October 31, 2021
Holiday Advice
Art by Catzz.
Happy Halloween everybody!
Current events are like a horror movie, so instead of looking at the news, go play Genshin Impact instead.
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Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig
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October 21, 2021
To All of My Altitudinally Challenged Readers
I hope your hang-time was long and your landings were soft.
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October 13, 2021
WARP SPEED!
UPDATE: They made it back. William Shatner, at 90, is now the oldest person to have gone to space. His post-flight talk is worth watching.
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October 10, 2021
Oh Golly
It's not coming out 'till December.
It'll only have 6 episodes.
Still....yay!
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U.S.S. Connecticut Damaged
U.S.S. Connecticut, a Seawolf class nuclear submarine homeported in Bremerton, limped into Apra recently having sustained collision damage while submerged in the South China Sea sufficient to injure 11 of her crew.
There is no further information but damage to a U.S. submarine in the South China Sea does cause one to ponder.
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October 09, 2021
Oh Wow.
I think I finally beat Pixy to the punch on one of these.
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Excellence is Racism, Bigotry is Intellect
New York City has declared that they will eliminate their gifted and talented program. Mayor DeBlasio seems to think that getting rid of a means to enable bright kids to excel is striking a blow for equality.
Harrisson Bergeron call your office.
Neo has thoughts on the matter as an ex leftist and her take is always worth reading, but the thing that leapt out at me was the NYT articles subheading, which reads
The mayor unveiled a plan to replace the highly selective program, which has become a glaring symbol of segregation in New York City public schools,Emphasis mine.
There are few more racist notions than those implying that the act of demanding excellence is somehow racist. The implication is, of course that black students are too dumb to possibly compete. This reinforces some of the most wicked and pernicious stereotypes of black inferiority and white supremacy.
This is one of the toxic fruits of the equity fixation the left has. White supremacists and "race realists" will point to current standardized test scores and make much the same point. However white supremacists and "race realists", repugnant and vile though they are, are not as stupid and logically challenged as DeBlasio and company in that they do not support putting people who DO NOT make the cut in various highly skilled positions for the sake of balance.
Both the avowedly racist, the "race realist" and woke falsely claiming not to be racist Brahmins come to the same racist argument albeit for different reasons.
This racist argument is ostensibly based on education data going back to about 1970, but the data is flawed. One of the advantages to being a southern history buff is that Sons of Confederate Veterans of all people is made up of history enthusiasts who look at the history of our misguided ancestors 'warts and all'. We've had this conversation with the racists who try to enter our spaces. You see, in the 1950's and early '60s African American students were, (despite the poorer physical condition of their schools) on a par with and not infrequently outscored white students on the standardized tests that were then required in the south to matriculate from primary school to junior high school and into high school. This was partly a product of the fact that African American families pushed their kids to learn in much the same way as Jewish and Asian families are thought to do today. Additionally, the segregation of the age, while certainly abominable, did mean that the Black teachers, were teaching black students and pushing them hard. One result of this can be seen by reading Letter From a Birmingham Jail by the late Dr. Martin Luther King. This historic document used to be required reading in the freshman year of high school. It was favored as a teaching tool not just because of its eloquence in expressing Dr. King's message of racial tolerance and human dignity, but because it teaches modern readers a lesson in cross referencing. King references, amongst other things, the Bhagavad Gita in reference to Gandhi's then recent struggles in India, and the whole thing is written at such a level that the text is, today considered too advanced for freshmen...in college. However, King wrote this for and got it published as a letter to the editor in an African American paper. It was written at, what was at the time, a SIXTH GRADE READING LEVEL..among black students in 1963.
The error all three groups of racists (the white supremacists, the "race realists" and the woke,) are making, is assuming that African American educational attainment of current year is a product of African American abilities in the cognitive space. Again, prior to the currently used data set that was NOT the case, but the older data sets were not well preserved , are not well researched outside of redneck history nerds and are not as readily reference-able online. The latter data set feels like it affirms the preexisting bigotries of all three groups of bigots quite well. The "Woke" in particular cannot abide the truth of prior African American academic excellence because the problems with present day African American academics are the result of catastrophic cultural changes that happened very rapidly and mostly after 1968, including, but not limited to, the devastation of black families through divorce and out of wedlock births leading to the sudden ubiquity of single motherhood in that community.
So the idea that asking for academic achievement is racist is deeply flawed, and if ones goal is greater African American participation at the higher levels of society, one should look at the root causes, which are cultural in nature and better handled through black churches and institutions and not through holding back others "so the poor blacks can catch up" which only serves to power up resentment, and reinforce the most evil and racist of stereotypes.
But this decision is worse than that.
