Links 6/22/2025

Subscribe to Post Comments

48 comments

1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 7:21 am

   Of course I’d weigh in on the maths article. Thanks very much for this. The notion of infinity is one that impinged upon my work for pretty much my whole career. Health economics patted themselves on the back before year 2000 with their work on “cost-effectiveness ratios” to help countries such as UK, Australia, Canada, NZ, and much of western Europe prioritise in a “fair” way. They got a nasty surprise when someone pointed out that if you divide a normally distributed cost by a normally distributed variable representing effectiveness in some way, the resulting ratio has a mean but the 2nd moment (the variance) is undefined – “infinite” really.

   Thus health economists found themselves in a really difficult bind. If there were as many humans in a health econometric study as atoms in the universe, the cost-effectiveness ratio would be no more precisely estimated than a simple study done at one university/hospital. Oops.

   One minor criticism of the researchers: I wish they wouldn’t use standard mathematical terms (like cardinal) to mean something else. It introduces opportunities for talking at cross-purposes. Plus the title (IMO) is one of those, whilst not clickbait, ones that is definitely written for the “news cycle” ;-) But it’s a welcome piece in getting people talking about infinity since it underpins (even if practitioners don’t realise it) so many applied study results.

   Reply ↓
   1. vao June 22, 2025 at 7:42 am

      “If there were as many humans in a health econometric study as atoms in the universe, the cost-effectiveness ratio would be no more precisely estimated than a simple study done at one university/hospital.”

      Doesn’t the Cauchy distribution exhibit similar characteristics? I vaguely remember the fun-fact “here is a bell-shaped probability density curve that has a mean but whose variance cannot be computed” from the statistics course at the University.

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 7:53 am

         Yep. My memory for certain “special cases” etc isn’t what is was, but IIRC certain patterns of normal divided by normal do in fact give the Cauchy, but I’m happy to be corrected on that since it might just be that we used the Cauchy to “get a handle” on wtf was going on wrt the cost-effectiveness ratios.

         This kind of thing is just one reason why black swan events can be far more “white” than people expect. It is also why I, in my later choice models, wherever possible obtained enough preference information from respondents to construct the EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL’s PREFERENCES. Interestingly, this was done most successfully by me in a study of end-of-life care preferences so I have pretty strong views on the assisted dying stuff referred to elsewhere in the links.

         I was bored and not too tired yesterday and tried another AI to see what was spit out about Best-Worst Scaling. Surprise surprise, a certain researcher published a review piece last year that was absolutely terrible and so blatantly biased I found it funny rather than annoying. He’s probably in line for Trump funding cuts, however, so what goes around comes around.

         Reply ↓
      2. Samuel Conner June 22, 2025 at 9:33 am

         Does this make my tails look fat?

         Reply ↓
   2. Socal Rhino June 22, 2025 at 10:37 am

      One of my favorite topics in undergrad calculus (now a vague memory) was the analysis of infinities of different sizes.

      Reply ↓
2. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 7:27 am

   “Scoop: Trump’s back channel to Iran failed after supreme leader went dark”

   I read that based on past events, the Iranians were suspicious that maybe Trump was trying to lure him out into the open so that he could be murdered by the Israelis and that is why he went dark. Ugh. Trump talk with forked tongue. For the next three and a half years no country’s leaders are going to believe a word that he says. Same too with his MAGA base too from what I have read. It’s still only June and maybe Trump has already incinerated his Presidency.

   Reply ↓
   1. Randall Flagg June 22, 2025 at 7:33 am

      >For the next three and a half years no country’s leaders are going to believe a word that he says. Same too with his MAGA base too from what I have read. It’s still only June and maybe Trump has already incinerated his Presidency.

      Based on this and the last three and a half decades of Presidents (likely longer), I would argue it’ll be three and a half centuries before anyone in the Middle East believes anything a “Leader” in the US says. Those Countries have been around much longer than we have.

