The pandemic, an asteroid-level event that permanently altered the landscape for public education in the U.S., is the Big Bang when it comes to plummeting enrollment numbers and catastrophic learning loss in government-run K-12.
On the next Thursday thruput from Professor Siegel - the Top 7 astrophysics mixed metaphors, and a breakdown of their flaws.
On July 4th, 2012, the eight-foot tall bronze statue that shows Gotch in black tights and top, with hands on hips, gazing out over the land was unveiled. It stands on a three-foot pedestal in Bicknell Park, the very spot where Gotch trained for his epic match with George Hackenschmidt, The Russian Lion, in 1911. Gotch was born on a farm three miles south of Humboldt and became world heavyweight champion of professional wrestling on April 8, 1908, when he defeated Hackenschmidt in Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago.
….
If you would like more information about Frank Gotch, there are brochures available at City Hall. The brochure has some wonderful information about his life, as well as a map with points of interest related to Mr. Gotch in the area.
Pekin had a minor league baseball club from 1909 to 1913 (with a 'big oof" nickname). Can't figure out what "Aleck" is supposed to mean. Smart Aleck? There's no one on this roster with that name (nor anyone with even the initial A that could be hiding it as a first or middle name)
I just wanted an excuse to be rolling down Charles Town Pike and synching up the player so that the Country Roads chorus hits exactly the same time as you cross Key's Gap.
(I also didn't realize your car was actually blue, and not black, until after I came back into the parking lot after going into the grocery store on the way home. This was also after a solid minute or more of me looking for my own car at first)
Narrator: The Chicago Cubs, defending National League champions, would finish 2nd that year, seven and a half games behind the New York (Baseball) Giants. The Cubs would move to (what is known now as) Wrigley Field a couple years later, and would win another pennant (and lose another World Series) in 1918.
The Chicago White Sox would also have a pretty good run at the end of the decade, winning the American League Pennant, and the World Series, in 1917, plus another pennant in 1919 - where they lost the World Series. Rumors of shenanigans circulating at the outset of the series, with some sudden odd gambling activity, but it wasn't until a grand jury investigation the next year where the extent of the Black Sox scandal would become widely publicly known. (The grand jury investigation was mainly focused on the Sox, but was prompted by stories and rumors of other fixed games for the benefit of gamblers with insider knowledge across baseball)
I made a snarky comment on twitter on how my own state, Virginia's, two senators - each of whom are Democrats, and one, a former Vice Presidential candidate - both voted for her confirmation. The weird thing about the roll call to me was how many "not-voting" Senators there were - 23, and a roughly equal number of Dems & Gops.
Everything about this judge's elevation to her current position has been half-assed.
I tried to use Courtlistener dot com and Courthousenews dot com to get a better handle of the larger ecosystem of 'special masters. There do seem to be several active at any given time in the federal court system, but without a 'real' law search engine account (like PACER?) it's hard for me as layman to get a good idea of usual practices.
The ruling did say under "Temporary Injunctive relief) that that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) could continue what they were doing:
As a final matter, the Court determines that a temporary injunction on the Government’s use of the seized materials for investigative purposes—but not ODNI’s national security assessment—
earlier in the ruling that assessment was defined as:
ODNI is leading an intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from disclosure of the seized materials
My own limited experience with this sort of thing tells me they *are* going to continue to assess internally 'ok what's the bad things that may occur if such and such knows about this or that super secret squirrel stuff'. And that's what Judge Cannon has specifically signed off on.
But they are *not*, I'm pretty sure, doing any kind of classification review - no assessment as to whether 1) docs marked classified have material that should still be classified 2) docs not marked classified actually contain classified material 3) stuff with classification markings are at the right level and compartment for what the document says. But that's not because the Judge says they can't, it's because that sort of process is a completely different one than the one initiated by this sort of thing.
Babe Ruth made between $50,000-$70,000 a year in the 1920s. The President of the United States in that period made $75,0000 a year
When Ruth got a raise to 80k a year in 1930:
“$8o,ooo a year! In these times!” expostulated one of the writers. Don’t be silly, Babe. Why that’s more than Hoover gets for being president of the United States.”
“What the hell has Hoover got to do with this?” demanded the Babe. “Anyway, I had a better year than he did.”
