Their Minds Have Gone: And they have lost their census

The US census is out (NPR), and the rightwingnuts are worried.  Very worried.

For the first time, the white population is in decline.  While the percentage of Black people has remained constant, there are increased percentages of Latinx and Asian people (who nearly doubled).  It’s likely within the next 10-20 years that the Global Majority (I love that new term) will outnumber whites in the US.

Beau of the Fifth Column is feeling jovial about it.  He says,

I watch a lot of conservative talk shows and listen to conservative talk radio, and they have told me my entire life that “it’s not hard to be a minority in this country”.  I don’t know what hey’re concerned about, unless of course, they’ve been lying this whole time.  They knew it was unjust, and they spread the lie in an attempt to uphold it.

[. . .]

All of a sudden there’s a lot of people that are afraid because they may be the minority race in the United States.  They’re truly concerned about this.  If that is a concern, it is an acknowledgement that there are systemic issues in the country dealing with race that work to disadvantage certain groups.  If you’re afraid of that, maybe you should start working on correcting those problems now.

[. . .]

One of the things that has always amazed me about the people in that fight is that they’re fighting for equality.  They’re not fighting for vengeance.

This no doubt also explains the ludicrous “idea” republicans threw out last month, saying that only white people who have white babies should be allowed to vote. (They didn’t say the crossed out words, but you know that they meant it.)  They “think” the fear of being racially outpopulated would spur on white people to outbreed non-white people, but it won’t.  $50,000 cash handouts might make young white people have kids, but if it’s only given to white people, there’s no way that would pass.  Not even amongst the majority of republicans.

Two of the fastest growing US cities are temporary phenomenon: The Villages, Florida and Phoenix, Arizona, the latter of which has surpassed Philadelphia as the fifth largest city in the US.  Both are a result of boomers (1946-1964) retiring and moving there, but as boomers begin a mass die-off after 2025 (when their median age will by 70) their numbers will decline.  Boomers may temporarily turn those states republican, but in ten years it could be a permanent reversal.  The Damage Report (youtube) also has a breakdown and opinion on the census.

Remember Fox Nuisance mouthpiece John Gibson’s “editorial” from May 2006?  A refresher, courtesy of Media Matters:

Gibson: “Make more babies” because in “[t]wenty-five years … the majority of the population is Hispanic”

On the May 11 edition of Fox News’ The Big Story, host John Gibson advised viewers during the “My Word” segment of his program to “[d]o your duty. Make more babies.” He then cited a May 10 article, which reported that nearly half of all children under the age of five in the United States are minorities. Gibson added: “By far, the greatest number [of children under five] are Hispanic. You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic.” Gibson later claimed: “To put it bluntly, we need more babies.” Then, referring to Russia’s projected decline in population, Gibson claimed: “So far, we are doing our part here in America but Hispanics can’t carry the whole load. The rest of you, get busy. Make babies, or put another way — a slogan for our times: ‘procreation not recreation’.”

By “we”, he obviously meant Fox Nuisance’s white audience, and white people in general.

The far right wanted a race war, and they got it.  But they wanted and expected it to be a violent war they could win, since they control the weapons and the cops.  Instead it was a war of hearts and minds, of ethics, decency, and concern for other people.  That’s a war they could never win.

Don’t Ask: August 1st is International Childfree Day

As the title says, August 1st is International Childfree Day, a day to celebrate those who choose not to have children.  Some may see that as a contradiction, to celebrate what looks like “doing nothing”.  In reality, being Childfree is a carefully thought out decision made by responsible people who have asked themselves:

  • Do I want children?
  • What about my ambitions, goals, and needs?
  • Am I financially secure?
  • Do I have the time to care for kids?
  • Can I give them a stable and secure home?
  • Am I physically capable of raising them?
  • Am I mentally and emotionally prepared for it?
  • Do I have a genetic condition I might pass on?
  • What about the environment and climate change?
  • Can I raise them in a politically stable country?

Among MANY other valid reasons.

