naomi

Thank you! It's actually two years. Not my favorite but in the interest of privacy

Lol. What would you do, within the US? Zion is apparently nice this time of year. The rugged and vast west is less novel for us though.

Interesting. I'm surprised on the Boston verdict. I was assuming it's vibrant and The Freedom Trail might me memorable. What's an interesting city in the NE or Mid-Atlantic, excluding NYC?

Stowe seems incredibly picturesque. Have you ever been there around Christmas time, Bier?

It looks absolutely beautiful but maybe another time. We're thinking Boston for the history and to have a small amount of a big city experience. And then mostly crash at a rural, serene area, within short day trips to a mix of mountains and ocean. I'm using Grok for help. The rough idea is fly into Boston, stay one night, continue seeing the city the next day and then drive over to Augusta, ME (family history stuff) briefly, and onto outside Camden as a base of operations for seeing Acadia, etc.

Johann Sebastian Bach

We haven't booked anything yet, so we're definitely open to suggestions. I'm a little worried that the last week of October will be an anti-climatic time to go though.

Is phenotype usually a safe bet/telling? My knee jerk impression of Talarico is a big "nope" based on that (in addition to many of his ideas). Can we look back through history and find people with off-putting phenotypes who were net positives? Off-putting isn't really about "attractive" or "unattractive", it's more about trustworthiness/stability cues.

Barbara Bush

My husband and I are considering a Boston/Maine getaway the week of the 26th for our anniversary. It's challenging for us to commit to dates, so we're doing this rather late. I think it'll probably be post fall colors peak, but not sure. Maybe we should consider a different part of the country. If we stick to this plan though, we'd do a couple days in Boston, then drive to Maine (unless somewhere else would be better, there's some historic family ties in Maine) and stay in a vacation rental as a base of operations for ~3 days somewhere country-ish that locals appreciate, not too far from the coast. Checking out Acadia Natl. park seems like a must if we do go to Maine. Tips, suggestions appreciated! I'm curious how different the culture/vibe will seem as a west coaster.

Not sure if I've already shared this before, but back in 2023 I had a conversation with someone of a degree of prominence (enough to be a highly anticipated Rogan guest the first time he was) and it veered into the subject of faith. He'd grown up in a quasi-Christian environment and then become an agnostic (probably initially an Athiest) and was now, in his 60s, becoming curious about the Christian faith again. He mentioned that he was having long text exchanges back and forth with Charlie Kirk (they were in entirely different industries). Kirk was very patiently just talking deeply about the bible with him. I had seen Charlie Kirk's stuff in passing and was always a little tired of the clickbait titles given to TPUSA's videos about him winning arguments. I assumed he was a little more of a knee-jerk thinker than he actually was. I came away from that convo thinking, "Hmm, I should watch his stuff. Maybe there's more to him than I'm assuming." Anyone as busy and successful as him taking that kind of time out is remarkably genuine. I never got around to it until he was murdered last year. But I'm definitely in that camp of people who finds it hard to watch him now without a deep sense of loss. He wasn't always right of course, but he was earnest and had very little guile which is unusual. The loss factor actually seems more spiritual than anything.

I'm sorry to hear this, Jerry. And apologies if you find it frustrating (I know people can get overwhelmed by others giving health "advice"), but I just want to say that ample (above ample) Vitamin D is really important. Both the UK and the US have recommended Vitamin D levels that are most likely below what they should be. And most labs reference optimal levels with the bone system rather than the immune system in mind. People respond to cancer treatment better when they're getting enough high quality Vit D.

As a woman, I have to say Jake Paul's fiancee Jutta Leerdam seems otherworldly species beautiful.

