Day: March 16, 2025, 3:13 PM

Knowing Gun

Chill Regular-ass Post

I believe that Covid was a lab leak, but I don’t think “knew” is the right word here. “Knew” implies certitude, which we’ll never have. There will never be a smoking gun. I’m sure China destroyed that long ago.

“Beyond reasonable doubt” as stated in the intelligence report is more accurate. The preponderance of evidence and simple common sense all point to a lab leak. The evidence against this conclusion appear to be all engineered or an attempted coping mechanism by scientists who are worried about their funding being affected by the consequences of revealing such a large mistake (though lab leaks happen rather frequently, just usually not so consequentially).

It is good to see the lab leak hypothesis going from “wacky conspiracy theory that only terrible, terrible racists believe” to relatively accepted.

Timidity

Chill Annoying, Clowns

I’m as introverted as they come and when I am out in public, I do not expect to never have an interaction with another human being. This is, frankly, a fucking insane Gen Z bullshit expectation. And is part of the HR-ization of culture we should all be battling against. The feminist “no one should talk to anyone in public ever because some random woman who is probably overly-neurotic anyway might perhaps perceive it as harassment” has gone way, way too fucking far.

A few years ago I was at Wal-Mart looking for Christmas stuff. I spent way too long looking for the bows. For some reason and anomalously, they were placed near all the lawn mowing-related paraphernalia. As I was taking the long walk back to the cashier section a woman approached me and said, “Hey, can I ask you where you got those bows? I’ve been all over this store three times and I cannot find them.”

I said, “I know! They hid them well. They’re near the lawn and garden section by all the lawn mowing stuff. I can’t imagine why.”

And she laughed and thanked me. I was glad to help her as I’d spent 15 minutes looking for them myself.

I guess that sort of casual interaction is going to get less and less common now as people retreat into this world.

Tine

Chill Movies, Video, Video (movie)

I loved Constantine and might watch it again one day (I rarely re-watch anything). It’s such a beautifully-shot film. And not surprisingly, at least part of the reason it looks so gorgeous is because it was shot on those unmatched Panavision Panaflex Platinum cameras with Panavision Primo lenses.

The video hints at it, but I think the reason the movie flopped is it does not hold your hand. It kicks you into the world and lets you sink or swim. Most sink because they want their thinking done for them. And Constantine is just not that kind of film.

Putin Up With It

Chill Clowns, War, WTF

Exactly. One “easy” way to have open borders is to build a huge damn empire.

Which I guess is one of the reasons Ian Welsh and those types are such Putin fans? I can’t find any valid reasons so I am just spitballing here. Worshipping Putin is both gauche and embarrassing. It’s the lefty equivalent of being a right-wing edgelord. In a way, it’s just pitiful.

But I have no pity because unlike Mr. T, I do not pity the fool.

Pill Bugs

Chill Culture, Evil

Probably is the smartphone/social media combo. That’s a cognitive poison pill we’re wholly unsuited to deal with.