Tom, are you suggesting that the US Military under the leadership of Joe Biden is capable of defending Taiwan against China? They couldn't defend Taiwan against Zimbabwe. And China might fire him if we tried.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1392688483148341250
Briggs's column today: Institutionalized Scientists Angry Amateurs Showing Them Up, Demand They Be Stopped – William M. Briggs
The underpinnings of Newspeak.
Some quotations (emphasis original; reference numbers removed):
A pandemic that affects a few, [mask skeptics] reason, should not impinge on the liberties of a majority to go about life as usual. To support their arguments, these protestors and activists have created thousands of their own visualizations, often using the same datasets as health officials…
Far from ignoring scientific evidence to argue for individual freedom, antimaskers often engage deeply with public datasets and make what we call “counter-visualizations“—visualizations using orthodox methods to make unorthodox arguments—to challenge mainstream narratives that the pandemic is urgent and ongoing. [See, e.g., the CDC’s own data showing the pandemic is not urgent and ongoing.]
…this study finds that anti-mask groups practice a form of data literacy in spades. Within this constituency, unorthodox viewpoints do not result from a deficiency of data literacy; sophisticated practices of data literacy are a means of consolidating and promulgating views that fly in the face of scientific orthodoxy. Not only are these groups prolific in their creation of counter-visualizations, but they leverage data and their visual representations to advocate for and enact policy changes…
We define this counterpublic’s visualization practices as “counter-visualizations” that use orthodox scientific methods to make unorthodox arguments, beyond the pale of the scientific establishment…
Among other initiatives, these groups argue for open access to government data (claiming that CDC and local health departments are not releasing enough data for citizens to make informed decisions), and they use the language of data-driven decision-making to show that social distancing mandates are both ill-advised and unnecessary.
This study shows that there is a fundamental epistemological conflict between maskers and anti-maskers, who use the same data but come to such different conclusions…. Indeed, anti-maskers often reveal themselves to be more sophisticated in their understanding of how scientific knowledge is socially constructed than their ideological adversaries…
The fact that science is now being referred to as "orthodox" is pretty much the last nail in the coffin of what science was actually supposed to be. Science shouldn't have an orthodoxy. Such things are useful when teaching to students, but when it comes to researching, experimenting, and interpreting results, there should be no such thing as an orthodoxy. Everything is up for being challenged if a solid argument can be made. That is the underpinning of science, and why it used to be such a great way to get to the bottom of what the truth was. Not anymore.
But Rip it's only the Western countries (and China) reqiring the kids to muzzle themselves. Is that really who needs to be kicked out of the gene pool?
Coronavirus: What are different countries doing about wearing masks at school? - CBBC Newsround
(Are there more comprehensive lists out there of which countries implement which restrictions? Would be fascinating to compare/contrast them!)
Wait....if you want a billionaire class to remain, and a few hundred million serfs, well, yeah, second- and third-worlders will be easier to push into this role than Westerners, right? Ugh, that's a rabbit hole I don't want to dig into and wrap my head around!
Daily reminder that I'm not masking up here in Russia at all, and even when the gestapo stop me about once a month on average, I ask the Agent Carrying Out Darkness' Will when he thinks this will ever end (probably not for a long time is always the reply), and whip out the scarf or halloween mask and get a chuckle. Today it happened in the train station for the first time in seven months and I felt like I was giving in by pulling out the scarf and adjusting it up over my eyes (that at least elicited a reaction!), but....over here they actually penalize or deport law-breaking immigrants (imagine that!!), so taking a full stand on the muzzles and getting fined is a risk I just cannot take!
So, tell me again why you guys mask up so frequently, and with those medical masks, no less? I see many other Russians-probably 25% among the Muscovites (but, OK, they're Western-Liberal-Lite), 70+% among the commuters from the regions, and some huge portion of the people just living out here in the regions- declining to play along for this Fairy Tale, so, what the hell, are Russians freer than us in this respect, too, now!?
When will YOU stop playing along in the fairy tale, is the question we should ask ourselves daily.
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about Russia and the pipe hacking, it would seem that some undercover victory was won by us recently - The Russians had announced that America was an "unfriendly" country and as of 5/12, Russians would no longer be able to work in the embassy of said unfriendly country. That was going to reduce the functioning of the consulate by 75%+, and it was huge news around here, both for Russians wanting visas, and American expats over here needing passport renewals, birth certs, etc. They had said they could only help us in extreme life or death situations, and our lovely State Department of course blamed Russia for this degradation in relations. DoS also recommended anyone with an expired visa/immigration doc to come home by the 6/15 expiration of Russia's migration holiday - why do they want us all back home, I wonder?
In any case, I just saw it on the Russia news sites today that Russia has decided to postpone this big move....I wonder what the impetus was, what soft power did Biden wield??
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About all the "prepper" commentary: my hilarious confession is that as an urban-suburban American I had always thought well water was underground ONLY in certain locations - I had never thought about it enough to understand that the drinkable water's everywhere underground, it's just a matter of how deep you must dig and how much water treatment will be required!
Well, in Russia the house listings don't score how trans-friendly the local schools are or "walkable" the town is, but they DO all talk about whether/how deep the well water is.
So, in addition to all this rational preparation, if you're planning a move soon, I'd look into the well-water situation of your intended new home; drinkable water is something that could suddenly become limited in supply as well. And as for the coming electricity and natural gas shortages, remember that those huge, old stone ovens (pechka in Russian) do a damn good job heating a home, and can be built in modern homes (at least, over here).
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Jenni I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's death not too long ago. That must've been so rough - emotionally, physically, financially, in evdry imaginable way - and I imagine that not a day goes by that you don't think about it. If it helps at all, try remembering that there really is a plan to all of this, and so I'd bet there's some life lesson to be learned for you or your child in his death, that in the end will make you both stronger! My dad was killed at 63 in early 2019 and sometimes I wonder if that wasn't a blessing in diguise, that he hasn't had to witness or go through all of this intentional madness!!
Sorry again for your loss.