Elephants Are Total Scaredy-Cats Around Bees Nautilus
Cats have nearly 300 facial expressions Science
Jay Powell’s Greenspan moment Stay-At-Home Macro
Climate
Toyota Chairman Says People Are Finally Seeing the Reality About EVs WSJ
Adding Crushed Rock to Farmland Pulls Carbon Out of the Air (press release) UC Davis
A Field Study of Nonintrusive Load Monitoring Devices and Implications for Load Disaggregation Sensors. From the Abstact: “This paper describes a field evaluation of a state-of-the-art [Nonintrusive Load Monitoring (NILM)] product, tested in eight homes… Overall, the product had good performance in disaggregating the energy consumption of the electric water heaters, which included both electric resistance and heat-pump water heaters, but only a fair accuracy with refrigerators, dryers, and air conditioners. The performance was poor for cooking equipment, furnace fans, clothes washers, and dishwashers. Moreover, the product was often unable to detect major loads in homes. Typically, two or more appliances were not detected in a home. At least two dryers, furnace fans, and air conditioners went undetected across the eight homes. On the other hand, the dishwasher was detected in all homes where available or monitored.” For a discussion of NILM, including privacy concerns, see here.
#COVID19
A molnupiravir-associated mutational signature in global SARS-CoV-2 genomes Nature. From the Main section: “During the approval process for molnupiravir, concerns were raised about its potential to increase the rate of evolution of variants of concern. In response, it was noted that no infectious virus had been isolated at or beyond day five of molnupiravir treatment, and that mutations recovered following treatment were random with no evidence of selection-based bias. During analysis of divergent SARS-CoV-2 sequences, signs of molnupiravir-driven mutagenesis have been note, including indications of possible transmission.” In English, also from Nature (paywalled): “Anti-COVID drug accelerates viral evolution.” See NC, January 1, 2022.
China?
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi starts US visit as Biden stands firm Channel News Asia
China, a U.S. Ally and the Fight Over an Old Rusty Ship WSJ
Commentary: Xi-Putin Belt and Road meeting highlights Russia’s role as China’s junior partner Channel News Asia
Xi Jinping tightens financial sector control as new super-regulator takes shape FT
China’s youngest-ever astronauts blast off to space station Al Jazeera
Syraqistan
Analysis: Why hasn’t Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza yet? Al Jazeera
French president warns massive ground operation into Gaza by Israel would be ‘a mistake’ Anadolu Agency
Israel Agrees to U.S. Request to Delay Invasion of Gaza WSJ
Israel ‘preparing ground invasion’ of Gaza, says Netanyahu FT
Of course there’s a plan; see Yves here:
There’s no “post war” plan because it’s looking increasingly likely this isn’t a “war” but a campaign of total, or significant, forcible population transfer of Palestinians out of Palestinian and into the Sinai. The post war plan for Gaza is that there is no Gaza. https://t.co/bPwhmAb53f
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonCHI) October 25, 2023
* * * Why the IDF will struggle to ‘neutralise’ Gaza’s tunnels Indian Express. Lots of good detail. “According to John Spencer of the US Military Academy West Point, the sheer scale of the tunnel system underneath Gaza poses a ‘wicked problem’ for which ‘no perfect solution exists’, and overcoming which, ‘will require a lot of time.'” On “wicked problems,” see Armed Forces Journal here.
Israel-Palestine war: Israel will flood Hamas tunnels with nerve gas under US navy supervision Middle East Eye
* * * No takers for a West Asian war but war seems inevitable India Punchline. From last week, on Iran.
Iranian-Backed Militias Mount New Wave of Attacks as U.S. Supports Israel WSJ
* * * Qatar’s super-fixer role in Israel-Hamas war brings praise and scrutiny FT
Blinken asked Qatar to ‘tone down’ Al Jazeera’s Gaza war coverage: Report Anadolu Agency. What does Blinken think Al Jazeera is? The New York Times?
* * * NYC college’s Jewish students seen locked inside library as anti-Israel protest moves through building FOX. Cooper Union.
California man breaks into Jewish family’s home, threatens to kill them, yells ‘Free Palestine’ FOX
Progressives rebel against Biden’s handling of Israel-Gaza crisis WaPo
Ships advised to wait further offshore as rockets rain down around Israel Splash 247
European Disunion
Slovakia forms coalition government with pro-Russian party Anadolu Agency
New Not-So-Cold War
Breaking News: Russia tests its nuclear triad for massive response capability Gilbert Doctorow
* * * Could Ukraine take back Russian-occupied Crimea? Christian Science Monitor
Russia’s plan to relocate its Black Sea naval base from Crimea is priceless for Ukraine’s morale The Conversation
Russia Drops Mines as It Renews Efforts to Disrupt Ukrainian Shipping The Maritime Executive
* * * Former German leader Schroeder divulges more detail on thwarted Russia-Ukraine peace deal BNE Intellinews
Back-channel talks keep Ukraine and Russia in contact, despite war WaPo
Ukraine’s ‘Lethal’ Intelligence Operations Straining CIA Ties – The Washington Post Kyiv Post. And the CIA has a strong stomach.
* * * More goat-sacrifice:
Franklin Graham is CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
He says he currently has personnel on the ground in Israel
In 2018, Graham proclaimed that the modern Israeli state is a fulfillment of God’s prophecy for Christ to return and establish His throne in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/V7E7RJFvMn
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 24, 2023
Republican Funhouse
What to know about new House Speaker Mike Johnson Axios. Mike Johnson, R-Brylcream. That “what to know” locution is all over everything like kudzu and I hate it. What to know? Sez you!
The Terrifying Learning Curve Facing Mike Johnson Politico. Very good (albeit Politico’s field). Cf. Matt 6:1:
Last night after being elected candidate for Speaker, Congressman Mike Johnson asked the Republican conference to bow their heads and join him in prayer.
We need more leaders like this in DC 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Ja05Bbj6IS
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 25, 2023
Also, “leader.”
The Supremes
Justice Thomas’s R.V. Loan Was Forgiven, Senate Inquiry Finds NYT. That’s how cheap a Supreme Court justice comes? An RV?
Digital Watch
And now for some AI doom Politico. Documents here.
Facebook, Instagram Accused of Harming Youth Mental Health in Massive New Lawsuit Rolling Stone
The Bezzle
Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his New York fraud trial, his lawyer says AP
Crypto Is Lobbying Congress Hard. It Wants More Than a Bitcoin ETF. Barron’s. The deck: “The crypto industry wants laws passed that clarify how it will be regulated.” Regulated out of existence, would be my view.
Boeing
Air Force One replacement tops $2B in charges as Boeing logs new lossdes Defense One
Healthcare
Why the US is the only country that ties your health insurance to your job Vox
Gunz
At least 22 dead, 50 injured in mass shooting across several locations in Lewiston, Maine, police say CNBC. Commentary:
Hannity on mass shooting: What is your plan? What do you do? I have a personal security plan. I train in mixed martial arts. pic.twitter.com/Of0l1bpAGL
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 26, 2023
So, Hannity recommends a personal risk assessment. Turn that coin over and you have stochastic eugenicism, wherever you look.
A list of mass killings in the United States since January AP
Imperial Collapse Watch
What they mean when they say America is ‘indispensable’ Responsible Statecraft
Realignment and Legitimacy
Did SCOTUS Finally Wake Up to the Threat of State Nullification of Federal Law? Justia
Class Warfare
Ford and UAW reach tentative labor deal that would end strike at automaker Axios. “Tentative” because the membership hasn’t voted it in. Seems to eliminate two-tier, but all the coverage I’ve seen is a little vague on that.
The European Left and the Global South: An existential take MR Online
Americans Have Never Been Wealthier & No One is Happy A Wealth of Common Sense
Sex and the Single Witch JSTOR
Our favorite bittersweet symphonies may help us deal better with physical pain (press release) Université de Montréal
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Baby goats. They are so funny 😂 pic.twitter.com/qHD0RMngsn
— Funny animal show (@funnyanimalsh) October 25, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
270 comments
Comments are closed.
On the Israel front, I’m impressed by the way public opinion even of relatively apolitical people has turned resolutely against it. They had all the sympathy at the start, but who even remembers the killing of the first days (much of it apparently done by the IDF itself, according to eyewitnesses) in comparison to the thousands of dead civilians by now? If Hamas’ goal was to expose Israel, then they succeeded spectacularly.
Agreed and I wonder if this was the plan. Back during the Tet offensive in ‘Nam, the Vietcong suffered a huge defeat militarily. But as the White House/Pentagon had been assuring the public that everything was great and the war was about won, this was a massive shock which undercut support for the war from then on. You couldn’t hide the firefights in the US Embassy in Saigon so for the North Vietnamese it was a strategic victory.
Same thing here. Hamas baited the Israelis into doing an Old Testament style onslaught against mostly civilians and killing them by the thousands with tens of thousands of more deaths planned,children be damned. They intend to smite the Palestinians but now everyone is seeing this in real time and hearing the murderous intent of Israel’s leaders in their own words who are also demanding loyalty from every country in their intent. In they do not reverse course, they will end up inheriting the wind.
Perhaps. Ive long thought that Israel would go greater Likud if the US didn’t restrain them before the US was reduced in relative power and the Holocaust was a distant memory. For comparison sake, there are 120k American veterans of WW2 still alive.
Polling among youth in the US doesn’t favor the Likudniks. Time to carry out the dream of Greater Israel is running out. There are 190 million people in Egypt and Turkey. Another 90 million in Iran. Trade will be shaped to these countries. The US won’t simply be able to support Israel against that. Tel Aviv is taking their last opportunity.
So they get their Greater Israel and then what do they have? They are still a few million in a world of 8 billion. The Israelis like to talk about “facts on the ground” but many off them seem unable to come to terms with this overwhelming fact. This is the reason there is no post war plan because there never was. Therefore conflict itself becomes the plan with occasional bombings of their stateless underlings to keep the pot stirred up.
A Greater Israel wouldn’t solve anything because it isn’t even about that.
“So they get their Greater Israel and then what do they have?”
They will use the sunk cost fallacy to convince Americans that they can’t reverse course now.
That said, there is a plan for after the war, just that the West cannot say the plan out loud.
The Israeli leadership is, and always has been, incredibly predictable. They are covered from head to toe with big red buttons, and anyone can walk up any time and push them. Even if the response is damaging or deadly to the Israeli public and the Israeli state, they still can’t help plunging headlong into their next disaster.
I find it strange that Israel’s many enemies have not taken greater advantage of this, and effortlessly stampeded the Israeli leadership into a non-stop parade of choreographed own-goals. The fact that Israel is apparently relying on the US to be the cool-headed one in the current situation tells you something.
Because no matter how recklessly Israel behaves, they can count on their American gorilla to come bail them out, to crack heads if need be.
The USA is trying to wage war in a small way on a large scale when all it has in abundance is large scale weapons it can’t really use.
The big discussion on rekindling the conference on two states solution, killed with Rabin, and put on the international arena very forcefully by China and Russia (talks about illegal settlements, etc, recognized borders) are a huge political win.
