The Usual

Spent the morning troubleshooting a “network issue” that of course was not. It was a problem with some dev’s code. Surprise!

I would give it up but my job is not actually all that hard and I’m stackin’ cash like Al Capone. But looking for problems you know are not there does not spark joy.

Span

Both Cailee Spaeny and Kirsten Dunst were very good in Civil War, but the movie itself was meh. It didn’t know what it wanted to say or to be; it committed to nothing. There is a lot of noise and Sturm und Drang but it just has no thesis. At the same time, it’s not observant nor perspicacious enough to be a slice of life (or of death) film, either.

It just was not a good film despite the combat portions being pretty well-done. I wish it had been attempting to say something, anything, to have some history or future or meaning. Not every movie needs that, of course. But this one did.

Not recommended, unless you’re a particular fan of Cailee or Kirsten or both.

In a first, Phoenix hits 100 straight days of 100-degree heat.

People who believe they are physically attractive also believe they are important.

University College London: Serotonin Has Little or Nothing to Do with Depression.

How do you deal with real, actual Nazis? M242 Bushmaster.

Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About the Most Extreme Black Holes.

How national security has transformed economic policy.

Goldman Sachs predicts stronger GDP and job growth if Democrats sweep White House and Congress. Agreed.

How Immigration Remade the U.S. Labor Force.

Men envy women for their physical attractiveness and their power of seduction. Indeed.

Canada Orders Federal Workers Back To Office To Bolster Real Estate.

Intelโ€™s Money Woes Throw Biden Teamโ€™s Chip Strategy Into Turmoil.

Toil

It is worrying that countries like Germany, Canada and the UK have thrown their whole economies in the toilet and don’t seem inclined to do much about it. We were strongly considering immigrating to Canada, but with their downward trajectory it’s not even a real option any longer.

The US at least is on some sort of track to try to correct the worst of this tendency to self-destruction. But if we could just defeat rampant NIMBYism, we could do a whole lot better.