SPACE: Now That Dawn Is History, Should NASA Send Another Mission to Ceres?
AT AMAZON, Save on High-Speed HDMI Cables.
HA! I DID THIS FOR MSNBC ON ELECTION NIGHT 2004: Team to Provide Social Media Monitoring During Election. That was back when I had a blog on their site, before they went hard-left.
I SUSPECT THE ANSWER IS NO, IF YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT “POWER PROJECTION,” AND YES IF YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL-OUT WARFIGHTING WITH A PEER OR NEAR-PEER NATION. As It Begins Its Second Century, Is the Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?
BOTTOM STORY OF ALL TIME: Here’s What Nutritionists Really Think About Bacon.
OKAY, SERIOUSLY: Get Out And Vote For the Bozo, It’s Important!
WINNING (OBAMA ERA DEFINITION): 9 Years Into Common Core, Test Scores Are Down, Indoctrination Up.
IT DIDN”T TAKE LONG: Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of Proposition 209’s passage. That means today is the anniversary of the litigation that tied up its implementation for almost a year. Once the initiative was implemented, however, it did exactly what I had been hoping for: It improved the academic performance of minority students.
For example, prior to the initiative’s implementation, the University of California at San Diego had only one African American honor student out of a class of 3,268. At the same time, 15% of African American students and 17% of American Indian students were in academic jeopardy (defined as a GPA of 2.0 or less). That should be compared to only 4% of white students.
Proposition 209 made a big difference. In the very first year of its implementation, a full 20% of African American freshman had GPA of 3.5 or better—higher than the Asian rate (16%) and almost as high as the white rate (22%) for that year. (Part of the reason for the difference between the Asian and the white rates is that more Asians major in STEM, which traditionally results in lower grades).
At the same time, the academic jeopardy rate for African Americans and American Indians collapsed to just 6%. Not bad for a voter initiative.
VIDEO: Louis Farrakhan Leads ‘Death to America’ Chant, Calls U.S. ‘The Great Satan.’ “Will Democrats disavow him now?”
No. Next question?
NEVER TELL ANYONE OUTSIDE THE FAMILY WHAT YOU ARE THINKING AGAIN: Michigan paper fires reporter for bias against GOP Senate candidate John James.
DEALING WITH SH*T: Never forget that decent plumbing is the sine qua non of civilization. Hug your plumber today.
FAKE NEWS: New York Times Election Eve Op-Ed Likens Trump to Hitler. “And they wonder why he hates them.”
THE PILOT SHORTAGE CONTINUES: Japan is in a particular pinch, but it isn’t alone.
One solution:
…it has become something of a status symbol for nations to have female fighter pilots. Earlier in 2018 India joined the growing number of nations that allow women to take those jobs when three female fighter pilots completed their training. The Indian Air Force has 1,600 women in uniform and about a hundred are pilots. Like many other nations India has had women flying helicopters and transports since the 1990s. Over 40 nations have women in the military and most allow female pilots for non-combat aircraft. But a growing number are allowing women to fly jet fighters. Even Moslem nations are doing this.
Long post, good read, lots of interesting anecdotes. Check out the Indian Air Force’s pregnancy leave policy for female pilots.
LET’S HOPE WE NEVER HAVE TO FIND OUT: China’s J-20 Is No Match for the F-22 of F-35.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Socialist students: ‘Free’ tuition would stimulate economy.
IT MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH. IT MIGHT NOT BE PERFECT. BUT IT’S WHAT YOU CAN DO: Go Out and Vote for Shock Therapy.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Good Election Day morning. “A reporter in Michigan called and left a voicemail for GOP Senate candidate John James and thought she had hung up the phone when the voicemail recorded her saying ‘fucking John James … that would suck.’ She’s been fired. ‘I have listened to the voicemail left by Brenda Battel to Mr. James’ campaign, and find no reason to defend this behavior,’ Huron Daily Tribune editor Kate Hessling said in a statement. ‘Brenda Battel’s employment has been immediately terminated.’ Now James is black and if he had been a Democrat, this woman would have to go into hiding or leave the country after the SJWs got done with her. We’d be talking about it and university classes would be designed around this hate incident. Alas.”
LEOPARD READY TO HUNT: A German Leopard 2 tank deployed in Norway participates in NATO exercise Trident Juncture.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Northwestern Law Dean Cites School’s ‘Difficult Time’ As Reason For Faculty Cuts.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. The constant exhortations — from liberals and anti-Trump conservatives — to vote Democrat a bit tedious and unpersuasive.
