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Good question from Sailer
Sailer asks a damn good question: = = = = = START QUOTE: The massive deinstitutionalization of the 1960s–1980s is now widely considered a blunder, but why did it seem like a good idea at the time? We need to consider why progressive reformers in the English-speaking world turned as fervently against lunatic asylums in…
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Snobascope
Kirn retweeted this item from a film snob who saw only the lens in Carlson’s “I’ll be baaaaack” clip. Shoutout to my bro @justingum (we worked together on Hoaxed w/ @scooter_downey) He shot this clip using anamorphic lenses to give it that beautiful epic feel. I’ve seen several film snobs triggered that Tucker would dare…
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Zero problems approach growing?
A couple of interesting flips toward pragmatism. These decisions aren’t SOLVING problems, but at least the executives are trying to stop MAKING problems. Both decisions are politically tough, crossgrain to the desires of the base. 1. Biden had turned off a Trump order which slowed down asylum-seekers. The resulting flood was predictable. Now Biden is…
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Third shift workers day!
Today is Third Shift Workers Day! Rehashing… The Weather Bureau salutes Third Shift Workers Day, for the folks who work graveyard shift. Hadn’t heard of this Day before. From the linked items I couldn’t tell for sure which day is the Official Day. They range from May 7 to May 13. This is fitting, since…
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Breaking the sucker barrier
Hersh’s latest piece is personal again, discussing his exposure of CIA’s internal spying. He seems to have been genuinely ShockedShockedShocked that CIA was violating “laws”. He also believes that the Church Committee made new “laws” which CIA then followed. Most likely the Committee was acting on behalf of FBI, who owned the franchise on domestic…
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Turing test?
Old joke: Joe was a simple-minded guy who lived in a small town. He was the town mascot, mowing yards and shoveling snow for a dollar here and there. Everyone liked him, so they made sure he had enough to eat and a place to sleep. One day the city decided to make the arrangement…
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Incurable idiots
In the last 50 years both “parties” had dozens of ideal opportunities to stop making problems and start solving problems. Every single time they refused. Even when the problems are ALREADY BEING SOLVED, the Repooflicans still can’t figure out how to ALLOW THE SOLUTION. They’re digging in on the ‘culture war’, calling it the most…
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Assisted skillicide
The cost of outsourcing a skill is NOT a simple binary. Humans, and our nearest relatives birds, naturally make and use tools. It’s in the genes. When an object is too hard to reach or too heavy to lift, we find external ways to do it. More sophisticated automation has been around for a few…
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Brinkley’s ghost is pissed.
Polly on Rumble is discussing the Transhumanist and Effective Altruist types who want to live forever so they can continue ruining the world forever. Several of them, including Thiel, are into ‘young blood’ transfusions as a way of reversing their age. The ‘young blood’ doctor received FDA approval for his craziness. Doc Brinkley’s ghost is…
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Will this be on the test?
When I was teaching at DeVry in the 80s, I was constantly frustrated by the pressure toward memorized theory and against job-type experience. Even in an officially job-oriented school, most students just wanted to memorize and get done. From their viewpoint it’s completely understandable. They were only seeking a CREDENTIAL so they could start EARNING.…
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Inflection point
Via GetReligion, a writer asks why religion is not part of the official census. The Census Bureau prepared for the 1960 survey by testing out a question on religious affiliation. The bureau’s director at the time thought a religion question would not violate church-state separation or be any more offensive or intrusive than asking about…
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Visible or not, Paypal is there
Yesterday I donated to Wolf Richter as usual. He’s the only major writer who understands the real meaning of the end of QE. Everyone else, “left” or “right”, is screaming to get the free money going again, maintaining the bizarre fiction that zero interest is normal. The donation process seemed strange this time. I selected…
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Conglobulate
Totally irrelevant. I was running laundry and getting pissed that the load insisted on tangling up. It wouldn’t let me transfer to the dryer piece by piece. I had to wrestle out the whole glob at once. Of course I’m always pissed at cloth. Baseline condition. Me and cloth DO NOT GET ALONG. The word…
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Not strange at all.
Kirn: The double-exponential unpredictability of AI and its potential to amplify evil may have only one workable antidote, logic suggests: moral absolutism. Wouldn’t it be strange indeed if the outcome of our wild tech experiments is a thunderous comeback for the 10 Commandments? Historically it wouldn’t be strange. After the 1789 Terror, France emphatically returned…
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Required listening
Speaking of Entertainment as a Duty, and speaking of the British quick recovery from NAZI OCCUPATION… Tess Lawrie interviews musician Cambel McLaughlin who was touring Britain during the two years of occupation. He focuses correctly on the LOCKDOWNS and the total mental, emotional, and physical effects of the LOCKDOWNS. He never uses the C-word or…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 