Bari Weiss

Police funding is also not significantly reduced basically anywhere in the US afaict - in fact, it increased in Oakland, though not by as much as police chiefs had hoped and as a slightly smaller percentage of the overall city budget due to increases elsewhere.
https://oaklandside.org/2021/06/25/oakland-2021-2023-budget-defund-police-alternatives-violence-prevention/

Separately, the article links to this source[0] when talking about how progressives are "ruining cities", arguing that progressives have successfully pushed for decreases police budgets despite violent crime increases. But the article linked shows increases in police budgets by percentage of the overall budget. There are real instances of yoy "cuts" but they seem to occur with disproportionately larger cuts elsewhere across the budget, which does not support the hypothesis that progressives are defending the police; it shows that when cutting budgets we still prioritize policing.
[0] https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/when-the-crime-wave-hits-your-family

Obviously crime is Oakland is too high, what happened to the author shouldn't happen anywhere. These experienced incidents are an important barometer on whether or not what we measure statistically is working to describe reality. We need good metrics prescribe the cure. However, it doesn't follow to me that the issue was caused by lower police budgets looking at how police budgets changed, and I am not convinced that there a progressive voting block to blame…

Here are few thoughts on Aaranson's comments:

1) I have absolutely zero understanding of quantum computers (even after watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWJCfOvochA), though I like to read up on quantum physics. However, it seems to me that I've lived through many "breakthroughs" in this technology. For example, here's an excerpt from a NYT article from 4/28/1998: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/28/science/quantum-computing-is-becoming-more-than-just-a-good-idea.html:

The discovery has touched off a wave of excitement among physicists and computer scientists and is leading dozens of research centers worldwide to embark on similar experiments heralding the advent of an era of so-called quantum computers, specialized machines that may one day prove thousands or even millions of times faster than today's most powerful supercomputers.

It seems quantum computers that can kick ass is always 10-15 years away.

2) Here's a writeup from Pano Kanelos, President of the University of Austin of University of Austin, where he explains the motivation: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/we-cant-wait-for-universities-to. Others can debate the anti-wokeness, but this part is pretty much fact:

Over the last three decades, the cost of a degree from a four-year private college has nearly doubled; the cost of a degree from a public university has nearly tripled.

Colleges in the US are insanely expensive! If the new UoA starts fixing that I'm all of it, but I'll believe…

Slightly OT:

> the author seems to be forgetting (intentionally ignoring for the sake of their argument)

I agreed with many of the arguments in the article when I red it, but checking out the other submissions on that blog, I think there are a lot of suspicious omissions like this.

E.g. There is another post [1] about a transwoman and a transman both competing in the women's swimming team. Sounds weird and at first glance seems to confirm all the usual "trans agenda" accusations. Except, the linked original article [2] clears it up:

> Henig is eligible to compete on the women’s team as a trans man because he’s chosen not to receive gender-affirming hormones, also known as hormone replacement therapy, such as testosterone.

Any mention of that in the blog? Nope - on the contrary, she doubles down on the confusion and emphasizes it to push the "trans agenda" narrative:

> Can you ask any questions about this and whether it makes sense for women’s sports to become a free-for-all for all that leads to a man winning? Do you want to keep your job? Because by the definitions of the movement, Iszac is a male who cannot compete on a women’s team, right? This whole thing is becoming increasingly absurd.

So in closing, I think the source is heavily biased to push certain outrage-generating narratives and cannot really be taken serious - even though I absolutely empathize with a lot of her observations in the OP article.

[1]…

"Yesterday I Was Levi’s Brand President. I Quit So I Could Be Free", https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/yesterday-i-was-levis-brand-president

> But the calls kept coming. From legal. From HR. From a board member. And finally, from my boss, the CEO of the company. I explained why I felt so strongly about the issue, citing data on the safety of schools and the harms caused by virtual learning. While they didn’t try to muzzle me outright, I was told repeatedly to “think about what I was saying.” ... In the last month, the CEO told me that it was “untenable” for me to stay. I was offered a $1 million severance package, but I knew I’d have to sign a nondisclosure agreement about why I’d been pushed out. The money would be very nice. But I just can’t do it. Sorry, Levi’s.

> I loved wearing Levi’s; I’d worn them as long as I could remember. But if you had told me back then that I’d one day become the president of the brand, I would’ve never believed you. If you told me that after achieving all that, after spending almost my entire career at one company, that I would resign from it, I’d think you were really crazy. Today, I’m doing just that. Why? Because, after all these years, the company I love has lost sight of the values that made people everywhere—including those gymnasts in the former Soviet Union—want to wear Levi’s.

"A key sticking point in the approval process has been the framework’s recommendation that teachers refrain from labeling students as “naturally talented” in math. This has led to accusations from parents and educators that it holds back “gifted” students."

Along with NYC mayor deBlasio seeking to terminate that city's gifted and talented education programs as well as Virginia's recent approach to "equity" by decontenting gifted education. The examples demonstrate the illiberal trends we are seeing in the U.S. wherein novel concepts like "equity" replace "equality" and merit is seen as racist.

See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/world/nyc-schools-will-replace-the-gifted-and-talented-admissions-exam-with-a-lottery-this-year.html

See also https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=4979

See also https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/mit-abandons-its-mission-and-me

Mathematics is not a bogus field, that does not mean it is not possible to submit bogus papers to mathematics journals nor does it suggest that it isn't possible to create bogus derivatives of mathematics - the recent rumblings around mathematics being related to 'whiteness', 'white or European supremacy' or 'racism' [1,2] and the related desire to create a 'new mathematics' based on 'indigenous ways of knowing' would create such a derivative [3].

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/teaching-maths-white-privilege-illinois-university-professor-rochelle-gutierrez-a8018521.html

[2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/modern-mathematics-confronts-its-white-patriarchal-past/

[3] https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/there-is-no-such-thing-as-white-math (which argues against the creation of such an aberration)