As the political insanity heats up, I should slip in science news when I can. So...
I’m interviewed about the outer contours of physics, by renowned UCSD physicist Brian Keating.
Some University of Michigan “bioethicists” want to infect people with a disease that makes you allergic to meat. Oh boy. Hey, what could go wrong? Their intentions are good! Just ask them! Better yet, ask the Republican Congressfolk who will coast to re-election despite their Kremlin-lunatic cult, because they can point to stuff like this.
(Mind you, over time, we should give up red meat of our own, common-sense volition plus good alternatives.)
And preceding me by decades in the sci-speculation gig was Kurt Vonnegut Jr., who is laughing somewhere over this: “Researchers have unveiled ice XXI, a new form of ice that's solid at room temperatures when subjected to immense pressure.”
I have long thought that the ideal car for this decade would be plug-in electric with a super-efficient gasoline range extender engine that allows drivers to use the world's massive infrastructure of petrol stations, using an electrical generating gasoline-fueled engine (+generator) that is tuned to a single RPM and hence ideally efficient and very small. Such an engine could power anything, including light aircraft, since the actual power train is electric and the purpose of onboard batteries is simply to provide a safety buffer.
This video - Rotary Engine Innovation - is about 60% bullshit, yellow-press, clickbait exaggerations, lurid and conspiracy-fetishist. But between the lines you find the core assertion that I see no reason to disbelieve -- that Mazda has developed a small, extremely efficient and reliable (and fuel agnostic) rotary engine that's perfect for this role. If this truly is the fact underpinning all the turgid ravings, then my prediction and hope may be coming true. You'll have to wade through some QAnon stuff to get down to this core. To the part that I hope is true.
== Life! ==
In The unreasonable likelihood of being, theoretical biologist Robert Endres calculates odds for the spontaneous emergence of a protocell, taking into account the volume and surface areas of Earth’s very early bodies of water and suggests it to have been unlikely under plausible prebiotic conditions. And hence, he suggests the old notion of Directed Panspermia… that earlier star systems hosting assertive life forms might have sent forth life spores or seeds in order to deliberately trigger bio-evolution in new systems.
I do not dismiss the idea, only the assumption that de-novo biogenesis in our solar system had to take place on Earth. Some speak of early Mars or the dozen or so icy moons that host inner oceans. But I know a far more vast and likely source of aqueous test-tube conditions that would have been perfect at that time and very likely offer more than enough volume and time to do the job, right here in the early Solar System.
== Medicine ==
Medium (not micro) doses of LSD appear – with pretty solid evidence - to ease adults with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about 1 in 10 people over the course of a year. Well, maybe. Happy travels.
Stunningly preserved' dinosaur 'mummies' discovered in Wyoming have skin and hooves.
== Ponderables… ==
Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across fragments of mysterious RNA -- Obelisks' genetic sequences are only around 1,000 characters (nucleotides) in size -- that (maybe) seem to be a new class of virus-like objects that invade – in some ways – our gut and mouth bacteria.
Mouse pups that had the human version of a particular “language gene” showed different vocalization patterns from their buddies with the usual version mice have. When calling for their mother, their squeaks were higher pitched and featured a different selection of sounds than usual. Later, when attempting to woo a potential mate, the males produced more complex high-frequency calls than the controls.
And continuing with nascent “uplift” – I know several of the bold, would-be creator apprentices who aim to bring back the woolly mammoth. And this first step – inserting a couple of rediscovered mammoth genes – has resulted in woolly mice.
Apparently, humans evolved faster than any other ape.
Interesting: Genetic engineering to create spiders that spin fluorescent red silk. And spider silk is useful stuff ...
== Worries ==
Kilamanjaro has lost 75% of its natural plant species over the last century - as a result of population growth and land use changes.
New data on atmospheric emissions reveals the real cost of flying.
== Sabotaging science and even NASA ==
And yes, there's no escape, even (especially) into science!
Traditionally, Republicans and Democrats have united to support some things apolitically. Like NATO. And science and especially NASA. The Bushites began a long slide of demolition cancelling and deprioritizing atmospheric study satellites, along with child nutrition and a number of other areas targeted ever-more, each year, by Fox. But that campaign was selective. not universal, as it is now.
And with exceptions, NASA was generally allowed to keep up a healthy science budget. (I was a small part of that.) Heck, even Trump 1.0 appointed a NASA head - Bridenstine - who surprised everyone, becoming - by parsecs - his best appointee. It seemed like the same might hold this round. While most Trump v2.0 appointees have proved to be vapid, reflexive horrors, Jared Isaacman has seemed quite sapient... putting aside his to-be-expected support for the execrable and indefensibly dumb Artemis Mission to name the landing site... then the crater, and then the entire moon after Trump,
Alas, though, even that appointment saves nothing. The GOP's all-out war on science - having been selectively targeted under Bushes and partial during Trump1.0 - is now full-throttle. It is rampaging through NASA science. And for any sane conservative, this should be a last straw.
It won't be, though. Alas.
The rotary engine video link comes up as "private"
ReplyDeleteMazda are into Wankel Rotaries
These have an inherent problem - the power cycle has insufficient expansion - which is why Rotaries have low thermal efficiency and a hot exhaust!
Great for simplicity and power to weight but with
Low thermal efficiency built in, not something they can fix
Geothermal energy
Most (almost all) geothermal energy plants pump water downwards where it is heated and comes back up to heat the "hot" part of the power cycle
The problem is that the water coming back upwards tends to come back to the surface with lots of dissolved CO2 which is released on the surface
There are plants where the water is retained in the pipes all of the way down to a deep heat exchanger and back up without flowing over and through the hot rocks - but these tend to be more expensive
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUmmm...locum,
ReplyDeleteJustice is traditionally portrayed as a woman holding scales--hence it's a balance of interests. So, here's I'm balancing various problems and coming to a judgment.
So, according to you, what am I supposed to do to "defend the constitution?" Does that mean supporting Donald Trump's immigration policy and decrying the tactics "sanctuary cities" are using to combat that policy?
Ummm.....I do recognize that under the Constituion, the President has the authority to order mass deportation to fulfill his duty to "execute the law." However, that doesn't mean I have to grant blanket approval to they WAY he's executing the law.
Basically, what Napolitano is saying is that these administrative warrants are undermining the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures and to be secure in their persons and papers. We're seeing that play out in Minnestota, where ICE officers are going up to people and barking questions at them like, "Are you a citizen?" They're doing this after signing their own administrative warrants, breaking into places, then screaming demands phrased as questions at kids in schools and employees in workplaces.
