Scattershots – 25jan22 (updated 2feb22)

George Rebane

SAT tests are biased and inequitable.  That is the claim by leftwing academics over the past few years.  The evidence shown for this assertion is that black and Hispanic students don’t get the same pro rata scores with the white students.  Today the SAT people say that they’ll fix that by having different tests for different students which should cut down cheating and drive the test scores into some par region for the races. (here and here)  If white student scores are the anchor range to which other must hew, then that means the black/Hispanic tests will be dumbed down to raise their scores, and tests given to Asian-descent students will be made tougher to lower their scores.  As with all such collectivist social engineering undertakings, the causes – home culture, quality of education, heritance - for the diverse results are either denied or ignored; the overarching motive is political correctness, no matter how much the students and the country are harmed by such ideological machinations.  I covered the race-based reason for such differences in ‘Equity Denies Reality’.

Testing to slow the spread of Covid is futile and also nonsensical, as these pages have revealed over the last two years.  Professor Daniel Halperin makes this point clear in ‘Omicron Is Spreading, Resistance Is Futile’ in the 25jan22 WSJ.  A highlight in the article is its revelation of the difference between the ‘gold standard’ PCR and the more available antigen tests, the former taking days to get results and the latter being the ‘rapid test’.  Both suffer from weaknesses I have described and quantified in previous posts that involve the tests’ sensitivities – P(TP|V) - and specificities – P(-TP|-V).  Sensitivity is the probability of a ‘test positive’ given that you have the virus, and specificity is the probability that you get a correct negative result given you don’t have the virus.  It turns out that the PCR tests have a high false alarm rate, i.e. low specificity; and the antigen tests miss detecting the virus too frequently, i.e. low sensitivity, especially in the critical early days of the infection.  The bottom line is that both tests give jaundiced results in addition to the entire overarching argument that testing doesn’t contribute anything to slowing the spread of Covid.

Other dubious Covid stats we are inundated with is “Covid hospitalizations” and Omicron deaths.  The former bamboozled number counts “patients admitted for other reasons who incidentally test positive” that analysis shows these amount to about half of the hospitalizations.  And fear-mongering Omicron deaths is done without telling people that these number no more than the normal death rates encountered during normal flu seasons.  Dr Halperin concludes with – “It’s past time to shift focus from trying to stamp out all new infections to protecting the most vulnerable from severe disease directly through vaccination and other evidence-based measures and alleviating hospital staffing shortages. Ending mask mandates, de-emphasizing isolation and encouraging vaccination ought to be a compromise most of us can live with.”  Finally, as we have known all along, masks are a farce – more below.

Local bureaucrats are still attempting to mandate masks in their allocated public spaces.  Today the 25jan22 Union features their lead story (here) telling of an encounter between a citizen group wanting to enter the Nevada County Clerk Recorder’s office to check on the proper filing of their BoS recall papers, the directions for which were confused by the Clerk Recorder staff.  They were denied entry because they did not wear masks.  Such a denial was totally illegal since there is no state or county mask mandate in force.  Tinpot bureaucrats cannot just make up their own rules for how the public must deport themselves when entering their fiefdom.  But that is the way of our country now – the Left fear-mongers Covid for establishing a new precedence for public control, and the Right refuses to play along while pointing to constitutional norms that prevent such gratuitous imposition of arbitrary rules.

[27jan22 update]  “Fair and honest elections, with votes cast by knowledgeable and informed citizens, are an integral part of our democratic republic”, asserts Terry McLaughlin in her excellent 27jan22 Union column on voting rights (here).  On the other hand, I’m in receipt of an email from a liberal friend that contains a desperate Democrat plea for funds for their ‘Ron Begone’ with which to defeat Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida, the man they perhaps fear the most on the 2024 Republican ticket.  DeSantis is launching a voter integrity program, manned by “far-right election police” that the Dems claim will “intimidate and discourage Democratic voters”; yep, only the Dems will be kept away by this new program designed to “erase the voting rights” of, wait for it, only Dems.  It’s unbelievable how dumb their elites consider their grassroots true believers to be.  Their ‘Ron Begone’ brochure concludes with, “MAGA Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is the worst Governor in America and an utter nightmare for Floridians. He is relentless in his praise for Donald Trump, he completely botched Florida's pandemic response and put lives at risk, and he gave scarce COVID vaccines to his major campaign donors instead of the most vulnerable Floridians. He MUST be defeated in the next election. We know for sure that Donald Trump is going to go ALL OUT to help DeSantis win, so we need to start fighting back today by building a massive coalition of good Democratic supporters.”  Exit problem:  Count the number of lies in this plea for money.

