Not Invented Here

 

 

San Francisco Blues

In San Francisco, a mounting housing crisis has given rise to a sprawling underground market where desperate residents turn to unregulated and unpermitted accommodations as legal options become increasingly scarce.

A recent lawsuit in Chinatown, which resulted in a fine exceeding $800,000 for the illegal conversion of single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, illustrates the widespread and entrenched nature of the problem.  This phenomenon, Calton argues, is not an inevitable failure of markets—but a direct consequence of overbearing regulation.

San Francisco’s restrictive zoning, discretionary permit system, and costly legalization process (with estimates suggesting that only 140 of the 50,000 unauthorized units have been legalized since 2014, at an average cost of $60,000 per unit) have driven housing into the shadows.

The article draws on broader economic theory to highlight how black markets form when legal trade is suppressed—fueling unsafe alternatives and stripping away safety regulations altogether. From outlaw “in-law suites” to a bizarre floating rental scheme involving an illegally moored tugboat, San Francisco’s housing underground spans from the commonplace to the extraordinary.

Ultimately, Calton insists, the solution lies in restoring free-market principles: secure property rights, transparent competition, and restrained regulation—not punitive measures alone. Without addressing the root causes of licensing burdens and arbitrary oversight, the city risks perpetuating the very illicit markets it seeks to eliminate.

 

In Arizona

Arizona has substantial salt resources: rock salt, potash, gypsum, and anhydrite. In fact, some of the deposits are among the thickest such deposits to be found anywhere in the world. Industrial salt mining occurs in the Phoenix basin. Salt deposits near Phoenix and Holbrook are used as a geologic repository for storing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). https://library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/AGSC-1552426849528-656

 

Business

I’ve always thought that it’s really tough to succeed in business. You’ve got to worry about government regulations, a shortage of dependable employees, the 20% of customers who are Karens or Karen-adjacent, and brutal competition. Grocery stores have profit margins between 1-2%; half of restaurants are out of business within 5 years. If you’re a small business, the big boys will try to crush you. If you’re a big business, the ChiComs will steal your IP and undercut you.

So yeah, business is tricky. (It’s undoubtedly not government, where you have to embezzle millions and rape a nun in front of many witnesses to lose your job, and a program or department can fail for many decades, and still have eternal life.) You’ve got to put substantial stakes at risk and work your butt off, and you still might fail.

I’ve been watching our culture for the last five years or so, and I’m starting to ask myself a new question: How hard is it NOT to ruin your business?

Consider Bud Light. You’ve got a built-in audience of semi-drunk frat boys and former frat boys who will continue to buy your product out of a kind of tipsy muscle memory. You’re on autopilot. Just keep turning out middling beer and hammering checks.

Then, you hire some woke management who puts an AWFL (affluent white female liberal) in charge of marketing, and she starts by saying that frat boys are disgusting, and we want a new audience. And she hires a ridiculous boner-killing he/she to call into question the masculinity of anybody seen drinking Bud Light in public. And billions of dollars fall off your market evaluation overnight.

Or say you’re Jaguar. British vibes, sexy lines; even the ridiculous Brit mis-pronunciation of your name (jag-you-are) is cool, somehow. (For the proper pronunciation, check the Jacksonville NFL franchise: jag-wahr. You’re welcome, Nigel.) So do you run an ad campaign with some James Bond-looking guy in the driver’s seat, with an attractive female in the passenger seat, giving him a look like she can’t wait for him to get her home so she can throw herself on him like JB Pritzker on a deep-dish pizza? No. You hire a bunch of androgynous freaks with rhombus-shaped haircuts who look like the casting call for that old SNL sketch about the German new-age music show. (“Now is the time on Sprockets ven ve dance!”) (Google it.) And you shoot them on a sound stage modeled on a Salvador Dali nightmare on Planet Teletubby, with a soundtrack from an Eastern Bloc Devo cover band. And you never show a Jaguar for even one second! Annnnnddddd… market share collapse.