      Reply ↓
   2. Nikkikat June 22, 2025 at 8:29 am

      I think Trump has become somewhat of a joke to even his followers. Who thinks people are going to go along with 7.00 dollar a gallon gas because he renamed the Gulf of Mexico.? I have had to admit that I didn’t think he would be this bad, but there doesn’t seem to be anything that was planned or thought through. Just irrational nonsense. Considering the clowns who have been elected in the past, he seems to be one of the biggest!

      Reply ↓
      1. Samuel Conner June 22, 2025 at 9:39 am

         > Just irrational nonsense.

         The level of failure to foresee probable consequences seems worse than in past.

         I wonder how many CV infections these people have had.

         Perhaps we’re seeing widespread “impaired executive function” within the Executive Branch.

         Reply ↓
      2. mahna June 22, 2025 at 9:43 am

         His cunning plan for the gas price was renaming Persian Gulf to Arabian Gulf, so that the Persians could not control it any more.

         Reply ↓
         1. OIFVet June 22, 2025 at 10:11 am

            It would still require keeping the Strait of Melania open to all comers carrying precious petroleum fluids and other valuable tributes.

            Reply ↓
3. leaf June 22, 2025 at 7:31 am

   >the embedded tweet from that vividprowess account
   I feel like I’ve seen a few community notes under his posts showing that he is actually an Indian larping as an Israeli
   Why, I have no idea but I always have a small chuckle every time I see those community notes under his posts
   Incredible that even hasbara posting has been outsourced to India

   Reply ↓
   1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 7:42 am

      >I feel like I’ve seen a few community notes under his posts showing that he is actually an Indian larping as an Israeli

      I’m not surprised. Occasionally when bored when something kicks off in either country I’ll hold my nose and look what’s happening on Twitter. There’s a lot of variation among Zionists in Israel about “Indian support”. Some welcome having a big country supporting them, other than the USA. However there are a LOT of hardline comments that I can’t possibly repeat that, let’s just say tap into every trope about Indians that you could imagine or have seen.

      Larping as an Israeli might be a way to avoid all the abuse from certain Zionists. Just a thought based on the cesspit of comments you see on Twitter on the entire subject of Israeli-Indian mutual support.

      Reply ↓
4. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 7:33 am

   The NIMBUS Covid variant is most definitely spreading in UK. One of my best friends (in NW England) has had it. Yep, the razor-blade sore throat thing tipped him off. Took him 2 weeks to get back to something approximating normal, hence why I’m being doubly careful masking etc.

   I really can’t afford to get this one. I was very impressed at my opthalmologist a few days ago. He’s the UK East Midlands Regional specialist for a bunch of eye conditions and keeps up with the literature. *HE* certainly knew COVID was fully airborne. As soon as he realised I was his next patient and was fully masked he apologised that the necessary checks on micro-vascular stuff the GP wanted would require me to take the mask off, to enable me to properly get my chin on the machine etc but he immediately said he’d mask up.

   For a moment my heart sank when I saw him get a blue baggy surgical mask. However, then he proceeded to use heavy duty surgical tape to eliminate/vastly reduce the air-gaps and create a seal to his face and I spotted the updated a/c system in the ceiling, running on full. Good stuff. We talked shop after he told me what was going on with my vision and he had plenty of horror stories about patients in their 20s who were fit athletic people who ended up in ICU and now live their life on mobility scooters with O2 tanks etc. Very very sad.

   Reply ↓
5. vao June 22, 2025 at 7:34 am

   The article Israeli forces push deeper into Syria as strikes with Iran enter second week contains information that makes me wonder about the mentality of the zionists:

   “they destroyed at least 15 homes and vast areas of forest and agricultural land.”

   “Israeli forces began excavating forests in the Jubata al-Khashab Nature Reserve and land in adjacent areas, reportedly with the aim of establishing Israeli military bases and observation points.”