[2feb22 update]  Re the restraining order against my daughter and two other individuals active in promoting the recall of the Nevada County Board of Supervisors as reported in 2feb22 Union. (here)  The accounts of what happened in the brief encounter at the Clerk Recorder’s office differ widely.  What is clear is that the staff of the Clerk Recorder decided unilaterally to establish and physically enforce a mask mandate.  Such a mandate was not in force in Nevada County or at the Rood Center.  The restraining order appears to be a political instrument launched by Rood Center insiders opposing the recall, and using for its substantive basis a staffer becoming somewhat hysterical about her safety after being asked to give her name to one of the recall promoters who entered the office.  Here the fundamental question is, does a subordinate public bureau of the county government have the right to unilaterally establish and enforce mandates on the public to restrict legitimate business with the bureau, mandates that have not been established by the county nor enforced by its law enforcement arm (i.e Sheriff)?  For the record, neither Jo Ann nor I are in favor of the recall.  Our adult daughter follows her own counsel and ideology which does have considerable overlap with ours, while neither being the subset of the other.

Comments

[Don Bessee]

Creepy grampa joes free tests are made in china. -

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bill-hemmer-covid-19-tests-branded-made-china

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

Well, if you guys and gals would just stop popping the bubble wrap you get in your Amazon boxes from China, then we would not be in another fine mess. Lysol your fruits and vegetables immediately upon returning from the Farmers Market or the dent can store. Just stop the popping sound! Knock it off, knuckleheads.

[Barry Pruett]

“They were denied entry [by the individual running to replace Diaz] because they did not wear masks. Such a denial was totally illegal since there is no state or county mask mandate in force. Tinpot bureaucrats cannot just make up their own rules for how the public must deport themselves when entering their fiefdom.”

I discussed this very issue with law-enforcement today. If it’s a private business, they will take a complaint for trespassing if the business asks an individual to leave and they refuse. However when dealing with public buildings to which the public has general access, as in the election office, there is no enforcement mechanism of any mask mandates. In addition, the election officials are not being completely honest and transparent regarding the interaction with the recall proponents, and The Union, KNCO, and Yubanet reported before gathering all the relevant facts.

[Scott O]

re 'SAT tests are biased and inequitable.' - The link to the Brookings Inst blather led into a whole rabbit trail of the usual nonsense.
Consider that they posit:
"Nonetheless, SAT scores clearly capture important information about the academic position of the test taker; it is also clear that many fewer Black and Latino or Hispanic students are college ready, especially in math."
What to do?
"Making the college admissions process fairer—including by putting test score results in proper context—is a change that, in principle, could happen quickly and efficiently. The question colleges need to answer is: why not?"
So - there exists a group of young people not academically ready for college and the 'answer' is to let them in anyway.
The authors seem to overlook that this has already been going on for some time now and the results have been predictably disastrous.

[scenes]

re: The SAT.

You know, I hadn't heard anything, but made a bet with myself about another test.

Sure 'nuff.

https://www.westernjournal.com/california-relents-lowers-bar-exam-passing-score-amid-pressure-increased-diversity/

[Don Bessee]

They knew whuhan was the source but covered it up to spare china -

On January 31, Dr. Kristian Andersen, a noted virologist at the Scripps Lab, privately told Fauci that after discussion with his colleagues some of COVID-19’s features look possibly engineered and the "genome is inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory."

Andersen added that the situation needed to be looked at more closely, at which point Fauci organized an all hands on deck conference call with colleagues where he was told that risky experiments with the novel coronavirus may not have gone through proper biosafety review and oversight.

