Welcome to CaturSaturday, July 20, 2024: two weeks before I depart for South Africa, and National Fortune Cookie Day. Here’s one fortune from Bored Panda:
It’s also International Chess Day, National Lollipop Day, Moon Day (it was on this day in 1969 when men first walked on the Moon, and I remember it well, as I saw it “live”), Nap Day, and Space Exploration Day.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the July 20 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*Despite the many hints that Biden will withdraw, the WaPo says that he’s still bent on running. Here’s one paragraph from them:
President Biden is “absolutely” staying in the presidential race, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, calling him the “best person to take on Donald Trump.” Her assessment comes amid growing calls from Democrats for Biden to step aside. The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee wrapped up Thursday night with a lengthy acceptance speech from Trump in which he spoke about Saturday’s assassination attempt and basked in his party’s nomination. Trump and his new running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), plan to appear together at a rally in Michigan on Saturday. Biden is isolating in Delaware after testing positive for the coronavirus this week.
And more bad news (for me, at least), citing a YouGov poll:
YouGov also asked respondents if they thought Harris was more likely to win than Biden and, if she did, whether she’d be a better or worse president.
Among Democrats, about equal numbers said that Harris would be more likely to win, more likely to lose or likely to fare as well in the election as Biden. They were more likely to say, though, that she’d be a better president than that she’d be a worse one.
It’s those Democrat numbers that matter for the current debate. If Biden were to step aside, the natural replacement would be Harris. If that happened, though, their party is generally uncertain whether it would make a positive difference. Many of those who think she would fare worse probably have their own preferred non-Biden, non-Harris candidate in mind, someone they’re sure could outperform both Biden and Harris. The number of those candidates who end up as the party’s nominee ranges from zero to one, meaning a lot of disappointed, pessimistic Democrats regardless.
Well, my preferred non-Biden, non-Harris candidate is Gretchen Whitmer, but America doesn’t really know her, and it’s getting kind of late. Yes, I’d vote for Harris if the Democrats are dumb enough to nominate her (we really need an open convention), but, though Illinois will go Democratic regardless, Harris is not nearly the kind of person I want to lead America.
*I don’t generally read David Brooks, as I see him not much far above the level of mentaion of Thomas “Two-State-Delusion” Friedman, but he does make sense in his new NYT column, “What Democrats need to do now.” Ok, I’ll bite, but it better involve asking Biden to withdraw. Brooks:
Across the Western world, right-wing parties have ceased to be parties of the business elites and have become working-class parties. MAGA is the worldview that accords with this shifting reality. It has its roots in Andrew Jackson-style populism, but it is updated and more comprehensive. It is the worldview that represents one version of working-class interests and offers working-class voters respect.
J.D. Vance is the embodiment and one of the developers of this worldview — with his suspicion of corporate power, foreign entanglements, free trade, cultural elites and high rates of immigration. In Milwaukee this week, with Vance as Trump’s pick for vice president, it became clear how thoroughly MAGA has replaced Reaganism as the chief operating system of the Republican Party.
If Democrats want to beat MAGA, it’s not enough to say: Orange man bad. Talking endlessly about Jan. 6 does no good. If Democrats hope to win in the near future they have to take the MAGA worldview seriously, and respectfully make the case, especially to working-class voters, for something better.
. . . . Now, the problem with MAGA — and here is where the Democratic opportunity lies — is that it emerges from a mode of consciousness that is very different from the traditional American consciousness.
The American consciousness has traditionally been an abundance consciousness. Successive waves of immigrants found a vast continent of fertile fields and bustling cities. In 1910, Henry van Dyke, who later became the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, wrote a book called “The Spirit of America,” in which he observed that “the Spirit of America is best known in Europe by one of its qualities — energy.” In the 20th century, Luigi Barzini, an Italian observer, argued that Americans have a zeal for continual self-improvement, a “need tirelessly to tinker, improve everything and everybody, never leave anything alone.”
Many foreign observers saw us, and we saw ourselves, as the dynamic nation par excellence. We didn’t have a common past, but we dreamed of a common future. Our sense of home was not rooted in blood-and-soil nationalism; our home was something we were building together. Through most of our history, we were not known for our profundity or culture but for living at full throttle.
. . . . MAGA, on the other hand, emerges from a scarcity consciousness, a zero-sum mentality: If we let in tons of immigrants they will take all our jobs; if America gets browner, “they” will replace “us.” MAGA is based on a series of victim stories: The elites are out to screw us. Our allies are freeloading off us. Secular America is oppressing Christian America.
If Democrats are to thrive, they need to offer people a vision both of the secure base and of the daring explorations.