Being Childfree is:

  • the choice not to have children
  • a carefully thought out decision
  • a personal choice, and a right of bodily autonomy
  • an environmental, human rights and feminist issue

Being Childfree is NOT:

  • “selfish” and “self-absorbed”
  • “euthanasia”, “genocide” or “baby killers”
  • “irresponsible” and “uneducated”
  • “failures” and “barren” women

Questioning Childfree people’s decisions is:

  • invasion of privacy
  • controlling and manipulative
  • sexual harassment
  • demeaning and insulting of people’s intelligence

The percent of people who are Childfree is increasing with every generation, highest among Generation Y and Millennials, similar to how they the most likely to be LGBTQIA.  These are people aware of their rights, who think globally informed, and are not as constrained by social pressure as earlier generations were.

Why a generation is choosing to be child-free

The biggest contribution anyone can make to the climate crisis is not to have children. So why do we still treat parenthood as the default?

When I think that it won’t hurt too much, I imagine the children I will not have. Would they be more like me or my partner? Would they have inherited my thatch of hair, our terrible eyesight? Mostly, a child is so abstract to me, living with high rent, student debt, no property and no room, that the absence barely registers. But sometimes I suddenly want a daughter with the same staggering intensity my father felt when he first cradled my tiny body in his big hands. I want to feel that reassuring weight, a reminder of the persistence of life.

[. . .]

Then I remember the numbers. If my baby were to be born today, they would be 10 years old when a quarter of the world’s insects could be gone, when 100 million children are expected to be suffering extreme food scarcity. My child would be 23 when 99% of coral reefs are set to experience severe bleaching. They would be 30 – my age now – when 200 million climate refugees will be roaming the world, when half of all species on Earth are predicted to be extinct in the wild. They would be 80 in 2100, when parts of Australia, Africa and the United States could be uninhabitable.

We are in the middle of a mass extinction, the first caused by a single species. There are 7.8 billion of us, on a planet that scientists estimate can support 1.5 billion humans living as the average US citizen does today.

How many boomers and Generation X people were pushed into unwanted marriage, especially LGBTQIA people?  Pressured into having kids are parent demanding “grandchildren”?  How many women didn’t have access to abortion and birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancy?  There could be millions of people over forty who wanted to be Childfree but didn’t know it was an option, or had it taken away from them.

There is nothing selfish about choosing not to make a problem worse.

 

Here’s a CBC podcast from 2018, thirty minutes discussing why people are Childfree.  Being interviewed is Meghan Daum, editor of “Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids”.  This comic by Patricia Flaviana appears on the CBC page:

Daum’s title contains three insults and fictions hurled at Childfree people.

  • “Selfish”?  How is not adding another consumer of natural resources ‘selfish’?
  • “Shallow”?  People don’t choose to be Childfree without a LOT of thought.
  • “Self-absorbed”?  People who are Childfree have time to do – and actually do – charitable work and help take care of nieces and nephews, unlike parents.

Having children is an ability that some people have, not an “obligation” for anyone.

You.  Don’t.  Owe.  Anyone.  Children.

Not your family, not society, not the ovum or sperm that will end up being disposed by your body and never become people.

There are a collection of articles on being Childfree, below the fold.

[Read more…]

That Was Subtle: The gold medal for trolling goes to Japan

In many Asian cultures, sarcasm isn’t very common.  I remember how South Koreans would describe my sarcasm as “cold”, and other times in other countries (no names, so as not to insult anyone) people have not picked up on sarcasm that North Americans or Europeans readily would.

So when the men’s doubles badminton gold medals were handed out on Sunday, either what happened was purely an accident, or Japan’s olympic committee has taken trolling to a whole new level.

Over the first week of the olympics, Japan’s official scoring table has listed the name Taiwan instead of “Chinese Taipei” which Beijing demands and many sports bodies kowtow to them, and to use a five leafed flower shape with red and blue outlines.  At first, they did, but over the past week Japan’s OC and official reports have used the name Taiwan.  And it’s not just Japan, many countries’ media (even Russia) are using either or both the name Taiwan and the official Taiwan flag on the olympic medal tables (red field, blue canton, white 12 pointed star) instead of the five petal white flag or the China-approved name.

