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by wj We are all familiar with the phenomena of a figure in public life who seemed to promise one thing but then failed to live up to expectations. But there are also those for whom we have expectations, who go on to fulfill them (in whole or in part). Today, we have one of … Read more

by liberal japonicus [Title should be sung to the tune of Rawhide] This weekend is the weekend of the Daigaku Nyūshi Sentā Shiken (大学入試センター試験). A page giving a brief explanation is here. As tenured faculty at a university that is a test site for the senta shiken, I have to proctor the test roughly 3 … Read more

by wj Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution requires the President to annually “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union”. President Washington did so with an address to Congress. But President Jefferson changed the practice to a written report. And so it remained until President Wilson re-established the practice … Read more

by liberal japonicus I’ve got a bunch of stuff to put in the previous thread, but I wanted to open up another thread about this interview with Rick Perlstein about AOC. A pull quote Well, I don’t think they’re afraid so much for the Democratic Party as they’re afraid for themselves. This is obviously a … Read more

by liberal japonicus A discussion about learning languages briefly broke out after the subject of immigrants learning English came up. While I’m not going to be the thread police here, I’m starting this thread to talk about how you and others learned/are learning/used to learn languages rather than societal issues that are involved. Pointless rambles … Read more

by russell I read this piece in the Washington Post with a mix of pride and affection.  Affection for the people portrayed here, who remind me of my own mother's people, immigrants and plain old American poor people clawing their way into the middle class in 20th C Brooklyn and Queens and New Jersey.  Affection … Read more

by liberal japonicus Not sure if this is something that is being followed or is even interesting to people here, but the foreign community here in Japan has been watching the Carlos Ghosn saga closely. A quick summary. Carlos Ghosn, who was able to revive the fortunes of Renault, came in when Renault bought a … Read more

by liberal japonicus Well, getting back to it, this article seemed interesting and a bit strange. Why Trump has spared Pelosi from his personal vitriol–so far His decision so far not to go after Pelosi personally, even as his top aides have blamed her for the shutdown, hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Capitol. Pelosi’s allies … Read more

by wj I find myself repeatedly amazed by what is going on in North Carolina. First, as we have all noticed, the state legislature has been in a long effort to combat “voting fraud” – that is people voting who shouldn’t be. They have been undeterred by a lack of evidence that there was really … Read more

by liberal japonicus Don’t really have a lot, so two things that crossed my desktop. Kevin Drum offers a commonsensical view on dealing with the deaths of public figures. (Doing the above was) considered common courtesy, and does not mean that (a) nobody is ever allowed to say anything bad about the establishment, or (b) … Read more

by liberal japonicus Laura mentioned that she had a new book, proceeds of which would go to fund animal rescue, so I asked her to give us some more details. I’m sure that other folks have interesting things that are hopefully coming to fruition for this holiday season, either for themselves or for others, so … Read more

by JanieM When I was a kid I went through a phase when I wanted to be an astronomer, using the word loosely. What I probably really meant was cosmologist. Odd, then, that I went to a college without an astronomy department. But I thought I could solve the deficiency by majoring in physics and … Read more

by wj Buried (at least for me) in the flood of political news these past weeks was something potentially far more important. It appears that a researcher in China has made the first human embryo gene edit. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2018/12/01/a-maverick-researcher-claims-to-have-created-gm-children It is perhaps not surprising that the guy who did it is not actually trained in reproductive … Read more

by JanieM When I go to Cambridge on the bus or train, I make sure to take some light reading. Literally light: paperback, nothing that will add too much weight to my luggables. But most of the time it’s figuratively light too: mysteries, mostly. This past time I decided to wake myself up a bit. … Read more

by Ugh One wonders if Saudi Arabia had just "oopsied" a JDAM on Khashoggi if there would have been any fuss.  Whatever. It appears that my 3.5 month 7 month basement project is nearing completion such that the kids can finally go down there and annihilate one another with Nerf guns (wearing the appropriate eye … Read more

by Ugh I could not get enough. Donald Trump continues as President of the United States of America, having been nominated by the "Party of Lincoln" no less.   Not that Micheal Pence could carry that banner with any more authenticity. OT

by liberal japonicus https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/nov/12/stan-lees-best-marvel-cameos-video Excelsior!