Here’s where they have a potentially good story to tell. Americans can’t be secure if the world is in flames. That’s why America has to be active abroad in places like Ukraine, keeping wolves like Vladimir Putin at bay. Americans can’t be secure if the border is in chaos. Popular support for continued immigration depends on a sense that the government has things under control. Americans can’t be secure if a single setback will send people to the depths of crushing poverty. That’s why the social insurance programs that Democrats largely built are so important.
But what Democrats really need to do, in my view, is to offer people a vision of the daring explorations that await them. That’s where the pessimistic post-Reagan Republicans can’t compete. American dynamism was turbocharged by the construction of the transcontinental railway, the creation of the land grant colleges, the G.I. Bill and President Biden’s successful efforts to revive our industrial base in the American Midwest.
Personally, I wish Democrats would spend less time on dumb, reactionary policies like rent control. That reeks of panic in the Biden campaign. I wish they would champion the abundance agenda that people like Derek Thompson and my colleague Ezra Klein have been writing about. We need to build things. Lots of new homes. Supersonic airplanes and high-speed trains.
Well, that sounds good, and seriously, yes, we need to stop performative “progressive” policies, but right now I’m not so sure that Americans will vote Democratic if our party extols new homes and supersonic airplanes and high-speed trains. And yes, we have to take on the regressive teachers’ unions. But it’s sort of late for that, and Biden isn’t going to encourage it. Surprisingly, Brooks says not a word about Biden stepping down, which is, I think, a necessary but not sufficient action for Democrats to win the White House in November. Truth be told, I think the chance has slipped out of our hands, and I’m starting to think that I’ll just have to bite my tongue for the next four years. One thing is for sure: “progressive” politics, like those of the Democratic “squad”, aren’t he way forward, and may have helped cost Democrats the Presidency.
*Checking in on Andrew Sullivan, his weekly taken on Biden (what else is there in the news?) is called “Regime change in America?” First Sully is amazed at the concatenation of events that has unified the Republican Party, and then implies that the change in the Zeitgeist may be permanent:
What makes this narrative feel like something deeper than a mere looming electoral college landslide is that, simultaneously, the entire liberal establishment seems to be imploding. The Democrats’ Biden formula — impose radical social, economic, and cultural change by fronting it with a moderate, easy-to-bully old man — has unraveled as obviously as Biden’s health. One reason is that the president is simply incapable of catching the attention of the country — except in universal cringe — and has singularly failed to construct a compelling narrative of his own.
Another is the incoherence of the Resistance. If you want to protest potential abuse of the justice system by a future president Trump, don’t bring an obviously flimsy, political case in New York City that merely helped Trump sweep back to dominance in the GOP. If you want a saner GOP, don’t demonize every other possibility, from DeSantis to Vance. If you emphasize the danger of political violence, don’t turn a blind eye as BLM burns America’s cities to the ground, or ignore Antifa. If you want to accuse Fox News of propaganda, don’t push out equal and opposite propaganda on toxic MSNBC. If you think democracy dies in darkness, why try to get Trump legally excluded from some state ballots, and prevent any real primary among Democrats?
More saliently, if one of your main lines of attack on Trump is his mendacity, it was probably not a great idea to tell the entire country that Biden was, in Joe Scarborough’s words, “far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been — intellectually, analytically…”
The lies the Democrats have been telling us these past few years are legion: inflation won’t happen/is temporary/is good for you; the Southern border is secure; “equity” is “fairness”; biological sex is a “spectrum”; Ukraine is about to win the war; Russia’s economy can be sanctioned to death; political violence is entirely on the far right; children can meaningfully consent to sex changes; the only thing holding black Americans back is white bigotry; the mainstream media is fair; and women have penises. Yes, Trump is a shameless liar. But the left’s propaganda has muddied the waters. When NBC’s higher-ups took Morning Joe off the air this week, it was a real moment. Even the muckety-mucks couldn’t take the lucrative propaganda anymore.
Well, this is why I have been criticizing the Left in these pages, often to the opprobrium of some readers. I will deep-six those who say I’m responsible for a Trump victory for, if he wins, the factors above, which I’ve constantly decried, have worked against Democrats, not for them. At any rate, Sullivan’s ending is, for me, depressing:
I will never vote for Trump — because he is so psychologically disturbed and so contemptuous of the rule of law that he remains a danger to us and the world. But I can see the logic of Trumpism. Those who feel left behind — culturally, economically — need at least one party to represent them and their values. As Biden has proven, protectionism is not all bad, especially when related to supply chains and national security. Mass immigration is out of control, and only one party gets it. Support for those who have lost the most from globalization seems to me a defensible conservative position, after migrant winners like me have had such a good run of it. And the madness of the neocon war machine demands a president able to spurn it.
