For Jax: I was catching up on yesterday’s open forum when I saw a comment from you that your favorite band is Canadian. Who is it? I discovered Indie Canadian 15+ years ago via the CBC Radio 3 podcast and to this day probably 50% of the music I actually buy is from that very broad category.
(Edit: just saw that you linked to the answer. I’ll definitely check them out today)
When you add up the cost of Defense and State Department funds sunk into Operations Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support, then throw in the cost of caring for the conflicts’ veterans and the interest on the money borrowed to cover it all, you’re looking at over $2 trillion, according to a report released Friday.
The Costs of War Project detailed its most recent estimates, finding that most of the money came out of $933 billion in DoD overseas contingency funding. The rest includes: $443 billion in DoD base budget increases to support the war; $296 billion to care for veterans; $59 billion in State overseas contingency funds; and $530 to cover the interest on the money borrowed to fund 20 years of deployments.
McConaughey leads Gov. Greg Abbott, 45% to 33%. But his middle-of-the-road appeal may not open an easy path for him to November’s finale, experts warned
Andrew Yang continues to lead in polls for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of NYC. I still tend to think this is mostly a name recognition thing but the June primary isn’t very far away. If one of the other candidates is going to overtake him they need to see their numbers starting to move upward soon
For what it’s worth whoever wins the Democratic nomination will most likely be the next Mayor. There’s nobody of consequence running for the Republican nomination. The leading candidate appears to be Guardinan Angels founder Curtis Sliwa
This will be the first big election in New York using the state’s ranked choice voting to cast their ballots. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the race.
Ingenuity is a demonstration project. But now we know one design that works. Next up, the easiest thing to do would be to scatter several choppers on Mars and make detailed maps of many regions from lower altitudes than orbiting spacecraft can manage. This will allow for better targeting of future landers and rovers.
A group calling itself TFP (tradition, family, and property) is requesting that we sign a petition asking Walmart to remove all Satanic products from its shelves.
Our leaving may be a short-term disaster, and in the longer run, who knows, maybe Afghanistan will find balance on its own, like Vietnam. Or not. I don’t know. I am as humbled and ambivalent about it today as I was 20 years ago, and I am sure that Biden is too.
All I know for sure are: 1) We need to offer asylum to every Afghan who worked closely with us and may now be in danger. 2) Afghans are going to author their own future. 3) It is American democracy that is being eroded today by our own divisiveness, by our own hands, and unless we get that fixed we can’t help anyone — including ourselves.
I’m answering this comment here (I hope the link does lead back to the original comment):
@Mu Yixiao says:
I have a co-worker who developed a severe rash around her lower face from wearing a mask at work. I know several people who have had significant breathing issues because of masks (I’ve had issues, but they’re generally minor and I have an office where I can remove my mask when things get bad).
A rash is likely, especially in warm weather, due to sweat, and perhaps bacteria, trapped around the area covered by the mask. It might also be an allergic reaction to the mask’s materials. For the former, taking off the mask and washing one’s face a few times throughout the day will prevent it. For the latter, try a different mask material.
As to breathing problems, save for some really bad breathing or oxygen absorption issues, I’m calling complete BS. A little less air makes it in, and a little less exhaled breath makes it out, true. But a healthy person should be able to handle that. It does take some getting used to, and it’s not comfortable.
I first wore a mask on March 23rd 2020, when I visited a very crowded government office and wasn’t feeling like taking chances. It proved such a bad experience, that I hoped masks wouldn’t prove to be effective against COVID transmission (this was back when transmission through contact and surfaces was thought to be the dominant means).
As it happens, masks turned out to be extremely effective at preventing transmission. I didn’t want to wear one, but I didn’t want to catch or spread the trump virus either. My earlier experience proved misleading. It’s still uncomfortable, but one gets used to it after a short while (hours to days).
It’s no worse than wearing shows. You’re eager to take it off at the end of the day, and form time to time it feels especially uncomfortable, and sometimes it may chafe, but much of the day you either no longer notice it or can ignore it.
I am willing to make exceptions for people with emphysema, COPD, any kind of pulmonary or cardiac insufficiency, and other such conditions. Everyone else is just not making a minimal effort to protect themselves and everyone else.
As to asthma, I’m willing to reserve judgment. Still, one person I know afflicted with it, tells me he has had less trouble since masks came into use, because apparently they keep dust and pollen out as well. This is anecdotal and has little value, but there it is.
Twenty-six years ago at this hour, domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, injuring more than 600 others, and causing some $600 million in damage to the surrounding area.
