Wanna Bet?

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A good friend of mine recently opined that he thought the NFL would not play this season. Taking a page from the brilliant Annie Duke I quoted Nathan Detroit (or was it Skye Masterson?) and said “For how much?” Being confronted with an actual choice he backed off of his rash statement and then made another one.

“I won’t bet on THAT but I’d have made a fortune betting on this Pandemic.”

I appreciate our friendship so I terminated the conversation then and there. He’s a Closer. A rather vehement one. And he has an impaired IS so I try to be understanding.

It turns out the numbers he would have wagered on were off by a factor of 24. But he’s ignoring the science. He’s just picking the numbers he WANTS to bet on. Not the ACTUAL wager. And even THOSE numbers are heavily skewed: “Few may have noticed that 42 percent of all COVID deaths in the US come from just three states—New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. These three states account for nearly 56,000 of the nearly 133,000 deaths in the US, even though they represent just 10 percent of the population. If these three states are excluded, the US suddenly finds itself somewhere in between nations such as Luxembourg (176/1M) and Macedonia (166/1M), where some of the better fatality numbers in Europe are found.”

It’s STILL not Andromeda

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Too many of my friends have fetishized their fear. Have you fallen in love with your fear of COVID-19?

But alas, The World is Not Ending.

And yet The blind continuing panic over COVID-19

And my best advice at this point? America Needs To Stop Reacting To Coronavirus Like A Bunch Of Hysterics

The Hong Kong flu (late 60’s) killed 100,000 Americans, the equivalent of 160,000 today. Current count: 134,000

The 1957 Asian flu killed 116,000 Americans at a time the U.S. population was 172 million, just more than half the current population. That would be the equivalent of 222,000

A century ago the Spanish flu killed 675,000 Americans. In today’s terms, that would be the equivalent of more than 1.6 million Americans dying from coronavirus.

It STILL isn’t Andromeda

Abating my excitement to return

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to the classroom. BEST job I ever had was teaching philosophy, paralegal studies and a smattering of remedial subjects at the career college level. I ENJOY subbing at the high school level and have no desire to go full time. And I’m concerned about returning this fall “under existing circumstances.”

but we have Bowdlerizing: Prof. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law) on Accurately Quoting Racial Epithets

rewriting history: A History Professor’s Anonymous Letter to His Woke Colleagues at Berkeley.  

I’d LOVE to ask this to the administrators and dept heads with which I work: What’s Your Woke Breaking Point?

to say nothing of what the future holds: Scholar forced to resign over study that found police shootings not biased against blacks.

so …. we’ll see.

Happy Independence Day

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Nobody wishes you a Happy December 25h on Christmas. Nobody wishes you a Happy January 1 on New Years Day. So I’m no longer going with a amorphous “Happy Fourth of July” (eg happy just another date on the calendar.)

I’ll also float this Courage Pledge drafted by Sohrab Ahmari, who believes Americans will be “asked to acquiesce to ever more extreme positions, on penalty of their jobs, livelihoods, family relationships and their presence in the digital public square.”

  • I believe in the inherent dignity of all people.
  • I will not submit to outrage mobs.
  • I will stand for the truth, not your truth or my truth.
  • I will not hang that sign on my office door, make that symbolic gesture and so on if I don’t believe in its message.
  • I will not denounce my friend.
  • I am not ashamed of traditional faith or the American flag.

Perhaps a re-read of Coolidge’s address on the 150th anniversary is in order

Ride-sharing as summer starts

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Let’s cover the bad first.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IS ALWAYS WRONG, EXCEPT WHEN IT’S WOKE: Postmates, Uber Offer Promotions for Black Restaurants, Raising Tough Legal Questions.

Coming soon to a Federal Committee near you: AB5 CONTINUES TO DEMOLISH CALIFORNIA’S GIG ECONOMY: California regulators say Uber, Lyft drivers are employees.

: California Democrats Want Another $20 Million to Enforce Job-Killer AB5. “What California workers and employers need more than ever right now is increased flexibility in order to reignite the state’s job-creation engine. What they’re getting instead is another $20 million in debt so that unelected bureaucrats can wage war on the type of work preferred by nearly 25% of the workforce.”