During the medal ceremonies, the gold, silver, and bronze winners stand on the podium, bouquets of flowers are given to each, and the gold medal winner’s national anthem or approved music, in the case of Russian athletes, is played.  When the women’s 59kg gold medal was awarded (more below the fold), Taiwan’s national anthem was not played because the IOC kowtows to China.  The lack of an anthem being played with the games in Japan is questionable, in light of Japan’s imperial history of occupation.  When Sohn Kee-chung of Korea won the marathon at the 1936 olympics, he was forced to run under a Japanese name, and the imperial Japanese flag and anthem played, not the Korean anthem.

Today, Taiwan won its second gold in men’s doubles badminton.  The Taiwan team beat China’s in the final and appear on the podium together, which is a slap in the face to Beijing.  But someone at the Japanese OC decided to rub salt into the wound by playing Taiwan’s national anthem at the olympics for the first time since the 1970s.

The most subtle part of the trolling was the bouquet of flowers.  Look at the photo all three pairs of medallists are holding: they’re sunflowers.  It is the Sunflower Movement which elected president Tsai Ing-wen, and it is the Sunflower Movement which demands full independence from the PRC, plus international recognition from the UN.  I’ll bet Winnie the Pooh is fuming.

 

Taiwan’s flag anthem played for first time in front of Chinese athletes at the Olympics

Taiwan’s flag anthem was played in front of Chinese athletes for the first time in the history of the Olympics on Saturday, when the Taiwanese team beat China in the badminton men’s doubles final.

Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat the Chinese team by 21-18 and 21-12, clinching the second gold medal for the self-governing island at the Tokyo 2020 Games. China took home silver with the loss.

Both teams attended the medal ceremony and listened as Taiwan’s flag anthem was played. Taiwan has both an anthem and a flag anthem, the latter of which is commonly played at international sporting events.

 

 

China went into this olympics expecting to win eight gold medels in women’s and men’s weightlifting. Those plans have gone up in smoke.

Taiwan’s Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳), also named Kuo Tana, won the women’s 59kg weight lifting gold.  If you’ve see her photo in the news (see below), you’ll recognize that she’s not ethnic Chinese; rather, she is one of the Indigenous Amis people of Taiwan. Tana is her Amis name.  Fang Wan-ling (方莞靈) finished fourth in the 49kg weight class but may win bronze if China’s Hou Zhihui fails her doping retest. (Hou is the woman with the picture of facial exertion that the PRC media is complaining about, calling it “unflattering”.) Fang is another Indigenous Taiwanese person, hailing from the Tsou people.

Philippine weight lifter Hidilyn Diaz also upset the PRC by winning the 55kg weight class.  Diaz had a lot going against her: no financial support from the Philippine government, and she was falsely accused by Philippine “president” Duterte of being part of a plot to overthrow his government.  She might give credit and thanks to her superior officers in the Philippine military, but not Duterte.  I love that this will be a big poke in the eye for him too.

Reddit Asked: What you believe happens after you die?

Updoot Everything is a youtube channel that collects responses to questions on reddit, and creates videos with computer generated voiceovers accompanying the text.

 

As the title suggests, a recent question was “Atheists, what do you believe happens after death?”  In a video posted on Saturday, the answers range from insightful, to poetic, thoughful, funny, honest or just mundane.  A few non-atheists, “spiritual” and silly answers took up space (e.g. “living in a simulation”, “reincarnation”, etc.), but most make for good reading.

 

Happy To Disappoint: It’s pie in the face time again for Anita Bryant

That well known bigot and cream pie target Anita Bryant is having conniption fits.

Sarah Green, Bryant’s granddaughter, is getting married soon to another woman.

Needless to say, the hateful bigots in the family aren’t taking it well.  Isn’t love grand?

Anita Bryant’s granddaughter is marrying a woman. Grandma isn’t happy for the bride-to-be.

The granddaughter of arch anti-LGBTQ activist Anita Bryant is getting married to another woman, and she doesn’t know whether to invite her homophobic grandmother to her wedding.

Bryant’s granddaughter Sarah Green said that her grandmother refused to even believe that she’s gay after she came out on her 21st birthday. The 81-year-old Christian conservative activist is still praying for Green to find a husband.

