Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped?

[johnu]

It was obvious that 3.5 trillion was way over the top. So we put it forth anyway, spend a lot of time bragging about it, then we cut it about half, and we brag about that. Proposals get debated and tweaked. I would not call this a tweak. Most people, including me, do not really know what was in the 3.5 version, nor what will be in the 1 point whatever version, and at least part of the reason is that nobody thought the 3.5 version was credible and so why bother studying a fiction. There are reasons why people do not like door to door salesmen. Same for politicians.

 

If Manchin and Sinema had agreed on the 3.5 trillion, the bill would have been passed months ago and nobody would be having a conversion about the bill. Manchin after all these months has finally come out with a relatively clear objection to the bill, how much he thinks the bill should cost, and what he is and isn't for. I don't think anybody knows what Sinema thinks because she refuses to engage in meaningful conversations with other Democrats. If Manchin and Sinema were negotiating in good faith, a compromise plan could have been already passed.

 

As far as 3.5 trillion being way over the top, that is 3.5 trillion over 10 years, or 350 billion a year. For 2021, the US budget includes 303 billion a year for interest payments, 1.036 trillion on defense, 287 billion on education, and this doesn't include the bulk of spending on fixed expense costs like Social Security, Medicare, pensions, welfare. The total US spending is 10.4 trillion in 2021. So 350 billion a year for this package is a 3.3% increase in the budget. And much/most of the bill is an investment in America that should/could be repaid by more productivity and future savings.

 

Pie chart of US Budget

[johnu]

Trump stock grift

 

More proof that Trump is the greatest grifter in the history of the world in case anybody had their doubts.

[y66]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/opinion/angela-merkel-refugees-germany.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20211022&instance_id=43489&nl=the-morning&regi_id=59211987&segment_id=72340&te=1&user_id=2d8b72dd84a9ff194896ed87b2d9c72a

 

The climax of Kati Marton’s captivating new biography of Angela Merkel, “The Chancellor,” comes in 2015, when the German leader refused to close her country’s borders to a tide of refugees fleeing civil war and state collapse in the Middle East and Africa.

 

“If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for,” Merkel said, calling on the other members of the European Union to take in more people as well. “I don’t want to get into a competition in Europe of who can treat these people the worst.” For the usually stolid and cautious chancellor, it was a great political leap, a sudden act of moral heroism that would define her legacy.

 

By the end of the year, a million refugees had come. Many observers predicted disaster. According to Marton, Henry Kissinger, ever callous, told Merkel, “To shelter one refugee is a humanitarian act, but to allow one million strangers in is to endanger German civilization.” Marton quotes my colleague Ross Douthat writing that anyone who believes that Germany can “peacefully absorb a migration of that size and scale of cultural difference” is a “fool.” She describes former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s fear that the refugees would be Merkel’s “political undoing.”

 

For a while, it seemed like some of this pessimism was warranted. Douthat’s column was inspired by a hideous outburst of violence in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, in which a mob of largely Middle Eastern and North African men sexually assaulted scores of women. The refugee influx fueled the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, known as the AfD, which in 2017 won 94 seats to become the largest opposition party in Parliament. Some blamed Merkel’s policy for spooking Brits into supporting Brexit. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump seized on it. Though Merkel retained the chancellorship after the 2017 elections, her party, the Christian Democratic Union, lost 65 seats.

 

But six years later, the catastrophes predicted by Merkel’s critics haven’t come to pass.

 

In the recent German election, refugees were barely an issue, and the AfD lost ground. “The sense is that there has been comparatively little Islamic extremism or extremist crime resulting from this immigration, and that on the whole, the largest number of these immigrants have been successfully integrated into the German work force and into German society overall,” said Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on Germany and trans-Atlantic relations at the Brookings Institution.

 

“With the passage of time,” Marton told me, Merkel “turned out to have chosen the absolutely right course for not only Germany but for the world.”