Can the Democrats respond with the skill, poise and energy required? If Biden goes, and an open convention can showcase newer, younger talent, there’s still a chance. But it will take nerve to seize it.
We apparently ain’t got that nerve. I can hope against hope, and I will, but my reason is stronger than my hope. The Democrats simply caved in to their far-left wing in ways limned by Sullivan. If Trump wins, Democrats largely themselves to blame. An open convention is our only hope.
*The International Court of Justice, in a nonbinding resolution, has ruled some of the Israeli occupation illegal:
The United Nations’ highest court said that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, in an advisory opinion issued on Friday.
The findings by judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), known as the World Court, are not binding but carry weight under international law.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” President Nawaf Salam said, reading the findings of a 15-judge panel.
The court added that Israel’s continued presence in the Palestinian territories was illegal and that it should come to an end “as rapidly as possible.”
It also said Israel must make reparations for damages caused by its ‘occupation’ of the Palestinian territories.
The case stems from a 2022 request from the UN General Assembly, predating the current Israel-Hamas conflict.
The UN Assembly asked the court to appraise the legal consequences of Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation” of Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem, and associated Israeli government policies.
In February, more than 50 states presented their views before the court, with Palestinian representatives asking the court to find that Israel must withdraw from all the occupied areas and dismantle illegal settlements.
Israel did not participate in the hearings but filed a written statement telling the court that issuing an advisory opinion would be “harmful” to attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The majority of states participating asked the court to find the occupation illegal, while a handful, including Canada and Britain, argued it should refuse to give an advisory opinion.
The United States, Israel’s strongest backer, urged the court to limit any advisory opinion and not order the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories.
Israel will not obey this ruline, of coursg, as not only is it nonbinding, but there are cogent arguments that the settlements are not in fact illegal. I’ve put up some videos in the past by Natasha Hausdorff explaining this, and if you have hours and hours, read this legal paper from Eugene Kontorovich in the Northwestern University’s Journal of Legal Analysis , which shows that Israel’s practices are not at all unusual in world behavior, but only Israel is demonized for it. I’ve printed it out for my own education. What we have is a ICJ ruling whose rationale applies to only one country.
Here’s Hausdorff’s reaction to yesterday’s decision:
*Nellie Bowles is back! And, from her weekly news summary from the Free Press, called “TGIF: Back with a bang!“, I steal my usual three items, She was on maternity leave, but that’s no reason she can’t do her column, for which there is NO substitute:
→ Trump, Hulk Hogan, Biden: Hulk Hogan set up the RNC’s big final act by tearing his shirt off to reveal another shirt that read—what else—TRUMP/VANCE as he screamed “let Trumpomania run wild, brother, let Trumpomania rule again” (Donald then blew him a kiss). And then boom, Hollywood lights came up like it was the musical Chicago! Out strode a new, toned-down, spiritual Trump. His convention speech started strong, normal, even moving. Even those who hate Trump had to admit that the retelling of his brush with death was kind of riveting.
And then. Well, then it just never ended. He said every word there was to say. An excerpt: “Has anyone ever seen Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man. He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner.” He continued, “They’re emptying out their mental institutions into the United States, our beautiful country.” When Trump said the speech was wrapping up, that was Trump just being a silly flirt. The thing finally clocked in at one hour, 32 minutes. . . . [there’s more]
What would a foreigner think seeing this as a speech at the Republican National Convention?
→ Hide the pics: For the mainstream press, the big problem was that there now exists a pic of Trumpo looking brave—bloodied, defiant, standing with his fist in the air. The picture was taken by the incredible Evan Vucci. Here’s Axios on the crisis, quoting an anonymous photo editor from “a major news outlet” who says: “It’s dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing that photo despite how good it is.” As Trump put it: “A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen. They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.” The mainstream media didn’t seem to want to linger on the attack. The Denver Post simply went with: “Gunman Dies in Attack.” Though some outlets came out with special surprises:
The piece has since been pulled, but I’d like you to take notice of the section that it was filed under. Moving on!