Israel has managed to normalize the situation, continue dissolving West Bank within the settlements, etc. Now all that good work has been blown up. The Arab caretakers for Israel in West Bank are on very shaky ground as well.
Thus, if you will ask a Hamas leader whether the price of 1400 Israely, 6000+ Palestinian deaths, 10K plus injured, destruction was worth it, like Madelaine Albright, he will say Absolutely.
The dude who called for resignation of United Nations head honcho comes across as a mountainously self entitled brat who seems to think Isreal is above the law which is only for inferior people who are called (rhymes with gentle sort of). On a serious note, if the plan is to strave Palestinians out of Gaza into Egypt, the Global Majority better act quick to establish humanitarian supplies backed up with Chinese Russian escorted ships.
Those Russian and Chinese ships had better have their missiles loaded just in case “something happens.” After the 2006 war, foreign troops went into southern Lebanon to cool things down. The French forces there found that the Israeli planes were doing dry attack runs on their troops and who only knocked it off when the French troops got missile locks with manpads on those Israeli planes. And just the other day the Israelis “accidentally” hit an Egyptian outpost with tank fire – oops!
hmmmm………USS Liberty comes to mind
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/06/08/were-fed-it-survivors-of-uss-liberty-look-answers-55-years-later.html
Murky waters . . .
https://i0.wp.com/stonetoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/israel-uss-liberty-stonetoss-comic.png (Stonetoss)
A long time ago in Sunday School, I was reading some verses aloud and referring to them as genitals. I had no clue why everyone was laughing. Really.
Thanks for the laugh. :)
From the Guardian
Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers enter Gaza in overnight raid
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/26/joe-biden-west-bank-settlers-israel-prepares-gaza-ground-invasion
and
UN chief ‘shocked’ by ‘misrepresentation’ of comments in row with Israel
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/25/israel-says-it-will-ban-un-staff-after-secretary-generals-comments
I think Netanyahu’s govt has jumped the shark. The world is watching.
adding: beware of old men in a hurry. The PR campaign has not been going as well as expected. Bibi is in a hurry. / my 2 cents.
Similar to how time spoils all deals, it seems that Israel missed their opportunity to get a pass on a massive ground invasion of Gaza.
Side note: Senator Kill from S. Carolina was on CNBC and she agreed with the anchor that free speech does not include hate, which means basically you ain’t got free speech.
Back on topic, the window is closing and I don’t completely rule out that Israel just carpet bombs Gaza and calls it a day, leaving behind a ruined urban pile of rubble sort of like Artemosvk.
Or Dresden. They’ve been promising Dresden. From AP via AJ.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/26/satellite-images-show-scale-of-destruction-in-israels-assault-on-gaza
Yeah, but, we rebuilt Dresden. Doubtful we’re spending any money or effort to rebuild Gaza.
I think Germans rebuilt Dresden. Why the “we” here?
Whoops, my bad. I assumed Marshall plan money was used, but, geography wrong. Was all that Soviet funded?
The rubble of Dresden was cleared by German volunteers over a period of years. Russia occupied the city after the war.
Here’s a link to a website showing the destruction and rebuilding of the city: https://mashable.com/feature/rebuilding-dresden
I saw a clip of Neocon Nikki just this week and she was giving a speech from the back of a truck. No, she wasn’t talking in a car park somewhere. They actually drove a truck onto some stage where she could climb into the back and make her speech to show everybody that she was a “real” American who loved trucks. Methinks that she must be a graduate of the AOC School of Performative Theater.
Nikki really is from a lower middle class background and her Indian immigrant parents ran a used clothing store in the hinterlands of our hinterlands. I’ve mentioned before that her parents put her in one of those baby beauty pageants that were once popular–she lost–and my five cent psychology theory that this is the source of her ambition to win it all.
In any sane world she would have no chance but in a money buys power world she thinks she does.
She thinks she can come out of nowhere to become President. She doesn’t have any CIA connections so she doesn’t even have a chance to be a cabinet member unless she can whore herself.
HAH! – love it – AOC School of Performative Theater (AOCSPT) – too true
Make that International Theatre and it becomes SPIT.
perfecto
I find the “side note” interesting. Having the right to hate is one of Team Red’s major platform planks.
No. So-called “hate speech” is a trope trotted out (usually by the illiberal left) to justify shutting down free speech. Just label something “hate speech” and you can ban it. I doubt you would approve if a President DeSantis declared DEI drivel to be “hate speech” and banned it. But that is where speech bans always land, a point which I argue at length here. That is, those in power will use “hate speech” as a way to censor what they disapprove. You see the same abuse with the label “disinformation.”
On a side note, its hilarious that Donald Trump turned out to be our best defense against DeSantis becoming president. The universe has an odd sense of humor.
Disagree. When the “hate speech” is written in law, at least in most countries is has to be well defined and the judicial system deals with the violations. In my corner of the planet no single politician gets to label, declare or define what constitutes “hate speech”.
In order to be even be prosecuted for “hate speech”, the police has to investigate the case and if they think there may be a violation, the prosecutor gets the case and decides whether to prosecute or not. If the case goes to court, the prosecution then has an almost impossible task of proving the intention was to agitate hatred.
Meanwhile, the alleged violator (and the alleged violation) has a public platform like probably never before.
And hereabouts it’s very nuanced and context sensitive: yelling “burn the witches” is hate speech – especially if you are running around with a torch, while “the bible says thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” said during a discussion on how the church should relate to the witches is not.
It’s not really here or there; not really getting rid of bigotry or hatred and definitely not the end of free speech.
This is America where a Supreme Court can decide that a corporation is a person with constitutional rights where their big justification is a legal decision for which they use a summary that erroneously describes the case, one that says exactly the opposite.
Our legal system has been turned into a contortionist that can be twisted however necessary to achieve the desired outcome for a small group of powerful people. What goes on in other countries doesn’t tell us a thing about what will happen here.
Very true
In America you can get all the “justice” you can buy.
You don’t state what your corner of the planet is, but, have you heard what the EU is doing?
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/new-eu-landmark-law-targets-big-tech-firms-hate-speech-disinformation-rcna25705
“Under the new Digital Services Act, companies will be required to strictly police their online platforms by setting up new policies and procedures to quickly remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda and any other content deemed illegal by countries within the European Union.”
Now, if the EU fascists, and, I don’t use that term lightly, succeed in this, then your corner of the world will be affected greatly, like every other corner of the world. Doesn’t have to even begin to go to prosection, where they know most of it wouldn’t stand up to any fair judicial scrutiny. Just nip it on the bud, because they know better.
This is why no major Hollywood film has any sort of criticism of China or depiction of the Chinese as evil, although Blinken would sure love some Devil Asians on the screen. Big market.
The idea is to get Europe to enact restrictions on social media that would not pass constitutional muster in the United States, such that Big Tech complies rather than run afoul of EU law.
The practical upshot is the same as if Congress had passed an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech. Either way, the First Amendment is a dead letter, and no annoying judicial review. See the ongoing Missouri case.
A similar system is when the FBI/CIA/NSA outsources unconstitutional warrantless surveillance on Americans to its Five Eyes foreign partners, who are not bound by the US Constitution, which thus enables the spooks to ignore that pesky Fourth Amendment.
Looks like Florida is pre-empting “hate speech” by simply banning a pro-Palestinian student group from state campuses.
Why bother going through the judicial system when you can just wave your wand and make free speech go away?
See the UK where waving a Palestinian flag may constitute hate speech. No thank you. If you click on the link to my substack essay, you can see my full argument with citations about how “hate speech” is notoriously hard to define.
I’ll keep my free speech, thank you very much.
I am sure that those campus crybabies scrupulously parse speech codes when they cancel voices that they don’t like.
Yes, for sure. I don’t think our points are mutually exclusive with the present political class, who’s every communication is steeped in hypocrisy, heavily seasoned with narrative, baked in the two-party polarizing oven, and served to the masses as having moral values. It’s as if staying elected is more important than the responsibility of public service, heh heh.
If “the right to hate” is in fact a Team R platform plank, then I am all for it.
Honestly, I have to agree. Look at the flip-side.
Was thinking something along those lines watching the network newscasts the last few nights. Yes we are seeing the pictures of all the injured and dead children, I can only imagine what and how often photos and clips like that and more are being shown across the Middle East.
Who started it and all that is long past what matters. The fury that must be building up over these and other innocent deaths is likely something unimaginable.
aye. the vids that shook me the most…perhaps weirdly…were the ones of wide=eyed little kids shaking uncontrollably.
and the reporter with 2 babies in his lap in the back of a jeep or something.
i’m reminded of our 8 year prowler problem…crazy tunnel rat neighbor sneaking around, doing things…heard gunshots late one night…and i put boys and then wife into the cast iron clawfoot tub before i went out with guns and spotlight to kill the bastid.(he died in a nuthouse)
multiply that feeling by a million, and i reckon thats Gaza right now.
One of the things that tore me up the most was a photo of a dead father holding his small son, also dead. I think they were pulled out of rubble together, and the accompanying Twitter comment was along the lines of “Not safe in father’s arms.”
Fathers are powerless to protect their families in Gaza. I hope I never feel that helpless.
Anecdotally, those pics/videos are being shared a LOT. Conversations within Diaspora communities as to how much to share them based on the innocent eyes of many Americans. It’s rather horrifying; a common concern is “I hope the pictures of our mutilated families don’t make them hate us more”.
If a terrorist attack occurs in the West on account of this, there go the rest of our civil rights.
I’m not “apolitical” and I was/am against continued violence. I think/feel those who are responsible for derailing ceasefire have the blood of thousands on their hands, but family members and friends who are “apolitical” are telling me to stop “obsessing” over it, go for a walk, get some time outside walking in the fall colors. The question I keep asking is what is a person’s, my, responsibility, moral obligation, in being a citizen of a country that is in real-time supplying weapons to allow this to continue. And, now I see that they want to use “nerve gas” to poison combatants hiding in the tunnel…I don’t know, it troubles me deeply.
How ironic that Israel proposes gassing Palestinians to death.
Really appropriate when you consider that ; “Eventually, you become that which you hate.”
I remember the hoo haw years ago about the Israeli senior Judge who called the Ultra Right Wingers in his country “Zionist Fascists.”
From a bit of Googling about I find out that there really is a ‘robust’ debate inside Israel concerning the future path of the country. This seems to support the contention that a sufficiently well organized and ruthless minority can hijack the reins of government. This applies to all countries.
that is beyond irony sadly – and what’s left of friends and my only sibling that still will interact with me mention the “stop obsessing” BS too – or, ‘what are you going to do?’ – i think staying aware is important and not letting offhand comments denigrating the situation pass without objection –
Yes, but the US Navy will supervise to make sure that it is done in an extra humane way!
If you read the article, it claims “Delta Force” which is not US Navy, but in any event probably directed by JSOC, not Army nor Navy.
Sorry, my mistake.
They learned the wrong lessons from Germans.
