Sometimes very active discussions about peripheral issues overwhelm a thread, so this is a permanent home for those conversations.
I’ve opened a new “Sandbox” thread as a post as the new “ignore commenter” plug-in only works on threads started as posts.
In order to guide your efforts into a more constructive direction, would you be so good as to continue this discussion in the designated thread Allan created for you? Could you phrase into two or three sentences your reasons for believing viruses (that don’t exist) cannot mutate?
Also, how are you doing? Is life treating you OK?
Inflation rate projected to hit 6% in the second quarter, top economic forecasters say
Who is a fan of dr. Robert Malone show invented yada…yada?
I don’t want all the virologists on this forum to faint:
This is what he said about the likelihood of catching the Huntya vihrus
J-Mac:
I wouldn’t worry about that. Laughter is the more likely response.
J-Mac,
“Try not to faint when you see what she looks like now” vibes. I suppose we’re long past the point of getting an actual argument out of ‘im.
New CBS/YouGov poll with stunningly bad numbers for Trump. A year and a half into his term, only 8% of independents think Trump is making them better off financially:
All adults:
Independents:
How do I view the screen shots?
Flint,
They should render automatically. I’ve verified that they work in both Chrome and Firefox on the desktop and on my phone. Which browser are you using?
One caveat: I’ve noticed at times that Chrome will display the link instead of the image. Usually this happens after I’ve edited the comment. Refreshing the page fixes it.
The Congressional Research Service reports that the US has lost 42 aircraft so far in the Iran war.
From a news article on the report:
Not sure how many of them will vote this time, but either way, it’s a stunning drop.
To answer the above question, the latest New York Times/Siena poll found that of the people who didn’t vote in 2024, 48% say they are “very likely” or “almost certain” to vote in 2026.
On the generic ballot, those people favor the Democrats by a margin of +31. Wow.
I don’t think your life should matter after this report:
I also have heard that Trump can handcuffed Aliens but can’t handcuff the Crooked Hormuz…
TIL that at the height of the Islamic Golden Age, the caliph in Baghdad was an enlightened guy who founded an institute and library called the House of Wisdom, embraced Greek rationalism, sponsored the translation of texts from around the world, welcomed Christian and Jewish scholars, promoted science, mathematics and engineering — and then started an inquisition, imprisoning and torturing scholars and officials who refused to swear publicly that the Qur’an was created, not eternal.
People are funny.
A drop of 73 points, and those are Republicans.
Ditto for gas prices:
Again, those are Republicans.
The important question is whether Trump’s perceived failures among Republicans translates into votes for Democrats in November. I can tell you there isn’t even a hint of this in Alabama.
Flint:
Yeah, I know a bunch of people in Indiana who are like that too. They’ll never vote for a Democrat. However, some of them will stay home on Election Day, and each of them who does that still contributes to the Democratic side, though only half as much as if they actually voted Democratic. I’ll take it.
Before the war, Harris voters already knew Trump was failing on inflation, but look at those numbers for Trump voters. They’re finally figuring it out. A 41 point drop in just three months!
Bill, do you disapprove of Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living, or are you one of the Trump voters who hasn’t figured it out yet?
Belgium is established as the rudest word in the Universe…
completely banned in all parts of the Galaxy.
— No particular reason.
petrushka,
It’s because Belgium beat USA in FIFA World Cup tournament and Trump had already wasted his call-a-friend lifeline to help the American team out.
I do not understand the yellow card against Switzerland.
Does anyone here know how many “THEORIES” currently exist regarding what the cell membrane structure is like?
I’ve tried to keep it simple for the great majority of the audience here to possibly grasp the concept…
Because you don’t understand how world banking operates…
Maybe I’m too cynical, but I suspect those Trump voters who understand Trump’s economic failure are just about as likely to vote for Trump’s endorsed candidates as those who don’t.
Saw an interesting proposal on TV, that Cornyn and Cassidy are likely to vote to confirm Blanche as AG, to give the Republicans enough of a majority so that Susan Collins can vote against, and using that vote to claim she’s “independent” without actually making any difference in the confirmation. The word is that historically, she only votes against Trump when it makes no difference, never when her vote is critical. People in Maine seem aware, after the local ICE murder, that Collins cast the deciding vote to give ICE 70 billion more than they had, despite ICE already having $100 billion more than they’ve found any way to spend.
Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton got caught stealing someone’s $1000 pen, and his opponent, James Talarico, is using it in a campaign ad:
Paxton is notoriously corrupt and was even impeached by his Republican colleagues, but Trump endorsed him and so he won his primary. The pen incident shows a) how deep his immorality runs and b) how stupid he is. Did he truly not realize that his theft would be caught on camera, in a courthouse of all places?
Factoid: The US national debt is $40 trillion. If 40 trillion dollar bills were laid end to end, light would take almost 6 hours to traverse the distance, which would extend beyond the orbit of Pluto.
