Month: August 2022

Give the Left What It Says It Wants

photog Current Events , , ,

The recent bus service from Texas to New York City and Washington DC that Governor Abbott initiated got me thinking.  It sort of aligns with the idea of acceleration that is popular with some on the Dissident Right.  The idea is to accelerate the crazy ideas that the Left favors in order to let reality crash the system sooner.  The thought is that hitting bottom is the only way to convince the stupid that their beliefs are irrational.

I have mixed feelings about the accelerationist theory.  Hitting bottom seems like a particularly dangerous place to be.  I’m not sure some of these “bottom” conditions can be reversed.  For instance, if Biden allows another fifty million illegal aliens to invade the country, I’m not sure it will be possible to repair that kind of damage short of some horrific violence that might finish the country off altogether.

But the example of the bus rides points to a different kind of acceleration.  If the damage can be restricted to blue states, then maybe the actions will serve a purpose.  Suppose the bus rides were extended to other groups that aren’t wanted in the Red States.  For instance, imagine if the homeless could be persuaded to move to California.  And the same could extend to prison inmates.  Their sentences could be commuted if they agreed to leave the red states permanently.  After all New York and California have been pioneering the concept of emptying the prisons and eliminating criminal convictions.  It only makes sense to send career criminals where their talents can be put to their best effect.

I haven’t gone through all the accelerationist scenarios that could be handled this way but I’m sure it could be quite interesting to play this thought experiment.  Maybe there could even be some kind of negotiations to get certain corporations to move out of state.  Or more realistically, provide a carrot and stick approach for companies (and universities) based on whether they engage in anti-social behavior like white guilt struggle sessions and EDI propaganda.  Hefty fines for each infraction would quickly make these companies weigh whether their policies were more important than relocating.  As a practical example, Ron DeSantis has recently tweaked Disney by eliminating their self-governing status in Florida.  It will be interesting to see if further “lessons” influence Disney’s propensity for condemning conservative laws and programs in Florida.  Changing their behavior would be a major victory.

Obviously, my poor efforts are woefully insufficient to evaluate just how many similar ideas could be identified.  Governors and legislatures are the right ones to do it.  Imagine if Washington DC could be inundated with a million illegal aliens and a hundred thousand freed felons.  Joe Biden would probably have to roll out the razor wire and call back the National Guard to keep his friends from defecating on his lawn, stealing the catalytic converter on his bomb proof limousine and spray painting, “Let’s Go Brandon” on the side of the West Wing.

Well anyway, that’s what I thought about this evening.  You see, I can be constructive if I try.  It doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom.  We can have fun once in a while too.

King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) – A Movie Review

photog Movie Reviews, Reviews , , , , ,

Can you imagine a movie with Rex Harrison playing Saladin, George Sanders as Richard the Lionhearted and Virginia Mayo as a Norman princess?  Well don’t try.  It’s just too bizarre to reconstruct without supercomputers and black magic.  But it actually must have occurred in some alternate universe where completely improbable things happen.

(Spoiler Alert – Skip down to last paragraph to avoid spoilers and read recommendation)

I watched this movie for the first time today and I was flabbergasted.  So, we’re on the Third Crusade and Richard is leading a coalition of scheming nobles.  They attempt to assassinate him with a poisoned Saracen arrow so they can end their war against Saladin and concentrate on plundering the Holy Land.

There’s a great deal of nonsense that involves Saladin showing up in disguise as a doctor to heal Richard of his poisoned arrow.  You see Saladin is so chivalrous that he wants Richard to survive so they can fight a duel to decide the fate of the war.

And there’s another plot line where Richard’s cousin Lady Edith Plantagenet (played improbably by Virginia Mayo) is in love with a Scottish knight named Sir Kenneth.  Kenneth is apparently the only crusader actually loyal to Richard.  But once Edith’s love affair with this non-Norman man becomes known to Richard he turns against Kenneth and challenges him to an ordeal by combat.  And then Saladin saves Kenneth’s life but is also in love with Edith.  Now the Holy War is just hopelessly muddled with love.  What’s a crusader to do?  Luckily the bad guys (the bad Crusaders in this case) kidnap Edith and so Richard, Saladin and Kenneth put aside their differences over religion, civilization and of course good acting and attack the bad guys.

So, the good guys win and then Saladin rides away with his men and Richard comes around to Kenneth being his cousin’s future husband.

The End.

You have to see this movie to know just how laughably bad this thing is.  Rex Harrison with bronze face paint and a scraggly beard talking with some kind of fake middle eastern accent quoting the prophet.  George Sanders playing George Sanders (of course) brow beating the other characters is insufferable.  I found myself hoping the assassination attempt would succeed and end the movie quickly.  And the rest of the cast is even worse.  The strange thing is I kind of enjoyed watching this mess.  I can’t explain why.  Maybe I was just in the right mood for a silly knights-in-armor spectacle.  Who knows maybe it was the belly dancer.  But I’m not going to recommend this movie to anyone.  Watch it at your own peril.

Another Update on the Hilarious NYC Migrant Bus Service

photog Uncategorized , , ,

As Texas Governor Abbott continues to bus illegal aliens to NYC and DC the squealing from NYC government officials gets louder.

My favorite quotes:

“He’s weaponizing asylum seekers,” Manuel Castro, commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs said. “It is shameful, and it is our moral obligation to condemn the use of human beings for political purposes.”

New York officials said this week that the city is using 14 hotels to provide housing to the new arrivals.

Castro was not the only official in Mayor Eric Adams’s administration to blast Abbott. City Comptroller Brad Lander said Abbott’s action are “inhumane” and “disgusting.”

As the saying goes, “You know you’re over the target when you start taking flack.  I only wish he’d start sending some to Portland, Oregon and San Francisco.

This is the gift that keeps on giving.  It’s not only useful and smart, it’s hilarious.  Hopefully a goodly percentage of the refugees are violent offenders and weirdos of various descriptions.  New York needs the most exciting new residents to keep things interesting.

Bravo, governor Abbott, bravo.

Scientists Say Conservatives Happier Than Liberals. Duh!

photog Current Events, Science , ,

Apparently believing that dysfunction is normal and good is evil isn’t conducive to peace of mind.  I guess trying to see that two plus two equals five all the time must hurt their brains.  Well there is the consolation that these people are at least scared and miserable.  Now if we can find a way to prevent them from inflicting their madness upon us we’ll be ecstatic.