By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Patient readers: Yes, as we enter the holiday season, I’m going to lighten up on Water Cooler (which is hard, because the world doesn’t stop being interesting, or volatile, simply because the West has a religious holiday, and in any case I don’t really focus on holidays all that much).
Today’s Water Cooler would be a full complement, except that I am having my main laptop’s keyboard repaired, and I foolishly did not put a copy of my Water Cooler template on this backup machine. So the structure will be a bit off, and the Covid tables won’t appear. Oops! –lambert
Bird Song of the Day
Northern Mockingbird, Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Washington, Maryland, United States. “Adult male Northern Mockingbird singing from power lines and deciduous trees at intersection.” Seventeen minutes of mimicry, plus a cow, so enjoy your coffee.
In Case You Might Miss…
- Trump to pull out of WHO.
- Boeing 737 crashes not due to MCAS?!
- Covid and the brain.
- Quantum consciousness.
Politics
“”So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.”” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
Trump Transition
“6 key lines from Trump’s Sunday speech to conservative activists in Phoenix” [CNN]. “Here are six key lines from Trump’s speech on Sunday.” (1) Trump said he would consider retaking control of the Panama Canal, which he referred to as a ‘vital national asset,’ doubling down on social media posts he’d made on the topic Saturday.” (2) “Trump said bringing the [Ukraine] war to an end is ‘one of the things I want to do quickly,’ and said Putin wants to meet with him ‘as soon as possible.’ (3) “No, [Musk’s] not taking the presidency. I like having smart people,’ he said. ‘They’re on a new kick. ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ ‘Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine,’ all the different hoaxes. The new one is ‘President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.’ No, no, that’s not happening.” (4) “‘Woke has to stop. Because along with everything else, it’s destroying our country. We’re going to stop woke,’ Trump said. ‘Woke is bullsh*t.'” (5) “Trump pointed to rises in diagnoses of autism, childhood cancer and chronic diseases, and said that ‘something’s wrong.’ ‘Together, we’re going to make America healthy again,’ Trump said. ‘Something bad is happening.'” (6) “Trump said he was shown a chart highlighting the views his campaign had received [on TikTok]. ‘As I looked at it I said, ‘Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while,’ he said.” • Here is the complete speech from C-SPAN.
“Elon Musk Is Donald Trump’s Wrecking Ball” [Bloomberg]. “The US government has just narrowly avoided a shutdown — and the speculation, confusion and concern around tech titan Elon Musk’s power in Washington is rampant. So rampant that President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming press secretary was forced to clarify. ‘As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view,’ Karoline Leavitt explained about the plan to keep the government funded, known as a continuing resolution.’President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.'” • When you’re explaining, you’re losing. And so it begins:
Trump: [Elon Musk] is not going to be president. That I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country pic.twitter.com/YpgcGZ0jF4
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 22, 2024
* * * “GOP congressman says it feels like Elon Musk is ‘our prime minister'” [NBC]. “‘It’s kind of interesting,”” [Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas,] said during an interview on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation.’ ‘We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. It feels like as if Elon Musk is our prime minister.'” • Swell, another extra-constitutional entity. And one based on feelings! Why oh why is the only revolutionary energy out there — “Let’s have a Prime Minister!’ — on the conservative side? (Or am I missing it….)
“Donald Trump’s transition team seeks to pull US out of WHO ‘on day one'” [Financial Times].”Members of Trump’s team told the experts of their intention to announce a withdrawal from the global health body on the president-elect’s January 20 inauguration. The departure would remove the WHO’s biggest source of funds, damaging its ability to respond to public health crises such as the coronavirus pandemic. ‘America is going to leave a huge vacuum in global health financing and leadership. I see no one that is going to fill the breach,’ said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health at Georgetown Law, adding that the plan to withdraw ‘on day one’ would be ‘catastrophic’ for global health.” • WHO’s performance on Covid was also catastrophic, so it’s Sophie’s choices all the way down. I did just check to see if this infamous tweet has finally been taken down:
It seems to have been (unless search has been gamed). So I suppose a tiny amount of progress has been made. NOTE Nope, no progress. The tweet is still up. Thanks to alert readers Rick and ChrisPacific. How can anybody take WHO seriously when this falsehood is still doing its damage?
* * * “” Paid for Sex, Used Drugs While in Congress, Panel Finds” [Bloomberg]. “House investigators found “”substantial evidence”” former Representative Matt Gaetz paid several women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex and bought and used illegal drugs while in Congress, according to a bipartisan committee report released Monday. Gaetz, who President-elect Donald Trump initially nominated to be his attorney general, had asked a court to prevent the report’s release, but his paperwork was filed incorrectly. The committee wrote there was ample evidence “”that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”” In addition to the sexual misconduct, the committee found evidence that Gaetz used illicit drugs and created a fake email from his Capitol Hill official congressional office “”for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.”” The report also accuses Gaetz of accepting excessive undisclosed gifts, including a 2018 Bahamas vacation. Gaetz, a Florida Republican who has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, in November resigned his congressional seat and bowed out of consideration to be Trump’s attorney general amid opposition to his confirmation from GOP senators. But the details in the report still raise questions about his political future, including a possible run for governor of Florida.” • If only Gaetz were a genocidaire… Then his nomination would have been met with universal applause! (Note that the Justice Department, in a separate investigation, filed no charges.)
“Gaetz floats possible bid for Rubio’s Senate seat” [The Hill]. “;Many have asked which perch I will be fighting from next, and some of you throughout this conference have even given me a few suggestions,’ Gaetz said at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest. ‘My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress.’ ‘It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate. Maybe I’ll just run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks,’ Gaetz continued, nodding to the fact he struggled to win enough support among senators to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general.” •
* * * “Sriram Krishnan named Trump’s senior policy advisor for AI” [TechCrunch]. “President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed reports that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Trump said in a statement that Krishnan will ‘help shape and coordinate AI policy across government, working with the president’s council of advisors on science and technology.’ And in a post on X, Krishnan said that he’ll be working closely with ex-PayPal COO David Sacks, who was recently named Trump’s crypto and AI ‘czar.'” • I’ve just been blocked on X by Andreessen, who is, after all, just another bullet-headed tech bro weasel, although said to be freer with his blocks than others. A badge of honor, so far as I’m concerned. Let the enshittification begin!