→ DNC [Democratic National Committee] says get down Josh, stay away Kamala, beat it Gavin: The DNC, like any good mob, is not going to go down without a fight. They’re still punishing anyone who questions Biden’s running, like House Democrat Hillary Scholten of Michigan, who was cut off from all Democrat campaign efforts after saying Biden should retire (officials reversed course after a Politico reporter called them). Yes, the Biden mob wants to win. And by that I mean they want to lose in a horrible bloodbath, but they want to lose their way, with their man, Joseph R. Biden. The DNC’s new method of cinching the Biden nom is by declaring that special rules actually make it so delegates have to vote online now, really fast, for Joe. These are the rules, they say. Reader, these are not the rules. The threat they cite (Ohio requiring the candidate’s name early) has long been rescinded (Ohio dropped that a while ago). The DNC chair and the statistician and Substacker Nate Silver fought for a while on Twitter, which was mostly interesting because it shows that the DNC chair has too much time on his hands and is obsessed with Nate Silver (same and same, but I’m not the DNC chair).
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is thinking of “Bastet”:
Hili: I’m trying to remember the name of the Egyptian goddess.A: Which one?Hili: The one who looks like me.
Hili: Próbuję sobie przypomnieć jak miała na imię ta bogini egipska.Ja: Która?Hili: Ta podobna do mnie.
And a photo of Baby Kulka:
*******************
From Cat Memes. People have no business trying to turn carnivore cats into vegans:
A stern house from Things with Faces:
From Jesus of the Day: (I don’t think it’s yet an ex-bluebird):
Tweeted by Masih. I’m a big fan of Inna, whom I know. Here she is on the cover of Paris Match some years ago—and I can’t help but be self aggrandizing by showing this:
Inna Shevchenko @femeninna a Ukrainian feminist activist and the leader of international women’s movement #Femen has a message for women in Iran and Afghanistan: “We see you!” Inna, who has been arrested multiple times for her activism, asks the world to raise their voices in… pic.twitter.com/1sTqv1LZaS
— United Against Gender Apartheid (@UAGApartheid) July 19, 2024
I know Inna and have met her; I’m a big admirer of her passion against injustice towards women. Here’s a photo of her that appeared on the cover of Paris Match, and look whose book she’s holding! (Excuse my solipsism.)
From my feed. A baby elephant tries to charge, but gives up:
Please act scared, little bro tried his best😭 pic.twitter.com/Ffma2smNtj
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 18, 2024
From Malgorzata. Of course the Jews were behind the attempt to kill Trump, though I’m not sure why given that he’s more favorable toward Israel than is Biden.
It didn’t take long for conspiracists to manufacture theories on who was behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
If your first reaction is to blame the Jews for any significant world event, we can think of at least one word to describe you… pic.twitter.com/hvKtZ8EIGH
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) July 15, 2024
From Malcolm. I’m not quite sure I get the new title.
Picasso called this painting ‘Crazy Woman with Cats’. I call it ‘Waking up on a School Day’. pic.twitter.com/0i2aALri4m
— Prof Janina Ramirez (@DrJaninaRamirez) January 5, 2023
Larry, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is guarding 10 Downing Street, but willing to be bribed:
Downing Street security: If your name’s not down, you’re not coming in… unless you bribe me with cat treats
(Photo @LightHackers) pic.twitter.com/JO2ddWxPOj— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) July 18, 2024
From the Auschwitz Memorial; one that I retweeted:
Died in Auschwitz, probably at 21 or 22. This one struck me because her photo looks so happy. https://t.co/cZztsHE7pk
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) July 20, 2024
Two tweets from Dr. Cobb. First, look how low that Spitfire is flying!
The incredible low pass of the Spitfire. On this day 18th July 1996, in a notorious bit of flying, New Zealand born fighter pilot Ray Hanna, roared over tv presenter Alain de Cadenet. pic.twitter.com/slyxMTEnfd
— Bobbie (@bo66ie29) July 18, 2024
Matthew says, “Insane or a liar? You decide.” I vote for the former:
Marjorie Taylor Greene describes how, right before the shooting, she witnessed an angel coming down from heaven that looked like an American flag that saved Donald Trump’s life.
HOLY HELL! pic.twitter.com/j0nv0d1Eoz
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) July 18, 2024
From eXtwitter :
“July 20th, 1969 is a date that stands high in my life – it was the day that we, together as one people, achieved the greatest scientific and technological feat in human history. The specific role that Neil, Mike and I performed in the event was but one part of an immeasurably larger effort – not just for our nation, but for all mankind. As I look back on what we accomplished 55 years ago, I am still inspired by what we all saw and did – the best of America and the best of humanity. Thank you for the privilege and the honor of serving you, and for being part of this exciting and wonderous journey with me. #Apollo11”
Dr. Buzz Aldrin
@TheRealBuzz
… just gotta let all that sink in. It sent me to look through Earth photos from space on Wikipedia – e.g. Earthrise.
Thank you for reminding us today, Bryan!
It’s up at the top of the post!
Whoops. Missed it. Guess I was distracted by the fortune cookie fortune. Thanks.
