Saturday, February 29, 2020

LEAP DAY! / So. Carolina!

So cruel that Leap Year always falls in a Presidential Election Year!
And did you know that February 30th was a real date? (click!)

Oh yeah, and today is the South Carolina primary!
Charleston, South Carolina photo by Pat Tokuyama



43 comments:

  1. Axios: “If Biden wins South Carolina commandingly, he lives to fight on Super Tuesday, three days from now. But if Sanders manages to even come close, it’ll fuel his juggernaut.” Juggernaut?!

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    1. *sigh* They just won't let up with the slams, will they?

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    2. I seem to be detecting a negative reaction to "juggernaut," so I looked up the definition: "a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path an advertising juggernaut a political juggernaut." I don't see anything there that would constitute a slam.

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    3. I think it's the negative connotation of "crushes" that hangs in the air, as to suggest that it destroys something.

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    4. Juggernaut \Jug"ger*naut`\, n. [Skr. jagann[=a]tha lord of the
      world.]
      1. One of the names under which Vishnu, in his incarnation as
      Krishna, is worshiped by the Hindus. See also Jagannath.
      [Written also Juggernnath, Jaganath, Jagannath,
      Jaganatha, Jagannatha, etc.]
      [1913 Webster]


      Note: The principal seat of the worship of Juggernaut
      (Jagannath) is at P[^u]ri in Orissa. At certain times
      the idol is drawn from the temple by the multitude, on
      a high car with sixteen wheels. The idol is considered
      to contain the bones of Krishna and to possess a soul.
      The principal festivals are the Snanayatra, when the
      idol is bathed, and the Rathayatra, when the image is
      drawn upon a car adorned with obscene paintings.
      Formerly it was erroneously supposed that fanatical
      devotees threw themselves under the wheels of this car,
      to be crushed as a sacrifice to the god. It is now
      known that any death within the temple of Jagannath is
      considered to render the place unclean, and any
      spilling of blood in the presence of the idol is a
      pollution. As a result of this erroneous belief,
      however, the word juggernaut is now used principally
      in the figurative sense 2.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

      2. Any large, unstoppable force, power, or popular movement
      which defeats or destroys any person who gets in its way
      or attempts to stop it; as, for years the Notre Dame
      football team was an unstoppable juggernaut; after the
      early primaries, Johnson's campaign became a juggernaut,
      crushing all rivals.

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  2. Biden Rambles at Town Hall Meeting [Click] I honestly don’t think the man is all there any more.

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  3. A Tiny, Lab-Size Wormhole Could Shatter Our Sense of Reality [Click] “How scientists plan to set up two black holes and a wormhole on an ordinary tabletop.”

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    1. Thanks, Alan. I'll definitely have to read that one!

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    2. Fascinating, especially since wormholes are routinely used in science fiction to allow apparently faster-than-light travel. But I don't understand what the next-to-last paragraph says about impacts of theoretical physics and the article makes no effort to explain.

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    3. My understanding of theoretical Physics is sketchy at best, but it looked to me like the article writer doesn't have a firm grasp on it either. It would be helpful if such experiments could, for instance, be used to explore String Theory, though.

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    4. I am reminded of a science fiction story I read a long time ago and only partially remember. It was set in a time when ocean levels had risen to the extent that Britain was only a collection of small islands (mountain peaks) off the coast of Europe and what was beneath the waves was forgotten. Scientists had made a nuclear reactor that had some sort of problem, and upon inspection it was discovered that there were small holes in the bottom of the containment vessel. They deduced that the reactor had produced tiny black holes that were subsequently drawn into the center of the earth by gravitational attraction. How they dealt with that problem I do not recall. It was interesting, though!

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  4. SC Live Results page at Vox [Click] Ready to go when results are released.

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  5. Re the number of days in February: If I remember correctly, February started out with thirty days, as did all other months. But, when the Roman calendar was being revised Julius Caesar wanted the month named for him to be longer than all the others. So, he took a day from February. Not to be outdone, Augustus then wanted the month named for him to have thirty-one days too and, again, a day was taken from February.

    Mind you, though I know I read this somewhere, exactly where that might have been escapes me.

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  6. Has anyone read anything that tells how long the Covid-19 virus generally lasts once you catch it? Is it a week? Two? Or?

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    1. I haven't read anything specific, but people who caught it 2 or 3 weeks ago are now recovering.

      As a technical point that most of the media get wrong, the virus is SARS-CoV-2. CoVid-19 is the disease it causes.

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    2. Right. Thanks, Bill. I was going to make that point if you hadn't.

      IIUC corinavrus is a class of viruses. SARS was caused by a corinavrus virus. Don't know why the cable news channels can't get that right.

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  7. I note that the polls in SC close in about 3/4 of an hour....

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  8. The only thing I've read so far is that they recommend a three week self-quarantine.

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  9. I just returned from a walk, and I noticed something very odd. Our neighbor(s) across the street had had for some time three political yard signs; one pro-Trump ["It's your choice: Trump or Socailsm"], one for Devin Nunes, and one for the Republican candidate for Mayor of Fresno [note: we are very near but not actually inside Fresno]. Today I saw that all three yard signs had gone missing. It looks like the front lawn was recently mowed, but the signs are not stacked to one side ready to be reinstalled. Another neighbor's Nunes sign remains, but their Republican for Mayor sign disappeared several days ago.

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    1. “Better a socialist than a sociopath.”

      (~ inspired by Holly*J from the Dean blog.)

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  10. I have seen two tallies of SC results: Vox at 1.3% reporting, NYT at about 10%. There was a significant but not stupendous shift toward Bernie between the first and second tallies.

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    1. Interesting. Sis told me quite early in the evening that Biden had taken the state, winning all counties.

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  11. With 44% reporting:

    Biden 50%
    Bernie 19%

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  12. Steyer is about to announce that he is dropping out.

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    1. Not a surprise. Wonder when, or if, Gabbard will drop out?

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  13. Looks like Biden got the firewall he wanted and so desperately needed.

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    1. What does that firewall really mean? He will end the night with a few more delegates than Bernie. But Tuesday is coming.

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    2. Bernie remains the leader in delegates after SC. But there are not many delegates selected yet. From the looks of the polls, it could be that Bernie gets all of California's delegates.

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    3. What the firewall means is that Biden still looks like a viable candidate. People who think he is the best choice still have reason to go to the polls and vote for him. Whether that will still be true Wednesday is another question.

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    4. Exactly. If he had come in anywhere other than first or second, he might have looked like a less attractive choice to voters who have yet to cast their ballots. With a decisive win in SC, he now may seem more attractive to more voters, which potentially means winning more states.

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  14. With 72% reporting:

    Biden 49.7%
    Bernie 19.3%

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  15. With 99% reporting:

    Biden 48.4%
    Bernie 19.9%

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  16. Currently showing:

    Biden: 48.45%
    Sanders: 19.91
    Steyer: 11.34

    Steyer came in third with double digits, far better than any of the remaining candidates. Dropping out now doesn't make sense to me. As I said before, it's Gabbard who should bow out if anyone, with 1.28%, her worst showing yet.

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    1. Yes, it makes no sense for Gabbard to continue. But Steyer threw everything he had into South Carolina and still didn't make the cut. If his best effort couldn't get him a single delegate, what are his chances?

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