David Foster's Divorce--Encountering Bad Faith for the First Time

We now have the Kurds reaching out to the last allies standing--Russia.  Remember Finland aligning with Hitler since neither the UK nor the US would help them keep the Russians out?  That's the situation on the ground in Syria. Still, for the most part, we'll be in the situation of asking Erdogan/Turkey to stop firing US-manufactured weapons at Kurds carrying (fewer and smaller) US-manufactured weapons. Even the New York Times is now agreeing that the key element of US foreign policy recently has been arming/abondoning/attacking.   The NYT's Interpreter newsletter, by Amanda Taub and Max Fisher, who comment on "the sad, cyclical nature of American interventions abroad."     Thank you, Amanda and Max, for pointing out George W Bush's hypocrisy in condemning our abandonment of the Kurds to death camps.   GWB has no standing on this issue--he did the same thing to the allies we'd armed and supported in Iraq 2.   Similarly, so did his Dad. I'd

Once you begin to use your new Orange Holiday SIM card, the French telecom company requires that you register it prior to topping up.   In addition, you can't retain your new French phone number past the first 14 days without registering.   I suppose the international police need to know who you are. You'll need an ID photo, your new phone number--and the actual SIM card number.   There are only two places to find this number: It's the first thirteen digit number on the SIM card packaging. If, like me, you threw the packaging out after activating your phone, then there's only one other place it appears:   on the SIM card itself.   Turn off your phone, remove it, and copy it down (NOTE:   some websites say the ICCID number in Settings/General/About is the SIM card number.   It's not---and it has too many digits anyway.) Certify that your other info is correct, complete the "I'm not a Robot" CAPTCHA, and send in the form.   You should hear back

I suppose all these single "oh my god" moments do some sort of further damage, but we're already so debauched I find it hard to get very much more than amusement from the continued daily confirmations.  The USA is a totally corrupt state apparatus lead by an idiot. The CIA is denying that they have any spies in Russia in response to the fact that Trump inadvertently outed their number one asset who then had to be whisked away under cloak of pollution or darkness or whatever—who cares, we don’t have a clue what Russia is doing anyway.  Hey--you guys in the CIA--you kinda missed the Ukraine.   And how about glasnost?   All that money and what were you doing?  Masturbating?  Or writing further denials?   I certainly don't get an ounce of value from your work, and I wish you'd stop.  I feel less safe knowing you're out there in your weird black shoes...  Even better, after Trump tweeted last week that Hurricane Dorian was going to hit Alabama, the NOAA ca

Testosterone is in the courts these days, mostly as those with financial and performance interests in athletics try to figure out the math of two genders turning into the sliding scales of identity. In a major litigation, families of women competing for college scholarships have sued, claiming trans athletes are taking their hard-won spots (Title IX is not that old, and is still contested on whether it's achieved fairness--perhaps trans athlete needs will damage it as all the extra burden falls on the women covered by the rules). And, there are competitive complaints.   If you're an athlete who regularly won every event you entered, and now you're finishing third--it really matters if you believe your competitors belong in the race with you.   Men don't have to worry about this; only women athletes do. And, there's testosterone.   Various bodies are considering whether genetic women with high levels of testosterone should be kept out of major events.   Some at

Today's wacko news:  five or seven individuals, perhaps Chinese high school students, have been kicked off Facebook and Twitter for posting pro-Chinese depictions of the Hong Kong protests.  Presumably we've also kicked some Russian programmers off those platforms too because they posted stuff that supported Trump for president. The reason:  stating government points of view on the platforms so that you and I could possibly see them here in the United States.   Please note the ludicrousness of this--the Chinese government itself has banned the platforms domestically, so clearly China (and Russia) has very little reason to care what gets posted since their own citizens can't legally see any of it (not even all the selfies!). Still-- the media, including NPR for instance, characterizes the high school student posts as "an international propaganda campaign." Two points of insanity destroy this perspective: The Chinese government has been heavy-handed, but

I'm talking to you.   Hiding over there behind a piece of faux burned papyrus upon which the holy words of the US Constitution's Second Amendment have been written in magic marker. Yes, you.   Why not buy a bazooka instead?   Because, in the interest of civil peace and safety, you can't buy shoulder-mounted missile launchers.  You can blame a conspiracy of the deep state, but you can't.   Which reminds all of us:   The Second Amendment, as pathetic as it is, doesn't allow you to own any weapon.   It does, in fact, result in regulation of the amount of lethal force a private citizen can own. Don't worry--as currently understood, your hobby of retro-fitting guns is A-OK.   I know you love your hobbies! Here's the problem:   too much lethal force is now associated with assault guns.   They're no better than missile launchers from a civil rights infringement point of view.   (I'm describing being able to go to Walmart without being murdered as a

