Random Thoughts: Myanmar loses, no matter who wins.

Tweets from February, 2021:

• 2021-02-01: On one side, there's a coup by people claiming election fraud. Sound familiar? On the other, there's Myanmar's detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who defended Burmese military against allegations of genocide against the Rohingya people. Myanmar loses, no matter who wins.
• 2021-02-01: Headline: "10 GOP senators want deal." Assuming they are sincere, this still implies 40 GOP senators don't want any deal. What does that say about our democracy's legislative process? Without deal-making, there is no unity, which is what the GOP professes to want.
• 2021-02-02: Big Little Lies - Seasons 1-2 (TV 2017-2019): Five women with kids in a wealthy Monterrey private school deal with bullying, spousal abuse, infidelity, bankruptcy, rape. At heart it's a dark soap opera, but it's fun watching these great actresses work with each other. A-
• 2021-02-05: QOP: not all of them are anti-democracy, but on balance, it's now the party of QAnon.
• 2021-02-05: No longer needing to woo the GOP's base is freeing. "Mitt Romney Has a Child Allowance Plan (and It's Better Than Biden's)"

After the jump, more random thoughts.

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• 2021-02-06: Headline: "Fox News cancels Lou Dobbs' show." Wait. Didn't I just see Fox News rail against the so-called "cancel culture"?
• 2021-02-06: How awkward to be on an important Zoom call and have your image freeze in mid-blink. Others suspect you've fallen asleep.
• 2021-02-06: What this country needs is a good 10 minute COVID-19 vaccination.
• 2021-02-08: The Little Things (2021): Two cops join forces to solve a serial murder. Rami is warned about working with Denzel, the old cop. Jared Leto is the suspect. Good actors are let down by a pedestrian (and derivative) script. What can't be called suspense builds to little payoff. B-
• 2021-02-08: Vaccinated! First dose. UT Southwestern. A little sore, tired, and weak. In other words, the vaccine has had no effect on me.
• 2021-02-09: Headline: "Nearly nine in 10 Americans back a coronavirus relief package." In other words, support is bipartisan. That incentivizes Republicans in Congress to give lip service to relief while trying to undermine it secretly to keep Biden from getting credit. Sigh.
• 2021-02-10: Headline: "Dallas Stars Express Support For Playing Of National Anthem Following Mavericks Controversy." Alternate headline: "White Sport Athletes See No Need to Support Black Lives Matter."
• 2021-02-11: As a certain former Vice President would say, "This is a big f*cking deal."
• 2021-02-11: Is it common for jurors to meet with defense attorneys during a trial to discuss strategy?
• 2021-02-12: Why hasn't Texas GOP demanded this crook's resignation? If there are doubts about which GOP crook I mean, it's Attorney General Ken Paxton.
• 2021-02-12: Search Party - Season 1 (TV 2016): Obsessed woman enlists friends to solve the disappearance of an old school acquaintance. Her search leads to a stalker and a sinister cult. It's a black comedy, with little comedy or even blackness, but with lots of stupid decisions. C+
• 2021-02-12: In case you were wondering, jury nullification is not just a thing of the dark, despicable past.
• 2021-02-13: Forty three US Senators, including my own, Cruz and Cornyn, voted to tell the insurrectionists to try again.
• 2021-02-14: The impossibly high threshold for an impeachment conviction means that some guilty officials will escape sanction, even if their crimes are obvious. Trump was the first president to recognize that and act on it. He won't be the last.
• 2021-02-16: Small Axe: Mangrove (TV 2020): Dramatization of West Indies Londoner who opens a restaurant and faces harrassment by racist police. When the community protests, nine are arrested and put on trial for rioting. Characters are forgettable, but this history from 1970 shouldn't be. B+
• 2021-02-16: A reminder to Texas's GOP politicians: everything that goes around, comes around. When it does, the sympathy you will get depends a little on the sympathy you gave when it was other states in trouble.
• 2021-02-16: We talked about 2020 being so bad. So far, 2021 sucks too.
• 2021-02-16: Dan Patrick will be right on it...right after he makes sure that the Dallas Mavericks play a patriotic song before home games.
• 2021-02-17: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers...screw it, it's too d*mn cold to deliver junk mail.
• 2021-02-17: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020): Dramatization of the trial of protesters at Democratic National Convention in 1968, a stain on American justice. Compare with the recent impeachment trial, another stain on justice. No standouts, but lots of big names in the ensemble cast. A-
• 2021-02-17: Those class action lawsuits against utilities will have a hard time getting anywhere because Republicans have been busier passing "lawsuit reform" than legislation requiring utilities to winterize their power generators.
• 2021-02-17: Wind turbines aren't the problem.
  Wind turbines aren't the problem.
  Wind turbines aren't the problem.
  The natural gas industry is most notably producing significantly less power than normal.
  But don't even blame it on natural gas.
  Blame the utility companies for not winterizing.
• 2021-02-17: Abbott is running for President. Beto is running for Governor. Now you know.
• 2021-02-17: I love it when dead people insult each other...and the woman wins the war of words. Molly Ivins on Rush Limbaugh:
• 2021-02-18: Judas and the Black Messiah (2021): Fred Hampton and FBI plant in Chicago Black Panthers. No heroes, only villains and victims. Movie lacks dramatic tension between the two title leads. Police and FBI take deserved hit to their reputation. 50 years on, it's the same old shit. B+
• 2021-02-18: I think it's unfair to blame Republican regulation of the energy industry in Texas for the blackouts. You shouldn't blame them for something they never tried.
• 2021-02-18: TIL what a "sneckdown" is. Learn that and many other reasons by @marklamster ought to be assigned as sole replacement for the entire DMN editorial board.
• 2021-02-22: I Care a Lot (2021): Rosamund Pike is a scam artist who preys on seniors. She accidentally crosses Peter Dinklage, a Russian drug dealer. The fight between them grows deadly. The plot is full of holes. Many dumb decisions are made by supposedly smart people. Still, watchable. C+
• 2021-02-23: Jim Ledford retirement: He's a good coach. Berkner has had some down years recently, but Berkner's best success in its history came with him as coach. And he did some things that showed he cared about more than just winning. I'll always admire him for that.
• 2021-02-24: The Lady and the Dale (TV 2021): Documentary about a con artist who claims to be the next Henry Ford, launching a 3-wheeled car with fatal design flaws. Oh, and she's a transgender woman. How did I never hear this story? Movie never finds the right balance to the many angles. B-
• 2021-02-25: The Wheel: Of Bonds and Taxes
• 2021-02-27: GOP senators let a president beat a coup rap. President Biden lets a Saudi prince beat a murder rap. Again, too big to fail. Do I have that right?
• 2021-02-27: Headline: "COVID-19 pharmacies absent in poor, Black neighborhoods." In my wealthy neighborhood, otoh, the *only* store within walking distance is a pharmacy.
• 2021-02-28: Burst pipes at Hall of State at Fair Park cause millions in damage. This after a recently completed $14 million restoration. WTH? At the very least, they could have shut off the water in anticipation of freezing temps. I hope every other historic bldg learns from this mistake.
• 2021-02-28: The stage for the CPAC convention that Donald Trump will use for his return to public speaking is in the design of a Nazi SS symbol, the Odal Rune.