In what can only be described as an irrelevant idiosyncrasy, I am now calling my current favorite cereal, Corn Flakes, Corn Flah-kess instead of Corn Flayks. This is similar to my calling Staples Stop-less instead of Stay-pulls. Why do I do this? Do you really think I have any idea?
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I can’t resist the siren song of posting links to Why Evolution Is True. Once again, the blog author (Jerry Coyne) identifies himself as a liberal, but resists much (most?) of current liberal thinking, especially those views espoused by what I call the Lunatic Left.
Once again: are “races” social constructs without scientific or biological meaning?
From the post:
“…even the crudely designated races of “white, black, Hispanic, and East Asian” in the U.S. are, as today’s paper shows, biologically distinguishable to the point where if you look at the genes of an unknown person, you have a 99.86% chance of diagnosing their self-identified “race” as one of the four groups above. That is, if you ask a person how they self-identify as one of the four SIRE groups (SIRE: “self identified race/ethnicity”), and then do a fairly extensive genetic analysis of each person, you find that the groups fall into multivariate clusters.
More important, there’s little deviation between one’s SIRE and which genetic cluster they fall into. Over 99% of people in the sample from this paper can be accurately diagnosed as to self-identified race or ethnicity by looking at just 326 regions of the genome.
This in turn means that there are biological differences between different SIREs, so race cannot be simply a ‘social construct.'”
“In the U.S.—and in the world if you look at the Rosenberg study—one’s self-identified race, or race (again, I prefer “ethnicity”) identified by investigators—are not purely social constructs. Ethnicity or race generally say something about one’s ancestry, so that those members of the same self-identified race tend to group together in a multigenic analysis.”
Of course, the Lunatic Left wants us to believe that no biological differences exist between genders, either. Talk about denying science…
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I signed up for a Virtual Private Network (VPN) this morning. Why? Believe it or not, the primary reason was so I can watch new episodes of Transplant on the CTV website if NBC doesn’t continue to air new episodes. I believe I am currently using a web server in Toronto so the CTV website will let me view content.
I tried to sign up for a MotorTrend+ subscription as well, but was unable to actually get the website to let me do so. I sent an email to MotorTrend “support.” I have a feeling that will be as useful as having a dog explain Special Relativity. (Update: MotorTrend support sent a prompt reply and one of their solutions, using another browser, worked. No, I didn’t use the browser from Guck Foogle.) It just dawned on me that if the MotorTrend website thinks I am in Canada, I might be unable to subscribe.
Speaking of automobiles, it is a virtual certainty that this blog will have less automotive content in its final 6-12 months. As I have written before, I have little to no interest in EVs as I believe they are not the answer and should certainly not be the only propulsion choice for personal transportation. I also have virtually no interest in non-cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, which are now about 80% of the US market for new vehicles. I do NOT have to meekly join the crowd. The crowd thought I was crazy to pursue a career in major league baseball. Who was right? Well, I might be crazy.
I will continue with Threes And Sevens and the Hall of Very Good Cars, but will expend less effort trying to add automotive content to most posts. I know I will lose some readers, but as the blog has lost 30%-35% of its readers since February 1 what does that matter? This above all: to thine own self be true.
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Disaffected Musings 
” this blog will have less automotive content”
I, DDM, also have less automotive content today, not by choice however. I’ll explain:
Friday I headed out to a race track with High Times, my gasser, for a bracket race. Not a huge one, probably 100 cars entered, $3,000 to win. Friday evening around 6.00pm I was lined up for time trials, in the left lane. Burnout was fine, launch was fine, shifted to second and at about 400 feet into the run all hell broke loose. Car made a HARD left turn and I hit the wall at a more than 45 degree angle (I’m told) at around 110 mph. From what I’m told, the car climbed the wall partially and went over on to the passenger side and rolled over twice, finally coming to a stop on the passenger side. I remember none of that as I apparently blacked out on the initial contact with the wall. Luckily there was a good safety team there and they were able to get me out of the car fairly quickly. As I did have some injuries they went straight to the hospital with me, one of my semi volunteer crew with me.I was released from the hospital Sunday morning. The injury count, while high, could have been far worse. I ended up with a mild concussion, a torn ACL in my left knee, broken left ankle, broken pinkie and ring finger on my left hand and a light bruise on my heart. From what I understand, and what little I saw, my car likely suffered fatal injuries. It’s currently at the home of a fellow racer from that area, who graciously brought it, and my trailer, to his home for storage until I can get it home.
The good: I’m alive, thanks to the safety equipment in the car and on me; over built cage, harness, HANS device and Snell approved helmet.
The bad: After visiting an orthopedic surgeon today, I will be having surgery in 2 weeks to repair the ACL, rest to let my heart and head heal and probably 2 months for everything else to heal.
The ugly: I hurt in places I wasn’t aware COULD hurt, including my “boy parts”. In addition to the 5 point harness, I had added “anti submarine” belts which come up between your legs. At the moment, I’m a giant bruise and even my toenails hurt.
The aftermath: Too soon to tell. As I said, I suspect the car suffered fatal injuries. Why did it make a hard left? I will guess either fluid under the left side of the car resulting in loss of traction (unlikely), or (more likely) a broken axle on the left side. When I get the car home and can look it over I will know what the future holds for it, but my impression is that it likely made its last pass under its own power.
The future: Unknown at this point. In the event the car is irreparable, I doubt I’ll build another like it. It would take too long and the cost would be high. I probably have over 6 figures invested in High Times over the years and will be able to sell off some parts and get back pennies on the dollar if I’m lucky. Will I continue to drag race once I’m healed? Yes, but in lower powered cars I suspect. (my magic 8 ball said “check back later”)
All in all, NOT how I planned on spending my weekend.
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OMG, DDM! Very sorry to read about the accident, but very glad you’re on the right side of the grass. If you don’t mind, I will post your comment in the blog because far too few readers read the comments. My wonderful wife doesn’t even read the comments.
I offer sincere wishes for a quick and speedy recovery. Might be a strong sign to really slow down, though.
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Thanks for the well wishes.
Also, feel free to post my sad story where/how you like.
I’m certainly not hunting sympathy, as I fully know the risks involved in ANY motorsport event. I would however be more than happy to answer questions about the safety equipment I had, the protocols the track personnel/rescue workers follow and why both are CRITICAL for one’s survival when something like this happens.
As I said, I will likely continue racing just in slower cars. Something that runs 10-11 seconds should be more than enough. Also far cheaper to build/maintain.
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DDM, I know who was looking out for you. You will heal in your body. your ego has been bruised like other parts of your body. I am glad you were not hurt more seriously. Parts can be salvaged and the cause determined. Stay safe for now and rest, especially your heart. Again the racer community came through with their care and unrequested help. Your reference to your magic 8 ball brings back memories. Keep it around for its “wisdom”.
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Thanks, Philip.
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I will agree there was surely some divine intervention in addition to my safety equipment that brought me out relatively healthy. Having been involved in drag racing for nearly 50 years, I have seen what can happen, and has happened, many times over. The human body just isn’t designed for a rapid stop like a crash can cause.
This was the 3rd crash I have had in all those years, one of which I will say was actually my fault. I had lost traction in that one and got back on the throttle before the car was straight causing me to smack the wall pretty hard. Luckily it was relatively low speed, probably 40-50 mph and I was unhurt.
As the old saying goes: Good judgement comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgement.
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