The whole Portland thing is a great example of everyone using 1 or 2 anecdotes to fit their priors. My youngest daughter moved from our home outside of Eugene to attend Portland St (cheap in-state tuition is a massive ding-MF’ing-ding).
Anywho, she has lived, worked, and attended school downtown since 2021. Does she have stories!! However, it’s neither a hellscape nor a war zone. Many businesses have left, and peak sidewalk tent living was pretty bad, but it’s not much different than many other big cities in the US, for good or for bad (ok definitely more pot shops and tap houses than most elsewhere)
She recently relocated across the river from “downtown,” but still in the city. I would expect cheaper rent in a war zone, but not easy to find a place for her to live.
Last night, we went about a mile from her apartment to eat dinner and walked by probably a half-dozen higher end large apartment complexes all built in the past 2-3 years. Doesn’t seem like you’d see a lot of construction if the city was in massive decline.
Not saying that there hasn’t been chaos and bad governance in the past, but just thought y’all might like a report from the front lines.
Started watching the Coleman Hughes and Dave Smith discussion. Dave is an over-emotional ideologue while Coleman remains inquisitive and level-headed just a half-hour into it.
Coleman with ice in his veins is the perfect antidote to Dave’s style of debating. Coleman thoroughly thumped him in that exchange. Dave is largely incapable of admitting he’s wrong on any main talking points (he’ll concede small details on occasion). Whenever they came to an impasse Coleman was like “ok let’s move on…”
All that said, Dave is still undefeated in debates. If you don’t believe me just ask him.
I agree that Coleman kept his cool, but Dave’s style of speaking is unchanged from when I first saw him on Redeye … more than 10 years ago? I’m biased because I already agree with Dave’s policy position: the US has no vital national security interests at stake in the region and should not be involving ourselves in any way. Yeah, Dave was a bit more intense but I think that’s a style thing. They both interrupted each other quite a bit but I thought they both kept their cool. My bottom line is this: the facts presented from Coleman make me SYMPATHETIC to the Israelis … but I still go back to not having vital national security interests at stake in the region. I think Dave was more persuasive on the motivation of Islamo-fascists.
I still need to listen to Moynihan's latest, but I'll never forget the words of my possibly-insane/possibly-supersane history professor from a summer course, "Nuclear weapons are a great thing! We had two world wars before the atomic bomb. Haven't had one since."
Glad to see there’s been reconsideration of the drug legalization. While I look forward to finally trying THC, and getting as blasted as Rechtenwald at LP National, I find myself agreeing with Virginia Postrel about the scent of weed. Goddamn, y’all.
I’m 63 years old. I experimented with my older brother’s stash in … 1977? It did nothing for me. About two years ago, after much cajoling at a boys night out with a younger crowd I pulled on a snoop-dawg worthy blunt that seemed to have others at the table in a tizzy. No observable effect in me, or on me. “Oh c’mon,” one of the non-partakers challenged me. “You’re saying you don’t feel ANYTHING?”
“Nope, but you be the judge. Ask me anything.” He asked me to explain how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes (or something like that) and I replied without a pause or a slur (or an ethnic slur).
Last year though, on a camping trip, the same group brought the heavy artillery. A vape advertised as being at the legal limit. I confidently inhaled very deeply and didn’t exhale until one of them said, “you should probably exhale now” with a look of genuine concern. Within minutes I was so dizzy I deliberately slipped out of my chair (lest I tumble out of it) and crawled about 4’ away from the campfire and heaved my guts out while my “friends” shrieked with laughter. I eventually crawled into my tent but after several hours rejoined them. While laying in the dark tent I did have some mental experiences but I wouldn’t call it “euphoria” by any stretch. I’ll call it, “pointless examination” of what was clearly (even in the moment) a drug-altered perception of things like the breeze against the tent flaps, or in the leaves of the tree near the tent, or the banda music from neighboring campers, etc.
The med school that treats my medical condition referred me to their psych department after one of the treatments lit off some very vivid, disturbing, dreams.
Hmmmmmmm…
No, I can’t try those. My job prohibits it, and I’m married to someone with a law enforcement badge….
But one of the interesting things is that as my vision has deteriorated, so have the weird things I “see” in my dreams.
Another video proving my point that Mick is really just a teenage girl inside a man's body, or proving my aunt's theory that you've never seen him and Don Knotts in the same room, at the same time
Matt-
The whole Portland thing is a great example of everyone using 1 or 2 anecdotes to fit their priors. My youngest daughter moved from our home outside of Eugene to attend Portland St (cheap in-state tuition is a massive ding-MF’ing-ding).