And, it does bear some resemblance to the Nazi (or communist), "Papers, please," demands from WW2 and the early oold war.
Napolitano's whole point was that the increased criminal stakes, combined with many court decisions allowing officers to lie to the public while enforcing the law, and their training in how to bark "requests" at people using statements phrased as questions but using a tone of voice that threatens incipient violence (implying that they have the authority to use state force agaist you if you don't comply), is now undermining the whole reason the founding fathers created the 4th amendment.
And that undermining those 4th amendment protections are, in the grand sheme of things, worse than the violations of the supremecy clause caused by sanctuary cities and protesters harassing federal LEOs.
Tactics such as: 1) regular whistle blowing when federal officials appear, which doesnt seem significant when conveyed by the written word, but becomes much more impactful when you actually hear it and realize it's designed to interefere with LEOs making sound decisions, 2) creating traffic bottlenecks to make it difficult for ICE and border partol to move around, and 3) summoning crowds to ICE enforcement locations so activists can bark at officers in a menacing manner, are, indeed, designed to obstruct federal law enforcement.
However, putting ICE officers in masks and combining this anonymity with many of the legal loopholes courts have granted to LEOs to trick and intimidate citizen's into surrendering constituional protections seems worse (to many) than what local officials are doing with sanctuary city policies.
So, locum, that's why many "officers of the court" don't think objecting to Trump's LEO tactics in Minnesota violates their "Oath of Admission."
The likes of Locum aren't, imho, interested in justice, they are interested in power and to use/abuse this power to satisfy certain parasexual needs (v. Erich Fromm). Everything else is pretense. To them, "Law and Order" and constitutions are only tools they use when it benefits them and to be ignored when it binds and hinders them.
DeleteWhich brings me to the question: If you are sworn to uphold and defend the constitution but the power is in the hands of "domestic and foreign enemies", which options are legal?
"To them, "Law and Order" and constitutions are only tools they use when it benefits them and to be ignored when it binds and hinders them."
DeleteI couldn't have said it better myself, and it's distressing to see that something so obvious to a foreigner living abroad* seems opaque to my fellow Americans.
Asserting one's clear Constitutional rights per the Bill of Rights is now considered "violating the Constitution". We may have to submit to the sheer power of federal forces, but there's no way we have to feel shame about opposing so-called "law enforcement", which has become a term as Orwellian as "Ministry of Love".
It's hard to even come up with a word to describe the attitude of loc and his ilk. It's not purely authoritarian or a belief in the unitary executive, since I doubt he (or the supreme court) would argue that Presidents Obama or Biden are invested with kingly powers. Their belief in the 2nd Amendment for resisting a tyrannical government only extends to opposing Democratic administrations. Ultimately, it seems to be "white Christian men get to do whatever they want, and any opposition to that, even the merely verbal, is punishable by detention, brutality, and death.
If you are sworn to uphold and defend the constitution but the power is in the hands of "domestic and foreign enemies", which options are legal?
I've been trying to determine that myself. The only guide I've found so far is that bit about "When law becomes tyranny, resistance becomes duty," or however it is actually worded.
I know that Canada doesn't allow convicted felons to enter the country. I hope they will keep extenuating circumstances in mind when "not genuflecting to DJT" becomes a felony.
* Monty Python: "I would tax all foreigners living abroad."
Re: Meat allergy:
ReplyDeleteI remember that, in our 2013 federal election, Springer and the CDU took the idea of the Greens to implement one meat-free day per week in public canteens and alleged/misconstrued that the "Greens want to prohibit/ban our meat!"
It was a quite effective Strategy.
The World's Most Important Machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiUHjLxm3V0
ReplyDelete"I have long thought that the ideal car for this decade would be plug-in electric with a super-efficient gasoline range extender engine that allows drivers to use the world's massive infrastructure of petrol stations, using an electrical generating gasoline-fueled engine (+generator) that is tuned to a single RPM and hence ideally efficient and very small. Such an engine could power anything, including light aircraft, since the actual power train is electric and the purpose of onboard batteries is simply to provide a safety buffer."
ReplyDeleteI absolutely, positively agree. You would use a serial hybrid setup. A few cars had that - the Chevy Volt was one I believe. My medium size Lexus needs 30 hp to 35 hp to cruise on the freeway. So put in a 30 KW turbine generator (or maybe even a solid fuel oxide fuel cell) and give the car batteries enough for 10 miles or so of pure battery range. The "buffer" David mentions. It could have all the fuel saving technology of modern hybrids - regenerative brakes and the like. It would get crazy good gas mileage in the city and decent gas mileage on the highway.
If only we could design something like this. Design it to be easy to build (and build well). Design it to be easy to service. Use commonly available parts as much as possible. Heck, buy an inactive auto plant in Ohio or Michigan and create a scalable program for building and selling the cars. Typical plants could build 200,000 cars per year. So, you plan to make a profit based on a percentage of that. If the program works, buy another inactive plant.
That would be a better use for investment capital then the crazy investments private equity is getting into now. Private equity is one of the vampires that is sucking the life out of our economy.
Not a fun weekend for me. Colonscopy prep. 2 days of prep because my bowels are bad. I had a scope done on Jan 30 after 2 days of prep and the prep was inadequate. I feel like Dumbledore having to drink the potion of despair a second time.
using an electrical generating gasoline-fueled engine (+generator) that is tuned to a single RPM and hence ideally efficient and very small."
DeleteThat's the one thing that sours me on purely electric vehicles. With a combustion engine, once you start it up, the battery is charging, and continues being fully charged while driving. Even if the battery had been partially drained by cold weather or by having left a light on, once you get the car going, the battery doesn't get drained unless there is some serious physical problem with it.
WIth a pure electric car, the battery loses charge while driving, and even more so running lights and air conditioning or heating.
Well GMT,
DeleteMy Dad was a gastroenterologist. The first time I had a colonoscopy, I was amused by the thought that I was now at the "other end" of a procedure that had financed my rather extensive education.
Not sure it helped with the nausea that came with forcing down all that prep (I ended up throwing up at one point). But the irony did somewhat entertain me.
I am not an expert here, but I know that batteries work best if used within certain temperature boundaries. With an ICE or some other fuel burning engine on board, you have a heat source that can warm up the batteries before you start using them. Thus prolong your life.