[kenberg]

A morning amusement:

Apparently three Maryland counties wish to secede from Maryland and join West Virginia.

https://www.washingt...-west-virginia/

 

ok, it's a publicity stunt.

 

But I have a question:

 

West Virginia came about during the Civil War. Virginia seceded from the US, and then a portion of Virginia seceded from Virginia and became West Virginia (and stayed in the US). Have there been other instances of such double secession? I realize that there were British colonies in North America, Nova Scotia for example, that did not join the 13 colonies that seceded. But I don't think that counts for what I have in mind. Some colonies seceded, some didn't, but they were at the time individual colonies so this was just different colonies making different choices. Virginia was a state, it seceded, and what became West Virginia was a portion of that state, and it seceded from Virginia. I am trying to think of other instances of such a thing.

 

Yes, I realize this is not a crucial issue.

[y66]

Last night, the “Trump Media and Technology Group” (TMTG) issued a press release announcing the creation of a “rival to the liberal media consortium” which would “fight back against the “Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.” The new social media site was called “Truth Social,” and his team advertised it as the first piece of a media empire that would take its place beside the leaders in the field. Rather than a “tweet,” a statement on the new site would be a “truth,” and the terms of service prohibited criticism of the former president.

 

Within hours the site had been hacked. Then it crashed. It also appears to have been built on open-source software whose developer warned that the Trump social media network might have violated the software company’s licensing rules.

 

Watching Trump’s flailing attempts to create his own media corporation—this is his second attempt—highlights that since 1980, the project of the Republican faction that is now in control of the party has been to take things apart rather than to build them. They have focused on dismantling the government and stopping legislation. It has been a negative project, rather than a positive one, and breaking things takes little of the hard work and creativity that it takes to build things.

 

When those accustomed to breaking things try to build them, they seem to have little idea of how much work it actually takes. They seem to think that actual accomplishments are there for the taking, and that splashy announcements and dramatic actions can solve intricate problems.

[pilowsky]

A morning amusement:

Apparently three Maryland counties wish to secede from Maryland and join West Virginia.

https://www.washingt...-west-virginia/

 

ok, it's a publicity stunt.

 

But I have a question:

 

West Virginia came about during the Civil War. Virginia seceded from the US, and then a portion of Virginia seceded from Virginia and became West Virginia (and stayed in the US). Have there been other instances of such double secession? I realize that there were British colonies in North America, Nova Scotia for example, that did not join the 13 colonies that seceded. But I don't think that counts for what I have in mind. Some colonies seceded, some didn't, but they were at the time individual colonies so this was just different colonies making different choices. Virginia was a state, it seceded, and what became West Virginia was a portion of that state, and it seceded from Virginia. I am trying to think of other instances of such a thing.

 

Yes, I realize this is not a crucial issue.

Would they call themselves "Vermin" or "Marginalia"?

[kenberg]

Would they call themselves "Vermin" or "Marginalia"?

 

How about Marviricks?

[Winstonm]

From the newsletter of world traveler and owner of Rick Steve Tours, Rick Steves:

 

This is already my second trip abroad during COVID, and I continue to be impressed by how effectively Europe is dealing with the pandemic: Vaccination rates are high, and in many countries (including Italy) proof of vaccination is required to dine inside or tour a museum. Masking is simply automatic, anytime anyone goes indoors. These precautions are treated with a no-fuss, no-muss practicality; they are simply routine. And there's a general sense of getting on with life, while making small and reasonable adjustments to everyday behavior to reduce risk to yourself and others.

I wonder what the U.S. looks like from the outside looking in.

[Gilithin]

I wonder what the U.S. looks like from the outside looking in.

An overprivileged child, akin to Joffrey Baratheon.

[pilowsky]

That's easy.

Google Northern Territory Chief Minister's response to Cancun Cruz' stupid tweet.

[Cyberyeti]

An overprivileged child, akin to Joffrey Baratheon.

 

Combined with Augustus Gloop ?

