Wretchard.com

Until the 20th century a large percentage of intellectuals were self taught. Going to college is a relatively recent thing whose heyday in some respects may be waning. Today 70% of software developers identify as self-taught.https://t.co/HVE39uDpfu

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 19, 2020

Unelected algorithms. https://t.co/GAtlSDEXa9

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 19, 2020

Nobody can say for certain whether the H Biden allegations are true any more than of the Steele dossier at the outset. But it they are (and were) substantial enough to merit examination. However you cannot examine a question if the question itself is not allowed to exist. https://t.co/GHafJEWJi3

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 17, 2020

There is no way to delegate the resolution of the current political crisis entirely to an institution. Like a recursive function call it's been passed down through the layers till it finally landed with the voters. The buck stops with unpredictable public mass.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 17, 2020

FWIW. No matter how the election goes you'll never look at Washington the same way again. https://t.co/1gIrX7uACM

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 17, 2020

The biggest cause of turnover in Washington for both parties is old age and natural death. https://t.co/S3tisYB4JF

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 13, 2020

In answering the puzzle of how ACB can be in the running for SCOTUS while having 7 children it may be useful to remember what older generations knew. In big families siblings looked after each other.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 13, 2020

The world of Brandon Caserta https://t.co/mbKUagul4p

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 8, 2020

Every news editor is faced with the dilemma of which copy to run.

1. President at deaths door
2. President unnaturally active due to secret billionaire drug cocktail or deal with Mephistopheles.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 8, 2020

Rhodes fears for sanity.https://t.co/0YuzP1zNWg

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 9, 2020

The European second covid wave suggests that lockdowns, like counterattacks, must be repeatedly mounted to keep the virus at bay. "Beating" the disease must await a vaccine or natural resistance.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 9, 2020

One of the least studied but most important historical subjects of WW2 was the shadow conflict between the fragmented undergrounds and secret police, like the Gestapo. The Gestapo magnified the reach of its ruthless brutality by creating an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 6, 2020

Justifiable fear should be indexed to risk. The smaller the danger the lesser the fear. But to those who aim at extirpating covid-19 by quarantine the fewer the deaths the greater the fear of losing the gains won by strict privation. https://t.co/JUwtx9qDtt

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 6, 2020

The reason things seem surreal and crazy in Washington is the variance between expectations and outcomes. If we await what actually happens things will be clearer and less crazy.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 5, 2020

The reason govt actions often lead to disasters is because unlike individual decisions they affect multitudes. Checking untested seniors into nursing homes become a govt program with negative consequences.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 4, 2020

If DJT recovers it will have proved as much about his political virtue as if he had succumbed.https://t.co/wBw5a2Bero

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 4, 2020

The reason 2020 seems so jinxed is that global civilization relies on natural and human networks of such complexity that their interactions generate unpredictable events with increasing frequency. It started as far back as Brexit in 2016 and has been accelerating ever since.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) October 2, 2020