Cons in other countries don’t separate comics people from the celebrities. So you often spend a week between two cons, getting to know actors, wrestlers, and other famous people.

We always found nearly all of them lovely people.

Guess which group consistently wasn’t?

:)

1/

It wasn’t actors. In general, they have nearly all been really sweet people.

Guess again.

2/

It wasn’t wrestlers. I have had zero bad experiences with any of the wrestlers I’ve met and quite a few were above-and-beyond lovely to their fans.

Guess again.

3/

It’s not musicians. They always seem anxious, and they keep to themselves, but I never saw any being jerks in a green room at a con.

Last guess.

4/

It’s not novelists, artists, or comedians. Good guesses, but no.

One group has been so consistently loathsome, have so tortured staff and promoters, that I would say it’s probably a 90% likelihood that any con guest in this category is just awful.

Ready?

5/

One thing I will never understand. In 2020, we let ~340,000 Americans die, sometimes in the thousands per day. And we watched. There were no protests, no daily banner headlines befitting a national tragedy on this scale. It's as if we watched 9/11 in a loop for 300+ days. 1/

It was the non-chalance of all of it, the sangfroid. Yes, of course, there were stories in the media, some great ones, but we were shoving bodies into makeshift morgues in America in 2020, and it all became background noise. 2/

And no one rose up. Punctuated outrage from some. But no one on the streets in any substantial numbers asking for, demanding answers, action. 3/

If it weren't for the #BlackLivesMatter protests you'd think most of America was already dead. 4/

You don't have to ask what would I have done if I was present at one of history's great tragedies where people made choices to let barbarism flourish. We've done it now. 5/

A watchman in our society, on an average, lasts 3 months. Just when we get a hang of each other's eccentricities, he disappears. So you have to start all over with the new man. 'Don't ever ring my bell twice... I carry my bags myself, thank you... '. And so on. +

Rakesh was different. He looked 16, though he was 21. Wide eyed, eager, sincere to a fault. He would magically get to the gate before you could honk, he'd never miss a courier, the water tank never got empty on his watch, the cars he washed sparkled. +

Before Rakesh, we had a run of disastrous men. He was like Kapil Dev walking in at 17 for 5. In a couple of days, we knew we had a keeper. Like those animated drops of lubricant in Castrol ads, Rakesh was everywhere at the same time, keeping our Society humming efficiently. +

Residents competed with each other to offer him a snack, a cup of tea, a t shirt from a sales conference, an old mobile phone. They all made small talk with him. Like writers on a talent show production, they discovered his back story. Jaunpur. Sick father. 2 sisters. Cows. +

He worked days in our society. And nights at another. He had no home in Mumbai. Yet he showed no signs of fatigue. Even Mrs.Menon had no complaint. That's saying something. Her last complaint was, '..the watchman makes loud noises brushing his teeth... unacceptable..' +

THREAD: Pence never mattered

1. Recall: None of the authorities or courts in disputed swing-states were interested in looking at the merits of the fraud allegations.

Recall: The swing-states rushed to certify the vote count, despite active court cases and mountains of evidence.

IS HISTORY ALL TRUE SERIES: when even the #Calendar isn’t❓

THE REAL ACTUAL SOLAR CALENDAR:
*Based on the noble science of #Astronomy; the sister science to #Geometry, #Mathematics and the “almost” lost numerical science mysteries. Which was mastered in

“ancient” times, but is close to forgotten, in these “modern” days. Go figure❗️😄☦️

Navigation of the oceans was man’s first real great step of personal evolution, here on earth. The earliest of discovered sciences; #astronomy; allowed men to navigate through

routes to known territories; or to discover new ones, by the endlessly reliable positions of the stars and constellations, in the night sky. Hence; much diligent study, over who knows how many epochs, and great civilizations; was an esteemed scholarly pursuit. And led to a vast

understanding of the mechanics of our solar system, as well as the natural cycles of our planet, that even we; in this so-called Information Age “high civilization, don’t often know even exists any longer. A decay of common knowledge, in our “modern” educations, actually.

#Calendars have come and gone In the last few thousand years; motivated apparently by the politics of the day, or personal whim even, by the rulers of the moment; which somehow stuck, from there, and has hardly ever been questioned again.

Thread:
Back in 2007, I TAed Dr. Emmanuel Katongole's course on the Rwandan Genocide. Every session, a student would try to argue that the genocide couldn't have happened if only there had been an *authentic* Christianity among the Hutu who killed the Tutsi ...

who were their neighbors as well as fellow Catholics. The slaughters took place in houses, fields, and even churches–shared churches where the murderers attended with the ones they murdered. So was the faith only genuine or authentic for the victims, or ...

was something else going on? The false tribal narrative promoted by the colonial ID cards had a powerful effect on how people imagined themselves. When radio personalities demonized the Tutsi and called for their slaughter, the ID cards were the markers between people...

Not baptism. Not family. Not church membership. An invented idea. But the week before the killings started, these people were in church together. Did the faith stop being authentic? Did grace have an expiration date? No.

But the decision to allow state politics to give meaning to human bodies displaced the Body of Christ in the people's way of imagining themselves. Right now, a lot of people are tempted to think that the insurrectionists would back down if they had *authentic* Christianity,...