“Trump picks billionaire financier for deputy defense secretary” [WaPo]. “President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday night announced that he will nominate Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire political supporter who has been involved in the defense contracting business, to the job of deputy defense secretary…. Feinberg is the co-CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, which has invested in hypersonic missiles and previously owned the private military contractor DynCorp, a company that was acquired by another defense firm, Amentum, in 2020…. During the first Trump administration, Feinberg led the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which provides the U.S. leader advice on intelligence assessments and estimates and counterintelligence matters.” • Cerberus is, of course, the multi-headed watchdog for the gates of Hell in Greek mythology. One can only wonder why the name was chosen.
* * * “Trump’s lawyers are the unsung heroes of his electoral victory” [The Hill]. • Correct. Though — take a bow, Fani! — Trump’s lawyers had help.
Republican Funhouse
“EXCLUSIVE: Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger?” [The Dallas Express]. “According to Ms. Granger’s roll call vote page, Grangers last vote was on July 24th, 2024… The Dallas Express attempted to reach her district and D.C. offices but calls went directly to voicemail where a recorded message from Congresswoman Granger plays…. We then visited her office in person hoping to understand how Congresswoman Granger planned to vote on the continuing resolution this afternoon. Upon arrival, we found the door locked, front door glass window covered, no one inside, and no sign of the office continuing to be occupied…. We then received a tip from a Granger constituent who shared that the Congresswoman has been residing at a local memory care and assisted living home for some time after having been found wandering lost and confused in her former Cultural District/West 7th neighborhood. The Dallas Express team visited the facility to confirm whether Granger was residing there and to inquire about how she planned to vote on the spending bill. Upon arrival, two employees confirmed that Granger is indeed living at the facility. However, we were not permitted to conduct an interview regarding the current spending debate in the House of Representatives and how or if Ms. Granger planned to vote.” • Good for a scrappy local paper. Sounds like another one of the many, many Washingtont stories everybody knows about, but nobody talks about.
“Rep. Kay Granger says she’s had ‘unforeseen health challenges,’ but not in memory care” [The Hill]. “Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) says she’s had ‘unforeseen health challenges,’ with her office denying that she’s in memory care…. On Sunday, the 81-year-old congresswoman’s son, Brandon Granger, told The Dallas Morning News that she has been ‘having some dementia issues late in the year.’ Brandon Granger said his mother is living at Tradition Senior Living in Fort Worth and also confirmed that she is not in a memory care facility.” • Oh.
Democrats en déshabillé
“Not A Democrat” [Joe Klein, Sanity Clause]. “The Party Left Me.” So, our long national nightmare is over? In any case: ” First thing in politics, you need a candidate. And if you want to accomplish something more than business as usual, especially within the party, you need a great candidate. You need a candidate who accurately describes the state of the union and more, is willing to say ‘unpopular’ things—it’s the surest path to credibility, just ask Donald Trump. You need a politician who sounds like he or she is speaking English that hasn’t been strained through the consultant-pollster Cuisinart. You need a candidate who answers questions directly, as Kamala Harris never seemed to do…. Now, such a candidate might be available to the Democrats in 2028. But I don’t see any obvious choices right now.” • One can only wonder if there was a Democrat candidate like that. One who ran twice, say.
“Ocasio-Cortez faces uncertain political future” [The Hill]. “Her centrist colleagues’ promotion of Connolly sent a clear message that Democrats want to suppress left-wing ideology as they look to rebrand their image, challenging Ocasio-Cortez’s place in the party, which has lost considerable power in Washington.” • All that opportunism, and yet opportunity never knocked. Sad.
Realignment and Legitimacy
“Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to N.Y. state charges in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO” [NBC]. “Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Monday to New York state charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And “[Defense lawyer Karen Agnifilo] placed the blame for these ‘perp walks’ on Mayor Eric Adams, calling these public parades of Mangione ‘absolutely unnecessary’ and ‘perfectly choreographed, utterly political.'” The tenor of the defense? And in response: “‘Mayor Adams’ priority is — and always has been — public safety, and he has repeatedly spoken about how social media is fueling the radicalization of our youth. Critics can say all they want, but showing up to support our law enforcement and sending the message to New Yorkers that violence and vitriol have no place in our city is who Mayor Eric Adams is to his core.'” • Adams stepped right into it, since alll that “showing up to support” pollutes the jury pool.
“Luigi Mangione Judge Married to Former Healthcare Executive” [Ken Klipperstein]. “Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker, who is overseeing pre-trial hearings for Luigi Mangione, is married to a former Pfizer executive and holds hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock, including in healthcare companies and pharmaceutical companies, according to her 2023 financial disclosures. The judge’s ties to the healthcare business are a stark reminder of how pervasive the for-profit industry is in American life — a point made by Mangione himself.”
“Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty to State Murder Charges” [Wall Street Journal]. “Agnifilo had previously said she was surprised by the federal charges. The state and federal prosecutions were in conflict with one another, she said. The state case is based on his allegedly terrorizing and intimidating a group of people, she said, while the federal case accuses him of stalking an individual.”
Syndemics
“”I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Sequelae
“COVID-19 may Enduringly Impact cognitive performance and brain haemodynamics in undergraduate students” [Brain, Behavior, and Immunity]. From the Conclusion: “The present study found evidence suggesting that COVID-19 infection is associated not only with subjective cognitive impairment but also with prolonged objective cognitive impairment, especially in executive functioning, in some but not all undergraduate students. Moreover, we found novel evidence of distinct task-related anterior prefrontal haemodynamic responses in students reporting a past COVID-19 infection relative to those reporting no past infection, and exploratory analyses suggested this may be particularly true for those who reported experiencing brain fog due to COVID-19. This new information may prove important as we move forward towards developing interventions in response to the mounting evidence that COVID-19 has prolonged influences on brain health. In closing, we call for scientists to respond urgently to the rapidly increasing prevalence of long covid symptoms pertaining to the brain.”
“Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19” [Cell]. The Highlights: “SARS-CoV-2 spike protein persists in the skull-meninges-brain axis in COVID-19 patients. Spike protein is sufficient to induce brain pathological and behavioral changes in mice. Spike protein enhances brain vulnerability and exacerbates neurological damage in mice. mRNA vaccines reduce, but do not eliminate, the spike burden.”
Stats Watch
Manufacturing: “United States Durable Goods Orders” [Trading Economics]. “New orders for manufactured durable goods in the US decreased 1.1% month-over-month to $285.1 billion in November 2024, following an upwardly revised 0.8% rise in October and much worse than market forecasts of a 0.4% decline.”