Or how about Victoria’s Secret? Talk about a bulletproof built-in market! You’re shooting for the 97% of men who will drive into the back of a city bus or fork a piece of steak right into their own eye if an attractive female walks by wearing a lot more clothes than a Victoria’s Secret model. And 97% of women who want to appeal to them. For decades, VS followed a tried-and-true approach: pay 20-something genetic freak supermodels to eat like a rabbit and be photographed with six square inches of fabric covering the points of most interest, and then back up a Brinks truck to the cash register and watch millions of customers throw heavy bags of cash into it. But along come the AWFLs and the misogynistic gay guys, with their brilliant plans to fix something that isn’t just NOT broken, it’s un-freaking-breakable. “Let’s get some morbidly obese women whom men would pay to put on some clothes, and shoehorn them into some slinky unmentionables. Make sure the camera crews wear mylar face-shields lest a thong or garter belt succumbs to physics, snaps with a rifle-shot sound, and takes out an eye.” Then another one says, “I’ll see your Rosie O’Donnell gambit, and raise you a Dylan Mulvaney. That’s right, let’s strap some mentally unstable men into that lingerie. And before you can ask, NO, we’re not going to photoshop out their shaving shadows or tell-tale testicles.”That’s a thing that happened in the world. Victoria’s Secret kicked Gisele Bundchen’s and Heidi Klum’s firm behinds and voluptuous breasts to the curb, replacing them with Admiral “Rachel” Levine in a lacy Babydoll contraption, and a Lizzo look-alike in a pair of critically unstable boy shorts. It was all bulges – either phallic or adipose – as far as the eye could see and the gorge could rise.

And Sports Illustrated followed suit (!), turning the once-coveted swimsuit edition into the visual equivalent of Chinese water torture, without even the chance to catch a glimpse of a random Fang Fang in her skivvies.

Or how about the NFL? Football is an unscrew-up-able product, right? It’s America’s sport, and the competition is not particularly close. Your audience is essentially straight males and their straight female companions; a majority of them are white, and the kind of non-racists who will happily root for a predominantly black league. The vast majority of them are politically conservative, and the few others are apolitical. And you want to talk about loyal? The Bears have sucked for a generation, but Chicago still supports them. Cleveland hasn’t been decent since Jim Brown was a teenager, and that town comes out in a snowstorm to watch a mathematically eliminated team play in a blizzard in the first week of December. So what does the NFL do? They try to force whiny leftist politics down the throats of their rock-ribbed conservative audience! They dress their players in pink and deck them out in “stop breast cancer” gear.

As everybody knows, the top two causes of breast cancer are complicated blocking schemes and a blitzing defense, I guess? “Did you hear about Janice in accounting? She just had to have a double mastectomy.” “Oh no!” “Yep. Apparently, she had a lot of exposure to pulling guards and trap blocks on stunting defensive ends, so…”

You have a chance to highlight a player like Tim Tebow – studly, telegenic, proudly Christian, and patriotic. He participates in various charity initiatives, including organizing prom events for children with disabilities. He’s the closest thing to Jesus ever to put on cleats – if Jesus could bench press four Mamdanis, each holding 100 pounds that they couldn’t lift by themselves. So does the NFL brass thank their lucky stars and put Tebow on the cover of Madden 2011? No, they rend their garments and cry out, “Give us Barabbas!” And by Barrabbas, they mean America-hating, whitey-hating, but raised by white step parents, far-left problem-child Colin Kaepernick!

Then the league slathers the field with insulting sayings like “End Racism,” as if a bunch of white guys cheering for guys named (I’m not making these up) Barkevious Mingo, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, and Dontayvion Wicks need to be reminded not to be racist. And after all that…flamboyantly gay male cheerleaders. And zero NFL fans want to see that!

Which brings us to Cracker Barrel. Oh, Cracker Barrel. Another franchise that is not broken. So naturally, some woke doofi are intent on fixing it. They, too, have steered into the skid of “how can we remake ourselves into something that our customers will hate?” And I just don’t get it. They’ve seen what happened to Bud Light, Jaguar, and a dozen others. And yet they still said, “Hold my sweet tea, and watch this.” They took their familiar logo – which consisted of an old white guy sitting next to an old barrel – and they removed both the cracker and the barrel. And replaced them with a generic black-letters-on-orangish-background logo saying, “Cracker Barrel.” Which looks like it could just as well say, “Dollar General.” Or “DeWalt Tools.” Or “Federated Waste Management.” And after a brutal roll-out during which they’ve received 99% negative feedback, the corporate chieftains – none of whom I’m guessing could bait a hook, load a shotgun, or tell grits from Shinola – are sticking with their idiotic re-brand…maybe. Then again, word is that they have reverted back while keeping the sterile, stupid, newly imagined interior.

Bud Light, Jaguar, the NFL, Cracker Barrel…. They’re all treating their customers the same way Democrats have been treating their voters for the last 4 years or so. The voters say, “We want a secure border, and more cops on the beat, and no more dudes in women’s sports and locker-rooms, and lower inflation, and cheaper gas.” And the Democrat bosses say, “Oh yeah? Well, here’s a bunch of MS-13 gangbangers for your neighbors, and lawless streets, and Will Thomas is going to shower with your daughters and whip them in the pool, and you’ll eat $20 eggs and pay $6 for a gallon of gas, and you’ll LIKE IT! No crackers for you, and the barrel is empty! Now watch Dylan Mulvaney put on makeup and pretend to be aroused!! You inbred hicks!”

