2:00PM Water Cooler 9/17/2020

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1. anon September 17, 2020 at 2:20 pm

   At the end of the day, how do conspiracy promoters like QAnon differ from “anonymous sources” such as in The Atlantic?
   1. ambrit September 17, 2020 at 5:10 pm

      By the ‘Company’ they keep?
      1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 2:57 am

         Ha!
   2. rowlf September 17, 2020 at 5:15 pm

      If you are relying on “anonymous sources” for your story, doesn’t that mean you are running a gossip column instead of practicing journalism? And what kind of idgits would chase after that type of story like a dogpack?

      Bat Boy, are you out there?
      “I’ve got yer anonymous sources ri-i-ight here”
      1. Billy September 17, 2020 at 9:25 pm

         Steve Jobs widow’s gossip column, with a magazine to go along with it? We should all heed the wise words of billionairesses who made their money with her ring finger.
         1. Regular Person Username September 17, 2020 at 10:07 pm

            BREAKING NEWS
            America’s Kool Aid shortage continues as angry, heavily indoctrinated MAGA enthusiasts chug it by the pitcher daily.
            1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:01 am

               I’m so old I remember that origin story of the phrase “reality-based community,” and how Democrat supporters in the blogosphere (including, then, me) embraced it. After 2016 and 2020 — really, since 2008 — it’s been quite clear that KoolAid consumption is massive across the political spectrum, albeit of different flavors.
   3. randomworker September 17, 2020 at 6:11 pm

      Says “anon…”
      1. jr September 17, 2020 at 7:49 pm

         +1
2. Toshiro_Mifune September 17, 2020 at 2:23 pm

   Anon followers believe, without evidence, that the world is run by a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats and Hollywood celebrities who are engaged in wide-scale child trafficking, pedophilia and cannibalism.
   Not so much defending QAnon as pointing out that we certainly do have evidence of wide-scale child trafficking and pedophilia among Hollywood elites and, at least by inference, among Democratic (and Republican) elites.

   A national politics infected by QAnon is wholly incompatible with the evidence-based debate and compromises required to govern any society. Within QAnon there is no room for nuance or rationality; there is only good v evil,
   The latter has largely been my experience of American politics, from both major parties, for almost my entire life and I’m 50.
   1. farragut September 17, 2020 at 3:36 pm

      I don’t know anything about QAnon, and like our good host Lambert, I wish to keep it that way. I agree with you that some of their claims are entirely plausible due to the numerous ‘evidence-based’ examples seen coming from the Catholic Church, Hollywood, Washington DC, the Boy Scouts, the BBC, etc.

      I have absolutely no trouble believing pedophilia is widespread amongst our sociopathic elites, given the lack of accountability they seemingly face (save for the occasional scapegoat thrown to the wolves). In fact, I’d be surprised if it weren’t happening.
      1. pjay September 17, 2020 at 5:41 pm

         QAnon serves our increasingly dysfunctional system very nicely. It polarizes and sheep-herds one portion of the electorate; after all, who could even think of supporting child-torturing cannibals? On the other hand, for the “educated” electorate, it serves to completely undermine the credibility of those trying to expose *real* activities — say, sexual blackmail by intelligence agencies (including that of pedophiles) or the use of those agencies to push a fake *treason* case based on “Russian collusion.” Whoever is behind QAnon, and whatever their motives, it has the same effect as Infowars – to conflate *real* conspiracies with a bunch of bulls**t and combine it all as crazy “conspiracy theory.” There was a lot of trashing of the idea that ‘Q’ was an intelligence op last week. Maybe that was warranted. But it might as well be. It has the same effects.
         1. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:31 am

            I had never thought of this angle. ” Qanon” as an Intelligence Operation designed to discredit the idea of “conspiracy theories” and to muddy all waters and confuse all issues.

            ” Are you saying that Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile? with underage GIRLS? and his OWN PRIvate ISLAND!? What are you . . . some kind of Qanon lunatic?”
            1. Conrad September 18, 2020 at 7:06 pm

               Never forget the very term conspiracy theory was coined by the CIA.
   2. Pelham September 17, 2020 at 4:15 pm

      Nicely said. I was going to make a similar comment, but about cancel culture– very Qanon-like in its thunderous judgments.
   3. clarky90 September 17, 2020 at 5:24 pm

      Redemption Through Sin

      Professor Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) first professor of Jewish Mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

      https://archive.org/details/REDEMPTIONTHROUGHSIN/mode/2up

      “… In traditional Sabbatean doctrine, Zevi – and often his followers – claimed to be able to liberate the sparks of holiness hidden within what seemed to be evil. … Frank claimed that the “mixing” between holy and unholy was virtuous…”

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankism

      What’s Behind the Frankist-Sabbatean Movement and its Cult of the Evil?

      https://medium.com/@antonymueller/cult-of-the-evil-91daed1de7dd

      “Do what you want, and you will be saved. That is the message of Frankism, a cult which originated in the 18th century and has followers until our present days. The nihilist religion of Frankism preaches “redemption through sin”. This doctrine of “the sacred sin” demands to annihilate moral religion or any other ethical belief system. If we cannot be saints, let us all be sinners.

      The “true way” of the “believers” is going the path of the evil in order to redeem oneself and humankind. Frankism praises the redemptive powers of destruction to bring deliverance to the world.

      ….. Jacob Frank (1726–91) …said of himself that “wherever I set foot, all will be destroyed, for I came into this world only to destroy and to annihilate”?

      The Collection of the Words of the Lord [Jacob Frank]
      from the Polish manuscripts
      edited, translated, and annotated

      Harris Lenowitz
      Professor of Hebrew, University of Utah

      https://ia600707.us.archive.org/22/items/TheCollectionOfTheWordsOfTheLordJacobFrank/TheCollectionOfTheWordsOfTheLordJacobFrank.pdf
      1. clarky90 September 17, 2020 at 6:24 pm

         Conspiracy of Silence……(Jacob Frank)

         “….The way of deliverance is deceitful, and the followers of Jacob Frank have to be “perfectly silent”. The mystic principle of Frankism is “the burden of silence”. The followers must maintain a great reserve, and each must appear different from what one really is. Appearance must be upheld while the evil gets done and death comes before confession.
         Frankism has no need of scholars, priests, rabbis or gurus. On the contrary, keeping silent is the true way. The right way is not to talk and to give presentations but to act with all force and to go the way of silence. The “believers” must carry the “burden of silence” and remain clandestine…..”
         1. jr September 17, 2020 at 8:08 pm

            Thanks for this, fascinating, on my list.
            1. clarky90 September 17, 2020 at 9:50 pm

               “Frankism” may explain some of the (in my mind) inexplicable events/actions that have been tormenting the World; The widely distributed, illogic has baffled and confused me for years. It was as if I trying to make sense of someone (Our World) having a full blown psychotic episode? (WTF!!!! is going on here? How could my World behave in this destructive and bad way??)

               Why are/were Purdue Pharma allowed to sell opioids? …..the mortgage markets be allowed to (encouraged to) blow up and millions of homes subsequently foreclosed on? Hedge Funds buying up trailer parks? Trillions of bucks to the banks and not much to struggling people….

               on and on and on. fraud after fraud…..often described here on NC….
   4. dcblogger September 17, 2020 at 5:42 pm

      my personal theory of QAnon is that it is misdirection. Yeah, child trafficking exists, but not in the basment of Pizza parlors.
      1. clarky90 September 17, 2020 at 9:59 pm

         Hi dcblogger. In your opinion, does child trafficking exist on privately owned islands in the Caribbean?
   5. Person September 17, 2020 at 5:49 pm

      Within QAnon there is no room for nuance or rationality; there is only good v evil,

      Ha! I missed that. Absolutely nothing new here. This entirely describes Bush’s “with us or against us” as well as his “axis of evil”, the right’s blind hatred of Obama, Hillary’s “deplorables”, and Trump’s own skilled division tactics.

      In my view QAnon is of little consequence, just another try at a moral panic that could be used to whip up support for censorship and more extreme social control measures.
   6. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:07 am

      > wide-scale child trafficking and pedophilia among Hollywood elites

      Plus, as I keep saying, the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, the BBC, and the House of Representatives (Denny Hastert). And that’s before we get to the curious failure of our famously free press to systematically trace the individuals listed in Epstein’s flight logs and Rolodex (and even more curiously to investigate the apparent failure of the intelligence community to acquire and leverage an enormous trove of compromising material known to have been recorded on video).

      QAnon is a fun house mirror, incredibly distorted. But it is mirroring reality (and filling, to mix metaphors grossly, a vacuum in the discourse that is not otherwise filled).

      NOTE And I still want to know who the original Q was. That there’s been no reporting on that is stunning, or completely normal, take your pick.
      1. pjay September 18, 2020 at 9:48 am

         “QAnon is a fun house mirror, incredibly distorted. But it is mirroring reality (and filling, to mix metaphors grossly, a vacuum in the discourse that is not otherwise filled).”

         +100
3. Ignacio September 17, 2020 at 2:25 pm

   Indeed, following the science is quite a stupid way of saying nothing, Science is Science (pardon me) not policy. It strikes me that he may be saying that if he is elected will be all day long browsing scientific journals while Harris does the Presidential tasks.
   1. Acacia September 17, 2020 at 5:30 pm

      You mean … actual reading? Joe…? Okay, I know you’re joking.

