"Durham coming forward and dropping this before election can't be called a political operation now because a PRIVATE CITIZEN who was in no way affiliated with his criminal investigation is the one who went public with this evidence. Another intriguing fact: Schrage says he plans to reveal more in the next several weeks. Schrage isn't just throwing the spotlight on a desperate-to-hide Halper; he's also revealing the roles other members of the Cambridge Four played in this: Sir Richard Dearlove,Christopher Andrew and of course Christopher Steele. He's comparing his "Cambridge Four" directly to the infamous "Cambridge Five", the Soviet spy ring inside MI:6 that did incalculable damage for decades." more...
We were talking about sayings of Christ. I was thinking about this one today. “ whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Christ didn’t say you can’t build a house on sand. Apparently you can. He also didn’t say that the person who did his word was able to build (or got) a bigger or more opulent house. No such distinction. What he said was that when the storm comes, that is when the difference becomes manifest.
The official announcement came Wednesday morning: No speakers, including Biden, would be coming to Milwaukee.
More than a year of planning and tens of millions of dollars went into preparing for a large-scale convention that would bring 50,000 visitors to Milwaukee.
"The claim that 50% to 70% of the black-white difference is due to genetics is virtually the same as that concluded by Rushton and Jensen in 2005, when they did a review of 30 years of research on the topic."
Fun facts:
-- data is for US teenagers (Mean age=14.2 years), for adults, add about 20-some-percent to the estimates of heritability of variance of IQ; Fig 3, pg 252.
-- Black/White IQ difference was measured 14.72 IQ points, still about 1 standard deviation (9421 genotyped participants, 55.8% European-American, 32.9% African-American, and 11.4% Other)
-- Black+White mixed race people average about 80% genetically white due to assortative mating.
At one point, I even recall telling Halper that taking Flynn out would be like “beheading” Trump’s team. I had no idea I had been unintentionally aiding a spy preparing the guillotine and helping lead Flynn to exactly such a beheading.
I'm writing to solicit the opinions of the Althouse commentariat. I attend church at a Methodist church in suburban East coast. The pastor and the church have announced an intention that the church should enter into discussions revolving around a book on the subject of "anti-racism". The lead quote on the discussion is "you can't be not racist; you can only be anti-racist or racist." I'm troubled by this, and I don't intend to participate.
My question for you all is how aggressive I should be in declining participation. The easy option is just for me to say, "No this is not for me." But, if pressed, I think I would say something like the following. So: is my reasoning below flawed? Or is it unclear? Or are there points I should add?
I have read and heard on the news a lot about the “anti-racist” movement, and I have a deep concern that this movement bears a strong resemblance to a cult. Cults and the anti-racist movement have the following things in common.
1. They both advocate an us vs. them dichotomy. The “saved” different from the “damned”. Being “inside the tent” or “outside the tent”. 2. The “other” -- those outside our group – are not just wrong, they are a danger to us. 3. Initially, you are promised that group has broadly acceptable goals – like fighting racism. These broadly acceptable tenets serve as the basis of the orthodox credo. 4. But elements will be added to that orthodox credo. And in order to be “us” you need to embrace all elements of the credo. 5. You can only be saved, or be a member of our group, if you publicly denounce your own past sins. 6. You should try to proselytize – to bring others into the group. 7. Those who refuse to join us, you must remember, are a danger to us. They need to be shunned or punished in some way. They are heretics. 8. So points 3, 4, and 7 form my strongest objection. I object to the use of social pressure (bullying and name calling) to convince me to adopt certain political points of view. 9. Especially, in this context, and something I find especially objectionable, is the threat of being labeled “racist”, and to use that term to describe any deviation from far left orthodoxy as “racist”: wear a Covid mask or you’re racist; support open borders, or you’re racist; support defunding the police or you’re racist. (All of these are things I have read or heard; it would be easy to add other examples.) 10. At some point you will be asked to buy printed materials, or to attend seminars, or pay for speakers. Those expenditures will enrich the leaders of the cult/movement. And you may also be asked to repeat certain catch-phrases in unison.
" Looks like the DNC convention in MKE will be DOA. 'We kept trying': 2020 DNC organizers adjusted again and again, but ultimately could not outflank pandemic"
Monday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Almost 1,000"
Tuesday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Surpasses 1,000"
Wednesday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Continues To March Past 1,000"
I base that on 2 reported deaths bringing the total to 998 today. The 7 day moving average is 7 deaths per day.
For perspective, WI Deaths/M is 171. For the USA it is currently 500/M. New Jersey is 1795/M. WI's population is 5.8M. At 500/M that would be 2900 deaths. WI is about 30% of the USA rate. At 1795/M that would be 10,411 deaths (New Jersey). WI is about 10% of the New Jersey rate.
Our neighbor to the west - Minnesota is 301/M. WI would have to be at 1746 deaths to match that rate. Illinois to the south is 619/M. WI would have to be at 3590 deaths to match that rate.
" Looks like the DNC convention in MKE will be DOA. 'We kept trying': 2020 DNC organizers adjusted again and again, but ultimately could not outflank pandemic"
@alanmarkus: So credibly accused rapist Bill Clinton will appear virtually when the Democrats nominate credibly accused rapist Joe Biden. Perfect. Can they get Jussie Smollet to speak too?
There's an "ABC Movie of the Week" on right now. It really was an excellent series. And many of the movies had that some kind of look and feel.
Tonight's movie -- Duel, first aired November 13, 1971. Starring Dennis Weaver (whom I've been watching in some early episodes of Gunsmoke) and Steven Spielberg's feature-length film directorial debut.
I think I may have seen it when it originally ran. Excellent thriller about a mild-mannered man and a psycho-murdering truck driver.
Another great and memorable film was Crowhaven Farm.
August 9, Nagasaki Day. Finally, the horror and slaughter and carnage of WW2 comes to an end. It's finished, after 6 years. Should the bombs have been used? It's difficult to imagine how they could not have been. After 60 million deaths, the world was sick of conflict. To end it, almost instantly, was the righteous thing to do.
First, HCQ to carry out border control. Then Zn, to reduce viral viability, AZ to control inflammation and opportunistic pathogens. Finally, Ivermectin, another affordable, low risk prophylactic that prevents SARS-CoV-2's Posterity. Planned Pathogen offers many affordable, available choices to mitigate disease progression and reduce excess deaths.
H361 (100%): Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child [Warning Reproductive toxicity]
Rather good in vivo results and a known risk profile for the general population, and especially childbearing mothers, who are choosing for two or more.
Ex-lover Willie Brown tells the S.F. Chronicle that Kamala Harris should say no to vice presidency.
"If Joe Biden offers the vice presidential slot to Sen. Kamala Harris, my advice to her would be to politely decline.
