Here and There #41
Horses, politics, immigration, mobs, computing, education
First, thanks to all of you who took the little poll last time around. I’ll work at keeping this thing going, although I never want to feel it as pressure. Merna frequently tells me about such things, “Don’t should on yourself.”1
The estimable Peter Greene, who follows all things K-12 education (and beyond) has an update on the disastrous situation in Oklahoma. You may remember that the state Superintendent of Education decreed that every student in public schools needed to be supplied with a Bible and then proceeded to more or less require that it be the Trump Bible. Now this man who knows little about education is arguing that school superintendents should be elected rather than hired by the local school board. In other words, let’s just make public education even more political!
Social media pointed me to this essay by a British economist on whether those who oppose populist demands to “lower immigration” should follow in the populists’ tracks to oppose them. “The politics of stupid [my emphasis] is believing that the way to deal with Farage or Trump type populism is to do what Farage or Trump happens to be shouting about at the time.” The piece is about British politics and economics, but with references to U.S. issues. Another quotation to lure you in: “The second type are voters who mistakenly think that problems like finding it difficult to see a doctor or buy a house are because of immigration. Cutting immigration is only likely to make those problems worse, by stopping doctors or construction workers coming to the UK.” Same here.
Quantum computing. I can write those words, and I read about it, but I can’t say that I deeply understand it. Apparently, some people do, and here’s an article about a substantial (so they say) major advancement. “To demonstrate, researchers performed a benchmark calculation using Willow [a Google quantum computer] in about five minutes. In contrast, a supercomputer would take 714 trillion times longer than the age of the universe, which is about 14 billion years old, to perform the same computation.” OK, I can’t wrap my brain around that.
“One man’s freedom fighter/patriot is another man’s terrorist.” This is an old truism that’s worth hanging onto, because definitions of these terms are very much determined by where one stands. In a recent review article, Adam Gopnik takes on the terms “rampaging mob” and “righteous protest” to suggest something similar: that perspective makes all the difference. (Link is to a PDF, because the original is behind a paywall.)
This article is about horses and horse training but in reality about much, much more. You don’t have to be a “horse-person” to gain something by reading the article. (The link is a gift link.)
Are restrictive abortion laws affecting women’s health care? Yes, at least in some respects. Apparently, ob-gyns are leaving states such as Texas and Idaho and young doctors-in-training aren’t recruiting well to go to those states, either—especially to regions that are poorer. A study in how it’s going several years in (PDF, because the article is pay-walled).
Kristen Kobes DuMez today posted on her substack reflections from 2 others who attended the 2024 Election Postmortem event at Notre Dame last weekend. I had summarized the content of the day-long event in my post this past Monday, and the 2 other attendees’ comments are more reflective and therefore very helpful. Take a look.
I follow Jonathan V. Last (of The Bulwark) in part because he seems to me to be more principled than many political commenters. I fear that he’s got his finger on something only too real in his latest. A taste: “America has changed and the majority of voters are no longer motivated by wanting progress for themselves. Instead they’re motivated primarily by anger that out-groups [my emphasis—JEE]—the people they do not like—might be succeeding or getting some sort of benefits.” Link is to a PDF to avoid a paywall.
Enough for now; perhaps some one of these will be of value to you.
Yes, the verb is perfectly good and sometimes necessary; but she knows me well and the habits I’ve developed, or that have been ingrained in me, in the course of many years.