tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post6043146933828092385..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Future shock? Or inevitability? Plus making facts back into "things."David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15458202904488747512020-01-25T12:04:30.839-08:002020-01-25T12:04:30.839-08:00onward
onwardonward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44033727711428558882020-01-25T11:38:06.688-08:002020-01-25T11:38:06.688-08:00The word "pandemic" has replaced "e...The word "pandemic" has replaced "epidemic" and thus has lost is usefulness. What we are seeing so far is an epidemic, and not yet proved to be a big one.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7921647142325542052020-01-25T11:35:18.673-08:002020-01-25T11:35:18.673-08:00Here's the latest as of an hour ago on the cor...Here's the latest as of an hour ago on the coronavirus situation, per The Guardian:<br /><br /><br /> Forty-one people in China have died from coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, a city in Hubei province.<br /> 62-year-old doctor Liang Wudong died from the virus in Wuhan after treating patients.<br /> More than 1,370 cases have been confirmed worldwide, the vast majority in China, and others predominantly across Asia. However, the virus reached Europe yesterday, with three confirmed cases in France, and has also been reported in Australia and the US. In total, 14 countries have been affected.<br /> The World Health Organization has not declared a crisis, but is monitoring the situation.<br /> In China, 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have now raised their public health alert to level 1, the highest level.<br /> China announced it had ordered nationwide measures to identify and immediately isolate suspected cases of a deadly virus on trains, aeroplanes and buses. It is also building two new hospitals to deal with the crisis.<br /> Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has said the response level has been raised from “serious” to “emergency”, the highest level.<br /> The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued a statement warning that more cases in the EU are likely.<br /> In the UK, 31 people were tested and the results were negative. The government is trying to track down 2,000 people who arrived from Wuhan in recent weeks.<br /> The US began an operation to evacuate its citizens and diplomats from Wuhan.<br /><br />Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22318423028435087462020-01-24T21:50:06.261-08:002020-01-24T21:50:06.261-08:00Tholian! A web!Tholian! A web!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33761939759141354872020-01-24T20:22:10.814-08:002020-01-24T20:22:10.814-08:00Will the name for CVN-81 survive them?Will the name for CVN-81 survive them?Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1825026011703877802020-01-24T19:36:21.994-08:002020-01-24T19:36:21.994-08:00One of my nieces is married to a Chinese doctor in...One of my nieces is married to a Chinese doctor in Beijing. She's worried. Apparently the doctors asked for a quarantine days before the government acted. And the travel restrictions are pretty leaky…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63421295553487746862020-01-24T19:24:36.772-08:002020-01-24T19:24:36.772-08:00Good ole USAF. Glen Edwards is a bit of a national...Good ole USAF. Glen Edwards is a bit of a national hero up here in Canada.<br /><br />Is it just me, or does that USSF ship look distinctly Tholian?<br />scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34712709079566501632020-01-24T19:19:02.874-08:002020-01-24T19:19:02.874-08:00Yes but look at the bottom of the Space Force logo...Yes but look at the bottom of the Space Force logo! It's still in the Department of the Air Force reporting to the Air Force Secretary! All right. Someone was on the ball. It's symbolism. All Republicans care about Symbolism, all the way down.<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44921019849890547512020-01-24T17:13:44.870-08:002020-01-24T17:13:44.870-08:00DT's US Space Force logo is Starfleet's. S...DT's US Space Force logo is Starfleet's. Sulu quips that it should really be the Imperial seal from Star Wars. It's like having a third grader as prez.<br /><br /><br />https://www.geekwire.com/2020/star-treks-george-takei-tweaks-president-trump-space-forces-new-seal/scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9967022127115154212020-01-24T17:01:34.958-08:002020-01-24T17:01:34.958-08:00Stonekettle seems to enjoy the caustic environment...Stonekettle seems to enjoy the caustic environment that forms up around his posts on Twitter more than value the potential of coordinated action. He spends a lot of time reading, responding, and 'airlocking' and seems to genuinely enjoy it all. Looks to me a little like the joy we get from an indignation high, so I'm not inclined to believe he will walk away from the addiction reward.<br /><br />Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2031777393972071702020-01-24T16:38:46.835-08:002020-01-24T16:38:46.835-08:00Dr Brin:
I refuse to reciprocate. I still call Wr...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />I refuse to reciprocate. I still call Wright and Doctorow valuable. But their own causes would do better if we worked together.<br /></i><br /><br />Sometimes, you just have to be the better man.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69529853644503324192020-01-24T16:37:49.791-08:002020-01-24T16:37:49.791-08:00Keith Halperin:
BTW, did you hear that EG Terminu...Keith Halperin:<br /><i><br />BTW, did you hear that EG Terminus is suing THESE folks:<br />https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/57e2a53f0fad3 for using the EG name?<br />WHOA! Trans-universal civil litigation! Sephirotic Archailects vs. Pan-Galactic Uber- Consciousness! Who will win?<br /></i><br /><br />Brings to mind that bit from <i>Blazing Saddles</i>:<br /><br /><i><br />"Heddy Lamar"<br /><br />"That's Hedley!"<br /><br />"Well, this is 1871. <b>You</b> can sue <b>her</b>."<br /></i><br /><br /><br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28775524440016017862020-01-24T14:51:12.156-08:002020-01-24T14:51:12.156-08:00@ Larry Hart: Thanks for the suggestion. I would&#...@ Larry Hart: Thanks for the suggestion. I would've if my information were anywhere near being up to the formal article standards of Encyclopedia Galactica on Terminus. As it is, it's not even up to the standards of Wikipedia Galactica- the last time I tried my very best with the help of some editorial AIs to get something there, an atto-portion of the Galaxia/Hypatia AI said:<br />"We don't know exactly what's wrong with this, but we still won't publish it... <br />Also Keith, if everyone in the Galaxy gave 2.3E10-9 New Galactic Credits, our expenses would be covered for a Galactic Standard Year. Keith, won't you give, too?"<br /><br />BTW, did you hear that EG Terminus is suing THESE folks: <br />https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/57e2a53f0fad3 for using the EG name? <br />WHOA! Trans-universal civil litigation! Sephirotic Archailects vs. Pan-Galactic Uber- Consciousness! Who will win?<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Keith Keith Halperinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11868187136912673392020-01-24T14:14:29.519-08:002020-01-24T14:14:29.519-08:00Time and again I find that I promote guys who spea...Time and again I find that I promote guys who speak sense, who notice bad things and cogently denounce dangerous trends... and they never reciprocate. I have driven traffic to Jim Wright and touted him widely. Same with Cory Doctorow and others in that orbit. Bruce Sterling & Norman Spinrad. I can understand Paul Krugman, rock star that he is, though I know he knows of me and has mirrored many of my memes.<br /><br />I refuse to reciprocate. I still call Wright and Doctorow valuable. But their own causes would do better if we worked together. Hence it's kinda sad... though I will yet again, confine my gripes to a small, comment community and publicly link to Wright, yet again.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53882195011059829952020-01-24T13:31:15.211-08:002020-01-24T13:31:15.211-08:00Don’t let the snakes unionize. They’ll demand too ...Don’t let the snakes unionize. They’ll demand too much break time in the sun and mammal sacrifices.<br /><br />I don’t doubt viral transitions in general, but I kinda expect we have to present a large interface for it. Humans keeping pigs and ducks close to each other is an occasional interface for wild influenza. Flea infested rats living in unclean urban housing is a decent interface for a certain plague. Humans eating primates practically invites disaster.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80424504804054378862020-01-24T13:25:28.909-08:002020-01-24T13:25:28.909-08:00@Keith Halperin,
Didn't you mean to include a...@Keith Halperin,<br /><br />Didn't you mean to include a reference to the Encyclopedia Galactica published in the year 1060 FE by the Encyclopedia Foundation on Terminus?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89984581263477162042020-01-24T13:05:17.839-08:002020-01-24T13:05:17.839-08:00Hey, after over two months, I had almost given up ...Hey, after over two months, I had almost given up on Jim Wright (Stonekettle Station) weighing in on the latest goings on. But lo and behold, he does have a new entry up.<br /><br />Synchronistically entitled "Snake". You can't make this stuff up.<br /><br />http://www.stonekettle.com/<br /><i><br />Trump should have resigned already.<br /><br />Trump’s Impeachment trial, such as it is, starts today in the Senate.<br /><br />But we shouldn’t have gotten this far. Trump should have resigned already.<br /><br />If we lived in a rational nation, I mean.<br /><br />If we had rational political parties who actually cared about the nation more than themselves.<br /><br />Hell, even if we lived in the insane world of 1974. Trump would have resigned already.<br /><br />...<br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87067688019872239382020-01-24T12:48:25.820-08:002020-01-24T12:48:25.820-08:00Dr Brin:
