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Monday, December 2. 2019

Image stolen from Ace

What Makes our Continents Dance?

Not climate change?

Millennials In Panic As Outraged Boomers Threaten To Withhold Participation Trophies

Kling: Essay backup: Four rules for work and financial life

Men getting weaker

The Great American Eye-Exam Scam - Why is it so difficult to get a new pair of glasses or contacts in this country? It’s easier pretty much everywhere else.

A Few Things To Feel Guilty About on Thanksgiving Weekend

Seattle Plans to Teach Kids That Math Is Racist

Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools - The front-runners for the presidential nomination are moving away from the charter school movement, and black and Latino families ask why their concerns are lost.

“Identity is very much the ideology of the professional-managerial class.”

No, Ted Cruz Is Not an Anti-Science Bigot for Opposing Trans 'Treatments' For 7-Year-Old Boy

UN Chief Warns of 'Point of No Return' on Climate Change

Y2Kyoto: That Was The Moment That The Rise Of The Oceans Began To Slow

Prominent Historians Criticize The NY Times’ 1619 Project As ‘Biased,’ ‘Anti-Historical’

It's a screed

Goodwin: The New York Times’ long descent from credibility

Trump isn't a cult leader, he's a cult deprogrammer

CNN Commentator Despairs That We Might Not See A President Like Jimmy Carter Again

"Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff says he's working on "nothing" — he's "embracing" "obsolescence."

So sad

Joe Biden Stuns Crowd by Talking about Kids Playing with His Hairy Legs and How Much He Loves Children on His Lap and Roaches…

Past his sell date if he ever had one

Republicans Will Live to Regret Joining Climate Alarmists

ICIG Michael Atkinson Altered Whistleblower Forms to Allow for CIA Leaker – His Wife Just Happens to be Connected to Russian Collusion Hoaxer – Fusion GPS

You're Not Imagining It: The Media Really Is Biased About Impeaching Donald Trump

Impeachment is investigation in search of a crime

The West can’t ignore China’s Xinjiang atrocities

‘Rocky’ Trump in Hong Kong — what a weird world it is

Merkel To German Parliament: “Freedom Of Expression Has Its Limits”

NEW VIDEO Shows How Three Men Took Down Islamic Terrorist on London Bridge – ONE WITH A NARWHAL TUSK!

Scott says "And you thought I was stupid to always travel with a fire extinguisher and a Narwhal tusk."

The folly of trying to curb China’s rise

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:46 | Comments (31) | Trackbacks (0)

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One more thing....MacGyver lives!

#1 Judith on 2019-12-02 08:21 (Reply)

If you're stunned by Joe Biden's incoherent ramblings you haven't been paying attention to Joe Biden for the past 40 years, there's a reason he's always been treated as goofy Uncle Joe. I think the reason Obama treated him coldly is because Joe was forced on Obama, the old white-bread white guy professional politician with name recognition to reassure voters about the scary black man at the top of the ticket and Obama's always resented that fact. Obama knows Joe is an idiot. (Not to discount Obama's inflated sense of superiority that makes him think everybody is an idiot compared to him.)

#2 Jerryskids on 2019-12-02 08:32 (Reply)

This time the only reason Joe is in the race is so that the claim can be made that the reason Trump held up aid to Ukraine was to 'dig up dirt on his political opponent'

#2.1 Clearisabella on 2019-12-02 09:50 (Reply)

I hope Joe is the nominee. He is weird, he is maybe suffering a little dementia, but he is head and shoulders above the rest of the Democrats running. I believe that the Democrats will steal the 2020 election and one of the Democrats running for president will be elected. Would you really prefer Bernie or Warren???

#2.2 OneGuy on 2019-12-02 11:19 (Reply)

Stilton's Place has a good one: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zS9cOuR4ZQE/XeQBeeUe44I/AAAAAAAAZU0/Fliv41SJhokHyEVL51AXVN6C3VlI8dVQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Narwhal%2B1%2B1.jpg

#3 Jerryskids on 2019-12-02 08:59 (Reply)

Of course Math is racist. Everything is racist. I had a flat tire last week. My car is racist.

#4 oolioo on 2019-12-02 09:11 (Reply)

And what was your tire sitting on? Asphalt. Ergo: Your tire is racist. Extra points for whitewalls.

#4.1 Aggie on 2019-12-02 10:05 (Reply)

It's virtue signaling if the whitewalls are on the inside of the tire rather than the outside of the tire.

#4.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2019-12-02 12:49 (Reply)

It's pretty clear that Chinese, Indus Valley, Babylonian, and Egyptian civilizations all had influence on Greek math and geometry, and likely each other. All of them probably got as far as Pythagoras and Euclid did in the West. Heck, algebra is a word with Arabic roots. It is, however, also pretty clear that none of them figured out Cartesian coordinate systems, analytical geometry, or calculus.

Is it perhaps more than coincidence that Algebra, Euclid, and Pythagoras are about as far as most Liberal Arts types get educated with even going to the advanced degree level?