DeleteI wonder how long it will be before cars are designed to be easier to assemble. We marvel at Japanese or European built cars because of their quality. My family used to be reliable GM customers with the occasional VW Beetle thrown in. I still have the last of those Beetles; a 1974 Superbeetle Cabriolet in Revenna Green. Its nickname is Greenie. My dad and I were at a model rocketry convention in August 1974 outside of DC. We drove in Greenie and parked on the national mall, and stood in front of the White House when Nixon left office. I have lots of fond memories of that car.
But I digress. If we could design cars to be easier to build and easier to build well, perhaps the quality differential between American built and European or Japanese built cars will vanish. I would be happy to buy a US made car if they weren't so chinsy.
Back when EVs had 80 miles range that was a sensible solution - today when they have over 300 miles range it is simply unessesary extra complexity - and with battery costs plummetting it adds a LOT of extra cost for no actual benefit
DeleteGMT-5
As far as heating the battery is concerned the more advanced EVs have heat pumps so they can do that MORE efficiently than an IC engine
Easier to assemble - the monster Musk has his engineers working hard on that - so far they have done all sorts of things that the legacy car companies have been "thinking about" for the last 40 years
One silly/simple thing - the Model 3/Y has a huge glass roof as a "feature" - but the actual reason is that the whole interior is bolted together and the dropped into the car through the top and then the roof is glued on - so much easier than doing all of that through the door openings
Just did my fourth colonoscopy a couple months ago. I’ve learned to keep the prep ice cold and follow each glass with a chaser of water. No flavoring. Hold my breath when my nose is near the stuff.
DeleteMy maternal grandfather died of colon cancer and I remember some of what he went through. I’ll power down the prep if that’s what it takes to avoid that fate. I have a semicolon as my gut now;;; and I’d like to keep it as long as possible.😏
Fair points Duncan. But batteries are heavy and weight affects range. The power to recharge the batteries has to be generated and distributed over transmission lines - a lot of cumulative inefficiency.
DeleteLet's assume you stop at a recharging station on your trip from Columbus, OH to Washington, DC or NYC (both over 400 miles). I did a Grok search and it says that the EV with the longest range is the Lucid Air Grand Touring with a range of 512 miles. Its website says it can add 200 miles in 12 minutes of charging. Real-world tests often show: 10-80% charge (common practical target, as charging slows significantly above 80%) in around 30-46 minutes for larger-battery trims like Grand Touring/Dream (e.g., Car and Driver tests showed ~46 minutes for 10-90% on early models; recent analyses for Pure trim hit ~33-37 minutes for 0-80%).
So instead of 5 minutes for a fill-up, you are talking probably a half hour. And if there is a line, you will be waiting for each car to recharge.
My reserve unit has a drone detachment. Our drones fly for 20 minutes and it takes 90 minutes to recharge the batteries. I talked with our commander about switching to drones with internal combustion engines. Units comparable to our drones will fly for 4 hours and take only 5 minutes to refuel. Our mission would be search and rescue so stealth is not a priority. We could do our job better using gas or diesel engines than batteries.
Years ago I liked the idea of a plugin hybrid too. With EV ranges near 500 kms, though, I no longer do. What I want instead is fast charging and efficient charging. Not the same.
Delete"Traditionally, Republicans and Democrats have united to support some things apolitically. Like NATO. And science and especially NASA."
ReplyDeleteThe GOP no longer does so because it is now the party of poorly educated white fundies and their petro overlords that control them. Neither believes in global warming.
And if you want an accurate portrayal of these people see the following:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/trump-coal-country-grundy-rural-appalachia-virginia/
Trump Has Betrayed the People of Coal Country. They Love Him Anyway.
“He thinks our people are idiots.”
And Trump is not wrong.
I've spent almost half a century in Appalachia cleaning up surface mines, landfills, contaminated groundwater, nuclear facilities and hazwaste sites - critical thinking is not in their skill set.
As we've seen in Trump's recent video the MAGA movement is driven by racism.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically fear of being replaced by darker skinned immigrants.
They will let Trump get away with anything provided he keeps America White.
By comparison, Epstein doesn't really bother them.
Also those practices are far more common in rural small towns that form the base of Trump's support, especially among strict religious groups, though they dare not admit that.
(Remember Alabama judge Roy Moore who was caught doing the same thing - and those locals who defended it as part of their culture?)
And fear of dark skinned others is a universal phenomenon.
Britain voted for Brexit out of fear of being swamped by millions of dark skinned Syrian refugees via the open borders of the EU.
Every other reason Brexit voters gave was bullshit.
It had nothing to do with competition from "Polish plumbers" or other such nonsense anymore than Trumps reelection was about the price of eggs.
Trump voters were never going to vote for a black woman for president.
Every other reason MAGA voters gave was bullshit.
Here’s a challenge for you: find a country anywhere in the world, with people of any color, where the common folk are fine with people who don’t look like them immigrating to their homeland in large numbers and changing their society. Let me know if you come up with anything.
DeleteAs a general rule, humans are afraid of "others" in large numbers coming into their territory; it's deep in our DNA, a visceral thing that you don't moralize away. So I suggest you get over it, or at least stop moralizing about it, because that’s not operating at the level of the problem and won't be effective—in rather the same way that moralizing about being afraid of heights is ineffective when someone is standing on a ledge. Capece, church man weirdo?
Not countries per se, but anywhere you have educated people you wil find tolerance of people who are different.
DeleteThe theoretical ideal is the star trek future.
In the meantime, since it's a rare person these days who is not both uneducated and stupid there isn't much that can be done to help those who are racist.
You just can't fix stupid.
Right, the non-"racist" world and the Star Trek future are like your Christian Millennium where lions lay down with lambs: a "no place" that will forever remain in the realm of ideals. And that's kinda my point. You say stupid can't be fixed; does that include this kind of weirdo otherworldly religious idealism that makes ideals more important than empirical reality?
Delete“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, / Or what's a heaven for?”
DeleteWhat's the point of striving for mediocrity?
Well if you have to appeal to heaven to motivate your worldly actions, that sounds like a “you problem” to me. Maybe try a prophet who wasn’t so otherworldly and dissatisfied with humanity? I mean, at least the Buddha recognized unsatisfactoriness as one of the Three Marks of Existence, taught people to look within instead of to heaven, and preached a “middle (mediocre) way” between world denial and indulgence. Sounds like it could be the cure for what ails you.
