The Philippines will ratify a global pact aimed at taming climate change,What's it say about the Republicans that nutty and dangerous Duterte accepts this better than they seem able to?
President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday, reversing his opposition to the
historic United Nations agreement he previously dubbed "crazy".
In announcing the decision to sign up to the Paris Agreement, Duterte said he still
had misgivings but his cabinet members overwhelmingly disagreed with
him.
"After so much debate, the climate change (agreement), I will sign it because it was a unanimous vote except for one or two (in cabinet)," Duterte told reporters.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Wow. Filipino crazy leader more reasonable than the GOP
Philippines to ratify climate pact
The Sun is cooler, but not the Earth
Record heat despite a cold sun - RealClimate
An important post here at Real Climate, showing how the temperature is going up despite the sun being slightly cooler.
Make sure you read to the end, where you can read of the failed predictions of Australian skeptic Archibald in 2009.
An important post here at Real Climate, showing how the temperature is going up despite the sun being slightly cooler.
Make sure you read to the end, where you can read of the failed predictions of Australian skeptic Archibald in 2009.
Reasons I find it hard to blame Hillary Clinton for her loss
It's not that I am exactly a fan of Hillary Clinton, but I couldn't really see the aged Bernie Sanders doing well in this election either; and I don't really know why the Democrats could not come up with a third, younger alternative. But all of this post election analysis makes me feel sorry for Clinton when people start pointing the finger at her, for the following reasons:
* as people now realise, the vote for Trump was not huge - it just happened in the right States;
* when it comes down to a matter of 100,000 or so votes in 3 states, then Clinton probably can plausibly site the Comey late intervention as a key factor - it clearly did influence polls close to the election; it may well have energised the turnout for the Trump vote, and suppressed the turnout for Clinton, just enough to swing it Trump's way;
* by election eve, the near universal media opinion that, despite the FBI situation, Clinton was going to win may also have suppressed her voter turnout just enough to swing the election, too. Why vote if she looks a certainty anyway?
* it's not Clinton's fault she came down with mild pneumonia, sufficient to give the Right wing conspiracists video with which to run their ridiculous "she's about to die" propaganda. The effect of Right wing media/social media information bubble is so important to where American politics are at the moment, and no one really knows how to overcome it.
* the "deplorables" comment was not as bad as it was made out to be when the full context is read. It was a mistake, but I find it hard to condemn her for it, given that the true argument is really only over the exact percent of deplorables in the Trump camp.
* as people now realise, the vote for Trump was not huge - it just happened in the right States;
* when it comes down to a matter of 100,000 or so votes in 3 states, then Clinton probably can plausibly site the Comey late intervention as a key factor - it clearly did influence polls close to the election; it may well have energised the turnout for the Trump vote, and suppressed the turnout for Clinton, just enough to swing it Trump's way;
* by election eve, the near universal media opinion that, despite the FBI situation, Clinton was going to win may also have suppressed her voter turnout just enough to swing the election, too. Why vote if she looks a certainty anyway?
* it's not Clinton's fault she came down with mild pneumonia, sufficient to give the Right wing conspiracists video with which to run their ridiculous "she's about to die" propaganda. The effect of Right wing media/social media information bubble is so important to where American politics are at the moment, and no one really knows how to overcome it.
* the "deplorables" comment was not as bad as it was made out to be when the full context is read. It was a mistake, but I find it hard to condemn her for it, given that the true argument is really only over the exact percent of deplorables in the Trump camp.
Things you probably didn't realise about the white female vote in the US
White Female Voters Continue to Support the Republican Party - The Atlantic
The flood of post-election analysis we are seeing is turning up some interesting stuff - such as the point made in this article that no one should really be surprised that white women didn't rush to support Hillary. The fact is, as a group, they've been leaning GOP for a while now.
The flood of post-election analysis we are seeing is turning up some interesting stuff - such as the point made in this article that no one should really be surprised that white women didn't rush to support Hillary. The fact is, as a group, they've been leaning GOP for a while now.
An interesting bit of activist journalism here
Do You Have Information About Abortions Trump May Have Paid For? Let Us Know.
Many people read Trump's non- answer to Maureen Dowd earlier this year as strongly indicating he has paid for a girlfriend, or wife, to have an abortion. If he has, and a huge slab of his voting base were vehement pro-lifers, I think we have a right to know whether he has or hasn't, especially in light of his policy to now assist the restriction of abortion.
I suppose his dimwit followers might just forgive him, just as they have his history of adultery and fornication. But Democrats forgive sexual indiscretion in politicians, too. Maybe both sides take hypocrisy on abortion more seriously?
Many people read Trump's non- answer to Maureen Dowd earlier this year as strongly indicating he has paid for a girlfriend, or wife, to have an abortion. If he has, and a huge slab of his voting base were vehement pro-lifers, I think we have a right to know whether he has or hasn't, especially in light of his policy to now assist the restriction of abortion.
