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RICHARD COFER

Lunar Occultation of Jupiter (Egress)

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Posts Made By: James Brown

January 28, 2021 04:18 AM Forum: Politics

Are you ready for this rabbit hole?

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll



Copy that. It would have taken Greg only a few minutes to type in the link to the article.
grin gringrin

I don't want you to think that no one gets your jokes!  I am starting to despair about Rich getting mine.  That is too bad, because my jokes riffing off of his earlier post ("broken p" and "nice brownstone" ) are particularly funny!

Jim  

January 28, 2021 04:43 AM Forum: Politics

Covid-19 data and graphs

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

What we're seeing is post-holiday surge of cases petering out. That's been expected so no surprises there. For red states, I focus on two: Idaho and Utah. The former is home to the anti-masker movement and "retired" ex police and fire who are there because their pensions, "disability" and otherwise, aren't taxed and they're redneck Republicans. Utah is arguably the most conservative state in the country. Both states have been hammered with covid cases and deaths relative to their populations. If behavioral characteristics are noteworthy, these two states are the ones to watch...
Let's look at Idaho and Utah - If these states are poster children for how not to do it - I'm going to get really optimistic.  Idaho's infection rate is in free fall.  Utah is way down.  Both from peaks well before the holidays.  Also, their hospital and ICU availability looks good.  My guess is that there is more going on than any holiday surge petering out.  In both states the rise to a peak started and marched inexorably up up up from September.  Now it is going down fast.  All graphs from Johns Hopkins.

Jim

January 28, 2021 05:22 AM Forum: Politics

Covid-19 data and graphs

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

I keep looking at daily trends, First, Utah:  "Another 2,009 COVID-19 cases and seven additional deaths were reported Wednesday by the Utah Department of Health.
There have been 340,684 positive cases in the state since the pandemic began last March and just under 2 million people have been tested for the virus in the state, including 10,156 since Tuesday. The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 1,758 per day and 18.44% for percent of positive laboratory tests." That's not reason to be optimistic.
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/1/27/22252903/coronavirus-state-covid-19-toll-sees-2000-new-cases-seven-deaths-new-salt-lake-mobile-clinic
Idaho: The positivity rate in Idaho led the country in October. I believe that to be a consequence of their lifestyle. Here's an explanation for the current decline in cases from a pathologist in Idaho: https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/idaho-how-covid-19-cases-are-dropping/277-5b3b5a62-600f-42c3-b8b3-9a1af8034c93
The Idaho pathologist's outlook is exceptionally optimistic.  Let's hope these declines continue for whatever reason.

One interesting take-away from the John's Hopkins data - you Californians need to build some more hospitals or continue to shed people.  I think that part of the difference between you and Russ's more pessimistic outlook and my less pessimistic outlook might be based in where we reside.  Or preside.  Or whatever... cool

Jim

January 28, 2021 05:33 AM Forum: Politics

Politics Forum Explained.

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by David Cotterell
What makes me sad is that these core beliefs are so very much further apart than they were half a century ago....

Dave
Good insight and 100% correct on your main Bertrand Russell point, Dave.  It is funny that some don't get it, or refuse to apply these maxims to themselves.  

I suppose you are correct about 50 years ago, that the past was better is always the conventional wisdom.  Although that time frame puts us right in the very early 70's which were really part of the late 60s - an extremely contentious time in the US at least.  I don't want to nit-pick the dates of course, my point is that social cohesion and polarization ebb and flow through history.  I think we have gone through a highly polarized time in the US, starting way before Trump.  I'm optimistic to think that this is not permanent and that less polarized times are ahead.  

Can't predict when though!  shocked    


Jim

January 28, 2021 05:34 AM Forum: Politics

Politics Forum Explained.

Posted By James Brown

Hi Rich:

Nothing to disagree with there...  (bada bing!)

January 28, 2021 05:47 AM Forum: Politics

Are you ready for this rabbit hole?

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer


No its not totally wrecked yet.....but it certainly on its way and is going to get a LOT worse and not all that slowly. And yes I believe that is a potential future we are mapping out for ourselves. If you dont see that this republic is in decline you are deluding yourself. We will continue to prop the rest of the world up to our own detriment if the current administration has its way.....They have already proven in less than a month that the Constitution and BOR means nothing to them, at least any part of it that restricts them from doing whatever they wish.
I do see a decline, in certain aspects of the Republic, but there is such great progress in other aspects.  I see the decline primarily in a failure of leadership by the national parties.  Both of 'em.  In other words I don't think the leadership of either party stacks up to the founders or the leadership of either party in the 20th century.   But then again, we have not had to face a world war, so maybe the times make the leader?

On the other hand, technology and our still robust economy have provided such ongoing benefits.  Think about what we spend our money on now as opposed to 100 years ago.  Fancy grills and the like.  These are very good times from a historical perspective.  Obviously the rich have every creature comfort imaginable.  The poor are not starving in the streets as they did just a few generations ago.   