Now Green is getting married. Like many queer people, she’s not sure whether to invite her grandmother. But unlike most people, her grandmother organized one of the first major anti-LGBTQ campaigns in the country, accusing gay people of being pedophiles.

[. . .]

That didn’t stop her granddaughter Sarah Green from coming out to her on her 21st birthday.

Green said that Bryant sang “Happy Birthday” to her and told her that she would have a husband one day.

“And I just snapped and was like, ‘I hope that he doesn’t come along because I’m gay, and I don’t want a man to come along,’” Green said on the podcast One Year.

Bryant then told her granddaughter that homosexuality doesn’t exist.

Robert Green – Sarah Green’s father and Anita Bryant’s son – said that his mother’s “face froze” when his daughter came out.

“All at once, her eyes widened, her smile opened, and out came the oddest sound: ‘Oh,’” he said. “Instead of taking Sarah as she is, my mom has chosen to pray that Sarah will eventually conform to my mom’s idea of what God wants Sarah to be.”

As you might guess, I’m loving every detail of this story.

 

 

Here’s the famous pie in the face incident from October 1977.  Thom Higgins is a living legend, accomplishing more with one well placed and harmless pile of cream than all the anti-Anita protests before it.

 

Well, That Hurt: The pain, from A to Z

Finally, after much waiting, I got my first shot today.   The second will come in October.

My employer allowed for today and tomorrow off work, of which I’m glad because I need it.  Of the side effects from AstraZeneca, I have a few of the mildest and most common, and one of the less common:

  • feeling tired
  • tenderness where you had the vaccine injection
  • nausea
  • dizziness

One thing not on the lists I’ve had for the last two hours is flu-like symptoms, cold and chill along with the nausea.  Just none of the more serious ones.  At least the pain in the arm has subsided fifteen hours on.

The worst part was making the mistake of looking when the nurse spoke, seeing that three centimetre long needle aiming at my arm.  I was already nauseous before she had even stuck me.  That always happens, I’m a baby when it comes to needles such as when they draw blood for the annual medical checkup.

“What was that injection, Doc?  I think it’s going wrong.”

 – Lemmy Kilmister, from the Motorhead song “Back At The Funny Farm” (1983)

One thing that annoyed me: instead of injecting in the middle of a big black spot on my tattoo, she aimed for unmarked skin.  Now there’s a visible spot instead of being hidden by the ink.  I was also expecting a battle at the desk because I turned the chair around, though nothing happened.  I wanted the shot in the other arm, not my left.

 

 

I feel too off to write any more, even though I intended to (e.g. reopening measures that started on July 27).  We have a good shot of getting back to where we were in May, thanks to near total adherence to mask wearing and following rules.  Now let’s see the jerks who caused this be held responsible for 780+ deaths.

I also plan to talk about how China might be too busy all year to pull any nonsense.  The entire country’s infrastructure is at risk.

Annnnnd the poke-in-Beijing’s-eye that the olympics have been.

Math Rules: The Moessner Miracle is way cool

Mathologer recently published a video on the “Moessner Miracle”, a more advanced version of a known trick in number theory.

As we all learn in elementary or high school, if you take consective odd numbers and add them together, you get all the squares:

     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . .

                1
     1+3     =  4
     1+3+5   =  9
     1+3+5+7 = 16

And so on. What you’re actually doing is skipping every second number. What happens if you skip every third number, add, skip the second number and add again?

     (A skip third )  1 2 3 4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12  13 14 15 . . . .
     (B add numbers)  1 3   7 12    19 27    37 48     61 75    . . . . 
     (C skip second)  1 3   7 12    19 27    37 48     61 75    . . . . 
     (D add numbers)  1     8       27       64       125       . . . .

Congratulations, you’ve produced the cubes. And it turns out you can produce all powers of the first skipped number (x^2 and x^3 in the example cases above). He uses the fifth skip in the video to produce the powers of 5.  He also goes on to show how this also applies to Pascal’s Triangle, combinatorics, directional paths, and other mathematical concepts.

This is way too cool not to share.

