Unlike Piglet, we are not Entirely Surrounded By Water, just mostly. With careful driving, one can make it from our subdivision to the turnpike and thence further afield, including, with roundaboutation, to the Post Office and the bank. The bros are going to try to make it to the grocery store.
The rain is supposed to let up some by late afternoon.
Good afternoon fro not-so-sunny Gulf Shores, Alabama. Temp is 84. So far, there have been intermittent thunderstorms/rain in the morning and more sunny weather in the PM.
Sorry to hear Cynthia is dropping out of TMD. I’m sure her TSAF posts will be missed. I’m with CC Writer — I still find value in The Dispatch, and still occasionally comment there. (But this morning’s “Letting Us Know” was unrelated to the main story, and particularly dumb).
You could adopt the unwritten Chicago naming rule, which is that the locals call things and places whatever we jolly well please, rather than what someone orders us to call them.
Good morning. The weather will be nice today again, except for the "patchy smoke" today and tomorrow morning. Apparently this differs from the haze we've been having. I think that means the smoke is lower to the ground.
I read a newspaper editorial that says it's sort of Canada's fault, in that they haven't been willing or able to expand their firefighting capability outside of urban areas the way the U.S. has in response to the increased threat of wildfires over the past few years, but they're going to have to consider it.
My husband and I went down a “Fable the Raven” rabbit hole the other day. We are on the way to Duluth to meet the new grand baby and celebrate her momma’s 30th birthday tomorrow.
It’s crowded! We’re staying on Park Point….took the dogs to the beach, crazy windy and crazy people swimming! Saw a kite surfer who was getting big air.
I think it is paywalled but this gives you an idea:
In a nutshell (an MY size nutshell - he is time consuming to summarize):
Referring to Hochschild's book "Strangers in Their Own Land" about Tea Party loyalists in Louisiana, he says:
"During Obama’s second term, progressives worried a lot about racial justice issues facing non-white people, about glass ceilings facing high-achieving women, and about the problems of refugees and undocumented immigrants. Even obscure endangered species sometimes drew more concern from progressives than her subjects did.... Progressives would say that this isn’t a zero-sum situation and that efforts like #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter and protecting pelicans and passing the DREAM Act don’t actually come at the expense of working-class white people in the South. But concern and social esteem are kind of zero-sum, and there is real truth to the idea that her subjects are de-centered by progressives."
Beyond the nutshell, this needed to be said:
"And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when an intellectual wrote something about working-class life, her work was mostly read by professional-class people and they transmuted the term to become something about their lives.”
Bringing in Richard Reeves book on men and boys:
"If you read the text of the book and the data that Reeves cites, nearly all the problems facing men today are problems facing socioeconomically downscale men.
Men obviously still dominate the upper ranks of American business and politics, are well-represented at the top of the SAT score distribution, and generally speaking are doing great — if you’re talking about people in the top five or ten or twenty percent of the population and their kids. The discourse about the book, though, seems to be driven not by concern for the fate of boys in the bottom third of the socioeconomic distribution, but by affluent professional-class men annoyed by the “feminization” of professional workplace norms."
We have a two tier (perhaps more) society, where those at the bottom are falling further behind. Worse, they exhibit pathologies which exacerbate their problems.
Fentanyl use (other than someone getting something spiked) is largely a lower socio-economic class phenomena. Drug use, dropping out of school, etc. are mostly in the lower socio-economic class.
When I look at Gen-Z students today, tattoos are mostly lower socio-economic status. It was fashionable among millennials, but today is skewing down. The guys not going to college are mostly lower socio-economic status. Worse, they are not getting skills training. One of the scouts that was graduated with my youngest did an apprenticeship to become an electrician. He'll do fine in life with that.
OTOH, one of my daughters ex boyfriends is a custodian...he's 25 lives at home, and had 1 semester of community college. He doesn't have a future. I had spoken to a colleague who owns an HVAC business, who offered to hire him and train him. The guy turned it down.
One two tiered distinction that I see has to do with those who have some at least theoretical respect for the craft of writing about the world and those who don't. It has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with education and experience. In this group I see young men who are smart, good at what they do, making good money but utterly distrusting expert opinions out of academia or government.
My belief is that communication in their work serves a different purpose and therefore has different epistemological standards than that coming out of consulting firms, research organizations and government. Audience and purpose matters.
I have seen some effort teach this in high school and community college texts, but it is just one thing amongst a lot of other aspects to reading and writing that must be covered.
None of this is to say that all of what is produced actually lives up to the target standard and that there are people writing oblivious to huge blind spots. But, just as plumbers and HVAC folks adapt to the equipment they have when the quality they want is not to be had, so, too, do skilled readers know what information can be usefully extracted from mediocre writing and what to leave alone.
There is a fellowship amongst those whose knowledge and trust are in their hands, in their tools and materials and in the spoken word. There is nothing, in theory, from keeping them from acquiring information from such source - except, in some, a lurking sense (real or phantom) that that the writer doesn't think they are they smart. This is a gap that we need desperately to bridge.
That bridge needs to start on both sides and meet in the middle. There are people who write for a living who do know their way around farm equipment, firearms and general construction, but engagement with elements that are not as pliable as words does not seem to be a requirement for opining. It should be. For most of our first 250 years the practical was acquired out of necessity but prosperity and specialization have changed that. We need to figure out how to build the physically practical back in to the intellectual fabric.