McVeigh would be executed for his crimes six years later in 2001.
@Scott: WIKI lists the nominal GDP of Afghanistan as 22 billion. At 2 trillion we’ve spent almost 100 years of their GDP. We could quite literally have bought the whole place for less.
I just caught up on that thread, and since I don’t know if anyone else is re-visiting it, I want to chime in and mention that were it not for a last minute scheduling issue, Reverend Peyton (and his big damn band) was going to officiate my wedding.
@Mr. Prosser:
I should have made clear that it’s the online Walmart to which the petitioners have directed their plaint. So perhaps the local brick-and-mortar Walmart will be able to serve your Satanic needs.
Yesterday was the 38th anniversary of the Beirut Embassy bombing. We were living overseas at the time, and security at American facilities went on high alert, I believe we were sent home from school. When I got home, both of my parents were in tears, they’d lost close friends in the bombing. It is a turning point for a teen to see both parents break down like that, I will never forget it.
@Doug Mataconis:
Also the anniversary of Lexington and Concord.
If you have never read anything about it, the battles that day were far more gruesome that the HS history books let on. There is an excellent description of the fighting in “Bunker Hill” by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Read it, and you will see what a joke these Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are.
I made a simple side dish with onions, bell pepper, garlic, serrano chile, bacon, and beans. It was delicious.
First saute the onions and bell pepper as desired, then remove them, or most of them, from the pan. next add chopped garlic and chopped serrano pepper to the pan for a minute. next add the bacon and cook to taste, then add a can of whole beans (I used black beans) with all the liquid it contains, and simmer until hot. Finally add the onions and bell pepper back.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
The merchandise has been quite insidiously scattered throughout the virtual store. Ouija boards are in toys and games. The works of Anton LaVey are in the book section.
Satan lurks everywhere to tempt the unwary shopper.
Also the anniversary of Lexington and Concord.
If you have never read anything about it, the battles that day were far more gruesome that the HS history books let on.
In Cambridge, MA, there’s a monument on Mass Ave. that says, “On this spot are buried 13 British soldiers who died on the retreat from Concord.”
@just nutha:
To quote:
“The products include demonic scriptures and figures; satanic pornography that blasphemes Christ’s crucifixion; numerous products with pentagrams and other demonic images, and books that include the Satanic bible and books on spells.”
@Kathy: As a chronic sufferer of asthma and a patient diagnosed with moderate COPD, I appreciate your willingness to make exceptions but am also inclined to wish that people would curtail the impulse. If my breathing is bad enough that a mask impairs my respiration, I should be home taking medicine for it not out at the supermarket or the movies.
@CSK: But if it’s only scattered items throughout the store, isn’t it easier to simply NOT BUY THEM as evangelicals do currently with [ahem…] ALCOHOL and TOBACCO?
I’m asthmatic. I know what it is like to literally be unable to catch my breath. It is terrifying. I’ve also seen the videos of what COVID folks go through. Prior to being vaccinated, I knew that if I got it, it was a death sentence for me, due to other comorbidities as well.
Not wearing a mask has never been an option. Does it make it hard to breathe sometimes? Yep. But there is such a wide gulf between ‘hard to breathe’ and ‘literally unable to catch your breath.’ I have a hard time believing that anyone who actually suffers from something like asthma or COPD and who understands the science behind COVID is willing to engage in unnecessary exposure. Being unable to breath is just that terrifying and traumatic.
I’ve also spent the last year standing at the front of a mostly empty classroom projecting into an overhead mic that is transmitting my lectures via Zoom to the majority of my students. I’ve listened to my lecture recordings. My voice is fully transmitted through my mask, and Zoom’s audio transcripts are, by and large, fully accurate except for technical terms that it shouldn’t really know how to interpret. So I also don’t buy the arguments about being unable to communicate effectively, unless the person on the receiving end has a legit hearing issue.
@just nutha:
I suppose the mere presence of such items on the store’s website is so disturbing that it must be nullified.
@just nutha:
Serves you right. 😀
@Gromitt Gunn: Another asthmatic here, and I agree. Early in the pandemic, a doctor told me that the feeling of being unable to breathe in a mask is mostly just a panic response, not an actual physical issue, and so when I feel it, take a few deep breaths, and the feeling would go away. The doctor was absolutely right.