[awm]

I wonder what the U.S. looks like from the outside looking in.

 

Every country has its crazies -- here in Switzerland we are about to have a referendum on the Covid certificate restrictions and we get literature in the mail from the anti-vaccine people (however, the restrictions have over 60% support in the latest polls). I think the difference is that in many parts of the US, the crazies seem to be in charge! I know the insanity of the Texas governor was a point against traveling to the Austin NABC for several people we talked to here.

[pilowsky]

Every country has its crazies -- here in Switzerland we are about to have a referendum on the Covid certificate restrictions and we get literature in the mail from the anti-vaccine people (however, the restrictions have over 60% support in the latest polls). I think the difference is that in many parts of the US, the crazies seem to be in charge! I know the insanity of the Texas governor was a point against traveling to the Austin NABC for several people we talked to here.

 

I think this is a key point.

The proportion of crazies is the same but in the USA the total number is so high that when they are crazier than usual really bad things happen.

[Winstonm]

Every country has its crazies -- here in Switzerland we are about to have a referendum on the Covid certificate restrictions and we get literature in the mail from the anti-vaccine people (however, the restrictions have over 60% support in the latest polls). I think the difference is that in many parts of the US, the crazies seem to be in charge! I know the insanity of the Texas governor was a point against traveling to the Austin NABC for several people we talked to here.

Maybe it’s because in so many areas of the U.S. the minority is in charge

[y66]

Happy to see WCers making a distinction between "the U.S." and "parts of the U.S.".

 

In Portland, Oregon you can see "Dune" in theaters like this one where

 

• staff are vaccinated
  
• patrons must show proof of having been vaccinated
  
• patrons must wear masks when not eating or drinking
  
• ventilation system has been upgraded to include ionization and HEPA filters.
  
• a one seat buffer between groups is maintained
  

“The highest function of ecology is understanding consequences.”

[y66]

This morning [Friday], Jonathan Martin at the New York Times reported that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has warned Republican political consultants that they may not continue to work for both him and Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), who is vice chair of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

 

While Republican lawmakers are trying to sweep the insurrection under the rug, Cheney is calling out the attack and demanding sunlight on what happened. Republican leaders are lining up behind former president Trump in hopes of retaining his loyalist voters, but Cheney is repeatedly, and increasingly clearly, suggesting that the president was responsible for the events of that day.

 

That McCarthy is trying to make her a pariah indicates a fight over the future of the Republican Party. While one fund-raising company has already cut ties with her, Cheney is not operating from a weak position. Her father is Richard (Dick) Cheney, who was President George W. Bush’s vice president and, perhaps more significant for today’s events, President George H. W. Bush’s secretary of defense. The Cheneys are likely not unaware of what is happening among intelligence officials, which seems likely to involve some current Republican lawmakers.

 

And Liz Cheney’s stand against McCarthy and Trump is not hurting her politically at home: she has raised more than $5 million for her reelection, compared to the $300,000 raised in the last two months or so by her Trump-backed opponent.

 

There is an important story behind McCarthy’s attack on Representative Cheney. She presents a threat to the pro-Trump Republican Party not simply because she is standing strong against the former president and the attack on our democracy.

 

She is offering to women and men in the suburbs a reasonable alternative to those pro-Trump representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) whose pistol packing and aggression gets attention for all the wrong reasons. Trump Republicans have lost the support of suburban women, and Cheney seems to be picking them up and explaining that Trump and his supporters, including McCarthy, tried to destroy our democracy. That McCarthy felt it necessary to try to undercut her this way suggests they see her as a major threat.

 

McCarthy had another reason to be unhappy today. Longtime readers of these letters may perhaps remember that McCarthy took money from a Ukraine-born U.S. businessman, Lev Parnas.

 

Parnas worked with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to try to find dirt on Joe Biden’s son Hunter in Ukraine. In 2019, prosecutors said that money was illegal: Parnas had taken $1 million from Ukraine oligarch Dmytro Firtash and had illegally funneled more than $350,000 to pro-Trump political action committees and other Republican lawmakers in 2016.