I suppose his dimwit followers might just forgive him, just as they have his history of adultery and fornication. But Democrats forgive sexual indiscretion in politicians, too. Maybe both sides take hypocrisy on abortion more seriously?
Krugman predicts
Interesting to note that Paul Krugman warns, as he did with Brexit, that people should not expect the US economy to tank in the short term just because of the Trump election. In the long term - yes, sure, his policies are terrible in virtually all respects.
But it can take a while for bad decisions to fully kick in with their economic effects.
But it can take a while for bad decisions to fully kick in with their economic effects.
Monday, November 14, 2016
So easily swayed
What a ridiculously gullible fellow Adam Creighton proves to be. Heaps of empathy for women too, obviously. (It's not the first time I've noticed his empathy issues, too.)
He's most interested in the one about the 11 herbs and spices...
Donald Trump is about to learn all of America's 'deep secrets'
(I bet I didn't get to make that joke first.)
(I bet I didn't get to make that joke first.)
Needs more analysis
I see that Right wing sites, and conservative Catholic blogs are crowing about Trump doing well with Catholics, although the current analysis is based on exit polls which, I thought, had been shown up again as not that accurate. Anyway, this is despite evidence from before the election that Trump was not doing well with Catholics.
The Tablet provides a little bit more perspective - pointing out that Trump did well with white Catholics:
Actually, he did as well as Romney did with the white Catholic vote - something that I hadn't realised before.
But Hispanics - still a long way to go to convince a majority of them.
The Tablet also notes in another article that, when it comes to "liberal" referenda which the Church was against, they were still nearly all passed, which suggests that the power of the conservative Catholic vote is not what Conservative Catholics think it's cracked up to be.
So, there is this ongoing difficult question of whether this Catholic vote is coming from mere "cultural Catholics", or actively practising ones. There is strong evidence, of course, that a small minority of even Mass attending Catholics adhere to the Church's teaching on reproductive health; despite pockets of Conservative Catholic leadership (Cardinal Burke has announced his pleasure at Trump's win, for example), there is a pretty good case that the congregations are quite liberal. But it is not that easy to find research which differentiates between types of Catholics.
Hence, I would be interested to see more research on this topic.
And on a final note: look how consistent the Jewish vote is for Democrats in that graphic above. Jewish neighbourhoods in the States are not going to be happy at the moment.
The Tablet provides a little bit more perspective - pointing out that Trump did well with white Catholics:
Actually, he did as well as Romney did with the white Catholic vote - something that I hadn't realised before.
But Hispanics - still a long way to go to convince a majority of them.
The Tablet also notes in another article that, when it comes to "liberal" referenda which the Church was against, they were still nearly all passed, which suggests that the power of the conservative Catholic vote is not what Conservative Catholics think it's cracked up to be.
So, there is this ongoing difficult question of whether this Catholic vote is coming from mere "cultural Catholics", or actively practising ones. There is strong evidence, of course, that a small minority of even Mass attending Catholics adhere to the Church's teaching on reproductive health; despite pockets of Conservative Catholic leadership (Cardinal Burke has announced his pleasure at Trump's win, for example), there is a pretty good case that the congregations are quite liberal. But it is not that easy to find research which differentiates between types of Catholics.
Hence, I would be interested to see more research on this topic.
And on a final note: look how consistent the Jewish vote is for Democrats in that graphic above. Jewish neighbourhoods in the States are not going to be happy at the moment.
A more modest suggestion for some on the electoral college
So, some on the Left seem to think they have a chance of convincing the Electoral College to not vote in Trump. Vox explains in detail why this just won't happen - well, short of Trump doing his long mooted shooting of a person in the street, I suppose; even then, who knows? If it was a protester, his followers would probably forgive him.
Anyway, instead of trying to convince Electoral College members to refuse to vote him in, perhaps the Left should try to convince them of something less dire, but important to transparency in government. That is, withhold their vote in the college unless he has first disclosed his tax returns.
Still pie in the sky; but slightly less pie in the sky than what some want now.
Anyway, instead of trying to convince Electoral College members to refuse to vote him in, perhaps the Left should try to convince them of something less dire, but important to transparency in government. That is, withhold their vote in the college unless he has first disclosed his tax returns.
Still pie in the sky; but slightly less pie in the sky than what some want now.
Quantum consciousness, revisited
Can Quantum Physics Explain Consciousness? - The Atlantic
The shock election of Trump made me miss a pretty good article here looking at a relatively new suggestion (apart from the Penrose line) about how quantum effects could work in the brain.
The shock election of Trump made me miss a pretty good article here looking at a relatively new suggestion (apart from the Penrose line) about how quantum effects could work in the brain.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Weekend photo 1
The explanation: I was having a beer at the Pig N Whistle yesterday, and spotted Thor at the bar. Dr Strange was also there, but I didn't get a pic.
By way of further explanation: the Supernova nerdfest was on at the Convention Centre next door.
An important point to remember
The electoral college system means that Trump actually won by the barest of margins. As the Washington Post explains:
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