Harris is a tested and proven campaigner who will work her backside off to get Biden elected. That said, the vice presidency is not the job she should go for — asking to be considered as attorney general in a Biden administration would be more like it."
Willie should know her well enough to know that she is the best choice for the AG job should Susan Rice becomes the Veep candidate. He also should know that her fastest way to the Presidency is to become VP to await Joe Biden's demise.
But Biden can count to 50, so he also needs Harris to remain in the Senate. This logic also takes Tammy Duckworth and Lizzie Warren out of the picture as well. Oh well - Lizzie "You can call me Betsy" Warren took an axe and gave her grandpa forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her grandma forty-one.
I stopped 2 days ago for milk- like I often do. Ignored Dictator Cuomo's unconstitutional mask edict, like I always do. The outside window for ice cream was open. As I walked out the door there was a mother and her little girl there, probably not 5 yet. Suddenly, a panicked screech- "Mommy! That man doesn't have a mask on!" And kept screaming it over and over. hiding behind her mother pointing at me. Mother had the good sense not to say anything to me. "It's all right honey, we're outside..." over and over in a smoothing voice as the little girl kept screaming. Got into my car and drove away.
Odds of a 5 year old dying from covid- essentially zero. Close enough that calculating the odds isn't worth it. Yet she was screaming, frightened as could be- because someone wasn't wearing a mask!
For all you pro-maskers out there- how do you justify frightening children like this? It's absolutely inexcusable to instill such fright into a child. IMHO- it's child abuse. Making a child fear something that has so far proven basically harmless to HEALTHY children. What the Bible says was discussed earlier. 2 Corinthians 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. I wouldn't be looking forward to judgement day were I instilling fear into children over nothing.
First, the top individual tax rate for income above $400,000 would be raised to 39.6% from 37%. Then long-term capital gains and qualified dividends would be taxed at the ordinary income-tax rate of 39.6% on incomes above $1 million plus an investment-income surtax of 3.8%, bringing the total to 43.4% Finally, the step-up in basis for capital-gains taxation at death would be eliminated.
The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital from static to more dynamic situations, the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital and thereby the strength and potential for growth of the economy.
The mayor has lost control of Chicago. Major looting last night downtown and near north side. My wife is visiting our home there and says it sounds like a war zone with all the helicopters. Expressway entrances shut down. Bridges up.
To "h" -- I finally had to leave the church I had attended for over 20 years and where my sons were baptized. The bigotry against classical liberalism and logic had become so intense, far-reaching among the congregation, and bitter that my wife and I felt actively disliked, if not hated, whenever we expressed any thought or opinion. On almost any subject!
Say your piece and say it loudly. It is the only hope. Maybe there are still a few other non-sheeple in your congregation who will speak up, though I doubt it. Good luck. I am still several years into finding a new church and I do not have a permanent one. All the Protestant denominations around here are the same. Mindless, politicized, smug and self-congratulatory about their stupidities.
First the coldness hurt. Then it became motivating. But when it was clear that we weren't making even a dent, I gave the minister a piece of my mind and walked away. He could not stand to hear it, btw.
If I said anything to him aloud, he would say we need another place to talk more freely. When I made an appointment to see him, he said he agreed with some of it and wanted to have an open church, an open forum. That I should continue to dialogue with him. But when I emailed a comment on a church action, he issued a statement to the whole congregation that email was not the proper way to communicate. So I couldn't email my views. I couldn't say them to him after a service or whenever we met around the church. I attended a weekly scripture-reading group; issues arose directly out of the text. Nope, cannot get into that discussion here. Stupid me, it took me two years of this to realize that he simply refused to hear any viewpoint but his own mushy liberal one and would make a new rule any time someone like me -- I have often wondered if there were others; there had to have been one or two -- spoke up and that new rule would ban whatever we did, whatever we said.
Just tell them this topic isn’t in the Gospel. I was at a Mass where the priest went on about CAGW and illegal immigration. I just ignored him because I was educated by the Jesuits.
-- Black/White IQ difference was measured 14.72 IQ points, still about 1 standard deviation [from Fernandinande]
That and only that is "systemic racism" in a society where intelligence is the primary requirement for most employment.
There are other societies. Maybe you remember one where large size dominated smaller size. Where intelligence was often a detriment, not an asset. It is called childhood. If we lived in perpetual childhood, nerdy brainiacs like Bill Gates would be regularly humiliated, beaten up, and made to serve their lords, by the names of Michael Brown and George Floyd.
Also to "h" -- your presumably Christian Church follows a guide book that says "All men are brothers." Anti-racism, per John McWhorter, is a religious movement in which white people seek absolution. Doesn't do so much for African Americans.
Another nostrum from that guidebook: "By their actions shall ye know them."
Does your city allow low-income housing so Black children can attend its good schools? Mine doesn't, and I've been saying that I disapprove of this when I talk with neighbors.
I don’t know about black IQ, but certainly there are a lot of people with lower than average IQs who still want and need gainful employment, and the plan to send all of these jobs overseas because the people in San Francisco, Chicago, Manhattan, and DC will rake in money just as fast and flood the remaining labor market with illegals has been the primary cause of income inequality.
Blogger Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...I agree with Trump, he should be added to Mt Rushmore. Should be gold plated as well, with some leopard skins somewhere.
Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
"For all you pro-maskers out there- how do you justify frightening children like this? It's absolutely inexcusable to instill such fright into a child.”
How do you justify what they have done in Sweden, which is to deprive a generation of children of the joy and connections with the past that grandparents bring? My grandmother was born in 1883, It enriched my life to have known her when I was a child. Kids don’t care about the masks, it’s you who have the emotional problems with them. You are angry about the virus, and you take it out on the masks, like kicking a puppy when your boss yelled at you.
Thumping your Bible to justify your disregard for the health of others is a nice touch though. That’s what Jesus would have done, I am sure.
h, the Methodist church traded Christian advocacy for leftist dogma in the 80's and 90's. I left it when our bishop and our pastor preached unilateral nuclear disarmament from the pulpit for the third time. I told my pastor at the time that anyone who could be so cavalier on a subject of that importance was too irresponsible to be entrusted with the religious guidance of my family.
Danno said... Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
A fountain would be unnecessary. A little mushroom would be adequate.
h, my priest at my regular parish has been under the mistaken impression that all this turmoil is about civil rights. I think he has secret fantasies about marching with MLK (he would have been too young at the time). He doesn't realize it's all a big power struggle. He's only human and has a lot of other good qualities. I just don't have much patience for it right now. Fortunately for me, there's another Catholic Church just down the road where the priests don't necessarily equate Christianity with leftist SJW causes. Try to find another more orthodox Christian church.
