SORT OF LIKE THE NEWS, EVERY DAY: New quantum paradox throws the foundations of observed reality into question.
Archive for 2020
September 8, 2020
A HARSH ENVIRONMENT, BUT WE HAD THE TECHNOLOGY TO SURVIVE IN IT: Ancient hunters stayed in frozen Northern Europe rather than migrating, evidence from Arctic fox bones shows. By nature, humans are tropical animals. But we learned to adapt.
VACLAV HAVEL’S GREENGROCER COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: Rochester Diners Terrorized by BLM, and the Restaurant Sides With the Rioters? “But even more shocking is that the owners of the three restaurants affected by the rioters issued a statement of support—not for their customers, but for the criminals who terrorized their patrons and destroyed their property. This is not a joke.”
THIS WILL END WELL FOR THE CITIZENS OF ROCHESTER: Rochester PD’s ‘entire command staff’ retires amid protests.
Rochester’s last Republican mayor left office at the end of 1973.
SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! Women Plan All-Black Community in Georgia After ‘400 Years of Racial Oppression.’
OUT ON A LIMB: Joe Biden’s Former Stenographer: ‘He’s Lost a Step.’ “It’s bad enough that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about as usual, but right there he sounds like he’s on his deathbed. He sounds even worse than he did just a few months ago, and he’s a long way from the Joe Biden we saw and heard when Obama was president. I never thought I’d miss that guy! But if you don’t trust your own eyes and ears about Biden’s obvious mental deterioration, maybe you’ll listen to a member of the Obama administration. Namely, the guy who literally got paid to listen to Biden talk.”
GOOD, THEY’RE DELICIOUS! New research shows NOAA scientist built a better lionfish trap. “The so-called Gittings trap, named for its inventor, can be deployed deeper than spear fishermen who currently provide most lionfish control, allowing it to catch lionfish abundant at those depths. It also could provide a more regular supply of lionfish, which would encourage more restaurants and retail chains to sell the spiny sea creatures. One national grocery chain, Whole Foods Market, features a page on its website called ‘Get to Know the Lionfish.’ Recipe suggestions include grilling it with herbs and lemon, baking with a bread crumb coating or making into ceviche.”
All is proceeding as I have foreseen.
ON LABOR DAY, BIDEN TOUTED ‘PRO-LABOR’ BILL THAT WOULD KILL MILLIONS OF JOBS: “Let’s be clear: Biden’s agenda isn’t pro-labor. It’s pro-labor-union. There’s a big difference.”
YES, BUT HOW DOES HE COMPARE TO BLAINE GABBERT? EA Sports announces that “Colin Kaepernick will be featured in Madden 21 for the first time since 2016,” and gives him “a Higher Madden Rating than Half the NFL Starting Quarterbacks.” And will he be wearing his cops-as-pigs socks and pro-Castro T-shirt in the videogame?
(Classical reference in headline.)
TYLER O’NEIL: DC Comics Celebrates ‘Wonder Women of History’: AOC, Elizabeth Warren, China Bat Lady. “The list of Wonder Women… includes a man.”
Because of course it does.
IN THE TRUMP ERA, ONE “INDEPENDENT” INSTITUTION AFTER ANOTHER HAS EXPOSED ITSELF AS FAITHLESS, CORRUPT, AND UTTERLY PARTISAN: ACLU Official Attacks University For Admitting Nick Sandmann While Professor Denounces His “Anti-Intellectual” Views.
Given the way those who describe themselves as intellectuals are behaving, I’d say “anti-intellectualism” is likely to be a growth area. To be fair, this is a pretty low-level ACLU guy, but sadly it’s pretty consistent with their general behavior lately.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Your Definitive Guide to Understanding Polling (and Why Most Polls Are Garbage). “When reviewing polls in 2016, I came across bad poll after bad poll as a result of oversampling problems as well as push-poll lines of questions or questions that are framed in a way to influence the way someone answers. For instance, if a polling firm asked a question ‘Do you agree with Joe Biden’s call for all Americans to unite?’, it doesn’t leave any room for someone saying they disagree with the premise of the question, that is, Joe Biden even having that ability in the first place. Another example of a push poll question is ‘Do you support Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric?’ Maybe the respondent doesn’t believe Trump’s rhetoric is divisive. Maybe the respondent thinks the Democrats’ rhetoric is divisive. Either way, a respondent is less likely to respond in the affirmative to supporting divisive rhetoric and therefore would lead to a skewing of the results.”
Read the whole thing.
WORLDWIDE, THE POLITICAL CLASS MOSTLY SEEMS EAGER TO SHOW JUST HOW AWFUL IT IS: COVID Dystopia Comes To Melbourne: A recent arrest of a pregnant woman, now facing 15 years, shows how badly Australia has succumbed to public health tyranny.
I’M PROUD TO BE ACCUSED OF BEING OFFENSIVE: A week or so ago, several of us from the “NO on Proposition 16” campaign attended a zoom meeting with members of the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle. We knew that the likelihood that they would come out on our side was zero. It’s the San Francisco Chronicle for goodness sake! Our goal was more modest—to show them that we don’t have horns and a forked tail.
We may have failed even in that. Yesterday, the Chronicle endorsed Prop 16, which, if passed, will repeal the following words from the state constitution: “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.” (See California’s Prop 209, passed in 1996.)
Here’s the part that gets me. In endorsing Prop 16, it pronounced our “mismatch” argument against it “offensive.” That’s so annoying.
Still, I view it as a backhanded endorsement. These days when someone cannot actually respond to an argument, they call it offensive in hopes that that the speaker will shut up. That’s what they’re hoping we’ll do. They’re going to be disappointed.
Loyal Instapundit readers has seen these links on mismatch before, but maybe some of you haven’t:
Want to Be a Doctor? A Scientist? An Engineer? An Affirmative Action Leg Up May Hurt Your Chances.
A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferential Admissions on Campus Hurt Minority Students.
If you haven’t read the articles, you can get the flavor from the titles. But there is a mountain of highly sophisticated research behind the argument. If you don’t believe me, read the articles. In the end, it is either true or it’s false that “an affirmative action leg up” can hurt the chances of a student to enter a number high-prestige careers. That’s something the country needs to care about.
By the way, I spent the weekend updating “A Dubious Expediency” for an anthology that I am editing with my USD colleague Maimon Schwarzschild. The book, which I hope will come out in a few months will also contain essays from Peter Kirsanow and Heather Mac Donald (among others).
WHY SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT FOR WEIGHT LOSS.
MOSTLY PEACEFUL MEANS PARTLY VIOLENT: BLM ‘Protesters’ Take Over a McDonald’s, Assault the Black Manager.
THE ATLANTIC PUBLISHING FALSE STORIES DURING THE RUNUP TO A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? THAT’S UN-POSSIBLE! John Bolton Interviewed, Says Atlantic Story ‘Simply False’ (Video).