Hours later, Fauci hastily organized a call with dozens of worldwide virologists, and notes from the meeting obtained by Special Report reveal that suspicions of the lab leak theory were suppressed over concerns of how the public would react to news of possible Chinese government involvement.

In the meeting, fears were raised by then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins that "science and international harmony" could be harmed and accusations of China’s involvement could distract top researchers.

Another scientist in the meeting dismissed the possibility that the virus jumped from a bat to a person in nature and pointed out that the virus could be generated in a lab much easier.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/special-report-outlines-fresh-questions-on-what-fauci-government-knew-about-covid-origin

;-)

[Scott O]

scenes 5:59 - Oregon does its part:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oregon-scraps-math-english-high-school-graduation-requirements/ar-AAN9Jku

The main problem, of course, is that ol' stick in the mud - God - refuses to now alter reality to better accommodate "communities of color".
Sorry - stupid will still hurt.

[Paul Emery]

BArry

I went to DMV this week and masks were required. Are you saying that was against the law?

[scenes]

Paul Emery: " Are you saying that was against the law?"

That isn't what he said. He said there was no enforcement mechanism.

From a number of news sources (this is MSN):

"Dec. 16—California officials say the new month-long statewide indoor mask mandate is critical to preventing another surge of COVID-19.

But it's unclear who is responsible for enforcing that mandate.

When asked about the lack of enforcement mechanism for the mandate, which went into effect Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he "has faith" in Californians to follow it, but didn't provide specifics on what would happen if they didn't."

[scenes]

I realize that it's a subtle difference.

My take is that they can require a mask, but can't do anything about it if you ignore the request.

[Paul Emery]

So Scenes are you saying its ok to violate any law that cannot be enforced.

[George Rebane]

Re California on masks. I suggest going to the state website and looking under the Covid section to see if any mandate on masks is now in place. You will only find a recommendation to wear masks in certain situations.

[scenes]

" So Scenes are you saying its ok to violate any law that cannot be enforced."

That isn't what I said.

And Barry didn't say what you said he said.

Two for two.

As per usual.

What is (perhaps) illegal is the practice of enforcement. That's how I understand this.

You'd get a lot further in life by not using the phrase "SO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS THAT". It's a poor practice. Hopefully you avoid it in radio interviews.

[Don Bessee]

What a maroon @754, do you even think before you spew?? An executive mandate is different than a law oh great ponytail of ignorance. LOL

;-)

[Barry Pruett]

http://barrypruett.blogspot.com/2022/01/nevada-county-elections-office-has-gone.html

Our assistant election official has a poor temperament for public service, and Diaz was "out of the country." If these two politicians are so concerned about their staff getting COVID and so concerned about the public, I would think that they would be responsible enough to not get on an airplane and travel abroad before potentially bringing back COVID to their office and infecting the entire staff before the busiest time of their public service - the 2022 primary election. In fact, this type of hypocrisy is what is really frosting a lot of folks and driving them to resist these hypocritical government mandates.

[Barry Pruett]

Oh and by the way...watch the video in the above link. The rhetoric coming from the election office does not match the reality of what happened.

[Don Bessee]

The creepy grampa joe dumpster fire has spread to the whole party structure -

There was a great difference in Democrats' popularity in 2021 versus the previous year, which Christopher Caldwell attributes in part to Biden. Gallup found that Republicans outperform Democrats in Americans' party preferences at 47% compared to Democrats' 42%.

"Since Gallup began tallying party identification in 1991, Democrats have averaged a four-point lead," according to Caldwell.

Caldwell said Biden's widely-panned remarks in Atlanta, which compared those who oppose his election reform agenda to reviled figures in American history, is politically poisonous for the Democrats.

"When … Biden told an Atlanta crowd this month that those who opposed this bill were on the same side as Alabama’s segregationist Governor George Wallace and the Confederacy’s President Jefferson Davis, he was arguably combining the condescension of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 'deplorables' remark with a kind of anti-white race-baiting. That is electorally dangerous," Caldwell wrote.

Americans are not buying the story Democrats are selling, according to Caldwell.

