Friday, September 30, 2022

Ilya Smirin: Chess commentator sacked for sexist comments during match - BBC News

All chess players - men and women - can become grandmasters, which is the highest title a chess player can attain, if they have a rating of 2,500 and above.* The very top female chess players have this title.

The woman grandmaster title is only for women and requires a lower rating of 2,300.

The commentators were discussing whether Zhu Jiner could become grandmaster, when Mr Smirin said: "She's a woman grandmaster or what?... Why she wants to be like men grandmaster in this case?"

Mr Smirin went on to appear to admit that he had privately said "chess is maybe not for women".

Fellow commentator Fiona Steil-Antoni said to him: "You're saying, you know, 'chess is maybe not for women'," and Mr Smirin replied: "I didn't say it openly... in private, private conversation."

And he also seemed to admit saying another female player - Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkin - had been "playing like a man".

"That's true," said Mr Smirin, when questioned about his apparent comments. "She played in Russia super final. Small minus she made, but it was very strong tournament. She also had like 2,600 plus rating."

Challenging him again, Ms Steil-Antoni asked: "What does that have to do with playing like a man, only men can play well?"

"No, no," Mr Smirin responded. "But she's playing in style, positional style... But OK, I'm always curious, why can women play among men but men cannot play with women in women tournaments? Interesting question."


* Reaching a rating of 2500 is not the only requirement for becoming a Grandmaster.

Chess is dominated by men, maybe because it is a highly competitive (and egotistical) game.  Men tend to prefer competition whereas women tend to prefer cooperation.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

New Rule: A Unified Theory of Wokeness | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)



I'm bothered when people distort history.  The film, "The Aeronauts" changes a historical person from male to female.

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Everything wrong with Woke Culture (and the impact on feminism)

The problem with Woke culture is its origins and agenda.  Forms of Marxism or Socialism, defined as the state controlling the means of production, have been such a disaster that people only will move in that direction if they think that the current system is somehow bad.  Therefore the far left, which has become more the mainstream left, tries to tell every interest group that they are victims of an oppressive system.   How they get away with this in a freedom-loving country like the United States is hard to understand, but it has become standard politics.  This appeared to start with the election of Barak Obama, who also liked to push this victim narrative.

When these ideas are applied to entertainment it feels like a lecture, but even worse it never allows Woke characters to grow, treating them as perfect to begin with, and their only growth is to overcome the inherent oppression in the system.  That sounds like Marxist propaganda.  There is no doubt an audience that likes this kind of story, but it tends to alienate everyone else, hence the expression, "Go Woke, go broke."  Despite the repeated massive failure of Woke entertainment, many in the entertainment industry keep pushing this agenda.

 Well-written characters experience some sort of growth, learning from their failures.  Although classical heroes were traditionally men, and for good reason, since men biologically and culturally were protectors and warriors, we also loved strong female heroes who were well written, such as Princess Leia, Sarah Connor, Laurie Strode, and Ellen Ripley.  The problem is that modern entertainment doesn't give us well-written characters but an agenda that is a skewed perspective on reality.



On Sun, Apr 11, 2021 at 12:04 AM John  wrote:

Friday, September 16, 2022

Don't Worry Darling

This trailer looks interesting. If it is good, I want to see this movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW9aRVXIwaY

I liked the director Olivia Wilde as an actress on the TV show "House."

According to Wilde, the sinister character Frank was inspired by psychologist and author Jordan Peterson who she described as a "pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community." Peterson rejected the characterization, calling it "the latest bit of propaganda disseminated by the woke, self-righteous bores and bullies who now dominate Hollywood."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Worry_Darling

I am highly annoyed at those who slander people they disagree with, often in the vilest way. What makes it worse is that their accusations have no connection to reality, but I don't think that bothers them. It seems like people let their feelings determine what is true.



https://www.newsweek.com/jordan-peterson-daughter-mikhaila-denies-king-incels-olivia-wilde-jab-1740596

Whenever you feel like giving up, just remember this!! - Jordan Peterson

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Although I agree, I think that some things get slightly exaggerated for political purposes.

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Victor Davis Hanson

Travel abroad and or talk to pro-American foreigners here, and you will be surprised at what they say. It is not boilerplate anti-Americanism of the usual cheap Euro style. And their keen criticism is not just that we are $30 trillion in debt, dependent on China, with a corrupt elite, or have gone insane inventing the most lurid crimes to put away the supposedly predetermined guilty Donald Trump.

Instead, they express disbelief, worry, lamentation even, that the one solid referent in the world has gone, well, completely rabid. They are terrified after the Afghanistan debacle that their old ally or new homeland, the once constant America, is delirious, incompetent, and self-loathing, and now there is no plausible alternative to the old American deterrence. 

So, they wonder who will resist China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea—and are silently petrified to go it alone without the United States.

They seem staggered by the very ideas that now emanate from the United States: that nonexistent borders are desirable; that once rarified institutions like the FBI or CIA now function like the Stasi of old; that the very idea of meritocracy is considered racist; that one incorrect word can destroy a life-long career; that there are three or more sexes, not two; that biological men with male genitalia and physiology can compete, and destroy decades of advances, in women's sports; that race is the sole mode of self-identification; and that half of America dislikes American customs, history—and the other 50 percent of the population—as much as do its enemies.