I merely added on – but no less grateful for the unsung heroes at NASA – we the commentariat are lucky to have Jim Batterson here – NASA-grade!
🖖
(Salute emoji didn’t work but this is better I think)
+1
Thanks Bryan. I remember my mother telling me about the first moon-landing, many years after the event – when I was a young child – thousands of miles away in a remote village in Sri-Lanka.
The other thing that happened on July 20th was the 1963 solar eclipse whose umbra passed over Nova Scotia not far from where I was a little kid, and almost nowhere else in the settled parts of North America. As it so often is in the Maritimes it was solid overcast including the totality zone which was the extreme western tip. (My parents kept us in the basement with the drapes closed. There were no eclipse glasses given out in schools and firehalls in those days.) The cool thing was that I had read about eclipses in an astronomy book a year or so earlier and there was a graphic depicting future eclipse paths over North America. Imagine my thrill that my little corner of the world was going to get one.
I remember being impressed, as an adolescent, that Apollo 11 was going to land on the moon on the same day just six years later.
I was hooked on eclipses for the rest of my life, although not motivated to travel far distances and spend vast sums, until I finally got to enjoy the spectacle in all its majesty last April from my backyard. (Hedging, my wife and I did drive a couple of hours west along Lake Erie to ensure clear skies.). Worth the wait.
+1
Total Solar Eclipse | July 20, 1963 | Canada
Charmed that you found that old TV broadcast, Rosemary.
I did not know you were a Nova Scotian, explains a lot, my favourite of all Canadian Provinces, wonderful people and spectacular Province. Do you get to visit much?
Wow. Love the sound of that Spitfire’s V-12 Merlin (?) engine. I love airshows just to hear the sounds of those types of well-tuned vintage engines.
I’d love to be buzzed by a Spitfire!
Either the Rolls Royce Merlin or the more powerful RR Griffon if it’s a later (1942 onwards) model. It’s hard to tell from the video which way the propeller is turning: if it’s anti-clockwise from our view (clockwise from the pilot’s view) it’s a Merlin.
Probably a later model based on the symmetrical radiator scoops under the wings and enlarged front end to house the larger cams of the Griffon engine.
I live a few miles north of the Imperial War Museum’s air museum at Duxford, near Cambridge. They have several air-worthy Spitfires, which can often be seen and heard practising over nearby farmland. So, for me, the sound of Merlin engines is almost a daily occurrence, especially in the summer months. If I’m really lucky, I’ll see two of them practising formation flying ahead of one of the big air shows.
The Lancaster that lives at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario, one of only two flying in the world, has four Merlins. So that the bombers built here could be flown across the ocean to the theatre they were fitted with American-made engines built under licence by Packard Motor Company, the same arrangement as for the P-51 Mustang. “Our” Lancaster is seen (and heard!) frequently around here during her summer flying schedule. The Merlins have a distinctive, pleasing rumble that makes the Lanc actually quieter overhead than the B-25 with only two radial engines. The Gryphon has a different exhaust note from the Merlin. I can tell them apart in mixed flights but I wouldn’t want to guess without a comparison.
What always surprises me about Spitfires is how loud they are. The aircraft has such a delicate silhouette and planform and such pleasing acrobatics that it makes you think of a sailplane. But as the video shows it’s a noisy, powerful brute, and with a Gryphon engine even more so.
The 37 Litre RR V12 Griffon was better, more powerful and powered the later version Spitfires and was the primary power plant for all versions of the Avro Shackleton and the RAF RTTL (Range Target Towing Launch) spent many hours behind the Griffon, lovely noise.
I love those old planes as well.
Dad had a P-51 when I was little, and as is common with kids, I just did not realize how cool and unusual that was.
When we had a hunting or fishing trip planned, he often went up the day before to locate the game.
I always liked seeing the big bombers, the more engines the better, although my Dad always derided them as “trash haulers”. He still does.
“People have no business trying to turn carnivore cats into vegans.”
I agree completely.
So, the question arises: Why are you such a fan of Peter Singer?
L
I don’t think that Singer has a cat, much less one to which he feeds vegetables. If he does, I’d be less impressed, but Singer has many virtues to admire, and that’s why I’m a fan.
If he has a vegan cat, post it here. But it won’t make me dislike him; I’d just admire him a teeny bit less.
As for vegan humans, it’s their decision and, though I question the wisdom of such a diet, I don’t tell people how they should eat (and they shouldn’t tell ME how I should eat!).
IMHO Singer nearly bends over backwards for clarity of knowledge and rigor of intellect, and with respect.