I’ve also spent the last year standing at the front of a mostly empty classroom projecting into an overhead mic that is transmitting my lectures via Zoom to the majority of my students. I’ve listened to my lecture recordings. My voice is fully transmitted through my mask, and Zoom’s audio transcripts are, by and large, fully accurate except for technical terms that it shouldn’t really know how to interpret. So I also don’t buy the arguments about being unable to communicate effectively, unless the person on the receiving end has a legit hearing issue.
You, like me, are a public speaker. As such, I fully expect that your voice is easily understood. That’s a skill that can be taught. But pay attention the next time you’re around others and see how clearlythey speak. People mumble. They speak quietly and indistinctly. I spent quite a few years teaching public speaking, and one of the biggest issues I had was teaching people to speak up (Me? I bellow. I’ve been known to replace the paging system at work.)
Now… add on to that that somewhere between 25 and 40% of Americans above the age of 12 have some degree of hearing loss. Another 25 million Americans have tinnitus. I have both. It’s not enough to get a hearing aid, but if there’s any background noise, I lose human voices*. It’s called “hidden hearing loss”, and it’s fairly common (and hard to detect with standard hearing tests). I joke that “I can’t hear you, I don’t have my glasses on”–because I rely on visual cues (lip shape, etc.) to supplement what I’m hearing. An amazing number of people do.
Around the office, I frequently struggle to understand what people are saying–because they don’t speak clearly, they’re standing farther away, masks add a bit of muffling, and I have no visual clues to supplement what I’m hearing (that’s part of what’s known as the “speech chain”).
Is it enough to make me say people shouldn’t wear masks? Not at all. But it’s not “nothing”.
====
* Before I knew I had the problem, I’d constantly get yelled at by my HS girlfriend for not paying attention to her (e.g., when in the car). I literally didn’t hear a word she said.
@Joe:
I was going to use “canceled,” but realized that I’m deeply sick of hearing and seeing that word, along with anything being described as “iconic.”
@CSK: Cool, thanks for the helpful hint! To think I’ve been using the wrong word string in my search all these years! Apparently I did waste 5 years of poker winnings on my college ed-u-ma-kation.
“The medical examiner noted Sicknick was among the officers who engaged the Capitol mob and said ‘all that transpired played a role in his condition.'”
So, basically, the experience may have contributed but wasn’t the cause of his death. I’m not sure of the legal implications of that.
but if there’s any background noise, I lose human voices
Very common problem. I spent years as a paralegal to a workers’ compensation attorney. Many many clients with hearing loss. Usually men in construction or industrial applications. There was a “notch” in their hearing test (IIRC, somewhere in the 5-7kHz range) that coincided with the average range of women’s and children’s voices. They were usually referred to us by their audiologist, who got them in for tests because their spouses (of 30+ years) drug them in to prove they were deaf. Well, they weren’t deaf, just deaf to certain voices/tones. Turned out to be work related, and w/c insurers would be on the hook for $15k, lifetime hearing aids/batteries, and $3k in attorney fees. Insurers hated my boss. Wives of clients loved him.
@Kylopod:
Diaz, the medical examiner, also said that Sicknick didn’t suffer an allergic reaction to any chemical irritant, which seem to indicate that the bear spray didn’t cause the stroke.
For years I’ve been saying that more training for police is not the answer but instead is a part of the problem. Here’s a researcher talking about why that is the case.
@Sleeping Dog:
Friedman says: “Afghans are going to author their own future. ”
This is not the case.
Their future will be imposed upon them by a coalition of the most determined and ruthless elements of the Pushtun Taliban and the Pakistan military/security apparat.
Most Afghans will have no choice but submission or death.
The main hope of the non-Taliban elements is that Pakistan will be sufficiently reluctant to see a bloodbath in the cities as to pressure those elements of the Taliban that are clients of the ISI to accept a limited compromise in the regime imposed.
@CSK: “Satanic” gave me a paltry 268 hits on Walmart website. Amazon gave me over 5,000. eBay remains my go-to shopping source with almost 53,000 items at time of press.
@flat earth luddite:
Well, if I understand you correctly, clearly the Anti-Satan Brigade should be targeting (pun intended) eBay and Amazon rather than Walmart.
I joke that “I can’t hear you, I don’t have my glasses on”–because I rely on visual cues (lip shape, etc.) to supplement what I’m hearing. An amazing number of people do.
A study that I read ages ago found, IIRC, a 60-some percent increase in comprehension from being able to see the reader’s face while the reader read text to a listener. This researcher concluded that nearly everyone lip reads to some degree. (To the best of my knowledge, the subjects were limited to English speakers, so I can’t say that it’s universal. While I was in Korea, it was not unusual for Koreans to point at the menu while giving their order, so lip reading might be harder in some languages/settings. I usually ate at shikdang that used order slips that diners filled out. Very convenient. Some were even bi-lingual English/Korean.)