With Trump’s successes on SCOTUS picks, tax reform, deregulation, and other conservative issues, “anti-Trump conservative” is an increasingly preposterous position.
BYRON YORK: Of course Trump is talking about the economy. Who says he’s not?
A talking point has taken hold in the final hours of midterm election campaigning. The economy is booming, the story goes, but President Trump won’t talk about it at his massive rallies, preferring instead to dwell on illegal immigration, the caravan, and “fear.” Republicans, locked in tough re-election races, are tearing their hair out, panicked, at Trump’s refusal to emphasize the nation’s economic progress, which is their strongest campaign pitch.
The journalists and other political types who are repeating the talking point take as their text something Trump said Friday at a rally in Huntington, W.Va. “They all say speak about the economy, speak about the economy,” Trump told the crowd. “Well, we have the greatest economy in the history of our country, but sometimes it’s not as exciting to talk about the economy, right? Because we have a lot of other things to talk about.” From that flowed the assertion that Trump is not, in fact, talking about, or talking much about, the economy.
[Skipping numerous examples of talking heads parroting talking points.]
Is he focusing on illegal immigration and ignoring, or relatively ignoring, his own administration’s economic achievements? The place to look for an answer is not in the TV talk but in the videos and transcripts of the president’s actual stump speeches.
Look at three recent Trump appearances, the ones that served as the basis for all the weekend talk. First, there was Trump’s speech in Huntington, with the “not as exciting” quote that gave pundits a theme. Then there was a speech in Columbia, Missouri, and also one in Macon, Georgia.
Please see here to see how much of the Huntington speech Trump devoted to the economy and how much he devoted to illegal immigration. By my count, Trump spoke about 2,330 words on economic issues and about 1,640 words on illegal immigration. I’ve included the entire transcript, with economic passages highlighted in yellow and illegal immigration passages highlighted in blue, for you to judge for yourself.
Spoiler, the talking points are bullshit. As usual. “Add the three speeches together, and Trump spent about 5,320 words on the economy versus about 4,730 words on illegal immigration. One can think that is too much of one thing, or not enough of the other, but where is the evidence that Trump is ignoring the economy to obsess about illegal immigration?”
AS GLENN WAS SAYING, THEY DO SEEM LIKE AN EMOTIONALLY FRAGILE BUNCH: NYT Makes Changes To Election Needle So Readers Won’t Get Upset.
The NYT is working to avoid triggering panic attacks among people who felt the election needle duped them into believing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would easily win. The needle supposedly created confusion between real-life election data and flawed predictive polling.
“Until we get a sufficient sampling of early results to make that model meaningful, we won’t even surface the needle,” Managing Editor Joe Kahn told Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo Monday. There will now be two needles – one for the House and one for the Senate – and neither will be placed high up on the front page, he said.
“People have expressed a concern that even though our real-time election model is extremely valuable, that despite that, we should still be very cautious about featuring the needle prominently in our coverage on Election Night—not because we’re not confident in it, but because certain readers may have a nervous reaction to the re-introduction of the needle,” he added.
I’ve noticed a lot more pre-election, pre-excuse-mongering from the Left in just the last few days — but I’m still not getting cocky.
MASSACHUSETTS’ “QUESTION 3” ON TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAW: Today Massachusetts voters will decide whether to retain or repeal a law requiring public accommodations to allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom that matches their psychological gender rather than their biological anatomy. (In the absence of such a law, the owner of the facilities would have discretion over the issue.) As the Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby writes, at least one poll indicates that the law will probably be retained.
In a related matter, here are the reasons that Attorney General Sessions’ decision to withdraw the Obama Administration’s transgender bathroom guidance was correct on the law.
These issues are related, but they are not the same. Sessions’ position was simply that Title IX does not address the transgender issue. Federally-funded schools should therefore be able to assign bathrooms based on sex (i.e. anatomy), gender (i.e. psychological identification) or the number of letters in your surname. It’s up to the school, not the feds. Massachusetts voters, on the other hand, are facing a policy question. Should they support a law that requires public accommodations to allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom they prefer? Or should that law be repealed in favor of an approach that allows for discretion on the part of the owner of the facilities? I report, Bay Staters decide.
WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS? Google wants to improve your smart home with iRobot’s room maps. “Google and iRobot have announced they’re working together to improve smart home technology using mapping data collected by iRobot’s robot vacuums. The two companies say the aim is to make smart homes ‘more thoughtful’ by leveraging the unique dataset collected by iRobot: maps of customers’ homes.”
For what it’s worth, I have a non-WiFi-enabled Neato Botvac and have been quite happy with it.
NOTHING CREEPY HERE: Wallace Campaign Uses ‘Orwellian’ Door Hangers Noting Whether Constituents Vote is Public Record.
IowaHawk has some thoughts:
Plus:
VIDEO: U.K. and U.S. Engaging in the ‘Slow and Cruel Assassination’ of Julian Assange, His Mother Claims. “‘Criminals in power’ are ‘bullying my son to death’.”
ANN ALTHOUSE: You know what Democrats are going to say if they don’t win the House. “You might think Trump has set the midterms up as a referendum on himself, and I think that’s true. But if the GOP wins, Trump antagonists are not going to give it to Trump and say his referendum passed and bow to democratic choice. They’re going to say that racism won, and resisting and fighting is even more important now that we know so many Americans have been caught up in Trump’s horrible scheme.”
I’M REALLY NERVOUS TOO: Tomorrow is Election Day…
Nobody knows anything, but dear LORD. Even if you hate your local GOP knucklehead, even if he is a RINO loser…. do you want Nancy “Grey Goose” Pelosi in charge of the House again? Do you want those idiots on the left to think — as they have since they successfully demonized the squishy GWB — that they need to keep turning up the insanity and drama and lies? They’re already too crazy. Worse, do you want them to enact their contract on America, from higher taxes to throttling our energy production? Are you NOSTALGIC for the Obama years?
I for one would like a chance to dig myself out of the financial hole those years left me in.
Vote for your local Republican knucklehead. Even if you’d like someone better. You go to war with the underwear you got on. Vote against the democrat lunatics. It’s important.
REMEMBER WHAT HEINLEIN SAID? IF THERE’S NO ONE YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR, THERE’S SOMEONE YOU WANT TO VOTE AGAINST: Vote No On Democrats.
Please? Because I want to write without worrying about what insanity they’re going to impose on all of us next. And oooh, boy, every time I think they’ve reached peak insane they go “Hold my beer and watch me falsely accuse someone of rape while wearing a vagina costume.” So…. please? I write SF/F and even my mind can’t imagine the new depths of crazy they’ll plumb next.
THE SCIENCE — STOMP, STOMP, STOMP — WAS SETTLED! Remember when climate alarmists told us global warming was going to kill the U.S. corn crop? Never mind.
DAMN IT DEMS, LYSISTRATA IS OLD FICTION: CNN: Women Should Go On a Sex Strike Unless Their Men Vote Democratic.
Also for any women — or men — crazy enough to run their sex lives according to CNN dictates, I’m sure their wives and husbands would be relieved if they just abstained.
ABOUT TIME: Iran sanctions revisited.
BIG BROTHER DEM IS WATCHING YOU: Wallace Campaign Uses ‘Orwellian’ Door Hangers Noting Whether Constituents Vote is Public Record.
YEAH. STOP MOB RULE. VOTE FOR YOUR LOCAL GOP CRITTER: Why this Midterm Election is Critical.
YEAH, BUT IT’S A LITTLE UNSETTLING WHEN NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING: Watching the Major Media Meltdown.
SO, WHO ARE THE FINE FELONS FELLOWS OF THE MIGRANT HORDE? Examining the Migrant Horde- Pt 3—The Rogues Gallery – by Bill Reader.
Membership of a particular social group or political opinion? Well, lord knows the Left will try that one on for size if they’ll try anything. The nucleus of the first group is hard left, and the frontman of said group is hard left, so if I had to guess I’d say the group probably leans left. They had their preferred candidate deposed for trying to change the constitution of Honduras— but though Democrats seem to struggle with this concept, unchallenged leftist leadership is not a basic human right. “We didn’t get our way over everyone” is not persecution.
BUT BUT BUT BUT… THE SCIENCE IS — STOMPY FOOT — SETTLED! UN says the Earth’s ozone layer is healing.
HEY GUYS REMEMBER THAT GREAT FEELING ELECTION NIGHT IN 2016? REMEMBER WATCHING ALL THOSE LEFTISTS MELT DOWN? DO IT AGAIN! I’ll sit back and eat popcorn.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:
● Shot: New York Times Election Eve Op-Ed Likens Trump to Hitler.
