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WSJ: Biden to ban menthol cigarettes.

April 26, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Does Biden want to torture all Americans or does he just want Black folks to suffer?

The Biden administration is reversing course on its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, after the White House weighed the potential public-health benefits of banning minty smokes against the political risk of angering some Black voters in an election year.

Biden is polling poorly with Black voters, and Democrats are worried about losing that demographic. It’s hard to believe anyone would float this idea without understanding it would reduce Biden’s chance of winning.

The proposed ban has generated much feedback from the civil rights and criminal justice movements, said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” he said in a statement.

Biden apparently thinks Black folks are too dumb to understand that statement means that menthol cigarettes will be banned early in a Biden second term.

Alternatively, Biden thinks that Republicans are too dumb to capitalize on this authoritarian policy. He may be right about that.

The ungrateful are at it again.

April 26, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Boston Herald: Pro-Palestinian Protestors

So we are back to this. City and university administration doing as little as possible to maintain order.

These Emerson students should be back on campus, trying to figure out their sexuality. That’s become too political, so they dress in their best grunge outfits and protest for something they don’t understand.

Emerson’s new president, Jay Bernhardt, wrote yesterday that the college supports “our community’s right to express their views through protest. However, they must do so in a manner consistent with the laws of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

At least administrators and city officials are saying the right things, but they won’t follow through.

A court official released the students on a “promise to return” on their scheduled dates.

Really? A better response would be to charge them with three or four misdemeanors and set bail at a couple of thousand dollars. Tuition at Emerson is $54k. They can afford it.

An Instagram post just before the arrests show a man with a bullhorn instructing the students on how to “form ranks 4 lines thick” and “resist police,” the post states.

It would also be a good idea to find out who that man is, who trained him and who is funding this disruption. Where did the tents come from? None of those chubby rascals look like they spend many weekends hiking around Acadia National Park.

Another solution would be to leave the police out of it and let the townies clear out the malcontents

City Journal: Green Tech is a Fantasy.

April 19, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

City Journal: Politics and Physics Collide

The legislature and unelected regulators enjoy magical thinking because the time frames are long, they will never be held responsible and perhaps engineers can meet the goals. Automakers have long been burdened with fleet economy standards that must be met. The Laws of Thermodynamics are problems for engineers, not legislators. Cars became lighter and less safe while also becoming more complex and expensive.

The idea that the United States can quickly “transition” away from hydrocarbons—the energy sources primarily used today—to a future dominated by so-called green technologies has become one of the central political divides of our time.

Sparky misses me.

April 16, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

When I was in the hospital recently, my brother and sister-in-law had Sparky. My brother texted pictures and video of Sparky so I didn’t worry about him.

Having a dog is a wonderful thing. I’m okay alone, but having a dog is better.

That night when I first took ill, Sparky laid in his living room bed, half-asleep, but ready to move. He dreams when he is really out, and sprawls on his bed. He didn’t know what was wrong with me, and didn’t know how to help.

My brother reported that Sparky was fine, but was getting too old to chase after Mr. Moose. I knew that Sparky was worried about me.

When my brother brought me home, he offered to go fetch Sparky, and bring him to my house. I thought it would be better if I drove out to pick Sparky up. He loves a car ride and that would be the easiest way to let him know everything was fine. When I got to his house, Sparky gave me the whole, Youtube, soldier returning home treatment. Nobody has ever been that happy to see me.

Once we were home, Sparky was happier than ever. He likes to lay on my belly as I watch TV. That’s the photo above. He did have trouble sleeping. When Sparky sleeps, he usually dreams of chasing ducks and makes low woof-woof noises. That night, the ducks were chasing him and he was making whiny noises. It took him a couple of days to get over it. Since then, Sparky takes more pleasure in the little things. He smiles a lot now.

That’s why it is so good to have a dog. I’ve got friends and family, and they have helped out plenty. Nobody was in a funk the entire time I was gone. And, I didn’t worry about how anyone else was handling my absence. I don’t know what Sparky was actually thinking, and he won’t say. I do know that he is happiest when I’m around, and he is counting on me. That’s a good feeling.

Fallout TV show is a 9/10.

April 16, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

If you’ve played Fallout, then you are already watching this show, and know that it pays off.

Fallout is a TV show based on a game series with 9 editions. I haven’t played the game, but didn’t have any trouble figuring out what’s going on. Fallout takes place in a post-apocalyptic alternative universe that is similar to ours until the 1950’s, when computer chips weren’t invented. The technology and culture advance, but with a retro feel. The show, like the game, is satirical. It can be plenty violent, but in a quirky way.

The plot isn’t complicated. The show focuses on the three main characters as they work their way through the post-apocalyptic world to get what they want. Lucy is good and attractive, Ghoul is corrupt and mutated, and Maximus a regular guy who wants to be heroic.

Fallout looks and sounds great. Much effort went into making it seem like a plausible 1950’s world with technological advances. It seems like a show that I will be rewatching.

What’s wrong with being attractive?

April 14, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

One aspect of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters that hurt the show is that the young characters aren’t appealing. They aren’t attractive, charismatic or clever. One Asian girl, Cate, is petulant, whiny and aloof. I wasn’t familiar with the actress, Anna Sawai, so couldn’t tell if it was the writing or the actress.

When watching Shogun, I didn’t realize it was the same actress. The character, Toda, is alluring, strong and sympathetic even though she is rarely talking or even doing much. For Sawai to do so much, so subtly, she should get an Emmy.

The writers and director for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, clearly want us to not like or be sympathetic to the young characters. I don’t know why. That could have been a good show.

The new Shogun is 9/10.

April 14, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Shogun, on ABC and Hulu, is one of those rare TV shows that gets my full attention when I watch. It’s along the lines of Game of Thrones, but without the dragon fantasy. Palace intrigue shows suffer if everyone is too grim and earnest, and the line between good and evil is too clear. That’s what Shogun and Game of Thrones gets right.

AP: Administrators are derelict in their duty.

April 10, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

AP: Teacher sues district for neglecting obvious warnings.

The article describes a principal ignoring numerous credible warnings about a student having a gun. A teacher was subsequently shoot at school.

Nothing about the article is surprising to a teacher. The dereliction of duty by the principal is shocking, but entirely routine. It is consistent with my experience at North Royalton High School.

Hospital Saga

April 9, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Maybe it’s Obama’s fault or capitalism or something, but my retiree health care is garbage. I don’t know, maybe it’s fine, but being a public school teacher, I never had to pay for much. Paying the first $8000 doesn’t sound like good coverage.

The Sparky-clipse

April 8, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Sparky enjoys novel experiences, so I took him outside for the eclipse. I played it off like we were just going to play with Mr. Moose, but Sparky noticed.

Sparky wasn’t worried about totality.

He had a moment of doubt, but I’m glad my buddy had a chance to enjoy a total eclipse.

Sparky asked if we could go to the next solar eclipse, but when I told him that we’d have to drive back to North Dakota, he didn’t think it was worth it. That would be in 2044.

Big Stick Physics