Suppose some magical creature (genie, faerie, god, whatever), grants you the power to pass one amendment to the US constitution. All you have to do is write it (or get someone else to write it), and by magic it will pass, as written, no later than six months from when you finish writing it. But you only get one. You have as long as you please to come up with it (days, years, decades).
What would you write?
I don’t expect a written amendment as a reply. But things like “reform/replace the Electoral College” should come with how it will be reformed or replaced.
Moving to a different subject altogether, how about Congress clarifying that the President CAN be charged with a crime? (Yeah, I know this is never going to happen. I just like causing trouble. 😛 )
The Two Memos With Enormous Constitutional Consequences What’s astonishing is that presidential criminal immunity has no grounding in actual law. It’s not in the Constitution or any federal statute, regulation, or judicial decision. It is not law at all.
@Neil J Hudelson: I finally got a chance to listen to their newest album today, was out dragging meadows on the tractor. I like it! Rev continually amazes me with his skills on any instrument he can put his hands on, and personally, they don’t let Breezy sing enough. 😉
A friend suffers from hearing loss, when he went to the audiologist with his wife, he was told that he was only hearing a third of what the wife was saying. Always being one who engages mouth before brain, he said, I don’t see the problem then. I believe he still sleeping on the couch.
When considering such hypotheticals, I try to articulate what it is I’m seeking to achieve (outcome), how I would measure it (operationalization), and on what time horizon (primary endpoint). This helps me put my cards on the table, so to speak, which sharpens my thinking and hard-checks my grandiose expectations.
A slight twist to your hypothetical is whether I would choose to use my power if by doing so, my political “enemy” was granted the same power. If I use it, so would they….but if I don’t use it, neither would they. This helps me think about whether the anticipated benefits of my known choice would outweigh the unknown harms of theirs. Tricky tricky these hypotheticals.
@Sleeping Dog:
I attended a Catholic school as a child. At some early age, the combo of my teacher nuns and my mom submitted me to an as-needed hearing test. Passing on a slightly interpreted message from the audiologist, my nun teacher explained to my mom that hearing was not the problem – listening was.
Can you revisit it, say in a week, (perhaps next Monday’s forum)?
It would be interesting to gather the many thoughts together in the same place at the same time (as versus sprinkled over many days).
The Hypothetical Amendment Challenge. I like it! Soooo…next Monday? Everybody who has an idea posts their amendments to the Constitution of the United States? Then we should probably give nay-sayer’s a week response, right?
Dear Hosts: Thank You for giving us the space to do this!
Suppose some magical creature (genie, faerie, god, whatever), grants you the power to pass one amendment to the US constitution.
I’d like to think I would use the opportunity well, but there’s at least a 50/50 chance than for years schoolchildren would be marveling at the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution which reads as follows:
Asimov wrote hundreds of books, most of them on-fiction. I bet even he didn’t know all of them 😉
Parity is important in particle physics.
As to the amendment, the rules state there’s no time limit for coming up with one. So, no deadlines and no time pressure.
For Jax: I was catching up on yesterday’s open forum when I saw a comment from you that your favorite band is Canadian. Who is it? I discovered Indie Canadian 15+ years ago via the CBC Radio 3 podcast and to this day probably 50% of the music I actually buy is from that very broad category.
(Edit: just saw that you linked to the answer. I’ll definitely check them out today)
Seen on the web:
My son Luke is so glad I named my children after Star Wars characters. My daughter Chewbacca, not so much.
Judge for yourself if you think it was worth it.
Afghanistan war cost more than $2T and 240,000 lives, report finds
Uh, I don’t think so, Tim
Matthew McConaughey may be a viable candidate for Texas governor; poll shows actor ahead of Abbott
Andrew Yang continues to lead in polls for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of NYC. I still tend to think this is mostly a name recognition thing but the June primary isn’t very far away. If one of the other candidates is going to overtake him they need to see their numbers starting to move upward soon
For what it’s worth whoever wins the Democratic nomination will most likely be the next Mayor. There’s nobody of consequence running for the Republican nomination. The leading candidate appears to be Guardinan Angels founder Curtis Sliwa
This will be the first big election in New York using the state’s ranked choice voting to cast their ballots. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the race.
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/decision-2021/2021/04/18/andrew-yang-democrats-spectrum-news-ny1-ipsos-poll-new-york-city-mayor-s-race
Ingenuity successfully flew earlier today for about 40 seconds.