“Airline Watchdog Raises New Questions On NTSB Handling Of Boeing 737 MAX Electrical Faults” [Simple Flying]. “The Foundation for Aviation Safety, founded by Ed Pierson, a former Boeing 737 factory manager turned whistleblower, has renewed its calls for investigators to review production processes at Boeing’s Renton facilities in the context of the two fatal 737 MAX crashes…. According to the foundation, the documents prove that Boeing and the FAA were aware of quality control and installation issues of the Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) while the 737 MAX aircraft were being built at the factory in Renton, Washington, the United States. ‘MCAS software and the lack of pilot training did not trigger these two fatal crashes. Shockingly, the [official] documents show that Boeing suspected the new ET302 airplane had intermittent electrical faults in the airplane’s wiring before it crashed.'” More: “[A]fter the Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (EAAIB) published its final report of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that happened in March 2019, NTSB pushed back against claims made by the Ethiopian investigators. The latter party concluded that electrical problems that existed since the time of the accident aircraft’s production date resulted in the left angle of attack (AoA) sensor heater failing, resulting in the AoA sensor providing erroneous values to the 737 MAX’s flight computer,” • Hoo boy. Not the MCAS?
Manufacturing: “American Airlines is cutting international flights next year — and blaming Boeing” [Quartz]. “American Airlines (AAL) will be doing a little less international travel next year, apparently because it won’t have the planes it needs to do so. The airline said it will be putting off a number of new routes thanks to Boeing (BA) fulfilling jetliner orders more slowly than expected.”
Manufacturing: “COMAC courts airlines in Cambodia, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia for C919 orders” [Aerotime]. “COMAC (the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has been making moves to attract airlines based in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan, to place orders for its C919 narrowbody 158-192 seat aircraft. The move comes as the Chinese planemaker seeks its first orders for the jet outside of mainland China, say sources close to the Shanghai-based company…. COMAC’s opportunity to attract more airlines to its C919 jet (which competes in the market with the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX) has improved throughout 2024 as quality issues at Boeing plus supply chain bottlenecks and delayed deliveries have plagued the other two manufacturers. Notwithstanding these issues and compounding the situation for airlines is that both Airbus and Boeing narrowbody production lines are sold out until beyond 2030.”
Tech: “Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots” [Associated Press]. “But with growth comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites…. Little data has emerged to help quantify the rise in impersonator accounts, artificial intelligence-fueled networks and other potentially harmful content on Bluesky. But in recent weeks, users have begun reporting large numbers of apparent AI bots following them, posting plagiarized articles or making seemingly automated divisive comments in replies.”
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 29 Neutral (previous close: 28 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 54 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Dec 23 at 1:15:00 PM ET.
Xmas Pre-Game Festivities
“Santa Confirms Everyone Getting Bag Of Glitter Labeled ‘Fairy Dust’ His Sister-In-Law Sells On Etsy” [The Onion]. • But as so often with this decade’s Onion, the headline is all you really need to read…
Holiday cheer:
"There’s no room at the hospital, we’ve just declared a critical incident. Would you like to be checked in privately Instead?" pic.twitter.com/6d58xs2h5e
— tern (@1goodtern) December 17, 2024
Mystery Drones
“Why drone hysteria has taken off” [CBS]. “George Mason University engineering professor Missy Cummings, who has been doing drone research for 25 years, says what most people are actually seeing are likely aircraft, stars, or reflections off of objects, like towers. ‘Of all of those options, drone is the least likely, because it’s actually pretty hard to pick these out of the sky,’ she said. ‘If you’re actually looking at lights from a drone, it means that you’re definitely not looking at a foreign adversary, because they’re sophisticated enough to turn the lights off.'” • Fair enough. I reiterate that the initial NY sightings were SUV-sized, and while I cannot say that none of them had lights on, what I can say is that report that I read that they did. So I am a hard-core laggard on this; I don’t think any official figure has given a public account of the initial large drones, and the media coverage, which conflated all drones with bright lights in the sky, has successfully obscured the initial sitings, whether through sheer laziness or intent, who knows. File under “I guess we’ll never know.”
Gallery
Pissaro:
Zeitgeist Watch
Paganism makes a rebound:
Your reminder that churches don’t pay taxes because they are supposedly spending their money to help their communities through things like food banks, shelters and after-school programs. https://t.co/D8Emc50qiY
— Melanie D'Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) December 20, 2024
News of the Wired
Science is popping:
“Dark energy mystery is finally SOLVED – as scientists come up with a radical new theory to explain the mysterious force” [Daily Mail]. “[N]ew evidence supports the ‘timescape’ model of cosmic expansion, which doesn’t have a need for dark energy. This ‘timescape model’ takes into account the fact that time itself moves much slower in the presence of a gravitational field, such as the one around Earth. … This theory does away with the need for dark matter by challenging one of the basic assumptions of traditional cosmology…. It may be mind-blowing to us human beings, but variations in gravitational forces change the way that time progresses in the universe. The timescape model suggests that a clock placed on Earth would move 35 per cent slower than one tossed into cosmic voids between superclusters of galaxies. By the time the clock here on Earth has completed one 24-hour round from midnight to midnight, the clock in space would already show 08:00 am the next day. On the time scale of the universe, this means billions of more years have already passed in the voids between galaxies than at the heart of the Milky Way. So, even if the universe is expanding at the same rate it was after the Big Bang, the spaces between galaxies would have grown much more than we would expect – creating the illusion of acceleration.” • For the physicists in the readership, the original paper–
“Supernovae evidence for foundational change to cosmological models” [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]. From the Abstract: “We compare the standard homogeneous cosmological model, i.e. spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM), and the timescape cosmology which invokes backreaction of inhomogeneities. Timescape, while statistically homogeneous and isotropic, departs from average Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker evolution, and replaces dark energy by kinetic gravitational energy and its gradients, in explaining independent cosmological observations.” Well, er, but concluding: “These results provide evidence for a need to revisit the foundations of theoretical and observational cosmology.” • More research needed!
“Your Consciousness Can Connect With the Whole Universe” [Popular Mechanics]. “A recent groundbreaking experiment in which anesthesia was administered to rats has convinced some scientists that tiny structures in the rodents’ brains are responsible for the experience of consciousness. To pull it off, microscopic hollow tube structures called “”microtubules”” perform some advanced physics; the experts believe microtubules perform incredible operations in the quantum realm. Citing the work of earlier researchers, the study infers that the same kinds of quantum operations are likely happening in the human brain.” And: “The Wellesley study is significant because the physical source of consciousness has been a mystery for decades. It’s a major step toward verifying a theory that our brains perform quantum operations, and that this ability generates our consciousness—an idea that’s been gaining traction over the past three decades.” And: “If this quantum theory of consciousness tied to microtubules turns out to be correct, it could revolutionize our understanding of consciousness and even strengthen the trailblazing theory that consciousness, on a quantum level, is capable of being in all places at the same time. In other words, it can exist everywhere simultaneously, suggesting that your own consciousness can hypothetically connect with quantum particles beyond your brain, maybe entangling with consciousness all across the universe.” • Just don’t tell the marketing department.
Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From CK:
CK writes: “An autumnal plantitude from long ago and far away.”
And: “A bonus. These three (yes, there is a cat in that tree) lovelies have recently passed on. For me, this photo captures the absolute magic of our shared years.”
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert’s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:
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So you want to be like a rock and roll star?
Then listen now to what I say
Just get an electorate
Then take some time and learn how to be a player
And with your politics swung hard right
And your Freedom Caucus tight, it’s gonna be alright
Then it’s time to take a bow
Where the ethics committee won’t bother you now
Sell your soul to drugs, sex and debauchery
Who are waiting there to service ye
And in a moment of weakness or two if you make ’em beg
The girls’ll play their part
The price you paid for your riches and fame
Was it all a strange game? You’re a little insane
The money, the fame, and the public acclaim
Don’t forget what you are, you’re like a rock and roll star
La, la la la la la, la la la la la la
La la la la la
So You Want to be a Rock ‘N Roll Star, by the Byrds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJlvtfLfdu0
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did a cover version many years ago.
Our captured Congress is run by … ? With a silver alert out on Kay Granger, and Nancy’s whereabouts likely in a private army hospital for the next four weeks, plus Mikey Johnson looking like Trump-kill, who knows who controls Congress after the New Year (other than Musk and the usual megadonors.)
Season’s greetings and keep these parodies coming!
RE: …I am having my main laptop’s keyboard repaired…
Since you brought it up, someone here a few years ago recommended the game Hollow Knight, which I purchased. It’s fun – thank you to whomever for the recommendation! After much running and jumping by said knight, the ‘x’ and ‘z’ keys on my laptop no longer work. I have a several year old Surface, which other than that works fine, and is the best machine I’ve ever owned. I’d thought about trying to open it up and fix it myself, hoping it might be simple, but the cost of replacing if I bricked it if/when it turned out to be difficult has given me pause.
Is this something a rank amateur could fix? If not, how long does a repair take and how costly is it? Still trying to decide if I should try it myself, get it fixed, or just buy a new machine at some point. In the meantime, I will continue to look up “oxidize” and do a partial copy/paste every time I need to type one of those letters….
Two possibilities –
1) If no easy repair, can you use an external USB keyboard?
2) If not, rebind the broken key functions to unused working keys:
https://hollowknight.wiki.fextralife.com/Controls
If it is fixable by an amateur, there will be a Youtube showing how.
RE: mystery drones
I think it was commenter Ben Panga who originally brought up the theory that they were Anduril drones. We have had the Feds meet with state officials – they appeared to have confirmed the activity is happening at some scale, but also ensured us we have nothing to worry about.
With this tweet from today’s links – https://x.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1871014281527042472 – I think he might be on to something. Perhaps it’s a test drive to show proof of concept to get a government contract? If so, I’m guessing the public will not be pleased about whatever Anduril will be tasked to do with Uncle Sugar’s largesse.
Anduril has had a $1bn contract with Special Operations Command for counter-drone stuff since 2022 so they’d definitely be well placed. (See also my long comment further down the page about the NJ drones)
https://fedscoop.com/anduril-nabs-1b-contract-for-anti-drone-work-with-socom/
Re drones: Has no one thought of renting a searchlight to shine on one of these things?
I’ve been wondering why it seems like no one in New Jersey owns a telescope. A half decent telescope and camera would tell us a lot more about these drones (and let’s not forget about the orbs!) than Iphone videos.
By the way, for anyone interested in a detailed summation of the news and a decent analysis of the different hypotheses regarding these drones, please watch the latest “It’s a very exciting time” videos on YouTube. These guys know more than the average person about engineering, and particularly drones, and they do a very thorough job of covering the news reports.
Sorry to contradict the research article you found Lambert, but there’s a lot more to this than people misidentifying planets and planes as drones.
Becnel is having a shitty Xmas so far.
Missed all his Xmas parties because work.
Checked Facebook to see all the great memories my family is having without me. Not even tagged with a shoutout.
Depressing af.
Fucking hate Facebook and how alienating and lonely it makes me feel.
Feeling no love.
You guys tho?
Y’all rule.
Merry Fn Xmas, NC.
Merry Christmas to you too!! -fn
Get your head into something real wherever you are and enjoy whatever marvelous things reside there.
May your season improve from here!
I hear ya, and appreciate your airing of grievances. Xmas is far from my favorite holiday. Happy Festivus for the Restivus to you!!
Bout to break out the Pole of Shame to celebrate Festivus!
Merry Christmas, mate – and never let the b******* get you down.
I for one appreciate seeing your name here, comrade. I hope you have some good conversations with strangers this week!
> I hope you have some good conversations with strangers
Well said.
You could foster a cat or dog. No permanent commitment and they will be appreciative.
Great suggestion!
I love cats!
But unfortunately my apartment doesn’t allow pets 😞
shit, Lambert…now ima gonna hafta re-read David Bohm.
(an prolly Dean Radin)
its gonna be harder without prescription glasses, this time.
https://archive.ph/c60WD
> its gonna be harder without prescription glasses
Not if they’re quantum!
Re: Not MCAS
Lambert, the AoA sensor is what supplies the primary data to MCAS so if the AoA sensor failed to provide the correct angle of attack, it is still possibly leads back to an MCAS move of the stabilizer that the pilots have to overcome:
The AoA source http://www.b737.org.uk/mcas.htm#aoa
Yes, but doesn’t that still make an electrical failure the primary cause? (I’m sure Boeing would rather rewrite some software than check the electrical systems in hundreds of planes, repairing/replacing them if need be.)
No, you are correct, if the AoA heater fails, the primary cause is whatever caused the heater failure.
In the Lion Air crash, there was evidence that one of the AoA vanes has failed, but I have never seen any more details on a probably cause for that failure.
> I have never seen any more details on a probably cause for that failure
I believe Pierson is working from in-country reports.
Who supplies the software and electronics? Collins Aerospace? Boeing’s CEO’s former hangout.