locum: "My rule-of-thumb is that ly...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />locum: "My rule-of-thumb is that lying liars always lie." <br /></i><br /><br />If a lying liar says "Lying liars always lie", then that statement must be a lie, so lying liars don't always lie. So maybe he's telling the truth that he's lying.<br /><br />The mind boggles. :)Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39105756593092172952020-01-24T12:29:51.133-08:002020-01-24T12:29:51.133-08:00The New York Times does a good job explaining why ...The New York Times does a good job explaining why there are very different rules for Democrats than for Republicans. Sad but true.<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sunday/democrats-republicans-polarization.html<br /><i><br />...<br /><br />But in recent decades, the two parties have been changing, and fast. Those changes are ideological — the Democratic Party has moved left, and the Republican Party has moved right. But more fundamentally, those changes are compositional: Democrats have become more diverse, urban, young and secular, and the Republican Party has turned itself into a vehicle for whiter, older, more Christian and more rural voters.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Put simply, Democrats can’t win running the kinds of campaigns and deploying the kinds of tactics that succeed for Republicans. They can move to the left — and they are — but they can’t abandon the center or, given the geography of American politics, the center-right, and still hold power. Democrats are modestly, but importantly, restrained by diversity and democracy. Republicans are not.<br /><br />...<br /><br />There should be a check on this sort of epistemic closure. A party that narrows the sources it listens to is also narrowing the voters it can speak to. And political parties ultimately want to win elections. Lose enough of them, enough times, and even the most stubborn ideologues will accept reform. Democracy, in other words, should discipline parties that close their informational ecosystems. But America isn’t a democracy.<br /><br />Republicans control the White House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and a majority of governorships. Only the House is under Democratic control. And yet Democrats haven’t just won more votes in the House elections. They won more votes over the last three Senate elections, too. They won more votes in both the 2016 and 2000 presidential elections. But America’s political system counts states and districts rather than people, and the G.O.P.’s more rural coalition has a geographic advantage that offsets its popular disadvantage.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The alternative to democratizing America is scarier than mere polarization: It is, eventually, a legitimacy crisis that could threaten the very foundation of our political system. By 2040, 70 percent of Americans will live in the 15 largest states. That means 70 percent of America will be represented by only 30 senators, while the other 30 percent of America will be represented by 70 senators.<br /><br />It is not difficult to envision an America where Republicans consistently win the presidency despite rarely winning the popular vote, where they typically control both the House and the Senate despite rarely winning more votes than the Democrats, where their dominance of the Supreme Court is unquestioned and where all this power is used to buttress a system of partisan gerrymandering, pro-corporate campaign finance laws, strict voter identification requirements and anti-union legislation that further weakens Democrats’ electoral performance. Down that road lies true political crisis.<br /><br />...<br /></i><br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48343307047731614792020-01-24T12:27:22.395-08:002020-01-24T12:27:22.395-08:00Anonymous snakes are a speciality in some chinese,...Anonymous snakes are a speciality in some chinese, they show you them alive before they are killed in the kitchen.reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09488435543492412991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3103418476570392732020-01-24T11:57:13.365-08:002020-01-24T11:57:13.365-08:00Keith, heh! Fun stuff!
