They say that those who do not know
history are destined to repeat it. There are forces at work today
that make me question what our future holds. So I've been visiting
the past to try to make sense of what went wrong in a time period
that was so critical to my country, and to the world, the era of the
Great Depression. Not only did it wreak havoc on families and
governments, but it led us back into a world war.
What follows are pieces of a
complicated puzzle. For the Great Depression wasn't just one single
event, but a kaleidoscope of interwoven events that led to the misery
of millions of people.
Each video stands on it's own, but they
are all important pieces, so I would watch all of them when you have
the time. I know there is more, but I wanted to start with these.
They are all full length documentaries.
The first is a visit to an iconic
American company, Ford Motor Co. It is a working man's view of a
time of euphoria that all too quickly fades. And perhaps a lesson in business that should be learned.
I wish they would tell you in advance that they are restricting viewing of a video. *sigh* Anyway, that is the case with this one. So I will provide a link:
I wish they would tell you in advance that they are restricting viewing of a video. *sigh* Anyway, that is the case with this one. So I will provide a link:
The second is a tale of greed and
excess. Something that we are well acquainted with.
This last has a hint of something that
many may have forgotten or ignored. Yes, even back then climate
change may have been an issue, even if no one seemed to realize it. Perhaps this one could also be a lesson to those in government that believe Americans are complete pushovers.
228 comments:
1 – 200 of 228 Newer› Newest»Word among our intelligence services is that North Korea is ramping up its nuclear production at new ‛secret’ sites (can't be as secret as they'd hoped or our intelligence people wouldn't have found them). NBCNews
Question now is whether or not Trump will treat Kim's denials with the same deference he grants to Putin.
Thanks Lynnette. The first and third vids are from a series of seven, made for PBS in 1993 so a little long in the tooth -- though it explains why so many survivors of the depression are available for interview. The middle one is 2009 so obviously seen through the lens of the most recently financial crunch. I'll get around to watching soon.
The first and third vids are from a series of seven, made for PBS in 1993 so a little long in the tooth...
Yes, I didn't want to put up all the videos, as I thought that might be a little overwhelming. I haven't even watched them all myself. I figured if anyone was really interested they could look up the rest themselves. The ones I chose seemed to have things in them that I hadn't heard of before or contained stories that place historical figures in context, such as "Pretty Boy" Floyd. The one about the Wall Street crash has one interesting comment that ties it into the first. There were so many things that fell in line, like dominoes, to create the crisis that eventually occurred.
What is really rather scary is that so much of the thinking back then in the Hoover administration is a mirror of what Trump believes, especially when it comes to economics and social safety nets. As one of those interviewed said, he felt that if Roosevelt hadn't become president and made some critical changes, there would have been a revolution.
This one is for Marcus.
I was just watching something on CNN this morning where they were discussing "white" America. If things continue on the course we are on the estimates are that whites will make up less than 50% of the US population by 2045. This is due more to the fact than white women are having fewer children, rather than immigration.
Question now is whether or not Trump will treat Kim's denials with the same deference he grants to Putin.
Probably depends on whatever he is getting under the table.
I'm afraid that Trump has an even broader political incentive to allow Kim to do whatever he wants, so long as Kim doesn't make headlines with it. Trump's already got his headlines; so long as Kim keeps his new nuclear programs off the front pages then Trump can keep calling it a ‛win’ on his Twitter feed.
Lynnette:
"This one is for Marcus.
I was just watching something on CNN this morning where they were discussing "white" America. If things continue on the course we are on the estimates are that whites will make up less than 50% of the US population by 2045. This is due more to the fact than white women are having fewer children, rather than immigration."
YES, and what good news it is for you and everyone! That folks from shitholes move in with their shitholery and eventually form a majority and turn the USA into a shithole also. It's great BC then there will be more EQUALITY. Before only some people lived in shitholes and after 2045 everyone lives in a shithole. Imagine that. How equal. How great!!!
I think that in 2045 the MS13-president should just run for the Precidency of the USA and he would of course get the hispanic vote (40% or so by then) but white cat ladies like Lynnette could surely pull him into the Oval Office, BC muh diversity. Very great! Very diverse!
...white cat ladies like Lynnette...
Nah, got rid of the cats after I noticed the fox was eating all of their food.
[Lynnette]: "I was just watching something on CNN this morning where they were discussing "white" America."
Is the US more obsessed with race than it used to be? I truly have no idea, I'm just asking. It just seems to me I see it being much more prominent in the media, both mainstream and otherwise. I posted that Childish Gambino / This is America video before. After nearly two months it is still getting nearly 6 million new hits per day. I've watched some "reaction videos" about it too though, and people are depressingly unshocked about it, maybe even amused. It scares me that so many school age kids are watching such graphic violence, but I guess I am way behind the times.
Here's another video I just watched, that shocked me in a different kind of way. Btw, I hate rap music more than any other genre, mostly because it's profoundly moronic as well as often violent, racist and sexist. But I found this one kinda thoughtful in spite of the bad language. Not sure what I think of it.
"Is the US more obsessed with race than it used to be?"
Yes, lotta white folks never got over the shock of havin’ that black bastard set his ass down in their White House. It has had repercussions.
Ah yes. The whinin' of a disappointed Dem. Completely tone-deaf to what actually happened, and always will be. Tone-deaf, but music to my ears ;-)
By sheer coincidence I came across this delightful little election day compilation of The Young Turds that I hadn't seen before. It's sheer bliss to watch the arrogant, contemptuous, dismissive Turds go from presumptuous certitude to sheer panic-stricken horror. They are the living proof of why the Dems elitist campaign shenanigans led to their downfall. Watch the head Turd talk at the start in glowing terms about his kids' excitement over a lady president. Watch him just 9 minutes into the vid describe the Democratic party as "historically pathetic", "corporatist, weak and spineless", and how he don't give a f*&k what the DNC donors want. It's no wonder the campaign ate itself with its divide and conquer identity politics, its unethical tactics in the primaries to crown their own royalty who didn't even bother to show her face in the boondocks, and its appeal to elitist vulgar socialist snobs like The Young Turds.
Good riddance I say. If you want an alternative, maybe it'll come from hardcore socialists like Ocasio-Cortez in a few years time. You know -- people that actually stand for something, no matter how misguided. People who are aiming for solidarity among the working class, regardless of colour. Until then, all you got are the sort of racist slurs flung out above by the resident troll which, in fairness, seem typical of the Dems' idea of how to rebuild their base (LOL). Because, let's face it, The Young Turds are the perfect illustration of how clueless they are about where they are or how they got there.
LOL. Just watched that vid yet again. What a pack of turncoat dickheads -- by the end they are calling Hillary Clinton "the worst politician in American history". With friends like that ... etc. etc.
So keep on keepin' on about dem white folks hatin' the &*&^* in their White House (actually no, I ain't gonna stoop to that vulgar language even for rhetorical effect). Fact is, it was the black folk, the Latinos, and the women, who didn't come out and vote for Hillary the way they did for Obama. The Dems are screwed unless and until they stop trying to invent their own alternative narrative about all those dumb crackers.
Is the US more obsessed with race than it used to be?
Obsessed? I think that is the wrong term. I think we are talking about it more, but I think there has always been an underlying racial tension at times. It has come front and center because of some of Trump's rhetoric and actions, but also because of the incidents with police that are now getting more publicity. The kneeling football players have also contributed to the media attention to police behavior.
I strongly believe that there are racists among Trump's supporters, but I don't believe all of those who voted for him are racist. There are too many who voted for Trump who had voted for Obama. For those people I believe it was an economic issue, or social issue, that factored into their decision making.
And for those who view the Democrats as the elitist party, they need to look closer at who is in power now. Because elitism is a bi-partisan character flaw.
Just a small aside...
It's raining!!! Yipppeeee!
*cough* *cough*
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
[Lynnette]: "I strongly believe that there are racists among Trump's supporters, but I don't believe all of those who voted for him are racist."
... as was certainly the case for Obama's supporters too.
[Lynnette]: "And for those who view the Democrats as the elitist party, they need to look closer at who is in power now. Because elitism is a bi-partisan character flaw."
Completely agree. And also, both parties make great pretense about being on the side of the "little people". Perhaps Hillary's downfall was that she'd been around the political block too many times for anyone to believe her anymore. Trump -- devoid of political experience -- could avoid any such negativity. (Obama was somewhat similar, at least as far as the national stage was concerned. Let's not forget, Hillary lost to him too).
"It's raining!!! Yipppeeee!"
We had actual clouds this morning. Hadn't seen any of those in a while. Back to blue skies this afternoon. The 14-day forecast now goes all the way to mid-July with no prospect of rain.
Just for fun I checked average annual Minnesota precipitation against Ireland. You vary from 18 inches in the northwest to 32 inches in the southeast. Twenty percent of that falls as snow, and on average an inch of rain equals a foot of snow (although it can be a lot more for the driest powdery stuff).
Our precipitation gradient runs the opposite direction -- from driest in the south east to wettest in the west/northwest. And we start where you leave off -- 30 inches in the driest parts, to 50 inches in the wettest, and on some hilltops up to 80 inches of rain. Essentially none of it falls as snow.
But here in the drier part of the country, now that June is over, the Met Office confirms that the total rainfall for the last two months was less than an inch, and less than a fifth of an inch in June! With (at least) half of July looking the same we (or at least our farmers) are now guaranteed significant pain.
"Ah yes…"
Petes @ Sun Jul 01, 09:50:00 am
Ah yes indeed, black guy wins the White House; racial tensions suddenly rise. Can't be the obvious.
Well, it was the obvious this time.
"The Dems are screwed unless and until they stop trying to
invent their own alternative narrative about all those dumb crackers."
'Tis possible I suppose that all those dumb crackers will somehow become the new enduring majority and the emerging political powers will have to kowtow to them.
But, I think that's probably not gonna happen. It seems to me to be highly unlikely.
Actually, …
There is a possibility the the Republicans efforts to fix the vote, gerrymandering and new restrictions on proof of ones right to vote (kinda odd concept there that one should havta document ones' right to vote, but we do have one of the lowest voting percentages in the industrialized world, and that's probably not by accident)…
Anyway… There is the chance that the Republicans' efforts to block the vote might actually backfire.
Possible that people will remember that their fathers fought for that right to vote.
Maybe not--hard to tell
We'll know afterwards.
A story in the NYT about Marcus's nearest neighbours that will warm the cockles of his heart:
"The Danes, who have struggled to integrate non-Western families for decades, are getting tough: From age 1, immigrant children will receive mandatory instruction in “Danish culture.” The new laws aims to regulate life in 25 low-income and heavily Muslim enclaves, officially described by the government as “ghettos” and populated by what Danish newspapers call “ghetto parents” and “ghetto children.” Noncompliance could result in a halt to welfare payments."
No sign of them going full Duterte and shooting 'em though.
Trump -- devoid of political experience --
He represented himself almost like a Mr. Smith goes to Washington, and unfortunately many people believed him. They still do. But while he may not have the experience, he really should have been judged on integrity as well.