      Of course with Biden, “the science” will go out the window as soon as the donors get uncomfortable.
   2. jr September 17, 2020 at 8:07 pm

      Seeing “Play-doh” Joe reading a scientific journal would be a stunner…I’m certain the browsing scientific journals quickly becomes dozing the scientific journals…
   3. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:34 am

      > Science is Science (pardon me) not policy

      Science is contested, by definition. You have to pick the paradigm and school of thought (“to govern is to choose”).

      “Following the science” could, at one point, have meant accepting the phlogiston theory of combustion, science at the time, competing with the oxygen theory of combustion, also science at the time.

      More concretely, this year “following the science” would have meant accepting WHO’s and Fauci’s lies on masks, and WHO’s intractability on droplets v. aerosols. At the time. (And also Fauci’s ramping of Gilead’s stock, which didn’t turn out so great from the “science” aspect.)

      “Follow the science” is the stupidest and most vacuous slogan imaginable, suitable only for authoritarian followers (hence having great resonance in the Democrat base that supports Biden).

      “Follow the science” also means, in operational terms, this slogan: “All Power to the PMC!” (see Thomas Frank*). That power struggle is, in fact, the crux of 2020, as it was, following the Obama Alumni Association’s miserably inadequate performance, in 2016 as well. Not that either party has great clarity on this.

      Readers who have been following me for awhile know that I stan for science; I constantly link to Nature, Science, PNAS, NEJM, JAMA, the various pre-print archives, etc. I read the science as best I can and quote it, because it’s dulce et utile. So what really frosts me is PMCs as a class slipstreaming on the work of scientists within their class, who are, in the main, good faith actors who want nothing better than to count mosquitos in malaria infested swamps, or stomp through ice and snow of the Arctic digging boreholes and taking samples. The paradigmatic example of my hatred here is Andy Slavitt of US of Care, who will leverage his genuinely good work as an aggregator of Covid tweets into the moral prestige necessary to sabotage #MedicareForAll on behalf of his funders, thereby killing tends of thousands people (mostly not PMCs, certainly not rich, so it’s all good). It’s disgusting. The same goes for cargo cults like mainstream macro, which confuses science with the use of italic letters, and is responsible worldwide for many thousands of deaths through austerity.

      Of course, disempowering PMCs has a price, given that the entire political economy is constructed to enable their predatory precarity on behalf of capital; certainly the Covid death rate is to an extent due to that (modulo the CDCs testing debacle, which would have destroyed the ability of any administration to respond to a multiplicative pandemic in time, and which is certainly an example of PMC auto-defenestration). Then again, the PMCs who ran Obama’s response to the Crash were responsible for a lot of excess deaths, too, in the form of suicides, especially, followed by those deaths of despair that continue not to be a political issue. So you pays your money and you takes your choice….

      NOTE * In Le Monde Diplomatique. Naturally.
4. Wukchumni September 17, 2020 at 2:29 pm

   Retail: “NASA Astronauts Will Shoot Images of an Estée Lauder Product in Space” [Vice]. “A face cream called ‘Advanced Night Repair’ will be part of the ‘first purely commercial activity in NASA’s new regime,’ according to reporter Mark Harris, who broke the news in New Scientist… Up to 10 bottles of the beauty product will be bundled into a cargo resupply run to the station this fall, so that NASA crew members can shoot videos and images with them in the microgravity environment…..
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Cosmetics runs into cosmology, does this lack of atmosphere make me look fat?
   1. WobblyTelomeres September 17, 2020 at 4:01 pm

      It is kinda sad. Imo, NASA really has no further use for the ISS. The primary justification*, learning how humans will fare in microgravity for extended periods, has been addressed. Basic technologies, such as urine and sweat recycling, have been developed and refined. Now, it is merely an incredibly complicated and expensive national vanity.

      And, I hear Tom Cruise is to film the next Mission Impossible there. Maybe some lotion will be there for him.

      *old joke.

      Q: Why do we need the shuttle?
      A: Duh. To get to the space station.
      Q: Well, why do we need the space station?
      A: Duh. To give the shuttle somewhere to go.
      1. Pelham September 17, 2020 at 4:23 pm

         But we need a space station as a base from which astronauts can go around and replace worn-out vacuum tubes in our satellites.

         We’ve been studying the horrid effects of micro-gravity on human beings for about 60 years and haven’t made a jot of progress on the subject. Even the reduced gravity of the moon or Mars is likely to mess with human health.

         Let’s forget this solar system and build a technologically feasible cosmic telescope (using the sun as a lens) that would allow us to view in detail the genuinely Earth-like planets many light years away to see what’s happening there. And then we should forget rockets and start working on the technology that will take us to these actually desirable places in realistic time frames.
         1. anon y'mouse September 17, 2020 at 5:15 pm

            or, we could try to preserve the place we evolved to be and are designed to live on. and try to make it better in itself, and for each other.

            nah, waste it on rockets!
         2. Keith September 17, 2020 at 5:41 pm

            I think part of the issue with a lack of progress is the lack of competition. The moon landing was a result of the space race and a desire to beat the Soviets. I think if we had some other rallying cry to beat whoever with some nationalistic fervor to go with it (like the Olympics do), then there may be some imperative to get something accomplished.
            1. Gc54 September 17, 2020 at 5:58 pm

               We’ll, there are those UFOs …
         3. WobblyTelomeres September 17, 2020 at 6:32 pm

            Pelham: Even the reduced gravity of the moon or Mars is likely to mess with human health.

            I agree, being of the opinion that we are, forever, Earthlings. Never pleased the human spaceflight “boots on the ground” astronaut fanbois. Still, my better half makes me watch The Right Stuff 2 or 3 times a year.

            Pelham: Let’s forget this solar system and build a technologically feasible cosmic telescope (using the sun as a lens)

            Cool. Hadn’t heard of this. I think you’re referring to this:

            https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/using-the-sun-as-a-cosmic-telescope/

            Interesting is this:

            “To get this resolution without the magnifying power of the Sun, we calculate that you would need a telescope with a diameter of about 75,000 kilometers, or about six times the diameter of the Earth. This is, to put it mildly, impractical.”

            Not so fast! There is another way. In my last pie-in-the-sky suggestion to NASA, I proposed positioning a ring of cubesat-based radio telescopes over the course of a year in orbit around the sun, creating an astronomical interferometer with a diameter equal two Astronomical Units (AU) or 300 million kilometers.

            Alas, too too pie-in-the-sky.
      2. The Rev Kev September 17, 2020 at 6:50 pm

         It was never meant to be this way. The original idea decades ago of having a space station was a place that you could build spaceships that could travel through the solar system with whether manned or not. It should have been a spaceport rather than a space station. But instead the governments of the world decided to throw trillions on the military annually instead as that made more people richer – and our planet poorer.
   2. Billy September 17, 2020 at 9:27 pm

      In space no one can hear you scream for a facelift. Zero gravity and all.
      1. ambrit September 17, 2020 at 9:46 pm

         Such ideas are Alien to us.
         1. polecat September 17, 2020 at 10:28 pm

            As for ‘a bowl of Cold Nancy’ .. ??

            Or, considering the recent musings by the opposition’s reference to ‘Tidal packets’, maybe a ‘Pod of Cold Nancy’ isn’t so far fetched.

            The thought of a pod person as third in line to run the show, scares me .. as the non-pod person in question, is almost used up!
      2. John A September 18, 2020 at 5:21 am

         With no gravity, would you even need a face lift, or to boost various sagging body parts of normal earthlings?
   3. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:43 am

      > does this lack of atmosphere make me look fat

      For the few seconds before your body explodes, yes.
5. allan September 17, 2020 at 2:36 pm

   Search for new director of U of T law faculty’s International Human Rights Program leads to resignations,
   allegations of interference [Toronto Star]

   The faculty advisory board of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law has resigned following a controversy over the hiring of a new director for the program.

   Edward Iacobucci, dean of the prestigious law school, has come under fire, accused of rescinding an offer of directorship to prominent international academic Valentina Azarova.

   Several national and international scholars wrote to the university to express their consternation that the reversal came after reports of pressure from a sitting judge — a major donor to the faculty. He reportedly expressed concerns in private over Azarova’s past work on the issue of Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. …

   Harper’s letter writers to the white courtesy phone … or not.
6. Tom Doak September 17, 2020 at 2:44 pm

   Trump’s plan for clean coal is horrid, but isn’t Biden hawking clean coal via carbon capture?

   Is that another example of following the science? Or is it just that both of them want Appalachia’s votes and neither has the foggiest idea how to revive its economy in any other way than preserving the (obviously failing) status quo?
   1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:48 am

      > isn’t Biden hawking clean coal via carbon capture

      Biden on climate policy:

      A union leader on Joe Biden’s transition team yesterday pitched the Democratic presidential nominee’s climate plan as an “all of the above” energy strategy, while an additional union official used the same campaign event to tout “clean coal.”

      The fossil fuel-friendly language at a virtual Wisconsin roundtable — which Biden did not attend — is the latest sign that Democrats remain divided over how to reduce carbon emissions if they win power, even as they have united over the short-term goal of defeating President Trump.

      Biden’s climate plan has helped the centrist former vice president bridge the party’s ideological split. Yesterday’s event, however, demonstrated how it could also open new rifts.

      The plan’s biggest concession to the political left is a 2035 deadline for eliminating electricity-sector emissions. But union leaders’ comments suggest they might resist policies that endanger oil, gas or even coal jobs.

      Lonnie Stephenson, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers president and a member of Biden’s transition team, said electrical workers toil on the front lines of climate change whenever they respond to wildfires or hurricanes.

      That experience means energy workers appreciate the stakes of climate change, he said, but it doesn’t change their need for good jobs.

