Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 5:30:48 AM

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Good morning.  Someone please tell me how this makes any f**king sense:

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/officials-paddleboarder-arrested-at-malibu-pier-for-flouting-state-stay-at-home-order/

PaladinPhil 4/3/2020 6:14:23 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

About as much sense as enforcing social distancing up here with large fines. There are rumours of a large scale full lockdown happening in Ontario. Premier Ford is going to be releasing modelling information today to show how bad things are looking for us and what he's basing his responses on. This whole mess is going to take months to sort out.

PaladinPhil 4/3/2020 6:17:13 AM

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vxbush 4/3/2020 6:19:07 AM

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In #1 Occasional Reader said: Good morning.  Someone please tell me how this makes any f**king sense: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/officials-paddleboarder-arrested-at-malibu-pier-for-flouting-state-stay-at-home-order/

I believe the correct answer is: it doesn't. This might get back to your comment yesterday about what shelter in place means, but a lot of police force folks are interpreting it to mean, "No one can be outside, period." As if everyone suddenly became allergic to the sun. 

Morning to you, and all others. 

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 6:32:18 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 4:

as was pointed out on the Instapundit thread from where I got the story, this paddleboarder was doing a perfectly wonderful job of social distancing, until sheriffs deputies showed up and got in his face and then probably hauled him into a police station full of people.

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 6:41:59 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 6:55:41 AM

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Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 7:06:22 AM

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In #7 buzzsawmonkey said: Are we all antifa now, since everyone's wearing masks?

No, because we're also all keeping exceptionally clean.

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 7:07:08 AM

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We should all write to Zoom to complain about their privacy protection deficiencies.

Write Zoom!
z double oh em
Box 250
Boston Mass
Ohhh two onnne three fouuur
Send it to Zoom!

/dating myself

vxbush 4/3/2020 7:07:10 AM

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In #6 Occasional Reader said: Do the rest of you get that same phenomenon I do, where you wake up in the morning, for a moment you feel perfectly fine, then you remember everything that’s happening, and your heart just kind of stinks a little.

Stinks, or sinks? 

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 7:09:54 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

I haven't gotten on Zoom yet, but I was just told of some group of Jews that was holding a "virtual minyan," and it got "bombed" by a bunch of Jew-haters posting comments.

vxbush 4/3/2020 7:17:37 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 7:41:06 AM

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They were going on and on about the difficulties of teaching what with the schools closed and all---mostly talking about the elementary and high schools, as opposed to colleges.

The main thing was the whining about how so many of these public-school students apparently don't have computer access.  Well, given that most kiddies today cut their teeth on a cell phone instead of a binkie, I find that, shall we say, hard to believe on its face.  But, say that it's true in some instances.  Are there no historic examples of how teachers managed to continue instruction during the TB scares, flu epidemics, and polio scares of the past?  Are all these teachers so ignorant, so lacking in any concept of checking out the historical record, that they are really caught totally flatfooted and devoid of ideas unless their kiddies are stocked with the newest electronic devices?

vxbush 4/3/2020 7:43:04 AM

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In #13 buzzsawmonkey said:  Are there no historic examples of how teachers managed to continue instruction during the TB scares, flu epidemics, and polio scares of the past?  Are all these teachers so ignorant, so lacking in any concept of checking out the historical record, that they are really caught totally flatfooted and devoid of ideas unless their kiddies are stocked with the newest electronic devices?

I think the answer is a very clear "yes". 

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 7:47:42 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 10:

Sigh.

Sinks, of course.

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 7:49:20 AM

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In #13 buzzsawmonkey said: Are all these teachers so ignorant, so lacking in any concept of checking out the historical record, that they are really caught totally flatfooted and devoid of ideas unless their kiddies are stocked with the newest electronic devices?

The current generation of teachers have never "studied" anything much beyond educational theory which teaches them that America is evil and that's about it.  They know nothing and are, in my experience trying to teach the fuckers, largely incurious about anything beyond reality TV and partying.  

JCM 4/3/2020 7:52:57 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

Email from legal just a few minutes telling us not to use Zoom because of the security issues.

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 7:59:24 AM

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Reply to JCM in 18:

Use Boom instead.

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 7:59:37 AM

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In #18 JCM said: Email from legal

Than you can trust it; because lawyers never lie, and we're always right. 

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 8:02:55 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 13:

DC schools are doing a decent job of at least doing some amount of distance-teaching.  They have online stuff, and also prepared dead-tree packets for pickup, which I did with Little OR on Monday.

