08/06/2026 0718
August 6, 2026•326 words
It is a sad, dark day in the USA when a physician Dr. Fauci's stature must endure this kind of public treatment. Some years ago Forbes magazine carried an article about how roughly 54% of adults in the USA read at less than 6th-grade level, and my point in remembering this now is that since then we've seen no grand dynamic in society to remedy this intellectual depression. My initial guess was that literacy has probably gotten worse, but that actually is not the case as Worldmetrics estimates what on the surface at least appears to be a slight improvement; keyword slight, 37% of 4th graders lack reading proficiency and 47% of adults (still) read below 6th-grade level. 6th grade. These numbers should shock even the most clueless MAGA, but probably don't, and those who cater to MAGA, Rand Paul leaps to mind, are not concerned with smearing the name of a peer-reviewed man of science like Anthony Fauci. It is difficult to see how a democracy can thrive (survive?) such headwinds. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the adults in these numbers are willfully ignorant, by which I suggest someone is stupid because they're lazy (find the thought of participation in higher education just too much effort), that's the way they want to be, and simply don't want the shame to be called out because of it.
Bohatirchuk,Fedor - Botvinnik,Mikhail [C17]
USSR Ch R13 Moscow, October 1927
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Qg4 Kf8 6.Nf3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Qa5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.a3 f5 10.Qf4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Bc5 12.Qf4 Qd8 13.Na4 Be7 14.g4 Nh6 15.Rg1 Nf7 16.gxf5 exf5 17.Qd4 Be6 18.Nc5 Qb6 19.Nxe6+ Qxe6 20.0-0-0 Qxe5 21.Qxe5 Nxe5 22.Bc3 d4 23.Bxd4 Bf6 24.Bg2 g6 25.Bxb7 Rb8 26.Bh1 Kg7 27.Bxa7 Rbc8 28.b3 Rhe8 29.Bd4 Re7 30.Kb1 Ng4 31.Bxf6+ Kxf6 32.Rd2 Rce8 33.Bc6 Re2 34.Rxe2 Rxe2 35.a4 Ke5 36.Rd1 Nxf2 37.Rd5+ Ke6 38.Rd8 Ne4 39.a5 f4 40.Bxe4 1-0
View this game HERE.