"Roughly since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Democrats have been telling a story about the country that focuses way too much on race and way too much on Donald Trump," he wrote. "Democrats have been led astray by their Trump obsession. They have misunderstood what the former president represented to voting Americans. ... Trump tapped into smoldering grievances against various information-economy elites and managers. There is no reason that ethnic-minority voters wouldn’t share some of those grievances."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/christopher-caldwell-new-york-times-opinion-biden-could-be-draggind-democrats-into-political-earthquake

;-)

[dreadniglio]

Posted by: Paul Emery | 25 January 2022 at 07:54 PM

So Scenes are you saying its ok to violate any law that cannot be enforced.

Why do I always feel like Janet Leigh in "Psycho" when Paul utters his favorite phrase.

[Gregory]

Paul is just sharing his difficuly understanding written English.

[Barry Pruett]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZsUGHLoGaU

Here is a link to the video which shows what actually happened at the Nevada County election office last week. COVID craziness.

[scenes]

I like the SAT angle to all of this as it allows college admissions to be ever more arbitrary, subject to the whims of a committee somewhere.

With some work, I suppose a person could write software that scraped through historical college websites (via archive.org) and watch the monster unfurl.

Just for my own amusement, I picked a relatively normal school (UCSD) and what I would consider an unwoke department (Chemistry). Graduate department "Statement of Purpose" being used for admissions.

Over the last ten years, it evolved from
. "How are you a "match" for our program?"
to pointing to a boilerplate general graduate school page
. "Other factors to weave in (remember these are secondary factors): ...Describe background characteristics that may have placed you at an educational disadvantage ..."
back to something on the department webpage
"Describe any obstacles that you have overcome to achieve your academic and personal achievements as well as any contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion you have made."

Notice not only the movement to affirmative action, but also to being an active participant in the machine.

[Bill Tozer]

Affirmative Action:
Well, the bean counters are really flipping out that SCOTUS would even dare consider the lawsuit brought by Asian students against Harvard. Man, that got the Lefties melting down into a pile of vomit.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said (ruled) years ago that Affirmative Action was temporary until a day in the future when Affirmative Action would no longer be needed. She, as well MLK envisioned a future without quotas.

The best argument I have read representing the Asian students is a highly educated Asian lawyer (and father) who said that he does not want his children treated as second class citizens in the country of their birth. That argument will be assailed, but stopped me cold.

Q: What do you call a doctor who finished last in his class and failed the Bar exam three times before passing?
A: Doctor.

[Bill Tozer]

HARVARD’S PRESIDENT WHINES ABOUT SUPREME COURT’S CERT GRANT

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/01/harvards-president-reacts-to-the-supreme-courts-cert-grant.php

A little personality goes a long way. Punch should take notice.

[scenes]

"Here is a link to the video which shows what actually happened at the Nevada County election office last week. COVID craziness."

That's pretty funny. The Nevada County Department of Karens.

While I'm sure the elections office gets plenty of cranky old men yelling at them, usually because the old men didn't fill out some form correctly, I can't say that COVID is driving the factor here.

It's natural for government employees to flip the script from providing a service to dealing with powerless supplicants. You absolutely have to have some piece of paper and they can supply it if they like. I don't think of it as bullying so much as ownership. Forest rangers 'own' the National Forest they work in, DMV 'owns' your right to a car, planning people 'own' the usage your property is put to. The supplicant is merely borrowing the thing. It's not the relationship between prison guard and prisoner (although the Stanford Experiment appears to be a questionable one), but the one between landlord and tenant.

You'll never escape the relationship, so it's always better to limit the extent of government rather than try to change it's behavior.

[Scott O]

BT 8:19 - re the letter from the pres of Harvard.
Although the article written by Paul Mirengoff points out a lot of problems with the letter (accurately) the most obvious gaff was in the last paragraph:

"As the Supreme Court has recognized many times, race matters in the United States. I long for the day when it does not, but we still have miles to go before our journey is complete. Harvard will continue to defend with vigor admissions policies that were endorsed in the thoughtful decisions of two federal courts that concluded that we do not discriminate..."
Hilarious!
"Gee - I wish race didn't matter, but we gotta keep making it matter until it doesn't."
Or is it:
"We gotta keep discriminating based on race until you stop discriminating on race"?

