Archive for 2021
December 3, 2021
GOOD: ‘Mild cognitive impairment’ fades for some older people, study says. “In fact, nearly half of seniors tracked in the study — all of who had been diagnosed with issues in memory and thinking and received an MCI diagnosis — no longer had the condition a few years later.”
IT WAS NEVER ABOUT SCIENCE: Covid’s Three Blind Mice. Scott Atlas’s memoir of his time at the White House offers appalling revelations about the bureaucrats who hijacked the nation’s governance during the pandemic. The troika of Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx and Robert Redfield had scant interest in scientific research or debate — and zero concern for the calamitous effects of their edicts.
MEDICAL MYSTERY: Mumps cases in vaccinated people increasing, reason why is unclear.
I’m probably like most people: My trust waxes and wanes depending on what the institution does. Trust has to be earned.
That’s why I think the CDC’s missteps during the pandemic have outsized importance. I’ll highlight two highly visible and much-criticized moments: The CDC’s early-pandemic statements questioning the efficacy of masks and Dr. Fauci’s admission to the New York Times that he adjusted his statements about what level of resistance was necessary for herd immunity based partly on what he thought the public was “ready to hear”.
I think I understand the logic behind these decisions. Early in the pandemic, the CDC was worried about people buying up already-scarce N95 masks that were needed for medical workers; there was also a concern that “reduces the likelihood of transmission” would be interpreted as “makes you completely safe”. Regarding herd immunity, Dr. Fauci was worried that if he said we needed to get to 90 percent, it would trigger what I’ll call a “well then fuck everything” response that would make people less likely to get vaccinated. I get that these decisions were made with several factors in mind, and I think they were made with good intentions.
But I also think they were extremely wrong. The effects of these decisions went far beyond whatever short-term confusion they might have caused; the main effect was to degrade the CDC’s credibility. . . .
There’s a similar problem regarding the mainstream media (which I’ll define as the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, CNN and a few others). There’s a debate right now — mostly pointedly between Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan V. Last — about how much the mainstream media can be trusted. Sullivan argues that their credibility is basically gone; Last thinks that they’re about the same level of imperfect that they’ve always been. I’m basically in between the two; I think the Times and Post are the worst they’ve been in my lifetime, but they’re not complete bird cage liner just yet. Still, the change is significant; the difference between a Times I trust 90 percent and a Times I trust 75 percent is the difference between me using them as my go-to source for information and me seeking other sources for that role.
In the past year or two, we saw a major push for institutions to reflect a particular ideology; many people argued that institutions preaching neutrality should instead “take on a social justice role”. It happened in some corners of the media, several organizations, and many universities. Scientific touchstones like the American Medical Association and Science-Based Medicine had weird moments. The ACLU’s purpose seems to have dramatically changed. The result has been a degrading of institutions’ credibility, both individually and collectively. To the extent than institutions have accepted this change in purpose, people no longer trust them to provide the truth. That’s rational, because an institution that declares that its purpose is to pursue “social justice” as defined by a narrow set of activists has disavowed the pursuit of truth and declared loyalty to a predetermined set of beliefs.
I feel that institutions chronically undervalue their credibility.
Indeed. Plus, from the comments:
Impressive results lead to credibility. You have no choice but to respect an institution capable of the Manhattan project or Apollo missions. Even if you disagree with every aspect of it. A lot of people alive today probably can’t think of a single impressive thing they’ve seen a modern institution do.
The other credibility killer is that the public now recognizes these institutions as made up of distinct and flawed humans. The NYT is now just a bunch of people on twitter posting dumb shit about their lives. If they really wanted to restore credibility the first step would be to ban all reporters from having public social media accounts. The correct places for those opinions is the opinion pages. Of course that will never happen.
Emphasis added.
AGAIN: Waukesha massacre suspect scored high in pretrial risk assessment, but was released anyway. “Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm called Brooks’ bail ‘inappropriately low,’ despite it being his office who set the bail.”
PORTLAND GAME CROWDFUNDING: Virtue Signal game designer William Dalebout is still crowdsourcing for his new upcoming game and is up to 40 % of his funding goal. You can check it out here.
You can also find the Virtue Signal games here if you would like to purchase them for gifts or for yourself! You can use the coupon code HELENSMITH to get a 10% discount at checkout.
BLUE ON BLUE: Joe Manchin Does It Again, Votes to End Vax Mandate.
QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED: Is Jussie Smollett the worst hate crime hoaxer of all time?
Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett appeared in court for the first time this week to defend himself against allegations that he fabricated an elaborate hate crime for attention. Chicago prosecutors say Smollett wasted police time and resources by sending them on a wild goose chase against his alleged attackers — resources which surely could have been better used elsewhere, given the city’s astronomical murder rate.
Early details shared during the trial don’t help Smollett’s case. Prosecutors showed the jury surveillance video of an alleged “dry run” of the orchestrated attack. The video, taken a day before the incident, shows Smollett walking around the area with the Osundairo brothers. Smollett is accused of paying the Osundairo brothers to stage the hate crime because he was frustrated by the lack of attention Empire gave to hate mail he received on set.
One of the Osundairo brothers took the stand Wednesday and testified that he procured drugs for Smollett and considered him a “brother.” The Nigerian immigrants previously told police that Smollett helped them plan the attack and warned them to pull their punches so as not to severely injure him.