Worst driving day of the year Thursday. Hit my daily/weekly number but it wasn’t fun. LOTS of short, minimum rides. No bonuses. Some decent food runs. The worst, however, is that th no-shows are back. I had FOUR of them, after having not more than one a week for the last three months.

Lyft seems to giving more bonuses of the “$X for three rides in a row starting at Y o’clock” variety, as well as a few of the “by driving through this neighborhood you qualify for a $Z bonus on your next ride” variety. Continued nice drive-through bonuses from Uber too but vanishing somewhat quickly.

I had thought that pick-up times were dropping but I’m not so sure. Both platforms provided some 15 minute + Px this week. We’ll see. I’m thinking the next bump in drivers comes in August when the federal largess runs out.

Figuring I have at least two more months of driving until demand at schools returns. Still in pretty good spirits but looking fwd to hopefully getting back in the classroom.

Butter Battle Book

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Imagine falling asleep in mid-March. Except I didn’t. I just closed down. Drew in. Then about two weeks ago I woke up. And suddenly I’m in the Butter Battle Book. I either want OrangeManBad DESTROYED or I’m an evil person who should be destroyed as well. I’m either a “racist” or an “anti-racist” and if I’m not an “anti-racist” then I MUST be the other and I must be destroyed. I’m either an “opener” or a “closer” and if I’m an opener then I want grandma to die and I must be destroyed. And the words have all changed. I no longer know what “butter” is. Or “battle.” Or “book” for that matter.

BEFORE I fell asleep it was bad enough. But I could still go out to dinner, enjoy a game of poker with friends, attend a movie or a play. But now I can’t. I MUST be subjected to the tests. The virtue signaling. Wearing the aproved SJW attire and genuflecting at the proper times in the approved manner. And if you know me AT ALL you know that ain’t happenin’. Even if I agree with you. Hell – ESPECIALLY if I agree with you.

Of course that’s the NICE version. I’m really in Fahrenheit 451. And 1984.

It’s not Andromeda

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It’s never going to BE Andromeda. It was NEVER Andromeda.

One of my communities is in an uproar. Group organizers are planning on hosting an event in early July, following all of the State-prescribed mandates. The Closers have labeled them heartless bastards who are ignoring science, are only in it for the money, and want to kill grandma. I’m sad. I’ve disassociated. But life, for the most part, goes on.

Forecasting for COVID-19 has failed. And it’s some pretty heavy hitters who are saying so.

Why do some COVID-19 patients infect many others, whereas most don’t spread the virus at all?

There’s little “science” behind the six-foot social-distancing rule. 

‘How Could the CDC Make That Mistake?’ The government’s disease-fighting agency is conflating viral and antibody tests, compromising a few crucial metrics that governors depend on to reopen their economies.

Remember me mentioning how civil society is all based on volunteerism, and the lessons from summer camp and substitute teaching? Cuomo never learned them. Gov. Cuomo threatens to ‘reverse’ reopening in Manhattan, Hamptons amid rampant social-distancing violations.

Juneteenth Rideshare

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The times, they are a changing.

Uber is offering a lot more in the way of surge bonuses. Lyft pick up distances seem to be returning to normal. And Lyft is jumping on the bonus bandwagon itself. Uber is relying on the “drive through this are to qualify for $X on your next ride.” I’ve seen these as low as $2.50 and as high as $10. That’s Sunday through Thursday 9am-5pm. Lyft has been employing a modified version of that tactic with lower bumps in smaller areas, but appreciated all the same. Also deployed by Lyft is the hourly “Three Consecutive Ride” bonus. Most of them start after 8pm and end by 3 am but I’ve seen a few at 9 or 10 am. It’s a nice bump. Can turn three crappy $3 rides into nice $8 rides!

Interesting take here on the Rideshare/unemployment quandry. Not a GREAT article but from a valuable source.