   “Israeli forces deliberately attacked water pipelines and critical infrastructure when they stormed al-Hamidiyah and the village of Juba in Quneitra”

   Israelis have flattened Gaza, razed many villages and parts of Beirut to the ground, and are now are levelling Syria. They are the ultimate nihilists — they do not even try to take advantage of what exists, they just want to destroy everything that belongs and was built by supposedly existential enemies. I fear that at some point they will have incensed so many, that there will be no magnanimity whatsoever left for Jews. Once they weaken, the ultimate revenge — annihilation — may well be exacted upon them.

   Reply ↓
6. Antifaxer June 22, 2025 at 7:35 am

   Trump Calls For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Rigged 2020 Election The Federalist

   1) What a title, no room for nuance there…

   2) The main gripe seems to be rich people donating money?! Didn’t musk just sink a cool $100m into our last election for trump?

   3) This is definitely leading us down the path of never having elections again, or sham elections (where the dear leader gets 90% of the vote)

   I really wonder how the history books are going to portray the downfall of America

   Reply ↓
   1. mrsyk June 22, 2025 at 9:28 am

      I really wonder how the history books are going to portray the downfall of America
      The final chapter begins with the 2000 election leading to 9/11.
      A couple of points. 2000 election makes cheating the national ok. 2004, remember Ohio? 2008, Dick Cheney certainly remembers Ohio this time around.
      2020. There is ample evidence of “rigging”. Back in the day, I dug into Georgia’s results, and they smell off. VoterGA, a non partisan state election watchdog, has exhaustive and convincing documentation demonstrating that extensive fraud occurred and influenced the result.
      So riddle me this. Where would we be today if Trump had won 2020? Obviously I don’t know the specific answer to this, but I have to wonder if we would still have our scientific institutions, and our federal agencies that protect us from corporate and elite interests.

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 10:01 am

         I do not disagree. I’d add the 2016 Iowa Caucus to the list of “dodgy stuff” where HRC beat Sanders and arguably got the momentum going for her nomination.

         Now, in retrospect, lots of people better steeped in US politics than I have pointed out how and where Sanders has knuckled under to “Democrat central control” subsequently so in hindsight maybe we shouldn’t look at him with rose-coloured spectacles.

         However, it is really funny (in a not funny haha way at all) that had Iowa been a primary, not caucus, and seen the initial percentages, any of the three candidates could have “won”, depending on whether Iowa had followed some other states in considering alternatives to First-Past-The-Post (in common with a couple of other states). It could’ve made things VERY interesting……

         Reply ↓
      2. .human June 22, 2025 at 10:20 am

         …if we would still have our scientific institutions, and our federal agencies that protect us from corporate and elite interests

         Did you forget your /sarc tag?

         Reply ↓
         1. mrsyk June 22, 2025 at 10:45 am

            I guess so. Perhaps should read “supposed to”. I’ll stick with the rest of my gibberish.

            Reply ↓
      3. GramSci June 22, 2025 at 10:20 am

         What institutions and federal agencies that protected us from corporate and elite interests? The CFPB?? The EPA?? The CDC?? ‘Our representatives’ in Congress??

         Pretty weak tea. I would say our last chance was the Democratic Natonal Convention of 1944.

         Reply ↓
         1. mrsyk June 22, 2025 at 10:42 am

            I realized from the start that this “thrust” is subject to predating. My view on institutions is restore them to some level of independence, not raze them to the ground. What of the Administrative Procedure Act which generally requires agencies to engage in a “notice and comment” process, soliciting public comment?

            Weak tea is for those living on strict rations, lol, next stop?

            Reply ↓
   2. Neutrino June 22, 2025 at 10:59 am

      Looking forward to pending DOJ and other revelations about the 2020 election.
      Who did what where and why?

      Reply ↓
7. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 7:39 am

   “UK Parliament approves assisted dying bill: How would it work?”