Our president stated:
“But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
But yet he left 3 to ‘use’ the death penalty. He must not have been completely convinced?
One is a synagogue shooter so of course CNN ran interviews with victim’s sisters. Yes, both sisters but not a nod of recognition to victims families of the other two condemned men.
Got to love it.
Best wishes and a Merry Christmas or Festivus to all.
Poison pill. Two of the three were right-wing racists. He’ll leave it to Trump to execute them.
WHO fact check:
https://x.com/WHO/status/1243972193169616898
March 28, 2020
So it goes…
Thanks, dammit.
Goddammit. Two years ago I heard that that tweet was still up and here we are at four years now. Idjuts.
> Idjuts
Worse.
I hope Trump does withdraw from the WHO. What useless organization. Even for the wrong reasons at this point, why keep funding a garbage organization? They’ll post the same Tweet when H5N1 goes full human, if that day comes.
This meme-photograph seems almost antidote-worthy to me, so I offer it in case others might think so.
Titled ” Every masterpiece has its cheap copy”.
https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/1hkmnrn/four_parallel_universes_ahead/
Oof. The timescape thing is mind-bending, but consistent with some known properties of the universe. Gravitational time dilation is a real and well-known thing, counterintuitive as it may sound, and has even been consistently verified experimentally. Why not look at its effect on universe expansion measurements?
It’s actually kind of surprising that nobody has thought to do it yet – which probably means in practical terms that somebody has, and it’s been dismissed or discounted. We’ll have to wait for scientists to fight over the details before we know for sure.
> It’s actually kind of surprising that nobody has thought to do it yet
From other sources, I have the feeling that there’s a general vibe of “[slaps forehead] why didn’t I think of that?” Or Einstein: Why invent this whole space-time continuum thing, and then not work through the implications, instead of adding this ether-like dark matter kludge? Though, to be fair, lots of things are too obvious to see, and I’m no Einstein!
If it turns out to be true it would be a huge embarrassment to the scientific community. Enormous amounts of money and effort have gone into investigating dark matter. If it turns out that it was all an observation error based on failure to account for relativistic time dilation (something that could be hypothesized by a smart physics undergraduate) then a lot of people are going to have egg on their face.
I suspect it’s nowhere near that simple but it would be funny if it was.
I will hazard that I have successfully contained a few more “mind-blowing” ideas in my head than what the Daily Mail editors believe their readers can, but even as a vaguely interested layperson, I can see how this explanation for dark energy works. And, yeah, it’s embarrassingly easy to grok. Almost too easy. Surely someone’s thought of this before? But wouldn’t it be wonderful if they haven’t?
Minor detail: dark matter =/= dark energy. Here we are looking at something that would explain the accelerating expansion of the universe: dark energy or time dilation. Dark matter explains the missing matter needed to account for the orbital mechanics of galaxies and perhaps super galaxies. Other than that detail, we are completely in agreement. Big oops. Hope it’s so. Occam’s Razor says yes.
From a glance at various summaries (the original paper is way beyond me) I think the issue is dark energy, not dark matter. The Daily Mail article does refer to dark matter at one point, but only to dark energy everywhere else so that may be a typo. I hope I’m not sowing confusion…
> The timescape thing is mind-bending
The faster we go, the rounder we get….
I added orts and scraps. Lots of Trump administration activity!
RE: Dark energy mystery is finally SOLVED
Well I imagine Schmidt and Perlmutter (S&P) will be handing back those Nobel Prizes now. I never liked their result anyway – who wants to look up in the sky 50 billion years from now and see nothing?
Kidding aside, this is really interesting. This new theory is based on the same type 1a supernovae that S&P used when they won the prize. The Daily Mail article is a little simplistic so for added context, a type 1a supernovae is considered to be a “standard candle”, meaning they all explode with the same amount of energy and thus the same amount of light is produced. Once you identify one and see how bright it appears from earth, you compare that to the true luminosity and you can then tell how far away it is. Type 1a supernova are produced when a relatively high gravity white dwarf star is close to a much larger and still active star, and begins to draw mass from the active star’s gaseous layers into itself. When it reaches the Chandrasekhar mass limit, it can no longer draw in any more and it explodes into a supernova. Since they all have the same mass, they explode with the same energy.
If I remember right, S&P’s teams only examined a couple dozen or so supernovae, which seems like a very small amount to justify such a conclusion given the trillions upon trillions of stars in the universe. I didn’t see any n= figure in the Daily Mail article or when scanning the paper (which I admit is much too difficult for me to grok), but I remember seeing an article a few years ago that called S&P’s conclusions into question based on new observations with a lot more than two dozen samples, so I’m assuming this study had a much higher number too.
“Solved” might be a stretch, but it is very intriguing. Both dark energy and dark matter have been fudges for “we don’t really know” for decades now. If you don’t like dark matter either, there’s always MOND, which actual physicists in my astronomy club who are much smarter than this dilettante think is a viable hypothesis.
WHO tweet is still there unfortunately:
https://x.com/WHO/status/1243972193169616898?lang=en
Google search gives it to you although X search doesn’t with the keywords you used (“FACT CHECK” string is only present as an embedded image and not as text).
That is enough to never pay attention to WHO again.
Their point seems to be selling vaccines that Gates invests in.
another self licking ice cream cone, as Gates then funds them.
Re: “GOP congressman says it feels like Elon Musk is ‘our prime minister’”
Now that the billionaires and CEOs are firmly in control of America, I’m looking forward to next years trips to China by them to kiss Xi’s [family blog]:
Tesla’s Elon Musk meets China’s Xi, thanks him for EV industry
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-tech/teslas-elon-musk-meets-chinas-xi-thanks-ev-industry
Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Steve Schwarzman spotted at Xi Jinping dinner with U.S. CEOs
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/16/xi-dinner-with-us-ceos-tim-cook-elon-musk-steve-schwarzman-spotted.html
China’s Xi greets ‘old friend’ Bill Gates in first meeting with a US business magnate in years
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/16/business/bill-gates-china-xi-jinping-visit-intl-hnk/index.html
I said this last Trump administration and I feel I’ll be saying it again this one but what really drives them nuts about Trump is he does the dirt unashamed and in the open rather than behind closed doors and with a veneer of embarrassment. Musk being so front and center is just more saying the quiet parts out loud.
And I would argue THAT is something people like about him as opposed to trying to guess if America is shipping $100B and weapons to Ukraine so that Hunter has a cozy job (and the big guy gets his cut). But here’s hoping Trump makes it clear that American billionaires and CEOs putting Xi ahead of Trump is unacceptable.