      “Successful social solutions to climate change must be based on an all-of-the-above energy source strategy that is regionally focused and preserves optionality,” Stephenson said, referencing joint policymaking efforts by unions and former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz (Energywire, April 22).

      Biden’s plan has strong labor protections, he said, adding that climate programs must emphasize “preservation of existing jobs where possible.”

      Stephenson is a member of the Biden campaign’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council, which he said meets “virtually every week.” He did praise the Democratic nominee’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions — though he made no mention of the timeline, which he has sometimes cast as unrealistic.

      “Democrats remain divided.” Let me translate that: “Democrat leadership has hung out a ‘For Sale’ sign on the issue.”
      1. Left in Wisconsin September 18, 2020 at 10:22 am

         What I find interesting is that Dems have been willing to throw industrial unions under the bus forever through free trade deals but are apparently completely afraid of the construction unions on climate. That would suggest to me that its not pandering to the unions; it’s pandering to the corporations and using the unions for cover.
7. Carolinian September 17, 2020 at 2:45 pm

   Re Melvyn Bragg–he always takes a late summer break. At the end of last season he was sounding a bit hoarse and under the weather and I was worried about him. He’s no spring chicken and has been with the BBC since the 1960s.

   If he’s back on schedule then presumably it wasn’t the dread disease.

   And re e-books–my library offers the Kindle option which I avoid because Kindle is a spybot. But they also allow you to read books on Overdrive’s excellent browser reader which has an option for downloading onto your computer and reading offline. Unfortunately some books–and they don’t tell you in advance which ones–do not allow this. As I see it any book reader that is required to be hooked to the internet is also a spybot.

   Paper the way to go after all?
   1. Acacia September 17, 2020 at 5:33 pm

      One word: pdf.
   2. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:39 am

      Well . . . once the internet goes dark for good and stays dark for good; and/or if a Carrington Level Solar Coronal Mass Ejection 2.0 fries, burns, ignites every chip and wire and every digital everything; the people who went paper or stayed paper will be laughing and the people who went digital will be crying.
   3. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:51 am

      > Paper the way to go after all?

      I find paper books much easier to read than on-screen books, and I’m extremely online (with a 12.9-inch iPad, so none of this cellphones-with-tiny-screens crap for me).
8. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 17, 2020 at 2:48 pm

   I finished up the 2020 material, please see especially the final item under Realignment and Legitimacy.

   Adding, oh horror, I forgot the plant, now in place.
9. Big River Bandido September 17, 2020 at 2:54 pm

   Didn’t click on the NYT article because it’s behind a paywall. Wasn’t Dan Coats a Senator from Indiana?
   1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 17, 2020 at 2:56 pm

      Clear your cookies; in any case, that’s why I give hopefully representative snippets.

      He was, but more to the point he was as the Director of National Intelligence — under Trump (!).
      1. jen September 17, 2020 at 7:32 pm

         IDK, instead of a commission, couldn’t we just do hand marked paper ballots, hand counted, in public?
         1. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:42 am

            That’s certainly a long range goal to torture and terrorise our governating classes into permitting when we have the power to torture and terrorise them that much.

            But for now, that “Commission” is the only thing we will be offered in time for this election. Is it better than nothing? Worse than nothing? Better decide fast, because the hourglass is ticking, and the sand is running out of the meter.
         2. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:53 am

            > IDK, instead of a commission, couldn’t we just do hand marked paper ballots, hand counted, in public?

            No. Neither party will give up the capability to steal elections, which is the unique selling proposition of ballot marking devices.

            The purpose of the Commission is to assure a non-violent transition of power, not to actually validate the election (because if that was their goal, they would, as you say, be supporting hand-marked paper ballots, hand-counted in public).
10. Arizona Slim September 17, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    Over at our local college of knowledge, the lawsuits are starting to pile up. Link:

    https://kvoa.com/news/2020/09/14/n4t-investigators-students-sue-uarizona-over-covid-19-refunds/
11. Louis Fyne September 17, 2020 at 3:02 pm

    — I can’t figure out whether the Biden campaign is being run by morons or incredibly innovative, post-post-modern, genius. This thread would suggest the former:—

    You saw this w/Hillary 2016 and I’d bet it rings true w/Harris 2020—-Dem. management and staffers just do not want to be sent to Flyover-land, particularly–heaven forbid—any of the smaller 100k-500k cities that dot middle of the country.

    Everyone wants to stay in Brooklyn (2016) or Philly (2020). What a profile in courage!
    1. km September 17, 2020 at 3:15 pm

       From the point of view of the average frustrated Team D staffer – you want to be, you need to be where the action is, where the deals are cut and where the jobs and assignments and contracts and grift are being allocated..

       Anything else is like a courtier in Louis XIV’s France being sent on an assignment away from Versailles.
       1. John k September 17, 2020 at 6:25 pm

          Never to be seen or heard again.
          But what if somebody sent to, say, Michigan… even, say, Detroit… supervises the local dem rubes, and holds the state for Biden? Wonder what his her reward would be… stay there for 2024?
    2. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:45 am

       This reminds me of John Stewart’s “roving newsman in the field” Assif Manvi, during one of the presidential primary campaign seasons.

       Manvi was being shown standing out next to a field somewhere, and leading his Report From The Field with . . . . ” Is this Hell!? NO! It’s IOWA!” I don’t know if that clip can be found anywhere on the internet.
       1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 3:55 am

          Remember when we thought comedians like Jon Stewart were important? Good times.
12. km September 17, 2020 at 3:12 pm

    In re: QAnon: Remember the old NESARA conspiracy theory, the idea that Congress had enacted a super secret law that would make everyone rich, sort of a strawman MMT, but Mean Republicans wouldn’t let him make the secret law public, because, you know, Mean Republicans?

    For purposes of this exercise, ignore the content of NESARA. Instead, look at the kinds of people who bought into NESARA, the people who bought “prosperity certificates” peddled by obvious charlatans, the people who wrote letters to Congress urging the publication of the secret law, the people who scanned the news for clues that the free money was going to show up in their bank accounts any day now, just you see!

    More importantly, look at the economic situation of many of these people. They were, I suspect, not so much stupid or even naive, so they were lost, confused and frantic, a precariat desperately looking for an Answer as their hold on a middle class existence sank beneath the waves.
    1. Oh September 17, 2020 at 5:20 pm

       The precariat began to increase with IRS regs that allowed “contract workers” so that employers didn’t have to withhold taxes nor pay health insurance. It also allowed them to fire layoff these people at will without any severance pay.
       1. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:47 am

          Perhaps those regs should be outlawed. That would be something for a ” Renew The Deal” to run on. Among other things.
    2. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 4:27 am

       On NESARA.

       This is the second time I’ve hit “Logically.ai” on a CT search this week and to be fair the content reads well. That said, “The genuinely sly man will not rationalize any coincidence. Instead, he’ll slam doors” (John D. McDonald, The Turquoise Lament). From their About page:

       Logically is a social enterprise that builds tools to adapt to the constantly evolving nature of the information ecosystem. We use ensemble machine learning models in combination with human intelligence to address the key challenges posed by the digital age.

       From the Articles page:

       Logically employs the world’s largest team of dedicated fact-checkers. We digest news stories, rumours, and conspiracy theories to help you separate the facts from the fakery in your news diet.

       Here’s the leadership team.

       From PR Newswire:

       Founded in 2017 by MIT and Cambridge alum Lyric Jain, Logically is a social enterprise that leverages artificial and human intelligence to credibly curate news and social discourse today. Working with government bodies and social platforms, and providing consumer products, the company solves for the issue of misinformation that plagues the world today. The company has offices in the U.K. and India, and is opening an office in the U.S. For more information, please visit Logically.ai.

       They’re a private startup with headquarters in London.

       Their software:

       Jain is the founder of Logically, a UK-based fact-checking app which hopes to transform the way we consume news. Combining AI technology and human researchers, Logically integrates fact-checking into an RSS-style news feed. Articles pulled from major publishers are marked as “true” or “false” on the app, unifying what had previously been two processes — the act of reading news articles, and then fact-checking their content — into one experience. Users can also upload forwarded text or WhatsApp messages into the app to have them fact-checked.

       That’s insane. Truth or falsity inheres, at the very most, at the paragraph level (certainly the sentence level) and not on the article level. Surely everyone here has read an article that’s complete drivel except for a single brilliant insight or fact(oid)? This is exactly the kind of mistake I would expect a 24-year-old programmer to make.
13. Wukchumni September 17, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    Headed up to Mineral King one last wistful time to retrieve objects d’art and turn off my propane tank. They’ve been really anal retentive about mandatory evacuation around these parts, in the post-Paradise world and as luck would have it, today might be my last chance.
    1. skippy September 17, 2020 at 4:21 pm

       In retrospect, as I noted yesterday, my sons great uncle is more concerned about prepping for the bush fire season than he is concerned about Covid, albeit it does complicate things. Hence why the old boy network is making sure the lines of communication and alternatives to state or fed response is at the ready.

       As always during such times people you can trust is at premium, would think your wealthy in that regard.
       1. Wukchumni September 17, 2020 at 10:50 pm

          Among friends i’ve talked to, this is everybody’s first ever mandatory evacuation for a good many, and I never knew there were so many horses here, as every eighth truck has a horse trailer leaving town, cats are easier.

          I raked (homage to glorious leader) out 10x 40 gallon bags of leaves, needles and other ready to burns from 50 feet around buildings last week, and then shamed 2 other friends into doing something similar, and a lot got done in a hurry on both fronts.