   I can take a pretty good guess where they got their inspiration from-

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbmQxZkSswI (1:35 mins)

   Reply ↓
   1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 8:45 am

      Haha guessed it’d be that clip. Wouldn’t surprise me if the UK Parliament is horribly uninformed. I’d guess that the majority of people round here are in favour of the general thrust of the Bill, but our MP was probably just voting for it because Sir Keir did *shrug*

      I’m firmly in favour of the principle. My last project in academia that generated peer-reviewed publications (and a chapter in book) was on end-of-life care. Worked with very distinguished clinician in the field from VIC, Australia. He put me right on the “real” stats regarding all those very nasty interventions commonly used in intensive care. The problem is that a large majority of people get their information from watching “Casualty” on BBC on Saturday nights or whatever is the current favourite hospital drama in USA. In truth the proportion of people who undergo the gamut of ICU interventions and return to the same health state they were in is often less than 5%. One of the reasons why so many clinicians have end-of-life care plans in place with DNR font size 72 and a whole host of subsidiary instructions which amount to “let me go with dignity”.

      Interestingly, in our study, though there is no single question or combination of simple questions that enables a clinician to predict whether the unconscious patient “wants the plug pulled”, there is one extremely good predictor of an “unplug me” view: if the patient has observed a loved one go through the end-of-life care pathway (with all the ICU bells and whistles) then they are almost certain to reject this for themselves. One of the most perfect predictors of “segment membership” I EVER saw in 25 years. Food for thought.

      Reply ↓
8. DJG, Reality Czar June 22, 2025 at 7:46 am

   Ahhh, Memsahib shows up at the Jogi Lodge at the supposed non-profit entity. After weeks of furiously laying off textile workers in the Federated States of Micronesia, she has to have a rest.

   She’s also working on her potential bestseller: “Eat Pray Love a Smiling Slave.”

   Where is this coming from?

   Today’s NYTimes gives a clue: “A White Nationalist Wrote a Law School Paper Promoting Racist Views. It Won Him an Award.
   The University of Florida student won an academic honor after he argued in a paper that the Constitution applies only to white people. From there, the situation spiraled.”

   In 2025, University of Florida law school, and the bottom-feeding Damsky, haven’t heard of “no religious tests for office,” the letter to the Touro Synagogue by George Washington, women voting in New Jersey in the early Republic, and free blacks.

   How convenient. At what point does the U S of A emerge from the nightmare of its past? Is it even possible?

   Also, I ran across this intriguing letter from George Washington to the sultan of Morocco. Curious, that Washington would be writing cordial letters to “non-whites.”

   http://www.rvbeypublications.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/sultan1.pub.pdf

   Reply ↓
9. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 8:01 am

   “Israeli experts say Tel Aviv’s goal of overthrowing Iranian government unlikely to succeed”

   Well to be fair, Trump did promise to be a unifying President years ago. He just forgot to mention that the country that he was going to unify was Iran. Heckuva job that.

   Reply ↓
   1. chris June 22, 2025 at 9:32 am

      And then there’s this summary just posted by the Guardian:

      Vance said the US wants to pursue a diplomatic process in Iran. He said the United States had successfully set back Iran’s nuclear weapons program, adding that President Donald Trump now hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution.

      “We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it’s already been built out. We want to end their nuclear program,” Vance said, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, Reuters reports.

      “We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” he added.

      He also told NBC he did not believe the conflict with Iran would become a protracted war, said the US had no interest in sending further US troops to the Middle East, and added the US did not want to see regime change in Iran.

      That all seems quite a bit different from what Israel has asked for.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 10:19 am

         What makes you think that this was just not Vance lying his face off? Who believes anything that comes out of the Trump regime?

         Reply ↓
      2. Haig Hovaness Post authorJune 22, 2025 at 10:41 am

         Vance is watching his political future go up in Mideast bombing smoke. Trump’s blundering unconditional support for Netanyahu can only end in U.S. KIAs, and that will sink Trump in the midterms as he loses his America First base, and Vance in the next presidential election. This is like watching a car crash in slow motion. It is sickeningly predictable.