> Musk being so front and center is just more saying the quiet parts out loud.
To my mind, Musk is drowning out Trump. I don’t need that much noise in my life, and Trump was given his bully pulpit through the electoral process.
> Andreessen, who is, after all, just another bullet-headed tech bro weasel
Beautifully put Lambert. It does seem the weasels are having a moment though. How many Founders Fund or PayPal Mafia guys has Trump appointed now?
I believe they think this is their opportunity to transcend any constraints on them and ascend to their rightful place as a new monarchy
You might find this interesting on Andreessen and the new Christian-Nationalist movement among silicon valley and it’s VCs. I strongly suspect Musk’s X algorithm is tuned to amplify this movement.
Here Come The Anti-Woke Venture Capitalists (Forbes)
As Silicon Valley leaders decry ‘wokeism,’ a group called New Founding that says its “birthright is to lead Western civilization” is among the firms building a new blueprint for VC — and billionaire Marc Andreessen is in.
> I believe they think this is their opportunity to transcend any constraints on them and ascend to their rightful place as a new monarchy
Sadly, I couldn’t get to Curtis Yarvin.
Curtis is indeed a special boy
That Guardian writer has apparently not read Yarvin’s blog posts (gray mirror substack) this year. He has long discourse on the futility of the new Trump team ambitions. Perhaps the Guardian guy is doing a Strauss read on Yarvin?
His writing is convoluted enough that a Strauss read would be kind of absurd.
It is a lot of work to read Yarvin but it is worth it when he repeats the inside dope from his dad who was a career State Department flunkie.
Every time a tweet about Andreessen invades my X timeline (Thanks, Elon), I now click through to the replies, many of which are GIFs or jokes about SNL’s “The Coneheads”. Lol
I know this is likely training the algo to suggest other Conehead-esque or -adjacent Gigachad tech bros, but so be it.
>Gigachad tech bros
My recent research into the Thielverse has involved far too much of this. My twitter feed is all “we’re so back”, “let’s build” and sophomoric economics.
I’ve been suffering the All In Podcast bros to see Vance among his friends and peers as well as Elon, Thiel, Luckey Palmer etc.
They all seem like little boys emotionally to me.
> They all seem like little boys emotionally to me.
They seem that way because they are. Intellectually, too. Elon’s whole Mars project comes from Science Fiction he read at the age of thirteen (no doubt when he discovered Ayn Rand).
This doesn’t mean they aren’t powerful figures, but let’s be clear on their limitations….
And do feel free to share the fruits of your research into the Thielverse (yech). He’s the blood bag dude, no?
He’s a lot more than that. Short version= he’s a political actor, pretending to be a billionaire. He is the thought leader of the whole Silicon Valley/VC/technofascist crew (Andreessen etc) and has been building a network and provoking since he started the Stanford Review in the 90s.
After Stanford he started PayPal. Later he had a hedge fund that died, was involved in various political shenanigans and eventually started a VC firm and Palantir (who’s initial investment was from the CIA). Saved Musk from bankruptcy in early Space-X days. Was also one of the original Facebook investors and sat on the board.
Media are terrified of him after he sponsored Hulk Hogans case against Gawker (which bankrupted them). Everyone seems to be terrified of him.
Explicitly anti-democratic and believes in autocracy or monarchy. Yarvin is known as his court philosopher. He has been building a movement since the Stanford days. Cultivating protégés (Vance, Sam Altman, Luckey Palmer, various others)
There’s a biography of him called “The Contrarian”. Excellent read, and not too long. That covers him until 2021 (just before his guy Vance gets elected to the Senate). Enough to see where this is going. Under Trump2 there are many who are close to him or owned by him in government (e.g. David Sacks who goes back to the Stanford Review and PayPal days)
Whitney Webb did an excellent podcast this year on the contemporary Thielverse. It also covers a lot more of Palantir, Anduril, Worldcoin and the other surveillance stuff he’s into.
Only Musk can really compete with him power wise and I suspect Thiel would win due to superior evil scheming and ruthlessness. For now their interests(and investments) align.
That’s a quick off-the-cuff answer that doesn’t do justice to how political, amoral and involved he is. I think he may be one of the most significant figures in modern American history. I also strongly suspect he wants to be Caesar and is close to being able to make it happen.
[The blood bag story: he supposedly (in the early 2010s) was getting transfusions from young healthy people for reasons. He denies it now. I suspect it was part of a deliberate self-myth-making exercise.]
Ayn Rand. I discovered her in my teens. Her philosophy appealed to my inner dictator … but then I aspired to be the power behind the throne in my day dreams … but before long I outgrew her fantasy. I have not quite outgrown Robert Heinlein and remakn a fan of JOhn Scalzi.
Here’s the next Willie Horton – https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/22/us/nyc-subway-fire-woman-death/index.html
“Border Patrol encountered Zapeta-Calil in Sonoita, Arizona, on June 1, 2018, and served him with an order of expedited removal, and he was removed to Guatemala six days later, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Jeff Carter. Zapeta-Calil then unlawfully reentered the US on an unknown date and location, he said.”
Deported during Trump’s first term, comes back and commits murder on Biden’s watch. I’d be amazed if Trump isn’t all over this story in about 30 seconds, and we all know how it’s going to be spun, especially after the latest NYC subway vigilante was just acquitted, much to the consternation of many liberals.
Sometimes the convenience of stories like this makes me wonder how real any of it really is…
> “unlawfully reentered the US on an unknown date and location” – so not clear whether to the re-entry was on Biden’s watch.
“Donald Trump has portrayed his immigration policies as good for public safety. He said this month [10/2024] that he had the “safest” immigration policy in history. However, data obtained by the Cato Institute through the Freedom of Information Act challenges this narrative. The newly uncovered information shows that while the Trump administration (2017–2020) was prioritizing prosecutions of migrant parents, separating families, and banning asylum, it also released criminals, including those who went on to commit crimes.
…
Trump’s policies, which deprioritized efforts to address criminal activity and focused on banning asylum, ultimately led to far more attempted illegal crossings by individuals with criminal conviction…Trump oversaw a doubling in the number of known gotaways—successful evasions—at the border from December 2016 to December 2020.”
https://www.cato.org/blog/trump-released-criminals-so-he-could-jail-asylum-seekers
Perhaps I should have added the Oxford comma. Yes, obviously the quote I used indicates that nobody knows exactly when he came back to the US. The murder clearly happened while Biden is POTUS, if you’re of the mind that Biden has been the actual functioning president, which is debatable.