Time Passes, part 2: We’ve finally turned the corner

As mentioned previously, Taiwan suffered a major COVID-19 outbreak in May.  There have been over 13,000 cases and 700+ deaths since then compared to the 1,300 and 12 in the first seventeen months of the pandemic.  This is what happens when you have selfish and arrogant people (read: rich jerks) who “think” rules don’t apply to them.  I really hope they’re held legally and financially accountable for the deaths they caused.

The good news: the CECC’s strict Level 3 measures and almost total public compliance have brought things under control.  We went from a peak of over 500 new infections per day to less than 30 per day for a week, and nearly all the newly reported infections are among those already in quarantine.  Things have improved enough that the CECC may drop the country to Level 2, allowing some businesses to reopen and activities to resume.

Taiwan’s level of vaccinations increased from 2% to 20% over the past seven weeks, thanks in large part to donations from Japan and purchased vaccines finally arriving, and despite PRC’s efforts to prevent Taiwan from obtaining vaccines. Beijing also failed to entice Taiwanese people to demand the mainland’s vaccine.

 

 

My employer helped me get on the waiting list and I expect to receive my first shot within the next three weeks.  Studies have shown that mixing different types doesn’t harm their efficacy at all, so I’ll take any of them except those from Russia or the PRC.  I’ll even take Medigen’s vaccine, now that the Taiwan CDC has given it approval.  It has been shown to produce the same anti-bodies as the Astrazeneca and other vaccines.  Approval for Medigen’s vaccine was delayed because of a problem with testing, another selfish individual.  An ex-politician found out he was getting the placebo, so he went out and paid for an actual vaccine.  This made the test data questionable, delaying its approval.

Taiwan approves Medigen’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate

TAIPEI, July 19 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s government on Monday approved the emergency use and production of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s (6547.TWO) COVID-19 vaccine candidate, a major step in the island’s plans to develop its own vaccines to protect against the coronavirus.

The vaccine candidate has yet to finish clinical trials and no efficacy data is available, but Taiwan’s health ministry said studies so far have shown that antibodies created by the shot have been “no worse than” those created by AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) vaccine.

Medigen has applied to do Phase 3 testing in Paraguay, one of Taiwan’s few allied nations in South America.  South America is currently the hardest hit continent, and an influx of affordable vaccines is direly needed.  Unlike last year when G7 nations wanted developing nations to take the risk of vaccine experimentation, a Phase 3 trial means most of the risk has already been addressed.  This is now about testing efficacy, not safety.

Time Passes, part 1: What I’ve been up to

It’s been a hectic July, two weeks of non-stop activity after two months of not working.  Sufficient savings made it tolerable, unlike many foreigners I know who bailed when their money ran out.  I’m not going to comment on their spending and saving habits; one of them is a friend who was here on an artist’s visa.  They (Non-Binary) were only making enough to get by, not get ahead, and was forced to leave.  There are many similar stories.

My school has finally started online classes.  It sucks because they take more preparation than regular classes do.  This is made worse by the fact that you can’t control kids when they’re at home: blowing into or hitting the microphone, placing it too near the speakers and causing feedback into everyone’s headphones (and NONE of them willing to listen and move it away, or they’re just rude).  Only also makes it hard to improvise and impossible to use my pre-made materials (my own or purchased).

I will really be glad when regular in-school classes start again.  In part 2, I’ll talk about that coming light at the end of the tunnel.

 

 

Last Thursday, July 15, it finally came: It’s been twenty years now since I left Canada.  What I thought would be a one year experience turned out to be a complete change and permanent upheaval.  Maybe September 2001 should have been a hint. (*)  Life is what happens when you were making other plans, so goes the axiom.  It also provided the opportunity to cut all ties with “family”, something I’ve never regretted for my personal growth alone.

(* Sidebar: On September 11, I was out window shopping at 9PM and passed by an electronics store.  At first I thought it was a movie or TV show, every TV in the place set to one channel.  Then I realized it was the news on every station, South Korean TV or foreign.  I hurried home to where my then roommate, an american who was ex-army, was freaking out.)