— Stephen Kruiser, PJ Media, yesterday.
● Chaser: “PRESIDENT LIKENS DEWEY TO HITLER AS FASCISTS’ TOOL; Says When Bigots, Profiteers Get Control of Country They Select ‘Front Man’ to Rule DICTATORSHIP STRESSED Truman Tells Chicago Audience a Republican Victory Will Threaten U.S. Liberty TRUMAN SAYS GOP PERILS U.S. LIBERTY.”
—Headline, the New York Times, October 26, 1948.
● Hangover: New York Times in 1922: “Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not so genuine.”
—Headline, CBS News February 11, 2015.
November 5, 2018
OUR “UNBIASED” MEDIA AT WORK: Listen to this short, tape-recorded phone message. Listen till the end. Really.
TODD HENDERSON’S THRILLER Mental State is now Amazon’s #1 new release in Political Fiction. It’s very good.
And here’s a Todd Henderson interview from the L.A. Review of Books. (Bumped).
STILL FLYING OFF THE SHELVES AT AMAZON: Militant Normals: How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. David French: The Democrats Haven’t Earned Your Vote.
Democrats claim that now is a critical time for public hygiene. It’s time to hold corrupt, self-aggrandizing politicians accountable. I agree.
Ask your Democratic candidate if he or she is willing to publicly condemn New Jersey senator Robert Menendez — tried for public corruption and admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for doing favors for a wealthy contributor in exchange for lavish gifts — the way that so many conservatives condemned (and ultimately rejected) Roy Moore.
Democrats claim that now is the time to reject the politics of personal destruction. They look at a president who calls people names, who spins out wild conspiracy theories (Ted Cruz’s father participated in the Kennedy assassination? Really?), and they demand better. I agree.
Look at your Democratic candidate’s actions regarding Brett Kavanaugh. Did they credit facially implausible gang-rape allegations? Did they presume his guilt and declare they “believed survivors” even without substantiation and in the face of contradictory evidence? Did they participate in a campaign to destroy a man’s life and career, only to drop the whole matter the instant he was confirmed?
Democrats decry Republican extremism and alarmism. They look at wild claims about the border caravan, wasteful troop deployments, and alarmist rhetoric about criminals and Middle Easterners. They condemn family separation. They decry Trump’s “enemy of the people” rhetoric. They believe that Trump and his allies are dangerously raising tensions in the American body politic. I agree.
Ask where your Democratic candidate stands on Hillary Clinton’s rejection of civility, Cory Booker’s call for protesters to “get up in the face of some congresspeople,” Eric Holder’s declaration that “when they go low, we kick them,” or Maxine Waters’s ominous demand that “if you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
And while you’re at it, ask your Democratic candidates if the challenge of Donald Trump is so grave that they’re willing to moderate their positions on abortion, immigration, health care, gun rights, or religious liberty even in the slightest to win your support.
Hey, it’s a crisis of democracy, but it’s not that serious.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Generation Z Is Choosing Trade School over College: With the job market in flux, younger Americans are trying to avoid an education that comes with a massive amount of debt.
Huh. If only someone had seen this coming.
TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): ‘Vastly ashamed,’ Minnesota woman gets 10 years for sex with N.D. student, illicit photos and videos. “A former West Fargo middle school teacher who pleaded guilty to having sex with a student and sharing illicit photos and videos with students was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. . . . Moser, 38, was charged in July with eight felony counts involving six different victims. She pleaded guilty on Aug. 27 to six of the eight charges including sexual assault, gross sexual imposition, and four counts of luring minors by computer. The remaining two charges were dismissed. On the gross sexual imposition charge, which claimed she had sexual contact with a 14-year-old boy, Moser faced at least five years in prison, the minimum sentence, or up to life in prison, the maximum sentence for the crime.”
NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Joe Manchin: Struggle Not to “Beat the Living Crap Out Of” Republican Opponent During Debate.
FLASHBACKS:
● Hillary: ‘You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for.’
● Former Attorney General Eric Holder: “Michelle [Obama] always says, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ No. No. When they go low, we kick them.”
● Politico: After failing to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Democrats wonder if it’s time to be more ruthless.
● Democrat Doxxer Threatened To Reveal Senators’ Children’s Health Information.