That said; the stuff in the "homework" packet it shockingly simple for Little OR.  It's supposed to be for this week and next; he flew through it in about an hour.  So I'm trying to juggle other learning activities that are more up his alley, with work, etc.  Fortunately, if left to his own devices, his default mode is... doing math problems.  

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 8:04:21 AM

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If I were stuck teaching one or more children at home, I would give them an assignment of looking up somewhere between two and five words a day from a given letter of the alphabet in a classic unabridged dictionary---their choice of words---and making a "report" on the words they'd chosen.  We'd work our way through the alphabet and start again.   Probably give them reading assignments from O. Henry, Twain, and Saki, too, as well as assign a novel, as a longer reading assignment, and some poetry---all of which we'd discuss.

Math and history might be a problem, but I'm fortunate in having some old math books from the late 19th/early 20th centuries that could probably provide something, and I'm sure there's some history books lying around somewhere.

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 8:09:28 AM

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In #22 buzzsawmonkey said: I would give them an assignment of looking up somewhere between two and five words a day from a given letter of the alphabet in a classic unabridged dictionary-

Actually, Little OR started spontaneously leafing through my (abridged) OED yesterday afternoon, and asking me about different words. 

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 8:10:03 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 21:

Speaking of "dead tree" packets, I used to have some "Jackdaw Folders" that I got from England.  I don't know if they still exist, but it might be worth an online search.   They'd choose an historical incident---I had ones that dealt with the Gunpowder Plot and one that dealt with the Plague and Fire of London---and would include facsimiles of documents and handbills from the period, as well as a basic reading and some followup teaching questions.  

The fun of the packets was that the facsimiles gave one a sense of actually handling things "from" the period, even though they were only copies.  Wonderful way to make history come alive.  I still remember the old couplet from the Plague and Fire packet:

In Sixteen Hundred and Sixty-Five,

There was hardly anyone left alive.

In Sixteen Hundred and Sixty-Six,

London burned like rotten sticks.

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 8:11:16 AM

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In #23 Occasional Reader said: Actually, Little OR started spontaneously leafing through my (abridged) OED yesterday afternoon, and asking me about different words. 

Good on him!  That's great! 

Occasional Reader 4/3/2020 8:15:23 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 25:

He is astonishingly curious.  He basically wants to learn and decode everything.  

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 8:17:30 AM

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JCM 4/3/2020 8:27:54 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

HAH!

Since we're in the Satellite business, we're under ITAR, EAR as well as project confidentiality and corporate rules.

JCM 4/3/2020 8:30:01 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 13:

What PISSES me off is in our district all the homework is done online anyway.

Instruction was in class but assignments and turn was online.

It STILL took them 3 weeks to figure out how to do school online.

Since the boys hit high school I've decided school districts are the last refuge of the incompetent.

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 8:47:53 AM

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Having found that Jackdaw is, apparently, still in business in some form, I'd urge that folks here check them out if they have kids, or know someone who has kids---and also consider that such materials might make really good gifts, if you're looking to give "educational" gifts.  As I said upthread, when I was a kid the sense of immediacy that such materials provide really makes history come alive---and it seems to me that history gets short shrift these days in the normal educational channels.

Note: Most of you probably know this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway; the reason these things were called "Jackdaws" is that jackdaws are the packrats and hoarders of the avian world, famous for picking up and stashing weird little odds and ends that you wouldn't think a bird would be interested in.  I admire the humor and allusion in the name.

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 8:49:25 AM

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lucius septimius 4/3/2020 8:57:36 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 30: 

I have tens of thousands of historical documents if anyone's kids want to read them and transcribe them for me.

doppelganglander 4/3/2020 9:11:09 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 11:

I use Zoom at least once or twice a day. When the meeting originates from corporate,  I have to log off the excessively vigilant VPN, negating any security features. When it's just my two teammates and me, I organize the meetings with my free account. No disruptions so far, but I won't be surprised if there are.

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 9:11:54 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 9:20:56 AM

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In #32 lucius septimius said: I have tens of thousands of historical documents if anyone's kids want to read them and transcribe them for me.

Heh.  Speaking of which, time to bring back copybooks with headings for practicing penmanship---and, incidentally, learning useful adages.

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 9:34:29 AM

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In #34 lucius septimius said: Another rejection letter today. 