 

 

I also learnt on the day that July 15 marked Linda Ronstadt’s 75th birthday, born in 1946.  She was one of the great modern singers (until Progressive Supranuclear Palsy stole her voice), and a progressive activist, regularly speaking out on a variety of issues: human rights, immigration, US foreign policy, idiot presidents (her choice of words, not mine).  She was successful in multiple genres (country, rock, pop, Latin, etc.) and produced many artists.  She is the only woman solo recording artist with eight platinum albums in a row.  She has always been one of my heroines.

 

Now, We Wait: Or am I reading too much into this?

The marshmallow king Mike Lindell has gone on the record (more like a broken one) with an exact date that “Cheetolini will be reinstated as president!”

On August 13th.

Seriously?  Did they learn that it’s International Left Handers Day and they could rally the rabble with by saying “mark of the beast!” and “Obama is the anti-christ!” because he’s left handed?  They’re so unimaginative and peurile that it’s possible.

Did they assume all the rightwingnut ammosexuals would buy into it and will show up armed, ready to start firing?  Speaking (dismissively) about those ammosexuals and libert-aryans, why do they call themselves “three percenters”?  Because they’re as weak and frothing at the mouth as light beer?

August 13th is also “National Kool Aid Day” in the US, the second Friday in August.  That’s a much more fitting event for fanatics like them.

It’s also “National Blame Someone Else Day” in the US, the first Friday the 13th of the year.

Lindell can go cry into his product on Saturday. It ain’t gonna happen.

 

The only real question is how many show up to be arrested on August 13th. They’re too spineless to start a fight, especially if cops and military show up armed.  They only feel brave when they’re in large numbers and facing unarmed people, like when they carried guns at BLM rallies.

If they do attempt violence, it’s going to end up like Ruby Ridge (August 21–31, 1992) “the day the American militia movement was born” according to The Guardian.  Only this time, it will be on video so we’ll know who shot first.  Maybe that’s what they want, an anniversary of “martyrs” to white power.

Apply Now: Long haired freaky people welcome

I knew about the 50th anniversary (May 1971) of the Five Man Electrical Band’s song “Signs”, but I’m not a fan because of the religion in it.  But after seeing this image referencing the song and the US’s labour shortage, I couldn’t resist.  Ain’t it great that workers finally have the power to dictate wages?

Now the important question: does this apply to LGBTQIA people too?

 

“Signs” was a #1 hit at home in Canada, #3 in the US.

 

I Wasn’t Going To Weigh In, But….

I said enough about my own country’s shameful actions and disgust on July 1st that I was planning to leave the US holiday alone.  But since others are talking. . .

Red Rider’s second album “As Far As Siam” was released on June 30, 1981, turning forty last week.  The song “Lunatic Fringe” is an FM radio classic, written about the rise of rightwing extremism in the US, the “religious right and moral majority”.  Both of which were neither.

Lunatic fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding
And you hold your meetings

I can hear you coming
I know what you're after
We're wise to you this time
We won't let you kill the laughter

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far

'Cause you got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We're on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your Final Solution

We can hear you coming
No, you're not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps
Out along the walkway

Lunatic fringe
We all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?

 

Rush’s second album “Fly By Night” came out in February 1975.  “Beneath, Between & Behind” were the first lyrics Neil Peart wrote for the band.  It was written months after the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation.

Ten score years ago
Defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste
No virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing

          Beneath the noble bird
          Between the proudest words
          Behind the beauty, cracks appear
          Once with heads held high
          They sang out to the sky
          Why do their shadows bow in fear?

Watch the cities rise
Another ship arrives
Earth's melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds were never knowing

          Beneath the noble bird
          Between the proudest words
          Behind the beauty, cracks appear
          Once with heads held high
          They sang out to the sky
          Why do their shadows bow in fear?

The guns replace the plow
Façades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dream's gone stale
But still let hope prevail
History's debt won't be repaid

          Beneath the noble bird
          Between the proudest words
          Behind the beauty, cracks appear
          Once with heads held high
          They sang out to the sky
          Why do their shadows bow in fear?

Well Deserved: Dr. Anthony Fauci wins AHA award

The American Humanist Association has named Anthony Fauci their Humanist of the Year.