locum: "My rule-of-t...Keith, heh! Fun stuff!<br /><br />locum: "My rule-of-thumb is that lying liars always lie." And you would know, raving against every possibility of factual accountability, or objective/testable reality.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5237189100160180252020-01-24T11:55:38.795-08:002020-01-24T11:55:38.795-08:00Paul Krugman notices and states the obvious:
https...Paul Krugman notices and states the obvious:<br />https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/opinion/trump-auto-tariff.html<br /><i><br />...<br /><br />Basically, the man in the White House operates on the principle that l’état, c’est Trump. It’s a principle nobody who believes in American ideals should accept.<br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82356250928797213242020-01-24T11:48:10.631-08:002020-01-24T11:48:10.631-08:00@ Dr. Brin: Yes, indeed- Linge Chen (or as we woul...@ Dr. Brin: Yes, indeed- Linge Chen (or as we would now do it Chen Lin-ge):<br /><br />He was born to wealthy Greys on Xamin, in the Booshee Sector. There are numerous gaps in his identi-film, allegedly attributed to a mysterious fire in the Xamin Central Records, damaging his primary identi-film and both backups. It is anecdotal that (as was particularly true of the largely-Easterner culture of Xamen) great family emphasis was placed on success on the Imperial Examination and a traditional career in the ICS (Imperial Civil Service), aka, “the Greys”. While there are no confirmations available, it is strongly believed he did not pass… <br /><br />Here the record becomes even more unclear for a number of Galactic Standard years, but Chen is believed to have become a member of the Booshee Sector Police, where he was involved in efficiently diffusing (with minimum loss of life) a Renaissance Outbreak on Doijveld and the Locum Uprising on Brinn. It was these two events which drew the positive notice of Galactic Imperial Intelligence….<br /><br />During his tenure as Commissioner of Public Safety, Chen appeared to live the life of a modest governmental official, but extensive posthumous examination of his financial computo-files reveal him to be immensely wealthy, with deep ties to the agricultural and shipping interests which supplied Trantor with much of its food from 20 agricultural worlds during this period…<br /><br />Chen was also known to have great enmity toward the Greys, perhaps triggered by his alleged failure to pass the ICS Exam and more recently due to his inability to control them. He had been a major behind-the-scenes-actor in the campaign to discredit the ICS, but was largely unsuccessful during the the time of Cleon and the First Junta.<br /><br />Chen was a committed Decline Denier and had a financial interest in the auto-factory which manufactured the red diamagnetic MEGA (“Make Our Empire Great Again") hats briefly popular in many Trantorian and off-planet sectors...<br /><br />============================================<br /><br />Re:farming snakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgy7PLAgF-Y<br /><br /><br /><br />Cheers,<br />Keith<br />Keith Halperinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80105329573397713712020-01-24T11:14:42.512-08:002020-01-24T11:14:42.512-08:00Especially in the case of China & its recent v...<br />Especially in the case of China & its recent viral outbreak, the Liar's Paradox raises its ugly head once more:<br /><br />Why would anyone believe anything that the inscrutable PRC has to say?<br /><br />Because of their history of scrupulous honesty??<br /><br />Ah fart in your general direction if & when you are so stupid to believe the words of such an accomplished liar, such stupidity being analogous to (1) crediting a lying Putin whenever he either condemns or endorses the random US political candidate or (2) believing a deep state government functionary when he natters on about WMDs & yellow cake uranium.<br /><br />My rule-of-thumb is that lying liars always lie.<br /><br />It is a matter of definition.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812045410916208141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1067154055936783582020-01-24T10:09:12.790-08:002020-01-24T10:09:12.790-08:00No sweat blue-guy!
No sweat blue-guy!<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com