Desiderata
When there is a lot, there is a little
From Max Ehrmann’s poem Desiderata
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Those carefully chosen words help in a confusing world. It’s a great poem and probably a lot deeper when you think about the important issues facing the US and the World.
The full poem HERE
We are certainly living in a time when the Joker is king. Why doesn’t Scott Snyder pick up on it?
Batman would do a lot more service if he funded schools focused on civics, science, and History (as defined as reflecting what transpired vs. a tool to further an agenda)
One can only guess what Kool-Aid he is drinking, and he’s not the only one.
ONE
While Ben Affleck plays Batman in the movies, in real life, his boss was Harvey Weinstein, and his love for police officers is not so keen when his personal views of society are represented, TRUTH BE DAMNED, in the cinema.
Personally, a great entertainer, but I sure as hell don’t want to be taking personal relationship, gambling, drinking, and historical lessons from him.
TWO
Matt Damon is the segue into my next observation.
As the feature actor in the Odyssey, there is no way the movie overcomes his star presence. The story becomes Matt Damon in ancient Greece. So what exactly does he add to this entertainment vehicle beyond his own marquee?
This star-studded cast feels less like filmmaking and more like actors banding together to sign a petition for a cause they believe in but their audience does not.
Hollywood used to spend enormous energy on historical accuracy: period pieces, faithful translations, the weight of getting it right.
Mel Gibson not only worked on historical accuracy but also had actors who could have realistically existed during that time speak Aramaic. That energy hasn’t disappeared. It’s just been redirected. Now it’s spent getting it ideologically correct.
The WASP-looking Christopher Nolan, who fancies himself a tenured professor at Harvard, sans pipe, has decided the Odyssey is his legacy move.
Fine.
But we’re not getting mythological Greece. We’re getting mythological Greece, in common English, as filtered through Emily Wilson — a translator who took deliberate liberties with Homer, modernizing language, flattening heroism, de-romanticizing the original to better reflect her own framework.
The translator, who is worse than Google Translate, has openly stated her intent and subjective nature of her translation:
THREE
In a different arena and whose customers include Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the founder of Starbucks, a former Presidential candidate who was strongly opposed to Trump, has now come out swinging with a Wall Street Journal op-ed criticizing Seattle’s socialist business climate.
Bold move, Howard.
Except Amazon already left.
The $148 million budget gap is already baked in.
The barn door has been open for years.
Imagine him as president, sheesh.
Better to be 3 hours early than 1 minute late
FOUR
South Korea may be onto something.
A form of Universal Basic Income
by taxing AI.
I thought this was a bad idea until I kept thinking about...
“If the product is free, you are the product.”
We are not slaves.
And while we have voluntarily surrendered privacy and plenty else, there is a concept called being ripped off.
At a certain point, taking over the world through the aggregate contribution of every human being on earth is not what anyone signed up for.
Our governments were not just asleep at the wheel. They were in on the graft.
Call it what you want, but not UBI.
It sounds Marxist, and it is a demeaning word for what is essentially owed restitution.
I predict that mankind will eventually file a class action lawsuit that will make the Big Tobacco settlement look like bubble gum money.
South Korea is asking out loud what most governments are too captured to ask: who owns the upside?
Market chaos as a reaction tells you everything
https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/could-resonate-globally-korea-sparks-market-chaos-ai-tax-threat
FIVE
I thought this was bad at first that even the CEO of UAL doesn’t like to fly United until
Byrne Hobart shared a tweet about Sam Walton. And something I haven’t done as I used to.
Study what works and what doesn’t work in your industry.
And don’t be afraid to get down on your knees and see for yourself.
UAL, in the realm of airlines, may have good management, actually.
SIX
Chinese spies and Jokers are everywhere.
Funny how under the current administration, we keep seeing more Chinese influence and outright spying inside the United States. Geiger Capital put it plainly: DEI, climate regulations, wealth taxes, soft-on-crime reforms, illegal immigration, and the anti-standardized test movement.
Policy by policy. From the inside.
The great show AMC got the spying right by the wrong country in the Americans
California mayor Eileen Wang. Charged. Pleading guilty.
To an oldie but goodie - Swalwell.
There is a reason the Japanese were interned during World War II. As unsavory as it was. After seeing what is occurring now, let’s step into our ancestors’ shoes before deciding what was right and wrong.
Then there was Wesley Edens, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, blackmailed by a Chinese divorcee who slid into his LinkedIn DMs.
Do you really think he’s the only one?
A few prominent billionaires are married to Chinese women… is there something here?
Maybe some of those questionable decisions our leaders keep making aren’t entirely their own.
Which brings us to AOC, who, someone quips, keeps getting the French and American Revolutions mixed up. Maybe she believes she’s right.
Were her circle and educators influenced by the Chinese?
The men who financed the American Revolution were the billionaires of their time.
Make it an observational day.
Eric