#4.2 Another Guy named Dan on 2019-12-02 13:25 (Reply)

I was a liberal arts type, but I mastered Cartesian coordinate systems, analytical geometry, and basic calculus (not differential equations) before I got out of high school.

#4.2.1 Texan99 on 2019-12-02 14:32 (Reply)

I see no problem with attributing discoveries like this to the country and/or individuals who discovered them. However the issue seems to be an attempt to make this a racist issue AND to then use it to beat white people over the head with it. But this isn't really about celebrating the who or where of the discovery it is about claiming victim hood and painting others as racist. It is really a despicable effort that in itself reeks of racism.

#4.2.2 Anon on 2019-12-02 18:13 (Reply)

I do my own eyeglass test (Trial Lens Kit) and buy glasses online. Also buy a better test frame than comes with the kit. The bigger lens kit is worth the money.

Maybe takes some knowledge of optics so that you're not doing completely random things.

#5 rhhardin on 2019-12-02 09:53 (Reply)

It also helps if you are near sighted with no astigmatisms and no great variation eye to eye. There are indeed many alternatives to optical shop buying now. It’s great for the average (correctable, no cataracts or other) vision impairment. I’m in the 20% of the popular that’s farsighted with astigmatisms in both eyes and very strong correction - since I was 4. Digital grinding often gets the prescription wrong and placement for the focal point is critical. Without a good optician fitting I get bad glasses. All of which is fixable, but aggravate time consuming. Since ObamaCare I’ve had more trouble finding good ophthalmologists- experienced sole practitioners have retired and or specialized. I thought the article pretty whiny - if you wear glasses, who doesn’t keep a copy of the current prescription? If they had good sunglasses, even without a written script, any optician would have read the sunglasses and used that. Another problem in search of a solution -which largely already exists.

#5.1 Annie on 2019-12-02 10:26 (Reply)

The answer to this problem is simple: Can a person's eyesight change between visit to his optometrist? If the answer is yes than obviously the requirement is justified. I know the answer but I suspect those who are outraged do not.

#5.2 OneGuy on 2019-12-02 12:26 (Reply)

They just keep putting off climate change doomsday. I remember a warning from 1989 that unless we did something about climate change right now, in 10 years the climate changes would be irreversible and we were doomed.

#6 Ray on 2019-12-02 11:00 (Reply)

In the Seventies we were told we were all going to freeze to death in the coming Ice Age. I remember one of the solutions seriously proposed in Time magazine was to spray coal dust on glaciers and other icy areas which would then absorb more solar heat and counteract the freezing temperatures and expanding glaciers. The doomsday scenario then was that as icy areas increased, they would reflect more and more global heat which would eventually tip the scales and turn us into an ice ball.

In case anyone thinks that was total hysteria also, as a college student in Massachusetts I went through the Blizzard of '78 which had us snowed in for a week. My then girlfriend's brother had to abandon his car on Route 128 and walk home--he later found that the car had been demolished by a snowplow digging out the road.

The winter of '77-'78 was a cold one. The window of my dorm room froze shut, and I wasn't able to get it open till things thawed in the spring.

#6.1 Jim on 2019-12-02 17:02 (Reply)

Impeachment is a VERDICT in search of a crime.

#7 Bill Adams on 2019-12-02 11:29 (Reply)

Re: minorities and charter schools

The article from the NYT should probably be suspect since we should consider the source. Are these the same minorities who for years have suffered the indignity of entering a lottery in order to get in a charter school? Are these the same minorities who vote for politicians who disparage and limit charter schools while they, along with many public school teachers, send their kids to private schools?

I hope the NYT has finally printed some truth. I hope these minorities have finally awakened.

#8 mudbug on 2019-12-02 11:39 (Reply)

The story was a nice start, but ignored the biggest problem in public education: teachers unions resist all changes that hold them more accountable. What bigger threat can you have to Big Education than the threat of external pressure from having to compete with better schools?

Of course we should have charter schools. But the bigger move would be to demolish the current public school structure and build a new one that is designed to teach, not babysit.

#8.1 Dangerous Dean on 2019-12-03 06:56 (Reply)

#9 MissT on 2019-12-02 12:40 (Reply)

Hearing the horror stories from my optometrist, I think it's wise to be forced to do an exam once a year. He told me about people who wore the same pair of contact lenses FOR A YEAR and never took them out at night. He also told me about people with those eye worms b/c they used regular water instead of contact lens solution! People are idiots.

More reasons to not use contacts. Some years back, I purchased contacts. I found them such a hassle to put on and off that I returned them several weeks later, with a full refund. It's a lot less hassle to take eyeglasses on and off.

The main reason for using contacts is cosmetic- your appearance is improved. I am very nearsighted. I found out that the $50 extra for thin lenses was a cosmetic change well worth the price. Coke-bottle lenses do not improve one's appearance, however necessary they might be.

When I didn't pass the visual test for my driver's license, I changed my prescription- the first change in 14 years. The new prescription was not as strong, as aging made me more farsighted.

One good reason for using an MD for an eye exam is to check for glaucoma.

