We Value Dogs, then Cats, then Humans

California made it hard to kill mountain lions, and now there is an overpopulation of them.

The NY Times had a scary story about one mauling two big boys, and killing one of them. Note that they will shoot a lion to save a dog, but not a person.

The deputies spotted the drag trail through the brush and followed it to the cat, still crouched over Taylen’s body. They shot at the ground to scare the lion away. Instead it rushed the deputies, who again tried another warning barrage. ...

Eventually, the cat jumped down and went after the dogs, and Chandler had no choice but to shoot.

This is more evidence of how California is screwed up. If it repealed all its mountain lions laws, everyone would be fine.

Here are some new California laws:

SB 450 removes specific zoning restrictions, simplifying the process for homeowners to divide their properties into up to four separate units.

AB 413, commonly referred to as the "daylighting" law, will change the way people park their cars. From January 1, California residents will no longer be allowed to park a vehicle within 20 feet of any unmarked or marked crosswalk or 15 feet of any crosswalk where a curb extension is present.

SB 1100 will make it illegal for a job posting to require applicants to have a valid driver's license.

AB 1955 prohibits school districts from implementing policies that require educators to inform parents if students identify as transgender or request to use a different name.

AB 1821 mandates that California public schools teach about the impact of the Mission Period and Gold Rush on California Native Americans.

AB 1780 bans legacy admissions at colleges receiving state funding.

SB 729 mandates insurance coverage for fertility services including IVF, expanding access to include LGBTQ+ families.

So if I am hiring a driver, I cannot require a drivers license.

What I learned in 2024

I sometimes end the year by saying what I learned.

The biggest story of the years was the Donald Trump comeback.

The most amazing thing to me was how many or most of our leading intellectuals, influencers, and power brokers could line behind Pres. Joe Biden, who lacked the necessary mental capacity, and then Kamala Harris, who was even worse.

The American Presidency is the world't most important job, and Harris did not have any of the necessary prerequisites and skills. And yet she was praised as if she were the best candidate ever.

It appeared that they favored her because she checked some DEI boxes, and nobody really expected her to be competent, as she would just be a puppet.

Ultimately the voters saw through this, and voted to return to the normalcy of the Trump 45 Presidency.

Update: To see how warped the Democrats are, see Greenwald on Liz Cheney. Also here. She was one of the most hated Republicans in the USA, until she went negative on Trump. Now Biden is giving her a medal, and other Democrats and Leftists are praising her.

All the Top Movies were Sequels

Hollywood had a good year, and is fully recovered from covid. Here are the top ten movies in 2024, by gross revenue:

10. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
9. Venom: The Last Dance
8. Kung Fu Panda 4
7. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
6. Wicked
5. Dune: Part Two
4. Moana 2
3. Despicable Me 4
2. Deadpool & Wolverine
1. Inside Out 2

They are all sequels. Except for Wicked, which is a remake of a stage play that was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

In other words, movies make money by recycling old ideas.

It is only going to get worse. Movies of the future will probably be made by AI, after training on the movies of the past. Everything will be derivative.

Vaccines Don't Cause Autism

Russell Brand addresses the issue in a podcast.

The experts all say that the vaccines do not cause autism, and they are probably correct. However, according to evidence on the podcast, the matter was not even studied to get vaccine approvals, and we do not have the research to settle the matter.

Everyone was told to get covid shots to reduce the spread of that disease, but no one ever tested whether the vaccines reduce the spread of disease. The tests showed that the vaccines were sufficiently safe, and effective at reducing death, for experimental use.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about a lot of medicines. These issues only get nasty when the medicines are mandated. In most cases, there is no need for the mandates.