Ingenuity is a demonstration project. But now we know one design that works. Next up, the easiest thing to do would be to scatter several choppers on Mars and make detailed maps of many regions from lower altitudes than orbiting spacecraft can manage. This will allow for better targeting of future landers and rovers.
On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers successfully launched the first manned airplane flight, setting humanity off in a revolutionary direction.
Today, some 118 years later? the Ingenuity helicopter completed the first controlled flight on another planet.
We’ve come a long way in a short period of time.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/19/world/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-first-flight-scn-trnd/index.html
A group calling itself TFP (tradition, family, and property) is requesting that we sign a petition asking Walmart to remove all Satanic products from its shelves.
The morning brings small wonders, Tom Friedman has a column that is worth reading.
I’m answering this comment here (I hope the link does lead back to the original comment):
@Mu Yixiao says:
A rash is likely, especially in warm weather, due to sweat, and perhaps bacteria, trapped around the area covered by the mask. It might also be an allergic reaction to the mask’s materials. For the former, taking off the mask and washing one’s face a few times throughout the day will prevent it. For the latter, try a different mask material.
As to breathing problems, save for some really bad breathing or oxygen absorption issues, I’m calling complete BS. A little less air makes it in, and a little less exhaled breath makes it out, true. But a healthy person should be able to handle that. It does take some getting used to, and it’s not comfortable.
I first wore a mask on March 23rd 2020, when I visited a very crowded government office and wasn’t feeling like taking chances. It proved such a bad experience, that I hoped masks wouldn’t prove to be effective against COVID transmission (this was back when transmission through contact and surfaces was thought to be the dominant means).
As it happens, masks turned out to be extremely effective at preventing transmission. I didn’t want to wear one, but I didn’t want to catch or spread the trump virus either. My earlier experience proved misleading. It’s still uncomfortable, but one gets used to it after a short while (hours to days).
It’s no worse than wearing shows. You’re eager to take it off at the end of the day, and form time to time it feels especially uncomfortable, and sometimes it may chafe, but much of the day you either no longer notice it or can ignore it.
I am willing to make exceptions for people with emphysema, COPD, any kind of pulmonary or cardiac insufficiency, and other such conditions. Everyone else is just not making a minimal effort to protect themselves and everyone else.
As to asthma, I’m willing to reserve judgment. Still, one person I know afflicted with it, tells me he has had less trouble since masks came into use, because apparently they keep dust and pollen out as well. This is anecdotal and has little value, but there it is.
Twenty-six years ago at this hour, domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, injuring more than 600 others, and causing some $600 million in damage to the surrounding area.
McVeigh would be executed for his crimes six years later in 2001.
@Scott: WIKI lists the nominal GDP of Afghanistan as 22 billion. At 2 trillion we’ve spent almost 100 years of their GDP. We could quite literally have bought the whole place for less.
@MarkedMan:
I just caught up on that thread, and since I don’t know if anyone else is re-visiting it, I want to chime in and mention that were it not for a last minute scheduling issue, Reverend Peyton (and his big damn band) was going to officiate my wedding.
@CSK:
My usual response to such requests is “But then where am I supposed to shop?”
@scott:
The information there is Matty’s path, if he’s serious, is as an Independent.
@Doug Mataconis:..domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh…
Personally I think his head should be on pike at that site. But that’s just me.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
I think you can still shop at Walmart. But you should definitely protest the presence of Satanic merchandise on their shelves.
@CSK: You don’t understand. If Satanic merchandise is banned where can I shop for it, Target?
@Mr. Prosser:
I should have made clear that it’s the online Walmart to which the petitioners have directed their plaint. So perhaps the local brick-and-mortar Walmart will be able to serve your Satanic needs.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
@CSK:
@Mr. Prosser:
When did Walmart begin selling Trump merchandise?
Yesterday was the 38th anniversary of the Beirut Embassy bombing. We were living overseas at the time, and security at American facilities went on high alert, I believe we were sent home from school. When I got home, both of my parents were in tears, they’d lost close friends in the bombing. It is a turning point for a teen to see both parents break down like that, I will never forget it.
@CSK:
But isn’t that everything? Or is there a special department (like ‘husky boy’s at Sears in my youth?
@Doug Mataconis:
Also the anniversary of Lexington and Concord.
If you have never read anything about it, the battles that day were far more gruesome that the HS history books let on. There is an excellent description of the fighting in “Bunker Hill” by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Read it, and you will see what a joke these Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are.