This reintegration may not be entirely necessary for producing high quality works of policy or law or education. But it is necessary for building trust and cohesion within our communities and nation.
My wife and I were struggling to find common ground on a streaming show to watch. I think there is a parallel to what you describe. We settled on the 3rd season of The Bear, and neither of us are very happy.
Oh the usual differences.. of the choices I offered she liked "Miss Austen" on PBS and I preferred something with action. In truth I'd watch Miss Austen and be fine, but, yeah, sometimes a little cowboys and indians or gangsters keeps my attention better.
The Bear is good script writing and acting and storylines. My beef (pun intended) is that everyone is just so full of negative emotions, there doesn't seem to be a character arc where someone will come out better on the other side.
(PS - None of that is to disagree with your comment that different groups need to work towards more trust. Just a flippant observation about different perspectives being hard.)
The Bear sounds like a lot of Drama I would find annoying. Miss Austen sounds interesting. My daughter and I have been know to watch Down Periscope when its just us. And both offspring will watch Spaceballs with their father but I refuse (he didn't see a problem with watching it when the were....in elementary school. Sigh.)
My gosh, the trades! Those industries have stitched up access nice and tight now. It’s a shorter slog to get a PhD almost. HVAC, plumbers, electricians: they are in high demand, at least in these parts—well in excess of supply. Stupid state legislature caves to the licensure lobby Every. Single. Time.
I don't want an incompetent plumber or electrician doing stuff to my home that I can't even see whether it's been done properly or not. So there's that.
You should want qualified and experienced people. But in my personal experience, state-run licensure has little to do with skill or ability, and more to do with the state having an extra stream of income, and a monied interest group keeping its private fiefdom under strict, uh, vassalage…
Very interesting observations. Once it's mentioned, it seems quite intuitive that the audience for books and the discussion about books is often different from the subjects of the books.
Yes. I think it is worth noting the disconnect between the knowledge of people doing the writing and the discussing and the missing of the point and their tendency to give themselves high marks for self-awareness
Did you let your sub expire, or are just giving up comments?
I had to give up commenting first, since I wanted to read most of what was posted before weighing in. The comment section was too busy for me to keep up, so I just withdrew.
I let the sub expire because I didn’t have time to read the content. It wasn’t that I had a problem with much of it, or with the personalities or their standard viewpoints.
Welcome to freedom from PIA peeps ! Around these parts, we have fun sharing, learning about Birds (43.5%), mammals (21.3%); reptiles (19.5%); aspects of these also called "children and spouses!); occasionally off tropics err topical things like ..weather!
It could have been tomorrow, but I said, "Why wait?"
Between that and the steady downpour, I conclude that the universe wants me to get a lot of prep work for the school year done. So far, all the Envirothon reading assignments are in my calendar (Teengirl) or on a poster (Epic Fail), and two of the five first semester soil quizzes are done.
I'm planning on an outing to the bank and post office after lunch, in spite of the rain.
Wow. I'm so close to doing the same. I wonder about the staying power of the business model of rank punditry. The round-tables are tiresome. To me, so are the comment sections. I think there is value - the bullet point news in TMD; Advisory Opinions for legal analysis (sometimes, more frequently not). The positions from JG and KW make a lot of sense to me. But all in all, maybe it's that the punditry seems tiresome when the world doesn't really change.
I get TMD bullet points every morning in a teaser…truncated after the first half dozen or so. Same with NYT, Bloomberg, and a half dozen others. Free. I can’t comment. Even better.
They get me aligned with what’s big news. Free. “Free” is a major component of my retirement plan.
Also, I don’t like pundits that consistently take much fancier vacations than I do.
Jonah was talking on his Saturday podcast about having to cancel a vacation to Europe and struggling to reschedule non-refundable hotel stays he booked through Expedia. He wouldn't have used Expedia, he said, except, "I'm having cash flow issues."
Like, if you're having "cash flow issues," Drama Queen, don't book a trip to Europe. Stay home and clean house and read a book until your cash flow situation is better.
I have no intention of dropping my subscription to The Dispatch or of ceasing to comment over there.
I may comment less over here, when I find the discussion is mostly about things I don't have money or time to subscribe to and read, or when the discussion is about how everyone should write off the mothership because it's a known fact that it's no good anymore. I am not one to succumb to peer pressure, even the unintended kind.
I'm not trying to shut anybody up. And you're not the only one who ever makes that kind of move in these comments.
But one thing (as I said the other day) that I've noticed about this group is that in many ways we are not all alike, so some kinds of statements that assume we are, or seem to, may come across as aggressive or dismissive. Doesn't mean we have to stay away from discussing any subject, just that allowance should be made for the "your mileage may vary" factor.
And if someone should feel I overstepped in that same area, it would be only right to bring it to my attention.
I enjoy the comments: it's a holdover from the years when I never did anything or talked to anyone that didn't involve my kids. The interwebs kept me sane, and I benefitted greatly from having people tell me - more or less brutally - that my arguments were dumb.
A thing about my family was that they would nod and say, "Uh-huh. When's dinner? Have you finished the laundry yet?" so I thought I was much cleverer than I really was.
