tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post2156650238838432508..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Sapience in the cosmos - and the 'Great Filter'David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88574520786743520262021-12-22T16:07:42.589-08:002021-12-22T16:07:42.589-08:00onward
nwardonward<br /><br />nwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10444140951239564402021-12-22T12:44:59.781-08:002021-12-22T12:44:59.781-08:00Jon S that is why I say demand wagers over a speci...Jon S that is why I say demand wagers over a specific thing they parroted. Glom on and don't let them move on to the next thing. Make it a matter of 'the credibility of your sources; If you lose five such bets in a row, will you admit you should change channels?"David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10934145339451204092021-12-22T10:42:53.313-08:002021-12-22T10:42:53.313-08:00I dunno, Don, a lot of the primates I've seen ...I dunno, Don, a lot of the primates I've seen on FB are terribly incurious. You can present them with information all day, and all they'll do in response is parrot the latest official line from their Republican cult leaders.Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73516477340629465922021-12-22T08:36:37.464-08:002021-12-22T08:36:37.464-08:00All the mammals I have encountered are at least oc...All the mammals I have encountered are at least occasionally curious. I am especially struck by the behavior of primates that is appearing on my Facebook feed.Don Gisselbeckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05770961482198971383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23412333084736057892021-12-22T06:11:02.950-08:002021-12-22T06:11:02.950-08:00Back to science/medical news:
https://www.defenseo... Back to science/medical news:<br />https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/<br />My guess is that team believes they've found an immune-accessible feature common to all corona viruses. I believe Moderna is working that angle also, wouldn't surprise me if there were others also.Tim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12380916635831994159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13061981458461391512021-12-22T06:01:13.340-08:002021-12-22T06:01:13.340-08:00Senator Manchin isn't the first politician to ... Senator Manchin isn't the first politician to heed the "Vox pecunia" over the less discernible "Vox populi", most people really don't mind, as long as their interests overlap enough. With BBB, I think the long term interests of the wealthy align better with it's passage than without. It should increase the discretionary income of their customers.Tim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12380916635831994159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48693445086753380312021-12-22T05:33:26.749-08:002021-12-22T05:33:26.749-08:00[Sinema's] change once in office has been stri...<i>[Sinema's] change once in office has been striking.</i><br /><br />She's always been politically flexible, sticking to no principle but what's best for her own political career. 'Prada socialist to corporate donor magnet' according to the headlines. The question is why she thinks opposing the bill is good for her career — or maybe which corporate donor(s) convinced her it was.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909011338723657265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64206865493920943522021-12-22T02:00:07.921-08:002021-12-22T02:00:07.921-08:00Duncan Idaho. Not bad.
Btw though banal, this migh...Duncan Idaho. Not bad.<br />Btw though banal, this might interest some Brits here, as Lee Child is British. His character, Jack Reacher got his name because Child’s wife would get him to reach up to the top shelves at markets. “You’re a good reacher.”<br />Reacher is almost a SF superhero. At any rate, if ETs are aware of us, wouldn’t they dislike us, owing to all the gruesome wars we have fought? They might think we’re not only the highest apes—but also the worst.Alan Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996922923136240709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82998790375926555032021-12-21T20:22:47.979-08:002021-12-21T20:22:47.979-08:00No diss to Idaho intended, potatoes have long been...No diss to Idaho intended, potatoes have long been used to ridicule the Scotch-Irish, that's all I meant.<br /><br />"If I were not French, I'd choose to be Scotch" - Wilfred Laurier<br />Laurier was an early Canadian Prime Minister, who's on our fin like Lincoln is on the US's. Much Canadian sociology and history is encapsulated in that one quote. There's nothing as touching or as powerful as one tribe's fondness for another - the mark of a nobler time.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35074781387758379742021-12-21T19:10:30.369-08:002021-12-21T19:10:30.369-08:00The winner of the most incongruous SF name ever: D...The winner of the most incongruous SF name ever: Duncan Idaho<br />It's as if the author was trying to confuse Yanks and insult Scots.<br />scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34466318407884394182021-12-21T18:36:31.815-08:002021-12-21T18:36:31.815-08:00duncan cairncross:
So I looked up Duncan Cairncro...duncan cairncross:<br /><i><br />So I looked up Duncan Cairncross - and there is another Duncan Cairncross living in England<br /></i><br /><br />Well, to be fair, where <b>else</b> would he be living?<br /><br />(Ok, I would have actually guessed Scotland)Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17859633531498267262021-12-21T17:32:54.734-08:002021-12-21T17:32:54.734-08:00Manchin will try to remove any climate change prov...Manchin will try to remove any climate change provisions that would hurt fossil fuel in the US. This was *always* his red line. Everything else is posturing. <br />He'll have to be bought out somehow to change his stance. Watch the continuing negotiations for this. His wife being on the $20B Appalachian slush fund was a down-payment to him. <br />Still a decent chance that *something* like BBB gets done, especially after all the heat he is getting for going back on his word. A politician's word is a very heavy legacy. If Manchin's word is no good, then he's as useless as Ted Cruz. Being called out by the WH for lying to POTUS is *not* what Manchin wants his legacy to be. It ruins his ability to cut a deal and makes him a lot less valuable to his real constituency - the US fossil fuel industries. <br /><br />Manchin will pay back Biden for the broken promise by letting a voter-bill filibuster exemption happen in January, I predict. <br />Sinema will be the stumbling block there on voting, not Manchin. She needs to be bought off with a combo of good press, good committee assignments, and an infusion of cash into her re-election fund. Hell, tickets to "Hamilton", Disneyland, and a spot in the Ironman Triathlon. Throw it all at her. <br />If she is not bought, she will be the lone "no" vote on breaking the filibuster for voting-rights, and then she'll leave the party for the GOP, I suspect. <br />Sinema knows that she could not get re-elected as a Dem in AZ (underwater in Dem AZ polling by *79%* last I saw), not without a huge change in legacy. Her price will be lots of money and the ability to change her AZ polling. <br />Sinema is also a prime blackmail candidate. She does not have the built-in conflict of interest with BBB that Manchin has. Her change once in office has been striking. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39748751421824669092021-12-21T16:31:02.938-08:002021-12-21T16:31:02.938-08:00Re: Fermi Paradox:
One idea I had in the last wee...Re: Fermi Paradox:<br /><br />One idea I had in the last weeks was <b> They could, but don't dare.</b> Imagine a sufficiently advanced species which are not in immediate need for resettling to another system. After they have gone through the same dark sides of scientific possibilities as everyone else (like nuclear fission and it's military uses), they slow down, but not because of corrupt oligarchies or religious systems, but because they have understood that every scientific advance has side effects and unwanted repercussions, so everything has to be tested and simulated a hundred thousand times more often than we do before a new tiny piece of progress is allowed. Maybe they see dangers in interstellar colonization we don't see (and it could branch into the Berserker and Dark forest theories) or they have even found a way to conduct FTL travel - but deem it too dangerous to use it. Or simply lack the drive to do it because they already have a stable, peaceful and enlighted society, why should anyone want to leave?<br /><br />Der Ogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00977602334642769985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26095809325963071942021-12-21T16:08:44.179-08:002021-12-21T16:08:44.179-08:00Re: Manchin & Build Back Better:
There was an ...Re: Manchin & Build Back Better:<br />There was an article about that vote in the <i>Zeit</i> (one of our liberal flagship newspapers) noting that 1/2 of the members of Congress are millionaires, and that Manchin drives a Maserati.<br /><br />Just for understanding: How much, personally or culturally, does it bother you that rich people govern and show their status objects? I am quite sure that those two facts mentioned above were inserted to play to German sensibilities (I will explain that if wanted), but how it emotionally affects you?Der Ogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00977602334642769985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9688827993629708152021-12-21T15:25:00.118-08:002021-12-21T15:25:00.118-08:00Robert
Similar names
On Facebook I looked at the...Robert<br /><br />Similar names<br /><br />On Facebook I looked at the full listing and found to my horror I was Duncan Cairncross 2!<br /><br />So I looked up Duncan Cairncross - and there is another Duncan Cairncross living in England<br /><br />I had thought that like Tigger I was the only oneduncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80157028263692406842021-12-21T15:23:49.741-08:002021-12-21T15:23:49.741-08:00While Manchi is certainly milking theater and enra...While Manchi is certainly milking theater and enraging the left, I am still not certain this isn't choreographed. Yes, my odds on that have shrunk. Top money is sucking up to WVa sentiments and local mandarins. <br /><br />If the result is a January 1.5T$ bill we can live with that.<br /><br />But sure, if that doesn't happen, then my money is on blackmail. David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2077580184289376692021-12-21T14:40:56.967-08:002021-12-21T14:40:56.967-08:00Re Joe Manchin