Also, using poisonous gas on people that they are supposed to be responsible for (Gazans are Israel’s prisoners) shouldn’t make the US want to throw missiles at Israel, the way they did to Syria?
Even during the First World War, the use of poison gas was not popular, but seen as necessary. Despite all the horrible weapons and atrocities of the Second World War, the combatants convinced themselves not to use poison gas or biological weapon with the exception of the Japanese. They used weapons made to spread IIRC, plague and other unpleasantness on the Chinese.
There are good reasons why nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons either have not been used or used very, very sparingly since the end of the Second World War. Aside from the sheer lethality of those weapons of mass murder, the ick factor of using such weapons on other human beings also a reason. There seems to be an emotional pushback to using these things on those you consider people; that it is either plausible to believe or an actual reality, that they plan to use poison gas shows both their denial of the humanity of others as well as their own emptiness of soul.
At best, they lack all wisdom excepting some brutal, animalistic cunning, but I think that we are truly ruled by those empty of heart and soul, if not in some cases, actually evil. Psychopaths or sociopaths with some crippled because they never really felt or understood right or wrong, and others having it, but choosing to disregard it, and modern society with its late stage capitalism, massive corruption, and hollow society helping them to do so.
There was some use of CS (tear gas) in Vietnamese tunnels. IIRC it was not very effective, but there was some talk of war crime. Anyway, they stopped trying to use it because it wasn’t doing the job (driving VC out of the tunnels). In 1970 my Signals Battalion was told by JUSMAG “intelligence” that there was a chance the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was going to attack us with captured supplies of CS, so we carries our gas masks around for a few days.
The moral obligation I find is to know as many facts as possible and organize them in my mind to offer the best persuasion I can for how to serve peace, and justice.
I don’t know what else to do, because my heart cries out every day as we are so far from peace, and justice.
AX i have a close friend that kept sending me stuff about Marianne Williamson to which i always countered that she is a war-monger with her stance on Ukraine – in the beginning in one of her first interviews it was all-in gung-ho to stop the menacing Russians and keep arming the Ukrainians with our $$$$ – and i remind him about the homeless problem or the threat to social security and Medicare/Medicaid which is not addressed by the dems or the repukes – lately Marianne has moderated her stance slightly to not sound too frothy of mouth about it – but still no context or balance and still arms and $$$ to the griftopoly of Ukraine – like you i’ve provided facts gathered and they seem to hit a teflon wall – my friend doesn’t agree but says he respects my right to have my view so i don’t press too hard, and he has stopped sending me Marianne stuff – which is better than another friend, perhaps no more in his mind, that i needed to “repair” our friendship – pretty much because i was “throwing away” my vote if i didn’t vote for the Husk and helped Drumpf get elected – oh well – to be an advocate for peace and justice is a lonely voice in barren wilderness –
Very much something that is exercising me too, as a citizen of the US’s junior partner, the UK.
I felt the need to at least bear witness to the fact that we can all see that the crime of genocide and other crimes against humanity are being committed right now.
I wrote to my MP, knowing that I would receive a standard reply; duly received. He tells me that he supports Israel’s right to “go after” Hamas and “deter further incursions”. He did not answer my questions and did not acknowledge that what he is actually doing is offering support for genocide and collective punishment.
I offered him Articles 6 and 7 of the Rome Statute. Article 7.2(b): “Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.
It’s the first time since the Iraq war that I have felt the need to join a protest, if only so that I can say, I will not stand for you lying on my behalf so that hundreds of thousands of people may die.
I am now asking myself, does my power begin and end there?
Your power begins there. As events like the Revolutions of 1789, 1917, etc. show, there is no upper limit when your ‘power’ is joined to that of others.
Israel’s rerun of the ‘The Albigensian Crusade was intended to eliminate Catharism,’
How does “Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.” sound in hebrew?
Medieval religious war in the 21st century, who could have thought?
Or the 30 Years War.
The Thirty Years War, which was part of the Wars of Religion, was an impetus for the Enlightenment, which was the source of Classical Liberalism; Classical Liberalism has been twisted into the Neoliberalism that includes the monstrosity that is the current Neoleft. Here, I
am labeling the current elite approved pseudo-left that has replaced the murdered Left of the Twentieth Century. The Left that staggered on into the early 1980s before Thatcherism and Reaganism finished it as an effective movement.
What was the social and economic Left is just about dead as is (Classical) Liberalism. Certainly, the ideas of the Free Speech Movement and the New Left of the 1960s it arose from are being killed as well.
I wonder if any of the ideas that arise from all this will survive especially as the American political thought, the whole system of government and how society is organized, comes from them. If it is all successfully destroyed, will there still be an “American” society?
Or will enough of it be saved to be used for a rebuilt nation still recognizably American?
The main stream media isn’t covering the State of Maine’s genocidal campaign against Vacationland. Mass shooting is tactic of resistance, right? Now that the shooter has gotten away, it’s time for a ceasefire. Shame on Maine for not honoring the right of return for French fur trappers to Bar Harbor. Mount Desert is a holy site. Maine is a puppet state of New Brunswick.
False equivalency.
So far, the “mass shooters” in America are singletons, not allied, certainly not espousing coherent and generally recognized political ideologies. Hamas is a different matter. It is Israel’s “Frankenstein’s Monster” escaped from under Israel’s control.
Besides, I think that I would much prefer to ‘hang out’ in a French Fur Trapper Bar Harbour than the prissyfied, thoroughly neo-liberal Bar Harbour of today.
“Vive la Nouvelle Acadia!”
Misplaced sarcasm, and not very accurate either. There are plenty of French descended people in Maine, and some do still even trap fur. Better stay away or Poulin and Pelletier might rough you up.
I will now get back to taking care of my kid who is home from school today due to a lunatic still being on the loose.
I genuinely can’t tell if this is a joke or clinical schizophrenia
I’m inclined to dismiss the importance of symbolic PR victories, specifically those centered on Western public opinion, as the goal of Hamas. I think their goals are military-strategic and are centered around their analysis of the Israel’s war-making capacity and the Western ability to reinforce it. I think they were aiming for an initial tactical victory, albeit not as successful as the one they actually achieved. Israel’s subsequent punitive actions, and the stress and decay on the IDF from these, were part of the calculus of their victory conditions. Hamas is plugged into the overall “Resistance” intelligence network, which is partnered with Russian and Chinese intelligence capabilities, they may have a more realistic idea of the Israeli/Western capacity to wage war than the decision makers in Washington and Tel Aviv.
I think the PR benefits they are seeing in the West, are more a consequence of the overall diminished material position of the West. The overwhelming advantage in propaganda and information warfare that the West has historically enjoyed has always been a mirage. Westerners believed that advantage arose from the virtue and morality of their governing systems and philosophy, and that they could reinforce this advantage by devoting a large portion of their effort to further narrative control via their media complexes. But this advantage was a consequence of Western material abundance, propaganda falls easiest on the ears of those with full bellies.
The West has lost this material abundance. This is manifest in our diminished military deterrence. Hamas and the “Axis of Resistance” are aware of this, and chose to challenge it directly. It is also manifest in our diminished ability to stave off reality and control the narrative, after all are you going to believe Anderson Cooper or your own lying eyes?
Say Amen somebody(!)
Please clap
Spot on.
“Over the past generation, successive U.S. administrations turned a blind eye, not merely while the Likud governments slowly killed the “two-state solution” and stoked Palestinian and Arab rage through its settlement policy, but while Prime Minister Netanyahu deliberately helped build up Hamas as a force against the Palestine Liberation Organization, so as not to have to negotiate seriously with the latter.”
And now the US and its “unsinkable aircraft carrier”, Israel are faced with the PR problem from hell as they attempt to carry out genocide as the whole world watches
PR problem, indeed.
Using U.S. WW2 War Crimes To Justify Current War Crimes BackFires!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmj10mAS_Fk
related:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/mani-shankar-aiyar-writes-first-came-zionist-terror-8999423/
Lula straight up used the word “genocide”.
So did Gustavo Petro of Colombia, the former “Israel of Latin America” as per Hugo Chavez …
‘Acyn
@Acyn
Hannity on mass shooting: What is your plan? What do you do? I have a personal security plan. I train in mixed martial arts.’
So Hannity is rabbiting on about all the work and preparations that he personally does but then you see that woman turn to the camera and you wonder if she is thinking of how much all that would do against automatic rifle fire. Long story short – don’t go to changing laws but take personal responsibility instead because, you know, you’re on your own.
Apparently that maniac in Maine was recently released from a mental facility so I predict that the usual voices will come out and say that America does not have a gun problem but has a mental health problem. Therefore gun laws do not need to be changed-
https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1717374410795934053
I really love that clip. 60yr old guy is going to stop mass shooters with his arm-bar holds!!! I’m sure he’s in great shape, but, what happens when he pulls a muscle because he didn’t warm up before grappling???
This is like a 21st century US version of those crazy guys during the boxer rebellion in China that thought they could stop bullets.
Several years ago after a school shooting, you actually had pundits on TV saying the the best defence for those students would be to charge the shooter. Against automatic rifle fire. Of course these pundits thought that this was a brilliant idea on their part and were virtually patting themselves on the back.
Well, it worked in Gallipoli. Oh, wait, perhaps it didn’t…
Neither did the idea of having soldiers in WW1 being loaded up with full combat packs of at least 60 lbs and marching them in straight lies at German machine gun emplacements.
This used to be in school trainings. Have the entire class tackle the shooter! It was completely nuts.
From the perspective of the group that probably is the soundest strategy. On an individual level, probably not.
Would that be a calvary cavalry charge?
“Mount them up! Put some Skulls and Roses on the sound system! I love the smell of frankincense in the morning!”
Indeed, imagine our estdos unidos version of Niños Héroes, with targeted cadets rushing the shooter!
Maybe I’m dyslexsic but I always read calvary as cavalry!
Equip every classroom with scuta and have them form a testudo against the gunman:
https://www.fatherly.com/news/roman-testudo-warrior-formation-video
What automatic rifle fire?
I’m sure that Sean Hannity lives a comfortable existence and perhaps as well, is provided some measure of security detail to and from the Fox studios. No idea what he is paid but suffice to say, I suggest he is not on the edge of precarity for the daily existence in modern America.
This shooting is another general example of things going terribly wrong and possible gaps in a mental health crisis could come to light. Final thought, I include the below quotation from noted pugilist Mike Tyson, one of the best ever left hooks to knock someone out cold.
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
I don’t know if it’s a mental health crisis or a gun/second amendment crisis, or maybe it’s a bit of both. I do know that if I was a member of Congress, I would work mightily for the right of citizens to carry firearms into the Houses of Congress, and into all the federal courts nationwide, so that the gun-rights gang would have to live in the world they’ve created, and not in the elitist cash bubbles they feel so safe in.
That would be one way to pop those bubbles. There are others.
It’s already been done, back in 1954 by anti-imperialist Puerto Ricans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_United_States_Capitol_shooting
Time to change my Rick Santorum Google type search script from “What is a bank run” to “1954_United_States_Capitol_shooting” /s
Aw for the good old days when the masses could pants the Google algorithms.