Anywho, she has lived, worked, and attended school downtown since 2021. Does she have stories!! However, it’s neither a hellscape nor a war zone. Many businesses have left, and peak sidewalk tent living was pretty bad, but it’s not much different than many other big cities in the US, for good or for bad (ok definitely more pot shops and tap houses than most elsewhere)
She recently relocated across the river from “downtown,” but still in the city. I would expect cheaper rent in a war zone, but not easy to find a place for her to live.
Last night, we went about a mile from her apartment to eat dinner and walked by probably a half-dozen higher end large apartment complexes all built in the past 2-3 years. Doesn’t seem like you’d see a lot of construction if the city was in massive decline.
Not saying that there hasn’t been chaos and bad governance in the past, but just thought y’all might like a report from the front lines.
Jonah Goldberg on twtter this morning: "She should make @mcmoynihan a "60 Minutes" correspondent."
Had a chuckle imagining that!
Started watching the Coleman Hughes and Dave Smith discussion. Dave is an over-emotional ideologue while Coleman remains inquisitive and level-headed just a half-hour into it.
Coleman with ice in his veins is the perfect antidote to Dave’s style of debating. Coleman thoroughly thumped him in that exchange. Dave is largely incapable of admitting he’s wrong on any main talking points (he’ll concede small details on occasion). Whenever they came to an impasse Coleman was like “ok let’s move on…”
All that said, Dave is still undefeated in debates. If you don’t believe me just ask him.
I agree that Coleman kept his cool, but Dave’s style of speaking is unchanged from when I first saw him on Redeye … more than 10 years ago? I’m biased because I already agree with Dave’s policy position: the US has no vital national security interests at stake in the region and should not be involving ourselves in any way. Yeah, Dave was a bit more intense but I think that’s a style thing. They both interrupted each other quite a bit but I thought they both kept their cool. My bottom line is this: the facts presented from Coleman make me SYMPATHETIC to the Israelis … but I still go back to not having vital national security interests at stake in the region. I think Dave was more persuasive on the motivation of Islamo-fascists.
I still need to listen to Moynihan's latest, but I'll never forget the words of my possibly-insane/possibly-supersane history professor from a summer course, "Nuclear weapons are a great thing! We had two world wars before the atomic bomb. Haven't had one since."
Glad to see there’s been reconsideration of the drug legalization. While I look forward to finally trying THC, and getting as blasted as Rechtenwald at LP National, I find myself agreeing with Virginia Postrel about the scent of weed. Goddamn, y’all.
I’m 63 years old. I experimented with my older brother’s stash in … 1977? It did nothing for me. About two years ago, after much cajoling at a boys night out with a younger crowd I pulled on a snoop-dawg worthy blunt that seemed to have others at the table in a tizzy. No observable effect in me, or on me. “Oh c’mon,” one of the non-partakers challenged me. “You’re saying you don’t feel ANYTHING?”
“Nope, but you be the judge. Ask me anything.” He asked me to explain how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes (or something like that) and I replied without a pause or a slur (or an ethnic slur).
Last year though, on a camping trip, the same group brought the heavy artillery. A vape advertised as being at the legal limit. I confidently inhaled very deeply and didn’t exhale until one of them said, “you should probably exhale now” with a look of genuine concern. Within minutes I was so dizzy I deliberately slipped out of my chair (lest I tumble out of it) and crawled about 4’ away from the campfire and heaved my guts out while my “friends” shrieked with laughter. I eventually crawled into my tent but after several hours rejoined them. While laying in the dark tent I did have some mental experiences but I wouldn’t call it “euphoria” by any stretch. I’ll call it, “pointless examination” of what was clearly (even in the moment) a drug-altered perception of things like the breeze against the tent flaps, or in the leaves of the tree near the tent, or the banda music from neighboring campers, etc.
Mushrooms next.
A bit of a chuckle at the mushrooms.
The med school that treats my medical condition referred me to their psych department after one of the treatments lit off some very vivid, disturbing, dreams.
Hmmmmmmm…
No, I can’t try those. My job prohibits it, and I’m married to someone with a law enforcement badge….
But one of the interesting things is that as my vision has deteriorated, so have the weird things I “see” in my dreams.
Another video proving my point that Mick is really just a teenage girl inside a man's body, or proving my aunt's theory that you've never seen him and Don Knotts in the same room, at the same time
The Basement Waves spotify playlist is still bringing a lot of joy in our house. Great and fitting ending song.