We have, in the U.S.A. a toxic and aloof ruling class that has become very insular. Whereas in previous years it was filled largely with the best people of all walks of life who clawed their way to the top, it has become, since about 1970, much more stable, based on credentialism and patronage rather than raw merit. Ironically this happened just as the nation was becoming serious about removing racial obstacles to advance into the upper echelons of society.
That is another thing that is toxic about this decision:
It eliminates a way for outsiders to get into the elite schools that are necessary to enter the new aristocracy. These gifted and talented programs were a way for ANYONE of any race, who was smart enough, to move into the program, get out of terrible schools and move on to big name universities. Eliminating this rout not only slams the door in the face of poor kids, it removes competition from the children of the elite, making out pernicious ruling class even MORE self-perpetuating.
Finally there is a utilitarian argument for why this decision rests at the intersection of stupid and evil. It stops the practice of picking out our best and brightest and making them the best they can be. It stifles them, and does not allow them to meet their full potential.
How many Madame Curies, Einsteins, George Washington Carvers, Freeman Dysons, or Sequoyahs we are loosing because of this decision is unknowable, but if this decision stands it will be vast.
Finally, while equality under the law is a civic virtue and moral good, equality of outcome is the worst form of tyranny, and those who have tried to enforce the latter, have filled more graves than one might think possible.
The Khmer Rouge prized equity highly, and saw to it that people who had an educational advantage were not allowed to compete unfairly with those not so privileged.
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October 08, 2021
Thoughts on China
Rudyard looks at some trends in Chinese History and their implications for the present.
I agree that the current dynamic is essentially a return to Legalism, but I think he underestimates how much communism has broken the trio of Chinese schools of thought by virtually eliminating the religious side of their life.
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October 04, 2021
First World Problems
Comedy is dead. The news is dreadful and full of dire portents. However, if you have need to laugh at somebody, below the fold are the misadventures of some honkey ineptly trying to recover from the self inflicted hurdles of fatassery and mask mandates.
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"So, there was this box, and being a catgirl, I got in it, as one does, and then I tossed bits of my bread at those chickens over there and suddenly they were over here, and and they got really friendly and then there were a lot in awkward spots and I don't dare to move and I've had to pee really bad for an hour so... HELP!" is by Tsukasa Masanaga. Support her on Skeb or buy her doujins at Melonbooks.
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September 29, 2021
A Different View
Styxhexxenhammer is, despite reports to the contrary, not Razorfist after having mellowed out by ingesting lots of weed. Razorfist, to the utter disbelief of some is NOT Styxhexxenhammer's Hyde-like alter ego who surfaces periodically as a result of a magic mushroom mishap.
They are, I am told, COMPLETELY different individuals.
So here is a totally different person's take on the Arizona audit.
Again, I think the implications of the findings are consequential and troubling, but of little immediate practical relevance. I think the damage has been done and the biggest danger is if people let themselves get demoralized by this.
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September 25, 2021
Wow.
By no means a dispassionate analysis; but one that, between expletives, handily puts into perspective what was and what was not found. It also provides some historical context regarding senate race shenanigans in AZ that explain why conservative Arizonans were so hot about this thing.
There is more on this here and here and the current mainstream take on this....ignoring the elephant in the room...can be found here.
A few things.
This is 1 county. This is NOT going to decertify the 2020 election, at least any time in the next year or so.
Even if it turns out that Biden did not win this (and other states sufficient to swing the election)....and even though that does seem quite possible, this will not change anything. There is no constitutional process for fixing this. The election was certified. That's it. The end. A president can be impeached, but that replaces the president with the Vice-President, not the opposition in the last election. As gobsmackingly inept and malicious as Dull Joe's Bizarre Misadventure has been, Kackels Mc Karen is almost certainly going to be a step down for the country and it behooves us to delay that inevitable transition as long as possible.
This audit does lend credence to the notion that our election systems are seriously broken and need to be secured. Mail-in voting has always been exceedingly vulnerable to fraud and needs to be massively limited.
The very real possibility of screwed-up ballots aside, the total subversion of the media and tech landscape has "fortified" our elections for a decade, to the extent that they're not even hiding how rigged the system is, they're bragging about it. If there is to be any hope of voting our way out of our pickle, the out and out scam of mail in ballots will have to be ended.
But as important as pushing for reform, indeed even more so, is to not give up. The only reason I can come up with that the bizarre Time mea-culpa was published was wave in our faces that they could admit what we'd long suspected and do so without fear. The Time story was an expression of dominance intended to demoralize the right. Whatever horrid revelations come of this ongoing process it is imperative that everybody (who is legally entitled to) vote. Because if we beat them larger that the margin of fraud, we still can save the country, but if we throw our hands up in despair and say "What's the point?" all hope is lost and we will never carry the day again.
