Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

I prefer not to have the American history I was taught to be erased because it offends some and as if it did not exist or should not have existed. History is to be understood. It is designed to inform. You eliminate or ignore it at your own risk.

That ship has sailed. And to be clear, it's being eliminated and re-written to serve the interests of the Far Left, which is fundamentally Marxist. Read the Green New Deal. Read the platform BLM supported in 2016. These are Marxists. Pure and simple. And the idea of America has to be destroyed before the Marxists can begin incrementally razing American institutions and systems.

If you told me that in 30 years the Supreme Court will declare the Electoral College or Senate unconstitutional then I'd say -- "that wouldn't surprise me."

[iam416]

Anyway, we actually need someone like Joe Biden or, ideally, younger less senile Ds to lead on this issue. PDJT's cannot and his pushback will invariably go too far.

It's incumbent on Ds who actually love this country to defend its history. I'm not sure how many of those Ds are left, though.

[AlabamAlum]

The revolutionary war was fought because Britain was going to end slavery in the colonies. The war of 1812 was fought to regain the colonies to end slavery. I’m not even kidding. It’s being taught that way now in certain circles.

And any president who owned slaves, fought Indians, or had segregationist policies will be “cancelled”.

[iam416]

It's being taught that way in a TON of schools. That IS the 1619 Project. And the goal of the Project is to teach that the US is EVIL. I mean, it's crystal clear.

The NYT ran a column the other day by one of their regulars arguing that Lincoln and Grant did not free the slaves.

[iam416]

The 1619 Project is actually a perfect example of Leftist efforts. First, it's masquerading as history when, in fact, it was written by journalists. Second, it's masquerading as history when, in fact, dozens of the most prominent historians in the country have called out significant errors. Third, it's masquerading as history when, in fact, it's an ideological indoctrination piece written for specific policy goals.

I say it's a perfect example because it's History w/o rigor. That's the whole point of the various critical theory schools that are coming to dominate Higher Education. You work completely outside the scientific method. What you teach is ideology more or less detached from any sort of reality and certainly detached from any sort of proving ground. I said it yesterday -- Racism fills the gaps -- but more broadly, [Fill in Blank]-ism fills the gaps.

The anti-STEM movement remains very small, but it's small in the right places -- Academia and the Critical Theory folks. It has the potential to grow because those folks give it a veneer of respectability ("Prof So and So, PhD Harvard, says STEM systemicall excludes black folks!").

Again, it's on the margins. But, fuck man -- did anyone see the "gender revoluion" idiocy coming 15 years ago? Did anyone think that one day, and one day relatively soon, that dudes would be able to compete against chicks in chick sports because the dude says he's a she? Did anyone think that saying "men can't be women" would be bigoted?

These things are coming. What that means for the government and US systems and all that remains murky (IMO). But, I have zero doubt as to WHY these people are tearing down history, I have zero doubt they will succeed in tearing down US history and I have zero doubt that they will come HARD at tearing down the US.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The face mask debate has gotten out of hand. There are three separate but related questions here that need to be fleshed out: (1) Do masks prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2? (2) If masks are deemed effective, at what level, federal, state or local, should mandates to wear them occur. (3) How important is mask messaging in addressing mitigation measures in a pandemic.

To answer the first question, yes, they are effective with qualifiers. You have to live in a cave to not know what these are. But, generally, the evidence is overwhelming that they cut down on virus spread - the degree to which they actually do that is not known with any degree of specificity. It is this unknown that brings into question the need for all to mask v. the need to mask certain cohorts (the vulnerable, those with diagnosed infection)

To answer the second question, opinions are going to vary but, if we are going to be true to the concept of State's Rights, the feds should stay out of it. I think Governors can rightfully delegate the authority to mandate masks to county and municipal officials based on local circumstances (i.e., virus presence in the community) and available resources. I'll add federal and state authorities should be involved in resource, both money and materials, procurement, stocking and fair distribution based on need to subordinate entities.

To answer the third question, psychologists will tell us if you want to influence human behavior in a particular direction, in this case wear a mask to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, how leadership and others constantly in the public eye behave IRT to wearing or not wearing a mask is important.

I've been a mask advocate for the general public since February when, after speculation in late January that masks weren't all that effective and the ones that are should be reserved for essential, front line and HC workers. Now the word is, any facial covering (nose and mouth) is better than none. Masks, although not all commercially available ones will protect you, are readily available. You can obtain NIOSH certified N95 or N95 equivalent masks if you want to protect yourself as best as you can from becoming infected with the virus.

Anti-maskers who choose to flaunt masks for political reasons are crazy. This is a group of scientifically and medically uninformed idiots. They are dangerous to themselves and others around them. I have no problem with giving citations to these idiots when applicable and authorized by local officials to enforce wearing them and issuing citations when they don't. They can grumble all they want. If they resist violently to an encounter by law enforcement, lock them up.

I'm also an advocate of opening the economy based on my own defined reality that the social and economic costs of mass shutterings and restrictions in mobility exceed any virus mitigation benefit obtained by doing these things. I can back that position up with facts so, I feel good about staking it out. I am also an advocate of targeted mitigation measures. IOW, it is possible to ID circumstances and events that either are or could be "super-spreader" situations, i.e., a club when, upon investigation, a lot of people got infected because patrons and/or proprietors were not following re-opening protocols for their particular business. Cite, and close if a proprietor can be shown to have contributed to the outbreak, until such time as corrective action can be demonstrated on re-inspection. Not all bars or restaurants in a county need to be closed. IMO, that's counter productive. YMMV.