One thing motherhood is teaching me is how much better I am at organizing ideas than physical things. And by ideas, I don't just mean rhetoric, but really any coherent idea worth having. Could be completely nonverbal ideas, say, in math or music. Sometimes they're quite physical ideas, like a theory of why something's busted and how to fix it with what's on hand – the point is these ideas have some sort of intrinsic relationship to each other, not the extrinsic relationship that a bunch of unrelated tasks which must nonetheless all be physically accomplished in the same day or week have.
In saying that, I'm not claiming some genius for organizing ideas, just enough ineptitude at organizing the physical tasks of life (including some of the "no-brainer" tasks like breathing) that if I can't *sometimes* mentally scamper off somewhere and at least pretend to be cheerful and witty, I'd plotz. And the easiest places to scamper to these days are online.
And yeah, it's totally possible for "sometimes" to become "too much".
While I was in Italy, my youngest continued his 3x weekly shadowing visits. One dentist is especially encouraging of him (all 5 he visits are encouraging, one has offered to sell him his practice once he graduates). The encouraging dentist lent him some model teeth, so he can practice filling cavities, using wax. Note...this is for practice, do not DIY fill your cavities with wax, Icarus, because it will not turn out well. She also promised to let him practice using a dental drill on fake teeth. He has enjoyed this.
He is very pleased because a 3rd dental school in Ohio opens this fall. So that will increase by 50 the number of available seats for dental applicants. Most state dental schools prioritize in-state applicants (to the point of raising tuition on out of state. At IU, it's about 65k annually in-state, 110k out of state).
He is studying now about the Dental Admission Test (DAT). The scale runs to 30, although they say 26 is the practical limit for high scores. At The Ohio State University, the media score is a 20.3 (national average is about a 19). So if he can get a 20-21, he's in good shape. The new school's minimum score is a 15, so it is currently a "fall back" for Ohio State and Case Western. There are four sections: a) general science knowledge, b) reading comprehension, c) quantitative reasoning, and d) perceptual ability (visual-spatial reasoning).
"There are four sections: a) general science knowledge, b) reading comprehension, c) quantitative reasoning, and d) perceptual ability (visual-spatial reasoning)."
It is overcast, threatening rain. Tonight is supposed to be Neighbors Night Out, where neighbors meet one another and chat. If invited, the police will roll by and introduce themselves. One brings the police dog with him, who will perform for us. We have plenty of food, so they are offered plates, and they enjoy it. But with it being outdoors, who knows what will happen. Our next door neighbor hosts it.
I wanted to comment at the mothership about the BLS director being fired. I read, but could not find, an article by economists who were critical of the BLS' more recent efforts (since Mid 2023-2024), and they discussed technical issues in how they surveys are gathered, suggesting there is more variance today in the data collection. it was blamed on layoffs and a hiring freeze, but BLS didn't have anyone laid off. I chose not to say anything because a) It would take me an hour to find the source again, and B) it would be met with complaints that I am MAGA, since I am defending Hitler. The reality is not so simple as the The Dispatch thinks it is. The volatility is increasing, suggesting new data collection methods are needed.
It seems to me that data collection procedures are one thing but accusing someone of dishonesty and firing them for doing the same job they've been doing is really the issue.
I'm not defending Trump, but simply there seems to be some systemic issues that have gone unaddressed for awhile. I think their data collection process is flawed, such that it will continue to show greater variance than it should.
I'm not that engaged with this topic. I know serious economists know there are problems with this metric and factor accordingly. But I do wonder why a metric of new SSNs found on the payroll tax records of employers isn't a simple and accurate substitute. The IRS could produce that in a snap. It would not be directly comparable, but as a substitute would be useful.
It seems to me that a variety of issues that have gone unaddressed are being so clumsily "addressed" by the current administration as to discredit the possibility, in the eyes of the non-MAGA portion of the public, that those issues are legitimate and that they could have been or ever might be constructively and constitutionally addressed by a competent administration. (The pro-MAGA portion of the public will never see the considerable downsides of their "winning.")
This is an excellent formulation of the problem as I see it, too. I have failed to come up with as comprehensive and yet succinct description of the matter. Well done!
Thanks. Sometimes I surprise myself. I think it's partially a product of having a regular place to exchange opinions and work on expressing ideas. I've had that general thought before, but the exact wording came to me just yesterday, as a result of trying to respond to Jay's point.
It's also helpful when the people one is having discussions with can follow complex sentences.
It seems telling to me that we never heard anyone complaining about the quality of the BLS reports until two seconds after Trump announced that he was firing the director for "incompetence".
Those earlier, unnoticed complaints by economists and academics: did they actually question the competence of the director? Or did they deal more with technical matters like data-gathering procedure?
I guess my point was not really to defend the reports -- which, what do I know? -- but to observe that Trump himself never had any issues with them at all until they didn't come out the way he wanted -- and his sycophants immediately jumped to justify the firing of the director after the fact.
It is political, and it is not. That politicians complain about the numbers politicizes it. But how the numbers are gathered is a policy issue, one that should be addressed by the BLS director. And it appears the BLS director has not addressed it. In short, the original numbers have been worthless for a long time; it's only after the revisions occur that you have viable data.
My sense is it was low priority for Trump, until it turned negative. But that is true of everyone who MBEs their work (Management By Exception).
On Commentary, one host suggested releasing the report quarterly rather than monthly. Apparently the data has been adjusted 30 out of the past 30 months.
"The volatility is increasing, suggesting new data collection methods are needed."
