8 views of the sunrise — 7:04 - 7:36.

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"A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby..."

"... the Los Angeles Times found," in "State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded" (L.A. Times).

Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year. The revelation comes amid growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze, which ignited Tuesday during catastrophically high winds.... 

It's shocking that a man in this mental condition is President of the United States.

I'm reading "Biden Calls Meta’s Ending of Fact-Checking Program ‘Shameful’/Responding to a question from a reporter, the president said he believed Americans 'want to tell the truth'" in the NYT.

You can see from the headline that the NYT is forefronting something he said that seems like something its readers will agree with. I think it's wrong and deceptive — shameful, really. He doesn't seem to understand the "community notes" approach to dealing with misinformation or the bias problem with the fact-checkers. 

But if you keep reading this article about yesterday's press conference, it gets worse and worse.

"[T]here would be clear advantages: to participate in the great drama rather than watching from across the border, to shape the imperium rather than negotiating a position in its shadow."

"If I were a young Canadian, especially one outside the Laurentian heartland, I think I would feel this vision’s pull. And yes, even if I were a young left-leaning anti-Trump Canadian — because what better way to serve those causes than to actually pull Washington leftward, to add your votes to the coalition that just failed to defeat Trump? That’s the reason that it would be somewhat strange for American conservatives to actually welcome Canadian accession at this time — because it would immediately destroy the Republican Party’s political advantage."

Writes Ross Douthat, in "O Canada, Come Join Us" (NYT).

Absurd prank.

I'm reading "State Department Defies Congress, Revives Infamous Censorship Office in Absurd Prank" by Matt Taibbi.

Miracle in the hellish landscape.

A miracle has happened. We managed to get to our property and our home, that we were told is gone forever, is still standing. In this hellish landscape “standing” is relative, but smoke and other damage is not like the utter destruction around us. The view from our deck area: pic.twitter.com/JZU2kTJC52

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 10, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg talks to Joe Rogan about his dissatisfaction with the "neutered" corporate world.

 

The clip I'm extracting is part of a long discussion of what jujitsu has done for Zuckerberg. He says:

I do think a lot of our society has become very, like, I don't know, I, I don't even know the right word for it, but it's, like, it's kinda, like, neutered or, like, emasculated and.. there's, like, a whole energy in [jujitsu] that I, I think it's, it is very healthy in the right balance. I mean, I think part of the reason, I mean, every one of the things that I enjoy about it is I feel like I can just like express myself.... It's like when you're running a company, people typically don't want to see you being like this ruthless person who's like, just like, I'm just gonna like crush the people I'm competing with.... I think in some ways when people see me competing in the sport, they're like, oh no, that's the real Mark.... It's like, that's the real one.... I think a lot of the corporate world is, is like pretty culturally neutered. And... I grew up, I have three sisters, no brothers, I have three daughters, no sons. So I'm like surrounded by girls and women like my, my whole life....

He masculinized himself through martial arts — or so he says to Joe Rogan. Later, they will discuss hunting... with bows and arrows. Zuck exults in his discovery of masculinity: 

So I think, I don't know, there's, there's something, the the, the kind of masculine energy I think is, is good....

Masculinity is good. There. He's said it. But he must hedge: 

And obviously, You know, society has plenty of that, but, but I think corporate culture was really like trying to get away from it. And I do think that there's just something, it's like, I don't know, the, these, all these forms of energy are good. And I think having a culture that like celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.

That goes on my list of things he may have discussed with Trump. Absurdly, this song played in my head:

Back to Zuck:

And that's, that has been, that has been a kind of a positive experience for me. Just like having a thing that I can just like do with my guy friends and... it's just like, we just like beat each other a bit. I dunno. It's, it's good....

Fight Club! 

And then, no surprise, Zuckerberg must acknowledge the women who have called for a reshaping corporate culture. He switches into a neutered version of himself and says what every non-jujitsu fiber of his being knows he must say:

It's, I like, I do think that I, if you're a a woman going into a company, it probably feels like it's too masculine. And it's like there isn't enough of the kind of the energy that that, that you may naturally have. And it probably feels like there are all these things that are set up that are biased against you. And that's not good either, because you want, you want women to be able to succeed and and, like, have companies that can unlock all the value from having great people no matter, you know, what their background or gender, you know.