I read one letter to the editor in my local paper commenting that, despite his unfortunate twitter habit, his policies are still good and he's still better than the "corrupt" Hillary. The idea that he may very well be corrupt doesn't seem to enter into that letter writer's head. He only believes what he wants to believe. But, then, he also seems to think Trump's policies are positive, so perhaps that's not such a shock.
[Lynnette]: "I strongly believe that there are racists among Trump's supporters, but I don't believe all of those who voted for him are racist."
[Petes]: "... as was certainly the case for Obama's supporters too."
Probably so. However, he didn't appear to be running around appealing to their poorer nature.
You vary from 18 inches in the northwest to 32 inches in the southeast.
Yes, our rain does have an unfortunate habit of sliding off down to the south of me. Snow does that too, but that's okay by me. ;)
We did have almost 2 inches of rain on Sunday, which helped a great deal.
But here in the drier part of the country, now that June is over, the Met Office confirms that the total rainfall for the last two months was less than an inch, and less than a fifth of an inch in June! With (at least) half of July looking the same we (or at least our farmers) are now guaranteed significant pain.
I'll say. You have my sympathy. I had a bumper crop of strawberries and the raspberries are looking good too. I might have had some nice veggies if the furry critters hadn't eaten the plants. *sigh*
I have hopes for some beans and carrots I replanted. I have netting over them.
On a positive note it looks like that missing soccer team in the cave has been found alive. Now it's just a matter of pumping out the water and getting them out. Hopefully that goes well.
Possible that people will remember that their fathers fought for that right to vote.
Maybe this time around they will understand that voting does count as well.
[Lynnette]: "However, he didn't appear to be running around appealing to their poorer nature."
I don't think Trump's doing that either. He's not very diplomatic in his speech, and has committed some awful faux pas, but I really don't think he intends to encourage racists. His problem is that it's hard to take a principled stance on uncontrolled immigration without attracting the opportunistic attention of actual racists (as well as the ire of internationalist socialists).
I mean, look at the tiny sample even on this blog. At least three out of four of us have a problem with uncontrolled immigration, at least two out of four have a problem with Trump, and at least one out of four is an actual racist ;-)
P.S. Scotland just had its hottest June ever, and had its highest temperature ever recorded the other day. The south of England had its driest June ever. I suspect there are lots of other records about to fall in the British Isles.
"I really don't think he intends to encourage racists."
He knows where his vote resides. You may not know, but he does. And he has to keep them encouraged. He is a minority President. He knows that. His people have to encouraged to turn out in higher proportions that the majority. You may not understand this, but he does.
Sometimes I just ignore the typos; this time I'll fix them.
"His people have to be encouraged to turn out in higher proportions than the majority."
Pete: "A story in the NYT about Marcus's nearest neighbours that will warm the cockles of his heart: (...) No sign of them going full Duterte and shooting 'em though."
The Danes for a long time were tougher than us. More likely to call a spade a spade. Ahead of us on the curve, if you will. But we usually get there also, and we will this time too.
Full Duterte, while I might have spoken to that, might not be necessary just yet. But policies like the Danes do are just not enough here. We need maybe not full Duterte, but some sort of new Police to deal with these animals. Perhaps modeled on BOPE in Brazil? Some such force that can put an end to these fuckers.
Last night there was another one shot in Malmö. And this afternoon at 3PM there was another mass-shooting with at least 10 rounds shot and one dead and one wounded (where I myself happened to be just blocks away when it went down, although I didn't realise it).
IDK bout you. Maybe you think that's just normal. If you live in Chicago you might say "so what". But WE are not used to that shit here. We don't want that shit here. That shit never used to happen. And ALL that shit comes as a direct consequense of immigration. So I don't give two shits for this whole "not every immigrant" baloney. I KNOW not every one of 'em is shooting the place up. But I ALSO know that if none of them were here this shit wouldn't happen.
But on a much more positive note. Pete, did you see that Sweden managed to beat the Swiss in the 8'ths? I hope that England beats Columbia later tonight so we get a Sweden-England game in the quarters. Not because I think we'd win easier against England but becaue such a game would be epic in itself. (And I think we WILL win that game).
For the first time in many years the Sweden team plays with its best strengths. A solid defence and a collective effort. That's a small nations only shot. Like a miniature Germany if you will, where the total of the collective becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
I have great hopes!
(And I always still have my monetary bet on Russia to win that'd net me about $2000)
SKY SPORT BREAKING NEWS!!!
It has been announced that this years shirt sponsor for England will be TAMPAX. A spokesperson said: "To sponsor a load of cunts going through a bad period is exactly what out company ais all abut."
Pete:
"Petes said...
LOL."
Pretty accurate, coming from a leftist. It's rare to see that self analysis. But they still haven't learned a thing, have they. Rather the political left is battening down the hatches. Tryin still to censor out opposite ideas by shaming and de-platforming anything they don't like.
BTW:
This is much funnier than your LOL vid Pete:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulhXPg3FBQk
At least three out of four of us have a problem with uncontrolled immigration...
Hmmm...I think I know who that fourth holdout is, in your mind.
It's me...........! lol!
No, actually, I don't believe that uncontrolled immigration is right either. That really isn't fair to those who have been born in this country or have jumped through hoops to get here. What I really really hate is labeling all people as murders, rapists or drug dealers when many are simply desperate people looking to help their families. Nor do I approve of separating families willy nilly. What I want is a well reasoned, fair, immigration policy for newcomers and a path to citizenship for those who have been here for an extended period, have built lives and lived here within the law. Yes, even if they got here originally illegally. I don't believe that deporting them is productive, not when they have become an integral part of their community. Some kind of fine or service to pay for their original law breaking would suffice, in my book.
Lynnette: No, actually, I don't believe that uncontrolled immigration is right either.
"Uncontrolled" is a bullshit proposition. Are you for LEGAL immigration or for FULL immigration? There's no inbetween. Either it's legal and the LAW is abided by or it's a full on rush, infinity border jumpers. And if its the LAW ya'll better get used to turning your backa on individual sob stories.
BOOHOO, look at this lil refugee child all sad and such! Cause of her we need to invite infinity migrants!
Can't you see the media putzh behind this?
Lynnette: "That really isn't fair to those who have been born in this country or have jumped through hoops to get here."
Thems are still up fo grabs for ya'll. Trump will likely let you have them if you go along with closing the border down.
Lynnette: "What I really really hate is labeling all people as murders, rapists or drug dealers when many are simply desperate people looking to help their families. Nor do I approve of separating families willy nilly."
You won't NEED to separate any families, you just turn the whle family back at the border. They stay intact and they go home together.
Lynnette: "What I want is a well reasoned, fair, immigration"
And what I want is a fairytaly universe wwith flying cars and infinite fuel where everyone just flies along and gets by famously.
Lynnete, please, for once, try and get leave your feelz for a while. And think with that grey lump inside your head instead.
"There's no inbetween."
That's not true. The Republicans' most recent attempt to get a Republican-only immigration bill collapsed when the hard-liners began to insist that an ‛E-Verify’ program be included (which would compel all employers of more than 50 persons to check all employees legal status with the government Social Security database) There's long been that inbetween [sic]; employers wanting cheap, exploitable labor and Republican politicians who want to cater to that want.
[Lynnette]: "Hmmm...I think I know who that fourth holdout is, in your mind. It's me...........! lol!"
I wasn't insinuating anything -- I just genuinely didn't know! ;-)
I really doubt there are many people (other than hardcore socialists) in favour of uncontrolled immigration.
Marcus, you got your wish -- England in the quarter finals. In spite of England getting shook by a 95th minute Colombia goal, I think they held it together pretty well to then come back from behind in the penalty shootout. I don't think they'll be a pushover.
By sheer coincidence, my sister and brother-in-law who live in England will be in Stockholm on Saturday ... and cheering for Sweden. Personally I think it's pretty ungracious that we never support England, even when we've no skin in the game ourselves. The Brits regularly cheer on Irish teams. So I'm looking forward to the game but not particularly taking sides. I do have to admit though, tuning into the BBC commentary and hearing the commentators actually crying during the penalty shootout made me feel they take things a bit too seriously. But then I think that about football in general.
Speaking of football teams ... I don't suppose that cave in Tham Luang is near any of your haunts? I presume not, with it being up the north between the Laos and Myanmar borders, and a long way inland.
Sticking to British matters, I think it's finally crunch week for Theresa May. Hard to see how the Tories can keep kicking the can any further down the road on Brexit. A cabinet meeting on Friday at Chequers (the Prime Minister's country house in Buckinghamshire) must now decide on a unified approach which can be presented to the EU in Brexit negotiations.
It is beyond farcical that more than two years after the Brexit referendum they are still only talking about producing a white paper on the way forward. And this has nothing to do with difficult negotiations with the EU -- those haven't even started yet. No, it's all down to internal Tory rifts, a continuation of more than three decades of internecine fighting.
The problem is that even the rumours flying around about May's newest proposal doesn't sound like it can satisfy either the Tory Brexiteers or the EU. She's talking about some fantastical hybrid between staying in a customs union (already rejected) and "max fac". The latter is an abbreviation for "maximum facilitation", a more frictionless arrangement whereby goods are tracked by advanced technology and tariffs are settled monthly instead of at border crossings. Few people believe this can work, and there sure as hell is nowhere near enough time to implement it in time for Brexit. Plus, it'll cost Britain more on an ongoing basis than their current EU membership.
At this stage I can only assume that the hardline Brexiteers in government are more than willing to do anything to achieve their preferred option -- a hard (and in my view disastrous) "crash out" Brexit. That's why I think Theresa May will be gone by the end of next week, either through a Tory leadership heave or a no confidence vote that brings down the government. The other less likely option is a cabinet bloodbath with May managing to fire the Brexiteer malcontents. Even less likely is an agreement that everyone can live with. Even if that looks like the outcome on Friday, I predict it won't last until the ink is dry on the Monday morning papers. The government has considerable form on back-tracking on supposedly agreed measures.
Are you for LEGAL immigration or for FULL immigration?
What is legal immigration? There have always been those who seek asylum for various reasons. Throwing people out without even looking at their individual case doesn't seem to follow the letter of the law, Marcus.
Can't you see the media putzh behind this?
You and I both know that where the media is concerned, if it bleeds, it leads. This is no different.
[Lynnette]: "What I want is a well reasoned, fair, immigration"
[Marcus]: "And what I want is a fairytaly universe wwith flying cars and infinite fuel where everyone just flies along and gets by famously.
Sarcasm isn't necessary, I do understand that that wish will not come to pass with Trump in office and the Republicans controlling Congress.
At this stage I can only assume that the hardline Brexiteers in government are more than willing to do anything to achieve their preferred option -- a hard (and in my view disastrous) "crash out" Brexit.
This seems to be a mirror image of things occurring over here. Is it the immigration issue or a reaction to globalization, which has stripped jobs away from one region only to have them move to another?
In poorer countries we have people seeking to leave in pursuit of better lives, in wealthier countries we are building walls to keep them out.