DeleteApparently you don't understand what a metaphor is
DeleteTo the Ent's point
DeleteI agree that it was fear of immigrants that drove the BREXIT vote
But in the UK the regions that voted for BREXIT were the regions with almost zero immigrants - it does appear that when people actually meet with and live with immigrants the familiarity drives away the fear
I suspect that will reverse when the percentage of immigrants gets above a certain level
The USA is STILL sufferring from the aftereffects of slavery so in that it is NOT a "normal country" and the American experience is not the same as other countries
The results have been the same in both the US and the UK.
ReplyDeleteEver since the brexiteers played on their racial fears to get British voters to vote against their economic self interest, the lives of ordinary Brits who aren't part of the wealthy elite in London have gone down the shitter.
Ever since the MAGA played on their racial fears to get American voters to vote against their economic self interest, the lives of ordinary Americans who aren't part of the wealthy elite on Epstein's island have gone down the shitter.
"the lives of ordinary Brits who aren't part of the wealthy elite in London have gone down the shitter."
DeleteAnd I'll bet many of them blame their reduced circumstances on immigrants, thus proving their point.
"he lives of ordinary Americans who aren't part of the wealthy elite on Epstein's island have gone down the shitter."
And the thing is, they don't care. As long as DJT makes it daringly fashionable to own the libs, they love and worship him.
Yep MAGA are no different than Confederate soldiers who willing died enmasse to protect the wealth of plantation owners out of fear of what freed black slaves would do.
DeleteQuestion: What do problematic Wankel rotaries, geographically limited geothermal energy and allergy-inducing biowarfare agents have in common?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: They are all bad unscientific ideas refurbished with a predictable veneer of good intentions.
From the disease vectors in his 'Giving Plague' to the Nazi eugenics in his 'Uplift' series, our fine host has mastered an idiosyncratic technique that allows him to use moral rhetoric to lend legitimacy to morally suspect means, a rhetorical approach I admire.
I must point out, however, how incredibly destructive this approach can be when applied to real life scenarios, even when I emphasize & sympathize with our fine host's moral intentions.
It's called 'nullification', and John_V uses a watered down version of this by invoking 'fascism' as an excuse to morally nullify the parts of the US Constitution that he doesn't like & doesn't wish to defend, even though 'fascism' constitutes neither a legal argument, nor is it in any way prohibited by the US Constitution.
I've pointed this out many times before, especially since FDR & his 'New Deal' were FASCISM by definition -- a GOOD type of 'fascism' according to our fine host -- as demonstrated by FDR's correspondence with Mussolini.
Der_Oger's Germany is an exception to this rule, as his country does prohibit 'fascism' in Strafgesetzbuch § 86a, but has managed to become extremely 'fascist' anyway by outlawing their political opposition and mandating the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI) to joyful shouts of "Papers, Please!".
And Larry_H, whose comments are only relevant as being representative of the progressive left, then proudly declares that US Law doesn't apply to his rule-disobedient identity group if & when his group doesn't like those laws.
You have all chosen the form of Your Destructor.
Best
________
NASA was murdered by the progressive left who choose to lavishly squander US resources on social services for unlimited illegal migrants instead, just as the progressive left gutted your electric vehicle ambitions & your renewable energy future by outlawing first-world battery production due to environment concerns. 'No batteries' means 'no electric storage'.
There is a good Wikipedia article on the subject of banning parties.
DeleteIn addition to the consequences of a prohibition of a party, judges and officers of the state might loose their jobs and pensions.
BTW, under that paragraph, symbols include those of islamists as well as the Kurdish Workers Party, and the Grey Wolves (Turkish Neonazis).
I don't care about skin color because I am an American and not a Confederate asswipe. We terrify confeds because those commie-allied fascist-romantics cannot mentally even imagine what matters to us. What I care about is that the kids of immigrants assimilate in the most basic sense. (Keep your ancestral holidays and dances WTF.) It is the diversely transparent and amiably -reciprocally competitive / imaginative self-improving zeitgeist that stands a chance of escaping the #2 fermi problem --- feudalism. And for all the faults of Hallywoodism it has one great advantage. It is not utterly utterly utterly disproverd feudalism in any of its myriad forms.
ReplyDeleteCelt the GOP oligarchs believe in global warming. They just want the power to rule whichever world emerges and they can’t do that if facts and science are empowered things.
Racism? Sure. That doesn’t excuse lefties for failing to realize they must prioritize and open borders are political suicide.
GMT-5 best of luck with your procedure. I hate colonoscopy prep, though the real procedure I quite enjoy as a roller coaster e-ticket ride, that I watch on TV, half sedated. But your situation is much more serious, so glood luck from all of us!
"I don't care about skin color because I am an American and not a Confederate asswipe"
DeleteTreebeard assumes that being comfortable around people like oneself only applies to skin color and language, and maybe religion. I am most comfortable in the company of those who share the values of the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Any who share those values should be welcome to come here and become Americans. The ones I detest for changing our culture are MAGAts like him. I wouldn't mind seeing all who show contempt for American values to be deported to the white country of their choice--preferably Russia.
Screw off, locum u moron.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't react to an idiotic troll, but I actually gave you a reasoned answer and you chose to vilify me, quite unjustifiably.
I CLEARLY didn't chose to ignore the Constitution or look away from parts I don't want to defend. "Fascism" doesn't have a basis in the constitution because the term didn't exist in the 1780s. But, dumbass, the 4th amendment is certainly part of it, and it's 4th amendment problems that make me object to Trump's enforcement of immigration policies.
That doesn't mean I'm giving a pass to the whole sanctuary cities notion. It hasn't been an issue I've considered, but I do wish to think about how much local governments should be able to push back against the feds and are "santuary cities" a valid means to do so?
If not, what are? Certainly, there needs to be a way for states and local government to fight back against what they see as oppression from the feds, bc combatting tyranny is a huge reason the framers created the "divided powers" we see throughout the constitution.
But, you really care nothing about shaping viable rules and laws. You just are looking for arguments to attack anyone who disagrees with your worldview.
I actually gave you a reasoned answer and you chose to vilify me, quite unjustifiably.
DeleteThat's what he does. It's why I finally vowed not to read any of his posts for at least 1000 days. Five months to go, but that doesn't mean I'll start again. It means I won't start before then.