It's possible that the above, somewhat well known quip, was made up by a biographer in the 1940s. Still a good line though. (but also, perhaps because it was cribbed from Will Rogers)
Instead, he has tasted immediate success in self-discipline to get up at 5:00 AM, do what his boss says, learn on the job, and do whatever he needs to do to be marketable as a skilled tradesman (he’s also very obviously happy with his lifestyle). He votes.
I'm kinda surprised he didn't join the military with a propensity like that. Or rather, I'm very very impressed, because most 19 year olds (including me at that age) don't have self-discipline like that until a person in a Smokey Bear hat screams at them for a bit.
More seriously, I do get what you're saying -- 'why wasn't this a movie, because it's basically an 8 hour movie". I think, however, in this case, they made good use of their time. If anything, got a bit in the spirit of, and made effective use of, the old 'movie serial' trope, with a cliffhanger on the end of most (every?) episode.
edit -
I also disagree with Saul above and perhaps Rufus in the OP, in that the anachronistic mashing of different time periods in the set and costume design , I found brilliant. Mostly because it wasn't so much 'mashed' as 'blended'
(and one aspect even had an element of serving the plot in the end)
But if these series are going to over-rely on the grief trope, maybe they could finally bury the idiotic cliché where every middle-aged person who is no longer married lost their spouse in a tragic accident, since it’s more “sympathetic” than divorce? Sometimes, they’re still alive and just cease to love you, and it feels like they died. Or, like some part of you died.
Just sent you an email, Will. I'll definitely be able to attend Sat dinner, maybe with a plus 1. Attending a dffierent musical, Six, on Friday night, so can’t hang out then. (Also already have tickets later in the year to see Hamilton, so won’t be attending that show this weekend either). The rest of my weekend is a bit in flux now, so maybe I’ll be able to join you all for other stuff, but not sure yet.
I would also be able to pick up people from the airport (National) on Thursday if anyone needs it. (I’m not sure thought if I would be able to do that Monday)
The most favorable odds for the pick 4 game (which happens twice a day) is a little over 400 to 1 on a $24 dollar bet, so the rough expectation for winning the top prize with a max bet at each and ever opportunity is twice a year.
Doing the minimum bet eligible for the top prize has 10 thousand to 1 odds, which is winning once every 18 or so months, but again, betting a buck twice a day, every day.
It seems like everyone is out of jail now because enough time has passed, but one of them is still active in Washington DC area Democratic Socialists of America politics, based on some sort of ‘socialism wiki’ I came across.
One of the footnotes lead to this spy case: https://www.justice.gov/osg/brief/squillacote-v-united-states-opposition.
It’s a fascinating read because, summarized:
1) they started their plan in the 1980s to spy for East Germany, but by the time they had a job ‘on the inside’ it was 1991(!)
2) their East German handler didn’t miss a beat and went right to work for the KGB, but in turn was arrested by the Germans about a year later.
3) the Americans regained contact with the ex-East German guy *after* he was released from jail.
4) the Americans decide they really want to still be good commies, and really want to spy, so they decide to spy for the Communist Party of South Africa. Thus, they reach out to a government official there, but by this time it’s *1995* and not only is apartheid no more, the ANC is in charge and Mandela was President already,
5) the ‘government official’ from South Africa who wrote them back was, of course, really a US FBI agent. The FBI agent winds up not even having to ask for anything, the American spies just give the agent what they had access to. (Which were mostly force assessments for budgeting decisions, which, funny enough - and argued by the defense - would have probably been declassified anyway within a year when that budget was passed and everyone would be able to read it.)
You can still buy it at Wally World (& probably elsewhere, I'm sure)
going down a pedantry rabbit hole the best I can tell is "glycerol' is the chemical, "glycerin" is the usual name for products that are mostly glycerol, but also have a few percent water or other additives, and "glycerine" (with an e) was the original trademark brand name for manufactured glycerol.
On “From Reason Magazine: Public Schools Experiencing ‘White Flight’”
On the next Thursday thruput from Professor Siegel - the Top 7 astrophysics mixed metaphors, and a breakdown of their flaws.