Very interesting, and not unexpected.
"National Night Out" is being observed hereabouts, as well, by the county, the towns, etc. Fang will be working at the town's do if it's not rained out.
ETA: Fang just showed up and said the event is rained out.
The interfaith luncheon yesterday was very nice. The around 40 attendees sat at tables of 6 each, having been advised to sit with people they didn't know. My table had five women and a man, of whom four were Catholic - all from different parishes - one Methodist, and one Baha'i. After we ate some lunch - potluck, vegetarian - the discussion guidelines were explained. We had about ten minutes of general talk about our concepts of our purpose in life. Then, for about 30 minutes, we discussed grief, with an emphasis on "acceptance," the final stage of grief according to some psychologists. Then a representative of each table shared a brief summary of each group's discussion.
At my table, one woman said she wasn't interested in "acceptance": her son was murdered about a year ago - "Wrong place, wrong time" - and she was still working through "anger." Some emphasized grieving over the state of the world, while others spoke more about grief over personal losses. A common point was grief as a catalyst for growth. Discussions at other tables, according to their reports, went in different directions, but everyone agreed they had an edifying discussion.
The point of these events, which are held quarterly, is simply for people from different faith traditions to get together and talk about areas of life that we all have in common. I hope I'll be able to attend another some time. It depends on the scheduling, which varies according to the availability of a host site.
I like just about anything that lets me sit around and talk with new people. It's very helpful to have "What to talk about" guidance, when people don't know one another.
I do a prayer group/book study thing from time to time with some people from my church. It's mostly women, but the last time, someone's husband came along and was both entertaining and insightful, when he felt like speaking. There's a lot of variety among the people, sometimes edging over into bonkers, but, as my kids would say, "This from you!"
Ravens aren't the only creatures to "follow agricultural equipment to feed on fleeing rodents, birds, or insects"! Toward the end of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (still fresh in my mind), when the farm workers finally got toward the bottom of the hay rick, it was time for fun with the rats. As Hardy describes it:
“The time for the rat catching arrived at last, and the hunt began. The creatures had crept downwards with the subsidence of the rick till they were all together at the bottom, and being now uncovered from their last refuge they ran across the open ground in all directions.” Even “men unconnected with the threshing sometimes drop in . . . gents with terriers and facetious pipes, roughs with sticks and stones."
This reminded me of the toad slaughter that took place when my husband mowed the newly established lawn a few days ago. He said there were tiny toads fleeing as he mowed. Thanks for that information.
The trash pilfering behavior is shared by their crow cousins. I’ve seen those guys leap on someone’s collection of trash bags waiting for Trash Day, tearing them apart, and spreading garbage all over. They may be messier than raccoons, rats, stray dogs, and other assorted villains, um, uh, wild creatures. Can’t they just limit themselves to the open buffet that is our county landfill? Why not?
Ravens are too cool...
I called crows growing up. It was fun. Not sure what they made of me when they figured it out.
Unlike Piglet, we are not Entirely Surrounded By Water, just mostly. With careful driving, one can make it from our subdivision to the turnpike and thence further afield, including, with roundaboutation, to the Post Office and the bank. The bros are going to try to make it to the grocery store.
The rain is supposed to let up some by late afternoon.
Wow.
Over 5 inches of rain today.
Wow. We were supposed to get rain but we just had clouds and dribbles.
Your area had rain in July that we didn't get.
Good afternoon fro not-so-sunny Gulf Shores, Alabama. Temp is 84. So far, there have been intermittent thunderstorms/rain in the morning and more sunny weather in the PM.
Sorry to hear Cynthia is dropping out of TMD. I’m sure her TSAF posts will be missed. I’m with CC Writer — I still find value in The Dispatch, and still occasionally comment there. (But this morning’s “Letting Us Know” was unrelated to the main story, and particularly dumb).
The sun came out this afternoon and we had a nice swim in the Gulf..
Is it the "Gulf of Mexico" or the "gulf of Ameirca"? I'm told the locals just call it the "Gulf".
You could adopt the unwritten Chicago naming rule, which is that the locals call things and places whatever we jolly well please, rather than what someone orders us to call them.
It was particularly dumb.
Good morning. The weather will be nice today again, except for the "patchy smoke" today and tomorrow morning. Apparently this differs from the haze we've been having. I think that means the smoke is lower to the ground.
I read a newspaper editorial that says it's sort of Canada's fault, in that they haven't been willing or able to expand their firefighting capability outside of urban areas the way the U.S. has in response to the increased threat of wildfires over the past few years, but they're going to have to consider it.
Maybe it’s a defensive tactic, the idea being that Trump won’t want to annex a charred ruin.
In their place, I might do the same. Burn it down, indeed!
My husband and I went down a “Fable the Raven” rabbit hole the other day. We are on the way to Duluth to meet the new grand baby and celebrate her momma’s 30th birthday tomorrow.
Duluth in peak summer is pretty nice.
It’s crowded! We’re staying on Park Point….took the dogs to the beach, crazy windy and crazy people swimming! Saw a kite surfer who was getting big air.
Congratulations to all the family!
Good morning! We have not cool but not hot mug and gloom here this morning. We are expecting rain mid day and gloom all day.