Kind of related to h's question, but not right on point - this is not my area of law, so excuse me if this is a stupid question. Is making people go to these cult-like HR seminars based on the proposition that all White people are racist etc creating a hostile work environment for White people? Could forcing people to go be actionable?
h, the Methodist church is splitting in half, and it seems pretty clear on which side yours is going to land. My parents were a 60-year members until they received a letter telling them that the Church would not just tolerate but celebrate transgenderism in all its mutations. You won't have a productive discussion with the people in charge - they want you gone.
Professional lady - of course the racism HR seminars create a hostile work environment - that's what they are intended to do, and there is no other purpose. Yes, you could take legal action but you'd have to pay for it out of your unemployment check.
“Honor thy father and thy mother” unless they become and inconvenient drag, it it certainly doesn’t apply to grandma and grandpa! Oh, that’s right, you don’t want to kill grandma, you just won’t lift a finger to protect her should something unfortunate befall her, you will go so far as to protest that it wasn’t your fault and you didn’t want it to happen and anybody who says that you *wanted* to kill grandma was a heartless liar! You just don’t care very much about her, that’s different than actively wanting her dead.
I didn’t know that the New Testament had obsoleted the Ten Commandments, but you learn something new every day here on Althouse.
I get it, in ARM’s world of magical thinking, God bestows large penises on those fit to rule over us. It’s like that Jezebel bit on naked drawings of Disney men, all of the good guys were hung, and the bad guys were, well, passed over in that department. If God neglects to give a man a large penis, that’s a warning to others, a sign that that person is probably evil and best avoided. This is the kind of thinking that we right wingers will never understand when even shop teachers on the left understand it.
Or it could just be that ARM is just one more unthinking member of the cult.
My bet is that if you told the kids that wearing a mask would help to keep grandma healthy, it wouldn’t scare them and they would be proud to do it. But magical thinking seems to be the bane of the human race. If we get rid of the masks, the virus will go away!
It’s hard to figure out who is stupider, the right or the left.
hawkeyedjb - Makes me glad I'm not starting out in my career. I don't think I could put up with it. I feel sorry for the young people starting out. One mistake, one awkward phrase, one false accusation or rumor and that's it for you. Someone is going to sue sooner or later.
karen in vermont, it appears you are losing it as you think masks are the cat's meow for covid-19 protection. Is that Bernie guy's proximity and popularity addling your brain?
OK, Danno, why don’t you point out some of the errors in this article. Once you have proven your ability to discuss the matter as an adult, I will engage. It’s a long article, and will probably tax your attention span so I don’t expect you to read it, so feel free to continue to bleat your uninformed opinion,
Here are a couple of excerpts for people able to pay attention longer than fifteen seconds.
Observational studies, models, and meta-analyses did some of the work that randomized control trials could not. The vast number of small studies of mask use against other diseases didn’t, by themselves, answer the question, but statistically tied together they came close. “The data in meta-analyses show that in those places that use masks, there was a substantial diminution of infection,” Fauci says. “Obviously it’s multifaceted, it’s more than just masks, but clearly there was a strong association.”
There still aren’t randomized, controlled trials of mask wearing against Covid-19—how would you even do that?— but some of the newer work on masks does get more specific. In June, researchers at the University of Iowa collected data on when, exactly, states with mask-wearing mandates instituted their rules. Fifteen states and Washington, DC, had done that before May 8. Then the researchers looked at those states’ subsequent growth curves in Covid-19 infections. The results were striking. Even controlling for other social-distancing measures, and without looking at how many people actually wore masks at an individual level, the curve started to bend downward as soon as a week later. Three weeks later, the daily growth rate in states with mask mandates was down 2 percent. “It's not about the types of masks. We don’t even measure individual use of masks. We look at whether states have mandated people should use them in public and compare them before and after,”
Then there’s this:
In May, a team led by Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, had 246 people—all confirmed to be infected with at least one respiratory virus—exhale into a breath-collecting device called a Gesundheit-II. Half wore surgical masks and half did not. Then the team tested respiratory droplets, the air they exhaled, and took throat and nose swabs looking for viruses. The results, again, were striking. The masks stopped droplets containing influenza virus, but not aerosol particles. They did little to stop either in people infected with a rhinovirus—a cause of the common cold. But when it came to seasonal coronaviruses (not SARS-CoV-2), the masks stopped both sizes of particles. “We detected coronavirus in respiratory droplets and aerosols in 3 of 10 (30%) and 4 of 10 (40%) of the samples collected without face masks, respectively, but did not detect any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols collected from participants wearing face masks,” the researchers wrote.
There is other stuff on asymptomatic transmission. “It’s real, and it’s spectacular.”
"Fernandinande said... This is an example of what the nyt and its ilk call "scientific racism", namely science about racial issues; it's bad."
I'm wondering where James Thompson got his PhD. His Linked-In Education section mentions Keele University BA 1968 and St. Georges College, Buenos Aires which is an upper-class high school. These might be called two standard deviations below a PhD. Anybody know any more about Thompson's educational attainments?
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said... "Danno said... Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
A fountain would be unnecessary. A little mushroom would be adequate."
You missed your chance to get a smart handbag or some luggage yesterday. Your friends looted a Louis Viton store on the mag-mile. Don't tell Howard.
tim in vermont said... "A little mushroom would be adequate.”
Probably would suffice to represent ARM, a whole big statue is unnecessary, and of course undeserved.
I get it, in ARM’s world of magical thinking, God bestows large penises on those fit to rule over us. It’s like that Jezebel bit on naked drawings of Disney men, all of the good guys were hung, and the bad guys were, well, passed over in that department. If God neglects to give a man a large penis, that’s a warning to others, a sign that that person is probably evil and best avoided. This is the kind of thinking that we right wingers will never understand when even shop teachers on the left understand it.
Or it could just be that ARM is just one more unthinking member of the cult.
ARM undoubtedly has a small penis, is a worthless low creature, and conflates the two. (I have a large penis and am an excellent fellow, but understand that there is no correlation.)
People (Men) with small penises are, unless someone offers "evidence," the same as other men. Without basis for comparison the only concerns are, does it make water, does it make issue. If you're not big enough for some chick - either explore certain positions and other techniques, or find a woman with a smaller hoo-ha.
ARM would be a wormlike creature whatever the characteristics of his, her, or its genetalia.
Apparently, some AntiFA “commie scum” were beat up yesterday (I think) in Fort Collins, CO, by a group supporting the police. I think that the “commie scum” tag is going to stick (since AntiFA is, indeed, Marxist, and claims descent from the original AntiFA set up by Stalin to fight Hitler’s Nazis in Germany). The funny part is that the people who showed up to support the police, in a different day and time, likely would not have supported the police. A lot of them looked like they probably had Harleys in their garages, and plain just liked to rumble. Now, instead of including the cops in their rumbles, they are defending them. Physically defending them, with overwhelming firepower (and probably some knives) should the AntiFA commie scum pull theirs. They started escorting the AntiFA commie scum away from their pro police demonstration, intimidating their opponents by their size and numbers. But at some point, it went physical. It may have been one of the pro police escorts being pushed out of his wheelchair. Not clear. All of a sudden, they was a General melee, but with repeated shouts from the pro police group of “no weapons”. Then, all of a sudden, shouts of “commie has a knife”, which was promptly appropriated from him. Great fun on their part. Not so much fun for the commie scum left bruised and maybe a bit bloody.