Here we go! Tweeting our way through #WealthOfNations! It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so be sure to stretch, stay hydrated, and keep a steady pace. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

That’s one heck of a first sentence, Dr. Smith. No dithering here. The division of labor is the secret sauce that increases productivity. (I.i.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We always forget the pin factory comes this early and that Smith looks at it not because pins are important (though they are!) but because it’s a small industry that you can look at all at once.(I.i.3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

How many pins can the SmithTweeters make in a day? How bad do you want them to be? (I.i.3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Do you think the pin guys were all “Dude, we let you observe our work, told you how many pins in a pound, showed you every step in the process...and you call us a ‘trifling manufacture’? Not cool, Smith!” (I.i.4) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

OK! Who's ready to talk at great length and in great detail about prices? #AdamSmith, that's who! (I.v) #BuckleUp because this is the first of three chapters Smith prepped us for yesterday. (I.v) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We're about get into some #LaborTheoryOfValue. (I.v.1–18) We, the SmithTweeters, are firmly on board with the #MarginalRevolution (and we are fans of @MarginalRevolt). But Smith's theory is more complex than is often recognized. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets #ValueHowDoesItWork

The caricature version of the #LaborTheoryOfValue is that the longer you work on a thing, the more it must be worth. This is obviously wrong, and Smith (and Marx, btw) would agree that it's wrong. (I.v.1–18) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(We know this version of the #LaborTheoryOfValue is wrong because we once carved a giant statue of #AdamSmith out of haggis. Took us hours. No one wanted to buy it. Go know!)

Again: We think the #LaborTheoryOfValue as it's actually presented is wrong, too, but we should at least understand how it's wrong and where it's right. (I.v.1–18) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

12 WEALTH GENERATING LESSONS FROM THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
I have been privileged to work closely with amazing people from different cultural backgrounds. Let's discuss what we can learn from the Jewish community. This is not about a racial divide but for learning purposes. S/o Alux

1.JUDAISM & WEALTH: They believe every person must work hard to avoid poverty, they also believe in the principle of giving. They don’t believe in relying on charity to lift themselves up Or to become a burden to your community. Most grow up believing success as the only option.

2.SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY: They believe in sharing their wealth to benefit their community. Judaic law instructs "the poor must be respected &protected." Perhaps it also comes from a long history of being marginalized, But the Jews have pride in supporting each other's businesses.

3. THE VALUE OF MONEY: in many of our households discussing finances is still taboo. Many Jewish parents use the 5 jars techniq to teach their children; separating Tithe/Giving/Savings/Investing &Spending. As kids, they learn consequences early that most of us are learning now

4. DIVERSIFICATION: they manage wealth with spiritual motivation & diversification. Their investments are widespread, not allocated as a single asset or exposed to a single risk, the way most of us just have a single job. "Don’t put all your eggs in one basket “ principle

#DivisionOfLAbor, we love it! Except it *does* make it a lot harder to provide for our own wants directly. We live by exchanging and cooperating with others. (I.iv.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

#AdamSmith is too smart to think all this exchanging and cooperating got worked out easily from the very beginning. There must have been bumps in the road. (I.iv.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Butchers could have so much meat to trade with bakers/brewers that they could end up with an unusable surplus of bread/beer. That stalls trade. Smart people would work to have a supply of an always-useful trade item on hand. (I.iv.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(We, the SmithTweeters, have never encountered a surplus of bread or beer we couldn't handle. But let’s assume Smith knows what he’s talking about.) (I.iv.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

This is how we get money, folks! We want a stable, always desirable, easily stored, and easily transportable thing we can trade for other stuff! (I.iv.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

1/
One of the most common tricks used by woke Social Justice activists to defend their view is to de-legitimize criticism by attacking the motives of the person who is opposing them. The goal is to undercut the moral authority and social standing of anyone who disagrees with them

2/
If you criticize the views of woke Social justice Activists they'll attack your motivations and imply that you're not being honest about your true motives. The goal is to make the audience suspicious of your intentions so they won't trust you or believe anything you say.

3/
By attacking your motives the woke activists can both discredit you while getting the audience to raise their level of skepticism toward you. This tactic is sometime referred to as "poisoning the well."

It is a dirty tactic, but it is effective.

4/
Here @BrandonLBradfor attempts to smear Conservative Black thinkers by claiming the reason the Right listens to conservative blacks is to assuage their own insecurity. The implication is people don't really care about the ideas of conservative blacks, they just use them...

5/
This implies that the ideas of conservative blacks are not worth listening too, and that even if conservative blacks had good ideas, nobody would care any way. This is the sort of pure cynicism that typifies Wokeness.

1/Today in @bopinion, I discuss why America has been producing too many PhDs in recent years, and what we need to do to solve the

2/First of all, many people don't realize just how many PhDs we produce! More than almost any other rich country.

3/And we've kept ramping this number up and up.

4/But the problem begins when PhDs start looking for (usually academic) jobs.

5/The U.S. built a ton of universities and then we stopped.

Professors have tenure.

That means there are just going to be fewer new tenure-track jobs than before. Everyone in academia already knows this well.

If a small child scrapes her knee, her parent might "kiss it better". This does nothing, but both parties appreciate the ritual. Hanson finds that empirically, many medical interventions do nothing, but we pay for them, because they are an adult version of "kiss the boo boo"

Our institutions are prodigiously wasteful. Under the feel-good veneer of win-win cooperation—teaching kids, healing the sick, celebrating creativity—our institutions harbor giant, silent furnaces of intra-group competitive signaling

trillions of dollars of wealth, resources, and human effort are being burned to ash every year, largely for the purpose of showing off... institutions do end up achieving many of their official goals [but] they’re simultaneously serving purposes no one is eager to acknowledge

People are judging us all the time. They want to know if we’ll make good friends, allies, lovers, or leaders. And one of the important things they’re judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others’ best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish?

Because others are judging us, we’re eager to look good. So we emphasize our pretty motives and downplay our ugly ones. It’s not lying, exactly, but neither is it perfectly honest.