He united and represented people, was the only person in Cheetolini’s white house to walk out with an intact reputation, and his efforts likely saved millions of lives and people’s health.  Was there a better choice?

How They Were Built And Folded: Like a house of cards

Like most people, I heard about the collapse of the high rise condominium in Florida, and about the shoddy construction and maintenance.  I didn’t have anything to add before now, but after seeing the security camera video of the collapse, I do.  It looks almost identical to the Sampoong Department Store collapse of June 29, 1995.  The Florida condo collapsed on June 24, five days short of the Sampoong collapse’s 26th anniversary.

Take a look at how the central part of the Florida condo collapses, leaving the end section.  The collapse looks like a house of cards or dominoes falling in on themselves.  I have little hope that there will be any survivors, not after a week under rubble with no water in the summer heat.

 

 

The ending section of the building temporarily left standing is nearly identical to the remnants of the Sampoong Department Store collapse in Seoul, Korea.  Watch the computer generated depiction of the building collapse from 1:30 to 2:00 in the video, based on the descriptions of witnesses.

Thankfully, unlike the Florida condo, the ending sections of the Sampoong building stayed upright, allowing the rescue of those still alive but trapped inside.

 

 

The Sampoong collapse had a different physical cause than the Florida collapse, but the human cause was the same: poor construction, lack of maintenance, and greed by the owners and construction companies.  The Sampoong building’s owners decided to cut corners on building and moving air conditioning system on the roof and in the building without consulting architects or engineers. The construction was as flawed as Florida’s, but with different materials (i.e. no use of rebar in Sampoong, rusting rebar in Florida).

From Interesting Engineering:

Death and Calamity: The Sampoong Department Store Collapse Explained

Initially, the Sampoong department store was set to become a four-story residential apartment complex, to be built by a company called Woosung Construction. Sampoong hired Woosung Construction to lay the foundation in 1987 and also to serve as project supervisor — an arrangement that can lead to abuse.

However, partway through the process, Lee Joon, the head of the Sampoong Group, decided to completely switch gears, and the blueprints were modified from an apartment complex to what would become one of the largest and most fancy department stores in South Korea. Although using a building of this size as a department store went against zoning regulations, Lee circumvented this by ordering the addition of a skating rink on an originally unplanned-for fifth floor. 

Here’s the thing about construction, you can’t just decide to change the basic function of a building without heavily modifying the design itself, including reducing the size and number of support beams to clear the way for escalators, Woosung refused to make the changes, so Joon fired them and decided his own construction company would take over. This proved to be just one poor decision of many.

The page goes on to list a catalogue of corruption and ineptitude.  Survivors of the collapse reported creaking and groaning in the building in the days and hours before the collapse.  Managers failed to call inspectors nor evacuate the building, all in the name of profit.  Capitalism kills again.

If there are any survivors of the Florida condo, not just the construction companies and inspectors we’ve already heard, I suspect we’ll hear more reports of building movement and noises before the collapse.

The Snowflakes Binge: They want to cancel “The Purge”

Beau of the Fifth Column reports that rightwingnuts are up in arms (figuratively and literally) over the latest film in the “Purge” franchise.  As he describes it, the film is an allegory about a political uprising and attempt to overthrow the US government on January 6th.  Rightwingnuts are lashing out about commercial entertainment being “woke” and adding political commentary, something BotFC addresses in the video.

The kicker is what BotFC says at the end about the film’s production, how life imitates art.

 

 

Except that it’s not limited to movies, it has been happening in music, and rightwingnuts don’t like it.  They expect bands to shut up and play.  They expect Black musicians to be “minstrels” with big, unthreatening smiles on their faces, only allowed in to entertain the whites, then go back to segregated neighborhoods.

In 2019, The Specials released a new album entitled “Encore”.  The lead off single and instant classic song is called “B.L.M.”  How did racists respond?

“Stop being political!  Make music like you used to!”

Excuse me?  The Specials’ and all the other Two Tone bands of the era were all political, all making social commentary and opposed racism.  The very name Two Tone was about Black and white being together, an anti-racist statement in an era of Margaret Thatcher.  Did they never once actually listen to or read the lyrics and the opinions of these groups?

 

More below the fold.

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