That's why I think Theresa May will be gone by the end of next week, either through a Tory leadership heave or a no confidence vote that brings down the government.
What happens then, a special election? Are we then looking at someone even farther to the right to replace her?
I'm thinking they've got something near the Republicans' problem in the House--nobody who can win really wants the job. And the people who do want the job will probably have trouble rounding up a majority of votes.
Pete: "Speaking of football teams ... I don't suppose that cave in Tham Luang is near any of your haunts? I presume not, with it being up the north between the Laos and Myanmar borders, and a long way inland."
I've never been up that far north, the closest I have been is in Chiang Mai several years ago. In recent years I've mostly been down south on the islands because that's where my buddy lives and works.
I have to say I was amazed they found those boys alive in that cave. I thought for sure they were gone.
I was amazed too. I think even the rescuers were amazed, especially when you see this profile view of the water levels -- it's incredible they were lucky enough to scramble to a high spot. (Planar view here). But you can see why getting them out ain't gonna be easy -- they say there's about 1.5 kilometres submerged with at least half that having no air space at all above it and some of it silted up so that a body can barely squeeze through. Imagine an eleven-year-old navigating that, with no prior experience, in completely opaque water.
They're not home free yet. It sounds like they can't get the water out of the cave to allow walking out, so they are considering teaching the boys scuba diving to try to get them through the flooded cavern.
I've heard cave diving is one of the most difficult types of dive. You may know more about than I, Marcus. I think keeping them calm while going through murky water and breathing through a mask would be the most difficult part, considering that they are not familiar with diving or maybe even swimming. I would probably find it daunting myself considering the close quarters in the cave.
Petes slipped in there while I wasn't looking. ;)
I see that the UK is investigating whether or not the Russians played a role in the Brexit vote.
Perhaps divide and conquer is alive and well.
Well have to go and pick raspberries and am going to try to see a movie this afternoon. The new Jurassic World offering.
To my fellow American(s) Happy Fourth of July!
Yes, I know, I usually do a post for the holiday, but I'm just not feeling it this year, for some reason.
[Lynnette]: "Is it the immigration issue or a reaction to globalization, which has stripped jobs away from one region only to have them move to another?"
It's a whole combination of factors. There is the general disquiet which pervades much of the EU since the financial crunch when citizens were forced to bail out the banks. There is general distrust of EU institutions since practically nobody knows how they work, leading to a sense of unaccountability. News media cover the workings of national parliaments, but you generally have to watch some obscure 3am program to see anything at all on the EU. Exacerbating this problem in the UK is extreme partisanship in the media (think Fox News on steroids) which has been bad-mouthing the EU for decades.
There is a UK-specific problem of the divide between the post-industrial north (where all the water and the coal was, for mills and heavy industry) and the south which now contains all the hi-tech, finance, and services industries. There are big differences in wage levels and quality of infrastructure between the two. The EU is seen by some as part of a globalist agenda which perpetuates this.
Then there is immigration, and people erroneously conflating EU freedom of movement with non-EU migration. The UK government has made a complete botch job of controlling the latter and also, contrary to popular belief, EU laws in no way require them to take unemployed citizens from elsewhere in the EU. And finally, among some of the population there is a mixture of racism and jingoism which makes them hanker after some sort of unrealistic splendid isolation which they refer to as "taking back our sovereignty".
The tragic mistake was holding a referendum in people were asked a single ridiculously simplistic question about continuing membership of the EU. They weren't asked what problems they thought needed fixing. Keep in mind that the Tory government had no interest in the people's view -- they were trying to solve an internal problem of their own whereby they thought they could shut up their own anti-EU factions by putting the question to a vote. Nobody expected the outcome they got. That's why former PM Cameron rode off into the sunset after committing this act of national self-harm.
And now the referendum vote has been hijacked by politicians, each of which is willing to be vociferous about their interpretation of "what the public voted for", in spite of the public only being given a "yes/no" option. The Tory hardline Brexiteers, for example, are baldfacedly saying that continuing membership of any kind of EU customs arrangement is contrary to the will of the people. Actually, prior to the vote, the people hadn't the remotest idea how EU customs arrangements worked, or the implications if they were to stop working.
I actually feel sorry for the Brits. Their own politicians are hanging them out to dry.
I forgot to mention that Brits also resent having to pay quite an expensive membership fee for being part of the EU. They don't seem to get that the larger economies (Britain being second largest after Germany) pay more for access to the internal market because, being large exporters, they benefit most from it. Since the time of Thatcher Britain has negotiated a rebate on part of their membership contributions, which raises the hackles of some other EU members who see the Brits as serial complainers.
I should also mention that in many EU countries there is a perception of creeping federalism, which is definitely part of the EU agenda. The series of treaties which have brought the EU into existence in its present form were ratified by national parliaments without reference to the people in most cases. Here in Ireland we've had eight referenda since the 1980s to ratify each step of EU complexification. But the British public have had no say whatsoever.
"Well have to go and pick raspberries and am going to try to see a movie this afternoon. The new Jurassic World offering. To my fellow American(s) Happy Fourth of July!"
I've heard some pretty bad reviews of that movie. One of my pals was born on the 4th of July, so planning to go drink some beer at his beach bar -- a euphemism for a fancy shed in his garden which is nowhere near the beach ;-) At least, for once, we won't have to contend with rain dripping down our necks. Speaking of which, there's rain in the very last day of the 14-day forecast, but I'll believe it when I see it. A few drops may have been spotted in south Wales today, about a hundred miles away across the sea!
(I'm also celebrating today -- just achieved a 3000% speedup in a piece of software for working out the chemical constituents of stars in the Milky Way. I cheated by going behind the back of my university and renting a superfast 128-core computer from Amazon. Just thought I'd say that for the benefit of the resident troll, who seems to get annoyed by such mentions ;-)
Pete: "But you can see why getting them out ain't gonna be easy -- they say there's about 1.5 kilometres submerged with at least half that having no air space at all above it and some of it silted up so that a body can barely squeeze through. Imagine an eleven-year-old navigating that, with no prior experience, in completely opaque water."
It might just be that those boys will have to stay in that cave until the water levels allow them to walk outta there. If there was a way in before the rains there will be a way out when the water subsides. Keeping them fed and well until then might well be the only option.
Lynnette: "I've heard cave diving is one of the most difficult types of dive. You may know more about than I, Marcus. I think keeping them calm while going through murky water and breathing through a mask would be the most difficult part, considering that they are not familiar with diving or maybe even swimming."
Correct. They say those boys can't even swim. To do cave diving in waters that are so muddy even professionals describe it as diving in cold coffe, we'll that's a challenge.
I'm by no stretch an expert, my brother is one as a professional diver in Norway, but I'm not one. But I do have a PADI scuba degree and I do know a little bit about diving, been down 22 meters and did all the testing to get my degree. But to cave dive is as you say the most challenging form of diving. To do so in "dark waters" is really insane. To expect non swimmers, kids, to learn the needed skills to do that and learn it in a fucking cave is really very much a last recourse.
I think they will just have to keep a lifeline open and feed them kids and wait for the water levels to drop, even if it takes months. Unless of course there is a risk of their current air pocket also becoming submerged, IDK if that's the case.
Pete: "There is the general disquiet which pervades much of the EU since the financial crunch when citizens were forced to bail out the banks. There is general distrust of EU institutions since practically nobody knows how they work, leading to a sense of unaccountability. News media cover the workings of national parliaments, but you generally have to watch some obscure 3am program to see anything at all on the EU"
There is one more and much more fundamental thing: The EU we once voted to join (and I confess, to my shame, I was a yes-voter way back when) is not the EU we have today.
It was sold more or less as two things: a peace treaty in Europe, and a trade union. Sure, I voted for that.
But what did we get? Unelected fucking communists in Brussels wanting to micro-manage every appect of our lives. Letting in hordes of migrants from the third world to "break up nationalism" or some such idiotic idea.
Fuck them! I thought Brexit was GREAT and I hope for Swexit too, even though Grexit and Italexit will probably come first (and those would be good also).
Just burn this commie-ass union to the ground aleady! And hang Merkel as a traitor to her nation and her people, on a lamppost on the Autobahn preferrably. (OK that last part might be wishful thinking). But fucking burn it down already!
Pete: "I'm also celebrating today -- just achieved a 3000% speedup in a piece of software for working out the chemical constituents of stars in the Milky Way. I cheated by going behind the back of my university and renting a superfast 128-core computer from Amazon. "
WTF does that even mean? Are you trying to analyse a whole fucking galaxy?
Yet you are so blinkered you can't see that a white european does on average have a much higher IQ than a black african?
And you analyse the star-system?
Well, who on earth would ever believe your exttra-terrestial findings regardless of what they are when it's perfectly clear you are guided by non-science like "Faith" or maybe "Feelz" in your conclusions here on earth.
In Chile some few years ago (2010 I think it was) they dropped a bore hole a little over a half mile to get to 33 miners. May have to do something similar to get the soccer team out of the cave.
I remember stories my mother would tell me about what they would do when there was a blizzard and they needed to get to the barn to feed the animals. Because of white out conditions it was easy to wander off and get lost in the snow. So they would string a rope between the house and the barn.
So, my question is, can the divers who are going into the cavern string a line running from the entrance to where the boys are? Then each boy could simply grab the rope and follow it back to the entrance. Yes, they would still have to learn to breath through the mask and they would still have to have the nerve to get into the dark water and follow the rope blindly. But they would also know that as long as they hung onto the rope and kept going they would eventually find their way out. Couple that with, perhaps, a companion professional diver, that might be a way to keep them from panicking.
Waiting for the rains to stop or boring a hole down into the cave, as they did for the miners, could take months.
The use of guide lines is fairly standard practice for cave diving, so they've certainly figured that in to their plans already.
Petes,
Thank you for that comprehensive explanation about the situation leading up to the Brexit vote.
There is a UK-specific problem of the divide between the post-industrial north (where all the water and the coal was, for mills and heavy industry) and the south which now contains all the hi-tech, finance, and services industries. There are big differences in wage levels and quality of infrastructure between the two.
This could be comparable to the differences between our "rust belt" regions and silicon valley. Because here too there seems to be almost a cultural divide due to the differing industries. As you are aware that was part of Hillary's problem, she ignored some of those blue color regions. At her peril.
Nobody expected the outcome they got.
I can certainly understand how they feel.
The use of guide lines is fairly standard practice for cave diving, so they've certainly figured that in to their plans already.
Good! Because I know they aren't reading this comments section. :)
[Marcus]: "It [the EU] was sold more or less as two things: a peace treaty in Europe, and a trade union. Sure, I voted for that."
Me too. In my case, I got to vote on each of the formative treaties. Like you, if I had known then what I know now, I would not have done. I voted for the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 which created the EU from the EEC, because I naively thought that political and monetary union sounded good at the time. (By the way, that was three years before you Swedes even joined, so it's a bit revisionist to claim you didn't know you were joining a political union but I'll grant you that the implications weren't entirely clear). I voted for the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997 because eastward enlargement sounded sensible and magnanimous after the Iron Curtain came down. I voted for the Nice Treaty in 2001 because institutional reform of an enlarged EU sounded necessary.