He wrote the Marx – and Hegel – A Very Short Introduction volumes from Oxford U. Press. Highly recommended especially for Hegel’s often impenetrable writing.
Though Hegel and Marx developed their own gnostic and Hermetic faiths that lead to Leftism and Communism, I am guaranteed by Singer’s account to have the best, clearest case for each thinker in those volumes.
And that, IMHO, is what Singer works hard at – giving the reader clarity of understanding, and then you can more reliably use it as you read / learn more.
I find a book in my public library that sounds pretty close to the one you’ve recommended, “Hegel: A Very Short Introduction”. What do you think?
That’s it!
… should have a soothing modern painting for artwork, 1983 I believe, Oxford University Press,…
Fits in large pockets on clothing too, for easy transport.
Just an add on:
Peter Singer is a vegetarian not a vegan. He’s a proponent of utilitarian ethics and animal rights – my guess is that he would not advocate veganism for obligate carnivores.
Correct, we share our life and home with six obligate carnivores but many vegan and vegetarian people are of the ilk because of a dislike of modern factory farming practices and animal husbandry.
I actually just searched our public library for Peter Singer (looking for the book Bryan recommended) and Singer wrote another book entitled, “Why Vegan: Eating Ethically”… Just letting you know
+1
Also Animal Liberation
The Hegel vibes are evident in that title… though Hegel might have used “emancipation”…
OK, I can’t resist – IMHO :
People use, commit to, and quit diets – the diets are instructions, or in our modern parlance dietary restrictions (DR).
Vegan, and everything else, are DRs.
Individuals are not dietary restrictions.
I wonder if Hermetic alchemy is at work otherwise – transforming the world by thought, or through action – in this case, commitment to a dietary restriction.
I think he means “…because of how good it is”!
Sorry — my first thought was that he was saying “F***k, f***k, F***k.
Bill Maher’s “New Rules” segment on “Real Time” last night was about the dangers of claiming the Christian god saved Trump and the dangers of turning any politician or person into a demigod. Aside from the ridiculous quotes and absurdity of claiming divine intervention saved Trump, it pointed out the sheer hypocrisy of such claims. It is well worth watching.
Not to mention the implication that gawd directed three of the bullets away from Trump and into the bodies of his admirers.
Good point.
The link to the Journal of Legal Analysis paper is nonfunctional.
You can download the paper at SSRN:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2835908
The DEMs *can* win. They must appoint Michelle Obama (as their candidate) by fiat at the convention and then have her -immediately- declare herself to be a man.
That should do it.
(Paraphrasing Tim Dillon)
I think it is finally beginning to dawn on Democrats that Trump is not really a conservative, and he has single handedly re-made the GOP into a party that actively courts working class voters.
Democrats need to be very careful or they could end up in the wilderness for a decade or more.
What I noticed about Trump from the very beginning is that he’s never been an ideologue. He has no real principles. He seeks power and prestige for their own sake and isn’t concerned with the source or the methods through which he derives it. He simply craves adoration. He’s attained that power and prestige through his popularity with the masses of dispossessed in this country and has adopted their “beliefs” to maintain that following. He could be for this today and that tomorrow. If anything is detestable about him — to me — it is that very lack of principles.
I think you’re absolutely right. tRump is the very definition of a demagogue. I think the Republicans are leading us down the path of fascism. This reminds me of Mussolini, Hitler and Hirohito.
David Brooks’ cognitive decline continues. Sullivan’s take is much more constructive.
Brooks, as does just about everyone else, commits intellectual fraud by conflating legal and illegal immigration. An employer isn’t required to hire every person that crosses his threshold. Why does the US accept just about every person who fraudulently enters our country? We need a plan. We need immigrants of all skill levels. We need to be a refuge for those facing persecution.
We can do both…but it has to be within a fair and legal construct.
Agree that Brooks misses the point on immigration.
Let’s say you are a construction worker. Due to the policies of the U.S. government, you have to compete against huge numbers of immigrants who are often willing to work for lower wages than you are. This drives down your standard of living.
On the other hand, let’s say you are an M.D. In this case the government sets up all kinds of barriers to keep foreign M.D.s out of the U.S. This raises your income.
Working class people know that the system is rigged against them and will vote accordingly.
As they should…and to do so is NOT racist or isolationist.
Or the working class will vote ignorantly…
The changes to federal budgets and federal tax law in the 1980’s had shifted tax policy to a more regressive taxation policy across the country. Unlike federal budgets, state and local budgets must be balanced. Without revenue sharing, corporations and wealthy individuals simply shop for whatever locale quantitatively offers the best tax advantages. This introduces a dynamic whereby progressive tax policies on the part of local governments become ineffective. Since bills must be paid, regressive taxation, high fees, and fines becomes the standard means of funding government services.