[Bill Tozer]

Barry’s video.
What it tells me is exactly what I have been noticing for awhile; that folks going hard core on demanding others wear masks tells me that the faxes and boosters do not work. If one has been tripled vaxxed, why would they worry about catching the plague?

I have seen both sides. One man asking me why I was wearing a mask in a store where nobody was masked up including the proprietor and another story of a woman at a big box store in Yuba City calling security on a unmasked guy standing 6 feet behind her waiting for his chance to grind coffee beans. The security did nothing besides asked what was going on (Karen claimed he was threatening her when the dude pointed to a check out line where half the people were wearing masks and then pointed out to KAREN that one in six in the very aisle they were standing in were masked up.), Security played the peace maker and Karen went her way and the dude stepped up and ground his coffee beans.

When asked why I was wearing a mask, I told the man questioning me that I was vaxxed but the sign on the door said masks required. The owner rolled his eyes and no other words were spoken. As long as the retail outlet had the sign on the door, that really was all that mattered….not enforcing any requirement.
I did not divulge that moi has just came from from the Tooth Doc, had a tooth pulled, and the mask was hiding my Okie look. Until I get new chops, I wear a mask in public….albeit for a different reason which is not C-19 related.

From the start of the Mob and non-Mob racing to buy up all the toilet paper they could get their hands on to now, I have stated the same thing many times to friends and foes alike. After seeing C-19 was targeting the elderly, the fat, and folks with compromised immune systems and was not fatal to the younger crowd (with statistically insignificant exemptions), I tell everybody if I was in my twenties, hell yes I be hopping on a big ole jetliner and partying in erotic places or partying down on a Saturday night. If I were in my late twenties, I would not have a care in the world about the Plague.

[Bill Tozer]

One man’s opinion

VACCINE RISK? WHAT VACCINE RISK?

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/01/vaccine-risk-what-vaccine-risk.php

[scenes]

I rewatched the Assault on the Elections Office vidya again and really liked the line:

"I AM OUTRAGED THAT YOU DO NOT FOLLOW MY RULES"

That strikes me as the perfect epitaph for the era, probably written in Mandarin.

[Bill Tozer]

Let’s look at a recent point of contention brought up a poster here.

“I went to DMV this week and masks were required. Are you saying that was against the law?”

Might be helpful to note that Paul Emery Infections has a personal financial interest concerning people wearing masks. It’s a requirement at the door for the live music events and and cops will be called on any who refuse to wear a mask…after Paul laws down the law. It’s his job to protect the performers and the audience.

It may also be kinda helpful to note that the financial interests of Paul Emery Infects may also be impacted by those who would normally go to a Paul Energy Infects Production but have decided not to go based solely on a mask mandate. Darned if you do, darned if you don’t.

Replay: ‘Show the world you care by the belt you wear’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Ujv0KmbXc
————-
Scenes: continued thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKFIHRpe7I

[Don Bessee]

OH NO creepy grampa joe how low can you go? Well at least this low -

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/26/joe-biden-approval-index-33-surpassing-donald-trumps-worst/

;-)

[scenes]

...and then I read the newspaper about the Battle of the Elections Office.

"In the call channeled through dispatch, logs state, “One man and two women came into the office and assaulted staff. Subjects are no longer in the office, unknown if they’re still in the building.”"

Assaulted I tell you.

Bill the T, continued thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLunfzV-_04

The God-Emperor could do worse in chosing a VP.

[scenes]

Huh. I don't know what 'chosing' is. I guess it's 'choosing' but with more vigor.

[Bill Tozer]

WHY DO DEMOCRATS HATE CHILDREN?

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/01/why-do-democrats-hate-children.php

This dovetails with another study (not peer reviewed) that there is a 30% increase in delayed speech ‘speaking skills’ with our youngins.