But that's when I first smelled a rat. My fellow citizens thought that Nice had bad implications for Irish military neutrality and voted against. I didn't agree with them but I sure as hell respected their right to their opinion. It turns out the EU, and our own government, didn't. After some fudging of issues we were told to vote again, to "come up with the right answer" the second time. In that second referendum on Nice I voted against, and I've voted against every EU treaty since. In 2007 we were subjected to the same contemptuous treatment on the Treaty of Lisbon -- we voted No, and were told to vote again. I voted against in both instances, and voted against the later Fiscal Stability Compact Treaty.
If you think the EU that Sweden joined in 1995 is different from today, it's a gazillion miles from the EEC that Ireland joined in 1973. I would happily go back to that loose economic community. I had hoped that the Brits would be a major force in revising it that direction. But now they are gone, and I don't entirely blame them, although I do think they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
"But what did we get? Unelected fucking communists in Brussels wanting to micro-manage every appect of our lives. Letting in hordes of migrants from the third world to "break up nationalism" or some such idiotic idea."
Here we part company. Which unelected communists are you talking about? The EU strikes a complicated balance between representation of citizens (in the European Parliament), heads of State (in the European Council), and executive cabinet (in the European Commission). All but the last are directly elected, but even there each member state has a commissioner nominated by the Council. It is true that the EU has leaned to the left, but that's because until recently so did its member states (Sweden not least among them). The EU has not let in hordes of migrants. Germany and Sweden both did that unilaterally. That problem is of your own making. Take it up with your own national government.
[Marcus]: "WTF does that even mean? Are you trying to analyse a whole fucking galaxy?"
Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'll write a short blurb in it later.
"Yet you are so blinkered you can't see that a white european does on average have a much higher IQ than a black african?"
You're gettin' frickin' boring! Are you sure you're not African? You certainly are doing a lot of drum beating on that score. People are not averages. There are a gazillion Africans more intelligent than you or me.
"Well, who on earth would ever believe your exttra-terrestial findings regardless of what they are when it's perfectly clear you are guided by non-science like "Faith" or maybe "Feelz" in your conclusions here on earth."
Anyone (within reason) is able to reproduce the same findings. It's got nothing to do with "feelz".
[Lynnette]: "I remember stories my mother would tell me about what they would do when there was a blizzard and they needed to get to the barn to feed the animals. Because of white out conditions it was easy to wander off and get lost in the snow. So they would string a rope between the house and the barn."
That's pretty amazing ... in a scary sort of way! I continue to be convinced the northern US and Canada must've been settled by people who arrived in Summer and only realised their mistake when it was too late ;-)
But yeah, from what I've heard, the very first thing those divers in Thailand did was string a guide line for their own safety. I'm not sure it's of any use to the trapped kids though. They have bigger problems than just finding the route out.
[Lynnette]: "This could be comparable to the differences between our "rust belt" regions and silicon valley. Because here too there seems to be almost a cultural divide due to the differing industries. As you are aware that was part of Hillary's problem, she ignored some of those blue color regions. At her peril."
It is definitely comparable. But as you know, things are always more complicated than that. The north-south divide was one of many factors in Brexit, in the same way as Hillary's problems extended to more than just blue collar workers.
"Are you trying to analyse a whole fucking galaxy?"
I'm going to risk boring you because it's such an amazing story. You probably know plenty of it already.
We're pretty certain that the Earth and other planets in our solar system formed from pre-existing material in the giant cloud of gas that collapsed to form our Sun five billion years ago. The gas cloud, and the Sun, were made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium -- the primordial elements that have been around since the Big Bang. Everything else was only about one or two percent by mass (and far less than that by number of atoms), but that's the bit that our planet and we ourselves are made of. In a cosmic sense we're all "members of the one percent" ;-)
It's not just our planet, but the Sun itself, which contains these additional elements. We can see that by analysing its light. When you split sunlight up into a spectrum, like Isaac Newton did with his prism, you can see dark bands in the rainbow of colours. These are absorption lines -- dark notches where sunlight has been absorbed by the different elements in the solar atmosphere. There are complicated quantum mechanical rules about how atoms interact with light, but suffice it to say that each element is associated with its own pattern of dark lines which we can identify.
The absorption lines are also affected by the temperature of the star, the strength of gravity at its surface, and by pressure and turbulence in its atmosphere. So right off the bat we can tell a great deal about a star from its spectrum, not just what it's made of but also many other conditions which can be indirectly used to infer its mass, size and age.
So how did those other elements get into the gas cloud that made our Sun? The answer is other stars. Heavy elements are cooked up by nuclear fusion in the interiors of stars, and the very heaviest are made in the last moments when giant stars explode at the ends of their lives. The most massive stars live fast and die young, so there have been many generations of them before the Sun existed. (The Milky Way galaxy is well over twice the age of the Sun). Apart from the two lightest gases, those previous generations of stars made everything else we see around us. They scattered the material far and wide, to be incorporated into subsequent stars and planetary systems.
That's it in a nutshell, but of course the true story is much more complicated. Our galaxy itself formed by processes that we only very dimly understand. Its giant spiral structure did not come into existence all in one go, and different parts of it are different ages. There is a central spheroidal bulge of stars, there is a strange horizontal bar extending from the bulge, there is a diffuse halo of stars surrounding that. There are compact globular clusters of stars that have no apparent business being there, there are hypervelocity stars that seem to be getting slingshotted right out of the galaxy, perhaps by gravitational tidal interactions with other galaxies which our own galaxy seems to have devoured. There are the spiral arms themselves which look like rigid structures, but are not. They are transient density waves which swirl around the centre, compacting the gas and making those new stars of which our Sun is one.
(cont'd...)
(...cont'd)
So to try and sort this mess out and get to the bottom of which bits came first, we want to chemically analyse stars in different parts of the galaxy. The oldest parts will have had the greatest number of previous stellar generations. That means they will have been more chemically enriched by exploding massive stars. We take spectra from millions of stars in different parts of the galaxy and use them to calculate the various elemental abundances, or metallicity. Those parts with the highest metallicity ought to be the oldest and that knowledge can help us piece together how the galaxy formed in the first place, or at least the order in which the steps occurred.
Even collecting the data for this task isn't easy. We live in the outer suburbs of the galactic city, where the density of stars is relatively low. It's easy to obtain spectra of our neighbouring stars in the spiral arms. But when we look further away towards the central bulge of the galaxy it gets messier. One consequence of all those stars making heavy elements is that there is dust -- lots and lots of it. It's made out of carbon and and oxygen and silicon, some of the most commonly synthesised elements. Basically it's rock dust and soot and it blocks our view of large swathes of our own galaxy. But we've got some cool tricks up our sleeve. The dust obscures visible light, but allows longer wavelength infrared light through. It's exactly the same phenomenon that gives us red sunsets when the sun is low and shining through a thick layer of our own atmospheric dust. The short wavelengths are scattered and the longer ones make it through.
Unfortunately we have other components of our atmosphere that do absorb the extra-long wavelength infrared. Those are water vapour and carbon dioxide -- you know all about them from global warming. The same greenhouse effect that blocks our own infrared light from escaping into space also blocks incoming infrared light from the stars. Nevertheless, there are narrow bands of infrared that are not blocked and we can take advantage of these. The H-band is a range of wavelengths around a thousandth of a millimetre which satisfies a triple requirement -- it makes it through the obscuring dust at the centre of our galaxy, it makes it through the greenhouse gases in our own atmosphere, and it carries sufficient information about elemental abundances in the form of spectral absorption lines. By this means we can peer right through our galaxy and sample stars from all regions.
So now we can collect our spectra and analyse them. But that's also insanely complicated. I mentioned that there are a host of stellar parameters which affect the spectrum. We have to understand all those before we can infer elemental abundances. Scientists have used computers to create thousands of model stellar atmospheres to compare the real spectra to. The matching process uses huge amounts of computational power. Hundreds of thousands of stars have been analysed but soon there will be many millions, which threatens to outstrip the available computing resources.
(cont'd...)
(...cont'd)
But we may have one more neat trick, one that you've seen right here on this blog. Those robot-defeating Captchas -- where you're asked to identify cars or building or shop fronts or street signs -- are not purely designed to annoy you. As well as identifying you as a human, Google uses them as training data for machine learning programs which can then identify such objects in any kind of image. Through a process of trial and error and reinforcement, the machine learning algorithm figures out how to deal with the training data which you have kindly labelled for it, so that it can then apply the same rules to unlabelled pictures it encounters on the internet or in the real world.
Amazingly we can do the same with stellar spectra. Using a particular type of machine learning algorithm called a convolutional neural network, we can train the computer to recognise patterns of spectral absorption lines. And once it has been trained it can do the analysis far, far faster than the current complicated software. So far it's been used to recognise a few gross stellar parameters such as the ones I mentioned. I'm trying to extend the approach to recognise particular elemental abundances in order to -- as Marcus put it -- "analyse a whole fucking galaxy" ;-)
If you want a whole load more detail you can read a paper about how the stellar spectra are collected, and another one about the fledgeling attempt to apply artificial intelligence to the analysis problem (see the PDF download links on those pages).
(Oops, got a bit carried away. It wasn't such a short blurb in the end ;-)
Just a quick comment...
It looks like the boys and their coach are currently too weak to make the dive at the moment. One of our former Navy Seals is recommending they not attempt it at all. He can't understand why they haven't found a way to divert any water from filling the cave and then pumping out the existing water so they can walk out.
Considering there are military people from multiple country's involved they should be able to find the proper equipment.
I understand that after all those days looking for that soccer team they still found "NO COLLUSION"!!!!!
Pete: "Here we part company. Which unelected communists are you talking about? The EU strikes a complicated balance between representation of citizens (in the European Parliament), heads of State (in the European Council), and executive cabinet (in the European Commission). All but the last are directly elected, but even there each member state has a commissioner nominated by the Council. It is true that the EU has leaned to the left, but that's because until recently so did its member states (Sweden not least among them).
I mean that even if we do send parliamentarians to the EU based on voting back home they face zero scrutiny once there, and get sucked in into the bearucracy and forget where they came from. Once there it's like a machinery where Davos and other "get togethers" decide what the route for the future will be, without any insight.
Like this fucking new deal that most people have not even heard of, BC the negotiations are secret:
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/eu-japan-economic-partnership-agreement/
Yes trading with Japan is all good and well, but IN that deal is also clauses that aims to privatize the water supply in every nation joining it.
If the people in those countries were asked about that a resounding NO would kill the deal. But the sneaky fucking communists in Brussels try to pass it behind our backs, embedded in a trade deal with Japan.
And they try as much as they can to keep them negotiations out of the public's eye.
I bet they get a real hard on with the thought that they may one day control even the oxygen supply, to really be able to control people. In fact I am sure that if there was a way they would seek to do that.
