All Quarked Up

 I finally realized what the false equivalence is that makes for mutual incomprehension across the Left - Right divide There are two questions you have to answer in a "Constitutional Rights" case in order to find something protected by the US Constitution 1: Is this a right protected by the US Constitution?  If not, you stop here 2: How should this right be implemented in the modern world Do you have a right to keep the government out of your person and property absent a legitimate court order?  Yes Then the gov't putting a GPS tracker on your car w/o a warrant is a violation of the 4th Amendment Do you have a right to freedom of speech and writing?  Yes So the gov't can't censor you on Twitter  Do you have a right to keep and bear arms?  Yes So the gov't can't stop you from owning an AR-15 or a Glock 17 Do you have a right to have an abortion? No The right did not exist when the Constitution was ratified.  It did not exist when the 14th Amendment was rati

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1535733409083011073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1535733409083011073%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Falthouse.blogspot.com%2F " We are simultaneously being told that gender differences do not exist and that genders are so profoundly different that irreversible surgery is the only option. Perhaps someone wiser than me can explain this dichotomy. " Althouse replies <I>"But who is "wiser" than Elon Musk? If the answer is no one, he's nailed down his position while performing open-mindedness. That's wisdom for you."</I> I reply: If the answer is that YOU are wiser, than Musk, and disagree with his position, then he's invited you to use your wisdom to explain why he's wrong. If you can't use your wisdom to explain why he's wrong, then clearly you are not wiser than him.  No? Please allow me to expand his statement for you: 1: "A trans woman is

 <I>And you might not feel like you’re a boy or a girl, but you’re a little bit of both.</I> There is an image I wish to make. All three panels of the meme hold two equal bell curves, offset from each other.  One is labeled Male, the other Female.  The center point of each curve is roughly 3 sd from the other curve First panel "The Bigoted Bad Old Days" Put Women on the left, Men on the right.  Draw a line in the Women curve 1 sd to the right.  Everything to the left of that line is labeled "real women" Draw a line in the Men curve 1 sd to the left.  Everything to the right of that line is labeled "real men" Everything in between those lines is labeled "not real women" / "not real men" Second Panel "The Open Minded Days" Everything's the same as the first, but there's no barrier lines. Everyone in the Women curve is a real woman, same for the men. Third Panel "The Trans Enlightened Days" Repeat th

 effinayright said... <I>John henry said... Elon Musk is already generating solar power in space and beaming it to earth to point of use. He didn't invent the technology, Telstar was doing it 60 years ago. ***************** OK, I'll bite: Please explain how Musk's satellites, which are very small, do that. </I> My guess is that the satellites have solar power panels that they use to run themselves. Raido waves are energy. Now, an actual SPS (Solar Power Satellite) system requires satellites with much bigger panels. More importantly, it requires targets on the ground that can take the high energy beams, and distribute them to the electric grid. But I've been reading about the potential of those for the last 40+ years. One of the challenges / dangers of them is that they can also be used to power orbital weapons.  Which means they could quickly become targets.  People tend not to want to build expensive targets. Some numbers: 11 pounds to low earth orbit gets