by liberal japonicus Well, that was quick.. An open thread for that.

by liberal japonicus Well, Tuesday’s here and the world hasn’t ended, but unfortunately, my Tuesday is a US Monday… Anyway, an open thread to put your observations in.

by Ugh Vote Tuesday, he said, expecting the answer no. I'll be in Silicon Valley then, having turned in my absentee ballot in races so one sided that "some" might say maximizing utility would be better spent watching the Haunting of Hill House, which I had to turn off last night (I'm 45 years old, … Read more

Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross Township Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill David Rosenthal, 54, of Squirrel Hill (Cecil and David Rosenthal are brothers) Bernice Simon, 84, of Wilkinsburg Sylvan Simon, 87, of Wilkinsburg​​​​​​​ (Bernice and Sylvan are husband … Read more

by liberal japonicus Has it only been four days since I posted about the ‘migrant caravan‘? Lot of pressure and Ugh is there with a stent of an open thread, but here’s a little more focussed post for those of you who want to chat. This post is sort of about Megyn Kelly, formerly of … Read more

by Ugh As the liberal illuminati outsmart themselves by sending pipe bombs to their own leaders in a horribly failed attempt to distract from the overwhelming menace of a caravan of more than 100,000 heavily armed foot soldiers of Middle Eastern descent steadily marching toward the U.S.'s naked southern border, and due to get closer … Read more

by liberal japonicus There’s so much shit happening, it is hard to keep track. We’ve not talked about it here, but the migrant caravan is a pretty amazing example of when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. The fact that a caravan like that, timed perfectly to encourage the Republican/Clickbait base when the elections … Read more

by Ugh There is too much sh1t goin' on.  Can we go back to the good old days of no drama? Pls thx bai? Whatever. Go Sox, tho' I wouldn't mind a Brewers World Series victory (wait, did I just talk about baseball? Don't tell the Count). If Dems take the House you will see … Read more

by russell (albeit indirectly) Check out the new (R) line on climate change. It’s happening anyway, probably not much we can do about it, none of that solar panel hippie crap is gonna work. And we don’t want to wreck the economy. What is it gonna cost to, for example, re-locate Miami, Senator? In America, … Read more

by liberal japonicus From this https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-turks-have-tapes The Post is reporting that Turkish officials have told their US counterparts that they have audio and video recordings that prove Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. It appears that the claimed video evidence is more circumstantial. The audio evidence would appear to be from … Read more

by liberal japonicus From the Guardian A group of remain-backing Tory MPs are plotting to form a rival movement to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s highly effective Eurosceptics, with the aim of voting down Theresa May’s Brexit deal amid concerns that it would wreck the economy. On my distant understanding of this, Rees-Mogg looks to me like the … Read more

by wj I know the previous post says it’s an open thread. But I didn’t want to hijack the poetry discussion. So here’s a new one. Two things. First, his stupid tariffs notwithstanding, Trump appears to be helping Canada’s economy on one front: building their high tech industry. He is making it ever harder for … Read more

by liberal japonicus My previous thread is turning into a poetry thread, so a bespoke thread. Unfortunately, I can’t really get away from what’s been happening, but if you can, please feel free to share This essay from the Poetry Foundation, worth reading itself, begins by discussing Anna Marie Sewell’s Washing the World. An excerpt: … Read more

by liberal japonicus Seems like we need some comic relief, and it is Banksy to the rescue! That he titled the video on instagram as ‘Going, going, gone!’ only adds to my admiration.

by Doctor Science My Jewish New Year’s Intention is to try to read the weekly Torah portion or parsha. I’m getting a big push from the twitter group #ParshaChat, which discusses topics selected by the moderators every Wednesday evening (Eastern time). Coincidentally, Mr Dr Science teaches fencing classes on Wednesday evening, so I can participate … Read more

by liberal japonicus It’s probably a sign of my liberal optimism, but when I think of what has just gone down, I’m thinking of Pyrrus quote of ‘another victory like this and we are undone’. Or maybe Robert Duvall’s speech in Apocalypse Now. Smell that? You smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world … Read more