Lynnette: So, my question is, can the divers who are going into the cavern string a line running from the entrance to where the boys are? Then each boy could simply grab the rope and follow it back to the entrance"
It's not a straight path. There are twists and turns and narrow passages. Also there are pretty hard currents. And it's pitch black down there.
It is easy to panic under water. Even doing controlled sports diving it's not always evident to you which way is up, as you just float there down in the dark. Of course you can drop all ballast and just shoot up towards the surface, but then you risk blowing your lungs.
But yeah, that's prolly, using a string, the way they would do it if they decide to get them kids out sooner than waiting for the water levels to fall, which might take months, but it aint all that easy. And them kids would have to get well educated before attempting something like that.
Pete: "(Oops, got a bit carried away. It wasn't such a short blurb in the end ;-)"
No it was quite a long read, and at least on the surface it seemed very intelligent and interesting and all, but I got lost after just a few sentences. Guess I'm just to dumb to do astronomy (hell, at least I don't call it astrology! - that's something).
But never mind that. It's like a person who can recite the Illiad but can't solve a second degree equation. Or a person who can do all the algebra known to man but can't change a tyre. I, myself is not really great in any single area of experise, but I do think I know a litte about a lot.
And I do know that mass immigration is poison.
Look at these gang leaders in Stockholm:
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/brottscentralen/qs/de-styr/
I know you can't read swedish, but just scroll down and look at the pics. Then tell me I am wrong here and make a solid argument for it.
Why the fuck should we not do a Duterte on them fuckers, and then toss out anyone related to them? I can't see a single good argument against that.
Ohhh, the feelz, you might toss out the brother of a criminal who did no wrong himself, blah, blah. Fuck that, they are still guestsin OUR home. If one guest in a party fucks up you toss the whole fucking party out. Right?
Just try to get into the mindset that your country is your HOME, because it is, on a larger scale, and then think of what you would or wouldn't accept in your personal home. Then it becomes quite easy.
The Trump administration has now admitted that almost 3,000 minor children were separated from their parents during the last few weeks, up from a claim of less than 2,100.
Surprise move to me; I didn't think it'd happen. Scott Pruitt has resigned as head of the EPA. I was beginning to think the Trump administration considered itself scandal-proof.
Scott Pruitt has resigned as head of the EPA.
I would be cheering louder, but my guess is that Trump will find someone else equally bad to replace him.
"…but my guess is that Trump will find someone else equally bad…"
Almost certainly true. His current Deputy, a guy named Weaver, or Weather, or some such thing, if I recall correctly--something like that, is equally evil and rather more intelligent about getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
I continue to be convinced the northern US and Canada must've been settled by people who arrived in Summer and only realised their mistake when it was too late ;-)
lol! Well, way back when the first settlers arrived it wasn't so easy to up and leave. Most had probably used all of their resources to get here and once they got here they were stuck.
But we can still get some bad storms here at times, even though it does seem like winters are getting milder. Unlike other areas of the country.
It's not a straight path. There are twists and turns and narrow passages. Also there are pretty hard currents. And it's pitch black down there.
It sounds like they have given up on the idea of the boys swimming out. It sounds like they are considering floating them out using life jackets. That sounds rather perilous as well.
But as you know, things are always more complicated than that.
Indeed. As with Great Depression there isn't just one cause.
One of the Thia divers has died coming back out from a visit to the kids and coach. Ran outta air.
The U.S. Armed Forces have been quietly drumming immigrants out of the service since Trump took office. Report just out by the Associated Press.
[Marcus]: "Look at these gang leaders in Stockholm ... I know you can't read swedish, but just scroll down and look at the pics. Then tell me I am wrong here and make a solid argument for it."
I see every race represented there and, judging by the surnames, a lot of different nationalities. I've no problem with anyone taking measures to reduce crime or illegal immigration. Just lay off the racism :-/
Oxygen content of the air in the Thai cave dropped to 15%. Looks like having seven extra adults in there wasn't all goodness. Could have serious implications for any plan that involves leaving them there for months. But with that navy seal diver dying the dangers of diving out will have been highlighted too. Big dilemma with only a couple of days to arrival of the monsoon. They're not out of the woods yet by a long shot.
" It sounds like they are considering floating them out using life jackets."
Can't see how that's going to work in a fully submerged passage. Are they gonna scrape them along the ceiling?
Trump was all about draining the swamp. Sounds like Scott Pruitt was a one-man swamp all to hisself.
Nevertheless, Pruitt held in there for a remarkably long time, all things considered.
"[T]he Trump White House has an astonishing turnover rate of
sixty-one per cent so far among its top-level advisers. No other
Administration she has tracked comes close: Trump’s two immediate
predecessors were at fourteen per cent (Barack Obama) and five
percent (George W. Bush) at this point in their Presidencies."
TheAtlantic
Lee: "One of the Thia divers has died coming back out from a visit to the kids and coach. Ran outta air."
A thai navy seal diver i read. Goes to show how challenging the situation is. As far as I've read there's a pasage where the divers can't pass with the tubes on their backs but have to dismantle the tubes and push them in front of the diver to get through.
And even if you've got full tubes they drain pretty damn fast if you panic and start to hyperventilate.
And we're talking kids who can't even swim here. So the idea of them scuba dinving outta there looks pretty much like a no go.
Pete: "Oxygen content of the air in the Thai cave dropped to 15%. Looks like having seven extra adults in there wasn't all goodness."
As far as oxygen in the cave itself, couldn't they manage a tube in there? A hose to pump oxygen through? It seems to me that might could be done.
Pete: "I see every race represented there and, judging by the surnames, a lot of different nationalities. I've no problem with anyone taking measures to reduce crime or illegal immigration. Just lay off the racism :-/"
You DO see that apart from the one leader of Hells Angels and also another dude the rest of the 100 plus criminals are immigrants, no? So if we swedes are still 90%, or maybe 80% today, of the population in Sweden and immigrants form 95% of organised crime - why then is my proposition to shut down immigration and to do a Duterte sweep on the criminal ones we've got wrong?
I mean you first gotta shut down immigration, otherwise you're just pouring more into the full glass than you can't soak up no matter the actions taken.
Second you need to get ahead of these fucking criminals and shut them down hard. Extradite every fucker doing shady fucking stuff.
What's wrong with that?
Nightly News said they were working on installing a vent hose back to the kids, but, of course, that takes up space in the tight spaces where they already have to dismantle their breathers to get through.
I don't know if it was the dismantling of the tanks that was the issue or simply the tank running out of air. In any case he was a professional diver and should have double checked the tank before diving.
Yes, the extra bodies in that cavern didn't help from an oxygen standpoint. Something they should perhaps have considered, given the enclosed space. But I suppose that was why the air hose, which isn't working out so well either. Perhaps drilling an air vent should have been considered at the start. I don't know, it's easy to second guess now.
As for the life jacket option, I suppose they were thinking they wouldn't have to know how to swim if they were fitted with a life jacket and could just be towed out or use the guideline. I think they are actually trying to drill out the areas in the cave that are narrow. Or at least that was what they had talked about in the press.
The U.S. Armed Forces have been quietly drumming immigrants out of the service since Trump took office.
Ain't Trump special? Not only is he intent on dismantling Obama's legacy, but he is intent on dismantling America's.
Trump was all about draining the swamp. Sounds like Scott Pruitt was a one-man swamp all to hisself.
Nah, it's called trickle down swampland. Pruitt was just a symptom.
Btw, the Jurassic World movie I went to on the 4th was entertaining. It probably wasn't the best out there, but it was escapism.
"It probably wasn't the best out there, but it was escapism."
I can cut a movie a lot of slack if it does that aspect well. That's why I'd give Valerian which I saw recently a four out of five, despite some really hammy acting. It was highly inventive as well as being a roller-coaster space opera -- pure escapism.
Hmmm...looks like Rotten Tomatoes gave Valerian a splat of 49%, kind of like Jurassic World, which had a splat of 51%. Oh well, what do critics know? ;)
[Marcus]: "...immigrants form 95% of organised crime - why then is my proposition to shut down immigration and to do a Duterte sweep on the criminal ones we've got wrong?"
Because you only remember to distinguish between immigrants and bad immigrants when pressed.
England beat Sweden 2-0 in the World Cup quarter finals. I forgot I'd be driving across country during the match. Sounds like it was a pretty comfortable win though. I think this England team deserve a fair bit of credit. Only Croatia, seeded 20th, stand between them and the final. The only thing is the fans and the BBC will be unbearable, waving their little flags for Saint George and Brexit ;-)
Was driving back east across country last night after midnight with Mars rising in front all the way. It's amazing at the moment, like a big orange sodium streetlight in the sky. Temperature got down to 16 degrees early on, compared to a more typical 20+ that we've been having overnight.
You could see the difference -- parked cars were soaked in dew, which I've only just realised has been missing for weeks in spite of normally being ubiquitous on our summer nights. Usually the temperature falls ahead of the dew point all night so that the air gets wrung out like a sponge and cool surfaces stream with water. It's the bane of the amateur astronomer, as you have to keep the hair dryer (or fancier tube warmer) constantly running to keep the optics from fogging up.
The weather forecast is getting exciting ... some actual rain for the week after next.
They have managed to extricate four boys from the cave. Congratulations to all who worked so hard to rescue them. I hope the other boys and their coach also have such an outcome. They are suspending operations for the night, apparently.
Story on NBC's Meet the Press just a few minutes ago was that they've had ten divers working in the cave for this operation and have run out of charged air tanks, and are taking a break to refill their tanks on hand.
The weather forecast is getting exciting ... some actual rain for the week after next.
Lets hope it's one of those nice all day soaking rains and not a gully washer. After a couple days of relatively mild temps we are going to crawl back into the 90's F again. I did manage to get my garden weeded yesterday. It was a jungle after the days of high temps and rain. I have one of those nice little electric rototillers that goes between the rows nicely. Makes it so much easier and faster.
No sooner do Thai kids start coming out the cave alive, but what Trump suddenly discovers that the U.S.A. has been working ‛very closely’ with the Thai government on the problem. TrumpTweets
[Lynnette]: "I have one of those nice little electric rototillers that goes between the rows nicely."
Eureka! We call them rotavators, but I've only ever seen industrial sized ones for digging entire gardens. Didn't realise that mini electric versions even existed. Now I just gotta find a supplier as they seem to be pretty uncommon over here. Ta for the tip.
...Trump suddenly discovers that the U.S.A. has been working ‛very closely’ with the Thai government on the problem.
Yeah, he's just jumping up and down waiting to take credit. From what I hear it's the Brits who are doing more of the hands on stuff. We are helping with planning and such, sure, but it is truly a group effort.
Didn't realise that mini electric versions even existed.
Oh, yes, it's really nice. Fast!
I just checked Amazon and they have them.
"We are helping with planning and such, sure…"
Near as I can tell our ‛help’ with planning and such has consisted mostly of having people there who's major job has been to stay out of the way.