Like I just mentioned to Dave, in another thread, human nature makes the past always seems "better," even when it is demonstrably not.  Pick any point in history, more than 100 years ago, and try to imagine the living conditions for the rich, the poor, and any middle class living then being demonstrably "better" than what we experience now.

Jim

January 28, 2021 05:57 AM Forum: Politics

Politics Forum Explained.

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Check my posting. Its right there at 2:29, and you post 4 minutes later at 2:33  saying you can't find it.

I knew you were blind, but I didn't know you were this blind.  LOL  tongue
God you are humorless.  And you are also kind of a liar -  in a small and petty way. 

That is why I took a screen capture of your empty post.  Check it out in the image - there is nothing between the quote from Dave and the "quote" button.   You posted an empty reply - we've all done it.

The fact that you later (after I posted) edited your empty reply to add content arguably spoils my joke.  Still, if you are going to play the "are you blind" card you ought to have noticed that your post now says edited at 2:36.  

January 28, 2021 07:35 AM Forum: Politics

Politics Forum Explained.

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

No, I'm pretty much full of humor.  I laugh at your nonsense. 

I guess you missed the laughing face I put up, but hey no big deal.

I did get a kick out of one of your responses (to yourself), when you professed how funny your very own jokes are.  I did get a chuckle out of that.

As for anything else you have to say, I'm actually not interested.  Guys like yourself who never stand up against any sort of tyranny by the left and seem rather content and even satisfied with the contempt that the leftist Democrats are showing towards our Constitution, really aren't worth having any sort of discussion with.

How does the old phrase go?  I think its something like this:  Evil can only prosper when good men do nothing.  That kind of fits you perfectly in my opinion.

I don't recall the last time or any time that you spoke out against the corruption of the left.  In fact was there any posting in the last 4 years that you actually initiated that spoke against even one of their agenda items?  

I don't recall you saying one word about them when they passed their evil law, permitting abortion in NY State, up until the moment of birth.

Did you initiate any posting that spoke out against their rotten sales of baby parts to the highest bidder when Planned Parenthood was caught on video doing it?  

I don't recall it.

Did you initiate a posting to speak out against their unlawful previous attempt to throw Donald Trump out of office via an unlawful impeachment one year ago?

I don't recall it. 

Did you initiate a posting when they were burning down this nation last summer, while we all had to sit by and watch?

I don't recall it.

Have you ever initiated a posting talking of the murders by Black Lives Matter?  

I don't recall it.  

So spare me your indignation counselor, all you ever do is make sure you don't offend your buddies here on the left.  You've never taken a principled stance against anyone on the left here.

You strike me as having not one principled bone in your body, but that's ok because I'm certain that you feel exactly the same way about me.

So we're even.  smile

P.S. You even supported the corruption of the election by all the mail in voting that you said was "no big deal".  You liked it. Why?  Because lazy people like anything that's easy.  I gave all the reasons why mail in voting was SO dangerous and you laughed it off.

We saw what the leftists did at the state court level, when they violated the US Constitution and went ahead and superceded the legislatures who are entitled Via the US Constitution to SET the RULES regarding their voting methods, and yet Courts in several States just went ahead and with a wave of their hands permitted ILLEGAL votes to be counted, not only permitted it but ORDERED the ILLEGAL votes to be counted. 

And what did we hear from guys like you?  Oh, maybe there WAS fraud but it wasn't enough to overturn the election. 

Well isn't THAT a HELL of a standard. Unless there is sufficient numbers or percentages of FRAUD in our VERY ELECTION system to change the outcome, FRAUD is Okie Dokie with guys like yourself, those guys who claim to be STAUNCH Defenders of the Constitution.

If the election was swayed by 100,000 votes, and it appears that only 90,000 can be shown initially to be fraudulent, it doesn't matter, because it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the election. 

And what is your response to all the fraud which was summarily dismissed by leftist courts all over the place?

You didn't give a damn, and those of us who did give a damn because we're concerned ABOUT the integrity of our election system?

Why you mocked us. 

Typical you.  wink
That is a lot of words to use when not denying that you lied to the forum in a small and petty way.  Jim

January 28, 2021 07:47 AM Forum: Politics

Politics Forum Explained.

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Oh OK, I'll deny it right now.  Anything else counselor?   smile
That is informative.

January 28, 2021 07:49 AM Forum: Politics

Are you ready for this rabbit hole?

Posted By James Brown

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer


Not to rain on your usual rationalizations James but nothing you said convinces me I am reading things wrong.....Lets revisit this conversation in 6 months and see how the cookie is crumbling then smile
Of course - we almost certainly will revisit these issues!  Hopefully for many years to come.

Jim