Two items with new-to-me perspectives caught my attention this morning. One was from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/03/nostalgia-is-eating-us-alive-instead-of-building-a-new-world-were-regurgitating-a-past-that-never-existed
The other was from Matt Yglessias' piece this morning.
https://www.slowboring.com/p/emotional-labor-was-about-paid-work?r=73eks
I think it is paywalled but this gives you an idea:
In a nutshell (an MY size nutshell - he is time consuming to summarize):
Referring to Hochschild's book "Strangers in Their Own Land" about Tea Party loyalists in Louisiana, he says:
"During Obama’s second term, progressives worried a lot about racial justice issues facing non-white people, about glass ceilings facing high-achieving women, and about the problems of refugees and undocumented immigrants. Even obscure endangered species sometimes drew more concern from progressives than her subjects did.... Progressives would say that this isn’t a zero-sum situation and that efforts like #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter and protecting pelicans and passing the DREAM Act don’t actually come at the expense of working-class white people in the South. But concern and social esteem are kind of zero-sum, and there is real truth to the idea that her subjects are de-centered by progressives."
Beyond the nutshell, this needed to be said:
"And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when an intellectual wrote something about working-class life, her work was mostly read by professional-class people and they transmuted the term to become something about their lives.”
Bringing in Richard Reeves book on men and boys:
"If you read the text of the book and the data that Reeves cites, nearly all the problems facing men today are problems facing socioeconomically downscale men.
Men obviously still dominate the upper ranks of American business and politics, are well-represented at the top of the SAT score distribution, and generally speaking are doing great — if you’re talking about people in the top five or ten or twenty percent of the population and their kids. The discourse about the book, though, seems to be driven not by concern for the fate of boys in the bottom third of the socioeconomic distribution, but by affluent professional-class men annoyed by the “feminization” of professional workplace norms."
Time to get busy.
We have a two tier (perhaps more) society, where those at the bottom are falling further behind. Worse, they exhibit pathologies which exacerbate their problems.
Fentanyl use (other than someone getting something spiked) is largely a lower socio-economic class phenomena. Drug use, dropping out of school, etc. are mostly in the lower socio-economic class.
When I look at Gen-Z students today, tattoos are mostly lower socio-economic status. It was fashionable among millennials, but today is skewing down. The guys not going to college are mostly lower socio-economic status. Worse, they are not getting skills training. One of the scouts that was graduated with my youngest did an apprenticeship to become an electrician. He'll do fine in life with that.
OTOH, one of my daughters ex boyfriends is a custodian...he's 25 lives at home, and had 1 semester of community college. He doesn't have a future. I had spoken to a colleague who owns an HVAC business, who offered to hire him and train him. The guy turned it down.
One two tiered distinction that I see has to do with those who have some at least theoretical respect for the craft of writing about the world and those who don't. It has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with education and experience. In this group I see young men who are smart, good at what they do, making good money but utterly distrusting expert opinions out of academia or government.
My belief is that communication in their work serves a different purpose and therefore has different epistemological standards than that coming out of consulting firms, research organizations and government. Audience and purpose matters.
I have seen some effort teach this in high school and community college texts, but it is just one thing amongst a lot of other aspects to reading and writing that must be covered.
None of this is to say that all of what is produced actually lives up to the target standard and that there are people writing oblivious to huge blind spots. But, just as plumbers and HVAC folks adapt to the equipment they have when the quality they want is not to be had, so, too, do skilled readers know what information can be usefully extracted from mediocre writing and what to leave alone.
There is a fellowship amongst those whose knowledge and trust are in their hands, in their tools and materials and in the spoken word. There is nothing, in theory, from keeping them from acquiring information from such source - except, in some, a lurking sense (real or phantom) that that the writer doesn't think they are they smart. This is a gap that we need desperately to bridge.
That bridge needs to start on both sides and meet in the middle. There are people who write for a living who do know their way around farm equipment, firearms and general construction, but engagement with elements that are not as pliable as words does not seem to be a requirement for opining. It should be. For most of our first 250 years the practical was acquired out of necessity but prosperity and specialization have changed that. We need to figure out how to build the physically practical back in to the intellectual fabric.
This reintegration may not be entirely necessary for producing high quality works of policy or law or education. But it is necessary for building trust and cohesion within our communities and nation.
Or so it seems to me.
My wife and I were struggling to find common ground on a streaming show to watch. I think there is a parallel to what you describe. We settled on the 3rd season of The Bear, and neither of us are very happy.
Interesting. I only know The Bear from what JG and David French have written. What do you all disagree on?
Oh the usual differences.. of the choices I offered she liked "Miss Austen" on PBS and I preferred something with action. In truth I'd watch Miss Austen and be fine, but, yeah, sometimes a little cowboys and indians or gangsters keeps my attention better.
The Bear is good script writing and acting and storylines. My beef (pun intended) is that everyone is just so full of negative emotions, there doesn't seem to be a character arc where someone will come out better on the other side.
(PS - None of that is to disagree with your comment that different groups need to work towards more trust. Just a flippant observation about different perspectives being hard.)
The Bear sounds like a lot of Drama I would find annoying. Miss Austen sounds interesting. My daughter and I have been know to watch Down Periscope when its just us. And both offspring will watch Spaceballs with their father but I refuse (he didn't see a problem with watching it when the were....in elementary school. Sigh.)
