I’d like to meet the writer who came up with this phrase, which is currently in endless repetition throughout media. It is a masterpiece of propaganda.

Continue reading ““Viral Blizzard”” →

For those of you stuck in the bubble, this is what it looks like from the outside.

Source: ScienceAdvances.

The idea that microorganisms (diatoms in this case) might be capable of social behavior is new to me. I have a picture in mind of vast colonies of cells coalescing in evolutionary time to form higher organisms, as if social behavior was the natural prototype of a central nervous system.

Source: Wikipedia.

The phrase democratic socialism gets a favorable mention from time to time here at Tidewater Forum. I thought it might be worthwhile to define the concept.

Wikipedia does a fair job of definition. It also reveals some features of the concept that many proponents of democratic socialism probably would disavow. For example:

Continue reading “Democratic Socialism” →

Sources: The American Spectator.

The author claims that Nancy Pelosi’s J6 committee is unconstitutional in two ways. First, because it’s composition violates the rules that govern the formation of the committee. Second, because the committee has issued “general search warrants” that the Constitution expressly forbids (4th Amendment).

The claims seem legitimate to me and I hope the reported lawsuits prove successful. You’d think, however, that Congress would avoid unconstitutional behavior as a matter of course.

Source: Mises Institute.

This story surprised me. I always thought that acid rain went away because environmental regulations improved the water quality of raindrops.

Source: Astral Codex Ten.

Are you fearful that climate change will melt the planet’s tundra, releasing ancient microbes to bedevil humanity?

Source: American Spectator.

To those who still believe Jan. 6 was an “attack on our democracy” I say, enjoy your handiwork. You have undermined both common decency and the rule of law. There can be no recovery from this without calamity.

Source: Bacon’s Rebellion.

Something to be thankful for.

There is an “argument from externalities” which holds that taxing carbon is a viable approach to reducing CO2 emissions. I reject the argument on the basis that externalities are almost always impossible to define or quantify. Because they are vague, they invite mischievous taxation schemes and market-distorting forms of rent seeking.

To keep everybody honest, externalities should be confined to litigation wherein an aggrieved party can show actual harm.

QAnon is still around, as a thing if not as a persona.

The mysterious Q’s last post was one year ago today, but the discussion forum Q inspired remains active. A safe way to view it on the clear web (as opposed to the dark web, where the original now resides) is here:

https://qanon.news/?d=20211208&i=1

Now that all the fuss is over, a few thoughts may be in order.

Continue reading “QAnon” →