          It’s something we should have done anyhow, merely needed the whip hand to slit our risks.

          The fire looks licked (…he had to say that…} for firefighters did a backfire and then took advantage of southerly winds giving the maelstrom no fuel to feast on, game set & match (strike anywhere)
          1. skippy September 18, 2020 at 1:21 am

             These property’s already have tree clearance from way back, on your own back days. Even then bulldozer up grades are being sought, old small ones for specific areas and new bigger ones for more open areas.

             Most have at least a months food from town stocked and then have meat on the hoof as needed. In my sons uncles case they have not only the guest compound and old workers kitchen-bunkhouse, but his two sons have small spec houses for their families with in the two acre-ish compound.

             Son is going back up for x-mas and I’m glad he’s getting exposure to this social circle.
             1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 4:41 am

                > Son is going back up for x-mas and I’m glad he’s getting exposure to this social circle.

                Yep. I wonder how many others are thinking like this. I would bet a lot.
          2. BobW September 18, 2020 at 6:03 am

             Your sentence is going to crash – it has an opening parenthesis and a closing curly bracket.
    2. crittermom September 17, 2020 at 7:14 pm

       Sending good thoughts your way, hoping all goes well for you & your special place!
14. dcblogger September 17, 2020 at 3:20 pm

    one of the most depressing things about our times is watching the West Coast burn and the Gulf Coast get pounded by hurricanes and KNOW there will be no helpful government response. We need billions to rebuild people’s lives and none of it will be forthcoming.
    1. skippy September 17, 2020 at 4:29 pm

       Yeah but, that would mess with force majeure et al claims and other market functions, per se the investors suing Universities for refunds.

       Similarly some aged care facilities here in Australia, after being bought by American investors, and stripped mined now have residents seeking legal recourse …. see last post on libertarian nightmare.

       Did someone say Veblen – ????
15. BrianC - PDX September 17, 2020 at 3:23 pm

    Re Harris and Timberland boots…

    If she really wanted some cred she should have worn a hand made pair of White Smoke Jumpers:
    https://whitesboots.com/firefighter/the-original-smokejumper/

    I’ve had mine for over 40 years. Best footgear I have ever worn. Built over an American last with fantastic arch support.
    1. Oh September 17, 2020 at 5:24 pm

       With her new boots Kamala and Michelle (with her hip length snakeskin boots) can both walk the runway, although I ‘d prefer that they run away. Biden can follow using his walker.
    2. polecat September 17, 2020 at 5:33 pm

       She at least coulda scuffed them up a bit ..

       Not a fleck of dirt, not a smear of charcoal … not even a light dusting of ash, on those brand new treads she be wearin.

       What a PozerPhony she is!

       …. but she repeats herself
    3. Person September 17, 2020 at 5:36 pm

       Funny, I would have though 5.11 would be more her style. Or even Nike: https://www.nike.com/t/sfb-gen-2-8-tactical-boot-ZwTJlXe3
    4. The Rev Kev September 17, 2020 at 6:57 pm

       Maybe Kamala and Jill Biden are in competition with each other. Jill was wearing over the knee boots this week-

       https://www.instyle.com/news/jill-biden-stuart-weitzman-vote-boots

       But as far as voters are concerned, both women would agree that-

       ‘These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do
       One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you’
       1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL September 17, 2020 at 11:45 pm

          Be serious, voters holding their noses and pulling the lever for Biden know they are in fact getting Kamala for prez.

          That’s fine for the Blue PMC, but I’m just wondering how the 100M undecideds feel about getting a complete lightweight woman, who never finished a job in her life, in her casual camo outfit with her Timberlands up on the desk in The Oval Office.

          Not that I think it will matter, people will do as they are told by CNN, CBS, NBC, and Google
          1. tegnost September 17, 2020 at 11:54 pm

             It seems pretty clear to me that we’re being given no choice.
16. hemeantwell September 17, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    Early adversities such as maltreatment, social isolation and bullying can become embedded in our biology,

    Erm, what about those calamities leading to you carrying around models of social relations that are frightening and, since you have to live in the midst of frightening social relations, you experience “stress” and attendant neurochemical imbalances? Just how do the researchers know that those mediating relational models have gone poof, and so we can really be said to be dealing with an unmediated biological determinant?
    1. tegnost September 17, 2020 at 11:56 pm

       maltreating, isolating, and bullying can become embedded in our biology as well
17. Matthew G. Saroff September 17, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    I wholeheartedly agree on the new Blogger f%$#ed up interface. It sucks. (My blog here)

    What’s more because of some weirdness with the way that they have setup the html box, my tagging context menu extension for Firefox, bbCodeWebex, does not work on the page.

    I’m still trying to figure out why.

    Google has been pulling this crap for a while, which in one case f%$#ed up google search for blogspot.

    It’s why I avoid cloud apps like the plague, when they do something awful, like the Microflaccid ribbon, you have no choice about it.
18. verifyfirst September 17, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    A small field report from Ypsilanti, Michigan–there is a storefront state Democratic Party office in town, which is always there, year round, since at least 10 years. I have actually never seen a person in there–normally it is not open. They now appear extremely busy–people walking out with Biden signs etc. And I have actually seen several Biden signs on lawns in my neighborhood–at least one at a former Bernie sign house.

    As for Mr. Coates, that horse left the barn a long time ago–maybe something like he suggests would have been helpful in ….2000….. but nobody today is going to believe anything a group of super-insiders like he proposes say……
    1. anon in so cal September 17, 2020 at 4:55 pm

       Hmmmm….Hunter Biden facilitated the sale of the Michigan-based auto parts maker Henniges Automotive to one of China’s main military aircraft makers, Aviation Industry Corporation of China or AVIC….

       Hunter Biden helping sell U.S. auto parts suppliers to China? Is that helpful to Michigan auto workers?

       https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/records-show-hunter-biden-still-controls-10-stake-in-chinese-firm-despite-leaving-its-board
    2. rowlf September 17, 2020 at 5:31 pm

       Can you Fedex me something from Sidetracks?

       Isn’t the Democratic Party in the building that insurance and real estate agent Jack Brown was murdered in in 1984?
    3. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:53 am

       I wonder how the people of Flint feel about Governor Rick ” The Lead Poisoner” Snyder endorsing Joemala Bidarris for President? Will it sway their votes? And if so, which way?
19. Cue Ball September 17, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    “‘The difference is QAnon’: how a conspiratorial hate campaign upended California politics”

    In my opinion, the single most far fetched thing that QAnon cultists believe is that President Trump is actively trying to counter the horrors they talk about.
    1. Aumua September 17, 2020 at 5:39 pm

       It’s not just that Trump is working to expose this radical left democratic “cabal”. It’s that he has been chosen by God to do this (indeed Trump has called himself the chosen one), that it is the main reason he decided to become president, and that mass arrests are always either happening right now (behind the scenes) or just about to happen.

       I’m starting to see signs though that all this exposure to the mainstream is probably going to change the character of the QAnon movement, although I don’t know exactly how.
       1. BobW September 18, 2020 at 6:10 am

          Name change to QKnown.
20. Oh September 17, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    “Biden is largely following the strategy of his primary election, in which he coasted to victory on the strength of his reputation and the anxious fears of the electorate.”
    Really? Did he coast to victory with Obamba and DNC pushing his go cart from behind while fixing the polls and asking the others to step down? Everytime I see his face I can’t help but feel that he looks ashen and uninspiring. He needs to see a doctor.
    1. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 4:18 pm

       #Exactly … I guess if one wanted to give such an assertion the benefit of the doubt, one would have to consider the primary akin to a race in two portions: an uphill and a downhill. Assuming each participant competed in an engine-less vehicle (like a box cart), each would have had to push their cart uphill then coast down the other side. Obama intervened half way into the up hill portion and absconded with one of Bernie’s wheels, allowing Biden to coast to victory.

       How’s that sound?
       1. RMO September 17, 2020 at 4:45 pm

          Didn’t he start out by getting almost no delegates in the early primaries and only started winning after the DNC and establishment movers and shakers began pushing him with all their might? His win in the Dem primaries was “coasting” in the same way that a cyclist being pushed along all the time by a guy riding a Honda CBR1000 in combination with a special exception to the rules just for them could be said to have “coasted” to victory in the Tour De France.

          I can’t predict for sure who is going to win the US presidential election but I already know who will lose – about 90% of the population.
       2. Oh September 17, 2020 at 5:29 pm

          Knowing Obama, that’s typical – he wants to steer. I hope Biden crashes and Obama’ll get egg spattered on his face.
21. marku52 September 17, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    Moore’s law is about shrinking the transistor switches so you can fit more of them into a given size. Since they are already using X ray lithography (visible light wavelengths are too big) and the insulation surface in a switch FET is now only one or 2 atoms thick, it’s hard to see how a different cooling technology helps this.