The debt has gone up by $4 trillion in Trump’s second term, and we aren’t even halfway through it. But the good news is that Trump and the Republicans are increasing the debt for a good cause: making the rich richer. Totally worth it.
Where is Bill, our resident deficit hawk? Would he condemn this, or would he characterize Trump as “not reducing the debt as aggressively as I’d like”?
ETA: And does he think that Trump’s idea of increasing it by another $1.2 trillion in the form of $5,000 “dividend” checks is a good one?
A stunning chart showing the extent of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s corruption:
An historical analysis of polls shows that 2 years ago, Democrats performed on average 6.2% worse than polls indicated, and lost quite a few races where polls found them well ahead.
Observers, at least some of them, attribute this trend to the considerable non-response rate in the polling. It seems Democrats are more willing to answer the door, or the telephone, or speak in person to pollsters. This combines with Republican reticence to admit their admiration (or at least support) for Trump and all the politicians who do as he requests. Right now, it’s politically more acceptable to claim to vote Democrat, but actually vote Republican. Increasingly there are indications that the blue wave is an illusion.
If this history predicts the upcoming midterms, Democrats actually have no realistic chance of electing Senators in Maine, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa or Texas. They might win in North Carolina, but it will be close.
Supercut of Trump declaring victory in Iran 30 times
I would not enjoy being a pollster in today’s world.
If polls were reliably biased in a specific direction, they would be remarkably useful.
But it seems mostly that they are wrong, but not reliably wrong.
Hilarious new campaign ad from James Talarico:
Introducing Scanduel: Bet on Ken Paxton’s Scandals
Mathematicians on AI solving hard problems:
“You want to check your legal position you do mate. Under law the Quest for Ultimate Truth is quite clearly the inalienable prerogative of your working thinkers.”
Peaceful Science down?
I know that some people on here do also from time to time post on Peaceful Science. I’m mostly a lurker there (and here!) but for the last three days I have been unable to connect to the site. All I get is a ‘Server not found’ error.
Does anyone else have that problem too?
I tried it just now and I get the same error.
keiths,
Thanks. It would be nice to find out what’s going on there but I don’t know of a way to contact the site administrators.
I’m guessing. But it looks as if they forgot to pay their fees to renew their DNS contract.
I’ll wait a few days before I decide whether it is dead.
A disgusting example of Trump administration corruption (in this case the Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem):
Why Did the U.S. Buy These Planes?
Peaceful Science is back up today.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for senator in Michigan, beautifully demonstrates how you handle a bigot.
Looks as if “he who shall not be named” has achieved another miracle against all odds: a united Canada!
Roll on the mid-terms!
Alan:
It must chap Trump’s ass that Mark Carney is as popular in Canada as Trump is unpopular in the US.
› J Immigr Minor Health. 2011 Jun;13(3):445-52. doi: 10.1007/s10903-010-9341-9.
Interethnic mating and risk for preterm birth among Arab-American mothers: evidence from the Arab-American Birth Outcomes Study
Abdulrahman M El-Sayed 1, Sandro Galea
Affiliations – collapse
Affiliation
1 Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. elabdul@umich.edu
PMID: 21042936 PMCID: PMC3089669 DOI: 10.1007/s10903-010-9341-90
Abstract
Arab ethnicity (AE) mothers have lower preterm birth (PTB) risk than white mothers. Little is known about the determinants of PTB among AE women or the role of interethnic mating in shaping PTB risk among this group. We assessed the relationship between interethnic mating and risk for PTB, very
PTB, and late PTB among AE mothers. Data was collected for all births (N = 21,621) to AE women in
Michigan between 2000 and 2005. Self-reported ancestry was used to determine paternal AE as well as to identify AE mothers. We used bivariate chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression to assess the relationship between paternal non-AE and risk for PTB, very PTB, and late PTB among AE mothers. All analyses were also conducted among non-Arab white mothers as a control. Among AE
mothers, paternal non-Arab ethnicity was associated with higher risk of PTB (OR = 1.18, 95% CI =
1.06, 1.30) and late PTB (OR = 1.24, 95% Cl = 1.20, 1.38) compared to paternal Arab ethnicity. Paternal
ist
non-Arab ethnicity was not associated with risk for any outcome among non-Arab white mothers.
Future studies could assess the causal mechanisms underlying the association between interethnic mating and risk for PTB.
I assume this is a fake. But it’s being passed around.
It’s real, but also routine. Claude comments:
I’ll also note that El-Sayed himself is married to a non-Arab.
The ever-sleazy Ted Cruz is trying to label it ‘eugenics’:
Republicans are spooked by how well El-Sayed is doing. The Racist in Chief has been calling him “Mohammed” and is labeling him “a jihadist”. Not surprising from someone who can’t say “Barack Obama” without inserting “Hussein” in the middle.
With the midterm elections this close, we now experience Bigotry By Bullhorn. Trump has always assumed his fans are of the moronic flavor of bigot, and he has always been right. He has directly called his rally audience stupid, and they applaud.
Flint:
For anyone who hasn’t seen it:
“I could say the stupidest things…”