Instructions Study this material. There is a test at the end. ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ I know that this isn’t the time, because after each horrific mass shooting in America Mitch McConnell tells us that yet again. He said that after Sandy Hook. He said that after Parkland. He said that after the Pulse Nightclub and Sugar Land… [read more]
Excess Deaths
Excess death is what happens when a virulent killer arrives at civilization’s door. It’s the number of people who have died over and above the number who would have died in the absence of, say, bubonic plague, the Spanish Flu or Covid-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced that there were 15 million excess… [read more]
Show-And-Tell
There have been an uncountable number of rallies and protests since the draft copy of the Justice Alito-written decision of the Supreme Court to crush Roe was made public. My observation is that public outrage is on a level with that over the murder of George Floyd (say his name). Even Stephen Colbert couldn’t manage… [read more]
Don’t Tell Me
Stop the Presses! Before we get to the meat of today’s post, please watch this most timely video. You’ll know what to do after that. Then, come back here for the aforementioned meat. ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ Don’t Tell Me You remember Popeye cartoons, I’m sure. Our hero would be going about his business but then would be… [read more]
Here’s Why
Take a look at this downloadable PDF map of NATO countries – they’re the ones in BLUE – and follow along. Putin has made it clear that the greatest tragedy of the 20th century was not WW I, WW II or the 1918 influenza pandemic, each of which killed millions of people. No, he’s certain… [read more]
Restoring the Dream
You got trouble, my friend. Right here in River City. Oh, we got trouble with a capital “T” and it rhymes with “D” and it stands for Democracy. With apologies to Meredith Willson, creator of the wonderful music and lyrics for the wildly successful musical The Music Man, paraphrasing his words became irresistible after seeing… [read more]
Numbers, Masks, Injustice & MTG
Numbers This is scary. There are roughly 331 million citizens in the United States, of whom 258 million are adults (identified at least by age, if not by behavior). Only 168 million adults are registered voters. The other 90 million adults either haven’t bothered to register, they’re ineligible to vote, like convicted felons in some… [read more]
Dunning-Krueger & SmackDown
The Dunning-Krueger Effect We suffer – oh yes, we suffer greatly! – from people who proclaim they have wisdom, brilliance, expertise and, worst, announce “truth” as if they actually know something. They act as though their appearance of confidence is all that is required. The sad news is that some reasonable level of competence really… [read more]
Getting Attention, Statistics and Projection
Hey! Over Here! The New York Times gathered for a discssion Four Opinion Writers on How the G.O.P. Fringe Took Over American Politics. Here’s a comment from Ezra Klein from that discussion. “Democrats have a lot of theories of policy. They have a lot of theories of politics. They just do not have a theory… [read more]
Cancel Culture, Crayons, Lincoln & Lemonade
Cancel Culture It’s about shutting down, shutting up and shutting off opponents. The power of authoritarians lies in the absolute, unthinking enforcement of their desires and taboos by absolute, unthinking followers who are otherwise average people. We’ve watched this dynamic in constant replay through all the Trump years, as people did and do unpatriotic things… [read more]