    Not to say that getting rid of the heat isn’t a big problem, just that the 2 aren’t related.
    1. S. Goodlin September 17, 2020 at 4:50 pm

       Moore in 1965 made an observation some one else turned it into a ‘law’. As a chip designer you are right and wrong. No how I put the transistors isn’t directly connected to heat, but once I power the chip on I do have a heat problem. So, if I can add to the technology to make transistors also cooling channels- well why not. Thing is I don’t see myself using this technology outside of a lab or a real special made to order cpu. Cooling inside the chip with liquid adds way to much complexity to something that already is way too complex.
    2. ewmayer September 17, 2020 at 5:30 pm

       I’m thinking the obvious implication of effective microfluidic-channel cooling is that would allow stacking layers of compute surface vertically, i.e. “extending Moore’s Law” by going from 2D to 3D in terms of transistor density.
22. John September 17, 2020 at 3:45 pm

    Will an “FDR-like” figure rise up to smite the money-changers? The horizon looks bare, but then FDR became something other than what he seemed. Will there be an epiphanous moment when simply everyone realizes that unless we take drastic action a good sized chunk of the earth is going to become too unbearably hot for humans to survive much less thrive? I see no evidence. Please show me that I am wrong. I find it difficult to bear the thought that my grandchildren must suffer the consequences of the greed and inattention of today.
23. dcblogger September 17, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    Brooklyn Bridge is SHUT DOWN! Taxi drivers demand debt forgiveness now!
    https://twitter.com/NYTWA/status/1306636414910595073
    1. Arizona Slim September 17, 2020 at 3:50 pm

       Now, that is the stuff to feed the troops! Go, cabbies!
    2. marym September 17, 2020 at 3:59 pm

       Wow! Thanks for the link.
    3. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 4:08 pm

       #Bless
    4. hunkerdown September 17, 2020 at 4:09 pm

       Beautiful. Dmitry Orlov recently penned an article called “Taxi drivers know everything.” [Fact check: true] The interesting thing in Orlov’s article was the level of strategic political knowledge obtainable just from the gossip within a widely dispersed family unit. Imagine the ease with which such a strike could go worldwide…
    5. farragut September 17, 2020 at 4:12 pm

       That’s awesome to see.
    6. fwe'zy September 17, 2020 at 4:58 pm

       Woohoo!!! Extremely cool and heartening. Bravo
    7. nycTerrierist September 17, 2020 at 5:44 pm

       Right on!
24. jo6pac September 17, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    “Commission members undertaking this high, historic responsibility should come from both parties and could include congressional leaders, current and former governors, “elder statespersons,” former national security leaders, perhaps the former Supreme Court justices David Souter and Anthony Kennedy, and business leaders from social media companies.” • Hmm.”

    That’s a great little list they got maybe throw in attorney loo and how a chaney doesn’t matter which one. They can fly in from their location first class to a high end resort have a some wonderful food and ice cream and maybe a few rounds of golf on the Amerikan tax payer. They could have some guest speakers from the 1%. Why have an election?
    1. Pelham September 17, 2020 at 4:25 pm

       My thoughts exactly. Alternatively, why not a commission of randomly selected voters?
    2. edmondo September 17, 2020 at 6:17 pm

       Their role would be to make sure another Trump doesn’t happen. The last four years have been very distressful to elite. Kamala seems to be another brand of dog food that the dogs won’t eat. Better we should have The Tribunal select the right candidate in case the proles get uppity again.
       1. edmondo September 17, 2020 at 6:24 pm

          BTW – It’s not an original idea.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Commission_(United_States)
25. ewmayer September 17, 2020 at 3:50 pm

    Re. CA wildfires — been exchanging e-mails last several days with a former Sillycon Valley friend about air quality in our respective locales – I’m now in Marin county, he’s still in Santa Clara. In the context of discussing Trump’s visit to CA and meet-up with the governor yesterday, a rather interesting irony struck me. Here my note to him:

    I dislike how the MSM and pols are painting the fire problem in strictly binary terms – Newsom et al say it’s global warming, Trump et al say it’s a century+ of fire suppression and lack of prescribed burning. It’s both – fire suppression and “must protect people’s properties at all costs, even those built in historically fire-prone areas” policy led to a massive accumulation of fuel, global warming made the resulting dry-tinder-ness and mega-scale wildfires that much worse.

    And the real problem with only blaming global warming is that it’s a cop-out, for many pols it provides a built-in excuse to do nothing but get on one’s soap box and point fingers at the evil global-warming deniers. The deniers may be delusional fools or industry-lobbyists with an agenda, but the fact of global warming is overwhelmingly an indictment of rampant western-style capitalism and consumer culture – the exponential “growth” so beloved by economists on a finite planet is a recipe for disaster. Insofar as we are living that lifestyle we are all complicit, whether we deny global warming or not.

    Come to think of it, it’s actually quite ironic – let’s compare the opposing views of the 2 binary camps and see which offers the better odds of actually improving the fire situation:

    1. “It’s global warming” – obviously we’re dealing with forces beyond our control, we can only rail against the GW-deniers as we drive our SUVs around.

    2. “It’s misguided fire suppression policies” – so let’s get serious about large-scale efforts to reduce the fuel load and better manage things, say via several million acres of prescribed burns in between rain events during the wet season each year.

    The native tribes that inhabited CA long before it was CA were noted for doing strategic undergrowth burning, they understood how important the natural fire cycle was to a healthy forest ecosystem, they just found ways to do it that kept their villages safe – we need to take a cue from them. There’s a reason redwoods have bark multiple inches thick – they evolved in an environment where regular understory fires were normal, and catastrophic crown-destroying firestorms like we’re seeing now were rare.
    1. a different chris September 17, 2020 at 5:07 pm

       But as you pointed out, #2 falls apart immediately because it just is gonna be too close to rich people’s get-away properties. An issue the (relatively) nomadic native tribes did not have.

       So nothing has and nothing will be done. Trump can talk all he wants but his own voters will, as usual, turn out the be a big part of the problem. Just for different reasons. People in CA *do* vote for Republicans and I do not think those voters live in the barrio.
       1. jo6pac September 17, 2020 at 6:12 pm

          The state, feds, and pg&e use to do clean up every year then austerity came about. I don’t know but Ronnie ray gunn might have been the start. Ronnie was know to say trees cause pollution.
          1. Lindsay Berge September 17, 2020 at 11:53 pm

             Global warming reduces the opportunities for and increases the risks of controlled burns. A controlled burn here in Victoria, Australia by the CFA (Country Fire Authority) got out of control and caused massive damage a few years ago. The winters are warmer and drier and the possibility of unexpected wind shifts cannot be ignored. It is also a resource-intensive operation and harder to manage if there are fewer days with suitable conditions. The relevant authorities get little credit for doing this correctly, have limited resources, and will get slammed for any damage which they cause. Is it surprising that this service is under provided?
26. ewmayer September 17, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    Re. “A Breakdown of the Biden Policy Platform: Five Key Takeaways”: Yah, well, here are my own Five Key Takeaways:

    1. This is just words;
    2. For the overwhelming majority of DC pols, “words are wind”;
    3. The policy platform is Biden’s “public position”;
    4. For Biden’s “private position”, i.e. real policy platform, just examine his long legislative and voting record in DC;
    5. An empty vessel makes the most noise.
    1. John k September 17, 2020 at 6:44 pm

       Biden’s real positions are perfectly aligned with his donors. To know Biden’s private positions you only need to know who or what is donating to him.
       But you don’t need to know much to know none of his donors favor m4a, or 15/hr. He will be successfully
       pushed right, not left.
       The two parties are cabals of prostitutes that continuously sell themselves to the highest bidder. Power gets you money, and money is god, Pelosi and Schumer the high priests.Poor Bernie never had a chance in the dem side… it was existential for them, he might pull down the temple. Imagine no revolving door! What would be the point?
27. tegnost September 17, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    Re:I’m a lonely voice on this…
    I expect bidens “effective distribution” is going to target poor people as being the most vulnerable so they need to be forced to take the first wave of vaccine, thus testing it for the much more important work from homes. The recent stories about how we won’t be able to vaccinate everyone til 2024 only reinforce this in my tri corner tin foil opinion.
    1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 5:42 am

       > I expect bidens “effective distribution” is going to target poor people as being the most vulnerable

       If the vaccine turns out to be a typical example of American technology, it will be SUV-like in needle-size, Glyphosate-like in side effects, and F35-like in efficacy. “Access” to vaccines will be granted through a system that is ObamaCare-like in its complexity, randomness, and cost at the point of care (unless you can afford ClearVaccine™, which also gets you the pain-free version with no side effects). There will naturally be an enormous rakeoff for Big Pharma. Any simple, rugged, cheap, and effective vaccines from elsewhere in the world will be vilified in the press and banned by the FDA. Oh, and the vials in the streaming Vaccination Telethon™, attended by influencers, Hollywood celebrities, and B-list politicians alike, will later be shown to have been filled with water. Not that I’m cynical.
       1. Noone from Nowheresville September 18, 2020 at 5:53 am

          Funny I suspect that some of the first rounds will go to a certain segment of essential workers. Can’t have them infecting others plus added bonus potentially higher viral exposure and considered by some to be disposable and interchangeable.

          I wonder if we’re headed to “jobs” will have a requirement that one MUST have proof of the annual vaccination in order to be able to work or go certain places / events like say as a fan of Big Ten football games or a music festival.
       2. John Anthony La Pietra September 20, 2020 at 1:06 am

          https://politics.theonion.com/u-s-offers-platinumplus-preferred-citizenship-1819564488
28. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    Trump (R) (3)

    I dunno … to be blunt, that plays better if it’s a white undecided voter from Pittsburgh, but I suspect CNN can’t find any of those willing to lay clever traps for Trump to trip over.
    1. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 4:50 pm

       Trump (R) (2)

       Heh … the myth of American exceptionalism rears its hollow head … as Lambert likes to say, “dated, but perhaps still germane”: WaPo on mask ineffectiveness in March 2020 (Twitter thread)
       1. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 5:03 pm

          Biden (D) (1)

          “I don’t have time to research whether Navarro-Cárdenas named her dog after Mueller.”