My gosh, the trades! Those industries have stitched up access nice and tight now. It’s a shorter slog to get a PhD almost. HVAC, plumbers, electricians: they are in high demand, at least in these parts—well in excess of supply. Stupid state legislature caves to the licensure lobby Every. Single. Time.
6 years to (maybe) get a plumbers license in Chicago. 6 years. It drives away most folks with brains and/or analytical ability.
That is ridiculous.
I don't want an incompetent plumber or electrician doing stuff to my home that I can't even see whether it's been done properly or not. So there's that.
50 years in the trades. Licensing and/or union membership is not a guarantee of competency. Sad, but true.
License …. Totally worthless for determining competency.
Union… they hold Chicago hostage to utterly outdated models, not to mention the corrupt manner in which they do it.
A professional engineers licence only indicates minimal competency.
You should want qualified and experienced people. But in my personal experience, state-run licensure has little to do with skill or ability, and more to do with the state having an extra stream of income, and a monied interest group keeping its private fiefdom under strict, uh, vassalage…
I think both problems exist.
Very interesting observations. Once it's mentioned, it seems quite intuitive that the audience for books and the discussion about books is often different from the subjects of the books.
Yes. I think it is worth noting the disconnect between the knowledge of people doing the writing and the discussing and the missing of the point and their tendency to give themselves high marks for self-awareness
Good one.
"their tendency to give themselves high marks for self-awareness"
I resemble that!
😆
I pulled the plug on the Mothership this morning. I'll miss chatting with quite a few people, but it's for the greater good.
Quoth the raven friend, “Nevermore!” (Except I hope not).
Did you let your sub expire, or are just giving up comments?
I had to give up commenting first, since I wanted to read most of what was posted before weighing in. The comment section was too busy for me to keep up, so I just withdrew.
I let the sub expire because I didn’t have time to read the content. It wasn’t that I had a problem with much of it, or with the personalities or their standard viewpoints.
I ended my subscription. It's too distracting.
Yup. It’s fine over there but it’s distracting.
I avoid people if I can't have a pleasant exchange with them, so I don't find the comment section unpleasant. I just need to do other things now.
Welcome to freedom from PIA peeps ! Around these parts, we have fun sharing, learning about Birds (43.5%), mammals (21.3%); reptiles (19.5%); aspects of these also called "children and spouses!); occasionally off tropics err topical things like ..weather!
If I had known today was the day, I'd have made a comment on it.
It could have been tomorrow, but I said, "Why wait?"
Between that and the steady downpour, I conclude that the universe wants me to get a lot of prep work for the school year done. So far, all the Envirothon reading assignments are in my calendar (Teengirl) or on a poster (Epic Fail), and two of the five first semester soil quizzes are done.
I'm planning on an outing to the bank and post office after lunch, in spite of the rain.
Wow. I'm so close to doing the same. I wonder about the staying power of the business model of rank punditry. The round-tables are tiresome. To me, so are the comment sections. I think there is value - the bullet point news in TMD; Advisory Opinions for legal analysis (sometimes, more frequently not). The positions from JG and KW make a lot of sense to me. But all in all, maybe it's that the punditry seems tiresome when the world doesn't really change.
I regularly agree with JG and KW. I just don’t need them telling me the same thing 37 different ways.
It's noticeable how often JG says "I just find it exhausting."
"But it's the life he's chosen," and it's hard to change lanes at our age.
I get TMD bullet points every morning in a teaser…truncated after the first half dozen or so. Same with NYT, Bloomberg, and a half dozen others. Free. I can’t comment. Even better.
They get me aligned with what’s big news. Free. “Free” is a major component of my retirement plan.
Also, I don’t like pundits that consistently take much fancier vacations than I do.
Jonah was talking on his Saturday podcast about having to cancel a vacation to Europe and struggling to reschedule non-refundable hotel stays he booked through Expedia. He wouldn't have used Expedia, he said, except, "I'm having cash flow issues."
Like, if you're having "cash flow issues," Drama Queen, don't book a trip to Europe. Stay home and clean house and read a book until your cash flow situation is better.
HA! He makes my point better than I ever could.
The over stocked punditocracy is an object lesson in Turchin’s Overproduction Of Elites thesis.
I’ve not heard of that. Or rather I’ve heard the concept but not the attribution to someone named Turkin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_overproduction
I read the book. I'm a believer, he describes the social fabric as I see it. He takes an amazing amount of shit for it from the usual academics.
“ I wonder about the staying power of the business model of rank punditry.”
Don’t have to wonder. It’s wildly overpopulated.
Too many people with too much to say about too few subjects.
I have no intention of dropping my subscription to The Dispatch or of ceasing to comment over there.
I may comment less over here, when I find the discussion is mostly about things I don't have money or time to subscribe to and read, or when the discussion is about how everyone should write off the mothership because it's a known fact that it's no good anymore. I am not one to succumb to peer pressure, even the unintended kind.
We all enjoy things differently, and TD does a good job. Guess I should have kept more circumscribed, sorry about that.
I'm not trying to shut anybody up. And you're not the only one who ever makes that kind of move in these comments.
But one thing (as I said the other day) that I've noticed about this group is that in many ways we are not all alike, so some kinds of statements that assume we are, or seem to, may come across as aggressive or dismissive. Doesn't mean we have to stay away from discussing any subject, just that allowance should be made for the "your mileage may vary" factor.
And if someone should feel I overstepped in that same area, it would be only right to bring it to my attention.
