Maggie's Farm

"In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms." — Stephen Jay Gould


While there are many unknowns in cosmology, that doesn't mean we know nothing with reasonable confidence about the universe, including that the Hoyle's original Steady State theory is contradicted by the evidence. Despite the surprises in the latest observations concerning primordial galaxies, the evidence still shows that the early universe was much different than the current universe. (The anomalies may have more to do with how early galaxies form than with changes to the standard ΛCDM model. However, scientists have a plan to observe even more distant galaxies that might help resolve the issue.)

"when people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together." — Isaac Asimov, The Relativity of Wrong

An analogy might be helpful. Think of law as discrete integers and reality as a continuum. A finite (or even infinite) number of integers can't be mapped one-to-one to the continuum. What that means in terms of law is that the law will always be imprecise when applied to the real world. There will always be exceptions and anomalies.

The original law was to prevent zoos and animal shelters from abandoning their animals during a disaster, as happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—a worthy goal. The magician and his magic rabbit, well, they're a commercial enterprise, so they got caught up in the law.

Congress directed regulators to fix the problem, but like any law, it's difficult to devise a new rule that allows for magic rabbits while still protecting animals that people want protected. And proposals to change regulations are covered by other laws, so there is a complex review process involved before any new rule can take effect. (Don't forget your economic and environmental impact statements!)

"The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government."

JamesHJ: the unelected and rarely accountable administrative state is essential.

Rule making is intrinsic to executing laws. For instance, a state legislature doesn’t pass legislation every time a stop sign is installed or the timing on a traffic light is changed. Rather, legislation is enacted which sets up a government agency charged with the power to study the issue, and then to implement binding regulations. So, yes, you do have to stop when the light turns red.

One can certainly reasonably argue that the administrative state has become too large and unwieldy, but not that it doesn’t have a role to play.

JamesHJ: Maybe President Trump can have the EPA rule that states are not allowed to create individual efficiency standards, pollution standards or EV mandates.

Current law allows states to enact their own regulations under the concept of cooperative federalism, so it would require enacting new legislation.

Update on the "magic rabbit". The "magic rabbit" was exempted from the regulation six years ago. And the magician supports the regulation in general, though he thinks "maybe the implementation of it was a little excessive."

Because he was uncertain whether he had the votes.


That's right. However, Biden endorsed Harris, so the majority of his delegates voted for Harris. No other credible candidate emerged.


That's right.


Harris was never "immigration czar" or "border czar". She is still ranked as among the most liberal from her time in the Senate.


Harris was elected in California by a wide margin to the Senate, reaping the same percentage as Clinton did over Trump. She was also elected to statewide office as Attorney General, "the first female, the first African-American, the first Asian-American attorney general in California and the first South Asian-American attorney general in the nation."

SK: The reference was to her abysmal performance in the presidential primary

And yet, she won statewide office three times, including the U.S. Senate. That contradicts the claim that she has “no personal following”.

Note that, in the 2010 CNN article, Harris is referred to as both South Asian and African-American.