          It’s ChaCha, Lambert! (via Twitter)

          So, not Mueller, and definitely not Hugo Cha-Cha-Chavez! LOL
          1. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 5:24 pm

             Biden (D) (2)

             From Anthony V Clark (a progressive candidate for Congress in IL-7 who lost out this year, but is gonna break through eventually IMO):

             The Only Proper Use Of Timberland Boots In This Election Cycle (via Twitter)
29. shtove September 17, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    Britishly batty half hour presentation on the phosphine discovery on Venus, from The Sky At Night (BBC iPlayer needs sign-in; might be available elsewhere): https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000mmjk/the-sky-at-night-life-on-venus

    Flying penguins, “I could only tell my Mum”, and hypothesis formation through awkward chord transitions on a guitar.
30. SteveD September 17, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    Re:

    I’m a lonely voice on this…

    . Only in the media, Lambert. A much more nuanced view is prevalent amongst us regular folks who understand how “science” works.
31. Greg September 17, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    I’m a lonely voice on this, but you can’t “follow the science,” “simply” or not.

    That’s not true, you can definitely follow the science! You just have to be prepared for when it takes you to a place where you’re having a fierce and uncompromising argument about a tiny technical detail that nobody involved believes matters, while the subject you originally wanted to know about is a million miles above the rabbit hole you live in now.
    I mean, I guess you could run the presidency that way? But I think it’s usually just called congress.

    (Not implying that congress deals in empirical observations, merely meaningless trivia at the expense of large issues.)
32. DJG September 17, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    Can’t get past the ANC tweet: “My poodle and I are going to bed happy knowing that when Uncle Joe becomes President, Auntie Kamala will be there in case bad crap happens.”

    Infantilism. Also, just as we are seeing people fetishize masks, I am seeing plenty of fetishizing of neurotic little dogs. But back to the infantilism of the U.S. population: I will add that in a long essay recently published in Harper’s Magazine entitled “Nonconforming,” Laurent Dubreuil sums up the state of the the U.S. political parties as no longer being political movements and serving mainly as identities.

    So you have Poodle ChuckTaylors ByeDon as a signal of Resistance. Makes sense to me!

    This also ties into the disastrous numbers being reported in the Midwest for Covid. I note that Illinois has averaged about 2,000 new cases a day for about a week. Annualize that: 720,000 cases. Unsustainable.

    And Auntie Kamala is going to make that vewwy vewwy bad virus go away.

    It’s sure looking like I will be voting Green in the Uncle President race. As disorganized as the Greens are, they aren’t nihilists like the Republicans and they aren’t Eloi like the Democrats.
    1. Oh September 17, 2020 at 5:43 pm

       Aunty Kamala is a wolf (sorry wolves!) in sheep’s clothing. She’ll eat the poodle first and then work on you, mamma!
    2. Acacia September 17, 2020 at 5:56 pm

       Yep. Voting Green here too.

       What struck me about that ANC tweet is that it shows how much liberals literally want to go back to sleep.
       1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 5:24 am

          > how much liberals literally want to go back to sleep.

          Mimosa in hand, face-planting right in the Eggs Benedict
    3. Jen September 17, 2020 at 7:46 pm

       How old is this person? Twelve?
       1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 5:22 am

          > How old is this person? Twelve?

          Ana Navarro-Cárdenas is one of the Democrat Party’s new Republican friends. Her family in Nicaragua were Somocistas (if I have the factions right). I think she’s also a co-host on The View.
          1. polecat September 18, 2020 at 10:33 am

             “The VIEW” …. urpppp!

             Well, That clarifies things a bit .. such a harpy fest, that.
    4. Arizona Slim September 17, 2020 at 8:25 pm

       DJG, I’m raising a toast of my homemade clover mead to your post. Thank you!
    5. jr September 17, 2020 at 9:13 pm

       “infantilism“

       + onesie
       1. Late Introvert September 18, 2020 at 12:22 am

          When my daughter was a baby I came up with the idea of Adult Swaddling. Large Russian women come and wrap you up tight. Best naps ever!
          1. jr September 18, 2020 at 6:27 am

             My sister lived in Colorado years ago and worked at a consignment shop. One day her boss came in complaining because she had accidentally bought several pairs of triple extra large panties….like circus tents. She was furious.

             So sis told her to let her handle it. She put them up for sale on Ebay. Within a week they had sold, all to guys with panties fetishes. They must have worn them like gowns…
33. Person September 17, 2020 at 5:29 pm

    From Tablet, America’s China Class Launches a New War Against Trump. Compare with this from Peter Zeihan, The End of the Last, Best Chance, on Terry Branstad’s attempt to fix US/China relations and his recent resignation.

    Discarding the Trump angle, the “China Class” moniker is not entirely off base. There is an element of the political and business classes, mostly associated with Big Tech and the Uniparty, who seem willing to take instructions from anyone as long as sufficient funds (or equivalents like market access) come along with it. It could be China, Ukraine, Russia, Pakistan, it doesn’t really matter as long as the paycheck comes through.

    I hate how 2016-2020 has made me sympathetic towards nationalism.
    1. pjay September 17, 2020 at 6:09 pm

       In my opinion, this is a healthy response. That’s why the “Uniparty” is trying with all their might to associate “nationalism” with “authoritarianism” or even “fascism.” But in our current political environment, it is hard to identify “good guys” and “bad guys.”
    2. fwe'zy September 17, 2020 at 6:17 pm

       Disdain for paycheck … another rugged individualist? I used to disdain paychecks too but then my grants ran out.
       1. Person September 17, 2020 at 7:27 pm

          Nothing’s wrong with a fair paycheck, as long as the work you’re being compensated for is ethical.
          1. fwe'zy September 18, 2020 at 3:39 am

             I’ll have to meditate on that at the zen center sometime.
    3. Late Introvert September 18, 2020 at 2:45 am

       Terry Branstad also presided over the crushing of local family farms and the businesses that supported them. My Grandpa Krusenstjerna ran a John Deere Implement in Odebolt that was killed by the Farm Crisis. Anybody remember that one? Cue John Mellencamp.

       And his 6 terms also destroyed Iowa’s waterways, and the Gulf of Mexico to boot.

       Anybody checked on the state of Iowa’s schools after his 6 terms? Not this writer.
       1. fwe'zy September 18, 2020 at 4:30 am

          Local boy makes good!
       2. Person September 18, 2020 at 9:50 am

          Not up on Iowa politics so it’s good to see this perspective, thanks. Zeihan has a tendency to pick and choose the facts he focuses on but this one takes the cake. No need to lionize this guy.
34. DJG September 17, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    Blogger, software developers, the virtual world, virtual time, and the physical world and its cycles:

    “I’m writing this post in what Google is euphemistically referring to as an improvement. I don’t understand this. I managed to ignore New Blogger for a few weeks but Google’s ability to fark stuff up has the same air of inevitability as rotting corpses…. ”

    As someone who has worked as a book editor for many years, I am finding that software people live in a culture that somehow isn’t focused on results. Book editors tend to focus on books as physical objects (yes, we are all addicted to the scent of paper). The books have to be sent to warehouses (an alien concept to the virtual world). Book editors think in terms of yearly cycles–publishing conceives of progress as cyclical and nonlinear. These concepts are tied to how blue-collar workers think of their products (plumbers and pipes, lumberyards and boards, bakers and cookies, and so on, the daily and seasonal cycles of one’s work). Hot cross buns for Lent, and the spring booklist for publishers. Likewise, farming is cyclical. Pumpkins in the fall.

    Not so the world of software developers, which is run by the metaphor of the arrow of time. One goes from version 1.0 to version 2.0 and so on to the Singularity. With an ironclad EULA.

    I recall discussions with software developers making digitized products for the publishers. There was no understanding of schedule–how to complete the overall task. There was little understanding of the book as physical object. There was little sense of the publishing year–yes, software developer, your digitized book has to arrive sometime….

    So there are two cultures. The idea of improvement for those of us who work with the physical means something that we can point to and demonstrate. The idea of improvement in software seems, in my not so humble opinion, mainly to consist of assurances that the new version would “actually” work. Someday.
    1. hunkerdown September 17, 2020 at 7:18 pm

       What’s a version? We do continuous deployment and cloud distribution these days. Management wanted everything now, perfect, and free, and we gave them now as best we could.

       (Speaking of cloud distribution, those of you who use the Fusion 360 CAD suite will be ~overjoyed~ to hear they’re removing a bunch of semi-advanced features from the personal edition at the end of the month. Gotta love this brave new world where vendors can withdraw features arbitrarily without notice or recompense.)
       1. Late Introvert September 18, 2020 at 2:56 am

          I saw that writing on the wall in the early 2000’s and exited software dev for good. That was my best paying/worst job. Both in extreme.

          But I’m poor now, so no one should follow my career path.
35. rowlf September 17, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    In the posting on the NRA article: The army paid for NRA shooting matches, and allowed it to buy surplus military rifles at cost. I am not sure that is accurate. The US Army worked with the NRA for the National Competitions held at Camp Perry Ohio and military arms were made available to civilians through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (Later the Civilian Marksmanship Program).

    There is a push in the precision shooting community to return the NRA to it’s promotion of marksmanship and safety training roots instead of marketing for manufacturers through electing leadership but it is a slow go. There is also a push to move the competition parts of the NRA to the Civilian Marksmanship Program and USA Shooting.

    Wayne LaPierre should be sent to Mars with that Musk goofball. It would serve him right for hiring a war criminal like Ollie North.

    DCM, CMP And NRA Explained
    1. Arizona Slim September 17, 2020 at 8:28 pm

       I remember the NRA you’re describing. It’s the NRA I read about in American Rifleman while I was growing up.