         Reply ↓
10. Lina June 22, 2025 at 8:49 am

    GM all –
    I don’t post here often but do read the links occasionally.

    I’ve been on a bit of a news break the past several months dealing with health issues in my family. I did see the news about US at war with Iran and was hoping someone here can help me understand 2 things that came to mind when I read this (speak to me in Kindergarten terms please LOL):
    1. Didn’t Trump run on MAGA, which (in my mind at least) means – stay out of other people’s business and focus on the US? If so, why did he get us involved in this?
    2. Why is it ok for Israel to have nuclear weapons but not Iran?

    If my questions are too elementary, my apologies. But these are my immediate reactions to this situation…

    Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk June 22, 2025 at 9:06 am

       Good morning. A break from the news sounds like a good idea, but I appear to be addicted.
       Alex Skopic at Current Affairs has the same question.

       Wait, Why Is Israel Allowed To Have Nukes?

       No idea on Question #1. I have read reports that Vance is outside the loop. He does not look happy in last night’s 10:00 pm address.

       Reply ↓
    2. Samuel Conner June 22, 2025 at 9:51 am

       > If so, why did he get us involved in this?

       It’s impossible to know, but there are plausible hypotheses — basically, there is a bipartisan consensus that overthrow of the government of Iran would be good for US, and this view is represented among DJT’s advisors and subordinates. DJT may have been tricked into supporting/”greenlighting” the Israeli war on Iran by being told that US would not need to intervene; Israel would do the hard work and US would benefit at little cost to itself (sort of like Biden/Ukraine/Russia).

       If this is approximately correct, one can discern a large mistake in the failure, on DJT’s part, to maintain ambiguity about the US posture toward the war prior to its launch. After the initial apparent success, DJT made some (arguably really inadvisable) public remarks and tweets (“I know everything”) that affirmed his awareness of and approval of the war. After that, everything that has followed has been political necessity and/or face-saving.

       It’s best to keep one’s mouth firmly shut.

       Reply ↓
    3. mega June 22, 2025 at 9:53 am

       1. Didn’t Trump run on MAGA, which (in my mind at least) means – stay out of other people’s business and focus on the US? If so, why did he get us involved in this?

       He lied in order to get elected, just like everyone else. Those that believed him failed IQ test, again.

       Reply ↓
       1. GramSci June 22, 2025 at 10:36 am

          IMHO, Trump felt he had to run to get out from under the Dems lawfare attack. Although I voted Green, most Americans agreed with me that the Dems were more ‘unAmerican’ than Trump.

          But like the dog that caught the bus, he and his Republican Congress now feel they have to repay Elon Musk and Miriam Adelson. Of course I don’t think Elon, Miriam, and company will ever be satisfied, so here we are.

          Reply ↓
    4. chris June 22, 2025 at 9:53 am

       Oh, you might just want to keep on your news holiday. Diving deep into what is going on lately could help you be informed but it is guaranteed to challenge your peace of mind.

       To your questions, based on my reading, analysis, and a lot of excellent articles posted on this site by our hosts:

       1.) Yes. Yes, he did. But “We” are not allowed to deviate from the plan it seems, such that even though Trump ran on being the candidate of peace and not following in Sleepy Joe’s shuffling gait, he decided go do exactly that. Our neocons think they can pick up middle eastern nations like Pokémon. They’ll catch them all, put them in nice little boxes for storage, and then everything will be fine. I have no idea why Trump decided that he needed to do exactly what he said he wouldn’t do. I have no idea why anyone on “Our Side” thinks regime change or even seriously damaging Iran is something that will benefit the US. I have no idea why Trump decided to back down so severely after sending Witkoff to chastise Bibi early on this year. On the plus side, you can just remember all the articles that have been discussed over the past four years and recycle them in your mind. The reasons for attacking Iran haven’t improved. The risks the US faces after attacking Iran have not decreased.

