"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by Doctor Science I’m finding the news so depressing/enraging/flabbergasting these days that I’ve taken refuge in the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Specifically, helping citizen science projects at the Zooniverse. It’s been years since I talked about them, and I’m working on different projects these days. When I’m in the mood for picking a project, I … Read more
by wj (Because, as hsh noted, it’s been way too long since we had an open thread started. Mea culpa!) Came across this in my local (California!) paper this morning: Are Cubs visiting White House early to avoid Donald Trump? Of course, the fact that Obama is from Chicago could have something to do with … Read more
by Ugh A fun front page above the fold WaPo story on Mad Dog Mattis' time as commander of Cent Comm under Obama and, well, things are going to get exciting in a Trump administration it seems! E.g.: [Mattis'] proposal, crafted with the support of the ambassador and the senior American commander in Iraq, was … Read more
by wj It occurs to me to wonder, how has this not yet generated a Trump tweet? It’s an Army regulation that “Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons.” It seems tailor made for him: It’s a tail end … Read more
by liberal japonicus Hilzoy’s facebook feed reminds me that it is 9 years since Andy Olmsted was killed by a sniper in Iraq. Someone once complained that leaving all the information about Andy up on the left was like making a shrine rather than fostering discussion. Living in a country full of shrines, I tend … Read more
— as the man said as he fell past the 25th floor. by Doctor Science Welcome to 2017. Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their fully upright and locked position, we may experience some turbulence. As usual, we at Casa Science hosted a New Year’s Eve party. At about 11:50, Mr … Read more
by Ugh I was on vacation and didn't get a chance to post this closer to the actual vote, but some of the comments made during the hysterical and overwrought freak-out (is that redundant?) over the US abstaining from the UN resolution on Israeli settlements got me thinking: what would a list of the US's … Read more
by wj It's a goal worth pursuing. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah,Happy Solstice,Happy Holidays (if that's how you roll) For something fun, and not specifically related to any of those holidays, there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP96n0gyNz0I'm particularly fond of the tag line: "The hardest job I ever done…." Sort of reminds me of how I (and, I … Read more
–by Sebastian I feel like am barely treading water about the Trump Presidency. It creates such a huge number of scary possibilities that I don't know how to form a good plan about what to do about it. I normally like to tackle the big picture and then fill in details, but I can't do … Read more
by Ugh Trump seems determined to appoint a murderer's row of Breitbart Illuminati and assorted crazy persons to his cabinet and other associated high level senior positions. The latest being noted free market loon Larry Kudlow to head the council of economic advisers, whose chief qualification seems to be talking loudly on the TeeVee. Based … Read more
by Doctor Science Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by historian James Loewen is one of the two books I think are most necessary to understand the 2016 election results (the other, as I've said before, is Sady Doyle's Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear… and Why). It's necessary … Read more
by wj California gets held up as an example of how Democrats can run amok without Republicans having some sort of veto. Certainly it is true that California Republicans have made ourselves mostly irrelevant when it comes to contests for state-wide offices (both state offices and Senate seats). Currently, Democrats have a 2/3 majority in … Read more
by russell Twice in the last 20 years, a highly contentious election season has yielded a POTUS who lost the popular vote. Most recently, lost by a lot. The argument is made that the system we use – the electoral college – was created as a compromise between the interests of states with larger … Read more
by russell From the Boston Globe, the brothers are arming up. Why? Because they perceive that they are increased risk of being harmed or killed. Who wouldn't, right? Unfortunately, it seems that a black person with a gun is that much more likely to be a former black person with a gun. Centripetal force; not a … Read more
by Doctor Science My mother and I have very little overlap in our fiction tastes: she finds SF & F fundamentally baffling, I find most literary fiction soporifically unimaginative. She recently asked me if I’d heard of Elena Ferrante‘s novels, and I said of course, but they’re not the sort of thing I read. She … Read more
by Ugh One would think with a 15+ month Presidential campaign we should know Where They Stand on the IssuesTM, especially the winner. But alas, it seems heartfelt policy positions are not really part of GOP President-Elect Trump's id nor were they of much interest to the MSM in the lead up to November 8th. … Read more
by liberal japonicus Today’s a holiday here in Japan (Kinroukansha no hi or Labor day) and have just gotten around to visiting a bunch of blogs that work and writing have kept me from, and saw this post at LGM saying that Scott Eric Kaufmann had died. I often assume that I’m reading what everyone … Read more
