Bill Jouris

by wj    Here's your chance to predict the results (if you get in early), or comment on them (after the fact), of Trump's meeting with Putin today.    Recently, Trump has characterized this as a "listening exercise."  Which is probably, perhaps by accident, accurate. If not quite in the way he meant it.   … Read more

by wj  I've been looking at the pictures of the redecorated Oval Office (and other White House "improvements").  It occurs to me to wonder, is it just an artifact of what got preserved, or did the ultra wealthy of the first Gilded Age (not to mention the aristocracies of the 1700s) actually have good taste?  … Read more

by wj  "Rare earths" (lanthanide elements) are not particularly rare.  What they are is quite difficult to separate and refine, because they are so similar.  But there are differences, and those differences are critical is determining which one will work well (or at all) in any particular technical application.  Once upon a time, perhaps half … Read more

by wj Between the fires raging in Southern California and the ice storms in the eastern part of the country, it's pretty obvious that climate change is starting to hit us big time. The obvious question is, Why do people here in the US have such trouble accepting that? The answer, I think, is simple: … Read more

by wj JanieM gave us a great upbeat musical post.  But we have this election tomorrow, and I expect that everybody is going to feel compelled to talk about it.  Wednesday, if not before.  So, to keep from polluting her thread, here’s an Open Thread for you. Just to kick it off, here’s a chance … Read more

by wj There’s an old aphorism: Prediction is hard; especially about the future. I’ve seen it attributed to various sages, including Yogi Berra and Albert Einstein.  The thing is, it’s not true. Prediction is very, very easy.  What’s hard is accurate prediction.  So, since it’s easy, I’m going to venture a prediction.  (Aided by the … Read more

by wj  We're overdue for another Open Thread.  And this coming week's Democratic National Convention seems likely to provide cause for comment.  So here's your chance!  Open Thread

by wj    lj mentioned in comments to the previous thread that he's been at a conference this past week.  Well, I'm doing the same.  In Kigali, Rwanda.  And was inspired. I suspect that, for any of you who are over 50, when you hear "Rwanda" the next word that comes to mind is "genocide."  … Read more

by wj  You may have seen, as I have, arguments back and forth concerning police vs mental health approaches to combatting violent crime in our cities.  Just for sheer novelty, here is a little something that may be of interest.  The results of a city (Richmond, CA) which actually tried it.  Richmond, 2006: A man … Read more

by wj  (No, it’s not what you think!  This is an Open Thread that doesn’t start out about politics.  No matter what you assumed from the title.) Last spring, I decided that spending all my time sitting (either in front of a computer screen or with a book) was probably not the best idea.  So … Read more

by wj (Went to make an Open Thread type post and noticed how long since we had one.  So here is some new place to babble/burble.)  I have been reading the stories about the Nobel Prize for Medicine.  Specifically about how Penn deemed Katalin Karikó's work of such low quality that it kicked her off … Read more

by wj For this weekend’s Open Thread, we step away from the chaos in the US and return to a familiar subject: Ukraine.  (Bearing in mind that I’m nothing like an expert on the subject.) Everyone has been talking for months about the coming Spring Offensive by Ukraine.  So far, nothing has happened.  Why not?  … Read more

by wj  For this weekend's Open Thread, we look at political theater vs reality. The text of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is unequivocal:  The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing … Read more

by wj  The latest nonsense out of Florida has to do with book banning.  (Which, Gary Sargent suggests, may have unexpected consequences for Gov. DeSantis.) A new bill would require the instant removal of certain books targeted for objections, even before any sort of evaluative process unfolds.  [It] mandates that instructional material facing objection in … Read more

by wj An Open Thread for the New Year Today, for the first time since 1923 (that’s right, a whole century) the US House of Representatives failed to elect a new Speaker on the first ballot. (Or the second or the third.) McCarthy could afford to lose no more than 4 votes. He lost 19 … Read more

by wj Also Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, dōng zhì kuài lè (Happy Dongzhi Festival), Merry Pancha Ganapati, etc. We’re over due for a new Open Thread. And I expect most of us will have better things to do for the next week or two than come up with something substantive to tie one to. So … Read more

by wj We are overdue for a new (and hopefully working for a while) Open Thread. So here it is.