I'm looking, if skeptically, at targeted masking based on a discussion I had with a reasonable, well informed anti-masker - with qualifiers. For example, several counties in S. FL have less than 10 cases and no community spread. Mandate masks at the state level? Probably unnecessary. There are plenty of counties and states nationally in that same circumstance yet I hear PH experts on national TV saying a national mask mandate is absolutely necessary. I don't think so. I'm less certain about cohort targeting but it fundamentally makes sense. If I'm under 40 and healthy do I need a mask? Should I be excluded from going to my place of work? Considering that if I become infected, while I might spread it to others I work with or hang out with in this age group, none of us are going to develop serious illness such that this presents a significantly increased disease burden to the local hospital system. OTH, those assumptions could be a stretch. As well, travel out of your community, then returning and exposing others or, especially, the vulnerable could be problematic.

That is all for this morning. Thanks.

[AlabamAlum]

The best woman chessplayer is Yifan Hou. She isn’t in the top 75 on the combined list and since all but of a handful of games she has played have been against women, she would struggle to be top 150 if she played exclusively against men. It doesn’t mean men are smarter, just men do much better with spatial relationships. We’re wired for it. Hou has even said that she cannot imagine top women being competitive against top men.

So, some middling male GM would rack up on the women’s circuit if he “identified” as a woman. This has to be coming.

[iam416]

That's pretty interesting. I wondered why women aren't anywhere close to the best men chess players. I didn't know if it was interest-based or something more hard-wired. Given that elite chess play is a savant-like gift, I would have expected it to be evenly distributed. Very interesting.

But, yes, it's coming. Of course it is.

*EDIT* -- oops, I forgot the world in which I live. Disparate results. Fill the gap. No nuance. So, chess is a misogynistic, racist hellpit of a game designed to promote white male privilege.

[Tom W]

Black people are a homegenous blob that thinks a single way. White people are diverse in thought.

It's patently fucking offensive AND racist to anyone who actually thinks about what these paternalistic white guilt assclowns are doing.

Of course it is. and one has to think (believe? hope??) that those good decent non-coastal types aren't going to just let all of the assclowns take over. Nah, they're WAY smarter than they're given credit for. Maybe they're even smart enough to be playing these assclowns. Let them have their tantrums. Amplify their protests. Have them show their true colors. Keep handing them more rope and they'll eventually find a way to hang themselves.

Maybe?

[Hannibal]

Women's IQs are distributed a lot more heavily towards the mean, whereas men have more outliers on each end.

[Jeff Buchanan]

This is a good example of targeted closings involving what have likely been identified by local PH officials as hot spots or potential hot spots. I'd not thought of operating hours restrictions. It makes good sense. Glad to see officials acting responsibly - selectively target actual or potential breeding grounds for the virus and apply sensible mitigation measures without choking off the business. From my morning edition of the Sun Sentinel:

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to spike across Florida, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced late Tuesday that all restaurants that seat more than eight people must close their on-site dining at 12:01 a.m. until further notice.

The measure, which goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, requires restaurants to close their dining areas from midnight to 6 a.m. daily. Restaurants and other food-service businesses can continue to prepare food in their kitchens to provide pick-up and delivery service.

“We must take this action to tamp down Miami-Dade County’s recent rise in COVID-19 cases,” Gimenez said in a statement. “Too many people were crowding into restaurants late at night, turning these establishments into breeding grounds for this deadly virus.”

Employees, janitorial personnel, contractors and delivery personnel will be allowed to access these establishments at all times, according to the mayor’s order.

This latest order follows one that took effect midnight Monday, which prohibited businesses from selling alcohol for on-site consumption between 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m. daily, and ordered that hookah lounges remain closed.

[AlabamAlum]

That's pretty interesting. I wondered why women aren't anywhere close to the best men chess players. I didn't know if it was interest-based or something more hard-wired. Given that elite chess play is a savant-like gift, I would have expected it to be evenly distributed. Very interesting.

But, yes, it's coming. Of course it is.

*EDIT* -- oops, I forgot the world in which I live. Disparate results. Fill the gap. No nuance. So, chess is a misogynistic, racist hellpit of a game designed to promote white male privilege.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/why-are-men-better-chess-players-than-women

We used to explain it as total population/participation rate. That hypothesis was found to be unsound. And it’s not IQ. Most good chess players are a bit above average in IQ, but nothing staggering as you would expect for the best of the best. The spatial relationships and reasoning explanation has gained steam. There are some scholarly articles out there if interested. It’s kinda like how the best pool players have a natural ability for applied geometry.

[Dr. Strangelove]

One of the election guys I follow (don't remember which one) said the other day that Culture War issues only have a significant impact on elections when things are going well and there isn't much policy to campaign on. It seems pretty clear now that we're going to have a dual health/economic crisis continuing up till the election. So people can bang the drum on saving statues and how transgender rights have gone too far all they want, but people won't prioritize that stuff ahead of their jobs and their families.

[AlabamAlum]

While I agree trans rights and the desecration of monuments isn’t as important as the economy, do you get the sense that Biden is a strong economical savant?

[Dr. Strangelove]

While I agree trans rights and the desecration of monuments isn’t as important as the economy, do you get the sense that Biden is a strong economical savant?

I don't get the feeling that he's a strong savant at anything but that hasn't mattered one iota so far. Trump's is the one in charge, for better or worse. It's nearly impossible for an incumbent to make the case that yeah the economy's in bad shape and we couldn't control the disease like I claimed we could, but don't elect Biden because he's incompetent.