● DC restaurant: We’ve received death threats after Ted Cruz, wife forced out by protesters.
● Networks Silent On Attempted Stabbing of GOP Candidate By Anti-Trump Attacker.
● Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Jokes About Threatening Trump Supporters ‘All The Time.’
But don’t you dare call them a mob.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: We Asked Redskins Tailgaters If The Team Should Change Their Name To The ‘Washington Warrens.’
It’s 1/1024th of a brilliant idea!
THIS WAS ROLLED OUT A BIT LATE: One way to get that blue wave rolling: CNN feminist commentator tells women to go on a sex strike to get their husbands to vote Democratic. The assumption that all women vote Democrat is also adorable.
NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL” CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: Alexandria Occasional-Cortex: How can we afford my proposals? ‘I find the question so puzzling…’
As with so many, many other things in life.
A LITTLE PRICEY FOR ME: Wilson Combat Supergrade Commander Special.
YES, AND THERE SHOULD BE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE LIARS AND THOSE WHO FACILITATED THEM: False Rape Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh Prove That Due Process Matters.
WELL, DUH: Scientists say mysterious ‘Oumuamua’ object could be an alien spacecraft. “Harvard researchers raise the possibility that it may be ‘a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization.'”
THEY TOLD ME TRUMP WOULD BRING A SPIRIT OF CHILDISH SPITEFULNESS TO OUR POLITICS, AND THEY WERE RIGHT! University Lecturer Caught Stealing GOP Yard Signs in New York. “Last month, Rep. Mimi Walters (R., Calif.) called out her opponent’s supporters for stealing and destroying yard signs. A few weeks ago, Minnesota state representative Sarah Anderson was punched in the arm after seeing a man destroying Republican yard signs.”
THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF A DEMOCRATIC TALKING POINT INVOLVING THE NONEXISTENT “POPULAR VOTE” FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOES NOT BESPEAK CONFIDENCE.
BLUE CHECK PUNDITS ON TWITTER — WHY IS TRUMP TALKING ABOUT IMMIGRATION SO MUCH? Exclusive: 6-in-10 want troops to stop the migrant caravan, 51% Hispanics agree.
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THERE IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW: Election Nonsense Got You Down? Talk about Duran Duran. “The Durans have never failed to deliver.”
BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Sir Cliff Richard reveals how he kicked terrible burping habit by radically changing diet.
THEY SEEM LIKE AN EMOTIONALLY FRAGILE BUNCH: Stressed out Democrats are eating their feelings, drinking heavily and over-exercising to get themselves through the midterms, according to a new poll.
WELL, ON A LONG ENOUGH TIMELINE… Hollywood’s Closing Argument: We’re All Gonna Die!
NOT SURPRISING: Elon Musk Backs Space Force Proposal. Plus: “BFR is, to some degree, a Rorschach test on acronyms. . . . But officially, it is the Big Falcon Rocket.”
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REPORTING FOR DOODY: Kerry Rolled Out by DNC in 11th-Hour Pitch to ‘Safeguard Our Freedoms.’
LINDSEY 2.0: Lindsey Graham Roasts The Media Like A Pro, Points Out Why Democrats Are Losing Because Of It.
Plus: “A recent Rasmussen poll put Republicans ahead in the congressional race by one point. While this may not seem like a lot, Rasmussen itself points out that the left is typically louder about its voting habits than the right, and that Republicans may be further ahead than many can guess if 2016 was any indication.”
Stay tuned…
IT’S AMELIA HAMILTON’S “GROWING PATRIOTS” PODCAST autumn holiday special with Guy Fawkes and a little Halloween history for your kids or grandkids.
Amelia asked me to help with a little voiceover work, and of course I obliged.
NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE THE 21ST CENTURY I WAS HOPING FOR: SpaceX’s ‘Starman’ and Its Tesla Roadster Are Now Beyond Mars.
THE INFANTILIZATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS (CONT’D): Dem Pollster Says ‘We’re Kind of Just in the Bed-Wetting Phase Now.’
DAVID STEINBERG: Ilhan Omar (D-MN) Deletes Social Media Past.
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GREAT POWER POLITICS: China Plays the Japan Card.
The reason for Xi’s apparent turnabout is clear enough: Relations with Washington are rapidly getting worse, and President Donald Trump is not backing down from either his trade war or his increase in U.S. military operations in maritime areas claimed by China. Beijing’s bluff and bluster has failed, and Xi likely is realizing that he is in for a long war of attrition with Washington.
