A good overview of the problem, from Marina Koren.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Upscaling
Bias And Dysfunction In Psychology and Academia
Democracy Works
Democrats voted for “None Of The Above” in Iowa.
[Update a few minutes later]
Iowa’s Democrat disaster:
This morning, Democrats look exactly like what their critics accuse them of being — a bunch of grandiose dreamers whose ambitions greatly exceed their competence. They can’t handle the basics of running elections in a constitutional Republic, but they fantasize of having far-reaching powers over the daily lives of every American.
…If you aren’t all that invested in who won and resent the fact that this state always gets to go first . . . Monday night was hilarious. The party that constantly reminds us how they are the party of science, the party of education and educators, the party that is forward-looking and embraces the power of technology . . . cannot do math when it counts. The party that wants the federal government to take over the health-care system cannot add up numbers from 1,600 precincts. This was Healthcare.gov all over again. Staffers for presidential campaigns raged over the fact that when they called up the state party for answers, party officials hung up on them. One precinct secretary was on hold, trying to report results; called in to CNN, finally got through, and then the party hung up on him live on the air.
Come on, guys. Even the Chinese government is giving some answers about the coronavirus outbreak. Saddam Hussein’s old spokesman “Baghdad Bob” may have lied all the time, but at least he was willing to appear in front of the cameras.
Between this, the State of the Union, and the upcoming acquittal in the Senate, Trump is having a great week.
[Update a while later]

Rush Limbaugh
Best wishes in his fight with this. I wonder if those years of smoking finally caught up with him, even though he quit?
[Update Tuesday morning]
Sort of related: Scientists accidentally discover a form of immune cells that can kill most cancers. Faster, please.
[Tuesday-morning update]
Thoughts from Bob Zimmerman.
[Wednesday-morning update]
Kurt Schlichter: What Rush Limbaugh means to us, and me.
A Purpose-Driven Space Program
Bob Zubrin’s take on the stagnation in NASA human spaceflight.
As I’ve often said, if we don’t know why we’re doing something, it’s not possible to come up with a sensible way to do it.
Seventeen Years
Ian Kluft remembers seeing Columbia breaking up, from California.
[Sunday-morning update]
Here are my thoughts from that day. If you click on “Next Post” you’ll read a lot more from the hours and days that came after.
The Coastal States
…are in the fight of their lives.
I hope, at some point soon, there will be a backlash in California. I don’t want to have to leave to be free.
BTW, I was in DC all week, but back now.
Starship Production
…may be coming back to California.
College
“We don’t talk about” it here.
I didn’t think much about college in high school, except to take courses like Latin, math, and science. I didn’t even take the SAT. I took a year off after graduation (with low grades), then went to community college. I think I did OK.