“A basic principle of the law — and of everyday fairness — is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment. The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle.” Barack Obama [on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement], 18 September
“I don’t know that [Ruth Bader Ginsberg] said that, or if that was written out by Adam Schiff, and Schumer and Pelosi,” DT, 21 September
“I don’t wear a mask like [Joe Biden]. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.” DT, 29 September
“With time it goes away. And you’ll develop like a herd mentality [sic]. It’s going to be herd developed, and that’s going to happen. That will all happen.” DT, 16 September
“If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anyone in the world would be at,” DT, 17 September
“It will start getting cooler, just you watch.” DT, 14 September
“I don’t think science knows, actually.” DT, 14 September
“Because of the new and unprecedented massive amount of unsolicited ballots which will be sent to ‘voters,’ or wherever, this year, the Nov 3rd Election result may NEVER BE ACCURATELY DETERMINED, which is what some want.” DT, 17 September
“There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.” “DT, 26 May
“I can tell you there’s [no race problem] with me. Because I have great respect for all races, everybody.” DT, 15 September
“America is fundamentally good, and has much to offer the world, because our founders recognized the existence of God-given unalienable rights and designed a durable system to protect them” M. Pompeo, July 2020
Archive for coronavirus epidemics
and it only gets worse [verbatim]
Posted in Kids, Travel with tags Agent Orange, America, baby Trump, cliffs, coronavirus epidemics, COVID-19, decency, Donald Trump, Dover cliffs, George Floyd, hydroxychloroquine, incompetence, pandemic, systemic racism, US politics, US presidents on August 13, 2020 by xi'an““Many doctors think hydroxychloroquine is extremely successful. Some people don’t. Some people, I think it’s become very political. I happen to believe in it. I would take it. As you know, I took it for a 14-day period and I’m here, right? I’m here.”When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” DT, 28 July
“We are on the defence. We’re not out looking for trouble.” W. Barr, 28 July
“Fauci’s got this high approval rating. So why don’t I have a high approval rating with respect – and the administration – with respect to the virus?” DT, 28 July
Mr. Barr said that “I don’t agree that there is systemic racism in police departments generally in this country,” and he quoted statistics that more white Americans had been killed by the police than black Americans. NYT, 28 July
“A lot of the governors should be opening up states that they’re not opening, and we’ll see what happens with them” DT, 28 July
““[John Lewis] didn’t come to my inauguration. He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches, and that’s OK (…) Again, nobody has done more for Black Americans than I have. He should have come. I think he made a big mistake.” DT, 03 August
“When I took over, we didn’t have a test.” DT, 04 August
Cédric Villani on COVID-19 [and Zoom for the local COVID-19 seminar]
Posted in Statistics, University life with tags app, Astérix et Obélix, capture-recapture, Cédric Villani, coronavirus epidemics, COVI, French politics, OPECST, StopCovid, survey sampling, Université Paris Dauphine, webinar, Zoom on June 19, 2020 by xi'an
From the “start” of the COVID-19 crisis in France (or more accurately after lockdown on March 13), the math department at Paris-Dauphine has run an internal webinar around this crisis, not solely focusing on the math or stats aspects but also involving speakers from other domains, from epidemiology to sociology, to economics. The speaker today was [Field medalist then elected member of Parliament] Cédric Villani, as a member of the French Parliament sciences and technology committee, l’Office parlementaire d’évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques (OPECST), which adds its recommendations to those of the several committees advising the French government. The discussion was interesting as an insight on the political processing of the crisis and the difficulties caused by the heavy-handed French bureaucracy, which still required to fill form A-3-b6 in emergency situations. And the huge delays in launching a genuine survey of the range and diffusion of the epidemic. Which, as far as I understand, has not yet started….
and it only gets worse [verbatim]
Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags Agent Orange, America, anti-fascism, baby Trump, cliffs, coronavirus epidemics, COVID-19, decency, Donald Trump, Dover cliffs, George Floyd, incompetence, Minnesota, pandemic, Postal Service, The New Yorker, US politics, US presidents on June 4, 2020 by xi'an“When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” DT, 28 May
“Trump has long advocated for selling off the Postal Service and recently called it “a joke.”” The New Yorker, 30 May
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.” DT, 30 May
“Statt Öl ins Feuer zu gießen (…) Demokraten dürfen nie eskalieren – auch nicht durch Worte. Mit Gewalt zu drohen löst nur weitere Gewalt aus. Statt uns auseinander dividieren zu lassen. Heiko Maas, 3 June
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them..” DT, 1 June
“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see ’em thrown in, rough, I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.’’” DT, 28 July 2017
running in circles
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel with tags coronavirus epidemics, COVID-19, France, jogging, lockdown, Paris suburbs, road running, sunrise, swimming pool on May 31, 2020 by xi'an
As lockdown rules concerning outdoor activities were rather restrictive (run alone, away from other people, at most one hour and at most 1km away from home), I used the network of streets around my house to design a 13km circuit that was never replicating more than intersecting previously visited roads. And I ran it every one of the 60 days of the lockdown.
This was a purely urban run on pavement only, but offered nice views of the neighbouring suburbs, with three hills to climb.
And hardly anyone in the streets, except for the occasional soul walking her dog. And never a single control of the laisser-passer I had to print every morn.
Going by the park and the local swimming pool every day and unrealistically wishing they would open soon…






