Physics PhD. Bell Labs alum. Tech company founder. Skeptical investor forced into Au and Ag. Believer in Enlightenment values. Eisenhower Republican, adrift.
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Mar 6, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A lot of people are saying that Ukraine will get the Chechnya treat. I dunno, Ukr is MUCH bigger. A comparison:
Size: Ukr is 35x larger
Population: Ukr is 32x bigger
Also Ukr is armed to the teeth by NATO and supported to the hilt by NATO intelligence
My very non-expert guess is that we're giving Ukraine info on movement of aircraft, armor, and logistics. Then the Ukrainians use NLAWs, Javelins, Stingers, etc. to ambush the offending objects. It seems to be resulting in appalling RU losses. Very different from Chechnya.
Dec 17, 2021 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Thread:
Some random Friday afternoon thoughts on the connection between cable television, the Internet and the takeover of universities by very liberal, and later woke, politics:
I was watching a 1978 movie with my son earlier - the plot centered around the standard late-70s intrepid-reporter-as-hero bull****. It was interesting primarily because it triggered personal memories of how I, and I think, most Americans judged reality in those days. 2/n
Nov 30, 2021 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
1/n - This brilliant analogy is absolutely, and it makes me boil with anger. The root problem facing the average American is that they are despised and betrayed by those who should be serving them: government, educators, news media, and the medical and legal establishments
2/n - I don't reach this conclusion with pleasure or envy. I have generally believed in (and personally succeeded in) the American establishment. But I am forced to this conclusion, as there is no other way to explain how Americans being forced to tolerate the intolerable.
Nov 8, 2021 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Thread:
I believe the best analogy for woke academia is that of a tumor. It's a malignant growth formed by a defective host tissues. It derives sustenance and protection from the host, even as it grows out of control, subverting the host's defenses until eventually killing it.
Academics in the liberal arts, who should be our mental resources for memory, constructive self-criticism, and self-improvement of our institutions have instead become a force seeking to destroy our institutions, and they're happy to resort to lies and deception to do it.
Nov 3, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
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The people at @ProjectLincoln started out pretending that they're still Republicans but appalled by Trumpist populism and alleged authoritarianism. But now they're clutching their pearls about victories by Youngkin and (maybe) Ciatarelli - very moderate Republicans 1/n
So what happened here? Why are these political professionals who used to work for moderate Republicans now appalled by victories of moderate Republicans? It's simple: Trump and other events of 2016 cut them off of the gravy train. 2/n
Oct 9, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I learned how to think about the Woke and their cancellations decades before they actually came on the scene. One evening, when I was about 12, I was talking with my father about Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare of the 1950s. He had lived through it as a young military officer. 1/n
At the time, I didn't understand what was so wrong with it.
"But Dad" I said, "weren't most of them actually Communists?"
His answer was "Yes, most of them probably were, but that's not the point. " 2/n
Jun 4, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
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There has been yet another moronic claim of racist microaggressions, because somebody used the word "tribalism" in a paper. It has me thinking about the purpose of such claims. Clearly, they are about only one thing: power.
The claimant wants to enhance their power to regulate your speech, either as a professional "DEI officer" or just a woke amateur burnishing their credentials. And of course, they also want to use these accusations to diminish the power of people with actual accomplishments.
May 24, 2021 • 28 tweets • 5 min read
Thread:
I was recently introduced to a publication named Tablet, thanks to a posting by the great @bariweiss. Although she posted a different article, the one that really had me thinking in recent days is this one here: tabletmag.com/sections/arts-…
In this article, one Jill Kargman, who is apparently some kind of television actress, describes how she dutifully signed up for most left-wing causes in recent decades, including BLM and reflexive bashing of all things Donald Trump.
May 3, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
So here's what I think about the mRNA coronavirus vaccines: I think all adults, except pregnant women, should get them. At this point, hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated with incidence of dangerous side effects measured in parts per million.
With that said, I'm infuriated by the suggestion that government would compel anybody to be vaccinated. Once that happens, they are in the business of regulating which vaccines you take ad infinitum, because it's for the cause of "public health".
Apr 24, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
There are a number of people complaining that they don't even know what conservatives stand for now. It's a fair complaint, actually.
So here's what I think conservatives should do in regard to education policy: We should make radical funding changes to support school choice.
There are now 55 million kids in K-12 education in the US. We should give the poorest 10% of them, say $10,000 credit for tuition at the (accredited) school of their choice. This will be ramped downward above the poorest 10%, going to zero at median income.
Mar 21, 2021 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Many have made analogies between the woke "cancel culture" phenomenon and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I think this is a great analogy, but I think that another, perhaps better, analog has been overlooked, namely the "Disintegration Directive" of the East German Stasi.
Briefly, the Disintegration Directive, also known as the Decomposition Directive (officially Richtlinie 1/76 or the Zersetzung in German) was the approach that the East German secret police (the Stasi) took from 1976 onwards to crush dissent, or even potential dissent.