This headline didn’t take long to appear: Jussie Smollett’s lawyers claim judge ‘lunged’ at one of them, ask for a mistrial.
UPDATE: From America’s Newspaper of Record: Mirror Brought Into Courtroom So Jussie Smollett Can Face His Attackers.
(Updated and bumped.)
TOP SELLER: TurboTax Deluxe 2021 Tax Software, Federal and State Tax Return with Federal E-file [Amazon Exclusive] [PC/Mac Disc]. #CommissionEarned
DIGITAL MEDDLING: Google’s YouTube Meddles In French Election, Slaps Age Restriction On Presidential Candidate Zemmour’s Campaign Video.
According to YouTube’s policy, age restriction occurs when the Google-owned platform determines that content contains “Child safety” concerns, “Harmful or dangerous activities, including regulated substances and drugs,” “Nudity and sexually suggestive content,” “Violent or graphic content,” and/or “Vulgar language.”
Zemmour’s announcement does not appear to explicitly violate any of these themes. YouTube, however, did not immediately respond to the Federalist’s questions about what specifically in the video reportedly violated the community guidelines.
Searches of Zemmour’s video were also reportedly subdued on YouTube.
You’ll see and know what YouTube wants you to see and know.
NOT MUCH CHANGING AT TWITTER: New boss who loves censoring conservatives is same as (or worse) than the old boss who loved censoring conservatives, according to the Internet Accountability Project’s Mike Davis.
DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF THE K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE AND WEIMAR AMERICA, PART DEUX: Loudoun County asks parent to pay $36K for FOIA request for documents regarding ‘sexual assault’ or ‘rape.’
THEY LITERALLY KNOW NOTHING: ‘Former Obama guy loses’ his SH*T in thread about DeSantis ‘PREPARING FOR A BREAK FROM THE FED GOVT.’ for reactivating FL State Guard and ROFL.
State Guards — which are distinct from the National Guard — have been around for ages, and lots of states, including my own, and California, have them. But when it comes to DeSantis, any outrage will do, because Democrat activists are ignorant, emotional children.
CHRISTMAS SEASON HAS ARRIVED: So expect soon to hear from the critics of the Virgin Birth with, according to Erik Manning, a fallacious argument from silence. After all, just because Thucydides doesn’t mention Socrates in “The Peloponnesian War,” nobody argues Socrates never said “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF THE K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE AND WEIMAR AMERICA: Fairfax County parents demand school board resign after ‘doubling down’ on ‘porn in schools.’ From PJM alum Tyler O’Neil, now at Fox News:
Parents gathered outside the Fairfax County School Board meeting on Thursday, voicing their opposition to what they term pedophilia and “porn in schools” after Fairfax County Public Schools reintroduced two books containing depictions of sexual activity.
“They’ve doubled down on porn in the schools. They’ve all got to go,” Stacy Langton, the Fairfax County mother who confronted the school board with images from the books in September, told Fox News. “Who’s in favor of porn in the schools?”
Parents protested outside of Luther Jackson Middle School, holding signs reading, “No porn in our schools,” wearing t-shirts reading, “Mama Grizzly” and “Papa Grizzly,” and holding signs featuring the photos of school board members with the text, “Resign FairfaXXX.”
Thursday marks the first school board meeting since FCPS reintroduced the controversial books. “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison includes long sections of a boy reminiscing about explicit experiences he had at 10 years old, and “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe includes photos of sexual acts between a boy and a man.
Read the whole thing.
IF ALL THESE NICE THINGS ARE EXAMPLES OF WHITE SUPREMACY, THE LEFT IS JUST ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO EMBRACE IT: Don’t Look Now, but Food Charity and Farmers Markets Are Part of ‘White Supremacy Culture’ Too.
HARD TO BELIVE THAT SUVs WEREN’T INVOLVED SOMEWHERE: Volcanic fertilization of the oceans drove severe mass extinction, say scientists.
A PREVIEW OF LIFE WITHOUT PRIVATE TRANSPORTATION: RTD union calls Denver Union Station a ‘lawless hellhole.’ “Union Station is a staple of downtown Denver transportation and services shuttle buses, light rails and commuter and Amtrak trains. According to the union, RTD passengers and employees in recent months have faced loiterers, encampments and illegal drug use while boarding buses, trains and light rail.”
UNEXPECTEDLY! U.S. employers added 210,000 jobs in November, a weaker figure than forecast. “The American economy hit a speed bump in November as hiring unexpectedly dipped before the holiday season, a sign that companies are cautious about prospects for growth.”
As former investment banker Carol Roth notes, “Jobs report was an anemic 210,000 jobs added despite 573,000 expected. It’s almost as if firing people for not taking the vaccine isn’t a great way to improve the labor scenario. On the bright side, the White House says gas is down two cents.”
And they’ve got the dramatic charts to prove it!
President Klain is also getting into the dramatic charts business:
UPDATE (FROM GLENN):
Free falling: A quarter of Dems strongly disapprove of Biden performance in new poll.
And: Biden tormented by Republican guerrilla campaign and ‘I did it’ stickers.
Also: 100Pcs I Did That Biden Funny Car Stickers. #Resist #CommissionEarned