 

Today, a jury found Parnas guilty of making illegal campaign contributions.

[y66]

Biden could get his approval back above water by invoking the Defense Production Act to greenlight the Dune sequel.

[Winstonm]

Too late for a sci-fi bump - Blade Runner is in the can.

[kenberg]

I am going to ramble a bit. I have been thinking of how divided we are in the USA. Possibly some divisions would lessen if we got to specifics. After a few posts about Critical Race Theory, I decided it means different things to different people and discussing it is pointless. Today I was looking at a Wikipedia article about ethnomathematics.It references something from the Seattle schools system. This gets more specific.

 

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/seattle-schools-lead-controversial-push-to-rehumanize-math/2019/10

 

There is a link to some specific, well fairly specific, suggestions.

 

https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math%20SDS%20ES%20Framework.pdf

 

I thought back about my own school experiences and I am not enthusiastic about the Seattle suggestions.

 

I realize that mathematics is not everyone's cup of tea. But I learned early on, and a good part of that was through school, that I liked it. I also learned that I could do it, but I want to focus on learning that I liked it. In particular, I thought Euclid's idea of developing geometry based on logic and a small set of axioms was brilliant. As for the Pythagorean theorem, the excitement was not that a^2+b^2=c^2, the excitement was that this could be proved. If other cultures also had a proof, I think the Chinese did, for example, that's fine. But who did it first was not my focus.

 

I have no objection to including some information about other cultures but if I had had to agree, for example as an exam question, that Euclidean Geometry is an instance of Western oppression rather than a brilliant development there would have been trouble.

 

My reason for posting this is that it is an actual education plan by a school system. As such, it gets into specifics and people can have thoughts about it. I would expect that Seattle parents have discussed this a fair amount and, very possibly, come to some workable version. I hope so. Discussing CRT can go on forever w/o any progress. Discussing what will go into a course on Algebra or Geometry is specific enough so that people can share ideas and hopefully make progress.

 

We need to get back to sharing thoughts without calling each other names.

[hrothgar]

wrt to the Seattle math curriculum discussion...

 

I agree that this all seems kind silly.

But then again - and I am being deadly serious about this - I'm a rich white male.

 

The primary claim that the folks who are authoring this seem to be making is that many students feel alienated from the subject material.

 

It's great that Ken gets excited that you can prove the Pythagorean theorem.

I even remember how to do this.

 

But in this case, we're in the minority.

 

And, I think that the opinion of folks who have spent their lifetime studying who students learn (or don't learn) has a lot more bearing here.

[kenberg]

Richard's response is the sort of discussion I think could be useful.

 

Certainly, some people don't like math. And I very much believe that much of math is of no use to many people.

 

Still.

 

Growing up, I was white and male, still am. I was not at all rich and I did not come from an even remotely academic family.

The point is that I was not going to be finding my way in mathematics from parental guidance.

 

Guiding people who couldn't care less about why a^2+b^2=c^2 is not only fine with me I think it is important. But this can be done without dumping on those of us who like it. it was a problem 70 years ago also, although in a different way. My high school Spanish teacher, Mrs. Kukler, explained to me when I was 14 that I should go easy on such things because no girl wants to be Mrs. Einstein. This was an explicit statement of a view that often came across. My mother once said wistfully "I know you are not like other boys". It was not meant as a compliment.

 

I am fine with taking care of those who do not like math as long as they don't dump on those of us who do like it. We are not trying to oppress anyone and I had no problem finding girls to date.

 

I would be very interested in hearing how this is playing out in Seattle.

 

Short version: Help people without slamming other people.

[Elianna]

I wonder if I read the framework differently than other people, for no other reason than I'm a math teacher, and used to reading these frameworks with an eye of how they can be implemented. I don't mean to say that my understanding of math is better, but more, what these kind of things actually mean for student learning.