Here’s s a link to pictures and video of the helicopter on Mars
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/images-and-video-of-nasa-helicopter-ingenuity-flying-on-mars.html
I made a simple side dish with onions, bell pepper, garlic, serrano chile, bacon, and beans. It was delicious.
First saute the onions and bell pepper as desired, then remove them, or most of them, from the pan. next add chopped garlic and chopped serrano pepper to the pan for a minute. next add the bacon and cook to taste, then add a can of whole beans (I used black beans) with all the liquid it contains, and simmer until hot. Finally add the onions and bell pepper back.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
The merchandise has been quite insidiously scattered throughout the virtual store. Ouija boards are in toys and games. The works of Anton LaVey are in the book section.
Satan lurks everywhere to tempt the unwary shopper.
@Doug Mataconis:
They attached a small piece of canvas from the Wright brothers’ aircraft to the Marscopter
@Daryl and his brother Darryl:
In Cambridge, MA, there’s a monument on Mass Ave. that says, “On this spot are buried 13 British soldiers who died on the retreat from Concord.”
@CSK: I know I’m going to be sorry I asked, but did the petitioners give any suggestions as to what products are “Satanic?”
@Sleeping Dog: He certainly has a firm grasp of the obvious; I’ll give him that.
@just nutha:
To quote:
“The products include demonic scriptures and figures; satanic pornography that blasphemes Christ’s crucifixion; numerous products with pentagrams and other demonic images, and books that include the Satanic bible and books on spells.”
@Kathy: As a chronic sufferer of asthma and a patient diagnosed with moderate COPD, I appreciate your willingness to make exceptions but am also inclined to wish that people would curtail the impulse. If my breathing is bad enough that a mask impairs my respiration, I should be home taking medicine for it not out at the supermarket or the movies.
Seems production has started on a Lord of the Rings series, possibly based on the Silmarillion.
https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/amazons-lord-of-the-rings-explained-plot-cast/amazon-prime-executive-session-panel-tca-summer-press-tour-los-angeles-usa-27-jul-2019/
Amazon is doing the funding, and bigly.
@CSK: But if it’s only scattered items throughout the store, isn’t it easier to simply NOT BUY THEM as evangelicals do currently with [ahem…] ALCOHOL and TOBACCO?
@just nutha: (And I KNEW I was going to be sorry I asked. 🙁 )
Re: the mask conversation above.
I’m asthmatic. I know what it is like to literally be unable to catch my breath. It is terrifying. I’ve also seen the videos of what COVID folks go through. Prior to being vaccinated, I knew that if I got it, it was a death sentence for me, due to other comorbidities as well.
Not wearing a mask has never been an option. Does it make it hard to breathe sometimes? Yep. But there is such a wide gulf between ‘hard to breathe’ and ‘literally unable to catch your breath.’ I have a hard time believing that anyone who actually suffers from something like asthma or COPD and who understands the science behind COVID is willing to engage in unnecessary exposure. Being unable to breath is just that terrifying and traumatic.
I’ve also spent the last year standing at the front of a mostly empty classroom projecting into an overhead mic that is transmitting my lectures via Zoom to the majority of my students. I’ve listened to my lecture recordings. My voice is fully transmitted through my mask, and Zoom’s audio transcripts are, by and large, fully accurate except for technical terms that it shouldn’t really know how to interpret. So I also don’t buy the arguments about being unable to communicate effectively, unless the person on the receiving end has a legit hearing issue.
@just nutha:
I suppose the mere presence of such items on the store’s website is so disturbing that it must be nullified.
@just nutha:
Serves you right. 😀
@Gromitt Gunn: Another asthmatic here, and I agree. Early in the pandemic, a doctor told me that the feeling of being unable to breathe in a mask is mostly just a panic response, not an actual physical issue, and so when I feel it, take a few deep breaths, and the feeling would go away. The doctor was absolutely right.
@Gromitt Gunn:
You, like me, are a public speaker. As such, I fully expect that your voice is easily understood. That’s a skill that can be taught. But pay attention the next time you’re around others and see how clearlythey speak. People mumble. They speak quietly and indistinctly. I spent quite a few years teaching public speaking, and one of the biggest issues I had was teaching people to speak up (Me? I bellow. I’ve been known to replace the paging system at work.)