[scenes]

re: BillT@8:46AM

Well now, there's a paper that needs to go into the memory hole, toot sweet.

https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/pol.20170603

"...We find the Quebec policy had a lasting negative impact on noncognitive skills. At older ages, program exposure is associated with worsened health and life satisfaction, and increased rates of criminal activity. Increases in aggression and hyperactivity are concentrated in boys, as is the rise in the crime rates...."

They did seem to go to a lot of trouble to correct for various factors, sociology studies are a hard nut to design I think.

My own guess is that heavy spending on universal childcare isn't so much because it's good for children, but that it's simply a lifestyle choice by modern parents. Kids are a lot less fun than yoga class or your job in internet marketing.

No doubt the kids will hang out at the Korova Milkbar making up their rassoodocks what to do with the evening.

[Bill Tozer]

I am surprised Brother Dan lasted as long as he did on YouTube. Good thing he has other options to choose from. In fact, his YouTube audience has been only half the size of his free speech Rumble. Parlor is still getting g the kinks out. Hard to build a new platform from the bottom up, but at least they are trying as time is of the essence.

‘YouTube Permanently Bans Fox News Host Dan Bongino’

“YouTube permanently banned both of Dan Bongino’s accounts on Wednesday after the Fox News host was initially suspended for saying masks are “useless” against Covid-19.

One of Bongino’s two accounts, the Dan Bongino Show Clips, was suspended and demonetized for seven days after the conservative commentator posted a video calling masks “useless” in stopping the spread of Covid-19, in violation of YouTube’s Covid-19 misinformation policy.”……..

What say you, Dan?

“Hilarious watching the @YouTube communists desperately try to save face after we told them to go f%^* themselves. They’re claiming we ‘tried to evade suspension.’ Really? By posting a final video LITERALLY titled ‘Why I’m Leaving YouTube’?”

That’s Dan.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/youtube-permanently-bans-fox-news-host-dan-bongino/?

[scenes]

re: D. Bongino

Oh well, you know they'd kick him off for some other reason if not masks. The Children of the Corn that work at Alphabet have a pretty darned good idea. Set up a bunch of arbitrary rules which are arbitrarily enforced. Any modern political commentator will stumble on them. Roll those guys up when you feel like it.

I expect they have a list somewhere of crimethinkers.

In the meantime, in the best country in the world:

"To conduct the study, which ran from early April to early June, scientists at the University of Copenhagen recruited more than 6,000 participants who had tested negative for COVID-19 immediately prior to the experiment.

Half the participants were given surgical masks and instructed to wear them outside the home; the other half were instructed to not wear a mask outside the home.

Roughly 4,860 participants finished the experiment, the Times reports. The results were not encouraging.

“The researchers had hoped that masks would cut the infection rate by half among wearers. Instead, 42 people in the mask group, or 1.8 percent, got infected, compared with 53 in the unmasked group, or 2.1 percent. The difference was not statistically significant,” the Times reports.

Dr. Henning Bundgaard, lead author of the experiment and a physician at the University of Copenhagen, told the newspaper the results of his research are clear.

“Our study gives an indication of how much you gain from wearing a mask,” Bundgaard said. “Not a lot.”"

[Don Bessee]

Creepy grampa joe is a criminal enabler -

ICE agents forced to coordinate travel for illegal immigrants, some with criminal records: source

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ice-agents-forced-coordinate-travel-182812437.html

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

Somebody wants their Air America back.

DISHONEST Maddow Deceptively Edits Statement from FL Health Department Spox.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kevin-tober/2022/01/28/dishonest-maddow-deceptively-edits-statement-fl-health-department

[Bill Tozer]

BENEFITS DO NOT OUTWEIGH THE RISKS": SWEDISH HEALTH OFFICIALS JUST ANNOUNCED THEY DO NOT RECOMMEND COVID VACCINES FOR KIDS

https://notthebee.com/article/swedish-health-officials-just-announced-that-they-do-not-recommend-covid-vaccines-for-children-benefits-do-no-outweigh-the-risks

Not the Bee? Good name for a website. Fact are not preferred over fiction.

[Don Bessee]

Cheat by mail struck down in PA -

A Pennsylvania court struck down the state’s mail voting law on Friday morning, saying that voters must amend the state constitution before such legislation is legal.

