Friday Open Forum

/ Jack Marshall

Everything is a chore right now: I’m sore all over and can hardly walk after falling down a flight of stairs in the dark at my sister’s house while looking for her dog to take to my house after she (my sister, not the dog) ended up in a hospital emergency room unexpectedly two nights ago.

So the more lively and provocative you are here, the happier I’ll be. And I’m still looking for guest posts: one is on the runway now.

Meanwhile, here’s a headline (on the ABA site) that I guarantee will be ripped off by “Law and Order” or some other TV show very soon: “Judge texted bailiff, clerk that he can’t be in court next day because ‘I just shot my wife,’ jurors are told.”

26 thoughts on “Friday Open Forum”

  1. Here is something worth discussing.

    https://soc.culture.israel.narkive.com/43Bh3Qfy/i-didn-t-have-the-numbers-in-front-of-me-yet-to-make-the-case-for-extending-it-longer-but-i-had-two-

    Deborah Birx from her memoir, explaining how “two weeks to flatten the
    curve” was just marketing for harsh, months-long lockdowns that she was
    really planning:

    “On Monday and Tuesday [March 9th and 10th, 2020]…we worked
    simultaneously to develop the flatten-the-curve guidance I hoped to
    present to the vice president at week’s end. Getting buy-in on the
    simple mitigation measures every American could take was just the first
    step leading to longer and more aggressive interventions. We had to make
    these palatable to the administration by avoiding the obvious appearance
    of a full Italian lockdown. … No sooner had we convinced the Trump
    administration to implement our version of a two-week shutdown than I
    was trying to figure out how to extend it. Fifteen Days to Slow the
    Spread was a start, but I knew it would be just that. I didn’t have the
    numbers in front of me yet to make the case for extending it longer, but
    I had two weeks to get them.”

    Reply

    • There is a proverb that states that when the nose of the camel is in the tent the rest of the camel will soon follow. The decisions related to COVID advocated by the medical community, and the “information” that the public were given, has led to mistrust in institutions such as the CDC and in medical science in general. Let’s assume that next year a pandemic hits with a similar virulence and lethality as the Great Influenza in 1918, we will be looking at disaster much bigger than necessary as many people will distrust the government and the medical establishment, and eschew vaccinations, lock down orders, and social distancing. However, we can also make the case that in the beginning phases of a pandemic, even the medical community does not know how serious the situation is going to be. So they will consider it wise to assume the worst. And because the authorities estimate that the public will likely resist severe restriction, they decide to ease the public into compliance with statements that indicate that the restrictions may only be for two weeks. It is a difficult ethical problem, where decisions have to be made under great uncertainty.

      Reply

  4. Ouch, really sorry about that. I hope you feel better soon.

    Are we really back to the media interpreting every stupid trollish joke Trump makes on social media literally?

    There are people on Reddit (yeah, I know) who are so ridiculously naive that they think he really is going to invade Canada, that he really just declared himself King and that we’re going to all have to become Doomsday preppers.

    I would say that I don’t understand how people can get this way, but I know exactly how they get this way.

    Reply

    • I am a little annoyed. The 51st state joke was kind of funny the first time it was said, but like every joke, it has diminishing returns until it just becomes tired and sad, and the journey to tired and sad is faster the more frequently it gets used. Not only does Trump have all the impulse control of a toddler on acid and is overusing it, but his followers have started up the noise, and frankly… I’m not sure that all of them are in on the joke.

      But I suppose I can be magnanimous in victory, after all the usual suspects beclowned themselves over their skis when America was a point ahead last night saying all the usual rhetoric around statehood and governorship, Connor McDavid blasted an absolutely righteous puck past the cardboard cutout facsimile America called a goalie, cementing not only Canada’s overtime win, dominance in the sport, and general moral superiority, but also Trump’s position as Premier of Canada’s 11th province: North Mexico.

      I mean, that’s how it would have worked if we lost, right?

      Reply

  5. Despite baseball’s rare mention, here, and with pitchers-n-catchers lathered up and Spring Training in the On Deck Circle, a couple of interesting back-stories are lurking at the margins:

    *Revenue Sharing -n- Salary Cap, and

    *Robo-Umps

    Provided you’re not a Steinbrenner, Mark Walter, or a MLBUA member, would it be ethical to implement any, or all, of them?

    PWS

    Reply

    • Well, I didn’t realize that revenue sharing was so big, but given that why not a little more? It does work out pretty good for the NFL, which I think more or less shares its revenue equally. If that would lead to more competitive baseball, and help with terminal tanking where a club just fields a AAA team — that could be a good selling point.