Cea Weaver believes private property ownership is immoral. So, the alternative to it is collective property ownership. When market incentives become null, because there is no market, quality decreases. It may not be immediate, as there is a pool of redistributed (coercively taken) funds at hand to manage the resources initially. But the trend is necessarily the same. Central planners don't have the ability to effectively incorporate insight that exists at the level of those impacted by their plans. They do sometimes try, but it's always pitiful in comparison to a truly free market at work, where people engage in exchange exclusively voluntarily. In this realm, both sides discern a benefit to the exchange, or it would never happen. All those mutually beneficial exchanges illustrate the needs and desires of people/communities amazingly well. Step in to manage that human activity and you distort critical signals. You dis-serve people. In final stages, those running these experiments inhabit the plundered nice places for themselves, despite their class conscious rhetoric. They have parasitic mentalities. At the root, their opposites are not selfish and greedy people. Their opposites are productive people who add value. Some might think, Well, what's the harm, really? At best her directions will serve as a useful and good counterbalance to predatory landlords. The harm is putting someone who seriously believes private property ownership is immoral into a place of authority within the system. Even if she can't make her ultimate wishes comes true, her guidance is not going to be fit to purpose, within the system. To the extent the system has flaws, it's where people harness government (which is a toolshed of coercion, fundamentally) to serve their interests. It's not the market on its own that leaves people in the cold. The defining factor of leverage that allows for abuses is policy wielded in a manner that arbitrarily determines winners and losers. This is some kind of 101 type analysis I realize. But it seems like some people really need it?

She's mental: https://x.com/michelletandler/status/2008300007049380049/photo/1

Excellent post from NYC councilmember Vickie Paladino: Notice how they never talk about NYCHA being poorly maintained. The worst slums in the city are run by the government. But you never hear them talk about that. Because they don't actually care about improving anything at all, they're interested in developing a pretense for seizing private property. That's all ANY of this is about. If they REALLY were interested in building some kind of good faith and trust around their plans for housing socialization, the FIRST thing they'd be doing is getting NYCHA into shape. They'd be focused like a laser on it, in fact. Fixing NYCHA by making it livable, safe, and efficiently managed would go a very long way towards the argument that the city can be trusted with expanding public housing. There would be some credibility behind their performative outrage about 'slumlords' if our city government wasn't the biggest slumlord itself. But they're not doing that. Because they don't care. And they're not capable even if they did care. NYCHA can rot, because it's already in public hands so there's no more power to be extracted from it. Instead they're simply constructing a rationale to go after private property for no other reason than the fact that they don't think private property should exist. That's it, that's all. And once they've seized the private property and 'socialized' it? Well, then it can rot too, just like NYCHA. Because the point was always the seizure, not improving conditions for anyone. And magically, the outrage over poor living conditions for these properties will vanish too.

She straight up said she wants to see the white middle class impoverished. She's not just a radical ideologue (which she clearly is), but she has open malice. I'm glad Michelle Tandler had a hunch that Mamdani would give her a role and the foresight to screenshot her X posts before she deleted her account.

Yeah, Trump's post was absolute trash. He squandered a moment that could have served him well, and even most of his base cringed. I hope he realizes and comes back with something much more dignified.

Getaway with husband. So mildly romantic

Airbnb booked well in advance in the rural Sierras and it turns out Northern Cali is going to be drenched over the next few days. So we're probably going to mostly stay in and watch movies, which we both rarely do. I'm kind of feeling classics post 50s, like The Graduate (havent seen it). Need a list of more than one though. Recs appreciated!

Yay! I don't say any of those 5 things. The only one I've been tempted to express (though not in these specific words) is "other men would do this for me"...in thinking about my dad most often. For example: last night I asked my husband to finish off refried black beans that were in a bowl—a bowl that everyone dished out of. He ate a couple spoonfuls and then handed it over to be washed, but in my mind there was still a lot of food substance. My dad would have had it looking pre-washed. It is a dumb temptation, as he does other things "other men" wouldn't have. And I know I'd be offended if he let me know "other women would have.."

The power in the last part of what he says here actually makes me happy for him. Bittersweet. https://x.com/CHRISsW0RLD/status/1967206127894253663?t=VCjbmx33BXndBH9kgYSxuA&s=19

Even though I'm conservative, I think there's a lot of quasi-sincere personalities on the right. People who are ultimately more fueled by making a name for themselves and/or making bank. I had an intimate conversation with a public figure who is (or was) agnostic but searching out the Christian faith. He told me Charlie Kirk was having in-depth discussions about biblical passages over text with him. That gave me a lot of respect for CK. Very busy but cared enough about this man's soul to do that with him.

I watched the longer video to get an understanding of how the bystanders operated. The hardest part to watch (aside from her last conscious moments) was the desperation of those who did ultimately attempt to render her aid. It was heartbreaking. Makes me want to take some first aid, gun shot wound, advanced bleeding, etc., classes.

Insightful thread. I worked in a public HS for a little while and can attest that this mentality abounds. https://x.com/CBHeresy/status/1964415435002052634?t=VilUezdKMFR8N9qP7GD6_g&s=19