Have a big Masque of the Red Coronavirus party!

Regarding the carrier, Srinivasan offers some provocative notes.

And this from Srinivasan as well. (He's been a good interview & read as this thing has blossomed.)

A few years ago it was said that dementia often correlated to chronic low-grade infections such as tooth decay.

While I too am concerned about poor FBI practices, using L33T speak is not a good choice.

https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1245090865019858946

In the last two weeks, quite a few people have been saying that maybe now, parents will realize that no, their kids' teachers are not the problem.

I would add: Maybe now parents will stop being cowards and start telling their kids "stop complaining! Nobody cares about your First World kid problems - like the fact that I can't give you an allowance for months! How about the fact that I might lose my JOB - and we might have to eat only two meals a day?"

And speaking of old-fashioned parental control and how much simpler life could be for parents who use it:

https://www.omaha.com/momaha/john-rosemond-picky-eating-is-not-a-disorder-it-s/article_07b8b604-10cc-52fa-b9d6-0c878b69e1d3.html

Rosemond IS a psychologist and he DOES believe in the more tangible mental illnesses; just not most of those that had no names before the 21st century.

Second half:

...Now, instead of picky eating being narcissistic and just plain rude, it is a psychological disorder that some people “have.” This Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Thing has become big business, mind you. Google “ARFID therapy,” and you will discover just how big. Some of the therapy programs for picky eating children are residential and cost more than what most people earn in a good year.

One psychologist, quoted in an online article, claims that picky eaters have control issues. That’s right. They have control over whether they eat broccoli and Brussels sprouts or not. They choose to be rude because they seek constant affirmation that their almighty feelings represent universal truths to which everyone else should genuflect.

A true story: Once upon a time, a child became infested with ARFID demons at an early age. He would begin gagging and sobbing at the very sight of a food that caused his tongue to feel even slightly less than fully happy. His parents — bless their hearts — catered to the ARFID demons by feeding him only macaroni and cheese, french fries and fried chicken nuggets. Sure enough, the ARFID demons grew increasingly clamorous.

By the time the parents sought my advice, the child was certifiably insufferable when it came to food. He was well on his way to becoming an adult whom no one wanted to be around if the event involved eating. I told the parents to (a) feed him only what they were eating, but in half-teaspoon portions, (b) set a timer for 15 minutes, (c) put him immediately to bed if he didn’t clean his plate before the time expired and (d) let him have seconds of anything on his plate if he ate everything within the time allotted. Within a week, the ARFID demons had fled — demons cannot tolerate common sense — and said child was eating everything on his plate and asking for seconds.

My parents invented that therapy, by the way. It costs nothing.

(end)

Guess what? He got quite a lot of negative feedback. So here's his follow-up:

Excerpt:

...Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, like all mental health diagnoses, is a construct, a fabrication. The problem — as reflected in the feedback in question — is that parents would much rather believe their picky eaters “have” something that’s causing their tongues to reject normal food, than believe they created the problem by catering and enabling. One explanation absolves the parent of responsibility; the other does not. Which is more palatable, pun intended? Bingo!

One parent wrote that her child “started controlling his eating at 6 months.” How, pray tell, does a 6-month-old “control” his eating without parents who cooperate?

My daughter, when we introduced pureed foods, initially spit most of them out. She attempted, in other words, to control her eating. Most infants do. On a taste scale of 1 to 10, they want 9 and 10 only. We simply scooped up the rejected food and put it back in her mouth. She’d spit it out again. We calmly repeated the sequence until she figured out that’s all she was getting. Or, the designated feeder would simply walk away, occupy him or herself for a while, and then try again. Eventually, Amy stopped attempting to control what we fed her. How does a person of any age accustom themselves to eating something that may initially taste somewhat, uh, “different”? They eat it, that’s what, and in short order it no longer tastes different at all.