Now I have to say that I was rather surprised to see this was aired on Fox News. Of course, people would actually have to listen for it to make a difference. I seem to think the interviewer has drunk too much of the Trump Kool Aid to do so.
The FoxNews host lady was obviously trying to push back against Stockman, which is consistent for Fox and will warm the cockles of any dedicated Trumpkins who're competent to even understand the exchange.
Meantime, back at the ranch…. I've been looking at the history of this new proposed Justice and he's every bit as bad as I'd expect could be possible. (Petes might like him for his preferences for theocracy over democracy.)
I haven't bothered to look at him in depth, too depressing. Now I see how dictatorships are really formed. It's not always a sudden cataclysmic change but a slow erosion of people's rights until one day they look up and wonder what world they are living in. And, frankly, it's their own fault for not paying attention in the first place.
I guess everyone has their own method of protest.
Yeah, wanna bet that Green Day would trade Trump for Bush now? Yes, people, apparently it can always get worse. I have to say that balloon is an interesting touch. lol!
All of the soccer team and their coach have made it safely out. Kudos to all of those who worked so hard to make that happen. It is sad that it was at the expense of one of the Thai divers, though.
"It's not always a sudden cataclysmic change but a slow erosion…"
Fascism usually comes on two ways, slowly at first, then a rush towards the end. I think we're still in the ‛slowly at first’ stage.
More importantly, I don't think they'll be able to pull it off. The new Justice Kavanaugh has written before that Presidents cannot be prosecuted, so he may be incidental in keeping Trump in power longer than Trump might survive without him. But, I was expecting nothing less. More to the point--the Republicans have become open about their desire to politicize the Supreme Court; they've abandoned the notion that it should apolitical. With this move, and with their open gerrymandering, they've marked themselves as an anti-democratic political party, attempting to hold on to power by anti-democratic means.
Since they're already unpopular with the under 40 crowd, their efforts to stack the deck in their own favor will linger long after their political fortunes have significantly dimmed for the foreseeable future (that's probably comin’ in 2020). They will, therefore, be unpopular for a long time, as the Supreme Court fights its rearguard action against the coming generations.
I wasn't familiar with the song ‛American Idiot’, so I looked it up. Had to look again to find an uncensored version. YouTube
With Lyrics
More importantly, I don't think they'll be able to pull it off.
I hope not! We haven't fought in multiple world wars only to have our own country become a dictatorship.
I hadn't heard that Green Day song before either. "Idiot" isn't really the proper term, it isn't strong enough for what we are dealing with now.
"… only to have our own country become a dictatorship."
I'd left off their efforts to purge the voter rolls of Democratic voters. They've been slapped down for this several times, but the new Republican Court has shown signs of being much more amenable to efforts to disqualify Democratic voters. That can help them on the margins, but only on the margins.
And there is some evidence that voters who get wise to the fact that the ‛angry old white folks’ are trying to disenfranchise them again sometimes respond by voting in ever higher percentages.
One thing to watch in the upcoming elections are the numbers of young (40 and under) unmarried female voters (traditionally one of the low voting demographics). They seem to be especially offended by Trump and the dedicated Trumpkins.
A strategic move or a rat leaving a sinking ship?
Seven members of Theresa May’s government have resigned since November 2017 — an average of one every six weeks, and approximately one-third of her cabinet. She took a step closer to the brink over the past 48 hours with the help of Boris Johnson and a Brexit song he could not sing.
Sounds kind of familiar. Apparently Trump isn't the only one with a high resignation rate.
One thing to watch in the upcoming elections are the numbers of young (40 and under) unmarried female voters (traditionally one of the low voting demographics). They seem to be especially offended by Trump and the dedicated Trumpkins.
I talked to someone the other day who had voted for Trump. She has since come to the conclusion that he is a fruitcake. I hope her thinking remains the same come election time.
It appears that Trump, fresh off his most recent diplomatic victory with North Korea, is preparing now to also accept the surrender of the Germans to the will of Trump.
There seems to be some question whether or not Western alliances will last through Trump.
President Donald Trump begins a six-day European trip amid blazing anxiety among US allies over his commitment to the transatlantic alliance and antipathy for its leaders and institutions while stirring new disquiet about his cozy, baffling relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The one thing I can't understand in that paragraph is the author's use of the term "baffling" with regard to Trump's relationship with Putin. I think it pretty obvious that either Trump is a traitor or a pawn. I am not thinking that he is completely stupid, so he doesn't have that excuse.
Pete: "Because you only remember to distinguish between immigrants and bad immigrants when pressed."
No, no, no, I surely do not do that. But in times of massive mass immigration it's not really a question of finding that one good immigrant and letting him be a posterchild for Immigration. It's about assessing the whole fucking thing of it.
But I see the larger picture. I ask: why is it that gang shootings, and grenade attacks, and riots are an everyday thing in Sweden, suddenly? It didn't use to be.
And why is it that when I'm in Prague none of that shit is happening?
1. It can't be BC the EU, cause both Sweden and the Chezh are in it.
2. It can't be cause of weapnons politics, cause non of the weapons used are legal and actually many come from the chezh republic (like the Scorpion sub achine gun).
So for some reason, some unimaginable reason, Sweden and the Chezh Republic are all in all on the same trajectory. But in Sweden (that is actuallly still MORE economically prosperous) for some reason people are shooting eachother left and right in night time and in day time.
Why is that?
COULD it have something to do with different immigration patterns?
Also, and you haven't read this before I'm sure. But we will have a shift of Titans in Sweden in september.
The Social Democrats have been ruling either on their own or in a coalition for the most part since 1918. A few passages the liberals (yeah, funny to you the liberal coalition are rightists here) took the helm, but the Social Democrats were always the by the largest party.
Not no more. Is my prediction against "polls", and we know "polls" are bullshit.
I predict the Sweden Democrats coming in at at least 2% above the Social Democrats.
And the Sweden Democrats got 12.9% last time around.
They will double and more. That's a tectonic shift right there. And it WILL happen.
And it's happeninng all over Europe. And over at yall with Trump.
So go ahead and fucking dye your hair blue, go get a pound of piercings in your face, go fuck someone of your own gender and adopt a fucking 30YO child refugee and abort the fetuses of your own spawn willy nilly; just go all in and do all that insane shit, BC you've got precious little time left. So you best do it now.
https://youtu.be/VCiou9jUL74?t=43
DO IT!
Petes got his wish. The Brits got knocked out of the World Cup competition.
I mentioned months ago that I think it more likely that eventually, maybe even by Mueller, Trump will be charged with espionage than with ‛collusion’.
A fella name of Johnathan Chait has reached the same conclusion.
I'd have let this go on account of I think he takes some of his speculative aspects a little too far, and I didn't want to have to be denying that I agree with some of his wilder speculations, but the article is getting a little too wide a play these last couple of days to continue to ignore.
So, here it is: What if Putin got his hookes into Trump years ago?
"It's about assessing the whole fucking thing of it."
While you're assessing the whole fucking thing of it, remember this: Crime in Germany is at a twenty-five year low. Make sure your assessment covers that too.
I have a friend who's become a dedicated Trumpkin. A quick visit to her Facebook (which I seldom visit, but made an exception for this time) indicates that Trump's attacks on our NATO allies is playing well among the dedicated Trumpkins. And, of course, it has the additional value of driving their failures with North Korea off the radar of FoxNews and Radio-Right-Wing. It may be that latter effect which is the more important, but it's also important that the attack on our NATO allies is playing well in the new dedicated Trumpkin universe.
Fascists NEED a constant supply of enemies; it's one of the requirements to maintaining the ideology. NATO fills the need for Trump--this week at least.
I mentioned months ago that I think it more likely that eventually, maybe even by Mueller, Trump will be charged with espionage than with ‛collusion’.
Yes, you did. I agreed with you then and I think it now. Or at least believe that if he is impeached that the high crime would be treason. It may seem far fetched or like something out of a spy novel, but it is not something that only the far left or such is thinking. I was talking to someone the other day who I would consider pretty down to earth and circumspect in his thinking and even he is thinking treason.
And I will say that my thinking is not just because I disagree with Trump's policy choices.
Now I will go and read the article you linked to.
A long article, but seemingly well researched.
There is a reason the FBI profiles people. What would this profile say?
It would say "No way in hell he gets a security clearance!"
It would appear that Trump has announced a Trump victory over NATO this morning.
That'll make the Trumpkins happy.
It would say "No way in hell he gets a security clearance!"
Yup.
So, is this the missing particle?
n September 22, 2017, a shock wave of blue light flashed through the crystal-clear glacial ice a mile beneath the South Pole, heralding an entirely new way of looking at the universe.
Sometimes honey works better than vinegar.
“We decided the safest place to be was the Israeli border,” said one of them, a 29-year-old teacher named Mohammed. He made the journey to the border village of Al Briqa after his hometown of Daraa – a rebel stronghold where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011 – came under heavy attack from Syrian ground forces and Russian warplanes in late June.
Lee: While you're assessing the whole fucking thing of it, remember this: Crime in Germany is at a twenty-five year low. Make sure your assessment covers that too."
Takes a few years for Immigrant crime to really show. Rapes and robbings and such comes pretty fast, and it has done so in Germany as well FYI, but murders and more organised crime takes a few years to get going - but it WILL get going.
Germany is in for a whole helluva lot of problems just cause Merkel's feels got felt. That childless commie hag decided unilaterally to "adopt" a million male 20-somehing arabs and africans on a whim. "Wir shaffen das" she cried out, without even asking her own people, the hellish ghoul Merkel did.
And there WILL be conseqences. And there WILL be backlash. Bet that.
Serious drought right now in southern Sweden. No rain for 78 days, and looking at the forecasts at least 10 more days of sunshine.
Nice for families holidayilng at home but a severe problem for farmers. Already there are long lines to the butcheries since cattle farmers cant feed their cattle and seek to butcher them for meat. But the demand for meat is not great enough to satisfy the increased supply.
Problem is that the hay and grains are more or less useless BC the drought. The hay grew too short and the grains never really materialised at all.
One old meterologist with 50 years experience said he'd never seen anything like this.
We're in a dark place now. But we shall prevail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaCMXyN3qJ0
"…is this the missing particle?"
Nah, they'd seen those before, but not ‛trackable’, which is the claim this time.
[Marcus]: "We're in a dark place now. But we shall prevail."
The Fascists will need to come up with better music if they want to attract anyone other than the lowlife morons infecting the comments on that vid.
Btw, I didn't quite get the point of a vid recounting the history of European whities blasting the bejesus out of each other. Is that supposed to be showing off their good side?
[Marcus]: "Serious drought right now in southern Sweden. No rain for 78 days, and looking at the forecasts at least 10 more days of sunshine."
I'd assumed some of the showers that skirted Scotland in the last couple of months made it as far as you, but I suppose they were more likely to go up the coast of Norway. We have the same here. Serious shortage of cattle feed, herds getting slaughtered and causing a glut of beef. I guess there will be corresponding shortages when the herds eventually have to be restocked.
