Our Betters In Distress

It’s a fucking clown show. What the hell happened?
Like many supposedly non-political but decidedly leftist publications, Scientific American has been reputationally sinking, and losing its audience, for quite some time; though in the last few years its decline has accelerated fairly dramatically. The current editor-in-chief, formerly of the Washington Post and – wait for it – Slate – has gargled the woke Kool-Aid, is triumphantly partisan, and mouths every sickly platitude about “diversity and inclusion.” And so, we get articles repeating obvious woke dishonesties and denouncing “white supremacy,” written by self-styled activists who think the word “crapitalism” is very, very clever.
As Instapundit often quips, “I’m beginning to think that the past 50 years or so of letting our children be educated by the enemies of our civilisation may have been a mistake.”

As a young man, Scientific American provided some quite wonderful articles as well as their Amateur Scientist articles.
I learned how to brew mead from SA from an AS article; my father (long gone now) and I brewed some wonderful mead back then. I learned how to create and use a sling from SA (http://www.imperium-romana.org/uploads/5/9/3/3/5933147/scientificamerican1073-34.pdf). Hell, I learned about the game of NIM and George Conway’s “Game of Life” from SA (something older computer weasels coded a couple of generations ago).
When I was young, I thought the arrow of entropy pointed in a different direction than it does now. Silly me.

Incidentally, if you poke through Ms Helmuth’s Twitter feed, and those of her colleagues, you’ll find plenty of the same fawning over Democrat politicians, as if they were glamorous celebrities, akin to film stars, and not just shifty, power-hungry creeps, as is more typically the case. It’s quite weird to see, as if the fawners and cooers had never quite grown up.
For supposed science journalists, there’s quite a lot of fan-girling.

If that isn’t worth a Nobel Prize
I think you mean “Nobxl Prix”?
From Kareening Carr Crash’s twits:
“You can trace a lot of the cultural norms of mathematics back to various European cultural quirks for instance the British gentleman’s love of frivolous pursuits.”
Sure, that and wanting stuff to not break or fall down.

Scientific American provided some quite wonderful articles
The edition I particularly remember contained an article by Douglas R. Hofstadter (author of “Gödel, Escher, Bach”) in his “Metamagical Themas” series on the application of Group Theory to solving the Rubik’s Cube. If you look through its Table of Contents it’s nothing but thoughtful, intelligent, intellectual, scientific curiosity.
Sigh.

As Instapundit often quips, “I’m beginning to think that the past 50 years or so of letting our children be educated by the enemies of our civilisation may have been a mistake.
“May have been”? Seems like it continues, on steroids, and nobody cares to lift a finger to stop it because if someone did try, our society might laugh at them. And that would be simply unbearable.

The “academics” believe there are 133.50 genders, so anything’s possible these days

“Now you are just being obtuse.”
Let’s not go off on a tangent here…

Bring the clamps.
I hear they were expensive and you had to have someone cosine a loan to get them.

I see acute puns are becoming increasingly integral to this discussion. Point being I was out of line earlier. Please return to commenting in German.

Bitte sprechen Sie langsamer…

Herr Fawlty sprechen: “Well let me tell you something – this is exactly how Nazi Germany started. A lot of layabouts with nothing better to do than to cause trouble. Well I’ve had fifteen years of pandering to the likes of you, and I’ve had enough. I’ve had it. Come on, pack your bags and get out.”

ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.

We have a distracting Christmas decoration that I’ve called Das Blinkenlichten for nigh on 20 years now. Its official title is the “Tacky Twinkle Light,” so I don’t feel as though I’m being unfair with my renaming. What’s worse is that I spent an hour in December rewiring the damn thing because it wasn’t blinking “properly.”

What are you doing to make sure that you’re raising children who won’t kill mine?
I guess I could teach them to stay out of black neighborhoods, so they don’t get attacked, have to defend themselves and maybe end up killing your children who are attacking them.

There are a lot of Easter Eggs in that show.
It used to be funny too. Before they let all the womanly types in. Now its just “Neighbours” with nerds.

Oh look! The Scientific Americans made a movie!

Oh look! The Scientific Americans made a movie!
Because their ambition is to be both Pravda and Izvestia.

Scottish butcher launches haggis into space – but why?
As someone who enjoys a plate of fried lambs’ brains and bacon and other meals of prime offal [liver, kidneys, tripe, etc.] I have never tried haggis. What does it taste like?

where it belongs.
I found haggis to be surprisingly tasty. Spicy, sweet and quite delicate. Not at all what I expected.

[begins researching how large a balloon would have to be to take David to the edge of space]
I am quite svelte.
It’s not the kind of thing that would normally appeal – and as a rule I detest liver, one of the typical ingredients. But it was much more agreeable than I’d feared, surprisingly delicate, and a pleasing texture.
Though I was halfway through a good red at the time.

It’s not the kind of thing that would normally appeal…
My darling wife is a bit of a gourmet and quite enjoys well prepared faggots… and whatever else is on the womens channel.
Me, I stick to liver.

Karl [obviously schooled in Latin grammar and declensions]: “And hide the taste of the minced pork recta.”
There seems to be an unusual preoccupation on this site with pigs’ bums. Very strange.
Otherwise thanks for describing the flavour of haggis. I will have to find an Antipodean supplier and try some.

Thankyou for the recipe ‘a different james’. I’ll have to give it a go, though I suspect my US-born wife might object – she turned her nose up when I brought home black pudding once and lambs’ brains caused her to gag.
Jim.

schooled in Latin grammar and declensions
Indeed.
I believe it was Hadrian who famously said “recti, rectu, rectum” – I came, I ate, I got the shits.