My immediate thought was that the guy in the wheelchair was probably a military veteran. The pro police contingent were carrying and waiving American flags, and even using them to poke the retreating commie scum back in line. My guess is that a lot of them were vets (probably should stick with “veterans”, since the multi state veterinarian school is in FC - which is great if your cat needs cataract surgery, and you need it to be cheap).
My point with this, is that we are seeing the formation of quasi paramilitary groups on the right, in order to fight and protect the rest of the peaceful citizenry from the Marxist AntiFA and BLM shock troops on the left. No surprise that there are a lot of veterans involved - they have already done their stint protecting us by their military service, and this is just a continuation of that. They won’t be very effective in the deep blue big cities, because the left wing politicians will force the police to go hard on them (while allowing their commie scum shock troops to riot without hindrance). But I think that this is an accelerating trend, and may just immunize the rest of us, to a great extent, from the Marxist violence that Dem politicians seem to be embracing, wherever they can get away with it.
---Feel free to refute with evidence and logic. [TimVt]
Their bias appears periodically throughout in choice of language, references to "Trump," and the awful concluding paragraph.
They also erroneously claim other countries with "good science" and good "leaders" use masks; but actually, mask usage varies. Just read that Denmark, with very low death rate, does not encourage mask use and may even discourage it. Scandinavian countries do not seem to be big mask-wear boosters.
I wear a mask inside stores. I think -- think -- that there is some protective benefit to me or to others from using a mask indoors. I doubt that there is any benefit outdoors except in some bizarre setting with no natural ventilation, for some reason. But that article did little to convince me on the mask usage on any level.
'Their bias appears periodically throughout in choice of language’
So that’s how you evaluate evidence? You look solely at the motivations of writer. My point is that wherever mask mandates have been implemented in the U.S, transmission has gone down. There are too many variables to compare us to Denmark and Norway, were masks have been “recommended” and populations are far more compliant.
I have never once suggested that people wear masks outdoors unless they are forced into close proximity. You will notice that there is a case of transmission from running partners, but the article makes the point that this is about the only contact traced case of outdoor transmission. We all know, however, that cases went up after the riots, err, I mean peaceful protests in California, Texas, etc.
There is clear evidence that masks impede exhalation of particles and probably lower viral dose for people breathing in the virus, and there is clear evidence that non symptomatic people spread the disease and clear evidence that mask mandates bend the transmission rate down.
Every anti-mask article I see ignores such evidence.
"But that article did little to convince me on the mask usage on any level.”
Of course not, because you have made it a political matter and so can’t be convinced no matter what the evidence. Just like trying to convince Inga that Russiagate was a fraud. She doesn’t even care that the “Russian Spy” who supposedly had all of this information in the dossier was actually a Ukrainian who worked for a Democrat think tank in Washington, DC. She still doesn’t care. It’s not about convincing the committed like yourself, it’s about pointing out to others that your P.O.V is in fact not based on any kind of evidence whatsoever.
Thanks to Professional lady, Hawkeyedjb, jaydub, Dave Begley, Crazy Jane, Kai Akker who all responded kindly to my early request for advise. I want to be engaged with logic and empirical data on questions of policy; I don't want to be bullied with threats of being called names. I'm not at all sure that church is the place to engage on policy questions. In preparation for this, I've done enough reading to make me wonder if the wokeness brigade will accept the idea that we are all God's children. One anti-racist book takes objection to the hymn "red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight."
Inga will be very conflicted by Tim's tentacles dragging her into his emotionally invested pandemonia screed. But here, they are more peas in a pod, actually.a
--- I want to be engaged with logic and empirical data on questions of policy; I don't want to be bullied with threats of being called names. I'm not at all sure that church is the place to engage on policy questions. [h]
Unless you have a really extraordinary congregation around you, your fears will be proved correct. Logic has nothing to do with these positions the clergy and their pets are taking. They are "feelz" as people say here. And they take on the power of faith for those for whom these "ideas" ARE their religion.
I felt like we were all being called upon to worship our minister's politics every Sunday. The sermons, the guest speakers he arranged.... it was nonstop propaganda for one viewpoint. No matter how silly, it had to be taken seriously. Don't, and you were some kind of deviant out of 1984. And we had a congregation that was supposedly of above-average intelligence and sophistication. Logic and data? OMG, LOL. Only where it could be twisted around into something that fit their program, no matter how absurd. Otherwise, they just saw it differently, you know.
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66 comments:
Three Cheers for the cool down this afternoon!
Excellent interview of AG Barr on Mark Levin: Life, Liberty Levin tonight!
Hope you all get a chance to see it.
Another beautiful photo...
I don't have a twitter account but I go online to read a few favorites.
Anyone who uses a photo of themselves wearing a mask is a pretentious jerk.
Btw, AA, never seen this before but as I type this, the typeface looks like American Typewriter...odd.
Inadvertent humor:
Ihssane Leckey for Congress
Aug 6
"I came to America with nothing. In 10 years, I went from mopping restaurant floors to taking on the biggest banks on Wall Street.
Now, I’m running for Congress to dismantle every oppressive system that denies us the basic necessities to live."
"Three Cheers for the cool down this afternoon!"
If that had been in the forecast, I wouldn't have watered the lawn for 3 hours last night.
"Durham coming forward and dropping this before election can't be
called a political operation now because a
PRIVATE CITIZEN who was in no way affiliated with his criminal investigation is the one who went public with this evidence.
Another intriguing fact: Schrage says he plans to reveal more in the next several weeks.
Schrage isn't just throwing the spotlight on a desperate-to-hide Halper; he's also revealing the roles other members of the Cambridge Four played in this: Sir Richard Dearlove,Christopher Andrew and of course Christopher Steele.
He's comparing his "Cambridge Four" directly to the infamous "Cambridge Five", the Soviet spy ring inside MI:6 that did incalculable damage for decades."
more...
thread https://twitter.com/drawandstrike/status/1292487610351456267
'I Don't Need A Cognitive Test!' Biden Screams At Pigeon
We were talking about sayings of Christ. I was thinking about this one today. “ whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Christ didn’t say you can’t build a house on sand. Apparently you can. He also didn’t say that the person who did his word was able to build (or got) a bigger or more opulent house. No such distinction. What he said was that when the storm comes, that is when the difference becomes manifest.
Just been thinking about that today.
Looks like the DNC convention in MKE will be DOA.