by wj Yesterday, I saw a TV** ad regarding one of the partisan positions on the California ballot next month. And it occurred to me that this is the first, and only, such ad I’ve encountered. Apparently all the other races are considered inevitable enough that there’s no reason to spend on it. We have … Read more

by wj It’s an old military truism: “Good generals study strategy, Great generals study logistics” Judging from the War in Ukraine, Russia has a seriously lack of great generals. Logistics have been chaotic — and that’s being generous. That’s before the Ukrainians started killing Russian generals in large numbers, and Putin started firing the ones … Read more

by wj …be sure to use a gun rest on your knee. A bunch of Republican candidates for various offices, especially statewide or national offices, were very adamant during the primaries on the subject to their absolute “pro-life” stances. Having won their primaries, they are now busy scrubbing any mention of abortion from their websites, … Read more

by wj We spend so much time discussing politics in the US, it seems like it past time to talk about what’s happening elsewhere. In particular, in the UK. They have finally got a new Prime Minister. No doubt our members in Britain will have something to say on the subject. And it won’t hurt … Read more

by wj We’re overdue for a new Open Thread, so this is it. To lead us off, we have this fascinating article in the Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/19/gop-senate-rescue-midterms/ The teaser at the top: A cash crunch at campaigns and the National Republican Senatorial Committee set off a panic as Republican candidates emerged from bruising primaries playing … Read more

by wj For this week’s Open Thread, let’s lead off with some election returns. Perhaps the most significant, to my mind, was the attempt to amend the Kansas Constitution. Currently, the right to an abortion is enshrined in the Kansas constitution. This was an attempt to remove that (so that the legislature could make it … Read more

by wj Overturning Roe v Wade has gotten lots of play here this week. But it wasn’t the only decision with an impact on our lives. Today, the US Senate managed, for the first time in 30 years, to pass a gun control bill. A bipartisan gun control bill. The bill itself is a far … Read more

by wj Coming up with a title for this Open Thread was a bit challenging. Alternatives I toyed with were: – As you sow, so shall you reap – Payback’s a bitch We’re all familiar by now with RWNJs who denounce with great outrage other people who (supposedly) have been engaging in immoral behavior which, … Read more

by wj This term’s abortion law case (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) looks to be a big deal. But what is likely to come of it? And what should we hope for? Just to be clear at the start, 1) I personally think abortion should be legal, 2) IANAL, but I find the Court’s … Read more

by wj There have been lots of progressive arguments put forward for adopting UBI (Universal Basic Income). I expect everyone here is acquainted with them. But let’s face it, those who can be persuaded by those arguments are already on board. So what I propose to do here is to make a conservative case for … Read more

by wj It seems that there are several places around the country which are actually trying out variations on the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI), to see how it works in the real world. https://usbig.net/state-level-ubi-and-guaranteed-income-initiatives-in-the-u-s/ We may, in the not too distant future, have something besides theory on which to evaluate the idea. (Actual … Read more

by wj I came across this TED talk on how language shapes how we think. https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think/up-next The speaker is mostly talking about how different languages shape our perception. How a language which doesn’t use “right” and “left”, but rather gives cardinal directions (even for which hand you are talking about), will make people much more … Read more

by wj (We’re way overdue for a new Open Thread. So here it is.) Earlier this week, I saw a number of articles commemorating the 75 wedding anniversary of Jimmy and Roseland Carter. Which put me in mind of what Carter’s legacy will likely be. He was, to my mind, an average President. (Or, if … Read more

by wj Last night, the Ingenuity helicopter made history by taking off and flying on Mars. Several more flights are planned before it’s done. I think this is really great. However. It is being referred to as a “Wright brothers moment.” But I don’t think it actually is. What made the Wright brothers’ flight significant … Read more

by wj Way back when I was still in grammar school, a book came out called The Ugly American. It was about what was wrong with the American diplomatic corps –- specifically, but not exclusively, in Southeast Asia. Essentially, we had ambassadors who were typically out-of-office politicians or big donors. They were ignorant of the … Read more

by wj I came across this article in the Washington Post today: We’re having trouble recognizing each other in masks, and it’s getting awkward I confess my immediate reaction was: Welcome to my world! There are some people, me being one, who are really terrible at recognizing faces. It doesn’t necessarily rise to the level … Read more

by wj Open Thread. Because we all want to turn the page.

by wj Mine, and yours as well, I suspect. We can devote the comments on Tuesday to speculation (in my case, mostly uninformed speculation) on the outcome of the Senate races. And on Wednesday, or maybe later, we can focus on what actually happened. Once we know. For inspiration: the man himself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DFhuE_XeT8