 

First and foremost, frameworks like this are not usually treated as proscriptive, i.e. "you must lecture on this at every moment". They're more aspirational, i.e. "we would like students to be able to be exposed to material about this, and form their own answers about it, in a guided method."

 

Because I'll tell you honestly, right now, many students already have answers to essential questions asked, based on what they learned in current math classes, and the answers are wrong because the classes left things out.

 

For example, for the question "Who is a Mathematician", I would be shocked if most students didn't say "an old white guy with funny hair", unless they were influenced by more modern stereotypes and say "nerdy white guy who can't talk to women".

 

The goal of this framework is for the students to say "me". As that was always my goal when teaching, I fully support it, this framework just elaborates on some of the related questions.

 

I mean, that last column is absolutely essential, and I would be shocked if any mathematician didn't think about and answer those questions for themselves at one point in their lives. The problem is that non-mathematicians look at a question like "How can math be used to communicate information?" or "Can I use mathematics to comprehend my everyday life?" and answer "uhhhhh..." and "oh goodness no!", and we (the teaching establishment) not only feel that we need to change that, but also that by changing the answers to those questions, also increase a student's interest in and capacity to learn math more fluently.

 

Lastly, I'll conclude by saying that instead of "dumping" on those who like math, this is an attempt to create MORE people who like math.

[Winstonm]

I found this story interesting as the movie is one of my favorites.

 

 

Thanks to the popular 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, many Americans know of the success that Jaime Escalante and his students enjoyed at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. During the 1980s, that exceptional teacher at a poor public school built a calculus program rivaled by only a handful of exclusive academies.

 

It is less well-known that Escalante left Garfield after problems with colleagues and administrators, and that his calculus program withered in his absence. That untold story highlights much that is wrong with public schooling in the United States and offers some valuable insights into the workings—and failings—of our education system.

 

[kenberg]

Jaime Escalante showed what a person with exceptional dedication can accomplish. Hiring only those teachers whose dedication matches his is not a practical solution, there would be two few to fill the faculty at one school. Asking for competence and serious effort is reasonable, asking for a clone of Escalante is setting yourself up for extreme disappointment. I am not agreeing here that he was the God-like figure that he was portrayed as, but my understanding is that he was very good.

 

Maybe things are going great in Seattle, I have tried a bit of an internet search but have not had much success. For the moment. I will just say that as a student I liked some of my classes, not others, and a class that went along the lines described would, I am pretty sure, be one of those others. In Geometry, we concentrated on proving theorems, doing geometric constructions, solving problems. Perhaps that's what they do in Seattle. It didn't sound that way to me.

 

 

It would be interesting to see what goes into assigned homework and exams. I really think a lot of quarrels could disappear, or at least be calmed, when we get down to details and specifics. Perhaps it's fine.

[pilowsky]

There are many important differences between mathematics and literature (for example).

Some people enjoy the process of problem-solving. That is, they enjoy seeing a problem and then achieving a satisfactory solution to it.

Literature is different. It can be enjoyed passively. No intellectual effort is needed to be entertained. Filmed entertainment is the same.

Feynman wrote that the thing that he enjoyed most about research was the sensation of realising that he understood something that nobody else in the world knew or understood.

The sensation that Feynman describes is common to many people engaged in research.

Such people could, if that was what floated their boat, solve already known problems and associate different bits of knowledge in order to make more money, but that is not what attracts people to engage in research.

 

I suspect that this is the real reason that Tony Fauci is livid and shaking with rage when someone like Rand Paul says things that are obviously wrong.

It offends his sense of truth and knowledge.

Or as Maxwell Smart put it:

Agent 99:

Oh, Max, how terrible.

 

Maxwell Smart:

He deserved it, 99. He was a KAOS killer.

Agent 99:

Sometimes I wonder if we're any better, Max.

 

Maxwell Smart:

What are you talking about, 99? We have to shoot and kill and destroy. We represent everything that's wholesome and good in the world.