Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!


Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com


Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival | Main | Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, May 20 »
May 20, 2023

Weekend Wonkiness

hsr trunk.jfif

15 yrs, $BILLIONS, not a mile of track & running out of money - what am I?

Good morning. I have been thinking lately about some things that are wonky according to this definition:

liable to break down or develop a fault

Well, okay, also this one:

Mentally unbalanced; crazy.

I do not intend to insult all wonks, as a class, with the definitions above. But some wonks are definitely involved in these kinds of wonky projects.

Infrastructure

Take a look at the photo above. The section of construction shown has looked pretty much like that for months.

Last week, in this space, we talked about the California High Speed Rail people deciding to go ahead and build the rail line through a flood plain even though parts of it had sunk up to 24 feet. A construction site, along with big vehicles and other equipment, flooded in March.

But as noted in the piece linked above, that is only the beginning of the problems with this project. The photo shows a section of construction in Fresno that stayed above the floods in March. But where is the progress?

Poetry corner:

I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said - - "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . .

*


A problem plaguing infrastructure projects in general is environmental regulations:

And there are other factors driving up costs in the USA. More than billion dollars per km for subway track in NYC (vs. 250 million elsewhere in the world)?

* * * * *

The Downfall of Scientific American

Wesley Yang:

What's the inside story of how Scientific American became a vector of mindless social justice copypasta?

High school trans activists are using the magazine to "prove" that human sexuality is not binary.

*

datepsych:

Unclear to me why the editor of Scientific American posted an article about sparrows to claim they have four sexes.

The article refers to them as male and female.

*

Colin Wright:

The sparrow article is just the latest. There have been other strange pieces declaring with inapplicable (usually animal, plant or microbial) evidence that human sexuality is not binary.

* * * * *

El Salvador vs. NYC

CAREFUL

He's a commie so I'm probably giving him too much credit

OTOH

* * * * *

Reparations

There has been A LOT of talk about reparations since Gavin Newsom and the California Assembly established the nation's first Reparations Task Force (whose recommendations Newsom rejected). I think that the most hopeful proposal by a citizen was for $200,000,000 per individual, plus incidental benefits.

This is a bit awkward for Newsom:

Recently, a witness at one of California's reparations hearings demanded "where's the money?"

San Francisco set up an independent task force (Advisory Committee). Which may have given a resident of Florida the idea that it was appropriate to demand reparations from his city. Three million dollars per person:

*

Nellie Bowles commenting on a story from NPR:

$14 trillion reparations bill: A group of prominent Democrats are calling for $14 trillion to be paid as reparations to the descendants of slaves. The bill was introduced by Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, who said: "The United States has a moral and legal obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm on the lives of millions of Black people." I'm on board with reparations. At least, I think it'd be better to do a big reparations shebang--cut checks and call it a day--than the strange sort of slow-drip reparations plans we see in liberal institutions. Like, yes, $14 trillion is a lot of money. But if the alternative is Robin DiAngelo trainings till the end of time and making the MCAT illegal and allowing people to self-ID as doctors because that's more equitable, then $14 trillion is a bargain.

But here's why reparations (I'm serious, a good idea!) will never happen: simply cutting checks to the descendants of slaves means shuttering all the thousands of racial justice nonprofits that serve as an employment program for America's white grad students. . .

So, what do you think?

*

Slavery Continues:

Pregnant white woman tries to steal a bike from 4-5 young black men.

*

Wilfred X. Reilly, waiting for his reparations:

Their take is that you have a moral duty to be victimized.

Nah. I'm just not that pious, even as re MY religion. Bang bang.

*

Weirdly, Nikole Hannah-Jones has picked this moment to undercut the moral basis for her "1619 Project".


* * * * *

Weekend

Is this getting to be a little too close to reality?

State of the Union Address

h/t Small Dead Animals

* * * * *

Music

Wonky Donkey

* * * * *

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Serving your mid-day open thread needs

* * * * *

Last week's thread, May 13, Heading toward Sacramento?

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.

And remember:

the youth will save us.jfif


digg this
posted by K.T. at 11:02 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
JackStraw: ">>Bay State Road, lol. Yea, I figured. Beacon S ..."

Deplorable Ian Galt: " I know some younger ones who don't like to drive ..."

Scarymary: "I know some younger ones who don't like to drive a ..."

Tammy-al Thor: "I think there's some sort of cabal bent on destroy ..."

runner: "Teleportation would make things more efficient. ..."

Deplorable Ian Galt: ">>My frat was near there, one block from where the ..."

runner: "I don't like to drive. Waste of time. ..."

Deplorable Ian Galt: "Son was complaining that the tounger generation do ..."

JackStraw: ">>My frat was near there, one block from where the ..."

publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb): " I've screamed at the TV, "Run lady, run! It's ..."

Scarymary: "I'll believe that 20% of Xers can muddle their way ..."

Deplorable Ian Galt: "Right in the middle of Kenmore Square around the c ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64