No worries, C C... Your MPGs are well within and often higher than comment industry standards.
Yessir
My issue is that there is so much to read and discuss that it's taking more time than I can legitimately spend.
Your decision does not constitute the kind of peer pressure I'm referring to.
I enjoy the comments: it's a holdover from the years when I never did anything or talked to anyone that didn't involve my kids. The interwebs kept me sane, and I benefitted greatly from having people tell me - more or less brutally - that my arguments were dumb.
A thing about my family was that they would nod and say, "Uh-huh. When's dinner? Have you finished the laundry yet?" so I thought I was much cleverer than I really was.
One thing motherhood is teaching me is how much better I am at organizing ideas than physical things. And by ideas, I don't just mean rhetoric, but really any coherent idea worth having. Could be completely nonverbal ideas, say, in math or music. Sometimes they're quite physical ideas, like a theory of why something's busted and how to fix it with what's on hand – the point is these ideas have some sort of intrinsic relationship to each other, not the extrinsic relationship that a bunch of unrelated tasks which must nonetheless all be physically accomplished in the same day or week have.
In saying that, I'm not claiming some genius for organizing ideas, just enough ineptitude at organizing the physical tasks of life (including some of the "no-brainer" tasks like breathing) that if I can't *sometimes* mentally scamper off somewhere and at least pretend to be cheerful and witty, I'd plotz. And the easiest places to scamper to these days are online.
And yeah, it's totally possible for "sometimes" to become "too much".
I get what you mean.
The commenters there will miss you.
My ego appreciates that, but it's a sign that it's better for me to not have that venue to seek an audience!
While I was in Italy, my youngest continued his 3x weekly shadowing visits. One dentist is especially encouraging of him (all 5 he visits are encouraging, one has offered to sell him his practice once he graduates). The encouraging dentist lent him some model teeth, so he can practice filling cavities, using wax. Note...this is for practice, do not DIY fill your cavities with wax, Icarus, because it will not turn out well. She also promised to let him practice using a dental drill on fake teeth. He has enjoyed this.
He is very pleased because a 3rd dental school in Ohio opens this fall. So that will increase by 50 the number of available seats for dental applicants. Most state dental schools prioritize in-state applicants (to the point of raising tuition on out of state. At IU, it's about 65k annually in-state, 110k out of state).
He is studying now about the Dental Admission Test (DAT). The scale runs to 30, although they say 26 is the practical limit for high scores. At The Ohio State University, the media score is a 20.3 (national average is about a 19). So if he can get a 20-21, he's in good shape. The new school's minimum score is a 15, so it is currently a "fall back" for Ohio State and Case Western. There are four sections: a) general science knowledge, b) reading comprehension, c) quantitative reasoning, and d) perceptual ability (visual-spatial reasoning).
Cool. Dentists. Gotta have them.
"There are four sections: a) general science knowledge, b) reading comprehension, c) quantitative reasoning, and d) perceptual ability (visual-spatial reasoning)."
That seems very reasonable.
The first three seem common on most exams, but the last one seems different.
I think you'd want that for dentistry, since it's a very 3-dimensional skill.
It is overcast, threatening rain. Tonight is supposed to be Neighbors Night Out, where neighbors meet one another and chat. If invited, the police will roll by and introduce themselves. One brings the police dog with him, who will perform for us. We have plenty of food, so they are offered plates, and they enjoy it. But with it being outdoors, who knows what will happen. Our next door neighbor hosts it.
I wanted to comment at the mothership about the BLS director being fired. I read, but could not find, an article by economists who were critical of the BLS' more recent efforts (since Mid 2023-2024), and they discussed technical issues in how they surveys are gathered, suggesting there is more variance today in the data collection. it was blamed on layoffs and a hiring freeze, but BLS didn't have anyone laid off. I chose not to say anything because a) It would take me an hour to find the source again, and B) it would be met with complaints that I am MAGA, since I am defending Hitler. The reality is not so simple as the The Dispatch thinks it is. The volatility is increasing, suggesting new data collection methods are needed.
It seems to me that data collection procedures are one thing but accusing someone of dishonesty and firing them for doing the same job they've been doing is really the issue.
I'm not defending Trump, but simply there seems to be some systemic issues that have gone unaddressed for awhile. I think their data collection process is flawed, such that it will continue to show greater variance than it should.
I'm not that engaged with this topic. I know serious economists know there are problems with this metric and factor accordingly. But I do wonder why a metric of new SSNs found on the payroll tax records of employers isn't a simple and accurate substitute. The IRS could produce that in a snap. It would not be directly comparable, but as a substitute would be useful.
It seems to me that a variety of issues that have gone unaddressed are being so clumsily "addressed" by the current administration as to discredit the possibility, in the eyes of the non-MAGA portion of the public, that those issues are legitimate and that they could have been or ever might be constructively and constitutionally addressed by a competent administration. (The pro-MAGA portion of the public will never see the considerable downsides of their "winning.")
This is an excellent formulation of the problem as I see it, too. I have failed to come up with as comprehensive and yet succinct description of the matter. Well done!
Thanks. Sometimes I surprise myself. I think it's partially a product of having a regular place to exchange opinions and work on expressing ideas. I've had that general thought before, but the exact wording came to me just yesterday, as a result of trying to respond to Jay's point.