See Sardonia’s link below in this thread.
Hannity was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But he fought with expert timing
There was a mentally addled man from some Maine town
He was mopping them up as he was shooting them down
It’s an ancient Chinese art and Hannity knew his part
From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip
Hannity was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But he fought with expert timing
There was this funky gunman with assault rifle slung
Hannity said here comes a 2nd Amendmenter, let’s get it on
We took a bow and made a stand, started swinging with the hand
The sudden motion made him skip
And with a faint did the gunfire miss
Hannity was kung-fu fighting
Those kicks were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But he fought with expert timing
Keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on
Kung Fu Fighting, by Carl Douglas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNkWAu32b-0
Didn’t work well for this dude –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQKrmDLvijo
♫ Didididink dink, dink dink, ding…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_riff
America does not have a gun problem but has a mental health problem
Well, maybe. Also note that he was a recently trained military weapons expert. So perhaps this is a military problem.
As I said to my sister living 20 miles from Lewiston, this America’s war on the world coming home. We have a military mental health gun problem. Live by the sword…
Coupling this with the shot of House Republicans surrounding their new Speaker, heads bowed in prayer. All I can think is of the comment yesterday that basically said one of the tragedies of these shootings is how it is usually people just as powerless as the shooter that are victims. They would need a few bowed Democratic heads along with the Republicans but that group of praying people probably caused far more of that disturbed veteran’s distress than Lewiston. Yet they are safe and today probably offering meaningless “prayers”. (And in this case I don’t just mean gun laws.)
If you were in that group of praying (preying?) politicians, before you closed your eyes you would have to make sure that you had a firm grip on your wallet first.
heh heh “Everybody put on your praying face for a photo op.” We need more leaders like this?
All indications are the new Speaker is not putting on a face but is really that “religious”. Mind you I am sure if we dig his religious diligence will turn out to be just as situational as say Lieberman’s was. You don’t get to be that successful either as a lawyer, a politician, or even in many Protestant churches without being both self involved and self promoting.
Matthew 6:6-8
There is no shortage of small arms ammunition both for purchase and already bought and owned in the USA, whereas we are scrambling to find 155mm shells all over the world, as the cupboard is bare here.
Au contrair Wuk. There are persistent ‘shortages’ of some small arms ammunition still. Try and find 410 bore shells. (Those are used mainly for shotgunning by lighter bodied people, like kids and small women. Less recoil.) Plus, ‘American’ ammunition manufacturers are being bought up by foreign business concerns, by the Sons of Skoda no less.
See: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2023/10/18/czechoslovak-group-acquire-vista-outdoor-ammunition-business-2-billion-deal/
The Army still manufactures larger ordinance, but, if I read it right, small arms ammunition is mainly contracted out to private concerns.
See: https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/04/18/us-army-document-details-plan-to-update-wwii-era-ammo-plants-and-depots/
I’ll admit to being out of the loop after my Baedeker went out of the ammo business some years ago.
The locked glass ammo case @ Wal*Mart was handy in seeing how dire it was back in the day when Obama was coming for everybody’s guns, or how incredibly flush it was with stock when Trump wasn’t.
There’s a significant shortage, and recent announcement by Lake City of no sales in civilian channels leads to CW theories.
America has a culture problem. If American culture did not glorify violence as the solution to an incredibly wide range of problems, guns would be fine–for hunting, target shooting, and basic safety (if you live in a place under-served by law enforcement or overpopulated by dangerous wildlife). Lethal weapons are pushed right in your face by the “entertainment” media and not only movies (think how many book covers feature a man wielding a gun, a sword, an ax). Naturally gun manufacturrers are eager to jump on the bandwagon of offering “tactical” or (near) military grade weapons, so you (or your militia buddies) can be the hero of your own story.
And having politicians whose only answer to everything is a War (on drugs, on poverty, on Islam, on Communism, on ex-Communism, etc.) means the militaristic model penetrates all levels of society–especially law enforcement and the role models it presents. And every real war abroad comes home at some point, with both the veterans who return and the media campaigns that advertise our killing technology as an eighth wonder of the world. You could outlaw over half of the guns sold now and it would reduce violence in the US not one bit. As with the drug problem, attacking a symptom in all moral certainty not only is ineffective but is counterproductive, because it allows (or even feeds) the growth of the real, underlying problems.
Just about every tv series in the 1950’s in the USA was a western and lotsa gunplay in most every episode, and yet there weren’t any mass murders in that era.
That was cartoon violence. It was also just after World War II and before hippies and women’s liberation, when men had a sense of “doing your duty” masculinity being a highly valued social asset. All the social cues for the righteous tough guy were there, but in more stylized form (well, outside of Mickey Spillane novels, I mean).
In the late 1960s thing started to get much more “edgy” and movie violence became explicit and brutality was valorized, starting maybe with Bonnie and Clyde and accelerating with Dirty Harry and its successors. And the military was training soldiers (starting around the Korean war) to shoot first and then worry about if it was a civilian or not. They were displeased at how many soldiers in World War II had been shooting over or near the enemy rather than right at them, so they wanted to make the kill shot reflexive. All that trickled back into society, helped to a slow boil by the various wars on drugs, with the concomitant proliferation of cop shows on TV. And the huge media coverage of mass shootings seeded the next rounds. Almost every one of the mass shooters between 1990 and 2010 was studying the previous incidents to work up their own MO.
In the last decade it’s been hard to find a national leader who can string three sentences together without one of them being about making somebody pay, taking vengeance for something, or threatening any nation that doesn’t recognize “We’re number 1!” Is it any wonder that, with leaders who sound like rabid dogs foaming at the mouth, the loonies in the population are inspired to come out with guns blazing? It’s actually bizarre to contrast the fussily polite, verbose, and positive sounding speeches of Putin with the incoherent, vengeful soundbites of Biden, Nikki Haley, Lindsey Graham, and other assorted hacks.
In 1923 DH Lawrence had a book published, Studies in Classic American Literature, in which he wrote, ” The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.” This came years before WW2, years before 1950’s westerns, years before the hippies, years before Dirty Harry, etc., etc.
It was never a secret outside this country that greed and violence fueled the history of the United States. It’s only been a shared secret among its own citizens, who cheerfully climb ever deeper into Plato’s cave.
That may be, but the violence before the late 1960s was more related to motivated activities like crime (gangsters killing each other), labor wars (union versus Pinkertons or police), or racist mobs picking on outnumbered scapegoats. Not one or two shooters randomly blowing people of all ages away. The latter type of mass killing has increased every decade since Charles Whitman’s rampage in the 1960s.
Violence just as a way to “act out” is normalized now, grudges are fed based on social media narratives, and our members of Congress are routinely crass, rude, heartless, and unable to speak to any issue without pointing a finger at somebody that needs to be put down or punished so “we” can all feel better.
Yes, we’re a greedy and violent people, but our culture is pushing us hard to indulge those aspects of ourselves, where at one time it was exerting at least a partial restraining influence. I wish I could see how we undo that.
Um…
The Bath School Massacre
Bath School disaster
(When I was a kid my father was a student at UT Austin in 1966 and a friend of Allen Crum.)
> citizens, who cheerfully climb ever deeper into Plato’s cave
Ever onward, until they’re 2,500 miles below mean sea level, as in this 1951 low-budget sci-fi film:
https://archive.org/details/UnknownWorld_201503
In this context, can you have one without the other?
It’s like that bit in the Adam Curtis movie about the haunted Russian soldiers returning from Afghanistan
You could flip that and its just as cynical. America doesnt have a mental health problem and nothing needs or should be done about it? If you’re serious about solving gun violence you need to address both issues
America has an “everything” problem.
When you think that you are “everything” to “everyone,” you have a problem. Poor America. So close to Wall Street, so far from the G–s.
Yes, not everything is American. We are soooo about to become the new North Korea.
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad …
“A molnupiravir-associated mutational signature in global SARS-CoV-2 genomes Nature.”
Time to re-post an updated song (rap) parody from a couple of years ago, as human-enhanced mutations accelerate the evolution of new variants:
So here is the SARS-CoV-2 virus ITSELF speaking TO US – this slightly lyric-tweaked version of Gil Scott-Heron’s classic 1971 spoken-word piece “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. (the song linked below, well worth a listen if you’ve never heard it):
MY EVOLUTION WILL NOT BE STERILIZED
You have been unable to stay home, brother.
You have been unable to mask up, wise up, or lock down.
You have been unable to keep away from crowds
And skip out on seeing Phish concerts live, and so
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
My Evolution will not be brought to heel
By Pfizer in four parts or five or six without interruption.
My Evolution will not be seen while Mandy Cohen trumpets “Victory!”
By blowing a flugelhorn out her ass while being interviewed on CNN
And telling Anderson Cooper that the most comfy mask is made from single-ply Kleenex.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
My Evolution will not be brought to heel by the bought-and-paid-for FDA
That will never approve a nasal vaccine that kills both Me and Pharma profits.
My Evolution will not be seen while you watch the NFL.
My Evolution will not be sung by Taylor Swift.
My Evolution will not be live-streamed on the Internet, and so
My Evolution will not be Sterilized, brother.
There will be no pictures of my genetic form
Morphing its building blocks to evade outdated jabs
And trying to slide that new RNA into new cellular homelands.
NBC will not be able to predict which protein
Will be the one that makes me just as lethal as Ebola.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
There will be no pictures of me clotting up platelets all throughout the bloodstream.
There will be no pictures of me clotting up platelets all throughout the bloodstream.
There will be no pictures of my legions
Being run through aortas inflaming your myocardium.
There will be no slow motion or still lifes of my numbers
Strolling from nose through olfactory bulbs and entering your brains
And making everything smell and taste like a rotting corpse.
Yellowstone, The Wheel of Fortune, and American Idol
Will no longer seem so damn relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally got down on Jane
On The Hung and the Listless
Because Cognition will be as foggy as a San Francisco day.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock news
Of Public Health agents being arm-twisted by Big Business
To prioritize profits over health.
The theme they will push will be “We can only pre-treat the symptoms.”
And a vaccine made abroad that will kill me
Will be quietly strangled in the womb.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
My Evolution will not be set back
By any message about Bharat Biotech,
Bharat this, or Bharat that.
You’ll be told not to worry about the threat of Long Covid,
Or disability, or adverse effects of Pfizer’s jabs.
My Evolution will not be NPR’s concern.
My Evolution will not even be mentioned at all.
My Evolution WILL…knock you on your goddam seat.
My Evolution will not be Sterilized.
Will not be Sterilized.
Will not be Sterilized.
Will not be Sterilized.
My Evolution will be a free run, brothers.
My Evolution will be live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw
The Non-intrusive Load Monitoring paper is rubbish. We evaluated several of these technologies for fund investments. The state of the art is high frequency monitoring (sampling multiple times per second). The technologies in the paper are not fully described but the best rate that is mentioned seems to be sampling every 10s. At this resolution, of course it is difficult to tell one appliance from another!
