Compared to 30 years ago or more, I probably eat only about 10 percent as much bread as I used to. My wonderful wife and I have stopped buying bread because we would almost always throw most of it away.
All that being said, on those rare occasions when I consume bread–always in a restaurant and almost always sourdough–I enjoy almost nothing more than buttered toast. Sometimes the simplest things can be the best.
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WordPress has found new ways to screw up. My days on this platform are numbered.
When I checked the blog stats for today (views, visitors, etc.) it was as if December 3rd did not exist. When I checked the phone app, today’s data was there, but not on my desktop. WTF?!?!
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From today’s Why Evolution Is True post:
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UCLA has engaged in blatant antisemitic hiring practices, which imply that they’re about to be hit by a huge lawsuit.
The latest and most illuminating example comes from UCLA, where a newly filed complaint alleges that the college Cultural Affairs Commission has in place a policy of anti-Jewish bias in its hiring process. Bella Brannon, editor of the Jewish student newspaper Ha’am, filed the petition with the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) Judicial Board earlier this week.
The crux of the allegation is that Alicia Verdugo, head of the Cultural Affairs Commission, told staffers not to hire Jewish applicants. Specifically, she told subordinates, “please do your research when you look at applicants” because “lots of zionists (sic) are applying.” However, the directive was not Israel-specific; applicants were being rejected after having identified themselves as Jews unrelated to anything regarding Israel or the war in Gaza. Finally, staffers were told that at an upcoming retreat a “no hire list”—that is, an anti-Jewish blacklist—would be shared.
According to Ha’am, “every student who indicated their Jewish identity in their applications for Cultural Affairs Commissioner (CAC) staff was rejected.” One rejected applicant, for example, answered a question on the application about an issue of importance by noting that “as a Jewish student at UCLA, it is imperative that I have the right to express my identity.” Another rejected applicant had mentioned Judaism when asked about attendance at the staff retreat, explaining that they are Sabbath observant.
A CAC hiring document obtained by Ha’am allegedly says: “We reserve the right to remove any staff member who dispels [they mean “espouses”] antiBlackness, colorism, racism, white supremacy, zionism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, misogyny, ableism, and any/all other hateful/bigoted ideologies.”
. . . Everyone knows what these activists mean when they say “Zionist.” Shops with signs that say “Zionists not welcome” are actually displaying signs that say “Jews not welcome”—and no one, but no one, is foolish enough to believe otherwise, no matter what they say.
Remarkably, college students and administrators are starting to give up on even trying to gaslight the public. If someone says “don’t hire this person because they keep Shabbat and therefore are a Zionist,” they are not making a political argument; they are explicitly expressing an anti-Semitic hiring policy.
If by now you don’t hear “antisemitic” when you read “anti-Zionist,” then you haven’t been paying attention.
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Sorry, but no other ethnic group could be the subject of such blatant discriminatory hatred and the perpetrators receive so little pushback. The Second Holocaust is here.
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I must admit that I am having a difficult time getting my anger under control so I can continue writing today’s post…
As someone who has watched a lot of CNBC TV in the past 20 years, the news of the death of Art Cashin was very sad. He was UBS’ director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange and a man The Washington Post called “Wall Street’s version of Walter Cronkite.” Of course, after that comparison was published Cashin said, “I owe Walter Cronkite an apology.”
“Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”
– John Donne
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This CNBC article is about the rising proportion of homes built in communities with homeowner associations, or HOAs. I have had bad experiences with some HOA boards.
The thought of having to get approval for our covered carport from the “Architectural Review Committee” of our current HOA is one reason why the project has been put on hold, perhaps permanently. Too many of the people who serve on these boards get a bad case of a swelled head. I/we will just deal with car covers. Besides, not having the carport built will save us thousands, another reason the project is on hold. Do you know how much a brand new shower costs, like the one we recently had installed in the master bathroom? Ours cost THREE TIMES as much as the estimate for the carport.
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As written in this CNBC piece reporting that General Motors is selling its stake in a $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery cell plant in Lansing, Michigan, to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution, “GM’s move comes as the automaker attempts to right size production of EVs and confronts slower-than-expected consumer demand.”
“Slower-than-expected” is a euphemism for almost no one really wants to buy an EV except for some people living in a few states. Brian Sullivan of CNBC once noted that a national automobile dealer told him that there is “basically zero demand” for EVs outside of the coasts and well-off university towns. This dealer also said that EV manufacturers are now trying to allocate nearly all inventory to those locations. This is consistent with what Jack Hollis, COO of Toyota Motor of North America, recently said, “‘unnatural acts’ in the automotive industry have already begun at some automakers, where companies are supplying states which have agreed to the rules with a disproportionate amount of electrified models.”
STOP THE EV INSANITY!!
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What if Holiday Lights are innocent? 🙂
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This was not grown with steroids or radiation. I took the photo yesterday.
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I must admit to yet another mental tug-of-war. I have grown very disillusioned with WordPress and want to leave the platform, but am far from sure I want to try to build another audience on another platform like Substack. I have been blogging regularly for eight-and-a-half years; that’s a long time for me.
I just want readers of this blog to have an understanding what’s going on in (what’s left of) my brain.
#ToastyTuesday
#WordPressIsAShitShow
#FuckUCLA!