       2.) Oh, that’s not the question. What you should ask to rattle the cage of anyone who approves of this latest lunacy is why the US is OK with Pakistan having nuclear weapons, but not Iran. Iran is more stable, has shown itself to be more rigorous, and more careful with nuclear material than Pakistan. So why are we OK with a Muslim country suffering from coups (several of which we’ve supported) having nuclear weapons, but not Iran?

       To sum up both your questions and any answers I could give, the leaders in the US and Europe are following a plan developed to satisfy the desires of madmen. Nothing they’re doing now, or will do in the future, will make any sense unless you reconcile it with the plan for people in the northern hemisphere, and the west in general, to control most of the resources this planet has to offer, despite having an increasingly small percentage of the people living on the planet as their citizens. This doesn’t apply to individual nations. This is all intended to assist some kind of supranational elite who come from Western nations. Im sure they have a mountain hollowed out somewhere so they and an approved population of attractive breeding stock can reside while the world burns for several generations. Also, among those pushing this agenda, now and forever more, the people at the very tippy top have to live like kings. Once you accept these premises, everything they’re doing makes sense. It’s still insane. But it makes sense.

       “Yes, this is what a person who does not value human life and does not ever want to accept the consequences for their mistakes would do. Also, I can see how the US and its vassals controlling all of the oil and critical material inputs for modern technology makes sense. In that case, why should they have to reconcile the costs of their supply? Let the Chinese poison their on ground water to get rare earths. We need new condos in Yellowstone…”

       Reply ↓
11. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 8:57 am

    “Elon Musk’s stunning three-word reaction to SpaceX Starship exploding in fireball”

    He nearly nailed it with that ‘Just a scratch’ comment but came up short and should have gone with ‘Tis But A Scratch’–

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs (2:55 mins)

    But I’m sure that it will buff right out.

    Reply ↓
12. tegnost June 22, 2025 at 9:05 am

    The dems are not leaderless, their leaders are people no one wants to follow, their message is one no one (except k st. wall st) wants to hear, and their agenda is one that a normal person would be embarrassed to elucidate (open borders and socialism for corporations)

    and re the gardeners, ice should have just waited around until el jefe showed up and arrested him instead.

    Reply ↓
    1. jhallc June 22, 2025 at 10:31 am

       I read that and my first thought was, too bad she didn’t have her “Come to Jesus” moment when she was campaign manager for Hillary.

       Reply ↓
13. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 9:27 am

    ‘U R B A N S E C R E T S 🤫
    @stiwari1510
    At first glance, many thought this was Gaz. But no, it’s inside Israel. Welcome to Haifa. Reality doesn’t need filters.’

    The only difference is that the people in those buildings had time to get out and go to bomb shelters and not have those building fall on top of them. Just realized. So where are the satellite images showing us the damage in Israel? They must exist. Has Israel leaned on the world media not to show them? What about countries like China and Russia that must be taking their own images?

    Reply ↓
14. Robert W Hahl June 22, 2025 at 9:27 am

    Re: The empty mall in Cincinnati.

    I assume that this condition was not caused just by online shopping and big box stores like Wal Mart, Target, and Home Depot. Is Cincinnati depopulated now, like Detroit? Or does it mean that people just don’t have any disposable income anymore?

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 9:43 am

       There are a ton of videos on YouTube featuring abandoned malls where urban explores go in to film what is there. Here is one such example-

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_c_c_RZdE (22:24 mins)

       Shopping malls killed main street shopping and now online shopping is killing shopping malls. And now there is nostalgia over these dinosaurs-

       https://spoonbridge.medium.com/dead-malls-nostalgia-in-the-ruins-b19a685ef415

       Reply ↓
       1. herman_sampson June 22, 2025 at 10:58 am

          Deindustrialization, leading to more low wage jobs and the higher wage labor being off-shored and white flight and the GFC killed the malls in Indianapolis. The PMC mall that is technically in Indy but easily reached from a PMC suburb seems to be doing well. Any biggish box retailers moved to suburbs, surrounded by new plastic pop-up housing. Home Depot and Lowes are now probably the biggest retailers physically in the city.
          As usual, the “failure to plan is planning for failure” and state and local government failed.

