Hijack This Thread

[John Thomas8]

Leon makes some interesting points here, specifically about twitter at around 10:00 of the video:

[AndyinPA]

There was also a special election today. Dems get to keep the State House.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/1 ... n-00141340

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democrats retained their slim majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday after voters elected a former school board member to represent them in a Philadelphia suburb that has been trending more to the left.

Jim Prokopiak’s election to the Bucks County seat will give Democrats a 102-100 majority in the House, which they have sought to defend in four special elections in the past year. A Republican lawmaker’s resignation last week shifted the power back to Democrats, and Prokopiak’s win kept it in place.

He defeated Republican challenger Candace Cabanas and will replace former state Rep. John Galloway, who resigned to serve as a magisterial judge. Cabanas has said previously she plans to run again during the general election.



It was a first step for the committee, which has said it is planning to spend at least $60 million on statehouse races nationally this cycle, the group’s largest-ever budget. It will feature special emphasis on erasing GOP majorities in Arizona and New Hampshire and in the Pennsylvania Senate while holding small Democratic majorities claimed in 2022 in Minnesota and Michigan.

“This victory is a promising sign for Democrats up and down the ballot this year – it’s clear that momentum is on our side,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said in a statement, adding that their focus will be on defending the House majority and flipping the state Senate.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Volkonski]

US Constitution encasement vandalized with red powder at National Archives

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/14/us/const ... index.html

The National Archives in Washington, DC, closed early on Wednesday after two people dumped red powder on the display that protects the US Constitution, Archives officials said in a news release.

“The Constitution was unaffected in its encasement. No damage was done to the document itself,” the Archives said in a statement.

The individuals were immediately detained by security at the time of the incident, around 2:30 p.m., and officials are investigating, the Archives said.

In a video posted to X, two men stood in front of the powder-covered encasement and spoke out about the right to clean water and a livable climate before being approached and detained by uniformed guards.

“We take such vandalism very seriously and we will insist that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan said in a statement.

[Volkonski]

Taylor Swift plays biggest Eras Tour show yet, much bigger than the Super Bowl

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 607879007/

More than 96,000 fans packed the Melbourne Cricket Grounds stadium to dance and sing their hearts out to night one of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

The weather could not have been any nicer for the city that reached the upper 90s on Tuesday. The cool down for the weekend left fans walking into the stadium to the beat of mid-70s.

Although the pop star has performed in the Australian city 10 times, this is her first time inside the Cricket Grounds. The open roof allowed the 10 eras of hits and thunderous crowd applause to spill from the vast arena into the downtown area. Restaurants and shops in the center of Melbourne have been playing hits by Swift from their storefronts all week. Finders Station, the train hub, also projected lights welcoming Miss Americana to Down Under.

[Rolodex]

I think I'd rather have snakes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... ht-maggots

Unhappiness with air travel took a new turn when maggots rained down on passengers on a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday.

[neonzx]

Taylor Swift donates $100K to family of woman killed at Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/16/entertai ... index.html

[Sam the Centipede]

I think I'd rather have snakes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... ht-maggots

Unhappiness with air travel took a new turn when maggots rained down on passengers on a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday.

I'd rather have a glass of red wine, but each to his own.

[RTH10260]

throw out you computers ...

Study Finds Handwriting Increases Brain Connectivity

BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, FEB 14, 2024 - 12:20 AM
Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In our digital age, laptops and smartphones have become appendages for students and professionals alike. But new research suggests we may want to take a break from all that typing.


(Song_about_summer/Shutterstock)
A recent study from Norway found that the old-school art of handwriting engages parts of the brain that tapping on a keyboard does not. The intricate movements involved in handwriting activate more regions of the brain associated with learning than typing does.

Handwriting vs. Typing

A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology and led by Audrey van der Meer, a neuroscience researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, examined the differences between handwriting and typing. Ms. Van der Meer and her team analyzed the neural networks involved in both activities to uncover their respective impacts on brain connectivity.

“We show that when writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns are far more elaborate than when typewriting on a keyboard,” she said in a press statement. “Such widespread brain connectivity is known to be crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, is beneficial for learning.”