On “The Influence of Great Events”
Will, is this large enough to count as a ‘giant’ statue?
https://www.cityofhumboldt.org/visitors/attractions/frank_gotch_statue.php
On “The Center of the Universe Yesterday”
Pekin had a minor league baseball club from 1909 to 1913 (with a 'big oof" nickname). Can't figure out what "Aleck" is supposed to mean. Smart Aleck? There's no one on this roster with that name (nor anyone with even the initial A that could be hiding it as a first or middle name)
On “Real Help From Imaginary Friends”
I just wanted an excuse to be rolling down Charles Town Pike and synching up the player so that the Country Roads chorus hits exactly the same time as you cross Key's Gap.
(I also didn't realize your car was actually blue, and not black, until after I came back into the parking lot after going into the grocery store on the way home. This was also after a solid minute or more of me looking for my own car at first)
On “The Three Seasons”
Narrator: The Chicago Cubs, defending National League champions, would finish 2nd that year, seven and a half games behind the New York (Baseball) Giants. The Cubs would move to (what is known now as) Wrigley Field a couple years later, and would win another pennant (and lose another World Series) in 1918.
The Chicago White Sox would also have a pretty good run at the end of the decade, winning the American League Pennant, and the World Series, in 1917, plus another pennant in 1919 - where they lost the World Series. Rumors of shenanigans circulating at the outset of the series, with some sudden odd gambling activity, but it wasn't until a grand jury investigation the next year where the extent of the Black Sox scandal would become widely publicly known. (The grand jury investigation was mainly focused on the Sox, but was prompted by stories and rumors of other fixed games for the benefit of gamblers with insider knowledge across baseball)
On “On Recent Special Master Timelines & Candidates”
I made a snarky comment on twitter on how my own state, Virginia's, two senators - each of whom are Democrats, and one, a former Vice Presidential candidate - both voted for her confirmation. The weird thing about the roll call to me was how many "not-voting" Senators there were - 23, and a roughly equal number of Dems & Gops.
Everything about this judge's elevation to her current position has been half-assed.
"
I tried to use Courtlistener dot com and Courthousenews dot com to get a better handle of the larger ecosystem of 'special masters. There do seem to be several active at any given time in the federal court system, but without a 'real' law search engine account (like PACER?) it's hard for me as layman to get a good idea of usual practices.
"
The ruling did say under "Temporary Injunctive relief) that that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) could continue what they were doing:
earlier in the ruling that assessment was defined as:
My own limited experience with this sort of thing tells me they *are* going to continue to assess internally 'ok what's the bad things that may occur if such and such knows about this or that super secret squirrel stuff'. And that's what Judge Cannon has specifically signed off on.
But they are *not*, I'm pretty sure, doing any kind of classification review - no assessment as to whether 1) docs marked classified have material that should still be classified 2) docs not marked classified actually contain classified material 3) stuff with classification markings are at the right level and compartment for what the document says. But that's not because the Judge says they can't, it's because that sort of process is a completely different one than the one initiated by this sort of thing.
On “Somebody’s Always Taking The Joy Out Of Life”
Babe Ruth made between $50,000-$70,000 a year in the 1920s. The President of the United States in that period made $75,0000 a year
When Ruth got a raise to 80k a year in 1930:
It's possible that the above, somewhat well known quip, was made up by a biographer in the 1940s. Still a good line though. (but also, perhaps because it was cribbed from Will Rogers)
On “On Recent Special Master Timelines & Candidates”
Hey Jaybird, you said to write more. This is that! ;)
On “Weekend Plans Post: Leaguefest!”
Didn't say it on the twitter post but your paint job looks awesome. Great work!
On “Children of the Grunge”
I'm kinda surprised he didn't join the military with a propensity like that. Or rather, I'm very very impressed, because most 19 year olds (including me at that age) don't have self-discipline like that until a person in a Smokey Bear hat screams at them for a bit.
On “Sunday Morning! “Severance””
If there's one nitpicking plothole I can't quite let go of (e.g. a la mst3K, "repeat to yourself, 'it's just a show, I should really just relax'")
wbua ghegheeb orvat noyr gb qevir n pne ng gur raq. Boivbhfyl gur vaavrf unir fbzr zntvpny novyvgl gb ergnva shyy ynathntr shapgvba qrfcvgr univat ab xabjyrqtr bs yvgrengher be rira uhzna pbairefngvbaf orsber njnxravat, ohg ubj znal cenpgvpny fxvyyf pna gur vaavrf npghnyyl npprff, rira vs vs snveyl ebhgvar sbe gurve bhgvrf?
