Just a few.
• Good Samaritan Watch. Whenever a Talk 10(h) violation makes it into the news (i.e., slips past the mainstream-media watchdogs while one of them is distracted or dozing), I get a slew of emails congratulating me on the quality of my advice.
Here is the latest instance, a particularly nasty one. Thanks to all readers who alerted me to it.
https://t.co/cfFBlt6Z0k So much for helping anyone anymore.
— saltySusana (@Susan77237285) May 23, 2021
• India's diversity. Concerning my observations on the amazing diversity of India, a Jewish friend emailed in to tell me I don't know the half of it.
Want an example of how diverse India is? There are at least four distinct groups—each distinct geographically, linguistically, racially, even religiously—of Indian Jews, with sub-groups within a bunch of them. One community even includes separate "black" and "white" Jews.
I'm sufficiently surprised to know that Jews are present in India at all in any quantity. I once met a Chinese Jew in my travels (not counting Bruce Lee, who was only one-eighth Jewish and not observant) but I have never met an Indian Jew. Are there any famous ones?
• A pleasant seat. My pal who blogs as "posttenuretourettes" notes that Scott Siskind (who used to be at Slate Star Codex but is now at Astral Codex Ten) posted a most unfriendly remark about the VDARE.com castle the other day.
Did you know: far-right anti-immigrant group VDARE owns an honest-to-goodness castle? On reflection I am okay with this; castles are a traditional form of villain lair, and thematically appropriate for white nationalism.
Leaping to our defense, my buddy counter-posted:
Immigration is a policy issue, Scott. You can legitimately be in favor of increasing it all the way to literal open borders or decreasing it all the way down to Sentinelese levels without demonizing the other side as villains. If Ibram X. Kendi bought a $10-million castle, would you be using the same cartoonish language to describe that?
Thanks, PTT, we appreciate the support.
(Although I confess I lingered a while at Scott Siskind's blog. Then, following one of his links, I lingered a whole lot longer at Language Log reading about how the elements of the periodic table are named in Chinese. Fascinating!)
• Adventures in breathing. So far only one volunteer for Dr Takebe. Come on, Radio Derb listeners: Don't you want to help advance medical science?