The researchers used high-density electroencephalograms (EEGs) to collect data from 36 university students. Participants were prompted to either write or type words displayed on a screen by pressing keys with one finger.

Results showed connectivity between different brain areas increased substantially when writing by hand. In contrast, typing did not produce a comparable boost in connectivity.

“Our main finding is that writing by hand is excellent brain stimulation for people of all ages,” Ms. Van der Meer told The Epoch Times. Writing on a touchscreen with a digital pen yielded more neural network activity versus typing on a keyboard, she added. “The more connections in the brain during a task, the more the brain is used to its full potential.”

Why Handwriting Remains Essential

The meticulous letter formation and precise movements of handwriting substantially boost the brain’s connectivity patterns involved in learning, according to Ms. Van der Meer. This implies that the benefits observed with digital pens may also apply to traditional pens and paper. In contrast, the repetitive key-tapping of typing was less mentally stimulating.

She pointed out this likely explains why children taught to read and write on tablets often struggle to differentiate between mirror-image letters. The researchers recommend that young children receive at least some handwriting instruction. “Forming letters by hand is a complex fine motor skill that challenges the young brain.”

Children first taught via tablets also tend to have poorer spelling and letter recognition, likely because they lack the motor experience of handwriting each letter, Ms. Van der Meer said.


https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/study ... nnectivity

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I attended a three day Writer's Conference. Madeleine L'Engle was the leader. She wrote by hand. She told us back in the 1980's that our fingertips are full of nerve connections which stimulate creativity.

[Volkonski]

https://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/akitaoka/motion30e.html

These rows are perfectly horizontal and are not moving.

[northland10]

I dislike the "one size fits all" brain research results because our brains are not the same. My handwriting cannot keep up with my thinking; even if it did, I can't read it well. I have been using a computer to type reports since college, usually way before others.

They did mention tablets so I think their only comparison was using an on-screen keyboard typing style. With my iPad, I had a Bluetooth keyboard to type stuff that was more than just a few quick sentences (it is also faster).

As for spelling, handwriting would not help me. We identified early on that I tend to spell by sounding it out in my head (a brain thing), so I have had to work through that over the years. Canoe and colonel were hell for me. Spell check can help me get on the right track on a word I don't use as much and also prevent typos from typing or writing too fast (though I always get hammered by my hands thinking their there).

Oh yeah, handwriting does not keep up with 80-100 wpm or more.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I use a keyboard also, although I love handwriting certain things. Results are much faster by keyboard for me also.

[RTH10260]

https://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/akitaoka/motion30e.html

These rows are perfectly horizontal and are not moving.

crazy effects !

[MN-Skeptic]

This is an odd story from Brian Karem, who I follow on Twitter -

Brian J. Karem
@BrianKarem

I just had one of the most bizarre experiences in recent memory.

Coming home from Target. Middle lane of a three-lane road. Red car stopped. I signaled. Got in the left lane. Passed the car. Drove to the next light. Signaled to turn left from far left lane. Same red car I passed pulls alongside me. Teen boy starts flipping me off. Rolls down his window and curses.

I flash the peace sign. Look again. In the back seat is a teenage girl. Pants down. Ass against the window. Boy is still cursing and the fat girl takes a dump AGAINST the window. I see a cop pull up behind ME with lights and siren.

Before I can figure out “why me?” The cop walks over to the red car. He and his partner haul both kids out of the red car and cuff them. Excrement still hanging from inside the back window.

Cop walks over to me asks if I want to press charges. For what? I thought. Instead I said “No. But I’d like to see them clean up the crap”

The officer laughed and walked away. The light then turned green and I drove away.

Happy Presidents Day!

[northland10]

In some other thread, there was a mention of giving up for lent. As a church organist, I done got it all backwards. In the last 2 Saturdays, I have played funerals, then there was Ash Wednesday, along with some other special stuff. and I updated/modified and presented a 40-minute Growth in Giving presentation for the managers/directors in my day job. Today was my first day off from both jobs in while, so I spent part of it using my notation software to create a clarinet in B flat part for a couple of organ-clarinet pieces I am doing next Sunday.