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Blogging Via Dial-Up Sucks
On the other hand, finally being able to walk 4 miles without a cane is most gratifying.
I still can't run or jump, but I'm now going to out-patient Physical Therapy and have access to special equipment so I can work on that.
Furthermore, I walked past the school and blundered upon a gun store on the side of the road 2 miles distant and discovered 9mm ammunition for less than 50 cents a round. Walking back carrying the unexpected prize was harder, but it was satisfying.
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The Levels of Quislingry are Being Exaggerated
One of the things that has been reported in the news is how the people of Australia have just followed the recently reinstated COVID restrictions without protest (save a few outliers) and enthusiastically begun snitching on any compatriots who diverge from the government mandates.
I decided to ask one of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of On the Ground Sources in Australia about this and after gaining confirmation that opposition to the policy is quite broad was given the following reply from the utterly mysterious BCTOOTGSIA#000001......
The current protests are mostly construction workers that the state government abruptly put out of work.
Since it's a Labor government with close ties to the unions, they are desperately spinning it as anything other than jobless union members.They've even banned news helicopters to try to hide the size of the protests. The TV networks are suing:
Well that last bit sure sounds familiar.
BCTOOTGSIA#000001 also recommended checking out two Twitter channels which have documentary footage of the large protests and the government response.
Melbourne has imposed draconian restrictions (which has been reported) and has undergone massive civil disobedience (which is not being widely noted, at least here in the U.S.). I should note that the results of the 15 days to flatten the curve have, in Melbourne been 235 days locked down and the highest daily case rate yet.
There's a local opinion piece on this here.
The main reason I post this is because the reporting from Australia has been largely unanimous in saying that Aussies are taking this lying down or even enthusiastically. That does not seem to be the case and it does a disservice to the Australians and only serves to demoralize the rest of us.
A special thanks to our totally anonymous man on the spot who is enduring deadly spiders, boxing kangaroos, IT woes, and a shortage of chicken nuggets while trying to survive in a cyberpunk dystopia.
In completely unrelated news you should check out Ambient Irony daily.
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September 18, 2021
Some Good News!
Space-X's INSPIRATION-4 capsule, the first crewed, private, wholly civilian space mission to go into orbit, returned safely this evening.
The fate of of the Soyuz11 crew demands that we not be satisfied with merely observing the splashdown though....
So yeah, good news!
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Annoyances and Frustrations
Banality is below the fold. As compensation here's a rendering of GranBlue Fantasy's Zeta by Houtengeki. Support him on Pixiv Fanbox!
Yeah, I know, but it was pretty canonical before the...'downgrade".
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September 11, 2021
Symmetry
.....
20 years on, the verdict is in.
They won.
2973 people were killed on that day 20 years ago. A further 2461 military personnel were killed in Afghanistan prior to our disgraceful and inept pull-out earlier this month. Those totals do not count the thousands who died later or those who succumbed to the after-effects of the asbestos cloud that poisoned lower Manhattan in the wake of the towers collapse, the thousands who died in the ostensibly related adventure in Iraq, the multitude of Peace Corps and U.S. aid workers who died in Afganistan, including one killed last week via U.S. drone strike, those who succumbed to their injuries after being evacuated out of the country, nor does it count the servicemembers who are killing themselves now as they watch what is transpiring, and it doesn't touch on the vast numbers of innocent Afghanis who died either because they were caught in crossfires or suffered retaliation from the Taliban.
The Taliban, who hosted and gave aid to those who struck us on that fateful September day now own the country. They are proceeding to bless the nation with their own diverse and exotic take on gender relations policy..
...and take inventory of the cornucopia of armaments that our leadership has blessed them with.
Graphic via the London Times
The Taliban are Islamists, have a history of funding and giving aid, spiritual, financial, and logistical, to terrorists Now they have not only won, they are armed to the teeth with our guns.
Adding to our government's complicity in this fiasco is the fact that among their leaders is at least one who was freed from Guantanamo Bay to buy the freedom of a traitor.
Oh well. At least there aren't any mean tweets.
Like Polyphemus, we have lashed out destructively and violently, but blindly and in for all our efforts appeared impotent. But unlike the mythical Cyclops we have actually enriched our tormentors.
Given the money, blood and effort put into the Hindu-Kush for 20 years the towns of Afghanistan should look today like the pictures of Kabul before the Soviet invasion.
Given the assumption and conceits of those who turned a punitive expedition into a Jacobin effort at nation building......Assuming a 12 year education, the schools of Afghanistan that we spent so much to build should be putting out their 8th class of high school graduates educated in math, science and civilized mores. However our leadership cadre has no firm belief in civilization and the schools which so much money was spent on seem to have done very little.