Having mouthed the article of faith — women have a rightful place in corporations and corporations work better when they give women what is owed — Zuckerberg critiques the excesses of feminism:

But, but I think these things can all always go a little far. And I think it's one thing to say we want to be kind of like welcoming and make a good environment for everyone. And I think it's another to basically say that masculinity is bad. And I, I just think we kind of swung culturally to that part of the, the kind of the spectrum where, you know, it's all like, okay, masculinity is toxic. We have to like get rid of it completely. It's, like, no, like it's, both of these things are good, right? It's like you want, like, feminine energy, you want masculine energy. Like I, I think that that's like you're gonna have parts of society that have more of one or the other. I think that that's all good. But, but I do think the corporate culture sort of had swung towards being this somewhat more neutered thing. And I didn't really feel that until I got involved in martial arts, which I think is still a more, much more masculine culture....

Is Zuckerberg truly masculine? He longs for masculinity, but it's a longing that seems to arise from a feeling that there is too much femininity and that femininity is enervating. There's something strange — something Californian — about all this discussion of "energy" and something sad about feeling "surrounded by girls and women like my whole life" and seeking a cure in a fight club. Zuckerberg does have a father — and he seems like a fine man who was entirely present in the family. Maybe Zuckerberg is doing a performance for Joe Rogan (and for Trump). But all that jujitsu training sounds like a lot of work. I'll assume for now that his search for masculinity is sincere. And quite aside from his physique and his psyche, his thoughts on gender energy in the corporate world matter. Some of us might think the workplace should be gender neutral — just treat everyone as an individual! — but he seems to have some woo-woo ideas about the balance of masculine and feminine energy. 

Sunrise with new snow — 7:13, 7:23.

Mine were the first footprints:

Snow on the lake:

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"Two's a Crowd" — a New Yorker cover by Barry Blitt.

Nicely conceived and drawn.

The expressions are great — especially that one eye of Trump's.

"It felt like such an invasion — such a bizarre, rape of some kind. Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there."

Said Brooke Shields, quoted in "Brooke Shields Received a Vaginal Rejuvenation Without Consent" (NY Magazine).

The revelation comes on the occasion of a new memoir — called "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman." Shields is 59 years old, and the surgery happened when she was in her 40s and sought labia reduction surgery. We're told that afterwards the surgeon told her he "threw in a little bonus." Shields chose not to sue at the time and is choosing to work through what she calls "shame" by writing about it.

"Yes, they spent 4 years in the governor's mansion and 4 years at the White House, but the other 92 years, they spent at home in Plains, Georgia."

"And one of the best ways to demonstrate that they're regular folks is to take them by that home. First of all, it looks like they might have built it themselves. Second of all, my grandfather was likely to show up at the door in some 70s short shorts and crocs. And then you'd walk in the house and it was like thousands of other grandparents' house all across the South. Fishing trophies on the walls. The refrigerator, of course, was papered with pictures of grandchildren and then great grandchildren. Their main phone, of course, had a cord and was stuck to the wall in the kitchen like a museum piece. And demonstrating their Depression Era roots, they had a little rack next to the sink where they would hang Ziploc bags to dry...."

The Trump sentencing is in progress, with Trump participating remotely.

Here's a free-access link to the NYT live-blog of the sentencing.

Trump is alternating staring at the camera and glancing down as [the prosecutor Josh] Steinglass... says that the American public has the right to a presidency unencumbered by the continuing demands of any alternative sentence. But, Steinglass says, it’s important that Trump’s status as a felon be formalized, to pay due respect to the jury’s verdict....

Todd Blanche, Trump's lawyer... blasts the very legitimacy of the case. He says that it was “started for what amounted to a third time” after Trump announced his intention to run for re-election, repeating Trump’s frequent accusations of election interference....

Trump begins speaking. “This has been a very terrible experience. I think it’s been a tremendous setback” for New York and its court system, he says.... Trump says that people in the country got to see the case “first-hand” and then he won [the election].... Trump again complains about the gag order that he’s been under. “I assume I’m still under a gag order,” Trump says. Then he adds, “But the fact is, I’m totally innocent.”...

“I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much,” Trump concludes.

UPDATE: "Justice Merchan, as expected, sentences Trump to an unconditional discharge. He wishes Trump 'Godspeed' as he prepares to assume his second term in office. The judge leaves the bench."

Live argument in the TikTok case is about to begin.

You can stream it here.

LII has a good, easy-to-read summary of the arguments here. 

