Now, Let Us Go to The Follies

Paris given ‘absurd’ fine for employing too many women
France24 | December 15, 2020

Paris (AFP) – Paris city authorities have been fined for employing too many women in senior positions, a decision mocked as “absurd” by mayor Anne Hidalgo on Tuesday.

The fine of 90,000 euros ($110,000) was demanded by France’s public service ministry on the grounds that Paris city hall had broken national rules on gender parity in its 2018 staffing.

Hidalgo said she was faulted because 11 women and only five men were named to management positions in city hall in 2018, meaning that 69 percent of the appointments went to women.

Testing Whether That Nation, or Any Nation So Conceived and So Dedicated, Can Long Endure

San Francisco to rename Abraham Lincoln High School because former president did not demonstrate that ‘black lives mattered to him’
Daily Mail | 12-15-20 | Rachel Sharp

A San Francisco district is planning to rename a school named after Abraham Lincoln because the former president did not demonstrate that ‘black lives mattered to him’.

This Is How Science Ought To Be Taught in School

I was taut in school, but that’s another subject.

Some nerds crunched the numbers and decided this:

Researchers Discover That Global Mass Extinctions of Land-Dwelling Animals Follow a 27-Million-Year Cycle
SciTechDaily | December 10, 2020 | New York University

And some helpful person on FreeRepublic posted this image, by way of illustration:

That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s been 27 million years since this XXX-tinction.

Random Thoughts: Star Wars and Doctors

My 10yo daughter made me nachos for lunch and then figured out how to play The Mandalorian theme on the piano, so she’s pretty awesome.

The big question is will Donald Trump still dominate the news next year, something I think is still quite possible even with him not being president.

If you’re honest, the person of the year was obviously Donald Trump who dominated basically every discussion about everything. The only question is will that be true next year.

Yes, I would like those $550 headphones. I will wear them on my yacht so I will not be subjected to all those bothersome ocean sounds.

Winchester is starting to take steps now, and he thinks it’s hilarious to start to walk toward one of his parents and then turn 90 degrees and toddle away.

I hated Hayden Christensen as Anakin and yet for some reason am excited to see him return. Such is the oddity of being a Star Wars fan.
I guess Star Wars canon is like family. Despite your opinions of it, you love your family.

That’s a lot of neat new content, Disney+, now can you put the pilots for Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and Rescue Rangers — the episode that introduces you to the characters — at the beginning of season 1 instead of some random spot in the middle. I believe in you. You can do it.
Getting episodes in the right order is streaming service 101. It’s not something you should still be trying to master one year later.

The Solo movie wasn’t bad. A Solo series to continue it wouldn’t be a bad idea — not that they don’t already have enough on their plate.

Ted Lasso was delightful. Highly recommended if you have Apple+. Only ten episodes, but I believe it’s already been renewed for two more seasons.

Biden and Harris added together still don’t make one interesting person anyone is going to get excited about, but they did do a great job of not being Trump (well, Biden, mainly).

The thing about Trump I would praise the most — and perhaps have no criticisms at all — is his judicial picks.

Your choices are freedom or dumbasses pushing people around. There is no third option. This especially applies to free markets versus the alternative.

Pay me $20 and I’ll call you doctor. I don’t even care if you have a degree. Twenty dollars.

The biggest area for fake news seems to be Star Wars rumors. My Google News feed is always showing me stories from websites I never heard of that all seem to be rumors based on absolutely nothing.

Watched the movie Peppermint. I liked it. It’s Death Wish with Jennifer Garner… which is probably enough of a pitch for a lot of people.

The Mandalorian is a Life Day movie.
my 7yo son walks into the church swinging around nunchucks
“Son, I told you not to bring nunchucks to church.”
“They said it was okay.”
“Who?”
“Um… church people.”

As an expert programmer and satirist, make sure to precede my name with “Cool Dude” (sometimes abbreviated as “C.D.”). I’ve earned it.

I realized I didn’t remember how A Christmas Story ends. Because it just kind of ends.
So many memorable scenes, but not much of a narrative.

Wow. Cyberpunk 2077 has a 90 on Metacritic. Think of how good it would be if it were playable.

I don’t even all actual doctors “doctor.”
Also, to me, the seven dwarves are Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey, and Mister.

You can throw rocks in glass houses. Modern glass is strong enough to withstand the impact. And the “glass” might in fact be more of a sturdy plastic.

Twitter secretly hides tweets that reveal what evil lurks in the hearts of men. It’s called a Shadow ban.

The Mandalorian with his helmet off is me in every social situation.

I have an engineering degree. I have a prejudice against people with PhDs in that field as I assume they don’t know how to do anything practical.

They released a trailer for the new Walker Texas Ranger reboot, but there were no roundhouse kicks in the trailer. I need roundhouse kicks our I’m out.

My question: Do we have the technology to make the vaccine a gummy chewable?

My daughter was confused why people don’t like The Last Jedi as she thinks it’s a good movie and I had to explain to her she’s a dumb kid.

“When you appreciate the first trilogy like I do, then you’ll despise this movie like I do.”
“By first trilogy, do you mean episodes one through three?”
“GO TO YOUR ROOM!”

What I’ve learned from the “Are you a Calvinist or Arminian?” question on The Babylon Bee podcast is that only Calvinists have heard of Arminians.

Here’s my ordering of the Star Wars movies:
Attack of the Clones
The Empire Strikes Back
The Force Awakens
The Last Jedi
A New Hope
The Phantom Menace
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
The Rise of Skywalker
That’s how you would alphabetize them if you ignored the articles.

I still don’t even understand why I’ve heard of Jeffrey Toobin.

Currently the cutest thing ever is that Winchester asks for blueberries by saying “Boo!” and making the sign for berries.

What this world needs is more tough, independent women who agree with me about everything.

The problem with modern day Bible thumping is that I tend to read the Bible off my iPad and I can’t thump with that thing. That could damage it, and it’s very expensive.
See, this is why it’s so hard for the rich to get into heaven. I need to make some powerful friends to help me out.