Month: December 2017

Ну, с наступающим!

Лучший обзор уходящего года опубликован почему-то в Miami Herald.

Looking back on 2017 is like waking up after a party where you made some poor decisions, such as drinking tequila squeezed from the underpants of a person you do not really know. (At least you hope it was tequila.)

The next day finds you lying naked in a Dumpster in a different state, smeared from head to toe with a mixture of Sriracha sauce and glitter. At first you remember nothing. But then, as your throbbing brain slowly reboots, memories of the night before, disturbing memories, begin creeping into your consciousness. As the full, hideous picture comes into focus, you curl into a ball, whimpering, asking yourself over and over: Did that really happen?

Рекомендую целиком. А потом можно выпить за то, чтобы наступающий год был не хуже предыдущего. С новым счастьем, дорогие товарищи.
 

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Голосуй сердцем

Bret Stephens, opinion in NYT:

Tax cuts. Deregulation. More for the military; less for the United Nations. The Islamic State crushed in its heartland. Assad hit with cruise missiles. Troops to Afghanistan. Arms for Ukraine. A tougher approach to North Korea. Jerusalem recognized as Israel’s capital. The Iran deal decertified. Title IX kangaroo courts on campus condemned. Yes to Keystone. No to Paris. Wall Street roaring and consumer confidence high.

And, of course, Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. What, for a conservative, is there to dislike about this policy record as the Trump administration rounds out its first year in office?

That’s the question I keep hearing from old friends on the right who voted with misgiving for Donald Trump last year and now find reasons to like him. I admit it gives me pause. I agree with every one of the policy decisions mentioned above. But I still wish Hillary Clinton were president.

How does that make sense? Can I still call myself conservative?

Хомяка безжалостно разрывает на куски когнитивным диссонансом.

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Правая, левая где сторона

В Los Angeles Times напечатали два списка: десять самых недоосвещенных прессой историй 2017-го года. Один список попросили написать человека справа, другой – человека слева.

Правый список:

1. “Russian collusion” charges were a dud
2. The economy roared
3. The stock market boomed
4. Islamic State was crushed in Raqqah and Mosul
5. Thanks to James Comey, the FBI’s reputation is in tatters
6. We still know nothing about what motivated the Vegas shooter
7. The Iran deal’s facade collapsed
8. Persecution of religious minorities continues across the globe
9. The worldwide leader in sports is in deep trouble
10. Due process and rule of law were restored to college campuses

Левый список:

1. Disenfranchisement of African American voters
2. The South Korean peace movement
3. President Trump’s unprecedented non-Russia corruption
4. U.S. helped to starve and bomb Yemen
5. Hate crimes against transgender people
6. Trump’s aggression in Iraq and Syria
7. Dark money to seat a right-wing Supreme Court justice
8. Rise in deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border
9. Ramping up war in Afghanistan
10. Protester prosecutions

По-моему, прекрасно. Вот уж действительно альтернативные реальности. Точно по Адамсу – экран один, фильмы разные.

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Поднимите мне веки

Washington Post, внезапно:

As it stands, the public evidence doesn’t support the idea that the Russians executed a savvy electoral strategy on social media to ensure Trump’s victory. In fact, it seems less the case that they did so now than seemed might be possible back in July.

Цифры и всякие неудобные нюансы, которые в статье приводятся, я читал практически дословно несколько месяцев назад, в разных местах правой ленты. В левой ленте тогда бушевала истерика про русских в социальных сетях. Она там и до сих пор не то чтоб стихла, и тут вдруг такое вот ни с того ни с сего. Удивительно.

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Bubsy Vest

Кстати, о душевном здоровье людей, загнанных режимом Трампа в разные синдромы и расстройства: дизайнеры на страже и всегда готовы прийти на помощь. Сконструирован жилет для снятия стресса и тревожности. Еще по карманам рассовать фломастеры и книжки-раскраски, и получаем portable safe space, которое всегда с тобой.

A garment that provides comfort by applying controlled pressure on the upper body to simulate a hug for anyone suffering with anxiety or stress. Instant stress relief.

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7 Days in Entebbe

В UK сняли очередной фильм про Энтеббе, в марте выходит.

Интересно, как там эта история будет подана. По нынешним временам не было бы ничего удивительного, если бы террористы оказались положительными героями, а израильтяне – отрицательными; из трейлера не понять. Посмотрим.

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2017 according to our betters

Goodbye 2017. And good riddance.
What a dumpster fire of a year, especially for those who reside and operate in the world of politics and policy. Who will mourn the passing of 2017?

—

As the year comes to a close, the job of making sense of it begins.
This year, I heard so many people ask, "Is this really happening?" It felt at times as if we were living in an alternate reality. There’s no denying that 2017 was both bizarre and a rallying of all sorts. The question is, who will be left standing when the rally is over?

—

Grit your teeth. Persevere. Just a few more days and this awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year in the civic life of our nation will be over. Here’s hoping that we all — particularly special counsel Robert Mueller — have a better 2018.

—

Alas, I confess to having difficulty finding much positivity to cling to this year, because as far as the state of the American union is concerned, I have never seen anything as bad as 2017.

—

War, climate change, and the return of fascist politics to the United States and Europe have all shown that the certainties of the 1990s were not certainties at all. Neither Hitler nor the Paris Peace Agreement changed our world permanently. Donald Trump is the president and the future feels canceled.  How do we escape, now? In 2017 the monsters of our nightmares stepped into the daylight, and in response we turned to a new version of the real.

—

Читал бы такое и читал, эх. Отличный был год, короче говоря. Жалко только, что "и это пройдет".

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Про Collusion – ссылки на память

С одной стороны:

12 things we can definitively say the Russia investigation has uncovered so far

С другой стороны:

Was the Steele Dossier the FBI’s ‘Insurance Policy’?

Did President Obama Read the ‘Steele Dossier’ in the White House Last August?

Только брызги летят.

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Bright

Зачем еще нужны издания вроде Вокса: когда они что-нибудь ругают, можно с достаточной уверенностью предположить, что они это делают из идеологических соображений – и сделать соответствующие выводы. Сейчас проверю этот принцип в очередной раз: прочел там полную презрения и отвращения рецензию на первый нетфликсовский фильм Bright, который сегодня вышел, и намерен его посмотреть. Подозреваю, фильм оказался для воксовцев недостаточно woke, то есть смотреть будет можно.

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Напоминание

Полезно помнить, кто тут на чьей стороне: статья на Воксе про голосование в ООН озаглавлена "The world just delivered a stinging rebuke to Trump over Jerusalem" Очередная, типа, победа здравого смысла над Трампом.

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