I can envision how our experience with Amy might have devolved into a full-blown battle of wills and eventually, as another reader put it, “dictate the entire life of our family.” We simply resolved not to allow either of our children to “dictate” anything to us...

(snip)

A reminder why petty wealth envy isn't useful.

Link to the second column:

https://www.nny360.com/artsandlife/familyandrelations/john-rosemond-more-on-those-pesky-picky-eaters/article_911878a4-4200-561b-bcf3-1f7469debb89.

"In the last two weeks, quite a few people have been saying that maybe now, parents will realize that no, their kids' teachers are not the problem." ~Lenona

Yeah, that seems like wishful thinking. Bad parents aren't exactly a new thing. They don't even appear to have increased in incidence rate. Either way the 'no it's the parents' crowd are missing the point.

Once you control for parental demographics you find that public school teachers have near zero effect on education outcomes. I.e. teachers earning $100k/year with all the best degrees and equipment have exactly the same influence as teachers earning minimum wage in literally rotting schools.

Teacher who try to push blame for poor outcomes onto parents are playing a dangerous game. They are correct with how our current public schools are setup. But that argument leads to very unfortunate conclusions for those teachers. After all if there is nothing teachers can do to educate kids, if everything is up to the parents, why pay teachers more than minimum wage? You don't get anything more if you spend more, so why spend more than the minimum?

On the wider societal issue, encouraging parents to do a better job and teaching parents better ways is all good stuff. But it is limited in efficacy. We really don't want to have cops busting down doors and forcing parents to read to their kids. So you are dependent on parents wanting to do a better job. Well bad parents don't want to become good parents. And there is no good way to force them. Instead what we do have control over is the school environment. Current statistic say that the school environment doesn't matter. Only the parents do. But it is hard to believe that is how it has to be. Charter school experiments show this phenomenon is due to how public schools operate and it can be changed. Hence the focus on schools and teachers.

I'm sure our bloghostess will say "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!" for one of these:

https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-04-01

If you're having a bad day: a mini horse raised by wolve...dogs. And humans.

https://youtu.be/SiUpDnFrhGs

> Link to the second

Busted

Teacher who try to push blame for poor outcomes onto parents are playing a dangerous game. They are correct with how our current public schools are setup. But that argument leads to very unfortunate conclusions for those teachers. After all if there is nothing teachers can do to educate kids, if everything is up to the parents, why pay teachers more than minimum wage? You don't get anything more if you spend more, so why spend more than the minimum?
___________________________________

Ben, first of all, there WAS no definite reason for me or anyone else to believe that most of the wits were teachers. Parents who believe their kids are perfect have been a running joke among laypeople for decades.

No one, on THIS occasion, at least, was saying that "everything is up to the parents." The clear implication was that if a kid gets bad grades, it's likely the KID'S fault. Old-time parents understood this easily, but modern parents are unnecessarily horrified at the thought, since they're afraid of how that will reflect on THEMSELVES. Parents who actually care about their kids' grades are clearly not "bad" parents. But even those parents might need a kick in the head to teach them that yes, kids can and should be expected to eat vegetables without screaming, AND they should be expected to do their best in all subjects, not just the "fun" ones.

I.e., sometimes it's not the teacher's, school's, or parents' fault, it's the kid's fault, and if parents had more humility, they could acknowledge that and deal with the kid more efficiently.

But then, parental humility is so 19th-century, right?

OK, here's another one:

https://triblive.com/lifestyles/more-lifestyles/living-with-children-more-on-picky-eaters/

"But then, parental humility is so 19th-century, right?" ~Lenona

I doubt even that is accurate Lenona. You tend to only focus on the upper crust and claim that was all of society when you look at the past and foreign nations. Coonheads have been with us for over 100 years. And they don't appear to be a growing demographic. Same with chav's in England.

When you look at the US at large and over time parents who aren't interested in education haven't really changed much. They have moved around. But as a percentage of the general populace there really isn't much movement.

