Everybody Must Get Stone

Yeah, it another really busy week in the Ricochet Podcast Extended Universe (or as we like to call it, RIPEU, or repoo): we had a primary, some candidates drop out the race, we had a former Trump campaign advisor sentencing blow up into a fight between the President and his Attorney General. But we decided to ignore all of that (for at least about 70% of the show) and focus on other matters. First we have a discussion about why things are actually pretty great right now, premised on Ross Douthat’s upcoming book The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success (Ross will be on the show in March to defend himself).

Then, we continue ignoring current events as the great Yuval Levin stops by to discuss institutions and why we need them (you’ll want to buy his book, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream). It’s a fascinating conversation, completely devoid of any controversy involving a Tweet. Ahhhh, take me away Calgon. But, all of that bliss comes to a crashing halt when Ricochet Podcast Senior Justice Department and Legal Pundit John Yoo calls in from the tub in his hotel room (not kidding!) to discuss the Barr/Trump/Stone controversy  of the moment. Guess we had to do that? Also, Rob Long moonlights on yet another podcast to discuss his hobbies. We recommend it. Finally, mazel tov to @bucknelldad, he’s the winner of the highly coveted Lileks Post of The Week, for his French Court Scrambles the Debate Over What is “GMO” in Foods post. Magnifiqué, mon ami.

Music From This Week’s Show: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 by Bob Dylan

 

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There are 64 comments.

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  1. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Arahant (View Comment):

    TallCon (View Comment):
    I’m pretty sure that’s fake. For one thing you hear the sound of the windmill breaking at the same time you see it even though it’s far away. For another… It just looks fake. Oh and the fragments that just got torn apart by tremendous wind are falling straight down.

    There are plenty of others you can find if you look. There are whole compilations of them out there.

    If this video is fake, then it’s based very precisely on real events.  That is, it looks just like several real failures.

    N.B.:  If the brakes fail, the rotors can spin much faster than the wind speed.  It has to do with the angle; just as a sailboat can travel faster than the wind speed if it’s sailing on an angle to the wind direction.  (Arguably useless information gleaned from C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian.)

    • #61
  2. TallCon Inactive
    TallCon
    @TallCon

    Taras (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    TallCon (View Comment):
    I’m pretty sure that’s fake. For one thing you hear the sound of the windmill breaking at the same time you see it even though it’s far away. For another… It just looks fake. Oh and the fragments that just got torn apart by tremendous wind are falling straight down.

    There are plenty of others you can find if you look. There are whole compilations of them out there.

    If this video is fake, then it’s based very precisely on real events. That is, it looks just like several real failures.

    N.B.: If the brakes fail, the rotors can spin much faster than the wind speed. It has to do with the angle; just as a sailboat can travel faster than the wind speed if it’s sailing on an angle to the wind direction. (Arguably useless information gleaned from C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian.)

    Am I really reading “fake but accurate” on Ricochet? 

    I’d hardly call tacking useless information. It’s what we airplane people call lift! 

    • #62
  3. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    TallCon (View Comment):

    Taras (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    TallCon (View Comment):
    I’m pretty sure that’s fake. For one thing you hear the sound of the windmill breaking at the same time you see it even though it’s far away. For another… It just looks fake. Oh and the fragments that just got torn apart by tremendous wind are falling straight down.

    There are plenty of others you can find if you look. There are whole compilations of them out there.

    If this video is fake, then it’s based very precisely on real events. That is, it looks just like several real failures.

    N.B.: If the brakes fail, the rotors can spin much faster than the wind speed. It has to do with the angle; just as a sailboat can travel faster than the wind speed if it’s sailing on an angle to the wind direction. (Arguably useless information gleaned from C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian.)

    Am I really reading “fake but accurate” on Ricochet?

    I’d hardly call tacking useless information. It’s what we airplane people call lift!

    Tacking is simple geometry; lift is much more complicated (judging from the Wikipedia article).

    I was merely explaining why a windmill might tear itself apart in a moderate wind, so some of the wreckage may fall straight down.  (The rotors, of course, are subject to centrifugal force as they disintegrate.)

    Indeed, in some of the videos you can see neighboring windmills, with intact brakes, continuing their stately rotation even as the defective one spins faster and faster, eventually tearing itself apart.  

     

    • #63
  4. RktSci Member
    RktSci
    @RktSci

    The “decadence” argument is too centered in the physical sciences and computing. The 20th century was the “physics” century. Atomics, aviation, semiconductor/computing, and the like were all the result of the great progress in the physical sciences, especially physics and chemistry. The 21st century is going to be the biology century. The tools developed in the 20th century (electron microscopes, computers, etc.) are being used for a revolution in biology that is in the early stages. There are a number of drugs coming out of it (biologics like Humira for RA, Januvia for diabetes, etc.) that are really revolutionary. The convergence of information coming out of genetic sequencing, the ability to snip genes (CRISPR), and more are heading towards more accurately targeted drugs that can be tailored to an individual’s exact need.

    • #64
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