       I’ll admit that my father was much better at marksmanship than I ever was, but, oh, well. I wasn’t as passionate about it as he was. But, be that as it may, we had many discussions about Camp Perry. It was a lofty goal, even for Dad, but it was a goal just the same.
       1. rowlf September 17, 2020 at 8:58 pm

          Sweet. While I was always interested in firearms (My mom used to shoot pistols with her younger brother in the 15 yard range set up in my grandfather’s basement) I first got to shoot at the Montreal World’s Fair at I think was the USSR pavilion. They had air rifles converted to laser shooting to show their Olympic team’s training. My father did well (Duh! He was in the Curt LeMay club) but I wobbled all over the target.

          Camp Perry is a national event but I am afraid it is fading away like Olympic shooting sports.
36. JustAnotherVolunteer September 17, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Biden’s passive run – I haven’t seen this in links but it’s worth a read:

    https://www.thesportsgeek.com/blog/ed-markeys-win-shows-biden-a-path-to-the-election-if-hed-take-it/

    Some lessons to be learned
    1. Jen September 17, 2020 at 7:48 pm

       Not by Biden or Team Blue. They’ve made it quite clear they’d rather lose than take that path.
    2. christofay September 17, 2020 at 9:49 pm

       Harris/Biden has noticed Markey. That’s why Harris is wearing the shoes shown prominently in her public appearances, the Keds, the Timberlands.
       1. ChrisAtRU September 17, 2020 at 11:29 pm

          Ha! … thanks to your comment, I learned that there was actually a sneaker-war subtext to Kennedy v Markey!

          Oh dear … Kennedy Wins Sneaker Battle in U.S. Senate Race [OPINION] (via WBSM)
37. George September 17, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    Not sure if this made it into Links or WC but here’s a recent book published free by Cory Doctorow from the audiobook link above called How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism.
38. allan September 17, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    Head of Federal Election Commission calls separation of church and state a ‘fallacy’ and
    2020 election a ‘spiritual war’ {Religion News]

    Completely normal.

    One more data point: in the last few weeks I’ve seen presentations in which people from conservative
    Think Tank Land go really out of their way to say that talk of Trump ignoring the results of the election are
    unfounded, if well intended, and reflect more on those who are voicing the concerns than on reality.
    You can feel the narrative being built in real time.
39. rowlf September 17, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    There are a bunch of high altitude Google balloons with ADS-B transponders over Alabama now displaying in Flightradar24.

    Loon
    1. Gc54 September 17, 2020 at 9:32 pm

       60,000+ ft at the moment
40. jr September 17, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    Ok so according to my Citizen app, I know, there is a Yellow Cab protest:

    https://go.citizen.com/cDCWavcRR9

    blocking NYC bridges as well as protestors marching 11th ave and west 14th but I hear yelling and whistling over here by 7th Ave…
    1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 5:08 am

       Interesting app. With no indication of who owns and controls it that I can find. Not that I’m foily.
       1. jr September 18, 2020 at 6:56 am

          It’s probably the NSA but when the excrement hit the AC around here a friend got it and said it was a good way to keep up in events in the hood. There are false or mistaken reports so I don’t take it as a pure source of info but if it steers me clear of the lady waving a razor on the street yesterday…that was only blocks away.
       2. jr September 18, 2020 at 7:24 am

          “You used to have to call a police tip line to help. Now you can use Citizen to broadcast live video, sharing relevant updates with others.”

          From the Citizen website. More public to private. And they have a point, sad as that is.

          About four years back I called the 6th precinct to report a huge street fight. I literally got a recording telling me to leave a message. No one ever responded, the cops often don’t bother to break up fights, just let em run out unless there is serious blood spilt. When you have a 110 lb. girlfriend and 10 lb. dog, the thought if them bumping into a brawl is chilling.

          And yes not a single thing on the website about who they are other than we are “independent.” Whatever that means. But I found this on a job announcement:

          “With a group of passionate builders from Facebook, Square, Uber, Google and HQ Trivia, Citizen is the company your current company doesn’t want you to know about.

          Citizen is backed by Sequoia Capital, 8VC, and Founders Fund and has raised tens of millions in VC funding.“

          Sigh.
    2. bassmule September 18, 2020 at 8:09 am

       I looked at the Times, the Post, and Gothamist this morning, not a peep from any of them about the taxi driver demonstration. Golly, why would that be?
41. The Rev Kev September 17, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    Seems that when Harris and Newson took a photo opp at a burn out house, they forgot about the family that used to live there – and they are not happy.

    https://www.rt.com/usa/500971-newsom-harris-california-family/
42. nonesuch September 17, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    “NASA Astronauts Will Shoot Images of an Estée Lauder Product in Space”

    Astronauts as hucksters. Never ever thought I’d see the day. But at least they’re not setting up space-based laser weapons. Oh wait…
    1. Acacia September 17, 2020 at 10:37 pm

       The Taste of Space: Buzz Says, ‘Tang Sucks’
    2. Late Introvert September 18, 2020 at 3:12 am

       Um, Stanley Kubrick?
       1. orlbucfan September 18, 2020 at 11:20 am

          He’s dead and lucky at that.
43. Fred fubar September 17, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    I like the precision of age prediction.
    While reading this, I thought of you.

    https://www.kaggle.com/andersonor/exploring-mental-illness-on-police-shootings
44. VietnamVet September 17, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    It is my age showing but Americans now live in a world where the only thing that matters is money. But humans evolved on earth for millions of years up to now. Money was only invented with civilization a few thousands of years ago. Human culture, facial recognition, relationships and emotions were selected if they are effective in increasing survival and reproduction within a hierarchical tribal structure. This has led to weird human discords – no more so than in the Overseer Class. By being freed from the New Deal, they now are totally on their own. They must pay through the nose for healthcare, education and shelter to cement the higher position on the totem pole and give their offspring a chance of survival. But since neoliberalism suits their innate need to seem to be the top dog, they live with the cognitive dissonance and loss; especially from being separated from community.

    Similarly, money is the reason that the coronavirus has not been controlled in the USA despite the accolades for the expensive exceptional Centers for Disease Control. As shown by China, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam, the virus can only be controlled with a functional Public Health System. There is not one in the USA since public health costs money; it will not make more for the wealthy and could even result in higher taxes.

    The quick, cheap antigen tests and bubbles are spreading across America. They are the only way currently to assure that valuable people in real time are not infected. Testing and isolation protect the White House and the NBA. Yet, millions of antigen tests are going unreported because there is no national program to build bubbles for American workers and students with testing, notification, contact tracing, and isolation.

    The Pandemic and Climate Change are affecting all Americans. Magical thinking only fuels the unrest. Oregon is the harbinger of the future of America. Democracy must be restored for the USA to survive as a nation.
45. Big Tap September 18, 2020 at 12:17 am

    Voting for the Green Party and you live in Pennsylvania? Not any more because you’re plum out of luck. The Democrats have successfully removed the Green Party from the ballot in the state. The PA Supreme Court controlled by the Democrats removed the Green Party in the November election. I considered voting Green but the Democrats took my option away. I now will definitely vote for Trump for spite. The Democrats need a lesion that they can’t pull off this crap anymore without consequences.

    https://whyy.org/articles/pa-supreme-court-extends-mail-in-ballot-deadlines-to-3-days-after-election-day/?fbclid=IwAR0bR0okbqUR5bLQBE7GG6Now3k2zuDiciC1N2jR-mWTz6CS8HTMTY-SDNc
    1. Acacia September 18, 2020 at 12:47 am

       Indeed. I wonder how many independent voters in Pennsylvania (which the Dems need — if they care about winning, that is) will respond the same way?
    2. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL September 18, 2020 at 4:31 am

       Agree that the Dems need a lesion as well as a lesson. This revolutionary change stuff is hard, you have to think about the maximum effect you can have towards a long term objective. Trump is a ridiculous president. And what’s required is an “Opposition”. We have one party masquerading as an opposition, and until that lie is exposed an actual opposition cannot emerge. So the chess move is to vote to defeat the fake opposition, especially given the unbelievably horrible candidates they have put up and the methods they used to install them. Anything that replaces it must be more amenable to the needs of the 99%. Which it will be. The public had four solid years of lying about why the Dems lost, I do not believe they will stand for another four year lie while their needs are absolutely ignored. Kill it with fire. And then get ready for springtime.
    3. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 4:59 am

       > The Democrats have successfully removed the Green Party from the ballot in the state.

       That seems odd. It would imply that Democrats aren’t very democratic in their actual practice. Hard to believe!
       1. polecat September 18, 2020 at 10:41 am

          You made me spray TANG all over my screen! Globules everywhere.
          Will somebody Please press the Gravity switch!
    4. jr September 18, 2020 at 7:32 am

       The Dems are like an abusive spouse who kicks you around and then is stunned, stunned! when you say you are leaving. They really are divorced from reality. I sincerely hope Trump loses this election. I sincerely hope Biden doesn’t win.
46. drumlin woodchuckles September 18, 2020 at 1:20 am

    About those chips with the coolant microchannels integrated right into the chip for much faster taking away of heat with much less “yet more energy” needed to forcibly extract and move the heat . . . . if big-to-huge greenhouse complexes could be built near each data center to use the waste heat for growing greenhouse vegetables over the winter, that would turn all that waste heat into an economically valuable input to the greenhouse complex right next to each data center.