Until this year, despite all the missteps by our feckless leadership class, Jihadist political islam had been seen as a spent force. It was broken and scatters mainly by Trumps demolishing of ISIS in Syria and the steady and ongoing French efforts in Africa. However, many countries, including most NATO members and many Muslim majority nations had joined in driving jihadism into irrelevancy. There have been but a few successes for islamist movements in isolated backwaters, and while the danger of these movements has been real, ISIS, AlQaeda, Abu Sayeff and BokoHharam were but husks of their former selves.
Now however, radical Islam has been give a massive shot in the arm, and ironclad legitimacy in the eyes of its formerly demoralized followers. Quite aside from the material benefits the kit we left behind will provide them, the morale boost is going to supercharge the until recently moribund movement.
On the other hand the cowardly and venal way in which we left the arena has alienated or demoralized our allies and given our enemies confidence that they can act against us without fear.
This was all unnecessary. There was a plan in place during the previous administration to pull out and leave a small counterterrorism force back in March, when the Taliban would have been hobbled by the weather. Our current leadership chose to sneak out unannounced leaving our allies in the lurch and kneecapping the Afghani army.
The damage this has done to us and our interests is as Brobdingnagian as as the aid we've given our adversaries.
As we commemorate this 20th anniversary of the attacks, we lie prostrate in total defeat at the hands of those who helped perpetrate them. And we still have people over there who were abandoned by our own government both U.S. citizens and former allies. All the while the exquisitely credentialed careerists who perpetrated this pat themselves on the back.
The government and ruling class that perpetrated this unnecessary self-own has shown that its enemies are not our enemies.
This fiasco will likely have terrible consequences internationally. But I fear this will be more immediately felt domestically.
I am so angry and saddened by this fiasco I cannot adequately express myself. But my frustration and despondency are vanishingly irrelevant compared to the momentous calamities this fuck-up will precipitate.
There's more on this and intertwined sub-optimal current events by people who can write well here, here, here, here and here.
UPDATE: Pithier version of my point here.
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September 10, 2021
Adventures in Algorithims Again
This evening, after a day of doctor visits and other annoyances, I sat down and watched a V-tuber named Hyasynth finishing up a Resident Evil 4 run. She'd sent out notifications and members of her chat with Facebook accounts were congratulating her on her apparent new sponsorship...or were complaining about the sponsors aggressive marketing.
She was a tad confused, not having any sponsorships yet, but the matter was soon clarified. Her announcements of her Resident Evil 4 play-thru's have, on Facebook, been helpfully accompanied by ads for a pharmaceutical company.
I have questions.
Not so much about how the advertising algorithm decided that weebs on Twitch were the target audience for the distribution of peptides and selective androgen receptor modulators, that is obvious.
Rather I find myself wondering why in the name of Mercury, Greek god of messaging and commerce, someone actually thought the name Umbrella Labs would be a good one, especially for a medical supply company and even more especially since their logo indicates that they not unfamiliar with the potential downsides of that decision.
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September 08, 2021
Achievement : UNLOCKED
Walked 1.2 miles outside.
Unrelated picture of... I guess it's a Windmill... is by Kokotan.
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Meanwhile: In Hermitstan
According to The Diplomat, the DPRK (North Korea) has restarted their Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The Diplomat, then inexplicably asks 'Why would they do such a thing?'
There are many obvious reasons that come to mind, but for the sake of facetiousness, I'm going to suggest that a lack of mean tweets is the cause. Certainly, there is a correlation.
The Diplomat suggests, in a somewhat hyperbolically titled article, arms sales to pariah entities. While the DPRK has a long history of selling advanced conventional weaponry to all the world assholes, I seriously doubt that the DPRK is going to sell nukes to anybody. I don't rule it out completely but it really doesn't seem to make any sense from a cost benefit aspect. If some paraiah outfit gets nukes, they are gonna use those nukes...probably on us, Israel, or Rome. The first two will go right to the source with nuclear hellfire and Rome, while lacking in atomic ordnance of its own is under our nuclear umbrella, so doing such a thing would be
tantamount to suicide and would outweigh the desperation of North Korea, and the vast monies it could gain the hermit kingdom.
Unless...
Unless desperate commissars somehow see in our rout in the Hindu Kush a lack of competence and resolve, or in the lack of recriminations a display of moral cowardice and a window of opportunity for mischief. Perhaps those tasked with cost benefit estimation look at the patterns and signals coming out of the Beltway as indicative of a ruling class that cannot unite against anything except its domestic opposition, and is unlikely to respond coherently to a strike from abroad with so much as a mean tweet.
Signals matter, and displaying weakness is a more consequential and tangible indicator than being gauche.
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