“No-excuse mail-in voting makes the exercise of the franchise more convenient and has been used four times in the history of Pennsylvania,” Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote in a Friday ruling. “If presented to the people, a constitutional amendment to end the Article VII, Section 1 requirement of in-person voting is likely to be adopted. But a constitutional amendment must be presented to the people and adopted into our fundamental law before legislation authorizing no-excuse mail-in voting can 'be placed upon our statute books'.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pennsylvania-court-tosses-state-s-mail-voting-law/ar-AATfauY?ocid=msedgntp

;-)

[Don Bessee]

The nice thing is that the dnc and the socialist greens will ignore him! -

James Carville assails 'emotional' Democrats for wasting money on unwinnable Senate races: 'Stupid s--

"They were always going to lose those races, but Democrats keep doing this stupid s---," Carville said. "They’re too damn emotional. Democrats obsess over high-profile races they can’t win because that’s where all the attention is. We’re addicted to hopeless causes.

Calling for Democrats to keep their eye on the ball and focus on winnable races, Carville defended Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the moderate Democrat who's been a thorn in the side of progressives on issues like the filibuster and the Build Back Better social policy package championed by President Biden. Carville said it was pointless for liberals to fume about him or suggest he could be replaced by a more reliable Democrat.

"B----ing about a Democratic senator in West Virginia is missing the damn plot," he said, noting West Virginia has been one of the reddest states in the country in recent presidential elections.

"Six percent of adults in this country identify as ‘progressive.' Only 11 or 12% of Democrats identify as progressive. So let’s just meet in the middle and say something like 7 or 8% of the country agrees with the progressive left," he said. "This ain’t a g---amn debate anymore. Someone like Manchin is closer to the mainstream than a lot of these people think, and pretending like he isn’t won’t help the cause."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/james-carville-democrats-wasting-money-stupid

;-)

[Gregory]

Regarding the SAT, it is an absolute FACT the test does a poor job of predicting 1st year grades, and this is a driving force behind the effort to get rid of it.

But of course, that's after the test is used as a sieve to find students able to succeed at Caltech and MIT, and relies on the fiction that a 3.0 GPA means the same in Physics at Berkeley and "Communications" at Chico State.

[Don Bessee]

The dreams of the socialist greens and creepy grampa joe are not only DOA but in the coffin and covered in dirt -

72 percent of West Virginia voters back Manchin's call to suspend Build Back Better talks: poll

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/72-percent-west-virginia-voters-200009124.html

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

The Fight Over What Children Learn

https://quillette.com/2022/01/29/the-fight-over-what-children-learn/

[Bill Tozer]

C-19, 20, 21, 22……

The latest Covid variant is 1.5 times more contagious than omicron and already circulating in almost half of U.S. states

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/28/the-new-bapoint2-omicron-subvariant-is-already-circulating-in-half-of-us-states.html

It’s in the air passages. Go figure

[Barry Pruett]

https://barrypruett.blogspot.com/2022/01/american-manifesto-freedom-and-liberty.html

This article related to an educated and informed and virtuous citizen.

[scenes]

Gregory: "Regarding the SAT, it is an absolute FACT the test does a poor job of predicting 1st year grades, and this is a driving force behind the effort to get rid of it."

We live in an odd world.

https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.intell.2008.05.001

[Gregory]

Scenes 1136am

I'm not sure what you were trying to say but the meat of my statement was in the words you cut.

Regarding the article you linked, I thought it hilarious they ignored that the SAT once was a reliable indicator of 'g' but that was designed out years ago, with MENSA rejecting it for membership beginning in 1994.

[Don Bessee]

Does creepy grampa joe even remember filibustering a black women? -

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/30/biden-filibustered-black-woman-judges-nomination-two-years/

;-)

[scenes]

re: Gregory@1:42PM

I just liked the idea of SAT minus 'g' as being indicative of GPA. I thought you might be interested.

Although Mensa always struck me as a singularly dreary concept for an organization, it might be fun to base one simply on reaction time, a tolerably close alternative. Maybe call it 'Velox'. Put the flasher and the button on the top-secret front door lock.