'We kept trying': 2020 DNC organizers adjusted again and again, but ultimately could not outflank pandemic
The official announcement came Wednesday morning: No speakers, including Biden, would be coming to Milwaukee.
More than a year of planning and tens of millions of dollars went into preparing for a large-scale convention that would bring 50,000 visitors to Milwaukee.
This is an example of what the nyt and its ilk call "scientific racism", namely science about racial issues; it's bad.
Global Ancestry and Cognitive Ability (James Thompson)
"The claim that 50% to 70% of the black-white difference is due to genetics is virtually the same as that concluded by Rushton and Jensen in 2005, when they did a review of 30 years of research on the topic."
Fun facts:
-- data is for US teenagers (Mean age=14.2 years), for adults, add about 20-some-percent to the estimates of heritability of variance of IQ; Fig 3, pg 252.
-- Black/White IQ difference was measured 14.72 IQ points, still about 1 standard deviation (9421 genotyped participants, 55.8% European-American, 32.9% African-American, and 11.4% Other)
-- Black+White mixed race people average about 80% genetically white due to assortative mating.
The Spies Who Hijacked America
At one point, I even recall telling Halper that taking Flynn out would be like “beheading” Trump’s team. I had no idea I had been unintentionally aiding a spy preparing the guillotine and helping lead Flynn to exactly such a beheading.
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-spies-who-hijacked-america
I'm writing to solicit the opinions of the Althouse commentariat. I attend church at a Methodist church in suburban East coast. The pastor and the church have announced an intention that the church should enter into discussions revolving around a book on the subject of "anti-racism". The lead quote on the discussion is "you can't be not racist; you can only be anti-racist or racist." I'm troubled by this, and I don't intend to participate.
My question for you all is how aggressive I should be in declining participation. The easy option is just for me to say, "No this is not for me." But, if pressed, I think I would say something like the following. So: is my reasoning below flawed? Or is it unclear? Or are there points I should add?
I have read and heard on the news a lot about the “anti-racist” movement, and I have a deep concern that this movement bears a strong resemblance to a cult. Cults and the anti-racist movement have the following things in common.
1. They both advocate an us vs. them dichotomy. The “saved” different from the “damned”. Being “inside the tent” or “outside the tent”.
2. The “other” -- those outside our group – are not just wrong, they are a danger to us.
3. Initially, you are promised that group has broadly acceptable goals – like fighting racism. These broadly acceptable tenets serve as the basis of the orthodox credo.
4. But elements will be added to that orthodox credo. And in order to be “us” you need to embrace all elements of the credo.
5. You can only be saved, or be a member of our group, if you publicly denounce your own past sins.
6. You should try to proselytize – to bring others into the group.
7. Those who refuse to join us, you must remember, are a danger to us. They need to be shunned or punished in some way. They are heretics.
8. So points 3, 4, and 7 form my strongest objection. I object to the use of social pressure (bullying and name calling) to convince me to adopt certain political points of view.
9. Especially, in this context, and something I find especially objectionable, is the threat of being labeled “racist”, and to use that term to describe any deviation from far left orthodoxy as “racist”: wear a Covid mask or you’re racist; support open borders, or you’re racist; support defunding the police or you’re racist. (All of these are things I have read or heard; it would be easy to add other examples.)
10. At some point you will be asked to buy printed materials, or to attend seminars, or pay for speakers. Those expenditures will enrich the leaders of the cult/movement. And you may also be asked to repeat certain catch-phrases in unison.
" Looks like the DNC convention in MKE will be DOA.
'We kept trying': 2020 DNC organizers adjusted again and again, but ultimately could not outflank pandemic"
The pandemic is an excuse to avoid the roits.
Monday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Almost 1,000"
Tuesday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Surpasses 1,000"
Wednesday's headlines: "Wisconsin COVID Death Toll Continues To March Past 1,000"
I base that on 2 reported deaths bringing the total to 998 today. The 7 day moving average is 7 deaths per day.
For perspective, WI Deaths/M is 171. For the USA it is currently 500/M. New Jersey is 1795/M. WI's population is 5.8M. At 500/M that would be 2900 deaths. WI is about 30% of the USA rate. At 1795/M that would be 10,411 deaths (New Jersey). WI is about 10% of the New Jersey rate.
Our neighbor to the west - Minnesota is 301/M. WI would have to be at 1746 deaths to match that rate. Illinois to the south is 619/M. WI would have to be at 3590 deaths to match that rate.
Sharyl Atkisson where she exposes the Soros connections of the Facebook censors..
Spoiler Alert: They aren't Trump supporters...
" Looks like the DNC convention in MKE will be DOA.
'We kept trying': 2020 DNC organizers adjusted again and again, but ultimately could not outflank pandemic"
The pandemic is an excuse to avoid the riots.
Well then
https://andmagazine.com/talk/2020/08/06/ground-truth-was-hunter-biden-involved-part-of-a-chinese-spy-operation-to-steal-u-s-nuclear-technology/amp/
@Ingachuck'stoothlessARM
I think Schrage is a plant...he is taking the fall...
Check out the Treehouse for more details...
@alanmarkus:
So credibly accused rapist Bill Clinton will appear virtually when the Democrats nominate credibly accused rapist Joe Biden. Perfect. Can they get Jussie Smollet to speak too?
Joe Rogan leaving California for Austin.
On topic
There's an "ABC Movie of the Week" on right now. It really was an excellent series. And many of the movies had that some kind of look and feel.
Tonight's movie -- Duel, first aired November 13, 1971. Starring Dennis Weaver (whom I've been watching in some early episodes of Gunsmoke) and Steven Spielberg's feature-length film directorial debut.
I think I may have seen it when it originally ran. Excellent thriller about a mild-mannered man and a psycho-murdering truck driver.
Another great and memorable film was Crowhaven Farm.
I agree with Trump, he should be added to Mt Rushmore. Should be gold plated as well, with some leopard skins somewhere.
I don't think Biden bringing up drug testing to that interviewer was racist. It was just top of mind due to family concerns.
August 9, Nagasaki Day. Finally, the horror and slaughter and carnage of WW2 comes to an end. It's finished, after 6 years. Should the bombs have been used? It's difficult to imagine how they could not have been. After 60 million deaths, the world was sick of conflict. To end it, almost instantly, was the righteous thing to do.
On the bright side, Alan:
DNC in Milwaukee now almost entirely virtual, but protesters say 'we aren't going to stay home'
I wonder how many Milwaukee area businesses invested in upgrades, expansions etc anticipating this event, only to lose it..on top of lockdowns.
Watched a video on Jodi Arias.
Seems like her current endevour is bypassing any acknowledgment of murder that has happened. Any understanding.
Now I wish I haven't failed people, power and politics class two different semesters.
Also reminded me of a lady in a hospital who relayed that she heard a voice to kill her own daughter yet was more mature and competent not to oblige.
