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Ralph Snyder

@ralphsnyder.bsky.social

270 followers 160 following 3.3K posts

I post and repost about books, philosophy, art, history, photography, random observations, and, sometimes, just silly stuff.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · Aug 20

l make distinction between Poltical and political

The Political is akin to Philosophy and Religion. It is about how we understand our relationship to one another, how we navigate our disagreements, how we make decisions together, how we imagine our relationships within the larger social setting.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 3h

In re climate change and related topics.

Yes, in theory it is still possible to avoid catastrophy.

But pragmatically, the monied interests won't allow it.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 3h

Je aussi

Clio2 @clio2.bsky.social · 3h

I try not to hate people.

Sometimes quite a challenge.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h

RFK Jr: "Today the average teenager in this country has 50% of the sperm count, 50% of the testosterone of a 65 year old man. Our girls are hitting puberty 6 years early ... our parents aren't having children."

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 3h

Yeah. I learned long ago (like 6 months) that block lists are mostly crap.

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 3h

Always felt there was something off about Star Trek: TOS.

It finally dawned on me. James Kirk is supposed to be super charismatic but he is played by an actor with almost no charisma.

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 6h

Uh ...

Reposted by Ralph Snyder

Anthony Hurd @anthonyhurd.bsky.social · 9h

When my world is feeling heavy or I’m feeling on the verge of overwhelm, my go to is to put something good out in the world. Hoping I can brighten someone else’s day in return brightens mine. Closest thing I can provide to a hug via the internet.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 10h

Thomas Eagleton

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 10h

The bubonic plague was disastrous enough.

Climate change, environmental collapse, rampant facism, people unsafe in their own homes.

That's not an illusion created by reporting (if anything reporting is minimizing what we are up against).

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

It is not clear that humanity should survive.

-- Reinhold Niebuhr (adapted)

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

Johnson is the definition of clueless. He's so lost in his own head he might as well be AI.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

I know you will be.

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

I have ridden many busses. None has been half so convivial. I am jealous.

Richard Morris @ahistoryinart.bsky.social · 1d

In Herbert Badham's 'The Night Bus,' (1943) the interior lights highlight the different figures and their gestures, all still, fixed in the moment. A woman reads a magazine, a man smokes, the conductor chats to a passenger.

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

I have many unhelpful suggestions if you'd like to hear them.

Otherwise just sympathy and support.

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Reposted by Ralph Snyder

NO KINGS IN AMERICA… 😎 @jerasikehorn.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: A judge just signed an order BANNING ICE from arresting people at court in Chicago and all of Cook County.

Any ICE agents attempting to do so will now be arrested on the spot.

GOOD. 😎✨

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 1d

Two hours is more typical. Enough time to eat, relax, and maybe nap a little.

Reposted by Ralph Snyder

Structured Success @structuredsucc.bsky.social · 2d

Remember: Neurodivergent isn't shorthand for being ADHD and/or autistic.

Neurodivergent is an umbrella term for anyone and everyone who has differences in their neurological structure or function.

This includes mental health issues, brain injuries, and developmental conditions

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Reposted by Ralph Snyder

Crip Dyke @cripdyke.bsky.social · 2d

Critical Race Theory is, as almost no one remembers, a subset of CLegalT & is best described the body of work seeking to identify & understand how race & racism has affected laws (and thus gov'ts and institutions).

This judge's concurrence is actual CRT, and they don't teach this in kindergarten.

A Washington State Supreme Court Justice Condemns Federal Indian Law as Racist and Awful

"Each time a court cites a case that has as its foundation such racist fallacies, it is incumbent on us to call out that racism, even if just in a footnote."

ballsandstrikes.org

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

Not sure which the more difficult

Heavy traffic city driving, or

Narrow, twisty, hilly country driving.

Suffice it to say I've had a fair amount of both today.

And a lot of Le Metro and walking and waiting in doctors' offices.

And I'm just a little bit tired.

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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

Actually, it's from a deleted paragraph in Vonnegut's "Player Piano" and refers to a defective piano roll that, because of random cuts and tears, transformed its rendition of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to a recitation of the poems of Emily Dickinson.

Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

2. Glib, completely unsupported claims such as intellectual disability (lead paint) results in right wing ideology.

And it's mostly about the latter, dammit.
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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

1. Endless "news" reports about single studies that give none of these details. This results in confusion: coffee is bad for you! No coffee is good for you. Alcohol is bad. No! Actually red wine is good.

So it goes.
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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

5. (The Biggy): Reproducibility. Do other studies support the conclusions? This is a huge problem in many medical and sociological reports.

6. What do researchers uninvolved with the study think?

What is all this in sub-post to?

Well, a lot of things, but two things mostly:
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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

4. Is the statistical treatment robust? What is the sample size? Are there controls for other factors like income, education, and other demographics? What statistical model was used and why? What standard was used? >50%, >1 sigma, >3 sigma?
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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

2. Does the design reasonably test the hypothesis? If it employs a proxy (e.g. education level for class), is the proxy a good approximation? (No, it is not)

3. What is the methodology? Does it really operationalize the methodology?
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Ralph Snyder @ralphsnyder.bsky.social · 2d

This is a subtweet (and no doubt incomplete)

When I see a study, I look at several factors (which, alas, are not often reported in the popular press)

1. Is the hypothesis well formulated? Does it allow for a reasonable falsifiablity?
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