I do get your point about picky eaters. And quite frankly dietary habits aren't really something the schools should be focused on. You can't do everything. On the personal side my sister raised a trio of picky eaters. She fed them all the 'kids' labeled food and then gave in whenever they complained. She did all the things Rosemond describes and got the same results. When Rosemond says "Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, like all mental health diagnoses, is a construct, a fabrication" is mostly agree. There are probably 1% or less who truly have an issue. But the very vast majority are trained that way. They can be trained differently if their parents want to.

But your first line is what I commented on. And it isn't restricted to the last two weeks. Teachers and others have been saying that for over 50 years now. Mainly as a way to push blame. Current events are unlikely to change cultural demographics that have lasted for so long. So I consider any great parental awakening as unlikely. I also pointed out that putting all the blame on the parents is accurate and dangerous for teachers to do.

The statistics on education outcome and likely cause are quite interesting and quite damning. Teacher quality by almost any metric you choose to use have an approximate 1% effect on education outcomes in public schools. Parental demographics are at +90%. It really is all about the parents. Yes there are outliers where you have a 'bad kid'. While those are individual tragedies they are also statistically insignificant. For the most part parents who value education will find some way to educate their kids and those who don't wont. Publicizing that truth is dangerous to educators.

'is mostly agree.' should be 'I mostly agree.'

Yeah, I'm not the greatest writer in the world. There are probably others.

> How does a person of any age accustom
> themselves to eating something that
> may initially taste somewhat, uh,
> “different”? They eat it, that’s
> what, and in short order it no
> longer tastes different at all.

I sincerely admire those quotation marks.

Many years ago I read that when a child eats, say, a vegetable with unfamiliar minerals and nutrients, the flavor is processed in the same neurology as is the instinctive revulsion to excrement… It's not merely “different.”

Insist on small serving, maybe just a bite. On the second day, with some of the compounds already coursing through the blood, the reflexive rejection is diminished, and after ten days or some tens of exposures in slowly increasing amounts, the flavor will no longer be so angrily refused.

This doesn't work for everything. Some of us, including your very favorite blog commenter, have a (truly) genetic intolerance for cruciferous vegetables… But the vast majority of children's timidity to new food isn't like that.

But understand that when the child looks at you with fire in his eyes and says it tastes horrible, he's not kidding. His biology is protecting him.

But then, parental humility is so 19th-century, right? ~ Lenona at April 1, 2020 8:45 AM

Respect for teachers has declined over time. It used to be that teachers were some of the best-educated folks in town. The GI Bill changed that, increasing college enrollments dramatically. Teachers colleges, or normal schools, became universities almost overnight.

The advent of the Education degree further devalued a teacher's credentials. The Education curriculum is one of the least rigorous. A survey about ten years ago found that Education majors were the least likely to read outside the class materials and highly unlikely to read for personal enjoyment or enlightenment. That the same degree allows one to teach anywhere from elementary school to high school devalues it further.

People value jobs by whether they think they could do it themselves. Most overestimate their own abilities. A large percentage of the population believes that teaching is easy, a cushy job, and with that in mind, resists paying teachers as professionals. Movies and TV shows that portray the slacker protagonist as a teacher don't help.

SAT scores for colleges of education have been rising and some school systems are adopting higher standards. The teaching profession could do itself a favor by widening that adoption of higher standards, adopting performance metrics, adopting a more rigorous curriculum, and implementing a tiering program for primary and secondary education licensure (where specialized expertise plays a bigger role). Teaching elementary students basic math does not require a math degree, teaching high school students Calculus should.

The bar scene in Wisconsin is LIT.

https://youtu.be/SlHwTVaQN6A

Virtual schooling is going to show some parents that their children have lousy teachers.

Lousy parents who have lousy kids aren't going to notice. Same with good students/parents/and teachers. Any changes will be minor, and attributable to being on-line.

Every one else will see differences, some positive, others negative. The ones who are likely to see the most positive movement are the motivated students who've been held back by lousy teachers. The most negative will be the unmotivated poor students who had good teachers and were able to tread water.