His recent behavior has been very ...Re Joe Manchin<br /><br />His recent behavior has been very extreme - why?<br /><br />I suspect our hosts idea about blackmail gives a clue<br /><br />I wonder just what incriminating evidence the GOP hasduncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10341848476901690702021-12-21T14:37:00.825-08:002021-12-21T14:37:00.825-08:00In news of the clean world:
https://www.nasa.gov/i... In news of the clean world:<br />https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/blueprints-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope <br />(Tip of the hat to kottke.org)<br />It amuses me that the launch is scheduled for the time of year when the pagans were sure the sun was coming back and they could party. They might've even found the entire enterprise a suitable tribute to the sun.Tim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12380916635831994159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79852980469446692992021-12-21T13:28:23.231-08:002021-12-21T13:28:23.231-08:00I don't know what PenceNews is
I can sign you...<i>I don't know what PenceNews is</i><br /><br />I can sign you up…. :-)<br /><br />Daily newsletter supposedly from Mike Pence's organization. I ended up on it, along with Jim Banks' newsletter list, because another chap with my name in America doesn't realize that his email isn't first dot last at gmail dot com, because I've had that email since gmail was invite-only.<br /><br />I also get NRA circulars, his Amazon receipts for a while, etc. <br /><br />The last was interesting, as it means I know where he lives. Indeed that was how I let him know he made the mistake — by sending him a letter. (Without a return address — I'm not silly.)Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909011338723657265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43416225832469886442021-12-21T13:07:53.089-08:002021-12-21T13:07:53.089-08:00Off-topic but here is a very illuminating blog pos...Off-topic but here is a very illuminating blog post on how the Pentagon reacted to 1/6 coup attempt. It pulls from publicly available data (interviews, books, etc.) to hazard a guess at why the National Guard were so slow to react to the attempted coup. <br /><br />https://www.justsecurity.org/79623/crisis-of-command-the-pentagon-the-president-and-january-6/<br /><br />I disagree with some of the conclusions but there is a lot of meat to it. Good stuff. <br />matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35755110652351095172021-12-21T11:56:14.485-08:002021-12-21T11:56:14.485-08:00@phylcycles,
In War of the Worlds, it was the oth...@phylcycles,<br /><br />In <i>War of the Worlds</i>, it was the other way around. The technologically invincible Martians <b>fell</b> to the common cold. <br /><br />At least that's how I'm remembering the original story. In Alan Moore's <i>League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</i> version, the virus that beat the Martians was genetically engineered by Dr. Moreau.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82023150196240459772021-12-21T11:52:53.515-08:002021-12-21T11:52:53.515-08:00Robert:
Why is PenceNews so obsessed with Alex Ba...Robert:<br /><i><br />Why is PenceNews so obsessed with Alex Baldwin? They are positively gloating in his troubles over the shooting on set.<br /></i><br /><br />I don't know what PenceNews is, but right-wing media in general don't like Alec Baldwin because of his on-the-mark, devastating portrayals of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16341941740810337642021-12-21T11:36:12.600-08:002021-12-21T11:36:12.600-08:00Didn't Fred Pohl once write a story where the ...Didn't Fred Pohl once write a story where the cold virus turns out to be a Martian invasion?philcycleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07037641086503534960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48904147680831871032021-12-21T11:19:09.918-08:002021-12-21T11:19:09.918-08:00Paul451, Sagan said 'aggressive races will sel...Paul451, Sagan said 'aggressive races will self destruct; those who tame themselves and survive will expand much more slowly." Fermi? Done!<br /><br />Except um... rabbits spread like mad. Species proliferate because those members of the group who do seek new niches and expand will be the ones with more descendants in more places. "Curiosity" is a subset of expansionism.<br /><br />Robert, Alec Baldwin mocked Trump very often and hence is a figure of hate on the right.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71676000781527254622021-12-21T06:49:53.009-08:002021-12-21T06:49:53.009-08:00Question for Americans…
Why is PenceNews so obses...Question for Americans…<br /><br />Why is PenceNews so obsessed with Alex Baldwin? They are positively gloating in his troubles over the shooting on set.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04909011338723657265noreply@blogger.com