Saturday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Saturday, February 10, 2024
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17 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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The Florida headline of the day- At least 2 dead after small plane crashes onto Florida highway: Authorities
The headline of the day- North Korea welcomes Russian tourists, the first to visit since the pandemic
Pamela Paul fisking:
“Gender Stuff”
excerpt:
This piece was in response to recent piece Paul wrote in the NYT.
Disclaimer: I have learned not to get into gender stuff discussions, not stuff I know much about.
If your day didn’t have enough worries already let me help fill it up: Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds
Your welcome.
This is just plain insane: US dentist may lose eye after allegedly getting stabbed in face by ex-patient
But that was just the final act:
But wait, we’re not done yet:
Suffice it to say, Ms. Stewart needs help. One last little tidbit:
I had no idea.
It’s starting to look like 2016 all over again. On this morning’s home page FTFNYT has eight headlines about Biden’s age/memory. All because a GOP prosecutor couldn’t follow policy about charge or STFU and claimed he couldn’t prosecute because Biden was such a sympathetic old man rather than admit he had no evidence.
@charontwo: I heard about that piece from another source. It’s all part of the smug certainty of those who carry forward the project of erasing trans people from public life.
So, they are certain that:
* There are only two genders which never vary or change and always conform with morphology. Whereas a medical textbook can describe a half dozen very unusual situation with regard to these things, never mind trans people.
* They are doing Gods will even while ignoring the avowed greatest commandment.
* Anybody who tries to point out what they’ve got wrong is easily dismissed, perhaps as an “activist”.
This is very good:
http://www.cnn.com/2024/02/07/opinions/blazing-saddles-50th-anniversary-politics-berlatsky/index.html
@gVOR10: Why 8 headlines? Because (1) they’re “topical” (i.e., clickbait); and (2) they take practically no effort to write, just like horse race coverage.
Years ago, I Arthur Sulzberger, then publisher of the NYT, claim that since the paper enraged both sides equally, they must be getting their coverage just about right. Apparently, he didn’t consider that you can achieve the same outcome just by doing a crappy job.
@Jay L Gischer:
From the link:
People who assert “god’s will” do that for a god they have created in their own image, complete with their own biases and bigotries.
I do not take “god’s will” as a credible argument.
Some time ago I linked to Huapango by José Pablo Moncayo.
Here’s some more of Moncayo’s work.
@Kathy:
That’s wonderful. Thanks.
@Kingdaddy:
Doing both a crappy job and staying in business was harder to do back in the day?
@Kathy: very nice
@CSK:
@MarkedMan:
You’re welcome.
A first for me. Minor road trip for the Superbowl weekend. Checked in to a motel that I’ve stayed at before. The desk clerk asked me if I was on TV or the movies. He said that I looked like someone. English was not his first language and I was in a hurry to get to my room as I had consumed too much coffee while driving and needed to hit the pisser so I didn’t stick around to ask questions. I was already getting the Go Fast Points discount so I guess it wouldn’t have done any good to tell him that my name is Norman Bates.
@Jay L Gischer:
Ultimately, everyone with XY chromosomes has a full set of the genetic blueprints for both a male version of themselves and a female version of themselves. Everyone with XX chromosomes has 99% of the genetic blueprints for both a male version of themselves and a female version of themselves (e.g., of the 60 genes known to be involved with the formation of testes, only several are actually on the Y chromsome).
Gender has very little to do with what genes you have and far more with what genes are turned off or on. In the vast network of thousands of genes enabling and disabling each other, it’s very easy for a glitch to turn off part of the tree that goes with your “primary” gender or turn on part of the tree that goes with the other gender, all to unpredictable effect on the resulting person.