I do wish to think about how much local governments should be able to push back against the feds and are "santuary cities" a valid means to do so?
DeleteSanctuary cities aren't just about pushing back against Trump. There's a valid law-enforcement reasoning behind the practice. Immigrants won't report crimes or come forward to local police if they have to fear that any interaction with law enforcement will lead to deportation.
John, the likes of Locum usually have a sadistic streak. They revel in the pain and outrage their cruelty creates, sometimes on a sexual level.
DeleteHe clearly tries with fears of being identified as a "domestic terrorist", and the intensity level at which he is doing it currently increases. Which could mean he needs more and more stimulation.
OTOH, he might have heard of the catastrophic losses during the special elections and other misfortunes that befell the Trump administration... Maybe he is slowly realizing that Army Group Steiner won't relieve him, and all he can do is screaming before self-exiting.
The twits accusing US of 'idealism' are nincompoops. In every phase of the American civil war, it was always the Royalist/Confederate/KKK/nostalgist/Trumpian side whose deep revulsion toward modernity was utterly romantic. Masturbating to some form of absolute authority or another. King, plantation lords, the Book of Revelation (not Jesus!), Hitler, Stalin, inheritance brats and petro princes and hedge moguls and "ex" commissars in today's Kremlin.
ReplyDeleteMark Twin said this. He blamed the Civil War on the novels of Sir Walter Scott, gobbled up by Gone With The Wind Southerns folks.
Does America - blue/pragmatic/scientific/pro-modernity and beliving in self- improvement - have idealisms? Sure...
Yes, the FAR left CONTAINS fact-allergic, troglodyte-screeching dogmatists who wage war on science and hate the American tradition of steady, pragmatic reform, and who would impose their prescribed morality on you.
But today’s mad ENTIRE right CONSISTS of fact-allergic, troglodyte-screeching dogmatists who wage war on science and hate the American tradition of steady, pragmatic reform, and who would impose their prescribed morality on you.
There is all the world’s difference between FAR and ENTIRE. As there is between CONTAINS and CONSISTS.
Better c-words neither cult can utter = COMPETITION and CONSENSUS. If it were possible to bridge the ideological divide and negotiate, even a little, there are some incremental things we could agree to do. Alas, one party has a 'Hastert Rule' against ever negotiating. Ever.
David, I take offense. I may be a disavowed Republican who disapproves of Trump, but I am of the Right and I have contacts with people moderately high up on the Right. We are not all "fact-allergic, troglodyte-screeching dogmatists."
DeleteIf we ever get together again IRL we can have a fun talk. We just have to follow a few simple rules.
1. Be nice.
2. Only say what you believe to be true
3. Assume positive intent
4. Allow each to revise remarks
5. Don't get defensive
You would be amazed at the conversations you can have when you follow those rules
I often think the left is somewhat more immune to toxic leadership because of the underlying goals, as well as ... commitees and infighting.
DeleteGMT, sorry, but terminology betrays us and it's better to say "I know what you mean.' In this case, what doe 'the right' mean, when every formal moderate-right value is ONLY to be found inside the Democratic Party? Prudence in finance and debt? Resistance to Muscovite tyranny and expansionism? Control of the border? Science? Successful OUTCOMES of market economics? Competitiveness?
DeleteAll of today's INSTITUTIONS of a supposed US right are fully committed to undermining all of that: Heritage, AEI, Fox, the GOP.
So... maybe it's behooved on save conservative like you to find a new name? Like Romney/Ryan/GFWill and the rest of today's hand-writing whiners should have done one month after Trump entered office?
As for "Be Nice" we tried that. We tried it endlessly. It doesn't work with middle school bullies or their grown up versions in ICE etc who think only of power and relishing the plaintive cries of "that's not fair!" That's over. History shows there is only one way to save America under these conditions.
But sure. The Good Conservatives have a month. One... month... to act. To file in the nation's Republican primaries in an organized counter putsch to counter-primary the MAGA/Kremlin/confederate madmen and Epstein/KGB blackmailed cabinet and congressional GOP. They could do it and possibly save the party's soul (some small part of it) from pure damnation.
It won't happen.
"As for "Be Nice" we tried that. We tried it endlessly. It doesn't work with middle school bullies or their grown up versions in ICE etc who think only of power and relishing the plaintive cries of "that's not fair!" That's over. History shows there is only one way to save America under these conditions."
DeleteAs Toby Ziegler put it in The West Wing, "They'll like us when we win."
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2026/Items/Feb09-1.html
ReplyDeleteNote that inclusion in the [ Epstein files ] list may indicate only poor taste in friends and business partners rather than criminal activity. Actually, it might even indicate less than that. Because the FBI included all of Epstein's e-mails in the collection, there are names of people who, for example, were writers for [WEBSITE X], and who appear because Epstein signed up for daily e-mail updates from [WEBSITE X]. So, don't reach too many conclusions until there is a smoking gun or two.
You're off the hook, Dr. Brin.
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2026/Items/Feb09-2.html
What was not widely known until after the [ Super Bowl halftime] show was that the wedding was real; the couple sent an invite to their (modest) nuptials to Bad Bunny, and he and his team invited them to be married in front of 100 million people instead. They even got a free (and very large) wedding cake out of it. Among the surprise guests were Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and Pedro Pascal. Keep in mind that it is a law of the universe that any project involving Pedro Pascal must be good.
The wedding was real? Holy crap (in a good way).
I am currently thinking: Maybe it is more important who and what is not in the files currently published - and maybe in the files still under control.
DeleteFor example, while Wirecard is mentioned, the search engine delivers no hits for the leadership of that company.
Deutsche Bank is in it too, of course.
"Maybe it is more important who and what is not in the files currently published"
DeleteIt's going to be like the Dr. Seuss book about the Sneetches. They'll make it like there's something wrong with you if you are not in the Epstein files.
Indeed; John Scalzi was namechecked for a completely unrelated appearance in The Epstein Files (X-Files?) While he is reasonably well off for a writer, he is not even on the map for the habitues of the Island of the Lost Children.
Delete"not even on the map for the habitues of the Island of the Lost Children."
DeleteOn Stephanie Miller's radio show, they keep mentioning that social media is referring to Epstein's island as The Kid Rock.