Now… add on to that that somewhere between 25 and 40% of Americans above the age of 12 have some degree of hearing loss. Another 25 million Americans have tinnitus. I have both. It’s not enough to get a hearing aid, but if there’s any background noise, I lose human voices*. It’s called “hidden hearing loss”, and it’s fairly common (and hard to detect with standard hearing tests). I joke that “I can’t hear you, I don’t have my glasses on”–because I rely on visual cues (lip shape, etc.) to supplement what I’m hearing. An amazing number of people do.
Around the office, I frequently struggle to understand what people are saying–because they don’t speak clearly, they’re standing farther away, masks add a bit of muffling, and I have no visual clues to supplement what I’m hearing (that’s part of what’s known as the “speech chain”).
Is it enough to make me say people shouldn’t wear masks? Not at all. But it’s not “nothing”.
====
* Before I knew I had the problem, I’d constantly get yelled at by my HS girlfriend for not paying attention to her (e.g., when in the car). I literally didn’t hear a word she said.
@CSK:
I believe the verb you were going for there was “canceled.”
@Joe:
I was going to use “canceled,” but realized that I’m deeply sick of hearing and seeing that word, along with anything being described as “iconic.”
According to a report in the WaPo, Brian Sicknick died of two strokes.
@CSK: Cool, thanks for the helpful hint! To think I’ve been using the wrong word string in my search all these years! Apparently I did waste 5 years of poker winnings on my college ed-u-ma-kation.
@CSK: From the article:
“The medical examiner noted Sicknick was among the officers who engaged the Capitol mob and said ‘all that transpired played a role in his condition.'”
So, basically, the experience may have contributed but wasn’t the cause of his death. I’m not sure of the legal implications of that.
@Mu Yixiao:
Very common problem. I spent years as a paralegal to a workers’ compensation attorney. Many many clients with hearing loss. Usually men in construction or industrial applications. There was a “notch” in their hearing test (IIRC, somewhere in the 5-7kHz range) that coincided with the average range of women’s and children’s voices. They were usually referred to us by their audiologist, who got them in for tests because their spouses (of 30+ years) drug them in to prove they were deaf. Well, they weren’t deaf, just deaf to certain voices/tones. Turned out to be work related, and w/c insurers would be on the hook for $15k, lifetime hearing aids/batteries, and $3k in attorney fees. Insurers hated my boss. Wives of clients loved him.
@flat earth luddite:
Happy to be helpful, but what word is that?
I have hearing loss in the range of my wife’s voice. Not sure I want it treated.
Steve
1st shot down. 2nd on 05/10. Pfizer. Like most folks, just a mild awareness that I got poked. Already taking an extra day off for the 2nd shot.
@Kylopod:
Diaz, the medical examiner, also said that Sicknick didn’t suffer an allergic reaction to any chemical irritant, which seem to indicate that the bear spray didn’t cause the stroke.
For years I’ve been saying that more training for police is not the answer but instead is a part of the problem. Here’s a researcher talking about why that is the case.
@Sleeping Dog:
Friedman says: “Afghans are going to author their own future. ”
This is not the case.
Their future will be imposed upon them by a coalition of the most determined and ruthless elements of the Pushtun Taliban and the Pakistan military/security apparat.
Most Afghans will have no choice but submission or death.
The main hope of the non-Taliban elements is that Pakistan will be sufficiently reluctant to see a bloodbath in the cities as to pressure those elements of the Taliban that are clients of the ISI to accept a limited compromise in the regime imposed.
@steve:
Based on experience, you’ll want it treated when she tells you you want it treated. As always, YMMV.
@CSK: “Satanic” gave me a paltry 268 hits on Walmart website. Amazon gave me over 5,000. eBay remains my go-to shopping source with almost 53,000 items at time of press.
@flat earth luddite:
Well, if I understand you correctly, clearly the Anti-Satan Brigade should be targeting (pun intended) eBay and Amazon rather than Walmart.
@CSK:
It would be a nice gesture to remember these fine people come christmas, and gift them a donation in their name to The Satanic Temple.
Oh, it’s just a name.
It’s not really a temple.
@Kylopod:
I’m not either.
But I am absolutely certain of the moral implications of that.
@Mu Yixiao:
A study that I read ages ago found, IIRC, a 60-some percent increase in comprehension from being able to see the reader’s face while the reader read text to a listener. This researcher concluded that nearly everyone lip reads to some degree. (To the best of my knowledge, the subjects were limited to English speakers, so I can’t say that it’s universal. While I was in Korea, it was not unusual for Koreans to point at the menu while giving their order, so lip reading might be harder in some languages/settings. I usually ate at shikdang that used order slips that diners filled out. Very convenient. Some were even bi-lingual English/Korean.)