With <1s sampling, one can distnguish not just appliance types but also mode of functioning. For example, the fingerprint of a washing machine's power use changes depending on its place in the wash cycle (pumping versus agitating versus spinning) and also changes with machine condition, for example with a partly-clogged filter. NILM is really useful and powerful but this review sells it very short by looking at old technology (and when I say old, I mean really old, we were evaluating better systems in 2018). With high frequency data capture, you also only need to monitoring the main power circuit so deployment is much simpler than the devices described in the review paper.
One example (we did not conclude an investment deal so I am not shilling for them!) is Verv. They have focused since we looked at them on HVAC condition monitoring and optimisation rather than whole-of-house appliances and lifestyle management but the core technology is still high-frequence sampling for the mains supply:
https://verv.energy/about
Thank you Revenant. I will add to this that the method described in the paper makes no attempt to track power factor, which is a means of identifying certain load types – i.e. inductive loads (motors, fluorescent lamps, etc), electronic devices (switch mode power supplies), resistive loads (heating, incandescent lamps, etc.). Power factor recovery means sampling at better than 4x the line frequency to recover the load current/voltage phase relationship (240Hz in North America and 200Hz in most of the rest of the world). This sample rate would also allow a system to detect motor start surges that would aid identification of the various appliances connected to the circuit being monitored. This type of tech has been around for donkey’s years.
As to performance degradation/fault detection, more suitable fault detection relies on vibration sensors (like this), or thermal methods. Standard sensor systems are available that do this.
And other than more personal data harvesting and prep to give monopoly utilities even more power, what does this “technology” provide in the way of material benefits to the “consumer?”
Already the local electric supplier is into “smart meters” and angling to control individual customers’ time and amount of usage. And has been caught cheating on billing via “budget billing” and changing the length of the billing cycle. The supposed regulators (PSC) are wholly owned, as are the governor and legislature (FL and Duke.) We rate payers are on the hook for billions for a broken nuke plant and one that was planned but will never be built.
We will likely have load monitoring (and control) shoved down our unwilling throats. So happy to know that “investors” are studying the opportunities to profit from this “technology.” What is the specious argument in favor of it, again?
In some states the consumer has to pay a monthly fee if he opts out of “smart meters”. Yes, the PUC is stacked with power company appointed personnel posing as consumer advocates.
Clinton’s deregulation allowed utilities to buy smaller ones in other states and consolidate, thus increasing control and pricing. Enron is just one example of the disasters that resulted.
Revenant, for this study, the state-of-the-art NILM device samples at a megahertz rate, which is considered high frequency for NILM. Given your expertise, if you look at Figure 6, you should be able to figure out which device (i.e., Product A) was considered state-of-the-art. Even this NILM product had relatively poor overall accuracy, as discussed in the Results section. The electrical mains are where this NILM product’s CTs are installed (as shown in Figure 6). The submeter also monitored electrical mains as a check for comparing the NILM mains measurements to the submeter. If you know of any field study results for a whole-home NILM product that demonstrates accurate detection and energy estimation, I’m very interested. It appears the Verv product is designed for monitoring a single end use or end use system.
I came back to this post and found replies!
The last time I looked was in 2018 so I would hope the state of the art was better in a 2023 paper. It seems not but the most puzzling thing is that the authors felt the need to prove that MHz sampling is better than the other systems they used.
I don’t know a good field study. I don’t think this one counts because they only ended up with one system in the study!
However, I cheerfully admit that had missed that product A actually involved MHz sampling because it still had quite poor performance and it wasn’t well described (the edge in all of these systems seems to be the machine learning approaches).
The Verv product seemed the best of the European technology that we evaluated and it was pretty good. It was an easily installed whole home product, of the kind you are seeking. It did not seem to miss major loads. However, there doesn’t appear to be a market for the data / actionable insights from this sort of monitoring so Verv has pivoted to a single application optimisation product, as you note.
This chap was an interesting figure in the field and it looks like he is now a leading light in the main NIALM conferences. One of the conferences has a lot of the proceedings online since I last looked (2018) and there are some video presentation by the Verv team among others.
https://blog.oliverparson.co.uk/
‘Justice Thomas’s R.V. Loan Was Forgiven, Senate Inquiry Finds’
So, the Thomas’s bought a cheap used bus with free money? We were in RV parks where entire sections were reserved for high end buses; they’re mansions on wheels. They pay incredibly high fees to drive their buses to what amounts to a parking lot with a great view. Even the view from a Walmart can be awesome.
A few words should you decide to look at the interiors of some of the buses in the link below. Most of what you’re looking at is plastic to save on weight and fuel economy. Those buses get about 3 mpg. The furniture looks cool but is very uncomfortable to sit on for long… like most furniture today. You’d think for that kind of money you could at least get one really comfortable and supportive chair.
https://www.marathoncoach.com/coach-inventory/
Sounds like a way to see the country and live high on the hog, but with expensive fueling fill ups every few hundred miles or so. It was somewhat encouraging, I say this cynically though, to see a few offerings at less than $500,000 but all in all still out of reach.
I have a dream in retirement, it doesn’t include driving a giant magical bus. I can’t fathom making attempts to back up into those cozy parking spots I see occasionally at campgrounds or at a nearby national battlefield ( yes, there is a seasonal program and you can park cheaply and work at the national site ). In this instance, it is a Revolutionary War national site.
A longtime friend I met in the Yosemite backcountry over 30 years ago was the last person I ever thought would buy an RV but then the pandemic came calling, and he bought a 25 foot 2018 one on a Sprinter chassis for $64k for his family of 4, and he’d always wanted to go to Burning Man and i’d always wanted to go back after a long hiatus between burns, thanks Covid!
My first and only night staying at an RV Park in Bishop, Ca. was a little weird, in that essentially everybody is exposing their manhood (i’m sure there are lotsa women RV owners/drivers but mentioning them would mess up the joke) in this weird see me-dig me contest of essentially boxes on wheels.
One of the more grandiose RV’s allowed the driver to lift the hood in a spectacular way kind of canting it forward in a rakish manner that screamed, look what I can do! with my $420k 32 foot behemoth.
I assume Burning Man must’ve been filled with these monstrosities? Use once and trade in for next year’s model?
It’s probably a 50/50 mix between tents and RV’s/trailers/etc. There are some rather amazing tents out there and spendy-as in $1k-2k, Lots of Shiftpod tents on the playa.
https://shiftpod.com/
A good many RV’s @ Burning Man are rented from private parties in the west who essentially ‘AirBnB’ them, while some RV rental places allow you to take them to the burn, albeit with a $2-3k additional cleaning payment tacked on to the rental fee, while others are deadset against Burning Man rentals, some burners had their Penske rental truck repossessed at the burn this year with the local sheriff in tow giving them 15 minutes to clear the truck out, as all the vehicles are GPS equipped, so they know where you are.
Watching the sheriff, tow truck and look on burner faces: priceless
What, read the fine print? We don’t read fine print in
holiercooler-than-thou land. /sThose Shiftpods look interesting, although they are only one letter away from being called a shi*tpod.
RV lore is interesting, but jeez, how is it that Thomas is still on the Court? What will it take to get him out of office?
> What will it take to get him out of office?
Bolsheviks. Miles and miles of Bolsheviks.
“Gremlins from the Kremlin!” See, that mean ‘ol boogyman from Russia is behind all this partisan disparagement of our Sacred Institution!
If we could wrap our MSM newsdroids in copper wire and put them inside rings of magnets we could solve our electricity supply problems overnight.
‘I’ll take a thousand for gulag, Alex’
Every once and a while, I wish I could up-vote posts on this site.
For the same reasons he got on the court in the first place… he’s useful to the right people.
My mother liked to go fishing but she didn’t like tents. She graduated from campers to a used fifth wheel. She didn’t like getting the camper on and off her pick up. Mind you this was over twenty years ago, and they had no cache then. So for a few thousand dollars, she had an rv parked in her driveway and could take it out every weekend or so. Her husband did get into that exposing your manhood thing at a retreat they went to with it. She laughed at him and told him if they got something like he wanted not only would they be eating bologna at most every meal but he would be responsible for driving the much larger vehicle in and out of their favorite fishing spot. They did get a new mattress a year or too later though.
Now everything I see is a mega mansion on wheels.
The problem arises when it comes time to reverse one of these things and this problem has been known for a very long time now-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6CbffjZ6fI (2:16 mins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZy1_WHwTN8 (22 secs)
Casitas Travel trailers are a good value – they hold their value well. Their molded fiberglass construction prevents leakage. One came up for sale in our area and we were about to jump on it and one day later is was sold. Tough to find them up north.
Yeah, I saw a lot of those (Casitas) in the SW and there are some around town here in central cali by the sea. It might be an option to consider.
Will plug the T@B travel trailer line here.
Our little T@B 320 CS has an outdoor kitchen for the Mrs. who loves cooking outdoors and and a tiny indoor bathroom for my retiree sized bladder. Amish built birch interior, snug – 6 footers need not apply – but a great support forum and generally well constructed.
Have done a lot of traveling this year with and without it, definitely seeing a trend toward smaller trailers, not always empty nest Boomers like us either.
Might go for a Ford Transit based RV someday but a small travel trailer and a good half ton pickup (RAM Crew Cab 4WD) have been both fun and useful so far.
Wait a minute, don’t you need a special driving license for those vehicles, akin to those of lorry drivers? And aren’t those driving licenses more stringent when it comes to physical abilities (especially sight) and old age?
Ha ha. No.
No more than one needs to show a certificate of vocational, farming, or ranching need for the pointless behemoth trucks to supplement one’s missing…masculinity.
If you do go to live and work at that Revolutionary War national site, make sure to research it thoroughly first as you won’t be sorry. Went to Waterloo once and it looked like a tourist trap. A few years later I did a lot of research and went back to Waterloo and even slept there – right near the MacDonalds. It made everything and all the people come alive and I could see it how they saw it. For a Revolutionary war site, it would be strange to reflect that at the time America only stretched to what, the Appalachians? And a lot of it was still wilderness. Very much a different time.
Depending on where you are, the colonists would have clear cut the areas where the battles were. Guys like Jefferson were writing about climate change and making connections on clear cutting. Minus the cities and the sprawl, the east coast would look more like it did before the death of the mega fauna, maybe not in the young forests of the Appalachians themselves, hence the efforts to reintroduce elk.
Washington DC tried to do me in with high heat and humidity so I cried uncle after a few days of enduring the unendurable, and drove to Civil War sites, Antietam was the weirdest, why there? the bloodiest day in battle in US history with nearly 23,000 dead on both sides.
We visited 5 or 6 battlefields, with Gettysburg being the grande dame of them all, and with the aftermath being the age of bronze and stone memorials, they are all over the place.
Certainly the men that fought at Gettysburg never forgot that place-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce5WpM-JMYg (3:52 mins)
You forget that they too were once once young.
Antietam was a very eerie place.
You could definitely tell/feel that some major killing took place there.
Haven’t had the urge to visit any others.