Onlookers no longer see American universities as free-wheeling bastions of unfettered research and expression. Rather they watch dreary (and sometimes scary) places where conformity to the old Soviet-style is enforced—or else. 

Much more to read...

America Delira › American Greatness (amgreatness.com)

The Spoiled Affluent

But how did these pathologies take root in America so easily? 

It was not because of endemic poverty and the 14-hour drudgery of hard work to live one more day on a farm. But just the opposite. 

An affluent, bored, and leisured society had long decided that poverty was not an absolute but relative—to be gauged not by mass access to air conditioning, plentiful food, a car, and electronic entertainment—but to the degree all of that was not divided up proportionally. And thus, someone or something must be found culpable for the asymmetry in satisfying the appetites. Presto! Government, the media, the university, and the popular culture went after the culprits.

We went mad then because we easily could. And we could not because we were poor and oppressed, but because we were rich and bored.

What will end wokeness? The reversal of the leisure and affluence that were the bounties of 233 years of what birthed it—free-market capitalism, constitutional government, meritocracy, human rights, tolerance, and free expression. 

We are already destroying meritocracy. We are reverting to tribal racial branding. We are strangling energy and food production because of green superstition.

We are unleashing the criminal upon the weak and innocent.

Destroy the bounty that produced and empowered the woke decadence, and we won't have anything—the woke included. Wokeism is, for now, an affordable irrelevancy that rests on the wealth and lessons produced by those long dead and now much rebuked. But it won't remain affordable.

Instead, we will learn what woke itself produces—barbarism, chaos, poverty, and civilization in reverse. 

That is precisely what we are now witnessing on a Saturday night in Chicago, a day on the southern border, a sidewalk of urine and feces in Los Angeles, with strapping athletes in the pool with male genitalia breaking women's swim records, parking your unlocked car in San Francisco, a trip to the gas pump, blackouts and brownouts in California, jogging in Memphis—all with a dash of monkeypox, FBI hooliganism, and Twitter lynching


Sunday, September 11, 2022

The Old World Order Is About To Collapse - Peter Zeihan | Modern Wisdom Podcast 514

I find this Peter Zeihan hyperbolic.  One way to get attention is to say the world is going to end.


He is predicting the collapse of globalization.  No way this can happen.  Maybe if current trends continue then his doomsday scenario would play out, but humans are very adaptable.  If nations need world trade then they will find a way to keep it going.  The incentives are too strong.

World War could disrupt everything, but what incentive is there for a World War?

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Re: Ukraine makes progress

Although I sympathize with the plight of Ukraine, I never thought that this is a war that they can win.  I assumed that it all would be over in a couple of months.

We are depleting our national treasure over a war that is little in our national interest.  

It is like the Domino Theory all over again.  I remember in the 1960s when the politicians were talking about the Domino Theory.


On Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 10:50 AM Larry wrote:


Friday, September 9, 2022

Jordan Peterson Comments on the Queen's Passing

"We stumbled plenty but we still walked uphill. And you in your country can say that more than most."

Thursday, September 8, 2022

The Man Who Saved 200,000,000 Lives

Speech


Biden's speech got me thinking about the kind of speech that I would want a President to make...

"A nation is a collection of individuals and is only as strong as the people within it.  People of good moral character make a moral nation, but corrupt nations corrode from within.  As Abraham Lincoln once said, if our country is ever destroyed, it will not be from an enemy in a faraway land, but it will be our own doing.

Who determines the fate of a nation?  You do.  The actions and choices you make can affect dozens or even hundreds of people, and also influence the choices that others make.  Acts of kindness can lead to more acts of kindness, but the same thing can be said about violence, crime, and hate.  Whatever you do, don't let hate win.

If you are a father, mother, student, teacher, doctor, nurse, firefighter, policeman, laborer, or the leader of a great nation, you have a job to do.  Do it well. Do it with honesty, integrity, and compassion.  Be the person that you should be.  Let your actions uplift the nation and not tear it down.

This is a call to action.  We are frequently at crossroads that could lead to our eventual destruction, but if enough of us make the right choices and pass those values to the generations to come then this wonderful freedom-loving nation will persevere forever."


--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

China's Foreign Debt Crisis, Why Belt & Road Initiative is failing? Financial Crisis is Here

Bank of America Launching Community Affordable Loan Solution

While the goal of the program is to bring Black and Hispanic borrowers closer to homeownership, people of all races can qualify for the Community Affordable Loan Solution.

Eligibility will be based on income and the location of the property. It will also use credit guidelines based on factors such as timely rent, utility bill, phone and auto insurance payments to determine creditworthiness, though, there is no minimum credit score requirement.

From the Nextdoor app

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Memphis TN

My brief stays in both Memphis, Tennessee, and Oakland, CA were essentially the same.  The people at the hotel desk told me to not walk to my car unless I was being escorted.  My cab driver in Memphis told me that the city was the murder capital of the United States, surpassing Washington D.C.  He said that he was trying to save up enough money to go somewhere else.

This is why I like small cities.

How Many Fossils to Go an Inch? (ft. Robert Krulwich)

How to lose all your friends in life