Phooey.  Sorry to hear it.  

Time that we created the "RudeBridge University" online, using the assembled braintrust of general and computer knowledge here arrayed.

Syrah 4/3/2020 9:59:46 AM

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If I apply for this “forgivable” loan and it is forgiven, does that count against my credit score? How is a forgiven loan not a default?

Am I wrong in thinking that applying for a loan that “may” be forgiven depending on the approval of a deep state bureaucrat, is high risk?

I have one minimum wage employee. Why would I not be better off to lay the employee off and just restart whenever this thing is over?

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 10:00:40 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 10:05:31 AM

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In #37 Syrah said: If I apply for this “forgivable” loan and it is forgiven, does that count against my credit score? How is a forgiven loan not a default?

Hello!  Mad-Man Moody here, at the Hogwarts Magic Credit and Easy Loan company!  In my Defense Against the Dark Financial Arts class, you'll learn all about the Unforgiveable Curses Forgivable Loans, how to make them work for you, and how to defend against them!  Abracadabra!

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 1:27:08 PM

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vxbush 4/3/2020 1:30:24 PM

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In #40 buzzsawmonkey said: Wouldn't Lady Macbeth™ be a great name for a hand sanitizer?

You would have to use the following image on the artwork of the bottle. John Singer Sargent. 

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 1:42:31 PM

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Meanwhile, social distancing for professionals.

PaladinPhil 4/3/2020 1:45:42 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 1:58:02 PM

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News - the following message was received by world leaders about COVID-19

buzzsawmonkey 4/3/2020 2:10:30 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 41:

I love the picture, but she ain't washin' her hands!

JCM 4/3/2020 2:15:04 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 42:

3x6000 rpm

18,000 rpm

300 rps

$300 a second to keep people off the lawn.

lucius septimius 4/3/2020 2:19:56 PM

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Reply to JCM in 46:

Steep, but they stay gone.

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 2:21:32 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 44:

Mao-be this one is better

Syrah 4/3/2020 3:33:13 PM

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Is there some requirement for the Whitehouse Press Corp member’s to be completely unaware of the responsibilities of state’s versus the responsibilities of the federal government?

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 3:38:38 PM

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In #49 Syrah said: Is there some requirement for the Whitehouse Press Corp member’s to be completely unaware of the responsibilities of state’s versus the responsibilities of the federal government?

"Journalists" have no requirement to be aware, just woke.

(BTW. I have to find the article. The Saudi "Journalist" Kashoggi was barely literate in English and his articles were ghostwritten.)

Syrah 4/3/2020 3:40:37 PM

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Are these Corona Virus press briefings making the President look good, or are they making the media look bad?

Trump’s answers aren’t all that good, but he does call the media people out for being stupid and for playing stupid gotcha games.

Thinking back on all of those years when Republican Presidents and leaders were afraid to confront and challenge the media for fear of hurting the feelings of media people and Democrats, versus how much success Trump has when he fights back, even when he fights back badly, I hope the lesson is clear to future Republican leaders. Fight damn it! Fight!

Syrah 4/3/2020 3:50:21 PM

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Syrah 4/3/2020 3:51:00 PM

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Reply to Syrah in 52:

i don’t know how I did that.

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 3:51:28 PM

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Syrah 4/3/2020 3:51:50 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 3:53:05 PM

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Reply to Syrah in 53:

Sometimes posts just have formatting in them, so the "isEmpty()" function says the post isn't empty and it gets posted. Not trivial to fix. (I didn't write the editor so changing the scripting is not easy)

Syrah 4/3/2020 3:59:53 PM

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Reply to Syrah in 55:

yes, it is true, I would like voters to have some idea of what they are voting for and against, I just wish that autocorrect would understand that voter “Id” does not need to be corrected to voter idea. 

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 4:03:30 PM

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I just belatedly filled in the census

How unwoke! It only had two genders, and did not ask which you identified with!

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 4:32:53 PM

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So now we are supposed to wear face coverings in public. So what happens when I go into the bank with this kerchief?

Doesn't matter, my bank is drive-up teller only now.

Syrah 4/3/2020 4:46:14 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 59:

We are all ANTIFA now.  

Kosh's Shadow 4/3/2020 4:53:42 PM

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In #60 Syrah said: We are all ANTIFA now.  

Except we don't poop on police cars.

(I have to go into work 2 or so days a week, and I figure that's when I get to use their toilet paper)