Yes I’ve only casually researched this one, nearby to Spartanburg SC it is the Cowpens (SC) National Battlefield. There really isn’t much to it, which maybe is how it should be. As for any RV in my distant future, it’d be most likely a small 1-2 person camper instead, likely towed by a moderate Subaru or a Jeep that capably tows up to 6,000 lbs.
https://www.nps.gov/cowp/learn/historyculture/index.htm
Great book about this battle which is out of print, but used copies are still around. The Battle of Cowpens by Kenneth Roberts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Cowpens_(small_volume)
Good reference and thanks for the suggestion. I’ve only done light reading on the pre-Revolutionary War era in South Carolina (ie, just a little into Francis Marion and the Mr. Rutledge characterization in the John Adams HBO five part series). Erstwhile there are also a lot of local references to Daniel Morgan and a naturally direct connection to Nathaniel Greene.
ive always wanted an old school bus…since i stayed in one on a hippie commune outside of austin.
but they’re really expensive…save for the ones nearby, stuck in backyards and full of junk…that are apparently priceless, since they dont want to get rid of them.
my go-to mobile housing these days would be a gypsy vanner with a mule…i can build one of those for next to nothing.
The secret may be in staying under 30 ft. At 34.5 ft. we can’t take our 5th-wheel into most national park campgrounds even if we back in, and buses are right out. The parks weren’t designed for large recreational vehicles; it’s unlikely they will be redesigned for them in the future, except maybe the largest and most profitable. I can remember seeing some really large RV’s in Jellystone.
‘giant magical bus’
Everything in an RV has to be put away and secured in transit. Over several hops we went through the check list over and over again and still thing got broken and eaten by one of the slides. My favorite was opening the refrigerator doors to see what despite my best efforts would try to drop to the floor. Those spring bars used in smaller fridges don’t work in the larger residential sized ones. There’s nothing magical about it. The photography for the interiors of those buses is an illusion, especially the glasses hanging in the wine rack.
Modern tent glamping mo’ bettah. Some of the multi-room tents I’ve seen are awesome!
> Some of the multi-room tents I’ve seen are awesome
I’m still holding out for a tent like the Weasleys had at the Quidditch World Cup, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Where, as C. .S. Lewis liked to say, “The inside is bigger than the outside.”
I’ll second that thought-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch8uPA7-hPE (33 secs)
As they used to say in the British Army – ‘Any bloody fool can be uncomfortable.’
I not only want the ever expanding tent, but the ever expanding apartment. For me the biggest evil Rowling has committed is awakening both this image and desire in me. That and wanting “ scourgify” to work. :)
Husband still blames me for not selling everything and living in an RV in our retirement. He would love to be driving most every day. I would be a nervous wreck from the jostling of the road. Not to mention the fuel consumed! As it is we still drive quite a bit to see our kids who live all over. He would have been very happy to be an over the road truck driver. Sigh.
Don’t ever let him see the big rig one couple has converted to a two bedroom apartment.
Thanks for the tip. There are a lot of things like that I don’t show him. Haha! He has “itchy feet” and hates to be in one place more than a week. Since I’m more of a home body, it can be a challenge. It helps if he has something to research online and thankfully there are lots of opportunities for that. Honey, did you see this article? Ha!
Do you also have to have an HGV or coach driving licence for those RVs?
Asked Husband and he says no, thinks license would be based on tonnage and the buses aren’t heavy enough… but he hasn’t really inquired.
In the state of Colorado, it’s 26,000 lbs. or less. Our 34.5 ft. 5th-wheel dry weight is 11,478. But I dunno… Clarence seems to be a ‘rules are for other people’ kinda guy.
My fil had to get a commercial drivers license to drive his magical mystery bus.
Has since gone back to 5th wheel, just a regular license for that.
I’m having a hard time visualizing Clarence Thomas cruising around in an RV. It just doesn’t compute.
Gawd, these buses are cheesy-ugly. I would take one if it was free — what was Justice Thomas thinking?
Re: What they mean when they say America is ‘indispensable’
That everywhere else is ‘dispensable’. The US certainly acts that way.
“The cemeteries are full of indispensable men.”
“History is full of indispensable empires.”
Habs* & the Habsburgs?
*LiStEn uP CaNaDa, iF yOu eVeR wAnT tO hOlD sTaNlEy aGaIn, yOu bEtTeR iMpRoVe.
Shelley’s Ozymandias is evergreen.
“Air Force One replacement tops $2B in charges as Boeing logs new losses ”
‘The VC-25B program has been something of a problem child for Boeing, whose fixed-price structure has forced the contractor to absorb over $2.4 billion in losses to date, according to a Boeing spokesperson.’
So let me get this right. Boeing has been building 747s since the late 60s but somehow they can’t knock off this latest version of the venerable 747. I find it hilarious that Trump had them sign that contract as Trump must have known what Boeing was all about. However – I got an idea. Boeing could tell the White House that they just can’t remember how to build a 747 anymore. However, they are more than ready to refurbish two Boeing 737 MAXs for the White House instead.
Hey it’s Boeing and manufacturing 101. Quarterly excuses are at the ready for wall street investors, deluded that a for profit aircraft company has trouble actually doing the thing they are known for. Every quarter on CNBC, there is always a new set of goal posts “…because of x in the current quarter we now forecast y in the near quarters that follow…”
But hey surely these corporate big wigs and CEOs are the leading lights and in place for their brilliant past and bright future. Yes pay them when they win and heck yeah we pay them when they fail as well !! That does it, my mode today will be full on cynical.
Boeing has lost money and disappointed the USAF, putting some refueling plumbing, and a TV boom control on a B767!
Recall the 767 refueler was suggested as a 100 aircraft lease about 20 years ago.
Big defense is too big to fail, and hopefully USA won’t be in a real war anytime soon.
One quasi acceptable excuse is no one has built a 747 for a long time…..
>What to know about new House Speaker Mike Johnson – Axios
Curious no mention of Israel and where the speaker stands on escalating war drums in this article. I asked a Republican friend what he thought the new Speaker’s first resolution was and he guessed funding the “wall” to keep border secure. I corrected him that it was a motion to support Israel with more funding and weapons.
What happened to “America First?” It seems to me that we have a proxy gov’t that is controlled by various interest groups, a statement that obviously elicits a “duh.”
Saw a clip showing him talking after being elected which will answer some of your questions-
https://www.bitchute.com/video/3IWR4n9tC7w4/ (57 secs)
The deal reeked of AIPACkage deal, a hard right nobody who wasn’t Jim Jordan gets elected on the first ballot, hmmmm.
The GOP might run it as sending Israel straight to the Senate and then run the border bill they will make so repulsive it can’t pass. GOP donors need the cheap labor after all. Ukraine will be dumped quietly given polling.
Pigs like Fetterman already went all in for genocide, so doubling what the president asked for won’t have any problem.
They are currently rebranding the Ukraine to “giving Kiev money creates jobs right here in the US !” Article today on RT and various other place on yahoo. Funny,
So the economic theory has advanced from “trickle down” to (Adolf) “Trickle-gruber”? Progress!
Lambert once linked to a video featuring trickle down theory-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5x1sSjfknM (2:47 mins)
When he was running for President, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said, “Trickle down theory is like feeding the horse more oats in order to feed the birds.”
Some economists are saying that the war in Ukraine has added a few tenths of a percent to the GDP, so that is certainly good news. Wars have always expanded the GDP. The United States once had a War Department. It liaisoned often with the Commerce Department.
Mm, indeed. Glenn Greenwald also aired a clip of the Johnson’s first promise to the American people. Rumble, roughly 51’50”, for you Van Halen fans.
https://rumble.com/v3rnq87-system-update-show-170.html
Warts were inevitable but when the House Weaponization of Govt cmte was in full theatrical mode (Dems the absolute worst that week, this is when Plaskett emerged) Mike Johnson was the major exception. His questioning was sharp and he sliced the pro-censorship people up.
I’m sure he has lots of views I dislike, but he will continue to dig into the Blob’s crimes which will expose the Democrats and the FBI to such a degree that yes, he’ll have the political capital to try to do all the things people are afraid he’ll do. And if the Dems/FBI stonewall and escape formal charges, that would weaken Johnson.
Frankly, I’m rooting for Johnson. Punishing the Democrats is job one. The party’s rigged so hard that the only way of saving it would be to indict most of its leadership. If that happened, I would feel a slight tickle of optimism.
It’s a perfect lose/lose scenario for America. We get the FBI cleaned up followed by christofascist legislation OR the FBI remains utterly corrupted but we’re spared the christo part of the otherwise still pending fascism.
So according to “Americans Have Never Been Wealthier & No One is Happy”, everything is just fine in our country. No, scratch that, it’s even better than ever! As long as people with apparently a very good life and plenty of money in their bank account still think (and try to convince others) that there is no place like America, we will see articles like the one above. It feels more and more like some people in the Western hemisphere live in an alternate universe.
lol, talk about lying/narrative-creation with stats.
paper wealth does not equal real wealth….nor reveal the standard deviation of the ” wealth”
the US is at defacto full employment right now…..only took Covid and uncontrolled drug overdoses and gun suicides.
that said….things can be worse. lots of structural problems that are festering like gangrene; and bombing Iran or Lebanon won’t help….only accelerafe the toilet flush
Ultimately, the concern is not about some vague happiness. It’s more of worry about maintaining the desire for continued replication of a system – one that goes through rebrands with new catchphrases, but essentially stays the same.
Inflation figures exclude housing, education, medical, fuel and food inflation IIRC. This is the best of all possible worlds, your income after these items will go further than ever before!
Of course, most of us can no longer afford these essentials so there’s no discretionary spending left.
In this, the best of all possible worlds…
Good grief! Really? But I can believe it.
My dad by the 1960s could afford to support a family of 4, buy a new Buick every 3 or 4 years with cash, keep a house (whose 15-year mortgage was eventually paid off), a modest place plus boat and boat dock at the local lake and a vacation once a year. And he retired comfortably, though not extravagantly. All with a high-school education.
My wife and I with two college educations — hers from Harvard, plus an MBA from the University of Chicago — could afford to raise one child, lease only one car (a Kia) and own a semi-functional “mid-century” house, plus one one-week vacation every decade or so. Retirement is out of the question even though we were pretty good at saving.
The first thing he went to were stocks and bonds! Conveniently forgotten were all of those people who lost their shirts in the Wall Street collapse and no longer have 401k’s to put them into, not to mention the majority of people who never had them in the first place.
I guess it helps your case when you only survey a carefully curated ten percent of the population.
At least most of the media takes on that fed report acknowledge to some extent the large effect that the trio of (temporary and now long-gone) COVID stimulus packages had on producing all that (equally ephemeral) wealth growth. With the huge unemployment top-off, the additional child support, the student loan moratorium and other things long-gone and with home sales and equities having resumed a less rosy trajectory, with the Fed straining mightily to produce a recession, one has not far to look for reasons why people might not be all that happy in the present moment. Indeed, they are so obvious that it takes deliberate effort to somehow miss them. But a lot of pundits and centrist politicos seem up to that task
People find what they’re paid to find. This report read like it was paid for by the Brandon Reelection Campaign.