From the Cato link – Table 2
“Noncitizens who entered under Trump, were subsequently convicted of a crime before February 2020, and were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement before Feb. 2020” (10,738 convictions)
Oxford comma? Again I learned something.
(I have been argueing that this could be helpful in German sometimes too but it doesn´t exist as far as I know.)
Thank you for clarifying (and it’s grimly hilarious that Cato is calling the bullshit).
> Here’s the next Willie Horton
Yes, if you want to get the conservative Mighty Wurlitzer really cranked up, you’ve got to kill only one person. That’s why mass shootings at schools get thoughts and prayers, and social murder is jake with the angels.
Visalia is smack dab in the middle of Godzone, the beating heart really, with I think 4 or 5 evang mega MAGA churches-impressive for a city of only 140,000!
You kinda wonder how they walk the dogma, and that video looks about apt.
Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty. NBC News.
I don’t know about Agnifilo’s complaint: “[Defense lawyer Karen Agnifilo] placed the blame for these ‘perp walks’ on Mayor Eric Adams, calling these public parades of Mangione ‘absolutely unnecessary’ and ‘perfectly choreographed, utterly political.’”
Let the politicos and cops keep the perp walks going. If your client is young, handsome, and charismatic, why cut the characteristics down? More photos! These stunts are backfiring. Then the question becomes: Just where will they move the trial to? Bismarck, North Dakota?
And I can hear the quivering in Little Kayla’s voice, as she contributes to making the trial a mess: “the terror it infused on the streets of New York City for days…”
I know that NYC almost shut down completely as people hid in their apartments and denied themselves infusions from Starbucks…
And what is “prison consultant Craig Rothfeld … confinement issues”?
Yes, prison can be confining. Do all prisoners have consultants? Are the consultants means-tested?
The circus around Saint Luigi the Adjuster is now turning into the crime.
Two physics pieces, you spoil us!
On the stars: sounds plausible to me (though I only took an introductory astronomy class). Hopefully this brings the age of the oldest stars more in line with the age of the universe then when I took that class. Back then the estimated age of the oldest stars were older than the estimated age of the universe (yes, everyone understood that pieces of the puzzle were missing).
Popular mechanics on consciousness though… Obviously the brain works at a quantum level, everything does. And the quantum woo…
Let me put it this way: The connection between quantum mechanics and consciousness is that both are hard to understand. If consciousness doesn’t fit into your understanding of a deterministic universe, pushing quantum into it doesn’t help, because quantum mechanics are deterministic, but in a statistical fashion instead of a analytical fashion. You are not solving anything.
This biases me towards the article, so I will let biologists chime in on whether it is plausible that this particular structure is the seat of consciousness.
It’s unclear to me why one needs quantum microtubes to arrive at a probabilistic description of thought. One already has ~1 T receptors interacting proabilistically in the head of each of ~1 B humans, each (primarily) signaling in one of ~8 major language families, each of which has ~1 B common and proper ‘words’, each of which has only a probabilistic shared spatio-temporal ‘meaning’ for each of the group’s ~ 1 B speakers.
> quantum microtubes
First non-hand-wavey-ish mechanism I’ve seen…
The equation of Ocasio-Cortez = left-wing ideology is a false equivalence. That’s the real gaslighting going on here. O-C can add “S & M Fetishist” to her CV. She seems to be all right with the occasional whipping.
Saw a great tee-shirt the other day. “Big Gretch should have died for your sins. Doritos.”
Antoinette of Color should be glad to now be a has been, not that she ever accomplished anything. Looking at her Congressional voting record, she’s always on board with some new commemorative silver and gold coin set proposal-kinda cryptic supporting that, but nothing ever goes beyond getting introduced and then promptly forgotten.
Is she a bar-ista or a round-ista? The boys down in the Vault of Treas-error want to know so they can figure out what to short for Christmas.
Re: Gaetz, the Justice Department would presumably only be involved in the case of Federal offenses I think? I believe the only one of those was the trafficking offense, which the report apparently cleared him of (or at least failed to include). All of the offenses covered in the report are state level.
If that’s true then nothing in this report is inconsistent with Justice choosing not to file charges.
Here’s Jimmy Dore on the Gaetz story, hilarious!:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1qZGXci18
Thanks for this. I keep trying to forget Florida like some kind of bad dream, but it keeps recurring. At the moment family-blogging obligations are dragging down I-95/75 back into the Gulf Vortex. May all your Xmasses be merry and bright, none will be whiter than mine. Jimmy Dore’s Matt Gaetz Story will have to be my Xmas Story.
“Now that the billionaires and CEOs are firmly in control of America, I’m looking forward to next year’s trips to China by them to kiss — …”
Forgive me, but I do not find any reason why China should be demeaned. What would seem due is respect for what China is accomplishing in development.
You might have missed the sub-text there… it wasn’t China getting demeaned in that post : )
Nor should China be demeaned. It is only guilty of not performing to US expectations and by its diligence, and the greed of “our oligarchs” thatit has been eat our lunch for the past 20 years or so. How, back in the Clinton years, it was thought that bringing China into the WTO would somehow allow its growth to be channeled only in directions we thought pleasing, that prosperity and liberal-ish politics followed one another as night day. I made nine trips to China from 2010-2019 shepherding students. Even the limited exposure I had allowed a glimpse of the rapid changes taking place both urban and rural. China looks after itself, as it should. Would that the US would do the same. There is no military solution to the whatever haunts the fever dreams inside the DC Bubble and Echo Chamber. (Actually a good thing as the US does not have the military means to effect a military solution.) Better to grow a diplomat or two as opposed to the half-hard ideologues standing in too large shoes.
Apologies if you thought I was demeaning China or Xi Jinping! That was not my intent. My intent was to demonstrate the duplicity of American billionaires and CEOs.
To be honest, I am impressed with China’s progress, and am impressed that China has remained focused on improving the life of it’s citizens, and hope that the West will do the same.
China is doing great things for mankind.
I hope China will do its best to help the American Working Class not get pulverized by our vicious oligarchs who would rather see us die than #ShareTheWealth.
“Apologies if you thought…”
Thank you. The problem however was that I did not understand the comment and was hurt by what I “imagined.” The comment, I realize, was properly ironic and telling.
I am sorry for failing to appreciate the meaning of the comment and being critical. The explanation is completely appreciated.