We've been through two cycles of Democratic Party debates.   This is what we get with a two-party system.   Not a single candidate challenges the system whereby the strategy appears to be to try to destroy whoever is on the stage next to you.   Isn't that exactly what we result about the tool in the White House? Pissing matches and horse races aside, now we can't get past the "electable" vs "idealism" debate.   In this year's version, you've got 20 candidates who all are within about 20 yards of one another policy-wise.   If you're middle of the road, you may be electable.   If you're an inch over the double yellow line (say, for instance, you believe the health policy used successfully by every other democracy in the world might work here in the US), you're an idealist. My point:  Here's my argument:   you probably think Elizabeth Warren is an idealist and unelectable.   And maybe Biden or Pete or some one else is a "rea

I saw a short thing on a parental leave discrimination settlement with JPMorgan on the Bloomberg  news feed today… It said that US in only major country without mandatory paid parental leave…strike one for USA.  We're special all right. And that 36% of companies have any paid leave.   Most are gender neutral  (29% are gender neutral and the  remaining  7% of more generous companies are female only)…so says SHRM.  (My company has paid gender neutral leave...fairly similar to JPMorgan's policy.  We often have to cajole the dads to take it.) So, since the investment bank is on the side of the angels with this policy, how did JPMorgan get the ACLU after them?   A recent dad filed a claim…yes, the firm had a gender neutral policy, but guys who tried to claim it were routinely refused.   So the policy and the practice were different. This cost JPMorgan a $5 million settlement, to be distributed to all the men at the firm who had a kid in recent years.   You have

Progressives warn of intrusions into human and civil rights all the time.   It's their job.   Even Adam Gopnik agrees in his newest book--and he's just a nice liberal. Trump and the MAGA folks set off far more warning bells than the more bellicose Republican administrations that preceded them.   Reagan and the two Bushes did tragic domestic damage--but the people they really wanted to hunt and kill were always overseas (weirdly, the same "overseas" thing can be said for Obama, and Johnson, though both professed differently).  J Edgar Hoover really owns the title for worst domestic enemy ever--and you can't blame him on any of the last seven presidents. Trump isn't a militarist, but here's why he may have no choice other than to try to "grow" into one of his predecessors.   Albeit, no one has turned the military loose on US citizens yet, though the "Handmaid's Tale" scenario feels plausible and palpable enough that this book/TV t

Our latest false pretense in international business relations requires that we see Huawei as a bad actor.   Every one is piling on, offering hyperbole after hyperbole.   The major themes are: Huawei has oppressed the Chinese people, keeping them dumb and isolated, because they can't see Google or Youtube! Huawei is competing unfairly by selling switches at cheap prices. Huawei's leaders are criminals. Huawei wants to invade your privacy!!!! I'd like to at least record a fifth option, which I believe to be true:   Huawei owns nearly all the patents on the next generation of cell technology, 5G.  (As far as I can tell, Ericsson and Nokia own a smattering that brings us to 100% of the 5G IP--but they don't have the advantages of low cost production, so they can't compete.) So...if you let the cell technology market take its natural course, Huawei would displace the 4G players to become the "sole source" over the next 12 months.   Every tech player

Our attorney general is testifying to our federal legislators about whether Russia interfered in the 2016 elections by posting goofy messages on Facebook. Meanwhile, Trump announces, within three days of the Israeli election, that: The Iranian national army is a "terrorist organization," which I assume gives the CIA and Mossad carte blanche to assassinate Iranian soldiers with drones or whatever, and We're happy if Israel ignores international law (as the US does every day) and (more) formally takes the West Bank. I'm hoping some one reads this post and can explain to me why social media posts are "collusion" and "interference," while covert assassinations and illegal annexation are "policy decisions."   When we do dreadful things, it's fine.   When other people use Facebook, it's criminal?   Say what? Why would any one from ANY country other than the US--and any political group other than Netanyahu's conservative

Oxfam just published their annual report on wealth.   Stop for a second and reflect on the following statement before you proceed: In 2016, 61 billionaires controlled half of the world’s wealth, then in 2017 that number was 43, before becoming 26 in 2018. Think about it.   You could probably name a third of the people on this list without struggling very much. This was too much in 2016, and the acceleration is a blot on civilization.   Not just because policies that allow this kind of obscene profiteering should be embarrassing to the owners, but because the bottom half's income dropped 11% a year during this period.   Poor people are getting poor very. very quickly and they now include the mainstream.   Visit Paris on Saturday to see the Gilet jaune in all their anger and fear.   Why aren't you out there marching with them?   You've lost 11% in the last year too! Meanwhile, what's our plan?   Build a wall to keep out unemployed citizens from the rest of our con