I actually felt rain for the second time in three months last night, but I doubt it even amounted to a millimetre. It certainly didn't register at Dublin Airport which is still showing zero rainfall for the month to date. Average for May to July is seven inches, we've had less than one, and almost all of that was back in May.
Mind you, I expected it to rain non-stop for six months after I bought a new telescope the other day but, although it clouded over, even that wasn't enough to anger the rain gods.
Trump protestors interviewed on the streets in London seemed to be mostly complaining about his "misogyny and racism". I've realised that stuff is never going to get tired. It's still pretty bizarre though. JFK was a complete slimeball philanderer back in the 60s. Yet in this liberated age, Trump is evil incarnate for a bit of "locker room banter". I'd be amazed -- if I believed it were true -- that liberal lefties' delicate ears are so offended, or that they're unaware that such banter is extremely widespread among the male sex.
Fat boy obviously ain't spent that much time in locker rooms.
[Lynnette]: "So, is this the missing particle?"
We're missing a particle? ;-)
No. As the article said, trillions of neutrinos pass through your body every second. They are produced in prodigious amounts in the core of the Sun. The problem is using them to identify other astrophysical sources. Neutrinos are extremely ephemeral. Their only interaction with other matter is via the weak nuclear force, the same force that produces radioactivity. The weak force transforms certain types of particles into other types of particles. It is those products that are detected.
The product particles can have a lot of energy and, depending on which type of particle was involved, their direction of travel can yield information about the angle of incidence of the neutrino. For some particles that's only accurate to dozens of degrees, but others can be used to home in on the part of they sky from which the neutrino originated.
That's what they're talking about in the article. It's not the first time particles have been used for astrophysical detections. Cosmic rays are high energy particles which slam into the Earth's atmosphere and -- like the neutrinos -- cause other particles to be produced. Also like the neutrinos, those daughter products cause flashes of light as mentioned in the first sentence of your article. That light is Cherenkov radiation, and is analogous to the shock wave caused by an aeroplane breaking the sound barrier. In the case of cosmic rays, a cone of light is produced which radiates down to the ground and can be detected by a pair of stereo telescopes to figure out its direction. They're called IACTs: Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Like the neutrino detector, they've been used to locate quasars and other active galactic nuclei which are the sources of the very highest energy emissions.
The new buzzword in astronomy is "multi-messenger astronomy". It refers to making detections not just in all the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves through visible light to X-rays and gamma rays, but also neutrinos and cosmic rays, as well as gravitational waves. Last year was the first proper multi-messenger detection of an event, when a neutron star merger was detected by all the various mechanisms.
"Their only interaction with other matter is via the
weak nuclear force…"
Not true. They interact gravitationally. They have mass, not a lot of mass, but there are a lot of them to help make up for that.
@Lynnette, here's the paper that your article was based on. It bangs on about "multi-messenger". Btw, 290 trillion electron volts is one helluva lot of energy for a single neutrino. But I'm surprised they're surprised that blazars are sources of high energy neutrinos as we already know from IACTs that they are the sources of the highest energy gamma rays. A blazar is a type of active galaxy where the central black hole is producing a jet that points head on in our direction. We see all sorts of weird effects from it, including matter that seems to be travelling faster than light.
The resident troll must fancy hisself better at physics than algebra ;-)
Everything interacts with gravity and it ain't relevant that neutrinos have mass. Massless particles interact gravitationally too.
"Everything interacts with gravity…"
Then, assuming that to be true, just for the sake of argument, you had absolutely no excuse for the incorrect assertion that neutrinos ‛only’ interaction with other matter is via the weak nuclear force…".
"…Massless particles interact gravitationally too…"
That's a matter of some dispute. But that dispute isn't important here.
"…must fancy hisself better at physics than algebra…"
Better than you at both, which is the important distinction.
(And, yes, I know Marcus thinks you're some sort of intelligence on both subjects, but he's not competent to judge. He's just taken in by your practiced jargon-babble, which is the whole point of the jargon-babble--to fool folks like Marcus.)
Could someone please tell Trump there's urgent business at home? Cos he's acting like a complete asshole over here. He's right about European countries not paying their way in NATO. But they agree with him and have been on a program to ramp up for several years. That's old news. So his embarrassing confrontations have presumably all just been leading up to the statement he just made for the benefit of the fans back home -- that NATO was in trouble but now he's fixed it and everything is beautiful. He's like a recently potty-trained child that takes pride in depositing a poo in the right place. Yeah, it's an achievement but not one that grown ups are gonna be overly impressed by.
"Could someone please tell Trump there's urgent business at home?"
That's why he's making noxious noises in Europe, to distract the dedicated Trumpkins from the other business.
"That's a matter of some dispute."
Uh, no.
"Better than you at both..."
LOL. And I thought Trump had hit delusional levels of self-aggrandisement.
Hmmm, makes me wonder ... does Trump google furiously for "jurmany nato budgit" ;-)
"Uh, no."
Trust Petes to seize on a matter of no real importance whenever possible. (And to get it wrong.)
It sounds a bit like both Ireland and Sweden are experiencing a Texas sized drought. Here we have been stuck in the 90'sF with high humidity. But we have had periods of heavy rain. Enough at least to keep things mostly green and growing. Today we had slightly over an inch of rain so far. They are calling for more tonight. But it usually comes down in bursts, so I'm not sure how much has soaked in and how much has run off.
Trump protestors interviewed on the streets in London...
I just noticed a headline saying that Trump didn't feel welcome in London. Hmmm...I wonder what his first clue was? That giant baby Trump balloon or all of the people protesting?
Could someone please tell Trump there's urgent business at home? Cos he's acting like a complete asshole over here.
Oh, he does that over here too. It's his MO. Now if only we can get him to be just as irritating to the Russians...
Somehow I doubt that will come to pass, though. Or they'll let it slide. He's way too valuable to them.
As the article said, trillions of neutrinos pass through your body every second.
Makes me wonder what else is going on that I don't know about...
"Trust Petes to seize on a matter of no real importance"
What, like entertainin' a conversation with y'all? Yore right. Ignore mode restored.
"Ignore mode restored."
I'm guessing even Marcus has come to recognize that as rather meaningless other than as a mark of surrender.
Watching the joint press conference as broadcast on CBS's Morning News. I've cringed a couple of times when realizing that he's representing us, and can't manage to construct a coherent sentence half the time. Maybe more than half.
He was trying to make nice nice with Theresa May now. Still ripping on Germany for the pipeline to Russia.
Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is on air right now announcing indictments against a dozen or so Russian intelligence officials (identified by name) for tampering with the 2016 Presidential election.
Kinda puts a backstop on any attempt by Trump to back down from Putin.
Looking at the indictment, it also alleges that there are unindicted co-conspirators yet to be identified (Americans, unnamed Americans).
Pete: "Btw, I didn't quite get the point of a vid recounting the history of European whities blasting the bejesus out of each other. Is that supposed to be showing off their good side?"
I think, well duh - it's pretty obvious really, that it aims to show we fought and fought hard to kee enemies at bay and to get to where we are and now we simply invite (commie hag Merkel and her gang does) new enemies into our lands that we will have to either fight or bow down to, eventually.
I think we will fight and win when pressed up against the wall. Some think we're too soft and will bow down to the more agressive invaders. Some, many, complete lunatics still think we can all just "integrate" peacefully in the long run - that won't happen, it just won't.
Lee:
"And, yes, I know Marcus thinks you're some sort of intelligence on both subjects, but he's not competent to judge. He's just taken in by your practiced jargon-babble, which is the whole point of the jargon-babble--to fool folks like Marcus."
No, it really stems from the fact that I am actually NOT that un-knowing about math and science. I did get through the first year of a University Civil Engineering (mechanics) course before I decided that was not really for me, partially based on my mediocre math skills at that level of schooling, but mostly because I got thinking about computers and how I'd rather work with them.
But I got there and I did pick up some high end mathematical knowledge. So I am prolly in the 10-15% best in math in the over all population, which is no bragging right since you need to get to the top 5% to be actually good and the top 2% to be excellent. The vast majority don't even do math more than household math.
So - not enough to call myself very proficient, but sure as hell enough to see plainly that PeteS is on a whole other level than you are. I mean on a far superior level, like not even close to being close.
Hell, you are worse even than me, at math. You couldn't even do easy to do statistical math back when we talked about black versus white shootings. That shit is not even Univeristy level, that's grade school level. And ya can't do it.
Ya can't do math Lee. Ya can do wiki though. Yer good at that. But ya can't fool folks that know more than you that your wiki-postings are evidence of any real knowledge you claim to have.
Hey Pete! Ain't Lee actually pretty gud at Wikiing? I think he is.
"That shit is not even Univeristy level, that's grade school level."
That's as good an example as any. You botched that. You're still still clueless as to how badly. You're not competent to judge, neither Petes nor me; you're just not good ‛nuff.
Visited my mother this evening and called a cab to get back home at 10PM or so. Got an arab (I think - i never asked but he looked like one) immigrant cab driver. About a 15 minutes ride and oh my god how he worked himself up at the shitty state of this city.
I didn't coax him at all, only said yes and no really, and I didn't lead the conversation in that direction.
He started with saying the area he picked me up in, where my mom just bought a new apartment, looked very nice and safe. I agreed.
Then he went into this rage about all the shootings and how half of the city of Malmö is seriously unsafe. He lived in Rosengård (transtales to Rose garden), swedens probably biggest no-go zone - but actually not where the latest spat of gang shootings have taken place.
He told me when he went to school the school he went to was about 90% swedes, "real swedes, who were born here" - his words. And recently he went back because besides driving a cab he sometimes work as an interpretor, and his old school was he said 98% immigrant.
Guy was livid really. How our politicians could have let things get to this stage, why the fucking criminals aren't dealt with, and why too many immigrants are let in and all are out in the same places. Dude was pissed off.
I bit my tounge cause I have, as you know, some tendency towards racism. But I never let that out in one on one interactions.
Anywho, an interesting interaction.
Lee: "That's as good an example as any. You botched that. You're still still clueless as to how badly. You're not competent to judge, neither Petes nor me; you're just not good ‛nuff."
Sure I am Lee. I am smart enough to know that I am smarter than you but not nearly as smart as Pete - we're talking strictly mathemathical smartness here. (socially I am WAY smarter than Pete is)
You on the other hand is dumb enough to convince yourself you're smarter than me AND Pete when it comes to math.
Now, if you had just claimed to be smarter than me, I might cold have seen how you could honestly make that misjudgement, but for you to claim to be better at math than Pete, well that just shows you have zero insight into how mediocre your thought process really is.
A frankly dumb person, to dumb to realise his own dumbness.
"…when it comes to math."
Specifically, algebra.
Algebra is math. A higher end of math than 1 plus 1 equals two. But it's still math.
Is there any non mathematical algebra then Lee? That you would now try to use to go off on a tangent to a tangent like you always try to do when you're in a hole?
It appears that some of the subtleties of English sometimes escape you. I'll pass those last two off as a matter of the subtleties of English just having gone over your head (as did the math apparently).
It is my second language after all, so some subtelties might get past me. I'll grant that.