The FDA-approved drug ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
Ivermectin Shows 'Astounding' Results Against Coronavirus
First, HCQ to carry out border control. Then Zn, to reduce viral viability, AZ to control inflammation and opportunistic pathogens. Finally, Ivermectin, another affordable, low risk prophylactic that prevents SARS-CoV-2's Posterity. Planned Pathogen offers many affordable, available choices to mitigate disease progression and reduce excess deaths.
Ivermectin: Hazards Identification
H361 (100%): Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child [Warning Reproductive toxicity]
Rather good in vivo results and a known risk profile for the general population, and especially childbearing mothers, who are choosing for two or more.
Ex-lover Willie Brown tells the S.F. Chronicle that Kamala Harris should say no to vice presidency.
"If Joe Biden offers the vice presidential slot to Sen. Kamala Harris, my advice to her would be to politely decline.
Harris is a tested and proven campaigner who will work her backside off to get Biden elected. That said, the vice presidency is not the job she should go for — asking to be considered as attorney general in a Biden administration would be more like it."
Willie should know her well enough to know that she is the best choice for the AG job should Susan Rice becomes the Veep candidate. He also should know that her fastest way to the Presidency is to become VP to await Joe Biden's demise.
But Biden can count to 50, so he also needs Harris to remain in the Senate. This logic also takes Tammy Duckworth and Lizzie Warren out of the picture as well. Oh well - Lizzie "You can call me Betsy" Warren took an axe and gave her grandpa forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her grandma forty-one.
I stopped 2 days ago for milk- like I often do. Ignored Dictator Cuomo's unconstitutional mask edict, like I always do. The outside window for ice cream was open. As I walked out the door there was a mother and her little girl there, probably not 5 yet. Suddenly, a panicked screech- "Mommy! That man doesn't have a mask on!" And kept screaming it over and over. hiding behind her mother pointing at me. Mother had the good sense not to say anything to me. "It's all right honey, we're outside..." over and over in a smoothing voice as the little girl kept screaming. Got into my car and drove away.
Odds of a 5 year old dying from covid- essentially zero. Close enough that calculating the odds isn't worth it. Yet she was screaming, frightened as could be- because someone wasn't wearing a mask!
For all you pro-maskers out there- how do you justify frightening children like this? It's absolutely inexcusable to instill such fright into a child. IMHO- it's child abuse. Making a child fear something that has so far proven basically harmless to HEALTHY children. What the Bible says was discussed earlier. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. I wouldn't be looking forward to judgement day were I instilling fear into children over nothing.
First, the top individual tax rate for income above $400,000 would be raised to 39.6% from 37%. Then long-term capital gains and qualified dividends would be taxed at the ordinary income-tax rate of 39.6% on incomes above $1 million plus an investment-income surtax of 3.8%, bringing the total to 43.4% Finally, the step-up in basis for capital-gains taxation at death would be eliminated.
The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital from static to more dynamic situations, the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital and thereby the strength and potential for growth of the economy.
The mayor has lost control of Chicago. Major looting last night downtown and near north side. My wife is visiting our home there and says it sounds like a war zone with all the helicopters. Expressway entrances shut down. Bridges up.
https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/widespread-damage-reported-in-downtown-chicago-after-night-of-looting/
To "h" -- I finally had to leave the church I had attended for over 20 years and where my sons were baptized. The bigotry against classical liberalism and logic had become so intense, far-reaching among the congregation, and bitter that my wife and I felt actively disliked, if not hated, whenever we expressed any thought or opinion. On almost any subject!
Say your piece and say it loudly. It is the only hope. Maybe there are still a few other non-sheeple in your congregation who will speak up, though I doubt it. Good luck. I am still several years into finding a new church and I do not have a permanent one. All the Protestant denominations around here are the same. Mindless, politicized, smug and self-congratulatory about their stupidities.
First the coldness hurt. Then it became motivating. But when it was clear that we weren't making even a dent, I gave the minister a piece of my mind and walked away. He could not stand to hear it, btw.
If I said anything to him aloud, he would say we need another place to talk more freely. When I made an appointment to see him, he said he agreed with some of it and wanted to have an open church, an open forum. That I should continue to dialogue with him. But when I emailed a comment on a church action, he issued a statement to the whole congregation that email was not the proper way to communicate. So I couldn't email my views. I couldn't say them to him after a service or whenever we met around the church. I attended a weekly scripture-reading group; issues arose directly out of the text. Nope, cannot get into that discussion here. Stupid me, it took me two years of this to realize that he simply refused to hear any viewpoint but his own mushy liberal one and would make a new rule any time someone like me -- I have often wondered if there were others; there had to have been one or two -- spoke up and that new rule would ban whatever we did, whatever we said.
@ Rick T.
The mayor has lost control of Chicago. Major looting last night downtown and near north side.
Must be some of that reignition of the movement that Biden tweeted about, re: Michael Brown.
To “h”
Just tell them this topic isn’t in the Gospel. I was at a Mass where the priest went on about CAGW and illegal immigration. I just ignored him because I was educated by the Jesuits.
-- Black/White IQ difference was measured 14.72 IQ points, still about 1 standard deviation [from Fernandinande]
That and only that is "systemic racism" in a society where intelligence is the primary requirement for most employment.
There are other societies. Maybe you remember one where large size dominated smaller size. Where intelligence was often a detriment, not an asset. It is called childhood. If we lived in perpetual childhood, nerdy brainiacs like Bill Gates would be regularly humiliated, beaten up, and made to serve their lords, by the names of Michael Brown and George Floyd.
But fortunately for most of us, we don't.
Also to "h" -- your presumably Christian Church follows a guide book that says "All men are brothers." Anti-racism, per John McWhorter, is a religious movement in which white people seek absolution. Doesn't do so much for African Americans.
Another nostrum from that guidebook: "By their actions shall ye know them."
Does your city allow low-income housing so Black children can attend its good schools?
Mine doesn't, and I've been saying that I disapprove of this when I talk with neighbors.
I don’t know about black IQ, but certainly there are a lot of people with lower than average IQs who still want and need gainful employment, and the plan to send all of these jobs overseas because the people in San Francisco, Chicago, Manhattan, and DC will rake in money just as fast and flood the remaining labor market with illegals has been the primary cause of income inequality.
Blogger Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...I agree with Trump, he should be added to Mt Rushmore. Should be gold plated as well, with some leopard skins somewhere.
Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
"For all you pro-maskers out there- how do you justify frightening children like this? It's absolutely inexcusable to instill such fright into a child.”
How do you justify what they have done in Sweden, which is to deprive a generation of children of the joy and connections with the past that grandparents bring? My grandmother was born in 1883, It enriched my life to have known her when I was a child. Kids don’t care about the masks, it’s you who have the emotional problems with them. You are angry about the virus, and you take it out on the masks, like kicking a puppy when your boss yelled at you.