 

Clothes Make the Man?

I usually wear a suit, but for a 25-hour journey home, I opt for comfortable clothes—photo taken in the VIP lounge at Baghdad International Airport. I ended up staying in a hotel in Doha overnight on the way out. Hopefully, I can avoid that on the way back. It was incredibly hot AND HUMID in Qatar.

***

Bullet Points:

** Something to note for the historical record. Baghdad is more peaceful than Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and most American inner cities. Though there are reports to the contrary, I have had considerable face time with Prime Minister Mohammed al Sudani, his closest advisors, key cabinet ministers, including the Iron Lady (Finance Min), and Ali Nazar al-Shatari, Director General of Iraqi SOMO. You could call me a naif or an easily swayed idiot, and you have the right to your opinion, but I found them all to be sincere, intelligent, and firmly backing MAGA. You will see some big things coming from this direction in the upcoming weeks and months—tectonic changes in a very good way. (your favorite blogger, right)

It looks as if I’ll be in London next week for work, at the same time as LSP will be visiting the King or Duke Somebody there. We chatted, and I plan to join him at one of his Brit Clubs and order Beef Wellington and roasted potatoes. I need to pack a blue blazer with an ST-5 Crest or similar on the pocket, along with mini-medals, in the style of Old Blighty. I was seconded to 62 Commando in 1975, and I have stuff from that era in my footlocker, so maybe I’ll go in that direction.

** Yachting with EdB.

** From Larry Correia (opinion): It isn’t about deploying the National Guard. The problem is democrats suck at basic governance in a manner that invites violence and chaos. It’s that old trope: inside you, there are two wolves, and the one you feed is the one that wins. The democrat wolf is fucking retarded, and thinks getting accosted by street shitting schizophrenics, having everything locked up at Walgreens, and getting beaten and molested on the subway is just everyday living. You could deploy the Cub Scouts and crack down on crime, provided you don’t let democrats ever run shit. You get what you tolerate. Democrats tolerate dumb shit. That’s their fundamental makeup, and the ones in charge don’t give a shit about the consequences. They don’t live among the peasants!

** The most Russian man in the world. Nostrovia, my friends. (note: “Nostrovia” is not an actual Russian word but an English mispronunciation of the Russian phrase “Na zdoróvye” (На здоровье), meaning “to your health!” or “cheers!” and is a common drinking toast in English-speaking contexts. In Russian, “Na zdoróvye” is typically used to respond to a “thank you” (e.g., for a meal or drink) with “you’re welcome,” rather than as a drinking toast, where the correct phrase would be Za zdoróvye (За здоровье). 

 

A Riviera!

Washington Post: “The Trump administration and international partners are discussing proposals to build a ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ on the rubble of Gaza. A postwar plan for Gaza circulating within the Trump administration would turn it into a trusteeship administered by the United States for at least 10 years while it is transformed into a gleaming tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing and technology hub.

The 38-page prospectus seen by The Washington Post envisions at least a temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population, either through what it calls “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted, secured zones inside the enclave during reconstruction. The trust would offer landowners a digital token in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, which can be used to finance a new life elsewhere or eventually redeemed for an apartment in one of six to eight new “AI-powered, smart cities” to be built in Gaza.

Each Palestinian who chooses to leave would be given a $5,000 cash payment and subsidies to cover four years of rent elsewhere, as well as a year of food.”

(VM comment: No Middle Eastern country wants the Palestinians to settle there, but Ireland has opened the door. They’ve become very woke there, even as Germany, the UK, and other European nations are trying to divest themselves of “human lice.”) I’m sure that the Palestinians living in new ghettos from Derry to Dublin would lovingly embrace their hosts. It’s how they roll. Would Ireland also accept the two million or so Palestinians living in refugee camps in Jordan? Why not? I’m sure that Jordan would pay the Irish to take them.

 

TDA

In an interesting bit of synchronicity, on the very same day that a federal appeals court declared that President Trump can’t deport Tren de Aragua gang members as alien invaders because we’re not at war. They’re not a dangerous invading force. Trump ordered a military strike on a drug-filled boat in international waters that was heading for the US, killing 11 Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists on board.

Trump posted on Truth Social, “TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere…No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this is a message that “the President is going to be on offense against drug cartels.” Let’s hope it’s also a message to certain judges that it’s not their job to determine what constitutes a national security threat.

 

Identify the Ship

1

 

2

My favorite from the Kriegsmarine in WW2

Hint: The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; the ship, alternately referred to as a battleship and a battlecruiser, was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets. Plans to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets were never carried out—she and her sister menaced Allied shipping.

 

3

Note, Iraqi flag…

 

 

End