How good are you at YOUR second language Lee? And your third and fourth?
My third one would be German that I cant write very well but do understand the most of it when I read it. And I can manage a conversation in German oon most basic terms.
My fourth would be Thai that I can't read or write at all due to their different alphabeth, but I can make small talk there too.
None of that cures your errors in deciphering the "statistical math" regarding black vs white murder rates, which you totally botched.
Can't help but notice that Trump ragged on Merkel over immigration while he was at the NATO meeting in Brussels. Immigration is, of course, her weak point politically just now. He gets to Britain and he rags on May over her weak point politically, Brexit.
He was hitting the governments of our supposed allies at their weakest points--switching subjects, switching points of attack to whatever happened to be that particular government's weakest point. This was not accidental. This was an intentional effort to destabilize allied governments just prior to making his check-in with Putin come Monday.
I s'pect Putin will give him a passing grade.
[Marcus]: "Hey Pete! Ain't Lee actually pretty gud at Wikiing? I think he is."
I like to call it furious Googlin'. And it depends on whether you mean good at punchin' the keys, or good at understandin' what comes back. To which the respective answers are: I dunno, and no!
For instance, that neutrino gravitation thing -- he read the Wikipedia page but couldn't help throwing in something extra that he thought he knew: about the gravity being connected to the neutrino mass. Might seem logical to someone who studied kiddie science, but it's wrong. I could explain why, but he doesn't take kindly to explanations from me. (He'll be furiously Googlin' it though).
Our water situation just went up a notch in seriousness. From Monday we'll have enforced pressure restrictions on top of the precautionary hosepipe ban. The latter saved about 6% of usage, but now reservoir levels are starting to drop.
I drove down the east coast on Thursday. The normally verdant countryside looked like a parched prairie. We had a huge gorse fire locally which forced hundreds of people to evacuate their houses while helicopters dropped seawater on the flames. That sort of stuff doesn't happen here!
[Petes]: "I didn't quite get the point of a vid recounting the history of European whities blasting the bejesus out of each other."
[Marcus]: "I think, well duh - it's pretty obvious really, that it aims to show we fought and fought hard to kee[p] enemies at bay and to get to where we are..."
Huh? Just to pluck one lyric, it says "Bannockburn to Austerlitz". The first was a battle between one mongrel mixture of Celts and lowland Scots against another mongrel mixture of Britons and Normans (originally Swedes). The second was between French, Russians and Austrians, and brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire. The only connection is that all the participants were whities. And while laying waste to swathes of Europe century after century was certainly part of how we "got to where we are", I'm not convinced it was a good part.
Just checking also -- wasn't Sweden the homeland of the Goths? You guys did more invading of Arab countries than they ever did of you. And then later you made a living out of trading with Arabs. Did you know there are more Arabic silver dirhams discovered just on Gotland than anywhere else in the world?! Including Arabia! In fact, the Gotland hoards of Abbasid caliphate coinage are equal to the total ever found in all Muslim territories combined.
And you begrudge a few kronor to an Arab taxi driver making an honest living?
LOL. Trump has been seen waving to protestors on his round of golf at Turnberry in Scotland. He really must be convinced that "the people of Scotland, Ireland and the UK like me". (Does he know Scotland is part of the UK?). Maybe from a distance it looked like the protestors were waving back, instead of giving him the finger. And it probably wasn't easy to read the signs saying "Shame on you Donald Trump you racist misogynist pound of mince". He can't have been unaware of the hordes of mounted police though, or the gantry manned by police snipers.
Last night when Trump was out watching the sunset over his golf course a Greepeace protestor flew within yards of him in a microlite, trailing a banner reading "Trump: Well Below Par". The Trump baby blimp has been moved from London the Edinburgh. In fact there are two of them at Edinburgh where 50,000 people are protesting.
This morning a Tory minister gave out about protestors being disrespectful. The Labour leader responded by saying they were exercising democracy. It underscores that, just like in the US, this is nothing to do with racism and misogyny. It's left versus right.
I notice Trump is very touchy feely with foreign leaders. Or rather, he manhandles them in a show of superiority. I think he likes to intimidate smaller guys like Trudeau and Macron. With Theresa May he paternalistically grabs her hand whenever they are strolling. At the end of yesterday's press conference when they were both asked questions about Trump's idiot statements of the previous days, she noticeably batted him away when he tried to grab her hand to leave.
"…about the gravity being connected to the neutrino mass."
Always gotta wonder with you, whether this stuff's just going over your head, or whether you're being intentionally dim. (Well, usually anyway.)
We will, however, get back to the central point; the one you are seeking to escape with diversion.
If EVERYTHING interacts with gravity (Petes @ Thu Jul 12, 08:23:00 pm ↑↑), then it necessarily was an error to assert that neutrinos ONLY interact via the weak nuclear force (Petes @ Thu Jul 12, 07:15:00 pm↑↑)
It's beginning to look like global warming may not be a boon to Sweden.
The Sahara Desert does run clear to the Atlantic Ocean; I suppose it could replicate further north.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
I am not the first to notice, but Trump was saying Friday morning that his upcoming meeting with Putin was intended to be ‛loose’ and was mostly about establishing a ‛relationship’ and that ‛hopefully, maybe, [Putin] will be a friend’.
Well, now, thanks to Robert Mueller, they likely have an actual agenda.
@ Lynnette,
I've been reading some analyses which suggest that yesterday's indictments were the opening salvo in Mueller's ‛collusion’ investigation (as opposed to ‛obstruction’).
The first step being to establish that the Russians did indeed meddle in the 2016 presidential election. Friday's indictments seem to set out the parameters for that one.
Next come the indictments of those who may have ‛colluded’ with the Russians.
Notable high-rollers in the Trump campaign have not yet been interviewed by Mueller's troops, including Donald Jr., Jared Kushner, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, and The Donald his own self. Look for that to change here soon.
Scratch Kushner from that list. He did interview with Mueller's people, twice that we know of. These meetings prompted Kushner to ‛remember’ a few meetings with Russians that he'd inexplicably forgotten about before discovering the Mueller already knew about them.
Looks like the troll has moved on to geography to attempt his next failure. (He's accumulatin' quite a run of those). No, the Sahara couldn't replicate further north. It extends to the Atlantic ocean 'cos it's south of the horse latitudes so the winds blow from the northeast. Coastal deserts generally need either continental winds blowing toward the coast, or a cold ocean current reducing evaporation. Neither of those conditions prevails in southern Sweden. Yore welcome.
"Neither of those conditions prevails in southern Sweden."
The point isn't/wasn't about what currently prevails in southern Sweden. (You are dim today.)
"some analyses which suggest that yesterday's indictments were the opening salvo in Mueller's ‛collusion’ investigation"
LOL. Would those be left wing analyses? The lefties are still droolin' over the prospect of Trump bein' a collaborator. (It should horrify them, but it delights them). I predict they will be disappointed. Most sane people would realise that the indictment of a dozen Russians means there's no high-level collusion to uncover. However, this story will never go away, just like Obama bein' a foreign born Muslim. People choose their own truths when it comes to politics, I have come to realise.
"The point isn't/wasn't about what currently prevails in southern Sweden."
Ya have to love a troll that jes' can't stop diggin'. So now we are to believe the Earth's rotation is gonna reverse direction. Bet that was on the same website as the Trump indictment for colludin' with the Russkis ;-)
Or, perhaps you are merely that desperate for a diversion…
The gulf stream might fail to travel to Sweden in a globally warmed world, resulting in that cold ocean you mentioned. A reversal of the earth's rotation would not be required. One wonders how you might have missed so obvious a point.
But, that much done, back to the point you try so desperately to escape:
"If EVERYTHING interacts with gravity (Petes @
Thu Jul 12, 08:23:00 pm ↑↑), then it necessarily was an
error to assert that neutrinos ONLY interact via the
weak nuclear force (Petes @ Thu Jul 12, 07:15:00 pm ↑↑)"
"However, this story will never go away."
Surprising how little you understand about the American system. Even the Ken Starr investigation had to conclude at some point. And it's highly unlikely that Mueller's investigation will last anywhere near as long as that one. Mueller is rather more professional and less politically inspired.
But, back to the point you try so desperately to escape:
"If EVERYTHING interacts with gravity (Petes @
Thu Jul 12, 08:23:00 pm ↑↑), then it necessarily was an
error to assert that neutrinos ONLY interact via the
weak nuclear force (Petes @ Thu Jul 12, 07:15:00 pm ↑↑)"
Hmmmm… Silence now from Petes. Desperation apparently proved to be not quite so effective a plan as he had hoped.
Closing with:
"If EVERYTHING interacts with gravity (Petes @
Thu Jul 12, 08:23:00 pm ↑↑), then it necessarily was an
error to assert that neutrinos ONLY interact via the
weak nuclear force (Petes @ Thu Jul 12, 07:15:00 pm ↑↑)"
"Hmmmm… Silence now from Petes."
LOOL. Believe it or not, I don't hang around to watch trolls repeat the same gibberish four times in sixteen minutes.
"it necessarily was an error to assert that neutrinos ONLY interact via the weak nuclear force"
Yep, ya got me. I failed to mention that neutrinos interact by the one force that everything interacts by. I didn't make that superfluous statement. Happy? Y'all, on the other hand, did make a superfluous statement, 'ceptin' in yore case ya didn't know it was superfluous. To wit: "They [neutrinos] have mass, not a lot of mass". And there's no evidence so far that yer furious googlin' has taught ya why it was superfluous.
"The gulf stream might fail to travel to Sweden in a globally warmed world, resulting in that cold ocean you mentioned... One wonders how you might have missed so obvious a point."
Didn't miss it. I jes' happened to know that a) scientists suspect that the gulf stream didn't stop flowin' in the last ice age, b) even if it did, Sweden was covered in an ice sheet, not a desert, so it had precipitation, c) there are parts of the northern hemisphere, such as Mongolia, where glaciers shrank during the ice-age. Sweden wasn't one of them. Yore welcome.
Anythin' else I can help y'all with today?
"And there's no evidence so far that yer furious googlin'
has taught ya why it was superfluous."
There's no evidence of those things because neither are true except in your own head.
There's been no furious googlin’; nor googlin’ of any kind, and…
It's not superfluous.
And, for the record, having an ice sheet doesn't mean the area isn't a desert, nor does being a desert imply there is no precipitation. You may take this to be easy, mundane, non-furious googlin’ available to anybody with the wit to know in advance what to look for (Obviously, not a category that includes yourself.)
"Antarctica is classified as a desert."
LiveScience
I do believe I've figured out where your fixation with googling furiously comes from. You're hoping like hell that it's as hard for me as it is for you.
Not a chance fat boy.
"I jes' happened to know that a) scientists suspect
that the gulf stream didn't stop flowin' in the last ice
age…"
Gotta wonder in passing what the last ice age might have to do with the coming globally warmer age. Why would that be predictive anyway?
Man makes no sense--must have been too busy googlin’ furiously and forgotten to think it through.
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