    Since the digital data-center companies can’t be bothered to operate greenhouses, these could be separate businesses getting their heat from the data center delivered into their greenhouses. At least in winter.
47. Basil Pesto September 18, 2020 at 2:44 am

    avid golfer here: that’s good news for the courses. Less so is the news also mentioned in the article that the equipment manufacturers are also enjoying a boom – the negative effects of the golf-equipment arms race on the sport at pro-level and golf course architecture (American fetishisation of distance, which is satisfying to achieve, athletically/technically impressive, but undoubtedly the least interesting thing about the actual game of golf. Nevertheless, said fetishisation has taken a lot of design sophistication out of courses. Another issue, exacerbated by the PGA Tour and the laserlike accuracy of their players, is lack of fondness of the ground game, which is undoubtedly one of the most fun things about the actual game of golf) are well documented, and without intervention from golf’s administrators, the manufacturers will possibly treat this fillip as a vindication of said arms race.

    Still, a surge of people taking up this healthful and fun activity might help offset some of the negative consequences that the pandemic is having re: mental health, physical fitness etc. It would be good as well if Americans used this opportunity to wean themselves off of golf carts, which seem to be almost a sine qua non of playing golf over there for some reason – the photo accompanying the WaPo piece was upsetting.

    Because of the strict second lockdown in Melbourne, where golf is very popular, courses have been closed for five weeks now, and will be for at least another week. I expect there’ll be a surge of players when they re-open as there was after the first lockdown, which’ll make it hard to get a round by myself (which is how I prefer to play), although the lengthening days here should help. I was writing back in April here about how I thought it was a safe activity, and my conviction as far as that goes has only increased since then with the increased understanding of aerosol spread, and particularly spread of the disease in outdoor environments – as well as the understanding that the risk of fomite transmission, which courses already went to some length to reduce, is smaller than we thought earlier in the year. What wouldn’t be safe is the milling about and socialising indoors in clubhouses, bars, locker rooms etc before and after a round – that suits me as I tend to avoid all the extraneous bullshit (although a cold drink after a round is always nice), but it’s a big part of the appeal for a lot of people, I gather.
    I miss it a lot, but the closure of the courses is understandable. Australia seems to be a bit behind in terms of understanding of the disease (masks are only mandatory, or even recommended, in Victoria, the state which Melbourne is the capital of – and they were very late to the mask party) – all outdoor sports are banned in the second lockdown and I’m not sure that’s necessary, but as long as it’s enacted, you can’t start making exceptions for some sports and not others, which of course breeds resentment (and is a bad look for a sport already stereotyped for aloofness). Resentment in general is already building after five weeks of the harsh lockdown here – I’m coping fine with it but I can understand how others are struggling.

    The biggest hit, I suspect, will be resort courses in remote locations away from urban centres, as leisure and business travel diminishes. My annual trip to one such resort in Tasmania in June fell by the wayside for this reason. I had plans to go to the UK in August for a wedding which also fell by the wayside, and was going to play quite a bit there, but I think in the UK courses are quite closely tied to their nearby communities so they’ll probably be okay as far as the tourist business goes, but I can’t be sure.
    1. Lambert Strether Post authorSeptember 18, 2020 at 4:51 am

       > American fetishisation of distance

       I have been watching random cricket videos, and after seeing the way cricket bowlers fling the ball at the batsman, and fielders don’t wear gloves, I’m thinking that American baseball is to cricket as American golf is to golf (thinking of “links” in Scotland, with acres of gorse for rough, and rain, and nasty wind off the ocean).
       1. Basil Pesto September 18, 2020 at 5:45 am

          links golf is kind of the ideal of what golf courses should be, for a number of reasons, not least of which is the wind you mention which lends variety to the challenge, and the fact that they’re just a lot of fun in a beguiling landscape. They tend to be my preferred style (though hard to find true links in Australia). More broadly, sandy soil is preferred in general, and there are lots of great inland courses with just that profile.

          That said, while there are a loooot of mediocre courses in America, it probably has more sensational, spellbinding ones than anywhere else in the word, too. The best, of course, either precede the technologies that have led to the increases in driving distance, or pay it no heed (these are often the resort courses that have no aspirations to host a professional tournament).
       2. Basil Pesto September 18, 2020 at 6:22 am

          Oh also Lambert, if you’ve been watching cricket videos, a friend of mine sent me this a couple days ago, might be of interest! https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/genre/723/the-balls-of-the-century
    2. YetAnotherChris September 18, 2020 at 5:00 am

       Professional golf has moved into NASCAR territory, not just in its appetite for endorsements but in the freakish level of performance. Weekend duffers simply cannot relate to what they see on TV. Even the broadcast crew, many of them former champions, are agog at what they’re describing. Seven irons to a 220-yard target. Long par-5s reached with a drive and a nine iron. It’s impressive, true, but many classic tournament venues have been rendered obsolete in the process.

       The game was and should remain a fun and healthful pastime. [Walking!] It does attract its share of odious people, but the municipal golf course is a public treasure and its demographics might surprise a lot of people and explode a few stereotypes.
       1. Basil Pesto September 18, 2020 at 5:49 am

          I enjoy watching women’s golf for this reason. Although they are amazingly skilled, huge distance is taken from the equation and so you see a lot more than driver + wedge.

          The game was and should remain a fun and healthful pastime. [Walking!] It does attract its share of odious people, but the municipal golf course is a public treasure and its demographics might surprise a lot of people and explode a few stereotypes.

          100%. I often see millennial-liberal types regurgitate such stereotypes, and you can just tell they’ve never been anywhere near a municipal
          golf course before.
    3. PlutoniumKun September 18, 2020 at 5:17 am

       Ireland is packed with courses, partially due to its popularity, and partially due to a boom in the 1990’s which led to lots of expensive courses being built without a real business plan. The result was good news for casual golfers – plenty of cheap clubs to join.

       The economics of courses can be curious. The links courses of course are beautiful but often an environmental nightmare as they are destructive of very sensitive coastal habitats. The most expensive ones (such as Trumps course in Dunbeg, Ireland) now have to be protected from rising seas, a near impossible task for active dune systems. Virtually all suitable coastal sites have now been developed, the remaining ones are generally protected by law (although post Brexit of course EU habitat designations no longer apply…..)

       In the 1990’s I was peripherally involved in golf course development in the UK. The trick was to find some low grade agricultural land that needed improving. You got permission for a course with lots of mounds and hills, and you then imported a million cubic metres of surplus construction waste to build it (at a gate cost at the time of about £10-20 per cm). As it was for an approved construction purpose, it was no longer legally ‘waste’. So smart developers actually made a profit from building courses before they sold a single round or membership. Hiring a ‘name’ like Ballesteros to put the final touches on the design was generally worth every penny when it came to attracting customers.
       1. Basil Pesto September 18, 2020 at 6:21 am

          That’s interesting, the courses by big firms with names like ‘European Golf Associates’ or whatever that then hire names of former tour pros like Ballasteros to be ‘architects’ but are really just branding exercises are generally held in low regard by golf course architecture nerds, and the courses tend to be artificial, with contrived mounding and/or water features. I never realised that all that naff mounding might have been a developer hustle for relocating waste! ‘Minimalism’ is the style that’s very much in favour among nerds like me, and ideally a course should require very little earth moving. That resort in Tasmania I mentioned is on land owned by a potato farmer that was otherwise going unused, iirc. He didn’t know golf but the unused land was perfect for it, and little was moved from tee to green. There are a couple of brilliant courses there now.

          As far as UK/EU goes, I know of this course in Scotland, a modern one, that was built with a light touch because of the sensitive coastal habitats, as it was also built on a Site of Specific Scientific Interest – https://machrihanishdunes.com/golf/the-course/

          Another links course by minimalist architects was planned for some links land in Scotland recently and there was a conflict between the designers and locals due to, I think, an endangered butterfly that lived in that habitat. Not sure what the outcome was.

          I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the environmental impact to try and figure out whether it’s a net positive or negative and the answer seems to be: it very much depends (keeping in mind that golf precedes the combustion engine, pesticides etc by about 500 years). There’s a risk of tendentiousness/confirmation bias on the subject, for example this document is interesting, but consider the source: https://tinyurl.com/y4ht96zl ), though I’ve seen positive studies on, for example, carbon sequestration in conservation journals than have no apparent golf connection. There are of course many negative studies, too.

          But anecdotally I’ve seen positive environmental developments on courses: return of wildlife to former mining sites, bird and plant conservation, interesting water management (the case of Glenelg mentioned in the above document, more detail here: https://www.glenelggolf.com/cms/golf-course/asr-wetland-project/ , provision of habitat (again, from Glenelg, the course is in the middle of the inner suburbs and right next to an international airport, they have a quarterly ornithology report: https://www.glenelggolf.com/cms/2020/04/09/birds-of-glenelg-golf-course/ https://www.glenelggolf.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Course%20update_biodiversity_Feb2020.pdf ). I’m not really equipped to tell what’s ‘greenwashing’ and what isn’t though. But certainly I know that not all golf courses are created equal.
          1. polecat September 18, 2020 at 10:45 am

             Well, there’s always Bowling .. for $$$

             .. smaller footprint, and much greener if you ask me.
48. YuShan September 18, 2020 at 3:30 am

    “Powell said the decade-long U.S. economic expansion, which ran prior to the pandemic hitting growth, had included both quantitative easing and low interest rates but was ‘notable for the lack of the emergence of some sort of a financial bubble.’ ‘I don’t know that the connection between asset purchases and financial stability is a particular tight one,’ Powell said in a press conference after the Fed concluded a two-day meeting. ”

    This is truly scary

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