“Could Ukraine take back Russian-occupied Crimea?”
If this had been published several months ago it might have seemed reasonable. But it wasn’t. It was published just now after what, maybe 100,000 Ukrainian deaths? So I guess that the Christian Science Monitor is also carrying water for Washington. Thought to see who the author was that wrote this piece – Anna Mulrine Grob – and here is what the CSM itself had to say-
‘Anna Mulrine Grobe covers global security for The Christian Science Monitor, traveling from her base in Brussels to the United States and beyond. She has covered the military beat since 2006, reporting frequently from Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to arriving at the Monitor, Anna was a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report magazine, where she wrote more than a dozen cover stories. Anna was a Fulbright fellow to Berlin in 2004-2005, and graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Traveler, among other publications, and she has regularly appeared on broadcast outlets including NPR, MSNBC, and CBS to discuss her work.’
Draw your own conclusions.
Georgetown University’s school of foreign service really does know how to pump them out. So many of our “leaders” have graduated from there. It says a lot that they can graduate from Ivy League schools, make so much money and be as influential as they are and still have a track record of over a generation of fail.
The figure Col. D. McGregor and S. Ritter as well as others estimate is 500K+ dead Ukrainians and 50K dead Russians
I took it to mean since when the Ukrainian “offensive” began, with their stated mission of taking Crimea.
I skimmed the 2 articles on Crimea and remain unconvinced that the authors are in touch with reality. There seem to be dueling views of the world about Ukraine. Ms Grob and the author of the article in theconversation.com (who seems to be anonymous) have an understanding of the events which is totally incompatible with my take.
Any discussion of the Black Sea should at least include mention of Turkey. theconversation seems to think that NATO is making progress there diplomatically and with regard to trade, but fails to note that the recent events in Gaza have Erdogan wildly tilting against the U.S. Turkey really is the gateway to the Black Sea, and NATO seems to be losing its grip there. Russia has the natural gas card to play there as well. Russia’s relationship with Iran, which is not far away from the Black Sea, is another consideration.
The entire Middle East is now in play, as is the Caucasus. Eastern Europe is losing its enthusiasm for the Ukraine War. So Ukraine is unlikely to win back Crimea (which is firmly Russian in culture) and Ukraine’s morale will not get a net boost from events in the Black Sea. That’s my opinion.
Possibly it will give them a very shortlived boost, but recognition of the reality that it does absolutely nothing to improve their situation will settle in quickly.
From “Adding Crushed Rock to Farmland Pulls Carbon Out of the Air (press release) UC Davis:”
That next challenge should also include an analysis of the overall impact on the carbon cycle of the process, taking into consideration that crushing and transporting rock requires a nontrivial amount of energy, and that the proportion of the energy currently used for these activities is derived from fossil fuels is not far below 100 percent.
The last time crushing and carrying rock at that scale happened was, oh, the last Glacial Period, which ended somewhere around 8,000 years ago.
Yeah, exactly. Intuitively, the process overall doesn’t seem likely to reduce atmospheric carbon. There has to be a lot of energy consumed in collecting that rock, crushing it, transporting it, then mixing it with the topsoil.
This article is short on important information. Not just any rock will do. The headline just says rock. The article specifies volcanic rock. What they mean is olivine which reacts with water in a way that captures carbon. That part is true. You have to be careful about the source of the rock. These often contain traces of Cr, Co and Ni which are toxic for many plants. Basically, olivine becomes serpentine plus other minerals. Serpentine soils are poor at supporting plant life. You can see this along the California coast. The greenish soils you see along highway 280 are serpentines scraped off the sea bed as it plunged beneath the continental plate. Few to no trees there.
As you point out, crushing and transporting the rock also requires energy, maybe from fossil fuels. This definitely could work, but it has to be thought out really well.
‘A list of mass killings in the United States since January
The shooters are mostly male or identify as ‘male’. The geographic pattern is interesting, mostly the South.
I have a hard time seeing domestic disputes that turn deadly (or were premeditated) as ‘mass killings’ based on the numbers of victims alone, perhaps because of the intimacy of the relationships involved, e.g. family. The strong emotions involved are more relatable.
I’m more alarmed by guys who walk into public spaces heavily armed and start shooting anyone that moves, where they may know one of the people present and somehow that just isn’t satisfying enough. The shooter wants to die preferably by the police, but if necessary their own hand. If they’re on their way out, they might as well take as many victims with them as possible.
Only considering the number of people killed in these incidents gives a false impression. The shooters don’t deliberately wound the other victims. They intend to kill everyone they shoot at. Wikipedia has a list of over 500 shootings with four or more victims this year, in the USA.
That’s the odd thing about the guy who shot up Maine. I went to sleep expecting to wake up and find he was dead, but he has not been apprehended yet and half the state is shut down right now.
Re: Healthcare
Why the US is the only country that ties your health
insuranceto your job Vox.This ChatGPT-assisted story completely whiteoutwashes the AMA from its role in shivving both FDR and Truman’s attempt to create a National Health Plan.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/november-19-1945-harry-truman-calls-national-health-insurance-program
I remember listening to Garland Nixon and he made a good point of why the U.S. doesn’t have HC like other countries, he said its because the U.S. isn’t a nation, it’s an empire. Ukraine and Israel’s HC is being paid by the U.S. while citizens of this country go without, it’s disjointed to say the leaset
Subheader:
“Nobody would build a system like America’s on purpose.”
WTF?
“In a larger sense, the US is locked into a system of employer-sponsored insurance, a quirk of history that sets our system apart from those of our economic and cultural peers…”
I muttered expletives throughout the reading and I nearly threw my laptop across the room at “a quirk of history.”
Goooooooood Moooooooooorning Fiatnam!
It was all about the kill-ratio back in the world, with Drudge claiming 22, and WaPo 16, while the conservative NYT could account for only 7 lives lost in the one-sided firefight.
There were multiple sites. So the body count increased as the bodies were counted.
I was thinking of the spree de corpse…
Someone decided to bring Rule #2 ‘to the masses.’
One of the bigger body counts happened at a bowling alley. Will the MSM now blame it all on Michael Moore?
Hard to believe but yours truly used to hurl in a league for a few years with my better half, where the league average was 132, IQ points that is. Buncha engineer types from the MIC, and the alley we frequented in Torrance had a mini-mass-murder of 3 bowlers 4 years ago.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/05/us/torrance-bowling-alley-shooting/index.html
Hey, fifty years ago I worked in Gardena, next door to Torrance. Gardena was then known for these legal draw-poker clubs where our department would sometimes go for lunch together.
At least they caught the guy and didn’t botch the investigation, prosecution, and conviction.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2022/09/30/los-angeles-man-gets-life-without-parole-for-killing-3-in-torrance-gable-house-bowl-shooting/
It bothers me that there are beaucoup cities where, in a large percentage of murder cases, no suspect is ever identified, let alone brought to trial.
“As a US citizen and professional marksmanship instructor, I am proud to have trained defenders of freedom around the world, including in Ukraine. Let’s eradicate tyranny around the world.”
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8730735.html
We should start right here at home.
“Adding Crushed Rock to Farmland Pulls Carbon Out of the Air ”
‘The study found the plots with crushed rock stored 0.15 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare (2.47 acres) during the study compared to plots without crushed rock. Though researchers expect different weathering rates in different environments, if this amount of carbon was removed across all California cropland, it would be equivalent to taking 350,000 cars off the road every year.’
Has anybody worked out the total cost of mining those rocks, transporting them to a place where they can be crushed, the energy costs of operating that crushing plant and finally the cost of transporting that crushed rock to those farms? It could very well work out to be the equivalent of adding 500,000 cars onto the road every year you know.
We read a few months ago that the glaciers in Greenland are doing the crushing for us.
That leaves just the transporting to work out!
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/30/rock-flour-greenland-capture-significant-co2-study
Exactly! The chemistry underlying this field experiment is well understood and isn’t controversial, and the role of chemical weathering as a regulator of global climate on long time scales has been known for decades. But I get frustrated reading studies like this one because they never give a full accounting of the carbon & energy budgets involved in scaling them up.
>Israel-Palestine war: Israel will flood Hamas tunnels with nerve gas under US navy supervision
I wouldn’t put it past them! Zyklon B anyone? I wonder what the cover (up) story would be.
Um, I’m guessing the story will be “Hamas did this to themselves.” President Herzog’s story of a Hamas fighter found with chemical weapons instructions on his person sets the stage. Israel will say Hamas fumbled the chemical production in their evil tunnel chemical production area and, oh irony, gassed themselves.
“China’s top diplomat Wang Yi starts US visit as Biden stands firm”
‘WASHINGTON: China’s top diplomat opens talks on Thursday (Oct 26) in Washington as he readies a potential summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, who ahead of talks vowed to defend Asian allies.’
I would guess that Wang is sounding out Biden if he actually has anything to offer China in negotiations or not. If the White House has nothing solid to offer, then there is no point Xi meeting with Biden. And promises won’t cut it either as Biden has lied to and insulted Xi too many times. But I just saw an article which I will guess will scuttle these talks-
‘The US government has told semiconductor designer Nvidia to immediately stop shipping some of its high-end artificial intelligence chips to China, a company filing showed on Tuesday.
The US Department of Commerce has released a set of new semiconductor export restrictions that tightened definitions for advanced AI chips and added preventive measures such as additional licensing requirements.
The curbs were due to come into effect 30 days after October 17, when the administration of US President Joe Biden announced measures to stop countries, including China, Iran, and Russia, from receiving advanced AI chips designed by US companies.
However, Nvidia said it was informed by Washington on Monday that the export restrictions should come into play as of that day for all its products that exceed the updated processor performance cap and are designed or marketed for data centers.’
https://www.rt.com/business/585853-us-chip-ban-china/
I am sure that the Biden White House did this on purpose to show that they are tough negotiators or something. Unfortunately it will show the Chinese that they are not serious about negotiations.
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-gov-gavin-newsom-china-visit-xi-jinping-surprise-meeting-beijing/
Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what Newsom is doing in China?
Running his shadow campaign for when Old Joe finally bows out? Keep Harris on the ticket and it works like a charm.
Gotta burnish that Foreign experience even as the state crashes. All part of the
GoldenPyrite State Gang of Four Families (Pelosi, Newsom, Brown & Getty) long term plan to get one of their own appointed Prexy.https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/ohio-democratic-stronghold-counties-exceeding-early-voting-expectations-for-election-on-abortion-marijuana
Funny how vote by mail seems to attract Dem voters in mass. I guess we should be prepared for another election that cannot be decided until “all the votes are counted’ days after the polls close.
In Pennsy, at least, that time lag was an artifact of the (partisan) decision at state level to not allow counting to begin until the eve of election day, even though the great bulk of ballots were received much earlier. States (and I believe both Texas and Florida were in this category) that had a large number of mail-in ballots but also allowed the count to begin earlier were able to report definitive results by midnight of election day. And the other states could have managed something similar given similar rules.