Here’s a hypothetical:
Suppose some magical creature (genie, faerie, god, whatever), grants you the power to pass one amendment to the US constitution. All you have to do is write it (or get someone else to write it), and by magic it will pass, as written, no later than six months from when you finish writing it. But you only get one. You have as long as you please to come up with it (days, years, decades).
What would you write?
I don’t expect a written amendment as a reply. But things like “reform/replace the Electoral College” should come with how it will be reformed or replaced.
Moving to a different subject altogether, how about Congress clarifying that the President CAN be charged with a crime? (Yeah, I know this is never going to happen. I just like causing trouble. 😛 )
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/olc-memos/618598/
The Two Memos With Enormous Constitutional Consequences
What’s astonishing is that presidential criminal immunity has no grounding in actual law. It’s not in the Constitution or any federal statute, regulation, or judicial decision. It is not law at all.
@Neil J Hudelson: I finally got a chance to listen to their newest album today, was out dragging meadows on the tractor. I like it! Rev continually amazes me with his skills on any instrument he can put his hands on, and personally, they don’t let Breezy sing enough. 😉
@steve:
A friend suffers from hearing loss, when he went to the audiologist with his wife, he was told that he was only hearing a third of what the wife was saying. Always being one who engages mouth before brain, he said, I don’t see the problem then. I believe he still sleeping on the couch.
@Sleeping Dog: This is one of those moments when I really wish the thumbs up on this site were better. Because that’s funny as hell! 😛
I wonder how de Stijl’s doing with his quitting smoking? He didn’t check in this weekend, I had extra music to show him. :-/
@Sleeping Dog: This very very much sounds like something my husband would say… 😀
Walter Mondale has died. He was 93. RIP.
@Kathy:
I like this hypothetical. Will have to noodle it.
When considering such hypotheticals, I try to articulate what it is I’m seeking to achieve (outcome), how I would measure it (operationalization), and on what time horizon (primary endpoint). This helps me put my cards on the table, so to speak, which sharpens my thinking and hard-checks my grandiose expectations.
A slight twist to your hypothetical is whether I would choose to use my power if by doing so, my political “enemy” was granted the same power. If I use it, so would they….but if I don’t use it, neither would they. This helps me think about whether the anticipated benefits of my known choice would outweigh the unknown harms of theirs. Tricky tricky these hypotheticals.
@Sleeping Dog:
I attended a Catholic school as a child. At some early age, the combo of my teacher nuns and my mom submitted me to an as-needed hearing test. Passing on a slightly interpreted message from the audiologist, my nun teacher explained to my mom that hearing was not the problem – listening was.
@Mimai:
I like that. A Law of Parity of Magical Legislation? (with apologies to Isaac Asimov)
@Kathy:
Was that law proposed in The Left Hand of the Election? (groan, double apologies)
@Mimai:
I don’t think I read that one.
In one of his Azazel stories, a magical creature who grants wishes, he brings up a Law of Conservation of Merriment.
@Kathy:
Fascinating (your hypothetical)
Can you revisit it, say in a week, (perhaps next Monday’s forum)?
It would be interesting to gather the many thoughts together in the same place at the same time (as versus sprinkled over many days).
The Hypothetical Amendment Challenge. I like it! Soooo…next Monday? Everybody who has an idea posts their amendments to the Constitution of the United States? Then we should probably give nay-sayer’s a week response, right?
Dear Hosts: Thank You for giving us the space to do this!
@Kathy:
I’d like to think I would use the opportunity well, but there’s at least a 50/50 chance than for years schoolchildren would be marveling at the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution which reads as follows:
@Kathy: I believe what @Mimai: may be referring to is Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel, The Left Hand of Darkness.
It’s a great book. I’m always pleased/astonished when something written so long ago holds such relevance in present day.
@Jen:
I thought he meant Asimov’s “The Left Hand of the Electron.”
@Kathy: AH! Okay. I have not read that one…you’re most likely correct. I defaulted to the “Left Hand of” one that I had read…
@Kathy:
Yep, it was this, in which Asimov writes about parity.
Meta comment: here I am explaining a quip, thus rendering it negative funny…story of my life.
@Jen:
@Mimai:
Asimov wrote hundreds of books, most of them on-fiction. I bet even he didn’t know all of them 😉
Parity is important in particle physics.
As to the amendment, the rules state there’s no time limit for coming up with one. So, no deadlines and no time pressure.
@Kathy:
That should be “non-fiction”. I lost the edit button lottery this morning.