There will be a handful for whom the virtual classroom will be a boon. Things may just *click* for them, as if turning on a light switch.

We can all relax now. Judgement has been executed on COVID-19. Televangelist Kenneth Copeland has read the riot act to the virus. We're safe now. Go back to work, socialize, and enjoy the company of others.

Crid, I read something similar. IIRC, it said that kids' aversion to unfamiliar foods is their natural method of preventing being poisoned. (Whereas babies will often put ANYTHING into their mouths, presumably to avoid starvation.)

Of course, one could argue the solution is to vary the food served while the child is still well under age two - as in, maybe 100 different items per month?

The author of the Complete Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyczyn, mother of six, said that her 2-year-old twins would even swallow a bite of sauerkraut - and any guests they had would watch in amazement as the older four kids ate what they were served. All this time, the whole family was free to talk and laugh, because the kids had learned to adjust, long ago.

Dammit, Bee, not while I'm drinking hot beverages!

"We must reopen as soon as possible -- before they regain their ability to have independent thoughts," said New York 4th-grade teacher Ms. Jenny Mudd. "This is an urgent crisis. We realize we have to do our part to prevent the spread of the virus, but we must also prevent the spread of unapproved ideas. There's a balance there."

https://babylonbee.com/news/teachers-warn-parents-arent-properly-equipped-to-indoctrinate-children

To riff on Crid's response, it is the same thing with vegan replacement foods. You taste based on expectation. The farther you are from the expected the worse it tastes. So giving someone tofu and claiming it is turkey doesn't work. Tofu is great as tofu. But when a turkey tastes like tofu that means it is rotten and you shouldn't eat it.

Back to the school stuff, what they are rolling out in my area for 'virtual learning' isn't impressive. Essentially they just said here is the homework for the next month. Do it or not as you please. We aren't grading it. The main goal was to claim that schools are open (even though they aren't) so that teachers still get paid.

None of that is a knock on teachers. They have little to do with the policy. It's all being run by superintendents and such. The good teachers are trying to do more, the lazy ones aren't bothering, but most of us knew who they were well before this.

Conan, in addition to the GI bill the post WW2 pulling of women into the workforce helped to reduce the quality of teachers. The well educated and intelligent women had new higher paying career opportunities. And understandably they took them.

As for improving the schools, that is a political hot potato. The current system is setup to be very uniform. Everyone does the same thing at the same time and little room for variance is permitted. Once you start letting schools differ from each other some will be more successful than others which scares the pants off of a lot of educators. You also have issues like the asian-white-black achievement gaps that start showing up again. So racial politics go wild. I don't have much hope for reforming the current system. But hopefully I'm wrong.

As for the name change, I recommend a long hot shower to wash the filth off. I thought about commenting again. It's hard filtering out population density or urbanization effects not to mention local seasonal variations. But after reading to the bottom of that thread I gave up. I marvel at your willingness to wade in the sewer but I'm not as brave as you are.

When I said "parental humility" I thought it was clear, by the end, that I was talking about parents who truly understand from the start that their kids are not special, outside of their own families, and may not even make any achievements that are equal to their parents' achievements. Even with great teachers. You don't need to respect any teacher to have that type of humility.

And Ben, I don't know why you inferred things that weren't there. No one suggested that schools should be in charge of stopping picky eating, so why did you imply someone did? I only mentioned picky eating as an example of how PARENTS can teach kids the self-discipline they so need to grow a healthy body and to pay attention in class - and do their homework - when they desperately want to play video games instead.

Btw, the trouble with the phrase "parents who value education" is that it lumps together those who actually want their kids to do the work AND remember it, and those who just want their kids to get good grades, even if the kids don't care enough to remember anything once the school year is over. Not to mention all those parents in the college admission scandals - plus those who couldn't afford college but who would happily have been part of the scandal if they could.