Thus, the Japan card. Beijing needs to remain an attractive trade partner, especially given Abe’s success in pushing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership after Trump’s withdrawal and in signing a new free-trade pact with the European Union. Perhaps Xi believes that Tokyo will be enticed to join Beijing’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, leaving only America out in the cold. Promising to ease the pressure over the Senkakus is an easy concession by Xi, given that Tokyo remains committed to defending them. Perhaps, if relations appear to warm enough, Beijing will try to persuade Tokyo to slow down its increases in defense spending.
If the Japan card works for Beijing, what’s in it for Tokyo? As China represents the greatest long-term threat to Japan’s security, Abe is eager for any reprieve in the pressure Xi has brought to bear since taking office, even though he has been uncommonly successful in reaching out to other Asian leaders and positioning himself as an alternative to dealing with the often overbearing Chinese. The summit with Xi will bolster his diplomatic credibility while also potentially opening up Chinese markets that could help keep his economic plans on track. Yet Abe undoubtedly harbors no illusions as to why Xi is reaching out at this particular time.
In reality, there are all too few areas of common interest between Japan and China. The poisonous history between the two fuels nationalism in both countries, but especially in China. Their struggle for predominance in Asia remains a zero-sum game, as Japan under Mr. Abe has assiduously deepened its relations with India, in Southeast Asia, and with Australia, all due to fears of China’s growing military ambitions and its expansive Belt and Road Initiative. For his part, Xi has shown no inclination to back down from China’s assertive regional policies.
That last line is the key. China is a disruptive power, full of seething grievances and with territorial ambitions. The United States is none of those things, which makes it unlikely that Beijing can displace us as Japan’s (or South Korea’s, or Taiwan’s…) international partner, without the use of military force.
WE REALLY NEED BETTER VACCINES: This flu season should serve as a wake-up call – we need to redouble our efforts to prevent and treat the flu.
DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY: ‘Nazis Weren’t Socialists’ Says SJW History Major Arrested For Throwing Milk At Conservatives.
A MAJOR THREAT TO SMALL CHILDREN: Falls from Sofas and Beds.
TYLER O’NEIL: 5 Reasons to Vote Republican in the Mid-Terms.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Does antimatter fall upwards? New CERN gravity experiments aim to get to the bottom of the matter.
Predictions say that antimatter particles should mostly follow the same rules as their normal counterparts, but it’s worth double-checking to be sure – after all, any other differences could bring into question the entire Standard Model of particle physics. A few years ago, the CERN team trapped and studied the optical spectrum of antihydrogen for the first time and, breathing a big sigh of relief, found that it was identical to that of hydrogen.
Another fundamental question is whether antimatter reacts to gravity the same way. Again, predictions say it should fall like regular matter, but there’s about a one-in-a-million chance that it actually falls up instead. So far, antimatter has only been studied while suspended in an electromagnetic trap, since letting it fall to the bottom (or top?) of any normal container will destroy it.
Two new experiments at CERN are ready to test out the problem. In both cases, after the antimatter is created, the scientists will switch off the electromagnetic traps holding it, then examine where in the tube the annihilations occur. That will allow them to measure the effects of gravity on antiatoms, and see if there are any discrepancies.
Fascinating.
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CALIFORNIA’S PROPOSITION 209 PASSED ON THIS DAY IN 1996, THUS AMENDING THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION: Its operative clause states: “The State shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”
The hope of many Proposition 209 supporters was that the measure would reduce the effects of mismatch. And during the years it was adhered to, it appears to have done exactly that: Minority graduation rates rose rapidly, and minority on-time (four-year) graduation rates rose even faster. At the same time, minority science and engineering rose by about 50%, while the number of minority students majoring in ethnic studies or communications fell by 20%. And minority GPAs increased.
You can read about it in A “Dubious Expediency”: How Race-Preferential Admissions Policies on Campus Hurt Minority Students.
SHARYL ATTKISSON: When Democrats’ Tactics Backfire. “Some leading Democrats haven’t seemed to figure out that the harder they’ve worked to expose, silence, scream at, attack and bully those with whom they disagree, the more they’ve invigorated the other side.”
SCRAPPLEFACE: Election Outcome Uncertain, Expert Says Stay Angry.