A Little More About The Election

Election Thoughts

I got off to a strong start with my 2024 voter guide, but to be honest, the sheer breadth of this ballot has me overwhelmed. Fortunately, my friends Edie Irons and Janet Cox have put together a very comprehensive and helpful guide that includes a 3-page summary pdf (link in their page) that you can download to bring with you to the ballot box (or dining room table - wherever you vote). I intend to rely on their recommendations, or at least weigh them as I vote.

I do want to add my voice to theirs on a couple of topics and provide further thinking on one of my earlier recommendations.

1. NO on Recall - the recalls of Pamela Price and Sheng Thao are a waste of money, time, and resources. The funders of these initiatives hail from outside Oakland, or are “sore losers” who cannot accept the outcome of the election that brought Price and Thao into office. I may not vote for either of these women if they run again - they certainly haven’t impressed me - but recalls that are not based on actual derogation of duty or corruption should not be used to determine our leadership. Beat them at the ballot box with ideas and expertise not with shitty recalls.

2. Ryan Richardson - I want to echo Janet and Edie’s view that his opponent is an unqualified, grudge-holding chaos agent. I interviewed her as my replacement for the Oakland Police Commission and was unwilling to recommend her appointment. She does not understand good governance at all. I’m not saying her name because the only name you need to remember is Ryan Richardson. I worked with Ryan when I was on the Commission, and he impressed me as thoughtful, knowledgeable, prudent, and well-respected. I think he will do a very good job as City Attorney.

3. I previously said that I would vote YES on Prop 33 to repeal Costa-Hawkins and permit localities to adopt rent control measures. My friend Rangelife noted:

   But also, in general I think that government price controls tend to distort supplies of things, and that has been proved in many types of markets.

   https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/prop-33-rent-control-democrats-19829667.php

   I also had an off-line discussion with a friend who is a developer who was anti-Prop 33 who raised many of the same points. But then I heard Hasan Piker on Offline talking about charges of “price controls” being lobbed against Kamala Harris. He pointed out that people hate “price controls” but they love it when we have laws that “fight price gouging” and that those two concepts are essentially identical. And indeed, Prop 33 prevents price gouging. As it is now, developers and landlords can keep property off the market and vacant until they can command an inflated price, just like the pharmaceutical companies do when they withhold drugs from the market, or OPEC won’t sell oil. Prop 33 doesn’t create “price controls,” it allows local governments to prevent price gouging in their rental markets. So I am still YES on 33.

Smart Glasses

Remember Google Glass, the very stupid “smart” glasses that launched in 2013 and then promptly bombed? The tech bros who wore these were known, appropriately, as “glassholes,” and I had hoped we’d heard the last of them. But no, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company that owns Facebook, etc., has teamed up with Ray-Ban to create new “smart glasses.” I guess this time the product is supposed to be popular because they don’t look as stupid as Google Glass and they cost less?

Fine. Obviously Ray-Bans are better than whatever stupidity this is. But why do people want the functionality of a smart phone in their glasses? In general, I don’t think this will catch on either. Even among people who want this, the queasiness and disequilibrium of trying to navigate the world with a tiny screen inches from your eye won’t work for most people. My husband has that thing where he can see the directions on his windshield and it is very distracting. Smart lens will eventually need to be regulated out of existence for health and safety reasons (assuming the FDA survives this Supreme Court).

I think the real reason that “smart glasses” persist is because tech nerds are trying to create a product that will allow them to see girls naked in public. Either actually watch porn in public, or by having some AI program that makes women appear naked. Seeing women naked is a huge driver of human innovation and stupidity and that converges perfectly here.

Day of the Jackal

Last night, I watched Day of the Jackal (1971), a political thriller about a (fictional) assassination attempt on Charles De Gaulle. It’s a really good movie, both as a thriller and as a snapshot of France in the 60s. The clothes and the cars are beautiful, the naked women bountiful. The plot revolves around a police detective’s efforts to find the killer before he makes the hit, but I’m not going to recap it for you. You’ve either seen or you haven’t. You should see it if you haven’t, particularly since political assassination attempts appear to be back in fashion, unfortunately.

There were two funny things related to the movie that I wanted to share. First, the Jackal meets a red-haired woman in a hotel lounge, where he strikes up a conversation by complaining that the magazine he’s reading is boring because it’s only about carbine harvesters, and she answers,

“I’m enthralled by carbine harvesters. In fact, I yearn to have one, as a pet.”

The second funny thing is that Brook walked past the TV room and asked if I was watching a silent film and then Quinn walked past and asked if I was listening to a soundtrack of cartoon sounds. And both of them were basically accurate.

KAOS

I also watched KAOS, a new show starring Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, which is about humans fulfilling a prophecy to take down the Greek gods. It’s on Netflix. It’s watchable, with a really good cast and compelling plotline. But it’s already been canceled so only watch it if you don’t want to get invested in anything with a long shelf-life.

That’s a pretty meh review, and I apologize for that. The truth is, streaming services are teeming with good ideas that are only half-executed. For example, I’ve watched both The Instigators and Wolfs (both on Apple TV+) this month, and they were both conceived in the following way: “We’ll remake (Good Will Hunting/Ocean’s Eleven) but make them old.” The theme of both: Older men are lonely, and need to find ways to support each other that isn’t, you know, gay.” All the money was spent on Matt Damon/Casey Affleck/George Clooney/Brad Pitt and none of the money was spent on smart writers/directors with new ideas. KAOS felt the same. Is there a story in Western culture older than the Greek gods? Now make it modern! And get me Jeff Goldblum! And make the rest of the cast really diverse, like with actuals trans actors! (That was the only good part).

I guess what I’m saying is, we need less volume and more quality in our entertainment. Let me know what you recommend along those lines even if you have to go back to 1971 with your reference.