"
More seriously, I do get what you're saying -- 'why wasn't this a movie, because it's basically an 8 hour movie". I think, however, in this case, they made good use of their time. If anything, got a bit in the spirit of, and made effective use of, the old 'movie serial' trope, with a cliffhanger on the end of most (every?) episode.
edit -
I also disagree with Saul above and perhaps Rufus in the OP, in that the anachronistic mashing of different time periods in the set and costume design , I found brilliant. Mostly because it wasn't so much 'mashed' as 'blended'
(and one aspect even had an element of serving the plot in the end)
"
Oh oh oh! But that's the thing, what if Lumon....
[camera aspect ratio and focal depth changes]
[blinks] [pauses]
..sorry, what were we talking about?
On “Leaguefest: I Have Some Questions”
Just sent you an email, Will. I'll definitely be able to attend Sat dinner, maybe with a plus 1. Attending a dffierent musical, Six, on Friday night, so can’t hang out then. (Also already have tickets later in the year to see Hamilton, so won’t be attending that show this weekend either). The rest of my weekend is a bit in flux now, so maybe I’ll be able to join you all for other stuff, but not sure yet.
I would also be able to pick up people from the airport (National) on Thursday if anyone needs it. (I’m not sure thought if I would be able to do that Monday)
On “From Maryland: State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency finds that the same 8 people have won high-dollar prizes more than 200 times”
The most favorable odds for the pick 4 game (which happens twice a day) is a little over 400 to 1 on a $24 dollar bet, so the rough expectation for winning the top prize with a max bet at each and ever opportunity is twice a year.
Doing the minimum bet eligible for the top prize has 10 thousand to 1 odds, which is winning once every 18 or so months, but again, betting a buck twice a day, every day.
https://www.mdlottery.com/games/pick-3-pick-4-pick-5/prize-structure/
On “The Mar-a-Lago Affidavit: Read It For Yourself”
It seems like everyone is out of jail now because enough time has passed, but one of them is still active in Washington DC area Democratic Socialists of America politics, based on some sort of ‘socialism wiki’ I came across.
"
One of the footnotes lead to this spy case: https://www.justice.gov/osg/brief/squillacote-v-united-states-opposition.
It’s a fascinating read because, summarized:
1) they started their plan in the 1980s to spy for East Germany, but by the time they had a job ‘on the inside’ it was 1991(!)
2) their East German handler didn’t miss a beat and went right to work for the KGB, but in turn was arrested by the Germans about a year later.
3) the Americans regained contact with the ex-East German guy *after* he was released from jail.
4) the Americans decide they really want to still be good commies, and really want to spy, so they decide to spy for the Communist Party of South Africa. Thus, they reach out to a government official there, but by this time it’s *1995* and not only is apartheid no more, the ANC is in charge and Mandela was President already,
5) the ‘government official’ from South Africa who wrote them back was, of course, really a US FBI agent. The FBI agent winds up not even having to ask for anything, the American spies just give the agent what they had access to. (Which were mostly force assessments for budgeting decisions, which, funny enough - and argued by the defense - would have probably been declassified anyway within a year when that budget was passed and everyone would be able to read it.)
On “Dirty Hands”
You can still buy it at Wally World (& probably elsewhere, I'm sure)
going down a pedantry rabbit hole the best I can tell is "glycerol' is the chemical, "glycerin" is the usual name for products that are mostly glycerol, but also have a few percent water or other additives, and "glycerine" (with an e) was the original trademark brand name for manufactured glycerol.
On “About Last Night: Liz Cheney and Half-Baked Alaska Edition”
it is a 'may you live in interesting times' thing that of all places, both Alaska and Wyoming have interesting electoral contests.
On “Golf Miscellany”
Now that I am more...'stout' than I was back in the day, we should really bring back that term.
On “The Losing of One’s Mind Online: Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Edition”
Does anyone ever do anything else with a Rubicon except 'cross it'?
On “The Toy Balloon Man”
It's just imperfect English from one speaking it as a second language - it's merely missing the "Itzame" after Hello
"
The baby would grow up to become a plumber, along with his little brother, conceived on that very night
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.