That is roughly what I did with my kids Lenona. Don't have teeth, you get the formula. Once you've got teeth you eat what the adults eat. No specialty kids foods of any kind.

Which has lead to some funny stories. We were at a mexican restaurant and my then 3 year old put his straw in the salsa and drank the whole bowl. It was around 5 years old they started to get a little picky. But it is manageable.

My sister on the other hand did all kids stuff. Special pureed foods in foil pouches. Kids meals. Kids cereals. The works. They are extremely picky eaters and every meal is a fight. There are also health problems that may have popped up due to all the dyes in kid branded foods. Any recognition her choices were involved in those outcomes? Not really. Which is why I said your hope for a parental 'aha' moment was a long shot. Oh well, here's to hoping.

"And Ben, I don't know why you inferred things that weren't there." ~Lenona

Probably because I'm not that great of a writer.

Your bit was about picky eaters. I was originally only commenting on the line at the top. It's a more general line and pretty common place. Kevin was bitching about parents and kids with almost the exact same words a few days ago. So I was trying to clarify I was only talking about that line and I wasn't expecting schools to be involved in the picky eater issue you were really talking about.

It was an unintentional inference. Sorry for being clumsy.

"Back to the school stuff, what they are rolling out in my area for 'virtual learning' isn't impressive. Essentially they just said here is the homework for the next month. Do it or not as you please. We aren't grading it. The main goal was to claim that schools are open (even though they aren't) so that teachers still get paid."-Ben

-Same here. We're supposed to send pictures of the completed work, at least. I tried to order some supplementary workbooks but most of the good stuff is already on back-order.

"But then, parental humility is so 19th-century, right?" ~Lenona

-For someone without children, you sure are obsessed with parenting.

On the subject of picky eaters. I wish I could say that abject poverty would fix that, but, not in my corner of the Caribbean.

I know people who live in houses pretty much made out of pressed sawdust with rusty tin roofs and with the meals they buy, well, they throw away over half of it because they only eat the meat and the bread; but the cooked rice, the vegetables, and the salads they just won't touch them at all.

And they always complain that they never have enough to eat.

I also know a lady who when it comes to eating meat, she only eats chicken, pork, or beef. The thought of eating meat from any other animal would make her nauseaus.

Everybody thought she was just one of those picky bitches, so for Xmas we told her that we were serving a large hen and that's a chicken she ate with delight. When we revealed that it was a turkey -the usual Butterball that you buy frozen in the supermarket- and instead of realizing that it just her being whiny; she had a very violent reaction. She started to retched and then puked so hard, the vomit oozed not only from her mouth but also her nostrils and those tiny holes close to the eyes.

A stolen comment regarding the FBI/DOJ playing fast and loose with the FISA rules.

You vote for FISA because you want to stop terrorists in the local "mosque/restaurant/social center" from blowing up your neighborhood.

You get the FISA courts approving the FBI to listen in to your political gathering, because you MAGA hats have a lot of guns, you know.

This is how government works. Always. In every way. Stop giving them power.

Tofu is great as tofu.

Said no one ever.

I have no idea where this came from, but it's probably the finest piece of video education I've ever seen... Spotless work.

My shocked! face couldn't be reached for comment.

China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in its country, under-reporting both total cases and deaths it’s suffered from the disease, the U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report to the White House, according to three U.S. officials.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says

When in doubt: China is asshole. Also, why are we funding the World Health Organization to the tune of 15% of their budget and the CCP much less, but WHO serves the CCP?

Crid,

Thank you for that link, it actually made me cry. My dad died in 2018 but he spent 30 years working for Ball Corp. He was one of their most dedicated employees. This brought back so many memories of him and the time I spent working for the company. I spent four summers working in an actual can factory and another summer working for Pepsi. I worked on the palletizer 12 hours a day. Boring, but a great job for a college student.