by russell McK has, in a couple of different posts, offered the idea that Syrian Muslims might not be good candidates for immigration to the US. Their religion and culture, the idea is, are too different from ours to allow them to assimilate. I find this questionable, because our history is full to the brim … Read more
liberal japonicus In some ways, this might be a lesser companion to Sebastian’s recent post. Unfortunately, as I’ve been working on it, lots of interesting comments and observations have come in the thread which have me thinking, but I’m not able to address them by acknowledging the people who said them. Apologies for that. This … Read more
–by Sebastian Tobias Rose-Stockwell has an interesting piece on polarization. The main takeaway for me was "Contact increases empathy. Insulation Kills it". Though the insight that the brain sees "thousands of people believe something" and "millions of people believe something" as essentially the same thing is also important. Tobias talks about the dynamic which reinforces … Read more
by russell leonard cohen, then leon russell… and now mose allison? all since election day? are these guys trying to tell us it's time to get off the freaking planet? I'm gonna miss Mose, he was the hippest of the hip. Not in a "you'll never be as hip as me, so don't even try" … Read more
It is generally received wisdom that a large part of Trump's success in the Republican primaries was a result of a collection action problem from there being too large of a field. Each individual candidate realized that whomever moved against Trump first was likely to get burned badly. Each of the candidates believed that if … Read more
by russell I'm trying to get my head around the transition to a Trump presidency. Apparently he doesn't want to live full time at the White House. How is that going to work out? Isn't the POTUS sort of expected to be available 24/7 if needed? NYC is not that far from DC, but it … Read more
–by Sebastian By far the biggest thing about voting is that it is very tribal. The easiest predictor of how anyone will vote is to identify the tribe they voted for last time. For most people that changes at most ONE time in their entire lifetime. Now of course it is a feedback loop–the parties … Read more
by russell the mystery is revealed. here ya go. McConnell's response is interesting. we're off and running. buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
by Ugh Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition. I just….wow. Are we relying on Ivanka to be the adult in the room? Did they give him his twitter keys back yet? Since signing every bill Ryan/McConnell put in front of him and Alito-esque Justices are high probabilities right now…. Jeepers. And as bad as … Read more
by Ugh It's here! God it's like Christmas morning only without the presents, joy, holiday cheer, tree, decorations, and your crabby Uncle that nobody likes. Okay maybe not so much. Perhaps more like Lady Macbeth and the damn spot, at least with respect to the campaign. My prediction – Hillary wins with 300+ electoral … Read more
by liberal japonicus If I’ve done this correctly, Ugh’s post (long may it wave!) should be above this one. Just thought that you might like to read some non-US political stuff and this is fascinating, at least to me. It also makes complaints about money for speeches or putting people on boards seem like pretty … Read more
by Doctor Science A few weeks ago Sprog the Elder, who was born in 1989, asked me to explain why some people hate Hillary Rodham Clinton so very, very much. She knew that it went back to the Bill Clinton administration, but had no idea what it was based on. This is more or less … Read more
by Ugh Someone will throw up an open thread tomorrow for so-called "Election Day" (3:10 mark), including possibly me, in the meantime: Kudos (do people say kudos anymore or is it like "swell" which has been uncool since at least Superman the Movie?) to the IRS – if ever there were an election where a … Read more
–by Sebastian I was reviewing old posts and I came across this on cybershaming It is also the topic of a recent Black Mirror Episode (which is a series that I'm enjoying quite a bit). Ten years have passed since I published that original article, and experience with the topic has suggested to me that … Read more
by Ugh Grab your towel it's one week to go and per the radio this morning Trump leads by 1% in at least one poll among likely voters post-James Comey's stupidity (I'm being generous, but, please resign, thx). In the latest news, unsurprisingly, Trump's tax losses may not be kosher for tax purposes. Will he … Read more
by Doctor Science The second weekend in October I went down to Philadelphia with a bunch of other NJ Clinton volunteers to do Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) canvassing. PA, of course, is a “battleground” state, and NJ is not. We don’t even have a Senate seat up this year. It turns out I’m not a cost-effective canvasser … Read more
by Ugh OMG, you mean people are taking you srsly? Many of the schools across America that house polling booths will not be open on Election Day for the first time after parents raised fears over violence. And what's a little harmless hanging in effigy and heads on pikes between friends, no? An effigy depicting … Read more
by wj Wonkie suggested “an open thread where we share stuff we do (besides obsess about politics), because I’m pretty sure this is an accomplished group of folks who do all kinds of interesting things.” So why not? (Well, I suppose there might be an argument for waiting until after the elections, so we will … Read more