I’m planning on keeping my schedule as the landscape changes, but I’ll keep my eye on the flow. Flipping from Sunday to Friday would be easy if Sunday’s suddenly die. And adding an extra hour or two a few evenings a week to get into the bonuses won’t hurt either. I’ve been able to hit my target driving 5 days a week from 9 or 10 am until around 5, taking a couple hours off for lunch, exercise, and home maintenance. Plenty of room to adjust as needed.

edit to add: Had a 350# passenger complain about my car this week. Was “broken down” she said. I realized the problem was that under the new guidelines virtually EVERYONE sits in the rear passenger side seat. And I realized I’ve been driving a lot of really big people – most to or from medical appointments. So my new disgusting practice is to give them 3 stars, thus ensuring I won’t be linked with them again. Also, I’m gonna hafta start looking for an updated vehicle sooner rather than later.

Happy Trails, and stay safe

At the intersection

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No, not THAT kind. I’m talking the intersection of Rona and politics. The one 49 states created when they locked down. Yes, that means more aggravating aggregating.

Deaths NOT Covered In Media’s Daily Panic Porn.

Why Did New York Infect America With Coronavirus? New Report Blames Cuomo, de Blasio.

JUST CALL IT THE “CUOMOVIRUS:” Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks: The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections around the United States, researchers have found.

FOR IT TO BE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, IT WOULD MEAN THEY HAD SOME AUTHORITY TO ORDER US AROUND. THEY DON’T. SO ALL THEY DESERVE IS: Civil Shoulder Shrug. Two more Ohio Courts of Common Pleas find against the Ohio Governor’s orders. I expect these to accelerate.

A lot of the anti-lockdown stuff is no longer timely in light of the responses to the BLM protests but legally actions taken by state governments will have far-reaching effects. A Pandemic Does Not Suspend the Rule of Law

IT’S ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: Eureka! The Left Discovers Tenth Amendment.

DAMN RIGHT: ‘Americans Don’t Get Ruled’ – Illinois Judge Unloads on Pritzker’s Stay-at-Home Order.

Protests Expose Lockdowns And Social Distancing Shaming As A Farce.

Related: ‘We’ve All Been Played:’ Bethany Mandel takes the Left and their ‘scandal of the century’ APART in just two brutal tweets.

Remember, Remember This Shit, Come November.

Words Mean Things

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My ex-wife HATED that phrase and I used it frequently. Cause? Effect? Subject for another post. But this mangled meaning is happening at an alarming rate. Been getting more frequent since the turn of the century to today it’s making communication downright unpossible. Example: Were I to say the Cleveland Browns won the Super Bowl in 2020 you might think I was crazy. You’d stomp your feet and declare that in FACT the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020. But if my definition of “Cleveland Browns” is something along the lines of ” that football team from Mizzou that wears red and yellow and has a young QB named Mahomes” my statement would be correct but the resulting conversation would be painful.

And so it is with SO many words today. Coming from a PPE background my definition of Fascism is based on the early 20th Century European model. It does NOT mean “anything we don’t like.” Back in the 80’s I tended bar with a young British immigrant who, whenever the bar owner asked him to do anything, mumbled “fascist” under his breath. Usually with a good-natured smile. I’m thinking this stemmed from his fascination with The Young Ones and their fascination with punk music and it’s frequent labeling of Margaret Thatcher as a fascist. Regardless the word has been warped beyond all recognition to mean (IMHO) something quite different from its original intent.

see also: racism. and white priviledge. And recently “defund.”

a few highlights from the last month regarding the devaluing of the language:

Covid-19 Propaganda Phrases That Must Stop

How Coronavirus Would Transform These Famous American Sayings

When Did “Flatten The Curve” Become “Accept Our Authority?” For Gretchen Whitmer, the appropriate unit of time is the Planck interval.

We’re told not to take “defund the police” and “abolish the police” literally. “Why not use words that people can understand and that convey the meaning you want to put in our head? If your idea is so reasonable, why not use words that are effective in making people who care about peace and harmony agree with you?”

Depends on what you’re actually trying to accomplish.

Looting of Language, Leftist Strategy

YOU MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG, BUT THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG IS INTERESTED IN YOU: Merriam-Webster to Make Orwellian Update to the Definition of ‘Racism.’

and finally from the new paper of record: Merriam-Webster To Determine All Definitions Using Twitter Polls