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Open thread 2/9/23 — 27 Comments

  1. Our host has been praised in the latest podcast from the wonderful John Derbyshire (leftist in his youth, now a genially curmudgeonly conservative), novelist and pop mathematician and China-watcher and commenter on the follies of the world. He writes (transcript posted on his website for the broadcast of February 3):

    “TheNewNeo is a good, old-fashioned blog, an intelligent and opinionated citizen sounding off on topics of the moment, with a comment thread from which lunatics have been purged. . . (In reference to the item about Mona Charen and BDS, Biden Disappointment Syndrome), Neo does a wonderful job of tossing and goring Ms Charen’s column, her post being a little gem of the vituperative arts.”

  2. the wonderful John Derbyshire (leftist in his youth, now a genially curmudgeonly conservative), novelist and pop mathematician
    =
    I don’t think Derb has ever admitted to more than an idle interest in politics as a youth. By his own account, he was a wanderer bouncing from one trade to another and one place to another far from the small city in the East Midlands where he grew up. His sister was at large as well. She landed in Hawaii with her family and lived there for a run of years while he was one place then another in the Far East (all by himself prior to age 41). Their (much) older brother was career Army, so also living no place in particular.
    ==
    He studied mathematics at Imperial College, but never made much use of his degree. He’s never published any papers. He’s written histories derived from the biographies of mathematicians.
    ==
    He has an interesting perspective on the American scene, having grown up in an impecunious household in post-war Britain so viewing the anxiety and deprivation in the world without the racial lenses others insist on using. However, an obtrusive segment of what he writes consists of ill-thought-out throwaway opinions. He used to be worse about that than he is now.

  3. “It’s not Linoleum,” My boss and floor installer proprietor: Harry “Penny Pincher”-of Pinchers floor treatments, would annoyedly exclaim whenever I referred to the new installation as linoleum. “It’s VINYL.”

    Memories from my early 80s installing flooring during the day and attending community college at night.

  4. In other news, Pennsylvania’s latest gift to the Senate was taken to the hospital after complaining of “feeling lightheaded” at the Senate Dem retreat:

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/02/pa-sen-john-fetterman-taken-to-hospital-after-feeling-lightheaded-at-senate-democratic-retreat/

    An adverse effect after listening to the SOTU, no doubt.

    From the comments: “Not to worry. Biden provides precedent that the brain dead can still hold office.”

  5. Did anyone else notice that the totally-not-happening gas stove ban is going on right under our noses?

    I mention this to point out how the game is played. First there’s a trial balloon. Then there’s outrage from the normies. Then there’s the walkback from the spokeszombies and gaslighting from the Democrat media about how no one was planning any such thing. And the thing is done in the background, because the normies think they won.

    Our elections and our votes don’t mean anything in a system like this.

  6. Perfect choice for Kitchens and Bathrooms (Easy to install, seal and replace) being that Vexatious Litigants have made Mold Lawsuits a veritable nightmare for selling homeowners and landlords alike (but a boon for certain types of law firms).

    Be sure to replace all plumbing screw valves with ball valves, too.

  7. I just knew it, never wanted to bring it up because it might upset some of the regulars. But I just knew it in my bones, all along Neo has been in the pocket of Big Linoleum. Deal with it, people.

  8. Linoleum is not a good choice in bathrooms. It is porous and needs to be sealed from time to time. Vinyl is the better choice.
    Linseed Oil and Flaxseed Oil are one and the same, so you could eat it in a pinch.

  9. PA+Cat:

    But there were so many Bachrach/Warwick hits!

    Inescapable in the sixties and we were all better for them.

  10. Cat: yup, that’s a good one. My other favorite Bacharach song is “This Guy’s in Love with You”. And of course “The Look of Love”, which Deco already mentioned. Hell, they’re all good.

  11. “Linoleum is not a good choice in bathrooms. ”

    Rubberized.

    …and yes it is, else your looking at losing alot of money.

    Not tile. Never tile – unless it is for yourself and you are never going to sell.

    Rubberized Linoleum.

    (…and yes, I know what I’m talking about.)