          Reply ↓
       2. griffen June 22, 2025 at 11:07 am

          Abandoned malls and abandoned strip shopping centers…..for $1,000 please Mr. Jennings. What happened to Montgomery Ward then it happened to Sears and to KMart, among many other less than national brands, and today based on recent CNBC reporting even the Kohls shopping and retail centers are just not performing too well.

          I worked as a teenager for one of those lesser known regional NC based retail department stores. The Roses brand of stores got clobbered when Walmart arrived in the eastern NC region, and by 1995 the chain was firmly into bankruptcy.

          Nice work by the Walton family ( among others of course ), and then came the Amazon approach to double down on skirting and flat shirking on tax rules. Rules ? \sarc

          Reply ↓
15. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 9:39 am

    re British fly-tipping. This is definitely getting worse. It is important, though, to recognise the underlying cause – neoliberalism. British local councils have, over a 40 year period, become increasingly reliant on the “central government funding” part of their balance sheet and successive governments (accelerated under the Tories/Lib Dem from 2010) cut funding in real terms massively.

    The result has been that local governments can only exercise control over their income via business rates (becoming less due to massive insolvencies and more and more commercial premises being things like charity shops that get exemptions/reductions) and council tax (the main tax on local people). Result? All the “load” falls on households and they understandably get mad at councils. Ironically I’m guessing that the Tories first thought of this starving of local councils of govt money as a way to punish Labour councils but now we’ve got Tory “shire” councils going bankrupt too, enabling Reform.

    Finally, an anecdote. Our house is one of 5 (the maximum permitted under local bye-laws) that sits on a main road but due to the difficulties of access, is accessed via a “track” parallel to that road and you turn into from a side road. Unfortunately we have a “recessed part” from the footpath which is technically our responsibility but which in Autumn last year, when the leaves dropped, encouraged loads of drunks walking home to drop empties into the leaves. One day I cleared it: 17 half bottles of cheapest brand vodka, loads of those cans of revolting energy/vodka drinks etc. When it was cleared the problem stopped as dropping stuff would be more obvious but on my walk earlier I saw cans dropped in the last week *Sigh*. There’s a bloody BIN on other side of main road. OK you’re not meant to put recyclables into it but the council will take it all and it’s less disreputable than current practices.

    Reply ↓
16. The Rev Kev June 22, 2025 at 10:28 am

    “Chinese researchers invent silicon photonic multiplexer chip that uses light instead of electricity for communication”

    Optronics? Looks like the Chinese like Star Trek as well-

    https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Optronics

    So when can we look forward to bio-neural gel packs as well?

    Reply ↓
    1. Terry Flynn June 22, 2025 at 10:43 am

       Those packs unfortunately immediately remind me of ST: Voyager and I shudder.

       A show that SHOULD have been serialised (like ST writer Ron D Moore wanted) but, like the proverbial square peg shoved into the round hole, was made episodic, to ensure UPN could survive via any new viewers being able to “dip in” at any point.

       Ron D Moore has been alleged to say that this critical flaw in Voyager was one of the reasons he was determined to do the re-booted BSG and do it properly, showing the gradual deterioration in a serialised format. If so, good on him! /randomscifi

       Reply ↓
17. Socal Rhino June 22, 2025 at 10:51 am

    With MAGA republicans dividing into the TACOs and a remnant that oppose foreign wars of choice (including a few that still think the constitution requires congress to initiate war) I think Vance should start thinking about resuming his hedge fund work.

    Reply ↓