      The robo-umps idea sounds a little weird. If I understood the story, they would still be using human umpires but teams would get to challenge a set number of pitch calls during a game, as long as they do it immediately. That actually sounds similar to the current replay system that MLB uses.

      I do wonder — is that what they really want to do, or is this a camel’s nose type of situation?

      I wonder if they could trade in the zombie runners for this new replay system?

      Reply

  6. Ouch! Your experience makes me more determined than ever to transition to one-floor living. I hope you and the others involved will be okay.

    Speaking of Trump, I had to check the internet to see who won that hockey game because I couldn’t stay awake for overtime. Time magazine reported: “Canada thwarts Trump backed U.S.A team” as if the US national team was nothing more than a Trump production. I mean ultimately I don’t care if the team lost (more power to Sidney Crosby) but team USA was “backed” by a lot of American besides Donald Trump. Really…

    Reply

      • Absolutely.

        Is anyone here actually going to take the position that nothing that happens outside a game can contribute to the motivation and effort of the players?

        Because once you admit that pissing people off can motivate them and effect gameplay, then yes: Trump running his mouth might have contributed to your loss yesterday.

        And I’m just going to point out that, once again, Americans are underestimating Canadian patriotism. It’s almost an American pastime at this point, from the War of 1812, where Madison thought that Canadians would be eager to join America and the annexation of Canada would be “a matter of marching” to the currrent slate of Americans who believe that Canadians are just Americans that hate America.

        What Americans don’t understand is that Canadians have a general polity that America sorely lacks. I don’t know that you’re even equipped to understand what that means. Yes, we have different parties, and yes, there are people who think differently, but the vast majority of us operate within an Overton window that generally aligns. And we’re not there as a function of group-think, we’re here because we’re interested in what works. In Canada, there has been a 30 point shift from Liberals to Conservatives at around the same time as there was a 10 point shift from Democrats to Republicans in America. Not because Trudeau is so much worse than Biden or Kamala, but because there was an obvious problem with his leadership and we aren’t as hopelessly party-locked as America is. Patriotism isn’t a partisan issue here like it is in America.

        So yes, when the dysfunctional president of a dysfunctional nation imposes idiotic tariffs on his own people with the incredibly weak proposition that the five pounds of fentanyl coming down annually is such an existential crisis to your nation that it can be repealed 24 hours later, and the markets imploding was more pressing, cannot mention Canada without mentioning adding in a jab about the 51st state, then we’re annoyed. And if the same man decides to yap about a hockey game, inviting governor Trudeau to DC to meet with the other governors, and turning it into some kind of opinion referendum on our national fitness, then yeah: I’d pull out the stops to shut his stupid yap for a while.

        Reply

  9. Apropos of nothing, a question for the legal minds:

    The abomination of Federally coerced censorship has always been justified in that these private companies can set their own policies. As ‘public accommodations’ they are required to observe certain laws barring discrimination. That’s been true for decades, yes?

    I am wondering why the ‘public accommodation’ concept doesn’t extend to Constitutional provisions and freedoms? Is there a valid legal reason why it wouldn’t?

    Thank you for any enlightenment you have for me …

    Reply

  10. This question is a bit tardy — I probably should’ve brought it up in January.

    In the NFL, they have special rules for overtime during the regular season, and games can actually end in a tie.

    In the NHL they also have special overtime rules, and they go to a shootout if they’re still tied after the overtime period. I don’t think those games can end in a tie.

    In MLB, they have special rules for overtime games with the zombie runner. These games cannot end in a tie.

    And in NCAA football, they have special rules for overtime. To wit, for the first two overtimes the ball is placed at the 25 yard line and teams get to use their red zone offense to try for a touchdown or field goal. If the game is still tied after 2 OT, they go to a shootout, well technically each teams gets to run a two point conversion. Ties are not allowed.

    ————————

    OK, one can argue the merits or lack thereof of each approach to overtime games during the regular season. That’s not my question.

    The NHL, NFL, MLB all revert to pretty much the time honored traditional rules for overtime during playoff games.

    The NCAA, in its new playoff format, does not do so. They continue to use these special rules for playoff games, even perhaps in the national championship game! This despite the fact that playoff rules have just gotten wackier and wackier over the years. I mean, two point conversions? Sheesh!

    Isn’t the NCAA showing themselves to be a little dunce-like with this approach?

    Reply

  11. I am at a small science fiction convention this weekend, and I am befuddled by the number of people wearing masks. 6 or 8 in the dealers room.

    More than I have seen in probably two months.

    strange.

    Reply

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