ADDED: The NYT live blogged it, here, wherethe headline is now: "Supreme Court Seems Poised to Uphold Law That Could Shut Down TikTok" (free access link). From the conclusion:

Even as several justices expressed concerns that the law was in tension with the First Amendment, a majority appeared satisfied that it was aimed at TikTok’s ownership rather than its speech.

The government offered two rationales for the law: combating covert disinformation from China and barring it from harvesting private information from Americans. The court was divided over whether the first justification was sufficient to justify it. But several justices seemed troubled by the possibility that China could use data culled from the app for espionage or blackmail....

Arguing on behalf of the government: Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the solicitor general, countered that the act does not violate the First Amendment. “All of the same speech that’s happening on TikTok could happen post-divestiture,” she said, adding, “All the act is doing is trying to surgically remove the ability of foreign adversary nation to get our data and to be able to exercise control over the platform.” ...

"I was doing the Rogan podcast and I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking because I knew my neighborhood was on fire."

"So I thought, I wonder if my place is still there. When I got home, sure enough, it wasn't there ... The vehicles were gone, everything. It was completely toasted. I've never seen such a complete burn. It's like someone did it on purpose to really destroy every aspect of it."

Said Mel Gibson...

NEW – Mel Gibson's Malibu Mansion Burned Down While He Was Filming Joe Rogan's Podcast

"I was doing the Rogan podcast and I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking because I knew my neighborhood was on fire. So I thought, I wonder if my place is still there. When I got… pic.twitter.com/TvknivxywB

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) January 10, 2025

... who did look oddly nervous on Joe Rogan...

Reflecting on his losses — in that first clip — he said it was all his "stuff — remember George Carlin, talking about his stuff?"

Mel: "I've been relieved of the burden of my stuff."

"The Supreme Court’s rejection... of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s request to be spared from being sentenced... was just a few lines long, and it made modest and practical points...."

Writes Adam Liptak, in "A Rebuke to Trump Provides a Telling Portrait of a Divided Supreme Court/Two Republican appointees, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett, joined the court’s three liberals in ordering the president-elect to face sentencing on Friday" (NYT).

If the votes of the three liberal justices were predictable, those of the two conservative members of the court who voted with them on Thursday — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett — were more surprising.

The chief justice was the author of not only the immunity decision but also of majority opinions in two other victories for Mr. Trump last term, one casting doubt on some of the federal charges against him and the other allowing him to seek another term despite
a constitutional provision barring insurrectionists from holding office.

His vote on Thursday was of a piece with the old Chief Justice Roberts.... 

Mr. Trump, for his part, has been a longtime critic of the chief justice. After the Affordable Care Act ruling, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that “I guess @JusticeRoberts wanted to be a part of Georgetown society more than anyone knew,” citing a fake handle. During his first presidential campaign, Mr. Trump called the chief justice “an absolute disaster.”...

“I’m not happy with the Supreme Court,” he said on Jan. 6, 2021, during his speech near the White House. “They love to rule against me.”...

And Trump loves to win. He fights for every win — fight, fight, fight — even when the arguments are weak. But he's better off losing some of the time. It shows that the Supreme Court acts independently of him and undercuts those who'd like to say the Court is in his pocket. So this is one of his losses. He can handle losses. He's quite good at doing that. It leveraged his re-election.

"Toys are a scam."

It's a great headline: "Toys are a scam. Kids keep asking for them. We keep buying them. And no one is playing with them" (WaPo).

But to say "toys are a scam" is to blame the manufacturers and sellers of toys. They're out to trick parents into buying things that are not needed and might be actively bad. But this puts the blame/"blame" with the parents:

Suzanne Gaskins, a cultural developmental psychologist, says it’s only in the past 50 years that we’ve started accumulating piles of toys. As she compared families in America with those in other societies, a couple of observations stood out. One is that our kids are less engaged in the adult world — regularly helping prepare food, say, or care for a household — and more focused on the kid-centric universe we’ve constructed to “maximize their development.” 

“The first goal for American parents is to let their kids be happy,” Gaskins says. “And not just happy in a contented sense, but happy in an active, almost hysterically happy sense.” 

For Mayan parents, by contrast, the “primary goal is that the kid is even-keeled — not particularly happy, not particularly sad.” 

Hysterically happy — that's something that can only persist for a moment, perhaps on Christmas morning. But one must revert to feeling normal. The keel will even. Imagine if your kids stayed Christmas-happy for months — gaga over new toys for days on end. You wouldn't think, great, they are maximizing their development.