It is difficult to see how the children of lower middle class families can improve upon the circumstances of their parents under such conditions — especially since the cost of medical care in old age eliminates inheritance for most middle class families.
The fact that one speaks of “15 percenters” is a consequence of the 1980 tax law changes. In a prior period, capital gains had been taxed at 50% of the rate for ordinary income. “Simplifying” tax returns by “flattening” brackets had simply introduced a dynamic by which the interests of upper middle class taxpayers could be divorced from working class taxpayers.
The Republicans have never lived up to their promises of reigning in spending because of the political pain attached to the elimination of statutory entitlements. So, the actual result of Republican leadership is “borrow and spend,” a practice which is more costly than “tax and spend.”
Unfortunately, this is harder to explain than 30 pieces of silver in a paycheck.
I’m no tax expert so maybe I’m missing something but I have difficulty squaring your comment wrt local tax policies being regressive when…
A few years ago, NYC Mayor Adams shot down a tax increase saying, “To continually attack high-income earners when 51% of our taxes are paid by 2% of New Yorkers—it blows my mind when I hear people say ‘so what if they leave.’ No, you leave! I want my high income earners right here in this city!”
The top 0.5% of California taxpayers pay 40% of state income tax.
And on the federal level…
The top 1% of all taxpayers share of federal individual income taxes paid is 40%
The top 5% share of federal individual income taxes paid is 60%.
The bottom 50% share of federal individual income taxes paid is 3.5%.
The top 50% of all taxpayers paid 97% of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50% paid the remaining 3%.
And much of that tax take is given to people in the lowest quintile of the income distribution in cash or as benefits in kind such as Medicaid. Only some of that is counted in their hands as income, and much of what is is is not taxable. (And never mind the tax expenditures made necessary by the lowest quintile but not spent directly on them, such as the criminal justice system.). So the book income earned by the lowest quintile remains low no matter how comfy they are. They certainly aren’t starving or doing without smartphones. (Besides, how do we know how much income someone really has if they don’t file a tax return because they don’t owe any tax to Uncle Sam?)
And on the other side of the ledger, if a taxpayer earns $100 million in a year but pays I dunno $30 million in state and federal taxes, his income will still be reported to the bitterly envious as $100 million, not the $70 million it now really is. So the income distribution gap can never be narrowed. Even if you raise his taxes to $50 million, or $70 million, his income will still be reported as $100 million, “proving” that taxes need to be raised even further to be “fair.”
Only if you somehow forced someone’s gross income to fall, by destroying his business, say, to some “fairer” level, before applying redistributive tax to it, could you say the income disparity gap was shrinking. The Marxists have so far not revealed to us how exactly they intend to do that.
This is a ridiculous thread, anyone who makes millions of dollars should of course pay more. It took me a whole lifetime to save a million dollars.
People who make millions of actual dollars (as opposed to unrealized capital gains just because stock prices are high) do pay more than someone who took a lifetime to accumulate a million dollars. The questions are how much should they pay and what does the government need to do with all that money? And what would be the consequences for everyone’s well-being if we confiscated their wealth just because we could. And maybe yours, too. A million dollars sounds like a lot of money to the resentful people down there in Quintile Five.
I wasn’t aware that the US made it difficult for an MD to enter. I have a brother-in-law who came in easily as a pharmacist (from Lebanon) and where I live nearly all our MD’s are from Iran or Pakistan. We have a severe shortage of MD’s (particularly Internists/General Medicine physicians, I thought we issued H-1B visas to docs and other professionals we are in need of. No?
Answer from Perplexity:
To work as a medical doctor in the United States, foreign medical graduates must complete several key steps:
1. Pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). This three-step exam tests medical knowledge and clinical skills[3][4].
2. Obtain certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). This certifies that the foreign medical graduate’s qualifications are comparable to those of U.S. medical school graduates[1][3].
3. Complete an accredited residency training program in the United States. This typically takes at least 3 years, regardless of previous training or experience abroad[1][4].
4. Obtain a visa that permits clinical training and medical practice. Common visa types for foreign doctors include H-1B, J-1, O-1, and TN visas[2].
5. Apply for and receive a medical license in the state where they intend to practice. Requirements vary by state but generally include completing 1-3 years of U.S. residency[1].
6. Demonstrate English language proficiency, as fluency in written and spoken English is required[3][4].
7. Some foreign doctors may need to complete additional coursework in basic sciences and other pre-med subjects that are standard in U.S. medical education but may not have been part of their foreign curriculum[3][4].