[scenes]

moi: "Although Mensa always struck me as a singularly dreary concept for an organization,"

On second thought, that sounds like the words of a midwit excusing their own lack of ability. The midwittery is honestly earned, mind you.

Truth is, the world needs more nondestructive social organizations, not fewer.

[Gregory]

My first wife's favorite aunt (a mathematican at the RAND Corp) was a Mensan once in the '70's,got bored... meetings were meat markets.

I've been a dues paying member for a lifetime total of 18 months... currently in a stupid phase, although it could be said I was stupid to send them money, but it did serve a good purpose at the time.

[scenes]

I've just discovered (ie. new to me) a wonderful form of testing for producing social groups.

The Implicit Bias Test/Implicit Association Test. Quite a rabbit hole there.

They're usually marketed as 'find out about your own biases', but you know darned well the point is an attempt to read other peoples' minds and get rid of badthinkers.

I'm not sure how you would avoid people gaming the test if you just want goodthinkers in your book club or Nevada County Moral Association, they probably need work on that. Perhaps steal whatever tech is in polygraph machines or Bladerunner replicant detectors.

[Bill Tozer]

Finland latest country to drop mandates.
————————-
Tulsi, the Biden voter, speaks her truth. I like her truth.

https://rumble.com/vslkia-he-betrayed-us-tulsi-gabbard-turns-on-biden.html?

[scenes]

In other COVID news.

"Lockdowns in the U.S. and Europe had little or no impact in reducing deaths from COVID-19, according to a new analysis by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

The lockdowns during the early phase of the pandemic in 2020 reduced COVID-19 mortality by about 0.2%, said the broad review of multiple scientific studies.

“We find no evidence that lockdowns, school closures, border closures, and limiting gatherings have had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality,” the researchers wrote."

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jan/31/lockdowns-had-little-or-no-impact-covid-19-deaths-/

It isn't that government policy is wrong, it's just that it's correct only randomly. The virus is gonna do what viruses always do.

[Don Bessee]

The propaganda mill that used to be called hollywood is so bereft of ideas that they have to twist old stories into unrecognizable brainwashing -

Robyn Hood will reportedly tell the story of Robyn Loxley, the leader of a masked hip-hop band, The Hood, from Sherwood Towers, a complex of high-rise projects in the working-class neighborhood of New Nottingham. The band robs from the rich and gives to poor, presumably meting out social justice and equity in the process.

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/02/01/robin-hood-gets-gender-race-swap-in-woke-feminist-tv-series/

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

Masks

Coming to Grips With the Facts About Masks

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/coming-to-grips-with-the-facts-about-masks/

Lockdowns

Johns Hopkins University Study: ‘Lockdowns Have Had Little to No Public Health Effects,’ ‘Imposed Enormous Economic and Social Costs’

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/01/johns-hopkins-university-study-lockdowns-have-had-little-to-no-public-health-effects-imposed-enormous-economic-and-social-costs/

[scenes]

" Here the fundamental question is, does a subordinate public bureau of the county government have the right to unilaterally establish and enforce mandates on the public to restrict legitimate business with the bureau,"

Good question, it doesn't make much sense for them to do that. Perhaps it would be more reasonable if applied to a physically different facility.

Looking at the various departments on the county website, I'm seeing a lack of logical consistency. Naturally, the elections people now have a mask announcement. The library has a barricade. The rest of them don't appear to have any rules stated. There's just no telling what they do, but then they don't have much scientific basis for what they do do.

I guess the ad hoc nature of the thing would explain a rule set, probably written in Sharpie on a piece of printer paper in the window, posted by County Employee Karen.

[Bill Tozer]

mask mandates

'Were masks a waste of time?'
Experts advocated an intervention they once thought useless

https://unherd.com/2022/02/were-masks-a-waste-of-time/

[scenes]

re: BillT@12:

Which led me to this:
https://swprs.org/face-masks-and-covid-the-evidence/
https://ianmsc.substack.com/

One of my few joys in life is when you run into yet more evidence that common knowledge might be common but it ain't knowledge.