  12. @ Art Deco > “Hoping an up and coming analogue to Carl Icahn will pull off a hostile takeover and show the odious Mr. Iger the door.”

    I understand that is already in the works.
    Or the Mouse Works, as the case may be.
    The guy’s name is Nelson Peltz.
    https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/disney-nelson-peltz-bob-iger-earnings-1235515012/

    Trian Fund Management founder Peltz is a billionaire activist investor who hosted a fundraiser for President Donald Trump in February 2020. He’s known to be unhappy with Disney’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and at present he’s in the midst of a lawsuit against the wedding planner for his daughter Nicola Peltz and her now-husband, Brooklyn Beckham. For most of last fall, Peltz was also busy trying to engage with Disney brass, asking for meetings and phone calls.

    At first, he received an appropriate response for a publicly traded entity, according to a source close to Peltz, but then the Disney brain trust began erecting walls.

    Feeling ignored, Peltz informed Iger in a Dec. 20 phone call that if Disney did not acquiesce to his demand for a board seat, he intended to mount a proxy fight that would challenge Iger’s legacy. A meeting was suddenly forthcoming. So, in early January, the Palm Beach-based Peltz made the cross-country trek to Burbank after finally scoring a meeting with Iger and the Disney board. But the meeting proved to be less than satisfying for the 82-year-old investor, whose Trian has a nearly $1 billion stake in Disney.

    Peltz is a man accustomed to getting his way. On Jan. 10, he arrived at Disney headquarters for his allotted 45 minutes to find Iger, McCarthy and Gutierrez in the room but no board members — the 12 men and women instead appeared via Zoom. Peltz presented his deck, which he provided to the board two days in advance of the meeting to give members time to digest it. As he went through all of his slides, he awaited feedback. But none was forthcoming. The board remained silent, and the sole question came from a member of the leadership team who asked about Peltz’s calculation of a so-called overpayment on the Fox acquisition.

    “There was this sense of defer and delay and not really an openness to engaging,” the source adds.

    All this drama culminates as Disney prepares to deliver its first look at its financial performance earnings since Iger returned and for an inevitable battle with Peltz over the disputed board seat.

    MORE, from an almost limitless selection of pundits this week.

    https://instapundit.com/568087/
    GET WOKE, GO BROKE: The Critical Drinker on Disney — An Empire In Collapse (Video). [language warning]

    Commenter: “He’s spot on. I hope that takeover guy succeeds. I just wonder if there is anyone out there who he could bring in that would create actual entertainment.”

    https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/02/06/disney-still-going-all-in-on-woke-n528718
    “Children’s programming from back in the dark ages aimed to reduce prejudice and build up a positive set of social norms, encouraging children to be better people and making the world a happier place. This kind of programming aims to gin up anger and resentment as if pounding into kids’ minds the idea that they are victims and their fellow citizens their oppressors.
    The aim is to produce activists, not better people. It is about turning children into political weapons.
    Ideas like this are not appropriate for the age range of Disney’s intended audience.”

    https://notthebee.com/article/heres-what-disney-is-actively-teaching-your-kids-about-race-hint-its-crt

    Remember, this is now the Disney narrative: only America does bad things.
    https://notthebee.com/article/disney-pulls-simpsons-episode-where-lisa-mentions-chinese-forced-labor-camps

    People have noticed.
    https://notthebee.com/article/disney-announces-major-restructuring-plan-55-billion-cost-cutting-measures-7000-layoffs

  13. BTW, it’s not just Disney that’s been infected by the Woke Virus.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/the_left_took_over_an_important_cultural_institution_while_you_werent_looking.html

    February 7, 2023
    By Andrea Widburg [aka “Bookworm” on Neo’s blogroll]

    If you were raised in America, you probably grew up reading books published in the “Little Golden Books” series. It’s likely, too, that parents associate that label with trusted and wholesome products. Well, they’re probably still wholesome (no sex, obscenities, or other nasty things in these books), but recent content has taken both a shallow and a leftward turn, with the Little Golden Books starting early to turn your kids on to pop culture and to “wokify” them.

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