Overview of absentee ballot processing and counting schedules by state:
For OH it says:
“Processing, including using automatic tabulating equipment to scan ballots, may begin before the time for counting ballots at a time determined by the board of elections. Exact timing not specified.
Exact timing not specified, but the count may not be disclosed prior to the close of the polls.”
https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-16-when-absentee-mail-ballot-processing-and-counting-can-begin Updated July 12, 2022
Additional information about OH absentee ballot procedures:
“Beginning with last May’s primary/special election, Ohioans will experience a greater level of transparency with new access to daily absentee ballot reports. Every day the board is open, Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections will report the number of absentee ballots sent, the number of early in-person voters, and the number of ballots returned by mail, in-person, and at the drop box during the early voting period. An absentee ballot collection report will be made available on this page once that data is collected and verified from each county board of elections.”
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/about-this-election/2023-special-absenteereport/
“..absentee ballots are the first votes counted on Election Night.”
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/absentee-voting/
Jay Powell’s Greenspan moment
Yep, this woman is definitely staying at home. Not one mention of the $1.7T in federal deficit spending…and inflation just chugging along…how did that happen? She should rename her blog Stay at home knucklehead.
“Ukraine’s ‘Lethal’ Intelligence Operations Straining CIA Ties”– The Washington Post Kyiv Post.
May be a hint of the shape of the blowback to come?
Israel using something worse than white phosphorus in Gaza? Doctors would like to know so that they can properly treat the wounds but the IDF isn’t talking. Not surprising since they deny even using white phosphorus munitions.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/gaza-doctors-say-they-re-seeing-intense-unusual-burns-after-israeli-airstrikes/article_8d8fa2c2-d50d-5d8a-9596-ead082ba2485.html
Napalm, perhaps.
Wild guess – maybe an AGM-114N Hellfire II – this variant uses an MAC (metal augmented charge) warhead.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-114_Hellfire
“The AGM-114N Hellfire II,[34] uses a Metal Augmented Charge (MAC) warhead, which contains a thermobaric explosive fill that uses aluminum powder coated or mixed with PTFE layered between the charge casing and a PBXN-112 explosive mixture. When the PBXN-112 detonates, the aluminum mixture is dispersed and rapidly burns. The result is a sustained high pressure that is extremely effective against people and structures.”
Quote from:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
Could check if the black spots are oxidized aluminum/ teflon, I suppose.
“Crypto Is Lobbying Congress Hard. It Wants More Than a Bitcoin ETF” Barron’s.
The Bitcoin ETF = exit liquidity at higher value.
No?
“Breaking News: Russia tests its nuclear triad for massive response capability”
Things are ramping up here-
‘Russia is moving closer to withdrawing its commitment not to conduct nuclear tests, but has no intention of doing this unless the US forces its hand, a senior diplomat has said.
Russia ratified the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2000 and has now waited 23 years for the US to do the same, the deputy head of the non-proliferation department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Konstantin Vorontsov, told a UN committee meeting on Monday.
“Not having ratified the CTBT, Washington enjoys all of its benefits and even deems it suitable to lecture signatories of the treaty on how they should observe it,” the official said. “Enough is enough.”
The Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of Parliament, is in the process of approving a bill that would withdraw Russian ratification of the CTBT. The draft passed its first reading on Tuesday.’
https://www.rt.com/russia/585145-russia-nuclear-tests-ctbt/
I think that the trigger for this is the 150 nukes that the US has spread around Europe like so much confetti and their intention to upgrade them. They have had enough.
I remember our Noble Peace Prize president Obama allocated billions (trillons?) for upgrading nuclear armaments.
If I were them, I would resume underground testing.
The current generation of nuclear weapons have only been tested in simulation.
Better make sure the things really work.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/10/xocova-ensitrelvir-covid-antiviral/675768/
Americans Don’t Get to Have the Best New COVID Drug
A Japanese antiviral appears to shorten symptoms and protect against chronic disease. Also, it doesn’t taste like soapy grapefruit.
Does any specialist in molecular biology know if this has any affinity to IVM?
Somehow, as a member of the co-op that publishes the left-leaning and Green-adjacent German daily newspaper taz.de, I find this exasperating. taz.de’s lead story and focus today? Not war or genocide or diplomatic efforts. Antisemitism.
(1) 100+ Jewish intellectuals had written an open letter — nota bene — protesting government bans on pro-Palestine demonstrations. Lead story is an editorial reply admonishing them, “You all are not taking antisemitism seriously enough.”
https://taz.de/Offener-Brief-juedischer-Intellektueller/!5964504/
(2) Synagogue in Germany cancels planned open-house day, saying it is unable to guarantee visitors’ safety.
https://taz.de/Antisemitismus-in-Deutschland/!5969090/
(3) U.K. government in London moves to make it illegal for local governments or universities to adopt BDS policies (boycotts / divestment / sanctions directed at Israel).
https://taz.de/Antisemitismus-in-Grossbritannien/!5965459/
taz.de has now doubled down, piling on with a fourth article:
(4) “Fridays for Future is spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories [= it seems FFF made some observations about genocidal attitudes in mainstream media towards Gaza]. The German chapter is pushing back. But more needs to be done”
https://taz.de/Antisemitismus-bei-Fridays-for-Future/!5964505/
Aren’t the Palestinians Semites?
They did a DNA study of Palestinians and first generation Israelis a long time ago and the results came back near identical. Needless to say the Israelis were furious about this DNA study and demanded that it be retracted.
I just had a weird epiphany. Why is droplet dogma legitimate? That viral infections transmit because I touch a dirty subway poll and then stick my finger up my nose has always strained credibility. There’s the usual popular lore that this is so because we have video evidence of people touching their face a million billion times a day or whatever the statistic is. So? Public health has long ago eroded any trust.
Why should I believe fomites, outside of hospitals, nursing homes, and so forth, is actually a thing? If I’m not particularly ill or have open wounds or am undergoing surgery, were fomites really the primary route of the flu, and other viral illnesses people get sick with? At least with the flu, we know from 2020 that this is false. High adherence to public masking virtually eliminated the flu in 2020, full stop.
Just what else has public health gotten wrong; and was it intentional? Lying about SARS2 being airborne is definitely demonstrably intentional.
I guess I pathetically thought public health was sacrosanct, but when the elite in this country are content to leave so many to so much misery in America long before SARS2 hit, why should this even surprise me? Of course aspects of public health are a lie as well.
RE: Could Ukraine take back Russian-occupied Crimea?
Someone feels the need for a justification of ATACMs deliveries, no matter how cheap (the justification, not the weapon which must be hellishly expensive as usual).
Take me out to the ballgame dept:
Ok, so it took until the final games of the American & National League Championship for me to watch a game since some of the first contests of the year in order to see the new and improved version of quickened up ball.
One of the new rules is that a pitcher can only throw to a base twice with a runner on, and should he do it a 3rd time, a balk is called and the runner gets the next base. What’s funny is they have done away with that concise no doubt about it word, and replaced ‘throw’ with the oh so odd:
‘Disengagement’
The players skewed heavy on having come from an island and sporting first names that were a little awkward to pronounce.
Urgent pitches during & inbetween innings were made for me to wager on the outcome.
♫ Transport me to the orb match …
https://cdn-images.threadless.com/~/hCXy4.jpg (Strange Planet · Nathan Pyle)
Don’t know what kind of RV Thomas was given but RVs can cost 2 million dollars easily. Put this under guillotine watch:
https://www.newellcoachsales.com
No worries. They will outfit Mr. Thomas with one of these spiffy new electric RVs, and then everything will be jake, because, see…..he will be a black man driving a green vehicle. I’m sure it will change his whole outlook.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-26/tesla-alums-creating-electric-vehicle-travel-trailers-with-solar-panels?srnd=premium
“Why the US is the only country that ties your health insurance to your job?”
Because the US is pro wage-slavery.
That was easy.
>The Australian Government Says It Will Be Exempt From Its Own Online “Misinformation” Laws
Perfect example of do as I say but not as I do, an immoral gov’t, but then maybe they all are…reminds of Benjamin Netanyahu son being exempted from having to serve in the Israeli military. Or, New Zealand’s Ministry of Health granting vaccine exemptions for staff.
The Albanese administration’s pursuit of overreaching legislation intended to tackle “false” content on social media platforms is drawing sharp criticism and questions about its implications for free speech. A notable exclusion from this potential crackdown is the very government pushing for it.
https://reclaimthenet.org/australian-government-exempt-misinformation-laws
You won’t see that tidbit on the TV news here in Oz. Thanks
Taibbi’s latest. mostly paywalled though the lead gives the flavor. Senator want Alexa to get in on the sensor ship act.
https://www.racket.news/p/amy-klobuchar-you-suck
from the longer article:
Referring to a Washington Post story complaining that Alexa cited Substack, she wrote: “When asked about the 2020 presidential election, it appears that some answers were provided by contributors instead of verified news sources.”
…
Now this person, whose “humor” persona was surely cooked up in part to soften a rep for throwing things at aides, who scored roughly John Blutarsky’s grade-point average with the backing of the national media establishment, who managed less than 6% of Democratic voters in her own state, has the gall to push one of the world’s biggest media distributors to disallow voluntary access to “contributors instead of verified news sources.” Klobuchar wants Jeff Bezos to make sure Amazon’s home surveillance robots don’t spit out even occasional answers from a wider pool of real human beings, including thousands of independent contributors. The information landscape must be a pure monopoly of “verified news sources.”
—
My opinion now: I’m starting to think the national Dem party might not be my friend. / ;)
Will plug the T@B travel trailer line here.
Our little T@B 320 CS has an outdoor kitchen for the Mrs. who loves cooking outdoors and and a tiny indoor bathroom for my retiree sized bladder. Amish built birch interior, snug – 6 footers need not apply – but a great support forum and generally well constructed.
Have done a lot of traveling this year with and without it, definitely seeing a trend toward smaller trailers, not always empty nest Boomers like us either.
Might go for a Ford Transit based RV someday but a small travel trailer and a good half ton pickup (RAM Crew Cab 4WD) have been both fun and useful so far.
The first resolution the new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, sets out is this gruesome ode to genocide.
Oh, and he did hold a moment for prayer silence and a monologue on the bible. As Mahatma Gandhi is reported to have said: How unlike your christ are your christians.
Only 9 Democrats Vote Against Resolution Justifying Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
Read more…
Congrats to the UAW and their members.
“The lowest-paid workers at Ford will see a raise of more than 150% over the life of the agreement, with some workers receiving an immediate 85% increase immediately upon ratification.”
“…raise the starting wage by 68%, to over $28 an hour,”
Guess Biden gets kudos too for actually joining a picket line.
This is a real shame though – Ford’s stock drops 4% after carmaker pulls guidance. Too too bad.
Won’t somebody think of the shareholders!
I’ve got your stock buy backs hanging right here.
Let’s see now, would that be a felony tax fraud conviction for Justice Thomas we’re looking at here?
Notably absent from the UC Davis, carbon sequestration via plowing “e-chip” into fields…was the carbon neutral mining and crushing equipment for basalt and dacite. There is a huge market for that!