Now it is back on the daily grind and explaining the church spotlights (i.e. lots of PAR lamps for those in the know) to the folks working replace them.

Oh, and the Tocatta from Widor's 5th organ symphony will not prepare itself (I have played it before, but with the prior organ dying, and the lockdown, I have not had the instrument capable of playing it on until now). It is not all that technically difficult but requires endurance.

[MN-Skeptic]

I love that Toccata! The former organist for my church would play that at the end of Easter services. It's just darned impressive and fun to listen to.

[RTH10260]

SF re-examines its procurement process after business ban on 30 states backfires
The ban hurt SF more than it did states that defied values of the city

Lyanne Melendez
Friday, February 16, 2024 2:01AM

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- For seven years, San Francisco kept a ban on states that would defy the values of the city. There were no contracts awarded and certainly city workers were not allowed to travel for business purposes to those states. But the plan backfired and in the end - the ban hurt San Franciscans more than the other way around.

Here's an example. By now, you've probably heard of the infamous Noe Valley public toilet and how San Francisco was ready to dish out $1.7 million for its construction rather than pay for a much cheaper modular model from a company in Nevada. Here's why San Francisco could not, would not do business with any entity in that state.

San Francisco had a ban on doing business with 30 states that had laws that undermined LGBTQ and voting rights as well as blocking abortion access.

It was those states against San Francisco, and that eventually became too costly for city government.

"The Noe Valley bathroom is not a one-off case. That's a problem that is replicated throughout the city government," explained San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

"Or we couldn't buy toilet paper from where we historically bought toilet paper. These market players are smart enough to know they had a captive audience and they could raise their prices," said Supervisor Aaron Peskin.

It's economics 101. Competition results in lower prices.



https://abc7news.com/san-francisco-proc ... /14428958/

[Rolodex]

I love that Toccata! The former organist for my church would play that at the end of Easter services. It's just darned impressive and fun to listen to.

I love it, too. Our church always does the stupid Handel Halleluia at the end of Easter. It's not my favorite. I'd much rather the Toccata.

[MN-Skeptic]

I love that Toccata! The former organist for my church would play that at the end of Easter services. It's just darned impressive and fun to listen to.

I love it, too. Our church always does the stupid Handel Halleluia at the end of Easter. It's not my favorite. I'd much rather the Toccata.

We sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus during the Easter service - they put the music in the pews before the service and, if you are so inclined, you are encouraged to go over to where the choir is and sing in parts with them.

I haven't gone to in-person services since the pandemic, so I'm not sure how they're doing Easter services now. The organist who played the Toccata has retired and I don't know what her replacement is doing. I suppose I really ought to go to Easter service this year. We'll see.

[Maybenaut]

In some other thread, there was a mention of giving up for lent.

I traditionally give up spinach and opera.

[MN-Skeptic]

Seen on Twitter: "I would agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong."

[Estiveo]

In some other thread, there was a mention of giving up for lent.

I traditionally give up spinach and opera.

I always give up abstinence.

[bill_g]

In some other thread, there was a mention of giving up for lent. As a church organist, I done got it all backwards. In the last 2 Saturdays, I have played funerals, then there was Ash Wednesday, along with some other special stuff. and I updated/modified and presented a 40-minute Growth in Giving presentation for the managers/directors in my day job. Today was my first day off from both jobs in while, so I spent part of it using my notation software to create a clarinet in B flat part for a couple of organ-clarinet pieces I am doing next Sunday.

Now it is back on the daily grind and explaining the church spotlights (i.e. lots of PAR lamps for those in the know) to the folks working replace them.

Oh, and the Tocatta from Widor's 5th organ symphony will not prepare itself (I have played it before, but with the prior organ dying, and the lockdown, I have not had the instrument capable of playing it on until now). It is not all that technically difficult but requires endurance.

That man is a machine. Absolute precision. That's total focus.

[northland10]

In some other thread, there was a mention of giving up for lent.

I traditionally give up spinach and opera.

I always give up abstinence.

Rick Astley has difficulties with lent.