Author: polistra
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Which humans?
At MindMatters: = = = = = START QUOTE: Today’s video features a panel representing companies on the leading edge of technology applications. They discuss emerging technologies that hold great promise for human prosperity — from the conversion of waste to clean energy; to the production of graphene for a multitude of uses including building…
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I started to say…
Jake Tapper, who is paid millions to be a “journalist”, refuses to talk with newsmakers he doesn’t like. First thought: Well, ordinary people can be selective, but the whole fucking purpose of a reporter is to talk with people he doesn’t like. You’ll never get any Shannon information from NICE people. NICE people don’t have…
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New coal, old coal
Britain is starting up a lithium mine in Cornwall, a traditional mining area. This is the REAL Brexit. Boris was playing an evil game, freeing his own demonic desires from EU limitations. Now Britain is trying to free itself from Chinese domination of the NEW coal, providing jobs for the descendants of the OLD coal…
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Why our rulers are stark raving mad
This WSJ piece doesn’t ask WHETHER ruling lunatics are totally wacked out on LSD and magic mushrooms. The reporters start with their understanding (which is NOT widely known!) that everyone in power is zonked all the time. They discuss WHY the ruling lunatics feel it’s necessary to lose their minds. Here’s why: Venture capitalists pressure…
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Kirn loses it
Katharine Boyle said: The decline in liberal arts degrees bodes well for society on almost every dimension. College students now know that majoring in Book Club won’t get you a great job. This is progress. Kirn snotted back: “On almost every dimension” isn’t English, brainiac. Close, but not quite. And what would know about dimensions…
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Graphing the era
Elaine Low at the Ankler is discussing the modern absolute dependence on SHARE VALUE in connection with the writers strike. = = = = = START QUOTE: Broadly, the sense is that the town cares what investors and bankers think far more than it did over 15 years ago, the last time the writers put…
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Wonderful concept
In this podcast Eric Anderson brings in a powerful concept, but he discusses it from an angle that seems unproductive to my tastes. His approach must be persuasive to some types of scientists, but it doesn’t hit the mark for my engineerish mindset. The concept: When organisms change over time, they’re not Innovatively Disrupting. They’re…
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Hall of one-way mirrors
Krystal is shocked that a behavioral researcher was caught faking data in a study on honesty. Krystal thinks that the government agencies who use such research will be misled. Nope. Government agencies conduct their own research, which is always VASTLY more thorough and accurate than the research allowed in academia. I saw a shadow of…
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Not ironic
Bari Weiss’s big substack is featuring a series of articles on woke judges in high school debate, written by a debate coach who is trying to set up an alternate non-woke board of judges. I took debate in junior high, around 1963. It wasn’t a huge influence but it did give me practice in serious…
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Silly chemicals
The latest OCD craze is “atrazine makes you gay”. Apparently RFK is pushing this one. I don’t know what Atrazine is. You don’t need any details to dismiss ALL these trace chemicals. Water supplies have an infinite variety of trace chemicals, different from city to city and day to day. We only test for a…
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Two reprints
I get a sense that Google is trying to ‘fade’ some of the old blog by making the images unlinkable. Probably superstition, but still feels like the right time to reprint two old entries together. From 2019 then from 2010. = = = = = START 2019: While brushing teeth last night I happened to…
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LBOs all the way down
Rich people are gangsters and extortionists and murderers. They destroy businesses and cities and countries in order to buy cheap. Rich people never pay. They always receive. They are black holes. Soros has been destroying entire countries for 30 years in order to short their currencies. Remove a stable government, turn the country into a…
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Two inflection points
Ryan Burge discusses the shifting correlation between party and religion. One of his graphs agrees with what I’ve seen. ‘The Partisanship of White Christians’ shows a flat line until 1980, when Christians abruptly turned Repooflican. I saw this change close up. Lee Atwater converted Christians from Americans to Israelis. Former hippies were suddenly Reaganites because…
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Reprint on swamping
Reprint from 2021. = = = = = Swamping, flooding, same thing. Whitney Webb’s cohorts have written an informative article on Flooding The Zone. The article focuses on Edelman’s PR firm, the chief architect of the technique. Not really an epiphany. Sucker Filter was an epiphany. I had seen the results but was completely puzzled…
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Odd dynasty
After Trump was “elected” and before he imprisoned and strangled the world, I noticed an asymmetry in my spam email. The Trump side was exclusively DYNASTIC and ROYAL. The spammers wanted me to sign a birthday card for Lord Trump, or send good wishes to one of Trump’s mistresses or misters or wives or husbands.…
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