Conservative Conversation + Podcasts

The GM of the NBA’s Houston Rockets has stepped down. My indifference to that news item is boundless. However, a family member who still reads ESPN.com (I canceled my membership to Insider and have not followed nor watched any pro sports since the Redskins became the Washington Football Team) brought to my attention the fact that the article discussing Daryl Morey’s departure made no mention of the controversy last year in which he tweeted support for Hong Kong freedom demonstrations and later deleted the tweet under pressure.

Apparently, Disney subsidiary ESPN cannot be allowed to jeopardize the global distribution revenues of Disney content especially that of Disney subsidiary Marvel nor the revenues of the NBA by even the mere mention of the fact that there had ever been a single tweet by an NBA employee containing criticism of Chinese government repression.

My wife was watching a “Dancing With the Stars” type of show the other night. The commercials were all targeted toward their specific demographic: Cleaning products, seltzer beers (whatever the heck those are), SUV’s, etc. She left, I switched to a football game, and the ads changed as well: regular beers, investment services, pickup trucks, etc. They spend a lot of money on those ads, and they want to be sure they are putting the right message in front of the right eyeballs, to get the right message across.

Christmas advertising is fascinating. Lots of big families gathered around a roaring fireplace wearing cozy sweaters, laughing together as they serve apple pie to everyone. It’s a shameless pitch to our heartstrings, but it works. On me, at least. I’m more fascinated by the fact that they consider me to be in their demographic than I am by their ad itself. How did my eyeballs get selected to see this ad? And then, yesterday, I was even more fascinated when we got the brochure below in the mail.

And finally it comes to this. Boris Johnson might be a lot of things, but a liar on Brexit he’s not. On Friday, he held a brief conference and said, the UK is out. The EU is not negotiating in good faith and Hard Brexit it will be. Watch below.

My dog is dying. He has cancer in his shoulder. We’re all very upset. Well, all of us except the dog.

We got Griffin at the pound when he was about three years old or so, we think, so he’s probably about 10 years old now. Or so. He looks like a black Lab, but I think he’s just a mutt. He won’t get near water, and when I throw a ball he gives me this questioning look as if to say, “That was a perfectly good ball. Why did you throw it all the way over there?” I’ve only seen him swim once, and that was when I threw him in our pool (I just wanted to see if he was able to swim). So he looks like a Lab, but I think he’s a mix of heaven knows what. He’s been a great dog. He’s very friendly and social. Everybody loves Griffin.

Laura Wolk clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. A student taught by Amy Coney Barrett, and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School. The video speaks for itself.

Let’s begin with some winners during this annus horribilis. The guy who repairs broken windows in Portland is making out like a bandit. The makers of plexiglass dividers, masks, and hand sanitizers are rolling in dough. And of course, those who bought stock in Zoom, Netflix, Grubhub, and Amazon are suddenly rich and looking for a second home in Florida.

So while the rest of us can’t wait for this blasted year to be over, there are those who find themselves sitting in the catbird seat and never want it to end.

I had a fascinating visit with a patient this morning. He is a retired college professor, and (surprise!) is an extremely vocal Democrat. He brings up politics in all his conversations, regardless of the topic. He reads the New York Times every day, watches CNN all the time, and he complains that many voters are so uninformed. “These people don’t know the truth! They’re not even interested in the truth! But still, they go vote! And of course, they vote Republican. If they opened their minds and put just a little effort into learning the truth, they wouldn’t vote Republican. I can’t believe people like that are even allowed to vote!”

Part of his physical exam today was a screening test for Alzheimer’s. As I sat down to give him the results from his test, he sarcastically said, “Did I beat Trump? Ha!” I smiled and said that I wasn’t sure, but I was certain that he scored better than Joe Biden. He looked genuinely surprised and asked if I thought Mr. Biden might be having mental problems. I do not discuss politics at work, and I didn’t want to talk about this. I wanted to talk about his Alzheimer’s test (he got a perfect score). So I changed the subject as fast as I could. But it was obvious that he honestly didn’t know that there was some question of Mr. Biden’s mental functioning. Remember, he reads the New York Times every day and watches CNN all the time. He is dedicated to staying informed about things and commits a lot of time to reading about current events. And he had no idea.