I just finished off the second 4 liter jug of Golytely. I did not add the flavor packet; that actually made it easier to drink. 8 oz of prep with a ginger ale chaser. Things look good for a successful procedure today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your good wishes. I wish I had gotten more sleep last night, but I will get a nap when they give me the general anesthesia (a requirement after a failed 1st attempt). Then I will get a fast food lunch. We went for a steak dinner after the one on the 30th. Today I want simpler (and cheaper) fare
I wish you a speedy recovery.
DeleteI am feeling pretty good right now. It was a lot easier drinking the prep without the nasty flavor added. I leave for the hospital in 90 minutes. By 2:00 pm EST I hope to be chowing down on some solid food.
Delete"In The unreasonable likelihood of being, theoretical biologist Robert Endres calculates odds for the spontaneous emergence of a protocell ..."
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked at it yet, and possibly won't, but whenever someone says something like "spontaneous emergence" in this context it's a good bet they either have a serious misunderstanding or a prior commitment.
On efficiency, BEV cars are much better than any drivetrain that includes an ICE. The losses from power generation, even petroleum product fueled plants, transmission, charging and conversions are still significantly less than the losses of the best ICE. Not only that, but as power production becomes more "green" so to do BEVs. People have run these numbers countless times by now. It's true.
ReplyDeleteThe only argument against BEV that still has some validity is range anxiety/charging time. And that validity is fading, gone for a wide range of use cases. Sure, there are specific use cases where BEV won't be a better choice. Like what GMT described for the SAR drones. But for a very wide swath of private car users range anxiety/charging time is no longer a real problem. A very large number of users will almost never charge anywhere other than at home, meaning they almost never have any wait time at all, not even the 5 minutes that people like to claim for filling their ICE vehicles after driving 300 - 500 miles. And they almost never have to worry about having enough range for the driving they do daily. It may be scary to make the change, and it will require developing a few new habits, but for very many people it would end up not being a problem. A "would never go back to an ICE" attitude is prevalent among BEV owners.
The main place where an ICE would make sense is for areas without adequate electrification: long cross country trips, camping, extended power outage brought on by a storm, etc. where charging might be hard. I don't have to generally worry about any trip longer than ~30 miles, so an EV would make sense for me, but our local grid is not so great; today the power co. shut down a chunk due to high winds, the lesson learned after the last windstorm possibly caused a conflagration. Many people in rural areas around here have gas generators for just such an emergency. I'm keeping my Fit for that reason as long as I can.
DeleteThe Good Conservatives have a month. One... month... to act. To file in the nation's Republican primaries in an organized counter putsch to counter-primary the MAGA/Kremlin/confederate madmen and Epstein/KGB blackmailed cabinet and congressional GOP. They could do it and possibly save the party's soul (some small part of it) from pure damnation.
ReplyDeleteIt won't happen.
Good luck to GMT-5
ReplyDeleteI survived. All is good. Cologuard test gave a false positive. The report says I have a "redundant colon" whatever that is. Must mean I am doubly full of shit.
ReplyDeleteHuzzah!
DeleteHeh. You have some extra mileage in there. There is probably a "running of the gauntlet" joke in this somewhere.
DeleteFalse positives happen.
False negatives too.
David, you misunderstood what I meant by my 5 rules. I only meant them to apply to us personally next time we meet in real life.
ReplyDeleteAs for your feelings about the GOP, I can think of a lot of shitty, dangerous things the Democrats have pushed for. Dems can be more risky because the major media, academia, and the vast majority of the bureaucracy is aligned with them. Because they think Trump is an extinction level event they turn a blind eye to their own scary tendencies.
I will call out and condemn GOP and Trump misconduct. But I will not ignore Democratic party misconduct. Even if it is 9 to 1, it still needs to be called out.
gotche GMT. Though anyone here can attest that I believe in friendly, if thick skinned, argument/. In fact a majority are amaze by my willingness to read locum etc and give credit when they've clearly taken vitamins.
DeleteStill, the Democrats are almost as bad narrative is completely wedged.
1. OUTCOMES across all metrics are better by many orders of magnitude, both across blue tenures in the White House and in blue-run states over red ones. By ORDERS of magnitude in all categories.
2. Dems are inherently disorganized and easily fractured into reciprocal denunciations. In contrast, today's GOP is by far the most tightly disciplined political force in US history. Tell me which is scarier.
3. Dem admins appoint grownups to cabinet & other posts. Almost ZERO indictments or convictions. period. Top GOP tiers have not only EIGHTY TIMES as many but are clearly blackmailed into obedience. See #2.
4. Please enumerate the 'scary tendencies.' That are more than incantations.
5. If we set aside Utah and Illinois as outliers (or even if we don’t) average rates of almost every turpitude are far higher across Red-run states than Blue-led ones: from gambling, addiction, STDs, domestic violence and murder to teen sex, divorce and net tax parasitism on the rest of the nation.
6. Republican administrations are always spendthrift wastrels, sending deficits skyrocketing, while Democratic ones are always far more fiscally responsible. Always. And I welcome $$$ wagers on any of that.
7. Then there's their war against the US military officer corps the Intel agencies and Trump's deliberate disbanding our ant-terrorism agents (*remember that one!*)... plus an ongoing list of other insanities, a mile high.
Look, clearly you are saner than most. I know many educated Republicans who, while revolted by Trump, recite the matra "Dems are worse
Dems are worse
Dems are worse
Dems are worse
Dems are worse
Dems are worse !:: Without any justification, but in order to cling to a loyalty.
YOU don't chant that. But even so ;Dems are almost as bad!' won't work.
GMT:
Delete"Dems can be more risky because the major media, academia, and the vast majority of the bureaucracy is aligned with them."
In the 1960s. maybe. What major media have you been watching lately? Jeff Bezos's Washington Post? Bari Weiss's CBS? ABC who cancelled Jimmy Kimmel until that decision was bad for business? FOX, who propagandizes half the country so that they've never heard that Trump is in the Epstein files?
Seriously, the only media I'm aware of that dares to promote points of view that contradict the Trump/Vance/KKKaroline Leavitt narrative is WCPT in Chicago and independent podcasters.
"But I will not ignore Democratic party misconduct. Even if it is 9 to 1, it still needs to be called out."
You make it sound as if you're calling out something that otherwise goes unnoticed. The media that you think is so liberal is constantly calling out real or imagined molehills of Democratic faults, while ignoring or excusing the mountains of Republican faults. What Democrat has violated the emoluments clause or auctioned off pardons or threatened countries with tariffs the way Trump has?
Dems need to be kept honest too, no argument. But at this moment in history, the mote in our eye is often used to excuse or wave away the beam in the Republicans' eye.