It's also helpful when the people one is having discussions with can follow complex sentences.
That is how I understood your comment.
It seems telling to me that we never heard anyone complaining about the quality of the BLS reports until two seconds after Trump announced that he was firing the director for "incompetence".
Economists and academics had complained about it previously, but since they are nobodies it got ignored.
Those earlier, unnoticed complaints by economists and academics: did they actually question the competence of the director? Or did they deal more with technical matters like data-gathering procedure?
I guess my point was not really to defend the reports -- which, what do I know? -- but to observe that Trump himself never had any issues with them at all until they didn't come out the way he wanted -- and his sycophants immediately jumped to justify the firing of the director after the fact.
It is political, and it is not. That politicians complain about the numbers politicizes it. But how the numbers are gathered is a policy issue, one that should be addressed by the BLS director. And it appears the BLS director has not addressed it. In short, the original numbers have been worthless for a long time; it's only after the revisions occur that you have viable data.
My sense is it was low priority for Trump, until it turned negative. But that is true of everyone who MBEs their work (Management By Exception).
On Commentary, one host suggested releasing the report quarterly rather than monthly. Apparently the data has been adjusted 30 out of the past 30 months.
"The volatility is increasing, suggesting new data collection methods are needed."
Very interesting, and not unexpected.
"National Night Out" is being observed hereabouts, as well, by the county, the towns, etc. Fang will be working at the town's do if it's not rained out.
ETA: Fang just showed up and said the event is rained out.
The interfaith luncheon yesterday was very nice. The around 40 attendees sat at tables of 6 each, having been advised to sit with people they didn't know. My table had five women and a man, of whom four were Catholic - all from different parishes - one Methodist, and one Baha'i. After we ate some lunch - potluck, vegetarian - the discussion guidelines were explained. We had about ten minutes of general talk about our concepts of our purpose in life. Then, for about 30 minutes, we discussed grief, with an emphasis on "acceptance," the final stage of grief according to some psychologists. Then a representative of each table shared a brief summary of each group's discussion.
At my table, one woman said she wasn't interested in "acceptance": her son was murdered about a year ago - "Wrong place, wrong time" - and she was still working through "anger." Some emphasized grieving over the state of the world, while others spoke more about grief over personal losses. A common point was grief as a catalyst for growth. Discussions at other tables, according to their reports, went in different directions, but everyone agreed they had an edifying discussion.
The point of these events, which are held quarterly, is simply for people from different faith traditions to get together and talk about areas of life that we all have in common. I hope I'll be able to attend another some time. It depends on the scheduling, which varies according to the availability of a host site.
These get togethers can be valuable, and I am glad you enjoyed it.
That sounds really interesting. I like forums like that.
I like just about anything that lets me sit around and talk with new people. It's very helpful to have "What to talk about" guidance, when people don't know one another.
“ I like just about anything that lets me sit around and talk with new people.”
Bingo.
Yes. When my children were young I tried to do Circle/Women of the Church gatherings. They went best if I smiled politely and nodded.
Although I have moved to a church closer to home and I am finding the older women quite welcoming of the occasional unorthodox observation.
I do a prayer group/book study thing from time to time with some people from my church. It's mostly women, but the last time, someone's husband came along and was both entertaining and insightful, when he felt like speaking. There's a lot of variety among the people, sometimes edging over into bonkers, but, as my kids would say, "This from you!"
They say that because I say it to them ;-).
I like this idea.
Me, too. It's not overcomplicated, and it doesn't have a factor of anything that is supposed to be "accomplished," other than a courteous discussion.
Great way to meet people too.
Yes. Everyone was very nice. I recommended my dietician to one of the ladies at my table.
Can only imagine how poorly similarly conceived, but online discussions and interactions in most fora would compare…
It's easier for everyone to be sensitive to and considerate of others in real life.
Good morning, everyone. Happy Trash Day! We have rain. It's supposed to rain all day.
Ravens aren't the only creatures to "follow agricultural equipment to feed on fleeing rodents, birds, or insects"! Toward the end of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (still fresh in my mind), when the farm workers finally got toward the bottom of the hay rick, it was time for fun with the rats. As Hardy describes it:
“The time for the rat catching arrived at last, and the hunt began. The creatures had crept downwards with the subsidence of the rick till they were all together at the bottom, and being now uncovered from their last refuge they ran across the open ground in all directions.” Even “men unconnected with the threshing sometimes drop in . . . gents with terriers and facetious pipes, roughs with sticks and stones."
This reminded me of the toad slaughter that took place when my husband mowed the newly established lawn a few days ago. He said there were tiny toads fleeing as he mowed. Thanks for that information.
The lawnmower we grew up with didn't sound that much like a toad mating call – to us. We suspect our local toads may have had a different impression.
I'm sure plenty of toads survived to repopulate.
Eeew, rats.
Cool damp here. The weather too.
The trash pilfering behavior is shared by their crow cousins. I’ve seen those guys leap on someone’s collection of trash bags waiting for Trash Day, tearing them apart, and spreading garbage all over. They may be messier than raccoons, rats, stray dogs, and other assorted villains, um, uh, wild creatures. Can’t they just limit themselves to the open buffet that is our county landfill? Why not?
The raven seemed to grow bored of the guy playing the pan pipe (or whatever.) So did I.
Kids these days, with their limited attention spans!
…now where was I…
Squirrel!