Thumping your Bible to justify your disregard for the health of others is a nice touch though. That’s what Jesus would have done, I am sure.
h, the Methodist church traded Christian advocacy for leftist dogma in the 80's and 90's. I left it when our bishop and our pastor preached unilateral nuclear disarmament from the pulpit for the third time. I told my pastor at the time that anyone who could be so cavalier on a subject of that importance was too irresponsible to be entrusted with the religious guidance of my family.
Danno said...
Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
A fountain would be unnecessary. A little mushroom would be adequate.
BLM attacked a police officer's home in Wauwatosa WI last night They blasted the back door with a shotgun.
That is our Bedpan Commando's neighborhood. I wonder if she was part of that peaceful protest.
h, my priest at my regular parish has been under the mistaken impression that all this turmoil is about civil rights. I think he has secret fantasies about marching with MLK (he would have been too young at the time). He doesn't realize it's all a big power struggle. He's only human and has a lot of other good qualities. I just don't have much patience for it right now. Fortunately for me, there's another Catholic Church just down the road where the priests don't necessarily equate Christianity with leftist SJW causes. Try to find another more orthodox Christian church.
Kind of related to h's question, but not right on point - this is not my area of law, so excuse me if this is a stupid question. Is making people go to these cult-like HR seminars based on the proposition that all White people are racist etc creating a hostile work environment for White people? Could forcing people to go be actionable?
h, the Methodist church is splitting in half, and it seems pretty clear on which side yours is going to land. My parents were a 60-year members until they received a letter telling them that the Church would not just tolerate but celebrate transgenderism in all its mutations. You won't have a productive discussion with the people in charge - they want you gone.
Professional lady - of course the racism HR seminars create a hostile work environment - that's what they are intended to do, and there is no other purpose. Yes, you could take legal action but you'd have to pay for it out of your unemployment check.
“Honor thy father and thy mother” unless they become and inconvenient drag, it it certainly doesn’t apply to grandma and grandpa! Oh, that’s right, you don’t want to kill grandma, you just won’t lift a finger to protect her should something unfortunate befall her, you will go so far as to protest that it wasn’t your fault and you didn’t want it to happen and anybody who says that you *wanted* to kill grandma was a heartless liar! You just don’t care very much about her, that’s different than actively wanting her dead.
I didn’t know that the New Testament had obsoleted the Ten Commandments, but you learn something new every day here on Althouse.
"A little mushroom would be adequate.”
I get it, in ARM’s world of magical thinking, God bestows large penises on those fit to rule over us. It’s like that Jezebel bit on naked drawings of Disney men, all of the good guys were hung, and the bad guys were, well, passed over in that department. If God neglects to give a man a large penis, that’s a warning to others, a sign that that person is probably evil and best avoided. This is the kind of thinking that we right wingers will never understand when even shop teachers on the left understand it.
Or it could just be that ARM is just one more unthinking member of the cult.
My bet is that if you told the kids that wearing a mask would help to keep grandma healthy, it wouldn’t scare them and they would be proud to do it. But magical thinking seems to be the bane of the human race. If we get rid of the masks, the virus will go away!
It’s hard to figure out who is stupider, the right or the left.
hawkeyedjb - Makes me glad I'm not starting out in my career. I don't think I could put up with it. I feel sorry for the young people starting out. One mistake, one awkward phrase, one false accusation or rumor and that's it for you. Someone is going to sue sooner or later.
karen in vermont, it appears you are losing it as you think masks are the cat's meow for covid-19 protection. Is that Bernie guy's proximity and popularity addling your brain?
OK, Danno, why don’t you point out some of the errors in this article. Once you have proven your ability to discuss the matter as an adult, I will engage. It’s a long article, and will probably tax your attention span so I don’t expect you to read it, so feel free to continue to bleat your uninformed opinion,
Here are a couple of excerpts for people able to pay attention longer than fifteen seconds.
Observational studies, models, and meta-analyses did some of the work that randomized control trials could not. The vast number of small studies of mask use against other diseases didn’t, by themselves, answer the question, but statistically tied together they came close. “The data in meta-analyses show that in those places that use masks, there was a substantial diminution of infection,” Fauci says. “Obviously it’s multifaceted, it’s more than just masks, but clearly there was a strong association.”
There still aren’t randomized, controlled trials of mask wearing against Covid-19—how would you even do that?— but some of the newer work on masks does get more specific. In June, researchers at the University of Iowa collected data on when, exactly, states with mask-wearing mandates instituted their rules. Fifteen states and Washington, DC, had done that before May 8. Then the researchers looked at those states’ subsequent growth curves in Covid-19 infections. The results were striking. Even controlling for other social-distancing measures, and without looking at how many people actually wore masks at an individual level, the curve started to bend downward as soon as a week later. Three weeks later, the daily growth rate in states with mask mandates was down 2 percent. “It's not about the types of masks. We don’t even measure individual use of masks. We look at whether states have mandated people should use them in public and compare them before and after,”
Then there’s this:
In May, a team led by Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, had 246 people—all confirmed to be infected with at least one respiratory virus—exhale into a breath-collecting device called a Gesundheit-II. Half wore surgical masks and half did not. Then the team tested respiratory droplets, the air they exhaled, and took throat and nose swabs looking for viruses. The results, again, were striking. The masks stopped droplets containing influenza virus, but not aerosol particles. They did little to stop either in people infected with a rhinovirus—a cause of the common cold. But when it came to seasonal coronaviruses (not SARS-CoV-2), the masks stopped both sizes of particles. “We detected coronavirus in respiratory droplets and aerosols in 3 of 10 (30%) and 4 of 10 (40%) of the samples collected without face masks, respectively, but did not detect any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols collected from participants wearing face masks,” the researchers wrote.
There is other stuff on asymptomatic transmission. “It’s real, and it’s spectacular.”
https://www.wired.com/story/how-masks-went-from-dont-wear-to-must-have/
Feel free to refute with evidence and logic.
"Fernandinande said...
This is an example of what the nyt and its ilk call "scientific racism", namely science about racial issues; it's bad."
I'm wondering where James Thompson got his PhD. His Linked-In Education section mentions Keele University BA 1968 and St. Georges College, Buenos Aires which is an upper-class high school. These might be called two standard deviations below a PhD. Anybody know any more about Thompson's educational attainments?
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
"Danno said...
Your Rushmore idea is great. But it would be better if Trump had a penis fountain below where his waist would be and have it perpetually peeing on a statue of you at the bottom.
A fountain would be unnecessary. A little mushroom would be adequate."
You missed your chance to get a smart handbag or some luggage yesterday. Your friends looted a Louis Viton store on the mag-mile. Don't tell Howard.
tim in vermont said...