Because they think Trump is an extinction level event they turn a blind eye to their own scary tendencies.
Trump IS an extinction level event for the rule of Constitutional law, and you're treating the accusation of such as being more egregious than the actual behavior. Just as "calling someone a Nazi" is now considered more egregious than being a Nazi is.
Have Democrats ever actually tried to take away guns or impose Sharia law? Republicans are now threatening to forbid those they disagree with from possessing guns, and trying to impose religious law. The "scary" tendencies Republicans accuse Democrats of seem to be examples of projection. "Weaponizing the justice system"? Check. "Stealing elections?" check. Engaging in pedophilia? Check (and mate).
But Biden was old, and Kamala had a funny laugh, and Hillary's e-mails, so Democrats are just as bad. Right?
I like to watch Rick Wilson now and then, and he notes that the main problem of the Dems is messaging.
DeleteInstead of "Here is my 400 pages policy proposal document. Read it and you will understand why you should elect me." they should say: "This is crazy. Trump is hurting you."
they should say: "This is crazy. Trump is hurting you."
DeleteTim Walz was saying so in a way that people could well understand. And then their focus groups and consultants and James Carville apparently told them to cut it out with the Trump Derangement stuff and focus on kitchen table issues that "everyone cares about."
Like, "No one cares about the extinction-level event. Campaign on your differences on monetary policy, as if this were any normal election."
Democrats have to inspire people to metaphorically fight for their rights as if their lives depend on it rather than trying to peel off enough straight white men and hope their base doesn't shrink in the process. Some, like AOC and Jasmine Crockett get it, but too much of the leadership is afraid of confrontation.
Back before the Cubs won the World Series in 2016--when they hadn't won one for a century--some cynics asserted that the team wanted to lose. That the owners didn't need to spend the money necessary to build a winning team because Cubs fans would fill the stadium no matter what. There was even some thought that being "loveable losers" was implicit in their brand. Maybe there's some bearing here on the Democratic Party.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere is all the world’s difference between FAR and ENTIRE. As there is between CONTAINS and CONSISTS.
ReplyDeleteThe above is sophistry & nonsense, as the choice of a lesser over a greater evil is still the choice of evil, resulting in a negligible QUALITATIVE difference, in the same sense that an AI-promoting & jet-setting climate change believer is just as evil as the conservation-minded climate change denier.
Or, does our fine host now argue that the conservative climate change denier is infinitely superior to even the CO2 spewing climate change zealot ?
It's been said that there are two kinds of fool:
The first says that the GOP is better because the 'Dems are worse'; and the second says that the Dems are better because the 'GOP is worse', leaving only one remaining issue as to What kind fool are you?
Best
I'm nominally a Democrat. Are you saying my attempts to lessen climate change are as ludicrous as my neighbor down the street, with his jacked up megatruck, rolling coal and bedecked with Trump flags?
DeleteHe's not a bad bunny, he's a good bunny - Elmo
ReplyDelete(Hey if Larry Hart can cite Dr. Seuss...)
Vitamin locum is still a ninnie. But at least he's trying
ReplyDeleteSimple answer:
IF any NON-insane or blackmailed or super corrupt Republicans still existed and displayed an iota of courage (I can count a few on my fingers, including Lynn Cheney) then YES they would be 'better' than the most extreme and insane lefties. So? They are so small in number that the generality remains CONSISTS. Today's GOP CONSISTS of the insane or blackmailed or super corrupt
The blue coalition CONTAINS some insane or blackmailed or corrupt. Though to a remarkably small degree. Mostly irritants. And hence vast preferability.
Oh, The left also CONTAINS some who I disagree with politically, now and then. I got few problems with that, except to the extent that it makes them OBSTINATE ABOUT TACTICS that harm out side. That is where I have a problem with them
The crux. If they were serious about re-examining bad tactics they would watch Bill Maher and actually listen past his smarmy and sometimes nasty demeanor.
"If they were serious about re-examining bad tactics they would watch Bill Maher and actually listen past his smarmy and sometimes nasty demeanor."
DeleteSo we should become COVID deniers and rabid Islamophobes?
LH did I say BECOME Bill Maher? Or recognize thaqt he is a carping smarmy SOB who leaps upon very very very bad tactics with ferocity that should be heeded? Ignoring him is lethally stoopid...
Delete...especially since Bill Maher has converted more Republicans into non-republicans than anyone other than Donald Trump himself. They wander in to hear him and smile when he disses far left TACTICS... then they are tuned in when he says "Of course MAGA/Trump are vastly vastly worse!"
Can you think of a better approach? Because it works better than ANYTHING tried by Kamala's crew of smug masters-degree white women ever did.
An observation I made during the last special elections: Winners are often progressive or trad-leftish outliers who are somehow at odds with the Dem upper echelon. New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Texas.
DeleteFor Maine, Mills is to be projected to beat Plattner narrowly, but Plattner to defeat Collins more clearly.
Der Oger seriously? While that may apply to some of the little side races so far, history shows the exact opposite. Clinton, Obama, Biden, Harris ALL genuine moderate-reformers, as were Pelosi-Schumer, who accomplished vastly more with Biden (helped by Bernie and Liz and AOC) in the 2021-22 miracle years than all the long-pass over-reaches of the far left.
Delete"moderate-reformers, as were Pelosi-Schumer, who accomplished vastly more with Biden (helped by Bernie and Liz and AOC) in the 2021-22 miracle years than all the long-pass over-reaches of the far left."
DeleteI think Oger's point is less about what moderates accomplish when in power and more about how they lost power in 2024 and therefore accomplish nothing now.
Bill Maher's smarmy and sometimes nasty demeanor is also a bad tactic.
DeleteOn the other hand, he did compare Trump to an orangutan. Given Trump's recent Obama-chimp video, I'd say that it's time to revive that.
Dig it. Maher cares foremost about himself and he has a comfy niche in the middle, in a polarized society. Second comes having FUN, which he clearly does. Third? Somewhere in there - beneath all the smarmy - is a belief that the good side in this civil war... which he RELENTLESSLY says is the Democrats!... can only really win if they drop insanely stoopid tactics. And he is abso freaking lutely right about that.
DeleteThe most foolish thing is to rage against him for THAT! Call him a smarmy asshole and he might chuckle and nod. And then ask why you reflexively refuse to consider the CONTENT below the assholery? Because almost ALL of his criticisms of lefty tactics is at least 25-75% right!!