#9.1 Gringo on 2019-12-02 13:27 (Reply)

1) Try wearing those glasses in the rain and then doing yardwork.

2) Try driving with the sun in your eyes or doing anything outdoors...now you have to buy an extra pair of prescription sunglasses or those hideous clip-ons grandpa uses.

I have both glasses and contacts and use them for different things. Contacts are actually fantastic b/c you don't even feel as if you have a vision problem.

#9.1.1 MissT on 2019-12-02 17:09 (Reply)

Why do we keep calling it global warming or climate change? Why not call it climate rabies? It has been driving the nanny staters crazy since at least Rachael Carson's book Silent Spring. All that cost for propaganda promotion of ZPG, Gaia, Earth Day and climate science seems to be failing even as the screeching reaches new levels of insanity. The Gretchen climate generation is the latest iteration.

#10 indyjonesouthere on 2019-12-02 13:08 (Reply)

Re: Seattle Plans to Teach Kids that Math is Racist.

Seattle isn't a person. Who designed this curriculum? Where is he or she? That person should make a presentation at the PTA meeting. Then the parents could vote on it. The point is that every single part of the curriculum has human authors.

And also, every classroom should be equipped with a web-cam.
Parents can sign-in on a secure internet connection, and then observe the classroom. All of us get observed all the time; on the bus, in the grocery store, while we're driving. There's no legal reason why parents can't observe the teachers. But if the teachers were involved in a lot of funny business, they wouldn't want the parents to see what they're doing.

#11 Ron Lieberman on 2019-12-02 15:56 (Reply)

I saw Frozen with my young grand daughters when it came out a few years back. Kind of over the top in it's pro-feminist and anti-male theme. But no worries the girls loved it and in fact we bought the DVD and played it often for them. My wife and I saw Frozen II today. First let me say it was a let down from the first movie, no real plot, not very interesting. But the worst part is that they decided to preach to us all by creating a monster out of Sophia's grandfather. He was a colonist, racist murder! And worse, can it get worse, he made war on the indigenous people. AND as a side note he destroyed their environment by building a huge dam. So needless to say without any help from the bumbling men in the movie Sophia and Else save the world, tear down the dam and restore the indigenous people to their lands.

So anyway other than the propaganda and lecturing it was a mediocre movie. Even the music wasn't as good as the first movie.

#12 OneGuy on 2019-12-02 22:18 (Reply)

You know what’s funny about the environment people and the indigenous people? For the last five hundred years, men have been trying to figure out what to do with all those babies. Women have as many children as they possibly can. White women in early America were ruthless. They would kill Indian squaws on the spot. And now global population growth is out of control. But don’t expect the girls to mention that problem. They can have as many children as they want. Men are evil, that’s the real problem.

#12.1 Ron Liebermann on 2019-12-03 01:35 (Reply)

"White women in early America were ruthless. They would kill Indian squaws on the spot."

Historically inaccurate, i.e. you lie.

#12.1.1 OneGuy on 2019-12-03 10:25 (Reply)

Sorry One Guy, but it’s true. Most people don’t think of females as being involved in war. But for many settlers, it was war. The settlers didn’t just fend off Indian attacks, sometimes they went on the offensive. And those angry white women plugged a lot of squaws. This doesn’t mentioned in the history books, because modern women don’t want to be connected with war and killing. That’s always the men’s fault. Women are angels.

#12.1.1.1 Ron Liebermann on 2019-12-04 00:19 (Reply)

“...lack the social or financial capital to navigate our country’s byzantine medical system.”

The whole damned system is an unconscionable fraud. I haven't been able to see a doctor since I went on Medicare three years ago. Of course, I'm not on welfare, not a former government employee, nor here illegally.

On the other hand, I'm feeling pretty good for a guy who hasn't taken a pill for three years (except Tums). I eat lots of cheeseburgers, following the advice of either Click or Clack who opined that eating “healthy” would lead to a painful, lingering disease, whereas enjoying life will likely provide an instant exit at some point. That's my Massachusetts Health Care Plan.

#13 Gene on 2019-12-02 22:53 (Reply)

Since the United States requires patients to have a current doctor’s prescription to buy eyewear, I was stuck.

I've never had that problem buying online at Zennia. Maybe I lie about the prescription date? I don't recall but I just had an eye exam and my far vision hasn't changed in decades.

#14 CapitalistRoader on 2019-12-02 23:06 (Reply)

I love telling people that the common cause of earthquakes and volcanoes is radioactivity in uranium and thorium (and potassium-40) deep in the earth. The energy generated from radioactive decay keeps the mantle roiling and dragging the crustal plates.

I also point out that the Earth is basically a speck of supernova ash, still glowing in the infrared, emitting 7% more energy than it absorbs from the sun.

Makes commercial nuclear power seem to be doing it's bit to prevent earthquakes but nobody buys that tease! That deep radioactive decay also power geothermal energy.

#15 Whitehall on 2019-12-03 01:22 (Reply)

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Monday, December 2. 2019

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