"A little mushroom would be adequate.”
Probably would suffice to represent ARM, a whole big statue is unnecessary, and of course undeserved.
I get it, in ARM’s world of magical thinking, God bestows large penises on those fit to rule over us. It’s like that Jezebel bit on naked drawings of Disney men, all of the good guys were hung, and the bad guys were, well, passed over in that department. If God neglects to give a man a large penis, that’s a warning to others, a sign that that person is probably evil and best avoided. This is the kind of thinking that we right wingers will never understand when even shop teachers on the left understand it.
Or it could just be that ARM is just one more unthinking member of the cult.
ARM undoubtedly has a small penis, is a worthless low creature, and conflates the two. (I have a large penis and am an excellent fellow, but understand that there is no correlation.)
People (Men) with small penises are, unless someone offers "evidence," the same as other men. Without basis for comparison the only concerns are, does it make water, does it make issue. If you're not big enough for some chick - either explore certain positions and other techniques, or find a woman with a smaller hoo-ha.
ARM would be a wormlike creature whatever the characteristics of his, her, or its genetalia.
Apparently, some AntiFA “commie scum” were beat up yesterday (I think) in Fort Collins, CO, by a group supporting the police. I think that the “commie scum” tag is going to stick (since AntiFA is, indeed, Marxist, and claims descent from the original AntiFA set up by Stalin to fight Hitler’s Nazis in Germany). The funny part is that the people who showed up to support the police, in a different day and time, likely would not have supported the police. A lot of them looked like they probably had Harleys in their garages, and plain just liked to rumble. Now, instead of including the cops in their rumbles, they are defending them. Physically defending them, with overwhelming firepower (and probably some knives) should the AntiFA commie scum pull theirs. They started escorting the AntiFA commie scum away from their pro police demonstration, intimidating their opponents by their size and numbers. But at some point, it went physical. It may have been one of the pro police escorts being pushed out of his wheelchair. Not clear. All of a sudden, they was a General melee, but with repeated shouts from the pro police group of “no weapons”. Then, all of a sudden, shouts of “commie has a knife”, which was promptly appropriated from him. Great fun on their part. Not so much fun for the commie scum left bruised and maybe a bit bloody.
My immediate thought was that the guy in the wheelchair was probably a military veteran. The pro police contingent were carrying and waiving American flags, and even using them to poke the retreating commie scum back in line. My guess is that a lot of them were vets (probably should stick with “veterans”, since the multi state veterinarian school is in FC - which is great if your cat needs cataract surgery, and you need it to be cheap).
My point with this, is that we are seeing the formation of quasi paramilitary groups on the right, in order to fight and protect the rest of the peaceful citizenry from the Marxist AntiFA and BLM shock troops on the left. No surprise that there are a lot of veterans involved - they have already done their stint protecting us by their military service, and this is just a continuation of that. They won’t be very effective in the deep blue big cities, because the left wing politicians will force the police to go hard on them (while allowing their commie scum shock troops to riot without hindrance). But I think that this is an accelerating trend, and may just immunize the rest of us, to a great extent, from the Marxist violence that Dem politicians seem to be embracing, wherever they can get away with it.
Gesundheit-II machine
Philippines had the harshest lockdown and most mask wearing. It didn’t work.
---Feel free to refute with evidence and logic. [TimVt]
Their bias appears periodically throughout in choice of language, references to "Trump," and the awful concluding paragraph.
They also erroneously claim other countries with "good science" and good "leaders" use masks; but actually, mask usage varies. Just read that Denmark, with very low death rate, does not encourage mask use and may even discourage it. Scandinavian countries do not seem to be big mask-wear boosters.
I wear a mask inside stores. I think -- think -- that there is some protective benefit to me or to others from using a mask indoors. I doubt that there is any benefit outdoors except in some bizarre setting with no natural ventilation, for some reason. But that article did little to convince me on the mask usage on any level.
The "Wired" article. (PS)
The next phase of Civil War II, Bruce. Interesting post. Are you ready to secede from the Blues? Or do you prefer to fight it out?
'Their bias appears periodically throughout in choice of language’
So that’s how you evaluate evidence? You look solely at the motivations of writer. My point is that wherever mask mandates have been implemented in the U.S, transmission has gone down. There are too many variables to compare us to Denmark and Norway, were masks have been “recommended” and populations are far more compliant.
I have never once suggested that people wear masks outdoors unless they are forced into close proximity. You will notice that there is a case of transmission from running partners, but the article makes the point that this is about the only contact traced case of outdoor transmission. We all know, however, that cases went up after the riots, err, I mean peaceful protests in California, Texas, etc.
There is clear evidence that masks impede exhalation of particles and probably lower viral dose for people breathing in the virus, and there is clear evidence that non symptomatic people spread the disease and clear evidence that mask mandates bend the transmission rate down.
Every anti-mask article I see ignores such evidence.
"But that article did little to convince me on the mask usage on any level.”
Of course not, because you have made it a political matter and so can’t be convinced no matter what the evidence. Just like trying to convince Inga that Russiagate was a fraud. She doesn’t even care that the “Russian Spy” who supposedly had all of this information in the dossier was actually a Ukrainian who worked for a Democrat think tank in Washington, DC. She still doesn’t care. It’s not about convincing the committed like yourself, it’s about pointing out to others that your P.O.V is in fact not based on any kind of evidence whatsoever.
Thanks to Professional lady, Hawkeyedjb, jaydub, Dave Begley, Crazy Jane, Kai Akker who all responded kindly to my early request for advise. I want to be engaged with logic and empirical data on questions of policy; I don't want to be bullied with threats of being called names. I'm not at all sure that church is the place to engage on policy questions. In preparation for this, I've done enough reading to make me wonder if the wokeness brigade will accept the idea that we are all God's children. One anti-racist book takes objection to the hymn "red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight."
Inga will be very conflicted by Tim's tentacles dragging her into his emotionally invested pandemonia screed. But here, they are more peas in a pod, actually.a
--- I want to be engaged with logic and empirical data on questions of policy; I don't want to be bullied with threats of being called names. I'm not at all sure that church is the place to engage on policy questions. [h]
Unless you have a really extraordinary congregation around you, your fears will be proved correct. Logic has nothing to do with these positions the clergy and their pets are taking. They are "feelz" as people say here. And they take on the power of faith for those for whom these "ideas" ARE their religion.
I felt like we were all being called upon to worship our minister's politics every Sunday. The sermons, the guest speakers he arranged.... it was nonstop propaganda for one viewpoint. No matter how silly, it had to be taken seriously. Don't, and you were some kind of deviant out of 1984. And we had a congregation that was supposedly of above-average intelligence and sophistication. Logic and data? OMG, LOL. Only where it could be twisted around into something that fit their program, no matter how absurd. Otherwise, they just saw it differently, you know.
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