A paean to diversity in a headline

by liberal japonicus

This Guardian article caught my eye

Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci: German 'dream team' behind vaccine

Those accents didn't get there by themselves...

Comments

[wj]

And as you may have noticed if you listened to the news conference with the CEO of Pfitzer, that American pharma company which is backstopping the Turkish innovators, is . . . Greek.

It never ceases to astound me that people simply cannot wrap their heads around just how valuable immigrants are. Any country's immigrants. No matter how credentialed or otherwise they were on arrival. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be bending every effort to attract as many as possible.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

"Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be bending every effort to attract as many as possible."

I think I see your problem, right there.

[wj]

Possibly. But I suspect the real problem is the guys who aren't that dumb. They just prioritize what they think is their personal short-term political advantage over the good of
a) the nation,
b) the people they are supposedly trying to help, and
c) their actual long-term personal advantage, if they'd only look more than a couple years ahead.

Stupidity, however irritating, can be forgivable. Hard to fault someone for what they had the misfortune to be born without. It's the guys who could think, but consciously choose not to, that set me off.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

"It's the guys who could think, but consciously choose not to, that set me off."

You and me both, wj.

If they want to *act* stupid, then I'm going to *call* them stupid, and mock them.

[cleek]

now, make 7,000,000,000 does of it.

[cleek]

oh deer.

doses.

[cleek]

More than 130 Secret Service officers who help protect the White House and the president when he travels have recently been ordered to isolate or quarantine because they tested positive for the coronavirus or had close contact with infected co-workers, according to three people familiar with agency staffing.

[wj]

Secret Service Presidential Protection Detail is a dangerous job. But it's appalling when the guy you are trying to protect goes out of his way to put you at greater risk. For no reason other than to puff up his already enormous ego.

I'll bet there will be champagne corks popping across the Service come January 20.

[sapient]

I'll bet there will be champagne corks popping across the Service come January 20.

Hope they do their celebrating in plenty of time to sober up before their next client needs their services.

[wj]

I was thinking more of a sip. Just a gesture of celebration.

Although I do wonder if future assignment to ex-President Trump will be a punishment detail.

[John Thullen]

Party time for diversity:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rand-paul-thinks-11-million-americans-with-covid-should-celebrate

We need two vaccines.

One for the virus pandemic and one for the Death Cult Affliction.

[wj]

Why a vaccine for the Death Cult? Why not just give them what they apparently want?

[John Thullen]

No, WE'LL be vaccinated to develop antibodies to fend off the bugs that have crawled up the death cult's wazoos.

I'll fire my writers for this.

[wj]

Another paean to diversity.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/kim-ngs-hiring-could-be-the-start-of-something-special-in-miami/
Money quote (and a rwason why Obama was so good):

Think of an earlier baseball trailblazer, Jackie Robinson, who instantly played like an MVP after breaking the color barrier — representing the tip of an iceberg of great Black players who had been unjustly denied entry to MLB. Or how Black NFL quarterbacks still tend to be better than their white counterparts, decades after Doug Williams and Warren Moon: Going into Week 10, the average Black starting QB this season carried an Elo rating 24 percent better than the average white QB. This is simply a selection effect at work: People who tear down barriers of prejudice have to be that much better in order to reach the same level of status as those who don’t face discrimination.

[liberal japonicus]

I'm in the middle of a post, but I can imagine some people scoffing at the idea that Obama was 24 percent better than the average white president. Or saying that the better part was in service to a capitalist system that really should be torn down. Not me though.

[wj]

I can imagine some people scoffing at the idea that Obama was 24 percent better than the average white president.

Well for openers, there's all those Trump voters, who'd say Obama was the worst. Although the judgement of anyone who supports Trump would have to improve massively to achieve questionable.

[Donald]

Diversity is good, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to Democratic votes, as we just found out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/us/liberals-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[cleek]

highest COVID positive test rate in the world?

North Dakota.

74% of all tests are coming back positive.

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1329223825930665984

[sapient]

Hmmm. I wonder how far North Dakotans have been walking to give their neighbor a special Covid hug, or whether events like these were determinative.