It’s important to note that this process can be lengthy and challenging. Many foreign doctors find they need to essentially “start over” in terms of their medical education and training when coming to the U.S., despite potentially having years of experience in their home countries[4]. Some may initially work in other healthcare roles, such as patient care technicians or medical assistants, while completing the necessary steps to become licensed as a physician in the U.S.[4].
Citations:
[1] https://www.ama-assn.org/education/international-medical-education/practicing-medicine-us-international-medical-graduate
[2] https://www.ama-assn.org/education/international-medical-education/international-medical-graduates-img-toolkit-types-visas
[3] https://immitranslate.com/blog/ecfmg-usmle-doctors-practice-us
[4] https://www.fnu.edu/foreign-physicians-work-healthcare-practitioners/
[5] https://www.canadaqbank.com/blog/2024/03/04/how-can-international-medical-students-and-doctors-practice-in-the-us/
Let them in, make them legal, let them work and pay taxes.
I had two bad-ass flyover moments. I worked at an airport and I took photographers to the end of the runways to capture takeoffs.
Bad-ass #1 was the Concorde. The noise literally rattled my insides.
Bad-ass #2 was the takeoff of a fully loaded TWA L-1011 from PHX to LGA on a hot morning. I didn’t think it would leave the ground so I hit the deck. The video photographer stayed standing. He loved it.
Back in the days when Concorde was still flying, you could always tell when it was taking off at Heathrow. You could hear the sounds of the engines from *inside* the terminal building
It was a surprisingly small aircraft.
The air museum at Duxford near Cambridge has one of the early prototypes on display, and you can walk through the interior. It’s the aircraft that was used for extreme weather testing, and the front half of the fuselage still contains all of the test equipment. The rear half is fitted out like the regular passenger version, so you get an idea of what it was like to fly in Concorde. The cabin width is significantly smaller than than a 737, and the overhead luggage bins are tiny.
But that misses the point of Concorde. I was never lucky enough to fly in it, but a friend managed to collect enough air miles for a one-way New York to London flight, and he told me that at cruising altitude (60,000 feet), you can actually see the curvature of the Earth. And, of course, you’re travelling faster than a bullet.
I flew on a few flight tests from RAF Fairford when Concord was in final phase and it was noisy and fast and not particularly comfortable and quite difficult for some aspects of maintenance but quite an aeroplane!
Wow.
We’ll see if Biden stays in the race. If he does, he will almost certainly lose and, down-ballot, will be remembered for losing the Congress as well. If he wins, Kamala Harris will become the first woman president, but her name will have an asterisk.*
Biden surely doesn’t want to be like those old baseball greats who played one season too long. He needs to learn the lessons of Dianne Feinstein and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both of whom were like those old ball players. I’m still hoping that Biden does the right thing and makes a dignified exit.
*Elevated to the presidency when President Biden resigned due to incapacity.
Great slow motion and still photo of the Spitfire’s low pass. You’ll have to click on “Watch on YouTube”.
Did anyone else spot the cartoon behind Inna of a Muslim man built from vaginal parts? Maybe it’s Mohammed in which case, allahu akbar!
Yes. I was checking out that drawing, too.
Sam Harris has an edifying and important conversation w/ Anne Applebaum on How Democracies Fail. She has a new book out called Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. Sounds like a very worthwhile read.
I reviewed the history of “Space Exploration Day,” to which Jerry posted a link. It goes back to a proclamation by president Ronald Reagan in 1984. I’m reminded of one particularly objectionable sentence in that proclamation:
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-5224-space-exploration-day-1984
“It is said there are two fundamental differences between human beings and other species: we have souls and we have curiosity.”
People have curiosity (as do other animals), but there is no evidence that anyone has a soul.
Anyway, I was finally inspired to locate and scan an old photocopy in my files of a related proclamation in 1980 issued by the office of mayor Diane Feinstein, declaring July 19 to be “San Francisco Space Awareness Day.” The proclamation is much shorter than Reagan’s, but it reflects both the promises and concerns then of humanity’s forays into space.
(July 19 is when my friends and I co-organized a substantial “Space Day 80” event in Golden Gate Park to celebrate the historic success of Apollo 11.)
Here is my posting on X-Twitter today showing the mayor’s proclamation:
https://x.com/Jon_Alexandr/status/1814744321410932786
“I’m starting to think that I’ll just have to bite my tongue for the next four years. One thing is for sure: “progressive” politics, like those of the Democratic “squad”, aren’t he way forward, and may have helped cost Democrats the Presidency.”
I agree.
For some low level flying, spend a minute or two with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-aUbN3b5c
The first three are impressive, then the spitfire drops in.