Peter Ludemann / is on Nostr

Retired from software {Google, Yahoo, start-ups, IBM, BNR}; sometime bicyclist, sailor, & non-gardener; easily amused by PL design and type inferencing.
Los Altos, California (previously Tokyo, Osaka, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria, Vancouver)

Twitter: Peter Ludemann (npub107n…qqc4)
Github: kamahen

Last Notes

2024-07-12 20:51:53

- reply

I withdraw my comment about your knowledge/experience, but maintain that doing very well in one aspect of cognition and badly in another is quite plausible.
Related: controlling a stutter in a high-stress situation imposes a cognitive load, which affects other aspects of cognition. But the electorate mostly don't know or care about this mitigating factor.

2024-07-12 17:11:26

- reply

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/biden-fades/678978/
A few excerpts:
So here’s the heartbreak.
Three-quarters of an hour of detailed, sophisticated answers. Mastery of detail. Knowledge of world personalities. Courtesy to the reporters before him. Accurate recall of facts and figures. Justified pride in a record of accomplishment. A spark of sharp humor at the very end.
Also: Verbal stumbles. Thoughts half-finished. Strangled vocal intonations. Flares of unprompted anger. Glimpses of the politician’s inner monologue—resentment at how underappreciated he is—spoken aloud, as it never should be, in all its narcissism and vulnerability.
...
The appealing and important fact about Biden is his expertise in the politician’s trade—so much so that my colleague Franklin Foer titled his book about Biden The Last Politician. The politician should recognize his own dispensability, his own replaceability. That’s why Congress hangs so many portraits on the walls, the great majority of them figures whom only specialists remember—and then only as fit to teach the lesson “He thought he was a big deal once, and now he’s gone. You think you’re a big deal now, but you’ll be gone someday, too.”
It’s human and humbling, a caution that most messiahs are false. But the messiah bug seems to have bitten Biden, of all unlikely victims.
Biden has been an astonishingly successful president. ...

2024-07-07 18:54:35

- reply

Yeah, I think that Harris could handle Trump; but I doubt that she could goad him into accepting a debate.
BTW, the WSJ has a surprisingly kind article (at least, kind by WSJ standards) on Harris: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/is-this-kamala-harris-moment-ccb109a7?st=92glv7n25su2l2d&mod=djemwhatsnews

2024-07-07 18:48:27

- reply

That would be about 11 weeks before election day. It would certainly be a shock to the sclerotic and uncoordinated American election system. And could suck the oxygen out of T*****'s room.

2024-07-07 18:36:49

- reply

https://fallows.substack.com/p/a-presidential-address-for-this-moment?r=3pn95
What would be the best timing for such a speech? -- it should be late enough that T**** can't react to it but early enough that momentum can be gained. Based on the timing of elections in parliamentary systems, 8 weeks before voting starts?

2024-07-07 18:16:33

- reply

This seems to be the latest physical exam: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Health-Summary-2.28.pdf
It mentions stiffened gait due to bone degeneration (this could give the appearance of mental problems). And an "extremely detailed neurological exam".
(OTOH, I've had a detailed neurological exam, including MRI, which showed everything normal (the doctor wanted to check whether I'd had a "mini-stroke"); but cognitive tests have shown a few "mild" problems; whether they've always been there or not, I don't know.)

2024-07-07 17:57:52

- reply

But the media shape the message. (And I suppose it doesn't sell to point out - yet again - how deranged and incompetent T**** is)
Is it too late to point out that the presidency isn't just one person, but a team; and that team has so far done a pretty good job (unlike the chaos of the previous administration)? But I suppose that's not newsworthy.
(I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, although I would never put the odds at zero (remember the previous election); but the possible futures are frighteningly variable. Thought experiment: there must be contingency plans for what happens if the president is struck by lightning tomorrow - what would they be?)

2024-06-28 06:08:34

- reply

I could move to Canada, but that won't save me.

2024-06-28 06:06:56

- reply

His followers won't be persuaded by anything. The question is whether any "undecided" or "I'm not going to vote" people would be persuaded.

2024-06-28 06:05:28

- reply

IDK - showing a video of him saying what he claimed he didn't say could be pretty effective.

2024-06-28 06:00:37

- reply

Why did the Democrats not insist on fact-checking for the debate? After all, Trump let them set the rules for this disaster.

2024-06-13 23:46:48

- reply

Judging from how politicians and executives use "I take responsibility", the phrase is meaningless.

2024-05-26 03:32:50

- reply

There was no solution for regular search providing wildly incorrect information, either. It's just that the misinformation is packaged differently now, with "AI". So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
?
(Am I being sarcastic? Not sure ...)

2024-05-23 00:47:43

- reply

Was there ever any doubt?

2024-05-22 05:17:22

- reply

Definitely not (unless it's left-to-right reversed)
https://media.mathstodon.xyz/media_attachments/files/112/482/572/058/887/058/original/08eceee160b64981.jpeg

2024-05-22 05:16:49

- reply

My first result was
https://media.mathstodon.xyz/media_attachments/files/112/482/569/695/569/805/original/042157141132e903.jpg

2024-05-18 20:10:58

- reply

But will the debates be broadcast where it matters? (Fox News, the "free" commercial networks, YouTube, etc)