxb7 Looks even now. 21. …Rd5 White looks to be gaining some advantage. 33. …Kh6?? Black could put up more of a fight with 33. …Kh5. 35. …Qg5 There’s a forced mate from here but Black didn’t have any good moves left. Read more →
How is J.K. Rowling’s Transphobia Like Joseph Smith’s Golden Plates?
You have to read this! Hilarious. They cannot even tell you what J.K. said that was transphobic. BECAUSE SHE NEVER SAID ANYTHING TRANSPHOBIC YOU WINGNUTS!! https://t.co/vQJlTPKR19 — Buck Angel® Transsexual (@BuckAngel) September 29, 2022 Read more →
Verbal Blunder of the Week Competition
Competition was intense in the Verbal Blunder of the Week competition . . . First was the Joe Biden “I see dead people” gaffe: "Jackie are you here? Where's Jackie?" Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) died in a car accident in August pic.twitter.com/cHc3b7zPmE — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 28, 2022 KJP tried to explain that Biden was trying to locate the deceased congresswoman in the audience because she was “top of mind”: .@CeciliaVega: "What happened at the Hunger Event today? [Biden] appeared to look around…for…a member of Congress [Jackie Walorski] who passed away last month…What happened there?" KJP: He "was acknowledging her incredible work…She was on his mind…top of mind" pic.twitter.com/LhEECd4QBR — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 28, 2022 I suppose when I listen to Beatles music or to his own music, John Lennon is “top of mind” for me but I don’t look around the room trying to locate him. These… Read more →