Home » Open thread 12/2/21

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Open thread 12/2/21 — 26 Comments

  1. Reminds me of my first band concert in the 3rd grade. Only I think that we did “Good King Wenceslas”.

  2. tcrosse beat me to it. Perfect.

    Browsing youtube music videos some months ago I came across an extended Leo Kottke live video. As he has done during a couple concerts of his that I have attended, he regaled the audience with long stories in between songs. In this video he went on and on about his experiences in his high school band. Very funny. I’ve forgotten the details but I believe he played trombone or baritone.

  3. The news is talking about laws, a lot. now, so I thought I’d ask-

    how likely is it that The Supreme Court will strike down the cases of –

    [ Rove vs. Wade, and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey ] .

    I’m not trying to case trouble with my question, I just want to hear what people think about this topic.

    What do you think? Will the court strike down these cases?

  4. Second US Omicron (aka “Morinic”) case.

    – Like the first US case, another fully vacced person
    – Also like the first case, very mild symptoms that already resolved by the time it was confirmed

    The takeaway may be that Omicron so far seems to only cause mild symptoms in fully vaccinated people and likely unvaccinated people too. It may end up pushing out Delta to become the dominant varient, which may actually be a good thing if it only causes very mild cases.

  5. Yes, tcrosse! Definitely Prof. Hill.

    TR: I wonder if Neo will post on this later today. For now, observers think it’s likely the Court will let the Mississippi law stand, and they think it’s touch and go on whether it strikes down the “viability” rule in general, and on whether it strikes down the “right” it created in 1973. The Court has corrected wrong opinions before, as some of the Justices pointed out, Kavanaugh particularly.

    I think it would be much better for the Court to use this opinion to get itself out of legislating. State legislatures will have to fight this out, which is where it should have stayed to begin with.

  6. Kate: “State legislatures will have to fight this out, which is where it should have stayed to begin with.”

    To be devoutly hoped for. However, never underestimate the Democrats desire to centralize all decisions in D.C. The rioters are on standby. If the SCOTUS reverses Rowe, the violence will begin. It has already been hinted at by Sotomayor. We are now being governed by mob rule, especially over our courts.

    I am re-reading Codevilla’s classic, “America’s Ruling Class.” They KNOW BEST. They want every decision made by them, our intellectual and moral betters. It’s on display in these hearings, IMO.

  7. Nonapod: “Second US Omicron (aka “Moronic”) case.
    – Like the first US case, another fully vacced person
    – Also like the first case, very mild symptoms that already resolved by the time it was confirmed”

    I’m one of those people who are vaxx hesitant, so I am definitely hoping (and dreading) that I will finally get infected, recover and develop natural antibodies.
    Fingers crossed that Omicron will be the one …. “please come to California!”

  8. “…so I am definitely hoping…”

    Which supplements/vitamins are you taking in the meantime (i.e., ahead of time, assuming you get it) to possibly lessen the effects should you get it?
    (Daily suggestions:
    – Quercetin
    – zinc
    – vitamin C
    – vitamin D
    – vitamin K)

  9. In a galaxy long ago and far away, when The New Republic was liberal but still principled, they ran an opinion piece saying that while they were “pro-choice” Roe v. Wade was a bad constitutional decision.

  10. When I entered 7th grade – public school – I took a band class. I played the trumpet.
    NOBODY in class had any previous music background.
    At the end of the year, we had to give a concert (as did the 8th grade and 9th grade band.).

    Our 7th grade band class was 1000000 times better than those kids on the youtube video. . The non-music teachers and chorus teachers were shocked to learn that nobody in our band class had any prior musical training; our band class was that good.

    The music teacher in the video has to be totally embarrassed; he sure did a crappy job. He should be totally ashamed of himself, if not fired. It was a total disgrace.

    I suspect the difference between the video performance and my 7th grade band class was that our teacher, a Mr. Gross, EXPECTED the students to practice at home and when playing in class, he had us repeat and repeat and …….until the class did it right.
    Back then, there were no “participation” awards; you did it right or else (or else = a grade of F and/or made to repeat a class, except band class – you were tossed out of class if you did not work at it and measure up).

    When I got to HS, the bands and orchestra there were sh*t; really bad.
    The difference; the MUSIC TEACHERS !!
    It was clear they did not want to be there, and it was reflected in the musical output of the band/orchestra. They were horrible.
    I was actually asked to be in the senior HS band, but I opted out; I thought the teacher was horrible.

    Teachers can make or break a student and a class, and it will show up in how the students fare.
    You can give a crappy teacher a raise in salary of 200K a year, but they will not do a better job teaching.
    And you can give a good teacher a raise in salary of 200K, and they will teach no better, no worse, than before that massive raise in salary.

  11. I first saw this on a band directors site. We don’t know what parameters this guy is working under and how much contact he actually gets with these students, or how long they’ve been at it. If these are beginners, they have had about 40 sessions of class instruction, with only twenty or so with the actual instruments. The soloist was very good. I hear stories about impossible requests, and you get what you ask for.

    I spent a lot of time doing this work as a young man, and I wouldn’t do it under the conditions currently holding forth in most public schools. I know a lot of folks like your former teacher, and how they do their job these days is a miracle. You have to carefully pick your spot to teach. Small systems/smaller towns are best.

  12. BarryM, I’m taking Zinc w/ Quercetin and D. Keeping active. Have a stash of ivermectin.
    Thanks for asking.

  13. I recently took one of those mail-in Vitamin D tests, and got 60 ng/ml, which is well up into the apparently-safe-from-bad-Covid range. I’ve been taking 4000 IU of D plus a multivitamin (with another 1000 IU) and melatonin since around May 2020 and I haven’t had as much as a sniffle. If (very occasionally) I’m feeling less than 100% I take a capsule of quercetin and one of zinc and chew a couple of C tablets and I feel great the next day.

  14. I had breast cancer 17 years ago and at the time both my naturopath and the complementary medicine guy at Kaiser advised me to take Coriolus mushroom extract. I’ve taken it ever since along with Cordyceps mushroom extract and I don’t get sick unless I miss taking them for more than a few days. Maybe 2 or 3 colds in the last 17 years. Having said that, events over took me, I missed taking my various supplements, and I caught a bad cold from a guest at my Thanksgiving dinner. It came on so rapidly and was so acute I actually went and got tested for the virus. Alas, just the common cold. I’m so disappointed. I’m unvaxxed, and was hoping to develop the precious antibodies!

  15. Kate, I got one set of pills through a group called PushHealth. I downloaded their app for my iPhone. There’s a charge for your online “exam” and I got the Rx through a recommended online pharmacy.
    Also, we have a doctor locally who stopped complying. He will give you an Rx for free. Though uncooperative on the phone a week or two earlier (“we don’t have it and don’t know when we’ll have stock”), our local CostCo filled the Rx promptly once it was in my hand. Covered by my wife’s insurance, too! So free, no copay.
    So now we have 2 stashes.
    My sister went through Front Line Doctors.
    Other “frens” have gone to Mexico. Or ordered from India. But I don’t know the details.

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