But 4th or somewhere down there is the real good that he does and I described that. Hundreds of thousand of our fellow citizens who were lost to fax-land have tuned into Maher, eager to laugh at the lefties he pillories... only to hear him say "YOUR cult is far worse!"
SHOW me anyone else who is actually MINISTERING TO MAGA? Winning converts? I know for a fact that he is.
SHOW me anyone else who is actually MINISTERING TO MAGA? Winning converts? I know for a fact that he is.
DeleteI don't watch Maher. All I know is that Mamdani and others win districts and voter cohorts that previously went to Trump.
The blue coalition CONTAINS some insane or blackmailed or corrupt. Though to a remarkably small degree.
With narrow majorities, this is a problem.
BTW, the rhethoric switch Ossoff made is good."Epstein Class" as a placeholder for both the billionaires and their depravity.
"SHOW me anyone else who is actually MINISTERING TO MAGA? Winning converts?"
DeleteI can only judge by my own visceral reaction to his rants, which I did watch until quite recently, but it seems to me that he also loses converts from our side by giving them permission not to vote for Democrats because they're "just as bad" or at least "don't deserve my vote."
Understand, I was a big Maher fan until recently. Even then, I had my disappointments with certain positions, such as his painting all Muslims with the brush of terrorism, and more recently, his COVID derangement syndrome. But those individual disagreements didn't turn me off to him. It's his cozying up to billionaires and authoritarians as if he's auditioning for a position under their regime* that sticks in my craw.
* As with Kent Brockman: "And I for one welcome our alien overlords."
Lost to FOX land I meant to say.
ReplyDeleteEx PM Jagland (Norway) has lost his immunity.
ReplyDeleteA thought popped up in my mind: Did Obama receive his Peace Nobel price as a part of some trade-off?
Jagland was head of the commitee, and the decision was not unanimous.
From over here it looked like a somewhat novel form of bribery. An attempt to sway a US President.
DeleteThese things happen and even make sense. We have to nip some of the most egregious behaviors, but I think the only damage done was cheapening the prize. Now all our egotists who get elected will want one.
Hoe do you cheapen the Nobel peace prise after Kissinger got one?
DeleteFeb 20 marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Edward Gibbon's "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". For anyone who loves the FOUNDATION arc, or even follows U.S. history closely, this is an important marker.
ReplyDeleteTheMadLibrary asks Are you saying my attempts to lessen climate change are as ludicrous as my neighbor down the street, with his jacked up megatruck, rolling coal and bedecked with Trump flags?
ReplyDeleteOne's relative virtue has nothing to do with it, as a CC-believer who takes a short 2 hr roundtrip commercial airline flight & emits 1.0 tonnes of CO2 all at once significantly EXCEEDS the 0.8 tonnes of CO2/month generated by your CC-denying neighbor's 'megatruck' petrol usage of up to 100 gallons/month.
This is a such common liberal ailment that my good friend (who runs a land-locked US plastic recycling center) claims credit for reducing oceanic plastic pollution, even though 95% of oceanic plastic pollution is of Asiatic origin.
Do the math.
Dr Brin says SHOW me anyone else who is actually MINISTERING TO MAGA? Winning converts? I know for a fact that he is.
As far as 'Winning Converts' & 'Ministering to MAGA', the Insane Liberal Left that has done more to win liberal & moderate converts to MAGA than any other organization in history (examples follow):
(1) A anti-female pro-Sharia Mandani decriminalizing sexual assaults in NYC;
(2) Evanston IL's decision to rob its liberal taxpayers for slavery reparations;
(3) Bad Bunny's recent race-based 'La Raza' foreign flag extravaganza; and
(4) The Liberal Media's incessant anti-Angelo, anti-Christian & anti-Catholic narrative.
Keep up the good work because MAGA is just a few more riots away from clinching the midterm elections. Forward to Victory, Comrades !!
Best
Jesus THAT is your list? OH my, if that is your list, you cultists are really really desperate, Putting aside #4's outright lie, the others are minutiae. Again, $10,000 whether any panel of retired sr military officers would deem them worth any RANDOM minute of any trump family member's treason. Feh. You raised my morale.
DeletePoint 1 What? And on average Republicans have more to gain from "decriminization of sexual assualt" - not that a governor can do that anyway.
DeleteSorry a mayor - even less so.
DeleteDr. Brin, you wrote:
ReplyDelete"I do not dismiss the idea, only the assumption that de-novo biogenesis in our solar system had to take place on Earth. Some speak of early Mars or the dozen or so icy moons that host inner oceans. But I know a far more vast and likely source of aqueous test-tube conditions that would have been perfect at that time and very likely offer more than enough volume and time to do the job, right here in the early Solar System."
And that would be... Venus?
Paradoctor,
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be comets.
My guess would be life-friendly pockets in the accretion disk itself.
ReplyDeleteDarrell's got it. Up towards 100 billion comets, each recently seeded by a supernova with aluminum 26 which then melts the interiors -- a zillion perfectly sized concentration test tubes doped with organics drifting through the highly charged/magnetized early solar system. Calculate the volume total compared to the classic 'smoky little pools' on Earth.
ReplyDeleteBut good to see Paradoctor actually read that far down! So, someone one still reads, anymore.
So now that the ancient & previously discredited Panspermia Theory is new again, why not Creationism & Intelligent Design ?
ReplyDeleteOr, better yet, why not a new 'scientific consensus' that all biological life is a social construct which would then allow the Dems to register various rocks & toasters prior to the midterm elections ?
I have seem the future of the US electorate & it is inanimate AI.
Best
Now he's just wallowing in jibber-much. His 'side' has betrayed him at every level and he no longer tries to defend it. Now it's all "EVERYTHING is shit!" Y'know meds could help?
DeleteIt won't happen. But I should point to the very long history of conversions... people who have said those seemingly impossible words: "I was wrong" and found one form or another of salvation therein. Scientists are trained to be willing. The best generals and other high officers. The Come-To-Jesus 'hallelujah'' redemptions of drunks at a revival meeting...
DeletePride prevents it, generally. And poor locum will rave desperate rationalizations rather than seek a path out of despair. Alas.
Loco shows us how desperate they become the more their plans break apart. Expect more and more statements divorced from reality as the year progresses.
ReplyDeleteOh, and an uptick in the sale of cyanide capsules.