Tweet and chat posts

Idiocracy

On the RAMU last night, I was amazed to discover that there are people who haven’t seen the 2006 movie Idiocracy. Here are the first couple of minutes which, in opinion, is the best part.

Two years before the movie was released, I published my own, much less funny, study, “Global IQ: 1950–2050”, which, based upon U.S. Census Bureau population forecasts for 185 countries around the globe and the IQ measurements and estimates from Lynn and Vanhanen’s IQ and the Wealth of Nations, estimated the mean global IQ at yearly intervals between 1950 and 2050. In short, in 1950 the world had a population of around 2.55 billion with a mean IQ of 91.64. By 2000, population had increased to 6.07 billion with a mean IQ of 89.20. By 2050, the forecast is 9.06 billion and an IQ of 86.32.

There is a great deal of uncertainty and possible quibbles with any analysis of this kind. I discuss many of these issues in the document, which provides links to primary data sources.

One thing to think about when contemplating this trend and the élites’ notion of “global governance” is that I can find no evidence for sustained consensual self-government in populations with mean IQ less than 90.

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Good fences make good neighbors

Came across this paper from years ago in Nassim Taleb’s Twitter feed that is fortuitously relevant today: Good Fences: The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Peaceful Coexistence. As he summarized it, “…you don’t get peace forcing pple to hold hands & sing Kumbaya by the campfire.” Key quote from the abstract:

Our analysis shows that peace does not depend on integrated coexistence, but rather on well defined topographical and political boundaries separating groups. Mountains and lakes are an important part of the boundaries between sharply defined linguistic areas.

Switzerland is mentioned.

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Parody is still dead

This looks like an item out of The Onion: Students Demand Comedian Sign ‘Safe Space’ Contract Ahead of Charity Event. British comedian Konstantin Kisin has been asked by event organizers at the University of London to sign a statement agreeing to the organizer’s policy of

… no tolerance policy with regards to racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia or anti-religion or anti-atheism.

Best of all, since it’s a charity event, he’s not even getting paid.

I just received an invitation to perform *comedy* at a university…

The title of this "contract" nearly made me puke. @UnleashedComedy pic.twitter.com/4tUPCFwTLG

— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) December 10, 2018

You just can’t make this stuff up. The replies to his tweet are also hilarious.

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Macron Addresses the Nation, Says Nothing

Amidst rioting which continues to spread across France, and has become much more a sign of general dissatisfaction than a specific protest over fuel taxes, French President Emmanuel Macron made a nationwide televised address today. Here is a version with English translation from France 24 English.

He spoke for thirteen minutes, which I can summarise as “blah, blah, blah”.

He’s going to raise the minimum wage (that’s sure to help!), encourage employers to pay year-end bonuses which will not be taxed, make overtime tax free, and—wait for it—ask large enterprises and and the wealthy to “contribute”. And he wants to “discuss” immigration and identity.

I’m sure the gliets jaunes will be immediately mollified and go home to watch football.

Hey, it worked for Louis XVI.

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Christmas Cheer

Santica means Sannomiya Chika or in English the downtown area of Kobe’s underground mall. This photo does not do justice to the reds.

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Poles on Twitter Distribute Scenes of French Protests

Poles are among those following the protests, riots, and police in action in France, and retweeting film clips made on the scene. One such is “Based Poland.”

I thought to copy and paste the URL to a particular tweet containing video of ranks of kneeling high-school students in a police enclosure. This is my first attempt at this move; apologies if it fails. The Preview includes the URL.

(Had I chosen “Embed this Tweet,” instead of “Copy the URL,” would I then have had to switch to Text Mode?)

#Macron's police with some harsh treatment against High School students demonstrating against his rule in the #GiletsJaunes protests

The video is from today and shows students from the Saint Exupery High School in #MantesLaJolie #France #Protests #EmmanuelMacron #GiletJaunes pic.twitter.com/tK6wtmtjZJ

— BasedPoland (@BasedPoland) December 6, 2018

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Thomas Sowell on the Myths of Economic Inequality

I listened to the audio version of this interview while running errands this afternoon. As usual, Thomas Sowell demonstrates his clear as light thinking about topics as diverse as his journey from Marxism to libertarian conservatism, the disastrous impact of minimum wage laws and welfare on youth, both in the U.S. and worldwide, and the damage being done by affirmative action to bright minority students mis-matched with the élite educational institutions to which they are admitted.

It’s well worth your time.

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Fred Reed on China

Fred Reed (click link for his biography) recently spent two weeks in China, visiting Chengdu and its environs. He has posted three essays about his experiences and impressions on his blog, Fred on Everything. They’re well worth the time to read.

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Apple’s Tim Cook on Deplatforming

Apple CEO Tim Cook suggests it's "a sin" to not ban certain people from social media and technology platforms: "We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence: You have no place on our platforms. You have no home here." pic.twitter.com/gO5qB6bBuO

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 4, 2018

Listen to the NPCs in the audience clap like trained seals as the message of censorship is delivered. “Because it’s the right thing to do. … our values drive our curation decisions.”

Continue reading “Apple’s Tim Cook on Deplatforming”

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Best Served Cold

Oh this is sweet sweet sweeeeet. “Abysmal,” heh.

https://www.lifezette.com/2018/11/bad-ratings-killed-the-new-and-not-improved-murphy-brown/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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Say it Ain’t So!

Ted Cruz appears to be growing a soybeard! In my original post, asking for examples, I wrote “Please, no cheerleaders with soybeards, even if they’re from Texas.” I didn’t think to mention Senators.

Had a great start to the day by welcoming fellow Texans to our nation's capital this morning at #Texas Tuesday Coffee! pic.twitter.com/rvQQ9eLQOf

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 27, 2018

Continue reading “Say it Ain’t So!”

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I bought some exercise equipment.

I am not sure I was wise or I was wishfully thinking that I would be different and succeed where others have failed in exercise. How long before the equipment gathers dust or becomes a thing to hang clothes on?

Any tales from the Ratterati of past purchases of exercise equipment? How long did you continue? Did it help?

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Steve Bannon at the Oxford Union

On 2018-11-16, Steve Bannon, erstwhile campaign manager for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and White House chief strategist, spoke at the Oxford Union, after an intense campaign to de-platform him by slaver minions failed.

Here is his full appearance. There’s around thirty minutes of initial statement followed by forty-five minutes of questions and answers.

During the first part of the video, you can hear the algorithmic shouts of NPCs outside the hall trying to disrupt the event.

I have to say that, even as a flaming libertarian, which Bannon isn’t and says he isn’t, I find little to disagree with in what he says here.

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When a joke goes bad

I can’t believe that a “bad” commercial gets branded as “racist”. The ad was supposed to be playful and mixing the Italian and Chinese culture but people had to see things in it that were never there. Now Dolce and Gabbana is in deep kimchi. Chinese are banning their brand.

Does anyone know what happened to the humor gene? Has it mutated out? Has nurture trumped nature?

Why do I always suspect …

Member B when there is a fire in Paris? It must be that they are wearing yellow and his avatar is yellow.

I just put in 34 liters of gas in my car and it cost me 5000 yen (45 dollars). I might riot too if the gas went as high as it is in Paris.

What is your cost per gallon?