From the FluentInFinance subreddit comes this little meme called ” We have the best memes. Memes like you would not believe. Amazing memes.” And here is a link to a sample of their amazing memes.
https://www.reddit.com/r/FluentInFinance/comments/1hkv4rx/we_have_the_best_memes_memes_like_you_would_not/
If this were posted or elevated or liked or something millions of times, Trump would have a hard time pretending he does not know about it.
So I’m going to nominate this as the open source software Christmas gift for you (if you are so inclined):
Gaia Sky https://zah.uni-heidelberg.de/gaia/outreach/gaiasky
Now, when they say “real time”, when you start the simulation, it shows an accurate depiction of the Earth real time – down to where the current sunrise/sunset line is occurring on the Earth (no, it doesn’t get the clouds right real time – that’s getting into spook territory). It shows an accurate location for ISS and Hubble. It’s got an interface to control your telescope. It’s got planetarium and VR modes.
So if you ever look up, and go “What the heck?”, check it out. You might like it.
Thanks Glen, as a child of the space age that is a “far out” gift.
Happy Spacemas to all.
“Gaia Sky…”
Thank you for a perfect Christmas gift. Leading to:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202412/1325448.shtml
December 20, 2024
Scientists’ big data analysis uncovers mysteries of early Earth evolution, helping search for extraterrestrial life
By Li Hang
[ A high-resolution biodiversity curve spanning from 2 billion to 500 million years ago
https://www.science.org/cms/10.1126/science.adm9137/asset/247f1602-cd4c-44fc-ba82-d10f34ae4798/assets/images/large/science.adm9137-fa.jpg ]
By establishing the biggest paleobiology database of early Earth to date and employing cutting-edge analytical tools, including supercomputer and artificial intelligence, an international paleontological research team led by Dr Qing Tang and Professor Shuzhong Shen from the School of Earth Sciences and Engineering at Nanjing University, for the first time, have constructed a high-resolution biodiversity curve spanning from 2 billion to 500 million years ago…
Lambert on mystery drones > Fair enough. I reiterate that the initial NY sightings were SUV-sized, and while I cannot say that none of them had lights on, what I can say is that report that I read that they did
I followed this story since it originally appeared and concur that in the initial reports (just after election) many but not all were suv sized. It appeared to be multiple types of drone. Photos showed they seemed to be deliberately brightly lit and drawing attention. Taibbi gave an account a few weeks later of seeing them “parade past his window” in NJ that sounded similar.
What’s ignored in most media coverage is that these drone sightings echo those seen at military bases since 2019. These have been officially and unofficially acknowledged. These are perhaps more significant as the military has greater ability and authority to bring them down if over military bases.
The Langley drones last December are officially acknowledged, were multiple types and sizes, (not-hobbyist) and seemed able to casually fly and lurk over some of America’s most sensitive installations. Unlike in NJ, the military had authority to bring down these drones but (as far as is known) has not, and professed the same puzzlement the Feds are showing now about NJ. A Chinese guy was arrested for flying a basic drone over sensitive sites at this time, but the stories did not feel to be related to me (gut feeling/unconscious pattern recognition).
There was extensive drone activity over USAF bases in the UK in the Summer. One of these bases is (thought) to house US nukes. Again, obfuscation and bafflement from officials.
USAF spokesweasel: ‘The number of systems fluctuated, and they ranged in sizes and configurations. The sUASs were actively monitored and installation leaders determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets.’
There have been others, all the same pattern. Multiple sizes, long-flight time, trying to be seen.
—-
The story has been big all along in the UFO twitter world (and seems to have now swallowed Ufology) The most popular non-ufo theory was China testing defences or mapping.
I had no theory until the NJ thing started and I started to think about who benefits, who would have the ability to do it, why aren’t the feds/military panicking more.
My current theory: Its the part of the MIC that wants to dump the F-35 etc and go hi-tech. I think they have been acting since the mid 2010s when wargames started to look ugly for the US. The drone thing is part of a bigger picture I only see bits of. It seems to come more the army, marines and navy plus spooks but not the air force. That the air force cannot (? Do not?) protect their own bases is humiliating. It also seems to have a lot of MAGA types involved.
I think either it never becomes much clearer OR I guess there’s also scope to escalate giving Trump a pretext to declare a national emergency.
Murky murky stuff
> Murky murky stuff
Thanks for this comment. It’s always nice to have a little re-assurance I’n not crazy (“It’s not me. It’s just…. the world.” –Earl Williams His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, director)
Adding. considering the spooks are handling projects like managing the war in Ukraine instead of the Army, it makes sense that they would want to extend their domain to the Air Force. Might even fit into DOGE, what with the spook + Silicon Valley imbrication, and probably a legitimate argument to be made from costs.
However, any account must explain “Why New Jersey?!”
It’s near DC but not near enough that anybody in DC would actually care. /sarc
I was gonna non-sarcastically write the same as Rev.
Other speculative ideas:
Close to the ocean so easy for drones to be from there
Close to NY but not threatening it directly
Close to specific US facilities like Picatinny Arsenal (although why I’m not sure)
Right over Susie Wiles family home (as maybe she’s one who it would be important to influence)
Over Trump’s golf course
Many months ago I pointed out that poverty in Germany is much higher than officially accepted.
With the latest “groundbreaking” study on living costs it turns out – totally unexpected of course:
17,5 million = 21,2% are poor due to rents:
“Housing makes you poor!”, states the Paritätische Research Centre in the study. The researchers Greta Schabram, Jonas Pieper, Andreas Aust, Katja Kipping and Joachim Rock have determined a housing poverty threshold according to which 17.5 million people in Germany – 21.2 percent of the population – are affected by housing poverty.”
Wow, and they needed a “groundbreaking” study for that.
The German-language study would be found here:
https://www.der-paritaetische.de/alle-meldungen/studie-belegt-wohnen-macht-arm/
“Groups that are massively affected are:
People aged 65 and over: 27.1% poverty rate
Young adults (18-25 years): 31% poverty rate
Single parents: 36% poverty rate
People living alone: 37.6% poverty rate (even 41.7% in retirement age)
Unemployed: 61.3% poverty rate”
p.s. I am not gonna call out Katja Kipping here…
The New Yorker´s Cartoons have often been odd. But lately it´s become worse…
https://www.newyorker.com/humor
Humour means defiance by responding NOT on the same level as power operates or those forces one regards as threat…i.e. humour is not realism. Things which are true and provoke humour response are mostly not really funny. That’s why you twist ´em.