The Holy Grail of lids is the resealable lid. After he retired, my dad continued to work with ad hoc basis for a company trying to work out a solution to that problem. This is especially useful for people who drink energy drinks.

It should also be noted that all aluminum scraps, no matter how small, are sucked up through into a vacuum system and sent to a bricker. That ensures that there is no waste. The bricks are resold for scrap and probably come back to the factory in sheet form later.

Thanks for the memory and the video. Cans are really quite interesting.

Next time someone whines that "the wealthy don't need all that money, it's disgusting" tell them this is why.

We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1245009716935188481

Well I'm saying it IRA!

I've cooked with tofu. I even order tofu dishes in restaurants. It has a place in my diet just fine. But tofurky is an abomination.

In the same vein I like cashews. Raw, cooked, they are a great nut. But 'vegan cheesecake' with the soaked cashews and strawberries and such is an abomination. It isn't cheesecake. Cut it out with the bait and switch junk.

Deer writer, he was a sailor, not a soldier. And if he hit the beaches, he was either a corpsman or a Sea Bee. Both jobs require you to be tough.

“In his words, ‘I survived the foxholes of Guam, I can get through this [coronavirus] bull—-,'” she wrote. “He has strong mental resolve. He has seen tough times and knows how to get through them.”

https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/oregon-veteran-95-beats-coronavirus-i-survived-guam-i-can-get-through-this-bulls-t/

Well I'm saying it IRA!

My shocked! face is actually shocked! I maintain that tofu exists so it can be slathered with tasty sauces. Other wise one would look ridiculous drinking the sauce straight from the bottle.

I was a picky eater as a child. A weird picky eater. Liver & onions? bring it on. Sauerkraut? danke! That all ended when puberty hit and it switched to the "see food" diet.

A brief history of soap. I haven't watched it yet, but if it is half as good a Crid's can video, it'll be worthwhile.

https://youtu.be/aOL330lir9I

Tofu is great as tofu.

Said no one ever.

I R A Darth Aggie at April 1, 2020 11:47 AM

I happen to like it a lot, especially the ways the Japanese prepare it. One of my favorites is fried tofu cooked in a savory sweet broth called Oden. They cook other things in the broth too but the fried tofu is my favorite part,

Deer writer, he was a sailor, not a soldier. And if he hit the beaches, he was either a corpsman or a Sea Bee. Both jobs require you to be tough. ~ I R A Darth Aggie at April 1, 2020 1:23 PM

Judging from the patch on his uniform, he was a Seabee.

Tofu is great as tofu.

Said no one ever.

I R A Darth Aggie at April 1, 2020 11:47 AM.

Tofu is great as a seasoning. Braised pork ribs with fermented red bean curd is amazing.

This is what happens when you only watch CNN:

https://abc7.com/usns-mercy-coronavirus-train-crash-derailment/6069395/

Tofu consumers of the world UNITE!

No, not really. In fact please don't. But on the topic of lying food I like rice. It is a good staple crop. But rice is not and never will be beef. Those burgers made out of rice and beans just make me nauseous. The wife keeps pushing them. So I'm polite and then go out to find healthy food somewhere else.

Because crashing a train into a hospital ship on a mission of mercy to prevent a government takeover makes so much sense.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/engineer-tried-crash-train-usns-mercy-los-angeles-233500380--abc-news-topstories.html

We can all relax now. Judgement has been executed on COVID-19. Televangelist Kenneth Copeland has read the riot act to the virus. We're safe now. Go back to work, socialize, and enjoy the company of others.

Praise the . . . oh, never mind. This is definitely not the Lord's doing.

Corona Virus Daily Thread #34

On the train guy, you would wonder drugs? Alcohol? Dementia? But then again people do really dumb stuff all the time.

On the train guy, you would wonder drugs? Alcohol? Dementia? But then again people do really dumb stuff all the time. ~ Ben at April 2, 2020 6:32 AM

Perhaps he misunderstood the concept of a rail gun.

Grrr